A survey on the role of native speaker on learning English speaking for young learners at a foreign language centre in Ha Noi

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** DƯƠNG THỊ MINH HẰNG A SURVEY ON THE ROLE OF NATIVE SPEAKERS ON LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING FOR YOUNG LEARNERS AT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE IN HA NOI (KHẢO SÁT VỀ VAI TRỊ CỦA NGƯỜI BẢN ĐỊA TRONG VIỆC HỌC NĨI TIẾNG ANH CHO TRẺ EM TẠI MỘT TRUNG TÂM NGOẠI NGỮ TẠI HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Hanoi – 2019 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** DƯƠNG THỊ MINH HẰNG A SURVEY ON THE ROLE OF NATIVE SPEAKERS ON LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING FOR YOUNG LEARNERS AT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE IN HA NOI (KHẢO SÁT VỀ VAI TRÒ CỦA NGƯỜI BẢN ĐỊA TRONG VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CHO TRẺ EM TẠI MỘT TRUNG TÂM NGOẠI NGỮ TẠI HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Supervisor : Dr Mai Thị Loan Hanoi – 2019 DECLARATION I, Duong Thi Minh Hang, hereby certify that my thesis entitled ―A survey on the role of native speakers on learning Enlgish speaking for young learners at a foreign language centre in Ha Noi‖ (Khảo sát vai trị người địa việc học nói tiếng anh cho trẻ em trung tâm ngoại ngữ Hà Nội) submitted to the Faculty of Post- Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi is my own work Documented references have been fully provided I have not submitted this thesis for assessment in any other training institutions Hanoi, 2019 Duong Thi Minh Hang i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my special and sincere thanks to my supervisor, Ms Mai Thi Loan, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher I also want to express my profound gratitude to all the doctors, lecturers and staff members of the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable lectures and useful advice that is of a great help for me to fulfill the thesis I would also like to send my deep sense of thanks to all the native and non-native English teachers and 50 students at the Clever School English Centre for their cooperation and the valuable information they provided in my research field Without their passionate participation and input, the validation survey could not have been successfully conducted My sincere thanks also go to many writers whose ideas are useful hints for the development of this thesis Last but not least, I must express my very profound gratitude to my family members and to my friends for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis This accomplishment would not have been possible without them iv ABSTRACT This research aims at exploring the roles of native speakers for young learners on learning English speaking at the Clever School English Center The primary purpose of the study is an attempt to examine the impact of native speakers for young learners in speaking lessons and find out effectively teaching methods of native speakers in speaking lessons In order to achieve the aim of the study, the author used the survey questionnaire and class observation as instruments to collect the data The results of the data analysis indicate that native speakers play a very important role because they take part in the roles of excellent organizers, good motivators, gentle participants and feedback providers in speaking lessons The students also participated in the speaking lessons eagerly and excitedly but the interaction in English among them was still limited In addition, the findings of the research suggested native speakers some teaching methods to teach young learners to speak English better as well as some equipment improvements supporting native speakers in teaching v ABBREVIATIONS CELTA Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults ESL EFL English as a second language English as a foreign language FL Foreign language NESTs Native English speaking teachers NNESTs Non-native English speaking teachers L2 Second language TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages TEYLT Teaching English to Young Learners and Teenagers TOEIC Test of English for International Communication TOEFL Test Of English as a Foreign Language TPR Total Physical Response vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv ABSTRACT v ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF FIGURES ix TABLE OF CONTENTS vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review of previous studies 2.1.1 Previous studies overseas 2.1.2 Previous studies in Viet Nam 2.1.3 Summary 2.2 Review of theoretical background 2.2.1 Speaking 2.2.2 Native speakers 14 2.2.3 Young learners 17 2.3 Summary 22 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 23 3.1 Restatement of research questions 23 3.2 The setting of the study 23 3.3 Participants 25 3.4 Data collection instruments 26 3.4.1 Questionnaire 26 3.4.2 Class observation of the author 26 3.5 Data collection procedures 27 vi 2.6 Analysis of data 27 3.7 Summary 28 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDING 29 4.1 Data analysis 29 4.1.1 Questionnaire for the students 29 4.1.2 Class observation sheet 33 4.2 Some major findings and discussions 36 4.2.1 The current situation of English speaking lessons with native speakers of young learners 36 4.2.2 The role of native speakers for young learners at the center to speak English 39 4.3 Possible solutions to improve the roles of native speakers in English speaking learning of young learners 41 4.3.1 Reinforcing the teaching method quality of native English teachers 41 4.3.2 Investing more equipment and facilities for a more convenient classroom 41 4.3.3 Motivating the younger learners‘ speaking awareness 41 4.4 Summary 42 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 43 Recapitulation 43 Concluding remarks 43 2.1 What is the current situation of English speaking lessons of native speakers for young learners at the center? 43 2.2 What are the roles of native speakers for young learners at the center to speak English? 44 2.3 What should be done to improve the role of English native speakers in teaching English speaking skills for young learners at the Center? 45 vii Limitations and suggestion for the further studies 46 REFERENCES 47 APPENDIX I APPENDIX 1: I APPENDIX 2: IV viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: The reality of English speaking teaching lessons 29 Figure 3.2: The roles of native teachers in speaking lessons 30 Finger 3.3: The favorite activities in speaking lessons by native speakers 32 Finger 3.4: The favorite topics during speaking lesson by native speakers 33 ix song with English music on television with the internet at home or read a dialogue with following of teacher in class Besides, they also should review the vocabulary that teachers provide them In case of kindergarten and primary level, they need to be followed by their own family For the secondary students, they are able to study by themselves by practicing speaking with friends in class In generally, the higher motivation to speak English students have, the more progressive they get 4.4 Summary In this chapter, the author analyzed the specific data and then explore the current situation of English speaking lessons From that, the roles of the native speakers on younger learners‘ learning English speaking was pointed out carefully and clearly More ever, some suggestions for improving their roles in English speaking lessons were also shown 42 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION This part recapitulates the study and the main findings focusing on the three research questions The limitations of the study as well as the suggestions for further research will also be presented in this part Recapitulation In this study, 50 young learners, who have studied at the center at least months of three training levels including preschool primary and secondary were chosen for the study support At the first part, the author designed a survey questionnaire for the students to recognize the role of native speakers in English speaking lessons from the view of the young students After completing the analysis of the data from the questionnaire, the author started to observe five different classes that the native English teachers teaching speaking English, which aims to find the reality of English speaking lesson as well as understand more the findings in the questionnaire data collected from the students Basing on the reality and roles of native teachers in English speaking lesson, some necessary solutions to improve the roles of native teachers in English speaking lesson will be presented Concluding remarks In this research, the author used the qualitative and quantitative method to list, analyze the data with different aspects such as interaction between teacher and students, teacher‘s preparation before lesson, topic in lesson, activities before, while and after lesson and etc All these aspects were analyzed to answer three research questions that focus on: 2.1 What is the current situation of English speaking lessons of native speakers for young learners at the center? From the questionnaire data and observation sheets, many advantages were found in English speaking learning lessons with native speakers 43 Besides, some limitations were also expressed The advantages and disadvantages will be presents as followings: For the advantages, students can firstly listen to English as well as practice speaking English during native speaker‘s lessons Step by step, they will get used with correct pronunciation and native intonation More ever, the learning atmosphere are always exciting, interesting with different game activities and the native teachers are rather friendly and opened-minded Most of students feel relaxed As the results, these can create a good motivation to learn speaking English for young learners Regarding to disadvantages, the author found that the native English teachers did not perform their lesson preparation well and provide new words and phrases fully on board so it made students get difficult to understand the lesson Next, there is a limitation for students to present the topic and tell the stories in front of the class or the number of students can these activities is limited Then, guiding students to make dialogue and presentation in front of class of native teachers haven‘t been implemented The reasons for lack of these activities are because of their lesson plan preparation Besides, most of the activities in English speaking lesson are in game competition among groups so it is difficult for native teachers to check their students‘ pronunciation carefully After all, the interaction among students in English are still limited 2.2 What are the roles of native speakers for young learners at the center to speak English? In general, the native speakers play a necessary role for learning speaking English of young learners First of all, they are excellent organizers who are good at organizing exciting games and group activities Besides, they are good motivators who are always smiling, friendly and opened-minded, 44 which create a positive motivation for students to pronounce words correctly, speak English more naturally and fluently as well as more confidently In addition, they are gentle participants who can support them to speak by participating in activities with students and they also provide students more idioms, dialect, slang and a generally more extensive vocabulary by using and repeating them during their lesson More ever, they play the good role as a feedback provider who points out the mistake of learners And specially, native speakers are the abundant source on vocabulary as well as a reliable source on pronunciation for learners to practice speaking English 2.3 What should be done to improve the role of English native speakers in teaching English speaking skills for young learners at the Center? Although native speakers play different roles in English lesson, their teaching method and approach is not effective enough The activities in the classroom are very general and there is no transition among speaking activities so it is not obvious for students to know what they would next In the other hand, the native English teachers pay attention too much on game activities therefore the remaining activities such as practicing speaking English by looking at pictures and repeating words or enhancing listening, speaking, reading and writing are not implemented fully In addition, the native teachers speak a lot and a number of students are not able follow them There is no presentation of students or mono talks in front of class so the correction for the learners‘ wrong pronunciation will be limited In summary, the first improvement is their teaching method, not only focus on game activities but more dialogues, conversations between students and more presentation in front of the class Furthermore, the topics they choose for their students should be easy and familiar to them Besides, the most necessary element to improve their teaching method for their young learners is getting TEYLT certificate 45 This one would help them to understand more characteristics, difficulties and good approach with young students In addition, the learning classroom should be equipped and decorated more conveniently and suitably for young learners‘ activities This problem should be paid attention by the administrative office and director regularly and seriously Limitations and suggestion for the further studies The first limitation of this study is that the author could not study carefully and precisely on the sample teaching plans of native speakers for younger learners Therefore, an investigation into appropriately speaking teaching methods with well-prepared teaching plans of native speakers should be conducted The second negative point of this study is that the author was not able to make clear what methods and contents were suitable to each level of kindergarten, elementary and secondary As the result, a study on the difference of speaking teaching methods for each level of young learners should be carried out in the future 46 REFERENCES Baker, J., & Westrup, H (2003) Essential Speaking Skills: A Handbook for English Language Teachers London: Continuum Bloomfield, L (1933) Language New York: Holt Rinehart Winston Brown, H.D (1994) Teaching by principles: An interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents Brown, H.D (2001), Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, (Addison-Wesley Longman Inc), San Fransisco Burns, A., & Joyce, H (1997) Focus on Speaking Sydney: National Center for English Language Teaching and Research Bygate, M (1987) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press Byrne, D (1991) Techniques for Classroom Interaction Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Cameron, L, Teaching Language to Young Learners, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Chaney, A (1998) Teaching Oral Communication in Grades K-8 USA A Viacom Company 10 Cook, V (1999) Going Beyond the Native Speaker in Language Teaching TESOL Quarterly, 33 (2), 185–209 11 Cotter, Ch (2007) Speaking Well—Four Steps to Improve Your ESL EFL Students Speaking Ability 12 Chot, P (2015) Factors Affecting Students’ Learning English Speaking Skills: A Case of Second Year Students of English Department in Gambella College of Teachers Education (MA Dissertation, Addis Ababa University) 13 Crystal, D (1985) A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics Oxford: Basil Blackwell 47 14 Davies, A (1991) The Native Speaker in Applied Linguistics Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press 15 Davies, A (2003) The Native Speaker: Myth and Reality Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters 16 Davies, A (2004) The Native Speaker in Applied Linguistics In A Davies & C Elder (Eds.), The Handbook of Applied Linguistics (pp 431– 450) Oxford, UK: Blackwell 17 Eissa, A., Misbah, & Najat, A (1988) Problems of Using English as a Medium of Instruction and Communication at the College of Science, Kuwait University Educational Journal, 4(15), 47-94 18 George Braine (1999), Non-Native Educators in English Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press 19 Gill, S & Rebrova, A (2001) Native and non-native: Together We're Worth More ELT Newsletter Retrieved from http://www.eltnewsletter.com/back/March2001/art522001.htm 20 Ian Walkinshaw, Duongthi Hoang Oanh (2014), Native and Non- Native English Language Teachers: Student Perceptions in Vietnam and Japan, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244014534451 21 Ismet Sahin ( 2005), The Effect of Native Speaker Teachers of English on the Attitudes and Achievement of Learners, Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies Vol.1, No.1, April 2005 22 Halliwel, S, Teaching English in the Primary Classroom, (Pearson Education Limited), England, 2004 23 Harmer, J (1991) The Practice of English Language Teaching The 3th Edition Longman: London and New York 24 Harmer, J (2007) The Practice of English Language Teaching U.K.: Longman 48 25 Harmer, Jeremy (2007) How to Teach English Edinburg Longman 26 Hoang (2018), The Current Situation and Issues of the Teaching of English in Vietnam 27 in Hoai Huong (2013), Play Activities for Primary English Learners Vietnam, Language Education in Asia, 2013, 4(1), 76- 87.http://dx.doi.org/10.5746/LEiA/13/V4/I1/A6/Le 28 Hedge, T (2001) Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom Oxford: Oxford University Press 29 Nguyen, T S (2013) The Relations between Vietnamese EFL Students' and Teachers' Language Learning Beliefs: Cambridge Scholars Publishing 30 Nunan, D (1995) Language Teaching Methodology: A Textbook for Teachers NY: Phoenix Ltd., p 593 31 McArthur, T (Ed.) (1992) The Oxford Companion to the English language Oxford: Oxford University Press 32 Moon, J, (2000), Children Learning English, (MacMillan Heinemann), Oxford, 33 Mustafa, B, (2003) EFL For Young Learners, (Writing Team of CREST Bandung), Bandung 34 Mustafa, B, Teaching English to Young Learners: Principles & Techniques, (UPI), Bandung, 2008 35 Omar Al-Nawrasy (2012) The Effect of Native and Nonnative English Language Teachers on Secondary Students’ Achievement in Speaking Skills 36 Omar Al-Nawrasy (2013), The Effect of Native and Nonnative English Language Teachers on Secondary Students’ Achievement in Speaking Skills, Jordan Journal of Educational Sciences Vol 9, No 2, pp -243- 254 49 37 Pinter, A (2006), Teaching Young Language Learners, (University Press), Oxford 38 Phillips, S, (2004) Young learners, (Oxford University Press), Oxford, use Publishers 39 Rahmila Murtiana (2011), Student’s Perceptions of Native Speaker and Non-native Speaker Teachers: Implication for Teacher Education, Paper presented at the 5th International Seminar: Teacher Education in the Era of World Englishes, Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga, 21-22 November 2011 Published in the Proceeding, pp 29-42 40 Scot and Ytreberg (1990), Teaching English to Children, (Pearson Education.Ltd), Harlow 41 Shin, Joan Kang (2007), Ten Helpful Ideas for Teaching English To Young Learners English teaching Forum, Vol.44, no.2, 2007, Retrieved on April 27, 2010, at http://exchange.state.gov/forum/vol44/no2/p2.htm 42 Slatery, M and Willis, J, (2001), English for Primary Teachers, (Oxford University Press), London 43 Tuan, N H., & Mai, T N (2015) Factors Affecting Students’ Speaking Performance at LE Thanh Hien High School Asian Journal of Educational Research, 3(2), 8-23 44 Turk, Christopher (1985), Effective Speaking-Communicating in Speech, E&FN Spon, London 45 Yuko Goto Butler (2007) Factors Associated with the Notion that Native Speakers are the Ideal Language Teachers: An Examination of Elementary School Teachers in Japan, JALT Journal, Vol 29, No 1, May, 2007 50 46 Walkinshaw, I., & Duong, O T H (2012) Native-and Non-Native Speaking English Teachers in Vietnam: Weighing the Benefits Tesl-Ej, 16(3), n3 51 APPENDIX APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS Dear students, The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather information on the reality of teaching English speaking lessons of native speakers for you at Clever School English Centre From that, the roles of native teachers in English speaking lessons at the Centre will be found as well as some solutions improving the roles of them on learning English speaking for young learners at the center will be proposed So your cooperation plays a very important role in the success of the project Please complete the following tasks in accordance with each instruction Thanks for your cooperation I Personal information (Thông tin cá nhân) Class( Lớp): …………………………………………………………… a Kindergarten( Mầm non) b Primary( Tiểu học) c Secondary ( Trung học co sở) How long have you studied English at Clever School English Centre? (Em học tiếng Anh rồi?) months Please tick ‗√‘ into the following boxes, each question is selected once only and scored by the following criteria: a) Disagree (Không đồng ý ) b) Neutral (Trung lập ) c) Agree (Đồng ý) II Information on the current English speaking teaching lessons (Thông tin thực trạng tiết học nói tiếng Anh) I Speaking lessons (Thực trạng tiết học nói) Disagree Neutral Agree Interesting and funny ( Thú vị hài ước) More vocabulary on various topics are provided( Được học nhiều từ chủ đề khác nhau) English is totally used during lessons (Tiếng anh sử dụng hoàn toàn tiết học) Many games are organized(Có nhiều hoạt động trò chơi) Presentation on a topic in front of class (Học sinh thuyết trình trước lớp) Some favorite songs or stories are asked to learn by heart( Học thuộc hát câu chuyện ưa thích) III Information on the roles of native teachers in speaking lessons (Thơng tin vai trị giáo viên xứ tiết học nói) Roles of native teachers ( Vai trò giáo viên ngữ) Disagree Neutral Agree Friendly and enthusisatic (Thân thiện nhiệt tình) Provide new words and phrases on board ( Viết từ cấu trúc lên bảng) Organize many games in lessons ( Tổ chức nhiều hoạt động vừa học vừa chơi) 10 Present in English slowly and clearly ( Nói tiếng Anh chậm rõ ràng) 11.Correct student‘s wrong pronunciation (Sửa lỗi phát âm cho học sinh) 12.Guide students to make dialogue or presentation carefully (Hướng dẫn học sinh hội thoại thuyết trình cẩn thận) II IV Suggetions for improving the roles of native speakers in English speaking lesson of younger learners (Những gợi ý nâng cao vai trị người xứ tiết học nói tiếng Anh cho trẻ em) 13 What are your favorite activities in speaking lesson by native speakers? ( Những hoạt động mà em thích tiết học nói tiếng Anh có người xứ?) Activities ( Các hoạt động) Disagree Neutral Agree Listen and repeat word ( Nghe đọc lại từ) Sing English songs (Hát tiếng Anh) Play role(Đóng vai) Play games (Chơi trò chơi) Tell story( Tập kể chuyện) Others( Hoạt động khác) 14 What are your favorite topics during speaking lesson by native speakers? (Những chủ đề em thích tiết học nói tiếng Anh với người xứ) Topic ( Các chủ đề) Disagree Neutral Agree Numbers, colors( Số đếm, màu) Family, toys, pets( Gia đình, đồ chơi vật nuôi) Clothes, classroom objects(Quần áo, đồ dùng lớp học) Daily activities( Hoạt động hàng ngày) City (Thành phố) Others( Khác) Thank for your cooperation! III APPENDIX 2: CLASS OBSERVATION SHEET FORM (PHIẾU DỰ GIỜ) Course(Khóa/chương trình học): Peer/Observer( Người dự): Teacher( Giáo viên dạy): _ Number of students( số lượng học sinh): _ Centre( Trung tâm): _ Class( Lớp): _ Date and Time( Ngày thời gian): Respond to each statement using the following scale: 1: Not observed ( Không quan sát được) 2: Need improvement(Cần cải thiện) 3: Accomplished well( Thực tốt) CONTENT Notes I TEACHER’S PREPARATION (Công tác chuẩn bị) Presented content overview of lesson Trình bày nội dung tổng quan học Related today‘s lesson to previous one Liên kết học hôm với học trước Wrote speaking words on blackboard Viết từ nói tiếng Anh bảng đen II.TEACHER’S PRESENTATION IN CLASS (Quá trình giảng dạy giáo viên lớp học) Presented the tasks and content clearly Trình bày nhiệm vụ nội dung rõ ràng Chose the activities effectively to achieve the objectives Lựa chọn hoạt động hiệu để đạt mục tiêu Transited among speaking activities for students smoothly Có chuyển tiếp hoạt động nói cho học sinh Allotted time for activities in class for students approprietly Thời gian phân bổ cho hoạt động lớp thích hợp Listened, understood and gave students effective feedback to improve speaking English IV Lắng nghe, hiểu cung cấp cho học sinh phản hồi hiệu để cải thiện khả nói tiếng Anh Used teaching methods appropriately Sử dụng dụng cụ dạy học phù hợp III INTERACTION BETWEEN TEACHER AND STUDENTS (Sự tương tác giáo viên học sinh) Teacher actively encouraged students to ask questions Giáo viên tích cực khuyến khích học sinh đặt câu hỏi tiếng Anh Teacher asked questions to monitor students‘ understanding Giáo viên đặt câu hỏi để kiểm tra khả nhận thức học sinh Teacher waited students to answer questions or finish activities in class Giáo viên chờ học sinh trả lời câu hỏi kết thúc hoạt động lớp Teacher listened carefully to student‘s questions Giáo viên lắng nghe câu hỏi học sinh cách cẩn thận Teachers responded appropriately to students‘ questions Giáo viên trả lời câu hỏi học sinh cách phù hợp Teachers understood student‘s difficulties Giáo viên hiểu khó khăn học sinh IV INTERACTION BETWEEN STUDENTS AND TEACHER Students participated in class activities actively Học sinh tham gia lớp học chủ động Students actively asked teachers some questions on the lesson Học sinh chủ động hỏi giáo viên câu hỏi học Students responded the teacher's questions confidently V INTERACTION BETWEEN STUDENTS AND STUDENTS ( Sự tương tác học sinh học sinh lớp học nói tiếng Anh) Play role ( Đóng vai) Discussion ( Thảo luận) Game competition (Thi đấu qua trò chơi) Conservation( Hội thoại) V