MIbased teaching and its effects on EFL high school students autonomy

MI-BASED TEACHING AND ITS EFFECT ON EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ AUTONOMY BY DUONG THI THANH A thesis submitted to Vinh University in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art Vinh University, 2017 ABSTRACT This study aims to look at the application of Multiple Intelligences (MI) Theory in teaching EFL to high school students in order to examine the relationship between MI-based teaching and EFL high school students‟ English proficiency and learning autonomy An experiment was carried out among sixty high school students, who were divided into two groups (control and treatment) Both of the groups did a general English test and the pre-treatment autonomy test before the experiment and a general English test and post-treatment autonomy test after the experiment The tests were designed to assess the participants‟ English proficiency and learning autonomy During the experiment, only the treatment group was taught with the MI-based approach The data indicated that the treatment group obtained better results in English proficiency and learning autonomy than the control group Based on the research findings, implications for English language teachers and students were also proposed i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Tran Thi Ngoc Yen, who I believe is the most wonderful supervisor, for her valuable directions, precious orientation, warm stimulation, and continuous support throughout this project Her enthusiasm and positive attitudes were sparkling in such a way that it helped to make my research a serious yet fun task to fulfil I am grateful to Nguyen Thi Nga, an English teacher at Thanh Chuong high school in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province, for helping me teach MIbased lessons at her classes as well as gather the data for the research; and Phan Thi Hoa, for copying the documents, materials for my experiments quickly I would also like to thank the administrators, teachers, and students at Thanh Chuong high school in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province for their cooperation and support Finally, I would like to delicate this work to my parents and family, particularly my husband, all of whom have been always supporting me with love and sympathy ii TABLE CONTENTS ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES .v LIST OF CHARTS .vi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Thesis design…………… .3 1.6 Methodology…………… .3 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Multiple Intelligences .4 2.1.1 Definitions 2.1.2 MI quizzes 2.1.3 MI in education 13 2.1.4 MI in teaching and learning English 15 2.2 Autonomy .18 2.2.1 Definitions 20 2.2.2 The role of autonomy in learning .22 2.2.3 Principles of autonomy 24 2.2.4 Accessing autonomy 27 2.2.5 Developing learner autonomy 28 2.3 MI and learner autonomy 35 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY .37 3.1 Research questions 37 3.2 Participants 37 3.3 Instruments 38 3.4 Procedures .40 CHAPTER FINDING AND DISCUSSION 43 iii 4.1 Results 43 4.1.1 Pre-test .43 4.1.2 Pre-treatment autonomy test 48 4.1.3 Post-test .52 4.1.4 Post-treatment autonomy test .57 4.2 Discussions 62 4.3 Summary .63 CHAPTER IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION 65 5.1 Conclusions 65 5.2 Implications 66 5.3 Limitations of the study .67 5.4 Suggestions for the study .67 REFERENCES 69 APPENDIX A .72 APPENDIX B .80 APPENDIX C .88 APPENDIX D .92 APPENDIX E .96 APPENDIX F 101 APPENDIX G 106 APPENDIX H 111 APPENDIX I 112 APPENDIX J 113 APPENDIX K 114 APPENDIX L 115 APPENDIX M 116 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 The list of lesson plans 40 Table 3.2 The lesson plan‟s time division .41 Table 4.1 The control and experimental group‟s score in the pre-test 44 Table 4.2 The average total scores and standard deviations for both groups…………………………………………………………………………44 Table 4.3 The experimental and control group‟s score in the pre-treatment autonomy 48 Table 4.4 The average total scores and standard deviations of the pre-treatment autonomy test for both groups 49 Table 4.5 The experimental and control group‟s score in the post-test (See Appendix J) 113 Table 4.6 The average total scores and standard deviations of the post-test in the control group and experimental group .53 Table 4.7 Initial scores (IS), final scores (FS) and increases (I) in the pre-test and post-test of two groups 56 Table 4.8 The experimental and control group‟s score in the post-treatment autonomy test (see appendix K) .114 Table 4.9 The average total scores and standard deviations of the posttreatment autonomy test in the control group and experimental group 51 Table 4.10 Initial scores (IS), final scores (FS) and increases (I) in the pretreatment autonomy test and post-treatment autonomy test of two groups 55 v LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4.1 The percentage of different scores on the pre-test in the control group 45 Chart 4.2 The percentage of different scores on the pre-test in the treatment group 46 Chart 4.3 The mark distribution on the pre-test in both groups 47 Chart 4.4 The percentage of different scores on the pre-test in the control group 50 Chart 4.5 The percentage of different scores on the pre-test in the treatment group 51 Chart 4.6 The mark distribution on the pre-treatment autonomy test in both groups .52 Chart 4.7 The percentage of different scores on the post-test in the control group 54 Chart 4.8 The percentage of different scores on the post-test in the treatment group 54 Chart 4.9 The mark distribution on the post-test in both groups 55 Chart 4.10 The percentage of different scores on the post-treatment autonomy test in the control group 58 Chart 4.11 The percentage of different scores on the post-treatment autonomy test in the treatment group 59 Chart 4.12 The mark distribution on the post-treatment autonomy test in both groups .60 vi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale The autonomy plays a principal role in achievement in all of the levels from primary school to university Therefore, numerous studies have been conducted in this issue with the aim of fostering students‟ autonomy Studies have indicated that teachers need to equip themselves with more flexible approaches (Galton & Eggleston, 1979; Nelson, 1996) for learning effectively The idea of Multiple Intelligences has attracted the sizeable interest of many educators as well as the general public Schools that use MI theory encourage learning that goes beyond traditional books, pens, and pencils MI-based teaching is the way of teaching to help students reach their potential However, there has not any research in using MI in order to stimulate the learner‟s autonomy MI is still relatively new in Vietnam although this concept has been studied since 1983 in Frame of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Because of its newborn appearance even though it shows striking compatibility with traditional Vietnamese education models The application of this model in English language teaching to develop students‟ autonomy has been studied This research was written with the purpose of determine whether MI-based teaching has any effects on learner autonomy and students‟ English proficiency There have been many researchers who notice the importance of MI-based teaching in stimulating students to learn better as well as fostering learner autonomy Richard and Rodgers (2001: 120) stated “The MI classroom is one designed to support development of the „whole person‟, and the environment and its activities are intended to enable students to become more well-rounded individuals and more successful learners in general Learners are encouraged to see their goals in these broader terms.” In addition, Christison (1997:9) also emphasized MI‟s vital role to learner autonomy, he claimed “The more awareness students have of their own intelligences and how they work, the more they will know how to use that intelligence to access the necessary information and knowledge for a lesson” There is much evidence that influence schools influenced by MI theory are effective (Gardner, 2006: 83) and with understanding of theory teachers can better understand learners They can allow students to safely discover their strengths, learn in many ways and they can help their students to be in control of their own learning (Guignon, 1998, March 12) Nevertheless, nowadays, students have not almost had full awareness about the importance of autonomy Most of them learn because they are forced to learn Besides, the traditional teaching method always focuses on grammar, vocabulary, reading and ignores important parts such as listening, speaking and pronunciations As a result, the lesson is really boring Particularly, this teaching method focuses on teachers or centered-teacher teaching, or other words, teachers are the center of teaching and learning process, students only listen so students are extremely passive in learning From these above reasons, I wonder whether IM-based teaching can help students develop learner autonomy and English proficiency This is the reason why I choose this major to study and make experiments In this study, I really hope to make a minor contribution to improve the students‟ autonomy 1.2 Aims of the study The aim of this study was explore different perspectives of MI-based teaching method on high school students‟ learner autonomy It was set out to examine the impacts of MI teaching on learners‟ autonomy and EFL high school students‟ English proficiency 1.3 Research questions The study was conducted to seek the answers for the following questions - Will MI-based teaching help to develop EFL high school students' autonomy? - How does MI-based teaching affect EFL high school students‟ English proficiency? 1.4 Scope of the study With the aim of discovering the effect of MI-based teaching on EFL learners‟ autonomy, a survey was conducted to collect the needed data from the learners Sixty students of a high school in Nghe An province were involved in this study 1.5 Thesis design The thesis consists of five chapters Chapter is the introduction, which provides a brief introduction, rationale and an overview of the thesis Chapter is the literature review, in which previous research about MI quizzes, MI in education, MI in teaching and learning was presented In addition, autonomy‟s role and principles as well as accessing and developing autonomy will be discussed carefully Chapter introduces the research methodology of the study It provides information about the materials, participants, instrument for data collection, research procedures and data analysis Chapter presents the detailed results and discussions developed after the impacts analyzed Chapter contains the implications and conclusions This chapter summarizes the main issues touched upon in the research, the limitations of the research and some suggestions for further studies Following the chapters are the references and appendices 1.6 Methodology The main methodology used in the project was experimental Groups of high school students, the control group and the treatment group in Thanh Chuong were involved in the study The study is intended to measure students‟ autonomy as well as to see benefits of MI-based lessons with learners‟ autonomy Using MI-based lessons to improve learners‟ autonomy is effective or not 3 polluted river (n) (picture) disappearance (n) = the disappearance of many species of animals and plants from our earth - write the word in the blackboard and read loudly - ask students to repeat IV WHILE- READING Step 3: Matching ( reading for gist) -ask students to read the passage and the title with paragraph - give the comment if necessary Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph A Necessity of water MI: logical, interpersonal 7’ - read the passage and match -work in pairs - take note into the notebook B doing something to save the earth C Importance of forests Step 4: Completing the networks ( detailed information) MI: logical, interpersonal - work in groups - read the passage again to find Necessity of water (what is water used for?) detailed information - stick their frames on the board and - comment other groups‟ task - correct if necessary 103 10’ Doing something to save our earth Valuable things from forests V POST- READING MI: logical, interpersonal Step 5: discussing - work in groups - divide class into groups of 10 Each - discuss to find out some sequences group choose one task and solutions - deliver one A0 paper for each group - stick their frames on the board and - have them use networks - comment other groups‟ task -get students to discuss to find out some - correct if necessary consequences of losing forest - ask them to give some other solutions to improve the situation at present and in the future Consequences of losing forest 104 8’ Solutions for saving our earth Step 6: Implication -get students to answer following questions MI: intrapersonal Questions - answer the questions what you learn about 2’ our environment? What should you to protect our earth from polluting? VI HOMEWORK MI: intrapersonal -have students to collect some picture about listen to the teacher‟s demand and solutions to protect our planet take note into the notebook 105 1’ APPENDIX G MI- BASED TEACHING LESSON PLAN (Lesson 4) ENGLISH 10: UNIT 10 CONSERVATION LESSON WRITING (P 109) Descriptions of learners: learners are at the age of 16 years old, their English level is A2 A OBJECTIVES: By the end lesson, students will be able to Language skills - apply language knowledge and skills acquire from the unit to a realistic situation, - use key words and key grammatical structures related to “ the letter of invitation” to write the the letter of invitation Educational purposes - realize the importance of the letter of invitation in the daily life B LANGUAGE FOCUS Key grammar/structure: - let‟s +V - Why don‟t you +V? - Would you like to V? - Do you feel like +Ving? - How about +Ving? C METHODS: Multiple Intelligences D TEACHING AIDS: Textbook, board, chalk, audio, pictures, player E PROCEDURE : Teacher’s activities Students’ activities Time I STABILIZATION 1’ II WARM UP 4’ Step 1: lead- in ( introduce the lesson) MI: linguistic and interpersonal - have students work in groups of four - deliver some handouts for students - ask them to talk together and discuss what they are Questions - work in groups of four 1/ What are the handouts about? 2/ Which expressions are - discuss about the handouts about the - answer the questions invitation? Answer 106 1/ These handouts are invitations ( letters of invitation) 2/ Expressions of invitation: -will you come to my birthday party on the 29th of June, at pm at my house? - You are invited to join us for Ruben‟s 16th birthday party! -introduce today‟s lesson: about the a letter of invitation 6‟ MI: spatial and interpersonal -work in groups to discuss about III PRE- WRITING the expressions of invitation Step 2: discussing about the expressions of invitation - note down these expressions into the notebook - have students work in groups and list expressions of invitation - write these expressions on the board - have students to note down on the notebook * some useful expressions - Let‟s go out with me - Why don‟t you go out with me? - Would you like to go out with me? MI: interpersonal, spatial and - Do you feel like going out with me? 4‟ linguistic - How about going out with me? -observe the photos and discuss Step 3: giving out some expressions of invitation from the given pictures with friends to find out the suitable expressions - show students some pictures and ask them to make invitations from these pictures 5‟ ** some expressions Picture 1: - write them on the board - would you like to play football with me this afternoon? - let‟s afternoon 107 play football this Picture 2: -do you feel like going to the cinema with me tonight? - would you like to go to the cinema with me tonight? Picture Picture 3: -let‟s go swimming with me this afternoon - shall we go swimming with me tomorrow? Picture Picture 4: -how about having dinner with us tonight? - you feel like having dinner with us next Monday? Picture MI: intrapersonal and logical Key: c g f a h d e b 5‟ Picture Step 4: Matching ( Task p.109) - have students match column A &B and 108 then write out these sentences into their notebook - guide students to use the above given structures Key: MI: interpersonal, linguistic 1/ Let‟s try the cake I have just made - work in pairs 2/ Why don‟t you join us in this trip? - find out the answers 3/ Would you like to have a cold drink? 4/ Do you feel like taking a walk for a while? 5/ Can you sing us a Vietnamese song? 6/ How about going to the cinema tonight, Ba? 7/ Shall we have some chicken soup first? 8/ Are you free to play table tennis now? IV WHILE- WRITING 10‟ Step 5: Filling with suitable expression ( MI: intrapersonal, linguistic Task p 109) - get students to work in pairs and fill the Model : blank with suitable expression provided in *Salutation: Dear/ Hi/ Hello Task Mary (Susan ) Key: *Opening sentence: 1/ Would you like/ Are you free How have you been recently? 2/ Would you like/ Are you free We haven‟t seen for ages 3/ Why don‟t you- Let‟s *The reason of invitation: Step 6: Write a letter of invitation from - I‟ve been given two tickets of the teacher’s given cards movie at p.m tomorrow at 6‟ - ask students to write a letter of invitation FOX cinema ( includes following information : salutation, - I am going to organize the opening, the reason for inviting, time, place, birthday party about 5.30 next the expressing of invitation and closing) Tuesday at my house * The expression of invitation * Closing: - bye - see you at the party - best wishes/ regards - give me a call 109 Picture Picture V POST- WRITING MI: intrapersonal, linguistic Step 7: pair- correction - have students change letters to another - give comments students student and correct one another 3‟ to other - ask students to rewrite their own letter into - write the letter into the notebook the notebook Step 8: implication - ask students to work in pair and answer MI: interpersonal -work in pair and answer the following questions questions Questions: 1/ How the letters of invitation play in your life? 2/ What occasions people usually write the letters of invitation? MI: intrapersonal VI HOMEWORK write a letter to your friend to invite him/ her -take note into the notebook to attend your birthday party next week 110 1‟ APPENDIX H The control and experimental group‟s score in the pre-test P Control group P Treatment group A1 32 B1 36 A2 31 B2 34 A3 29 B3 34 A4 36 B4 38 A5 37 B5 36 A6 35 B6 34 A7 38 B7 36 A8 36 B8 37 A9 31 B9 37 A10 38 B10 29 A11 31 B11 38 A12 30 B12 34 A13 30 B13 32 A14 25 B14 32 A15 25 B15 33 A16 36 B16 32 A17 23 B17 33 A18 31 B18 36 A19 34 B19 34 A20 30 B20 33 A21 35 B21 30 A22 36 B22 32 A23 30 B23 30 A24 33 B24 33 A25 31 B25 36 A26 28 B26 31 A27 36 B27 21 111 APPENDIX I The control and experimental group‟s score in the pre-treatment autonomy test P Control group P Treatment group A1 149 B1 156 A2 158 B2 158 A3 170 B3 155 A4 147 B4 119 A5 173 B5 143 A6 169 B6 159 A7 170 B7 142 A8 180 B8 133 A9 143 B9 162 A10 173 B10 160 A11 156 B11 152 A12 163 B12 200 A13 146 B13 170 A14 159 B14 176 A15 146 B15 180 A16 168 B16 132 A17 118 B17 136 A18 120 B18 138 A19 142 B19 145 A20 161 B20 192 A21 162 B21 130 A22 150 B22 130 A23 170 B23 165 A24 180 B24 130 A25 182 B25 186 A26 149 B26 143 A27 151 B27 155 112 APPENDIX J The control and experimental group‟s score in the post-test P Control group P Treatment group A1 35 B1 39 A2 34 B2 38 A3 30 B3 35 A4 32 B4 38 A5 30 B5 38 A6 34 B6 37 A7 38 B7 38 A8 34 B8 39 A9 32 B9 38 A10 32 B10 32 A11 31 B11 39 A12 34 B12 34 A13 35 B13 29 A14 27 B14 39 A15 28 B15 39 A16 36 B16 37 A17 24 B17 39 A18 30 B18 39 A19 35 B19 37 A20 31 B20 39 A21 35 B21 39 A22 27 B22 29 A23 32 B23 37 A24 33 B24 38 A25 30 B25 37 A26 29 B26 38 A27 34 B27 29 113 APPENDIX K The control and experimental group‟s score in the post-treatment autonomy test P Control group P Treatment group A1 150 B1 190 A2 167 B2 176 A3 170 B3 173 A4 157 B4 190 A5 170 B5 198 A6 172 B6 178 A7 176 B7 168 A8 182 B8 198 A9 150 B9 189 A10 160 B10 179 A11 160 B11 180 A12 166 B12 210 A13 148 B13 190 A14 160 B14 189 A15 150 B15 180 A16 176 B16 195 A17 130 B17 167 A18 130 B18 190 A19 148 B19 160 A20 170 B20 200 A21 170 B21 189 A22 159 B22 184 A23 180 B23 178 A24 181 B24 167 A25 179 B25 190 A26 160 B26 167 A27 160 B27 178 114 APPENDIX L Initial scores (IS), final scores (FS) and increases (I) in the pre-test and posttest of two groups P IS FS I P IS FS I A22 36 27 -9 B13 32 29 -3 A5 37 30 -7 B22 32 29 -3 A10 38 32 -6 B12 34 34 A4 36 32 -4 B4 34 34 A8 36 34 -2 B11 38 39 A27 36 34 -2 B25 36 37 A6 36 35 -1 B3 34 35 A18 31 30 -1 B9 37 38 A25 31 30 -1 B5 36 38 A2 31 31 B7 36 38 A7 38 38 B1 36 39 A11 31 31 B10 29 32 A16 36 36 B18 36 39 A21 34 35 B19 34 37 A24 33 33 B6 34 37 A3 29 30 B8 37 39 A9 31 32 B2 34 38 A17 23 24 B16 32 37 A19 33 34 B24 33 38 A20 30 31 B15 33 39 A26 28 29 B17 33 39 A14 25 27 B20 33 39 A23 30 32 B14 32 39 A1 32 35 B23 30 37 A15 25 28 B26 31 38 A12 30 34 B27 21 29 A13 30 35 B21 30 39 32.11 31.81 -0.3 33.33 36.67 3.34 115 APPENDIX M Initial scores (IS), final scores (FS) and increases (I) in the pre-treatment autonomy test and post-treatment autonomy test of two groups P IS FS I P IS FS I A10 173 160 -13 B15 180 180 A5 173 170 -3 B25 186 190 A25 182 179 -3 B5 143 149 A1 149 149 B20 192 200 A3 170 170 B12 200 210 10 A8 182 182 B23 165 178 13 A24 181 181 B19 145 160 15 A14 159 160 B2 158 176 18 A13 146 148 B3 155 173 18 A15 146 148 B6 159 178 19 A12 163 166 B10 160 179 19 A6 169 172 B13 170 190 20 A11 156 160 B14 176 189 23 A7 170 176 B27 155 178 23 A9 143 149 B26 143 167 24 A19 142 148 B7 142 168 26 A16 168 176 B11 152 180 28 A21 162 170 B17 136 167 31 A2 158 167 B1 156 190 34 A20 161 170 B9 162 198 36 A22 150 159 B24 130 167 37 A27 151 160 B18 138 190 52 A4 147 157 10 B22 130 184 54 A18 120 130 10 B8 133 189 56 A23 170 180 10 B21 130 189 59 A26 149 160 11 B16 132 195 63 A17 118 130 12 B4 119 190 79 157.7 162.1 4.4 153.6 181.6 28 116 117 ... perspectives of MI-based teaching method on high school students learner autonomy It was set out to examine the impacts of MI teaching on learners‟ autonomy and EFL high school students English proficiency... the application of Multiple Intelligences (MI) Theory in teaching EFL to high school students in order to examine the relationship between MI-based teaching and EFL high school students English... questions The study was conducted to seek the answers for the following questions - Will MI-based teaching help to develop EFL high school students' autonomy? - How does MI-based teaching affect EFL