An Evaluation of the America-Vietnam joint education program at Doan Thi Diem Secondary school

1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ TUYẾT AN EVALUATION OF THE AMERICA-VIETNAM JOINT EDUCATION PROGRAM AT DOAN THI DIEM SECONDARY SCHOOL ĐÁNH GIÁ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH HỢP TÁC GIÁO DỤC VIỆT –MỸ TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ ĐOÀN THỊ ĐIỂM M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: ELT Methodology Code: 601410 HANOI, 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ TUYẾT AN EVALUATION OF THE AMERICA-VIETNAM JOINT EDUCATION PROGRAM AT DOAN THI DIEM SECONDARY SCHOOL ĐÁNH GIÁ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH HỢP TÁC GIÁO DỤC VIỆT –MỸ TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ ĐOÀN THỊ ĐIỂM M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: ELT Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Phùng Hà Thanh, M.Ed HANOI, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 10 Rationale for the study .10 Aims of the study 11 Scope of the study .12 Methods of the study 13 Significance of the study .13 Overview of the rest of the paper 14 CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW .15 1.1 Conceptions of program evaluation 15 1.1.1 Definition of program evaluation 15 1.1.2 Purposes of program evaluation 16 1.1.3 Program evaluators .17 1.2Overview of Immersion program 18 1.2.1 Definition of Immersion program 18 1.2.2 Models of immersion program 20 1.2.3 Characteristics of immersion programs 24 1.2.4 Overview of evaluation of immersion programs 28 1.3 Chapter summary 30 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY 31 2.1 Research design .31 2.2 Setting of the study 32 2.3 Participants 33 2.4 Data collection instrument 34 2.4.1 Justification for the use of semi- structured, open- ended interviews .34 2.4.2 Description of interview schedule 34 2.4.3 Procedure of data collection 34 2.5 Data analysis 35 2.6 Chapter summary 36 CHAPTER THREE: RESULTS, FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS 37 3.1 Results of the teacher interviews 37 3.2 Result of student interviews 43 3.3 Major findings .48 3.3.1 The strengths of the program .49 3.3.2 The weaknesses of the program 50 3.4 Recommendations 52 3.5 Chapter summary 54 CONCLUSION .55 REFERENCES 57 APPENDICES 59 APPENDICE 1: TEACHER INTERVIEW SCHEDULE 60 APPENDICE 2: STUDENT INTERVIEW SCHEDULE 61 APPENDICE 3: CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN HỌC SINH 62 APPENDIX 4: CONTENTS OF THE READING STREET BOOK 63 APPENDICE 5: CONTENTS OF THE SCIENCE BOOK 66 APPENDICE 6: CONTENTS OF THE MATH BOOK .67 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS DTD : Doan Thi Diem L1 : first language L2 : second or foreign language MOET : Ministry of education and training US : United States WTO : World Trade Organization LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: Model of early total immersion program in Canada Figure 2: Model of middle immersion program in Canada Figure 3: Model of late immersion program in Canada Table 1: A summary of the strengths and the weaknesses of the program 10 INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study In recent years, especially after Vietnam’s entry into the WTO and the becoming of English as an international language, there has been an unprecedented increase in English learning Along with this surge in interest for English language learning is the increasing demand for native speakers and foreign educational program In addition, the Education and Training Ministry has cooperated in delivery of foreign language courses in Vietnam One of the priorities in Vietnam is “overseas studies at home” hence, there have been independent or joint- venture schools established to implement such cooperation program such as Hanoi International School, UN School, South International School, Grammar school- Ho Chi Minh City and Japanese primary School According to “Sai Gon Giai Phong Online”, the number of students enrolls the international school or foreign education program has been increasing the past two years For example, in 2009 there were only 200 students enrolling the Asian Pacific College This year, 2010 this number has raised up to 1000 students; at American International School, there were less than fifty students taking part in the program in 2009 but in 2010, this number has doubled More and more parents want their children to learn with native speakers of foreign languages because they believed that this is the best way to learn foreign languages The increasing demand for learning at international schools leads to the increase in the number of this type of schools So far there have been thirty international schools established regardless of private schools which have several international classes Doan Thi Diem is one of the schools which have applied the model of international schools The school has cooperated with schools in America and Singapore to form joint education programs in which students have chance to follow two educational curriculum simultaneously namely Vietnamese curriculum and oversea curriculum The joint education program involves using an additional language for teaching and learning both language and content In fact, this is an adaptation of immersion program in which two (or more) languages are used for learning and teaching both language and content One of the languages is students’ mother tongue and the other is a second or foreign language which is not the subject to be taught but the medium of instruction to teach other subjects such as math, science or history 11 Immersion program originated in Canada in the 1960s, is one of the most thoroughly researched areas of second language learning Evidence and concern and interest in immersion program are shown through a large body of research studies on different aspects of immersion program The effects of immersion program on second or foreign language learning have been carefully examined through research done by Genesee (1984), Lambert (1984), Swain (1980), Swain (1984), Swain (1996), Genesee (2005), Zhou (2008) These researches show that immersion program has positive effects on language learners Despite such a wealth of research data in the effectiveness of the immersion program, research implications can not be applied in every context due to different social- cultures Seeing the benefits of the immersion program in language learning, the educators have applied the immersion program in international schools in Vietnam for the past few years However, there has been no research conducted to investigate the effectiveness and the results of the immersion program in Vietnam in general and at Doan Thi Diem School in particular The fact that, every program needs evaluating from time to time in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning for all learners within an educational system This is to ensure that the teaching is on tracks and that learners are learning what they are supposed to learn so that the desired results can be attained The above reasons have made the researcher conduct this study Aims of the study The study aims to evaluate the America-Vietnam joint education program at Doan Thi Diem Secondary School from the perspective of the teachers and the students Specifically, the research focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the program These aims could be achieved by seeking answers to the following six research questions: From the perspective of the teachers: 1) What are the expectations of the program? 2) What are the strengths of the program? 3) What are the weaknesses of the program? 12 From the perspective of the students: 4) What are the expectations of the program? 5) What are the strengths of program? 6) What are the weaknesses of the program? Scope of the study Every evaluation is based on a framework which determines both the strategies for gathering data and the extrapolation of judgments from these In some evaluation processes, this framework is either implicit or explicit, but increasingly the exigencies of openness and accountability in such processes require that criteria be clearly stated According to DudleyEvans and St John (1998), in the evaluation process, the evaluator must take evaluation criteria into account before any evaluation takes place Criteria for evaluation depend on what is being evaluated and why they need to be evaluated This research was conducted to evaluate the America- Vietnam joint education program at Doan Thi Diem secondary school from the teachers’ and students’ perception The researcher focused on investigating the strengths and weaknesses of the program after a year implementation Strengths of the program in this study are identified as the factors of the program that meet the needs of teachers and students As a result, teachers and students can reach the achievements And the weaknesses of the program are the factors of the program that not meet the needs of teachers and students As a result, teachers and students can not reach the achievements In so doing, first and foremost, the researcher investigated the expectations of teachers and students in terms of facilitators which include environment, facilities, management, methodology and content; and their expectations of achievements Based on this framework of facilitators and the achievements at the end of the first year implementing, the strengths and weaknesses of the program from the perspectives of teachers and students would be presented Then the researcher would figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the program 13 Methods of the study This case study was conducted at class 6M, Doan Thi Diem secondary school With a view to support the research with varied and valid data, the qualitative research was used together with the quantitative one The main tool of the research to collect data is semi- structured open- ended interviews with teachers and students The interviews were conducted with two native teachers teaching in the program of the school year 2009-2010 and with thirty- one students of class 6M The interviews were conducted after one year of teaching and learning in the program Significance of the study After finishing the study, the researcher hopes that this case study can have some practical contributions Firstly, this research can provide useful information for the stakeholder and supervisors of the program The joint education program is a new model in education in Vietnam and it is quickly widened at not only Doan Thi Diem secondary school but also many other private schools This study involves specific information that is definitely needed to be taken into consideration The study is the description of the teachers’ and students’ perception of the program Through the insiders’ view, the stakeholders and supervisors can have a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the program Then they can figure out methods to enhance the outcomes of the program Furthermore, from the weaknesses perceived by teachers and students, some solutions can be applied to minimize the weaknesses of the program Secondly, the teachers can have a full view of their teaching process The students’ opinion is a powerful tool for teachers to form a better reflection of their teaching The teachers can base on this to apply the most effective teaching methods to improve the quality of teaching and learning process Finally, this study once being completed can be a valuable source of information for further related researches 54 necessary for everyday communication The best learning is that which occurs incidentally when working within a relevant and meaningful context Learners need to make connections between their own current knowledge and the new learning that is being undertaken If the meaning of the lesson is embedded in the “here and now” learners are able to relate new actions and objects to know words and phrases Also concentrating on solving problems that require critical thinking and co-operation with small groups of peers, students become more engaged and interested in learning By tapping into experiences, personal interests and background of the students and by really challenging them to think, the work students in school becomes more meaningful, authentic and relevant to their lives 3.5 Chapter summary This chapter has presented the results of teacher and students interview which were combined for analysis and further discussion regarding the given matters Also, a summary of major findings and suggestions were given to better the program next years 55 CONCLUSION Summary of previous parts With a view to evaluating the America- Vietnam joint –education program at Doan Thi Diem secondary school, the research was conducted to look into the strengths and weaknesses of the joint education program Overall, the program was a good one First the program can create a comfortable environment for learning Second, the integration of teaching content and language has provided opportunities to practice language and the program can help students gain a broad knowledge of the fields However, there is still room for improvements with regard to the environment, the methodology and content In order to lead the program to better results, it is recommended to put the following consideration First and foremost, the program should build a more authentic environment to learn a language, provide more opportunities to develop the four skills and make the content more meaningful It is obvious that the benefits of the program outweigh its weaknesses Therefore, the program with some changes as suggested in the recommendation part can be nominated to be a good program to teach a foreign language at Doan Thi Diem secondary school It should also note that although efforts have been made, some limitations are unavoidable during the process of doing the research Limitations and suggestions for further study First of all, the results of the research may be inconsistent because the program first implemented at Doan Thi Diem secondary school The research conducted after a year of implementation hence, the results of students may be changed the years later As Swain (1984, 1996) and Geneese (1984) expressed that after the first year in immersion program, students’ achievement in second language skills lag behind native students of the L2 but two or three years later, their proficiency level could be compared with native speakers However, the researcher conducted the study to evaluate the program after the first year, so that she could suggest some changes with a view to make the program gain the most successful Secondly, the validity of the research would be better guaranteed if more participants were involved in the evaluation Involving the program, the principal, administrators and parents 56 are also important If these participants have been interviewed, the data would have been more various and reliable In place, the researcher just wanted to investigate the perception of the insiders who were most affected by the program Furthermore, the researcher was in the role of participant observer Hopefully, the information from the interviews with the two native teachers and all students could substitute for this limitation Thirdly, questions may be made when there is no test results of the first year presented in the study Nonetheless, the tests were all multiple choice questions, only a small part of the test was open- ended question which asked about their own opinion What’s more the test content was usually reviewed in class two or a day before the exam When marking, the right answers were based on content not on form Provided that students could say what they meant regardless of grammatical mistakes The test just concentrated on the content of the subjects Hence, the tests were not used as an instrument in evaluating process Doing program evaluation means more than evaluating through the perception of teachers and students about the strengths and weaknesses of the program Other aspects could offer for room for evaluation like evaluating the teaching and learning activities, evaluating materials used in the program and such However, since this is the first evaluation of the program to be done and due to the time matter, the researcher only focuses on mentioned issues She strongly recommended further study on the raised to create a perfect picture of the situation, should it be given more time 57 REFERENCES Ahmad, F., & Aziz, J (2009) Students' perception of teachers' teaching of Literature communicating and understanding through the eyes of the audience European Journal of Social Sciences, 7, 17-26 Alausa, Y A (2010) Teachers' feedback through the learners: A case of my Biology class Reform 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Objectives of the 1) What are your expectations of the program? program 2) In your opinion, what are the strengths of the program? Strengths 3) In your opinion, what are the weaknesses of the program? Weaknesses 4) What you think of this program? Overall remark 61 APPENDICE 2: STUDENT INTERVIEW SCHEDULE Interview number ……… Focus Interview questions - How long have you been learning English? Respondent’s - What are your latest score for English? profile - How many people are there in your family know English? 1) Why you take part in the America-Vietnam joint-education Objectives of program? the program 2) What are your expectations of your taking part in the program? Benefits of the 3) From your experience, what are the strengths of the program? program Difficulties 4) In your opinion, what are the weaknesses of the program? encountered 5) What you think of this joint-education program? Overall remark 62 APPENDICE 3: CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN HỌC SINH Số thứ tự vấn: …… Nội dung Câu hỏi vấn - Con học tiếng Anh bao lâu? - Điểm tổng kết môn tiếng Anh gần bao Thông tin học nhiêu? sinh - Trong gia đình có biết tiếng Anh? 6) Tại tham gia vào học chương trình liên kết Việt- Mỹ Objectives of 7) Con mong đợi tham gia chương trình này? the program Benefits of the program Difficulties 8) Qua việc học chương trình năm, thấy chương trình có điểm mạnh gì? 9) Theo chương có điểm yếu khơng? encountered 10) Con nghĩ chương trình liên kết này? Overall remark 63 APPENDIX 4: CONTENTS OF THE READING STREET BOOK Unit 1: Loyalty and respect: What draws us to people and things around us and makes us care? Lesson 1: Old Yeller Lesson 2: A dog’s life Lesson 3: Mother Fletcher’s gift Lesson 4: The Harlem renaissance Lesson 5: Viva New Jersey Lesson 6: Saving rain forest Lesson 7: Drip, Dry? Lesson 8: When Crowbar came Lesson 9: They’ve got personality Unit 2: Space and Time: Why might things far away and long ago be important to us now? Lesson 1: The Universe Lesson 2: So long, Sol! Lesson 3: Dinosaur ghosts: The mystery of Coelophysis Lesson 4: Dino hunting Lesson 5: A week in the 1800s Lesson 6: Colonial times Lesson 7: Goodbye to the Moon Lesson 8: Zoo Lesson 9: Egypt Lesson 10: The Rosetta stone Unit 3: Challenges and Obstacles: How are the results of our efforts sometimes greater than we expect? Lesson 1: Hatchet Lesson 2: Call of the Deep Wilds Lesson 3: When Marian sang Lesson 4: The Lincoln memorial Lesson 5: Learning to swim Lesson 6: Staying safe in the water 64 Lesson 7: Juan Verdades: The man who couldn’t tell a lie Lesson 8: Song of the Chiramia Lesson 9: Elizabeth Blackwell: Medical pioneer Unit 4: Explorers, pioneers and discoverers: How have those who’ve gone first influenced those who’ve gone after? Lesson 1: Into the ice Lesson 2: Polar zones Lesson 3: The Chimpanzees I love Lesson 4: Going ape over language Lesson 5: Black frontiers Lesson 6: Poems by Langstone Hughes Lesson 5: Space Cadets Lesson6: Exploring Space travel Lesson 7: Inventing the future: A photobiography at Thomas Alva Edison Lesson 8: Garretts Augusus Morgan Unit 5: Resources: What are resources and why are they important Lesson 1: The view from Saturday Lesson 2: Who thought of that Lesson 3: Harvesting hope: the story of Cesar Chavez Lesson 4: Fieldworkers/ Farmworkers Lesson 5: The river that went to the sky: A story from Malawi Lesson 6: Pecos Bill and the cyclone Lesson 7: Gold Lesson 8: The California gold rush Lesson 9: The house of wisdom Lesson 10: Aladdin Unit 6: Exploring cultures: In what ways does one culture affect another? Lesson 1: Don Quixote and the windmills Lesson 2: Ancient Greece Lesson 3: Opening ceremony in Athens: Fire and water Lesson 4: The all- American slurp Lesson 5: The evolution of eating utensils 65 Lesson 6: The Aztec news Lesson 7: The Mayans Lesson 8: Where opportunity awaits Lesson 9: Coming over 66 APPENDICE 5: CONTENTS OF THE SCIENCE BOOK Unit A: Life Science Chapter 1: Classification Chapter 2: Cells Chapter 3: Reproduction Chapter 4: Body systems Chapter 5: Plants Chapter 6: Biomes Chapter 7: Ecosystems Unit B: Earth Science Chapter 8: Plate tectonics Chapter 9: Rocks and minerals Chapter 10: Reshaping earth’s surface Chapter 11: Earth’s resources Chapter 12: Climate and weather Unit C: Physical science Chapter 13: Matter Chapter 14: Building blocks of matter Chapter 15: Forces and motion Chapter 16: Machines Chapter 17: Changing energy forms Chapter 18: Thermal and light energy Unit D: Space and technology Chapter 19: Earth, Sun and Moon Chapter 20: The Universe Chapter 21: Impacts of technology 67 APPENDICE 6: CONTENTS OF THE MATH BOOK Chapter 1: Numbers, expressions and equations Section A: Place value, exponents and estimation Section B: Building number sense Section C: Expressions and equations Chapter 2: Decimals Section A: Decimal concepts Section B: Decimal computation Section C: Applications with decimals Chapter 3: Number theory and fraction concepts Section A: Number theory Section B: Fraction concepts Chapter 4: Adding and subtracting fractions Section A: Adding and subtracting fractions Section B: Adding and subtracting mixed numbers Chapter 5: Multiplying and dividing fractions Section A: Multiplying fractions Section B: Dividing fractions Section C: Algebra: Using fractions Chapter 6: Ratios, Rates and Proportion Section A: Ratio and rates Section B: Proportions Section C: Similarity and Scale drawings Chapter 7: Percent Section A: Meaning of percent Section B: Finding percent Section C: Algebra: Using percent Chapter 8: Algebra: Integers and rational numbers Section A: Understanding integers and rational numbers Section B: Operations with integers Section C: Coordinate graphing Chapter 9: Geometry 68 Section A: Lines and angles Section B: Polygons and circles Section C: Transformations Chapter 10: Measurement Section A: Systems of measurement Section B: Perimeter, circumference and area Section C: Surface area and volume Chapter 11: Data, graphs and probability Section A: Interpreting data Section B: Reading and making graphs Section C: Probability Chapter 12: Algebra: inequalities, equations and graphs Section A: Inequalities Section B: Two steps equations