A survey on the attitude of teachers and students toward the integration of some cultural elements in the textbook New English file - elementary in speaking lessons at Hanoi Agriculture vocational school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HẰNG A SURVEY ON THE ATTITUDE OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TOWARD THE INTEGRATION OF SOME CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN THE TEXTBOOK NEW ENGLISH FILE – ELEMENTARY IN SPEAKING LESSONS AT HANOI AGRICULTURE VOCATIONAL SCHOOL (KHẢO SÁT THÁI ĐỘ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC TÍCH HỢP MỘT SỐ YẾU TỐ VĂN HĨA TRONG GIÁO TRÌNH NEW ENGLISH FILE – ELEMENTARY TRONG CÁC GIỜ HỌC NĨI TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG CẤP NƠNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI) M.A Minor Thesis Field : English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi, October 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HẰNG A SURVEY ON THE ATTITUDE OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TOWARD THE INTEGRATION OF SOME CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN THE TEXTBOOK NEW ENGLISH FILE – ELEMENTARY IN SPEAKING LESSONS AT HANOI AGRICULTURE VOCATIONAL SCHOOL (KHẢO SÁT THÁI ĐỘ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC TÍCH HỢP MỘT SỐ YẾU TỐ VĂN HĨA TRONG GIÁO TRÌNH NEW ENGLISH FILE – ELEMENTARY TRONG CÁC GIỜ HỌC NÓI TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG CẤP NÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI) M.A Minor Thesis Field : English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: ĐỖ THỊ MAI THANH MA Hanoi, October 2012 ABBREVIATIONS CLT Communicative Language Teaching EFL English as a Foreign Language L2 Language iv TABLES OF CONTENTS Declaration………………………………………………………… I Acknowledgements………………………………………………… II Abstract……………………………………………………………… III Abbreviations……………………………………………… IV Table of Contents…………………………………………………… V PART A: INTRODUCTION I.1 Rationale for the study ………………………………………… I.2 Aims of the study ……………………………………………… I.3 Scope of the study……………………………………………… I.4.The research questions………………………………………… I.5 Methods of the study ………………………………………… I.6 Design of the study ……………………………………………… PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Culture and its role in language teaching ………………………… 1.1.1 Definitions of culture …………………………………………… 1.1.2 The role of culture in language teaching ………………………… 1.2 Speaking skill and their position in English language teaching (ELT)… 1.2.1 Definition of speaking skill …………………………………… 1.2.2 The position of speaking skill in ELT ………………………… 1.3 The integration of cultural elements into the teaching and learning of speaking skill in classrooms………………………………………… 1.3.1 The components of culture…………………………………… v 10 1.3.2 Cultural factors and English speaking skills ………………… 11 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 2.1 Design and methodology……………………………………… 14 2.1.1 Subjects of the study ………………………………………… 2.1.2 The instruments……………………………………………… 2.2 Data Analysis………………………………………………… 15 2.2.1 The attitudes of the teachers and learners towards speaking skill 2.2.2 The attitudes of the teachers and learners towards cultural knowledge in speaking skill …………………………………………………… 17 2.2.3 Cultural obstacles to the current teaching and learning of speaking skill in the classroom at Hanoi Agriculture vocational school …… 18 2.2.4 The attitudes of the teachers and learners towards the importance of culture in ELT………………………………………………… 23 2.2.5 The ways to teach culture and the topics in the textbook “New English file – elementary” ………………………………… 27 2.3 Suggestions to break the cultural barriers for Hanoi Agriculture vocational school‟s teachers and students ………………………… 32 CHAPTER 3: IMPLICATIONS ……………………………… 36 PARTC:CONCLUSIONS……………………………………… 41 Summary of the findings………………………………………… Limitations …………………………………………………… Recommendations for further research ……………………… REFERENCES ……………………………………………… APPENDIX vi 42 PART A: INTRODUCTION I.1 Rationale It cannot be denied that learning English is now a must for youngsters in Vietnam English has become a compulsory subject at schools throughout the country Thanks to the variety of new textbooks, vocational high schools in Vietnam now have a chance to get better access to Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) methods, which bring students a lot of interest in learning English From teaching experience, I find that many vocational high school students not find speaking practice interesting They are not confident enough to converse with English teachers or native speakers The facts have shown that a lot of students have to get further English retraining after school In spite of the improvements of speaking skill in new text books, students have to cope with many difficulties related to both linguistic competence and cultural experiences Personally, I think that bridging cultural gaps is one of the most important keys to success in the learning and teaching of speaking skill From my teaching experience, cultural elements in speaking class have become a great source of inspiration for my thesis which deals with the question, “How to develop cultural awareness of students and enrich the students’ cultural knowledge in English speaking classes in the classroom?” This study is, hence, to aim at how to integrate cultural elements in the textbook “New English File”- Elementary in speaking lessons at Hanoi Agriculture High school I.2 Aims of the study My study is an attempt to: - Investigate the attitudes of the teachers and the students at Hanoi Agriculture vocational school towards the importance of speaking skill - Study cultural elements in teaching and learning speaking skill in the textbook “New English File” – Elementary and suggest some techniques to teach these cultural elements - Find out the attitudes of teachers and students at Hanoi Agriculture vocational school towards the importance of the integration cultural factors into learning speaking skill in English Language Teaching (ELT) I.3 Scope of the study To develop speaking skill for the first year students at Hanoi Agriculture vocational school, the teachers have made a lot of effort to motivate the students to participate in speaking-class effectively However, in the thesis, the researcher wants to find out the attitudes, as well as the cultural awareness in teaching and learning spoken English of the teachers and students of the first year at Hanoi Agriculture vocational school; the cultural obstacles such as different ways of thinking, lack of cultural background knowledge and the learning attitudes, and then to give some recommendations for improvement I.4.The research questions My study aims at answering the following research questions: - Do teachers and students at Hanoi Agriculture vocational school really focus attention to speaking skill? - How teachers and students at Hanoi Agriculture vocational school access the role of cultural factors in teaching and learning speaking skill through the book “New English file – Elementary”? - How can teachers raise cultural awareness and incorporate cultural factors into foreign language classrooms to enrich the students‟ cultural knowledge in speaking English classes in the classroom? I.5 Methods of the study To realize the aims of the study, both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used The data collected for the study will mainly from two sources: 100 students of the second year and 10 teachers of English at Hanoi Agriculture high school Survey questionnaires are used to collect information and evidence for the study All comments, remarks, recommendations, and conclusions provided in the study will be based on the data analysis I.6 Design of the study This study is going to be divided into three parts, as follows:  Part A, Introduction, deals with the reason for the research and the aims, scope and methodology of the study The research questions are also raised in this part  Part B, Development, consists of the three following chapters: * Chapter is intended to give some theoretical background related to culture, language and speaking skill * Chapter provides an analysis on the attitudes of the teachers and students at Hanoi Agriculture vocational school towards the position of culture and speaking skill in ELT and towards cultural elements in developing speaking skill Also, the current teaching and learning of speaking skill accompanied by cultural elements in the classroom at Hanoi Agriculture vocational school will be discussed Information about teachers, current teaching methods, materials and problems is mentioned * Chapter focuses on recommendations about using some activities to get over cultural difficulties and improving speaking skills in the classroom  Part C, Conclusion, addresses the key issues in the study, summarizing some shortcomings revealed during the process of completing this research paper and giving suggestions for futher research PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Culture and its role in language teaching 1.1.1 Definitions of culture: The term culture has been defined in various ways, which brings different views on cultural aspects It is true to say that the number of definitions of culture is the same as the “fields of inquiry into human societies, groups, systems, behaviors and activities.” (Eli Hinkel,1999) According to Oxford Advanced Learner‟s dictionary (1995: 285), culture is “art, literature, music and other intellectual expressions of a particular society or time” This concept mentions general culture relating to the exposed parts of culture, which are easily recognized such as language, food, clothes, etc Besides, culture is considered an “iceberg” which consists of not only visible but also hidden parts The hidden parts of culture such as socio-culture beliefs, communication styles, and attitudes, which cause cross-cultural difficulties, have significant influence on the way human behave and interact with each other According to Ruth Benedict, cited in Brown “Culture is what binds (people) together.” Culture is all the accepted ways of behavior of a given people belonging to some particular group; it is that part of learned behavior shared with others The concept include a group‟s way of thinking, feeling, and acting, and fixed patterns for doing certain things According to Thompson (1963:132), “the pattern meaning embodied in symbolic forms, including actions, utterance and meaningful objects of various kinds, by virtue of which individuals communicate with one another and share their experiences, conceptions and beliefs” Culture is a shared, learned, symbolic system of values, beliefs and attitudes that shapes and influences perception and behavior - an abstract "mental blueprint" or "mental code" Culture must be studied "indirectly" by studying behavior, customs, material culture (artifacts, tools, and technology), language, etc The above definitions seem to mention specific behaviors and beliefs of a general society, which are passed from generation to generation The various definitions of culture provide culture with different values In this paper the author would like to emphasize the influence of cultural elements on the teaching and learning of speaking skill in classrooms, so the definition below should be taken to give the foundation for this thesis “Culture in language learning is not an expendable fifth skill, tacked on, so to speak, to the teaching of speaking, listening, reading and writing It is always in the background, right from day one, ready to unsettle the good language learners when they expect it least, making evident the limitations of their hard-won communicative competence, challenging their ability to make sense of the world around them.” (Kramsch, 1993:1) 1.1.2 The role of culture in language teaching To emphasize the importance of culture in learning and teaching foreign languages Eli Hinkel (1999) has said, “Applied linguists and language teachers have become increasingly aware that the second or foreign language can rarely be learnt, or taught, without addressing the culture of the community in which it is used This can be with the idea that culture plays an important role in teaching and learning language.” (Eli Hinkel, 1999) In fact, language is part of a culture; language is deeply embedded in a culture; language and culture cannot be separated, and we cannot teach a language without teaching a culture It means that teaching language is teaching culture Therefore, teaching culture has been integrated into language teaching programs and teaching materials in one way or another Many educators have applied these programs into real classroom activities and teaching materials This has been done, also, with the aim of teachers should bear in mind some practical teaching principles: (Barry Tomalin & Ssan Stempleski 1993:8) - Culture knowledge is enclosed with language being taught - Cultural demeanors as an essential part of lesson - Provide students with necessary socio- economic knowledge - Make sure students fully understand both their culture and the culture of the language they are learning - Cultural behavior change can be affected by our understanding about it These are very useful tips for facilitating the development of cross-cultural communication skill In order to get success in the language classroom, teachers and program developers should consider students‟ norm and needs when selecting materials and methodologies for different contexts From my teaching experience, I have faced failure in the classroom when I ignored the students‟ knowledge of English cultural background in selection of materials and methodologies Now that the what, why, and when of incorporating culture in the foreign language classroom has been established, a focus on the how is needed Learning activities which focus on active rather than passive learning are best Learners of foreign languages want to feel, touch, smell, and see the foreign languages, and not just hear Here are some ways for teachers of English at Hanoi Agriculture High school to incorporate culture into foreign language classrooms:  Cultural Islands: The teachers should prepare a cultural island in their classrooms Posters, pictures, maps, signs, and realia of many kinds are essential in helping students develop a cultural mental image Short presentations on a topic of interest using appropriate pictures or slides will add to the mental image which makes students aware of the influence of various cultures on spoken languages  Celebrating Festivals: Celebrating foreign festivals is a favorite activity of many students Even though this activity takes a lot of planning, it works well as a processed activity It is highly 40 recommended that students participate in festivals like Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Christmas We prepare for the festival by drawing posters, and decorating classrooms At Christmas time, we fill a Christmas tree with candy and teach some folk songs and folk dances This kind of activity enables student to actively participate in the cultural heritage of the people they are studying  Body Language: Culture is a network of verbal and non-verbal communication If the goal of foreign language teachers is to teach communication, we must not neglect the most obvious form of non-verbal communication which is gesture Gesture, although learned, is largely an unconscious cultural phenomenon Gesture conveys the “feel” of the language to the student and when accompanied by verbal communication, injects greater authenticity into the classroom and makes language study more interesting Teachers use gestures when presenting dialogues, eliciting students‟ responses, and assisting students to recall dialogues Sometimes, teachers can also show foreign films to students just to have them focus on body language  Culture Capsules The culture capsule teaches through comparison; by illustrating essential differences between English or American and Vietnamese (i.e., talking about typically British things in Lesson 2A: Cappuccino and chips; Lesson 3A: Pretty Woman… ) After studying these, students can compare and contrast the foreign customs and traditions with their own  Cultural Awareness-Raising Most foreign language teachers would agree that positively sensitizing students to cultural phenomena is necessary The notebook can be a useful tool in any discipline, but it can be of special importance in the foreign language classroom as a tool to help raise cultural consciousness Teachers should guide learners to take note of cultural factors of English- speaking countries together with vocabulary and grammatical structures Sometimes, teachers should encourage students to share their notes after speaking lessons as a class rule 41 3.2 To students: Learners should raise their awareness of the importance of cultures in learning speaking skill Each class member is responsible for building the language environment in class as realistic situations Learners enhance their activeness in speaking, for example, when working in a group they try to raise individual ideas independently and tend to accept the risk of making mistakes during speaking As we know, learning is an endless error trial We learn a lot from mistakes Learners should have an obvious communicative necessity Students gradually need to recognize the importance of communicative competence instead of limiting themselves to gaining adequate knowledge of grammar and vocabulary to pass exams Role- play and drama are two other effective ways to improve learners‟ awareness of English culture during speaking practice 3.3 To the board of management: It is highly recommended for the managers, who have high expectations from teachers of English, to provide teachers more opportunities to organize and decorate their classrooms in more exciting and motivating ways to encourage their language students To meet the demands for improving students‟ communicative competence, teachers are allowed to organize both oral test and written test at the end of each term for learners In conclusion, from the cultural perspective, I have identified the different codes in ways of thinking, Vietnam's strong collectivism, limited cultural background knowledge, and learning attitudes as the major factors which challenge speaking English in classrooms within the Vietnam vocational high school context It is also pointed out that to improve the teaching and learning of speaking English, English teachers should gain a deeper understanding of undercurrent cultural conflicts and be able to show the differences and similarities among cultures Teachers, as well as learners, should raise their awareness of the importance of the target language culture, and their own, when developing speaking skill Cultural awareness should become an essential part of foreign language education Teachers 42 should concentrate on active learning and give students more hands-on experiences As Crystal states, language exists in five senses of human dependently in the brains, the mouths, ears, and eyes of it users Using the activities which stimulates cultural awareness will keep learners motivated and generate positive learning attitudes, which lead to better communicative competence PART C: CONCLUSIONS Major findings Getting over cultural difficulties has been considered to be of great help to the teaching and learning of speaking skill With this study, the researcher has mentioned the relationship between language and culture, added to this, cultural difficulties in speaking skill are presented The attitudes towards the importance of culture in the teaching and learning of speaking skill and the cultural obstacles to gaining speaking skill in classrooms at the first year of Hanoi Agriculture high school have also been discussed and analyzed From the findings, some ways to bridge the cultural gaps have been provided; with the aim at improving the current teaching and learning of speaking skill of the first year students at Hanoi Agriculture high school Limitations of the study Hopefully, this study will be helpful to the teachers and learners of English at all levels in general and at vocational high schools in particular However, there are some limitations to the research in terms of number of participants; and techniques in coping with cultural difficulties in teaching speaking skill Suggestions for Further Research And the present thesis is just a small contribution to the study of the what and the how of integration of teaching language and its cultural factors Due to the limit of time and scope of the study and other factors, this thesis cannot go further Therefore, it is better for further research to investigate other cultural factors in the textbooks such as values, social etiquettes, social life, geographical featurres to work out more profound understanding of culture of English speaking countries 43 REFERENCES Bassnett, S (ed.).1997 Studying British Cultures: An Introduction London: Routledge Bassnett, S 2001 Cultural and Linguistic Knowledge in British Studies Brown & Yule, G (1983) Teaching the spoken Language Cambridge University Press Brooks, N 1986 Culture in the classroom In J.M Valdes (ed.), Culture Bound Bridging the cultural gap in language teaching (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 123-128 Clevedon: Multilingual Matters LTD Bygate, M (1987) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press Byrne, D (1987).Techniques for Classroom Interaction New York: Longman Publishing Byram, M and Morgan, C 1994 Teaching-and-learning language-and-culture Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Byram, M 1997 Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence Clyne, M (1994) Intercultural Communication at work Cambridge University Press 10 Crowther, J (1999) Oxford guide to British and American Culture Oxford: Oxford University Press 11 Ellis, R (1994) The study of Second Language Acquisition Oxford: Oxford University Press 12 Fenner, A.-B 2000 Cultural Awareness In D Newby (ed.), Approaches to Materials Design in European Textbooks: Implementing Principles of Authenticity, Learner Autonomy, Cultural Awareness (Graz: European Centre for Modern Languages), 142-152 13 Harmer, J (1998) How to teach English Pearson Longman: Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd 44 14 Hedge, T (2000) Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom Oxford: Oxford University Press 15 Hinkle.E (1999) Culture in second Language Teaching and Learning Cambridge University Press 16 Hughes, G H 1986 An argument for culture analysis in the second language classroom In J.M Valdes (ed.), Culture Bound.Bridging the cultural gap in language teaching (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 162-168 17 Van Do, Nguyen (2007) Language culture and society Hanoi VNU- CFL 18 Van Do, Nguyen (2004) Tim hieu moi lien he Ngon ngu – Van hoa Hanoi VNUCFL 19 Kramsch, C (1993) Context and Culture in Language Teaching Oxford University Press 20 Kramsch, C (1998) Language and Culture Oxford: Oxford University Press 21 Levine, D R & Adelman, M B (1982) Beyond Language- Intercultural Communication for English as a Second Language Prentice Hall Regents 22 Peck, D (1998) Teaching culture: Beyond Language Yale: New Haven Teachers Institute 23 Peterson, E & Coltrane, B 2003 Culture in Second Language Teaching Digest [Online], pp [http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0309peterson.html], 23.04.2004 24 Quang, Nguyen (1983) Intercultural communication Hanoi VNU-CFL 25 Roger E Axtell (1991) Gestures: the Do‟s and Taboos of Body Language around the World New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc 26 Seelye, H N 1993 Teaching culture: Strategies for inter- cultural rd communication edition Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company 27 Stempleski, S 1994 Teaching Communication Skills with Authentic Video In S.Stempleski and P Arcario (eds.), Video in second language teaching: using, selecting and producing video for the classroom (Alexandria, Va: TESOL), 7-24 28 Thompson, E P 1963 The Making of the English Working Class London: Penguin Books 29 Tomalin, B & Stempleski, S (1993) Cultural Awareness Oxford: Oxford 45 University Press 30 Valdes, J.M (1986) Culture bound Cambridge University Press 31 Valette, R M 1986 The culture test In J M Valdes (ed.), Culture Bound Bridging the cultural gap in language teaching (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 179-197 32 Wright, A (1987) How to communicate successfully Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 46 APPENDICES Appendix 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH Bảng câu hỏi đưa để nghiên cứu cách khắc phục cản trở văn hóa việc dạy học kĩ nói học để tìm hiểu xem giáo viên Tiếng Anh nghĩ việc dạy yếu tố văn hóa dạy yếu tố văn hóa gì, dạy Thông tin bạn cung cấp đóng góp hữu ích cho nghiên cứu tơi Mọi thơng tin giữ bí mật Cảm ơn hợp tác bạn Ở trường trung cấp Nông Nghiệp, bạn sinh viên năm thứ a b hai Bạn học Tiếng Anh rồi?…………………………… Trước vào học trường trung cấp Nông Nghiệp bạn dành hầu hết thời gian bạn …… a thành phố/ thị xã b nông thôn Part I: Bạn nghĩ kĩ nói việc học Tiếng Anh trường Trung cấp chuyên nghiệp? a quan trọng b quan trọng c quan trọng d không quan trọng cho e không quan trọng Bạn xếp mục theo trật tự tầm quan trọng việc học kĩ nói a từ vựng b ngữ pháp c ngữ điệu d kiến thức văn hóa I Bạn có nghĩ khác văn hóa Anh văn hóa Việt có ảnh hưởng đến việc học nói Tiếng Anh bạn lớp? a đồng ý b đồng ý c phần đồng ý d không đồng ý e phản đối Những trở ngại văn hóa bạn thường gặp học nói lớp gì? a bạn bị động ngượng lớp b bạn thiếu vốn từ c chủ đề sách khơng thú vị d bạn khơng có hội để nói giáo viên nói nhiều e bạn sợ thể diện nói sai f bạn khơng có đủ kiến thức văn hóa để nói ý tưởng bạn Về khía cạnh bạn đồng ý với điều sau? Cực kì Đồng đồng ý ý a Giáo viên nên cung cấp cho học sinh kiến thức văn hóa Anh hoạt động nói b Giáo viên khơng nên nói nhiều hoạt động nói c Để học sinh tự chọn II Một phần đồng ý Phản Cực đối phản đối kì chỗ ngồi hoạt động nói d Trang trí lớp học làm cho học sinh cảm thấy phấn chấn hoạt động nói Part II: Bạn nghĩ vai trị văn hóa việc học Tiếng Anh? a quan trọng b quan trọng c quan trọng d không quan trọng cho e khơng quan trọng Bình diện văn hóa giáo trình New English file - elementary giáo viên tiếng Anh bạn cung cấp cho bạn? a phong cách sống b giống khác c cử chỉ, điệu d cách ứng sử e bình diện khác (chỉ ra…………………………………………) Bạn thường nhận kiến thức văn hóa Anh cách nào? a TV b Internet c sách, báo chí d khơng cách e cách khác Bình diện văn hóa giáo trình “New English File – Elementary” bạn thấy thú vị để học? Hãy xếp theo thứ tự từ đến  Địa lý III  Lịch sử  Phong tục tập quán  Âm nhạc  Giáo dục  Cuộc sống gia đình  Món ăn  Cuộc sống giới trẻ  Các qui tắc ứng sử  Các khuôn mẫu cử lễ phép  Giao tiếp phi lời nói Hoạt động giúp ích cho việc hiểu học yếu tố văn hóa?  Thuyết trình chủ đề định  Thảo luận giống khác văn hóa  Xem videos  Nghe hát  Nghe chương trình radio  Đọc thảo luận báo  Nói chuyện kiện   Đọc đọc, thơ  Đóng vai  Diễn kịch Thanks for your helpful assistance IV Appendix 2: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH The survey questions are designed for my study on how to cope cultural obstacles to teaching and learning speaking skills in classrooms and to find out what English teachers think of teaching culture as well as what and how culture is taught The information you provide will be a very useful contribution to my research All the information you provide is confidential Thank you for your cooperation About the teachers: Your age: ………… Your gender: Male Female Time of teaching English: ……………years Please put a Tick or Ticks () Part I: What you think of English Speaking skills in teaching English at high school? Very important Important Rather important Not very important Unimportant Can you rank these things in order of importance in speaking skills? Vocabulary Cultural knowledge Grammar Pronunciation V Do you think differences between Vietnamese and English cultures influence your teaching of speaking English in classrooms? Strongly agree Agree Partly agree Disagree Strongly disagree What are frequent cultural obstacles in teaching speaking in classrooms? Students' passive learning Teachers' limited cultural knowledge Lack of resources related to cultural knowledge Students' cultural background knowledge Different ways of thinking in Vietnamese and English cultures Attitudes of learners towards the learning of speaking skills To what extent you agree with the following statements? Strongly Agree agree agree a.Teachers should provide students knowledge of English cultures in speaking activities b Teachers should not talk much in speaking activities c Let choose students their freely seat Partly in VI Disagree Strongly disagree speaking activities d Decorate the classrooms to make motivated studentsfeel in speaking activities Part II: What you think of the role of culture in English teaching? Very important Important Rather important Not very important Unimportant How much you rate your cultural awareness? A lot Not much Little None How you often enrich your English cultural knowledge? TV Internet Books, magazines and newspapers None Others VII What aspects of culture in the textbook “New English file – elementary” would you consider the most interesting to teach? Please rate from to for each selection 1- least important, 5- most important Geography History Customs and festivals Music Education and schools Family life Food Youth life Rules of behaviour Patterns of politeness Non-verbal communication Which of the following you consider most useful for teaching culture? Please rate from to for each selection 1- least useful, - most useful Please tick the appropriate box Lectures Discussions on cultural differences and similarities Watching videos Listening to songs and discussing the lyrics Listening to radio programmes Reading and discussing newspaper/magazine articles Talking about current events Reading authentic texts (short stories, poems) Role plays Drama Thanks for your helpful assistance VIII