Teacher student interaction and students speaking a study on listening – speaking classes with first year students at FELTE – ULIS VNU

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ĐỖ THỊ THANH DUNG TEACHER-STUDENT INTERACTION AND STUDENTS’ SPEAKING: A STUDY ON LISTENING – SPEAKING CLASSES WITH FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT FELTE – ULIS - VNU Tương tác giáo viên – sinh viên kỹ nói sinh viên năm thứ buổi học Nghe – Nói Khoa sư phạm Tiếng Anh – Đại học Ngoại ngữ - ĐHQGHN M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI, 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ĐỖ THỊ THANH DUNG TEACHER-STUDENT INTERACTION AND STUDENTS’ SPEAKING: A STUDY ON LISTENING – SPEAKING CLASSES WITH FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT FELTE – ULIS - VNU Tương tác giáo viên – sinh viên kỹ nói sinh viên năm thứ buổi học Nghe – Nói Khoa sư phạm Tiếng Anh – Đại học Ngoại ngữ - ĐHQGHN M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Le Van Canh HANOI, 2016 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “Teacher-student interaction and students’ speaking: A study on listening – speaking classes with first year students at FELTE – ULIS - VNU” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Languages and International Studies, Viet Nam National University This thesis has not been previously submitted for any other degrees The work was done under the guidance of Associate Professor Le Van Canh, at the University of Languages and International Studies Hanoi, June 2016 Đỗ Thị Thanh Dung i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express the deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Associate Professor Doctor Le Van Canh for his encouragement, supervision and support all along the course of research This paper would not have been accomplished without his expert, constant and valuable guidance and criticism My special thanks also go to my colleagues and students at Division 1, Faculty of English Language and Teaching Education, ULIS – VNU for their enthusiastic participation during the process of data collection Finally, I would also like to express my sincere thank and love to my family who gave me time and encouragement to overcome all obstacles during the completion of this study ii ABSTRACT Due to its significant influence on learners' linguistic skills, classroom interaction has been widely discussed by researchers of the field This present research aims to present an analysis of teacher-learner in-class interaction at speaking-listening classes in the context of Vietnam Interaction patterns, teachers‟ question and feedback and learners‟ talk are put into investigation The participants include 75 first year students and three teachers at Faculty of English Language Teaching Education, University of Languages and International Studies Data is collected by classroom observation with audio-taping and field notes After transcripts are produced, interviews with three teachers and six students are implemented to obtain more information Interaction patterns are categorized, different aspects of teacher talk and learner talk are analyzed according to recognized frameworks The result demonstrates that the structure of classroom interactional mechanism is characterized by Initiation-Response-Follow up pattern, in which most of the first and the third moves are taken by teachers Teachers‟ questioning creates many opportunities for learners to produce output, whereas their feedback sometimes interrupts learners‟ flow of talk Although students not take initiatives to make questions, they fully participate in discussions Pedagogical recommendations and propositions for future fields of research are offered at the end of the study iii LIST OF ABRREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching DQ: Display questions RQ: Referential questions FELTE: Faculty of English Language Teaching and Education FL: Foreign language L2: Second Language ULIS: University of Languages and International Studies TL: Target Language VNU: Vietnam National University iv LIST OF FIGURES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii PART A: INTRODUCTION PART B: DEVELOPMENT Figure Time spent on major episodes in a roughly 60-minute lesson .34 Figure Patterns used in Teacher-Student Interaction 37 Figure Number of turns students speak in exchanges with Teacher 38 Figure Initiating Questions 39 Figure Teacher's Feedback 43 Figure Teacher's Follow-up .45 Figure Lexical density and Mean of Responses to Display questions and Referential questions .56 v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABRREVIATIONS iv LIST OF FIGURES v TABLE OF CONTENTS .vi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Introduction Problem Statement and Rationale Objectives and Significance PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Classroom Interaction: A definition 1.2 The role of interaction in second language learning 1.3 Theoretical perspectives on classroom interaction 1.3.1 The cognitive interactionist tradition 1.3.2 The sociocultural theory tradition 10 1.4 Approaches to studying classroom interaction .11 1.4.1 Discourse analysis approaches 11 1.4.2 Conversation analysis approaches 13 vi 1.5 Types of classroom interaction 15 1.5.1 Teacher - student interaction 15 1.5.2 Student - student interaction 16 1.6 Teacher Talk 17 1.6.1 Teacher Questioning 17 1.5.2 Teacher‟s Feedback 19 1.6 Interaction patterns 20 1.7 Learner talk .23 1.8 Turn taking 24 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY 27 2.1 Context and Participants 27 2.2 Methodology 29 2.3 Data Collection Instruments 29 2.4 Data Collection Procedure 30 2.5 Data analysis instruments .31 CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS 34 3.1 Episodes 34 3.2 Interactional Patterns 36 3.3 Teacher‟s Initiating Questions 39 3.4 Teachers' Feedback 43 3.5 Learner Talk 55 CHAPTER FOUR: DISCUSSION .65 vii 4.1 Interactional patterns 65 4.2 Teachers‟ Initiating Questions 66 4.3 Teachers‟ Feedback 67 4.4 Learner Talk 69 PART C: CONCLUSION 72 REFERENCES 77 APPENDIXES I viii Swain, M (1995) Three functions of output in second language learning In Cook, G and Seidelhofer, B (Eds.) Principle and Practice in Applied Linguistics: Studies in Honor of H.G Widdowson, pp 125-144 Oxford: Oxford University Press Swain, M (2000) The output hypothesis and beyond: Mediating acquisition through collaborative dialogue In J Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp 97-114) New York: Oxford University Press Swain, M (2005) The output hypothesis: Theory and research In E Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook on research in second language teaching and learning (pp 471484) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Thoms, J (2006) Analyzing instructional discourse in a Spanish literature classroom: The effects of teacher questions Paper presented at the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese Annual Conference Salamanca, Spain Thoms, J (2006) The co-construction of participant expectations in second language classroom oral discourse Paper presented at the Second Language Research Forum Seattle, Washington Thoms, J (2008) Teacher-initiated talk and student oral discourse in a second language literature classroom: A sociocultural Analysis Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Iowa, Iowa City Thu, N.A (2008) Teacher questioning strategies and classroom interaction in Ly Thai To School M.A Thesis University of Languages and International Studies Vietnam National University, Hanoi Tsui, A (1995) Classroom Interaction London: Penguin English Tsui, A (1996) Reticence and Anxiety in Second Language Learning In Voices from the Language Classroom: Qualitative Research in Second Language (PP.145- 165) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Ur, P (1996) A course in English Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 82 van Lier, L (1988) The Classroom and the Language Learner, London: Longman van Lier, L (1996) Interaction in the language curriculum: Awareness, autonomy and authenticity Harlow, England: Addison Wesley Longman Limited Van Lier, L (1998) The Classroom and the Language Learner London: Longman Vygotsky, L (1978) Mind and Society: The Development of Higher Mental Processes Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Walsh, S (2002) Construction or Obstruction: Teacher Talk and Learner Involvement in the EFL classroom Language Teaching Research, 6/1, 3-23 Walsh, S (2002) Construction or obstruction: teacher talk and learner involvement in the EFL classroom Language Teaching Research, 6: 3–23 Walsh, S (2003) Developing interactional awareness in the second language classroom Language Awareness, 12: 124–142 Walsh, S (2006) Investigating Classroom Discourse New York: Routledge Walsh, S (2011) Exploring Classroom Discourse Language in Action Oxon: Routledge Wells, G (1993) Reevaluating the IRF sequence: A proposal for the articulation of theories of activity and discourse for analysis of teaching and learning in the classroom Linguistics and Education, 5: 1-37 83 APPENDIXES APPENDIX A Adopted teacher‟s questions and feedback categorization of Nassaji and Wells‟ Analytical Framework (2000) Teacher’s Initiating Question Types Initiating question types Answer-checking questions Display Questions Referential Questions Teacher's Feedback Evaluation Acknowledgement Rejections I Follow-up Confirmation Reformation Solicitation Extension II Linguistic features of students‟ utterances by Patthey-Chavez (2002) Filler words (Fiw) Function (Fw) Subordination (Sb) Content (Cw) Lexical (LD) III Interviewing questions for teachers PERSONAL INFORMATION Context Teacher‟s questions Answer-checking questions Display Questions Referential Questions Teacher's feedback Evaluation Reformation Solicitation IV Extension Learner Talk Suggestions improvement V Interviewing questions for students PERSONAL INFORMATION Context Teacher‟s questions Answer-checking questions Display Questions Referential Questions Teacher's feedback Evaluation Reformation Solicitation VI S: Table manner T: Table manner Table manner yes, maybe What is meant by table manners? S: Eh, in Vn, we have the Eastern manner when we're eating together Extension Learner Talk Suggestions improvement VII interaction? Is there anything else you want to share about teacher-student interaction? VIII APPENDIX E Transcription system (Adapted from van Lier 1988; Johnson 1995) T teacher L learner LL several learners at once or the whole class (…) unintelligible speech (3) Silence, length given in seconds T organises groups (in bold type) editor‟s comments IX ... interaction and students? ?? speaking: A study on listening – speaking classes with first year students at FELTE – ULIS - VNU? ?? is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at. ..VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ĐỖ THỊ THANH DUNG TEACHER- STUDENT INTERACTION AND STUDENTS? ?? SPEAKING: A STUDY ON LISTENING. .. research aims to present an analysis of teacher- learner in-class interaction at speaking- listening classes in the context of Vietnam Interaction patterns, teachers‟ question and feedback and learners‟