HOA SEN UNIVERSITY

CLASS: Introduction to English Language Teaching & Learning

Final Assignment

INSTRUCTOR: Tran Ngoc Tien, PhD.

STUDENT NAMES:
1. Trần Mai Phương
2. Hà Hương Quỳnh
3. Nguyễn Anh Thư

HO CHI MINH CITY – July, 2023

WORD COUNT: 1586_ EXCLUDING REFERENCES
 1. Introduction:

In the current globalization trend, it can be said that language is an advantage to compete
for jobs and better promotion or opportunities. Foreign languages not only help train the
mind but also help people improve the diversity between cultures around the world.
Acquiring a new foreign language will probably be difficult for learners because our
previous way of learning foreign languages in school is still too rigid, the knowledge is
used to cope with exams while does not focus on the actual communication element.
Realizing that this is an essential problem we have carefully researched many different
problems of learners in order to find suitable teaching methods. The research objective of
the topic is to systematically survey and study the difficulties of language learners. From
there, find remedial measures and propose solutions to help language learners apply the
knowledge they have learned most effectively in their work and in everyday
communication. communication.

2. Data collection:
To study relevant documents on that basis to analyze, synthesize, systematize, and
generalize information about the interest and learning in English of language learners.
We reach out to learners and conduct online surveys. The research base used is mainly
based on a practical point of view. This is because our research focuses on the difficulties
that learners often face when using English. Through the interview, we know the
difficulties and can offer specific solutions to help them. In addition, to complete the
study objectively, our team built a questionnaire to collect information about the level
and difficulty of the learning process. Through the conversation, the participants provided
information that the questionnaire could not collect. Everyone was very cooperative in
providing the information we needed to find out.

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 3. Data analysis:

3.1. The description of the learner:

Through the people we approached in our interviews, they all had effective methods of
language acquisition. They all know that the excitement when starting to learn a new
language is a common psychology for many people. At that time, we will draw a "dream"
learning path, which seems very easy to implement. But then there will be many
difficulties because of cramming with knowledge and giving up after that. They know
how to maintain motivation, and balance time throughout the long process. But most
people have problems with grammar and communication. They tend to Vietnameseize
words to make them easier to remember. This way of learning only has a temporary
effect, important principles such as stress, sound connection, etc. will not be followed and
make their pronunciation more likely to fail.
3.2. The description of the learner’s proficiency:

3.2.1. Writing proficiency:

According to the learner, there are numerous efficient ways to approach a language. From
her own experience, in order to absorb a target language effectively, passive learning is
considered one of the most useful and crucial methods for her as well as for other learners
who are following the passive method. As we can see, this is a traditional method of
learning that both learners and teachers commonly apply to their learning and conveying
materials for students. Therefore, learners often learn passively by reading a variety of
books that interest them, watching movies, listening to podcasts, or picking up some
documents from the media. Besides, she also assumes that their brains will function
beneficially in an unfamiliar, stress-free environment because they must overcome the
language barrier in order to understand the information being presented. Regarding her
particular example of this method, she has difficulty reading manga due to the first period
of learning English. However, she can comprehend the new vocabulary and lexical parts
because she feels comfortable and interested in her choice of doing something, so she can
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gain the expected result. The second method that helps her a lot while learning English is
spending the right amount of time studying. She mentions that straining the brain to
process a lot of information over an extended period of time will negatively impact
academic achievement. Instead of that, she only spent the necessary amount of time, but
doing so while concentrating completely helped her perform well and have a favorable
attitude toward the target language.

3.2.2. Spoken language proficiency:

Based on the data, the learner provides some worthless information for readers because
all of it is mostly her own experience. Besides, her idea is presented with a clear, natural,
and creative statement. However, her spoken language is sometimes repeated and
interrupted because there are some grammar points that aren’t used totally right, but she
also makes an effort to deliver useful sources for readers to grasp her ideas.

3.3. Analyze: What characteristics that make it advantageous for the learner to
learn English? What makes it disadvantageous?

There are some learner traits that bring greater benefits to learning English. First and
foremost, regarding her future goal, she wants to get an 8 to 8.5 in IELTS. However, she
doesn’t feel satisfied with her current performance because she just got a 7.0 IELTS.
Actually, this is an excellent result, and she has a competitive advantage over other
learners. She desires a higher result because it will provide a comfortable privilege in
choosing her job in the future. According to Nuttin & Lens (1985), future goals sustain
achievement motivation in the face of failure by turning attention away from past or
present setbacks to possible improvement or progress in the future. Based on that, her
future goal proves that she has an extrinsic motivation that pushes her to challenge
herself. She has a positive attitude toward trying to achieve the best performance. Hence,
she plans her future goals in life seriously and consistently.

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Besides, her greatest source of difficulty is a grammar issue. Most learners struggle with
using grammar correctly. Halliday (1989) states that English grammar has its own set of
complicated rules that present challenges for learners to master. Therefore, learning
grammar requires a lot of practice. Another difficult aspect is her pronunciation. She tried
to mix Vietnamese dialects with English while pronouncing English because sometimes
she still has some limitations in creating the right pronunciation. After making an
endeavor, she can improve her pronunciation considerably.

3.4. The suggestion for learner

In this section, we will bring out some suggestions regarding the difficulties the learner
faced. Regarding the difficulty in learning grammar, the learner could not distinguish the
usage and function of each type of grammar which led her to the difficulty in
communicating using the English language. We suggest that the learner check the
grammar book rule first and try to find example sentences, then think about how she
would express the same ideas in her mother tongue. Secondly, the learner should think
about how this grammar works in her language by asking if her first language has the
same structure and use it in the same way. Besides the difficulty in grammar, the learner
also struggles with her pronunciation. She mixes her Vietnamese dialect whenever she
speaks, making her pronunciation sound unnatural. Our group would suggest the learner
use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to find out how to pronounce English
words correctly. It is a symbol-based system in which each symbol corresponds to a
certain English sound (Nordquist, 2017). This system aims to help the English learner
improve English pronunciation and feel more confident when speaking in English

4. The recommendation for the teaching method

Taken together, we would like to recommend some methods for teaching English
grammar and English pronunciation that our learner was facing. In terms of effective
grammar teaching, we believe that grammar must be taught in context to approach the

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learner more effectively. According to Long and Doughty (2009), some students
understand grammar or at least the rules, but they fail to use it in conversation. Learning
grammar in context will allow her to see how that grammar can be used in sentences. One
effective way to teach grammar in context is using dialogue. As Thornbury (1999)
assumed that the use of conversation in grammar teaching is useful because it
corresponds to learners' belief of how the target language should be used in the real
world. The teacher can teach grammar in context inductively by preparing dialogue for
students to role-play. In terms of teaching method to teach pronunciation, we use the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) method and the phonemic chart which is one of
the basic tools in IPA. Referring to the phonemic chart daily can help the learner quickly
become familiar with the pronunciation of the words, and together with practicing this
method help to improve her pronunciation.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, the purpose of this research paper is to find out suitable learning and
teaching methods for foreign learners who are struggling in difficulty with the English
language learning. The first objective of this study is the difficulties for learners who
approach English as a second language. Based on the findings of the data collection and
analysis, it can be concluded that grammar and pronunciation are two major challenges
for the ESL student. The second objective of research is suggestions for learners’ future
English learning in terms of self-learn and the teaching method for teachers. Some
suggestions for self-learn learners have been indicated in this research paper are trying to
relate the grammar structure in English with a sentence in the learner’s first language, and
using the IPA system to improve pronunciation. Focusing on the teaching methods that
teachers can apply to teach grammar and pronunciation, teaching grammar inductively in
context, and using the IPA are two effective methods our work has mentioned.

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 References:

Halliday, M. A. (1989). Some grammatical problems in scientific English. Australian

Review of Applied Linguistics. Series S, 6(1), 13-37.

Long, M., & Doughty, C. J. (2009). The Handbook of Language Teaching. In Wiley
eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444315783
Nordquist, R. (2017). International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). ThoughtCo.
https://www.thoughtco.com/international-phonetic-alphabet-ipa-1691076

Thornbury, S. (1999). How to teach grammar. Readings in Methodology, 129.

Vansteenkiste, M., Simons, J., Soenens, B., & Lens, W. (2004). How to become a
persevering exerciser? Providing a clear, future intrinsic goal in an autonomy-
supportive way. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 26(2), 232-249.

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