THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FACULTY -————– - GRADUATION PAPER A STUDY ON DIFFICULTIES OF AND HOW TO ENHANCE COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF STAFF AT THE CONSULTATIVE INSTITUTE FOR SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AND MOUNTAINOUS AREAS (CISDOMA) Supervisor:Luong Thi Minh Phuong, M.A.Student: Pham Thuy DungClass:K51N4Student code:14D170218 Hanoi - 2019 ABSTRACT We have come to the age of globalization People communicate with each other worldwide, companies in different places business with each other, and NonGovernmental Organizations overcome physical borders to collaborate In order to make this communication process smoother and less complex, many people try to speak in a mutual language, and that language is English Verbal and nonverbal communications have become more and more important for the above reasons Unfortunately, even the ones who need to acquire high level of communication skills not necessarily own that capability Staff at the Consultative Institute for Socio-Economic Development of Rural and Mountainous Areas (CISDOMA) are one example The majority of them have good communication skills but some not This is a disadvantage of the institute They have to work with foreign sponsors and partners all the time and the staff at this place should enhance their language ability Therefore, this research paper will study further on factors that affect the communication skills of staff at CISDOMA and how to enhance those skills for them i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis cannot be finished without the support, guidance, and recommendation from many others For that reason, I would like to pay my utmost gratitude to the following people First of all, I would like to express my great appreciation to my supervisor, Ms Luong Thi Minh Phuong, M.A Ms Luong gave me a lot of precious fundamental pieces of advice that closely relating to the process of conducting this research and writing this research paper Without Ms Luong, this thesis would not exist from the very beginning Second of all, I would like pay gratefulness to the Consultative Institute of SocioEconomic Development for Rural and Mountainous Areas (CISDOMA) for the wonderful opportunity of being their Program Intern I have learnt valuable lessons, technical knowledge, and working skills at this place Third of all, I am indebted to the English Faculty of Thuongmai University for this rare opportunity of writing this research paper Last but not least, I would like to wish my supervisor as well as all teachers at Thuongmai University great health, great happiness, and great career prosperity ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS vi CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Previous studies .3 1.3 Aims of the study .5 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Research subjects 1.6 Scope of the study 1.7 Research methodology 1.8 Organization of the study .6 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Overview of verbal communication skills .8 2.1.1 Definitions of verbal communication skills 2.1.2 Characteristics of verbal communication skills 2.1.3 Types of verbal communication skills 11 2.2 The importance of verbal communication skills 13 2.3 Potential problems in acquiring verbal communication skills 15 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .17 3.1 Procedure for conducting questionnaires and interviews 17 3.1.1 Procedure for conducting questionnaires 17 3.1.2 Procedure for conducting interviews 17 3.2 Data analysis 18 3.2.1 Years of learning English of staff at CISDOMA .18 3.2.2 Level of English proficiency of staff at CISDOMA 19 3.2.3 Emotions of the staff at CISDOMA when they use English verbal communication .20 iii 3.2.4 The frequency of using verbal communication in English of staff at CISODMA 21 3.2.5 The attitude of staff at CISDOMA toward verbal communication in English 22 3.2.6 Influential factors relating verbal communication skills in English of staff at CISDOMA 23 3.2.7 Difficulties of staff at CISDOMA when they use verbal communication in English 24 3.2.8 Motivation of staff at CISDOMA to enhance English verbal communication skills 25 3.3 Findings and discussion 25 3.3.1 Findings .25 3.3.2 Discussion 29 4 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS 32 4.1 Train staff to acquire good verbal communication skills in English 32 4.1.1 Hire international and/or local trainers to provide trainings on verbal communication skills in English 32 4.1.2 Obtain materials relating to verbal communication skills in English 33 4.1.3 Encourage staff to practice verbal communication skills in English .33 4.2 Organize periodic sessions for staff to practice verbal communication skills in English 34 4.3 Limitation of the study 35 4.4 Suggestion for further study 35 CONCLUSION 36 REFERENCES APPENDIXES iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS No Abbreviations % & AOP BftW CECP CISDOMA 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 FAO HRM iNGO NGO NLP No NPO OALD ODF USAID English meaning Percent And Action on Poverty Bread for the World Communication Enhances Community Participation The Consultative Institute for Socio-Economic Development of Rural and Mountainous Areas Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Human Resource Management international Non-Governmental Organization Non-Governmental Organization Neuro Linguistic Programming Number Non-Profit Organization Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Organizational Development Facilitator United States Agency for International Development v LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS No Tables and charts Chart 3.2.1 Years of learning English of staff at CISDOMA Table 3.2.2 Level of English proficiency and listening skills Chart 3.2.3 Emotions of the staff when they communicate in English Chart 3.2.4 The frequency of using English verbal communication of staff at CISDOMA Table 3.2.5 The attitude of staff at CISDOMA toward English verbal communication in their professional and private life Chart 3.2.6 Influential factors relating to verbal communication skills of staff at CISODMA Chart 3.2.7 Staff’s problems with using verbal communication in English Chart 3.2.8 Motivation of staff a CISDOMA to enhance English verbal communication skills vi Page 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale The ability to excel in English communication skills is one of the most crucial and inevitable requirements in many job markets This is the same in Vietnam Since 1986, Vietnam started the Doi Moi Policy, also known as ‘Renovation’, and opened its doors to the outside world Many English-speaking businessmen and NonGovernment Organization workers from Europe to America came to Vietnam to invest, business and social work This created a completely new change and direction in the job market Vietnamese people were more and more motivated to study English and get a better job in a foreign company Soon after that, the importance of English was recognized by the government English became a compulsory subject in the curriculum Tens of years later, employers from both profit and non-profit sectors expect job candidates and potential staff to have thorough technical knowledge, necessary transferable skills, and good English communication capability They want to employ workers who can communicate with foreign sponsors, investors, and counterparts Unfortunately, the true ability of job candidates many times does not live up to the expectation Even though many Vietnamese job seekers spend years of studying English, they still struggle with English communication Learning English in primary, secondary and high schools is primarily about grammar and vocabulary with an infrequent opportunity of practicing conversational skills Consequently, many English learners although achieve quite high score results, they not have the sufficient capability to communicate in English well in the real world In recent years, many people choose to work in the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) environment as this environment allows people who work in this specific sector to have an exceptional chance to obtain and acquire numerous up-to-date information, knowledge, methodology, and ways of working approach Local NGOs learn these things mainly from international NGOs (iNGOs) and/or follow the requests from their project donors Certain phrases such as ‘cost norms’, ‘code of conduct’, ‘sets of tool’, and ‘proposals’ are also technical terms that local NGOs learn and apply from iNGOs This nonprofit sector requires its staff to have a good command of English, especially English communication They have to obtain, process, and interchange a large amount of information, ideas, forms, documents and other crucial materials both in English and in Vietnamese almost every day Communication skills, particularly verbal communication skills, become the utmost vital and essential skills because of this reason Even though working in a NGO requires the staff to have good English communication skills, many staff at the Consultative Institute for Socio-Economic Development of Rural and Mountainous Areas (CISDOMA) not possess such ability CISDOMA gets funds and sponsorships from many different sources and organizations, such as USAID (United States Agency for International Development), AOP (Action on Poverty), and BftW (Bread for the World) While many staff at this institute speak English fluently and writing emails with foreign counterparts in English without much of a problem, others still struggle with both verbal and non-verbal English communication These people need help when they have to communicate with foreign sponsors, partners, and trainers Some understand when the other talks in English but they not know how to give their response, some others cannot even afford that English communication level Being aware of this reality, the author of this thesis hopes that she could study further on factors that affect the communication skills of staff at CISDOMA to help work progress of each department runs more smoothly, to avoid any potential miscommunication when CISDOMA collaborates with other iNGOs, and to help CISDOMA follows project sponsors’ requirements more precisely and accurately Because of the above-mentioned reasons, I would like to suggest “A Study on Difficulties of and How to Enhance Communication Skills of Staff at the Consultative Institute for Socio-Economic Development of Rural and Mountainous Areas (CISDOMA)” as my research topic This thesis will mainly focus on verbal communication skills 1.2 Previous studies Because of the necessity and importance of communication skills, many scholars have done researches, written books and journal articles about this topic Thanks to this, readers may have a better and more thorough understanding of communication skills, both verbal and nonverbal, and grasp potential solutions with high feasibility to enhance their communication skills Following are some of them Recognizing the vital role of communication in social development work, two scholars conducted a study on this subject Mumtaz Ali (Asia Europe Institute, University of Malaya) and Maya Khemlani David (Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya) worked together and published a study called: “Communication Enhances Community Participation (CECP): A Testimony of a NGO in Malaysia” in 2013 The study stressed the importance of ‘good governance and effective communication within the NGOs’ Those are the core factors that must be achieved in order to make sure community development projects run smoothly and successfully The study helps readers learn more about the special communication and relation between NGOs staff and community, especially community members People may also understand more about community participation and NGO staff’s level of communication adaptation This specific study may be even extra valuable to the non-profit sector staff as they may widen their knowledge of new communication methods to reach their projects’ target subjects Another study called: “Values and the Communication of Change: The Value Filters of the NLP Communication Model Applied to Aetas in Loob Bunga Zambales” was published in 2011 This study, however, analyzes communication in a completely different angle Joana Eunice V Parungao (University of the Philippines, Diliman, Philippines) sees communication for its values She digs deeper to find ‘the formation of the mind’s internal representation.’ She thinks messages we send to each other, attitude we have toward each other, actions we take toward the surrounding are all affected by our subconscious mind Therefore, in order to create effective communication strategies that promote positive social changes, scholars, speaking in English usually have a higher tendency of paying attention to the sound, pronunciation, and accent of the other speaker As a result, he/she increases his/her speaking skills faster than and without as much effort as those who not A lot of staff at CISDOMA want to enhance their English verbal communication skills simply because they want to work or study abroad Many young graduates work in the NGO sector in order to gain more experience in the development sector They want to learn more about practical knowledge relating to sustainable work This will help them have connections within the NGO sector They could also write personal statements and get letters of recommendation from their Line Managers One more motivation of the staff is working with their foreign counterparts All projects of CISDOMA receive funds from foreign organizations and NGOs The institute collaborates with other iNGOs as well Therefore, having a good level of English speaking ability will help them cooperate with their foreign counterparts much better and much more efficient In the section called ‘other’, two people stated that they want to improve their English speaking skills so that they could teach their children Many Vietnamese fathers and mothers nowadays want to teach English to their children instead of taking them to class The author is of the opinion that this will tighten the bond between parents and children On the other hand, one person wants to improve English speaking skills to make friends with foreign people while the other it so that he/she could teach other people 3.3.2 Discussion On the one hand, most staff of CISDOMA has learnt English for many years, the percentage of people who have advanced language proficiency still does not meet the expectation This shows a sad and unfortunate reality that number of years of studying English may not indicate the language proficiency The low language level may due to the lack of good and efficient study and practice methods 29 On the other hand, the majority of the staff at CISDOMA feels confident or motivated when they communicate in verbal English This is because they use their English almost all the time at their workplace to support sponsors and partners both at the office and at project fields These feelings are considered positive feelings and positive signs, which could promote better verbal English communication performance and magnify study motivation Nonetheless, many staff still feel insecure, worry, and stressed as they are not confident in their foreign language ability and this could turn into a potential barrier to their career development The abovementioned phenomenon is caused by different factors that contribute to English speaking performance of each staff differently The most influential factor relating to verbal communication skills of staff at CISDOMA is ‘topical knowledge’ Lyle F Bachman and Adrian S Palmer (1996) proved that owning thorough knowledge of the topic has a substantial influence on the performance of the speaker The staff talk more and sound more confident when they know topics of the conversations well and clearly They could use more specific terms to talk about their work plan and deliver ideas relating to project activities This is also the reason why some staff not have high level of language proficiency, yet they could still their job correctly and manage technical related conversations in English The second influential factor is pressure to perform well CISDOMA runs numerous projects even at the same time and every project has its due Consequently, the organization’s staff members are always under the pressure of working with a tight schedule, performing their work well, owning the ability to work precisely, and having the capability to demonstrate efficiency When communicate with sponsors and/or partners face-to-face, they have to show their professionalism through their presentation skills and verbal communication skills I S P Nation and Jonathan Newton (2009) supported this argument and said speaking with other people can be demanding, particularly when one knows that there will be judgment from the other side 30 Confidence is the third factor while anxiety is the fourth These are considered psychological advantage or disadvantage Confidence is regarded as a positive and promoting factor that helps the speaker has a more convincing attitude Meanwhile, anxiety is one tough psychological barrier that the speaker has to overcome Anxiety may arise strongly especially when one is lack of confidence and high level of verbal English communication skills Stephen D Krashen (1982) said that the lower the anxiety level is the more conducive to second language performing is The fifth is listening ability This one vital factor influences verbal communication performance strongly Speakers with good listening ability may imitate the phonology, pronunciation, intonation, stress, rhythm, and tone more accurately, precisely and easily Adrian Doff (1998) also agreed that without a fine listening capability, it is hard for speakers to develop their speaking skills On top of that, speakers need to comprehend fully messages and thoughts transferred through verbal words to give their responds and discuss the conversation further in a short amount of time Kang Shumin (1997) agreed that having a conversation is a process of speaking and listening constantly That is the reason why lack of fine listening capability will interrupt or even discontinue the flow of the dialogue Motivation and support from others are the last factors Getting support from other people may create and/or increase motivation of speaking English of learners and practitioners As stated by Merisuo-Storm (2007) people who have a friendly attitude toward speaking in English usually have a higher tendency of paying attention to the sound, pronunciation, and accent of the other speaker As a result, he/she increases his/her speaking skills faster than and without as much effort as those who not 31 4 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1 Train staff to acquire good verbal communication skills in English 4.1.1 Hire international and/or local trainers to provide trainings on verbal communication skills in English The organization may help create a promoting English-speaking environment by employing experienced verbal communication trainers These people will teach advanced learning skills, introduce modern practicing methodologies, and inspire the spirits of learners They may also give state-of-the-art tactics, tips to their learners so that the staff could improve much faster, and acquire better speaking skills These trainers are extremely crucial, as they are the ones who will give necessary and fundamental guidance during the first learning phase, motivate and encourage the learners to be more confident They would help the learners to overcome their fear of making mistakes, their habit of using the mother tongue language and their inhibition, which are the top three difficulties that the staff of CISDOMA face when they communicate in oral English The employed trainers who work in the NGO and NPO sectors could give pieces of advice relating to professional knowledge and work related topics as well They know very well about sustainable development works and they know clearly all specific and technical terms They understand thoroughly how the nongovernmental organizations run For those reasons, they could help the staff to work more efficiently and effectively, from approaching techniques to conducting research surveys On top of that, they could be masters with years of experience when it comes to communicating with sponsors and partners and/or creating a good impression on them They may also help staff at CISDOMA collaborate more smoothly with other local and international NGOs They could share, teach, and give pieces of advice relating to all of the abovementioned things as well as the most up-to-date and easiest to comprehend English materials 32 4.1.2 Obtain materials relating to verbal communication skills in English The institute could acquire English verbal communication related materials from prestigious publications and other well-known sources as well from the guidelines of sponsors, partners and other stakeholders Materials could be in a variety of forms from video clips, films, stories to books and so on CISDOMA could also make use of work related guidance materials to enhance verbal communication in English For instance, the institute could obtain ‘Approaches to linking producers to markets’ guidelines by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and use that to organize discussions with topics that closely relating to their livelihoods projects They could talk about how to apply the approaches introduced by FAO in the guidelines in English not only to exchange and present their points of view and ideas but also to practice public speaking in English at the same time Using work materials as topics of discussion helps tighten the relationships within the organization, create a precious opportunity to exchange views, and encourage the staff to practice English-speaking skills 4.1.3 Encourage staff to practice verbal communication skills in English There are numerous ways to create attractive incentives and/or promote enthusiasm of the learners The author in this thesis will just suggest a few solutions that she thinks are suitable for CISDOMA to apply Initially, the NGO could offer a small amount of prize for the ones who have made significant progress in their English speaking skills This kind of ‘prize’ could be both material and non-material rewards The prize could be a small gift like some English materials or a sweet The prize could also be something bigger such as a meal for everyone after work hours to encourage the constructive and positive spirit of studying English Next, they could communicate with other sponsors in the foreign language when they meet them and let the staff comes along as well to learn the way of using verbal communication in a formal situation After each of these observation opportunities, the person who has better verbal communication skills may give 33 recommendation and pieces of advice to the others The author expects that this method will help the staff see more clearly, understand more deeply about how having a good level of English communication could benefit them and help them in their job This method would be an ideal one if they could turn from deep realization to motivation and determination of studying and practicing verbal English Finally, this institute may also encourage team-building activities while promoting positive competition Staff may help each other more when they are closer together On the one hand, one could help another more easily when they know the weakness of the other when he/she practices speaking in English with them On the other hand, competition spirit will be the motivation to enhance the verbal communication skills It is important to let English learners have an environment to compete positively and fairly with each other This will be the catalyst for their motivation of English improvement 4.2 Organize periodic sessions for staff to practice verbal communication skills in English CISDOMA could create a weekly event for the staff to have a chance to discuss, talk, and exchange ideas on their work and other topics Weekly sessions allow the staff to have time to practice speaking in English without too much effort of finding the time, especially when most of them are too busy with both their work life and private life The author of this research paper proposes that CISDOMA could organize the weekly sessions on every Mondays or ‘Active Monday’ for one hour During that one hour, each and every staff is allowed to share whatever they want as long as they share those in verbal English Others will have chances to talk further about the topic Therefore, the speaker feels like her voice has been heard and she could find possible solutions to her current troubles The weekly verbal communication session will help the staff of CISDOMA understand each other much better, staff at the same team may work with each other 34 more effectively, and people at different ranks of the organization may collaborate more efficiently Thanks to the weekly session, people have a crucial chance to lower their stress level at the beginning of every week, promote a more positive work attitude, and increase a better working spirit In addition, the staff at CISDOMA may enjoy snacks and tea provided for each session These things help create a more comfort and relaxed atmosphere It is also important that Active Monday is an open and no judging space Only this could help the people who not have good verbal communication skills to overcome their fear of being judged, fear of making mistakes, and shyness They need encouragement ad positive feedbacks to improve gradually as well The author hopes that Active Monday could be an opportunity for the staff at CISDOMA to feel more confident when they speak in English and communicate with foreign sponsors and partners On top of that, she hopes that the staff could overcome the fear of making mistakes, as mistakes are crucial parts of making progress 4.3 Limitation of the study The author is well aware that there are still some limitations within this study Due to the shortage of time, the research was conducted mainly based on only questionnaires and in-depth interviews For that reason, results of the research may not have been fully multidimensional Many elements within this study need further consideration, study, and analysis The author would very much appreciate all kinds of comment and discussion 4.4 Suggestion for further study There are many topics relating to English verbal communication need to be studied and discussed The author would propose solutions to improve English communication different department of different NGOs as further study subjects 35 CONCLUSION Verbal communication in English is an extremely crucial skill, especially to the ones who work in the NGO sector NGO staff have to deal with communication situations with foreign sponsors, partners, and volunteers all the time and they need good verbal communication skills to make sure everything runs smoothly and avoid as many unnecessary troubles and problems as possible For the abovementioned reasons, the author of this research conducted a research to study on the factors relating to verbal communication skills of staff at CISDOMA and possible methods to enhance their verbal communication skills She realized that even though most of the staff studied English for many years, they not have the adequate speaking skills level This proves that years of studying English does not necessarily relate to English proficiency level Although many people feel motivated when they speak in English, 50% of the staff replied that they feel anxious and/or awkward when they have to the same thing 8.4%, however, have mixed feelings about the same phenomenon It is true that 87.5% of the staff thinks verbal communication in English is important or extremely important in their professional life while 12.5% thinks the level of importance is average Despite of the fact that this skill is so utterly important, many staff not have the adequate level of language proficiency This may due to a group of diversified factors The amount of topical knowledge is the most agreed factor, pressure to perform well at the work place is second, confidence is the third, and listening ability is the fourth Different factors may promote or decrease the positive feelings when one communicates in oral English In order to nurture those positive feelings while helping to boost English speaking capability, the author of this research paper made some suggestions She believes that hiring international and/or local verbal communication trainers will help the staff acquire basic but crucial background of knowledge and skills She thinks providing English materials will help create more speaking topics and advance vocabulary of the staff Creating and giving new 36 incentives will promote the study motivation and enthusiasm One the other hand, organizing weekly English speaking sessions helps generate a friendly and comfortable environment for the staff to practice speaking in English with each other while preparing a better and more positive work attitude for a whole new week In conclusion, the staff at CISDOMA are full of potential in enhancing their verbal communication skills Although they have a lot of difficulties they have to overcome, they work in an environment that is full of opportunity to communicate in English with foreigners and get access to most up-to-date work approaches Even though some staff not have really high English proficiency, they could still advance their capability as long as they could keep their determination attitude The author expects that this thesis could help the staff at CISDOMA enhance their verbal communication skills 37 REFERENCES Al hadhrami, Mohammed & Amzat, Ismail (2012) Improving the Standard of English Language and Communication Amongst SQU Students in Oman: Challenges 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A: Less than year C: – years B: – years D: More than years Question 2: Which is your current English level? A: Intermediate C: Pre-Advanced B: Upper Intermediate D: Advanced Question 3: Which is your current English listening level? A: Intermediate C: Pre-Advanced B: Upper Intermediate D: Advanced Question 4: How you feel when you speak in English? A: Confident C: Anxious E: Other (please specify) B: Motivated D: Awkward Question 5: What you think about the importance of English? Level of importance Very Unimportant Unimportant Average Important Very Important In professional life In private life Question 6: How often you communicate in English? A: Always B: Often C: Sometimes D: Never Question 7: What factors affect your speaking performance? (Please choose maximum out of 8) A: Listening ability C: Motivation E: Anxiety G: Support from others B: Topical knowledge D: Confidence F: Pressure to perform well H: Other (please specify) Question 8: What difficulties you face when you speak in English? (Please choose maximum out of 8) A: Shyness C: No motivation E: Fear of losing face G: Other (please specify) B: Habit of using mother tongue language D: Fear of making mistakes F: Fear of criticism Question 9: How would you like to improve your English speaking skills? A: Self-motivate C: Learn with friends E: Practice speaking with others G: Other (please specify) B: Find an English environment D: Find English materials F: Participate in English communication course Question 10: Why you want to improve your English speaking skills? A: Improve career prospect C: Work with foreign counterparts E: Work or study abroad B: Increase salary D: Personal hobby F: Other (please specify) APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR STAFF AT CISDOMA Question 1: What you think about the importance of English in your work and personal life? Question 2: What is your current English level? Question 3: How many years have you spent studying English? Question 4: How you feel when you speak in English? Question 5: What is your difficulty when you speak in English? ... Percent And Action on Poverty Bread for the World Communication Enhances Community Participation The Consultative Institute for Socio- Economic Development of Rural and Mountainous Areas Food and Agriculture... and accurately Because of the above-mentioned reasons, I would like to suggest A Study on Difficulties of and How to Enhance Communication Skills of Staff at the Consultative Institute for Socio- Economic. .. of The Consultative Institute for Socio – Economic Development for Rural and Mountainous Areas (CISDOMA) There is a slight imbalance of the ratio of gender of staff at CISDOMA: 57.5% male and