VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ NGUYEN THI KAN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING: ACASE STUDY OF THE UPPER- SECONDARY SCHOOL (Việc thực hiện phương pháp giâng dạy ngoại ngữ dựa vào các nhiệm vụ được giao: Một điển cứu ở trường Trung học phổ thông) M.A Minor Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 M.A course: 18 HANOI, 2011 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ NGUYÊN THỊ KĂN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING: A CASE STUDY OF THE UPPER- SECONDARY SCHOOL (Việc thực hiện phương pháp giảng dạy ngoại ngữ dựa vào các nhiệm vụ được giao: Một điễn cứu ở trường Trung học phổ thông) M.A Minor Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Le Van Canh, Ph. D HANOI, 2011 LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS ELT English Language Teaching CLT Communicative Language Teaching TBLT Task-Based Language Teaching TBI Task - Based Instruction PPP Presentation- Practice- Production ERL English as a Foreign Language MOET Ministry of Lducation and ‘Iraining T Teacher Ss Students Vs versus PART A; INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the Study With the advent of the Communicative Language Tzaching (CLT) approach in the carly 1980s and much emphasis on learners’ communicative abilities over the last two decades, the term Task-Based Language Teaching came info prevalent use m the Geld of ond Tang acquisition in terms of developing process-oriented syllabi and designing communicative tasks to promote leamers’ actual language use. In many Asian countries, educational policies and national curricula devised for English Language Teaching (FLT) in the pasl ten years have adopted communicative and task-based language teaching.
National curricula and ministry of education policies in countries including China (Hu, 2005; Zhang, 2007), Taiwan (Sung, 2005), and Hong Kong (Carless, 2007) specify thal task-based approaches to teaching English should be used at all levels of the curricula. In Vietnam, the newly documented English language curriculum was promulgatedby Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and institutionalized in 2006. According to MOET, the curicukum adopts two currently popular teaching approaches, ie. the Isamer - centred approach and the communicative approach with a focus on TBLT as the leading methodology.
While educational policy in Asia heavily favours TBLT and other communicative, holistic approaches to language teaching, a large body of classroom-based research on current teaching in Asia indicates that these policies have not always becn implemented thoroughly or consistently. Research condneted across East Asian contexts has suggested that oumicular polioi have had Timited overalt impact on English language leaching, which renuains traditional with an explicit grammar-teaching focus ( Hu, 2003, Carless, 2007; Zhang, 2007) Why is there a gap between government cumicular innovations and the practice in actual classrnoms? | believe teachers play a key rote in the success or Failure of a planned imovation, which is shared with Nunan (1989) and Carles (2001), because they arc the excentivs decision makers in the actual setting in which the intended innovation is to be realized- the classroom. IL is important that the knowledge and altitudes of icachers regarding he innovation ¢here TBLT) should be taken into account before, during and after the implementation phase. Methodology of the Study Given the complexity of understanding the ongoing process of realized itmovation, the adoption of a qualitative case study approach seamed particularly suitable, Since this approach enable the development of an understanding of the phenomenon from the teacher’s view" (Carles, 2001, p.
266) This study employed qualitative data collection instruments which included semi-structured interview, class observation (field notes) and post-obsezvation interviews. ‘The semi-structured interview was conducted with some guided questions, The interviowecs were given the guided questions beforehand in the form of a handout for better preparation of ideas and thoughts. ‘The class observation enabled me to investigate what the teachers actually did in the Glassroom. Field notes were made usc of (a observe all skills and language focus lessous.
Post-observation interviews were employed to provide triangulated data. They focused on critical issues arising ftom the observed lessons 6. Significance of the Study ‘The results of this study are important in the following aspects: First, they parlty indicals that curricular policies promoting the usc of TBLT al the national level do uot automatically transtate into the use of TBLT in actual English language classrooms, Second, they highlight the need to bridge the gap between what is intended by teaching innovation designers and what is actually implemented by classroom teachers ‘Third, they suggest that teachers in Vietnam need to make further efforts to develop and generate, within lask-based approach, classrourn teclmiques appropriate (o their conditions 1.4, Inadequately Trained Teachers 1. Difficulties Caused by TBLT.1, The Fitness of Case Study to the Research Purpose.
Context of the Study. New English Curricultan 2. Data Collection Procedures. Data, Analysis Procedure 2.
co Chapter 4: Discussion PART C: CONCLUSION 1, Summary of the Major Findings. Pedagogical Implications 38 3, Limitations of the Surly 39 4, Sngpastions for Further Studies. „40 REFERENCES 4 APPENDIX vi 7. Organization of the Study The study is organizedin three parts PartA | Part A is the introduction which provides a brief overview of the study with more doluils of the rationals, Ihe aims, the scope, the tescarch methodology, the rescarch questions, the significance of the stndy as well as the organization of the study.
Part B | Part B, the Development, consists of four chapters. ChapterI | reviews the literate in ‘BLT. ‘his chapter presents the theoretical background of the thesis which contains four main points: background to TBLT, definitions of Tasks and TBLT, characteristies of TRLT and theoretical frameworks of TRLT implementation Chapter2 | namely methodology, focuses on the fitness of case study to the research purpose, ressarch questions, contexl of the sludy (New English curriculum, the case, participants) instraments, data collection procedures, data analysis provedure. Chapter2 | Findings, presents and illustrates my findings ftom interview and observation data Chapter4 | Discussion, provides an intarprctation of the results Part | Part C, the Conclusion, is devoted to summarize major findings and discussion, present pedagogical implications and limitations of the study and provide suggestions for further studies, 5.
Methodology of the Study Given the complexity of understanding the ongoing process of realized itmovation, the adoption of a qualitative case study approach seamed particularly suitable, Since this approach enable the development of an understanding of the phenomenon from the teacher’s view" (Carles, 2001, p. 266) This study employed qualitative data collection instruments which included semi-structured interview, class observation (field notes) and post-obsezvation interviews. ‘The semi-structured interview was conducted with some guided questions, The interviowecs were given the guided questions beforehand in the form of a handout for better preparation of ideas and thoughts. ‘The class observation enabled me to investigate what the teachers actually did in the Glassroom.
Field notes were made usc of (a observe all skills and language focus lessous. Post-observation interviews were employed to provide triangulated data. They focused on critical issues arising ftom the observed lessons 6. Significance of the Study ‘The results of this study are important in the following aspects: First, they parlty indicals that curricular policies promoting the usc of TBLT al the national level do uot automatically transtate into the use of TBLT in actual English language classrooms, Second, they highlight the need to bridge the gap between what is intended by teaching innovation designers and what is actually implemented by classroom teachers ‘Third, they suggest that teachers in Vietnam need to make further efforts to develop and generate, within lask-based approach, classrourn teclmiques appropriate (o their conditions 2 means that their opinions need tơ be reported and their voices heard.
While there are some studics on teacher attitudes towards, and belicfs about TBLT (Carles, 2003; Jeon & Hahn, 2006), there has been little research into how teachers implement it in their actual classrooms. Litile research has come to light wilh regard lo Fnglish language isachs in Vietnam, aparl from a small-scale stutly carried oul by Canh& Barnard (2009), For thes rcasons, T nnderiook a case study of an upper-secondary school English teachers’ understandings of, attitudes towards and implementation of TBLT in Vietnam. 2, Aims of the Study Teachers are fiequently required to implement pedagogic innovations developed by extemal agents who may ot may not be familiar with the teachers” viewpoints ot the specific classroom conlexl in which the innovation is to bz implemented, If teachers? views are nol suflicicnlly taken account of, the already challenging natuwe of implementing something new may be exacerbated (Carless, 2003). ‘Tims, the aim of the paper is to provide an investigation of the Đolicfs smd the understandings of a small umber of langmge cachers and a pictus of how the three teachers tried to come to tems with the implementation of a task-based pedagogic innovation and what factors had an impact on the process 3.
Research Questions ‘The paper seeks to answer the following research questions: 1. What are tcavhers’ understandings of, and attitudes towards TBLT? 2. To what extent do the teachers implement TBLT in their actual classrooms? 3. What factors impact on the implementation of BLT? 4.
Scope of the Study ‘The study was conducted in a micro setting in Viemam, focusing on only three teachers at Yen Phong Upper-Secondary Schoot Na 1. 1 is wilhin this minor thesis space thal. the study is located with exploration of the attitudes, the understandings and the practices of TBLT of a small number of language teachers. Although the data focuses on a small sample of teachers, it scoms likely thal the findings can still itaninale sure issues of the implementation of TBLT that other teachers working in similar contexts may encounter 7.
Organization of the Study The study is organizedin three parts PartA | Part A is the introduction which provides a brief overview of the study with more doluils of the rationals, Ihe aims, the scope, the tescarch methodology, the rescarch questions, the significance of the stndy as well as the organization of the study. Part B | Part B, the Development, consists of four chapters. ChapterI | reviews the literate in ‘BLT. ‘his chapter presents the theoretical background of the thesis which contains four main points: background to TBLT, definitions of Tasks and TBLT, characteristies of TRLT and theoretical frameworks of TRLT implementation Chapter2 | namely methodology, focuses on the fitness of case study to the research purpose, ressarch questions, contexl of the sludy (New English curriculum, the case, participants) instraments, data collection procedures, data analysis provedure.
Chapter2 | Findings, presents and illustrates my findings ftom interview and observation data Chapter4 | Discussion, provides an intarprctation of the results Part | Part C, the Conclusion, is devoted to summarize major findings and discussion, present pedagogical implications and limitations of the study and provide suggestions for further studies, PART A; INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the Study With the advent of the Communicative Language Tzaching (CLT) approach in the carly 1980s and much emphasis on learners’ communicative abilities over the last two decades, the term Task-Based Language Teaching came info prevalent use m the Geld of ond Tang acquisition in terms of developing process-oriented syllabi and designing communicative tasks to promote leamers’ actual language use. In many Asian countries, educational policies and national curricula devised for English Language Teaching (FLT) in the pasl ten years have adopted communicative and task-based language teaching. National curricula and ministry of education policies in countries including China (Hu, 2005; Zhang, 2007), Taiwan (Sung, 2005), and Hong Kong (Carless, 2007) specify thal task-based approaches to teaching English should be used at all levels of the curricula.
In Vietnam, the newly documented English language curriculum was promulgatedby Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and institutionalized in 2006. According to MOET, the curicukum adopts two currently popular teaching approaches, ie. the Isamer - centred approach and the communicative approach with a focus on TBLT as the leading methodology.
