A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions
THUONGMAI UNIVERSITYENGLISH FACULTY GRADUATION PAPER DIFFICULTIES IN COMMUNICATING IN ENGLISH WITH FOREIGNERS: THE CASE OF ENGLISH MAJORS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY Supervisor: Mrs Tran Thi Bich Lan , M.A Student: Nguyen Thi Thu Uyen Class: K53N6 Student’s number: 17D170341 Hanoi - 2020 Hanoi - 2020 HÀ NỘI - 2016 ABSTRACT Over time, the society has become more and more integrated Therefore, a second language besides the mother tongue is a useful tool to help us get closer to the quintessence of humanity Because of that, English is considered the second most widely studied and popular language in the world In English skills, communication skill can be considered as the most important skill However, during the learning and communication process, learners also make some mistakes that need to be overcome to improve this skill better Having learning this language since being at school, I would like to discuss the difficulties in communication in English with foreigners of the English-majored students in the English Faculty at Thuongmai University And this is also the topic of my graduation thesis The survey is conducted with the students of the English Faculty to collect survey data Finally, I propose some right solutions for students to overcome difficulties when practicing speaking skill I hope that this study will bring students awareness of the difficulties in learning communication skill and refer to some useful solutions that will help them improve their communication skill ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Although doing study in a limited time, I received a lot of enthusiastic help from so many people to complete this graduation paper I greatly appreciate the enthusiastic supports First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and profound thanks to Mrs Tran Thi Bich Lan, one of the enthusiastic lectures of the English Faculty at Thuongmai University and my supervisor Thanks to the thoughtful guidance, I finished the graduation thesis in the most complete way Without any help of her, I can hardly finish this graduation thesis Secondly, I am sincerely thankful to all the English-majored students in the English Faculty who helped me a lot in this study They helped me complete the survey and provided me with important data from the questionnaire so that I could analyze and provide the best suggestions for my research Last but not least, I want to thank my family and my close friends for supporting me They helped me to be more spiritual and create good conditions for me to complete my graduation paper well I wish to thank all who have kindly given their advice with source materials during writing I know my graduation paper still have mistakes due to my shortcomings I would like to receive your comments, suggestions and corrections for the perfect of my own graduation paper Hanoi, November 22, 2020 Student Nguyen Thi Thu Uyen TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .iii LIST OF TABLES v CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 RATIONALE 1.2 PREVIOUS STUDIES 1.3 AIMS OF THE STUDY 1.4 RESEARCH SUBJECT 1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY .4 1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1.6.1 Instrumentation 1.6.2 Data collection procedures 1.6.3 Data analysis methods 1.7 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .7 2.1 What is communication 2.2 The importance of communication in our life 2.3 Types of communication 2.3.1 Verbal communication 2.3.2 Nonverbal communication 10 2.3.3 Written communication .11 2.3.4 Visual communication 12 2.4 Process of communication 12 2.5 Importance of English communication skills .15 2.6 Barriers to effective communication 18 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 22 3.1 Introduction 22 3.2 Findings and discussion 22 3.2.1 Findings 22 3.2.2 Students’ attitudes toward communicating in English with foreigners .25 3.2.3 Difficulties of students in communicating in English with foreigners 26 3.2.4 Strategies to improve communication skill in English with foreigners 30 3.2.5 Discussion 31 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 32 4.1 Limitations 32 4.2 Recommendations 32 4.3 Some suggestions for further research 35 CONCLUSION 36 REFERENCE APPENDIX LIST OF TABLES Tables Chart 3.1 Chart 3.2 Chart 3.3 Table 3.1 Chart 3.4 Table 3.2 Chart 3.5 Table 3.3 Chart 3.6 Chart 3.7 Content Page Respondents’ level of English communication with 23 foreigners Students’ chances to communicate in English with 24 foreigners Students’ attitudes toward communicating in English with 25 foreigners Difficulties related to linguistics 26 Difficulties related to linguistics 26 Difficulties related to psychology 27 Difficulties related to psychology 28 Difficulties related to communication culture 29 Difficulties related to communication culture 29 Strategies to improve communication skill in English with 30 foreigners CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 RATIONALE It is said that “ Study must be accompanied by practice” It is completely right since if we are good at theory but we can not use it in reality, we can not succeed in work Practice is the best way to apply what we have learned in reality By practicing, we can get acquainted with our future job and improve our skills There is an undeniable fact that today communication skill and especially communication in English plays a very important role in the development of human society It is estimated that there are around 5000 languages in the world Of those, English is still chosen as a global language It is the main language used on the Internet, business and many others fields There are many advantages but also many difficulties in learning English and the process is often challenging, especially for students They have a lot of time but have one disease - laziness, lack of perseverance In addition, there are also other reasons such as the unique characteristics of English vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation I major in English at Thuongmai university but I not have enough time to practice and only have a little opportunity to talk with foreigners During my study process at Thuongmai university, I found many difficulties that I and English major students encounter when communicating in English with foreigners That is why I choose the subject of study as “ Difficulties in communicating in English with foreigners: the case of English majors at Thuongmai universities” I hope that through this research topic, I will point out some difficulties in communicating in English with foreigners and offer some solutions to overcome obstacles and improve this skill in the best way 1.2 PREVIOUS STUDIES We all know that English has become an international language That is the reason why a lot of researchers and scholars conduct research and analyze it There have been lots of international and local studies which have been done recently relating to English learning For example, Alqahtani Mofareh A (September, 2019) addresses the poor language proficiency of English language students, particularly in terms of their conversational skills and/or ability to achieve the desired standards of fluency in either the classroom environment or public sphere The many factors which directly affect students' performance in speaking fluent English include the fear of making errors The present study therefore aims to identify the perceived difficulties which language students associate with the study and utterance of English To this end, the conducted research was descriptive in nature and sought to determine the various elements which are perceived as especially challenging for students and to devise effective solutions through appropriate teaching styles, methodologies and strategies which are driven and supported by the relevant contemporary technology In addition to fear, certain factors relate to individuated student character and practices, and many students report feelings of shyness and potential embarrassment Distrust also constitutes a significant obstacle, along with issues surrounding teaching methods, teacher inefficiency, or the lack of up-to-date pedagogies To fully investigate this issue, a quantitative survey instrument containing multiple questions was undertaken in addition to a number of interviews with a random sample of students and teachers in order to elicit the main student challenge in speaking English The results demonstrated that the majority of the students were unable to speak English either correctly or confidently The percentages which varied between average, weak, and very weak, were attributed to a general weakness in English grammar, vocabulary, syntax, poor fluency in speech, low understanding of overall grammar frameworks, and inaccurate pronunciation In light of this, the present study sought to provide useful suggestions to resolve student conversational problems To this end, the researcher elucidated the research problem, importance, objectives, hypotheses and methodologies, as well as drawing conclusions Finally, the researcher outlined a number of recommendations directly relevant to resolving the complex In Vietnam, there are also many studies related to this field For instance, in the study “A study on the difficulties faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions” by Duong Thu Nga, Thuongmai University (2018) The research was based on the data collected from the questionnaires for the Front Office Staffs in the Super Hotel in Ha Noi Old Quarter with the aim of finding out their difficulties when communicating with customers in English The questionnaire has been designed and sent to 20 Front Office Staffs to research some barriers prevent them from a successful English communication with foreign guests especially Japanese guests Research results showed that the causes of problems occurring during English communication with customers are the differences in intonations of each country, cultural differences, etc From the difficulties and the situation of communicating in English with customers and the main reasons the author recommended the solutions to improve the communication skills of English receptionist staff at Super Hotel Ha Noi Old Quarter Besides, another study “English communication skills of students with foreigners - proposing solutions to join NGOs” (2008), the author selected English major students from four typical universities in Hanoi: VNU University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Foreign Trade University and Hanoi University of Science and Technology Foreigners mentioned in the study are good at English communication skills and qualifications, most of whom are from Europe, Australia and North America using English as their mother language Research methodology used in the article is investigation, interview and observation The research results show that when students communicate with English speakers in different countries, the most common difficulties they encounter are intonation, accent and regional culture These are the highlight of the researches Thereby we can see the different aspects of the problem, have a deeper look and recognize the obstacles in communicating in English with foreigners From there, learners will be able to give themselves the correct learning methods to improve 1.3 AIMS OF THE STUDY My research is to find solutions that help English - major students at Thuongmai university overcome the difficulties they encounter in the English communication process with foreigners My research aims at the following basic goals: Cover background knowledge of communication Analyze the situation of communication in English with foreigners by English - major students at Thuongmai university and the difficulties encountered by themselves Provide solutions to improve English communication skills with foreigners for English - major students at Thuongmai university 1.4 RESEARCH SUBJECT The research subject is to find out the real difficulties faced by English - major students at Thuongmai university in communication in English with foreigners 1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY Research topics are conducted on the scope of Thuongmai University The research focuses on the English - major students in the English Faculty at Thuongmai University to point out their obstacles when communicating in English with foreigners The study is conducted in the first semester of the academic year 2020-2021 Due to time constraints, this study carries out about 100 randomly selected students 1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In this study, the author decided to use the quantitative and descriptive method Quantitative research helps to survey the level of language difficulties in communication process with foreigners Descriptive research helps to list the language difficulties encountered by students during communication process Moreover, a questionnaire is set up which includes both open-ended and closeended questions, allowing the respondents to give their opinions and views in the most convenient way The researcher would analyze the collected data and then display the survey results in forms of charts and tables 1.6.1 Instrumentation According Brown (2001, cited in Markey & Gass, 2005), “Questionnaires are any written instruments that present respondents with a series of questions or grammatical mistakes This means that grammar is not the biggest obstacle to students in communication in English with foreigners Regarding pronunciation problems, it can be assumed that 13%, 18% and 29% of the students usually and often have difficulty Meanwhile, the percentage of students who rarely make pronunciation mistakes is 15% From these numbers, we can see that pronunciation is also a difficulty for students making them feel a lack of confidence in expressing ideas and thoughts Along with the subjective difficulties from respondents, reasons such as swallowing, word stress, linking word or intonation also make it difficult for them to hear what message the other person is conveying In terms of vocabulary, the chart above shows that 38% of the students feel that they always have problems with vocabulary In addition, the percentage of students who feel that they sometimes and rarely make mistakes in vocabulary is 14% and 12%, respectively Thereby, we can see that the lack of vocabulary is a barrier that is difficult for them to overcome 3.2.3.2 Difficulties related to psychology Difficulties Self-confidence Frequency Always Usually Often Sometimes Rarely Total Motivation Responses Percentages (%) Responses 16 20 39 17 100 16 20 39 17 100 12 22 30 17 100 Table 3.2 Difficulties related to psychology 28 Percentage s (%) 12 22 30 17 100 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 Self-confidence Always Motivation Usually Often Sometimes Rarely Chart 3.5 Difficulties related to psychology According to chart 3.5, there are 56% of the students who said that they always feel lack of self-confidence when communicating in English with foreigners There are 17% of them rarely feel confident when actively talking to foreigners Meanwhile, just 8% of the students feel confident to show their communication skill Actually, this number makes us think about students’ confidence when communicating in English with foreigners because this survey was conducted with major students of English Faculty Regarding the problem related to motivation, table 3.2 indicates that there are students (9%) who often have less motivation to communicate in English Meanwhile, the motivation to communicate in English with foreigners appeared with very positive numbers of 12%, 22% and 30% respectively These people said that there are many reasons that motivate them to communicate with foreigners such as practicing listening and speaking skills, English reflexes, cultural exchanges, However, when they incidentally meet foreigners, they are not confident in their current abilities From the above analyzes, we can conclude that the lack of self- confidence and motivation are the main reasons which make it difficult for students to communicate in English with foreigners 29 3.2.3.3 Difficulties related to communication culture Difficulties Communication Culture Frequency Always Usually Often Sometimes Rarely Total Responses Percentages (%) 12 15 34 33 100 12 15 34 33 100 Table 3.3 Difficulties related to communication culture 40 35 34 33 30 25 20 15 15 12 10 Always Usually Often Sometimes Rarely Series Chart 3.6 Difficulties related to communication culture Chart 3.6 shows that from to 12 students have many difficulties related to communication culture when communicating English with foreigners Meanwhile, most of the children not have cultural difficulties when communicating with foreigners One of the reasons is that Westerners are extremely open In particular, in places like “Ho Tay” or “Ho Guom”, it will be easier for you to start a conversation with a Western boy or girl when you interview or mention learning English from them 30 3.2.4 Strategies to improve communication skill in English with foreigners 10.00% 20.00% 17.00% 45.00% Improve pronunciation and listening skill Cultivate vocabulary Learn about communication cultures Seeking foreign friends Participate in English communication courses 8.00% Chart 3.7 Strategies to improve communication skill in English with foreigners Look at the chart 3.7, we can clearly see the difference between students’ learning methods Seeking foreign friends accounts for 45%, the highest of the methods This proves that, students always believe in practice to get better results Getting to know an English-speaking foreigner is the fastest way to improve skills like listening and pronunciation They help us to directly correct mistakes and we will also get used to their standard pronunciation and communication style In fact, those surveyed have more than years of learning English, so the amount of vocabulary they possess is not small However, the method of cultivating vocabulary is still in 3rd place (17%) Participating in English communication courses is method a that is not appreciated, at only 10% In particular, nowadays, there are many new English communication centers appearing, but it is just a form of deceiving students Therefore, this made a bad impression when the student intended to find a communication course to improve their English skills Ranked in the last position is to learn about the communication culture of countries (8%) 31 3.2.5 Discussion Research can prove that some students feel shy about communicating in English with foreigners and have a lot of difficulties in practicing it Most students affirm that English communication with foreigners is the best way to help them improve their skills (listening, pronunciation) However, studying vocabulary, grammar, culture and especially psychological barriers has prevented them from approaching foreigners As English - major students, pronunciation errors or not knowing how to use available vocabulary to communicate is a serious problem that needs to be improved as soon as possible Students need to be active when taking part in both classroom lessons and practice in life They can learn new words, selflearn about communication cultures, or actively ask teachers to correct their pronunciation errors Through the research process, the author finds this problem extremely urgent and need to find the best solutions to help students Learning foreign language is not easy, it requires learners to work hard, spend much time and make an effort to study and improve everyday 32 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 4.1 Limitations After completing the survey of students’ difficulties when communicating in English with foreigners in chapter III, the author analyzed and pointed out the difficulties they are having However, there are several limitations in the study that should be noted Firstly, there is limitation regarding time and how to conduct a survey Due to encountering unexpected objective factors, the author could not meet students directly to proceed the questionnaire Besides, in this study, the author just can evaluate and give some reasons which led to the weakness of students in communication in English with foreigners In spite of the mentioned limitations, the author wishes that this research will contribute to the better situation of communicating in English with foreigners in English Faculty at Thuongmai University 4.2 Recommendations The findings of this study suggest that students encounter some English communication difficulties that can be overcome by putting more emphasis on speaking and listening skill Many issues related to teachers, teaching strategies, curriculum and extracurricular activities But, the most important is students must make an effort to improve their ability in many ways Practice pronunciation One of the things that makes learners hesitate to communicate in English is that their pronunciation is not good They not hear clearly and are afraid to mispronounce For that reason, learners should start practicing their pronunciation very well if they want to understand native speakers and speak English well There are many ways for them to carry out The first step for people with weak pronunciation to pronounce correctly is to learn the IPA alphabet Then, learners can seek other learning resources such as BBC learning English, VOA learning English or videos by teachers on YouTube Besides, students can also apply these lessons 33 and practice yourself in the mirror every day This way can take a lot of time but day by day they will see their pronunciation improved significantly Expand vocabulary To get better in any skills, it is very important to expand vocabulary In other words, students should learn new words every day In fact, many students always feel lack of vocabulary when communicating in English with foreigners, so expanding it is one of the best ways to improve English communication ability The students can put a suitable target, it and complete it daily For example, the target of each day is to learn by heart ten new words Even if students only have time to learn one new word per day, it is still worth trying There are many sources that students can find vocabulary such as the Internet, book, TV shows, teachers, even from their friends One of the good ways is read It not only helps student expand vocabulary but also enhances reading ability The students still learn English words from reading For instance, they find that every couple of months the New York Times uses a word that either they never heard before, or that they have heard but they are not totally solid on the meaning Then students look it up, learn the meaning and then go back to the sentence and solidify it One good idea is to think of another word that they know that they could replace it within that sentence A word that would not change the meaning After that students say the sentence with that word Tying the new word to a word they already know, and studying it in the context of the sentence will help them remember it This way may take much time but it is very useful in a long time Read aloud Reading out loud also is a great way to practice speaking when there are no conversation partners available Reading aloud gives students a chance to focus on pronunciation and pacing without worrying about coming up with words For example, students can find videos that have transcripts By reading aloud from a transcript, students can check your pronunciation by listening to how speaker says something This allows students to it everywhere even if you are not confident There are many channels which can help to it such as TED talks, English Speeches, BBC learning English, VOA learning English, etc If the students can 34 take at least 15 minutes per day to listen and read aloud a video, definitely they will see how their English is improving 35 Find native speakers to practice with It is also essential to find native speakers to practice with It becomes useless when students communicate with native speakers and not understand what they are saying Therefore, having a friend who is a native speaker is a good way to improve your English communication skill In fact, students who are living around many English speakers may be able to find informal opportunities to chat with neighbors and local business people On the other hand, joining a club or volunteer organization can be a great way to get to people informally If that is not an option, the students also can consider hiring a private tutor A lot of students find and meet with tutors online via tools like Skype or Google Hangouts It is also an effective way to improve students’ English communication skill in Faculty English at TMU when students practice with native speakers daily, the natural reaction as well as grammar of each person will be improved Use mass media, book, newspaper in studying English communication Mass media is an indispensable part of our life today In fact, it is very useful for students to study English communication For example, every day, they spend a little time reading newspapers or magazines to enrich English vocabulary or collect the correct structure Listening to English news on television is also a good method to learn to speak In fact, it is necessary to understand much information through this news, especially students in English faculty However, it really boosts the students’ listening skill Mass media consists of main means of mass communication such as newspapers, television & radio, books, magazines, adverts, cinema, videos, internet ( personal website pages, blogs, etc) which occupy a central and pivotal role in our lives The students can learn an enormous number of vocabulary and the sentence structures as well from this Importantly, this information is very up-to-date and denotes the fact of each event happening every day in detail Practising the four basic skills in English will be better when studying from mass media When having difficulties in learning and understanding the meaning of the text, or the meaning of the new words, students can ask each other, even ask the teacher for help Reading newspapers and magazines written in English will improve student’s reading and speaking as well 36 In addition, teachers need to be trained on how to integrate speaking to other skills and how to teach it communicatively In order for the curriculum to provide students with frequent opportunities of speaking, communicative tasks should be included Those tasks should focus on getting students to convey the meaning rather than the form This can help students acquire the language better as many researchers declare Involving students in extracurricular activities can provide them with more chances to use the language, and the classroom will not be the only place where they are exposed to the English language To achieve this, all English teachers, English supervisors, school administrators, and staff of the Ministry of Education should work together, and assessment tool designers and curriculum ... faced by the Front Office Staffs at Super hotel in Hanoi old quarter in communicating in English and some recommended solutions? ?? by Duong Thu Nga, Thuongmai University (2018) The research was based... minority language there is still at least one newspaper in English It has become the language of international affairs and international correspondence It has become a language of International commerce... international understanding By learning this language, one can overcome one’s prejudices, fanaticism, intolerance and narrow mindedness and contributes one’s share to promote international understanding