VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -------- NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC ANH A SURVEY ON PARENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THEIR CHILDREN’S LEARNING ENGLISH AT THE PRIMARY SCHOOL (Khảo sát thái độ của phụ huynh về việc học Tiếng Anh của con ở trường tiểu học) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.11 HANOI, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -------- NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC ANH A SURVEY ON PARENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THEIR CHILDREN’S LEARNING ENGLISH AT THE PRIMARY SCHOOL (Khảo sát thái độ của phụ huynh về việc học Tiếng Anh của con ở trường tiểu học) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60. Nguyễn Văn Trào HANOI, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby state that the thesis entitled ―A survey on parents’ attitudes towards their children’s learning English at the primary school‖ is the result of my research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and the thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution.
Hanoi, June 2014 Student Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Anh i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the process of doing the study, I have received a lot of help, assistance, guidance and encouragement from my supervisor, my family, friends, students and their parents. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Mr. Nguyen Van Trao, PhD., lecturer of Hanoi University, for his whole-hearted guidance and support. Without his invaluable recommendations and advice, I could not finish this thesis.
My sincere thanks are also sent to my all beloved students and their respectful parents who are willing to supply for me information as well as motivation to finish this study. Last but not least, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to my family, my friends who always encourage and inspire me to complete my thesis. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This study investigated the parents‘ attitudes towards students‘ English language (EL) learning at Hai Thanh Primary School (HTPS), Duong Kinh District, Hai Phong city. 450 parents of the HTPS students participated in the study.
The data for the study was collected by these instruments: survey questionnaires and interviews with 22 parents. The research answers three questions: (1) Why do parents want their children to study English at primary school? (2) What do parents want their children to be taught at Primary school? and (3) How can parents help their children study at home? Results of the study showed that the parents expressed a generally positive view about the importance of early English language learning in Vietnamese contexts. Many stated that early childhood is an important time for EFL learning, and engaged in home teaching of English. The findings have implications for policy makers, early childhood educators, parents, primary English language teachers and the general public.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL English as a Foreign Language FL Foreign language SL Second language LAD Language acquisition device EL English language HTPS Hai Thanh Primary School iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Parents‘ opinions about children‘s English language learning at primary school Figure 2: Parental ideas about the first time to learn English Figure 3: Parents‘ opinions about influence of English on Vietnamese Figure 4: Parents‘ opinions on English pressure on their children Figure 5: Parental ideas about the effectiveness of their children‘s EL learning Figure 6. Parents‘ understanding of their children‘s lessons Figure 7. Parents‘ ideas about English skills taught at primary school Figure 8. Parental attitudes towards teaching English curriculum Figure 9.
Parental attitudes towards English teachers Figure 10: Frequency of parents‘ assistance in children‘s English language learning Figure 11. Parent‘s permission to let children learn English outside school time Figure 12. Supplying English learning materials of parents v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
iv LIST OF FIGURES. v TABLE OF CONTENTS. vi PART A: INTRODUCTION. Rationale of the research.
Scope of the research. Organization of the research. 3 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND. Teaching English to primary school children.
Typical characteristics of young learners. Models of teaching English to primary school students. Attitudes of parents and their impact on education. Definition of attitudes.
Research on parents‘ language attitudes in foreign language contexts. The importance of parental attitudes in EFL education .13 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY .20 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.1 Section 1: Why do parents want their children to study English at primary school? .2 Section 2: What do parents want their children to be taught at primary school? .3 Section 3: How can parents help their children study at home? .30 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS .1 Answer to research question 1: .2 Answer to research question 2: .3 Answer to research question 3: .4 Suggestions for parents to support their children‘s EL learning at home .1 Helping children with picture books .2 Giving children learning environment.3 Learning with children through games.4 Accessing to English early is better. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study. I vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale of the research Language is the means of communication. Through language we can express our ideas, hopes, dreams and thought. The study of language is a theme that will never be enough and backward. Beside the native language, foreign languages help people get knowledge, understand about the world.
Moreover, foreign languages prepare today‘s youth for tomorrow‘s opportunities by supporting basic skills instruction, developing cross cultural understanding and preparing our youth to enter the global market place. English has become a worldwide language and is used as the medium of international communication and is the language of professional advancement. It has become the number one foreign language to be taught both inside and outside the formal educational systems of many countries. Nowadays, English teaching and learning in Vietnam has been developing at an unprecedented speed.
As a primary English teacher, the author has witnessed how English has become one of the compulsory subjects in the curriculum, how Vietnamese education system appreciates the importance of English learning nowadays, especially at primary schools, and the importance of how parents motivate their children‘s English language learning at primary school. For young learners, learning English is not only their subject at school and their own concern, it is also their parents‘ worry and interest. Many studies have indicated that parents play an important role in maintaining their children‘s language ability as well as in participating for the success of school and learning. Wong (2000) found out that parents serve an important language model for shaping children‘s language behavior.
Both how parents behave and feel influence their children‘s language learning development. Thus, the study, reported in this thesis, on investigating parent‘s attitudes towards their children‘s EL learning at HTPS, was conducted as an effort in sharing parent‘s thoughts as well as desires and suggesting suitable and effective techniques in teaching English at home. 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Aims of the research As mentioned above, it is predicted that young learners are particularly influenced by their parental and familial behaviors and attitudes.
The main aim of the present study is to investigate the attitudes of the parents towards their children‘s English language learning at HTPS. In light of the data analysis, the real role of parents in their children‘s learning can be highlighted. Scope of the research Due to the limitation of time and knowledge, this thesis only focused on investigating parents‘ attitudes towards their children‘s EL learning in a medium-sized primary school of Hai Thanh, where the researcher is working as an EFL teacher. Research questions To obtain the aims of research, the following questions are formulated: (1) Why do parents want their children to study English at primary school? (2) What do parents want their children to be taught at primary school? (3) How can parents help their children to study English at home? 5.
Organization of the research This thesis includes 5 chapters: Chapter 1 Introduction presents the background, aims, scope, and the organization of the study. Chapter 2 Theoretical Background presents issues relating to the characteristic of young learners, attitudes, and parents‘ attitudes towards their children‘s EL learning and its impact. Chapter 3 The Study presents the setting, participants, instruments, procedure and preliminary of the study. Chapter 4 Findings and Implications presents the results of the research and suggestions for parents to support their children‘s EL learning.
Chapter 5 Conclusions includes a summary of the major findings, limitations, implications and suggestions for further study. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Theoretical background 1. Teaching English to primary school children 1. Typical characteristics of young learners To achieve success in teaching English in primary schools; it is very important to know the characteristics of students.
Teachers should understand young learners‘ instincts, interests, cognizance, emotional aspects and especially their characteristics. These issues play a crucial role in how teachers plan a lesson, make sure that the young learners are interested in and fully engaged in the whole process of learning. According to Paradowski (2007, pp. 52-247) characteristics of young learners include the following features: Involuntary attention Children do not pay attention to the language system; they have involuntary attention and memory, which means that their mind will be engaged with the semantics—the task, topic, or situation—but will not focus on the linguistic code.
Weak memory Children cannot control what they are taught; the younger the learner, the patchier storage and recall, which again makes recycling activities necessary, whereas age improves language capacity. Memory consists of three phases: registering, storing (based on repetition, which may be passive) and recalling (based on active repetition). In order to be able to say that we have learnt a given item successfully, all three stages must be available (actually, the learners who progress most rapidly may be adolescents, as they may have better memories than adults). Limited experience 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Children have limited life and learning experience.
Adults, in comparison, bring in a wealth of background knowledge and a long history of learning experiences on which the teacher can effectively capitalize to facilitate their learning; especially as they are all already masters of one language, frequently having the additional invaluable experience of learning another (Pratt-Johnson 2006, p. Mechanical memory Children are quick to learn words (they learn predominantly through mimicry, and this concerns not only language, but also all other kinds of knowledge as well as behaviour and skills), but slower to learn complex phrases and structures, which pose the necessity of a constant repetition and recycling thereof. While vocabulary is based on mechanical, short-term memory (the memory for rhyme and rhythm, which relies on frequent exposure and repetition, the earliest type of memory and therefore predominant in young children), grammar is based on logical, long-term memory – a memory for patterns, which develops very slowly (between around 11 and 14 years of age, in conjunction with abstract thinking tied to biological development) and does not reach full competence until around puberty (except dyslexic children, whose semantic memory comes first, but the mechanical one must be trained). Learners under the age of 12-13 can ably repeat and memorize long words and expressions, but are not able to analyze them as logical memory is not well developed yet.