Moving Towards Communication-Oriented Language Teaching At The Primary English Level A Vietnamese Perspective

Moving towards communication-oriented language teaching at the primary English level: A Vietnamese perspective This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Tran Thi Hien Edith Cowan University School of Education 2021 ABSTRACT Vietnam has been attempting to build its English learners’ communicative abilities to improve the country’s competitiveness in the global market As a result, English language Teaching (ELT) reforms have been introduced in the educational system Part of the reforms involves the implementation of mandatory primary English education following the Communicative Language Teaching approach (CLT) despite a difficult history of CLT implementation in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts Primary English teachers have been a critical challenge for the success of a communicative curriculum in Vietnam Teachers’ CLT understanding and pedagogies from a socio-cultural perspective have been under-researched, especially those in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta region In addressing this gap, this qualitative research, grounded in the Constructivist approach, aimed to explore how primary English teachers in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta understood and implemented CLT in their classrooms from a socio-cultural perspective The research project targeted all public school primary English teachers in Phase in one school district in the region through the use of an online questionnaire Twenty-eight teachers participated in this phase, from whom eight were then purposively selected to voluntarily participate further in Phase The purposive sampling was aimed to select a good representation of primary English teachers in the district regarding their genders, qualifications, training, and teaching experiences Data collection for Phase involved pre-observation interviews with individual teachers, in-class observations, and post-observations interviews with the use of stimulated video recall sessions The major findings showed that there were misconceptions and/or contradictions in teachers’ activity systems Teachers did not understand CLT theory and practice, or their understanding was incomplete Although they claimed they taught in the direction of CLT, their actual pedagogies featured traditional approaches with a focus on teaching language forms and vocabulary and with excessive use of techniques from the Audiolingual Method, the PPP model, and the Grammar-Translation Method The findings also revealed that teachers’ practices were driven by contextual factors such as Vietnamese educational traditions, needs from their ecological school communities, and their lack of sufficient and proper training of CLT pedagogies Finally, teachers perceived both challenges and opportunities in moving towards communication-oriented language teaching Proper and sufficient assistance needed to be provided to empower primary English teachers to i fulfill the government’s goals in building students’ communicative abilities Some of the assistance consisted of, but not limited to, ELT policy significant changes or adjustments, teachers’ professional development, improving teaching and learning conditions, and especially teachers’ agentic power to act towards desired goals The research implies that a top-down ELT policy without involving and informing by all stakeholders will not work successfully and effectively Another implication is that those who have direct influence on teachers, e.g., local educational officials and school leaders, will be able to shape their practices Finally, the research implies that a pure version of Western-based CLT cannot work well in the socio-cultural context of Vietnam without significant changes in the culturally embedded educational traditions ii DECLARATION I certify that this thesis does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief:  Incorporate without acknowledgment any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher education;  Contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text of this thesis; or  Contain any defamatory material I also grant permission to the Edith Cowan University Library to make duplicate copies of my thesis as required Signature: Date: 08/12/2021 iii DEDICATION “You have come a long way, honey!” is what my husband tells me every time when we connect our past and present “I love you, mom!” is what my son says and hugs me every day So, this is for my husband, Scott Brantley, and my son, Toby (Toby Vo Brantley/Vo Tran Quoc Khanh) who have accompanied me on my PhD journey in Australia Scott and Toby, you two are my great source of love, strength, and encouragement iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Vietnamese Government, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Australia, my ECU supervisors, all the primary schools and English teachers in Vietnam who participated in my research, and all of my family and friends Thanks to all, my PhD journey, in general, and this thesis, in particular, is now becoming completed I am thankful for the ECU-VIED Joint Scholarship from the Vietnamese Government through MOET/VIED and ECU that has given me full financial support for my PhD study Without the support, my study could not have been possible I would also like hereby to send my thanks to all of the MOET/VIED’s and ECU staff who have assisted me whenever I need assistance along my PhD journey Names such as ECU School of Education, Graduate Research School (GRS), ECU Scholarships, ECU Student Hub, ECU IT Service, ECU Library, Bev Lurie, Dr Sandra Medic, Dr Cecily Scutt, Dr Neil Ferguson, Dr Jo McFarlane, Hoang Thi Kim Oanh (VIED), etc have become so familiar as they have provided great support to me so far in my study Also, I would like to say thanks to my school, Dong Thap University in Vietnam Leaders from my university, my faculty, and my colleagues have helped me greatly in arranging for me to pursuit my PhD study in Australia as well as giving me encouragement along the way I would like to express my deepest thanks to my two supervisors at ECU, Dr Christine Cunningham and Dr Anamaria Paolino They have shared with me their professional knowledge and expertise as well as provided me with their timely guidance and advice so that I can go forwards on my journey as a research student Christine, you have always been with a great professional and academic vision when it comes to research matters Annamaria, you have shared with me your profound knowledge in my research topic; and with an EFL research student like me, you have always been my great language editor Since I arrived in Perth in the winter of 2017 and missed the first meeting with you two, my feelings of worries have gone to leave space for trust and confidence I am now looking forwards to the future to apply what I have learned during my study into practice All are thanks to your good and effective supervision, from which I have repeatedly nominated you two for the award of ECU School of Education Best Supervisory Team v I would like to send big thanks to all of the primary schools and primary English teachers in the school district in Vietnam where I conducted my data collection I am thankful to the 28 anonymous teachers who participate in answering the online questionnaire in Phase You all silently helped me go forwards in my research without letting me know who you were to thank you in person I really appreciate the support I received from all school leaders and staff from the eight primary schools that allowed me to conduct my data collection in Phase To the eight teachers who gave me the chances to interview you and observe your classes, I cannot thank you enough for all of your assistance I wish you all the best in your personal and professional lives Finally, I would like to send my deepest thanks to my family and friends, who have been a big part during my study journey abroad While I still felt hesitated about my PhD study in Australia, my mother-in-law, Mary Brantley Kennard, as well as the whole family in the United States strongly encouraged me to go and gave my small family great support for the journey to take place My mother, sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews in Vietnam have given spiritual encouragement as well as taken care of my affairs at home so that I can study well far away from home To the brother and nephew that I cannot meet again, this is also for you as I know you are watching over me from above You two saw me off at the airport for my departure but will not be there on the day I come back You are always in my thoughts and prayers Brother Nine and Hau, I am about to complete my study and come back home I pray that you two can go with father/grandfather to enter eternity in Buddhas’ world To Scott and Toby, you two have been with me every single day on this journey together I have been blessed to have a whole family that is always beside me, loves and gives me full support I could not have achieved this without you two Finally, to all of my friends in Vietnam and the Vietnamese PhD students at ECU, thank you all for all of the encouragement, the memories and life stories that we share I will forever cherish our friendship and look forwards to continuing having you in my life vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i DECLARATION iii DEDICATION iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v TABLE OF CONTENTS vii LIST OF TABLES xii LIST OF FIGURES xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xiv CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 The research 1.1.1 My story to the research project 1.1.2 The background to the research 1.1.3 The research problem 1.1.4 The research aims and questions 1.1.5 The significance of the research 1.1.6 The thesis organisation 1.2 The context of the research 1.2.1 The Vietnamese context 1.2.2 Primary English education in Vietnam 12 1.3 Chapter summary 21 CHAPTER THE LITERATURE REVIEW 22 Introduction 22 2.1 English and ELT in the concentric circles model 23 2.1.1 The concentric circles model of World Englishes 23 2.1.2 The influence of the West on ELT 25 2.2 Traditional language pedagogies 27 2.3 The Communicative Language Teaching approach 33 2.3.1 The birth of CLT 33 2.3.2 The communicative competence 36 2.3.3 Principles and characteristics of CLT 39 2.3.4 Classroom activities in CLT 49 2.3.5 The critique of CLT 55 2.3.6 The future of CLT 62 vii 2.4 CLT in EFL contexts 69 2.5 The implementation of CLT in Vietnam 72 2.6 The theoretical perspective 78 2.7 The conceptual framework 84 2.8 Chapter summary 86 CHAPTER THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 87 Introduction 87 3.1 The qualitative paradigm and qualitative research 88 3.2 Methods of the research 89 3.2.1 Methods of data collection 89 3.2.2 Data collection procedure 99 3.2.3 Data analysis 108 3.3 Rigour 116 3.4 Ethical considerations 118 3.5 Chapter summary 120 CHAPTER THE RESEARCH FINDINGS 121 Introduction 121 4.1 FINDINGS OF THE ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE – INITIAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS 121 4.1.1 General understanding about the primary English teachers 121 4.1.2 Primary English teachers’ understanding of CLT and their pedagogies 125 4.1.3 Teachers’ descriptions of challenges facing their practices & needs of help and support 130 4.1.4 Summary 137 4.2 FINDINGS OF THE PRE-OBSERVATION INTERVIEWS – TEACHERS’ TRAINING BACKGROUNDS AND THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF CLT 137 Introduction 137 4.2.1 Teachers’ training backgrounds 138 4.2.2 Teachers’ understanding CLT, their attitudes & claims of their CLT practices 154 4.2.3 Teachers’ views towards CLT and traditional teaching approaches 161 4.2.4 Teachers’ CLT practices in their descriptions 166 4.2.5 Summary 172 4.3 FINDINGS OF THE IN-CLASS OBSERVATIONS – TEACHERS’ ACTUAL PRACTICES 172 Introduction 172 4.3.1 Classroom activities 173 viii 4.3.2 Classroom language 196 4.3.3 Summary 205 4.4 FINDINGS OF THE POST-OBSERVATION INTERVIEWS – TEACHERS’ REFLECTIONS ON THEIR PRACTICES AND PROFESSIONAL MATTERS 205 Introduction 205 4.4.1 Teachers’ reflections about their teaching practices 205 4.4.2 Issues affecting teachers’ primary English practices 228 4.5 Chapter summary 258 CHAPTER DISCUSSION 260 5.1 Introduction and points of discussion 260 5.1.1 Summary of research findings 260 5.1.2 Reference to the research questions 263 5.1.3 The points of discussion 264 5.2 Misconceptions about CLT policies in the Vietnamese primary English education 265 5.2.1 The failure of considering the cultural appropriateness of CLT in Vietnam 265 5.2.2 The policy failure of definition in CLT implementation in primary English in Vietnam 274 5.3 Misconceptions about CLT curriculum in Vietnamese primary English education 276 5.4 Misconceptions about CLT pedagogies in the Vietnamese primary English education 280 5.4.1 Teachers’ misunderstanding of CLT as a cause for misconceptions about CLT pedagogies 280 5.4.2 Mismatch between what teachers understand about CLT and how they put their understanding into practice as misconceptions about CLT pedagogies 285 5.5 Contradictions about teacher agency to implement CLT in the Vietnamese primary English education 288 5.6 Does it matter? 294 5.7 Chapter summary 297 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 299 6.1 Overview 299 6.2 Addressing the research question 299 6.3 Limitations of the research 301 6.4 The research contribution 302 6.5 Implications 303 6.6 Recommendations for practice 304 6.6.1 Recommendations for educational policymakers and authorities 304 ix 6.6.2 6.6.2 Recommendations for educational authorities - DOETs’/BOETs’ and academic inspectors 311 6.6.3 Recommendations for teacher education and professional development 312 6.7 Suggestions for future research 317 6.8 Concluding comments – reflections of my personal learning and teaching experience 318 REFERENCES 321 APPENDICES 335 APPENDIX 1A INVITATION LETTER TO SCHOOL PRINCIPALS – PHASE (English version) 335 APPENDIX 1B INVITATION LETTERS TO SCHOOL PRINCIPALS – PHASE (Vietnamese version) 338 APPENDIX 2A INVITATION LETER TO TEACHERS AND PROJECT INFORMATION – PHASE (English version) 341 APPENDIX 2B INVITATION LETER TO TEACHERS AND PROJECT INFORMATION – Phase (Vietnamese version) 344 APPENDIX 3A INFORMATION LETTER AND OBSERVATION PERMISSION (English version) 347 APPENDIX 3B INFORMATION LETTER AND OBSERVATION PERMISSION (Vietnamese version) 351 THƯ XIN PHÉP DỰ GIỜ LỚP HỌC 351 APPENDIX 4A INFORMATION LETTER FOR CHILDREN’S PARENTS OR GUARDIANS (English version) 355 APPENDIX 4B INFORMATION LETTER FOR CHILDREN’S PARENTS OR GUARDIANS 358 APPENDIX 5A CONSENT FORM FOR TEACHERS (English version) 361 APPENDIX 5B CONSENT FORM FOR TEACHERS (Vietnamese version) 363 APPENDIX 6A CONSENT FORM FOR PRINCIPALS (English version) 365 APPENDIX 6B CONSENT FORM FOR PRINCIPALS (Vietnamese version) 367 APPENDIX 7A CONSENT FORM FOR CHILDREN’S PARENTS OR GUARDIANS (English version) 369 APPENDIX 7B CONSENT FORM FOR CHILDREN’S PARENTS OR GUARDIANS (Vietnamese version) 371 APPENDIX GUARANTEE OF CONFIDENTIALITY FOR TRANSLATION CHECKER 373 APPENDIX 9A THE ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE (English version) 374 APPENDIX 9B THE ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE (Vietnamese version) 380 APPENDIX 10 CLASS OBSERVATION PROTOCOL 386 APPENDIX 11 PRE-OBSERVATION INTERVIEW TOPICS 387 APPENDIX 12 POST-OBSERVATION INTERVIEW TOPICS 388 x ... reforms have been introduced in the educational system Part of the reforms involves the implementation of mandatory primary English education following the Communicative Language Teaching approach... Vietnam have given spiritual encouragement as well as taken care of my affairs at home so that I can study well far away from home To the brother and nephew that I cannot meet again, this is also... pedagogies featured traditional approaches with a focus on teaching language forms and vocabulary and with excessive use of techniques from the Audiolingual Method, the PPP model, and the Grammar-Translation