An investigation into the cultural contents available in the reading passages of english 12, students’ attitudes and expectations toward the cultural contents to be loaded

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *************************** VŨ THỊ TUYẾT AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CULTURAL CONTENTS AVAILABLE IN THE READING PASSAGES OF ENGLISH 12, STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES AND EXPECTATIONS TOWARDS CULTURAL CONTENTS TO BE LOADED TO THIS TEXTBOOK AND CULTURAL LEARNING AT PHUC THO HIGH SCHOOL (Phân tích nội dung văn hóa đọc sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12, thái độ mong đợi học sinh nội dung văn hóa chuyển tải sách việc học kiến thức văn hóa trường THPT Phúc Thọ) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 HA NOI – 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****************************** VŨ THỊ TUYẾT AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CULTURAL CONTENTS AVAILABLE IN THE READING PASSAGES OF ENGLISH 12, STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES AND EXPECTATIONS TOWARDS CULTURAL CONTENTS TO BE LOADED TO THIS TEXTBOOK AND CULTURAL LEARNING AT PHUC THO HIGH SCHOOL (Phân tích nội dung văn hóa đọc sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12, thái độ mong đợi học sinh nội dung văn hóa chuyển tải sách việc học kiến thức văn hóa trường THPT Phúc Thọ) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Supervisor : Assoc Prof Dr Võ Đại Quang HA NOI – 2016 DECLARATION I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authorship of the study project report entitled: An investigation into the cultural contents available in the reading passages of “English 12”, students’ attitudes and expectations toward the cultural contents to be loaded to this textbook and cultural learning at Phuc Tho High School The thesis is submitted to Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master Degree of Arts in English Teaching Methodology at University of Languages and International Studies, Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Ha Noi, November 2016 V Th Tuyết i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the process of conducting this MA thesis, my efforts could not have achieved such great success without the help and support from a number of people First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Vo Dai Quang, for his genuine guidance, everlasting support and strong encouragement throughout the stages of my study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise and suggestions have greatly inspired me in my growth of teaching career My deepest respect and gratitude are extended to the lecturers and many others from Faculty of Post-graduate Studies at ULIS, VNU, for their enthusiastic help and support during all my course as well as the writing of the present thesis My sincere thanks also go to my classmates and my friends for their wholehearted concern and encouragement Moreover, a special word of thanks isconveyed to all the teachers and grade12 students at Phuc Tho High school for their help and participation throughout the data collection procedure for my MA thesis Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my beloved family for their being with me and supporting me at the hardest times throughout all my studies and the fulfillment of this academic work ii ABSTRACT Language and culture are now deemed to be co-constitutive; hence English language teaching (ELT) textbooks should incorporate cultural aspects and promote intercultural competence However, cultural traits in the reading passages of the textbook English 12 seem to be ignored in teaching and learning English process at Phuc Tho High school The students here, to a great extent, know the rules of language, but are not always able to use the language adequately as it requires since they are not knowledgeable enough about the target culture This research is carried out to point out cultural groups and categories presented in the reading passages of the textbook English 12 Moreover, the reseacher aims to find out the students‟ concerning the presence these cultural contents in this textbook as well as their cultural learning at Phuc Tho high school so that the learners can raise their cultural aweaness and get appropriateness in communication during and after learning the material “ English 12” In order to fulfill these aims, two checklists and a student questionnaire were employed by the researcher The subjects involved in this study were 84 grade-12 students, including 28 males and 56 females who are all students of mixed-level classes They were invited to participate in the survey questionnaire for data collection Quantitative data were analyzed by calculating the frequencies, percentages and rank orders Qualitative data were analyzed by applying the coding system for the categorization of collected responses and content analysis Based on the findings, some suggestions were given to teachers with the hope that they will collaborate with the school to make certain positive changes to this problematic reality Hence, teachers and learners need to have awareness and attitudes to integrate cultural knowledge into training English language so that English learning and teaching at Phuc Tho High school become more interesting and effective iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations .vii List of tables viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Objectives of the study 1.4 Methods of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Significances of the study 1.7 Structural organization of the study CHAPTER : LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical background of language and culture 2.1.1 Definition of language 2.1.2 Definition of culture 2.1.3 Interrelationship between language and culture 2.1.4 Culture and cultural learning 2.2 Theoretical background of textbook .12 2.2.1 Textbook 12 2.2.2 The role of textbook in teaching and learning 13 2.3 Theoretical background of reading skill 155 2.3.1 Definition of reading and reading comprehension 155 2.3.2 Reading passages and the load of cultural background knowledge 156 2.4 Review of the related studies 16 2.4.1 Studies on Classification of cultural content in ELT textbooks 16 iv 2.4.2 Studies on cultural categories in foreign language textbooks 17 2.4.3 Studies on attitudes and expectations towards cultural learning and contents in English textbooks 19 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .22 3.1 Restatement of research questions 22 3.2 The fitness of the research approach 22 3.3 Research setting .22 3.3.1 The context at Phuc Tho High school 22 3.3.2 Textbook under Evaluation 23 3.3.3 Participants 24 3.4 Research types .25 3.5 Data collection methods 25 3.5.1 Textbook analysis 25 3.5.1.1 Checklist One used for the investigating the cutural groups 25 3.5.1.2 Checklist Two used for the investigating the cutural categories 26 3.5.2 Student Questionnaire 27 3.6 Data collection and data analysis procedure 27 3.6.1 Data collection and data analysis procedure on textbook analysis 27 3.6.2 Data collection and data analysis procedure on students‟ attitudes 28 3.7 Summary 29 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 30 4.1 Research question .30 4.2 Research question .32 4.3 Research question .34 4.3.1 Attitudes of cultural contents in English 12 textbook 35 4.3.2 Expectations of cultural contents in terms of cultural categories in the textbook 36 4.3.3 Expectations of the preferred cultural groups in EFL textbooks .37 4.4 Research question 38 v 4.4.1 Students‟ attitudes towards cultural learning 38 4.4.2 Students‟ attitudes towards learning cultural groups and reasons for learning cultural groups 40 4.4.3 Students‟ attitudes towards situations of current cultural teaching and learning in EFL classrooms at Phuc Tho high school 42 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION .45 5.1 Summary of main findings 45 5.2 Implications of the study 46 5.3 Limitations and recommendations for further research .48 REFERENCES 50 APPENDIX A I APPENDIX B VI vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS FLT Foreign Language Teaching ELT English Language Teaching EFL English as a Foreign Language vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Units and topics in the textbook 24 Table 4.1: The distribution of frequency and percentages of the cultural groups in the reading passage of English 12 textbook 30 Table 4.2: Distribution of frequency and percentage of cultural categories according to Checklist Two 33 Table 4.3 : Students‟ attitudes of cultural contents in English 12 35 Table 4.4 : Ranking of students‟ expectations about the most preferred cultural categories to be presented in textbook 36 Table 4.5: Ranking of students‟ expectations about which cultural groups should be presented in textbooks .37 Table 4.6: Students‟ attitudes towards cultural learning 38 Table 4.7: Ranking of students‟ attitudes about the cultural groups they had tried and were willing to learn 40 Table 4.8: Students‟ reasons for learning cultural groups 41 Table 4.9 : Students‟ preferences about the most helpful methods for cultural learning 42 Table 4.10 : Factors obstructing students‟ abilities to learn about cultures 43 viii amount of all cultures is suggested to be presented in order to satisfy the preferences of all the sides The settings of the texts and reading passages should refer to the real life situations, any kind of artificiality should be avoided, since if students see unrealistic situations they may not take the information seriously At the same time, high importance should be paid to the style of the textbook materials, since the scientific language and statistical information may be boring and demotivating for students A careful attention should be paid to the way information is introduced No stereotyping should be made, as it may lead to incorrect knowledge Instead the dynamic nature of cultures should be explained The tasks asking students to compare various cultures are suggested to be included These tasks, however, should be introduced very carefully, for there is a risk of making generalizations 5.3 Limitations and recommendations for further research The aim of this study is to analyze the cultural content of reading passages in English 12 textbook, as well as investigating learners‟ attitudes and expectations of cultural contents and cultural learning at Phuc Tho high school But it is all the more obvious that the study still has some limitations and needs further considerations: Since the present study took 84 students as the research subjects only, it is impossible to generalize or draw conclusions regarding similar attitudes, expectations from all students The results of the questionnaire might produce narrow and limited suggestions from such a small population Thus, it would be useful to conduct similar research with a larger number of subjects from various levels of students in order to find out whether students with different levels of English proficiency show different attitudes and expectations on culture learning and cultural contents in textbooks 48 The checklists used for the analysis should be modified by including some more classifications designed by other scholars in order to set a more effective and comprehensive framework for analysis Besides survey questionnaires for students, the findings should be attained by other tools such as or classroom observation, interview, or survey questionnaires for teachers These data collection instruments may lead to more convincing and truthful conclusions The analysis of reading passages in English 12 textbook alone may not give the whole picture of how teaching culture is treated in Vietnamese high schools Thus a whole series of English textbooks for high school students should be investigated to get a better and fuller picture It is hoped that the findings of such work may help teachers adjust their culture teaching content and assist textbooks compilers in the future 49 REFERENCES Ackroyd, S & Hughes, J A (1981) 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Type of culture Rank Culture of English Speaking Countries (e.g America, British,…Australia, etc.) ❒ Culture of Other Countries (e.g Indian, Thai, Brazil, etc.) ❒ Vietnamese Culture ❒ 14 What aspects of culture you think you should learn in English courses to facilitate your capability to communicate with people from different countries? Aspects of culture Rank History ❒ Government and Politics ❒ Literature and Art ❒ Music ❒ Geography ❒ II Economy ❒ Food ❒ Holiday ❒ Living style ❒ Customs ❒ Belief and value ❒ Others (please specify)….… ❒ 15 Which of the following methods you consider most helpful for your culture learning? Learning Methods Rank Teachers providing cultural background related to the topic ❒ Teachers providing opportunities for discussions on cultural differences and similarities in class ❒ Students finding further cultural information from newspapers, magazines and books after class ❒ Teachers introducing cultural knowledge by talking about current events related to culture ❒ Role plays ❒ Watching movies ❒ Others (please specify)….… ❒ 16 In your opinion, what are the factors obstructing your ability to learn about different culture? Factors Rank Teachers don‟t teach cultural information ❒ Cultural learning is not as important as linguistic ability ❒ Textbooks lack cultural contents ❒ Boring and uninteresting teaching methods ❒ I have to pass exam There was no time for culture learning ❒ Others (please specify) ……or detailed explanations of the reasons: ❒ III Part III: Culture Learning and Expectation on Cultural Knowledge 17 As a non-English major student, have you ever attempted to learn Vietnamese culture? ❒ Yes Reasons: ❒ No Reasons: 18 As a non-English major student, you want to learn more about the culture of English-speaking countries, such as Australia, America? ❒ Yes Reasons: ❒ No Reasons: 19 As a non-English major student, you want to learn more about the culture of non-English-speaking countries, such as Thailand, Brazil, and Spain? ❒ Yes Reasons: ❒ No Reasons: **************THANK YOU*********** IV APPENDIX B Coding guidelines for nineteen cultural categories Cultural Definition Examples categories Politics The activities involved Legal provision in getting and using Political policies power in public life, and Acts of governments Economy being able to influence Activities of leaders of countries International conferences and decisions that affect a affairs on political issues country or a society The relationship between Introduction of enterprises production, trade and the Activities of enterprises a Businesses in a country or Statistical data of consumptions supply of money in particular History region All the country International economic issues events that History of a university happened in the past, the History of farming and agriculture past events concerned in of a country the development of a particular place, subject Geography The scientific study of Geographical description of a the earth's surface, university physical features, divisions, products, population V Literature/ Art Literature: pieces of Paintings writing that are valued as works of art, especially novels, plays and poems Art: the use of the imagination to express ideas or feelings, particularly in painting, drawing or sculpture Social The norms expectations and within a Sculpture and decorative arts Textiles and costumes literature behavioural Advice for interviewees cues society or group When and where Using the appropriate questions it is appropriate to say when carrying out a management assessment certain things, to use The most important contents which certain words, to discuss should be included in a resume certain topics or wear certain Education clothes, and when not to A process of teaching, Organization of education system training and learning, Curriculum, courses, subject especially in schools or descriptions colleges, to improve Education structure knowledge and develop Educational institutions and skills Architecture organizations The art and study of Great architectural products or designing buildings, the works A method or style of building VI design or style of a Designing and building structures Music building or buildings Sounds that are arranged Types of modern music in a way that is pleasant Traditional and classical music or exciting to listen to Music appreciation People sing music or Introduction to great musical works play it in instruments Food Holiday Things that people or Dietary characteristics animals eat; a particular Etiquette when people eat type of food Types of food A day when most people Origin, purpose and significance of not go to work or the holiday school, especially Symbols and signs of the holidays because of a religious or People‟s particular activities on the Lifestyles national celebration holiday The way in which a Daily routine schedule person or a group of Interpersonal interaction and social people lives and works activities Activities and styles of family life Styles of Entertainment, consumption and fashion Customs An accepted way of Wedding ceremony traditions behaving or of doing Invitation card traditions things in a society or a community VII Values Beliefs about what is Identifying what right and wrong and what beneficial, is important in life is useful, good, beautiful, desirable, appropriate, etc Both positive or negative values are involved Values for love, life, and jobs The new ethics, suggestions on better ethics Feminism and women‟s status in modern society Hobbies Activities that you for TV programme Preferences pleasure when you are Reading books not working Gestures/ body a movement that you Body language posture,gestures, make with your hands, facialexpressions, your head or your face to movements show a and eye Humans send and particular interpret such signals meaning subconsciously The signals from the above aspects which provide clues as to the Health attitude or state of mind of a person All parties are promising to increase - the condition of a person‟s body or mind spending on health - the state of being Nature the Health Minister physically and the Department of Health mentally healthy … -Allthe of providing thework plants, animals the countryside, the services andmedical things that exist in scenery or wildlife the universe that are not made by people Note: The definitions are based on The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Edition VIII th ... All the mentioned reasons have urged the author to choose ? ?An investigation into the cultural contents available in the reading passages of ? ?English 12”, students’ attitudes and expectations toward. .. whether the textbook is interesting and motivating for them Therefore, it is important to know their opinions and expectations towards cultural contents of the textbook they are exposing to and cultural. .. learning in the context of their school 1.6 Significances of the study This study offers insight into the cultural contents of reading passages in English 12 textbook and cultural learning at