Attitudes of vietnamese teachers of english in universities toward world englishes in the classroom

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES **************** DƢƠNG HUYỀN THẮM ATTITUDES OF VIETNAMESE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH IN UNIVERSITIES TOWARDS WORLD ENGLISHES IN THE CLASSROOM (THÁI ĐỘ CỦA GIẢNG VIÊN TIẾNG ANH Ở CÁC TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CỦA VIỆT NAM VỀ WORLD ENGLISHES TRONG LỚP HỌC) M.A COMBINED PROGRAM THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES **************** DƢƠNG HUYỀN THẮM ATTITUDES OF VIETNAMESE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH IN UNIVERSITIES TOWARDS WORLD ENGLISHES IN THE CLASSROOM (THÁI ĐỘ CỦA GIẢNG VIÊN TIẾNG ANH Ở CÁC TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CỦA VIỆT NAM VỀ WORLD ENGLISHES TRONG LỚP HỌC) M.A COMBINED PROGRAM THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Đỗ Thị Thanh Hà, PhD HANOI – 2016 CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORSHIP This is to certify that the thesis entitled ―Attitudes of Vietnamese teachers of English in universities toward World Englishes in the classroom” has been written by me and the work in it has not previously been submitted for a degree In addition, I also certify that all information sources and literature have been indicated in the thesis Hanoi, August 2016 Dƣơng Huyền Thắm i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express the deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Đỗ Thị Thanh Hà, for her invaluable encouragement and useful comments and advice during the whole process of this master thesis Without her immense help, this study could not have been completed Also, I am thankful to all my lecturers at Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, VNU for their great support and suggestions Finally, my special thanks go to my beloved family and friends for their love, care and support during my MA course, especially on the completion of this thesis Hanoi, August 2016 Dƣơng Huyền Thắm ii ABSTRACT The growth of English worldwide has led to the emergence of English as a Lingua Franca (EFL) in English Language Teaching (ELT) This study concentrates on cognitive and behavioral aspects of teachers‘ attitude towards ESL and EFL A questionnaire was delivered to 111 teachers from seven state universities in Vietnam; a semi-structured interview then was carried out with eleven volunteer teachers Data reveal the following phenomena which apply for both Outer and Expanding Circle varieties First, the vast majority of Vietnamese teachers are aware of English varieties and/or implications of EFL/EIL in TESOL Second, they express a positive opinion towards both Outer Circle and Expanding Circle varieties of English and the introduction of them to students They also believe that it is important to introduce these varieties Finally, the study indicates that teachers are likely to introduce these varieties to students but it depends on many variables Implications of this study are expected to be beneficial for researchers, educators, and policy makers in ELT, especially in ELT in Vietnam, iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Number of participants in each university Table 2: Biographic Information of Participants Table 3: Vietnamese students will use English to communicate more often with Table 4: Outer Circle varieties are wrong English Table 5: Outer Circle varieties of English should be introduced to students Table 6: Importance of being aware of Outer circle varieties of English Table 7: Likeliness of introducing Outer varieties of English to students Table 8: How teachers would introduce Outer circle varieties to students Table 9: Expanding Circle varieties are wrong English Table 10: Expanding Circle varieties of English should be introduced to students Table 11: Importance of being aware of Expanding circle varieties of English Table 12: Outer vs Expanding Table 13: Likeliness of introducing Expanding Circle varieties of English to students Table 14: How teachers would introduce Expanding Circle varieties to students iv LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS Figure 1: The Kachru‘s Circle Figure 2: The Kachru‘s Circle revised Figure 3: The British Empire at its greatest extend Table 1: Number of participants in each university Chart 1: Varieties of English teachers are teaching Chart 2: Vietnamese students will use English to communicate more often with Chart 3: Outer Circle varieties are wrong English Chart 4: Outer Circle varieties of English should be introduced to students Chart 5: Importance of being aware of Outer Circle varieties of English Chart 6: Likeliness of introducing Outer Circle varieties of English to students Chart 7: Expanding Circle varieties are wrong English Chart 8: Expanding Circle varieties of English should be introduced to students Chart 9: Importance of being aware of Expanding circle varieties of English Chart 10: Likeliness of introducing Expanding Circle varieties of English to students v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS WEs World Englishes ELT English Language Teaching ENL English as a Native Language ESL English as a Second Language EFL English as a Foreign Language EIL English as an International Language ELF English as a Lingua Franca NS Native speaker NNS Non-native speaker TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF TABLES iv LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi TABLE OF CONTENTS vii Chapter I - INTRODUCTION Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 An Overview of World Englishes 2.1.1 The Concept of World Englishes 2.1.2 Models of World Englishes and Kachru's Circle 2.1.3 The past, present, and future of English worldwide 2.1.4 English in South East Asia 13 2.1.5 The implications of World Englishes for ELT 16 2.1.6 ELT in Vietnamese context 20 2.2 Attitude and the importance of studies on attitude 22 2.2.1 Concept, components, and measurement of attitude 22 2.2.2 The importance of studies on attitude 24 2.3 Overview of previous researches on attitude toward WEs 25 2.3.1 Studies on attitude toward WEs 25 2.3.2 Studies on attitude toward WEs in Vietnam 27 2.4 Concluding remarks 28 Chapter III: Research Methodology 30 3.1 Research questions 30 3.2 Participants 30 3.3 Data collection procedure 32 3.3.1 Survey 32 3.3.2 Interview 34 Chapter IV: Findings and Discussion 36 4.1 Attitudes towards Outer Circle varieties 36 vii 4.1.1 Cognitive attitude 39 4.1.2 Behavioral attitude 44 4.2 Attitudes towards Expanding Circle varieties 46 4.2.1 Cognitive attitude 46 4.2.2 Behavioral attitude 53 Chapter V: CONCLUSION 60 5.1 Conclusion 60 5.2 Recommendation 63 5.3 Limitations of the study 64 REFERENCES 66 APPENDIXES I viii “Teachers and their learners … need to learn not (a variety of) English, but about Englishes, their similarities and differences, issues involved in intelligibility, the strong link between language and identity, and so on.” For classroom applications, first of all, teachers should introduce English varieties and be selective when choosing English varieties to introduce It is neither practical nor necessary for them to introduce all varieties Instead, it is recommended that they choose ones that their students are more likely to encounter in their context to maximize benefits of this exposure For example, Vietnamese students should be able to accommodate with Englishes of ASEAN countries to prepare for the co-operations within the region Second, teachers should guide students so that they not only understand English varieties but also understand issues underlying them, such as culture and identity Finally, textbooks with non-native Englishes incorporated should be applied to increase students‘ and teacher‘s chances to encounter these varieties; thus, increase their likeliness to introduce English varieties and issues related to them in the classroom For research, this study indicates that teachers may agree with some implications of EFL Therefore, there should be more research on to what extent teachers are willing to apply EFL in their classroom and what benefits students may have from being exposed to non-native varieties of English Additionally, more studies should be carried out on challenges that may prevent the introduction of Englishes in the classroom and practice on how to cope up with them 5.3 Limitations of the study This study is able to provide a first look at attitude of teachers in these universities and in Vietnam and its results may apply to other context 64 However, it may have the following limitations First, the study only includes a small number of teachers from the seven universities Its results not represent the point of view of the whole population Second, there may be bias when teachers answer questions in the survey Finally, the behavioral aspect of attitude is highly complex and cannot be accurately measured through a single question in a survey Thus, the aforementioned factors should be considered and results of the study should be taken with caution 65 REFERENCES Ahn, H (2014) Teachers‘ attitudes towards Korean English in South Korea World Englishes, 33(2), 195 – 222 Bolton, K (2004) World Englishes In The Handbook of Applied Linguistics (pp 367 – 397) London: Blackwell Bolton, K (2006) World Englishes Today In Kachru, B.B., Kachru, Y., & Nelson, C L (Ed.), The Handbook of World Englishes (pp 240 – 269) Blackwell Bolton, K., & Kachru, B B (2005) World Englishes Routledge Celce-Murcia, M (2014) Teaching English in the Context of World Englishes In Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D M., & Snow, M A (Ed.), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (4th ed., pp 63 – 70) Heinle & Cengage Learning Creswell, J W (2003) Research design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches (2nd ed.) SAGE Publications Crystal, D (2003) English as a Global Language (2nd ed.) New York: Cambridge University Press Decision 1400/QĐ-TTG dated 30 September, 2008 of the Prime Minister on the Approval of the Project entitled “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, Period 2008-2020 (n.d.) Denham, P A (1992) English in Vietnam World Englishes, 11(1), 61 – 69 http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.1992.tb00047.x Do, H T (2006) The role of English in Vietnam‘s foreign language policy: A brief history In 19th annual EA education conference Perth, Australia Garrett, P., Coupland, N., & Williams, A (2005) Investigating Language Attitudes: Social Meanings of Dialect, Ethnicity and Performance 66 International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15(3), 411–414 http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2005.00100d.x Graddol, D (2000) The Future of English London: British Council Graddol, D (2007) English Next London: British Council Groom, C (2012) Non-native attitudes towards teaching English as a lingua franca in Europe English Today, 28(1), 50 – 57 Hung, T T N (2009) Pygmalion in Singapore: From Cockney to Singlish In Global Englishes in Asian Contexts: Current and Future Debates (pp 59 – 72) London: Macmillan Jenkins, J (2006) Current Perspectives on Teaching World Englishes and English as a Lingua Franca TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 157 – 181 Jenkins, J (2008) English as a Lingua Franca Presented at the JACET 47th Annual Convention, Japan Jenkins, J (2009a) Exploring Attitudes towards English as a Lingua Franca in the East Asian Context In Murata, K., & Jenkins, J (Ed.), Global Englishes in Asian Contexts: Current and Future Debates (pp 40 – 56) London: Macmillan Jenkins, J (2009b) (Un)pleasant? 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(2012a) English as an International Language in Asia: Implications for Language Education Springer Netherlands Kirkpatrick, A., (2012b) English in ASEAN: Implications for Regional Multilingualism Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(4), 331–344 Krosnick, J A., Judd, C M., & Witternbrink, B (2005) The Measurement of Attitudes In Albarracin, D., Johnson, B J., & Zanna, M P (Ed.), The Handbook of Attitudes London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Le, V C (2007) A historical review of English language education in Vietnam In Choi, Y H & Spolsky, B (Eds.), English education in Asia: History and policies (pp 168 – 180) Seoul: AsiaTEFL 68 Matsuda, A., (2003) Incorporating World Englishes in Teaching English as an International Languag TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 719 – 729 McKay, S L (2012) Principles of Teaching English as an International Language In Alsagoff, L., McKay, S L., Hu, G., & Renandya, W A (Ed.), Principles of Teaching English as an International Language (pp 28 – 46) New York: Routledge Melchers, G., & Shaw, P (2003) World Englishes: An Introduction (2nd ed.) Arnold Publishers Ngo, L H P (2012) An Investigation into Vietnamese Teachers’ and Students’ Perception of English as a Lingua Franca University of Southampton Ostler, N (2012) The Last Lingua Franca- English Until the Return of Babel New York: Walker & Company Peter Garrett (2007) Language Attitudes In Carmen Llamas, Louise Mullany, Peter Stockwell (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Sociolinguistics (pp 116 – 121) New York: Routledge Preacher, K J (2001, April) Calculation for the chi-square test: An interactive calculation tool for chi-square tests of goodness of fit and independence [Computer software] Available from http://quantpsy.org Rousseau, P (2012) A World Englishes Study of Korean University Students: Effects of Pedagogy on Language Attitudes SIT Graduate Institute, Washington D.C Schneider, E W (2011) English Around the World: An Introduction Cambridge University Press Seidlholfer, B (2003) A Concept of International English and Related Issues: From ―Real English‖ to ―Realistic English‖? Council of Europe Retrieved from https://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/SeidlhoferEN.pdf 69 Seidlholfer, B., (2009) Orientations in ELF Research: Form and Function In Mauranen, A., Ranta, E., (Ed.), English as a Lingua Franca: Studies and Findings (pp 37 – 59) Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing Steven J Breckler (1984) Empirical Validation of Affect, Behavior, and Cognition as Distinct Components of Attitude Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47(6), 1191 – 1205 Timmis, I (2002) Native-speaker norms and International English: a classroom view ELT Journal, 56(3), 240 – 249 Tokuboto, M., & Shibata, M (2011) Asian varieties of English: Attitudes towards pronunciation World Englishes, 30(3), 392 – 408 Ton, N N H., & Pham, H H (2010) Vietnamese Teachers‘ and Students‘ Perceptions of Global English Language Education in Asia, 1(1), 48 – 61 Tran, T H., & Moore, P (2015) Vietnamese English Teachers‘ Perceptions on Incorporating World Englishes Into Their Teaching Language Education in Asia, 6(2), 107 – 121 Young, T J., & Walsh, S (2010) Which English? Whose English? An investigation of ―non-native‖ teachers‘ beliefs about target varieties Language, Culture and Curriculum, 23(2), 123 – 137 70 71 APPENDIXES QUESTIONAIRE Thank you for participating in our survey Your feedback is important This study is to describe attitudes of Vietnamese university teachers of English towards the introduction of non-native varieties of English to students It will take approximately 10 minutes to complete the survey Your biographical information will be kept confidential I – Varieties of English Have you heard of the term ―World Englishes?‖ (If yes, please move to question 2, if no, please read the text before moving to question 2) A Yes B No World Englishes (The Kachru‘s Circle, cited in Graddol (2007, p 110)) ―One of the most familiar ways of representing the global community of English speakers is in terms of three circles The ‗inner‘ circle represents the native speakers; the ‗outer circle‘ consists of second-language speakers in countries like India The ‗expanding circle‘ was the ever-increasing number of people learning English as a foreign language.‖ (Graddol 2007, p 110) I British English is a variety in the………………… Circle A Inner B Outer C Expanding Singaporean English is a variety in the………………… Circle A Inner B Outer C Expanding Vietnamese English is a variety in the ………………… Circle A Inner B Outer C Expanding Which variety/varieties of English are you teaching? For example: British English, etc Please specify ………………………… Vietnamese students use English to communicate more often with … A Native speakers of English B Non-native speakers of English C Other (Please specify) Part II - Attitudes of teachers COGNITIVE ASPECT To what extent you agree or disagree with the following statements? Outer Circle varieties of English are wrong English A Strongly disagree B Disagree C Neither disagree nor agree D Agree II E Strongly agree Expanding Circle varieties of English are wrong English A Strongly disagree B Disagree C Neither disagree nor agree D Agree E Strongly agree Outer Circle varieties of English should be introduced to students A Strongly disagree B Disagree C Neither disagree nor agree D Agree E Strongly agree 10 Expanding Circle varieties of English should be introduced to students A Strongly disagree B Disagree C Neither disagree nor agree D Agree E Strongly agree 11 How important is it for students to be aware of Outer circle varieties of English? A Not Important B Slightly Important C Moderately Important D Important E Very Important III 12 How important is it for students to be aware of Outer circle varieties of English? A Not Important B Slightly Important C Moderately Important D Important E Very Important BEHAVIORAL ASPECT 13 I will introduce Outer Circle varieties of English to my students A Not at all likely B Slightly likely C Moderately likely D Very likely E I‘m not sure 14 I will introduce Expanding Circle varieties of English to my students A Not at all likely B Slightly likely C Moderately likely D Very likely E I‘m not sure 15 How would you introduce Outer Circle varieties of English to students? (Please check all that apply) A Through in-class teaching materials B Through extra-curricular activities C Other (Please specify) D I will not introduce them to my students IV 16 How would you introduce Expanding Circle varieties of English to students? (Please check all that apply) A Through in-class teaching materials B Through extra-curricular activities C Other (Please specify) D I will not introduce them to my students III – Personal Information 17 Are you male or female? A Female B Male 18 How old are you? A Under 25 B 25 – 40 C Above 40 19 How long have you taught English? A Less than years B – 10 years C More than 10 years 20 In what university are you teaching? A University of Languages and International Studies – VNU B Hanoi National University of Education C Hanoi University D University of Foreign Language Studies – Da Nang University E University of Foreign Languages – Hue University F Can Tho University G University of Pedagogy – Ho Chi Minh city H School of Foreign Languages – Thai Nguyen University V 21 What is your highest qualification? A Bachelor B Master C Ph.D 22 Are your students majored in English or English Language Teaching? A Yes B No 23 Would you like to participate in a post-survey interview? (If yes, please leave your email, if no, please leave the box empty.) This is the end of the survey Thank you very much for participating in the study! VI Semi-structured Interview Protocol: Do you think students will use English to communicate more with native or non-native speakers? What you think about Outer Circle varieties of English? Are they wrong English? Why? Why not? What you think about Expanding Circle varieties of English? Are they wrong English? Why? Why not? Do you think teachers should introduce Outer Circle varieties of English to their students? Why? Why not? Do you think teachers should introduce Expanding Circle varieties of English to their students? Why? Why not? What you think are benefits of introducing different varieties of Englishes to students? Would you introduce Outer Circle varieties to students? Why? Why not? Would you introduce Expanding Circle to you students? Why? Why not? How would you introduce these varieties to students? What challenges you think teachers might encounter when introducing these varieties of English? VII ... describe the attitudes of Vietnamese university teachers of English towards the introduction of World Englishes into English teaching and learning in Vietnam Therefore, the results of this study would... attitude towards different varieties of English in other countries, aims to fill in the gap in the study of the attitudes towards World Englishes in Vietnam It is an attempt to describe the attitudes. .. CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORSHIP This is to certify that the thesis entitled Attitudes of Vietnamese teachers of English in universities toward World Englishes in the classroom has been written by me and the