English language teaching majors reflections on doing teaching practicum at some high schools in hue city of education

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI TRA MY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING MAJORS’ REFLECTIONS ON DOING TEACHING PRACTICUM AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS IN HUE CITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages HUE, 2019 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI TRA MY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING MAJORS’ REFLECTIONS ON DOING TEACHING PRACTICUM AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS IN HUE CITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: Assoc Prof Dr LE PHAM HOAI HUONG HUE, 2019 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ NGUYỄN THỊ TRÀ MY CHIÊM NGHIỆM CỦA SINH VIÊN NGÀNH SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH VỀ VIỆC THỰC TẬP Ở MỘT SỐ TRƯỜNG PHỔ THÔNG TRUNG HỌC THÀNH PHỐ HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS TS LÊ PHẠM HOÀI HƯƠNG HUẾ, 2019 Statement of Original Authorship The work contained in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Signed: ……………………………… Date: … /……/……… i Abstract This research aimed to investigate ELT majors‟ reflections on doing teaching practicum at some high schools in Hue city More specifically, it focused on exploring ELT majors‟ perceptions as well as how they carried out their teaching practicum The study also explored the difficulties faced by student teachers when doing teaching practicum The participants were 40 fourth year students from Hue University of Foreign Languages The data were collected by means of the questionnaire, interview and journal The findings reveal that the majority of the students were well aware of the importance and benefits of teaching practicum at high schools Thanks to the practicum, they obtained much experience both pedagogical skills and soft skills Moreover, the results also show that conducting class observations and teaching practicum were two main duties during their teaching practicum at high schools Besides, student teachers were assigned to work as form teachers and had to join in some extracurricular activities Regarding the difficulties, the student teachers reported to face lots of challenges, including class size, students‟ English proficiency, time management, the application of teaching methods, workload for trainee teachers, the timing of practicum, the evaluation of supervisors, problems in developing rapport with students, and strict high school regulations From the findings, some solutions were suggested to help future student teachers to their practicum effectively ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Le Pham Hoai Huong for her enthusiastic guidance and helpful instructions that she has given to me at every stage of the development of this study Especially, I am absolutely grateful for her careful and detailed correction for my writng In addition, I am very grateful to the fourth year students at Hue University of Foreign Languages who enthusiastically spent their time writing journals, filling questionnaires and participating in the interviews I would also like to send my sincere thanks to my beloved friends for sharing ideas and giving useful suggestions during the time I conducted this research Last but not least, my deepest love goes to my family who have supported me to overcome all difficulties and encouraged me to fulfill this thesis iii TABLES OF CONTENTS Page Statement of Original Authorship i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii List of tables vii List of figures viii List of abbreviations ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Research objectives 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Thesis outline CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Theoretical background 2.2.1 Teaching practicum 2.2.1.1 Definition 2.2.1.2 Purposes of teaching practicum 2.2.1.3 The importance of teaching practicum for ELT majors 2.2.1.4 Problems commonly faced by ELT majors in doing teaching practicum 2.2.2 Reflection 10 2.2.2.1 Definition 10 2.2.2.2 Purposes of Reflection 11 2.2.2.3 Forms of reflection 12 2.2.2.3.1 Reflections on teaching observations 12 2.2.2.3.2 Reflections on teaching practicum 13 2.2.3 The student teachers 14 2.2.3.1 Definition 14 2.2.3.2 Requirements for student teachers in teaching practicum 14 2.3 Previous studies 17 iv 2.3.1 In other countries 17 2.3.2 In Vietnam 19 2.3.3 Gaps in the literature 19 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 21 3.1 Introduction 21 3.2 Research approaches 21 3.3 Research participants 22 3.4 Data collection tools 22 3.4.1 Journal 22 3.4.2 Questionnaire 23 3.4.3 Interview 24 3.5 Data collection procedure 25 3.5.1 Pilot study 25 3.5.2 Main study 25 3.7 Chapter summary 26 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 27 4.1 Introduction 27 4.2 How ELT majors carried out teaching practicum at high schools 27 4.2.1 Teaching practicum 28 4.2.2 Conducting class observations 29 4.2.3 Working as a form teacher 30 4.2.4 Extracurricular activities 31 4.3 ELT majors‟ reflections on doing teaching practicum 32 4.3.1 ELT majors‟ reflections on doing teaching practicum at high schools 32 4.3.2 ELT majors‟ reflections on extracurricular activities at high schools 33 4.3.3 ELT majors‟ reflections on students at high schools 35 4.3.5 ELT majors‟ reflections on other peer student teachers at high schools 37 4.3.6 ELT majors‟ reflections on teaching regulations at high schools 39 4.3.7 ELT majors‟ reflections on the benefits of the teaching practicum at high schools 40 4.4 Difficulties faced by ELT majors‟ when doing teaching practicum at some high schools 44 4.4.1 Class size 44 4.4.2 High school students‟ English proficiency 46 4.4.3 Workload for student teachers 47 4.4.4 The application of teaching methods 49 v 4.4.5 Time management 50 4.4.6 The timing of practicum 52 4.4.7 The evaluation of supervisors 53 4.4.9 Strict high school regulations 56 4.4.10 Other difficulties 57 4.5 Solutions 57 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 61 5.1 Introduction 61 5.2 Summary of the key findings 61 5.3 Implications 62 5.3.1 For educational administrators at HUCFL 62 5.3.2 For supervisors 63 5.3.3 For ELT majors 64 5.4 Limitations of the research 64 5.5 Suggestions for further research 65 REFERENCES 66 APPENDICES 73 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Distribution of questionnaire items 24 Table 4.1 ELT majors‟ reflections on doing teaching practicum at high schools 32 Table 4.2 ELT majors‟ reflections on extracurricular activities at high schools 33 Table 4.3 ELT majors‟ reflections on students at high schools 35 Table 4.4 ELT majors‟ reflections on the supervisor‟ role at high schools 36 Table 4.5 ELT majors‟ reflections on other peer teachers at high schools 38 Table 4.6 ELT majors‟ reflections on teaching regulations at high schools 39 Table 4.7 ELT majors‟ attitudes towards benefits of teaching practicum at high schools 40 Table 4.8 Sollutions 58 vii Celen, K , Akcan, S (2017) Evaluation of an ELT practicum programme from the perspectives of supervisors, student teachers and graduates Journal of Teacher Education and Educators, (3), 251-274 Retrieved from http://dergipark.org.tr/jtee/issue/43274/525713 on February 25th, 2019 Cohen, L., Manion, L & Morrison, K (2011) Research Methods in Education (7th ed) London: Routledge Coskun, A (2013) Stress in English language teaching practicum: the views of all stakeholders H U Journal of Education, 28(3), 97110.http://www.efdergi.hacettepe.edu.tr/2013283ABDULLAH%20C O%C5%9EKUN.pdf Accessed on March 10, 2019 Daksa, K., D & Ayana, D & 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What did you learn from the class observations? Please give as many examples as possible Were there any problems with the class observations? What were they? Why were they problems? What lessons did you teach today? 73 What did you learn from your practicum teaching? Please give as many examples as possible What were some problems with your practicum teaching? What were they? Why were they problems? What you think about other activities (beside classroom observations and practicum teaching) at the school that you are doing practicum? Please write about the activities and your reflections on them (Các hoạt động khác dự giảng dạy, ví dụ, cơng tác chủ nhiệm, tổ chức đoàn đội, sinh hoạt tập thể…) Other comments: 74 Hello friends, I‟m Nguyen Thi Tra My I am collecting data for my MA thesis entitled: “English Language Teaching Majors’ reflections on doing teaching practicum at some high schools in Hue city” Please help me to fill these journals Thank you so much for your help If you have questions, please phone me at: 0356914186 Note: Please fill the journals in ENGLISH or VIETNAMESE PRACTICUM JOURNAL Full name: (Optional) School of teaching practicum: Journal questions: What class(es) did you observe today? What did you learn from the class observations? Please give as many examples as possible Were there any problems with the class observations? What were they? Why were they problems? What lessons did you teach today? 75 What did you learn from your practicum teaching? Please give as many examples as possible What were some problems with your practicum teaching? What were they? Why were they problems? What you think about other activities (beside classroom observations and practicum teaching) at the school that you are doing practicum? Please write about the activities and your reflections on them (Các hoạt động khác dự giảng dạy, ví dụ, cơng tác chủ nhiệm, tổ chức đồn đội, sinh hoạt tập thể…) Other comments: 76 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire is designed with the aim of collecting data for the thesis entitled “English Language Teaching majors’ reflections on doing teaching practicum at some high schools in Hue city” The data collected will be only used for the purpose of the research Your answer will be kept confidential Thanks in advance for your help The following statements are about ELT majors‟ reflection on doing teaching practicum as well as advantages, difficulties, suggestions that student teachers got from their teaching at some high schools in Hue city Please put a tick () in one box you choose No Statement Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly disagree ELT majors’ reflection on doing teaching practicum at high schools I enjoyed my practicum because I could teach in real classes I enjoyed joining extracurricular activities at the high school because they were fun I enjoyed being with high school students because they were cooperative The supervisor gave practical feedback so I could improve myself Other peer teachers observed my teaching and gave me useful comments Other peer teachers encouraged me when I felt stressful I had to follow strict teaching 77 agree regulations at the high school The benefits of doing teaching practicum at high schools Teaching practicum helped me know how to prepare lesson plans Teaching practicum helped me know how to give feedback to students 10 Teaching practicum helped me know how to use teaching aids effectively 11 Teaching practicum helped me know how to supervise students with extracurricular activities 12 Teaching practicum helped me know how to select appropriate techniques for teaching 13 Teaching practicum helped me know how to manage the classroom effectively 14 Teaching practicum helped me know how to encourage students‟ cooperation 15 Teaching practicum helped me know how to cooperate with other student teachers in the program 16 I could develop the reflective skills from teaching practicum 17 I could know how to deal with classroom problems 18 I could feel more confident in 78 teaching 19 I could improve communication skills with students Difficulties that student teachers faced during the time doing their teaching practicum 20 The class size is large 21 Students‟ background knowledge is limited 22 Trainee teachers are given lots of work 23 The application of teaching method is challenging 24 Time management is difficult 25 The timing of practicum is short 26 The evaluation of supervisor worries student teachers 27 Student teachers find it hard to establish relationships with students 28 The school regulations are rather strict Solutions 29 Student teachers should plan the lessons carefully before teaching 30 Student teachers should discuss with peer teachers when having problems 31 Student teachers should practice teaching with other peer teachers 32 Student teachers should observe the other teachers‟ classes 79 33 Student teachers should reflect on the actual class lessons with their supervisor 34 Student teachers should ask for supervisor‟s advice Thank you very much for your cooperation! 80 APPENDIX INTERVIEW Do you think that teaching practicum at high school is really helpful? Why? Why not? What are some main activities in your teaching practicum at high school? What you think about these activities? What you think about the role of the supervisor? What you think about the role of other peer teachers? What difficulties did you face when doing teaching practicum at high school? What did you to deal with these difficulties? Overall, how you evaluate your teaching practicum at high school? 81