The feasibility of integrated approach in English language teaching at Maritime College No.1, Haiphong = Tính khả thi của phương pháp tích hợp trong giản.PDF

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN DUY LỢI THE FEASIBILITY OF INTEGRATED APPROACH IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AT MARITIME COLLEGE No.1, HAI PHONG (TÍNH KHẢ THI CỦA PHƢƠNG PHÁP TÍCH HỢP TRONG GIẢNG DẠY TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƢỜNG CAO ĐẲNG HÀNG HẢI 1, HẢI PHÒNG) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 HÀ NỘI, 2011 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN DUY LỢI THE FEASIBILITY OF INTEGRATED APPROACH IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AT MARITIME COLLEGE No.1, HAI PHONG (TÍNH KHẢ THI CỦA PHƢƠNG PHÁP TÍCH HỢP TRONG GIẢNG DẠY TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƢỜNG CAO ĐẲNG HÀNG HẢI 1, HẢI PHÒNG) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor : Dr Dƣơng Thị Nụ HÀ NỘI, 2011 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATION vi LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS vii PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims and objectives Research methods Scope of research Significance of the study Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Integrated-skills approach 1.1.1 Definitions 1.1.2 Types of Integration 1.1.2.1 Integration of three areas 1.1.2.2 Integration of skills 1.1.3 The advantages of integrated approach 1.1.4 An integrated approach to teaching reading 1.1.5 The disadvantages of integrated approach 10 1.2 The statement of the problems 11 1.2.1 Teachers' background 11 1.2.2 Students’ background 12 1.2.3 The current situation of English language teaching 13 and learning at Maritime College v 1.2.3.1 The teaching situation 13 1.2.3.2 The learning situation 13 1.3 Summary 13 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 14 Methodology 14 2.1.1 Research questions 14 2.1.2 The participants 14 2.1.3 The instruments 14 2.1.3.1 Survey questionnaires 2.1.3.2 Class observation 2.1.3.3 Informal interview 2.2 Data analysis 14 15 16 17 2.3 Summary 18 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 19 3.1 Teacher survey questionnaire 19 3.1.1 Teachers’ perceptions of feasibility of 19 Integration of skills to Reading at Maritime College 3.1.2 Advantages of Integrated Approach 22 3.1.3 Disadvantages of Integrated Approach 23 3.2 Class observation 28 3.3 Informal interview 28 3.4 Major findings 29 3.5 Recommendations and suggestions 30 3.6 Sample lesson plans with integrated approach 32 PART III: CONCLUSION 38 Conclusions 38 Implications 38 Limitations 39 REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES I PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale In this paper I would like to give an overview of maritime English teaching at the Maritime College No 1, Hai Phong, addressing some advantages and disadvantages of integration of four skills to Reading and providing suggestions on how to improve the communicative skills in maritime English teaching at Maritime College For all these reasons above, a thesis named: “THE FEASIBILITY OF AN INTEGRATED APPROACH IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AT MARITIME COLLEGE No 1, HAI PHONG” has been fostered and conducted Aims and objectives The study is an attempt to meet two aims It not only points to the advantages and disadvantages of integrated-skills teaching at MC but also to provide guidance and suggestions in applying the method with the purpose of teaching improvement Research methods In this section, the author provided the description of the instruments for collecting data that were used and also highlighted the strengths and weakness of the research methods chosen Scope of the study As mentioned in the research’s title, the research is aiming at an investigation on the suitability of integrated-skills method at MC Significance of the study Being one of two colleges in Vietnam specializing in Maritime industry, MC has played a very important role in providing Maritime English lectures and labour forces for the nation Design of the study PART I: INTRODUCTION provides the basic information such as the aims, the scope, and significance of the study 2 PART II: DEVELOPMENT contains of chapters Chapter 1: Literature Review justifies the literature on integrated teaching approach, categories of integration, the advantages and disadvantages of this method and especially the statement of the problems whose background of teachers and students are given clearly with the application of this method at the school Chapter 2: Research Methodology focus on the methodology employed in this study, including the methodology, the participants, the instruments for data collection Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions are reported PART III: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS presents a review of the research and the recommendations for the improvement of the material with selected suggestions for further research PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW The process of the literature review involves the researcher in exploring the literature to establish the status quo, formulate a problem or research enquiry, define the value of pursuing the line of enquiry established, and compared the findings and ideas with his or her own (Andresen 1997, adapted from Bruce 1994) 1.1 Integrated teaching approach 1.1.1 Definitions The philosophy of integrated skills approach is based on the concept that in natural, day-to-day experience, oral and written languages are not kept separate and isolated from one another Instead, they often occur together, integrated in specific communication events (Peregoy & Boyle, 2001) Cunningsworth states that “In the actual language use, one skill is rarely used in isolation Numerous communicative situations in real life involve integrating two or more of the four skills The user of the language exercises his abilities in two or more skills, either simultaneously or in close succession.” (1984, p.46) Similarly, Hersan points out that “nowadays, communication is the major aim for learning a foreign language In daily life, these skills are seen in integration, for example, after reading a letter, usually an answer to this letter is written So in the classroom the activities should be taught in integration in order to arrive at ease in communication.” (1998, p 22) 1.2.2 Types of Integration The concepts of integration are separated into two as in the chart below: Grammar Integration of areas Language functions Topics/themes INTEGRATION Listening Integration of skills Speaking Writing Reading Figure 1: Classification of integration (Meltem Huri, 2010) 1.2.2.1 Integration of three areas Grammatical Integration Most of the course books apply this type of integration There is no topical/thematic unity among the skills activities, but they reinforce the same grammatical item Therefore, one/a unit of the course book is completely centred on items such as tenses, articles, adverbial forms and so on with its skills activities This type of integrated unit in a book can be confused with a wholly grammar-based unit The difference between a wholly grammatical unit and a grammatically integrated unit is that while the former one ignores the communicative value of language, the second one recognizes it by using different skills communicatively, focusing on a grammatical item Skills activities might be presented in different topics and settings but focusing on only one grammatical item and without logical links among them Functional Integration It focuses on gathering and using skills in an organization around one social functions of language Thematic/Topical Integration In this type of integration, skills are practiced in conjunction with each other around a topic in the way they are integrated in real life If there is a context, and skills activities are not isolated from this context, there thought to be a topical unity among activities Whenever the writers have examined the course books for the integration of skills, this is the only type of integration the course books seem to cover under the title of “Integration of Four Skills” 1.2.2.2 Integration of skills The integration of skills is a combination of four language skills including Listening, Speaking, Writing and Reading is the most important task for teachers 1.2.3 The advantages of integrated approach To summarize, using an integrated skills approach enables students to develop their ability in the use of two or more of the four skills within real context and in a communicative framework 1.2.4 An integrated approach to teaching reading When analyzed, there is a large overlap among the component skills of the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing In real-life communication, there is a frequent alternation between receptive and productive activities People have differences in their ability to learn through the ear, the eye and muscular movement If something is taken in through more than one channel, it is more likely to be learned well 5 Students even of the same age, sex and cultural background are often not interested in the same thing (1981, p 93) 1.2.5 The disadvantages of integrated approach In conclusion, the teacher should incorporate opportunities throughout the learning process for students to develop their own language skills by responding verbally as they read, write, and learn in English 1.3 The statement of the problems 1.3.1 Teachers' background The teaching staffs have been known to be the key to success of traditional teaching and learning at Maritime College No.1 At the college, there are 23 teachers of English Fourteen out of 23 had the full-time training in English teaching course at the University 1.3.2 Students' background Students are selected through an entrance examination for college level As for other levels such as secondary and vocational students, these procedures are determined via documents assessments 1.3.2 The current situation of English language teaching and learning at Maritime College 1.3.2.1.1 The teaching situation College students have to learn five terms out of six terms within their courses whereas the others have to learn three terms out of four There are two types of course book used at Maritime College 1.3.2.2 The learning situation Students study at three main departments at Maritime College These are Engine Department, Navigation Department, and Electro-Mechanical Department 1.4 Summary Chapter one has presented the definition, roles of integration of four skills teaching method as well as the advantages and disadvantages that need to be taken to be account CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 Methodology This Chapter describes how to collect information using a set of tools including survey questionnaire, class observation, and informal interviews 2.1.1 Research questions To fulfil the aims mentioned above, the research addresses the following questions: What are the advantages and disadvantages of using integrated approach at Maritime College No.1, Hai Phong? 2.1.2 The participants The study investigates the feasibility of applying integrated approach of twenty three (23) teachers in Maritime College No 1, Haiphong 2.1.3 The instruments A combination of different methods is used to collect various sources of data 1.3.1 Survey questionnaires Interviewing can be a complicated business as far as finding mutually convenient times is concerned The researcher made use a set of survey questionnaires including closed and open-ended questions to cover all belief of teachers and suggestions serving for the improvement of the current learning and teaching situation 1.3.2 Classroom observation 1.3.3 Informal interviews Hopkins (cited in McDonough & McDonoug, 1997) lists three applications of interviews in classroom research 2.2 Data analysis The research is expected to achieve the main following contents: + Teachers’ perceptions of feasibility of Integration of skills to Reading at Maritime College; + Advantages of Integrated Approach; + Disadvantages of Integrated Approach; + Feasibility of Integrated Approach, Recommendations and suggestions 2.4 Summary A discussion of data collection instruments have been conducted in this chapter It also described the participants, the methodology used and data analysis CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS In the closing chapter, the author integrates and summarizes briefly all of the preceding chapters 3.1 Teacher survey questionnaire The teacher survey questionnaires were completely fulfilled by 22 teachers out of 23 teachers who have been teaching English at Maritime College 3.1.1 Teachers’ perceptions of feasibility of Integration of skills to Reading at Maritime College These figures show that the integrated approach has been popular and similar with MC teachers Specifically, what are their clear ideas on the integration method would be discovered by the following questions in the Questionnaires as given Chart 1: Teachers’ current language teaching approaches at MC Chart 2: Appropriateness of the integrated Approaches According to the Figure, 80% of teachers agreed that integrated approach is appropriate to apply at Maritime College No in current situation The teachers themselves did not know how to apply the methods effectively Chart 3: Priority in Language Teaching This method required students to be more active as they had to enrich the prior knowledge before they came to class 8 Chart 4: Definition of Integrated Approaches In general, the author and almost teachers at MC have the same belief of the integration method aiming to study with perspectives of combination of four language skills in a unit lesson 3.1.2 Advantages of Integrated Approach There were, according to the Table 1, two significant trends on teachers' ideas on the advantages of integrated approach can bring about in the belief of teachers Table 1: Advantages of Integrated Approach No Advantages (%) Help students develop four language skills 75% Students are flexible to cope with various communicative situations 80% in real life context Interaction between teachers and students reaches at high level of 40% effectiveness Exposes students to authentic language and challenges them to 45% interact naturally in the language Be able to assess the overall language competence of students 85% Make the lessons less boring by applying various skills in a lesson 90% Be flexible for teachers to concentrate on the areas he/she wants 50% Teachers feel free to provide more practical experience and learning 90% materials to support the lesson Be easy for both teachers and learners and within the capabilities of 55% all teachers 10 Teachers are flexible to create suitable learning 80% environment/atmosphere 11 Others: 0% 3.1.3 Disadvantages of Integrated Approach Regarding the disadvantages of the integration method, there were some difficulties when integration method is applied Table 2: Disadvantages of integrated Approach No Disadvantages (%) Both teachers and students have to make great effort for preparation 50% if integration of teaching methods is applied It is demanding for the teachers because the teachers are required to 90% master high level of language understanding and practical experience It is not suitable to the newly-graduated teachers but the experienced 80% teachers It is time-consuming at class The teachers not have enough time 40% to that It makes students stressful and anxious to learn English 10% It is not important and suitable at Maritime College because the 20% students need to learn Maritime English Vocabulary only The textbook is out-of-date, thus it is difficult to involve students in 15% learning by the integrated approach The students may be discouraged to get involved because of no 10% mother-tongue equivalents for Maritime technical terms Not enough teaching aids (such as projector, camera, speakers, etc), thus the teachers fail to apply integrated methods at Maritime 80% College 10 Due to different level of English proficiency and big number of 95% students in a class, the teachers may fail to complete the lesson if an integrated method is applied 11 Others 0% 10 Chart 5: Integrated Approaches implementation The current difficulty for these teachers is that they needed time to prepare as well as get their students ready for new things Chart 6: Suitability and applicability of Integrated Approaches in Language teaching at MC In the extent to which the integrated method is applied is illustrated in chart Chart 7: Fluency of Integrated Approaches applications Table 3: Recommendations for the application of integrated approach No Recommendations for the application of Integrated Approaches (%) In-service training of integrated approach should be provided for 70% teachers at Maritime College The teaching materials and facilities should be improved to support 100% Integrated Approach The number of students in each class should be reduced to make it 80% easier to adopt Integrated Approach Tests should include not only grammar points, but also other 60% language skills such as listening and speaking, writing Others: 0% 3.2 Class observation 3.3 Informal interview The informal interviews were carried out with three participants who are representatives from different groups of age and experience The first, second and third interviewees are in the range of years, years and 12 years of teaching experiences 3.4 Major findings 11 The first priority of English language teaching is enhancing communication skills, thus, as application of the integrated approach, it help students flexible to cope with various communicative situations in real life context Secondly, this approach can improve the learning atmosphere One of other advantages of IA is that during application of IA, authentic materials are easily supported to different lesson and the teachers feel free to provide more practical experience to students The following disadvantages of the method have been discovered in this study: It is a fact that due to time constrains and big number of students in a class, teachers may fail to complete the lesson On one side, the integration method has created favourable conditions Teachers always complained that they have been in charge of many classes thus they have no time for preparation and implementation 3.5 Recommendations and suggestions * Learn more about the various ways to integrate language skills in the classroom * Reflect on their current approach and evaluate the extent to which the skills are integrated * Choose instructional materials, textbooks, and technologies that promote the integration of listening, reading, speaking, and writing, as well as the associated skills of syntax, vocabulary, and so on * Even if a given course is labeled according to just one skill, remember that it is possible to integrate the other language skills through appropriate tasks * Teach language learning strategies and emphasize that a given strategy can often enhance performance in multiple skills 12 PART III: CONCLUSIONS Conclusions Skills are the building blocks of language learning process They are effective elements of teaching and learning process Implications In conclusion, the findings of this study has suggested that despite a number of shortcomings, the integration methods can still make effective teaching and learning outcomes for students in general and the students in the current situation at MC Limitations The issues addressed in this study involved mainly teachers’ opinions through questionnaires, observation and interviews  ... illustrated in chart Chart 7: Fluency of Integrated Approaches applications Table 3: Recommendations for the application of integrated approach No Recommendations for the application of Integrated Approaches... current language teaching approaches at MC Chart 2: Appropriateness of the integrated Approaches According to the Figure, 80% of teachers agreed that integrated approach is appropriate to apply at Maritime. .. Types of Integration The concepts of integration are separated into two as in the chart below: Grammar Integration of areas Language functions Topics/themes INTEGRATION Listening Integration of