Investor's Difficulties in Comprehending Written Business English News at Monex Investindo Futures.

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i Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Dalam bisnis perdagangan indeks mata uang asing dan indeks saham di PT MONEX Investindo Futures, berita terbaru yang dibutuhkan oleh para investor adalah berita yang menggunakan bahasa Inggris. Para investor memutuskan untuk membeli atau menjual indeks mata uang asing berdasarkan berita terbaru tersebut. Oleh karena itu, penguasaan bahasa Inggris menjadi penting dalam memahami berita aktual tersebut.

Saya menemukan dua permasalahan yang dihadapi oleh para investor dalam memahami berita-berita yang berbahasa Inggris. Pertama adalah banyaknya investor yang tidak mempunyai latar belakang bahasa Inggris yang cukup baik. Kedua adalah banyaknya kosa kata dan idiom bisnis yang berbeda dengan bahasa Inggris pada umumnya. Akibat dari sebab yang pertama adalah investor menghadapi kesulitan untuk memahami berita terbaru, sementara akibat dari sebab yang kedua yaitu kesalahpahaman dalam menangkap isi dan pesan dari berita yang tersedia.

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ii Maranatha Christian University

FLOWCHART

Causes:

1. There are many investors who do not have an English language background.

2. Business vocabularies and business idioms that are hard to understand.

Problem:

Investor’s difficulties in comprehending written business English news at MONEX Investindo Futures.

Effects:

Investors may take the wrong decision in investing as they have no reference (news) with their

investment.

Potential negative effects:

The news on newspaper was an out of date news. As a result, relying on the out-of-date news makes the

investor take wrong decision.

Potential Solution I:

Providing the update business news to investors by giving them local newspaper that can be understood by investors.

Potential positive effect:

Investors can decide their investment for they can get the full update business news in Indonesian language.

Potential negative effect:

There is a difference between vocabularies and idioms that are used in the films and in the news.

Potential Solution II:

Investors will be given translation table of either business vocabularies or business idioms by choosing some suitable films which are giving business information about business idioms and vocabularies.

Potential positive effect:

Investors will get more awareness when learning idioms from both the translation table and films

Chosen Solution: SOLUTION II

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THE BUSINESS ENGLISH NEWS EXAMPLE

INTERNET SOURCE:

Asian economic outlook 'bleak' for 2009

(CNN) -- Asia's economic growth will tumble to the slowest pace since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a report released Tuesday.

"The short term outlook for the region is bleak as the full impact of the severe recession in industrialized economies is transmitted to emerging markets," said Jong-Wha Lee, acting chief economist for the ADB.

The Asian Development Outlook 2009 forecasts that economic growth in developing Asia will slip to 3.4 percent in 2009, down from 6.3 percent last year and 9.5 percent in 2007. Growth could improve to 6 percent in 2010, if the global economy experiences a mild recovery next year, the report says.

"The concern for the region, and especially for the region's poor, is that it is not yet clear that the [United States], European Union and Japan will recover as soon as next year," Lee said.

The slowdown should prompt Asian countries to expand their economic base and not be as dependent on exports, according to the report.

Despite the downturn, the report says Asia is in a much better position to cope with the current crisis than it was in the late 1990s.

"Large foreign currency reserves and steadily declining inflation rates will provide policymakers with the necessary tools to nurse their economies through the hard times ahead," the report said.

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Maranatha Christian University In November, China announced plans to inject $586 billion (4 trillion yuan) into its economy to offset declines in industrial and export growth. That economic stimulus plan included the loosening of credit restrictions, tax cuts and massive infrastructure spending.

(CNN.com)

NEWSPAPER SOURCE:

North Korea Revalues Currency at 100 to 1

Seoul. North Korea revamped its national currency for the first time in 17 years, reports said on Tuesday, in a move that appeared aimed at reviving its dilapidated economy by curbing inflation and black market trading.

North Korea revalued its currency at an exchange rate between old and new notes of 100 to 1, China’s Xin Hua news agency said in a dispatch from Pyongyang, citing a North Korea Foreign Minister dispatch to foreign embassies.

The exchange of old notes started Monday and will continue until Sunday, Xin Hua reported. It said no reason was provided for the sudden change.

State-run shops in Pyongyang were closed on Tuesday morning, with one unidentified saleswoman saying the shops would reopen a week later after new prices for commodities are set by the government, Xinhua said.

The revaluation drove residents in Pyongyang to rush to black markets to convert stashed-away money into dollars and Chinese yuan, Yonhap News Agency said in Seoul, citing North Korea traders operating in China.

“Pyonghyang residents were taken aback and thrown into a big confusion due to the currency reform,” they said.

Yonhap said the revamp was aimed at fighting inflation and flushing out money traded on the black market.

South Korea’s mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper said the

redenomination was to start from Tuesday, and speculated that the move is part of leader Kim Jong-il’s way of tightening control over his nation’s 24 million people as he prepares to hand over power to one of his three known sons.

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EXAMPLES OF BUSINESS IDIOMS AND BUSINESS

VOCABULARIES

From Internet sources: (that use as a reference in making a translation table)

Bear Market:

Investor often refer this term as “pasar beruang”, but the true meaning is a situation in the market where the rates of foreign exchange are falling under 20%. (example: US Dollar’s rates are decreased to 17%). (finance.yahoo.com)

Will:

It is a term to refer to a legal document that use to transfer assets we have accumulated during lifetime to the people you want to have them after our death.

(finance.yahoo.com)

Face value:

It is a term to refer to a trustworthy person in business. ( www.rong-chang.com/business).

Red ink:

It means that we have a debt (when we have a debt, the red ink is usually sealed on financial statement document). (

www.rong-chang.com/business). Real time:

It refers when in market stock, the price has rise constantly. (finance.yahoo.com)

Risk:

The greater risk the investors take in their investment, the greater the return of the successfully investment. (finance.yahoo.com).

Rollover:

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Maranatha Christian University Yankee Bond:

This is when an US Dollar rates has been decreased, and at the same time, the US Government take an act to prevent more damage to the rates (in other word, this is refer to situation where US Government try to

stabilize their dollar’s rates) (finance.yahoo.com).

Conscience Fund

Known as socially responsible funds, allow you to invest in companies whose business practices are in keeping with your personal values. (finance.yahoo.com).

From film sources (that I found as a good reference for investors to improve the knowledge of business idioms and vocabularies):

“the trust fund to runs out”

It means that the money of the corporation has been out”

“joint venture”

It means a deal between two corporations who decide to join hands.

“revenue stream”

In Indonesia, it means “arus pendapatan”

“seize funds”

In Indonesia, It means “membekukan dana”.

“throw it a rope and pull it out of a swamp”

It means saving the corporation from the nearly bankruptcy.

All of those idioms’ quotes are courtesy of: The Dark Knight (2008, Warner Bros Copyright)

The Confession of Shopaholic (2008, Buena Vista International Copyright) The Devil Wears Prada (2006, 20th Century Fox Copyright)

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EXAMPLES OF TRANSLATION TABLE

Account balance: Jumlah uang yang berada disatu perusahaan.

Broker: Penghubung antara pembeli dan penjual (buyer and seller). Dengan kata lain, fungsi broker disini adalah mempertemukan antara si pembeli dan penjual. Segala berkas ijin administrasi (seperti surat kontrak resmi dari Bursa Efek Indonesia) pun diurus oleh Broker.

Baby bond: Perusahaan saham yang tidak memiliki banyak investor menerapkan suatu kebijakan dimana investor cukup menginvestasikan dibawah 10 juta rupiah (1000 dollar AS) saja. Kebijakan ini yang

dinamakan “baby bond”.

Bear Market: Harga nilai mata uang dan saham menurun dibawah 20%.

Will: Warisan/ Pengindahan asset berharga terhadap seseorang ketika kita sudah mati.

Face value: Orang terpercaya ketika melakukan bisnis. (dengan kata lain menjadi semacam mitra kerja yang membantu kita).

Bearer bond: Sertifikat untuk menjaga ke-valid-an nilai investasi yang kita invest ke suatu perusahaan saham, dan bilamana kita memperoleh profit, jumlah bonus yang kita terima dibayar dan di cap resmi berdasarkan sertifikat ini.

Red ink: Hutang.

Bull market: Periode dimana harga nilai mata uang sedang jatuh bersamaan dan dalam jangka waktu lama.

Real time: Periode dimana harga saham dan mata uang sedang naik bersamaan.

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Maranatha Christian University Escrow: Istilah untuk individu/institusi yang menjaga/memegang asset milik kita yang kita titipkan sebagai jaminan terhadap satu perusahaan. Escrow menjaga asset tersebut dalam jangka waktu sesuai dengan yang tertera dalam kontrak resmi. Aset yang dititipkan bisa berupa uang, surat-surat berharga, rumah, gedung perusahaan.

Rollover: Hibah (Mengibahkan asset milik sendiri kepada individu/institusi lain).

Yankee Bond: Isu yang beredar dalam pasar modal yang mengatakan kalau dollar AS sedang turun, dan pemerintah AS turun tangan

memberikan statement untuk menstabilkan kembali nilai dollarnya.

Sell short: Strategi penjualan nilai saham dan mata uang untuk mengantisipasi disaat nilai mata uang sedang turun.

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1 Maranatha Christian University

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

The issue I want to discuss in this term-paper is investor’s difficulties in

comprehending written English business news at PT MONEX Investindo

Futures. MONEX is a securities company in Bandung which trades stock

index and foreign exchange index. At MONEX, English business news

which consists of political and economic news is very important to

customers (they were called ‘investors’ at MONEX). It is because the world

news (especially business news) could give an effect to the fluctuation of

exchange rates. The foreign exchange rates can increase or decrease

depending on the news. For example, the policy of the United States

(U.S.) of America government to put their armies in Iraq has decreased the

US dollar’s rates. As a result, after reading the news, customers should

make a decision quickly to make an investment, whether to buy or to sell

US Dollar exchange. That is why English business news is important to

investors at MONEX. The news is taken from written formats from

newspapers and the internet. I will add the examples of written business

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Nonetheless, when I was in my internship program at MONEX, I saw

that investors had a difficulty when they had to read English business

news. Investors often ask MONEX’s staffs to inform them of the news

summary in Indonesian language. Owing to this fact, it has become

MONEX’s duties to give a satisfactory service to their customers by giving

them information (summary) of the news that is easy to understand in

Indonesian language. When I was in internship, I was given a task to

provide and inform the summary of the news in Indonesian language for

investors. In making a news summary for the investors, I have to

comprehend the business news.

This is where I found what makes the investors struggle when they

have to comprehend business news. One of the reasons why it was hard

to comprehend the news is there are many unfamiliar terms, i.e. business

idioms and business vocabularies. Why it is that business terms was

difficult to comprehend is because business terms will have a different

meaning when the term has been converted into Indonesian language.

Learning from these difficulties, I will analyze the problems that

investors’ meet. I will explain what causes the problems, what are the

effects, and what are the solutions needed. I will explain these aspects

with relevant theories, internship journal, and my experience in

comprehending business news when I was at MONEX.

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B. Identification of the Problem

1. What causes the difficulties in comprehending English business

news?

2. What is the effect that is caused by the difficulties in comprehending

English business news?

3. What are the solutions needed to improve the comprehension of

English business news?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

Based on the problem above, the objectives of the study are to find the

best solution to comprehend English business news which consists of

business vocabularies and business idioms. It is important to learn

business vocabularies and business idioms in order to comprehend

business news and also when doing business activities.

As for the benefit of my study, I will achieve more knowledge about the

business world, especially about stock index and foreign exchange index

business. In doing this business, I required to comprehend written

business news from the internet and newspapers. Automatically, I will

improve my reading comprehension skill.

The benefit for the readers (especially for MONEX’s investors) is to

help them to know more about the business world. Hopefully, this paper

will also help them the importance of business vocabularies and business

idioms, especially if they want to do business, including stock index and

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D. Description of the Institution

PT Monex Investindo Futures is located at Jalan Ir. H. Juanda number

70, Bandung. It is one of the subsidiaries of Monex Group in Indonesia.

Other offices are in Jakarta, Cirebon, Surabaya, Tegal, and Purwokerto.

The head office is in Menara Ravindo 9th Floor at Jalan Kebon Sirih, Jakarta. PT Monex itself is one of the business subsidiaries of Ravindo, a

group widely known for its economic activities, such as financial services,

manufacturing, mining, property, and international trading.

PT Monex Investindo Futures was established to be a specialist in

foreign exchange trading, stock indices, and commodities.

PT Monex has professional employees who are educated well in

business. In order to achieve the customers’ satisfaction, they provide

information and excellent customer service in a secure and transparent

environment.

They are supported by professionals with extensive experience in the

foreign exchange and global capital market. Moreover, they are directly

linked to the world’s largest financial centers, enabling them to have

access to inter-bank prices and allowing them to provide competitive

quotes and excellent service to their clients.

PT Monex Investindo Futures is quickly growing and developing

because of the extensive market and the support from highly experienced

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E. Method of the Study

In this term-paper, I use library research in collecting theories from one

book. In addition, I use several data from the Internet, my own journal from

internship, and my experience.

F. Limitation of the Study

The limitation of this term-paper is the problem concerning English

news that is hard for investors to comprehend due to a lot of business

vocabularies and business idioms. The term-paper will also explain the

cause of what makes the difficulties in comprehending business

vocabularies and business idioms and what are the solutions needed to

solve the problem.

G. Organization of the Term-paper

I would like to divide the term-paper into six parts. The first part is

Abstract. The second part is Acknowledgements. The third part is Table of

Contents. The fourth part is Contents, which consists of Chapter One

(consisting of Introduction, Background of the Study, Identification of the

Problem, Objectives and Benefits of the Study, Description of the

Institution, Method of the Study, Limitation of the Study, and Organization

of the Term-paper), Chapter Two (which is Problem Analysis), Chapter

Three (which is Potential Solutions, containing potential solutions and their

positive and negative effects), and Chapter Four, the conclusion. Then the

term-paper ends with Bibliography and Appendix.

Branch Manager Bandung Welgiawan

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

In the previous chapter, I have already stated the problem with their

causes and effects, and also three solutions to solve the investor’s

difficulties in comprehending English business news. The first cause is

there are many investors who do not have an English language

background. The effect is investors will miss the update news so that they

will take a wrong decision to invest. The second cause is the difficulties in

comprehending business idioms and business vocabularies that occur in

the news. The effect is the misunderstanding in comprehending the news.

The first solution is help providing the update business news to investors

by giving them local newspapers that they can understand. The second

solution is give a translation table of either business vocabularies or

business idioms by recommend them some suitable films which are giving

business information so that they can learn and understand business

vocabularies and business idioms.

In this chapter, I will conclude the whole problem with one best

potential solution. As the best potential solution, with its potential positive

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decision to choose the second solution as the best possible solution is

because in order to comprehend business news, the knowledge of

business idioms and business vocabularies are considerably needed. This

is what Serenson states: to comprehend business news, we have to

understand business idioms and vocabularies. Without it, the message

and the content of the whole news will not be delivered and conveyed well

(2008).

In the second solution, investors will be given a translation table of

either business vocabularies or business idioms from some suitable films

which are giving business information so that they can learn and

understand business vocabularies and business idioms. The source for

making a translation table are finance.yahoo.com and

www.rong-chang.com/business. The justification for this solution is the importance of

comprehending business English news. The comprehension of business

English news can make the investors make appropriate decisions. It is

because the newest news comes from the Internet and it is in English. On

the contrast, if the investors get out-of-date news, they will make wrong

decisions. Based on my experience, the more investors comprehend the

business news, the more vocabularies and idioms they get.

Last but not least, this term-paper can be concluded that in

comprehending the English business news, Investors can decide their own

investment without depend on translator or other people. Investors are

also suggested to take English course for they can be supervised in

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which has been given occasionally so that the investors can improve their

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Printed Sources :

Madura, Jeff. International Corporate Finance. Mason : Thomson, 2006.

Electronic Sources :

”Business English”. Rong-Chang Li, Ph.D. 1994-2009. (February 2009).

<http://www.rong-chang.com/business>.

Cakir, Ismail. ”Developing Cultural Awareness In Foreign Language

Teaching”. Kirikakale University. 2006. (11 May 2009).

<http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde23/pdf/article_12.pdf>.

Guida, Maria. ”Foreign-Born Professionals in American Bussiness”.

Successful Speaker, Inc. 2005. (8 April 2009).

<http://www.successfulspeakerinc.com/articles/communication_breakdow ns_07.26.06.html>.

”Idiom-Wikipedia, the free ensyclopedia”. Wikipedia, the free ensyclopedia.

2009. (24 June 2009).

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English>.

Lavelle, Thomas. ”Teaching and Learning English at Business Schools”.

Transforming Business Education. 2007. (8 May 2009).

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Maranatha Christian University Serenson. ”Serenson.Write Better English”. 2002-2009. (12 December

2009).

<http://www.write-better-english.com/business-vocabulary.aspx >. ”Yahoo Finance”. Yahoo!. 2009. (February 2009).