Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS treatment of cross cultural characteristics in the teaching of speaking to grade 12a1 students of english in nam dan 1 high school in nghe an province

Aims of the study

The major aims of the study are as follows:

- To investigate the teachers' and students' attitudes towards the importance of cross- cultural knowledge to the learning of a foreign language

- To find out the attitudes of teachers and students at Nam Dan 1 high school toward the importance of culture in learning speaking skills in English language teaching

- To find out the effective ways of treatment cross-cultural characteristics into teaching of speaking in English.

Scope of the study

To develop speaking skill and the communicative competence for students at Nam Dan I high school, teachers has made a lot of effort to motivate the students to participate in speaking class effectively However, in the thesis, the researcher wants to find out the attitudes, as well as the cross-culture awareness in teaching and learning spoken English The scope of this study is limited to the raising of students' cross-cultural awareness through speaking only

The subjects of the study are grade 12A1 students of English at Nam Dan I high school in Nghe An province The research is confined to English and American cultures as the cultures of the target language The suggestions and recommendations are all centered on a combination of task-based of activity- based syllabuses.

Research questions

This study is implemented to find answers to the following questions:

1 What is the students' perception of the role of cultural understanding in learning English?

2 How do teachers and students at NDI high school appreciate the role of culture in speaking skills?

3 How does students' cross-cultural understanding change through the treatment of cross- cultural characteristics in speaking lessons?

Methods of the study

Because the purpose of this study is to investigate the teachers` and students` perception of the role od cultural understanding in learning English, a questionnaire was used as the key instrument of data collection Data were analysised quantitatively by means of descriptive statistics.

Organization of the study

The study is divided into three main parts:

Part A is the INTRODUCTION In this part, the rationale, the aims, research questions, the scope of the study, method, and design of the study are presented

Part B is DEVELOPMENT There are three chapters in this part

Chapter 1 reviews the related knowledge that helps to give the theoretical foundation for this study This review consists of the literature on the role of cross- cultural understanding , techniques that can be used to raise students' cross- cultural awareness, the role of speaking skill in English language teaching and important factor in cross-cultural communication

Chapter 2 can be seen as case study in real situation This chapter discusses the context of the study, data collection methods and analyses the data collected to answer specifically the research questions for the study It provides the detailed results of the instruments for data collection and discussion of the finding

Chapter 3 contains the summary of findings, the suggestions for treatment of cross-cultural characteristics into speaking lesson and the recommendation for further studies

Literature review 1.1 The importance of cross- cultural knowledge in foreign language learning

Definitions of term “culture” and “cross-culture” 1 What is culture?

There are many definitions and ways of understanding term " culture", Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1954) found over three hundred definitions of culture in their study, which underlines the difficulty and scope of issues involved in communicating and teaching about culture "Culture" has many aspects, it includes behavior, attitudes, and the social knowledge that person use to interpret experience In other words, culture should be seen as assumptions, ideas, and belief that are used to interpret other's action, words, and thinking

According to Kluckhohm (cited in Christopher Early1993:42): Culture is the patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting, required and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments of artifacts, the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached values

Benedict, R.(1934:16) thinks "Culture is what really binds men together" Culture is all accepted and collaborated ways of behavior of a given people It is that facet of human life learned behavior shared with others

Takdir Alisjahbana ( Indonesia) (cited in Soenjono Dardjowidjojo 1973) defined culture as that which is left when all has been forgotten He understood the culture of the individual to be that hard-to-isolate element that distinguishes the "cultivated" man

In Levine's definition (1993), culture is like an " iceberg", the exposed parts are those which are easy to recognize such as language, food, ect Meanwhile the others, most of which are hidden under water, are not easy to be recognized Such hidden aspects are the influence of culture on individual, the ways of behavior and interactions with each other, which cannot be seen

Nguyen Quang's point of view about culture: " Culture is the whole complex of tangible and intangible expressions that are created and adapted by society or a social group as well as the ways it functions and reacts in given situations, this helps distinguish one society or social group from another not only in term of the availability of those expressions and behaviors, but also in terms of their proportionality and manifestability" (Nguyen Quang

2006:24) Language learning is culture learning Brooks (1975) defines that " Culture learning is the process of acquiring the culture- specific and culture-general knowledge, skills, and attitude required for effective communication and interaction with individuals from other cultures, it is a dynamic, developmental, and ongoing process which engages the learner cognitively, behaviorally, and affectively."

Montgometry and Reid-Thomas (1994:5), anthropologists define culture as " The whole way of life of people or a group In this context, culture includes all the social practices that bond a group of people together and distinguish them from other." From point of view's

Montgometry and Reid-Thomas, we can see that the language classroom context is an example of a cultural group and by being so is an excellent phenomenon to be analyzed and observed

As seen from these views, culture can be understood as something, which was and has been created through the history of human development through their social activities in the forms of materials and spiritual values in a society Culture does not belong to a single person but to all people who share a culture

Cross-culture can be seen as cultures in contact or cultures encounters The term

"cross-culture" usually refers to the meeting of two cultures or languages across the political boundaries of nation-states ( Claire Kramsch) They are predicated on the equivalence of one nation-one culture-one language In foreign language, teaching a cross-cultural approach seeks ways to understand the other on the other side of the border by learning his or her national language Cross-cultural communication does not only study cultural differences and their influences on the people's behaviors but also see the similarities between them

Effective cross-cultural communication is concerned with overcoming cultural differences across nationality, religion, borders, culture and behavior Cross-cultural communication competency can only be truly achieved through cross cultural awareness training, language acquisition, foreign travel and cultural immersion

Cross-cultural understanding refers to the basic ability of people to recognize, interpret and correctly react to people, incidences or situations that are open to misunderstanding due to cultural differences It is said that cross-culture understanding is recognition of the ways in which two cultures resemble one another as well as the ways in which they differ

Mastering cross-culture knowledge opens great vista for the teacher and provides a basis for better understanding of persons from other backgrounds, as well as supplying new insights into approaches to teaching a second language

According to Meyer (cited in Eli Hinkel;1991:37), intercultural competence has been defined in foreign language learning as "the ability of a person to behave adequately in a flexible manner when confronted with actions, attitudes, and expectations of representatives of foreign cultures".

The relationship between language and culture

Culture, unlike language, does not consist of specific rules that apply to all people in one culture Nevertheless, Culture and language have a close relationship Many linguists have been discussed a question for a long time: how do the language and culture relate to each other? One of the most well known sources is Sapir-Whorf's hypothesis (cited in Pinker 1994:59) state: "We cut nature up, organize it into concepts and as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language The agreement is, of course, an implicit and unstated one, but its terms are absolutely obligatory." Pinker shows that Whorf did not do his research properly to prove his hypothesis However, it cannot be denied that language and culture are profoundly connected, or rather, that language is inseparable from culture

According to Claire Kramch (1998:3) "They give meaning to it through the medium they choose to communicate with one another, for example on the telephone or face to face, writing a letter or sending an e-mail message, reading the newspaper or interpreting a graph or chart The way in which people use the spoken, written, or visual medium itself to creates meanings that are understandable to the group they belong to, for example, through a speaker's tone of voice, accent, conversation style, gestures and facial expressions." Through

Clair Kramch's idea, we find that language embodies cultural reality As Nguyen Van Do

(2006) has said: "Language and culture can be seen as the faces of a sheet of paper"

Language cannot exist outside the social context, language is a social institution

Buttjes (1990:55) points out the reason why language and culture are inseparably connected that:

1- Language acquisition does not follow a universal sequence, but differs across cultures;

2- The process of becoming a competent member of society is realized through exchanges of language in particular social situations;

3- Every society orchestrates the ways in which children participate in particular situations, and this, in turn, affects the form, the function and the content of children's utterances;

4- Caregivers' primary concern is not with grammatical input, but with the transmission of sociocultural knowledge;

5- The native learner, in addition to language, acquires also the paralinguistic patterns and the kinesics of his or her culture

Language reflects culture Culture affects the way language is expressed and language may contain many factors of culture in turn Words always reflect attached cultural elements that are practiced by the people who speak the language All the belief, value, attitudes, perception are performed and transmitted via language Language cannot be explained without reference to its cultural context Language is acquired in a cultural-social context and the meaning constructed are the result of interaction between individual, the language and the culture Therefore, while teaching language, it is necessary for teachers to introduce cultural element

1.2 Goals and objectives for treatment of cross-cultural characteristics in English teaching

From linguist's ideas and analysis about the relationship of language and culture, we can see that teaching culture needs to be integrated in the curriculum of the foreign language

Teachers do indeed need to teach students a few critical skills that can help them develop and improve the quality of their intercultural communication that can help them "get their feet wet in the waters of another culture." (Seelye 1993) Here are some goals, devised by Seelye in

1974 and refined in 1993, that will help teachers select cultural data that will increase student skill in intercultural communication:

Goal 1: Interest- The student demonstrates curiosity about the target culture and empathy toward its people

Goal 2: Who- The student recognizes that role expectations and other social variables such as age, sex, social class, ethnicity, and place of residence affect the way people speak and behave

Goal 3: What- The student realizes that effective communication requires discovering the culturally conditioned images that are evoked in the minds of people when they think, act, and react to the world around them

Goal 4: Where and When- The student recognizes that situational variables and convention shape behavior in important ways (S/he needs to know how people in the target culture act in common mundane and crisis situations)

Goal 5: Why- The student understands that people generally act the way they do because they are using options society allows for satisfying basic physical and psychological needs, and that cultural patterns are interrelated and tend mutually to support need satisfaction

Goal 6: Exploration- The student can evaluate a generalization about the target culture in terms of the amount of evidence substantiating it, and has the skills needed to locate and organize information about the target culture from the library, the mass media, people, and personal observation

The Nostrands (1970) listed nine objectives: students should have the ability to

1) React appropriately in asocial situation

2) Describe a pattern in the culture

3) Recognize a pattern when it is illustrated

5) Predict how a pattern is likely to apply in a given situation

6) Describe or manifest an attitude important for making oneself acceptable in the foreign society

7) Evaluate the form of a statement concerning a culture pattern

8) Describe/demonstrate defensible methods of analyzing a socio-cultural whole

9) Identify basic human purposes that make significant the understanding that is being taught

Various versions of these steps have been made, with more or less the same goals and expectations for students

1.3 Some considerations in raising students` cross-cultural awareness when teaching English as Foreign language

Language teachers and students must have a certain awareness of the foreign culture and its effect on the language being taught and learned When developing cross-cultural awareness, both learners and teachers of a foreign language need to understand cultural differences Cultural differences play a very important part in teaching English Teachers often base on their activities to teach students how to use structures, expressions instead of those in the country they are working Although they should get students learn to speak English in the native ways, they should see that it is necessary to be more aware of the cultural differences, so that they can help students understand and use English in a native speaking country

Students often meet intercultural encounters in schools which can lead to many perplexities For example, the students at Vinh university complained about an American professor that their American teachers often eat bread and drink milk on the table of the teacher in break and she did not invite their students And the students felt that their teachers did not respect the students Or another example, an American lecturer at Vinh university thought that the students showed their opposition to the teachers from the first lesson, when the teacher gave questions but no one raised their hand or gave ideas She did not understand that most Vietnamese students are unselfconfident We can see that the role of language in intercultural encounters applies entirely to the teaching situation Therefore, developing cross- cultural awareness in EFL classroom is an indispensable thing in teaching and learning foreign language Learning to understand a foreign culture should help students of another language to use words and expressions more skillfully and authentically; to understand levels of language and situational appropriate; to act naturally with persons of the other culture

We need to understand that if we want our students to master another language, we have to help them become communicatively competent in that language as much as possible

Namely, fluently speaking is not just to master of using grammatically correct words and forms but also knowing when to use them and under what circumstances That is the reason why culture is crucially important in learning and teaching foreign language

Interest in culture is linked to the intrinsic motivation of a learner Therefore, if the teacher can get the learner interested in the culture of the L2, then they will hopefully end up with more successful students

When considering language learning, it is clear that the learning of both languages would have cultural goals, and that students would be learning these aspects of culture in a comparative process To achieve culture goals, often teacher has to play a role in breaking down cultural barriers prior to initiating teaching-learning activities Student must be receptive to concept of learning about other cultures more than their own In Vietnam, the learners learning the foreign language has a great limit in communication Thus, the easiest way to begin teaching culture or raise students' awareness is to emphasize similarities and differences between members of students' s family, between schools and between cultures

According to Valette, R.M.(1986:179), there are two main components of culture in the language classroom: "one component is the anthropological or sociological culture: the attitudes, custom, and daily activities of a people, their ways of thinking, their values, their frames of reference Since language is a direct manifestation of this phrase of culture, a society cannot be totally understood or appreciated without knowledge of its language The other component of culture is the history of civilization Traditionally representing the

Speaking skill and the position in E language teaching 1 Definition of speaking skill

Speaking is "The process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts" (Chaney, 1998:13) Speaking in a foreign language has been viewed as the most demanding of the four skills It plays a vital role since it is the step to identify who knows or does not know a language When attempting to speak, learners must muster their thoughts and encode those ideas in the vocabulary and syntactic structures of the target language

According to Brown, (1994); Burn and Joyce, (1997): "Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information." Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking

Speaking is the productive skill, is known to have two main types of conversation namely, dialogue and monologue, which are rather different In monologue, you give uninterrupted oral presentation while in dialogue you interact with one or more other speakers for transactional and international purposes

Martin Bygate (1987:11-12) shows that " First, spoken language is affected by the time limitations, and the associated problems of planning, memory, and production under pressure Second, it is reciprocal activity, which has a crucial effect on the kinds of decisions to be made." It can be understood that speaking is not spoken writing It is different from other skills in the teaching and learning of language It needs to limit time in response and it is not easy to correct when an utterance is made The speakers must be responsible for their utterances in a limited time and make sense with what they are saying During speaking, speakers are responsible for making themselves understandable to listeners through selected and adapted messages based on listeners' understanding feedback This means that speakers use devices in order to facilitate production

In conclusion, for many people, speaking is seen as the central skill The desire to communicate with others, often face-to-face and in real time, drives us to attempt to speak fluently and correctly Speaking is also one of necessary skills that students have to acquire in learning a foreign language It helps people to communicate and exchange information and culture with other countries

1.4.2 The position of speaking skills in English language teaching

From the fact, four skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing have certain roles in ELT, but the most important aim of students is using language to communicate with others

Thus, it is clear that speaking is the key component to English language teaching

According to Pattison (1992): "when people mention knowing or learning a language, they mean being able to speak the language" We cannot deny that we use spoken language more than written language in our lives For students, training speaking skills will help them to feel more confident and to correct grammatical mistakes by themselves in communicative process

When talking about the role of speaking, Bygate (1987:7) claims that: " It is the vehicle of social solidarity, of social ranking, of professional advancement and of business."

The mastery of speaking skills in English is a priority for many foreign language learners The learners often evaluate their success in language learning as well as the effectiveness of their English course on the basis of how well they feel they have improved in their spoken language proficiency

Nunan (1991:39) has ever said that: "mastering the art of speaking is the single most important aspect of learning a second language or foreign language, and success is measured in term of ability to carry out a conversation in the language." It can be inferred from Nunan's viewpoint that speaking is very important skill Therefore, having dealt with the importance of oral skills in language teaching and learning, it is essential that language teachers should pay more attention to teaching speaking skills

Teaching speaking is a very important part of second language learning The goal of teaching speaking skills is communicative efficiency The ability to communicate in a second language clearly and efficiently contributes to the success of the learner in school and success later in every phase of life.

What types of culture should be taught in the foreign language classroom?

Culture and language exist in the same relationship as that in which, within language, meaning and expression develop together Today educators have become aware of the importance of cultural factors in the teaching of speaking skills and they also see the influence of inferences between two cultures-target and learner's cultures-on the teaching and learning skills However, what types of culture should be taught in the foreign language classroom in order to be suitable with student's awareness and class environment ?, this has been a problem which many educators care about

Like teaching other aspects in foreign language instruction, culture teaching requires systematic development of its teaching principles Principles for culture teaching are mentioned in a number of studies and Kramsch's (1993:205,206) list may be considered one of the most noticeable Her principles of teaching culture has led to a new way of looking at the teaching of language and culture They are:

- Establishing a sphere of interculturality, which means that teaching culture is not transferring information between cultures but a foreign culture should be put in relation with one's own The intercultural approach includes a reflection on both cultures

- Teaching culture as an interpersonal process, which means replacing the teaching of facts and behaviors by the teaching of a process that helps to understand others

- Teaching culture as difference, which means considering the multiculturality and multiethnicity of modern societies and looking at various factors like age, gender, regional origin, ethnic background, and social class In the other words, cultures should not be seen as monolithic

- Cross disciplinary boundaries, which means linking the teaching of culture to other disciplines like anthropology, sociology and semiology

As Tomalin and Stempleski (1993:7) suggest, it is difficult to identify a detailed syllabus for the study of culture in a language classroom They present three elements of culture:

Products Literature Folklore Art Music Artfacts

Customs Habits Dress Foods Leisure

They claim that behavior culture should be systematically treated in every language class It is fact that many language teachers habitually begin their classes with a five-minute presentation in the foreign language of subject that has not been previously announced The content of the topics may be ones that bring out identity, similarity, or sharp differences in comparable patterns of culture

Ismail Cakir (2006:155) suggests some topics that can be presented within the course

Climate Meeting people Clothing Money

Crime Non-verbal communication Eating Pets

Education Population Family life Religion Geography Social occasions History Sport

Holidays Transportation Language Vacation Leisure activities

According to Hasselgreen's idea (2003:47-52), the topics are centered around learner's intercultural abilities They are the ability of coping with daily life activities, traditions and living conditions (e.g In home, school, and at festivals), the ability to deal with social conventions (e.g dressing and meeting people); confidence with the values, beliefs and attitudes of the foreign language users (e.g what they are proud of, worried about and find funny), the ability to use verbal communication means (e.g greeting, apologizing, expressing gratitude, embarrassment and love) and finally, the ability to use non-verbal language (e.g body language and facial expressions)

Dobson (1992) shares Oxford's view that students are apt to be fascinated by the ways in which their culture is similar to or different from an English-speaking one He proposes a series of aspects of life in an English-speaking country that student are especially interested

1 Family relationship 11 Influence of the media

4 Courtship and wedding customs 14 Holiday

9 Student-teacher relationship 19 Students' life

10 Contemporary fashions 20 Humor From the ideas above, it is clear that each researcher has an individual opinion about problem: teaching culture in classroom In my opinion, the above cultural elements to be used to teach the target language should be presented in the contexts, and depending on students's level and knowledge, the teacher can choose types of suitable culture to teach in classroom

2.1 Situation analysis 2.1.1 Setting of the study

The study is carried out at Nam Dan I high school where English is one of the compulsory subjects in the curriculum and it is the subjects students have to pass at the national examination by the end of grade 12th to be qualified for the secondary school diploma English curriculum for grade 12th students is divided into two semesters with a total

105 periods, 3 periods per week Each period is 45 minute long

The Textbook which our school are using for grade 12th is " English 10" with a new curriculum which was designed following communicative approach "English 12" textbook consist of sixteen units Each unit focuses not only on four different language skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing but also such language elements as pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary

Speaking is the second one in each unit introduced just after reading lesson All in all, the topics and activities in each speaking lesson are very multiform with the aim of helping students improve their speaking skill

It is believed that to develop speaking skill for student, the most effective way is inserting various cross-cultural issues in the safe environment of classroom When having a thorough grasp of cross-cultural knowledge of the language which students are learning, they will feel more confident in communication.

The study is carried out with the participation of grade 12 A1 forty students at Nam Dan I high school, most of whom are 17-18 years of age and 10 English teachers at Nam Dan

I high school During the years at secondary school, the students learnt the old textbook with curriculum concentrating on grammar They are almost beginners in English speaking because they were only exposed to the language in classroom before They had no chances to learn listening and speaking skills and the only knowledge they have is structures and theories of grammar Therefore, along with their difficulties in acquiring any effective language skills, a majority of the students did not have chances to know about what we call "culture" and

"cross-culture" and how to use cross-culture knowledge into speaking skill The English teachers need to stimulate their curiosity about English -speaking cultures.

Data collecting instruments

The researcher designed survey questionnaire as main tools to collect necessary data for study, ( See the Appendix) There are 10 questions and 2 tests All the questions and tests are clear and short to make sure students fully understand them before answering The questionnaire mainly focuses on 3 parts: The attitudes of the learners towards the target culture, the attitudes of the teachers and the students towards the importance of culture ELT, the attitudes of the learners and teachers towards cross-cultural characteristics in speaking skills The tests are given to see if there is any change in the participants' English culture achievement after applying cross-culture teaching activities in ELT

The questions are designed as multiple choices The questionnaire is collected from both teachers and students of NDI The students were asked to answer the questionnaires in fifteen minutes Besides, informal class observations, interviews and discussions were of great help or research

The un-structured interviews with students and teachers of NDI were conducted for more information These interviews were aimed to clarify some information gained from the questionnaire responses.

Data analysis 1 The attitudes of the learners towards the target culture 1.1 Positive attitudes towards the target culture

This section deals with the data collected from a survey on the teachers and students

This study was set up to investigate the changes in students' cross-cultural knowledge after a period of integrating cultural information into the speaking lessons

2.3.1 The attitudes of the learners towards the target culture 2.3.1.1 Positive attitudes towards the target culture

The first statements dealt with students' attitudes towards the learning of the target culture as part of their language class We can see the result in the table below

1 Learning a foreign language cannot be separated from learning that target culture

2 You cannot use English effectively unless you have good knowledge of English- speaking cultures

3 The differences between Vietnamese and

Englishculture influence your learning spoken English in class rooms

Table 1: Positive attitudes toward the target language

From the table, we can see that the first statement shows that more than two-thirds of students (85%) understand that learning a foreign language means to learn another culture

The remaining students have no idea about this issue It suggests that they have no awareness about culture of a language in learning that language

For the second statement of the survey, 30% of the students appreciated the importance of cross-cultural knowledge to effective English usage 50% strongly agree with the idea 20% disagree and have no idea with the importance of cross-cultural knowledge in communication It indicates that they did not know English cross-cultural knowledge is essential if one wants to use English effectively It is easily understandable that in English learning process in secondary school, communication and language usage are being ignored and when students do not care the relationships between culture and communication, they will know the importance of good cultural knowledge to a foreign language learner

2.3.1.2 Negative attitudes towards the target culture

4 It is unjust when Vietnamese students learning English have to behave like English native speakers

Table 2: Negative attitudes toward the target language

Although most students think that cultural knowledge plays an important role in foreign language learning, they realize that learning other culture does not mean changing their own value and behavior 57% students agree with this idea they said that culture knowledge will help them to improve English communicative competence, they only want that they are Vietnamese to use English language fluently and 30% strongly agree that learning English does not mean learning to be a native speaker

2.3.2 The attitudes of the teachers and learners towards the importance of culture ELT 5.- What do you think of the role of culture in English learning? (Students)

- What do you think of the role of culture in English learning? (Teachers)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 very important important rather important not very important students teachers

Figure 1: The students` perception of the role of culture in English learning

In overview, it can be seen that the teachers and students at NDI high school share different opinions that all of the teachers hold positive ideas about the position of culture in ELT With knowledge and experience, 100% of the teachers (60% suggests that culture is very important and 40% thinks culture is important) realize that cultural factors are very important to ELT Besides, students have clear difference 42% of the students consider cultural factors very important in ELT, 37.5 % of the students take it important 10% of the students think that culture is rather important in ELT The percentage of the students thinks culture is not very important is 10% It means that almost students are aware of the importance of the culture However, a small number of students take no care of the position of culture Therefore, it is easy to see that their English level is too low to use culture knowledge in learning English

2.3.3 The attitudes of the learners and teachers towards cross-cultural characteristics in speaking skills 6.- Can you rank these things in order of importance in learning speaking skills?

Table 3: The attitudes of the students toward the rank of skills in order of importance in learning speaking skill

1 2 3 4 vocabulary grammar pronunciation cultural knowledge

Figure 2: The attitudes of the students toward the rank of skills in order of importance in learning speaking skill

- Can you rank these things in order of importance in learning speaking skill?

Table 4: The attitudes of the teachers toward the rank of skills in order of importance in learning speaking skill

1 2 3 4 vocabulaty grammar pronunciation cultural knowledge

Figure 3: The attitudes of the teachers toward the rank of skills in order of importance in learning speaking skill

For the teachers, the rates of the teachers suggest that the cultural knowledge takes the first, second, and third position is equal with 20% each 40% of the teachers thinks thatcultural knowledge takes the fourth position

For the students, they have different ideas about importance of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and cultural knowledge in speaking skill Only 12.5 % puts cultural knowledge at the fourth position 42.5 % of the students thinks that cultural knowledge takes the third position, and 37.5 % considers cultural knowledge to be number one

From the chart, we can see that the students feel quite interesting and have motivation when inserting cultural knowledge into training speaking skill This result of survey will help teachers find suitable methods to teach English more effectively

7.- Do you think difference between Vietnamese and English culture influence your teaching spoken English in classroom? (Students)

- Do you think difference between Vietnamese and English culture influence your teaching spoken English in classroom? (Teachers)

10 20 30 40 50 60 strongly agree agree partly agree disagree strongly disagree teachers students

Figure 4: The attitudes of teachers and students toward influence of the difference between Vietnamese and English culture on their teaching and learning spoken English

The chart shows that the attitudes towards the influence of Vietnamese culture on the teaching and learning of speaking skill are complicated Most teachers think that Vietnamese culture effect greatly on teaching of speaking skills and none of the teachers think that Vietnamese has no effect on teaching of speaking skills Half the teachers suggests that Vietnamese influences their teaching

Besides, the students have quite different ideas about the influence of culture on their learning 30% students strongly agree that Vietnamese culture effects on their learning of speaking skills but 32.5% agree partly It means that they are aware of the impact of their own culture on their learning of speaking skills However, a little number of students (12.5%) suggests that speaking competence does not relate to cultural element, so they blame their lack of proficiency of speaking skills on other factors

2.3.4 The students' evaluation on the applied culture teaching activities

8.- What do you think of culture teaching activities used during the English lesson? students

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 very interesting and effective interesting and effective quite interesting and effective not interesting and effective students

Figure 5: The students` evaluation on the applied culture teaching activities

Half of the students (50%) agree that the activities used in the class are very interesting 30% of the students said that these activities are interesting and effective From students' answers, we can understand that the activities comfort students a lot, they can bring students many chances to practice English during the time of doing the tasks, these activities will help students to act as they are taking part in a game and they forget that they are studying 7.5% of the students think that the activities are not interesting and effective, which means that some students is not competent in English, they do not have enough knowledge to join the activities naturally

2.3.5 Speaking as the best way of enhancing cross- cultural knowledge

9 Speaking are the best way to enrich students' cross-cultural knowledge

10 When having 4(10%) 17(42.5%) 19(47.5%) chances to discuss or talking the similarities and differences between my culture and other cultures with my classmates I understand better not only other cultures but also my own culture

Table 5: The attitude of students toward the importance of speaking skill in enhancing cross-cultural knowledge

As depicted in the table above, for the statement 9, most student (87%) ticked

"strongly agree and agree" that speaking are the best way to enrich students' cross-cultural knowledge This proves that actually, many students know how to enrich cross-cultural knowledge through speaking skill during English learning process Beside 7.5 % of the students had no idea and 17.5% of the students disagreed with this statement May be, they think that there are more effective ways to enrich cultural knowledge They can get information from internet, book but they do not understand that enriching cultural knowledge here is not only enrich social knowledge but also develop communicative competence through cross-cultural knowledge

The statement 10 investigated that 90% of the students suggest that talking together or discussing the similarities and difference between Vietnamese culture and English culture, they have chance to understand more about both cultures It means that culture is an interesting topic, therefore students will frequently discuss this topic, this is the effective way to not only improve speaking skill but also enrich culture knowledge

2.3.6 The change in NDI students' test result after inserting and treating English culture-teaching activities into the teaching of speaking at NDI high school

At the first time of the first term, a test is given to all students 12a1 (40 students) and then the teachers apply cultural activities into lesson plans at 12a1 At the end of the first term, another test in culture is given to the same students

The results are found different as follow

Table 6: The change in students` test result after treating English culture-teaching activities into the teaching of speaking skill

Figure 6: The change in students` test result after treating English culture-teaching activities into the teaching of speaking skill

From the table, it is very easy to see that test 2 gets higher results as compared with results of test 1 After inserting cross-cultural knowledge into English teaching, cultural knowledge of the students improve distinctly From 0% of the student gets excellent mark in test 1, in test 2, 10% of the students get excellent mark Similarly, 7.5 % of the students get good marks in the test 1 but it increases 10% in test 2 12.5% gets fair marks in test 1 while in test 2, the number of students getting fair marks is more double(27.5%) and 10% gets medium marks in test 1 but 17.5 % in test 2 The remarkable thing here is the rate of students get weak marks and bad marks decreases sharply after applying cultural activities in English teaching

70% of the students get weak and bad marks in test 1 but in test 2, only 35% This means the teaching methods mentioned above to be effective in English teaching in Nam Dan I high school.

Discussion of the findings

Though the survey is conducted by a small population of students and teachers, it can help the author have a deeper insight into the situation of English learning and teaching From the result of questionnaires and tests, it is quite clear that treatment of cross-cultural characteristics into speaking lesson is beneficial and feasible The positive effects of cross- cultural integration on motivating student to communicate confidently as it is strongly approved by the majority of students who directly take part in the teaching and learning process

First of all, all the students have realized the importance of cross-cultural knowledge in English learning and teaching They nearly have the same idea that cultural elements are inserted into the lesson, it makes them feel the lessons more interesting and more attractive

Furthermore, the students are motivated if they have chance to understand about not only their own culture but also the culture of target language

The students are supposed to be aware of cultural knowledge, the difference and similarities between cultures that helped them make progress in learning English and feel confident in using it The knowledge makes them love to learn English By way of consequences, the teaching of cultures should become an integral part of English teaching

Secondly, the results of the questionnaires and tests have shown that we can not teach language and culture separately They have to be combined together as the cross-culture issues could be taught through the teaching and learning speaking skills or another skills

With a quiz or discussion used in pre-post speaking, a motivating learning environment is created to regain their interest in learning and then help improve the speaking skill better

Understanding culture of a country, learning the language of this country is very important as it helps foreign language learners communicate effectively in the target language Without the study of English-speaking cultures, English instruction is inaccurate and incomplete

Thirdly, it can be clearly seen from the data analysis that speaking is a crucially important element to raise cross-cultural awareness Conversely, cross-cultural knowledge helps students develop communicative competence more perfectively

Lastly, nowadays with the development of technology and the Internet, we can acess public libraries with enormous information with graceful images about culture of different countries Thus, there are no reasons for not taking advantage of such a useful and potential source of teaching material

In summary, cultural understanding is very important in EFL Communication is the way to raise intercultural awareness However, a culture is so enormous that the teachers cannot cover everything Furthermore, the students cannot be expected to grasp everything about a culture What the teachers need to do is to encourage students think about cross- cultural issues from various perspective without judging them.

Suggestions for treatment cross-cultural characteristics into teaching of

Suggestions for treatment cross- cultural characteristics into teaching of speaking in

In all sources of information, Internet is the most diversified source that covers all the others sources The development and spread of the World Wide Web has created many new possibilities for teaching culture Zhao (1996, cited in Warschauer 2001: 208 claims that " by engaging in web-based activities students can gradually become members of the community of English language speakers, in the same way that they might through other forms of immersion in a culture." It is unsurprising when the teachers and the students choose it as the favorite source of the cultural information

In Vietnamese context, Hang's study (2004) shows that speaking and reading sections of textbooks are believed to have the richest content of cross-cultural exchange The teachers always stick to these sections if they want to press on any typical or prominent cross-cultural issues

During foreign language teaching process, depending on each lesson, each situation and students' level, the teachers should choose suitable kinds of cross-culture information to insert into the teaching lesson

3.2.2 Activities for improving cross-culture teaching methods in NDI high school

A teacher who teaches a foreign language well should only have good knowledge but also the ability to master the teaching method Teaching the foreign language is very difficult, but inserting culture into language to motivate student' interest in learning this language is more difficult Therefore, in order to help teacher to orient the culture teaching Patrick Moran

(2001) suggests A Framework for Learning/Teaching Culture, we can base on his suggestion to improve our teaching method

1) Nature of content getting information

Eg : The teacher can supply information for students by many ways such as: giving questions, giving information directly

- What is the capital of the US?

- Sports play an important role in American life

2) Learning objectives - demonstrate a mastery of the information

3) Techniques/activities - cultural readings; films/videotapes; recordings; realia (cultural artifacts); personal anecdotes

Eg : The teacher give students a passage related to cross-cultural knowledge and ask students find cross-cultural information in it

4) Note: - How culture is traditionally taught giving students information and asking them to show that they know it;

Eg : The teacher can ask sts to present the information which they have been provided by the teacher

1) Nature of content skills Teacher gives students some situation

Eg : - Buying tickets to a sports event,

- Cheering for your team at a football game,

- Acting and speaking like American sports fans

2) Learning objectives: demonstrate an ability a fluency, an expertise, confidence, ease

3) Techniques/activities: dialogs, role plays, simulations, field experiences

Eg : Using on above topics, students work in group to make dialogues and then, present in front of the whole class

4) Note: - Where communicative competence in the language and culture occurs Students know both what to say and how to do it in a culturally appropriate manner

- Teacher role: coach or model

1) Nature of content values and assumptions Teacher gives some questions in turn

Eg : - Why are sports so important to Americans?

- Are you making an observation or an interpretation?

- Why do Americans have such sports rituals?

- How does this compare with your culture?

2) Learning objectives: - Demonstrate an ability: to infer; to generalize;

- Learners interpret and make explanations based on above activities,

- Comparisons with their own culture,

4) Note : - Learners engage in actively using their powers of induction, analysis and intuition to draw conclusions about cultural information or experiences like anthropologists

- Teacher role: co-researcher or guide

D) Knowing oneself (personalizing knowledge) (applying for students with high level)

1) Nature of content self-awareness

Eg : Teacher gives students some questions:

- What importance do sports have in your life?

- How did it feel to act like Americans do at a football game? Why?

- Would you choose to act like this? Why?

2) Learning objectives: by behavior/statements demonstrate understanding of ones' feelings, values, opinions, attitudes, and act upon them

3) Techniques/activities: - Learners examine and make statements about themselves,

They answers above questions means that they are making reflective writing or statements about themselves

Eg : Sports play important role in my life, I nearly saw all football match on TV on Saturday and Sunday I like the behavior of Americans do at a football game They show the great interest of the fans However, I will not choose to act like this because I am Vietnamese and these actions are not suitable with Vietnamese

4) Note: - Learners themselves are the subject matter in a process of guided self-discovery, as they study their own values and their reactions to those of the culture They decide whether or not to change

- Teacher role: counselor or guide

To apply the teaching method successfully, the English teachers should use EFL activities Most standard EFL activities can be easily adapted for using in the culture classrooms The most important point is to ensure that the students are actively engaged in the target culture and language

In my opinion some of the activities the teachers should care about in teaching culture:

Culture capsules and clusters, cultural quizzes, cultural assimilators, cartoons, problem solving, role-play, mini-drama, reformulation, noticing, prediction, quizzes, and audio-motor, research, celebrating festivities, kinesics and bod, ect These activities can help improve English culture-teaching and learning methods at Nam Dan I high school and then some lessons during the course, the participants are asked to prepare a favorite topic related to the content of the lesson in the next class After that will have to present the topic they are responsible for They can work in groups or work individually to make a comparison between their own country culture and target language's culture Comparing is an effective activity of teaching culture Quizzes are also selected as one of the favorite activities to the participants

Almost cultural lessons are designed with quizzes The participants work in pairs or in groups to do the task in the form of quizzes

Culture must be fully incorporated as a vital component of language learning Students can be successful in speaking a foreign language only if cultural issues are an inherent part of the foreign language curriculum

From the research as above it can be seen that teaching culture is very important in improving the language Most of teachers and students believed that culture plays an important role in their language learning We can not learn a foreign language well when we have no cultural knowledge of that country The learners understand that culture and language have inseparable relationship and teaching language is teaching culture In order to master a language, the linguistic learners need to understand the cultural context where language presides The students need to learn the correct and culturally acceptable way to address people Therefore, raising cultural knowledge and awareness by integrating cultures in language learning and teaching is vital The students will be interested in and have motivation in English learning process Understanding cross-cultural knowledge has been considered to be of great help to the teaching and learning of speaking skill

First of all, the study reviewed some theoretical background including the definitions of culture, cross-culture, language, the knowledge of relationship between language and culture, goals and objectives for treatment of cross-cultural characteristics in English teaching, Goals and objectives for treatment cross-cultural characteristics in English teaching Some considerations in raising students` cross-cultural awareness when teaching English as Foreign language, and the definition of speaking skill, the position of speaking skill in English teaching, what type of culture should be taught in foreign language classes

Secondly, the researcher has discovered some findings through questionnaires and tests The results of the survey have pointed out the positive attitudes of both teachers and students towards the important role of culture learning to speaking skill teaching and learning

The study has already found the teachers and students' attitude of the culture activities applying in English teaching and learning

Lastly, the author gives some suggestions for treatment cross- cultural characteristics into teaching of speaking in English to grade 12A1 students in Nam Dan I high school

Through these findings, we know that treating cross-cultural characteristics in a lesson is a performing art subject, the teachers always must be an excellent actor to make the performance successful

The treatment of cross-cultural information in speaking lessons through cultural activities can fulfil the two purposes of foreign language education at the same time: one is improving reading skills and other is fostering cross-cultural knowledge

From the finding above, it can be said that culture and language are fundamentally intertwined Attempting to learn a language without learning its associated culture is to miss out on everything that makes the language unique, exciting and beautiful Culture is very important when studying a language Not only is it important for a student to be able to grammatically communicate with people, but also it is important for students to do so in culturally acceptable ways In order to succeed at a language, a student must have a thorough understanding of the culture With the help of teachers, culture is incorporated in language learning This helps students gain the necessary knowledge in order to communicate successfully.

Suggested issues for further research

In this thesis, the author finds it interesting and essential to study more into the issue of teaching culture as an integrated of foreign language teaching and learning

Firstly, this study has focused on treating cross-cultural characteristics into speaking skill teaching to raise students' cross-cultural awareness and improve communicative competence It should be done in other lessons such as: reading, listening, writing

Secondly, besides finding the attitude of students and teachers towards cross-cultural characteristics in speaking teaching and the role of culture in the foreign language teaching

The thesis should be concentrated on studying cultural obstacles to the teaching and learning of speaking skills

Lastly, there should be more research into designing culture-based textbooks so that Vietnamese teachers and students can have a better understanding of culture knowledge

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2 Barry Tomalin & Susan Stempleski (1993), Cultural Awareness, Oxford University

3 Benedict, R (1934), Patterns of Culture, Houghton Mifflin

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Language Annals, Volume 16, NewYork:ACTFL, Inc

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Educational and cultural Affair, USIA

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17 Ismail Cakir (2006), Developing cultural Awareness in Foreign Language Teaching,

Kirikkale University, Turkey Turkish Online Journal of Distance

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20 Larry A Samovar, Richard E Porter & Edwin R Mc Daniel (2007),

Communication between Cultures, Thomson Wadsworth Inc

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22 Do Thanh Mai & Dao Thu Trang (2006), Introduction to Cross Cultural Communication, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, College of Foreign Language,

23 Montgometry and Reid-Thomas (1994), Language and Social life, England: The Bristish Council

24 Greert Hofstede (2000), Culture's Consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations, Sage Publications

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Department of Language Teacher Education- School for International Training Brattleboro, VT, USA

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Universuity-Ha Noi Colledge of Foreign Languages

31 Soenjono Dardjowidjojo(1973), Cultural-linguistic aspects in Asian language teaching, reproduced by the Southeast Asian Studies Program University of Hawaii

32 Seelye, H.N ed Perspectives for Teachers of Latin American Culture Springfield, IL:

33 Tomalin and Stempleski (1993), Cultural Awareness, Oxford: OUP

1 Chu Quang Bình (2008), Thiết kế bài giảng Tiếng Anh 12, tập 1, Nhà xuất bản Giáo

2 Hoàng Văn Vân (2008), Tiếng Anh 12, 6/2008, Nhà xuất bản Giáo Dục

3 Nguyễn Văn Dộ (2004), Tìm hiểu mối liên hệ ngôn ngữ và văn hoá, Nhà xuất bản Dại Học Quốc Gia Hà Nội

Appendix 1: A questionnaire for students and teachers of English

1 Learning a foreign language cannot be separated from learning that target culture a Strongly disagree c No idea b Disagree d Strongly agree e Agree

2 You cannot use English effectively unless you have good knowledge of English- speaking cultures a Strongly disagree c No idea b Disagree d Strongly agree e Agree

3 The differences between Vietnamese and English culture influence your learning spoken English in class rooms a Strongly disagree c No idea b Disagree d Strongly agree e Agree

4 It is unjust when Vietnamese students learning English have to behave like English native speakers a Strongly disagree c No idea b Disagree d Strongly agree e Agree Please explain why you think so:

5.- What do you think of the role of culture in English learning? (Students) a Very important c Rather important b Important d Not very important Please explain why you think so:

- What do you think of the role of culture in English learning? (Teachers) a Very important c Rather important b Important d Not very important Please explain why you think so:

6.- Can you rank these things in order of importance in learning speaking skills?

- Can you rank these things in order of importance in learning speaking skill?

(Teachers) a Vocabulary b Grammar c Pronunciation d Cultural knowledge

7.- Do you think difference between Vietnamese and English culture influence your teaching spoken English in classroom? (Students) a Strongly agree b Agree c Partly agree d Disagree e Strongly disagree

- Do you think difference between Vietnamese and English culture influence your teaching spoken English in classroom? (Teachers) a Strongly agree b Agree c Partly agree d Disagree e Strongly disagree

8.- What do you think of culture teaching activities used during the English lesson? a Very interesting and effective c Quite interesting and effective b Interesting and effective d Not interesting and effective

9 Speaking are the best way to enrich students' cross-cultural knowledge a Strongly disagree c No idea b Disagree d Strongly agree e Agree

10 When having chances to discuss or talking the similarities and differences between my culture and other cultures with my classmates I understand better not only other cultures but also my own culture a Strongly disagree c No idea b Disagree d Strongly agree e Agree

1 When an English suggests you have some more food or drink, you usually accept in this way: a Yes, please b Yes, give me some c Yes, do it right now d Yes, that is fine

2 You've been introduced to a British or American friend's colleague What would you do? a Say, "hello" b Say nothing and shake hand c Say, "nice to meet you" and shake hands d Say, "hi"

3 When an English put his hand up his head, it means a Oh, I forgot b I'm very sad c Wait a second d I have no idea

4 In UK and US, people often try to start a conversation with someone they don't know by making a comment about a Food b Salary c Whether d Family

5 In English, when you cross middle finger with index finger, it means that: a I do not know b I cannot hear you c Good luck d Come here

6 In UK, when people are invited to a party, they often take a A bottle of wine b A flower c A cake d A loaf

7 Which statement is considered cheerful farewell in the US but may be considered insincere in Britain? a Have a nice day! b Good luck to you! c A happy day! d See you again!

8 In US, when invited to a dinner party, people usually arrive a Later than the time appointed b Earlier than the time appointed c On time d Within fifteen minutes of the appointed time Suggested answers:

1 When Vietnamese people meet each other, they usually greet each other with " Good morning"

2 It is normal or polite when an American asks his/her friend's hobby

3 People from Western culture enjoy discussing business matters during lunch or dinner

4 Walking is the most popular leisure activity among the British and the Vietnamese

5 In England, when you are first introduced to some one, shake their right hand with your own right hand

6 In UK and America, students use the word

"teacher" to address their teacher to show their respect

7 It is considered polite when a Vietnamese asks an American about his/her age

8 In US, men and women friends may kiss each other on the cheek if they see each other after a long time, or even each time they meet

9 In Vietnamese, at informal party, people don't wait to be introduced They introduce themselves

10 In the UK they have to drive on the left

11 It is polite to ask Americans questions about their salary

12 In UK, when being entertained at someone's home it is nice to take a gift for the host and hostess

13 In England, it is impolite for men to wear hats indoors especially in churches

14 In Vietnam, when yawning or coughing always

cover your mouth with your hand

15 In American, everyone greet each other only when they are close friends and relatives

16 In Vietnam, it is very impolite to speak with your mouth full of food

17 The most common and typical foods eaten in Britain are the sandwich, fish and chips, pies, trifle

18 In the US It is believe that if your left eye winks, you will meet some unlucky

19 In the US, people shake hands when they meet each other people for the first time, but not every time they see them after that

20 In England, you want to talk to someone you do not know at a party There is no one to introduce you What would be the most polite way to address the person? a Hi, my name is b I do not think we have met, have we? My name is c What is your name? d Do I know you?

Suggested lesson plans for treatment cross-cultural characteristics into teaching of speaking in English to grade 12A1 students in Nam Dan I high school

I Aims: By the end of the lesson, students will able to:

- Review related words about family life including household chores, responsibility, wash the dishes

- Express their ideas about family life

II Materials : charts, cards, picture, textbook

Ask students to give out as many words/ phrases involved household chores as possible

The team having more correct answers will be winner

Today, we will speak about the division of household chores among the members of the family

II PRE - SPEAKING Have students work individually, check the suitable box for

15' information that apply to his/her own family

Teachers is advised to help student fully understand all the information by giving them meaning of the following words:

Work: kiếm tiền (v) Share: chia sẻ (v) Interest: sở thích (n) Closely (adv): một cách chặt chẽ Make an important decision: dưa ra một quyết định quan trọng

Call on some pairs to give their choices

Put students into pairs to practice speaking about their family, based on the sentences in task 1

Call on some students to speak out their ideas

Ask students to work in pairs to ask each other the following questions:

+ Who works in your family?

+ What's your responsibility in the family?

+ What is the interest the family members share closely?

+ Who is the person you often share secrets with?

+ Who is the person you talk to before making an important decision?

Move around the room to give help and jot down students' mistakes in pronunciation and grammar for later correction

Call on some pairs to act out their dialogues

Arrange students to work in groups of four or five and act as if they were members of a family (the father, the mother, the eldest child, the youngest child, or the son, the daughter)

Each person in the family says something about their family and duties their family

Call on some groups to act out in front of the class Make corrections if needed and make comments

- I am the eldest child in my family I come from a family of four: my parents, my sister and I My parents love their children very much and have done everything for our upbringing

- As a father I' ve got a lot of duty to do I have to go to work to support my family I' ve got to help my wife with housework

- As a mother, I have to do household chores and keep the house in order I have to cook meals, go shopping, wash up My husband sometimes helps me

- After school I always make time to help my mother with housework and my younger sister with homework We as children always try to get on well with one another in order to create a happy and harmonious home environment

IV POST-SPEAKING Divide class into 4 groups Give each group one poster

Ask students to work in groups to find out the difference between the division of household chores among members in the Vietnamese families and the English families

After 10 minutes, ask students to hang their poster on the board, and then each group choose a leader to present their ideas

English family Mother -Do nearly all household chores

-Share household chores and take care of children with their husband

Father -Bread winner: earning money

-Join hand to help wife

Children -Spend most time at school and extra classes

-Have a little time to do household chores

-Have responsibility to do household chores

-Have equal role in family

Ask students to answer the questions:

Why should family members share household chores?

- Relieve the burden on parents' shoulder

- Help children become more independent

I Aims: By the end of the lesson, students will able to:

- know about some typical features of different cultures

- talk about the differences and similarities between Vietnamese and American cultures

II Materials : charts, pieces of cards, posters, textbook

Game : good luck or bad luck?

1.In Britain, what does a black cat mean? a good luck b bad luck c a feature weeding

2 In Vietnam, when the bride leaves her own family to live in groom' family, what object will the bride take with her? a a hat b shoes c a pillow

3 In Vietnam, what does it mean when it starts to rain on the wedding day? a the couple will be poor b the couple will be happy c the couple will be rich

4 In France, what creature brings you good luck? a a mouse b a spider c a fox

5 In Britain, you are in a crowded bus and by accident step on somebody's toes You say: a please excuse me b oh god c I'm sorry

6 Great Britain is a England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland b England, Scotland and Wales c England and Scotland d England only Ask students to read 6 questions and work in each group to discuss

With each question, which group raise their hands more quickly, this group will have chance to answer

The group with the most correct answers wins

II PRE-SPEAKING Have Ss work in pairs, express their point of view on some matters related to cultural views by using suitable expression following the example:

I think it is not convenient for a family of four generations to live together under one roof The distance of ages may cause disagreement among the members

Some expressions to express the points of view:

+ I think/ feel/ believe + In my opinion/ In my point of view/ As far as I am concerned/ For me

+ I agree/ I do not agree/ it is not true because

+ Perhaps you are right,/ but / I think it is wrong to

+ I do not really have any strong opinions about + Shall we come back to that later?

Teacher prepares some typical features of the American and Vietnamese culture The teacher writes these typical feature on the pieces of paper and stick them on the board

Students have to find out which are the typical features of the American culture and which are the typical features of the Vietnamese culture

Some features of American and Vietnamese culture:

1 Christmas and New Year holidays are the most important

2 Two generations live in a home

3 Elders live with children and are taken care by their son

4 Tet (Lunar New Year) is the most important

5 Children often sleep with their parents

7 American can greet anyone in the family first

8 Old-aged parents live in nursing homes

9 Children sleep in their own bedrooms

10 A greets the head of the family or an older person first, then the younger ones

11 it is not polite to ask questions about age, marriage and salary

12 .celebrate death days They prepare meal and invite their relatives to get together and talk about good respect of the dead person

13 Asking about age, marriage and salary is acceptable

14 Three or sometimes four generations live under one roof

15 Groceries are bought once a week

16 celebrate birthdays and give presents at

Which teams have more correct answers will win

Call some students to read statements again

Ask students to work in 4 groups Give each group a poster and a board marker

In group, students write about the similarities and the differences between the Vietnamese and American cultures, then stick the posters on the board

Invite representatives from the groups to talk about the similarities and differences between Vietnamese and American cultures

Remind student of words and expressions used to compare and contrast:

Similarly; likewise; the same as ; also ; , too; both; in the same way; X and Y are similar in that they ; like X, Y (verb)

However; in contrast; by contrast; , but; , yet; on the other hand; even though; unlike; while; nevertheless; whereas;

Give feedback and make comment

- Most of the Americans are individualists

- People always ask if it is ok when they want to

- People often kiss friends on the cheek when they meet to express friendliness

- Young people usually live in their own houses or flats after marriage

- Teenagers go out on dates a lot

- Asking someone about his/ her age/ marriage is considered to be impolite

- People live in nuclear family

- Smokers light up cigarettes at any time without asking permission

- The Vietnamese never exchange cheek-kisses It is a shock to most married women

- It is OK to blow your nose in public

- Young people usually live with their parents after their marriage

- It is OK to ask people about their marriage/ age

- People live in extended family

- America and Vietnamese are multi-culture countries

- Both Americans and Vietnamese are friendly, hospitable, and hard-working people who always proud of their countries

- They both hate war and love peace

- They like doing charity work

V HOMEWORK Ask students to prepare a short paragraph about some typical features of Vietnamese culture and present it at the next lesson individually

I Aims: By the end of the lesson, students will able to:

- Practice giving compliments in different situations

- Know how to respond to compliments

II Materials : charts, cards, textbook

Teacher tell a story: accepting a compliment

Linda, an American teacher in a class in Vietnam, was speaking Hoa, one of her Vietnamese students She said:

" Hoa, I'm very happy with your work Your English is really improving"

Hoa looked down and said" Oh, no I'm not a good students My English is not very good."

Linda continued " You are a good students, and you should be proud of you work"

Hoa responded to this remark saying " No, no You are very good teacher, but I am not a good student"

Linda do not know what to say, so she decided not to give Hoa any more comliments

After telling the story Teacher hangs two questions on the board and asks students work in groups of three to do the multiple choice:

1 Why did Hoa look down when the teacher

13' complimented her? a She was ashamed of her work b She was embarrassed by the teacher's compliment c She was trying to show respect for the teacher d She did not like the teacher

2 Why did Linda decide not to give Hoa any more compliment ? a She decided that Hoa really was not a good student b Hoa's behavior was disrespectful c Hoa did not seem to be pleased with the compliment d She expected Hoa to say something like " Thank you" but Hoa did not

How often do you hear people complimenting each other in English?

Do you often give or receive compliments?

Compliment is a tool for establishing friendship that creates ties of solidarity The inappropriate use of compliments may cause embarrassment and even offense Today we will practice giving and responding to compliments in different situations

II PRE-TEACHING Have students work in pairs, red the dialogues about giving and responding to compliments

Teacher is advised to read through the dialogues so that students may know how to make stress to the sentences to express their compliments

Again in pairs, ask students to make their own dialogues

Call on some pairs to practice speaking in front of the class

- Elicit compliment formulas and some useful expressions used to compliment from students

- The great majority of compliments included the most common five adjectives (nice, good, beautiful, pretty, great) and two verbs (like and love)

1 Noun Phrase + be/look + Adjective Your hat is really beautiful

2 I + (really) + like/love + Noun Phrase

3 Pronoun + is + (really) + Adjective + Noun Phrase That is a great looking car

You have such beautiful hair/ how beautiful your hair is!

What a lovely baby you have!

You really did a good jod!

Congratulations! You have played so well in the game

Amazing! You've made an excellent speech

Suggested responses to the compliments:

Thanks for your compliment I am glad you like it

Thanks It is all very well for you to say so

It is nice of you to say so

Lets students work with their partners to practice giving compliments to suit the responds

Call some pairs to practice speaking in front of the class

Comment and give suggested answers:

1 Your new dress fits you very well

2 your motorbike really matches your clothes

3 you made an impressive performance today, Colin

Put students into pairs to practice responding to the compliments

Call some pairs to practice speaking in front of the class Comment and give suggested answers:

1 Thanks, Phil I have worked very hard in preparation for the contest

2 you must be joking! I've just learnt to play the guitar four weeks ago

3 thank you, Tom I practice public speaking almost everyday by standing and speaking in front of the mirror

IV POST-SPEAKING Have students build dialogues to practice giving responding to compliments in pairs Tell students they can use the cues in the book

Go around the class and provide help when necessary

Call on several pairs to practice speaking in front of the class

1 A: Your new glasses look good on you, Mary

B: Thanks, Peter I decides to buy it after seeing three shops

A: Yeah, that is a nice color

B: That is very kind of you to say so

3 A: I love your clock It looks great in your living room!

A: It is really very nice Where did you get it?

B: A friend of mine brought it to me from London

Ask students to make a dialogue of giving and responding to compliments individually

I Aims: By the end of the lesson, students will able to:

- Get some knowledge of the education system

- Talk about the school education system in Vietnam

II Materials : textbook, handouts, pieces of paper

Teacher supplies some information about education in England

_ Education is important in England

_ British children are required by law to have an education until they are 16 years old

_ Education is compulsory, but school is not, children are not required to attend school They could be educated at home

_ Education is free for all children from 5 to 16

About 94 percent of pupils in England, and the rest of the UK, receive free education from public funds, while

6 percent attend independent fee paying schools or homeschooling

Teacher asks students supply more information which they know

Today, we will find about education in Vietnam We will practice speaking about the school education system in Vietnam

II PRE-SPEAKING Pre-teaching vocabulary

- lower secondary school: truong cap 2

- upper secondary school: truong cap 3

Task 1: Asking and answering about school education system in Vietnam

Have sets work in pairs, ask ans answer about the school education system in Vietnam basing on the information given in the table

Call on some pairs to practice asking and answering in front of the class

A: How many levels are there in the pre-school education?

B: There are two levels They are nursery and kindergarten

A: Do all children from the age of 3 through 5 have to attend school?

B: No, they do not They may school to stay home during the ages

A: What is the right age for children to attend primary school?

B: 6 to 10 A: How many grades are included in this level of education?

A: Is primary education compulsory for all children?

Task 2: talking about the school education system in

Divide class into groups of four

Tell them to talk about the school education system in Vietnam, using the information from task 1

Teachers is advised to provide students with expressions used to make a presentation in front of the class For example:

- In my talk today, I' d like to mention

Call some group members to talk in front of the class

Discuss the similarities and difference

Teacher divides the class into six groups

Give each groups a poster and a board marker

Ask groups to write the similarities and difference between the school system in Vietnam and England