Difficulties faced by first year students of Tour guides at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts in English oral presentations.

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** HOÀNG THỊ HUỆ DIFFICULTIES FACED BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF TOUR GUIDES AT THANH HOA COLLEGE OF CULTURE AND ARTS IN ENGLISH ORAL PRESENTATIONS NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CHUYÊN NGÀNH HƯỚNG DẪN VIÊN DU LỊCH TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĂN HỐ NGHỆ THUẬT THANH HỐ TRONG THUYẾT TRÌNH BẰNG TIẾNG ANH M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Cohort: K18 Code: 60.14.10 Hanoi- 2011 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** HOÀNG THỊ HUỆ DIFFICULTIES FACED BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF TOUR GUIDES AT THANH HOA COLLEGE OF CULTURE AND ARTS IN ENGLISH ORAL PRESENTATIONS NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CHUYÊN NGÀNH HƯỚNG DẪN VIÊN DU LỊCH TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĂN HOÁ NGHỆ THUẬT THANH HOÁ TRONG THUYẾT TRÌNH BẰNG TIẾNG ANH M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Cohort: K18 Supervisor: Phan Hoàng Yến, M.A Hanoi- 2011 iii ABSTRACT The importance of English oral presentation is undeniable in the Tour guiding work Therefore, understanding the students of Tour guides’ difficulties in learning English oral presentation skill is apparently necessary to gain effective ESP teaching and learning This minor thesis was carried out with an attempt to investigate the areas of difficulties and obstacles that first years students of Tour guides have encountered when learning English oral presentation skill at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts (THCCA) The minor thesis is organized in parts: Part I presents the rationale, aims and significance of the study, research questions, scope, method and design of the study Part II consists of chapters The first chapter concentrates on the background of the study and the related literature reviews, on which the contents of the study are based The second chapter focuses on developing the research methodology, in which the two questionnaires for first year students of Tour guides and ESP teachers are chosen as main instruments The third chapter is to present the data collected from the two questionnaires and to analyze the data The fourth chapter aims at discussing the findings of the difficulties as well as some solutions in the hope to develop students of Tour guides’ English oral presentation skill at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts Part III summaries the study and offers some suggestions for further study iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS THCCA: Thanh Hoa College of Culture and Arts ESP: English for specific purpose BA: Basic English v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The students’ time of learning English before entering the College Table 2: The students’ difficulties in making English oral presentations in the class Table 3: Students’ causes of difficulties Table 4: Students’ suggestions Table 5: The teachers’ experience of teaching ESP Table 6: The teachers’ opinions of students’ attitudes Table 7: Teachers’ teaching methods Table 8: Teachers’ opinions of the topics and of the ESP syllabus Table 9: Teachers’ opinions of the factors causing students’ problems Table 10: Teachers’ suggested solutions to students’ problems Figure 1: The students’ living conditions before entering the College Figure 2: The students’ awareness of the importance of English oral presentation Figure 3: The students’ evaluations of the topics in the textbook Figure 4: The students’ evaluations of their ability of making English oral presentations Figure 5: Teachers’ perceptions of the importance of English oral presentations Figure 6: Teachers’ difficulties in teaching English oral presentations vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF TABLES v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Scope of the study Methodology Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Current overview on oral presentations 1.1.1 A general view of oral presentation 1.1.2 Types of oral presentations 1.1.3 Structure of an oral presentation 1.1.4 The importance of English Oral presentations to students of Tour guides 1.2 Problems with English oral presentation of Tour guides CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 12 2.1 The context of the study 12 2.1.1 ESP teaching and learning situation at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts 12 2.1.2 Teaching staff 12 2.1.3 Students of Tour guides 12 2.1.4 Materials used for first year students of Tour guide at THCCA 13 2.1.4.1 The objectives of the course 13 2.1.4.2 The syllabus 14 vii 2.1.4.3 Materials 14 2.2 The research methodology 15 2.2.1 Research questions 15 2.2.2 The participants 15 2.2.3 The instruments of the study 15 2.2.3.1 The questionnaire for students 15 2.2.3.2 The questionnaire for teachers 16 2.2.4 Data collection procedures 16 2.2.5 Summary 16 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 17 3.1 The questionnaires for students 17 3.1.1 Methodology 17 3.1.2 Results 17 3.1.2.1 Student’s living condition and background of learning English 17 3.1.2.2 Student’s awareness of the importance of English oral presentations in 19 their future career 3.1.2.3 Students’ evaluations of the topics and their oral presentation of Tour 19 guides in the class 3.1.2.4 Students’ difficulties in learning English oral presentation skill 21 3.1.2.5 Factors causing the students’ difficulties 22 3.1.2.6 Students’ suggestions 23 3.2 The questionnaires for teachers 25 3.2.1 Methodology 25 3.2.2 Results 25 3.2.2.1 Teachers’ teaching experiences 25 3.2.2.2 Teachers’ perception of the importance of English oral presentations to 26 students of Tour guides 3.2.2.3 Teachers’ opinions of Tourism major students’ attitudes to English oral 26 presentations 3.2.2.4 Teachers’ methods in teaching English oral presentations to first year students of Tour guides 27 viii 3.2.2.5 Teachers’ opinions of the contents in the course book and of ESP syllabus 28 3.2.2.6 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching English oral presentations 29 3.2.2.7 Teachers’ opinions of the factors causing students’ problems and teachers’ 29 suggested solutions 3.3 Conclusion 31 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS 32 4.1 Findings 32 4.1.1 Students’ difficulties in learning English oral presentation 32 4.1.1.1 Students lack specialized knowledge of Tourism 32 4.1.1.2 Students have low English proficiency 33 4.1.1.3 Students lack body language performance 33 4.1.1.4 Students lack confidence 33 4.1.1.5 Students lack an ESP practice environment 34 4.1.2 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching English oral presentation 34 4.1.3 Other problems 35 4.1.3.1 Lack of a suitable training program 35 4.1.3.2 Lack of necessary facilities 35 4.2 Suggested solutions 35 4.2.1 For teachers 36 4.2.1.1 Improve sociolinguistic competence and specialized knowledge 36 4.2.1.2 Improve students’ performance skill in oral presentations 36 4.2.1.3 Build up students’ confidence 37 4.2.2 For students 37 4.2.2.1 Improve their knowledge of ESP 37 4.2.2.2 Improve their performance ability of English oral presentations of Tour 38 guides 4.2.3 For the administrators 38 4.2.3.1 Change the ESP teaching syllabus and equip conductive facilities 38 4.2.3.2 Provide ESP teachers with chances to take part in Tourism training 39 courses 4.2.3.3 Create an ESP practice environment for students of Tour guides 39 ix PART III: CONCLUSION 41 Conclusion 41 Limitations of the study 41 Suggestions for further research 42 REFERENCES 43 APPENDIX I PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale To students of Tour guides, English oral communication skill is very essential since the industry is really in need of the graduates who have the skills For first year Vietnamese students of Tour guides at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts, English oral presentation is extremely important because they expect to use it frequently for their tour guiding work However, for nearly seven years of teaching ESP at THCCA, the researcher of the study have realized the fact that many learners of Tour guides course after a long time of learning English for Tourism find themselves unable to deliver an oral presentation successfully Among of them, there are a large number of first year students who always find it difficult to make English oral presentations in the class Aims of the study - investigating first year students of tour guides’ difficulties in English oral presentation skill - giving some suggestions and solutions to reduce difficulties and improve the teaching and learning of English oral presentations in Tour guides training course In other words, the aims of the study are to answer the following questions: What are the difficulties faced by first year students of Tour guides at Thanh Hoa College of Culture and Arts in English oral presentations? What are the solutions to overcome the identified difficulties? Scope of the study The research is limited to the exploration of difficulties encountered by first year students of Tour guides at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts in English Oral presentations Methodology  Conducting a survey questionnaire to investigate first year students’ difficulties in English oral presentation skill  Conducting a survey questionnaire to examine teachers’ view on first year students’ difficulties in English oral presentation, their teaching techniques and suggested solutions to the identified problems  Resorting to personal experience Design of the study Part I (Introduction) Part II (Development) Part III (Conclusion) PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Current view on oral presentations 1.1.1 A general view of oral presentations 1.1.2 Types of oral presentations 1.1.3 Structure of an oral presentation 1.1.4 The importance of English Oral presentations to students of Tour guides 1.2 Problems with oral presentations of tour guides A bad layout before making an oral presentation Poor specialized knowledge of Tourism destinations Bad English speaking skill Nervousness Bad communicative competence CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 The context of the study 2.1.1 ESP teaching and learning situation at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts 2.1.2 Teaching staff 2.1.3 Students of Tour guides 2.1.4 Materials used for students of Tour guides at THCCA 2.1.4.1 The objectives of the course 2.1.4.2 The syllabus 2.1.4.3 Materials 2.2 The research methodology 2.2.1 Research questions 2.2.2 The participants 2.2.3 The instruments of the study 2.2.3.1 The questionnaire for the students 2.2.3.2 The questionnaires for teachers 2.2.4 Data collection procedures 2.2.5 Summary CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 The questionnaires for students 3.1.1 Methodology 3.1.2 Results 3.1.2.1 Student’s living conditions and background of learning English Over a half of students (57.5%) were from the countryside where the English learning condition was poor There were only 18.75% of the informants coming from the city/towns where they had better conditions for learning English More noticeably, 23.75% of the students were from mountainous/remote areas where English seemed to be new for them In brief, a conclusion can be drawn out from the result of the two first questions that the first year students of Tour guides at THCCA are affected by English learning conditions and time of learning English before entering the College 3.1.2.2 Student’s awareness of the importance of English oral presentations in their future career Their responses could be explained by some reasons Some of the students thought English oral presentation skill was not necessary in their job because they might work in Thanh Hoa province only, even they would work in the remote areas or the countryside where projects for Tourism development have not been carried out and tour guides almost have never had chances to communicate with foreign visitors So, there was a certainty of Tour guide students’ negative attitudes towards their ESP learning course 3.1.2.3 Students’ evaluations of the topics and their oral presentations of Tour guides in the class The majority of the first-year majors of Tour guides were not successful with presenting in English and they complained the course book was difficult for them to learn Some students found the topics interesting but making English oral presentations about them were not in a good procedure Only about one third of them did the job quite well The following part will focus on the difficulties that they might encounter 3.1.2.4 Students’ difficulties in learning English oral presentation skill Many first year students of Tour guides at THCCA face the difficulties in preparation before presentation such as lack of general knowledge of English (grammar, vocabulary and structure), anxiety and incompetence of using body language A practice environment and time control were conveyed as the problems which need feasible solutions 3.1.2.5 Factors causing the students’ difficulties Learners’ low proficiency in English was a major factor that prevented them from delivering oral presentations effectively according to the survey findings.They lost their confidence in speaking Background knowledge of Tourism was problematic to 41 students (51.25%) who claimed that they are not provided with enough knowledge related to Tourism fields In addition, 32 students (40%) of them pointed out that conductive facility caused their problems and they did not get enough feedback and assessment from the teacher(s) 3.1.2.6 Students’ suggestions 81.25% of students believed that they had to improve their knowledge of English And to 70 students (87.5%), it was important for the teacher(s) to help the students to improve their linguistic skills such as models of language, model presentations, verbal skills and pronunciation That requirement was a must for an effective presentation in English of Tour guides Besides, a large number of students (88.75%) considered that they need to have strong confidence in oral presentations That was certain because confidence was the first important thing to help the speakers communicate successfully and gave an effective presentation Another high percentage of students (76.25%) wanted to join in speaking clubs and oratory contests of ESP These activities could be seen as an interesting playground which would attract many students who wanted to improve English oral presentation skill of Tour guides In addition, a suitable training program was needed by 52 students (65%) 3.2 The questionnaire for teachers 3.2.1 Methodology 3.2.2 Results 3.2.2.1 Teachers’ teaching experience We can see that more than half of teachers at THCCA have been teaching ESP for 03 years, which is very significant in term of their language adjustment and experience in teaching English oral presentation skill to students of Tour guides 3.2.2.2 Teachers’ perception of the importance of English oral presentations to students of Tour guides These teachers believed that in the development process of communicative language, their students who wanted to become good Tourist guides have to master English oral presentation skill Especially in the figure, no teacher considered this skill unimportant and very unimportant 3.2.2.3 Teachers’ opinions of Tourism major students’ attitudes to English oral presentations According to the results of table 6, 02 teachers (33.3%) said that their students felt bored and the same rate revealed the students were bored with the English oral presentation lessons, whereas there was 01 teacher (16.6%) pointing out that their students considered the lessons neutral And only 01 teacher (16.6%) believed the students were interested in English oral presentation skill Nobody thought that their students felt very interested in the lessons 3.2.2.4 Teachers’ methods in teaching English oral presentations Teachers expressed they have made their efforts to encourage students’ motivation in learning That was also their hope to help students deliver well – done English oral presentations of Tour guides None of the six teachers chose traditional grammar teaching method 3.2.2.5 Teachers’ opinions of the contents in the course book and of ESP syllabus We could realize a very high rate (83.6%) believed the ESP teaching syllabus currently carried out in the College was unsuitable and it should be changed in the hope of moving ESP training program to the third semester when students of Tour guides had finished two semesters of learning Basic English This idea was the same with students’ want in the previous sections Only teacher (16.6%) confirmed the syllabus was suitable This statement could be understood as the good solution to provide students of Tour guides a long-term program of learning English oral presentations (5 semesters) 3.2.2.6 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching English oral presentations Figure shows the problems faced by the six teachers in the ESP class 02 teachers (33.3%) said they got the problem of a low strategic and sociolinguistic competence during the lessons Another trouble from teachers (50%) was the lack of specialized knowledge of Tourism There is one teacher (16.6%) said that she lacks ESP teaching experience 3.2.2.7 Teachers’ opinions of the factors causing students’ problems and teachers’ suggested solutions Teachers should have suitable methods for a good English oral presentation of Tour guides; two other solutions suggested by teacher are: teachers should be more enthusiastic to encourage students’ motivation and the contents of the book should be suitable for students’ proficiency This idea was not agreed by all the teachers because they thought their teaching methods were suitable, they were enthusiastic enough and the topics in the course book were neutral to students 3.3 Conclusion Having studied the above points, the researcher realized that there were some major problems faced by the first year student of Tour guides in their English oral presentation skills These problems will be discussed in the next chapter of the study CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS 4.1 Findings 4.1.1 Students’ difficulties in learning English oral presentation of Tour guides - Lack of specialized knowledge of Tourism - Low English proficiency - Lack of body language performance - Lack of confidence - Lack of an ESP practice environment 4.1.1.1 Students lack specialized knowledge of Tourism 4.1.1.2 Students have low English proficiency 4.1.1.3 Students lack body language performance 4.1.1.4 Students lack confidence 4.1.1.5 Students lack an ESP practice environment 4.1.2 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching English oral presentation of Tour guides ESP teachers lack specialized knowledge of Tourism 4.1.3 Other problems 4.1.3.1 Lack of a suitable training program 4.1.3.2 Lack of necessary facilities 4.2 Suggested solutions 4.2.1 For teachers 4.2.1.1 Improve specialized knowledge of Tourism 4.2.1.2 Improve students’ performance skill in oral presentations 4.2.1.3 Build up students’ confidence 4.2.2 For students 4.2.2.1 Improve their knowledge of ESP 4.2.2.2 Improve their performance ability of English oral presentations of Tour guides 4.2.3 For the administrator 4.2.3.1 Change ESP teaching syllabus and equip conductive facilities 4.2.3.2 Provide ESP teachers with chances to take part in Tourism training courses 4.2.3.3 Create ESP practice environment for students of Tour guides PART III: CONCLUSION Conclusion The thesis mentioned an understanding of oral presentation as well as some literature reviews related to English oral presentation of Tour guides In addition to this, presented in the study are the results of the two questionnaires about ESP teachers and Tourism major students’ attitudes towards the importance of English oral presentation to the Tour guiding work; the current situation of teaching and learning English oral presentation at THCCA; as well as teachers and students’ difficulties, causes and solutions to improve first year students of Tour guides’ English oral presentation skill at THCCA Based on the results of the study, the researcher has given some suggested solutions in the hope of helping first year learners of Tour guides overcome the difficulties of learning English oral presentation skill Last but not least, it is hoped that the research on the matter can be improved in the near future and that this study would be useful for ESP teachers and students of Tour guides at THCCA Limitation of the study Suggestions for further research Thank you for evaluating AnyBizSoft PDF Merger! 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