An investigation into teachers’ and 6th form students’ attitudes towards learning English with foreign teachers

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT - ĐINH THỊ THU THỦY AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS’ AND 6TH FORM STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH WITH FOREIGN TEACHERS M.A THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 hà nội Năm 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT - ĐINH THỊ THU THỦY AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS’ AND 6TH FORM STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH WITH FOREIGN TEACHERS M.A THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Vũ Thúy Quỳnh, M.A hà nội Năm 2012 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Statement of authorship ……………………………………………………………… … i Acknowledgement ………………………………………………………………… ……ii Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………… iii Table of contents …………………………………………………………………… … iv List of abbreviation ………………………………………………………………………vii List of tables ………………………………………………………………… …….….viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ………………….………………………………… 1.1 Rationale ………………………………………………………….………… …1 1.2 The aims of the study and research questions …………………… …………… 1.3 The scope of the study ………………………………………… …… ……… 1.4 Research methodologies …………………………………… ………………… 1.5 Organization of the thesis …………………………………… …………………2 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………… …4 2.1 THEORETICAL BACGROUND OD ATTITUDES ……………………… ….4 2.1.1 Definitions of attitudes ………………………………………………………4 2.1.2 Characteristics of attitudes ……………….………………………… ………5 2.1.3 Classification of attitudes …………………………………………….… ….6 2.1.4 The role of attitudes in second language acquisition …………………… ….7 2.2 NATIVE ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS……… ………………… ….…9 v 2.2.1 Definitions of Native English-speaking teachers …………………….… ….9 2.2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of Native English-speaking teachers in teaching English as a second or foreign language………………… …………….…10 2.3 Previous studies on teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards learning English with Native English-speaking teachers…………………………………….…… …12 2.4 Summary………… ………………………………………………….…………15 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ……………………………….…….…………… 16 3.1 Participants …………………………… …………………………….…… …16 3.2 Instruments …………………….…………………………….………….… …17 3.3 Procedures of data collection ……………………………………… … ….…19 3.4 Methods of data analysis …………………………………………….…………19 3.5 Summary ………………………………………………………………….…….19 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DICUSSION ……………………………… 20 4.1 Data analysis ……………………………………………………………………20 4.1.1 Students‟ attitudes towards learning English with native English-speaking teachers………………………………………………………………………… ….20 4.1.2 Teachers‟ attitudes towards the teaching English of native English-speaking teachers………………………………………………………………………… ….27 Findings… …………………………………………………………….…… …30 4.3 Summary ……………………………………………………………….……….31 CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSIONS …………… ………32 5.1 Conclusions ……………… …………………………………………………….33 5.2 Limitations of the study …………………………………………………………35 vi 5.3 Suggestions for further studies ………………………………………………….35 REFERENCES ……………………………………………………… ………….…… 37 APPENDIX I …………………………………………………………… ……… ………I APPENDIX II …………………………………………………………… …… ……III APPENDIX III ……………………………………………………………….…… …….V vii LIST OF ABBREVIATION NESTs: Native English-speaking teachers NNESTs: Non-native English speaking teachers ESL: English as a second language viii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Items in the questionnaire for students‟ attitudes towards learning English with native English-speaking teachers Table 2: Students‟ attitude towards native English-speaking teachers‟ language competence Table 3: Students‟ attitudes towards native English-speaking teachers‟ teaching styles Table 4: Students‟ attitudes towards motivation in native English-speaking teachers‟ class Table 5: Students‟ attitudes towards the disadvantages of native English-speaking teachers Figure 1: Students‟ attitude towards native English-speaking teachers‟ language competence Figure 2: Students‟ attitudes towards native English-speaking teachers‟ teaching styles Figure 3: Students‟ attitudes towards motivation in native English-speaking teachers‟ class Figure 4: Students‟ attitudes towards the disadvantages of native English-speaking teachers CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Nowadays, English has become an international language Learning English is a must for anyone who wants to access the world More and more Vietnamese learn English to get knowledge and achieve communicative competence However, the weakest point of Vietnamese learners is that they are not able to communicate in real situation This fact raises the awareness of teaching and learning English communicatively to both teachers and learners Therefore, teachers at both secondary and high school are now trying to apply new teaching methods to teach English communicatively The aim is to help students be more confident to communicate in English Besides, many schools are trying to open new programs which cooperate with other schools from English speaking countries to improve English for their students More and more foreign teachers or Native English-Speaking Teachers are employed to teach in these schools Students and their parents hope that foreign teachers will help them study English better and get more knowledge about culture of English-speaking countries In the context of the study, Doan Thi Diem Secondary School, where the author is working as a non-native teacher of English, there are bilingual programs in which students from grade to grade are taught by some foreign teachers Apart from subjects studied in Vietnamese, students study three more subjects in English with foreign teachers They are English, Math and Science In fact, many secondary schools in Hanoi have similar programs However, in this research only English subject is mentioned In the last decades, there has been on-going discussion involved in advantages and disadvantages of native and non-native teachers of English (Philipson, 1992; Medgyes, 1994; Lui, 1999) Nevertheless, in Vietnam there are hardly any studies on the teaching of foreign teachers The author of the study wonders what the students and teachers actually think of native English teachers‟ teaching English That is also the reason for the study The study is expected to investigate the teachers‟ and 6th form students‟ attitudes towards learning English with foreign teachers and give some valuable suggestions for the employment of foreign teachers in the context of the study in particular and in Vietnam in general 1.2 The aims of the study and research questions The aims of the research are: first, to investigate what are the attitudes of students towards learning English with native English teachers, and the attitudes of non-native English teachers at Doan Thi Diem Secondary School towards the teaching of English by native teachers; then to give some implications for the employment of native teachers in the context of Vietnam and some suggestions for parents when choosing bilingual programs for their children Thus, two research questions raised are: What are the 6th form students’ attitudes toward learning English with native English-speaking teachers? What are the non-native English teachers’ attitudes towards the teaching English of native English-speaking teachers? 1.3 The scope of the study Due to the limit of time and the real context of the research where native teachers are put in charge of English, the research focuses on investigating the teachers‟ and th form students‟ attitudes towards native teacher‟s teaching English Besides, the research only emphasized studying general issues related to the advantages and disadvantages of learning English with native teachers 1.4 Research methodologies As the main aim of the research is to investigate the teachers‟ and 6th form students‟ attitudes towards learning English with foreign teachers, survey approach is selected, and two main data collection methods employed are questionnaire and semi-structured interview Census sampling is used with all English teachers and students from 6s1, 6s2, 6s3, 6s4 and 6s5 The data are collected from 100 students and five non-native English teachers The analysis is carried out in the light of finding out the answers to the research questions 1.5 The organization of the thesis The thesis consists of five chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction covers the rationale for choosing the topic, the aims and research questions, the scope of the study, research methodologies and organization of the thesis Chapter 2: Literature Review provides the basic theoretical background of literature on attitudes such as definition, characteristics, classification and role of attitudes in second language acquisition Then, concepts, advantages and disadvantages of foreign teachers in teaching English as a second or foreign language are presented Finally, previous studies related to the topic are reviewed Chapter 3: Methodology deals with the overall picture of how the research was carried out from the first step of determining the design to the last one of analyzing and collecting results Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Findings interprets the answer of the posed research questions: What are the teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards learning English with native teachers? The findings end with conclusions and comments after these instruments such as questionnaires, semi-structured interviews are conducted and completed Chapter 5: Recommendation and conclusions reviews the main content and findings of the study, some possible implications for the teachers and learners; and giving out some suggestions for further researches 33 can learn daily English from native teachers which help them communicate with foreigners easily The second strength of native teachers is their teaching styles Native teachers coming from different countries often have different teaching methodology which encourages students to study Furthermore, students have chance to learn about English speaking countries, not from books but from real men from that country The last strength of native teachers is their ability to motivate students in their study Native teachers have casual manner and they are friendly, thus they create a friendly classroom environment Students feel less stressed in class with native teachers than that with non-native teachers Students not hesitate to express their opinions; however, most students think their native teachers not understand them and know their needs Therefore, this is one disadvantage of native teachers in comparison with non-native teachers Everything has both good points and weak points It is similar to native teachers They also possess some weaknesses Firstly, good pronunciation is their strength but it is also their weakness because with some students they cannot understand the lesson and they have their different pronunciation and speak fast Furthermore, students and native teachers have different culture, so they easily have misunderstandings Finally, most students think that native teachers are not as good at explaining grammar as non-native teachers This suggests that native teachers are better at teaching speaking and pronunciation than grammar In brief, students have positive attitudes towards learning English with native teachers, which explains the reasons why many students are trying to take the exam to study in class with native teachers As for the second question: “What are the non-native teachers’ attitudes towards the teaching English of native-English speaking teachers”, the result of the study was obtained through the interview with five non-native teachers Most non-native teachers also have positive attitudes towards the teaching English of native teachers They think that native teachers have advantage of language competence They are good at teaching pronunciation and speaking This result supports the students‟ ideas Besides, native teachers are creative, friendly and active, which motivates students a lot Nevertheless, the interviews show some 34 weak points of native teachers Non-native teachers argued that native teachers could not solve all the problem of students as they did not have firsthand experience in learning English Moreover, the ability to manage the class is one of the strengths of non-native teachers; whereas, it is the weakness of native teachers In conclusion, the advantages overweigh the disadvantages; non-native teachers still enjoy the lesson with native teachers 5.2 Limitations of the study Although results of this study were statistically significant, and the research design and instruments were sound, the study was not without limitations Several limitations to this study must be noted The first limitation of the study is the number of participants Only 100 6th form students and five non-native English teachers teaching in grade took part in the survey and interview Therefore, the results can not be good presentation for all students and teachers in secondary schools Moreover, the study has not yet compared the differences in attitudes of students to both non-native teachers and native teachers in teaching English Furthermore, this study may not be applicable for all secondary schools in Viet Nam; however, it can firstly give out good implication in employing native teachers for Doan Thi Diem Secondary School and for schools which have native teachers In short, all of the limitations are the suggestions for further studies, which will be presented in the next section of this chapter 5.3 Suggestions for further studies For the limitations stated above, there are some suggestions for further study relating to this matter First of all, it is suggested to carry out a research with the participants from all different grades at secondary school Therefore, it will be more useful to compare the 35 attitudes of students towards native English teachers among all students at secondary schools Second, it is recommended to carry out a research to see the attitudes of students towards both non-native teachers and native teachers in teaching English to find out who teaches English better Finally, it is advisable to carry out a more detailed study on the skills which are taught best by native teachers To summarize, this chapter presents the conclusion for the study and at the same time points out the limitations and then bring about some suggestions for further study 36 REFERENCES Árva, V and Medgyes, P (2000): “Natives and non-natives teachers in the classroom” System, 28(3), 355-372 Retrieved December 28, 2009, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science? 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Background, attitude and motivation in relation to second language achievement: A case study B.A Thesis, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia 29 Ozturk, U & D Atay (2010) Full Length Research Paper: Challenges of being a Nonnative English Teacher Educational Research / International Journals, 1(5) 30 Penny Cook, A (1994) The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language London: Longman 31 Phillipson, R (1992) Linguistic imperialism Oxford: Oxford University Press 32 Phillipson, R (1996) ELT: The native speaker‟s burden In T Hedge & N Whitney (Eds.), Power, pedagogy, & practice (pp 23-30) Oxford: Oxford University Press 33 Sekigawa, Y., Sugino, T., Okayama Y., &T Ascough (2003).Native Speaker / Nonnative Speaker Teachers: Beyond the learners’ gap Retrieved November 25, 2010 from http:// jalt-publications.org/archive/proceeding/2003/E045.pdf 34 Stern, H.H (1983) Fundamental concepts of language teaching Oxford: OUP 35 Spolsky, B (1969) Attitudinal aspect of second language learning Language Learning Vol 19, 271-283 39 36 Tay, M (1982) The uses, users and features of English in Singapore In J Pride (ed.) New Englishes Rowley, MA: Newbury House 37 Tsui, A 1996 Reticence and anxiety in second language learning In K ．Bailey ＆D Nunan (eds Voices from the Language Classroom Cam bridge : Cam bridge University Press．pp．145 167． 38 Xiaoru, C (2008) A Survey: Chinese College Students‟ Perceptions of Non-native English teachers CELEA Journal, 31 (3) 39 Wenden, A (1991) Learner strategies for learner autonomy London: Prentice Hall I APPENDIX I Appendix 1: SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE ON 6TH FORM STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH WITH FOREIGN TEACHERS This survey questionnaire is designed to find out the teachers‟ and 6th form students‟ attitudes towards learning English with foreign teachers at Doan Thi Diem Secondary School as my completion for my MA thesis titled “An investigation into teachers’ and 6th form students’ attitudes towards learning English with foreign teachers” It is highly appreciated if you could spend your little time completing truthfully the questionnaire All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Thank you very much for your cooperation! A General information Are you male or female? ………………… Did you learn English with foreign teachers at primary school? …………… B Student’s attitudes towards learning English with foreign teachers The following are number of statements expressing your opinions about the teaching English of foreign teachers There are no right or wrong answers since people have different views I would like to indicate your opinions about each statement by ticking (V) at one of the four columns Example: They (foreign teachers) help us much on pronunciation If you strongly agree with this statement, please tick at the column strongly agree Choose the most applicable My opinions about foreign teachers’ teaching English A They give us much help on pronunciation B They provide us with lots of Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree II chances to speak English C I can learn daily English more from foreign teachers D They keep me using English because of their incapability of using my own language E Their teaching styles motivate me to enjoy the lesson more F I have less examination stress in class with foreign teachers G They enable us to take part in a lot of activities H They help me to learn more about the English speaking countries I I have more freedom in class with foreign teachers J They have casual manner, which creates a friendly classroom environment K I not hesitate to discuss my opinions with foreign teachers L They understand children and know their needs M I have difficulties in understanding the lessons because of their different pronunciation and fast speed N I can not establish a good communication with them as my III English is limited O They have different culture, so we easily have misunderstandings P Their explanation of grammar is not as good our Vietnamese teachers IV APPENDIX II: PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA VỀ THÁI ĐỘ CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC HỌC TIẾNG ANH VỚI NGƢỜI BẢN NGỮ TẠI TRƢỜNG TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ ĐOÀN THỊ ĐIỂM Các học sinh thân mến! Hiện nay, cô thực tiểu luận thạc sĩ với đề tài: “Thái độ giáo viên học sinh lớp việc học Tiếng Anh với ngƣời ngữ: Nghiên cứu điều tra trƣờng trung học sở Đoàn Thị Điểm” Đây điều tra ban đầu để tìm hiểu thái độ học sinh lớp việc học Tiếng Anh với người ngữ trường trung học sở Đồn Thị Điểm Cơ mong dành chút thời gian giúp hồn thành phiếu điều tra Đây kiểm tra nên khơng có câu trả lời “đúng” hay “sai” Các đưa câu trả lời chân thực có đảm bảo thành công nghiên cứu Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác con! A Thông tin cá nhân Con học lớp nào? ……6……… Nam /Nữ ……………… Con có học Tiếng Anh với giáo viên ngữ trường tiểu học không? …………… B Thái độ học sinh việc học Tiếng Anh với giáo viên ngữ Hãy tích (V) vào cột hồn tồn đồng ý, đồng ý, khơng đồng ý, hồn tồn khơng đồng ý cho ý kiến đưa việc dạy tiếng Anh giáo viên người ngữ Ví dụ: Họ giúp chúng phát âm tốt Nếu hoàn toàn đồng ý với ý kiến tích vào cột hoàn toàn đồng ý V Hoàn Phát biểu toàn đồng ý A Họ giúp chúng phát âm tốt B Họ khuyến khích chúng tham gia nhiều hoạt động học C Họ tạo cho chúng nhiều hội để giao tiếp Tiếng Anh D Chúng có khó khăn việc hiểu họ có cách phát âm khác họ nói nhanh E Họ có phong cách thoải họ tạo mơi trường thân thiện lớp học F Con giao tiếp cách tự nhiên với họ khả Tiếng Anh cịn nhiều hạn chế G Con bị áp lực thi cử học với giáo viên nước ngồi H Con khơng ngần ngại chia sẻ ý kiến với giáo viên I Họ khơng hiểu học sinh nhu cầu học sinh J Cách dạy họ khuyến khích học sinh thích học K Khả dạy ngữ pháp họ nhiều hạn chế so với giáo viên Việt Hồn Đồng Khơng tồn ý đồng ý khơng đồng ý VI Nam L Chúng luôn phải sử dụng Tiếng Anh họ khơng thể nói ngơn ngữ chúng M Chúng tự thoải mái lớp học N Chúng học Tiếng Anh giao tiếp hàng ngày O Họ giúp chúng hiểu biết văn hóa nước nói Tiếng Anh VII APPENDIX III: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS Interview with non-native English teachers Teacher “I really like the teaching English of native teachers It is creative, relaxing and effective Native teachers have different teaching methods They often apply new method to teach students and focus on teaching speaking and listening Vietnamese teachers are used to using traditional methods, so they focus on teaching grammar Students have to a lot of grammar exercise in non-native teachers‟ class while they can take part in a lot of activities in class with foreign teachers” Teacher “They serve as a perfect model for learning pronunciation They use real language and speak English confident and naturally However, native teachers can not speak students‟ own language, so they not understand all students‟ problems and sometimes students are not satisfied with the teachers‟ explanation Moreover, native teachers not have firsthand experience in learning English and they are unaware of students‟ difficulties” Teacher “They speak English naturally and fluently, and they use it all the time in class Non-native teachers can pronounce correctly, but they can make mistakes in stress and intonation and their pronunciation is not natural Nevertheless, native teachers acquire the language rules but they not learn them as formally as non-native teachers, thus I not think they can explain grammar clearly and easily enough for students to be understand” VIII Teacher “I myself study a lot when I am working as an assistant for native teachers in class Their voice is smooth, their pronunciation is correct and sometimes I have to correct my own mistakes after listening to native teachers One thing I not like when teaching with native teachers is that in class students are often free and noisy They are not strict and sometimes they fail to deliver the lesson because students are too noisy” Teacher “Native teachers are open and friendly, which makes the teacher-student relationship closer and more relaxing They help students to take part in the class activities confidently and effectively They are also enthusiastic, creative and active” Besides, native teachers not pay much attention to marks, so there is less stress in examination for students On the other hand, non-native teachers always concern about the results students get, and as a result, students are often stressed However, some native teachers can not control the students in class, so our school has to get one non-native teacher in class to help them control the class”