Khai thác case studies trong việc học nói tiếng anh kinh tế cho sinh viên năm nhất ngành kép đại học ngoại ngữ

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER THE EXPLOITATION OF CASE STUDIES IN LEARNING BUSINESS ENGLISH SPEAKING BY ULIS FIRST YEAR DOUBLE-MAJOR STUDENTS Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Mỵ Student: Phạm Thị Vân Course: QH2011.F1.E11 HÀ NỘI – 2015 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP KHAI THÁC CASE STUDIES TRONG VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH KINH TẾ CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM NHẤT NGHÀNH KÉP ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Hoàng Thị Mỵ Sinh viên: Phạm Thị Vân Khóa: QH2011.F1.E11 HÀ NỘI – 2015 ACCEPTANCE PAGE I hereby state that I: Pham Thi Van – QH2011.F1.E11, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be assessable for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the case, loan or reproduction of the paper Signature of Supervisor: Signature of Researcher: Date: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my sincere thanks to all people who have wholeheartedly supported and assisted me during the time this study was conducted Initially, I would like to send my special appreciation and gratefulness to my supervisor, Ms Hoang Thi My, who spent precious time for giving me valuable suggestions and encouragements so that I could overcome all obstacles in the development and completion of the study Secondly, I am thankful to my beloved family for cheering me up in foul mood time and providing me with essential financial assistance in time Owing to their extra backup, I had the motivation to finalize the research contentiously and successfully Last but not least, I wish to show my thanks to my friends who facilitated my data collecting and analyzing process Especially, I would like to fully appreciate my dear friend, Ms Nguyen Thi Quynh for her priceless support ever Without all these assistance, the research could not be completed successfully ABSTRACT Over the years, English has remained potentially a communicative medium and come to aid in daily commercial transactions throughout the globe Therefore, since people have attempted to master their English proficiency, case study emerges as a beneficial learning method and receives widespread acknowledgement in most schools and universities The principal objectives of this research were to explore case studies’ contributions to ULIS 1st year double-major students’ Business Speaking, to determine the most favorite and helpful activities as well as to find out challenges met up by students, then to offer recommendations for further effective case studies A survey was conducted in which a total of 50 students were invited for the research questionnaire and 10 students for the private intensive interview It was found that, as perceived by students, among four regular activities, discussion and debating were in the best interest while discussion and presentation were graded as the most beneficial ones Concerning its advantages, case studies could encourage students to use business vocabulary, actualize the usage of words, improve speaking proficiency and enhance business communication Unlike the researcher’s initial prediction, however, case studies failed to prove its strong power in facilitating students’ words memorizing and the main difficulties during case studies implementation as investigated mostly derived from subjective elements Taking into account of students’ difficulties, a number of recommendations were provided notably Be Change Agent, In-group consensus and Language Evaluation Paper Besides suggestions for students, two-way contract and deeper involvement initiatives for teachers were also offered Eventually, the researcher would like to call for further researches intensively studying about double-major students’ learning activities TABLE OF CONTENTS ACCEPTANCE PAGE .iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LISTS OF CHARTS AND TABLES vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 The statement of the problem and the rationale for the study 2 Aims and objectives of the study Research questions 4 Significance of the study 5 Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW Theoretical backgrounds of Business English Speaking 1.1 Nature of speaking 1.2 Speaking and Oral Business Communication Theoretical backgrounds of case studies 10 2.1 Definitions of Case studies 10 2.2 Characteristics of successful learning via case studies 11 2.3 Case studies exploitation at ULIS 11 Previous studies on the topic 12 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 15 Research design 15 Participants and participant selection method 15 ULIS English double-major students Overview 16 Data collection methods 16 Data collection procedures 17 Data analysis method and procedure 18 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 20 Case studies exploitation and the acknowledgement of advantages 21 1.1 Case studies on enhancing and practicing Business Vocabulary 21 1.2 Case studies on improving Business English Speaking ability 26 1.3 Case studies on understanding and memorizing Business knowledge 29 1.4 Case studies on enhancing business communication 31 Case studies exploitation and 1st DMS’ encountered difficulties 34 Case studies exploitation and students’ preference 37 Obstacles-based recommendations 39 4.1 For the students 39 4.2 For the teachers 43 PART C: CONCLUSION 46 Summary of the findings 47 Limitation of the study 48 Suggestions for further studies 49 REFERENCES 51 APPENDIX A: 54 APPENDIX B: 61 APPENDIX C: 62 LISTS OF CHARTS AND TABLES Diagram 1: Common case studies exploitation procedure for ULIS 1st DMS Diagram 2: Be Change Agent’s influence overview Chart 1: The advantages of case studies in enhancing and practicing Business Vocabulary Chart 2: Students' attitude towards the impact of case studies on memorizing vocabulary compared with traditional note-taking method Chart 3: Block A's attitude towards the effect of case studies on actualizing business vocabulary Chart 4: Block B's attitude towards the effect of case studies on actualizing business vocabulary Chart 5: The effect of case studies on improving Business English Speaking proficiency Chart 6: The second question's consensual degrees proportion Chart 7: The effect of case studies on understanding and memorizing business knowledge Chart 8: The effect of case studies on enhancing business communication Chart 9: Difficulties encountered by students during case studies Chart 10: Block C's attitude towards vocabulary memorizing effect of case studies Chart 11: Block C's ability in recalling vocabulary used in case studies Chart 12: The interest of students towards case studies activities Chart 13: The evaluation of students towards activities' helpfulness LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ULIS: University of Languages and International Studies FELTE: Faculty of English Language Teacher Education DMS: Double-major students 1stDMS: First year double-major students LEP: Language Evaluation Paper BCA: Be Change Agents PART A: INTRODUCTION discussing enhancement were highlighted advantages admitted and appreciated widely by students In contrast to these initially positive responses, case studies failed to prove the effect of helping students remember business words for such a longer period of time In fact, due to drawing more attention to settling problems in case studies, this vocabulary memorizing tasks could not be fulfilled simultaneously In addition, the statistics illustrated that tiny business culture elements contained inside case studies were not fully recognized and obtained by students causing the incompleteness of case studies exploitation In terms of obstacles, while the objective factors as time constraint and noise did not strongly influence case studies exploitation process, the subjective ones, especially students’ common words and Vietnamese using habit generated negative impacts on the students’ case studies exploitation Considering frequent difficulties as solid basis, recommendations for both students and teachers were provided to encourage further effective case studies exploitation Whereas “Be Change Agents” trend promoted individual participation, the solutions making use of Language Evaluation Paper and Ingroup consensus principle required more intimate relationships among class members From the perspective of teacher’s role, an implicit two-way contract regulated by very particular rewards and penalties going along with deeper teacher’s involvement aiming at keeping case studies alive were highlighted and expected to receive the full commitment from teachers and students Limitation of the study In spite of supervisor’s valuable assistance and consultation aiming at generating a comprehensive and in-depth study, unpredictable difficulties incurred and somehow affected the conduction of the research which required much effort of the researcher to well cope with First of all, at the beginning of research process, the shortage of experience especially in choosing and reviewing literature put a lot of time and effort into uselessness Additionally, Methodology and Findings sections required the conductor to possess certain knowledge regarding sample selection methods, data collection instruments and data analysis expertise while the researcher stood at starting line with little understanding only Due to the fact that it was the first time of fully self-research completion, unfamiliarity, omission, confusion and mistakes were unavoidable In a sense, graduation papers, scientific research at library as well as guidelines from internet sources were referenced effectively to get these limitations over Time constraint limited the fluent proceeding of data collection and research fulfillment was the second major trouble As a senior involving in three months full time internship program under the provision of university, it was challenging to arrange time for gathering data; even classes’ timetable did not round up at the same time Moreover, due to huge workload at company, relatively limited time for researching remained the most regretful point Finally, the interviewee refusal produced a huge difficulty for intensively exploiting results obtained from the questionnaire In addition, it was unexpected that interview questions which were prepared initially could not be made use of due to unintended outcomes from questionnaire Speedily, interview questions were modified to adapt with data released as well as recent-raised research purposes If further research continues, the researcher hopes to conduct larger interviews and invest more time in analyzing and evaluating Suggestions for further studies After having gained insight into this study, the researchers would prefer to propose some recommendations: Initially, due to changes in language proficiency and learning goals, researches which direct its attention to other objects such as sophomore or junior are warmly welcome to seek for the most appropriate case studies activities diversifying students’ characteristics as well as to suggest reasonable modifications for more efficient implementation of case studies In a larger scale, the fact proves that the number of research separately studying about double-major students is relatively limited Therefore, promisingly in the near future, more and more research centering on this double-major objectives will be conducted entailing the continuously increasing advances in quantity and quality REFERENCES [1] Alexei, V M (2002) The advantages of employing quantitative and qualitative methods in intercultural research: Practical implications from the study of the perceptions of intercultural communication competence by American and Russia managers Retrieved form http://www.russcomm.ru/eng/rca_biblio/m/matveev01_eng.shtml [2] Anonymous (1994) Teaching with Case studies Stanford University Newsletter on teaching (Vol 5, no.2) Retrieved from http://web.stanford.edu/dept/CTL/Newsletter/case_studies.pdf [3] Association of Business Practioners (2010) Business Communications [PDF document] Retrieved from http://www.bbpsd.co.uk/wp- content/uploads/2010/11/Business-Communications.pdf [4] Carol, J.O (1999) Guidelines for a Language and Culture Learning Program Retrieved from http://www- 01.sil.org/lingualinks/languagelearning/otherresources/gudlnsfralnggandcltrlrnngprg rm/SpeakingSkill.htm [5] D Clark (2012,10.26) English – The Language of Global Business? Forbes Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorieclark/2012/10/26/english-the- language-of-global-business/ [6] Daniel, K (2005) Teaching Debate to ESL Students: A six-class unit Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Krieger-Debate.html [7] Harvard business for Educators (2014) Hints for Case Teaching Retrieved from https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/resources/marketing/docs/M00016_Hints_for_Cas e_Teaching_Brochure.pdf [8] Joel P Bowman (2004, August 21) Business Communication Managing Information and Relationships Why study business Communication (Part 1) Retrieved form http://homepages.wmich.edu/~bowman/intro.html [9] Le, T T (2006) How to exploit group discussion to improve speaking skills for the third-year students in VNU – CFL Dissertation Abstract University of Languages and International Studies Vietnam National University, Hanoi Hanoi [10] Le, T T (2007) A study on techniques to develop speaking ability of first year students at ED, CFL, VNU, HN Dissertation Abstract University of Languages and International Studies Vietnam National University, Hanoi Hanoi [11] MaryAnn, C.F (1999) Improving Adult English Language Learners’ Speaking Skills In ESL Resources Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/Speak.html [12] Michelle S (2014) Teaching Methods for Case studies [PDF document] Retrieved from http://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/lt/resources/handouts/CaseMethodBestPractices pdf [13] Nguyen, B T (2013) The difficulties in debating faced by third year fast track students, Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, ULIS – VNUH perceived by both students and teachers Dissertation Abstract University of Languages and International Studies Vietnam National University, Hanoi Hanoi [14] Pam M., Jean C., Tracey L.D (2002) What is a case studies? Writing a Case studies Report in Engineering Retrieved from https://student.unsw.edu.au/whatcase-study [15] Rodie, A (2011) Debating the evidence: an international review of current situation and perceptions Retrieved https://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/ESU_Report_debatingtheevidence_FINAL.pdf from [16] Siddharth K (2009) Statistic Mean Retrieved from https://explorable.com/statistical-mean Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation (n.d) Design & Teach a Course Retrieved from http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/instructionalstrategies/casestudies.h tml [17] Universitas Muhammadiyah Purwokerto (2014) Literature review Retrieved from i.pdf http://digilib.ump.ac.id/files/disk1/16/jhptump-a-rianindahp-777-2-chapter- APPENDIX A: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS All information in this Survey Questionnaire will be kept confidentially and used for statistics and research purposes only I GENERAL INFORMATION Survey Conductor Name: Pham Thi Van Class QH2011.F1.E11 Faculty: Faculty of English Language Teacher Education Major: International Business English Mobile 0165.595.9339 Email: Loptruong.e11@gmail.com Topic: The exploitation of case studies in learning Business English Speaking for Ulis 1stDMS Respondent Name: _ Class: _ Mobile: _ Email: _ II RESEARCH CONTENT INFORMATION BOX Case studies is a common method used for learning and teaching Business English Being designed based on the actual situations containing problems, disputes in reality, case studies help students access to the practical business activities such as meetings, discussions, negotiations, decision-making, advertising or presentation Part I: Please put (x) in the box which is true to you Did you take part in any activities using case studies at your high school?  Yes  No Which case-study activities aiming at facilitating Business English Speaking Business learning have you ever participated at ULIS?  Role play  Presentation  Discussion  Problem solving  Decision-making task  Debating Others:………………………………………………………………………… Part II: Please put (x) in the box which is true to you Strongly Disagree = Disagree = Neutral = Agree = Strongly Agree = Question 1: How you evaluate the advantages of case studies to your reviewing and practicing business language? No Advantages of using case studies in reviewing and practicing business language Case studies require me to use new business words and phrases suggested in lessons to discuss and finish the tasks successfully Business words and phrases which are used in case studies are memorized longer than other ones I find that memorizing business vocabulary through case studies is not effective compared with note taking method Case studies actualize business vocabulary in reality so that I can clearly understand the usage of words in particular situations 5 When recalling attended case studies, I usually imagine business words which I used to use Case studies gradually help me connect words into long phrases and long sentences which are good for my language expression very much Instead of using normal words, I choose to use business words in case studies to express ideas concisely and professionally By focusing on handling problems and dilemmas, case studies are very useful in expanding my business vocabulary into other related issues Please specify any additional comment you have: ………………………………………………………………………………… …… …………………………………………………………… ………………………… Question 2: How you evaluate the advantages of case studies in improving your Business English Speaking ability? No Advantages of case studies in improving Business English Speaking ability From my point of view, the most useful chance for practicing speaking Business English is case studies Because of working under no control and pressure, most of my case studies I have participated are not really effective to practice speaking Business English I learn the way to express my opinion concisely and clearly through case studies 5 I always try to speak clearly and correct my pronunciation during case studies Raising or lowering volume occasionally to emphasis ideas is what I learn from cases studies By discussing in case studies, I can develop my fluency in speaking English I think that case studies have no difference to other speaking enhancing activities Most of my business culture knowledge is attained through Intercultural Communication subject, so case studies are not really necessary Please specify any additional comment you have: ………………………………………………………………………………… …… …………………………………………………………… ………………………… Question 3: How you evaluate the advantages of case studies in understanding and memorizing business knowledge? No Advantages of case studies in understanding and memorizing business knowledge Core business knowledge of each unit is specified in its case study respectively By involving business situations possibly faced in reality, case studies help me easily and deeply understand taught business knowledge Case studies provide me with basic business knowledge in real life such as procedure of meeting, method of negotiation or duties of people in company 5 Dilemmas, problems and situations in case studies are useful and realistic for my future career Business knowledge provided in lessons is easy to understand so case studies are not really necessary By discussing in case studies, I can develop my Case studies help make business knowledge memorable Please specify any additional comment you have: ………………………………………………………………………………… …… …………………………………………………………… ………………………… Question 4: How you evaluate the advantages of case studies in enhancing your business communication? Advantages of case studies in enhancing No your business communication By taking part of case studies, I become familiar with business activities such as meetings, negotiations and oral presentations Problems and dilemmas in case studies encourage us to discuss, debate and make decision I learn the way to negotiate and persuade others to get agree with my ideas in case studies Through case studies, I understand that culture in business is very diverse depending on gender, company, nation… Through case studies, I can learn how to speak, listen, and pause while using body language at the right time to increase the effectiveness of communication Please specify any additional comment you have: ………………………………………………………………………………… …… …………………………………………………………… ………………………… Question 5: How often you meet the following situations when taking part in In case studies, I usually use common words that I am familiar with rather than trying to use target words of lessons Time frame is not equivalent to the tasks of case studies, so we cannot finish case studies Members in my group are quite talkative so I don’t have many chances to express my opinion To put case studies in simply, my group usually uses Vietnamese in speaking I don’t like case studies because they make class so noisy and chaotic I find that case studies are not effective because of the lack of teacher control I am not willing to work in group I prefer self-managed activities I actively take part in case studies by Never Seldom Sometimes Situation Often No Always case studies in learning Business English Speaking? speaking more and trying to use target words That other groups usually speak loudly affects my group’s discussion quality so much 10 Most of my case studies times are used to chat or sleep I am quite good at speaking, so I case 11 studies because of teacher’s requirement only 12 Within time allowed, I always try to complete the tasks of case studies Please specify any additional comment you have: ………………………………………………………………………………… …… …………………………………………………………… ………………………… PART III: Among the chosen activities in part I, which activity you find the most favorite one? Why? …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… Among the chosen activities in part I, which activity you find the most effective one for practicing business English speaking? Why? …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you for your cooperation! APPENDIX B: CASE STUDIES IMPLEMENTATION PHASES WEEK  Session 1: Case studies Guidelines - In class, Teacher takes in charge of introducing and supplementing essential information for students' cases complement - At home, students works in group and briefly discuss  Session 2: Case study preparation and Written draft Presentation - In class, students discuss intensively about case studies and write WEEK  Session 1: Case studies Guidelines - Teacher takes in charge of introducing and supplementing information which is essential for students' cases complement - At home, students works in group and briefly discuss  Session 2: Case study preparation and Written draft Presentation - In class, students discuss intensively about case studies and write short report WEEK  Oral presentation or  Write presentation or submission APPENDIX C: LANGUAGE EVALUATION PAPER (For student’s mutual evaluation) Language Evaluation Paper Observer: Nguyen Thao Linh Speaker: To Bich Ngoc Topic: GREAT IDEA Target Vocabulary New Vocabulary  Brainstorming ………………………  Out of the blue ……Car dealership……………… ………  Extend a product range ……Food and beverage………………  Meet a need ……………………………………………  Make a breakthrough ……………………………………………  Take advantage of an opportunity  The purpose of the meeting is to Ok, let’s summarize  Let’s move on now to  I’m in favor of  Perhaps we should ...ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP KHAI THÁC CASE STUDIES TRONG VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH KINH TẾ CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM NHẤT NGHÀNH KÉP ĐẠI... Theoretical backgrounds of case studies 10 2.1 Definitions of Case studies 10 2.2 Characteristics of successful learning via case studies 11 2.3 Case studies exploitation... though case studies participation 2.1 Theoretical backgrounds of case studies Definitions of Case studies It was believed that “Knowing” was totally different from “Doing” and the core of case studies