A study on how to improve English Speaking Skill at Eden Garden English Center

Dang Van Huynh ABSTRACT Nowadays, English is considered as a lingua franca which is the common and international language that any global citizens speak daily However, there contains many difficulties that obstacle many people from having a good English speaking skill The main focus of the study was to investigate the current barriers of Eden Garden English centers RD employees in speaking English, as well as some potential solutions for improving their English speaking skills The study was.

Nowadays, English is considered as a "lingua franca" which is the common andinternational language that any global citizens speak daily However, there containsmany difficulties that obstacle many people from having a good English speaking skill The main focus of the study was to investigate the current barriers of Eden GardenEnglish center's R&D employees in speaking English, as well as some potentialsolutions for improving their English speaking skills The study was descriptive innature.

The questionnaire was designed by myself in the concerned field It was tabulated in theform of counting frequencies and then analyzed through percentages The main findings

of the study were: by speaking English as a routine not as a subject given in a school curriculum, employees can better their speaking performance Enough time is notgiven to various exercises and opportunities for the improvement of speaking ability.Employees also complained of scolding, and discouraging by their fixed and tediousenvironment for not speaking too often

public-Despite working in the R&D Department of an English academy, staffs seem not toapply English very often in their daily conversations or work but leaning on their mothertongue (Vietnamese) To improve the speaking ability, more stress on the quality ofbooks at the basic level, enough time given to speaking and phonetic drills ofemployees, no scolding but provision of friendly environment, making practical andapplicable strategies by R&D Director for his/her juniors while speaking most of thetime in English, develop boldness and confidence in employees for asking questionsfrom their seniors, awards and motivation for them, the role of media such as listening

to CNN and BBC, inclusion of viva-voce in the working system at various levels forchecking the competence of the candidates, up to-date and constant training of academicstaff, arranging various activities and balance in the training sessions with respect toliterature and language should be there to provide opportunities to improve the languageproficiency of R&D employees

I would like to express my deep gratitude to Mr Phong, founder & academic director

at Eden Garden English for his valuable assistance during the time that I conduct thisresearch

First and foremost, I'd like to express my gratitude to all of the teachers whosupported me with this study I'd like to express my gratitude in particular to MA.Pham Thi Xuan Ha, who provided me with step-by-step instructions and supportiveguidelines while I was writing this paper My heartfelt gratitude goes to the Faculty

of English teaching staff at Thuongmai University

In addition, I must acknowledge the engagement of final-year students majoring inEnglish at Thuongmai University who have avidly participated in the research Noword can express my deep gratitude to all study partners getting along with me inevery lesson taught at Thuongmai University Thank you for all your support andcooperation that lead to my background today

Last but not least, I'd like to express my gratitude to our parents, who have beenemotionally and financially supportive of our decision to study English atThuongmai University I might not be here to finish this study if it weren't for theirassistance

I sincerely thank you!

Abstract

Acknowledgements

Page

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Chapter 1: Overview of the study

05 06

06 060608

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Overview of speaking skill

2.2 Difficulties in speaking skill

2.3 Overview of speaking English skills at the workplace

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10 11

Chapter 3: Research Findings

3.1 Questionnaire

3.2 Result Findings

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Chapter 4: Recommendations and suggestions

4.1 Recommendations

4.2 Research limitations

Conclusions

303537

1.1 Rationale

English is a pivotal key in general and speaking skills in particular Besides, English isthe language of international communication Although English is not the most usedlanguage in the world, it is the official language in 53 countries and is spoken as a firstlanguage by around 400 million people worldwide But that’s not all, it is also the mostcommon second language in the world According to the British Council, by 2020 abouttwo billion people in the world will be studying English Hence, it is likely that if youmeet up with someone from another country, it's possible to use English It gives you achance to the world and helps you communicate with global citizens

Today, many films, TV shows, books and music are produced in English Byunderstanding English, people won’t need to rely on translations and subtitles anymore

By accessing these media, people will also continuously improve their English listeningand reading skills

English is currently considered as the language of the internet An estimated of 565million people use the internet daily and about 52% of the world’s most visited websitesare displayed in English Therefore, learning this language gives access to over half thecontent of the internet, which might not be available otherwise Whether it is for fun orfor work, if you understand English, you will be able to exchange information withmore people online and use many more materials

As highlighted before, since English is spoken as a first language in 53 countries and as

a second language in over 118 countries, learning the language makes it much easier totravel anywhere Indeed, airport announcements, train timetables, emergencyinformation and street signs are often available in English, including in countries wherethe native language uses a different type of alphabet It goes without saying that, whentravelling to a country where you don’t speak the language, you are practicallyguaranteed to find someone who understands at least some English

1.2 Previous studies

In order to speak English fluently and naturally, I examined it when writing thisdissertation and selected some good concepts from: "The Utilization of Technology toImprove English Speaking Skills" (by Andi Herlina, student at Maritime Academy of

methods and techniques about technology-based assessment utilized to assess languageproficiency improvement The paper aims at illustrating some activities and approaches

to be performed by utilizing technology to assess and to monitor achievement of Englishlanguage learners In addition, "The Use of Monologue Speaking Tasks to ImproveFirst-Year Students’ English-Speaking Skills" by the group authors from Institute ofHumanities, Department of Foreign Languages is also a valuable research worthdiscussing and exploring The paper contained the qualitative content analysis ofmonologue speaking tasks Results of the study make it possible to conclude that the use

of monologue speaking tasks paired with peer interaction and peer assessment canimprove first-year students’ English-speaking skills Knowing how to approach thespeaking skills is a crucial point that any teachers are in need of comprehending.Learning how to encourage language learners also made up the large proportion in thestudents' outcomes

The need of interacting and communicating with foreign countries is increasingconsiderably Many efforts are conducted to better English speaking performances andpresentation of L2 learners Thinking of bringing an interact activities might be a goodpathway to improve English speaking ability of students In the research " An analysis

of students’ barriers in speaking English fluently" by Tansa Harina, a student at Raniry State Islamic University The result shows that individual barrier is the mainbarriers faced by the students, and then language barrier, environment also interpersonalbarriers are followed

Ar-In a word, there have some past researches on barriers and how to approach Englishspeaking skill more effectively, both for teachers and students All of the studies suggestthat different perspectives of the matter brought readers a more general view of thesituation and help them appreciate the need of developing speaking skills for everyone,including employees Some past researches relevant to this study will be evaluated inthis section of the study to discover barriers leading to lack of confidence in speakingand provide some methods to improve the speaking skill of R&D staff at Eden GardenEnglish Center

1.3 Aims of the study

comes to speaking in English in the working environment of Eden Garden EnglishCenter in R&D Department when communicating with co-workers and students,depending on the major findings of former researches regarding speaking skill Findingout the barriers, I would like to recommend some ways to better their English speaking.1.4 Research subjects

This study was done with the assistance of ten R&D employees and R&D director fromEden Garden English Center All of the employees have varying levels of Englishwriting ability and are eager to fill out questionnaires Furthermore, the director is atliberty to participate in the interview questions

This research is carried out in order to attain the objectives by addressing the followingtwo research questions:

- What are the personnel at of Eden Garden English center’s difficulties in speakingEnglish?

- What are some options for helping them improve their speaking skills?

1.5 Scope of the study

To initiate, the researcher would like to investigate the elements that inhibit Englishspeaking skills; therefore, the study only focused on employees' attitudes and thecauses that result in English speaking skills hurdles, as well as feasible solution forthem The report would not examine or explain the relationship between employees'speaking skills and all skills In addition, due to time and the lack of experience, theresearcher did not dig into other areas such as the benefits of good speaking skills,the obstacles that R &D employees encounter with English speaking skill when theywork in the teaching context and their office

Second, due to time, funding, facility, and experience constraints, the study merelyfocused on the current staff at Eden Garden English Center

1.6 Methodology

1.6.1 Context of the study

programs certified by Cambridge to customer Students at the center are usually at theage between 6 and 14 years old

The company's employees are required to communicate with a large number of studentsand students' parents in Bac Ninh province in order to fulfill their goals and objectives

It is an ESL learning environment so teachers and R&D staff might have to speakEnglish for the entire time It implies that their work is heavily influenced by English.When communicating with students, their parents and even their own co-workers at thesame company, opting for speaking English is an ideal choice

1.6.2 Participants

The research included 16 R&D and academic employees from R&D Department whowere chosen at random Most of them are teaching English and working with a largenumber of students, lesson plans, and slides, and putting their English abilities to use.There were four men and eleven women in the department given

The pie chart compares the proportions between the number of male employees and female employees in R&D Department at Eden Garden English center.

1.6.3 Research methods

To complete this study, the following approaches were evaluated and chosen:

- Reference materials, such as reference books and prior studies, were carefully selected,investigated, and assessed

completed a survey questionnaire and a personal question interview.

1.7 Organization of the study

This research was organized into four main chapters:

Chapter 1: Overview of the study: This chapter illustrates an overview of the research.

It comprises the reason for the investigation, the objectives of the study, and some paststudies connected to the current research Following that are research topics, the scope

of the study, and the research technique The final step is to organize the research

Chapter 2: Literature review, this part lays the foundation for the research This

chapter reviews the terms and concepts related to speaking skill, the importance ofspeaking skill, problems in learning English speaking as well as some factorsinfluencing employees’ speaking skill And the last is some ways to improve Englishspeaking skill

Chapter 3: Research findings, it presents the results of the study, discussion of the

results and summary of major findings

Chapter 4: Recommendations and suggestions, in this chapter, some

recommendations are suggested to help R&D employees improve their Englishspeaking skill along with some recommendations for further study

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Overview of speaking skill

2.1.1 Definition of speaking and Speaking skills

Speaking is the action of conveying information or expressing one's thoughts and feelings inspoken language Additionally, speaking skills are defined as the skills which allow us tocommunicate effectively They give us the ability to convey information verbally and in a waythat the listener can understand

Speaking is one of the four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) It is themeans through which learners can communicate with others to achieve certain goals or toexpress their opinions, intentions, hopes and viewpoints In addition, people who know alanguage are referred to as "speakers" of that language Furthermore, in almost any setting,speaking is the most frequently used language skill Speaking is expressing thought, ideas, andfeeling which use the ability to pronounce the words to organize the words into phrases orsentence to choose the words related to the topic

In methodology of teaching, speaking is the output of listening, thus, a productive skill thateveryone need to know

2.1.2 Importance of speaking skills

Speaking is a productive or expressive skill in oral mode and a crucial part of learning Speech

is normally produced by manipulating the air-stream coming out of the lungs, speaking is anact of conversing or expressing one's thoughts and feelings in spoken language Speaking oftenimplies conveying information

For the demand of communication, speaking skill plays an important role in delivering themassages included feelings, statuses, opinion, information… to the audience/listener

2.1.3 Characteristics of speaking skills

Speaking skill is determined by three factors: phonation, articulation and correct pronunciation.Pronunciation includes the characteristics of pitch (high, low voice), duration (long, short) andintensity (powerful, weak).

Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generallyagreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specificdialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular individual speaks a word orlanguage

Articulation is the formation of clear and distinct sounds in speech

Phonation is the production or utterance of speech sounds

2.2 Difficulties in speaking in English

Communicating and transferring messages in daily conversations are two key issues that anyperson is in need of doing to survive in a modern society There, however, contains manybarriers that obstacles students and English learners from speaking English naturally andfluently

It has been observed that most of Vietnamese students are not competent in speaking skills.They cannot speak English fluently and effectively They feel shy and are afraid of makingmistake when they are required speak Here we discuss the barriers to English speaking skill:2.2.1 Text Oriented System

In our traditional classes we have generally text-oriented system The teacher spends most ofthe time on teaching textbooks She does not have enough time to teach spoken skills to thestudents That is why students are often lack in speaking skills

2.2.2 Stress on Reading and Writing

There is no place for speaking skill in our curriculum of English Some educationaldepartments put main focus on reading and writing skills The other two skills i.e listening andspeaking are entirely overlooked or sometimes ignored Therefore, the students do not havechance to gain proficiency in spoken skill

2.2.3 Grammar Translation Method

Grammar translation method is also a barrier in learning speaking skill The students are taughtEnglish through grammar translation method which focuses on grammatical rules The studentswaste their energies and attempts in learning rules of grammar This method does nothing toenhance communicative abilities in the students

2.2.4 Unfavorable Environment

The students do not find a favorable environment for learning spoken skills They are taughtEnglish only in the common classroom which can be best learnt outside the classroom Outsidethe classroom, there are more activities to employ in an ESL class Getting outside givesstudents a new feeling of learning English and can remove the barrier of considering English as

a subject

2.2.5 Misconception

Generally, the students just consider English as a subject, not a skill They do not try to masterthe four skills of language Their main objective is just to pass it as a subject without gainingproficiency in language skills It sometimes drives students to the tension and pressure incompleting the assignments from teachers

2.2.6 Large Classrooms

Because of limited resources, we have large classes consisting of fifty or more students As aresult of this barriers to speaking English individually the students have little time to practicethe spoken skills In addition, some poor countries with the high illiterate

2.2.7 Certain Restrictions

The restrictions of the traditional syllabus and the limited number of hours per class do notallow the teacher to do oral work in the classroom This is also one of the barriers to speakingEnglish effectively on the part of learners That teachers are not allowed to create the newactivities to engage classes is a serious problem

2.3 Overview of speaking English skills at the workplace

In today's global society business is increasingly being conducted across borders with Englishoften being seen as an international language of communication The ability to use English inthe workplace has a number of benefits including: helping your company to succeed, buildingtrust with co-workers and clients, building and improving international relationships, enhancingyour skill-set and negotiating a higher salary level and enhancing international relationshipsthrough cultural understanding

The ability to communicate in English is a huge asset to many companies and organizationsincluding those who do not use English as an official language Companies who conductbusiness internationally are likely to be engaging with people who speak English as a first orsecond language on a regular basis making the ability to use English in the workplace a veryvaluable skill

A good knowledge of English allows employees to communicate effectively with theirinternational clients, helping them to trust you and your organization resulting in strong andlasting business relationships People who use English for their work on a daily basis need to beable to use English for a variety of purposes including in meetings and negotiations, formanaging, writing reports, giving presentations and in social situations Being able tocommunicate and negotiate successfully with clients who speak English makes your skill-setmore attractive to companies who conduct business internationally meaning employees whospeak English can often command higher salaries

2.3.1 The importance of English speaking skills in education and training

This question refers closely to a big question regarding to the important roles of English in ourdaily life English is spoken by around 360 million people around the world and taught in over

118 countries, making it an incredibly useful language to learn English language learning willallow you to communicate effectively with people from all over the world, making travelling alot easier and helping you to learn more about different cultures

English is the language of the media industry: English is the most prevalent language used inmovies and TV series around the world By learning the English language, students will be able

to enjoy more of the latest blockbusters and understand the cross-culture better Studying an

English language course will help you to meet interesting people from all walks of life andlearn about different cultures too.

The most and foremost important role to the existence of a language is to communicate andimpart knowledge to the audiences In most of training session at universities, students areusually required to use English in their presentation and demonstrating their research findingsand contributing opinions Nowadays, most of recently updated scientific materials and reportsare written in the "lingua franca" (English), getting an approach to them requires students andESL learners such a significant time for practice

In most of both public and private schools, many English speaking tests are frequently held likemotivation and stimuli to enhance students' English speaking skill

2.3.2 The situation of using English speaking skills in R&D Department, Eden Garden

English center.

Eden Garden English Center is founded by Eden Garden Ltd., specializing in providing thehigh-quality English training courses for students between the ages 7 and 15 Therefore, all ofthe R&D staffs and teachers must acquire at least the English level B1-B2 in the CEFR (TheCommon European Framework of Reference for Languages) to be eligible for teachingEnglish

80% to 100% time, teachers apply their English spoken language to engage in the class toachieve the best student outcome However, there have some problems happening in theirspeaking skills Teachers' pronunciation is not that clear with appropriate accents, students findcommunicating with teachers challenging On the other hand, in a non-class environment, someemployees are dependent on their mother tongue (Vietnamese) to interact with their workers,which leads to the failures in training and creating the educational materials for students andhas a major detrimental effect on the effectiveness of the company

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH FINDINGS

3.1 Questionaire

After the survey was implemented, the statistic was totaled up and indicated though out thefollowing 17 charts Each chart shows us the number of employees who choose the mostsuitable answer for them in each question This figure is counted in percentage unit and thekind of chart are bar chart The data can be easily seen in the charts, and in the right of chart arethe explanations.

Question 1: Do you like learning English?

B More than five years

C Less than five years

Question 3: Which skill do you like most in 4 skills?

D Interesting

E Boring

Question 6: Do you feel excited about the current method?

A Like very much

Question 9: Studying English speaking through extra- activities is an effective way, create a

pleasant atmosphere in class?

Question 13: Which of the following topics is the most difficult one for you? (You can

choose more than one answer)

The barriers that obstacle employees from using English in the working environment.

Question 14: How often do you encounter these problem when speaking?

Unconfidence

when speaking

Making mistakes

in English

Question 15: What will you do when you don't understand a phrase or a piece of speech that

your co-workers say?

A Ask them to rephrase it

B Ignore it

C Ask them to repeat

Question 16: What do you do to improve your speaking skill?

Question 17: Are you male of female?

Question 1: Do you like learning English?

The chart above illustrates the differences among employees in the center about their interests

in learning English In the chart, the figure for students who like learning English very much accounts for 50% in general, but a minor percentage of employees dislike learning the

language 31% of the employees shows their eager interests in acquiring English, followed by the number of people who have a normal view in learning English at 12,5%

This is to prove that most of the employees in Eden Garden English center are really aware of the importance of acquiring a new language, "English" in particularly As it can be clearly seen from the pie chart, a majority of employees show their enthusiasts in learning English Today, English is applied in every fields in life because of the advancement of society The more you study English, the more chances you have In other words, it means that better English, better life

However, there contains a minor percent of employees show their dislikes in learning English

Question 2: How long have you been learning English?

Overall, the number of employees having learnt English for 5 and over 5 years outweighs thenumber for people spending time learning English less than five years Conversely, the number

of employees who studies English less than five years just account for 12,5% It is quite a longtime for each one It is proved that learning English has become a very important task and thegreat concern of everyone English is an interesting subject which attracts a great number ofstudents Moreover, it is a compulsory subject in most schools from primary schools touniversities as well Thus, they are fully aware of the fact that English is really important andnecessary for their future jobs so that they might use English for work as teachers and R&Dspecialists

Question 3: Which skill do you like most in 4 skills?

The pie chart that helps us know which skill in the skill sets employees like the best From thischart, we can see that speaking skill is the one which makes up 43%, followed by writing,reading and listening at the same 18 percent These statistics show us that the number ofemployees who like speaking is the highest This means that speaking lesson attract employeessignificantly