Trang 1 HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES --- VO THI LE HANG TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKI
HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES - VO THI LE HANG TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS IN QUANG BINH PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Hue University THUA THIEN HUE, 2023 HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES - VO THI LE HANG TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS IN QUANG BINH PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: DR TRAN QUANG NGOC THUY THUA THIEN HUE, 2023 ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ - VÕ THỊ LỆ HẰNG NHẬN THỨC VÀ THỰC TẾ SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY THEO DỰ ÁN CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TRONG DẠY KỸ NĂNG NÓI TẠI MỘT SỐ TRƯỜNG THPT TRÊN ĐỊA BÀN TỈNH QUẢNG BÌNH LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS TRẦN QUANG NGỌC THUÝ THỪA THIÊN HUẾ, 2023 STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree 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: (Vo Thi Le Hang) Date: 22/ 12/ 2023 i ABSTRACT This research aimed to investigate teachers’ perceptions and practices of project-based learning (PBL) in teaching speaking skill at some high schools in Quang Binh province The mixed methods research design was adopted with the population of twenty-five teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) from seven high schools in Quang Binh province The data of the current study was collected by means of a questionnaire, interviews, and class observations The results revealed that the majority of the teachers were fully aware of the necessity of PBL in teaching speaking skill Most of them perceived PBL as an instructional approach that contextualizes learning by presenting learners with problems to solve or products to develop Besides, the benefits of PBL in teaching speaking skill, such as improving students’ speaking skill, creating meaningful contexts to practice speaking English, developing students’ affective factors, encouraging students to speak English through integrative skill practice and promoting learner autonomy and skills of the 21st century were also mentioned Despite the perceived benefits, EFL teachers reported that they did not apply this method frequently in their actual practices and their favorable PBL activities in teaching speaking skill were students’ giving powerpoint presentations about a topic, designing a poster and presenting as well as role-playing The participants also revealed their arrangement when implementing PBL In addition, the findings showed the teachers’ common steps of implementing PBL However, the findings suggested that the reality of implementing PBL posed some obstacles, including teacher-related obstacles, student-related obstacles and external factors The most frequently encountered difficulties were teachers’ lack of knowledge and experience of using PBL in teaching speaking skill, time pressure, and students’ low level of English proficiency From the findings, implications and suggestions for effectively implementing PBL in teaching speaking skill were proposed ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Tran Quang Ngoc Thuy, who provided me with key considerations through my research Without her patient guidance and valuable advice, this thesis would not have been possible Secondly, I would also like to thank the teachers of Hung Vuong, Nguyen Trai, Le Quy Don, Vo Nguyen Giap, Quang Ninh, Phan Boi Chau, and Tran Phu high schools for providing me with the most favorable conditions to collect the data needed Thirdly, I wish to express my appreciation to all the lecturers of the MA course in theory and methodology of English language teaching at Hue University of Foreign Languages and International Studies for guidance and instruction during the course of my studies Last but not least, my grateful thanks are extended to my family, my colleagues, and my friends for always being by my side, encouraging me, and being my inspiration and motivation iii List of Tables Table 3.1: Participants’ description 27 Table 3.2: Participants’ description for class observations 28 Table 3.3: Participants’ description for interviews 28 Table 3.4: Summary of data collection methods 29 Table 3.5: Items categorized in the questionnaire 30 Table 3.6: Reliability statistics of piloting questionnaire 35 Table 3.7: Reliability statistics of main questionnaire 36 Table 4.1: Reliability statistics of cluster 38 Table 4.2: Teachers’ perceptions towards the necessity of PBL in teaching speaking skill 39 Table 4.3: Teachers’ perceptions towards the definitions of PBL 39 Table 4.4: Teachers’ perceptions of common PBL activities in teaching speaking skill 41 Table 4.5: One-sample T test of teachers’ perceptions towards PBL activities in teaching speaking skill 42 Table 4.6: Descriptive statistics of teachers’ perceptions of common PBL activities in teaching speaking skill 42 Table 4.7: Descriptive statistics on EFL teachers’ perception towards the benefits of PBL in teaching speaking skill 44 Table 4.8: Reliability statistics of cluster 48 Table 4.9: Teachers’ frequency of using PBL in teaching speaking skill 48 Table 4.10: One-sample T test of teachers’ frequency of using PBL in teaching speaking skill 49 Table 4.11: Time arrangement frequency 50 Table 4.12: Work arrangement frequency 52 iv Table 4.13: Descriptive statistics of reported common PBL activities used in teaching speaking skill 54 Table 4.14: Descriptive statistics of reported steps of using PBL in teaching speaking skill 56 Table 4.15: Descriptive statistics of teachers’ roles when using PBL in teaching speaking skill 60 Table 4.16: Reliability statistics of cluster 61 Table 4.17: Descriptive statistics of teacher-related challenges when implementing PBL in teaching speaking skill 61 Table 4.18: Descriptive statistics of student-related challenges when implementing PBL in teaching speaking skill 62 Table 4.19: Descriptive statistics of external factors 63 v List of Abbreviations PBL………………Project-Based Learning EFL………………English as a Foreign Language SPSS…………… Statistical Package for the Social Sciences vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of original authorship i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii List of tables iv List of abbreviations vi Table of contents vii Chapter Introduction 1.1 Rationale of the research 1.2 Research objectives 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Significance of the research 1.5 Research scope 1.6 Organization of the research Chapter Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Teaching speaking skill 2.2.1 Definitions of speaking 2.2.2 The importance of English speaking skill 2.2.3 Factors affecting English speaking skill 2.2.4 Principles in teaching speaking skill 2.2.5 Teaching speaking in sociocultural theory 11 2.3 Project-based learning (PBL) 12 2.3.1 Definitions of PBL 12 2.3.2 Characteristics of PBL 12 2.3.3 Types of project work 14 2.3.4 Implementing PBL in teaching speaking skill 15 vii