A study on the application of communicative language teaching in english classrooms challenges and possible solutions

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY - NGÔ TRUNG HIẾU A STUDY ON THE APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING IN ENGLISH CLASSROOM: CHALLENGES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION NGHỆ AN, 2017 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I, Ngo Trung Hieu, hereby declare that I am the sole author of this master thesis and that it has not been submitted for any other purposes before Works of others that are used in the thesis are properly cited and acknowledged Ngo Trung Hieu ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My sincere thanks go to the many people who gave me their valuable contributions for the completion of this research project First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to my beloved supervisor, Mr Nguyen Gia Viet, Ph.D for his dedication, professional support, encouragement and guidance as well as valuable comments during my research His patience and knowledge whilst showing me an academic researcher’s pathway went beyond the mainstream studies to see the best in me You have been a constant source of motivation throughout this thesis Without his guidance, comment, and suggestions during all stages of the work, my thesis would still be far from completed Secondly, I would also like to express my gratitude to all lecturers of the Department of Foreign Languages, Vinh University as well as all lectures of other universities who teach me much valuable knowledge, share best teaching experiences and methods, and supply me with the good conditions to conduct this thesis and finish this TESOL M.A cohort In addition, my special thanks also go to Department of Postgraduate Studies, Dong Thap University that give good support and conditions to my K23 class This study may not have been completed without this support Furthermore, my deep appreciation goes to teachers and students at Bac Lieu High School They showed their enthusiasm and good support to help me conduct my survey Without their help, this project could not been a success Last but not least, my warmest thanks go to my beloved family, my colleagues, friends for their kindness, helpful supports and useful encouragements ABSTRACT Because of its international demand and recognition as a world language, English has always been a part of our education system from Class 3-12 In the recent years, the use of English language has been increasing in administration, education and other sectors in Vietnam This study focusses on the application of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) to the 11th graders at Bac Lieu High school The study employed questionnaire survey as the principle method of data collection Questionnaires were administered to teachers and 168 11th graders, and then analyzed by means of descriptive statistics The data of survey was analyzed qualitatively The findings of the study indicates that the majority of the teachers really have not applied CLT in their teaching appropriately while most of students’ responses presented their positive opinions toward the benefits of CLT The application of this approach is not popular in this local high school context and there are some issues in its implementation Based on the findings, a number of recommendations have been proposed to make CLT become more and more practical and effective in teaching and learning Key words: Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), opinions, 11th graders, high school LIST OF TABLES Table General information of the participants .23 Table General information of the participants .25 Table Teaching English in classrooms 32 Table Students experiences of being corrected 36 Table The Use of the Language 41 Table Teachers’ feedback in class 45 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The purpose of learning English .31 Figure 2: Learning and teaching behavior 33 Figure 2.1: Using English in communication 34 Figure 2.2: The extent of student participant in Pair work and Group work 35 Figure 3: General ideas about Communicative Competence 37 Figure 4: Teachers’ knowledge and belief about Communicative Competence and Communicative Language Teaching 40 Figure 5: The Use of the Language 41 Figure 6: Aspects of English Language Teaching 44 Figure 7: Activities 46 Figure 8: Teachers’ beliefs about the objective of teaching English at high school 48 Figure 9: The process of teaching 48 TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ACKNOWLEDGMENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 Problem Statement 1.2 Rationale 10 1.3 Aims of the study 11 1.4 Significance of the Study 11 1.5 Organization of the thesis 12 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 13 2.1 Introduction 14 2.2 Definition of CLT 14 2.2.1 Characteristics of CLT 17 2.2.2 Communicative Competence 21 2.3 CLT application in Vietnam 22 2.4 Role of Teacher in Communicative Language Teaching 23 CHAPTER THREE 25 METHODOLOGY 25 3.1 Setting 26 3.2 Research questions 26 3.3 Research participants 26 3.3.1 Students 27 3.3.2 Description of participants 28 3.4 Data collection 29 3.5 Procedures 29 3.5.1 Designing questionnaire 29 3.5.2 Data collection procedures 30 3.5.3 Data analysis 33 CHAPTER FOUR FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 33 4.1 Results of the Students’ Questionnaire Survey 34 4.1.1 Students’ purpose of learning English 34 4.1.2 Teaching English in classrooms 35 4.1.3 Learning and teaching behaviour 36 4.1.4 General ideas about communicative competence 41 4.2 Results from the Teachers’ Questionnaire Survey4.2.1 Teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about Communicative Competence and 43 Communicative Language Teaching 43 4.2.2 The Use of the Language 46 4.2.3 Aspects of English language teaching 47 4.2.4 Communicative Competence 49 4.2.5 Activities 51 4.2.6 Beliefs about aspects of English language teaching 52 4.3 Summary 54 CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION 55 5.1 Summary of the study 55 5.2 Limitations of the study 57 5.3 Recommendations 57 5.4 Further studies 59 REFERENCES 60 APPENDIX A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS 63 APPENDIX B QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS 65 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The interest in teaching and learning foreign languages has spread throughout the world As a result, the digital age and migratory movements underpin the globalization There are many reasons for this phenomenon, and among these are the entry into an enlarged labor market, access to information, increased trade between countries or the establishment of relations between cultures and societies In addition, a wide range of theories has emerged related to the teaching and learning of foreign languages and various methods and approaches have been defined They certainly differ from each other in how to teach and learn a target language, and the use of one approach or another by foreign language teachers is a matter of controversy In any case, it can be corroborated that teachers tend to favor the use of an eclectic methodology Nevertheless, a lot of attention has been paid to how to teach a foreign language for real and meaningful communication Grammar-Translation Method has been proven as an unsuccessful method in teaching the English language Although the learners of this method have some knowledge of the target language, they have failed to use it according to their need Therefore, the attempt to replace this method was taken and an Audio-Lingual Method or Army Method - a foreign language teaching method often abbreviated as ALM was introduced in the United States in the 50s and 60s of the twentieth century It focused on teaching the structure of the sentence and vocabulary through repetition and exercise It included the development of reading and writing skills He also understood literature and poetry However, this method failed as well, and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) was introduced As a result, various communicative approaches have emerged, although the nucleus of each of them seems to be the approach to communicative language teaching This study attempts to explore whether the CLT principles are applied by Vietnamese teachers of English as a foreign language in a particular school called Bac Lieu High School This study is carried out to investigate the application of Communicative Approach of some English teachers and the students ‘study based on an overview of the CLT theory and the Vietnamese educational system From that, the study will suggest some possible solutions A description of the school environment and the method used to collect and analyze the data 1.1 Problem Statement Because the impact of globalization has been increasing, the international communication in English is becoming more widespread To fulfill the challenges of this modern trend, most non-English speaking countries around the world are increasingly receptive to English The same scenario prevails in most Asian countries and certainly in Vietnam To meet the demand for our literate literates to be in national and international communication, the desirableness for English communication skills is increasing at a rapid pace Most of the countries have adopted the communicative approach of language teaching to make people proficient in English and Vietnam is not exceptional The CLT aims to focus on four competences (listening, speaking, reading and writing) as learner-centered activities in the communicative context This method makes language learning more relevant, interesting, enjoyable and effective But it is a great sadness that after completing the high school program, learners can not use the English language correctly, especially they are very weak in listening and speaking Although they have completed their high school curriculum under CLT, their receptive and productive skills show that they have learned in Grammar Translation Method These show the ineffectiveness of CLT at the high school program Some researchers have said that CLT is not appropriate for Vietnamese culture because it requires any ideal - ideal classroom environment, limited students, trained teachers, and so on 1.2 Rationale In the recent years, some schools, especially Bac Lieu High School have applied CLT in teaching English Some language teaching facilities such as language laboratory rooms, audio visual aids are equipped for the sake of improving listening and speaking skills In spite of those advantages, the effectiveness from application of CLT in teaching English in Bac Lieu high school has not been obvious Firstly, all students in Bac Lieu high school are almost taught only reading and writing skills Teachers often have a tendency towards teaching for final examination With about five to six class hours for a unit according to Curriculum of Ministry of Education and Training, teachers only aim at teaching two main skills for final examination – reading and writing The content in this final examination only focus on reading and reading skills Because of this, students rarely have an opportunity to practice their English The communication of English maybe happen between teachers and students through some short commands or suggestions Secondly, as for geographical location, Bac Lieu province is far from other big city (over 200 km from Ho Chi Minh City), students not have more chances to communicate with foreigners Moreover, some local small and medium business not require English communicative competence as a ultimate condition Thus students’ motivation in communication is not stimulated As an English teacher, the author is always interested in how to improve all skills, especially listening and speaking skills through the application of CLT, the author also found that teachers encounter various challenges and difficulties in teaching with this approach As observed subjectively, after many years of its launch, it was not as successful as expected and learners can not take advantage of CLT and many teachers are not interested in adapting this approach The students 10 CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION This chapter presents conclusions resulted from the study’s findings that have been presented in Chapter IV Then, recommendations in the findings will be presented Finally, the limitations of the study and further studies for future research will be raised 5.1 Summary of the study Chapter Four presented the results of the data collected and analyzed the results of the data This chapter reviews the results of the interviews and examines these results against the research literature discussed in Chapter Two The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions and attitudes of teachers who teach English in Bac Lieu Highschool as well as compare with the students’ real experience and wishes in classroom and to study the obstacles the teachers encounter in the implementation of CLT in their teaching in class The teachers surveyed for this study identified a number of problems related to the adoption of CLT in their classroom instruction in some factors Firstly, as can be seen that traditional teaching methods still dominate classroom instruction Secondly, the power of examinations has a strong influence on teachers’ teaching methods Moreover, another factor is that there is still lack of training to implement CLT The final factor is that skills of English teachers are not insufficient to facilitate CLT activities including English language proficiency in English Additional factors include class size and lack of facilities to affect to the adoption of CLT These main results will be discussed in the light of the literature discussed above The implication of the results and recommendations of this study will end with this chapter The eight English teachers of high school surveyed for this thesis were asked what they thought and how they would apply the CLT method in their classes Most 55 of them were interested in this pedagogical approach, which was very useful for students because it offers students the opportunity to communicate and interact with their friends and the teacher in the classroom What they really applied in their classroom combined with students' responses in questionnaire is different considerably Most teachers also reported that it was very necessary to adopt the CLT in EFL classroom learning due to the emphasis on communication Some teachers in this research project preferred CLT in particular compared to a grammatical teaching method, as not only motivated passive students with low English proficiency to improve their communication skills but also improved their interactions in the class On the one hand, most of the teachers of this project stated that they have not applied CLT completely, that is, two important skills, Listening and Speaking were usually not taught adequately The teachers pay attention to Accuracy more than Fluency Finally, all of them encounter difficulties in the implementation of CLT in their courses The four main problems raised by teachers in Bac Lieu High school included: misconceptions of CLT, partial implementation of CLT, inadequate proficiency in English for teachers and lack of CLT training The problems may be created by the students were low language proficiency, student learning styles and behaviors, and lack of motivation to develop communicative competence Other issues related to the education system were the power of the examination, the size of the class and the inadequate funding to support CLT such as facilities and teachers' training Another unexpected concern was the lack of consultation with the Department of Education and also with senior management at the school These identified problems were perceived by participants in the study as the main barriers to CLT adoption in their classrooms 56 5.2 Limitations of the study Although the researcher has made efforts to pursue this thesis, there are probably some limitations First, the limitations were found in the small number of participants: only 08 teachers and 168 students in the same school instead of many other schools give their responses in the questionnaire Therefore, other further studies with a larger population (teachers and students) should be carried out to obtain more convincing results Second, the study used the questionnaire as the main instrument of data collection, information analyzed and synthesized from the questionnaire may just indicate the tip of the iceberg Moreover, student responses to the questionnaire may not be true to their thinking, maybe they simply wanted to please the researcher, or their English teacher Students were also affected by the opinions of their peers while responding to the elements of the questionnaire In addition, the questions in the questionnaire were insufficient to embrace every aspect of CLT to teachers and students In other words, the results may not fully reflect the attitudes of the students as well as the attitudes and perceptions of the teachers and the teachers’ application of CLT Although the results of the study reflect to some extent teachers and students' experiences towards CLT in terms of the benefits and understandings about the aspects of CLT as well as the generalization of these results should be done with caution 5.3 Recommendations The successful implementation of any teaching methodology is not only with the ELT practitioners but also the relevant authority and the administrative bodies also have an important role to play This study provides theoretical and practical implications for teachers, educators and policy makers to implement CLT in the Vietnamese higher education institution 57 All of English teachers in this research project said they had several difficulties in adopting and implementing CLT in their English courses Therefore, through this research, participants highlighted some ideas that can be considered by the authorities Based on the findings, some possible solutions are hinted for teachers apply to contextualize CLT within Bac Lieu High school First and foremost, the results of the study suggest the need to provide adequate in-service training for teachers to practice CLT As most participants in the study indicated, qualified teachers should have the knowledge and skills to implement CLT In addition, most teachers reported that the training of applied practices, rather than lectures and theories, was more beneficial to them In addition, some teachers reported that support from colleagues helped them to generate useful teaching ideas Second, the study results suggest that students in Bac Lieu High school show their wishes to use English as a mean of communication A need for students and teachers is to adjust their educational values if CLT is to be implemented reasonably Rather than focusing on the traditional approach to grammar-based instruction to develop test-taking skills, students' communication skills should be motivated, encouraged and enhanced Finally, the implementation of CLT should recognize not only the teacher's efforts but also the voice of teachers, integrating it into educational policies and practices Some practical recommendations or possible solutions for class constraints are listed below: • Facilities or equipment should be provided or improved to promote implementation of CLT in the high school successfully • English teachers should be trained regularly and adequately when implementing this communicative approach in classroom 58 • Students’ motivation in learning English should be surveyed first so that teachers are able to obtain and adapt their teaching method so as to stimulate students’ motivation • Placement test in English including four skills to 10th graders after the entrance selection process should be implemented It is recommended that arranging or categorizing students based on their English ability in each skill will help teachers implement their method appropriately and easily • The size of the class should be reduced to levels that accommodate CLT teaching in English • Administrators actively collaborate with teachers to create a learning environment where the use of English is widespread to improve the students' communicative skills and competencies • Textbooks and pedagogical approaches should be evaluated on a regular basis to show students’ achievement and improvement in teaching • The format of the examination should be reviewed and adapted from a grammar-based examination to one that is CLT compliant 5.4 Further studies This quantitative research provides a foundation for further research on CLT and many other areas related to this pedagogical approach Continuing research should survey much more students in all groups of classes and teachers in many other schools in Bac Lieu province or some schools in Mekong Delta areas in order to have more specific perception and application of CLT The further research could refine the conceptual model of CLT in the framework of many schools in many other provinces Further research could focus on qualitative studies to analyze and test the conceptual model through in-depth interview and observation or case study This is 59 because there is a lack of documentation on how each variable and the components that make up the CLT relate to Thus, it would be an interesting and potential subject for in-depth studies to see the function of each CLT attribute in the English classrooms of the high schools in Vietnam REFERENCES Adi, S.S (2012) Communicative language teaching: Is it appropriate for Indonesian context? Foreign Language Annuals, (3), 110-121 Breen, M.P (1985) The Social Context of Language Learning in a Neglected Situation Studies in Language Acquisition, vol 712, 125-158 Breen, M P & Candlin, C (1980) The essentials of a communicative curriculum in language teaching (PDF) Applied Linguistics (1): 89-112 Canale, M.; Swain, M (1980) Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing (PDF) Applied Linguistics (1): 1–47 Retrieved September 29, 2013 Canale, M (1983) From Communicative Competence to Communicative Language Pedagogy In J Richards & R Schmidt (Eds.), Language and Communication (2nd ed., pp 2-27) New York: Longman Chau, L., & Chung, C (1987) Diploma in education graduates’ attitude toward communicative language teaching Chinese University Educational Journal, 15(3), 45-51 Chomsky, N (1965) Aspects of the Theory of Syntax Cambridge, Massachusetts: The M.I.T Press Ellis, R (1994) The study of second language acquisition Oxford: Oxford University Press Finch, G (2003) How to study Linguistics: A Guide to Understanding Languge Palgrave Macmillan Finocchiaro, M & Brumfit, C 1983 The Functional-National Approach: From Theory to Practice Oxford: Oxford University Press 60 Hongkham Vongxay (2013) Thesis Entitled: The Implementation of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in an English Department in a Lao Higher Educational Institution: A Case Study New Zealand: Unitec Institution of Technology Hymes, D H (1972) On communicative competence In C J Brumfit, & Johnson (Eds.) The communicative approach to language teaching (2nd ed., pp 5-27) Oxford University Press Larsen-Freeman, D.(2000).Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching New York: Oxford Liao, X (2004) The need for communicative language teaching in China ELT Journal, 85(3), 270-273 Littlewood, W.T (1981) Communicative Language Teaching An Introduction Cambridge: Cambridge University Press McGroarty, M (1984) Some Meanings of Communicative Competence for Second Language Students Volume 18, Issue June 1984 Pages 257–272 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology: A Textbook for Teacher Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Omaggio-Hadley, A (2001) Teaching Language in Context (third edition) Boston: Heinle & Heinle Pham, H.H (2005) “Imported” Communicative Language Teaching: Implications for local teachers English Teaching Forum, 43(4) Retrieved February 3, 2008, from http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol43/no4/p2.htm Richards, J.C and Rodgers, T.S (1986) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Richard, Jack, C (2006) Communicative Language Teaching Today Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Richards, Jack C., and Theodore Rodgers (2001) Approaches and Methods in 61 Language Teaching Second Edition New York: Cambridge University Press Savignon, S J (1991) Communicative language teaching: State of the art TESOL Quarterly 25 (2):261–77 Savignon, S.J (1997) Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice New York: McGraw-Hill Savignon, S.J (2002) Communicative curriculum design for the 21st century English Teaching Forum 40 (1): 2–7 Tudor, I., Learner-Centredness as Language Education, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996 Ying, L (2010) Communicative activities in ELT classrooms in China Unpublished master dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Platteville Zaman, A.M (2008) An Evaluation of English Teaching in Primary and Secondary Level in Bangladesh Unpublished M.A Dissertation East West University 62 APPENDIX A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS Age: Gender: Years of learning English: The purpose of learning English The purpose of learning English subject at school is to pass exams Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree Learning English at school is not aimed at developing Communicative Skills Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree I want to learn English so that I will be able to use it for communication Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree I think the main purpose of learning English for most students is to talk to foreigners Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree Teaching English in classrooms I think the content of my English textbook is not useful for developing communication? Strongly Agree Undecided Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree From my observation, teachers mostly focus on teaching reading and grammar 63 Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Speaking lessons are sometimes omitted Strongly Agree Undecided Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree Listening lessons are some times omitted Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree I would like to participate more in speaking and listening activities Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree Learning and teaching behaviour 10 I rarely use English as a mean of communication in socializing situations Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree 11 I mostly use Vietnamese in English classes when answering questions or responding teacher’s suggestions Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree 12 I mostly use Vietnamese for discussion in pairs or groups in English classes Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree 13 I rarely participate in group or pair work/discussion in the English classes Strongly Agree Undecided Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 14 When I make a mistake, teachers often interrupts to correct my mistake 64 Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Agree 15 The teachers often criticizes whenever a mistake is committed Disagree Strongly Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Disagree General ideas about communicative competence 16 I think learning English means learning to communicate in the language Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree 17 I believe focusing too much on grammar does not help students to develop communicative skills Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree 18 I think being able to communicative is partly being able to make others understand what you say Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree 19 It is not important to be grammatically correct in communication; it is more important to so appropriately Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Strongly Disagree APPENDIX B QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS Participant profile Age: Gender: Years of teaching: (Following information is necessary for you to read and answer) 65 How you define Communicative Competence? _ _ _ _ According to you, what is Communicative Language Teaching? _ _ _ _ Put a cross  on each response People learn a language best when using it to things rather than studying how language works and practicing rules I agree I disagree Grammar is no longer important in language teaching I agree I disagree People learn a language through communicating in it I agree I disagree Errors are not important in speaking a language I agree I disagree Communicative Language Teaching is only concerned with teaching speaking I agree I disagree Classroom activities should be meaningful and involve real communication I agree I disagree Dialogs are not used in Communicative Language Teaching I agree I disagree Both accuracy and fluency are goals in Communicative Language Teaching 66 I agree I disagree Communicative Language Teaching is usually described as a method of teaching I agree I disagree The Use of the Language 10 Do you speak in English while doing the lesson? Always Almost always Usually Almost never Never Almost Never 11 Do the students speak in English in class? Always Almost always Usually never Aspects of English language teaching 12 Do you teach Listening and Speaking skills in each unit? Always Almost always Usually Almost Never never 13 Do you link the four skills together while carrying out the lessons? Always Almost always Usually Almost Never never 14 Do you teach Grammar first when starting each unit? Always Almost always Usually Almost Never never 15 Do you focus mainly on the function of the language while teaching (language in use-Communicative abilities)? Always Almost always Usually Almost Never never 16 Do you focus mainly on the form of the language while teaching (grammar patterns and rules)? 67 Always Almost always Usually Almost never Never 17 Do you let learners find out grammar rules while teaching? Always Almost always Usually Almost Never never Teachers’ feedback in class 18 Do you appreciate Accuracy while teaching speaking? Always 19 Almost always Usually Almost never Never Do you interrupt your learners while speaking to correct their mistake/error they commit? Always 20 Almost always Usually Almost never Never Do you criticize your learners when they repeat their mistakes/errors corrected? Always Almost always Usually Almost Never never Activities 21 Do you organize the activities involving real communication (including real contexts and real information)? Always Almost always Usually Almost Never never 22 Do you organize Pair-work or Group-work activities while carrying out the lessons? Always Almost always Usually Almost never 23 Do you assign duty to each members in group-work activities? 68 Never Always Almost always Usually Almost never Never Beliefs about aspects of English language teaching 24 The main objective of the English teaching process is: To acquire the To learn the language language 25 The process of English teaching is: Teacher-centered Learner-centered A combination of both perspectives 69 ... to the increase in demand for language learning Communicative Language Teaching replace the previous structural method, called language teaching as Situational Language Teaching This was partly... examination, and lack of exposure to authentic language as constraints on using CLT 2.4 Role of Teacher in Communicative Language Teaching According to Zaman (2008), in communicative language teaching a. .. translation The rise of Communicative Language Teaching in the 1970s and early 1980s in Great Britain was partly in response to the lack of success with traditional language teaching methods and partly