Difficulties in English communication reflex of fourth year students of English Faculty, Thuong Mai University

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THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FACULTY

-GRADUATION PAPER

TOPIC:

DIFFICULTIES IN ENGLISH COMMUNICATION REFLEX

OF FOURTH YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH FACULTY,

THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY

Hanoi, 2020

HANOI, 2019

Therefore, English communication reflex skills is an ultimate course in Englishlanguage curriculum at university However, it is not easy for learners in this context

to achieve their fluency and proficiency in English communication reflex This studyaimed to summarize the difficulties that the fourth year students of English Faculty atThuong Mai University have to face up with To achieve the aim of the study, Iapplied one tool: the questionnaire with 80 students

According to the questionnaire, the following result were reached: EnglishFaculty’s students facing both internal and external challenges and giverecommendations to help students communicate English more effectively

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FACULTY

-GRADUATION PAPER

TOPIC:

DIFFICULTIES IN ENGLISH COMMUNICATION REFLEX

OF FOURTH YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH FACULTY,

THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY

Hanoi, 2020

HANOI, 2019

i

This Graduation Paper would not have been accomplished without the guidanceand help of some people, who in one way or another, contributed and extended theirvaluable assistance in the preparation and completion of this study In the process ofcompleting this graduation paper, I have faced up with many problems with apologystrategy in English, as well as the way to express my ideas However, with the greathelp, assistance and encouragement from this people who are teachers, family andfriends; I have overcome these difficulties and completed this graduation papersuccessfully

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to mysupervisor, Mrs.Ha Thi Vu Ha, one of the lecturers at the Faculty of Business English

in Thuong Mai university, whose supervision and encouragement help me a lot withmanaging this Graduation Paper She has not only given me many invaluablesuggestions and comments but also provided me with valuable materials ThroughMrs.Ha sharing and feedbacks, I was inspired and motivated to overcome all thedifficulties during the process

Secondly, I would like to thank all teachers of English Faculty at Thuong MaiUniversity for their precious and useful lessons during my four-year study which havebeen then the foundation of this study In addition, my sincere thanks are delivered to

my parents and friends for their encouragement and assistance in this time, withoutwhose help I could not to have finished this Graduation Paper And The last thank Iwould like to spend for all of you who are interested in this topic I hope that it willbring some of usefulness to you

Because of limited time, knowledge and practical experience, this GraduationPaper certainly contains numerous mistakes Therefore, I honestly look forward toreceiving comments and suggestions All of the feedbacks and recommendations fromreaders are warmly welcome and this will make the Graduation Paper be more perfect

Ha Noi, April 15 th, 2020 Nguyen Thi Anh

ii

TABLE OF CONTENT

ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

TABLE OF CONTENT iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF TABLE AND CHART vii

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Previous studies 2

1.2.1 Studies abroad 2

1.2.2 Studies in Vietnam 3

1.3 Aim of the study 4

1.4 Research subjects 4

1.4 Significance of the study 5

1.5 Scope of the study 5

1.6 Organization of the study 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 Definition of communication and communication reflex 7

2.1.1 Definition of communication 7

2.1.2 Definition of communication reflex 8

2.1.3 The important roles of English communication reflex 9

2.2 The factors affect English communication reflex 11

2.2.1 Objective factors 11

2.2.2 Subjective factors 12

2.3 Common difficulties of improving English communication reflex 13

2.3.1 Speaking difficulties 13

2.3.2 Listening difficulties 15

2.3.3 Lack of physical settings 17

2.4 Strategies for improving communication reflex 18

2.4.1 Improving communication reflex by thinking in English 18

iii

2.4.2 Improve English communication reflex through conversational group

practice 20

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS 22

3.1 Methodology 22

3.1.1 Research methodology 22

3.1.2 Research question 22

3.1.3 Participants 22

3.1.4 Data collection instrument 22

3.1.5 Data collection procedures 23

3.2 Data Analysis 24

3.2.1 General information 24

3.2.2 English usage and communication reflex ability 24

3.2.3 Communication reflex problems 30

3.2.4 Proposals for solving difficulties in communication reflex 37

3.3 Conclusion 40

CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING ENGLISH COMMUNICATION REFLEX 41

4.1 Recommendations for students 41

4.1.1 Surround yourself with the English language 41

4.1.2 Participating in using English activities 42

4.1.3 Expanding vocabulary 42

4.2 Recommendations for teachers and university 43

4.2.1 Raising students’ awareness of the importance of communication reflex in learning English 43

4.2.2 Giving more advices and instructions 43

4.2.3 Recommendation for university 44

4.3 Conclusion 44

CONCLUSION 45 REFERENCES

APPENDIX

iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

v

LIST OF TABLE AND CHART

Chart 1 The period of time the students have been studying English 24

Chart 2 The English level of the students of English faculty, TMU 25

Chart 3 Student's evaluation about English communication reflex skill 26

Chart 4 The time of learning English students spend each day 27

Chart 5 The activities of speaking English students joined at TMU 28

Chart 6: Student’s English communication reflex level 29

Chart 7 Studen’s evaluation about the difficulties in communication reflex skill 31

Table 1: The difficulties of improving communication reflex of the students 32

Chart 8 Factors affecting English communication reflex skill 34

Chart 9 Subjective factors affecting English communication reflex skill 35

Chart 10 Objective factors affecting the English communication reflex skill 36

Chart 11: Strategies to improve communication reflex skill 37

Chart 12 Assessment thinking by English method 38

Chart 13 Conversational group practice method 39

vi

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

1.1 Rationale

Nowadays, when globalization is spreading its influence, demand for improvingthe human resources’ foreign language is higher than before Additionally, most ofcountries in the world are using English like a main language tool to communicate andexchange information across every industries and sectors Consequently, Englishlanguage becomes a global language which can be used for communication withnative-speakers and non-native-speakers worldwide, especially in the educationsection, all university students need it for their studies in order to search informationand obtain knowledge That leads to the result is a lot of universities throughout theworld need to include English language as one of their educational tool requirements

To Vietnam, a country that has the economy is a socialist-oriented marketeconomy Vietnam is considered as one of the fastest growing countries in the world.Vietnam’s economy is also developing rapidly and expending with the globalizationtrend That makes the importance of learning English cannot be denied For studentswho are the future generations of the country, learning English becomes much morenecessary than ever to contribute to renovate and develop the country also to improvethe image of the country world-wide

Out of the most important skills when learning foreign languages, includingEnglish language, communication reflex skill is the most important one It is helpfulfor learners to use foreign language to express ideas, thoughts and feelings to theirinterlocutors Thus, it can be said that improvement of the knowledge ofcommunication skills and the influence of communication reflex skill helps theirEnglish skill progress day by day

In spite of its importance in English communication reflex, the state of teachingand learning this skill has long been ignored and given little consideration time.Therefore, many Vietnamese students express a desire to learn and practice together inorder to perfect English communication skills and use English more flexibly, whichcan help them make a strong impression on recruiters in the future However, most ofthe Vietnamese students face a situation is that they always think about what they want

to say in mind by their mother tongue and then trying to translate all the words intoEnglish It is a serious mistake and often interferes with English communication

In the fact that the Vietnamese students in general, and the fourth year students

of English Faculty at Thuong Mai university in particular, still run up against manydifficulties in the process of teaching and learning English, especially using Englishflexibly in communication This study will indicate the barriers, difficulties for fourthyear students English Faculty who are directly learning and using English in a realworking environment later Students of English Faculty at TMU will be the next highquality employee generation and the face of the country Hence, having an excellentEnglish communication reflex skill is an essential Moreover, it is a key point helpsthem to catch the eyes of employers

However, practicing and getting a good English communication reflex skill arealso challenging and taking a long time There are the reasons why I would like tocarry out the study in order to help the students find the recommendation and solution

to solve the issues

1.2 Previous studies

Communication reflex and communication skill are often chosen by manyresearchers in the world and Vietnam in particular Before getting up to study, aninvestigation of communication reflex skill encountered by students at Thuong Mai

university, I will show you some reviews about the related study “Difficulties in

English communication reflex of fourth year students of English Faculty, Thuong Mai University”

1.2.1 Studies abroad

The thesis with the topic “English oral communication problem and strategies

used by Thai employees in an international workplace to communicate with the native and non-native English speaking customers” by Fatinmar Jeharsea for the Tourism

English major (2012) should be mentioned the English oral communication problemsand strategies used by Thai employees to communicate with native and non-nativeEnglish speaking customers in an international workplace

The second study abroad related to difficulties in English communication reflex

skill which I refer is that “The role of communication skill in learning and using the

second languages” by Musolas Alsubaie (May,2017) This study is aimed to

investigate how individuals learning a second language communicate The secondlanguage acquisition is a challenge that requires many skills such as reading, listening,writing, speaking, grammar, and vocabulary However, even though communicationskills are important for individuals to interact and communicate, educators of secondlanguage learners rarely include communication skills in the curriculum The lack ofthe knowledge of communication skills and the influence of communication skills onlearners illustrate the importance of conducting this study, showing some importantcommunication skills Of ten participants in this study who used English as a secondlanguage, in the US, this study explored their experiences and behaviors when theycommunicate with others The study found a need to develop communication skillsalongside grammar and vocabulary to enhance the development of second languageproficiency

1.2.2 Studies in Vietnam

The study “Challenges to speaking skills encountered by English-majored

students: A story of one Vietnamese university in the Mekong Delta” (2017) by Vo

Phuong Quyen, Pham Thi My Nga and Ho Thao Nguyen School of ForeignLanguages, Can Tho University, Vietnam focuses on the difficulties encountered byuniversity EFL students while participating in oral classroom activities: Speakingskills The findings show that English freshmen faced both internal and externalchallenges, especially the latter ones regarding the limitation of English speakingenvironment and extracurricular activities

To have a thorough gasp and more knowledge of the study I have examined, I

refer to the research “A study on techniques to improve the first year English majors’

speaking skill at Hai Phong University” The purpose of this research was to explore

the reality of teaching and learning English speaking of the first year English majors atHPU and then suggesting some main techniques which include the methods ofstrengthening the teaching of English speaking to help students enhance their Englishspeaking skill Only in this way, students who are learning English speaking can learn

it well so that they can communicate in English fluently and improve their Englishspeaking skill The author expects through the study, the students of Foreign

Languages Department at HPU, especially the first year 2 English majors at HPU canimprove their English speaking in order to get a brighter future The author wants tochange the student attitude on speaking English and let them find English speakingmore interesting The expectation is that the first year English majors at HPU canconsider speaking English as their favorite activity

Overall, we can easily find out studies related to communication skill andspeaking skill These studies have mentioned quite clearly and clearly many problemsand difficulties when communicating in English of students in different fields but therehave been no studies on communication reflex problem in students For this reason, Ihave decided to carry out a research on the shortcomings and difficulties ofcommercial university final year students about reflexes in communication and

propose suitable solutions to improve English.

1.3 Aim of the study

The study is done with the following aims:

First and foremost, the difficulties and barriers in the process of improvingEnglish communication reflex skills will be figured out in this study

Then, the study would like to suggest and accordingly solve recommendations

to deal with these problems and create the best effect in English learning for final yearstudents of English Department

Finally, this study could be very valuable for fourth students English Faculty atThuong Mai University in perfecting English communication skill

1.4 Research subjects

Based on the rationale and the aims of the problems, the subject of this

research is “Difficulties in English communication reflex of the fourth year students

of English Faculty, Thuong Mai University” It is obviously that there is one main

subject here: English communication skill Therefore, there is one main subject of

“Difficulties in English communication reflex of the fourth year students of English

Faculty, Thuong Mai University”:

 To investigate the English communication reflex skill problems made bystudents of English Faculty, TMU

 To suggest some solutions in order to improve English communication reflexskill.

1.4 Significance of the study

The study mainly aims at pointing out the causes of difficulties in improvingcommunication reflex of by fourth year students of Faculty English at TMU

Additionally, the researcher also investigates the learning strategies applied byfourth year students in practicing progress As a result, once having been completed,the study is expected to bring considerable benefits to both teachers and students

Moreover, the findings and suggestions of this study are believed to enhancethe teaching and learning process of communication reflex for English majoredstudents in general and English Faculty’s fourth year students in particular The results

of this study may be a good help for the students themselves and other people who areinterested in learning English communication reflex

Furthermore, the findings of this study also provide recommendations forcompleting communication reflex skill as well

Finally, the research findings would raise the teachers’ awareness of thestudents' difficulties, thereby guiding them in reconstructing their program of teaching

to suit their students’ needs From this issues, the efficiency of teaching and learning inTMU will increase

1.5 Scope of the study

There are so many different material resources that require a lot of time andefforts while my personal experience is limited Therefore, this study can only focus

on studying the communication reflex skill of students, then determine difficulties theyhad to encounter when communicating to propose some solution for improving Englishcommunication reflex skill This study is conducted questionnaire surveys over theinternet with the participation of the final year students of English Faculty, TMU I hopethat this study is a value reference material for the students of TMU in particular and allthe students in Vietnam in general to get higher communication level

1.6 Organization of the study

The construction of this study includes four part as follows:

Chapter 1: The introduction gives the rationale, the aim of study, the research subjects,scope of the study, methodology and the structure of study

Chapter 2: The literature review shows the background literature directly relevant tothe study being discussed

Chapter 3: Research finding includes the result from the study, evaluation and analysisfrom the survey questionnaire

Chapter 4: Recommendations and suggested techniques for improving Englishcommunication reflex of English Faculty’s fourth-year students at Thuong Mai

University.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition of communication and communication reflex

2.1.1 Definition of communication

Communication, understanding in a simple way, is the act of transferringinformation from one place, person or group to another This may sound easily, butcommunication is actually a very complex subject There are many differentdefinitions of communication from many different sources and researchers

According to Wikipedia: Communication (from Latin communicare, meaning

"to share") is defined as the act of conveying meanings from one entity or group toanother through the use of mutually understood signs, symbols, and semiotic rules Allcommunication has 8 main steps below:

Step 1: Forming communicative motivation or reason

Step 2: Determining the composition of message such as internal or technicalelaboration on what exactly to express

Step 3: The message is encoded into written text, speech, pictures, gestures and

Step 6: From a sequence of received signals, the encoded message is receiptedand reassembled

Step 7: The recipient decodes the reassembled encoded message

Step 8: Interpretation and making sense of the presumed original message.Richard Nordqist, a freelance writer and former professor of English and

Rhetoric who wrote college-level Grammar and Composition textbooks gave another

definition of communication The definition of communication is detailed that it is theprocess of sending and receiving messages through verbal or nonverbal means,including speech, or oral communication; writing and graphical representations (such

as information graphics, maps, and charts); and signs, signals, and behavior Moresimply, communication is said to be "the creation and exchange of meaning"

As for Media critic and theorist James Carey, communication is defined as "a

symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed"

in his 1992 book "Communication as Culture," showing that we define our reality via

sharing our experience with others All creatures on the earth have developed means inwhich to convey their emotions and thoughts to one another However, it's the ability

of humans to use words and language to transfer specific meanings that sets them apartfrom the animal kingdom

There are many different definition of communication that given by manyfamous researchers However, in reality, communication can be understood as theprocess of forming utterance which carries a certain meaning to express one’s idea tothe others for a certain purpose Truly, communication is one of the most importantskills that the foreign language learners have to learn and master, it will help theirwork more efficient and development

2.1.2 Definition of communication reflex

Before studying about the definition of communication reflex, we should learnabout what is reflecting?

According to the online page “Skill you need”, reflecting is the process of

paraphrasing and restating both the feelings and words of the speaker

The purposes of reflecting are:

 To allow the speaker to 'hear' their own thoughts and to focus on what theysay and feel

 To show the speaker that they are trying to perceive the world as they see itand that they are doing their best to understand their messages

 To encourage them to continue talking

Reflecting does not only involve asking questions, introducing a new topic butalso lead the conversation in another direction and create full conversation Speakersare helped through reflecting as it not only allows them to feel understood, but it alsogives them the opportunity to focus their ideas This in turn helps them to direct theirthoughts and further encourages them to continue speaking

Reflection while speaking English – It can understand simply that leaner have

an action in response to a stimulus from the speaker's communication action quickly,this action is described in words by English

Reflections in English are conditional reflex that are formed during the process

of our living, studying and working in the English environment In other words, inorder to create reflective communication in English, it is necessary to have stimulatingfactors The stimulus here could be a question, comment or simply a dailyconversation in English The reflex requires a response, replying or revealing feelings

on both sides to have a conversation between two or more people

In short, Communication reflex is a general term for a format of client-orientedpsychotherapy in which the client is afforded the opportunity to examine his or herbehaviours and interactions with others while the therapist acts as a verbal “mirror”,often by restating what the person has just said

2.1.3 The important roles of English communication reflex

Nowadays, English is one of the most important language in the world, it is theofficial language of 53 countries and spoken by around 400 million people across theglobe For Vietnam, the country is in the process of integrating with the world, Englishbecomes more and more important, not only for graduates looking for work but alsofor students who are still sitting in their school

Language is a tool of communication Communication is a key to acquiring aforeign language as English, and Communication reflex skill is obviously a crucialskill of learner language So studying and practicing a lot to improve communicationreflex become more important in many school and university To have a goodcommunication reflex skill and keep up with the changing world outside of school,students are encouraged to participate in English communication activities such aspresentations, criticisms, plays, and films Through direct communication with nativespeakers, students acquire other knowledge more quickly and effectively TheirEnglish ability and skills which include communication reflex skill will be improved.Moreover, students become more energetic, active and socializing with other peoplewho have similar interests As a result, students gain valuable experiences and learnmore useful things during study progress and extracurricular participation at theuniversity

For student, who are looking for a part-time job to earn extra incomes and helptheir parents but they only find manual jobs such as server in restaurants, selling goods

in shops, etc the reason is that they are lack of experience and don’t have any foreignlanguage In contrast, if they are confident in English and good communication skills,they can apply for the necessary positions such as English teaching assistants,translators, interpreters, freelance guider, salesman at tourist shops It is not only awonderful opportunity for students to earn money but also let them keep practicingand developing their English skill

Communication reflex skill is an important tool for us to exchange information,ideals, feelings, and thoughts to the listener The corporate world values these skillsvery much for many transactions are negotiated successfully by being an effectivecommunicator Recruiting in each companies always consider English as an importantcriterion for selecting the suitable candidate Furthermore, employees are expected to

be interactive and communicative with others in the team Indeed, teamwork skill isvery important in multinational companies specially in trade Because effectivecommunication is the means by which business processes keep working,communicating in English is a required conditional to be an employee

The reason why an English-speaking employee can easily gain promotion inwork more than the others is that he/she is able to communicate and learn advancedtechniques effectively through communication with foreigner It is these languageskills that help him/her ensure a better job opportunity than someone who onlypossesses original technical skills Because of knowing this thoroughly, students whowill become employees in the workplace in the future, are practicing and studying a lot

to have the ability to communicate well in English to start interviews and the finalpurpose is getting the highly-appreciated from employer In short, goodcommunication skills in English will give an advantage in job interviews

All of the recruiters want to have the employees who can basically read,understand, speak in English and welcome the person who are master of English Theemployees can increase their marketability by learning how to converse in Englishfluently The only way makes them stay ahead in the game is that they have to perfecttheir English skill In the professional world, this is very important for student

represent in company meetings, conferences, and interactions with stakeholders Aprofessional look has to be substantiated with effective English communication reflexskills.

2.2 The factors affect English communication reflex

2.2.1 Objective factors

2.2.1.1 Environment

No one can deny the important of the communication environment in thepractice of communication reflex which contributes to the success in improving thequality of training of English major universities Perfecting English skills in which theultimate goal is to build and develop a favorable, healthy communication environment,and create best factors for English students to learn English

Howard Gardner, Ph.D has considered in the theory of intelligence: The ideallearning environment is the place where students communicate, interact with friends,teachers, play, exercise, sing, dance, tell stories, or do it manually Learning in suchenvironments helps learners remember more than 80% of what they learned in a yearlater Because in an English environment, we don't learn passively but actively Thepressure in the English listening and speaking environment forces us to focus onlistening comprehension and converting from the source language (Vietnamese) intothe target language (English) Developing the communication environment is toincrease the favorable factors to help the communication process achieve higherquality and efficiency

2.2.1.2 Education system

According to the educational system of Vietnam, Students begin learningEnglish at class 3 But it is difficult to catch a person who can use English fluentlyexcepting English major students It is the unreasonable educational system ofVietnam that indirectly affects students’ ability English as well as Englishcommunication reflex skill Lack of alignment between programs at all levels, lack offlexibility in teaching and textbook programs have made students’ English reflexesvery poor Changing and improving the weaknesses are the essential things that theeducational system of Vietnam needs to do now to help students learn English betterand improving their English communication reflex skill

2.2.2 Subjective factors

2.2.2.1 Motivation and study’s attitude

Based on a scientific conclusion, the influence of the feeling of the learners onthe result of studying English is 80%, the remaining 20% is the method Therefore, tolearn English effectively, the only way is that promoting 80% of learners’ emotions.But how? And one of the current trends and secrets of effective English learningselected by English centers is to create a good environment, where there is a full range

of stimulating effects by the senses images, sound, light, teaching methods, nativeteachers and extracurricular activities help create a sense of excitement in learning,increase the ability to receive and remember knowledge longer than in just listen andcopy traditional songs is the best answer for the question above From that, studentswill be motivated to learn English better and more effectively

Motivation is believed to be one of the key factors to learning and teachingEnglish Motivation in foreign or second language teaching has vital role as one oflanguage learning strategies Motivation helps overcome obstacles and learningdifficulties, makes students are more interested in learning and also active in activitiesorganized by teachers And from that, foreign language skills in general, Englishcommunication ability in particular will be able to be improved

2.2.2.2 Psychology

Weak psychology is one of the causes leading to weak communication reflexes.Most English learners have a fear of speaking and communication with native peoplebecause they are afraid of being wrong They are not confident, ashamed and lose theirtemper whenever they have to communicate in English The main reason is becausethey have not been able to train themselves to speak naturally so every time theycommunicate with others, they will feel awkward and do not know how to respond.Creating a comfortable mentality in communicating at an English-speaking school willcreate familiarity as a school of communication in the mother tongue

2.2.2.3 Choosing suitable methods

To be able to speak English fluently, learners definitely have to prepare acertain foundation The most important here is pronunciation, vocabulary and reflexes,not just focus on grammar The choice of communication English learning method isvery important It will determine the effectiveness of communication reflex

2.3 Common difficulties of improving English communication reflex

2.3.1 Speaking difficulties

Speaking skill is actually a difficult challenge for the learners, because speaking

a foreign language especially English requires to know well gramma, vocabulary,pronunciation… so there are many people find difficulty when learning English

There are some problems for speaking skill that teachers can come across inhelping students to speak in the classroom These are some typical difficulties ofspeaking skill

2.3.1.1 Limitation of vocabulary and grammar knowledge

Vocabulary and grammar knowledge related significantly to English skill, is thebackground knowledge The problems of vocabularies occur when someone is lack ofvocabulary needed to talk and does not know how to combine the vocabularies into agood sentence In the field of the second language learning and teaching, vocabularyhas been undervalued for many years Fortunately, a change of attitude towards

vocabulary has occurred recently According to Laufer (1997, 147) “vocabulary is no

longer a victim of discrimination in second language learning research, or in language teaching After decades of neglect lexis is now recognized as central to any language acquisition process, native or non-native what many language teachers might have intuitively known for a long time, that a sold vocabulary is necessary in every stage of language learning, is now being openly stated by some language researchers”.

It’s so easy to realized that the numbers of students who learn English as aforeign language have difficulties to use word and expression to speak In the realcommunication, nobody paid much attention to the correct grammar expression, butemphasized the content and how to reply Besides, there are a lot of grammatical rules

in the English language, so it is difficult for the students to correctly understand anduse grammar The nervous of new grammar, unknown words and the catching messageform speech fails is the barriers for students when communicating Grammaticalcompetence can help speakers apply and perceive the structure of English languagecorrectly that leads to their fluency (Latha, 2012) If learners do not know the rules ofgrammar, they will never be able to communicate using English effectively Grammar

becomes difficult because learners do not learn structures one in a time Having notmastered English grammar will lead to appear the errors such as “she are doinghomework” when students speak

2.3.1.2 Inhibition

It is the first problem when students encounter in class This is the fear orapprehension occurring when a learner is expected to perform in the second or foreignlanguage Inhibition can affect the communication strategies students employ inEnglish class Students seemed to be fairly comfortable responding to a drill ordelivering prepared speeches in English class but they tend to freeze in a role-playsituation They are worried about making mistakes and fearful of criticism They areashamed of the other students’ attention towards themselves Littlewood (2007)expressed that a language classroom can also create inhibitions and apprehension forthe students

2.3.1.3 Lack of motivation to speak

Motivation is the most important factor affecting learning foreign language,especially English It is drive directed towards goal Motivation is the effort whichlearners put into learning a second language as a result for their need or desire to learn

it In fact, Students usually complain that they cannot remember anything to say and

do not have any motivation to express themselves This is supported by Rivers (1968)who thinks that learners often have nothing to say probably because their teachers hadselected a topic that is not appropriate for them or they do have enough informationabout it Baker and Westrup (2003) also supports the above idea and stated that it isvery difficult for learners to answer when their teachers ask them to tell things in aforeign language because they have little opinions about what to say, whichvocabulary to apply, or how to use grammar accurately

2.3.1.4 Lack of cooperation in practice

The low of participation in speaking class is the third factor that affects Englishcommunication reflex skill The lack of interaction among students has occurred whenjust one student talks at a time and the other students try to hear him/her without anyinteractions That’s cause leading to the situation in speaking class some learnersdominate the whole class while others talk very little or never speak The other cause

affecting the speaking ability is that when some learners share the same tongue, they try to use it in the speaking class because it is very easy for them.According to Harmer (1991), there are some reasons why learners use mother-tongue

mother-in their speakmother-ing classes The first reason is the lack of knowledge to express their ideawhen teachers ask them to talk about a topic, they will use their language to replace.And the addition reason related to this is that the application of mother-tongue is verynatural for learners to use Students are not serious about the attitude required to useEnglish in language class If teachers do not urge their learners to talk in English,learners will automatically use their first language to explain something to theirclassmates

2.3.1.5 Lack of professional environment to speak

The Teachers need to be aware of the important of urging their learner usingEnglish in class and restricting the use of their mother tongue Hyland in the survey

“Asian Journal of English Language Teaching” (January ,2007) investigated learners

from eight disciplines at five Hong Kong institutions The findings of his researchindicated that proficiency in English was a significant factor in the academic success

of an English environment The learners’ language difficulties are also presented inthis research related to the productive skill of writing and speaking Evans and Green(2007) examined the language difficulties experienced by the students at a Hong Konguniversity The results of this study showed that the students’ difficulties centered onthe academic speaking such as grammar, fluency, and pronunciation and the academicwriting like style, grammar, and cohesion

2.3.2 Listening difficulties

Listening is becoming increasingly important in every fields of life, especially

in learning a foreign language such as English There are some difficulties whenlistening English that the learners have to face up with

2.3.2.1 Cultural differences of language

Being unfamiliar of cultural knowledge of language plays a great roleunderstanding the context The marriage between language and culture is indivisible(Brown, 1994) It means that when the learners learn the second language, they need tostudy about the cultural of this language In some of situations, Students may receive

the topic that contain completely different cultural matter than they have That leads tothe case students may have difficulties to imagine what has been told This is thereason why the instructors should give prior knowledge about the topic beforehand.For example, if the listening part is about Easter Day and it is not common in thearea that language is being taught students cannot catch some points But if there arethe information about Easter Day before, students can easily catch what they arelistening to.

2.3.2.2 Accent differences

Munro and Derwing (1998) claimed that too many genres of accented speechwould result in a significant reduction in comprehension Fan (1993) pointed out thatusually ESL/EFL listeners are used to “their teacher’s accent or to the standard variety

of British or American English” Therefore, teachers have to familiarize the studentsboth British and American accent The consequence is an endless debate has occurredthat what is the Standard English? Some people believe that the British English is thestandard But the real is that English is spoken all over the world by many countriessuch as Indian, Australian, Chinese, Turkish, and so on As my view, English is aglobe language so it has not certain standards The best thing is every one cancommunicate together without any barriers language

2.3.2.3 Length and speed of the listening

The effect of listening to long parts and keeping all the information in the minddepends on the level of students Three minutes is the most suitable time for the lowerlevel students to listen and complete the desired activities It is not easy for them tolisten more than three minutes Additionally, short listening texts facilitate listeningcomprehension and diminish boredom, keep learner concentration alive (Atkins et al1995) If the text contains a lot of information, it is not easy to store everything inmind, exceptional listening ability and strategy required to understand The speed isalso a reason that makes listening text difficult Speaking faster than normal is thecause leading to have difficult to catch target words of the listeners Because on thecontrary of reading comprehension, the listener cannot control speed of the speakerand this cause the greatest difficulties in listening

2.3.2.4 Lack of concentration

The listeners have difficult when concentrating in a foreign language Peoplecan easily concentrate on something if they feel it interesting For example, in aseminar about literary language, listener sometimes feel tired and bore about thespeech because it is hard for them to understand it because they do not have anyknowledge about it Even when they are interested in it, they still spend a huge amount

of effort in order to not miss the meaning That’s also a reason why students feelbored and lead to lack of concentrating In listening comprehension, even the smallestpause in attention may considerably spoil comprehension

2.3.3 Lack of physical settings

2.3.3.1 Practice environment

Most of the major English students have ability to reading and writing quitewell It is easily for them to answer email and compose document They also have aquite good specialized knowledge But their weakness will occur when they meetforeigners Students are unable to communicate smoothly This is consequence of lack

of practice environment and only focuses on books The environment is the majorforce of communication reflex that is a key of having a perfect communication reflexskill

2.3.3.2 The partners

Learning is the essential part helps students to reach business successful in thefuture To reach business successful, the students not only get knowledge from school

or teachers but also need the help of others students as the partners Searching for

partners in learning process helps improve expose to and learn more new experience

and knowledge Studying in a group or with a partner will make learners feel more

excited and motivated to improve communication reflexes

2.3.3.3 Finding suitable English material source

With the explosion of Industry and the advent of digital technology, theappearance of the Internet brings many benefits in life, including English The Englishlearners certainly recognize the role of the Internet in learning English This is a greattool for learning languages However, it also has negative impact besides positive.Internet brings the learners a huge data English learning resources and a good

opportunity to practice English through using Facebook, Snapchat to send messages toforeign friends, listening to music on Youtube, writing online content in English But

if the learners misuse the use of the Internet that will lead to the wrong choice ofpurpose and be distracted too much in the learning process

There is a fact that Vietnamese students are good at English grammar but weak

in communication Thousands of opportunities to work in an international environmentslipped through their fingers because of this weakness No one can deny that learning aforeign language is like a child learning mother tongue, learning needs to start withlistening - imitating and learning to speak in order to have a suitable communicationenvironment and then learn to write and read But in Vietnam, this is opposite.Following the process of learning English of Vietnamese students, from class 3 touniversity, Students learn about grammar and writing first The syllabus is too focused

on this and takes no notice of practicing As the result, the ability to communicate ofthe students is limited Form that leads to many others consequences in the future

For most of the students at TMU, they are all in the general situation is thattheir communication skills only stop at the basic level in basic communicationsituations That makes students trouble in office environment required goodcommunication skill Although English proficiency of many students, whether theyhave reached TOIEC 750 or IELTS 6.5, the first impression of the person facing theforeign language ability of the students is still through communication and quickreflexes It shows not only our ability to speak fluently, but also our understanding ofthe culture and linguistics of students

2.4 Strategies for improving communication reflex

2.4.1 Improving communication reflex by thinking in English

A situation that always happens when Vietnamese learn English is to imposethe way of thinking of Vietnamese That is extremely wrong and hinders our progress

To learn English well, students need to immediately learn to think in English

2.4.1.1 Stop thinking about translating into Vietnamese

According to the article “How to Develop your ability to think in English” written by Robby-the owner of English harmony system, stop thinking in the mother

tongue is one of the effective way to learn English well

There is a fact that before the Vietnamese learners produce words into English,they usually tend to think of the mother-tongue first This is a wrong way and thelearners need to remove it from the mind English and Vietnamese are very differentfrom accent, grammar to the meaning of vocabulary So students shouldn’t translateevery words hearing into Vietnamese or try to find words that are accurate to expressspeaking ideas in English Instead of that, it is essential for the learners to make theirbrain get use to reflecting and using English frequently To obtain this, the Studentshave to stop the old way of thinking, replacing it by the new method: only English inthe mind when learning English By this way, reflective thoughts will be many timesfaster, reflecting with English so much better.

2.4.1.3 Practice thinking in English with familiar objects

This way not only helps the learners improve communication reflex but it alsohelps them expend English vocabulary and grammar significantly The learners canstart practice with familiar items at home such as dishes, cabinet, closet or she whichthey see every day by calling the named of this items in English It is also a test to seehow much of life's vocabulary using in communication you know

2.4.1.4 Practice thinking in English with emotional expressions

American people have a cultural of expressing their emotions through words.Easily to see that throughout actors in American movies There are a lot of words toexpress feelings "Wow", "Oh my god" is spoken when Americans meet somethingunexpected, surprising, "Poor you", "I'm sorry" when they feel sorry for someone, ormore simply like " Well, you know, actually, …” Learners can completely follow andapply these words in practice communication and also practice speaking English

sentences that are appropriate for each situation whenever are happy, moved, surprised

or sad instead of using the mother-tongue By this way, learners will gradually getused to express emotions by English and this is extremely useful for listening andspeaking with native speakers Because communicating will be a lot more naturalwhen there is emotional integration in it

2.4.2 Improve English communication reflex through conversational group practice

The grouping, surveying, information seeking, creative presentation whenpracticing the project help to stir up the atmosphere in the classroom, enhance thereflex of foreign language communication for students According to the book about

"Project-based Second and Foreign Language Education: Past, Present and Future" by

Gulbahar H Beckett and Paul Chamness Miller, published in 2006, the application ofclassroom learning projects is more effective than traditional teaching methods This istrue for many subjects like: math, economics, science and foreign languages

Here are the obvious benefits of project-based Learning method with learners tohelp improve the communication reflex

2.4.2.1 Sharing information in crowd

Any project leads to generate controversy and disagreements And theclassroom project is no exception This controversy is a key point to promote thelearners try to apply their knowledge and English abilities to express their idea.Through discussion, internal information sharing to class presentation, the learnershave countless opportunities to practice communication skill in English This can also

be called a way to arouse their belligerence Everyone all wants to win the game.Therefore, the participants by any ways try to do with their best ability to reach the top

of the hill They actively create situations and respond to many others questions Andfrom that they get a successful conversation, therefore, when participating in directtalks in an environment where many people speak English, students not only practicespeaking skills in public, presentation, improve anxiety, but also help learnersgradually familiarize themselves with the environment of native languagecommunication All this thing show that the communication depends in part on theenvironment learners are in

2.4.2.2 Practice by answer and question conversation

Practicing communication reflex through conversations helps learners practicequick reflex for issues being discussed in conversation Besides, used regularlyEnglish knowledge and skills help learners remember longer Thanks to the Q&Aactivities with teachers and friends, learners are sharpened in critical thinking as well

as improving the acumen in communication Participating in small groups toimplement learning projects helps people accumulate soft skills as well as improvingcommunication reflex in crowd Small projects in the classroom require students toapply the skills, knowledge and creativity to solve problems Mr Finkelstein andcolleagues at the Ministry of Education (USA) think that students who apply thismethod have better problem-solving and application skills to life in the classroom.2.4.2.3 Practicing through organizing game

Only learning the theory and participating in conversations will make thestudents feel bored gradually To break the boredom of the traditional learning, helpyoung people be more active so organizing some small game in class is the perfectsolution This brings new breeze and inspiration to students, helps them be moreexcited with lessons and increases classroom interaction

People tend to remember things well that they experienced, especially playinggame Because when participating a game, students will not feel pressured and acquireall knowledge effectively From there, students easily apply the learned knowledge tolife

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS

The purpose of this study is to answer the two question below:

- The first question: what is common difficulties in English communication reflex offourth English Faculty students at Thuong Mai University?

- The second question: How to improve English communication reflex of fourthEnglish Faculty students at Thuong Mai University?

3.1.3 Participants

This research will be conduct with the participation of 80 final-year students ofEnglish faculty at TMU By conducting questionnaires survey over the internet, thereceived data analysis will be clear and the most truthful result All the participation israndom and voluntary without any constrained

3.1.4 Data collection instrument.

According to Brow (2001, citited in Markey & Gass, 2005), “Questionnaires

are any written instruments that present respondents with a series of question or statements to which they are to react, either by writing out their answers or selecting from among existing answers”.

Markey & Gass (2005) see using questionnaires as an instrument which allowsresearchers to gather information in such a short time with comparable information