luận văn thạc sĩ challenges in the implementation of the task based approach to teaching speaking to non major students of english at national university of art education

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES-VNU, HANOI POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT NGUYỄN THANH DUNG CHALLENGES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TASK-BASED APPROACH TO TEACHING SPEAKING TO NON-MAJOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF ART EDUCATION (NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN CỦA VIỆC ÁP DỤNG ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG DỰA TRÊN NHIỆM VỤ VÀO DẠY NÓI CHO SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM NGHỆ THUẬT TRUNG ƯƠNG) M.A Minor thesis Field: Methodology Code: 601410 HANOI-2009 z UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES-VNU, HANOI POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT NGUYỄN THANH DUNG CHALLENGES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TASK-BASED APPROACH TO TEACHING SPEAKING TO NON-MAJOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF ART EDUCATION (NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN CỦA VIỆC ÁP DỤNG ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG DỰA TRÊN NHIỆM VỤ VÀO DẠY NĨI CHO SINH VIÊN KHƠNG CHUN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM NGHỆ THUẬT TRUNG ƯƠNG) M.A Minor thesis Field: Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân HANOI-2009 z iv CONTENTS Page Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviation v List of tables viii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims and research questions of the study Methods of the study Scope of the study Significance of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature review 1.1 Definition of Task-based language teaching 1.2 Definition of task within Task-based language teaching 1.3 Criterial features of task within Task-based language teaching 1.4 Types of tasks within Task-based language teaching 1.5 The principles of Task-based language teaching 1.6 The framework for Task-based instruction 1.7 The role of teacher and learner in Task-based language teaching 12 1.8 The strengths of Task-based language teaching 13 1.9 Previous studies related to applying Task-based language teaching 14 1.9.1 In Hongkong 14 1.9.2 In Vietnam 14 Chapter 2: Current situation of English teaching and learning at NUAE 17 2.1 Description of students 17 z v 2.2 Description of teachers 17 2.3 Description of the teaching facilities and the teaching materials 18 2.4 Description of the objective and the time allocation of the English 18 course 2.5 Description of the current method of teaching English 19 Chapter 3: Challenges in the implementation of the Task-based approach to 21 teaching speaking to students at NUAE 3.1 The challenges perceived from contrasting the literature of the Task-based 21 approach with the current English teaching and learning at NUAE 3.1.1 Lack of appropriate teaching conditions 21 3.1.2 Lack of Task-based teaching materials 22 3.1.3 Students’ lack of active role 22 3.1.4 Teacher’s lack of high level of creativity 22 3.2 The challenges perceived by teachers and students after trial task-based speaking lessons 23 3.2.1 The subjects 23 3.2.2 Instruments for data collection 24 3.2.3 Statistical procedures 24 3.2.4 Procedures 25 3.2.5 Data analysis 25 3.2.5.1 Analysis of questionnaire 25 3.2.5.2 Analysis of the classroom observation 29 3.2.5.3 Analysis of the interview 30 3.2.6 Fidings and discussions 33 3.2.6.1 Inappropriate teaching condition 33 3.2.6.2 Inappropriate teaching material 33 3.2.6.3 Students’ low English proficiency 34 3.2.6.4 Students’ resistance in engaging in tasks 34 3.2.6.5 Students’ overuse of mother tongue during tasks 35 3.3 Recommendations for the application of the Task-based approach to teaching speaking at NUAE z 35 luan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.education vi PART C: CONCLUSION 39 Summary of the study 39 Limitations of the study 40 Suggestions for further study 40 References 41 Appendix I I Appendix II VIII Appendix III X Appendix IV XII Appendix V XIII Appendix VI XV luan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.education z luan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.education vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS M.A: Master of Arts NUAE: National University of Art Education TBA: Task-based approach TBLT: Task-based language teaching luan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.education z luan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.education viii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Willis’ model for Task-based instruction 10 Table 2: Students’ reasons for not involving in speaking tasks 26 Table 3: Students’ difficulty in working in multi-level groups during speaking tasks 26 Table 4: Students’ difficulty in understanding teacher ’s instruction in English 27 Table 5: Students’ difficulty in using the target language to complete speaking tasks 28 Table 6: Students’ reasons for using mother tongue during speaking tasks 28 luan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.education z luan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.education PART A: INTRODUCTION This part will present the rationale of the study, the aims and the research questions of the study, the method of the study, the scope of the study, the significance of the study and the design of the study Rationale of the study Task-based language teaching (TBLT), which was first developed in India by N.S Prabhu in the 1980s, has been a keen contemporary interest in English language teaching field The emphasis of TBLT is on communicative learning and teaching of language According to Swain (1995), tasks provide input to learners and opportunities for meaningful language use, both of which are generally considered valuable in promoting language acquisition Students can become fully in fufiling tasks, which can reduce tedium and make class work more challenging and relevant to their interests Richards and Rodgers (2001:228) suggest that “Tasks are believed to foster processes of negotiation, modification, rephrasing, and experiment that are heart of second language learning” According to them, practical and relevant tasks can draw the interest of learners and challenge them sufficiently to get them to use the English they already knew and incorporate new language items provided by input and the teacher In theory, TBLT may bring in certain advantages to English classrooms, and this has been proved by studies on the application of TBLT in classrooms in Western countries, where students have greater exposure to real English outside the classrooms In nonEnglish speaking countries such as in Vietnam, English language teachers have been introduced this approach to teaching in teacher in-service workshops or other professional events However, it is not sure how many teachers have ever tried out this approach and how effective it is, because very few impirical researches on TBLT with Vietnamese students have been done Up to now, there have not any researches on the application of TBLT with the students in my teaching context - National University of Art Education (NUAE) The above gaps concerned me much and inspired me to conduct this study aiming at investigating the difficulties of the application of TBLT to teaching oral skill in my university, which helps create bases for providing appropriate recommendations for making TBLT applicable to students at NUAE luan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.education z luan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.education 2 Aims and research questions of the study The aim of the study is to identify the challenges in the implementation of TBLT to teaching speaking to students at NUAE and provide recommendations for applying TBLT to teaching oral skill The study seeks to answer these questions: What are the challenges in the implementation of TBLT to teaching speaking skill to students at NUAE? What are the recommendations for applying TBLT to teaching speaking skill? Methods of the study To attain the aim of the study, the researcher employed both quantitative and qualitative methods combining with the aid of the following research instruments: - Questionnaire - Interview - Classroom observation Quantitative method was employed to analyze the information collected from the questionnaire Qualitative method was used to analyze the interview and the observation Scope of the study The study involves 103 first-year students from two classes including one class of Music Department and one class of Fine-Art Department and two teachers of English at NUAE In the scope of a minor thesis, the researcher only focuses on investigating the challenges in the implementation of TBLT to teaching speaking skill to the first-year students at NUAE Significance of the study The result of the study will provide useful theory of TBLT as one of the innovative methods for the choices of English teachers at NUAE The investigation of the difficulties of the application of TBLT to teaching speaking skill to students at NUAE helps to give recommendations for the adoption of TBLT to oral lessons In addition, the identified challenges in the implementation of TBLT in this study will be a reference for teachers in similar teaching contexts to consider the applicability of this approach luan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.education z luan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.education Design of the study Apart from the introduction and the conclusion, the study consists of three chapters The introduction presents an overview of the study including the rationale of the study, the aim of the study, the scope of the study, the research method, the significance of the study and the design of the study Chapter provides the theoretical background for the study and identifies the “gaps” in the research to date, which the researcher hopes to at least partially fill Chapter describes the current situation of English teaching and learning at NUAE Chapter identifies the perceived challenges in the implementation of TBLT to English speaking lessons at NUAE This was done by contrasting the literature of TBLT and the current English teaching situation at NUAE and by conducting questionnaires with students and interviews with teachers after trial period combining with classroom observation Then some recommendations for applying TBLT to teaching speaking skill are also given in this chapter The conclusion summarizes the main points of the study, presents the limitations of the study, and gives suggestions for further research luan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.educationluan.van.thac.si.challenges.in.the.implementation.of.the.task.based.approach.to.teaching.speaking.to.non.major.students.of.english.at.national.university.of.art.education z