MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY
HOW QUALIFICATION OF ENGLISH
LANGUAGE TEACHERS AFFECTS STUDENT’S PREFORMANCE IN HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION EXAMINATION: A CASE STUDY AT CHU VAN AN HIGH SCHOOL, AN GIANG PROVINCE | TRUONG BAI HOC md 1P.HON THU VIEN
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL)
Submitted by NGUYEN DUY LINH
Supervisor
THÁI CÔNG DẦN Ph.D
Trang 2ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to investigate the reality of teaching and learning English at Chu van An High School (CVAHS), An Giang Province, where the results of English subject in the previous high school graduation examination were higher than the average score of the province Moreover, the study will find out whether the teachers of English are qualified,
how the qualification of English language teachers affects student’s performance, and
whether the teachers at CVAHS know and have a plan to prepare themselves responding to the requirements of the Vietnam Foreign Language Teacher Qualifications Framework for the standards of teaching profession at high schools such as the qualifications, requirements of English proficiency level, and their professional teaching performance
Questionnaires completed by 305 students of 03 grades, 06 teachers of English, 02
administrators were employed to collect teacher’s opinions on satisfaction with teaching and working conditions at the school and their responses to questions about self-evaluation of quality of their teaching; students’ opinions on their teacher’s teaching, their motivation in learning, their biggest challenge and suggestions to enhance their learning English; administrator’s opinion on quality of teaching and leanring at the school And interviews with 02 teachers and 02 administrators focused on their responses to teaching conditions and facilities at the school, positive and negative points of their English teaching staff They were collected, interpreted, and discussed to discover the answers for research questions
The findings show that some good points about the school were the great support from the administrating board, student’s motivation to continue their study in university or college, and teacher’s experience in preparing students for important examinations; however there were more negative points, e.g students did not get much benefit of their teacher’s experience, most of the students were at average level of English and not much interested in learning this subject, and teachers of English were at average in their ability
Trang 3From the research’s findings, several recommendations to society, administrators, and
teachers of English were made with the hope of improving the quality of teachers and some other factors affecting teaching and learning English at high schools to enhance student’s
performance
Trang 4TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Statement of authorshïp - +: + tt 9121343314113 1114 1111.111.1101 1ke i AcknowledỹmenifS - sa ng.“ 1 11g ng 1 1111 1Á 1001 11011009214 ii 0¬ 0 iii I0 2083002027777 Vv I›8ua r1 1017 ix Abbreviations .ccccccssssssssessesscsscesecesseceseeceaneneeseestevsessassssessesssecsesseensesesesesaseneeseasees x Chapter I1 INTRODUCTION 55<5<<<<sssesesessee N41 0 4 9900806 4 9609 54 1 INB;C¡ (01 Toà 4a 0 1
1.2 Aim and objectives of the study .cssscsssssccssssscsssssesssssssssesssessstunssessenessenssesenises 4 1.3 Research questions of the sfudìy 5< 5S SH H2 ng 5 1.4 Scope of the sfudy - càng H2 H01 2 21T 1101111111111 110111 5 1.5 Design U00 0 5
Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ccccsscsssrscsscssencssscssssosesesensasecsscencsesensenressees 7 2.1 Roles of Enlgish language teaChe€rS . + HH HH g0 Hy re 7 2.2 Some factors that affect the quality of teachers and teaching performance: 10
2.3 Some characteristics of qualified teachers of English: occ eecsesseeeeeeeeeee 13 2.3.1 Knowledge of the English subject matter and curriculum: 14
Trang 53.4.1 Purpose of the đesign -.- + cà Sen 29
KV 8 31
3.4.2.1 Questionnaire Construction che 31 3.4.2.1.1 Questionnaire to the Študents . - 32 3.4.2.1.2 Questionnaire to the Teachers_ 33 3.4.2.1.3 Questionnaire to the AdministratOrs 35 3.4.2.2 Ïn€TVICWS nọ HH HH HT ng Hà tt Hà H811 KH 35 3.4.3 Delivery of the questionnaires, data collection and data analyses 36 3.4.3.1 Data delivery and collection procedures .- 36 3.4.3.2 Data analyses ¬ 37
3.5 ASSUMPfiOTNS nh 110k 11111 1 re 38
3.6 Limitations of the study .- -.-s«<<- 145414218 1E18111114 5 000 38
Chapter 4 EINDINGS .-oSĂSSSSSYSeseeirseee — 39
TNN ¡000i 1 39 4.2 QuestiOnniair©s - -.- 5553 + nà HH HH 401111 11118110 1910 ng ng tre 40 4.2.1 Questionnaire to the SfUdenfS .- - SH 40 4.2.1.1 Studenf”S r€SDOTS€S Ăn tr 4]
4.2.1.1.1 Student’s responses to teaching and learning of
English at CVAHS oo eseceecssecseeseeeseeseeeseesseeeaes 4] 4.2.1.1.2 General comments of students on their teachers
of English and English subject .- . -: 44 4.2.1.1.3 Student’s responses to their future intention and
reason to study English -<c<<<<5- 45 4.2.1.1.4 Biggest challenges in learning English 47 4.2.1.1.5 Suggestions to better achieve English learning
outcome at CVAHS càng ngay 48 4.2.1.2 Summary of Findings through Questionnaire to the students 50 4.2.2 Questionnaire to the teachers 2.0.0 eee eesccseseeeseresseeessscsseeseeseseeerssscnseseees 51 'VVUANI(- o6 ah 53
Trang 6and their satisfaction to the CVAHS .- 53
4,2.2.1.2 Factors affecting the quality ofteachers 53 4.2.2.1.3 Self-evaluation of teaching staff of English
on their teaching capacIfy .- -c+eexee 54 4.2.2.2 Summary of Findings through Questionnaire to the Teachers 57 4.2.3 Questionnaire to the AdminisfrafOFS - e-ssscess+eeeeieiteeire 58 4.2.3.1 Administrators” r€SpOnS€S . - Ăn SSnnheeeeeehiH 59
4.2.3.1.1 General information about teachers of English
subject and teaching—learning facilities at CVAHS 59
4.2.3.1.2 Administrator’s evaluation on quality of
teachers Of English - «<< 59 4.2.3.2 Summary of Findings through Questionnaire for Administrators 61
6N c8 .ố ẽ 62
4.3.1 Interview with Teacher Ì . - Sky ngư 62 4.3.1.1 Benefits and difficulties of teaching English at CVAHS 62 4.3.1.2 Suggestions .ccecesceescesceeeeeseeceeeessassecsesesseesseesssssseascasesseeeseseees 63 4.3.1.3 Strong points and weak points of teachers of English at CVAHS 64
SN (02212 0(0 0l v0 64
4.3.2.1 Benefits and difficulties of teaching English at CVAHS 64 4.3.2.2 Strong points and weak points of teachers of English at CVAHS 65 4.3.3 Interview with Administrator | oo ee eee eee eeseeeeeseceeerecseetenecseestseeeeseenees 67 4.3.3.1 Benefits of teaching English at CVAHS .- <©- 67 4.3.3.2 Difficulties of teachers of English at CVAHS 68 4.3.4 Interview with AdministratOr 2 -s s21 SH ngư the 68 4.3.4.1 Benefits and difficulties ofteachers English - 68
4.3.4.1.1 Bemefits 68
4.3.4.1.2 DIfficulties - HH HH KH ket 70 4.3.4.1.3 Suggestions from the school administrators .- 71 4.3.4.2 Teaching staff of English - + < Ăn nn nnn kgggre, 71
4.3.4.2.1 GOOd pOITIS ng HH ng rệt 71
Trang 74.3.4.2.2 Weak point .cscssecceeeseeseesesseseeseessnseseneeseessneeseseenessenneneenes 72
4.3.4.3 Why were students’ performance results of high school graduation
examinations improved in the previOUs year? .ccceseccsssesseteeeesesens 72 4.3.5 Summary of Findings through IntervIeWS c ii 73 4.3.5.1 About the teachers of English at CVAHS .- 73 4.3.5.2 Reasons for high score results of high school graduation exam
1n the pr€VIOUS V€âT -.Q Go crư 74 4.3.5.3 About students of English at CVAHS .c 75 Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 76 §,1 Introduction ccccccsssssssssssssscssssssssssssesesssessusesessssssseseeeee KH TH HH HH ng ng 76 hW›C| švi 00) 1i: 8i) 2i (0n 77 5.3 Recommendations for teachers and adminisfrafOrs . -©: 79 3.3.1 SOCI€ẨV HH HH HHH HH HH ng ven địch HH gà 79 0ì ốc 79 N3 cu 2 nan ố ố 81 5.4 Suggestions for future research_ - Ác S1 1123116119911 E81 1111151111115 re 82 hi ah 82 REEERENCES Q Go cọ cọ TH 9000 040606 83 APPENDICES G0 TH TT TT ch 00500846 08456 92 Appendix 1: Questionnaire for students [in English] : 555555 55x << sex 92 Appendix 2: Questionnaire for students [in Vietnamese]|_ - - -5 5555: 94 Appendix 3: Questionnaire for teachers [in English] . . 5 <5 525555 <<<sc+s 96
Appendix 4: Questionnaire for teachers [in Vietnamese] ¬ xxx xei 99
Appendix 5: Questionnaire for administrators [in English] . 102 Appendix 6: Questionnarre for administrators [In Vietnamese] . - 104 Appendix 7: Details of Table 6 (Suggestions to achieve better English learning outcome at
07 Đa 106 Appendix 8: Transcripts of interviews with Teachers and Administrators .- 107
Trang 8&
E ụ
: Appendix 9: “Plan to participate into the Foreign Language Project of High
School Educational Development Program, Period 2008-2020” 114
LIST OF TABLES
Page Table 1 Profile of students Of CVAHS c.cccccccccccescssscesssesecstensetsesusesuesesecnseearessessecaaeenseeaeenses 40 Table 2 Student’s response to teaching at CVAHS 0 ccccccccclicccceseesetececnseeseeseeeseenseeseeesenees 42
Table 3 General comments of students on their teachers of English and English subject 45
Table 4 Student’s future intention and reason to study English .cccccccccccccesssecstsesssteseeteees 45,46 Table 5 The biggest challenges oƒ student 's learning English .c c 47
Table 6 Suggestions to achieve better English learning outcome at CỨAHS 48
Table 7 Profile of teachers of English at CVAHS .ccccccccccccccccccsssesccsesscestessesessscsecaseseseeseeaes 52 Table 8 Afecting ƒactors to quality oƒ teachers ¬ 54
Trang 9CVAHS CEF DOET EG ELT IELTS IT MOET TESOL TOEFL TV VCD ABBREVIATIONS
Chu Van An High School
Common European Framework of References
The Department of Education and Training of An Giang Province
English Group/ Group of English subject English Language Teaching
International English Language Testing System Information Technology
Master of Arts
The Ministry of Education and Training
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Test of English as a Foreign Language
Television
Trang 10CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
This report reveals the results of a study investigating the quality of English teaching
and learning at Chu Van An High School (CVAHS) in An Giang Province The aim was to determine the factors affecting student’s performance in English subject in the
high school graduation exam This introduction presents a discussion of the rationale of the study being addressed, the objectives and research questions of the study, the
scope of the study, and an overview of the whole thesis
1.1 Rationale of the study
The preference of this study is prompted by the fact that English is a universal language, a tool that an international citizen must master if one wants to “survive” in every field in this world People cannot live alone in their own “country” anymore Moreover, they can open themselves to the world and the only way to connect to the world is the universal language — English Therefore, every learner of English has to recognize the necessity of mastering the universal language And one of the factors that can help the learners get their target of reaching the international language in an educational system in a shortest way is teachers
Knowing the importance of teachers in the process of learning a foreign language - especially the English language; this study focuses on the role of English language
teachers and is carried out to investigate the reality of the qualification of teachers at
CVAHS, An Giang Province, to have an overview about high school teachers of English as one of the aims of the project “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages
in National Educational System” Period 2008-2020 (shortly named Project 2020) by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) It will aim at the qualification of
Trang 11English teachers in the English language teaching and learning program in the national educational system In addition, the project will be developed in the academic year of 2011 -2012 at some high schools (MOET, 2010)
However, it is a fact that making investigation into the qualification of teachers at
high schools is a sensitive aspect to Vietnamese teachers, especially the standards of teaching profession at high schools and requirements of the English level and
performance of teachers in their working environment They were investigated to be
given out a general impression for administrators to find solutions for the school to reply to the requirements of the project for teachers of English Thus, many difficulties and problems might have arisen in collecting the data For that reason, the study on investigation of the quality of the teachers of English is a matter of necessity
Moreover, the study is carried out at CVAHS whose average scores of English
subject in the high school graduation exam were regularly below the average scores
of the province Nevertheless, the school got the scores of English in the graduation
exam which were higher than of the province in the academic years of 2009 and
2010 Especially, the score of English (89.47%) was much higher than the average score of the province (62.09%) (Ung, 2010)
With the high score results of the students in the graduation exam (Ung, 2010) mentioned above, are students of CVAHS really good and efficient in using English to response to the need of using English in everyday life? To know the results that reveal what ability of English language students can do, a deeper look into the
specifications and contents of the test of English in the high school graduation examination in 2010 should be taken There were 50 multiple choice questions in the test Most of the test focused on testing grammar with 25 multiple choice questions of grammar points, 5 questions on grammar structures with matching format, and 5
questions on grammar structures in finding mistakes in sentences The left part of the
Trang 12test concentrates on reading, pronunciation, and vocabulary, including 5 questions on
reading skill with details which were asked to find out, 5 questions on pronunciation which were asked to differentiate the sound in the group, and 5 questions on
vocabulary which related to choosing meaning and using collocations
Through the specifications of the test, it can be concluded that the test paid much
attention on grammar, a little of Reading skill of finding details, vocabulary, and
pronunciation with recognizing sounds in a word These aspects which were tested in the graduation exam last year could reflect what skill and knowledge of English the number of students with high scores were good at Thus, the test could not assess all four skills of English language that students were taught in class, and all of the stakeholders should worry about the results of the exam
In our society, a huge number of people take great care of the score in the results of
the tests However, do the results reflect the real ability of students who need to use
English for communication or everyday life? Amost everyone in our society all think that results of the scores of students relate to the quality of teachers who will account for student’s performance Consequently, the researcher wants to find out how the
quality of the English teachers affected the school’s English scores of student’s
Trang 131.2 Aim and objectives of the study
The aim of this study is to have a grasp of the teachers of English at Chu Van An High School, An Giang Province Driven by the need to recognize the generic overview of the reality of teachers’ quality at CVAHS, the results of the investigation will be reported to the principal that whether their teachers are qualified
with the requirements of high school teachers of English for the project 2020 when it
will be promulgated nationwide or not The researcher can find out some good points and bad qualifications of teachers as factors affecting student’s performance at the exam to suggest some opinions for the teachers, the administrators as well as the society to recognize their student’s ability and to help ELT staff be ready for the wide promulgation of the project in the future and a more accurate view into the
score results of the test
The objectives of the study are:
1/ To investigate the qualification of English language teachers at Chu Van An High School
2/ To investigate how the qualification of the English language
teachers at Chu Van An High School affects student’s performance in the
high school graduation examination At the same time, the teachers’ qualifications are matched with standards of teaching profession for high school teachers promulgated by the MOET
Trang 141.3 Research questions of the study
To get the objectives that the researcher mentioned above, this study would cover the
following questions
1⁄ Are English language teachers of Chu Van An High School really
qualified?
2/ How do ELT qualifications and facilities affect student’s performance
and do the teacher’s qualifications meet the standards of MOET?
3/ What can be done to enhance the success of student’s performance?
1.4 Scope of the study
The study is not set out to investigate all aspects of the qualification of teachers of English in national educational system of Vietnam Therefore, the objectives of the investigation of the qualification of teachers of English are mainly at CVAHS through teaching qualifications, teaching performance evaluation from the principals,
their students, and themselves, how they affect student’s performance in the exam
In addition, due to time constraints and within the scope of an MA thesis, the
investigation is confined to self-evaluation from teachers of English, evaluation from
administrators and their students
1.5 Design of the study
This study is comprised of five chapters
Trang 15Moreover, it also deals with research questions, scope of the study, and design of the study
Chapter Two, Literature Review, is set up to provide with a careful examination on
the necessary concepts as teacher roles, the qualifications of teaching and learning languages, the ability and factors of a good language teacher, teacher evaluation
which are relevant to the purpose of the study Factors in evaluating English
language teachers was analysed in greater details Furthermore, previous studies related to the study were summarized
Chapter Three, Methodology, is employed to the research It presents the setting of
the study, the careful descriptions of the instruments and participants in the study, as
well as the procedure of collecting data and interpretation of findings Assumptions and limitations of the study will be touched upon as well
Chapter Four, Findings, is concerned with the descriptions, synthesis, and analysis of the collected data from questionnaires and interviews combined with some documents; and the findings are discussed
Chapter Five, Conclusions and Recommendations, is set up to describe the
Trang 16CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
` The aim of this chapter is to provide a brief review of the literature of topics related
to the study: English language teacher’s roles to student’s learning English as a subject and successful outcomes at high schools, some factors affecting the
qualification of teachers and teaching performance, the characteristics of qualified
teachers of English, and previous studies related to the evaluation of high school
English language teachers
The first portion deals with the universally undeniable roles of English language teachers to student’s learning the English subject at their high schools and the outcomes that students can achieve, and a variety of factors that hinder the qualification of teachers of English and their teaching performance as well
Next is what characteristics most qualified teachers of English have in common to make sure that their teaching is fruitful to student’s learning the English subject The final portion of the chapter presents some previous studies concerning to the teacher-centered factors responsible for high school student’s successful English
language learning and the evaluation of high school teachers of English in the
context of Vietnamese education system and an overseas study related to the topic 2.1 ROLES OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
‘Without the teacher, you sure can’t be successful.’
Vietnamese saying
English as a compulsory subject in the education system of Vietnam has taken over other languages like French, Russian, etc since 1992 and been being used in learning
Trang 17and teaching in Vietnam since the “Open Door Policy” English also began to be employed more often in the mass media since the time Vietnam officially became one of the members of the ASEAN in 1997 And according to Vietnam’s decision 1400 entitled “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in The National Educational System, Period 2008-2020”(Project 2020), the government of Vietnam
shows its willingness and a strong desire to
“renovate thoroughly the tasks of teaching and learning foreign language within the national education system, to implement a new program on teaching and learning foreign languages at every school levels and training degrees, which aims to achieve by the year 2015 a vivid progress on professional skills, language competency for human resources ” (Dudzik,
2010 p.1)
Additionally, research shows that “real educational change depends on what teachers
do and think” (Grewer & Taylor, 2006) Teachers of English need to embrace this opportunity to improve education at both macro and micro levels to keep up with the
pace of development It is, therefore, very essential to develop a national staff of
teachers of English who are “professional practitioners with adaptive expertise”
(Dudzik, 2008)
From a social constructivist perspective, four main ingredients in the whole process of English language teaching and learning are teachers, students, contexts, and
learning materials (Williams and Burden, 1997) For the vitality to the effect of language teaching and learning, the roles of teachers are of the primary importance (Grewer & Taylor, 2006)
Teachers have, traditionally, the responsibility to sustain and impart the values and
the central body of knowledge to their students (Heron, 1988) Littlewood (1997)
was quoted as saying that teachers, in a broad sense, may perform in a variety of
roles, separately or simultaneously However, two major roles that teachers play in their classrooms are: (1) to create favorable and necessary conditions for their
Trang 18student’s learning, (2) to help bridge the world knowledge gap for their learners
(Littlewood, 1997)
However, above all for teacher’s professional progress given the development of the “flat world”, teachers’ roles are characterized as “a continuum” from transmission to interpretation teaching (Voller, 1997) Voller (1997) details these two extremes as following:
“Transmission teachers believe in subject disciplines and boundaries between
them, in content, in standards of performance laid down by these disciplines that can be objectively evaluated As a result, the teacher’s role is to evaluate
and correct learners’ performance; and that learners will find it hard to meet the standards, interpretation teachers believe that knowledge is the ability to organize thought, interpret and act on facts; that learners are intrinsically
interested and naturally inclined to explore their works; that teacher’s role is
to set up dialogues in which learner reorganize their states of knowledge; that learners already know a great deal and have the ability to refashion that knowledge.” (p 100)
The myth that all teachers are perfect as most often think may have its reason to survive through the history of human education Even though following a traditional or modern path of teaching and meeting the need of the development of education, especially the field of ELT, teachers are the controller, organizer, participant, helper, prompter, facilitator, counselor and resource, etc (Heck & William, 1984; McIntyre
Trang 192.2 SOME FACTORS AFFECTING THE QUALIFICATION OF QUALIFIED TEACHERS AND TEACHING PERFORMANCE
Vietnam in the era of the twenty first century holds a young population; well over half of Vietnam’s 70 million-plus people were born after 1975, with the overwhelming desirability of English as a job qualification and a tool to unlock the
world’s language barrier to achieve personal desires This young generation has
created a huge demand for teaching and learning English, and there are now plentiful opportunities for teachers of English whose roles are more important than ever before Their roles in recent years are, however, shaking and worrying for the fact
that their student’s outcomes after 7 or more years learning English at Vietnam’s high school system and higher education are too far behind the expectations of the
whole society and fails to meet the public’s requirements (Ngo, 2008) It is rooted in
many causes, namely historical values, students, teachers, educational management,
the school context, etc which are still the subject of controversy among educators,
teachers of English, students, and those who feel interested in the subject
The matter of Vietnam’s history and traditional values favor the teacher-centered
approach which still dominates the classroom environment Le (1999, cited in Khoa
Anh Viet, 2008) views the classroom environment of English language learning in Vietnam as “a cultural island where the teacher is expected to be the sole provider of experience in the target language”
Le (1999, cited in Khoa Anh Viet, 2008) also states:
“In general, students of English in Vietnam fall into three major categories in terms of needs Some view English as a tool for more attractive and lucrative
employment opportunities; others need a good knowledge of English to study
further at universities or colleges The majority of students, however, learn English just to pass the national examinations These students do not have an obvious communicative need All they need is a sufficiently good knowledge of grammar and vocabulary of the target language to pass the national grammar-based and norm referenced examinations.” p 171)
Trang 20| The fact is that almost all high school students fall into the “majority of students” learning English just “to pass the national examinations” (ibid, 2008) When the - communicative purpose can be demotivated by grammar-and-vocabulary-addicted _ students, the goal of learning a second language to “talk into and interact it” is too
far to reach
Another problems of English language teaching and learning in Vietnam’s education system is the “cart before the horse” situation (Butler, 2003), meaning that the teaching and learning of the English language is carried out in classrooms before there are not enough qualified teachers of English to teach
First of all, this is because of the shortage of qualified teachers -needles in a
haystack- whose rivals are the unqualified, whose weaknesses are reigning over
classrooms and let learners’ endeavour fell into ruin; and the use of Vietnamese in
the process of teaching is “very” common (Nguyen, 2006)
Secondly, the new methodology is employed by dinosaur heads, whose stated
principles stand in contrast to their conduct, and who used to long favor grammar-
translation and/ or audio-lingual method (Pham, 2005), which teachers highly appreciate their values, but nowadays out of date Moreover, teachers tightly tie themselves to their own teaching methods and the syllabi (Ngo, 2008), which are
sometimes inappropriate and haunted by the ghost of headache grammar, etc
Moreover, according to Hargreaves & Fullan (1992), the cultures of teaching among teacher community are defined as “beliefs, values, habits and assumed ways of doing things among the communities of teachers” The real situation is not so clear because
Vietnamese high school teachers stick to their own teaching methods, show their competitiveness, and are reluctant to share teaching materials and experience (Khoa
Anh Viet, 2008) In addition, they feel uncomfortable and unwilling to accept peer- observations in their class, and student feedback or evaluation
Trang 21Other problems come from observable and external factors, namely teacher salary policy, working conditions, and educational management, etc Most teachers often make complaints about the inadequate salary policy, a big issue in Vietnam, and the whole society’s paying much special attention to teacher’s living standards and ‘families, a highly controversial, long and hot topic among teachers (Moock et al.,
2003; Pham, 2006)
Additionally, the school context plays a pivotal role in the English language teaching
and learning However, working conditions in Vietnam’s high schools such as struggling with very crowded classrooms, an inefficient allocation of time, if not to
mention poor facilities or teaching aids, etc also thicken teacher’s challenges, let
alone such factors as lack of courses of ongoing improvement in teacher’s professional ability, lack of sound teacher training (Nunan, 2003), and schools’ unwillingness to hand the right to make decision on professional matters over to teachers (Vu, 2007)
Another hinderance goes with the framework of the national education and
educational management The most important clearly is the pressure, which Vietnamese teachers and learners live with in peace, that teachers work with a heavy load of syllabus, and learning and teaching are for the purpose of testing, which seemingly is the goal of Vietnam’s education (Ngo, 2008) In addition, teachers are reluctant to change, adapt or reform due to facing resistance from language policy-
makers, researchers, school management, or even teachers and students (Khoa Anh
Viet, 2008)
Vietnamese education in the open-door era is the fertile land for teachers and learners of second language pedagogy However, though teachers are armed to the
teeth with theory, unexpected problems are lurking to sneak into the classrooms In
the long run, teacher’s devotion and passion to their professional may dry out due to be “shattered by exposure to certain realities of schools, classroom, and teaching”
Trang 22(Knowles et al., 1994) Then, the reality of teaching in Vietnam reveals that it is still a long distance ahead before enjoying the fruit of learning and teaching
2.3 SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALIFIED TEACHERS OF ENGLISH
“The mediocre teacher tells The good teacher explains The superior teacher demonstrates The great teacher inspires.”
~William Arthur Ward
Sanderson (1983) provides us with a very long list of the characteristics of good
language teachers as following:
o using the foreign language instead of the learner’s native language
oO giving careful attention to the pronunciation, intonation and stress
© praising correct responses; and being sympathetic/ positive about
wrong responses
© creating a warm, non-threatening, and welcoming atmosphere © engaging in intensive oral exploitation
© providing non-verbal clues to assist student’s understanding o combining the foreign language with the target culture
oO providing clear task instruction and explanations; and employing various materials
o being flexible to objectives
© providing students with a variety of language tasks and activities
o involving the whole group
co being able to handle equipment, and teaching aids © promotes use of the foreign language by pupils
Source: Adapted from Modern Language Teachers in Action: A Report on Classroom Practice, Sanderson, 1983
Trang 23Additionally, according to Dudzik (2010), Brown (2006, 2007), Darling-Hammond (2000), and Danielson (1996) and more, the characteristics of good English language - teachers can be classified into four categories: technical knowledge, pedagogical
skills, interpersonal skills and personal qualities First and foremost, teachers make
sure that they have the knowledge of the language or understand the mechanics of the language, such as phonology, grammar, etc, at an acceptable teaching level
Then, the pedagogical knowledge means knowing appropriate teaching skills And one of teacher’s interpersonal skills is the ability to understand their students from diverse aspects like needs, interests, and language abilities, etc For personal qualification, teachers of English keep maintaining positive professional attitudes and possessing values embedded for professional developments
2.3.1 Knowledge of the English subject matter and curriculum
In the publication entitled “Vietnam Foreign Language Teacher Qualifications Framework”, Dudzik (2010) points out that teachers are capable of modeling the target language at a level of proficiency: for the listening skill, teachers “understand extended, unstructured speech with implicit information and TV and films with little effort” At the same time, teachers “communicate fluently and spontaneously with very little searching for words, use language socially and professionally, and express opinions and ideas skillfully and appropriately with others” For the writing skill, teachers are able to “write clear, well-organized lengthy texts including letters, essays and reports in style appropriate to reader.” And English language teachers of the reading subject must “understand and recognize style of longer, more complex
literary and factual texts, and specialized or technical articles not in their field.”
According to Dudzik (2010), “teachers understand, model, and use knowledge of the target language system at appropriate developmental level” Teachers are able to “understand and help students acquire language at the sound, word and sentence
level”; and “recognize, use, and teach students to use common discourse features,
Trang 24SESE
t thetorical patterns and communication strategies” At the same time, teachers help Students clarify the “differences between target language and Vietnamese language
forms and uses” (Dudzik, 2010)
For curriculum and syllabus design, Dudzik (2010) also suggests that various curricular approaches, and above all the national foreign language curriculum should be taken into consideration and tailor-made to suit particular student groups and
reach curricular goals, so teachers must be able to:
“understand and reflect on the purposes and organization of proficiency- based, content-based, task-based and other approaches to language curricula
understand and reflect on the Vietnamese national foreign language curriculum approach, goals, scope and sequence
develop syllabi for particular students that reflect appropriate approach while addressing national curricular goals.” (Dudzik, 2010, p.7)
Other vital standards that also count for the knowledge of subject matter are second language acquisition and development, and culture (Doughty & Long, 2003; Ellis,
1997; Dudzik, 2010) Teachers are able to understand how languages, both their
mother tongue and second language, are acquired from their own experience and apply that knowledge to their student’s language acquisition process (Ellis, 1997) According to Dudzik (2010), teachers must be able to reflect on “their own language
learning experience and the theory underlying their experience”, “what they know
and believe from the research literature about language learning”, and “how their knowledge of how languages are learned informs their teaching” (Dudzik, 2010)
Trang 25} 2.3.2 Knowledge of teaching
‘Dudzik (2010) details various standards of knowledge of teaching that qualified teachers (1) have a thorough understanding of various teaching methods, and (2) ị give careful attention to planning effective lessons, activities, and tasks Moreover, i teachers are able to (3) manage classroom activities and procedures Additionally, : (4) teachers understand student differences to use formative and summative - assessment strategies to evaluate their student’s performance and development Teachers are (5) skilled at using and adapting a variety of appropriate materials,
‘teaching resources and technology to enhance the teaching and learning process And, teachers show their passion for “learning from and contributing to the profession” (Dudzik, 2010)
For the effectiveness in their classrooms, that English language teachers have a good
command of the language is not sufficient, and their language competency must also
go hand in hand with appropriate teaching techniques (Brown, 1994; Kumaravadivelu, 2003) Reyner et al (2001) recommend that "many good teachers are adaptive rather than rigid in their approach to teaching children and only loosely
‘base their instruction on a given method" It means that they must be familiar with
and capable of employing and adapting diverse and appropriate teaching techniques (Nunan, 1991) like integrating and using “the four skills for authentic, relevant purposes”, encouraging student’s participation for communicative purposes as much as possible, and being willing to “explore a variety of learning strategies” (Dudzik,
2010)
These following suggestions may be helpful to teachers in managing their classrooms First of all, teachers must provide learners with a learning environment that is informative, safe, friendly and enjoyable, in which learners feel free and worthy to perform their best In other words, Sorensen (1996) claims that the open and non-threatening classroom environment "allowed teachers and students to share
Trang 26the ownership of knowing" In this sense, students can pursue knowledge in an active and critical way (Sorensen, 1996)
Teachers have to be consistent in their ways of carrying out and managing classroom issues Polard (2002) suggests that teachers should spend 10% of classroom time imparting the knowledge to their students, and the rest of the time letting their students practice their learning interactively and collaboratively Bateson (1994) recommends, “participation precedes learning”, so teachers must invite students into the learning process first Additionally, language learning will take place in its effectiveness when amongst students, and between ‘teachers and students exist communicative interaction (Brown, 2000) Ellis (1997) stresses that “the opportunities to interact in the second language is central to developing second language proficiency.” However, communicative interaction to what extend needs to
be as more real and natural as possible In Littlkewood’s words (1984), the fruitful
classroom strategy is
“by providing communicative experience in the classroom which is as similar
as possible to communication in the natural environment The more realistic this classroom communication becomes and the more frequently it takes
place, the more blurred becomes the distinction between natural and formal
learning.” (pp 61,62)
The knowledge of classroom managements requires teachers to apply classroom techniques to plan and conduct effective lessons There are three phrases: pre-, while-, and post- stages The aim of pre-, carried out before learners have seen the text, is to arouse interest in the topic by drawing on learners’ knowledge of the world and on their opinion It can also carry to generate relevant vocabulary The aim of
while- is to help learners understand the structure and content of the text It may
involve language work, it should try to give learners a relevant reason for aims to answer questions such as “What do you mean by that?” rather than “What does that (in its most literal sense) mean?” Besides, learners are encouraged to take notes if possible Post- is intended to help learners consolidate and reflect on what has been
Trang 27
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Sc
Tp
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learnt Post- stage can be designed for speaking or writing activities, which necessarily help reinterpret what learners have decoded in their world of thought : At the same time, teachers should learn by heart that students have the right to be : exposed to appropriate instruction (Ellis, 2005) Many still argue that which approach instruction should be based on and how instruction can best facilitate language learning (Ellis, 2005) Littlewood (1984) states that:
“In formal instruction, teachers attempt to affect the course of learning, mainly by such means as: controlling the learners’ exposure to the language; making them become aware of significant features and patterns; providing opportunities for practicing the language; ensuring that learners receive feedback about their performance Within this general framework, an immense variety of teaching approaches is possible, and it is obvious that some teachers have developed more successful approaches than others However, it is not at all clear what factors determine their success.” (p.60) It is a fact that no one can exactly assess instruction better than teachers themselves In other words, teachers have the full authority to adapt their own methodologies in conjunction with that they choose their own instruction, given their own purposes Materials should be taken into consideration They need to be well-designed and to be appropriate Edge (1993) states that “materials exist in order to support learning
and teaching” And it is a warning that teachers “try to fit themselves and their
learners into the demands made by their materials” (Edge, 1993) What should be understood is that teacher’s purpose is "not to teach materials” “Teacher’s purpose is to teach learners” Materials can be extensive by employing different sources; in which more priority given to “authentic materials” which in turn “represent the actual goal of language learning, including the difficulties that learning materials avoid, and bring the means of learning and the purpose of learning close together This establishes once again a direct link with the world outside the classroom” (Edge, 1993) Authentic texts allow learners to experience real instances of language use According to Nunan (1999), he writes:
Trang 28“Authentic texts are those that have been produced in the course of genuine communication, not specially written for purposes of language teaching They provide learners with opportunities to experience language as it is used beyond the classroom Of course, there is a great deal of language generated within the classroom itself that is authentic, and this can be very often be used for pedagogical purposes.” (Nunan, 1999, p.79)
However, teachers need to take text content into consideration (Snow et al., 1992),
which must be suitable to the world of students, who are particularly eligible to “knowledge-shock.”
Furthermore, in Edge’s words (1993),“student material”, both “learning materials produced by the learners and the learners themselves as materials”, also plays an important role It is due to “relating to the lives of thé learners is not only good for the learning process, it also brings in variety and freshness for teachers” (Edge,
1993)
Students must be fully immersed in the English language by being provided a language rich environment that goes with teacher’s assistance and scaffolding when necessary (Cruickshank et al., 2009), and a variety of visually and mentally stimulating materials, resources, and technology
Trang 29: 3 Knowledge of students
h recent years, education has been experiencing a paradigm shift from teacher- Bentered to student-centered teaching methods (Geeslin, 2003) Nunan (1996) : aims that in the learner-centered approach students play a key role in the process of he aching and learning Hence, Mendler (2001) emphasizes the importance of
teacher’s knowledge of understanding of their students Besides, teachers should find 3 out each student’s strength, then use that to help him or her develop skills and other
: strengths Dudzik (2010) lists teacher’s knowledge of their students as following: (1) | teachers must always demonstrate positive attitudes, and appropriate manners, and it is very important that teachers know how to motivate, inspire and engage student “interest into the language learning (2) Teachers also have an understanding of student’s language and apply that knowledge to inform appropriate classroom instructions (3) Teachers possess a grasp of thorough of student needs, interests and differences (4) Student’s cultural values and prior learning experience should be taken into consideration by teachers who help them understand and reflect on those values (5) Teachers help students take control of their own learning - self-learning, and create opportunities for students to develop and polish up on their creativity, and critical thinking skills (6) For student’s learning effectiveness, teachers can bring life to classrooms to help connect student learning beyond classroom contexts
Smith (2004) is quoted as saying, “being consistent doesn’t mean being a robot or a
machine It arises out of our caring for our students and caring for their learning.” Not only do English language teachers teach students the English language, but also help students discover various aspects of life (Moore, 2010) For the fact that the first and foremost purpose of an English language course aims at the successful performance of student’s educational roles, let alone their occupational roles in the
future, it is a smart advice to make a rigorous analysis of student’s needs and different interests (Moore, 2010; Ibrahim, 1999), and courses should be “tailor-
made” by teachers and school management before letting courses start It is, also,
Trang 30Fé e to the fact that students may fall into various levels of competence in the F language subject: beginner, post-beginner, intermediate, etc
| However, Perren (1974) points out that “identifying the learner’s needs is a tricky 4 business and we must beware of foisting on his needs which we think he should have a but of which he is unaware.” By whatever reasons, teacher’s ignorance of learners’
| differences will burn out learners’ enthusiasm to engage in their learning
| Additionally, Richterich and Chancerl (1980) also say that student needs analysis is an ongoing process because student’s needs and interests as well may change even
' while courses are on the progress due to such many troublesome factors as student’s
~ demotivation in the subject matter, or lack of progress in their learning, etc
Learning is not confined in schooling settings but students can learn everyday of
their lives from the day of their birth The goal of teaching and learning is to assist
students in becoming self-sustaining, life-long learners beyond classroom context (Woolfolk, 2008; Dudzik, 2010) Besides, the new science of teaching and learning also gives priority to the importance that students take control of their own learning - self-learning (Woolfolk, 2008) Thus, the meaning of teaching and learning has
shifted from being able to help students remember and repeat knowledge to being
able to understand and use it, and even develop critical thinking skills, construct new knowledge, and transfer to new situations (Woolfolk, 2008)
2.3.4 Professional attitudes and values embedded for professional developments In recent years, concerns about the quality of teachers of English in the context of Vietnam’s second language education have attracted increasing attention Brisk (1998) stresses that, in addition to teaching methods language competence, and
multicultural knowledge, teacher’s attitudes toward their English language students, professional, bilingual education, and values embedded for professional
Trang 31teachers of English hold quite favorable and positive attitudes toward their
professional and students Hence, regardless of diverse beliefs about motivation,
knowledge, teaching and learning those with positive professional attitudes and developments are more likely to teach and behave differently from colleagues with a less positive attitude (Brisk, 1998)
First and foremost, “don’t wear masks” because students can notice that Teachers’ personality can determine their success or failure Hence, it is very important that teachers let their personality light up their classrooms, as Penner (1992) says:
“One who teaches effectively, teaches not only his subject but himself Personality is that part of the teacher's self which he/she projects into every classroom activity, thereby affecting and conditioning every learning
situation.” (p.99) ở
Teacher’s attitudes toward English language students are important because teacher’s high level of motivation and positive attitudes to engage with and inspire their students can translate into student’s higher motivation and performance, and be conductive to student success (Brisk ,1998)
It is the fact that teachers have to realize that their past and present teaching styles and methods are not necessarily incorrect and changing but need adapting and polishing In other words, teachers should continue to enhance their skills and stay
current with developments in the field (Guskey, 2000; Killion & Hirsh, 2001)
Additionally, teachers need “brain-washing”, in other words they need to change their mind in teaching and learning In order to teach well, teachers must first be “good life-long learners”, who always see a need to enrich their knowledge of the world, and above all the master of the English language (Woolfolk, 2008)
Making evaluation is an integral part of English language teaching and learning for the two major purposes of teaching accountability, and professional developments (Weir & Roberts, 1994) The results from teacher self-evaluation assist them in
Trang 32deciding “whether a course needs to be modified or altered in any way so that objectives may be achieved more effectively” (Nunan, 1992) So, various measures have been employed to evaluate teacher qualities Three aspects of teacher evaluation, such as (1) teacher self-evaluation, (2) school management’s evaluation on their teachers, and (3) student’s evaluation on their teachers, are teacher’s best bet In addition, procedures that teachers can employ in making evaluations: tests, comparison of two approaches to a course, interviews, questionnaires, teacher’s written evaluation, diaries and journals, teacher’s records, student logs, case study, student evaluations, audio-or-video-recording, and observation (Richards, 2001) It is undeniable that teacher’s training and professional developments are more realistic options for meeting the needs of English language students because teachers are armed with requisite knowledge and skills (Woolfolk, 2008) Teachers need to realize that the society’s expectations are more complex than ever before And those expectations in return have great influences on teacher’s consciousness, teaching
performance, attitudes, teaching methods, teaching policy and, above all, student
success (Woolfolk, 2008)
2.4 Previous studies
The first study entitled “Research on constructing measures to improve the quality of high school teachers in An Giang Province”, was done in August 2007 by Dr Vu Thi Phuong Anh The study is aimed at providing suggested measures to improve the quality of An Giang province’s high school teachers, especially teachers of Literature, Mathematics, and English And those suggested measures had to be closely associated with the province’s context and firmly justified with detailed experimental results
The data was collected from two main sources: questionnaires for teachers of English, schools’ management, and students as well to gather their perspectives, and
Trang 33a multiple-choice proficiency test carried out to check student’s English competence as the justification for teacher’s teaching effectiveness
From the results of experiments, the study suggested the following measures, which are Classified into 3 main categories, to help improve the quality of the teachers The first one focuses on improving working and teaching conditions (e.g classrooms, facilities, and information) for teachers, and learning conditions for students as well Especially, the role of information technology like Internet must be the priority of most schools to enhance teacher’s teaching and student’s learning at the very best The next category of measures includes ongoing improvement in teachers’ professional ability, and continuous innovation of teachers’ teaching method and continuous training and support services for teachers, etc Training courses to enhance teacher’s English language competence and computer skills should be paid much attention by school management
Finally, the measures deal with school management framework like reforming management by handing the right to make decision on professional matters over to
teachers, and offering teacher’s opportunities to take part in schools’ decision-
making process and policy making
Another study reviewed here is “Factors Affecting Quality Of English Language Teaching And Learning In Secondary Schools In Nigeria” by Aduwa-Ogiegbaen and Ivamu from University of Benin, Nigeria, in 2006 The topic of the study is quite
close to my study in the aspect of research that both aimed at examining the both
teacher-centered and external factors that affect the quality of teaching of the English subject both in public secondary schools in Nigeria and high schools in An Giang province, Vietnam This study was based on three guiding research questions examining three variables: “(1) frequency of the use of instructional media; (2)
Trang 34frequency of the use of instructional techniques; and (3) the school learning
environment”
The study provided a background that there has been an observable decline in the
quality of teaching and learning the English subject in public secondary schools in Nigeria in recent years, which is quite similar to Vietnam’s context
The study’s data was collected by two main instruments: (1) a questionnaire and (2) observation schedules The questionnaire, based on the Likert-type rating, scale was designed to solicit “student’s responses on teaching strategies, instructional
resources/media used by the teachers and the teaching/learning environment In
addition to the questionnaire, observation was carried out by trained research assistants “to authenticate the veracity of answers: given by students in the questionnaire”’
The study’s findings reveal that the teaching and learning of the English subject is “bedeviled” with various problematic factors such as inappropriate methods of teaching, lack of useful and up-to-date teaching resources, and teaching aids as well,
etc
Trang 35CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
“To understand is hard Once one understands, action is easy”
(Sun Yat Sen, 1866-1925)
3.1 Introduction
The study is based on the assumption that students and teachers at Chu van An high school (CVAHS) are becoming much better than they were before with the proof
that the English score of high school graduation examination is really improved year
by year However, these scores had been really low and often lower than the average
scores of the province; the school is in the rural area, a district on island and having
very few chances in using English outside the class Moreover, the scores of other
subjects in the graduation exam had been regularly higher than the English subject
and the average scores of the province This phenomenon is a real concern that
comes out of the researcher’s mind The study is; therefore, carried out to answer the
following questions:
1/ Are English language teachers of Chu Van An High School really qualified?
2/ How do ELT qualifications and facilities affect student’s performance and do the teacher’s qualifications meet the standards of MOET?
3/ What can be done to enhance the success of student’s performance?
This chapter specifies the research questions on which the study is based; it also explains the research design and methods of investigation At first, some information
Trang 36followed by a description of the participants (i.e teachers, students, and administrators at CVAHS) Then instruments of the study are described including questionnaires, interviews; data collection and analytical procedure of findings, assumptions and limitations of the study are touched upon
3.2 Research site
This study was carried out at Chu Van An high school in Phu My Town, Phu Tan
District, An Giang Province in the first semester of the academic year of 2010-2011
For many years, the school ranked in the top ten group of the provinces with high results of high school graduation examination Moreover, in the school years of
2007-2008, 2008-2009, and 2009-2010, the school got the fifth, fourth, and the third
position respectively in comparison to the other school in the province (Ung, 2010, p 2) It is located in a land of rural area of the province where most of the students are from the farming families and most of the teachers are young and enthusiastic to
devote their life to teaching Although it was rather poorly-equipped with no
laboratory for language learning, the teachers were eager and ready to face challenges in their work Some of them were trying to apply new teaching facilities into their teaching, for example, they tried to use VCD player and PowerPoint Presentation to prepare lesson plans and teach them in the classroom
3.3 Participants
The main subjects mentioned in the study are students, teachers, and school
administrators
3.3.1 Students
The key matters which are needed to be considered as well as this type of participants is concerned are population and sample selection
Trang 37According to Dornyei (2003), the group of people that a researcher is interested to study is called the “population”, and the group which is involved in the research is named the “sample” Selecting a sample has a purpose of saving time, money, and energy, and still gets the outcome that the researcher wants To choose the sample size that is acceptable, the researcher bases on the “the purpose of his study and the nature of the population” (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007, p.93), and as Krejcie
and Morgan (1970, cited in Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007, p.94) decided the
size of sample due to the fact that “the smaller the number of cases there are in the wider, whole population, the larger the proportion of that population must be which appears in the sample” (Krejcie and Morgan, 1970, cited in Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007, p.94), and with the total population of 1,200, the size of sample should be 291
Although there are two main ways of selecting a sample which are probability and non-probability, the latter was chosen by the researcher because he had time and constraint in choosing the sample (Kothari, 2004) which was chosen with the help of the vice-principal of CVAHS with readily available subjects for the study Among some of the sampling designs of non-probability, quota sampling and purposive sampling were used for the study, and three classes were chosen to represent for each grade
In the study, research population includes the students from three representative classes of each grade participated in the study It would take much time if the researcher did the survey for all of the students of the school and the school did not allow the researcher to carry out the questionnaires for all of the classes there; therefore the survey covered nine classes; three from each grade: 113 students from
grade 12, 89 students from grade 11, and 103 from grade 10 As a result, there are
305 students from the total of 1191 who were selected tentatively with the help of the vice principal of the school taking the survey The findings were supposed to
Trang 383.3.2 Teachers
In the English Group at CVAHS, there are seven teachers of English Of this
number, six of them are teaching at the school; one teacher is doing her MA in
TESOL course at the university; therefore, six were ready to participate in the study The teacher participants are described in terms of number, educational background, teaching experience, age Four of them are quite young, under 35 and have taught for less than 15 years; two are more than 35 and taught for more than 15 years Six of them got Bachelor’s degree and none of them took the international test of English such as IETLS or TOEFL (see Table 4 in Chapter 4)
3.3.3 Administrators
The head of English Group and the principal of CVAHS were eager and enthusiastic to take part in the study They were willing to help their teachers apply new teaching methods to have better teaching and learning outcomes for teachers and students 3.4 Research design
3.4.1 Purpose of the design
To obtain information to answer the research questions, a survey was conducted and based on: (1) questionnaires distributed to six teachers, students of nine classes at CVAHS, and two administrators; (2) follow-up interviews with two administrators from the school, (the principal and the head of English Group), two teachers are selected to have their ideas explored
The survey design was preferably used in data collection procedures for this study for the following reasons
Trang 39Firstly, the purpose of the survey research was to investigate the quality of teachers of English through self evaluation of teachers, evaluation from the students and administrators That is the case of sensitivity
Secondly, one noticeable advantage of the questionnaire survey design is its economy (Creswell, 1994), or “cost effectiveness” (Dornyei, 2003) for the researcher when he can collect a huge amount of information from the participant The participants also have enough time to think out their answers well; and the
questionnaire is free from bias (Kothari, 2004)
Thirdly, this study has the rapid return in data collection procedure which helps save
the researcher’s time and effort (Creswell, 1994, Dornyei, 2003) The questionnaire can be more scientific and objective in analyzing the data than other forms of
research (Ackroyd and Hughes, 1981)
Fourthly, interviews were used as a result of the supplementary information about
the participants that can give great value for interpreting the data; “misinterpretation” of interview questions can be avoided because the language of the interview can be
implemented to the level of ability and education of the interviewees; and no
difficulty for the missing information returns since the researcher can control the interviewee participants “effectively” (Kothari, 2004, pp 98, 99)
The rest of this section describes the design of the research in two parts: (1) descriptions of the instruments; and (2) delivery of the instruments and data
collection
Trang 403.4.2 Instruments
In order to get information from a large number of participants (305 students), questionnaires were used as the instruments of the study because they can save time, money, and effort for researchers (Dornyei, 2003) and they “are particular efficient for gathering data on a large scale basis” (Brown, 2001, p.6) In addition to questionnaires, interviews were used to investigate into more details about the quality of teaching staff of English subject and some solutions to difficulties that teachers of English at CVAHS are facing
3.4.2.1 Questionnaire construction
The questionnaires were used with closed-ended questions for teachers, administrators, and both closed-ended and essay-typed questions for students The questionnaires were adapted from the questionnaires of the study in Vietnam entitled “Research on developing measures to improve the quality of teaching staff in high schools in An Giang Province.” They were designed in Vietnamese to make sure that all participants understood the questions well and wrote their responses
with no difficulties
Likert scale, which was named after its inventor, Rensis Likert (Likert’s original
article appeared in 1932), is the scaling technique that researchers have been using the most popularly (Dornyei, 2003) The scale which is “very effective for gathering respondents’ view, opinions, and attitudes about various language-related issues” (Brown, 2001, pp 40- 41) is originally the design of “five response options” (Dormyei, 2003, p.37) It was chosen and commonly used in this study since “it is simple to use, seems to work well in a wide range of circumstances, and appears to
be fairly robust” (Maxim, 1999, cited in Duong, 2009, p.21) After the group of
Likert-scale design, open-ended questions were used for participants to give out
more ideas in their own words