Constructive alignment in second year speaking classrooms for english majors at van lang university a case study

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY - NGUYEN THANH MINH CONSTRUCTIVE ALIGNMENT IN SECOND-YEAR SPEAKING CLASSROOMS FOR ENGLISH MAJORS AT VAN LANG UNIVERSITY: A CASE STUDY MASTER THESIS TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES Tai Lieu Chat Luong Ho Chi Minh City, 2019 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THANH MINH CONSTRUCTIVE ALIGNMENT IN SECOND-YEAR SPEAKING CLASSROOMS FOR ENGLISH MAJORS AT VAN LANG UNIVERSITY: A CASE STUDY Major : TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES Major code : 60140111 Supervisor: NGUYEN THI HONG THAM, Ph.D Ho Chi Minh City, 2019 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis, entitled “Constructive alignment in second-year speaking classrooms for English majors at Van Lang University: A case study”, is my own work Except where reference is made in the text of the proposal, this proposal contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part of a proposal by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgment in the main text of the proposal Ho Chi Minh City, 2019 Student‟s Signature: Nguyễn Thanh Minh … i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I want to express my endless gratitude to Dr Nguyen Thi Hong Tham, my supervisor, for her support and guidance during the process of doing this thesis Thank you for your great knowledge and patience in assisting and answering my questions as well as encouraging and keeping my focus Without you, this thesis could not be possible Also, my sincere gratitude goes to the participants at Van Lang University who supported me by all their hearts It was such a great honor to cooperate with you during my time of doing research Thank you for helping me making this thesis To all my great lectures at Ho Chi Minh City Open University, thank you for taking your valuable time to instruct me during the course All experiences and knowledge sharing by all of you have encouraged me in widening my horizon Finally, my eternal love and thanks go to my friends and my family who always have faith in me and encourage me since I participated in the course Without all of you, I could not finish my course properly ii ABSTRACT This qualitative case study aimed at investigating the implementation of constructive alignment in Speaking classrooms for second year English-majored students at Van Lang University since the university registered for National Standards of Accreditation and Asian University Network Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) This study explored the implementation of constructive alignment in three extents: (1) the implementation of constructive alignment in Speaking classrooms of second-year English-majored students at Van Lang University; (2) the perspectives of lecturers and students toward constructive alignment in the context; and (3) some suggestions to improve the implementation Notably, two lecturers and 55 students from two Speaking classes were involved in the study The data collection was conducted within two phases In the first phase, the researcher did four classroom observations, including two regular sessions and two assessment sessions Then, the qualitative questionnaires were distributed to all students of two selected classes In the second phase, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews for two lecturers, and two focus group interviews for students All the data were analyzed and categorized in light of main themes and sub-themes The findings of this study indicated that the constructive alignment was established in the context; however, there remained the barriers in the alignment Also, from the lecturers‟ and students‟ perspectives, the effectiveness of constructive alignment was confirmed Then, some problems in the implementation were pointed out such as student level and motivation, course design, teaching and learning activities as well as assessment tasks Finally, some suggestions were given to improve the situation, including motivating students, changing course design procedures, covering real topics and improve assessment tasks Key words: qualitative case study, constructive alignment, speaking skills, implementation, English majors, Van Lang University iii TABLE OF CONTENT STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationales of the study 1.1.1 Higher education in the Vietnamese context 1.1.2 The needs of quality assurance in Vietnamese higher education 1.1.3 Constructive alignment as a tool for enhancing the quality of higher education 1.2 Significance of the study 1.3 Aims of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Delimitation of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Approaches to learning and the relationship between them and the attainment of the learning outcomes in higher education 2.1.1 Approaches to learning in higher education 2.1.2 The relationship between approaches to learning and the attainment of the intended learning outcomes in higher education 10 2.2 Constructive alignment in higher education 14 2.2.1 Definition of constructive alignment 14 iv 2.2.2 The Framework of constructive alignment 16 2.3 Constructive alignment in previous studies 23 2.3.1 Benefits of constructive alignment in higher education 23 2.3.2 Problems in establishing constructive alignment in higher education 29 2.3.3 Constructive alignment in the Vietnamese context 31 2.4 Conclusion 32 2.5 Teaching English speaking skills at university level 33 2.5.1 English speaking skills 33 2.5.2 Characteristics of speaking skills 33 2.5.3 Public speaking skills 35 2.5.4 Teaching English speaking skills 37 2.5.5 Assessing speaking skills 37 2.5.6 Teaching speaking skills at university level 38 2.6 Constructive alignment and English-speaking skills 40 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 43 3.1 Research design 44 3.2 Setting and participants 45 3.2.1 Description of Speaking course for English-majored students at Van Lang University 45 3.2.2 The appropriacy of the syllabus 47 3.2.3 Participants 51 3.3 Instruments 53 3.3.1 Classroom Observations 54 3.3.2 Qualitative questionnaires 55 3.3.3 Semi-structured interviews for lecturers 56 3.3.4 Student focus group interviews 57 3.3.5 Documentation 59 3.4 Data collection procedures 59 3.4.1 Classroom observations and qualitative questionnaires 60 v 3.4.2 Semi-structured interviews focused group interviews 61 3.5 Piloting the instruments 62 3.6 Data analysis procedures 63 3.7 Validity and reliability 65 3.7.1 Validity 65 3.7.2 Reliability 66 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS 67 4.1 The implementation of constructive alignment 67 4.1.1 Aligning teaching and learning activities and intended learning outcomes 67 4.1.2 Aligning assessment tasks and intended learning outcomes 74 4.1.3 Aligning teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks 80 4.2 Lecturers‟ and students‟ perspectives towards constructive alignment in speaking classrooms for second-year English majors 82 4.2.1 The effectiveness of constructive alignment 82 4.2.2 Problems in the implementation 85 4.3 Suggestions for improvement 90 4.3.1 The lecturers‟ suggestions 90 4.3.2 The students‟ suggestions 91 4.4 Summary of the main findings 93 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION 94 5.1 The implementation of constructive alignment 94 5.2 Lecturers‟ and students‟ perspectives towards constructive alignment 96 5.2.1 The effectiveness of constructive alignment 96 5.2.2 Problems in aligning intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks 97 5.3 Suggestions for improving the implementation 99 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION 101 vi 6.1 Summary of the study 101 6.2 Limitations 103 6.3 Implications 104 6.3.1 Implications for enhancing the quality of learning and teaching in higher education 104 6.3.2 Implications for further research 105 REFERENCES 107 APPENDICES 127 APPENDIX 1: SPEAKING SYLLABUS 127 APPENDIX 2: RUBRICS FOR GRADING SPEECH 140 APPENDIX 3: QUALITATIVE QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDENTS 143 APPENDIX 4: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION FORMS 147 APPENDIX 5: LECTURERS‟ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 151 APPENDIX 6: FOCUS GROUPS‟ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 154 APPENDIX 7: DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES 156 APPENDIX 8: LABELS OF DATA FROM DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS 159 APPENDIX 9: A SAMPLE OF CODING PROCESS 161 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Student orientation, teaching method and level of …………… 13 engagement (Biggs and Tang, 2011, p 6) Figure 2.2 Aligning teaching and learning activities and …………… 16 assessment tasks with the intended learning outcomes (Biggs & Tang, 2011, p.105) Figure 2.3 Teachers‟ and Students‟ perspectives towards …………… 20 assessment (Biggs & Tang, 2011, p 198) Figure 2.4 A sample illustrating the alignment among intended …………… 22 learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks (Kennedy, Hyland, & Ryan, 2006, p 22) Figure 2.5 Model of Public Speaking as an Interaction Process …………… 37 (Melh, 2017, p 11) Figure 2.6 The conceptual framework of applying constructive …………… 42 alignment in teaching speaking Figure 3.1 The thematic network of constructive alignment in speaking classrooms for second-year English majors viii …………… 65 APPENDIX 5: LECTURERS’ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Thông tin chung trình giảng dạy giảng viên (General information on teaching career) 1.1 Cô giảng dạy tiếng Anh bao lâu? (How long have you been teaching English?) 1.2 Cho tới nay, cô phụ trách giảng dạy môn nào? (Which subjects that you have been in charge of so far?) 1.3 Cô dạy môn Speaking (Nói 4) bao lâu? (How long have you taught Speaking course?) Ứng dụng “Constructive Alignment” lớp học (Implementation of constructive alignment) 2.1 Trong lớp Speaking (Nói 4), thường sử dụng hoạt động giảng dạy nào? (In your Speaking classes, which teaching activities you often use?) 2.2 Trong lớp Speaking (Nói 4), cô thường sử dụng hoạt động học tập nào? (In your Speaking classes, which learning activities you often take place for your students?) 2.3 Trong lớp Speaking (Nói 4), kiểm tra đánh giá sinh viên kỳ thi kỳ cuối kỳ nào? (In your Speaking class, how you assess your students in the midterm and final exams?) 2.4 Chuẩn đầu dự kiến mơn peaking (Nói 4) gì? Cơ có thiết kế chuẩn đầu hay không? (What are the intended learning outcomes of Speaking course? How did you design these learning outcomes?) 2.5 Những chuẩn đầu hoạt động giảng dạy/học tập có liên quan với khơng? Liên quan nào? 151 (Do the course learning outcomes and teaching and learning activities link with each other? How?) 2.6 Những chuẩn đầu hoạt động kiểm tra đánh giá có liên quan với khơng? Liên quan nào? (Do the course learning outcomes and assessment tasks link with each other? How?) Hiệu “Constructive Alignment” (Effectiveness of constructive alignment) 3.1 Cô có nghe qua khái niệm “constructive alignment” chưa? Cơ giải thích cách ngắn gọn không? (Have you ever heard about constructive alignment? Could you explain it briefly?) 3.2 Theo ý kiến cô, phải đồng chuẩn đầu môn học, hoạt động giảng dạy/học tập hoạt động kiểm tra đánh giá? (In your opinion, why the intended learning outcomes, the teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks have to link/ align with each other?) 3.3 Việc đồng đem lại lợi ích giảng dạy học tập sinh viên? (What are some advantages of aligning intended learning outcomes, the teaching and learning activities, and assessment tasks?) Làm để cải thiện việc áp dụng “Constructive Alignment” vào giảng dạy (How to improve the implementation of constructive alignment) 4.1 Có khó khăn mà cô gặp việc đồng chuẩn đầu môn học, hoạt động giảng dạy học tập hoạt động kiểm tra đánh giá? (What are some difficulties that you have met when aligning intended learning outcomes, the teaching and learning activities, and assessment tasks?) 152 4.2 Cơ nêu vài giải pháp để cải thiện việc áp dụng “Constructive Alignment” vào giảng dạy mơn Speaking (Nói) cho học sinh năm hai chuyên ngữ đại học Văn Lang? (Could you suggest some possible solutions for improving the application of constructive alignment in Speaking classrooms of second-year Englishmajored students at Van Lang University?) 153 APPENDIX 6: FOCUS GROUPS’ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS A Implementation of constructive alignment (Implementation of constructive alignment) Hoạt động giảng dạy học tập lớp (Teaching and learning activities in the classroom) 1.1 Hãy kể vài hoạt động giảng dạy mà giảng viên sử dụng lớp? Trong số đó, bạn thích hoạt động nào? (List some teaching activities that the teacher used in the classroom Which ones you prefer? Why?) 1.2 Hãy kể tên vài hoạt động học tập mà giảng viên tổ chức lớp học? Trong số đó, bạn thích hoạt động nào? (List some learning activities that the teacher used in the classroom Which ones you prefer? Why?) Hoạt động kiểm tra đánh giá lớp (Assessment tasks in the classroom) 2.1 Bài thi kỳ cuối kỳ tiến hành nào? (How were your midterm and final exams conducted?) 2.2 Bạn thi kỳ cuối kỳ có tốt không? (What you think about the result of these exams?) 2.3 Theo ý kiến bạn, kỳ thi kỳ cuối kỳ với hoạt động giảng dạy học tập có liên quan nào? Cho ví dụ? (In your opinion, how did the midterm and final exams relate to the teaching and learning activities?) Chuẩn đầu môn học (Intended learning outcomes) 3.1 Giảng viên có giới thiệu giải thích rõ chuẩn đầu mơn học cho bạn biết khơng? Chúng hiểu rõ ràng không? Nếu không rõ chuẩn đầu đó? 154 (Look at the course learning outcomes, did the teacher introduce them to you at beginning of the course? Are they clear and easy to understand? If not, point out some?) 3.2 Theo bạn, chuẩn đầu môn học với hoạt động giảng dạy học tập có liên quan nào? Cho ví dụ? (How can the intended learning outcomes relate to teaching and learning activities in your class?) 3.3 Theo bạn, chuẩn đầu môn học với kỳ thi kỳ cuối kỳ có liên quan nào? Cho ví dụ? (How can the intended learning outcomes relate to assessment tasks in your class?) 3.4 Sau kết thúc khố học, bạn có đạt chuẩn đầu không? (After finishing the course, which intended learning outcomes have you achieved?) B Hiệu “Constructive Alignment” việc học sinh viên (Effectiveness of constructive alignment on students’ learning) Kỹ nói trước cơng chúng bạn cải thiện kết thúc khoá học? How can your public speaking skills be improved after finishing the course? C Cải thiện việc ứng dụng kiến tạo đồng (Improvement of the implementation of constructive alignment) 5.1 Chỉ số vấn đề ảnh hưởng đến thống chuẩn đầu ra, hoạt động giảng dạy/học tập hoạt động kiểm tra đánh giá? (What are some possible problems affecting the alignment among intended learning outcomes, the teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks?) 5.2 Bạn gợi ý vài giải pháp để giải vấn đề trên? 155 (What are some possible solutions to solve these problems?) APPENDIX 7: DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES Phrases Data collection procedures Times 1st – Making class observations 5th of February, 2018 Conducting Making qualitative questionnaires 9th of February, 2018 Observations Piloting qualitative questionnaires 12th of February, 2018 and 1.1 Conducting 1st regular session 5th of March, 2018 Qualitative observations in class A Questionnaires in class A 2nd regular session 12th of March, 2018 in class A 1st assessment 9th of April, 2018 session in class A 1.2 2nd assessment 16th of May, 2018 session in class A (morning) Conducting 1st regular session 7th of March, 2018 observations in class B in class B 2nd regular session 14th of March, 2018 in class B 1st assessment 4th of April, 2018 session in class B 1.3 2nd assessment 16th of May, 2018 session in class B (afternoon) Distributing Qualitative 20th of April, 2018 Qualitative questionnaires of Questionnaire class A s in class A Qualitative questionnaires of 156 21st of April, 2018 and B class B 2nd - 2.1 Selecting focus group of students 23rd of April, 2018 Conducting from class A and B (class A) and 25th of Semi- April, 2018 (class B) Structured 2.2 Designing the questions of semi- interviews structured interview for lecturers 2.3 Designing the questions of semi- 3rd of April, 2018 23rd of April, 2018 structured interview for focus group of students 2.4 Piloting the semi-structured interview 8th of April, 2018 for lecturers 2.5 Piloting the semi-structured interview 26th of April, 2018 for focus group of students 2.5 Making corrections on the questions 30th of April, 2018 of semi-structured interviews for lecturers and students 2.6 Conducting Semi-structured semi-structured Interviews with interviews lecturer A Semi-structured 15th of May, 2018 16th of May, 2018 Interviews with lecturer B Focus Group 22nd of May, 2018 Interview in class A Focus Group Interview in class B 157 23rd of May, 2018 158 APPENDIX 8: LABELS OF DATA FROM DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS Instruments Data Sources Labels Classroom Regular Classroom Observation Regular Classroom Observations in Class A Observation A-1 Regular Classroom Observation Regular Classroom in Class A Observation A-2 Regular Classroom Observation Regular Classroom in Class B Observation B-1 Regular Classroom Observation Regular Classroom in Class B Observation B-2 Assessment Observation in Assessment Observation A-1 Class A (Midterm Exam) Assessment Observation in Assessment Observation A-2 Class A (Final Exam) Assessment Observation in Assessment Observation B-1 Class B (Midterm Exam) Assessment Observation in Assessment Observation B-1 Class B (Final Exam) Qualitative Qualitative Questionnaire for Questionnaires Class A Qualitative Questionnaire for Qualitative Questionnaire A Qualitative Questionnaire B Class B Semi-structured Semi-structured Interview for Interviews for Lecturer in Class A Lecturers Semi-structured Interview for Lecturer Interview A Lecturer Interview B Lecturer in Class B Focus Interviews for Focus Group Interview for 159 Focus Group Interview A Students in Class A Students in Class A and in Class B Focus Group Interview for Students in Class B 160 Focus Group Interview B APPENDIX 9: A SAMPLE OF CODING PROCESS (An extract from analyzing the data from semi-structured interview for the lecturer in class A (lecturer interview A)) Transcription Dissecting text Coding Sub- Main-themes (Lecturer (1) (2) themes (4) Interview A) (3) Question: In class, what were some teaching and learning Students had to Making activities that made presentation you used? presentation to (1.1.1) Lecturer A: demonstrate Learning First, the how well they activities students had to understood the (1.1) made lesson in the Group work presentation to book (1.2.2) demonstrate how well they understood the lesson in the working in book It was groups; 10 Giving the main minutes to demonstrations activity of prepared and (2.1.2) public speaking Teaching Implementation other minutes activities of constructive to present (2) because students had to alignment Alignment Giving between 161 stand in front demonstrations; teaching of many people represent the and to express their topic; observe learning ideas The the way that the activities second activity lecturer and the was working in delivered intended groups to learning discuss the outcomes given topic They had about 10 minutes to prepared and other minutes to present […] Lecturer: Giving demonstrations meant putting myself into their shoes Particularly, when students made group presentation in class, I would represent the topic if they could not clearly all the unclear points 162 By that way the students could observe the way that the lecturer delivered the speech, how she applied the vocabulary and linking words as well as manner of presenting […] Question: How did teaching and Teaching and learning teaching and learning activities align learning activities and with the activities; align intended intended with the learning learning intended outcomes outcomes? learning Lecturer A: outcomes When Learning activities designing (no) teaching and making Assessment learning outlines; tasks activities, we had to consider how they (no) practice this 163 would align activity; with the intended learning outcomes For example, there was an outcome for making outlines In class, I often let them practice this activity Therefore, after doing this activity for several times, they would be able to achieve this outcome […] Question: How did assessment tasks and the intended some Relationship (no) learning relationships Teaching and Alignment outcomes between two of learning between align with them; activities teaching and each other? 164 There were practice learning some making activities relationships outlines; between two of Assessment and tasks assessment them, for tasks instance, in class I let them the midterm practice exam required making them to make outlines; outlines, added therefore, in them as a the midterm component of exam, I total score required them to make outlines and added them as a component of total score […] 165