THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ------ GRADUATION PAPER Topic: The reality of English oral conmunication of four-year students in Faculty of English at Thuongmai University and suggested solutions Supervisor: MA. Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha Student name: Trinh Phuong Thuy Class: K54N7 Student code: 18D170338 HANOI, 2022 ABSTRACT Globalization and the deep integration process have promoted English to an important mean of communication among countries all over the world. However, when it comes to English, people in non-speaking countries usually find oral communication skills quite challenging to be master at. The present study was presented with a view to finding out the reality of English oral communication skills of fourth-year students in the Faculty of English in at Thuongmai University.
This study also suggested useful solutions to help students conquer this language and be more confident in English oral communication. The study was done in quantitative quantitative method. The main method was the quantitative method – a questionnaire which was sent to 100 seniors studying in the Faculty of English at Thuongmai University. Analyzing data from questionnaire, the study unveiled that the English oral communication skill of final-year students in the Faculty of English at Thuongmai University remains limited due to lacking confidence, motivation or proper practice methods.
Based on the findings of the study, solutions to deal with problems and improve English oral communication effectively were given to help students. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the process of doing this study, I have received a multitude of support and encouragement from my teachers and my friends. I can not successfully complete the research without their help. First and foremost, I would like to send my sincere thanks to my supervisor – Ms.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha who always enthusiastically assist, guide and give good advice and opinion for me to complete the research. Besides, I want to express my gratitude to Thuongmai University’s teachers, especially teachers of English faculty. Thanks to them have I equipped myself with useful knowledge and precious lessons in this field of study. In addition, I also would like to thank students of the English Faculty at Thuongmai University for their enthusiastic cooperation and support during the time I collected data and information for my research.
Last but not least, I express my very great appreciation to my parents, my friends for their support and encouragement during the process of doing this study. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iii LIST OF FIGURES.
v CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY .3 Aims of the study .4 Research subjects and objects .5 Scope of the study .7 Organization of the study. 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .2 The process of oral communication .3 Factors affecting oral communication .4 The principles of oral communication .5 The importance of oral communication. 16 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS .1 Participants and Samples. 20 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS .1 Summary of the findings .3 Limitations of the study .4 Suggestions for further study.
49 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The process of oral communication Figure 2: The importance of oral communication (Gilakjani and Ahmadi, 2011) Figure 3: Gender of participants Figure 4: Years of learning English Figure 5: Students' English oral communication level Figure 6: The difficulty level of English oral communication Figure 7: Students' feelings towards English oral communication Figure 8: Time spent practicing English oral communication of students Figure 9: Learning methods that students use to practice English oral communication Figure 10: Student’s habits when orally communicating in English Figure 11: Students’ agreement exent on Listening Comprehension Figure 12: Students’ agreement exent on Grammar Figure 13: Students’ agreement exent on Vocabulary Figure 14: Students’ agreement exent on Pronunciation Figure 15: Students’ agreement exent on Oral fluency Figure 16: Students’ agreement exent on Interaction Figure 17: Difficulties that students encounter Figure 18: Reasons causing difficulties in orally communicating in English Figure 19: Solutions that students suggest to do to improve English oral communication v CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale Communicating effectively is the main goal in learning English as a Second language. Given the global context, English has been widely and deeply accepted as the main mean of communication among countries around the world. Moreover, Vietnam is expanding its relationship in terms of diplomacy, commerce, export and import fields, etc with the increasing number of nations all over the world. As a result, the great importance of foreign affairs must be recognized and prioritized.
The two above reasons prove that it is vital to learn English if Vietnam wants to take part in the global environment. However, being good at English does not only mean being good at textbook-related knowledge or grammar knowledge but it requires us to be proficient in both written and oral communication. In which, it is believed that oral communication plays a significant role in transmitting messages effectively. Vietnam’s students in common and English Faculty’s students at Thuongmai University in particular are burdening the mission of bring Vietnam to the world.
In reality, the fourth-year students in the Faculty of English at Thuongmai University meet the same difficulties as although they can basically orally communicate in English but they still lack confidence and fluency. There are a multitude of reasons causing those difficulties. A lot of students frankly shared that seldom do they spend their daily time practicing oral communication. Not only do they lack practice environment but they also do not have the proper methods in learning English oral communication skills.
Besides, some of them have not recognized the importance of using English as a second language. Another reason might come from the traditional and passive teaching and learning methods. Due to all reasons above, the writer decided to conduct a study on “The reality of English oral conmunication of four-year students in Faculty of English at Thuongmai University and suggested solutions”.1 The overview of domestic research In Vietnam, the studies related to English are not new. There are a multitude of study conducted across the country.
One of them was “A case study on English communication skills of the last year students at Thai Nguyen University: Current situation and solutions” of Vu Kieu Hanh (2002). This study focused on exploring the current situation of English communication skills of the last year students at Thai Nguyen University, thereby suggesting recommendations to improve English speaking skills for these students. The study conducted on 350 final-year students who were randomly selected by using the convenience sampling method. The study found that there are three factors affecting the English communication skills of Thai Nguyen University’s students which are study motivation, study attitude and study strategies.
Moreover, the findings show that the students are facing a fact that most graduate students have limited communication skills in English. Besides, the study gave suggestions for each stakeholder who are the university, teachers and students. Another research is “English communication skill of students at People’s Police Academy in context of integration” of Le Huong Hoa (2018). This study used questionnaire to collect data from 45 students in People’s Police Academy.
This research pays attention on find out the reality of English communication of students at People’s Police Academy. The study reveals that although students gain a certain level, they still have some limitations in communicating in English due to a lack of confidence or proper learning methods. They also suggest some solutions such as improving the students’ awareness of the importance of English communication skill in such context, conducting some extracurricular classes for students or having more creative teaching methods. In general, the above research concentrated on a certain scope such as students at one university while there is no study on the students at Thuongmai University especially who are seniors studying in English major.
Moreover, the difficulties encountered by a certain group is totally different while English-majored students at Thuongmai University focus on business-related knowledge. Besides, those 2 researches focused on English communication in general. As a consequence, this study hopes to clearly find out the real situation of English oral communication skills of the seniors in the English Faculty at Thuongmai University.2 The overview of global research There are also a great number of studies related to English communication on a global scale. One of them is “Oral Communication Problems Encountering English major Students: Perspectives of Learners and Teachers in Palestinian University Context” of Abu Alyan (2013).
This study used qualitative method to explore such potential problems from learners and teachers’ perspectives. Analyzing data from participants’ interviews, the study unveiled that students’ incorrect pronunciation, limited vocabulary, lack of exposure to the target language. Moreover, the students were unable to organize their ideas and meaning in a coherent way. Then, the study gave some pedagogical implications which are using state-of-the-art teaching techniques and strategies to stress the need to encourage and empower learners to participate in class discussion and interactions.
Moreover, Listening and speaking classes can employ authentic materials that mimic real-life-situations and engage students in different tasks. Learners can be guided to use some applications on Ipad or Iphone to access many interesting TV channels and radio situations in English, by the end of the class they can present their “e-portfolios” in front of the class. Furthermore, to maximize practice, all teachers are invited to integrate oral communication activities such as arguments, discussions, debates” in all courses and to make these activities as an essential part of courses assessment. Another study is “Oral English Communication Difficulties and Coping Strategies of Diploma of Hotel Management Students at UiTM” of Norafini Zulkurnain (2015).
The research examines the types of oral communication difficulties faced by Diploma level ESL learners and the types of communication strategies used by students to cope with Oral Communication activities. With the research objectives, a questionnaire known as Oral Communication Strategies Inventory was distributed to 100 Diploma of Hotel Managment students in Penang, Following that, 16 students from the total population were interviewed and they also took part in a journal writting activity to explain the difficulties occured due to 3 learners’ lack of English language knowledge. The results revealed that difficulties occurred due to learners’ lack of English language knowledge. It was also found that learners are keen to get involved in English oral communication activities and most of them negotiate meaning with the interlocutors to understand and intended messages.
The implications of this study suggest that teachers should be more creative in constructing interactive learning experiences for their students and teach coping strategies as part of students’ repertories of oral communication skills. In conclusion, those studies pay more attention to finding out the difficulties faced by students when they take part in English oral communication classes. However, in this study, the writer want to see the real situations of English oral communication of the seniors in the Faculty of English at Thuongmai University.3 Aims of the study The main purpose of the study is to find out the reality of using English oral communication skills of the final-year students in the English Faculty at Thuongmai University. Besides the study also suggest some solutions help students find interest in learning English and improve their English oral communication skill.4 Research subjects and objects The study was conducted on 100 students studying at Thuongmai University in total.
They are the seniors in the Faculty of English. Because they have almost had 4 years-learning experience in English major, so most of them have a quite good command of English written communication including two main skills: reading and writing. From that, the writer hope to reveal the general view on other subjects who are students in other colleges and universities. The research objects are the reality and solutions in oral communication in the English of the fourth-year students in Faculty of English at Thuongmai University.5 Scope of the study In general, English basically includes two ways of communication which are oral and written communication.
Oral communication combines listening and 4 speaking skills while written communication comprises writing and reading skills.