Difficulties encountered by the final year students of english faculty at thuongmai university in terms of verbal communication with foreigners on their course of internship at companies an

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
------

GRADUATION PAPER
DIFFICULTIES IN TRANSLATING SOCIAL ENGLISH ARTICLES
INTO VIETNAMESE FACED BY THE THIRD-YEAR ENGLISH
MAJOR STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY AND SOME
SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

Hanoi, 2020

HÀ NỘI - 2015


ABSTRACT
Along with the demand of global integration, learning foreign languages for
international communication has become more and more vital to Vietnamese students.
Communication skills are essential for a student’s academic success and future career
prospects. In today’s challenging environment, students must not only possess
academic expertise, but also the requisite skills to enhance their learning and
employability prospects in the future. However, it is not easy for English learners in
this context to achieve their fluency and proficiency in English verbal communication
skill due to certain internal and external factors. Therefore, this study is to investigate
difficulties encountered by final-year students of English falcuty at Thuongmai
University in terms of verbal communication with foreigners during their course of
internship at companies. The data obtained from the questionnaire with 50 final-year
students of English Faculty at Thuongmai University. The findings show that English
Faculty’s final-year student faced both psychological and linguistics difficulties.
Suggested solutions are proposed to tackle such difficulties in helping students
improve their English verbal communication skill.

1


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
During the process of doing this graduation paper, I have received a lot of
necessary help as well assistance, guidance, precious ideas and encouragement from
my teacher, my family and friends. This paper could not have completed without the
great help from them.
First and foremost, I would like to show my special thanks to my supervisor,
Mrs. Phan Tu Lan, whose considerable encouragement and valuable guidance kept me
confident to accomplish successfully this study. Without her, this research would not
have been completed.
Also, I would like to show my sincere thanks to all my teachers at English
Faculty, Thuongmai University who have given me knowledge, useful lessons, wholehearted advice during four years studying here.
I’m grateful to the final-year students of English Faculty at Thuongmai
University for their enthusiastic participation. Their sharing has become the main
sources of data in my research.
Last but not least, I am deeply grateful to my family, my friends who always
stand by and support and become a great motivation to help me overcome difficulties
in the process of doing this research.
Because of the limited time, knowledge and practical experiences, there will have
some shortcomings and mistakes in this study. Therefore, I sincerely hope to receive
your comments and suggestions for the perfect of my own graduation paper.
Hanoi, 2020
Student
Le Thi Anh

2

ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..........................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT................................................................................................................iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS....................................................................................vii
LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES..........................................................................viii
CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY..........................................................1
1.1.

Rationale............................................................................................................. 1

1.2.

Previous studies..................................................................................................2

1.2.1.

In the world:....................................................................................................2

1.2.2.

In Vietnam:......................................................................................................3

1.3.

The aims of the study.........................................................................................4

1.4.

Research subject................................................................................................5

1.5.

Significance of the study....................................................................................5

1.6.

Scope of the study..............................................................................................5

1.7.

Research methodology.......................................................................................6

1.8.

Organization of the study..................................................................................6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................7
2.1. Overview of communication................................................................................7
2.1.1. Definition of communication..............................................................................7
2.1.2. Communication process......................................................................................8
2.1.3. Importance of communication in business.......................................................10
2.1.4. Types of communication...................................................................................12
2.2. Verbal communication........................................................................................13
2.2.1. Definition of verbal communication.................................................................13
2.2.2. Importance of verbal communication in business...........................................14
2.2.3. Basic skills of verbal communication...............................................................14
2.3. Difficulties in verbal communication with foreigners during the internship of
Engish Faculty’s final-year students.........................................................................16

2.3.1. Factors that cause difficulties...........................................................................16

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2.3.2. Difficulties in verbal communication with foreigners......................................17
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH FINDINGS.......................22
3.1. Methodology........................................................................................................22
3.1.1. Context of the study...........................................................................................22
3.1.3. Data collection methods....................................................................................23
3.1.4. Method of data analysis....................................................................................24
3.2. Findings and discussion of the findings.............................................................24
3.2.1. Questionnaire results........................................................................................24
3.2.2. Discussion of the findings.................................................................................38
CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS............................40
4.1. Summary of the study.........................................................................................40
4.2. Suggestions to improve student’s English verbal communication skill...........40
4.2.1. Suggestions for the students.............................................................................40
4.2.2. Suggestions for Thuongmai University............................................................45
4.3. Limitations of the study......................................................................................46
4.4. Suggestions for further studies...........................................................................46
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................47
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................48
APPENDIX – SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES........................................................50

4


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

No.

Abbreviation

Meaning

1

TMU

Thuongmai University

2

EFL

English as a foreign language

3

ESL

English as a second language

5


LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES
No.
1

2
3

Charts and tables
Chart 1
Chart 2
Chart 3

4

Chart 4

5

Chart 5

6

Chart 6

7

Chart 7

8

Chart 8

9
10

11
12
13
14

Chart 9
Chart 10
Chart 11
Chart 12
Table 1
Table 2

Name
Communication process
The frequency of English verbal communication
English verbal communication competence
The important of English verbal communication at
companies
The frequency of English verbal communication on
the internship course
Skills that cause difficulty most
Confidence level in English verbal communication
with foreigners
Anxiety level in English verbal communication with
foreigners
Difficulty in listening comprehension
Difficulty in vocabulary
Difficulty in grammar
Difficulty in pronunciation
The cause of difficulties

Suggestions of the students

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CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
1.1. Rationale
In the trend of globalization today, the importance of English cannot be denied
and ignored because it is widely used everywhere in the world. English is considered
the most commonly used language on the planet when nearly 60 countries use English
as the main language, besides their mother tongue and nearly 100 countries use
English as the second language. Therefore, English plays an essential role in the
current era of globalization.
In the era of market economy, Vietnamese enterprises have also kept up with this
trend and strengthened economic exchanges with other countries, cooperating with
foreign companies to implement business strategies and export - import goods. With
such a vibrant integration situation, English is an essential part in business.
When Vietnam has joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), the business of
goods exchange is not only encapsulated within the country but also cooperates with
many different countries in the world. Currently, in parallel with domestic enterprises,
Vietnam also has the presence of international companies, which are followed by
leaders, key pillars of foreigners. Therefore, without English, especially English
communication, we will face many difficulties in such a highly professional
environment.
Employers always require candidates to know English communication, fluent
English, even master all 4 skills (listening - speaking - reading - writing) to meet the
needs of communication and working with foreign clients or partners. In particular, the
English communication with foreign partners or customers is a key factor affecting the
business of the enterprises. Therefore, employees are often required to have good
communication skills, especially verbal English communication.

Final-year students of Thuongmai University in general and the English Faculty
in particular will have to undergo a 4-week internship at companies. Normally, English
students have to use English during the internship to work or communicate with
foreigners. However, not all students have good English speaking skills or all their

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performances are good. This can affect their internships and even the business results
of the companies.
In my reasearch, I will investigate the difficulties that English-majored final-year
students usually encounter when verbally communicating with foreigners during their
internship and suggest some solutions to this problem. Therefore, I would like to
conduct the study entitled “Difficulties encountered by the final-year students of
English Faculty at Thuongmai University in terms of verbal communication with
foreigners on their course of internship at companies and some suggested
solutions”. I hope this study will help them find out their verbal communication
difficulties and provide them some solutions to improve this skill.
1.2. Previous studies
A number of empirical studies have examined the same research concern related
to difficulties encountered by university English-majored students while participating
in oral classroom activities. There are some researches that I have found to support my
graduation paper:
1.2.1.

In the world:

A paper by Zhengdong Gan in 2012 reports the result of a study that aimed to
identify the problems with oral English skills of ESL (English as a second language)
students at a tertiary teacher training institution in Hong Kong. The study, by way of

semi-structured interview, addresses the gap in our understanding of the difficulties
ESL students encountered in their oral English development in the context of a
Bachelor of Education (English Language) program. Insufficient opportunities to
speak English in lectures and tutorials, lack of a focus on language improvement in the
curriculum, and the input-poor environment for spoken communication in English
outside class apparently contributed to a range of problems that closely related to the
sociocultural, institutional and interpersonal contexts in which individual ESL students
found themselves. The results of the study lead us to question the effectiveness of the
knowledge- and pedagogy-based ESL teacher training curriculum. They also point to a
need to incorporate a sufficiently intensive language improvement component in the
current teacher preparation program

2


A study named “Speaking Problems Faced by the English Department Students
of Syial Kuala University” in 2012 by Hendra Heriansyah, this paper discusses the
difficulties and causes perceived by English Department students of Syiah Kuala
University in learning speaking and the efforts made by them to overcome their
difficulties. From both observation and interview, this study reveals that all students
encountered various difficulties in English speaking ability. The prevalent problem
faced by the students was “lack of vocabulary”, while “being afraid of making
mistakes” was the prime cause of problem which hindered them to speak. The
students had striven to cope with their problems in learning speaking, but their
attempts had not been yet ample and successful.
Another study related to difficulties for students’ speaking skills was “A study on
student’s English speaking problems in speaking performance” by Dea Aries Fitriani,
Rahayu Apriliaswati and Wardah at English Education Study Program, Language and
Arts Education Department, Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Tanjungpura
University, Pontianak. This research focuses on student’s English speaking problems

and the aim of this research is to find out the most dominant problem in speaking
performance faced by the third semester students of English Education Study Program
of FKIP Tanjungpura University Pontianak in their speaking performance. The
research method used in this research is the descriptive method. The writer uses
questionnaire and video recording as the tools of data collection. From the
questionnaire findings, psychological problem is the most dominant problem faced by
the third semester students of English Education Study Program of FKIP Tanjungpura
University Pontianak with mean percentage 20.70%; lack of self-confidence 20.11%
and anxiety 21.27%. It is followed by linguistic problems with mean percentage
19.53%; grammar 22.16%, vocabulary 20.19%, and pronunciation 16.25%. In
conclusion, psychological problem is the most dominant problem faced by the third
semester students of English Education Study Program of FKIP Tanjungpura
University Pontianak.
1.2.2.

In Vietnam:

A study named “Challenges to speaking skills encountered by English-majored
students: A story of one Vietnamese university in the Mekong Delta” by three students

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of Can Tho University Journal of Science investigated challenges of speaking skills
faced by English-majored freshmen in a Vietnamese university. The data obtained
from the questionnaire with 131 students, individual interviews with lecturers, and
class observation. The findings show that English freshmen faced both internal and
external challenges, especially the latter ones regarding the limitation of English
speaking environment and extracurricular activities.
Another study was conducted by a Vietnamese student, which is “English

communication skills of students with foreigners - propose solutions to join nongovernmental organizations”. This paper aims to understand the current status of
students' ability to communicate with foreigners in the research subjects, thereby
proposing solutions to improve that skill. More specifically, we focus on the
effectiveness of participating in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the hope
that this will be a new solution to help students not only improve their English
communication skills but also Improve confidence when working in an international
environment.
There are some previous studies on speaking or communication skill of
university students. All these studies show that different aspects of the problem give
the reader a more multidimensional view and to recognize the importance of
improving verbal communication skill. Hope that my research will contribute a little
bit to anyone having difficulties in speaking to foreigners and be able to help them to
understand more specifically about it.
1.3. The aims of the study
The study is carried out to find out the answers for the following questions:
a. “What difficulties do final-year students of English Faculty at Thuongmai
University encounter in terms of verbal communication with foreigners during their
course of internship at companies?”
b. “What are possible causes leading to these difficulties?”
c. “What are possible solutions to this problem?”
The study is aimed to:
-

Cover background knowledge of verbal communication.

4


-

Find out the difficulties that final-year students of English Faculty at

Thuongmai University encounter in terms of verbal communication with foreigners
during their course of internship at companies.
-

Suggest some realistic and appropriate solutions to help them improve

English verbal communication skill.
It should be noted that this paper shouldn’t be considered exclusive to final-year
students of English Faculty, Thuongmai University. In fact, the fundamental concepts
and result of this paper can be applied to most English learners.
1.4. Research subject
-

The object of the research is final-year students of English Faculty,

Thuongmai University.
-

The subject of the study is the difficulties encountered by the final-year

students of English Faculty at Thuongmai University in terms of verbal
communication with foreigners on their course of internship at companies.
1.5. Significance of the study
The purposes of the study are to find out the difficulties and then propose some
solutions to improve English verbal communication skills. Therefore, as a result, this
research is expected to bring significant benefits and become a useful resource for both
students and teachers.
Firstly, for students, through this research, they can identify their weaknesses and

then find out appropriate solutions for improvement.
Secondly, when this research has been completed, its findings and suggestions
will become an effective tool to help the further and deeper investigations.
1.6. Scope of the study
The study mainly focuses on overviewing the difficulties that the final-year
students of English Faculty at Thuongmai University encounter in terms of verbal
communication with foreigners during their course of internship at companies and
suggesting some appropriate solutions to the problem in order to help them improve
their English verbal communication skill. The result of this paper was based on the
survey questionnaire given to English-majored final-year students.

5


1.7. Research methodology
To

collect the

data

this

study used survey questionnaires as the main

instrument. This study is conducted with the following steps:
- At first, I collected all the opinions selectively picked out and gathered from
studies, researches and books of famous authors along with valuable articles on the
Internet.
-

After consulting relevant references, I design my online questionnaire and

send it to 50 final-year students of English Faculty at Thuongmai University to
complete.
-

Lastly, after participants completed the survey questionnaire, the results were

collected and analyzed by using tables and charts.
1.8. Organization of the study
This study includes the following parts:
-

Chapter 1: Overview of the study

In this chapter, the reasons why the topic was chosen are stated.

Besides,

previous studies, aims of the study, research subjects, significance of the study, scope
of the study, research methodology and organization of the study are also mentioned.
-

Chapter 2: Literature review

The relevant theoretical backgrounds are revised in this chapter as the base for
the research being carried out. It focuses on the concepts of communication in general
and verbal communication in particular.
-

Chapter 3: Methodology and research findings

The content starts with the type of research methodology used for this study. It
describes the development and how the study is carried on. Then, the research result
archieved and discussion of the findings will be presented.
-

Chapter 4: Suggested solutions

In this chapter, the suggested solutions will be presented basing on the result
discussed in the previous chapter. This chapter will show a brief summary of the study,
discuss the limitations of the study and make some suggestions for further researches.

6


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Overview of communication
2.1.1. Definition of communication
There are many ways to define communication. Here are some of the most
commonly used definitions of communication:
According to G.G. Brown, “communication” is transfer of information from one
person to another, whether or not it elicits confidence. But the information transferred
must be understandable to the receiver.
Fred G. Meyer defines “communication” is the intercourse by words, letters or
messages
We can now proceed to define communication from what we have seen above.
To define means to give the precise and exact meaning of a word. The exact meaning
of the word communicate is “to share” or “to participate”. The dictionaries say that

communication is the transmission of a message or information by speaking or
writing. Another dictionary declares that communication is giving or exchanging
information, signals, messages by talk or gestures or writing. Yet another definition
says that communication is social intercourse. Communication is all this and much
more. A good definition should not only give the precise meaning but also throw light
on the scope of the word/expression.
Communication is giving, receiving or exchanging ideas, information, signals or
messages through appropriate media, enabling individuals or groups to persuade, to
seek information, to give information or to express emotions.
This broad definition includes body-language, skills of speaking and writing. It
outlines the objectives of communication. It emphasizes listening as an important
aspect of communication.
According to Oxford English Dictionary, “communication” is the imparting or
exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium; the
successful conveying or sharing of ideas and feelings.

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As this definition makes clear, communication is more than simply the
transmission of information. The term requires an element of success in transmitting or
imparting a message, whether information, ideas, or emotions.
A communication therefore has three parts: the sender, the message, and the
recipient.
The sender ‘encodes’ the message, usually in a mixture of words and non-verbal
communication. It is transmitted in some way (for example, in speech or writing), and
the recipient ‘decodes’ it.
Of course, there may be more than one recipient, and the complexity of
communication means that each one may receive a slightly different message. Two
people may read very different things into the choice of words and/or body language.

It is also possible that neither of them will have quite the same understanding as the
sender.
In face-to-face communication, the roles of the sender and recipient are not
distinct. The two roles will pass back and forwards between two people talking. Both
parties communicate with each other, even if in very subtle ways such as through eyecontact (or lack of) and general body language. In written communication, however,
the sender and recipient are more distinct.
2.1.2. Communication process
The communication is a dynamic process that begins with the conceptualizing of
ideas by the sender who then transmits the message through a channel to the receiver,
who in turn gives the feedback in the form of some message or signal within the given
time frame. Thus, there are Seven major elements of communication process:

8


Chart 1. Communication process
Sender: The sender or the communicator is the person who initiates the
conversation and has conceptualized the idea that he intends to convey it to others.
Encoding: The sender begins with the encoding process wherein he uses certain
words or non-verbal methods such as symbols, signs, body gestures, etc. to translate
the information into a message. The sender’s knowledge, skills, perception,
background, competencies, etc. has a great impact on the success of the message.
Message: Once the encoding is finished, the sender gets the message that he
intends to convey. The message can be written, oral, symbolic or non-verbal such as
body gestures, silence, sighs, sounds, etc. or any other signal that triggers the response
of a receiver.
Communication Channel: The Sender chooses the medium through which he
wants to convey his message to the recipient. It must be selected carefully in order to
make the message effective and correctly interpreted by the recipient. The choice of
medium depends on the interpersonal relationships between the sender and the

receiver and also on the urgency of the message being sent. Oral, virtual, written,
sound, gesture, etc. are some of the commonly used communication mediums.
9


Receiver: The receiver is the person for whom the message is intended or
targeted. He tries to comprehend it in the best possible manner such that the
communication objective is attained. The degree to which the receiver decodes the
message depends on his knowledge of the subject matter, experience, trust and
relationship with the sender.
Decoding: Here, the receiver interprets the sender’s message and tries to
understand it in the best possible manner. An effective communication occurs only if
the receiver understands the message in exactly the same way as it was intended by the
sender.
Feedback: The Feedback is the final step of the process that ensures the receiver
has received the message and interpreted it correctly as it was intended by the sender.
It increases the effectiveness of the communication as it permits the sender to know
the efficacy of his message. The response of the receiver can be verbal or non-verbal.
The Noise shows the barriers in communications. There are chances when the
message sent by the sender is not received by the recipient.
2.1.3. Importance of communication in business
The implementation of policies and programmes of management is possible only
through effective communication.
We can understand the importance of communication from the following:
2.1.3.1. An aid to managerial performance:
A manager can take appropriate decisions with the help of communication. The
problems may be solved without much difficulty by the manager. The manager can get
things done by sub-ordinates through communication. He can impart the objectives of
organization to the subordinates through communication.
Thus, communication acts as a tool of management.

2.1.3.2. Achieving co-ordination:
A large-scale business organization employs a large number of workers. They are
working on the basis of division of work and specialization. There is a need for coordination among such workers to attain organization goals. The coordination is
obtained through communication.

10


According to Mary Curling Nilen, “Good communications are essential to coordination. They are necessary upward, downward and sideways, through all the levels
of authority and advice for the transmission, interpretation and adoption of policies, for
the sharing of knowledge and information and for the subtler needs of good morale
and mutual understanding”.
2.1.3.3. Helps in smooth working:
Communication helps the workers to know the real situation prevailing in an
organization. Subsequently, workers perform their duties without any delay, which
leads to the smooth functioning of an organization. According to G. R. Terry,
“communication serves as the lubricant fostering for the smooth operations of the
management”.
2.1.3.4. Increase managerial efficiency:
Out of the total time available to the manager, the manager nearly spends 80% of
his time in transmitting the information to others regarding the business targets, rules,
programmes, policies, etc. Communication helps the manager discharge his duties
systematically and facilitates him to increase his efficiency.
2.1.3.5. Helps in decision-making:
Good communication system provides all the necessary information, which
enables the manager to take quality decisions in the proper time. Again, these
decisions are communicated to those who are in need of them. According to Chester
Barnard, “the first executive function is to develop and maintain a system of
communication”.
2.1.3.6. Maintaining industrial peace:

The main reason for industrial unrest is lack of communication or improper
communication. This creates a strained relationship between the management and the
workers. Communication helps both management and workers to understand each
other and facilitates industrial peace.

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2.1.3.7. Aid to leadership:
Management uses the communication as transmitter to forward its ideas, feelings,
suggestions and decisions to the employees. In the same way, the employees express
their responses, attitudes and problems through communication to the management.
Under this two-way communication, the management can assume itself as a leader of
its employees.
2.1.3.8. Aid to job satisfaction:
If the employees know what would be done and for what purpose, they can
perform in a better way and efficiently. Employees know the expectations of the
management. If their performance is not up to the standard, they can improve it.
Employees may wish to know how their performance is correlated with the
achievement of objectives. These are possible through effective communication. If
effective communication exists, employees can get job satisfaction.
2.1.3.9. Saving of time:
Effective communication results in the saving of time. A manager can
communicate easily to all his subordinates by sitting in his room. There is no need for
the manager to meet all the sub-ordinates personally.
In turn, the manager can get all the information from his sub-ordinates. This
results in the savings of time and effort for both of them.
2.1.3.10. Aid to public relation:
The term public includes customers, potential customers, shareholders, members
of the public, state government, central government and the like. The management can

create good image among the public through effective communication. In this way, the
management can maintain better public relations.
2.1.4. Types of communication
There are a wide range of ways in which we communicate and more than one
may be occurring at any given time.
The different categories of communication include:

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Spoken or verbal communication, which includes face-to-face, telephone, radio
or television and other media.
Non-verbal communication, covering body language, gestures, how we dress or
act, where we stand, and even our scent. There are many subtle ways that we
communicate (perhaps even unintentionally) with others. For example, the tone of
voice can give clues to mood or emotional state, whilst hand signals or gestures can
add to a spoken message.
Written communication: which includes letters, e-mails, social media, books,
magazines, the Internet and other media. Until recent times, a relatively small number
of writers and publishers were very powerful when it came to communicating the
written word. Today, we can all write and publish our ideas online, which has led to an
explosion of information and communication possibilities.
Visualizations: graphs and charts, maps, logos and other visualizations can all
communicate messages.
2.2. Verbal communication
2.2.1. Definition of verbal communication
It is communication through the use of verbalized sounds and spoken words. It
includes the use of the sounds, words, sentences, contexts and speech. Words help
communicators express their likes, dislike, and more complex emotional experiences
Humans communicate verbally in face-to-face conversations. Meetings,

interviews, conferences, speeches and phone calls are other forms of verbal
communication. We constantly participate oral communication in our daily-life
situations by either speaking or listening to people. The process will be a success if the
speaker can choose the best words that convey the meanings he intended to say and
meets the hearer’s interpretations.
The effectiveness of the verbal communication depends on the tone of the
speaker, clarity of speech, volume, speed, body language and the quality of words used
in the conversation. In the case of the verbal communication, the feedback is
immediate since there are a simultaneous transmission and receipt of the message by
the sender and receiver respectively.

13


The sender must keep his speech tone high and clearly audible to all and must
design the subject matter keeping the target audience in mind. The sender should
always cross check with the receiver to ensure that the message is understood in
absolutely the same way as it was intended. Such communication is more prone to
errors as sometimes the words are not sufficient to express the feelings and emotions
of a person.
The success of the verbal communication depends not only on the speaking
ability of an individual but also on the listening skills. How effectively an individual
listens to the subject matter decides the effectiveness of the communication. The
verbal communication is applicable in both the formal and informal kind of situations.
2.2.2. Importance of verbal communication in business
In the field of business and especially in the world of corporate adopting and
applying the trait and quality of having a clear and transparent way of verbal
communication holds a lot of importance and significance. Excellent verbal
communication is a key to maintaining successful business relationships. Effective
communication causes productivity to increase, errors to decrease and operations to

run smoother.


The way employees communicate with each other portrays an organization’s

image and this image could be the first impression or the last.


Good verbal communication skills of the employees of an organization foster

excellent business relationships with other organizations, customers, suppliers, etc.


Good verbal communication at the workplace is critical to the companies

with a workforce from a diverse background. It helps reduce the barriers produced
because of cultural and language differences. Many multinational companies arrange
training to inculcate effective communication skills in their employees which prove
very beneficial in the long run.


Effective verbal communication between employer and employee also

increases job satisfaction level.


Employees feel secure when they are communicated effectively. Receiving

the right and updated information from their superiors boost their confidence and
productivity.

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

Excellent verbal communication skills increase the ability of the individuals

to share ideas, thoughts and concerns with each other.
2.2.3. Basic skills of verbal communication
2.2.3.1. Speaking
As one of the two main skills of verbal communication, speaking skill plays a
more important role. Speaking is defined as an interactive process of constructing
meaning that
involves producing, receiving and processing information. Its form and meaning
are
dependent on the context in which it occurs, the participants, and the purposes of
speaking (Burns & Joyce, 1997).
Good communication requires effective speaking. Speaking effectively is defined
as speaking in such a way that the message is clearly heard and, if possible, acted
upon. There are two main elements to speaking effectively: what to say, and how to
say it.
What to say means the choice of words. It is worth considering the choice of
words carefully. Speaker will probably need to use different words in different
situations, even when discussing the same subject. For example, words used when
saying to a close colleague will be very different from those used in a formal
presentation or interview.
Similarly, the way to speak will also vary in different situations. However, there
are also likely to be some common factors: for example, whether the speaker naturally
talk quietly or loudly, and how to use body language.
2.2.3.2. Listening

According to Oxford Living Dictionaries, to listen is to give attention to sound or
action. When listening, one is hearing what others are saying, and trying to understand
what it means
Listening is key to all effective communication. Without the ability to listen
effectively, messages are easily misunderstood. As a result, communication breaks
down and the sender of the message can easily become frustrated or irritated.

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An effective conversation requires active listening. Active listening involves
listening with all senses. As well as giving full attention to the speaker, it is important
that the “active listener” is also “seen” to be listening - otherwise the speaker may
conclude that what they are talking about is uninteresting to the listener.
In work, good listening skills can lead to better customer satisfaction, greater
productivity with fewer mistakes, and increased sharing of information that in turn can
lead to more creative and innovative work.
2.3. Difficulties in verbal communication with foreigners during the
internship of Engish Faculty’s final-year students
2.3.1. Factors that cause difficulties
Difficulties encountered by the final-year students of English Faculty at TMU in
terms of verbal communication with foreigners on their course of internship at
companies in the current study include difficulties related to internal factors and
external factors.
2.3.1.1. Internal factors
a. Linguistics problems
According to Doris and Jessica (2007) language problems actually serve as one
of the important reasons behind poor academic performance. These problems may
become the obstacles for the students to enhance and improve their verbal
communication ability. The reasons why the students are having difficulties in their

verbal communication with foreigners are they are poor in grammar, vocabulary,
pronunciation and influenced by the mother tongue. Those problems are related to
linguistics problems.
b. Psychological problems
Other problems that may become a barrier for the students to become a good
English communicator is the psychological problems. Xinghua (2007) states that
psychological problems are those problems which often interfere emotional and
physical health, relationships, work productivity, or life adjustment such as nervous,
lack of self confidence and afraid to communicate. These problems may affect
students’ performance in their oral communication ability.
2.3.1.2. External factors

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a. Teaching curriculum and syllabus
A number of teaching curriculum and syllabus issues have directly affected
students' ability to verbally communicate in English. Specifically, the lack of separate
modules on listening and speaking skills, the lack of extra-curricular activities in
English and especially the lack of foreign lecturers.
b. The influence of using Vietnamese
Many students are influenced by Vietnamese in how to use grammatical
structures, how to combine words to form complete sentences. They combined the
words or sentences unsuitably, they spoke anything what they thought without rules.
Another aspect that can be affected by the mother tongue is pronunciation.
Because Vietnamese does not have the ending sounds, stress and linking sounds, the
speakers may forget these elements when speaking in English.
c. Accent, speaking speed of the interlocutors
According to Goh (1999), 66% of learners mentioned a speaker’s accent as one
of the most signification factors that affect listener comprehension. Ikeno and Henson

(2010) find that unfamiliar accent will decrease the accuracy of the words. Non-native
English speakers from different regions have the different accents, students will have
difficulty in listening comprehension because they are not familiar with these accents.
The average speaking rate for non-native speakers is slower than the speaking
rate for native speakers. Therefore, for a learner who English is a second language,
they are accustomed to the slow speaking speed, when meeting native speakers who
speak quickly, it will be difficult for them to catch words and understand the meaning
of the sentence the speakers say.
d. Working environment
Factors related to the working environment affect students’ ability to
communicate in English is that companies do not take measures to encourage daily
communication in English between employees.
2.3.2. Difficulties in verbal communication with foreigners
2.3.2.1. Linguistics difficulties
Linguistics is a scientific study of language such as the study of language
structure (grammar), words, and phonology. According to Spolsky & Hult (2008),

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generally linguistics comprises the detailed of vocabulary, grammar, and
pronunciation. Linguistics difficulties are those difficulties which make students’
verbal communication ability become poor. There are some linguistics difficulties that
affect someone in verbal communication. Those problems are:


lack of vocabulary



poor in grammar



poor in pronunciation



poor in listening comprehension

a. Lack of vocabulary
Vocabulary is an individual word or a set of words which have specific meaning.
Kamil and Hiebert (2005) state that generally, vocabulary is the knowledge of
meanings of words. The words come in at least two forms: oral and print. Oral
vocabulary is the set of words for which we know the meanings when we speak or
read orally. While print vocabulary consists of those words for which the meaning is
known when we write or read silently.
The problems of vocabularies occur when someone is lack of vocabulary needed
to talk and does not know how combine the vocabularies into a good sentence. Khan
(2005) states that the numbers of students who learn English as a foreign language
have difficulties to use word and expression to communicate. In addition, Doris and
Jessica (2007) also state that in the real communication, nobody paid much attention to
the correct grammar expression, but emphasized the content and how to reply.
Students are clearly known what they are going to say in the source language, but
when they have to switch the language itself into the target language such as English,
they often get confuse to combine and use the proper vocabularies needed.
b. Poor in grammar
Grammar is a study in which sentences are structured and formatted, so that it
may be considered a bit boring to study correct grammar since it really is worth the
time and effort. If learners do not know the rules of grammar, they will never be able

to communicate using English effectively. According to Celce-murcia (2001) grammar
become difficult because learners do not learn structures one in a time. Even the
learners appear to have mastered a particular structure; it is not uncommon to find
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