Investigating how to improve oral presentation skills for the second - year english majors of the department of foreign languages at hung yen university of technology and education

Investigating how to improve oral presentation
skills for the second - year english majors of the
department of foreign languages at hung yen
university of technology and education


Nguyễn Thị Bích Vân

Trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ
Luận văn ThS. Chuyên ngành: English Methodology; Mã số: 601410
Người hướng dẫn: Trần Hiền Lan
Năm bảo vệ: 2009

Abstract:In an attempt to investigate how to improve oral presentation skills for the second-
year English majors of the Department of Foreign Languages at Hung Yen University of
Technology and Education, the research was aimed at finding out: (1) the students’ as well as
teachers’ perceptions of what a good oral presentation is, (2) students’ and teachers’ difficulties
in their learning and teaching of oral presentations, (3) current methods the teachers use to teach
presentation skills, and (4) suggestions for both the teachers and the students on how to deal with
their difficulties in their teaching and learning of oral presentations. Specifically, the study has
been conducted in the form of survey research, with the informants of the study being the fifty
six students randomly chosen from four classes and the eight teachers teaching major English at
the Department of Foreign Languages, Hung Yen University of Technology and Education. The
two survey questionnaires completed by both the teachers and the students was the main
instrument employed for the collection of data. The research reveals that the students’ low
language proficiency including the inability to express themselves in English, the bad habit of
using mother tongue at a point of difficulty, lack of confidence all made it difficult for them to be
understood. Besides, the data from the study confirm the fact that the unsuitable methods applied
by the teachers, the teachers’ critical ways of correcting the students’ mistakes, the infrequent
and inadequate feedback and assessment from both the teachers and peers, and the institution’s
lack of conductive facilities also contributed to these students’ poor presentation performance.

For those reasons, the study, finally recommends that in order to improve the students’
presentation skills, students, teacher(s), and institution should make greater efforts in learning
and teaching oral presentation skills. On the part of the teacher(s), for example, in order to give
impressive and interesting lectures on oral presentations, they need to devote more time to train
the skills themselves and think of motivating students by including topic discussion or teaching
the students oral presentation skills.
Keywords: Tiếng Anh; Kỹ năng thuyết trình; Phương pháp dạy học.
Content:

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………i
Declaration……………………………………………………………………………….ii
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………….iii
Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………… iv

PART 1: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………1

1. Rationale:………………………………………………………………………………… 1
2. Aims and objectives of the study: ……………………………………………………… 2
3. Scope of the study:………………………………………………………………… …… 2
4. Methods of the study: …………………………………………………………………… 3

5.Design of the study: …………………………………………………………………………3

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………………… 5

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………5

1.1. Oral Communication…………………………………………………………………… 5
1.2. Oral Presentation…………………………………………………………………………6
1.2.1. Definitions and Characteristics……………………………………………………… 6
1.2.2. Oral Presentation Organization…………………………………………….……… 7
1.2.3. Teaching Oral Presentation Skills………………………………….………………….8
1.3. Prior Studies Related to Oral Presentations………………………………………… 10
CHAPTER II: PRACTICAL RESEARCH………………………………….12
2.1. Background of the study……………………………………………………………… 12
2.1.1. Description of the English course and its objectives in the department of foreign
languages, HYUTE………………………………………………………………………… 12
2.1.2. The informants…………………………… 13

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2.2. The Study……………………………………………………………………………… 14
2.2.1. The Research Questions………………………………………………………………14
2.2.2. Measurement Instruments……………………………………………………………14
2.2.3. Data Analysis ………………………………………………………………………….15
2.3. Presentation of Statistical Results……………………………………………… 15
2.3.1. Questionnaire for the Students……………………………………………………….15
2.3.1.1. Methodology…………………………………………………………………………15
2.3.1.2. Statistical results ……………………………………………………………………15
2.3.1.2.1. The students’ perceptions of the necessity of oral presentation skills……………15
2.3.1.2.2. The second- year students’ difficulties in learning presentation skills…… 17
2.3.1.2.3. Current methods used in teaching oral presentation skills to the second- year
English majors……………………………………………………………………………… 21
2.3.1.2.4. The students’ evaluation of the teachers’ current methods………………………24
2.3.1.2.5. The students’ suggested solutions to improve the situations……………………… 24
2.3.2. Questionnaire for the teachers……………………………………………………… 28
2.3.2.1. Methodology…………………………………………………………………………28
2.3.2.2. Statistical results ……………………………………………………………………28

2.3.2.2.1. The teachers’ perceptions of the necessity of oral presentation skill…………… 29
2.3.2.2.2. The teachers’ opinion of presentation skills………………………………………29
2.3.2.2.3. The teachers’ difficulties in teaching presentation skills…………………………30
2.3.2.2.4. Current teaching methods applied for oral presentation skills…………… 32

CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION………… 35
2.1. Findings………………………………………………………………………………… 35
2.1.1. The students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the necessity of oral presentation
skills…………………………………………………………………………………… 35
2.1.2. What the teachers know about presentation skills…………………………………….35
2.1.3. The teachers and the students’ difficulties in their teaching and learning of oral
presentations………………………………………………………………………………… 36

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2.1.4. The methods the teachers are currently using in teaching presentation skills……… 36
2.1.5. The students’ evaluations of those methods………………………………………… 37
2.1.6. What the students think should be done for them to improve their oral presentation
skills………………………………………………………………………………………… 37
2.2. Suggested techniques for improving oral presentation skills………………… 38
2.2.1. Suggestions for the teachers……………………………………………………………………38
2.2.2. Suggestions for the students…………………………………………………………… 42
2.2.3. Suggestions for the department……………………………………………………………… 44

PART 3: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………… 45
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: The questionnaire for the students
Appendix 2: The questionnaire for the teachers
Appendix 3: The topics/sub-topics for the fourth term for HYUTE majors of English
Appendix 4: Oral presentations- Teacher evaluation sheet

Appendix 5: Oral presentations- Student evaluation sheet
Appendix 6: Model language for oral presentations
Appendix 7: Sample of model presentations





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PART1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale:
English has played an important role in dealing with international relations and in such fields
as science and technology, business, commerce, and diplomacy. This is the reason why there
has always been a big need for learning English in Vietnam. And these learners of English
have various purposes of learning: some learn English for their future jobs; some learn it just
for entertainment. The English major learners also have serious attitudes towards learning
English for their communications as well as oral presentations at work. In reality, most
students leaving college today lack the basic skills necessary for presenting information to a
group. Additionally, many college classes require presentations, but the students are often told
to do it without being shown how to do it. A history professor does not feel it is their job to
show their students the basic skills of presenting a subject. Furthermore, the students aren’t
given the right feedback to improve. As a matter of fact, learning how to make presentations
effective becomes one of the key institutional parts.

In Hung Yen University of Technology and Education, there are not any separate subjects on
which the English majors’ presenting skills are trained. It is the teachers of English who teach
them oral presentations skills. For the teachers in the foreign language department there are
some certain advantages of asking students to give presentations on the subject of their
concern. Firstly, it gives students a good opportunity to practice their speaking skill. It also
increases the students’ confidence in using English. Furthermore, it can be a good practice for

those students who will actually need the skill in their future professional lives. And lastly, it
is an excellent generator of spontaneous discussion. Being well aware of these advantages, all
the teachers who teach English speaking skills regard presentation skills as their main focus in
teaching English. However, it cannot be denied that there exist a lot of problems concerning
our students’ presentation skills, the most typical of which is the fact that it is quite difficult to
give successful presentations. Having been teaching them for nearly four terms, I have
recognized the main reasons for such difficulties. Firstly, in comparison with other students of
the same major, the students here have much lower level of English proficiency especially in

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poor pronunciation and poor vocabulary. Secondly, due to their inexperience, the teaching
staff also sees that they lack the basic techniques for teaching students how to give successful
presentations. Lastly, the teaching of English as a major has come into use not for long as a
focus to supply the students with an appropriate syllabus which includes oral presentation. In
fact, to the English majors in here in general and the second- year English majors in particular,
presentation skills are quite new and difficult. This is the reason why I chose to conduct a
research entitled: “Investigating How to Improve Oral Presentation Skills for the Second-
Year English Majors of the Foreign Language Department at Hung Yen University of
Technology and Education” and aimed at clarifying the problems the second- year students
have encountered in the process of preparing and making oral presentations and suggesting
some techniques for the teachers to get better improvements in both teaching and learning of
presentations.
2. Aims and objectives of the study:
The study is aimed at studying oral presentation difficulties encountered by both the second-
year major students of English and their teachers in the foreign language Department, Hung
Yen University of Technology and Education, at finding some possible techniques for
teaching oral presentations. To help the students overcome such difficulties, the research will
try to
- investigate the students’ as well as teachers’ perceptions of what a good oral
presentation is.

- identify students’ and teachers’ difficulties in their learning and teaching of oral
presentations.
- investigate current methods the teachers use to teach presentation skills.
- give suggestions for both the teachers and the students on how to deal with their
difficulties in their teaching and learning of oral presentations.
3. Scope of the study:
Speaking activities are various. However, this study only focuses on oral presentation skills
for the second- year English majors at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education.
This study is said to be an overview of current situations of the second- year English majors

3
when making oral presentations and an identification of the teachers’ methods currently used
for the second- year English majors in the foreign language department, and a suggestion for
techniques for both the students and the teachers to improve their learning and teaching of
speaking skills in general and presentation skills in particular.
4. Methods of the study:
The study will be conducted using quantitative and qualitative methods with questionnaires for
informants of 56 second- year majors of English randomly chosen from four classes and 8
teachers at the University of Technology and education in Hung Yen and informal interviews
with the informants and their teachers and personal observation will also be employed.
5. Design of the study:
The study consists of three parts:
Part 1, introduction, presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the methods and the design
of the study.
Part 2, development, consists of 3 chapters.

+ Chapter I - Literature Review – deals with the concepts relevant to the study: oral
communication, presentation skills and prior studies related to presentation skills.

+ Chapter II - Practical Research – provides an analysis on the current situation of

teaching and learning oral presentation skill and reports the results of the survey research
which was carried out at the beginning of the fourth term of the 2008- 2009 academic year
at the foreign language department, UTEHY. The report includes the followings:

 research questions
 informants
 measurement instruments
 data analysis
 presentation of statistical results


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+ Chapter III – Findings and recommendation – focuses on difficulties students and
teachers faced in learning and teaching speaking skills in general and presentation skills in
particular. Additionally, it offers pedagogical suggestions for the students, the department
and the teachers to improve their learning and teaching of oral presentation skills.
Part 3, conclusion, summarizes all the key issues as well as the limitations of the study and
suggestions for further study.

KEY WORDS & ABBREVIATIONS
Pair work; Group work; Preparation, Feedback
The HYUTE: Hung Yen University of Technology and Education

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