HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --------------- HO THI PHUONG THAM BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF ONLINE SPEAKING CLASSES DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN ENGLISH FACULTY – UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --------------- HO THI PHUONG THAM BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF ONLINE SPEAKING CLASSES DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN ENGLISH FACULTY – UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: DR. PHAM HONG ANH THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ --------------- HỒ THỊ PHƯỢNG THẮM NHỮNG THUẬN LỢI VÀ THÁCH THỨC CỦA CÁC LỚP HỌC NÓI TRỰC TUYẾN TRONG GIAI ĐOẠN DỊCH COVID-19 Ở KHOA TIẾNG ANH, TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ, ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. PHẠM HỒNG ANH THỪA THIÊN HUẾ, 2021 STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree in any university. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.
Signed: Ho Thi Phuong Tham Date: / / ABSTRACT Covid-19 pandemic has expanded complicatedly over the world. The pandemic has affected the education of every country including Vietnam. Apparently, in English Faculty, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University, there has been an urgency in the shift of teaching and learning from face-to-face fashion to online fashion in all classes including Speaking classes. The paper is conducted base on the theory of technology employed in EFL classes and its value.
The mix of two research approaches is chosen for collecting quantitative and qualitative data. Instruments of data collection include: questionnaire, which was used for 9 teachers of Speaking classes and 99 students, individual interview, which was used for 4 teachers and 7 students, and online class recordings of 3 online Speaking classes and one game. The study points out a number of significant benefits and challenges of online Speaking classes in English Faculty, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University. Most prominent findings include benefits such as promoting learner self-pace, teaching other aspects of Speaking like pronunciation and grammar, which is enhanced by technology; and yet pose challenges of a lack of emotional aspects common in face-to-face interaction, and a lack of classroom atmosphere significant for both teachers and students.
The results of this research paper can be used as a resource of information for online Speaking classes. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT For the conduction and success of this research paper, I express my gratitude towards the ones who gave me the opportunity and guidance. First and foremost, I highly appreciate English Faculty, University of Foreign Languages for providing me with valuable Master of Arts training program, and later create convenient condition for me to work on the thesis. I am greatly thankful to all the teachers of different courses who have accompanied with me for over two years.
They are the ones who provides me with not only the knowledge, but also the generous assistance. I am also thankful for my supervisor, Dr. Pham Hong Anh, who is the lecturer, the assistance, and the most grateful guidance of mine. Pham’s professional instructions, I would not have been able to complete the Master of Arts thesis properly.
Besides, I would like to express my grateful to the teachers and students in English Faculty, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University who are willingness to participate in my online survey, the interview as well as provide precious source of information for my research paper. I would like to show my gratitude to my family, my friends and my supervisor for their words of encouragement and being my motivation for me to overcome obstacles while conducting the research paper. At all, I am respectively appreciating all the comments and evaluations of the committee. My research comprises adequate skills and endeavors that I hardly imagine.
Hue, November 4, 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP .vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii List of Tables .1 List of Figure .2 List of Abbreviations. Rationale of the study. Research aims and Research questions.
Significance of the study. Structure of the study.10 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Online English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Speaking classes. Characteristics of online EFL Speaking classes.
Technology employed in online classes. Previous studies and research gaps. 19 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Research setting and participants.
Instruments of data collection. 38 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Types of benefits and challenges of online Speaking classes in the English Faculty, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University. The representation of benefits and challenges of online Speaking classes in teaching activities.
Teachers and students’ efforts in coping with challenges of online Speaking classes. 77 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS. Summary of the findings of the research questions. Summary of the findings for research question one.
Summary of the research question two. Summary of the research question 3 .2 Limitations of the study and suggestion for future research .95 List of Tables Table 1. Statistical data of responses to the statements of benefits perceived by teachers. Statistical data of responses to the statements of benefits perceived by students.
Statistical data of responses to the statements of challenges perceived by teachers. Statistical data of responses to the statements of challenges perceived by students .52 1 List of Figure Figure 1. Teachers' general background. Teachers' years of teaching.
Students' general background. Sample of questionnaire design for teachers. Sample of questionnaire design for students. Interview analyzing process.
Recording analysis process .37 2 List of Abbreviations ELT. English Language Teaching EFL. English as a Foreign Language LMS. Learning Management System DCALL.
Distance Computer-Assisted Language Learning TELL. Technology Enhanced Language Learning ICT. Information and Communication Technology MOET. Minister of Education and Training 3 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale of the study Personal rationale As an English language teacher, I highly value the significant role of language skills in the global development, especially Speaking skills. The continuous adaptation of new methodologies in language teaching encourages young teachers to extend the exploration about the world of information and technology to diversify their lesson plans; and obviously I am not the exception. Relying on my teaching experience on language skills for young learners and under-graduate learners, language in practice have always been the most potential areas to investigate. Furthermore, speaking skills are considered to be one of the most important skills of all language learners, and yet the greatest challenge that make a major contribution to the learners’ success, as stated by Dakowska (2005) “speaking is now the most emphasized skill in the field of foreign language teaching, but unfortunately, it is also recognized as the most difficult one to develop in classroom conditions”.
Therefore, speaking skills are my biggest concern when pondering a topic for the research paper. Covid-19 pandemic is an unexpected disease that happens and spreads all over the world for over a year, which leads to unfavorable conditions for traditional Speaking classes. The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2019 has caused an explosion of online classes over the world along with the expansion of the incorporation of technology in language teaching. Due to the fact that the pandemic came with a sudden and extremely complex, my Speaking classes has also been influenced and have to be conducted online.
The advancement of science and technology has created a lot of 4 tools and platforms that help prevent the interruption in language learning. The new methodology of learning is beneficial for executing social isolation regulations of the Administrator, avoiding crowds of centralized educational institutions and at the same time ensuring educational programs. Carol (2003) assumes that “technology is a force worthy of consideration, whether one wishes to focus on the technological potential, to examine pragmatic technology use, or to criticize both” (Carol, p. On the other hand, research on online learning along with the reality of teaching practice during the Covid- 19 pandemic has revealed many challenges for both teachers and students.
Therefore, it was worthy of conducting a research paper of online Speaking classes during the hard times of Covid-19 pandemic. Theoretical rationale Nowadays, the era in which integration is the top concern of every nation, poses the request of improving language proficiency. At one time, since human beings first made an effort to communicate with each other for either mental or physical demands, language has shown an extreme role. The division and isolation in language development have appeared and built up a diverse system of hundreds of different languages.
However, most aspects of integration meet the exigency of being able to communicate – which include asking and delivering information between nations whose languages are different. Therefore, the solution for global communication has to be a global language. English has been a compulsory subject in Vietnam’s educational system from elementary school to high school and even higher. The curriculum of this subject has been improved and developed day by day based on the requirements of specific periods of social progress.
5 Due to the explosion of technology integrating teaching and learning, there have been enormous amounts of research that required great efforts from scientific researchers and linguists to be able to determine the value of online classes for the development of online learning in general and online Speaking classes in particular. There have been enormous studies on the field of teaching and learning with the integration of technological advent as well as education from distance that have been developed in ages. EFL Speaking classes are one of the most concerned areas of language teaching all over the world since the basic characteristics of them appear to be hardly conquered in an online environment. The trendy teaching methodology and teaching environment of this new era in which technology integration is remarkable interests me in conducting the research of online Speaking classes.
Furthermore, there have not been many studies of online Speaking classes in the specific context of the University of Foreign Languages, Hue University yet, as the pandemic happened in a sudden without high awareness of pedagogical researchers. Realizing the essential importance of teaching Speaking skills along with the desire to investigate the benefits and challenges when carry out a Speaking class during difficult times, I decided to choose the topic “BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF ONLINE SPEAKING CLASSES DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN ENGLISH FACULTY – UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY”. Research aims and Research questions The research aims to investigate systematically about different types of benefits and challenges of online Speaking classes in English Faculty, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University, which come from both students and teachers’ perspective. 6 In order to delve deeper into the practical of online Speaking classes rather than relying solely on the theoretical background, another goal of doing the study is to see how different benefits and challenges were represented visually and vividly in real online Speaking classes that were held in the respective semesters of the pandemic outbreak.
Moreover, specific actions and solutions of teachers and students to maximize the benefits of online Speaking classes, as well as to reduce and overcome the challenges posed by these classes in the English Faculty, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University are also investigated.