An investigation into efl teachers and students attitudes towards oral error correction at esc english language center hcmc m a

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE ����� AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS' AND STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARDS ORAL ERROR CORRECTION AT ESC ENGLISH LANGUAGE CENTER - HCM A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By NGUYEN PHUONG THAO Supervised by DOAN HUE DUNG DUNG,, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, JUNE 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the people without whose support the completion of this thesis would have been impossible First and foremost, I am profoundly indebted to my supervisor, Dr Doan Hue Dung, for her invaluable assistance and insightful comments from the beginning to the completion of the thesis Without her constant guidance, I should have lost the right directions at the very first stage of the research My sincere thanks also go to the director as well as students and teachers at ESC English language center, especially those who willingly took part in the data collection for the study If it had not been their support, this study would not have been possible I would like to extend my deep gratitude to my dear friends, especially Do Thi Thanh An, Ho Thi Bich Nhu, Le Thi Yen Uyen and Vo Thi Thien An for their useful advice and encouragement which helped me go through many ups and downs during the course of this endeavor And last but not least, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my beloved family for the endless love and care they have given to me Although they barely touched upon a single page of this thesis, they would not know that it was their wholehearted support and enormous sacrifice that kept me fighting till the end to have the study completed Many sincere thanks to them all, the great contributors to this thesis i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS' AND STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARDS ORAL ERROR CORRECTION AT ESC ENGLISH LANGUAGE CENTER - HCM in terms of the statement of the Requirements for the Theses in Master's Program issued by the Higher Degree Committee This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institutions Ho Chi Minh City, 2016 NGUYEN PHUONG THAO ii RETENTION OF USE I hereby state that I, NGUYEN PHUONG THAO, being the candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master's theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of the thesis Ho Chi Minh City, 2016 NGUYEN PHUONG THAO iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Statement of originality ii Retention of use iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations viii List of tables ix List of figures x Abstract xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Outline of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW REVIEW 2.1 Attitudes 2.1.1 Definition of attitudes 2.1.2 The importance of attitudes and how to change them 2.2 Errors 2.2.1 Definition of errors in EFL teaching context 2.2.2 Errors, Mistakes and Attempts 10 2.2.3 Views on errors 11 2.2.4 Sources of errors 12 2.2.5 Types of errors 13 2.3 Error correction 15 2.3.1 Definition of error correction in EFL teaching context 15 2.3.2 Views on error correction 16 iv 2.3.2.1 For error correction 16 2.3.2.2 Against error correction 17 2.4 Oral error correction .18 2.4.1 Views on oral error correction 18 2.4.2 Dealing with oral errors 20 2.4.2.1 What types of oral errors should be corrected? 21 2.4.2.2 When should oral errors be corrected? 23 2.4.2.3 How should oral errors be corrected? 24 2.4.2.3.1 Lyster and Ranta's model 24 2.4.2.3.2 Some other techniques 26 2.4.2.4 Who should the correction 28 2.4.2.4.1 Self-correction 29 2.4.2.4.2 Peer correction 30 2.4.2.4.3 Teacher correction .31 2.4.3 Influential factors in correcting oral errors 32 2.4.3.1 Individual learner characteristics 32 2.4.3.2 Contextual factors 32 2.4.3.3 Creating a supportive learning environment 33 2.4.3.4 Students' conscious perception 34 2.5 Studies on students' and teachers' attitudes towards the correction of oral English errors 35 2.5.1 Studies in other countries 35 2.5.2 Studies in Vietnam 38 2.6 Conceptual framework of the study 39 43 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY METHODOLOGY .43 3.1 Research design 43 3.2 Research site 43 3.3 Participants .44 3.3.1 Students 44 3.3.2 Teachers 45 v 3.4 A brief description of Solutions coursebook 46 3.5 A brief description of PET speaking test 47 3.6 Research instruments 49 3.6.1 Questionnaires 49 3.6.2 Interviews 54 3.6.3 Observations 58 3.7 Data collection procedure 60 3.8 Data analysis procedure 62 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION DISCUSSION 63 4.1 From questionnaires 63 4.1.1 General attitudes towards errors and the correction of oral English errors 63 4.1.2 Towards types of oral English errors that need correcting 71 4.1.3 Towards when oral English errors should be corrected 74 4.1.4 Towards the correction techniques 76 4.1.5 Towards who should correct oral English errors 79 4.1.6 Towards influential factors in correcting oral English errors 82 4.1.7 Towards effectiveness of oral English correction 85 4.2 From interviews 93 4.2.1 General attitudes towards errors and the correction of oral English errors 93 4.2.2 Towards types of English errors that should be corrected when students have already made themselves understood 96 4.2.3 Towards when oral English errors should be corrected 97 4.2.4 Towards students' capacity of self-correction and peer correction 98 4.2.5 Towards correction techniques used in the classroom 99 4.2.6 Towards influential factors in correcting oral English errors 100 4.2.7 Towards effectiveness of oral English correction being done in class 102 4.2.8 Towards how the current oral English correction satisfies the students 103 4.3 From observations 105 vi 4.4 Discussion 107 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION CONCLUSION 116 5.1 Conclusions 116 5.1.1 Students' attitudes 116 5.1.2 Teachers' attitudes 117 5.1.3 Students' versus teachers' attitudes 118 5.2 Pedagogical implications 119 5.3 Limitations of the study 123 5.4 Recommendations for further study .123 125 REFERENCES REFERENCES 125 APPENDICES APPENDICES 132 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language M : Mean KET: Key English Test P: Significance (two-tailed) PET: Preliminary English Test Sig (2-tailed): Significance (two-tailed) viii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Summary of sources of errors 13 Table 2.2 Summary of types of errors 15 Table 2.3 Summary of correction techniques .28 Table 3.1 Summary of students' background information 45 Table 3.2 Summary of teachers' background information 46 Table 3.3 PET speaking assessment scales 48 Table 3.4 Summary of questionnaire items 54 Table 3.5 Interview items .57 Table 3.6 Observation checklist 60 Table 4.1 T-test on students' and teachers' attitudes towards the necessity and benefits of errors 65 Table 4.2 T-test on students' and teachers' attitudes towards too much correction68 Table 4.3 Summary of students' and teachers' preferences for error types to be corrected 73 Table 4.4 Summary of students' and teachers' attitudes towards the correction techniques 78 Table 4.5 T-test on students' and teachers' attitudes towards explicit correction 78 Table 4.6 Summary of students' and teachers' attitudes towards who should the correction .81 Table 4.7 Summary of students' and teachers' attitudes towards influential factors in correcting oral English errors 83 Table 4.8 Summary of oral English errors made and corrected during observations .106 ix Classroom Observation Form Date: Class: Teacher: � Male � Female 1/ Description of students 2/ Description of the lesson and speaking activities 3/ Observation checklist Types of Errors Frequency (Made) Frequency (Corrected) Grammatical Pronunciation Vocabulary When How Who Immediately Clarification requests Self-correct After the student finishes speaking Repetition Peers Metalinguistic feedback Teacher Discourse At the end of the whole activity Communication Interfering Elicitation Self-PeersTeacher Recasts Repeated At the end of the lesson Explicit correction Lesson Focus 141 Students' questionnaire (Vietnamese version) Xin chào bạn học sinh lớp PET, Bảng hỏi dùng để khảo sát thái độ bạn việc sửa lỗi bạn tham gia vào hoat động nói lớp (phần Speaking sách Solutions) Dữ liệu thu thập từ bảng hỏi dùng vào mục đích nghiên cứu, bạn yên tâm tính bảo mật bảng hỏi Rất mong bạn dành chút thời gian điền vào bảng hỏi Xin chân thành cảm ơn Phương Thảo Ph Phầần A: Th Thơơng tin học vi viêên Vui lịng đánh dấu (√) vào câu trả lời thích hợp và/hoặc điền vào chỗ trống cho sẵn Tuổi: Giới tính: � Nam � Nữ Bạn học tiếng Anh bao lâu? � năm �tháng Bạn học lớp PET bao lâu? � năm �tháng Ph Phầần B: Bảng hỏi dành cho học vi viêên ng nói ti Mục 1: Th Tháái độ đố đốii với lỗi vi việệc sửa lỗi tham gia ho hoạạt độ động tiếếng Anh Nếu bạn cho phát biểu hồn tồn sai, vui lịng đánh dấu (√) vào số Nếu bạn cho phát biểu hồn tồn đúng, đánh dấu (√) vào ô số Nếu bạn cho phát biểu có u ph nh thể sai tùy trường hợp, đánh dấu (√) vào ô số (Lưu ý: tất câu đề phảải đượ đượcc đá đánh dấu) Stt Ho Hoààn to toààn sai Ph Pháát bi biểểu 1D 1E 1F Ho Hồàn to tồàn ng đú √ VD Rất học sinh mắc lỗi nói tiếng Anh 1A Khi học tiếng Anh, mắc lỗi điều đương nhiên 1B Lỗi tốt cần thiết cho việc học tiếng Anh 1C Có th thểể ng đú ho hoặặc sai Lỗi nói tiếng Anh nên sửa nhiều tốt Nếu nói mà bị sửa lỗi q nhiều khiến em nản lịng khơng muốn nói tiếng Anh Em cảm thấy ngượng nói tiếng Anh trước mặt bạn lớp mà bị sửa lỗi Em cảm thấy khơng hài lịng giáo viên không sửa lỗi em mắc phải nói tiếng Anh Mục 2: Các lo loạại lỗi nói ti tiếếng Anh cần đượ đượcc sửa Khi nói tiếng Anh, loại lỗi nên sửa thường xuyên nào? Nếu bạn không muốn loại lỗi sửa, vui lịng đánh dấu (√) vào ô số Nếu bạn muốn loại lỗi u ph nh dấu) ln ln sửa, đánh dấu (√) vào ô số (Lưu ý: tất câu đề phảải đượ đượcc đá đánh ờ: 0% lỗi đượ * Kh Khôông bao gi đượcc sửa ườ ng xuy Th Thườ ường xuyêên: >50% lỗi đượ đượcc sửa Stt 2A 2B Th Thỉỉnh tho thoảảng: