The Application Of CLT The Gaps Between Teachers’ Theoretical Knowledge And Practices At Bach Viet College

1992, CLT is an approach to foreign or second language teaching which emphasizes that the goal of language learning is communicative competence.. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BVC: Bach Viet Col

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

PHẠM LÊ NỮ TUYẾT NGÂN

THE APPLICATION OF CLT: THE GAPS BETWEEN TEACHERS’ THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE AND

PRACTICES AT BACH VIET COLLEGE

VIỆC ÁP DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY CLT: NHỮNG KHOẢNG CÁCH GIỮA LÝ THUYẾT VÀ THỰC HÀNH CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TẠI

TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG BÁCH VIỆT

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

Hanoi, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

PHẠM LÊ NỮ TUYẾT NGÂN

THE APPLICATION OF CLT: THE GAPS BETWEEN TEACHERS’ THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE AND

PRACTICES AT BACH VIET COLLEGE

VIỆC ÁP DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY CLT: NHỮNG KHOẢNG CÁCH GIỮA LÝ THUYẾT VÀ THỰC HÀNH CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TẠI

TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG BÁCH VIỆT

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: PHAN THẾ HƯNG, Ph.D

DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that this thesis is my original work No other person‟s work or ideas

have been used without acknowledgement Except where I have clearly stated that I

have used some of this thesis elsewhere, I have not presented this for assessment in

another course or unit at this or any other institution I have retained a copy of this

thesis

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis would not have been possible without the assistance and support of many individuals I would like to acknowledge and express my appreciation of these people for their invaluable contributions

Firstly, I would like to express my warmest gratitude to Dr Phan Thế Hưng, my supervisor, for his instructive suggestions and valuable comments on the writing of this thesis Without his invaluable help and generous encouragement, the present thesis would not have been accomplished

Secondly, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to all participants in the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Bach Viet College who have made significant contributions to the completion of my thesis

Last but not least, my thanks would go to my beloved parents for their loving considerations and great confidence in me all through these years I also owe my sincere gratitude to my best friend, Đỗ Thị Tuyết Sương, and my classmates who gave me their help and time in listening to me and helping me work out my problems during the difficult course of the study In short, I offer my regards and blessing to all of those who supported me in any respect during the completion of

my thesis

grammar-TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEFINITION OF TERMS vii

1 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) vii

2 Communicative Competence vii

3 Teacher‟s theoretical knowledge viii

4 Teacher‟s practices viii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix

LIST OF TABLES x

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims and Objectives of the study 3

3 Research Questions 3

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Methods 3

6 Design of the study 4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Characteristics of CLT 5

1.2 Principles of CLT 6

1.3 Communicative technique in the classroom 7

1.4 Roles of teachers and students in CLT 8

1.4.1 Roles of teachers 8

1.4.2 Roles of students 8

1.5 Challenges of implementing CLT in EFL contexts 9

1.5.1 Challenges related to students 10

1.5.2 Challenges related to teachers 10

1.5.3 Challenges related to educational system 11

CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 13

2.1.1 Participants 13

2.1.2 Setting of the study 13

2.2 Data collection 13

2.2.1 Data collection instruments 13

2.2.1.1 Questionnaires 13

2.2.1.2 Interviews 14

2.2.1.3 Pilot Period 14

2.2.2 Data collection procedures 15

2.2.3 Data analysis procedures 15

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 17

3.1 Findings 17

3.1.1 Research question 1: What is the teachers‟ theoretical knowledge of CLT? 17

3.1.1.1 Theoretical knowledge of CLT and its characteristic 17

3.1.1.2 Theoretical knowledge of activities in CLT 19

3.1.2 Research question 2: Do the teachers‟ understandings towards CLT reflect their actual classroom practices? 19

3.1.3 Research question 3: What are the difficulties that teachers face in adopting CLT at BVC? 21

3.1.3.1 Difficulties related to teachers 22

3.1.3.2 Difficulties related to students 23

3.1.3.3 Difficulties related to educational system 24

3.2 Discussion 26

3.2.1 The gaps between teachers‟ theoretical knowledge of CLT and their practices 26

3.2.2 Difficulties and challenges of implementing CLT in classrooms 27

3.2.2.1 Difficulties and challenges related to teachers 28

3.2.2.2 Difficulties and challenges related to students 29

3.2.2.3 Difficulties and challenges related to educational system 29

3.3 Pedagogical implications 30

3.3.1 For teachers 31

3.3.2 For students 31

3.3.3 For educational system 32

PART C: CONCLUSION 34

1 Conclusions of the study 34

2 Limitations of the study 35

3 Suggestions for further study 35

REFERENCES 37 APPENDIX 1 I QUESTIONNAIRE I APPENDIX 2 VII INTERVIEW VII

DEFINITION OF TERMS

1 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

According to Richards, et al (1992), CLT is an approach to foreign or second language teaching which emphasizes that the goal of language learning is communicative competence This approach aims at focusing on developing communicative competence among learners

2 Communicative Competence

In order to use the language effectively, learners need to develop communicative competence – the ability to use the language they are learning appropriately in a given social setting According to Savigon‟s definition (1972), communicative competence may be defined as the ability to function in a truly communicative setting -that is, in a dynamic exchange in which linguistic competence must adapt itself to the total informational input, both linguistic and paralinguistic, of one or more interlocutors

Besides, it is the view of Canale and Swain (1980) that communicative competence includes grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence

- Grammatical competence involves knowledge of vocabulary and rules of word formation, pronunciation or spelling and sentence formation which provide the learners with knowledge of how to express utterances accurately

- Sociolinguistic competence relates to the ability to use the language properly

in social contexts depending on contextual factors such as topic, status of participants, and purpose of the interaction

- Discourse competence concerns the ability of how to combine grammatical

forms and meanings to achieve a unified spoken or written text

- Strategic competence refers to the mastery of communication strategies which enhance the effectiveness of communication or compensate for breakdowns

in communication due to limiting factors in actual communication

In addition, the concept of communicative competence on Batchman‟s study (1990) comprises two main factors which are organizational competence and pragmatic competence While organizational competence refers to grammatical competence and discourse competence, pragmatic competence relates to illocutionary competence and sociolinguistic competence

In short, communicative competence is the measurement of learning aptitude of

a learner In an attempt to help learners have the best environment to develop communicative ability and master the language, teachers need to be active in implementing communicative approach in order to design lessons which are appropriate to learners‟ level and various classes

3 Teacher’s theoretical knowledge

According to Shannon (2007), theoretical knowledge, also known as declarative

or propositional knowledge, is knowledge than can be codified or articulated

4 Teacher’s practices

According to Oxford Dictionary, the practice is the actual application or use of

an idea, belief, or method, as opposed to theories relating to it

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BVC: Bach Viet College

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching

EFL: English as Foreign Language

ELT: English Language Teaching

ESL: English as Second Language

FFL: Faculty of Foreign Languages

L1: First Language

L2: Second Language

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 (Characteristics of CLT as perceived by teachers) 18 Table 2 (The participants‟ recognition of communicative activities) 19 Table 3 (The participants‟ rating of laying stress on which activities during teaching process) 20 Table 4 (The participants‟ frequency level in engaging students in communicative activities) 21 Table 5 (The participants‟ difficulties & challenges of CLT in implementing CLT related to teachers) 23 Table 6 (the participants‟ difficulties & challenges of CLT in implementing CLT related to students) 24 Table 7 (The participants‟ difficulties & challenges of CLT in implementing CLT related to educational system) 25

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

In the general trend of integration nowadays, English is considered as the most popular language which is used in communication, exchange of economy and culture all over the world As a result, the area of English has always become a special interest because of the importance of English in any scope of social communication In Vietnam, learning English has been of importance to all levels Since Vietnam became the 150th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), more and more investors, who require English as a means of communication, have invested into the country; therefore, the demand for workforce with good English has sharply increased However, the communicative competence in English of Vietnamese workforce has not met the requirements of the employers It is proved that a large number of fresh university graduates have not been employed by foreign enterprises due to their unqualified English competence They may have a good knowledge of grammar and a wide range of vocabulary, but they find it more difficult to communicate in English fluently As we know, language educators have not stressed the need for concentration on grammar, memorization and learning by heart today, but rather used language and knowledge as a means to communicate everyone all over the world Today, CLT is the popular approach they are applying

in classrooms thanks to its advantages The purpose of the Communicative Approach is to develop learners‟ communicative competence, so classroom becomes a favorable environment for learners to take part in using English to

communicate practically and meaningfully In recent years, there has been an

increasingly interest in using communicative activities CLT is based on real life situations that require efficient communication As Vietnam is in the course of international integration, it is undeniable that people‟s ability to communicate in English is thought to be as important as ever, especially in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City

Moreover, as Littlewood (2007) stated that to overcome the limitations of traditional methods, CLT has been introduced in EFL settings to improve students‟ abilities to use English in real contexts Learners gradually use the language in accordance with specific communicative purposes In fact, successfully learning a foreign language is determined by how well learners have developed their communicative competence and how much they are able to apply the language in real life situations However, the new method has brought new challenges, so there is a huge burden upon the teacher As Nunan (1987, p.136) pointed out that „while a great deal has been written on the theory and practice of CLT, there have been comparatively few studies of actual communicative language practices‟ It is true that EFL teachers are facing a great challenge in turning theory into practice

In the Vietnamese context, studies on the implementation of CLT have investigated two respects: teachers‟ attitudes to and perceptions of CLT (Lewis & McCook, 2002; Pham, 2007; Sullivan, 1996), and how Vietnamese teachers cope with conflicts between Western values embedded in CLT and traditional Vietnamese values (Pham, 2004; Sullivan, 2000) It is clear that teachers‟ perceptions are very important in their decision to implement CLT With regard to theory, when using CLT, it is supposed that teachers will make the most of certain roles that supplement the approach Nevertheless, it does not seem to be always true that teachers fully understand the potential of these roles and practices:

it is very important to understand what teachers actually believe and practice in their classroom (professional life), because these beliefs will influence their teaching (Raths & McAnich, 2003)

In the same sense, right in the Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL) at Bach Viet College (BVC) in Ho Chi Minh City, teachers are encouraged to apply CLT to their teaching However, whether they can put this teaching method in practice or not is still limited This paper investigates the teachers‟ theoretical knowledge of CLT,

be seen that teachers‟ understandings of CLT and their practices do not actually correspond Hopefully, the results could serve as a useful source of reference for those who concern about English teaching and learning

2 Aims and Objectives of the study

The general objective of the study is to assure the gaps between the teachers‟ theoretical knowledge of CLT and their practices in FFL at BVC, while the specific objectives of the study in this research are:

1 To find out the teachers‟ theoretical knowledge of CLT

2 To investigate whether there is a connection between the teachers‟ theoretical knowledge of CLT and their practices or not

3 To find out some reasons for the gaps between the teachers‟ theoretical knowledge of CLT and their practices

3 Research Questions

This study will try to answer the following questions:

1 What is the teachers‟ theoretical knowledge of CLT?

2 Do the teachers‟ understandings towards CLT reflect their actual classroom practices?

3 What are the difficulties that teachers face in adopting CLT at BVC?

4 Scope of the study

The study aims to know whether teachers‟ theoretical knowledge of CLT matches their procedure and action in their classrooms Hence, the researcher decides to investigate teachers of English in FFL at BVC The study was limited with ten teachers of English in FFL at BVC The data in this study will be collected through questionnaires, interviews

5 Methods

The target population of this study was ten teachers in FFL at BVC The investigation was carried out in Basic 4 classes at the second semester of 2014 These classes are similar to general English classes in many universities and colleges and are considered to be taught by CLT Therefore, the researcher would

easily withdraw information from teachers A descriptive and interpretative analysis

of the data was done The collected data were qualitative The research instruments used in this study were questionnaire, and interview The questionnaire was designed to search for the answers to the research questions This is a main instrument to gather the data Towards the interview, the researcher could obtain specific qualitative information from questions

6 Design of the study

The thesis is presented in three parts

Part A states the rationale for the study, the aims of the study, and the definitions of related terms and provides the design of the thesis

Part B includes three chapters Chapter 1, Literature Review, presents theory of CLT including definition, the goal, communicative techniques in CLT, roles of teachers and students in CLT, and challenges of implementing CLT in EFL contexts Chapter 2 focuses on the research methodology employed in the thesis, including the presentation of the research questions, participants, instruments and the data collection procedures Chapter 3 presents the data analysis in the gaps between the teachers‟ theoretical knowledge and their practices Besides, the difficulties and challenges in implementing CLT into the classroom also are presented

Part C presents the conclusion of the study Some suggestions for teaching methods improve English learning and teaching In addition, the researcher presents limitation while doing this research as well as suggestions for further study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

CLT has become popular in English Language Teaching (ELT) since its emergence in the late 1960s Besides its quick extension in English as Second Language contexts (ESL), CLT has been also applied in EFL contexts In order to increase the number of learners who are able to effectively communicate in English, national language education policies in EFL countries have approached CLT since the 1990s (Littlewood, 2007)

When EFL teachers apply the Western-based CLT model to Asian contexts, gaps between beliefs about different traditions of language teaching begin to surface and influence their perceptions of theories and practices of new teaching methodologies

1.1 Characteristics of CLT

Since its emergence in the late 60s, CLT has expanded and now is widely utilized as one of the most prominent language teaching methodologies all over the world Richard (1992) emphasizes that CLT focuses on making competence the goal of language teaching and develop procedures to teach the four language skills that allow the independence of language and communication In the same sense, Lightbown and Spada (2000) also state that the main assumption of CLT is to achieve communicative proficiency by replicating contextual and purposive features

 The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation

 The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on the language but also on the learning process itself

 An enhancement of the learner‟s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning

 An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom

The characteristics of CLT above show that this approach focuses on learners‟ needs and desire as well as interacting inside and outside the language classroom Therefore, learning English through using communicative language is more effective than purely learning grammar or practising mechanically This approach calls for radically different ideas of language teaching One major shift is that language learning has become student-centred Lessons are designed in such a way that all the students can involve in interactive activities Authentic and meaningful communication should be goals of classroom activities

1.2 Principles of CLT

As mentioned above, the goal of CLT is to provide learners not only knowledge

of language but more importantly skills of language such as listening, speaking, reading, writing to aim at developing learner‟s communicative competence Like this, the fundamental principle of CLT is to enable learners to understand and use the target language for communication

Basing on this purpose, Freeman (1986, p.128) stated the principles of CLT, as follows:

 Learners must have ability to figure out the speakers‟ or writers‟ intention and writers in communicative process

 The target language is a vehicle for classroom communication, nor just the object of study

 One function can have many forms and therefore a variety of language forms are presented together Emphasis is on the process of communication, rather than mastery of forms

 Students should be given the opportunity to express their ideas and opinions

 A student error is ignored Errors are tolerated and seen as a natural outcome

of language development

 Fluency may have to take on more importance than accuracy

 One of the teacher‟s major responsibilities is to promote situations to encourage communication Students work at discourse level

 In communicating, we have a choice about what to say and how to say it

 Whenever possible, 'authentic language‟ - language as it is used in a real context should be introduced

1.3 Communicative technique in the classroom

The communicative techniques usually applied in teaching with CLT involve three types: information gap, tasks and role play The purpose of these techniques is

to involve students in real communication

- Information gap: according to Pramesti (2010), an information gap exercise is the activity where learners are missing information they need to complete a task and need to talk to each other to find it

- Tasks: the second popular technique is tasks According to Willis (1996), a task is an activity „where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome‟ Students are asked

to carry out tasks in the classroom with a definite outcome They work individually, with a partner or discuss in groups to complete tasks and then share their ideas together

- Role play: the last technique which the researcher would like to mention is role play Role-play is very important in CLT classroom because it gives students

an opportunity to practice communicating in different social contexts and in different social roles In addition, it also allows students to be creative and to put themselves in another person‟s place for a while

1.4 Roles of teachers and students in CLT

1.4.1 Roles of teachers

There is no doubt that the success in teaching is subject to the way teachers give lessons and implement different techniques to manage the class In traditional educational method, learning foreign language is often considered to be the process

of transmitting knowledge from teacher to students, but with the application of CLT, English teaching and learning now is acknowledged as a discovery Regarding

to the role of teachers in CLT classroom, Breen and Candlin (1980, p.99), notes the following central roles:

„The first role is to facilitate the communication process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and texts The second role is to act as an independent participant within the learning-teaching group A third role of the teacher is that of a researcher and learner, with much to contribute in terms of appropriate knowledge and abilities, actual and observed experience of the nature

of learning and organizational capacities‟

Additionally, in Littlewood‟s opinion (1981), when students take part in a communicative activity, teachers who should play a role of „overseer‟ walk around the class and readily provide students advice or solve their problems He also mentioned that teachers should help students engage in activities in classroom, and students are divided into groups or pairs, and then carry out interaction without teacher‟s observation He observed and realized that it will be difficult for students

in order to practice learner-centered activities types if they are not familiar with procedures He also suggested that teachers should give them specific instructions before carrying out a task

1.4.2 Roles of students

When changing from traditional model to leaner-centered, teachers as well as students must assume new roles Once again Breen and Candlin (1980, p.110) described the role of students in CLT as „the role of learner as negotiator-between

procedures and activities which the group undertakes The implication for the learner is that he should contribute as much as he gains, and thereby learn in an interdependent way‟ In CLT, students have to take part in activities in classroom that are relied on a cooperative rather than an individual way In fact, according to Johnson and Johnson‟s findings (1985, p.104), „cooperative learning experiences promote higher achievement than do competitive and individualistic experiences‟ Furthermore, in relation to the roles of students in CLT classroom, Hu (2002, p.95) intends that they are assumed to be „those of negotiators for meaning, communicators, discoverers, and contributors of knowledge and information‟ Likewise, Mangubhi et al (2004), in their descriptions of students‟ roles in CLT classroom, affirm that students are dynamically involved in expression, interpretation, and negotiation of meaning Richard and Rodgers (1986) also agrees that students are actively engaged in negotiating meaning by trying to make themselves understood and in understanding others within the classroom procedures and activities

In general, this is a learner-centered model, among them both teacher and students share in the learning and teaching responsibility In others words, both teachers and students must co-ordinate during the learning process This co-ordination is only achieved when both prepare thoroughly and determine their tasks clearly straight from the beginning of the class

1.5 Challenges of implementing CLT in EFL contexts

CLT was originally developed as a Western ELT methodology in the 1970s, but since then it has been outspreaded in both ESL and EFL contexts all over the world Obviously, learning and teaching in ESL environment is different from in EFL Many various studies and researches have shown that it is not that much easy for the teachers especially who are in the EFL contexts to take advantage of CLT in order

to attain the final goal of language teaching with their students The application of CLT in FFL contexts has come up against the following challenges

1.5.1 Challenges related to students

There are a lot of problems from students Learners have not participated in communicative activities actively The psychology “being afraid of losing face in public” is also the element which prevents students from taking part in communicative activities in English classrooms Being reluctant to practice is one

of the most obstacles in learning English with CLT Some students get a good hold

of grammar and vocabulary, but they cannot communicate to foreigners because they seldom make use of it in life Harmer (1988) also agreed that students are often reluctant to speak because they are shy and are not predisposed to expressing themselves in front of other people, especially when they are being asked to give personal information or opinions Those are also Smith‟s report (2001) during his study progress in Korean classroom Apart from cultural factors above, students do not have any motivation to impulse their effort in studies In a study of difficulties

in implementing communicative theory in Vietnam, Bock (2000) concluded that most students seem to care about coping with examinations which have not checked learners‟ communicative competence He also realized that students in Vietnam only want to look for a job, but most jobs in Vietnam do not require fluent English ability Therefore, it does not cost them a lot of time and effort to learn English

1.5.2 Challenges related to teachers

Based on a study that evaluated the attitudes of Hong Kong educators toward using CLT in the local context, Chau and Chung (1987) reported that teachers used CLT only sparingly because it required too much preparation time In a study of Karavas-Doukas (1996) investigated teachers‟ attitudes toward the use of communicative approach in Greece It was reported that although the English curriculum in Greece was based on the premises of CLT, teachers showed a tendency to carry on the traditional teacher-oriented instruction style The findings

of this study suggested that teachers either did not understand or were unable to see the practical implications of the CLT principles Besides, according to Li‟s study

results confirmed that the teachers encountered difficulties in using CLT practices

in their classes The difficulties reported by the Korean teachers were deficiency in spoken English, and in strategic and sociolinguistic competence They were lack of training in CLT, as well as few opportunities for retraining in CLT In addition, teachers met with misconceptions about CLT As we know the advantages of CLT are evident, but when applying it in practice, there are a lot of teachers who remain certain misconceptions about it Thompson (1996) identified four main misconceptions about CLT, that: 1) CLT ignores grammar; 2) CLT means teaching speaking only; 3) CLT equals doing pair work and group work, such as role plays; and 4) CLT demands too much from teachers in terms of time, skills, and energy In Ellis‟s study in Vietnam (1994), he found that one of the main problems in using a communicative approach in Vietnam was that teachers were too dependent on the inherent traditional teaching practices This problem, according to Ellis, was compounded by two traditional practices: the cultural reluctance of the Vietnamese

to challenge written words, and the focus on grammar-translation in the examination system

1.5.3 Challenges related to educational system

Large classes are also a challenge in implementing CLT in EEL contexts A scientific report of Nauman (2001) showed that an English class in Asia may have many students to 130 In the same way, Bock observed the average size of Vietnamese classrooms was 65 students Ky (2002) confirmed that large size classes like that is really obstacle in implementing CLT Again, Li (1998) also found that teachers of English in South Korea ran into difficulties with the implementation of CLT due to the large number of students in their classes According to Li (1998, p.694), „the teachers found it very difficult, if not entirely impossible, to use CLT with so many students in one class because they believed that oral English and close monitoring of class activities were essential in CLT‟ The next challenge which the writer would like to mention is the inconsistence between teaching and examinations A study of Jazadi (2000) found out that a test

system of Indonesia with comprehensive multiple and right answer choice is a cause

of creating difficulty in implementing CLT Jazadi identified that in reality such tests make the use of language to communicate in class not important at all or even useless Because of this reason, both teachers and students focus on learning to deal with examination

CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 2.1 Participants and setting of the study

2.1.1 Participants

This study will focus on ten Vietnamese teachers of English who have been teaching at BVC for more than one year Out of these participants, 8 of them are female, and the rest are male The majority of the participants are between 25 to 40 years old Regarding the academic degrees earned by the participants, five of them are a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and the rest Master of Arts (M.A.) As with the teaching experience of the participants, it varies from one year to 14 years Among the participants, three teachers have 1-3 years of teaching experience, five of them have 4-6 years of experience, and two others have 10-14 years of teaching experience To follow this study easily, the researcher would call the teachers in turn from T1 to T10

2.1.2 Setting of the study

This study was conducted during the second semester of 2014 at BVC 10 teachers are teaching General English General English classes are on Mondays and Wednesdays On Mondays, students learn vocabulary and listening skills On Wednesdays, they learn grammar and reading skills All classrooms were set up in rows of fixed chairs and desks, and there was a large white erase board on the wall and other equipment such as projectors in all the rooms, and the teachers stood at the front the class for the entire duration of the class

questions from different surveys used in various studies on the application of CLT (Chowdhury, 2010) Some of the questions were open-ended questions, which helped the teachers give and explain their viewpoint easily An open-ended question

is designed to encourage a full, meaningful answer using the teachers' own knowledge and feelings This allows researchers to get better access to the respondents‟ true feeling on an issue that helps the writer find out the answers to research questions

2.2.1.2 Interviews

The researcher‟s goal is not only to validate data obtained in questionnaires but also to put the interviewees at ease in order to express their true feelings and thoughts The researcher can obtain specific qualitative information from a range of questions, obtain general information relevant to specific issues and gain insights on these matters This interview (see Appendix 2) is principally composed of open-ended questions addressing the various issues related to CLT Each interview lasted about ten minutes The researcher recorded answers through taking notes Out of the participants, five of them (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5) will be asked to review the questions briefly before the interview

2.2.1.3 Pilot Period

After designing questionnaires, it was time to pilot the questionnaires to see whether it is usable or any confusing details need fixing or not Three teachers were invited to do the questionnaires and the interview on June, 6th It took about one hour to finish the questionnaires

After running the pilot study, the researcher got the feedbacks from three pilot subjects First, the researcher‟s questionnaire had many confusing questions which made the subjects not understand what the researcher meant Second, the writer‟s writing style, as they commented, was still affected by the spoken language, less formal More than that, the link between the questions seemed not to be related firmly together

- Five questions were edited and added more clues for the participants to get the point of those questions

- Two other questions were also added to find out participant‟s understanding of CLT more clearly

2.2.2 Data collection procedures

The questionnaires were sent out to the participants and were all returned to the researcher, making up 100% response rate This survey was carried out within one week, from July, 2014 to July 8, 2014 The topic of the thesis was given at the beginning of the questionnaires so that the respondents would be reminded the background knowledge and their ideas relating to the content of the questions The questionnaires are aimed to survey some information for the thesis and not used for any other purpose They were designed to elicit information for the original research questions The participation in answering this questionnaire is totally voluntary and thus the participants have right to refuse answering Participants were free to write

as much as they wished After reading the responses to the questionnaires, the researcher conducted the interviews with some of the participants It took about ten minutes for each interview and the researcher took notes during the interviews carefully

2.2.3 Data analysis procedures

According to Burns (2000, p.430), data analysis means to „find meanings from the data and a process by which the investigator can interpret the data‟ Similarly, as noted by Marshall and Rossman (1999), the purpose of the data analysis is to bring meaning, structure, and order to the data After collecting the data and information, the researcher would go to the next vital part, the analysis data procedure.The first step of analysis is organizing the data The main instrument used to elicit data for the study was a written questionnaire for the teachers The questionnaires included

18 questions which contain fixed alternative and open-ended questions A questionnaire is composed of two parts Part I asks for the participants‟ personal information Part II asks questions pertaining to their theoretical knowledge of CLT

and the perceived difficulties in implementing CLT as a methodology In part II, the first three questions are close-ended questions, and the remaining questions are open-ended ones Towards the data in the interviews, the researcher recorded the data in the form of taking-notes Interviews were arranged with five teachers Therefore, there were not so many data for analysis The participants‟ response in interviews would be shortened without changing the meanings contained in them.

To ensure the accuracy and reliability, each participant was asked to review and approve the notes According to Burns (1997), there are three data analysis procedures with interviews: categorizing, coding and content analysis The researcher would categorize meanings into groups which were made according to the research questions Next, the data were categorized into the themes, and then the researcher would identify how themes relate to each other The researcher carried out searching data to answer the research questions The main findings with fixed alternative questions in the questionnaires were abstracted in the tables, but at the same time the responses in the open-ended questions were explained The data used for this research are from the participants‟ responses in questionnaires and interviews The researcher would compare themes that emerged through data analysis with themes in related literature review

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Findings

This chapter provides a description and analysis of the data that was collected in this research project The findings of this study were collected through the questionnaires and semi-structured interviews As a result, the findings were categorized into three sections which are related to research questions

3.1.1 Research question 1: What is the teachers’ theoretical knowledge of CLT?

The CLT approach was viewed quite positively by participants because they believed that CLT was a very practical approach to language teaching as it provided a lot of opportunities to the learners in foreign-language learning

settings

The findings revealed that the majority of the participants had a clear understanding of CLT The questions 8 and 9 in the questionnaire pertain to opinion, theoretical knowledge of CLT These questions were expected to bring out teachers‟ understandings regarding the general principles as well as activities in CLT

3.1.1.1 Theoretical knowledge of CLT and its characteristic

Question 8 involved 10 items, some of which are descriptive characteristics of CLT, and the others are common misconceptions about CLT that have been presented in the literature review Responses to this question show the participants‟ understandings of what is involved in CLT

From Table 1 below, it can be seen that most frequently selected items by the survey participants as characteristics of CLT are:

- CLT is student/learner-centered approach (100%)

- CLT emphasizes fluency over accuracy (80%)

- CLT emphasizes communication in a second language (L2) (70%)

- CLT relies heavily on speaking and listening skills (60%)

Besides, the items selected most frequently as "Not true", i.e., as not characteristics of CLT are:

- CLT involves no grammar teaching (70%)

- CLT involves teaching speaking only (80%)

- CLT involves only group work or pair work (80%)

Additionally, responses relating to two statement “CLT requires teachers to have a high proficiency in English” and “CLT requires higher knowledge of the target language culture”, coincidentally 60% of participants chose “True” and 40%

of them chose “Not true”

Moreover, according to the interview data, the participants were asked to define CLT in their words All four participants had the same view that CLT is a learner-centered method Among them, T4 also said that CLT is a teaching method that concentrates on improving communicative capability of students However, it does not mean that the importance of writing, reading and grammar is underestimated

Table 1 (Characteristics of CLT as perceived by teachers)

What is involved in CLT in your opinion? True Not

true

Don’t know

Total responses

CLT is student/learner-centered approach 10 0 0 10 CLT emphasizes fluency over accuracy 8 2 0 10 CLT emphasizes communication in second language