Using short stories in teaching english in the context of vietnam australia school hanoi

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES-VNU, HANOI POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT PHAM THU HA USING SHORT STORIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN THE CONTEXT OF VIETNAM AUSTRALIA SCHOOL – HANOI (VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRUYỆN NGẮN TRONG GIẢNG DẠY TIẾNG ANH TẠI NGỮ CẢNH TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC VIỆT ÚC – HÀ NỘI) M.A Minor thesis Field: Methodology Code: 601410 HANOI-2009 UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES-VNU, HANOI POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT PHAM THU HA USING SHORT STORIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN THE CONTEXT OF VIETNAM AUSTALIA SCHOOL- HANOI (VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRUYỆN NGẮN TRONG GIẢNG DẠY TIẾNG ANH TẠI NGỮ CẢNH TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC VIỆT ÚC – HÀ NỘI) SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS SUPERVISOR: PHÙNG HÀ THANH, M.Ed HANOI-2009 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES, AND ABBREVIATIONS vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Research methods 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Structure of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Literature and language teaching 2.1.1 Concept of literature 2.1.2 Features of literature 2.1.3 Using literature in language classroom 2.2 Short stories in language classroom 2.2.1 Definition of a short story 2.2.2 Benefits of using short stories in language classroom 10 2.2.2.1 Reinforcing the skills 10 2.2.2.2 Motivating students 11 2.2.2.3 Introducing literary elements 11 2.2.2.4 Teaching culture 12 v 2.2.2.5 Teaching higher-order thinking 13 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 16 3.1 Sampling 16 3.2 Data collection instruments 16 3.2.1 Questionnaires 18 3.2.2 Interviews 17 3.3 Procedure of data collection 18 3.4 Procedure of data analysis 20 CHAPTER RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 21 4.1 Reseach question 1: How teachers percieve the use of short stories in teaching English in terms of necessity? 21 4.2 Research question 2: How students percieve short stories as a source of language input in terms of interest and importance? 22 Research question 3: How teachers exploit short stories in teaching English in terms of purpose, strategy and frequency? 23 4.3.1 The frequency of using short stories in teaching English 23 4.3.2 The purposes of using short stories in teaching English 24 4.3.3 The strategies to exploit short stories in teaching English 25 4.4 Research question 4: To what extent teachers feel satisfied with their use of short stories in teaching English? 27 4.5 Research question 5: What are the obstacles that have limited teachers’ use of short stories in teaching English? 28 4.6 Research question 6: What are the obstacles that challenge students in learning English with short stories? 29 vi 4.7 Research quesetion 7: What are the recomendations and expectations for using short stories in teaching English given by students and teachers? 31 4.7.1 Teachers’ recommendations 31 4.7.2 Students’ expectations 31 4.7.2.1 Students’ expectations in terms of length, level of difficulty and theme of a short story 31 4.7.2.2 Students’ expectations for the activities in class 32 4.8 Summary of the findings from the interview 34 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 37 5.1 Major findings of the study 37 5.2 Recommendations 38 5.2.1 Selecting and evaluating short stories 39 5.2.2 Suggested techniques for integrating short stories in English teaching 40 5.2.2.1 Problems solving 40 5.2.2.2 Activities for using a short story in class 41 5.3 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study 41 REFERENCES 44 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1: SOME SHORT STORIES USED IN THE STUDY I APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS III APPENDIX 3: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS VII APPENDIX 4: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (Vietnamese version) X APPENDIX 5: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE XIII vii LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES, AND ABBREVIATIONS TABLES Table 1: Students’ practice with short stories 23 Table 2: Teachers’ purposes of using short stories in teaching English 24 Table 3: Teaching strategies 25 Table 4: Teachers’ satisfaction with the use of short stories in teaching English 27 Table 5: The obstacles in using short stories in teaching English 28 Table 6: Obstacles challenging the students in learning with short stories 30 Table 7: Teachers’ recomendations 31 Table 8: Students’ expectations in terms of length, level of difficulty and theme of a short story 31 Table 4.9: Students’ expectations for the activities in class 33 Table 4.10: Profile of the interviewees 34 FIGURES Figure 1: The presense of short stories in the teaching practice of the teachers 20 Figure 2: Students’ perception of short stories in terms of interest 21 Figure 2.3: The frequency of using short stories in teaching English 23 ABBREVIATIONS VAS: Vietnam Australia School- Hanoi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the background information, and states the problems and reasons for the study It also outlines the overall purpose and objectives of the study, describes the significance of the study, poses the research questions to be answered and provides an overview of the research design 1.1 Rationale of the study Today, English is the global means of communication It is now an official language in more than 75 countries, with a total population of over billion speakers Three quarters of the world‟s mail are in English and 80% of the world‟s electrically stored information is also currently in English (Crystal, 1997) English is the working language of the Asian trade group ASEAN and the official language of the European Central Bank (Wallraff, 2000) Briefly, with the spread of globalization and the rapid expansion of information technologies has come an explosion in the demand for English worldwide Unexceptionally, in Vietnam, English is considered the key to success in modern life The number of English learners has been increasing rapidly in the last few decades To meet the demand, a great deal of schools and centers with special English teaching and learning programs have been set up everywhere, especially in big cities Vietnam Australia SchoolHanoi (VAS), a private high school which is located in My Dinh, Hanoi, is one example Established in 2007, VAS is to offer an ideal environment for learning English It cooperates with PLC, a famous school in Australia in curriculum and education programs Students in VAS have to follow the English syllabus of Vietnam carried out by Vietnamese teachers Besides they have global English and global commerce classes with Australian teachers, hence, there are many chances for them to practice and improve English in real life conversations with native speaking people All of the parents hope that their children can have the best learning conditions, especially the best English learning environment so that their children will be able to go on studying overseas or to have the best preparation for their future However, one of the challenges facing English teachers of VAS, including the author of this study, is composing extra materials In VAS, students have five to six periods a week with Vietnamese teachers, which is twice as much as other ordinary schools Therefore, besides the textbooks, extra materials are needed Normally, many teachers select or compose more written practice tests to drill what students have learned in the textbook However, this type of materials does seem to have attracted much interest Sometimes, extra written practice tests are blamed for a boring atmosphere in many classes Thus, there should be variations so that students feel more interested in learning In VAS, a number of sources of teaching materials such as poems, short stories, drama, films, English songs, etc have been exploited now and then Among these, using short stories as teaching supplementary materials has been taken into consideration for some following reasons Firstly, short stories can be seen as an interesting and suitable source of teaching materials As reading texts, short stories can serve the language skill drilling function quite well More importantly, short stories in particular and literary texts in general are favorable for students‟ language and cultural development and personal involvement Since literature enables students to understand and appreciate other cultures and societies, it encourages personal growth and intellectual development According to Ibsen‟s view (1990), literary texts appeal to students in term of emotion and personal experience because each student will meet the text in his/her own way based on experiences and knowledge of literature and life This creates meaningful and interesting discussions among students and draws on personal responses form learners In other words, learners become more personally involved in the process of language learning and can begin to own the language they learn more fully It also retains a good learning climate in a relaxing atmosphere Moreover, in comparison with other sources of teaching materials such as written practice exercises, poems, films, English songs, short stories are believed to have several advantages Written practice exercises as mentioned above not always interest students Poems seem rather complex and abstract for schoolchildren Not every available English song and film which suits the taste of students can serve the language skill drilling function properly Whereas, there is a variety of short stories to choose, ranging from elementary to proficiency levels Relatively short, fun, memorable and meaningful short stories are not too difficult in terms of vocabulary, grammatical structures and syntax Furthermore, they can bring about room for endless debate where students can live in the real human experience world Above language, they can learn many useful lessons about real life to develop their personalities In Vietnam- Australia school, Hanoi, short stories are mostly used as supplementary material for teaching by Australian teachers and sometimes applied by Vietnamese teachers However, there has been no official research on using them in teaching English This study has been conducted with the purpose to investigate how other teachers and students think about the use of short stories in teaching English and to what extents they have employed them in their teaching All these above explain why the author tries to the research It is hoped to result in useful ideas of using short stories in language classroom, especially in the context of Vietnam Australia School, Hanoi 1.2 Aims of the study Parallel with the reasons leading to the research are some following aims: - To investigate the perception of students towards the use of short stories - To study on the current use of short stories by teachers in Vietnam Australia School, Hanoi - To discuss some suggestions of using short stories in classroom such as selecting materials and using these materials in a way that is relevant to the students This study seeks the answers to the following questions How teachers percieve the use of short stories in teaching English in terms of necessity? How students percieve short stories as a source of language input in terms of interest and importance? How teachers exploit short stories in teaching English in terms of purpose, strategy and frequency? To what extent teachers feel satisfied with their use of short stories in teaching English? THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION! VII APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS A Study On Using Short Stories In Teaching English In The Context Of Vietnam-Australia School, Hanoi This survey questionnaire is designed to investigate your perceptions and opinion of the use of short stories as supplementary learning material class in Vietnam-Australia School, Hanoi Your personal information will be kept strictly confidential Your truthful answers will guarantee the success of the investigation The data will be used for the purpose of research, not for any other purposes Thank you very much for your help! Background information You are in group: You have been learning English for years You assess your mastery in English as: □ Poor □ Fair □ Good □ Excellent For each of the items below, please tick or circle the number that reflects your viewpoint If you have any further explanation, please write at the end of the form Part 1: Concerning the students’ perceptions of their teacher’s use of short stories in teaching English How are you interested in your teacher’ use of short stories in English classes? Not interested at all How often can you these things with short stories? Never Only occasionally Usually Always Sometimes (50% of the time) VIII a I can practice listening and speaking skills more b I can practice reading and writing skills more c I can learn more new words and expressions in context d I can enrich my background knowledge about people, culture, countries and the world e I have more chances to discuss with my friends and express my ideas f I feel relax and interested in short stories g I find myself more imaginative and creative h My critical thinking gets better Part 2: Concerning the obstacles in learning English with short stories What are your obstacles in learning English with short stories? a My class is so big and noisy that I cannot concentrate on the lesson b.There isn’t enough time for me to understand the stories thoroughly c.Short stories are too challenging with many unknown words, phrases and expressions in literary styles d I don’t understand what to with the given tasks e Some tasks such as re-telling, summarizing, rewriting the story…are too difficult for me f Some others………………………………………………………………………………………… Part 3: Concerning students’ expectations What types of short stories you expect to learn in English classes? Not like me at all a b c d I like authentic short stories I like simplified short stories I like easier and shorter stories, just within one page I like longer and more challenging stories e I like short stories with familiar topics like family life, friendship, love, etc f I like short stories about social issues or detective stories 1 1 1 IX What activities you like to in the English classes with short stories? Never a b Underline or write down all the new words and get to know their meanings Listen/read and translate the stories into Vietnamese c Do the skill-drilling tasks d Just listen to the teacher’s explanation and take note e role- play the story f summarize the story g discuss and give comments on the story or the characters of the story re-tell the story h i basing on the old one, invent a new story with a new ending THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION! X APPENDIX NGHI ÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRUYỆN NGẮN TRONG DẠY TIẾNG ANH TRONG NGỮ CẢNH TRƯỜNG PHỔ THÔNG VIỆT ÚC HÀ NỘI Bảng câu hỏi đựoc thiết kế để tìm hiểu nhận thức quan điểm bạn việc sử dụng truyện ngắn nguồn tài liệu tham khảo trường phổ thông Việt Úc Hà Nội Mong em trả lời với em suy nghĩ làm Những câu trả lời em phiếu nguồn tư liệu cho khố luận Những liệu khơng sử dụng vào mục đích khác ngồi mục đích nghiên cứu Rất cám ơn giúp đỡ em!! Thông tin cá nhân: Bạn học lớp: Bạn học tiếng Anh …………… năm Đánh giá bạn khả tiếng Anh bạn: □ Kém □ Trung bình □ Giỏi □ Xuất sắc Với ý đây, đánh dấu hoặ khoanh tròn vào số phản ánh quan điểm bạn Nếu bạn có giải thích thêm , ghi vào phần cuối bảng hỏi Phần 1: Sự nhận thức học sinh việc sử dụng truyện ngắn giáo viên dạy tiếng Anh Bạn cảm thấy hứng thú với việc sử dụng truyện ngắn học tiếng Anh? Không hứng thú chút Bạn làm việc thường xuyên học tiếng Anh qua truyện ngắn? a Tơi luyện tập kỹ nghe nói tốt b Tơi luyện tập kỹ đọc viết tốt ThườngLuôn thườngluôn 1 XI c Tôi học nhiều từ mẫu câu văn cảnh d Tơi làm giàu thêm vốn hiểu biêt người, văn hố, đất nước giới e Tơi có thêm nhiều hội để thảo luận với bạn bè bộc lộ suy nghĩ f g Tơi cảm thấy thư giãn hứng thú h Tơi thấy giàu trí tưởng tượng sáng tạo i Óc phê phán tốt Phần 2: Những khó khăn tơi việc học tiếng Anh với truyện ngắn Những khó khăn việc học tếng Anh qua truyện ngắn gì? g a Lớp học lớn ồn nên khơng thể tập trung vào học b.Khơng có đủ thời gian để tơi hiểu đầy đủ câu truyện ngắn c Các câu truyện ngắn khó với nhiều từ cụm từ cách diễn đạt mang tính văn học d Tơi khơng hiểu phải làm với nhiệm vụ giao e Một số nhiệm vụ kể lại, tóm tắt lại, viết lại câu chuyện….quá khó tơi f Một số khó khăn khác…………………………………………………………………………… Phần 3: Nguyện vọng học sinh Bạn mong muốn học câu chuỵện ngắn học tiếng Anh? g a b c d e Tôi thích truyện ngắn ngun Tơi thích truyện ngắn rút gọn đơn giản hóa Tơi thích truyện ngắn dễ ngắn hơn, trang Tơi thích truyện ngắn dài khó Tơi thích câu truyện ngắn với chủ đề quen thuộc gia đình, tình bạn, tình yêu… f Tơi thích truyện ngắn vấn đề xã hội truyện trinh thám XII Bạn muốn tham gia vào hoạt động sau thường xuyện nào? a Gạch chân ghi lại tất từ tìm hiểu nghĩa b c Chỉ nghe đọc dịch truyện ngắn dịch sang tiếng Việt Làm tập rèn luyện kỹ d Chỉ nghe giáo viên giải thích ghi chép lại e Đóng vai nhân vật câu truyện f Tóm tắt câu chuyện g Thảo luận bình luận câu chuyện nhân vật câu chuyện Kể lại câu chuyện h i Dựa câu chuyện cũ, sáng tạo câu chuyện với kết thúc Focus Respondent’s profile Exploitation of short stories in teaching English Satisfaction the story class Ostacles short teaching English Recommendations use of in in XIV ... picture of the use of short stories in teaching English in VAS, including the teachers and students‟ perceptions of the benefits of using short stories in teaching English, their exploitation of short. .. exploit short stories in teaching English The exploitation of short stories in teaching English was examined basing on the techniques applied in pre -teaching, while -teaching and post -teaching Table... consideration The teacher‟s perceptions of using short stories in teaching English in terms of necessity was studied Almost everyone can realize the necessity of using short stories in 22 teaching English,