How to teach american culture in a vietnamese high school curriculum; some suggestions on how to present american public holidays and festivals

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES ro.n1 TRAN THUY PHUONG HOW TO TEACH AMERICA" CULTURE I" A VIET"AMESE HIGH SCHOOL CURRICUWM; AMERICA" PUBLIC HOLIDAYS A"D FESTIVALS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Supervisor SIDSEL MILLERSTROM, Ph.D 80 Chi Minh City, April 2007 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: HOW TO TEACH AMERICAN CULTURE IN A VIETNAMESE HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM; SOME SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO PRESENT AMERICAN PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS in terms of the statement of the Requirements of Theses in Master's Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, April 15, 2007 Tr§n Thuy Phuong RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Tran Thuy Phuong, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities relating to the retention and use of Master's Thesis deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original version of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan, or reproduction of thesis Ho Chi Minh City, April 15, 2007 Trffn Thuy Phuong 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Sidsel Millerstrom, for her whole-hearted guidance, thoughtful and insightful comments, and valuable support in the preparation and completion of this thesis Without her encouragement and guidance, I could not have finished this study My special thanks must go to all my teachers for their dedication and helpful instruction during the master course from the year 2003 to 2006 I wish to thank all the members in my thesis defense committee, who were enthusiastic to read this thesis and helped me to present it to the readers of the Library I hope that this modest contribution will be useful for others to build upon I also wish to thank all of the teacher respondents from fifteen high schools in Ho Chi Minh City for their help and willingness to answer the questionnaire and to give precious opinions to the study I am also grateful to all the students who carefully completed the questionnaires and sincerely provided me with valuable information for this study In addition, these friends and colleagues of mine : Vo Thi H6ng Le, Nguyen Thi Thuy Loan, Trftn Thi Van Hoai, and Huynh Thi Bich Phuong were particularly of great help in my preparation of the thesis and searching for relevant references My heartfelt appreciation is expressed to all of them Last but not least, I would like to dedicate the thesis to my family: my father , my mother, and my sweetheart, for their love, understanding and wholehearted support They have taken care of everything so that I could devote all my time to the writing of the thesis I am greatly indebted to all of them III ABSTRACT This thesis provides high schools teachers of English with some knowledge of culture learning in language education (CLLE) and American culture in order to satisfy students' demands in this increasingly internationalized world The last few decades have witnessed a fundamental rethinking of the aims of foreign language teaching, entailing a shift in emphasis from linguistic competence over communicative competence to intercultural competence The growing emphasis on cultural issues, called for by research and international curricular documents, places new demands on language teachers High school students, especially English-majored students, are supposed to communicate well in intercultural contexts because they have learned English for more than four years Yet many students' parents complain that English-majored students are timid when it comes to communicating with native speakers on holidays and festivals This study investigates the attitudes towards CLLE in order to identify problems and illuminate possible solutions A sample of 155 tenth-grade English-majored students at Nguyen Cong Tru High School (NCTHS), with an ESP level of intermediate, was selected In addition, 15 teachers from fifteen different high schools in Ho Chi Minh City were also surveyed in an effort to identify problems and potential solutions to the inadequacy of CLLE in Vietnamese high school curriculum The data obtained were then subjected to quantitative analysis in an effort to obtain findings Results reveal that (1) most of the students expressed positive attitudes towards CLLE and accepted that CLLE contributes a great deal to their English proficiency and that (2) high school teachers can take the role of English language teachers with regards to CLLE if they have good perception of CLLE and understand the contribution of CLLE to students' English proficiency This research tries to help teachers and IV students to gain some knowledge of American cultural features in order to avoid culture shock in this era of internationalization v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Certifi ori liity erti icate f ongma I Retention and use of the thesis ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv Table of contents vi List of tables xii List of figures xv Abbreviations xvi INTRODUCTION Chapter 1.1 Research Questions Aim of the Study and Overvi ew of the Thesis Summary of Thesis Chapters BACKGROUND TO THE STUDy DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGLISH MAJOR PROGRAM AT NGUYEN CONG TRU HIGH SCHOOL 1.1.1 Teaching and learn ing objectives and time allocation VI 1.2 1.3 1.1 Textbook 1.1.3 Teaching and learning environment STUDENTS AND TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS 1.2.1 Characteristics of the students 1.2.2 Characteristics of the teachers CURRICULUM OF THE ENGLISH SUBJECT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAJOR CLASSES 1.4 THE PRESENT INADEQUACY IN THE TEACHING OF AMERICAN CULTURE IN VIETNAMESE 1.5 Chapter 2.1 HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM 10 SUMMARy 12 LITERATURE REVIEW 14 THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE 14 2.1.1 What is culture? 14 2.1.2 Research on the relationship between culture and language teaching 2.2 21 CULTURAL RELATIVISM AND ETHNOCENTRIC IDEAS 22 2.3 CLLE AND SLA 32 2.4 CLLE AND THEORIES OF LEARNING VB AND LINGUISTICS 34 2.4.1 Culture and principles oflanguage learning methodologies 34 2.4.2 Learning styles 2.5 35 THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE IN LANGUAGE TEACHING 36 CLLE TEACHER 'S ROLES AND COMPETENCES 38 2.6.1 Teacher as facilitator 38 2.6.2 Teacher's role in promoting CLLE 39 SUMMARY 43 METHODOLOGY 44 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 44 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 45 3.2.1 Subjects 45 2.6 2.7 Chapter 3.2.1.1 Selection 45 3.2.1.2 Characteristics of Subjects 46 3.2.2 Instruments 48 3.2.2.1 Survey questionnaire for students 49 3.2.2.2 Survey questionnaire for teachers 49 Vlll 11 What is your favorite course book? a Lifelines b New Headway o c New Interchange d Know How D e Other (please specify): o 12 How much is the cultural knowledge of English-speaking countries provided in English 10 Advanced Textbookcompared to that provided in your favorite course book? much less ODD 0 much more 2345 13 Do you usually have to look for cultural information of English-speaking countries that is not included in your textbook? a Yes D b No 14 If so, how? Please place an X in a box in each row Never Onc e a month Once a week Twice a week More than twice a week Attend an extra English class Look for information in the mass media Ask your friends Try to ask native English speakers Ask your English teacher at school Other (please specify): 15 Ifnot, why? Please place an X in a box in each row Strongly disagree Disagree It is unnecessary Do not have enough time Do not like Other (please specify): 123 No idea Agree Strongly agree 16 By placing an X in a box in each row, please indicate how much you like each of these aspects in your English class: Strongly dislike (1) Dislike (2) No idea (3) Like a little (4) Like a lot (5) Listening Speaking Reading Writing Cultural knowledge of English-speaking countries Other (please specify): 17 By placing an X in a box in each row, please indicate what you would like to see more of in your textbook: No more A little more Much more Listening Speaking Reading Writing Cultural knowledge of English-speaking countries Other (please specify): 18 In your opinion, how useful is culture learning in language education? very little 0 0 extremely 12345 19 Cultural kno wledge of English-speaking countries contributes to your English proficiency strongly agree 00000 strongly disagree 20 Was February 14 the date when St Valentine was born or when he died? 21 Why many people dress in green on March 17 every year? 22 Why many Americans eat pancakes on Mardi Gras? 124 23 Why Americans exchange decorated eggs on Easter? 24 Why many Christians eat flat bread and roasted lamb on Passover? 25 Why is April Fools ' Day also called April Fish? 26 Why is Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May? 27 Why is Father's Day on the third Sunday in June? 28 What is the first Monday in September called in the United States and Canada? 29 What are the two most typical Halloween colors? 30 Who celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day? 31 Please give us your comments or sugg estions about the cultural knowledge of English-speaking countries provided in the English 10 Advanced Textbook Thank you very much for your cooperation 125 APPENDIX IB Questionnaire for students (Vietnamese version) Tnrong D~i HQc Khoa HQc xs Hoi va Nhan Van Lop Cao HQc - Chuyen Nganh Giang Day Tieng Anh ,,' ? , PHIEU KHAO SAT (danh cho hoc sinh) MI:lC dich clla bang ctiu hoi dum day La nhdm thu thdp thon g tin cho viec nghien cuu chuang trinn tha c SI chuyen nganh gidng day tien g Anh Rat mong cac ban danh chat thai gian quy bdu diin vao phi e'u khdo sat SIf giup cua cdc ban qua viec trd lai chinh xac va dtiy dil cac ciiu hoi se gop phtin nit Ian vao ket qua cua viec nghien CUu Chung toi cam ket thong tin se duac bdo mat va khong sll'dung ngoai muc dich neu tren Rat mong cac ban h6 tra va xin chan thann cam an HQ va ten: Gidi tinh: D a Nam D b Nu Nam sinh: 19 Ban b~t dftu hoc tieng Anh tit: D a Lop D b Lop D c Lop D d Lop Db Khong Ban dli bao giC1 dang ky hoc them mot khoa tieng Anh ? D a Co Chung chi tieng Anh ca o nhat cua ban la gl? D a A D b B D c C De Khong co D d TOEFL/ IELTS/ TOEIC Di~m trung blnh man tieng Anh cua ban hoc ky vita r6i? Db 6.5 - 7.9 Dc 5.0 - 6.4 D d 3.5 - De dirdi 3.5 D a 8.0 trd len Ban nhan xet the' nao v~ sa ch giao khoa tieng Anh 10 Nang cao ban dang hoc? Rat ~ham 'cM n D D D D Rat thii vi 345 Ban danh gia the' nao v~ nhirng chu di~m sach gia o khoa? Rat thieu thirc te' D D D D D Rat thirc te' 10 Ban nhan xet gt v~ hrong kien thirc van hoa cac nude noi ti eng Anh co sach giao khoa? Ra't it D D D D D 11 Ban thich gia o trinh tieng Anh nao nhat? D a Lifelines D b New He adway Dc New Interchange D d Know How 126 Ra't nhieu o e Khac (vui long ghi r6): 12 LU