Introduction
Each student often has at least one study strategy that he or she felt most important whether that is studying in a quiet place, taking good notes, being a good listener, making a schedule and sticking to it, reading every class assignment or preparing for the test. It is said that good study habit is a key to success. If a student has efficient method, he or she can have good result. However, if they have no or unsuitable strategy, they can fail the examinations in college. In the last century, people could realize the positive effects of team work on society (O’Connel & Cuthbertson, 2009). In addition, Longman and Atkinton (1988) claimed that “the human being needs the support of others, as well as to support others. We are physically separate entities but we can’t develop in isolation” (p. 18). Recently, Vietnamese universities as well as other ones in foreign countries have been widely using the teamwork skills. To investigate thoroughly this mater, in this study, university students’ studying in group was explored. The problems occurring during the teamwork process are inevitable (Longman & Atkinton, 1988). However, this mini research only concentrates on the advantages of team after students use teamwork skill to finish their tasks.
Materials and methods
In order to gather data for the study, a questionnaire was designed because of its advantages. For example, we can investigate on a large scale in a short time and do not need any special equipment to get necessary information. There are twelve questions including both close and open ended items. The questionnaire was created to find out the ways students learn together, their attitude and the goals they achieve from studying in group.
Before the survey was administered, the questionnaire was tested by students of class 1a08 of Hanoi University. The survey was carried out in March, 2010. It was conducted in four classes in three different language departments of Hanoi University. Sixty students were all selected on a voluntary basis and delivered sixty questionnaires. The respondents answered the questionnaires in their break time. Before they answered the questions, all the queries about points of difficulty were responded and participants then progressed to finish the questionnaire. All the handouts were collected after 30 minutes.
Results and discussion
1. An overview about students’ learning in the group
It is obvious that the number of students studying in group in class made up the highest rate (58). It means that teamwork is considered a teaching method in college. Teachers used teamwork skill to teach in class. It is one of the main reasons why students study in group. This reason is the same as one of six reasons which Johnson (2003) cited by O’Connel and Cuthbertson (2009) listed “understanding group dynamics is central to education” (p. 3). Moreover, second question was made to ask respondents whether they have any difficulty in studying or not. All students revealed that they have trouble studying and they need help from their friends so they have to learn together. It is entirely reasonable as Santrock and Halonen’s opinion, they noted that revising with friends would stimulate you to do reading task and enable you to find out problematic points.
An investigation into students’ frequency of doing teamwork activity was conducted and the result of it showed that the majority of respondents spent much time learning in the group. Nearly half of students (48%) spent more than three times a week studying in group. A similar percentage 45 % practiced from 2 to 3 times a week. It means that a large number of students were aware of the importance of time for learning together. It can be claimed that when members spend much time learning together, they can organize the group more efficiently. According to Santrock and Halonen (1999) have already stated that “effective groups usually work in stages” (p. 38). He also explained that “efficient group accomplish their work in three stages: planning how they work together, solving the problem or exchanging points of view, and reviewing the quality of their work” (p. 39).
2. Students’ attitudes during teamwork process
From the chart above, one fourths (15) of respondents felt that it is normal to learn together in a group and the rest (45) assumed that studying in a group is an interesting method. None of them felt boring when study in group. It can be concluded that many students are attracted by this studying method. Because in fact, this is an interesting process and it makes learning more active (Longman & Atkinton, 1988).
The investigation into students’ application of teamwork skills in the group showed that the majority of students use necessary techniques when they learn with other people. Of 60 students who were questioned, 28 people sometimes pay attention to their coworkers’ opinions. 20 of them often notice and 10 students always listen to other people’s suggestions. It seemed that students have total responsibility for their group. Longman and Atkinton (1988) claimed that group discussion will be more active if members expound and pay attention carefully to other people.
When being asked about using teamwork skills, 24 respondents said that they often discuss and persuade other members. Particularly, 12 students always ask questions, discuss the objectives of the team and protect their ideas. It is clear that asking, discussing and persuading are the important teamwork skills in teamwork process. Because as far as Longman & Atkinton (1988), “ The purpose of such group is discussion of information. Therefore, learning becomes an active, rather than passive process.” (p. 184).
It is important to share with the team to create an environment of teamwork and it is also crucial to help one’s coworkers, which is the general theme of the team (Keyton, 2002) as cited in the book of O’Connel and Cuthbertson (2009). 22 of 60 students often help their coworkers during the studying process. Likewise, students sometimes give their teammates a hand. The numbers of people who always help other people is high (14 students). It is clear that each individual in the group understood the purpose of team. It goes in line with the findings of O’Connel and Cuthbertson (2009). He said that “Individuals often combine their talents and resources to complete a task, reach a goal or do something they would not be able to do their own” (p 5).
It can be seen from the table, 24 students often participate in group actively, whereas only 8 respondents always join in group activity and up to 16 students rarely do that. It seems that the majority of students are not enthusiastic and they are not aware of the importance of participating actively. The reasons may come from many fields. It may be because of their habit. Maybe they think that it is not necessary to take all the sections on time. It seems that students have misconception of this because according to Longman and Atkinton (1988), arriving on time for all the sections is one of the main responsibilities of group members.
In general, Vietnamese students knew how to apply teamwork skills into group work process as well as the ways to study in group effectively. It is clear that practicing these skills frequently is very important because Levi (2001) reported that it is very essential that members of the team should have social skills and routine to have the best goal when building a group.
3. The advantages of team work
As illustrated in chart 5, among five benefits listed: experiences, learning style, communication, knowledge, confidence, none of 60 students answered that they gain nothing from doing group work. And by choosing more than one answer, the respondents showed their achievement in different angles. Indeed, 50 of 60 students said that they are much more confident after each time they and their friends work together. Students not only feel more confident but also they have more experience, learning style, communication from their coworkers. 35 students gained more experience, 28 students studied the learning style of their teammates, and 40 students admitted that they can develop their communication skill since they learned in the group. It is clear that studying in the group helps the members improve many necessary skills. This conclusion is similar to the findings of Longman and Atkinton (1988) “working in groups adds a vital element to your education. It improves your ability to communicate, develop your project skills, and makes you better at dealing with conflict.” (p. 37). They also said that “effective groups tend to bring out the best in their members.” (p. 39)
As illustrated in the chart, approximately 50 students agreed that it is useful when studying in the group. This number is as four times as the number of students who thought it is a simple method. Particularly, none of them said it is useless. The data indicated that studying in the group seems really useful. It can be proved by benefits students gained from studying in group. The more advantages they gained, the higher they evaluated the group work.
The last question is about students’ opinion about importance of teamwork for their future job. 50 students thought that teamwork skills will play an important role in their job in future. The rest (10) were not sure about that. In fact, teamwork has become a compulsory part of working culture and many businesses now look at teamwork skills when evaluating an employee. It was proved by York, Davis and Wise (2000). They claimed that “today’s competitive business environments where innovation and (spread to market) are crucial, teaming plays a vital business role in bringing key contributors together to focus on join work objectives, common problems and developing innovative solution.” (p. 3). Moreover, Johnson (2003) as cited by O’Connel and Cuthbertson (2009) gave the reason why people should study in group is that: “understand group dynamics is central to creating effective businesses and industries” (p. 3).
Conclusion
In conclusion, this small-scale research has found out some points concerning students’ teamwork in terms of the ways they learn together, their attitudes towards learning in the group as well as the goals they have achieved from studying in the group. Generally, students have realized the usefulness of team work in their learning course. The majority of students applied this learning method to study thoroughly. They used some teamwork skills that will enable team members of the group to work together and achieve the team’s purposes. They appreciated it because it has brought many advantages such as the experience, knowledge, communication, learning style, confidence which they can gain from their friends. If teamwork technique is applied in universities, it is very good for the students themselves in their job in the future. Because teamwork skills are being increasingly used worldwide as the foundation of work today, it will be very useful if students can approach this working style before they graduate from the universities. It is strongly suggested that students should consider team work a strategy to learn and achieve desirable purpose.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Fourth-Year English Majors’ Career Orientation
I, Introduction
“Employment is the huge part of adult life” (Asher, 2004, p.3). If a person makes a wrong career decision, he will suffer both financially and emotionally. In the 1990s, English degree was highly appreciated and versatile for numerous jobs. However, in modern society, employers tend to recruit graduates with specialized majors such as computer science or economics. Thus, English major students are often confused and get stuck in choosing career (DeGalan & Lambert, 2000). Hence, it is crucial that the research be carried out to give all English majors and the would-be ones an overall look at English major seniors’ career choice and their preparation for the future life-work so that they can take their own career plans to achieve success.
II, Materials and Methods
To collect the data, a questionnaire was developed. The subjects of the study were English major seniors of Hanoi University so a monolingual questionnaire was reasonably required. It comprises nine questions. The first two questions probe the general judgment on senior’s career orientation while the next two questions attempt to find out their popular career choice and the last five ones discover the way students prepare for their future jobs in terms of academic knowledge as well as social skills.
A survey was conducted at 3 English classes: 1A06, 6A06 and 7A06 of Hanoi University in April, 2010. Questionnaire papers were distributed to 48 females and 2 males on voluntary basis. The participations answered the questionnaires in their break time. Before they answered, the queries were responded and participants then progressed to finishing the questionnaire. All the handouts were completed and collected after 30 minutes. It took us several days to analyze the data. Finally, the data were recorded in the form of bar charts, pie charts and tables.
III, Results and Discussion
1. Some general judgment on fourth year English majors’ career orientation
The pie chart showed positive attitude of fourth-year English majors towards career orientation. The majority of asked students (90%) took career paths in advance whereas just a minority of them (10%) did not give any thought to the career planning. Apparently, almost all respondents had their own career planning. It will be the great advantage for them to launch successful career, which was strongly confirmed by Lawson (2002) and Asher (2004). All their research demonstrated that career orientation could boost new employees’ confidence and competence to fit in with their future jobs. As the result, they will gain more success and happy lifetime. For the all above benefits, it is definitely recommended that career orientation be built as soon as possible among undergraduates.
2. Career choice
2.1. The most popular career choice
Concerning English majors’ career choice, chart 2 highlighted the differences in the popularity of work fields. As can be seen from this chart, business contributing the highest percentage of students’ selection (55%) was highly preferable to any other fields. This finding was relevant to the deduction of DeGalan and Lambert (2000) that “business has enjoyed enormous growth and peaked in popularity” (p.9). Following this area was teaching (14%). Two other fields, Tourism, Publishing and Broadcasting made up lower choice with the same percentage (11%). Finally, translating was chosen by only 9% of respondents staying at bottom of the list.
With these results, it is clear that the number of Hanoi English majors who decided to become translators or interpreters as the trained majors was extremely limited. This conclusion proved the findings of Manabe (2009) that to become a translator, learner needed to possess not only excellent English skills but also deep and wide background knowledge of history, culture as well as other aspects of life. Correspondingly, translating is still a particularly challenging field with students. However, English majors are provided with valuable skills such as critical thinking, solid writing, and fluent speaking… which are very useful to different job fields, consequently, they can apply for various kinds of jobs. Lemire also (2006) emphasized that “where there are people who need help using words to communicate, there are jobs for English major” (p.5). Hence, “No one need worry about the future of English majors in colleges or universities” (DeGalan and Lambert, 2000, p. 11).
2.2. Key factors affecting job choice
Chart 3 indicated key factors contributing to job choice of English major seniors. A significant portion of respondents (72%) considered salary the salient factor when looking for work. It was more than three times as much as the percentage of students choosing their jobs based on their interest (20%). Nearly half of respondents, namely 48%, embarked on career fields because of the working-condition while just 25% of them gave heed to their own ability.
It is clear that most of students often paid more attention to external factors than internal factors when they applied for jobs. This trend did not appear to be congruent with findings of many experts. According to DeGalan and Lambert (2000), career planning should be done by choosing a job that not only is suitable with students’ ability but also challenges to develop their new skills as well as flair. They also emphasized, “If you make a decision that you can not tolerate and feel you must leave that job, you will then have both unemployment and self esteem issues to contend with.”(p.97). Therefore, aside from external working factors, internal working factors such as interest and ability should be put on thoughtful deliberation. “If you find jobs you love, you will never work a day in your life” (Asher, 2004, p.4).
3. Preparation
“Planning is the key to success” (Coplin, 2003). As the results, preparation is regarded as a decisive step to launch a successful career.
3.1. Academic preparation
As illustrated in table 4, English majors were more concerned with oral English than written English. Among 50 respondents, majority of them (23) confirmed that they spent a lot of time practicing speaking and listening and no one ignored those skills. Writing, meanwhile, was not fully appreciated by students. Most of them (43) sometimes (not frequently) or rarely or even never spent time practicing it, and just a few students (7) reported that they had the usual habit of exercising writing skills. However, DeGalan and Lambert (2000) emphasized that writing skill was very important to any employer. Through writing frequently, students can learn about critical thinking, paraphrase technique, analyzing and interpreting data as well as the way to express ideas clearly and precisely which can help them not only improve other skills but also satisfy the demand of employers. For all those advantages, besides studying verbal communication skills, English majors should appreciate the importance of writing skill, as the result, practice it more regularly and diligently.
As chart 4 showed, additional education or training were particularly appreciated by most of English major seniors. A substantial percentage of respondents (92%) considered obtaining other degrees or certificates besides English degrees necessary to get their future jobs. Just a modest number of English majors (4%) were confident to launch their career without any other education. Only a small number (4%) had neutral opinions about this. The trend of holding other degrees or certificates besides English could be explained that “English as a major is not job training” (p.115) as DeGalan and Lambert (2000) stated. According to their findings, English majors were provided with “liberal education” (p.115) - general knowledge rather than specified skills, “the content of academic major, in or of itself, is only transferable to those occupations…. such as editing, publishing and translating” (p.115). Hence, to meet the demand of the employment, English major students should be armed with additional education or training to get ready for job search.
Concerning the additional education or training of English major fellows, chart 5 highlights the popular fields students study besides English. Statistics presented economics as the dominant one with the highest students’ choice (84%). This tendency was directly traced to the 4th year English majors’ career selection, which was discussed in the previous part. As most of students decided to work in business, studying in economics fields was the deliberate choice. For this fact, it is strongly suggested that some specialized English, especially business English, should be introduced into the English department curriculum to accommodate the special demand of undergraduates.
3.2 Soft skill preparation
Table 2 shows that fourth-year English majors are supremely not confident in their social skills although they highly appreciate the role of these ones. Among 50 asked people, no one disclaimed the importance of soft skills but only 16 people reinforced to stay at the good degree. More than half of students (26) confirmed that they are at fair level. Worse still, eight respondents admitted to being extremely lack of those skills. It is undeniable that an inordinate number of students made inadequate preparation for social skills. This conclusion agrees with the view of many experts, “Students were considered high functioning, as indicated by intellectual capabilities, language skills and academic performance, but were lacking of social skills” (Kamps, Leonard, Vernon, 1992, p.282). However, aside from academic knowledge, some soft skills such as communication skills, problem-solving skills… are also regarded as the crucial factors required for the work placement (Coplin, 2002). So it is crucial that students pay more attention to improve these skills.
Chart 6 indicates some popular ways helping students sharpen their social skills. As can be seen from the chart, both part-time jobs and voluntary activities were in huge favor of more than half of respondents, which ranged from 53% to 57 %. Taking part in these activities, students can acquire a lot of communication skills as well as problem-solving skills, which are extremely valuable for their future jobs (Coplin, 2003). However, just a modest number of asked seniors (23%) became a member of clubs such as sports, English or social clubs… Obviously, students did not take full advantages of those kinds of activity. This underestimation of club’s significance completely contrasted with the review suggested by Coplin (2003). According to his findings, “certain pleasure activities are treated as skills for credit in college” (p.112). These experiences will develop students’ self-confidence, teamwork and interpersonal skills that help them cope with the world of work. For all those benefits, students are highly recommended to formulate all these viable strategies in order to develop social skills as much as possible.
IV, Conclusion
In brief, this small-scale research explored some significant points related to career orientation of 4th year English majors in teams of their career choice as well as their preparation for future job. The results demonstrated most of students had circumspect career orientation with variety of job choice and Business was concluded as the most popular. However, the key factors affecting job choice should be taken into more serious consideration. Concerning preparation, students should not only be prepared academically but also pick up more useful practical experience and soft skills. This research along with the above suggestions is expected to help students shape an illustrious career. “An effective orientation program takes time and effort but is well worth the investment” (Lawson, K, 2003).
“Employment is the huge part of adult life” (Asher, 2004, p.3). If a person makes a wrong career decision, he will suffer both financially and emotionally. In the 1990s, English degree was highly appreciated and versatile for numerous jobs. However, in modern society, employers tend to recruit graduates with specialized majors such as computer science or economics. Thus, English major students are often confused and get stuck in choosing career (DeGalan & Lambert, 2000). Hence, it is crucial that the research be carried out to give all English majors and the would-be ones an overall look at English major seniors’ career choice and their preparation for the future life-work so that they can take their own career plans to achieve success.
II, Materials and Methods
To collect the data, a questionnaire was developed. The subjects of the study were English major seniors of Hanoi University so a monolingual questionnaire was reasonably required. It comprises nine questions. The first two questions probe the general judgment on senior’s career orientation while the next two questions attempt to find out their popular career choice and the last five ones discover the way students prepare for their future jobs in terms of academic knowledge as well as social skills.
A survey was conducted at 3 English classes: 1A06, 6A06 and 7A06 of Hanoi University in April, 2010. Questionnaire papers were distributed to 48 females and 2 males on voluntary basis. The participations answered the questionnaires in their break time. Before they answered, the queries were responded and participants then progressed to finishing the questionnaire. All the handouts were completed and collected after 30 minutes. It took us several days to analyze the data. Finally, the data were recorded in the form of bar charts, pie charts and tables.
III, Results and Discussion
1. Some general judgment on fourth year English majors’ career orientation
The pie chart showed positive attitude of fourth-year English majors towards career orientation. The majority of asked students (90%) took career paths in advance whereas just a minority of them (10%) did not give any thought to the career planning. Apparently, almost all respondents had their own career planning. It will be the great advantage for them to launch successful career, which was strongly confirmed by Lawson (2002) and Asher (2004). All their research demonstrated that career orientation could boost new employees’ confidence and competence to fit in with their future jobs. As the result, they will gain more success and happy lifetime. For the all above benefits, it is definitely recommended that career orientation be built as soon as possible among undergraduates.
2. Career choice
2.1. The most popular career choice
Concerning English majors’ career choice, chart 2 highlighted the differences in the popularity of work fields. As can be seen from this chart, business contributing the highest percentage of students’ selection (55%) was highly preferable to any other fields. This finding was relevant to the deduction of DeGalan and Lambert (2000) that “business has enjoyed enormous growth and peaked in popularity” (p.9). Following this area was teaching (14%). Two other fields, Tourism, Publishing and Broadcasting made up lower choice with the same percentage (11%). Finally, translating was chosen by only 9% of respondents staying at bottom of the list.
With these results, it is clear that the number of Hanoi English majors who decided to become translators or interpreters as the trained majors was extremely limited. This conclusion proved the findings of Manabe (2009) that to become a translator, learner needed to possess not only excellent English skills but also deep and wide background knowledge of history, culture as well as other aspects of life. Correspondingly, translating is still a particularly challenging field with students. However, English majors are provided with valuable skills such as critical thinking, solid writing, and fluent speaking… which are very useful to different job fields, consequently, they can apply for various kinds of jobs. Lemire also (2006) emphasized that “where there are people who need help using words to communicate, there are jobs for English major” (p.5). Hence, “No one need worry about the future of English majors in colleges or universities” (DeGalan and Lambert, 2000, p. 11).
2.2. Key factors affecting job choice
Chart 3 indicated key factors contributing to job choice of English major seniors. A significant portion of respondents (72%) considered salary the salient factor when looking for work. It was more than three times as much as the percentage of students choosing their jobs based on their interest (20%). Nearly half of respondents, namely 48%, embarked on career fields because of the working-condition while just 25% of them gave heed to their own ability.
It is clear that most of students often paid more attention to external factors than internal factors when they applied for jobs. This trend did not appear to be congruent with findings of many experts. According to DeGalan and Lambert (2000), career planning should be done by choosing a job that not only is suitable with students’ ability but also challenges to develop their new skills as well as flair. They also emphasized, “If you make a decision that you can not tolerate and feel you must leave that job, you will then have both unemployment and self esteem issues to contend with.”(p.97). Therefore, aside from external working factors, internal working factors such as interest and ability should be put on thoughtful deliberation. “If you find jobs you love, you will never work a day in your life” (Asher, 2004, p.4).
3. Preparation
“Planning is the key to success” (Coplin, 2003). As the results, preparation is regarded as a decisive step to launch a successful career.
3.1. Academic preparation
As illustrated in table 4, English majors were more concerned with oral English than written English. Among 50 respondents, majority of them (23) confirmed that they spent a lot of time practicing speaking and listening and no one ignored those skills. Writing, meanwhile, was not fully appreciated by students. Most of them (43) sometimes (not frequently) or rarely or even never spent time practicing it, and just a few students (7) reported that they had the usual habit of exercising writing skills. However, DeGalan and Lambert (2000) emphasized that writing skill was very important to any employer. Through writing frequently, students can learn about critical thinking, paraphrase technique, analyzing and interpreting data as well as the way to express ideas clearly and precisely which can help them not only improve other skills but also satisfy the demand of employers. For all those advantages, besides studying verbal communication skills, English majors should appreciate the importance of writing skill, as the result, practice it more regularly and diligently.
As chart 4 showed, additional education or training were particularly appreciated by most of English major seniors. A substantial percentage of respondents (92%) considered obtaining other degrees or certificates besides English degrees necessary to get their future jobs. Just a modest number of English majors (4%) were confident to launch their career without any other education. Only a small number (4%) had neutral opinions about this. The trend of holding other degrees or certificates besides English could be explained that “English as a major is not job training” (p.115) as DeGalan and Lambert (2000) stated. According to their findings, English majors were provided with “liberal education” (p.115) - general knowledge rather than specified skills, “the content of academic major, in or of itself, is only transferable to those occupations…. such as editing, publishing and translating” (p.115). Hence, to meet the demand of the employment, English major students should be armed with additional education or training to get ready for job search.
Concerning the additional education or training of English major fellows, chart 5 highlights the popular fields students study besides English. Statistics presented economics as the dominant one with the highest students’ choice (84%). This tendency was directly traced to the 4th year English majors’ career selection, which was discussed in the previous part. As most of students decided to work in business, studying in economics fields was the deliberate choice. For this fact, it is strongly suggested that some specialized English, especially business English, should be introduced into the English department curriculum to accommodate the special demand of undergraduates.
3.2 Soft skill preparation
Table 2 shows that fourth-year English majors are supremely not confident in their social skills although they highly appreciate the role of these ones. Among 50 asked people, no one disclaimed the importance of soft skills but only 16 people reinforced to stay at the good degree. More than half of students (26) confirmed that they are at fair level. Worse still, eight respondents admitted to being extremely lack of those skills. It is undeniable that an inordinate number of students made inadequate preparation for social skills. This conclusion agrees with the view of many experts, “Students were considered high functioning, as indicated by intellectual capabilities, language skills and academic performance, but were lacking of social skills” (Kamps, Leonard, Vernon, 1992, p.282). However, aside from academic knowledge, some soft skills such as communication skills, problem-solving skills… are also regarded as the crucial factors required for the work placement (Coplin, 2002). So it is crucial that students pay more attention to improve these skills.
Chart 6 indicates some popular ways helping students sharpen their social skills. As can be seen from the chart, both part-time jobs and voluntary activities were in huge favor of more than half of respondents, which ranged from 53% to 57 %. Taking part in these activities, students can acquire a lot of communication skills as well as problem-solving skills, which are extremely valuable for their future jobs (Coplin, 2003). However, just a modest number of asked seniors (23%) became a member of clubs such as sports, English or social clubs… Obviously, students did not take full advantages of those kinds of activity. This underestimation of club’s significance completely contrasted with the review suggested by Coplin (2003). According to his findings, “certain pleasure activities are treated as skills for credit in college” (p.112). These experiences will develop students’ self-confidence, teamwork and interpersonal skills that help them cope with the world of work. For all those benefits, students are highly recommended to formulate all these viable strategies in order to develop social skills as much as possible.
IV, Conclusion
In brief, this small-scale research explored some significant points related to career orientation of 4th year English majors in teams of their career choice as well as their preparation for future job. The results demonstrated most of students had circumspect career orientation with variety of job choice and Business was concluded as the most popular. However, the key factors affecting job choice should be taken into more serious consideration. Concerning preparation, students should not only be prepared academically but also pick up more useful practical experience and soft skills. This research along with the above suggestions is expected to help students shape an illustrious career. “An effective orientation program takes time and effort but is well worth the investment” (Lawson, K, 2003).
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