VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY–HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY: A study at a university in Ho Chi Minh City A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL by TRAN THI THU HIEN Supervised by TRAN QUOC THAO, Ph. HO CHI MINH CITY, October 2022 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My special thanks are due to all those who have made great contributions to my thesis completion. First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to Dr. Tran Quoc Thao, my supervisor, for his valuable comments and suggestions during the whole research process.
It has been my luck to have a supervisor who allowed me to conduct the study in his teaching context. Furthermore, his great patience, substantial enthusiasm, careful guidance, insightful advice, and constant encouragement have deeply inspired me through the whole research process. Without his support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed. Secondly, I would like to express my thanks to all class members who voluntarily participated in this study, especially thanks to Phuc – the class monitor who helped me connect with participants.
Your enthusiasm helped me to complete this research despite the Covid 19 pandemic. Thirdly, I am grateful for the assistance and support of Tran Thanh Vu who has helped me greatly to complete this M. His consultancy and encouragement made a great contribution to my spirit to overcome the most difficult phase of the thesis writing process. Fourthly, my deepest and sincerest gratitude goes to my family for their unconditional love, understanding, and help.
I would like to dedicate this thesis to Hung - my beloved fiancé who has provided me with strong spiritual and material support. Fifthly, I would like to thank the five thesis committee members who took the time and effort to read the article as well as give me the advice to help me complete the thesis. Last but not least, my sincere thanks also go to myself for not giving up. Finally, I did complete the thesis that I thought I could not handle before.
With all my sincerity and deep gratitude, thanks all. Without you all, my thesis would not be complete. i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I certify that this thesis entitled “ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY: A study at a university in HCMC” is my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution.
Ho Chi Minh City, October 2021 Trần Thị Thu Hiền ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, TRAN THI THU HIEN, being a candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s 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 the thesis. Ho Chi Minh city, July 2021 Trần Thị Thu Hiền iii ABSTRACT The English Teaching Methodology (ETM) courses, the foundation courses for teacher training and professional development, were the specialized courses for English-majored students in teaching at a university in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). However, due to the features of the theoretical subject, they have their complication which requires students to use English as the target language for academic purposes.
Therefore, students encountered plenty of difficulties in these courses. This study was to investigate the difficulties English-majored students faced in the ETM courses. A survey was conducted with 91 participants who are English-majored students in the ETM courses at an HCM-based University. This research employed the explanatory sequential mixed methods including the questionnaire to collect quantitative data and the focus group interview to collect qualitative data.
The results showed that English-majored students encountered significant difficulties from learning environment-related factors which were large class size, unequal students’ level, L1 affection, and Teaching Aids problems. On the one hand, students were uncertain about difficulties from peer-related factors and student-related factors. On the other hand, in these two factors, there were still some detailed factors that partly affected students during the ETM courses. In terms of peer-related factors, those factors were unfair team members’ roles, group conflict, and inappropriate workload distributions.
Regarding student-related factors, the main factor was lack of language proficiency, and some further factors such as mismatched learning styles, lack of motivation, and lack of confidence were mentioned. Interestingly, most students disagreed about difficulties from teacher-related factors. Emerging from the focus focus group interview were the difficulties which came from curriculum-related factors, incompatibility between teaching theory and teaching practice-related factors, and education system-related factors which would be suggested for further study without deeply investigating. Besides, some pedagogical implications were suggested to English-majored students, the lecturer, the university administrators, and the Vietnam education system.
Keywords: English-majored students, English Teaching Methodology, explanatory sequential mixed methods, difficulties, theoretical courses. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY. ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS.
iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. viii LIST OF TABLES. ix LIST OF FIGURES .1 Background to the study.2 Statement of the problem .3 Aim of the study .5 Significance of the study .6 Scope of the study .7 Organization of the chapters. 10 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .1 English Teaching Methodology (ETM) .1 The Common Approaches .2 The importance of ETM courses toward English-majored students .2 English-majored students’ difficulties in learning theoretical courses .1 Student-related factors .2 Teacher-related factors .3 Peer-related factors .4 Learning environment-related factors .2 The focus group interview .5 Data collection procedure.6 Data analysis procedure .7 Test of Reliability and Validity .1 Test of reliability .2 Test of validity .3 The pilot study.
61 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .1 English-majored students’ difficulties in learning ETM courses. 62 a) Difficulties from learning environment-related factors. 64 b) Difficulties from peer-related factors. 68 c) Difficulties from student-related factors.
75 d) Difficulties from teacher-related factors.2 Major difficulties and minor difficulties encountered by English-majored students. 99 a) Major difficulties encountered by English-majored students. 99 b) Minor difficulties encountered by English-majored students.1 Difficulties from learning environment factors .2 Difficulties from peer-related factors .3 Difficulties from student-related factors.4 Difficulties from teacher-related factors.1 Summary of findings .2 Pedagogical implications of the study .3 Limitations of the study.4 Recommendation for further research. 158 vi APPENDIX B: FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.
163 APPENDIX B1: FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (English version). 163 APPENDIX B2: FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (Vietnamese version). 163 APPENDIX C: THE PILOT QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS. 164 APPENDIX D: SAMPLE OF THE FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW DATA ANALYSIS.
171 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ABBREVIATIONS FULL MEANINGS ETM English Teaching Methodology Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin KMO (Test for sampling adequacy) EFA Exploratory Factors Analysis L1 First language (mother tongue) EAP English for Academic Purposes MOET Ministry of Education and Training ELT English Language Teaching EFL English as a Foreign Language GTM Grammar Translation Method CLT Communicative Language Teaching TBLT Task-based Language Teaching CBI Content-Based Instruction HCM Ho Chi Minh HCMC Ho Chi Minh City The National Foreign Languages 2025 NFLP 2025 Project viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 A Description of Student Respondents .2 A Summary of the Questionnaire .3 A Summary of the Focus Group Interview .4 Cronbach Alpha Coefficient of the Questionnaire Items.5 The Exploratory Factor Analysis Value of the Scale of Questionnaire Items .1 Difficulties of English-majored Students in the ETM Courses .2 Difficulties from Learning Environment Factors .3 Difficulties from Peer-related Factors .4 Difficulties from Student-related Factors .5 Lack of Proficiency .6 Mismatched Learning Styles .7 Lack of Motivation .8 Lack of Confidence .9 Learner Autonomy Problems .10 Difficulties from Teacher-related Factors.11 The Major Difficulties Encountered by English-majored Students.12 The Minor Difficulties Encountered by English-majored Students. 102 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2. English Proficiency Index 2020 in Asia .Error! Bookmark not defined. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
Kolb’s Learning Styles Model (1984). Characteristics of Effective Professors. The Phases of Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Design. The Major Difficulties Encountered by English-majored Students.
The Minor Difficulties Encountered by English-majored Students. 103 x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the background to the study, statement of the problem, the aim of the study, and the research question. The significance and the scope of the study are also pointed out. Clearly described at the end of the chapter is the outline of the thesis.1 Background to the study English has become an inevitable global trend and mandatory communication language in Vietnam since the opening of its doors to the world.
Especially, since Vietnam was recognized as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995 and of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007 where English was approved as the working language (ASEAN Secretariat, 2009), English has created a “fever throughout the country” from lecture halls to centers. According to the orientation of universalizing English, it is compulsory for students to learn English from the beginning of secondary schools and afterward the high schools and till university (MOET, 2003; MOET, 2004; MOET, 2005). From 1986, Vietnam has received more international attention, so annually it welcomes plenty of sources of investment in different sectors in the domestic market as well as extremely positive tourism benefits (Dang et al. Additionally, English became synonymous with growth and prosperity of the political economy, education, and public discourses (Crystal, 2003; Holborow, 2012).
English has become a pride for developed and developing countries because it is a bridge for international trade and peace. Although math and computer technology have been identified as two essential pillars of modern Vietnamese education, together with the English language, Vietnam continues to fall within the category of nations with a shortage of highly trained instructors. According to Nunan (2003), there are many countries where English became compulsory at a lower age despite limited resources and shortage of quality teachers such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Like many other countries from within and outside ASEAN, Vietnam encounters many 1 challenges to expand English language education to the national education system, and the greatest challenge being the lack of well-qualified teachers (Wedell, 2008; Dang, 2009; Dang & Marginson, 2013).
Spolsky et al. (2012) said that in Asia, the political and economic motivations have always been the inspiration for the foreign language education policy. The Vietnamese government has acknowledged that Vietnam has moved more rapidly towards a full market-driven economy for more integration into global processes, so there have been several changes in the country’s educational policies and practices. This came up with a strong requirement in teaching and learning English to be international integration to further facilitate and effective communication (Wright, 2002; Trinh, 2005; Hoang, 2008a; Lam, 2011; Nguyen, T.
A significant landmark that has recently been staked out in English language education in Vietnam is the National Foreign Languages 2025 Project (NFLP, 2025). The Project was approved by the government in 2008 with a budget of nearly US$500 million, targeting English proficiency as a comparative advantage in successfully facing the economic challenges of a globalized, multilingual, and multicultural world for all Vietnamese school graduates and university graduates by 2020. It brought a big mission aiming to “renovate thoroughly the tasks of teaching and learning foreign language within the national education system” by 2020 (Vietnam Government, 2008, p. Moreover, to check the qualifications of teachers whether they meet the standards after applying this 2020 project, a six-level proficiency framework, a modification of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), has been adopted as an assessment.
Locally, the government also developed a language proficiency assessment tool named the Vietnamese Standardized Test of English Proficiency (VSTEP).