Teachers’ roles in enhancing learner autonomy a case study in speaking and listening classes at felte, VNU ULIS

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ LỆ TUYẾT TEACHERS’ ROLES IN ENHANCING LEARNER AUTONOMY - A C

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

PHẠM THỊ LỆ TUYẾT

TEACHERS’ ROLES IN ENHANCING LEARNER AUTONOMY

- A CASE STUDY IN SPEAKING AND LISTENING CLASSES AT

FELTE, VNU-ULIS

Vai trò của Giáo viên trong việc thúc đẩy tính tự học của sinh viên

- Một nghiên cứu tình huống trong lớp học kỹ năng nghe nói tại khoa Sư phạm tiếng Anh - ĐHNN - ĐHQG Hà Nội

Minor Thesis

Field: Theory and Methodology in Teaching English Code : 60140111

HÀ NỘI - 2017

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

PHẠM THỊ LỆ TUYẾT

TEACHERS’ ROLES IN ENHANCING LEARNER AUTONOMY

- A CASE STUDY IN SPEAKING AND LISTENING CLASSES AT

FELTE, VNU-ULIS

Vai trò của Giáo viên trong việc thúc đẩy tính tự học của sinh viên

- Một nghiên cứu tình huống trong lớp học kỹ năng nghe nói tại khoa Sư phạm tiếng Anh - ĐHNN - ĐHQG Hà Nội

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ACCEPTANCE PAGE

I hereby state that I (Pham Thi Le Tuyet, QH2014), being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) accept the requirements of the University‟s relating to the retention and use of Master‟s Minor Thesis deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan

or reproduction of the paper

Signature

Secondly, I owe my heartfelt thanks to 107 first-year mainstream students and 11 teachers of speaking and listening skills at Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (FELTE, VNU-ULIS), who have enthusiastically helped

me to carry out the study with ease

Thirdly, it would be an omission without mentioning the great encouragement from my parents, my friends Van, Tuyet, Thao, Huong, who gave

me tremendous support in any circumstances

Lastly, I also express my blessings to all of those who supported me in any respect during the completion of the study

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ABSTRACT

In the recent decades, the concept of learner autonomy has drawn attention from many researchers and educators In attempt to explore students‟ and teachers‟ perspectives on teachers‟ roles in enhancing leaner autonomy and the strategies teachers used to promote learner autonomy in speaking and listening lessons at English Division 1, Faculty of English Teacher Education, VNU-ULIS, this paper includes five parts in which theoretical background related to the two key terms

“learner autonomy” and “teachers‟ roles in fostering learner autonomy”, the research methodology as well as major findings and pedagogical implication basing

on the data gathered will be fully clarified To be more specific, the investigation involving the participation of 11 teachers and 107 students was pursued with three research instruments, classroom observations, questionnaires and interviews The analysis of the collected data focused on student‟s and teachers‟ perceptions on the roles of teachers in the process of developing autonomous learning, and teachers‟ strategies to foster self-learning in the aforementioned context as perceived by both groups of participants In the process of data analysis, mismatches in teachers‟ and students‟ responses were mainly utilised to add into discussions Afterwards, the issues raised in the discussions were explained in the light of theoretical framework

to draw significant implications which are expected to help better application of learner autonomy in improving students listening and speaking skills and other

skills in the future

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACCEPTANCE PAGE i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Research problem, theoretical background and rationale 1

1.2 Research aims and research questions 2

1.3 Significance of the study 3

1.4 Scope of the study 4

1.5 Methods of the study 4

1.6 Organization of the study 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Learner autonomy in language learning 6

2.1.1 Definitions 6

2.1.2 Dimensions of learner autonomy 8

2.1.3 Levels of learner autonomy 10

2.1.4 Components and assessment of learner autonomy 11

2.1.5 Approaches to support learner autonomy 12

2.2 Teacher‟s Roles in Fostering Learner Autonomy 13

2.2.1 Teacher‟s Roles and Autonomous Learning 13

2.2.2 Related studies on the roles of teacher in fostering learner autonomy 14

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 22

3.1 Research questions 22

3.2 Research Context 22

3.3 Research Design 24

3.3.1 Case study 24

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3.3.2 Participants 24

3.4 Data collection instruments 26

3.4.1 Questionnaires 26

3.4.2 Interviews 30

3.4.3 Classroom observation 31

3.5 Data collection procedure 33

3.5.1 Step 1 - Design research instruments 33

3.5.2 Step 2 - Conduct observations in the participating classes 33

3.5.3 Step 3 - Distribute questionnaires to the participants 33

3.5.4 Step 4 - Conduct interviews with the participants 34

3.6 Data analysis methods and procedure 35

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND MAJOR FINDINGS 37

4.1 Results and findings from survey questionnaires 37

4.2 Results and findings from interviews 40

4.2.1 Results and findings from teachers‟ interviews 40

4.2.2 Results and findings from students‟ interviews 49

4.3 Results from classroom observations 57

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 60

5.1 Major findings of the study 60

5.1.1 Research question 1: What are teachers‟ roles in enhancing learner autonomy in speaking and listening classes as perceived by teachers and students? 60

5.1.2 Research question 2: What strategies have teachers used to promote learner autonomy in speaking and listening lessons? 60

5.2 Pedagogical implications 61

5.3 Limitations of the study 62

5.4 Suggestions for further studies 63 APPENDIX 1A I APPENDIX 1B III APPENDIX 2A V

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APPENDIX 2B VI APPENDIX 3 VII APPENDIX 3.A1 VIII APPENDIX 3.A2 X APPENDIX 3.A3 XI APPENDIX 3.B1 XII APPENDIX 3.B2 XIII APPENDIX 3.B3 XIV APPENDIX 3.C3 XV APPENDIX 3.C2 XVII APPENDIX 3.C3 XVIII APPENDIX 3.D1 XIX APPENDIX 3.D2 XX APPENDIX 3.D3 XXI APPENDIX 4A XXII APPENDIX 4B XXII APPENDIX 5A XXIX APPENDIX 5B XXIX

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LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: The levels of learner autonomy (Nunan, 1997, p.192-203) 10

Table 2.2: Teacher‟ roles in developing learner autonomy from students‟

perspectives (Xu & Xu, 2004 as cited in Ligang, 2014) 16

Table 3.1: The process of selecting participants 25

Table 3.2: Question items categorised in different teacher‟ roles to foster

Table 3.4: Teacher‟ roles and descriptions (adapted from Xu & Xu, 2014) 31

Table 4.1: Teachers‟ strategies to promote learner autonomy 32

Table 4.2: Students‟ perspectives of teachers‟ roles in fostering learner

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 4.1: Role mean scores of teachers‟ and students‟ responses 38

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

FELTE Faculty of English Language Teacher Education ULIS University of Languages and International Studies VNU Vietnam National University, Hanoi

ESL English as a Second Language

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The initial chapter is intended to provide a brief introduction of the rationale, aims, significance, scopes and organisation of the research In other words, the researcher sets herself the target of explaining the principles underlying her selection of the topic, stating primary objectives, underscoring the importance

of conducting this research, defining the boundary and providing an outline of the study

1.1 Research problem, theoretical background and rationale

Learner autonomy, as a subject for research and an educational goal, has captivated many scholars in the recent decades In fact, learner autonomy has been commonly mentioned in the field of English Language teaching only over the late 19th and early 20th century, when the „father‟ of learner autonomy, Henry Holec

coined this term in his book Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning in 1981 In

this work, Holec underlined the importance of autonomy as the necessity to promote individuals‟ freedom by acquiring abilities which will permit him to take more responsibility for administering the affairs in the society that he lives in (Holec, 1981) Sharing the same interest in this issue, many other great thinkers and educators in history attached great importance to the necessity of autonomy in education It is by all odds that the concept of autonomy has been given an increasing attention because it can promote a development in which the learners‟ ability and motivation to learn are improved Therefore, learning how to learn has become a crucial component in order to ensure the effectiveness of the whole learning process

However, to the best knowledge of the researcher, even though learner autonomy has been widely researched in Vietnam and many other countries, the role of teachers in the process of fostering this ability is still a relatively new field Most studies carried out in the context of Vietnam are large-scale projects with a large sample from different universities, and focus upon teachers‟ and students‟

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beliefs in enhancing learner autonomy in general (Dang, 2010; Dang, 2012; Nguyen, 2012; Le, 2013; Nguyen, 2014; Nguyen et al., 2014) Their results, therefore, may not faithfully reflect the underlying realities in a narrow context as Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (FELTE, VNU - ULIS) Meanwhile, to most freshmen in FELTE and to the researcher‟s subjective experience as a student and a teacher trainee here, developing listening and speaking tend to be more complicated than the acquisition of other skills, such as reading or writing The principal reason behind this fact is the lack of teaching and practicing these skills in the lower education Deep concentration on studying English grammar to pass or get better results in school exams has had negative impact on students‟ confidence and English skill development

Furthermore, learner autonomy has been of particular interest to the researcher Having been teaching English for students at a wide range of age, she understands that only by improving their autonomous learning can the students be more motivated and responsible for their own learning progress In fact, the class hours are unanimously inadequate for the learners to make significant progress; and therefore, the teacher plays a pivotal role in guiding their self-study

In conclusion, the importance of learner autonomy in improving language learning, the dearth of studies on teacher‟s roles in fostering learner autonomy, the researcher‟s personal interest and the first-year mainstream students‟ difficulties in learning and practicing listening and speaking skills encouraged the researcher to take an investigation in analysing the roles of teachers in developing autonomous learning, the strategies that they used and the relationship between teachers‟ beliefs

in learner autonomy and their teaching practices

1.2 Research aims and research questions

The study was conducted with the aims to investigate teachers‟ responsibilities in developing their learners‟ autonomous learning in listening and

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speaking lessons from students and teachers‟ points of view Similarities and differences in their responses would be highlighted in order to draw potential implications in teaching and learning the two skills Besides, teachers‟ employment

of strategies to promote learner autonomy as generated from teachers‟ and students‟ answers with different research instruments would also be properly explored

Briefly, the objectives of the study can be summarised into two research questions:

1) What are teachers’ roles in enhancing leaner autonomy in speaking and listening classes as perceived by teachers and students?

2) What strategies have teachers used to promote learner autonomy in speaking and listening lessons?

1.3 Significance of the study

This paper is carried out with the hope to benefit a target population including students and teachers belonging to the Division 1 in particular and those

at FELTE (ULIS, VNU) in general

For teachers, the research can help raise their awareness of their crucial roles

in promoting learner autonomy and in helping their students find their most appropriate learning methods Accordingly, they can look into the real situation of their students‟ self - practicing listening and speaking skills and have some improvements in teaching methods if necessary

For students, through the results, findings and implications of this study, the students can fully grasp the importance of learner autonomy as well as what their teachers can do to help them take greater control over their own learning

Since teacher‟s roles in fostering learner autonomy is still a fertile land in researching on English Language Teaching, the researcher hopes that this paper will also be a reliable and useful source of reference for other related studies in the future

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1.4 Scope of the study

For the fact that the nature of learner autonomy has caused dissension among scholars and how teachers contribute to their students‟ procedure of autonomous learning has still been a fresh approach, this study focuses on the participants‟ understanding of the teacher‟s roles as well as the effectiveness of strategies used by teachers in fostering autonomous learners Concerning the sample size, only a limited number of the population participated in the study as the most typical and thoroughly selected participants

1.5 Methods of the study

The study was conducted with both qualitative and quantitative approaches

At first, the questionnaires were delivered to the 11 teacher participants who take charge of speaking and listening lessons of the course English for Social Purposes 2 (English 2A) The surveys were then analysed and four teachers who agreed to participate in the second phase were observed in three revision weeks (week 5, 10 and 15) At the end of the course (week 15), students‟ perspectives towards the roles

of their speaking and listening teachers were surveyed and 20 selected students together with their four teachers were invited to attend the interviews The gathered data was then analysed carefully, compared and contrasted between teachers‟ and students‟ answers to contribute to result and finding sessions

1.6 Organization of the study

The study includes five chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction discusses Rationale, Aims of the Study and

Research Questions, Significance, Scope, Methods, and Overview of the Study

Chapter 2: Literature Review provides the theoretical foundation for the

study by focusing on Definition of Key Terms and Research Gap

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Chapter 3: Methodology summaries the used methods, the procedures and

the process of conducting those methods

Chapter 4: Results and Major findings were utilised to find the students‟

and teachers‟ perception of teachers‟ roles in fostering learner autonomy, in combination with the strategies the teachers employed to orient the students‟ autonomous learning Furthermore, implications providing possible solutions will also be added

Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion ends the study by summarising the

main points, revealing the limitations, and suggesting further studies

Summary

This chapter presents an overview of the research, its rationale, aims, scopes, significance and organisation In the next chapter, the explanation of two key terms as well as an investigation into related studies will be launched

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter, as its name represents, sheds light on the literature review of

the study In this part, the key term learner autonomy in language learning will be

explained adequately To begin with, an overview of general theory of learner autonomy in language learning will be focused in terms of its definitions, classifications, levels and assessment Subsequently, the background knowledge about teacher’s roles in fostering learner autonomy as well as their changes during the time will be also provided Last but not least, research gap from previous studies in Vietnam and worldwide will be added in to highlight the necessity of this research

2.1 Learner autonomy in language learning

Since the first time known in the sphere of language teaching through the Council of Europe‟s Modern Languages Project in 1971 (as cited in Benson, 2013,

p 839), the term “autonomy” has induced considerable controversy over its true interpretation that has been a complication to scholars and theorists until recently Due to the scope of the study, the researcher only concentrated on autonomy in language learning and its related issues as the underlying themes of this research

2.1.1 Definitions

With reference to the interpretation of learner autonomy, it is imperative to quote Holec‟s idea in his project report to the Council of Europe, which has been considered to be “a key early document on autonomy in language learning” (Benson, 2001, p 9) In this report, autonomy was understood as “the ability to take charge of one‟s own learning, the responsibility for all the decisions concerning all aspects of this learning, including: determining the objectives; defining the contents and progressions, selecting methods and techniques to be used” (Benson, 2011, p.58) The learners‟ ability here includes understanding the objectives of learning, then planning and facilitating learning in combination with regularly reviewing and

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evaluating what they have learned (Holec, 1981) As mentioned, Holec‟s understanding has secured other scholars‟ approval such as Nunan (2000), Benson (2001), etc

From this general idea, many variants of autonomy were provided with detailed and focused definitions Dickinson (1987), Richards & Schmidt (2002, p 297) replaced the phrase “take charge of” by the word “responsibility” or

“responsible” and clarified further the “ability” by the decisions of what and how to learn and their implementation of learning Little (1991) also made attempt to elucidate the term as “a capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision making, and independent action" (as cited in McCarthy, 1998) In the same vein, Thanasoulas (2000) and Benson (2006) defined autonomous learner as a person who can independently resolve aims, purposes and goals of learning process, decide the materials, methods and tasks to carry out their learning and the criteria for assessment

On the other hand, of all the most notable theories related to educational development in the twentieth century, constructivism has marked a change in contemporary educational views This viewpoint about the nature of knowledge was first provided by Jean Piaget, and tended to focus on human development in relation

to what is occurring with an individual as opposed to development that is influenced

by other humans in the process of acquiring knowledge According to Piaget,

“knowledge is not a self-sufficient entity; that knowledge is not directly transmittable from person to person, but rather is individually and idiosyncratically constructed or discovered Cognitive or radical constructivists consequently emphasise learner-centred and discovery-oriented learning processes” (Liu & Matthews, 2005, p.387-388) The theory was then developed by Lev Vygotsky, and its basic concept is that knowledge (meaning) is from social construction Knowledge is not an objective existence independence of subject (human being) but

an active construction in human activity of knowing the outer world This construction happens in the environment contacted with other human beings This is

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a result of social interaction (Vygotsky, 1978), which has also been posed by many other educational philosophers, social scientists including Freire (1970), Illich (1971), Giroux (1988) and Simon (1987) and other scholars such as Benson (1997, 2001) and Pennycook (1997)

Overall, the controversy surrounding definitions of learner autonomy has persisted for a long time due to different learning contexts and scholars‟ perception

on this term Within the framework of this study, the researcher understands that learner autonomy is the process of taking responsibility of their own learning, but it

is no longer an independent activity Learners are required to learn to work cooperatively with their teachers, peers, and the educational system that they are part of This definition is chosen to be the foundation for further discussions in the following parts thanks to its comprehensive and realistic view on learner autonomy, which was helpful for the researcher to look at the issue from different angles In the light of this idea, the learner‟s willingness, responsibility, capacity to control his own learning as well as how he interacts with other individuals to foster this process were focused and could be the key elements to evaluate learner autonomy

2.1.2 Dimensions of learner autonomy

According to Benson (1997, p.23), there are three types of learner autonomy: technical, psychological and political Technical autonomy refers to the act of learning a language outside the framework of an educational institution and without teacher‟s control In other words, it is providing learners with necessary strategies for learning management “within and beyond the classroom” (Hamilton, 2013, p.24) Regarding the alternative contexts outside the classroom, students who are technically autonomous learners can work at a self-access centre, a computer room, etc and no matter where they learn, they can still fulfil their potential capacity thanks to being equipped with essential autonomous learning skills The second dimension is psychological autonomy which describes the attitudinal capacity of an individual to take charge of his learning and the internal development towards

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adopting increased levels of responsibility for it The last version is considered to be

a combination of the two types above It discusses the internal and external implications of being an autonomous learner and benefits students on helping them control the process and content of learning as well as the institutional context within which learning takes place

However, in more recent work, Benson (2011) admits that the idea of introducing versions of autonomy may come in useful for the fact that it “often refers only to differences of emphasis within approaches that are typically oriented

to learn management, cognitive processes and learning content at one and the same time” (Benson, 2011, p 63) Evolving from Benson (1997), Oxford (2003) presents

a more “systematic and comprehensive theoretical model of learner autonomy” (Martinez, 2008, p.106) which integrates four dimensions: (1) technical autonomy targets on learning management in some physical situation; (2) psychological version focuses on characteristics of learners; (3) political - critical autonomy focuses on ideologies, access, and power structures; (4) social - cultural autonomy refers to the capacity to interact and collaborate with others This model is considered to be an innovative idea as it reconstructs an integrative model in which the four perspectives are interdependent from a narrow focus where the sub-types of autonomy are single and extraneous to each other

As discussed above, Benson (1997) was among the first who identified different dimensions of autonomy His idea was then developed from three segregated perspectives to four connected ones In fact, there have been many other ways to systematise learner autonomy carried by subsequent writers (Ribe (2003), Holliday (2003) or Smith (2003)); however, considering the scope of the study and the current situation of learning and teaching listening and speaking to the first-year students, it is necessary to cover all four categories listed when researching and assessing learner autonomy

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2.1.3 Levels of learner autonomy

Basically, the levels of autonomy increase from being aware of pedagogical goals and understanding the content of the used materials, selecting, adapting and creating achievable goals to making links between the materials‟ content to the world (Nunan, 1997, p.192-203)

From the below table, it can be seen that Nunan (1997) based on the close link between learner autonomy and second language achievement to set the levels

of learner autonomy This certainly benefits teachers and students in following steps

to train or be trained to a level of autonomy Autonomous learners must start from being aware of and having positive attitude towards language learning, then selecting, adapting and creating their own learning goals and objectives At the highest level of autonomy, learners can find what they learn from the outside world However, the process of promoting learner autonomy is supposed to be gradual, and

“we only see the benefits of such training towards the end of the learning process” (Nunan, 2000, p.5)

Table 2.1: The levels of learner autonomy (Nunan, 1997, p.192-203)

1 Awareness

Learner are made aware of pedagogical goals and content of the materials they are using

Learners identify strategy implications of

pedagogical tasks and identify their own preferred styles/

strategies

2 Involvement

Learner are involved in selecting their own goals from a range of alternatives

Learners make choices among a range of options

3 Intervention Learners are involved in

modifying and adapting the

Learner modify and adapt tasks

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goals and content of the learning program

4 Creation Learners create their own

goals and objectives

Learners create their own learning tasks

5 Transcendence

Learners go beyond the classroom and make links between the contents of classroom learning and the world beyond the classroom

Learners becomes teachers and researchers

2.1.4 Components and assessment of learner autonomy

Apart from giving many definitions of learner autonomy, scholars have raised different ideas on its components Benson (2001) and Oxford (1990) shared the same view that learning attitudes and strategies are extremely important to learners‟ levels of autonomy (cited in Tran, 2005, p 11) Learner attitudes in this place can be understood as “learned motivations, valued beliefs, evaluations, what one believes is acceptable, or responses oriented towards approaching or avoiding” (Wenden, 1991, p 52) Most scholars have believed that positive learning attitudes are precondition to successful learning process To be more specific, Nunan (1999,

p 157) emphasized the necessity of helping learners “understand the effects of their attitudes on the learning process and monitor their changing attitudes when necessary” On the other hand, learning strategy was defined as the attempt to achieve both linguistic and sociological skills in language learning (Claus and Kasper, 1983, p 67) In addition, strategies “are tools for active, self-directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence” and learners can have “greater self-confidence and learn more effectively” if they find suitable learning strategies (Oxford, 1990) In the same vein, Littlewood (1996, p 97) focused on analyzing two main components of learner autonomy: ability and

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willingness From his ideas, it is noteworthy that there are smaller constituents of each component To have “ability”, it is necessary to have both knowledge and significant skills to make the appropriate choice among alternatives With regard to

“willingness”, motivation and confidence were highlighted for helping learners take responsibility to the selected choice In general, all Benson (2001), Oxford (1990) and Littlewood (1996) gave prominence to attitudes, motivation and especially strategies as essential elements of learner autonomy

In fact, an autonomous learner is required to possess all these above components, and obviously utilizing them to evaluate learner autonomy is possible Littlewood (1991) stated that learner autonomy is evaluated in their cognitive skills, metacognitive skills and some affective factors Cognitive strategies “operate directly on incoming information, manipulating it in ways that enhance learning” (O'Malley and Chamot, 1990, p 44) Metacognitive skills or metacognition refers to learners‟ automatic awareness of their own knowledge and their ability to understand, control and manipulate their own cognitive processes in varied situation (Wenden, 1998, p 34) Other factors like self - confidence and motivation are also mentioned as the two prerequisites of learner autonomy that autonomous learner should be equipped to better “take charge of their own learning”

2.1.5 Approaches to support learner autonomy

According to Benson (2001), there are six types of practice to foster learner autonomy:

- Resource - based approach highlights independent interaction with

learning materials such as individualized learning or peer teaching In this approach, authentic texts are employed actively and it is proposed that learners rely mainly on self-instruction and distance learning

- Technology - based approach accentuates independent interaction with

educational technologies By applying this approach, computers and the Internet are often handled

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- Learner - based approach emphasizes the direct production of

behavioral and psychological changes in the learner In this approach, learners‟ development is supported mainly by motivation, confidence, knowledge of the language and the learning strategies

- Teacher - based approach, on the other hand, affirms the importance of

teacher‟s roles and teacher autonomy Teacher can be a facilitator, a counselor or resource in the learner‟s way of possessing learner autonomy (Voller, 1997 as cited

in Lowery, 2010) and he or she also needs to autonomously improve the qualities in terms of the capacity of self-direct teaching, “freedom and responsibility to make choices concerning one‟s own teaching” (Aoki, 2002, p 15) and the ability to self- directed teacher- learning In this place, teacher‟s role in learner autonomy can be

“to create and maintain a learning environment in which learners can be

autonomous in order to become more autonomous” (Little, 1999, p 80)

- Classroom-based approach gives prominence to the relationship

between learners and teachers in the classroom and learner control over the planning and evaluation of learning Self - assessment is encouraged (Lowry, 2008)

- Curriculum-based approach focuses on the control over the planning

and the evaluation of learning to the curriculum as a whole A program syllabus is provided and learners can follow inquire-based, project-based or task - based learning to reach the highest level of learner autonomy (Lowry, 2008)

In this study, the researcher adopts Benson‟s framework in the analysis of research question 2 (see more in Chapter 3: Methodology)

2.2 Teacher’s Roles in Fostering Learner Autonomy

2.2.1 Teacher’s Roles and Autonomous Learning

Over the recent two decades, teaching methods has been shifted to the more communicatively learner-centred approach, which gives much priority over developing learner autonomy as one of educational goals However, autonomous learning is disputed by traditional teaching views from its early days It comes as no

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surprise to indicate that some teachers encounter considerable difficulty in getting familiar to the change of their roles in autonomous leaning context, since they have been immersed in traditional teaching techniques for ages Moreover, there is still some confusion over the relationship between autonomous learning and teacher‟s responsibility, either autonomous students can learn alone or learn independent of teachers‟ help and guidance, or teachers‟ responsibilities will be weakened

In fact, autonomous learners do not always learn without others, or even without a teacher (Boud, 1988, p 25) Benson & Voller (1997, p 63) also state that autonomous learning is absolutely not the learning without teachers‟ participation;

in contrast, teachers play a vital role in facilitating learners‟ self-realization and offering regular guidance Indeed, learners require help to develop their autonomous learning skills, accordingly the need for teachers will not decrease, and the teachers‟ roles in the learning process will change (Little, 1995) As a matter of fact, autonomous learning empowers teachers and students by redefining their respective roles in language teaching and learning, where teachers are usually given more requirements and expectations For that reason, autonomous learning does not exclude teachers‟ roles in class, but teachers are supposed to organize their class teaching more efficiently In addition, autonomy levels are different among students, and not every student can achieve the optimum autonomy from the beginning, so teachers‟ support and guidance are fundamental to enhance learner autonomy

2.2.2 Related studies on the roles of teacher in fostering learner autonomy

Since more and more concern has been expressed over learner autonomy in educational field, the teachers, as the main component to develop learner autonomy

in language learning process, need to change themselves and perform various roles

to improve students‟ autonomous learning The exploration of teachers‟ stake in promoting autonomous learning has been carried out since the early days of learner autonomy Knowles (1975, as cited in Han (2014, p.24)) showed his faith in the

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involvement of teachers as “facilitators, helpers or consultants” This idea then was developed in Nunan (1993) and Voller (1997), who held that teachers should also participate, closely monitor their students‟ progress, consult and guide them through

their study Higgs (1988), on the other hand, elucidated teachers‟ roles as a manager

who creates a supportive and stimulating learning environment, who is available as

a resource person, who challenges learners to achieve their potential and who helps learners to become aware of institutional requirements and expectations associated with the discipline in which they are studying

Apart from theoretical researches, there have been also a number of empirical studies conducted in order to find out an overall picture about teachers‟ roles in fostering learner autonomy as perceived by students, mostly from Asian researchers, especially Chinese when the Ministry of Education of China determined that traditional teaching models was necessary to be shifted to a new teaching model that could promote students‟ autonomous learning in the early 2000s (Chan, 2001; Xu & Xu, 2004, Zhang & Fang, 2012) Chan (2001) in her research on students‟ readiness, willingness, and capacity for learner autonomy at Hong Kong University suggests that only by raising the students‟ awareness and employing flexible learning and teaching approaches could teachers enhance students‟ autonomous leaning The study invited the participation of twenty students who would respond to a questionnaire as the main data collection instrument This survey requires some information regarding students‟ aims and motivation of language learning, perspectives of the teachers‟ and learners‟ roles in the language learning process, learning styles and preferences, and finally their perceptions of autonomous learning Its results then revealed that the participants had been aware

of the difference between the teachers‟ roles and their own, they could learn autonomously in several ways, and they showed positive attitudes towards learner autonomy More importantly, it should be noted that involving students in the teaching process and designing motivated activities would greatly accelerate the development of students‟ autonomous learning However, the fact that this study

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applies quantitative approach as a single procedure to investigate the problem underlines the need for a deeper understanding of teachers‟ contribution to the autonomous learning process and their own view of this issue

Xu & Xu (2004) explore the specific roles of teachers in fostering learner autonomy Since then, their work has been cited in a large number of theoretical and empirical studies, especially those concerning teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions

on learner autonomy They point out that in autonomous leaning, teachers are expected to simultaneously play multiple roles as a guide, a facilitator, an assessor,

a psychological coordinator, a peer co-operator, a source of information, a learner and a researcher These roles, more specifically, was recapitulated in the following table

Table 2.2: Teachers‟ roles in developing learner autonomy from students‟

perspectives (Xu & Xu, 2004 as cited in Ligang, 2014)

Guide (Counsellor,

Instructor)

Teaching English learning strategies and methods: teaching effective ways of learning English autonomously; developing students' skills in listening and speaking as well

as communicative competence

Facilitator (Helper) Offering necessary enlightenment and assistance; helping

students to make English learning plans and objectives

Inspirator &

Supporter

Stimulating students' interest and enthusiasm in English learning: encouraging students to use English; motivating

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students to participate in communicative activities; encouraging students to do more speaking in English

Monitor & Evaluator Providing students with feedback of their performance in the

process of English learning as well as some guidance

Resource supplier

Imparting knowledge; providing some references and materials for English learning: introducing some Internet resources

Atmosphere creator Creating harmonious and active class atmosphere to

facilitate students‟ English studies

From Table 2.2, Xu & Xu‟s research provides a comprehensive overview of the teachers‟ roles with detailed elucidation of how each role can be performed These roles are believed to be “more specific and practical” for the fact that they are evaluated from the needs of students in their development of learner autonomy (Ligang, 2014) Nevertheless, this study has some limitations Firstly, it is merely based on the findings of the questionnaire, thereby posing the same problem with Chan‟s (2001) due to the absence of further qualitative data Secondly, the researchers focus on investigating the roles of teachers but in fact they are highly recommended to do some analysis of the impact of different roles on learners‟ learning strategies and motivation Therefore, in this thesis, the researcher would attempt to circumvent their limitations by investigating the teachers‟ roles from the viewpoint of both teachers and students, especially when it comes to a new context like Vietnam

Another considerable research with regard to teachers‟ contribution to improving students‟ level of autonomy is from Fang & Zhang (2012) This quantitative research is conducted to study the roles of Chinese teachers at the tertiary level to foster English language learners‟ autonomy, especially the roles that

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the teachers actually play and which roles would receive heavy emphasis In order

to answer these two research questions, a 24 - item questionnaire was delivered to

2685 non-English majors coming from eight universities at different levels in China Four variables of teachers‟ roles developed from previous studies, namely learning regulator, resource facilitator, classroom organizer, and study guide are the main foci of the questionnaire Each item in the survey mentioned one specific role that the teachers could perform in enhancing learner autonomy, and all the responses are designed on a five-point Likert scale so that the collected data could

be calculated and analysed with statistical means It is revealed from the findings of the study that the English teachers are expected to occupy multiple and more challenging roles Indeed, they should provide students with a wide range of learning resources regarding English language learning, encourage them to take full advantage of the materials, design and organise interesting classroom activities, guiding students to make practical learning plans and objectives, assist students in evaluating their actual performance by applying a variety of assessment approaches This result, in comparison with Xu & Xu (2004), comes as no surprise to the researcher, but the fact that of all four variables, “learning regulator” appears to be the most substantial contribution to students‟ enhancement of autonomous learning, while “classroom organiser” is shown to be inferior to the other three factors However, despite the strength of employing a solid questionnaire to explore the situation, adding a qualitative strand would also enrich the study to a large extent and provide an in-depth understanding on teachers‟ influence on learners‟ learning objectives

In Vietnam, autonomous learning is “relatively a new concept” in the context

of Vietnam (Nguyen, 2011) until the implementation of the credit - based system in universities all over the country with a view to providing students more freedom towards their learning following the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training‟s Decision 43/2007/QD-BGD&DT in 2007 Since then, there have also been a number of researchers expressing their interest in researching students‟ and

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teachers‟ perspectives of responsibilities with regard to enhancing learner autonomy (Dang, 2010; Nguyen, 2011; Le, 2013; Nguyen, 2014) but there is a scarcity of studies regarding the specific roles of the teachers in fostering the process Nguyen (2011) conducted his study to explore the perceptions of responsibilities and abilities related to autonomous learning, and the related activities in and off class of non-English majored undergraduate and graduate students in universities and colleges which apply the credit system 631 non-English majored students from 24 universities and colleges across Vietnam were invited to participate in the research Regarding 631 students, all of them have already applied the credit-based system, among which 481 were students of bachelor‟s programs and 150 of master‟s programs The researcher prepared a 42-item questionnaire which was adopted from that of Ustunluoglu (2009) to enquire about students‟ perception of their responsibilities, abilities, and the activities they engage in both inside and outside classroom The collected data was then computed and analysed with T- Test and Chi square The results of this study point out that despite the wish to change their learning strategies, the students failed in demonstrating strong desire for it They suffer a major setback due to their unwillingness to take on the duty of improving their own learning Meanwhile, the teachers have not yet “felt the need” to promoting students learner autonomy and want to take most of the responsibilities

in their hand This causes mounting concern as students could not become a long learners if they are unaware of their own responsibilities Therefore, in spite of playing a significant role in the learning process, it is necessary for the teachers to share the responsibilities in fostering autonomous learning with the students so as to achieve the educational goal of developing them into autonomous learners

life-Le (2013) holds the same viewpoint to Nguyen (2011) in highlighting the influential roles of the teachers in the class His study conducted at a private university aims at exploring the possibilities of fostering learner autonomy among Vietnamese university students through pedagogical intervention to develop their capacity to take charge of their own learning To be more specific, the researcher

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devoted great effort in investigating students‟ readiness for autonomous learning, levels and kinds of motivation they may have, perceptions and practice of learner autonomy in the view of students and teachers, the effects of the learner training programme on the intervention students and whether culture plays any role in the development and manifestations of learner autonomy in Vietnam Findings from his Readiness for autonomy questionnaire (RLAQ) as well as Perspectives of learner autonomy questionnaire (PLAQ) state that students heavily depend on teachers in every aspect of learning It is believed by both teachers and students that making decisions regarding learning in the classroom is teachers‟ responsibility The teachers, on the other hand, believed that their roles in the class can be a motivator whose jobs are motivating students, stimulating their interest in learning in order to improve their learning themselves; learning facilitators who use their knowledge and skills to help students explore the language; a knowledge provider who provides students necessary resources for their study; an advisor who gives advice

of what to learn and which learning materials would be suitable; or a supervisor who evaluates students‟ progress of learning Not only do teachers think they play a number of roles but they also disregard their students‟ ability to make decisions and take responsibility for their learning either inside or outside the classroom This may result in the fact that students tend to rely on their teacher for guidance and provision of autonomous learning strategies In spite of the fact that the data collection instruments were carefully designed, the researcher still faces considerable limitations It is the context generalisation that founders on providing the overall picture for the current situation in Vietnam and worldwide The study was carried out at a private university, which cannot represent “university students

at Ho Chi Minh city” as being stated in the thesis title

In conclusion, teachers‟ roles in fostering learner autonomy are richly diverse

in teaching procedures It is obvious that teachers who would like to stimulate students‟ autonomous learning process should not consider themselves as directors

of classroom learning or as “founts of knowledge to be poured into the heads of the

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learners” (Benson, 2004) Therefore, enhancing autonomy is not simply the interaction between teachers and students, but also the methods used in interacting with students (Crabbe, 1993, p.208, as cited in Benson, 2004) From the summaries

of notable studies presented above, most of these research projects have conspicuous success in approaching their research problems, and reporting key findings that would make positive contribution to other researchers sharing the same interests in learner autonomy However, there is an insurmountable problem remained in these studies - the dearth of qualitative data which is anticipated to produce profound insights into the issue and a cross - exchange of teachers‟ and students‟ views towards the roles of teachers in fostering autonomous learning This study, with the researcher‟s great expectation, would make an attempt to span the gap from the aforementioned papers

Summary

The aim of this chapter is to define two major terms in this research (1) learner autonomy in terms of its definition, how it is systemised, assessed and achieved, and (2) teacher’s roles in learner autonomy, including the shift from teacher-centred approach to learner-centred approach and how the roles are identified in the recent decades Furthermore, it accentuates the gap from previous studies which becomes the rationale for the researcher to carry out this paper In the next section, a comprehensive description of the sampling process, data collection instruments and procedure as well as data analysis methods will be issued in order to address the research problems

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

The following chapter describes in details the methods adopted to tackle the research problems mentioned in the first chapter It includes the sampling process and participants, the description of and justification for data collection instruments and the data analysis

3.1 Research questions

This case study was carried out to investigate the teachers‟ and students‟ understanding of the teachers‟ roles as well as the effectiveness of strategies used by them in fostering autonomous learners In order to do this, two main research questions were phrased as follows:

Question 1: What are teachers’ roles in enhancing leaner autonomy in speaking and listening classes as perceived by teachers and students?

Question 2: What strategies have teachers used to promote learner autonomy in speaking and listening lessons?

The first question aims at identifying teachers‟ and students‟ perception on the roles of teachers in promoting learner autonomy, scrutinising the significant positions of teachers in their speaking and listening classes and whether the participants share any common beliefs on this issue The second one then investigates the methods used by teachers to develop their students‟ autonomy Overall, by framing these questions, the researcher sets her sights on providing an in-depth overview of teachers‟ roles in developing learner autonomy

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hundred lecturers and approximately 20,000 students majoring in various linguistic subjects English Division 1, whose responsibility is teaching and training the first - year students, is the specific context of this research In their first year, students at English Division 1 attend four courses, 1A, 1B (English for Social and Academic purposes) in their first semester and 2A, 2B in the second semester The study was intended to work with freshmen in the second semester when they were supposed to

be more familiar with the learning and teaching styles at university, their friends and teachers and their student life Between English 2A and 2B courses, the researcher decided to work with 2A for the fact that lecturers teaching this course

vary in years of experience, while 2B required its teachers to be highly experienced

According to the guideline and the program provided by teachers of Division 1, FELTE, VNU-ULIS, English 2A is an integrated course designed to improve students‟ language skills in different familiar themes such as Life, Work, Time Out, Great Minds, etc The proficiency goal of this course is for students to develop from level A2 toward B1 Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) Partner and group work is central to enhancing students‟ language skills and content learning Students will learn by engaging in scaffolding and theme-based activities

in this course They will also learn to organise and take responsibility for their own progress through assessment forms and in- and out - of -class activities There are

15 meetings in the course and each meeting focuses on one theme Besides, week 5,

10 and 15 are for revision, and students are required to finish and submit two assignments in relation to their speaking and listening classes - Listening Quiz and Pronunciation Showcase

Regarding Listening Quiz, this task is to develop students‟ ability to listen for overall comprehension and detail precision They need to listen again to 1-2 short passages from their homework listening and complete the quizzes on week 5,

10, 15 This assignment weights 15% of the final results Role Play is intended for students to develop their ability to adopt a clear, natural pronunciation and intonation For this task, they have to transcribe one or two short conversations,

is more, only by “using different kinds of data collection and gathering the views, perceptions, experiences and/or ideas of diverse individuals relating to the case” (Hamilton, 2011, p.1) could the researcher collect reliable and comprehensive data

to accomplish the research objectives In particular, this study implements observation, survey, and interviews in order to explore what students and teachers perceive teacher‟s roles in enhancing learner autonomy, what the teachers actually

do in their speaking and listening lessons to foster it The sampling and data analysis process will be the focus of the next sections

3.3.2 Participants

In the attempt to find the appropriate samples for the study, the researcher applies a multistage sampling process The detailed process of selecting suitable participants for the research is summarised in the following table (see Table 3.1.)

2 junior teachers 2 senior teachers

1-year experience 1- year experience 10-year experience 6-year experience Group 1: 30

students

Group 4: 29 students

Group 2: 30 students

Group 3: 28 students

Stage 2: Survey 107 students

Focus group 1 Focus group 2 Focus group 3 Focus group 4

An, Ha, Minh,

Hong, Hung

Phuong, Tam, Huyen, Lan, Thuy

Minh, Van, Trang, Loan, Nam

Linh, Thao, Hien, Thu, Quan

At first, the questionnaires were delivered to the eleven teacher participants who take charge of speaking and listening lessons of the course English for Social Purposes 2 (English 2A) The surveys were then interpreted and four teachers with different years of experience were invited to participate in the second phase They were divided into two focus groups, the senior teachers with more than five-year teaching experience at FELTE and junior teachers who had been working here for nearly a year Together with these four teachers, 107 students from four classes that they were in charge of also invited to take part in the study They then were surveyed to select 20 students to form four focus groups These four groups, along

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with their four teachers would attend the last phase of the data collection process - interviews In this stage, each participant was coded in a new name to guarantee their confidentiality, particularly “Anh” for the first junior teacher and Group 1 for the class he was in charge; “Thuong” for the second junior and her Group 2; “Binh” for the first senior teacher and her Group 3; and lastly “Tham” for the second senior teacher and her Group 4 The names of students are also pseudonyms and were named randomly

3.4 Data collection instruments

Questionnaires, interviews and observations are used as the main instruments

of data collection Methodology triangulation was applied to gather and validate quantitative and quantitative data The detailed plan and design for each tool will be described as followed

3.4.1 Questionnaires

In this study, this method was the main tool of data collection for “they are easy to construct, extremely versatile, and unique capable of gathering a large amount of information quickly in a form that is readily processable” (Dornyei,

2003, p.1) Accordingly, two sets of questionnaire, one for students and the other for teachers were prepared (see Appendix 1a and 1b) These two versions mainly enquire about the participants‟ perspectives on the roles of teachers in enhancing autonomous learning, and they were delivered to students (Appendix 1a) and students (Appendix 1b) at the end of the course (week 15) Each survey starts with personal information and the time participants have learned/ taught English The main part includes 20 statements which rely on key issues mentioned in the Readiness for learner autonomy questionnaire of Le (2013) and the last Yes/no question was also added to enquire about further roles given by participants Also, among these statements, special adaptation was made so as to capture the most comprehensive and relevant data regarding the stakes that the teachers may have in fostering their students‟ autonomy in listening and speaking lessons The items then

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were categorised into dissimilar functions (see Table 3.2.) basing on the relevant studies discussed in Xu & Xu (2014)

Table 3.2: Question items categorised in different teachers‟ roles

to foster learner autonomy

Teachers’

roles

Roles’ descriptions (Xu & Xu, 2014)

Items from the Questionnaire (adapted from Le, 2013)

Guide

Teaching English learning strategies and methods: teaching effective ways

of learning English autonomously;

developing students' skills in listening and speaking as well as communicative competence

4 explain why students are doing an activity

16 raise students‟ awareness of self - study and confidence in improving their English listening and speaking skills

18 introduce students strategies to self - study speaking and listening more effectively

Facilitator

Offering necessary enlightenment and assistance; helping students to make English learning plans and objectives

5 set learning goals for students from the beginning of the course 11.help students make progress during lessons

12 help students make progress outside class

Organizer

& Designer

Organizing some communicative activities to get students to have more chances to practice English

2 create opportunities for students to practice speaking and listening

in class

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Teachers’

roles

Roles’ descriptions (Xu & Xu, 2014)

Items from the Questionnaire (adapted from Le, 2013)

3 decide how long students spend on in-class activities

14 decide what students should learn in English lessons

15 choose activities for students to practice speaking and listening skills

Co-operator

Making friends with students; able to offer correct suggestions; willing to communicate with students about their English learning; working with students

to solve their learning problems

8 provide answers to all students‟ questions

9 provide students common expressions/ language function

10 explain new grammar and vocabulary

Inspirator

Stimulating students' interest and enthusiasm in English learning:

encouraging students to use English;

motivating students to participate in communicative activities; encouraging students to do more speaking in English

13 stimulate students‟ interest in learning speaking and listening skills

19 create and maintain a relaxing and supportive learning environment for students to practice speaking skills in class

20 encourage students to use English frequently

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Teachers’

roles

Roles’ descriptions (Xu & Xu, 2014)

Items from the Questionnaire (adapted from Le, 2013)

to communicate during speaking and listening lessons

Evaluator

Providing students with feedback of their performance in the process of English learning as well as some guidance

1 Motivate students to work harder

6 give students regular tests to evaluate students‟ speaking and listening skills

7 help students evaluate their speaking and listening skills by giving immediate and appropriate feedback

Resource

supplier

Imparting knowledge; providing some references and materials for English learning: introducing some Internet resources

17 provide students different resources to practice speaking and listening skills

As shown in the table, the function “atmosphere creator”, which appears as

an independent role of teachers was merged to “inspirator” section on the grounds that creating relaxing and active class atmosphere mostly contribute to students‟

interests and motivation to participate in classroom activities Each Likert - type

item was designed in the form of a 5 - point scale for respondents to rate the degree

to which they agree or disagree with the statements However, only after the data was collected and analysed did the researcher realise one limitation All the statements presented in the questionnaire reflect participants‟ positive attitudes towards teachers‟ roles, which may affect the participants‟ answers and the

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reliability of the questionnaire However, as there are other kinds of data collection instruments, this minor limitation would not significantly affect the final results of the research

3.4.2 Interviews

Interview is considered as a useful instrument to “find out from them the things we cannot directly observe… and allow us to enter into the other person‟s perspective” (Patton, 1990, p.87) Besides, according to McNamara (1999), interview is particularly useful for digging up more in-depth information or experiences from the participants For that reason, it is often utilised as a follow-up stage to further investigate the responses after survey questionnaires are conducted Moreover, if the respondents do not give their answers to some questions in the questionnaire, interview can be a workable solution That means interview shows its efficiency on eliciting data from learners who are not comfortable in other modes (Mackey and Gass, 2005, p.175)

In this study, to take the full advantage of this method, semi - structured interviews were conducted The researcher used two written lists of questions, one for students and the other for teachers as a guide to directly approach the participants (see Appendix 2a & 2b) while still having freedom to digress and probe for more information The guided questions for teachers begin with an item enquiring their perspectives towards learner autonomy, in view of the fact that a dearth of knowledge or misunderstanding on the development of learner autonomy may result in their diminished roles in this process The following questions were added to explicate unintelligible data collected from the questionnaires, particularly what they considered their actual roles in fostering autonomous learning and what they had done to fulfil this task

The interviews took the form of informal and relaxing recorded talks Also, the researcher made use of open - ended questions for the sake of leaving space for interviewees to state their opinions regarding the roles of teachers in English