Difficulties faced by first year students of tour guides at thanh hoa college of culture arts in english oral presentations

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** HOÀNG THỊ HUỆ DIFFICULTIES FACED BY FIRST YEAR

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

HOÀNG THỊ HUỆ

DIFFICULTIES FACED BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF TOUR GUIDES AT THANH HOA COLLEGE OF CULTURE AND ARTS IN ENGLISH ORAL PRESENTATIONS

NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT

CHUYÊN NGÀNH HƯỚNG DẪN VIÊN DU LỊCH TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĂN HOÁ NGHỆ THUẬT THANH HOÁ

TRONG THUYẾT TRÌNH BẰNG TIẾNG ANH

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Cohort: K18 Code: 60.14.10

Hanoi- 2011

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

HOÀNG THỊ HUỆ

DIFFICULTIES FACED BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF TOUR GUIDES AT THANH HOA COLLEGE OF CULTURE AND ARTS IN ENGLISH ORAL PRESENTATIONS

NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT

CHUYÊN NGÀNH HƯỚNG DẪN VIÊN DU LỊCH TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĂN HOÁ NGHỆ THUẬT THANH HOÁ

TRONG THUYẾT TRÌNH BẰNG TIẾNG ANH

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10

Cohort: K18

Supervisor: Phan Hoàng Yến, M.A

Hanoi- 2011

iii

ABSTRACT

The importance of English oral presentation is undeniable in the Tour guiding work Therefore, understanding the students of Tour guides’ difficulties in learning English oral presentation skill is apparently necessary to gain effective ESP teaching and learning

This minor thesis was carried out with an attempt to investigate the areas of difficulties and obstacles that first years students of Tour guides have encountered when learning English oral presentation skill at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts (THCCA)

The minor thesis is organized in 3 parts:

Part I presents the rationale, aims and significance of the study, research questions, scope, method and design of the study

Part II consists of 4 chapters

The first chapter concentrates on the background of the study and the related literature reviews, on which the contents of the study are based

The second chapter focuses on developing the research methodology, in which the two questionnaires for first year students of Tour guides and ESP teachers are chosen as main instruments

The third chapter is to present the data collected from the two questionnaires and to analyze the data

The fourth chapter aims at discussing the findings of the difficulties as well as some solutions in the hope to develop students of Tour guides’ English oral presentation skill at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts

Part III summaries the study and offers some suggestions for further study

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

THCCA: Thanh Hoa College of Culture and Arts ESP: English for specific purpose

BA: Basic English

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LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The students’ time of learning English before entering the College

Table 2: The students’ difficulties in making English oral presentations in the class

Table 3: Students’ causes of difficulties

Table 4: Students’ suggestions

Table 5: The teachers’ experience of teaching ESP

Table 6: The teachers’ opinions of students’ attitudes

Table 7: Teachers’ teaching methods

Table 8: Teachers’ opinions of the topics and of the ESP syllabus

Table 9: Teachers’ opinions of the factors causing students’ problems

Table 10: Teachers’ suggested solutions to students’ problems

Figure 1: The students’ living conditions before entering the College

Figure 2: The students’ awareness of the importance of English oral presentation

Figure 3: The students’ evaluations of the topics in the textbook

Figure 4: The students’ evaluations of their ability of making English oral presentations

Figure 5: Teachers’ perceptions of the importance of English oral presentations

Figure 6: Teachers’ difficulties in teaching English oral presentations

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

1.1 Current overview on oral presentations 4 1.1.1 A general view of oral presentation 4 1.1.2 Types of oral presentations 5 1.1.3 Structure of an oral presentation 7 1.1.4 The importance of English Oral presentations to students of Tour guides 8

1.2 Problems with English oral presentation of Tour guides 9

2.1.1 ESP teaching and learning situation at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts 12

2.1.3 Students of Tour guides 12 2.1.4 Materials used for first year students of Tour guide at THCCA 13 2.1.4.1 The objectives of the course 13

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2.2.1 Research questions 15

2.2.3 The instruments of the study 15 2.2.3.1 The questionnaire for students 15 2.2.3.2 The questionnaire for teachers 16 2.2.4 Data collection procedures 16

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 17

3.1 The questionnaires for students 17

3.1.2.1 Student’s living condition and background of learning English 17 3.1.2.2 Student’s awareness of the importance of English oral presentations in

their future career

19

3.1.2.3 Students’ evaluations of the topics and their oral presentation of Tour

guides in the class

19

3.1.2.4 Students’ difficulties in learning English oral presentation skill 21 3.1.2.5 Factors causing the students’ difficulties 22 3.1.2.6 Students’ suggestions 23

3.2 The questionnaires for teachers 25

3.2.2.1 Teachers’ teaching experiences 25 3.2.2.2 Teachers’ perception of the importance of English oral presentations to

students of Tour guides

26

3.2.2.3 Teachers’ opinions of Tourism major students’ attitudes to English oral

presentations

26

3.2.2.4 Teachers’ methods in teaching English oral presentations to first year

students of Tour guides

27

3.2.2.5 Teachers’ opinions of the contents in the course book and of ESP syllabus 28 3.2.2.6 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching English oral presentations 29 3.2.2.7 Teachers’ opinions of the factors causing students’ problems and teachers’

suggested solutions

29

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS 32

4.1.1 Students’ difficulties in learning English oral presentation 32 4.1.1.1 Students lack specialized knowledge of Tourism 32 4.1.1.2 Students have low English proficiency 33 4.1.1.3 Students lack body language performance 33 4.1.1.4 Students lack confidence 33 4.1.1.5 Students lack an ESP practice environment 34 4.1.2 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching English oral presentation 34

4.1.3.1 Lack of a suitable training program 35 4.1.3.2 Lack of necessary facilities 35

4.2.1.1 Improve sociolinguistic competence and specialized knowledge 36 4.2.1.2 Improve students’ performance skill in oral presentations 36 4.2.1.3 Build up students’ confidence 37

4.2.2.1 Improve their knowledge of ESP 37 4.2.2.2 Improve their performance ability of English oral presentations of Tour

guides

38

4.2.3 For the administrators 38 4.2.3.1 Change the ESP teaching syllabus and equip conductive facilities 38 4.2.3.2 Provide ESP teachers with chances to take part in Tourism training

courses

39

4.2.3.3 Create an ESP practice environment for students of Tour guides 39

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2 Limitations of the study 41

3 Suggestions for further research 42

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

To students of Tour guides, English oral communication skill is very essential since the industry is really in need of the graduates who have the skills For first year Vietnamese students of Tour guides at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts, English oral presentation is extremely important because they expect to use it frequently for their tour guiding work However, for nearly seven years of teaching ESP at THCCA, the researcher

of the study have realized the fact that many learners of Tour guides course after a long time of learning English for Tourism find themselves unable to deliver an oral presentation successfully Among of them, there are a large number of first year students who always find it difficult to make English oral presentations in the class

2 Aims of the study

- investigating first year students of tour guides’ difficulties in English oral presentation skill

- giving some suggestions and solutions to reduce difficulties and improve the teaching and learning of English oral presentations in Tour guides training course

In other words, the aims of the study are to answer the following questions:

1 What are the difficulties faced by first year students of Tour guides at Thanh Hoa College of Culture and Arts in English oral presentations?

2 What are the solutions to overcome the identified difficulties?

3 Scope of the study

The research is limited to the exploration of difficulties encountered by first year students

of Tour guides at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts in English Oral presentations

4 Methodology

 Conducting a survey questionnaire to investigate first year students’ difficulties

in English oral presentation skill

 Conducting a survey questionnaire to examine teachers’ view on first year students’ difficulties in English oral presentation, their teaching techniques and suggested solutions to the identified problems

 Resorting to personal experience

5 Design of the study

2

Part I (Introduction)

Part II (Development)

Part III (Conclusion)

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Current view on oral presentations

1.1.1 A general view of oral presentations

1.1.2 Types of oral presentations

1.1.3 Structure of an oral presentation

1.1.4 The importance of English Oral presentations to students of Tour guides 1.2 Problems with oral presentations of tour guides

A bad layout before making an oral presentation

Poor specialized knowledge of Tourism destinations

Bad English speaking skill

Nervousness

Bad communicative competence

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 The context of the study

2.1.1 ESP teaching and learning situation at Thanh Hoa College of Culture & Arts 2.1.2 Teaching staff

2.1.3 Students of Tour guides

2.1.4 Materials used for students of Tour guides at THCCA

2.1.4.1 The objectives of the course

2.1.4.2 The syllabus

2.1.4.3 Materials

2.2 The research methodology

2.2.1 Research questions

2.2.2 The participants

2.2.3 The instruments of the study

2.2.3.1 The questionnaire for the students

2.2.3.2 The questionnaires for teachers

2.2.4 Data collection procedures

2.2.5 Summary

3.1 The questionnaires for students

3.1.1 Methodology

3.1.2 Results

3.1.2.1 Student’s living conditions and background of learning English

Over a half of students (57.5%) were from the countryside where the English learning condition was poor There were only 18.75% of the informants coming from the city/towns where they had better conditions for learning English More noticeably, 23.75% of the

students were from mountainous/remote areas where English seemed to be new for them

In brief, a conclusion can be drawn out from the result of the two first questions that the first year students of Tour guides at THCCA are affected by English learning conditions and time of learning English before entering the College

3.1.2.2 Student’s awareness of the importance of English oral presentations in their future career

Their responses could be explained by some reasons Some of the students thought English oral presentation skill was not necessary in their job because they might work in Thanh Hoa province only, even they would work in the remote areas or the countryside where projects for Tourism development have not been carried out and tour guides almost have never had chances to communicate with foreign visitors So, there was a certainty of Tour guide students’ negative attitudes towards their ESP learning course

3.1.2.3 Students’ evaluations of the topics and their oral presentations of Tour guides

in the class

The majority of the first-year majors of Tour guides were not successful with presenting in English and they complained the course book was difficult for them to learn Some students found the topics interesting but making English oral presentations about them

4

were not in a good procedure Only about one third of them did the job quite well The following part will focus on the difficulties that they might encounter

3.1.2.4 Students’ difficulties in learning English oral presentation skill

Many first year students of Tour guides at THCCA face the difficulties in preparation before presentation such as lack of general knowledge of English (grammar, vocabulary and structure), anxiety and incompetence of using body language A practice environment

and time control were conveyed as the problems which need feasible solutions

3.1.2.5 Factors causing the students’ difficulties

Learners’ low proficiency in English was a major factor that prevented them from delivering oral presentations effectively according to the survey findings.They lost their confidence in speaking Background knowledge of Tourism was problematic to 41 students (51.25%) who claimed that they are not provided with enough knowledge related to Tourism fields In addition, 32 students (40%) of them pointed out that conductive facility caused their problems and they did not get enough feedback and assessment from the teacher(s)

3.1.2.6 Students’ suggestions

81.25% of students believed that they had to improve their knowledge of English And

to 70 students (87.5%), it was important for the teacher(s) to help the students to improve

their linguistic skills such as models of language, model presentations, verbal skills and

pronunciation That requirement was a must for an effective presentation in English of Tour guides Besides, a large number of students (88.75%) considered that they need to have strong confidence in oral presentations That was certain because confidence was the first important thing to help the speakers communicate successfully and gave an effective presentation Another high percentage of students (76.25%) wanted to join in speaking clubs and oratory contests of ESP These activities could be seen as an interesting playground which would attract many students who wanted to improve English oral presentation skill of Tour guides In addition, a suitable training program was needed by 52 students (65%)

3.2 The questionnaire for teachers

3.2.1 Methodology

3.2.2 Results

3.2.2.1 Teachers’ teaching experience

We can see that more than half of teachers at THCCA have been teaching ESP for 03

years, which is very significant in term of their language adjustment and experience in

teaching English oral presentation skill to students of Tour guides

3.2.2.2 Teachers’ perception of the importance of English oral presentations to

students of Tour guides

These teachers believed that in the development process of communicative language, their

students who wanted to become good Tourist guides have to master English oral

presentation skill Especially in the figure, no teacher considered this skill unimportant and

very unimportant

3.2.2.3 Teachers’ opinions of Tourism major students’ attitudes to English oral

presentations

According to the results of table 6, 02 teachers (33.3%) said that their students felt bored

and the same rate revealed the students were bored with the English oral presentation

lessons, whereas there was 01 teacher (16.6%) pointing out that their students considered

the lessons neutral And only 01 teacher (16.6%) believed the students were interested in

English oral presentation skill Nobody thought that their students felt very interested in the

lessons

3.2.2.4 Teachers’ methods in teaching English oral presentations

Teachers expressed they have made their efforts to encourage students’ motivation in

learning That was also their hope to help students deliver well – done English oral

presentations of Tour guides None of the six teachers chose traditional grammar teaching

method

3.2.2.5 Teachers’ opinions of the contents in the course book and of ESP syllabus

We could realize a very high rate (83.6%) believed the ESP teaching syllabus currently

carried out in the College was unsuitable and it should be changed in the hope of moving

ESP training program to the third semester when students of Tour guides had finished two

semesters of learning Basic English This idea was the same with students’ want in the

previous sections Only 1 teacher (16.6%) confirmed the syllabus was suitable This