4.2.3. Analysis of answers to each question
4.2.3.3. Question 10: About teachers’ teaching methods in the classroom
1.5 3.7 6.7 0.7 2.2
9.6 5.1 1.4 0.7
72.5
11.7 7.2
16.2 23.7 32.4
37.8
19 9.4
42.3 10.9
50.3
35.5
59.5 49.6 46.3
43.7
44.5
24.5 38.7
9.4 38
55.8
20.6 20
19.1 8.9
31.4
64.7 18.3
6.5
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Q 10.1 Q 10.2 Q 10.3 Q 10.4 Q 10.5 Q 10.6 Q 10.7 Q 10.8 Q 10.9 Q 10.10
Strongly disagree Disagree Accept Agree Totally agree
Figure 4.4. Frequencies of answers to Question 10.1 to 10.10
Below are the statistics of mean, mode, standard deviation, minimum and maximum of answers to Question 10.
N Mean
Valid Missing Value Rank Mode S.D. Minimum Maximum
Q10.1 137 3 4.263 3 4 .6561 3 5
Q10.2 138 2 4.457 2 5 .6953 2 5
Q10.3 136 4 3.971 5 4 .7195 2 5
Q10.4 135 5 3.830 6 4 .8244 2 5
Q10.5 136 4 3.824 7 4 .7590 2 5
Q10.6 135 5 3.519 9 4 .7904 2 5
Q10.7 137 3 4.022 4 4 .8442 2 5
Q10.8 139 1 4.525 1 5 .7256 2 5
Q10.9 137 3 3.745 8 3 .7576 2 5
Q10.10 138 2 2.486 10 2 .9220 1 5
Notes: Score scale: (1) Totally agree, (2) Agree, (3) Accept, (4) Disagree, (9) Strongly disagree. (See the questions in Appendix 2)
Table 4.10. Summary of statistics from Question 10
The uncreative and monotonous teaching methods mentioned in questions 10.1 to 10.4 are some obvious causes of students’ dissatisfaction (few chances for students to share opinions in the class, little practicing of English in class, and the underused groupwork and pairwork).
Responding to question 10.1, only 11.7% of students accept an English class where students have few chances to discuss or share opinions. Half of all the answers are “disagree” while 38% are “strongly disagree.” Long ago, in the grammar-translation language classes, students’ discussion was considered almost unnecessary, and that view seemed natural to both teachers and students. But now in the twenty-first century, students ask for the right to discuss in English classes. The lack of opportunities to share opinions will lead to students’ passiveness, according to student 78. However, maybe the two most interesting comments from
opinions. Oh dear, what should be done for this?” (Student 6) It shows the conflicts between risk-taking and inhibition in each student. If the teacher is skillful, students’ anxiety and inhibition can be lowered, and they will discuss happily in the class, with a high level of self-esteem. It is not easy to create a lively and open atmosphere for discussion in an English class, especially in an Asian country like Vietnam, but it is rewarding to do so.
Similarly, practice is highly evaluated by most students, and the mean of answers to question 10.2 is 4.457. It shows the tendency of answering “Disagree” or
“Strongly disagree” to the lack of chances for practice. Student 38 wishes for “as much practice as possible,” and student 13 thinks that “A lot of practice in the class will help the students absorb the lesson quickly.” However, there is one student who is concerned about the relationship of little practice with limited class time,
“Maybe the time is not enough for a lot of practice, so little practice is unavoidable”
(Student 86). Another student, student 93, expresses his suggestion on the nature of practice, which is pleasantness, in his point of view, “I do not accept the lack of practice, but I would like the practice to be fun, not too stressful!”
Like practice, groupwork and pairwork are favored by students. The lack of these activities receives the means of 3.971 and 3.830 respectively. That means some students can accept this; for example, student coded 141 thinks that, “It’s up to the subject; some subjects needs group discussion, while some others do not.”
However, student 102 expresses that he “really liked groupwork”, and student 78 has the idea that “Group discussion will give members the knowledge they lack,”
and “Pairwork will make students more daring in English interaction.” But pairwork and groupwork can encounter some difficulties, too. For instance, student 15 confined, “Sometimes, in pairwork, my partner is very incompetent, and then I can learn nothing from him.”
If the teacher does not make the best use of visual aids and technical devices (as described in question 10.5), students do not show anger, but they are not happy.
While student 16 thinks that “It’s up to the teacher’s method, provided that students understand the lessons,” student 78 asserts, “Without aiding equipment, the learning cannot be highly effective.” As we can see from the statistics, the majority of students like to be taught with modern and suitable technology. The mean of answers to this question is 3.824, which is approximately the level of “Disagree” to the lack of instructional technology. However, many of them blame the lack of technology on the school’s condition. For example, student 121 exclaims, “How can the teacher use it when the equipment is unavailable!” That is a problem that the school has to solve. However, it is recommended that teachers should try their best to contribute their own high-tech devices and pay attention to using the available tools effectively while awaiting installations from school grants.
As for games in learning English, students do not require but they are in favor of games. The mean of answers to question 10.6 is 3.519, lying between the level of “Accept” and “Disagree”. Student 121 frankly expresses his preference for games, “I think there should be a lot of funny and interesting games for learning,”
while student 12 shows a more considerate thought, “I would like teachers to use games in teaching, but I guess the limited time does not allow a lot of it.” However, none of the students are against games for learning. Although games or entertaining activities are not the core of a higher education program, the need for enjoyment in the process of learning still exists amongst college students. So the issue is how to make the lesson successful both academically and psychologically.
The unchecked homework (mentioned in question 10.7 and sparely corrected exercises (10.8) also make students feel lost and discontented. The means of their answers to these questions are really high, at 4.022 and 4.525. As Harmer (1992:
237) affirms, teachers’ correction or feedback is very important, and students quite naturally expect it, even after communicative activities. There are some problems that emerge with correcting or not, though, since students’ needs can be different. If student 85 says “The teacher should correct all the homework, because I am not
difficult exercises, not easy ones.” However, we can believe that students can understand the strains of limited class time. Student 117 expresses his understanding by saying, “Maybe because there is little time, teachers cannot both correct the previous exercises and teach the new lessons.” As student 137 suggests,
“the teacher should do this appropriately in the allotted time.” Therefore, maybe the teacher needs to resort to a combination of check, correction, explanation, and finally delivery of photocopied answer keys for easier exercises.
Question 10.9 asks about students’ feelings if “The teacher mainly sits at his/her table, not moving around the class.” Students do not show very strong resentment to this situation. However, they do not like it. The mean of answers is 3.745.Student 15 thinks that “It is acceptable, but the movement of the teacher will make the class livelier.” Only a personal reason, maybe a hurt leg, can makes make this way of teaching acceptable, as student 24 recommended, “It is acceptable for personal reason of the teacher.” In reality, some teachers in colleges neglect their style and gesture in the classroom, perhaps because they think that in higher education, the content of the lesson is the only important thing. However, in the students’ viewpoint, as we can see from the statistics and verbal answers above, teachers should also pay attention to their way of presenting the lesson in the class, in order to be a successful presenter.
Question 10.10 is an interesting one. Students’ answers to this question show the positive or neutral attitude towards the teachers’ behavior mentioned. The mean of answers to this question is 2.486. Although it is put amongst a bunch of negative phenomena, the fact that “the teacher gives a piece of information or a new lexical item and asks students to look it up in dictionaries or reference books” is still supported or accepted by most participants. Student 9 thinks “That will make students more active and discovering in learning.” And especially, student 124 said,
“I totally support this.” However, student 38 had a more cautious idea; he wrote, “It is okay but the exact information about that ‘new things’ should be given in the next class.” These comments show that students are ready to do self-study in learning
English, as long as what they do is effectively guided and checked. Although students oppose to most of the other behaviors mentioned in Questionnaire 2, they still treat this question another way. This also indicates that the questionnaire was answered carefully and meaningfully by students.