Using supplementary activities to raise cross-cultural awareness of student in Hanoi University of Industry = Sử dụng các hoạt động bổ trợ nhằm nâng cao nhận th

8 2.3 Activities for raising students’ cultural awareness in conversational classes9 2.3.1 Goals for incorporating culture into English speaking class .... For scholars and laymen alike

Vietnam national university, hanoi University of languages and international studies

Post graduate department

TẠ NGỌC HIỀN MINH

Using Supplementary Activities to Raise Cross-Cultural Awareness of Students in Hanoi University of Industry

Sử dụng các hoạt đông bổ trợ nhằm nâng cao nhận thức giao thoa văn hoá

của sinh viên Tr-ờng Đại học Công nghiệp Hà Nội

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Methodology

Code: 60 14 10

hà nội – Năm 2009

Vietnam national university, hanoi University of languages and international studies

Post graduate department

TẠ NGỌC HIỀN MINH

Using Supplementary Activities to Raise Cross-Cultural Awareness of Students in Hanoi University of Industry

Sử dụng các hoạt đông bổ trợ nhằm nâng cao nhận thức giao thoa văn hoá

của sinh viên Tr-ờng Đại học Công nghiệp Hà Nội

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Methodology

TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

ABBREVIATIONS vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Scope of the study 2

1.4 Research questions 2

1.5 Methods of the study 2

1.6 Design of the study 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Culture and foreign language learning 4

2.1.1 Culture defined 4

2.1.2 Culture and language learning 5

2.1.3 Cultural awareness and cross-cultural awareness 5

2.1.3.1 Cultural awareness 6

2.1.3.2 Cross-cultural awareness 6

2.2 Culture teaching in conversational classes 6

2.2.1 What aspect of culture should be taught 6

2.2.2 Task based approach to incorporating culture into teaching 8

2.3 Activities for raising students’ cultural awareness in conversational classes9 2.3.1 Goals for incorporating culture into English speaking class 9

2.3.2 Activities for raising students’ cultural awareness in conversational classes 10

2.3.2.1 The summary of Christine Elmore’s activities 10

2.3.2.2 Elizabeth Peterson and Brownyn Coltrane’s activities 15

2.3.2.3 Deborah Peek’s activities 16

CHAPTER 3: SITUATION ANALYSIS 19

3.1 Situation analysis 19

3.1.1 Setting of the study 19

3.1.2 Participants and classroom context 19

3.2 Data collection instruments 20

3.2.1 Survey questionnaire 20

3.2.2 Tests 21

3.2.3 Class observation 21

3.2.4 Informal discussions 21

3.3 Data analysis 21

3.3.1 Survey questionnaire for teachers 21

3.3.1.1 An overview of culture teaching in HaUI 22

3.3.1.2 Teachers’ opinions of the difficulties in delivering cross – cultural elements in speaking classes 23

3.3.1.3 Teachers’ opinions of the necessity of including cultural information in the lessons 23

3.3.1.4 Teachers’ opinions of the cross – cultural topics and activities for speaking lessons 24

3.3.1.5 Teachers’ difficulties in incorporating culture into speaking classes 25

3.3.2 Activities applied for raising HaUI students’ cross-cultural awareness in speaking

lessons 25

3.3.3 Students’ test results before and after the study 27

3.3.4 Survey Questionnaire for the students before the study and after the study 29

3.3.4.1 Students’ participation in the speaking lessons with cross – cultural activities 29

3.3.4.2 Students’ self – evaluation of their cultural knowledge 30

3.3.4.3 Students’ opinion of the importance of culture for English learning 30

3.3.4.4 Students’ anticipation of the culture learning 31

3.3.4.5 Students’ opinions of speaking lessons with cross – cultural activities after the study 32

3.3.4.6 Students’ difficulties in culture learning 34

3.4 Discussion of the findings 35

3.5 Implications for raising HaUI students’ cross – cultural awareness 37

3.5.1 Information sources 37

3.5.2 Activity types 37

3.5.3 Practical tips 37

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION 39

4.1 Summary of the study

4.2 Limitations of the study

4.3 Suggestions for further study

References 42

Appendices I

ABBREVIATIONS

HaUI: Hanoi University of Industry

EFL: English as Foreign Language

ELT: English language Teaching

ELL: English Language Learning

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

English learning does not only include grammatical competence and language proficiency, it also includes culture learning “Foreign language learning is comprised of several components, including grammatical competence, communicative competence, language proficiency as well as a change in attitudes towards one‟s own or another culture For scholars and laymen alike, cultural competence, i.e., the knowledge of the conventions, customs, beliefs and systems of meaning of another country, is indisputably an integral part of foreign language learning, and many teachers have seen it as their goal to incorporate the teaching of culture into the foreign language curriculum.” (Dimitrios Thanasoulas,

In HaUI, there has never been any study on raising students‟ cross – cultural awareness and teachers‟ attitudes towards these issues From my 8 years‟ experience as a teacher at HaUI, I

am aware that the teaching of culture has not been emphasized in this teaching context The curriculum in HaUI has not been designed to include culture teaching or developing additional teaching and learning materials that includes English speaking countries‟ cultural values In speaking lessons, students are often asked to talk about the topic the teachers raise, taught some expressions and new words Cultural elements are rarely mentioned Therefore, students often ask me a lot of questions which are grammatically correct but culturally inappropriate

These reasons have given rise to this study It‟s the author‟s attempt to find out the effective activities to raise students‟ cross – cultural awareness It is hoped that this study will help the situation in HaUI

The study is aimed at:

1 finding out the effective activities in raising students‟ cultural awareness

2 finding out the difficulties in incorporating cultural elements into speaking lessons at HaUI

1.3 Scope of the study

The participants in the study are first year English majored students They are in their 2nd

semester The textbook chosen for the course is Let’s talk 2 The study only focuses on

supplementary activities in raising students‟ cross – cultural awareness Teaching „culture” in this thesis refers to British and American culture in language use and in communication contexts

1.4 Research questions

The study is carried out to find the answers to the following research questions:

1 What are the effective activities for improving HaUI students‟ cross-cultural awareness?

2 What are the difficulties in incorporating cultural elements into speaking lessons at HaUI?

1.5 Methods of the study

In this study, action research is employed The author makes comments, remarks, comparisons and conclusions from observations, survey questionnaires, discussions and experience

Survey questionnaires are utilized to survey the situation of teaching and learning culture at the beginning of the study They are also used to collect teachers‟ and students‟ opinions about culture teaching and learning after the study 2 tests are administered before and after the study

to figure out the differences in students‟ cultural knowledge Observations and formal discussions are also effectively combined in the study

1.6 Design of the study

The study is divided into 4 chapters

Chapter I is an introduction to the research in which rationale, methods of the study and research questions are discussed

Chapter II reviews the literature of culture in foreign language teaching, the relationship between culture and language learning The study also looks at some influential theories of activities used for teaching culture

Chapter III discusses the context of the study, data collection methods and activities for raising cross cultural awareness in HaUI The author also analyzes the data collected to answer the research questions Changes in the results of the culture achievement tests are assessed based on both quantitative and qualitative data collected through the test results, interviews, informal discussions, observations and survey questionnaires

Chapter IV includes the findings of the study and suggests further research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Culture and foreign language learning

2.1.1 Culture defined

Culture can be defined in many ways from many different perspectives On a general level, anthropologists define culture as “…the whole way of life of people or group In this context,

culture includes all the social practices that bond a group of people together and distinguish

them from them” (Montgometry and Reid-Thomas, 1994:5)

In Nguyen Quang‟s view, “Culture is the whole complex of tangible and intangible expressions that are created and adapted by a society or a social group as well as the ways it functions and reacts in given situations; this helps distinguish one society or social group from another not only in terms of the availability of those expressions and behaviors, but also in terms of their proportionality and manifestability” (Nguyen Quang, 2006:24)

According to Brown (1994: 170) culture is a deeply ingrained part of the very fiber of our being, but language - the means for communication among members of a culture – is the most visible and available expression of that culture And so a person‟s worldview, self – identity, and system of thinking, acting, feeling, and communicating can be disrupted by a change from one culture to another

From these points of view, it can be inferred that language and culture are inextricably linked Therefore, language teaching can not be separated from culture teaching

2.1.2 Culture and language learning

Language and cultures are closely related in many ways According to Claire Kramsch, language is the principal means whereby we conduct our social lives (Claire Kramsch, 1998:3) When it is used in contexts of communication, it is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways

To begin with, the words people utter relate to common experience They express facts, ideas

or events that are communicable because they refer to a stock of knowledge about the world that other people share Words also reflect their authors‟ attitudes and belief, their point of

view that are also attitudes, belief and point of views of others In both cases, language

expresses cultural reality

But members of a community or social group do not only express experience; they also create experience through language According to Claire Kramsch (Claire Kramsch, 1998:3) “They give meaning to it through the medium they choose to communicate with one another, for example on the telephone or face – to – face, writing a letter or sending an e-mail message, reading the newspaper or interpreting a graph or chart The way in which people use the spoken, written, or visual medium itself to create meanings that are understandable to the group they belong to, for example, through a speaker‟s tone of voice, accent, conventional

style, gestures and facial expressions.” Through all its verbal and non-verbal aspects, language

embodies cultural reality

According to Nguyen Van Do (Nguyen Van Do, 2006), language and culture can be seen as the faces of paper Language cannot exist “outside the social context; language is a social institution; both shaping and shaped by society at large This relationship can be illustrated in the following trio relation diagram:

Language

Culture Society

2.1.3 Cultural awareness and cross – cultural awareness

2.1.3.1 Cultural awareness

Cultural awareness is a term we have used to describe sensitivity to the impact of culturally –

induced behavior on language use and communication (Barry Tomalin and Susan Templeski, 1993: 5)

As presented in the previous section, the forms and uses of a given language reflect the cultural values of the society in which the language is spoken Linguistic competence alone is not enough for learners of a language to be competent in that language (Krasner, 1999) Therefore, cultural awareness should be viewed as a significant component in communicative competence It is essential that language learners should be aware of the culturally appropriate ways to express attitudes, address people, make requests, and express agreements or disagreement etc

2.1.3.2 Cross – cultural awareness

There exist differences between cultures in the way people communicate, behave and act People use various terms to refer to communication between people from different nationality, social or ethnic origin, gender, occupation and sexual preference

„Cross – culture‟ refers to the meeting of two cultures or two languages across the political boundaries of nation – states (Claire Kramsch, 1998:81) They are predicated on the equivalence of one nation one culture language, and on the expectation that a “culture shock” may take place upon crossing national boundaries

Cross culture can be seen as culture in contact or culture encounters Cross – cultural

communication does not only study cultural differences and their influences on the people‟s behaviors but also see the similarities between them (crossing – common and different aspects)

In foreign language teaching a cross – cultural approach is applied in order that students will

be aware of the cultural differences and equipped with knowledge and skills to act in puzzling cross – cultural situations This also assists them in achieving effective communication

2.2 Culture teaching in conversational classes

2.2.1 What aspect of culture should be taught

As mentioned earlier, culture is defined differently from different aspects Researchers, therefore, have made many attempts to find out relevant cultural issues to delivers in foreign language lessons

Stephen More (1985) identifies the components of culture as: beliefs, values, norms, roles, role conflicts and status, and those of language as morphemes, words and sentences

Nelson Brooks (1983) identifies 5 meanings of culture: growth, refinement, fine arts, patterns

of living, and total way of life He believes that pattern of living should receive the major emphasis in the classroom It is patterns of living that are the least understood, yet the most important in the early phrases of language instruction He labels this meaning of culture as culture 4 and defines it as follows:

“Culture 4 (pattern of living) refers to the individual‟s role in the unending kaleidoscope of life situations of every kind and rules and models for attitude and conduct in them By reference to these models, every human being, from infancy onward, justifies the world to himself as best he can, associates with those around him, and relates to the social order to which he is attached”

From the point of view of language instruction, culture and be divided into two types: deep culture, or “culture with little c” (behavior culture) and “culture with big C” and big C (achievement culture) Deep culture, or “culture with little c” focuses on the behavioral patterns or lifestyles of the people: how they greet in the first meeting; which expression they use to show sympathy, approval, etc “Culture with big C” includes the humanistic manifestations and contributions of a foreign culture: art, music, literature; architecture, technology and politics

Gail Robinson (1985), an American researcher in the area of cross – cultural education, reports that when teachers are asked, “What culture means to you” the most common responses fall into three interrelated categories: products, ideas, and behaviors The broadening of „little c” (behavior culture) can be expressed through the following diagrams

Elements of culture

In a nutshell, the type of culture we teach in conversational classes should be flexibly comprised of both “big C” and little c” “The study of culturally – influenced behaviors should arise out of the language material being studied, but should nevertheless be clearly identified and systematically treated as a regular feature of the language lessons.” (Tomalin and Stempleski, 1993:7)

2.2.2 Task based approach in incorporate culture into teaching

Although intercultural communicative competence has long been viewed as an important goal of EFL, many materials used to train learners or raise cross – cultural awareness are limited in clarifying appropriate methods to carry out “culture part” in EFL lessons Incorporating culture into English speaking lessons entails more than teachers‟ merely giving information and students‟ taking notes According to Willis (1996) an appropriate classroom task is “a goal – oriented activity in which learners use language to achieve a real outcome” In this way, tasks can actively engage learners or promote skills required for negotiating meaning Nunan similarly states that, a task “…is a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing, or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form” (Nunan, 1989)

Behaviors Customs Habits Dress Foods leisure

2.3 Activities for raising students’ cultural awareness in conversational classes

2.3.1 Goals for incorporating culture into English speaking class

According to Seelye (1994), to teach culture for understanding, the following goals should be achieved:

Goal 1: Interest – The student demonstrates curiosity about the target culture and empathy

toward its people

Goal 2: Who – The student recognizes the role expectations and other social variables such as

age, sex, social class, ethnicity and place of residence affect the way people speak and behave

Goal 3: What – The student realizes that effective communication requires discovering the

culturally conditioned images that are evoked in the minds of people when they think, act, and react to the world around them

Goal 4: Where and when – The student recognizes situational variables and convention shape

behavior in important ways (S/he needs to know how people in the target culture act in common mundane and crisis situations)

Goal 5: Why – The student understands that people generally act the way they do because they

are using options society allows for satisfying basic physical and psychological needs, and that cultural patterns are interrelated and tend mutually to support need satisfaction

Goal 6: Exploration – The student can evaluate a generalization about the target culture in

terms of the amount of evidence substantiating it, and has the skills needed to locate and organize information about the target culture from the library, the mass media, people, and personal observation

According to Tomalin and Stempleski (1993:7-8), Seelye (1993), Hammerly (1982, 524), and Stern (1992, pp.212-215), the teaching of culture has the following goals:

pp.522- To help students to develop an understanding of the fact that all people exhibit culturally – conditioned behaviors

 To help students to develop an understanding that social variables such as age, sex, social class, and place of residence influence the ways in which people speak and behave

 To help students to become more aware of conventional behavior in common situations in the target culture

 To help students to increase their awareness of the cultural connotations of words and phrases in the target language

 To help students to develop the ability to evaluate and refine generalizations about the target culture, in terms of supporting evidence

 To help students to develop the necessary skills to locate and organize information about the target culture

 To stimulate students‟ intellectual curiosity about the target culture, and to encourage empathy towards its people

 To help students develop an understanding of the dynamic nature of the target culture,

as well as their own culture

2.3.2 Activities for raising students’ cultural awareness in conversational classes

Teaching culture requires a lot of efforts from teachers in order that students can enrich their cultural awareness with enthusiasm In this paper, the author some practical activities summarized by Christine Elmore, contributed by Elisabeth Peterson and Brownyn Coltrane and Deborah Peck

2.3.2.1 The summary of Christine Elmore’s activities

Christine Elmore (www.google.com) has summarized twelve ways of teaching culture as follows:

* Cultural Islands

From the first day of class teachers should have prepared a cultural island in their classrooms Posters, pictures, maps, signs, and realia of many kinds are essential in helping students develop a mental image Assigning students foreign names from the first day can heighten student interest Short presentations on a topic of interest with appropriate pictures or slides add to this mental image Start students off by making them aware of the influence of various foreign cultures in this country Introduce students to the borrowed words in their native language or the place-names of our country This helps students to realize they already know many words in the target language (i.e poncho, fiesta, rodeo) A good introductory activity is

to send students on cultural scavenger hunts to supermarkets and department stores and have them make lists of imported goods

* Culture Capsules (developed by Taylor & Sorenson, 1961)

Culture capsules are generally prepared out of class by a student but presented during class time in 5 or 10 minutes A Culture capsule consists of a paragraph or so of explanation of one minimal difference between the native culture and the target culture.Essentially a culture capsule is a brief description of some aspect of the target language culture (e.g., what is customarily eaten for meals and when those meals are eaten, marriage customs, etc.) followed

by, or incorporated with contrasting information from the students' native language culture The contrasting information can be provided by the teacher, but it is usually more effective to have the students themselves point out the contrasts

Culture capsules are usually done orally with the teacher giving a brief lecture on the chosen cultural point and then leading a discussion about the differences between cultures

* Culture Clusters

A culture cluster is simply a group of three or more illustrated culture capsules on related themes/topics (about the target life) + one 30 minute classroom simulation/skit that integrates the information contained in the capsules (the teacher acts as narrator to guide the students) For example, a culture cluster about grades and their significance to university students could

contain the capsule about how a grade point average is figured plus another about what kind of decisions (such as being accepted in graduate study, receiving scholarships, getting a better job, etc.) are affected by a person's grade point average

* Culture Assimilators

The culture assimilator provides the student with 75 to 100 episodes of target cultural behavior Culture assimilators consist of short (usually written) descriptions of an incident or situation where interaction takes place between at least one person from the target culture and persons from other cultures (usually the native culture of the students being taught) The description is followed by four possible choices about the meaning of the behavior, action, or words of the participants in the interaction with emphasis on the behavior, actions, or words of the target language individual(s)

Students read the description in the assimilator and then choose which of the four options they feel is the correct interpretation of the interaction Once all students have made their individual choices, the teacher leads a discussion about why particular options are correct or incorrect in interpretation

* Critical Incidents/Problem Solving

Critical incidents are another method for teaching culture Critical incidents are descriptions of incidents or situations which demand that a participant in the interaction make some kind of decision Most of the situations could happen to any individual; they do not require that there

be intercultural interaction as there is with culture assimilators Generally, the procedure with

a critical incident is to have students read the incident independently and make individual decisions about what they would do Then the students are grouped into small groups to discuss their decisions and why they made them they way they did Then all the groups discuss their decisions and the reasons behind them Finally, students have to be given the opportunity to see how their decision and reasoning compare and contrast with the decisions and reasoning of native members of the target culture

* Mini–Dramas

Mini–dramas consist of three to five brief episodes in which misunderstandings are portrayed,

in which there are examples of miscommunication Additional information is made available with each episode, but the precise cause of the misunderstanding does not become apparent until the last scene Each episode is followed by an open-ended question discussion led by the teacher The episodes are generally written to foster sympathy for the non–native of the culture the "wrong" that is done to him or her by a member of the target culture At the end of the mini–drama, some "knowing" figure explains what is really happening and why the target culture member was really not doing wrong

With mini–dramas, scripts are handed out and people are assigned to act out the parts After each act, the teacher asks students (not necessarily the ones performing in the drama) what the actions and words of the characters in the drama mean and leads them to make judgments about the characters in the play After all of the scenes have been portrayed and the "knowing" figure has made his or her speech, students are asked to reinterpret what they have seen in view of the information which the knowing figure provided

* Audio–motor Units

Audio–motor units consist of verbal instructions for actions by students which the students then carry out They work very well for any cultural routine which requires physical actions (e g., eating with a knife and fork, shaking hands, listening actively, standing in line to buy a ticket, etc.)

With an audio–motor unit, the classroom is set up as the required setting and with the required

props Individual students are then directed orally by the teacher to carry out appropriate actions The process can be repeated several times with different students carrying out the instructions Once appropriate behavior is established, minor but relevant changes can be made and students can see what factors require adjustment (e.g., Is it proper to shake hands with adults and children in the same way? If two come in together and have to pass in front of people, does it alter what anyone says or does?, etc.)

* Cultoons

Cultoons are like visual culture assimilators Students are given a series of (usually) four pictures depicting points of surprise or possible misunderstanding for persons coming into the target culture The situations are also described verbally by the teacher or by the students who read the accompanying written descriptions Students may be asked if they think the reactions

of the characters in the cultoons seem appropriate or not

After the misunderstandings or surprises are clearly in mind, the students read explanations of

what was happening and why there was misunderstanding

Magazine pictures, slide presentations, and/or videos are among the kinds of media/visual presentations which can be used to teach culture Usually with this method, the teacher presents a series of pictures or slides or a video with explanation of what is going on and what

it means in terms of the target culture Many aspects of culture, such as appropriate dress for activities, kinds of activities students participate in or the weekend, public transportation, etc., can be effectively presented with such visuals

* Celebrating Festivals

Celebrating foreign festivals is a favorite activity of many students Even though this activity takes a lot of planning, it works well as a culminating activity

* Kinesics and Body Language

Culture is a network of verbal and non-verbal communication If our goal as foreign language teachers is to teach communication, we must not neglect the most obvious form of non-verbal communication which is gesture At the beginning of the year, teachers can also show foreign films to students just to have them focus on body movements

* Cultural Consciousness-Raising

Attitude is another factor in language learning that leads to cross cultural understanding The organization of the notebook can be a useful tool in any discipline, but it can be of special importance in the foreign language classroom as a cultural consciousness raising tool From the very first day of school the foreign language teacher should have students begin organizing their notebook The notebook should be divided into four sections: Vocabulary, Maps, Grammar, Symbols Each section of the notebook will have an illustrated title page

2.3.2.2 Elizabeth Peterson and Brownyn Coltrane’s activities

Elizabeth Peterson and Brownyn Coltrane (2003) suggest seven activities for foreign language classes as follows:

 Authentic Materials

Using authentic sources from the native speech community helps to engage students in authentic cultural experiences Teachers can adapt their use of authentic materials to suit the age and language proficiency level of the students Students might describe the behaviors they observe and discuss which of them are similar to their native culture and determine strategies

for effective communication in the target language

 Students as cultural resources

Exchange students, immigrant students can be invited to the classroom These students can share insights into the cultural life of native speakers of the language with language learners

 Ethnographic studies

This is a very effective way for students to learn about the target language and culture Students can be sent to a community where they can carry out ethnographic interviews with native speakers, record in note books, audiotapes or videotapes valuable observation

 Literature

Literary texts are often full of cultural information and evoke memorable reactions for readers Carefully selected texts for students to obtain specific goals might be very helpful to students‟ enlargement of cultural knowledge

 Film

Films and television programs are also good sources for students to improve cultural knowledge Through behaviors and manners of people in films and TV programs, students learn a lot about culture of the target language

Deborah Peek (1998) introduced some other activities, which can be used in the foreign language class

 Quizzes

Quizzes are one of the most successful activity types Quizzes can be used to test materials that the teachers have previously taught, but they are also used in learning new information The teacher can ask the students to answer true or false to each of the questions in pairs or groups They will share their existing knowledge and common sense to give answers It is not important whether students get the right answer or not, but by predicting, students will become

more interested in finding out the right answer The right answer can be given by the teacher, through a reading, listening, or video At this point, extra information can be provided

Quizzes offer a high – interest activity that keeps students involved in learning

 Action logs

An action log is a notebook used for written reflection on the activities done during class which also provides useful feedback for teachers Students write it up after each class or at the end of each class By requiring students to evaluate each class activity for interest, usefulness, difficulty and they must reconsider what they have learnt Each students also records their target for speaking English, what they think they actually achieve, the names of their discussion partners, and their own comments on the activities

 Reformulation

When students have read an activity or listened to a story, the teacher may like to use reformulation to check what they have learned and to reinforce it by retelling to a partner Reformulation simply means: “Explain what you just learned to your partner in your own words‟ It is a very simple technique, but has proved very successful for leaning both culture and language Teachers can give readings for homework and requires student to take notes on the content These notes can be in the form of pictures, keywords, or mind – maps In the next class, teachers can ask students to reformulate the content of the reading with a partner using their notes without looking at the original paper Reformulation is also effective after watching

a short video extract or listening to a story Through reformulation, students check what they have learnt, find out things that they have missed from their partner, and improve their language by noticing gaps in their own ability to explain

 Noticing

As students watch a video or are engaged with some other materials, you can ask them to 'notice' particular features For example, they could watch a video of a target-culture wedding

and note all the differences with their own culture Asking students to 'notice' gives a focus to the materials by making it into a task, rather than simply passive viewing or listening

 Prediction

As mentioned above, prediction can be a useful tool in quizzes, but it can be equally useful in using almost any materials Like 'noticing', prediction can engage the students more actively For example, when you are telling a story, you can stop at a certain point and ask the students

to predict how it will continue Or, when you are giving out a reading for homework, first give the title of the reading and ask students to predict what they will learn This will force them to review their existing knowledge of the topic and raise their curiosity about whether their prediction is correct or not

 Research

Student research is one of the most powerful tools that we can use with college students because it combines their interests with the classroom For example, after the first class, we ask students to search the internet or library and find information on any aspect of the target-culture that interests them In the following class, students explain to their group what they have learned and answer any questions about it This can lead to poster-sessions or longer projects For some students, it can even lead to a long-term interest in the target-culture

Activities are varied for raising students‟ cross – cultural awareness However, some certain activities are better selected in certain classroom contexts with different students at different English level Under any circumstances, it is undeniable that students can only be successful in language learning if cultural issues are an indispensable part in foreign language teaching curriculum

CHAPTER 3: SITUATION ANALYSIS

In this chapter, the author describes the situation where the study is conducted and the participants involved Different methods of data collection are also discussed in detail Activities applied in the study are described Besides, the author focuses on the analysis of the data collected from survey questionnaires and tests to find out the truth about the effective activities for raising HaUI students‟ cross-cultural awareness and difficulties in including cultural issues in speaking lessons

3.1 Situation analysis

3.1.1 Setting of the study

The study is carried out at HaUI This study targets at English major students who are trained

to become interpreters and translators Like interpreter and translator trainees from other universities, students at HaUI are required to take English courses as major subjects for 4

years Textbooks such as Let’s talk 2, Speak up, Listen to it, Academic Writing, etc are chosen to develop four basic skills In the first semester, Let’s talk 2 is selected as a

mainstream textbook to improve students‟ speaking skill It is believed that this book will help students to know how to speak in English in some common conversational situations However, it seems that the textbook tends to focus on expressions and at HaUI little attempts have been made to draw students‟ attention to cross – cultural issues

3.1.2 Participants and classroom context

The study is carried out with the participation of 180 students (from English classes 1A,1B, 1C, 2A, 2B) and 40 teachers at HaUI in 15 weeks

All the 40 teachers participating in the study graduated from University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi They have been teaching English for at least 3 years

Participants as students are from first year groups They are mostly 19 – 20 years old Heterogeneity reflexes markedly as students come from different backgrounds, from different provinces and cities Most of the students have learnt English for 3-6 years All the students focused only on grammar at high school, had hardly any chance to practice speaking English

At the time of the study, students are beginning the second semester of their first year

3.2 Data collection instruments

This is an action research The data collection methods adopted is aimed at collecting both qualitative and quantitative data to make use of analytical and exploratory – interpretive paradigms in applied linguistics Data will be collected from questionnaires, observation and informal discussions in this action research

 Before the study, a questionnaire is distributed to teachers and students at HaUI to get

an overview of the situation of teaching and learning culture for English majored first year students; and explore the anticipation of teaching and learning English cultural elements

 After the course, a test is given to see if there is any progress in participants‟ cultural knowledge

 A survey questionnaire is conducted after the test to find out explanations for the changes

 Observation and formal discussions are combined with the other methods during the study

3.2.1 Survey questionnaire:

This tool for data information collection will be used to find out teachers and students‟ view of the significance of cultural awareness to teaching and learning Also, the author wishes to figure out the changes in students‟ English culture achievement after applying some methods in teaching culture in speaking classes

All the items of the questionnaire are designed clearly Each questionnaire takes approximately 15 minutes of class time The author explains carefully each item in the questionnaire and urges respondents to give faithful answers

The author presented the results of the questionnaires in tables and charts Besides survey questionnaire, the author also applied other methods as mentioned above

3.2.4 Informal discussions

Informal discussions will be conducted during short breaks and gatherings during the course

3.3 Data analysis

3.3.1 Survey questionnaire for teachers

The survey for teachers was conducted with the participation of 40 teachers at English Department, HaUI The data of the survey questionnaire was analyzed to figure out current situation in incorporating cultural elements into English speaking classes and teachers‟ attitude towards this issue

3.3.1.1 An overview of culture teaching in HaUI (Questions 1,2)

Question 1: Do you often include cultural knowledge in your speaking lessons?

The answers to the question are shown in the chart as below:

0

67

22 11 0

Never

This question focuses on figuring out the current situation of teaching speaking in HaUI in the aspect of including cultural element in the lessons Most of the teachers (67%) confide that they sometimes “teach” culture in conversational lessons 22% rarely mentions cultural issues The rest 11 % never touches upon any cross – cultural elements

Question 2: Do you often intend to make the speaking lessons more interesting with cross

– cultural activities or just mention cultural notes as they appear in the course books?

do not know much about culture and they do not have a lot of time to prepare for cultural knowledge

3.3.1.2 Teachers’ opinions of the difficulties in delivering cross – cultural elements in speaking classes (Questions 3 )

Question 3: What are your reasons for not having cultural issues discussed in your

speaking lessons frequently?

You are interested but have no time

to prepare for the lessons.

The curriculum is overloaded.

Students can learn cultural issues at home.

Data show that the majority of the teachers (56%) show interest in giving cultural information

in speaking lessons However, they say that they sometimes teach “culture” because of some objective and subjective reasons A main objective reason is that they do not have enough time

to prepare for cultural information before the lessons 22% say that the reason is overloaded curriculum The rest 22% think that students can learn cultural issues at home From informal discussions, it is revealed that lack of teaching aids also prevents teachers from supplementing students with interesting facts about cross cultures Hence, it is clear that teachers should have chances to improve their knowledge of cultural issues and sufficient teaching aids should be

available for the teaching of English with cross – cultural activities

3.3.1.3 Teachers’ opinions of the necessity of including cultural information in the lessons (Questions 5)

Question 5: How important is English cultural knowledge to your English teaching?

22% teachers agree that it is very important to teach culture 56% say that it is important for the students to have cultural issues discussed in the lessons These teachers highly appreciate the importance of English cultural knowledge to English teaching and learning The rest 22% hold the view that culture is rather important in language learning

When asked why it is necessary to “teach” culture, teachers say that languages always go with cultures and knowledge of culture helps students learn language better and become better communicators

3.3.1.4 Teachers’ opinions of the cross – cultural topics and activities for speaking lessons

Interestingly, 100% teachers show preferences for all the topics mentioned in question 7(appendix 1) including people, living conditions, food and drink, work, entertainment, relationship, values, people‟s attitudes Teachers tend to cover information about common issues in communicaion in speaking lessons This is very practical because it helps students easily find out the differences and similarities in Vietnamese and English cultures in many daily situations

When asked about the source that they obtain cultural knowledge all the teachers agree that they search the internet, read books and watch TV for cultural information

Regarding the activities, most of the teachers confide that role play, quizzes are effective in

“teaching” culture in speaking lessons Students appear to actively take part in activities that

give them fun Quizzes offer them chances for competition between teams Role play also

helps students easily remember cultural issues

3.3.1.5 Teacher’s difficulties in incorporating culture into speaking classes

63% teachers hold the view that not knowing how to “teach” culture effectively is their difficulty 36% they that lack of teaching materials is a hinderance in their teaching Therefore, most of them believe that it is feasible to deliver cultural issues in speaking lessons when their difficulties are tackled

3.3.2 Applied activities for raising students’ cross-cultural awareness in speaking classes

at HaUI

As discussed in the literature review, studies on teaching have suggested numerous ways to incorporate culture into language training However, only some activities are selected to use in this study pursuant to the special situation at HaUI as seen from survey for teachers above and survey for students and result of cultural assessment tests discussed later In addition, the textbook chosen for speaking lessons for 1st year students in their second semester is Let’s talk

2 Basing on these facts, we choose some activities to apply in HaUI context as follows: cultural islands, action logs, reformulation, quizzes, role plays, proverbs, problem solving, prediction, research

At the beginning of the semester, the participants have a good chance to have an exposure to the target culture by observing posters, maps, sign, and relia Posters, pictures of some famous people and maps of the USA and Great Britain are shown to the students Many borrowed words from English culture are introduced to students such as tennis, rock, pop, and pudding Through these activities students pay attention to cross – cultural knowledge by a short presentation about the importance of English culture in English learning by the teacher

After using cultural islands, the participants are suggested to prepare note books as diaries (or

action logs)They can design the notebook in the way they want to store cultural information

which they obtain from each lesson The information in the book can be revised when necessary In their notebook, the participants also write their own evaluation on each class activity for interest, usefulness and difficulty

Students also have chances to get involved in role plays, quizzes, problem solving, discussions, proverbs, prediction and research

In the activity “Quizzes” Students in a class are divided into 2 or 3 teams Teachers read the

questions from slides or handouts and students compete to get most of the correct answers For example, when talking about handshaking in formal situation, the teacher shows slides about 4 different pictures and students have to choose the picture with appropriate handshaking

In role play, some students act as the script (provided by teacher), other watch and find out the

cultural differences or discover the inappropriate behavior and explain the reasons For example, students will act the roles of 2 people in the first appointment They will greet and ask some questions Other students watch and compare the differences between Vietnamese and English culture in the same context

In problem solving, students often work in group or individually to find out solution to a

problem involving misunderstanding in communication Teachers help students find out solution and make explanations when necessary There may be description of situation which demand students to work independently and make individual decisions about what they would

do Then they work in groups to discuss their decisions and reaons behind them After that, students have to be given the opportunity to see how their decisions and reasoning compare and contrast with the decisions and reasoning of native members of the target culture

In reformulation students have to explain what they have learnt to their partner in their own

words Students can also be asked to reformulate what they have learnt from readings given by teachers

In proverbs activity, students work in pairs and recognize the differences in Vietnamese and

English cultures from proverbs that carry the same message The author provides the proverbs and let students discuss The authors sometimes ask students to collect proverbs of common topics

In the prediction activity, students watch a video or are told a story and asked to predict what

will happen next The teacher will explain what is appropriate in certain situations