Luận văn teachers' and students' perception and attitudes to the application of new dynamic english at hanoi university of business and technology

Blended Learning = BI 3, Computer assisted language learning= CALL 4, New Dynamic English = NDE... In addition, there are many innovative clectronic tools oriented to language such as s

[Rationale of the study

IL Purposes of the study

IIL Scope of the study

TV Methodology of the study

V Significance of the stndy

PART FB: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter one : Review of Literature

1.1 Computer assisted langage Icarning(CALL)

LLL What is CALL acess vtctseststses essersetns sestate

1.1.2 Inupacts of CALL ou Janguage learning and teaching

1.1.3 Lance Knowles, 2004)" CATI

1.2 Blended Leaming(BI.) model

1.2.1 Definition oŸ BTL cọ nh nhHn HH nh HH g1 re rườn

1.2.2 Differences belween blended learning and (radidoual classroora

1.5.3 Leamers and teachers’ attitndes toward CALI and Dyned tearning

CIIAPTER 2; METIIODOLOGY AND DATA ANALYSIS

2.1 Conteat of the study

13

13

2.3.2.2 Interviews for stưđepfs cover sees sees 18

2.5.1 Tindings from qnestionaires and interviews for teachers 16 2.5.2 Tindings from questionaires and interviews for students ¬-

2.6.1 Teachers’ perception and aliuđes à Sen 2251 tren ve 33

2.6.3 Inconsistency in the responses between teachers and students 34

2.6.4, Benefits in the application of ÑDE at HUBT cài cà 34 2.6.5 Problems im the applicalion of NDE at HUBT ¬ Hước 35

Appendix 1 Quastioniraires for teacher set benh in 1

Appendix 3 Interview questions for leachers and students VI

Appendix 4, Interview transoripts with teaehefs rirrreree XI Appendix 5 Interview transeripts with studenfs cecs xu

vỉ

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1 Hanoi University of Business and Technology = HUBT

2 Blended Learning = BI

3, Computer assisted language learning= CALL

4, New Dynamic English = NDE

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

FIGURES

Figure 1: Improvernents of learners’ promunedation 000 ee 16

Figure 2: Most effzctive activity to practice pronunciation fom teachers’ opinion 17 Figure 3: Most interesting activity to practice pronunciation fom teachers’ opinion 17 Figure 4: The workload of grammar in cach mođúÍt on co Figure 5: Level of grammar exercises in each todile cuc T8

Figure 7: Reasons for teachers’ viaws on Icsls sec sec 19

Figure 8: Working schedule in fetms oŸ oonfent ào ven ersrvcecssso2Ð Figure 9: Working schedule in terms of time allocation Ta 20 Figure10: Workload of supplemenlary materials in cach modue a

Figure 11: Linguistic level of supplementary materials

Figure13: Problerns in delivering supplementary materials 2 Figure 14: Difficulties in delivering NDE Icssons

Figure 15: Students’ English pronunciation after studying English

Figure 16: Most Effective activily for students ta practice pronunciation _ 26 Figure17: Most sffeetive activity for stuđents to practicz pronunciation 26

Figure 20: Complexity of grammar exercises in NDE 0.ccccscseecees nesses BB Figure 21: Effectiveness of grammatical exercises in NDE 28

Teachers” perception of and attitedes to the difficulties

‘Toachers’ percuption of and alliludes lo NDR? hencfils 2

Students’ perecption of and attitudes to skills development

Students’ attitudes to supplementary materials

Students’ perception of and attitudes to NDE” benefits Students’ perception of and attitudes to challenges

PART A INTRODUCTION

L Rationale of the study

‘These days computer use has increasingly penetrated into daily life It is not

surprising to find @ similar trend in the academic world Computers are becoming important components of education and the number of computers used at schools is increasing Although the notion of face-to-face classroom instruction is still prevalent in many orgerisational and cducationsl scttings, thera sccms a tush and onuihusiasmn for

computer-based approach

Computer technology can be regarded as an educational too! supporting language ioaching, In feet, a wide nmgo af clcchonic tachnologivs have been dovelaped to supplement second language teaching and leaming (Bas & Kuzucu, 2009;Warschauer, 1996) These technologies include hardware delivery methods such as andiotape recorders, videotape recorders, computers and the Intemet In addition, there are many innovative clectronic tools oriented to language such as spccch production and recognition, text analysis, text translation, and software for visualisation and animation, electronic mail, list serve discussion groups, streaming autio and video and real-time synehronous as well as

asynchronous commmnication opportunities that bring the target language environment to

the leamer (LeLonp & Parterio, 1997)

Ons of the recent educational technology for language teaching, more specifically English Language teaching, is the Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) method which is combining with face to face classroom instruction to form a new Blended Learning(3L) model in recent years, some of the countries such as China, France,

Malaysia, Korea, Miyanmar, Turkey and Vicinarn arc using an English Language leaching

software named DynED, which stands for Dynamic English Education, In these countries, this software is used in a way that it assists English language teaching process at schools

In Vietnam, Dyned was first applicd in Le Van Tam primary school in 2006 and got positive attitudes from teachers and students So far, Dyned has been experimenting in about 40 schools and urtiversities And this program has been getting different opinions

from administrators, icachers and students Al Ha Noi University of Business and

'fechnology(IUIRI) aÑer a year of experiment, the application of New Dynamic

English(NDF) which is a Dyned component, has caused a controversy over ils effectiveness among teachers and students Hence, this research is done to explore the perception of and attitudes of HUBY English teachers and their students toward the course with the hope to reveat the benefils and challenges in applying NDT so as to find ways to

improve the course

LL Purpose

‘The major aims of the study are as follows

* To investigate whal HURT English tcachors and sludonis poresive and think of New Dynamic English

* To discover benefits and challenges in the application of New Dynamic English

at HUBT

In light of the goals of the study, the following research questions are made

1 Whal are the HUBT English teachers’ understandings of and antliludes ta New Dynamic English ?

2 What are benenits and difficulties In the application of New Dynamic English

at HURT?

TH Scope of the study

The study involves HUBT English teachers fiom faculty of English, who have ever taken part in teaching New Dynamic English and their second year non English majors as the main participants of the rescarch

Due to the limit of the study and constrain of time, my thesis would focus on investigating the teachers and students’ perception and attitudes toward NDE in terms of its content, organization, working schedule, supplementary materials and assessment

Methodology of the study

Tn order to collecl rchabte and valid data for the study, different methods were combined.

‘Yo start with, the literature review was extensively cartied out, critically examining the relevant theoretical frame concerning Dyned program, computer assisted language learning method as well as the matters relating to attitudes in language learning,

Questionnaire which is time- saving and realiable means of data collection was employed primarily to obtain (eachers and students’ evalualive comments on New Dynamie English programme, to reveal the difficulties they faced in the application of

NDE as well as disclose their expectation for the improvement of the program at HUB

Tnlerview, a mothod of collecting dala to facititate the results of Ihe questionaires, was conducted to get better insights about the issues ftom teachers, The data would be coded

info text for convenience

V Significance of the study

Firally, the study servos as ø refersnee source for HUBT administrators and B: teaching staffs who are directly involved in New Dynamic English program and administrators as well as for students who are_beneficiaries of the program They will be made aware of both benefits and challenges in the application of NDE and thus promote the quality & cffectivencss of the program

Secondly, it would make a contribution to the research area in the field of computer assisted learning, blended learning madet as well as relating 10 the application of language learning software

Finally, the thesis would also be helpful for those who share similar concer with the

researcher.

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1.1 Computer assisted language learning(CALL)

1.11 WhatisCALL?

According to Kocak (1997) CALL is “a term used by teachers and students to

describe the use of compulers as parl of a language course” TTardisty & Windeatt (1989) give a more detailed definition that CALL is traditionally considered as a method of

‘presenting, reinforeing and testing’ particular language items in which the lsamer is first presented wilh a rule and some examples, amd then answers a series of qnestions which test herhis knowledge of the rie and the computer gives appropriate feedback and awards a

mark which may be stored for later inspection for the teacher and reference for the learner

1.1.2 Impacts of CALL on language learning and teaching

In fact, CALL has a lot of effects on language learning in term of methods, context

and language knowledge acquisition Higgins (1995) indicates that the value of CALL is that iL allows a richer fort of language exploration and the usc of computers is compatible

with a variety of approaches, methods and techniques This gives teachers much flexibility

in their teaching practise According to Kramsch and Andersen (1999) multimedia

technology ean provide authentic culinmal contexts that arc important for language leaming

In other words it creates a supportive leaming environment Kocak’s( 1997) study

investigates the effectiveness of CALL on vocabulary learning and teaching and draws a

concinsion that “computer instruction may offer a noteworthy experience to sindents

with respect to vocabulary learning”

Besides, CALL considerably influences the development of language skills As some researchers who advocated CALL programs, especially voice-inleractive, say Ihal CALL

can improve learners’ speaking skills (Ehsani, & Knodt, 1998; James, 1996) Moreover,

computer technology in combination with a conferencing system is considered an effective

means of providing goal-directed writing courses tailored to different learning styles

(Cornu, Decker, Rosseel, & Vanderheiden, 1990) So, making complete use of CALL to develop inlagrative language skill s trủly valusble in language teaching and learning

However, working with the computer, as any other teaching aid, needs to be linked with ordinary classroom work and CALL lessons, like other lessons, need to be planned carefully because Jones & Fortescas (1987) warns that the computer is a resource and not a

in well designed activites In addition, these processors work in parallel in the unconscious process and interact with the working memory and long term memory to interprets lamguags In fact, when languages are repeated tnany times, neurons are comected, (hen create automaticity Making use of this working process of the brain, people create a new model of language learning naming Computer Assisted Language Leaming( CALL) CALL can simultaneously activate auditory, phonological, and visual systems in the brain

Lance Knowles (2004) states thal CALL is an emerging force in language cdnention

and affirms that “CALL is now moving toward a blended model where the computer

provides the necsssary optimal input and practice activities, and the classroom provides the homan clement accommodating and ulilizing the necds and lives of the teamers in a social context”, Besides, he shows the different but essential roles off “both multimedia and classroom activities” Without the effective practice provided by well-designed, media-tich conrseware, Language leaming is slow, painful and discomraging Towever, without social environment of classroom, learning is tedious, unmotivating, and too restiictive to meet the Jeamers’ needs, Moreover, he argues that leamers” practice should be assisted by teachers

of approaches and think that BL combines instructional methods Both of these positions suffer from the problem that they define BL so broadly that there encompass virtually all jeaming systems It would be very difficult to find any leaming system that did not involve multiple instructional methods as well as multiple delivery media

Along with the development of technology and existing theoritical background of

DL, the researchers Ward & LaBranche(2003), Young(2002) have a different idea of BL which is a combination of online and face ta face instrnetion This is also a foundation for the later BL system combining traditional classroom and digital leaning environments in the context of a specific educational setting (Rovai and Jordan 2004)

1.2.2 Differences between blended learning and traditional classroom

learning(TCL)

There are a lot of differences between blended leaming and tradional text based approach.

In terms of time, BL is more flexible than TCL BL allows leamers to study on

their own schedule and make their own decision on how long they would like to spend on

each session while learners have to work on a fixed schedule and assigned period of time

in the traditional classroom learning So, BL is very convenient for those who both work

and study or learn many subjects at the same time

With regard to the assessment , BL supports teachers and administrators to manage

their students more effectively than TCL Students with BL often receive personalized

feedback about their progress, both language knowledge and languge skills whereas

teachers in the TCL often do not have time to give personalized feedback to each student

So, students in BL know exactly what they are lacking in order to improve Besides, BL assists administrators to have a correct report on the students’ progresss but administrators

in TCL just receives a list of student attendance and must presume that the students have

learnt something, which does not reflect the reality of teaching and learning

In addition, BL can make use of modern technological equipment, which is limited

in TCL Using technology will enhance the learning experience and improve retention for

www.titaylor.net)

1.3 Dyned language learning programme

1.3.1 Overview

Basically, Dyned (Dynamic English) is a useful language leaming computer software

Each DynED course is based on sound, time-proven approaches to language teaching,

curriculum design, and human interface design DynEd's research-based courses cover all

proficiency levels and include a range of age-appropriate courses, from kids in school to

adults in leading corporations Moreover, DynED courses are supported by Records Management System, Mastery and Placement tests, and extensive teacher-support

materials, including teacher training and mentoring (http: /Avww.dyned.com/about/)

Dyned is well sequenced as the activities build on one another ina gradual manner, and

there is an increasing vocabulary as students move through each level With the

programme shuffler feature, students are gradually introduced to new language as their

level inereases They are exposed to comprehensible activities that balance communicative and linguistic nocds

BynED is a four-level introduetory program which is presented fiom elementary to upper intermediate learners, It focuses on building the receptive skill of listening and the productive spoaking skill that arc essential for basie English communication Lassons arc subject based that relate to students' lives at the college level Topics vary fiom daily routine to social issues Grammar and vocabulary are strongly founded because learners

are introduced to the language niceded for effective o ion (Maritutha Soon, 2005)

Towever, Dyned also suffers from some limitation that it tends to be quite formulaic

im the patterning of its instructional sequences, from unil ta unit, Being aware of this weakness, ways of offfetting any negative side effects should be planned (Watt &

Foscolos, 1998)

1.3.2 The Dyned Advantages

First and foremost, Dyned is designed to develop integrated skills, especially oral skills

‘Through a lot of listening activities, leamers can first improve their listening skills by answering listening comprehension questions, Practicing, speaking throngh voice recording and the most advanced Speech Recogmtion technology also helps learners gain vocal fluency Writen skills are built and developed on the framework of oral skills

DynEd has compulcr-adaptive and variable Iength skill asscssmonl by using Dyned record manager and Inteligent Tutor Dyned record manager records students” practise in terms of time which allows teachers to know exactly when leamers study, the percentage to complels in gach toodule, their study score which reflecl learners” quality of practice, times

of repeating, recording, comparing and quality of practising with speech recognition, Intelligent ‘Tutor supports teachers in understanding what difficulties students have so that nocussary assistance can be given lo promote their learning

additional strengths These tests can really reduce the workload for teachers in process of

testing and evaluating

In addition, DynEd offers free tech support and has free and automatic updating for all courses The comprehensive teacher training software, support tools, manuals and on line teacher guides are all free of charge And to support the process of teaching and learning , materials are approciately designed for non-native leamers and teachers So, it is very convenient for both teacher and learners when using Dyned

(http://www dynedeurope.convhome )

1.4 New Dynamic English

NDE, a component of Dyned, is a comprehensive English language course that

includes 8 modules along with Placement and Mastery Tests, a sophisticated Records

Management and Assessment System, and detailed Teacher Guides

The contents of these 8 modules are arranged according to four linguistic levels Each level has same types of lessons such as presentation, matrix vocabulary, concepts, review

exercises and video interaction lessons Students may listen to the lessons with or without

texts, They can also make their own recording and replay Speech recognition functions are well explained Students may also access video interactions that are interactive and

interesting

Schedule for each module is carefully designed to suit learners” linguistic level

Each module of NDE provides 15-30 hours of study, and is designed for easy classroom extension and personalization activities Especially, the program includes detailed record

keeping, testing, and a unique learning sequence, which reduces learning time at schools

and increase learners’ automomy Moreover, the content automatically adjusts based on

leamer performance New Dynamic English has proven to be ideal for blended programs,

with either teacher-led classes or on-line study with tutor support

Apart from general advantages as other Dyned courses, NDE is confirmed to be the

quickest way to develop effective communication skills in English With daily practice and classroom support, students develop their pronunciation and oral fluency, especially, their

oral presentation and summarization skills Students can also master listening skill better

when they answer the listening comprehension questions Then, learners can deal with

sentence structure and effective sequencing of ideas exercises to improve their grammar

knowledge so that they can effectively express abstract ideas and relationships in every day

life

(http://www dyned.com/products/nde/

1.5 Attitudes

1.5.1 Definition

An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like

or dislike for something Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person,

place, thing, or event which is often referred to as the attitude object People can also be

conflicted or ambivalent toward an object, meaning that they simultaneously possess both

positive and negative attitudes toward the item in question (Wikipedia,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attitude (psychology) Jung(1921) in Psychological Types has said that attitude is a "readiness of the psyche to act or react in a certain way" (Jung,

1921) In another study, Iman(2009) has the similar idea about attitudes that are usually

defined as a disposition or tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain

thing such as an idea, object, person or situation

Related to language learning, attitudes are defined in different aspects Johnson and

Johnson(1998) give the definition of attitudes in the context of language, in which he said

that attitudes are defined as the way leamers look at the language, the people who speak

that language, and the culture that nourishes the language In other words, attitudes that

have been explored in relation to language learning range from anxiety about or interest in

the language and the learning situation, to attitudes toward speakers of the target language

In terms of the origin of language learning attitudes, Agheyisi and Fishman (1970)

state that attitudes develop through experience and can influence a person's linguistic

behavior In reality, when learners spend time on studying a new language, they can

repond positively or negatively to the language If learners have positive attitudes, they

will become motivated to study better and in contrast, leamers can be demotivated

Actually, discovering where a learner's attitudes come from and how they are developed

are very important in teaching a foreign language.

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1.5.2 Effects of attitudes in language teaching aud studying,

To substantiate, extensive studies have been done to examine the effect of attitudes

on language learning and the relationship between attitudes and language success

First and (ormosl, altitudes are very important in the academic success in gensrat and language learning sucess in particular, Some researchers such as Gardnar & Lambert

(1972); Raymond and Robert(1983); ‘Titone(1990) have recognized attitude as the most

important factor in acadcrnic success and have confirmed thal allitudes toward an arca of the study is more important than aptitude In addition, Hakutta( 1985) has commented ;“

‘The importance of a positive attitude toward the target language has been shown in a varicly of forcign language learning contexts”

Besides, attitudes motivate or demotivate Ieancrs a lot in their studying Brown(2000) thinks that second language learners benefit from positive attitudes whareas negative attitudes may lead to decreased motivation, In fact, positive attitudes an the part

of language leamcrs can develop an integrative motivation and this can consequently facilitate second language achievement So teachers need to strengthen and enhance the students “internal motivator” (Longman & Atkinson, 2002, p43) in order ta help them develop positive attitudes towards the second language

On the other hand, negative attitudes can produce bad effects on language learning

As what Llarmer (2002) has said if students feel hostile towards the language, materials and the teachers, they will hardly achiove any suceuss, Neverihelzss, he believes nogalive attitudes can be changed, often by exposure to reality for example, by immersing in a supportive and favorable learning environment

1.5.3 Learners and teachers’ attitudes toward CALL and Dyned learning

‘There are studios on CATT and all the optimistic results, Tuvcuagti’s study (2000) rovoslsd that [he tonchors af, Osmangazd University Dpartinont of Forcign Languages, Eskisehir, Tukey had positive attitudes towards using CALL and were willing

to teach in the computer lab for a few hours a week Additionally, Some researches showed that computer assisted language leaming method was more encouraging to students than

traditional languag: tcaching methods For cxample, Onsoy (2004), Yalcinalp (1993),

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Meyveci (1997), Pekel (2002) and Ayturk (1999) found that there was a significant

differences im the attitude levels of the students towards the Jesson between the groups in

by the traditional language teaching methods

Similarly, Dyned courses achieved optimistic rosulls The study carried oul by Bas

& Kuzucu (2009) revealed that the students who were educated by the DynED language leaning software were both more successful and had a higher motivation than those who were oducaled by traditional language Icaching mathods, Wall, & Foscolos (1998) added that DynED courses help students develop vocabulary knowledge as well as_ practise and improve their listening and speaking skills

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CHAPTER2: METHODOLOGY AND DATA ANALYSIS

2.1, Context of the study

The leaders of Ha Noi university of business and technology(HUBT) and English faculty decided to introduce New Dynamic Enghsh(NDE), a Dyned course, for K15 non English majored students The introduction of the new English sofware is constdered as an immovation in the ways of teaching and loaning English at HURT

Actually, NDE is undertaken by making use of blended leaming model and computer assisted language learning, which is different ftom traditional classroom model ‘This vequires (cavhers to adapl their (caching methods as well as improve their proficioney levels, Also, students have to change their way of studying Therefore, NDE has been

received differently by IIUBT teachers and students In such a context, it is critical to

investigale the (achors and students’ perception of and altitudes to the new English program in order to have empirical evidence tor administrative decisions on how to support teachers and students in running the program

2.2.Subjects

21.1 Teachers

“Phe participants in the study were 44 teachers working at the l'aculty of English, who are in charge of (caching English io non English majored students and have been teaching NDE for a year Most of teachers have more (han 3 year's experience teaching English as a foreign language

24.2, Students

The second population participated in this study were those who all have one year experience of learning New Dynamic English, including 120 students who are at the age of around 18, The students who had their Dyned placement level from 0.0 to 0.5 accounted for 80% of the people taking part in the research, 18% of the participants got the placement level from 0.7 1o | and only 2% achieved the placement level aver 1.2

23.1.1 Questionnaires for students

The questionnaires consisted of 11 items and were divided inlo 3 seeions The ñrst section contained 6 questions( fiom number one to number six) in order to explore students’ understanding and attitudes to New Dynamic English ‘The second section( from

‘Hem seven (o ten) dealt with the benefits and difficullies in the application of NDE And the the Jast item was to reveal students’ suggestions to unprove the couse

2312 Questionnaires for teachers

The questionnaires, consisting of 13 questions, were delivered to 44 teachers of English All the questionnaizes were written in English and they were designed to focus on three main areas ‘the first area( from question 1 to question 8) refered to teachers” undarstanding and altitudes to NDE The sccond arca coped with advantages and disadvantages in the application of NDE And the last question( number 13) exploited the recommendations to improve the course

2.3.2 Interviews

‘The researcher used semi-structured interviews which were closely related to the questionnaires wilh fife madifiealion but still facilitated chances to obtain a varicly of Yesponses from the interviewees The information from the interviews would be

categorized and analyzed in accordance with the data ftom the questionnaires to answer the research questions,

2.3.2.1 Interviews for teachers

'three Bnglish teachers from the sample who were delivered the questionnaires were randomly chosen for the interview The interview included $ questions to further discorver teachers’ opinions of NDE teaching in comparison with traditional classroom teaching, their perceptions of the program’s benefits The difficulties and their suggestions

to improve the course were also extracted, Each interview was about 15 minutes long and

would be recorded and transcripted for later reference

2.3.2.2 Interviews for students

Four students who had taken part in the surveyed questionnaires were chosen for the interviews, ‘The interview had 4 questions to get insightful students’ pereeptions and aililndss lo NDE? benefits, their difficulties in the process of learning, activities that they tiked or disliked inside and outsides the language lab, their opinion about if they would like

to continue NDE Each interview lasted about 15 minutes

2.4 Data collection and analysis

Fustly, both of teachers and students filled out the questionnaires The researcher directly explained the purpose, relevance and ths importance of the study, as well as answered all the questions that the slurdents and teachers had

Then, the researcher counted, coded the data collected from the questionnaires

Next, the results were displayed in forms of tables, figures or charts for the convenience of analysis while qualitative data ftom the open- ended questionnaires items and the interviews were presented by quoting relovanl responses [rome the respondents

‘After that collected data were synthesized, categorized and discussed to reveal answers

to the research questions Comparison between the data fom the questionnaires and those

from the interviews wore also made to assist interprctation,

2.5 Findings from questionaires and interviews

2.5.1 Findings from questionaires and interviews for teachers

Question 1: How much do you think NDE can improve your students’ English

program

Question 2 : Which activities are most effective or interesting in improving your

students’ pronunciation?

Figure 2: The most effective activity Figure 3: The most interesting

to practise pronunciation activity to practise pronunciation

sentences 1m Repeating the model

sentences 1m Self recording

In regard to the most effective or most interesting activities in improving students’

pronunciation, 80% of the respondents thought that repeating the models sentences was

the most effective way However, the most interesting activity to practice English pronunciation belonged to “self recording ”(67%) In fact, frequently repeating the models and self recording may consolidate learners’ pronuciation a lot because these help students

be familiar with sounds, imitate then swap the sounds to create autamaheity liesides, a

(just 8% of the population asked) 5% shared the idea that comparing with native speakers

was a good way to learn pronunciation

Tn short, from quastion one and two, a high poreorlage of teachors undorstand that

NDE allows Iearners to practise and improve their pronunciation a Tot This idea is also

shared by the first interviewee that “learning NDE helps students pronounce English

etter than hefore”

Questian 3: What do you think of vocabulary presented in each module?

Table 1; Vocabulary presented in each module

It can be clearly seen in the table that 81 5% teachers stated that vocabulary in NDE

learnt”

Question 4: What do you think of grammar given in cach module in NDE?

Figure 4: The workload of grammar in Figure 5: Level of grammar

With regard to the teachers’ evaluation of the workload and level of grammar

exercises in each module, the options provided were “too much”, “sufficient”, “not

enough”, “difficult”, “suitable”, and “simple” The most selection went to “not

enough”(64%) and “suitable”(79%) Although the majority of grammar exercises were

suitable for students’ level, they are not enough for students to practise However, 34% of the respondents think the workload of grammar in each module was enough and there was

a contrasting idea that grammar exercises in NDE were very simple(16%), thus, could not

help students consolidate and improve their knowledge of grammar.In the explanation for the choices, an interviewee stated that “ die to students’ bad grammar foundation, they need to practise more grammar tructure exercises to be able to improve productive skills

like speaking and writing”

Question 5 : In your opinion, how do your students develop English skills when they

learn New Dynamic English?

Acquiring language skills is very important in the process of leaning a foreign language The table showed how language skills are developed Most of the teachers asked responded that NDE developed listening skill “much”, which accounts for 72.5%, The rest

of the participants said that NDE developed listening a little

19

More than half of the teachers stated that speaking skill was also much

developed(55%) but ranked the second after listening This reflects exactly the theoritical

background on which this program was built that listening is the first skill to be focused

As shown in the table, all of the sample put their answers to “a little”, or “not at all”

to show that written skills were not paid much attention to Especially, 45% reflected that students’ writing skill was not developed at all and this is the highest percentage choosing

“not at all”,

Question 6: What do you think of the final achivement tests for first year students?

Figure 7: Reasons for teachers’ vews on

Figure 6: Teachers’ views on

[aThey test what needs testing

lm They are wet designed

IE They are compat with content of NDS

ID They are effectively administered

lm They are too dificult mothers

Figure 7 showed the reasons for teachers’ views on tests Most visibly, 91% of the

surveyed teachers explained that tests were compatible with the content of NDE, which

was the highest percentage among the options The second and third highest

percentage were : they test what needs testing and they are well designed, with 50% and

54.5% respectively These results indicated that the final achievement tests for first year

students were completely suitable However, we ought to notice 9% of the repondents who

disaproved of the tests because the tests were difficult or as some teachers complained that

there were many test questions repeated or quoted exactly what was presented in NDE

The judgements implied that kind of tests did not measure students’ ability but only

checked leamers’ memorization One of the interviewee disclosed that the designed tests in

NDE which had already been done during their lessons would not be used as final tests

because some students could learn by heart the answers

Question 7: What do you think of the working schedule for each lesson and each

module?

Figure 8: Working schedule in term of Figure 9: Working schedule in term of

Figure 8 and figure 9 showed an argumentative results The workload for each

lesson was too heavy for 68% of the participants while time allocation for each lesson was limited, which was agreed by 81% Nobody said the working schedule was “light” or “too

slow” in terms of content and time And only 18% and 19% supposed the schedule was

sufficient in content and reasonable in time allocation

The above data linked closely with the interview’s results Many of those

questioned complained about the presure on each lesson One interviewee said “ J tried my best to complete such a long lesson and heavy workload in a limited time” The other added “ everything became teacher-centered, students sat, listened and copied down and

seemed to do nothing to practise”

In a word, the findings showed that there was an unreasonable allocation of time

and workload in each lesson and each module This might lead to the bad quality of

teaching and learning Hence, students had negative attitudes to the program As a result, NDE program could not be productive as expected

Question 8: What do you think of supplimentary materials for classroom activities

which are used to extend and personalize the content of each module?

Figure 10; Workload of Figure 12: Design of

supplimentary materials supplimentary

in each lesson material

contents of NDE 82% of the participants affirmed that the workload of supplimentary

activities were heavy In contrast, there was no answer for the option “ light” and only 18% thought that it was sufficient However, it seemed that these activities were believed to be

suitable with leaners® ability as 75% of the population made a choice for this Very few

teachers supposed supplimentary materials were easy(2%) and less than a quarter judged the materials were diffificult Also, it could be easily recognizable that three fouths of the

sample chose “badly designed” as the most selected answer when evaluating the

supplimentary materials

Noticeably, in the interview with some teachers, they disapproved of a lot of the

supplimentary material An interviewee said “ it is very difficult to cover a wide range of

activities in a lesson We often have to work very hard to transfer all these things to

students, Sometimes we feel exhausted Another teacher stated “ with poor background,

our students are not able to deal with such a difficult and luge workload” and“ it seems

that the supplimentary materials are not compatible with the content of NDE" Therefore,

discussing this issue to find solutions was necessary and urgent

Question 9: What problems do you have when conducting supplimentary activities to

extend contennt of NDE in classrooms?

From figure 14, it could be easily recognizeable that two prominent problems were

multi-level students and too many activities (75% and 82% respectively) Teaching multi-

level students always causes teachers a lot of difficulties If teachers instruct too fast, less able students will not follow and in contrast, if teachers teach slowly, stronger students will feel bored and not be motivated, Also, too many activities were a real cause to make weak students stressed and demotivated and then became more discouraged for the higher-level

lessons 12% of the poll said that they had difficulty in teaching in large class and 10%

stated that boring activities made teachers and students tired and unmotivated

Sharing the idea with the majority, an interview subject responded “ J often fet!

stressed when delivering lessons in multilevel classes When I explained something in

English, just one or two students understood what I meant and the rest just sat and

appeared to understand nothing.” Another interviewee said that “ I feel worried when

thinking of too many activities in a short time

Question 10 : What problems do you have when delivering NDE lessons?

Lack of computer skills 36.3%

Difficulty in interaction between teachers and students 75%

Table 3: Teachers’ perception of and attitudes to the difficulties

A lot of obstacles came up when teachers delivered NDE lessons One of the

problems was the shortage of time which made up the highest percentage(87.5%) It could

be a reason to explain why a number of leamers had negative attitudes to English lessons

The second highest percentage(75%) was difficulty in interaction between teachers and

students An interviewee confirmed this problem by saying that “my stdents refuse to

interact as instructed because they are used to tradional approach” 36% of the

respondents said that lack of computer skills was a problem When there were technical

problems relating computers or projectors, teachers often did not know how to fix the

problem In addition, some teachers reflected that students’ poor background knowledge

also formed an obstacle Another problem was revealed by an interviewee saying that

“students have difficulty in comprehending the content without teachers’ explanation of

words and grammar’

Question 11: In the process of teaching New Dynamic English, which type of lessons

or activities appear to be the most difficult to conduct?

As shown from the chart, speech practice lessons were ranked the most difficult

(48%) The reason for this was exposed in the interview that “ speech recognition suffers

from some limitation that it is very difficult to record voices in a noisy environment”,

Actually, some teachers said in the process of teaching they were not confident in the

lessons because they sometimes recorded without recognition in front of the class Video

interaction and presentation lessons were the second and third most difficult as seen from

the data with 27% and 20% respectively It was partly due to some technical problems in the lab an partly due to students’ English proficiency,

Table 4: Teachers’ perception and atittudes to NDE" benefits

Conceming benefits from teaching and learning NDE, most of the participants ticked more than one answer, inducing that there are a lot of strengths from this program

As clearly seen in table 3, 82% off the teachers thought NDE could develop integrated English language skills, Another high percentage(75%) of them admitted NDE could promote students’ needs and autonomy In fact, the presure ftom the program forced students 10 study everyday and practise more so that leaners could gel a better result Besides, a half of the subjects shared the same idea that NDE created a relaxing atmosphere to motivate target language use Especially, a lot of the teachers(90%) showed thal NDE made use of tho advances of tochclogy to supporl learning Also, taking the advantage of high tech equipment met Jeamers’ needs and interests

Question 13: What do you recommend to improve the NDE program at UBT?

25

The table showed that 3 favored choices made were reducing the workload for each

lesson(87.5%), increasing time for each module(85%) and setting up a task force to

evaluate the supplimentary materials and tests(75.5%) It seemed that these recommendations needed adopting because most clearly seen was the difficulty of the

teachers caused by time limitation and heavy workload The proposal of 75.5% of the participant should be taken into consideration because good supplimentary materials could extend and personalize the content of NDE and make this program more effectively

Some other solutions were put forward by the interviewed teachers One of them said “the requirement of completing 80% of the lesson is not valid in some classes Many

students, despite reaching the completion value, even can not thoroughly understand the

content, so they can not speak or summarize the content without text support.” Another suggested “we should require students to record and compare and strictly check their

performance”

2.5.2, Findings from questionaires and interviews for students

Question one : How does your English pronunciaton progress when taking NDE?

Figure 15: Students' English Pronunciation after studying NDE

BA lot

A little Not at all

In response to how students progress studying NDE, there was a contrasting number

of answers between teachers and students 66% of the students affirmed their

pronunciation only progresses a little after learning NDE The number of students sharing

the idea that their pronunciation just developed a lot or did not develop at all were equal

Explaining this problem, some students in the interviews said “ we are pressed to

complete a great deal of workload, percentage and study scores so that we seem not to pay

much attention to the quality of practise”

Question two: What is the most cffective activity to practise your pronunciation? And which one is the most interesting to practise ?

Figure 16: Most effective activity for Figure 17: Most Interesting activity

‘students to practice pronunciation for students to practice

pronunciation

faLstenngto me

‘model sentenc:

i Lstening to me

model sentences|

la Recording and

most effective activity(59%) Hence, teachers could take advange of this activity to

encourage learners to improve their pronunciation In addition, more than a quarter of

those asked admitted listening to models was an effective way because listening exactly

what speakers said supported learners to pronounce better

In order to make it clear, interviews with some students disclosed that repeating

models many times helped them speak English fluently and smoothly

Question three: How does NDE help you to increase your vocabulary and your ability

It was obvious to see from figure 18 that 58% of the students believed that their

vocabulary just increased a little and the majonity(73%) evaluated they couldonly use some

of the vocabulary provided Noticeably, though the number of students who said that their

vocabulary did not increase was not high(13%), this could reduce learners’ motivation and.