Problems in Using English of International Graduate Students of Private Universities in Thailand

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1 » Õè 9 ºÑº Õè 18 Á ÃÒ Á - ÁÔ Ø¹Ò¹ 2549 ÇÒÃÊÒà Á.ÇÔªÒ Òà 21 Problems in Using English of International Graduate Students of Private Universities in Thailand Angkana Pinyosunun* Thanyarat N. Jivaketu** Wichian Sittiprapaporn** Abstract The English language has become more important in every community, including Thailand. Most learners face different problems in using English and the causes are varied, depending on individual or external factors. The Objectives of this research were to examine and find causes of problems in using English in 929 international graduate students of 4 private universities in Thailand. In accordance with Yamane basis and stratified sampling method, 280 students were chosen for this study. Questionnaires comprised demographic data (part I), use of English language skills (part II) and problems in using English for studying in international graduate program (part III) were used as tools. The statistics used in this study were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and ANOVA. It was found that writing was the most difficult skill, whereas speaking, listening, and reading were less difficult respectively. For satisfactory learning outcome, listening was the most important skill, whereas speaking, writing, and reading were less important respectively. However, students tended to solve language problems by self-learning practice, more concentration in the classroom attendance, revision of the lesson outside the classroom, and doing more exercises frequently. Keywords : Use of English language; International graduate programs; Private university * Department of English for Business and Technology, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. **Neuro-Behavioural Biology Center, Institute of Science and Technology for Research and Development Mahidol University

2 ÇÒÃÊÒà Á.ÇÔªÒ Òà 22» Õè 9 ºÑº Õè 18 Á ÃÒ Á - ÁÔ Ø¹Ò¹ 2549 INTRODUCTION The use of English has become more important in every community, including Thailand. Four basic skills are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In order to become an advanced user of English, it is necessary to perform all these skills fluently. Each skill can reinforce the other skills to produce a higher degree of learning (Wilga M. Rivers, 1970), for example, listening can reinforce reading, speaking, and writing to produce better understanding in a language. Learners of a second language must perform basic language skills very well; otherwise, they will make an error in their communication. When learners do not know exactly what their problems are; they choose to solve the problems in their own specific ways. This leads to inappropriate solutions to their problems (Douglas H. Brown. 1994) In accordance with the policies of the Ministry of Education, English is the only foreign language that has been taught to Thai students since grade 5. Graduated students or students who study in a graduate program should at least have 12 years of experience in English learning. Thus, they should be considered skillful when compared with those in other professions, for instance, a gunsmith, an entertainer, or a chef. In reality, most Thai students cannot use English as well as they would like to even though they have passed through many steps of learning process: grammar, vocabulary, presentations, or examinations. There are several factors affecting studentsþ potential when using the English language (Rod Ellis, 1994); for instance the studentsþ surrounding environment-whether they can perform English fluently depends on their interaction among other students in classroom or other people when they have a chance to use English. Moreover, the ability of second language learners to use language effectively depends on the degree and intensity of involvement in school, personal, and social situations. It is quite obvious that in Thailand, we use Thai language most of the time; thus, it decreases the chance to become a potential English language user. It is important to distinguish between learning a second language within an institutional setting and learning it in daily life social interaction. The difference lies in the learnerþs purpose of what he or she is learning a language for, because the more learners practice and use a language the more they could get used to it and become more familiar with it. The variety of studentsþ background knowledge is another factor. Some students attend the international Graduate program for the first time, which is unlike their un-

3 » Õè 9 ºÑº Õè 18 Á ÃÒ Á - ÁÔ Ø¹Ò¹ 2549 ÇÒÃÊÒà Á.ÇÔªÒ Òà 23 dergraduate years when the Thai language was used as a medium of instruction. Also some students graduated with a Bachelorþs degree in different fields other than their current Graduate program. When they study in the international program, many of them drop out of the program due to the problem of background knowledge as mentioned earlier; what is left is a small number of students who are able to study in the program. OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study were to 1) examine the problems of students in using the English language in the international graduate programs and 2) find causes of those problems. METHODOLOGY Population and Sampling The population in this study were 929 MBA / MA students who had already passed the first semester of the first year in international graduate programs of 4 private universities in Thailand, including Asian University (43), Assumption University (789), Schiller Stamford International University (21) and University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (76). Based on Yamane formulation, the sample size was calculated to be 280. Samples was drawn under probability sample procedure by using stratified sampling method. Instruments The instruments used in this study were questionnaires, including both close and open-ended questions, which provided the data and information for those research questions. There were 3 parts of the questionnaires: demographic data (part I), use of English language skills (part II) and problems in using English for studying in an international graduate program (part III). Reliability values of questionnaires were assessed by using 20 MBA/MA students from Business Communication (6), Master of Business Administration (8), and English for Business and Technology (6) of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, which then were adjusted to acceptable ranges prior to the data gathering process. Data Analysis Qualitative data were analyzed by using content analysis method, whereas quantitative data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 9. The statistics used in this study were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and ANOVA.

4 ÇÒÃÊÒà Á.ÇÔªÒ Òà 24» Õè 9 ºÑº Õè 18 Á ÃÒ Á - ÁÔ Ø¹Ò¹ 2549 RESULTS Table 1 : Problems in using English skills of MBA/MA students (N=280) in international graduate programs of 4 private universities in Thailand Frequency (%) Problems in Using English Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Mean S.D. skills agree disagree 1. It is difficult to write business letter. (5) (19.6) (42.1) (27.5) (5.7) 2. You do not like the essay type of examination. (0.7) (18.6) (37.9) (37.1) (5.7) 3. You cannot understand when you listen to a conversation (1.4) (10.4) (37.1) (42.1) (8.9) from a tape cassette. 4. It is difficult to distinguish or recognize individual words. (2.9) (19.6) (35.4) (35.4) (6.8) 5. You do not like listening practice in audio class. (2.1) (16.8) (33.2) (41.4) (6.4) 6. You feel that it is difficult to pronounce English words. (2.1) (14.3) (36.4) (36.1) (11.1) 7. You struggle with giving an up-front oral presentation. (4.3) (17.1) (30.7) (42.5) (5.4) It was found that most respondents (64.6%) did not only use English in their classes but they also used Thai. Frequently, they used English to communicate with people, gather information about the subjects, attend the meetings, and browse the internet. Respondents rated their 4 basic English skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing as good. They occasionally improved their English skills by themselves through practicing. The most difficult skill was writing (32.9%), reading (24.6%), listening (23.9%), and speaking (18.6%) respectively. In addition, all respondents had

5 » Õè 9 ºÑº Õè 18 Á ÃÒ Á - ÁÔ Ø¹Ò¹ 2549 ÇÒÃÊÒà Á.ÇÔªÒ Òà 25 difficulty in writing business letters. They, thus, did not favor an essay-type examination. It was also found that respondents had difficulty in listening to a taped message, distinguishing or organizing individual words. Therefore, they did not like to practice the listening skill in an audio class. Other difficulties were pronouncing English words, and struggling when giving an up-front oral presentation. Causes of these problems are the fact that 62.5% of the subjects overcome problems in using English in studying by self-learning practice (table 1). Table 2 : Rating of proficiency in using English skills of MBA/MA students (N=280) in international graduate programs of 4 private universities in Thailand Skills Frequency (Percentage) Excellent Good Fair Poor Mean S.D. Listening 31 (11.1%) 188 (67.1%) 61 (21.8%) Reading 36 (12.9%) 159 (56.8%) 83 (29.6%) 2 (0.7%) Speaking 28 (10%) 155 (55.4%) 95 (33.9%) 2 (0.7%) Writing 16 (5.7%) 166 (59.3%) 93 (33.2%) 5 (1.8%) Total The respondents were asked to rate their proficiency in using English language skills on a Likert-Type Scale ranking from 4 to 1. Each range of number represents the degree of responses as follows: = Excellent; = Good; = Fair; = Poor. In general, the respondents rated their proficiency of using English language skills as good level (mean = 2.79). When each type of English skills was considered separately, listening skill (mean = 2.89), reading skill (mean = 2.82), speaking skill (mean = 2.75), and writing skill (mean = 2.69) were also rated as good level.

6 ÇÒÃÊÒà Á.ÇÔªÒ Òà 26» Õè 9 ºÑº Õè 18 Á ÃÒ Á - ÁÔ Ø¹Ò¹ 2549 Table 3 : Currently overcome problems of using English in studying of MBA/MA students (N=280) in international graduate programs of 4 private universities in Thailand. Currently overcome problems of using English Interested in self-learning practice continually Frequency 175 Percentage More concentration in the classroom Revision of English outside classroom Doing exercise frequently Others Total Currently overcome problems of using English in studying of MBA/MA students in international graduate programs of 4 private universities in Thailand were also analyzed (table 3). It was shown that the degree of their problems was board ranging between %. The most serious problem was found to be interested in self-learning practice continually (31.47%). The second problem was more concentration in the class (27.52%). The third was revision of English outside classroom (21.40%) while the fourth was doing exercise frequently (18.17%). The least way of overcome the problem was other choices such as more reading, and finding other sources of the topic related to their problems (1.44%). DISCUSSION From previous studies, problems of Thai students in learning English included their lack of 1) learning English skills 2) interest in learning English and the failure to realize the benefit of learning English 3) an opportunity to use English in their daily life 4) adequate English background 5) braving to express their opinions or to answer the teacherþs questions in English and 6) participating in teaching and learning English activities (Wanida, 1997). In case of writing problems, the results of this study are similar to that of Language Institute of Chulalongkorn University (1982), in which subjectsþ writing proficiency was low. Subjectsþ writing errors included sentence

7 » Õè 9 ºÑº Õè 18 Á ÃÒ Á - ÁÔ Ø¹Ò¹ 2549 ÇÒÃÊÒà Á.ÇÔªÒ Òà 27 arrangement, and the use of punctuation, and grammatical structure. Listening difficulties were from 4 sources. Firstly, many second language learners found it more difficult to listen to a taped message than to read the same message on the piece of paper whereas reading material could be read as long as the reader liked. Secondly, it was more difficult for beginners to understand what the speaker was saying because of the speakerþs voice and speaking styles. Thirdly, foreign-language students were not familiar enough with cliches and collocations in English to predict a missing word or phrase and usually devoted more time to reading than to listening, and so lack exposure to different kinds of listening materials. Lastly, physical setting and noises could take the listenerþs mind off the content of the listening passage. Listening material on a tape or radio, which lacked visual and aural environmental clues, made it more difficult for the listener to understand the speakerþs meaning (Nuttall, 1989). Learning the listening skill requires cognitive development and constant attention over a period of several years. In addition, learning listening skill in a second language seems to be even more difficult because listening requires motive in order to express and comprehend new ideas and relationships (Rost. 1994). Another difficulty is the psychological problem of transfer, which means the process of using knowledge from one concept to learn another concept. When learners learn a second language, they tend to filter the concepts of the language through those they have already known in their first language. Thus the second language can never be learned independently. When facing an unfamiliar concept in a second language, learners tend to use transfer strategies, such as translation, to understand a new language. These strategies may help but they will weaken the acquisition of a second language concept. The difficulty in accessing useful input is also important. The access of the first language is continuous, which allows ongoing opportunities to develop the listening ability, unlike the second language that learners have little experience in accessing understandable input. As a result, it seems to be that the most successful learners of a second language will be those who develop the social strategy of making friends who will provide them with the right kind of language input. Regarding the speaking skill, as a language is a communications system that is capable of transmitting new information, it is necessary to have speech decoding and encoding, syntactic decoding and encoding, and cognitive ability in human

8 ÇÒÃÊÒà Á.ÇÔªÒ Òà 28» Õè 9 ºÑº Õè 18 Á ÃÒ Á - ÁÔ Ø¹Ò¹ 2549 language so that people can communicate with one another. The language differences could lead to the problem in speaking in a second language, such as the pronunciation of words, the grammatical rules, or replying to the questions (Lieberman. 1975). Finally, writing is to put down the graphic symbols that represent a language one understands, so that others can read these graphic symbols if they know the language and the graphic representation. Learning to write a foreign language is learning to put down at a speed greater than the writing system that represents the utterances one has in mind. Students need to pass through several stages in order to write, for example, prewriting is the task of preparing students to learn to write in a foreign language. It varies according to what the student knows from his or her native language writing. A sufficient preparation involves knowing the symbols that will represent the utterances he or she has in mind and how to put them down. The effectiveness of writing is to be able to compose the utterances in mind and put them down so that you and other people could understand the meaning. In composing written documents, such as business letters, proposals or reports, writers always encounter writing deficiencies. The results of a study conducted by Casady, Mona and Wasson, Lynn (1994) revealed that the most frequently cited writing deficiency of 120 international companies was mechanics consisting of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and format. The second was content including sentence structure, organization, composition/wordiness, paragraph structure and creativity. The third was style and tone, i.e. word choice, tone/ psychology, you approach, clarity and limited vocabulary/stilted phrases. It can be said that the causes of problems in using the English language in private universities of international graduate program students come from the learners as they fail to interact with native speakers and the lack of the chance to use the English language. Thus the development of English language in Thai society depends not only on the learners but also the instructors, the course syllabus, the environment around English language users, the chance of using the English language. Respondents also have less opportunity to interact with native speakers. It should be better to have native speaker instructors and the courses should have more interaction among instructors and students. Moreover, the earlier start of learning the English language should be better because the results show that the number of years of studying the English language is linked

9 » Õè 9 ºÑº Õè 18 Á ÃÒ Á - ÁÔ Ø¹Ò¹ 2549 ÇÒÃÊÒà Á.ÇÔªÒ Òà 29 with the causes and problems in using the English language. So the learners should find more sources of English learning outside of the classroom to improve and absorb as much English as they could. Another point for students to consider for the success of using a second language is the problem of language learning environment. It is known that the first and the official language used in Thailand is Thai language; students who learn a second language could find it difficult to use and practice the language they have studied in Thai society. Although they have learned from the international programs in English, they have less opportunity to use it, and many problems occur. The learnerþs personal background might also cause the problem in using English in the classroom because of their background knowledge from their Bachelorþs degree, whether they might have or might not have graduated from the international programs. When they come to the new environment of international programs, they confront many problems. Confusion in the use of language between first and second language might occur. In the classrooms, students need more than one skill to study in class; they have to listen to a teacher along with writing a short note of what they are studying. Thus if students are not familiar with the language, they might not perform well in class. Learners of the English language might confront the problems and the difficulty of using the language in various ways. Some learners could overcome the problems themselves, whereas some learners could not, which depend on whether they will choose to overcome the problems or to surrender. Wenden (1987) found that learners who emphasized the importance of learning tended to use cognitive strategies, while learners who emphasized the importance of using language employed few learning strategies, relying instead on communication strategies. From his statement, it indicates that the differences among students contribute to individual differences in second language learning; learner factors play an important role for each learner. Generally, it is important to use language to listen, speak, read, or write exactly what we mean so that others will not misunderstand us, which is also difficult to do. Zimmer (1978) maintained that in improving your language skills, learner needs to put him or herself into the language involvement activities. Students might have a desire to use the English language as they want to but it is hardly used in the Thai society. They can probably practice

10 ÇÒÃÊÒà Á.ÇÔªÒ Òà 30» Õè 9 ºÑº Õè 18 Á ÃÒ Á - ÁÔ Ø¹Ò¹ 2549 or use the English language when they study or work with their organizations where English is a main medium of operation. When there is very little chance to use a language, learners tend to avoid using it, which leads to language ignorance as a result. REFERENCES Brown, H. Douglas. (1994) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. 3 rd ed. New Jercy : Prentice Hall. Casady, Mona and Wasson, Lynn. (1994) Written Communication Skills of International Business Persons The Bulletin Ellis, Rod. (1994) The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford : Oxford University Press. Lieberman, Philip. (1975) On the Origin of Language An Introduction to the Evolution of Human Speech. New York : Macmillan. Loveday, Leo. (1982) The Sociolinguistics of Learning and Using a Non-native Language. Oxford : Pergamon Institute of English. Nuttall, Christine. (1989) Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. Oxford : Heinemann Rivers, M. Wilga. (1970) Teaching Foreign Language Skills. 3 rd ed. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press. Rost, Michael. (1994) Introducing Listening. London : Penguin Group. Wanida Yarnruksa. (1997) The Study of the Relationship Between Reading Skill and the Achievement in Learning English Among Senior High School Students. Masterþs Thesis MA (Communicative English) Bangkok : Master of Arts Ramkhamhaeng University. Wenden, A. and Rubin, J. (1987) Learning Strategies in Language Learning. Hertfordshire : Prentice-Hall. Zimmer, Stewart (1978) Business English and Communication. 5 th ed. Singapore : Mc.