Sujet comparaison entre la version originale et la version cinématographique de l’œuvre la vérité sur bébé donge georges simenon

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER DIFFICULTIES THAT PRE-SERVICE EFL

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

DIFFICULTIES THAT PRE-SERVICE EFL

TEACHERS HAVE IN LESSON PLANNING FOR YOUNG ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: A

CASE STUDY

Supervisor: Luu Ngoc Ly, Ph.D Student: Nguyen La Yen Nhi Course: QH2016.F1.E3

HA NOI – 2020

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

MỘT SỐ KHÓ KHĂN TRONG VIỆC SOẠN GIÁO ÁN GIẢNG DẠY TIẾNG ANH TRẺ EM CỦA SINH VIÊN KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH: NGHIÊN CỨU

Signature of Approval:

_ Supervisor‟s Comments & Suggestions

_ _ _ _ _

ACCEPTANCE

I hereby state that I: Nguyễn Lã Yến Nhi (QH2016.F1.E3), being a candidate for

the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper 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

Date

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to send my sincerest thanks to my supervisor, Ms Luu Ngoc Ly (Ph.D) I was indebted to her for all her devoted supports and encouragement Without her guidance, I could not have finished this research

Moreover, I am grateful to all of three pre-service teachers who took part in

my study If it had not been for their agreement and active participations, this paper

would never have been completed

Besides, I would like to express my gratitude to Ms Tran Thi Lan Anh for her enthusiastic help in evaluating the lesson plans of the participants, which is a deciding factor for the completion of this study

Last but not least, I would like to show my heartfelt appreciations my family and my best friend for providing me with unfailing support and encouragement during the time I conducted this study It was their belief in me that made this accomplishment possible

ABSTRACT

Lesson planning is an essential skill that every teacher should practice and hone because of significant effects on lessons it brings back to teachers However, planning for an effective lesson is challenging for teachers, especially pre-service teachers This research investigated the pre-service EFL teachers‟ lesson planning practices to explore student teachers‟ awareness of their real difficulties in planning lessons for young learners The research employed the framework of criteria for an effective lesson plan proposed by Strong and Xu (2016) to examine pre-service teachers‟ difficulties in formulating learning objectives, creating quality assignments and assessments, organizing the lessons, developing instructional strategies, timing, planning for differentiation and developmental appropriateness

In this case study, both qualitative and quantitative methods are used to form instruments and analyze collected data Through an analysis of lesson plans created

by three senior students and semi-constructed interviews, the research indicated that teacher candidates encountered obstacles in developing almost every part of a lesson plan However, they did not manage to identify exactly and adequately their own problems as well as the quality of their performances on lesson planning Finally, the research proposed some recommendations to heighten student teachers‟

self-awareness and enhance their planning competences

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACCEPTANCE i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES, ABBREVIATIONS vi

ABBREVIATIONS vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale and the statement of the problem 1

1.2 Research questions 3

1.3 Scope of the research 3

1.4 Significance of the study 3

1.5 Thesis structure 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Definition of a lesson plan 5

2.2 Models of lesson planning 5

2.3 Criteria for an effective lesson plan 8

2.4 Previous research on pre-service teachers‟ lesson planning 9

2.4.1 Clear lesson and learning objectives 10

2.4.2 Quality in-class assessments 10

2.4.3 Logically-structured lessons 11

2.4.4 Instructional Strategies 11

2.4.5 Timing 12

2.4.6 Learning differences 12

2.4.7 Age- and content-appropriate plans 13

2.4.8 Challenges in teaching English to young learners 14

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 16

3.1 Research context 16

3.2 Research design 17

3.3 Research participants 18

3.4 Data collection instruments 20

3.4.1 Student teachers‟ lesson plans 20

3.4.2 Lesson planning self-assessment form 21

3.4.3 Semi-constructed interviews 21

3.5 Data collection procedure 22

3.6 Data analysis 24

3.6.1 Quantitative data analysis 24

3.6.2 Qualitative data analysis 24

3.7 Research Reflexivity 27

3.8 Ethical considerations 27

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 29

4.1 Research question 1: Do pre-service EYL teachers encounter difficulties in lesson planning? 29

4.2 Research question 2 & 3: What difficulties do pre-service EYL teachers have in lesson planning from their own perspectives and identified by experts? 31

4.2.1 Difficulties in formulating learning objectives 31

4.2.2 Difficulties in planning for quality in-class assessments 33

4.2.3 Difficulties in sequencing the lesson plans 35

4.2.4 Difficulties in designing instructional strategies 36

4.2.5 Difficulties in timing 38

4.2.6 Difficulties in applying differentiation into lesson plans 40

4.2.7 Difficulties in creating age- and content-appropriate plans 41

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 45

5.1 Summary of the findings 45

5.2 Implications 45

5.3 Limitations of the study 47

5.4 Suggestions for further study 47

REFERENCES 49

APPENDICES 54

LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES, ABBREVIATIONS

Tables

Table 3.1: Participants’ background 19

Table 3.2: Illustration of lesson plan analysis 25

Table 3.3: Descriptive coding in interview analysis 26

Table 3.4: In Vivo coding in interview analysis 27

Table 4.1: Pre-service teachers’ scores for learning objectives in marking rubrics 31

Table 4.2: Pre-service teachers’ scores for sequencing lesson plans 35

Table 4.3: Pre-service teachers’ scores for learner differences 40

Figures Figure 2.1: Stages of planning process (Yinger, 1980) 6

Figure 3.1: Data collection procedure 23

Figure 4.1: Student teachers‟ results of lesson plan 29

Firgure 4.2: Pre-service teachers‟ scores for learning objectives 31

Figure 4.3: Pre-service teachers‟ marks on instructional strategies 36

Figure 4.4: Pre-service teachers‟ scores for timing 38

Figure 4.5: Pre-service teachers‟ scores for developmental appropriateness 42

ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching FELTE: Faculty of English Language Teacher Education TEYL: Teaching English to Young Learners

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale and the statement of the problem

Teacher training is a topic which has received considerable attention of researchers for a long time It is evident that teacher education programs play an important role in the career path of a teacher With the aim of preparing teacher candidates for real classroom contexts and challenges in teaching, several aspects of knowledge and skills have been embedded into the curriculum Specially, developing pedagogical skills has been prioritized due to their necessity Among these skills, lesson planning has been considered as a critical aspect in teacher education programs A good lesson plan provides teachers with not only the moral support in their teaching but also a deeper understanding of the subject matter (McCutcheon, 1980) Planning reaffirms effective teaching (Alazani, 2019; Jensen, 2001) The incorporation of their prior pedagogical knowledge into lessons plans helps student teachers “to close the gap between theories and practice” (Sahin-Taskin, 2017, p.2) Specially, due to EFL students‟ limited exposure to the target language, lesson plan is a privileged tool which enables teachers to enhance language learning (Ciaffaroni, 2004) “Planning a lesson before teaching is considered as a prerequisite process to stay your ground to teach an effective lesson.” (Richard & Bohlke, 2011, p.31) Thus, lesson planning is a crucial skill that pre-service EFL teachers need to master during their period of training (Butt, 2008; Yildirm, 2003)

Prior studies indicated that pre-service teachers have problems with lesson planning Gafoor, Kunnathodi and Farooque (2011) carried out a research on 74 pre-service teachers in Kelada, India to discover their perceptions of lesson planning The result indicated that common difficulties those students encountered were choosing learning experiences, deciding and allotting suitable time for the lesson, identifying and developing appropriate materials and implementing lesson plans Tashevska (2008) examined the perspectives on challenges in planning of

trainee teachers in Sofia, Bulgaria The major ones were timing, sequencing activities, formulating objectives, and anticipating problems Alanzi (2019) studied

on 160 Arabic students‟ attitudes and obstacles in designing lesson plan He pointed out that trainees found it difficult to design suitable learning activities and choosing teaching methods

Although the abovementioned studies have examined the situation of service teachers‟ planning, most of previous studies merely discovered the hindrances to candidate teachers from their own opinions through questionnaires or interviews, whereas, few of them focused on pre-service teachers‟ performances Thus, there is a lack of research that examines the relationship between trainees‟ perceptions and their real difficulties

pre-Furthermore, teachers from different countries may share the same challenges or experience dissimilar ones in lesson planning (Yildirm, 2013) In Vietnamese context, most of the research focused on building up theoretical frameworks and establishing principles for effective teaching (Nguyen, 2017) Little research discovered pre-service teachers‟ planning skills solely but in the connection with classroom management skills Also Vietnamese student teachers‟ planning skills to teach a foreign language, such as English has not been investigated

In addition, due to the special characteristics, planning a lesson for English Young learners is extremely different from planning for other types of learners However, little attention has been paid to the difficulties in lesson planning of EYL teachers

Consequently, an investigation into Vietnamese EFL student teachers‟ lesson planning for Teaching English to Young Learns (TEYL) will yield better understanding about teacher planning in TEYL contexts, shed light for latter research on lesson planning in the country as well as propose a theory about the link between students‟ perception and their performance, which makes teacher educators understand the trainees‟ challenges so that they can adjust the training course more appropriately

1.2 Research questions

The current study seeks answers to three following questions:

1 Do pre-service EYL teachers encounter difficulties in lesson planning?

2 What difficulties do pre-service EYL teachers have in lesson planning from their own perspectives?

3 What are pre-service EYL teachers‟ difficulties in lesson planning

identified by experts?

1.3 Scope of the research

This study focuses on hurdles that pre-service teachers face in planning process to teach English to young learners Adopting the framework proposed by Stronge and Xu (2016), the research examined the difficulties students have in developing seven main components of a lesson plan which are formulating learning objectives, selecting instructional strategies, timing, sequencing activities, creating assessment or assignment, choosing or adapting materials and implementing learner‟s differences By comparing and contrasting their performances and their opinions, the study will point out some mistakes which student teachers often overlook so that teacher educators can find solutions to make students be aware of those mistakes and to improve students‟ planning skills

1.4 Significance of the study

The findings of this research will make theoretical contribution by throwing new light on the localized sources of data related to obstacles that beginning ELF teachers encounter in lesson planning Also, the results will provide a critical analysis on the relationship between candidate teachers‟ perceptions and their real difficulties

In terms of practical contributions, the findings will benefit not only EFL student teachers but also teacher educators First, this study helps trainees raise their voice about the challenges they have to face in making an effective lesson plan Second, it helps teacher educators understand their students‟ struggles so that they can adapt their course syllabus as well as choose appropriate methodologies to optimize students‟ learning and practice

1.5 Thesis structure

This research paper contains five main parts which are Introduction, Literature review, Methodology, Findings and discussions, and Conclusion The content of each part is mentioned below

Chapter 1: Introduction - This chapter states the rationale for the research,

proposing research questions, the scope of the research and its expected contributions to knowledge generations

Chapter 2: Literature Review - This chapter explicates key concepts and

reviews associated issues discussed in previous studies on lesson planning and service teachers‟ lesson planning

pre-Chapter 3: Methodology - This chapter comprises of the description of

research participants, methods and procedure of data collection as well as data analysis

Chapter 4: Findings and discussion - This chapter presents research findings

Also, further discussions on the relationship between pre-service teachers‟ perceptions and their real difficulties will be delivered

Chapter 5: Conclusion - Summary of the research, implications of the

findings, the limitation of the study together with suggestions for further research will be presented in this chapter

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

The chapter presents the definitions of key concepts and issues related to the topic of this research Prior studies on lesson planning together with their findings are synthesized and analyzed to form a theoretical background of what previous researchers have discovered

2.1 Definition of a lesson plan

The definition of a lesson plan has been proposed by many researchers Whitton, Sinclair, Barker, Nanlohy and Nosworthy (2004) defined that a lesson plan

is a record of what will happen in a particular time frame Also, there are some researchers describing lesson plans in the view of teacher-centered approach A lesson plan is a document of what a teacher intends to do in the class during a lesson (Farrell, 2002, p.31) Similarly, according to Kibret (2016, p.15), lesson planning is illustrated as “a systematic development of instructional requirements, arrangements, conditions, and materials and activities, as well as testing and evaluation of teaching and learning” In contrast, others characterized the definition

of lesson plan based on students‟ learning activities They focused on students‟ activities rather than the teacher‟s ones Yinger (1980), as cited in Farrel (2002, p.30), indicated that lesson plan is “a written description of how students will move toward attaining specific objectives”

However, teachers‟ teaching and students‟ learning, evidently, are interconnected Teachers have to put a great deal of effort into designing appropriate activities in order to optimize learners‟ acquisition (Panasuk & Todd, 2005) From this perspective, the researcher considers a lesson plan is a material prepared by teachers or staff which includes a set of the teacher‟s intended teaching activities to ensure meaningful learning experiences for students

2.2 Models of lesson planning

Lesson planning reflects teachers‟ prior knowledge as learners and teachers, knowledge of their pedagogical theories and their pupils‟ features, which may result

in the differences among plans (Baecher et al., 2014) One of those differences is the choice of approach to planning In this part, the characteristics of each approach and the differences among them will be explored

The dominant model of lesson plan is rational - linear planning model This model resulted from an adaptation of planning models from economics as well as from national and city planning They are developed by setting goals, formulating alternatives, predicting outcomes for each alternative, and then evaluating each alternative for its effectiveness in reaching goals and achieving desired outcomes (Yinger, 1980) In education, the rational model was first proposed by Tyler in 1949

He recommended four questions to teachers as guidelines to develop a lesson plan:

 what educational purposes should the school seek to attain;

 what educational experience can be provided that are likely to attain these purposes;

 how can these educational experiences be effectively organized, and

 how can we determine whether these purposes are being attained (p.1)

This linear model focuses on goals and objectives at the first step then choosing learning experiences to accomplish the goals After constructed and elaborated by Taba (1962) and by Poham and Baker (1970), the model recommends four steps for effective planning: “specify objectives”, “select learning activities”,

“organize learning activities” and “specify evaluation procedures” (Yinger, 1980, p.108) The rational model is widely adopted in teacher education programs, and some novice teachers strictly follow this model when planning for their lessons

Alternatively, Yinger (1980) considered teacher planning as a solving process He developed an alternative model with three stages: problem-finding, problem formulation and solution, then implementation, evaluation and routinization

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

Problem finding Problem formulation

and solution

Implementation, evaluation, routinization

Problem finding stage is “the discovery of potential instructional idea that requires further planning and elaboration” (Yinger, 1980, p.115) In this early stage, there is an interaction among four components: the planning dilemma which is influenced by external factors (e.g teaching environment, the curriculum, learners‟ characteristic, etc.), the teacher‟s knowledge and experience, the teaching goal conceptions and the teaching materials The second stage, problem formulation and solution, requires the most time and energy This stage comprises of a design cycle

in which the problem is formulated and solved by elaborating and mentally testing initial ideas The third stage sees the implementation of the plan together with the evaluation If the activity is considered as an effective solution, it, in turn, may be routinized According to Yinger (1980, p.123), each planning event is connected with previous and future teaching Also, he saw teaching activities as the first priority in teaching planning, whereas objectives were just filters to make decisions

on activities

Another planning approach, called interactional method, was suggested by Thornbury (1999) In this approach, teachers are recommended to emphasize on the interactive rather than the discrete character of objectives (John, 2006) This model

of lesson planning focuses on principles which change during interactive teaching instead of the mechanics of planning The interactional method attempts to “draw connections between classroom lessons and expressive art form” with plot, theme, rhythm, flow and the sense of an ending so that novice teachers may be more familiar with and confident in lesson planning (Thornbury, 1999) Also, this viewpoint takes complication and dynamic features of a class into consideration, which is often overlooked in the rational model of lesson planning

While lesson plans following the rational – linear models are organized on paper, other alternatives consider the dynamic features of classroom during planning process However, regardless of the format, “all lesson plans share similar characteristics, such as objectives and activities”, the key factor is their effectiveness in facilitating teachers‟ teaching and students‟ learning (Straessle,

well-2014) According to Richards and Bohlke (2011), generally, a lesson plan will reflect the teacher‟s decisions on several aspects of a lesson which are goals, activities, sequencing, timing, grouping, resources

2.3 Criteria for an effective lesson plan

Anne Reeves (2011), as cited in Stronge and Xu (2016), stated effective teaching results from planning To portrait requirements for a good lesson plan, different frameworks were created by many researchers The framework of Farrell (2002) suggested that a qualified plan should start with appropriate and clear objectives which provide the lesson overall focus and direction as well as guide the teacher‟s selection of activities and assessment Effective objectives should state precisely observable behaviors that students are able to do at the end of the lesson (Shrum & Glisan, 1994; as cited in Farrell, 2002) Also, Farrell (2002) recommended that activities should vary in level of difficulty and be of students‟ interest, then activities should be sequenced from easy to harder levels to maximize students‟ involvement in the lessons and minimize the expected students‟ confusion

Richards and Bohlke (2011) considered a good language lesson as a lesson that meets the following requirements: reflect the teacher‟s high professional standards; reflect the teacher‟s principles of language teaching; address meaningful outcomes; provide students with opportunities to meaningfully practice the target language; sequence learning activities coherently to create an alignment in the plan; create a motivation to learn and provide opportunities for success, and reflect the teacher‟s philosophy of teaching In order to create an effective language lesson, teachers have to consider reflecting those factors on their lesson plans

Stronge (2007) introduced seven elements for instructional planning for effective teaching: “clear lesson and learning objectives”; “creating quality assignments and assessments”; “logically-structured lessons”; “instructional strategies”; “timing”; “learning differences” and “develop age and content appropriate plan” According to his framework, a good lesson plan comprises of clearly stated learning objectives which give both teachers and students a road map

of what students are expected to learn Teachers should create quality assignments which are possibly in response to the students‟ achievements Activities used in the lesson should be diverse, balanced, aligned with learning objectives and logically arranged Students‟ learning time should be maximized Finally, effective planning takes account of not only individual performance but also the students‟ interest Each abovementioned attribute is unique in its own right, but they integrate to create a comprehensive and effective plan In 2016, Stronge and Xu continually developed his model and published a lesson planning self-assessment rubrics with detailed indicators for each element (Appendix C).

Apparently, all of the mentioned frameworks share some key features of a qualified lesson plan such as clearly stated objectives, diverse learning activities, a logical sequence of activities and implementation of students‟ interest Besides, each framework has its own characteristics Farrell‟s framework is just an overview that guides teachers to develop a general lesson plan Some aspects in the framework did not gain enough attention Richards and Bohlke (2011) mainly focused on methodologies and teaching philosophy, which requires not only pre-service teachers but also experienced teachers a long period of time to contemplate during their teaching career

The researcher chose to adopted the model elaborated by Stronge and Xu (2016) because of its sufficiency, clarity and suitability for this study Within his framework, a comprehensive description of a qualified lesson plan is given For comparison, the framework is a good compilation of what other researchers have found on effective planning By using this model, the researcher was able to systematically code and categorize collected data into different aspects which are

relevant to the research questions to arrive at the answers to the problem

2.4 Previous research on pre-service teachers’ lesson planning

A body of research on lesson planning has paid much attention to how service teacher plan their lessons This review analyses and evaluates what prior researchers have found on lesson planning skills of teacher candidates Those

pre-findings will be separated into seven elements of effective instructional planning developed by Strong and Xu (2016) Additionally, some typical challenges in

planning to teach English to young learners will also be listed below

2.4.1 Clear lesson and learning objectives

Prior research has indicated the importance of learning objectives to teaching and learning Well-written objectives are an important part of any lesson plans If the learning objectives are “fuzzy” or too challenging for students, chances are the rest of the lesson, which is based on those objectives, will be unsuccessful (Kizlik, 2006) Naumes (2013) suggested that writing learning objectives is complex and requires a high level of skills

Several studies on pre-service teachers‟ lesson planning have indicated that they encounter obstacles in writing objectives of the lesson Gafoor (2011) explored student teachers‟ perspectives of difficulties in lesson planning and their suggested remedies by questionnaire He found that teacher candidates thought they struggled with formulating learning objectives, especially EFL teacher candidates

Similarly, Faikhamta, Jantarakantee and Roadrangka (2011) revealed that pre-service science teachers in Thailand perceived that they had problems with writing education objectives Moreover, their limited conceptual understanding of science hindered their planning and teaching in the field experience Carroll (2013) stated that formulating objectives of the lesson was an aspect that intern teachers needed to improve in their plans

Grove (2014) also carried out a research on EFL trainee teachers‟ planning practice during their internship Most of pre-service teachers expressed confusion and hesitation on writing objectives for the lesson

2.4.2 Quality in-class assessments

Class assignments are a means of informal assessment (Pagliaro, 2012, p.41) Clare (2001) found that quality assignment in class had significant impact on students‟ learning outcomes Clear objectives and quality assignment lead to students‟ achievement Nunan (2010) also stated that assessment was an integral

part of teaching as it indicated students‟ proficiency Also, he recommended that formative assessment was crucial in teaching English to children Teachers should give immediate feedback on how well students have done and turn teaching tasks into in-class assessment tools

However, creating quality classroom assignment is a challenging and consuming task for student teachers Jones, Jones and Vermette (2011) studied on six “pitfalls” in planning of pre-service teachers and pointed out lessons designed

time-by pre-service teachers did not include formative assessment in their plans Students teachers did not provide learners opportunities to show how well they had achieved the learning objectives Candidates also had problems in choosing proper assessment to include in their plans (Takaoğlu, 2017)

2.4.3 Logically-structured lessons

A body of research on developing a logically-structured lesson plan has been conducted Good and Brophy (2003), as cited in Straessle (2014), stated that planning sequences of multiple lessons was required for effective teaching In their review of extent research, they found that lessons should be planned in sequence rather than in isolation (Good & Brophy, 2004) In terms of sequence of activities in

a lesson, Farrell (2002) suggested that the cognitive level of activities should range from lower to higher in order not to demotivate students

Gülten (2012) carried out a study on ELT teacher candidates to explore their first experience in lesson planning and their reactions He found that the trainees encountered obstacles in sequencing activities properly Sharing the same result, a research on teacher trainees in a Cambridge Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) training course revealed that more trainees found arranging the order of activities difficult at the end of the course (Tashevska, 2008) Pre-service Science teachers in Thailand perceived that they had problems with organizing learning activities (Faikhamta, Jantarakantee & Roadrangka, 2011)

2.4.4 Instructional Strategies

The teacher can provide students with opportunities to learn and test out their hypotheses by selecting appropriate instructional strategies for his or her lessons

(Killen, 2007, p.73) Different teaching strategies bring about different effects on students‟ learning; therefore, teachers should employ varied and balanced teaching strategies that help students achieve the learning objectives in the simplest way (Straessle, 2014)

Some prior research papers showed that pre-service teachers were unsuccessful in finding suitable learning activities for their lessons Activities they included in the plan were fun but those activities did not align with the learning objectives or support students‟ knowledge acquisition (Jones, Vermette & Jones, 2011) Furthermore, some teachers claimed that they were confused when they decided on teaching methodology (Gafoor, 2011; Alanzi, 2019)

2.4.5 Timing

Besides selecting instructional strategies, teachers need to decide the amount

of time spent on each activity to enhance students‟ understanding The time for the act of learning of pupils should be maximized (Stronge, 2007) Teacher should allot enough time for the lesson so that “demonstration can be complete, the students can discuss what they have observed, students can reach conclusions and apply principles they have learned, students can take notes or write about the demonstration, and materials can be collected and stored” (Ornstein & Lasley, 2004, p.173)

Tashevska (2008) indicated that the majority of teacher candidates in Cambridge CELTA training program in Sofia suffered from timing Similarly, Gafoor (2011) stated that student teachers frequently had problems with allotting time suitably for the lesson The lack of experience hindered novice teachers from distributing proper time for each activities (Gülten, 2012)

2.4.6 Learning differences

Diversity in a group of learners is an extremely important factor that may cause problems for teachers (Anggraini, 2018) Diversity includes different language proficiency, different motivation, different characteristics, different learning styles and learning opportunities outsides classroom Thus, teacher should

take learner differences in consideration and design activities of different levels to deal with this problem (Nunan, 2010)

However, Grove (2014) found that teacher candidates tended to plan for whole-class level but not individual level Although pre-service teachers realized the differences among students, they failed to apply this knowledge into differentiating lesson planning Supporting this findings, Herrelko (2013) revealed that he had difficulty in helping his students learn how to plan for the needs of more than one group of learners Moreover, some studies explored that teacher candidates had troubles with selecting activities that meet students‟ level, interest and needs (Alanzi, 2019; Sahin-Taskin, 2017; Yildirm, 2003)

2.4.7 Age- and content-appropriate plans

Another aspect of lesson planning that teachers should pay attention to is to provide developmentally appropriate learning for students Different types of learners have dissimilar characteristics Teenagers may not engage in the lesson if the activities or materials are too childish for them Therefore, teachers have to understand the cognitive development of students of different ages and take this aspect into consideration during planning process (Straessle, 2014)

Develop age and content appropriate plans is also challenging for teacher candidates Some research papers reported that pre-service teachers struggled with developing teaching materials for their students (Gafoor, 2011; Grove, 2014) Some student teachers revealed that they suffered from choosing activities that match the age and level of students (Grove, 2014)

Specially, when teaching English to young learners, students‟ cognitive development is a challenge for teachers (Nunan, 2010, p.7) As learners undertake significant developing process from infantry to adult, children‟s psychological and social characteristics should be considered when designing activities, creating assignments and materials (Nunan, 2010; Enever, 2011) Carrying out a mixed-method study on a global scale, Copland, Garton and Burn (2014) found that EYL teachers have troubles with choosing age-appropriate instructional strategies for teaching speaking, writing and grammar

2.4.8 Challenges in teaching English to young learners

Apart from some obstacles mentioned above, EYL teachers face some typical difficulties in planning and teaching One of those challenges is motivation Young children may not understand the reasons why they need to learn a foreign language; therefore, creating their motivation and interest in learning new language

is an important task in teaching (Moon, 2005; Brinning, 2016) Meanwhile, there are some factors which are able to influence learners‟ motivation In designing lesson, teachers should formulate clear objectives, select learning contents related to students, scaffold and personalize learning process, encourage group learning, create opportunities for authentic communication (Nunan, 2010)

Furthermore, to maintain children‟s attention in the lesson is also one of the primary concerns with EYL teachers Getting students attention is the first thing that teachers are required to do to ensure effective teaching as children has a short attention span In this case, activities should be varied in order to sustain learners‟ attention during the lesson (Nunan, 2010) Adopting activities of different learning styles is considered as a choice of wisdom (Moon, 2005)

Aditionally, another obstacle teachers encounter when teaching English to young learners is creating an English-speaking classroom environment As children learn through exposure and practice, authentic contexts are necessary for their second language acquisition (Shin & Crandall, 2014) However, when learning English as a foreign language, students have limited exposure to the language (Ciaffaroni, 2004) To deal with this problem, teachers should maximize the use of English in every lesson and provide students with opportunities to practice and test their hypotheses (Shin & Crandall, 2014)

Finally, discipline problems are a common difficulty of EYL teachers In their research, Copland, Garton and Burn (2014) indicated that novice teachers frequently were in trouble with maintaining discipline They also reported that those problems were related to the age and sex of the pupils, parents‟ attitude, differentiation and different first language as well as the teacher‟s inexperience

Chapter Summary

Effective teaching starts from planning Teachers may base on different approaches to plan their lessons However, regardless of the format of a lesson plan, the key factor is how it encourages teacher‟s teaching and students‟ learning

Previous research has found that pre-service teachers face several difficulties

in lesson planning However, most of the studies focus on student teachers‟ perceptions, little attention has been paid to the quality of their performances Aiming to discover the relationship between pre-service EYL teachers‟ perspectives and the real obstacles in their lesson plans, the research approached this issue with another method which will be explained in the following chapter

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the context in which the research was conducted, outlines the methodology and explains the rationale for using this methodology The chapter also provides details of data collection instruments, data collection procedure, portraits data analysis method and the background of participants Finally, the ethical considerations which were pertinent to this research are mentioned

3.1 Research context

The research was conducted in the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies (FELTE, ULIS) Participants involved in the research are all undertaking the English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) program In this program, undergraduates were equipped with not only a good level of English language proficiency but also knowledge and skills related to linguistics, sociolinguistics and teaching profession Upon graduation, students would be able to have an English competency at Level 5

of the Foreign Language Competence Framework for Vietnam, which is equivalent

to Level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) In terms

of professional competence, students were expected to “grasp and apply into reality the knowledge of age-specific psychology, psychology of teaching foreign languages, pedagogical issues, methods of teaching and assessment, and teaching technology” (FELTE – ULIS, 2015)

To ensure those achievements of teaching profession, the curriculum required

students to take the following courses which are An Introductions to English Teaching Methodology, ESL/EFL Classroom Techniques and Practices as well as Foreign Language Testing and Assessment Besides, some courses, such as Lesson Planning and Materials Adaptation, Syllabus Design course and the course Fundamentals of Teaching English to young learners, were optional for students

In addition, teacher trainees had to undertake an internship in which they put the

knowledge and skills of teaching acquired at university into practice and gain practical knowledge of the nature of teaching in public schools or other training institutions

3.2 Research design

The researcher decided to use case study as the research method Case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its natural context through different sources of evidence (Yin, 2003) Case study was adopted for this study because of following reasons

Firstly, case studies have been widely and successfully used in educational research (Yin, 2014) This study is also an educational research in which pre-service teachers‟ lesson planning competences and their difficulties in developing a lesson plan are investigated

The other reason is that case studies enable researchers to “develop an depth analysis of a case” by collecting detailed data using different data collection instruments over a period of time (Creswell, 2014) The researcher could collect data from interviews and qualitative documents such as lesson plans, and self-assessment form

in-This research was designed as a collective study which enables the researcher to learn about the studied phenomenon and make comparisons across cases to further the learning (Stake, 1995) This study compared and contrasted the in-depth analysis of the relationship between perceived difficulties and real difficulties in lesson plans of each participant in order to come up with reasonable answers for each research question Besides, both qualitative and quantitative approaches were employed to design this case study Qualitative approach was “an approach to social science research that emphasizes collecting descriptive data in natural settings, uses inductive thinking, and emphasizes understanding the subjects point of view” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2008, p 3; Creswell, 2007, p 37) Meanwhile, quantitative approach was defined as an approach to examine a phenomenon through numbered data and statistic procedures (Creswell, 2014) The researcher

mainly adopted qualitative approach in design this research Furthermore, the quatitative approach was employed in data analysis process in order to provide a better understanding of the pre-service teachers‟ lesson planning

courses in the curriculum and the course Lesson Planning and Materials Adaptation,

which ensured that they were equipped with pedagogical and planning skills through lectures, and practices in lesson planning as well as micro-teachings in the

courses Besides, enrolment in the course Fundamentals of Teaching English to young learners was optional However, it is worth acknowledging that there was one participant, Lucy, completing that course

Regarding to their working places, three participants were all teaching English to young learners at private English centers in Hanoi, Vietnam When starting their work, all three teachers went through a training held by their own centers In this training, they were introduced to the characteristics of young learners, some recommended teaching activities for the class as well as some requirements for a good plan of their centers At work, the participants were required to plan their lessons, deliver lessons to students and assess their students Lesson planning was an inevitable task for those student teachers Among three participants, one student had over one year working experience, another participant had been working for six months, and the last one started her job four months ago Detailed information about three participants is summarized in the following table

Participant Name Working experience Education background

 ESL/EFL Classroom Techniques and Practices

 Foreign Language Testing and Assessment

 Lesson Planning and Materials Adaptation

 Fundamentals of Teaching English to young learners

 ESL/EFL Classroom Techniques and Practices

 Foreign Language Testing and Assessment

 Lesson Planning and Materials Adaptation

 Fundamentals of Teaching English to young learners

 ESL/EFL Classroom Techniques and Practices

 Foreign Language Testing and Assessment

 Lesson Planning and Materials Adaptation

 Fundamentals of Teaching English to young learners

Table 3.1: Participants’ background

The research also involved one independent rater who is a teacher educator from FELTE, University of Languages and International Studies, VNU, Hanoi,

Vietnam She teached the two courses Lesson Planning and ESL/EFL Classroom techniques and skills The educator analyzed pre-service teachers‟ lesson plans to

evaluate the pre-service teachers‟ competences and the problems they have with lesson planning basing on the lesson planning rubrics provided by the researcher

An Academic Manager from the center where a participant was working was also interviewed so that the researcher could have an insight into the pre-service teachers‟ planning in connection with their working contexts

3.4 Data collection instruments

The research mainly applied qualitative approach to collect and analyze data Qualitative methods stimulate people‟s individual experiences, so its purpose was to learn from the participants in a setting or the process they experience Also, qualitative approach enabled the researcher to understand a phenomenon deeply and

in detail (Atieno, 2009) Accordingly, the researcher could find out the reality of Vietnamese pre-service EFL teachers in a meticulous way The three research instruments used in the study were student teachers‟ lesson plans, lesson planning-self-assessment forms and semi-constructed interviews

3.4.1 Student teachers’ lesson plans

Qualitative document was used in this research because it helped the researcher investigate the language and words of participants and represents data to which participants pay attention to (Creswell, 2014) Furthermore, using qualitative documents is convenient as it can be assessed at a flexible time and save time transcribing data Qualitative document is considered as an unobstructive source of data (Creswell, 2014)

The qualitative documents in this research are participants‟ lesson plans The lesson plans of a unit were collected from the teacher trainees After that, they were assessed by the teacher educator She was provided with a marking rubrics adapted from self-assessment rubrics of an effective planning designed by Stronge

& Xu (2016) (Appendix D) in which lesson plans were reviewed on seven elements: learning objectives, assignment and assessment, lesson plan structures, instructional strategies, timing, learner differences and developmental appropriateness Based on the indicators for each segment, the rater scored students‟ performance on a scale of

1 to 4 (1 – poor; 2 – rather poor; 3 – good; 4 – very good) and commented on the quality of the students‟ performances

3.4.2 Lesson planning self-assessment form

The selected planning assessment form was adopted from assessment rubrics published by Stronge & Xu (2016) (Appendix C) This self-assessment rubric contains a set of indicators for seven elements of an effective instructional planning proposed by Stronge & Xu (2016) These elements are clear learning objectives, quality assessments or assignments, logically structured lessons, instructional strategies, timing, learning differences, age- and content-appropriate plans For each criterion, the answer ranges from strongly disagree, disagree to agree and strongly agree

Data collected from those assessment forms reveals student teachers‟ perspectives about their performances This self-assessment form is changed into an online survey, which is more convenient for participants and the researcher

Data from the students‟ self-assessment forms and teacher educators‟ marking rubrics are put together so that the relationship between students expectations and their real performances can be established

3.4.3 Semi-constructed interviews

Interview is a useful instrument which helps the research to explore the phenomenon when participants cannot be observed (Creswell, 2014) Besides, interview provides opportunities for probing into participants‟ responses, so that the research can ask for more details to reinforce the data (Miller & Brewe, 2003)

In this study, the interview was conducted with three pre-service teachers, independent rater and the Academic Manager With pre-service teachers, the

researcher interviewed them twice With the aim of investigating perceptions

towards lesson planning and their difficulties, the first interview was carried out after they had filled in the self-assessment form The researcher interviewed three

participants the second time after the independent rater‟s feedback had been released in order to deepen students‟ perspectives on their performances as well as collect their suggestions for remediation The interview protocol includes open-ended and yes/no questions to find out the students‟ perspectives on the challenges they had during planning process as well as their awareness of their problems reflected on lesson plans The researcher followed the interview protocol closely to ensure that all participants were asked the same questions

Moreover, the independent rater and the Academic Manager in Tammy‟s center were also interviewed The interview with the independent rater lasted one hour and the one with the Academic Manager lasted approximately 30 minutes Through the previous interview, the researcher collected data on viewpoints of the teacher educator at the university where student teachers are trained By interviewing the Academic Manager, the researcher examined the difficulties of pre-service teachers in lesson planning in relation to their working contexts As a result, the study could dig deeply into students‟ hurdles showed in their lesson plans and collect some suggestions from experts

3.5 Data collection procedure

The data collection procedure was conducted in five main steps First of all, the researcher recruited participants through the participant selection form in which information about their academic and working backgrounds were collected (Appendix A) The potential participants were contacted by the researcher via email, phones or face-to-face conversations The participants were selected due to their academic background, working environment and their willingness to take part in the research

After that, the researcher asked the participants to hand in their lesson plan drafts in form of either hard copies or soft copies and fill in lesson planning self-assessment forms

Next, participants‟ lesson plans were evaluated by the teacher educator as the independent rater based on Stronge & Xu rubrics (2016) to figure out the challenges pre-service EFL teachers really had Meanwhile, the researcher had semi-constructed interviews with three student teachers to dig deep into their

practice of lesson planning skills and their perceived difficulties The interviews were individually taken in person at comfortable places where the participants are not in danger or there were no contextual factors affecting the results or via video calls The time for the interview was arranged at participants‟ convenience Each interview lasted approximately 30 minutes The answers in the interview were noted down in the interview report and recorded with the interviewees‟ agreement

After the independent rater had finished her evaluation on the lesson plans, the researcher interviewed the independent rater and the Academic Manager to explore their perspectives towards pre-service teachers‟ planning skills Their responses were collected to clarify the comments on student teachers‟ lesson plans

Finally, the feedback was revealed to the participants in the second interview This interviews were carried out in the same physical conditions with the previous ones

to investigate students‟ opinions about the comments The length of each interview depended on each participant‟s reactions to the feedback they received This following diagram displays those phases in the data collection process

Figure 3.1: Data collection procedure

Contact and recruit potential participants

Independent raters evaluate students‟

lesson plans based on Stronge & Xu‟s

framework (2016)

Collect lesson plans and lesson planning self-assessment forms

Have a 30-minute semi-constructed interview with participants

Release independent raters‟ feedback and have a semi-constructed post interview with

participants

 Have a one-hour semi-constructed interview with the independent rater

 Have a 30-minute semi-constructed interview with the Academic Manager

3.6 Data analysis

The researcher used both quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze the data gathered from the participants

3.6.1 Quantitative data analysis

Quantitative method was employed in analyzing data from the lesson planning self-assessment forms and the scores given by the independent rater in the lesson planning marking rubrics

Lesson planning self-assessment form required the participants to reflect on the quality of their lessons and tick in the most suitable box The four levels of

strongly disagree, disagree, agree and strongly agree were respectively given a score of 1, 2, 3, 4 All those figures were computed by Microsoft Excel with the

results in numerical forms Similarly, the scores the independent rater assigned to each student in the lesson plan marking rubrics were stored and processed with Microsoft Excel Data from these two sources was compared to each other to discover student teachers‟ perspectives on their performances in regard to reality

3.6.2 Qualitative data analysis

This study used thematic analysis method to analyze the data collected from interviews and lesson plans Thematic analysis is a useful method for beginning researchers to systematically identify the common pattern in meaning across the data (Braun & Clarke, 2012) A six-phase approach to thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was adopted for data analysis procedure

Phase 1: In this phase, the researcher read the transcripts of the interviews

and comments on lesson plans carefully to get familiar with the data Some potential pieces of information were annotated with the researcher‟s comments

Phase 2: Initial coding was generated with Nvivo 11 After the raw data

had been uploaded into the database of Nvivo, the researcher scanned the data, reviewed the annotations and coded items potentially relevant to the research questions Nodes were created in Nvivo 11 for each code that was generated Multiple codings were used as some data items might represent more than one

category The coding process of each type of data will be described in details (Section 3.6.1.1 & 3.6.1.2)

Phase 3: The researcher moved to the second cycle of coding and searched

for potential themes In this phase, the researcher looked for the frequently occurring words or phrases in the data to identify potential themes, which were reported by at least two out of three participants Also, initial codes were reviewed; relevant data items were grouped into one code For example “sequenced activities improperly” and “not easy to distinguish practice activities” were grouped into

“difficulties in sequencing”

At the analysis stages, data was compared and contrasted within cases as well as across cases Evidence from different sources which are lesson plans and interview transcripts was analysed at the same time, then compared to each other to arrive at satisfactory answers to the research questions

3.6.2.1 Illustration of lesson plans analysis

Lesson plans were assessed by the teacher educator as the independent rater Her notes in the lesson plans and her comments in the lesson plan marking rubrics were read and coded line by line with Descriptive Coding, which means the basic topic of her idea was summarized in a word or a phrase (Saldaña, 2009, p 262)

1Her lesson plan follows

the three stages in a

mechanical way The

activities did not flow

from one to another The

presentation stage is

rather teacher-centered

and 2does sound

interesting enough for

young learners

1 Inappropriate Sequencing

3.6.2.2 Illustration of interview transcript analysis

The transcripts were reviewed carefully line by line Initial codes were generated by interpreting and assigning meaning to some monothematic data items Then those items were separated into different categories in the framework proposed by Stronge and Xu (2016)

The research used two coding methods to analyze the interview transcripts,

which are Descriptive coding and In Vivo coding First of all, Descriptive coding

method was also employed to identify the topic of the data The table below illustrates how descriptive coding was used

Example quote First cycle coding Type of code

…1

I used to arrange the

activities based on my

feelings, but now I base on

the order of class

organization to sequence my

activities 2My colleagues

suggested that I should put

individual work first, then,

pair works and group works,

or vice versa

1 Sequencing criteria

2 Class organization order

Descriptive coding

Table 3.3: Descriptive coding in interview analysis

The second method was In Vivo coding, in which the data was coded with “a word

or short phrases from the participant‟s own language in the data record” (Saldaña,

2009, p.264) Coding with their actual words enhances and deepens the viewpoints

of interviewees

Example quote First cycle coding Type of code

…when I started teaching,

1I sequenced the activities

improperly 2But it‟s just a

normal thing for novice

1 sequenced activities improperly

2 Normal for novice teachers

In Vivo coding

teachers 3As it‟s not easy

Reflexivity in qualitative research is the process in which the researcher

“reflects about how their biases, values, and personal background, shape their interpretations formed during a study” (Creswell, 2014)

The researcher is a senior student majoring in English Language Teaching Education at FELTE, ULIS, so the researcher is familiar with the teacher education program the participants undertake However, the researcher did not assume that she understood their lesson planning practices at work, nor did the researcher impose her perspectives on them It is also worth acknowledging that the researcher was known to three participants before this study started They viewed the researcher as

a credible and understanding friend with whom they openly shared their opinions

As a result, the researcher could gather rich and reliable data for the research questions

3.8 Ethical considerations

Three participants were totally willing to take part in the research In order

to ensure the protection of the participants, the researcher followed following steps Firstly, before the data collection procedure started, the participants had been informed about their roles, responsibilities and some benefits they would receive in the consent form (Appendix B) All participants signed the consent forms to confirm their participations in the research Secondly, the interviews were only recorded with the participants‟ agreement Thirdly, pseudonyms were used in the final paper to protect the participants‟ identities throughout the study Finally, the data was stored in a private folder and the access was limited to only the investigator and the supervisor

Chapter summary

This chapter has explained the methodology used in the research Both quantitative and qualitative approach were employed in research design Also, detailed information about participants, research instruments as well as the process

of data collection and data analysis was provided to ensure the reliability and transparency of the research paper Results of those processes will be presented in the next chapter

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

In this chapter, the findings are presented according to the three research questions stated in Chapter 1 The answers for research question 2 and 3 are simultaneously displayed so that the relationship between pre-service teachers‟ perspectives and their real performances can be clearly illustrated Furthermore, the chapter also involves some further interpretations and discussions after reporting the results

4.1 Research question 1: Do pre-service EYL teachers encounter difficulties in lesson planning?

The answer to this question was drawn from the lesson plans of the participants and information taken from the semi-structured interviews According

to their lesson plans, the teacher educator assigned an overall score to each service EYL teacher to indicate the quality of their planning practice The score they received varies from person to person Lucy had a result of 57/88, followed by Tammy with 44/88, and Hana had the lowest point, 22/88 The chart below illustrates the ratio of student teachers‟ scores to the total score in percentage terms

pre-Figure 4.1: Student teachers’ results of lesson plan