What makes a lesson effective an investigation into classroom activities

Most teachers of English at the university wonder what makes students’ levels of motivation in attending the English class different and why the numbers of students attending the English

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Instructional methodology is considered one of the most important aspects of education, and is believed to be one of the major factors which influence the positive achievements of teaching and learning (Pham Van Dong, 1999)

Teachers are encouraged to introduce changes in the way English is taught to make classes more motivating and successful One way of doing this is to

encourage students to participate more in the learning process

In recent years, the University of Economics has paid more attention to

improving the quality of education and teaching methods Thus, teachers at UE

in general and teachers of English in particular are obliged to find out better teaching methods In order to contribute to the improvement of teaching

methods, this thesis presents an investigation into classroom activities, which are believed to be one of the most important factors that make a lesson effective By

“effectiveness” I mean that lessons should be dynamic, involving the learners in varied activities and interaction Learners should be active, not just listen and repeat However, as Davies and Pearse (2000) observe “Getting and keeping learners’ attention and their positive participation may be one of teachers’

greatest challenges”

It is generally agreed among researchers and experienced teachers that effective teaching involves the use of many different classroom activities A teacher who did nothing but lecture for an entire period, who only engaged students in

prolonged seatwork, or who did nothing but expose students to attention gaining devices would have difficulty achieving unit outcomes

This is not to say that some classes from time to time should not emphasize a single activity, but the majority of classes must offer some variety in the

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activities with which instructional stimuli are presented (Gary D.Borich,

1988:302)

Baker and Westrup (2000: 6) suggest that using activities from a variety of

teaching methods helps students learn better This is because using different approaches, activities and materials makes learning more interesting and give all students an opportunity to make progress

1.1 Background to the problem

English is one of the most important international languages It is also one of the main languages of business as it gives access to information in such areas

as business, finance and other related areas However, at Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics the rate of students’ participation in large classes has been problematic and worth considering in recent years Some students claim that the English lessons are not interesting Most teachers of English at the university wonder what makes students’ levels of motivation in attending the English class different and why the numbers of students attending the English classes differ from class to class

Are the students at our university instrumentally motivated enough? What role does English class play at our university? These are questions that need

to be addressed Although English is not the economics students’ major

subject, it is an instrumental subject for the students in many respects

Students are required to pass English tests before taking graduation exams In addition, without adequate competence of English they will have difficulty finding a good job after graduation It is, therefore, reasonable to assume that all the students possess a certain degree of instrumental motivation and a

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positive attitude towards the English subject Thus, it could be said that their absence from class does not result from their lack of instrumental motivation Secondly, considering the English curriculum for students at the university, the contents of lessons are relatively suited to students’ professional majors For example, students majoring in Monetary Affairs use “ Banking

Transaction” as their required textbook, whereas those specializing in

accounting have “ The Language of Accounting” as the main materials for their English for specific purposes (ESP) course Only the syllabus using Enterprise One and Enterprise Two are not up-to-date This shows that the syllabus of the courses has provided the students with a stock of language relevant to their professional study

Again, the above assumptions show that the low rate of students’ participation

in class does not result from their lack of instrumental motivation or irrelevant syllabuses

Personally, one of the main challenges of a large class is a wide range of mixed abilities Students have different language levels; as a result, weaker students may stop learning because they do not understand The strong

students sometimes dominate by gaining most of the teacher’ s attention and

by giving all the answers Sometimes the stronger ones stop learning because they find the work too easy and get bored Therefore, it is a big challenge to the teacher of a large class to help the weaker students and to keep the

stronger students motivated so that all students succeed

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1.2 Aim of the study

From my own observation, the rate of students’ participation varied from class to class, especially for third- year students The size of each large class was about 100 students Therefore, it is usually split into two small classes when they have English lessons, and different teachers teach these classes

At the beginning of the course the number of students is approximately the same for all classes, but after one or two lessons some classes get more

students than the others It is quite surprising that the number of students attending a class which is taught by a well - qualified and experienced

teacher is smaller

Thus, it is quite worthwhile to consider this matter if an optional methodology

is to be sought to promote English learning at UE

The thesis aims to seek empirical evidence to explain the reasons why under the same circumstances some lessons are effective and the others are not Within the scope of this thesis, only classroom activities were investigated Specifically, the study was conducted with the hope to find out if a variety of activities would improve students’ motivation in English lessons at UE and as

a result of being motivated, such adverse circumstances may be overcome

It is hoped that the findings of the research will make contributions to the improvement of teaching English at UE That means making the lesson

effective and giving all students an opportunity to make progress

The research attempts to investigate the students’ motivation, the common classroom activities and activities expected

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1.3 Structure of the thesis

The thesis is structured in five chapters

Chapter one provides the background to the research as well as the context of language teaching at the University of Economics

Chapter two reviews the relevant literature It discusses the theories of

motivation, teaching and learning styles, types of language learning activities, principle of planning a sequence of activities and the ways to change the features

of the activity to create many different variations to suit different circumstances Chapter three gives a detailed description of the methodology employed in this study

Chapter four presents and discusses the results of the study

Chapter five concludes the study It also presents the implications of the study and makes some recommendations for pedagogical practices Suggestions for further study are made in this chapter

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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

The aim of this chapter is to review the relevant literature: (1) motivation in language learning, (2) types of classroom activities and (3) ways of providing

a wide variety of activities

2.1 Business English teaching and communicative approach

2.1.1 Business English teaching

A clear understanding of Business English teaching helps teachers choose appropriate teaching methods for English classes at UE

Business English is an area of ESP; therefore, teaching Business English is also

an area of teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

Ellis and Johnson (1996: 3) point out

“… Business English differs from other varieties of ESP in that it is often a mix of specific content (relating to a particular job area or industry), and general content (relating to general ability to communicate more effectively, albeit in business situations”

Hutchinson and Waters (1987:18) indicate,

“ ESP is not a matter of teaching ‘specialized varieties’ of English… The differences should not

be allowed to obscure the far larger area of common ground that underlies all English use … though the content of learning may vary, there is no reason to support that the processes of learning should be any different for the ESP learner than for the general English learner There

is, in other words, no such thing as an ESP methodology, merely methodologies that have been applied in ESP classroom … ”

They state that ESP is not a particular kind of language or methodology, nor does it consist of a particular type of teaching material It is an approach to

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language teaching, which is based on learners’ needs Thus, the ESP teacher should not become a teacher of the subject matter, but rather interested

students of the subject matter and that knowledge of the fundamental

principles of the subject was quite enough to make a good ESP teacher

The differences between Business English teaching and General English teaching are summarized by Ellis and Johnson (1996:12) as follows:

Business English

Many learning tasks and

activities will be the same as on a

general English course,

especially for teaching structures,

vocabulary, and social English

Role- plays are common to both

although the situations and

language will differ Business

English also borrows ideas from

management training – e.g

problem solving,

decision-making, and team building tasks

General English

There may be a broader range of techniques in use in the general English classroom Many

activities are designed to make learning more ‘fun’, and variety

of its own sake is important to maintain interest and motivation

in the absence of specific needs

2.1.2 Communicative language teaching

According to Harmer (1998:32) Communicative Language Teaching was a radical departure from the PPP (Presentation, practice and Production) It has two main strands:

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The first is that language is not just bits of grammar It also involves language functions such as inviting, making an appointment, suggesting etc., which students should learn how to use Students also should be aware of the need for appropriateness when talking and writing in terms of the kind of language they use such as formal, informal, technical, etc

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2.3.1 Definition

Nunan (1999:310) defines “learning style” simply as a student’s orientation toward learning, while according to Hedge (2000:18), learning style is a characteristic and preferred way of approaching learning and processing information

2.3.2 Learning styles

Knowles (1982; cited in Richards, 1994:60) suggests that different types of learners are characterized by the following styles:

2.2.2.1 Concrete learning style: learners with this learning style are interested

in information that has immediate value They like variety and constant

change of pace They dislike routine, learning and written work, and prefer verbal and visual experiences They like to be entertained and to be involved

in learning

2.2.2.2.Analytical learning style: learners with an analytical style are

independent, like to solve problems and enjoy tracking down ideas and

developing principles on their own

2.2.2.3 Communicative learning style: learners with this learning style like interaction and learn well from discussion and group activities

2.2.2.4 Authority- oriented learning style: learners with an authority-oriented style like and need structure and sequential progression They relate well to a

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traditional classroom and are not comfortable with consensus–building

discussion

It is clear that differences in learning styles affect learners’ preferences for particular language activities Specifically, concrete learners need to choose such activities as game playing, working in pairs, watching pictures, films and video Learners with analytical learning styles, however, preferred studying grammar, studying English books Whereas the learners with a

communicative style preferred listening and talking to friends in English; the authority-oriented learners show their preferences in writing everything in their notebook and working with their textbook It is ideal to take the

students’ learning styles into consideration on designing language activities But it is not feasible since in large class each individual has his / her own learning style As a result teachers should provide a wide variety of activities

in order to give a new chance to those who have not enjoyed or not done well

in the previous activities

2.4 Roles of teachers in the classroom

Under adverse circumstances at UE (large classes, mixed abilities and long class sessions) the roles of teachers are more important as the challenges in these classes are larger

Teachers spend a considerable amount of time planning their lessons,

monitoring their teaching, and managing students’ learning and behavior to ensure that their goals are accomplished

Wright (1997:125) suggests, “Teachers’ primary roles are instructional and managerial”

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Instructional role is to transfer knowledge to learners while managerial role

is to organize learning and learning activities A primary function of teachers’ management role is to motivate the learners to the task of learning a foreign language Group work and simulations are two examples of such activities These activities are designed to involve the learners more actively in

activities that demand inter-student communication and co-operative efforts

on their part

Instructional and managerial roles complement each other; the latter would

be more or less impossible without the former In practice, it is difficult to separate the two and often one act in the classroom can perform both

functions simultaneously

2.5 Maintaining learners’ involvement

Strategies for increasing and maintaining active learners’ involvement are important to establishing an effective classroom Students who are actively involved in learning activities benefit more from learning time Learners’ involvement includes time spent listening to the teacher, time spent attending

to activities and most importantly time actively participating in learning by asking and answering questions

And one of the most effective ways of increasing active learners’

involvement in learning activities is to provide students with a variety of activities since students may be tired of activities before they have mastered the skill

2.6 Activities

According to Richards and Lockhart (1994: 161) “An activity is described as

a task that has been selected to achieve a particular teaching/learning goal”

2.6.1Types of language learning activities

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