Ways To Prevent Misunderstandings in Receiving and Sending Information To Singaporean and Taiwanese Office Staff in Svenson Hair Centre.

ABSTRACT

Topik yang dibahas penulis dalam Tugas Akhir ini adalah kesalahpahaman yang
terjadi antara staf kantor Svenson Hair Centre di Indonesia dan Taiwan atau
Singapura. Kesalahan ini diakibatkan oleh aksen Bahasa Inggris staf Svenson Hair
Centre di Taiwan atau Singapura yang sulit dimengerti oleh staf di Indonesia. Hal ini
disebabkan karena mereka menggunakan aksen mandarin dalam berbicara bahasa
Inggris. Akibatnya, pesan yang diterima staf Indonesia berbeda dengan yang
dimaksud oleh staf Taiwan atau Singapura. Solusi potensial pertama untuk masalah
ini adalah dengan mencari perwakilan yang mengerti aksen Taiwan dan Singapura
dan dapat berkomunikasi dengan mereka dengan baik. Solusi potensial kedua
adalah dengan berkomunikasi menggunakan e-mail. Setelah membandingkan efek
positif dan negatif dari kedua solusi ini, penulis memilih berkomunikasi lewat e-mail
sebagai solusi terbaik.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………i
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY………………………………………………………..ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………….iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………………….v
CHAPTER I
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………….1
Background Of The Study………………………………………...1
Identification Of The Problem…………………………………….2
Objectives and Benefits Of The Study…………………………..2
Description Of The Institution…………………………………….3
Method Of The Study………………………………………….....4

Limitation Of The Study…………………………………………..4
Organization Of The Term Paper………………………………..5

CHAPTER II

PROBLEM ANALYSIS……………………………………………6

CHAPTER III

POTENTIAL SOLUTION………………………………………..10

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………...13

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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CRITICAL THINKING
FLOWCHART
 

Causes
Different accent and
week in listening skill

 
Problem
There  is some
mistakes about
sending information a
treatment which is
done in Singapore and
Taiwan

Effect

There is some
misunderstanding
about treatment in
Singapore and Taiwan
when i confirmed

Potential Negative
Effect
It can be a wrong
procedure

Potential soulition I
The company must
have person who has
good speaking skill in
English

Potential positive
effect
Both of them can

concentrate during
have a conversation
and they want to more
learn about english
language

Potential negative
effect
The company will lose
some profit

Potential solution II
Communication not
only use a telephone
but it can be use by
email

Potential positive
effect
Experience in

communication skill
will be increase

Choose potential
solution II
Communication not
only use a telephone
but it can be use by
email

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study
Dawson, Zollinger, and Elwell believe that all people in this world
need to communicate with other people and language is one of the
instruments that can be used as the means to communicate (23).
Nowadays, “over two hundred million people use English as their first
language, and millions more read and understand it as their second
language” (14): In other words, English language is the universal

language that is used by many people.
However, English used by different countries may have differences
in accents, and it might affect the gained meaning when a message is
transferred. Moreover, it is stated that:
each language has its own sound, scheme, or, better yet,
phonetic structure, which means not only sounds that have
different points of articulation from the ones we are used to,
but sets of oppositions between sounds that become
significant to the meaning and understanding. (Pei 146)

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In other words, one`s first language accent might influence his speech
in the second language or foreign language. Therefore, if one
pronounces a word differently and is not the same with the standard
pronunciation, it may cause a misunderstanding between the people
who communicate. In business, this can create misunderstandings

when the people have a business agreement that might lead to
business failure.
I am interested in discussing this problem based on the experience I
found while doing my apprenticeship in Svenson Hair Centre. As a
trichologist consultant or a person who works as hair and scalp
specialist, I handled clients from Indonesia who wanted a scalp and hair
treatment in Taiwan or Singapore. Sometimes there was a
misunderstanding between the office staff from Taiwan and Singapore
and me, and this problem was also experienced by other consultants in
Svenson Hair Centre.

B. Identification of the Problem
1. What are the causes and effects of not being familiar with
Taiwanese and Singaporean English accents in business
communication?
2. What are the ways to prevent misunderstandings caused by
different English accents of Taiwanese and Singaporean in
business communication?

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C. Objective and Benefits of the Study
The objective of the study is to know what the causes and effects of
misunderstandings caused by different accent especially Singaporean
and Taiwanese accents in business communication and the ways to
prevent misunderstandings caused by the different accents in business
communication.
The benefit of the study:
1.

For the company
This study can help the company prevent misunderstandings in
handling Singaporean and Taiwanese office staff, so that they can
satisfy their clients’ needs and maintain good image.

2.

For the readers
This term paper can be used to increase readers` knowledge about
how important the accuracy of business communication across
culture is.

3.

For the present writer
Increase my knowledge about how to understand the office staff
from Singapore and Taiwan, so that I can give better service for
Svenson Hair Center client in the future.

D. Description of the Institution
At first, Svenson Hair Centre was established in London, in 1956. It
is a company which runs a beauty centre, especially in scalp and hair
health. By using modern technology system, Svenson Hair Centre has

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been giving solutions to scalp and hair problems to many people for
over 50 years. With new trichological science and knowledge which is
science and knowledge about hair and scalp, plus a great number of
tricologist from the whole world, Svenson Hair Centre makes a scalp
and hair treatment program which is suitable for the scalp and hair
needs of every person.

E. Method of the Study
This study will be done by using cause and effect approach to know
which solution is the best for answering the identification of the
problem. Data gathering will be done by using library research and
internet research.

F. Limitation of the Study
The problem that I discuss in this paper happened during my
apprenticeship in Svenson Hair Centre from 13th of June 2008- 29th of
August 2008. This study is limited to discuss the problems in sending
and receiving information to Singaporean and Taiwanese office staff in
Svenson Hair Centre. The study is also limited only to finding solutions
which are possible to be adapted in Svenson Hair Centre in the near
future, and the result of the study is a solution which is supported by
quotations from library research and internet research.

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G. Organization of the Term Paper
This term paper starts with the Abstract, a summary of the entire
paper in Indonesian. This Abstract is followed by the
Acknowledgements, in which I thank the work contribution of other
parties. After that is The Table of Contents, followed by these four
Chapters:
Chapter I is the Introduction of the analysis
Chapter II is the Problem Analysis
Chapter III is the Potential Solution
Chapter IV is the Conclusion
In the final part, I present the Bibliography in alphabetical order.

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CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSIONS

In this chapter, I would like to state the best solution which is chosen to
solve the problem of sending and receiving information to Singaporean and
Taiwanese office staff in Svenson Hair Centre. The chosen solution is based
on the comparison of positive and negative effects of each solution in the
previous chapter.
The best solution to prevent misunderstandings in business
communication in sending and receiving information to Singaporean and
Taiwanese office staff is to communicate not only by telephone but also by
emails. Thus, after the staff communicate via telephone, the staff can use an
email to confirm the message. Since there is no accent in written language it
can reduce the misunderstanding. Moreover, email as one form of written
language can always be re-read again, thus one can re-check if he is not sure
at the first time reading or has forgotten it after some time. Using emails also
has some advantages for Svenson Hair Centre; because it is efficient, faster
and cheaper.

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I would like to give suggestion to Svenson Hair Centre to use email every
time they have to communicate with the office staff in Singapore and Taiwan
so that they will not be confused with the accent. Moreover, the senior staff
who had an experience in speaking with Singaporean and Taiwanese office
staff could share a knowledge and an experience when dealing with the staff
from Singapore or Taiwan. I also suggest Svenson Hair Centre to improve
their English to give better service in the future.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Printed Sources
Dawson, Mildred A, Marian Zollinger, and Arden Elwell. Guiding Language
Learning second edition. New York: Burlingame, 1963.
Pei, Mario. How to Learn Languages and What Languages to Learn. New
York: Harper and Row, 1973.
Purwanto, Djoko. Komunikasi Bisnis third edition. Jakarta: Erlangga, 2006.

Electronic Sources
Hweinberger, Steven. “About” 5 October 2008

Ulijn, Jan. M, Charless P. Campbell. Technical Innovation and Global
Business Communication. “Background for a Special Issue of the IEEE
Transactions on Professional Communication”. 5 October 2008
“English with a Chinese Accent” 6 November 2006. 5 October 2008

“Taiwanese Accent” Wikipedia.com.17 November 2008. 20 November 2008.

“About Email” Edinburgh University Website. 18 April 2006. 9 November
2008.

 

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