A study on students' English language learning style preferences at Do Luong 2 High School, Do Luong district, Nghe An province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY of POST-GRADUATE STUDIES --- LÊ SA A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING STYLE PR

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY of POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -

LÊ SA

A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCES AT DO LUONG 2 HIGH SCHOOL, DO

LUONG DISTRICT, NGHE AN PROVINCE

( Nghiên cứu phương pháp học tiếng anh ưa thích của học sinh trường

Đô Lương 2, huyện Đô Lương, tỉnh Nghệ An)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.14.10

Hanoi-2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY of POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LUONG DISTRICT, NGHE AN PROVINCE

( Nghiên cứu phương pháp học tiếng anh ưa thích của học sinh trường

Đô Lương 2, huyện Đô Lương, tỉnh Nghệ An)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration i

Abstract ii

Acknowledgements iii

List of table contents iv

List of tables vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION I.1 Rationale 1

I.2 Aims of the study 2

I.3 Research questions 2

I.4 Scope of the study 2

I.5 Significance of the study 3

I.6 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1 Literature Review 5

1.1 Definition of learning styles 5

1.2 Classification of learning styles 5

1.2.1 Perceptual learning styles 6

1.2.2 Cognitive learning styles 7

1.2.3 Active and reflective learners 7

1.3 The importance of understanding students‟ learning styles 7

1.4 Mismatches between Teachers' and Students' perceptions of learning activities……… 9

1.5 The need to study students‟ learning styles and meet students‟ needs and demands 10

Chapter 2 Research Methodology

2.1 Setting of the study 12

2.2 Participants 12

2.2.1 Students 12

2.2.2 Teachers 13

2.3 Data Instruments 13

2.4 Data collection procedure 15

Chapter 3 Data Analysis 3.1 Students‟ interest in learning English 16

3.2 The way of learning in class 17

3.3 Preferences of learning items 17

3.4 Preferences of teaching methodologies 18

3.5 Teachers‟ methodologies often used in English class 19

3.6 The importance of learning styles 20

3.7 Class activities 21

3.7.1 Students‟ opinions about their useful activities 22

3.7.2 The activities students like using in English class 22

3.7.3 Students‟ favorite activities in class 22

3.8 Teaching aids 23

3.9 Error correction 24

3.10 Studying at home 26

3.11 Improvement 27

PART C: CONCLUSION 1 Conclusions………29

2 Suggested teaching and leaning activities for different learning styles………30

2.1 Suggested teaching activities………30

2.2 Suggested leaning activities ………34

3 Limitations of the study 36

4 Suggestions for further studies 37

REFERENCES……… 38

APPENDIXES

Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire for students Appendix 2: Survey questionnaire for teachers Appendix 3: Written test set by the teachers

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Students and their interest in learning English………16

Table 2: Students‟ and Teachers‟ view on learning individually or in groups………… 17

Table 3: Students‟ and Teachers‟ preferences in learning items………18

Table 4: Students‟ and Teachers‟ preferences of teaching methodologies……….18

Table 5: The frequency degree of teachers using activities in class………19

Table 6: Students‟ and Teachers‟ opinion about the importance of learning styles………20

Table 7: Students‟ and Teachers‟ opinion about useful activities………21

Table 8: The activities students like using in English class……….22

Table 9: Students‟ and Teachers‟ favorite activities in class….……… 23

Table 10: Students‟ and Teachers‟ opinion in using teaching aids……… 24

Table 11: Students‟ and Teachers‟ view on being corrected immediately or later……… 24

Table 12: Students‟ and Teachers‟ thought in correcting errors ………25

Table 13: Students‟ and Teachers‟ view on studying at home….………26

Table 14: Students‟ and Teachers‟ view on improvement……… 27

Table 15: Students‟ written tasks‟ marks from the teachers………28

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Since the end of the 20th century, communicative language teaching has been central

in the agenda of second and foreign language teaching It has become the order of the day

to curriculum developers and English language teachers around the world Although Vietnam accepted communicative language teaching a little bit later than many other countries, the principles of communicative language teaching have been used as the foundation of the curriculum development and pre-service and in-service teacher training programs

Many researchers and scholars have proposed that second or foreign language teaching should emphasize the development of communicative skills rather than just linguistic competence, i.e grammar In order to find out the suitable content and appropriate teaching strategies, teachers have to meet learners‟ demands and needs first However, many teachers seem to be unaware of their students‟ learning styles to find the suitable teaching methods for different kinds of learners Each learner has his own way of receiving and processing information and knowledge Some learn from seeing and hearing, some learn from reflecting and acting; reasoning logically and intuitively; memorizing and visualizing (Felder, 1995) Similarly, teachers do not follow the same method teaching, or

if they do the way they implement that teaching method in the classroom is quite different

As Felder (1995: 21) noted that “teaching methods also vary Some instructors lecture,

others demonstrate or discuss; some focus on rules and others on examples…”

Since teachers ignore or pay little attention to their students‟ learning styles, some still use the same method of teaching to teach different learners, serious mismatches may occur with some unfortunate consequences such as bored and inattentive and even discouraged learners; unresponsive or hostile classes Then teachers may have critical attitude towards their learners

2 Aims of the study

This study is aimed to find out the students' learning style preferences and the

teachers' teaching styles at Do Luong 2 high school, Do Luong district, Nghe An province

To be more specific, the major aims of the study are as follows:

 To aim at investigating students' learning style preferences at Do Luong 2 high

school

 To find out the extent of the teacher‟s awareness of their learning style preferences

through a set of questionnaires

 To examine the extent of students‟ improvement after teachers focus on learners‟

learning styles and adjust teaching accordingly

 To make suggestions on how to satisfy students‟ learning styles better in classroom

3 Research questions

The study is aimed at investigating learning style preferences of the students at Do

Luong 2 High School and the extent of the teacher‟s awareness of them and the extent of

improvement after teachers are awareness of their learner‟s learning styles The study is

carried out to find answers to the following the questions:

1) What are the learning styles preferences of the students at Do Luong 2 high school?

2) What is the gap between students‟ learning styles and teachers‟ teaching styles in

our school, if any?

3) How to narrow the gap between teaching and learning so as to bring about

students‟ expected learning outcomes?

4 Scope of the study

The main focus of the study is on the investigation of the students‟ learning styles

at Do Luong 2 school and the importance of learning styles Particularly, this minor thesis

only refers to the categorization of the students' learning styles in our school; finger out the

gaps between students' learning styles and teachers' awareness and provide some

techniques for different learning styles

5 Significance of the study

Oxford (2003) emphasized that learning styles and strategies of individual students can work together or conflict with a given instructional methodology If there is a harmony between them, then the students are likely to perform well, feel confident and experience low anxiety If classes happen, serious breakdowns in teacher-student interaction will exist These conflicts even result in the dispirited student‟ rejection of the teaching methodology, the teacher, and the subject matter Therefore, finding out the learners‟ learning styles is a crucial step to help the teachers choose the suitable teaching method for them

The results from this study will help to provide an overview of students‟ learning style preferences at Do Luong 2 school The study also finds out the extent of the gap between students‟ learning styles and teachers‟ awareness of them Importantly, the study shows that when the teachers are aware of their students‟ learning styles, there can be great improvement in their students‟ language proficiency Students not only have positive attitudes towards learning, but also towards the teacher and the subject since the teachers find out the best teaching methods for them, and create the interesting and attractive learning atmosphere with many practical and effective lessons Suggested teaching activities can be drawn out for language teachers in general and teachers in the similar teaching context in particular

6 Design of the study

The thesis includes three main parts:

Part I is Introduction, which states the rationale, aims, research questions, scope, significance and design of the thesis

Part II consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1 reviews the literature relevant to the topic of research, deals with definition of learning styles, classification of learning styles, the importance of understanding students‟ learning styles, Mismatches between Teachers‟ and Students‟ Perceptions of learning activities and the need to study students‟ learning styles and meet students‟ needs and demands

Chapter 2 presents the research methodology of the study It provides information about the setting of the study, participants, data collection instruments and data collect procedure

Chapter 3 is the main part of the study whose major findings are revealed and discussed

Part III is conclusion that presents some conclusions, suggested teaching and learning activities for different learning styles, limitations and suggestions for further studies

1.1 Definition of learning style

Learning style can be defined as “learners’ consistent ways of responding to and using

stimuli in the context of learning” (Claxton and Ralston, 1978: 7) According to Light

Brown and Spada (1995) describes it as “learners’ natural, habitual, and preferred ways of

absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skills which persist regardless

of teaching methods or content area.”

Curry (1983) employs a metaphorical onion with its multiple layers to decide an individual‟s preferences (i.e., instructional and environmental preferences, information processing preferences of the learner, and the individual‟s personality dimension) Reid (1987) identified four basic perceptual style preferences: visual (for instance reading, charts), auditory (for instance lectures, tapes), kinesthetic (like physical activity), and tactile (for instance building models or doing laboratory experiments)

1.2 Classification of the learning style

According to Light Brown and Spada (1999, cited in Nguyễn Thị Vân Lam and Ngô Đình Phương), they classify learning styles into 2 major categories: Perceptual and

cognitive learning styles According to this definition, other learning styles categorized by

M Felder (1995) seemed to belong to this list, however, the researcher wants to add one more styles of learners: active and reflective learners

1.2.1 Perceptual learning styles

In the first category which is based on perception, there are different categories which are visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners, tactile learners and haptic learners

Visual learners: DVC website online emphasizes that with this kind of learning

style, you learn best when information is presented visually and in a written language format Hence, visual learners learn more effectively through images, colors and maps When seeing something, they can learn better Therefore, when they want to remember something, they often visualize a picture of it in their mind

Auditory learners: Auditory learners prefer learning in a situation when information

is presented auditory in an oral language format These kinds of learners are interested in learning through ears because they have good sense of pitch and rhythm Therefore, when trying to remember something, they can often "hear" the way someone told them the information, or the way them previously repeated it out loud Interacting with others in a listening/speaking exchange helps them learn better

Kinesthetic learners: Kinesthetic learners learn more effectively through concrete

body experience or body movement They often use their body and sense of touch to explore the world around

Tactile learners: Tactile learners learn best from touching They are interested in

learning through experiencing or doing something They like experiencing the world and acting out events For instance, when trying to remember a phone number, they may remember the pattern of their fingers as pressing the numbers

Haptic learners: they are among those who learn through touch and body

movement, a combination of tactile and kinesthetic styles They are successful in learning tasks requiring manipulation

1.2.2 Cognitive learning styles

In cognitive learning styles, Light Brown and Spada (1999) divide them into two categories: field- independent learners and field- dependent learners

Field- independent learners: They are more analytical, they can pick out hidden

figures in a complicated drawing more quickly They tend to perceive elements

independently of a context or field and focus on details

Field-dependent learners: These kinds of learners are more relational and more

inclined to see the whole drawing and they seem to have difficulties in separating it into parts They tend to perceive the whole field or situation and focus on general meaning

1.2.3 Active and reflective learners

Felder (1995) emphasized that active learners learn well in situations that enable them to do something physical and reflective learners learn well in situations that provide them with opportunities to think about the information being presented The more opportunities students have to both participate and reflect in class, the better they will learn new material and the longer they are likely to retain it (KoIb, 1984; McCarthy, 1987) According to him, active learner is someone with more of a natural tendency towards active experimentation than toward reflective observation of a reflective learner

1.3 The importance of understanding students’ learning style

In order to realise the importance in understanding students‟ learning styles, and also to accommodate for different learning styles in the classrooms, students should complete a learning style instrument early in the course This would enable students to realise their own learning style as well as those of their classmates Teachers should be aware that students learn differently, which should make them aware that they have to approach teaching from different perspectives Teaching and learning styles should be of the greatest interest to educators, particularly the relationship between the two

However, one of the weaknesses of learning style research is the lack of investigation into the matching of teaching and learning styles Theoretically, many

variables exist in educational literature reviews, but very few researchers deal with the

matching of teaching and learning styles Peacock (2001) is one of the significant and

influential researchers who investigated the matching of teaching and learning styles in real

settings He concluded that serious disparities exist between the LS of the students and the

teaching styles of the teachers Matching teaching and learning in the classroom means that

instructors should try to accommodate the different learning styles of students Some

researchers investigated teachers as well as administrators in the schools, as the two are

closely related, interdependent, and influence students‟ success Adaptability to different

learning styles plays a key role in students‟ academic achievement Researchers who

investigated the teaching styles of the teachers affirmed that the teachers could influence

students‟ achievement by employing different ways of presenting the information Such

studies have indicated the need to match the teaching styles of the teachers and the learning

styles of students in order to increase competency in both teaching and learning

In order to satisfy expectations, teachers tend to shift from their natural teaching

practices to the practices the administration expects of them Teaching and learning are

active processes that go hand in hand, while lecturers and learners are interdependent of

one another If this concept is realized, teachers would be able to enhance their

effectiveness and enable students to achieve their full potential (Forest, 2004)

Investigation into the teaching styles asserts that the disparity between teaching and

learning is continuous, and that this largely influences students‟ attitude and motivation

Disparity in teaching and learning styles is the root of the problems that many students face

According to a few researches, teachers have been neglecting the cornerstone of

why students fail, resist, or refuse to learn Although the lecturers‟ actions may be

unintentional, teachers have to start looking into the main causes for the students‟ failure,

resistance, and refusal in order to avoid such occurrences Students who are unable to

achieve in the way that is expected become less motivated and less persistent Investigation

into what works best for each student is unavoidable, and consequently, carrying out the

findings of the investigations will lead to students‟ success Designing course material

based upon the students‟ preference towards certain learning styles would enable students

to overcome difficulties that may arise when facing problems related to the learning styles Once students‟ learning styles are determined, teachers will have a clear picture of how to

design the courses When designing a course, educators must pay attention to students‟

needs In the ESL context, teachers should use a variety of new materials to which students can relate in terms of their personal experiences

Teachers should make use of visual aids such as photographs, drawings, sketches, and cartoons to illustrate and reinforce meaning of the new vocabulary In order to illustrate textual lessons, teachers should show films and live dramatisation This approach will assist visual learners and motivate them In order to reinforce the learning of grammar and vocabulary, teachers should assign some repetitive drills and exercises Teachers should not always lecture and write upon the board, but they should allow students to think about what they have been told and allow students be involved in class activities and hands-on exercises This will enable students who are prone to kinesthetic or tactile learning to learn and acquire the English language without less difficulty Teachers should give students the option of cooperating on some homework assignments Group learners learn best when they work with a few of their classmates This will give them the opportunity to express themselves in the area they learn best Likewise, teachers should facilitate those students who learn best on their own They should assign individual home exercises or individual in-class grammar exercises

1.4 Mismatches between Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions of Learning Activities

One of the main requirements of learner-centered language teaching is to

understand the learners‟ needs and expectations as well as their learning preferences Also, teachers and students may not perceive of the same activity in a similar manner By contrast, mismatches in their opinions or perception are always in existence According to Riazi and Riasati (2007, cited in Nga Thai (2009)), various studies have shown that students‟ perceptions and opinions mismatched with those of teachers which lead to learning failure, frustration and de-motivation This can be seen clearly from the results of their study in terms of studying styles and Hue‟s study in 2004 Although students hated working individually, learning new words through translation or looking up new words in a dictionary, or focusing on only receptive skills, teachers did not recognize this They still did not change their teaching method in the way such as creating context for students to guess the new words, using words in a sentence, or creating chance for their students to talk and discuss with other learners Therefore, Riazi and Riasati (2007) concluded that to

improve learners‟ learning outcome, teachers should encourage students to work in groups

or pairs instead of working individually, and prepare the lessons and words in a context that is easy for learners to guess the meaning so that learners‟ receptive and productive skills are both developed

The serious clash also happened in Hue‟s study (2004) in which although both learners and teachers recognized the importance of grammar and they were quite sure about their grammar knowledge, the learning atmosphere was not very good Students felt bored and dissatisfied because teacher‟s explanation was so monotonous and repetitive Thus, they were less active and enthusiastic in the language learning lesson Savigon (2001) suggested that teachers should not consider their learners the vase, and pour the knowledge into their head

The mismatch between the students‟ perceptions and those of teachers can also be seen clearly from Spratt's study in 1999 Teachers‟ awareness of learners‟ preferences corresponded in only 50% cases with learners‟ actual ones Therefore, it is really important

to narrow the gap between teacher‟s awareness and their learners‟ needs and learning styles This will improve learning outcomes, create a good learning and teaching environment, and create a good relationship between teachers and learners

Although some similar studies have been done in some settings, in Vietnam context in general and in Nghe An in particular, they have not been done So, this study will be carried out to obtain the above goals and objectives for both teachers and learners‟ sakes

1.5 The need to study students’ learning styles and meet students’ needs and demands

Meeting learner‟s needs to improve the effectiveness in learning and teaching languages in general and English in particular is really important Knowing our students‟ learning styles is vital in choosing what teaching methodology is most effective and

suitable for our students Dunn and Griggs (1988) emphasize that “learning style is the

biological and developmentally set of characteristics that make the same teaching method wonderful for some and terrible for other.”

Therefore, finding out what our students‟ learning styles play an undeniable role in determining what learning strategies are needed to improve learners‟ language learning

skills Oxford (2003) points out that if there is a harmony happening between learning styles and learning strategies and the combination of instructional methodology and materials, the students then can perform really well since they feel confident enough with love anxiety However, if there is clashes among them can lead to serious breakdowns in teacher-student interaction, resulting in students‟ outright rejection of the teaching methodology Thus, the teacher‟s duties are not only preparing materials, working out

lesson plan with many appropriate teaching activities but also helping students develop “an

awareness of learning strategies and enable them to use a wide range of appropriate strategies since students are not always aware of the power of consciously using L2 learning strategies for making learning quicker and more effective.” ( Nykios and Oxford,

1993)

In summary, chapter 1 has presented some theoretical background knowledge related to the topic of the study It has discussed some concepts and ideas concerning to the issue of learning styles in general and learning styles in L2 study in particular Besides, the importance of understanding students’ learning style, mismatches between teachers’ and students’ perceptions of learning activities and the need to study students’ learning styles and meet students’ needs and demands were also discussed The following chapter will display the detailed description of the methodology, the procedures of the study

CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the writer provides some information about the basic settings for the study The participants, the data collection instruments and the data collection procedure are also presented here

2.1 Setting of the study

The study was carried out at Do Luong 2 high school, Nghe An during the second term of the school year 2009 – 2010 The school, which is located in remote area in Do Luong District of Nghe An province, consists of eighty – six teachers and twenty - eight classes with more than 1,300 students in the school year There are nine teachers of English, most of them are still young and responsible for their teaching There are three grades 10, 11 and 12 with 32 classes in Do Luong High School in the school year 2009 –

2010 All of the students are studying the new English textbooks Because of living in remote area, the students here often lack of proper teaching and learning materials when they were at primary and secondary schools Teachers of the schools have to work harder than their colleagues at other upper secondary schools in the province to help their students study effectively, because their students are struggling to catch up with general knowledge

of most subjects

English here is one of the compulsory subjects The students study English in order to pass the examinations and some students like learning English and want to use it in the future Therefore, in order to know what English learning style preferences students are and how to improve them in learning English are not easy for the teachers

English is not their main concern, thus no students pay attention to it before coming into high school Many students prefer natural subjects to social ones Each class average has only four or six good students at English The others know a little or nothing about English Some students used to be good at English but they ignore it when coming into high school because of some subjective and objective reasons They learn English whenever they like and their main purposes are only to pass the examinations

In order to get information to fulfill the aims of the study, two survey questionnaires are designed The questionnaire was administered to 286 students of grades

12 at the school Their ages vary from 17 to 19 There time of length of English learning is different: 90% started learning English at grade 6; only 10% started at grade 10

2.2.2 Teachers

There are nine teachers at Do Luong high school, two of them are on maternal leave, so only seven teachers who were teaching at the school were invited to join the study Their ages range between late-twenties and forty- five years old The length of teaching English is also different, minimum level of four years and maximum of more than twenty years Five of them have got the University Bachelor‟ Degree in English, one finished the in-service training course in English seven years ago because he used to be a teacher of Russian and one has M.A degree and one is doing M.A course As rural teachers, they have few opportunities to upgrade their teaching and do not have a lot of teaching facilities and materials to help their work Despite all these disadvantages, they are helpful, friendly and dedicated teachers Most of them want to devote their whole lives for teaching They all have a great desire to acquire knowledge of how to teach English well Also, they are always willing to help their students tackle with difficulties in learning

2.3 Data Instruments

There is a variety of methods that can be employed to collect data such as: questionnaire, interviews, meeting, tests, observation, ect Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages The researcher chose questionnaire because it is one of the most popular instruments It is quite easy to prepare and it can be used with a large number

of subjects What is more, the information collected is not very difficult to tabulate and to analyze (Brown, 1995) Hence survey questionnaire was chosen to collect what the students‟ learning styles and what the teachers‟ teaching styles are The teachers and students would have opportunities to reflect on their experiences of teaching and learning English The information, therefore, would be more detailed and more accurate

Questionnaires

This instrument used in this study was the questionnaire, which was adopted from Nunan, D (1989) and Brindley (1984) It consisted of two sets of questionnaire, the teacher questionnaire and the student questionnaire, with both close-ended and open-ended items The purpose of the questionnaire was to investigate students‟ learning styles preferences and the teachers‟ opinions of those learning styles preferences Respondents answered the questionnaire items by circling Yes/No or writing down their answers if they were different from the given ones For each question, respondents were provided space and were encouraged to give their own answers if they were different from the given ones

As can be seen, responses from the questionnaire did not only reflect generalized statements about the style used (Cohen, 1998) Respondents could give their own ideas instead of choosing among the limited provided options Therefore, respondents had more chances to be more accurate about their actual preferred language learning styles

Questionnaires which are administered to seven teachers and 286 students at the end of March and at the beginning of April

* The questionnaire completed by the students

The questionnaire consists of fifteen questions, which are categorized into 12 parts The questionnaires were delivered to 286 students at Do Luong 2 high school at the beginning of the class time so that they could complete it during the breaks and then, were collected by the monitors of the classes The numbers of collected surveys were used for analysis

* The questionnaire completed by the teachers

The questionnaire designed for the teachers‟ aims at finding out the teachers‟ teaching styles in the English classes, the differences between students‟ learning styles and

teachers‟ teaching styles in order to fill in the gaps between them The questionnaires for teachers were given to 7 teachers during the breaks of the lessons and collected by the researcher The number of collected surveys was 7 and all used for analysis

The researcher believes that from the information obtained, some useful suggestions could be made to minimize the difficulties encountered and thus improve the teaching and

learning English at Do Luong 2 high school

2.4 Data collection procedure

- The questionnaires were given to pupils of the twelve grade groups at Do Luong 2 high school This was done at the end of March 2010

- The set of questionnaire for teachers was delivered at the beginning of April, 2010

- The written test set by the teachers was carried out at the end of May

In summary, the second chapter has presented the methodology, the procedures of the study The following chapter will display the results of the study under the light of the above discussed theories

CHAPTER 3 DATA ANALYSIS

This section deals with the data collected from a survey on both the teachers

and students concerning the students‟ learning style preferences and the teachers‟ teaching styles The data on such criteria as the way of learning, preferences of learning items, preferences of teaching methodologies, the frequency degree of teacher‟s using activities, the importance of learning styles, class activities, teaching aids, studying at home, error correction, and improvement are discussed

3.1 Students' interest in learning English

According to the first and the second questions in the questionnaire, the statistics shows that most of the students started learning English when they were in grade 6 Therefore, they have been learning English for 6 years until now Classes 12A1, 12A2 and 12A3 are the three best classes in learning English of grade 12 Although they are not specialized in English, and their majors are Math, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, they are mostly interested in learning English Other three classes (12A8, 12A9 and 12A10) are not three best classes in learning English Many of them like learning English and some focus on the other subjects Some do not like to learn English They must study it only to pass the examinations In summary, there are 74.12% students who are interested in learning English and only a small number of students do not enjoy learning English (25.87%)

3.2 The way of learning in class

According to the above table, teachers and students respond to the ways of learning

in class In this question, students were asked if they liked to learn individually, in pairs, in

a small group or in a large group The results from the table 1 revealed students‟ learning mode in class Almost 28.32% of all the respondents did not like learning individually while most of the students really liked learning in pairs, in small groups or in a large group

On the other hand, from the table it can be seen that there were big differences between teachers and students 71.43% of the teachers thought their students preferred to learn individually Only 28.57% of the teachers thought the students liked to learn in a small groups or a large group This reason could be the teachers generally believed that students did not like to have interaction with their classmates and form groups

In short, evidently, teachers were not aware that their students did not prefer individual study and liked to work in other ways such as in pairs, in groups Instead, they thought their students preferred to work by themselves independently of their peers In other words, there seemed to be disagreement between students and teachers with respect

to this issue

3.3 Preferences of learning items

pronunciation

to learn English words by hearing

Table 3: Teachers’ and students’ preferences in learning items

This question finds the preferences of learning items As can be seen from the table, most of the students (86.01%) liked learning by doing hands on activity (kinesthetic) 46.85% of the students liked learning English by seeing them (visual) However, many of them did not like studying grammar, learning English words by hearing them and practicing the sounds and pronunciation (15.73% to 24.12% respectively) In this term, teachers also thought the same with the students

3.4 Preferences of teaching methodologies

Table 4: Teachers' and students' preferences of teaching methodologies

Teaching methodologies play a very important role in perceiving and processing information As is shown from the table above, most of teachers in Vietnam use chalkboard to present their lesson Teachers think that copying from the board is really important, which can help students revise the lesson easily They usually require their students to copy things from the board Checking notes in their notebooks is to make sure that they have noted the things they are asked

As can be seen from the table, it is not expected by the teachers, they preferred more creative way of learning to this passive way of learning, so only 23.43% students like learning by copying from the board while 100% teachers thought they preferred this to others Many students liked to learn by games and 71.43% of the teachers considered playing games are their preferences in learning English More than half of the respondents (67.13%) preferred learning by games and 71.43% of the teachers knew this 62.24% of the students liked learning with pictures, films, and videos The reason may be that they favor teaching methodologies that involve both visual and auditory senses in addition to interesting stories Listening to and use cassettes, or CDsand listening and taking notes are not interesting for students (10.84% to 11.89% respectively) Conversations was the least favorable to the students (7.34%) whereas 57.14% of the teachers thought that their students liked learning by conversation The reason could be this kind of activity requires more interaction and effort from students

3.5 The frequency degree of teacher's using activities in class

(0%)

11 (3.85%)

46 (16.08%)

229 (80.07%)

(0%)

0 (0%)

31 (10.84%)

247 (86.36%)

(30.42%)

137 (47.90%)

62 (21.68%)

0 (0%)

(42.31%)

57 (19.93%)

75 (26.22%)

33 (11.54%)

(0%)

0 (0%)

89 (31.11%)

197 (68.88%)

F using videos 0

(0%)

0 (0%)

76 (26.57%)

210 (73.43%)

(22.03%)

76 (26.57%)

134 (46.85%)

13 (4.54%)

Table 5: The frequency degree of teacher's using activities in class

Question 10 asks students how the frequency degree their teachers use these activities in class From the students‟ reply, we could see the fact that most of the teachers have not used a variety of activities in the classroom 247 out of 286 students assumed that their teachers seldom use maps, wall-chairs, diagrams in class Apart from this activities, teachers seldom use another important activities; such as using English songs/ music, watching videos or using power point presentation (from 210% to 229% respectively) The reason could be lack of modern facilities or maybe they have not enough time for using them because they have to teach due to the textbooks From the table, we can see that discussing/debating, role-play, using handouts/pictures/ games are activities that the

teachers always used in class (from 42.31% to 22.03% respectively)

3.6 The importance of learning styles

the students

Percentage of the teachers The role of learning styles

in target language learning

3.7 Class activities

3.7.1 Teachers’ and students' opinions about their useful activities

C Doing exercises from the

workbooks

E Reading: stories, newspapers,

articles

Table 7: Teachers’ and students' opinions about useful activities

For this question, it shows the teachers' and students' opinions about the activities that help students learn best in class

It is true that class activities play a very important role in teaching and learning English They help not only teachers in teaching better but also students in learning well by organizing the suitable and effective activities for their students‟ knowledge This chart shows us the information about the activities which students believe that they are fruitful for their English learning As is shown from the chart above, the two most useful activities that help them learn best in class are playing games and doing exercises from the workbooks (27.27%-25.87%) 15.03% students like watching videos Writing (stories, sentences, and poems) and Listening (stories, sentences, articles) are not interesting for them so much In addition, the least interesting activity is listening to English songs They thought it was not useful for them in learning English In contrast, the teachers‟ results are different from the students‟ opinions All teachers (100%) thought that doing exercises from the workbooks is the most important activity to help their students learn best in class 57.14% teachers assumed that discussion, debates and presentations are the second

important activity They also believed that writing would help their students well in their learning in class (42.86%) All teachers considered that listening from the English songs was the least useful activity in the students‟ learning

3.7.2 The activities students like using in English class

Activities that students most use when

learning English

A often read materials, textbooks and see

charts, pictures to get knowledge

3.7.3 Teachers’ and students' favorite activities in class

role play 221/286 77.27% 4/7 57.14% language games 91/286 31.81% 3/7 42.86%

talking with and listening to other

students

writing a learning diary 18/286 6.29% 1/7 14.28%

Table 9: Teachers’ and students' favorite activities in class

When being asked about what activities they like, most of the students (77.27%)

said they liked role-playing As we know that role-play is a popular activity in English

classrooms in Vietnam, especially at pre and post stages for each lesson It is clear that

role-play activity is interesting, requires creativeness as well as imagination and the

students of grade 12 have done this well, while only 57.14% of the teachers thought their

students liked it 58.39% of the students liked to discuss and debate whereas most of the

teachers (85.71%) considered that their students were more interested than other activities

They believed discussion will make the students exchange their knowledge and help them

feel more self-confident in the future, especially for the students of grade 12 Only 52.80%

of the students liked talking with and listening The results showed that in students‟ view,

the interaction between students was very useful to their learning Students want to talk

and listen to other students They want to experience some difficulties as they try to use

the target language to communicate Meanwhile, 71.43% of the teachers believed that their

students liked talking with and listening to other students Obviously, there were many

differences between the teachers‟ thoughts and students‟ preferences Language games,

getting information from guest speakers were not their preferences