Senior elt majored students’ perception of teacher personas and their development through teaching practice

HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH NGUYEN QUY NHI SENIOR ELT-MAJORED STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF TEACHER PERSONAS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TEACHING PRACTICE GRADUATION THESIS SUPERVISOR: PHAN QUYNH NHU, PhD Hue, Academic year: 2019 – 2023 ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP Tên đề tài: NHẬN THỨC CỦA SINH VIÊN SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH NĂM CUỐI VỀ KHÁI NIỆM VÀ SỰ HÌNH THÀNH NHẬN DIỆN SƯ PHẠM CÁ NHÂN (TEACHER PERSONAS) QUA THỰC HÀNH SƯ PHẠM NGÀNH SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH Sinh viên thực hiện: NGUYỄN QUÝ NHI Giảng viên hướng dẫn: TS PHAN QUỲNH NHƯ Huế, Năm học: 2019-2023 LỜI CAM ĐOAN Tôi xin cam đoan kết đạt khoá luận sản phẩm riêng cá nhân, không chép lại người khác Tất tài liệu tham khảo có xuất xứ rõ ràng trích dẫn hợp pháp Huế, ngày 15 tháng năm 2023 Sinh viên thực (Ký ghi rõ họ tên) i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that the results obtained in this thesis are my own work and not plagiarized from others All references are duly cited Hue City, 15th March 2023 Investigator ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to express my best gratitude to my supervisor –Phan Quynh Nhu for her great assistance and invaluable suggestions Without her help, this thesis could not be successfully done Secondly, I would like to send my sincere gratitude to all of the research participants –50 senior ELT-majored students at Hue University of Foreign Language and International Studies, Hue University, who spent their time participating in my research Their contributions are valuable and constructive to this study Thirdly, I am deeply grateful to my family members who have always been right beside me to support me throughout the conducting time of my research Fourthly, I would also like to extend my appreciation to my friends for helping me with my data processing and encouraging me whenever I call for help Fifthly, I am so thankful to the Faculty of English at University of Foreign Languages, Hue University for giving me a great opportunity to carry out this graduation thesis which contributes significantly to my academic life Finally, my thanks go to all the people who have supported me to complete the research work directly or indirectly iii ENGLISH SUMMARY Project title: Senior ELT-majored students’ perception of teacher personas and their development through teaching practice Code: Investigator: Nguyen Quy Nhi Telephone: 0906452001 Email: nguyenquynhi2468@gmail.com Host Institution: University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Hue University Objectives ● General objective: To investigate senior ELT-majored students’ perception of teacher personas and their development through teaching practice ● Specific objectives: To survey on senior ELT-majored students’ perceptions of teacher personas To survey on how senior ELT-majored students' teacher persona are developed through teaching practice Main Contents A questionnaire was constructed to investigate how 50 senior ELT-majored students at University of Foreign Languages and International Study, Hue University perceive their teacher personas and how their teacher personas are developed through teaching practice, specifically completing Methodology 6A courses Then, six students were invited to voluntarily participate in semi-structured interviews with an aim to investigate in depth about their perceptions of teacher personas and how they are developed through teaching practice The data from the questionnaire was clustered and analyzed quantitatively in accordance with the research questions iv After that, the research team conducted data analysis based on the recordings to find the recurring themes and compare them with the quantitative data obtained Key findings Results from the questionnaire and interview suggest that in general, senior ELT-majored students at University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Hue University had clear perceptions of teacher personas and their development through teaching practice In detail, the participants were able to conceptualize the concept of teacher personas and its intersection with teacher identities In addition, teacher personas’ impact on their confidence and self-efficacy as EFL teachers and on their idealistic teaching beliefs are two of the domains that was most positively perceived by the participants On the other hand, it is suggested that in teaching practices, senior ELT-majored students’ teacher personas can be constructed best when executing acts of self-reflection, especially when receiving feedback However, it is worth noticing that in developing teacher personas, senior ELT-majored students seem to value their interaction with such superior figures like lectures more than that with their peers v TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ENGLISH SUMMARY iv TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF TABLES .i LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Objectives 1.3 Research scopes 1.4 Significance .3 1.5 Structure CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .5 2.1 The concept of persona and teacher personas .5 2.1.1 The concept of persona .5 2.1.2 Teacher personas and teacher personas of EFL teachers 2.2 The impacts of teacher personas on EFL learners and EFL teachers 2.2.1 The impacts of teacher personas on EFL learners 2.2.2 The impacts of teacher personas on EFL teachers’ confidence and selfefficacy 10 2.3 Contributing factors to the development of teacher personas 11 2.3.1 Experience as students 11 2.3.2 Experience with teacher-training programs 12 2.3.3 Relationships with their cooperating teacher 13 2.3.4 Experience during the teaching practicum 13 2.3.5 Reflection 15 2.4 Existing gaps in literature and the current study 16 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 18 vi 3.1 Research design 18 3.2 Subjects 18 3.3 Instruments 19 3.3.1 Questionnaire 19 3.3.2 Interview 20 3.4 Procedure 21 3.5 Data analysis 21 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 22 4.1 Senior ELT-majored students’ perceptions of teacher personas 22 4.1.2 Senior ELT-majored students’ perceptions of factors affecting teacher personas 25 4.1.3 Senior ELT-majored students’ perceptions of teacher personas' impacts 33 4.2 Teaching practice and the development of teacher personas 41 4.2.1 Teacher personas developed through theoretical input on ELT Methodology 41 4.2.2 Teacher personas developed through the process of teaching 43 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 57 5.1 Key findings 57 5.2 Implications 58 5.3 Limitations and Further studies 59 REFERENCES APPENDICES vii LIST OF TABLES PAGE Table 1: Senior ELT-majored students’ conceptualization of teacher 22 personas Table 2: Senior ELT-majored students’ perceptions of factors 25 affecting teacher personas Table 3: Perceived effects of theoretical insight of ELT 26 Methodology on teacher personas Table 4: Perceived effects of teaching practice in ELT methodology 28 courses on teacher personas Table 5: Perceived effects of experience as EFL learners on teacher 30 personas Table 6: Effects of social and academic interactions on teacher 32 personas Table 7: Senior ELT-majored students’ perceptions of teacher 33 personas' impacts Table 8: Teacher personas’ impacts on senior ELT-majored 34 students’ capability as EFL teachers Table 9: Teacher personas’ impacts on senior ELT-majored 36 students' expectations in EFL classrooms Table 10: Teacher personas’ impact on senior ELT-majored 38 students' choice of teaching methods Table 11: Teacher personas’ impacts on senior ELT-majored 40 students' interaction with students Table 12: Teacher personas developed during teaching practices 41 Table 13: Teacher personas developed through theoretical input on 42 ELT Methodology i Eslami, Z R & Fatahi, A (2008) Teachers' sense of elf-fficacy, English roficiency, and nstructional trategies: A tudy of onnative EFL eachers in Iran TESLEJ, 11(4), 1-19 Farrell, T S C (2016) From trainee to teacher: Reflective practice for novice teachers Sheffield, UK: 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personas and their development through teaching practice This questionnaire aims to investigate senior ELT-majored students' perceptions of teacher personas and their construction through teaching practice, specifically after completing Methodology 6A "Teacher personas" is how teachers act and perform in a classroom (Armatthat & Jaturapitakkul, 2020) PART A: PERSONAL INFORMATION Gender: A Male B Female Year of study: PART B: MAIN PART SECTION 1: Senior ELT-majored students’ perceptions of teacher personas This part aims to investigate senior ELT-majored students’ perceptions of teacher personas, which includes their conceptualization and their perception towards teacher personas' impactss and factors that affect them Subsections: For each of the following statements, rate your agreement by picking your choice conventionally: - Strongly disagree - Disagree - Neutral - Agree - Strongly agree 1.1 I believe that teacher personas N0 Statement Level of agreement are an integral part of the teaching process are closely related to how a teacher identifies 5 5 himself/herself as a teacher are reflected in the way teachers interact with their students are reflected in the way teachers interact with their colleagues changed when teachers adapt their teaching to different scenarios in the classroom environment changed when teachers adapt their behavior to different social interactions in the pedagogical environments 1.2 Theoretical insight of ELT Methodology has helped senior ELT-majored students N0 Statement Level of agreement shape the foundation of their teacher personas affirm their role as EFL teachers adopt and craft effective teaching strategies regulate their actions when teaching 5 form their own unique thoughts and perspectives of their teaching environment Teaching practice in ELT Methodology courses helps shape senior ELTmajored students' teacher personas as they N0 Statement Level of agreement deal with unexpected classroom problems teach students of individual differences (levels, 5 hobbies, attitudes, ) teach in non-idealistic teaching conditions (materials, facilities and students’ level) observe their peers' teachings 5 reflect on incidents in their teaching observe their students' learning behavior be critical towards their idealistic beliefs in 5 teaching broaden their perception about EFL teaching after doing a number of observational experiences Former experience as EFL learners helps shape their teacher personas because ELT-majored students may think up basic ideas about N0 Statement Level of agreement how an EFL teacher should behave in an EFL class how a EFL teacher should manage an EFL class how learning activities should be conducted in an EFL class Social interaction helps senior ELT-majored students construct their teacher personas when they N0 Statement Level of agreement interact with their peers in social situations at 5 university interact with their lecturers in social situations at university Academic interaction help senior ELT-majored students construct their teacher personas when they N0 Statement Level of agreement are introduced to different beliefs about language 5 teaching from their peers are introduced to different beliefs about language teaching from their peers 1.3 With teacher personas, pre-service teachers can N0 Statement Level of agreement become confident when embracing their new 5 roles as teachers be willing to adopt new teaching techniques that are beneficial to their teaching be willing to adopt new teaching technologies that are beneficial to their teaching be motivated to prove their teaching competence 5 be motivated to achieve further goals in their career development With teacher personas, senior ELT-majored students may N0 Statement Level of agreement set up more realistic expectations about their 5 teaching performance be ready to deal with unexpected classroom situations be more supportive to unmotivated students be motivated to prove their teaching competence 5 be motivated to achieve further goals in their career development With teacher personas, senior ELT-majored students may N0 Statement Level of agreement set up more realistic expectations about their 5 teaching performance be ready to deal with unexpected classroom situations be more supportive to unmotivated students have reasonable expectations about classroom 5 environment have reasonable expectations about and teaching conditions With teacher personas, senior ELT-majored students can N0 Statement be considerate over their students’ academic needs Level of agreement be willing to adopt the student-centered approach 5 5 5 in teaching be aware of constructing a learner-friendly learning environment select tasks that are appropriate to their students' level select tasks that are interesting and practical for their students be considerate over their students’ learning interests be considerate over their students’ learning capability With teacher personas, senior ELT-majored students can N0 Statement Level of agreement interact with students more closely stimulate open discussions between teachers and 5 students in classrooms encourage students to self-study SECTION 2: Teaching practice and the development of teacher personas This part aims investigate to how senior ELT-majored students’ teacher personas was constructed through teaching practice, which included theoretical input on ELT Methodology, the process of teaching and ac ts of self-reflections Subsections: For each of the following statements, rate your agreement by picking your choice conventionally: - Strongly disagree - Disagree - Neutral - Agree - Strongly agree 2.1 Upon doing teaching practice, my teacher personas were developed as I recalled theoretical input from previous ELT Methodology courses about N0 Statement Level of agreement principles of different teaching approaches classroom management skills methods and techniques of teaching language focuses and language skills qualities of an EFL teacher 5 a teacher’s roles in an EFL classroom language assessment and evaluation using EFL materials technology integration in EFL teaching planning EFL lessons 2.2 N0 Statement Level of agreement After doing teaching practice, I believed that my 5 teaching should be more learner-centered While adopting students-centered teaching approaches, I also self-regulated my own teacher personas to become more appropriate to the classroom’s reality and condition After my teaching practice, I believe that I need to select activities that N0 Statement Level of agreement are interesting and practical to my students' academic needs are appropriate to my students' language level suitable for my teaching conditions such as 5 materials, facilities and classroom sizes reflect my perceptions of good EFL learning activities After my teaching practice, I believe that I should N0 Statement Level of agreement are interesting and practical to my students' academic needs are appropriate to my students' language level suitable for my teaching conditions such as 5 materials, facilities and classroom sizes reflect my perceptions of good EFL learning activities After my teaching practice, I believe that I should N0 Statement Level of agreement interact more closely with my students make the learning environment more supportive encourage my students to be more actively engaged in EFL lessons be more tolerant of my students' mistakes 5 be more ready to deal with unexpected situations in my EFL classrooms After my teaching practice, I believe that I should N0 Statement Level of agreement be fully aware of the curriculum and syllabus 5 when planning my teaching decide on the topics that are interesting to my students select materials that are appropriate to my teaching conditions 2.3 N0 Statement Level of agreement I realized flaws in my teaching when observing 5 my peers' teaching When giving feedback on my peers’ teaching, I identified myself as an EFL teacher While writing feedback on my peers' teaching, I made reflections towards my own teaching My idealistic teacher persona was reshaped to be more realistic after receiving my peers’ feedback on N0 Statement Level of agreement my teaching approaches my choice of activities my classroom management skills my interaction with students 5 my use of learning and teaching materials my teaching performance My idealistic teacher persona was reshaped to be more realistic after receiving my lecturer’s feedback on N0 Statement Level of agreement my teaching approaches my teaching plans my classroom management skills my interaction with students 5 my use of learning and teaching materials my teaching performance After teaching practice sessions N0 Statement Level of agreement I thought about what I could have done better I redefined my image of a good EFL teacher I redefined my expectation of a good EFL lesson IV OPEN-ENDED QUESTION How would you define yourself as an EFL teacher? What would you describe as a successful EFL lesson? You have reached the end of the questionnaire Thank you for your time We really appreciate your ideas and opinions Appendix 2: Interview Questions After teaching practice in Methodology 6A, are you confident that you can define your teacher personas? If yes, can you be more specific? In what way has your experience in teaching practice in Methodology 6A helped to construct your teacher personas? In your opinion, which is the most important factor that contributed to the construction of your teacher persona and why: Self-reflection, theoretical input on ELT Methodology, process of teaching Do you notice any changes in your teacher personas since you did teaching practice in Methodology 6A course? If yes, what is the most noticeable change? Do you think your teacher personas are changing when you continue teaching your students in realistic contexts?