The application of “scaffolding method” into promoting english learners autonomy at an international school in hanoi – an action research project

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYEN THI THAO PHUONG THE APPLICATION OF “SCAFFOLDING METHOD” INTO PROMOTING ENGLISH LEARNERS' AUTONOMY AT AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL IN HANOI – AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT (Áp dụng “Phương pháp giàn giáo” vào việc nâng cao tính tự chủ việc học Tiếng Anh cho học sinh trường quốc tế Hà Nội – Nghiên cứu hành động) MINOR MASTER THESIS Major: Language Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HANOI 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYEN THI THAO PHUONG THE APPLICATION OF “SCAFFOLDING METHOD” INTO PROMOTING ENGLISH LEARNERS' AUTONOMY AT AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL IN HANOI – AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT (Áp dụng “Phương pháp giàn giáo” vào việc nâng cao tính tự chủ việc học Tiếng Anh cho học sinh trường quốc tế Hà Nội – Nghiên cứu hành động) MINOR MASTER THESIS Major: Language Teaching Methodology (Lý luận phương pháp giảng dạy tiếng anh) Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Dr Pham Lan Anh HANOI 2019 DECLARATION I certify that the thesis entitled ―The application of ‗Scaffolding method‘ into promoting English learners' autonomy at an International School in Hanoi –An action research project‖ is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Viet Nam National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees Signature: Supervisor Researcher Pham Lan Anh Nguyen Thi Thao Phuong Date: 3/2019 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr Pham Lan Anh for her critical feedback and valuable guidance throughout the process of this research I would also like to thank lecturers and staff of the Postgraduate Department of University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University for their interesting lectures, precious support, guidance, and constant encouragement My sincere thanks also go to my colleagues of English Group, in Global International School, who as my good friends, were always willing to help and give me their best suggestions A special thank -would also go to all the students in Global School who took part in the research Without their participation and cooperation I would not be able to complete this research paper Last but not least, my deep appreciation and gratitude to my beloved family, especially my parents and my husband for their encouragement, inspiration and unconditional love, which enormously helped me towards the completion of my research ii ABSTRACT Learner autonomy, a recurrent topic in language teaching over the last three decades, has been advocated from a pedagogical point of view and from the perspective of philosophy Learner autonomy is one of the most important factors leading to the success in second language learning as well as life-long learning In view of the necessity of learner autonomy in the context of the foreign language classrooms, the aim of this study is to foster autonomy of EFL learners in speaking skill by encouraging them to take the responsibility in the learning process This is an action research conducted with 28 grade 10 English gifted students from class 10D at Global International School The goal was achieved by raising their awareness, training them the necessary strategies, and applying proposed activities After twelve lessons of implementing the action plan, questionnaire and was administered to discover the difference in the level of autonomy among the subjects Other data collection instruments like follow-up interviews and classroom observations were also exploited to validate the results The findings analyzed against a set of given criteria revealed that after having worked with this action plan, these learners were able to improve their autonomy as well as their spoken English They became more aware of how certain aspects of language work and they were able to develop their self-confidence and stimulate their motivation to continue learning in class This suggests a way of gauging students‘ responsibility for their own learning and that learner autonomy, as a life-long mode of learning, can only be achieved with the efforts of both the teacher and the learner iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study Aims and objectives of the study Methods of study Scope of the study Structure of the study PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Learner autonomy 1.1.1 Definition of learner autonomy 1.1.2 Roles of learner autonomy 1.1.3 Characteristics of learner autonomy 1.1.4 Teacher’s roles in learner autonomy 1.2 Speaking skill 12 1.2.1 The nature of speaking and characteristics of an effective speaking lesson 12 1.2.2 Autonomy in speaking skill 13 1.3 Scaffolding method 15 1.3.1 More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) 16 1.3.2 Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) 16 1.3.3 Basic scaffolding strategies for English language learner 17 1.3.4 The application of scaffolding theory in oral English teaching 17 1.4 Review of previous studies on autonomy 18 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 21 2.1 Research question 21 2.2 Subjects of the thesis 21 2.3 Setting 22 2.4 Research design 25 iv CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 38 PART C CONCLUSION 52 Recapitulations 52 Recommendations 53 Limitations 54 Suggestions for further study 55 REFERENCES 56 APPENDICES I APPENDIX I APPENDIX V APPENDIX VI APPENDIX VII APPENDIX XI APPENDIX XIV APPENDIX XVII APPENDIX XVIII APPENDIX XIX v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Characteristics of independent learning Table 2: Students‘ attitudes and performance during the project Table 3: The benefits of the projects to the students Table 4: Students‘ self-evaluation of their speaking skill Figure 1: The Learner Independence Continuum Figure 2: Students‘ opinions on the continuity of a similar project Figure 3: Level of students‘ involvement during the project Figure 4: Students‘ changes in their perception of learner autonomy vi PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study Learner autonomy, a concept promoted by Holec (1981) and others in the context of European language education, has become a favorite topic for analysis for the last twenty years In fact, people pay more attention to the process of acquiring than the product of learner autonomy Over the history, many great thinkers such as Galileo, Rousseau, Dewey, Kilpatrick, Marcel, Jacotot, Payne and Quick have mentioned about the importance of autonomy by proposing their ideas on education in different times (Balcikanli, 2008) Students who depend on themselves in learning speaking are more able to succeed academically and more motivated than those who not have effective strategies in learning by themselves (Holec,1981).Despite being discussed worldwide, learner autonomy remains an unfamiliar concept in Vietnam Whether or to what extent learner autonomy is developed and practiced in Vietnamese schools is still open to question Due to very limited time spent on teaching and learning pronunciation in the classroom, it has become increasingly essential to provide them with useful learning strategies so that they can employ in their self-study time In this case, the success of learning English speaking depends very much on how effectively and autonomously the students practice self-study For all the reasons above, I have decided to undertake a study on students‘ autonomy in learning English speaking at Global International School (GIS), Hanoi Despite the effort made to implant learner autonomy, it is still at a low level in upper secondary school setting in Vietnam, and the students in GIS are of no exception Even the students who are gifted at English exhibit low responsibility in their English learning process When asked to work in pairs and groups in speaking lessons, they start to write down their own ideas as a long presentation or some key points and revise their own work individually, and ready to communicate only when they are perfectly sure of their part and their ideas Furthermore, they are generally reluctant to question the teacher or give their opinions An open discussion in Vietnamese with the students explicates that their low autonomy has resulted from psychological, social and personal grounds Their misleading beliefs, minute confidence, restricted knowledge as well as the previous learning experience are agreed upon as the primary causes of their passive learning style The beliefs and attitudes learners hold have a strong influence on their learning behaviors It is, therefore, essential to assist students in moving towards greater autonomy, especially in learning speaking This situation urges the conduction of this research to aid students in their second language learning and life-long learning This is basically no easy task since autonomy does not blossom automatically Due to the highly complex nature of language and language learning, augmenting autonomy in language learners often proves to be a doubly difficult objective Although few research have been done in Vietnam to boost students‘ active engagement in speaking, a large number of studies in other countries have reported favorable results in developing their students‘ autonomy Most of them use awareness-raising activities, portfolio, self-assessment, homework and assignment in their studies Regarding all these practices, the present paper is an attempt to search the current research then build an appropriate project of actions for the English gifted students in English, GIS who have average level of learning autonomy The expectation is to help learners generate a sense of autonomy in language learning, elevate the students speaking skill as well as render effective speaking lessons Aims and objectives of the study This research aims at: - identifying the current grade 10 (GIS) English gifted students‘ autonomy in speaking skill - working out the appropriate scheme of actions to improve the situation - finding out the effectiveness of the selected activities in the action plan In particular, it is conducted to ascertain the following objectives: APPENDIX FEEDBACK QUESTIONNAIRE RESULT Identify your degree of agreement or disagreement with a statement by putting a tick in one of four responses The four options are presented as follows: Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree ATTITUDES AND PERFORMANCE DURING THE PROJECT No 1.1 ATTITUDES AND ACTIVITIES I find the selected activities interesting 1.2 When doing the activities, I spoke English more with my friends 1.3 My friends cooperated well to fulfill the task 1.4 My partners seemed to be interested in doing the task 1.5 I chose the topics which attracted my attention 1.6 I used Vietnamese whenever I couldn‘t find the word in English 1.7 I had a purpose in mind when choosing what to read for my assignments 0% 11% 21 75% 20 4 14% 0% 0% 14% 11% 72% 17 61% 21 14% 28% 0% 0% 11% 14% 75% 17 61% 16 14% 25% 11% 11% 56% 18 22% 14% 13 64% 15% 46% 20 72% 14% 8% 14% 17 61% 0% 0% 18% 7% The topics which I used to select were as easy for 13 1.8 me to prepare as possible 46% When we finished the task before the other pairs, 1.9 we didn‘t anything else 14% 1.10 I kept a record of my assignment for revision 7% XIV SELF-EVALUATION OF SPEAKING SKILL EVALUTION 2.1 I feel that I now can work faster and cope with unpredictability spontaneously I try to use what I have already known to speak 2.2 without hesitations 0% 11 17 39% 61% 0% 0% 7% 26 93% 0% 24 11 When I encounter difficulties in communication, I use paraphrasing 0% If the conversation tends to break down, I use 2.4 functional language to maintain it 0% I communicate ideas rather than constructing 2.5 completely grammatically correct sentences 0% 2.3 I don’t care about accuracy at an expense of 2.6 fluency 14% 86% 0% 13 14% 39% 47% 11 12 18% 39% 43% 18 14% 64% 22% 0% 2.7 2.8 I am able to perform a range of speaking tasks on different topics I think in Vietnamese before creating the English version XV 10 16 7% 36% 57% 0% 24 7% 86% 7% 0 0% GENERAL ATTITUDES TO THE PROJECT ATTITUDES 4.1 The self-directed learning activities help me improve my English speaking proficiency 4.2 The self-directed learning activities help me to make and complete a plan to improve my English 0% 7% 0% 7% 21 86% 7% 22 79% 14% 4.3 The self-directed learning activities help me to learn ways to study by myself 4.4 The self-directed learning activities help me to acquire a number of active words, phrases and expressions on different fields 4.5 I would like to a similar project next terms even if it isn‘t counted as our marks 0% 7% 0 0% 0% 20 72% 21% 18 10 64% 36% XVI 10 14 0% 36% 50% 14% APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS How you see yourself now as a language learner? Or have any beliefs about your change? (Is there something that you feel that you have learnt as a learner in a different way than before?) Can you tell me about your performance during the project? - How you and your partners choose the topics? - How you find your partners? - What you if you‘re finished but others haven‘t? - What have you done with your records? - What difficulties were you confronted with in your out-of-class English during the project? How have you been evaluating your speaking skill? Do you want to continue this project in the next semester? What if you are not assessed in doing it? Give your reasons XVII APPENDIX OBSERVATION SHEET (adopted from Nunan (1995)) Overall class motivation This observation sheet is designed to get more information about the students‘ involvement in the activities It is a class-as-a-whole observation, not individual student one Circle a number 1- to see how Not very involved very involved involved in the learning task the Circle a number 1- are to see the level students Low of students' concentration on the Circle alearning number task 1- S to see the Not really students’ enjoyment of the activities Circle a number 1* to see the level Low of students’ intensity of application Circle a number 1- to see the Not really students’ persistent attention to the Circle a number 1- 5task to see students’ learning Low 345 very much so 345 high very much so 345 evaluation of the activities and the way of class management Comment: …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… XVIII high high APPENDIX CONVERSATION PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONS FOR SPEAKING This session provides students with useful tools that are frequently used during conversations to avoid lack of ideas or repetition KEEPING A CONVERSATION GOING Making comments Unbelievable! That's interesting Is that right? Interesting point I would add Hmmm I hadn't thought of that before No! — to show surprise I don't believe it! — to show surprise Wow! - to show admiration or surprise That's incredible/ interesting / amazing / unbelievable - to show great interest in the subject of conversation How awful / terrible - to show sympathy with someone else's bad news Asking questions Really? -to show surprise And you? - when someone asks you how you are Did you? -can be used to encourage someone to tell their story For example, I saw her last night Did you? Yes, she was with one of her friends, and she REPHRASING Sometimes we say things that other people don't understand, or we give the wrong XIX impression This is an example conversation where one person says something that the other person thinks is strange LUIZ: English is a very easy language to learn IRENE: What you mean? LUIZ: Well, what I meant to say was that it is easy if you practice every day IRENE: Oh, right Rephrasing expressions What I meant to say was Let me rephrase that Let me put this another way Perhaps I'm not making myself clear Back to the beginning If you're explaining something, and you realize that the other person doesn't understand, youcan use the following phrases: If we go back to the beginning The basic idea is One way of looking at it is Another way of looking at it is If you forget the word you want to use, you can say: I cant find the word I'm looking for I'm not sure that this is the right word, but What I want to say is GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO THINK XX Let me see well / actually / in fact /OK / So, you see / let‘s see / let me if you know the thing is /the point is /that is , Anyway, Well, as I was saying GIVING OPINIONS Asking for Opinions Do you have any thoughts on that? How you feel about that? What's your view/opinion/idea? How you see the situation? What are your thoughts on all of this? Do you have anything to say about this? What you think? Do you agree? Wouldn't you say? Giving Opinions According to Lisa If you ask me It seems to me that In my opinion,/ experience I am of the opinion that /I take the view that My personal view is that As far as I understand / can see, As I see it, / From my point of view As far as I know / I‘m concerned / From what I know I believe one can (safely) say XXI I think/believe/suppose/feel I am sure/certain/convinced that AGREEING AND DISAGREEING Agreeing I agree So I Me too (Agreeing about a negative Me neither, idea.) I don't either (Agreeing about a negative idea.) You're right /That's right Good idea I think that‘s a good idea I think you're right I agree with you There are many reasons for There is no doubt about it that I simply must agree with that Outlining facts The fact is that The (main) point is that This proves that What it comes down to is that It is obvious that It is certain that One can say that It is clear that There is no doubt that… That's for sure (slang) Tell me about it! You have a point there, weak) I suppose so./I guess so Strong agreement I couldn't agree with you more You're absolutely right XXII I agree entirely I totally agree I completely/absolutely agree with I agree with you 100 percent Absolutely That's exactly how I feel Exactly I am of the same opinion I couldn't agree with you more That's so true Agreeing in part I agree with you up to a point, but That's quite true, but I agree with you in principle, but It is only partly true that I can agree with that only with reservations Disagreeing I don't think so, (No.) That's not right Yes, but (I'm sorry, but) I don't agree I'm not sure I agree with you (I'm afraid) I don't agree (I'm afraid) I disagree (I'm afraid) I can't agree with you (I'm afraid) I don't share your opinion There is more to it than that The problem is that I (very much) doubt whether XXIII That may be true, but I may be wrong, but You might be right, but You have a good point, but You could say that, but Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't mean to be rude, but Unlike I think I'm afraid I disagree I beg to differ Not necessarily That's not always true That's not always the case Disagreeing strongly (strong) No way I don't agree at all I totally disagree I couldn't agree with you less This is in complete contradiction to I am of a different opinionbecause I'd say the exact opposite Settling an argument Let's just move on, shall we? Let's drop it I think we're going to have to agree to disagree (sarcastic) Whatever you say /If you say so INTERRUPTING Interrupting politely XXIV Excuse me , but Sorry to interrupt (you), but Sorry for interrupting you, but I really don‘t want to interrupt you, but I‘d like to say that That reminds me of By the way (chuyển chủ đề) Wait a minute Sorry, but the point I need to clarify here is Pardon me, May I interrupt (for a minute)? Getting back to the topic Anyway, Now, where was I? Where were we? What were you saying? You were saying To get back to CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING Checking forunderstanding Do you know what I'm saying/mean? Do you understand? Are you following me? / Are you with me (so far)? Have you got it? / Got it? Any questions? Showing Understanding I see / understand / get it./ got it I see your point Gotcha (Informal) XXV Can I add something here? I don't mean to intrude, but Could I inject something here? Do you mind if I jump in here? Is it okay if I jump in for a second? If I might add something Can I throw my two cents in? (after accidentally interrupting someone) Sorry, go ahead OR Sorry, you were saying (after being interrupted) Youdidn't let me finish Expressing Lack ofUnderstanding I don't get it (I'm sorry.) I don't understand What you mean? I'm not following you I don't quite follow you I'm not sure I get what you mean What was that again? CLARIFYING Clarifying your own ideas In other words, What I mean is What I'm trying to say is What I wanted to say was To clarify, Asking for Clarification What you mean (by that)? What are you trying to say? What was that again? Could you clarify that? XXVI Could you elaborate (on that)? Could you tell me a little more about it? Could you give (me) some details? Could you fill me in on that? Clarifying another‘s ideas You mean What you mean is What you're saying is (I think) what she means is What he's trying to say is If I understand you, (you're saying that ) If I'm hearing you correctly, So, you think (that) So, your idea is Let me elaborate Let me tell you a little more (about it) Let me give you some details PROVIDING EXAMPLES Take for example (the case of) Look at For instance / For example Let me give you an example 10 CLASSROOM PHRASES STUDENTS ASKING QUESTIONS Asking about words What's ―sao hỏa‖ in English?/ How you say/call ―sao hỏa‖ in English?/ What's the English word for ―sao hỏa‖? What is the meaning of ―intestine‖?/ What does ―intestine‖ mean?/ What does it mean? What is the opposite meaning of ―hot‖? ―Cold‖ is the opposite meaning of ―hot‖ XXVII What is another meaning for ―big‖? Large is another meaning for ―big‖ How should I pronounce ―book‖? /How you pronounce this word? / Would you pronounce the word ―book‖? How you spell book? / How you spell that? What does USA stand for? Where's the stress in dividend? Asking to repeat Could / Can/Would you repeat that, please? Could / can you say that/it again, please? Are you saying book? /Can you say that again, please? Could you explain it once more, please?/ Could you explain a little bit more about that? Can you speak more slowly? / Can you speak more loudly? / Would you read the last sentence a little more slowly?/ Would you mind speaking louder? Pardon me? XXVIII ... certify that the thesis entitled The application of ‗Scaffolding method‘ into promoting English learners' autonomy at an International School in Hanoi An action research project is the result of. ..VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYEN THI THAO PHUONG THE APPLICATION OF “SCAFFOLDING METHOD” INTO PROMOTING ENGLISH. .. eliciting information about aims, needs and wishes, helping with planning, suggesting materials and sources, taking part in interaction, offering alternatives, listening and responding, interpreting