Dalat university and yersin university of dalat english majored students knowledge of vietnam history and culture in english stuation and solutions

HO CHI MINH CITY VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE aèb PHAN THỊ UYÊN THI A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Supervisor Senior Lecturer PHAN THỊ KIM LOAN, MA DA LAT, 2008 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: DALAT UNIVERSITY AND YERSIN UNIVERSITY OF DALAT ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE OF VIETNAM HISTORY AND CULTURE IN ENGLISH SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS in terms of the statement of the Requirements of theses in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any institution Phan Thị Uyên Thi ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would first like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Mrs Phan Thị Kim Loan, for her whole-hearted guidance, thoughtful and insightful comments, and valuable support in the preparation and completion of this thesis Without her encouragement and guidance, I could not have finished this study My special thanks must go to all my teachers for their dedication and helpful instruction during the master course from the year 2005 – 2008 I wish to thank all the members in my thesis defense committee, who were enthusiastic to read and comment on this thesis I also wish to thank all of the teacher respondents from Yersin University of Dalat for their help and willingness to answer the questionnaire and to give precious opinions to the study I am also grateful to all the students who carefully completed the questionnaire, fulfilled the test and sincerely provided me with valuable information for this study In addition, I would like to send my sincere thanks to Prof Nguyễn Công Thành for his precious time for reading and commenting on my thesis on the preparatory step of the study My heartfelt appreciation is expressed to him Besides, I am very grateful to Dr Trần Nguyễn Thy Bình, my former boss, who always created favorable conditions of time and finance for me to pursuit the course during the time I studied away from home Without her help, I could not overcome difficulties and challenges to finish my study successfully Last but not least, I would like to dedicate the thesis to my family: my mother, my husband and my mother – in – law, for their love, understanding and wholehearted iii support They have taken care of everything so that I could devote all my time to the writing of the thesis I am greatly indebted to all of them iv RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Phan Thị Uyên Thi, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library In term of these conditions, I agree that the original version of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library, for care, loan, or reproduction of thesis v ABSTRACT One of the popular national concerns in the era of globalization is not only how to preserve but also how to introduce the national history and culture to the world English majored students are considered one of the most important sources of historical and cultural messengers in Vietnam as they have many chances to contact and communicate with foreigners The purpose of the present study was to determine how English students of Dalat University (DU) and Yersin University of Dalat (YU) know about Vietnam History and Culture (from now on, it is called VH&C) in English, difficulties they encounter and suggestions to improve the situation The study was also to find out if the course of British Studies (BS) students have learned can help and if the course of VH&C in English should be included in the training program of English Bachelor 128 third-year English majored students of DU and YU were asked to complete a test which consisted of two parts (BH&C and VH&C) And questionnaires were delivered to those students and 32 English teachers of YU The data of the study showed that the majority of students were below average at expressing the information of VH&C in English Their difficulties include the shortage of knowledge, vocabulary and, more importantly, the lack of their interests in the topics Moreover, the test result indicated that the course of BS did not play a significant role in the matter And, almost all of the teachers and students agreed that the training program of English Bachelor should include the course of VH&C in English vi The implied target of the study is to provide the educators and authorities the general information of English majored students’ knowledge of national history and culture in English, in hope that they will think about and have something done to make the current situation better, contributing to the process of preserving and spreading national specific characteristics of history and culture during the era of globalization vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY II ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS V ABSTRACT VI TABLE OF CONTENTS VIII LIST OF TABLES XIII LIST OF FIGURES XVI ABBREVIATION XVII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 11 2.1 HISTORY KNOWLEDGE 11 2.1.1 The roles of history 11 2.1.1.1The role of history in developing national identities 12 2.1.1.2The role of history in human development 14 2.1.1.3The role of history as a reliable source of information 15 2.1.1.4The role of history in developing our society at the present and in the future 16 viii 2.1.1.5The role of history in professional fields 17 2.1.2 Students’ knowledge of national history 18 2.1.3 How to teach History 19 2.1.3.1Teaching History in general 19 2.1.3.2Teaching History in English 21 2.2 CULTURE KNOWLEDGE 24 2.2.1 What is culture? 24 2.2.2 The roles of culture in language learning 30 2.2.3 How to teach culture 32 2.2.3.1Culture learning 33 2.2.3.2How to teach culture 34 2.3 SUMMARY 40 CHAPTER 3: DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 41 3.1 RESEARCH SETTING AND SAMPLING 41 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 41 3.2.1 Description of the test 41 3.2.2 Description of the questionnaires 43 3.2.2.1The questionnaire for students 43 3.2.2.2The questionnaire for teachers 43 ix 3.2.3 Administration 44 3.3 SUMMARY 44 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 45 4.1 FINDINGS 46 4.1.1 Descriptive analysis of the test results 47 4.1.1.1Comparing the two parts of the test 47 4.1.1.2Analyzing the part two of the test 54 4.1.2 Descriptive analysis of questionnaires 56 4.1.2.1Students’ responses: 56 4.1.2.2Teachers’ responses 60 4.2 ANALYSIS 62 4.2.1 How DU and YU English students know about VH&C in English 62 4.2.2 The difficulties students encounter when expressing VH&CI in English 66 4.2.3 The role of BS course in improving students’ knowledge of VH&C in English 68 4.2.4 The necessity of VH&C course in English in the training program of English Bachelor 68 4.3 SUMMARY 71 CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION 72 x 28 Name popular religions in Vietnam 29 Name stages in Vietnam general education: 30 What is this? GOOD LUCK! 100 APPENDIX 1B: TEST AND SUGGESTED ANSWER KEYS Fill in the following charts with all name of the constituent parts of the British Isles THE BRITISH ISLES THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND BRITAIN ENGLAND SCOTLAND WALES IRELAND GREAT BRITAIN What is the population of Britain? - It is estimated appropriately 61 million people Retell s story you know about the name “Scotland”? - Scotland is the land of Scots Scot is the name of a Celtic tribe who came there first What are the public holidays throughout the United Kingdom? - New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day, Spring Bank Holiday, Late Summer Bank Holiday, Christmas, Boxing Day What does the name Anglo-Saxon come from? - Anglo-Saxon = the Angles and the Saxons: two tribes from the north-western European mainland invaded and settled in Britain (Anglo-Saxon comes from two tribes Anglo and Saxon who came from northern part of Germany and united together) 101 Who is Queen Elizabeth I? Why is her time considered the “Golden Age”? - The Daughter of Henry VIII was the first of three long-reigning queens in British history - Her reign is known as the ‘Golden Age’ for it produced not only talented poets like Shakespeare but also prosperity for the entire nation (It was the time of great prosperity and achievement and her court was a centre of poets, writers, musicians and scholars) What you know about the Industrial Revolution? - The Industrial Revolution is the name given to the period beginning in the second haft of the 18th century in which industry was transformed from hand work at home to machine work in factories What is Oxbridge? - Oxbridge = Oxford + Cambridge Who is the Prime Minister; how is he or she chosen? - The chief executive of the Government is the Prime Minister He or she is the leader of the party that holds the most seats in the House of Commons 10 Mention the main stage of education in the UK - Primary education - Second education - Tertiary education 11 What you know about the following landmarks: Big Ben and Stonehenge - Big Ben: (Tower clock, famous for its accuracy & for its massive bell) is the name of the huge clock on one of the tall towers of the House of Parliament The clock was named after Sir Benjamin Hall under whose direction it was 102 made The Great Ben has little Bens around it Big Ben strikes only once an hour But the other four tell the quarters and the haft hour - Stonehenge is northern construction of big stones put into large circle People not know how and why they was built 12 What is Auld Lang Syne? - It is a traditional New Year Eve song with words written by Scottish poet (Robert Burns) It literally means ‘Old long ago’ 13 What is the difference of the May Day in Britain and that in other countries? - May Day in Britain refers more to folklore activities rather than working force 14 What are two of the popular sport activities in Britain? - Skiing and swimming 15 What people usually on Halloween? - On this day, people often dress as ghosts or witches and have parties 103 PART 2: VIETNAMESE HISTORY AND CULTURE 16 What we call the region of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia? - Indochina 17 Locate Vietnam in the region of Southeast Asia - Vietnam shares borders with Cambodia, Laos and China and features 3,200 km of coastline facing the South China Sea 18 What’s the full name of Vietnam? - The Socialist Republic of Vietnam 19 Describe national flag & its meaning? - A bright yellow star centered on a blood-red background The red is symbolic of lives lost in Vietnam’s movement toward unification; the star represents a brighter future The flag is based on the 1954 North Vietnam flag 20 What is the weather like in Vietnam? - Vietnam has a tropical monsoon climate, with dry & wet seasons 21 What’s the population in Vietnam now? - With a population of over 85 million, Vietnam is the 13th most populous country in the world 22 Name the President: Nguyễn Minh Triết Name the Prime Minister: Nguyễn Tấn Dũng Name the General Secretary: Nông Đức Mạnh 104 23 What you know about the politics in Vietnam - The socialist Republic of Vietnam is a single party state, under the rule of the Communist Party, the only political party permitted 24 Name the public holidays i> 1/1 : New Year’s Day j> Tết Nguyên Đán : Lunar New year k> 3/2 : Anniversary of 1930, founding of Communist Party l> 30/4 : Liberation Day m>1/5 : International Worker’s Day (May Day) n> 19/5 : Anniversary of the birth of Hồ Chí Minh o> 2/9 : National Day, commemorating 1945 independence proclamation by Hồ Chí Minh p> 10/3(Lunar calendar): Hung Kings commemoration 25 List World Heritage in Vietnam - Hội An Ancient Town - Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary - The complex of Huế monuments - Phong Nha national Park - Hạ Long Bay - The cultural space of Gong in the central Highlands - Nhã Nhạc (the royal refined music) of Huế 26 Who was considered the founder of Vietnamese National Script (Chữ Quốc Ngữ): Alexandre De Rhodes 27 Name Vietnamese hero(ine) What you know about him/her ? 105 28 Name popular religions in Vietnam: Buddhism, Cao Đài, Ancestor Worship, Catholic 29 Name stages in Vietnam general education: - Kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school & college/university 30 What is this? Betel nut Water puppets Altar Leaf hat 106 APPENDIX 2A: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (ENGLISH VERSION) QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR STUDENTS) This questionnaire is intended to help understand Students’ attitudes toward the importance of the knowledge of Vietnam History and Culture in English to students of English and the solutions to improve the current situation I would like you to help me complete my research satisfactorily by answering the following questions Your answer will be completely confidential and anonymous, and used for research purposes only I am very thankful for your enthusiasm and help How long have you studied English? o > years o > 7years o > 10 years Your English is o Excellent o Good o Above Average o Average o Under Average Do you think that the knowledge of Vietnam history and culture is important to English majored Students? o Yes o No Because Your knowledge of Vietnam history and culture is o Excellent o Good o Above Average o Average o Under Average In your opinion, expressing the information of Vietnam history and culture in English is o Very Difficult o Difficult o Neutral o Easy o Very Easy 107 Expressing the information of Vietnam history and culture is difficult because of o Shortage of knowledge of Vietnam History and Culture o Shortage of Vocabulary of Vietnam History and Culture o Both of the above reasons o Other Reasons : Do you think that the training program of English bachelor should include the course of Vietnam History and Culture in English? o Yes o No According to you, what should we to improve English majored Students’ knowledge of Vietnam History and Culture in English? THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION! 108 APPENDIX 2B: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (VIETNAMESE VERSION) CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT (DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN) Mục đích bảng câu hỏi nhằm thu thập thông tin cho việc nghiên cứu quan điểm sinh viên tầm quan trọng kiến thức lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam tiếng Anh sinh viên học tiếng Anh giải pháp để cải thiện tình hình Rất mong bạn dành chút thời gian quí báu điền vào phiếu khảo sát Những thông tin mã hóa, bảo mật hồn tồn phục vụ cho mục đích nghiên cứu Rất mong bạn hỗ trợ xin chân thành cảm ơn Cho đến nay, bạn học tiếng Anh o >5 năm o > 7năm o > 10 năm Tiếng Anh bạn xếp loại o Giỏi o Khá o TB o Trung bình o Dưới TB Theo bạn, kiến thức lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam có quan trọng sinh viên tiếng Anh không? o Có o Khơng Vì Bạn đánh giá kiến thức lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam bạn mức độ nào? oGiỏi o Khá o TB Khá o TB oDưới TB 109 Bạn cho việc diễn đạt kiến thức lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam tiếng Anh o Rất khó o Khó o Bình thường o Dễ o Rất dễ Bạn gặp khó khăn việc trình bày kiến thức lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam tiếng Anh vì: o Thiếu kiến thức lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam o Không đủ vốn từ o Cả hai lý o Lý khác: Theo bạn, chương trình đào tạo cử nhân tiếng Anh nên có thêm mơn “Lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam” tiếng Anh khơng? o Có o Khơng Theo bạn, làm cách để cải thiện khả diễn đạt kiến thức văn hóa lịch sử Việt Nam tiếng Anh sinh viên chuyên ngữ? Cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! 110 APPENDIX 3A: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS (ENGLISH VERSION) QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR TEACHERS) This questionnaire is intended to help understand teachers’ attitudes toward the importance of the knowledge of Vietnam History and Culture in English to students of English and the solutions to improve the current situation I would like you to help me complete my research satisfactorily by answering the following questions Your answer will be completely confidential and anonymous, and used for research purposes only I am very thankful for your enthusiasm and help Personal information - Your full name: - Your gender: - The highest degree you achieved - Teaching experience: o 15 years Do you think that the knowledge of Vietnam history and culture is important to English majored Students? o Yes o No Because In your opinion, to English majored Students, expressing the information of Vietnam history and culture in English is o Very Difficult o Difficult o Neutral o Easy o Very Easy 111 Expressing the information of Vietnam history and culture is difficult to English majored Students because of o Their shortage of knowledge of Vietnam History and Culture o Their shortage of vocabulary of Vietnam History and Culture o Both of the above reasons o Other Reasons: Do you think that the training program of English Bachelor should include the course of Vietnam History and Culture in English? o Yes o No According to you, what should we to improve English majored Students’ knowledge of Vietnam History and Culture in English? THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION 112 APPENDIX 3B: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS (VIETNAMESE VERSION) CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT (DÀNH CHO GIÁO VIÊN) Thông tin cá nhân: - Họ tên: - Giới tính: - Học vị: - Kinh nghiệm giảng dạy: o 15 năm Theo anh/chị, kiến thức lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam có quan trọng sinh viên tiếng Anh khơng? o Có o Khơng Vì Anh/chị cho việc diễn đạt (viết) kiến thức lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam tiếng Anh sinh viên tiếng Anh o Rất khó o Khó o Bình thường o Dễ o Rất dễ Theo anh/chị, sinh viên gặp khó khăn việc diễn đạt kiến thức lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam tiếng Anh vì: o Thiếu kiến thức lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam o Không đủ vốn từ o Cả hai lý 113 o Lý khác: Theo anh/chị, chương trình đào tạo cử nhân tiếng Anh nên có thêm mơn “Lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam” tiếng Anh khơng? o Có o Khơng Theo anh/chị, làm cách để cải thiện khả diễn đạt kiến thức lịch sử văn hóa Việt Nam tiếng Anh sinh viên Anh ngữ? Cảm ơn hợp tác quí thầy cô 114 ...CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: DALAT UNIVERSITY AND YERSIN UNIVERSITY OF DALAT ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS? ?? KNOWLEDGE OF VIETNAM HISTORY AND. .. study was to determine how English students of Dalat University (DU) and Yersin University of Dalat (YU) know about Vietnam History and Culture (from now on, it is called VH&C) in English, difficulties... improve their ability of expressing VH&CI in English If it works well, English majored Students of DU and YU in particularly and Vietnam in general, the main Vietnamese history and culture messengers,