TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT
The aim of this research is to acquire knowledge about the theories of
English speaking skill, to know the reality of the use of English speaking skill in
WoW company, to find out the reality and the solutions to improve it, to raise
the employees awareness of the speaking English skill and to make some
suggestions for the future studies.
There were two main findings in this study. Firstly, English language skills
can contribute to better job performance and promotion in Wow company. For
more details, employees with English speaking skills seem to have better chance
for promotion their career in all department.
In summary, by presenting a qualitative research method of WoW company,
this research aims at contributing better understanding of effective English
speaking skill .

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my sincere thanks toward my supervisor, Hoang Thi
Thuy in English Faculty – Thuong mai University for her guidance, valuable
time, and assistance in this study. Thanks to her tireless and helpful support in
the preparation as well as the correction. My deepest gratitude is given to my
teachers at Thuong Mai University who provided me with the invaluable
opportunity to contact to WoW company.
I would like to thank the staffs who were willing to support me for my
analyses in all departments of WoW English center, especially Ms. Nguyen Thi
Huyen who is Head of Marketing department for the support and insightful
advice to complete my interviews questionaires, as long as for taking precious
time to share their experience.

Also, I would always acknowledge the encouragement and support from
my family, especially my dear mother.
Finally, I would like to send my thanks to my friends for their directly help
and encouragement with source materials in my writing process.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
i. Co
ii. No

: Company
: Number

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LIST OF CHARTS AND FIGURES

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CHAPTER I: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
1.1. Rationale:
Nowadays, along with the global encoding process, using the language and
English is essential to recovering the need for learning as well as the work of
everyone. Especially when Vietnam is in the process of developing and
integrating with other countries in the world, so use English as a bridge to help
you exchange with foreign countries, make friends, exchange experience,

knowledge with other national countries. Therefore, English has become a
subject, an important task in the education and training of each country,
including Vietnam.
English is not just another language. Learning English can open a world
of opportunities and enable you to communicate with a lot more people and
businesses.
The ability to speak flawless English will add to your resume and
confidence when you are going for job interviews. Most businesses want
their employees to have good command of written and spoken English. The
ability to understand English will help you in education and research for any
subject.
One of the biggest benefits of having the ability to fluently speak and
understand English is its global status. It is one of the most widely spoken
languages in the world. There are many countries where English is the
primary language of communication. A lot of countries take English as their
official language.
In Vietnam, English is the golden key to success. In the face of
globalization and integration, English is considered the most widely spoken
language in the world, when nearly 60 countries use English as the primary
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language. Therefore, this foreign language plays a very important role in the
current integration of globalization. Human relations as well as cooperation,
investment in any field from business, commerce, transportation, technology,
communication, tourism, etc. to the opportunities in learning, expanding ties to
co-operate not only in Vietnam but also in other parts of the world.
As a leading education company, The English Language Training System
(Wow English) is designed to help students learn the most easily and with the
most excitement. Those movements require all staffs in WoW to use English

more frequently and professional especially English speaking skill to
communicate well with foreign teachers, partners, etc.
However, through the internship process at WoW company, it is clear that
almost staffs in the company still use English in the bad way, especially with
staffs in Sale Department of the company. Therefore, a researching was how to
improve English speaking skill is needed.
1.2. Previous studies:
For WoW company- The English Language Training System (Wow
English) is designed to help learners learn the most easily and with the most
excitement. With a special training model and methodology "Lazy English" - the
combination of the most effective teaching methods at present, Wow organizes
and provides special courses of English training for all students and businesses
across the country. Those movements require the employees in WoW company
to use English more frequently and professional, especially in speaking to
communicate with customers, learners, foreigner teacher, etc. Therefore, the role
of using English speaking skill in daily work correctly and efficiently is really
important. Before this study, there is no one researching how to improve English
speaking skill in WoW company. That is the reason why this research becomes
necessary and will come in handy in WoW company .
1.3. Aims of the study:
The study is aimed at the following goals:
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- To find out the most common difficulties in learning speaking skill for
employees in WoW company.
- To investigate the reality of the use of English in speaking in WoW
company in order to identify some common English speaking mistakes in
company.
- To acquire knowledge about the theories of English speaking skill. And

giving some suggestions for all employee in WoW company .
Therefore, this research can be used for raising employees in WoW
company’s attitude toward the importance of using English speaking skill in
daily work.
1.4. Research question:
Research question of study is survey:
- What problems of speaking English are most often encountered
byemployees in Wow company?
- What are the possible causes of employees difficulties in acquiring
speaking skill?
- What techniques should students apply in improving the effectiveness of
speaking skill?
1.5. Scope of the study:
The study will be conducted with staffs in Marketing Department who use
English to promote the company, to test the level and to consult the suitable
courses for customers .
Actually, there are lots of various techniques to study English
communication. It requires much of time and effort because of the limitation of
time and knowledge, resources mine, this study can only focus on study some
effective techniques in improve english for employees in Wow Company.
1.6. Research methodology:
1.6.1 Data collection
I have study from related books, documents in library and website to get
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background knowledge . Moreover, I was consulted ideas and opinions with
supervisor, speacialist, english teacher
1.6.2 Survey questionnaires
In terms of the methods, the questionnaire is designed as a mean for

researcher to collect data. Questionnaires are more convenient, take less time,
cheap and easy for employees to answer. Moreover, questionnaires are
considered more reliable way since you are anonymous and this encourages
greater honesty. Questionnaires included closed and open-ended questions. The
questionnaire is given to employees with the hope to find out their attitudes
towards their English speaking skill and their difficulties in speaking
After gathering all the results of questionnaire with answers, I use the
method of analyzing data. Basing on the statistic numbers, I analyze and find out
the situation, difficulties and then causes in order to suggest suitable solution for
their problems.
1.7. Organization of the study
This study is structured as follows:
Chapter 1: the Overview of the study. In this chapter some of the issues like
Rationale, Previous studies, Aims of the study, Research Subjects, Scope of the
study, Research methodology, Organization of the study will be dealt with
Chapter 2 literature review. In this chapter, some of the theories at
background relating to the study will be looked at.
Chapter 3: Finding Analysis. In this chapter, we will use Data to analysis
about attitudes ‘s staff and Causes affecting english speaking skill:
Chapter 5: Recommendations and suggestion. at last, Summary of the
study:
Limitations and suggestion for further study and Causes affecting english
speaking skill:will be presented.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
An overview
Speaking among the other foreign language skills (listening, reading and

writing) seems intuitively the most important one. As the process of learning and
applying the skills of oral English are so closely related, classroom should be a
place where the use of spoken language is sensitively supported since it enables
students to make connections between what you know and what you are
learning, and it is the one through which you are going to be judged while the
first impressions are being formed, that's why according to (Ur, 1984): "Many if
not most foreign language learners are interested in learning to speak
2.1. What is speaking?
In Oxford Advanced Dictionary the definition of speaking is The action of
conveying information or expressing one's feelings in speech. and it involves
the activities in the part of the speaker as psychological, physiological
(articulator) and physical (acoustic) stages”. ( />definition/speaking)
According to Chaney, “speaking is the process of building and
sharingmeaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety
of contexts”. While another expert, Theodore Huebner said “Language is
essentially speech, and speech is basically communication by sounds” . And
according to him, “speaking is a skill used by someone in daily life
communication whether at school or outside. The skill is acquired by much
repetition” - Oxford Advanced Dictionary, p. 13 A. L. Chaney and T. L.
Burke, Teaching Oral Communication in Grades K-8 (Boston: Allyn &Bacon,
1998), p. 13
Tarigan (1990:3-4) defines that “speaking is a language skill that is
developed in child life, which is produced by english speaking skill, and at that
period speaking skill is learned”.
According to Ladouse (1991) “speaking is described as the activity as the
ability to express oneself in the situation, or the activity to report acts, or
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situation in precise words or the ability to converse or to express a sequence of

ideas fluently”.
Furthermore, Tarigan (1990: 8) said that “Berbicara adalah cara untuk
berkomunikasi yang berpengaruh hidup kita sehari-hari”. It means that
“speaking as the way of communication influences our individual life strongly”.
From the explanation above, it is concluded that speaking is what we say to
what we see, feel and think. When we feel something, we want someone can
hear us. So, in this process we can call it is an interaction between two sides.
What is speaking skill ?

2.2.

Speaking is in the heart of communication in both general and business
English. Chaney (1998) defines speaking as “the process of building and sharing
meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of
contexts.”(p.13). In other words, speaking is an important skill that deserves
more attention whether in first or second language learning and teaching,
because it is the way for students to express themselves and cope with each
communicative situation. Also, speaking is a complicated productive skill that
involves more than just pronouncing words. As Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce,
1997 said “Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that
involves producing and receiving and processing information.”. Moreover,
learners should be aware of when, why and in what ways to produce language
(sociolinguistic competence) rather than knowing how to produce certain points
of language, means linguistic competence (grammar, pronunciation, or
vocabulary).
Kinds of speaking situation.

2.3.

-


Through research, three kinds of speaking situations can be refered as:
Interactive,
Partially interactive, and
Non- interactive.
Interactive is a way that we face to face in conversation and telephone call,
must use listening and speaking, can ask to slower or repetion. Some situation
are partially interactive because when giving speech to the audiences, we do not
have chance to face to face, the audience can not interrupt our conversation,
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only listening through radio. We also can not judge expressing, face or body
language.
Some situation may be totally non- interactive because recording a speech
for a broadcast.
Here are some micro- skill involved speaking:

2.4.

-

Pronounce the distinctive sound clearly enough to distingush them.
Use stress, intonation pattern and rhythmic pattern of language clearly enough

-

so that people can understand what is said.
Use the correct forms of words, change tense, case or gender.
Use vocabulary approriately.

Make the main ideas stand out, clearly.
Elements of Speaking
Harmer (2001, p.269-271) mentioned elements of language features and
mental and social processing as follows:
2.4.1. Language feature
There are a number of devises which are necessary for spoken production.
• Connected speech
Speakers should link their utterances and do not use separated phonemes.
These sounds may be modified omitted added or weakened.
• Expressive devices
Student should acquire at least some “suprasegmental features” such as:
body language and changing the pitch because these devices help them to
transmit the message clearly “especially in face-to-face interaction”.
• Lexis and grammar
Learners usually use the same lexical utterances in different functions. In
this case, the teacher is asked to provide them with different phrases which
convey different functions, so that you can use them in different speaking
situations.
• Negotiation language
“Learners benefit a lot from negotiation of the language that is why the role
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of the teacher is to give them some phrases which help them to ask for further
explanation. Also, speakers discourse should be well structure and formulated to
be clear for the listener “(p.269).
2.4.2. Mantel / social processing
Knowing the language skills or devices as a part of spoken production is
not enough since it is involves immediate processing while interacting with one
or more participants.

• Language of processing
Learners need to be able to process language in their minds. You have to
put information in coherent order so that the listener grasps what the speaker
intended to say. In addition, speakers should be able to retrieve words and
phrases from their memories to use them when you are interacting with others.
• Interacting with others
Most speaking situations involve interaction between two or more
interlocutors. This indicates that a good speaker should be a good listener as
well. So, understanding others feeling and knowing when to take the floor of
speech or allowing the others talk is very important.
• Information processing (on the spot)
The more we are rapid in processing information the more “effective we
are as instant communicators” and vice versa. So that speakers should be ready
for processing information. And you have to response to the others talk
immediately.
2.5. The Importance of Speaking
2.5.1. It shows your willingness to go beyond basic business standards.
Back in the early days of pre-globalization, knowing English was a plus.
Like it or not, it was a mark of superior knowledge and sophistication. It made
you look impressive to people.
Now, regardless of your background and upbringing, many bosses will
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automatically expect you to know the language. Even if you received education
in a different language or come from a place where English is barely spoken.
Today you are expected to know English.
This means that in order to impress your interviewer or boss now, you have
to show that you are extremely fluent and competent in both speaking and
writing the language. (Archita Mittra, FluentU Business English Blog)

2.5.2. It will help you to communicate better with your colleagues.
Working in an office means teamwork and collaboration. Even if you are an
introvert (someone who prefers to spend more time alone), you will have to
interact with your colleagues. And that will be difficult if you don’t know the
language you speak very well. In a worst-case scenario, it may even lead to
misunderstandings that might put your job at stake.
Similarly, you need to know the right people to get the best job or a
promotion at work. For that you need superior networking skills. Learning
business English helps you to develop both your language and interpersonal
(communication) skills.
Ultimately, it will help you to adequately express and represent yourself in
front of other people.
The best way to learn better English communication is to speak the
language often, preferably with a study partner in person or online, via Skype.
You can also check out this MOOC on communication skills on Coursera.
(Archita, Mittra FluentU Business English Blog)
2.5.3. It is important for delivering presentations and speeches.
As mentioned before, business English is important for effective
communication. You cannot deliver a presentation to your team or be in charge
of a board meeting if you speak in your native tongue and if no one else in that
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room speaks that language. So you need to speak the “common tongue” well, so
you can translate your thoughts and ideas into coherent (clear and logical)
sentences that everyone can understand and respond to.
Just having a great idea isn’t enough. You have to successively express it to
your audience.
Luckily, there are also plenty of online courses that focus on
successful business


meetings and presentations.

(Archita

Mittra,

FluentU

Business English Blog)
2.5.4. Good pronunciation always makes a good first impression.
Speaking and writing business English are two different skills—you may
write well, but unless you can speak clearly and fluently, you are unlikely to
make an impact in the workplace. People do judge you by the way you speak.
Also, the type of English that is spoken differs from place to place. American
English isn’t the same as British English. There are in fact notable differences in
accents and pronunciation. Similarly, in India it is acceptable to mix words from
Indian languages with English to communicate something, leading to the
formation of a “hybrid” (combined) language.
So wherever you work, it is best to research the type of language that is
spoken there, and try matching your accent more closely to the native one, to
better blend in. If your interviewer gets the impression that you are at home with
the language, you are already halfway to getting the job.
The best way to improve your pronunciation is, of course, to listen to good
pronunciation. This podcast on Business English Pod is sure to be of great help.
(Archita Mittra FluentU Business English Blog)
2.5.5. It allows you to travel.
If you have always dreamed of working for an international company or
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traveling around the world for business, English is the most likely language to
help you communicate with strangers.

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After all, you don’t want to get into a situation where you are in a foreign
country and no one can understand what you are saying, right?
If you are not confident about cross-cultural communication, this business
English MOOC should answer all your questions. (Archita Mittra, FluentU
Business English Blog)
2.5.6. It gives you an edge in other jobs as well.
If you have a full-time job or run your own business, but also do night
shifts or part-time jobs to supplement your income, you probably already know
that your English proficiency will give you an edge over other applications.
Whether it is waiting tables, babysitting, being a shop assistant, helping with
events or even walking someone’s pet dog, your knowledge of the English
language may come in handy.
If you need free resources to supplement your English learning while still
working on your career, you can always find plenty of tips, resources and
vocabulary on FluentU’s Business English Blog.
2.5.7. Finally, it allows you to express yourself in a language that everyone
understands.
As I mentioned before, English is the “lingua franca” of the world due to
Westernization and globalization. So being fluent in English is essentially a
survival strategy in today’s competitive world. It automatically improves your
chances of climbing the corporate ladder.
The way you speak and communicate is also linked to your interpersonal
skills, leadership qualities and level of empathy (ability to relate to other

people). So mastering the language will help you master all the “soft skills” and
“life skills” you need to succeed in the workplace, too!
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And there are plenty of courses that cover these skills along with English,
like these ones on business and entrepreneurship and career development.
To improve your business English, your best option is to sign up for a
proper business English course, online or offline, depending upon your needs
and convenience.
You can supplement this learning by looking up vocabulary lists, playing
word games, listening to podcasts or audiobooks, watching educational and
authentic YouTube videos and practicing with online exercises. If you are
especially into self-study, make a plan and stick to it.
And finally, interact with your peers and friends in business English and
ask for feedback. People are usually more than happy to help.
Most importantly, don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
Learn from the past, believe in yourself, work hard and success will surely
follow you.
(Archita Mittra FluentU Business English Blog)
2.6.

Aims of improving english speaking in the company:
New research from Pearson shows that English skills are considered critical
for entry-level employees, no matter where in the world you are looking for
work: About 30% of English learners in global markets like Asia, Europe and
South America said you were learning English to apply for a job in their own
country, and another 30% of English learners said you were learning English to
work overseas. We've captured several stories of improved productivity from
employees at multinational companies.


2.7.

Barriers to good english speaking skills:

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Speaking forms a very important part in our day to day life. People love to
talk. Either you talk about themselves or about others or about any event. As
soon as, you allow your communication partner or partners to express their
thoughts, you start participating and this enriches the experience.
Much of the good communication is not about speaking, it is more about
listening, observing, paying attention to what the partner thinks or feels.
2.7.1.

Ambiguity.
Usage of words that can cause ambiguity. Words can mean different things
to different people. So, we need to be aware that our expected meaning may be
different from that of the other person. This can have unfortunate repercussions
at times.
2.7.2. Being an alert Listener
One needs to be an alert listener. Poor listening can lead to
misunderstanding of what is being said or can also lead to a poor response.
Listening is not just hearing the words said, but a lot more.
Listening well is one of the best things. It helps immensely to provide the
speaker with the desired response that in turn leads to a healthy conversation.
2.7.3. Emotional Barriers
Some people find it difficult to express themselves. You are complete
introverts and take their own time to come out of the shell. This acts as the

biggest hurdle as breaking the ice at the preliminary stage is of immense
importance.
2.7.4. Language Barriers
Communication occurs across the globe. Different countries have different
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accents and different languages. This language difference can lead to difficulty
in understanding unfamiliar accents that acts as a barrier.
2.7.5. Lack of interest
If the listener shows lack of interest the it becomes a barrier in
communication. Not only lack of interest, but lack of attention, distractions or
irrelevance to the receiver are the factors that become barriers while speaking.
2.7.6. Cultural differences
Different cultures greatly vary in the norms of social interaction, as the way
in which emotions are expressed differ greatly.
2.7.7. Psychological barriers
It is a state in which the receiver will be influenced by the message that is
received. In other words, it is the manner in which the message can be taken by
the receiver.

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2.7.8. Physical barriers
Communication is generally easier over short distances as more channels
are available and the technology that is used is to the minimum. Although
modern technology serves to reduce the impact of physical barrier, the pros and
cons should be understood to use the appropriate medium to overcome physical
barriers.

Thus, one can overcome barriers to effective communication by giving your
audience the chance to contribute to the conversation and make a healthy
competition. This will help in improving the relationship with the speaker drastically
and you will be respected and valued in any situation where people gather.
2.8. Motivation:

Gardner (1985) ( quoted from Nunan David, 1999: 232- 233) states that
Motivation is a key consideration in determining the preparedness of learners to
communicate. Motivation refers to the combination in determining the
preparedness of learners to communicate. Motivation refers to the combination
of effort plus desire to achieve the good of learning the language plus favourable
attitudes toward learning the language. That is, motivation to learn a second
language is seen as reffering to the extent to which the individual work or strives
to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction
experienced in this activity. Many attitudes of the individual such as
compulsiveness, desire to please a teacher or parents or a high need to achieve
might produce effort, ass would social pressure, such as demanding teacher,
impending examinations, or the promise of a new bicycle.
As Nina Spada (1999:56) motivated learners are those who participated
activel in class express interest in the subject and study hard. If teacher can
make classroom the places where learners enjoy coming and where the
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atmosphere is supportive and non- threaning, you can make a positive
contribution to learners s motivation to learn.

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Garder and Lambert (1985) introduces two major types of motivation:
Instrumenta motivation and Intergrative motivation, resultative motivation an
Intrinsic motivation.
•

Instrumental motivation: When learners need English as an instrument to reach a
particcular goal such as passing oral test, getting a good job with high salary and
so on. In this case, motivation is the reflection of an external need.

•

Intergrative motivation: When learners internally want to integrate themseles
into the culture of learning. The fact show that learners who experience success
in learning may become more motivated to learn.

•

Intrinsic motivation: plays a significant role in most learners ‘s success or
failure,… For them, what happens in the classroom will be of great importance
in determining their attitudes to language and in supplying motivation.
Intrinsically autonomy and self- actualization wheras extrinsically motivated
learners anticipate a reward from outside and beyond the self such as money,
prize,…

•

Therefore it seems to be the problems that learners with different reason will be
differently motivated to learn the language.

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CHAPTER 3: FINDING ANALYSIS
3.1. Sample
This sample consists of twenty employees. You are mixed female (12) and
male (8). The strategy which we followed to choose these participants is simple
random sampling. So, we selected the required number (20) of the participants
randomly in which all of them have an equal chance to be a selected. This
method is reliable in collecting valid data.
3.2. Purpose of survey questionnaire
The survey questionnaires are designed for the following purposes:
- To make out the attitude of employees toward the importance of speaking
English skill.
- To get information about the reality of using English speaking skill in daily
work.
- To get to know the barriers and find out the solutions to improve English
speaking skill of employees in wow company.
3.3. Analysis of Results
3.3.1. personal Information.
Chart 1: Employees’ age
In this table we can see that almost all employees are matures. Over 65%
are in average age, only 35% are in 20 years old
The data collected from chart1 indicates that the age of the employees in
the company is mostly young and is gaining experience.
Chart 2: Employees’English skill at school
Concerning this question, all of our participants (100%) stated that you
have studied English skill in school in order to develop certain skills.

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Chart 4: The amount of time a receptionist had worked for the company
In this question, almost employees gained 2-5 experience years( 40%),
while the amount of employees with less than 2 years and over 5 years of
experience are about 25% and 35% respectively. It means you might have much
experience in their job.
Through these two questions, we can see that our subjects have a little
background in English speaking at school. Along with many years of
experience, working in the company for many years, we will have a clarifying
view on the problem of using English speaking skill in their work.
3.3.2. the reality of Speaking English in Wow company.

Chart 3: The main skill to be promoted by employees.
The answers of employees about the main skill to promote at school was
(50%) for speaking skill, (10%) reading, writing (30%) and all of them (10%).
These results determine that speaking is the main skill to be developed.

Chart 5: The importance of English speaking skill for employees
Because this company is multinational, English speaking skill is demanded.
For this reason, the majority of the employees see that spoken English is very
important (75%), while (20%) see that it is important and only 5% see that it is
just little important.
It can be concluded that most of the employees feel english speaking skills is
important and necessary for working in company.

Chart 6: The frequency of using spoken English in WoW company
We asked this question to seek information about the frequency of using
spoken English in WoW company. So, we found that it is used always as (80%)
of participants reported, whereas (20%) reported that you use it usually.
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The data collected from this chart indicates that English speaking is really useful
in working company.
It can be said that English haven been popular language used in transaction of
company. Company should have policy to improve this situation in the future.

Chart 8: Classification of employees’ current level in spoken English
From this question, we can distinguish three current levels of participants,
(25%) average, (50%) good and (25%) excellent.

Chart 9: Employees’ views about the necessity of Spoken English in WoW
company, nowadays
In this question, all of the participants (100%) totally and partially agree
with the view that speaking is necessary in the business world nowadays,
according to their experience. So, this view reveals that speaking English is in
the heart of their daily work.
Through data and charts we find that up to half of the marketing staff view
English skills as the most important skill. All employees have recognized the
importance of English because they have to use English skills quite often. In
addition, the interviewees said they were able to speak English quite well
3.3.3. the difficulties and solution to improve English speaking skill for
employees in wow company.
Chart 7: Employees’ answers about having training courses in their
company
In order to progress the speaking level of

WoW employees, all the

participants declared that their company has training courses for them.


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