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GRUADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES NGUYEN THI THANH NGA FRENCH COMPETENCE OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS INFLUENCED BY SOCIAL FACTORS: THE CASE STUDY IN HANOI-AMSTERDAM HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIF

GRUADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

NGUYEN THI THANH NGA

FRENCH COMPETENCE OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS INFLUENCED BY SOCIAL FACTORS: THE CASE STUDY IN HANOI-AMSTERDAM HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED

AND CHU VAN AN HIGH SCHOOL

Major code: 9229020

DOCTORAL THESIS SUMMARY IN PHILOLOGY

HANOI - 2020

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Academic supervisor: Prof.Dr Do Viet Hung

Reviewer 1: Prof Nguyen Van Khang

Reviewer 2: Prof Vu Van Đai

Reviewer 3: Assoc Prof Đinh Hong Van

The thesis is to be defended at the institutional level doctoral thesis Reviewer Board at Graduate Academy of Social Sciences, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences

No 477, Nguyen Trai street, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi

At on 2020

The thesis can be found at:

- Vietnam National Library

- The Library of Graduate Academy of Social Sciences

INTRODUCTION

1 THE URGENCY OF RESEARCH ISSUES

1.1 Our party and state have implemented strong policies to promote foreign language learning in schools However, at present, according to the overall assessment, the foreign language capacity of Vietnamese is limited Equipping themselves with a foreign language to meet integration trends and

to become a global citizen is still spontaneous In addition to the issues of policies and social needs, we believe that foreign language learning and its effectiveness and quality depend on many factors, including social factors However, up to now, there has been almost no research on the influence of social factors on the results of foreign language learning, and French language learning of Vietnamese students

1.2 Currently, English has become the global language and the number one foreign language in the world, including Vietnam This foreign language is taught popularly in all schools and used widely in cultural and social life Some other foreign languages are also relatively developed in our country today like German, Japanese, etc However, this is not the case for French Being one of

88 official members of the Francophone Community, however, French is losing its position in our country, the quality and results of learning this foreign language are not adequate Up to now, there has been no comprehensive

research on factors affecting French competence (FC) of learners in general

and students in particular in Vietnam as well as in the world

1.3 Reviewing the previous research, we found that there was relatively lots of research mentioning the importance of foreign language learning, discussing methods to teach each foreign language, and specific skills In addition to that,

there were many studies on foreign language competence (FLC) in general

and FC in particular, however they all research for teaching methods or foreign language assessment Studying FLC in a relationship with social factors is almost not available In other words, there have been no works concerning the role or impact of social factors on the development of FLC It is an unfortunate absence because the practice of teaching and learning foreign languages confirms that social factors have a significant impact on the process of formation and development of FLC of learners, especially in the context of fierce competition among foreign languages today Choosing the topic thesis

French competence of high school students influenced by social factors: the case study in Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for Gifted and Chu Van An High School is the author's wish to fill "the gap"

2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND TASKS

2.1 Research objectives

By studying actual FC of high school students in some specialized schools in Hanoi and clarifying the impact of social factors on the competence of these students, the thesis aims to help improve FC for students and redefine the status of this foreign language in our education system as well as in our social life In addition to that, the findings of the thesis contribute to making appropriate foreign language policies in Vietnam

2.2 Research tasks

1/ To study theoretical model related to the thesis: Systematize theories about socio-linguistics: linguistic competence (LC), communicative competence (CC), linguistic variables, social variables and the relationship between linguistic variables and social ones; The theory of a framework describing LC: the Common European Framework of Reference for languages and Vietnamese foreign language competence framework 2/ To investigate the reality of FC of specialized high school students and bilingual high school students 3/To figure out social factors impacting on LC of specialized and bilingual high school students in Hanoi

3 RESEARCH SUBJECTS AND SCOPE

3.1 Research subjects: Research subjects of the thesis are social factors impacting on FC of specialized and bilingual high school students in Hanoi 3.2 Research scope: Due to the limited capacity of the thesis, only 333

samples of students of bilingual and specialized French classes in Amsterdam High School for Gifted and Chu Van An High School are studied

Hanoi-Other subjects in other schools will be investigatied in another study

4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES

The thesis uses some methods such as data collection methods (quantitative methods, qualitative methods), data analysis methods, Research materials' desk review methods, statistical, compare, and contrast methods 5.THE THESIS' CONTRIBUTIONS: It is the first thesis in Vietnam studies linguistic competence in general and French competence in particular from the perspective of sociolinguistics The thesis has made the following new points: Describe the reality of French competence of high school students in specialized and bilingual classes in Hanoi; Figure out social factors affecting high school students' French competence

6 THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCES OF THE THESIS

6.1 Theoretical contributions: To contribute to the sociolinguistics an

additional study on factors impacting the FC in particular and FLC in general;

to test some hypotheses for the relationship between some social variables (gender, age, family and social conditions, etc.) and linguistic variable (FLC)

6.2 Practical contribution: To provide the education sector and the French

training program an overall picture of the reality of FC of high school

students studying the 12 year-intensive French program; From the results of the analysis of social factors affecting students' FC such as gender, age, family, society, etc., the study provides educators and policymakers additional evidence to make realistic teaching strategies and policies It makes the pivotal contribution in promoting the process of French teaching and learning in particular and foreign language teaching and learning in general in Vietnam to achieve the best outcomes One more vital practical contribution of the thesis is affirming the position of French in Vietnam in real life French is interested in not only educators, policymakers but also researchers Not only educators and policymakers but also scientific researchers are interested in French

6 Structure of the thesis

The thesis includes three chapters (excluding the introduction, conclusion, list of the published works relating to the thesis, references, and indexes) including Chapter 1: Literature review and theoretical background; Chapter 2: Description of high school students' FC; Chapter 3: Social factors affecting the FC of high school students

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1.1 Research situation of linguistic competence

1.1.1.1 International Research situation

Chomsky (1965) mentioned the concept of LC and accordingly, it is

also grammatical competence (GC) The author used the term LC to clarify

the difference between linguistic competence and linguistic performance and

he said that the research subject of linguistics is linguistic competence rather than speech or linguistic behavior Halliday (1970, 1972) also referred to LC but he approached LC in a sociological semantic way He argued that it was necessary to put a language in its context to understand the functions of a grammar structure fully The council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) (2013) also used the concept of LC and has a view that is close to Chomsky's view Besides, CMEC mentioned the assessment of LC and suggested that it is necessary to base on the four basic skills of learning a foreign language including listening, speaking, reading, and writing Hymes (1971) argued that knowledge of the language of a language is not limited to grammar rules but requires knowledge of psychology and society He called

it as CC Widdowson shared the same views with Hymes He believed that the CC of a speaker includes both his/her understanding of the system of grammar rules and the rules that enables a speaker to use them inappropriately in certain social situations Canale and Swain (1980), and Savignon (1983) all mentioned CC and they shared relatively similar views

competence (SC), and discourse competence (DC) Bachman (1990) also

referred to CC and suggested that it comprised two main components:

organization competence (GC, DC); pragmatic competence (PC) including

(SLC and illocutionary competence) Rivers (1973) argued that the process of language learning was the process lasting from practicing structures in a controlled way to using language creatively in communication Although he did not directly mention to two concepts of LC and CC, he implicitly referred

to CC However, the author did not specify what elements included in

CC According to The Common European Framework of Reference: Learning, Teaching, and Assessing abbreviated to CEFR or CEF (2001), CC includes 3 basic components which are as follows LC, SLC, and PC

In this group of points of view, the authors have different interpretations and approaches to CC However, most of the authors share the same opinion that CC encompasses LC We temporarily consider this as a point of view of modern school

1.1.1.2 Research situation in Vietnam

Nguyen Van Khang (1999) agreed with Dell Hymes's views on the categories of CC and also said that GC is a constituent element of CC Do Ba Quy (2005,2009) believed that the goal of language learning in general and foreign language learning in particular is CC, not limited to GC and LC Because if the learners have only knowledge of the language, it is not enough for them to communicate effectively The author said that CC was made up of three components including the knowledge competence about the world, LC, and communicative SC Du Ngoc Ngan (2016) said that the goal of forming

CC for learners was given top priority, even, a question is whether or not to pay attention explicitly to grammar Thua Thien Hue Department of Education and Traning (2009) used the concept of CC to express communication skills: listening- speaking-reading-writing Meanwhile, The Ministry of Education and Training (2009,2010) used both concepts of CC and LC

Reviewing the research works of Vietnamese and foreign authors, we believe that there are different points of view on LC and CC In which, there are two main following trends: (1) to consider LC and CC as two independent, equivalent categories, none of two belongs to each other./ (2)LC

is one of the constituent elements of CC Nevertheless, most of the views of Vietnamese and foreign authors are inclined to the second one This fact shows that for foreign language teaching in general and French teaching in particular, following the communication way is the most pivotal and core task Assessment of learners' FLC should follow that direction

1.1.2 Works studying French competence

1.1.2.1 International research situation

In the 1990s, The European Council issued the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) to build LC assessment systems including French The Center for Canadian Language assessment- Centre des niveaux

de compétence linguistique canadiens (2006) studied the French language program for immigrants CMEC (2013) announced a research program on

LC for effective French language teaching Most of these studies belong to the language development policies of countries, areas, and regions Rouhollah Rahmatian (1996) studied FC acquisition of Iranian students The research direction is a comparison between French and Persian in some specific elements such as phrases nouns, and verbs It is a thesis on theories

of foreign language teaching and learning Maarit Mutta (1999) studied French vocabulary competence of Finnish students The thesis studied how to express ideas in writing for French learners The author showed that the best way to achieve French vocabulary competence is to learn in natural French environments and French training places Thus, being research on teaching methodology, however, it also mentioned social factors affecting FC such as the natural French environments and French training places

1.1.2.2 Research situation in Vietnam

Nguyen Phuong Nga (2012) studied the development of verbal expression skills for bilingual students in Primary School The author was interested in how to find interest and motivation for speaking skills for students in grades 4 and 5 Nguyen Viet Anh (2012) researched on testing and evaluation French writing competence in the universities of foreign languages in Vietnam The author analyzed the current situation of assessment of French writing competence of students in universities of foreign languages and built a reference framework to evaluate writing competence in the direction of writing competence development Both studies mentioned issues of French teaching and learning methods, Pedagogy Reviewing Vietnamese and international works shows that the topic of

FC has been interested in many authors However, their studies mentioned either macro issues or specific skills like writing speaking, grammar, vocabulary, etc No study researched on all four skills: listening-speaking-reading-writing The previous studies followed the direction of pedagogy and method of teaching and evaluating etc There has not been any research on

FC from the perspective of sociolinguistics No study mentioned to social factors affecting FC

1.1.3 Research situation of assessing linguistic competence

1.1.3.1 Assessment of Vietnamese competence

Vu Thi Thanh Huong (2006) argued that to achieve the top goal of teaching Vietnamese in schools, it is necessary to train students to master all

four skills including listening-speaking-reading-writing Assessment of Vietnamese competence in particular and LC, in general, should base on these four basic skills Nguyen Thi Hien (2014) believed that assessment of students' Vietnamese competence does not mean that to judge whether the children understand or misunderstand the meanings of words, be able to distinguish compound words and reduplicative, able to create grammatical combinations but to assess whether they can use that learned words in their communication activities Thus, in her opinion, to assess the competence of students has to base on not only LC but also CC Hoang Quoc (2015) argued that LC can be approached from four basic skills and some of them can be further divided into sub-skills such as listening comprehension without speaking; listening comprehension and speaking; listening comprehension and writing; speaking and writing In his opinion, the assessment of students' competence has to base on four skills: listening-speaking-reading-writing 1.1.3.2.Assessment of foreign languages

Nguyen Phuong Nga (2012) argued that to assess FC, it is necessary to focus on skills such as listening- speaking-reading-writing Nguyen Mai Huong (2013) and Pham Thu Ha (2017) stated that we should assess students' English competence in four skills: listening-speaking-reading-writing Vu Thi Thanh Huong also agreed that to study students' FLC, it is necessary to base on four skills: listening- speaking- reading- writing For her,

we can apply the same approach of assessment for teachers' FLC The Department of Education and Training of Thua Thien Hue (2009) asserted that it is necessary to have a comprehensive assessment of communication skills: listening-speaking-reading-writing and linguistic knowledge.The Ministry of Education and Training (2009, 2010) discussed both categories of

LC and CC in the teaching content but to assess students' competence, there

is no separation but integration into main contents such as reading-writing- linguistic knowledge

listening-speaking-The research situation shows that some studies discusses concepts of LC and CC while some studies only mentions how to assess competence

It also shows that most studies are about English competence In addition, their approaches are teaching methodolody Research on foreign languages especially French from sociolinguistic approach are very rare

1.1.4 Research situation of factors affecting foreign language competence

1.1.4.1 International research situation

There are many authors mention factors affecting language acquisition or FLC for example: José - Luis Wofls (2001) referred to factors affecting competence (learning orientation, attribute factors of success or failure, support strategies - concentration and time management, motivation và emotional

factors, characteristics of adolescence David Singleton (2003) presented the age factor in acquiring the second language; Grzegors Markowski (2008) studied the influence of age on young learners with attitudes in the process of foreign language learning Daniel Véronnique (2009) referred several factors in acquiring a foreign language (learners's knowledge and skills, language exposure, source and target languages, age at the critical time, context) These authors only discusses or points out the relationship among these factors but not clarify relationship beween these factors with learning results Following are research findings of other reseachers that have clarified the relationship between social factors and learners' FLC

Janet Atlan (1997, 2000) emphasized on learning strategy It is considered

as factors affecting the process of foreign language perception of learners His study was based on a diagram of variables related to foreign language learning by Naiman et al (1978) and Skehan (1989) Accordingly, there are five groups of variables including three independent groups of variables (classes- facilities, learners and context), and two dependent groups of variables (learning activities and results) The learner factor is expressed in differences in cognition, emotion and social culture The differences in emotion are expressed

in the following characteristics: individual (personality), attitude, motivation and the difference in social culture are expressed in age, gender and previous education The contextual factor is expressed in the social context and language practice The social context is expressed in the following characteristics: the achievement of effectiveness, the relationship with the target community, the attitude to the target language, the social class Language practice is done by approaching native speakers in or outside classroom, using language to communicate, and use language with negotiation Two dependent variables mentioned by the author are learning activities, and the learning results or the learners' competence Janet Atlan (2000) also considered whether the application of this learning strategy was affected by Information technology (IT) or communication The author did not aim to study the influence of technological factors on students' FLC but showed that IT affected the way learners perform learning activities Maarti Mutta (1999) argued that the best way to achieve French vocabulary competence for Finnish students is to study

in a natural French environment or French training places Jane Arnold (2006) cited many experts' comments on language teaching when he mentioned the emotional factor and its representative aspects such as motivation (Dörnyei 2001b, 2005; Lorenzo 2004); attitude (MacIntyre và Charos, 1996), self-respect (de Andrés, 1999); collaborative learning (Casal, 2002); individual differences (Oxford và Ehrman, 1993, Reid, 1995, Fonseca, 2005) and worries (Horwitz, Horwitz et Cope, 1986, Rubio, 2004, Young, 1999) The author

pointed out two groups of emotional factors affecting foreign language learning including negative factors (worries, inhibition, etc.,)/positive factors (self-respect/confident; attitude/trust; learning method, etc.,) It is research on learning methodology The author added that factors outside the classroom such as social factors and individual factors needed to be paid attention to.The Common European Framework of Reference (the European Council, 2000) also recognized the importance of emotional factors for foreign language learning Timuc Mirela (2016) was based on Daniel Véronique's theoretical background of factors mentioned above, presented experiences of himself such

as children should learn foreign languages early, about at the age of seven To have opportunities to come to France for language experience and to contact the local people play a pivotal role in improving one's French capacity Danielle Savard (2019) asserted that motivation and age play a vital role in foreign language learning The application of technology in the classroom such

as the provision of audio, video, graphics, etc and other factors create the dynamism and excitement for students Besides, the author mentioned other factors like the prestige of the language, gender, motivation, or personal factors

In summary, almost no work studies social factors but most of the previous works focus on factors of teaching methodology

1.1.4.2 Research situation in Vietnam

Nguyen Van Khang (1999) evaluated LC of the learners from a communication perspective and asserted that the "communication level of each person depends on relationships such as family background, his or her social experience, and real needs" Vu Thanh Huong (2013) showed factors affecting students' foreign language learning such as lack of practice opportunities, inappropriate teaching methods of teachers, crowed classes, high tuition fees Nguyen Lan Trung (2015) said that factors affecting foreign language learners were age, gender, origin, culture, demand, family background, financial conditions, social conditions, etc Hoang Quoc (2015) argued that family factors or family care facilitate students' learning and living, and the educational environment has a significant influence on students' LC a new point shown by this author is that the gender factor has

an impact on LC Specifically, for Vietnamese students with Chinese origin, Vietnamese and Chinese competence of male students is better than female ones The author also mentioned age, but from a different perspective, due to the influence of family factors, self- awareness of the mother tongue, different ages have different FLC of different languages

Some other studies do not directly mention the factors affecting foreign language learning but indirectly through learning motivation

Nguyen Phuong Nga (2012) believed that students' motivation was affected by factors: classrooms, schools, life, society However, the author focused on four factors that determine the Vietnamese students' motivation for foreign language learning as following teaching, age of learners, education culture, and family In the education innovation program that considers the learners as the center, the Ministry of Education and Training also focused on self- study factor of students Bui Ngoc Quang (2016) argued that three factors of self-study are awareness, attitude, and method Studying the Russian-English bilingual field, the author especially emphasized the average number of hours of self-study in a day of students

An overview of the studies of factors affecting FLC in general and FC in particular shows that there are many international and Vietnamese authors mentioning this issue Nevertheless, most of works studies teaching methodology factors Those are the basic factors as follows learning orientation, anxiety, success or failure, support strategies, concentration and time management, learning motivation and emotional factors, gender, age, origin, social class, attitude, living evironment, social condition, class facitities, crowded classess, high tuition fees, etc Thus these studies pointed out social factors but not clear, and they did not follow the research direction

of sociolinguistics These will be an vital theoretical frameworks that help the thesis complete the direction of research on social factors affecting French learning results of high school students

1.2.1 Theoretical issues of Sociolinguistics

1.2.1.1 The concepts of "Linguistics competence" and "communicative competence"

Chomsky's view: Chomsky (1957) argued that "LC is a inherent

biological potentiality of humanity; it is made up of a set of rules (grammar knowlege) that allows individuals to creat countless linguistics formations" From this perspective, he only mentioned ideal speakers/listeners in a homogeneous language community, based on judments about grammaticality His view was criticized by applied linguist and sociolinguist such as Campbell

& Wales (1970) and Hymes (1972); Campbell & Wales's view: Campbell &

Wales (1970) claimed that Chomsky's view was relatively narrow and called it

as GC Hymes (1972) and Campbell & Wales (1970) were the first people to point out that the distinction between LC and linguistic performance did not take into account the appropriateness of the social-cultural meaning of an utterance in a situation and speech context in which it was used From that point, the authors proposed a broader concept as CC CC includes the following components (1) GC and (2) contextual competence or SLC; Hymes '

view: Hymes (1971) stated that knowledge of a language was not limited in

grammatical rules but also included psychological and social knowledge He gives the concept of CC with the implication there is only linguistic knowledge but also knowledge of a set of code of sociolinguistics or contextual competence and (2) GC or LC; Widdowson's view: he believed that CC of speakers included both an understanding of the grammatical rule system to create correct sentences, and an understanding of the rules that make it possible for the speakers to use them appropriately to perform rhetoric behaviors in certain social contexts To clarify the concept of CC, Widdowson (1983) made

a distinction between competence and capacity In this respect, he defined competence as CC That means knowledge of the rules of linguistics and sociolinguistics Capacity, usually means procedural or communicative capacity, is understood as the ability to use knowledge as a means of creating meaning in a language; Canale and Swain's view': Canale and Swain (1980,1981) argued that GC was related to mastering linguistic codes including knowledge of vocabulary as well as knowledge of morphology, syntax, semantics, phonetics and orthographic rules This competence enabled speakers to use the knowledge and skills necessary for understanding and expressing the meaning of utterances Canale and swain defined "CC is a synthesis of an underlying system of knowledge and skill needed for communication." Innitially, Canale and Swain (1980) proposed a model of CC with three main components: GC, SLC , SC In the next version of that model, authors had changed some factors from SLC into DC and proposed a model of

CC with four components:GC, SLC, SC, DC, Savignon's view: Savignon (1972,1983) paid special attention to the ability aspect for the concept of CC The author described CC as "capacity to operate in a real communication environment, that means in a dynamic exchange where LC has to adapt to all linguistic and sub-linguistic data of one or many people engaging in communication" (Savignon, 1972:8) The author put CC equivalent to

"language proficiency" Savignon did not give a specific concept or model of

CC, the author is mainly inclined to describe the properties of CC; he view of

Bachman and Palmer: Bachman (1990) proposed a new term that is

"communicative language ability" (CLA) instead of CC CLA is a combination

of two concepts "CC" and "language proficiency" suggested by Savignon (1972,1983) Bachman (1990) defined CLA is a concept including knowledge

or competence and the ability to use knowledge of communicative language appropriately in a context He suggested a model of CLA with three main components: LC, SC, and physiological-psychological mechanism Bachman and Palmer (1996) used a term, which is a linguistic ability (LA) The model of

LC includes two components: linguistic knowledge and SC This new model has no difference from Bachman's (1990) but the term "competence" has been

replaced by "knowledge"; CEFR's View: This is a model that is intended for assessment as well as for learning and teaching languages Accordingly, CC is only formed in the form of "knowledge" with three basic components: LC, SLC, PC refers to the knowledge and ability to use linguistic resources to form well-structured messages LC includes basic factors of communication, SLC is the knowledge and skill needed to use language appropriately in social contexts PC is a component related to learners' knowledge about principles that the messages are expressed through three elements: DC, Functional competence, and Planning competence The difference in the theoretical frameworks and the LC models offered by the researchers are not antagonistic but complementary The concepts of LC and CC have been improved and clarified to adapt to its linguistic contexts Therefore, many different terms are coexisting with the term CC such as language proficiency, CLA, etc The definition all are aimed at knowledge and ability and skills in communication The thesis approaches this view of researchers, the description of students'FC will be in the direction of CC description

1.2.1.2 The concepts of "linguistic variables" and "social variables"

According to Nguyen Van Khang's opinion (2014), social variables are variables with values expressed by social factors that need to be considered when studying languages Social variables are social factors such as age, gender, jobs, social status (political, economic), eduacation, etc.; linguistic variables are variables with values expressed by language, often considered

as a unit Each linguistic variable may consist of one or more variants Social variables are considered as independent ones and linguistic variables are dependent ones Independent variables are variables used to explain for dependent ones In other words, social variables will affect linguistic variables, which can lead to changes in languages whose manifestation is the apprearance of variants The thesis studies social factors affecting FC of high school students, linguistic variables are defined as FC of students and social variables are social factors such as individual, family, social- culture

1.2.2 The concept of linguistic competence description framework

In our country, to assess FLC in general and FC in particular, the Ministry

of Education and Trainning uses the Common European Framework of Reference and the Vietnamese framework of Foreign language Competence

1.2.2.1 The European Reference Framework

The European Reference Framework (The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, and assessment) One of the goals of CEFR is standardized the second language

proficiency of learners CEFR is a set of scales evaluated as the most comprehensive and detailed set of scales of all foreign language proficiency scales