Challenges of teaching english to primary children voices from ninh binh teachers

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** ĐỖ THỊ MAI CHI CHALLENGES OF TEACHING ENGLISH TO PRIMARY CHILDREN: VOICES FROM NINH BINH TEACHERS NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG VIỆC DẠY TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TỈNH NINH BÌNH MA Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi – 2010 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** ĐỖ THỊ MAI CHI CHALLENGES OF TEACHING ENGLISH TO PRIMARY CHILDREN: VOICES FROM NINH BINH TEACHERS NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG VIỆC DẠY TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TỈNH NINH BÌNH MA Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Tô Thị Thu Hương, Ph.D Hanoi - 2010 TABLE OF CONTENT PART 1: INTRODUCTION Error! Bookmark not defined Rationale Error! Bookmark not defined Significance of the studyError! Bookmark not defined Aims of the study Error! Bookmark not defined Methods of the study Error! Bookmark not defined Scope of the study Error! Bookmark not defined Organization of the studyError! Bookmark not defined PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Error! Bookmark not defined Chapter 1: Literature review Error! Bookmark not defined 1.1 Nature of teaching English to pr children 1.2 Challenges of teaching English t children 1.2.1 The teacher 1.2.2 The continuity and curricular integrationError! Bookmark 1.3 English instruction to primary children in Vietnam Error! Bookmark not defined 1.3.1 Policy Error! Bookmark not defined 1.3.2 Textbooks and materialsError! Bookmark not defined 1.4 Available studies on primary Eng 1.5 Chapter 2: The context of teaching English to primary school children in Ninh Binh Error! Bookmark not defined 2.1 Introduction to Ninh Binh context of teachinglearning English at primary level.Error! Bookmark not defined 2.2 Teachers and their backgroundError! Bookmark not defined 2.3 3.1 Research 3.2 The 3.3 The data 3.4 Data collection procedureError! Bookmark not defined 3.5 Data analysis Error! Bookmark not defined 3.6 Summary Error! Bookmark not defined Chapter 4: Findings and discussionError! Bookmark not defined 4.1 Teachers’ attitudes towards English language education at the primary school level.Error! Bookmark not defined 4.2 Teachers’ self-evaluation of their professional competences Error! Bookmark not defined 4.3 Teachers’ self-report of students’ achievementError! Bookmark 4.4 Teachers’ understanding of the goal of primary English Error! Bookmark not defined 4.5 Teachers’ perceived challenges of teaching English to primary children Error! Bookmark not defined 4.6 Teachers’ performance in the classroomError! Bookmark not d Chapter 5: Discussions and ImplicationsError! Bookmark not defined 5.1 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 Summary of the study Error! Bookmark not defined Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study Error! 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Bookmark not defined Appendix LIST OF TABLES Table Teachers’ attitudes towards English language education at the primary school level Table Teachers' self-evaluation of their professional competence Table Teachers' self-report of students' achievement Table Teachers’ understanding of the goal of primary English Table Teachers’ perceived challenges of teaching English to primary children LIST OF TERMS DOET Department of Education and Training EBE English Bilingual Education MOET Ministry of Education and Training PELT Primary English Language Teaching PART 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale In response to the growth of English education, a great number of changes have been made in Vietnam so far On September 30 th, 2008 the Prime Minister of Vietnam issued Decision No 1400-QĐ-TTg, approving the Project entitled “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, Period 2008-2020” According to this Decision, English is introduced into the primary education curriculum starting from Grade According to the pathway projected in the Decision, in the time being 20% of the primary school students should be taught English, then the percentage will reach 70% by 2015 and 100% by 2018 The Decision has caused a hot debate in the public and among English language education professionals One of the common voices in this public discourse is that teachers are not trained for primary English education Such a discourse has some justification since formal teacher training for primary English education was not available in Vietnam until very recently with the cooperation of the British Council, Vietnam All teachers who are currently teaching English at the primary schools were, therefore, re-trained to teach English to young children Teaching English to primary children, in fact, used to receive little concern in Vietnam as it is simply thought that there is not much language knowledge to deal with at primary level However, when English is widely introduced to students from Grade 3, many issues emerge National and local education professionals, now, have a more serious look at the situation Teaching English to primary children is by nature far different from teaching to other groups of learner Thus, if teachers are not qualified to work with primary children, they may not be able to motivate the children to study, or to use appropriate, effective tasks to develop students‟ communicative competence As a foreign language specialist in a Provincial Department of Education and Training, the author saw a great number of challenges of teaching English to primary children in her province To successfully manage the English teaching-learning throughout the province, the researcher feels the urge to study the challenges perceived by the teachers so that some feasible solutions to the problems can be employed Significance of the study This study points out challenges of teaching English to primary children Although the survey was conducted in Ninh Binh province, the author believes the challenges are similar in other provinces throughout the country Thus, the results of the study will be of some contribution to education management regarding teacher development and language policy implementation Professionally, the findings and comments of this study are believed to be relevant to improving the primary English teachers‟ quality in Vietnam in general and in Ninh Binh in particular The study may be of great suggestions for the enhancement of primary English education in Vietnam and elsewhere Aims of the study This study aims to investigate challenges of teaching English to primary children as perceived by the teachers To be more specific, the objective of this study are: - to find out the teachers‟ attitudes toward teaching English at primary level - to investigate the challenges in term of professional support to primary teachers - to suggest solutions to reduce the problems and challenges of teaching English to primary children What are teachers‟ attitudes and perception about teaching English to primary children? What classroom teachers perceive of the challenges of teaching English to primary children with particular reference to professional support? What are feasible solutions to overcome those difficulties? Methods of the study The study used mixed methods to find answers to the three questions Tools for data collection in this study were questionnaire, interview (face-to-face and email) and class observation Data collected from questionnaires were analysed quantitatively via Excel software in the forms for descriptive statistics and qualitatively in the forms of different topics relating to the research questions Data from interviews and class observation were qualitatively classified into corresponding topics for trianguation and for answering questions and Scope of the study Dealing with challenges of all types is too broad for a study of this size Therefore, the focus of this study is to investigate some challenges relating to professional supports that primary teachers receive from local and national level in their teaching of English at primary level Organization of the study This minor thesis consists of five chapters The first part is the introduction which reveals the rationale, significance, aims, methods, scope and organization of the study The second part includes chapters Chapter is the literature review centering on the nature of teaching English to primary school children, problems of teaching English to primary children in a variety of contexts are discussed, and a brief introduction of primary English teaching in Vietnam context Chapter is the investigation into the context of teaching English to Primary children in Ninh Binh province Chapter discusses the methodology of the study i.e describes the study context, participants, instruments and procedure of the study Chapter is about the data analysis and results It describes how collected data is analysed and presented Chapter deals with result discussion, limitations and implications of the study given by the findings The last part is the conclusion which summarizes the study with suggestions for further study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature review 1.1 Nature of teaching English to primary school children With regard to primary school children, it is necessary to first specify that children have both features of new beginners and the peculiar characteristics of their age group Children have their own characteristics in learning foreign languages Mary Slattery and Jane Willis (2001: 4-5) pointed out 12 characteristics as follow: 1.Children learn through seeing, listening, copying and doing Children are unable to understand an explanation of grammar rules, for example, rules of using tenses of verbs Children can understand the meaning partly through non-verbal communication activities 4.Copying exactly 5.Love playing and using their own imagination 6.Short attention, so changes needed 7.Curiosity 8.Enjoy repetition of activities 9.Independent thinking is being developed 10 Ability to distinct between reality and imagination 11 Ability to organize the best to implement any activity 12 Teamwork There is evidence that children have sensitivity to pronunciation and are good at imitating and picking up whole phrases of language, but if their teachers lack fluency or have difficulties with pronunciation, then children will not be able to make use of that particular instinct Therefore, it is noticeable to identify what should be done in the classroom Carol Read (2003) proposes some of the optimal conditions for helping young learners to learn: - learning is natural 30 Picture 6: Students practiced writing on board Picture 7: Students performed in pairs in front of the class Picture 8: Students practiced writing individually 31 Picture 9: Students practiced in pairs Three last pictures from to proved some popular types of activities students got involved Individual work and pair work seemed to dominate the classroom activities Teamwork and group work were rarely arranged Many students preferred to perform in front of the class and enjoying friends‟ performance was a lot of fun for the rest of the class 32 Chapter 5: Discussions and Implications 5.1 Discussion The findings of this survey support Thuy Anh (2007) that the decision to expand English education to the primary school was made before teachers were train to take the job As is revealed in the survey that the teachers lacked both the required level of proficiency in English and pedagogical skills for teaching young learners, the two factors that guarantee the success of primary school English education (Cameron , 2003; Marinova-Todd, Marshall & Snow, 2002) While a majority of the teachers in this survey were positive of the primary English policy, the students‟ interest and the suitability of the textbook, more than half of them acknowledged that they were not adequately prepared to teach primary English Only about one third of the surveyed teachers stated that they were sufficiently confident in their professional competence Thus, teacher development is essential, but it cannot be catered for just in one-shot inservice training workshops Teacher development is more challenging when each primary school has just one single teacher of English (McLachlan, 2009), which makes the promotion of school-based informal collegial learning impossible Isolation from the professional community is likely to affect negatively not only teachers‟ professional growth but also their professional motivation Regarding teachers‟ proficiency in English, the proficiency test scores reveal that only 25 out of 160 teachers were on par with the intermediate level while 55 of them were rated as of either elementary or beginner levels of proficiency in English Half of them were rated as at the pre-intermediate level This is supported by the observational data, which show that teachers‟ English was not good enough for the teacher-student interaction in order to create interest and build rapport with the students (Moon, 2005) Inadequate training together with limited proficiency in spoken English failed them to be flexible in teaching, and therefore mot of them appeared to be more concerned with teaching the textbook than teaching the students This was evidenced by the observed teachers‟ attempts to finish the textbook at all 33 costs In addition, they were also preoccupied with teaching the linguistic forms, i.e grammar and vocabulary while paying little attention to the teaching of basic functional English For the few who were more fluent in oral English, they tended to use the kind of English which should have been used in teaching adult learners, thereby failing to provide “comprehensible input” (Krashen, 1987) for the students to acquire the target language It is a greater concern that the teachers‟ pronunciation was quite poor Alarmingly, teachers‟ pronunciation, as observed, needs improving considerably if students‟ fossilized pronunciation is not desired (Cameron , 2003) Generally, the observed teachers tended to stick closely to the prescribed textbook This is not surprising, given the learning culture of Vietnam, which is textbookcentered and teacher-centered, and teachers‟ limited methodological repertoires There are two areas of concern in the findings of this survey Firstly, they imply that the teachers continue to view the teaching of English as a content subject as they are influenced by their experience as language learners Thus, they feel the need to “complete the syllabus”, in this case, the textbook Secondly, they imply that these teachers see product (as opposed to process) as being more important in the teaching of English, so they emphasized the teaching of grammar and vocabulary even with primary school students This pedagogy is, of course, largely driven by the formsfocused examinations, which are common in Vietnam Interestingly, a majority of them found that their students‟ learning unsatisfactory and they did not believe that the students were interested in learning English It is understandable that if teaching is not effective and proper, students can hardly be motivated to learn ( Thu Trang & Baldauf, Jr 2007) This is really a big challenge should we take into consideration the warning by Cameron (2003) that: If unsuceessful early learning demotivates pupils, and they come to believe that English lessons are difficult, or boring, or a waste of time, then secondary teachers will not only need to keep pupils motivated for a further five years; 34 some how they will also have to remotivate those who already feel they cannot succeed in language learning (p 106) 5.2 Implications 5.2 To teachers “Educational change depends on what teachers and think – it‟s as simple and complex as that.” (Fullan, 1991; cited in Hayes, 2007) The extension of foreign language education at the primary level will require extensive and intensive training of the teachers, both in pre-service and in-service courses to raise the quality of language education in the primary school Cameron (2003) noted that amongst other knowledge and skills, teachers of young learners need: - an understanding of how children think and learn - skills and knowledge in spoken English to conduct whole lesson orally - to be equipped to teach initial literacy in English Teachers‟ fundamental concepts about how children learn and how they should be taught need to be updated Without being aware of this, there will be no change in behaviour (new materials designed for a new teaching approach may be taught in old way) 5.2 To MOET - Ensure that there are adequate numbers of teachers to teach the subject to the particular grades: training teacher to teach EYL - Develop curriculum materials and teaching-learning approaches which are appropriate to the age group - Ensure that adequate materials and financial resources are available to implement the primary English introduction - Call for and make full use of support from foreign organizations/nations for teacher (re)training and materials development 5.2 To DOET -Ensure that appropriate and timely in-service training is given to teachers in the use of the materials and teaching-learning approaches 35 - Innovate in-service training course : + in-service training must be seen as a genuine development for teacher rather than simply as a report that reveals: “X number of teachers have completed Y hours of inservice courses … ” The methods used in course should model the activity-based and learner-centred approach which is widely applied for primary education + in-service training needs to initially cover three key areas: pronunciation, methods and classroom instruction - Reinforce class observation, supervision and evaluation of PELT 5.2 To schools leaders - ensure that adequate in-school advisory support is available to teachers as they implement the curriculum -have school-based syllabus design to adjust syllabuses to local needs as long as the syllabus includes all objectives and content from the core curriculum issued by MOET - principals need to value teachers‟ own work openly - introduce and promote teaching young learners modules in pre- and in-service teacher training to help teachers deal with this particular age group - encourage school-based syllabus design to adjust syllabuses to local needs Every teacher can prepare his/her own syllabus as long as the syllabus includes all the objectives and content from the core curriculum issued by the Ministry of Education The syllabus should include: + an introduction including the presentation of the syllabus, its origin, information about its authors, characteristics of the students for whom it is suitable and minimum requirements related to school equipment indispensable for implementation; + a set of objectives and expected competencies; + teaching content; + procedures of achieving objectives-recommended methods and techniques; + suggestions for formative and summative evaluation of the educational attainment; + possibly, also examples of lessons and/or tests 36 PART 3: CONCLUSION Summary of the study Findings of this study show that teachers were not sufficiently prepared to teach English at the primary school, and that preparation fails to ground the introduction of English into the primary school curriculum It is evident that most of the teachers in this survey showed marked weaknesses in pedagogical skills, oral skills, vocabulary knowledge and pronunciation These weaknesses are attributed to the low-quality preservice training, teachers working in a „language deprived environment‟ where they themselves have little opportunity to use or practice their English at a higher level, and their isolation from the professional community If teachers are central to the success of any educational policy, it is unwise to mask the reality of current problems in teacher preparation Hence, it is critical that these teachers‟ weaknesses be addressed immediately by retraining intensively the English language teachers currently working in the primary schools across the country as the first step This retraining should be based on a localized methodology that cross-breeds elements drawn from ELT techniques of teaching English to young learners with local teaching and learning culture as well as other contextual factors such as time allocation, available resources, etc Priorities should be given to the improvement of teachers‟ pronunciation and fluency in classroom English Then, attempts should be made to establish communities of practice (Wenger, 1999) for clusters of schools in which „excellent practice‟ is developed by teachers themselves through constant collegial examination of pedagogy and teachers‟ self-engagement in the continuous upgrading of knowledge and skills Although the survey reported in this chapter was conducted just in one province of Vietnam, the information it provides can be useful to policy-makers and teacher educators throughout the country We believe that the situation elsewhere in Vietnam is similar politically, economically, socially and educationally Therefore what is found in this survey is true, at least to some extent to other provinces across the country However, in order to achieve generalizations, it is necessary to conduct the 37 survey on a larger scale in a variety of provinces located in different geographical areas Case studies using multiple methods of data collection would be useful in yielding more comprehensive information Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study Limitation of this study is inevitable Firstly, in terms of methodology, the study is limited in the fact that the data may not fully reflect all primary English teaching challenges in the area of professional support The questionnaires were delivered during the time the participants were taking the Oral and General test given by Apollo so they might not be in the best mood The participants sometimes seemed to contradict themselves in giving their responses in the questionnaires, the talk and interview Therefore, the perceptions may not always be accurate and reliable Secondly, within the scope of this thesis, there was no chance for the investigator to deal with other important factors that threaten the success of teaching English to primary children such as learners‟ characteristic, societal provision, financial support, textbook and curriculum development, etc This calls for further research 38 References - Abbas, T & Teddlie, C (2003) Handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research USA: Sage Publications - Cameron, L (2003) Challenges for ELT from the expansion in teaching children - Dang, Quang Sanh (2007) Using Language Games in Teaching Speaking and Listening to Primary School Children in Han Thuyen School Graduation Paper VNU - Hayes, D (2007) English Language Teaching and Systemic Change at the Primary Level: Issues in Innovation Primary Innovations Regional Seminar, British Council, Vietnam, pp 23-42 - Krashen, S D (1987) Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition New York: Prentice-Hall International - McLachlan, A (2009) Modern languages in the primary curriculum: Are we creating conditions for success? Language Learning Journal, 37(2), 183-203 - Moon, J (2005) Investigating the Teaching of English at Primary Level in Vietnam: A Summary Report Presentation at the Conference on English Language Teaching at Primary Level, Hanoi, June 2005, pp 47-55 - Nguyen, Ho Thuy Anh (2007) Pilot Intensive Programme in Ho Chi Minh City: A programme that Meets the Needs of Society Presentation at the Primary Innovations Regional Seminar, British Council, Vietnam, pp 113-116 - Nguyen, Minh Ha (2001) A Study on Teaching English on Computer to Primary School Children in Hanoi Graduation Paper VNU - Nguyen, Loc (2005) MOET Strategies for Teaching Foreign Languages at Primary Level Presentation at the Conference on English Language Teaching at Primary Level, Hanoi, June 2005, pp 3-13 39 - Nguyen, Loc (2007) Challenges for Primary Education in the Strategy for Teahing and Learning Foreign Languages in Vietnam Presentation at the Primary Innovation Regional Seminar, Hanoi, March 2007, pp.53-59 - Nikolov, M & Curtain, H (eds.) (2000) An Early Start: Young Learners and Modern Languages in Europe and Beyond, Council of Europe - Read, C (2003) Is younger better?' in English Teaching Professional, Issue 28, Modern English Publishing - Read, C (2005) Managing Children Positively' in English Teaching Professional, Issue 38, Modern English Publishing - Slattery, M & Jane, W (2001) English for Primary Teachers Oxford University Press - Ta Van Diep (2003) A Study on Using Video Clips as an Effective Means of Developing Communicative Competence for Primary School Children in Hanoi Graduation Paper VNU - Thuy Anh, N H (2007) Pilot intensive programme in Ho Chi Minh City: A programme that meets innovations regional seminar: A collection Vietnam: British Council Vietnam - Thu Trang, T T & Baldauf, Jr., R B (2007) Demotivation: Understanding resistance to English Journal of Asia TEFL, 4(1), 79- To, Thi Thu Huong in Johnstone, R (2010) (Eds) Learning Through English: Policies, Challenges and prospects Insight from East Asia Chapter British Council - Vu Thi Luong (2002) Games for Teaching English to Primary Children Graduation Paper VNU - Wenger, E (1999) Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity New York: Cambridge University Press Questionnaire Dear my colleagues, The following questionnaire is designed for my research into teaching English to primary children and I want to know your opinions of various issues related to teaching English at the primary school Your answers to these questions will be of great suggestions for the enhancement of primary English education Please response to each question below as frankly as you can since all your ideas are completely confidential Thank you very much for your cooperation! A For questions to 16, please tick the box or give the answer that is true to your situation Your gender: Where is your school located? How long have you been teaching English at the primary school? 1-2 Did you receive any training in teaching English to primary school children? Yes If you choose “yes” to Question 4, say how long the training was and how useful did you find that training to your teaching …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… On average, how many students are there in your class? 10-20 What teaching facilities you use at school? (you can tick more than one box) reference books tapes/CD/VCD/DVD flash cards Others (please specify): How many English teachers are there in your school? What type of professional support you have in your school for teaching English to the primary school children? …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10.What outcome you expect by the end of primary level? …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… … ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 11 How successful you think teaching English at the primary school level is so far? Any evidence for success? …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 12 What problems or challenges you have in teaching English at your primary school? …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 13 What problems you think the teaching of English at the primary school creates to the children? …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14 To teach English successfully at the primary school, what competences and skills you think a teacher should have? …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… B For questions to 10, please tick the column to indicate your best choice Note: 1= Strongly disagree 2= Disagree 3= Neutral 4= Agree Questions It is good to introduce English at primary school Primary school children are interested in learning English Primary school children in my school learn English successfully I am satisfied with the learning outcome of the children in my school I am confident in my ability to teach English to the primary school children I have received enough training to teach English to the primary school children All the children in my classes are good at English Very few children in my classes are good enough at English The textbook for teaching English at the primary school is suitable 10 I understand well the goals of teaching English at the primary school C Please tick the column to indicate your best choice Note: 1= Not appropriate 2= 10-30% students should achieve this goal 3=50% students should achieve this goal 5= Every student should achieve this goal Goals of English language education at primary school is to greet and say most frequently-used expressions in English to listen to greetings and most frequently-used expressions in English to be able to carry on simple conversations in English to listen and comprehend simple stories in English to read some most frequently-used English words and phrases to spell some most frequently-used English word and phrases to sound out most frequently-used English words accurately to read some short stories in English to write some short stories in English 10 to know more about English-speaking cultures and people 11 to acquire native-like pronunciation in English 12 to know more about and love Vietnamese language and culture more 13 to form better learning methods for children 14 to develop children’s personality and general knowledge Others (please specify) THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION Thank you for evaluating AnyBizSoft PDF Merger! To remove this page, please register your program! Go to Purchase Now>> AnyBizSoft PDF Merger  Merge multiple PDF files into one   Select page range of PDF to merge Select specific page(s) to merge Extract page(s) from different PDF files and merge into one  ... challenges of teaching English to primary children What are teachers? ?? attitudes and perception about teaching English to primary children? What classroom teachers perceive of the challenges of. .. nature of teaching English to primary school children, problems of teaching English to primary children in a variety of contexts are discussed, and a brief introduction of primary English teaching. .. find out the teachers? ?? attitudes toward teaching English at primary level - to investigate the challenges in term of professional support to primary teachers - to suggest solutions to reduce the