Strategies to improve students participation in efl classes at tran phu high school da lat

Without students’ participation, the communicative approach and learner-centered approach which are dominant in foreign language teaching and learning in Vietnam cannot come into play as

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

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PHAM QUOC DUNG

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION

IN EFL CLASSES AT TRAN PHU HIGH SCHOOL – DALAT

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts ( TESOL )

Supervisor DOAN HUE DUNG, Ph.D

Ho Chi Minh City, August 2009

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION

IN EFL CLASSES AT TRAN PHU HIGH SCHOOL - DALAT

In terms of the statement of the Requirements of Theses in Master’s Program

issued by the Higher Degree Committee

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution

Ho Chi Minh, August 2nd, 2009

PHAM QUOC DUNG

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Pham Quoc Dung, being the candidate for the degree

of Master of Arts in 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 the purposes of the study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan or reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City, August 2nd, 2009

PHAM QUOC DUNG

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would first like to express my deepest gratitude to Ms Doan Hue Dung, Ph.D,

my thesis supervisor, for her pratical guidance, thoughtful comments, and valuable assistance from the embryo to completion of the thesis Without her guidance and encouragement, I could not have finished this study

I am grateful to all my teachers for their helpful instruction during the TESOL course (2006 – 2009) I also highly appreciate the cooperation of the English teachers and students at Tran Phu High School – Dalat as well as the good condition provided by the administrators for conducting the study

Last but not least, I would like to dedicate the thesis to my parents, my brothers, and my wife who always encourage and stand by me during the course

ABSTRACT

The thesis is intended to work out strategies to improve students’ participation in EFL classes at Tran Phu High School - Dalat Without students’ participation, the communicative approach and learner-centered approach which are dominant in foreign language teaching and learning in Vietnam cannot come into play as much as we wish In addition, improving students’ participation means encouraging students to bring both mind and heart into service, welcoming their power of originality, ability of autonomy, and responsibility in language learning However, in reality, many students have not actively participated in EFL classes though they seem to be aware of the importance and benefits of their participation in EFL classes, which is accounted for the rationale of the study

The study is conducted with the main instrument of questionnaires in combination with interviews and experimental teaching The data for the study is processed by the SPSS, a useful software for statistics The study is involved with

678 students of all classes of Grade 10 and Grade 11, and 5 English teachers at TPHS Through the study, three important points relevant to students’ participation, namely factors affecting students’ participation, measures to improve students’ participation, and benefits of students’ participation in language teaching and learning are examined and analysed The findings reveal that many students have not participated in EFL classes because of some factors such as lack of vocabulary, poor English competence, poor background knowledge and so on Additionally, the study recommends some viable measures such as “Merry” teacher, careful lesson plan with variety of activities, diversity

of classroom responses to improve students’ participation in EFL classes at TPHS

2.3.2 Factors affecting students’ participation 21

4.1 The reality of students’ participation in EFL classes 62

4.2 Factors affecting students’ participation in EFL classes 66

4.3 Techniques of dealing with students’ participation 91

5.1 Measures to improve students’ participation in EFL classes 118

5.1.2 Participation as a criterion for assessment and marking 120

5.1.3 Careful lesson plan with variety of activities 121

APPENDICES 132

APPENDIX 1A Questionnaire for students (Vietnamese version) 132 APPENDIX 1B Questionnaire for students (English version) 137 APPENDIX 2A Questionnaire for teachers (Vietnamese version) 142 APPENDIX 2B Questionnaire for teachers (English version) 146 APPENDIX 3A Questionnaire on experimental teaching 150 (Vietnamese version)

APPENDIX 3B Questionnaire on experimental teaching 152 (English version)

LIST OF TABLES

Pages

Table 4.3: Students’ level of English in the previous academic 62

school year

Table 4.1.1: The frequency of students’ participation in EFL classes 63

Table 4.1.2: The estimated number of students often participating 63

in EFL classes

Table 4.1.3: The estimated number of students often participating 64

in EFL classes (teachers’ responses)

Table 4.1.4: The ways in which students participate 65

in classroom activities

Table 4.1.5: Ideal number of students participating in EFL classes 66

Table 4.2.1: Factors having a negative impact on students’ 67

participation in EFL classes

Table 4.2.2: Reasons for poor participation in EFL classes 76

(teachers’ responses)

Table 4.2.3: Students’ motivations for participation in EFL classes 77

Table 4.2.4: Motivations to participate in EFL classes 81

(teachers’responses)

(teachers’ responses)

Table 4.2.6: Students’ attitudes towards speaking English 83 Table 4.2.7: Students’ feelings when English teachers enter 83 EFL classes (teachers’responses)

Table 4.2.8: The correlation between students’ characters 84 and participation

Table 4.2.9: The correlation between students’level of English 85 and participation

Table 4.2.10: The correlation between students’ preference 86 for speaking English and participation

Table 4.2.11: The correlation between students’ participation 87 and teachers’personal interest

Table 4.2.12: Teachers’ expressions when students give 88 right answers

Table 4.2.13: Teachers’ expressions when students give 89 wrong answers

Table 4.2.14: Students’ attitude towards teachers’ feedbacks 91 when students give wrong answers

Table 4.3.1: Some techniques used by the teacher for 92 poor participation

Table 4.3.2: Measures for poor participation (teachers’ responses) 95

Table 4.3.4: Students’ favourite techniques in dealing with 97 questions

Table 4.4.1: Benefits of participation in EFL classes to students 99

of participation

Table 4.5.1: Students’ perception of the participation 108

during the experimental teaching

Table 4.5.2: The number of students actively participating 108

in EFL classes during the experimental teaching Table 4.5.3: Students’ attitude towards the teaching method 109

active participation

Table 4.5.5: Students’ attitude towards the teacher’questionning 110

Table 4.5.7: Students’ opinions about the exercises in hand outs 111

and marking

Table 4.5.9: Students’ opinions about the classroom climate 112

the previous lesson”

Table 4.5.12: Students’ attitude towards teacher’s observation 113

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Foreign language teaching methodology is currently passing through the called “learner-centered stage”, which is characterized by great interest in the process of learning, and in the role that students play in this process Students must be more involved in the classroom, i.e giving answers, making suggestions, giving comments and critiques, shaping the lesson discussion, and helping their peers They are not only provided with knowledge of the target language, but trained to think and to manipulate it in communication as well In fact, in the light of communicative approach, it is not enough for students to master the knowledge of the language Rather, they have to know how to use the target language to communicate In effect, in foreign language learning, students’ active participation affects the quality and efficiency of their learning process Lindsay & Knight (2006: 3) state that students should develop good habits such

so-as taking an active part in activities by so-asking questions and initiating exchanges with other students and the teacher They will allow them to learn more quickly and efficiently Moreover, according to Scharle & Szabo (2000: 4), in language teaching and learning, teachers can provide all the necessary circumstances and input, but learning can only happen if learners are willing to contribute

Furthermore, language is a means of communication Language is not used for its own sake; it is used for a purpose – to convey information, emotion or attitude In language classes students’ participation sets the first stage of

communication and classroom interactions Students’ poor participation in class means that there is less classroom interaction According to Richard & Lockhart (1994: 138), “second language learning is a highly interactive process” The quality of the interaction is thought to have a considerable influence on learning Therefore, it is possible to infer that the more students participate in EFL classes, the more communication and classroom interactions take place, and the more fruitful language teaching and learning is In fact, students’ participation, to a certain extent, indicates students’ knowledge and ability to use the target language, which language teachers should know to evaluate students’ learning as well as quality and efficiency of their teaching It also indicates students’ strength and weakness considered as a reasonable basis on which language teachers come up with effective measures to help them such as encouraging, adapting, devising appropriate tasks or providing students with the materials relevant to their experience, which in turn serve to give an impetus for participation

Active participation in EFL classes can be said to be beneficial to students

in the learning process It is obvious that they make use of the opportunity to speak English When putting hand up, they have to prepare themselves, to think

of ideas, and to arrange them so that they can be logical and convincing Of course, they will be more confident than those who hardly dare raise their hands and their ability of thinking will be developed It may deepen their understanding of what the teacher would like to convey as they dare share their ideas, ask for teacher’s help when they have difficulty in understanding certain matters On the part of teacher, students’ participation in EFL classes provides the teacher a lot of inspiration, mental encouragement regarded as underlying power to help him to do his job better, besides the advantages mentioned above

It may not be convincible enough to highlight the importance of students’ participation in EFL classes if the difference between the language class and other classes is not mentioned In the language class, language is both medium and content of instruction; Meanwhile, in other classes, language may function as

a medium of instruction In addition, it is the dominant trend that we teach language in communicative approach instead of traditional way that promotes students’ participation in EFL classes to an integral part in language teaching and learning In communicative approach, language has been seen as a system for the expression of meanings The aim of language teaching is to help learners develop skills for expressing communicative meanings Considering English teaching settings in Vietnam in general, and in Dalat in particular, classrooms are still ideal places where students can practise these skills Students’ participation

in EFL classes, to a certain extent, means practising what they have learnt Without participation in EFL classes, they themselves lose their opportunities to practise using the target language in communication It is commonly said that practice makes a perfect learner

Students’ participation may be regarded as one of the immediate objectives

in every EFL class In fact, when we observe EFL classes, the first sign of a good teaching performance is the attention, participation, and interest shown by students According to Paul Davies (2000: 5), if students are voluntarily paying attention, asking and answering questions, mostly in English, something good is probably happening Maintaining students’ attention, active participation, and interest is essential in English language teaching If we, English instructors, do not gain the immediate objectives in each EFL class, we are unlikely to reach the long-term goals of getting students to use English in communication

However, not all students are, in reality, willing to involve in classroom activities Some are reluctant to use the target language in pair or group work They do not learn from their mistakes, nor listen to each other, nor make use of opportunities to learn They show no responsibilities in learning Therefore, lack

of students’ cooperation, interactions, and communication can be seen in some EFL classes This has become a challenging problem in many high schools, including Tran Phu High School (TPHS) Most of my colleagues have complained about the lack of students’ active participation They are really confused to solve the problem The main reasons might be because students lack general knowledge, English vocabulary, or confidence On the part of students, some of them say that they do not understand teacher’s questions, nor know how

to answer them Others claim that topics are not interesting or relevant to their experience Teacher’s inadequate preparation in advance may be another underlying reason Some questions arising from the reality need answering with careful consideration such as “what are influential factors affecting students’ participation in EFL classes at TPHS?” “How do teachers improve students’ participation in EFL classes ?”

As far as students’ participation in EFL classes is concerned, there are many researchers both foreign and Vietnamese showing their interest in the issue to a degree, in various respects such as Paul Davies (2000), Griff Griffiths & Kathy Keohane (2000), Scarcella & Oxford (1992) David Nunan (1999) mentioned it

in terms of learner-centered education Rod Ellis (1996) was concerned with quality and quantity of participation Widdowson (1990) touched the issue when concerning the roles of teacher and learner Jeremy Harmer (2007) took it into consideration in terms of responsibilities for learning Ngan Vang L.T (MA Thesis in Tesol-2004) investigated factors affecting the question-answer

behaviour of EFL students at NLU Lan Huong N.T (MA Thesis in Tesol-2005) was concerned with fostering verbal interaction in the EFL classroom Van P.K (MA Thesis in Tesol-2006) studied how to develop the speaking skill for Vietnamese learners at High School However, offering effective measures to the foregone issue has not been touched on fully and directly as far as I have known Therefore, I would like to shed light on the foregoing issue in my study titled “ Strategies to improve students’ participation in EFL classes at Tran Phu High School – Dalat” with the hope that it will make a small contribution to improving EFL teaching and learning at my school

About TPHS and the study subjects, this school, one of the three state owned high schools in Dalat city, has 25 classes divided into 3 grades (10, 11, and 12) with about 950 students and 55 teachers There are six teachers of English, all of whom have more than 5 years of experience in teaching English at high school The writer of this thesis has been working as a teacher of English since its formation in 2001 The students attending this school must pass an examination so called “ Placement test” administered by Lam dong Education and Training Service They study English as a compulsory foreign language subject with three forty-five-minute periods per week As far as the textbooks are concerned, Tieng Anh 10 by Hoang Van Van and others consists of 16 units and 6 Tests Yourself designed in the light of communicative and leaner-centered approach Each unit has five parts including Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus The textbook has been being used nation-wide in high school for more than three years The study involves 678 students of all classes of Grade 10 and Grade 11 and five English teachers However, the follow up quasi-experiment has been conducted in two classes of Grade 10 in six-week duration

1.2 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

This study has the following aims:

(1) to identify influential factors affecting students’ participation in EFL classes

This study is guided by the following questions:

1 What are influential factors which affect students’ participation in EFL classes

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of this study firstly will help to solve the challenging problem bringing about detrimental effect on teaching and learning process at TPHS

Strengths and weaknesses of two main agents in the process of teaching and learning more or less identified will be taken into careful consideration so that effective measures can be suggested to improve the teaching and learning

Secondly, this is a classroom research, the findings of which are valuable not only for the teachers of English who have to get better understanding of what students need, of how students are encouraged and inspired the most , but also for administrators who should be aware of the reality of EFL teaching and learning of the school so that they can issue appropriate policies to encourage teachers and students timely as well as improve the teaching and learning It will also provide useful data for other researches

Next, through the study, students will be aware of the advantages of their participation as well as be more responsible for their learning, which seems to be ignored or fall into oblivion as a consequence of “award-favoured” phenomenon

in our current education Students should be provided with knowledge of learning strategies and get a better understanding of the fact that “if they are not prepared to take some of the strain, their learning is likely to be less successful than if they themselves become active learners” (Jeremy Harmer, 2007: 21) Finally, the study embodies the spirit of methodological innovation highly appreciated and advocated by EFL teacher community The success of the study will make a small contribution to positive change in teachers’ method, students’ learning styles as well as their roles in language teaching and learning

1.5 DEFINITION AND ABBREVIATIONS OF TERMS

- Participation may be defined as learners’ involvement, engagement with

enthusiasm in every classroom activity as a result of being fully aware of their responsibility, which may be seen in form of putting hand up to answer teacher’s questions, to share one’s own ideas, to pose problems to be clarified, as well as giving much contribution to pair work or group work

- Strategies refer to measures and steps applied by the teacher to improve

students’ participation in EFL classes

- Display questions refer to those questions for which the teacher knows the

answer beforehand; such questions are usually asked for comprehension checks, confirmation check, or clarification requests

- Referential questions refer to those questions for which the answer is not

already known by teacher; such questions require students’ thinking, interpretation as well as judgment

- Low-level questions refer to those questions which place an emphasis on the

recalling of fact and information

- High-level questions refer to those questions which stimulate students’ thinking

in the five main levels above the knowledge: comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation

- EFL : English as a foreign language

- ESL : English as a second language

- SPSS: Statistic package for social science

1.6 ASSUMPTIONS

The study is based on the following assumptions:

- The method and procedure of data collection and analysis are reliable and appropriate to work out necessary information to answer the research questions

- The responsive informants are honest in their responses, and have no difficulties understanding the ideas of the questionnaire and the interview

- The level of the students in English among classes is not different

1.7 DELIMITATIONS AND LIMITATIONS

Because of the space-time limit, the study itself is confined to the students and teachers of English at Tran Phu High School - Dalat It mainly focuses on identifying factors affecting students’ participation in EFL classes and some strategies to improve students’ participation, not all aspects related to every activity in EFL classes In addition, the quality of participation is not analyzed carefully in the scope of this study The number of teacher and student samples is relatively small and therefore may not have been truly representative to all the population Therefore, the study will not be generalized in other settings

1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

The study will consist of five chapters as follows:

Chapter 1 provides the background of the study It describes problems, the subject, the purposes, and research questions

Chapter 2 reviews researches concerning the issue: students’ participation in EFL classrooms

Chapter 3 presents the methodology employed in the research Instruments utilized to collect data are questionnaire, observation, interview and a quasi-experiment

Chapter 4 discusses and analyses the data collected with descriptive statistics with the help of SPSS and offers some recommendations It also presents the experimental teaching which is aimed at making sure whether or not the measures suggested are feasible and effective

Chapter 5 is concerned with suggesting measures for the improvement of students’ participation and gives the conclusion of the study

CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter reviews theoretical foundations and research results concerning students’ participation in EFL classes It mainly focuses on (1) approaches to language teaching, (2) classroom interaction, (3) factors affecting students’ participation in EFL classes

The EFL teaching and learning is currently implemented under the influence of the mixture of communicative and learner-centered approaches

2.1.1 COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH

Communicative approach is a really popular term in foreign language teaching and learning It started in the late 1960s and continues to evolve (Richards & Rodgers, 1986) It is based on the view that learning a language means learning how to communicate effectively in the world outside the classroom Therefore, the ability to communicate or interact is actually a key factor guiding all activities designed under the influence of this approach In this approach, all four skills are integrated from the beginning Students regularly work in pairs or groups They also engage in role-play or dramatization to adjust their use of the target language to different social contexts Classroom materials and activities are often authentic to reflect real-life situations and demands The teacher works as a facilitator who provides as many opportunities as possible for students to practise the target language

In fact, William Littlewood (1991, x) states that “communicative approach opens up a wider perspective on language In particular, it makes us consider language not only in terms of its structures (grammar and vocabulary), but also in terms of the communicative functions that it performs.” Researchers and linguists see it as an approach not as a method, which aims to make communicative competence the goal of language teaching and develop procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication (Richards & Rodgers, 1981: 66)

With regard to characteristics of this approach, Nunan (1991) groups them into five features as follows:

- An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language

- The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation

- The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the learning process itself

- An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning

- An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom

( cited in Brown, 1994: 78)

Meanwhile, at the level of language theory, Richards and Rodgers (1986: 71) sum up its main characteristics as follows:

1 Language is a system for the expression of meaning

2 The primary function of language is for interaction and communication

3 The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses

4 The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features, but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in discourse

At the practical level, in the case of teaching English, according to Christopher Brumfit, the teacher should take into consideration the following questions “ How close can my teaching take pupils to their anticipated language needs in the outside world? How much opportunity am I giving members of my class to talk as individuals to each other, using as much English as they can, to

say things which they have decided to say and which are as far as possible in response to what has been said before – practice for fluency rather than accuracy?” (cited in Hubbard.P - Jones.H -Thornton.B - Wheeler.R, 1991: 251)

It will be insufficient without mentioning steps of teaching new patterns in the light of communicative approach The role of the teacher as well as his talking time will be changed according to the steps (Presentation, Controlled practice and Free practice) At the presentation step, the teacher is in charge of controlling, introducing new patterns and doing most (if not all) the talking Therefore, there is no possibility of error At the controlled practice step, learners are given intensive practice in the new pattern, but their production of language is very carefully guided and controlled by the teacher, so that correct form and meaning are considered, and possibility of error is reduced to the minimum At the free practice step, the teacher relaxes control Students will correct each other or themselves when challenged Student talking time will be much greater than teacher talking time and the teacher will only intervene if serious problems arise ( Hubbard.P-Jones.H-Thornton.B-Wheeler.R, 1991: 249)

2.1.2 LEARNER-CENTERED APPROACH

Learner-centered approach is based on the belief that language teaching will be more effective if language teaching more responds to the needs, characteristics and expectations of learners, and if learners are encouraged to qualitatively involve themselves and to play an active role in their language study As an advocate of this approach, Ian Tudor (1996) states that language teaching is under the influence of learner-centered approach made more responsive to learners’ needs and allows learners to play a fuller, more active

and participatory role in their language study “A key feature of a centered approach to teaching is that it explicitly caters for a two-way flow of insights between teacher and learners In other words, it assumes the development of a more equal relationship between the teacher and learners than

learner-is the case in traditional approaches to teaching.” (Ian Tudor, 1996: 41)

In addition, under the heading of learner-centered education, David Nunan (1999: 11) states that there is no difference in the teacher’s making decisions in classrooms guided by a learner-centered philosophy and in any other kind of classroom A key difference lies in the fact that “in a learner-centered classroom, key decisions about what will be taught, how it will be taught, when it will be taught, and how it will be assessed will be made with reference to the learner Information about learners, and, where feasible, from learners, will be used to answer the key questions of what, how, when, and how well.”

Three perspectives of this approach catching much attention of many researchers are learner-centredness as a principle for activity organization, learner autonomy, and the curriculum design perspective For instance, Campbell and Kryszewska (1992) claim that the learner-centered approach offers a way of overcoming the dissatisfaction generated by course books which

do not meet the real needs and interests of learners They point out nine advantages in adopting a learner-based approach to activity organisation, namely the potential of the learner, constant needs analysis, topicality, previous learning experience, learners as authors, pace, the element of surprise, peer teaching and correction, and group solidarity ( cited in Ian Tudor, 1996: 14-15)

As far as learner autonomy is concerned, this concept has evolved and become clearer over time in terms of the nature and implication In fact, autonomy at first refers to independent learning manner with limited teacher intervention, but latter it connotes awareness of learning goals, willing participation in decision-making, and responsibility Dickinson (1993) identifies five characteristics of autonomous learners:

1- they understand what is being taught, i.e they have sufficient understanding of language learning to understand the purpose of pedagogical choices;

2- they are able to formulate their own learning objectives;

3- they are able to select and make use of appropriate learning strategies; 4- they are able to monitor their use of these strategies;

5- they are able to self-assess, or monitor their own learning

( cited in Ian Tudor, 1996: 20)

In short, teaching languages under the influence of the learner-centered approach is a matter of educating students so that they can gradually assume greater responsibility for their own learning

2.2 CLASSROOM INTERACTION

In a language classroom, language is both the means and the content of instruction Therefore, it can be said that for language learning to be effective, classroom interaction often takes place To put it in another way, language classroom is highly interactive One of the main agents in classroom interaction

is the student, the subject of language teaching Without students’ participation, there is no classroom interaction In fact, students’ participation can be seen as a

springboard for classroom interaction That is the reason why classroom interaction is generally mentioned in this part

Ann Malamah-Thomas (1991: 7) states that “interaction means acting reciprocally, acting upon each other” Every interaction situation has the potential for co-operation or conflict How the situation actually develops depends on the attitudes and intentions of the people involved, and on their interpretations of each other attitudes and intentions Where there is no interaction, there can be no communication Where there is conflict in the interaction, communication breaks down Only where there is co-operation between both sides involved in the interaction can communication effectively take place, and learning occur According to Gerald Counihan (1998),

“Interaction is spontaneous participation of all the conversational parties in exchanging both social and personal data as the vast majority of everyday talking done by natives Interaction involves emotion, creativity, agreement, disagreement, people waiting patiently to get in a word, sighing, nodding, gesticulating and so on.” [cited in Van.P.K, MA thesis (2006:18)]

Talking about the interaction, Williams & Burden (1999: 206) argue that “if

we take an interactionist view of learning, we see the nature of the interactions that take place as a key to learning This is especially apparent in the case of learning a language, where using language is essentially a social activity, and interaction in the target language is an integral part of the learning process.” Therefore, language teachers need to be particularly aware of the impact of the interactions that occur in the classroom These interactions can foster a sense of belonging, enhance sharing behaviour, and encourage personal control They

also foster positive attributions Particularly, the nature of the interaction in the target language will influence the quality of learning that language

With regard to ways of sustaining the classroom interaction, Scarcella & Oxford (1992 : 30-31) suggest that the teacher should help students to sustain the interaction by providing responsive comments that encourage them to communicate The teacher’s smiles and suggesting new vocabulary items are instrumental in keeping the interaction going The assistance that the teacher provides students enables them to use English better than in the past This in turn facilitates their English language acquisition In addition, Tharp and Gallimore (1989) described some types of assistance the teacher should provide for students in language teaching and learning For example, in order to help students to interact, the teacher can use the following conversational features and teaches students how to use them: confirmation checks – Is this what you are saying?, comprehension checks – Do you understand what I’m saying?, and clarification requests – What do you mean by that Or the teacher can use a variety of elicitation techniques, such as questions, restatements, pauses, and invitations to expand The teacher can also promote equal-status group activities

in which all students are encouraged to participate by employing games, conversational dyads, and cooperative learning activities (cited in Scarcella & Oxford, 1992 : 33)

2.3 STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN EFL CLASSES

2.3.1 Participation

It is important to make clear the concept of participation used in the study It seems that there have not been any particular definitions of participation in the

field of language teaching and applied linguistics In our life, participation usually refers to presence or attendance in a certain event such as: meeting, game, party, and so on In case of education, participation generally refers to regularity of attendance in class Such a concept of participation can not fully reflect the connotation of the word “participation” used in this study Therefore, the concept of participation needs to be expanded to meet the demand of the study

In this study, participation refers to students’ involvement with attention and responsibility in learning process Attention is a cognitive resource which can be drawn on as a means of concentrating our mental efforts Williams & Burden (1999: 15) state that “some learners have considerable difficulty in paying attention to their work and that invariably this will have a negative effect on their learning” Responsibility is mentioned to indicate students’ awareness of their duty and role in EFL classes According to Scharle & Szabo (2000: 1), if a sense

of responsibility in students is developed, they will understand why and how they learn and be willing to take an active role in their learning

Participation can be categorised in two kinds: passive and active Passive participation is the participation without tangible proof - raising hands, or active response to the teacher’s stimuli In addition, participant-students do not show eagerness, willingness to use the target language in language teaching and learning process They receive the knowledge from the teacher passively It seems that they are usually in static mood, waiting for external stimulation To some extent, their cooperation with the teacher and classmates does not live up

to expectation according to communicative approach In contrast, active participation refers to the participation with tangible proof Participant-students

have to be active in receiving their knowledge consciously and be ready for taking in using the target language to communicate Students have to show their positive attitudes towards learning through voluntarily raising hands, fully cooperating with the teacher and their classmates in classroom activities

risk-The problem is how to measure the level of participation in exact manner In fact, it seems to be rather a matter of intuition and sensation because it encompasses both tangible and intangible factors However, it is not really important because the aim of the study is to work out some strategies to improve participation, but to measure level of participation Therefore, the level of participation can be relatively measured only in terms of amount of raising hands and verbal interaction

Talking about students’ participation of general meaning, Paul Davies (2000: 12) claims that “Getting and keeping your students’ attention and their positive participation may be one of your greatest challenges.” Rod Ellis (1996: 591) argues that if students are restricted to a responding role, their opportunities for participating productively in the second language classroom are constrained Moreover, if opportunities for using the target language are important for acquisition, learning may be inhibited in the classroom She seems rather hesitant about the assumption that participation is important for learning in respect of its quantity It may be partly because of the fact that there is no clear evidence that the extent to which students participate productively in the classroom affects their rate of development However, there are grounds for believing that the more proficient the students are, the more they get to participate

As far as quality of participation is concerned, it is of importance in promoting acquisition According to Ellis (1996), the quality of participation is determined

by the following factors: degree of control the students exercise over the discourse, the kind of activity they are involved in, the way they participate: volunteered or nominated, and the teacher’s policy regarding the distribution of practice opportunities

With regard to benefits of participation, in the first place, it is assumed that participation in EFL classes is an integral part of EFL teaching and learning Paul Davies (2000:13) claims that “if learners are to participate willingly in class they must understand what is expected of them.” Most students participating in EFL classes yearn for more opportunities to speak English and to become more fluent and more proficient in English Participation is ideal for an integration of all four skills in language learning According to Trong.P.D, “No participation means losing an opportunity” when he attended the forum on the problem of

“passiveness at school” created by “Thanh nien” newspaper in 2006 Moreover,

it can be said that it is very difficult to discover what happens in students’ mind if they do not speak out Participation is a chance for them to indicate how good their English is, to what extent they understand the lesson, their willingness, eagerness to learn, as well as what teachers need to explain more

2.3.2 Factors affecting students’ participation

2.3.2.1 Factors relating to students

The term “students’ participation” is likely to imply that students play an important, so-called decisive role in this process as they are the main character

in this “play” What may give students an impetus to participate in classroom

activities, in my opinion, includes motivation, English level, communicative competence, personality, background knowledge, and vocabulary repertoire

1- Motivation

It cannot be denied that motivation is of great importance for learning in general, language learning in particular In fact, if asked to identify the most influential factors affecting language learning, motivation would probably be the second to none on most the teacher’s lists It is completely agreeable that most

of the students who really want to learn will succeed under whatever the circumstances they study However, the concept of motivation has changed according to the ways in which it is touched on or to the researcher’s view Here, only the definitions under the influence of a cognitive view and language teaching and learning will be presented

According to a cognitive view, motivation is concerned with such issues as why people decide to act in certain ways and what factors influence the choices they make It also involves decisions as to the amount of effort people are prepared to expend in attempting to achieve their goals In an effort to compensate for limitations of the cognitive view, Williams & Burden (1999: 120) state that motivation encompasses a state of cognitive and emotional arousal, which leads to a conscious decision to act, and which gives rise to a period of sustained intellectual and physical effort in order to attain a previously set goals

Under the influence of language teaching and learning, Lightbown & Spada (1997: 40) state that motivation, a complex phenomenon, encompasses two factors: learners’ communicative needs, and their attitudes towards the target language community Gardner (1985) claims that motivation is a

combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favourable attitudes towards learning the language Meanwhile, Dorneyei (1994a) is concerned with second language motivation in terms of three components: language level, learner level, and situation level The language level consists of motives and orientations related to aspects of second language These will influence the goals learners set and the choice they make The learner level involves individual characteristics such as need for achievement, self-confidence, responsibility in the learning process The situation level includes components related to the course, the teacher and the group dynamics (cited in Williams & Burden, 1999: 118)

Rod Ellis (1996: 36) states that motivation is a variable factor It can be causative (i.e have an effect on learning), and resultant (i.e be influenced by learning) It can be intrinsic (i.e derive from personal interests and inner needs

of the students), and extrinsic (i.e derive from external sources such as material rewards) Sharing with Ellis’ proposal, Jeremy Harmer (2007: 20) examines it in two kinds: intrinsic and extrinsic Intrinsic motivation is generated by what happens inside classroom, for example, teacher’s method, classroom activities, students’ perception of their success or failure Extrinsic motivation is generated

by external factors such as the attitude of society, family and peers to the subject

in question Lightbown & Spada (1997) state that intrinsic motivation refers to individual learner’s wish to learn or enjoyment in learning; extrinsic motivation,

to a learner’s needs to learn because of external factors such as employment, social pressure, academic requirements, and so on

2- Personality

Brown (2000: 142) states that personality makes a considerable contribution to the success of language learning and “a careful, systematic study

of the role of personality in second language acquisition has already led to a greater understanding of the language learning process and to improved language teaching designs.” Many researchers also believe that personality will

be shown to have an important influence on success in language learning This relationship is a complex one, however, in that it is probably not personality alone, but the way in which it combines with other factors that contributes to second language learning

Personality encompasses self-esteem, inhibition, risk-taking, anxiety, empathy, and extroversion - introversion Firstly, with regard to self-esteem, according to MacIntyre, Donyei, Clement, and Noels (1998) believed that self-esteem plays an important role in students’ displaying willingness to communicate in a foreign language Secondly, about inhibition, Lightbown & Spada (1997: 38) state that “inhibition discourages risk-taking which is necessary for progress in language learning This is often considered to be a particular problem for adolescents, who are more self-conscious than younger learner” It seems reasonable to argue that inhibition is regarded as a barrier to language learning as it makes learners reluctant to try out their new language Brown (2000) argues that foreign language learners can really make progress only by learning from their mistakes Supporting the foregoing argument, Lightbown & Spada (1997: 35) state that ‘the characteristics “is willing to make mistakes” can

be considered a personality and/or a motivational factor if the learner is willing

to make mistakes in order to get the message across.” It is obvious that taking is an important characteristic of successful learning of a foreign language

risk-If the student never ventured to speak a sentence until they were absolutely

certain of its total correctness, they would find it hard to communicate at all Ely (1986) claims that high risk-taking will yield positive results in second language learning; however, such is not usually the case According to Beebe ( 1983: 40), what preventing learners from taking risks in learning lies in the following things: a bad grade in the course, a reproach from the teacher, a fail on the exam,

a smirk from a classmate, punishment or embarrassment imposed by one-self (cited in Brown, 2000)

Next, talking about anxiety, it is difficult to give a precise definition of anxiety though everyone knows what it is According to MacIntyre, “some people believe that anxiety is a minor inconvenience for a language student Others seem to feel that anxiety may be the linchpin of the entire affective reaction to language learning and that, as soon as students are made to feel relaxed, immediate positive results will be forthcoming.” Anxiety is likely to exert an influence on both language learning and communication processes (cited in Young, 1999: 24) Brown (2000) states that along with self-esteem, inhibition, and risk-taking, anxiety plays an important affective role in second language learning However, Scovel (1978: 132) claims that there has not been a clear-cut relationship of anxiety to foreign language learning and that it is premature to relate it to the global and comparative task of language acquisition (cited in Tudor, 1996: 107) Although there are still some ideas against the negative relationship between anxiety and language learning, researchers may

be inclined to view anxiety as a negative factor, something to be avoided at all costs (cited in Brown, 2000: 151)

The last personality characteristics of learners which may be thought to have an influence on their participation in EFL classes are extroversion and its

counterpart, introversion According to Eysensk, the typical extrovert is sociable, likes studying with others, has many friends Meanwhile, the typical introvert is a quiet, reserved person, fond of books rather than people (cited in Tudor, 1996:102) Skehan (1989) claims that it is sociability that makes the extrovert more inclined to talk, participate in class, volunteer and engage in practice activities (cited in Tudor, 1996: 103) According to Dewaele & Furnham (1998), extroversion may be a factor in the development of general oral communicative competence which requires face to face interaction, but not in listening, reading and writing However, Brown (2000: 155) states that “in language classes, where oral participation is highly valued, it is easy to view active participants with favor and to assume that their visibility in the classroom is due to an extroversion factor (which may not be so).”

3- Background knowledge

According to David Nunan (1999: 302), background knowledge refers to knowledge of the world that the learner manipulates to understand a piece of spoken or written language In fact, background knowledge covers a wide range

of information and experience stored in memory, for example, general knowledge of scientific facts and historical events, the beliefs and conventions of our culture, local knowledge about the place we live, and the individual experiences of our social and private lives Therefore, background knowledge plays an important part in language learning Tony Lynch (1996) states that in order to understand a certain text, students have to combine three types of information: knowledge of English, the context, and background knowledge In many cases it is unfamiliarity with the appropriate background knowledge that prevents students from understanding something rather than inadequate knowledge of the language or context Sharing with Tony Lynch, David Nunan

(1999: 131) states that “the language user’s knowledge of language and also of content were needed for interpretation of discourse.” He also proves that discourse comprehension requires more than a knowledge of the words and grammatical structures used by the writer and speaker It also requires the listener or reader to relate the content of the text to their knowledge of the world

Coady (1979:12) argues that background knowledge may be able to compensate for certain syntactic deficiencies Carrell and Eisterhold claim that

“the role of background knowledge in language comprehension has been formalized as schema theory… According to schema theory, a text only provides directions for listeners or readers as to how they should retrieve or construct meaning from their own, previously acquired knowledge, their background knowledge.” ( cited in Long & Richards, 1987: 220)

It can be argued that without good background knowledge, students will also have difficulty in participating in EFL classes In order to enrich the learner’s background knowledge, besides their own great effort to accumulate knowledge, the teacher has to provide them with various sources of information about culture including course books, films, the news on TV or radio, literature, tourist brochures and posters According to Marilyn Lewis (1999: 214-220), course books are an important source of information about life of people who speak the language you are reading Watching foreign-language movies is regarded as a means of language learning At the same time as watching they must also be picking up messages about culture Listening to and watching the news in a foreign language enable the learner to be aware of wider viewpoints This is particularly true of the big international debates Literature helps the