the influence of vietnamese learning culture on upper-secondary school students’ attitudes towards communicative activities in learning english

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES BÙI VĂN HẬU THE INFLUENCE OF VIETNAMESE LEARNING CULTURE ON UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH (Tác động của văn hóa học tập ở Việt Nam đến thái độ của học sinh trung học phổ thông đối với các hoạt động học tiếng Anh theo đường hướng giao tiếp) M.A. MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.140.111 HANOI - 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES BÙI VĂN HẬU THE INFLUENCE OF VIETNAMESE LEARNING CULTURE ON UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH (Tác động của văn hóa học tập ở Việt Nam đến thái độ của học sinh trung học phổ thông đối với các hoạt động học tiếng Anh theo đường hướng giao tiếp) M.A. MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.140.111 Supervisor: Dr. Lê Văn Canh HANOI - 2014 i DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY This work is submitted as partial requirements for the Master‟s Degree in English Language Teaching Methodology by the University of Languages and International Stud- ies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. I declare that the work presented is to the best of my knowledge original, except as acknowledged in the script, and that the material has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or other educational institu- tions. Signed: _______________________________________________ Date: May 2014 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to people who have, in various ways, contrib- uted to the completion of this thesis. First and foremost, I would like to give my most sin- cere thanks to Dr. Le Van Canh, my supervisor, for not only his responses to any of my questions but also for his encouragement at any time of my hardship. I would like to thank Nguyen Viet Hung, my friend, a PhD student at the University, for helping me much with advice and encouragement. I am grateful to the students and teachers at my researched Upper-Secondary School for their cooperation during my data collection period. I owe a great debt to my wife, daughter and my families for the patience and encour- agement I have had from them. I believe that with all contribution of the people mentioned, I have an improved final thesis; however, there are unavoidably remaining weaknesses in this thesis, all of which belong to my responsibility, and all of which I should learn from. iii ABSTRACT The present study explored the influence of Vietnamese learning culture on upper- secondary school students‟ attitudes towards communicative activities in English learning. The survey study method was adopted, and the questionnaires were delivered to a system- atically selected sample of 166 students from one upper-secondary school in a mountain- ous region in Vietnam. This aimed at collecting necessary data for answering three re- search questions about the students‟ belief about language learning, the influence of this belief on the students‟ opinion about the role of teacher and learner and on their prefer- ences for English learning activities both inside and outside the classroom. The findings demonstrated influence of the Vietnamese culture of learning on the students‟ attitudes towards communicative English learning activities, some of which were favourable for utilisation of communicative activities. These concern their openness in communication, and a greater responsibility they took for their own learning. They also indicated the students‟ positive attitudes towards group work activities, which are typical of CLT techniques. Besides, the study showed evidence of the students‟ negative attitudes towards communicative activities, which resulted from the incompatibleness of these ac- tivities to the Vietnamese culture of learning. Basically, this incompatibility is related with the students‟ perceived drudgery nature of learning, the cultural strategies for effective learning through memorisation and error avoidance, the necessity for maintaining harmo- nious relationships, the students‟ passive learning, and their respect for and unequal rela- tionship with the teacher. Based on these findings, some suggestions were proposed concerning either adapta- tion of the CLT approach and its spawn activities to the cultural context of the study, or adjustment of the students‟ Vietnamese learning culture, or both. All of this aims at suc- cessful implementation of CLT at the researched school. iv TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II ABSTRACT III TABLE OF CONTENT IV LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES VI PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 1. Rationale of Study 1 2. Research Aims and Questions 2 3. Methods of Study 3 4. Scope of Study 3 5. Significance of Study 3 6. Organisation of the Thesis 3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4 1.1. Introduction 4 1.2. Communicative Language Teaching: Principles and Characteristics 4 1.3. Learning Activities in Light of CLT 6 1.4. Communicative Activities 7 1.5. Role of Teacher and Learner in CLT 8 1.6. Culture, Attitude and Behaviour 9 1.7. Vietnamese Learning Culture 11 1.8. Conceptions of Learning in Vietnamese Culture 12 1.9. Learning Culture and CLT 14 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 18 2.1. The Research Site 18 2.2. Methodology 18 2.3. Participants and the Ethical Issue 19 2.4. Instrument 19 2.4.1. Rationale for choosing the questionnaire and question type 19 2.4.2. Validity and reliability 20 2.4.3. Questionnaire items 22 2.5. Data Collection and Analysis Procedure 23 2.6. Findings and Discussion 24 v 2.6.1. Beliefs about Language Learning 24 2.6.2. Role of Teacher and Learner 29 2.6.3. Preference for Learning Activities 32 2.6.4. Students‟ English Learning Habits 34 2.6.5. The Influence of Vietnamese Learning Culture on the Students‟ Attitudes towards Communicative Activities in Learning English 36 PART C: CONCLUSION 39 1. Conclusions and Implications 39 2. Limitations and recommendations for further research 41 REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1: A MODEL FOR SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING (SPOLSKY, 1989, P.28) I APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE EVALUATION FORM II APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) III APPENDIX 4: STUDENTS‟ CONCEPTIONS OF HOW LEARNING SHOULD TAKE PLACE VII APPENDIX 5: STUDENTS‟ BELIEF ABOUT THE ROLE OF TEACHER AND LEARNER VIII APPENDIX 6: STUDENTS‟ PREFERENCE FOR ENGLISH LEARNING ACTIVITIES IX vi LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figures Figure 1. Culture – Attitude – Behaviour 10 Figure 2. Respondents’ Gender 24 Figure 3. Respondents’ English Proficiency 24 Tables Table 1. Questionnaires Delivered and Collected 24 Table 2. Students’ Conceptions of Learning 25 Table 3. Students’ Belief about the Role of Teacher and Learner 30 Table 4. Students’ Preference for English Learning Activities 33 Table 5. Students’ Most Favoured, Most Disfavoured and Home Activities 35 1 PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of Study Since the time of Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman philosopher, and later in the Ren- aissance theories, until now all languages have been considered to be of equal status (Pym, 2007). This is because “there is nothing intrinsically limiting, demanding, or handicapping about any of them” (Crystal, 1987, p.6, cited by Kasaian and Subbakrishna, 2011, p.165). The English language is not an exception. Although English was said to be a source of gratification to mankind because it was spoken in two of the greatest powers of the world (Jesperson, 1905), that is, America and Britain, it has no intrinsic linguistic supremacy over other languages in the world (Kasaian and Subbakrishna, 2011). Nonetheless, “for good or ill, the dominance of English as the world‟s preferred second or foreign language has been increasing in recent years” (Canh, 2004). For this reason, “those who are able to exploit it, whether to sell goods and services or to sell ideas, wield a very considerable power”; furthermore, “if you want to resist the exploitive power of English, you have to use English to do it” (Halliday, 2006, p.362, cited by Van, 2010, p.17). Although the statement is ideological, it has some truth in it. Since the utility of English has been perceived as a passport for many desired things in life, English teaching has consequently been regarded to be able to serve individual, na- tional, and international needs (Canh, 2004), and “if people are deprived of the chance of learning it, they are the ones who suffer” (Halliday, 2006, p.362, cited by Van, 2010, p.17). During the course of teaching and learning English, numerous methods have come and gone because there is no one-size-fits-all method that can meet the goals and needs of all learners and programs. As a matter of rule, in the 1970s Communicative Language Teach- ing (CLT) emerged, in the West, and started being discussed as a fashionable way of teach- ing languages, and by the turn of the new millennium, CLT had become a real buzzword in language teaching methodology around the world (Dornyei, 2009). In this context, educa- tion administrators, English language educators and teachers have navigated their attention toward CLT, as a response to its irresistible appeal. Accordingly, CLT has widely been ac- cepted as an effective way of teaching English as a second and foreign language (ESL/EFL). This is because there is an unspoken assumption that CLT is not only “mod- ern”, but is in fact the only way to learn a language properly; hence, a country without CLT is somehow backward; teachers who do not use CLT approach in their teaching are backward; methodologies which are considered to be traditional and the one based on route 2 learning are said to be behind in comparison with communicative approaches (Bax, 2003, p.281). Vietnam is not an exception from the spread of CLT. Although CLT was introduced into the country rather later than into other countries in the neighbourhood (Canh and Bar- nard, 2009), it has been rhetorical in the whole school system of the country, especially at the general education level. However, scholars and researchers have reported the unsatis- factory implementation of this approach in Vietnam (Canh, 2004; Canh, 2011; Canh and Barnard, 2009; Barnard and Viet, 2010; Nguyen and Franken, 2010; Thinh, 2006; Phu, 2008; Van, 2010; Son, 2011; Hung, 2011; Vietnamnet, 2012; Toan, 2013; Khang, 2014). One of the reasons for the failure of CLT implementation in Vietnam is that the ap- proach is imposed without taking into consideration the students‟ learning culture, which influences students‟ attitudes towards learning activities, learning behaviours, and learning habits. However, this issue has often been ignored. I believe that for the success of innova- tion, the first step to be taken should be the understanding of learners‟ learning culture so that teachers can decide what aspects of the intended innovation fit the students‟ learning culture, and what aspects of the students‟ learning culture should be changed to accommo- date the intended pedagogical innovation. This is the rationale for my study. 2. Research Aims and Questions Being inspired by all the above mentioned rationales and my preliminary interest, this survey study aims to explore the influence of Vietnamese learning culture on attitudes of the upper-secondary school students in a mountainous area toward CLT. Information gained from this study is aimed to help teachers to make their teaching more learner- centred by modifying the principles of CLT to the students‟ learning culture for better edu- cational results. With this aim in mind, the study was designed to seek answers to the fol- lowing research questions: 1. What is the students‟ belief about language learning? 2. How do their beliefs about language learning affect their opinions of the teacher‟s role and student‟s role in the English language classroom? 3. How do their beliefs about language learning affect their preferences for language learning activities both inside and outside the classroom? It is hoped that answers to the above questions can inform classroom teachers of how to adapt CLT in their classrooms. [...]... purposefully in one school in a mountainous region of Vietnam Therefore, no generalization of the findings was intended Rather, the findings can be used to inform teachers of English in this and other similar schools of how to adapt CLT more effectively 4 Scope of Study The study limits itself to the exploration and description how the students‟ learning culture influences their learning of English within the. .. responses with the mean (M) values are tabulated in Table 2; the percentage of the responses can be found in Appendix 4 The purpose of learning is one among various cultural beliefs which may influence students‟ attitudes towards English learning and types of learning activities In this respect (item #40), the M value of 3.0 reveals that the students in this study were undetermined on if they are learning. .. about the participants‟ co-operation and motivation, and helped to achieve the high response rate, the authenticity of the data collected, and the reliability of the research findings It is considered to be invaluable in trying out the instrument to obtain information about the relevancy and clarity of the questions, the format, and the amount of time required to answer the questions from all of which,... state upper-secondary school in Cao Bang province Economically, the area where the school is located is underdeveloped, with 93.7 per cent of the population being ethnic minorities (2009) Admission is usually based on the results from entrance exams organised by the Provincial Department of Education and Training The English proficiency of students as indicated from the result of the entry examination... explore the influence of students‟ learning culture on their learning English in the classroom, it is descriptive by nature Therefore, the study adopted survey method The survey method was considered to be highly appropriate and was chosen for the current research in terms of the paradigm adopted, the aims of the study, the number of participants (discussed later), the role of the context, and the limited... (McDonough and McDonough, 1997) In addition, the order and arrangement of the questions was carefully considered All the questions were grouped into 5 corresponding parts, and factual questions were located at the end of the questionnaire This, together with the consistent formatting and familiar layout, hoped to contribute to the reliability of the questionnaire as well as the data collected One of the. .. about the nature of school subjects or the roles of students and teachers in interaction (Cotazzi and Jin, 2013) An important aspect in Vietnamese culture of learning is the concept of face; which is considered to be powerful due to the collectivist nature of the society (Cortazzi and Jin, 1996) This is much reflected in learners‟ behaviours in classroom They would not interrupt the lesson by questioning... Questionnaire items The questionnaire was developed based on the variables identified during the process of literature review and linked to the research objectives It was composed and delivered to the participants in Vietnamese, and then translated into English for the aim of reporting The full English version of the questionnaire can be found in Appendix 3 The questionnaire consists of 60 questions... learned, its speakers and the language learning situation (in the case of this study, communicative activities) that are hypothesised to directly influence motivation Secondly, they determine the social provision of language learning situations and opportunity of various kinds So far, what has been aroused is that learners‟ attitudes toward communicative activities in English learning are very much likely... CLT, culture, the connection between culture, attitude and behaviour It has also referred to a brief about Vietnamese culture of learning as well as implementation of CLT under the influence of learning culture This is hoped to be a theoretical basis for the empirical research into the claimed field 17 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 2.1 The Research Site The study reported in this thesis was conducted in a state . description how the students‟ learning culture influences their learning of English within the context of an upper-secondary school in one northern mountainous province. 5. Significance of Study. Students‟ English Learning Habits 34 2.6.5. The Influence of Vietnamese Learning Culture on the Students‟ Attitudes towards Communicative Activities in Learning English 36 PART C: CONCLUSION 39. demonstrated influence of the Vietnamese culture of learning on the students‟ attitudes towards communicative English learning activities, some of which were favourable for utilisation of communicative