CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale

Over the centuries, there has been a great deal of research proving the

strong organic interconnection between language and culture. “Language is

rooted in culture and culture is reflected and passed on by language from

one generation to the next” (Emmitt & Pollock 1997). In other words,

language is the cover of culture expressed by ideas or words. They are

entwined so deeply that one cannot survive without the other. From this, we

can infer that learning a new language requires learning a new culture.

Derived from that objective, the teachers of English Department,

Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National

University, compiled and applied the course book “General Geography of

the U.K. and the U.S.” to teaching languages. It is considered the first step of

teaching and studying English for specific purposes, towards teaching and

studying specialized subjects in next semesters, such as British Studies and

American Studies. This subject has changed our first glance that we might

think studying geography somehow unexciting when just memorize the

names of countries, cities, places or signs on a map. However, geography is

much more than that. “While history studies events through time, geography

illustrates the relationship between human beings and their environment

through location and distinctive features”, which is a premise for us to study

further about culture.

The book “General Geography of the U.K and the U.S” is the

prescribed text used in the course for second-year students. It not only

systematically provides learners with basic knowledge about human and

1

physical geography of the U.K. and the U.S. but also offers students

opportunities to widen vocabulary, train language skills, especially reading

and speaking, practice pronunciation as well as to improve elementary

cultural awareness and critical thinking.

In fact, in the studying and teaching process, a great number of

problems have occurred to students, involving the material, method and

attitude. Nonetheless, these problems have not been taken seriously, with

little research on the same topic about studying General Geography of the

U.K and the U.S. That inspires us to carry out scientific research more

specifically on the difficulties in studying General Geography of the U.K.

and the U.S. and students’ attitudes towards this subject.

2. Scope and aims

After the first year studying HULIS-VNU, the students in Department

of Anglo-American Languages and Cultures have the chance to study

General Geography of the U.K. and U.S.. During one semester studying the

subject, they often have many troubles, thus, we do this research for them

about their difficulties appearing in materials and method of studying. The

course book named “General geography of the U.K. and the U.S.”, the

compulsory material for learners and the skills required for studying method

like language skills, searching or synthesis skills are what we analyze in the

research.

Besides, we think learners’ attitude towards any subject is one key

factor that strongly influences the amount of knowledge they get from the

subject. Consequently, we started analyzing the attitude of the second year

students’ towards General Geography.

2

Doing this research, we hope to give our general and critical view on

the situation of studying General Geography among the second year students

of HULIS-VNU. Beyond that, we aim at giving some suggestions for them

to overcome the difficulties in studying the subject and get better results in

more specialized subjects such as British Studies, American Studies, and

Cross – Cultural Communication…

3. Study method

The Literature Review was built by referred from some other research

and journals. Then the survey questionnaire survey was designed and issued

to targeted students. The data analysis and discussion were processed then

some suggestions was come up to. Finally, the conclusion was made.

4. Design of the research

The research is divided into six chapters. Chapter I, Introduction,

includes Rationale, Aims and scope of the study, Study method and Design

of the study. Chapter II contained Definition, Characteristics of the subject

and Previous research. Chapter III is the Methodology in which Data

collection instruments, data analysis an interview are presented. In chapter

IV, Results and discussion includes Materials for General Geography,

Method of studying General Geography and Attitudes toward General

Geography. Chapter V, Suggestions, is the suggestions for better studying

General Geography. The last chapter, Conclusion, mentions Summary,

Research Limitation and Suggestion for further research

3

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Definition

According to Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913),

Geography is the science which treats of the world and its inhabitants; a

description of the earth, or a portion of the earth, including its structure,

features, products, political divisions, and the people by whom it is

inhabited.

Thralls (1958) stated that Geography is the physical-social science

which describes, maps, and seeks to explain the interrelations between man

and his physical environment.

The two definitions above means Geography is the science that

describes, analyzes and explains the earth as the home of human beings and

specially emphasizes on physical and social environment However, beyond

the surface meanings of knowledge, Geography assists to develop people’s

cultural awareness.

Then, as a course, General geography of the U.S. and U.K. basically

introducing the rudimentary knowledge of physical and social environment

of U.K. and U.S. for students of English. Thereof, the advantage of this

subject for those students are supposed to be obvious.

2. Characteristics of the subject

4

From the definitions, the physical and human elements are inter

related, and the interpretation of that interrelationship gives distinctive

characteristics to the subject of geography.

Some highlighted characteristics of General Geography possibly

named are acquisition of locations and their names, the typical features of

the locations such as their symbols and meanings, topography, weather and

climate, etc. Moreover, this course provides the large amount of reading

passages for each unit that students need to proofread; consequently,

requires comprehension and summary ability from students, which infers to

the language skills, mainly reading and speaking. In addition, the subject is

characterized by the various extended general knowledge about human

geography, i.e. politics, economics, laws but in the most humble way.

Understandably, the course “General geography of the U.K. and the

U.S.” is an enthralling subject yet challenging. The main challenges

originated from both the shortcomings of the course and the students.

3. Previous research

We have surfed on the Internet and other sources of information for

other research that share the similar aims with ours, but we failed to find any

relevant one.

Most of them deal with problems and solutions of studying General

Geography for students in their own languages, which means language is no

more barrier for learners. A sample journal: “World Regional Geography

and Problem-Based Learning: Using Collaborative Learning Groups in

5

an Introductory-Level World Geography Course”, Fournier, Eric J., The

Journal of General Education - Volume 51, Number 4, 2002, pp. 293-305.

Other research built up the method of studying and teaching General

Geography of the U.K. and U.S. for students of foreign languages. However,

they did not provide us with main obstacles and attitudes towards the subject

of students. A sample study: “Using visual aids to study General

Geography of the U.K. and the U.S.”, Nguyen Thi Lai (2006)

Realizing the situation, we have decided to venture our research to

this intriguing topic.

6

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

1. Data collection instrument

In order to achieve our objectives, a survey questionnaire was

designed. Then it was copied and distributed to the sample of 128 students

including 120 second year students of mainstream and 8 second year

students of fast-track program in Department of Anglo-American Languages

and Cultures, Hanoi University of International Languages and Studies,

VNU.

The questionnaire was divided into three parts. Part I, Materials for

General Geography, includes 4 questions concerning the materials to study

General Geography. Part II is Method of studying General Geography which

elaborates the methods students use to study General Geography with 5

questions. Finally, Part III is Attitudes towards General Geography with 3

questions which determine students’ thinking and expectation of the subject.

2. Data analysis

After being collected, the copies of questionnaire were counted and

synthesized by statistical method. Then they were presented by tables and

charts and added comments by researchers.

3. Interview

In the end, an interview was conducted to check the validity and

reliability of the questionnaire. 24 students who did the survey were

randomly chosen to involve in the interview.

7

CHAPTER IV:

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

We did a survey among 128 second-year students of HULIS, VNU (eight

students of fast-track groups and 120 students of mainstream groups) and an

interview among 24 students involved in the survey questionnaire and

received the results as follows:

1. Materials

Question 1: What do you think about the amount of information in the

course book “General Geography of the U.K and the U.S” (GG)?

Answers Percentage

A. Insufficient 7%

B. Enough 52.5%

C. Too much 40.5%

Although 52.5% of the second year students found the amount of

information of the course book enough for them, there are still a large

percentage of them (40.5%) reflecting that the amount of information was

too much. Some units of the book provided so much information that they

had difficulties in memorizing it. For example, when counting the number

of A4 pages filled with words (except for lead-in, follow-up and

comprehension check parts), we saw that the information of unit 8 covered

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10 pages, unit 11 covered 13 pages and unit 13 covered 14 pages. Not to

mention reading the content of those units, just by counting the pages like

that, we can realize the large amount of information the learners have to

remember. More importantly, memorizing it as much as possible is the key

factor that leads to the success of the end-term test. This can explain why in

the final examination of General Geography in 2008, there were 209/435

(48.5%) of the students getting marks under 6.

Question 2: How do you find the wording of the course book?

Answers Percentage

A. Simple and comprehensible 13.3%

B. Complicated but comprehensible 75.8%

C. Complicated and incomprehensible 10.9%

For this question, the number of students who found the wording of

the course book complicated overwhelms the number of those who found it

simple. In total, there are 86.7% choosing answer B and C, which means

86.7% agreed that complication is the feature of the wording. Although only

10.9% thought that it was difficult to understand the content of the course

book, it is worthy to find out the reasons for the wording to be considered

incomprehensible and the solution to this problem. Beside those students’

limited ability, the wording of the course book has its own drawbacks. One

9

of the factors leading the students to feel hard to understand the content of

the book is numerous new words and terminologies. For example, in the

second paragraph of page 180, in the first sub-part named “Local history”,

part B. Washington, D.C., unit 11, there are many new words and

terminologies, which appear constantly within 159 words: prominence,

executive, legislative, ratify, intersection, grid, etc.

After interviewing some students, we discovered one of the reasons

causing them difficulties in memorizing the information of the course book

is that geographical subjects and social or economic ones are mentioned at

the same time without division. For instance, in page 167, there are eight

paragraphs about different aspects of Megalopolis, which are typography,

economy, and population. If only those eight paragraphs were arranged into

three main parts with the titles like three aspects above, readers could easily

follow and remember the information in such a page filled with words. This

drawback of the book also had a bad influence on the quality of the learners’

summation of many units in the book (summarizing important units is a

compulsory task for them). Dang Thanh Diem, a student in class E1K41,

Department of Anglo-American Languages and Cultures, HULIS-VNU said

that it had been a trouble for her to sum up some units fairly as in which

geographical and cultural matters are cited alternately and she knew that her

summary was not excellent.

Question 3: How do you find the illustrations (maps, charts, or pictures,

etc.) in the course book effective in supporting the content?

10

Answers Percentage

A. Effective 62.5%

B. Rather effective 28.9%

C. Ineffective 8.6%

Of the second year students, there are more than a quarter finding the

illustrations in the course book rather ineffective and approximately one

tenth finding it ineffective. This statistic is not really impressive but there

still occurs a problem in the illustrations. Having much time analyzing the

course book, we found out that in page 166, there was no notes under the

map. Many students could not figure out what the map illustrated.

Meanwhile, the paragraph beside the map included many proper names,

which influenced readers to require explanation. While reading the sentence:

“Megalopolis is a heavily-populated area extending from southern Maine to

southern Virginia”, the students expected to see the illustration of Maine;

however, no sign of Maine existed on the map.

Question 4: What sources do you find extra information for studying

General Geography beside the course book? (You can choose more than one

choice)

Answers Percentage

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A. No sources 24.2%

B. Websites 67.2%

C. Books in the library 12.5%

D. Others 1.6%

(learn from friends or slides teachers

provide)

About a quarter of the students did not find extra information for

studying General Geography except the course book. This situation can help

us to infer that they did not have much enthusiasm for studying this subject.

While reading the book, especially answering to many questions of Lead-in

and Follow-up sections, they needed to find extra information as the

Reading Text sections did not include the answers. The follow-up section of

page 28, in which there were a table lacking statistics of Vietnamese’s

population can be a bright example. Putting much attention to this part,

students would have spent time looking for the statistics.

In comparison with the percentages of others, the percentage of the

students selecting the answer B outnumbers. 67.2% of the students looked

for new information from websites, which means the Internet is the most

popular source of data. The small percentage of those who chose the answer

C shows that library is not an ideal data bank to support their study of

General Geography.

12

2. Methods of studying

Question 5. How are you likely to deal with new words and terminologies?

(Can choose more than one)

Answer Percentage

Look up in dictionary 71.1%

Guess 26.56%

Skip 4.69 %

In this question, while 26.56% of students tried to guess the meanings

of words, based on the context, nearly 3 times as many as that number

(71.1%) tended to look up in dictionary immediately. Just 4.69% of them

chose answer C: skip them. In some cases, though it might be accepted but

not a good way to study the book thoroughly.

Question 6. How often do you read the course book before class?

Answer Percentage

Never 3.1%

Sometimes 40.6%

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Usually 41.4%

Always 14.9%

In question 6, only 3.1% learners chose the first alternative: never

read the course book before class. The number of students answering

“always” was not much, either. It accounted for 14.9% - an insignificant

figure. The quantity choosing “sometimes” and “usually” was similar, which

were relatively 40.6% and 41.4%.

Question 7. How often do you revise what you have learnt in class?

Answer Percentage

Never 7.03%

Sometimes 63.38%

Usually 29.69%

Always 0 %

In question 7, there was a great difference among the answers. None

of students surveyed always revised what they learned in-class. It was

understandable when studying at university did not demand daily oral test as

it did in high schools. Therefore, students focused on knowledge right before

going to class or before exams, not at any time, at any place. The percentage

14

of answer A “never revise lessons” was also small with 7.03%. It could be

explicable. If one never revises lessons after class, he or she is more likely to

fail in the exam. The number of students who said “sometimes” constituted

63.38%, almost tripled that of students who answer “usually”.

Question 8. In what way do you revise the knowledge in the course book?

(Can choose more than one)

Answer Percentage

Read the course book 52.34%

Do exercises in the course book 73.43%

Summarize main points 37.5%

Read the slides from teachers 55.47%

Others (specify) 0.78%

o Discuss with friends

o Study the students’

presentation

According to the data collected in the above table, the major of

students were inclined to study by the traditional way: do exercise in the

course book. Up to now, it has been still effective enough for learners. The

number of people choosing reading lessons in books or on slides shared

equivalent proportion (52.34% and 55.47%). A little bit smaller quantity

15

agreed with “summarize main points”. This difference might be explained

that each student found an appropriate method for himself or herself.

Question 9. Between the two activities in GG classes: discussions and

lectures, which one do you prefer?

Answers Percentage

A. More lectures than discussions 15.54%

B. More discussions than lectures 20.86%

C. Balance between lectures and

discussions

63.78%

For this question, the most preferable method of studying in GG

class was balance between lectures and discussions (63.78% students). The

second most one was more discussions than lectures according to 20.86%

students. However, 15.54% students wanted more lectures than discussions.

To specify how balance the discussions and lectures should be, the

interviewees were referred. Most of them found it reasonable for two thirds

of lesson-time used for discussions.

Question 10. Have you joined or are you interested in activities about

American and British cultures such as meetings or festivals organized by

British Embassy or American Center?

16

Answer Percentage

Yes 29.69%

No 70.31%

This was an opening question and showed extroversion, involving

extra-curriculum activities. It also reflected the activeness, creative

dynamism, and self-motion of students. Approximately one third of them

ticked yes. In contrast, the percentage answering “no” made up for 70.31%.

3. Attitudes towards General Geography

Question 11. Which description below is similar to you most in GG

classes?

Answers Percentage

A. Only raise your voice when being called by

teachers

49/114 (43%)

B. Sometimes volunteers to raise your voice 65/114 (56%)

C. Usually express your ideas or knowledge

actively and enthusiastically

9/114 (1%)

17

When being requested about the participation and enthusiasm in

class, 43% students chose that they only raised their voice when being

called. In regard of participation counting and marking, 56% sometimes

volunteer to raise voice in class. However, it is only 1% that usually

expressed their ideas or knowledge actively and enthusiastically. This

situation presents the tend-to-negative attitude in studying of students. They

hesitated to express ideas and knowledge in class. Among those whose did

the interviews, two thirds claimed the hesitation in raising voice in class.

One most supposed reason is the reckless preparation for the lessons, which

decreased their confidence to answer teacher’s questions.

Question 12. What do you expect after studying GG?

Answers Percentage

A. Improving language skills 8/110 (7.27%)

B. Gaining knowledge about US & UK 16/110 (14.55%)

C. Both improving language skills and

gaining knowledge about US and UK

75/110 (68.18%)

D. Just passing the exam 9/110 (10%)

In question 12, the expectation of the majority of students (68.18%)

when studying General Geography of the UK and US is both improving

language skills and gaining knowledge about US and UK. The following

expectation is only gaining geographical knowledge of 14.55% students

18

while demand for improving language skills by this subject is of 7.27%

students. It is notable that 10% students left studying General Geography

was just for passing the exam. From the result above, the expectation of

students mainly focuses on improving geographical knowledge and language

skill, which revealed the trend of content-based language learning. Beside

sharpening the language skill, the content while studying also importantly

has influence on students. The process of learning content-based language is

supposed to be doubly advantageous.

19

CHAPTER V: SUGGESTIONS

After ascertaining the difficulties in studying General Geography of

the UK & the US, we propose some suggestions, which hopefully help the

second year students to get better studying achievement.

1. Suggestion for improving the quality of the course book

Firstly, for the illustrations of the book, more notes are required to

specify the maps. These expectantly increase the effectiveness of the

illustrations.

Another suggestion is about the format of the book. When many

issues are mentioned such as geography, economy and population in the

same part, we hope to see them being divided into different subparts so that

learners can memorize the information more easily.

Beside the matter of the format, the quantity the information of the

General Geography course book is quite large, thus, we hope that key issues

are more emphasized rather than detailed ones. In some units such as unit

10, 11 and 13 as we analyzed previously in chapter IV, the amount of the

information should be reduced.

2. Suggestion for methods of studying

As for the very first problem students might face up with, handling

strange words, we should guess what it means due to the context, the content

of unit or find homonyms. When still cannot understand words, look them

up in dictionary, especially specific dictionaries for geography. Skipping

20

them is preferred in exams when we are under pressure of time, but when we

read books for reference; we had better know them carefully.

For the revision, actually, it is not necessary for whole-day revision

and day-by-day but “Sometimes” or “usually” is encouraged. In our opinion,

depending on time management and own ability to absorb and remember

knowledge, learners can choose by themselves the suitable time for review.

Some interviewees said that they often use one or two hours per day per

week to look over what they have received from class. Others only re-read

lessons thoroughly before the coming exam but not during the whole

studying process. It is also accepted since students at university suffer from

workload. Nevertheless, it is advisable to study step by step, day by day,

which will benefit them more.

For extracurricular activities, it is strongly recommended that our

students need to participate in international organizations or culture-

exploring programs more vivaciously. It is both useful for our academic

studying and helpful for us to train life-skills.

3. Suggestions for students’ attitude toward the subject

In class, it is advisable for students to positively contribute to the

lessons. Beside being called by teachers, students should raise their voices to

ask or to add extra information which they may know to the lectures. It is a

way to evaluate how knowledgeable both teachers and students are.

Consequently, the lessons become more interesting and lively, which

attracts and inspires students more. Especially, enthusiasm in class

discussions has influence in the efficiency of lessons. Only when being

21

deeply involved in discussion can students learn and remember knowledge

better.

For every subject, motivation is indispensable for learners. Students,

therefore, should find one for themselves to stimulate positive attitude

toward the subject. For example, studying General Geography of the U.K.

and the U.S. is the first stage to reach high award in some kinds of Cultural

Exploring Contest; or with such knowledge, a person can relieve from

cultural shock if there is any chance to visit those countries, etc.

22

CHAPTER VI: CONCLUSION

1. Summary

To conclude, in this paper, we have studied the difficulties and

attitudes of students when learning General Geography of the U.K and the

U.S. The paper has shown problems of materials such as the large amount of

information, the long and complicated expression, the unclear illustrations.

Yet, it does not cause learners a great deal of trouble. What are the more

considerable problems here are students’ methods of studying. The majority

have not expressed or followed a scientific way. They have seemed to study

passively and unconfidently. Without the great assiduousness, the intelligent

vivaciousness, and the immense passion, they have not made use of this

interesting book as well as this appealing subject. Hence, the result shown in

the final exam is not as good as it should be.

2. Research limitations

Due to the limit of researchers’ understanding and time, the

shortcomings in this research paper are inevitably unavoidable. According to

the Aims, a critical view on the situation of studying General Geography

among the second year students of HULIS-VNU would be presented;

however, this view is incomprehensive since it is judged only from learners’

side. Besides, the data collection instrument and interview are limited.

Questionnaire and interview assist to provide information to analyze and

check result’s validity but the population is small so information needed is

inadequate. In regard of suggestions, some are general and reluctant. There

is a need for more practical and creative suggestions.

23

3. Suggestion for further research

Research on General Geography of the U.K and U.S for students of

HULIS-VNU is a necessary and innovative work for those who concerns

about Country Studies. In terms of attitude of students toward General

Geography of the U.K and the U.S, it is interesting if the trend of content-

based learning is researched more thoroughly. Moreover, beside

questionnaire, interview should be conducted more carefully to ensure the

reliability of result. Thereby, the studying of intercultural subjects could be

better.

24

Appendices

RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE

We, Tran Kieu Hanh, Pham Hoai Thu, and Bui Thi Quynh Trang from E1K41,

are now doing a research on

“Difficulties in Studying General Geography of the UK & the US

and the Attitudes toward the Subject of 2nd year Students in HULIS-VNU”.

Our aim is to help the second year students get better studying results of the

subject. Thus, we wish you to answer our questions frankly. All of your

information would be regarded as valuable contribution to our research.

Thank you for your cooperation!

I. Materials for General Geography

1. What do you think about the amount of information in the course book

“General Geography of the U.K & the U.S” (GG)?

A. insufficient

B. enough

C. too much

2. How do you find the wording of the course book?

A. Simple and comprehensible

B. Complicated but comprehensible

C. Complicated and incomprehensible

3. How do you find the illustrations (maps, charts, or pictures, etc.) in

the course book effective in supporting the content?

A. Effective

B. Rather ineffective

C. Ineffective

25

4. What sources do you find extra information for studying GG beside

the course book?(You can choose more than one choice)

A. No sources

B. Websites

C. Books in the library

D. Others (Please specify: ...............................................................)

II. Method of studying General Geography

5. How are you likely to deal with new words and terminologies?

A. Look up in dictionary

B. Guess

C. Skip

6. How often do you read the course book before class?

A. Never C. Usually

B. Sometimes D. Always

7. How often do you revise what you have learnt in class?

A. Never C. Usually

B. Sometimes D. Always

8. How do you revise? (You can tick more than one choice for this

question)

A. Read the course book

B. Do exercises in the course book

C. Summarize the content of each unit in the course book

D. Read the slides teachers sent

E. Others (Please specify: ………………………………………………….)

9. Between the two activities in GG classes: discussions and lectures,

which one do you prefer?

A. More lectures than discussions

B. More discussions than lectures

26

C. Balance between lectures and discussion

10. Do you join activities about American and British cultures such as

meetings or festivals organized by British Embassy or American

Center?

A. Yes B. No

III. Attitudes towards General Geography

11.Which description below is similar to you most in GG classes?

A. Only raise your voice when being called by teachers

B. Sometimes volunteer to raise your voice

C. Usually express your ideas or knowledge actively and enthusiastically

12. What do you expect after studying GG?

A. Improving language skills

B. Gaining knowledge about US and UK

C. Both A & B

D. Just passing the exams

Thank you again for your

cooperation!

27

References

Thralls, Zoe Agnes. (1958). The Teaching of Geography. Appleton –

Century – Crofts

Fournier, Eric J. (2002). World Regional Geography and Problem-Based

Learning: Using Collaborative Learning Groups in an Introductory-

Level World Geography Course The Journal of General Education.

Project MUSE – The General Journal of Education. 2 March. 2009.

<http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/journal_of_general_education/

v051/51.4fournier.html>

Nguyen, Thi Lai. (2006). Using Visual Aids to study General Geography of

the U.K. and the U.S. HULIS-VNU

Leveridge, Aubrey Neil. (Sept. 2008). The Relationship Between Language

and Culture and the Implications to Language Teaching. TEFL. 26

Feb. 2009. <http://edition.tefl.net/articles/language-and-culture/>

University of Wisconsin. Why study Geography? 25 Feb. 2009.

<http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/geography.aspx>

Ross, A. (2006). Citizenship Education: Europe and the World: Proceedings

of the eighth Conference of the Children’s Identity and Citizenship in

Europe Thematic Network,. CiCe (London).

Careers in Geography, National Geographic Society. (1996).

28

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