Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS teachers perceptions of the task based approach to speaking skills a case of grade 11, nguyen hue gifted high school, ha dong, hanoi

INTRODUCTION

The background of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Organization of the study

In the long history of linguistics, changes and shifts in teaching methodology is obvious as there is never satisfaction with on-going methods and procedures It leads to researchers and scholars' having been trying and seeking better ways of teaching and learning languages Each new methodology born out is the result of the feedback to weaknesses of the previous prevailing one All of these methodologies are possibly categorized into the grammatical and conversational approaches which are always in the opposite trends They advocate different ways and formats: written vs oral language, learning grammar vs learning speaking, formal vs informal language use With these two scales, the second one - the conversational approach dominates in the twentieth century In the second half of the century, the need for communication between people of different cultures and languages creates a flood of learning language more quickly and effectively

People are in the need of communicating orally and engaging in real communication

There is a movement of learning language seen everywhere within society all over the world New and more efficient methods appear to meet the demand of the whole societies

In the last part of the twentieth century, there is a contrariety between what is called focus on form and focus on content, or in other words, they are shifting to teaching language for accuracy vs teaching language for meaning The task-based approach (TBA) was born out in this context at the end of the twentieth century It has been evolving as the response to limitations of the traditional approach PPP represented by the procedure of presentation, practice and performance First known as in 'Bangalore Project' of Prabhu in 1979, task- based approach has gained its popularity in the field of language teaching since then Many researchers, teachers have been using it for their own rights in the teaching contexts

American Government Language Institutions switched to task-based instruction for foreign languages for adults in the early 1980s (as cited in Corony Edwards, Jane Willis, 2005, p.13) Current research are also focusing on task-based language teaching and learning, for example, Rod Ellis (2003) wrote "task-based language teaching and learning", David Nunan (1989) 'Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom', etc Other teachers and institutions are following suit However, there is no common consent in discussion and research TBA is seen from different views and perspectives The explanation for this variety lies in the difficulty in implementing TBA in the classroom, in designing materials following TBA and many other reasons In Vietnam, English is being taught as a foreign language with the aim of enhancing international communication However, the examination systems focus on formal accuracy As a result, teachers often prioritize the teaching of grammar which is often taught with PPP approach (presentation, practice, performance) In its tenets, students are expected to respond using a word or pattern that has been presented before rather than to convey the meaning or message Therefore, most students when leaving school are unable to communicate effectively in English This situation has prompted ELT professionals to find a new method more suitable and TBA has attracted their attention Nevertheless, the fact is that research on TBA in Vietnam is little There exist different views about it Above all, it is unknown that if TBA is really applied in classrooms or not and how teachers who partially have direct effects on language teaching quality understand and apply it in the classroom For these reasons, the author is inspired to conduct 'Teachers' perceptions of the task-based approach to speaking skills: A case of Grade 11, Nguyen Hue gifted high school, Ha Dong, Hanoi'

The study is conducted to investigate teachers' perceptions of the task-based approach to speaking skills The author desires to find out what and how they think and apply TBA in the classroom Especially, the research tries to explore their views on the advantages and disadvantages of using the task-based approach to teach speaking in their context

The above aims can be realized through the following research questions:

1 What are teachers' understandings of the Task-Based Approach to speaking skills?

2 What do they perceive of the advantages and disadvantages of using TBA approach to speaking skills in their context?

Though TBA is believed to be used for four skills, however, the researcher has chosen to focus on speaking for the fact that TBA initially emphasizes meaning whereas speaking is closely connected to communication Moreover, she only researches teacher perceptions of advantages and disadvantages of using TBA in the classrooms of non-English major students but English major ones as they use two different course books

The study of teacher's perceptions of the task-based approach to other skills would be beyond the scope of the study Also, due to the author's limited ability, time constraints and narrow-scaled study, the subjects in the research only involves a small number of teachers who are teaching non-English major students of Grade 11, Nguyen Hue gifted high school

Chapter 1 introduced the study exploring potential of TBLT within the context of Nguyen Hue gifted high school The chapter included an overview of the issues, aims and scope of the study, the research questions and the research organization Chapter 2 provides a review of the literature, including a theoretical framework focusing on learning and teaching theory Chapter 2 also provides research of issues related to teacher perceptions of tasks and TBLT Chapter 3 describes the methodology through a description of the case study and research design It included the study participants, instruments, the procedure and data analysis In addition, the role of the researcher, the role of the teacher are mentioned too Chapter 4 presents the results of the study Finally, chapter 5 summarizes the findings and discusses educational implications and limitation of the study.

LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Task-based approach 1 2 2 2 2 4 4 2.1.1 The development of task-based approach

The nature of task-based language teaching

TBLT, realized as a strong version of communicative approach, is an effective teaching method of goal orientation in enhancing students’ motivation In TBA, methodologists 'have treated tasks as units of teaching in their own right and have designed whole courses around them' (Ellis, 2003, p.27)

TBLT offers learners exposure to authentic materials, opportunities to use the target language, and motivation to learn, which are all considered as essential conditions for language learning (Willis, 1996)

TBLT embodies the functional and interactional view of language theories, concentrates primarily on meaning and learners' communicative competence to complete tasks (Nunan, 1989; Ellis, 2003) Learners are engaged in truly meaningful and effective communication such as negotiation of meaning for the task completion It emphasizes the interaction between learners to handle learning problems and to enrich their knowledge, skills by doing and discovering Learners are more independent of their teachers They can interact with one another to share experience, knowledge and even error correction They are encouraged to learn by discovering various things rather than transmission In TBLT, therefore, teachers have different positions in the class They can take the role as instructor (in the pre-task phase), a monitor and encourager (in the task stage), a language adviser (in the planning stage) and a chairperson (in the report stage) (Willis, 1996, p.52)

Moreover, the nature of TBLT can be realized in the discussion on the model for TBLT of Willis (1996) as below:

Teachers, in task-based classes, have a duty of selecting topics and tasks that should be appropriately challenging to motivate learners, to engage their attention, and to promote their language development most effectively

Obviously, all tasks are “goal-oriented” as each all has its own specific objective that must be achieved, often in a given time Therefore, the focus is on understanding and conveying meanings in order to complete the task successfully; learners use the language in a meaningful way while they carry out the tasks With a little bit challenging outcomes, it is the way that makes TBL a motivating procedure in classroom

2) Meaning before form One important feature of tasks is tasks implementation, which implies that learners can freely use whatever language they want so as to fulfill the goals Learners must be primarily concerned with achieving the outcome, not with displaying language

Viewed this way, teachers then obtain the role of a facilitator who encourages all attempts to communicate in target language, but not an intruder to learners’ produced language Learners will experiment with the language on their own, and even take risk

That helps to create an appropriate level of challenge, boosting the effectiveness of TBLT

3) Tasks and skills practice The four language skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing – are singled out to be developed separately, in some approaches on language teaching; while in others, they are talked in terms of integrated skills In a task-based cycle, teachers naturally foster skills combination The skills form an integral part of the process to achieve the task goals; they are practiced integratedly

Being aware of learners’ needs, teachers can select or adapt tasks that help learners to practice relevant skills Tasks integrating the skills of reading and listening, note-taking and summarizing are bound to be helpful for learners who may need English for academic purposes For those who not only need to pass a written examination, but also want to socialize in the target language, text-based tasks with written outcomes and/or discussion at various points in the task cycle could be used.

Task definition

The study and description of task has been approached from different perspectives and for different purposes Various definitions offered are different in scope and formulation where almost anything related to educational activity can be called 'a task'

Therefore, it is necessary to give clear definitions of what the authors mean when they use the term 'task'

Prabhu (1987), one of the first methodologist raising interest and support for task- based language, considers a task 'an activity which required learners to arrive at an outcome from given information through some process of thought, and which allowed teachers to control and regulate that process' (p.12) According to him, effective learning occurs when students are engaged in a language task rather than learning about language

Whereas, Long (1985) perceives tasks differently He argues that a task is 'a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others, freely or for some reward Thus examples of tasks include painting a fence, dressing a child, filling out a form, buying a pain of shoes, making an airline reservation, borrowing a library book, taking a driving test, typing a letter, weighing a patient, sorting letters, taking a hotel reservation, writing a cheque, finding a street destination and helping someone across a road In other words, by 'task' is meant the hundred and one things people do in everyday life, at work, at play, and in between.' (p.89) Long (1985)'s definition is a non-technical, non-linguistic one It describes tasks as sorts of things that do not involve language and tasks may be subsidiary components of a larger task Proposing rather quite different opinions, however, Richards, Platt and Weber (1985) defines tasks in more detail A task is 'an activity or action which is carried out the result of processing or understanding language, i.e as a response For example, drawing a map while listening to a tape, and listening to an instruction and performing a command, may be refereed to as tasks Tasks may or may not involve the production of language A task usually requires the teacher to specify what will be regarded as successful completion of the task The use of a variety of different kinds of tasks in language teaching is said to make teaching more communicative since it provides a purpose for classroom activity which goes beyond practice of language for its own sake' (as cited in Ellis, 2004, p.4) In these definitions, the authors take a pedagogical perspective In other words, tasks here are regarded as what learners do in the classroom but in the outside world Nunan (1989) also agrees that the communicative task is 'a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language', and express ideas that while doing tasks, learners' attention is focused on meaning rather than form and that the task must be completed and is able to 'stand alone as a communicative act in its own right' (p.10) Other authors share the same opinion with Nunan about tasks' focus on meaning Skehan (1998) defines a task as an activity in which:

- there is some communication problem to solve

- there is some sort of relationship to comparable real-world activities

- task completion has some priority

- the assessment of the task is in terms of outcome

Or Bygate, Skehan, and Swain (2001) propose ' a task is an activity which requires learners to use language, with emphasis on meaning, to attain an objective' (as cited in Ellis, 2004, p.4)

From what mentioned above, we have gone through many viewpoints about task definitions Though they vary in some ways, all emphasize the fact that tasks involve communicative language use in which users' attention is focused on meaning rather than grammatical form

In this study, my own view of tasks is a unit which is goal-oriented, meaning- focused first and form-focused then, contextualized and implemented as the basis for teaching and learning.

Task types

It is important to distinguish different task types as it helps teachers to investigate which types is the most effective in promoting learning In addition, syllabus designers can also refer to the classification to ensure that a range of task types are incorporated into the course However, tasks are identified in numerous ways since people who have written on task-based language teaching and learning stand on different viewpoints

According to Nunan (1989, p.44), communicative tasks can be categorized into two main types: pedagogic tasks, i.e tasks practised in the classroom and real world tasks that are used for the purpose of rehearsing future needs Prabhu (1987) distinguishes three general types of tasks based on the kind of cognitive activity involved: Information-gap, reasoning-gap, opinion-gap activities

Besides Prabhy and Nunan's classifications, Long (1983, p.213) groups tasks into two types: one-way and two-way tasks In one-way tasks, only one participant distributes information, for example, giving instruction and narrative In a two-way task, each participant keeps some information or knowledge which is not shared and they have to match or exchange information to complete the task Other researchers also present their own tasks classification Puff (1986) offers convergent and divergent tasks Tasks that require learners to exchange information such as role plays, discussions, problem solving, etc to reach a consensus are called 'convergent tasks' One the contrary, tasks requiring learners to exchange information but not to reach the consensus are known as divergent ones The difference between convergent and divergent tasks lies in their goal Participants in convergent tasks need to have a mutual solution whereas participants in divergent ones do not They can have independent goals and defend their given positions

In 1898, Long proposes new labels for tasks namely 'open' and 'closed' tasks

According to him, open task refers to a task in which participants know there is no predetermined correct solution Closed task refers to a task which requires the participants to attempt to reach a single correct solution or some solutions determined beforehand by the designer of the task Ellis (2001) has his own classification He offers two kinds of tasks: reciprocal and non-reciprocal tasks The first one requires a two-way flow of information between interlocutors, whereas the other is a one-way communication from a speaker to a hearer (p.49)

Though being given different labels, a task is a mean to enable learners to use the target languages It provides chances for learners to comprehend and manipulate the target language in different social contexts It can be said that any tasks that encourage the exchange of ideas from one learner to another, in groups or with the text, through language in any context, could be described as communicative.

Task-based teaching framework

A precise model for task-based teaching designed by Willis (1996) and then supported by Frost (2006) is briefly figured out in the table below:

Pre-task Introduction to topic and tasks

Willis’s model for task-based instruction (Willis, 1996, p.52)

As access to a clear framework for a task-based lesson is obviously advantageous to both teachers and learners, a thorough and detailed discussion on these phases is of crucial point

In the pre-task phase , the topic to be covered and the tasks to be accomplished in the lesson are introduced It is usually the shortest stage in the framework and could last between two or twenty minutes, depending on the level of learners’ being familiar with the topic and the task types This phase may involve the use of texts or the recordings of native speakers’ carrying out parallel forms of the tasks Pre-task activities, as supported by Skehan (1998), should be engaged into introduce new elements into the interlanguage system; to mobilize and recycle language; to ease processing load and to push learners to interpret task in more demanding ways

The task cycle phase can be subdivided into three stages of task, planning and report, all of which comprise a task cycle itself In this key phase, students use the target language the most for the task implementation; fluency and focus on meaning are mainly attended

Learners are offered chances to use whatever language they already know to complete the task, and then, with assistance from teachers, while planning their task report, to improve that language At the task stage, students are usually required to work in pairs or in small groups to get the tasks accomplished; teachers’ role here is to monitor and to facilitate but not to intrude into learners’ production of language The planning stage, in Willis’s view, attaches teachers to the role of linguistic advisers, being responsible for feedback and help when needed; meanwhile, students are encouraged to prepare themselves for the report by drafting, editing and/or rehearsing the content they are going to present In the last stage of reporting, students possess occasions to report on the tasks to the class while teachers work as a chairperson to judge their performance and give comments and feedback on the content and form if needed

The last phase in the framework is language focus , which, including analysis and practice, is used for consolidation and reflection As learners have already worked with the language and processed it for meaning by this point, they now in this final phase will closely study some specific features naturally occurring in the language used during the task cycle under teachers’ guidance.

Task-based teaching vs other types of teaching instruction models

Task-based teaching model proposed by Willis (1996) can be easily distinguished from other types of teaching instruction models

For a start, TBLT strongly opposes the traditional PPP (Presentation – Practice – Production) teaching/learning cycle in which, the presentation of grammar or language items by teachers comes first, followed by controlled and less controlled practice (in the form of exercises) and then by actual production of the sentences TBLT also differs from the more communicative and learner-centered alternative to the PPP model – the TTT (Test – Teach – Test) model which begins with the production stage and require learners to perform a particular task

Next, TBLT is different from three stage ESA (Engage, Study, and Activate) model proposed by Jeremy Harmer (1998) During the engage phase, teachers try to arouse the students’ interest and engage their emotions through perhaps a game, a picture, a record or video, a dramatic story, an amusing anecdote, etc Activities in the study phase focus on language and the way it is constructed, which could vary from the pronunciation of one particular sound to an examination of a verb tense or to the techniques an author uses to create excitement in a longer reading text In the activate phase, exercises and activities are designed to encourage students to use their full language knowledge in the selected situation or task as communicatively as they can

In addition, TBLT should be clearly differentiated from TSI (Task-supported instruction) which was mentioned by Ellis (2003) when he tried to clarify between unfocused and focused tasks TSI means incorporating tasks as a part of the curriculum, beside other types of activities It is, thus, completely versus TBLT because in the pure form of TBLT, task is the only unit of the curriculum, the basis for teaching, and even the assessment In a word, TSI has the maxim of “learning to use” while the maxim of TBI is

“using to learn” or “learning by doing”

Advantages and disadvantages of task-based language teaching

Few people would question the pedagogical value of employing tasks as a vehicle for promoting communication and authentic language use in second language classrooms

Task-based language teaching, however, has its own drawbacks It is, therefore, necessary to weigh the pros and cons of TBLT thoroughly hereafter

Task-Based Language Teaching is an application of second language teaching in- formed by the most recent research findings on second language acquisition As such, it plays an important role in current language pedagogy (Solares, 2006)

TBLT is advantageous to the students because it is more student-centered, allows for more meaningful communication, and often provides for practical extra-linguistic skill building Although teachers may present language in the pre-task, students are ultimately free to use what grammar constructs and vocabulary they want This allows them to use all the language they know and are learning, rather than just the 'target language' of the lesson

Furthermore, as the tasks are likely to be familiar to the students (e.g.: visiting the doctor), students are more likely to be engaged, which may further motivate them in their language learning Task-based lessons usually provide learners with an active role in participating and creating the activities, and offer more opportunities for learners to display their thinking through their actions Willis (1996, p.137) reports the advantages of TBLT after his survey to learners:

 they gain confidence in speaking and interacting quite soon after a task- based course;

 they enjoy the challenge of doing tasks and find many of them fun;

 they are able to talk about language itself in addition to other topics;

 they can cope with natural spontaneous speech much more easily, and tackle quite tough reading texts in appropriate way;

 they become far more independent learners

In TBLT classes, teachers can be more open to the needs of the students TBLT allows students to use the knowledge they have learnt and apply it productively in the task context (procedural knowledge) This practical experience helps learners to appreciate why certain academic questions are important and provide an experiential substrate for the development of a further academic discourse

Naturally, tasks usually require the selection of some objects as an outcome This can provide a shared focus for which learners can work together In the process, different participants, peer learners of the group, can project different views on the same situation and develop meaningful discussion on the matter The task will usually generate objects that are also open to cross group evaluation Learners can present their own products and evaluate others Everyone can take part in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the work generated within the classroom community This will induce reflection as well as the development of critical awareness in the students (Ki, 2000)

Besides benefits it brings to learners, TBLT also facilitates language teaching Willis

(1996, p.137-138) gives out the opinions of teachers and trainers who have just experimented with TBLT:

 with mixed-level classes, a TBLT approach works far better than a PPP one

 learners bring their own experiences to lessons and often come up with interesting and original ideas;

 by the end of the course they are often surprised at how much their learners have achieved

According to Richards and Rogers (2001), Task-Based Language Teaching provides a more effective basis for teaching than other language teaching approaches, however many aspects of TBLT like proposed schemes for task types, task sequencing, and evaluation of task performance, etc have not been justified, this basic assumption still remains in ideology rather than fact Swan (2005) even claims the statement, firmly based on the findings of current theory and research, that TBLT is an advanced teaching approach can not be continuous Supported neither by convincing theoretical argument nor by experimental evidence, the closely related to TBLT hypotheses, to the effect that second-language acquisition, being controlled by inflexible developmental sequences, completely occurs as a result of noticing during communicative activity, are opposed by common language-learning experience

While Task-Based Instruction may fruitfully develops learners’ authority of what is known, it is significantly less effective for the systematic teaching of new language

Depending on tasks as a primary source of pedagogical input in teaching, TBLT is criticized to be inappropriate in foundation classes for beginning learners Centering on tasks implementation, TBLT raises an implication of learners’ being able to interact in the target language, while in fact they lack this proficiency This drags on the risk that learners will overuse their L1 or engage in off-task talks Furthermore, learner-learner interaction may result in pidginized use of the L2 and concomitant interlanguage fossilization (Prabhu,

1987) Skehan (1996) notices that TBLT holds some dangers if implemented carelessly

Especially, it is likely to create pressure for instant communication rather than interlanguage change and growth Speakers may resort to use some communication strategies such as paraphrase, repetition, word coinage, etc The elicited performances, moreover, may depend on abilities or knowledge rather than language itself As Norris, Brown, Hudson, and Bonk (2002) argue, TBLT does not provide any basis for making interpretations beyond the particular task context and it cannot simulate all of the factors that define actual language use situations

It should also be said that task-based interaction is mainly narrow and learners put great emphasis on communicating meanings, without necessary worry about the exact form they use Therefore, the whole organization of interaction is equipped for establishing a tight and selected focus on the achievement of the task There are, nonetheless, a large number of different varieties of interaction in the world outside the L2 classrooms, where there is certainly a lot more to communication than performing tasks (Seedhouse, 1999).

Implementing tasks in teaching the skills of speaking

As mentioned in 2.1.2, skills combination is naturally fostered and the four skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking are practiced intergratedly in task-based lessons In teaching speaking, teachers should also be aware of this while selecting or adapting tasks that boost learners’ oral communication

In traditional drilling forms for classroom speaking practice, one person asks a question and another gives an answer The question and the answer are structured and often there is only one correct, predetermined answer Participants then could predict what their partners would say In real communication (such as conveying a telephone message, obtaining information, or expressing an opinion), however, everything happens contrarily and participants must manage uncertainty about what the other person will say Authentic communication involves an information gap; each participant has information that the other does not have and they interact to achieve their purpose In addition, participants may have to clarify their meaning, ask for confirmation of their own understanding or negotiate for agreement

Teachers (as task designers) need to incorporate a purpose and an information gap and allow for multiple forms of expression However, quantity alone will not necessarily produce competent speakers Teachers need to combine structured output activities, which allow for error correction and increased accuracy, with communicative output activities that give students opportunities to practice language use more freely

Besides, classroom speaking tasks that will develop communicative competence needs the thorough support of authentic materials Here teachers must consider three issues of authenticity First is the text authenticity of how natural the language sample is Second is the task authenticity showing what learners are supposed to do with that language for learning or practice opportunities (Nunan, 1989) And third is the response authenticity – that is, how natural the speech produced by learners may be (McNamara, 2000, p.27 – 29)

Authentic materials must be relevant to the learners’ lives

Shortly, all these points, together, should be kept in teachers’ mind as the orientation for tasks design and adaptation

2.6 The importance of understanding teachers' perceptions of teaching methodology

As Stern (1983) has asserted “no language teacher – however strenuously he may deny his interest in theory – can teach a language without a theory of language teaching”

(p.27), in order to understand teaching, it is of necessity to understand teachers’ interpretation of teaching methodology Of all things affecting the result of teaching, the factor of teachers themselves cannot be ignored Understanding teachers’ interpretation of teaching methodology, educators and researchers, who intend to propose necessary changes, can help answer the question: “Why the interaction between teacher and class happens that way?” (Canh, 2004, p.109) while interpreting the reality of major class teaching Teaching can empower learner-driven experiences and promote cognitive processing if pedagogical considerations are taken into account, and if what applications related to the teaching can originate to the method teachers chose and how they were aware of it is shown

In discussing the appropriateness of teaching and learning: “… language learning, and therefore language teaching, does not occur in vacuum, the larger context is the society within which the language or languages are to be learned and used” (p.108), however, Canh (2004) believed that to a teacher, having the right conceptualization of teaching methods and approaches is really important but insufficient to the success of teaching He argued:

… those approaches or methods share the same shortcomings: (1) “They themselves are decontextualized, dealing with what to teach, how to teach it, and why to teach it that way, but saying nothing about who teaches it and to whom; when and where it is taught (to use Larsen Freeman’s words, 2000a), and (2) they are intuitively prescriptive and ideological, rather than being based on empirical data collected from diverse classroom realities To sum up, all language teaching methods make the oversimplified assumption that what teachers “do” in the classroom can be conventionalized into a set of procedures that fits all contexts We are now all aware that such is clearly not the case (to use Brown’s words, 1994b)

Apparently, everything happening in the classroom reflects beliefs about the nature of language, the nature of the learning process and the nature of the teaching act Here then the issue does not lie in which method is the best or whether or not a new method is superior to its predecessor but in how teachers learn to vary their method and approach, and how they rationalize the method or approach they use In other words, teachers should be encouraged to move “from ideology to inquiry” (Canh, 2004, p.116)

In short, I would like to regard Canh’s argumentation as a conclusion: “for over thirty years, the consensus in foreign language teaching community has been shifting towards the realization that what is used in the classroom is the individual teacher’s interpretation of any given method” (2004, p.108)

In Oxford dictionary, perception is defined as 'an idea, a belief or an image you have as a result of how you see or understand something' In the field of psychology, perception is one of the main issues which gets much attention as it plays important roles

According to Feldman (1990) a psychologist, perception is 'the process by which we sort out, interpret, analyze, and integrate stimuli to which our senses are exposed.'(p.149) In the paper, teachers' perception means the process of determining the meaning of what are sensed Perception occurs when teachers interpret a given meaning to stimuli in their classroom environment or in the students' classroom behaviour

2.8 Relation between teacher perception and practice

Teachers' perception is closely related to their practice It is shown in figure below:

Figure 1 Teacher-student perceptions and the quality of learning outcomes

(Trigwell, Prosser & Waterhouse, 1999, p.57) According to these researchers, teachers who perceive learning as the accumulation of information tend to view learning as the transfer of information Such teachers are more likely to use a teacher centre approach where the teacher plays the central role and imparts information to students In contrast, teachers who view learning as conceptual change view teaching as facilitating conceptual change In other words, those regard learning as changing a learner's original ideas favour a student centred teaching approach where independence in learning is encouraged through discussion, debate and questioning among students (Prosser & Trigwell, 1999, p.57-70) Teachers are facilitators and advisers in learners' studies

The figure also points out the close relation between teachers' perception of learning and teaching and their approaches They are important elements in deciding the quality of students' learning outcomes Therefore, it is said that teachers with different approaches produce different students

2.9 Previous studies on teacher perceptions of TBLT

TBLT is arising as a useful approach in developing learners' communication in language learning It leads to a trend of researching TBA principles and its implementation in practice Yet, there are few studies on teacher perception of the field Bob & Annie

(2008) spent two years doing research on the process of implementing a curriculum reform

- the task-based learning (TBL) innovation in Hong Kong in three secondary schools They found out that TBL was being implemented by teachers in ways that diverged from the intended curriculum One of the reasons was due to teacher perception All of them lacked or misunderstood the concepts of TBL though they participated in workshop, team work, training course on TBL Some teachers view tasks as activities to make class learning atmosphere less boring Even teachers in school 3 were reluctant to implement TBL as they believed that 'students learn from teacher instruction' and ' tasks were for 'practising', 'revising', and ' catering for individual differences' Teachers in school 2 agreed that TBL took too much time to prepare and implement Generally, teachers in the research did not have the right and basic understanding of TBL and met much difficulty in implementation

Relation between teacher perception and practice

Teachers' perception is closely related to their practice It is shown in figure below:

Figure 1 Teacher-student perceptions and the quality of learning outcomes

(Trigwell, Prosser & Waterhouse, 1999, p.57) According to these researchers, teachers who perceive learning as the accumulation of information tend to view learning as the transfer of information Such teachers are more likely to use a teacher centre approach where the teacher plays the central role and imparts information to students In contrast, teachers who view learning as conceptual change view teaching as facilitating conceptual change In other words, those regard learning as changing a learner's original ideas favour a student centred teaching approach where independence in learning is encouraged through discussion, debate and questioning among students (Prosser & Trigwell, 1999, p.57-70) Teachers are facilitators and advisers in learners' studies

The figure also points out the close relation between teachers' perception of learning and teaching and their approaches They are important elements in deciding the quality of students' learning outcomes Therefore, it is said that teachers with different approaches produce different students.

Previous studies on teacher perception of TBLT

TBLT is arising as a useful approach in developing learners' communication in language learning It leads to a trend of researching TBA principles and its implementation in practice Yet, there are few studies on teacher perception of the field Bob & Annie

(2008) spent two years doing research on the process of implementing a curriculum reform

- the task-based learning (TBL) innovation in Hong Kong in three secondary schools They found out that TBL was being implemented by teachers in ways that diverged from the intended curriculum One of the reasons was due to teacher perception All of them lacked or misunderstood the concepts of TBL though they participated in workshop, team work, training course on TBL Some teachers view tasks as activities to make class learning atmosphere less boring Even teachers in school 3 were reluctant to implement TBL as they believed that 'students learn from teacher instruction' and ' tasks were for 'practising', 'revising', and ' catering for individual differences' Teachers in school 2 agreed that TBL took too much time to prepare and implement Generally, teachers in the research did not have the right and basic understanding of TBL and met much difficulty in implementation

Like Bob and Annie, Gulden, Julie & Huly were also interested in TBLT, however, their study investigated 4 th grade primary school teachers' and students' perception of task- based language learning in order to find out the similarities and differences that exist between the understanding of tasks by two parties The findings indicated that teachers had a sound understanding of task-based teaching and they had touched some key elements such as 'focus on meaning' and 'learner involvement' However, the implementation of TBL was limited to language practice activities focusing mainly on form It also came out that the students perceive the tasks as a means of revision or prize at the end of a lesson

Another research which is also related to task-based approach is In-Jae Jeon &

Jung-Won Hahn (2006)'s It explored EFL teachers' perceptions of TBLT in 38 different Korean secondary school contexts The study showed that teachers had a comparatively clear understanding of the linguistic features of task and the key concepts of TBLT regardless of their teaching levels Yet, many of them hesitated to adopt TBLT as an instructional method in classroom practice as they feared of being confronted with problems of a lack of knowledge and confidence The result indicated that teachers' conceptual understandings of TBLT did not necessarily lead to the actual use of task in the classroom The authors found out reasons that teachers used and did not use TBLT in the classroom

In short, it is clear that TBA attracts much attention from researchers, but there are still some of their studies concerning teachers' perception on the approach.

METHODOLOGY

Case description & context of the study

This chapter is to present the research methodology that I choose to achieve the aims and objectives of the study It gives out thorough explanations of reasons for choosing the research instruments and clarifies specific ways to get information through these instruments

3.1 The fitness of case study to the research purpose

Case study is a study of one case It is defined in terms of the unit analysis (Johnson D.M., 1992, p.75) The unit analysis might be a teacher, a classroom, a school or a community (p.76) The important feature that case study is hired to do research is its purpose to describe the case in its context It means that people or events cannot be fully understood if they are removed from the environmental circumstances

Moreover, 'case studies are appropriate for exploratory and discovery-oriented research' (James & Schumacher, 1993, p.376) Their data analysis focuses on the one phenomenon, which the researcher selects to understand in depth regardless of the number of sites, participants or documents for a study (p.375) Then, it helps to research for various kinds of evidence in the case setting to get the best possible answer to the research questions

This study aims to get the teachers' understanding of TBA in speaking skills and explore their perceptions on its advantages and disadvantages It is the purpose of the study that stimulates the author to conduct the case study as it will helps to answer the research questions, enhance her own understanding which might be shared with other researchers who may then carry out parallel work of their own

1 What are teachers' understandings of the Task-Based Approach to speaking skills?

2 What do they perceive of the advantages and disadvantages of using TBA approach to speaking skills in their context?

The answers to these questions will provide the reality of Nguyen Hue gifted high school teachers' teaching and their perceptions on TBA

3.3 Case description and context of the study

3.3.1 The setting of the study

Nguyen Hue gifted high school, one of the best schools in Ha Dong, is famous for the good quality of teaching Every year the rate of students who pass entrance examinations to universities is higher than other schools in the area Its students who take part in national competitions of different subjects such as Maths, Physics, Sciences, Biology, French, English, etc have won many prizes This becomes the traditional feature in teaching and learning at the school as the principal ever said However, it is one of the difficulties that English language teachers face in teaching speaking when the national English tests are designed in written tests without speaking, therefore, the school trend is to concentrate on teaching and learning writing, speaking is a little neglected

Teachers at Nguyen Hue school are experienced The teachers of English have been teaching for from 5 to 26 years Most of them graduated from university, some have a double-degree The number of English teacher is 11 who have been in charge of teaching 3 classes majoring in English and other 36 classes of non-English major students Among those only 5 teachers are teaching grade 11 One is in charge of an English major class and the others of 16 non-English major ones All of them are female

With regard to 11 th grade students, there are from 23 to 35 students in each class

Most of them are from rural places where English learning and teaching do not get much attention Therefore, their English levels are different Those who studied secondary school at Ha Dong town learn English better than the ones in other regions In addition, the only resources from which students can get knowledge are the textbook and teachers Although some of them have computers connected to the internet at home, these machines are not used for their studies because it is not their habit

As far as the teaching of English is concerned, methodological innovation is always the primary focus of the school to raise the quality of English language teaching The recent renovation is the advocacy of TBLT When the Ministry of Education and Training has been changing the systems of textbooks and teaching methodologies towards TBA, the school board and teachers use the most official update textbook 'Tiếng Anh 11' Many teachers are also facilitated to take part in training courses of TBLT In reality, they are encouraged and asked to use this method in practice However, because teachers joined different training programs, and their major are various (some major in English, some in French), their knowledge is different, there is variation in their perception of TBLT

4 of 5 teachers who are teaching grade 11 at the school joint the research The one who could not participate in the study was due to her teaching the 11 th English major class using a different textbook Therefore, the investigation was conducted with 4 other teachers who volunteering and were willing to take part in the research Table 1 below provides a brief contextual background about teachers involved in the research

Teachers Gender English teaching experiences

Qualifications / training Present teaching classes Cam Female 8 years She finished the bachelor course majoring in French at Hanoi university She also had a double degree of English teaching methodology at the same university and is now taking part in a workshop about

Department of Education and Training She began teaching English at the school in 2001

2 classes majoring in Geography and History respectively

Quyt Female 8 years She graduated from university in 1986 Her major is French teaching methodology She taught French for a long time before starting teaching English at the school in 2001

Sciences, Informatic Technology, Biology respectively

Nho Female 14 years She had the bachelor degree majoring in English teaching methodology in 1986 and has been teaching English since

11 PT1 - the class do not major in any subject then

Dao Female 20 years She finished her study at university in 1989 majoring in English teaching methodology

She became English teacher right after the time Now she is taking an extra course of teaching methodology in 6 months

To get the trustable data, the researcher spent 2 months at the school In the first month, she asked the teachers to join their classes as an observer Every week, she attended English periods regularly so that the students and teachers got used to her presence The next month, the teachers were interviewed about the perceptions of tasks and task-based approach They felt free to answer all the questions and even some of them added much more useful information because they were ensured that their answers were used for a Master thesis and would be kept anonymous and transcribed honestly and accurately At the same time, the author continued the class observation which is for the researcher to get information about the reality of their teaching The classes observed are non-English major ones as they study the same course book 'Tieng Anh lop 11" whereas there is only one English major class working with an advanced English book.

Instrument

This part discusses the reasons why the research tools fit the purpose of the study It is about the advantages and disadvantages of these instruments

Interview is a kind of conversation which has a clear purpose (Robson, 1993, p.228)

It is commonly used in education research because of its outstanding features in comparison with other instruments, especially survey questionnaires James & Schumacher

(1993, p.250) stated that response rates from interviews can be quite high and in an interview, respondents often answer all the questions presented because of their personal involvement with the interviewer Moreover, the interviewer can get useful information, even in case of unclear answers, he / she can paraphrases the questions and re-ask the respondents In most of the situations, the interviewer probes for additional relevant information (Johnson, 1992, p.114-115) Mc Donough (1997) showed 3 applications of interviews in classroom research:

 to focus on a specific aspect of classroom life in detail

 teacher-pupil discussion > diagnostic information

 to improve the classroom climate

(as cited in Jo Mc & Stevi, 1997, p.181) This study fits well with the uses of interviews It investigates a specific aspect of classroom life, i.e teachers' perceptions of TBA to speaking skills and explores teacher- pupil discussion in class to help the researcher have more information about their teaching practice Therefore, interviews are essential as a lot of information can be obtained through them

Beside the above advantages of interviews, there are some minor disadvantages

Interviews are time-consuming (James & Schumacher, 1993; Gillham, 2000)

Respondents' answers are quite long and they do not focus on the main points So it requires the interviewers to be sensitive, active and tactful in asking questions and eliciting answers Interviews also take much effort of the research in dealing with the data, especially in the interpreting phase

However, with the advantages outweighing the disadvantages, interviewing is profitable to this case study

According to Arthea & Verna (2005, p.22), observation is 'the act or practice of paying attention to people, events, and/or the environment' Therefore, observation serves as a useful tool in doing research It helps observer to watch people do and listen to what they say without asking them about their views, feelings or attitudes (Robson, 1993, p.191)

It is also an appropriate technique for getting at 'real-life' in 'the real world' This clarifies the validity of the observed's words Moreover, by utilizing the observation instruments, you will maximize the usefulness of the hours you spend in classroom observation and participation (Arthea & Verna, 2005, p.19) to get data.

Procedure

or she exactly sees, the conclusion might be subjective because of his or her prejudices and bias So observing requires much effort and skill in the observer Additionally, observation tends to be time-consuming (Robson, 1993, p.191) It takes long hours for the observer to get the necessary data

Yet, this case study is suitable to use classroom observation First, it is helpful to investigate the teachers' responses in the interviews if what they do in practice is congruent with what they say Second, through observation, the researcher actually knows the way of cooperations and interactions between students and students and between teacher and students, then to have a complete picture of teaching and learning language at the school

Therefore, classroom observation was conducted to help doing the study

This part is to introduce the way data were collected through chosen instruments

The interview was a semi-structured one in which there was 'a structured overall framework but greater flexibility' For example, the interviewer can change the order of the questions to have richer interactions and more personalized responses (Jo Mc & Stevi,

1997, p.184) It was conducted in Vietnamese and carried out from 8 November 2009 to 8 January 2010 Before the interview was really used, the researcher had sent it to the head of language department who is also teaching English for an 11 th -form class majoring in English for advice and comments

4 teachers took part in the interview They are the ones who are teaching English for grade 11 and voluntary and willing to answer all the 8 survey questions (see Appendix A)

They did the interview in about 15 to 30 minutes during the periods that they did not have lessons Therefore, there was no time-constraint Additionally, the purpose of the interview was to get firsthand information and it took place in an informal atmosphere (at the school base or in the teacher room), so they felt free and comfortable to express themselves Some minutes before the interview started, the teachers were told about the general issues they would talk about, i.e how they perceived of tasks and task-based approach They were guaranteed that their answers were recorded on tape and kept secretly by the researcher

All of the teachers stated they were happy to help and even they did not hesitate to reveal private information such as names, ages They thought that their main objective of doing the interview was to help the researcher have a good and true investigation

As being asked about perception of tasks and task-based approach, 4 teachers agreed that TBA was a good method in teaching English, especially teaching speaking They confessed that they had ever heard of it before and were implementing it in practice

However, 2 out of 4 teachers did not catch the main points of the questions, their answer were rather long which made the interview longer

The second month the researcher spent at the school, she actually began to observe teaching speaking at classes This time, after the teachers and students got used to her presence, she prepared a plan, a guide to follow The researcher acted as a non-participant observer and made notes of the classroom procedures These notes were then transcribed and analyzed to assess teachers' teaching in the classroom in terms of task involvement of students and teachers and the way tasks are exploited and carried out by the teachers

The researcher constructed an observation form as follow:

DATE AND TIME OF OBSERVATION:

Time Teacher's activities Students' activities

Data analysis

Data analysis was accomplished by using a personal computer and many hours of careful reading and exploring all written materials The interview tapes were transcribed and coded with appropriate ways to get the data of teachers' perceptions of TBA to speaking skills in theory The observation sheets were discovered to find out the reality of teaching English speaking of the teachers at the school as well as the actual advantages and disadvantages that they met in practice The observation data also help the researcher to see if what the teachers said matched to the teaching practice or not All of these procedure aim to find out the answers to the research questions.

DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS

General overview of the findings

Owing to the research instruments, the writer presents the findings in terms of 3 themes which emerged from the data: teacher perceptions of tasks, teacher perceptions of task-based approach, the reality of teachers' class teaching, advantages and disadvantages of the TBLT implementation

Teacher perceptions of tasks were revealed principally in the interview data In RQ2, the teachers were asked 'What do you understand of the term 'task' in the course book 'Tieng Anh 11'? Do you employ tasks in your teaching? If so, what kinds, how effective are they? How do you assess the students' task completion?

The overview of answers for these questions is in table 2 below:

Teachers Different perceptions of tasks Types of tasks

Cam Tasks are learning activities which are designed to develop communicative ability They follow the content of the lesson

Quyt Tasks are those which students have to do in the course book,

Fluency for example, task 1, task 2, task

Dao Tasks are learning activities

They are put in a simple to more difficult order Tasks are clearly arranged to be suitable for PPP approach Task 1 usually gives the sample, guidelines about the topic

Students practise in task 2 basing the sample In task 3, students are freer in production and are allowed to go further to improve their speaking skills

Fluency Focus on task Pronunciation

Nho Tasks are learning activities which are designed in the procedure: Pre, While, and Post speaking All the topics are based on reading section In speaking section, the teacher not only teaches communication skills but grammar and vocabulary as well

Table 2: Participants' perceptions of task

It can be seen that all of the teachers were uncertain about task definition They kept a vague notion that tasks are learning activities that students often did in the course book, i.e task 1, task 2, task 3 and these tasks were arranged in the order suitable for the teaching procedure like PPP or Pre-While-Post speaking The definitions of tasks like that it was simply translated from English into Vietnamese The only two key features of tasks that were mentioned by the teachers were meaning focus and task assessment All of them agreed that in teaching speaking, meaning was primary It was important that students could express ideas in English Yet, the way they assessed the students' work was varied

Cam, Hanh, Trang stated that they assessed students firstly basing on their fluency, but in the specific situation as follows:

Students are given 5 different pictures They are asked to rearrange them in the order to make a story which then is told in front of the class How do you assess your students' work?

Cam, Hanh, Trang's assessment based on the fluency of the students first, and then the ability to arrangement of the pictures and telling the story The only one who had the coinciding responses when being asked about the theory and reality of task assessment was Nho She assessed students by the outcome of the task, i.e students could arrange the pictures in good order and tell a reasonable story Besides these features, Cam and Nho added that teaching speaking through tasks was to develop students' communicative ability and communication skills respectively

In terms of task types, they listed out some tasks: matching, role play, gap-filling, and discussion (the way for students to express their own ideas and feelings) Quyt did not mention any kind of task These examples of tasks have more matches to the theory of tasks in TBLT orientation in comparison with their task definitions

4.1.2 Teacher perception of TBLT to speaking skills

Teachers Concept of TBLT to speaking skills

Task-based framework in teaching speaking skills

Table 3:Participants' perception of TBLT to speaking skills

The teacher perceptions of TBLT to speaking skills were in the interview data as in table 3 The table shows that all of the teachers had unclear answers of TBLT concept

They all had the same idea that TBLT was the teaching basing on tasks The teachers gave out tasks to students and helped them to do these tasks as instructors Such understanding was neutral They responsed too generally and this definition referred from the term 'task- based' itself The only three things that they mentioned matching with the theory of TBLT were authentic materials (which were reading texts in each unit), meaning focus and teachers' roles as language instructors and advisors However, these were not enough The teachers did not emphasize, for example the interaction between students to handle the learning problems and enrich the knowledge, goal-orientation, etc

As regard to teacher perception of task-based framework, all of them did not have any idea matching with TBA principles Cam and Dao misunderstood TBA framework with the framework of PPP approach They described three steps in their teaching speaking:

 Second, reusing input for more practice

 Last, further discussion basing on what have been taught Nho misunderstood it for skill-based teaching procedures which are meant by pre, while and post Meanwhile, Quyt did not pay much attention to the teaching methodology

She stated that in speaking lessons, the first phase was warming up, then she gave out three tasks to the students to do They did each task in order as being required in the course book

All of the teachers could describe the things that teacher and students should do in each stage

In brief, it can be seen that teachers did not define task and TBLT well They did not shape a complete or right picture of tasks as well as task-based language teaching although they were trained about TBA

4.1.3 Teacher perception of advantages and disadvantages in TBLT implementation to speaking skills

Table 4 lists out the main advantages and disadvantages that the teachers mentioned in the interviews

Cam - students' collaboration had been improved

- they felt rather comfortable and more self-confident in communication

- TBA was not suitable for such big-sized classes of different level students

- meaning focus in TBA caused students difficulties in written tests

- students were neglectful of structures and grammar

Quyt - students' collaboration had been improved

- they were interested in speaking

- students' speaking skills had been improved

- teacher and students became closer

- meaning focus in TBA caused students difficulties in written tests

- she needed much time and effort in lesson preparation

Dao - students' interaction had been improved

- their motivation had been improved

- they were relaxed and comfortable in speaking

- TBA was not suitable for classes of different level students

- A lot of time and effort were devoted to lesson preparation

- some students' motivation had not been improved

Nho - their motivation had been improved

- they felt confident in speaking

- students' collaboration had been improved

- it was difficult for teachers to control students in group work in TBA

- she needed much time and effort in lesson preparation

Table 4: Participants' perceptions of TBLT advantages and disadvantages

It can be seen that teachers gave out many disadvantages of TBA The most common difficulties they met were much effort in preparation 3 out of 4 stated it Only

Cam did not share the same idea with the reason that teaching speaking skills was her strength Nho explained that much effort and time were devoted to lesson preparation because of the change in the set of course books Beside the above difficulty, each teacher complained about negative elements of TBA in their own way, for example, TBA implementation in speaking skills caused students much difficulty in written tests as they were neglectful of structure and grammar; TBA was not suitable for big-sized classes of multi-level students, therefore carrying out tasks was not highly effective and it was difficult for the teacher to control students when they worked in groups Dao and Cam added more that they did not agree with the opinion that TBA was not for beginners as in their point of view, teachers could re-design tasks in the more suitable way for students

Besides, according to Dao, TBA had not improved students' confidence Some students were still shy and hesitated to speak English out

In terms of advantages, most of the teachers found out that TBA was useful for teaching speaking skills as it had improved students' motivation They confessed that their students were active and more interested, relaxed in speaking tasks Nho and Quyt saw that the students' speaking skills had been improved much, and the collaboration among students were better Apart from those, Quyt felt that she and her students became closer

Discussions of the findings 36 1 Congruence and incongruence between teachers' perceptions of TBLT and its theory

In this part, the author discusses three main issues based on data that she has just the presentation in the last part All the phenomena, the divergence or convergence in participants' perception will be highly investigated for acceptable interpretations

4.2.1 Congruence and incongruence between teachers' perceptions of TBLT and its theory

This part is to discuss teachers' real perceptions of the method appeared from the interview and the incongruence between teachers' perceptions and the most advocated theories of TBLT

According to TBLT theories discussed by researchers (Ellis, 2003; Willis, 1996, etc.), the data presented showed that all the teachers had the unclear conceptualizations of tasks and TBA Though teachers confessed that they were ever or being trained about teaching methodologies including TBLT, and in fact, they were implementing it in teaching speaking skills, they did not shape a clear and specific features of tasks and TBA

They couldn't give out outstanding features of tasks and TBA which made them different with other methods This reality is going in the unexpected direction that the authority of the school and the Ministry of Education and Training in their trying to shift the perceptions and applications of teachers from traditional teaching methods with teacher - dominance to update and reasonable ones with learner-centered maxim

The teachers' statement of task definition that 'TBLT is the teaching basing on tasks' fits the principles of TST stated by Ellis R (2003) because they did not discuss the context where students can learn and use English for communication and the priority of task assessment

All the data emerged from the interview and class teaching observation can be extracted out with some vague understanding of teachers about tasks and TBLT as below:

1 Tasks are learning tasks Any activity that students do in the classroom is a task

2 A task is a task because it is there in the course book

3 Fluency is the priority of task assessment

4 Task types are the ones which are available in the course book, such as matching, gap-filling

5 The way to teach speaking skills in TBA follow the procedure of PPP approach in which task 1, task 2, task 3 are presented as Presentation, Practice, Production respectively

This incongruence may be the challenge that English teacher at Nguyen Hue gifted high school face in attempting to implement TBLT in their classroom practice

4.2.2 Consistence and inconsistence between teacher perceptions and their classroom behaviours

As being discussed by Prosser & Trigwell (1999), teachers' perceptions and their teaching practice are important elements in deciding the quality of teaching language They have a close relationship to each other Therefore, in this part, it aims to compare the perceptions of teachers with what they did in the classrooms

Referring to table 5, the comparison between the number of some teachers who declared to use TBLT in their teaching speaking and what they did in the classroom shows that there is a deviation between the cognition and practice They held conflicting ideas about teaching and teaching practice In the verbal reports, all the teachers stated to use TBLT to speaking skills, however, no one implemented it in reality despite the fact that they had positive attitudes towards TBLT implementation in teaching speaking and that they were aware of the effectiveness that TBA brought to students' language learning Cam

- a participant in the interview stated she was taught and ever used TBA in teaching French, however, what she showed in the English teaching practice was different with the maxim of TBLT She assessed students' task completion in terms of fluency, accuracy and presentation skills Nho - another participant declared she assessed students' tasks basing on the outcome, but at last, she focused too much on teaching students skills (i.e how to make a good dialogue), moreover, in the phase of task assessment, she talked about the usages of structures, the format of the conversation and corrected errors The reason explained for this fact in my analysis is that those teachers re-interpreted tasks and TBLT in their point of view The tasks they used are in the care of TST, the way they carried out tasks did not fit the framework of TBA Therefore, their teaching methods deviated in the direction of their re-interpretation There is a divergence between their verbal reports and their actual teaching practice

4.2.3 Consistence and inconsistence between teacher perceptions of advantages and disadvantages and their teaching practice

With the findings above, it is obvious that teachers re-interpreted tasks and TBLT according to their perceptions This fact accounts for the inconsistence between the way they understood about TBLT and the way they materialized the approach in their classroom This might be due to their heavy teaching load Each teacher had to teach 17 hours per week, therefore they did not have enough time to prepare lessons and employ TBA in their teaching practice It resulted in the fact that the advantages and disadvantages that they stated in the interviews were those arising from their currently employed approaches, but TBLT However, what teachers believed to be the effectiveness of TBA, they tried to develop it best in the classroom For example, all of the teachers confessed that students' collaboration had been improved, and in fact, they strived to create chances for students to work in pairs and groups to develop their collaboration What they thought to be TBLT disadvantages to speaking skills were hard to avoid as they were out of their authority So, the teachers seemed not to intend to reduce them.

CONCLUSIONS

Summary of the study major points

The research was a case study at Nguyen Hue gifted high school It aimed to explore the teacher perceptions of task and TBLT to speaking skills That is how they perceive of tasks and task-based approach to speaking skills in their context and what they think the advantages, disadvantages are when employing this approach in classroom

Besides, the research was also concerned to the reality of teaching practice at the school

To find out the answers to the research questions, the author hired two data collection devices, i.e interview and observation The interviews helped to retrieve the firsthand perceptions of TBLT while observations provided the ways that the teachers taught speaking skills The author began analysing the qualitative data when hunches emerged during the data collection process and later more systematically analysed the data using reduction and synthesis

The following statements are considerable briefest conclusions for the research questions:

 The answer for research question 1: 'What are teachers' understanding of the TBA to speaking skills?' is ELT imbedded with tasks have been done at Nguyen Hue gifted high school, but teachers' understanding are vague They re-interpreted tasks and TBA according to their perceptions

The reasons why their definitions of tasks and TBLT to speaking skills went somewhere in the middle of the concept might be:

1 The lack of materials results in their re-interpretation of TBLT according to their perceptions

2 The insufficiency of TBLT knowledge is more serious as all of the teachers did not understand the update teaching methodology, including TBA well The teacher training courses that they are attending are only short-termed

3 The policy of the school board that all the students need to pass the written graduation tests which causes the teachers the neglectfulness of teaching speaking skills in general and implementing TBA in particular

4 It is not surprising that the lack of the consensus in the field about tasks and TBLT leading to the unclear understandings of the teachers

 With regard to the research question 2: 'What do they perceive of the advantages and disadvantages of using TBA to speaking skills in their context?', the teachers have stated the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of TBLT, but these elements were what they thought of but not the real factors that came from TBA

From the fact discussed above, some following implications should be put into consideration

1 The teachers should improve their knowledge by equipping themselves with deeper understandings of teaching methodology, especially TBLT

2 Teachers should be given the opportunity to acquire knowledge about TBLT To this end, it is suggested that teacher education programs, which aim at in-depth training about language teaching methodologies, should properly deal with both strengths and weaknesses of TBLT.

Limitation of the study

Although much efforts and careful considerations were devoted to the study, there exist some limitations

 First, the discussion of the thesis only focuses on some main points towards the two research questions while the oral reports of the teachers provided a lot of issues related to the teaching and learning at the school It is impossible to cover all the aspects emerging from the interviews and class teaching in the field of ELT

 Second, the result of the research is fruitful for only a specific context which is the teaching and learning foreign languages at Nguyen Hue gifted high school

 Last, the study of teacher perceptions of TBLT to speaking skills would provide more information about the case if the researcher could investigate the teacher teaching 11 th English major class

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Appendix A: Interview Questions Appendix B: Classroom Observations Appendix C: Written Transcript of Taped Interviews

1 In terms of ELT approaches, what methodology do you think English language teachers are employing in teaching speaking skills at the school?

2 What do you perceive of TBA to speaking skills? What is your understanding of the term task in the course book? Do you employ tasks in your teaching? If so, what kinds? How effective are they? How do you assess the students' task completion?

3 What do you think are positive elements of task-based teaching to speaking skills?

4 What do you think are negative elements of task-based teaching to speaking skills?

5 Can you give an example of speaking task you have conducted with your students?

6 What do you do in the pre, while and post task phase of the task cycle?

7 What are the main issues of task implementation to speaking skills in practice?

8 What do you think of the factors facilitating / inhibitating the implementation of TBA to speaking skills?

(two samples in four observations) TEACHING OBSERVATION SHEET 1 NAME OF OBSERVER: Hoang Thuy Huong

DATE AND TIME OF OBSERVATION: 27.11.2009 LENGTH OF OBSERVATION: 45 minutes

NO OF STUDENTS: 31 CLASS: a 11 th form majoring in Biology LESSON: Unit 10: Nature in danger

FURNITURE ARRANGEMENT: Students sit in horizontal lines OBJECTIVES OF THE OBSERVATION: To observe the teaching and learning a speaking lesson in the class

Time Teacher's activities Students' activities

13.20 - The teacher came into class with a smile and some minor printed pictures The lesson begin with some questions

'What did we learn last lesson?' 'Yeah, what is it about?'

'Good Why is our nature is threatened?'

- Students are chatting, stand up and nod the teacher Then they answer the questions

'Unit 10, reading text' 'It's about environment' 'Because of human beings' 13.25

- Asks students to open the book and look at task 1 She gives out the requirements that students read sentences in task 1 aloud and carefully

- Then she shows the pictures and asks students about the content of the pictures 'Tell me what people in the picture are doing?'

- In picture 6, there are new words ('pesticides' & 'cultivation') and she explains their meanings and pronounces them

- Asks students to work in groups of 4 and put the sentences (which match the pictures) in the order of importance

- Calls out 3 students to show their group work During their answers, the teacher asks more questions:

'Do you think that these actions are serious?

Why?' 'Why do you arrange them in such order?' etc

- Look at task 1 and read the sentences

'keeping animals as pets' 'burning forests etc

- Put the sentences in the order of importance as they think

'What should we do to solve the problems?'

- Asks students to read through task 2 and then work in the same group and match reasons in task 1 with possible measures in task 2 Then requests students to discuss the advantages of these measures if they become true

- Asks 2 pairs to present the group work

One proposes the reasons and the other provides the measures Then a student talks about the advantages During the time students discuss, the teacher listens to some discussion and helps them with complex structures and new words

- Provide some solutions such as encouragement of planting trees, banning killing endangered animals, etc

- Read the measures in task

2, then matching and discussing the possible advantages

- each 2 students as representatives of the group present the work

One of them talks about the advantages

- Asks students to work in pairs and talk about the negative impacts made by people on the environment and suggest measures to protect it

- Asks 3 pairs to present in class

- Listens to the presentation There is no a comment or correction She only gives good words and encouragement to students

- Work in pairs and prepare for their presentation

- Asks students to prepare listening section - Listen and take notes

TEACHING OBSERVATION SHEET 2 NAME OF OBSERVER: Hoang Thuy Huong

DATE AND TIME OF OBSERVATION: 14.11.2009 LENGTH OF OBSERVATION: 45 minutes

NO OF STUDENTS: 31 CLASS: a 11 th form majoring in Physics LESSON: Unit 8: Celebrations

FURNITURE ARRANGEMENT: Students sit in horizontal lines OBJECTIVES OF THE OBSERVATION: To observe the teaching and learning a speaking lesson in the class

Time Teacher's activities Students' activities

- Asks students to summarize the content of the reading text learnt last lessons

- Calls out a girl to summarize loudly

- Summarize the reading text individually

- Listen to their friend's summary and note down

- Asks students to work in pairs practising the dialogue

- Points 3 pairs to act out the dialogue in front of the class

- Practising the dialogue in pairs

- Asks students to match popular holidays and celebrations in Vietnam with its main purpose and activities

- Asks them to choose one holiday and discuss more about it

- Work in pairs to do task

- After matching, one student talk about the activities of the holiday and the other asks related questions

- Calls out 2 pairs present their work

_ Makes comments on the content of the presentation in terms of the ideas and fluency

- Listen to their friends' presentations

- Asks students to talk about the activities that they are going to have this Tet holiday

While students are discussing, the teacher observes students and help them with new words and structures if necessary

- Discuss the activities that they intend to do this Tet holiday in groups

As time's up, the teacher gives task 4 as homework to students with specific requirements:

+ what activities? describe them + with whom? where? when

APPENDIX C: WRITTEN TRANSCRIPT OF TAPED

Researcher: Can you please introduce yourself?

T: My name is Le Hong Hanh, 48 years old I'm teaching at Nguyen Hue gifted high school, Ha Dong, Hanoi I began teaching French in 1986 I only started teaching English in 2001

R: Have you ever heard of task-based approach?

T: I implemented TBA in teaching French When the set of English textbooks were redesigned in task-based approach 4 years ago, I have been using it in teaching English since then

R: It means that you are implementing it in your teaching?

R: Do you use TBA in teaching speaking for grade 11?

R: In speaking section of textbook grade 11, there are task 1, task 2, task 3 What is your understanding of the term task? Do you employ tasks in your teaching? If so, what kinds?

How effective are they? How do you assess the students' task completion?

T: A task is a learning activity Each one has its own features For example, task 1 helps students to revise vocabulary and practise new words in the lesson, task 2 is often related to structures, grammar, and task 3 is reading comprehension in which students have to answer the questions

R: Now, I would like to ask you some questions about speaking skills When you give them tasks, do you ask them to work in pairs, in groups or individually?

T: Normally, task 1 in pairs It depends on each situation to choose working in groups, but it's difficult for them to work in group of 5, instead they work in group of 5 to 8 It means that students of two tables make a group

R: What language skills do you think the tasks help to improve? For example, communication skills, presentation skills or practice vocabulary and grammar structures

T: I think that all of them because each task has its own advantages Task 1 improves students' vocabulary, then they can use it in communication It's obvious that they have to use right structures and can express the ideas

R: Which is more important: communication or vocabulary and grammar structures?

T: In terms of speaking, it's expressing ideas in English Grammar and structures get more attention in language focus section

R: Before doing the tasks, are students aware of their roles?

T: It's obvious so because task requirements are clear

R: How do you assess students' work?

T: The first thing is if my students can speak fluently or not Then they are given different topics to discuss In speaking I focus on communication than structures

R: For example, a task requires students to arrange pictures in order to make a complete story and give the reasons for their arrangement, so do you assess your students' task completion basing on story arrangement or their communication in English?

T: In this situation, the first thing is that they have to arrange the pictures in the right order, then give the reasons Each student has a different story with these pictures

R: Which language do you and your students use in class? English or Vietnamese or both?

T: Most of the time is English However, it's not always that all the students can understand English all the time, therefore, sometimes I need to teach some groups in Vietnamese

R: Do you agree that TBA have the same principles with CLT?

R: What are the teachers and students’ role in task-based approach?

T: It's changing In the past, it's teacher-centered, but now teachers are advisors and guides

R: In class, do you act as the real advisor or do you have to do more than that?

T: It depends on the class If students major in English, my role is a guide If students' major is not English, I will have to advise and guide them more

R: How do you teaching speaking? Do you divide it into steps?

T: Yes, it bases on tasks in the textbook First it's warm up, then students have to do task 1,

R: Are you interested in TBA? Why do you choose it in teaching?

T: Because teaching speaking means your students are able to communicate

R: When using TBA in teaching, are your students more interested in learning?

T: It's obvious They are really interested, especially in pictures given by the teacher They compete to tell the story It helps to develop speaking skills

R: So students' motivation is better improved?

T: It's obvious They like speaking more, however, that's only true for most of them Some are shy and reserved so they hesitate to speak Students majoring in Maths, Sciences and Physics, they like reading comprehension, students majoring in English like speaking more

R: Is your students' speaking skills improved when you implement TBA?

R: In comparison with other approaches, does TBA take more time and effort to prepare?

T: Yes For example, I have to prepare many pictures, other tools or stories to suggest students in speaking

R: Are the topics in the textbook similar to the students?

T: Yes, but there's one difficulty that the reading text is longer and longer, so it's time- consuming

T: It's more flexible If the reading text provides students with basic knowledge, they are more excited about speaking

R: What are advantages and disadvantages of TBA?

T: In terms of advantages, the teacher and students are closer, we feel more comfortable to talk to each other Students find it easier to use English In terms of disadvantages, students will meet difficulty in taking the written exams to universities For example, if we focus too much on speaking, students will forget grammar and structures As a result, it causes them difficult in multiple choice tests

R: Do you see that students are more active and self-confident in communication?

R: When students work in groups, does the collaboration between them increase?

T: Yes, especially working in groups of 3 or 4 and in pairs, all the students have to speak and discuss In more crowded groups, each student, at least, have a chance to speak once

R: Do you students abuse Vietnamese in speaking? For example, some students are able to speaking English, however, they will use Vietnamese instead when they meet just a little difficulty

T: Uhm, sometimes They often use body language more because Vietnamese is forbidden

But if they can express the idea, and the teacher do not understand them, Vietnamese is allowed

R: There's an opinion that students abuse the speaking strategies, i.e they learn the structures, sentences available in the reading texts and use it in communication Do you agree?

T: To some extent, it's true But not always

R: It is thought that TBA is not suitable for beginners? Do you agree?

T: Yes I think that when students are taught speaking, they need to be taught writing

R: Which English level are your students at?

T: Yes They can speak and communicate in English and can finish speaking tasks

Researcher: Can you please introduce yourself?

Teacher: My name is Dao Thi Trang I am 42 years old I am a teacher of Nguyen Hue Gifted Secondary School I have 20 years of teaching experiences

Researcher: So your major is English

R: What grade are you teaching?

T: I am teaching both 11 (basic textbook) and 12 (advanced textbook) grades

R: Can I ask you something about grade 11? Have you ever heard of Task-based teaching?

R: Have you applied Task-based teaching?

T: I am attending a training workshop which also focuses on this approach I have used this approach to teach 11 graders

R: Today I only would like to talk about speaking skills In the English 11, the speaking section has three tasks What is your understanding of the term task? Do you employ tasks in your teaching? If so, what kinds? How effective are they? How do you assess the students' task completion?