Using english of civil servants in cantho

Thus, my study contributes to making a survey on the accurate levels of civil servants’ English proficiency in Cantho and problems related to their English use at work.. Thus, I conduct

June 2007

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First, I pay tribute to Mr Tran Quoc Hung, English Department, Cantho University, who was willing to help me and give me a lot of useful advice in order for me to finish my thesis successfully Moreover, special thanks are due to Mrs Ho Phuong Thuy and Mr Dao Phong Lam, who gave me encouragement and helpful suggestions I would like to express my profound thanks to Mrs Nguyen Phuong Thuy, the chief of Training Office, Internal Civil Department, who enthusiastically helped me contact civil servants in Cantho In addition, I would like to send my special thanks to all civil servants in Cantho, who took part in my study Finally, I wish to thank the authors of the books and documents from which I get lots of valuable ideas and information to contribute to the success of my thesis

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English proficiency of civil servants is considered one of the most indispensable international competitivenesses not only in Vietnam but also in many countries all over the world Thus, my study contributes to making a survey

on the accurate levels of civil servants’ English proficiency in Cantho and problems related to their English use at work I used the questionnaires and interviews for over 200 civil servants and some administrative managers in Cantho to get information about their using English in the workplace All civil servants were subdivided into small categories according to gender, fields of work and ages in order for readers to see the main differences of civil servants’ English proficiency

The results of my study showed that although majorities of civil servants were required to have national English level B, they had no opportunities to use English and they were not confident in communicating with other people in English Moreover, many civil servants did not meet the English skills requirements of their workplace, so they were dissatisfied with their English competence In reality, civil servants do not use English effectively at work From

the results of this study, I initiate a project called “Steps to Achieve English Proficiency in the Workplace” to help civil servants recognize the important

roles of English and enhance their English skills

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Pages

Chapter I: INTRODUCTION 1

Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW 3

Chapter III: METHODOLOGY 8

1 Participants 8

2 Instruments 8

3 Procedure 9

Chapter IV: RESULTS 11

Chapter V: DISCUSSION 23

Chapter VI: LIMITATIONS, RECCOMMENDATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH 31

1 Limitations 31

2 Recommendations 31

3 Further research 35

Chapter VII: CONCLUSION 36

APPENDICES 37

REFERENCES 39

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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

The important role of English proficiency of officers, especially of civil servants,

in the workplace is undeniable when Vietnam becomes an official member of World Trade Organization English proficiency will be one of major factors to determine the success of officers in their work Thus, I conduct this thesis to examine the realities of using English of civil servants in Cantho and give some suggestions to enhance the English proficiency of these officers The results of this thesis will help us have a general evaluation about the English use of civil servants at their work and aid the government to have a suitable and effective strategy to make civil servants’ English competence more progressive

Many surveys and studies related to English proficiency were undertaken all over the world Some countries in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand were also concerned much about their citizens’ English proficiency They considered English competence of citizens as the competitive factors to attract foreign investments

to their countries However, English proficiency of Vietnamese learners has not been received great care of the government No official studies or surveys related to English competence have been carried out all over the countries

Basing on the observation and interviews with civil servants, I recognize their problems in using English in the workplace Thus, I decided on conducting the research

In the scope of my study, I examined generally the real English use of a particular sample- civil servant in a specific region- Cantho City In order for readers to understand the context, all sufficient background information and proper previous work related to

my thesis are summarized concisely in the literature review By using reliable

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instruments, I carried out the study and asked civil servants for their contemporary levels

of English, their chances to use English in the workplace, their satisfaction at English competence and many related information All methods and results of this research were presented clearly in the methodology and discussion sections

With the cooperation of civil servants in Cantho City, the study was undertaken successfully The results of this study reflect effectively the realities of civil servants’ using English at their work From the results, I gave my specific project to help the civil servants improve their English competence Moreover, I also suggest some opinions and ideas for the readers who are interested in the related topics to do further research Generally, this paper will provide you with significant information about many problems

of civil servants related to their using English in the workplace and some feasible suggestions to solve these problems

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CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

Nowadays, English has become the global language since it is widely used in a variety of fields in life such as trade, science, etc On the threshold of being a new member of World Trade Organization, Vietnam welcomes a large number of overseas companies which want to find potential investing opportunities Hence, English proficiency plays a vital role in cultural exchanges and economic co-operations between Vietnam and other countries This role is more indispensable in administrative work of civil servants It is obvious that the demand of civil servants’ English proficiency is gradually increasing They will have more opportunities to use English Moreover, civil servants will encounter more challenges in their work related to the shortage of English proficiency I wonder at which level civil servants’ English proficiency in Vietnam is at present and whether the requirements of English proficiency which civil servants are required to have are suitable or not These wonderings shed a light for me to do this research I want to find out the realities of using English of civil servants in Cantho city I

am also eager to bring forward some suggestions to enhance their English proficiency in order for civil servants to meet the new requirements and to work effectively

First of all, it is necessary to clarify the term “civil servants” Civil servants are those who work in the governmental departments or provincial departments in a country

In Vietnam, the recruitment of civil servants is through election (in case of the Heads of Agencies: University Rector, Hospital Director) and appointment Examination is compulsory for official recruitment and for promotion, for transferring to other categories Especially, most of civil servants are required to participate in English Proficiency Test included in Recruiting Examination Moreover, in Vietnam civil

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servants are considered representatives of the Government to interact or to contact foreigners coming to Vietnam to seek for investing opportunities Thus, they need to enhance or to improve the professional skills as well as English competency at work

Moreover, no one can deny the vital role of English proficiency of employees in the workplaces However, what is English proficiency? According to the definition of NAFTA, “English proficiency refers to the ability to read, speak, write and understand English by individuals who do not speak English as their native language” Collectively, English proficiency addresses the necessity to understand or respond effectively to the cultural and linguistic needs among people of different nationalities, ethnicities and cultures In Vietnam, civil servants mainly use English to research English documents, to access new information, to ensure deadlines are met and procedures are followed, etc English proficiency will make their work more effectively and smoothly

The realities of using English of employees in the workplace are received a great care of many countries all over the world Many studies and surveys are carried out in different countries to examine the real English level of their citizens For example, a ground-breaking survey conducted by Wall Street Institute (WSI), the largest international specialist English language education organization in the world, showed that Hong Kong’s confidence and proficiency in using English has deteriorated so badly that it ranks equal or worse than mainland China and Thailand on a number of indicators and lags way behind key regional competitor Singapore More than 16,000 people responded to the survey conducted via the Internet in mainland China, Hong Kong,

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international language of business is at risk Especially, in this survey, two countries Singapore and Thailand in the Southeast Asia have high scores in their citizens’ English proficiency Singapore is far ahead of the other Asian economies surveyed including

Hong Kong Half of the Singaporeans surveyed believe that they have no problems communicating in most situations with English and make occasional errors (scoring 4 out of 5 overall), while half of Hong Kong people surveyed consider that they have no major problems communicating with English but make considerable errors (scoring 3

out of 5) Thailand scored a 3, the same level of Hong Kong Moreover, this survey shows that opportunities for citizens surveyed to use English in their life and their work influenced considerably their English proficiency While Singaporeans use English most with friends and colleagues (31% uses it all the time and 36% uses it very often), Hong Kong people speak with friends in English just often as mainland Chinese (6% uses it very often and about 30% sometimes) Generally, all the countries surveyed assume that English proficiency is the vital international competitiveness

Besides Hong Kong, The Philippines, another country in the Southeast Asia makes an announcement about the decline in the average Filipinos’ proficiency in the English language Mr Brian Lane, the vice-president for Sales and Marketing of Lane Archive and Technologies in a pre-event press conference for the Foreign Chambers’ Trade Fair, quotes: “English is the world’s business language The drop in English proficiency threatens the Filipinos’ key competitive edge attracting investments in services and other sectors that rely heavily on English language” Therefore, manpower has always been considered as the Philippines’ competitive advantage The Filipino worker is considered an asset in organizations worldwide because of his/ her creativity, diligence, adaptability, and ability to communicate in English The global consultancy

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firm Frost and Sullivan observes, “The Philippines is set to be among the largest markets for contact centers in Asia Pacific in the next five to seven years… due to high English literacy rate and low labor costs.” However, the numbers tell a very different story The Department of Education found only 6.59% of graduating High School students to have master of English Statistics from the Business Processing Association of the Philippines determine that less than 5% of applicants is hired because of inadequate English skills Through these numbers, it is likely that the decrease in the Filipinos’ English proficiency

is one of the main reasons for its loss of attracting investments to overseas postings

Another survey related to English proficiency of public servants in the workplace also was carried out in Canada The purpose of this survey is to determine the extent to which Canada’s two official languages (English and French) are used as languages of work Nevertheless, the survey conducted by The Antima Group provides public servants with opportunities to express opinions on this subject and to share with federal colleagues practical solutions adapted to work in environment The survey also shows that the lack of English proficiency causes the public servants to have many difficulties using work tools and internal services in English The indispensable role of English proficiency is asserted again in this survey

How are the realities of using English in Vietnam? The fact that limited English proficiency of Vietnamese learners at different levels is alerted in many newspapers or forums national-wide This reality makes the labor force in Vietnam less competitive than other countries in the Southeast Asia like the Philippines or Singapore In addition,

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of English study is the strongest in Vietnam and where there is the largest number of pupils who participate in English graduation examinations However, the fact is that after having studied for 7 years in high schools and in English training centers, the majority of pupils are not able to or not confident in communicating with foreigners.” (“Seven Years

in High School - Why Can’t Students Speak English?”, 2006) This small survey is carried out with the participation of 200 pupils According to the statistics of this article

on The Youth, 86.8 % pupils at grade 12 cannot use English to communicate with foreigners, even in normal conversations although 37.4 % pupils surveyed has ever learned English in language training centers or studied with tutors Surprisingly, pupils who get familiar with English from kindergarten also cannot speak English, accounted for 6.1% Especially, a majority of pupils (69.2 %) say that they are very interested in learning English because English helped them communicate with foreigners, surf on internet, and look for jobs, etc However, they are very afraid of learning English since they lose the English basic knowledge (25.3%) or English is difficult to study (55.5%) This reality actually warns the ineffective ways of teaching and learning English in Vietnam

The information above leads me to think about the realities of English learners in Cantho, especially civil servants I want to do a research on the realities of using English

of civil servants in Cantho Their contemporary levels and opportunities to use English in the workplace are considered carefully From the expected results, I will bring forward some suggestions to improve the realities and to help the government have proper methods to enhance the English levels of civil servants

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CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

2 Instruments :

In this thesis, I used questionnaires to carry out my research First, a questionnaire consisting of two sections was constructed (see Appendix 1) The first section requested participants answer the personal information They were asked about their gender, age, working status and professional skills This section is used to classify my sample The second section of this instrument included nine questions about civil servants’ English competence The questions asked participants about their English levels, opportunities to use English in the workplace, their satisfaction as well as difficulties in using English and other opinions about the realities of English use in state-owned offices in Cantho I used closed format for my questionnaires because it would be easy for civil servants to fill in Moreover, it would be also convenient for me to code, record and analyze the results quantitatively

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3 Procedure:

Through my observations, I recognize the issues that Vietnamese learners, especially civil servants, are not able to use English in communication, even in a normal conversation They have many difficulties using English in the workplace although they have English national level A or level B These matters also influence the effectiveness

of their work Thus, I decided to conduct the thesis to find out the realities of English use

of civil servants in Cantho My thesis has been carried out according to the planned process Firstly, I designed questionnaires to examine the English use of civil servants in Cantho The respondents are those who passed the official recruitment examination and are working in state-owned administrative offices With the aim of ensuring the reliability of this research, my questionnaires were evaluated by experienced experts I delivered about 200 questionnaires to civil servants in three districts such as Ninh Kieu, Binh Thuy and O Mon in Cantho city These civil servants have been working in Ninh Kieu People’s Committee (25 people), Binh Thuy People’s Committee (25 people), O Mon People’s Committee (25 people), Internal Office (15 people), Planning and Investment Office (15 people), Office of City People’s Committee (20 people), External Relations Office (14 people), Construction Office (15 people), Architecture Institute (25 people), Science and Technology Office (15 people) Furthermore, they were given about one week to answer the questionnaires During this time, I always contacted them in order to ensure that the process was ongoing As a result, it took me four weeks to deliver and collect all the questionnaires

After collecting all the questionnaires, I began to analyze the data First of all, participants were categorized into groups by their gender, their age, and their professional skills Among these groups, there are many differences About the gender, male and female civil servants were received different consideration The data about their

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English competence was collected and compared to each other About the age, participants were divided into smaller groups according to the year when they were born (Before 1960, 1961-1970, 1971-1980, after 1980) Basing on their age, I will evaluate their English capabilities and make a comparison between these smaller groups Finally, professional skills of civil servants were criteria to divide them into groups I will consider whether their fields belonged to social science, Culture-Information- Art, Economic and Technology or other fields Certainly, each field will require them have different English capabilities The differences among groups will help us figure out the realities of English use of civil servants in Cantho

Despite differences, all groups were taken the same consideration Throughout the research, all civil servants would answer the same questions in the same amount of time Moreover, academic objectives were the same for all civil servants The participants in each group would be evaluated generally about their English competence, their opportunities to use English as well as their difficulties in using English This consideration would bring about the expected outcome of realities of English use in Cantho After getting the specific data, I would make a comparison and withdraw the general results of this research This data analysis process was carried out very carefully

in order to avoid both subjective and objective mistakes such as time management, sexist stereotypes, etc Then, basing on the data analysis, I would give some suggestions to improve the realities Specific strategies would be given Thanks to some interviews with experienced people in administrative management, my suggestions would be considered and evaluated carefully Generally, this procedure would last to May 2007 Expectedly,

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CHAPTER IV: RESULTS

Prior to the beginning of the study, just over 200 civil servants participated in responding my questionnaires There are 194 possible responses collected These participants are categorized into three small groups according to genders, ages and work fields

First of all, the civil servants surveyed are divided by their gender: male and female According to the data, there are 96 male and 98 female civil servants taking part

in responding questionnaires The data in Table 1 also illustrates a sharp difference in their English competence Although all of them participated in a rather suitable English Test, they have many differences in levels of English, opportunities to use English in the workplace, satisfaction at their English proficiency, etc As seen from the data in Table 1, 45.83% males and 50% females considered English Test in the recruitment examinations

to be a suitable one It is likely that through passing this test, they have certain knowledge of English It is convenient for me to conduct this thesis According to the data in Table 1, most of males and females have studied English over 7 years (70.03% males and 75.51% females).As a result, 52.08% male civil servants have National English Level B, while 39.58 % female officers obtained this level However, female civil servants seemed to achieve higher English level than male officers: 22.45% getting level C in comparison with 14.58% and 7.91% getting above level C in comparison with 2.09 In addition, offices and departments required officers have at least English level

B 55.20 % males and 57.14 % females showed that their offices asked them to have certificates that are equivalent to national English level B Nevertheless, opportunities for

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them to use English in the workplace are very few 53.20 % male and 51.02% female

respondents said that they just use English sometimes in the workplace Surprisingly,

just over 26.04 % males along with 26.53 % females showed that they never use English Moreover, from the data in Table 1, female civil servants are more satisfied with their English proficiency than male officers (36.73% compared with 27.08%) However, the number of male and female officers who were not satisfied with their English proficiency

is also very high 39.58 % and 38.78% One of the most important reasons why they were dissatisfied with English proficiency is their difficulties in acquiring English skills Specifically, 41.67 % males had many problems in speaking English, while 43.88 % females considered listening skill to be the most difficult one

Furthermore, although many offices and departments required civil servants have high English levels when recruiting them, no periodical tests have regularly been organized to check their English proficiency and enhanced English skills 90.62% and 85.72 % represent the percentage of men and women who have never participated in any English tests in the workplace after the recruitment examinations Moreover, a majority

of male and female civil servants have not been eager to participate in English training courses to improve their English skills and improve the English levels Compared with male officers (11.46%), female civil servants (19.39%) pay more attention to taking part

in these courses Generally, according to the data of the research, male and female civil servants showed a lot of differences in their English proficiency as well as their satisfaction in using English in the workplace

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MALE FEMALE Gender

English

Capabilities

Number (n= 96) Percent

Number (n= 98) Percent

1 Which national English

levels do you have?

2 How long have you studied

3 At your contemporary

working position, which

English levels are you

4 How often do you use

English in the workplace?

5 Do you satisfy with your

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MALE FEMALE Gender

English

Capabilities

Number (n= 96) Percent Number (n= 98) Percent

6 In the workplace, which

English skills do you have

7 Do your offices often test

your English proficiency?

a once per 3 months

b once per 6 months

c once per 12 months

8 Have you participated in

English training courses to

enhance your English

9 What do you think about

Besides categorized by gender, civil servants surveyed in Cantho are clustered according to their professional fields These officers belong to four groups: socio-science, culture-information-art, economic-technology, others (construction, pedagogy, administrative management, environment, etc) All civil servants participating in this thesis passed the recruitment examination Especially, a majority of officers in socio-science field (42.55%), in economic-technological field (48.15%) and other fields (38%) said that this examination was suitable for their levels

First of all, civil servants who belong to socio-science fields seem to have the highest English levels in comparison with other fields About 36.17 % civil servants in this group gets English level C Moreover, 34.02 % is a total number of officers in socio-science fields who are considered to be advanced learners in English (level C and above level C) Especially, just two out of 81 civil servants in economic-technological fields and 1 out of 50 officers in other fields have high advanced level in English (above level C) According to the figures in Table 2, most of civil servants in all fields surveyed have studied English for over 7 years The percent of officers learning English over 7 years in socio-science fields is the highest one (85.1%)

As seen from the Table 2, most of offices in Cantho require their civil servants have at least level B of English It is likely that civil servants in all fields do not supply the requirements of their offices For instance, about 85.11 % officers surveyed in socio-science fields replied that they were asked to have at least English level B, while just 70.21 % respondents could meet this requirement Although civil servants were required

to have at least English level B, they have very few opportunities to use English in the workplace About 33 out of 50 officers working in some fields such as construction, pedagogy, etc responded that they have no chance to use English in the workplace It

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seems that civil servants in economic-technological fields used English more regularly (approximately 23.46%) Surprisingly, the percentage of civil servants who were not satisfied with their English proficiency is very high in all fields surveyed Over 40% respondents in every field said that they were not satisfied their English capabilities Especially, the figures in Table 2 illustrate that civil servants in dissimilar fields have difficulties in different English skills For example, approximately 42.55 % officers in socio-science fields and 46 % civil servants in other fields considered listening skills to

be the most difficult one whereas 48.15% participants clustering to technological fields said that speaking skill is regarded as the most challenging one According to the Table 2, most of departments and offices in all fields do not have any periodical tests to examine civil servants’ English proficiency Especially, just over 91.36% officers in economic-technological fields said that they have never participated

economic-in English tests economic-in their workplaces

In reality, despite having not taken part in periodical English tests, civil servants

do not concern much about improving their English proficiency 46.81 % respondents in socio-science fields showed that they rarely attended in English courses On the other hand, there are a large number of civil servants (58 people) in all fields having a tendency to improve their English skills They may want to enhance the abilities to use English; nevertheless, they still have not participated yet

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Socio-science information-art Culture- Economic- technology Other fields Fields

working position, which

English levels are you

which English skills do

you have difficulties in

Socio-science information-art Culture- Economic- technology Other fields Fields

7 Do your offices often

test your English

9 What do you think

about the recruitment

Besides two groups above, civil servants are also classified into 4 small categories according to the year of birth: before 1960, 1961-1970, 1971-1980, after 1980 Likewise, participants in this group replied the same questionnaires about a lot of information such

as their English levels, the chances to use English in the workplace, and the difficulties in learning English Most of civil servants in all ages appreciated the English test in the recruitment examination A majority of participants in each group assumed that this test was suitable for their English levels

The data in Table 3 shows that respondents belonging to the group “1971-1980” and the group “after 1980” seem to have higher English levels than two other groups 53.85 % of participants in the group “1971-1980” and 49.73 % of that in the group “after 1980” got National English level B However, the percentage of officers who have the year of birth before 1960 accounted for the highest one (level C: 23.81% and over level C: 9.52%) Moreover, the majority of civil servants surveyed have learned English over 7 years Over 67 % participants in each group agreed that they spent over 7 years to study English According to the data in Table 3, most state-owned offices in Cantho asked their personnel in different ages to have different English levels For example, civil servants in the group “before 1960” were likely required to have at least level A while a majority of participants in other groups said that they were asked to have at least level B Nevertheless, officers in the group “before 1960” have more opportunities to use English than other groups Over 38% people in this group said that they used English very regularly while just 23.82 % officers admitted that they did not use English at work

Besides, in the three other groups, most of civil servants replied that they sometimes

have a chance to use English in the workplace The portion of participants who do not use English in the workplace is also very high, accounted for over 23%

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Furthermore, the satisfaction of civil servants in different age groups at their English proficiency is also various People in the “1971-1980” group seemed to be less satisfied at using English than those in other groups Over 46.16% participants in this group showed that they were not satisfied with their English competence On the other hand, the respondents in the “after 1980” group are the most satisfied ones at their English competence Specifically, 40.23 % people in this group are very satisfied at using English in comparison with just 9.52 % and 0% corresponding respondents in the

“1961-1970” group and in the “1971-1980” group Moreover, difficulties of English use

of civil servants in divided groups also vary to each other Those who have the age from

37 to 46 have troubles in speaking skill (52.38%) while those in the “1971-1980” group and “after 1980” group considered listening skill to be the most problematic one Especially, 100 % people in the “before 1961” admitted that they have not been checked their English competence periodically The percentage of those who have not taken any tests to evaluate English proficiency is also very high in other groups, over 86% According to the data in Table 3, it is likely that civil servant in “before 1961” group did not like participating in any English courses to improve their English proficiency On the contrary, although they still had not taken part in yet, participants in “after 1980” groups were more eager to take English courses than those in other groups (about 41.38%)

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Before 1960 1961-1970 1971-1980 After 1980 Year of birth

2 How long have you

0 71.43

3 At your contemporary

working position, which

English levels are you

4 How often do you use

5 Do you satisfy with

6 In the workplace,

which English skills do

you have difficulties in

0 23.81

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Before 1960 1961-1970 1971-1980 After 1980 Year of birth

English

Capabilities Number n = 21 Percent Number n = 21 Percent Number n = 65 Percent Number n = 87 percent

7 Do your offices often

test your English

0 90.48

8 Have you participated

9.20

9 What do you think

about the recruitment

TABLE 3: Figures showing the different percentage of using English of civil servants grouped according to year of birth in Cantho

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CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION

The results of this study support the original statement: a majority of civil servants recruited in the state-owned offices in Cantho have English level B because most of them have studied English over 7 years However, they did not meet the requirements of English proficiency at their work Although civil servants were required to have high English levels in the workplace, they just used English “sometimes” or they almost did not use English at work Moreover, most of civil servants surveyed assumed that they were not satisfied with their English competence Especially, these respondents faced many difficulties in listening and speaking skills In spite of how important English is in the global integration process, Vietnamese civil servants seem not to recognize that they have to enhance their English competence Thus, the results show that most of civil servants have not participated in any English courses to improve their English skills or at least practice English Besides, state-owned companies and offices do not pay much attention to checking their personnel’s English proficiency No periodical English tests were carried out The result of this study illustrates clearly the realities of civil servants’ English proficiency in Cantho

English capabilities of officers in Cantho are also compared carefully among the subdivided groups Firstly, many sharp differences in English competence of male and female civil servants in Cantho were shown significantly in this research As the results described above, 96 male and 98 female officers who passed the recruitment examination participated in answering the questionnaires 45.83% male and 50% female officers had

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the same ideas that the English tests in the examination were suitable for their levels It is likely that both male and female civil servants have the similar evaluation about the recruitment English tests It shows that these respondents have basic knowledge about English They have the common starting point

Then, the English capabilities of male and female officers were considered in other aspects For instance, national English levels of male and female civil servants in Cantho were taken into consideration As seen from the results, among male officers, those who had level B accounted for the highest percentage 52.08%, while just 39.58% female civil servants had level B However, English proficiency of female civil servants seemed to be better than that of male officers because they got higher English levels such

as level C and above level C Moreover, most of the male and female officers have studied English over 7 years It means that besides the time they studied English as a compulsory subject in high schools, most of them participated in some more English courses to enhance their English Both male and female civil servants had nearly the same amount of time to study English according to the results Furthermore, as the results described above, in many offices in Cantho, male officers were asked to have higher English levels than female civil servants did For example, 14.59 % male officers was required to have advanced English levels such as TOEFL or IELTS, while just 4.08% female servants was asked to get these levels However, male civil servants could not meet the requirements because just two people (2.09%) got these certificates As seen from the results, we can infer that female offices paid much more attention to enhancing

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In addition, how often civil servants used their English in the workplace was also one of the most important aspects of this study The results showed that although both male and female officers were required to have high English proficiency, they did not use English in the workplace at all Over 70 % male and female civil servants said that they just sometimes use English or they did not use English at their work Why did the offices require their personnel to have English certificates? Were these requirements suitable or not? It may cause many problems First of all, that civil servants had no opportunities to use their English skills at work makes them evaluate incorrectly the role of English They may feel indifferent to improve their English skills Moreover, because they rarely use English, civil servants may feel unconfident or confused when having chances to communicate with foreigners Then, their English proficiency gradually gets worse Secondly, civil servants may have a tendency to learn English just to meet the requirements They do not need to acquire English actually because it is obvious that at work at present they do not have opportunities to show their English proficiency It is very challenging for them in the upcoming time when Vietnam becomes an official member of WTO Civil servants will have more chances to use English because of the flow of foreign investments into Vietnam How can they use English at that time? As the results described above, 39.58 % male and 38.78 % female civil servants were not satisfied with their English proficiency It means that they did not use English effectively, even could not communicate with others people in English In addition, they were not confident in their English proficiency As seen from the data in Table 1, the female civil servants seemed to be more satisfied at English competence than the male officers 36.73 % female officers assumed that they can use English effectively, while just 27.08% male civil servants surveyed said they can not do that Most of male officers

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had problems with speaking skill About 41.67% male civil servants considered speaking skill to be the most difficult one On the contrary, listening was regarded to be the most problematic skill of female officers According to the data in the results, approximately 43.88% ladies said that they had many difficulties listening to English in communication

In Cantho, many offices and departments hardly paid attention to checking their personnel’s English proficiency They all recognized the important roles of English when requiring their employees have high English proficiency Nevertheless, no periodical tests were organized to evaluate accurately English competence of civil servants How can they know the realities of English capabilities of their civil servants? How can they enhance their employees’ English skills if necessary? In most of offices in Cantho, the improvement of English skills is based on individuals’ awareness

As the results showed above, the English capabilities of civil servants in Cantho also vary in different fields Each field would have dissimilar requirements about English competence of civil servants Thus, the division according to professional fields was considered carefully From the results, we can see the different ideas about the evaluation

of the English tests in the recruitment examination Most of civil servants surveyed in culture-information-art fields assumed that this English test was difficult while most of officers in the rest of fields said that it was suitable for them However, the difference in this evaluation is not considerable The results showed that there was a sharp distinction

in the English levels of civil servants in different fields Civil servants in socio-science had the highest English levels while requirements of English capabilities of civil servants

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have at least level B On the other hand, civil servants in economic-technological field and in other fields such as construction, administrative managements, etc cannot meet the requirements about English proficiency Moreover, we can see that English level B was a common requirement in different fields although some offices may ask their personnel to have higher English proficiency, which depended on the positions of their work According to the data in Table 2, civil servants in different fields have a distinctive amount of time to study English Most of officers who were in the group of socio-science fields have studied English for over 7 years, accounted for 85.10% In other groups, many participants have just studied English for 5 or 6 years The time to study English may also illustrate how high civil servants’ English capabilities were It is likely that the more time they study English, the more English proficiency they get

Moreover, the rate of using English in the workplace is also different among groups As the results described above, participants in the “other fields” group seemed to use English at work the least regularly They almost did not use English; however, they were asked to have the highest levels in comparison with other groups It is very unreasonable Generally, a majority of participants in other groups admitted that they have few chances to use English or almost no opportunities to show their English proficiency However, civil servants in socio-science fields and culture-information-art ones seemed to have fewer opportunities to use English in comparison with other groups For example, 81.25 % officers in culture-information-art fields said that they had chances

to use English but these were very few As seen from the results, the percentage of those who were not satisfied their English proficiency is very considerable in each group The civil servants in socio-science group seemed the most dissatisfied at their English proficiency while those who were the most satisfied ones were in “other fields” groups

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Although civil servants in socio-science fields supplied the English capabilities requirements of their work, they still did not satisfy with their English proficiency Especially, according to the data in Table 2, it is obvious that civil servants in different groups faced dissimilar English difficulties As a whole, participants in this study have troubles with listening and speaking skills While civil servants in socio-science group and “other fields” group considered listening skill to be the most difficult one, speaking skill was considered to cause many problems to civil servants in culture-information-art field and economic-technology field Although these civil servants had different fields and worked in different offices, most of them did not participate in any periodical tests to check their English proficiency at their work However, there were still some offices in Cantho, which organized the English periodical tests Most tests took place every 3 or 12 months Besides, the tendency of civil servants to improve English proficiency also was different among groups Compared with civil servants in other groups, people in socio-science field took English training courses more regularly On the contrary, officers belonging to “other fields” group have tendency to participate in English courses least About 30% civil servants said that they did not intend to take part in any English courses

The distinction of English capabilities of civil servants in Cantho was also analyzed significantly according to the “year of birth” classification The English capabilities of civil servants varied in different ages Most participants in all ages show that the English test in the recruitment examination was suitable for their levels However, over 42.86 % civil servants in the 1961-1970 group considered this test to be

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