An action research project on enhancing student’s awareness of british culture in speaking lessons at a secondary school in quang binh

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** HOÀNG THỊ THU GIANG AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON ENHANCING STUDENT’S AWARENESS OF BRITISH CULTURE IN SPEAKING LESSONS AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN QUANG BINH (Nghiên cứu hành động việc nâng cao nhận thức học sinh Văn hóa Anh quốc dạy nói trường trung học sở Quảng Bình) M.A THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Hanoi – 2020 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** HOÀNG THỊ THU GIANG AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON ENHANCING STUDENT’S AWARENESS OF BRITISH CULTURE IN SPEAKING LESSONS AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN QUANG BINH (Nghiên cứu hành động việc nâng cao nhận thức học sinh Văn hóa Anh quốc dạy nói trường trung học sở Quảng Bình) M.A THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Supervisor : Huynh Anh Tuan, Ph.D Hanoi – 2020 DECLARATION I, Hoang Thi Thu Giang, certify my authorship of the MA thesis entitled “An action research project on enhancing students’ awareness of British Culture in speaking lessons at a secondary school in Quang Binh” The substance of the MA thesis has not, wholly or in part, has been submitted for a degree in any other university or institution Hanoi, July 2020 Hoang Thi Thu Giang i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On the completion of this MA thesis, I would like, first of all, to express my deepest gratitude and indebtedness to my supervisor- Dr Huynh Anh Tuan who has always been most willing and ready to give me valuable advice, inspiration and supervision I also wish to express my sincere thanks to the teachers of English and students in the secondary school in Quang Binh for their great assistance and support during the process of conducting this MA thesis, without which my thesis cannot have been accomplished It is a big mistake if I would not acknowledge here my special thanks to the authors of methodology and cultural works whose ideas have inspired and stimulated my thinking and my writing of this thesis Ultimately, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to my family, my friends for their encouragement and inspiration This MA thesis has been completed to my best knowledge, however, mistake and short-comings are unavoidable Hence, I look forward to receiving comments and suggestions from teachers, students and any readers, for the perfection of the thesis Hanoi, July 2020 Hoang Thi Thu Giang ii ABSTRACT Regarding the importance of intercultural competence in second language acquisition, progressive scholars today believe that culture and language are inseparable and culture elements must be an integral part of language learning The study aims to investigate the extent to which the applied techniques of teaching culture enhance the students’ awareness about British Culture It also explores the students’ attitude towards the applied techniques The eight stated cultural elements in the intensive course, the typical technique of teaching culture, namely cultural practices together with supportive activities like presentation, group works and role play have been proved effectively after the project The most noticeable merit for students is that they could have more opportunities to enhance their awareness of British Culture in speaking lessons via many cultural experiences They showed their positive attitude towards the course The research concludes that enhancing students’ awareness of culture of the target language is new to the teaching context in Quang Binh It should be widely introduced to secondary schools there for such kind of methods directly and highly benefit the teaching and learning English iii LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS Figure 2.1 The cultural iceberg Figure 3.1: Types of action research 20 Chart 4.1: Percentage of correct answers in Pre Intervention test 28 Chart 4.2: The data of questions in the pre-intervention test 29 Chart 4.3: The data of questions in the pre- intervention test .30 Chart 4.4: The data of questions in the pre- intervention test .31 Chart 4.5: The summary of opened questions number in the pre-intervention test .33 Chart 4.6: Percentage of correct answers for three closed questions in the posttest 36 Chart 4.7: The summary data of the opened questions in the posttest 36 Chart 4.8: The data of correct answers in closed questions of the pretest and posttest 37 Chart 4.9: The percentage of correct answers to questions number & in the posttest 38 Chart 4.10: The data of opened questions number of the pretest and posttest 39 Chart 4.11: The data of the presentation part 40 Chart 4.12: The data of the practice part 41 Chart 4.13: The data of the production part 41 Chart 4.14: The summary data of the event observation 42 Chart 4.15: The summary data in the questionnaire .43 Chart 4.16: Further information from students in the questionnaire .45 LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Methods to enhance the students’ awareness of British Culture 34 iv ABBREVIATIONS (in Tables and Charts) - DoE - The Duke of Edinburgh Award - BSC - The Bog Snorkelling Championship - FH The Fox- hunting - HF - Halloween festival - Chs - Christmas - LoRH - The Legend of Robin Hood - W.Sh - William Shakespeare - ThB - The Beatles - CQ - Closed question - OQ - Opened question - RH - Raising hand - BA - Being attentive - FT - Finishing the task in time - CA - Correct answer - PGA - Participating in group activities - V - Volunteering to make presentation WC/D - Wearing custumes/ disguising BAtV - Being attentive to the video JG/D - Joining the games/ dance v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS .iv LIST OF TABLES iv ABBREVIATIONS v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi CHAPTER: I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims and Objectives 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Methods of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Structure of the thesis CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Culture and language teaching 2.1.1 Culture and its components 2.1.2 The relation of culture with cross-cultural, inter-cultural communication 2.1.3 Importance of culture in language teaching 2.2 An overview of Teaching Speaking and Teaching Culture .10 2.2.1 Goals of teaching culture in language classes 10 2.2.2 Classroom speaking activities 11 2.2.4 Applying cultural teaching techniques in speaking lessons 14 2.2.5 Some productive guidelines for teaching culture 15 2.3 Review of previous studies related to the research area of the thesis 16 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY .18 3.1 Research approach: Action research 18 vi 3.1.1 Why Action research? 18 3.2 An action research project 21 3.3 Research context 24 3.4 Data collection instruments 24 3.4.1 Tests 24 3.4.2 Observation .25 3.4.3 Questionnaire 25 3.5 Data collection procedure 25 3.6 Data analysis procedure 26 3.6.1 Quantitative analysis 26 3.6.2 Qualitative analysis 27 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .28 4.1 The extent to which the applied techniques of teaching culture enhance the students’ awareness of British culture .28 4.1.1 General pretest findings 28 4.1.2 Applied teaching techniques and practicing activities 33 4.1.3 Initial information of posttest 35 4.2 The students’ attitudes towards the applied techniques 39 4.2.1 Observation interpretation .40 4.2.2 Questionnaire interpretation 43 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 46 5.1 Recapitulation 46 5.2 Concluding remarks 46 5.3 Limitation 48 5.4 Suggestions for further studies 48 5.4 Reflection .49 REFERENCES 51 APPENDICES .I vii CHAPTER: I INTRODUCTION Knowledge of the world’s languages and cultures is more vital than ever In order to compete in the global community, we must be able to communicate effectively and to appreciate, to understand and to work effectively in the framework of other cultures It seems obvious enough that to penetrate another language, one must understand what its people are saying and make oneself understood 1.1 Rationale One naive assumption occasionally made by teachers is that a mastery of the linguistics patterns of a foreign culture leads itself to “thinking like a native” As Lewald (1968) properly points out, this belief is unwarranted Unless the student is learning the language in the target culture, the cultural referents necessary to understanding a native speaker must be learned in addition (cited in Seelye, 1974) Learning a language in isolation of its cultural roots prevents one from becoming socialized into its contextual use Knowledge of linguistics structure alone does not carry with it any special insight into the political, social, religious, or economic system Today, for educators and teachers of English, the culture of target language has been put much consideration in second language teaching The expected outcomes, however, seem to be far from satisfactory Although aware of the role of culture as the key to a success in second language acquisition, there are times when it is difficult for a guest in a new culture to adapt the cultural norm of the host country As a result, sometimes, the terms culture shock or conflicting value systems have been much mentioned for appropriate explanation of the failure in communication and social interaction The way success works is not really easy to discover Obviously, the culture elements have not been thoroughly exploited in language lessons To be purposeful, teaching activities should integrate cultural elements in a reasonable way In other c because Jack found the earth more interesting than the heaven or the hell d because Jack wanted to play with the soul of spirit Would you share any information you would like to know more about Halloween festival? ….…………………………………………………………………………………… ….…………………………………………………………………………………… ….…………………………………………………………………………………… V Christmas What is the best description of Christmas? a Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world b Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ c Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration Popular customs of Christmas are giving gift, Christmas decorations such as Christmas trees, Christmas lights, nativity scenes d Christmas" is a shortened form of "Christ's mass” It is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 What were some activities that you had experienced during Christmas 2019 at your school? a Christmas decorations, receiving gifts from Santa Clause, Christmas song performance b Pulling Christmas crackers, going to the church, receiving gifts from Santa Clause c Going to the church, receiving gifts from Santa Clause, lighting the Chris tingle d Lighting the Chris tingle, receiving gifts from Santa Clause, Christmas song performance XIII The traditional colors of Christmas decorations are red and green What these colors symbolize? a Red symbolizes the blood of Jesus, which was shed in his crucifixion Green symbolizes eternal life b Red symbolizes the blood of Jesus Green symbolizes happy life c Red symbolizes the blood of Jesus Green symbolizes royalty d Red symbolizes power Green symbolizes happy life Would you share any information you would like to know more about Christmas? ….…………………………………………………………………………………… ….…………………………………………………………………………………… ….…………………………………………………………………………………… VI The legend of Robin Hood What is the best description of The Legend of Robin Hood? a Robin Hood is one of the most popular and interesting figures in English folklore The story in which he probably lived is in the thirteen century In the legend, Robin Hood was angry at the injustice and decided to fight against it b In the thirteen century, Robin Hood was a brave young man in Nottingham He fought against injustice with his band of outlaws c In the fourteen century, Robin Hood was a brave young man in Nottingham He fought against injustice with his band of outlaws They lived in Sherwood forest d Robin Hood is one of the most popular and interesting figures in English folklore The story in which he probably lived is in the thirteen century He fought against injustice with his band of outlaws They lived in Sherwood forest, an enormous wood near Nottingham What were the main weapons of Robin Hood? a Sword and shield b Bow and arrow c Gun and knife XIV d Sword and gun What does the fighting against the injustice of Robin Hood and his band of outlaws imply? a Injustice may cause conflict b Heroic spirit is everlastingly praised c Main characters are full of heroic symbolism d All things aforementioned Would you share any information you would like to know more about the legend of Robin Hood? ….…………………………………………………………………………………… ….…………………………………………………………………………………… ….…………………………………………………………………………………… VII William Shakespeare What is the best description of the author William Shakespeare? a Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, England At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith He was famous for many works which brought him a lot of money He died in Stratford on his birthday, on 23 April 1616 at the age of 52 b Shakespeare was born on 23 April 1616 in London When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway They had three children He was famous for many works He died in Stratford at the age of 52 c Shakespeare was born on 23 April 1616 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith He was famous for many works which brought him a lot of money He died in Stratford on his birthday, on 23 April 1616 at the age of 52 d Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon of London He married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith He died in Stratford on his birthday, on 23 April 1616 at XV the age of 53 What were the folio classification of Shakespeare's works printed in the First Folio of 1623? a comedies, histories, and tragedies b comedies, histories, and sonnets c comedies, tragedies and sonnets d sonnets, histories and tragedies Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets (fourteen- line poems) in which addressed the two unidentified people Wo were they? a the two young men b the child and the mother c the “fair youth” and the “dark lady” d The child and the father Would you share any information you would like to know more about William Shakespeare? ….…………………………………………………………………………………… ….…………………………………………………………………………………… ….…………………………………………………………………………………… VIII The Beatles What is the best description of The Beatles? a The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 They have been regarded as the most influential band of all time with four members, namely John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr The official manager of the band was Brian Epstein b The Beatles have been regarded as the most influential band of all time with a line-up comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr The official manager of the band was Brian Epstein c The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 They have been regarded as the most influential band of all time with a line-up XVI comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr d The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 with four members, namely John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr The official manager of the band was George Martin A hard day’s night was one of the most famous studio album of The Beatles What does it contain? a soundtrack of the same film’s name on side one and other new recordings on side two b ringing guitars and irresistible melodies c the songs mainly composed by Lennon and McCartney d All things aforementioned Where and when did The Beatles’ final live performance take place? a It took place on the rooftop of the Apple Corps building at Savile Row, London, on 30 January 1969 b It took place on a yard at sea on 15 January 1969 c It took place at a lunatic asylum in London in 1969 d It took place at the Tunisian desert in 1969 Would you share any information you would like to know more about The Beatles? ….………………………………………………………………………… ….………………………………………………………………………… ….………………………………………………………………………… Thank you for your co-operation! ANSWER KEY I II III IV V VI VII VIII b a b c c d c a a c d a a b a d b b a a a d c a XVII Appendix THE SYLLASBUS OF THE INTENSIVE SPEAKING COURSE (GRADE 7) Item Week Unit/Content Aims of the lesson SEMESTER I Unit All about - Students can improve speaking skills through you cultural practices Culture: The - Through a favorite award, namely The Duke of Duke of Edinburgh, Edinburgh knowledge of British culture such as sports, award social skills, arts, architect, ect - Lessons students of can consistence, enlarge patience their and determination of British youth Unit Winning - Students can improve speaking skills through and losing cultural practices Culture: Dark, - Students are introduced an unusual sport of cold and scary British: The Bog Snorkelling Championship - This annual sports event brings students’ knowledge of costumes, geography - Lesson of bravery and generosity Unit House - Students can improve speaking skills through and home debating activities Culture: Fox- - Students can enrich knowledge of British hunting culture through a traditional activity: foxhunting - Students experience the conflict of opinions inside British society about an old activity, namely fox- hunting Event October of - Students can improve speaking skills through role play XVIII Culture: - Students can experience British culture Halloween through some religious rituals such as trick-or-treating, Halloween costumes, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing Unit Around - Students can improve speaking skills through the world cultural practices Culture: - Students can experience British culture Christmas through the history of Christmas and the typical Christmas theme and activities Unit Crime - Students can improve speaking skills through scene cultural practices (lives) Culture: The - Students can enrich their understandings of legend of Robin British literature through the legend of Robin Hood Hood - Lessons of bravery, generosity and empathy Unit 10 To be or - Students can improve speaking skills through not to be? cultural practices (lives) Culture: William - Students can enrich their understandings of Shakespeare British literature through the live and works of William Shakespeare Music - Students can improve speaking skills through The famous cultural practices music band: The - Students can enrich their understandings of Beatles British music through the famous music band The Beatles XIX Appendix OBSERVATION CHECKLIST (In- Class lesson) Class: 7A1 – 7A2 No of students: 38 Lesson: ………… I Presentation part Were the slides/ video vividly and informative to students? - Number of students raising hands to answer the teachers’ question relating to the cultural content of the slide/ video? - Number of students paying attention to the video/ slides Assessment criteria Raising hand Being attentive II Practice part No of student Percentage Was the cultural content in the text book understandable to students? - Number of students finishing the task in time - Number of students with correct answers Assessment criteria Finishing the task in time Having correct answers III Production part No of student Percentage Did students be ready to take part into the presentation part? - Number of students participating in the group activities - Number of students volunteering to make the presentation - Number of students paying attention to their friends’ presentation Assessment criteria Participating in the group activities volunteering to make the presentation Being attentive No of student Percentage The end! XX Appendix OBSERVATION CHECKLIST (Event of month) Class: 7A1 – 7A2 No of students: 38 Lesson: ………… Were student interested in the event? - Number of students wearing costumes, joining the games… - Number of students being attracted to the video Assessment criteria Wearing costumes/ disguising Joining the games/ dance Being attentive to the video No of student The end! XXI Percentage Appendix QUESTIONNAIRE In answering the following questions, please tick (V) where appropriate You rate each statement on a scale of a (very useful) to e (unuseful) a very useful b useful c moderately useful d slightly useful e unuseful How you feel about the content of cultural elements in the textbook? a □ b □ c □ d □ e □ What is your opinion about the slide/ video in the lessons? a □ b □ c □ d □ e □ Please share your points of the presentation in the lessons? a □ b □ c □ d □ e □ How you feel about your experience in three festivals, namely Halloween, Noel, and The Beatles? a □ b □ c □ d □ e □ What’s your opinion about the homework at the end of each lesson? a □ b □ c □ d □ e □ How does understandings from the course help you in studying English? a □ b □ c □ d □ XXII e □ What’s your opinion about the moral lessons hidden in the cultural elements? a □ b □ c □ d □ e □ Please write anything you concern relating to the intensive speaking course? …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you for your cooperation! XXIII Appendix SAMPLE LESON PLAN WEEK Date of teaching: …… Period 1: THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD A Aims: By the end of this lesson, students will be able to: Knowledge - enrich knowledge of British culture such as sports, social skills, arts, architect… Skills - improve speaking skills through learning activities such as group work, presentation - critical thinking Attitude - have positive attitude toward the cultural elements in the lesson B Teaching aids: Video/ slides, textbooks, black board C Teaching method: Communicative approach D Anticipated problems: - Ss may find the cultural category quite challenging - Some students may get difficulty when making presentation E Procedures: Time 1’ Teacher’s activities Students’ activities I Class stabilization: - Greeting - Check attendance II New lesson: Presentation: - Briefly introduce about the DoE XXIV - Greeting Answer - Listen 9’ - Present the video to introduce the - Listen and watch a video DoE - Answer the questions - Ask Ss some questions relating to the content of the video - Listen and watch a video - Present the video to introduce the DoE - Listen and watch a video - Ask Ss some questions relating to the - Copy down cultural space and agents of the video - Check the answers and write the correct answers on the board - Individual work 13’ Practice - Ss to open the text book page and read the text “The Duke of Edinburgh - Work in pairs award” - Ss to work in pairs to ask and answer the questions in part Then categorize the cultural element into cultural space - Answer (where and when), cultural agents (who) and cultural activities (what and how) - Listen & correct their work - Call representative from two pairs to write down the outcome on the board - Work in groups - Teacher comments - Practice present 18’ - Make presentation Production - Ss work in group of or students, talk to each other the DoE basing on categories: cultural space, cultural agents and cultural activities - Ss volunteer to make presentation on - Listen the DoE XXV 4’ - Write down IV Wrap-up: - Talk about the lessons of consistence, patience and determination of British youth “not all learning happens in classroom” * Homework: + Think about the similar award in Vietnam, find the similarities and differences relating to the award (cultural space, agent, activities) in two cultures If not, created a Vietnamese version (writing or speaking) + Searching information relating to The Bog Snorkelling Championship and try to categorize the supportive information in to cultural space, cultural agents and cultural activities F EVALUATION: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… …… ………………………………………………………………………………… XXVI Appendix SAMPLE LESON PLAN WEEK … Date of teaching: …… Period 4: HALLOWEEN FESTIVAL A Aims: By the end of the event, students will be able to: Knowledge - enrich their knowledge of British culture through Halloween festival Skills - improve skills through cultural practices such as creative competition, party decoration, fashion show, dance - critical thinking Attitude - have positive attitude toward the cultural elements in the outside-class lesson B Procedures: No A I II B I II III IV Time Content From October 1st to 28th 2019 Oct.21- Oct.28 Creative competition of masks, mummies, Halloween theme between classes Oct 28 – Oct 29 Halloween haunted house decoration st October 31 2019 7.20 a.m - a.m Halloween costumes a.m - 8.30 a.m Halloween party decoration 8.30 a.m -9.20 a.m Halloween games 9.20 a.m-11.30 a.m Celebrating Halloween Festival - Awarding Creative contest to welcome Halloween - Opening Halloween Festival 2019 - Present a video about Halloween - Halloween fashion show - Modern dance: The dance of the Ghosts - The whole school participate in Halloween dance - Enjoy the Halloween party - Closing program XXVII ... ? ?An action research project on enhancing students’ awareness of British Culture in speaking lessons at a secondary school in Quang Binh? ?? The substance of the MA thesis has not, wholly or in part,... project on enhancing students’ awareness of British Culture in speaking lessons at a secondary school in Quang Binh? ?? in order to work-out what the so-called “little things” are so that I will enhance... independence of language learning and cultural learning is so evident that one can conclude that language learning is culture learning and consequently, language teaching is cultural teaching” He means