An evaluation of the america vietnam joint education program at doan thi diem secondary school

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: Model of early total immersion program in Canada Figure 2: Model of middle immersion program in Canada Figure 3: Model of late immersion program in C

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ TUYẾT

AN EVALUATION OF THE AMERICA-VIETNAM JOINT EDUCATION

PROGRAM AT DOAN THI DIEM SECONDARY SCHOOL

ĐÁNH GIÁ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH HỢP TÁC GIÁO DỤC VIỆT –MỸ TẠI TRƯỜNG

TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ ĐOÀN THỊ ĐIỂM

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: ELT Methodology Code: 601410

HANOI, 2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ TUYẾT

AN EVALUATION OF THE AMERICA-VIETNAM JOINT EDUCATION

PROGRAM AT DOAN THI DIEM SECONDARY SCHOOL

ĐÁNH GIÁ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH HỢP TÁC GIÁO DỤC VIỆT –MỸ TẠI TRƯỜNG

TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ ĐOÀN THỊ ĐIỂM

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: ELT Methodology

Code: 601410

Supervisor: Phùng Hà Thanh, M.Ed

HANOI, 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 10

1 Rationale for the study 10

2 Aims of the study 11

3 Scope of the study 12

4 Methods of the study 13

5 Significance of the study 13

6 Overview of the rest of the paper 14

CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 15

1.1 Conceptions of program evaluation 15

1.1.1 Definition of program evaluation 15

1.1.2 Purposes of program evaluation 16

1.1.3 Program evaluators 17

1.2Overview of Immersion program 18

1.2.1 Definition of Immersion program 18

1.2.2 Models of immersion program 20

1.2.3 Characteristics of immersion programs 24

1.2.4 Overview of evaluation of immersion programs 28

1.3 Chapter summary 30

CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY 31

2.1 Research design 31

2.2 Setting of the study 32

2.3 Participants 33

2.4 Data collection instrument 34

2.4.1 Justification for the use of semi- structured, open- ended interviews 34

2.4.2 Description of interview schedule 34

2.4.3 Procedure of data collection 34

2.5 Data analysis 35

2.6 Chapter summary 36

CHAPTER THREE: RESULTS, FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS 37

3.1 Results of the teacher interviews 37

3.2 Result of student interviews 43

3.3 Major findings 48

3.3.1 The strengths of the program 49

3.3.2 The weaknesses of the program 50

3.4 Recommendations 52

3.5 Chapter summary 54

CONCLUSION 55

REFERENCES 57

APPENDICES 59

APPENDICE 1: TEACHER INTERVIEW SCHEDULE 60

APPENDICE 2: STUDENT INTERVIEW SCHEDULE 61

APPENDICE 3: CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN HỌC SINH 62

APPENDIX 4: CONTENTS OF THE READING STREET BOOK 63

APPENDICE 5: CONTENTS OF THE SCIENCE BOOK 66

APPENDICE 6: CONTENTS OF THE MATH BOOK 67

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

US : United States

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1: Model of early total immersion program in Canada

Figure 2: Model of middle immersion program in Canada

Figure 3: Model of late immersion program in Canada

Table 1: A summary of the strengths and the weaknesses of the program

INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

In recent years, especially after Vietnam’s entry into the WTO and the becoming of English

as an international language, there has been an unprecedented increase in English learning Along with this surge in interest for English language learning is the increasing demand for native speakers and foreign educational program In addition, the Education and Training Ministry has cooperated in delivery of foreign language courses in Vietnam One of the priorities in Vietnam is “overseas studies at home” hence, there have been independent or joint- venture schools established to implement such cooperation program such as Hanoi International School, UN School, South International School, Grammar school- Ho Chi Minh City and Japanese primary School According to “Sai Gon Giai Phong Online”, the number of students enrolls the international school or foreign education program has been increasing the past two years For example, in 2009 there were only 200 students enrolling the Asian Pacific College This year, 2010 this number has raised up to 1000 students; at American International School, there were less than fifty students taking part in the program in 2009 but

in 2010, this number has doubled More and more parents want their children to learn with native speakers of foreign languages because they believed that this is the best way to learn foreign languages

The increasing demand for learning at international schools leads to the increase in the number of this type of schools So far there have been thirty international schools established regardless of private schools which have several international classes Doan Thi Diem is one

of the schools which have applied the model of international schools The school has cooperated with schools in America and Singapore to form joint education programs in which students have chance to follow two educational curriculum simultaneously namely Vietnamese curriculum and oversea curriculum The joint education program involves using

an additional language for teaching and learning both language and content In fact, this is an adaptation of immersion program in which two (or more) languages are used for learning and teaching both language and content One of the languages is students’ mother tongue and the other is a second or foreign language which is not the subject to be taught but the medium of instruction to teach other subjects such as math, science or history

Immersion program originated in Canada in the 1960s, is one of the most thoroughly researched areas of second language learning Evidence and concern and interest in immersion program are shown through a large body of research studies on different aspects of immersion program The effects of immersion program on second or foreign language learning have been carefully examined through research done by Genesee (1984), Lambert (1984), Swain (1980), Swain (1984), Swain (1996), Genesee (2005), Zhou (2008) These researches show that immersion program has positive effects on language learners Despite such a wealth of research data in the effectiveness of the immersion program, research implications can not be applied in every context due to different social- cultures Seeing the benefits of the immersion program in language learning, the educators have applied the immersion program in international schools in Vietnam for the past few years However, there has been no research conducted to investigate the effectiveness and the results of the immersion program in Vietnam in general and at Doan Thi Diem School in particular The fact that, every program needs evaluating from time to time in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning for all learners within an educational system This is to ensure that the teaching is on tracks and that learners are learning what they are supposed to learn so that the desired results can be attained The above reasons have made the researcher conduct this study

2 Aims of the study

The study aims to evaluate the America-Vietnam joint education program at Doan Thi Diem Secondary School from the perspective of the teachers and the students Specifically, the research focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the program These aims could be achieved by seeking answers to the following six research questions:

From the perspective of the teachers:

1) What are the expectations of the program?

2) What are the strengths of the program?

3) What are the weaknesses of the program?

From the perspective of the students:

4) What are the expectations of the program?

5) What are the strengths of program?

6) What are the weaknesses of the program?

3 Scope of the study

Every evaluation is based on a framework which determines both the strategies for gathering data and the extrapolation of judgments from these In some evaluation processes, this framework is either implicit or explicit, but increasingly the exigencies of openness and accountability in such processes require that criteria be clearly stated According to Dudley- Evans and St John (1998), in the evaluation process, the evaluator must take evaluation criteria into account before any evaluation takes place Criteria for evaluation depend on what

is being evaluated and why they need to be evaluated

This research was conducted to evaluate the America- Vietnam joint education program at Doan Thi Diem secondary school from the teachers’ and students’ perception The researcher focused on investigating the strengths and weaknesses of the program after a year implementation Strengths of the program in this study are identified as the factors of the program that meet the needs of teachers and students As a result, teachers and students can reach the achievements And the weaknesses of the program are the factors of the program that do not meet the needs of teachers and students As a result, teachers and students can not reach the achievements In so doing, first and foremost, the researcher investigated the expectations of teachers and students in terms of facilitators which include environment, facilities, management, methodology and content; and their expectations of achievements Based on this framework of facilitators and the achievements at the end of the first year implementing, the strengths and weaknesses of the program from the perspectives of teachers and students would be presented Then the researcher would figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the program

4 Methods of the study

This case study was conducted at class 6M, Doan Thi Diem secondary school With a view to support the research with varied and valid data, the qualitative research was used together with the quantitative one The main tool of the research to collect data is semi- structured open- ended interviews with teachers and students The interviews were conducted with two native teachers teaching in the program of the school year 2009-2010 and with thirty- one students of class 6M The interviews were conducted after one year of teaching and learning

in the program

5 Significance of the study

After finishing the study, the researcher hopes that this case study can have some practical contributions

Firstly, this research can provide useful information for the stakeholder and supervisors of the program The joint education program is a new model in education in Vietnam and it is quickly widened at not only Doan Thi Diem secondary school but also many other private schools This study involves specific information that is definitely needed to be taken into consideration The study is the description of the teachers’ and students’ perception of the program Through the insiders’ view, the stakeholders and supervisors can have a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the program Then they can figure out methods to enhance the outcomes of the program Furthermore, from the weaknesses perceived by teachers and students, some solutions can be applied to minimize the weaknesses of the program

Secondly, the teachers can have a full view of their teaching process The students’ opinion is

a powerful tool for teachers to form a better reflection of their teaching The teachers can base

on this to apply the most effective teaching methods to improve the quality of teaching and learning process Finally, this study once being completed can be a valuable source of information for further related researches

6 Overview of the rest of the paper

Besides the first part which gives general introduction and the final part as the concluding segment, the research is divided into the following sections:

- Chapter one which traces back the literature review in the field of evaluation of educational program as well as an overview of immersion programs

- Chapter two which presents the methodology of the research

- Chapter three where the data are presented, the findings come up with the recommendations built upon the basis of the evaluation in the previous chapter

CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter offers a review of the literature related to program evaluation and an overview of immersion programs In each section, the definition, explanation of the key terms is presented together with the studies over the world

1.1 Conceptions of program evaluation

1.1.1 Definition of program evaluation

Evaluation is in fact, a very natural activity that most people do; something that is very much

of the daily existence However, they are not always aware of it For example, when someone

is commented on his new suit or his behavior, or such, he is being evaluated In this sense, evaluation is the result, the realization of how people view something Therefore, “making evaluate judgments is a feature of social life” ( Rea-Dickins & Germaine, 1992 p.4) Nevertheless in educational context “evaluation is a purposeful activity that includes the collection of relevant information, interpretation of that information and making decisions about teaching and learning” ( Genesee & Upshur,1996, p.256)

Evaluation from the viewpoint of Keily and Rea- Dickins has more meanings in language programs It “refers to the judgment about students by teachers, and by external assessors, the performance of teachers by students, program managers, and institution; and programs, departments and institutions by internal assessors, external monitors and inspectors.” ( Keily

& Rea-Dickins, 2005, p.5) Through program evaluation, the relationship between different program components can be revealed, the procedures developed by the program participants can be seen, and the processes and the outcomes used to show the program value and enhance this value developed

When the term evaluation is used, it is not exclusively referred to testing, as shared by Aldeson (1986:5) evaluation is the process of seeking to establish the value of something for some purpose, test is an instruments for gauging learning outcomes” ( Alderson, 1986 as cited

in Brown and Rodgers, 2002, p.227) Evaluation includes all the practice and instruments involved in gathering and compiling the data necessary to make judgments about the value of language course or program; this may or may not include students’ test results More

specifically in using the phrase language program evaluation, it is meant “the systematic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary to promote the improvements of all curriculum and access its effectiveness and efficiency as well as participants’ attitudes within the context of a particular institutions involved (Brown 1989:223 cited in Brown & Rogers, 2002, p.227)

In the words of Lynch (1996, p.6), evaluation is also defined as the systematic attempt to gather information in order to make judgments or decisions As such, evaluative information can be both qualitative and quantitative in form and can be measured through different methods such as observation or the use of unstructured interview or the administration of pencial or paper tests Sharing this definition of evaluation, Tancy (2005) states that “program evaluation is a process of collecting information and making judgments about how the program is currently operating to guide decisions for future planning He also added that evaluation is an integral part of program planning and is the key to continuous improvements

in schools”

1.1.2 Purposes of program evaluation

There are a range of motivations or purposes for evaluating Scriven (1967) distinguishes two main purposes for evaluating: formative and summative evaluation (as cited in Lynch, 2003) The former occurs while the program is being implemented and developed The goal of this type of evaluation is to recommend changes for improving it, and towards this end it focuses

on program processes Typically the outcome of a formative evaluation is numerous scale recommendations for change The later takes place at the end of a program’s natural term or cycle with a view to make judgment about the program worth, whether it has succeeded in meeting its objectives or not Accordingly, the outcome of the summative evaluation is a formal report to be used in large scale decisions such as whether to continue funding the program or not

small-In fact, most evaluations represent a combination of formative and summative If evaluators are interested in judging the ultimate worth of a program, they must explain why it is or is not working and then recommend for improvement Discussing the distinction between formative and summative evaluation, Rea-Dickins and Germain (1992) view this distinction as

confirming versus innovating That is sometimes motivation for evaluation is to decide whether or not the current practice (program) is doing what it should; at other times motivation is to bring about innovation or change in those practices

1.1.3 Program evaluators

The next point needs considering here is who evaluates the program According to Low( 1987) there are different perspectives could offer evaluation, namely the Learners, the Parents, the Curriculum Committee Principals, the Teacher trainer, the Inspectors, the Educational researcher (as cited in Rea-Dickins & Germain, 1992, p.32) In Weiss’s view, the evaluation

as a process of determining the worth of the program has to engage with different perspectives.( Weiss, 1986 as cited by Keily and Rea-Dickins, 2005) Then he grouped them into two categories which he called stakeholders: one group is members of groups affected by the program and another is members of group who make decisions about future of the program The former includes practitioners such as teachers and clients such as students Their stakes relate to modes of participation and investment The later comprises policy makers and program managers whose stakes are likely to be in the area of resourcing and strategic management

Often evaluation is done by administrators or supervisors such as principals, inspectors, and subject advisors but for teachers to be real professionals as shared by Brophy and Good (1994) they must learn from their own teaching to reflect on it afterwards and to engage in professional development activities with colleague (as cited in Alausa, Y.A, 2000) One of the most popular methods to investigate what is going on during actual teaching is the use of teachers’ and students’ perception According to Fraiser (1994) students have a good vantage

to make judgments about classrooms because they have encountered many different learning environments and have spent time in classroom to form accurate impressions Therefore, students should at least be able to say what they like and do not like ( Fraiser, 1994 as cited in Alausa, Y.A, 2000)

Discussing evaluation program through perception of teachers and students, Dillion and Peterson (1986) stated that although administrators have considerable responsibility for evaluation, effective administrators involves teachers and students in this process and use

their views to good vantage ( Dillion & Peterson, 1986 cited by Alausa, Y.A, 2000) Teachers are insiders who undertake the program and that is teachers who want to improve the quality

of teaching and learning in their own classrooms In addition, students are the recipients of the teaching process, hence students’ perception and observation can work in practice and become part of exploratory studies ( Eken, 1999; Sidhu, 2003 as cited by Amad, F & Aziz, J, 2009) Students’ perception contributes as much to the teaching- learning process by providing suggestions and directions for teachers’ future improvement Teachers can use the information or comments gathered from the students to polish their methodology and style of teaching and look for ways to improve

The recent study presents evaluation from the teachers and students who are affected by the program Research on students’ thinking and perceptions functions as a mirror, can be used by both teachers and students to reflect upon their teaching and learning, hence enhancing their understanding of teaching and increase its outcome Teachers are those who are implementing the program, their views of the teaching and learning process can help them made improvements to better the quality of the program

1.2Overview of Immersion program

1.2.1 Definition of Immersion program

By the mid 1960s, it was already apparent to the English speaking population of the Canadian province of Quebec which would require high level of proficiency in French At that time

there was an increasing emphasize the importance of French as “langue de travail“ However,

a large number of English speakers who had studied French at school knew little of the language which was not qualified enough to work in French and to socialize with French speakers because the classes focused on grammar, memorization and drills

Immersion language education was born out of grassroots initiatives prompted by parents whose concern was that the level of second language or French attained by children would be sufficient enough to function in bilingual areas of Canada Then, the first immersion program was French immersion program in 1965 in St Lambert, Montreal A program in which from the first day of school in kindergarten, the unilingual English speaking children would be

instructed in French thus the children first learn to read in French and only in grade two, three

or four were first language literacy skills introduced into the curriculum Other subjects were also introduced in English in later grades so that by grade six about half of the curriculum was taught to English and half in French By the late 1960s, the rest of Canada was becoming aware of the value the immersion program had and the program had been spread to other parts

of Canada The first model as mentioned above is most typically introduced Later there were some variations to meet the demands of the parents Since then immersion program has been used to teach second or foreign language

The concept of Immersion schooling was based on a very important and fundamental premise that people learn a second or foreign language (L2) in the same way as acquire their first language (L1) Immersion program seeks to provide an environment in which students are exposure to L2 in its natural form and where they are socially motivated to communicate According to Krashen (1984), students acquire L2 only when they receive comprehensible input, not when learners are memorizing vocabulary or completing grammar exercises It is assumed that methods that provide students with more comprehensible input will be more successful Students acquire a language when they understand message in that language, hence “comprehensible subjects matter teaching is language teaching” (Krashen, 1984 as cited in Celce- Murcia, 2001, p.304)

There are several defining features of immersion language education model First of all, immersion education is defined as a type of bilingual education in which L2 is used along with the students’ L1 for curriculum instruction during some parts of the students’ elementary and/ or secondary schooling (Genesee, 1984) However, Lambert (1984) states that there is a significant difference between immersion program and bilingual education program In immersion program, no bilingual skills are required of the teacher who plays the role of a monolingual in the target language and never switches languages, reviews materials in the other languages or otherwise uses the child’s native language in teacher-pupil interaction Therefore, in immersion program, bilingualism is developed through two separate monolingual instruction routes

Snow (2001) claims that “the immersion model of foreign language education is perhaps the prototypical content-based approach” (Snow, 2001 as cited in Celce-Murcia, 2001, p.305)

Content- based approach in her interpretation is the use of subject matters which consist of topics or themes based on students’ interest or need in an adult setting or the subjects taught

in elementary school classes Nevertheless, the content-based approach is more utilized in teaching English for specific purposes in order to provide second language students with types of academic tasks that they will need at school, college or university Immersion program as defined by Met (1993) is a method of foreign language instruction in which the regular school curriculum is taught through the medium of the language The foreign language which is not taught explicitly as a language subject rather is the vehicle for content instructions

Though teachers and educators have different ways to define immersion program, most of them share the view of immersion program as educational program in which two or more languages are used for academic instructions One of the languages is students’ home language (L1) and the other is a second or foreign language (L2) The immersion approach has characteristic of other current approaches to second language teaching such as integrated, content-based or functional instruction These new approaches contrast with traditional methods of second language teaching in which teachers focus on direct teaching of vocabulary, grammar or conventional patterns and correction is given whenever students make mistakes Nevertheless, immersion approach emphasizes the importance of using the L2

as a vehicle for teaching content and creates a condition for second language acquisition occurring by a product of academic writing

1.2.2 Models of immersion program

There are several types of immersion programs that differ along two dimensions: age of the second or foreign language instruction and intensity of the second or foreign language instruction

In terms of age of initiation, programs can be classified as early immersion (the L2 is generally used at the beginning of kindergarten or grade one), middle or delayed immersion (onset of instruction in the L2 begins in the middle elementary grades, usually grade four) and late immersion (begins at the end of elementary school or the beginning of secondary school)

As far as intensity of foreign language is concerned, immersion programs are divided into two

types: total and partial immersion program The former is characterized by the use of L2 to teach entire curriculum The later is identified by the program delivering less than one hundred percent (at least fifty percent) of the curriculum through L2 However, the total immersion program only occurs at first three years of early immersion or late immersion program Partial immersion is the most model used by schools Therefore, in the following part a description of the three models of immersion program: early, middle and late are presented in detail

1.2.2.1 Early immersion

Early immersion programs start in kindergarten or grade one when students are about five years old There are early total immersion and early partial immersion Figure 1 is an example

of a popular early total immersion program in Canada

In early total immersion program, L2 is used as the medium of instruction during the first three or four grades; the exact number of grades during which the L2 is used exclusively varies among school districts The students’ L1 is introduced as a medium of instruction in some schools in grade two and in other schools; it is delayed until grade four or even later When it is first introduced into the curriculum, the students’ L1 is used to teach language arts

In successively of higher grades, the L1 is used to teach more academic subjects such as mathematics and science The same subjects are never taught during the same year in both languages The use of the L1 during the first grade of the program (grade five and six) varies from as little as twenty percent of total instructional time to sixty percent or seventy percent, depending on the school As much as possible, different teachers are used for teaching through the L1 and L2, and the teachers who teach the L2 have native or native like proficiency in the target language Immersion teachers often present themselves as monolingual, this is done in order to encourage the students to use the L2 as much as possible

At the secondary school level, early immersion students are offered to select academic courses in the L2; these courses are taught by teachers with specialized training in these subjects This phrase of the program is important because it allows students to maintain and further develop their L2 skills The courses offered in secondary school are content- based courses such as history or geography and language based courses such as literature, drama, etc

Figure 1: Model of early total immersion program in Canada (Genesee, 2005)

In early partial immersion programs, approximately half of the instruction in all elementary grades is presented through the L2 and half through the L1 Different subjects are taught through each language from the beginning, in other words, the same subject is never taught in both languages during the same grade Moreover, the teacher never (or almost never) translates information that he/she presents in the L2 into the L1 so that students can understand it more easily This problem with this strategy is that students come to rely on translation to understand classroom instruction and they turn off when the L2 is used One exception to the one-language/ one subject rule is language arts which is taught by both languages (by different teachers, where possible) In secondary school, optional language based or content- based courses are taught using the L2 The number and types of such courses available to students depends on the school and the availability of teachers

1.2.2.2 Middle immersion

In these programs, students receive instruction through their L1 in kindergarten until the middle grades (grade four or five) Figure 2 is an example of middle immersion program During these grades, the students frequently receive thirty to sixty minutes per day of direct L2 instruction to prepare them for immersion in the L2 The use of L2 as a medium of academic instruction is delayed until the middle elementary grades, usually grade four (when students are at about nine or ten years old) In grade four to six, the end of elementary school, approximately half of the curriculum instruction is presented in the L2 and the remainder in the L1, exact proportions differs from district to district

Figure 2: Model of middle immersion program in Canada.( Genesee, 2005)

In secondary school, the students receive some academic instruction through their first language and some through their second language The amount of instruction they get in each language varies somewhat from school to school

1.2.2.3 Late immersion program

Late immersion programs usually begin in the first year of secondary school when the students are about twelve years of age An example of late immersion program is shown by figure 3

Figure 3: Model of late immersion program in Canada (Genesee, 2005)

The students have had some prior L2 instruction; the amount varies depend on the school district but is often forty to sixty minutes per day from grade one Such prior exposure is necessary if the students are to make successful transition to schooling in the L2 in secondary school The L2 is used as the primary medium of academic instruction for one or two years- all academic subjects, except L1 language arts, are taught in the L2 by native or native like speakers of the language The curriculum during this time is essential the same as that in a regular L1 school program; the difference being that academic subjects are taught in the L2

As early immersion alternatives, the students are required to address all classroom comments

in the L2 and all of their reading and written assignments in their academic classes are done in the L2 as well

1.2.3 Characteristics of immersion programs

1.2.3.1 Objectives of immersion programs

Immersion programs, first introduced in 1972 as a way to incorporate intensive second language education into public elementary schools have gradually spread widely in Canada, United States of America, Hong Kong, China, Japan and are now viewed by educators and parents as a highly effective way of teaching foreign language to children

Immersion programs promote proficiency in the L2 by teaching academic subjects through the medium of the L2 Immersion teachers use only the L2 for instruction during all or significant portions (at least fifty percent) of the school day Students inductively learn the language that is part of their everyday social interaction with their teachers and other students,

in other words students learn the language by using it in school during social and academic activities Although immersion teachers use the L2 at all times during designated L2 periods, immersion students continue using their first language during the beginning of the program with one another and with the teacher- usually during the kindergarten years in an early immersion program The students begin to make all of their comments in class to one another and to their teachers in the L2 once they acquire basic proficiency in it, on the assumption that using the language will promote its acquisition Because the primary focus in immersion class

is on meaningful communication L2 learning in immersion is often incidental to academic

learning and social interaction that make up normal classroom life Students acquire the language inductively using their natural language learning abilities

While the bulk of immersion programs exist in Canada and the United States, the model has been also implemented in international setting such as Hungary, Spain, Finland, Korea, China and Japan According to Cloud, Geneese and Hamayan (2000) despite differences in program design and delivery, most immersion program shared the following four objectives:

- Age appropriate level of L1 competence in reading, writing, speaking and listening

- Advanced levels of functional proficiency in L2 reading, writing, speaking and listening comprehension

- Grade- appropriate level levels of academic achievement in non-language school as such mathematics and science

- An understanding and appreciation of the culture of the home language group and that

of the target language group

(Cloud, Geneese & Hamayan ,2000 as cited in Celce-Murcia, 2001, p.306)

From the objectives mentioned above, immersion students are expected to achieve the same levels of achievement in subjects such as math and science as students learning through the medium of their L1 language at the same time they are expected to acquire advanced levels of functional proficiency in the L2

1.2.3.2 Outcomes of immersion programs

Since it is the goal of immersion programs to develop proficiency in two languages as well as

in all other subject areas, it is important to have clear program expectations for both the first and second languages as well as for subject area contents Immersion program has been used

as a model to develop second or foreign language acquisition with different languages in different countries Therefore to achieve the outcomes of the program there should be a framework that teachers can base upon as guideline Bolger (2005) has summarized the framework that identifies the knowledge and skills that students will be expected to develop at various grade levels

Second language goals:

When developing the second language goals for immersion programs, it is important to consider the importance of the pedagogical elements in the planning:

- An integrated approach to listening, speaking, reading and writing

- A balance between the development of active language skills and the acquisition of grammar and vocabulary

- Reinforcement of language through learning other subjects

- The development of an understanding of the second language culture and of other cultures

- A comprehensible assessment and evaluation process

Second language outcomes can be grouped into three categories: language skills, language knowledge and cultural understanding

Language skills

The four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing are central to the development of effective communication skills in the second language Proficiency in these skills involves comprehension of oral language and written texts as well as oral and written production Immersion programs should provide students with various opportunities to use the second language in order to convey meaning in everyday situations and in different subject areas Meaningful communication can be promoted through integrated language activities in which language skill development and social study contents are combined

Language knowledge and other subject knowledge

Language knowledge includes the grammar, vocabulary and conventions that comprise the language content and non-language subjects of immersion program The program outcomes should describe the language knowledge that students will be expected to know and use in communicative activities such as oral presentations, dialogues, compositions and stories By integrating the teaching of language knowledge while developing language skills, teacher can help students to focus on language accuracy in their speaking and writing

The students in immersion program are expected to gain non-language subject knowledge as the regular program in the L1 Nevertheless, when these subjects are taught in the second language, it is necessary to modify and adapt the outcomes for immersion students since they are just beginning to learn the content in the L2 Therefore, the language appropriate to the subject area should be pretaught before students are delved deeply into the content

Cultural understanding:

The purpose of cultural understanding is to foster the students’ appreciation for other cultures Culture should be integrated with language learning to provide opportunities for students to develop cultural knowledge Cultural topics can also come from reading programs, non-printed resources or other subject areas

1.2.3.3 Staffing for immersion programs

In addition to the objectives and outcomes of the program, immersion programs are characterized by staffing features The success of the program is directly related to teachers’ skills and commitment Therefore, immersion teachers must have excellent language skills and be knowledgeable about the theory and practice of immersion instruction and the principles of second language learning They must be supportive of the program goals and outcomes Employing the best profile teaching staff for the immersion classroom may well be the most important contribution that the principals can make to the success of the program

According to Bolger (2005), at the top of the list of skills required by good immersion teacher

is target/ immersion language fluency While a teacher with limited fluency may be able to function successfully in a traditional second language classroom with a more sequential curriculum, native like fluency is most desirable in the immersion classroom Students who are dealing with a curriculum: content, concepts and skills need teachers who have many ways of expressing ideas The students are not only trying to understand the new concepts but they are simultaneously trying to sort out how the new language works Hence, teachers must

be fluent in the second language in order to provide an excellent model for students Furthermore, it is necessary that teachers have a good command of students’ home language

in order to understand students at the very beginning of the program and communicate with parents

If the current staff members meet these criteria, they are ideal candidates for the program However, in some instances, school systems may employ teachers from abroad where the target language predominates In such cases, home language fluency may also become a concern Generally, teachers must interact with a staff who knows both the students’ home language and the second language to work with parents using the home language Moreover, reports are necessarily written to parents periodically using the home language

1.2.4 Overview of evaluation of immersion programs

Much is now known about the outcomes of French immersion education in Canada When the first program was set up, school board insisted that it be evaluated as it was radical departure from “regular schooling” Because all content was being taught through students’ second language, parents and educators were concerned about how much content would be learnt, about the development of the first language skills and about just how much French ( or the target language) students would learn under these circumstances Thus throughout the 1970s and 1980s these three fundamental questions were addressed in program after program

Academic achievement

From the immersion data, it is generalized that in order to achieve at expected levels in subjects taught via the second language, “threshold levels” of L2 skills need to be reached It would appear that there are different thresholds for different content areas; the language proficiency needed to succeed in science, for example, may be both greater and different from which needed to master mathematics To illustrate the findings from which this generalization

is delivered, Swain took two comparisons between early total immersion and early partial immersion and between late immersion students with different second language learning experiences

Early total verse early partial

Standard tests of mathematics and science have been administrated to groups of students from these programs The results showed that early total immersion students consistently performed as well as their unilingual L1 instructed peers on these tests However, early partial immersion did not For example, at grade six partial immersion students did not performed as well as their L1 educated peers in either science or mathematics whereas total immersion did

As it turns out the level of L2 performance of the partial immersion students approximate that

of grade three or four total immersion students ( Swain, 1996) A likely interpretation of these results is that level of L2 attained by the partial immersion students was not adequate to deal with the more sophisticated level of mathematical and scientific concepts being represented to them in L2

Late immersion students with different L2 experiences

In late immersion programs (beginning at grade seven or at the first grade at secondary school) when L2 has been taught as a subject for only one or two grades prior to entry into the immersion program, the immersion group’s performance has on occasion been inferior to that

of its comparison group in science and math However, when late immersion students have been taught L2 as a subject each year through to the immersion years, the level of mastery of content taught in L2 has been comparable to that attained by their L1 instructed comparison group (Genesee, 1987 cited in Swain, 1996)

Second language proficiency

The question rose in most evaluation and the major focus of many studies of immersion students is how able the immersion students are in their second language In evaluating second language proficiency, results showed that mid-immersion students, not surprisingly do not comprehend spoken or written L2 as well as early total immersion students and perform well below the level of early immersion students in all measures of speaking and writing However, mid-immersion students are as able as total immersion students to state and support opinions in writing and orally, and the two groups write texts of equal length under similar

conditions Furthermore, comparisons of early and late immersion students suggest that the difference between groups would diminish with time as those who start later tend to catch up

Among the four skills, listening is the best skill students have made improvement Swain (1996) stated that L2 results at secondary level indicate that students understand the L2 they hear This is indicated by the test results, by their own perceptions of their abilities and by the fact that they learn content of the subject materials taught to them in L2 Comparisons showed that immersion students doing very well relative to other groups who have only taken L2 as a subject Results concerning reading comprehension parallel these listening comprehension findings though relative to native speakers of L1, their performance is not quite equivalent

In terms of writing skills, early and late immersion students generally have similar levels Both groups perform less well than their L1 peers Their weaknesses clearly relate to deficits

in their grammatical competence and vocabulary knowledge rather than to discourse aspects

of performance Speaking is the weakest of the four skills areas for immersion students As with their writing skills, their weaknesses tend to be grammatical and lexical in source Discourse skills appear the least problematic

In summary, immersion students appear to attain native like receptive skills, their productive skills continue to remain non-native like They are capable of communicating their ideas in the L2 but grammatical accuracy and precise vocabulary use are still particular problems

1.3 Chapter summary

This chapter has provided a brief review of literature on program evaluation and immersion program The first section addressed major issues reflecting the definition and purposes of program evaluation and program evaluators The second sections presented major issues of immersion programs: definitions, models and characteristics of immersion programs and an overview of evaluation of immersion program Therefore, this chapter can be seen as the theoretical foundation for the applications for the study in chapter three

CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY

Chapter two is devoted to a brief presentation of the research method including the overview

of participants and data collection instruments

2.1 Research design

In this section, some important considerations regarding case studies as a research method will be discussed A case study is defined as a specific instance that is frequently defined to illustrate a more general principle (Nisbet & Watt, 1984:72 cited in Cohen et al, 2001,p.253)

In Altman’s words, a case study is the study of “an instance in action” (Altman, 1980 as cited

in Cohen et al, 2001, p.254) where the researcher usually observes particular characteristics of

an individual unit in the context in which it occurs A single instance is described as a bounded system, for example a child, a clique, a class, a school or a community By providing

a unique example of real people in real situation, a case study enables readers to understand ideas more clearly than simply by presenting them with abstract theories or principles The main aim of case study is to portray “what it is like” to be in a particular situation, to catch the close up reality and “thick description” of particulars’ lived experiences of, thoughts about and feelings for a situation (Gertz, 1973 as cited in Cohen et al, 2001, p.254)

Although researchers (Nisbet &Watt, 1984) claim that the results of case studies may not be generalized because they are selective, biased, personal and subjective some others suggest a number of advantages of adopting case studies as a method Alderman et al (1980) for instance suggests that case studies are strong in reality and consequently likely to appeal to practitioners because one can generalize either from a case or from an instance to a class What is more, case studies are “a step to action”, they begin in a world of action and contribute to it Their insights may be directly interpreted and put to use for staff or individual self-development, for within institutional feedback, for formative evaluation and in educational policy-making Last but not least, case studies present research or evaluation data

in a more publicly accessible form than other kinds of conventional research accounts Therefore, case studies are capable of serving multiple audiences and readers can judge the implications of a study for themselves

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the implementation of the joint education program offered at Doan Thi Diem secondary school The data from this research come from the teachers and the students’ perceptions which are collected based on semi- structured interviews administered by the researcher at the end of first year implementation In the next section the participants and the methods of data collection as well as analysis will be described in depth and later the results obtained will be analyzed

2.2 Setting of the study

Doan Thi Diem secondary school is the context of the study where the researcher has worked

as a teacher assistant for a year Doan Thi Diem School founded in 2005, developed from DTD primary school Since it was set up, there have been several joint- education programs between the local school and Singapore schools, and recently the school has cooperated with schools in America

The American – Vietnam joint education program, in fact the joint education between DTD School and Solomon school Solomon school, founded in 1994 is the school without border,

is a seventh - ninth grade boarding and day school in Edmonds, Washington state, USA Student body is comprised of local students often coming from home schooling or small private school as well as international students transforming from their home countries

Class 6M, the only class of this program, includes thirty one students of which there are twenty one boys and ten girls All of them are better at English than students of other classes More than half of school day, students work with native speakers of English, the rest of time they learn Vietnamese curriculum with Vietnamese teachers Three subjects are chosen to teach including: Math, Science and language arts These textbooks are recruited from abroad and designed for native speakers of English The program has a staff help native teachers to work with students at the beginning of the program and to communicate with parents during the time The two teacher assistants are required to work with them every class Reports are sent to parents to inform students’ results every month

There are three books used to teach three subjects in the programs The detail contents can be found at appendices

The textbook “Reading Street” used to teach language arts The book contains six units of

which each unit covers one theme Several stories are arranged in each unit to convey the message of each unit The books aimed to develop students’ reading skills and strategies Furthermore, each unit presents background information which helps students fully understand the story Also, culture topics are given in each theme in order to enrich cultural

understanding

The Science textbook with four units covers twenty one chapters, namely Unit A: Life science, Unit B: Earth science, Unit C: Physical science and Unit D: Space and technology Each unit included from four to six chapters There are several lessons in each chapter which explain every technical term and demonstrate the definition Every chapter has a review part to help students revise the vocabulary and the main content learnt previously

The Math book consists of twelve chapters including both algebra and geometry Students are required to get the basic knowledge including math terms and problem-solving skills in math after completing the program Each chapter covering a problem is divided into two or three sections which have several lessons In each lesson, a new content is explained by presenting examples and definition and lots of exercises are also given to help students practice problem solving skills

2.3 Participants

The subjects who took part in this research were two native teachers of English and thirty one students of class 6M at DTD secondary school The two teachers are assigned by Solomon school teaching staff to be responsible for teaching all three subjects They have been teaching this program for a year Therefore they can provide their own view of the program All the students were in class 6M aged twelve have been learning for at least five years but their language competence ranged differently in class The study was conducted after the program has been taken for a year with the hope that both teachers and students can have enough time and experience to provide reliable answers as well as to elicit as much information of the program as possible In this study, the researcher worked as participant observer

2.4 Data collection instrument

2.4.1 Justification for the use of semi- structured, open- ended interviews

The researcher chooses interviews as the data collection instrument for this study Unlike other types of data collection instruments such as questionnaire or observation, interviews offer the researcher insight into individual respondents’ behavior, attitudes, opinions, feelings and practice and experiences thanks to the face to face discussion between interviewer and interviewees During interviews, the researcher is given an opportunity to clarify the respondents’ answers or ask for further explanation, which are hard to collect through other instruments

There is a continuum of interviews, which ranges from the informal and conversational interaction which flows with the thoughts and feelings of both interviewer and interviewee and much tighter, more structured interview In this study the semi- structured, open- ended interviews were used in order to give the researcher enough flexibility to deal with unexpected situation during the interviews Furthermore, the interviewer can elicit an almost endless numbers of responses, which would give the researcher a very good idea of the variety of the ideas and feelings the respondents have and it would enable them to think and talk for longer and so show their feelings and views more fully The aim of this study is to describe the perception of teachers and students, the information needed from the participants required the use of a lot of open- ended questions All the things considered, the researcher found that the objectives of the research would be most effectively achieved with semi- structured, open- ended interviews

2.4.2 Description of interview schedule

The interview schedule employed in this study is semi- structured, open- ended interview with two major parts The aim of the first part is to provide the researcher with general profile of the interviewees such as their years of English teaching or learning, and their latest total scores The second part contains two main parts to provide answers to research questions concerning the expectations, the strengths and weaknesses of the program In this second part the researcher would like the participants to show their own view by answering several open- ended questions

2.4.3 Procedure of data collection

The procedure of collecting data is described as follow:

Step 1: Preparation

The interview questions are designed for teachers and students respectively basing on the content outlined Then the participants in the interviews selected The researcher got contact with the participants in person to ask for their consent in helping her with the interview For the two foreigner teachers, the researcher got contact with them by email She asked them for permission to be interviewed and then phoned them to arrange the time and place appropriate for the interview For the students, the researcher met them at class and asked for their agreement to cooperate with the researcher After having their consent, the researcher made plan so that the interviews would not interfere the students’ learning time at school Last but not least, the recording device was set up to ensure that nothing said by the respondents would be missed

Step 2: Conducting the interview

All the interviews were conducted through face to face discussion in English with teachers, in Vietnamese with students The researcher and the interviewees had a good rapport for a long time as the researcher had been working as a teacher assistant since the program started Therefore the researcher and the interviewees were now fairly acquainted

The researcher began each interview by ensuring the respondents of their anonymous in the current study Then the questions were asked and answered in the order specified in the interview schedule The researcher tried to take as many notes as possible during each interview and the whole conversations were recorded by a device placed close to the respondents The recording of course had to be permitted by the respondents

2.5 Data analysis

The analysis of the interviews is broken into smaller steps:

Step 1: Transcribing the interviews

All the interviews were transcribed to enable closer, full investigation of the information provided by the respondents With the transcription, the examination of the data is more convenient and makes it easier for the researcher to find out the theory generated from the data

Step 2: Classifying the data

First and foremost, the data were classified according to research questions that the study seeks to answer Thus there are four major groups of answers corresponding to the research