Điều tra việc sử dụng internet trong tìm kiếm tài liệu dạy học môn tiếng anh tại trường cấp iii nghèn

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES TRAN THI PHONG LAN THE EFFECTS OF USING THE INTERNET TO SEARCH ENGLISH TEACHING MATERIALS AT NGHEN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL MA THESIS IN EDUCATION HUE, 2010 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES TRAN THI PHONG LAN THE EFFECTS OF USING THE INTERNET TO SEARCH ENGLISH TEACHING MATERIALS AT NGHEN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL FIELD OF STUDY: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.10 MA THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: TRAN VAN PHUOC Assoc Prof Dr Ph HUE, 2010 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been published elsewhere Author Tran Thi Phong Lan ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the members of my dissertation committee First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Asso Pro, Ph.D Tran, for his enthusiastic assistance, expert advice, detailed critical comments, and unflagging encouragement, without which the study would not have been completed I am grateful for my close counter arguer, M.A Do for her reading my draft and giving instructive feedback I am really indebted to all the teachers at English Department of Hue Foreign Languages College whose lectures provide me with useful knowledge and self- confidence to carry out this study I would like to express my gratitude to the participants who gave me their time to complete the surveys and share their view in the interviews I am grateful for Mrs Thanh, the head of English section at Nghen upper secondary school, for her kind contribution to the completion of this work Of course, I would like to express my appreciation to my beloved family who stood beside me, tolerated me and provides endless love, encouragement, support, kindness and patience during the study CONTENTS Sub cover page Statement of Authorship Acknowledgement Contents List of Figures List of Tables Abstract CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION - 1.1 Rationale - 1.2 Aims and objectives - 1.3 Scope of the study - 1.4 Structure of the study - CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 10 2.1 Literature review - 10 2.1.1 Previous studies of searching and using the Internet-based materials in the world - 10 2.1.2 Previous studies of searching and using ELT materials on the Internet in Vietnam - 13 2.2 Theoretical framework - 15 2.2.1 What is the Internet? - 15 2.2.2 Technology in English language teaching - 16 2.2.3 The role of Internet in enhancing English language teaching - 18 2.2.4 Principles of ELT materials - 19 2.2.4.1 The role of materials in English learning and teaching process - 19 2.2.4.2 Format and types of ELT materials on the Internet - 20 2.2.4.3 Benefits of ELT materials on the Internet - 23 - 2.2.4.4 How to find ELT materials on the Internet - 23 2.2.4.5 Principles of searching and selecting ELT materials on the Internet - 27 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY - 29 3.1 Purposes of research - 29 3.2 Population - 29 3.3 Instrumentation - 30 3.3.1 Questionnaire instrument - 30 3.3.2 In-depth interviews - 31 3.4 Data collection - 31 3.5 Data analysis - 32 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 34 4.1 Teachers’ perceptions of the Internet 34 4.1.1 Teachers’ general perception of the Internet notion .35 4.1.2 Teachers’ habits of using the Internet 36 4.1.3 Teachers’ perception of using the Internet as a tool to search ELT materials 41 4.2 Effects of searching the Internet-based materials on teaching English at Nghen upper secondary school 50 4.2.1 Effects of using the Internet-based materials on learning environment .50 4.2.2 Effects of searching the Internet-based materials on the teachers’ professional development 52 4.2.3 Effects of using the Internet-based materials on teaching English skills .54 4.3 Suggestions 56 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS .62 5.1 Summary of the main findings .62 5.2 Implications .63 5.2.1 For teachers 63 5.2.2 For administrators 64 5.3 Limitations .64 5.4 Further study 65 LIST OF FIGURES Figure : Teachers’ general perception of the Internet notion Figure : Frequency of teachers’ using the Internet LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 : Teachers’ ownership of home Internet connected computer Table 4.2 : Location to access the Internet Table 4.3 : Teachers’ purposes of using the Internet Table 4.4 : ELT materials types the teachers often search on the Internet Table 4.5 : Frequency of using the Internet’ applications to search materials Table 4.6 : Reasons for using the Internet to search Internet Table 4.7 : The necessary conditions for searching materials effectively Table 4.8 : Factors limit searching ELT materials on the Internet Table 4.9 : Effects of using the Internet-based materials on learning environment Table 4.10 : Effects of searching the Internet-based materials on the teacher’ professional development Table 4.11 : Effects of using the Internet-based materials on teaching English skills Table 4.12 : Suggestions to make searching ELT materials more effective -3- ABSTRACT Although the rapid increase of Internet availability has generated a special attention to Internet- assisted language teaching among English as a foreign language teachers, little research is conducted in Vietnamese teaching situations to understand the process of teachers’ approach to this miraculous tool The researcher’s effort in this study is to reveal the specific reality of exploiting the Internet to search English teaching materials of a group of teachers of English at Nghen upper secondary school A total of ten teachers participating in a survey and interviews responded to the questions of what their perceptions of the Internet as a tool for searching materials are, to what extent the Internet-based materials affects their teaching environment, professional development and teaching skills and what their opinions of the suggestions to enhance the efficiency of searching materials on the Internet are The findings of the study suggest that while all of the teachers have a positive perception of the Internet as a searching tool and they appreciate to its effects on improving their teaching, they relatively limit levels of access to and expertise with the Internet Two main factors hindering the teachers’ searching materials on the Internet are teachers’ lack of time and teachers’ lack of Internet knowledge Therefore, in- service teacher training courses for the Internet are strongly recommended to further develop and implement the Internet- assisted Language Teaching in future -4- CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale English teaching, like other professions, has constantly changed to adapt to the movement of the society For many years, English education in Vietnam as it is in other countries has been using traditional and grammar- oriented approach with limited information resources (e.g the teacher, chalkboard, and textbook) In many situations, neither teachers nor students have had anything at all in terms of educational technology or other teaching aids Other schools only had a blackboard, even were not in very good condition As a result, students hardly communicate in the target language However, in recent years, the resources that are available in English classrooms are truly amazing We easily recognize the increasing appearance of teaching tools such as cassette players, projectors, computers, or videos equipped for the schools at all levels They offer an amazing variety for teaching and discovery These technological innovations have gone with the growth of English and are changing the way we teach One of the most dramatic and far-reaching technological developments in human history which has a great effect on English teaching is the Internet A great number of applications of the Internet have been utilized by teachers and learners of English such as multimedia, email, electronic journals, databases, World Wide Web, chat, audio and video conferencing etc The role of the Internet in English language education in the 21st century has been also referred in a lot of articles and publications (Signal, 1997; Dundeney & Hockly, 2007; Warschauer & Sheltzer, 2000; Sharma & Barrett, 2007) Most of the researchers and teachers of English have no doubt about the Internet’s advantages to their teaching process They are fully aware of its necessity in their professional development and their students’ improvement of communicative competence In many parts of the world, the Internet is no longer mentioned as a new development but as an indispensable tool -5- b Giáo án có sẵn      c Tài liệu bổ trợ học      d Tài liệu cho học sinh làm      Bạn có thường sử dụng ứng dụng sau Internet để tìm kiếm tài liệu dạy tiếng Anh không? KBG HK TT TX RTX a Thư điện tử (email)      b.World Wide Web (WWW)      c Diễn đàn (Forums)      d Blogs      e Instant Message ( Messager)      Những lí bạn sử dụng Internet để tìm tài liệu gì? a Internet giúp cho việc Rất không Không Trung Đồng Rất đồng ý đồng ý lập ý đồng ý                          tìm kiếm tài liệu trở nên dễ dàng hiệu b Sử dụng Internet tiết kiệm thời gian công sức c Sử dụng Internet làm tăng vị xã hội d Sử dụng Internet tìm tài liệu rẻ phương thức tìm kiếm khác e Tài liệu Internet phong phú đa dạng xi f Lí khác: Điều kiện mà bạn nghĩ cần thiết để tìm kiếm tài liệu Internet cách hiệu gi? a Biết địa web để truy cập Rất không Không Trung Đồng Rất đồng ý đồng ý lập ý đồng ý                thơng tin b Mục đích tìm kiếm thơng tin rõ rang c Kĩ lựa chọn đánh giá thông tin hiệu d Điều kiện khác: 10 Những nhân tố sau thường giới hạn bạn việc sử dụng Internet để tìm kiếm tài liệu tiếng Anh? KBG HK TT TX RTX a Thiếu thời gian      b Thiếu kiến thức Internet      c Giá dịch vụ Internet      d Kết nối Internet chậm      e Nhân tố khác: xii II.TÁC DỤNG CỦA VIỆC SỬ DỤNG INTERNET TẠI TRƯỜNG Chỉ dẫn: Xin vui lòng chọn câu trả lời cách đánh dấu () vào ô mức độ đồng ý không đồng ý bạn câu sau Dùng tài liệu Internet Rất không Không Trung Đồng Rất đồng ý đồng ý lập ý đồng ý                                         phát triển tính sáng tạo học sinh Dùng tài liệu Internet khiến môn học trở nên hứng thú Tài liệu Internet cải thiện việc phát triển nghiệp vụ Dùng tài liệu Internet cải thiện việc dạy kĩ nghe Dùng tài liệu Internet cải thiện việc dạy kĩ nói Dùng tài liệu Internet cải thiện việc dạy đọc Dùng tài liệu Internet cải thiện việc dạy kĩ viết Dùng tài liệu Internet cải thiện việc dạy kĩ ngữ pháp xiii Dùng tài liệu Internet           Rất không Không Trung Đồng Rất đồng ý đồng ý lập ý đồng ý                          cải thiện việc dạy từ vựng 10 Dùng tài liệu Internet cải thiện việc dạy phát âm III ĐỀ XUẤT Ý KIẾN Phịng máy tính trường nên kết nối Internet Giáo viên nên quyền chỉnh sửa chương trình dạy cho phù hợp với thực tế dạy học họ Giáo viên nên cung cấp địa trang Web chứa tài liệu dạy tiếng Anh Giáo viên đào tạo thêm kĩ sử dụng máy tính Internet thơng qua khóa đào tạo “Dạy tiếng Anh có hỗ trợ Internet” Nhà trường nên hỗ trợ tài cho giáo viên xiv Tổ Ngoại ngữ trường           nên thiết kế trang web riêng để giáo viên tổ đưa tài liệu dạy học tiếng Anh lên đồng thời trao đổi tài liệu dạy học cho Thật cần thiết để biết tác dụng việc dùng tài liệu dạy học từ Internet việc cải thiện chất lượng học tiếng Anh học sinh Phương thức nên sử dụng để đánh giá tác dụng việc sử dụng tài liệu từ Internet việc cải thiện chất lượng học tiếng Anh học sinh a Phỏng vấn học sinh giáo      b Quan sát lớp học      c Đánh giá thông qua      viên kiểm tra học sinh Đề xuất khác: Xin chân thành cảm ơn cộng tác q Thầy Cơ! xv APPENDIX 2A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (English version) Do you have your computer connect to the Internet at your home? Do you often access the Internet at your school? Why? How often you use the Internet? What are your purposes of using the Internet? What kinds of ELT materials you search on the Internet? (Eg materials for lesson plans, already existing lesson plan, supplementary classroom materials, or materials for outside classroom assignments, ect ) What are your reasons of searching ELT materials on the Internet? What factors hinders you from searching materials on the Internet? What effects of the Internet-based materials have on learning environment, your professional development as well as your teaching skills? What are your suggestions to improve the efficiency of using the Internet to search ELT materials? 10 In your opinion, is it necessary to understand to what extent the effects of the Internet-based ELT materials have on your students’ learning quality? And in what ways? xvi APPENDIX 2B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (Vietnamese version) Bạn có kết nối Internet nhà khơng? Bạn có thường xuyên truy cập Internet trường bạn khơng? Vì sao? Mức độ thường xun truy cập Internet bạn nào? Mục đích bạn sử sụng Internet gì? Bạn thường sử dụng Internet để tìm kiếm loại tài liệu dạy học nào? Những lí khiến bạn sử dụng Internet để tìm kiếm tài liệu dạy học gì? Bạn gặp khó khăn sử dụng Internet để tìm kiếm tài liệu dạy tiếng Anh? Theo bạn, tài liệu dạy học Internet có tác dụng đến môi trường học, việc phát triển nghiệp vụ kĩ dạy học bạn? Những đề xuất bạn việc nâng cao hiệu việc sử dụng Internet để tìm kiếm tài liệu dạy tiếng Anh gì? 10 Theo bạn có cần thiết để điều tra tác dụng việc sử dụng tài liệu dạy học Internet việc cải thiện chất lượng học học sinh không cách nào? xvii APPENDIX 3: LIST OF USEFUL WEBSITE ADDRESSES I DOMESTIC WEBSITES http://teachingenglish.edu.vn It was designed by Vietnamese Misnistry of Education and Training and Bristish Council, including materials for teachers at Vietnamese upper secondary schools All of the materials are closely attached to official English teaching programme regulated by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training http://giaovien.net This website is a center for teachers including articles about education, skill, using ICT in teaching and teaching resources The materials are for teaching many subjects including English at all levels http://violet.vn This website is an electronic library with various multi-grade materials collected or created by the teachers in the whole country It consists of educational documents, e-lectures, teaching supporting software, tests, or exams and reference materials However, you need an account if you want to access and download materials from the web The procedures to create an account are quite easy with an e-mail address http://thuathienhue.edu.vn/khaothi/DETHI/nganhangde.html This web was built by Thua Thien Hue Department of Education and Training It consists of the materials serving for the final and entrance exams as well as for other objectives They are collected from different sources Hence, it would be better if teachers checked them before using http://www.englishteststore.net Test English Online with thousands of free quizzes You can also download free English tests with various levels A, B, C, TOEFL, TOEIC, ELTS, GRE, GMAT, SAT, English tests for grade to grade 12 They are totally free xviii http://www.luyentienganh.com The tests on this website are in multiple-choice formats Both teachers and students can select tests at different levels and grades http://www.ebook4u.vn/home.htm This web is an e-book store It consists of different kinds of books in many fields and English books are also various You should have an account to easily download them Some of them are free and the others have to be paid through sending messages from your mobile phone But the cost is not very expensive, only some thousands Vietnam Dong for a book with hundreds of pages http://tailieu.vn/ngoai-ngu The web also requires an account for downloading materials but not worry! Only some simple steps with an e-mail address, you can have it in a minute http://www.download.com.vn/ebook/foreign+languages There are a lot of free reference materials on this web But they are not directly relevant to the official English teaching programme at high schools II FOREIGN WEBSITES http://iteslj.org This website includes articles, research papers, lessons plans, classroom handouts, teaching ideas which may be useful for ESL/ EFL teachers of English They can take advantages of these materials to both promote their professional development and teaching skills http://EFLnet.com It includes EFL and ESL resources which cover grammar, phrasal verbs, vocabulary, listening and reading But listening and reading exercises would be more useful for learners at advanced level xix http://www.eslcafe.com This website, maintained by Dave Sperling, is the Internet’s meeting place for ESL and EFL teachers and students from around the world It is very interesting and useful for both teachers and students Teachers will be pleased with the item, “stuff for teacher”, where they can get a lot of ideas on how to keep your students in order, to become a better teacher, to have fun with students or to improve students’ English skills and knowledge Teachers can freely get all the materials http://www.englishclub.com It is one of the world’s premier free website for learners and teachers of English Teachers can benefit from the section “Teach English” which consists of lesson plans, teaching tips, articles, magazines, and forums They also take exercises of grammar, listening, speaking, writing and reading for their students in the part “Learn English” Besides, “English Reference”, “ESL Resources”, “ESL world” and “English clubs” are extremely helpful http://www.eslbase.com Eslbase provides English language teachers with information, advice and resources On eslbase, you'll find help if you're just starting out, a directory of teacher training courses, job adverts, teaching resources, discussion forums and much more Teaching resources on eslbase are very diversifying, from downloadable worksheets, activities, ideas and classroom techniques, theory, methodology and issues to the materials for teaching grammar and receptive and productive skills http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish A teacher of English can not overlook this website because of its interesting and useful content On this web, “Listen and watch” will provide you with the materials for teaching English language listening skills, no matter what your students’ ages, interests or language level These materials are accompanied by language practice activities and can be listened or watched on a computer In “Grammar and words”, teachers can help their students to learn and practice xx grammar and vocabulary through explanations, activities and games In “Fun and games”, games of all types and jokes help to make your class more exciting! http://www.usingenglish.com/handouts Free English grammar and vocabulary worksheets and printable handouts for English language teachers and instructors to use in the classroom or other teaching environment Learners of English can test themselves with a selection of 258 free English language quizzes covering grammar, usage and vocabulary for beginner, intermediate and advanced level English students Each quiz is also available as a printable teacher handout The web also has a range of phrasal verb quizzes in the reference area http://www.storynory.com Here, you will find a mixture of new stories, fairy tales, and specially adapted myths and histories, which are very interesting You can design listening tasks for your students based on these stories http://spotlightradio.net Spotlight is an English radio program for native and non-native English speakers It uses a special English method of broadcasting It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live Each listening lesson only lasts 15 minutes with about 1500 words Teachers can download them for their classroom uses 10 http://englishlistening.com This web consists of easy passages in New Listener menus, more difficult passages in Regular Listener menus and quite difficult passages in Advanced Listener menus which are useful for teaching listening You can depend on your students’ proficiency to choose appropriate passages Moreover, you can select a domain such as International English, American English, Academic English or Narrative, and a topic xxi 11 http://www.lingofeeds.com Lingofeeds provides the materials relevant to grammar by employing key phrases taken from specific industries Especially, every example is accompanied by a recording to help students with pronunciation skills Lingofeeds also has many dialogues focusing on a wide variety of business and commerce related subjects such as job interviewing, financial statistics and customer interactions available on the site Each dialogue has a listening example and the text of the dialogue which you can view if you choose 12 http://www.voanews.com/english/podcasts/ A podcast is an audio file that you download from the Internet After you download it, you can listen to it on your computer or on an MP3/portable music player (for example, an iPod or iRiver) After accessing into this web, you can subscribe to free VOA podcasts If you have a Yahoo account you can subscribe using MyYahoo Click on the MyYahoo button under the program description and then follow the directions in Yahoo to subscribe Teachers can design listening activities based on these materials 13 http://www.examenglish.com/ This web site is for people studying for an English language exam These pages contain free online practice Tests for the most important international ESL/EFL exams: IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, and the Cambridge ESOL exams such as CAE, FCE, and PET You can also find out information about the different exams 14 http://englishbanana.com English Banana.com is a British publisher of educational materials for teaching and learning English, including the hugely popular Talk a Lot Spoken English Course books All of the materials are freely available to download from this site Get into this web and see how the advantages the Internet can bring to teachers xxii CONTENTS Sub cover page Statement of Authorship Acknowledgement Contents List of Figures List of Tables Abstract CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION - 1.1 Rationale - 1.2 Aims and objectives - 1.3 Scope of the study - 1.4 Structure of the study - CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 10 2.1 Literature review - 10 2.1.1 Previous studies of searching and using the Internet-based materials in the world - 10 2.1.2 Previous studies of searching and using ELT materials on the Internet in Vietnam - 13 2.2 Theoretical framework - 15 2.2.1 What is the Internet? - 15 2.2.2 Technology in English language teaching - 16 2.2.3 The role of Internet in enhancing English language teaching - 18 2.2.4 Principles of ELT materials - 19 2.2.4.1 The role of materials in English learning and teaching process - 19 2.2.4.2 Format and types of ELT materials on the Internet - 20 2.2.4.3 Benefits of ELT materials on the Internet - 23 2.2.4.4 How to find ELT materials on the Internet - 23 -1- 2.2.4.5 Principles of searching and selecting ELT materials on the Internet - 27 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY - 29 3.1 Purposes of research - 29 3.2 Population - 29 3.3 Instrumentation - 30 3.3.1 Questionnaire instrument - 30 3.3.2 In-depth interviews - 31 3.4 Data collection - 31 3.5 Data analysis - 32 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 34 4.1 Teachers’ perceptions of the Internet 34 4.1.1 Teachers’ general perception of the Internet notion .35 4.1.2 Teachers’ habits of using the Internet 36 4.1.3 Teachers’ perception of using the Internet as a tool to search ELT materials 41 4.2 Effects of searching the Internet-based materials on teaching English at Nghen upper secondary school 50 4.2.1 Effects of using the Internet-based materials on learning environment .50 4.2.2 Effects of searching the Internet-based materials on the teachers’ professional development 52 4.2.3 Effects of using the Internet-based materials on teaching English skills .54 4.3 Suggestions 56 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS .62 5.1 Summary of the main findings .62 5.2 Implications .63 5.2.1 For teachers 63 5.2.2 For administrators 64 -2- 5.3 Limitations .64 5.4 Further study 65 REFERECES 66 -3-