A study about difficult in communication with native people of freshmen in non english major of thuongmai university

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge my sincere gratitude to my
supervisor, Mrs. Phạm Thị Phượng who has given me the supervisor, valuable
guidance, correction, critical feedback and encouragements during the process of
completing this study.
I also would like to express my thankfulness to the teachers and students for
their help in completing my survey questionnaires. As they support and share a lot
of information, ideas about aspects of my research. They are ready to show me
document as introduce me to find the authentic information.
In addition, I am grateful to our group with 10 members who help me find
authentic document, recommend me source materials.
Especially, I am indebted to all the member in my family, my friends who
gave me assistance, and encouragement to complete this study.
Finally, I wish to thank all those who have kindly given their advice to help to
complete this paper.
Hanoi, April
Ha
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha

1

1


ABSTRACT
English is a language which is used globally and you can find English
speaking people in mostly all continents and countries. According to Wikipedia, the
total of country's populations who can speak English in the word are nearly 999
billions of people. If you can speak English well, you will have a lot of benefits
when you know English especially: English communication. If you are traveling
lover, you will be confident to visit many countries in around the world to

communicate.

If you are student, you can read a lot of books, magazines,

documents from foreign country by English or you will be higher education. Some
of the best universities and educational institutes worldwide located in Great
Britain, Unites States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore where the
main language of providing instructions is English. English is also the importance
factor for job seekers in almost any field be it technology, marketing, operations or
even Human resources. In the context now, it will be so big damages for not
knowing English, especially students who are young generations, will dominate try
their best for the country development. Therefore, this paper concentrates on the
practical problems of English communication of non English major freshmen at
Thuongmai University. It was conducted by researcher with the hope of finding the
relationship between obstacles faced by students and solutions for improving
English communication skills for them. All data used for analysis in this study
mainly collected through survey questionnaires during the time of experiments the
proposed methods. By several means of both quantitative and qualitative collected
data, it reveals existing difficulties and problems encountered by non English major
first year students in this university. From all the findings, the researcher could draw
the lessons, work out useful recommendations and effective solutions to tackle all
the challenges.

2

2


LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Table 3.1:The barriers causes difficult in English communication (students)

Table 3.2:The barriers causes difficult in English communication (teachers)
Figure 2.1: The communication process
Fgure 3.2: The problems in English communication encountered by Thuongmai
University freshmen with non English major
Figure 3.3: The stragedies for English communication encountered non English
major students at Thuongmai University
Figure 3.1: The most difficult skill of English communication

3

3


LIST OF ABBREVIATION
TMU
ASIAN
L1
L2
EFL

4

Thuongmai University
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
First Language
Second Language
English as a Foreign Language

4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

5

5


CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

1.1.

Rationale
Nowadays, English has become the most widely used language all over the
world. It is considered as the medium of communication in many different fields
such as: science, technology, aviation, international sport, diplomacy, and soon.
Globalization and integration in the Vietnamese trend of English education
have continued to grow stronger and stronger, from public policies to specific
actions, from teachers to students, from schools to the society, at every level,
especially higher education oversea.
English is used as the working language of the Asian Trade group ASEAN and
the second language which is taught as native language and considered important as
English. In fact, with the spread of globalization and the rapid expansion of
information and technology as result of explosion in the demand for English is in
the worldwide.
In Vietnam, in recent years, the study of English has been gaining momentum
firstly because it is an international language and secondly because it is also seen as
a mean to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between Vietnam and
other foreign country. English is most widely taught at schools and universities. In
learning English, learners have a lot of difficulties in vocabulary, pronunciation and

so on especially grammar. Like all other languages, English grammar has a number
of parts of speech including personal pronouns. Personal pronouns are known to be
one of the first and easiest parts of speech taught in English lesson. However, the
fact shows that while learning English, especially Vietnamese, Vietnamese students
have great difficulties in communicating with native people
The things metioned above are the reasons why “Study about difficult in
English communication with native people.” When Viet Nam joined the regional
and international organizations, it is lacking of English communication skills
making barriers in communication and misunderstanding in working process. Thus,
requirement of English communication the training programs according to the most
popular language in the world – English becomes essential. Moreover, our society
develops day by day, more and more raise foreign working environment with multi
6

6


national people, the needs of communication is more than.
For these reasons, I chose “A Study about difficult in communication with
native people of freshmen in non English major of Thuongmai University” for my
graduation.
1.2.
Previous study
Turner & Upshur (1995) relates the significance of grammatical accuracy with
communicative effectiveness in interactive tasks. The appropriate use of grammar in
extended discourse is vital for meaningful communication (Yi’an Wu, 2001).
Besides developing linguistic skills, the focus on developing interactional
skills for discussion is vital in the present context of education (Lee, 2009).
Interactional communication is widely inclined through the pedagogical challenges
of adopting critical discourse in the classroom (Kumaravadivelu, 1994, 2006). The

students need to practice English communication as oral presentations, discussions,
debate for developing rhetoric skills, writing skill: with English major students can
write mail in business or writing thesis, however in this thesis, researcher only focus
on non English students who can develop English writing by short story or diary.
Richard & Suksawat (1985) have shed light on cross cultural issues that also
appear to be crucial in foreign language speaking. Lighrbown and Spada (1999)
mention second language learning theories and some psychological factors affecting
oral production in foreign language. On the other hand, Harmer (1998) discusses
this issue with more practical orientation of teaching spoken English. Horak (1999)
studied the issues assessment and outlines the findings relating to the prevalent
factors students come across in foreign language speaking situations. Recently
Chowdhury (2000) has outlined how grammaticality of English language influences
English language production and pleads for training of leaners, revision of the
language syllabus and meaning focused teaching which might be indirectly
beneficial students' spoken English provided right measures are taken in teaching in
the country.
Through that communication is always big theme which attracted mostly
people’s concerning and studying from many years ago. They recognized English
will be soon to become popular language in the world therefor if you are good at
English communicating which will bring good chances, big promotion in learning
as well as life. When you know English as well as have good communication means
7

7


that you will have a lot of chances to exchange knowledge with different foreign
people as result of your variety knowledge. More foreign people you talk making
you gain more knowledge about the life and people with diversity in feeling.
Springer & Collins (2008) showed the use of classroom learning and real

world interactional use of language for developing communication in both academic
and social contexts. So that a student can be more confident with English
communication in social, the basic requirement is fostering and practicing English
from school as much as possible. Jarvis & Stakounis (2010) stress on analyzing the
needs of the students and urges to improve speaking skills in their social context.
The students need to interact for developing social and pragmatic communication
skills (Yi’an Wu, 2001).
According to Dornyei and Scott (1995), communication breakdowns are
usually caused by four problems which they classified as resource deficit,
processing time pressure, own performance problems and other performance
problems. These difficulties are showed to as problem orientedness in which they
are valid in defining problems that get during communication. Resource deficit is a
problem faced by learners due to insufficient knowledge of the target language
(Jamshidnejad 2011). The processing time pressure concerns with the difficulty of
having too much time in constructing sentences in the target language (Dornyei &
Scott 1995). According to Jamshidnejad (2011), this problem happens when learners
are having spontaneous communication with the native speaker of the target
language. Learners will usually apply fillers as their hesitation device and repeat the
target language words for several times (Dornyei & Scott 1997). The own
performance problems are detected when learners realise mistakes in their own
target language productions (Dornyei & Scott 1995, Dorneyi & Scott 1997).
Usually, this difficulty is covered by paraphrasing, self repairing and editing. The
other performing problems include the difficulties of perceiving what is said by the
interlocutors (Dornyei & Scott 1997, Jamshidnejad 2011).
1.3. Aim of the study
This thesis will provide learner with definitions of English communication.
The skills are required to be good at English communication.
Finding and discussing some difficulties in English communication with
native people of Thuongmai University with non English major freshmen.
8

8


To investigate factors affecting English communication process of freshmen.
Giving some suggestions for the above obstacles and recommend some
suggestion for learning English to be better in English communication.
1.4. Research subject.
Reality of English communication of non English major freshmen at TMU
and difficult they are facing.
1.5.
Scope of the study.
This research is restricted to study about the difficulty in English
communications. It is focused on making more clearly reason and factors affected
learning process and English communication. Syntactically, my study will
investigate into English communication of the first year student of non English
major at Thuongmai University. To successfully complete this topic, I am patient
and enthusiastic: To consult my supervisor, my friends. To search documents and
the sources of information such as on internet, TV, reference books, newspapers,
universities and base on my experiences on education.
1.6.
Methodology
1.6.1. Participants
Selection of Thuongmai University
There reasons why Thuongmai university was selected. Firstly, TMU’s
departments usually focus on business environment, English major in TMU also
relates economic as there have many universities’s English major: Ha noi
University, University of Languages and International Studies…which do not
specialize economic only academic. In addition, the good communication is so vital
in society, with business environment this is more and more important.

Communication is so crucial for working that play role in connecting people to
be more understanding between each other. Moreover, the researcher had been
studying in Thuongmai university for over 3 years; therefore, it was convenient to
collect data and worthwhile to study the difficulty of English communication.
Selection of the participants.
The participants in this study were 70 freshmen in non English major
Thuongmai university and 10 teachers who are teaching English of TMU. The
participants which were willing to participate in this study were 70 first year non
English major students and 10 teachers responsible. They were asked about how
English was taught, the ways they learn and practice English, the difficult they get
in English communication process. In addition, freshmen can compare the method
9

9


they were taught grammar at the secondary stage and at university and can express
their preference for which way is beneficial to developing their learning of
grammar, hence, their oral and written fluency.
The reason behind the choice of teacher in Thuongmai university, the teacher
can compare their point of view to those of Thuongmai English major and draw a
certain conclusion.
1.6.2. Instruments
The research instruments used by the study include questionnaires, interviews,
documentary studies, and observation notes derived from a personal learning
experience. The key instrument in this research study was a survey questionnaire
designed by the researcher. It is included both close ended and open ended
questions, which were self administered by the participants. The participants were
asked about their problems with English communication use and the strategies they
used when they encountered problems during conversations or did not understand

conversation with native people.
The questionnaire was revised according to expert advice to ensure the
validity and appropriateness of the content, based on the suggestions of the thesis
advisor and co advisor in English department at Thuongmai University. The
comments and suggestions from the experts and the implications of the pilot study
contributed to the development of the final draft of the questionnaire of the actual
study. Therefore, this could be considered that the questionnaire of the study was
appropriate. In addition, to check the reliability of the questionnaire of the study,
Cronbach’s alpha the most common measure of internal consistency of multiple
Likert question in a survey/questionnaire, was also used to determine if the scale of
the questionnaire is reliable prior to the actual study (Wikipedia, 2012).
Questionnaire consisted of three parts. Part I aimed to gather background
information on the participants such as the participant’s gender, school year, major.
Part II was concerned with their English ability while communicating with native
people. Part III, asked about difficulties, barriers they get in English communication
and strategies which they used to overcome the problems they experienced during
conversation with native English speaking people. The participants were asked to
rate their problems and the strategies they used to overcome these problems by
choosing one of five items on a Likert scale strongly agree, agree, moderately agree,
10

10


disagree, and strongly disagree.
An open ended questionnaire was added to Part II, III to gather more in depth
information on English communication problems encountered by freshmen and the
strategies they used during communication with native people. In this part, the
participants had the opportunity to provide more ideas and opinions that were not
mentioned in the closed ended questions.

1.6.3. Data Analysis
The researcher analyzed the data gained from the questionnaire to answer the
five research questions. The results were also calculated into statistical values as
follows:
• The data concerning the general background was presented as a percentage
• A five – point Likert scale was used to score the participant’s level of agreement in
terms of their English communication problems and strategies used to communicate
with native speaker. It is a scale used in questionnaires to specify the level of
agreement of disagreement based on the criteria of Rensis Likert (1932) as follows:
To study successfully and effectively, methods used in this study are:
Material collection from good books and reliable sources
Questionnaires: give questionnaire was created before for 70 students
(freshmen of non English major at Thuongmai University)+ 10 lectures in English
major at Thuongmai University.
Conclusion
This chapter has accounted for a number of research tools we have applied on
to back up the different hypotheses and arguments related to the topic of the present
study, The chapter has equally reported and explained the rationales behind their
selection, and also the purposes of the questionnaires administered to them and the
1.7.

interviews conducted with them.
Organization of the study.
This study is divided into four main chapters in order to get better insights into
different aspects of topic:
Chapter 1: Introduction reasons for choosing the topic, aims, scopes,
methodology and overview of the thesis design. Theoretical background provides
general knowledge about communication and
English communication
Chapter 2: Literature review

Chapter 3: Research finding
11

11


• Reasons making difficult in communicating of freshman non English major at
TMU Factors influence English communication
• How to make effective English communication with native people and present some
example, some tips for effective communication
• Recommendation some effective ways to make English communication.
Chapter 4: Conclusion and suggestions

12

12


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Definition of communication
Effective English communication in a major problem for students who is not
native English speaker, such as students in TMU, as English is not their mother
tongue. Moreover, effective English com can be a serious problem for those who
have insufficient, limited exposure to English interaction. Hence English speaking
or oral communication in English is considered difficult for non native English
speaker as English is not their mother tongue (Khamkhien, 2010; Myers, Penrase, &
Rasberry, 2000). Schramm defines communication as “a tool that makes societies
possible and distinguish human from other societies”. Berelson and Steiner define
communication as “the transmission of information, ideas, emotions, skills” through
the

use

of

symbols,

words,

pictures,

graph

(Berelson;

1952);

Nguyen Quang (1998b, 38) “Communication is the process of sharing meaning
through verbal and nonverbal behavior”. Communication can be understood as
information transmitting process between one person and other people (Keyton,
Joann; 2011), as a vital factor of human interaction. Communication is also process
of knowledge, thoughts and perception between human beings (Tutarand Yilmaz,
2003). Communication ability includes listening, venture, and oral communication
(Sahin 1997 cited Berryman 1982). In addition, Omololu in patient physician
communication: It can further be defined as comprehension, self expression,
establishing eye contact, oral praise and the use of non verbal behavior (Omololu,
1984). When people can communicate with another people, not only using
language: words, letters… but also we use many types of communication which
improve more quality of communication. The word of communication is source
from the Latin word, communis, which means common. It means that if we have no

any common understanding in communication process, there is no communication.
“Awareness” is one of the most important activity of communication and it is
reflected by the values, behaviors, social status, education levels, experiences,
knowledge, and the cultures of both the speaker and the listener (Price, 1991). Is is
so hard to become a good person in communication as you will not think about right
13

13


circumstance which you will get in life. However, learner will guest and hand in
some principal which show how to communicative. Principals spend 70% to 80% of
their time in interpersonal communication with different stakeholders (Green, 2010;
Lunenburg & Irby, 2006, Matthews & Crow, 2010; Sergiovanni, 2009; Tareilo,
2011; Ubben, Hughes, & Norris, 2011). They know the necessary of ongoing
communication, both formal and informal, both individual conversation with friend,
teacher, students or parents as “Conversation is one of the commonest phenomena
we encounter, yet it is one which raises very great scientific problems, many still
resolved. It is so often our commonest experiences, which we take for granted, that
are the most elusive of explanation and description” (Colin Cherry 1966).
2.2. Communication Process
Sender
Messag
e

Medium

Receiver

Message

Receive

Create

Decode

Encode

Barriers
Personal
Feedback

Feedback

Receive

Create

Decode

Encode
Environmental

Figure 2.1 : The communication process
Look as the communication process, two common elements in every
communication exchange are the sender and the receiver (McShare & Von Glinow,
2003). Senders and receivers are of course vital in communication. In face to face
14

14

communication the roles of the sender and receiver are not distinct as both parties
communicate with each other, even if in very subtle ways such as through eye
contact and general body language. The sender encode the message or
communication to receiver or to many different receivers then decodes the message
to understand its meaning and significance. The sender encodes the information by
choosing the words, , symbols to take message. The message is the outcome of the
encoding, which takes the form of verbal, nonverbal or written language. The
receiver is person who get message, the receiver decodes the received message into
useful information. It is so critical as the message of receiver is so accurate.
However, communication process misunderstanding can occur at any stage because
of environmental and personal barriers: language barriers, interruptions, emotions,
attitudes barriers…
Feedback is the destination’s reaction to a message (Certo, 1992). Feedback is
an idea sourced from engineering communication theory. It means a return flow
from the message. Other way, feedback is the receiver’s response to the source’s
message. There are two kind of feedback: Positive Feedback and Negative
Feedback. Positive feedback occurs when the receiver receives the desired response
based on a clear understanding of the symbols used in the message. Negative
feedback

occurs

when

there

is

an

undesired

response

because

of

miscommunication. A problem in any one of these elements can reduce
communication effectiveness (Keyton, 2011)
Communication medium is used to convey an information signal, for example
a digital bit stream, from one or several senders (or transmitters) to one or several
receivers (Wikipedia). There are variety of communication channels: face to face
conversations, telephone calls, text messages, email, the radio and TV, written
letters, brochures…Choosing appropriate communication channel is important for
effective communication and easier to communicate with native English speaking.
People decode information selectively (Keyton, 2010).
2.3. Difficulties in English communication
Communication

will

include

skills:

listening,

speaking,

writing,

pronunciation…A student is considered good at English communication means that
15

15


they are confident to use all skills. The usually difficulties of communication are
inhibition, lack of knowledge and vocabulary, low or uneven participation and
mother tongue use.
2.3.1. Difficult in listening English
Anderson and Lynch (1988) have identified the following stages in the process
of listening:
• The spoken signals have to be identified from the midst of surrounding sounds.
• The continuous stream of speech has to be segmented into units, which have to be
recognized as known words.
• The syntax of the utterance has to be grasped and the speaker’s intended meaning
has to be understood.
We also have to apply our linguistic knowledge to formulating a correct and
appropriate response to what has been said. (Anderson and Lynch, 4)
Listening is a difficult skill including English major students as requirement of
continuous training and practicing. Shelagh Rixon (1986) like Anderson and Lynch
(1988) wrote that listening is a complex process. When you practice to listening,
you must need another skills to support.
Rixon (1986: 36) argues that the sound of English is a major problem for the
L2 learner making listening the most difficult skill. She lists four sources of
difficulties arising from pronunciation:

• The weak relationship between English sounds and the way they are spelt in the
written language
• Changes in sounds when they occur in rapid, connected speech.
• The rhythm pattern of English speech.
• Different ways of pronouncing the ‘same’ sound.
In oder to hear clearly the sound spoken from native people, is so hard. When
native English speaking said isolation word that is so easy to recognize such as:
“you” / ‘ju:/ however when they say long sentence with the accent and stress. It will
become a big challenge with non English major student. Another problem is that of
elision, the loss of sounds for example of the word “probably” which becomes
“probly” and the word “discussed “ transforms into /disk Λt/. Thus “ten bikes”
becomes “tem bikes”, / tem baiks/ (Rixon, 40). Listening difficulties were caused by
16

16


a failure to understand a complex text, no fluency in the interaction and a lack of
awareness of the country and the cultural background of their friends (Forey &
Lockwood, 2007).
2.3.2. Difficult in speaking English.
As inhibition, student is seemed to be inhibited to speak English. Although
student is in English lesson, they still use mother tongue because they worry about
making mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face in front of someone who they
are talking. Especially native English speaking people, students even feel shy as
they talk so quickly, shy students will feel confuse each talking, therefor they
choose silent way or pretend to understand, do not dare to talk and meet native
people although actually students really desire. In English course, students cannot
express his/her ideas, thinking with teacher, replacing as clear expression, they
choose silent way: no opinion, no thinking at all.

Besides, another difficulty in English communication: they cannot think of
anything to say during communication and they have no motivation to express
themselves. Jdetawy (2011) found that the lack of learners’ personal motivation and
weakness of English language will causes of communication breakdowns. Rivers
(1968) believes that they do not have enough knowledge, vocabulary or they know
very little to understand or respond to native speaking people. It is so difficult for
students to respond when being asked because they might have little ideas about
what to say, which vocabulary to use, or think a lot of grammar, sentence structure.
While communicating with native people, they also wonder: how to use the
grammar correctly (Baker & Westrup, 2003). In addition, low or uneven participant
of communication process is big difficulty. It is usually to see the tendency of some
learners to dominate while others speak very little, they only hear and say nothing,
even they do not understand but still pretending to understand at all. And they prefer
to use mother tongue as easily express ideas, thinking. Mother tongue is a natural
thing to do. Another, listening comprehension relies on Penny Ur (1984), Shelagh
Rixon (1986), Mary Underwood (1989), Michael Rost (1991), and H. Douglas
Brown (1994), listening difficulties divide two categories. The first includes
listening problems resulting from the characteristics of the English language and the
17

17


native speakers culture.
In communication, students can use non verbal language: eyes contact, body
language…However in Vietnam, mostly people use mother tongue to contact, talk to
be easy understand without using body language or other transportation to
communicate. As a habitat of Vietnamese child, from little until adult that will be keep
original therefor when they become adult that will be difficult to access a new one.
2.3.3. Difficulties in writing English

Writing is complex skill with combining of many other elements, is the use of
language aspect or ability in written likes punctuation, spelling, grammatical,
vocabulary and so on. As Jordan (1997) states that writing is often confusing with
the process of selection words then putting words down on paper in the same
structure as an outline prepared with appropriate style and vocabulary the major
ideas arranged in some often on the correction of grammatical errors.
2.4. English communication barriers
Communication is complete and perfect when the receiver understands the
message in the same sense and spirit as the communicator intends to convey. In
communication, ideas and information reached to and responded by receiver remain
unaltered and undistorted (Thacker, p.68, 2004). However, communication process
includes many factors to attribute truth of communication message and appear a lot
of barriers to effect of English communication. As Bloch and Starks (1999) found
that the four main problems of non native English speakers with English
communication were listening comprehension, poor or insufficient vocabulary and
use of idioms, distortion or misunderstanding of the message, and inappropriate
formulation of the message. According George Bernard Shaw wrote “the greatest
problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished” (Shaw,
2011). As illustrated Rakich and Darr (2000) classify these barriers: personal and
environmental. There have some consequences of difficulties in English
communication in studying, working: freshmen student feel hard to gain English
knowledge and even would not like to find, read as result of learner’s view is
reduce, especially, do not update information from consecutively from foreign
people as job opportunity of foreign company will be limited comparing with better
English speaking learner. Hence, when students are good at communication, they
18

18

will get a more friend from many country in the world, be easier to formation of
relationship, creates a friendly environment university.
And there are some barriers to English communication.
2.4.1. Communication barriers from students
One of the reasons behind the communication difficulties among many
Thuongmai University freshmen EFL learners is lack of exposure to English as
spoken by its native speakers. In this frame of reference, Rababah (ibid.) affirms
that in order for language learners to use the language more effectively, they should
be involved in practicing it in real life situations. Without such practice, English or
any other language cannot be obtained. Students in University are little opportunity
to learn English through natural interaction in the target language. Almost teachers
in University are native country (Vietnam), students have no interaction
continuously; moreover, opportunity of foreign people is reduce. Teaching time of
English lesson spend for non English major is about 2 lessons per week while
students are seldom to spend 1 2 hours per day to language even they do not have.
Students still recognize the important of English communication or very little. They
only focus on English only when passing exam therefor the ability to use the daily
words is not popular and have no interaction between each other.
Lack of practice due to large classes: According to Jianing (2007), large
classes present another inhibition to the learners’s oral proficiency. In the context of
China, where there are usually over fifty students in each class, students have little
opportunity for practicing speaking in the classroom. This causes the speaking skills
of most students to be comparatively lower than the other skills as result of weak
communication skill. Green, Christopher, and Lam (1997: 135), in turn, attribute the
difficulties with communication to some factors, among which are large classes:
“Discussion skills are often undeveloped in the English classroom. A combination
of potent inhibitors are responsible for this situation: large class size, students‘ level
of proficiency, and time constraints. As a result, many teachers never attempt
discussions or, as a result of negative experiences, simply stop holding them”.

19

19


2.4.2. Communication barriers from teachers
Teaching methodology cause difficulties in English communication of
Vietnamese learners relates to teaching methodology. Rababah stresses the fact that
one aspect of deficiency in teaching English is the use of the learners mother
tongue. Indeed, teachers use mother tongue to explain English literature and to
teach difficult lexical items. It clear that vocabulary items are taught in isolation,
though the Communicative Language Teaching approach insists on the importance
of teaching vocabulary in context may not be enough to help the graduates
communicate effectively in the target language. In this respect, he quotes Halliday
et al (1984: 18) discussing ways of learning a foreign language: In Nigeria, English
is used in almost all the teaching in high schools. This has two important results. In
the first place, the quantity of classroom experience that each pupil receives is much
greater outside the English lesson than within it. The second place, the children are
influenced by class teachers other than those who are trained in English. If those
teacher’s English is not very good, the pupils will suffer. Teaching in a language is
an excellent way of teaching a language, but all those who teach subjects in a
foreign language need to be able to perform well in it themselves. Additionally,
Rababah states that authentic listening materials are not made use of by the majority
of schoolteachers, most probably because of the limited number of cassette
recorders and the large number of teachers at the same school. Therefore, teachers
find themselves obliged to read out dialogues to their students, which does not
provide them with the necessary native speaker model. The author explains that
dialogues are designed to be role played by at least two partners, not by the teacher
alone, who would enact all the partner roles with the same voice and intonation,
which may demotivate the learners and make them bored. He thinks that this may

be due to the effect of the audio lingual method, which had been in use in the
country until the early eighties, and through which teachers were taught. Rababah
concludes that the teacher training program have not been successful in changing
the teacher methodology. In fact, the adopted teaching methodology is claimed to be
eclectic and focus on communicative approaches to language teaching, but because
of the teacher practices in the classroom, it is more likely a grammar translation
method.
20

20


In reality, teacher always find a lot of teaching method to meet the need of
students however, it seems that there have been a number of challengers for EFL
teacher and a lot of problems inhibiting EFL teaching and learning. According to
Williams and Burden (1997), “teachers deep rooted beliefs about how languages are
learned will pervade their classroom actions more than a particular methodology
they are told to adopt or course book they follow”(p.57).
Teacher and students tend to spend class time on practicing tasks for form
based exams instead of focusing on improving students’ communicative skills (Gao,
2012; Ming & Jaya, 2011; Pan & Block, 2011). The lack of speaking tests in
examinations as one of the barriers hindering teacher can train students with
speaking ability. In addition, time for English lesson is not enough for teacher can
transmit all knowledge for students, makes it difficult for teachers to achieve their
teaching targets, especially in improving students’ speaking and listening skills
(Chen & Goh, 2011; Ming & Jaya, 2011). Besides, English language teaching
teachers also get difficulties such as: large class sizes(Aduwa Ogiegbaen & Iyamu,
2006; Byun et al., 2010; Chen & Goh, 2011; Ming & Jaya, 2011); students’ unequal
English levels (Chen & Goh, 2011; Ming & Jaya, 2011); inadequate facilities and
equipment (Aduwa Ogiegbaen & Iyamu, 2006; Chen & Goh, 2011); and a lack of

an English speaking environment (Chen & Goh, 2011; Ming & Jaya, 2011).
2.4.3. Other barriers
The use of jargon
The native English speaking use of jargon, as Christopher Hutton said the
jargon used for “special languages associated with a trade, profession or well
defined social sub group; secondly, it is applied in a critical or negative way to
language that seems unnecessarily obscure, pretentious, or over complex, in
particular where the suspicion is raised that the ultimate purpose is to hide the
truth”. Jargon is a type of language that is used in a particular context and may not
be well understood outside that context (Wikipedia). Each different context, jargon
have special meaning not like meaning of context therefore the talker if not being
explained before or have knowledge of that jargon, it is easy to misunderstand the
message of communication.
21

21


Listening comprehension barriers: misunderstanding in communication
Relying on Penny Ur (1984), Shelagh Rixon (1986), Mary Underwood (1989),
Michael Rost (1991), and H. Douglas Brown (1994), listening difficulties fall into
two categories. The first category includes listening problems resulting from the
characteristics of the English language and the native speakers culture. These are
the following: Effect of elements on the perception of sounds; redundancy;
Inappropriate listening style; lack of background knowledge or unfamiliarity with
the culture. The term “culture” is defined; “Culture is the shared knowledge and
schemes created by a set of people for perceiving, interpreting, expressing, and
responding to the social realities around them (Lederach, J.P. (1995); p.9). In fact,
people who communicate with other people of a different culture will realize that a
knowledge of the sounds, the vocabulary and the grammar of their foreign language

is indispensable. The important factor in understanding has to do with cultural
environment and misunderstanding in communication between the different and
cultures is unavoidable. And learners usually gain knowledge or experiences to
develop personal skills and overcome communication barriers.
The second category of listening problems involves features of listening
situations causing difficulties for listeners.
Cultural barriers
Communication with people of different cultures and backgrounds means
becoming aware of the differences in values, beliefs and attitudes that people
hold (Dr. K. Usha Rani, Communication barriers; p.77). According to the Putsch, R.
W. (1985), language barrier prevent a communicant's capacity to judge meanings of
the intentions, reactions, and emotions and manage to create a condition of
dependency on the person who rely the keys to the whole course of action the
interpreter. As Rampur, S. (2011) stated that cultural differences are always behind a
reason why there is an existence of miscommunication between two people. A gap
is already manifested between individuals with their respective different views and
backgrounds as an effect of which the message to be perceived is not understood or
misinterpreted (Rampur, S. (2011).

22

22


Emotional barriers
The affective factors are emotions, self esteem, empathy, anxiety, and
motivation Shumin (2002: 206). Oxford (1990: 140) puts it concisely and clearly
stating. The affective side of the learner is probably one of the most important
influences on language learning success or failure. Emotional influences involve
mainly fearing of errors and lack of motivation. Apprehension of erring Shumin

(ibid.) argues that speaking a foreign language in public, especially in the presence
of native speakers often provokes anxiety. Unlike children, adult learners are very
careful about not making errors in their speech, in that erring would be a public
manifestation of ignorance. This would present a situation in which a speaker loses
face in certain cultures. Learner sensitivity to making mistakes or loosing face has
obviously been one reason for their inability to communicate English fluently.
Jianing (2007) explains: “the less they speak, the less they improve their speaking
skills, and the more they are afraid of speaking”.
Situations barriers
Situations causing difficulties for listeners Shelagh Rixon (1986) considers
several listening problems and difficulties that are likely to cause comprehension
difficulties for listeners as their listening ability. One of these problems is what she
terms type of delivery (ibid. 58). The way a listening material is delivered
comprises two factors: the speed of the speaker and his or her accent. This is
certainly true, especially of nonnative learners who do not have a good mastery of
the target language, because fast delivery may make the listener lose concentration
due to the tension imposed on him or her, and he or she may consequently not
understand or may misunderstand the listening passage. Incomprehension or
misunderstanding is more likely to occur when fast speech is delivered in an
unfamiliar accent.
Language barriers
Increased globalization is forcing a growing number of business managers and
employees to interact across linguistic boundaries. According to Henderson (2005),
since language affects almost all aspects of everyday life, there needs more of a
focus on communication barriers by researchers and practitioners engaged in
23

23

international business. Barriers of language are a very intricate thing, and
communication among people talking diverse languages is hard as stated by Penn,
S. Often a time that when you always misunderstood by someone talking with your
language, it is very hard to express the full meaning from a person with a diverse
cultural background.
Psychosocial barriers
Psychosocial barriers are often due to the nature of the environment. While
distractions like noise, poor lighting or an environment that is too hot or cold can all
affect people’s spirits and concentration, which in turn interfere with effective
communication (Michael K.Swan, Washington State University; p.1). Three
important concepts are associated with psychological and social barriers: fields of
experience, filtering, and psychological distance (Antos, 2011). “Fields of
experience include people's backgrounds, perceptions, values, biases, needs, and
expectations. Senders can encode and receivers decode messages only in the context
of their fields of experience. When the sender's field of experience overlaps very
little with the receiver's, communication becomes difficult. Filtering means that
more often than not we see and hear what we are emotionally tuned in to see and
hear. Filtering is caused by our own needs and interests, which guide our
listening.Psychosocial barriers often involve a psychological distance between
people that is similar to actual physical distance” (Luneburg, Fred C; p.5).
Environment barriers
Not all barriers to communication are caused by people. There are many
environmental factors affecting the effective communication process. Messages
can be blocked by environmental factors, such as the physical setting or the
situation where communication takes place (Dr. K. Usha Rani, Communication
barriers; p.75) .
As for example of environment barriers is wrote to be clear by (Akua Ahyia
Adu Oppong; ISSN: 2319 7285) Communication is about sharing meaning. With no
sharing, there is no communication. To communicate successfully in a team or with
others, at work or in the community, you need to understand the communication

environment and the barriers which prevent messages being sent and received
successfully.
24

24


CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS
3.1. The reality of English communication in Thuongmai University and
the reasons.
The English communication of freshmen in Thuongmai University is getting
with many difficulties in communicating with foreign people. This is important as
Thuongmai students who study English as a foreign language encounter many
problems when it comes to face to face oral communication.
One of the reasons is that English departments in Thuongmai universities
admit students to the program without bearing in mind the level of the students’
proficiency and whether their skills will enable them to complete the program
successfully. Another reason is the lack of exposure to the target language where
students might be willing to talk with others using English but the curriculum
designed might not help them to achieve their goals (Rabab’ah, 2005). Hence, the
problem is not that of the students alone but also the curriculum in helping students
improve their oral communication ability in the target language.
Jdetawy (2011) found that the lack of learners personal motivation and
weakness of English language were the causes of communication breakdowns in
learners in University. As results to this present study seeks to determine if a
harmonious understanding between students and teachers can change more effective
English communication for Thuongmai University learners. In class, The English
level of students is not balance mostly one or two or three students is keenly to
attribution and speak English in lesson. Some students don’t understand what
teacher said, other don’t would like to talk with many people, they also afraid of

wrong, in high school or secondary school mostly were taught grammar and no
much time to practice English even University. In addition, In Thuongmai
University, Almost students is from countryside, that do not have many chances to
meet and talk with foreign people. As the teaching English program, teachers do not
have enough times for one lesson, replace of focus on practicing speaking skill,
many teacher prefer to practice writing paper: grammar, sentences errors. Although
in a English lesson there still have some part for speaking test however some
25

25