An investigation into the impact of context on a vietnamese tertiary level english teachers teaching practices a case study dr

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPACT OF CONTEXT ON A VIETNAMESE TERTIARY LEVEL ENGLISH TEACHER‘S TEACHING PRACTICES: A CASE STUDY A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate Scho

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPACT OF CONTEXT ON A VIETNAMESE

TERTIARY LEVEL ENGLISH TEACHER‘S TEACHING

PRACTICES: A CASE STUDY

A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School Ateneo de Manila University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy

By Nguyễn Quang Tiến

2012

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The writing of this dissertation was truly a journey with many challenges that came along the way, and the completion of this journey was thanks to many kind and generous people who constantly helped me to surmount the difficulties

I am most grateful to Dr Maria Luz C Vilches for accepting me as her advisee, for her guidance, dedication, patience, trust, warm full support, and encouragement all throughout the process of writing this dissertation

I also thank my dissertation panel members, Dr Maria Luisa T Reyes, Dr Margarita R Orendain, Dr Marianne Rachel G Perfecto, Dr Carolina A Nuñez, and Dr

Vũ Thị Phương Anh for their comments and recommendations to enrich my insights

I would not have been able to accomplish this dissertation without the help of the following people to whom I give my heartfelt thanks: Dr Frances L Hoffmann and Dr

Vũ Thị Phương Anh for helpful discussions and suggestions; Dr Isabel Pefianco Martin and Dr Beatriz P Lorente, whose coursework provided me with knowledge of English language teaching; Ms Nguyễn Thị Thanh Hà and Mr Bùi Mỹ Ngọc (University of Economics, HCMC), Mr Nguyễn Ngọc Huân (HUFLIT), and Ms Bùi Thị Thúy Quyên (University of Economics and Finance) for their support in my data collection; Mr Quách Phúc Linh, Ms Quách Bảo Trân, and Mr Võ Văn Sang for their taking care of me

in the Philippines and in Vietnam; and Ms Nguyễn Bích Hạnh for her encouragement

This work would not have been possible without the grant from the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA) and the administrative support of the Office of International Relations (OIR) of the Ateneo de Manila University

My special thanks go to my family for their care, encouragement and love

ABSTRACT

This dissertation examines the impact of context on a Vietnamese tertiary level English

teacher‘s teaching practices It aims to answer the central question, ―Why does a Vietnamese English teacher teach the way he/she does in each of two different tertiary level educational contexts?‖ The research subject was a Vietnamese English teacher

teaching in two different universities The data mainly came from classroom observations, stimulated recall interviews, and students‘ written feedback The general finding was that while national and institutional contexts (with either BANA1 or TESEP2 norms) set the general conditions for a teacher‘s teaching practices, the impact of such contexts on the teacher‘s decision-making processes about what constitutes good English teaching in actual classroom practice is secondary to the impact of the teacher‘s wealth of educational training, teaching experience, and dedication to duty in order to meet the learning needs of students The teacher‘s teaching practices in these contexts can be shown in her classroom management styles, lecture styles, and teaching methods – all creatively adjusted to offset the limitations of context or to enhance the favorable setting

in order to create the desired learning atmosphere

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ABBREVIATIONS x

DEFINITION OF TERMS xi

LIST OF TABLES xiii

CHARTS xv

FIGURES xvi

APPENDICES xvii

I INTRODUCTION 01

Background of the Study 01

Historical View of Foreign Language Education in Vietnam 02

Summary 08

Languages of Vietnam 09

Ethnic setting 09

Linguistic setting 10

Summary 14

English in Vietnam‘s Educational System .14

Statement of the Problem 16

Scope and Limitations of the Study 18

Significance of the Study 18

Language Research Area 19

Teaching-learning Practice 19

Vietnamese Educators and Administrators 20

Theoretical Framework 20

Institutional Context 22

TESEP and BANA—two parts of the profession in ELT 22

Cultural networks 25

National cultures 25

Organizational cultures 28

Classroom cultures 30

The professional-academic cultures 30

Summary 33

Sociocultural Interaction (Vygotsky, 1978) 33

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) 34

Scaffolding .36

Conceptual Framework 37

Summary 39

II METHODOLOGY 41

Research Question #1 42

Vietnam‘s English Language Policies 43

Current Teaching and Learning English in Vietnam‘s Educational System 47

ELT Context in Two Universities Where the Present Study Was Conducted 48

General contexts 49

Context in detail 50

Curricula 50

Foci in the curriculum 52

Number of hours for English study 52

English class size 54

Materials and use of supplementary materials 54

Following the curriculum framework of the MOET 55

Placement tests 55

Exit English language exams 56

Syllabi 56

Syllabus of Class KT 79 in UEH 56

Syllabus of Class SE 2.3 in UEF 56

Objectives of the course 57

Lesson plans 57

Facilities 57

Equipment 57

Students‘ tables and benches 57

Teaching quality assurance 58

Classroom observations 58

Periodic teacher evaluation and student feedback 58

Teachers‘ meetings 59

Quality assurance office 59

Administrative matters 59

Curriculum management 59

Tuition fee 60

Teaching remuneration 60

Students‘ profiles 60

Teacher‘s profile 61

Research Question #2 61

Locales of the Study 61

Time for Classroom Observations 62

Observed Classes 62

Case Study Subject 62

Non-participant Observers 62

Instruments for Observations 63

Observation Focus Points 63

More about Questioning Strategies 64

The Analysis of Questioning Strategies 65

Students‘ Feedback on the Observed Classes 67

Research question #3 68

The Gap between the Observation Sessions and the Stimulated Recall Interviews 69

Procedures of the Stimulated Recall Interviews 70

Stages of Data Analysis 72

Ethical Issues 72

Quality Control Issues 76

Summary 78 78 III LITERATURE REVIEW 81

Recent Reviews and Studies on the Current ELT in Vietnam‘s Educational System in General 81

Lack of English Teachers 81

Big Class Size 81

Low Educational Cost, Low Tuition Fee, Teacher‘s Low Remuneration, and Low Quality Teaching and Learning 82

Students‘ Low Entrance English Level 82

Limited Length of Time for English Learning 83

The Interplay between Students‘ Level of English and Class Time 83

Students‘ Heterogeneous English Levels 83

Foci in English Learning and Teaching 84

Foci in English Assessment 84

Waste of Time, Money, and Efforts in English Learning and Teaching 84

Time for English Learning 84

Percentage of Students Who Meet the Required Level of English Communication 85

Overview of Research-based studies 85

Separate Research-based Studies 86

Han‘s (2007) Study Hawkey‘s (2006) Study Littlewood‘s (2001) Study Wu‘s (1995) Study Lai‘s (1994) Study Kumar‘s (1992) Study Summary 96

IV ENGLISH TEACHING PRACTICES UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS 98

General Observations 98

Classroom Interaction 98

Participation organization 98

Interactive styles 100

Teacher questions 100

Interaction time 102

Time distribution for all activities 104

The Relationship between teacher talk time and the number of teacher questions 104

The relationship among the number of teacher questions, wait time, and the number of teacher questions answered by the students 105

Teacher‘s giving answers to her own questions in relation to wait time 105

Teaching Methods 106

Teaching styles 106

Use of the mother tongue 107

Analysis 108

Time Constraint and Class Size 109

Seating Arrangements in Relation to Class Size 112

Teaching Content in Relation to Time Constraint 114

Students‘ Levels of English and Target Objectives in the English Programs 122

Teacher Evaluation System 127

Cultural Factors 132

Students‘ Preference in Teacher-student Interaction 135

Technical Support 136

Challenges Which Brought out Solutions 137

Teacher Cognition 145

Summary 146

V CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 147

Conclusions 147

The Conditions Which Had Impacts on the Teacher‘s Teaching Practices 147

Gains from the Present Study 155

Summary 158

Implications 159

Language Research Area 159

Teaching-learning Practice 159

Vietnamese Educators and Administrators 161

Development of the English Language in Vietnam 162

Recommendations 164

REFERENCES 166

FOOTNOTES 176

APPENDICES 178

ABBREVIATIONS

AFTA : Asia Free Trade Area

ALTE : The Association of Language Testers of Europe

APEC : Asia Pacific Economic Group

ASEAN : Association of South East Asia Nations

BANA : Britain, Australasia, an North America

CLT : Communicative Language Teaching

COLT : Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching

COMECON : Communist Economic Trading Block

DRV : Democratic Republic of Vietnam

EFL : English as a Foreign Language

ELT : English Language Teaching

ESL : English as a Second Language

ESP : English for Specific Purposes

ETS : Educational Testing Service

IELTS : International English Language Testing System

MOET : Ministry of Education and Training

TESEP : Tertiary, secondary, and primary English language education in the

countries, not including BANA TESOL : Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

TOEFL : Test of English as a Foreign Language

TOEIC : Test of English for International Communication

UEF : University of Economics and Finance, Ho Chi Minh City

UEH : University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Behavior is any activity of an organism that can be either directly or indirectly observed (Powell et al., 2002, p 3)

Classroom behavior refers to teachers‘ and/ or students‘ observable activities

Classroom observation refers to a set of related procedures for gathering data in the classroom

Context is defined as a national and/ or institutional setting that is comprised of elements such as educational policies, styles of management, classroom settings, curricula, syllabi, teachers, and students

General pedagogical knowledge denotes general knowledge about teaching, including beliefs and skills related to general principles of curriculum and instruction, learners and learning, and classroom management (Shulman, 1986)

Impact is the effect of something on something else (Hornby, 2005)

Input refers to the language that is addressed to the L2 learner (Gebhard & Oprandy,

verbal commentaries about the cognitions which are typically thoughts or making processes (Borg, 2006, 209; Nunan & Bailey, 2009, p 259)

decision-Participation refers to taking part in an observable activity

Question asking is defined as one of the basic ways by which the teacher stimulates student thinking and learning (Gall, 1970, p 707)

Rephrasing in the present study refers to using different syntactic structures to provide comprehensible input to language learners

Semi-structured interviews are open-ended and less rigid than structured interviews, thus providing much greater flexibility to the researcher (Allwright & Bailey, 1991, p 62; Burns, 1999, pp 120 – 121)

Stimulated recall interview, as the name suggests, is a procedure by which a researcher stimulates the recollection by a participant of an event This is done by having that person review data collected during the event (Nunan & Bailey, 2009, p 259)

Teacher cognition is an unobservable cognitive dimension of teaching, which includes what teachers think, know, and believe It is reflected in teachers‘ decision making (Borg,

LIST OF TABLES

1.1 Two Parts of the Profession in ELT (culled from Holliday, 1994) 23

1.2 Categories of National Cultures and the Behaviors with Them (Hofstede, 1991) 26

1.3 Three Different Types of Organizational Cultures (culled from Trompenaars, 1993) 29

1.4 Collection and Integration (culled from Holliday, 1994) 32

Chapter II 2.1 Brief Summary of Methodology 41

2.2 Sources of Data for Research Question #1 42

2.3 English Language Learning and Teaching Plan in Vietnam for 2008-2020 44

2.4 ELT Context in the Two Universities Where the Present Study was Conducted 51

2.5 Types of Teacher Questions 64

2.6 Questioning Strategies Used by the Teacher 66

2.7 Stimulated Recall Interview Guidelines 69

2.8 Procedures of Stimulated Recall Interviews 71

2.9 Stages of Data Analysis 73

2.10 Detailed Methodology in Line with Three Research Questions 79

Chapter IV 4.1 Details of Pair Work, Group Work, and Individual Work 99

4.2 Types of the Teacher‘s Questions and Questioning Strategies 101

4.3 Teacher-student Interaction 102

4.4 Interaction Time in the Observed Classes 103

4.5 Number of Questions and Teacher Talk Time 104

4.6 Number of Questions, Wait Time, and Number of the Teacher‘s Questions Answered by the Students 105

4.7 Teaching Styles 106

4.8 Use of L1 108

4.9 Students‘ Feedback on Use of Languages in Class 119

4.10 Reasons for the Students‘ Preference of Length of Responses 126

CHARTS

1.1 Stages of Language Planning and Policy in Vietnam (Nguyen Quang Tien,

2011) 03

FIGURES

1.1 Interplay among Three Components in Language Teaching 21

1.2 Conceptual Framework 40

APPENDICES

1A A List of Countries Which Give English Some Official Function 178

1B Ethnic Composition of Vietnam (as of 1994) (Vasavakul, 2003) 179

1C Language Families, Ethnic Groups, Population Size, and Writing System of Vietnam (as of 1994) 180

1D Vietnam‘s Educational System 182

Chapter II 2A Teachers‘ Quotes in Vietnamese and English Translations 183

2B ALTE – The Association of Language Testers of Europe 184

2C Curriculum at UEH 187

2D Syllabi of UEH and UEF 189

2E The Main Textbooks in UEH and UEF 192

2F Students‘ Questionnaire on Self-Evaluation and Demographic Information 198

2G Summary of The Students‘ Background Information in UEH and UEF

199 2H Teacher‘s Profile 201

2I Observation Sheet 202

2J Duff‘s (1996) Transcription Conventions & Ellis‘s (1985) 204

2K Students‘ Feedback Form 206

2L Summary of the Students‘ Feedback on the Observed Classes 207

2M Instruction of the Stimulated Recall Interviews 209

2N Letter of Invitation to Participate in the Research (For Students) 210

2O Letter of Invitation to Participate in the Research (For Teacher) 211

Chapter IV 4A Actual Happenings in the Classroom 212

4B Detailed Teaching Content 213

4C Teacher‘s Quotes in Vietnamese and English Translations 222

4D Tapescripts 226

4E Code-switching 268

Chapter V 5A English-Vietnamese Code-switching (Ho Dac Tu, 2003) 274

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

It is obvious that English has become a lingua franca in the world (Crystal, 2003; Kachru, 1998, 2005; Kirkpatrick, 2002; Oka, 2004; Phan, 2005; Seidlhofer, 2005) It has developed into a dominant language in English mother-tongue countries and into official

or semi-official languages in the countries that are former colonies of the United States or Britain (Mckay, 1992, p 28) Lowenberg (1989, p 216) provides a list of countries that give English some official function (Appendix 1A) In addition, English is also used in many formerly-francophone countries like Tunisia, Vietnam and Cambodia These countries are without any British or US colonial influence (Spolsky, 2006, p 79) Nevertheless, the study of foreign languages, especially English, is increasing in these countries This fact confirms Spolsky‘s statement that the more speakers a language has, the more people want to learn it (Spolsky, p 89) This statement is true for the situation

of Vietnam Since after the Sixth National Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party (1986), which launched ‗Open-Door‘ or ‗Doi Moi‘ (renovation) policy with the aim to expand the country‘s international communication, particularly with neighboring countries like Singapore and Thailand, there has been a remarkable development in the practices of learning and teaching English in Vietnam English training has been in great demand in the aforementioned country since then

This section situates the emergence of English in Vietnamese society within the history of the country‘s languages and foreign language education practices in order to

facilitate a greater understanding of the current state of learning and teaching English in the above context This section also presents briefly the place of English in the spectrum

of Vietnamese languages, and in Vietnam‘s contemporary educational system All of these are done in order to provide a background to the central issue that the present study

is aimed at: an examination of the impact of ELT contexts on teachers‘ classroom teaching practices

Historical View of Foreign Language Education in Vietnam

Like the other countries in the region, Vietnam is under the influence of a globalized economy, which has brought about numerous changes in the country‘s politics, economics, education, and cultures These changes have, to some extent, led to the changes in the country‘s foreign language education policy In order to understand how Vietnam‘s history has influenced its foreign language education policy, this section historicizes Vietnam from the time it was still occupied by the Chinese until the time it was independent of foreign rule The review serves as background information for understanding the rest of the section

The language policy of Vietnam has been reviewed by a number of researchers (Denham, 1992; Do, 1999; Do, 2006b; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2007; Vasavakul, 2003; Vu, 1997; Wright, 2002) Based on the discussions of these researchers, this section aims to provide a compact view of the linguistic setting in Vietnam with a reader-friendly chart (see Chart 1.1) The development of the language policy in Vietnam has gone through six stages: (1) Vietnam from 111 BC to 938 AD, (2) Vietnam independent of Chinese rules, (3) French colonization (1867 – 1954), (4) American colonization (1955 – 1975), (5) Decolonization (1975 – 1986), and (6) ‗Open-door‘ policy (since 1986)

Chart 1.1 Stages of Language Planning and Policy in Vietnam (Nguyen Quang Tien, 2011)

1867 Quoc-Ngu French

1919

Chinese banned

1945-54

French war

Chi, Fr, E DISAPPEARED Russian promoted

2011

Chi, Fr, E Promoted Russian Less in demand

French

colonialization

From 10 th -17 th C Vietnam INDEPENDENT

20 years under

STAGE 2

Civil strife

French colonialization

Stage 1: Vietnam from 111 BC to 938 AD The history of Vietnam can be traced

back to 111 BC, when Vietnam was under Chinese rule This would last until 938 AD (Denham, 1992; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2007; Vasavakul, 2003; Wright, 2002) During the Chinese colonization, a Chinese system of schools was created to train both Chinese and Vietnamese children, particularly those of the Chinese and Vietnamese aristocracy lineage So the education during that time was conducted in Chinese, and followed Chinese models, specifically the Chinese methodology and the competitive examination system From the perspective of language implementation, defined by Kaplan & Baldauf Jr., (1997) and Ridge (1996) as the decision, the adoption and spread of the language form that has been selected, the Chinese language was the first foreign language used and

spoken in Vietnam over the period of almost 1,000 years

Stage 2: Vietnam from 939 to the first half of the 18 thcentury In 939 AD,

Vietnam became independent from China However, the Chinese influence remained very strong Formal education was conducted in Chinese, the language of the state; Chinese textbooks and a system of competitive examination were still used In the 13th

century, scholars developed Nom, a script for the Vietnamese language based on Chinese characters While Nom was the language for ordinary Vietnamese people, classical

Chinese was used for legal documents and spoken in royal families

From the 16th century to the mid 18th century, Vietnam underwent civil strife Due

to this civil turmoil, European missionaries (Dominicans, Franciscans, and the Jesuits)

were able to enter Vietnam One remarkable thing about this period is that Quoc Ngu

(National language)—Romanized Vietnamese—was invented in the 17th century by

Alexandre de Rhodes, a French Jesuit missionary Quoc Ngu is the Vietnamese language

today In brief, stage two is marked by two events: (1) the invention of Nom based on

Chinese characters in the 13th century for Vietnamese ordinary people, and (2) the

invention of Quoc Ngu in the 17th century Though these two languages were developed

in this period, Chinese was still in use (Vasavakul, 2003)

Stage 3: French colonization (1867 – 1954) French colonization in Vietnam

lasted for almost one hundred years That is, in 1867 Vietnam, given the name

‗Cochinchina‘, became a French colony This colonization lasted for almost one hundred

years Vietnam was not liberated from the French until 1954 By 1878, only Quoc Ngu

and French were permitted in official documents Thus, French was the second foreign language officially used in Vietnam In 1919, Chinese education was officially banned in the colony In brief, stage three is marked by the fact that French became the second foreign language of Vietnam (Vasavakul, 2003)

Stage 4: American colonization (1955 – 1975) In 1954, the Geneva Conference

divided Vietnam into two parts in the context of the Cold War: North and South The Communist regime of Ho Chi Minh controlled the North while the American-backed regime controlled the South This division lasted from 1955 to 1975 During this period, the North was greatly supported by China and Russia Because of this the learning and teaching of Chinese and Russian were promoted in the North, whereas French and English were not In the South, which was backed up by the Americans, English language learning and teaching was promoted These political events affected the language policy

in Vietnam during that time That is, Russian and English became the two foreign languages learnt and taught in Vietnam after Chinese and French In brief, by 1975, four

foreign languages—Chinese, French, Russian, and English—were being spoken in

Vietnam

Stage 5: Decolonization period (1975 – 1985) In 1975, Vietnam was re-unified

Afterwards, a key national goal was to eliminate the enslaving ―decadent culture that destroys the old and beautiful traditions of the Vietnamese people‖ (Terzani, 1997, p 176) English and French were considered two carriers of this decadent culture Both of these disappeared from the educational system and from the Vietnamese learners‘ linguistic repertoire (Wright, 2002) since they were regarded as ‗enemy languages.‘ In

1979, because the war broke out between China and Vietnam along the border between the two countries, Chinese was considered an ‗enemy language,‘ and it was banned afterwards During this time, the use of the three foreign languages—Chinese, French, and English—almost disappeared Only Russian was still accepted since Vietnam was economically and educationally supported by Russia

Stage 6: Period of ―Doi Moi‖ policy (―Open-door‖ or ―Renovation‖ policy) from 1986 Because it isolated itself from other countries after the liberation in 1975, the

economy of Vietnam stagnated In 1986, influenced by Russia and Gorbachev‘s economic reform, Vietnam changed its policy and opened its door to the world The ―Doi Moi‖ (―Open-Door‖/ ―Renovation‖) policy is known as one of the major breakthroughs

or changes made in 1986 This change in economic policy meant that Vietnam was involving itself in globalization by getting direct investments from other countries (Wright, 2002) During this time, Russian was still popularly promoted and taught in schools, as Vietnam was still economically reliant on COMECON (the Communist economic trading block) This reliance on the COMECON lasted until 1991, when the

Soviet Union block collapsed As a consequence of this, trade and aid relationships stopped and the Russian language quickly disappeared in Vietnam

The paradigm shift in language policy and the factors influencing this shift

As attested to by each stage above, the emergence or disappearance of a foreign language

in Vietnam‘s history is associated with macro-sociopolitical factors Between 1975, when Vietnam was re-unified, to 1985 (ten years of liberation), all foreign languages except Russian were considered ‗enemy languages.‘ The Vietnamese were not encouraged to study these languages and they seemed to disappear from Vietnamese learners‘ linguistic repertoire (Wright, 2002) partly because the Government feared that exposure to these foreign languages would influence Vietnamese to be ―Western‖ or ―decadent.‖ Multilingualism was seen as a problem

After 1986, there was a new pragmatic view of both language and linguistic instrumentalism in Vietnam Capital from Asian countries like Taiwan and Hong Kong, and from European countries like Switzerland and France, flowed into the country; Vietnam was also admitted into the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) in

1995 Diplomatic relationships with the United States were eventually normalized, and Vietnam also became a member of AFTA (Asia Free Trade Area) and APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Group)

These changes in economic relationships have been the driving forces in Vietnam‘s paradigm change in language policy The three foreign languages (Chinese, French, and English) that were seen as ‗enemy languages‘ and ignored before 1986 were again promoted to allow Vietnam to catch up with the economic growth in the region In the new globalized economy, Vietnam began to acknowledge the importance of

multilingual communication In other words, multilingualism and foreign language learning were promoted The notion of ‗enemy languages‘ gradually disappeared in Vietnam The government and the citizens realized the important role of foreign languages in the globalized new economy that Vietnam had started to get involved in This shift was seen in the fact that from 1985 to 1993, around 200 Vietnamese teachers of English were sent to Australia for higher education, while some others were sent to Britain and India (Do, 1999) The paradigm shift in language policy was also affected by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 As mentioned earlier, the Soviet Union block was a great economic support for Vietnam after the reunification of 1975 After the collapse, Vietnam ceased to receive aid from this union Consequently, the learning and teaching of Russian became less in demand afterwards

The paradigm shift regarding the view of foreign language learning significantly changed after 1986 In the past few years, the Vietnamese government as well as Vietnamese educators have been more concerned about the quality of learning and teaching foreign languages in Vietnam, particularly that of English because it serves as a tool for international communication and for the development of Vietnam, which has just become a member of the ASEAN, AFTA, and APEC, where English is used as the official working language According to Vu (1997, p.11), no other foreign language could serve international communication better than English in Vietnam Thus, English has become the dominant official foreign language in the Vietnamese people‘s linguistic repertoire and in Vietnam‘s education system

Summary In brief, this section has presented a historical perspective of foreign

language education in Vietnam from the time when Vietnam was under the Chinese reign

until the present day Chinese was spoken and taught during the period of Chinese

colonization; Nom, a language invented in the 13th century, was based on Chinese

characters for ordinary Vietnamese people; Quoc Ngu, the Romanized national language,

was invented in the 17th century by a French Jesuit missionary; French was spoken during the French colonization (1867 – 1954); during the Vietnam War (1955 – 1975), Chinese and Russian were promoted in North Vietnam while English and French were promoted

in South Vietnam The decolonization period lasted from 1975 – 1985; during this time, Chinese, French, and English were seen as ―enemy languages,‖ while Russian was considered acceptable From the time when the ―Doi Moi‖ (―Open-door‖) policy was implemented until now, many foreign languages (English, French, Italian, Spanish,

Chinese, Korean, and Thai, to name just a few) have been promoted in the country

A perspective of foreign language education in Vietnam has just been presented in order to identify the status of the English language in Vietnam from the Vietnam War (1955) until now This status will be more clearly seen when viewed within the broad picture of the languages of Vietnam that were discussed by Vasavakul (2003) In this picture, the author describes the ethnic setting as well as the linguistic setting in Vietnam, and shows the status of the English language among many other languages of ethnic minorities The picture of the languages of Vietnam is presented below

The Languages of Vietnam

Ethnic setting In order to understand the linguistic setting in Vietnam that will

be presented later in this section, it is necessary to look at the ethnic setting in the country

described by Vasavakul (2003)

Vietnam is comprised of fifty-four ethnic group (Appendices 1B & 1C) which is placed into four language families: (1) Austroasiatic (Viet-Muong Groups, Mon-Khmer Groups), (2) Thai-Kadai (Thai Groups, Kadai Groups, Hmong-Yao), (3) Austronasia (Malayo-Polynesian), and (4) Sino-Tibetan (Sinitic Groups, Tibetan-Burntan Groups) (Vasavakul (2003) The Viet (the Kinh), one of the Viet-Muong groups, makes up almost the whole population (86.8 percent) of the Vietnamese people, according to the census done in the 1990s On the other hand, the other fifty-three ethnic groups make up the rest

of the population (13.2 percent) Of the fifty-three ethnic groups, there are only two groups, the Tay and the Thai, which have more than one million people each The subsequent census done in 1994 showed that ―the ten largest ethnic groups in Vietnam [were], in descending order, the Tay, Thai, Muong, Hoa, Khmer, Nung, Hmong, Yao, Gia-rai, and E-de‖ (Vasavakul, 2003, p 212)

Ethnic groups in Vietnam are made up of both indigeneous people and migrants For example, the homelands of the ancestors of the Tay were the mountainous areas of the North; those of the Kadai-speaking groups were the upper waters of the Red River and the Lo River and perhaps the northwest region; those of the Viet-Muong were the delta areas of north and north-central Vietnam; those of the Mon-Khmer were the central highlands (Vasavakul, 2003)

Linguistic setting The linguistic setting is formed based on the ethnic setting As

presented in the previous section, the language for the majority of the population (the Viet) in Vietnam in the 13th century was Nom, a language based on Chinese characters; in

the 17th century, it was Quoc Ngu, the Vietnamese language today While there have been documents discussing Nom and Quoc Ngu (languages of the Viet), there has been ―no

detailed work which provides a systematic overview of the spoken and written languages

of ethnic minorities living in Vietnam‖ (Vasavakul, 2003, p 221) However, there is some general information about the origins of the languages of some ethnic groups Vasavakul (2003) states:

The Nung writing system was based on Chinese characters and was widely used

in the 18th and 19th centuries for literary writings, family records, land registration, and traditional medicine recipes .The ethnic Thai writing system in Vietnam was based on that of the Mon-Khmer and was used by the Thai starting in the eleventh century .The Cham and the Khmer developed their writing systems based on Sanskrit (p 224)

Some members of minority groups were forced to mix with members of other groups and speak other languages In some situations, the member of a certain ethnic group spoke two languages In some others, the members of different ethnic groups used the same language This is why prior to 1945 (before the French war), bilingualism and multilingualism were widespread in Vietnam The general information about the languages of ethnic minorities prior to 1945 and after 1945 is presented below

Before 1945, the Viet Minh (―the League for Vietnam Independence‖), also known as a united front organization set up by Ho Chi Minh, was based in the northeastern mountainous areas inhabited by the Thay, Nung and Yao By then, three fundamental linguistic changes were made: ―First, a number of alternative spoken languages and writing systems for the Viet coexisted Second, Romanized writing systems for Vietnamese and minority languages had been developed and promulgated Third, French educational and language policies had broadened the cultural gap between

the Viet and the country‘s ethnic minorities‖ (Vasavakul, 2003, p 225) The promotion

of minority languages and writing systems was manifested by the policy documents written by the First National Party Congress of the Indochinese Communist Party in 1935, and by the political thesis of the Resolution of the Eighth Plenum of the Indochinese Communist Party in 1941, which stated that the cultures and languages of ethnic-minority groups in Vietnam would be encouraged to develop freely, be preserved, and be guaranteed

The French war began in 1945 (see Chart 1.1) Ho Chi Minh‘s government moved its political headquarters to a minority-inhabited area north Vietnam (Hanoi) The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), under Ho Chi Minh‘s leadership, regarded Vietnamese (the Viet) to be an important symbol of national identity and independence

At this time, Ho Chi Minh‘s government began to adopt Vietnamese (the Viet) and its writing system for the entire nation Like what was done before 1945, the government tried to develop writing systems for prominent minority languages and promote some of them as regional languages (Vasavakul, 2003) The support from the government for the promotion of some minority languages was seen through several minority-language projects launched in 1959 by the DRV These projects promoted the creation of writing systems for some minority groups such as the Hmong, the Tay-Nung; and promoted the reform of the Sankrit-based Thai script The consistency of the DRV‘s support was manifested in the DRV‘s 1960 constitution, which stated that ―every ethnic group had the right to maintain its customs and use its spoken language and script‖ (Vasavakul, 2003, p 229), and by the fact that the ancient Thai script was reformed in 1961 By this time, children of minority-ethnic groups were taught the Romanized and reformed minority

writing systems as part of a bilingual language program Aside from this, books were also published in these scripts (Vasavakul, 2003)

After the re-unification of the country in 1975 (i.e independence from the US control of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1975), the Vietnamese government paid more attention to the development of minority-dominated areas by creating new economic zones for the minority groups and moving the Viet (Kinh) from the overcrowded lowlands to the uplands inhabited by the minority-ethnic groups The language policy at

this time was (1) to promote the development of the Vietnamese language, Quoc Ngu,

and at the same time (2) to preserve the languages of major minority groups To support

this policy, the government issued the 1980 Decision 53-CP, which required that Quoc Ngu, or Vietnamese, be the common language for every ethnic group in the country, i.e

teaching Vietnamese to minority-ethnic groups was compulsory and the Romanization of ancient scripts and spoken languages was voluntary (Appendix 1C) The language hierarchy was obvious here: members of ethnic minorities spoke their own languages as well as Vietnamese, the latter being regarded as being of secondary importance The government has continued its support for the emphasis on teaching minority languages in school by issuing the Education Law of 1991, which states that every ethnic minority has the right to use their spoken and written languages concurrently with the Vietnamese language in primary education Given this situation, one classification casts languages

into mother tongue (tiếng mẹ đẻ) and non-mother tongue (không phải tiếng mẹ đẻ)

categories For example, the Thai consider the Thai language their mother tongue They consider Tay, spoken by inhabitants of the neighboring region, and even Vietnamese, to

be non-mother tongue languages; they occasionally see Hmong, spoken by their

neighbors, as their second mother tongue Another language coming from another

country is seen as a ―foreign language‖ (tiếng nước ngoài) (Vasavakul, 2003, p 234)

This is true for English, which is considered a foreign language for ethnic minorities Until now, there has been no official document found to say that foreign languages such

as English and French exist in the linguistic repertoires of the ethnic minorities in Vietnam

Summary This part has provided a picture of the ethnic setting in Vietnam and

its linguistic setting In relation to the historical view of foreign language education in Vietnam presented in the previous section, it can be seen that the foreign language education in Vietnam refers to that for the Viet, the main ethnic group in Vietnam, that accounts for 86.8 percent of the whole population, according to the census in the 1990s Thus the status of the English language identified in the foreign language education in Vietnam is the one viewed in the connection with the Vietnamese language (Quoc Ngu), and other foreign languages such as French, Chinese, Russian, to name just a few

English in Vietnam’s Educational System

This section presents an overall view of Vietnam‘s educational system (Appendix 1D) in order to facilitate an understanding of Vietnam‘s foreign language policy and the current situation of English language teaching and learning in Vietnam

Like many other educational systems in the world, Vietnam‘s educational system begins with nursery school for children aged 3 Then kindergarten is for children aged 4

to 5 Primary school education starts in grade 1 and finishes in grade 5 for children aged 6

to 10 English is not taught in primary schools Afterwards, at 11, they move on to Lower Secondary school, which starts in grade 6 and finishes in grade 9, when the students are

at the age of 14 In Lower Secondary education, pupils are to study English as an obligatory subject in the curriculum After Lower Secondary school, children have three options for their continuing education: (1) Upper Secondary School (Grades 10 – 12/ Ages: 15 – 17); (2) Professional Secondary (Duration: 3 – 4 years/ Ages: 15 – 18); and (3) Vocational training (Long term: 1 – 3 years/ Ages: 15 – 18; Short term: less than one year) Pupils in Uppper Secondary education also have to study English as a foreign language subject, and they have to take a graduation examination for this educational level The language skills tested in this English exam are only grammar and reading

For those who finish Upper Secondary School in Grade 12, they can continue their education in (1) University (Duration: 4 – 6 years/ Ages: 18 – 24) or (2) College (Duration: 3 years/ Ages: 18 – 21) For the university entrance examination, only students who aim to pursue certain degrees in the Social Sciences and Humanities such as English language and linguistics, Foreign Trade Affairs, and Oriental studies have to take an English examination which focuses on reading, grammar, and a little of writing, not on speaking Others who aim to pursue other fields do not have to take an English examination to get into universities or colleges In university or college education, students of all fields have to study English

Next, those who complete their university education can pursue graduate studies

to get Master‘s Degrees in two years and then Ph.D degrees in two to four years However, in reality, there are just part-time graduate programs in Vietnam now Master‘s programs last for three years, while Doctoral programs last for five years Those who aim

to pursue graduate studies have to take an English admission test, and another English test for graduation at the end of the course of study In other words, they have to take an

English test before university admission and before graduation The English admission tests here include only grammar, reading, and writing in the form of sentence transformation For the English graduation test, three language skills—Reading, Writing, and Listening—are tested

In general, the overall structure of Vietnam‘s educational system is patterned after that of the French, an result of almost 100 years of French colonization of Vietnam

Statement of the Problem

After the liberation of the country from colonial rule in 1975, education in Vietnam has been controlled by the Vietnam government English language learning and teaching are no exception1 There have been a lot discussions and studies about ELT in Vietnam, and the general agreement is that English language learning and teaching in Vietnam leaves much to be desired (Dao, 2005; Do, 1996, 1999, 2005, 2006a; Doan, 2008; Hoang, 2006; Hung, 2007; Le, 2006; Tran, 2006; Vu, 2007; Thanh Ha, 2008; Viet Hung & Ho Van, 2009)

Until recently, new universities have been established, and some of them (like the University of Economics and Finance (UEF), Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Tan Tao University, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and Hoa Sen University, to name just a few) are said to provide a better model of English language education compared to that of other long-established universities, and are known to aim for

―international standards‖ in education

These developments in the education sector have led to a sense that some established universities do a better job in ELT than long-established universities Unlike long-established universities, newly-established ones utilize different kinds of English

newly-teaching methods: they offer greater flexibility and greater support for the newly-teaching staff (e.g., freedom to choose materials, openness for smaller classes, and teaching for excellence) While this is the general observation regarding ELT in newly-established universities, little is known about them: no research on ELT in this new sector has been done, particularly using data from the above newly-established universities

There is not only this sense about newly-established universities, but there is also the fact that some Vietnamese English teachers teach English in both long-established schools and newly-established ones Given the general picture of differences in ELT as described above between long- and newly established schools, it would be quite interesting to find out how the ways these teachers teach are affected by their school contexts and why This comparison has not been studied so far

It was this curiosity that triggered the formation of the central question of the

present study, “Why does a Vietnamese English teacher teach the way he/she does in each of two different tertiary level educational contexts?”

To find out the answer to the central question, the present study investigated one teacher teaching in two different teaching contexts—one in the public sector and the other in the private sector Thus, the main question is understood more specifically through the following sub-questions:

1 What is the context of English language teaching (ELT) at the tertiary level in Vietnam?

2 What English teaching practices does a Vietnamese teacher employ in each of two different universities?

3 What are the conditions that play a role in a Vietnamese teacher‘s teaching practices in tertiary level classrooms in these two contexts?

Scope and Limitations of the Study

First, the data for the present study were collected mainly from classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews with the teacher The data also came from the students‘ feedback collected through the questionnaires served as supplementary data (further explained in Methodology) Second, as initially planned, two teachers teaching in the same public and private universities would be chosen as the subjects of the present study However, there was difficulty finding this number of the subjects who met the sampling criterion Thus, the study investigated a teacher‘s teaching practices in two different different universities—University of Economics (UEH), a long-established school in HCMC, and University of Economics and Finance (UEF), a newly-established one also in HCMC Its purpose was to conduct intensive and in-depth observations to generate hypotheses for future research and investigations Thus, three classroom sessions in each school were observed

Next, like case-study research involving a small sample, the present study does not claim the generalizability of its findings Nonetheless, the triangulation, verification and detailed description of the data enhance the validity of the present study analysis (see Methodology)

Significance of the Present Study

The present research has an impact on the following: (a) Language research area; (b) Teaching-learning practice; and (c) Vietnamese teachers of English and Vietnamese educators

Language Research Area

While English language learning and teaching play an important role in the overall development of Vietnam, no comparative research had been done to investigate the impact of different teaching contexts on Vietnamese English teachers‘ teaching practices in English classrooms Thus, the present study was the first one to investigate this issue in order to find out to what extent different teaching contexts affected the development of ELT in Vietnam in particular, and in language studies in general Next, investigation into teachers‘ thinking, knowledge systems, beliefs, attitudes, values and experience is still a relatively young field in Vietnam This study will contribute to an understanding of teachers‘ teaching, classroom actions and perceptions In other words, this study seeks to understand teaching from the inside rather than from the outside, that

is, from the point of view of the participants themselves Based on these points, pedagogical reasoning and action processes employed by L2 teachers in their work would

be uncovered

The contributions of this present study promise to enrich the knowledge base that underlies teachers‘ classroom practices in a non-native and Asian ELT context Next, though the present study is Vietnamese in context, its findings as well as its methodology can be useful for other contexts in Asian countries and elsewhere where English is spoken as a foreign language and as a lingua franca of academia

Teaching-learning Practice

The results of the present, said examples providing an example of English teaching practices in two different universities in Vietnam, serve as a starting point for Vietnamese teachers of English and even for educators in general that can help them be

aware of the effects of the overall national educational system and the teaching contexts

of ELT in a particular setting on English teaching practices If so, adjustments to ELT might be made In addition, the present study, based on the findings, can provide hypothesis generation for future research with the hope to improve the quality of ELT in Vietnam, including teacher development, curricular reforms, syllabus updating, and promotion of ELT research Finally, through this study, Vietnamese teachers of English will be encouraged to become more self-reflective of how they teach English in relation

to how their classroom practice is received and perceived by students for the latter‘s learning purposes

Vietnamese Educators and Administrators

Through this study, policy makers, foreign language educators, and administrators will have a chance to know about ELT in Vietnam as they attempt to formulate new policies of English education in Vietnam The findings of the present study can also be food for thought for policy makers, administrators and educators in view of reforms and renovation of teaching methods, curriculum, learning environments, etc., and in view of

the role of teacher cognition in the implementation of educational innovations

Theoretical Framework

Teaching practices are situated among three inter-influential components—(1) teaching context, (2) teacher cognition, and (3) teaching practices (Figure 1.1) Due to the fact that the same teacher teaches in two different schools, she applies her same teacher cognition in her teaching Thus teacher cognition was not the main factor contributing teaching differences in these schools in the present study Given the circumstance, the theoretical framework of this study consists of two theories—(1) institutional context

theory and (2) sociocultural theory on classroom interaction—both of which stem from key ideas on the two main areas of the research: institutional context and classroom interaction The triangle in Figure 1.1 stands for the interplay among the three inter-influential components The arrows stand for the theoretical links or support for the two main areas of research

Figure 1.1 Interplay among Three Components: Teaching Context, Teacher

Cognition, and Teaching Practices

As the title of the dissertation suggests, this study investigates the effects of context on a teachers‘ teaching practices Thus the first part of the theoretical framework

Teacher cognition Teaching context

Teaching practices (Classroom interaction &

Teaching methods)

Institutional context theory

Socio-cultural intereaction

theory

Trompenaars (1993) which shed light on institutional context The second part is related

to Vygotsky‘s (1978) sociocultural theory on classroom interaction

TESEP and BANA—two parts of the profession in ELT (Table 1.1) Holliday

(1994) distinguishes two parts of profession in ELT The first part originates in Britain, Australasia, and North America (the ‗BANA‘ countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada), and the second comprises tertiary, secondary, and primary English language education in the rest of the world (‗TESEP‘) Each profession has its own features listed

in Table 1.1, and every member of the ‗BANA‘ and ‗TESEP‘ communities has an influencing perception about what should happen in an institution that follows either of the two

In the TESEP countries, English is taught as part of a wider curriculum which is influenced by educational and institutional factors such as the number of hours available, the time table, class size, furniture, facilities, and other constraints which affect individual teaching styles So an English language teacher behaves not only according to the needs

of language learning, but also according to the common norms or the teaching context For example, in case of excessively large classes where the teacher finds it difficult to monitor group and pair work effectively, little can be done to improve this situation since the nature of classroom is likely to be fixed by the institution which follows national

cultural values Another situation is that in most English classrooms in the TESEP countries, there is a common mother tongue, so the control required to ensure quality

 English is taught as part of a wider

curriculum that generally follows

more ‗traditional structure-based

lessons generally in state institutions

 Individual teaching style is influenced

by educational and institutional

factors such as the number of hours

available, time table, class size,

furniture, facilities, etc

 These factors entail other factors:

+ Difficulties to apply group or

pair work

+ ‗Failure‘ to employ

communicative approach

+ Teacher-centered approaches

 Little can be done to change the

situations since the nature of the

classroom is fixed by the institution

 BANA has developed within a private language school ethos where there has been considerable freedom to develop classroom methodology to suit the precise needs of language learners

 Individual teaching style, and a technology (methodologies, techniques, and procedures) can be flexible or changed to suit the needs of language learners with the support of good classroom conditions

 Group work and pair work are effective learning modes in small classes of fifteen or fewer students

+ Learning through practice + Student-centered approach

 The nature of the classroom is based on individual students‘ learning through practice and flexibility depending on the classroom conditions

target language practice seems not to exist In this case, little can be done to change the situation, either Due to large class size which causes difficulties for English teachers to monitor pair and group work, the traditional teacher-centered approaches are often

followed, and transmission methodology is followed accordingly The communicative approach is often rejected Thus the main reason for ‗failure‘ is likely to be ineffective management brought about by difficult-to-manage classroom situations

While the TESEP features are common in state institutions, BANA ones have grown within a private language school where there has been considerable freedom to develop classroom methodology to suit the specific needs of language learners In the BANA countries and private language schools elsewhere in the world, individual teaching style, and a technology (methodologies, techniques, and procedures) can be flexible or changed to suit the needs of language learners with the support of good classroom conditions While in TESEP countries it is difficult to carry out group work and pair work due to large class size, in the BANA countries class management in small classes (fifteen or fewer students) is an effective learning mode, i.e students come as individuals or in groups to learn English and they learn through practice Thus unlike the teacher-centered approach in the TESEP countries, the student-centered approach is followed in the BANA countries In the classroom, the teacher has substantial control over what students say and write—productive skills They are there to hear what students say and to be able to provide repair where necessary So the emphasized role of teachers

is on precise classroom management, and there is a strong classroom regime In general, the technology does whatever is necessary to provide students with a quality product

In brief, ELT in the BANA countries and that in the TESEP countries are quite different from each other, and Holliday (1991) states that it is much more useful to look

at smaller culture variables such as institutional values, students, teachers, and resource