Difficulties in english communication activities of first year english majored students at thuongmai university and solutions

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FACULTY GRADUATION PAPER TOPIC: DIFFICULTIES IN ENGLISH COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES OF FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAYJOR STUDENTS AT THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY AND SOLUTIONS HANOI, 2020 ABSTRACT Nowadays, with the development of the world economy, English is not only the language used solely in English speaking countries but also the international language used throughout the world This language is also currently playing more important role in this global integration in which most of international business deals using English as the mean of communication among enterprises or business men Along with the demand of global integration, learning foreign languages for international communication has become more and more vital to Vietnamese students Apart from the importance of English, many Vietnamese learners still face a lot of difficulties when communicating in English It is not easy for learners in this context to achieve their fluency and proficiency in English communication activities Data used for analysis in this thesis were gathered through survey questionnaires and analyzed by both qualitative and quantitative methods 100 first year students of English Faculty were chosen to be research participants This study was conducted with the aims of figuring out the difficulties in the English communication activities and also proposing some useful solutions to improving effectively communication skills In addition, on the basis of the findings, the researcher hopes that this study would be meaningful material and useful suggestions for further studies ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the process of completing this graduation paper, I have faced up with many problems in English, as well as the way to express my ideas However, with the great help, assistance and encouragement from teachers, family and friends; I have overcome these difficulties and completed this graduation paper successfully First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Mrs Pham Thuy Giang, M.A who is my supervisor from English Faculty at Thuongmai University who has not only given me many invaluable suggestions and comments but also provided me with valuable materials In addition, I would like to thank all teachers of English Faculty at Thuongmai University for their precious and useful lessons during my four-year study which have been then the foundation of this study Last but not least, my sincere thanks are delivered to my parents and friends for their encouragement and assistance in this time Because of limited time, knowledge and practical experience, the study’s errors are unavoidable Therefore, I honestly look forward to receiving comments and suggestions to make it be more perfect Ha Noi, April 17th , 2020 Nguyen Thi Ly TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENT .iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .iv CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Previous studies 1.2.1 Studies abroad 1.2.2 Studies in Vietnam 1.3 Aims of the study 1.4 Research Subjects 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Research methodology 1.7 Organization of the study .6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .8 2.1 Communication and communication activities 2.1.1 Definition of language skills .8 2.1.2 Definitions of communication 2.1.3 Definition of communication activities 2.1.4 Components of English communication activities .10 2.1.5 The important roles of English communication activities 10 2.2 The factors affecting English communication activities .11 2.2.1 Objective factors 11 2.2.2 Subjective factors 12 2.3 Common difficulties in English communication activities 14 2.3.1 Speaking difficulties 14 2.3.2 Listening difficulties 16 2.3.3 Lack of physical settings .18 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 20 3.1 Data Analysis 20 3.1.1 General information 20 3.1.2 English usage and general evaluation .20 3.2 Difficulties and solutions to improving communication activities .23 3.2.1 Difficulties and solutions to improving English speaking skills 24 3.2.2 Difficulties and solutions to improving English listening skills 30 3.2.3 Difficulties and solutions to improving physical settings 35 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 38 4.1 Recommendations for the university 38 4.2 Recommendations for teachers 38 4.3 Recommendations for students 40 4.4 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies 41 CONCLUSION 42 REFERENCES vii APPENDIX ix SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE .ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations EFL CTU HPU TMU Q&A English meaning English as a foreign language Can Tho University Hai Phong University Thuong Mai University Question and answer LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Tables and charts Table 3.1 Chart 3.1 Chart 3.2 Name Students’ ability of understanding foreign partners Students’ evaluation of English communication activities Students’ time self learning English each day Chart 3.3 Students’ participation in activities of using English at Chart 3.4 university The general evaluation of difficulties in communication Chart 3.5 activities Students’ willingness to talk to foreign partners Chart 3.6 Difficulties faced when speaking in English Chart 3.7 Learning methods used to improve English speaking skills Chart 3.8 Difficulties encountered when listening partners speak Chart 3.9 Learning methods used to improve English listening skills Chart 3.10 Physical setting problems in using English communication Chart 3.11 skills Conversational group practice method CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale Language is a valuable asset and a characteristic of each nation Every country in the world has its own language, which creates cultural diversity However, to communicate with each other, they need a common language and that is English Nowadays, English is a global language which can be used for communication with both native speakers and non-native speakers in the world, especially in the education section Moreover, all university students need it for their studies in order to search information and obtain knowledge Therefore, a lot of universities throughout the world need to include the English language as one of their required subject For Vietnam, we also see the importance of learning English With students who are the future generations of the country, learning English becomes much more necessary than ever to catch up with the globalization trend and to bring the image of the country world-wide One of the most important skills when learning a foreign language, including English is communication skills It is helpful for learners to use a foreign language to express ideas, thoughts and feelings to the listener Therefore, it can be said that improving knowledge of communication skills and the influence of English communication activities help English skills improve quickly Although communicating in English are very important, the situation of teaching and learning this skill has long been ignored Thus, many Vietnamese students when learning English want to study and practice hard to improve their speaking skills, which will help them in the future working environment However, many Vietnamese people when communicating in English always think that the sentence is mixing words together and translating from mother tongue into English These errors often prevent speakers from becoming more professional in communicating in English Vietnamese students in general and first year students of English Faculty at Thuongmai University in particular, still meet many difficulties in the process of learning English, especially when communicating in English English Faculty students are the ones who will use English in the real work environment later However, English at classes is a big difference from English for communication used in practice So far there has been no research on this issue, so I conducted this study: “Difficulties in English communication activities of first-year English majored students at Thuongmai University and solutions” for my graduation Paper 1.2 Previous studies The research related to the issues:” English communication activities” have been studied by many different researchers around the world in general and in Vietnam in particular 1.2.1 Studies abroad According to the thesis “English oral communication problem and strategies used by Thai employees in an international workplace to communicate with the native and non-native English speaking customers” by Fatinmar Jeharsea for the Tourism English major (2012) This study is aimed to investigate the English oral communication problems and strategies used by Thai employees when communicating with native and non-native English speaking customers in an international workplace The research “The role of communication skill in learning and using the second languages” by Musolas Asubaie (2017) is the second thesis that I would like to mention The purpose of this study was to investigate how individuals learning a second language communicate The second language acquisition is a challenge that requires many skills such as reading, listening, writing, speaking, grammar, and vocabulary However, even though communication skills are important for individuals to interact and communicate, educators of second language learners rarely include communication skills in the curriculum The lack of the knowledge of communication skills and the influence of communication skills on learners illustrate the importance of conducting this study, showing some important communication skills Of ten participants in this study who used English as a second language, in the United States, this study explored their experiences and behaviors when they communicate with others The study found a need to develop communication skills alongside grammar and vocabulary to enhance the development of second language proficiency 1.2.2 Studies in Vietnam The study “Challenges to speaking skills encountered by English-majored students: A story of one Vietnamese university in the Mekong Delta” (2017) by Vo Phuong Quyen, Pham Thi My Nga and Ho Thao Nguyen School of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University, Vietnam is the experiment examining the same research concern related to difficulties encountered by university EFL students while participating in oral classroom activities Moreover, the study “A study on techniques to improve the first year English majors’ speaking skill at Hai Phong University” This study explored the reality of teaching and learning English speaking of the first year English majors at HPU and suggest some main techniques which include the methods of strengthening the teaching of English speaking to help students enhance their English speaking skill Only in this way, students who are learning English speaking can learn it well so that they can communicate in English fluently In order to help the students at HPU, especially the first year English majors at HPU improve their English speaking skill, the author of the study carried out this study The study is expected to help the students of Foreign Languages Department at HPU, especially the first year English majors at HPU improve their English speaking in order to get a brighter future The aim of this study is finding out appropriate techniques for students to improve their speaking skill that the study focuses on finding the reality of the first year English majors learning English speaking and giving them the suggestions for better communication The author wants to change the students attitude on speaking English and let them find English speaking more interesting by consider speaking English as their favorite activity Another study on communication skills was completed by Nguyen Quynh Tram(2016): “Difficulties in communication skills experienced by Russian major students at Ho Chi Minh University of Pedagogy” This study pointed out some typical problems that prevented students from communicating effectively in real situations Because of bilingual learning issues, students experience many conflicts When asked about the degree of concentrating and getting main points of the conversation, 77% of the students say that they often cannot focus on and understand the main content of the conversation or speech Moreover, there are 10% of the students sometimes experience that kind of obstacle meanwhile 13% of the participants totally can concentrate on the speech ● The speakers speak too fast It is not surprising when over two thirds of the students (67%) say that they always feel so hard to listen since native speakers speak too fast so that they cannot handle the conversation or the speech Moreover, there are 27% state they frequently face this difficulty when listening while only 6% of the participants sometimes feel tough to listen due to native speakers’ delivery speed ● The speakers use complicated words and structures Most of the students (83%) report they are sometimes confused in listening since the speakers use complicated words and structures 13% of the participants frequently have troubles in listening due to sophisticated words and expressions while there is only a small number of the respondents (4%) who say have never run into this kind of trouble ● Unfamiliar topics in the conversation 70% of the students say they have not many difficulties in terms of unfamiliar topic used in the conversation while there are 27% feel sometimes they get confused when speakers talk about something new and they did not have any related knowledge Only 3% of the respondents tell they often have troubles when listening to strange topics ● Do not recognize sounds, stress, intonation and liking sounds As presented in chart 3.8, feeling hard to recognize sounds, stress, intonation and liking sounds is the popular difficulty that many learners encounter The students say that they always and frequently (17% and 77% respectively) are not being aware of sounds, stress, intonation and liking sounds 6% of the participants tell they sometimes experience this obstacle To sum up, more than a half of the students (57%) feel difficult to listen and understand what partners speak This result demonstrate that many students have 30 encountered obstacles in listening and their used learning method have not brought out the effectiveness Some popular problems in terms of listening that the students have experienced are known as listeners’ background knowledge, finding hard to concentrate and get the main points of the conversation, the speakers speed and not recognizing sounds, stress, intonation and liking sounds On the other hand, unfamiliar topics or complicated words and structures native speakers use are not common reasons preventing the students from listening well 3.2.2.2 Solutions to improving English listening skills 100% 90% 87% 83% 83% 80% 70% 60% 47% 47% 50% 40% 30% 17% 20% 10% 0% 10% 3% A 11% 6% 0% 0% Always 3% 3% B 0% 0% C Often Sometimes D Never Chart 3.9: Learning methods used to improve English listening skills Notes: (A= Watching foreign movies or TV shows; B= Making use of any free time listening to English; C= Listening to many kinds of English materials; D= Learning about the culture to listen more effectively) ● Watching foreign movies or TV shows As can be seen from chart 3.9, most of the students (87%) always choose watching foreign movies or TV shows as their learning method to enhance English listening A small number of respondents state they often and sometimes use this method to improve their listening skills (10% and 3% respectively) ● Making use of any free time listening to English 31 As the chart presents, the students not use this method to improve their listening skills 47% of the respondents state that they sometimes or even never try to make the most of the time for studying There is only 6% of the students report that they often try their best to learn every time they are free ● Listening to many kinds of English materials As showed in chart 3.9, most of the students (83%) not use the method of listening to many kinds of English materials as to improve their listening skills Just a small group of students (17%) makes their effort in listening to many kinds of materials ● Learning about the culture to listen more effectively As the result shown in chart 3.9, 83% of the respondents say that they not learn about the culture in order to improve their listening skills meanwhile there are 10% of the participants tell that they always use this method to listen to English more effectively and 3% of the respondents frequently and sometimes apply this method In summary, as the received result from the questionnaire, some common learning methods which the students have used are watching foreign movies or TV shows and making use of any free time listening to English.We can see, there are not many students hoping to improve listening skills by listening to many kinds of English and learning about the culture However, there is still an important change to help all students enhance listening skills Watching foreign movies or TV shows is also seen as an effective way to improve listening skills since it also helps students relax after a tired day Watching films or TV shows will definitely motivate learners than listening to an audio file and motivation is considered as one of the most important factors in determining successful method Films and TV shows appearing as a motivator also makes the language learning process more interesting and enjoyable Another useful method for the students is trying to make use of their time to listen to English they should make the most of their time such as time for relaxing at noon and being at home after all day studying other subjects to listen to English 32 in both active and passive ways so that this method can definitely improve their listening skills As the result of the survey, there are not many students who listen to diversified English materials However, it is an effective method to get vocabulary of lots of fields and it does help students listen well when any topics come up with in the conservation In addition, learning about the culture of that language helps the students listen more efficiently since language is more than just a means of communication Through learning a country’s history as well as culture, learners can get a broader and deeper view of the essence involved in a language, hence improve comprehensive understanding of it In addition, there are many kinds of dialects, nuances, idioms and slangs which learners only can learn and understand if people understand its context 3.2.3 Difficulties and solutions to improving physical settings 3.2.3.1 Physical setting problems 60% 52% 50% 46% 39% 40% 30% 27% 25% 24% 21% 20% 15% 12% 15% 12% 10% 2% 0% A B Always Often Sometimes C Never Chart 3.10 Physical setting problems in using English communication skills Notes: (A= Abundant of English material source; B= Lack of partners; C= Lack of practice environment) Physical settings such as environment and learning materials are also very important issues in practicing communication activities The result from chart 3.10 33 demonstrates the considerable influence of physical settings in English communication skills From the questionnaires, “Abundant of English material source” shows that 24 students from the total of 100 students choose the answer “always” The proportion of the students who choose the answer “often” makes up 39% 12% answer “sometimes” and 25% answer “rarely” “Lack of partners” points out with 15% “always”, 46% “often”, 12% “sometimes” and 27% “rarely” Different from two first problems, the lack of practice environment problem shows that 52% of student choose “often” The physical settings play a very important role in practicing communication skills These are the factors that motivate the students to learn and be more excited By combination of listening and speaking skills that create the appropriate environment to help students use English knowledge, the learners turn them into smooth and efficient conversations 3.2.3.2 Solutions to improving physical settings 60 56 50 43 40 40 39 33 32 30 22 21 20 12 10 A B Very uesful Quite useful C Useful Chart 3.11 Conversational group practice method Notes: (A= Finding group to speak English; B= Practicing Q&A conversation with partners; C=Practicing in teams) From data of the chart 3.11, environment for the students to interact with speakers of English are very important Common activities are finding group to speak English, practicing Q&A conservation with partners, practicing in teams It can be seen from the chart, students’ assessment of this method is very good and 34 useful, accounting for 56 students for finding group to speak English, 22 students for practicing Q&A conversation with partners, 40 students for working in groups in English Creating conversations in an English-speaking environment is the important factor for learning English As a student of English Faculty, students have many ways to interact with English native environment such as English related parttime jobs, intern interpreters, tour guide All of them help students to fulfil their English skills In fact, we can see that students are always aware that choosing the suitable methodology affects their own progress in improving communication skill In summary, this chapter provides some difficulties that the first year students have encountered in terms of listening and speaking English with their partners as well as physical settings It also gives some useful solutions to improving their communication skills CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS Basing on the results collected from the findings, literature and the questionnaire, it can be concluded that the difficulties English major students encountered include speaking difficulties, listening difficulties and physical setting problems Therefore, besides some detail solutions in chapter 3, in this part, I will recommend some more possible solutions to help students to improve their communication skills 4.1 Recommendations for the university In order to solve the difficulties that English students are facing, , Thuongmai University should upgrade and improve the content of the education program more attractively In addition, it is necessary to create more professional communication environments for students such as organizing competitions related to English with more professional activities As the result, students can be promoted to participate in extracurricular activities The researcher looks forward to the renovation in university to training students who are good at foreign languages and good at specialized knowledge in business economics 4.2 Recommendations for teachers First and foremost, teachers should teach more grammar vocabulary, structure as well as sounds, stress, intonation and liking sounds for first-year students so that 35 they can fulfil the background knowledge Once students have solid knowledge, communication activities also becomes easier with them Teachers raise students’ awareness of the importance of communication skills in learning English is also essential Specifically, teachers create motivation in learning English through activities in classrooms Teachers should also offer opportunities and atmosphere to praise learners for getting something right, doing something well, trying hard, and showing a positive attitude towards learning This could be when they produce an accurate sentence, an amusing role-play, make an interesting contribution to a discussion, or show that they can use a new item of vocabulary It will be a good environment for students to develop comprehensively in both listening and speaking skills In addition, to reduce the negative impacts of psychological difficulties like afraid of making pronunciation and grammatical mistakes, teachers should arrange appropriate learning time allocation for the practice of communication skills In addition, teachers should constantly looking for interesting topics to bring the lessons to help students access the latest social information as well as be more confident to express their own views Finally, English discussion activities is encouraged when practicing communication skills Activities gives learners opportunities to speak more freely and express themselves Some typical activities could be given by teachers as follows:  Surveys: Learners carry out a survey of their class on a topic they like Learners can then talk about the results of the surveys in the class and discuss them They are the best way to know likes and dislikes among classmates  Planning: They consist of planning activities for a special event or for a place and it is an enjoyable activity for students An example would be for instance, planning a programme for a day out  Discussing and solving problems: learners can talk about a topic (chosen by the teacher or by themselves) and then, they express possible solutions Teachers can run students in group so that they can find ideal partners 36  Debates: Learners can be given a statement and they have to decide whether they agree or disagree and why  Role-plays: Each learner acquires a personality or interprets a character and receives a card with some information about their role and the situation In these activities, the teacher gives the information to the learners (cards) such as who they are and what they think or feel With other learners or in a group, they then have to act out a situation as if they were people on their card The purpose of these activities is to create the most natural communication situations to gain learning experiences as well as to solve physical setting problems 4.3 Recommendations for students Beside the detail solutions that the researcher mentioned in chapter 3, in this part, I will recommend some more possible solutions for students to help themselves improve their communication skills Each students should be highly self-aware of the importance of English and learn from friends, teachers or books to choose the most appropriate method This is the first suggestions from the researcher Taking up using English communication habits is very necessary for students to expose to English frequently Doing everything in English in order to create a habit of being exposed to the English environment Students can Imagine conversation situations and create responses, handle conversations to create a habit of reacting quickly to all situations encountered in reality Moreover, it is often difficult for people to concentrate, get main points of a too long story and we if are only listeners Therefore, to make the story easier to be grasped, students can take the time to ask questions around the issue they are discussing with partners Students should prepare a notebook and a pen, if there is anything unclear, you can write in the notebook to ask later Students also should catch any opportunities for exposure to the English language For example, participating in conferences, participating in Englishspeaking clubs, interacting with foreigners at tourist destinations, searching for parttime jobs that are suitable for English ability Currently, the creation of an environment for learning and communicating in English is being invested to 37 provide English language learners with the most convenient and professional environment to improve communication skills In addition, group study not only helps students feel more motivated, but also creates a dynamic communication environment for students Last but not least, students actively practice and expand vocabulary because vocabulary is an indispensable element in any language, its role is even higher than grammar Large vocabulary will help bring confidence when communicating, avoid the embarrassment of not being able to express what they want to say or not understand what the opponent has just said To speed up communication skills, learners need to have a rich source of vocabulary Using easy and common words to communicate will help learners quickly catch up with reaction speed of the native people Along with the addition of vocabulary, the pronunciation of new words, sounds, stress, intonation and liking sounds should be focused When words are pronounced correctly, learners will understand and memorize more easily In order to progress quickly in terms of vocabulary, students should create a habit of adding new words regularly and practice everyday to avoid encountering unfamiliar topics in the conversation 4.4 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies In spite of the researcher’s effort and the enthusiastic support of the supervisor, this paper still has got some shortcomings Firstly, because of the limited time, some other books, documents, research which relate to this study can not be covered Secondly, the knowledge of the researcher is limited which somehow does not give the best advice Therefore, for further studies, the researcher suggests using a combination of research methods like interviewing more students with different background and achievements in order to get more interesting result 38 CONCLUSION As stated earlier, the thesis is an attempt to present the common difficulties in English communication activities of English major students at Thuongmai University In addition, the study aims at investigating some factors causing these obstacles in order to find out some strategies to help students improve the problem To reach the aims of the researcher, the study was divided into fours chapters The first chapter has briefly described the general theories of the research Chapter two in this study concentrates on reviewing literature directly relevant to the topic being investigated It is the theoretical background about communication skills as well as communication activities The third chapter presented the research methodology and findings of the approach to English communication of English major students at Thuongmai University through survey questionnaires This chapter also helped the researcher find out the answers for three questions as mentioned previous in chapter one Chapter four is some recommendations and suggestions to improve English communication skills at Thuongmai University in particular and all of the students in general Being aware of the importance of English communication activities, especially in the later working environment, I made up my mind on “a study on difficulties in English communication activities by English major students at Thuongmai University” Hopefully, this study can bring valuable knowledge for the future works of readers and some improvements on the communication skills Finally, I am always willing to receive the contributions, advice and sympathies from teachers and readers to make my graduation paper much better 39 REFERENCES Adrian Doff (1988) Cambridge Teacher Training And Development Cambridge University Press Ann L Brown(1994)The Advancement of Learning the University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 Baker, J., & Westrup, H (2003) Essential Speaking Skills: A Handbook for English Language Teachers London: Continuum Gulbahar H Beckett and Paul Chamness Miller (2006) Project-based Second and Foreign Language Education : Past, Present and Future Howard Gardner, Ph.D(1973) The Theory of Multiple Intelligences: As Psychology, As Education, As Social Science Hyland (January,2007) Asian Journal of English Language Teaching James Carey 1992 - Communication as Culture ISBN-13: 978-0415989763 Joanna Barker and Haether Westrup (2003) Essential Speaking Skill by Bloomsbury Publishing Jemeny Hamer(1991) The practice of English language teaching by Longman Publisher, Serious Longman Language teacher 10 Laufer, B (1997) The Lexical Plight in Second Language Reading: Words You Don’t Know, Words You Think You Know and Words You Can’t Guess Cambridge University Press 11 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, (1989) Research methods in education Routledge Publisher 12 Musolas Asubaie (May,2017).The thesis “English oral communication problem and strategies used by Thai employees in an international workplace to communicate with the native and non-native English speaking customers” 13 Munro and Derwing (1998) The foundations of accent and intelligibility in pronunciation Simon Fraser University and University of Alberta; Simon Fraser University 14 Phung Thi Son(2013) The study: A study on techniques to improve the first year english majors speaking skill at Hai Phong University 15 Rirchard Nordqist (1985) Grammar and Composition textbooks 16 Rivers (1968) Teaching Foreigner language skill University of Chicago Press ISBN-100226720969 17 Underwood, M (1989) Teaching listening New York 18 Vo Phuong Quyen, Pham Thi My Nga and Ho Thao Nguyen(2017 The study Challenges to speaking skills encountered by English-majored students: A story of one Vietnamese university in the Mekong Delta School of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University, Vietnam 19 Nguyen Quynh Tram(2016): “Difficulties in communication skills experienced by Russian major students at Ho Chi Minh University of Pedagogy” 20 William Scott(2013) Developing a Context-Sensitive Pedagogy for Communication-Oriented Language Teaching by Hong Kong Baptist University WEBSITES https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communication http://luanvan.net.vn/luan-van/de-tai-a-study-on-technique-to-improve- speaking-skill-for-secondary-student-in-quang-ninh-71641/ http://www.cal.org/caela/tools/program_development/elltoolkit/Part2- 41Interaction&Communication.pdf APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE The questionnaire below is designed to understand the difficulties and solutions to effective English communication skills The information and answers you provide are important and necessary for this survey You are also assured that the data you provide is for research purposes only and not for any other purpose Thanks you very much for your cooperation! What is your name: ………………………… Class: ……………………… Where are you from: □ Urban areas □ Rural areas I Student’s English background information skills (listening and speaking skills) Put tick(s)(√) to choose the suitable answer(s) for the following questions: How long have you been learning English? □ – years □ – years □ – years □ More than years What time you spend in self-learning English each day? □ hour □ hour □ hour □ More than hour In your opinion, which is your level of English competence in? □ Excellent □ Good □ Average □ Bad What you think about the importance of English communication skills? □ Extremely important □ Very important □ A little important □ Not important □ Fairly important What method and program have you used to learn English? (You can tick more than one answer) □ Self-learning □ English center learning □ School learning □ Tutor learning □ Your own method (Please specify): ……………………… ……………………… II: Student’s point of view focusing on difficulties they encounter in communicating in English 2.1 The difficulties of speaking skills Do you feel willing to speak English with your foreign partners? □ Yes, I always □ Yes, I often □ Yes, I sometimes □ I don’t speak willingly What problems you think often prevent you from communicating in English? (1 Always; Often; Sometimes; Never) Unable to find words and structures Unable to find ideas for the topic of the conversation Be afraid of making pronunciation and grammar mistakes Too shy and tense to speak with foreign partners Others (Please specify): ………………………… ……… Have you ever tried and applied any strategy to improve communication skills ? (1 Always; Often; Sometimes; Never) Imitating native speakers Practicing with your friends Attending an English course Recording and listening your voice Your own idea (Please specify): ………………………… 2.2 The difficulties of listening English What you think about your understanding when foreign partners speak? □ Completely understand □ Fairly understand □ Hard to understand □ Do not understand at all 10 In your opinion, what are your problems when listening English? (1 Always; Often; Sometimes; Never) The listeners’ background knowledge The listeners not concentrate on the conversation The speakers speak too fast The speakers use complicated words and structures The unfamiliar topic used the conversation Do not recognize sounds, stress, intonation and liking sounds Others (Please specify): …………………………… 10 11 Have you ever tried any strategy to improve communication skills (listening skill) Watching foreign movies or TV shows Making use of any free time listening to English Listening to many kinds of English materials Learning about the culture to listen more effectively Others (Please specify)…………………………… 11 ... learning English each day Chart 3.3 Students? ?? participation in activities of using English at Chart 3.4 university The general evaluation of difficulties in communication Chart 3.5 activities Students? ??... improving English communication activities of first year English Faculty students at Thuongmai University CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Communication and communication activities 2.1.1 Definition... in communicating and using a language in general 2.1.2 Definitions of communication Wikipedia defines ? ?Communication (from Latin communicare, meaning "to share") is the act of conveying meanings