Learner centered teaching in english classrooms at tra vinh community college (tvcc)

CHAPTER I: THE SETTING OF THE STUDY 1.1 Background of the problem: Tra Vinh Community College (TVCC) is one of the nine Community Colleges in Vietnam It was established in 2001 with many services to meet the demands of studying for Tra Vinh people so that they can study in their hometown This means many people can study and upgrade their knowledge without having to go far away from their home and they not have to pay a lot of money for themselves or their children to study far away after graduating from high school TVCC also gives chances to some people who are working in some industries to study more There are majors at TVCC including English, Rural Development, Office Administration, Aquaculture, Information Technology, Electricity Technique, Food Processing, and Mechanical Technique TVCC provides the learners not only essential knowledge but also required skills and abilities for their future jobs With this objective, TVCC must focus on the teaching programs, teaching materials and teaching methods Teaching method is one of the most important things that TVCC teachers must pay more attention to because it plays an important role in the teaching process The teachers must find the best way to make the learners more active and confident because today to find a job a candidate needs both knowledge and other skills They must know how to work in groups or teams, to communicate with others, to solve problems flexibly and to discover new knowledge As a result, teachers in TVCC realized that they should teach what the learners need, which goes beyond just transferring their own ‘knowledge’ Only by focusing on the learners’ needs and essential skills for their future jobs, can TVCC staffs meet their demands and the society’s To achieve this objective, before developing a program the faculty visited many industries and companies to make a survey on the skills they require of their staff not only at the present also in a few years The skills selected will be classified and identified for the objectives of the program and the learning outcomes for the courses When the learning outcomes are identified, the curriculum and teaching materials are developed basing on these learning outcomes Achievement in learner- centred teaching is one of the objectives that TVCC teachers are trying to reach And the slogan “Tra Vinh Community College strives for being acknowledged in achievement of learner- centered teaching” is a guideline for all teachers in TVCC With that guideline, TVCC staff is trying to apply new methods that they have been trained so that they can make their student more active in learning and focus on the students’ needs However, to make sure that the approaches applying are learnercentered or not, how it went on and how these approaches affected the students and teachers, until now there has been no research or experiment about the situation of applying learner-centered approach at TVCC and its effects on the teaching and learning process at TVCC This is also the reason why this study was carried out 1.2 Purpose of the study: The purpose of this study is to investigate how learner-center approach has been used in English classes at TVCC This study helps to explore the approach applied in TVCC and what TVCC teachers have been doing, whether they have really focused on students or not This research is also carried out to discover the situation of applying learner-centered approaches in TVCC and its results as well as the reaction of the students to this approach Through the surveys of the teachers and the students, the study will show the benefits and the difficulties that the teachers and the students have in the learning and teaching process As a result, the teachers in TVCC have general ideas about what they have been doing so that they can develop the strong points as well as slow down the weak points and deal with the difficulties in the teaching and learning process 1.3 Research questions: During a period of applying teaching, TVCC teachers have used many approaches and methods and tried to carry out learner-centred approach in teaching They tried to make their students more active especially in the classroom and get them to involve into the lessons In order to investigate the situation of applying learnercentered approach at TVCC, this research is done to answer the two following questions: How is the learner-centred approach being applied in English classes at TVCC? How is the leaner-centered approach influencing teachers and students of English at TVCC? 1.4 Methodology: This research employed both qualitative and quantitative methods Questionnaire and interview are used to collect ideas and to see how the teachers and the students comment on this approach Collected data was analyzed and synthesized using some statistical measures To find out the answers for the two research questions, the surveys on the teachers and the students were conducted Besides, some interviews are carried out to get the ideas and teachers’ thinking in details Moreover, classroom activities were observed to see what is happening in the classroom visually 1.5 Scope and limitation of the study: 1.5.1 Scope of the study: The concept of learner-centeredness is rather large Moreover, there are many programs in TVCC and teachers of all these programs are trying to apply learnercentred teaching So, leaner-centered approach can be used in any programs Leanercentered approach is also manifested in many aspects of a program, for example, the content, the textbook, what the students like or not like to study However, to answer the two research questions this research will focus on the English classes only This means the survey is carried out on what and how the teacher does with his or her English classes The students related to the study will be major or non- major English students A comparison between the levels of success of the two groups is done The relationship between the teacher and students, students and the teacher is involved in the study Besides, students’ reaction to this approach can reflect the result of applying this 1.5.2 Limitation of the study: Data for this research was collected from the answers from the questionnaire, the interviews and the class observations So, the research findings are limited to the reliability of the answers collected from the students and what the teachers perform in the observed classrooms When the teachers were observed, they might prepare the lesson more carefully than usual and try with all their best to get successful Therefore, the result of the observation is limited within what the teachers when they are observed 1.6 Significance of the study: With this research, English teachers in TVCC can have specific ideas about what they are doing in their classroom, to what extent their teaching is successful, and how much the students like their teaching Teachers can also identify the difficulties, which trouble their teaching process and reflect on how to improve and deal with these problems If the teachers can identify the weak points and problems in their teaching and improve them, the students will get benefit from this The students will be able to study in a better learning environment with a better teaching approach As a result, they can get better results in the learning process This means they have more chances to find a better job in the future Also, when the teaching approach meets the students’ needs and interest, the students will learn better and get better result This makes the community and industries trust the school more and more In general, this study not only provides the teachers with the reflection of their teaching in order to improve but also the students with the benefits from teacher’s teaching improvement 1.7 Organization of the study: The thesis is structured with five main chapters as following: Chapter I introduces generally about the thesis It describes the background of the study, an overview and the objectives of Tra Vinh Community College, purposes of the study, the scope of the study, the method, which is used to carry out the research generally, and the significant of the study The research questions are also presented in this chapter Chapter II is covered with literature review It presents the theory of learnercentered approach, points of view of previous researchers and what they wrote about learner-centered approach, the roles of the teachers and learners in the learning process, pair work and group work as the ways to make the students learn actively Chapter III outlines the methodology of the research This chapter mentions the way data were collected, the instrument used to collect data, how the data are analyzed and synthesized The study involves getting the information about the ways that the teachers organize and monitor the classroom to consider whether leanercentered teaching really happen in the classroom, the students work more in the classroom or the teacher dominate the class, what the teacher carry out in the classroom meet the students desire or not This information is used to answer the two questions: “How is the learner-centred approach being applied in English class at TVCC? How is the leaner- centered approach influencing TVCC teachers and students?” Chapter IV presents the findings and the results of data analysis based on the results of the questionnaire, the interview and the observation Chapter V provides the discussion on the findings, the answers for the two research questions, the recommendation on the ways to improve teaching situation, students’ problems This chapter also presents recommendations for further research CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Learner-centered approach: 2.1.1 Definition The notion of learner-centered instruction in foreign and second language grew out of the recognition that language learners are diverse, in their reasons for learning another language, their approach to learning, and their abilities The implementation of learner-centered teaching has revealed different views regarding how it should influence classroom practice Learner-centeredness may be considered to have acquired the status of an educational value- a measure by which the appropriateness and effectiveness of teaching methods, tasks, materials and curricula (Wenden, 2002) According to Normandy, learner-centered teaching focuses its attention on what the students is learning, how the students is learning, the condition in which the student is learning, whether the student is retaining and applying the learning, and how current learning positions the student for the future learning Learner-centered education targets instructional strategies that elicit and build upon students’ interested and skill Combs (1976) figured out that to create a learning situation in the classroom the learners must be given frequent opportunities to confront new information They must be allowed to confront new challenges using their past experiences without the dominance of a teacher / giver of information Learner-centered education places the student at the center of the education It begins with understanding the educational contexts from which a student comes It continues with the instructor evaluating the student’s progress towards learning objectives (Wenden, 2002) Learner-centeredness is about more than teaching students by developing interesting activities Learners are able to take responsibility for their own learning In the classroom, teachers become co-learners with other members of the community of learners (Conti, 2002) According to Tudor (1996), learner-centered teaching has far more to with openness to learner variability and to learners’ input than with any one set of teaching procedures In his book “Learner-centeredness as Language Education”, Tudor (1996) reported an interesting survey of learner-centered activities that learner-centered activities is a means of countering the difficulties caused by large classes, low- tech materials or inadequate course books, a learner-based teaching mode offered a way of coming to the dissatisfied generated by course books which did not meet the real needs and interest of learners” Tudor, (1993), mentioned learner-centered approach as an evidence of the more active and participatory role that is allocated to learners in the development of their study program and the importance given to their subjective needs 10 a once a period b twice a period c once every two periods d once a week e twice a week f never How the students like to work in groups / pairs? a very much b not much c a little d not at all How often you get your students to participate in the lesson? a always b often c sometimes d never 10 …………… the students participate in your activities a All b Half of c Some of d None of 11 Your students usually have problem with …………………… a pronunciation b speaking c listening e writing f vocabulary d grammar d reading 12 When teaching, you ………………use computer or video in class a always b often c sometimes d never c in squares d others 13 How are the tables in the class arranged? a in circles b in rows 14 When teaching, you often ……………… a sit on the teacher’s chair b stand in front of the class c move around the class 15 Do you provide the students with information about learning outcomes, criteria for evaluation of the subject before starting a course? a yes b no 16 What are the problems that you usually have when trying to get your students participate actively in the classroom ? (you can choose more than one answers) a you have to spend a lot of time to prepare in advance b you have to work more in the classroom c you have to move a lot in the classroom d others ………………………………………………………… 69 17 When you have your students work in groups or pairs, you pay attention to ……… to set the groups’ or pairs’ members a the students’ ability b their seats c the activities d the noise 18 When you have the students work in groups or pairs you worry the most about: a incorrectness b the noise e the effectiveness of the activity c lacking of control d limit of time f other …………………… 70 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS This questionnaire is only used for research paper not for any other purposes The questions from – are for your personal information Put a tick (9) next to the answer that you think is the most suitable with your situation In some case you can you more than one answers Your answers will supply valuable information for my research You are a student of ………… English … major … non major You are in the …………………… year … first … second … the third How old are you? … eighteen … nineteen … twenty … more than twenty How many hours you study English at school? … four hours a week … eight hours a week … twelve hours a week … more than twelve How often your teachers have you work in groups or pairs? … always … often … sometimes … never In class, how you like to discuss or work? (You can choose more than one answer) … in groups … in pairs … individually … other way How often you participate in groups or pairs? … always … often … sometimes … never 71 How much you like to work in groups or pairs? … very much … not very much … a little … don’t like If you don’t like to work in groups or pairs, what are some reasons? … you are shy … you are afraid of making mistakes … you don’t know what to say … you have no chance to talk because the others are very strong … other reasons … 10 How often your teachers encourage you to participate into the lesson? … always … often … sometimes … never 11 How often your teachers give you homework? … always … often … sometimes … never 12 How often your teachers mark you homework? … always … often … sometimes … never 13 Do the exercises given by your teachers require you to work in the library? … yes … no 14 If yes, how often you work in the library to finish your exercises? … every day … every other day …twice a week … once a week 15 Do your teachers provide information about learning outcomes, criteria for evaluation of the subject before starting a course? … yes … no 16 How often your teachers uses visual aids ? (pictures, real objects…) … always … often … sometimes … never 17 What kinds of visual aids your teachers often use? 72 … pictures … real objects … charts … video … others 18 What you like to study with? (You can choose more than one answers) … computers … video … overhead … others ………………………………… 19 Which you usually have problems with? (You can choose more than one answers) … pronunciation … speaking … listening … reading … writing … vocabulary … grammar 20 Among the four language skills, which one you think you are good at? (You can choose more than one answers) … speaking … listening … reading … writing THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION 73 APPENDIX BẢNG CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA Bảng câu hỏi dùng cho mục đích nghiên cứu khơng cho mục đích khác Câu hỏi từ đến dùng để trả lời thông tin cá nhân bạn Đánh dấu (9) vào cạnh câu trả lời mà bạn cho thích hợp với bạn Đối với số câu hỏi bạn chon nhiều câu trả lời Câu trả lời bạn thơng tin có giá trị cho nghiên cứu Bạn sinh viên ……… tiếng Anh … chuyên ngành … không chuyên ngành Bạn sinh viên năm mấy? … năm … năm hai … năm ba Bạn tuổi? … 18 … 19 … 20 … 20 Bạn học tiếng Anh trường? … /tuần … giờ/tuần … 12 giờ/tuần … nhiều 12 giờ/tuần Thầy (cô) bạn thường tổ chức cho bạn hoạt động nhóm đội nhu nào? … ln … thường … … không 6.Trong lớp bạn thích thảo luận học theo hình thức nào? … hoạt động nhóm … hoạt động theo cặp … hoạt động cá nhân … cách khác ……………………………………………………………… Bạn thường tham gia thảo luận nhóm cặp nào? 74 … luôn … thường … … khơng Bạn thích họat động theo nhóm, cặp nào? … thích … khơng thích … thích … khơng thích Nếu bạn khơng thích họat động theo cặp, nhóm, lý gì? … bạn mắc cỡ … bạn sợ mắc lỗi … bạn khơng biết nói … bạn khơng có hội tham gia … lý khác …………………………………………………………… 10 Thầy (cô) bạn thường khuyến khích bạn tham gia vào học nào? … luôn … thường … … không 11 Thầy (cô) bạn thường cho tập nhà nào? … luôn … thường … thỉnh thỏang … không 12 Thầy (cô) bạn thường chấm tập nhà nào? … luôn … thường … … không 13 Các tập mà thầy (cơ) bạn đưa có địi hỏi bạn phải đến thư viện đọc thật nhiều để hồn thành khơng? … yes … no 14 Nếu có, bạn thường phải làm việc thư viện nào? … ngày … cách ngày lần … hai lần tuần … lần tuần 75 15 Thầy (cô) bạn có cung cấp đầy đủ thơng tin kết học tập, tiêu chuẩn đánh giá trước bbắt đầu môn học không? … yes … no 16 Thầy (cô) bạn thường sử dụng dụng cụ trực quan nào? … luôn … thường … … không 17 Các giáo cụ trực quan mà thầy (cô) bạn thường sử dụng? … tranh ảnh … vật thật … sơ đồ … phim ảnh … khác ………………………………… 18 Bạn thích học với loại dụng cụ trực quan nào? … tranh ảnh … vật thật … sơ đồ … phim ảnh … khác ………………………………… 19 Bạn thường gặp khó với mơn môn sau đây? … phát âm … nói … nghe … đọc hiểu … viết … từ vựng … ngữ pháp 20 Trong bốn kỹ ngôn ngữ, bạn nhận thấy bạn học tốt môn nào? … nói … nghe … đọc hiểu … viết CÁM ƠN SỰ CỘNG TÁC CỦA BẠN 76 APPENDIX SOME ACTIVITIES TO MAKE THE STUDENTS MORE ACTIVE IN THE CLASSROOM Activity 1: Find someone who…: This game can be used to practice grammar structures It is also a nice opener for people to learn more about each other It can be adapted to any topic or grammatical structure Using this game, worksheet for each student must be prepared and photocopied Each student is given a worksheet The students move around the classroom, asking questions to their classmates in order to fill in the worksheet When students just finish, the teacher tells them to return to their seats The student who has the most different answers is the winner Of course, the teacher needs to ask questions to check their work On the other hand, if the teachers want to give more chance to the student s to participate, have some students ask the question to check the collected information Activity One minute speeches: (or Five minutes writing): This is an easy game to play, even in a big class without preparation It can be used for speaking, writing, and even reading The teacher does not need to prepare anything In this game, each student writes a word any word, on a small piece of paper, folds it up and puts it in the center of the table, or into a bag if groups are not 77 sitting at tables The teacher can assigns any key word from the reading One student is the timekeeper Each student takes turn to pick up a piece of paper and gets ten seconds to think then one minute to talk or write about that topic The timer will stop him (her) when the time is up In this activity, each student has a chance to speak The passive students can avoid their participation, so they have to speak up and practice They must work together to come up with the word However, the teacher should not let students pick up a word in advance of his turn And the teacher needs to make up the words beforehand if a specific topic is focused Activity Writing competition: This game is good to practice writing paragraphs, enforce grammatical points learned It can be adapted to any topic or grammatical structure To carry out this, teacher divides the board into three parts or sticks three piece of paper on the board He or she can either choose teams or captains and the captains choose their own teams Number the members of each team Teacher will write the heading or the beginning of a paragraph for each team The students will write a paragraph as quickly as possible, each team writes one word only or one sentence for each time The captain will begin by writing one word and the others will follow until the teacher yells “stop” One point for one word but one point will be subtracted for 78 each grammar mistake Each member has to be written by different color of chalk so that the class will know if anyone “cheats” or writes more than one word After that, the teacher can discuss the quality of the writing with the students By this way, the teacher can also check the students’ vocabulary as well as grammar and encourage them to learn vocabulary And other students who don’t participate also have to pay attention to the activity naturally With this activity, the teachers not have to prepare a lot They only need the topic for writing and some color pens or chalks Activity Run, read, remember, retell, and write: This game is good for four language skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing To this, the teacher needs to prepare three passages of equal length and difficulty Each sentence of the passages should be numbered The teacher chooses three teams of four players, tape the three passages outside the classroom or on the back wall, far away from the board One person on each team will be the writer, and the others will be the runners So, each team has one writer and three runners When the teacher says, “go”, the runners will begin They have to run to the passage, read and remember one line and run back to tell the writer Then the writer writes the line on the board The runners take turns so that while one is telling the writer what to 79 write, another can be running to the passage and remembering next line The first team to finish is the winning team unless they have too many mistakes This game was practiced in a class of forty-four students During the activity, all students participated to the activity or not enjoyed the game very much They paid more attention to what they and their friends were doing Moreover, they also encouraged their friends to run more quickly The environment in the class was more exciting than usual Activity Personal T-shirt: • Function practiced: Using the simple present tense to talk about personal information • Type of activity: Group work (from four to five students) or pair work • Duration: 25 minutes • How to play the game: On a large piece of paper, draw a T-shirt large enough to write on Use coloured pens Give instructions to put the following information on the T-shirt - In the centre of the T-shirt, write your name - Under your name, draw a picture or write a word that describes your favourite hobby 80 - On the neck of the T-shirt, write a word that describes you (use an adjective such as honest, kind, funny) - On the right sleeve, write the name of a loved one - On the left sleeve, write one thing that you well - On the bottom left hand corner of the shirt, write one bad quality about yourself that you want to change - On the bottom right hand corner of the shirt, write one thing that you dream about for your future Next in a small group, hold up your paper T-shirt and tell the group about your self by explaining the information that you have written on your T-shirt When everyone in your group has finished presenting the shirts, exchange Tshirts On the back of the T-shirt of each of your group members, write one question about something that appears on the T-shirt to get more information After everyone has written a question on the back of the T –shirt, take your paper back Taking turns, answer the question on the back At the end, ask students to stick their own T-shirt on the wall • Variation: This game can focus on other grammatical points such as: + Simple past tense (talk about childhood or past events) + Present tense to talk about likes and dislikes 81 + Simple future to talk about future plans In this activity, it is required that each student needs to have a piece of paper and colour pens need to be prepared The teachers not spend lots of time to prepare for the activity The most important thing is clear instruction so that the students can participate effectively 82 APPENDIX OBSERVATION SHEET - Teacher’s name: …………………………………………………… - Class: ……………………………………………………………… - Date: ………………………………………………………………… - Subject: …………………………………………………………… - Duration: ………………………………………………………… Activities Students’ Teachers’ Note Total of time 83