Integrating american cultural studies into teaching english to the grade 11 students at tran phu gifted high school an initial investigation

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OFPOST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ TUYẾT MAI INTEGRATING AMERICAN CULTURAL STUDIES INTO TEACHIN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF

POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ TUYẾT MAI

INTEGRATING AMERICAN CULTURAL STUDIES INTO TEACHING ENGLISH TO THE GRADE 11 STUDENTS AT TRAN PHU GIFTED HIGH

SCHOOL: AN INITIAL INVESTIGATION

Bước đầu nghiên cứu việc tích hợp dạy kiến thức văn hoá Mỹ

trong việc dạy tiếng Anh cho học sinh khối 11

Trường THPT chuyên Trần Phú, Hải Phòng

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.14.10

HANOI –2012

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF

POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ TUYẾT MAI

INTEGRATING AMERICAN CULTURAL STUDIES INTO TEACHING ENGLISH TO THE GRADE 11 STUDENTS AT TRAN PHU GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL: AN INITIAL

INVESTIGATION

Bước đầu nghiên cứu việc tích hợp dạy kiến thức văn hoá

Mỹ trong việc dạy tiếng Anh cho học sinh khối 11 Trường THPT chuyên Trần Phú, Hải Phòng

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10

Supervisor: VŨ THỊ THU THỦY, M.A

HANOI – 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ……… ……….i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……….……….ii

ABSTRACT ……….iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……….iv

LIST OF TABLES ……… …vii

LIST OF FIGURES ……… …….…viii

PART I: INTRODUCTION……….1

1 Rationale of the study……… 1

2 Aims of the study……….…3

3 Research questions……… 3

4 Scope of the study………

……… 4

5 Significance of the study……….…4

6 Method of the study……….…4

7 Design of the study……… 5

PART II: DEVELOPMENT ……… 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ……….….6

1 Language and Culture 1.1 What is language …….……….… ……….6

1.2 What is Cultural studies? ………,,,……….6

1.3 Cultural studies in language teaching ……… ……….…….8

2 What are the main goals for teaching American cultural studies? ………9

3 What are the principles for teaching American culture studies?

……… 10

4 What are the most common approaches to the teaching of American Culturalstudies? ……… …11

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5 What are some techniques and activities for teaching American Cultural studies?

……… 12

6 Evaluating materials for teaching American Cultural studie……… 14

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……….……… …16

2.1 Overview of the current situation of teaching and learning American Cultural studies at Tran Phu Gifted High School ……….……….16

2.2 Methodology 2.2.1 Sample ………… ……….………17

2.2.2 Data collection instruments ……… 19

2.2.2.1 Survey questionnaire ……….19

2.2.2.2 Classroom observation ….……….……… 21

2.2.2.3 Interview ……… 21

2.2.3 Data collection procedure……….22

2.2.4 Data analysis procedure……….22

2.3 Conclusion ……… 23

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ………24

3.1 Findings from questionnaires for the teachers ……… … …… 24

3.1.1 The teachers‟ perceptions on the definition of American Cultural studies ……… ……… …….…24

3.1.2 The teachers‟ perceptions on the importance of teaching American cultural studies in the classroom ……….24

3.1.3 Frequency of teaching the culture-related issues ……… 25

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3.1.4 The teachers‟ way of teaching American Cultural studies in the

classroom ……… 25

3.1.5 The teachers‟ choice of topics for American Cultural studies in the classroom ………26

3.1.6 The teachers‟ choice of materials of teaching American Cultural studies in the classroom ……… 27

3.1.7 The teachers‟ opinions about difficulties in teaching American Cultural studies in the classroom ……….29

3.2 Findings from questionnaires for the students ………31

3.2.1 The students‟ perception of the importance of learning American Cultural studies in the classroom ……… …31

3.2.2 The students‟ opinions of the ways of teaching American Cultural studies in the classroom ……… 31

3.2.3 The students‟ choice of topics for American Cultural studies in the classroom ……… 33

3.2.4 The students‟ ways of gaining American Cultural studies knowledge ……… ………….35

3.3 Findings from class observations ……… ………36

3.4 Findings from the interview ……… 37

3.5 Discussion of the findings ……… 38

3.6 Conclusion ……… 40

PART III: CONCLUSION ……… ………41

1.Summary of the study ……… ……….……….41

vi

Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire for the teachers ………IAppendix 2: Survey questionnaire for the students ………VAppendix 3: Interview Questions ……… VIIIAppendix 4: Suggested lesson plan ……… IX

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Characteristics of the teachers

Table 2: Difference between the teachers‟ and students‟ opinions about the ways of teaching American Cultural studies in the classroom

Table 3: Difference between the teachers‟ and students‟ scores for topics of teaching American Cultural studies in the classroom

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: The teachers‟ scores for the ways of teaching Americans studies in the classroom

Figure 2: The teachers‟ scores for the topics of teaching American Cultural studies in the

classroom Figure 3: The teachers‟ scores for materials for teaching American Cultural studies in the

classroom Figure 4: Difficulties in teaching American Cultural studies in the classroom

Figure 5: The students‟ score for the ways of teaching American Cultural studies in the

classroom Figure 6: The students‟ score for the topics of teaching American Cultural studies in the

classroom

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PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

It cannot be denied that English has nowadays become a common means ofcommunication of human being all over the world Perceiving that trend of the globalintegration, Vietnam has been more and more active to train active and dynamicVietnamese, who can use English fluently for communicative purposes That is thereason why in 2002, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has set out newaims for English language teaching for secondary education as well as introduced newseries of English textbooks from grade 6 to grade 12

The new English textbooks for high school students are divided into two sets:the advanced and the standard Each unit in the new English textbooks consists of fiveparts: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus, among which theLanguage Focus sections are to consolidate students‟ pronunciation and grammar.They are claimed to adopt the latest teaching and learning approaches: communicativeapproach and learner-centered approach and aim at developing both language skills andlanguage knowledge for students

Since their nation-wide implementation in the school year 2006-2007, a greatnumber of researchers have been carried out to evaluate these new textbooks as well as

to find out how these textbooks are actually implemented or the difficulties thatteachers and students at high schools have to face when teaching and learning with thenew textbooks Most of these studies have dealt with the teaching and learning of thefour language skills which are believed to be new for both teachers and students.However, there is still one more indispensable aspect which tends to be depreciated It

is culture that turns out to be the fifth skill in language learning and tacked on to the

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teaching of speaking, listening, reading, and writing It always stays in the background

to decide the good language learners when paid enough attention to It supportslearners to achieve their communicative competence Nevertheless, the number ofresearch on the teaching and learning of culture in general and America studies inparticular in the classroom is obviously limited It is necessary to carry out moreresearch on how teachers and students teach and learn culture in the actual classroom

Besides, national examinations (national examinations for GCSE, universityentrance examinations) have currently included some questions related to Americancultural studies issues (for example: how to address certain situations, etc.)

On the other hand, there are various cultures that English language is gettingconnected with Among those, the United States has a leading economic, political andcultural force in the world Moreover, the United States is also the ideal destination foroverseas students, which has resulted from its top-ranking education system Thus,learning about the culture of the United States appears to be a wise choice

Moreover, after two years of teaching English with the new English textbooks atTran Phu Gifted High School, the researcher observed that the teachers and learnersthere faced a number of difficulties in teaching and learning American cultural studies

in the classroom

According to Bada (2000: 101), “the need for cultural literacy in ELT arises mainly from the fact that most language learners, not exposed to cultural elements of the society in question, seem to encounter significant hardship in communicating meaning to native speakers.” In addition, nowadays the L2 culture is presented as an

interdisciplinary core in many L2 curricula designs and textbooks (Sysoyev &Donelson, 2002)

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Stimulated by the above reasons, the researcher has decided to conduct thisstudy It is hoped that this study will discover the reality of teaching and learningAmerican cultural studies at Tran Phu Gifted high school in order to contribute someimmediate solutions.

2 Aims of the study

The aim of this study is to examine the current teaching and learning of Americancultural studies in the high school classroom at Tran Phu Gifted High School

In order to achieve the aim, the study seeks to find out:

(1) The teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions on the importance of American cultural studies teaching and learning

(2) How the teachers and the students deal with American cultural studies in the classroom

(3) The teachers‟ perceived difficulties in teaching and learning American cultural studies in the classroom

4 What are the difficulties in teaching and learning American cultural studies as perceived by the teachers?

4 Scope of the study.

This study is limited to the teaching and learning reality with regard to teachingand learning American cultural studies in the classroom

This study is a detailed survey at Tran Phu Gifted High School in Hai Phong.Therefore, the findings of the study are not intended to be generalized to other schoolcontexts Indeed the findings may not apply beyond the actual participants in thisparticular study

5 Significance of the study

This study helps to identify the problems and suggests ways of improving them;therefore, it is hoped that this study will be beneficial in many ways First, participants

in the study (the teachers and the learners at Tran Phu Gifted High School) will benefitimmediately from the experience of reflection Secondly, the findings of the study willcontribute information to textbook writers and educators to determine curricula andprogram direction

6 Method of the study

The study was designed to use both quantitative and qualitative methods Then,various instruments were used to collect the data for the study from different sources:

- survey questionnaires to investigate the teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards

American cultural studies, their teaching and learning habits and their difficulties in teaching and learning American cultural studies in the classroom

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- class observations to get information about both the teachers‟ methods of teaching

and students‟ ways of learning American cultural studies in the classroom

- interviews with the teachers to get in-depth information about the teachers‟ and the

grade 11 students‟ suggestions to improve the teaching and learning of Americancultural studies in the classroom

7 Design of the study

The study is divided into three parts: Introduction, Development andConclusion

The Introduction presents an overview of the study including the rationale,

aims, scope, significance, methodology and design of the study

The major part of the study, the Development, is divided into three chapters.

Chapter one provides theoretical background for the study Chapter two presents themethodology of the study and the last chapter is devoted to analyzing and discussingthe findings of the study

The Conclusion part provides a brief summary of the findings in

correspondence with the four proposed research questions as well as offering somerecommendations for better American cultural studies teaching and learning Thelimitations of and suggestions for further study are also discussed in this chapter

Besides, the survey questionnaires for the teachers and students and thesuggested lesson plan are included in the Appendices

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PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1 LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

1 1 WHAT IS LANGUAGE?

Language has been around since human beings started to communicate with oneanother for their daily life needs The term language is so familiar that few peoplewould ever try to define it It is superficially not hard to define it, but in fact to have acomprehensive definition of language is an extremely daunting task Definitions forlanguage run the gamut from very simple to extremely complex Patrikis (1988) simply

defined language as signs that convey meanings Language is also “a system of signs that is seen as having itself a cultural value” (Kramsch, 1998, p 3) From a linguistic

perspective, Sapir (1968), a renowned linguist, defined language as an entirely human

and non-intrinsic method of communicating ideas, emotions, and desires by means of asystem of voluntarily produced symbols Generally speaking, language can be regarded

as a system of verbal and nonverbal signs used to express meanings Besides language,another closely related concept that is sometimes mentioned in the literature oflanguage teaching is culture

1 2 WHAT IS CULTURAL STUDIES?

Cultural studies is an exciting and “hot” field of study It has become the rage

amongst progressive of all sorts – not least because culture as a theme or topic of studyhas replaced society as the general subject of inquiry among progressive Culturalstudies has made its presence felt in academic work within the arts, the humanities, thesocial sciences and even science and technology It appears to be everywhere and

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everyone seems to be talking about it And being aware of what exactly cultural studiesinvolves being conscious of what culture is.

Culture is a multidimensional concept Concerning the terms “culture”, several

researchers have attempted to define it The very term culture seems rather

controversial Culture, can be viewed from a variety of angles, depending on whether

we take into account tits oral, or written aspects, whether we look at highbrow, orpopular culture, and whether we focus special events or everyday life and practices

One of the well-known definitions of culture is Goodenough‟s (1957, p 167):

…a society‟s culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order tooperate in a manner acceptable to its members, and to do so in any role that they acceptfor any one of themselves

Brown (2007, p 188), however, defined culture as a way of life, as the contextwithin which people exist, think, feel, and relate to others, as the “glue” that bindsgroups of people together Moreover, culture, as Brown (2007) suggested, can also bedefined as the ideas, customs, skills, arts, and tools that characterize a certain group ofpeople in a given period of time

Additionally, Mead (1961, p 90) postulated that culture can be learned, whereasFox (1999) noted that “culture is relative and changeable in space and time” Likelanguage, culture may seem to be another concept that is not easy to define In fact,Tang (2006) rightly observed that despite the continued efforts in various disciplinaryfields to find a definition for the term culture, at the present time there is no singledefinition that satisfies everyone

In conclusion, culture is a powerful human tool for survival, but it is a fragilephenomenon It is constantly changing and easily lost because it exists only in ourminds Our written languages, governments, buildings, and other man-made things aremerely the products of culture They are not culture in themselves In other words, it

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can be noted that culture seems to be (almost) everything and cultural studies the study

of (almost) everything Thus, the definition of cultural studies cannot be misconstrued

on the assumption that it is not simply the study of different cultures Actually, it usesmany other studies to analyze different cultures such as philosophy, theology, literature,etc Cultural studies helps discover how and why cultures are formed and the reasongroups of people act the way they do

1.3 CULTURAL STUDIES IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Both language and culture are concepts that seem to have posed greatdifficulties for scholars to define Besides, there seems to be an inevitable relationshipbetween these two concepts Shaul and Furbee (1998) stated that languages andcultures are systematic to a large degree, and are thus observable and describable.Furthermore, many authors have pointed out that language and culture are closelyrelated (Ardila-Rey, 2008; Brown, 2007; Damen, 1987; Kuang, 2007; Kramsch, 1998;Tang, 1999) For example, Ardila-Rey (2008, p 335) maintained that: “Language andculture are inextricably linked with each other.” Likewise, Brown (2007) pointed outthe interrelatedness of language and culture:

Language is a part of a culture, and culture is a part of the language; the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without losing the significance of either language or culture The acquisition of a second language, except for specialized, instrumental acquisition (as may be the case, say, in acquisition of reading knowledge of a language for examining scientific texts), is also the acquisition of a second culture” (p 189-190).

The dialectical correlation between language and culture has always been aconcern of L2 teachers and educators There are a number of studies aiming at theseamless relationship between L2 teaching and target culture teaching Over the lastdecade, there are also a number of the scholars such as Byram (1989; 1994a; 1994b;

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1997a; 1997b) and Kramsch (1988; 1993; 1996; 2001) who have begun to realize theintertwined relation between culture and language teaching It can be hard to learn alanguage without knowing its culture Learning a language has in fact been considered

as “inseparable from learning its culture” (Kuang, 2007, p.81)

More than two decades ago, Brown (1986) remarked that second languagelearning in some respects involves acquiring a second identity, and that secondlanguage learning is often equal to second culture learning Brown (2007) again clearlyaverred that acquiring a second language is acquiring a second culture

Similarly, Seliger (1988) noted that culture is among the various factors that willaffect the rate and degree of second language teaching He reasoned that becauselanguage is employed in social exchanges, the feelings, attitudes, and motivations oflearners in relation to the target language, to the speakers of the language, and to theculture will have an influence on how learners respond to the input to which they areexposed

To sum up, it has been emphasized that without the study of culture, teaching L2

is inaccurate and incomplete There exists a widespread consensus among scholars thatlanguage and culture should not be treated as separate entities and culture should beintegrated into the language classroom Language is seen as part of culture and culture

as part of language, which is why they cannot be separated and should be taughttogether (Brown 2000:177) For L2 students, language study seems senseless if theyknow nothing about the people who speak the target language or the country in whichthe target language is spoken Acquiring a new language means a lot more than themanipulation of syntax and lexicon That is to say, an analytic look at the native culture

is as important as the learning of the target culture

2 What are the main goals for teaching American cultural studies?

When the main aim of foreign language teaching is to develop students‟ ability

to communicate effectively and appropriately in various situations, the teaching of

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culture should facilitate intercultural communication and understanding And, theteaching American cultural studies in English classes doesn‟t make an exception.According to Valette (1986), its cultural goals can be classified into four categories: (1)developing a greater awareness of and a broader knowledge about American – thetarget culture, (2) acquiring a command of the etiquette of American culture, (3)understanding the differences between American culture and Vietnamese culture, (4)understanding the values of American culture.

Additionally, Peterson and Coltrane (2003) indicated that cultural activities aswell as objectives should be carefully and clearly organized and incorporated intolesson plans These two authors even asserted that culture must be included as a vitalcomponent of language learning

3 What are the principles for teaching American culture studies?

Based on Kramsch‟s study (1993: 205 - 206), in which she highlights what shecalls “new ways of looking at the teaching of language and culture”, here are theprinciples for teaching American cultural studies:

 Establishing a “sphere of interculturality”, which means that teaching English

is not transferring information between cultures but culture should be put in relationwith its own The intercultural approach includes a reflection on both cultures

 Teaching culture as an interpersonal process, which means replacing the

teaching of facts and behaviours by the teaching of a process that helps to understandothers

 Teaching culture as difference, which means considering the multi-culturality

and multi-ethnicity of modern societies and looking at various factors like age, gender,regional origin, ethnic background, and social class In other words, cultures should not

be seen as monolithic

 Crossing disciplinary boundaries, which means linking the teaching of culture

to other disciplines like anthropology, sociology and semiology

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In addition, there are some more aspects that might be considered whileteaching culture, for example, the teacher needs to be objective, get rid of clichédimages and stereotypes, introduce are element of discovery learning, consider theAmerican dimension, and present cultural information in a non-judgemental fashion.

4 What are the most common approaches to the teaching of American

cultural studies?

Factors influencing the choice of methodology:

 The situation in which the language is taught;

 Learners‟ age and command of English;

The approaches can be classified in different ways

In very broad terms, they can be divided into two: the mono-cultural approach which focuses on (or mostly) on American cultural studies and the comparative

approach which are based on comparing American cultural studies and Vietnamese

studies The first one is considered inadequate nowadays because it does not considerlearners‟ understanding of their own culture The second one appears moreconventional for it tends to relate American culture to learners‟ own The comparativeapproach does involve evaluation but not in terms of comparison with somethingwhich is better, but in terms of improving what is all too familiar (Byram and Planet,

2000, p.189) The comparative approach may begin either with the strange or thefamiliar, yet some authors emphasize the need to deal with the familiar first and thenmove to the strange Through comparison, the students discover both similarities anddifferences of American culture and their own culture This, in turn, can lead toincreased knowledge, understanding and acceptance

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In addition to the above-discussed approaches, there are a number of approachesthat are centered around various aspects of American cultural studies or concentrate ondeveloping certain skills in learners The following approaches concentrate on bothgiving knowledge and understanding of American culture and encourage students tocompare it with their own.

The theme-based or thematic approach to the teaching of American cultural

studies is based around certain themes, for examples, symbolism, value, ceremony, love, honour, beauty, intellectuality, the art of living, realism, common sense, family, liberty, patriotism, religion, and education.

The topic-based approach concentrates on more general and cross-sectional

topics which involves various cultural issues

The problem-oriented approach aims at getting learners interested in

American cultural studies and encourages them to do some research on their own

The task-oriented approach is also based on students‟ own research

Differently from the previous one it is characterized by co-operative tasks

The skill-centered approach differs from the above-given approaches in a

sense that it is more practical and might be useful for those who need to live within thetarget-language community It aims at developing learners‟ skills, which they mayneed to manage the issues involved in (mis)communication between cultures

5 What are some techniques and activities for teaching American cultural studies?

There is a great variety of techniques and activities developed for integratingAmerican cultural studies into English teaching Many authors have proposed someviable ways or approaches to teaching American to students Blatchford (1986) argued

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that newspapers could be vehicles to teach American cultural studies with the teachers‟help and guide Literature has also been considered a useful source for upper-immediate and advanced students to have greater insight into the culture (Valdes,1986) Scollon (1999) convincingly noted that commercial television can provide a richsource to bring unconscious cultural codes to the level of conscious perception.

Krasner (1999) recommended some beneficial techniques and methods ofteaching American cultural studies: observation (through films, news broadcast, maps

or menus), having students visit ethic sections or restaurants of cities, mini drama(which provides an example of miscommunication in the form of dramatization and thestudents are asked to discover the cause of the miscommunication), culture capsule(which offer brief explanations of foreign language customs, and culture capsule canalso be in the form of oral presentation, reading, writing, or visual aids or realia), androle play (which gives the students opportunities to demonstrate and rehearseappropriate cultural behavior)

According to Stern (1992), some instructional strategies to teach English andAmerican cultural studies that may seem helpful for teachers looking for somepractical ways to integrate American cultural studies in their English lessons

 creating an authentic classroom environment (techniques include, for example, displays and exhibitions of realia);

 providing cultural information (for example, cultural aside, culture capsule and culture cluster);

 cultural aside: an item of cultural information offered by the teacher when

it arises in the text

 cultural capsule: a brief description of one aspect of American cultural studies followed by a discussion of the contrasts between two cultures

example, culture

assimilator); 13

 cultural assimilator: similar to culture capsule, but assigned as a silent reading exercise

behavioural and affective aspects (for example drama and mini-drama);

cognitive approaches (for example, student research);

 the role of literature and humanities (for example, literary readings and

6 Materials for teaching American cultural studies.

Checklist for evaluating the cultural dimension in materials for teaching

American cultural studies.

Evaluating materials is a complicated process Therefore, various materialsevaluation checklists have been provided to help teachers to choose teaching materialsthat best meet the purposes of the teachers as well as the needs of students Of all thethorough checklists dealing with the cultural aspects in a more systematic way, Huhn‟s(1978) is considered as a typical example Based on his lists, the following criteria areincluded:

Factual accuracy and up-to-date information;

Avoidance (or relativisation) of stereotypes;

Presentation of a realistic picture;

Freedom from (or questioning) ideological tendencies;

Presentation of phenomena in context rather than isolated facts;

Relevance of historical material to contemporary society;

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Presentation of personalities as products of their age.

In addition, Sercu (1998), who also considers representativeness and realism as the most important factors, suggests some questions for the teachers to focus on:

What image is presented: a royal or a realistic one?

Do the materials only present a tourist point of view?

Are negative and problematic aspects of American cultural studies touchedupon?

 Do the materials offer an authentic reflection of the multicultural character of the American society?

 Do situations occur in which someone with a good mastery of English is not understood because of differences in culture-specific reference frames?

 Are teachers and learners encouraged to consult additional material on the topicsdealt with?

 Are the materials written by members of the different nationalities living in the foreign country or do they mainly present the white male point of view?

Are mentality, values, ideas dealt with?

 Is a historical perspective presented and used to explain certain present-day features of mentality or national character?

 Is the information on American cultural studies integrated in the course or is itadded at the end of every lesson or even in presented in a separate chapter at the end ofthe course?

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CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.1 Overview of the current situation of teaching and learning English at Tran Phu Gifted High School.

Tran Phu gifted high school was founded twenty six years ago as a result of theincreasing demand of a gifted high school in the city Despite the short period offoundation, the school soon becomes one of the top schools in the country with regard

to the outstanding achievements of the international Olympiad and the educationquality as well The school has built up its own prestige, which is the reason it has nowbeen the destination school of all the students in the city

Besides, the school recently started to recognize the increasingly important role

of English, so afternoon English classes taught by the foreign teachers for all theclasses have been offered for three years Plus, the gifted students pay much attention

to English not only as a foreign language but also as an indispensable tool for them toreach their aim to study abroad of 60% students

Concerning the students, the school is the gifted one; therefore, beside two majored classes, the rest are the subject-majored ones which are classified into twostreams: the Natural Science Stream (Maths, IT, Physics, Chemistry, Biology andScience classes) and Social Science Stream (Literature, English, French, Chinese,Russia, and Social classes) Except for the classes with other foreign language, eachclass has three English lessons a week

non-In terms of teaching materials, the new textbook was developed based on thenew national curriculum The book is claimed to adopt a theme-based syllabus.However, this syllabus may be more appropriately described as a „multi-strand‟ onesince there is almost everything in it: topics, tasks, functions, notions, skills, grammar,vocabulary and sounds The methodologies the book is claimed to follow are the

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“learner-centered approach and the communicative approach with task-based teaching

being the central teaching method” (English 11, Teacher‟s Manual, p.12) This textbook is

accompanied with cassette tapes, student‟s workbook and teacher‟s manual

There are 16 teaching units and six review units in the book Each teaching unitcovers one topic and is structured into five sections: Reading, Speaking, Listening,Writing and Language Focus Each section is supposed to be taught in one period of 45minutes The sixteen topics are derived from six themes: You and me, Education,Community, Health, Recreation, The world around us However, they seem not to bedesigned in a really culture-logical way The aspect of culture is not treated equally tothe aim at developing students‟ communicative competence as the textbook issupposed to do

With regarding to teaching staff, there are twelve teachers of English whoseages range from 23 to 55 All the teachers are enthusiastic and supportive to theirstudents and to one another

2.2 Methodology

2.2.1 Sample

Overall, 12 English teachers and 136 students completed the questionnaires Although the questionnaires were anonymous, the respondents were asked toprovide some information about their sex, age, educational background (both groups)

as well as work experience, in-service training and location of schools (the teachers)

The teachers 12 respondents were from the school The distribution of the

teachers according to the size of towns is presented in Table 1

All respondents were female Nearly 17% of them were more than 50 years old and 41% were young teachers between 20 and 30 years of age One fifth of the teachers

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had a Bachelor‟s degree The number of those who teach English-majored students isfour (36%).

The more detailed characteristics of the teachers are given in Table 1

Table 1 Characteristics of the teachers

The student: There are 502 students of the eleventh form at Tran Phu Gifted

High School in Hai Phong However, the target population of the students consisted of

264 grade 11 students of 7 classes, whose stream is not the Social Science Theresearcher employed a cluster random sampling technique to select the sample for thestudy The reason was that it was difficult and time-consuming to select a randomsample of individuals and gather these subjects because they had been already assigned

to different classes with different timetables In this case, according to Fraenkel and

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Wallen (2003), cluster random sampling was more feasible Besides, with regard to thesample size, Fraenkel and Wallen (2003) noted that “samples should be as large asresearcher can obtain with reasonable expenditure of time and energy A recommendedminimum number of subjects is 100 for a descriptive study” They also pointed out that

a common error made by beginning researchers is randomly selecting only one cluster

as a sample, which provides unreliable results With the above reasons, the researchersdecided to select four classes randomly The classes chosen were 11 Maths, 11 IT, 11Physics, 11 Chemistry The total numbers of students from these four classes were 136students There were 49 male respondents (36%), and 87 female respondents (64%)

2.2.2 Data collection instruments

The researcher intended to collect the same information about the reality ofteaching and learning American cultural studies in the classroom at Tran Phu GiftedSchool from three sources: questionnaire, classroom observation and interview with thehope to guarantee the reliability and the objectiveness of the study

2.2.2.1 Survey questionnaire

To gather data for this study, two questionnaires were administered to therespondents: one for the students and the other for the teachers After analyzing the data

in the piloted study, the final and formal questionnaires were established

The questionnaire for the teachers

The questionnaire for the teachers (see appendix 1) was designed with the aim

of finding answers to the following questions:

1 How do teachers define culture and what importance do they attribute to the teaching of it? (Q1 & 2)

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2 How often are cultural issues discussed in their classes and do these issues

motivate students‟ language learning? (Q3&4)

3 What method and techniques do they use? (Q5)

4 What topics and which cultures do they consider important to teach? (Q6&7)

5 What teaching materials and other sources do they use and do they offer enough material for the teaching of American cultural studies? (Q8, 9 & 10)

6 What are the difficulties in teaching American cultural studies in the classroom?

The questionnaire included ten questions of different types Open-endedquestions were included for the definition of culture (Q1) and for the list of the mostfrequently used textbooks (Q10) Multiple-choice questions were used in order to findout how important the teachers considered the teaching of culture (Q2), the frequency

of teaching it (Q3), whether it motivated students‟ learning (Q4) and to what extent thetextbooks contain culture-related materials (Q9) The teachers were also asked to assessthe ways (methods and techniques) (Q5) as well as topics for the teaching of culture(Q6) on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from „1‟ being the least useful/important to

„5‟ the most useful/important Question 7 aimed at finding out which country theteachers mostly focused on and in question 8 the respondents had to tick the sourcesthey used for the teaching of culture

The questionnaire for the students

The questionnaire for the students (see appendix 2) consisted of two separate parts One part aimed at finding out the students‟ opinions about the learning of

American cultural studies The other was compiled in the form a test Its aim was to find out how much the students knew about America The questionnaire focused on thefollowing questions:

1 How important do students consider the learning of culture and should it be taught in English classes? (Q1 & 2)

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2 What ways (activities, techniques) do they consider the most useful for the learning of culture? (Q3)

3 What aspects/topics of culture are they most interested in? (Q4)

4 Where have they acquired knowledge about the USA? (Q5)

5 Would they be interested in learning more about the USA and other speaking countries? (Q6 & 7)

English-All in all, the questionnaire included seven questions As a common part withthe teachers‟ questionnaire, a five-point Likert scale was used for getting the

respondents‟ judgments about the ways of teaching culture (Q3) and topics of interest(Q4) Questions 1, 2, 6 and 7 were multiple-choice questions In question 5, thestudents had to tick the appropriate box about where they had acquired the most recentknowledge about Britain

The questionnaires were directly distributed to the students by the author andthey were filled in during an English class After students had completed thequestionnaires, a discussion followed

2.2.2.2 Classroom observation

Along with two survey questionnaires for the teachers and the students,classroom observation was also applied The purpose of observation in the context ofthe present study was not to evaluate the teaching and learning Rather, observing theteachers in action in this study was aimed at discovering how the teachers and studentstaught and learnt American cultural studies in the actual classroom This can help theresearcher to double check the validity and reliability of the data that was collectedthrough the questionnaires and also gain more information concerning the researchquestions The observation was carried out in English lessons of four random classesbefore and after the questionnaires Each class was observed in two lesson The

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researcher acted as a non-participant in the class and took notes about the teachers‟ andstudents‟ activities during the lessons .

2.2.2.3 Interview

The formal interviews used in this study were semi-structured ones The interviewswere carried out with a group of the six teachers The language of the interviews wasVietnamese with the belief that the participants would feel more comfortable to expresstheir opinions and judgments The questions in the interviews which were mainly based

on those in the questionnaires were open-ended questions to get information about theteachers‟ suggestions to improve the teaching and learning American cultural studies inthe classroom

2.2.3 Data collection procedure

All the participants were informed in both English and Vietnamese about thepurposes, methods and requirements of the collection of data to make sure they wereclear about what they would have to do and were willing to participate in the study

Two set of questionnaires - one for teachers and one for students - weredistributed to 136 students and 12 teachers of English at Tran Phu Gifted high school

To reduce the pressure of time, the participants were allowed to finish thequestionnaires at home in one week After one week of delivering, all 136 copies werecollected

The classroom observation was also implemented in four random classes forover one month, both before and after the delivery of the questionnaires

The interviews were conducted with the teachers at the staff room when theyhad free time

2.2.4 Data analysis procedure

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Data collected from three different sources were analyzed under four mainitems: (1) the teachers‟ and the students‟ perceptions on the importance of Americancultural studies teaching and learning, (2) the ways the teachers teach Americancultural studies in the classroom, (3) the ways the students learn American culturalstudies, (4) the difficulties that the teachers face in teaching and learning Americancultural studies in the classroom The quantitative data were presented in the form oftables and charts while the qualitative data collected from open-ended questionnaireswere presented by quoting relevant responses Then the data were analyzed bothdescriptively and interpretively.

2.3 Conclusion

This chapter presented the context and the methodology of the study.Concerning the context of the study, the overall information and some characteristics ofthe school such as the teaching and learning conditions, the students and the teachingstaff were mentioned In the methodology part, the research questions, the subjects, theinstruments, and data collection and data analysis procedures were described in detail

To obtain the aim and objectives of the study, two questionnaires, classroomobservation and interview were used

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CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter is divided into four main parts The first part presents the findingsfrom questionnaires for the teachers and the students while the second part analyzingthe findings from class observation The third part is devoted to discussing the findings

of the study in correspondence with the proposed research questions The last part is anoverall conclusion of this chapter

3.1 Findings from questionnaires for the teachers

definitions can be very broadly divided into two groups:

1 those which apply to the so-called small „c‟ culture and concentrate on the

American way of life and their beliefs and perceptions (4 definitions);

2 those which claim that culture embraces both people‟s way of life (small „c‟

culture) and American history, geography and arts (capital „C‟ culture) (8 definitions)

In sum, it can be concluded that the teachers who answered the question mostlydefined American cultural studies by listing its various elements Both the observableaspects of culture (art, customs, traditions, way of life and behaviours) and invisiblefeatures (beliefs, values and attitudes) were mentioned, but not all in the same answer

3.1.2 Importance of teaching American cultural studies in the classroom

Most of the teachers did not deny the importance of teaching American culturalstudies They either considered it very important or important More than a half of the

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teachers also believed that integrating culture-related issues in their classessignificantly increased students‟ interest and motivation in language learning There isonly one teacher that reckons that American cultural studies should be taught on aseparate course.

3.1.3 Frequency of the culture-related issues

One of the teachers (21%) claimed that they discussed culture-related issues

“often”, which is in almost every lesson Three teachers stated that they includedAmerica-cultural issues in their lessons “sometimes” Eight teachers chose „rarely‟(once a month) as an answer

And, no one had participated in courses on teaching culture before

3.1.4 Ways of teaching American cultural studies in the classroom

The teachers considered discussions on cultural differences and similarities mostuseful for the teaching of American cultural studies The average score on a five-pointscale was 4.41 (see Figure 1)

Such a high score reveals that the teachers understand the importance of thecomparative approach, which is in kee ping with most theories about how cultureshould be taught in foreign language classes Projects were also rated highly – 4.33,followed shortly by watching videos (4.25) and talking about current events (4.00).Lectures received a comparatively low score – 2.25 This is an expected result asdelivering lectures is not common at high school Also, there is hardly any time inEnglish classes for lectures Another time-consuming technique, the drama, rated thelowest – 2.08 Besides, listening to songs and discussing the lyrics and listening toradio programmes were not popular choices of most of the teachers At the same time,the role-play was considered quite useful (3.25)

Teachers were also asked to rate a technique that has been specially developedfor the teaching of American culture – the culture capsule This was considered a usefultechnique, with the average score being 3.75

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Although some space was left for the teachers to add some ways of teaching culture,very few did it The following was suggested: students‟ presentations, organizingdisplays, meeting with native speakers, student exchange, and writing letters.

Figure 1: The teachers' scores for the ways of teaching American cultural studies in the classroom

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4.25 The topics connected with people‟s everyday life, such as „family life‟, „youthlife‟, and „education‟ all scored higher than 4.0 At the same time, the topics whichrefer to the so-called capital „C‟ culture were rated comparatively low This might beconsidered a slightly surprising result as it is often assumed that topics like „history‟,

„geography‟, „literature‟, „art and music‟ get the most attention in foreign languageclasses

Figure 2: The teachers' scores for the topics of teaching American cultural studies in the classroom

Not unexpectedly, the lowest scores were given to the topics „government andpolitical institutions‟ (2.58) and „law and order‟ (2.5) It is possible that the teachersare not well prepared to teach these topics

The teachers added only two topics to the list: „film‟ and „tourism‟

3.1.6 Materials for teaching culture

Although English language textbooks are the main source for the teaching offoreign language at high school, the teachers who want to teach America studies in the

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classroom have to make use of various other sources (see Figure 3) Only onecorrespondent (8%) used school textbooks for teaching American cultural studies in theclassroom The reason simply is the current textbooks do not contain enough America-cultural elements The two most frequently mentioned sources were the Internet (9teachers, 75%) and videotapes (7 teachers, 58%)

Realia was used by 5 teachers (50%) 4 teachers (33%) maintained that they

used newspapers While the use of cultural studies textbooks (for example, American ways) was mentioned by 2 teachers (17%), folklore and literature was not exploited.

Also, no one used recordings There might be two reasons for this First, theaudiocassettes and CDs that come together with textbooks do not contain enoughculture related material Second, less time in English classes is devoted to listeningactivities than developing the other skills

Figure 3: The teachers’ scores for materials for teaching American cultural studies in the classroom

Teachers were also asked to list the textbooks they were currently using and tosay whether these textbooks contained enough culture-related material Only a few

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