MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY TRAN THI TRUC NOVICE EFL TEACHERS‟ PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES IN TEACHING ENGLISH AT HIGH SCHOOLS IN BINH DINH PROVIN
INTRODUCTION
RESEARCH RATIONALE
Each year a great number of beginning teachers graduate from colleges as well as from universities and start their teaching profession These newcomers are so numerous that one out of each ten teachers could be a member of their group During the primary years, many of those young teachers fail and plenty of more gradually become discouraged and leave the teaching profession, which could help them to make ends meet This dilemma has faced education sector recently
These obstacles and failures of beginning teachers are not of recent development, they seem to have existed within the profession from its period One might remember their first days of teaching or greeting students for the very first times without hiding their trembling or shaking Graduates of pre-service teacher education programs are frequently confronted with the realization that, as new teachers, they must immediately begin teaching in a classroom setting Anyone who is teaching a new course for the first time is considered a novice teacher (Farrell,
2012, p 437) However, in general, a novice teacher is someone who has recently completed pre-service teacher education and has less than four years of teaching experience The data reveal that it is not commonplace for new instructors, even new English teachers, to have to deal with a variety of demands from seasoned and professional colleagues This is a difficult task for new teachers, especially if there isn't much professional aid and support available in the classroom
In most parts of our province, beginning school teachers are not any longer faced with physically forcible removal from their situations, but the actual fact that even the most effectively adjusted of them have definite problems is clear to oldsters, school boards, administrators, and fellow teachers alike The importance of this paper in terms of the issues' nature can scarcely be denied
This study is going to provide two essential components First and foremost, beginning teachers realize that the ideals they formed while training may not be appropriate for the realism they faced with during their first years of teaching That is to say, during their first few months in the classroom, novice teachers are bombarded with a variety of situations that they have not anticipated It is unfortunate that this concern has not been fully addressed in schools in our province as beginning teachers have the identical responsibility as full-time lecturers with a few years of service It is suggested that it is not until they need survived the initial shock of the primary year that novices are ready to begin to think about the fact that long-term planning, overarching student goals, and individual student needs are all important considerations
It has been discovered that during their first year of teaching, new instructors ask themselves several identification questions, such as ―Who am I in my story of teaching? Who am I in my place in school? Who am I in my children‘s stories? Who am I in my administrator‘s stories?‖ (Connelly & Clandinin, 1999, p.3) Given the conflicts, reality shocks, and anxieties that many studies into new teachers' teaching experiences have identified as common characteristics of the transition from student to teacher (Huberman, 1989; Vonk, 1993; Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011), novice teachers often struggle to find appropriate answers to these questions, leaving them feeling overwhelmed and challenged (Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011)
Because there is no progressive entrance into the teaching profession, beginning teachers‗s move from pre-service education to professional practice is typically unsettling Novices frequently teach like experienced teachers, allowing them to play multiple roles such as student, teacher, and researcher (Smith & Sela,
2005) There appears to be a consensus that what is expected of an experienced teacher is equally expected of a new teacher Despite the fact that novice instructors lack the attributes of experienced teachers, they are expected to match similar standards as soon as they enter the field, and this injustice occasionally goes even further, with beginning teachers receiving the most demanding teaching assignments (Yost, 2006) This adds to the difficulties faced by new teachers As a consequence, ―beginning teachers leave the field at higher rates than beginning workers in other careers‖ (Wonacott, 2002, p.3)
Numerous studies on novice teachers of English have been conducted in terms of covering several aspects of novice teachers Research by Brannan and Bleistein (2012), for instance, reported that novice teachers were desperately in need of support from their mentors, both of logistical knowledge and of those related to professional and pedagogical competences Moreover, research by Ai Phuong (2015) explored the construction of professional identity of a novice EFL teacher in Vietnam However, these studies were conducted on novice teachers of secondary schools and just explored the profession identity of novice teachers In other words, although much has been written in the educational literature about novice teachers' experiences in their first years of teaching, the subject has received less attention in the fields of English language teaching (ELT) and language teacher education
Compelled by this very fact, the piece of writing ― Novice EFL Teachers’
Professional Challenges and Responses in Teaching English at High Schools in Binh Dinh Province” is aim to thoroughly examine professional challenges that novice teachers in our province face in their early experience of teaching at high schools through a review of serious literature Supported recent studies from the literature, these professional challenges are discussed and future direction for research during this field is recommended Secondly, it is necessary to come up with pragmatic implications so as to support new teachers, helping them to solve the challenges that they are likely to encounter in their daily tasks and duties This paper also provides specific advice as well as tips for finding solutions to real teaching challenges, all of which are summarized in brief and comprehensive ways teachers can be able to apply in the reality and keep for future reference
For the purpose of finding out what problems beset the beginning teachers, a survey was made of fifty teachers in high schools The term ―beginning teachers‖ in this study refers to those teachers who have had no more than five years of teaching experience The schools range from the very small to the very large and from the poorly equipped to the most modernly equipped
Unfortunately, the majority of English teachers in our province in general and in high schools in particular have not had any opportunities or chances of being heard or listened in terms of their daily struggling They have to accomplish their tasks as well as duties without being provided any kinds of pragmatic assistance The most effective components in English language education are teachers They play an essential role in the learning and achievement (Darling- Hammond, 2003) According to Shafie and Nayan (2010), knowledge transmitter, role model, facilitator, student assessor, curriculum assessor, and course planner are some of the primary tasks instructors are required to play in educational settings Teachers are expected to have proper training and qualifications due to the crucial responsibilities they play As a result, in this research, it is expected to have a closer look atall of the participants‘ professional challenges, as well as their attitudes towards not only their own obstacles but also their co-workers and peers Moreover, the focus of the study is also looking for particular suggestions or pieces of advice or support to help the novice teachers in their own career of teaching
This study aims to investigate the professional challenges of EFL teachers in their initial years of teaching at high schools in Binh Dinh Province
To achieve this aim, the researcher tries to fulfill the following objectives:
- To identify the professional challenges experienced by novice teachers
- To examine how they respond to their challenges
In order to achieve the aim and objectives, this study attempts to address the two subsequent questions:
1 What are the professional challenges in terms of knowledge, skills and attitude experienced by novice teachers?
2 How do novice teachers respond to their challenges?
This study concentrates on particular professional challenges of English teachers as they need to continually search for distinctive approaches to cope with extra issues which will arise each day Besides, this paper also provides useful and pragmatic implications or suggestions which might partially assist novice teachers to beat these obstacles The study is conducted at some high schools in Binh Dinh Province The participants are fifty beginning teachers, who have been teaching English as a foreign language for almost five years
Theoratically, there has been so far no investigations into the professional challenges faced by novice EFL teachers; it thus helps to provide valid data to tackle the difficulties
Pedogogically, three components that have had great influence on English teaching profession related to professional challenges consist of knowledge, skills and attitude
Practically, the study benefits for novice teacher to have a better understanding of the major challenges Besides, this research also provides encouragement at the start of their teaching careers As a result, novice teachers may obtain better approaches of individualizing learning and teaching processes; in working with students who have special educational needs; in cooperating with parents and in motivating students to learn and other
The thesis is divided into five chapters:
Chapter 1 consists of the research rationale, the aims and objectives, the research questions, the scope, the significance of the study
Chapter 2 includes the information about some concepts relating to common problems that novice EFL teachers face
Chapter 3 comprises the research methods and procedures
Chapter 4 presents the findings and discussion
Chapter 5 concludes the study, informs some limitations of the study and gives some suggestions for future research.
LITERATURE REVIEW
NOVICE TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
In research on beginning teachers, the term "novice" has been often used, and as Farrell (2012) pointed out, there is no clear-cut definition of a novice teacher in the literature Anyone teaching something new for the first time or entering a new cultural context for the first time is considered a novice (Farrel, 2012) There is also no agreement on how many years of teaching are required to complete the novice stage A novice, according to some studies, is a teacher with less than five years of experience (Kim & Roth, 2011) Others referred to it as an instructor with no more than two years of experience (Haynes, 2011)
The phrase novice teachers, also known as beginning teachers, pre-service teachers, and neophytes, have been used in a variety of studies The word "novice teacher" is sometimes used in conjunction with the term "induction," which refers to the early phase of one's career or the system of support that may be available during that phase (Strong, 2009)
The majority of studies focus on the importance of the initial years of teaching in a teacher's career, as well as how teachers' experiences impact their identity and future practices Pitton (2006) argued that ―the success of new teachers is critically linked to their first teaching experiences and the opportunities they are given to talk through issues they face in the classroom‖ (p 2) If they are left alone with their problems and begin to feel ineffective, they will conclude that they are unfit for the job and will quit Researchers have referred to the gap between pre- service education and in-service development as one of the causes for the increase in teachers leaving the profession Following their university education and employment, novice teachers lose contact with their teacher educators, and they face the same issues as their more experienced colleagues on the first day of school with little guidance from their new school (Farrell, 2012) When statistics on dropout rates are evaluated, it is clear how terrible the problem is ―25% to 50% of beginning teachers leave during their first three years of teaching, and nearly 10% leave in their first year‖ (Ozturk, 2008, p 20) These figures highlight the need of investigating the issues that novice teachers face and assisting them in overcoming their difficulties during their first years of teaching
In this study, I define a novice teacher as a teacher with less than five years of experience in the classroom as suggested by Kim & Roth, (2011) I focus on the professional challenges of novice language teachers Furthermore, I explore the types of support needed and their availability
2.1.2 Definition of Teacher Professional Development
Professional development (PD) has been utilized in a variety of circumstances; in some ways, it emphasizes the idea that teaching is a profession, and it is thus defined in several ways Wong, M.S (2011) describes PD in the context of English teaching as "a lifetime endeavor, a way of being, and a perspective on how one practices as well as the practice itself." In other words, professional development raises instructors' working practices to a higher level PD can also be defined as "the engagement of individuals in any activity for the enhancement of their capacity at work and to gain, improve, and share a body of knowledge and skills that are relevant to perform particular duties in their workplace.", according to Alemu (2014) As a result, professional development that strives to improve teachers' knowledge, skills, and attitudes includes both formal and informal experiences such as reading professional publications, watching television documentaries relevant to an academic topic, and so on As a result, Richards, J.C., and Farrell, T.S.C (2005) noted that it has become more acknowledged in recent years that both EFL and ESL teachers require professional development
Various researchers have characterized teacher professional development Professional development is the process of a person growing in his or her work role
In teaching, it is characterized as a process by which teachers can engage individually or collaboratively to reflect on and improve their teaching performance, as well as to widen their knowledge, skills, and physical interaction, all of which are critical to their teaching careers Professional development, according to Craft
(2002) and Gey (2000), is defined as the improvement of a teacher's profession as a result of reflection and learning from both personal experiences such as workshops, short-term or long-term training programs, and informal learning from professional publications and documentaries in the field of education Teacher professional development is characterized by Coetzer (2001) as orientation, training, and support
Many researchers have defined and discussed teacher professional development under the terms teacher development and professional development (Castellano and Datnow, 2000; Pham, 2001; Kent, 2004) Lange (1990) defines teacher development as "a continual intellectual, experiential, and attitudinal growth of teachers" (p 250) He believes the process begins before and continues throughout his teaching career Professional Development, according to Hassel
(1999), is the process through which teachers develop both the skills and the competence required to achieve outstanding educational results
"Teacher development" is distinguished from "teacher training" by Head and Taylor (1997) In many ways, the two terms are implicitly different from each other Teacher development, on the one hand, is usually voluntary, holistic, long- term, bottom-up, and done with peers, whereas teacher training is, on the other hand, mandatory, competency-based, short-term, top-down, and done by specialists Teacher development is "an ongoing process which includes appropriate, well-thought-out training and individual follow-up," according to Kent
(2004, p.428) The contrasts suggest that professional growth necessitate lifelong learning and personal knowledge of changes in the teaching profession for teachers
Teacher Professional Development can be characterized in terms of Teacher Development or Professional Development to some extent Some researchers also make a distinction between teacher development and professional development For instance, "teacher development" refers to a classroom focus, whereas "professional development" refers to a career focus (Duong, 2003)
Although researchers sometimes confuse the two terms, they share comparable concepts and assumptions about the tools and options that teachers might use to improve their teaching practices and advance their careers As a result, the terms Teacher Development and Professional Development will be used interchangeably in this thesis, and can be viewed as a change in a teacher's status as a teacher
2.1.3 The Importance of Professional Development for EFL novice teachers
Several studies have demonstrated and supported the importance of teacher professional development With the impact of globalization, teaching tendencies are constantly updated If English teachers are not to be left behind in their careers, they must renew their pedagogical techniques and skills in order to satisfy the needs of educational institutions (Richard & Farrel, 2005) As a result, the development is likely to have an impact on perspectives and approaches, thus improving the quality of the learning and teaching process (Day & Sachs, 2004) Professional development programs are designed to enable and support teachers, regardless of where they teach or their professional background, and to provide the best instructional support possible so that they can improve themselves by boosting competence, confidence, and commitment, as well as facilitating a sense of joy in teaching (Day & Sachs, 2004) Professional development for teachers benefits students' learning as well Researchers have discovered that when students study with teachers who have a better understanding of how pupils learn, they do a better job in learning Successful professional development of instructors, according to Falk (2001) and Guskey (2000), leads to learners making progress in their learning Changes in instructional strategies, classroom management, and teacher-student interaction may have a direct impact on student results Furthermore, professional development can greatly help to the advancement of educational institutions by building professional strength and highly skilled teaching forces that can effectively meet the institution's requirements ( Richard & Farrel, 2005)
Professional development is vital to modifying teachers' teaching approaches, enhancing educators' prestige, and ensuring that these changes have a favorable influence on students' learning (Nunan, 2001) Professional development, according to Villegas – Reimers (2003), had a favorable impact on instructors' beliefs and practices, as well as on students' learning In other words, professional development had a significant impact on teachers' instructional objectives As a result, EFL teachers require a complete professional program at all phases of their careers, as their competency affects both their learning and teaching practice They can learn new concepts, skills, and attitudes, as well as investigate, debate, and reflect on new ideas, as well as test out new techniques and incorporate them into their profession That is why ongoing professional development is so important in the educational process, and the more professional knowledge teachers have, the greater the levels of achievement students achieve ( Falk, 2001)
2.2 NOVICE EFL TEACHERS‟PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES IN PREPARATION STAGE
2.2.1 Challenges in relation to foreign language teaching and learning for high school teachers
Farrell (2009) defines novice teachers as ―teachers who have completed their teacher education program and have just commenced teaching in an institutional institution‖ (p.182) Research has shown that novice instructors confront worries and obstacles during their "learning to teach" process (Fuller & Brown, 1975), as they endeavor to create their teacher - self and formulate their identities (Miller, 2009) As a result, the first year of teaching is regarded as unpredictable, idiosyncratic, and anxiety-inducing (Johnson, 2002)
One of the foremost obvious problems is that the inability to improvise creatively, respectfully and with knowledge, because they are doing not have the power to show and apply what they know—nor do they need the experience needed to understand the difference between teaching and studying (Wilson and Ball,
2002) This concentrates the essence of educational problems involving everything associated with being answerable of a bunch of scholars
RELATED STUDIES
Novice teachers have been the subject of numerous studies, the majority of which looked into the challenges and recommendations faced by novice EFL teachers in various educational contexts Phuong (2015), Ngoc (2018), Alhamad
(2018), Amin &Rahimi (2018), Sali &Kecik (2018), Hayati (2018), and Sang
(2020) provide a brief review of similar works undertaken by diverse researchers from various countries
Phuong (2015) conducted a study that aims to investigate the construction of a novice EFL teacher's professional identity in Vietnam, to identify the factors that influence this process, and to examine how these factors interact to construct and complicate the teacher's professional identity Narrative inquiry and semi- structured interview are the data gathering tools used to achieve the research's goals The study reveals that teachers' professional identity creation is highly complicated and influenced by a variety of elements, including personal, contextual, and sociocultural factors, after a long period of collecting and evaluating data These elements interact and are so closely linked that it is nearly impossible to isolate them The research findings are predicted to be crucial in offering valuable insights into the process of EFL teachers forming and reconstructing their identities in relation to a specific working environment In terms of limitation, choosing only one person to participate in the study was highly dangerous because this person could withdraw from the study at any time for any reason without prior notice Second, observations of the teacher in her local community were not possible because to the great distance between the two cities where the participant and the researcher were stationed.Finally, while identity is a shifting concept that changes over time, nine months of conducting the study could be insufficient
In the context of teaching English at secondary school in Hue City in 2018, Ngoc conducted a study that aims to look into common professional development activities from the perspective of EFL teachers It is critical to choose the most appropriate design for attaining the study's goals in order to satisfy the study's aims and objectives This research was aimed to be descriptive In this study, a quantitative and a qualitative method were used.A survey questionnaire was distributed to fifty EFL teachers from Hue's lower secondary schools in order to obtain replies Twenty teachers took part in the second interview instrument, which was used to qualify data collected from the questionnaire The findings show that most EFL teachers believe that common professional development (PD) activities are important, but they have differing views on how common PD activities are implemented in their lower secondary schools Team teaching activities including peer observations, in particular, were given more emphasis than the others It was also found that standard PD activities including maintaining diaries or recording lessons, participating in academic activities or participating in discussion groups, and mentoring were used frequently Furthermore, the study found that a number of reasons hampered the implementation of common PD activities, including a lack of knowledge, motivation, inadequate educational technology, and lack of collaboration among EFL teachers, with time being the most significant factor Further studies should focus on other aspects of PD activity and lifelong PD
Next, Alhamad carried out a study in 2018 to examine the challenges that Saudi Arabian EFL novice teachers face as they transit into their first teaching jobs and to see if they receive adequate support or if they might benefit from a formal induction process In this study, mixed-methods approach was adopted, in which quantitative and qualitative analyses were used to obtain the individualized perspectives of Saudi novice teachers regarding the challenges of their first years of teaching, the efficacy of existing workplace support mechanisms, and the induction practices that would be most beneficial to them in mitigating the challenges they face 150 novice teachers were surveyed and 5 teachers were selected for semi- structured interviews 150 novice teachers were contacted in this mixed methods study, and 5 teachers were chosen for semi-structured interviews To answer the research question, descriptive and inferential statistics were used to conduct a quantitative analysis of the data The qualitative analysis of the data was carried out by evaluating the answers to the interview questions The findings indicated that the challenges surrounding novice teachers hinder them in their development as new teachers Dealing with students with low English proficiency and managing students' negative attitudes about studying English were the most prominent obstacles mentioned by participants The adoption of various teaching methods and the construction of a student-centered approach, student behavior management, course planning, dealing with individual differences, and contact with parents were all identified as further perceptible obstacles in this research This research revealed that these teachers had extremely limited knowledge and abilities for dealing with the realities of teaching when they completed their pre-service training The two most helpful techniques for developing a teacher induction program that could reduce the obstacles they confront in their first few years were identified by novice teachers as mentoring and observing experienced teachers It is suggested that this study be reproduced in studies conducted at specific school levels, such as elementary, intermediate, and high school, to see if the needs and challenges of new teachers at each level differ from those of new teachers at other levels Besides, a future study should aim to recruit a greater number of participants from rural sections of the country to explore if teaching in rural versus urban areas affects views of problems in the early years of teaching An additional recommendation for further research involves using in-depth interviews with regional education directors, administrators, and veteran teachers, in order to gather more detailed information about the needs of beginning teachers and more effective ways of helping them to successfully adjust during their first year of teaching
In the context of teaching English in four province across Kurdistan, Amin
&Rahimi (2018) conducted a study that aims to to investigate challenges of novice EFL teachers during induction period in Iraqi Kurdistan The data was acquired from 20 beginner EFL teachers teaching in four provinces across Kurdistan using a cross-sectional descriptive design questionnaire Out of 20 participants, 8 were female (n ) They graduated from colleges of Education, Language, and Arts and all of them participated in pre-service training course by Ministry of Education from one to three months With the objective of looking at the internal consistency of the items in the data collection instrument, Cronbach‘s alpha level was calculated as 89 for the 66-item questionnaire The data were analyzed through SPSS 16.0 to get the results In connection to the whole research question, the general concerns of the novice teachers were investigated under two classifications: job-related and social challenges.The study's findings revealed that new EFL teachers faced both professional and social challenges he most frequent adaptation challenges were related to (1) relationship with students, (2) social status and identity, (3) supervisors (school principals and inspectors), and (4) classroom management All of the adaption issues highlighted in their study could be due to a variety of factors, including the school context in which the rookie EFL instructors in Iraqi Kurdistan began teaching and their past experiences from their pre-service years These factors could have direct or indirect influence on the adaption processes of rookie
EFL teachers, which is an issue that needs to be researched further
In a study conducted in 2018 in Turkey, Sali &Kecik investigated the challenges as perceived by novice teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) The participants of the study were seven (7) novice EFL teachers in public primary and secondary schools in Turkey The data sources include semi-structured interviews, diary entries, video-recorded classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews The results, discussed in relation to pre-service and in-service teacher education, suggested that the novice EFL teachers started out their pedagogical journey amid competing and interacting challenges The cross-case analysis of the qualitative data revealed the following themes and sub-themes of challenges in relation to foreign language pedagogy Providing and maintaining classroom discipline was one of the repeatedly mentioned challenges, and the participants reported it as a problem (n=7) Disruptive learner behaviour seemed to be a great challenge for all the participants It was either in the form of bullying, excessive talk, talking out of turn, being noisy, being out of seat without good cause, bad language, disobedience, or disrespect to the teacher The present study did not focus on the relationship between those difficulties and the teachers‘ previous language learning experiences, types of the schools where they were teaching, amount of teaching experience, teacher education programmes that they graduated from, and teacher characteristics Further studies might thus be conducted on these aspects Moreover, some other studies might compare novice and experienced EFL teachers‘ experiences to better understand the challenges that novice teachers are faced with and to see how novice and experienced teachers deal with different challenges of classroom practice
Futhermore, Hayati (2018) conducted a study that aims to identify the obstacles that Indonesian beginner English instructors have in terms of lesson preparation and implementation, classroom management, and professional development It also looks into the teachers' pre-service teacher education experience and the school's support structure, both of which could be related to their difficulties The study is a qualitative case study including eleven English teachers from Malang secondary schools (junior and senior high schools, as well as vocational institutions) who have fewer than five years of experience in the classroom Open-ended questionnaires were used to collect data, which were then followed up with semi-structured interviews to explain and elaborate what respondents had written in the questionnaires The study reveals that these new teachers face a variety of challenges, including planning and implementing a lesson based on the 2013 Curriculum, designing and implementing motivating learning strategies and assessment procedures appropriate for a class of students with a low level of ability, and managing a large class It finishes with some suggestions for bridging the gap between pre-service teacher education and professional development and in-service teacher education and professional development
In a recent study carried out in 2020 by Sang, the implementation of a mentoring program for EFL novice teachers was explored This study was conducted with the purpose of investiagating the extent of various types of support in the program provided Additionally, it aimed at exploring the level of satisfaction and expectation of EFL novice teachers about the types of support in the program This study was designed as a mixed-method study, using a questionnaire and interviews as data collection intruments The study involved the participation of twenty-two EFL novice teachers who have less than three-year experience in teaching and took part in a mentoring program held by a private English center in Meking delta The finding showed that all types of support in the program, including intructional support, emotional support, physical support and institutional support were provided with high extent The participants hold high level of satisfaction towards these types of support The results also revealed that EFL novice teachers had high expactation about maintaning support after the program, especially instructionall support Based on the findings, some recommendations were suggested to promote the quality of the program and meet participants ‗s need and expectation
From these studies, it can be concluded that novice EFL teachers‘challenges have been taken into consideration in various context Educatoes and researchers have had greater concern in attrition rale and how to maintain effective teachers in their early stage of profession The major of researchers investigated the challenges faced by novice EFL teachers Nevertheless, they tended to focus on various aspect rather than on a specific type of challenge In this study, the researcher aims to study the novice EFL teachers‘ professional challenges This study also gives a more comprehensive view on the issues that novice teachers need to do to overcome their challenges.
SUMMARY
This chapter reviews the literature on novice EFL teachers‘challenges in general and novice EFL teachers‘professional challenges in particular, which helps me understand and decide on the appropriate theoretical frameworks for this study
In order to answer the stated research questions, this research was framed based on Kim & Roth (2011) conception of novice teacher Moreover, the theoretical framworks related to academic problems (Wilson and Ireton 2007), organization problems (Brock and Grady, 2008), issues of material and technology (Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002) and challenges in relation to forms of professional support (Weasmer and Woods (2000) also contributed toward the process of making sense of the research issue Also, the four sorts of assistance that new teachers require in their early years of teaching (Lipton and Wellman, 2001) is also taken into adequate consideration
I discuss the main research methodology and approach of the study in the following chapter, chapter 3.
METHODOLOGY
DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT
Seeing that survey questionnaire is generally objective and relatively quick to collect information and a wide range of aspect at the same time Still, the questions in the questionnaire were designed mostly in close-ended form, which was supposed to gather the common trend of information collected from the novice teachers The questionnaire was written in both English and Vietnamese to make sure that the participants deeply apprehend all the questions and the instructions
The survey questionnaire for teachers consists of two main sections whose design was essentially based on the Likert Scale The content of each section is depicted as follows:
Section 1 comprises four questions about novice teachers‘background information Through this segment, the author could assemble data about the teaching experiences of the novice teachers Section 1 includes section 1.1 and section 1.2 Section 1.1 contains four questions referring to the novice teachers‘perception about teaching Section 1.2 includes four questions indicating novice EFL Teachers‘ Training and Professional Development
Section 2 is composed of thirty-three statements demonstrating the professional challenges faced by Binh Dinh EFL novice teachers during their initial years of teaching They are in close-ended from utilizing 5-level Likert scale ranging from ―Very challenging‖ to ―Not challenging‖ with rating scale from ―1‖ to
―5‖ in turn These statements in this section were arranged randomly for the participants to avoid hesitation in their choices EFL teachers were asked to respond to the statement by ticking the provided boxes Through a close-ended questionnaire to identify their perceptions on adaptation problems experienced in different situations
Apart from the questionnaire, the interview was also carried out in order to obtain more information collected from the questionnaire It is mainly believed that the main task in interviewing is to comprehend the meanings of what the interviewees say
The four following questions aim to explore the professional challenges faced by Binh Dinh EFL novice teachers during their initial years of teaching
1 What professional challenges in terms of knowledge do you think novice EFL teachers often face in teaching English at high schools? Why is that so?
2 What professional challenges in terms of skills do you think novice EFL teachers often face in teaching English at high schools? Why is that so?
3 Do you have any challenges related to social – professional relationships?
4 How do you respond to your challenges?
With respect to Semi-structured interview, it aims at knowing the difficulties that the participants have been experiencing during their first months of teaching, the feeling that they have to bottle up or suppress over that amount of time, and their attitudes towards what they have to encounter and solve on their own It has four main questions It is important to mention that the questionnaires were conducted first and then the interviews were likely to be carried out before those conversations were analyzed and presented statistically The interview questions were written in both English and Vietnamese so that the participants would have a high accuracy of understanding of all the questions
While questionnaires are mailed to the respondents, to be answered, in the manner specified in the cover letter The interview is a one to one communication; where in the respondents are asked questions directly.
DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE
Regarding data collection procedure, firstly, I reviewed the literature related to the present research to relevant theoretical background and previous studies After that, I designed the data collection instrument including questionnaire and interview Next, I worked with the supervisor and did the pilot study The pilot study was carried out during one week I sent the questionnaire first and then interview questions to 8 novice teachers After doing the pilot study, I adapted the items related to five linkert scale in section 1 and put section 2 and section 3 into section 1.1 and section 1.2 in terms of novice teachers‘perception about teaching and novice EFL Teachers‘ Training and Professional Development
One week later after doing the pilot study, I started collecting data The questionnaires were delivered to 50 novice teachers in person on Google Form after the questionnaire had been piloted It took them 10-15 minutes to finish the questionnaire An online survey was picked up for the precedences of reaching partitipants who would otherwise be challenging to connect with during the time frame available to the current study, such as those living in a different region of the country Moreover, because of the challenges presented the by gender segregation, the employment of an online survey was necessary to facilitate access to male teachers A total of 50 completed surveys were sent back
The interview participants were selected from among those who completed the surveys I specifically asked some of the survey respondents if they would con- sent to be interviewed, if chosen After two weeks, from among those who agreed, eight out of fifty novice teachers including four males and four females were invited for informal semi-structured interviews Among those eight teachers, there are two people with one year teaching experience, two with two years of teaching experience, two with three years of teaching experience and two with four years teaching experience To avoid causing stress to participants, interviews were conducted based on the participants by google meet Each interview took place around 10 -15 minutes on google meet All interviews were recorded for later transcription.
DATA ANALYSIS
The quantitative data was analyzed by SPSS in terms of descriptive statistics and measuring the reliability of the data SPSS statistical analysis software (Version 22) was used to analyze the survey data on two levels, namely descriptive and inferential At the descriptive levels, the frequencies, percentages and mean scores of the participants‘ responses were specified to identify the degree of challenge presented by each of the 33 challenges that were identified in other published studies as being momental The frequencies, percentages, and mean scores of the participants‘ responses were also calculated to determine the extent to which new teachers found the assistance provided by supervisors, principals, colleagues, and trainers helpful in mitigating such challenges, on a scale of ―very challenging‖ to ―not challenging.‖ Moreover, a similar analysis methodology was applied to determine the induction practices that would aide to mitigate the challenges that newbie teachers have to encounter, as perceived by them Data from this study was secured by means of questionnaire requiring no signature It seems probable that the teachers would get more freedom to reply to the questions on the survey blank if they failed to need to identify themselves or the college during which they need work on Many might take time to jot down additional problems and explanations of varied unpleasant situations Some would also voice a desire to work out the results of the findings so that they could compare the issues they experienced as individuals with those experienced by the group
The questionnaire was selected because the preferred method of assembling the specified data The weakness and limitations of this method of investigation are readily conceded but efforts were made to beat these drawbacks wherever possible
In spite of being provided professional training, these newbie teachers could lack of teaching experience Visible of this fact, a shot would be made to create the statement within the questionnaire as clear and specific as possible; to cut back the number of writing required by asking the teachers to test a yes/no column; to form the questionnaire as brief as possible; and to facilitate the task of checking the questionnaire by means of specific instructions stated at the highest of every form
To gather content for the initial questionnaire, a review of the literature on the subject was conducted The primary draft of the questionnaire was submitted to the advisory committee and various members of the staff for criticisms and suggested revision Then it was revised and thru the cooperation of a little group of teachers They made suggestions for improvement which was accepted, and therefore the final version is made accordingly
For the qualitative study, all the five interviews were transcribed into a
RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY
With the help of Statiscal Package for Social Science (IBM SPSS; version
22) program, Scale Tests were run to check the reliability of questionnaires Cronbach‘s level was calculated as 87 for the 33 item-questionnaire It can be seen that the reliability of the questionnaires were acceptable (α=0.87) Accordingly, the questionnaires were reliable to be used as instruments in this research
The amount to which an instrument actually measures what it is supposed to measure is defined as its validity (Gay, 1987) In terms of validity, the questionanaires and close-ended questions adapted from Amin (2008) in combination with the factors mentioned by Sarnou (2018) are used, so the quality of the data is quite valid.
SUMMARY
In a nutshell, Chapter 3 illustrates the participants‘ background information, data-gathering instruments of the research, research procedure, and research methods which are used to serve a purpose of collecting and processing the data The chapter that flows, Chapter 4, presents the findings and discussion of the study.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES FACED BY BINH DINH EFL NOVICE
In connection to the whole research question, the general concerns of the novice teachers related to professional challenges were investigated under three classifications: Items of knowledge, items of skills and items of attitude
This part describes the challenges related to knowledge in relation to foreign language teaching and learning
Table 4 6 Items of Knowledge Challenges
I find difficulty in preparing the lesson plan 25 10 30 35 0 2 75
I have troubles in choosing appropriate teaching methods of each lesson.
I feel insufficient in testing and evaluation 5 25 50 15 5 2 90
I have challenges in using communicative approaches in English class.
I have difficulties in teaching at mixed–level classes.
I am not able to teach listening skills effectively 10 5 35 15 35 3 60
Teaching speaking skills is difficult for me 5 15 20 20 20 3 60
I do not know how to develop reading skills of learners with low English proficiency.
I do not know how to make writing lesson more appealing.
I could not achieve to match my knowledge with classroom practice.
I feel insufficient in the issue of effective teaching strategies.
5 Very challenging in this table
As shown by Table 4.6, when being asked about the items of knowledge challenges in their initial years of teaching English at high school, nearly a half of them affirmed that it is very challenging for them to teach listening and speaking skills effectively Besides, 20% of them found it really challenging to teach at mixed-level classes Last but not least, using communicative approaches in English class was also a a challenge for them (35% chose ―Challenging‖) Not surprisingly, choosing appropriate teaching methods of each lesson was quite easy for novice teachers (35% chose ―Not challenging at all‖) because they have just graduated from universities, so they might still remember some teaching methods and techniques to teach effectively They also had no difficulty in preparing lesson plans In terms of testing and evaluation during teaching, 50% of them chose
―Normal‖ It means that maybe half of them did not get any trouble in testing and evaluation However, 35% of the novice teacher found it was difficult for them to match their knowledge with classroom practice In summary, this result proved that it was consistent with the theoretical framework of Wilson and Ireton (2007) in terms of academic problems
This part describes the challenges related to skills in relation to foreign language teaching and learning
Table 4 7 Items of Skills Challenges
I am not able to draw on a variety of language teaching techniques and materials 0 10 25 35 30 3 85
I do not have enough time to adapt a new teaching methodology to be appropriate to my student‘s level.
I may lack of skills necessary for adapting
1 2 3 4 5 teaching techniques to cope with the challenges resulting from context-specific factors.
Dealing with low English proficiency students is hard for me.
I have challenges in dealing with unmotivated students in learning English.
I have difficulties in deadling with individual learners differences.
Establishment of student-centered approach is the biggest challenge for me
I do not know how to give feedback to make my students not lose their motivation in learning
I feel hardship in using ICT tools to teach
5 Very challenging in this table
Table 4.7 shows that, most of the skills challenges related to three items, as almost half of the participants considered them as the biggest challengings in: deadling with individual learners differences (50%) and establishmenting of student-centered approach (50%) Besides, not having enough time to adapt a new teaching methodology to be appropriate to their students‘ level and not know how to give feedback to make their students not lose their motivation in learning English were also the big challengings for novice EFL teachers (45%) Moreover, 65% of them found it not easy to deal with unmotivated students in learning English In terms of using ICT tools to teach English, 30% chose ―Normal‖ It means that maybe only older teachers were less proficient in the use of ICT, while younger teachers were very adept at it It can be infered from the table that novice teachers might not lack skills necessary for adapting teaching techniques to cope with the challengges resulting from context-specific factors (30% chose ―Not really challenging‖with this issue) In a nutshell, we could conclude that novice EFL teachers did not face a lot of skills challenges like Kelchtermans & Woods (2000) have said earlier when talking about the issue of material and technology
This part describes the challenges related to attitude in relation to forms of professional support
Table 4 8 Items of Attitude Challenges
I do not have any mentor who was offically assigned by the school to assist me during my initial years of teaching.
I am not being encouraged for professional development in teaching English from school administration.
I am suffering from lack of collegical supports and co-operations 5 5 25 40 25 3 75
I do not know the way to solve with some of the learners and their parents who have negative attitudes towards English as a subject matter
5 Very challenging in this table
As what is mentioned from Table 4.8, the degree of ―suffering from lack of collegical supports and co-operations‖ and ―not having any mentor who was offically assigned by the school to assist me during initial years of teaching‖ visibly received the most preference It can be seen that novice EFL teachers faced a lot of difficulties during their teaching because they did not have any mentor and they hardly received any helps from their colleagues However, they were being encouraged for professional development in teaching English form school administration (60% chose ―Not challenging at all‖ with this issue) In terms of solving with some of the learners and their parents who had negative attitudes towards English as a subject matter, 65% of the novice EFL teachers found it normal To sum up, there was no doubt that collegical supports and co-operations were also huge challenges for new teachers
In summary, the major findings regarding the professional challenges faced by novice EFL teachers revealed that they faced skills and attitude challenges a little more frequently than knowledge challenges, which was consistent with some related literature highlighting issues such as establishing a student-centered approach, giving effective feedback, and time management skills This major findings supported the findings of Amin‘s study (2008).
RESPONSES OF NOVICE EFL TEACHERS
4.3.1.The responses of novice EFL teachers
Conducting mentoring programs which mentees are matched with experience teachers should be provided to novice teachers to help them overcome their challenges.
Novice EFL teachers should be provided more specific professional training on the use of innovative student-centred teaching methods, techniques and approaches in EFL classrooms.
More practical facets of courses such as linguistic and SLA in pre-service teacher education need to focus more on the content to
1 2 3 4 5 effectively apply theories into practice.
Pre-service teacher education should incorporate skills and strategies to teach in multi-cultural and multi-level classrooms.
Online support groups should increase network opportunites to promote communication with other teachers experiencing similar concerns and to facilate collaboration in reflective process.
An ongoing connection with peers and university supervisors after graduation should be available for helping novice EFL teacher overcome their challenges.
Organizing some academic activites like workshops, conferences or seminars which allow novice EFL teachers interact with other teachers in different contexts to discuss their challenges, the possible solutions to their problems and promote continuous PD of novice EFL teachers.
Further supports and assistance from administrators and more experienced colleagues should be provided.
Team teaching is useful for novice EFL in their teaching practice 25 15 30 15 15 2.80
1= Total disagree, 2 Disagree, 3 Normal, 4 Agree, 5 Total agree in this table.
As shown in Table 4.9, the first three issues had the highest percentage of agree and total agree In other words, novice EFL teachers found out three effective ways to help them overcome their professional challenges during their initial years of teaching Firstly, conducting mentoring programs which mentees were matched with experience teachers should be provided to novice teachers to help them overcome their challenges (55% of them chose ―Agree‖ item) Secondly, more practical facets of courses such as linguistic and SLA in pre-service teacher education needed to focus more on the content to effectively apply theories into practice (40% of them chose ―Agree‖ item) Last but not least, novice EFL teachers should be provided more specific professional training on the use of innovative student-centered teaching methods, techniques and approaches in EFL classrooms (50% of them chose ―Agree‖ item) On the other hand, novice teachers found it not a good idea to organize some academic activities like workshops, conferemces or seminars which allowed novice EFL teachers to interact with other teachers in different contexts to discuss their challenge, the possible solutions to their problems and promote continuous PD of novic EFL teachers (35% chose ―disagee‖). Moreover, they did not find team teaching useful for them in their teaching practice (25% chose ―total disagree‖)
In short, three effective strategies are revealed for rookie EFL teachers to overcome professional challenges during their first years of teaching To begin, new teachers should be provided with mentoring programs in which mentees are partnered with experienced teachers who can help them overcome their challenges Second, more practical components of courses like linguistics and SLA in pre- service teacher education must focus more on the content in order to effectively apply theories to practice Finally, novice EFL teachers should have more specialized professional training in the application of new student-centered teaching methods, tactics, and approaches in EFL classrooms
Intervie Question 1: What professional challenges in terms of knowledge do you think novice EFL teachers often face in teaching English at high schools? Why is that so?
When the novice teachers were asked what professional challenges in terms of knowledge they often encounter in teaching English at high school, T1 and T3 stated that the most challenge that they face during their teaching is teaching at mixed–level classes Besides, they could not achieve to match my knowledge with classroom practice The others with three and four years of experience, on the other hand, they found it difficult to teach speaking and reading skills T3 mentioned that having students in the class with low English proficiency was the most challenging aspect he had experienced as a new teacher They reported to this question, one teacher stated ― As a novice EFL teacher, I do not have the professional skills to deal with this extreme behaviors‖ All of the participants said they were underprepared for the issues they experienced since their pre-service programs did not prepare them for the realities of classrooms, such as dealing with children with limited English proficiency and disruptive students It can be concluded that novice EFL teachers face a lot of difficulites in teaching at mixed-level classes and dealing with low English proficiency in terms of knowledge
Interview Question 2: What professional challenges in terms of skills do you think novice EFL teachers often face in teaching English at high schools? Why is that so?
Six of eight teachers who have been participated in the interview have the same atititude that deadling with individual learners differences and establishmenting of student-centered approaches are the most professional challenges in terms of skills Besides, T8 mentioned that he didn‘t use the time management skills effectively, so he does not have enough time to adapt a new teaching methodology to be appropriate to his students‘ level Moreover, T6 did not know how to give feedback to make their students not lose their motivation in learning English She also get trouble is using ICT tools to teach English effectively
Interview Question 3: Do you have any challenges related to social – professional relationships?
Two of the eight interviewees with four years of experience both expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of institutional support They argued that their frequent reliance on trial-and-error as a technique of dealing with obstacles prevented them from progressing to higher levels of performance and had a negative impact on pupils' achievement They reported that they routinely sought help and counsel from their colleagues when they were having difficulties, despite the fact that their colleagues had various areas of specialization While admitting to having less possibilities to attend training courses than senior instructors, these participants indicated that such courses were unproductive because they were just theoretical and did not address their needs as new teachers
The remaining two participants, all of whom have two years of teaching experience, stated that they have received some type of institutional help At the commencement of their work with these institutions, both of them said they attended a formal training session They said the training courses supplied by their institutions were valuable because they exposed them to the most recent advancements and trends in education and provided them with practical classroom applications that they could use in their classrooms It is also interesting to notice that one of the two participants was assigned a mentor who helped her through her first month of teaching, offered support with any challenges she experienced, and introduced her to new ideas and tactics Nonetheless, the two participants agreed that the support provided by their schools was of limited value in terms of improving their teaching methods and equipping them to implement various strategies, and that it did not help them deal with issues like disruptive or low-ability students, time management, or students' negative attitudes toward learning English
The other participants stated that they received no support from their schools‘ principals, as the principals were busy with their administrative duties. Another reason they identified for their principals‘ ineffectiveness as a source of support was that the principals‘ role in judging the participants prevented them from seeking help from the principals
Interview Question 4: How do you respond to your challenges?
For this question, T1 and T4 have the same idea that there are three best ways to help novice EFL teachers overcome their professional challenges To begin with, more practical facets of courses such as linguistic and SLA in pre-service teacher education need to focus more on the content to effectively apply theories into practice Second, further supports and assistance from administrators and more experienced colleagues should be provided Last but not least, an ongoing connection with peers and university supervisors after graduation should be available for helping novice EFL teacher overcome their challenges.
T6, on the other hand, mentioned that online support groups should increase network opportunites to promote communication with other teachers experiencing similar concerns and to facilate collaboration in reflective process
When the novice teachers were asked how they respond their professional challenges in their initial years of teaching, T7 stated, ―Novice EFL teachers should be provided more specific professional training on the use of innovative student- centred teaching methods, techniques and approaches in EFL classrooms.‖
In a nutshell, all the interviewee have one same idea to overcome the challenge That is organizing some more specific professional training related to linguistic, SLA or the use of innovative student-centered teaching methods, techniques and approaches in EFL classroom.