Luận văn an evaluation of the application of the courseware learn to speak english deluxe 10 in language lab for the first year non major of english students at hanoi university of business and technology

VIETNAM NATIONAT, UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES PHUNG TH] NHU TRANG AN EVALUATION OF TITE APPLICATION OF THE COURSE

VIETNAM NATIONAT, UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

PHUNG TH] SHU TRANG

AN EVALUATION OF TITE APPLICATION OF THE COURSEWARE “LEARN TO SPEAK ENGLISH DELUXE 10” IN LANGUAGE LAB FOR THE FIRST YEAR NON-MAJOR OF

ENGLISH STUDENT'S AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS

AND TECHNOLOGY

Đánh giá việc ứng dụng phần môm chương trình dụy học “ Learn Te

Speak English Deluxe 10” tai phòng máy cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất

không chuyên Anh tại trưởng Dại Học Kinh Doanh và Công Nghệ Hà Nội

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60140111

HANOL — 2015

VIETNAM NATIONAT, UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

PHUNG TH] NHU TRANG

AN EVALUATION OF TITE APPLICATION OF THE COURSEWARE “LEARN TO SPEAK ENGLISH DELUXE 10” IN LANGUAGE LAB FOR THE FIRST YEAR NON-MAJOR OF

ENGLISH STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS

AND TECHNOLOGY

Đảănh giá việc ứng dụng phần mêm chương trình dạy học “ Learn To

Speak English Deluxe 10” tại phòng máy cho sinh viên năm thứ nhẤt

không chuyên Anh tại trưởng Dại Học Kinh Doanh và Câng Nghệ 11à Nội

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Prof Nguyén Hoa

HANOL — 2015

DECLARATION

Thereby certify that the thesis entilledL

" An evaluation of the application of the courseware Learn To Speak English Deluxe 10 in language lab for the first year non major of English studenis at Hanoi University of Business and Technology”

is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts, and that this thesis has not heen submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary

inslilation

Hanoi, 2015

Phing Thi Nhu Trang

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

‘The author of this thesis is grateful to a great number of people who did offer assistance and support in the preparation of the dissertation

1 am moat grateful to Prof Nguyễn llòa- my supervisor Lis guidance and

comments have helped me fulfill the thesis Without his suggestions and guidance,

the thesis would never have been compleled

T would also like to thank the teachers at Hanoi University of Business and Technology who did their best to help me gather data from studenis’ and teachors’

questionnaires

This thesis would not have been completed without the enthusiasm and the interest of the first year students in Accounting, Finance majors, who have participated in the survey

Finally, I own my deepest pratitude to my family for their preat

encouragement anid support

ABSTRACT

Applying technology and latest advance in learning is an investment and an

efforl of both English Department of HUBT and the school Learn To Speak

English is introduced to first year students of all majors but the results were not up

to expectation Moreover, no courseware is perfect in any situations l’or the

reasons, the sludy ts aimed to evaluate the software to {ind out lo whal, extent il can

meet teachers and students’ needs in terms of contents and the presentation,

organization of the content as well as to find out some benefits and difficulties in

teaching and leaming by using this software

Teo evaluate the software LISE, this study was carried out based on the

criteria proposed by Geergiadou, Tỉ ,& Boonomides, A (2000) as a hasis The data were collected from first year sludents from different majors and ESP teachers at

AILBY

In this study, the teachers and students’ needs in language leaming in terms

of conlenl and the pres laliorn, orgarizaHơm of the content of LTSE wore

investigated The evaluation also releases some strengths and weaknesses of this software And finally, the evaluator suggests some recommendations to make better

use ol LTSE

ii

LIST OF TABLES, CIIARTS

Chart 1: Results of difficulties in delivering LTSE lessons

Char! 2: Results of students’ evaluation of the most interesting and most difficult

lesson

Chart 3: Results of students’ recommendation to improve the use of LTSE

Table 1: Results of Students’ and teachers’ evaluation of LTSE's content

Table 2: Results of Students’ and teachers evaluation of Pedagogical factors

Table 3: Results of Students’ and Teachers’ evaluation of Interactivity

Table 4: Results of students’ and teachers’ evaluation of Navigation of LTSF's

content

Table 5: Results of students evaluation of Feedback of LTSE’s content

Table 6: Resulis of students’ and teachers’ evaluation of LTSE's screen design

Table 7: Result of teachers’ opinion about the difficulties or the problems of

teaching with LTSE

Table 8: Results of teachers’ opinion about the benefits of teaching and learning

English at UBT

Table 9: Resulis of Teachers’ recommendations io improve NDE

Table 10: Results of students’ perception and attitudes to NDE" benefits

Table 11: Results of students’ evaluation of Challenges in LTSE studying

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION - - - 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - - - ti ABSTRACT - - - nm LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS co "a2 LIST OI' TABLES, CHIA RỈTÉ ch xheherreiiiieiroeV, PART I: INTRODUCTION - - - - 1

1 Ratlonale of the StHy on Ăn 11 eeeeererT 2 Aim of the study and research questions sec 2.) Aun of the study - - 2

2.2 Research quesHOI sị ccc 2t exetrreicsrrrrerriee 2 3 Scope of the study 2 4 Sigmificance of the sludy 3 5 Design of the stuđy cv 3 PART IL DEVELOPMENT - 5 CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAT, FRAMEWORK 5 1 Computer assisted laneuage learning (CALL) 5

2 Criteria for evaluating language learning software - 7 3 The soltware that has been used al HUBT 19 4, Learn to Speak English proprai - 525cc se 122 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY AND DATA ANALYSIS 24 1, Context of the siudy ào se racreee "5n 2 8ubjeot ¬—

3 The mslrumenls - - - 25

4, Data colleetion and anaÏysis sssssi-cce "—

CHAPTER THREE: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 28

1 Findings from part I of questionnaires and the interviews 29

3 Kindings rom part l1 of the questionnaires and itterviews 4l

vị

3 Summary of major findings

PARTI: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

For decades, English was taught in classrooms in which the tcacher-ventered method wes applied The teacher gave information, while students gained imowledge passively Ilowever, advanced technology has influenced the educational methods in classroom in which computer-based (cclnology is mainly used to reinforce instruction and put the focus on the students in their learning process Leamers can use some English leaming materials easily af they are equipped with a device from very simple ones as their mobile phone, a radio, a cassette, etc to a more advanced one as laptops, ipads And they can leam English anytime, anywhere whenever they have time because leaming English does bring pleasure and interests besides Ieaving greaL impaol en leamers listening skill

improvement

Among (hose conveniences, compuler teclmology can be regarded as an educational tool supporting language teachmg, In fact, a wide range of electronic technologies have been developed to supplement second language teaching and leaming (Bas & Kuzucu, 2009, Warschauer, 1996), These tectmologies include hardware delivery methods such 2s audiotape recorders, videotape recorders, computers and the Internet In addition, there are many innovative electronic tools that support language learning such as speech production and recognition, text analysis, text translation, and software for visualization and animation, electronic mail, list serve discussion groups, streaming audio and video and real-time synchronous a3 well as

aaynchronous communication opporluritics that bring the targel language

environment to the learner (LeLoup & Porterio, 1997)

One of the recent, educational methods for Ianguage teaching, more specifically English Language teaching, is called the Computer Assisted Language Leaming (CAL) method which is combining with face to face classroom instruction lo form

a new Blended Leaming model Learn To Speak English Deluxe 10 is one of those

advanced technology in language teaching and Icaming, At Ha Noi University of Business and ‘Technology (UL) after two years of experiment, the application of Learn To Speak Rnglish Dehoe 10 Courseware has caused # controversy over ils effectiveness among teachers and students Hence, this research is done to explore

to what extent this software meets teachers and students’ needs in teaching and learning, as well es to reveal the benefits and challenges in applying L.TSE so as to

find ways to improve the course

2 Aim of the study and research questions

2.1 Aim of the study

The major aims of the study are:

- To evaluate lhe courseware Learn To Speak English Deluxe 10 used at Hanoi

University of Business and Technology in terms of content as well as the presentation and organization of its content

- To propose some recommendalions for administrators and English teachers

to fully exploit and better apply the program supporting students in language learning for expected resulis

2.2 Research questions

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

1 To what extent does LTSE meet teachers and students’ needs in teaching and learning in terms of content as well as the presentation and organization of its content?

2, What improvements can he recommended to make the use of the

LYSE courseware more effective?

3 Scope of the study

This study tried to find out teachers and students’ evaluation of the Learn To Speak English Coursoware in terms of those criteria: content, and the presentation and organization of its contem, ‘This kind of information was collected through

questionnaires and interview

Dus to the limited scope of a minor thesis, rescarch subjects are primarily confined to ten English teachers who have been working with the courseware for two years and 100 random students who are learning al cight different classes of

Accounting, Banking, and Finance

4, Significance of the study

Firstly, the study serves as a reference source for HUBT administrators and English teaching staffs who are directly involved in Learn to Speak English program and administrators as well as for students who are beneficiaries of the program They will be made aware of both the benefits and challenges in the application of Learn io Speak Fnglish ond thus promote the quality & effectiveness of the program

Secondly, based on the results of the study, some changes or improvemonis in Ihe use of the courseware in the teaching/learning process may be made accordingly in order to serve best the goals of the English Department set for the teachers and

students in the first school year,

Thirdly, it would make a contribution to the research area in the field of computer

assisted learning as well as relating to (he application of language learning

software

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

the researcher

5 Design of the study

This study consists of three paris:

Part J: Introduction ‘This part supplies an overview of the study with specific reference to the rationale, the aims, and the design

Part H: Development 1n this part, three chapters are presented,

Chapter one: Theoretical Framework This chapter deals with an exploration of the theoretical background of the research It concerns with the issues relevant to the topic of the research: Computer Assisted Language Learning, Criteria for evaluating language learning software, the software that has been used at HUBT, Learn to Speak English program,

Chapter two: Methodology and data analysis Methodology presents the background information of the subjects of the study, the instrument used to collect

data, the procedure of data collection

Chapter three: Results and Discussion In this chapter, the data is analyzed in detail and a thorough discussion of the findings of the study is wade Some explanations and interpretations of the findings are also present in this chapter

Part I: Conclusion In this part, the limitations and some recommendations for

further research are explored,

PART I: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

1 Computer assisted language Icarning (CALL)

1 What is CALL?

According to Kocak (1997) CALL is “a term used by teachers and students to describe the use of computers as part of a language course” Hardisty & Windealt (1989) give a more detailed definition that CALL is traditionally considered as a

method of ‘presenting, reinforcing and testing’ particular language items in which

the leamer is first presented with a rule and some examples, and then answers a series of questions which test her/his Inowledge of the rule and the computer gives

appropriate feedback and awards a mark which may he stored for later inspection for the teacher and reference Lor the lamer

1.3 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 [liggins (1995) indicates that the value of

CALL js that it allows a richer form of language exploration and the use of

computers is compatible with a variety of approaches, methods and techniques ‘This gives teachers much flexibility in their teaching practice According to Kramsch and Andersen (1999) multimedia technology can provide authentic cultural contexts that

are important for language learning In other words it creates a supportive leaming

environment Kooak’s (1997) study investigates the effectiveness of CALL on vovabulary learnmg and teaching and draws a conclusion thal “computer instruction

may offer a noteworthy experience to students with respect to vocabulary leaning”

Besides, CALI considerably influences the dovelopmenl of fanguage skills As some researchers who advocated CALL programs, especially voice-interactive, say that CALL can improve learners’ speaking skills Moreover, computer technology in

combination with a conferencing sysicm is considered am clfective means of”

providing goal-directed writing courses tailored to diffcrent learning styles So, making complete use of CALL to develop integrative language skills is truly valuable in language teaching and learning

Lowever, 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 & Fortescue (1987) wams that the computer is a resource and not a programmed-leaming machine

13 Lance Knowles{ 2004)' CALL

Long-Term Memory

tị

in parallel in the unconscious process and interact with the working memory and long term memory to inlerpreled language In Lact, when languages are repealed many times, neurons are connected, and then create automaticity Making use of this working process of the brain, people create a new model of language learning naming Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) CALL cau simuliancously activate auditory, phonological, and visual systems in the brain

Lance Knowles (2004) atatos tit CALI is an emerging force in langsage education and affirms that “CALL is now moving toward a blended model where

the computer provides the necessary optimal input and practice activities, and the

classroom provides the human clement accommodating and utilizing the needs and

lives of the learners in a social context” Besides, he shows the different but

essential roles of “both multimedia and classroom activities” Without the effective practice provided by well-designed, media-rich courseware, language learning is slow, painful and discouraging Ilowever, without social environment of classroom,

learning is tedious, unmolivating, and too restrictive La meet the leamers’ needs

Moreover, he argues that learners’ practice should be assisted by teachers who point

out practice strategies and materials so that students practice English more

effectively

2 Criteria for evaluating language learning software

21 Criteria suggested ky Hubbard

Hubbard (1988) develops an integrated framework for CALI courseware cvaluation Its approach is different from others and requires some introduction It

is an integrated description of the components of CALL materials with respect to a particular goal- evaluation This framework helps an evaluator create his or her own questions or develop some other evaluation scheme instead of asking specific questions

Rather than asking a specific set of questions, a framework provide the tool through which an evaluator can create on his or her own questions or develop some other

evaluation scheme He also gives four principles when using the framework

- Principle 1: the evaluation framework should be linked to a general framework for language teaching methodology In other wards, it should build as much as possible on cxisting views of how to analyze the effectiveness of the

language process

- Principle 2: the evaluation framework should conlain a wide range of methods, teachers, Jeamers, and syllabus goals It should be flexible and non- judgmental of the nature of language and learning

~_ Primoiplo 3: the cvaluatlon Ramework should be connoctcd trịth framewoiks for courseware development and implementation in terms of form and lormninology Thal is, the cvalualion process should not be secluded from the

The researcher considers these principles lo he of greal significance im courseware

evaluation and should be applied widely and seriously It should be noted that this framework is built on a view of the language teaching/leaming process proposed

by Richards and Rogers (1986) They think that when analyzing any method of

language teaching method, there are three levels to consider: approach, design, and procedure Basically, approach represents the method’s assumptions about the

nature of language and language learning, design represents the realization of

those assumptions in terms of curricular goals, learning tasks, and the roles of

leamer, teacher, and materials, and procedure represents the implementation of

those goals through specific learning and practice aclivities Tins point of view

remains important in Llubbard (1988)’s framework However, some modifications have been made Because the Richards and Rogers framework is designed to

analyze whole methods rather than individual picces of courseware, some

significant liberties have been taken to accommodate the rather different goals of courseware evaluation Following is Hubbard (1988)’s integrated framework for

CALL courseware evaluation.

Hubbard”s integrated framework for CAT.L software evaluation

*

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Figure 5: Full Evaluation Framework

2.2, Criteria suggested by Burstan

Based on the work of Hubbard (1987, 1988), Burston (2003) suggest a frame work with four parameters which could be used as a basic guide to software evaluation:

technical features, activities (procedures), teacher fit (approach), and leamer fit

(design)

Technological features seem to be the easiest to assess and include:

1 simplicity of installation (adequacy of instructions, trouble free, easy to uninstall),

2 speed of program operation (where are the delays: al slart up, loading videos, web page loading”),

3 reliability of operation (crashes and stalls),

4 platform compatibility (PC/Maciniosh, operating system, Web browser versions),

5 screen management (esthetics, navigational transparency),

6 user interface (ease of use, operational consistency, online help), and

7 exploitation of computer potential (effective use of sound, video, speech recognition, speech synthesis, intelligent response handling, student record keeping, adaptability based ov user profiles, links to www)

Just Like technological features, program activities are relatively straightforward to deal with TL is all about finding ont whai students actually de when using the program and how good the activities are Ihe results should be made to be relative

to activity type For instance, using grammar exercises may be opposed by some icachers but in evaluating such exercises, iL earmol be denied hat they are useful

‘The quality of exercises has to be judged relative to their instructional purpose (‘he appropriateness of activities, which is another issue depending on the teacher’s particular cwricula objects, will be doalt later in Tcacher Fit parameter) Broadly speaking, activities can be classified into three mayor types:

1 instructional (tutorials, drills, text reconstruction),

2 collaboralive (games, simulalions, discussion [onums, peer group wriling), and

3 facilitative (dictionary, database, verb canjugator, spell/grammar checker,

authoring system)

Obvious activity features to consider are

1 linguistic focus (discouase, syntax, lexis, morphology, spelling, pronunciation),

2 language skills (reading, listening, writing speaking),

10

3 sociolinguistic focus (information gathering/authentic tasks), and

4, supplementary/complementary/central relationship to the curriculum,

The assessment of teacher fit (approach) requires looking at the theoretical base of student activities, judging how well they follow accepted theories of cognitive development, second language acquisition, and classroom methodology: and determining how closely they fil the teacher's curricular objectives Doing this, teachers can show their rejection to the activities of the software program for not

according with collaborative objectives

Linguistic accuracy (c.g grammaticality, authenticity, typos, ctc.) and the appropriateness of sociocultural representations (e.g stereotypes or gender bias) also reflect the how well pedagogical objectives of the program are wel

Teacher fit is the parameter that determines the pedagogical appropriateness of the

program, therefore considered to be the most cnlical one of software evaluation

yen though a program is rich in activities or technically brilliant, it is useless if does not help to fulfill teacher's curricular objectives Determining teacher fit is the

most difficult partly because the theoretical/nethodological assumptions inside the

program are not always stated by software developers, and assessors have to make

implication On the other hand, software producers label their products basing on

favored methodological approaches (e.g communicative, leamerceniered,

constructivist, and experiential) rather than paying attention to the truth of the matter In addition, some foreign language teachers may not have adequate formal training (6g., tr cognitive psychology applied linguislies, or language leaching inethodology) required to make decisions about thearetical considerations

The step of assessing learner [il (design) involves defining the potential user of the software program in which teachers play an essential role Other factors such as which the program is appropriate to or can be adapted to, the needs for students are also determined by them, Learner fil is affected by the following

1 linguistic level (grammar, vocabulary, register),

11

2 response handling (error correction, feedback),

3 adaptation to individual leamer differences (age, interests),

4 learning slyles (recognition, recall, comprehension, experiential learning),

5 learning strategies (field-dependent/field-independent leaming, deductivefinductive reasoning, —-visual-graphic/visual-textual leamming, individual/group work),

6 learner control (sequencing, content, operating parameters), and

7 design flexibility/modifiability by instructor

Burston (2003) also suggests that the casiest way to sclect software is to select bundled software: “an integrated software/textbook package” because “the content

is age and language-learning level appropriate, the methodology is sound, and Lotal curricular investigation is assured” (p.36) His framework is of great significance in the assessment of the application of a language leaming courseware

23 Criteria suggested by Lé and Lé

As cited in Quynh Lé and Thao Lé (2007), software is looked at in different aspects

Tt can be socn as a tool, an instructor, a facilitator of learning, and a virtual class, In the context of NDU, a virtual class may be the best comparison because the students self-study in the virtual environment with the help of the teacher These authars take into account the following factors of educational sofiware evaluatior:

- Flexibility: A courseware should be flexible enough to serve up learners’ Teaming styles and interests when they negotiate through their earning and to

allow the leamers to learn at their own pace,

- Interactivity: This includes textual and communicalive mteractivily In terms of” textual interactivity, learners can explore a variety of structure-based and content-based parts of the courseware Communicatively, a communication

board is used for discussion attong participants

- Multimedia power: A range of multimedia tools arc cmbedded in the courseware for leamers to construct their own materials and to access other sources

- Resources: Promoting independent leanung is of importance Reading materials

include scanned articles from books and those available on the Web, The

preseniee of guided tours of various web sites which deal with spec

advisable

topics is

- A wide range of learning experiences: Apart from the content-based topics

dealing with different aspects of a course, there should be different sub-

components such as practical implications, problem-solving tasks, and self- tasling

- Learners? evaluation: It is a good ideas for the courseware to include a component to provide a user-friendly facility for students to contribute their evaluation and feedback,

The process of educational software evaluation is presented in the following

diagram

Lé & Lé (2007)’s process of educational software evaluation

13

Software Evaluation Process

ĐEfornung Thờ pdueetiemal Reads of the arget users

Selection of Software

Checkst uestennstee vee Focus groups

2.4, Georgiadou Elissavet and Anastasios A Economides’ evaluation criteria

Although there are numerous articles in the literature on instructional design and

system evaluation, the researcher still find that the work of Georgiadou &

Economides, 2000 is really appropriate to be used in evaluating the effectiveness of LTSE sofiware that is being applied al HUBT

14

vowaity anc autnenty

Ỹ ; Evaluation Appropriateness Instructional rmodet

ACCEPTAEIUITY nh gation on of content Tư Fendback

Sereen deslen cost

Content durability over time Technical support ripen nia Updating, modifying, acing procedures:

seiner Portability cf the product

Technical coverage Evaluation of leaming

Leeming process Egy to learn

Diagram of the Evaluation Framework

According to the diagram of the evaluation framework above, the evaluators of hypermedia courseware (H.C.) (Georgiadou & Economides, 2000) put emphasize

on the social and practical acceptability of hypermedia courseware

Firstly, with the social acceptability, the authors mean the social basis of an

educational system In cases when the basis is teacher-centered, then the software

that provides high levels of leaner control and undermines the teacher’s authority is possibly socially unacceptable On the other hand, when the basis is student-

centered, then a courseware that limits the student's potential for independent

discovery is socially unacceptable

The second branch in the diagram is the practical acceptability term which includes some criteria of the software evaluation such as the content, the presentation and

organization, Technical support and update processes and evaluation of learning

According to the author all sectors are equally important, as hypermedia courseware

has to be simultaneously pedagogically and technically sound Moreover, each

15

sector includes a number of criteria that are incorporated in the evaluation instrument, which should be met in a satisfactory level, in order to characterize a piece of hypermedia courseware of high quality

‘The authors also gave some clarification of some smaller terms that appear in the diagram such as the ‘presentation and organization of the content’ and the

“evaluation of leaming’ sectors

1 The presentation and organization of the content: it is associated with the

Secondly, ‘iolivation’ and ‘structure’ are important in all educational settings that

are how to organize instructional information, this again depends on the subject mialter Suciured hypermedia consists of sets of nodes, each sel accessible from

any other set The node scts can be structured in any number of ways, such as node-

lk, hierarchical, network, depending on the nature of the processing the designer wants to elicit from the user The structure of each node set with the various options available within each set needs to be conveyed on every screen Another method for structuring the node sets is to combine related concepts, tie them together in an introductory block, and then permit access within the set only to concepts comained within the set

16

Thirdly, ‘leamer's control’ is another important thing, which is primary in the design of interactive learning as it allows students to tailor the learning experience

to their own individual needs

Moreover, the issues of ‘accommodation of individual differences’, and

‘cooperative leaming’ are highly important in the effectiveness of hypermedia-

based learning In most education contexts leamers are not homogeneous in terms

of prerequisite knowledge, motivation, experience, leaming styles and cognitive styles Also evidence suggests that when hypermedia-learmng systems are

structured to allow cooperation, Icarners benefit both instructionally and socially

1.2 Interface Design Factor: there ave some issues thal create the interface design

factor: Interactivity - Navigation — Feedback, and the screen design

1.2.1 Interactivity - Navigation — Feedback

a, Interactivity in instruction: that is the activity performed by the technology and the leamer as well as the ability of the technology to adapt the events of instruction

in order to make that interaction more meaningful (Reigeluth, 1987)

b, Navigation: the types of Tinks the software allows to assist the study, it is the assistance needed that provides a function of the size of the knowledge base

c, Feedback it is closely related with the issue of mteraction, as action without

feedback is completely unproductive for a leamer There are two factors thal

determine the cffectivencss of feedback: The type and frequency of feedbacks According to Laurillard (1993) there are two types of feedback, ‘intrinsic’- what is given as a natural consequence of an action and ‘extinsic’- as the word suggested,

it is an external comment on it: right or wrong not The intrinsic is different from

the extrinsic clearly in computer-based instruction because the intrinsic feedback

relates to navigation and interactivity with the instructional program and the

extrinsic feedback relates to the feedback on user's performance.

In addition, Schimmel (1988) identifios throc types of oxtrinsic feedback: (a) Confirmation feedback that simply confirms whether a leamer's answer is correct or ineorrcet, (b) Correct response feedback thal presents the correct answer, (c) Lxplanstory feedback, such as a step-by-step solution to an incorrectly answered question,

122 The screen design

In order to encourage students in their learning with the help of computers, the author suggested Uhat thers should have different screen clements to present information so that it can assist the leamers in retaining and recalling the

information

2 Evaluation of Learning

Firsly, the learning oulcomes con be evatuated by ‘protests’ which is used Lo determine [sarning outcomes prior to the intervention and ‘immediate’ and ‘delayed

post-lesis’ (o examine learning outcomes aller the interverition

‘The learning process refers to the usability of a product it is done by observing and measuring the end-users attitudes Usability is usually associated with five parameters (Niclacn, 1990): Rasy 1o learn, Eificient to usc, Rasy 10 remember, Few

errors; Pleasant to use

Tn conclusion, a wide variely of criteria for s

oftware evaluation of different authors makes it really difficult for the writer to choose criteria for the evaluation process

of LSE There are too many things to consider which requires enormous effort to

look at the software from various aspects However, it is likely to be easier when the evaluating process is limited within some particular criteria Personally, the researcher has chosen the criteria of Georgiadou Elissavet and Anastasios A

Economides (2000) to evaluate the software in terms of content and the

presentation or organization of the content through questionnaires to find out if the

18

software meets the need for the contents of both students and teachers English software that was used in Llanoi university of Business and Technology

3 The software that has been used at HUBT

Responding to the development in computer technology as well as teaching and leaming English, the administrators of HURT decided to apply The DynFad in 2012

‘This software provided both advantages and disadvantages

3.1 Over view of Dyned

New Dynamic Hnglish is introduced for first year students of all majors and it started to be used in 2012 Dyned (Dynamic English) is a useful language learning computer sollware DynFad'y research-based courses provide chances la leam English from kids in school to adults in leading corporations Dy) courses are

supported by Records Management System, Mastery and Placement Lesls

DynliD) is a four-level introductory program which is presented from elementary to upper intermediate leamers It focuses on building the receptive skill of listening and the productive speaking skill thai are essential for basic Fnglish communication Lessons are subject based that relate to students’ lives at the college level Tapios vary from daily routine to social issues In each lesson of Dyned, there

are six main parts: the presentation, the speech recognition, review, videa

interaction, dictation, matrix vocabulary lesson

3.2 NDE advantages and disadvantages

Due to the limitation of a minor thesis, the researchers used the studies of some

other researchers to make conclusion aboul the benefits and the disadvantages of

applying this program at HUBT as follow

3.21 Advantages in the application of NDE at HUBT

The benefit of NPE al HURT has been investigated by many researchers, thus in this minor thesis, the researcher refer to some benefits that were conducted in some previous researches by Chu T.TH (2014) and Mai, TN (2011)

19

In the study of Mai (2011), she found out that there are three outstanding

advantages of applying NZ in LIU Jirst of all, it is the oral skills development for learner that a1 allered According to her study, the number of invesligaicd students approved that NDE helped them improve their oral skills accounts for 82% Secondly, she also found that NDZ also helps to develop communication skills and creates a relaxing environment to learn Friglish The lopics presented in NDF reflect xeal world activities from greeting, families, and jobs to the current social issues like environmental pollution, diseases and wars Finally, she pointed out that the assistance of moder technology is the third benefil of using NDF It is (rue thal the language rooms are equipped with multimedia facilities like projectors, megaphones, computers which are connected to the internet, to create good onnditions for language learning These conditions make NDF learning in particular

and English studying in general easier

From the dala analysis and discussions of Chu (2014), she found thal Ins soltware

provided some benefits for learners with suitable aim of the course because the

courseware successfully met the course requirements in developing language skills, especially speaking and lisloning Il also consolidates the studenls’ basic grammar due to adequate grammatical structures and exercises It also provides students with sufficient amount of vocabulary necessary for daily communioation in English at a asic lovel In addition, with regard to content, the courseware provides appropriate content for students to learn in some aspects including adequate amount of language

skills, functional language and grammatical points Many common topics in

commuricative situations such as daily aclivilies, familivs and jobs, cle are also

presented Vocabulary is provided through specific situation and conversation in each lesson with the participation of familiar characters (Max, Kathy, etc.) Finally, teaching — lcarning (cchniques presented in aclivilies quite satisfy teachers and

students There are good interaction between teachers and students, between

students and among students throughout modules in the courseware

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3.2.2 Problems in the application of NDE at HUBT

dn Mai (2011)’s research, the problems lies in the working schedule I'he time allocation for cach module is insufficient for students to acquire the skills and eroate automaticity In addition, the heavy workload for each lesson disheartened students

a lot and made teachers feel puzzied to deliver such huge work It seems that too rauch work ina lesson makes bolh teachers and sludents tired and đemotivated The next problem is that the supplementary materials are not suitable ‘They are badly designed and not compatible with ADE’ content which needs extending and personaliving In praciice, some of these materials were tno difficult for some learners but were too boring to motivate other students Moreover, the written skills have not been developed much Both teachers and students had the same idea about this problem The results conflict with the claim of this program thal it develops integrated skills

Shared the same idea wilh Mai (2011), Chu (2014) also found out im her study that

the proportion of four macro language skills is not really equal Speaking and listening skills are designed with more exercises and given more practicing time than reading and writing skills In her work, Chu (2014) figured out that in terms of exercises, the courseware does not provide a variety of tasks in grammar and writing for students to revise some difficult language points

J'rom the researchers’ viewpoint, as being taken part in teaching MDM for students

at HUBT, beside the above disadvantages mentioned by the two researchers, I

found that the lechnical issues also caused problems The students’ result m learning

was affected a lot by the technical issues because they have to record their voice a

lot when using this program In addition, this software needs the internet connection

all the tine Without the mercl connection, sludents can’t record their

performance

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4 Learn to Speak English program

LYSE is one of learning software in the flagship Leam to Speak™ Deluxe product Ine, produced by eTanguage, LLC - a Northorn Califorviadbased developer of language learning software

Unlike most language software programs, Learn to Speak English teaches the language from the ground up It not only immerses the user in the language, but it provides extensive grammar lessons as well Fach lesson contains a vacabulary list, story, dialogue, grammar Lopie, conversation, and exercises Also included are fun games to break the monotony while strengthening and reinforcing learning, Specch recognition technology allows users to test their knowledge and perfect their accents

wilh tmediale feedback from the compuler

4.1 Learn To Speak English Deluxe 10°s content

Learn To Speak Lnglish consists of forty increasingly advanced lessons I'rom

lesson 1 io lesson 5 is Beginner Course, lesson 6 to lesson 34 18 Intermediate

Course and five last lessons are Advanced Course

Each lesson of Beginner Course has four main parts: Vocabulary, Communication, Grammar, Exercises, While each lesson of Intermediate Course and Advanced Course contain seven main parts They are Vocabulary, Vocabulary Exercises, Story, Story Exercises, Grammar, Grammar Exercises and Conversation There are some suntilarities between the structures of Beginner Course and Intermediate or Advanced Course Both of them consist of Vocabulary, Communication or Story, Grammar and Exercise However, in the Beginner Course, all vocabulary exercises, Communication or Story exercises, and Grammer Exervises are put in one part called Exercise, while in the Intermediate and Advanced Courses, cach kind of

exereises is separated in one part

In vocabulary part, students listen to a list of words or phrase and can understand the meanings by looking at the pictures that come with those words It is unlimited the times of repeating hstening to those words Afier that they will reeord their voice with the computer’s speech recognition and assessment meter that measures how close they are to a native speaker’s voice

‘The stories section of the program give students chance to experience real situations such as time telling, days and dates, and basic colors, greetings, farewells, introductions, and making acquaintances in Beginner Course or looking for an apartment, going to the theater, taking a taxi, opening a bank account, buying groceries, going to the doctor in Intermediate Course ox further broaden contents, including lingnistically more challenging topic

such as making business calls, flirting, expressing frustration, or even watching a soccer game of Advanced Course

‘The grammar part supports students with correct use of grammar point that be used

in the previous part of the same lesson

Tn thứ Bxereises, studenls can do different lypos of exereises such as

i Dialog exercises, there are 3 common kinds: See Ji, Say It; Drag and Match, Multiple Choice In Vocabulary Exercises is See and Say In Grammar paris is Fill in the

Blank,

The conversation parts lelp suuderts weract wilh characters im real-life scenarios

based on the most common travel situations

In addition, there are some other parts such as Language Workshops, Games & Activities, Oral & Written Lessons, Media Center, and Progress All these parls are design to help students make a revision on what they have leamt in the main part of

the program

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CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY AND DATA ANALYSIS

1 Context of the study

‘The leaders of Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBY) and the Lnglish faculty decided to introduce Learn to Speak English deluxe 10, for K19 non- Finglish major students The introduction of the English software is considered

as an innovation in the ways of teaching and leaming Linglish at UBT

Actually, Learn to Speak English deluxe 10 is undertaken by making use of blended Icamning model and computer assisted language learning, which is different from traditional classroom model This requires teachers to adapt their teaching methods

as well as improve their prolicienvy levels Also, students have to change their way

of studying,

Moreover, the students at HUBT are from many places in Vietnam They have

different abilities of learning Hnalish and they are learning in different departments

such as accounting, administration or finance Therefore, this software has been

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

to investigate the effectiveness of the new English program in order to have empirical evidence for administrative decisions on how to support teachers and students in runing the program

2 Subjects

24 Teachers

‘Ten English teachers of English Faculty at HUBY aged from 24 to 40 were invited

to take part in completing the questionnaires They are in charge of teaching English

in language lab for mainly first year students Among those, cight are female and

two are male All of them are qualified teachers who graduated from well- known

universities for teacher training in Vietnam such as Hanoi University, Hanoi University of Languages and Titernational Studies, which have adopled the latest

approaches in teaching Linglish for years Moreover, five of the teachers have at

24

least ton years of experience in teaching English Eight of them have been teaching Linglish for at least 5 years and are in Group of Linglish for Information ‘Technology The resis have over 2 years of experienes They all have been leaching al the university for at least 2 years and they are very enthusiastic about their teachng

career

2.2 Students

The researcher chase 100 students aged from 18 to 22 years ald from 8 first- year

different classes to answer lhe queslionnaires Each class consisted of 25 studenis

on average For cach class, about half of the studonts were picked up by choosing half of the students sitting in every table of the class until 100 sample students were

involved in the survey All 100 sample students, 80 girls and 20 boys who had

leamt English at high school, now study Accounting, Finance, and Administrative

These participants come from different cities and provinces and are not at the same

level of English They are going to learn English lor the first term of the school year

of 2013- 2014 By the end of the first semester, they Lave finished the total time

budget of learning English (60 periods, each period last 55 mimutes) They are considered (o have exporicuce in giving and cxpressing their opinions and have fresh experience working with Lear to Speak English deluxe 10

3 The instruments

There are many ways of collecting data such as: mail survey, telephone survey, interview, questionnaire, and so on but questionnaire is one of the instruments

which is offen used to collect dala by most researchers m social scicnees According

to Gillham (2000: 6), there are some advantages of using questionnaires in doing

research such as:

- Low cost in lime and money

- Lasy to get information from a lot of people very quickly

- Respondents can complete the questionnaire when it suits them

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- Analysis of answers to closed questions is straightforward

- Loss pressure for an immediate response

- Respondents” anonymity

- Lack of interviewer bias

~ Slandardivation of questions (bul true of structured interview)

- Can provide suggestive data for lesting a hypothesis

Tn order to fulfilt the aims of this study ax presented, it is suntable to use

questionnaires in this study because the researcher wants to collect the information from the students and teachers in their own current situations to find ont the appropriateness of the 1 TSE sofware in the process of leaming English

In addition, to assure the reliability and validity of the results, interviews were also employed togelher with questromaires as the mairumethods of dala colkection

4.1 Survey questionnaires

Two sels of questionnaires (Lor teachers and studonts) were designed including both closed-ended and open-ended questions Questionnaires were distributed to 10 teachers and 100 students

The questionnaires were adapted from Goorgiadou, E.,& Economides, A (2003) Llowever, some changes were made in order to fit into the situation of this study

3.1.1 Questionnaires for students

The questionnaire was administered to 8 randomly selected classes (nearly 100 students), aged from 18 to 23, from different classes of different faculties at HUBT

and they are studying the Learn To Speak English Deluxe 10

The questionnaires consisted of 2 sections The first section contained 30 questions

which dealt with dhe evaluation of L78Z and the last 4 question in lhe third scetion find out the benefits and difficulties in the application of LZS# as well as students”

suggestions (o improve the course

26

2.1.2 Questionnaires for teachers

‘rhe questionnaires were delivered to 10 teachers of Linglish All the questionnaires were wrillen in English and they were designed to focus on Uber main arcas The first area 30 questions coped with the teachers’ evaluation of LTSK And the last part with 4 questions showed the advantages and disadvantages of LTSH to the

students and some recommendations that (hey give (o improve the course

32 interviews

The researcher used semi-structured interviews which were closcly related to the

questionnaires with little modification but still facilitated chances to obtain a variety

of responses from the interviewees

‘The interview questions were adopted from Mai (2011) who was also the researcher about the attitude toward Dyned Courseware, but there are also some modifications

so hal it fits my participants in the research The interviews were laken place during breaking time in order to avoid any interruption to the lesson and they feel free to

answer

‘The information from the interviews would be categorized and analyzed in accordance with the data from the questionnaires to answer the research questions

3.2.1 Interviews for teachers

Jour teachers of Linglish from the sample who were delivered the questionnaires

were randomly chosen for the interview The interview meluded four questions to

further discorver teachers’ opinions of the benifits of L'SH teaching in langugage lab and reveal some of the difficulties and their suggestions to improve the course

were also extracted Each inlerview was aboul 15 minutes long and was recorded

and transoripted for later reference

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 students’ evaluation of LTSE, its

Denefits, their difficulties in the process of Icaring as well as their suggestion for the teacher and the administrator to improve the software and the way of teaching

‘Fach interview lasted about 15 minutes

4 Data collection and analysis

Firstly, hoth of teachers and students filled out the questionnaires The researcher directly explained the purpose, relevance and the importance of the study, as well as

answered ail the questions that the students and teachers had Then, the researcher

counted, coded the data collecled from the quesliormaires

Next, the results were displayed in forms of tables, figures or charts for the convenience of analysis while qualitative dala from the oper+ ended questionnaires items and the interviews were presented by quoting relevant responses from the

respondents

In addition, collected data is classified into different categories and the researcher

use descriptive statistics and qualitative statistics to analyze After that, the collected data were synthesized, categorized and discussed to reveal answers to the yesearch questions Comparison between the data from the questionnaires and those from the interviews were also made to assist interpretation

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CHAPTER THREE: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1 Findings from part I of questionnaires and the interviews

1.1 Results of the LTSE's content evaluation

Table 1 below demonstrates students’ opinions about LTSE’s content when using

the courseware LTSE (1 strongly disagree,

disagree, 4 agree, 5 strongly agree)

As can be sccn from the Table 1, more than half of the students took part in the

questionnaire agreed that the content of LYSE software is relevant to age group and

all of students answered Uhal this software provides correel use of grammar There

is a small percentage disagreed (approximately 5%) Similarly, half of the teachers thought that students have opportunities to develop their speaking skills by using

accurate use of granmar and relevant lopics to the age group in L.TSE soflware

None of them disagreed with the statement that the information of the software is

relevant to age group 20% strongly agreed on that In the third question about the

velevant of concepts and vocabulary lo learners’ abiliies, there are 5% of students

thought that the vocabulary is not suitable with them and 14% disagreed, Vor

teachers, more than half of them agreed, however there is still 20% teacher thonght

that was somewhat not relevant to their students’ abilities From my porsoual

experience of teaching LTSZ, that might be due to the fact that the vocabulary is

quite easy for the grade level and subject

With regard to logical progression of topics, both (cachors and students shared the

same percentage approximately (80% or 87%) that approved the lessons that

students lemmed are organized logically in term of topics progression This is nol

surprising because when usmg this software, students were required to follow the

story of one character and his story life, so the topics are listed according to time

sequence and logical actions

In the fifth question about the variety of activities presented in this software, most visibly, about 91% of the surveyed students approved that the software provided a

variety of activities to practice pronunciation and speaking English There is no

student disagreed And a high percentage of teachers (90%) shared the same idea

with them Indeed, students can do a lot of activities when learning English with this sof ware like drag andinatch, fill im the blank with the words from the previous

part of the lesson, or they can even reinforce their pronunciation by going to the promueiation workshop to have a further practice

30

In the sixth question, it can be clearly seen in the table 1 that only a small percent of

students and teachers (about 9% or 10%) dissatisfied with the cultural knowledge,

social experience and grammatical rules supply of the software On the contrary most teachers and students agreed that the software increased their culture

knowledge, social experience and enriched their grammatical rules so that they can

communicate naturally in the real life

1.2 Results of presentation and organization of LTSE’s content evaluation

review, see examples,

repeat the unit, or

escape to explore

another unit

9 This software allows

Ss to practice, check

their performance and

get feedback quickly