A study on the reality of using english communication skills of the juniors of faculty of english at thuongmai university

Therefore, this study is based on the research on the situation of using Englishcommunication of English-majored third year students at Thuongmai University.All the data and information

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FACULTY

-GRADUATION PAPER

TOPIC:

HANOI - 2020

Currently, the trend of globalization and internationalization in all fields istaking place strongly in almost all countries in the world, including Vietnam.Therefore, to facilitate the international integration in a convenient andcomprehensive manner, besides the political, economic or cultural factors, theproficiency in using foreign languages in general and English in particular isextremely necessary for all social classes, especially for young people anduniversity students

The English proficiency mentioned here is not only limited to the knowledgethat the students are studying at the university, but also how they use that foreignlanguage in communication Currently, communicating well in English isconsidered as an important factor that helps students have better opportunities to get

a good job and to have a good status in society

However, in order to communicate well in English, students will certainlyencounter many difficulties and obstacles, especially for students in a non-nativeEnglish speaking country like Vietnam

Therefore, this study is based on the research on the situation of using Englishcommunication of English-majored third year students at Thuongmai University.All the data and information gathered from them can help researchers find out thedifficulties and obstacles that they are really facing in the process of learning tocommunicate in English From the results of that situation analysis, some mostfeasible suggested solutions will be brought out to help them overcome all barriersand become proficient in using English communication skills

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my instructor, Ms HoangThi Thuy, MA of English Faculty of Thuongmai University, for her enthusiasticguidance, very helpful comments and detailed corrections throughout my research.Moreover, I would like to thank all the lecturers in the Faculty of English atThuongmai University They are the ones who have brought me a lot of newknowledge, including professional knowledge and knowledge about life during myfour-year studying process Not only that, they also helped me a lot in improving

my soft skills, especially my communication and presentation skills in English

In particular, I am very grateful to my family My family has been a source ofsupport, both physical and mental ones, for me during my four years of college.Their sincere and precious encouragement is immeasurable and I really appreciateit

Also, I couldn't help but say thanks to my close friends and classmates, whohave been studying with me all this time They have exchanged knowledge with me,studied with me and got progress with me They have also helped me a lot so that Icould smoothly pass all the modules during 4 years of study

Finally, I would like to say thank you to all the students who participated inthe questionnaire survey and interview on the topic "The reality in using Englishcommunication skills of students " Thanks to their enthusiastic help, everythingcould go smoothly and I was able to complete my study

Hanoi, 24th April, 2020

StudentNguyen Dang Ngoc Anh

TABLE OF CONTENS

ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

TABLE OF CONTENS iii

LITS OF TABLES AND CHARTS v

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Previous studies 1

1.3 Aims of the study 2

1.4 Research subject 2

1.5 Research methodology 3

1.6 Scope of the study 3

1.7 Organization of the study 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Some basic definitions 5

2.1.1 Skill 5

2.1.2 Communication 5

2.1.3 Communication skill 8

2.2 Importance of communication skills 8

2.2.1 To communicate in work and daily life 8

2.2.2 To communicate in studying process 9

2.3 Importance of communicating in English 9

2.3.1 In study 9

2.3.2 In work 10

2.3.3 In daily life 11

2.4 Techniques to communicate well 11

2.4.1 Maintain good body language 11

2.4.2 Seek first to understand 13

2.4.3 Be open and honest 13

2.4.4 Frame your views 14

2.4.5 Meet others where they stand 15

2.5 Factors affecting students' ability to use English communication skills 16

2.5.1 Students' perceptions of the importance of English communication skills.16

2.4.2 Psychological factors 17

2.4.3 Communication environment 17

2.4.4 Influence of mother tongue 18

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 19

3.1 Students’ self-assessment on their level of English communication skills 19

3.2 Places where students often use English to communicate 21

3.3 Students’ self-confident level when communicating with foreigners 21

3.4 Factors that students focus on when communicating in English 22

3.5 Students’ difficulties when communicating in English 23

3.5.1 Think in Vietnamese while communicating in English 24

3.5.2 Restriction on vocabulary 25

3.5.3 Lack of concentration when communicating in English 26

3.5.4 Lack of self-confidence when communicating in English 26

CHAPTER 4: SOME SUGGESTED RECOMMENDATIONS 29

4.1 Some suggested recommendations for the third year English-majored students 29

4.1.1 Being self-confident 29

4.1.2 Try to practice more and promote self-study 30

4.1.3 Stop thinking in Vietnamese when communicating in English 31

4.1.4 Try to read more and practice by writing 31

4.2 Some suggested recommendations for the lecturers of the Faculty of English at Thuongmai University 31

4.2.1 Create a favorable environment for students to communicate in English right in the classrooms 32

4.2.2 Change teaching methods 32

4.3 Some suggested recommendations for Thuongmai University’s Board of management 33

4.3.1 Find and supplement qualified English native lecturers 33

4.3.3 Improve the quality of English faculty lecturers 34

4.3.4 Improve the quality of facilities for the learning process 35

CONCLUSION 36

REFERENCES vi

LITS OF TABLES AND CHARTS

1

Chart 3.1: Self-assessment of third-year English-majored students

at Thuongmai University on their level of English communication

skills

19

2

Chart 3.2: The self-confidence level of a third-year

English-majored students at Thuongmai University when communicating

with foreigners

21

3 Chart 3.3: Factors that students focus on when communicating in

4 Chart 3.4: Obstacles that third-year English-majored students at

Thuongmai University when using English communication skills 23

5

Table 1: The self-confidence level of third-year English-majored

students at Thuongmai University when communicating with

foreigners

20

6 Table 2: Places where third-year English-majored students at

Thuongmai University often use English to communicate 21

CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

For these reasons, “A study on the reality of using English communication

skills of the juniors of Faculty of English at Thuongmai University” was

conducted to identify the reality in using English communication skills of studentsand propose some suggested solutions to help them improve their Englishcommunication skills

There have been many research studies carried out relating to the using ofcommunication skills in general and English communication skills in particular inthe world and also in Vietnam Some noticeable ones are described as follows:

Firstly, the research “English Communication Skills: How Are They Taught at

Schools and Universities in Oman?” done by Rahma Al-Mahrooqi, was published

on April 1st, 2012 This research focuses on how Omani students define the Englishcommunication skills and how they are taught to communicate in English atschools, universities and other educational institutions According to the result ofthis research, the author shows that none of students define wrongly about theEnglish communication skills, but all of their definitions are in a very limited sense.Students learn English communication skills not only at schools, but also bypersonal interaction with many groups of people in society, including familymembers, friends, teachers (inside and outside the classroom), private institutes, andEnglish clubs

Secondly, the research “The importance of English communication skills in

multilingual settings in Southern Africa” done by Ingrid Fandrych, was published

on the website “English Today” of Cambridge University Press (CUP) onSeptember 2009 This research aims to find out and emphasize the importance of

appreciating language communication skills in general and English communicationskills in particular in a developing multilingual context According to the author,there is a need to act, especially in the developing world, to ensure that Englishcommunication as a basic skill is available to the majority of population

Finally, the research “Kỹ năng giao tiếp tiếng Anh trường Đại học Cảnh sát nhân dân trong thời kỳ hội nhập” done by Le Huong Hoa, was published on May

2018 This study aims to understand the limitations of students when using Englishcommunication skills so that they can find out the solutions to further improveEnglish communication skills for students to meet needs in studying andparticipating in international cooperation According to the author, in fact, moststudents have quite a long time to learn English, but their ability to use English intheir studies as well as in professional work after graduation is not really effective.Students are not confident enough when communicating in English

Nobody can deny the importance of English in today globalizing anddeveloping world Learner who communicate well in English seem to have anadvantage over the others, they will have much better opportunities in studying,working and many other aspects in life Therefore, this study aims at investigatingthe reality in using English communication skills of the Juniors of English Faculty

at Thuongmai University Simultaneously, it is essential to find out the difficultiesand obstacles that they have when communicating in English And then, from thesedifficulties, some suggested recommendations should be brought out to help themimprove their English communication skills

This study is designed to reveal the ability in using English communicationskills of students in studying and in work and daily life Specifically, it also showsboth students’ strengths and weaknesses when they communicate in English, what

difficulties and obstacles they have Then, some recommendations will be broughtout to help them in English communicating improvement process.

This study is carried out based on the combination between qualitativeresearch methods and questionnaire survey, including observation Through theresults of these research methods, the reality in using English communication skills

of the Juniors of English Faculty at Thuongmai University can be found out

After analyzing the information and data collected, the difficulties andobstacles which prevent these students from communicating English well will bediscovered

In this study, the following questions will be investigated:

- What is the current situation of using English communication skills ofstudents today?

- What causes obstacles for students when communicating in English?

- How can they overcome those obstacles to communicate well in English?

This study focuses on researching and analyzing the reality of using Englishcommunication skills of third year English-majored students at the ThuongmaiUniversity by using data collected through survey questionnaire and directobservation The questionnaire is designed with 10 multiple choice questions,relating to several aspects in learning and practicing English communication skills

of students and it was sent to a hundred juniors of English Faculty at ThuongmaiUniversity to collect data and information from their learning and practicingprocess The results of this study may be limited to students participated in theresearch and information finding process However, it can be used as a resource forstudents who are interested in practicing and improving their Englishcommunication skills

4 main parts will be included in this study:

- Chapter 1: Overview of the study This chapter consists of The Rationale,Previous studies, Aims of the study, Research subject, Research Methodology,Scope of the study and Organization of the study.

- Chapter 2: Literature review This chapter consists of Some basicdefinitions, Importance of communication skills, Factors affecting students’ ability

in using English communication skills

- Chapter 3: Research findings and Analysis This chapter consists of thedata, information collected from the questionnaire survey, observation andinterview These data and information will be analyzed in detail in this chapter

- Chapter 4: Suggested recommendations This chapter consists of someuseful suggested solutions which are brought out to help students communicate well

in English

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Some basic definitions.

2.1.1 Skill.

A skill is the ability to carry out a task with determined results often within a

given amount of time, energy, or both Skills can often be divided into general and domain-specific skills For example, in the domain of work, somegeneral skills would include time management, teamwork and leadership, self-motivation and others, whereas domain-specific skills would be used only for acertain job Skill usually requires certain environmental stimuli and situations toassess the level of skill being shown and used In fact, there are many kinds of skillssuch as:

domain Hard skills (also called technical skills): Any skills relating to a specifictask or situation

- Life skills: An ability and capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic,and sustained effort to smoothly and adaptively carryout complex activities or jobfunctions involving ideas (cognitive skills), things (technical skills), and/or people(interpersonal skills)

- Social skill: Any skill facilitating interaction and communication withothers Social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbaland nonverbal ways

- Soft skills: A combination of interpersonal skills, social skills,communication skills, character traits, attitudes, career attributes and emotionalintelligence quotient (EQ) among others

In general, there are many skills that are useful and necessary in your day life Depending on what stage of life you are in, these skills can differ fromperson to person There are certain skills that can help you conquer some commonchallenges that can occur when you're learning to be independent and self-reliant

day-to-2.1.2 Communication.

Communication (from Latin communicare, meaning "to share") is the act of

conveying meanings from one entity or group to another through the use of

mutually understood signs, symbols, and semiotic rules Communication is thus aprocess by which meaning is assigned and conveyed in an attempt to create sharedunderstanding Gregory Bateson called it "the replication of tautologies in theuniverse This process, which requires a vast repertoire of skills in interpersonalprocessing, listening, observing, speaking, questioning, analyzing, gestures, andevaluating enables collaboration and cooperation.

The main steps inherent to all communication are as follows:

- The formation of communicative motivation or reason

- Message composition (further internal or technical elaboration on whatexactly to express)

- Message encoding (for example, into digital data, written text, speech,pictures, gestures and so on)

- Transmission of the encoded message as a sequence of signals using aspecific channel or medium

- Noise sources such as natural forces and in some cases human activity (bothintentional and accidental) begin influencing the quality of signals propagating fromthe sender to one or more receivers

- Reception of signals and reassembling of the encoded message from asequence of received signals

- Decoding of the reassembled encoded message

- Interpretation and making sense of the presumed original message

The scientific study of communication can be divided into:

- Information theory which studies the quantification, storage, andcommunication of information in general;

- Communication studies which concerns human communication;

- Biosemiotics which examines communication in and between livingorganisms in general

Human communication is unique for its extensive use of abstract language.Development of civilization has been closely linked with progress intelecommunication

There are three main types of communication: Verbal communication, verbal communication and Written communication.

Non Verbal communication is the spoken or written conveyance of a message.Human language can be defined as a system of symbols (sometimes known

as lexemes) and the grammars (rules) by which the symbols are manipulated Theword "language" also refers to common properties of languages Languagelearning normally occurs most intensively during human childhood Most of thelarge number of human languages use patterns of sound or gesture for symbolswhich enable communication with others around them

- Nonverbal communication describes the processes of conveying a type ofinformation in a form of non-linguistic representations Examples of nonverbalcommunication include haptic communication, chronemic communication, gestures,body language, facial expressions, eye contact etc Nonverbal communicationdemonstrates one of Paul Watzlawick's laws: You cannot not communicate Its cuesare heavily relied on to express communication and to interpret others'communication and can replace or substitute verbal messages Non-verbalbehaviors may form a universal language system." Smiling, crying, pointing,caressing, and glaring are non-verbal behaviors that are used and understood bypeople regardless of nationality Such non-verbal signals allow the most basic form

of communication when verbal communication is not effective due to languagebarriers

- Written communication: The progression of written communication can bedivided into three "information communication revolutions":

 Written communication first emerged through the use of pictographs Thepictograms were made in stone, hence written communication was not yet mobile.Pictograms began to develop standardized and simplified forms

 The next step occurred when writing began to appear on paper, papyrus,clay, wax, and other media with commonly shared writing systems, leading toadaptable alphabets Communication became mobile

 The final stage is characterized by the transfer of information throughcontrolled waves of electromagnetic radiation (i.e., radio, microwave, infrared) andother electronic signals.

2.1.3 Communication skill.

Communication skills are abilities you use when giving and receivingdifferent kinds of information Some examples include communicating ideas,feelings or what’s happening around you Communication skills involve listening,speaking, observing and empathizing It is also helpful to understand thedifferences in how to communicate through face-to-face interactions, phoneconversations and digital communications, like email and social media and so on.There are different types of communication skills you can learn and practice

to help you become an effective communicator Many of these skills worktogether, making it important to practice communication skills in differentcontexts whenever possible Active listening is a typical example ofcommunication skills It means paying close attention to the person who isspeaking to you People who are active listeners are well-regarded by their co-workers because of the attention and respect they offer others While it seemssimple, this is a skill that can be hard to develop and improve You can be anactive listener by focusing on the speaker, avoiding distractions like cell phones,laptops or other projects, and by preparing questions, comments or ideas tothoughtfully respond Another instance of a communication skill is respecting Akey aspect of respect is knowing when to initiate communication and respond In ateam or group setting, allowing others to speak without interruption is seen as anecessary communication skill tied to respectfulness Respectfully communicatingalso means using your time with someone else wisely staying on topic, askingclear questions and responding fully to any questions you’ve been asked

2.2 Importance of communication skills.

2.2.1 To communicate in work and daily life.

Communication is a daily activity that happens continuously everywhere,every aspect of everyday life It is the connection between the speaker and thelistener Therefore, communication is a very valuable skill to practice The first

benefit of having good communication skill is that we will always be confident totalk and share with people Many people, who are not well equipped with ways tocommunicate, are often afraid, especially when they meet other people for the firsttime This has made them lose the opportunity to have a good soul mate, a businesspartner, a support counselor, even a career promotion.

In the workplace, if you have good communication skills, all relationshipswith friends and colleagues will become closer Promotion opportunities are alsomore open to people with good communication skills Besides, people who dobusiness always need a good communication skill to expand their customersrelationships and partnerships

In the family, every individual also needs to equip themselves with a set ofcommunication skills Children need communication skills to understand thepsychology of their grandparents and parents and to be able to communicate openlyand to easily share emotions with parents At the same time, adults must also havethe communication skills to be able to listen to children, share the thoughts of the

younger generation

2.2.2 To communicate in studying process.

Communication skills not only play an important role in work and daily life,but it is also essential in the learning process Communication skills are a tool foryou to express your own views and opinions during the lessons, it helps you discusswith your teacher and classmates about a problem related to the lesson Goodcommunication skills will help those around you to understand what you are trying

to convey to them, so that your views and thoughts will be heard, captured anddiscussed It's a great way for you to study and exchange knowledge with yourteachers and friends

2.3 Importance of communicating in English.

2.3.1 In study.

In this integration stage, the society’s demand for human resources who arehigh-qualified and proficient in foreign language is increasing Therefore,universities are also gradually promoting the teaching and learning in English Thisrequires students not only to have good English listening, speaking, reading, and

writing skills to grasp the content of the lesson, but they also need to equipthemselves with good English communication skills to be able to express theirviews and opinions during the learning process as well as exchange ideas withteachers and classmates.

Moreover, young people always want to learn many things Learningencapsulated within national borders with the younger generation is still notenough That is why more and more friends for studying abroad to continue toexpand their knowledge It can be said that English is the key for you to open thedoor to study abroad And one thing that you often confuse is that academic Englishand communicative English are the same However, the truth is that it has a bigdifference and also plays different roles for the process of studying abroad Ifacademic English helps you to absorb lectures and conduct research, learningcommunicative English will help you easily integrate into your new country andnew environment Good integration is the first step to help international studentsfeel confident, have more opportunities to develop themselves later

In a new country, language is the biggest barrier that international studentsoften face Therefore, you have to learn communicative English to study abroadeasier and as long as you prepare yourself a good English communication skill, thedifficulties of studying abroad can be reduced by half

2.3.2 In work.

Vietnam is now one of the potential countries that are interested and focused

by international investors As a result, the opportunity to find work in a foreignworking environment with greater benefits and great benefits is for Vietnamesecandidates However, comes with opportunities always challenging Except for thehigh competency requirements to meet working conditions, working with foreigncompanies requires employees to be able to speak English fluently

Today, there are many leading companies such as Unilever, P&G or CocaCola, with huge recruitment needs and desirable salaries but not all candidatescan apply Basically, they all interview in English If you are good at Englishcommunication plus the available professional skills, there will be nothing to stopyou from coming to your dream job

Besides, with the ability to communicate in English, you have the opportunity

to develop in the process of working Good English communication skills allow you

to meet with international partners, senior leaders from multinational companies.This is an opportunity for you to learn a lot from them, and if possible, you can getpromoted very quickly in your career

2.3.3 In daily life.

Learning communicative English not only gives you the benefits of work andstudy It is easy to see that people who are good at English communication areusually very confident in every action, gesture or word Learning a foreign languageevery day gives you a certain confidence You can travel anywhere withoutlanguage barriers that affect your joy, make friends with people all over the world,easily expand the relationship of yourself and so on

2.4 Techniques to communicate well.

Humans are social creatures, which means that we best survive and thrivewhen we live and work collaboratively Knowing these fundamental truths ofhumanity, you can begin to recognize why effective communication is so important.The difference between a person who knows effective communication techniquesand a person who doesn’t is night and day

In fact, a research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundationand Stanford Research Center, has all concluded that 85% of job success comesfrom having well-developed soft skills and people skills, and only 15% of jobsuccess comes from technical skills and knowledge (hard skills) This means that nomatter what field you are in, your ability to rise up higher and faster in your careerlargely depends on how effectively you interact with other people

There are several effective communication techniques that will make you anexcellent communicator You can implement these techniques immediately and at

no cost, and you will soon begin to reap the benefits in your career and personallife

2.4.1 Maintain good body language.

The first effective communication technique is all about maintaining goodbody language when engaged in conversation According to a study on decoding

inconsistent communication (Mehrabian, A & Wiener, M., 1967) researchers havefound that body language accounts for approximately 55% of how other peopleinterpret your emotional state.

It’s essential to use your body language to communicate positive, constructive,and collaborative intent to other people For the most part, no one wants to work orcollaborate with negative or critical people Think about the people you dislike.They’re usually unfriendly, high critical, or overly aggressive and insensitive toothers Even if your communicative words are friendly and cordial, your bodylanguage still accounts for over half of what the other person perceives

To maintain good body language, the first step is developing good eye contact.Good eye contact means that you look others in the eyes when they are talking toyou or when you are talking to them Remember not to stare Take breaks to lookaway and give the other person psychological breathing room

Next, remember to express neutral and positive emotions with your arms,hands, and face When someone is discussing a problem or issue with you, expresscuriosity in your body language For example, I like to show this by furrowing mybrow curiously and resting my hand under my chin

Try to avoid expressing negative emotions like shock, panic, or anger Smilewhen you are expressing positive or constructive communication Don’t be afraid touse humor and laugh to build a good rapport with others

Finally, make sure your body is fully engaged in the conversation Use handgestures to better explain your points, and avoid crossing your arms Make sureyour body is parallel to the person you are talking with This means that you shouldtry to face them directly when speaking or listening Keep your body postureupright and relaxed

When agreements are reached or congratulations are in order, always shakethe other person’s hand In the case of smaller casual accomplishments andacknowledgments, high-fives and fist bumps work great for building strongconnections Respectful, professional, and consensual physical contact releasesoxytocin, the trust-building neurotransmitter

2.4.2 Seek first to understand.

The next effective communication technique is to seek first to understand, then

to be understood This communication model comes from Stephen Covey, the latebest-selling author, and multi-millionaire

It’s natural to think about your own needs before the needs of others That’sjust how human beings are wired biologically Many of us only listen with the intent

of replying, or with the intent of thinking about how what the other person is sayingrelates to ourselves and our lives However, using your cognitive ability to overridethat self-centered instinct can be extremely powerful

When engaged in conversation, take a mental step back and ask yourself,

“what is this person really trying to tell me?” Always ask yourself this criticalquestion before coming up with a response

Truly understanding what a person is trying to communicate to you and whycan help you understand their needs When you understand their needs, you canrespond in a way that builds trust and reciprocity with them

People will know that you really care about what they have to say and that youunderstand them on a deeper level than most others They’ll become more agreeable

to you and more likely to work with you in a collaborative way

When you seek first to understand, then to be understood, you open doors andstep into the hearts and minds of others This technique will ultimately help you getwhat you want faster and with less conflict, while also making the other person feelgreat

2.4.3 Be open and honest.

To be honest, the next technique for effective communication is not really atechnique, it’s just common sense Have you ever heard of the saying, “honesty isthe best policy”? I believe that this saying is absolutely true

People don’t trust others who appear dishonest or shady Human beings haveplenty of cognitive biases and gaps in individual perception, but if there is one thing

we have evolved to be good at, it’s recognizing deception

From an evolutionary standpoint, the ability to recognize when someone is full

of you-know-what is critical for survival To give you a simplified example, if you

were an overly trusting cave-person in paleolithic times, other cave-people couldeasily back-stab you and take your limited resources.

Because of our harsh ancient history, we’ve evolved to possess a keen abilityfor recognizing when someone is being dishonest or incongruent with us Thisinstinct still helps us avoid scammers, thieves, and backstabbers today

The point of all this is, don’t underestimate people’s ability to sniff outdishonesty or deception You should always be open and honest with others whencommunicating, for best long-term results Never lie to others or hide informationthat they should probably know, within reason

In the past, I’ve had managers above me straight-up lie to me and send privateemails to certain co-workers to hide critical information from me As you canprobably guess, all trust on my part was instantly lost with these managers when Ifound out

Trust is extremely important for effective teamwork, and it’s hard to buildback once it’s destroyed Keep this in mind whenever you think about lying to ordeceiving others People will like, respect, and trust you more when you are honestwith them, even if you are admitting a mistake or failure

Use good judgment with this advice Some things fall into the category ofhonest but offensive You can be honest without offending the other person if youchoose your words carefully

2.4.4 Frame your views.

Often when working or communicating with others, you’ll find that they holddifferent views than you on many subjects After you’ve mastered seeking tounderstand and asking open-ended questions, you should have a strong grasp on theviews of others This will allow you to frame your own views in a way that isagreeable to others

What I don’t mean to say is that you should change your own views to matchothers That would be disingenuous to yourself and to others, and you would sufferfrom persona fatigue Persona fatigue occurs when our actions are not congruentwith our self-identity It can lead to severe burnout and the destruction of trust

Instead of changing your own views and opinions, frame them in a way that isinoffensive to the other person For example, let’s say your boss asks you what youthink about the latest strategic plan for the team’s project Let’s say that you thinkthe plan is poor and has many potential negative consequences that your boss didn’tconsider.

After asking some open-ended questions, you discover that your boss has adifferent view It turns out that your boss is excited about the plan and believes that

it will be very effective when implemented

Instead of telling your boss, “I think this plan is terrible and it has too manyblind-spots to work effectively”, you want to frame your opinion in a way that isconstructive to the conversation If you harshly criticize the plan, your boss willprobably be offended, become defensive, and become unable to take anyconstructive feedback

To reframe your views effectively, you could tell your boss, “I can see whatyou were thinking when you made this plan, and from what you told me, I can seehow it could work for us in the future However, I have some concerns about theplan based on my experiences that I would like to share with you Is that okay withyou?”

By framing your views to match the views of your boss, your boss sees you aspositive and collaborative rather than overly critical This way, your boss will likelyagree to accept your feedback and take it more seriously than if you had led with aharsh or critical statement

Framing your views is a powerful technique for engaging in open and honestcommunication without offending others

2.4.5 Meet others where they stand.

The final effective communication technique is all about meeting peoplewhere they stand Sometimes when we are communicating, we alienate others byusing complex or unfamiliar language People speak and understand differentlybased on their domain knowledge, culture, background, and education level

For example, let’s say that you’re a software engineer who wants to explainhow artificial intelligence works to a layperson You probably don’t want to start

rambling on using detailed jargon about neural networks and genetic programming.Instead, you’d probably want to use a simple analogy and explain how it worksfrom a broader perspective.

Meeting people where they stand means adjusting your communication so thatpeople can easily digest what you are saying Meet them where they stand so thatyou can stand together

You’re probably wondering, why is this important? It’s important because,throughout your career, you’ll be working with people who have different areas ofdomain expertise

You may be an engineer who has to work with a project manager or anadministrative assistant that has to work with an executive (or vice-versa) Theremay be times where you have to interface with a client or customer and explainyour product or service to them in simple terms that they can understand to get them

on board

You don’t want to create miscommunication and mistakes just because youweren’t willing to meet people where they stand Clarity and mutual understandingare keys to effective teamwork and communication As the saying goes, “if youconfuse, you lose”

2.5 Factors affecting students' ability to use English communication skills.

2.5.1 Students' perceptions of the importance of English communication skills.

To learn and practice English communication skills in the right and effectiveway, first of all students need to have a proper awareness of the importance ofcommunicative English in the learning process as well as in their own lives

In addition to Academic English for everyone's research and learning, the need

to communicate in English for the most basic communication between people andpeople is also an issue that needs priority Communicating in the language thateveryone around us uses will help us easily and quickly adapt to new life andestablish relationships with newer people Students try to imagine, later when youare an employee working for a foreign business Of course, you can't just go to the

office every day to sit around to read documents and write reports You need tocommunicate with colleagues, talk to your boss, starting with the most basic politesentences such as saying good morning "Good morning", "How's thing going?" when are you new to the company, or have the opportunity to advance in aninternational environment Or in case you are an international student, walk abroadwith the ambition of dreaming of studying at a world-class university But beforeyou sit down in the auditorium and listen to the professors lecturing scholarlypapers, you have to meet these people, talk to them to arrange everything from theairport to the airport dorms, or guaranteed accommodation, travel, and makingfriends, etc At that time, a thousand scientific words, it wasn't as effective as a fewcommon sentences like "Excuse me, can you show me the way to ?” or like

"Thanks for "

Therefore, being aware of the importance of communicative English andfocusing on your English ability, students have laid the foundation for themselves tohave a better future

2.4.2 Psychological factors.

In the process of communication in general and the process of communication

in English in particular, it can be said that psychology is the leading factor affectingparticipants in communication Psychological factors can determine up to 50% ofthe effectiveness of the communication process Vietnamese learn English ingeneral and students in particular, often have anxiety when communicating inEnglish, and the reason is endless That is the reason why psychology becomes amajor barrier, directly affecting the process of improving English communication.Ordinarily, people are afraid to say wrong, write many errors, they will be afraidwhen communicating in English and this problem can only be solved by learnersthemselves

2.4.3 Communication environment.

The English communication environment is an effective languagedevelopment facility to help students practice communication skills competently.Besides, it also facilitates learners to easily experience real situations and behavemore easily