Tefl student teachers’ awareness and application of achievement standards in english language teaching

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER TEFL STUDENT TEACHERS’ AWARENESS AND APPLICATION OF ACHIEVEMENT STANDARDS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING Supervisor: Dương Thu Mai (Ph.D) Student: Trần Thị Vân Anh Course: QH2016.F1.E4 HÀ NỘI – 2020 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP NHẬN THỨC VÀ ÁP DỤNG CÁC CHUẨN ĐẦU RA TRONG GIẢNG DẠY NGOẠI NGỮ CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH, ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Dương Thu Mai (Ph.D) Sinh viên: Trần Thị Vân Anh Khóa: QH2016.F1.E4 HÀ NỘI – 2020 ACCEPTANCE PAGE I hereby state that I: Tran Thi Van Anh, 16E4 being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (Faculty of English Language Teacher Education) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Signature 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without the help of a lot of people, I would not have been able to accomplish completing this dissertation Hence, I would like to express my appreciation to all those who have motivated and helped me along the way First and foremost, I would like sincerely to thank my supervisor, PhD Duong Thu Mai, for her wholehearted instructions, considerate assistance and valuable critical feedback Second, I wish to express my gratitude to all staff members and lecturers at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam University – Hanoi for their precious lessons that laid the foundation for my paper and for their support during the time I study at this university Third, this dissertation would not have been possible without the contribution of 100 third-year students whose major is English Education at University of Languages and International Studies where the research was implemented Last but not least, I am deeply indebted to my family and my friends who have been continually supporting and encouraging me to fulfill this challenging work Hanoi, 2019 i ABSTRACT The research was carried out in Vietnam where the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and achievement requirements stated in Dispatch 5333 have been set as two of the official standards in the language education sector Despite the significance of two mentioned sets of standards, there has been a serious lack of studies about these sets, especially about the awareness and alignments of pre-service teachers, who will play an important role in the standards adoption in the future With a view to bridging this gap, the current paper aims to shed light on TEFL students teachers’ awareness and application of achievement standards in English Language Teaching, based on stages of teaching practice created by combining the features of standard-based teaching created by Biggs (2003), teaching domains devised Danielson (1996) and examples proposed by UCLES (2011) Via the questionnaire and interviews, the study has found that pre-service teachers at this language university in Hanoi were at the moderate awareness with CEFR-V and were somewhat aware of achievement standards stated in Dispatch 5333, yet aligned them at significantly different levels in their teaching practice Furthermore, they expressed varied challenges in standards aligning, such as lack of experiences and feedback In light of these findings, the study recommends that pre-service teachers should proactively learn more about CEFR-V and Dispatch 5333 and that two sets of standards should be mentioned and emphasized more in the textbooks and lecturers’ feedback Additionally, attempts should be made by standards developers to make the framework more accessible to its end-users, namely teachers and learners Keywords: Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), CEFR-V, Dispatch 5333, mixed methods research, teacher awareness, standards alignment ii LIST OF FIGURE AND TABLES Table 1: The levels of the CEFR-V Table 2: Domains and contents of questions in the questionnaire Table 3: Cronbach's Alpha (Reliability Statistics) of the questions Table 4: Examples for open coding Table 5: Examples of categories and colouring Table 6: Comparison between pre-service teachers’ mode of study and their familiarity with CEFR and CEFR-V Table 7: Comparison between pre-service teachers’ mode of study and their familiarity with CEFR and CEFR-V Table 8: Alignment of CEFR-V in planning and preparation for lessons Table 9: Alignment of CEFR-V in instruction Table 10: Alignment of CEFR-V in professional development Table 11: Comparison between pre-service teachers’ mode of study and their familiarity with achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 Table 12: Comparison between pre-service teachers’ mode of study and their familiarity with achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 Table 13: Alignment of achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 in planning and preparation for lesson Table 14: Alignment of achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 in instruction Table 15: Alignment of achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 in professional development Table 16: Challenges in adopting standards in teaching practice Figure 1: The alignment of three education components Figure 2: A model of teaching practices Figure 3: Pre-service teachers’ familiarity with CEFR and CEFR-V Figure 4: Pre-service teachers’ familiarity with achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CEFR Common European Framework of Reference CEFR-V Common European Framework of Reference in Vietnam M Mean SD St Deviation MOET Ministry of Education and Training SBT Standard-based teaching CoE Council of European SB Standard-based iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii LIST OF FIGURE AND TABLES iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Significance of the study 1.7 Organization of the study Chapter 2: Literature review I Standard-based Language Teaching Defining Standards Standard-based Teaching Common standards in Language Teaching in the world and in Vietnam Aligning standards to teaching 11 This section seeks to answer the question of what teaching practices should be aligned to standards Different authors clarify the term standard-based alignment differently 11 II Related studies on standard-based English teaching 15 Gaps in the Literature 16 Summary 16 Chapter 3: Methodology 18 3.1 Design and participants of the study 18 3.2 Instruments 18 3.3 Data collection 22 3.4 Data analysis 23 Summary: 25 Chapter 4: Findings and discussion 26 4.1.Findings from the Questionnaire Responses 26 4.2 Findings from the Semi-Structured Interviews 36 4.3 Answers for research questions 38 v Chapter 5: Conclusion 40 The study limitations 40 Implications 40 Agenda for Further Research 41 Reference 42 Appendix 1: CEFR 48 Appendix Achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 51 Appendix 3: Questionnaire 64 Appendix 4: The reliability of the questionnaire 69 vi Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Rationale of the study Over the last few decades, there has been a major concern to create standards for the language education within nations around the world to boost the quality of education For example, standards-based curriculum reforms (SBR) have become widespread across the United States, particularly in the wake of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) movement (Hamilton et al., 2007) In Europe, the creation of a common European standard in education was demonstrated in “Council of European Resolution on the European Dimension of Education: Teaching and Curriculum Content” (1991) (Yarovaya, 2015) Standard-based education has been realized in many aspects of curricula, such as content, instruction and assessment (Lorena, 2011) In Vietnam, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has been implementing the National Project entitled Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, Period 2008-2020 (2020 Project), Period 2017-2025 (2025 Project), which considers the setting of standards in the teaching and assessment of foreign languages (primarily English) for each educational level as a major content of the working agenda As a particular instance of standard-based education in foreign language teaching, the MOET in 2008 officially began to adopt the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) to define English language exit standards for Vietnamese students (CEFR-V, a Vietnamese version) from secondary to tertiary levels of education Besides, in Dispatch 5333/MOET issued in 2014, the MOET mentioned the English outcomes of each grade from secondary schools, which can be considered the standards for teaching and learning English in those grades across the country (see appendix 2) Generally, as these documents are official and still effective, Vietnamese teaching practitioners of English are required to learn thoroughly these standards and apply them to their English teaching for students, and the MOET is now concentrating on training the teachers to meet this objective (Viet, 2015) At the language university where this study was conducted, CEFR and CEFR-V are introduced to pre-service teachers in their third year through the course “Introduction into English Language Teaching Methodology”, and how to apply the framework into English teaching in Vietnam is listed as one of the goal in this course material Also in Đọc · Đọc hiểu nội dung đoạn độc thoại hội thoại đơn giản, mang tính thơng báo với độ dài khoảng 50-70 từ, xoay quanh chủ điểm có chương trình Viết · Viết đoạn có độ dài khoảng 50-60 từ gồm số câu đơn giản nội dung lên quan đến chủ điểm học viết có hướng dẫn phục vụ nhu cầu giao tiếp cá nhân xã giao đơn giản thư mời, lời mời · Viết lại nội dung diễn đạt qua nói Lớp Hết lớp 8, học sinh có khả năng: Nghe · Nghe hiểu nội dung nội dung chi tiết đoạn độc thoại/hội thoại phạm vi nội dung chủ điểm học chương trình · Hiểu văn có độ dài khoảng 80-100 từ tốc độ tương đối chậm Nói · Hỏi - đáp, miêu tả, kể, giải thích thơng tin liên quan đến cá nhân hoạt động học tập, sinh hoạt vui chơi, giải trí · Thực số chức giao tiếp bản: thông báo, trình bày, diễn đạt lời đề nghị, chấp nhận từ chối lời đề nghị, diễn đạt lời hứa, Đọc · Đọc hiểu nội dung nội dung chi tiết văn với độ dài khoảng 110-140 từ, xoay quanh chủ điểm có chương trình Viết · Viết theo mẫu có gợi ý đoạn văn có độ dài khoảng 60-80 từ nội dung liên quan đến chủ điểm học để phục vụ nhu cầu giao tiếp đơn giản viết thư cám ơn, viết lời mời, Lớp Hết lớp 9, học sinh có khả năng: 60 Nghe · Nghe hiểu nội dung nội dung chi tiết đoạn độc thoại/hội thoại có độ dài khoảng 100-120 từ phạm vi nội dung chủ điểm học chương trình · Hiểu văn tốc độ tương đối chậm Nói · Hỏi - đáp, miêu tả, kể, giải thích, trình bày, nhận xét, quan điểm cá nhân thông tin liên quan đến cá nhân, hoạt động học tập, sinh hoạt hàng ngày · Thực số chức giao tiếp bản: nói hoạt động theo thói quen, đưa gợi ý, đưa cách thuyết phục, Đọc · Đọc hiểu nội dung nội dung chi tiết văn với độ dài khoảng 150-180 từ, xoay quanh chủ điểm có chương trình · Hiểu loại dấu chấm, ngắt câu thành tố liên kết văn học chương trình Viết · Viết có gợi ý (theo mẫu) đoạn văn có độ dài khoảng 80-100 từ nội dung liên quan đến chủ điểm học để phục vụ nhu cầu giao tiếp cá nhân xã giao đơn giản điền vào phiếu cá nhân, viết tin nhắn, lời mời, viết thư cho bạn CẤP TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG - CHƯƠNG TRÌNH NĂM Lớp 10 Hết lớp 10, học sinh có khả năng: Nghe · Nghe hiểu nội dung nội dung chi tiết đoạn độc thoại/hội thoại có độ dài khoảng 120-150 từ phạm vi nội dung chủ điểm học chương trình · Hiểu đ­ược văn tốc độ t­ương đối chậm Nói · Hỏi - đáp, trình bày nội dung liên quan đến chủ điểm có chương trình · Thực số chức giao tiếp bản: bày tỏ ý kiến, hỏi đ­ường, hỏi thông tin cung cấp thông tin, 61 Đọc · Đọc hiểu đư­ợc nội dung nội dung chi tiết văn với độ dài khoảng 190 - 230 từ, xoay quanh chủ điểm có chương trình · Phát triển kĩ từ vựng: sử dụng từ điển, ngữ cảnh, … Viết · Viết theo mẫu/hoặc có gợi ý đoạn văn có độ dài khoảng 100-120 từ nội dung liên quan đến chủ điểm học để phục vụ nhu cầu giao tiếp cá nhân xã giao đơn giản Lớp 11 Hết lớp 11, học sinh có khả năng: Nghe · Nghe hiểu nội dung nội dung chi tiết đoạn độc thoại/hội thoại có độ dài khoảng 150-180 từ phạm vi nội dung chủ điểm học chương trình · Hiểu văn tốc độ gần tự nhiên · Nhận biết quan điểm thái độ người nói Nói · Hỏi - đáp, trình bày nội dung liên quan đến chủ điểm có chương trình · Thực số chức giao tiếp bản: bày tỏ hài lòng khơng hài lịng, tán thành phản đối, phân biệt kiện thực tế ý kiến cá nhân, nói đáp lại lời cảm ơn theo đặc điểm văn hoá khác nhau, làm quen, so sánh, đối chiếu tương phản, Đọc · Đọc hiểu nội dung nội dung chi tiết văn với độ dài khoảng 240-270 từ, xoay quanh chủ điểm có chương trình · Phát triển kĩ từ vựng: sử dụng từ điển, ngữ cảnh, từ đồng nghĩa, trái nghĩa · Nhận biết thành tố ngữ pháp, liên kết văn Viết · Viết có gợi ý (khơng theo mẫu) đoạn văn có độ dài khoảng 120-130 từ nội dung liên quan đến chủ điểm học để phục vụ nhu cầu giao tiếp cá nhân xã giao đơn giản Lớp 12 62 Hết lớp 12, học sinh có khả năng: Nghe · Nghe hiểu nội dung nội dung chi tiết đoạn độc thoại/hội thoại có độ dài khoảng 180-200 từ phạm vi nội dung chủ điểm học chương trình · Hiểu văn tốc độ gần tự nhiên Nói · Hỏi - đáp, trình bày nội dung liên quan đến chủ điểm có chương trình · Thực số chức giao tiếp bản: bày tỏ quan điểm cá nhân, nói nhu cầu sở thích, giải thích lí do, … Đọc · Đọc hiểu nội dung nội dung chi tiết văn với độ dài khoảng 280-320 từ, xoay quanh chủ điểm có chương trình · Phân biệt ý ý bổ trợ · Sử dụng ý để tóm tắt văn Viết · Viết theo mẫu và/hoặc có gợi ý đoạn văn có độ dài khoảng 130-150 từ nội dung liên quan đến chủ điểm học để phục vụ nhu cầu giao tiếp cá nhân xã giao đơn giản 63 Appendix 3: Questionnaire AWARENESS AND APPLICATION OF ACHIEVEMENT STANDARDS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING Dear Participant, My name is Tran Thi Van Anh and I am a senior student at University of Languages and International Studies For my graduation dissertation, I am investigating the STUDENTS’ AWARENESS AND APPLICATION OF ACHIEVEMENT STANDARDS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING Because you are an EFL pre-service teacher, I am inviting you to participate in this research study by completing the attached survey The following questionnaire has 10 questions and will require about 15 minutes to complete All of the information you provide will be treated as confidential and used only for research purposes If you choose to participate in this survey, please answer all questions as honestly as possible Thank you for taking the time to assist me in my educational endeavors If you require any further information, please contact me at the email address below Sincerely, Van Anh Email: tranvananhulis@gmail.com Part I: CEFR-V (Common European Framework of Reference for Language in Vietnam The official Dispatch 7972/BGDĐT-GDTrH, the MOET sets target levels of different grades as below: Students finishing grade 6: A2.1; Students finishing grade 7: A2.2; Students finishing grade 8: A2.3; Students finishing grade 9: A2; Students finishing grade 10: B1.1; Students finishing grade 11: B1.2; Students finishing grade 12: B1 To what extent are your familiar with the CEFR and CEFR-V in language teaching? Not at all familiar Extremely familiar 64 How you apply CEFR-V in planning and preparation for a lesson? Nev er Rare ly Someti mes Ofte Usua Alw n lly ays Rare ly Someti mes Ofte Usua Alw n lly ays I know the level of my class before designing objectives/targets I describe the expected level of students in objectives/targets based on CEFR-V I understand a language feature (e.g tense) progresses from A1 to B1 CEFR levels to work out what is suitable to teach my students I check whether key contents of lessons are suitable for my students’ targeted level in CEFR-V or not I use the targeted CEFR-V level descriptions to design extra materials (videos, reading texts ) for lessons I use language sample examples at the same CEFR-V level as my class to make practice exercises How you apply CEFR-V in giving instruction? Nev er I use CEFR-V to explain new grammar rules or vocabulary for students I use CEFR-V can-do statements/descriptions to instruct students to practice I use CEFR-V can-do statements/descriptions about topics, vocabulary, grammar to create appropriate contexts for students’ level to produce (write or speak) English I design home assignments for students based on CEFR-V I give feedback based on students/course’ targeted CEFR-V and the close levels 65 I design marking criteria based on the student/course’s targeted CEFR-V level How you apply CEFR-V in your professional development? Nev er Rare ly Someti mes Ofte Usua Alw n lly ays I reflect on how effective I used CEFR-V level descriptions in lessons I read more books about how to apply CEFRV in teaching I talk with my fellow student teachers about aligning CEFR-V in teaching Part II: Achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 The dispatch orientates/describes achievement standards in detail for students It specifies the targeted ability for each grade (from secondary to high schools) in skills: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening Vietnamese teachers are required to align them in their teaching practice Please click this link https://thuvienphapluat.vn/cong-van/giao-duc/Cong-van-5333BGDDT-GDTrH-phat-trien-nang-luc-mon-tieng-Anh-2014-2015-288353.aspx to read more To what extent are your familiar with achievement standards in Dispatch 5333? Not at all familiar Extremely familiar How you apply achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 in planning and preparation for a lesson? Nev er I know the achievement standards for my class before designing objectives/targets I describe the expected achievement standards of students in objectives/targets based on dispatch 5333 I understand all requirements for all grades in 66 Rare ly Someti mes Ofte Usua Alw n lly ays the achievement standards to work out what is suitable to teach my students I check whether key contents of lessons are suitable for the my students’ targeted achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 or not I use the achievement standards descriptions to design extra materials (videos, reading texts ) for lessons How you apply achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 in giving instruction? Nev er Rare ly Someti mes Ofte Usua Alw n lly ays I use the achievement standards to explain new grammar or vocabulary for students I use the achievement standards descriptions to instruct students to practice I use the achievement standards descriptions about topics, vocabulary, grammar to create appropriate contexts for students’ level to produce (write or speak) English I design home assignments for students based on the achievement standards descriptions I give feedback based on on students/course’ targeted achievement standards I design marking criteria based on the student/course’s targeted achievement standards How you apply achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 in your professional development? Nev er I reflect on how effective I used the achievement standards in lessons I read more books about how to apply the achievement standards in teaching 67 Rare ly Someti mes Ofte Usua Alw n lly ays I talk with my fellow student teachers about aligning the achievement standards in teaching I A B C D E F Your GPA? < 2.0 2.0 – 2.49 2.5 – 3.19 3.2 – 3.59 3.6 - 4.0 Vietnamese teachers are required to align them in their teaching practice II What is your mode of study? A Fast track mode B Mainstream mode III Your email IV Your name 68 Appendix 4: The reliability of the questionnaire How you apply CEFR-V in planning and preparation for a lesson? Reliability Statistics Cronbach's N of Items Alpha 94 I know the level of my class before designing objectives/targets I describe the expected level of students in objectives/targets based on CEFR-V Corrected Item- Cronbach's Alpha if Total Correlation Item Deleted 73 94 83 93 85 93 89 92 86 93 83 93 I understand a language feature (e.g tense) progresses from A1 to B1 CEFR levels to work out what is suitable to teach my students I check whether key contents of lessons are suitable for my students’ targeted level in CEFRV or not I use the targeted CEFR-V level descriptions to design extra materials (videos, reading texts ) for lessons I use language sample examples at the same CEFR-V level as my class to make practice exercises How you apply CEFR-V in giving instruction? Reliability Statistics Cronbach's N of Items Alpha 937 69 Corrected Item- Cronbach's Alpha if Total Correlation Item Deleted I use CEFR-V to explain new grammar rules or 760 933 787 930 874 919 839 922 838 923 799 927 Corrected Item- Cronbach's Alpha if Total Correlation Item Deleted vocabulary for students I use CEFR-V can-do statements/descriptions to instruct students to practice I use CEFR-V can-do statements/descriptions about topics, vocabulary, grammar to create appropriate contexts for students’ level to produce (write or speak) English I design home assignments for students based on CEFR-V I give feedback based on students/course’ targeted CEFR-V and the close levels I design marking criteria based on the student/course’s targeted CEFR-V level How you apply CEFR-V in your professional development? Reliability Statistics Cronbach's N of Items Alpha 816 I reflect on how effective I used CEFR-V level descriptions in lessons I read more books about how to apply CEFR-V in teaching I talk with my fellow student teachers about aligning CEFR-V in teaching 70 714 702 675 743 621 793 How you apply achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 in planning and preparation for a lesson? Reliability Statistics Cronbach's N of Items Alpha 930 Corrected Item- Cronbach's Alpha if Total Correlation Item Deleted I know the achievement standards for my class before designing objectives/targets I describe the expected achievement standards of students in objectives/targets based on dispatch 5333 721 932 862 905 879 901 828 911 792 918 I understand all requirements for all grades in the achievement standards to work out what is suitable to teach my students I check whether key contents of lessons are suitable for the my students’ targeted achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 or not I use the achievement standards descriptions to design extra materials (videos, reading texts ) for lessons How you apply achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 in giving instruction? Reliability Statistics Cronbach's N of Items Alpha 928 Item-Total Statistics I use the achievement standards to explain Scale Mean if Scale Corrected Cronbach's Item Deleted Variance if Item-Total Alpha if Item Item Deleted Correlation Deleted 15.7400 33.811 71 727 922 new grammar or vocabulary for students I use the achievement standards descriptions to instruct students to 15.5400 32.332 820 910 15.5300 31.383 875 903 15.5700 32.005 860 905 15.4600 30.615 869 903 15.6100 34.786 599 939 practice I use the achievement standards descriptions about topics, vocabulary, grammar to create appropriate contexts for students’ level to produce (write or speak) English I design home assignments for students based on the achievement standards descriptions I give feedback based on on students/course’ targeted achievement standards I design marking criteria based on the student/course’s targeted achievement standards How you apply achievement standards in Dispatch 5333 in your professional development? Reliability Statistics Cronbach's N of Items Alpha 889 72 Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean if Scale Corrected Cronbach's Item Deleted Variance if Item-Total Alpha if Item Item Deleted Correlation Deleted I reflect on how effective I used the achievement standards 5.7200 4.769 731 890 5.8900 4.907 829 804 5.9100 4.830 792 832 in lessons I read more books about how to apply the achievement standards in teaching I talk with my fellow student teachers about aligning the achievement standards in teaching 73 74 ... overview of key terms related to the standards, standard-based language teaching, common standards in language teaching, standards of English Language Teaching in Vietnam (CEFR-V and achievement standards. .. methodology and findings – the literature review definition of standards, its advantages and disadvantages to explain the level of knowing and aligning standards into teaching practice in the findings In. .. Teaching Defining Standards Standard-based Teaching Common standards in Language Teaching in the world and in Vietnam Aligning standards to teaching 11 This