Output file VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST GRADUATE DEPARTMENT HOÀNG THÙY HƯƠNG TEACHERS'''' PERCEPTIONS OF THE TASK BASED APPROACH TO SPEAKING[.]
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT HOÀNG THÙY HƯƠNG TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE TASK-BASED APPROACH TO SPEAKING SKILLS: A CASE OF GRADE 11, NGUYEN HUE GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL, HA DONG, HANOI (NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VỀ ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG DẠY HỌC THEO NHIỆM VỤ ĐỐI VỚI KỸ NĂNG NÓI: NGHIÊN CỨU TRƯỜNG HỢP LỚP 11, TRƯỜNG PTTH CHUYÊN NGUYỄN HUỆ, HÀ ĐÔNG, HÀ NỘI) M.A Thesis (Minor Thesis) Field: TEFL Methodology Course Code: 60.14.10 HANOI - 2010 z VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT HOÀNG THÙY HƯƠNG TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE TASK-BASED APPROACH TO SPEAKING SKILLS: A CASE OF GRADE 11, NGUYEN HUE GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL, HA DONG, HANOI (NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VỀ ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG DẠY HỌC THEO NHIỆM VỤ ĐỐI VỚI KỸ NĂNG NÓI: NGHIÊN CỨU TRƯỜNG HỢP LỚP 11, TRƯỜNG PTTH CHUYÊN NGUYỄN HUỆ, HÀ ĐÔNG, HÀ NỘI) M.A Thesis (Minor Thesis) Field: TEFL Methodology Course Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Lê Văn Canh, M.A HANOI - 2010 z iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgement ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of vii abbreviations List of tables and figures viii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 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 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Task-based approach 2.1.1 The development of task-based approach 2.1.2 The nature of task-based language teaching 2.1.3 Task definition 2.1.4 Task types 2.2 Task-based teaching framework 2.3 Task-based teaching vs other types of teaching instruction models 11 2.4 Advantages and disadvantages of task-based language teaching 12 2.4.1 Advantages 12 2.4.2 Disadvantages 13 2.5 Implementing tasks in teaching the skills of speaking 14 2.6 The importance of understanding teacher perception of teaching 15 methodology 2.7 Definition of teacher perception 16 z v 2.8 Relation between teacher perception and practice 17 2.9 Previous studies on teacher perception of TBLT 17 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 20 3.1 The fitness of case study to research purpose 20 3.2 Restatement of research questions 20 3.3 Case description & context of the study 20 3.3.1 The setting of the study 20 3.3.2 Participants 21 3.4 Instrument 23 3.4.1 Interviews 23 3.4.2 Observation 24 3.5 Procedure 25 3.5.1 Interviews 25 3.5.2 Class observation 26 3.6 Data analysis 27 CHAPTER DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS 28 4.1 General overview of the findings 28 4.1.1 Teacher perception of tasks 28 4.1.2 Teacher perception of TBLT to speaking skills 30 4.1.3 Teacher perception of advantages and disadvantages in TBLT 31 implementation to speaking skills 4.1.4 The reality of teachers' class teaching 33 4.2 Discussions of the findings 36 4.2.1 Congruence and incongruence between teachers' perceptions of TBLT 37 and its theory 4.2.2 Consistence and inconsistence between their perceptions and their 38 classroom behaviours 4.2.3 Consistence and inconsistence between teacher perceptions of 38 advantages and disadvantages and their teaching practice z vi CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS 40 5.1 Summary of the study major points 40 5.1.1 Summary of the study 40 5.1.2 Conclusions 40 5.1.3 Implications 41 5.2 Limitation of the study 41 REFERENCES I APPENDICES III APEENDIX A III APPENDIX B III APPENDIX C z VII vii LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative language teaching ELT: English language teaching PPP: Presentation - Practice - Production TBA: Task-based approach TBLT: Task-based language teaching TST: Task-supported teaching TTT: Test - Teach - Test (=): Neutral (-): Non-conceptual, negative, not mentioned z viii LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Participants' profile Table 2: Participants' perceptions of task Table 3: Participants' perception of TBLT to speaking skills Table 4: Participants' perceptions of TBLT advantages and disadvantages Table 5: Participants' class teaching practice Figure 1: Teacher-student perceptions and the quality of learning outcomes z CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 The background 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, taskbased 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 z 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' 1.2 Aims of the study 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 1.3 Research questions The above aims can be realized through the following research questions: What are teachers' understandings of the Task-Based Approach to speaking skills? What they perceive of the advantages and disadvantages of using TBA approach to speaking skills in their context? 1.4 Scope of the study 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 z 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 1.5 Organization of the study Chapter 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 provides a review of the literature, including a theoretical framework focusing on learning and teaching theory Chapter also provides research of issues related to teacher perceptions of tasks and TBLT Chapter 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 presents the results of the study Finally, chapter summarizes the findings and discusses educational implications and limitation of the study z ... research questions: What are teachers'' understandings of the Task- Based Approach to speaking skills? What they perceive of the advantages and disadvantages of using TBA approach to speaking skills. .. study relating to nature of taskbased approach and the skill of speaking 2.1 Task- based Approach 2.1.1 The development of task- based approach Task- based approach was first used by Prabhu in his... 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'' 1.2 Aims of the study The study is