(Luận văn thạc sĩ) factors affecting oral presentations of the second year english major students at hanoi university of industry

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Hanoi university of languages and international studies Department of postgraduate studies  NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG NHUNG FACTORS AFFECTING ORAL PRESENTATIONS OF THE SECONDYEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY nh÷ng yếu tố ảnh h-ởng kỹ thuyết trình sinh viên chuyên anh năm thứ hai tr-ờng đại học công nghiƯp hµ néi MA MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 HANOI, 2009 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Department of Postgraduate Studies NGUYEN THI PHUONG NHUNG FACTORS AFFECTING ORAL PRESENTATIONS OF THE SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY nh÷ng yÕu tố ảnh h-ởng kỹ thuyết trình sinh viên chuyên anh năm thứ hai tr-ờng đại học công nghiệp hµ néi MA MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI VUONG, MA Hanoi, 2009 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of tables vii PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Scope and significance of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Knowledge and skills 1.2 Speaking skills 1.2.1 Nature of Speaking 1.2.2 Types of Classroom Speaking Performance 1.3 Oral Presentations 1.3.1 Definition and Structure 1.3.2 Types of Oral Presentations 1.3.3 Presenting techniques 10 1.3.4 Characteristics of a good presentation 11 1.3.5 Teaching Oral Presentation skills in the language classroom 12 1.3.6 Factors affecting oral presentation skills 14 1.3.6.1 Students’ language proficiency 14 1.3.6.2 Students’ personality 15 1.3.6.3 Teacher’s role 16 CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 17 2.1 Context of the study 17 2.1.1 The teachers 17 v 2.1.2 The students 17 2.1.3 Learning and teaching facilities 18 2.1.4 Speaking syllabus 18 2.2 Research Methods 19 2.2.1 Research questions 19 2.2.2 Participants 19 2.2.3 Data collection instruments 19 CHAPTER III: MAJOR FINDINGS AND DICUSSIONS 21 3.1 Results of the survey questionnaire and interviews 21 3.1.1 Students’ attitudes towards oral presentation skills 21 3.1.2 Students’ evaluations of their own presentation skills 21 3.1.3 Factors affecting the students’ oral presentations 22 3.1.3.1 Students’ language proficiency 22 3.1.3.2 Students’ personality characteristics 25 3.1.3.3 Teacher factor 26 3.2 Results from Class Observation 29 3.3 Students’ suggestions 32 CHAPTER IV: RECOMMENDATIONS 34 Recommendations for students 34 4.1.1 Having thorough preparation 34 4.1.2 Taking part in self-evaluation and peer evaluation activities 35 4.2 Recommendations for teachers 35 4.2.1 Improving students’ oral proficiency 35 4.2.2 Improving students’ nonverbal skills 35 4.2.3 Building up students’ confidence 36 PART III: CONCLUSION 38 Summary of the study 38 Limitations and suggestions for further study 38 REFERENCES APPENDIXES vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Students’ difficulties in terms of language 22 Table 2: Students’ personality characteristics 25 Table 3: Students’ reflection to their teachers’ activities 27 PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale Today, it is internationally acknowledged that English has become the world’s most important language that is used as a medium for international communication, especially in trade and business Therefore, the demand for studying English is great Many students choose to study this language as their major at university in the hope that they will be able to find a good job after graduation because employers always seek applicants who have excellent oral communication skills Capability to speak English fluently in general and presenting effectively in particular may be advantages for students in their future jobs Making oral presentations brings students a lot of benefits which are bridging the gap between language study and language use, using the four language skills in a naturally integrated way, helping students to collect, inquire, organize and construct information, enhancing team work, and helping students become active and autonomous learners As a matter of fact, a language learner's ability to present in the target language is dependent on a number of factors which are not solely related to their knowledge of the language systems (grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation) but personality factors such as timidity or self-confidence also play an important part To get the best result for the presentations, students need to master a wide range of skills and techniques such as the use of language, the way to organize all ideas, the use of gestures, posture and eye-contact, and the ability to speak clearly and confidently Being a teacher of English, the researcher realizes that many second-year English majors at Hanoi University of Industry fail to deliver a presentation successfully and making effective presentations is always their desire Some serious students who invest time and effort into an oral presentation not always get the intended outcomes Other students try to get through the ordeal as quickly as possible, but not improve their speaking skills under such stressful situations They have a lot of ideas for their presentations, but they not perform well in the class to attract the audience’s attention These problems are the motivation for the researcher to carry out a study on factors affecting oral presentations of the Second-Year English major students at Hanoi University of Industry Aims of the study The main aim of the study is to investigate the factors affecting oral presentations of the Second-Year English Major Students at Hanoi University of Industry The specific objectives of the study are: - To identify the students’ attitudes towards oral presentation skills - To get to know their evaluations of their presentations - To investigate the factors affecting their oral presentations - To give some suggestions to improve their presentation skills Scope and significance of the study The study focuses on oral presentation skills in English in the classroom context of 82 second-year English majors at Hanoi University of Industry Hopefully, the findings and recommendations of this study will be of some help for both teachers and students of English in the process of teaching and learning oral presentation skills The results of this study may also be useful for those who are interested in this field Methods of the study To fulfill the above aims, the study was carried out with different methods of data collection: - A questionnaire was delivered to 82 second-year majors - Informal interviews with students were also employed - Class observation was carried out to have deeper look at students’ presentations in the classroom Design of the study The study is divided into three parts Part one, INTRODUCTION, presents reasons for choosing the topic, the aims, scope, significance, methods as well as design of the study Part two, DEVELOPMENT, has four following chapters: Chapter one is the Literature Review which deals with theories and concepts related to speaking skills and oral presentations in English Chapter two is Methodology in which the current situation of teaching and learning English in general and speaking in particular at Hanoi University of Industry is described The research methods which cover research questions, the participants, and data collection instruments are also mentioned in this chapter Chapter three presents some major findings and discussions based on the results of the questionnaire, interviews, and class observation Chapter four, namely recommendations, offers some suggestions for students and teachers at Hanoi University of Industry to improve students’ oral presentation skills Part three, CONCLUSION, summarizes what are addressed in the study The limitations of the study and suggestions for further study are also included in this part PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW In the attempt to investigate factors affecting students’ oral presentations in English Foreign Language classrooms, it is thought that the study needs to point out the relation between knowledge and skills, particularly speaking skills Then the nature of speaking, types of classroom speaking and some aspects of oral presentations are to be explored These issues are the focus of this chapter 1.1 Knowledge and skills It is not easy for foreign language teachers to help learners become proficient in using the language Being a proficient user of a language means having both good knowledge and skills of using the language From that point of view, Bygate (1987) indicates that foreign language teachers must understand the interrelation between knowledge and skills Right from the start, he points out that one of the basic problems in foreign language teaching is to prepare learners to be able to use the language For instance, in order to speak a foreign language, it is necessary to know a certain amount of grammar and vocabulary However, the knowledge of the language is never sufficient He emphasizes the importance of skill; it is skill that is “the most realizable” in a speaking class and in an oral exam: “To test whether learners can speak, it is necessary to get them to actually say something To this they must act on knowledge of grammar and vocabulary By giving learners “speaking practice” and “oral exams” we recognize there is a difference between knowledge about a language and skill in using it” To illustrate his viewpoint, he gives an example of a car driver as follows: “An analogy with the driver of a car may be helpful What knowledge a car driver needs? Clearly he or she needs to know the names of the controls; where they are; what they and how they are operated … However, the driver also needs the skill to be able to use the controls to guide the car along a road without hitting the various objects that tend to get in the way; you have to be able to this at a normal speed…; you have to drive smoothly and without getting too close to any dangerous obstacles And it is not enough to drive in a straight line; the driver also has to be able to manage the variations in road conditions safely.” He also gives another example in language: when a learner of English leaves “s” sound at the end of English words in his flow of talk In this situation we are not convinced that he does not know the rule In fact, he knows it but as he speaks, he fails to follow that rule Knowledge is defined by Bygate as “what they conceive and memorize” But what make the above student exclude “s” sound? Bygate points out that the answer to this question is a skill, which is a special ability to something well This is acquired only when much imitation and practice are offered It seems that Bygate’s opinion of knowledge and skill is true with students’ oral presentations Many of them have knowledge of grammar, knowledge of the topic and content but they still can not produce a good presentation In conclusion, “knowledge itself is not enough; knowledge has to be used in action” That is the reason why we need skills, which can be gained with practice But what skills does a learner of a foreign language need in order to obtain good oral communication? To answer this question, it is necessary to have a look at speaking skills 1.2 Speaking skills 1.2.1 Nature of speaking Language skills involve four-macro skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing, which are inter-related According to Byrne (1986), the supportive relationship among these skills is clearly revealed when we look at oral communication which is a two-way process between speaker and listener (or listeners) and involves the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of listening He states that “the speaker has to encode the message he wishes to convey in appropriate language, while the listener has to decode (or interpret) the message” Of the four skills, speaking plays a very important role since it is the first step to identify who knows and does not know a language From Ur’s point of view (1996), speaking seems intuitively the most important: “people who know a language are referred to as “speakers” of that language as if speaking included all other kinds of knowing; and most foreign language learners are primarily interested in learning to speak” The nature of speaking has attracted many scholars’ attention so far According to Bygate (1987), there are two basic ways in which we can be seen as a skill They are motorperception skills and interaction skills Motor-perception skills involve perceiving, recalling and articulating in the correct order sounds and structures of language Interaction skills involve making decisions about communication, such as what to say, how to say it and whether to develop it in accordance with one’s intentions, while maintaining the desired relations with others To be more specific, Bygate discusses another term in speaking called “routines” which are conventional ways of presenting information He provides two kinds of routines: information routines and interactional routines Information routines may be described to involve two sub-routines: expository and evaluation The former includes description, comparison, and instruction The latter consists of explanation, prediction, justification, preference and decision Interactional routines are telephone conversations, interview conversations, conversations at parties, lessons, radio or television interviews, which are structured in characteristic ways 36  Be realistic Give the speaker feedback about things that he/she can actually change Telling a speaker that she/he is too short is not helpful In conclusion, making oral presentations in English is not an easy task for the second-year students Thus, teachers need to improve students’ linguistic and nonlinguistic skills as well as build up their confidence in order to help them become effective presenters PART III: CONCLUSION Summary of the study The study focuses on the second-year English majors at Hanoi University of Industry in order to find out factors which affect their oral presentations in the classroom The researcher did a survey questionnaire, interviewed, and observed class to achieve the aim The major findings are as follows: Firstly, all students had positive attitude towards learning oral presentation skills in their language classroom Secondly, most of them thought they did not succeed in making oral presentations Thirdly, factors such as their lack of oral proficiency, lack of confidence and lack of adequate feedback from the teacher affected their presentations Lastly, students made some suggestions so as to help them improve their presentation skills Based on the findings, some recommendations for both teachers and students in the process of teaching and learning oral presentation skills have been offered For teachers, it is necessary for them to help students improve both linguistic and nonlinguistic skills and build up their confidence For students, they need to improve their knowledge of the target language, have thorough preparation for each presentation and know how to learn from their previous presentations and their peer’s 37 In short, oral presentation skills are very important for students, especially in their future jobs Becoming effective presenters is not easy at all; therefore, the more students practice, the better their presentations are Limitations and suggestions for further study Due to the time constraint, some limitations in the study are unavoidable Firstly, the investigator did not gain teachers’ reflections on students’ presentations Secondly, she spent time observing only two group presentations which is not enough to see how the second-year majors present in the class and how teachers give feedback Thirdly, some other factors such as presentation themes and presenting facilities were not dealt with Therefore, future researches can further study on these factors Besides, difficulties students may encounter when presenting in English or using peer-evaluations to improve their oral presentation skills can be another direction for future study REFERENCES Brown, HD (1994) Teaching by Principles New Jersey: Printice Hall Brown, G & Yule, G (1983) Teaching the Spoken Language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Brown, P (2005) “Student Presentations” Mordern English Teacher, 14 (2), 42 – 43 Bygate, M (1987) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press Byrne, D (1986) Techniques for Classroom Interaction London: Longman Comfort, J (1995) Effective Presentations Oxford: Oxford University Press Dwyer, J (2000) The Business Communication Handbook New Jersey: Prentice Hall Ellis, M & O’Driscoll, N (1992) Giving Presentations Hong Kong: Longman Emden, J & Becker, L (2004) Presentation Skills for Students New York: Palgrave Macmillan 10 Hedge, T (2000) Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom Oxford: Oxford University Press 11 Horwitz, E & Cope, J (1986) Foreign Language Anxiety Mordern Language Journal 12 King, J (2002) The Internet TESL Journal, Vol VIII, No3, March 2002 13 Klippel, F (1985) Communicative Fluency Activities for Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 14 Nunan, D (2003) Deigning Tasks for the Communicative Classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 15 Pattison, P (1987) Developing Communication Skills Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 16 Powell, M (2003) Presenting in English Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 17 Reinhart, S.M (2002) Giving Academic Presentations The University of Michigan Press 18 Rod, E (1985) Understanding Second Language Acquisition Oxford: Oxford University Press 19 Scharle, A & Szabo, A (2000) Learner Autonomy Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 20 Scovel, T (1978) The Effect on Foreign Language Learning: A Review of Anxiety Research Language Learning Vol 27, No 21 Spielberger, C (1983) Manxual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Palo Alto, California 22 Stern, H (1992) Issues and Options in Language Teaching Oxford: Oxford University Press 23 Underhill, N (1987) Testing Spoken Language Cambridge: Cambidge University Press 24 Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 25 Vo, G (1994) New Ways in Teaching Speaking (pp 276-277) 26 www.asian-efl-journal.com/March_07_am&ez.php I APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE This survey questionnaire is designed for my M.A thesis: “Factors affecting oral presentations of Second-Year English Major Students at Hanoi University of Industry” It is highly appreciated if you could spend your time competing truthfully the questionnaire Data collected will remain confidential and be used for the research only Thank you for your cooperation I Personal information Please circle the most appropriate to you or answer the questions Your gender: A male B female Place where you lived before university: A Urban B Rural How long have you learnt English? years Your final mark in speaking in the third semester: …… How important are oral presentation skills? (You can answer either in English or in Vietnamese) ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… Have you ever made an oral presentation in English in class? A Yes B No If your answer to the question is Yes, how successful would you rate your presentation(s)? A very successful II B successful C average D unsuccessful E very unsuccessful II Factors affecting your oral presentations Here is the list of the most common aspects of difficulties in terms of language proficiency that students normally encounter when giving oral presentations Please tick (√) the appropriate box: Very Difficult (VD), Difficult (D), Easy (E), and Very Easy (VE) Items Having appropriate usage of vocabulary and structures Using signposting language to organize your presentation (for example, saying “I’ll begin by…/ My next point is …/ Now, turning to …) Having almost no grammatical errors in your presentation Delivering the presentation clearly with correct pronunciation Delivering the presentation fluently Grouping words to have proper pausing while delivering the presentation (Pausing is defined as slowing down or coming to a complete stop at a particular point Example: John is studying business // at the University of Michigan //// His area of interest // is managing nonprofit corporations.) Deciding which word(s) to be stressed or unstressed Delivering the presentation with proper intonation pattern (Intonation is the rise or fall of the pitch of your voices as we speak) VD D E VE III In the list that follows, tick (√) the columns that is the most appropriate to you Items Agree Disagree I always feel nervous when speaking in front of a group 10 I can deliver the presentation confidently 11 I feel my heart pounding when speaking in front of a group 12 I don’t worry at all that my presentation is worse than others 13 I’m worried that others students won’t understand me because of my pronunciation 14 I am afraid that I will not be able to express myself clearly 15 I think the other students will be bored because I speak slowly in English Please tick (√) the appropriate box(es) to your case or give your answers where necessary Does you teacher the following? Activities 16 Suggesting students some themes 17 Helping students to choose the suitable topics 18 Providing students with language for a presentation 19 Providing students with model presentations 20 Giving you the evaluation form 21 Having serious facial expression when students are delivering the presentation 22 Showing some encouraging signs such as nodding, friendly – smiling … 23 Praising students for some good points when they finish the presentation 24 Giving comments on presenting manner, language style, body Yes No IV language, slide display, and timing… 25 Giving marks III Suggestions What you think should be done on the part of teacher(s) and student(s) to help student(s) make better presentations? (You can write your answer either in Vietnamese or in English) a Teacher(s): ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… b Student(s): ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… V APPENDIX Interview Questions for Students Bạn có nghĩ thuyết trình kỹ quan trọng khơng? Vì sao? Bạn có muốn rèn luyện kỹ thuyết trình nhiều ngoại ngữ khơng? Bạn có hài lịng thuyết trình bạn thực khơng? Yếu tố khó mà bạn gặp phải thuyết trình gì? (phân chia thuyết trình thành phần hợp lý, nói xác, chơi chảy, hay có cử chỉ, điệu thích hợp, …) Khi thực thuyết trình bạn cảm thấy nào? Tự tin hay lo lắng? Nguyên nhân lo lắng đó? Bạn luyện tập để tự tin thuyết trình lớp? Trước thuyết trình, bạn có hỏi ý kiến giáo viên thuyết trình bạn khơng? Giáo viên cung cấp cho bạn liên quan đến kỹ thuyết trình? Sau bạn trình bày giáo viên có đưa nhận xét không? Chung chung hay chi tiết? Mức độ khen, chê nào? Theo bạn, giáo viên nên làm để giúp sinh viên có khả thuyết trình tốt hơn? 10 Bạn nghĩ bạn nên làm để cải thiện kỹ thuyết trình mình? VI APPENDIX Class observation Name of the presenter: ……………………………………… Class: ………………………………………………………… Date: ………………………………………………………… Topic: ………………………………………………………… Check the appropriate column Good Topic information Interesting? Suitable for the audience? Introduction Adequate? Attention-getting? Organization Clear organizational strategy? Content Suitable? Conclusion Adequate? Linking words (signposts) Smooth, coherent speech flow? Correct use of connectors? Vocabulary Simplicity? Clarity? Pronunciation & intonation OK Need work Comments VII Clear enunciation? Suitable rising or falling pitch? Voice Good volume? Confident? Relaxed? Pace Not too fast or too slow? Smooth rather than hesitant? Eye contact & facial expressions Focus on the audience? Contact with all members of the audience? Friendly facial expression? Gestures and other body movements Hands free and expressive? Body posture relaxed rather than stiff? Visual aids Use of equipment effectively? Clear slide display? Audience’s reactions: ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… VIII ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… Teacher’s feedback: ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… Observer’s comments: ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… IX APPENDIX CHECKLISTS I Voice checklist It is a good idea to think about your own voice Ask yourself some questions: - Is my voice loud, perhaps too loud? - Is my voice soft, perhaps too solt? - Do I speak too slowly? - Do I speak too quickly? - Is my voice monotonous? - Do I articulate clearly, or I mutter? - Will my accent cause my audience any particular difficulty? - Do I run out of breath and gasp for air as I speak? II Visual aids checklist Before your give your presentations, check all your visual aids this way: - If a colleague stands at the back of the room, can he/she see every detail on the screen? - Is there material which is irrelevant and should be removed? - Does the slide need to be corrected? - Is there unnecessary punctuation on the slide? - Has any essential punctuation been left out? - Is the colour combination pleasing to look at? - Has the message been distorted because of the background or layout of the slide? - Is every diagram correctly and clearly labelled? - Have you shown more detail than the audience can easily follow? - Is all the lettering big enough to be easily read? - Are there too many words on the screen? - Have you shown long sentences or paragraphs which are difficult to read? - Is this slide consistent in style and layout with any others that you will use? - Overall, is your message clear and easy to understand? (Emden, J & Becker, L, 2004) X APPENDIX EVALUATION Poor System General organization Introduction Ending Connections Relevance Length Level Delivery Tempo Volume Expressiveness Articulation Language Sentence length Style Linkers Emphasizers Manner Audience contact Interest Confidence Body language Stance and posture Hands Eye contact Satisfactory Good Excellent XI Movement Facial expression Appearance Visual aids Number Design Relevance Use Overall impression: ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… (Jeremy Comfort, 2004) ... major students at Hanoi University of Industry Aims of the study The main aim of the study is to investigate the factors affecting oral presentations of the Second- Year English Major Students at Hanoi. .. answer the following questions: What are the students? ?? attitudes towards oral presentations in English? What are the students? ?? evaluations of their presentation performances? What are the factors affecting. .. from the study on some factors affecting oral presentations of Second- Year English Majors at Hanoi University of Industry, some recommendations are offered as follows: Recommendations for students