Luận văn english used in instructions in reading lessons by vietnamese teachers a case study at faculty of english language teacher education ulis vnu

author having investigated in the English practice in these instructions, especially in Vicbnamese education ‘This real situation has inspired the researcher to choose the tittle “Kagli

VIENAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE THACHER EDUCATION

PHAN THI TOAN

ENGLISH USED IN INSTRUCTIONS IN READING LESSONS

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION,

ULIS, VNU

Tiếng Anh được sử dụng bởi giáo viên người Việt khi hướng dẫn sinh viên học

kĩ năng đọc — Một “nghiên cứu trưởng hợp” tại Khoa Su Phạm Tiếng Anh,

trường Dại học Rgoại Ngữ, Dại học Quốc Gia Hà Nội

MA THESIS Major: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60140111

Program: 1

HA NOI— 2014

'VIENAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

WACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

PIIAN TIT TOAN

ENGLISH USED IN INSTRUCTIONS IN READING LESSONS BY

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ‘TEACHER EDUCATION, ULIS, VNU

Tiếng Anh được sử dụng bởi giáo viên người Việt khi hướng dẫn sinh viên hock’

năng đọc ~ Một “nghiên cửu trường hợp” Lại Khoa Sư Phạm Tiếng Anh, trườ

Đại học Ngoại Ngữ, Đại học Quốc Gia Hả Nội

ACCEPTANCE

J hereby state that !: Phan Thi Youn, English K21D, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (English Teaching Methodology), accept the requirements of the College

relating in the retention and use of Graduation Pauper deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited mm the library should be accessible for the jurposes of study and research, in accordance with the

normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper

Signature

September 15", 2014

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

‘This paper would not have been completed without the support of many people, to all of whom I am profoundly indebted

First and foremost, T would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms

Nguyen Thi Minh Tam, PhD for her precious support and insightful comments, which have always been the decisive factors in the completion of this paper

Second, T would hike to send my hearlelt thanks to the teachers and the students of lwo

first-year reading classes at Division 1, KEL'TE, who allowed me to administer the observations and interviews and who have enthusiastically helped me to carry out the study with ease

Last but not least, | am truly grateful to my family and my friends for their continual

encouragement and support during the time I conducted the research.

ABSTRACT

‘This study investigates the support of teacher instructions in academic reading lessons in

two first-year classes at Department I, FELTL, ULIS, VNU A multiple case study design

and the qualitalive approach were applied lo take an medepth invesligalion into the

problem,

Five observations with a recorder and two observation schemes, one of which based on

the theory by Fairclough and the other is based on the theory of offective instructions,

were conducted in each class to discover the way the teachers guided the students with

the reading exercises Moreover, the teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the cffectivencss of’ the instruction givmg wore measured by their responses in the interviews

after the observation process Ihe data collected were coded and then decoded and

analyzed under each research question It was found out from the study that simple

English words and structures were used in almost all the instuctions Moreover, both the teachers and the students were satisfied with the explicitness of the instructions

However, i is recommended that, teacher imstruction should still be improved More

referential questions should be used to catch the students’ attention and motivate them to

think More explanation and checking, including understanding checking and result

checking, should be conducted to make sure the elfectiveness of the instructions The

teachers need to pay more attention to the guidance about how to deal with the questions and the language in the reading lexts, aa well

Slatement and rationale of the research

Aims of the study ssccsnssiensesnsesneenatanieesesnatieunisianstse sss

Roscarch questions .sccsnssiensesesensenatanieessesnatieunisianstsesnsiaese

Svope of the study

Methods of the study

Significanoe oŸ thơ giudy nhọ HH Hán 1101 em

An overview of he rest of the paper

1.1.2 The role of teachers” instructions

1.13 Some techniques of instruction giving

1.1.4, Principles of effective imstruetions con

1.1.5 Comprebension instruction iv reading lessons

Teachers’ language use in instructions in the view of Discourse Analysis

L2.1 Classroom Discourse ices ieeescass ieee niasnicseanseanmessanssnneeessmesvanes

1.2.2 Classroom Discourse Analysis

1.3 Review of the previous studies .ccssoanseuesseuenseunstenaeiesnsianneetsne CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1, Rosearch approach and Research design csosscsuseuseoisanaenoneetansmesen 21.1 Qualitative approach

2.1.2 Mulliple-case study đesigm cọ nọ họ nen eeeeree 2.2 Contextofhe siudy, cọc nọ H0 102 geeerre 2.3 Participant selection

23.1 Sampling method scssessssesnesnssessieensensonesinsenoneeineeivaeeenessesetee

2.5 Data analysis methad and procedure

3.1.2.1 Instruction effectiveness in the teachers’ perception

3.1.2.2 Instruction effectiveness in the students’ perception

3.1.2.3 Instruction effectiveness under the theory of an effective instruction

3.2 Implications for teaching

3.2.1 The patems of Linglishused

11 Major findings

1.1.1 Research question | .esssesnesnssmssnenssnsineeinsenoneeineeniieeieeevaesstee

11.2 Research guestion2 nọ Họng

12 Pedagogical implications

2 Contributions of the study

3 Lùnitations of the giudy, HH cọ H100 18 1g rre

4 Suggestions for further studies

APPENDIX 2B - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE STCDENTS,

1, Vietnamese Version oo ccc esseesisnesieenierecsseensereesriseaesseeey

1 Vietnamese version

2 Hnglishersion in HH 1H00 1H02 ie

APPENDIX 4A - INTERVIEW G1 1222110012221 dee

1 ViGITRIHGS€ VBTSIOH ỏàcosọ HH HH HH de

2 English version

1 Vietnamese VeSiGH cọc cọ nh HH eưke

2 English version

APPENDIX 4C - THE TEST USED IN INTERVIEWS WITH STUDENTS

APPENDIX 5A — SAMPLE OF T1’S INSTRUCTIONS,

APPENDIX 5B - SAMPLE OF T2’S INSTRUCTIONS

APPENDIX 6 — SAMPLE OF READING TEXTS USED IN CLASSROOMS

LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS

FELIE Faculty of English Language Teacher Education

ULIS Univsrsity of Languages and International Studies

VNU Vietnam National University, Hanoi

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Statement and rationale of the research

In a lesson where English is taught as a second or foreign language (hereafter in this thesis referred lo as 1.2), the effective academic development of studenis may require

many clements Beside the external factors, the successful interaction between the teacher

and the students is clearly essential Obviously, the efficiency of this communication serves as a commection between the two, which provides a bellor atmosphore for the

classroom envionment According to Justice, Hamre and Pianta (2008), it is teachers”

facilitation of learning, objectives that determines whether studemts gain from instructions

Mashbum ct al (2008) also clauns that for students’ academic attainment and social skill

growih, the way teachers guide and connect with students need to be focused on

Apparently, more effective teacher-student cooperation leads to enhanced students’

outcomes

Teaching reading skills for first year students at university is not an easy task for every

teacher The reason is thal, most frst-yoar students lack academic reading skills,

especially when “University-level reading greatly differs from High School reading” (Hermida, 2009, p 21) Whereas, teachers play a leading role in providing leamers with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to read, write, spoak and listen

effectively (Arkoudis, 2003, p 162 cited in Lys et al., 2007), ‘Therefore, the instructions

given by the tcacher bas a dramatic effect on developing students’ academic reading

skills So far, many authors such as Kamil (2008), Archer and Hughes (2011), Ryder et

al (n.d), Buckheit (2010), Rubagumya et al (2010), and Vasilopoulos (2008) have

examined this relationship but they only analyzed the impact of instructions in building

the students’ skills in general

In Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, English is used as the only medium

of classroom discourse, including instructions Although the students major English, this

is still a barrier to them in conducting activities in classroom Sadly, to the best

knowledge of the researcher, there is no standard on how the teachers’ language use

should be for the best sake of the students There seems hardly to be, moreover, any

author having investigated in the English practice in these instructions, especially in

Vicbnamese education

‘This real situation has inspired the researcher to choose the tittle “Kaglish used in

instructions in reading lessons by Vietnamese teachers — A case study at Faculty of

English Language Teacher Education, ULIS, VNU.” with the expectation to have a deeper knowledge of the language use in the instructions given by teachers

2 Aims of the study

‘The study aims at observing the pattems of Hnglish used by the teachers and exploring

the extent to which those patterns make their instructions effective

3 Research questions

With such aims as mentioned, the study answers the two following questions

1 What are the patterns of English used in the instructions given by the teachers?

2 Yo what extent do the patterns of English that the teachers use make their instructions effectwe according to the theory, the teachers and the students?

4, Scope of the study

This investigation is taken in academic reading lessons only That is because these

lessons concem of different kinds of exercises which are totally different from those at

high schools Therefore, the students do need comprehensive and delailed imsiructions

from the teachers As asserted by Boulware et al (2007), students cannot develop their

reading level with only the exposure to the reading texis They need the guidance from

the teacher about the effective strategies Autrey & Demuth (2012) also states that in the classroom, the teacher should adapt the content, methodology and delivery of instructions for the success of the lessons, which is partly gained through the teacher's appropriate language use

This study targets at the effectiveness of the teachers’ instructions in the perceptions of

the teachers and the students, Another focus is the teacher's use of English m their

instructions given to the students before, during and after they do the reading tasks It is

not only the structures and the vocabulary of English but also the way the teachers deliver

instructions in English The English used is cxammed in the perspective of discourse analysis

5 Methods of the study

The r

wh applies qualitative method in collecting and analyzing data The participants

of the research are the teachers and the students of two first-year academic reading

mainstream classes A case slucly is used Lo lake a deep investigalion ilo the issue The

data are collected through two instruments: classroom observations (with recordings) and

face-to-face interviews Initially, through the classroom observations, the language pallens and instruction giving (echniques used by the tcachers are tecordsd with two observation schemes Next, the teachers are interviewed for their perception of the success of their instruction giving Afterwards, two groups of students from the two

classes are asked about their opinion on the effectiveness of the teachers’ instruclions in

helping them deal with the reading texts and exercises ‘he data; next, are coded and decoded in the analyzing period

6 Sig

ificance uf the study

Among few studies on the English used in teacher’s instructions in academic reading

lessons al first-year ULTS mainstream English majors, the study would be of great benefit

for its target population (mainly the teachers) and other researchers interested in the topic For the teachers, the research findings would be a good source for some proposals about tho offective way of using and processing English in their instructions in academic reading lessons ‘[he recommendations are expected to offer not only short-term but also life-long suggestions for them in delivering comprehensive and full guidance For other

researchers, the study could be a reliable source of related literature and a basis to expand the research scope in the same field, as well

7 An overview of the rest of the paper

‘the rest of the paper is comprised of the four following chapters:

Chapter 1 (Theoretical Framework) introduces the theoretical foundation for the whole

sindy Besides providing the definitions of key terms Ike instruction and classroom

discourse, it offers a critical review of studies related to the research problem

Chapter 2 (Methodology) specifies the participants, the instruments, the two-phase

procedure of collecting data and the procedure of processing data from the observations

and the interviews.

Chapter 3 (Findings and Discussion} presents and analyses all the collected data to help find oul the answers to the lwo research questions The chapler also provides: the researcher’s suggestions on the use of English in academic reading lessons at first-year mainstream classes based on the findings and related studies

The Conclusion summarizes all the major points presented in the findings, the contributions and limitations of the study as well as some suggestions for further

research

PART B: DEVELOPME

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter provides an overview on the theoretical framework related to the study

Beside the defimtions of key terms hike instruction or classream discourse, the chapler

provides critical background information to ensure the thorough understanding of the research matters Hence, the literature gap and rationales of the study are revealed

1.1, Instruction

1.1.1 Definition of instruction

Oxford Advanced Tearer’s Dictionary (2010) describes instruction as “detailed

information on how to do or use something” (p 774) In Cambridge Dictionary (2013), instruction is “something that someone tells you to do” (p 749) The American Ileritage Dictionary of the English language (2000) defines mstruchon as an accurate direction to follow Collins English Dictionary (2003), on the other hand, clarifies instruction as the action of knowledge communicating Overall, instruction refers to the information conveyed to a recipient to perform something,

Stalmaikova et al (2006 cited in Nguyen, 2010) says that instruction is the teaching,

education performed by a teacher or the “action, practice, or profession of teaching” (p

19) Huitt (2003) considers instruction as onc of the main teachers’ activitics in classroom

(the other two are planning and management) Ur (1996) clarifies instructions as “the direclions thal are given lo introduce a learning (ask which cniails some measure of

independent student activity” (p 16) In Housen & Pierrard (2005), L2 instruction is

intentional effort to merease T.2 acquisition

Bricfly, instruction can be described in two ways In a broad sense, it is the common teaching performed by the teacher during the lesson In a narrow sense, it is the teacher’s

explanation about an activity or a task

In the case of this study, instructions are the explanations and the guides from the teacher during the lessons to help the students read with comprehension and fluency In the

activity of instruction giving, the teacher imparts the knowledge and especially, the

roading skills and strategios to the students.

1.1.2 The role of teachers’ instructions

Obviously, insbuchons play an important role in helping the teacher to dircel the class and achieve the lessons’ objectives Harmer (1998) announces that “I'he best activity in

the world is a waste of time if the students don’t understand what it is they are supposed

to do” ¢p 4) A similar opinion claimed by Nguyen ot al (2003 cited in To ot al., 2008) is: “If students do not know what they are expected to do about the tasks/activities, they will nol be able (o perform the lasks successfully” (p 16) Tn that point of view, the

students’ clearness of what should be done and what way to do decides the outcomes of the lessons

Housen & Pierrard (2005) stales thal instructions merease learmers’ accuracy, complexity

(richness, sophistication) and fluency On the other hand, they provide crucial exposure

to L2, influence L2 leaming propensity and activate language leaning mechanisms and processes Moreover, they enable internalization of new L2 knowledge, modification of L2 knowledge and consolidation of L2 knowledge (Ilousen & Pierrard, 2005) It can be

inferred that the language use im instructions plays a very important rote im the

development of students’ L2 acquisition

In conclusion, instructions are indispensable in L2 leaming They not only give the students an oxact dircetion in developing (heir langunge competence bul also strengthen

thew skills and confidence ‘herefore, the teacher must be really careful and well-

prepared in his/her use of language to benefit the studerits the most

1.1.3 Some techniques of instruction giving

Nguyen et al (2003 cited in To et al, 2008) suggests four different techniques for

instructing the students

“Step — by — step” or “feed — in” approach: Give one instruction at a time, not a series

of instructions altogether

Demonstrate i, “model” iL or “slow — don’t - tell”: Use transparent demonstrations to

make the instructions simple and understandable

*Say do check: Follow three steps: Say the instruction; Get the students to do the

task; Check whether the students have done it correctly or not.

Students recall: If necessary get the students to translate instructions into their mother

tongue (Vietnamese)

(16)

In short, giving instructions does not mean giving the students the directions only and let them find the way themselves The explanations may become nonsense if the students do not understand Therefore, comprehension checking is really crucial Furthermore, through the activities, the teacher needs to observe and support the students whenever they encounter difficulties

1.1.4 Principles of effective instructions

According to Ur (1996), the principles of effective instruction giving and checking

are: careful preparation, having the class’s attention, presenting information more thar

once, being brief, illustratmg with examples and getting feedback On the other hand,

Gower et al (1995) proposes seven factors which are: attracting students’ attention, using

simple language and short exprossions, being consistent, using visual or written clues, demonstrating, breaking instructions down and targeting the instructions (p 40) Huitt (1996) also discusses several principles They are: active presentation of information:

clear organization of instructions; step-by-step progression from subtopic to subtopic, use

many examples, visual prompts, and demonstrations, constant assessment of students”

understanding; alter pace of instruction based on assessment of students’ understanding;

and effective use of time and maintaining students’ attention Prozorova and Novikava

(cited in Hickey, 2006) think that effective instructions should increase comprohensibility; inleraclion, and thinking/study skills

Generally, the points described in the principles above can be summarized in five critical

elements’

Attract students’ attention

Make the instructions easy to understand

elllustrale the mstruclions with different forms of mlormation

Assure students’ understanding

*Develop students’ interaction and study skills.

Clearly, English in instructions has been always one of the concems of the teachers and exports However, thore have been still ne standards for the simplicity of language use as well as studies on how the good choice of language use can affect the success of the

lessons

1.5 Comprehension instruction in reading lessons

When learning four skills of Linglish (speaking, reading, listening, writing), students seem

to learn reading first Twa publicaton by Texas Education Ageney (2002), it is said that reading is “central” to learning Moreover, students’ reading competence decides their

“future success” (p 3) Bouchard and Sutton (2001) claims that “Teaching children to

read is he responsibility of every teacher, every adiministralor and every parent.”(p

3) Obviously, reading is an essential skill which all students should master

The question is how to build and develop students’ reading skills According to Texas Hdueation Agency (2002), the purpose of reading is “comprehension” Anderson et al (1985) believes without comprehension, reading is a “fruswating, pointless exercise in word calling (p 4).” Ontario Ministry of Fducalion (2003) claims that the goal of readirys

is to read a diversity of books with “understanding, skill, and contidence (p 2.4).”

Therefore, comprehension is the final goal of reading instructions (Leaming Point Associates, 2004) Besides, reading instructions are to help studerts “develop the knowledge, skills, and experiences they must have if they ale to become competent and enthusiastic readers.” (Texas Fducalion Agency, 2002, p 30)

Dole (2008) states that students need to be taught a set of strategies and vocabulary related to important concepts when they read texts, especially when they get confused

Learning Point Associates (2004) suggests some comprehension strategies which are:

Using prior knowledge, Generating questions; Comprehension monitoring, Cooperative leaming: and Graphic and semantic organizers (p 31-38) According to that paper, to insiruct students comprehensively, if is necessary that the (eacher use direct explanations: make the strategies perceived useful by the students, give students chances to use the

strategies immediately, repeat the explanations and modeling of how to use the strategies

within the same lesson presentation; gradually transfer responsibility for applying the strategy to students; assess how well students understand the content and how well they

8

use the strategies, and maintain a focus on the strategies {p 37-38) Meanwhile, Kamil (2008) offers question answering: question generation, consirucing map; comprehension monitoring, cooperative learning; summarizing, and using graphic organizers (p 3-4) The policies mentioned in Texas Fducalion Agency (2002) are activating and using background knowledge, generating and asking questions; making inferences, predicting: summarizing; visvalizing and comprehension monitoring (p 9- 11) Moreover, it is also emphasized thal comprehension instruction must begin as soon

as students begin to read and it must:

« be explicit, intensive, and persistent,

help students lo become aware of text organization, and

« motivate students to read widely

(Texas Education Agency, p 12)

In general, the comprehension strategies are quite the same among the researchers ‘Those strategies are also applicable in L2 classrooms Ilence, it is how the teachers really do

with their instructions thal matters

1.2 Teachers’ language use in instructions in the view of Discourse Analysis

1.2.1 Classroom Discourse

According to Henry & Talor (2002), discourse is the way in which language is used

“socially to convey broad historical meanings” (p 25) It is the language “identified by

the social conditions of is use, by who is using it and under what voudhtions” (p 25) Ina

more specific definition, Hinkel & Fotos (2002) suggests discourse in context may be one

or two words or a novel

From the definitions above, it can he seen that discourse can be any piece of language produced with a purpose ‘Teache:s” instruction is; therefore, a type of discourse More specifically, it is a part of classroom discourse, which happens inside the classroom

According to Zucngler & Mon (2002), classroom discourse is the classroom interaction

performed between teacher-student and student-student Nunan (1993) views classroom discourse as the unique type of discourse that arises in classrooms Similarly, Behnam &

Pouriran (2009) claims that classroom discourse is distinctive for the features such as

“unequal power relationships; turn-taking at speaking; pattems of interaction, etc.” (p

3

118) The authors also point out that what really matters in classroom is the way teachers give questions (p 118) Two common kinds of questions mentioned in this paper are Display and Keferentiai questions While the former is often used for short answers,

which are predictable, the lalter is for more “interaction and meaningful negotiation” (p

118)

Chang (1999, p 2-3 cited in Dehnam & Pouriran, 2009, p 119) divides classroom

discourse inlo four categones: JRF (Initiation-Response-Feedback), Iastruchon, Probing Questions, and Argumentation Krom this point of view, instruction is of a quite small scale In fact, when giving instructions, teachers often add questions (including probing

(referential) questions) to push the students to raise their voices Moreover, questioning is

also a method of instruction giving Therefore, in the case of this study, instruction covers probing questions and even IRF, where questions are asked in a more traditional way

Mehan (1979 cited in Belmam & Pouriran, 2009) suggests a structure of the three

component pedagogic discourse which includes: “An opening phase, an instructional phase where information is exchanged between leacher and students and a closing phase” (p 119) This opinion is interesting because Mehan considers the 1hstruction as the main

interaction between teachers and students

MeTear (1975 cited in Belnam & Pouriran, 2009) also proposes four types of language use in classroom discourse ‘hey are Mechanical (no exchange of meaning), Meaningful (Gneaning is contextualized bul no new information is conveyed), Psendo-communication (new information 1s conveyed but in a manner unlikely to occur outside the classroom), and Real communication (spontaneous speech resulting from the exchange of opinions,

jokes, classroom management, etc ) (p 119-120) Instruction giving, then, often contains

the third and the fourth types

In short, instruction is an important part of classroom discourse, having clear influence on the students’ language acquiring process

1.2.2 Classroom Discourse Analysis

Schiffrin, Tannen, & Hamilton (2001) announces that study of discourse is study of

language use That means, language examining includes examining its purpose and

effect Abrams & Llarpham (2005) assumes that discourse analysis concerns of the use of

10

language in a “running discourse”, and involves the “interaction of speaker (or writer)

and auditor {or reador) m a apcoilip situational context, and withm a framework of social

and cultural conventions" (p 81) According to Wood & Kroger (2000), discourse

analysis is nol only about method, it is also a view on the characters of language and ils

lnk to the key matters of communal arts Gee (2005) claims that discourse analysis is one

way to join in a very important human task ‘Ihat is to think more carefully about the mieanmgs given in people's words to make the world beller

Kumaravadivelu (2008) considers analyzing classroom discourse as “describing certain verbal behaviors of teachers and students as they interact in the classroam” (p 455) Ile

emphasizes the effectiveness of Conmununicalive Orientation of Language Teaching

observation scheme ‘lhis scheme, as stated by Kumaravadivelu (2008), is “directly linked to communicative methods” of language teaching, and designed for “real-time coding” as well as for “analysis of recordings of classes” (p 456) On the other hand, Allwright (1998 cited in Kumaravadivelu, 2008) suggests a three-way analysis in his

observational scheme: a iurn-taking analy

ix, (lumegetling and Lum-giving practices), a

topie analysis, (the use of language as instances of linguistic samples); and a task analysis, (the managerial as well as the cognitive aspects of classroom tasks) (p 457)

Tr the view thal classroom discourse is also a product of society where the teacher and the

students have specific social roles, some researchers apply the schemes of critical

discourse analysis lo describe the discourse used im classrooms (which is called

classroom critical discourse analysis} Critical discourse analysis, according to Fairclough (1992), is an attempt to synthesize language studies and social theory As claimed by

Blommaert & Bulcaen (2000), critical discourse analysis looks critically at the nexus of

language and social structure, pursuing to “uncover ways in which sovial structure impinges on discourse patterns” and power relations (p 449) As a result, critical discourse analysis can look beyond apparent factors of classroom language, and brighton features of agency and power in the classroom (Boaler, 2003)

In Fairclough’s point of view (1992), discourse is a mode of both representation and action He emphasizes that there is a dialectic relationship between discourse and social

structure, with discourse is on one hand, constrained by social structure, and on the other

11

hand socially constitutive For analyzing discourse, he suggests a three-dimension framework, considering “every discursive event as being simullancously a picce of text,

an instance of discursive practice and an instance of social practice” (p 4) Ihe first

dimension is discourse-ay-text, 1.6 the linguistic features and organization of concrete

instances of discourse (vocabulary, grammar, cohesion and text structure.) The second dimension is discourse-as-discursive-practice, i.e discourse as something that is preduced, distributed and consumed in sociely (force, coherence and intertextuality)

‘The third dimension is discourse-as-social-practice, drawing on the Marxist concepts of ideology and hegemony (p 100)

In this study Fairclough’s framework is applied to analyze the discourse of teachers and

students during instruction time Llowever, because the nature of instruction giving is the

dominance and cantrol from the teachers, the research focuses only on the two first

dimensions: discourse as text and discourse as discursive practice

1.3 Review of the previous studies

Until now, there have been a lol of studies om classroom discourse in general, on

instruction in specific

The effectiveness of classroom interaction was studied during the 1980s with the names

of Soar (1973) and Slallings, Robbms & Presbrey (1986) Tn their investigation, the

researchers focused on academic-engaged time, classroom management and certain

pallerns of leacher-student, interactions Some other rescarchers named Brophy &

Evertson (1978) and Good and Grouws (1975) mentioned the link between explicit

instruction and students’ achievement Ilowever, they did not investigate the effect of

language use on the students’ accomplishment Tater, the experts paid more attention to

the qualitative dimension of instruction and engaged in case studies of exemplary

teachers (Philips, 1972; Au, 1980, Delpit, 1995: Health, 1983 and Goldenberg & Gallimore, 1991) Nonetheless, what was cmphasived was Ihe so-called hierature

instruction in classroom, which used authentic literature for independent reading, read

out-loud and collaborative discussions In other words, the papers in this period

concentrated on methods (litcrature-based or skills-based) of teaching and leaming inside

classrooms only

12

Recently, there have been many studies on the techniques of giving successful

insiructions Kamil (2008) and Learning Point Associates (2004) directed al the five

essential components of effective reading instructions which are phonemic awareness, phonies, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension The investigators, in comprehension part, stated some general requirements of a comprchonsive instruction Foorman &

‘Torgesen (2001) and a group of Administrative Literacy ‘Task lorce (Ryder et al., nd)

researched Lhe efficient reading instructions for small group reading They both targeted

at children Besides, a publication from ‘exas Education Agency (2002) and Dole (2008)

also had a look at a useful comprehension instruction and suggested the qualification that

an instruction should meet to be an effeclive comprehension instruction On the other

hand, Archer & Ilughes (2011) and Rosenshine (2012) concentrated on the steps (strategies) to deliver successful instructions in classrooms Both of them discussed the

cleamess and explicitness of instructions However, they did not concem deeply the use

of English by the teachers to make their instructions clear and explicit

Tn term of classroom discourse, there has been much interest from the scientists Many of

the studies on language classroom discourse examined the mteraction inside classrooms

In Allwright and Bailey (1991), Long and Sato compared the teachers’ and native speakers’ use of display and referential questions, comprehension checks, clarification checks, and confirmation checks Pica and Long (as reported by Nunan, 1989, p 25)

focused on the differences between conversations m and out of classrooms and the

differences between the language of experienced and inexperienced teachers Swain (1985) investigated the link between the question types asked by the teachers and the language acquisition of the students Suter (2001), on the other hand, studied the link between the questions and the interactions in classrooms Oberli (2003) investigated how

an experienced teacher in Seoul, Korea, chose to answer the weal/strong dichotomy with rogard to questioning and [ecdback strategies On the contrary, Buyvellia & Johnston (2001) inspected the practice of authority in classrooms and argued that authority was

best understood in relation to the twin concepts of power and morality What is more,

Walsh (2006) explored the dynamics of L2 classrooms (mainly from teachers’

perspectives), looked at the relationship between classroom interaction and language

13

acquisition, and reviewed approaches commonly used to analyze L2 class interaction He also conducted a [ine grained analysis thal shed light on why teachers and learners chd

what they do in L2 language classrooms Bloome, Carter, Christian, Otto, & Shuart-Faris

(2005) presented analyses of classroom discourse in relation lo language and literacy

cvonts from a microcthnographie perspective It reflected increasingly strong concems over issues ranging from gender, race, identity and power relations within and beyond

classrooms

Shortly, both instruction and classroom discourse are scientific interests and have been

investigated by many researchers all over the world [lowever, to the best knowledge of

the researcher, Where have nol been any studies examiming deeply the discourse of

instructions by the teachers in reading lessons to see the success of instruction giving under the perception of the teachers and the students Therefore, the researcher is encouraged more to take an examination into this issue

Summary

The chapter has provided the theoretical background for the whole study through providing the definitions of key terms and significant background information on insiruction giving and classroom ciscourse aruilysis Moreover, a critical review of studies related to the research problem is also offered

14

CTIAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

‘The chapter specifies the approach and methodology of this paper, including the the size and characteristics of the sample and justification for and description of the two data

collection instruments Moreover, a detailed report on the procedures of data collecien

and data analysis is also comprised

2.1 Research approach and Research design

2.1.1 Qualitative approach

Sellers (1998) claims that “Qualitative research is an in-depth exploration of what makes

people tick on a particular subject: their feelings, perceptions, decision-making processes, ete.” (p 1) and it will “provide a mucli deeper understanding of how the target market thinks” (p 2) Moreover, Qualitative research is “effective in identifying intangible factors.” (Mack et al., 2005, p 1) Le (2011) remarks that the purpose of Qualitative research is “to explore and describe participants’ understanding and interpretations of social phenomena in a way that captures their inherent nature” (p 88), or in other words,

lo undersiand the reality as in real experiences (Sherman and Webb 1988 cited in Ely, M

ctal., 1991) Lhe data collected would be descriptive rather than numeric or counting

In this paper, it is expected that what the teachers and students think they should do with the instructions, how they implement in cach activity and how they perevive their success would be investigated in depth lispecially, all the aspects of the problem are seen in their real contexis Thus, Qualilalive approach becomes the most suilable because the events

are studied in natural settings (Hughes, 2006)

2.1.2 Multiple-case study design

According to Dornyer (2007 cited im Te, 2011), case study was the basic qualilative

method which helps “maximize our understanding” of the research problem (p 152) Le emphasizes that the insight obtained through case study was richer and deeper than any

other methods Tells (1997) also clauns thal this method was to figure out the delails

under the opinion of the participants

Case study can be single-case or mulliple-case As slated by Raxter & Jack (2008),

multiple case studies allow the researcher to see the “similarities and differences between the cases” (p 550), On the other hand, according to Yin (2009), case study designs need

15

to “maximize their quality through four critical conditions: construct validity, internal validity, extcrnal validity and reliability” (p 24) For this reason, a mulliple-oase design

is often stronger than a single-case design

2.2, Context of the study

In the first school year of cohort QH-2013, there arc nineteen English teaching major classes at Department |, I'LL, ULLS, VNU for both social and academic skills ‘Ihe

roading lessons arc based on the book Reading Resource

es 2 compiled by the teachers in the Faculty and delivered by the Department Besides, in the lessons, the teachers can provide supplementary materials A reading lesson is integrated with a writing session

The Lotal Gore for both sessions are four periods, 1.e., 200 minutes The teachers base on

the content of the week schedule and the activities of each session to flexibly divide the

time The reading session covers instruction giving, task performing and answer checking

as the main activities Hach week concerns one theme and the overall objective of the

course is to improve students’ vocabulary, knowledge and reading skills The activities

are designed based om the skills Students are required lo do the similar exercises al home after they have practiced the skills with the content related to the theme in class In class, the teachers deliver and instruct the students with the handouts, then give time for

discussion (questioning and sharing) before asking them 1o do the exercises

2.3 Participant selection

2.3.1 Sampling method

‘The participants of the research were selected based on cluster sampling, in which the samples are divided into many groups and the sample of each group is selected randomly

(Remett, Woods, Liyanage & Smith, 1991) The method was chosen due to its

convenience Since the observations could only be taken on Wednesday and ‘Thursday

aftemoons, and the teachers must be the same in all the lessons, the researcher picked one

class by Ms G aml another by Ms T to ensure the observation time and conmunitment

This method is not against the case study design because according to Stake (2000 cited

in Le, 2011), the potential for studying is also a criterion and even more important than

representatives Mcanwhile, the two samples were the most enthusiastic and willing ones

that supported the researcher wholeheartedly when collecting data Moreover, few

16

difference in the students’ ability in different classes hardly affects the instruction giving

of the Leachors

2.3.2, Participants

The participants are two first-year classes and two leachers al FELT, UTS - VNU

Before conducting the observations, the researcher had contacted with all the teachers being in charge of academic skills via email Academic classes were chosen because

acadennc skills are considered Lo be more imporlant than social skills m dealing with

examinations and knowledge in university Moreover, the students first leam about English academic skills in tertiary education As a result, they must need more

msiruetioral guidance from the teacher, both in quantity and quality Through email, the

teachers were informed of the research topic and aums as well as the observation plan In

negotiating with the teachers, the researcher was accepted by two of them, which were

Ms T and Ms G ‘They were pleased to know about the research result to see how they

could improve their instructions Ilowever, the researcher had to keep secret their names

and the classes observed During the observations, lo be more convenient for both, the

teachers would inform the researcher of each lesson plan, especially when they would

like change the order of the activities To keep the natural environment of the classes, the

stnđents were not informed of the research topie until the end of the observation process

Frankly, it was expected that the participant number would be three so that the

information would be more diverse and reliable Nonctheless, lwo was still adequate because the information could be seen in different contexts with different participants

The teachers are young and have been teaching reading in Division I for more than three semesters They are in charge of teaching reading for both semesters of the school year

‘They used to be students at Hnglish Department Ieacher G wished to change the

students’ English knowledge and skills as well as results in examinations Teacher T

strongly considered the variety in students’ vocabulary and structures as well as their

difficulties in acquiring and processing the content of the texts

The students have just graduated from high schools, where most of them do not have enough reading practice Their lime of learning Fnglish ranges from seven to len years However, some of them did not major Knglish at high school Moreover, their environments bardly support the regular approach Lo English In botlr classes, some of Ue

students were shy and unconfident Most of the time, they waited until the teacher

required them to speak Although disciplined, they did not often speak clearly and find

the exact information to answer the questions Some students, however, were more

enthusiastic and active [hey contributed positively to the lessons Nonetheless, most of them still needed many supports from the teachers

2.4 Data collection methods and procedures

‘The study applies two instruments to collect the data: class observation and interview

The two classes were observed parallel in five consecutive weeks Afterwards, the

teachers were invited to two isolated interviews Last, two groups of students from two

classes were interviewed separately

2.4.1, Classroom Observation

2.4.1.1 Purpose

The results of the observations were useful to answer research question one: “What are

the patterns of English used in the instructions given hy the teachers?” and a part of research question two: “Yo what extent do the patterns of English that the teachers use

make their instructions effective according to the theory, the teachers and the students?”

According to Borg (2006 cited in Le, 2011), observation provides evidence of a lesson

procedure Since the data are “conorete descriptive” (Borg, p 231), it is appropriate for

qualitative research Good (1988) states in agreement that classroom observation is to

provide a description of the difficult issues ‘[hrough observation, the researcher can have

an insight into the process of the lessons Hence, observation provides the researcher with the language use and other factors of teachor-student relationships in classrooms for deep

analysis of the instructions

18

2.4.1.2 Structure

An observation scheme based ơn the framework by Fairclough (scheme 1) and another

scheme (scheme 2) based on the theory of good instructions to collect some more data for answering research queslion (wo were used in lhe observations

ourse as discursive practice

Allin one time:

Explanation:

Check Explanation requirement:

Demonstration requirement Recall:

Students! response — | Adiention‘Tixtening:

of the room to keep the original atmosphere of the class

Al the begiming of the lessons, two observation schemes were prirled out and the

recorder was set At home, the recordings were used to transcribe some supplementary data

If the content is covered

If the content is not covered x

2.4.2, Interviews

2.4.2.1 Purpose

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the twe teachers after the lessons to find

out their rationales, opinions and self-evaluation on the instruction giving On the other

hand, two groups of sludents in wo classes were invited lo two interviews [or more realistic understanding of how they perceived the teachers” instructions

The information would be the answer for research question two: “To what exient do the

patterns of Hnglish that the teachers use make their instructions effective according to the theary, the teachers and the students?”

For Borg (2006 cited in Le, 2011), semi-structured interview is Mexible Cor allowing the

interviewees to speak in open-ended manner, which might be unpredictable The

20

information collected; so, is richer As a result, interviews help to pursue the in-depth

information around Ihe lopic CeNamara, 1999)

2.4.2.2 Structure

The interviews with the leachers included seven questions The questions were lo ask

about the teachers’ preparation, rationale, assessment and perception of the instructions’

effectiveness as well as their satisfaction with their imstruction giving Almost all the

questions arc open-ended Vietnamese was used during the mlorviewing time bul English was encouraged with some typical terms like strategies or check, sto

The interviews with the students contain nine questions The questions were designed for

the information about the students’ opinions on, understanding, application, analysis and

suggestions for changes of the instructions In these interviews, a small test was given in

question eight, where the students were asked to do one similar exercise to those in the lessons with the same instructions as the teachers’ and then, evaluated the effectiveness

of the instructions To ensure the accuracy of the recall, the detailed descriptions of the

inpul and review of instruction giving in some lessons were provided Vielrminese was used most of the tme but English was needed with some key terms

2.4.2.3 Procedure

The interviews with the teachers were conducted frst Rolore thal, the researcher had

contacted with teacher 1 and teacher G to ask for their permission via email At the

beginnmng of the interviews, the recorder was sel Tn the interviews, the researcher asked

and the teachers answered ‘There was no note taking for the concentration of information

collecting and sharing

Ome day later, the interviews with the students were conducted Fach group had five

students When the researcher asked, they took turn to answer After the last students raised their voice, the researcher moved to another question The recorder was set at the

begimmmg and pausad when the students did the tes When conring to the tosl, ths

researcher first introduced about the text, the exercise, and the time limitation After that,

the papers were passed to all the students, then collected and the results were checked

Class by teacher G, T GI, G2

2.4.3 Data collection procedure

At first, the recordings were transcribed to get more evidence for the observations

Coincidentally, the interviews were transcribed and the information was classified

Aflerwards, the data were pul under each research question Lo get lhe answers

2.5 Data analysis method and procedure

The data were firstly coded According to Le (2011), coding is the process of “reducing the information oblained to make il manageable” (p 115) When coding is performed, actually, analysis is made

Afier thal, the codes were categorived and the data were decoded The answer lo cach

research question was grouped from specific pieces of responses

The researcher employed the inductive strategy of analyzing As stated by Borg (2006 ciled in Le, 2011), categories and codes for analyzing mfonmation were wilhin the particular situation of each study, basing on the inductive approach

Summary

Throughout this chapter, (he methodology of the paper, which is qualitative method, has

been explained First, the sample selection for observations and interviews with the

cluster sampling method was substantiated Following was detailed explanation for and description of the two data collection instruments The chapter was concluded by a report

of the methods and procedures of data collection and analysis

22

CTTAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, all the data collected from the observations and interviews will be

analyzed and discussed to provide the answers to the twa research questions

Fimhenuere, the implications and recommendations will also be given based on the results

3.1 Findings

3.1.1, Answer to research question 1:

What are the patterns uf English used in the instructions given hy the teachers?

The information to answer this question was taken from the class observations with the observation scheme 1

3.1.1.1 Vocabulary

The vocabulary used in the instructions by the teachers are familiar and quite simple

In the use of personal pronouns, when giving instructions, the teachers often used “/ fwant you to) ‘T (would like you to) ”, indicating a high level of personal ownership

of the steps and strategies they wore giving However, while T] used “you” in all the

requirements: “After you handle with part A, you read part B and see what questions can

he answered with its information” (T1, 05), T2 used “we”: “We may read through the questions, read through only We can’t answer anything at this slage.” (T2, OA) That

involved herself in the task but 11 stated clearly that was the students’ duty

means, |!

The teachers also tried to be exphen m their instructions They used the verbs whieh

described directly what the students should do Therefore, it was easy for the students to

catch and follow their ideas: “When you read paragraph A, you may need to underline

the main ideas so that you can remember or make some comparison later” (T1, 04) or

“We read through the questions and underline the key words.” (2, 03) In fact, with

each activity, the teachers, most of the time, read the requirements in the books and used

the verbs in the titles: anderline, order, rearrange, answer, decide, cle

When giving strategies for the exercises, the two teachers were not the same, either

Whereas T1 ofler used the verb “recommend”: “Pes, thirfeen mimdes, but I recommend

you to read it in tvelve minutes onb” (11, O5), T2 often applied “advice” or “make”: “7

don’t make you underline but you are advised to underline the key words in this part?

23

(T2, 05) Although both of them showed the regular use of the verbs like “want (you

fo )” or “would hike fyou to)”, the difference m using the verbs indicaled thal T1 pul,

more power on the students in deciding the way to do the exercises On the contrary, 12 emphasized her authority and her role inthe classroom or the aclivily

Additionally, the teachers maintained using the medal verbs “(not) need”, “(not) have

to”, “can” and “should” in their instructions: “Yew don’t need to read the questions first hecause before you read the text, reading the questions may be a waste of time.” (T2, OS}, or “You don’t have to underline the key words but in this part, vou should do.” (C1,

3) With the use of “need” and “have to” in negative and “can, should”, both teachers

gave the students the nght to think for themselves They were nol required, bul suggested

to follow the steps

Lastly, in questioning, though the teachers asked yes-no questions more often, they still

used Wh- (what, why, how) with the dominance of “what”: “So what are the strategies?

What do you read first?” (T2, Ol), or “When it comes to gap-filling, what comes in your

mind?” “What is the purpose of reading the text frst?” (T1, 2) The use of such

referential questions let the students express in a more meaningful way As a result, they would communicate more openly

3.112 Grammar

‘Lo ensure the understanding of the students, both the teachers used simple structures T1

tended Lo use short and sương imperative forms: “Convey the text and tell me where the

information is.” (Tl, O2) or “You do this exercise in ten minutes only.” (11, O3),

stressing her authority in class In contrast, T2 adopted longer sentences, showing

politeness: “I'd like you to look through the questions only for practice two.” (T2, 02) or

“I'm going to give you five minutes to do it in pairs or in groups of three” (12, O1)

Sometimes, both teachers used the expressions “J want you to ” or “I need you to ” to roquire the studemts to do exaelly as they said

When asking questions, the teachers often used both types of questions Referential (Wh-

} questions were to give the students the chance to communicate meaningfully while

Display (Yos-No) questions were the suggestions of the answers for the students: “How

do you deal with this kind of exercises? Do you read the questions first?” (L1, O2)

24

Nevertheless, the students usually hesitated to answer Wh-questions Therefore, yes-no queslions were more prevalent in both classrooms

Furthermore, some other questions were used to check the students’ understanding such

as “Do you understand?” or “OK?” or “Right?” (sometimes T2 also spoke with

altcrmative structures such as “Do you understand — Does it make sense?”, which could

be beneficial to the students in term of reviewing their knowledge of language), but most

of the Limes, the studests did not respond or responded wilh very low voice

3.1.1.3 Cohesion

Cohesion in the classes was achieved through the reflection of the teachers to the students

and through the inking words used inside (he mstruclions as well as the voice quality to

signal these devices, which were given in long discourses ‘Ihe ‘dance of agency’ (Boaler, 2003), in which agency moves between the teachers and the agency of the subject, was

evident As observed, while 12 used the linking words to link her pieces of instructions

such as “Wow, next, first, second, then”, T1 emphasized each piece by stressing on the

word “Now” Afler the students had reported their experiences, the teachers first

summarized, and then moved to ther own ideas: “She said that when she read the

passage first, she cannot understand anything so she read the questions first Do you

have the same feeling? Some say yes and some say no That's why T say if’s just a way T recommend only” (1, 04) When the students are speaking, the teachers sometimes

inlervened to correct their mistakes of Enghish use, showing that there was really an

exchange of information and the teachers understood what was being revealed by the

students

3.1.1.4 Structure of text

In two classrooms, the instructions were initiated by a question asked by the teachers (referential first, then if the students could not answer, the teachers changed to a display queslion) and answered by the studenls, may or may not ro-expressed by other students,

then reformulated by the teachers, and distributed publicly as the teachers re-confirmed in

from of the classes or wrote down on the board The texts were, after that, consumed by

the classes Obviously, the mstiuctions, were controlled by the teachers The students

responded to the questions in ways which they hoped will be acceptable to the teachers

25

There were not many interchanges and the interchanges were also self-contained,

initialed and concluded by the teachers

3.1.L5 Discourse as discursive practice

The “force” of Ihe discourse was to convey the ideas of the teachers to the students The

structure of the classrooms was one speaker — all others were listeners Although the teachers tried to involve the whole class in the development of a shared understanding

and applying of the strategics in reading, most of the limes the students kept silenL Even when they raised their voice, they did not repoit the results of dealing with the exercises applying their strategies Clearly, the teachers were the main factors to give the steps and

strategies of doing the lasks With this role, they also tied lo make their instructions

comprehensible to the students llowever, the focus of the lessons was on the material

rather than mental pracess Students were required to find a solution to the problem instead of conveying their personal thinking Sometimes, the teachers stopped to ask questions so that the students can raise their voices about the strategies Nevertheless, the

queslions were mostly to review the strategies delivered before For example, the leachers

did not ask “What do you think?” but “What did you do?” That means, instead of

suggesting things for the students to think about, the teachers asked the students to share

their experiences TL can also be easily reahved thal the leachers dominated the classes

‘The apparent goal of the students was to guess what was in the teachers’ mind: “What do

you think we should do with this kind of tasks?” / “How can we deal with this exercise?” (Asking to review the knowledge) After that, the teachers closed the discussion with their confirmation of the steps that the students should follow: “OK With this exercise,

first you should - However, when confirming the strategies, the teachers used the

phrases “You can”, “You don’t need” and “You don't have to” dominantly Plainly, they

allowed the students to see the reading skills as both personal and social when they could

actually apply their own strategies and share thom wilh their fricnds rather than [oHow a

fixed framework to do the tasks

The coherence of the classes were gained through the consistent and meaningful

interpretation the students constructed of what the teachers were saying Students wore

able to make sense of, follow and apply what the teachers were saying (sometimes they

26

gave out a different idea from the teachers’: “I don’t read the text first because I don’t

understand anyihing when I do so Fread the questions first.” (G1, 04), and the teachers

expected the students to understand, too [hey checked the students’ understanding by

asking most of the ime Notwithstanding, in most cases, the coherence was produced by

the teachers, by asking leading and prompting questions of students, and then coming back to their own opinions

The two classes also bad manifest internal intertextuahty in which cach picee of

discourse is related to a previous one Commonly, the teachers asked a questions, the

students answered, then the teachers synthesized and stated their point of view

Sometimes, they wrote the sleps on the board The text in these two classrooms illustrated

a social practice which the teachers are required to make their thoughts publicly available and to review the ideas of the students to build an understanding of a reading strategy In

eliciting the experiences from the students, the teachers waited until the students finished their sharing and then ended up the discussion with their own ideas The classes did

feature a discourse in which the teachers are empowered They were active m giving: the

ups while the students were passive in listenmg and following

Because of the nature of instruction giving process, there was not a clear turn-taking practice Power was located with the Leachers However, the teachers were willing Lo give

the students chances to raise their voices and to decide the strategies for themselves ‘'o a

lesser extent, the power could also be ascnbed to the argument produced by the Leachers

and some students as the students attempted to explain and approve their methods Ilowever, most of the students just agreed with what the teachers said They did not see

themselves as active participants in learning, who had power over both the skills and the

discursive practices of the classroom ‘I'hey simply accepted a more passive role, in whieh

the skills being learnt had power over them, and im which the teachers maintained control

of the discursive practice of the classroom

3.1.2, Answer to research question 2:

To what extent do the patterns of English that the teachers use make their instructions

effective according to the theory, the teachers and the students?

27

The information to answer this question was taken from the observation scheme 2 and the

interviews will the teachers and the sludents The data were analyzed and the findings

can be interpreted in 3 aspects: instruction effectiveness in the teachers’ perception,

instruction effecliveness in the sludents’ perception, and instruction effectiveness under

the theory of cffective instruction

3.1.2.1 Instruction effectiveness in the teachers’ perception

In general, the teachers were salisfied with the ¢lficieney of their instruction giving in

classrooms

As shared by the teachers, the most important factor of an instruction was explicitness Therefore, when giving instructions, they used very simple and common words and

structures, which, in their opinion, were understandable to all of the students in their

classes T1 stated: “Unless the students are ai a very low level, they can easily understand my instructions.” (11) As a matter of fact, in preparation for the instruction giving, the teachers did not consider much the English use because they both believed

that they were using the simplesl language im classrooms Instead, they prepared the

strategies applied to the exereises

However, the teachers often had to change their plans for the limit of time T1 shared, in

the classroom, she warled to give more detailed instructions and check the studerls’

understanding more carefully Nonetheless, there was often not enough time left for her

Similarly, T2 also wished lo check the students’ results aller they had finished doing the exercises but most of the time, she could not for the short duration of the lessons 12

asserted: “In any case, I think that the instructions before the activities are very

wmportant Therefore, I always focus on this part and do it very carefully.” (12) When instructing, 2 also delivered instructions at the same order of the steps Moreover, she based on the level of each students to ask questions: “Ifthe students are good, I ask open- ended questions so that they can share more of their opinions; but if the students are nol very good, I use close-ended questions so they just need to answer pes or no.” (12) What

is more, T2 claimed that the structure of the instructions needed to be clear with separate

small parts and the instructions must cover all the things the students need te know such

as the time, the steps, the strategies, the techniques, and the tips While ‘I used the same

28

way of instruction giving for all the students, T2 thought that the key words could be the

same bul the clarification must be varied With sludents at low level, she gaye examples

and modelling Sometimes she used altermative words or structures, but she did not do it

on purpose Her only criterion was Lo be understandable and she just uttered the sentences

that she thought could make her instructions more diverse without confusing the students

When asked aboun their satisfaction, ‘2 said that she was really happy with what she was

doing for the students while T1 was just salisfied with the eleamess of the instructions

but not with her language use She expected to use more interesting or complete

sentences The level of the students, yet, made her break the sentences down and she

could not use her favorile structures

In their evaluation of how their instructions supported the students, the two teachers agreed that the students could understand the steps, techniques, and strategies as well as prepare for the time pressure of each task type ‘They also thought that the students were

instructed to choose their best strategies and analyze the techniques Notwithstanding, as

confessed by the Leachers, they could not control the students’ response to the

instructions In other words, they could not know whether the students apply their guidance or not Additionally, they could not help the students to perform well with a spovilic task because the results depended m hoon the students’ vocabulary and

grammar resources "! just can give the students some general strategies to deal with a

specific lask type for their examinations and self-study later However, I cannot control

their performance with a particular exercise.” (12), or “For the limit of time, I just can

focus on the task types, not the content, vocabulary or grammar.” (IL)

Afterwards, when sharing about their wish to change, the two teachers showed two

different opinions ‘I'l expected to make some change with the lesson structure and the text content for more instructions of vacalulary She wished to design and apply many

activities to develyp the students’ vocabulary:

“If possible, I will give more detailed instructions and will focus more an

vocabulary With each exercise, I will ask the students to do the exemple question first

Then I discuss with them the strategies to do that question and come to the frame of

strategies Afier that, I ask them to answer ten more questions, check the results and ask

29