A STUDY ON COMMON PRESENTATION MISTAKES ENCOUNTERED BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH FACULTY AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

1 ABSTRACT This study aimed to identify the main difficulties encountering English majors at Thuong Mai University while giving presentations To achieve the aim of the study, the author applied three tools, a questionnaire and an observation and interview According to the questionnaire, the following results were reached: Most problems are come from two primary element including subjective difficulties and objective difficulties The subjective difficulties are that students not have a good preparation, they not feel confident with their performance or they sometimes make some mistakes And the objective difficulties including time allowed performing the presentation, pressure to perform well and listener's support So students feel dissatisfied with their presentation Through some observations and interviews, I found some difficulties of students The presenter and listeners not have any alignment While the speaker was presenting, audiences can sleep, talk together or even play their phone Moreover, presenters not know how to attract the audience, the voice is too small and there is no interaction with the audience by eye-contacting or some question or telling funny story In addition, from the results of the study, some suggestions and recommendation are offered for students to have a good presentation ACKNOWLEDGEMENT During the period of researching this graduation paper, I was supported and stimulated by many First and foremost, I would like to convey my sincere thanks to my supervisor – Ms Luong Thi Hong Tham, for her constant support, valuable materials and comments on my draft chapters to fulfill this study This would not have been possible without her Also, I would also like to express my gratitude to other lecturers of English faculty at Thuongmai University for their supportive lectures over the period of four years that have bring me good knowledge to my Graduation Paper Besides, I would like to give great thanks to first-year students of English faculty at Thuongmai University for their answers in my survey questionnaires to complete this study Additionally, my special thanks go to all of the students who were willing to spend time marking the questionnaires and to participate in the individual interviews The thesis would not be completed without their assistance Finally, I owe gratitude to all members of my family and friends for all they have done for me Without their support and encouragement, this graduation paper would not have become reality I know my graduation paper still has mistakes for my shortcomings I would like to receive your comments, suggestions for the perfect of my own graduation paper TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale English which is widely considered the international language and spoken by innumerable people has become the primary communication tool for many purposes According to One World National Online- a reputable website, The ISO 3166-1 code lists 83 countries and regions with English as "official language" (ISO 3166-1 Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions.) When arriving in a developing country, it is easy to see and hear people communicating in English fluently Moreover, English also provides us distilled essence of advance and up-todate knowledge in all fields of human developments and activities English has become the lingua franca in many fields, including business, politics, science, technology, and entertainment, to name a few The importance of English is clear Among English skills, speaking is not the most but very important skill showing the user’s ability in English In speaking skill, delivering a presentation is considered as the most important because it points out speaker’s ability and knowledge However, presenting a topic in English facing the audience in the class is a challenging issue, since the phobia of English language is always a big challenge for the Vietnamese students, formal oral presentation in English is even greater challenge for many students at undergraduate level, especially freshmen As a fourth-year student of English Faculty at ThuongMai University, the author realized that first-year students of English Faculty still were not used to present a topic in English facing the audience and when they present, they have a lot of basic mistakes As a researcher, I would like to carry out the study with the title “ A study on common presentation mistakes encountered by first- year students of English Faculty at Thuongmai University and suggested solutions.” For following reasons: First of all, presentation skills are an impressive and powerful tool that will take you so much further than just speaking in the classroom With communication skills, students will become good presenters all round, structuring and expressing their ideas clearly Besides, the study also provides some tips on how to make a good presentation Knowing how to make a good presentation will help them in job interviews, to make new friends, to sell a product and make business deals successfully Moreover, students’s body language, hand gestures and eye contact will improve too This helps captivate their audience Students’s ability to plan and prepare materials, to convince their audience of what they have to say, will excel too Last but not least, with only a certain amount of time to give a presentation, students will learn how to communicate their message quickly, clearly and successfully in a limited amount of time A good presentation is easy to understand, memorable and not so long that your audience loses interest Previous studies 1.2 When the author decided to choose the topic: “A study on common presentation mistakes encountered by first- year students of English Faculty at Thuongmai University and suggested solutions” The author found out and researched some previous studies related to the topic he studied There are many research topics in advance of foreign authors and Vietnamese authors After selecting, the author chose some of the following researchs: Studies abroad - Farhan Al, Mohammad Osman(2016) “Challenges in Oral Presentation in English for the Freshers at Tertiary Level ” Green University When implementing this study, the researchers mainly highlighted some striking featuresin formal oral presentation following class observation, formal assessment in differ-ent presentation sessions and then tried to demonstrate the problems faced by thefirst semester students at undergraduate level They even interviewed some experts in the respective field to investigate the challenges deeply in oral presentation and find the possible solutions Students can overcome common presentation mistakes and enhance their presentation skill based on this study The participants in the study include students of social science and science disciplines such as law, sociology and anthropology, business studies, computer science and engineering, etc They collected data form the class presentation performance of more than 120 students in different batches Some of the students of the final year also have some contribution in the data collection process too In this study, the authors point out a lot of necessary things that students should For example, they said: “In a formal presentation session, the speakers’ overall performance and preparation are reflected well by his/her body language by gestureposture, facial expression, movement etc rather than content of the presentation.” People can see the importance of using non- verbal communication through this There are a lot of useful information in his study Moreover, the authors also show that even abroad students makes a lot of mistakes when making a presentation These mistakes are often related to dress code, non- verbal communication, language proficiency, level of confidence, nervousness or the fear of facing the audience These are common problems that make students dislike presenting To overcome these problems, the authors show students the solutions and advices that actually works with their problems For instant, with dress code, the authors encouraged the female students to put on traditional Bangladeshi attire ‘saree’ and the male students formal shirt-pant or complete suit with tie Data from this study is actually valuable and useful for the author to accomplish - his study Gavin BROOKS and John WILSON (2014), “Using Oral Presentations to Improve Students’ English Language Skills”, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan The aim of this study is to point out valuable benefits of oral presentations in improve students’ English language skills This study not only helps students understand the organization of a presentation clearly, but it also gives students advices to enhance their presentation skills and make a successful presentation Students in the L2 classroom are people that help the authors to accomplish their study These students were asked to attend a special class in one month At this class, teachers use a special method of teaching, they let students talk freely, express their opinion, emotion These students had to present a lot of topics After one month, their English language skills are actually improved Based on this data, the author has point out a wonderful way to improve English skills This is not only important with students but also teacher Through this study, teachers can have a new method to convey their lesson to students in interesting way Through students’ presentation performance, the author also point out the difficulties and mistakes that Asian students often make, even these students major in English From that, the authors point out factors that affect to a presentation Thanks to this study, I have a lot of information for reference to be able to accomplish my study in the best way Studies in Vietnam - Le Thị Hien (2018) contributed to this topic a research paper entitled “English presentation skill in National University of Arts Education” This study is an attempt to identify the problems faced by the students of National University of Arts Education The study showed that teachers and students at National University of Arts Education encountered many difficulties in teaching and learning when using presentation teaching and learning method This study point out the notes that students need to pay attention when making a presentation In addition, several factors that make the student make a poor presentation As a result, according to this research, these factors come from students’s side, teachers’s side and University’s side For example, about students, a poor presentation may be the result of their laziness About teachers, they may not have clear instruction for their students, etc The author also emphasizes the important role of presentation skills In addition, research also shows that in order to learn to enhance presentation skills, the optimal method is to increase study time and maintain practice - time in a regular and scientific manner Nguyen Thi Phuong Uyen (2008), “Oral presentation skills of the third- year department at the college ò foreign languages, Danang University” This study focuses on investigating presentation skills of third-year students of English Department Students’ difficulties in making presentations and their expectations to deliver a better talk are shown in this research Besides, some suggestions for students, teachers and the College are raised to improve students’ presentation skills The author used quantitative method to implement her study The result of this study show that the difficulties students often face relate to speaking ability, lack of confidence, etc This study also point out valuable solution for students to overcomes these difficulties and enhance their presentation skills Here are the highlights of the research the author is working on Thereby people can see the different aspects of the problem, have a deeper look and recognize the obstacles in learning speaking and listening skills Therefore, learners will be able to give themselves the correct learning methods to improve 1.3 Aims of the study Firstly, the study is carried out to investigate real situation of presentation skills of first-year students in TMU, so this study could work out the reasons for those difficulties Secondly, most students find it hard to make a presentation, so the author want to this research to find out the common difficulties that students are facing when making a presentation Last but not least, this study would like to offer some possible solutions to these difficulties These suggestions hope students find motivation for learning and practicing presentation skills, helping them overcome difficulties they are facing In particular, students can improve their presentation skills and make successful presentation The research will address two main issues: 1.4 What is the difficulties that first- year students often face? What are some effective solutions for these difficulties? Research subject Based on the rationale and the aims of the problems, the research subjects of this study is presentation skills of first- year students in English faculty The research participants of this study include the first-year students of Thuongmai University’s honored classes The survey will focus on students of one class in K55 of English faculty which include all first-year students The students’ number was 40 of which 90% were females and 10% were males All of them (included 36 females and males) have difficulties in making presentation 1.5 Research medothology To fulfill the above purposes, the study was conducted using quantitative methods of data collection The first step is to collect data from the survey questionnaire, the second step is to collect data from the interview Survey questionnaire is one of the most effective instruments for collecting data Advantages of using questionnaires are practice, validity and reliability The author will use a questionnaire which was conducted among 40 students It aimed to collect information about the problems of enhancing presentation skills The responses would contribute to the great success of this study Like questionnaire, interviews can allow intensive individual interviews with a number of focused to explore their perspectives on a particular idea, program or 10 mentioned that they felt nervous when they were required to conduct an oral presentation The nervousness caused them to make mistakes in their grammar and forget their ideas when presenting Here is what they said, the first one said: “I feel nervous, and when I feel nervous I have grammar errors, and I don’t speak well in front of people because of my nervousness When I feel nervous also I have no idea what I am going to speak” The second person said: “The first thing is unable to control my nervousness Yes, I face it, because first time it’s nervous but then I’m trying to calm down, trying to control it, and then after a few minutes I feel ok and I’ll present it present well” The results show that the interviewees’ nervousness affected the delivery of their oral presentations The finally difficulty is time management Up to 40% of students have trouble with this Most of them said: “time management has never been an easy thing” They are right To be able to master your presentation time, your speech must be at a moderate speed, not too fast, also not too slow However, you still ensure that information conveyed to audiences is enough That is really a difficult thing, the author has interviewed some students, one of them give the surprising result, he said: “I am now actually confident in making a presentation I can easily handle everything about my presentation About time management, firstly, I select the most useful information for my presentation so that my presentation will last too long Secondly, I set a timer and practice until my presentation end at the time my clock rings After a lot of time practicing, I can control my speech speed.” 3.3 Factors help improve students' presentation skills Other issues helping improve presentation skills of first-year English majors at Thuongmai University the author wants to present advices about external factors, physical conditions affecting ability to improve this skills of students The chart below clearly shows this issue Chart 3.8 The influential factors in developing presentation skills As we can see, the chart 3.8 shows that 60% of students consider internal factors as important factors to improve presentation skill However, the number of students voting to external factors are also account for a great percent (40%) This means that 34 both internal factors and external factors are important to help students improve their presentation skills perfectly 3.3.1 Internal factors Internal factors actually have a strong influence on presentation skills improvement of students To clarify, the figures are shown as follows Chart 3.9 Internal factors affecting presentation skills improvement The figure show clearly that most of students agree internal factors play an important role in improving their presentation skills All factors account for high percent rate The highest rate is belong to “learning attitude and motivation” (account for 85%) This factor is the most essential factor that students need to have You actually need to implement a lot of things to enhance your skills such as doing your research, researching your audience, making a plan for your time limit, etc The good learning attitude will motivate you to these things An interviewee that has excellent ability in presenting and has taken part in many rhetoric contest said: “I find the importance of presentation skills very soon I want to polish my presentation skills, so I has given a lot of thought to who will be in the audience For example, if I know I'll be presenting to my fellow classmates, then I have to think about what will intrigue and interest them If I am presenting my topic to a group of specialists, then I can assume they know the lingo Or if I am presenting a complicated topic to a group of eighth graders, I'll have to simplify it so they can follow along It sounds complicated, right? However, when you have a strict attitude with presentation like me, you will consider these as your happiness” It can deny that having strict attitude toward really important to improve students’s presentation skills The next factor is self -practice 65% of students said that self- practice are paramount which proves that this factor is also as essential as the first factor Practice it in front of the mirror, practice it in the shower, practice it in front of your close friends or family members You should not, however, memorize it word for word, or your presentation will sound too rehearsed and you'll feel out of your element if you lose your place or are asked an unexpected question Instead, you should practice it enough that you feel so comfortable with the subject matter that you can ad-lib a little 35 These things above are what students exactly before making a presentation at class Of course, they got compliments for their successful presentation The final factors is emotion factors This factor indicate your confidence and comfortable mind when making a presentation If you look like you're confident about who you are and believe in what you're saying, then the audience will be much more likely to have faith in you Just look sharp, have a big smile on your face, and make eye contact with your audience to show them that you're unafraid and know your stuff It actually bring students great benefits with their presentation skills However, most of them are not able to implement this because they lack of confidence An interviewee said: “I know confidence is really essential when you make a presentation However, I can that, I always feel nervous when standing in front of many people” To some students, that standing in front of people talking about an issues confidently is very easy However, this may be a hard mission for the other 3.3.2 External factors External factors that affecting presentation skills improvement include factor from teachers and university The chart below clearly shows this issue Chart 3.10 External factors affecting presentation skills improvement As we can see at the chart, the role of teacher and university is important equally The table shows difference in percentage between university and teacher is not significant The first factor is teachers’s teaching method (account for 60%) Most students said that it is important for the teacher spend time giving advice and introducing students to essential skills that they need to give oral using oral presentations to improve students’ English language skills All students are satisfied with teachers’s teaching method in Thuongmai University They always try their best to support students That’s really work, a lot of students said that their skills enhance significantly The second factor comes from university That university provides technology such as projectors, speakers, helps students a lot in proving their presentation skills Thanks to these devices, they are more confident than ever A student said “Using powerpoint are actually helpful for me It supports me to convey information to audience clearly The projectors show sharp images, University actually are doing well 36 in providing and maintaining these device” We can see that Thuong mai University and teachers are try their best to provide students quality lessons and devices Thanks to that, students’s presentation skills can be improved a lot 37 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS According to Djuddahhe (2012): "The ability to communicate well is an important skill for any student attending university In addition, possessing excellent communication skills are highly valued in the workplace A persuasive presentation not only requires thorough preparation of content, but also good style It takes quite a bit of skill to come across understandable for any particular audience and to stay in control of the situation." After surveying and analyzing the difficulties encountering freshmen of English faculty at Thuongmai University in making presentations, I will give some solutions to help you improve your speaking skills as well as gain more experience and knowledge for a good presentation This last chapter will be divided into four parts Firstly, the things we need to before, during and after the presentation Secondly, I will give some notes needed to avoid when making a presentation Finally, I will share some suggestions for students to overcome common mistakes 4.1 Things to before, during and after the presentation 4.1.1 Before the presentation Choose a topic and define the purpose of the presentation - The first thing we have to before submitting is choose a topic and understand its purpose Understanding the subject will help first-year students of the English department determine an exact solution It leads to making the presentation process more convenient On the contrary, if they not understand the topic and determine the wrong direction, this will cause the audience to lose faith in what they are saying Therefore, we must clearly define the main topic and purpose of the presentation, from which we can draw out the relevant ideas, build the focus of the presentation, ensure that the message transmission must be easy to remember and easy to understand Once the goal has been determined, it is important to focus on how to make the presentation interesting, not to waste everyone's time, to present it correctly, simply, to the point According to Djuddah, "Making an excellent presentation is all about preparation going into it, and this topic applies to every single aspect you put into your presentation." So, what should freshman in English department prepare? In my opinion, they should prepare from the smallest things to the bigger ones 38 Regarding preparing a presentation, in addition to preparing the content, the slides, first-year students of the English department need to pay attention to a number of things like how to start our presentation to attract audience; or what they should say to end the presentation impressively Get to know the audience - Each presentation has its own purpose That is to convey to the audience something It is essential to know who the audience will be Different audiences have different needs, and different audiences may need different communication methods Determine who is the audience to decide whether English language freshmen should inform them, and if they need to introduce themselves? - What does the audience want? What can freshmen from the English department say to them? Knowing this information will help freshman decide what content will be included in the presentation If freshmen are unsure of the answers to one of these questions, they may not know what should be included in the presentation - In terms of knowledge: understanding the level of audience knowledge is what any presenter is interested in: "Does the audience have more knowledge than the amount of information I prepare?" Never face the audience without good and thorough preparation - Professional: The audience's level of expertise is also important because it can locate the problem we want to update - In terms of experience: this consideration is not only about how much the audience has experienced, but also what level of experience and in what environment? Experiences in the laboratory are different from practical ones Sliding design - Slide design is also an important part of the presentation Because those are the facilities we look at for a smoother presentation However, one criterion we must remember is: Do not put everything from word files as well as images, tables and charts if it is not mentioned Also, we should not display too many words on each slide This will make the audience feel bored and not want to listen to the presentation anymore Practice the correct pronunciation 39 - It is often difficult to hear pronunciation errors in the speech because students are concentrating actually communicating rather than the sound they are making If they cannot hear their pronunciation problems, it is tough to correct them Try recording presentation with smartphone or PC and making a note of specific areas which need to improve on - Close eyes and think about how to make a sound before saying it Visualize the positioning of mouth and face If students have studied with the phonemic chart, think about the sound they are making and how it relates to other English phonemes If they have used diagrams of the mouth and tongue, think about the shape they need to make inside their mouth if students want to make the sound correctly Practice makes perfect - Whether first-year students in the English department are an expert or an amateur, they can never practice too much Even the most experienced people need to rehearse before each presentation It can be practiced more and more in front of a mirror or in front of others Then get feedback and adjust the materials and techniques accordingly 4.1.2 During the presentation Use visuals - Confucius said, “I hear and I forget I see and I remember I and I understand.” A presentation having too many word on slides and if the freshmen of English faculty speak all the time, will not be as effective as using more vivid images Use additional images, animations, charts, graphs or even real-life objects to emphasize and illustrate the point of view For example, when I talk about the development of Vietnam's tourism industry, I will add images of attractive destinations instead of just showing developments through numbers or text Use body language flexibly - According to the website https://www.skillsyouneed.com/present/presentationtips.html: "It has been estimated that more than three quarters of communication is non-verbal." It means that the body language is crucial to showing the message across Try to use body language effectively to get support from listeners instead of just standing in one place and reading the slide Besides, the freshmen of English faculty 40 should try to maintain eye contact with the audience, but not just stare at one person! Use accurate and varied grammar - Grammar is an important part of creating a logical sentence, so students should use correct grammar to make it easier for the listener to understand and relate At the same time, students should expand their grammar to make the presentation professional and appreciated 4.1.3 After the presentation After having finished the presentation, not forget to smile with the audience and thank them for listening to the presentation After that, ask if they have any questions or any tips to make the presentation more completed In addition, the English faculty first year student year can also make the atmosphere more comfortable by opening a song or a comedy video It will make the audiences feel relaxed after a stressful lesson and remember the presentation longer 4.2 Things to avoid when giving presentations There are some things that first-year students in the English department should not in their presentations: - Costumes are not charismatic, showing respect to the audience - Do not put both hands in pockets for a long time This tends to make the freshmen of English department unprofessional and rude - Do not lean on a podium or table It shows weak or worried freshmen - Do not point at the audience - Do not walk too much as it can distract the audience - Do not let interruption calm down - Do not hurry, or speak slowly deliberately Be natural - though not a conversation - Not facing the rear display Talk to the audience, not a visual medium - Do not read directly from leaflets if any Because the audience does not know they should read with the freshman of the English department or listen to them read 4.3 Suggest students on how to fix common mistakes 4.3.1 How to overcome the lack of confidence? 41 Confidence is a top priority for making an effective presentation Although the first-year students of the English department have a well-structured, varied vocabulary and great pronunciation that they cannot control, they become confused and worried, then all they prepare is for them Good will immediately disappear in their minds and they cannot say anything Therefore, confidence in presentation is very important Some of the following techniques should be considered to make first year students more confident in presentations - Choose a topic you know well and prepare well - Never memorize speech - Relax and practice some deep breathing techniques before giving a presentation - Psychological stability and positive thinking - Prepare well all things related to the presentation such as vocabulary, pronunciation, structure, visual aids, etc These will help first-year students of the English department feel more confident because all information and elements for successful presentation are available - Focus on the message - Start with a slow introduction, good preparation; bring a convincing body; have a confident and clear conclusion In general, the most important and effective way to overcome a lack of confidence is to have good preparation and practice 4.3.2 How to make presentations professional? Voice: standard voice is necessary, you should also practice abdominal breathing to be a little long, often read literature and literature to have good speech, also need to use many different tones Need to practice how to raise the voice, voice and create accents for the listener Not everyone is born with a good voice, but if you practice persistently, your voice will attract the audience Improvisation: write the outline out on paper, practice speaking alone many times, you will practice the ability to process words quickly Also regularly collect words, good words, using strange words from books and newspapers during presentations 42 Gestures: practice using hand gestures, facial expressions to express affection during a presentation 43 4.3.3 How to get the audience to pay attention? One of the problems in giving presentations is getting the audience's attention According to Olivia, there are ways to attract the attention of the audience during the presentation: - Talk about something the audience cares about - Tell them why they should listen - Don't make it too easy or too hard - Change attracts attention - Telling stories - Take regular breaks - Make a short presentation but still get the main idea Specifically: - Assess the attitude of the audience through expressions (being focused listening, excited, indifferent and talking privately or tired) Depending on the specific mood of the audience, the presenter has appropriate conduct - Stay calm, listen to the audience's questions attentively - Ask the audience questions to create excitement for the audience to follow up the content 44 CONCLUSION In summary, we can reaffirm that English language is a powerful tool for communication It is a global language that people of different languages use to communicate and engage in business and other fields It also provides access to much of the world’s knowledge Thus, having a good command of the language is likely to bring many advantages because it allows one to communicate with people around the world and have first-hand access to the latest knowledge The purpose of this study is to identify difficulties encountering the freshmen of English faculty at TMU in giving English presentations I hoped that the results of the study may help the freshmen of English faculty in developing their abilities in giving academic oral presentations and as a result, they will particularly improve their speaking skill as well as academic achievement in general 45 REFERENCE Asha, K (2005), The effective presentation – Talk your way to success Zaremba, A J (2006), Speaking professionally, Canada: Thompson South-Western Chivers Barbara ( 2007), “A students’s guide to presentation” Gavin BROOKS and John WILSON (2014), “Using Oral Presentations to Improve Students’ English Language Skills”, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan Farhan Al, Mohammad Osman (2016) “Challenges in Oral Presentation in English for the Freshers at Tertiary Level.” Green University Le Thị Hien (2018), a research paper entitled “English presentation skill in National University of Arts Education” Nguyen Thi Phuong Uyen (2008), “Oral presentation skills of the third- year department at the college ò foreign languages, Danang University” Wikipedia, “Presentation” Prateek Bhattacharjee (2016) expressed his idea about “What is definition of a 10 11 12 13 presentation?” on https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-presentation Big Dog’s leadership page (2013), “Presentation skills” Morrissey & Sechrest (1987), “ Improve your presentation skills” Carlor lucas (2004), “ Presentation and presentation skills” Zivkovic (2014), had a paper subject on “ The Importance of Oral Presentations for University Students” 14 Lenny Laskowski (1997), “10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking” 15 Djuddahhe (2012), had a research on “The importance of communication skill for Students at Universities.” 16 Top tips for presentations from website www.skillsyouneed.com APPENDIX APPENDIX A: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE Dear, first-year English major students! I am Truong Minh Phuong, the final year student at Thuongmai University This survey questionnaire is designed for my graduation paper namely: “A study on common presentation mistakes encountered by first- year students of English Faculty at Thuongmai University and suggested solutions” To complete these questions, 46 please choose the answers by ticking at the items in a checklist or expressing your idea in the blanks Your assistance in responding the following questions will help me a lot for the study Please answers the question sincerely as only this ensures the success of the study The data collected is used in the research paper only, and not for any commercial purposes Thank you for your cooperation! Student’s name: …………………………………… Student’s code: …………………………………… Class: ……………………………………………… SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE Question 1: Where are you come from?  Rural area  Urban area Question 2: What is your attitude toward presentation?  Really like  Like  Normal  Hate Question 3: Do you think presentations are important?  Very important  Important  Maybe Question 4: How often you present in English?  Usually  Sometimes  Rarely  Never Question 5: You think your presentation ability is good or not?  Excellent 47  Good  Average  Poor Question 6: What step of presentation you are have trouble with?  Preparation  Delivery  Both APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTION INTERVIEW QUESTION Question 1: What difficulties you are facing in the area of preparation? Question 2: Which difficulties you feel is the most difficult to overcome in the area of preparation? Question 4: What difficulties you are facing in the area of delivery? Question 5: Which difficulty you feel is the most difficult to overcome in the area of delivery? Question 6: In your opinion, how many factors influence presentation skills development? 48 ... faced by the students of National University of Arts Education The study showed that teachers and students at National University of Arts Education encountered many difficulties in teaching and. .. understand and relate At the same time, students should expand their grammar to make the presentation professional and appreciated 4.1.3 After the presentation After having finished the presentation, ... designed for my graduation paper namely: ? ?A study on common presentation mistakes encountered by first- year students of English Faculty at Thuongmai University and suggested solutions? ?? To complete