HUE UNIVERSITY

HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

AN INVESTIGATION ABOUT PART-TIME

WORK AFFECTS ENGLISH LEARNING OF
SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AT HUE
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Researcher:
Nguyễn Đình Đạt
Đống Danh Giang
Bạch Thị Cẩm Na

Research Methods - Group 15

Instructor: Ms. Phạm Thị Nguyên Ái

Hue, 2022
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1

CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION 2

CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW 3

2.1. Introduction to terms 3

2.2. Positive effect of part-time work on student learning 3

2.3. The difficulties that students face when working part-time jobs 4

2.4. Students' propensity to choose the type of work and duration of work 5

2.5. Research gaps 7

2.6. Research questions 7

CHAPTER 3 - METHODOLOGY 8

3.1. Introduction 8

3.2. Participants 8

3.3. The study's objective 8

3.4. Data collection procedure 8

3.4.1. Methods 8

3.4.2. Questionnaire 9

3.4.3. Interview 10

3.5. Expected outcome 10

REFERENCES 12

APPENDIXES 13

Appendix 1 13

Appendix 2 16

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 CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
The trend of employment among university students has been increasing rapidly
in the last decade. Some suggest that economic reasons are mainly the factor for this
trend. With an increase in the number of students taking part-time job outside campus,
its effect on students’ academic performance of students has been questioned by many
researchers (Green, 1987). Issues such as the number of hours worked, whether
the student’s jobs pertain to their majors, and student’s workloads (Watanabe, 2005)
have been discussed and scrutinized to see the relation between taking part-time jobs
and academic achievement.

Part-time work is a form of employment that has fewer hours per week than a full-time
job, and more and more college students are taking on part-time jobs at universities to
learn Hue foreign language. The results of English learning, academic results, and work-
life are affected. However, this makes English language teaching and learning an
important issue in education systems worldwide, including in countries like Vietnam,
where English plays an essential role in education. Increasing language acquisition in
general and English in particular. As can be seen in our university, each student has his
or her own choice of appropriate work so as not to interfere with the 2nd year students'
English learning. Starting with this introduction, A brief documentary overview of
student part-time work is provided. Then follow-up research methods include sample
size and sampling method, data collection, and data analysis. Then, the research results
and discussion are presented. In conclusion, suggestions for future research were spared.
In this article, the current situation of part-time jobs affecting English learning in Hue
universities of foreign languages is surveyed in order to suggest ways to improve this
situation.

The researchers aim to answer two research questions as follows:

Question 1: To what extent do HUFL second-year English-majoring students do

part-time work ?

Question 2: What are the positive and negative effects students face when working
part-time jobs on their English learning?

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 CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW
To lay the groundwork for the research, this literature review will first introduce
commonly used terms (“part-time job” and “full-time job”), and then synthesize the
literature. relevant in the field regarding the obstacles students may face in getting the
job, the benefits it offers, and the student's choice of when and where to work.

2.1. Introduction to terms

Acording to Alison Doyle, “part-time job is one that usually requires a person to work
fewer hours per workweek than their employer deems full-time employment. However,
there isn't a set number of hours per week that's legally considered full-time or part-time
employment”. About “full-time job”, a full-time job typically implies a set work week,
usually with eight-hour days and 40 hour weeks, although this can vary depending upon
the industry and the nature of the position by Indeed Editorial Team March (2021).

Although the focus of this research is on part-time job, we do mention fill-time job in
some cases with the aim of highlighting the distinctiveness of part-time job.

2.2 Positive effect of part-time work on student learning

In general, students may gain some benefits when doing part-time job. Nowadays,
working part-time is not a strange phenomenon for most students. That students go to
work part-time has been becoming more popular than it was in the last decade. Students
working part-time is very common, according to research papers, for a variety of
reasons. According to the research documents, it is found that working part-time for
students is very normal for different reasons. Budget (1987, p. 304) said that "Many of
the students work a second, part-time employment. And why is it vital to have a part-

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time job?" Because a part-time job allows you to gain valuable work experience,
enhance a variety of skills, and supplement your income while you are still in school.

Victoria Bull on Oxford Learner's Pocket Dictionary (2008; 342 and 293) defines
positive (adjective) as thinking about what is good in a situation and negative as bad and
harmful or lacking enthusiasm or hope. So, the positive effects of part-time jobs on
university students are those that enhance or help with their studies and daily living.
While the negative effects of part-time jobs on college students are those that reduce or
affect their studies and daily activities.

A part-time job can help you become a better student and get a jump on your career
track. One ofthe only things a student cannot gain from the classroom is a work ethic, a
work ethic issomething that is acquired over time and is vital to anyone’s success.. The
more experience students have, the more they appeal to future employers. Through this
experiencestudents gain not only a work ethic, but also time management and a
professionalism they wouldnot gain unless in the work field. Another important thing
about gaining work experience is learning one’s likes and dislikes.. These skills are what
employers are really looking for in people they aim to hire by source iPulse, Lynn
University Students publication.

To sum up, working part-time job can bring students with numerous benefits associated
with learning English.

2.3 The difficulties that students face when working part-time jobs.

Ali (2017) said that “Part time job could bring extra income and help university students
to gain working experience. But students may feel sleepy and reduce time from study,
thus it is a real challenge to balance between part-time job and study.” the part-time job
has two sides of it. First of all, the students will have many problems related to their
studies. They no longer spend a lot of time going to school and studying, instead
skipping classes just to work part-time. This has a very serious impact on your results.
J & Friedas (1951, p. 44) said that “Most of their reports on the disadvantages were

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joined with advantages which frequently outweighed the unsatis-factory aspects of
having part-time employees. Had this not been true, these experienced employers would
probably have abandoned part-time arrangements long before the survey was made.”
So, part-time jobs are not necessarily the first priority, it is just time for you to experience
different types of jobs before graduating from school and going to work officially. Not
a single employer will accept your transcripts below good. It is not that you need to have
a lot of experience, but you need knowledge related to the position that the company
they are looking for.

On the other hand, Hellen W. Akinc in The Prager Handbook for College Parents (2010;
129) says that students may start working a few hours a week, or skip a class here and
there because they have to be late for work and can't stay up to class or the boss calls
them last minute and seriously asks them to come in one night before the test and so
they don't have time to study as much as they planned and then don't good test. It is
important to pay close attention and monitor carefully if a student starts working
overtime, skips class, or grades begin to suffer. Sometimes students will ask to be
reminded of their original purpose for attending college.

In short, students seem to face up with different challenges when working part-time jobs.

2.4 Students' propensity to choose the type of work and duration of work.

The school students who were employed in 1992, when they were aged 17, were asked
details about the jobs that they did. These jobs were classified according to the
Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO). The majority of students
were concentrated in a few occupations. Considering the figures for all persons, the
largest single occupational category was sales, which accounted for over half (55
percent) of all student-workers. Of these, 14 percent specifically indicated they worked
as cashiers and 41 per cent as other sales workers. The sales category was further inflated
by the inclusion of students who worked in jobs that involved both preparing and selling
food, such workers being coded as sales assistants rather than as kitchenhands. Twice

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as many females as males were employed as salespersons - 70 percent of females,
compared with 36 per cent of males. This same gender imbalance was also found for the
other categories of this broad ASCO occupational grouping - jobs as waiters and other
service jobs (of which a large proportion were child care) were dominated by females.
Only small proportions of students were employed in the other types of jobs, apart from
sales, which are considered to be ‘white collar’ occupations - that is, clerical work, and
professional and para-professional jobs such as musicians, sports coaches and referees.
Males tended to outnumber females in both these groups. Nevertheless, due to the
preponderance of females in the sales and personal service category, the total proportion
of employed females who were in white collar occupations was more than four fifths,
while the figure for males was less than half. This was in marked contrast to the gender
composition of ‘blue collar’ occupations. Among the blue collar occupations, over 30
per cent of all students worked as labourers - 12 percent as kitchenhands, 4 percent as
cleaners, 2 percent as farmhands and gardeners, and 11 per cent did other labouring jobs,
for instance, as packers and shelf stackers in supermarkets. But while almost one third
of students were employed as labourers, males were far more likely than females to be
in such work; around 50 percent of males were in labouring jobs, while the figure for
females was 15 percent. For the purpose of this discussion, the small number of students
who were coded as working in the separate ASCO groups of tradespersons and plant
and machine operators were combined. More males than females were also involved in
this combined category. Overall, then, female students were primarily employed in
white collar jobs, predominantly as sales workers, while a majority of the males who
worked were in blue collar labouring jobs. Salespersons and personal service workers,
the largest single occupational group, worked close to the average number of hours for
all workers - about nine hours - with not much difference 4 Longitudinal Surveys of
Australian Youth Research Report No 9 by gender, except for the above average hours
worked by the small number of males who had jobs as cashiers and waiters. One other
large group, kitchenhands, tended to work longer hours (about 2 hours more), while

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those in most other jobs worked less than the average number of hours for all student-
workers - cleaners, for instance, worked between six and seven hours on average.

2.5 Research gaps

As can be seen from the literature, most research conducted on effect of part-time work
on student learning was done in the last few decades of the 20th century or the first
decade of the 21st. The data were taken quite long ago, suggesting a gap whether these
findings are still true in a modern context. Therefore, this research aims at exploring the
perceptions of Vietnamese students, particularly HUFL second-year English-majoring
students, on effect of part-time work on student learning . This study was conducted to
look at the part-time employment status of students in our school to find out if second-
year English majors have part-time jobs at a high level. whether they are aware of what
this work has to do with them in terms of its benefits and limitations.

2.6 Research question

This research is conducted with an aim to answer the following questions:

Question 1: To what extent do HUFL second-year English-majoring students do part-

time work ?

Question 2: What are the positive and negative effects students face when working part-
time jobs on their English learning?

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 CHAPTER 3 - METHODOLOGY

3.1. Introduction

The research topic is performed in this section based on the following items: (3.1)
Introduction; (3.2) Participants; (3.3) The study’s objective; (3.4) Data collection
procedure; and (3.5) expected outcome.

3.2. Participants

Subjects of this subject are second-year students of Hue University of Foreign

Languages, divided into two groups: students who work part-time and students who do
not work part-time, including both male and female participants. Due to the fact that all
of the researchers are all in their second year at the Hue University of Foreign Languages
and with their understanding of the level and the university’s curriculum, it would be
more relatable, easier and quicker to approach the other English Department
sophomores.

3.3. The study's objective

Purpose: The study will analyze the influence of part-time work on the academic
performance of second-year students at Hue University of Foreign Languages.
Therefore, solutions and suggestions will be given to assist their part-time students to
improve their academic performance.

3.4. Data collection procedure

3.4.1. Methods

The research will mainly be based on primary data collected through a pre-designed
survey connection with questions distributed through fan pages and second-year student
groups at Hue University of Foreign Languages. Besides, we will interview some

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students randomly to collect information in a factual and objective way. The subject
employs a mix of quantitative and qualitative analysis approaches, including:

3.4.2 Quantitative analysis

There are several reasons why the questionnaire will be used in this study. First, it's a
fairly easy way to gather information about a large audience in a short period of time
since the study was conducted over a one-month period. Second, the quantitative nature
of questionnaires can make it easier and more efficient for researchers to analyze and
process data. Furthermore, a questionnaire allows respondents to remain anonymous,
which ultimately encourages them to answer all questions without being judged.
Ultimately, it is the peak time of the school year, so using the questionnaire is most
appropriate and convenient for both the participant and the researcher. The questionnaire
consists of two main parts:

Part 1: This section is designed to collect participants' gender, major at Hue university
of foreign languages, and the length of time they tend to find part-time work, as well as
the extent of part-time work.

Part 2: This cluster is designed with the aim of answering the research questions, hence
it contains 2 sections:

Section I: To what extent do HUFL second-year English-majoring students do part-

time work :

In this section, there are two questions. The first question aims to investigate the
frequency of part-time work of the respondents. the other question was about the part-
time job field they chose to work outside of school time.

Section II: The advantages and disadvantages of part-time jobs:

This section contains 10 questions about how much students agree with some of the
benefits and drawbacks of taking part-time jobs in 2nd year students' studies. The
statements are randomly arranged to limit the chance of randomly choosing, in the

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following order, 1, 3, 7, 10 for the sake of getting a part-time job and 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 for
the limitations of working go to work part time. To contribute to the validity of the data,
the questionnaire was translated into Vietnamese to eliminate the possibility of
misunderstanding due to insufficient language.

3.4.3 Qualitative analysis

An interview is a question and answer session between an interviewer on the one hand
and an interviewee on the other through some form of contact. In practice, the contact
forms in the interview are quite diverse: Contact forms in the interview; Interview;
Interview by mail; Telephone interview; Email interview. Unstructured Q&A will be
used in this research : Interviewers are asked naturally like a conversation, or a heart-to-
heart conversation, asking more or less depending on the respondent's understanding, or
delving into strange things. Just discovered where the person answered. At the same
time, go into details that are not mentioned in the Information Plan because the specific
situation cannot be foreseen. Personal interview form: Taking place between only two
people, the interviewer and the interview, if you come into contact with a crowd, you
must conduct an interview with each person, and pay attention to minimizing the
audience. The content of the interview is to limit the biased responses of the interviewees
(influenced by the psychology of leadership and herd). Therefore, people often try to
conduct interviews with their own space, avoiding the opinions of those around them.
Interviews were conducted with 10 random second-year students of the Faculty of
English. An interview lasted about 3 minutes. Important and valuable information is
recorded and noted during each interview. The interviews followed the core questions
(Appendix 2) and could be tailored to each participant's responses. The interviewees
were referred to as a,b,c for confidentiality reasons.

3.5. Expected outcome

Through this study, we wanted to find out the relationship of part-time work with the
learning of second-year students at Hue foreign language school, the benefits they get

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from working part-time jobs, and the difficulties and disadvantages that part-time jobs
affect their studies. Besides, we want to survey the number of 2nd year students at Hue
foreign language school who work part-time to draw general conclusions about the
causes and offer solutions.

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 REFERENCES

1. Ali, E. (2017). Impact of Part-Time Work on the Academic. New Zealand : Auckland
Institute of Studies.

2. J, T. M., & Friedas, M. (1951). Part-Time Jobs for Woman. Washington: U.S
Department of Labor.

3. Budget, U. S. (1987). Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 1988.
WASHINGTON: U.S GOVERMENT PRINTING OFICE.

4. Akick, Helen. 2010. The Prager Handbook for College Parents. California: Green
Wood Publishing Group.

5. Bull, Victoria. 2008. Oxford Learner's Pocket Dictionary. New York: Oxford
University Press.

6. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-a-part-time-job-2062738 by Alison
Doyle Updated on October 20, 2021.

7. Lyn Robinson (1999), "The effects of part-time work on school students", Australian
Council for Educational Research, 53 Pages.

8. Watanabe, Laurent E. (2005). The Effect of College Student Employment on

Academic Achievement. The University of Central Florida Undergraduate Research
Journal, 1:38-47.

9. Ehrenberg, R.G. and Sherman, D.R. (1987). Employment While in College,

Academic Achievement, and Postcollege Outcomes: A Summary of Results. The
Journal of Human Resources, 22 (1), 1-23.

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 APPENDIXES
Appendix 1

Questionnaire

This questionnaire is part of an independent study in the Research Methods course at

Hue University of Foreign Languages (HUFL). This study aims to investigate the
frequency of use of monolingual dictionaries by second-year students of Hue University
of Foreign Languages, as well as the benefits and challenges they face when working
part-time jobs that impact on their learning. Your answers will be kept confidential and
will be used for academic purposes only. We appreciate your cooperation in completing
the questionnaire.

A. RESPONDENTS’ BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

1. What is your gender?

A. Male

B. Female

C. Other

2. What is your major?

A. English language

B. English education

C. Other

B. QUESTIONAIRE QUESTIONS:

I. To what extent do HUFL second-year English-majoring students do part-time

work ?

1. How often do you work part-time?

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 A. Usually (about 3-5 hours everyday)

B. Sometimes (5 - 10 hours per week)

C. Seldom (3 - 5 hours per week)

D. Never

2. What is your chosen part-time job field?

A. Care works (hair, nail, etc,…)

B. Advertising, marketing, distributing leaflets, etc

C. Do business in shops or online and social,…

D. Motorbike, taxi, shipper, etc,…

E. Service jobs (cashier,waiter/waitress,etc,…)

F. Tutor or open classroom

G. Others

II. Advantages & disadvantages:

Please choose (x) your level of agreement towards the following statement:

Note:

1= Strongly agree

2= Agree

3= Neutral

4= Disagree

5= Strongly disagree

No. Statements Level of agreement

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 1 2 3 4 5

1 Part-time job helps students make money to pay

for their studies

2 Do not have enough time study

3 Don't waste time after school hours.

4 Must work and attend school at the same time

5 Feel drained or stressed

6 Not having enough time to research and relax

7 Gain more experience solving problems in the

real world

8 No easy means of transportation

9 Difficulty balancing study and work part-time

10 Part-time job helps students grow their

qualifications and developing their expertise in
their chosen field

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Appendix 2

Interview questions

1. Do you have a part-time job outside of your studies? For what purposes?

2. In what ways do you think working part-time affects your English learning?

3. How many average work hours per weeks did you spend to work part-time?

4. What type of job did you have?

5. Do you think part-time job has negetive or positive impacts on your academic
chievement? What is that?

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