Khảo sát về sự tác động của thị trường hóa tiếng anh đối với thái độ của cha mẹ cho trẻ con

ABSTRACT This study investigated the parents' attitudes towards their children' English language learning under the impact of marketization of English at some Primary schools in Khoai Ch

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

ĐỖ THỊ HUYỀN

A SURVEY ON THE IMPACT OF THE MARKETIZATION OF ENGLISH ON PARENTS'ATITUDES TOWARD THEIR YOUNG

CHILDREN LEARNING ENGLISH

(KHẢO SÁT VỀ SỰ TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA THỊ TRƯỜNG HÓA TIẾNG ANH ĐỐI VỚI THÁI ĐỘ CỦA CHA MẸ CHO TRẺ CON HỌC TIẾNG ANH)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01

Hanoi – 2020

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

ĐỖ THỊ HUYỀN

A SURVEY ON THE IMPACT OF THE MARKETIZATION OF ENGLISH ON PARENTS'ATITUDES TOWARD THEIR YOUNG

CHILDREN LEARNING ENGLISH

(KHẢO SÁT VỀ SỰ TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA THỊ TRƯỜNG HÓA TIẾNG ANH ĐỐI VỚI THÁI ĐỘ CỦA CHA MẸ CHO TRẺ CON HỌC TIẾNG ANH)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01

Supervisor : Mr Le Van Canh, Assoc Prof

Hanoi – 2020

DECLARATION

I, Do Thi Huyen, hereby certify that my thesis entitled A survey on the

impact of the marketization of english on parents'atitudes toward their young children learning english

( Khảo sát về sự tác động của thị trường hóa tiếng Anh đối với thái độ vủa cha

mẹ cho trẻ con học tiếng Anh) submitted to the Faculty of Post- Graduate Studies,

University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi is my own work I have not submitted this thesis for assessment in any other

training institutions and documented references have been fully provided

Hanoi, 2020

Do Thi Huyen

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my special and sincere thanks to my supervisor, Mr

Le Van Canh, PhD, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me

through the stages of , and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher

I also want to express my profound gratitude to all the doctors, lecturers and staff members of the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable lectures and useful advice that is of a great help for me to fulfill the thesis

I would also like to send my deep sense of thanks to all enthusiastic parents

as well as the principles at some surveyed primary schools for their cooperation and the valuable information they provided in my research field Without their passionate participation and input, the validation survey could not have been successfully conducted

Last but not least, I must express my very profound gratitude to my family members and to my friends for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis This accomplishment would not have been possible without them

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the parents' attitudes towards their children' English language learning under the impact of marketization of English at some Primary schools in Khoai Chau district, Hung Yen province A questionnaire survey was conducted by google.form and only 115 reponses of 350 parents were sent back In addition, the author had four interviews through Zoom with four primary school leaders of different primary schools located in Hung Yen province and all these were recorded fully and exactly Beside the data was collected by means of the questionnaire and interviewing, various information from advertisements on posters, leaflets, mass media such as facebook, websites, etc., was also collected as references of English training private companies‘ marketing strategies The results

of the study showed the marketing strategies of these companies/centers had some positive and negative impacts on the parents‘ attitudes but the positive ones overweigh the drawbacks And from the findings, some implications are also drawn

to school managers, parents as well as private education companies‘ managers

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 4.1: The parental interest comes from poster advertisement 27

Figure 4.2: The parental interest come from advertisement details 28

Figure 4.3: The parental interest comes from various resources of multi-media 29

Figure 4.4: The mental factors affecting parents 31

Figure 4.5: The parental reasons of applying for optional English program 33

Figure 4.6: Parental ideas about the first time to learn English 34

Figure 4.7: Parental ideas about the first grade to learn English at school 34

Figure 4.8: Parental ideas about English lessons per week 35

Figure 4.9: Parental ideas on choosing English program 36

Figure 4.10: The most attractive factors on material for parents 38

Figure 4.11: The most outstanding features in the English teaching programs 39

ABBREVIATIONS

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations ACET Australian Education and Training Center

ECA The US Department of Education and Education

IIE The Institute of International Education

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF FIGURES iv

ABBREVIATIONS v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

3 Research questions 3

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Method of the study 3

6 Significance of research 3

7 Organization of the thesis 4

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Review of theoretical background 5

2.1.1 The spread of English to young learners 5

2.1.2 Neoliberalism in English language teaching 6

2.1.3 The marketization and marketing strategies 8

2.1.4 Teaching English for young learners 11

2.1.5 Attitudes of parents and their impact on young learners‘ learning English 15

2.2 Review of previous studies 18

2.2.1 Previous studies overseas 18

2.2.2 Previous studies in Viet Nam 19

2.2.3 Summary 20

CHARPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 22

3.1 Research methodology 22

3.2 Setting 22

3.3 Participants 23

3.4 Data collection 24

3.5 Data collection instruments 25

CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 27

4.1 Marketing strategies used by private education companies to marketize English to young children at primary schools 27

4.2 Parents‘ attitudes towards children‘s learning English at primary schools 32

4.2.1 Parents‘ awareness of English important role 33

4.2.2 English teaching program‘s vital role 36

4.2.3 English learning environment 38

4.2.4 Real achievements in English are highly appreciated 39

4.3 Impacts of those strategies on parents' attitudes towards students' English language learning 41

4.3.1 Parents have positive attitudes 41

4.3.2 Parents have negative attitudes 42

4.4 School managers‘ attitudes towards the services of these private English language training providers 43

4.4.1 Data analysis from 4 interviews 43

4.4.2 Positive attitudes towards the services of these private English language training providers 45

4.4.3 Dissatisfied attitudes towards the services of these private English language training providers 46

4.5 Summary 47

CONCLUSION 48

REFERENCES 51 APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 VII APPENDIX 3 VIII

CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Although there are only 360 million native speakers in the world but it has 1.6 billion people use English as the first, second or third language Over the centuries, English has become a "bridge language" developing along with global trade, diplomacy and culture And despite the remarkable number of Chinese and Spanish users - two of the most used languages in the world in terms of number of native speakers, very few signs suggest that these two languages can challenge English as "lingua franca" around the world

Since the mid-1990s, foreign investment in Vietnam has increased markedly

In a dynamic and effective working environment, young people in Vietnam are required to have a broader understanding of economic, cultural and social issues To achieve this, foreign language is an important tool; it is a bridge for Vietnamese workers to succeed in important positions at representative offices and companies with 100% foreign capital in Vietnam

Recognizing that trend, international education institutions have pioneered investment in Vietnam with the goal of spreading large-scale English and linking international college and university programs These companies have been successful in the past, including the British Council (1993), the Apollo Education and Training Organization (1994), LanguageLink Vietnam (1996) or Australian Education and Training Center - ACET (2002)

In the context of Vietnam's integration into the world, and in particular the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by the end of 2015, the training and capacity building Foreign languages, especially English, are considered a priority (Dam Xuan Yun, 2015) The Government of Vietnam set a target of "5% of cadres, civil servants and public servants in state agencies with a foreign language level 3 or higher by 2015 and 30% by 2020" (Decision No 1400 / QD-TTg dated September

30, 2008 of the Prime Minister)

In Hung Yen City and neighboring provinces, the demand for learning foreign languages, especially English, is still very high (Hung Yen Department of Education and Training, 2017)

In the context of Vietnam's integration into the ASEAN Economic Community, the need to learn and use foreign languages is very useful and urgent to provide predictive information on the trends of learning and use Foreign language

in the near future as well as identification of factors influencing the choice of foreign languages to help educators and managers plan the development of teaching, content, and methodology in program design (Jin, Liu, & Zhang, 2015)

As a primary English teacher, the author has witnessed how English has become one of the compulsory subjects in the curriculum, how Vietnamese education system appreciates the importance of English learning nowadays, especially at primary school, and the importance of how parents motivate their children‘s learning English is not only subject at school and their own concern, it is also their parents‘ worry and interest Many studies show that parents play an important role in maintaining their children‘s ability as well as in participating for success of school and learning Besides, some ways to marketize education also affect their educational attitudes positively or negatively Some gaps, notwithstanding, have not been filled up to meet our curiosity on the impact of the marketization of English on parents‘ attitudes toward their young children learning English Thus, the study reported in this thesis, on investigating the impact of English marketization towards parents‘ attitudes on their children learning English

at Khoai Chau, Hung Yen Province

2 Aims and objectives of the study

The study aims at investigating the impact of the marketization of English on parents‘ attitudes toward their young children learning English at Dong Tien Primary School in Khoai Chau, Hung Yen Province This overall aim was specified into the following objectives:

- Explore the influence of marketing strategies on the parents‘ attitudes towards their children‘s early English language learning

Investigate the attitudes of the parents towards their children's early English language learning in Khoai Chau, Hung Yen Province.3 Research questions

In order to achieve the above aims, the following research questions are formulated:

(1) What marketing strategies do private education companies use to marketize English to young children at primary schools?

(2) What are parents‘ attitudes towards children‘s learning English at primary schools?

(3) What impacts do those strategies have on parents' attitudes towards students' English language learning?

(4) How do the mareketization startegies for English language training programs influence school managers‘ attitudes towards the services of these private English language training providers?

4 Scope of the study

Due to limitation of time and knowledge, this thesis only focus on investigating the impact of marketization on parents' attitudes toward their young children learning English at Dong Tien Primary School, a medium - sized primary school of Khoai Chau, Hung Yen, where the researcher is working as English foreign language (EFL) teacher

5 Method of the study

Both quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted for this study in order to achieve its aims as stated above An online survey method was adopted to collect the data The survey data was analyzed quantitatively by means of descriptive statistics

In addition to the survey questionnaire for parents, personal interviews were conducted with five primary school leaders The interview data was analyzed qualitatively

6 Significance of research

Findings of this study contribute to the knowledge of the influence of the market-economy on English language education through marketization strategies toward school managers as well as parents Particularly, it adds to the ideology of the ‗early the better‘ assumption in the field of English language education

7 Organization of the thesis

The study is organized 5 chapters as follows:

Chapter 1, INTRODUCTION, presents rationale, objectives, research

questions, scope, methods, significance, and design of the study

Chapter 2, LITERATURE REVIEW, theoretical background presents relating to the characteristic of young learners , attitudes , marketization, and parents‘ attitudes towards their children‘s EL learning and its impact

Chapter 3, METHODOLOGY, introduces the research context and methodology of the study including the context, the subject, the data collection instruments, data collection procedure, and data analysis

Chapter 4, FIDNDINGS AND DISCUSSION investigates the impact of the marketization of English on parents‘ attitudes toward their young children‘s learning English and suggestions for parents to support their children‘s EL learning

Chapter 5, CONCLUSION, offers a summary of the key findings, implications, limitations, and future directions for further study

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this section, previously studies in the detail fields of the impact of marketization to education and attitudes of parents toward young learners‘ learning English will be presented and discussed This must be done in order to place the thesis in the context relevant to the research which will be conducted Furthermore,

it will provide the readers with some basic knowledge of the background and present state of this field of research

2.1 Review of theoretical background

2.1.1 The spread of English to young learners

The widespread introduction of languages in primary schools has been described by Johnstone (2009) as ―possibly the world‘s biggest policy development

in education‖ (p 33), with English being the language most commonly introduced There are several reasons for this trend First, it is often assumed that it is better to begin learning languages early (Y Hu, 2007; Nunan, 2003) Second, economic globalisation has resulted in the widespread use of English and many governments believe it is essential to have an English speaking workforce in order to compete (Enever& Moon, 2009; Gimenez, 2009; Y Hu, 2007) Third, parents want their children to develop English skills to benefit from new world orders and put pressure

on governments to introduce English to younger children (Enever& Moon, 2009; Gimenez, 2009) In parallel with this expansion, there has been increasing criticism

of the growth of English as a global lingua franca, in particular thepolitical and social implications Publications by Block, Gray, and Hol-borow (2012), Coleman (2011), Edge (2006), and Kumaravadivelu(2011) have all challenged understandings of the place of English,how it has reached its current level of popularity, whose interests therise of English serves, and the status of different world Englishes Suchdiscussions call into question the underlying premises on which theintroduction of learning English at an early age are predicated (seealso Pillar & Cho, 2013) Edge (2006) and Kumaravadivelu (2011) inparticular are also highly critical of wholesale adoption of Westernapproaches to language teaching

which support the spread of English while ensuring Western countries continue to benefit from it Againstthis background, teachers of young learners around the world mustdaily fulfill the tasks of instructing their students, often being requiredto use a pedagogic approach which is alien to many, and having to persuade their students of the value of learning English It can be sais that the introduction of English in primary education curricula is a phenomenon occurring in many non-English-speaking countries in Asia, including Vietnam Recently, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in Vietnam issued guidelines for the piloting of an English as a foreign language (EFL) primary curriculum in which English is taught

as a compulsory subject from Grade 3; however, there is limited research on the practices required to successfully implement this policy

2.1.2 Neoliberalism in English language teaching

2.1.2.1 Neoliberalism definition

Neoliberalism has been difficult to define owning to the complexity, elasticity, inconsistency of its meaning, the apparent gaps between theory and practices

of its advocates ( Block, Gary, &Holborow, 2012) Generally speaking, the term

―Neoliberalism‖ refer to the philosophy of economic and social transformation taking place according to the logic of free market doctrines that dictate the way and society function These free market doctrines are ―rooted in much deeper structural and systemic changes in our conception of the politics and the practices of governing‖ ( Oksala, 2013, P53)

2.1.2.2 Neoliberalism in English education

Over the reality of neoliberal globalization has placed different demands on education and brought about changes to the very concept of education in both Western and non-English-speaking countries One of the most noticeable changes in the field of education in the twenty-first century is the emergence of contested concepts such as the ― knowledge (based) economy‖ and ―knowledge as intellectual capital‖ ( Burton-Jones, 1999) Roberts and Peters(2008) in their book entiled Neoliberalism , Higher Education and Research further argue ― the most significant material change underpinning neoliberalism in the 21st century is the rise in the

importance of knowledge as intellectual capital‖ ― If transformation in knowledge production entails a rethinking of economic fundamentals, the shift to a knowledge economy also requires a profound rethinking of education as emerging forms of knowledge capitalism, involving knowledge creation, acquisition, transmission and organization‖( pp.17-18) And according to Down ( 2009, p.52), within this market framework, education is being conceived as a source of knowledge and skill contributing to economic growth, and ― the role of schools is to prepare students as enterprising workers and citizens with the prerequisite skills, knowledge and values

to survive in a volatile and competitive global labour market‖ This is exactly what Ball( 1999, p.198) is referring to when he argues that, under the neoliberal globalization of education, ― schools become more like business and more business-like‖ These movements towards a knowledge economy have necessitated a rethinking of education systems both in Western and non- English-speaking countries And there are also other ways in which the policies of neoliberal economic globalization have resulted in converting education into business

Regarding English, neoliberal thinking postulates that English is linked to economic benefits Specifically, English is promoted as key to future economic successes such as good jobs, good opportunities for social upward movement, etc

So, it spreads the myth that without proficiency in English, young people are likely

to be disadvantaged or even marginalized It is this myth that motivates governments to implement the ‗younger the better‘ or the ‗earlier the better‘ policy

in English language teaching and learning Parents, on their part, are persuaded to invest heavily in their children‘ learning English even without the clear purposes of using English Education businesses take full advantage of this to make profits, and the market for English is ever being expanded

2.1.2.3 English language market in Vietnam

With a population of nearly 100 million, Vietnam has become an attractor to private international and domestic English language training providers In reality, it

is no exaggeration to say that English language centers in Vietnam mushroomed everywhere, first in big cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, then to the

rural areas In addition to big international education groups such as Apollo, Cambridge Education Group, Language Link, etc, there are numerous domestic groups, big and small The rapid mushrooming of these ‗English Language Centers‘ shows that English is a profitable commodity By using different strategies, these English language training providers have managed to convince parents that investment in their children‘s learning English is an investment for the future This

is not to say that these businesses find all means to convince school leadership to host their English programs

In short, neoliberalism in English education grows all over the world and

English language market in Vietnam is increasingly developing so it is said that it is

an opportunity for private companies on English language training to grow However, how successful they can achieve depends on their own marketization and marketing strategies

2.1.3 The marketization and marketing strategies

2.1.3.1 The definition of the marketization

According to Raffe and Croxford (2013), the theory of marketization provides a good foundation to nations in introducing the aspects of choices, competition, and public accountability, which are essential in enhancing the quality

of products or services under production Evidently, the theory of marketization helps in eliminating different economic problems and concepts such as unfavorable market competition, inefficiencies in markets, and the lack of players and market forces that are likely to influence the production process From the perspective of the marketization theory, a number of economies across the globe are calling upon for the deregulation of institutions of higher learning with the aim of making them more competitive within the global market

Marketing and marketization are not the same However, it is nor a simple task to disentangle one from the other At one end of the distribution of meaning, marketing may be taken to be about the provision of information to help people make decisions, while at the other end of distribution, marketization challenges

stakeholders with radical change encompassing issues of power, funding, labour, markets, and complexity Nor is this a comprehensive list.(see, e.g., Hemsley-Brown & Oplarka, 2006)

2.1.3.2 The main marketing strategies

Julie Chance (2020), 8 Keys to a Strong Marketing Strategy;

https://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/blocks.htm showed that the key is developing a marketing strategy that forms a solid foundation for your promotional efforts ― Implementing promotional activities such as advertising, direct mail or even networking and one-to-one sales efforts without a marketing strategy is like buying curtains for a house you are building before you have an architectural plan.‖

A company can develop a strong marketing foundation by:

1 Defining the product or service clearly which company provides customer

2 Identifying the target market: The ideal customer should be defined in terms of income, age, geographic area, number of employees, revenues, industry, etc because the time or money to market them would not be wasted

3 Knowing the competition: Even if there are no direct competitors for the company service, there is always competition of some kind Something besides its product is competing for the potential client‘s money

4 Finding a niche: A niche strategy should be focused with marketing efforts and dominating the market, even if company is a small player

5 Developing awareness: It is difficult for a potential client to buy a product

or service if they don‘t even know or remember its exist Generally a potential customer will have to be exposed to a product 5 to 15 times before they are likely to think of that product when the need arises Needs often arise unexpectedly so the product must be appeared in front of potential clients consistently if they are going

to remember it when that need arises

6 Building credibility: Not only must clients be aware of a product or service, they also must have a positive disposition toward it Potential customers must trust it Especially with large or risky purchases, you need to give them the

opportunity to ―sample‖, ―touch‖, or ―taste‖ the product in some way

7 Being consistent: Be consistent in every way and in everything you do, which includes the look of your collateral materials, the message you deliver, the level of customer service, and the quality of the product Being consistent is more important than having the ―best‖ product This in part is the reason for the success of chains

8 Maintaining focus: Focus allows for more effective utilization of the scarce resources of time and money Your promotional budget will bring you greater return if you use it to promote a single product to a narrowly defined target market and if you promote that same product to that same target market over a continuous period of time

In the other useful link, marketing-tips.html showed that there are some useful and outstanding marketing tips on English education First of all, in a competitive market, and where competition is global in the online world, the company may need to adjust the pricing, or give additional benefits to the program to attract enrollments In some case the program price may need to be reduced In other cases increase them As an alternative to a price reduction company may increase the value of courses by adding extra components that the competitors do not have The second strategy is the importance of good teachers ―The teachers are your ambassadors that will increase your likelihood for students to recommend your language school so don‘t underestimate their influence for your students to enjoy their learning experience In general worldwide, teachers often change schools Retaining good teachers in your school is more likely if they can still be part of your school when they move to another location‖ In addition, it is focusing on the students the center has If it has fewer students, it can focus on giving them top-notch service It is necessary to make sure that the students currently enrolled get the best quality program they could possibly have from the center Each and every student is a prospective referral for center No-cost or low-cost ways to focus on students include things like having every person who works in the program learn the names of each and every student Personalized letters of congratulation to each student from the director at the end of

https://www.learncube.com/language-school-the program is anohttps://www.learncube.com/language-school-ther idea Last but not least, https://www.learncube.com/language-school-the center should take time to regroup, re-organize and even celebrate some interesting events, which remind everyone that while these may not be the best of times, things will get better It can

be necessary to clean out the teachers' offices, resource rooms, filing cabinets, cupboards and bookshelves, organize a second-hand book sale of any old textbooks

or resources which are not needed Especially, it is very useful to use the money to take the students on a field trip or buy pizza for the staff on a Friday afternoon, which can be a huge emotional investment in the mental health of staffs and potential students

To put it in a nutshell, these above strategies are rather useful for the author

to follow and with this research the author hopes to explore the marketing strategies

of some English training companies if they are affecting on parental attitudes toward their children‘s English learning program

2.1.4 Teaching English for young learners

To achieve success in teaching English in primary schools; it is very important to know the characteristics of student Teachers should understand young learners instincts, interests, cognizance, emotional aspects an especially their characteristics There issues play a crucial role in how teachers plan a lesson, make sure that the young learners are interested in and fully engaged in the whole process

of learning

2.1.4.1 Characteristics of young learners\

Regarding learning foreign language, the characteristics of young learners are mentioned by many famous linguistics such as Sadler (1974); Cameron (2001), Brown (2001), Scott (1990) and Mustafa (2003), Pinter (2006) and Hammer (2007)

In this study, the author firstly focused the main characteristics mentioned by Hammer (2007) and teachers should know to teach them effectively These characteristics include as followings:

- They respond to meaning even if they do not understand individual words:

In other words, learning will come from the real experience from the children‘s life

- They often learn indirectly rather than directly - that is they take in

information from all sides, learning from everything around them rather than only focusing on the precise topic they are being taught

- Their understanding comes not just from explanation, but also from what they see, hear and, crucially, have a chance to touch and interact with

- They find abstract concepts such as grammar rules difficult to grasp Therefore, teacher should avoid teaching abstract concepts and focus on concrete items that children understand and relate to In addition to, teacher can use media in delivering the materials in order that the students are able to understand easily

- They generally display an enthusiasm for learning and a curiosity about the world around them

- They have a need for individual attention and approval from the teacher

- They are keen to talk about themselves and respond well to learning that uses themselves and their own lives as main topics in the classroom This means that children have a tendency to relate what they are learning to what they are doing by themselves They love learning something having relation to their daily life For this purpose teacher should be able to choose learning material related to their ‗world‘

In general, young learners have their own characteristics according to three levels which were mentioned above so teachers should consider them to prepare the speaking teaching lessons effectively and attractively

2.1.4.2 Essential principles of how to facilitate young learners learn English as a foreign language

How to facilitate children learning English as a foreign language is another aspect that young learners‘ teachers should notice Hammer (2007) gave various and detail principles which were found in many famous experts‘ view such as Cameron 2001, Moon (2000) Mustafa (2003) and Shin (2007) and so on And their essential principles were proposed by as follows:

Use English more frequent to provide exposure to the language Young

learners need to be exposed to a variety of uses English around them, both spoken and written (Moon, 2000) To help students acquire English, the teachers should

speak English from the beginning of each English lesson ( Slatery and Wills, 2001) Using English more frequent than young learners‘ native language does not only provide an element of indirect learning in that the children are not concentrating on learning what they are listening to but also the brain is processing it The other advantage is the English language used in the classroom confirms the idea that it is something they actually use for real and not just something they do exercise and games in And another advantage is that it increases the amount of exposure the young learners get to the language

Use activity-based teaching-learning techniques (e.g TPR, games, objects)

Learning language will be effective if teachers are able to choose appropriate teaching- learning techniques to be implemented in their classroom There are various activities-based teaching-learning techniques that teachers can apply in teaching English such as TPR, games, object, and the like These techniques can help young learners to be active, enthusiastic, and motivated because those are fun enjoyable for them Total Physical Response (TPR) is effective method of introducing children to a foreign language It is based on the idea that the natural response to understanding a command is a physical response (Mustafa, 2008) Regarding this Philips (2004) explains that TPR is a useful and adaptable teaching technique especially for primary students Philip Using this method, young learners can listen to their teacher telling them what to do and they do it In addition, this method can also give some enjoyment and fun for young learners

Another technique that teachers can apply in English classroom for young learners is games Games are so useful and so important It is not just because they are fun but partly because the fun element creates a desire to communicate and partly because games can create unpredictability Games are also effective opportunity for indirect learning (Halliwel, 1992)

Use various techniques for short periods of time It is important for teachers

to vary the types of learning activities since young learners lose interest more quickly (Cameron, 2001) Variety is the key and with the very young, lots of short,

simple, activities are best suited to their attention span Keep the learning aims very simple and build in plenty of child-friendly practice tasks to allow them to practice your target language again and again Providing them activities with lots of brightly colored visuals is one way to take their attention and to keep them engaged in activities Young learners usually only concentrate for short periods of time thus make sure that teachers stop or change activity when they are bored or restless This might be after only a few minutes

Focus on functional English for vocabulary development, and for immediate fulfillment of communicative needs of the learners With the purpose of building

students‘ vocabularies teachers should focus on language function like, „what a

beautiful day‟, „May I borrow your pen?‟, „Do you know what I mean?‟ „What‟s your hobby?‟ etc Teachers should be able to choose teaching strategy that help

young learners figure out the meaning on their own In other words teachers should teach vocabularies in contextual meaning Besides, it is quite useful to teach vocabularies to young learners by repeating the words so that it will make them familiar with the vocabulary item

Reiterate often to ensure the acquisition of English In order to make the

students acquire the language in optimum way, the teacher should repeat the pronunciation of the words often He or she can reiterate the words in their context;

so that students are able to recognize the context where the words more appropriately used It must be remembered that since teachers are probably the only model the young learners may be exposed to, teachers should improve their pronunciation if they have problem with it In addition, young learners need opportunities to use and repeat the new language that they are studying in order to have more the acquisition of the language

Provide useful, acquisition-promoting routines Young learners function well

within a structured environment and enjoy repetition of certain routines and activities Having basic routines in the classroom can help to manage young learners (Shin, 2007) Young learners need to repeat language items many times to get them

to ‗stick‘ so don't be afraid to repeat games or do several different activities with the same language topic or set of words Young learners often love to repeat the same song or story as it gives them a sense of confidence and familiarity Routines also help children relax and not worry about being able to follow the sequences of events and activities in the classroom

Provide print-rich environment in English In order to create English

environment teachers should design condition that enables young learners to become accustomed to English words or sentences Teachers can put some prints such as the rules in the classroom, list of vocabularies, or pictures such as the picture of part of body, picture of animals and the like in the classroom By this way children will be familiar and have descriptions about those words or pictures This can also make them memorize the words because they always see or read the words and pictures when they are in the classroom In addition, the words or pictures designed with colorful or interesting art will attract students‘ interest and motivate

them in learning

These characteristics of young learners are diversified and complex and quite different from adults Therefore, people who are working with young learners including teachers and parents should spend time discovering their characteristics and following some essential principles to facilitate children in their learning classroom

2.1.5 Attitudes of parents and their impact on young learners’ learning English 2.1.5.1 Parental attitudes in education

According to S Kalimuthu (2018), attitude is an expression of an individual

or group towards an object, an act of behavior, a system of norms, etc., based on the experience learned or communicated Since attitude is not a trait, it is subject to change depending upon the environment, situation, interaction, and perception of the object An attitude is a positive, negative, or mixed evaluation of an object that

is expressed at some level of intensity

Parents‘ attitudes like support, pressure, and anxiety have a great impact on

decisions that have implications for the future, such as choice of career and parents‘ pressure concerning career There are obvious forms of pressure like parents‘ holding financial strings over a child‘s head while expecting them to follow a specific career path and there are mere subtle forms of pressure as well as discouraging a child from taking a certain career direction instead of listening to what they want

In educational settings students teachers and parents, all are most responsible for the success of children education However, parents‘ attitude is playing a major role in strengthening students with self-confidence and motivation towards academic success In this aspect, the parents are to change their attitude with a positive manner while handling their children in their academic activities which help them to have a positive attitude towards their academic streams It is no doubt that the learning orientation of the students depends upon the attitude of their parents Because of the parents is to be considered as a key for motivating their children towards the betterment of academic success In the light

of the above, there is a positive relationship between parents‘ attitude and learning orientation among students studying at school

2.1.5.2 The impact of parents‟ involvement in and attitude toward their young learners‟ learning English

Researchers Carol Hammer, Barbara Rodriquez, Frank Lawrence and Adele Miccio (2007) performed a qualitative research study examining parenting beliefs and literacy practices of mothers of Puerto Rican descent, and to determine if a correlation could be determined between the mothers' beliefs and practices The study revealed that Puerto Rican mothers had both traditional and progressive beliefs concerning education That is, mothers believed that schools have the primary responsibility to educate their children At the same time the study reveals that the participating mothers believe that they should teach their children new skills Dr Hammer and her research team (2007) discovered that children with home English communication were taught various early literacy skills multiple times per week, while children with school English communication were only

taught these skills once a week by their mothers The results of their research illustrated that the Puerto Rican mothers in the study considered school to be the primary source for facilitating the education of their children of education (Hammer, Rodriquez, Lawrence &Miccio 2007)

According to the findings of the research ―the effect of parents‘ involvement

in and attitude toward their children‘s foreign language programs for learning English in Iran‖ by Vida Hosseinpour , Maryam Sherkatolabbasi and MojgannYarahmadi( 2015), the results revealed, the students whose parents have high level of involvement in and positive attitude toward their children‘s English language programs learn and achieve more in the programs In other words, the parents who have high level of involvement in and positive attitude toward their children‘s English language programs caused their children‘s and higher level of achievement in the language program First of all, there is a significant difference between parents‘ knowledge of English and their involvement in and attitude toward their children‘s English language programs Their knowledge of English leads to their higher involvement level and more positive attitude Secondly, there is not a significant difference between parents‘ gender and their involvement in and attitude toward their children‘s English language programs In other words, the parents‘ gender does not affect their level of involvement and strength of attitude Next, there is a significant difference between parents‘ level of educational background and their involvement in and attitude toward their children‘s English language programs The more they are educated, the higher is their level of involvement and the more positive attitude they have toward their children‘s English language programs Last but not least, there is a significant difference between parents‘ level of income and their involvement in and attitude toward their children‘s English language programs The higher their income level is, the higher level of involvement and strength attitude they have toward their children‘s English language programs

In summary, parents‘ attitudes play a vital role in their children‘s learning

English, not only because of their own decision-making but also their course evaluation when they choose which course their children apply

2.2 Review of previous studies

The topic of parent attitudes and involvement on children‘s education achievement as well as the impact of marketization to higher education have been received interests and attentions of many researchers and studies However, the impact of the marketization of English on parents‘ attitudes toward their young children learning English, especially in Vietnam, has not been explored thoroughly This part briefly reviews some studies relating my thesis in both Viet Nam and Overseas

2.2.1 Previous studies overseas

In this part, the researcher shows that the studies conducted in some countries where English is taught as a foreign language

Timkey (2015) explored the influence differing levels of parent involvement and parent attitudes regarding education has on student literacy achievement It is evident that parent-teacher and student-teacher relationships are an important aspect

of student achievement Positive parent-teacher relationships not only benefit parents and teachers, but are helpful to children as well The collaboration between teachers and parents benefits children; teachers bring expertise based on theories of child development and experiences with children in school settings; and parents bring their unique perspectives on the individual needs of children Havinga relationship between parents and teachers encourages parents to become more actively involved in their child‘s academic success

M Teresa Fleta Guillén (2015) suggested that there are a number of aspects to be considered for successful language learning with pre-primary children These aspects include factors affecting the language development (starting age, learning context and amounts of input); the holistic learning (auditory and oral capacities, gross-motor control skills and fine skills); the teaching techniques(asking questions, recasting, expansion, explicit correction, elicitation, repetition and wait time) and the practices that

foster the aural and oral skills (observing the presence or absence of sounds, recognizing the speech sounds from non-language/environmental sounds, attending to sounds, attaching meaning to sounds making sounds with parts of the body or with instruments, singing, chanting or rhyming, music, language and movement, daily routines, transitional times, formulaic language and circle time In order to create a conducive EFL learning context in preprimary classrooms, curricular planning to support the aural and oral skills should be a priority

As we know, different research method and different research context result in different findings And we can recognize that there are many factors affecting parental attitude toward their children ‗s learning English One of the most important factors may be caused by marketing strategies of English foreign language companies

2.2.2 Previous studies in Viet Nam

The parents‘ attitude toward their children‘s English learning programs as well as marketization‘s impacts toward education are not new for researchers in the world as well as in Viet Nam Some domestic studies have been selected and discussed here:

Hien Nguyen, Michelle Nilson and Allan MacKinnon (2010) found that Vietnam‘s national marketization policies have been accepted and implemented thoroughly at VNU-Hanoi The market strategies employed by the University were not only to explore additional non-state financial resources but also to improve performance and effectiveness of the University Some common characteristics of marketization were displayed clearly at the University, including diversified income strategies, cost-effective operations, institutional autonomy and a corporate culture Although the leaders and administrators of the University are still not comfortable with the term ―marketization‖ or are not aware of what ―marketization‖ really means Yet the prominence of tuition fees, the commercialization of research activities, the expansion of student enrolment, the consulting services and university-industry partnerships, as well as the adoption of corporate culture have

clearly demonstrated that VNU-Hanoi has been experiencing the process of marketization

Le Pham Hoai Huong ( 2013) discussed the game activities that were used in primary English classes in a center in a city in Vietnam Video recording the classes and interviewing the teachers showed that various play activities, for example, bingo, miming, hangman, and TPR (Total Physical Response) activities were employed in these classes The paper reported the findings of a small scale study which could not

be generalized Under those circumstances, the suggestions were also offered regarding kinds of game activities to be employed and how to use them to target certain skills and language areas in primary English classes Different from that, the roles of teachers in the center were not made clear NESTs and NNESTs

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh (2015) confirmed the parental attitude to their children‘s English learning program They recognized the importance of English for their children‘s current learning as well as for their future career Besides, they expressed their expectations to have well- equipped environment for their children learning well Lastly, they would like to help children study at home although this positive attitude was not appreciated by the author The research only revealed the attitude of parents toward their children‘s learning English

As an English teacher at a primary school, the author realizes that many foreign language training companies are growing like mushrooms Beside their teaching activities at company head office, they have some marketing strategies to primary schools and sign cooperation contract for teaching at primary schools The author wonders whether these strategies have positive or negative impacts on parental attitudes and whether commercial features of them may affect school managers And the author hopes that findings of this research will reveal issues clearly

2.2.3 Summary

In the light of the studies above, it can be said that parental attitudes have a huge effect on students‘ learning methods and motivation Besides, some ways to marketize education also affect their educational attitudes positively or negatively

Some gaps, notwithstanding, have not been filled up to meet our curiosity on the impact of the marketization of English on parents‘ attitudes toward their young children learning English In this thesis, the author will hopefully fill out the crucial role of this topic

CHARPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research methodology

The aim of this study is to approach the influence of the strategies that private English language training providers use to market their training programs on the parents‘ attitudes towards their children‘ learning English The study was conducted in one rural area near Hanoi To achieve this purpose, a survey method was employed

Survey research is a quantitative approach that features the use of self-report measures on selected samples (Dörnyei , 2003) Data was collected from three different sources: the questionnaire for parents, interviews with selected school mangers, and the advertisements by the private English language training providers

3.2 Setting

The study was conducted at Dong Tien Primary School, which is located in Khoai Chau district, Hung Yen province Dong Tien is a state-owned standard primary school of the district with 10 classes and 350 students that is the reason why it is ranked the smallest public primary one in the district The teaching staffs

of the school are well-qualified, enthusiastic and creative ones who have enough ability and knowledge to teach students there The school equipment is well supplied with modern facilities which help to facilitate the teaching as well as the learning Especially, the school has an English lab equipped with a TV, course books, loudspeaker, and colorful pictures provided by English language center, which supports students to study in English lessons Whenever students have English lessons, they can study there Although a number of English training centers have ever tried to cooperate with school on English training, the current partner is chosen at last One of the most attractive factors of that English center is that they actively support the school on English learning equipment and teaching materials Besides, they usually organize English training programs for official teachers at school or share model lesson‘s clips In addition, they also host English

contests which encourage young learners‘ effort and passion on English and from that the talent students are selected, fostered and they are samples of both school and center Moreover, they also support some gifts for English talent students at the end of school year, which encourage not only students but also their parents on attitude of English learning Last but not least, English teachers at school also feel eager because they can get some benefits such as teaching some extra English lessons of the center, being trained without paying fee regularly and their income can be improved

Relating to teaching English language, the school‘s young learners have been following two kinds of English training program: a compulsory English program of the Ministry of Education and Training (4 lessons a week) and an optional English program (2 lessons a week).It can be seen that the students of grade 3,4,5 can learn

6 English lessons per week but ones of grade 1, 2 only study 2 optional lessons a week at school In order to attending optional English lessons, parents have to pay

250 000 VND per a term or 450 000 VND per 2 terms and most of them are completely eager to pay that fee because their children can improve English from various styles and knowledge of Vietnamese and foreign teachers

3.3 Participants

The participants for this study were 115 parents of the students at Dong Tien primary school, Khoai Chau, Hung Yen Only 18.40 % of fathers sent response while 81.6% of mothers did it It can be simply explained that mothers always takes care of their children‘s education activities so they feel interested in answering the questionnaires Moreover, most of them are at the age from 30 to 35 (accounting for 60.89%) and at this age, their career as well as their social position can be said to stable and they spend more time on children Most of them all declared that their income is between 5-10 million a month (58.4%) which is a medium income to support their life The percentage of 10-15 million is not high (19.5%) and only 16.8% is under 5 million Relating to their jobs, parents who are teachers involved the survey actively, then workers, state officers and office staffs

It can be understood that the career of these parents at Dong Tien primary school

is revealed correctly and it also proves their real need in practice These parents were chosen on the basis of their willingness to share their experiences, beliefs, and attitude to their children‘s English learning at school Dong Tien Primary School was conveniently chosen for this study in the sense that the researcher as an EFL teacher at the school, was able to get access to it Furthermore, the school is located

in the region which encompasses aspects of both urban and rural areas This is hoped to draw up a general picture of primary English language education

Besides, the researcher also interviewed two principals and two vice principals from four primary schools in this district They were interviewed and answered frankly and enthusiastically, which helped the research to be more practical and useful

3.4 Data collection

Data collection was accomplished by giving survey questionnaires to get responses and noting down information from direct interviews with participants who are the distinguished leaders of some primary schools and some enthusiastic parents

Questionnaires were designed in both Vietnamese and English including 22 questions asking about personal information, the parental attitude toward their children‘s learning English at school and the most important factors that affect parental attitude to choose English program for their children

Researcher has designed a 22-question survey on google form and sent the link to parents in Dong Tien primary school Parents do not have to reveal their personal information such as name, email or phone number and they only spent 15 minutes to complete the survey questionnaires And after 3 days, 114 responses have appeared on author‘s google drive With high technology of information analysis on google form, all the data was analyzed

and shown on charts clearly so the author can easily investigate interesting information behind them

Besides, 4 principals who agreed to take part in the group interview were invited to join the author‘s zoom Before the interview started, the author introduced herself and explained concisely and clearly the purpose and procedure to the participants The structured interviews were conducted in Vietnamese and through Zoom chat which made both interviewers and interviewee felt comfortable All interviews took place in a friendly, cooperative, and objective environment and the time was arranged after school time so it did not affect their daily life All the dialogs were recorded then the author played them again and took notes for references There were 6 interview questions and all of interviewees answered them fully In general, there were many common ideas because they all followed standard principles

of the Education and Training Ministry, however, some distinguished opinions mentioned in their speech were noted down and evaluated carefully

In summary, the information the author got from 4 interviews are very useful and practical so it will be used for detailed purposes in this research

3.5 Data collection instruments

Three different instruments were used to obtain the data These are the questionnaire administered to the parents, who were chosen to answer the questionnaire on the basis of their willingness Interviews were conducted with some school principals and vice-principals In addition to these two instruments, advertisements on English language programs by private providers were collected and analyzed in an attempt to identify the strategies they used

The questionnaire

Dornyei (2003, quoting Brown, 2001) defines a questionnaire as "any written instruments that present respondents with a series of questions or statements to which they react either by writing out their answers or selecting from among

existing answers." (p 6) Dornyei (op cit.) believes that questionnaires are especially valuable because they are efficient "in terms of (a) researcher time, (b), researcher effort, and (c), financial resources." (p 9) He also examines the major drawbacks

of questionnaires: the simplicity of answers yielded, the problem of respondents who are unmotivated or unreliable, the famous halo effect, the acquiescence and prestige biases, issues concerning self-deception and respondent literacy, and the effect of fatigue in cases where the questionnaire is long The full questionnaire can

be seen in Appendix A The questionnaire was distributed to the parents online

Parents did not have to reveal their personal information such as name, email or phone number and they only spent 15 minutes to complete the survey questionnaires And after 3 days, 115 responses were received online

The interviews

Four principals who agreed to take part in the group interview were invited

to join the interview via zoom because that period was affected by Virus corona

19 Both interviewer and interviewee felt comfortable during the interview so the information was got from interview can be said to be exact and reliable All interviews were recorded clearly and carefully as an useful reference of the research (see the interview questions in Appendix B)

The advertisements by private English language training providers

The advertisements on the English language training programs for young learners distributed by the private English language training providers to the parents were collected These advertisements were analyzed in terms the language used to persuade parents to register for their children in the programs The purpose is to identify the strategies these providers used to highlight the linguistic effect of these advertisements on parents‘ attitudes towards their children‘ learning English and to their decisions to pay for their children‘ learning

CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

4.1 Marketing strategies used by private education companies to marketize English to young children at primary schools

As Julie Chance (2020) said that ― Implementing promotional activities

such as advertising, direct mail or even networking and one-to-one sales efforts without a marketing strategy is like buying curtains for a house you are building before you have an architectural plan.‖ And many private companies/centers on training English are implement their marketing strategies successfully and differently Their marketing strategies used by private education companies play a vital role to attract parents‘ and school managers‘ attention Generally, they usually use posters as a popular advertisement way

Figure 4.1: The parental interest comes from poster advertisement

Relating to parental attitudes toward posters advertising about English program, 47,3% of parents expressed their interest on colorful posters which includes a visual design, images, colors and copy of English programs However, the people choosing ― unattracted‖ is not much lower than it, accounting for 40.7% From this data, it can be supposed that marketing by posters is only one simple way to introduce information about English programs to parents

47,3

40,7

12

Attracted Not attracted

No idea