The chanllenges of teaching english at primary schools a survey in one province

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** TRAN THI GIANG THE CHALLENGES OF TEACHING ENGLISH AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS: A SURVEY IN ONE PROVINCE (Những thách thức việc dạy tiếng Anh trường tiểu học: Khảo sát tỉnh) M.A Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi – 2019 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** TRAN THI GIANG THE CHALLENGES OF TEACHING ENGLISH AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS: A SURVEY IN ONE PROVINCE (Những thách thức việc dạy tiếng Anh trường tiểu học: Khảo sát tỉnh) M.A Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Assoc Prof.Dr.Le Van Canh Hanoi – 2019 DECLARATION I, Tran Thi Giang, declare that the thesis entitled “The challenges of teaching English at primary schools: A survey in one province” reports the result of the study conducted by myself The thesis is submitted to College of Foreign Languages-Vietnam National University for Degree of Master in TESOL It has not been published anywhere Signature Student Tran Thi Giang i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who gave me the possibility to complete this thesis Furthermore, I am grateful to his close guidance and generous help, which have been great encouragement to me during the process of writing and completion of thesis I wish to take this opportunity to express my heart-felt thanks to Mr Le Van Canh whose lectures provided me with a great deal of pedagogical knowledge in language teaching His initial suggestion inspired me conduct this study I am deeply indebted to the teachers who were willing to give me information via survey questionnaire, face-to-face and facebook interview My thanks also go to my colleagues, officers in Ninh Binh Provincial DOET, who gave me favorable condition of time for pursuing MA course and completing the research Last but not least, I would like to offer my deepest thanks to my family whose affection and support enable me to complete this work ii ABSTRACT The research aimed to identify the challenges that faced teachers in teaching English at the primary schools, the challenges learners encounter Set of questionnaire is designed and the survey is launched in primary schools in a province The samples of the study were 100 teachers from 100 public schools throughout the province, interview with selected teachers from districts, and observational data collected in 10 schools The results of the study indicated that the low motivation and the shallow, negative, and passive teaching, learning strategies lead to the low outcome In addition, from the results of the study, some pedagogical suggestions related to creating a classroom atmosphere, praises and rewards, opportunities of success, activities and techniques, and more learning strategies, are offered for teachers of English iii LIST OF TABLES Table Teachers’ advantages in teaching Table Teachers' difficulties in teaching English at primary schools Table Teachers’ solutions to their difficulties Table Teachers’ proposals iv LIST OF APPREVIATION MOET Ministry of Education and Training DOET Department of Education and Training PELT Primary English Language Teaching EBE English Bilingual Education PEFLTs Primary English foreign language teachers TESOL Teaching English as a foreign language v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF TABLES iv LIST OF APPREVIATION v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Significance of the study Aims of the study Research methods Participants Scope of the study Organization of the thesis PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Teaching English to primary school children as a global phenomenon 1.2 Challenges in teaching English to primary school learners 1.3 How young learners learn English? 1.4 Challenges on the part of teachers 13 1.5 Previous studies on primary school English teaching in Vietnam 16 1.6 Summary 18 CHAPTER 2: THE CONTEXT OF TEACHING ENGLISH TO PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN THE PROVINCE 19 2.1 English instruction to primary children in Vietnam 19 vi 2.1.1 Policy 19 2.1.2 Implementation 20 2.1.3 The way forward 20 2.2 Introduction to the province context of teaching-learning English at primary schools 21 2.3 Teachers and their background 22 2.4 Summary 23 CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY 24 3.1.The data collection instruments 24 3.2.The participants 25 3.3.Data collection procedure 25 3.4.Data analysis 26 3.5.Findings 26 3.5.1 Teachers’ experience of English teaching at primary school level.27 3.5.2 Teachers’ self-judgement of training workshops they have attended 27 3.5.3 Teachers’ advantages in teaching 28 3.5.4 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching at primary schools 28 3.5.5 Teachers’ solutions to their difficulties 30 3.5.6 Teachers’ proposal 31 3.5.7 Teachers’ performance in the classroom 32 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION 39 REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX vii 3.5.5 Teachers’ solutions to their difficulties Number of mentions Solutions Order Love children, be children’s friend, love teaching job 17 Continuously study independently to improve their 14 language competence and teaching techniques by using resources and materials on the internet, from other teachers, through workshops Try to find creative techniques of teaching s to make 23 learning fun to the students Adapt materials to the students’ levels and 25 Guide students to learn by themselves outside the 31 characteristics classroom Cooperate with teachers from schools and students’ 18 parents There are totally 100 surveyed teachers, however, 35% stated that “Teachers are not good at teaching children techniques, teachers not feel confident teaching children” but only 14% stated that “continuously self upgrading language competences and teaching techniques” is needed The biggest percentages in the table are for “Guide students to learn themselves and peer help, group help”, “Adapting materials” and through class observation, many teachers are not good at guiding students to learn in groups and rarely of them adapt materials, they follow strictly course book 30 3.5.6 Teachers’ proposal Order Proposals Have English room equipped with basic facilities for teaching and learning English Reduce the number of weekly teaching hours to 18 instead of 23 Recruit enough English teachers to make sure that all students can learn English four class hours per week Number of mentions 32 29 25 If possible, reduce the number of students in English class to 20 or 25 so that teachers can individualize 34 their teaching Invest in creating a favorable teaching and learning environment within the school 35 Encouraging teachers to continuously improve their professional competence and to think of more creative 37 ways of teaching Through the proposals that respondents stated, the environment for teachers and students to upgrade language, teaching skills and using language is necessary A private room for English teaching and learning in school is mainly recommended by candidates from urban areas Schools in rural areas are often lack of teachers so that students there not have enough periods per week The biggest percentage proposal in this table is for encouragement from schools’ managers to teachers who are creative and active in self upgrade language competences and teaching techniques 31 3.5.7 Teachers’ performance in the classroom Through the 11 observed lessons it was shown that many teachers (4/10 teachers) had problems with their pronunciation, particularly, final sounds, syllable clusters and intonation So it was difficult for them to give children an accurate linguistic model to imitate For example: In grade 5, unit “What did you see at the zoo” T: Good job, sit down please ok we are saw many animal at the roo (zoo) ok today we are continue unit what did you see at the roo (zoo) whole class open book on page 58 ok or T: “Look at the board listen and repeat unit what did you see at the roo (Zoo)” In the above lesson extract, the teacher did not speak the sentence with correct intonation and word stress, let along grammatical accuracy Some teachers (6/10) demonstrated problems with classroom language and low level of communicative competence Some tended to use Vietnamese more frequently than English in their teaching By contrast those who were quite fluent in English, demonstrated difficulties in adjusting their language to suit children’s level, They tended to use unnecessarily long and complicated sentences (they not concern that they are teaching grade students or grade students, they use the same complicated instruction and interacting language) Two-third of the observed teachers (7/10) seemed to have great difficulties in adapting the textbook, creating interesting situations to introduce new language and interacting with children in English in an appropriate and natural way Surprisingly that, even though all 10 teachers got B2 degree, they still had many challenges in teaching English through English to children Many of them said that they rarely had chance to use English for real communication (when they were at university, all their trainers were Vietnamese, they explained mainly in Vietnamese and teachers never had chance to speak to foreigners) so 32 whenever they spoke English, they felt not confident As they thought that their students were young, they felt more comfortable to speak in Vietnamese Difficulties relating school facilities: Among 11 observed lesson observations at 10 schools around the province, seven of them were teaching in the rural areas, others in the urban areas Most of the schools in the rural areas had specifically designed classrooms for teaching and learning English These classrooms were equipped with a projector, internet connected computer, but the projector did not work in two cases There was one case where the teacher was observed using her smart phone to use the e-version of the textbook By contrast, in the schools located in the urban areas, the lesson was delivered in the staff-meeting room where the teacher had access to a smart TV, but she didn’t use it Other three teachers taught at regular classes All classes in schools in urban areas were crowded with students (over 40), and teachers couldn’t arrange desks suitably to learning activities Students’ difficulties facing students Observing students from 11 classes, many of them keen on English, they looked happy delivered every time moving to English room Even though, a vast number of them had difficulties They could not concentrate on the lesson, their teacher produced long sentences and they couldn’t follow, they produced language not in natural way Sometimes they not have turn to perform in front of class or group because of crowed class When working in groups, the group leader does not give them support so they get difficulties In the schools where English is taught in a separate classroom, it takes time to move from class to English room because the two rooms are not on the same building, or not on the same floor Especially, when it rains or shines, students cannot move to English classroom and teacher has to travel to class to teach without teaching facilities 33 By contrast, in the schools that not have separate classrooms for English, students rarely have chance to take part in relaxing and exciting activities because they are not allowed to make noise, otherwise they will disturb the neighbouring classes In conclusion, the data collection finding shows that teachers in urban and rural areas have different difficulties in their teaching job Advantages of respondents from urban areas may be the challenges of those in rural areas and vice versal Some challenges are common for both: class size is not good for teaching and learning foreign language, especially when teachers are asked to change teaching method, they have to guide to every single students and use variety teaching activities to adapt primary children’s learning characteristics; Lack of schools facilities may be not because they are not equipped, difficulty is because schools not have English rooms and teachers cannot bring teaching facilities along to every class Implications - Training courses should be appropriate and useful to teachers - Proficiency at B2 level is not decisive to effective teaching The finding of this study indicates that a vast amount of teachers (90%) have highly appreciation with the training courses they have attended and all 10 teachers whose lessons are observed got B2 level but their teaching practices are still not as successful as expected Not only the teachers achieve common European framework B2 level which is regulated by the Ministry of education but they also must be well trained in teaching methods, they sometimes have to act as artists, singers, dancers, good story tellers and so on - Communicative English environment for teachers and children is essential Teachers not only have ability to create an exciting and relaxing atmosphere but they also should bring chance for children to take part in 34 conversations meaningful and naturally They also need to create communicative environment for them to develop oral skill “Teacher-student interaction is one of the most important ways to create interest and build rapport with children Thus, fluency in English is vital if teacher are to use a more interactive, activity-based approach suitable for children”, (Moon, 2005) Cameron (2003) noted that “skills and knowledge in spoken English to conduct whole lesson orally” is one of the three knowledge and skills teachers of young learners need Teachers also should balance the use of L1 and L2 in the class in order to achieve the aims creating meaningful reason and making sense for very young children to learn English and environment for using English - The result of the research reveals that there shouldn’t be the same training work shop for teachers from areas, because teachers from different areas have different challenges The advantages of teachers in this area may be the challenges of teachers in other areas and teachers’ skills are different too - Isolation from the professional community is likely to affect negatively not only teachers’ professional growth but also their professional motivation To address this problem, holding teachers’ conferences (locally called adcamp) or) in which teachers are informed the contents of workshops to prepare things to share and get from each other can be a good solution They also can choose the aspects they need to improve and discuss in the conferences Holding adcamp is also effective way to solve different challenges of teachers from different places, that way of teaching English to primary school students workshop increases the reality in training In a research report in 2017, Le Van Canh also recommended that “lesson study” group can be an effective way to improve English teachers’ teaching skills Through these conferences, teachers can get a lot of professional benefits from their colleagues These include enrich teaching experience by delivering practice teaching or observing lessons on certain aspects, feeling 35 more confident in using creative teaching activities, creating communicative environment, using more appropriate language to the students’ levels, adapting materials, using technology in more effective ways, etc Thus, adcamp can be held easily in every month (not like other training courses, annually opened) It is good mean for teachers to self upgrade language competence and teaching methods Qualified and student educators require training in bilingualism, second language acquisition and language and culture Though some external theoretical training, second language acquisition and language culture is needed A multi-lingual approach to education, requires more is in the process of implementing (Smith, 2005; 266 O’Connor & Geiger WCED, 2006) Moreover, chances for English teachers to experience in English speaking countries need to be added in training program They cannot be good teachers if they not know about the language original and the culture of the countries where language comes from - Teaching English to primary school students’ conditions must be improved The finding of this survey indicates the unsatisfactory conditions Below are the common constraints The first constraint is teachers’ heavy teaching schedule Every teacher had to teach many hours per week because there are not enough teachers As a result, they did not have time to study for themselves, to design effective lessons as well as build up their love for the teaching job They got burnt-out or lost motivation Classrooms are too small for suitable teaching facilities This caused difficulties to teachers and students in changing teaching and learning methodology Therefore, in order to increase teaching English to primary school studentsand learning result, the local government, educational managers have to: - Recruit enough teachers to teach all students at least periods per week 36 - Considering reducing the class size to 20, and reducing teachers’ teaching hours to less than 20 hours per week so that teachers can invest more time in professional development and planning the lesson According to an English forum for teaching children in Taiwan in June 2009, each class should include from twenty to twenty five children so that all of them can get guidance and feedbacks from the teacher equally It was impossible to develop the communicative skills the CEFR proposed Moreover, teachers reported to have 40 t0 45 students per class with no exceptions made from a subject such as English which “requires a more personalized interaction between teacher and students, especially it is learned as a foreign language, and the classroom is the only opportunity for students to learn and practice the foreign language” (Usma, 2015, p.107) - Invest to build English rooms at schools which equipped with enough teaching faculties Teaching facilities decide the teaching and learning’s success Slattery (2001) Beside the existing teaching facilities like chalk, board, cassette player, course book, it is necessary to equip the classroom with modern facilities such as smart television, projectors, overhead projectors, screens, cassette players, and microphone In addition, flashcards, pictures, puppets, posters, word cards, etc The modern facilities will make the lesson more attractive as the teacher can explain the subjects lively and effectively It also helps to save time and energy Furthermore, it is very important to equip a library with references books for teachers and students - Creating language environment cannot be omitted There must be investigation for the environment of teaching, learning and using English English club; outclass activities, reality situation (speaking to foreigners) for students to experience are recommend It is understandable that if teaching is not effective and proper, students can hardly be motivated to learn (Thu Trang & Baldauf, Jr 2007) This is really a 37 big challenge should we take into consideration the warning by Cameron (2003) that: If unsuccessful early learning demotivates pupils, and they come to believe that English lessons are difficult, or boring, or a waste of time, then secondary teachers will not only need to keep pupils motivated for a further five years; somehow they will also have to remotivate those who already feel they cannot succeed in language learning (p 106) In short, this chapter presents the survey findings, discussion, implications and some suggestions to overcome challenges of teaching English at primary school Not only the teachers but also the educational managers get benefits from those suggestions This has a significant contribution to the present education in the province in particular and in the whole country in general 38 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION This research has highlighted a number of issues in teaching English to young learners It has been shown that teachers are challenged, partly by lack of appropriate training, partly by lack of suitable school facilities and partly by overload of work While government policy often results in time and energy being spent on introducing teachers to contemporary approaches advocated in the literature, training of this kind does not necessarily serve teachers well Teachers identify teaching skills as a particular challenge to which training courses need to respond Addressing differentiation is another challenge that could be met by a range of responses from training courses to course book materials and it is certainly an issue that is both relevant and emergent Other challenges are more local, as revealed in this survey These include class size, teachers’ own skills and confidence in English, and time pressures Care needs to be taken to ensure that responses to local challenges are mediated by English teachers face numerous challenges when teaching ESOL learners Besides the academic and socio-emotional difficulties of ESOL learners, ones who participated in this study were frustrated by a considerable workload and large classes with many ESOL learners per class There was a discrepancy in support and resources available Educators called for increased teaching facilities, professional and parental support as well as practical training in teaching ESOL learners More in-depth knowledge about the needs, experiences and coping strategies of educators teaching ESOL learners could lead to better training for educators, and better preparation for SLTs for their roles in supporting educators This knowledge could also initiate further research leading to possible policy changes to meet educators’ needs With many ESOL learners attending school in English, meeting the challenges of 39 educators, partially through the involvement of SLTs, will ensure that learners achieve their academic potential and have the same opportunities in life as their peers who are learning in their first language Although the survey reported in this chapter was conducted just in one province of Vietnam, the information it provides can be useful to policy-makers and teacher educators throughout the country We believe that the situation elsewhere in Vietnam is similar politically, economically, socially and educationally Therefore what found in this survey is true, at least to some extent to other provinces across the country However, in order to achieve generalizations, it is necessary to conduct the survey on a larger scale in a variety of provinces located in different geographical areas Studies using multiple methods of data collection would be useful in yielding more comprehensive information 40 REFERENCES Abbas, T & Teddlie, C (2003) Handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research USA: Sage Publications Cameron, L (2003) Challenges for ELT from the expansion in teaching children ELT Journal, April, Issue 57, Oxford University Press Dang, Quang Sanh (2007) Using Language Games in Teaching Speaking and Listening to Primary School Children in Han Thuyen School Graduation Paper VNU Hayes, D (2007) English Language Teaching and Systemic Change at the Primary Level: Issues in Innovation Primary Innovations Regional Seminar, British Council, Vietnam, pp 23-42 Krashen, S D (1987) Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition New York: Prentice-Hall International McLachlan, A (2009) Modern languages in the primary curriculum: Are we creating conditions for success? Language Learning Journal, 37(2), 183-203 Moon, J (2005) Investigating the Teaching of English at Primary Level in Vietnam: A Summary Report Presentation at the Conference on English Language Teaching at Primary Level, Hanoi, June 2005, pp 47-55 Nguyen, Ho Thuy Anh (2007) Pilot Intensive Programme in Ho Chi Minh City: A programme that Meets the Needs of Society Presentation at the Primary Innovations Regional Seminar, British Council, Vietnam, pp 113-116 Nguyen, Minh Ha (2001) A Study on Teaching English on Computer to Primary School Children in Hanoi Graduation Paper VNU 10 Nguyen, Loc (2005) MOET Strategies for Teaching Foreign Languages at Primary Level Presentation at the Conference on English Language Teaching at Primary Level, Hanoi, June 2005, pp 3-13 11 Nguyen, Loc (2007) Challenges for Primary Education in the Strategy for Teahing and Learning Foreign Languages in Vietnam Presentation at the Primary Innovation Regional Seminar, Hanoi, March 2007, pp.53-59 41 12 Read, C (2003) Is younger better?' in English Teaching Professional, Issue 28, Modern English Publishing 13 Read, C (2005) Managing Children Positively' in English Teaching Professional, Issue 38, Modern English Publishing 14 Slattery, M & Jane, W (2001) English for Primary Teachers Oxford University Press 15 Thuy Anh, N H (2007) Pilot intensive programme in Ho Chi Minh City: A programme that meets the needs of society In L Grassick (Ed.), Primary innovations regional seminar: A collection of papers (pp 113-116), Hanoi, Vietnam: British Council Vietnam 16 To, Thi Thu Huong in Johnstone, R (2010) (Eds) Learning Through English: Policies, Challenges and prospects Insight from East Asia Chapter British Council 17 Le Van Canh (2017) Báo cáo nghiên cứu đánh giá chương trình bồi dưỡng giáo viên lực sư phạm lực ngoại ngữ dành cho giáo viên tiếng Anh phổ thông 42 BẢNG HỎI KHẢO SÁT Dear Colleagues, Bảng hỏi thiết kế với mục đích khảo sát để tìm hiểu khó khăn dạy học tiếng Anh trường tiểu học địa bàn tỉnh Câu trả lời bạn đánh giá cao đóng góp tích cực thúc đẩy việc dạy học tiếng Anh Câu trả lời bạn với mục đích hồn tồn giữ bí mật Thật cảm ơn hỗ trợ phối hợp từ bạn Bạn dạy tiếng Anh trường tiểu học bao lâu?  a) năm b) từ đến 10 năm c) 10 năm Trường tiểu học nơi bạn dạy nông thôn hay thành thị? a) rural areas: b) urban areas: Bạn có đào tạo phương pháp giảng dạy tiếng Anh tiểu học học đại học sư phạm khơng?  a) Có b) Khơng Bạn bồi dưỡng phương pháp dạy tiếng Anh cho học sinh tiểu học lần rồi?  a) 1-2 lần b) 3-4 lần c) 5-10 lần Bạn miêu tả ngắn gọn nội dung lớp bồi dưỡng bạn tham dự Các lớp bồi dưỡng có hữu ích với bạn khơng? a) Rất khơng hữu ích b) Rất hữu ích c) Rất hữu ích Bạn gặp khó khăn giảng dạy tiếng Anh tiểu học? 7.1 Khó khăn người học 7.2 Khó khăn chương trình, sách giáo khoa 7.3 Khó khăn điều kiện dạy học 7.4 Khó khăn thân bạn 7.5 Những khó khăn khác Bạn có thuận lợi giảng dạy 8.1 Về người học 8.2 Về chương trình, sách giáo khoa 8.3 Về điều kiện dạy học 8.4 Thuận lợi thân Bạn giải khó khăn giảng dạy nào? Hiệu nào? 10 Bạn có kiến nghị để nâng cao chất lượng dạy học tiếng Anh tiểu học trường bạn? The end Thank you very much! ... is taking good pleasure in finding and creating fun in what they They also obtain a ready imagination, children’s words are full of imagination and fantasy, and it is more than simply matter of. .. challenges of teaching English at primary schools These aims are formulated into following research questions: What challenges are teachers facing when teaching English at primary schools? What challenges... of Education and Training, the author saw a great number of challenges of teaching English to primary children in her province To successfully manage the English teachinglearning throughout the