Teaching speaking to the first year students at the faculty of economics of vietnam national university hochiminh city problems and solutions

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE *** *** NGUYEN HOA NGUYEN TEACHING SPEAKING TO THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT THE FACULTY OF ECONOMICS OF VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HOCHIMINH CITY: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN TESOL SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN TIEN HUNG, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY November, 2006 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: TEACHING SPEAKING TO THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT THE FACULTY OF ECONOMICS OF VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HOCHIMINH CITY: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS in terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Programmes issued by Higher Degree Committee HoChiMinh City, November 10th , 2006 NGUYEN HOA NGUYEN I RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, NGUYEN HOA NGUYEN, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and the use of Master’s Theses deposited in 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 Library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses HoChiMinh City November, 1st , 2006 NGUYEN HOA NGUYEN II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr NGUYEN TIEN HUNG, who provides me with his precious knowledge, assistance, consideration, and encouragement so that I can finish this thesis report I must be grateful to the teachers of Department of Post- Graduate Studies of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities of Ho Chi Minh City who supply me with the good conditions to conduct this thesis and finish this M.A course My thanks go to Dr DINH THI ANH NGUYET, my head of the Foreign Language Department of the Faculty of Economics of the Vietnam National University- HoChiMinh City, and my colleagues for their assistance, encouragement during the time I participate in M.A course Last but not least, I owe a debt to my colleagues who are the subjects of my thesis for their willingness to permit me observing their classes and to answer my questionnaires III ABSTRACT Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) attracts a variety of experts’ consideration; however, no explicit definitions about it has been invented It is seen that CLT requires the teachers much, especially communicative competence, flexibility, and creativity It must be flexibly implemented in a particular context The main objective of this thesis is to help the teachers overcome the constraints as CLT is adopted to teach to the first year students at the Faculty of Economics of Vietnam National University-HoChiMinh City In detail, the researcher tries to (1) find out the difficulties that the teachers perceive; (2) collect the solutions that the teachers suggest in relation to his suggestions with a view to improving the situation The procedures of data collection were accomplished thanks to the instruments as classroom observation and two questionnaires The former adapted from Brown (1994) included 25 categories, which were divided into parts as Preparation, Execution/ Method, Personal Characteristics, and Teacher/ Student Interaction to assess which categories the teacher applied in his/ her class The latter consisted of one for yielding the difficulties and another for gathering the remedies The 1st questionnaire adapted from Li (1998) was composed of four items to gain the subjects’ ethnographic data and questions to get the difficulties perceived by the teachers The 2nd questionnaire designed on the basis of the results of the 1st one, and of classroom observation, and the literature review It contained questions to collect the solutions suggested by the teachers The procedures consist of stages: firstly, the 1st questionnaire was IV delivered to the subjects and handed in; secondly, the classroom observations were done; thirdly, the 2nd questionnaire was distributed and handed in The findings of this investigation classified into the two main sections are the difficulties and the solutions, of which the former include difficulties caused by the teachers, difficulties caused by the students, and difficulties caused by the educational system, and the latter consist of remedies The situation can, however, get better unless the solutions suggested by the teachers are accomplished V TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originally i Retention and use the thesis ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv Table of contents vi List of abbreviations ix List of figures and tables ix Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Statement of purpose 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Significance of the thesis 1.5 Overview of thesis chapters Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Communicative Language Teaching .4 2.1.1 Theory of language 2.1.2 Theories of language learning .5 2.1.3 Concept of CLT 2.1.4 Characteristics of CLT 2.1.5 Communicative competence .15 2.1.5.1 Linguistic competence 16 2.1.5.2 Pragmatic competence 16 2.1.5.3 Discourse competence 16 VI 2.1.5.4 Strategic competence .17 2.1.5.5 Fluency 17 2.1.6 Conditions related to applying CLT ` 18 2.2 The role of CLT in teaching speaking 22 2.2.1 The nature of communication 22 2.2.2 Oral communicative practice .24 2.2.3 Oral communicative activities 26 2.2.3.1 Role-play and simulation 26 2.2.3.2 Discussion .27 2.2.3.3 Communicative games 28 2.2.3.4 Problem-solving activities 28 2.2.3.5 Talking about yourself 29 2.3 Summary 30 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 31 3.1 Introduction 31 3.2 Subjects .31 3.3 Instrumentation .32 3.4 Procedures 35 Chapter 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 37 4.1 The findings 37 4.1.1 Classroom observation .37 4.1.2 The 1st questionnaire 41 4.1.2.1 Difficulties caused by the teachers 41 4.1.2.1.1 Limited training in CLT 41 4.1.2.1.2 Misunderstanding of CLT 42 4.1.2.2 Difficulties caused by the students 44 VII 4.1.2.3 Difficulties caused by the educational system 45 4.1.3 The 2nd questionnaire .47 4.1.3.1 Solutions to the difficulties caused by the teachers .47 4.1.3.2 Solutions to the difficulties caused by the students .48 4.1.3.3 Solutions to the difficulties caused by the educational system 51 4.2 Discussion .53 4.2.1 Difficulties from the teachers and solutions .53 4.2.2 Difficulties from the students and solutions 55 4.2.3 Difficulties from the educational system and solutions 63 4.3 Conclusion 65 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION .67 5.1 The summary of the main findings .67 5.2 Conclusion 69 Bibliography 70 Appendices 73 VIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT : Communicative Language Teaching L1 : The first language LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure Page 1: The nature of communication 24 : Oral communication practice 24 3: Percentage of teachers trained in teaching methodology 42 4: Percentage of teachers trained in CLT 42 5: Difficulties caused by the students 44 6: Difficulties caused by the educational system 46 7: Solutions to the teachers’ difficulites: Lack of training in CLT 47 8: Solutions to the teachers’ diificulties: Misunderstanding of CLT 48 9: Solutions to the state of crowded and multi-level classes 51 10: Teachers’ solutions to the lack of authentic materials from the Faculty 52 11: Administrators’ solutions to the lack of authentic materials Table 52 Page 1: Profile of the subjects 32 2: Frame of the 1st questionnaire 33 3: Frame of the classroom observation sheet 35 4: Frame of the 2nd questionnaire 35 5: Classroom observation results 39 6: Teachers’ understanding of CLT 43 7: Solutions to the difficulties caused by the students 49 IX problem It is surprising that the teachers seemed to recognize the importance of genuine situations, but the classroom observation revealed that half of them did not pay attention to genuine situations For example, they did not refer to genuine situations in their drills Moreover, the administrators should have responsibilities for this difficulty Besides, the teachers wished the administrators to manage to purchase some more authentic materials Generally, the solutions suggested by the teachers are effective except for the one as managing to design some materials for the class In order to improve the situation, course book can be exploited communicatively In doing this the teachers should consider whether they can make the content more interesting by introducing communicative activities or improving the way in which the material is presented In addition, the teachers should pay more attention some kinds of authentic materials such as games, topics, news recorded from the radio broadcasts, or news downloaded from the Internet Based on these materials, the teachers should design tasks suitable for the students’ level In summary, crowded and multi-level classes and lack of authentic materials should be taken into consideration so that the application of CLT becomes more feasible Besides, in order to deal with lack of authentic materials, the teachers should take advantage of genuine situations and some kinds of authentic materials Also, the administrators should purchase some more authentic materials for teachers to successfully their teaching job 4.3 Conclusion It is conclusive that the difficulties and solutions focused on in this chapter have answered the two research questions It synthesized the findings that the study had discovered and discussed on the results The difficulties that were 65 perceived by the teachers were categorized into: the difficulties caused by the teachers, by the students, and by the educational system The solutions chosen by the teachers were a reference source since some of the solutions are not sufficient They were modified and supplemented so that the useful remedies were gained 66 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION As presented in the previous chapter, the results and discussion have answered the two research questions In this chapter, the summary of the main findings and the conclusion of the thesis are shown 5.1 The summary of the main findings Based on the instrumentation as classroom observation and two questionnaires, this study has discovered the significant findings aiming at improving the English teaching at the Faculty The findings are divided into groups as difficulties and solutions The former are classified into difficulties caused by the teachers, difficulties caused by the students, and difficulties caused by the educational system The latter are categorized into solutions to difficulties from the teachers, solutions to difficulties from the students, solutions to difficulties from the educational system In order to help the readers easily grasp the main findings, each difficulty has been displayed and followed by its solutions The difficulties caused by the teachers are limited training in CLT and misunderstanding of CLT To overcome the teachers’ limited training in CLT, the administrators should make effort to create opportunities for the teachers to enroll in short-term courses about CLT and seminars In addition, the teachers’ misunderstanding of CLT can be dealt with when they have chances to participate in seminar and to self-study It is believed that the more the teachers are trained in CLT, the more they understand CLT As a result, the hindrances caused by the teachers can be solved 67 There are constraints from the students which the teachers perceived as passive learning style, using Vietnamese during pair work or group work, low English proficiency, and limited motivation in learning The first constraint from the students as “passive style of learning” can be dealt with only when the solutions recommended are considered To start with, a variety of activities and communicative activities can bring benefits to the situation Also, the students’ passive style of learning originated from their low English proficiency, and cultural background Therefore, the solutions to the two problems should be dealt with The solutions to the students’ low English proficiency are shown below Although it is unable to change one’s cultural background, some impacts on the cultural background can be made such as changing the students’ conception, modifying their habit and their passive learning style Also, the remedies recommended letting the students use Vietnamese less during pair work or group work are to create interesting topics, to set tasks suitable for the students’ level, to move around to observe the students, and to give students help if necessary To deal with the students’ low English proficiency, the teachers should divide the students into pair work or group work including good and bad students However, the teachers must know the way how to manage pair or group work effectively Besides, “designing tasks suitable for the students’ level” is an efficacious solution if the teachers know how to arrange tasks Also, the teachers can use the mother tongue flexibly in the class When the students have limited motivation in learning, the following solutions should be taken into consideration Firstly, communicative activities, interesting topics, and fun learning activities should be added in the class Secondly, doing brainstorming should be given to help the students in speaking 68 practice Thirdly, some efficient solutions to increase the students’ motivation must be put into reality such as calling the students by their names, appreciating the students’ opinions, using tangible instructions and objectives, making encouragement and praise to the students, making effort to understand more the students It is believed that the students are highly motivated when the classroom atmosphere is enjoyable and when they are more self-confident In addition, the teachers reported that the two hindrances from the educational system were crowded and multi-level classes, and lack of authentic materials To deal with crowded and multi-level classes, the teachers should organize pair and group work, create interesting topics, and use communicative activities Besides, facilities should be supplied as well Moreover, the remedies recommended surmounting lack of authentic materials from educational system are taking advantages of the course book, making use genuine situations as many as possible Also, the administrators should manage to purchase authentic materials 5.2 Conclusion In summary, according to the above-mentioned difficulties and solutions, we may arrive at the conclusion that there must be good cooperation between the administrators and the teachers The former should give the latter chances to improve professional knowledge as well as to provide them good facilities to their job In addition to the administrators’ support, it behooves the teachers to make effort to adapt themselves to use CLT The prerequisites for success in the implementation of CLT which demand from the teachers are of good communicative competence, creativity and enthusiasm in their teaching job 69 BIBLOGRAPHY Allwright, D., & Bailey, K.M (1991) Focus on the language classroom: An introduction to classroom research for language teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Bachman, L.F (1990) Fundamental consideration in language testing Oxford: Oxford University Press Bock, G (2000) Difficulties in implementing Communicative Theory in Vietnam Teacher’s Edition, 2, 24-30 Brown, H.D (1994) Teaching by principle: an interactive approach to language pedagogy Eaglewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Byrne, D (1988) Focus on the classroom Hong Kong: Modern English Publications Davies, P., & Pears, E (2000) Success in language teaching Hong Kong: Oxford University Press Downs, M (2000) Increasing student motivation Teacher’s Edition, 4, 8-13 Flowerdew, J., & Miller, L (1995) On the notion of culture in L2 lectures TESOL Quartly, 29, 345-373 Gillham, B (2000) Developing a questionnaire Great Britain: T.T International, Padstow,Cornwall 10 Grant, D and McLarty, R (2001) Business Basics (New Edition) Oxford: Oxford University Press 11 Harmer, J (1991) The practice of English language teaching London: Longman 12 Hedge, T (2000) Teaching and learning in the language classroom Oxford: Oxford University Press 70 13 Holliday, A (1994) Appropriate methodology and social context New York: Cambridge University Press 14 Johnson, K.E (1995) Understanding communication in second English classroom New York: Cambridge University Press 15 Johnson, K & Morrow, K (1981) Communication in the classroom Essex: Longman 16 Larsen- Freeman, D (1986) Techniques and principles on language teaching Oxford: Oxford University Press 17 Li, D (1998) “It’s always more difficult than you plan and imagine”: Teachers’ perceived difficulties in introduction the Communicative Approach in South Korea TESOL Quartly, 32, 677-698 18 Littlewood, W (1981) Communicative Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 19 Littlewood, W T (1984) Foreign and second language learning: languageacquisition research and its implications for the classroom Avon: Cambridge University Press 20 Melvin, B., & Stout, D (1987) Interactive language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 21 Nation, P (1991) Managing group discussion: Problem- solving tasks Guidelines, 13, 2, 1-10 22 Nolasco, R., & Arthur, L (1988) Large classes Hong Kong: Modern English Publications 23 Nunan, D (1990) Designning Tasks for the Communicative Classroom Sydney: National Central for English Language Teaching and Research, Macquarie University Press 24 Oxford, R (1990) Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know New York: Newbury House 71 25 Pattison, P (1987) Developing communications skills: A practical handbook for language teachers, with examples in English, French, and German Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 26 Prodromou, L (1992) Mixed ability classes Hong Kong: Modern English Publications 27 Richard, J.C., & Lockhart, C (1994) Reflecting teaching in second language classrooms New York: Cambridge University Press 28 Richards, J.C., & Rodgers, T S (1986) Approaches and methods in language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 29 Rivers, W.M (1983) Communicating naturally in a second language: theory and practice in language teaching New York: Cambridge University Press 30 Sasse, M (1999) Role- playing in the second language classroom Teacher’s Edition, 1, 4-8 31 Smith, M (2001) Making content classes more communicative Teacher’s Edition, 5,14-17 32 Smith, M (2001) The role of cultural identity in classroom participation Teacher’s Edition, 5, 28-30 33 Sullivan, P.N (1996) Sociocultural influences on classroom interactional styles TESOL Journal, 6, 1, 32-34 34 Thompson, G (1996) Some misconceptions about communicative language teaching ELT Journal, 50, 1, 9-15 35 Tran Anh Ngan Sa (2000) Towards group work in English learning and teaching for the first year college students of English in HoChiMinh City: A case study Unpublished M.A Thesis, University of Social Sciences and Humanities 36 Zhenhui, R (2000) Effective use of the mother tongue in TEFL Teacher’s Edition, 3, 16-19 72 APPENDICES APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (Adapted from Li, 1998) The questionnaire aims at surveying the reality of teaching speaking to the first year students through applying Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) at the Faculty of Economics of Vietnam National University-HoChiMinh City Your completion of this questionnaire is highly appreciated The data collected are used in the research paper only, not for any other purpose Please complete the following questions as appropriate You may tick more than one option ‰ Male ‰ Female ‰ Age: ………………years old ‰ How many years have you been a teacher of English? years Have you ever been trained in teaching methodology? Where? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Have you ever been trained in CLT? If yes, how long? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… In your viewpoint, CLT: ‰ Is only used for teaching speaking skill, not for the other skills ‰ Emphasizes on fluency more than accuracy ‰ Gives students opportunities to communicate with others ‰ Is student-centred ‰ Uses authentic materials 73 ‰ Creates a secure, non-threatening atmosphere in a classroom ‰ Focuses on meaningful tasks rather than on language itself ‰ Helps the students use the language through communicative games ‰ Does not teach grammar ‰ Is related to genuine, realistic situations ‰ Others Please list here:…………………………………………… Please tick the difficulties that you have experienced when adopting CLT in teaching speaking to the first year students at the Faculty of Economics of the university ‰ Too crowded class ‰ Students’ low English proficiency ‰ The administrators’ discouragement of CLT ‰ Lack of means to evaluate the student’s communicative competence ‰ Teacher’s insufficient at spoken English ‰ Multilevel classes ‰ Lack of authentic teaching materials ‰ Lack of facilities (e.g immovable tables, no overhead projectors, no LCD projectors, etc.) ‰ Badly designed classroom (e.g not enough light, bad blackboard, small class etc.) ‰ Students’ limited motivation in learning ‰ Students’ passive learning styles ‰ Students’ use of Vietnamese during pair work or during group work ‰ Other difficulties Please list here:………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………… Thank you for your cooperation! 74 APPENDIX LESSON OBSERVATION SHEET (adapted from Brown, 1994) Name of the observed : Class : Observer's name : Date: I Preparation Apply Not Apply Well-prepared in class Comment: A NA Appropriately prepared-objectives Comment: A NA Instructions are clear and concise and students are able to carry A them on Comment: The lesson is smooth, sequenced and logical A Comment: Authentic materials are added A Comment: NA A NA The teacher shows an interest in, and enthusiasm for, the subject A taught Comment: III Execution/ methods The teacher moves around the class and makes eye contact with A students Comment: NA There are balance and variety in activities during the lesson Comment: A NA 10 Examples and illustrations are used effectively Comment: A NA 11 Instructional aids or resource material is used effectively Comment: A NA II Presentation Material is presented at the students’ level of comprehension Comment: 75 NA NA NA 12 Drills are used and presented effectively Comment: A NA 13 The teacher explores genuine situations in the class A Comment: 14 Structures are taken out of artificial drill contexts and applied to A the real contexts of the students’ culture and personal experiences Comment: IV Personal characteristics NA 15 Patience in eliciting responses Comment: A NA 16 Clarity, tone, and audibility of voice Comment: A NA and A NA A NA 19 The students are communicators Comment: A NA 20 Teacher encourages and assures full student participation Comment: A NA 21 The students are attentive and involved Comment: A NA 22 The students are active Comment: A NA 23 Teacher organizes effectively individual, pair and group work Comment: A NA 24 Teacher controls and directs the class Comment: A NA 25 The students feel free to ask questions, to disagree, or to express A their own ideas Comment: NA 17 Pronunciation, intonation, acceptable use of language Comment: fluency, and appropriate V Teacher/Student interaction 18 Teacher is a facilitator Comment: Notes: NA A : not apply : apply 76 NA APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE The questionnaire aims at collecting the solutions to the problems which the teachers at the Faculty face in adapting CLT in teaching speaking to the first year students at the Faculty of Economics of Vietnam National UniversityHoChiMinh City The solutions should be originated from your knowledge, or from your experience You can choose more than one option When your students lack motivation to study speaking, you: ‰ Create interesting topics, which are suitable for their level ‰ Encourage them by grades ‰ Use communicative games ‰ Help them brainstorming so that they have something to talk about ‰ Get them to speak ‰ Explain the importance of speaking in the classroom to the students ‰ Others solutions Please list here:…………………………………… What should you to prevent your students from using Vietnamese during group work or during pair work? You: ‰ Move around to observe them ‰ Remind them to use English ‰ Criticize them ‰ Let them be ‰ Encourage them to speak English ‰ Listen to them ‰ Give them help ‰ Other solutions Please list here:…………………………………… 77 What you to deal with the students with low English proficiency? You: ‰ Neglect them ‰ Design exercises suitable for their level ‰ Divide them into pairs or groups including good and bad students so that they can help one another ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ Move around to observe and help them Criticize them for their level Encourage them by grade Other solutions Please list here……………………………………………… What should you to overcome your students’ passive learning style? You: ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ Create a variety of activities to have the students participate in Use praise appropriately Encourage your students to share their ideas with you Use communicative activities Others …………………………………………………………… To surmount your misunderstanding of CLT, you: ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ Self– study to improve your knowledge Participate in seminars Do not pay attention to the problem Learn from the colleagues Others ……………………………………………………………… What would you prefer if you lack to be trained in CLT? ‰ The administrator should give you more chance to be trained in CLT ‰ Training in CLT must be more popular ‰ More seminars about teaching methods should be held ‰ You self-train to improve your knowledge about CLT (e.g by reading books, by studying from you colleagues, etc.) ‰ Others Please list here: ……………………………………………… 78 To overcome the state of crowded and multi-level classes, you: ‰ Organize pair and group work ‰ Move around to observe ‰ Create interesting topics, which are suitable for students’ level ‰ Use communicative activities ‰ Other Please list here: ……………………………………………… To overcome lack of authentic teaching materials, you: ‰ Manage to design some ‰ Comfort yourself that it is enough for the students to finish what the course book contains ‰ Take advantage of the course book ‰ Think it is better to have experts to design more CLT materials ‰ Other solutions Please list here:…………………………………… What should the administrators to solve lack of authentic materials? They should: ‰ Not pay attention to the problem ‰ Ask the teacher to manage to design some for their class ‰ Manage to purchase some ‰ Ask the teachers to take advantage of the course book ‰ Discourage CLT ‰ Appoint some teacher as an expert at material design ‰ Other solutions Please list here ………………………………………………… Thank you for your cooperation! 79