An investigation into the use of body language cues in presentations by English-majored freshmen at Vietnam University of Commerce

• Main Author: Nguyễn, Thị Bích Ngọc
• Other Authors: Ngô, Hữu Hoàng
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: ĐHNN 2017
• Subjects: Tiếng Anh; trường Đại học Thương Mại
• Online Access: http://repository.vnu.edu.vn/handle/VNU_123/41101
• Institution: Vietnam National University, Hanoi

This is a survey study from across - cultural pragmatics perspective with the title “ the use of body language cues in presentations by English - majored freshmen at Vietnam University of Commerce” . It attempts to discover the current situation as well as the factors leading to their ways of adopting body language cues in presentations. To achieve the desired objectives of the current study, the qualitative method including two instruments namely questionnaire and observation is mainly employed . The informants participating in the survey questionnaire were eighty - five English majored first year students at VUC . The questionnaire was written in Vietnamese to make sure that all the respondents fully understand its content. In terms of observation, ten presentations were randomly chosen for video recording without their acknowledgement to minimize the external factors influencing the validity and reliability of the research. These video clips which last from 3 to 5 minutes can be reviewed in details later. Research results show that English majored freshmen do realize the importance of B.L in developing and completing their presentation skills , however, their actual performances regarding B.L in their speech are not really effective. They have not initiative to use the appropriate B.L cues for better presentations. In more details, they tend to avoid E.C and do not take the full advantage of smiling in presentations. Besides, the students here may be assumed to have unfavorable postures, which prevent them from getting the audiences’ attention , interest. The main elements leading to that reality are likely to be attributed to students’ tension, inadequate background knowledge of B.L, lack of preparation and culture factor. Last but not least , suggestions for materials and pedagogical implications will be discussed for practical steps to sharpen the students’ nonverbal communication for effective presentations