A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS)

A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS)

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT GRADUATION PAPER A STUDY ON HOW TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE CUSTOMER SERVICE STAFF AT GOLDEN FORWARDING TRANSPORT JOINT STOCK COMPANY (GOLDTRANS)” Hanoi, 2020 HÀ NỘI - 2015 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A STUDY ON HOW TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE CUSTOMER SERVICE STAFF AT GOLDEN FORWARDING TRANSPORT JOINT STOCK COMPANY (GOLDTRANS)” is the result of my own research at Thuongmai University and the material in this research has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This graduation paper would not have been accomplished without the guidance and help of some people, who in one way or another, contributed and extended their valuable assistance in the preparation and completion of this study First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved supervisor, M.A Pham Thi Xuan Ha, one of the lecturers at the Faculty of Business English in Thuong Mai University, for the invaluable support, guidance, and timely encouragement she gave me throughout my research I am truly grateful to her advice and suggestions right from the beginning when this study was only in its formative stage Secondly, I would also like to send my sincere thanks to my colleagues in Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS) who have helped me in answering the survey questionnaire and making constructive and perceptive judgments as well as suggestions for this paper Last but not least, I owe my loving parents and my friends for their continuous support for me to contribute totally my time on this research I would like to acknowledge my special debt to them for their concern, sacrifice and massive love Regardless of my hardest attempt, this report certainly contains numerous mistakes due to the limitation of information resources and other documents as well as the inexperience of the writer in this issue All of the feedbacks and recommendations from readers are warmly welcome and will be considered in order to improve the practicality of this graduation paper To everyone, thank you so much! Hanoi, 19th April, 2020 Nguyen Ha Anh ABSTRACT Nowadays, due to the globalization, English has become a truly global language crossing many international boundaries, the common language spoken by people of different language backgrounds There has been an increasing demand of international communication, especially in the business communities where the customers’ national languages are extremely diverse In Vietnam, English plays a significant role in many businesses Mastering a language is not only a vital requirement for high-level employees to apply new technology processes but also an essential skill for modern Vietnamese Therefore, English has become the first requirement for employer to recruit their employees in a number of fields, occupations and professions Especially, logistic companies' staff need to use English on everyday basis for communication on several levels As one of the leading logistics companies in the field of freight forwarding in Vietnam, Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (hereinafter referred to as GOLDTRANS) has made an impressive foothold in the industry However, as for the employees in GOLDTRANS, they feel that learning English is difficult, especially communication skills Specifically, GOLDTRANS' customer service staffs have difficulty in two skills: listening and speaking in their working process This study is researched on the importance of English listening and speaking skills of the customer support staff In addition, the researcher also analyses and finds out the difficulties of English communication skills that employees in this department have to face based on reasoning and practical expression Then, the survey will be conducted to collect survey data From above difficulties, the study has given some useful solutions to improve English communication skills of customer support staff at GOLDTRANS to help them feel more confident and professional when communicate with foreign customers from many countries around the world Due to limited time, awareness and practical experience, the study could not avoid shotcomings and errors Therefore, I look forward to receiving comments and suggestions from my supervisor and friends in order to perfect the study TABLES OF CONTENTS DECLARATION…………………………… …………………………………….i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLES OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale of the study .1 1.2 Previous studies .3 1.3 Aims of the study .5 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Research methodology 1.5.1 Method 1.5.2 Data collection procedures 1.5.3 Data analysis methods 1.6 Organization of the study .8 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .9 2.1 Overview of listening skill 2.1.1 Definition 2.1.2 Types of listening 10 2.1.3 Characteristics of listening skill 13 2.1.4 The importance of listening skill 15 2.1.5 Listening problems of the English learners in general and the customer support staff in GOLDTRANS in particular 16 2.1.6 Factors affecting listening skill 18 2.2 Overview of speaking skill 20 2.2.1 Definition 20 2.2.2 Types of speaking 21 2.2.3 Characteristics of speaking skill 22 2.2.4 The importance of speaking skill .24 2.2.5 Speaking problems of the English learners in general and the customer support staff in GOLDTRANS in particular 25 2.2.6 Factors affecting speaking skill 27 2.3 Conclusion .29 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 30 3.1 The research hypothesis .30 3.2 Procedure of data collection 30 3.2.1 Questionnaire survey 30 3.2.2 Interviews .31 3.2.3 Data analysis 31 3.3 Results and discussion 31 3.3.1 Results 31 3.3.2 Discussion 45 3.4 Conclusion .52 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS .53 4.1 Solution to improve speaking skill .53 4.2 Solution to improve listening skill .58 CONCLUSION 61 REFERENCES 63 APPENDIX viii SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES viii INTERVIEW QUESTIONS .xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS No Abbreviations GOLDTRANS English meaning Vietnamese meaning Golden Forwarding Transport Công ty Cổ phần giao No TOEIC Joint Stock Company Number Test of English for nhận vận tải Vàng Số Bài kiểm tra tiếng Anh IELTS International Communication International English Language giao tiếp quốc tế Hệ thống kiểm tra tiếng Etc MA Testing System Et cetera Master of Art Anh quốc tế Vân vân Thạc sĩ văn chương/ xã IPA hội International Phonetic Alphabet Bảng ký hiệu ngữ âm MBL Master Bill quốc tế Vận đơn chủ LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES No Tables and figures Table 3.1 Staff’s profile Chart 3.1 Frequency of listening and speaking English of the 32 32 customer service staff at GOLDTRANS Table 3.2 Staff’s attitude towards the importance of English listening 33 and speaking skill Chart 3.2 Staff’s listening and speaking ability self – rated Table 3.3 The proficiency in listening and speaking English of 34 35 customer service staff at GOLDTRANS Table 3.4 Customer service staff’s expectation to improve their 36 English listening and speaking skill Chart 3.3 Frequency of organizing activities related to English at 37 10 11 12 GOLDTRANS Chart 3.4 Factors affecting English speaking process Chart 3.5 Factors affecting English listening process Chart 3.6 Staffs’ speaking problems Chart 3.7 Staffs’ listening problems Table 3.4 Suggested solutions to improve English speaking skill for 38 39 41 42 43 13 the staff at GOLDTRANS Table 3.5 Suggested solutions to improve English listening skill for 44 the staff at GOLDTRANS Pages CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale of the study English has become an accepted international language since the World War II One of the reasons for this is that the United States has become more powerful in their politics, economy, technology, and culture Additionally, its language, English, has become the language for international communication The main cause of this is globalization As a result of the increasing demand of international communication in the academic and business communities, English has earned the status of a global language, the common language spoken by people of different language background Vietnam is a developing country With the joining of economic sectors and strong integration trend, the emergence of foreign companies as well as the global economic needs appear more and more Knowing how to use another foreign language besides the mother tongue, especially English, provides more opportunities for application In fact, nowadays, English certification is almost required for office work Hutchinson and Walter (1987) stated that “The effect was to create a whole new mass of people wanting to learn English, not for the pleasure or prestige of knowing the language, but because English was the key to the international currencies of technology and commerce.” They also suggested that people are determined to learn English because they know why they want to learn it and what they can with it As there was a growing amount of English language learning, a revolution in linguistics also emerged Widdowson, 1978 (as cited in Hutchinson and Walter, 1987) suggested that the trend in linguistics has changed from studying the grammar rules of the language to studying how the language is actually used in the communication in real situations The company in this study (GOLDTRANS) is one of the leading logistics companies in the field of freight forwarding in Vietnam with the scope and size of service and the number of long-term customers There has been an increasing workforce demand recently, especially for English speaking employees to work as customer service agents in order to serve and handle the growing numbers of foreign customers Following the Chief Executive Officer’s operating strategy “Because We Care” and "Yes, We Can Meet Your Need", one of the goals is to maintain high standards and a reputation of good and caring services The CEO also wants the company to “Not only focus on providing information service, but also make customers feel well taken care of whenever they need assistance” Also, the company has aimed to improve the level of customers’ satisfaction toward the service provided by the company It is believed by the company that improving the customer service employees’ language could help in this situation For other Vietnamese – speaking customer service employees of other departments, they are provided with the appropriate wordings, scripts, or guidelines of responses It is quite convenient for them to scan through the scripts and respond to the customers almost immediately Unfortunately, for English – speaking customer service employees, there is no English version of those scripts provided Inevitably, regardless of their years of working experience, putting the customers on hold to read the information provided in Vietnamese and translate that into English based on their own understandings occurs quite frequently However, some of these translated versions of responses can be ambiguous and/or incorrect, which could lead to misunderstandings and several other drawbacks This directly affects the employees’ performances According to the previous studies of Friginal (2007) and Lockwood (2011), it is implied that as non-native speakers of English, customer service employees may need to have the knowledge of cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity, alongside with the improvement of English pronunciation, grammar and communication skills Moreover, the majority of the customers are non-native speakers of English, and therefore difficulties in communication often arise Because of the diversity of customers’ nationality, language and culture, it would be helpful if the customer service employees had the communication skills as well as the knowledge and awareness in terms of different varieties of the English language During my experience as a trainee for one month in Customer Service department of GOLDTRANS, I was able to access to the existing difficulties in English communication skills problems in this company Although English is necessary for work, due to no specific requirements on language proficiency and nature of each department, employees don’t give enough attention to their English communication skills, especially listening and speaking skills Because of the reasons above, the researcher carries on the study with the title: “A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skills of the Customer Service Staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company (GOLDTRANS)” with expectation to help the staff, especially the customer service staffs in GOLDTRANS to improve their English listening and speaking skills to work with foreign guests more effectively 1.2 Previous studies We all know that there are millions of English speakers across the globe They are eager to learn English with high passion and enthusiasm Knowing English increases your chances of getting a good job in a multinational company within your home country or for finding work abroad It’s also the language of international communication, the media and the internet, so learning English is important for socializing and entertainment as well as work Therefore, there have been lots of international and domestic studies which have been done in recently relating to the learning English in general and English communication in particular However, I was really impressed with the following researches: For example, Helen Fraser, University of New England, 2000 has studied the topic: “Coordinating improvements in pronunciation teaching for adult learners of English as a second language” In this study, the researcher is concerned with the situation of non-native speakers of English who have come to live in Australia as adults and have difficulty learning to speak English in a way that makes them easily intelligible to native speakers One of the challenges for this group of learners is the huge variableness in their backgrounds, not just in terms of their native language but in terms of their life histories, culture and education Human learning ability develops at a young age and becomes more difficult as we grow up Especially the language ability develops most strongly from the time we were born to adolescence There are also difficulties in teaching ability and techniques to dealing with this group of learners customers well Moreover, it is vital to turn English into a favorite For example, they are able to spend one or two hours at the weekend to chat with the foreigners instead of Vietnamese Some coffee shops are the great places for them to talk each other Not only these ways help them to have a new relationship with the foreigners but create the useful conditions for them to understand more about the culture, cuisine, people of English native people as well They even can find lots of people who can speak English to practice through the group of games and sports like snooker, pool, cricket, rugby, billiards Furthermore, identifying the promotion in career and personal purposes of living and working also makes learning English as a strong passion In short, making mistakes is better than not speaking Being confident and finding a strong motivation are the key to help the staff to change English speaking ability  Solution to problem 2: Lack of topical knowledge Lack of knowledge is said to be one of the primary problems which causes the difficulties in English speaking Up to 70% of the employees said that they not have enough topical knowledge to speak English What are they lacking?  Vocabulary There are a lot of words with variety of meaning and usage Therefore, it is not easy for the staff to learn all of them Firstly, they should know more vocabulary about specialized field (Logistics) in order to serve the job It is simple for them to ask their leaders or colleagues about the new words or they can look for these words by themselves They have lots of choices to find the meaning and usage of any words you not know through the dictionary Although it is a traditional way to learn English but it is extremely effective Some good dictionaries that they can use to accumulate vocabulary like Oxford Advanced Learners dictionary, Cambridge Advanced Learners dictionary They are both good for British English There is also a Merriam Webster’s Advanced Learners dictionary That is for American English Another way to accumulate vocabulary is download some English applications on their phones They can learn vocabulary anytime, anywhere they want Besides, they can join the 53 regular pronunciation courses, online courses if they not have much time to selfstudy Learning vocabulary through English films or book is also the best way to learn new words and know the usage the suitable words in particular situation  Pronunciation About 60% of the employees admitted that they are unconfident to speak English because of their bad pronunciation Mispronunciation is a common mistake which both the customer support employees and the non- native speakers have to cope with when they speak English The solution to solve this problem is to learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Because the IPA is a system for representing different sounds with symbols, it will help them to pronounce a word correctly They should practice regularly to see the effective of this method Another way you can chose to enhance your pronunciation is to take online pronunciation courses via internet It is extremely suitable for the employees who are very busy with work  Grammar Being good at English grammar is necessary because the staff will quickly understand what exactly the customers are saying and find the correct form of what they want to say Because they know all of the grammatical rules so they no longer concentrate on them As a result, the staff can pay attention to excellent pronunciation and fluency Finally, they will feel confident to speak English In order to deal with this problem, it depends a lot on self- studying through a variety of channels and mostly through books In short, grammar is indispensable improving English-speaking skill The only way to learn grammar is to depend on time staff spends practicing it every day  Accent Everyone has an accent and it reflects the place where a person comes from That is why it is easy to say if someone is American, Pilipino, British or Australian Some employees learn English wonder about whether they change their accent or keep it However, being competent in English speaking requires they have to accent like native speakers 54 The key to acquiring another accent is to understand and study that language (like English) as a totally different language Another way is that they can imitate the native speakers’ accent via films or songs  Solution to problem 3: Lack of English practical environment A practical environment to study English is very important for the staff Of course, it affects a lot the work efficiency of each person as well as productivity of the company Therefore, the employees expect to create the new environment where brings lots of opportunities to practice English To solve this problem, each staff has to start from the smallest things like call the name of everything in English, always speak English even in break time Also, they have to try to communicate with others in English This is the best way to make English familiar and be a part of everyone’s life  Solution to problem 4: Mother-tongue use According to question of the survey question, there is only 10% of the employees always listen and speak English in office It shows that, most of time they communicate in Vietnamese In fact, they mostly work with foreign customers through internet Direct communication is quite limited In addition, almost all employees in GOLDTRANS is Vietnamese so it is easier for them to understand exactly what the other says is speak in mother tongue In order to deal with this problem, the staff should practice speaking English regularly especially with their colleagues It makes the good condition for them to raise speaking ability quickly Instead of just speaking English in the office, they can practice regularly in everyday communication  Solution to other problems: Laziness, limited time, ineffective learning method Laziness is a bad routine which anyone both has to get rid of in life It affects the way people everything both at work and in life Therefore, everyone has to determine what is motivation, promote purposes when doing anything Especially, learning English as a second language is not easy The staff should be hard working to be proficient English quickly 55 Most of the employees are busy working in office The other people get married and have to spend time for their family Therefore, it is quite difficult for them to go to English classes during the day However, with the development of technology, managing reasonable time to learn English is extremely easy They can take English courses that are appropriate for their time, such as evening classes and weekend classes A large number of the employees chose to take online classes because of flexible time They just need a computer or laptop with internet connection and a few hours to learn from distance The researcher also offers some online learning English websites that can help most of the employees feel satisfied about the content, teaching method as well as the reasonable price However, it is just the personal opinion and depends a lot on different learning styles, interest, and personalities of each person Hence, the staff should choose courses carefully in order to gain the best results Name of some online English websites for working people: - Voicetub - Topica native - Studyphim - Starfall - Livemocha In addition, learning methods have a great impact on learning outcomes If the staff applies the correct methods, it will bring the expected results for the them and they will be proficient English with less time However, not everyone can choose the effective method Most of the staff struggle with English because they not know where they start There are a lot of learning English method but the working people just choose one of them to follow Sometimes, it is not necessary to apply all steps according to these methods, they only need to follow some steps or change a number of steps that are suitable for their situations In short, each person must find his own way to learn effectively Currently, approaching a new learning English method through internet is popular to Vietnamese They will have more opportunities to interact with other people from 56 different countries around the world If they follow these methods for a long time, certainly they will achieve the desired result at work as well as in life 4.2 Solution to improve listening skill Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret message in the communication process Listening is key to all effective communication Obviously, without the ability to listen effectively, messages are easily misunderstood As a result, communication breaks down and the sender of the message can easily become frustrated or irritated So, there is one communication skill you should aim to master, the listening skills is it There are some solutions for customer service staff in GOLDTRANS as follow:  Solution to problem and 2: Lack of vocabulary and grammar Update English vocabulary on topics you are interested in, especially specialized words in your working field, learn grammar carefully to understand clearly what customers say Try to learn and understand the specialized terms and vocabulary of logistics industry It is also really important to comprehend all of the little grammar pieces and words that may change the meaning For example, a tiny word like “will” can change the verb tense to the future Or hearing the difference between “the goods are on the car” versus “the goods are in the car” With one letter changing in the proposition from ‘on’ to ‘in’, the meaning changes completely  Solution to problem 3: The speaker’s speed Listening skills is a good thing and it takes time to grow and develop They depend on a wide variety of factors including time spent learning, amount of listening done, and depth of vocabulary One of the good ways to improve listening skills quickly is to be consistent, be patient and listen regularly Practice every day is the best way to improve ability when improving listening foreign language in general and English in particular Besides, practice and listen regularly are also very important to control the speed at which speakers speak When staff listen regularly, the emotion about what they are listening will become familiar and their English listening skills will get better day by day 57 In addition, in listening process, it is easy to see listening as an exclusively passive activity Unlike speaking, reading and writing, listeners not really need to anything at all to listen, they just need to be within earshot, and the sounds will enter their ears on their own So, to get the maximal value from their listening activities, listeners need to turn passive listening into active listening, which will greatly increase their comprehension and retention rates One of the best ways to is through taking notes while listening Therefore, when the staffs work on their listening skills, they should take out a notebook or piece of paper while listening to customer through the phone  Solution to problem 4: Lack of background knowledge of listening topics Understanding most of what staff listen to is the basic step to improve their listening skills Staffs at GOLDTRANS need to decide exactly what kinds of comprehensible content you will practice with Although staffs could listen to anything that meets 70%-80% comprehensibility standard, but the good way is they should choose materials that are relevant and interesting to them This is important because relevant and interesting will always be more enjoyable to listen to, in comparison with other resources If they enjoy what they listen to, staffs will have more motivation to continue listening, and be more resistant to stopping, or losing focus This means that staffs should be very picky about what they will listen and they have to make sure that they actually like it In the working process at the company, there are many topics that you are not interested in, but those are mandatory part of your job, then turn those into an interest, dig deep into it to get more knowledge Besides the solutions for employees, the researcher also believes that the attitude of the manager towards English learning of the employees is very important They should create the creative and practical working environment for employees to study In other words, organizing the extra activities regularly is a good way to motivate employees Furthermore, a training program which specialized in English for entire staff also applied regularly It will bring a lot of benefits to the company as well as the staff Besides, the managers also need to have the reward policies for the staff with good qualification to encourage and motivate 58 them work effectively Last but not least, the employees are required to have the English certifications TOEIC (>650) or IELTS (>6.5) if they want to work in the company To sum up, these solutions are applied to two main objects are the staff and the managers If they both follow these solutions, certainly, it may bring lots of benefits for two sides CONCLUSION Listening and speaking is two major skills of communication in a language, and they are perhaps the most difficulties to be acquired, as it enjoys minimum time duration for planning Therefore, anyone needs to learn and practice English listening and speaking whether they serve the jobs or not However, most of them have trouble with these two skills that making them feel bored in learning English In this graduation paper, the researcher found out the reality of using English listening and speaking skill among the employees in Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company It is quite clear to see that most of them have a bad routine in practicing English listening and speaking at work as well as in life In addition, the researcher reviewed the factors that affect customer support staff The mentioned factors play an important role in identifying the solutions to help them improve their English listening and speaking skill Although almost all employees understood the importance of these two skills but they cannot change their ability a lot Therefore, the researcher also pointed out the problems and difficulties which employees faced when listening and speaking English Based on the findings of this paper, solutions to each problem were given The managers and the staff are two main objects which the researcher mentioned in this study For the managers part, they should require English certifications for people who want to work in the company In addition, creating practical environment as well as having reward policies to motivate employees work Especially, they should pay more attention to organize outdoor activities and training course to help them have comfortable feelings and the firm profile in learning English 59 For the staff part, based on their expectation in learning English listening and speaking, the researcher also mentioned some suitable solutions for them The key solution to help them enhance their English listening and speaking ability is to study by themselves Because all activities, feelings are decided by them Moreover, colleagues are the best friends will support them during the English learning process All solutions withdrawn were the results of study basing on the data in researching process Due to the lack of time, the data was only collected through survey questionnaires and interview questions Therefore, the results of this study may reflect one of certain situations of English listening and speaking skill of the staff in Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company There are many things that need considering thoroughly Mistakes and shortcomings are unavoidable so any comments or extra contributions are welcome English listening and speaking skill still remain a wide area This is the first research in Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company which focuses on the problems the customer service staffs cope with when listening and speaking English then finds the effective methods for them to resolve these problems After finishing the study, the researcher would like to recommend for further research as follows:  Using “Practical situations” to enhance professional English listening and speaking skill for Customer Service staff  Replicate this research in other companies and find out the most effective method of training work related to English listening and speaking for Customer Service staff To sum up, this research depicts a situational analysis of the current situation of learning English among the employees, some factors affect their English ability, and the problems they coped with when listening and speaking English Accordingly, it is clear that the different solutions are given to two the managers and the staff The researcher also discovered the key answer to research question how to improve English listening and speaking skill for customer service staff in Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company 60 It is hoped that in particular, the study may be useful for the customer service staff and for all employees in other companies in Vietnam in general REFERENCES Bachman, L., & Palmer, A S (1996) Language Testing in Practice Oxford: Oxford University Press Baker, J., & Westrup, H (2003) Essential Speaking Skills: A Handbook for English Language Teachers London, Continuum Bashir, M., Azeem, M., & Dogar, A H (2011) Factor Effecting Students' English-Speaking Skills British Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 2(1), 34-50 Bentley, S., & Bacon, S.E (1996) The all new, state-of-the art ILA definition of listening: Now that we have it, what we it? Listening post Boonkit, K (2010) Enhancing the Development of Speaking Skills for Non-Native Speakers of English Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2010), 1305–1309 Bozorgian, H (2012) The Relationship between Listening and Other Language Skills in International English Language Testing System Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol 2, No 4, pp 657-663 Buck, G (2001) Assessing listening New York: Cambridge University Press Bygate, M (1987) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press Chaney, A (1998) Teaching Oral Communication in Grades k-8 USA, A Viacom Company 10 Davies, P., & Pearse, E (2000) Success in English Teaching Oxford University Press 11 Eissa, A., Misbah, & Najat, A (1988) Problems of Using English as a Medium of Instruction and Communication at the College of Science, Kuwait University Educational Journal, 4(15), 47-94 12 Feyten, C M (1991) The Power of Listening Ability: An Overlooked Dimension in Language Acquisition The Modern Language Journal, Volume 75, No 2, 173-180 13 Goss, B (1982) Listening as Information Processing Communication Quarterly, 30, 304-307 61 14 Hasan, A (2000) Learners’ perceptions of listening comprehension problems Language, Culture and Curriculum, 13, 137-153 15 Howatt and Dakin (1974) Language laboratory materials 16 Hughes, R (2002) Teaching and Researching Speaking New York: Pearson Education 17 Hutchison, T & Waters, A (1987) English for Specific Purposes Cambridge University Press 18 Nunan, D (1999) Second Language Teaching & Learning An International Thompson Publishing Company, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 USA 19 Latha, B M (2012) Teaching English as a Second Language: Factors Affecting Learning Speaking Skills International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT), 1(7), 1-6 20 Levelt, WJM (1989) Speaking: From Intention to Articulation MIT Press 21 Lê Thị Thu Huyền (2010) Students' English listening anxiety: causes and solutions Master’s thesis, Vietnam National University 22 O’Malley, J.M., Chamot, A.U., & Kupper, L (1989) Listening Comprehension Strategies in Second Language Acquisition Applied Linguistics, 29, 331-341 23 Pourhosein Gilakjani, A., & Sabouri, N.B (2016) Learners’ Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English English Language Teaching, Vol 24 Prieto, (2007) Improving Eleventh Graders' Oral Production in English Class through Cooperative Learning Strategies PROFILE, 8, 75-90 Bogotá, Colombia 25 Purdy, M (1997) “What is Listening?”, in M Purdy, & D Borisoff (Eds.), Listening in Everyday Life A Personal and Professional Approach Lanham, MD: University Press of America 26 Shumin, K (1997) Factors to Consider: Developing Adult EFL Students' Speaking Abilities English Teaching Forum, 35(3), 27 Tanveer, M (2007) Investigation of The Factors That Cause Language Anxiety for ESL/EFL Learners in Learning Speaking Skills and The Influence It Casts on Communication in The Target Language Dissertation, University of Glasgow 28 Tuan, N H., & Mai, T N (2015) Factors Affecting Students' Speaking Performance at LE Thanh Hien High School Asian Journal of Educational Research, 3(2), 8-23 62 29 Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching, Practice and Theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 30 Woodrow, L (2006) Anxiety and Speaking English as a Second Language RELC Journal, 37(3), 308-328 31 Young, D J (1982) Language anxiety from the foreign language specialist’s perspective Foreign Language Annals, Vol.25, pp 157-172 63 APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES (For the employees in Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company) Dear members of all departments in GOLDTRANS, the survey questions below are based on my research topic on “A study on how to improve English listening and speaking skill of the customer service staff at Golden Forwarding Transport Joint Stock Company” In order to carry out the research, I am looking forward to your cooperation and help for this questionnaire (All information provided for research purpose only and may not be used for any other purposes) Please answer the question below Part 1: Personal information Full name: Part 2: Questions Please circle the answers which are suitable for you Question 1: How long have you been studying English? A Never learned B 1- years C 5- years D Over years Question 2: Do you often listening and speaking English? A Always B Usually C Sometimes D Seldom E Never Question 3: How would you rate your listening and speaking skills? A Excellent good B Good C Average D Poor Question 4: Does your company regularly organize activities related to English? A Always B Usually C Sometimes D Seldom E Never Question 5: How you think about the importance of English listening and speaking skill? A B C D E Very important Important Neutral Almost important Unimportant Question 6: Do you want to improve your ability of listening and speaking English? A B C D E Strongly like Like Neutral Dislike Strongly dislike Question 7: Which is the most difficult factor you have to encounter during speaking English? (You can choose more than one answer) A B C D E Vocabulary Grammar Pronunciation Accent Others Question 8: Which is the most difficult factor you have to encounter during listening English? (You can choose more than one answer) A B C D E Personal bias Environment factors Short attention span Accent Others Question 9: How much you agree with the following statements? No Question Completel Agre Normally Disagre Totally y agree e agree disagre e e I cannot listen English I cannot speak English I just can speak a little with the basic sentences I just can listen basic and simple sentences I can communicate the familiar themes but not proficiently enough I can speak English fluently under circumstances I can listen English fluently under circumstances Question 10: What difficulties you cope with during the English listening process? (You can choose more than one answer) A B C D E Vocabulary Grammar The speaker’s speed Background knowledge of the listening topics Others Question 11: What difficulties you cope with during the English-speaking process? (You can choose more than one answer) A B C D E Inhibition Topical knowledge Environment at work Mother-tongue use Others Question 12: What are some suggestions to improve your English listening skill? (You can choose more than one answer) A Update English vocabulary on topics you are interested in B Listen actively by taking note C Be patient and listen regularly 10 D Listen to what you enjoy E Others Question 13: What are some suggestions to improve your English-speaking skill? (You can choose more than one answer) A B C D E Spend more time practicing English at home as well as at office Choose the appropriate English-speaking method Overcome the psychological barrier Turn English into a favorite Study the specialized knowledge via books or colleagues INTERVIEW QUESTIONS How you think about the working environment in your company? Do you think which is the most difficult factors affecting your English listening and speaking process? Do you have any problems in listening and speaking skill? What are they? What did you to solve these problems? How did they work? Do you have any suggestions to help employees in your company to enhance English listening and speaking skill? What time you often study online English listening and speaking skill? 11 ... results and system them, analyze and create data tables Based on the analysis of the data, I will draw conclusions about the research 1.5.3 Data analysis methods Data analysis is a process of inspecting,...DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled ? ?A STUDY ON HOW TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE CUSTOMER SERVICE STAFF AT GOLDEN FORWARDING TRANSPORT JOINT STOCK COMPANY. .. number of factors while listening and speaking such as: personal bias, environmental factors, short attention span and accent while listening English, and vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and accent