Nghiên cứu nhận thức của giáp viên tiếng anh về những hoạt động phát triển nghiệp vụ phổ biến tại một số trường trung học cơ sở ở thành phố huế

CAO THI NHU NGOC MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES  CAO THI NHU NGOC MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS COMMON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AT SOME SECONDARY 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, 2018 HUE, 2018 4B/100TR MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES CAO THI NHU NGOC AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS COMMON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AT SOME SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN HUE CITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.01.11 SUPERVISOR: Assoc Prof Dr LE PHAM HOAI HUONG HUE, 2018 i BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ -CAO THỊ NHƢ NGỌC NGHIÊN CỨU NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH VỀ NHỮNG HOẠT ĐỘNG PHÁT TRIỂN NGHIỆP VỤ PHỔ BIẾN TẠI MỘT SỐ TRƢỜNG TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ Ở THÀNH PHỐ HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƢƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.14.01.11 NGƢỜI HƢỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS TS LÊ PHẠM HOÀI HƢƠNG HUẾ, 2018 ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Date: / 12 / 2018 Signature Cao Thi Nhu Ngoc iii ABSTRACT Professional development (PD) can be considered as one of the vital activities for the teaching advancement of EFL teachers However, there has been little research conducted on EFL teachers‟ perceptions towards PD activities for EFL teachers‟ teaching development at some secondary schools in Hue city Therefore, as an attempt to contribute to gaining more insights into common PD activities, this study was set out to further understanding of EFL teachers‟ perceptions towards common PD activities at some secondary schools in Hue city This study dealt with (1) EFL teachers‟ perceptions towards the necessity of common PD activities, (2) the practice of common PD activities of EFL teachers and (3) the difficulties that they face in practicing common PD activities in their own teaching Questionnaire was employed as a data collection instrument of the study and was completed by fifty EFL teachers at ten secondary schools in Hue city Interview aimed to qualify data gained from the questionnaires and was participated by twenty EFL teachers Quantitative methods were used to analyze data chiefly collected through the questionnaire according to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22 The results indicate that most EFL teachers had positive attitudes towards the necessity of common PD activities and they had different opinions about the reality of practicing common PD activities at their secondary schools Specially, in reality, team teaching activities and using peer observations were paid more attention to than the others Frequent use of common PD activities such as recording their lessons, participating in formal activities or talking to colleagues and mentoring activity was also reported Additionally, the study shows that EFL teachers faced challenges in the practice of common PD activities such as lack of knowledge in teaching strategies, lack of motivation, inadequate educational technology and lack of collaboration between EFL teachers and the main factor was lack of time Based on the results, the study provides some implications and makes suggestions for helping EFL teachers in the PD Key words: common PD activities, EFL teachers‟ perceptions iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the following people for their support, guidance and help throughout the entire process of this research paper Above all, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Le Pham Hoai Huong who assisted me in the early stages of my research proposal and offered valuable advice She not only guided me how to write up the study, how to find materials relating to common PD activities but also would be ready to arrange her time to read, re-read, proofread and advise me on my writing and gave me her feedback as soon as possible I greatly acknowledged her whole-hearted supervision Secondly, I am greatly indebted to my dear mentor, Assoc Prof Dr Truong Vien for his precious guidance, his time and feedback in the journey to complete my research paper I am indebted to him for his guiding me how to analyze the data by using SPSS software and for his experience and sharing His dedication and enthusiasm are unmatchable With warm feelings I acknowledge the support of all the lecturers at Hue University of Foreign Languages who taught me invaluable lessons about research, statistical analysis, the power of the written word and encouraged me to conduct this research paper My research paper is incomplete without full cooperation from the participants My thanks also go to the EFL teachers at some secondary schools in Hue city for their helpful cooperation Last but not least, I owe a great deal to my family and my friends for their love and support Without their help and encouragement, my research paper would not have been possible v TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iii ABSTRACT iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii LIST OF FIGURES x CHAPTER - INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Research aims 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the thesis 1.5 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER - LITERATURE REVIEW .5 2.1 Professional development 2.1.1 Definition of professional development .5 2.1.2 Significance of professional development 2.2 Common professional development activities 2.2.1 Conferences/Workshops/Seminars .8 2.2.2 Team teaching .9 2.2.3 Reflective teaching 10 2.2.4 Action research 12 2.2.5 Mentoring 13 2.3 Difficulties in practicing common professional activities 13 2.4 Previous studies .14 2.5 Summary 17 vi CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 18 3.1 Research design .18 3.2 Participants and Settings 19 3.3 Research instruments 21 3.4 Data Analysis 22 3.5 Procedure of the study 22 3.6 Summary 24 CHAPTER - FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 25 4.1 Findings from questionnaire data 25 4.2 Findings from interview data 42 4.3 Discussion .45 CHAPTER 5; CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 48 5.1 Summary of key findings 48 5.2 Implications .49 5.2.1 For administrators .49 5.2.2 For EFL teachers .50 5.3 Limitations of the study 50 5.4 Further research .51 REFERENCES 52 APPENDICES 63 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL : English as a Foreign Language ESL : English as a Second Language NFL : National Foreign Languages PD : Professional Development SPSS : Statistical Package for Social Sciences TEFL : Teaching English as a Foreign Language TESL : Teaching English as a Second Language viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Background information of the participants Table 3.2: Research sites and the number of returned questionnaires Table 3.3: Summary of the questionnaire Table 3.4: Time of research activities Table 4.1: Reliability of the questionnaires Table 4.2: Mean score for EFL teachers‟ perceptions towards the necessity of PD Table 4.3: One-Sample T Test of EFL teachers‟ perceptions towards the necessity of PD Table 4.4: Descriptive statistics of EFL teachers‟ perceptions towards the necessity of PD Table 4.5: Mean score for EFL teachers‟ perceptions towards the necessity of common PD activities Table 4.6: One-Sample T Test of EFL teachers‟ perceptions towards the necessity of common PD activities Table 4.7: Descriptive statistics of EFL teachers‟ perceptions towards the necessity of common PD activities Table 4.8: One-Sample T Test of being excited and motivated in formal activities (Q10) Table 4.9: Mean score for reality of practicing common PD activities Table 4.10: One-Sample T Test of reality of practicing common PD activities Table 4.11: Descriptive statistics of reality in practicing common PD activities Table 4.12: One-Sample T Test of EFL teachers‟ listening to colleagues‟ ideas, feelings or problems (Q22) Table 4.13: Mean score for difficulties in practicing common PD activities by EFL teachers Table 4.14: One-Sample T Test of difficulties in practicing common PD activities by EFL teachers ix APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS The four following questions aim to explore EFL teachers’ responses their attitudes towards common professional development (PD) activities; some common PD activities implemented by EFL teachers and difficulties that they face in practicing common PD activities at some secondary schools in Hue city Question What you think about common PD activities for EFL teachers at your secondary school? Question What you think about the reality of conducting common PD activities at your school? Question What difficulties you face in implementing common PD activities to your secondary school? THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION! 75 APPENDIX CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN Ba câu hỏi nhằm tìm kiếm phản hồi giáo viên Tiếng Anh quan điểm họ hoạt động phát triển nghiệp vụ (PTNV) phổ biến; số hoạt động PTNV phổ biến tiến hành khó khăn họ phải đối mặt tiến hành hoạt động PTNV phổ biến số trường trung học sở thành phố Huế Câu hỏi Quý Thầy/Cô nghĩ hoạt động PTNV phổ biến giáo viên Tiếng Anh trường trung học sở Q Thầy/Cơ? Câu hỏi Q Thầy/Cơ nghĩ thực tế sử dụng hoạt động PTNV phổ biến trường trung học sở Quý Thầy/Cô? Câu hỏi Q Thầy/Cơ thường gặp phải khó khăn việc tiến hành hoạt động PTNV phổ biến trường trung học sở Quý Thầy/Cô? XIN CHÂN THÀNH CẢM ƠN SỰ HỢP TÁC CỦA QUÝ THẦY/CÔ! 76 APPENDIX TRANSCRIPTION OF THE INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWEES’ OPINIONS QUESTIONS Question What T1 This is an interesting question! I think I will have you think about higher motivation in teaching practice if I have a chance common to professionally practice common PD activities In my professional opinion, practicing common PD activities is necessary for development (PD) not only EFL teachers but also for those who are activities for EFL teaching teachers at your T2 Hmmm, it is very necessary However, I have to be secondary school? more autonomous in practicing common PD activities in order to realize the importance and significance of common PD activities in my own teaching So I will try my best T3 Personally I believed common PD activities for EFL teachers is one of the factors that has a great influence on the success of teaching English T4 In my opinion, common PD activities can be seen as activities that knowledge develop Furthermore, EFL teachers‟ practicing skills and common PD activities increases interaction between teachers and students So that, PD is very important to help me solve some classroom problems T5 It is difficult to answer this question Because practicing common PD activities at my secondary school is not popular Nevertheless, I really like implementing common PD activities in the process of teaching because PD increases interaction between teachers and students 77 T6 I think that this is a chance for me as well as for my colleagues in practicing common PD activities When I face some problems in my classrooms such as students‟ passiveness, I have to carefully understand the nature of those problems, from that, I will change my current way of teaching to attract my students‟ attention T7 I often conduct common PD activities in my classroom because I am so lucky when having a chance to participate in formal experiences related to my teaching issues I can say that PD is very useful for EFL teachers in teaching practices T8 For me, PD is very necessary for those who are teaching English, not only for EFL teachers at my secondary school It is easy to understand that PD fosters my responsibility in teaching practices as well as increases collaboration among my colleagues (team teaching) T9 Usually I implement common PD activities activities in my teaching I think I can know how to adapt a new methodology to language teaching to be appropriate to my students‟ level T10 Well, PD can be viewed as a self-reflection process, so, boosting EFL teachers‟ PD at my secondary school should be compulsory T11 From my point of view, in this modern world, practicing common PD activities is very important for EFL teachers and the teachers have to always practice PD because PD can be regarded as a life-long process 78 T12 There are many kinds of common PD activities such as conducting action research, team teaching However, it is not popular at my school, we not have opportunities to practice those activities Correspondingly, I think practicing common PD activities is not necessary T13 For me, PD is not necessary and boosting EFL teachers‟ PD should not be compulsory because it conflicts with my work schedule T14 Although I have to face my heavy workload in the process of teaching, I still want to practice PD because I believe that PD can be seen as activities that develop EFL teachers‟ skills and knowledge, so that, I can solve some classroom problems T15 Personally I think EFL teachers should practice common PD activities because PD can help teachers find out their strengths and weaknesses in their teaching T16 It is not necessary, PD is just appropriate to EFL teachers at universities, not at secondary schools Our knowledge of PD is limited and I not have much time to implement common PD activities T17 We are teachers of English, therefore, we have to recognize the importance and necessity of PD in the process of teaching in order to improve ourselves T18 PD can be viewed as a self-reflection process and practicing common PD activities fosters my responsibility in teaching, so implementing common PD activities is very useful for all EFL teachers at secondary schools T19 Common PD activity such as team teaching is useful 79 because we have a chance to interact with other EFL teachers and practice common PD activities can be seen as an effective way to increase collaboration among teachers T20 For me, the term “PD” is not popular, therefore, it is not necessary in boosting EFL teachers‟ PD Question What T1 I carry out PD activities in my own way I really like you think about analyzing and evaluating my teaching practice after each the reality conducting of lesson in order to know my strengths and weaknesses, from that, I will improve or change it for better outcomes common PD T2 Well, I rarely implement PD activities in my activities at your classroom because the time to complete all tasks in the school? textbook is inadequate T3 For me, there are a variety of ways to implement PD in my classroom However, because the time is limited, thus, I just use peer observations in order to reflect what I need to improve from my colleagues‟ feedback on PD activities to create strategy for long-term growth for my classes T4 I often conduct PD activities by using peer observations (for my students) because I want to get more ideas to create new methods to teach and motivate students, to make them effectively study English Besides, this kind of PD activities is useful for my career, so I tend to ask my colleagues to implement PD activities in language teaching T5 It is difficult to answer this question I think there are many PD activities for EFL teachers to apply but for me, 80 I am an English teacher, I like participating in workshops, seminars or conferences related to my teaching issues though the time in the classroom to use other PD activities is limited T6 I usually work with my colleagues at my secondary school because maybe I think something I know about PD activities but my colleagues not know and vice versa Therefore, we can exchange ideas, share our problems and find out solutions together And the second way I usually conduct PD activities is that I analyse and evaluate my teaching practice after each lesson in order to improve or change it for better outcomes and get development in my job Especially, I like to conduct PD activities voluntarily because I like or I know the necessity of PD activities T7 I think PD activities is very necessary for EFL teachers Therefore, in order to effectively implement PD activities, I have to have deep knowledge about those activities, then I will check my understanding clearly through my colleagues From that, I can seek their advice on my strengths and weaknesses of PD activities when implementing to my classroom In addition, I sometimes observe and evaluate myself by using my phone T8 My colleagues and I often share problems I mean I tend to apply team teaching which can be seen as a kind of PD activities and then, we find out effective solutions and give feedback to each other on PD activities in order to improve our teaching practice in the future T9 I carry out PD activities in my own way I like 81 recording the lesson in the class and after that, I selfevaluate and I can know what I need to improve and change in terms of methodology in order to motivate my students in learning English I believe that it is an effective way to enhance my students‟ growth T10 I am an English teacher Consequently, it is necessary to practice PD activities in the process of teaching For me, I tend to take advantages of my colleagues‟ feedback on PD activities through discussion groups or team teaching activity In those cases, I have a chance to listen to my colleagues‟ ideas, advice on my strengths and weaknesses of PD activities, from that I know how to create a strategy for long-term growth for my students T11 I have to arrange my time in the class to save more time to implement PD activities I realize that I am so lucky because I have opportunities to take part in academic activities such as workshops or seminars related to my teaching issues Moreover, I am often available to listen to my colleagues‟ ideas, feelings or problems in order to find out solutions when implementing PD activities T12 The time to conduct PD activities is restricted because it conflicts with my work schedule That is the reason why I hardly implement PD activities when I am an English teacher at this secondary school T13 I tend to negotiate with my colleagues to receive useful advice Consequently, team teaching activity is used to help me enhance my professional growth 82 83 T14 After each lesson in the class, I often look the next lesson at home Therefore, I cannot effectively implement PD activities because it conflicts with my schedule T15 I often make schedule for PD activities Today, I will observe myself, record and analyse my lesson to improve for better outcomes, the next day, I will use peer observations in order to know what I need to improve Besides, I often listen to my colleagues‟ advice through team teaching activity because I think implementing PD activities is very necessary for EFL teachers T16 Team teaching or peer observation activity is always used in the process of my teaching because I believe that it can be seen as an effective way to get development in my job as well as enhance my students‟ learning T17 Well, self-evaluation can help me learn how to assess my teaching practices That is the reason why I really like to apply this kind of PD activities when I am teaching Furthermore, engaging in discussion groups with my colleagues is indispensable Thus, I have higher motivation to be an English teacher now T18 I just conduct PD activities when I have much time I tend to observe and evaluate myself in the process of teaching and recognize my strengths and weaknesses at home because the time in the class is for transferring knowledge and completing all tasks in the textbooks 84 T19 Personally I believed that PD activities need to be autonomously conducted I often observe myself in the process of teaching, after that I use peer observation in order to self-evaluate and take advantages of my colleagues‟ feedback on PD activities, how to motivate my students, how to interact with my students T20 In my view, the teachers who are more autonomous in implementing PD activities will have more teaching motivation Therefore, as an English teacher, I tend to ask for help from my colleagues when I have to face some teaching problems That is an effective way to help me know what I need to improve in my future practice Moreover, at my secondary school, sometimes I have a chance to participate in academic activities namely workshops or conferences It is very useful for my career Question What T1 I am an English teacher at this secondary school, difficulties you therefore, I not have a chance to participate in a PD face in program because it conflicts with my work schedule at implementing my school, I not have much time to take part in common workshops or seminars related to my teaching issues professional T2 It is difficult to answer this question As you know, I development not have time to implement PD activities in my activities to your process of teaching because in each lesson, I have to secondary school? complete all tasks given by my administrator That is the reason why conducting PD activities is not popular at my workplace T3 I know implementing PD activities is very useful for EFL teachers Nevertheless, I not have sufficient knowledge in effective teaching strategies and in high 85 quality external expertise Moreover, I have a lot of teaching periods a day in a week, therefore, I not have a chance to interact with my colleagues in order to ask for help and share some classroom problems T4 For me, the term PD is not popular at my secondary school It is important that PD is very necessary for EFL teachers‟ growth I not know how to motivate myself in practicing common PD activities although implementing common PD activities helps EFL teachers have higher motivation in teaching T5 As you know, teachers have different classes in a day, so it is not easy to find common time to work or share experiences together T6 Although my school‟s budget is limited, I am so lucky when implementing common PD activities with lots of financial support from my administrator I always take a chance on conducting common PD activities in my teaching practices to gain experiences for my future career T7 Educational technology in some secondary schools in this city is not adequately equipped For this reason, it is difficult for EFL teachers to effectively implement common PD activities Furthermore, I am a teacher of English, I not many opportunities to interact with other EFL teachers at other secondary schools, so I not know how to conduct common PD activities effectively 86 T8 From my point of view, there are not enough references about effective teaching strategies and of highquality external expertise at my secondary school This raises lots of problems Additionally, lack of time is also a factor hindering my professional growth in my teaching T9 I not have much time to interact with other teachers at others secondary schools in order to share experiences in teaching practices T10 In my classroom, educational technology is inadequate, so it is difficult for me to implement common PD activities to know my strengths and weakness of those activities, from that, I can improve for better outcomes T11 I have to implement common PD activities with financial support from my administrators when I am teaching at this secondary school Therefore, there is no denying that conducting common PD activities in teaching language is very useful T12 I really like talking to my colleagues to seek their advice on my strengths and weaknesses of PD activities, however, we not a chance to exchange ideas, share experiences together T13 I have ten periods each week, so I find it difficult to motivate myself in practicing common PD activities For me, it is not necessary for EFL teachers at secondary schools in generally 87 T14 In reality, some teachers at my school are not interested in PD Therefore, it is difficult to motivate myself in practicing common PD activities In addition, I not have time to take part in a PD program because it conflicts with my teaching schedule T15 I not have much time I have to teach all day in a week, so I am so tired For me, implementing common PD activities is not important for teachers at my secondary school T16 There is no denying that my knowledge of effective teaching strategies and of high-quality external expertise is limited For this reason, I am not interested in carrying out common PD activities when I am an English teacher T17 I encounter in motivating myself in practicing common PD activities I have to complete my work schedule given by my administrators Thus, I cannot effectively implement common PD activities when I am teaching T18 PD is very important for EFL teachers However, sometimes I not have much time to join in workshops or seminars related to my teaching issues in order to enhance my students‟ learning because it conflicts with my work schedule at my secondary school T19 I sometimes cannot interact with my colleagues at other secondary schools in this city because we have different classes in a day 88 T20 It is true that PD is very necessary for EFL teachers However, my knowledge of effective teaching strategies is restricted Moreover, educational technology in my classroom is inadequate Hence, it is difficult for me to successfully implement common PD activities when I am teaching 89