Some aspects of the teacher’s role in teaching english in private language center versus teaching english in state school m a 60 14 10

LIST OF TABLES Table 3a : The distribution of students’ gender in SS Table 3b : The distribution of students’ gender in PFLC Table 4.1a : The frequency of pair and group work in SS Tab

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF TESOL

SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN THỊ KIỀU THU, Ph D

HO CHI MINH – 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TABLE OF CONTENTS i

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY v

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii

ABSTRACT viii

LIST OF TABLES ix

LIST OF CHARTS xii

CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.2 Rationale of the study 3

1.3 Objectives of the study 4

1.4 Limitation and delimitation of the study 5

1.5 Significance of the study 6

1.6 Setting of the study 6

1.7 Hypothesis 9

1.8 Research question 9

1.9 Overview of the study 10

CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW 11

2.1 Teacher’s roles in English classes: 11

2.1.1 What is the teacher’s role 11

2.1.2 The role of an English teacher in different teaching methodologies 13

2.2 Other factors that affect the teachers’ role 18

2.2.1 The institutional administrative structure 18

2.2.2 Teaching quality issues: 19

2.2.3 Teaching settings 19

2.2.4 The materials 26

2.2.5 The cultural aspects 27

2.2.6 Summary 28

CHAPTER 3 – METHODOLOGY 29

3.1 The Research Questions 29

3.2 Research Design: 30

3.2.1 The Subject: 30

3.2.2 Instruments 31

3.3 Data collection procedure 34

3.4 Summary 35

CHAPTER 4 – RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 36

4.1 Results from the questionnaire for students 36

4.1.1 The frequency of pair work and group work in class 36

4.1.2 Frequency of teacher's participation 38

4.1.3 The reasons for teachers to participate in classroom communicative activities 40

4.1.4 The role of teacher 51

4.1.5 Teacher’s mistake correction 53

4.1.6 Teacher's position 56

4.1.7 Other factors affecting the English teacher’s role in speaking classes 59

4.2 Results from questionnaire for teachers 78

4.2.1 Teaching method in English classes 78

4.2.2 Teacher’s role in speaking class 80

4.2.3 The degree of the teacher’s satisfaction with his role 83

4.2.4 The teacher's ability in class management for speaking 86

4.2.5 The frequency of speaking activity 88

4.2.6 Factors that cause problems to teachers 91

4.2.7 The teacher’s mistake correction 93

4.2.8 The teacher's frequency in joining training courses and seminars 96

4.2.9 The teacher's frequency in exchanging teaching experience with colleagues 98

4.3 Results from class observation 101

4.4 Major findings 103

4.4.1 Teacher’s participation 103

4.4.2 Teaching settings 103

4.4.3 Mistake correction 104

4.4.4 Teaching method 104

4.4.5 Teacher-learner relationship 105

4.4.6 Teacher’s role 105

CHAPTER 5 – PEDAGOGICAL RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 107

5.1 Pedagogical Recommendations 107

5.2.1 Teacher’s role and teaching method 107

5.2.2 Class size reduce 108

5.2.3 Teacher’s participation 109

5.2.4 Materials and facilities 109

5.2.5 Mistake correction 110

5.2.6 Teacher-learner relationship 110

5.2.7 Improving teacher’s quality 110

5.2 Conclusion 111

LIST OF REFERENCES

APPENDICES

Appendix 1 Questionnaire for students (in English)

Appendix 2 Questionnaire for teacher

Appendix 3 Questionnaire for students (in Vietnamese)

Appendix 4 Observation sheet

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

SOME ASPECTS OF THE TEACHER’S ROLE IN TEACHING ENGLISH

IN PRIVATE LANGUAGE CENTER VERSUS TEACHING

ENGLISH IN STATE SCHOOL

in terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses

in Master’s Programmes issued by the Higher Degree Committee

Ho Chi Minh City, April 2010

DƯƠNG THỊ TÚ ANH

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Dương Thị Tú Anh, being the candidate for the degree

of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited

in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan

or reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City, April 12th, 2010

Dương Thị Tú Anh

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my grateful thanks to Dr Nguyễn Thị Kiều Thu, my thesis supervisor, for her perceptive and comprehensive guidance, invaluable comments and constructive criticism, and opportune encouragement

My special thanks also go to the administrators of this master course: the Department of Post Graduate Studies and the Department of English Linguistics and Literature of Ho Chi Minh University of Social Sciences and Humanities, and their staff members

I am really grateful to all my friends who have regularly helped and encouraged me for the completion of the thesis

I owe a debt of gratitude to my family for their moral support and useful advice during the time of conducting the thesis

The output of this comparison may help to explain the situation why students

in public schools are not successful learners of English as compared to those in private language centers and to offer recommendations to improve the communicative skills for students in public schools

The research is based on the questionnaires delivered to a sample population

of 352 students in two state schools: Ho Chi Minh University of Industry (HUI), Pedagogy University (PU) and two private foreign language centers: Duong Minh school (DMS) and Vietnam-Australia International Language School (VAILS) In addition, questionnaires were delivered to 24 teachers in both kinds of schools, and class observation was made to back up or assist the interpretation of the data obtained from the questionnaires

The findings revealed that teacher in public schools took the role as controller while in private school teacher carried out the role as facilitator These two different roles were reflected through teaching methodology, the class talk time, the language teacher used in speaking classes Some influential factors which caused the disparity were mentioned in the study

Based on the finding of the research, some recommendations were given Besides improving objective factors, the teacher’s role especially in the public school needs to be changed, to be fostered in order to develop the learners’ English speaking skill

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3a : The distribution of students’ gender in SS

Table 3b : The distribution of students’ gender in PFLC

Table 4.1a : The frequency of pair and group work in SS

Table 4.1b : The frequency of pair and group work in PFLC

Table 4.2a: Frequency of teacher's participation in SS

Table 4.2b: Frequency of teacher's participation in PFLC

Table 4.3a: Responses to the question 6.1 of students in SS

Table 4.3b: Responses to the question 6.1 of students in PFLC

Table 4.4a: Responses to the question 6.2 of students in SS

Table 4.4b: Responses to the question 6.2 of students in PFLC

Table 4.5a: Responses to the question 6.3 of students in SS

Table 4.5b: Responses to the question 6.3 of students in PFLC

Table 4.6a: Responses to the question 6.4 of students in SS

Table 4.6b: Responses to the question 6.4 of students in PFLC

Table 4.7a : Students’ feedback about the teacher’s role in SS

Table 4.7b : Students’ feedback about the teacher’s role in PFLC

Table 4.8a: Students’ ideas about teacher’s mistake correction in SS

Table 4.8b: Students’ ideas about teacher’s mistake correction in PFLC

Table 4.9a: Students’ feedback about the teacher’s position during students’ oral

practice in SS

Table 4.9b: Students’ feedback about the teacher’s position during students’ oral

practice in PFLC

Table 4.10a: Students’ feedback about extra activities in SS

Table 4.10b: Students’ feedback about extra activities in PFLC

Table 4.11a Students’ feedback about the factors that most influence their learning in SS Table 4.11b Students’ feedback about the factors that influence their learning in PFLC Table 4.12a: Students’ choice of the teacher’s most important quality

Table 4.12b: Students’ choice of the teacher’s most important quality in PFLC

Table 4 13a : Students’ feedback about the relationship between teacher and

students in English classes in SS

Table 4.13b : Students’ feedback about the relationship between teacher and

students in English classes in PFLC

Table 4.14a: Students feedback about question 15.1 in SS

Table 4.14b: Students feedback about question 15.1 in PFLC

Table 4.15a: Students feedback about question 15.2 in SS

Table 4.15b: Students feedback about question 15.2 in PFLC

Table 4.16a: Students feedback about question 15.3 in SS

Table 4.16b: Students feedback about question 15.3 in PFLC

Table 4.17a: Teaching method in English classes in SS

Table 4.17b: Teaching method in English classes in PFLC

Table 4.18a: The teacher’s role in SS

Table 4.18b: The teacher’s role in PFLC

Chart 4.19a: The degree of the teacher’s satisfaction with his role in SS

Table 4.19b: The degree of the teacher’s satisfaction with his role in PFLC

Table 4.20b: The teacher's ability in class management for speaking in PFLC

Table 4.20a: The teacher's ability in class management for speaking skills in SS Table 4.21b: The frequency of speaking activity in PFLC

Table 4.21a: The frequency of speaking activity in SS

Table 4.22b: Factors that cause problems to teachers in PFLC

Table 4.22a: Factors that cause problems to teachers in SS

Table 4.23a: Teacher’s mistake correction in SS

Table 4.23b: Teacher’s mistake correction in PFLC

Table 4.24a: The teacher's frequency in joining training courses and seminars Table 4.24b: The teacher's frequency in joining training courses and seminars in PFLC Table 4.25a: The teacher's frequency in exchanging teaching experience with

colleagues in SS

Table 4.25b: The teacher's frequency in exchanging teaching experience with

colleagues in PFLC

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 4.1: The frequency of pair and group work in SS and PFLC

Chart 4.2a: Frequency of teacher's participation in SS

Chart 4.2b: Frequency of teacher's participation in PFLC

Chart 4.2c: Frequency of teacher's participation in SS and PFLC

Chart 4.3a: Responses to the question 6.1 of students in SS

Chart 4.3b: Responses to the question 6.1 of students in PFLC

Chart 4.3c: Responses to the question 6.1 of students in SS and PFLC

Chart 4.4a: Responses to the question 6.2 of students in SS

Chart 4.4b: Responses to the question 6.2 of students in PFLC

Chart 4.4c: Responses to the question 6.2 of students in SS and PFLC

Chart 4.5a: Responses to the question 6.3 of students in SS

Chart 4.5b: Responses to the question 6.3 of students in PFLC

Chart 4.5c: Responses to the question 6.3 of students in SS and PFLC

Chart 4.6a: Responses to the question 6.4 of students in SS

Chart 4.6b: Responses to the question 6.4 students in PFLC

Chart 4.6c: Responses to the question 6.4 of students in SS and PFLC

Chart 4.7a: Students’ feedback about the teacher’s role in SS

Chart 4.7b: Students’ feedback about the teacher’s role in PFLC

Chart 4.7c: Comparing students’ feedback about teacher’s role in SS versus PFLC Chart 4.8a: Students’ ideas about teacher’s mistake correction in SS

Chart 4.8b: Students’ ideas about teacher’s mistake correction in PFLC

Chart 4.8c: Students’ ideas about teacher’s mistake correction in SS and PFLC Chart 4.9a: Students’ feedback about the teacher’s position during students’ oral

Chart 4.10b: Students’ feedback about extra activities in PFLC

Chart 4.10c: Students’ feedback about extra activities in SS and PFLC

Chart 4.12a: Students’ choice of the teacher’s most important quality in SS

Chart 4.12b: Students’ choice of the teacher’s most important quality in PFLC Chart 4.12c: Students’ choice of the teacher’s most important quality in SS and PFLC Chart 4.13a : Students’ feedback about the relationship between teacher and

students in English classes in SS

Chart 4.13b: Students’ feedback about the relationship between teacher and

students in English classes in PFLC

Chart 4.13c: Students’ feedback about the relationship between teacher and

students in English classes in SS and PFL

Chart 4.14a: Students feedback about question 15.1 in SS

Chart 4.14b: Students feedback about question 15.1 in PFLC

Chart 4.14c: Comparing students’ feedback about question 15.1 in SS and PFLC Chart 4.15a: Students feedback about question 15.2 in SS

Chart 4.15b: Students feedback Students feedback about question 15.2 in PFLC Chart 4.15c: Comparing students’ feedback about question 15.2 in SS and PFLC Chart 4.16a: Students feedback about question 15.3 in SS

Chart 4.16b: Students feedback about question 15.3 in PFLC

Chart 4.16c: Comparing students’ feedback about question 15.3 in SS and PFLC Chart 4.17: Teaching method in SS and PFLC

Chart 4.18a: The teacher’s role in SS

Chart 4.18b: The teacher’s role in PFLC

Chart 4.18c: The teacher’s role in SS and PFLC

Chart 4.19a: The degree of the teacher’s satisfaction with his role in SS

Chart 4.19b: The degree of the teacher’s satisfaction with his role in PFLC

Chart 4.19c: The degree of the teacher’s satisfaction with his role in SS and PFLC Chart 4.20a: The teacher's ability in class management for speaking in SS

Chart 4.20b: The teacher's ability in class management for speaking in PFLC

Chart 4.20c: The teacher's ability in class management for speaking in SS and PFLC Chart 4.21a: The frequency of speaking activity in SS

Chart 4.21b: The frequency of speaking activity in PFLC

Chart 4.21c: The frequency of speaking activity in SS and PFLC

Chart 4.22a: Factors that cause problems to teachers in SS

Chart 4.22b: Factors that cause problems to teachers in PFLC

Chart 4.22c: Factors that cause problems to teachers in SS and PFLC

Chart 4.23a: Teacher’s mistake correction in SS

Chart 4.23b: Teacher’s mistake correction in PFLC

Chart 4.23c: Teacher’s mistake correction in SS and PFLC

Chart 4.24a: The teacher's frequency in joining training courses and seminars in SS Chart 4.24b: The teacher's frequency in joining training courses and seminars in PFLC Chart 4.24c: The teacher's frequency in joining training courses and seminars in SS

and PFLC

Chart 4.25a: The teacher's frequency in developing with colleagues in SS

Chart 4.25b: The teacher's frequency in developing with colleagues in PFLC

Chart 4.25c: Teacher's exchanging of teaching experience with colleagues in SS and

PFLC

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

Public opinion has paid more and more attention to the ability of speaking of students in state schools Many articles claimed that after spending a lot of time studying English or after graduation from colleges and universities, Vietnamese students are still unable to speak English In contrast, it is noticeable that the speaking ability of students in private schools seems to be better There are several factors that affect the quality of teaching and learning communicative skills

This thesis reports the findings of a study conducted at several educational institutions including state schools and private foreign language centers The main purpose of which is to find out the possible influences of teacher’s role in developing Vietnamese students’ communicative competence

This chapter presents the background to the study, the problem, the aims and the significance of the study, and the overview of the thesis

1.1 Background to the study

Since the open-door policy came into existence in 1986, Vietnam has dramatically changed in many aspects Along with these changes, foreign languages, especially English have become more and more necessary for broader communication and co-operation Most importantly, after becoming a member of the WTO in 2007, Vietnam has benefited far more foreign direct investment into the country This, more than ever, emphasizes the urgent need for Vietnamese to master the global tool of communication - English

English education therefore, has been booming Vietnamese educational authorities have set out foreign languages, especially English, as the compulsory subject into state educational institutions In big towns and cities, high school graduates have to study English for at least 7 years (from sixth grade to twelfth grade) Students in universities also have to take courses in English as a requirement for graduation However, it is often complained that what students get from the state schools does not meet the society demand, especially the communicative competence

Educators and teachers have experienced a rather long time to find solutions for better English learning and teaching but the learners’ quality compared with other countries, such as our neighbors, Thailand or Singapore is still low, particularly in communicative abilities Is it possible that the hindrance to this goal

to learn English has been the lack of having an efficient educational system?

The desire to learn English effectively is so strong that “there has been a tremendous growth in private language schools, often in the evening hours for adults who want to develop their English language abilities” (McKay, 1999:1) In these evening-learners, there are undergraduates from colleges, universities, or graduates working in companies and a great number of pupils in high schools

Basically, there are two main kinds of English language teaching schools in

Vietnam: state schools (hereafter referred to as SS) and private foreign language centers (hereafter referred to as PFLC) Whatever forms they are, the prime concern

is how to get high success in English learning and teaching Many questions are set

up to find out solutions for better results One of the decisive factors in learners’

failure or success is the teacher’s role Superficially, whether in state schools or private foreign language centers, the teachers’ main responsibility is to transfer knowledge to learners However, intrinsically, in different environments, the teacher’s role has its own characteristics

1.2 Rationale of the study

Although Vietnam’s policy on foreign language education encourages the equal development of the four language skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing – most Vietnamese students and even graduates fail to use their English in communication

According to Prof Vu Van Tao, the Assistant to the Minister of Education and Training, (cited from Do Huy Thinh, 1996: 68, 69) Vietnamese foreign language education policy aims at educating “our people to know and to use foreign language in their daily work” In addition, he expected that “By the year 2000, most graduates must use a foreign language relatively fluently and without the help of interpreters” In reality, the attempts have not met this expectation There have been

several studies on this problem such as Why aren’t 12 th - grade students able to speak English? dated Oct 9 on Tuoi Tre Newspaper or article entitled “Being unable to speak English after 10 years of learning it” on Tuoi Tre Newspaper as

well

Indeed, the fact that many students in state schools seem to be good at grammar, mastering a great quantity of vocabularies is obvious However, most of them even cannot utter basic and simple phrases or sentences They do not have chance to combine between the theory and practice to improve their speaking skills Besides influential factors to the limit, is the teacher responsible for this problem? What is the teacher’s role in English speaking classes?

As mentioned above, along with state school system, private language centers for English language are in high demand in Vietnam, especially in Ho Chi Minh City

As to students, they have flooded these schools with the expectation to consolidate and to develop the knowledge they learn in their formal schools Can they find something innovative which can improve their communicative competence in this kind of private centers? Do they find that the teacher’s role has impact on them? What is the teacher’s role in private foreign language centers?

As to teachers, besides day – time teaching in state schools, many teachers earn extra income through teaching in evening classes in private foreign language

centers Are the results they gain from the two domains of education discrepant? May this be caused by the differences between the teacher’s roles in state schools and those in private schools?

Due to two different domains with different management systems, different expectations, different types of learners, the researcher puts forward how the teacher’s role in each kind of institutions as the prime factor To some extent, teachers themselves cannot carry out their role without being affected by subjective and objective factors What are the influential causes?

To answer all these questions, the study was made to provide relatively complete view on the teacher’s role in state schools and private foreign language centers, and to investigate factors affecting their role Basing on the collation of both domains, the researcher hopes to find out the positive and negative aspects in each kind of institution Most of all, suitable changes to improve English communicative competence to learners in two environments, especially in state schools, are necessitated

1.3 Objectives of the study

The objectives of this study are:

1 To have a general view on the teacher’s role in English classes in state

schools and in private foreign language centers

2 To give suggestions to improve students’ communicative skill in state schools

1.4 Scope and limitation of the study

1.4.1 Scope of the study

There are many state schools and private foreign language centers with

different characteristics in HCM city In this study, two chosen state schools are Ho Chi Minh University of Industry (HUI), where the researcher has been the

permanent lecturer and Pedagogy University; two private foreign language centers

are a branch of Duong Minh foreign private language school and a branch of Vietnam-Australia International English school which are reputed as relatively successful private schools in Ho Chi Minh

1.4.2 Limitation and delimitation of the study

Viewing the problem from only two schools in each type, the representative

of the research is limited because of the shortage of time which prevented the

researcher from including more subjects Therefore, the research cannot thoroughly describe the two kinds of institutions Another limit is that the speaking skill is the focus in this study, hence excluding the other three language skills

Owing to the small sample of the research, the results of which could not be

generalized to be applied to other institutions not having the same academic settings

1.5 Significance of the study

Firstly, little research has been done concerning the teacher’s roles in English teaching and when it has been done, it has focused on only one side, either in state schools or in private foreign language centers This research hopes to have an

extensive view and to recognize factors affecting teacher’s roles in teaching English

in state schools and private foreign language centers The researcher hopes that there will be some changes, creating a new flow of wind in updating modern methodology, improving the learning and teaching environment, offering flexible

new policy… English teachers are well aware of which positions they are in and overcome challenging aspects, promoting their roles in teaching English flexibly and effectively

1.6 Setting of the study

1.6.1 Description of Ho Chi Minh University of Industry (HUI)

HUI, which was established on January 10, 2005 and formerly called Industrial College No 4, is one of the universities providing technical and

professional education The main levels of integrated education of HUI include technical intermediate education, college education and university education To graduate, depending on each level, the learners are required to submit certificates of English Technical intermediate learners have to get certificate of level A in

English, college students with level B and university students with level C respectively Besides, English for Special Purposes (ESP) is mandatory for all students and they have to pass the final test to meet the requirement of graduation

English is divided into two categories: general English for freshmen and

sophomores; ESP for the juniors and seniors General English is taken charge by