VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE EFL TEACHERS’ CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE STRATEGIES IN ENHANCING STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES A Master thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By NGUYEN HO Y NHI Supervised by PHO PHUONG DUNG, Ph. HO CHI MINH CITY, JANUARY 2023 EFL TEACHERS’ CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE STRATEGIES IN ENHANCING STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my beloved supervisor, Dr. Pho Phuong Dung, for all of the tremendous support and unwavering guidance. Thank you for always being patient with me and spending the precious time giving me feedback on this thesis.
This thesis was undoubtedly made possible as a consequence of her remarks and guidance. Special thanks to my colleagues for all of the encouragement, advice, and experience. They are such a huge source of motivation for me to fulfill this thesis. I would like to express my greatest appreciation to the research site for allowing me to conduct my research.
Thank you for the tremendous assistance throughout the duration of data collection at the site. Last but not least, special thanks to my family for always supporting me to pursue my higher education. I sincerely thank my grandfather for encouraging me to overcome all of my difficulties in the years of this program. Without him, I would not be the one I am today.
Also, I am greatly indebted to my parents for their belief in what I am choosing to do. i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge, I hereby confirm that the content of the thesis entitled “EFL Teachers’ Classroom Discipline Strategies in Enhancing Students’ Engagement in Classroom Activities” is the product of my own work, without contributions from any resources other than the ones cited in the text. Nguyễn Hồ Ý Nhi January, 2023 ii RETENTION OF USE I, Nguyễn Hồ Ý Nhi, hereby state that as a postgraduate for the degree of Master in TESOL, I accept the policies of the University concerning to the retention and use of the Master’s Thesis deposited in the library. With respect to these requirements, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the University’s library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in line with the rules and regulations set by the library in terms of the care, loan, or reproduction of theses.
Ho Chi Minh City, January 2023 iii LIST OF ABRREVIATIONS EFL English as a Foreign Language TQM Teaching Quality Manager CEFR The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages T Teacher participant P Student participant W Whole-class activity G Group activity D Classroom discipline strategy iv LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Number of student participants .2 Items in the questionnaire for teacher participants .3 Items in the section of whole-class activities in the participant questionnaire .4 Items in the section of group activities in the participant questionnaire. 35 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Discipline strategies (adopted from Lewis, 2001, p.2 Types of engagement (Fredricks et al.3 Conceptual framework of the study .1 Percentages of classroom discipline strategies used in whole-class activities by teacher participants .2 Percentages of classroom discipline strategies used in group activities by teacher participants .3 Percentages of classroom discipline strategies that make student participants answer their teacher questions.4 Percentages of classroom discipline strategies that make student participant ask their teacher about the lesson .5 Percentages of classroom discipline strategies that make student participant use English in classroom activities .6 Percentages of classroom discipline strategies that make student participant go to the board to correct exercises .7 Percentages of classroom discipline strategies that make student participant participate in class discussion .8 Percentages of classroom discipline strategies that make student participant use new vocabulary and grammatical points .9 Percentages of classroom discipline strategies that make student participant participate in group discussions .10 Percentages of classroom discipline strategies that make student participant participate in games with assigned groups .11 Percentages of classroom discipline strategies that make student participant cooperate with their group members .12 Percentages of classroom discipline strategies that make student participants give other group member feedback on their answers. 59 vii ABSTRACT The characteristics of teenage learners lead to the need for EFL teachers to use classroom discipline strategies to deal with misbehavior those learners might have in the classroom. This study draws its attention to a particular type of misbehavior which is lacking engagement in classroom activities at a language center in Ho Chi Minh city.
A mixed-methods study is used as the research design with three instruments to collect data: questionnaires, observations, and semi-structured interviews. In this study, 29 Vietnamese and expat teachers together with 54 students were obtained to answer questionnaires. Besides that, the same 54 students in three classes were involved in six observations and ten of them were chosen to be interviewees. The results of this study reveal that classroom discipline strategies used most frequently by EFL teachers in order to enhance students’ engagement in classroom activities are not similar to the reasons given by the student participants for why they participate in those classroom activities.
One of the main reasons given by those student participants is that they engage in classroom activities owing to the merits of their learning. The research hopefully provides beneficial aspects to the EFL teachers and administrators at the research site in terms of using and adjusting appropriate classroom discipline strategies so as to enhance learners’ engagement in classroom activities. Keywords: EFL teachers, teenage learners, classroom discipline strategies, engagement, classroom activities viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION. Background to the study.
Aims of the study. Significance of the study. Scope of the study. 6 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW.
Behavior of language learners in different age groups. Behavior of young learners. Behavior of teenage learners. Behavior of adult learners.
Misbehavior of learners. Definitions of misbehavior. Challenges in dealing with misbehavior. Causes of misbehavior.
Types of misbehavior. Classroom discipline strategies. Definitions of classroom discipline strategies. Importance of classroom discipline strategies.
Types of classroom discipline strategies. Learners’ engagement in classroom activities. Definitions of learners’ engagement. Importance of learners’ engagement.
Types of learners’ engagement. Data collection procedure. Data analysis scheme. 41 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.
Results from teacher questionnaires. In whole-class activities. In group activities. Results from student questionnaires.
In whole-class activities. In group activities. Results from semi-structured interview. Preference for whole-class and group activities.
The most favored and least favored whole-class and group activities. Students’ attitudes towards their teachers’ classroom discipline strategies. Learners’ engagement compared to the previous courses. Students’ suggestions on teachers’ classroom discipline strategies in the future courses.
Classroom discipline strategies: teachers’ perspectives. Classroom discipline strategies: students’ perspectives versus teachers’ perspectives. Summary of the results. Implications of the study.
Limitations of the study. Recommendations for further study. 82 REFERENCES 83 APPENDICES 95 Appendix A Questionnaire for teacher participants 95 Appendix B Questionnaire for student participants - Vietnamese 98 Appendix C Questionnaire for student participants - English 101 Appendix D Observation checklist 105 xi Appendix E Interview questions – Vietnamese 108 Appendix F Interview questions - English 109 Appendix G Coded classroom discipline strategies in teacher 110 questionnaires Appendix H Coded classroom discipline strategies in student 112 questionnaires (Whole-class activities) Appendix I Coded classroom discipline strategies in student 114 questionnaires (Group activities) Appendix J Script of a semi-structured interview 115 xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In the first chapter, some initial information concerning the background of the current study is introduced. It is followed by the objectives the study aims at.
The significance of the study together with the research questions is also found in this chapter. Finally, the scope of the study is mentioned. Background to the study English is the language spoken by at least a quarter of the world population (Harmer, 2007). Therefore, the need for learning the language has continuously increased these days.
The contribution as well as the attempt of the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers in term of helping students acquire the target language is undeniable. They make every effort to build up the best atmosphere for their students to practice the target language. However, teaching is a demanding and “stressful” job that requires various skills from teachers (Vitto, 2003, p. 13) claimed that “teaching is not controlling, but rather working with the students to learn, grow, and succeed together”.
Besides, a teacher is expected to play diverse roles in the classroom. He or she might be a planner, a facilitator, or even a monitor (Spratt et al. One of the biggest challenges teachers have to overcome is to teach under disadvantageous situations (Brown, 2001). To be more specific, Brown (2001) pointed out the problems regarding classes with a large number of students, the diversity in terms of learners’ levels of proficiency along with differences in their learning styles would prevent teachers from having effective lessons to some extent.
Moreover, the differences amongst students in terms of their ages, their personal characteristics, and their interests also hinder the teaching process. Students in each age group embrace their own distinct features and enthusiasm in learning. Thus, the behaviors in the students’ process of learning are different from each other. 1 Apparently, young learners’ eagerness for learning is not similar to excitement that teenage and adult learners have.
To be more specific, at each age range, the learners have their own positive and negative traits regarding learning a language in a classroom. However, at the age of 13 to 16, teenage learners are regarded as sources of trouble in language classes due to a host of changes in their puberty period (Harmer, 2007). Due to these transformations, adolescents are more likely to have indisciplined behavior as well as unenthusiastic engagement during their learning process in classroom settings. Consequently, these problems could lead to various inappropriate behaviors in language classes such as gossip, sleeping during the lesson, not finishing homework, and refusing to answer the teacher’s questions, as well as not vigorously participating in classroom activities in the language they are learning (Wadden & McGovern, 1991).
Meanwhile, some other students do not use the target language in discussions, keep leaving their seat, or chewing gum instead of concentrating on the ongoing lesson (Rogers, 2012; Tulley & Chew, 1995). These misbehaviors plainly contradict the belief that the teacher is expected to be a supportive facilitator to motivate learners on their way to achieve more proficiency in the target language (Wadden & McGovern, 1991). As a matter of fact, nurturing students’ good behaviors is not effortless work. In other words, it is one of the most challenging tasks the teacher has to encounter (Charles, 2013).
It is tough to change a student that does not join the class in a lively manner into one with a willingness to actively participate in classroom activities. As a result, it is undeniable that classroom management along with classroom discipline strategies is the factor contributing to the success of a lesson (Gujjar & Choudhry, 2009). Brown (2001) also claimed that classroom management and discipline strategies from the teacher are indispensable in language classes. Also, a classroom that is managed well can create a good atmosphere for the improvement of teaching and learning (Marzano et.
The more a learner participates in the class, the 2 more he or she is likely to be into the lesson. In general, the importance of the learners’ engagement in the classroom is indisputable. Engagement plays an integral part in whether students are interested in or enjoy their school or not (Martin, 2006). The teacher has an aspiration to enhance their students’ participation in the class.