Necessary skills of an English teacher in managing English classes at Thach Thanh 3 High school = Các kĩ năng cần thiết của giáo viên Tiếng Anh trong quản lý lớ

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TT: Thach Thanh TT3: Thach Thanh 3 CLT: Communicative Language Teaching LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: The results of teachers’ attitudes Table 2: The result

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

- -

TRƯƠNG THỊ THU HIỀN M.A MINOR THESIS

Necessary skills of an English teacher in managing English

classes at Thach Thanh 3 High school

(Các kĩ năng cần thiết của giáo viên Tiếng Anh trong việc quản lí lớp học

ngoại ngữ ở trường THPT Thạch Thành 3)

Field: Methodology Code: 60.14.10

Hanoi, 2011

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

- -

TRƯƠNG THỊ THU HIỀN M.A MINOR THESIS

Necessary skills of an English teacher in managing English

classes at Thach Thanh 3 High school

(Các kĩ năng cần thiết của giáo viên Tiếng Anh trong việc quản lí lớp học

ngoại ngữ ở trường THPT Thạch Thành 3)

Field: Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: VŨ THUÝ QUỲNH, M.A

Hanoi, 2011

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

TT: Thach Thanh

TT3: Thach Thanh 3

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: The results of teachers’ attitudes

Table 2: The results of the teachers’ experiences in English teaching

Table 3: The results of dominant roles applied in English classes

Table 4: The results of the roles which are difficult to apply in English classes at TT3 high school

Table 5: Characteristics of the students participating in the English learning survey

Table 6: The results of the students’ attitudes

Table 7: Ranking and percentage of the importance of items contribute to an effective class manager

Table 8: The results of the students’ experiences

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND TABLES

PART I - INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

2 Aims of the study

3 Scope of the study

4 Methods of the study

5 Research questions

6 Significance of the study

7 Organization of the study

PART II - DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Different views on the roles of an English language teacher

1.2 The importance of the language teacher in managing an English class

1.3 Characteristics of a good English language teacher

1.4 Communicative approach in English language teaching

1.4.1 Definition of Communication

1.4.2 The nature of Communicative Language Teaching

1.5 Kind of activities in English language teaching

1.5.1 Whole-class teaching

1.5.2 Pair work/Group work

1.5.3 Individual work

1.6 Summary

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

2 1 Background of the study

2.1.1 Description of the English syllabus in TT3 high school

2.1.2 Description of the students at TT3 high school

2.1.3 Description of the teachers at TT3 high school

2.1.4 Description of physical setting

2.2 Design and methodology of the study

4.2 Pedagogical implications

PART III - CONCLUSIONS

1 Summary of the study

2 Limitations of the study

3 Suggestions for further study

4 Conclusions

REFERENCES

APPENDIXES

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

English is an international language; it has become a compulsory subject for students at schools in Vietnam nowadays In English classes, teachers have to take different roles in managing their students Ince (2000) emphasized that teachers should know how to manage the classes and teach students to manage themselves

There are many common important roles that English teachers act in language teaching Moreover, they need to know more about the skills to manage English classes well Like many English teachers in Vietnam, teachers of English at TT3 high school faced with a common problem: lack of necessary skills in managing classes In fact, there are many reasons for the shortage of necessary skills Thus the present study therefore, tries to find out the solutions to change the situation This led the author to the choice of the study:

“Necessary skills of an English teacher in managing English classes at TT3 High School”

2 Aims of the study

The aims of this study is to look into the theoretical background of an English teacher and his/her roles in classroom management, investigate the use of teacher’s roles in managing English classes in TT3 high school - a school located in Thach Thanh district, Thanh Hoa province It also helps English teachers at TT3 to aware of the difficulties they and their students have to cope with The findings and suggestions are also suggested to overcome these constraints

3 Scope of the study

The study is designed to explore the necessary skills of an English teacher in managing English classes at TT3 high school

4 Methods of the study

The study employs survey research in which two mains instruments of data collection namely informal interviews and questionnaire were used The data collected for the study came from two sources: the students and English teachers at TT3 high school The collected data is, then calculated, analyzed, compared and finally interpreted for the results

of the study

In addition, document analysis of relevant materials was reviewed which laid the theoretical foundation for the study

5 Research questions

The study searched for the answers of the 3 research questions:

- How did English teachers at TT3 high school manage their English classes?

- What are their difficulties in managing English classes?

- What are some suggestions to manage English classes more effectively?

6 Significance of the study

The significance of the study might be, first, it fills the gap of necessary skills in managing English classes Second, it sheds the light on some pedagogical issues in managing English classes in Vietnam general and in Thanh Hoa particular

7 Organization of the study

This study consists of three parts:

Part I: Introduction presents the rationale, the aims and objectives, scope, the methods,

significance and organization of the study The research questions are also mentioned in

this part

Part II: Development includes four chapters:

Chapter I: Literature review reviews the theory related about roles of an English teacher Chapter II: Methodology of the study discusses the methods of the study, i.e Describes

background of the study, participants, design and methods of the study

Chapter III: Presentation and analysis of data discusses the presentation of statistical results and analysis of data

Chapter IV: Findings and suggestions focuses on the answers of three research questions, and presents pedagogical implications

Part III: Conclusions summarize the study with limitations of the study, presents some suggestions for further studies

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Different views on the roles of an English language teacher

Based on the results in the study of Arafat S (683-685), (Vol 19 (2), 2005)

(research on the roles of English Language Teachers as Perceived by Learners of English)

showed that:

Regardless of the amount of time the teachers spend with their students in

managing English classes They have different roles that affect their student’s learning

Some of these functions display through daily contact with students in the classrooms and

concern relate instructions, others results from students affect to teachers in the large

school settings and may affect students’ general linguistics, social and cultural

development

Language teachers must make decisions all the time Some of the decisions are

relatively minor ones, but other decisions that the teacher should consider might be the

major roles of the teacher in managing English classes and what are the potential roles that

the teacher can play and lead to best results in proving students with chances to participate

and to be responsible for their learning These roles have been dealt with differently in

different teaching methods

Suggestoptia Lazanov (1982), O’Connell (1982) and Racle (1979) viewed the role

is the authority in the classroom, students must trust their teacher and respect him/her

Lazanov also showed that students will retain information better if they get it

from someone whom they can trust and who has authority on them

The role of the teacher as suggested by Gattegno (1972), Madesen (1979) is the

role of an engineer or a technician The learners are helped by the teacher in their learning

The teacher will help their students if they need

Blair (1982) and Curran (1976) indicated that counselor role is the major role of the

teacher To learn the foreign language, students can be threatened Thus, the teacher helps

them overcome the difficulties dealt with learning it

The roles of the teacher according to the communicative approach as suggested by,

Celce-Murcia (1983), Brumfit (1979) and Madsen (1983) that the teacher is seen as

facilitor of the learners’ learning

Harmer (1991) showed that the roles of the teacher is to provide students with different situations related to the real life Students will have many choice to practice authentic situations which make them understand more easily Students are shown how to perform language functions are decided which functions are more important for which level

According to Diller (1978) and Paulston (1971) suggested that in the classroom the teacher directs the activities and the students’ role is less passive than the others They are more like partners in two process: teaching and learning In this role, the teacher participates and works with students in activities

The roles of teachers are different so teachers should base on students’ need in their learning process to act these roles to get high effectiveness

Prodromou (1991) also suggested several roles for the teacher, for example, a manager, a monitor, a counselor, an informant, facilitator, a social and a friend

Stevick (1996) suggested that teachers and students have many expectations in order to have effective language classrooms This state means that both teacher and students should be involved in the activity They may get interactions during the teaching and learning process

Underhill (1989) also believed that the teachers can play difference roles They can

be lecturers, teachers and facilitators

Larsen-Freeman (1986) believed that the teacher can be a supporter Teacher should encourage students to work individual to promote their self reliance The teacher is also seen as a motivator and stimulator, a prompter

These point of views show that when teachers act any roles, they have to consider what their students need and expect from them Teachers know what and how to do with their students in using these roles to work in learning activities

Harmer J (1994) mentions list of roles of a language teacher as a prompter, a participant, a resource, an assessor, a controller, a tutor, an observer and an organizer

In the role of a prompter teacher helps students with vocabularies, gives a group / a pair suggestions on how to continue Teachers also prompt students to use English, asks questions to check understandings so that students can work on their own Nevertheless teacher need to do it sensitively and encouragingly with description

Teacher joins in activities to encourage students to participate and help them with the answers when the teacher acts as a participant Teacher can be dominant because when he/she participate in activities if he/she isn’t careful, students will become passive

Teacher acts as a resource is a person for students to ask information they need and where to find further information Encouraging and directly making students more independent with their learning

In the role of an assessor, teacher provides students feedback, corrects, grades and provides criteria for them In this role, teacher should make it clear for students to get their clear ideas, should be fair and be sensitive support

When teacher acts as a controller, he/she teaches, give announcement, lead a question and gives students knowledge Teacher restores order when students do tests or misbehavior Besides these advantages, this role has some disadvantages Students become passive because they do not have much chance to speak and do not have experimental learning Teacher may be tired and students may be bored There are no activities so the classroom atmosphere boring

Teacher helps students when students work on long projects, directs, guides and points them In the role of a tutor, teacher should be careful not to take over Teacher don’t focus on the person who he/she likes, distribute your tutoring to everyone who needs it

In the role of an observe, it is very important for teacher to give students useful feedback and helpful to take notes If it is a success, it will give teacher different feelings

If they are problems, they will help teacher find the ways to help them to solve Teachers should be careful not to be intrusive (officious) Teacher should sit in the back not get to close students or he/she will disturb students when they are thinking

Organize is one of the most important roles that teacher have to perform in English class In this role, teacher organize activities, puts students into groups or pairs, tells them how to do it, how to start or how to end When students start activities, teacher gives short and clear instruction and tells them how much time they have When students end, teacher stops the students and gives them feedback

Arafat, S (687 - 688) (research on the roles of language Teachers) also emphasized

in the study:

Cross (1995) on the other hand emphasized that prospective language teachers should try their best to be in contact with current affairs, global issues, social concerns,

local businesses, economic issues and the target culture Their roles as language teachers is not limited to the classroom, it should not be separated from real life

Balderrama (2001) described the teachers’ roles and believed it is basic to the struggle for educational equity and achievement She emphasized the attempts to humanize teachers’ roles in critical examination of schooling The teacher should actively study and pay attention to the psychological learning atmosphere and the inner process of learning The aim is to enable learners to take much responsibility for their learning

Peterson (2004) believed that teaching is a profession in which teachers are accustomed to be in the spotlight

Harmer (1983) believed that the role of the teacher should go beyond the traditional classrooms

Clarkson (2000) offered her reflections of two types of English teachers as a time teacher and a teacher in fourth year of teaching They talked about their experiences

long-on their careers and their relatilong-onship with each other They left a deeply emphasized long-on their mentor importance and their significance roles

In fact, in language teaching, there are many roles that English teachers should decide whether they are the major or not to effectively act in English class They have to assume different roles and play them in suitable ways There are many roles which the teachers should find the appropriate ones to their learners to get higher quality of teaching and learning process

1.2 The importance of the language teacher in managing an English class

There are many different expressions about the importance of English teacher Alberto & Troutman (1986: 404) mentioned that “classroom management can be defined

as the teacher’s ability to co-operatively manage time, space, resources and students behaviors to provide a climate that encourages learning” From this statement, we can see that the teacher plays an important role in managing English classes Teacher has abilitiy to manage and encourage learning environment in the classroom

Moreover “success in learning a language depends less on materials, technique and linguistics analysis, and more on what goes on inside and between people in the classroom” (Stevick: 1980:4 cited in Gebhard: 1996: 69) These factors support teachers play their roles well We will not get the successful and effective classes if we have enough things, such as: materials, teaching aids, time, knowledge, suitable technique, English

language qualification…) but without skills in controlling the class Nevertheless it is obvious that the language teacher with necessary skills plays an important role in teaching

Hension and Eller (1999:45) mentioned that: “In order to be effective, teachers must be proactive, facilitative, imaginative classroom managers” Besides many other factors “the procedures, strategies, and instructional techniques” teachers use to manage students behaviors and learning activities may affect on the classroom management The most important and the most difficult skill a teacher must be creating an environment that

is conducive to learning and by managing the ongoing teaching - learning process

1.3 Characteristics of a good language teacher

Effective teachers are born with the skills to teach It is possible to develop and train someone to be an effective teacher (Carr, 1998; Hunt, Touzle, & Wiseman, 1999) But this is very natural and personal characteristics except being well trained Many teachers lack even the most Basic English classroom managements skills English teachers

at TT3 also have to cope with this matter

Smith (1995:89) expressed that “what makes a teacher good, is the organization of

a classroom and techniques involved rely heavily on the teaching style” He seemed to emphasize the role of teacher as an organizer who organizes activities for students in the class When teacher organizes activities well, students will get the things they need Nevertheless it depends much on the teaching style that teacher use in the class

Ince (2000), in his research (on the subject of classroom management), analyzed and showed that: “Smith looks should happen in an ideal classrooms by attempting to identify “good” and “bad” teaching style Also there is a common idea that the better teacher and the more effective classroom is the quality of teaching and learning process

Smith’s (1988) viewed that a “good” teacher is able to raise students’ self-esteem, develop a positive work ethos without resorting to a punitive regime, praise rather than criticize and use students’ enthusiasms and interests in a creative and positive way” Teacher shouldn’t concentrate much on their work Students have chance to work more comfortable with encouragement but little criticism to make them less bored with their mistakes but more motivative Students will feel more confident when teacher gives them interest and pleasure in their work

However, based on Altman’s (1981) (research on students’ view of the good language teacher):

“- A real language teacher is on my side

- A real second language teacher lets me be and tries to understand what it is like to be me

- A real second language teacher accepts me whether he or she likes me or not

- A real second language teacher doesn’t have expectations of me because of what I have been or what he or she has been

- A real second language teacher is more interested in how I learn than what I learn

- A real second language teacher doesn’t make me feel anxious and afraid

- A real second language teacher provides many choices

- A real second language teacher lets me teach myself even if it takes longer

- A real second language teacher talks so I can understand what he or she means to say

- A real second language teacher can make mistakes and admit it

- A real second language teacher can show his or her feelings and let me show mine

- A real second language teacher wants me to evaluate my own work”

The following are the views of some French learners of English (from research by

D Girard, 1997) (the “top ten” chosen from a list of twenty):

“- The good language teacher makes his course interesting

- He teaches good pronunciation

- He explains clearly

- He speaks good English

- He shows the same interest in all pupils

- He makes them participate

- He shows great patience

- He insists on the spoken language

- He makes pupils work

- He used an audio - visual method”

(From Peck A (1988) Language Teachers At Work Prentice Hall)

Besides the criteria of a good language teacher in general, it also depends upon the perception of students A language teacher should show their skills in teaching process in the role of a class manager The up above ideas, I aim to raise our awareness about the various roles of a teacher in my short assumption The English teachers need good characteristics to help students do well in classrooms These characteristics of a good language teacher may be suitable or inappropriate in Vietnam in general and in TT3 high school in particular Because not all the characteristics can be “taught” for all the teachers but due to the teacher’s individual personality The fact that the roles of a language teacher becomes effective only when they support the necessary things which students are in need

of them and authentic context

1.4 Communicative approach to language teaching

1.4.1 Definitions of Communication

There are many different definitions of Communication In Thompson’s book (2003: 9) “Communication and Language”, he considers that “communication is such a well-integrated part of our day-to-day existence that we tend to take it for granted rarely passing to consider what it involves or just how important it is to us”

Fiske’s ideas (1990) also recognized that: “Communication is one of those human activities that everyone recognizes but few can definite satisfactorily” (Fiske 1990: 1) and

“communication is too often taken for granted when it should be taken to pieces” (Fiske 1994: 8)

Thompson, N (2003: 10) “I quickly recognized that communication is used in a number of senses and at a number of levels to indicate the transmission of information or even, as in the transport networks example, the transmission of goods and people”

He quietly agreed with Fiske’s ideas “The most relevant definition of communication for present purposes is social interaction through messages” When talking about the definitions ò communication, two related aspects are mentioned in their ideas is

“social” and “interaction”

1.4.2 Communicative Language Teaching

1.4.2.1 The nature of Communicative Language Teaching

Littlewood (1981:1) emphasized, “one of the most characteristic features of communicative language teaching is that it pays systematic attention to functional as well

as structural aspects of language” Both grammatical and functional teaching are paid attention in CLT CLT means little more than an integration of these aspects

1.4.2.2 The Techniques of Communicative Language Teaching

The techniques of CLT can be described by different criteria

Techniques and class management procedures are discussed by Savignon (1983), associated with a number of CLT classroom procedures, for examples, language games, role plays, pair/group activities Both activities and ways in which they are exclusively used to CLT classrooms

The Techniques of Communicative Language Teaching are described by its features Nunan (1991a: 279) gives five features to characterize CLT CLT attached with interaction, authentic texts, personal experiences …

Johnson (1998: 23) also offered five core characteristics of communicative methodology that give applications of it They are: appropriateness, message focus, psycholinguistic processing, risk taking and free practice

CLT seems to be an approach rather than a method in a communicative view of language and language learning It refers to many principles in which they can be used with classroom procedures as mentioned above

1.5.2 Pair work/Group work

Students may be organized to do work in pairs or small groups in the classroom Especially, it is very important when teacher organizes activities for students There are many definitions of pair work/group work

Pair work

According to Doff (1998: 137) , the whole class is divided into pairs by the teacher Every students works with his or her partner in pairs and all the pairs work at the same time

Students works in pair work has some advantages, Harmer (2001: 116) wrote “in pair wok students can practice language together, study a text, research language or take part in information-gap activities They can write dialogues, predict the content of reading texts, or compare notes on what they have listened to or seen” Through pair work students can work together, share ideas and thoughts

Group work

“Group is a group of students working together A class can be divided into small groups to work together (usually four or five students in each group), as in pair work, all the group work at the same time” ( Doff: 1988: 137)

“The advantage of small group work is that it promotes maximum participant from all students” (Felisa Tibbitts) Group work encourages students to share the thoughts and ideas when they work with their participants

When we want to divide the class into teams for games or preparation phase, we need a larger group for learning activity

1.5.3 Individual work

The students sometimes don’t work in pair work or group work, they have to work on their own Students have to work independently with their own thinking Working in individual, pair or group work depends much on the demand of the tasks or activities Some time teachers have to use all kinds of activities in class

Ur, P (1999: 233) stated: “this can range from students going exercises on their own

in class, to situations in which teachers are able to spend time working with individual students, or when students take charge of their own learning in self-access centre or other out-of-class environments” Individual work makes students promote their autonomy

1.6 Summary

The chapter presents the related literature which are considered to be essential for laying the background for the study To achieve a good quality of teaching and learning English language processes, the roles of teachers in managing English language classes with necessary skills is essential Next chapter will present the school context, participants, data collection and data analysis

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

2 1 Background of the study

2.1.1 Description of the English syllabus in TT3 high school

English is a compulsory subject in TT3 high school and students here have English lesson during the first and second term of the school year There are three levels of English: English 10, English 11 and English 12 In 2007, the English textbook used here still was three-year-course textbook, now we are teaching seven-year-course textbook at TT3 high school

The English text book chosen is English 10, 11, 12 Each textbook consists of 16 lessons which have been covered through out the school year with mid-term tests in between Each lesson concludes 5 periods with the aims of practicing four language skills (reading, speaking, listening, writing) and language elements There are new textbooks with many visual aids like pictures, drawing and creative suitable for applying CLT in teaching By using these textbooks, it’s hoped that students’ communicative competence could be developed as students can learn and relate to the real things from daily life Students are required to work in individuals, in pairs, in groups to practice English in common situations with English teachers managing classes Additionally, students also have chances to listen to both native and non-native English speakers from the tapes used with these textbooks These textbooks also aim at developing students’ reading skill and writing skill At the end of each term, students have the final test for semester

2.1.2 Description of the students at TT3 high school

Like many students in other high schools, in order to be 10th form students of TT3 high school, they have to pass a national examination Students mostly come from countryside which mainly being 80% students are Muong Ethnic Minority and remote area with low living-condition in Thach Thach District, Thanh Hoa province Students there don’t have similar level of English language proficiency to each other because at many secondary schools in TT, students have not been taught English yet (students have learnt French or other foreign language or the lack of English teachers) This led to a big gap among 10th students when they entered high school Nowadays students seems to be more aware of the importance of learning English and they have more motivation in learning it Although English is a difficult subject, students at TT3 still like learning it Besides many other subjects, students often have three periods of English per week, and take part in 15

minutes test, 45 minutes test in the examination at the last semester In class, they are given many chances to practice mainly four language skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing skill They are organized to work in pair or group, given from the teachers’ feedbacks, helped with vocabularies/grammar, corrected and graded

2.1.3 Description of the teachers at TT3 high school

In TT3 high school, there are eight English teachers aged from 28 to 35, one male and seven female teachers Three English teachers have been trained at Hong Duc University in Thanh Hoa province, three are trained at Vinh University and one teacher who has been trained at VNU - CFL (as a French teacher and now obtain another university degree as an English teacher) and one teacher who has been graduated from in-service training at Hanoi University Now two of them are studying post graduate at Hanoi National University and one teacher is studying at Hanoi University In the past, most of these teachers mainly used the Grammar - Translation Method - a way of teaching and learning a foreign language on the basis of detailed analysis of grammar rules and application of these rules to the translation of sentences and texts into the mother tongue and into English Now, the text book is designed for CLT in which the use of procedures that develops four language skills through the roles of a language teacher The skills used

in managing English classes are still limited which causes a large amount of difficulties in teaching and learning process

2.1.4 Description of physical setting

In TT3 school, English teaching and learning activities are mostly carried out inside the classrooms with the classroom equipments - blackboards, student desks and teacher tables The teaching aids for English lessons are some cassettes recorders, radios, overhead projectors

In term of class size, the number of students is an English class is quite large from

40 to 58 students per class This large number causes a great deal of difficulties for teaching and learning and in managing an English class

The materials for reference and self-study are not available for teachers and students at TT3 high school In the school library, there are only some English books but they are unsuitable to the level of the students here Teachers find their own references outside but for students it is not easy to do so themselves

2.2 Design and methodology

2.2.1 The participants

In total, 120 students at TT3 high school and eight English teachers participated in this study The students are chosen randomly from 10th form, 11th form and 12th form and consists of 78 female and 42 male students at the age from 16 to 18 They may be from different classes, the researcher intends to take 20 from each class of the teachers in the English group They come from different wards but most of them come from the countryside They started to learn English from secondary school, it means that they have learnt English for four years The teachers are all young, aged 28 to 35

There is an informal interview for two random English language teachers It is carried out during the break time the last semester of the school year 2010 – 2011 in two weeks It is a friendly conversation in which the researcher asks selected teachers questions

randomly and take notes during the break time

2.2.3 Methods of data analysis

In fact, the process by which the researcher interprets the data collected from the survey research are questionnaires and informal interview The data was collected, analyzed, compared and finally interpreted for the results of the study

2.3 Summary

This chapter present the background and methodology of the study Through this chapter we can see the participants and research instruments of collecting the data

CHAPTER III: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

This chapter presents the collected data from two instruments: questionnaires and informal interview

Percent (%)

1

Do you think that

teacher’s roles in an

English language class

play the most important?

2

In your opinion, you use

your roles in English

a The teacher plays appropriate roles 8 100

b Classes are organized in a suitable way for the learning activities 6 75

c Students have good co-operation

d There is discipline and harmony

8

The factors which you

think can affect most on

the success of managing

classes…

a The teacher’s teaching experiences 3 37.5

b The good organization students

e The hard work of the students 7 87

f The co-operation of the students 4 50

g The teacher’s good preparation 7 87.5

(Table 1: The results of teachers’ attitudes in English teaching survey)

For the question about the importance of the teacher’s roles, most of the teachers (87.5%) recognized teacher’s roles play the most important in an English language class Only one person (12.5%) chose other options and none of them chose option b

Question 2 is about how the teacher’s roles were used in English language classes 50% of teachers found they used their roles in English language classes well and 37.5% of them used it normally and one person admitted using it not so badly None of them chose using it badly

Question 5 mentions about the ways students participate in activities when they are

organized by their English language teacher Most teachers (62.5%) say that their students participate actively, forcedly (25%) Surprisingly, 12.5% of teachers answered that their students participate passively This means that their students don’t understand what is going on in the class (day-dreaming) None of them chose other options

In the next question, quite all the teachers (100%) answered that an English language class is managed efficiently when the teachers play appropriate roles, next is classes are organized in a suitable way for the learning activities (75%) When teacher plays appropriate roles which means they put students into pair work / group work, get students involved, tell them how to start or finish the various activities Students have good co-operation with the teacher (50%) and there is discipline and harmony in the class are equal (50%) Only one person (12.5%) chose other options To answer for question 8, the factors can affect most on the success of managing classes With the same view in the question 3, most of teachers (87.5%) considered teacher’s good preparation and the hard work of students (87.5%), next is the English language proficiency of the students (75%), then the teacher’s good organization students activities (62.5%) The others have little influences on the teacher’s roles No person chose other options

After answering all questions about the benefits, the importance… of the teacher’s roles, most of teachers see that using the roles in managing English language classes so well The hard work of students, the teacher’s good preparation, the students language proficiency, the teacher’s natural activities organization are main factors affect most on the success of the teacher’s roles Besides these factors, there are also some difficult factors mainly are language class sized, students at different levels, class facilities and due time per learning period These factors depend much on the classes they are in charge

Questions Options No (%)

3 In your opinion,

managing English classes

the most successfully, the

teacher has to…

a Prepare the lessons carefully 6 75

b Well organize students activities 5 62.5

c Have good co-operation from students 3 37.5

d Make the tasks suitable to the students 4 50

e Set clear goals for students 1 12.5

4 What are the benefits of

managing English language

classes well?

a To help the teaching and learning

b To make the class more interesting 4 50

d To get students in good orders 6 50

e To make students more motivative 8 100

7 According to you, which

are the most difficult factors

in the roles of a class

manager?

b Students at different levels 8 100

c Students not co-operate well 4 50

9 Being successful in

teaching English, the

teacher should

a Use appropriate methods at pre, while

b Change roles appropriately to the teaching stages and activities 8 100

c Maintain discipline in the class 5 62.5

d Well organize activities naturally 7 87.5

e Provide clear instruction before the

(Table 2: The results of the teachers’ experiences in English teaching)

In question 3, almost of the teachers (75%) thought that the teacher’s lessons preparation is the most important factor It means that in order to manage English classes successfully, the teacher has to prepare every lesson well before 62.5% of them considered the teacher has to organize students activities well This related to the roles of teacher when he/she controls or organizes class activities Half of the teachers (50%) answered the teacher has to make the tasks suitable to the students They seemed not to concentrate on the students co-operation from students (37.5%) and to set clear goals for students (12.5%) None of them chose other options

Question 4 is about the benefits of managing English language classes well All the teachers (100%) answered is to help the teaching and learning process run smoothly and to make students more motivate (100%) Half of them saw the benefit of teacher’s roles is to make class more interesting (50%) and 50% of getting students in good orders Only one person (12.5%) chose to help the teaching and learning process run smoothly They seemed not to find the benefits of the teacher’s roles in it None of them chose the other options

In the question 7, noticeably 100% of the teachers in this school say that the most difficult factors in the roles of a class manager are language class-sized and students at different levels (100%) They paid less attention to class facilities (75%), then due time per learning period (62.5%) and not good student’s co-operation (50%) No one chose other options

For the last question to get successful teaching, 100% of teachers considered changing roles appropriately to the teaching stages and activities, 25% of using appropriate methods at pre, while and post stages of teaching, organizing students activities well (87.5%), providing clear instruction before the tasks with samples (75%), maintaining discipline in the class (62.5%) While 50% of teachers chose controlling the work (62.5%)

No one chose other option

Teacher’s roles Dominant roles in your English classes

Teacher’s roles

Difficult roles in your English classes

This chart describes the results of dominant roles in English language classes and the difficult roles in English language classes at TT3 high school

As we can see the data on the chart, these results agree with Larsen-Freeman (1996) who believed that teachers can play different roles in the English language classrooms The chart shows that all teachers (100%) have coincidence in 8 dominant roles that they are in charge of applying to their English classes However, they still have difficulties in these roles On the contrary, of 8 teacher’s roles, 87.5% of teachers

considered that the teacher’s roles in their as a controller, prompter (75%), participant (75%) and assessor (62.5%) This means that the teachers at TT3 high school have used their roles in English language classes but they find some roles difficult to apply in their English classes If the English language teacher acts these roles well, students will obtain what they need through various learning activities So understanding of the difficult roles

of teachers help teachers adjust to make it suitable for their students English language proficiency These data help the researchers see the dominant roles applied and the difficult roles to apply in English language classes, find out the suitable ways in using the teachers’ roles

After answering the questions about the dominant roles applied and the difficult roles to apply in English language classes at TT3 high school, the teachers displayed the options which they chose with the considerable percentages

3.1.2 The results of language learning survey questionnaire

120 sheets of language survey questionnaires were delivered for students in all three grades 10, 11, 12 Forty students were chosen randomly from each grade, twenty of them from level A and another twenty from level B The students were from eight classes taught by different teachers Students were chosen freely in order to have different abilities

of English study with different attitudes to English learning Of course, they are both genders (male and female)

English study result of the previous

term Male Female Excellent Good Fare Bad

No Questions Options No %

1

What do you think

about teacher’s roles

c It is one of the most important and

2

In your opinion, how

your English teachers

play their roles in

The factors which

you think can affect

most on the success

of the teachers in

managing English

classes…

a Teacher’s teaching experiences 50 41.7

b The teacher’s organizing activities 43 35.8

c The English language proficiency of

d The English language proficiency of

e The hard work of the students 76 3

f The collaboration of the students 47 63

g The teacher’s good preparation in

a The teacher plays appropriate roles 41 34.2

b Classes are organized in a suitable way for the learning activities 30 25

c Teachers co-operate to each others 16 13.3

d Discipline and harmony

(Table 6: The results of the students’ attitudes in English learning)

From the shown table with 4 questions and answers by the students at TT3 high school, the author has some following comments:

In question 1, quite a number of students who asked (61.7%) chose it is one of the most important and useful activities 29.2% of students thought it motivates them, it is neither good nor bad (9.2%) While no person chose it is a vital activity in language teaching and other options

Question 2 is the same as teacher’s one but a different option a and d Both teachers (50%) and students (48.3%) found teachers use their roles in English language classes so well 32.5% of students answered teachers use their roles very well Only 19.2% of students thought their teachers use it normally and no one chose other options

In the next question, 8 factors were chosen but the percentage for each option quite different All students (100%) chose the teacher’s good preparation in making lesson plans for the factor can affect most on the success of the teacher’s roles, next is the hard work of the students (63.3%), then the English language proficiency of the students (51.7%) and the English language proficiency of the teacher (48.3%) The other factors affected little on the success of the teacher’s roles Other options occupy 4.2%

In question 6, students considered that an English language class is managed efficiently when the teacher plays appropriate roles (34.2%), classes are organized in a suitable way for the learning activities (25%), discipline and harmony environment in the class (24.2%) The other things have little fluencies on it

and

discipline

15 12.5 14 11.7 25 20.8 16 13.3 19 15.8 31 25.8

Helpful 17 14.2 45 37.5 24 20 14 11.7 7 5.8 13 10.8 Fair 16 13.3 27 22.5 18 15 29 24.2 30 25.0 0 0

Fair Well-prepared Motivative

This chart targets to find out the importance of items contribute to an effective class manager

We can see from the chart, these items are student’s needs in their teachers 46.7%

of students considered well-prepared is the first important item It is worthy ranking because in the language teaching and learning survey, teachers and students all considered that well-prepared lesson plans is always chosen with high percentage rates The second important item is helpful (37.5%), students hope their teachers are helpful with their instruction, their feedback and their correction as well as their grade The third one is motivative in pair work or group work (30.8%), teachers should encourage students to get them involved in and learn English Fair (24.2) is the fourth important item, teachers should judge students equally, take care of all students who need his/her help not the

person he/she likes best Otherwise, Patient (32.5%) is the fifth important item and Harmony and discipline (25.8) is the least important one

3

In your opinion, in

order to learn English

better, you need…

a Prepare the lessons well before going to

b Concentrate on the lessons highly 30 25

c Have collaboration with your friends or

d Set the goals for your self-study 19 15.8

In your opinion, which

is the most difficult

factor for an English

teacher in the roles of

English lessons more

interesting, your teacher

often lets you…

a Play roles to make English conversations 19 15.8

c Tell English -Vietnamese funny stories 15 12.5