Factors affecting the students’ English oral presentation skills at Hanoi Tourism College = Những yếu tố ảnh đến kỹ năng thuyết trình tiếng Anh của sinh viên tr

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES







HOÀNG THỊ MAI HOA



FACTORS AFFECTING ENGLISH ORAL PRESENTATION SKILLS
OF THE STUDENTS AT HANOI TOURISM COLLEGE
(Những yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến kỹ năng thuyết trình tiếng Anh của sinh viên
Trường Cao đẳng Du lịch Hà Nội)



M.A MINOR THESIS



Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10

HANOI – 2011

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES







HOÀNG THỊ MAI HOA



FACTORS AFFECTING ENGLISH ORAL PRESENTATION SKILLS
OF THE STUDENTS AT HANOI TOURISM COLLEGE
(Những yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến kỹ năng thuyết trình tiếng Anh của sinh viên
Trường Cao đẳng Du lịch Hà Nội)



M.A MINOR THESIS



Field: English Teaching Methodology
Supervisor: Dr. Lê Văn Canh
Code: 60.14.10

HANOI – 2011



i

DECLARATION
I, Hoang Thi Mai Hoa, hereby state that this work is original and completed by
myself. It has not been submitted for other purposes except for the fulfillment of the
requirements of the University for the degree of Master in English Teaching Methodology.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my thesis deposited in the
library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the
normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the
paper.
Signature Hanoi, September 2011.


Hoang Thi Mai Hoa

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have given me great
assistance in the completion of my research work.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Le
Van Canh for his precious advice, guidance, criticism and encouragement throughout the
research.
My special thanks go to all my lecturers who have been engaged in teaching K18
MA course for their precious lectures.
I also wish to acknowledge the cooperation of my colleagues, my friends and the
third-year tour guide students at Hanoi Tourism College in contributing to the data
collection presented in this study.
Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my family,
especially my husband for their whole-hearted encouragement and great support during my
time of fulfilling this thesis.









iii

ABSTRACT

The research is concerned with factors affecting students’ oral presentation skills in
English at Hanoi Tourism College. Specifically, a survey is conducted on 106 third year
tour guide students. Main purposes of the research are to find out: (1) the difficulties the
students might have when giving oral presentations, (2) factors causing the difficulties and
their suggested solutions.

It is expected that the study will make a contribution to the improvement of the teaching
and learning of presentation skills at Hanoi Tourism College

The study consists of three parts. Part A introduces the information on the background, the
rationale, the aims, scope, method and design of the study. Part B providing the
development includes three chapters. Chapter 1 provides the relevant theories related to
oral presentation skills and factors may affect the students’ presentation skill. Chapter 2
introduces the context of the study and describes the methods employed in the study.
Chapter 3 presents and discusses the findings that arise from the data collected. Part C
provides summary of study, recommendations, limitations and suggestions for further
research.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page
Declaration i
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iii
Table of contents iv
List of abbreviations vii
List of tables vii
INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study 1
2. Aims and objectives of the study 1
3. Scope and significance of the study 2
4. The method of the study 2
5. Design of the study 3
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Definition of terminology 4
1.1.1 Oral presentation 4
1.1.2 Tour guiding oral presentation 4
1.2 Oral presentation as a component of oral communication 5
1.3 The role of oral presentation skill to tour guides 6
1.4 The structure of an oral presentation 7
1.4.1 The structure of an oral presentation 7
1.4.2 The structure of a tour guiding oral presentation 8
1.5 Factors affecting students’ oral presentation 9
1.5.1 Students’ language proficiency 9


v

1.5.2. Teachers’ roles 10
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
2.1 The setting of the study 11
2.1.1 The description of Hanoi Tourism College 11
2.1.2 Tourism Foreign Language Department 11
2.1.3. Tour guide students 12
2.2 The study 13
2.2.1 Research questions 13
2.2.2 Participants 14
2.2.3 The instrument 14
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 The students’ perceptions of the importance of oral presentation skill and their self -
assessment of their presentations 16
3.1.1 The students’ perceptions of the importance of oral presentation skill 16
3.1.2 The students’ self-assessment of their presentation skill 17
3.2 Students’ difficulties in making oral presentations 17
3.2.1 Students’ difficulties in preparation 17
3.2.2 Students’ difficulties in organization 19
3.2.3 Students’ difficulties in delivery 20
3.2.3.1 Students’ difficulties in attracting and maintaining the attentions of audiences 20
3.2.3.2 Students’ difficulties concerning body language 23
3.2.3.3 Students’ difficulties concerning language use 24
3.2.3.4 Students’ difficulties in time management 25
3.2.3.5 Students’ difficulties in anxiety management 26
3.2.3.6 Students’ difficulties in handling the audiences’ questions 27


vi

3.2.4. Students’ difficulties in evaluation 28
3.3. Factors affecting the students’ oral presentation skill 29
3.4. The students’ suggested solutions 32
3.4.1. For students 32
3.4.1.1 Improving their knowledge of English 32
3.4.1.2 Practising carefully for the presentation 32
3.4.2. For teachers 33
3.4.2.1 Equipping students with linguistic knowledge 33
3.4.2.2 Creating a pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere 33
3.4.3. For Institutions 34
3.4.3.1 Providing modern technology equipments and a good library 34
3.4.3.2 Organizing study trips to tourist destinations 34
CONCLUSION
1. Summary of the study 36
2. Recommendations 37
3. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies 39
REFERENCES
APPENDICES









vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

HTC: Hanoi Tourism College


LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: The importance of the oral presentations
16
Table 3.2: Students’ self assessment of their oral presentations
17
Table 3.3: Students’ difficulties in preparation
18
Table 3.4: Students’ difficulties in organization
19
Table 3.5: Students’ difficulties in attracting and maintaining the attentions of
audiences
20
Table 3.6: Students’ difficulties concerning body language
23
Table 3.7: Students’ difficulties concerning language use
24
Table 3.8: Students’ difficulties in time management
25
Table 3.9: Students’ difficulties in anxiety management
26
Table 3.10: Students’ difficulties in handling the audiences’ questions
27
Table 3.11: The students’ difficulties in evaluation
28
Table 3.12: Factors affecting the students’ oral presentation
29

1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have given me great assistance in
the completion of my research work.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Le Van
Canh for his precious advice, guidance, criticism and encouragement throughout the research.
My special thanks go to all my lecturers who have been engaged in teaching K18 MA
course for their precious lectures.
I also wish to acknowledge the cooperation of my colleagues, my friends and the third-
year tour guide students at Hanoi Tourism College in contributing to the data collection
presented in this study.
Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my family, especially
my husband for their whole-hearted encouragement and great support during my time of
fulfilling this thesis.

2
ABSTRACT

The research is concerned with factors affecting students’ oral presentation skills in English at
Hanoi Tourism College. Specifically, a survey is conducted on 106 third year tour guide
students. Main purposes of the research are to find out: (1) the difficulties the students might
have when giving oral presentations, (2) factors causing the difficulties and their suggested
solutions.

It is expected that the study will make a contribution to the improvement of the teaching and
learning of presentation skills at Hanoi Tourism College

The study consists of three parts. Part A introduces the information on the background, the
rationale, the aims, scope, method and design of the study. Part B providing the development
includes three chapters. Chapter 1 provides the relevant theories related to oral presentation
skills and factors may affect the students’ presentation skill. Chapter 2 introduces the context
of the study and describes the methods employed in the study. Chapter 3 presents and
discusses the findings that arise from the data collected. Part C provides summary of study,
recommendations, limitations and suggestions for further research.








3

PART A – INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
As an occupational requirement, oral presentation skill is believed to be very important for tour
guides. Tour guides’ presentation determines the success of a tour. Besides, tour guides may have
to guide a group of foreign tourists, which requires them to use a foreign language. Clearly,
growing tourism increases the need for staff of international standards. One of those standards is
the tour guide’s oral presentation skill in a foreign language.
This motivates me to explore the factors affecting the tour guide students’ oral presentation in
English at Hanoi Tourism College with a view to finding practical solutions to deal with those
factors, thereby helping the prospective tour guides to improve their oral presentation skills.
2. Aims and objectives of the study
The research aims specifically at exploring the factors affecting tour guide students’ oral
presentation skill at HTC. Possible solutions are recommended to help the teachers and students to
improve the teaching and learning of oral presentation skill.
The specific objectives of the study include:
 identifying the students’ perceptions about the importance of oral presentation skills in
their future job.
 understanding students’ self assessments of their oral presentation skill
 identifying the difficulties in making oral presentations encountered by the students at
HTC.
 examining the factors affecting their oral presentations at HTC.
 providing some recommendations on how to improve students’ oral presentation.
3. Scope and significance of the study

4
The study focuses on oral presentation skills in English in the classroom context of 106 third –
year non-English major tour guide students at HTC
4. The method of the study
The methodology chosen for the study is quantitative. This methodology fits well the purpose of
the study, which is a survey in nature. Johnson (1991:104) states, “[T]he purpose of a survey is to

learn about characteristics of an entire group of interest by examining a subset of their group (a
sample)”, which is also the purpose of the study, i.e. to find out students’ perceptions of aspects
related to oral presentation.
5. Design of the study
The thesis consists of three parts
Part A: Introduction: introduces the rationale, aims, significance, scope and methodology of the
study.
Part B: Development: is the main part of the study, which consists of three chapters
Chapter 1: Literature Review: is a brief description of the study including definition of oral
presentation, tour guides’ oral presentation, oral presentations as part of oral communication, the
role of presentation in tour guiding job, the structure of an oral presentation, and the factors
affecting the students’ oral presentation skill.
Chapter 2: Methodology: provides the current situation of the teaching and learning of oral
presentation skill at HTC, research questions, informants, instrument and process of the study.
Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion presents the findings and discussion of the study based on the
result of questionnaire.

5
Part C: Conclusion consists of the summary of the study, recommendations, and limitations of the
study and gives suggestion for further study.
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Definition of terminology
1.1.1. Oral presentation
Gufta (2008) defines an oral presentation as a formal way to convey your message to your
audience
1.1.2. Tour guides’ oral presentation
A tour guides’ presentation is to introduce the place or the country in terms of its importance,
history, politics, cultures, fauna and flora to the participants of the tours
1.2. Oral presentation as a component of oral communication

Oral presentation belongs to oral communication. In oral presentation, speakers use spoken
speech to deliver the information to audience. Moreover, speakers also use nonverbal
communication (body language, gestures, eye contact …) to express themselves and make the
speech more effective.
1.3. The role of oral presentation skill to tour guides
Oral presentation skill is the main tool of tour guides and the most decisive successful factor in
their job.
1.4. The structure of an oral presentation

6
1.4.1 The structure of an oral presentation
Đoàn (2007) states that there are three main parts in tour guides’ presentations like any other
kinds of oral presentation: introduction, body, and conclusion.
1.5. Factors affecting students’ oral presentation
1.5.1. Students’ language proficiency
Đoàn (2007:36) confirms that the success of a tour bases mainly on the ability and communicative
skills, behavior of tour guides. It is clear that, in order to communicate with foreign tourists, tour
guides must acquire a rather high level of language proficiency.
1.5.2. Teachers’ roles
Teachers have to play various roles in a speaking class. These include managing classroom,
organizing classroom activities, assessing students’ performance, giving support, co-participating
on the classroom activities, providing needed linguistic resources, providing tutorials, and
observing the students. (Hammer, 1991)
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
2.1. The setting of the study
2.1.1. The description of Hanoi Tourism College
Hanoi Tourism College, which was formerly known as the school for training employers in
tourism and hospitality, was established in 1972. The college has been known as one of the best
tourism-training center. The College continues to provide its students with solid industrial
knowledge, strong professional skills, foreign language competence and industrial manners in

Vietnam’s growing tourism industry.
2.1.2. Tourism Foreign Language Department

7
2.1.3. Tour guide students
2.2. The study
2.2.1. Research questions
With the aim to find out the factors affecting the oral presentation skill of non - English major
tour guide students at HTC, it is necessary to answer the following questions:
1. What are the third year tour guide students’ perceptions of the importance of oral
presentation skills in their future job?
2. How do they self assess their presentations?
3. What are their difficulties when giving oral presentations?
4. What do they perceive as factors affecting their oral presentations?
5. What are their suggestions to improve their oral presentations?
2.2.2. Participants
The survey was conducted on 106 prospective tour guide students of class C6G
1,3
who were in the
fifth semester at HTC. Each class had 53 students aged from 20 to 23. Female outnumbered the
male. There were 96 girls and 10 boys in the classes.
2.2.3. The instrument
In order to achieve the aims of the survey, a 45-item questionnaire was used in the study.
CHAPTER 3
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. The students’ perceptions of the importance of oral presentation skill and their self -
assessment of their presentations.


8

3.1.1. The students’ perceptions of the importance of oral presentation skill.
As can be seen from Table 3.1, the majority of students (99.1 %) stated that oral presentation skill
was very important in their future job. None of them found oral presentation unimportant.
3.1.2. The students’ self-assessment of their presentation skill
Table 3.2 shows that most students were likely to consider their oral presentation to be on average
level of success. More than half of the students (68 students) thought they achieved 50-60% of
success

3.2. Students’ difficulties in making oral presentations

3.2.1. Students’ difficulties in preparation
The students had to cope with many difficulties in preparing for the oral presentation, especially
memorizing the speech word for word and rehearsing the speech.

3.2.2. Students’ difficulties in organization
Organizing the oral presentation was also difficult for the students.

3.2.3. Students’ difficulties in delivery

3.2.3.1. Students’ difficulties in attracting and maintaining the attentions of audiences
Students also had many difficulties in delivering oral presentations.

3.2.3.2. Students’ difficulties concerning body language

Body language was not a challenge for the students because they had been trained how to give
presentation in Vietnamese

9

3.2.3.3. Students’ difficulties concerning language use

Both of the tasks in language use caused many difficulties for the students. Students often
made simple grammatical mistakes in their presentation such as the use of personal pronouns
or tenses. Moreover, they could not find the right word to express their ideas.

3.2.3.4. Students’ difficulties in time management

“Controlling the time for the presentation” was another difficulty for students. The majority of
students rated the task as very difficult and difficult

3.2.3.5. Students’ difficulties in anxiety management

Students still faced the difficulties in managing the anxiety. However, many of them could
control their anxiety while giving their speech

3.2.3.6. Students’ difficulties in handling the audiences’ questions

3.2.4. Students’ difficulties in evaluation

3.3. Factors affecting the students’ oral presentation skill

Factors concerning students’ oral presentation skill came from students themselves, teachers
and institutions. The major factor affecting students’ oral presentation was their low language
proficiency that also made them lose confidence. Next, students’ lack of rehearsal for
presentation and chances of giving speech before class also led to their bad performance.
Teachers’ inadequate feedback, encouragements and mistake correcting manner caused

10
difficulties for students. For institutions, poorly equipped class hindered the teaching and
learning of oral presentation skill.

3.4. The students’ suggested solutions

3.4.1. For students

3.4.1.1. Improving their knowledge of English

3.4.1.2. Practising carefully for the presentation

Many students suggested practicing before mirrors or with their friends. “To be more
confident, we need to practice the oral presentation before mirrors or with our classmates”.

3.4.2. For teachers

3.4.2.1. Equipping students with linguistic knowledge

3.4.2.2. Creating a pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere

They suggested “Teachers should help us feel confident and comfortable when we try to give
oral presentations”. To be motivated to learn, students need both sufficient opportunities to
learn and steady encouragement and support of their learning efforts. A good teacher of
English should encourage students to speak English with praises/ rewards.

3.4.3. For Institutions

3.4.3.1. Providing modern teaching equipments and a good library

11
Students proposed the upgrade of teaching equipments, a library and a language lab to make the
teaching and learning presentation skill better.

3.4.3.2. Organizing study trips to tourist destinations
Students thought that trips to tourist destinations would be very helpful for their future jobs.
PART C: CONCLUSION
1. Summary of the study

2. Recommendations

The factor that determines the quality of a tour guide’s oral presentation is the information to
be conveyed with accurate pronunciation, acceptable fluency and appropriate manner. In the
classroom, teachers should put greater emphasis on these aspects by using real-life tasks in the
classroom.

Gufta (2008:258) shows that “Presentation is a skill which is developed through experience
and training”. This means that presentation skill needs a lot of practice.

It is unquestionable that good preparation and planning bring about success. Thus the teacher
needs to work with the students to develop the evaluation criteria in the form of a checklist to
be used in the classroom. More importantly, teachers in the department should work together
on the corpus of lexical chunks that are commonly used in a tour guide’s oral presentation for
the students to practice using them. In addition, the teacher should also give the students more
opportunities to practice and improve the students’ pronunciation in context. The teacher
should use more exercises on the use of discourse devices or linking words.

3. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further researches

12

The limitations of this study lies in the use of the questionnaire as the only instrument of data
collection. This instrument can at best capture the surface of the student participants’

perceptions and personal judgments related to aspects of oral presentation skills that are under
investigation. Another problem with the questionnaire is that respondents may not respond
accurately what is in their mind. They may answer the questionnaire items the way they think
would expect the researcher’s expectations

Therefore, in future studies different methods of data collection such as interview and
observation should be used.

REFERENCES
English
1. Ang, J.G. Oral communication, 2009, Katha Publishing Co.INC
2. Brown, J.D. (2005). Using surveys in language programs. Cambridge University Press.
3. Byrne, D. (1886). Teaching oral English. London: Longman.
4. Collins (2003). English Collins dictionary. Retrieved September 11, 2011 from
.
5. Comfort.J.(1995). Effective presentation. Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. Delahunty, G.P. & Garvey. J.J. (1994). Language grammar and communication.
McGraw-Hill.
7. Ellis. R. (1994). Second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
8. Emdem, J & Becker, L. (2004). Presentation skills for students. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
9. Gupta, S. (2008). Communication skills and functional grammar. New Dehli: University
Science Press.
10. Harmer, J. (1999). The Practice of English language teaching. Malaysia: Longman.
11. Johnson, D.M. 1991. Approaches to research in second language learning. Longman

13
12. MacIntyre, P. D. (1999). Language anxiety: A review of the research for language
Teachers. Boston, McGraw-Hill.
13. Nunan, D. 1992. Research methods in Language teaching. Cambrigde: CUP

14. Paulston, C.B. 1985. Communicative competence and Language teaching, in Das, K.B.
Communicative Language Teaching. (p14-31). Singapore University Press
15. Reinhart, S.M. (2002). Giving Academic Presentation. The University of Michigan Press.
16. Revell.J.1979. Teaching techniques for communicative English. MacMillan Press LTD
17. Ur. P. 1996. A course in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Vietnamese
1. Đoàn Hương Lan. (2007). Nghiệp vụ hướng dẫn du lịch. Nhà Xuất Bản Đại Học Kinh Tế
Quốc Dân



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