An investigation into high school teachers perceptions of using 10th grade english textbook to develop pragmatic competence for efl students challenges or opportunities

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - - NGUYEN THI HIEN AN INVESTIGATION INTO HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF USING 10TH GRADE ENGLISH TEXTBOOK TO DEVELOP PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE FOR EFL STUDENTS: CHALLENGES OR OPPORTUNITIES? MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.01.11 SUPERVISOR: Assoc Prof Dr TRUONG VIEN HUE, 2014 i BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ - - NGUYỄN THỊ HIỀN NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH LỚP 10 ĐỂ PHÁT TRIỂN NĂNG LỰC NGỮ DỤNG CHO HỌC SINH: THÁCH THỨC HAY CƠ HỘI? LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.14.01.11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS.TS TRƯƠNG VIÊN HUE, 2014 ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true and have not been published elsewhere Author Nguyễn Thị Hiền iii ABSTRACT Pragmatic competence is essential for effective communication and constitutes one of the core components of one‘s ‗communicative competence‘ (Bachman, 1990) Therefore, it is necessary to develop pragmatic competence for students In EFL context, textbook and teacher‘s use of textbook take the main responsibility for the developments of students‘ pragmatic competences For this reason, investigating teachers‘ perceptions of using textbook to develop pragmatic competence for students is really important in language teaching and learning This article reports on the finding of a study which aims to investigate teachers‘ perception of using textbook to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students Specifically, the article examines how speech acts are linguistically presented in the 10th grade English textbook and how teachers percept of using these speech acts to develop pragmatic competence for their EFL students The results show that the pragmatic contents presented in 10th grade textbook are inadequate in quantity and poor in quality Textbook is neither the reliable linguistic resources nor reliable sources of pragmatic input for teachers Teachers admitted using only textbook is not enough to develop pragmatic for EFL students effectively; there is a need of the extra activities and supplementary materials They also suggested some activities in classroom to surmount textbook‘s shortcomings Using textbook to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students has some challenges as well as opportunities However, they are challenges or opportunities depending on the attitude of each teacher In the last past of the article, some implications are recommended for helping the development of students‘ intercultural communicative competences iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would have been impossible without the support, help and suggestions of my supervisors, friends, colleagues and family I would like to sincerely thank the following people who helped me to achieve this milestone No one has been more influential than Assoc Prof Truong Vien during the whole thesis writing process I sincerely thank my advisor for his insightful comments, professional guidance and detailed advice throughout the development of this thesis I remain greatly indebted to him again for his fruitful comments and suggestions at the very earliest stage of the thesis I am very much indebted to the kindness, patience and warm-welcome he has shown me in the course of time Without his unfailing help and support, it would have been impossible for me to complete my thesis All my thanks to him are beyond words I would also like to express my deep gratitude to my collages: Mrs Hang, Mr Cuu for their generosity in time, advice, support and encouragement I appreciate their assistance, understanding and strength I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to my husband, who took care of my life and gave me great support and encouragement during my whole M.A journey Last but not least, I also gratefully acknowledge all the students and teachers who completed the questionnaires My thanks especially go to those teachers who allowed me to interview them v TABLE OF CONTENT SUB COVER PAGES i-ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iii ABSTRACT iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi ABBREVIATIONS x LIST OF TABLES xi LIST OF FIGURES xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Rationale for the study 1.3 The aims and research questions of the study 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Organization of the study .6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .7 2.1.1 Communicative competence 2.1.2 Models of Communicative Competence 2.1.3 Pragmatic competence 15 2.1.4 The importance of teaching pragmatics 17 2.1.5 Teachability of pragmatics in EFL setting .19 2.1.6 Communicative functions (Speech Acts) 20 2.1.7 Describing speech acts 21 2.1.7.1 Speech acts of apologies 21 2.1.7.2 Speech acts of compliments .22 2.1.7.3 Speech acts of complaints 23 vi 2.1.7.4 Speech acts of refusals 23 2.1.7.5 Speech acts of requests 24 2.1.7.6 Speech acts of gratitude/thanks 25 2.1.8 Role of teachers‘ uses of textbooks in developing pragmatic competence for EFL students 26 2.1.9 Significance of teachers‘ perceptions 28 2.2 Related studies on pragmatic competence instruction in textbooks 28 2.3 Summary…………………………………………………………………….38 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 33 3.1 Introduction 33 3.2 Design of the study 33 3.3 Participants 36 3.4 Data collection 38 3.5 Data analysis 39 3.6 Questionnaire .40 3.7 Semi-structured focus group interviews 41 3.8 Textbook analysis .43 3.9 Validity and reliability .45 3.10 Ethical issues 46 3.11 Summary 46 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 47 4.1 Introduction 47 4.2 Pragmatic Content Analysis of the 10th grade EnglishTextbook 48 4.2.1 The quantity of pragmatic contents presented in 10th grade English textbook 48 4.2.2 The quality of pragmatic contents presented in 10th grade English textbook 53 4.3 Teachers‘ perceptions of the necessity of developing pragmatic competence for EFL students 58 4.4 Teachers‘ views of using the pragmatic contents presented in 10th grade English textbook to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students .62 vii 4.4.1 Teachers‘ views of the quantity of the pragmatic contents presented in 10th grade English textbook 62 4.4.1.1 Teachers‘ point of views on the availability of the pragmatic contents presented in 10th grade English textbook 63 4.4.1.2 Teachers‘ point of views on the amount of the pragmatic contents presented in 10th grade English textbook 65 4.4.1.3 Teachers‘ point of views on the variety of the pragmatic contents presented in 10th grade English textbook 65 4.4.2 Teachers‘ views about the quality of the pragmatic contents presented in 10th grade English textbook 67 4.4.2.1 Teachers‘ point of views on the semantic features of the pragmatic contents presented in 10th grade English textbook 67 4.4.2.2 Teachers‘ point of views on the samples, meta-pragmatic information and the explanation of the pragmatic contents presented in 10th grade English textbook 68 4.4.3 Teachers‘ point of views on the distribution of the pragmatic contents in 10th grade English textbook 71 4.4.4 Teachers‘ views of the quantity and quality of the pragmatic contents presented in 10th grade English textbook 73 4.4.5 General perceptions of teachers on using the pragmatic aspects presented in 10th grade English textbook .74 4.5 The challenges and opportunities of using 10th grade English textbook to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students 76 4.5.1 Challenges of using 10th grade English textbook to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students 76 4.5.2 Teachers‘ views on some extra activities to maximize the impact of textbook on developing pragmatic competence for EFL students_oppotunities for develop pragmatic competence for students 81 4.6 Summary 83 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 85 5.1 Introduction 85 viii 5.2 Findings 85 5.3 Implications 89 5.3.1 For textbook writers 89 5.3.2 For EFL teachers .90 5.3.3 For administrators 92 5.3.3.1 For the Department of Education and Training, the Ministry of Education and Training: 92 5.3.3.2 For the University of Foreign Languages/ the training centers: 92 5.4 Suggestions for further research .93 5.5 Conclusion 93 REFERENCES 94 APPENDICES .137 ix ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching ESL: English as a Second Language L1: The first Language L2: The second Language ML: Metalanguage information MP: Metapragmatic information SLA: Second Language Acquisition x Language focus Reading Speaking 11 Listening Writing Language focus Reading 12 Speaking Listening Writing Language focus Reading Speaking 13 Listening Writing Language focus Reading Speaking 14 Listening Writing Language focus Reading Speaking 16 Listening Writing Language focus 115 APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE Research topic: AN INVESTIGATION INTO HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF USING 10TH GRADE ENGLISH TEXTBOOK TO DEVELOP PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE FOR EFL STUDENTS: CHALLENGES OR OPPORTUNITIES? Dear Teachers of English, This study aims at investigating teacher’s perceptions of the pragmatic aspects included in 10th grade English textbook and their view of using these pragmatic aspects in 10th grade English textbook to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students Are they challenges or opportunities for teachers? Pragmatic competence can be roughly defined as the ability to use language forms appropriately in social situations or contexts Pragmatic aspects of English language presented as many kinds in 10th grade textbook, but this research just focuses on speech acts- the ways in which people carry out specific social functions in speaking such as apologizing, complaining, making requests, refusing things/invitations, complimenting, or thanking Speech acts is the main component of pragmatic competence This questionnaire is designed with the purpose of finding out your own view of using 10th grade English textbook to develop pragmatic competence for your EFL students Hence, you are kindly requested to respond to the following questionnaire Many thanks for your cooperation The researcher, Personal information Full name: ……………………………………………………………………… Current school: ……………………………………………………………………… Gender: Male Level of your education: Female B.A Experience in teaching the English language: 116 M.A a below years b 5-10 years c over 10 years Have you studied a course on pragmatics in your undergraduate teacher education program? a Yes Have b No you taken a Yes any in-service training course on pragmatics? b No And you can put forward a point regarding the time and courses you have received about pragmatics,please. These statements related to the use of 10th grade textbook to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students Please read carefully and tick (√) on the appropriate answers Note: 1: strongly disagree; 2: disagree; 3: undecided; 4: agree; 5: strongly agree No Statements Agreement scales/raters Pragmatic competence is a component of Communicative Competence and therefore should be taught at secondary schools In term of the level of difficulty, the distribution of speech acts in 10th grade English textbook is not suitable The activities for pragmatic practice in 10th grade English textbook are various I can use them to help my students practice performing speech acts From textbook, teachers can find the clear guidance about how to teach pragmatic competence 117 Equipping pragmatics competence for students in classroom help them communicate well in real social contexts Such speech acts such as speech acts of apologies, speech acts of compliments, speech acts of complaints, speech acts of refusals, speech acts of requests, speech acts of gratitude/thanks… are available at 10th grade English textbook I find it easy to indentify speech acts in the 10th grade English current textbook Teachers can use speech acts in 10th grade E textbook as an accurate and adequate resource to develop pragmatic competence for students The adequate explanation of speech acts guides and supports me in building the lesson plans and designing the activities for students in class 10 Developing pragmatic competence helps the learners acquire communicative competence_ the goal of the language teaching process 11 Speech acts presented in 10th grade textbook are reliable linguistic resources for teachers 12 Students can develop their own pragmatic competence by self-studying through the outside classrooms activities such as talking with a foreign friend, taking a speaking course on the internet Teachers not have to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students in classroom 13 I always focus on contexts or situations to help students develop their pragmatic competence 118 14 The current 10th grade English textbook discusses and identifies clearly and adequately pragmatic areas of the students‘ needs 15 Teaching pragmatic competence is not as important as teaching communicative ability 16 It is hard for me to use the small amount of speech acts in 10th grade English textbook to develop pragmatic competence for students 17 I often provide the rules of uses of speech acts, metapragmatic information and guidance on how to present these speech acts more communicatively in my lesson 18 I just teach speech acts when it is obligatory in the curriculum, when it is optional, I ignore it 19 10th grade E textbook is inadequate in presenting authentic S.As samples I find it is hard to base on these examples to develop pragmatic competence for students 20 Insufficient metalanguage and metapragmatic information in 10th grade English textbook prevent learners from understanding the key elements of the target language and the major differences between the target language and the learner‘s L1 21 I often supplement clearly and adequately pragmatic areas that are suitable for the students‘ needs and levels 22 I often add some parts for pragmatic instruction in my lesson 23 I always includes pragmatic lesson in my daily lesson plan 119 I not include pragmatics lesson in my daily lesson plan because: 24 time allotment 25 lack of knowledge 26 lack of training 27 students‘ language level 28 teachers‘ language level 29 type of assessment 30 inadequate materials Other reasons: _ 31 In classroom, I always explain and teach pragmatic aspect presented in 10th grade English textbook to help students acquire pragmatic knowledge 32 The speech acts in textbook sometimes stress one semantic formula over others or provide misleading information I cannot rely on those speech acts to build my lesson plans or create activities to engage students 33 10th grade English textbook cannot be counted as reliable resources of pragmatic input 34 I not think that only 10th grade English textbook is enough to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students 35 Combining with using textbook, I think it is necessary for teachers to use some supplementary materials and to prepare some extra activities in classroom to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students effectively 36 Speech acts distribute randomly and unsystematically in 10th grade textbook, it is hard for teachers to concentrate on developing pragmatic competence for students 120 37 I usually include pragmatic aspect of language in my test in class 38 From 10th grade English textbook, teachers find many fields that can be used to test pragmatic aspect of language 39 10th grade English textbook presents unrealistic speech acts 40 In my own circumstances, I myself can use 10th grade English textbook to develop pragmatic competence for my students effectively Do you have any suggestions to your English Department, your school, the Department of education and training, the University of Foreign Languages/ the training centers, the Ministry of Education and Training about using 10th grade English textbook to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students? For the English Department and school: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… For the Department of Education and Training, the Ministry of Education and Training: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …… For the University of Foreign Languages/ the training centers: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you very much for your cooperation 121 APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Anh/ chị có nghĩ phát triển lực ngữ dụng cho học sinh trường cấp cần thiết không? Tại sao? Hành động ngôn từ thành phần quan trọng để phát triển lực ngữ dụng cho học sinh Anh chị nghĩ số lượng kiến thức hành động ngơn từ trình bày sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh lớp 10 nay? Chúng có đầy đầy đủ, đa dạng phân bố hợp lí khơng? Anh chị nghĩ chất lượng kiến thức hành động ngơn từ trình bày sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh lớp 10 nay? Nhận định chung anh chị kiến thức hành động ngôn từ đưa sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh lớp 10 nay? Anh chị có ln ln đưa kiến thức hành động ngôn từ xuất sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh lớp 10 vào giáo án hàng ngày khơng? Trong thực tế anh chị có dạy kiến thức khơng? Anh chị nêu lên vài khó khăn anh chị sử dụng sách giáo khoa để phát triển lực ngữ dụng cho học sinh khơng? Anh chị làm để khắc phục khó khăn đó? Anh chị nêu lên vài thuận lợi anh chị sử dụng sách giáo khoa để phát triển lực ngữ dụng cho học sinh khơng? Anh chị làm để phát huy ưu điểm đó? 122 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH Do you think that it is necessary to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students at high school? Why What you think about the quantity of speech acts presented in 10th grade English textbook regarding the amount, the distribution, the variety? What you think about the quality of speech acts presented in 10th grade English textbook? Tell me your general viewpoints of the quality and quantity of speech acts in 10th grade English textbook! Do you always include pragmatic contents in your daily lesson plans? In reality, you always teach pragmatic competence Tell me some challenges when using textbook to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students! Tell me some opportunities when using textbook to develop pragmatic competence for EFL students! 123 APPENDIX 4: RELIABILITY OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE Case Processing Summary N Cases Valid % 45 Excludeda 100,0 ,0 Total 45 a Listwise deletion based on all variables in the procedure 100,0 Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items ,810 40 Item Statistics Std Mean Deviation N P.C should be taught at secondary schools 4,56 ,503 45 The distribution is not suitable 4,38 ,614 45 The activities for P.C practice are various 1,58 ,657 45 Ts can find clear guidance to teach P.C 1,64 ,484 45 Equipping P.C for Ss help them communicate well in real contexts 4,82 ,387 45 S.As are available in 10th grade E textbook 3,96 ,673 45 I find it easy to find S.As in 10th E textbook 4,02 ,657 45 10th grade E textbook constitutes an accurate and adequate source of S.As 1,93 ,580 45 The explanation of S.As is adequate 1,82 ,614 45 Developing P.C help Ss acquire communicative competence 4,40 ,495 45 S.As in 10th grade E textbook are reliable linguistic resources for Ts 1,78 ,599 45 It is necessary to develop P.C for Ss in classroom 4,58 ,621 45 I always focus on contexts or situations to help Ss 3,96 ,706 45 124 develop their P.C The current textbook discusses and identifies clear and 1,64 ,609 45 4,09 ,733 45 4,36 ,645 45 I often provide the rules of uses of S.As and guidance on how to present them 3,62 ,960 45 I just teach S.As when it is obligatory in the curriculum, when it is optional, I ignore 3,62 ,912 45 10th grade E textbook is inadequate in presenting authentic S.As samples 4,60 ,495 45 10th grade English textbook generally provides insufficient meta-pragmatic information 4,69 ,468 45 3,49 1,014 45 I often add some parts for pragmatic instruction in my lesson 2,18 ,777 45 I always includes pragmatic lesson in my daily lesson plan 2,22 ,420 45 I include pragmatics lesson in lesson plan because: time allotment 1,40 ,495 45 my sufficient knowledge 3,78 ,951 45 my full training 1,51 ,589 45 students‘ language level 2,27 ,863 45 teachers‘ language level 4,18 ,490 45 type of assessment 1,82 ,387 45 adequate materials 4,51 ,506 45 I always explain and teach pragmatic aspect presented in 10th grade English textbook 1,80 ,405 45 The S.As in textbook stress one semantic formula over others or provide misleading information 4,18 ,387 45 10th grade E textbook cannot be counted as reliable 4,29 ,549 45 adequate S.As for Ss needs Teaching P.C is important as teaching communicative ability The number of speech acts in 10th grade textbook is too small I often supplement clearly and adequately S.As for the students‘ needs and levels 125 resources of pragmatic input Only textbook is not enough for Ts to develop P.C for 4,47 ,505 45 4,31 ,468 45 4,40 ,495 45 I usually include pragmatic aspect of language in my test in class 1,71 ,589 45 Ts find many fields that can be used to test S.As in textbook 1,71 ,458 45 10th grade English textbook presents unrealistic speech acts 4,31 ,557 45 I myself can use 10th grade E textbook to develop P.C for my Ss effectively 1,73 ,580 45 EFL Ss Supplementary materials and extra activities are necessary to develop P.C for Ss S.As distribute randomly and unsystematically, it is hard for Ts to develop P.C for Ss 126 Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted P.C should be taught at secondary schools 125,76 66,507 ,755 ,794 The distribution is not suitable 125,93 68,836 ,367 ,804 The activities for P.C practice are various 128,73 78,700 -,531 ,832 Ts can find clear guidance to teach P.C 128,67 78,045 -,624 ,828 125,49 68,710 ,638 ,800 S.As are available in 10th grade E textbook 126,36 64,598 ,730 ,790 I find it easy to find S.As in 10th E textbook 126,29 65,301 ,680 ,793 10th grade E textbook constitutes an accurate and adequate source of S.As 128,38 79,468 -,663 ,833 The explanation of S.As is adequate 128,49 79,665 -,648 ,834 125,91 67,765 ,605 ,798 S.As in 10th grade E textbook are reliable linguistic resources for Ts 128,53 79,255 -,625 ,833 It is necessary to develop P.C for Ss in classroom 125,73 66,973 ,550 ,798 I always focus on contexts or situations to help Ss develop their P.C 126,36 63,643 ,782 ,788 The current textbook discusses 128,67 78,273 -,529 ,831 Equipping P.C for Ss help them communicate well in real Corrected Item-Total Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted contexts Developing P.C help Ss acquire communicative competence 127 and identifies clear and adequate S.As for Ss needs Teaching P.C is important as teaching communicative ability 126,22 66,040 ,535 ,797 125,96 65,953 ,628 ,795 126,69 60,901 ,742 ,784 126,69 61,946 ,709 ,787 125,71 66,528 ,764 ,794 125,62 68,831 ,502 ,801 126,82 59,422 ,799 ,780 128,13 62,800 ,775 ,786 128,09 68,401 ,628 ,799 128,91 69,310 ,411 ,803 126,53 64,073 ,524 ,796 my full training 128,80 74,255 -,163 ,820 students‘ language level 128,04 67,816 ,308 ,806 teachers‘ language level 126,13 69,164 ,434 ,803 type of assessment 128,49 74,846 -,306 ,819 adequate materials 125,80 70,800 ,222 ,808 The number of speech acts in 10th grade textbook is too small I often provide the rules of uses of S.As and guidance on how to present them I just teach S.As when it is obligatory in the curriculum, when it is optional, I ignore 10th grade E textbook is inadequate in presenting authentic S.As samples 10th grade English textbook generally provides insufficient meta-pragmatic information I often supplement clearly and adequately S.As for the students‘ needs and levels I often add some parts for pragmatic instruction in my lesson I always includes pragmatic lesson in my daily lesson plan I include pragmatics lesson in lesson plan because: time allotment my sufficient knowledge 128 I always explain and teach pragmatic aspect presented in 128,51 69,210 ,531 ,802 126,13 69,391 ,529 ,802 126,02 67,977 ,516 ,800 125,84 69,680 ,358 ,805 126,00 68,682 ,521 ,801 125,91 68,083 ,565 ,799 I usually include pragmatic aspect of language in my test in class 128,60 77,791 -,500 ,829 Ts find many fields that can be used to test S.As in textbook 128,60 78,382 -,696 ,829 10th grade English textbook presents unrealistic speech acts 126,00 67,045 ,613 ,797 I myself can use 10th grade E textbook to develop P.C for my Ss effectively 128,58 74,204 -,160 ,819 10th grade English textbook The S.As in textbook stress one semantic formula over others or provide misleading information 10th grade E textbook cannot be counted as reliable resources of pragmatic input Only textbook is not enough for Ts to develop P.C for EFL Ss Supplementary materials and extra activities are necessary to develop P.C for Ss S.As distribute randomly and unsystematically, it is hard for Ts to develop P.C for Ss Scale Statistics Mean 130,31 Variance Std Deviation 72,946 N of Items 8,541 129 40