Issues Of Teaching English To Young Learners At The Private Language Center Teachers’ Perspectives.pdf

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES oOo ĐÀO THỊ DIỄM HƯƠNG ISSUES OF TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT THE PRIVATE[.]

ĐÀO THỊ DIỄM HƯƠNG

ISSUES OF TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS

AT THE PRIVATE LANGUAGE CENTER:

TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES

(Nhận định của giáo viên về các vấn đề trong giảng dạy tiếng Anh

cho người học nhỏ tuổi tại một trung tâm tiếng Anh)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Hanoi – 2021

ĐÀO THỊ DIỄM HƯƠNG

ISSUES OF TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS

AT THE PRIVATE LANGUAGE CENTER:

TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES

(Nhận định của giáo viên về các vấn đề trong giảng dạy tiếng Anh

cho người học nhỏ tuổi tại một trung tâm tiếng Anh)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lê Văn Canh

Hanoi – 202 1

Hanoi, March 8th 2021

Signature

Dao Thi Diem Huong

teach English to young learners and main issues related to teaching English to young leaners such as class size, physical conditions, management, learner factors and professional skills as well as suggestions for improvement these issues at that center

The study was conducted using qualitative methods Qualitative data was obtained through focus group interview

The research uncovered a wide range of factors concerning the teaching

of English to young learners from the perspectives of teachers at a private language center In particular, it showed that many of these factors are commonly experienced by different teachers in teaching and learning to young learners

Keywords: young learners, class size, physical conditions, management,

learner factors, professional skills

guidance and great effort

A big thank to all the teachers who were patient in answering questions

in group interview and sincere helps given to me within the data collection process

My gratefulness goes to all those people who made this research work possible and an unforgettable experience

Last but not least, special thanks go to my family and friends for their unconditional love; especially my husband, who, most importantly, relentlessly supported me every step of the way

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ……….……… i

ABSTRACT ……….… ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……….… iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……….….… iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ……… vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ……….…… 1

1.1 Rationale ……… 1

1.2 Purposes of the study ……….… 2

1.3 Significance of the study ……… 2

1.4 Scope of the study ……… 3

1.5 Outline of the thesis ……… 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ……….… 4

2.1 Young learners ……… 4

2.1.1 Definition of young learners ……… 4

2.1.2 The characteristics of young learners ……….…… 5

2.1.3 Development of young learners ……… … 9

2.1.3.1 Cognitive development of young learners ………….… 9

2.1.3.2 Social and emotional development of young learners … 10

2.2 Teaching English to young learners ……… 11

2.3 Issues related to teaching English to young learners ……… 13

2.3.1 Class size ……….… 13

2.3.2 Learner factors ……… 16

2.3.3 Professional skills ……… 18

2.3.4 Physical conditions ……….… 22

2.3.5 Management ……… … 24

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ……… 31

3.1 Research design ……….… 31

3.2 Research question ……… …… 32

3.3 Research approach ……….… 32

3.4 Research setting ……….… 33

3.5 Participants ……… 34

3.6 Data collection instruments ……… …… 35

3.7 Data analysis procedures ……… 35

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ……… 37

4.1 Issue 1: Learner heterogeneity ……… 37

4.2 Issue 2: Conditions of teaching and learning ……… 38

4.3 Issue 3: Teacher wellbeing ……….… 39

4.4 Issue 4: Expectations vs outcome ……… 45

4.5 Suggestions for improvement ……… 45

4.6 Discussion ……… 46

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS … … 49

5.1 Conclusion ……….… 49

5.2 Implications ……… 50

5.3 Limitations ……….… 51

References ……… ….… 52

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1 YLs: Young learners

2 EYL: English to young learners

3 TEYL: Teaching English to young learners

4 L1: First language

5 L2: Second language

6 CLT: Communicate Language Teaching

7 MoET: Ministry of Education and Training

8 VNU: Vietnam National University, Hanoi

9 CEFR: Common European Framework of Reference

10 ICT: Information Communication Technology

11 NSs: Native Speakers

12 EFL: English as a Foreign Language

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

English has been taught not only adults but also children all around the world The numbers of children learning English as a foreign language had started increasing In some countries, such as Vietnam, the introduction of English as a compulsory subject at primary level is relatively recent (Nguyen, 2011) Parents want their children to develop English skills to benefit from new world orders and put pressure on governments to introduce English to younger children (Enever & Moon, 2009; Gimenez, 2009) Vietnamese parents want their children to learn English earlier than the current programme could offer In the hope that their children will have the right kind

of start for a new kind of society, many parents, particularly the young ones in urban and affluent areas send their children to private foreign language centers to learn English even when they are pre-schoolers Many parents said that learning English at schools is not enough time to be master, so they often send your children to extra lessons in the evenings and weekends This leads more and more English language centers opened in big cities even villages in Vietnam These centers have focused on developing students’ communicative skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, and thus have aroused students’ interest in learning English, helping them get better results Learners are given an opportunity to be able to communicate with foreigners in English and to go to study abroad after finishing upper secondary schools

The global spread of English accompanied by the myth of ‘the younger the better’ has led to English fever among parents (Nguyen, 2011), which motivates the mushrooming of private English centers for young children While much research on the challenges of teaching English to young children

in formal schools has been published, the issues of teaching English at private English centers seem to be under-explored This study is an attempt to investigate the issue As private English centers in Vietnam are run to teach English for profits and they do not have to follow the mandated curriculum by the Ministry, findings about the issues of teaching English to young children can contribute to the known knowledge about challenges of teaching English

to young learners

All these conditions offer the researcher a chance to conduct a study on

“Issues of teaching English to young learners at the private language

center: Teachers’ perspectives” Specifically, the study seeks to answer the

following question: What are teachers’ perspectives of issues they face in

teaching English to young learners at a private language center?

1.2 Purposes of the study

The research aims to gain understanding of the issues of teaching English to young learners at private centers that are located in Hanoi from the teachers’ perspectives The results of the study can be used as a source of reference in researching the teaching of English to young learners at the formal schools to see the opportunities and challenges in these schools better

1.3 Significance of the study

This qualitative case study, despite its impossible generalization, contributes to the literature on teaching English to young learners with the information gained from private centers, of which there is little research Although the survey was conducted in one private English center using focus group interviews, the findings can inform parents’ decision to send their

children to private English language centers as well as concerned administrator of strategies to manage these centers

1.4 Scope of the study

This research focuses on teachers’ perspectives about issues of teaching English to young learners at a private language center

1.5 Outline of the thesis

The study is structured with five chapters as follows:

CHAPTER 1 provides a general introduction which details the rationale, research question, aims, significance, scope of the study

CHAPTER 2 presents the theoretical background This chapter discusses the theoretical issues which lay the foundation for the research

CHAPTER 3 describes the methodology of the study It details the research approach, research setting, participants, data collection and data analysis

CHAPTER 4 is concerned with findings and discussion It presents the results of the survey research and the discussion of the findings

CHAPTER 5 is conclusion part It makes a summary of the study and offers implications for teaching English to young learners

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Nowadays, English has become a lingua franca because it has been used worldwide as a means of communication Learning English as a foreign language has spread rapidly over the last few decades In parallel with this, English has been taught not only adults but also children all around the world The numbers of children learning English as a foreign language had started increasing In this chapter, the writer is going to present learning a foreign language of young learners and issues when teaching English to young learners

2.1 Young learners (YLs)

Prior to the discussion about young learners, it is important to define whom this term refers to Next, the characteristics of young learners by some experts and researchers are presented Finally, development of young learners which proposed by some experts in teaching English to young learners are also presented

2.1.1 Definition of young learners

Young learners are conceptualized differently Scott and Ytreberg (1990) consider young learners are children between six to eleven years of age Since there are marked differences in the abilities of children aged six and eleven, they suggest dividing young learners into two groups The first suggested group is from six to seven, and the second group is from eight to eleven Slattery and Willis (2001) define young learners as children who are seven until twelve years old Similarly, Brewster, Ellis, and Girard (2002) also define young learners as children who are seven until twelve years old

and then classified them into three age groups: 3-6 years old, 7-9 years old, and 10-12 years old The classification is based on the characteristics of children as learners

By contrast, Phillips (2003, p.3) defined young learners as “children from the first year of formal schooling (five or six years old) to eleven or twelve years of age” In other words, young learners are school-age children who study in the primary schools

In addition, Pinter (2011) defined young learners as children from five to fourteen years old in any educational levels

Based on some definitions above, in this thesis, it can be inferred that young learners are children who are five until fourteen years old and usually study in the kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools

It can be said that while it is assumed that young learners have greater advantages in learning English as a foreign language than adults, it is not clear how young is young The concept of young learners refers to learners of a wide range of age from 3 to 12 This can pose the problem of the promotion

of the younger the better

2.1.2 The characteristics of young learners

In learning a foreign language, children and adults have different perceptions because they have different characteristics According to Cameron (2001) and Harmer (2002), children are more enthusiastic than adults Moreover, they like to please their teacher but they can lose their interest easily in the materials given Cameron (2001) stated that children have a number of characteristics that teachers of English need to keep in mind

when they are planning to set up activities They are high motivated, enthusiastic and lively learners On the other hand, they do not find it easy to use language to talk about something because they do not have the same access as the older learners to reach meanings Teachers are the one who can help them maximizing their ability to acquire the given knowledge

Meanwhile, Scott and Ytreberg (1990) have identified the general characteristic of children as young learners The characteristics mentioned are

as follows:

• They understand situation more quickly than understand the language used

• Their own understanding comes through hands and eyes and ears

• They are very logical

• They have a very short attention and concentration span

• They sometimes have difficulty in knowing what fact is and what fiction is

• They cannot decide for themselves what to learn

• They love to play, and learn best when they are enjoying themselves

• They seldom admit that they don’t know something either

• They are enthusiastic and positive about learning new things

• They have their own world

Considering the characteristics mentioned above, the teacher’s way in teaching young learner is also different from the way the teacher teaches adults

“The differences between teaching English to young learners and adults lay on the linguistic, psychological and social development of the learners,

and that, as a result, we need to adjust the way we think about the language

we teach and the classroom activities we use.” (Cameron, 2001, p.6)

Harmer (2007, p.82) pointed out that young learners “generally display

an enthusiasm for learning and a curiosity about the world around them” They are imaginative, keen, outspoken and inquisitive Young learners enjoy repetition of routines and activities and they love to be creative They are less inhibited than other age groups but their self-control is very poor Since they have a lot of physical energy, physical movement should be an essential part

of their learning Young learners learn by example and the most important role for a teacher is to be their living example (Harmer, 2007)

Harmer (2007) claims that young learners are sensitive and dislike criticism They look for guidance and support, and for this reason, they require individual attention and approval from their teachers They tend to respond well to praising, and it is very important to praise them for what they

do It is common sense that if children are praised, they are motivated and feel successful (Scott and Ytreberg, 1990) A child receiving the right sort of support and encouragement become creative, independent and adventurous learners (Harmer, 2007)

Most experts agree that teaching a group of young learners is enormously rewarding, but also demanding Harmer (2007, p.83) highlights that teachers should be able to understand “how their students think and operate” Since young learners have a very keen sense of fairness, teachers should avoid playing favourites and they must treat each student equally (Scott and Ytreberg, 1990)

Young learner’s world is cheerful, joyful, fun, and the first stage of their learning life Make up their education environment more exciting, attractive, and active can give them unforgettable memories about their learning and they will enjoy their study

The appearance of silent period may be palpable in first as well as second language acquisition, yet, is most noticeable in child’s second language acquisition (Krashen, 1982) Silent period refers to the phenomenon, when children remain silent, or say very little even after several months of exposure to the target language In other cases, some of the children may not speak directly in the class, but after coming home, they reveal to their parents what they have learned (Reilly, 1997) Troice (in Blight 2014, p.2) describes this period as a “linguistic development that has gone underground” Many authors agree on the fact that silent period is not anything pathological, but normal pre-production stage of language acquisition (Krashen 1985; Tabors, 1997) The explanation of the silent period is not very perplexing As Krashen explicates, second language learners are either unable or unwilling to produce their developing second language The children are simply “building up competence in the second language via listening, by understanding the language around them” The author (Krashen 1982) later adds that after developing enough competence by listening and understanding, speaking ability emerges on its own The length of the silent period varies from author

to author It may last for significantly longer – sometimes just a few months, other times half a year, and occasionally even over a year

Hence, children should not be forced to produce utterances in the target language before they internalize with it and develop the receptive vocabulary Taking above mentioned findings in mind, it could be concluded that in very

early second language learning, it is indispensable that comprehension precedes production, whose emanation might arise at different times and very individually, which is also one of the reasons why we should pay individual attention to each learner

2.1.3 Development of young learners

Cameron (2005) emphasizes that young learners can learn a second language effectively before puberty as their brains are still able to use the mechanism that assists first language acquisition Also, Brumfit (1991) reports that young learners are advantageous as their brain is more adaptable before puberty than after, and that acquisition of languages is possible without self-consciousness at an early age

2.1.3.1 Cognitive development of young learners

Compared to older learners, young learners grow and change more rapidly in terms of their cognitive, emotional and social development When cognitive factors of children are considered, it is clear that “anything that is new attracts children’s attention, because children are curious by nature” (Afia & Kharbech 2008, p.6) Therefore, they tend to welcome whatever new the teacher will present them However, young learners’ attention span is very short They need frequent changes of activity, as Harmer (2002) mentions, they enjoy activities which stimulate their curiosity and capture their attention, and they need to be kept active “Children are also good at new sounds and can reproduce them faithfully and accurately but can’t remember things for a long time if they are not recycled” (Afia & Kharbech 2008, p.7) However, according to Thornbury (2006), as children are still in the process

of developing the conceptual framework which will eventually allow them to

handle language as an abstract system, they cannot analyze the language For this reason, Scott and Ytreberg (1990) suggest that children can understand the situations more quickly than they understand the language used

2.1.3.2 Social and emotional development of young learners

With regard to social factors, according to Cameron (2005), children are often more enthusiastic and livelier as learners Afia & Kharbech (2008) mention that as parents respect learning English, and as it is something that most siblings do at school, children will be interested in doing the same This motivation can also bring success easily to both the language teachers of children and to the children as learners As another advantage, it can be noted that children’s language learning is more closely integrated with real communication because it depends more on the immediate physical environment than that of adults (Brumfit 1991, cited in Dewan 2005) To sum

up, children are socially different from older learners in the classroom in the sense that they are less inhibited than older learners, and show great enthusiasm about taking part in different activities

As far as emotional factors are concerned, it can be observed that children can find pleasure in repeating words and sentences and in imitating sounds They are also deeply involved in the world of imagination Moreover,

as Afia & Kharbech (2008, p.7) point out, “they want to get their teacher’s attention, and approval of the work they do.” Moon (2000) argues that children tend to be influenced not only by feelings about their teacher but also

by the general learning atmosphere and the methods used in the classroom Therefore, teachers of young learners should be well aware of their characteristics and should select appropriate learning materials, plan interesting tasks and apply the right method Another important point is that

children can also have fewer negative attitudes to foreign languages and cultures than adults and as a result of this, they can be better motivated and more flexible than adults (Brumfit 1991, cited in Dewan 2005)

To conclude, as Scott and Ytreberg (1990) emphasize, the world of adults and that of children are not the same in terms of their different social, cognitive and emotional states As we consider all these differences between children and adult learners, this inevitably leads us to an increasing interest in young learners and researching that area

Considering the points of characteristics and development of young learners in theories of these significant psychologists, issues related to teaching English to young learners will be presented in the following section

2.2 Teaching English to young learners

Before starting to teach English for young learners, it is better to know the concrete things related to young learners In this section, the writer presents the aims of teaching English to young learners

Children are taught foreign languages in state education systems and in growing private sector organization Governmental reasons for lowering the age of starting to learn a foreign language usually include the desire to improve national standards in foreign language use; parents likewise often believe that children will benefit

In general, concerning foreign language teaching to YLs, many authors highlight the priority of affective aims (Moon 2005; Cameron 2001; Dunn

1983; Najvar 2010) Also, Framework Educational Program for Primary

Education, the national documents of Vietnam, supports the affective domain

aim by stating that YLs should know “that people also communicate with other languages and that they can be learned” and the primary schools should enable to create at least “elementary preconditions for learning a foreign language” (2016, p.11)

Moreover, as alluded to before, the linguistic aim in primary school period is somehow subordinate to a healthy overall development of a child in general, and foreign language teaching should conjointly go with the contributions to the YLs’ general personality development in all domains (cognitive, emotional and social) Specific foreign language aims differ according to the language program, its methodology and approaches

Apart from the emotional aims like raising general language awareness it can be also comprehension of the spoken language, hand in hand with the training of ear or higher possibility of later acquisition of native-like accent

At young learners which are age 6-7 years old or 1st – 2nd grade, have the same courses focus with very young learners The listening and speaking courses are explaining vocabulary item which are familiar and new objects Still no grammar teaching, but they start to learn through chunks, songs and classroom language In this class reading and writing is explained If in the previous class they just learn words, in this class their level is sentences The characteristics of young learners’ class are, love to ask questions, low concentration so wide kinds of activities are needed, and build confidence in expressing themselves The last class is older/late young learners which are 8-

11 years old or 3rd – 5th grade Their language focuses are all the base of English, which are, listening, speaking, writing, reading, and grammar In grammar course, they learn using particular facts and examples to make them understand So, they still learn by concreting with the daily life and some

abstracts Their characteristics are longer attention, learning seriously, developed social and more cooperation

2.3 Issues related to teaching English to young learners

Copland, Garton and Burns (2014) used a mixed-methods approach to explore the perceptions of 4.459 teachers around the world concerning the challenges of teaching English to young learners The findings suggest that the challenges teachers face in teaching English to young learners are both myriad and common These include teachers’ professional competencies, mixed-ability students, and teachers’ English proficiency In addition to these global challenges, the authors also reported local challenges such as class size, teachers’ own skills and time pressure They commented that on the global scale, “teachers are challenged partly by lack of training, partly by lack

of knowledge, and partly by lack of resources (pp 757-758) These challenges are discussed in more details in the following sections

2.3.1 Class size

Teachers of English believe that crowded and big classes are a common issue to young learners So, they believe it is impossible to apply Communicate Language Teaching (CLT) in such large classes in the light of the absence of appropriate curriculum that may support the idea of CLT itself

at least CLT needs pair work and group work to be a successful way but such

an approach cannot be applied in large and crowded classrooms Teachers of English do not prefer any type of noise when they teach young learners various activities of speaking (Carless, 2004) It is quite difficult to motivate young learners because they may find difficulties in learning English

relevance as they do not usually listen to or even speak with native speaker as

in the Middle East area (Hu, 2007)

There is huge variation in class size across and within country contexts Smaller class sizes generally are found in Europe For example, both Poland and Hungary traditionally have divided classes for language learning, often resulting in teaching groups of no more than 15 learners In contrast, much larger classes seem to be the norm in Asia and Africa For example, in Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam, class sizes of 40-50 or more are frequently to be found Class size and classroom organization tends to affect the teacher’s willingness and ability to use more activity-based, interactive methods typically associated with the communicative approaches and YL methods and may have an impact on the level of proficiency that can be achieved in these contexts Large classes are common in many countries (Ho, 2003; Wedgwood, 2007) and teachers believe this makes it difficult or impossible to introduce the more learner-centered teaching required by CLT Difficulties include, for example, monitoring students’ language use (Li, 1998) and using pair work and groupwork (Hoque, 2009)

Problems of control and discipline connected with learner-centered teaching in large classes have also been raised (Butler, 2005; Carless, 2004; Littlewood, 2007) Butler (2005) refers to the difficulties in what she calls

“classroom harmonization” or aligning learning and teaching with the context through both the physical environment of the classroom and variables such as roles and behaviours Butler (2005) found that some teachers see this as particularly challenging during English classes because of the interactive way

they are expected to teach, which is different to teaching methods used in other subjects

Large classes are a potential obstacle to the implementation of the communicative teaching required by the government (Hoque, 2009; Li, 1998) and remain an important challenge for teachers As one respondent said: There are too much students in a class to take care of their competence Three further important classroom-based and learner factors were identified by the teachers: discipline problems, motivation and mixed-level classes As well as being related to class size, these factors were also seen as very closely related

to each other

Classrooms play an essential role in the success of a TEYL programme and thus should be suitable for conducting relevant activities for young learners Large class sizes and the rigid set of rows of chairs and desks in Vietnamese primary school contexts may not encourage opportunities for different types of essential interaction for young learners with the goal of developing what Shin and Crandall (2014) refer to as their social and interactional needs Large class sizes tend to accentuate problems of noise, which may also pose a challenge for teachers to manage the class to create a positive and productive atmosphere for learning to occur However, the display of students’ work on the class corner board stimulates motivation for learning by providing a sense of achievement Such sharing of students’ finished work enables children to establish their success (Shin & Crandall, 2014) In summary, the Vietnamese classroom environment has been able to cope with many challenges in providing an optimum physical and emotional atmosphere for TEYL program to succeed

2.3.2 Learner factors

Many teachers believe that they are limited in what they can do in the primary classroom because of learners’ low levels of proficiency (Li, 1998) Moreover, learners’ expectations about what to learn, such as the importance

of grammar for examination purposes (Prapaisit de Segovia and Hardison, 2008), and how to learn English may conflict with what teachers are expected

to do (Ho, 2003) However, Carless (2003) points out that sometimes mismatches in expectations may be more to do with the teachers’ lack of understanding of CLT and their inability to select appropriate tasks than with any real incompatibility with the demands of tests or the expectations of students

Another issue frequently reported is an apparent lack of motivation and interest in English on the part of learners, who may not see any need to learn the language or simply do not see mastery of it as attainable (Li, 1998) This may be particularly acute in rural areas where learners have little contact with foreigners and therefore little perceived need to learn to communicate in English (Ho, 2003) Consequently, teacher-fronted classes with a focus on grammar and memorization are preferred (Hu, 2005; Li, 1998; Prapaisit de Segovia and Hardison, 2008)

Although English is the number one foreign language being taught in Vietnam and the number of students learning English in schools accounts for 99% (Ban quản lý Đề án NNQG 2020, 2017), it is not the language of communication in the country For this reason, students do not have what I would refer to as “quality communication environments in English” and, as a result, they do not have the need to communicate in the language It should be noted that although officially all lower secondary school children start

learning English from Grade 6, it would be misleading to suggest that they all can speak English Most of school pupils in Vietnam are monolingual, speaking mainly Vietnamese in almost all situations While English is learnt

in school, for quite narrow domains, and for speaking only with very few people, its use in other situations, especially in rural and mountainous areas, would be strained and unnatural How then can one communicate in a code which one is incompetent and does not normally use for practically any situation outside the classroom? Even in urban centers, how is one to speak of communication and to stimulate a desire to communicate in English when there is precious little use for English in his/her environment?

The title of this research presupposes that young learners should be taught differently from older learners, as the learning processes involved may

be different Learners aged 5 to 14 have as yet not acquired some of the strategies that older learners are able to develop Young learners are still using their individual, innate language-learning strategies to acquire their native language, they can easily use these strategies to acquire the English in a more nature way than consciously learn it At a young age, children’s brains function like little sponges designed to have a maximum absorption, allowing them to acquire naturally lexicon and grammar rules of the language It’s common for young learners to be forgetful sometimes That’s why teachers need to recall previous vocabulary several times and provide learners with more intensive practice or drilling of single words Teachers can also address this issue by using a wider range of cognitive activities in classes

Differentiation has also been found challenging in terms of listening and speaking Differentiation is the reality that children in class have different needs, levels, ways of learning and motivations Nunan (2003) argues that by

the very nature of their job as a teacher of young learner, teachers must be aware of children’s basic physical and psychological needs So that they can provide the best instruction possible, they need to adjust educational experiences to meet the developmental stages of the individual child A particular issue in terms of differentiation for state school teachers of English

to young learners is that some young learners go to after-school English classes while others do not As many of these classes focus on developing communication skills, the teacher has to deal with supporting children with different listening and speaking levels Other learners may be exposed to English in other ways, through family members or friends or from other out-of-school activities As noted by Djigunovic and Krajnovic (2015), as a result

of different exposure to English, learners bring into the classroom various linguistic skills, learning strategies and sensibilities that the teachers and teaching materials should aim to accommodate According to Hadfield & Hadfield (2008, 152-156) the teacher needs to pay attention to the different needs, levels, abilities, learning styles, and personalities There are three ways according to Hadfield & Hadfield (2008) to deal the different needs, levels, and abilities Those are making sure the teacher provides a range of activities and a balance of skills, involving the learners to aware of their needs and individual differences, and providing some opportunities for autonomous learning where the learners can choose their own tasks

2.3.3 Professional skills

In some countries a severe shortage of trained primary school teachers of English is reported (Hu, 2005; Hu, 2007; Kirkgöz, 2009; Nunan, 2003; Nur, 2003) Teachers may therefore find themselves teaching English either without adequate training in teaching young learners in general or in teaching

English to young learners in particular The situation is especially acute in poor or rural areas

Another potential challenge for teachers concerns the level of English they require Teachers’ low proficiency levels, or their lack of confidence in their ability, is consistently identified in the literature (see, for example, Ahn, 2011; Baker, 2008; Ghatage, 2009; Kuchah, 2009; Littlewood, 2007) Many teachers believe that CLT demands particular classroom procedures, such as teaching in the target language, which causes anxiety and leads to their questioning their competence, particularly their speaking and listening skills (Kuchah, 2009) However, the question arises as to what level of proficiency and fluency teachers really need in order to teach in primary schools It may

be that the real issue is not the teachers’ lack of proficiency, which may well

be more than adequate for TEYL, but rather a lack of confidence predicated

on the belief that native-like competence is required to teach CLT successfully

MoET’s three pilot English language curricula for schools in Vietnam have positive impacts on the professional development of the teachers: they are given opportunities to attend English language enrichment courses and training courses in methods of English language teaching and testing; those teachers who have not yet met the required English proficiency qualification (CEFR Level B2 for primary and lower secondary teachers and CEFR Level C1 for upper secondary teachers) will be trained (or even retrained) to the required level; those teachers who have achieved the required English qualification are given further training courses in English language teaching methodology and ICT applications (Viện Khoa học Giáo dục Việt Nam, 2016)

However, many teachers express positive attitudes towards the requirements, there are still some who express their resentment against these standards Experience has shown that if a primary or a lower secondary teacher who has a B1 certificate or an upper secondary teacher who has a B2 certificate has a good teaching method, s/he can still teach his/her students effectively at the respective levels (cf Bộ Giáo dục & Đào tạo, 2015)

Good professional skills help teachers to apply appropriate methods Teachers need to know and use different approaches and methods to ensure that learners learn the language more effectively or are able to complete a specific goal at their own pace while in social and cooperative environment with their teacher and other peers

The method of teaching can include a wide range of active teaching techniques by focusing on a set of goals which aid learners’ learning through practice that are employed in the lesson There are the most popular approaches among teachers in Vietnam: natural approach, lexical approach, Total Physical Response approach, learner-centered approach, communicative approach, audio-visual lingual approach, etc Each approach has weaknesses and strengths depending on the learners’ age, level and environment, so a method or approach must be used according to the learners’ needs A particular approach must be employed and written in the lesson plan by the teacher

Learners’ learning needs refer to the analysis of diversity in skills, age, knowledge, level and needs in order to effectively teach learners Understanding learners’ learning needs is significant because when educators know how their learners learn, they can lead and help them grow in their learning Teachers who understand their learners’ unique needs can also help

them navigate the anxiety and confusion that most face in their academic lives There are certain aspects that help teachers fully understand learners learning needs:

• Get to know learners’ interests by choosing the right topics, activities, games or materials It is essential to choose great and relevant topics that are closest to them and kids will be interested in, like parts of the body, Moon Cake festival, Tet Holiday, school subjects, family, food and colours, etc Using relevant topics will allow young learners learn and engage with the content much faster

• Incorporating new words into rhymes, chants or songs help children relax and enjoy the learning process, songs help drilling the new lesson content such as new vocabulary, sentence structures or short conversations

• Young learners have very short attention spans, so having a diverse range of engaging activities which can help activate or reactivate the class, such as tactile craftworks, pre-reading activities, indoor gross motor skills games will improve retention of new material

• Discussing issues with learners’ and asking them questions

• Assessing the learners informally or formally to determine their current skills and knowledge

Behaviours management is a set of strategies which allow teachers manage challenging and unwanted behaviours that can affect the overall success of the lesson Teachers should consider the following:

• Find engaging and meaningful work that the children are anxious to enter the class each time and work on what their teacher want them to

work on Keep learners invested in those engaging and flexible activities so students do not get bored easily

• Set ground rules E.g.: “eyes on teacher”, “hands on knees”, “listen to your teacher”, “please be quiet, no taking in class” Giving and taking respect are essential in classes, show disapproval with facial expressions towards misbehaviours

• Try to empathize with all learners, especially with those children who are hyperactive or difficult to teach by assigning them tasks inside the classroom and congratulate them regularly when they behave well

• Praise children verbally for good behaviours, celebrate victories or use different system rewards like pesos, stickers or stamps By praising good behaviours and participation in class, learners will definitely feel more motivated

• Avoid deadtime during the lesson by engaging your learners in continuous active learning and active listening

• Supporting children’s autonomy by allowing children to make choices leads to greater engagement and achievement in academic subjects

2.3.4 Physical conditions

In Vietnam, many teachers at schools complained that there was insufficient funding for the equipment and facilities needed for learner-centered teaching While technology to support English teaching has clearly developed greatly in recent years, teachers have not always been able to access its benefits

Public school classes typically consist of larger class sizes, it will likely

be a bit warm as there is no air conditioning, and for air circulation they may

have some open windows and doors which means your lesson may be interrupted by the noise of the city, by an assembly and loud cheers and noises that will surely distract learners no matter how good teacher’s lesson and games are

There are classroom constraints: schools are often located in noisy places, with poor ventilation, overloaded beyond their capacity to classes of fifty or even sixty, with poor libraries and poorly paid staff Better teachers often go to the cities to seek employment in non-teaching fields or leave the profession for other jobs in the country There are the material constraints too: tape recorders, electronic equipment, and language lab do not exist in average schools except in the cities and in affluent private institutions The only sure aids available are the blackboard and sometimes a cassette player, and the frequent voice heard is the teacher based on what she makes of the day’s textbook lesson To make matters worse, class contact hours are few (only 2

or 3 hours a week)

In general, schools lack technical equipment Tape recorders are used, videos rarely IT, computers and multimedia are rarely available except in some private schools Teaching conditions desperately need to be improved

by the provision of more up-to date textbooks and audio-visual aids School libraries should be developed to provide information on the contemporary However, at English language centers, there is a difference Decoration

of classrooms is very cozy and suitable for each special event in a year like Halloween, Christmas and Lunar New Year, etc The center size is not very big The classroom is fully equipped like air conditionals, projectors, a pair of speakers and sources of materials like flashcards and the tools like sticky balls, hummer and things like that The classroom conditions are quite good

In terms of chairs and tables, they are comfortable enough and suitable with students’ age and height The equipment supports the teaching quality really well

One foreign teacher shared his experience when coming to Ho Chi Minh

city that “many classrooms I visit have a flat-screen TV, a desktop computer,

a projector, speakers, and I’ve even encountered a Smart Board They simply choose to focus their resources on educational technology over, say, day-long air conditioning which can be incredibly expensive I should also note: if a child is in a room with noticeably more technology than another class, their parents have paid money for them to have that experience At the nicest school I teach at, during peak daytime hours, they will turn on the air conditioning unit, which the parents have contributed toward the cost of running it so their child won’t be uncomfortably hot during their lessons”

(From schools-vs-private-language-centers-in-ho-chi-minh-city-parkers-story/)

https://travelbud.com/blog/vietnam/teach-english-in-vietnam-public-A private center class runs like this: 2 hours with a 15-minute break to be taken at your discretion, but usually in the middle of the two hours No more than 20 kids, a projector and laptop at your discretion, ability to play online games, YouTube videos, PowerPoints with cute gifts to demonstrate the vocab and grammar, and all of the resources you need like soft throwing balls, sticky balls for board games, dice and cards, hula hoops, slappers, scissors, tape, glue, paper, pens, crayons… the list goes on and on

2.3.5 Management

As mentioned above, private English centers are proliferating in Vietnam, particularly in the cities The quality of teaching and learning

English in these centers is quite mixed, and probably depends on the amount

of money students are willing to pay The teachers in these centers may be local teachers who have to do extra work outside school (which was mentioned earlier), native speakers from Australia, America, and the United Kingdom, or teachers from expanding circle countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore The teaching materials are also diverse They may

be foreign-produced materials, ready preparations from the internet, or materials prepared by the teachers themselves In general, the English language learning environment at private English centers is likely to be better than at public schools, with better motivated students and teachers as well as better facilities and learning resources

In introducing English at schools, one of the more pressing concerns is how best to secure teachers for English classes Global trends have made people believe that communicative skills, and oral communicative skills in particular, are very important High proficiency has been highlighted as a critical component of qualified teachers, and in turn native English speakers (NSs) are often preferred as English teachers by teachers, parents and administrators in many parts of the world (e.g., Kamhi-Stein, 2004; Llurda, 2005) At the local level in East Asia, public discourse has shown a very high degree of concern regarding the English proficiency among Primary school teachers Indeed, local teachers do not appear to have enough confidence to conduct English lessons (Butler, 2004), and their low confidence also appears

to be related to their reliance on NSs at Primary schools (Butler, 2007b) Young learners themselves wish to have teachers who are confident in their use of English (Butler, 2007c) Under such circumstances, policies have focused on two different strategies for securing teachers: one has been to recruit NSs, while the other has been to train local teachers

Recruiting NSs has been a challenge for many countries On the one hand, there is substantial demand for NS teachers On the other hand, there are only a limited number of potentially qualified NSs who are interested in teaching in Asia Since many countries have begun aggressively hiring NSs, the extent to which countries can secure qualified NSs increasingly depends

on how much salary such countries can afford to pay them This will eventually create an ‘NS teacher divide’ according to the economic power of each nation or region One of the challenges that comes up both in hiring NSs and in training local teachers appears to be limited understanding of specifically what teacher qualifications are necessary to effectively teach English at schools The identification of such qualifications depends on a number of factors, including who is best qualified to teach English (homeroom teachers, local English teachers, or NSs), the goals of teaching English at schools, the role of NSs in English teaching, financial availability and so forth

In term of hiring Vietnamese teachers, there are several categories of teachers currently teaching at schools and private language centers:

• university graduates: there are teachers with a foreign language major

or minor; they have completed a four/five-year university course;

• non-graduates:

- certified/qualified teachers: they have undergone a 3-year course in colleges and are licensed to teach in some levels of ages In most of the cases they are deficient in foreign language performance and their spoken English is often not fully adequate for classroom purposes;

- re-trainees: they are university graduates with other major/s such as Russian or Engineering enrolled in a one-year intensive university retraining course aimed at foreign language teaching;

- temporary teachers: they are unqualified teachers, mainly graduates of foreign language medium schools who have a high level of language proficiency There teachers represent a stopgap solution case and they are appointed for one year only Their teaching is restricted to the lower age groups

Competencies developed within a 3-5-year college/ university programme of teacher education comprise:

• linguistic skills;

• general pedagogical skills;

• skills related to language teaching;

• reflective skills as well as academic skills enabling professional development and further education

They are developed within four components of the college/university programme, i.e., within a block of language education, a block of psycho-pedagogical education, a block of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) methodology and teaching practice, and the so-called block of background studies (literature, culture and linguistics)

In Vietnam, one English language center is often owned by Vietnamese people Their main responsibility is to ensure that the overall performance of the center with a focus on driving growth They have much experience of teaching and managing In addition, they often create many activities for their

learners focus on communication approach and achieve English respective levels after each course

The centers use fan page, Facebook, video to advertise lessons to parents, learners, distribute leaflets at school gates to enroll How do you build trust with parents and students to get them to re-enroll? Most of new students are from referrals The center sends learners’ parents the curriculum covered and teach in an open and observable space Vietnamese teachers play roles as be teacher assistants to translate parents’ concerns, centers limit each class size to around ten students This allows every student to have more attention and be corrected more than they can at a large English class chains

of more than forty learners

Another important piece of information regarding language centers is the schedule These are not schools and thus operate at opposite times Classes are conducted after school hours: usually from 5:30 pm to 9pm, each class lasts 1.5 hours For example, from 5.30pm to 7pm and from 7.30pm to 9pm Each learner often has 2 lessons per week They can choose suitable courses with them that are 25%; 50%; 100% the number of lessons with foreign teachers Learners have an entrance test, classify according to test results, age and time suitability of each student And in these centers, there is a secretariat/ admissions committee to help learners perform the test, score, and counsel accordingly She/ he also will send the test results at the end of the month, at the end of a unit of study, periodically notify the learner’s learning status; track each student’s progress; check learners’ attendance; counsel and orient learning routes for learners/ classes; organize refresher, level up and participate in international tests such as Cambridge, Ielts, Tofel,

In Vietnam, along with the teachers’ orientation courses held by MoET NFL 2020 Project and MoET VEPH, some foreign language tertiary institutions (e.g., VNU University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi University, etc.) have also been offering training courses to further develop English teachers’ professional skills and English language skills In their training courses, teachers are introduced to the new curricula and are helped to develop new methods and techniques of exploiting the new textbooks for more effective teaching The activities are designed following the current communicative “pre-, while-, and post-” teaching procedure to help students communicate effectively in English

In term of payment, talented teachers’ efforts are recognized and centers take pride in rewarding these efforts This includes a competitive salary and other benefits English teacher benefits include paid annual leave, paid sick leave, paid national holidays, a contract completion and resigning bonus and medical insurance Additionally, teachers are given a training stipend which can be applied to professional development In particular, many centers assist newcomers to Vietnam and the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) career through an in-depth induction Centers have salary increasing policies and regimes for teachers with many contributions and long-term contributions, teachers with excellent students; reward teachers with a lot of creativity in teaching Moreover, the legal private language centers have an operation license, fully conditions to operate, there is no support from state policies

Summary

This chapter of the study has presented the general characteristics of YLs

to be taken into consideration in teaching In light of the related literature, it is

evident that children’s learning and thinking are different from adolescents’ and adults It is essential for the teachers to become aware of these theories because as Cameron (2001) suggests teaching languages to children requires all the skills of the good teacher in managing children and keeping them on task Obviously, YLs have a lot of physical energy and a wide range of emotional needs They can be easily distracted due to their shorter attention spans, but they can concentrate for a surprisingly long time if they are interested Moreover, their motivation is very high, and they are very enthusiastic

In addition, teachers should be aware of many things happening in a child’s life so not to expect his/her to “switch into” English lesson without help It is very important to “build a bridge” into the English lesson, for example by singing a song, playing a game, brainstorming, etc (Hicks & Littlejohn, 2005) Not only the spoken world but also the physical world provided to understand the meaning is important for them

Moreover, this chapter also mentions issues related to teaching English

to YLs including class size, physical conditions, management those affect directly to the quality of learning and teaching English to YLs

In conclusion, making learners feel confident and helping them love English are more important than teaching English Thus, the most important responsibility of teachers is to have the required skills to teach YLs by choosing the appropriate materials and activities for the age and level of YLs and creating a game like atmosphere in the class

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Here, the researcher presents the research method in detail It describes about the research questions, research approach, context of the research, participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedures and data analysis procedures

3.1 Research Design

The goal of the study was to explore teachers’ opinions on the issues they thought need to be addressed in teaching English to young learners at a private English language center In order to achieve this goal and answer the research questions of the study (stated below), a qualitative case study design

is utilized for the current study

According to Duff (2014, p 233), “Case study research has played a very important role in applied linguistics since the field was established, particularly in studies of language teaching, learning, and use The case in such studies generally has been a person (e.g., a teacher, learner, speaker, writer, or interlocutor) or a small number of individuals on their own or in a group (e.g., a family, a class, a work team, or a community of practice) The cases are normally studied in depth in order to provide an understanding of individuals’ experiences, issues, insights, developmental pathways, or performance within a particular linguistic, social, or educational context.” This definition of case study matches the purpose of this study