Trang 1 HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES --- TRUONG THAI MAI ANH UPPER-SECONDARY EFL TEACHERS’ REFLECTION ON THE USE OF GLOBAL SUCCESS AND I-LEARN
HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES - TRUONG THAI MAI ANH UPPER-SECONDARY EFL TEACHERS’ REFLECTION ON THE USE OF GLOBAL SUCCESS AND I-LEARN SMART SERIES FOR GRADE 10 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, University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Hue University THUA THIEN HUE, 2023 HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES - TRUONG THAI MAI ANH UPPER-SECONDARY EFL TEACHERS’ REFLECTION ON THE USE OF GLOBAL SUCCESS AND I-LEARN SMART SERIES FOR GRADE 10 IN HUE CITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: NGO LE HOANG PHUONG, D.Ed THUA THIEN HUE, 2023 ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ - TRƯƠNG THÁI MAI ANH CHIÊM NGHIỆM CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH PHỔ THÔNG VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG BỘ SÁCH GLOBAL SUCCESS VÀ I-LEARN SMART LỚP 10 TẠI 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: TS NGƠ LÊ HỒNG PHƯƠNG 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: ………………………… Date: ……/ ……./ …… i ABSTRACT Abstract: Teacher agency plays a vital role in educational settings by not only guiding students toward specific objectives but also by empowering teachers to adapt and innovate in their teaching methods While previous research has explored different aspects of teacher agency, there is a gap in research specifically examining the implementation of new textbooks from an ecological perspective This study focuses on the reflections of EFL upper-secondary school teachers in Hue City regarding the use of Global Success and ILearn Smart Series The findings were based on data collected through four semistructured interviews and eight classroom observations of four teachers from different upper-secondary schools in Hue City The study identified three dimensions of the ecological view that influence teachers' perception and practice in implementing new textbooks including prior experience and pedagogical beliefs, categorized as iterational and projective dimensions respectively, as well as physical surroundings and students' language proficiency categorized as practical-evaluative dimensions The research used a thematic analysis approach to analyze the data after being collected The findings showed different perceptions and practices towards the implementation of new textbooks Some teachers perceived these changes to be reasonable, while others found them inappropriate when using in real classroom settings Furthermore, teachers’ textbook maintenance and adaptation were reflected in the study These findings offer valuable insights for educational stakeholders, such as teachers, school administrators, teacher educators, and policymakers, to promote the development of teacher agency in teaching, particularly when encountering educational innovations Keywords: teacher agency, ecological view, implementation of new textbooks, teachers’ reflection, ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am immensely grateful to my supervisor, Dr Ngo Le Hoang Phuong, without whom I would not have been able to complete this research She is an incredibly knowledgeable and dedicated lecturer working at the Faculty of English at Hue University of Foreign Languages and International Studies (HUFLIS) and a highly sought-after instructor by students With her guidance, I was able to successfully conduct and finalize the research within the given timeline Additionally, she provided valuable support by reviewing my paper drafts This study would have been incomplete without her cooperation I would like to express my special thanks to all the teachers from four uppersecondary schools, who participated in this research Despite their busy schedules, they willingly shared their perspectives and allowed me to observe their practices regarding the implementation of new English textbooks for grade 10 Their responses were crucial in ensuring the success of this study I am deeply grateful that despite their other responsibilities, these teachers promptly answered the interviews and arranged classes for me to observe, enabling me to gather sufficient data for analysis I would also like to thank all the upper-secondary school students who graciously allowed me to observe their classes Their cooperation and willingness to accommodate my presence made it possible for me to observe the classes clearly Furthermore, I extend my appreciation to the administrators of these four upper-secondary schools for granting me permission to conduct the research within their campuses and classrooms I am also indebted to another upper-secondary school teacher who is currently teaching 10th-grade classes in Hue City This teacher assisted me in piloting the interview questions and provided valuable advice for improving them before the official interviews took place iii Lastly, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the staff in both the Postgraduate Training Department and the Faculty of English at HUFLIS Their support in providing relevant documents and facilitating the research process was invaluable I hope that the findings of this study can serve as a valuable resource for future studies in the fields of language and education, contributing to the overall curriculum reform efforts in Vietnam iv List of tables Table 2.1 A list of new English textbooks introduced in the academic 2022-2023 Table 3.1 The information and codes about participating teachers Table 3.2 Detailed contents in the English Curriculum of grade 10 Table 3.3 The summary of interview codes corresponding to teacher codes Table 3.4 The summary of observation codes and information about classes corresponding to teacher codes Table 3.5 The summary of codes utilized in the study Table 4.1: The summary of teachers’ pedagogical beliefs Table 4.2: The summary of adapted activities observed in classrooms v List of figures Figure 2.1 Factors influencing teacher agency (Priestley et al., 2016) Figure 3.1 The difference in the contents of units in the two textbooks Figure 3.2 The difference in the organization of parts in the two textbooks Figure 3.3 The difference in teaching contents in the two textbooks Figure 3.4: A strategy of phases to code in thematic analysis by Gibbs (2007) Figure 4.1 The dependence on textbooks of T2 and T4 Figure 4.2 The dependence on textbooks of T1 and T3 Figure 4.3 T1’s changes to teaching contents and activities in I-Learn Smart World Figure 4.4 An extract about the interaction between T1 and students Figure 4.5 T4’s changes to teaching contents and activities in Global Success Figure 4.6 T3’s using games in teaching Global Success Figure 4.7 An extract about the interaction between T3 and students Figure 4.8 T2’s using cooperating activities in I-Learn Smart World vi List of Abbreviations ELT: English Language Teaching EFL: English as Foreign Language MOET: Ministry of Education and Training NFL: National Foreign Language Project vii