Final assignment research methodology (410264) topic the difficulties in oral communication with foreigners of english majors at tvu

TRA VINH UNVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ISO 9001:2008 FINAL ASSIGNMENT Course: Research Methodology 410264 Topic: The difficulties in oral communication wi

TRA VINH UNVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

ISO 9001:2008 FINAL ASSIGNMENT Course: Research Methodology (410264)

Topic: The difficulties in oral communication with foreigners of English

majors at TVU

Group members:

1 Nguyén Thé Duy - DAI9NNAA

2 Nguyễn Mai Minh Thảo - DAI9NNAB

3 Thạch Thị Thu Trang - DAI9NNAC

Table of contents

Page 1 of 21

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Final Assignment

Course: Research Methodology (410264)

The difficulties in oral communication with foreigners of English majors at

TVU Nguyễn Thế Duy Nguyễn Mai Minh Thảo Thạch Thị Thu Trang

Tra Vinh Ủniversity, Việt Nam Abstract

The present study aimed at finding the difficulties in communication with foreigners using English majors of students into communication in English with foreigners The informants were 59 Vietnamese students learning English studies at Tra Vinh University The obtained data were validated and analyzed quantitatively by a survey questionnaire Based on the experience of the students when making a conversation with foreigners They will express some difficulties that they must face extremely in communication with foreigners These difficulties include speaking, listening, cultural knowledge, and mental Besides, it's necessary to find the best solution for solving these difficulties

Key: communication, foreigner, English majors, quantitative method, difficulty

I Introduction

1 The context of the study

In today’s world, English is a global language which is the most widely spoken language in the world No one can deny the importance of English to every aspect of our lives

for Vietnam, A country that is standing before the time of development and globalization It's not difficult to see what Vietnam has done to improve student's English proficiency over the years For instance, English is one of the first languages taught when enrolling in primary school Especially, learning how to communicate well is getting more and more attention in training professional Vietnamese people for today

Communication is the ability to use spoken or body language to show thoughts, opinions, and feelings as clearly and convincingly as possible In fact, most successful people have good communication skills because few people can't do it Therefore, It will be more difficult if we communicate with a foreigner because of barriers of language, culture, and mentality That leads many people to feel very anxious about interacting with foreigners But, it’s a great opportunity for getting a job with a high position in the office when mastering English communication skills

It’s crucial for learning and practicing communication for young people Learning more vocabulary for communication is an efficient way to support us and show our thoughts clearly It’s true that English with only theoretical learning and

concentrating on advanced books have no longer been effective Therefore, young

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people need to actively find more relationships to improve communication or make friends with foreigners

An English major at Tra Vinh University, this student has faced difficulties in communication with foreigners such as a lack of vocabulary and grammar, not noticing English sounds, not training listening skills, and not keeping up with the foreigner’s speed, etc

2, The aim of the study

Our group has discovered a fact that students at Tra Vinh university have so many difficulties when communicating with foreigners They are usually shy, awkward and avoid communicating with other people, only a few of them can talk fluently with foreigners Consequently, we decided to carry out the study “ Some difficulties of TVU students when communicating with foreigners” so that we can find out some of the common mistakes and difficulties of English communication and from that come up with the right solutions

3 The scope of the study

Due to the limitations of knowledge and time, our study only focuses on researching some of the most common difficulties of Tra Vinh university students when they communicate with foreigners Moreover, the study can also provide some useful solutions for their weakness in communication We hope that this study will become helpful to all the students who still can’t communicate with foreigners

in an efficient way

4 The method of the study

In our study, for the students in TVU to overcome communication

difficulties We use a method to complete our research:

- We are going to collect the data by designing the questionnaire papers and giving them to the TVU students From there, we can have the information we need

to analyze and come up with the difficulties and solutions

5 The significant of the study

Through the study of our group, we hope that it will help the students, who still have the problems when communicating with foreigners, to define and notice some of the common mistakes and difficulties that they are having And from that they can come up with some solutions for it The study also provides some useful tips and answers for those difficulties and from it, the students can overcome their problems and have a better English communication skill toward foreigners It will

be helpful for them in their way to success in the future

6 The questions of the study

In our study, we mainly focus on 2 questions:

- What are the most common difficulties of students when communicating with foreigners?

- What are some useful solutions for those difficulties?

And from those 2 questions, we can develop and come up with some more questions that can help us collect the data to finish the research

II Literature review

1 Theoretical background

1.1 Definition of communication

According to Sarbaugh, L E (1979) communication is using signs and symbols to convey meaning to another person or group of people It happens when someone interprets another person's words or body language The symbolic act may

be perceived directly when the parties are physically present, or it may be communicated between parties through a third party, such as a runner or telephone,

or through the use of mass media The only restrictions on communication imposed

by our sensory receptors and the technology available to convey code over time and space are those imposed by our sensory receptors

As we consider how distinct communication patterns develop and change within each distinct cultural grouping, as well as how the uniformity of behaviors from one generation to the next is only possible through some forms of

communication, the independence of communication and culture become apparent

It is also clear that communication is a technique to start changing the way people think and behave toward the world and other people

1.2, Communication competence

In contrast to Chomsky's idea of linguistic competence, Hymes, D (1972) coined the term "communicative competence." The former takes into account sociocultural factors and language skill, whereas the latter places emphasis on speakers’ capacity to construct grammatically accurate sentences According to Hymes, communication skills allow for the "conveying and interpretation of messages and the interpersonal negotiation of meanings within specific situations" (Brown, 2000, p.246) This idea is expanded upon by Canale and Swain (1980), who identify four components of communicative competence: grammatical competence (knowledge of what is grammatically correct in a language);

sociolinguistic competence (knowledge of what is socially acceptable in a language); discourse competence (knowledge of intersentential relationships); and strategic competence (knowledge of verbal and nonverbal communication strategies) Using the verbal system effectively as well as the practical elements of communication are all parts of communicative competence It is a dynamic, interpersonal construct that is relative and is dependent on all the parties involved cooperating (Savignon ,1983)

1.3 Definition of oral communication

The capacity to communicate ideas verbally with a single individual or a group of people is known as oral communication A straightforward presentation of

a topic with each thought cogently expressed is a sign of effective verbal abilities Everything about it is influenced by the language we use Knowing your target and speaking to them in a way that they can understand is also crucial A confident tone can go a long way when you are communicating an idea since it can make you sound more believable Non-verbal cues are frequently used to enhance verbal communication These cues, such as hand movements or an arched brow, may emphasize a point, demonstrate how you feel about what you are saying, and offer perception into how serious a situation is The relationship between strong verbal and strong listening skills is another crucial factor to consider Together, they make

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it much simpler to negotiate daily interactions in both your personal and

professional lives.(Akpsi, 2019)

1.4 Integrating oral communication skills

Speaking seems intuitively to be the most significant of the four abilities (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), according to Ur (1996, 120) To be able

to communicate with people who speak that language is, in fact, one of the main reasons to study a second language, whether for business or pleasure Speaking presents a number of difficult microskills for students to acquire, including the pronunciation of foreign phonemes, the placement of stress and intonation, and the appropriate use of formal and informal expressions, in addition to being a crucial skill for foreign language learners There are differing views on how to approach changing the way English is taught, but many people think that the traditional emphasis on grammar and vocabulary in English classes, where students receive intensive but separate practice in reading, writing, and listening with no speaking involved, is problematic Three exercises that give students the chance to practice their spoken English are provided by the author in this article Integrating speaking and reading skills in the activities outlined deepens students' comprehension of the reading material, identifies any reading comprehension issues, and—most importantly—allows them to put the knowledge they have read into practice in real- world speaking situations, which increases their fluency

1.5, Intercultural communicative competence

Byram's model for Intercultural Communicative Competence is a well- known framework tn intercultural education (ICC) This framework is a typical example of how to include cultural components in language learning The ICC model consists of five parts: attitudes, knowledge, critical cultural awareness, capacities for exploration and engagement, and communication and comprehension abilities

Within the ICC framework, there are connections between the five

components One of the requirements for mutual understanding in intercultural engagement, according to Byram (1997, p 34), is attitudes of "curiosity and openness, of readiness to suspend skepticism and judgment for others'

interpretations, beliefs, and behaviors." According to the ICC paradigm, knowledge

is the understanding of social groupings, their goods, and their activities in one's own country and in other countries According to Byram (1997), a successful intercultural engagement requires two different forms of knowledge: information about social groups and their cultures in one's society and understanding of the processes of interaction at the individual and national levels The capacity to critically assess ideologies, behaviors, and viewpoints in one's own and other cultures is referred to as political education or critical cultural awareness

Abilities to discover and/or interact as well as Skills to interpret and relate are two categories of skills that are suggested in the ICC model The former relates

to the capacity to learn new information and apply existing information to real intercultural dialogue while working under time constraints (Byram, 1997)

2 Related Studies

4 main clusters:

¢ Speaking difficulties:

Quyen, V.P., Nga, P.T.M and Neuyen, H.T.,( 2018) have shown in their study the difficulties of speaking regarding lacking vocabulary, lacking strategies, using too much mother tounge

Dân, T C., Mai, H N A., Da, T C., & Chau, P T H (2018) named some speaking difficulties in their study such as lacking ideas to speak, using long sentences, using complicated structures.,

e Listening difficulties:

Tran, T Q., & Duong, T M (2020) have conducted some difficulties in terms of listening including recognizing many sounds, fast speech rate, hard to concentrate, many unfamiliar words

H6, T T M (2021) also conducted some difficulties such as not keeping up with the speaker, not practicing listening, not recognizing the sounds

® Culture

Nguyen, C T (2011) has shown in his study that cultural difficulties can involve learning styles, interactional or communication styles, and language differences Ill Methodology

1 The participant

60 participants are students of English majors at Tra Vinh university The students come from places inside and outside Tra Vinh province and have experienced the process of learning English at different times Moreover, they also learn English through different methods in high school But then, they all have faced many difficulties in learning English, especially in communication And communication with foreigners is the most terrible challenge It's too few

opportunities to meet foreigners and unluckily can't meet any foreigners during covid-19 Therefore, it has accidentally created a big gap for English language students in conquering communication with foreigners The findings are the difficulties they face when communicating with foreigners and how to solve those difficulties Therefore, the survey questionnaire was mentioned for two main purposes:

- Find out the difficulties that students face when communicating with foreigners

- Give some suggestions to solve those

2, Research Approach and instrument

In terms of the research approach, a descriptive design consisting of quantitative data was exploited in this current study According to Creswell (2007), quantitative data analysis is described as the systematic collection and evaluation of measurable and verifiable data It includes a statistical framework for evaluating and analyzing quantitative data Firstly, it allows a researcher to systematically

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categorize, summarize, and show observations Second, it also allows a researcher

to grasp and conclude on an issue that has been investigated in a specific, small population( Cowles ,2005)

There are three parts in the questionnaire which consists of general information, difficulties and solutions in communication with foreigners It is designed in both English and Vietnamese to help participants complete the question easily The background information has 5 questions and 30 questions with agreement levels such as Strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree The questionnaire form was created by Google form and sent to participants through Zalo contact

There are four clusters in the difficulties part in the questionnaire that are the main difficulties consisting of speaking, listening, cultural knowledge, and mental For difficulties in speaking, nine questions are given to the survey which is mostly the common challenge in communication with foreigners Next, difficulties in listening are mentioned for six questions to collect data Students make the mistake

of listening to foreigners’ conversations Learning cultural knowledge is one of the difficulties for master communication with foreigners with four questions Many students are afraid of lacking cultural knowledge which impacts not enough to be confident to communicate The last cluster is the mental problem with four questions Because of too few chances for encountering foreigners, most of the students become embarrassed when interacting with them And the final part has 5 solutions to solve those difficulties

3 Research procedure

There are some steps for the research

Step 1: Come up with the topic of the research

Step 2: Do some researches and studies on the theoretical background

Step 3: Find out the idea in the other research

Step 4: summarize the necessary idea for the questionnaire

Step 5: Create the questionnaire on gg form with 35 questions(both general information and agreement level question)

Step 6: Complete the questionnaire and deliver it to participants on Zalo contact Step 7: collect data and bring in SPSS to analyze this data for the research Step 8: conclude and answer the problem that supports the research

IV Data analysis

1 The overall mean:

Descriptive Statistics

N Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation

From the table, It shows that the overall mean in the difficulties in oral

communication with foreigners with(M=2,46) This mean score mean that many students at Tra vinh university don’t have the difficulties in oral communication with foreigners However, others feel hard in communicating Therefore, we give some difficulties and some useful solution for them

2, The mean of four clusters

From this table, The data shows the means of the difficulties in speaking

respectively Not knowing how to use grammar is the most difficult problem students of English majors face deeply with the highest score ( 2,79) Besides, with the lowest number (2,17), lacking vocabulary causes speaking difficulties for English students

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