TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. 4 LIST OF CHARTS .6 Structure of the thesis. 9 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .2 Definition of key terms .1 Definition of microteaching .2 Aims of microteaching .3 Stages of microteaching .4 Variants of microteaching .3 An overview of microteaching to English Majored students by Faculty of Foreign Languages at Tien Giang University .4 Previous studies relating to microteaching. 30 Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .4 Data collection tools.
35 Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .1 Findings from the interviews .1 English language teachers‟ attitudes to microteaching .2 Suggestions to improve the effectiveness of microteaching sessions in the methodology course at Tien Giang University .2 Findings from the questionnaire .1 Second-year English majored students‟ attitudes to microteaching .1 Types of microteaching applied in the methodology course .2 The application of microlessons .3 The students’ exploitation of teaching techniques in teaching practicum .4 The common advantages and disadvantages of microteaching in the context of Tien Giang University .2 Second-year English majored students‟ difficulties in microteaching practice .3 Second-year students‟ suggestions to difficulties in microteaching .1 Suggestions on the type and the duration of a microlesson .2 Suggested solutions to improve the effectiveness of microteaching. 57 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS .1 Summary of the findings .2 Advantages and disadvantages .2 Limitations of the study .4 Suggestions for further study. 73 3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CASE: Center of Advanced Study in Education ELT: English Language Teaching ELTTP: English Language Teacher Training Project ICT: Information Communication Technology KISS: Keep It Short and Simple MLS: Microteaching Lesson Study MOET: Ministry of Education and Training PPP: Presentation-Practice-Production UK: The United Kingdom 4 LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4.1: Time allocation for ONE micro lesson Chart 4.2: Types of microteaching applied in methodology course Chart 4.3: Types of microteaching applied in methodology course (Group microteaching) Chart 4.4: Frequency of pair/group microteaching Chart 4.5: Application of teaching techniques in the methodology course into microteaching sessions Chart 4.6: Effectiveness of microteaching in preparing students for real teaching experience Chart 4.7: Abilities to deal with students in real teaching experience Chart 4.8: Advantages of microteaching in terms of classroom setting Chart 4.9: Disadvantages of microteaching in terms of students Chart 4.10: Disadvantages of microteaching in terms of classroom setting Chart 4.11: Disadvantages of microteaching in terms of the training course Chart 4.12: Students‟ suggestion of microteaching type Chart 4.13: Students‟ suggestion of microteaching type (number of members) Chart 4.14: The suggested time allocation of a microlesson Chart 4.15: Suggested solutions to improve the effectiveness of microteaching in terms of the students Chart 4.16: Suggested solutions to improve the effectiveness of microteaching in terms of the classroom setting Chart 4.17: Students‟ suggestions to improve the effectiveness of microteaching in terms of the course 5 ABSTRACT Microteaching helps English majored students practice and perfect the teaching techniques before they become real teachers of English. The application of microteaching and what is practiced during microlessons in the context of Tien Giang University also reflects its effectiveness in familiarizing students with their real teaching practice.
Since this issue has not been thoroughly investigated so far, this research aims at providing a closer consideration into the situation, the application of teaching techniques in microteaching sessions, some common advantages and disadvantages of microteaching techniques and also proposing some possible solutions to improve English majored students‟teaching practice at Tien Giang University.1 Background Methodology has long been a compulsory course for English majored students at Teachers‟ Training Colleges and has always been followed by practicum. They learn the theories of the Communicative Approach. The methodology course provides them with a number of techniques for teaching grammar as well as four language skills and other techniques such as correction techniques and techniques for presenting vocabulary. Practicum helps students apply the techniques they study on the methodology course in the classroom.
For many teacher training programs in countries where English is the official language, a practicum is a “course (usually in the Applied Studies area) with a substantial amount of supervised, discipline-related time in an actual work setting”(Athabasca University 2007). The practicum course is more difficult to implement in countries where the official language is not English. Teaching foreign languages in general requires a great deal of specialized knowledge in the field of teaching and learning, high standards of professional knowledge and high standards of professional conduct as well. Moreover, with the development of English language teaching nowadays, there has been an increased demand for language teachers and the compulsion to train these teachers.
However, the concept of an effective English language teacher is hard to clarify in our educational context of new methodologies, new technologies, and new syllabi in Vietnam. Although field-based teaching experiences as the basic connection for integrating theory and practice, and providing opportunities for future teachers to reflect on their teaching have been successful, these experiences have not always led to the attainment of these expectations. Local universities have been criticized for their apparent inability to prepare adequately their graduates to be professionally good teachers. This can be shown in the results of the so-called good teacher selection contest organized by Provincial Service of Education and Training.
Consequently, microteaching might help in this case to bring together a whole range of theoretical issues and apply them to a real life situational teaching. Microteaching is a unique model of practice teaching. The teachers who are trained to use the microteaching instrument are expected to have a greater range 7 of technical teaching skills to choose from for overcoming day-to-day classroom teaching problems. Microteaching helps teachers improve both contents and methods of teaching and develop specific teaching skills such as questioning, the use of examples and simple artifacts to make lessons more interesting, effective reinforcement techniques, and introducing and closing lessons effectively.
Immediate, focused feedback and encouragement, combined with the opportunity to practice the suggested improvements in the same training session, are the foundations of the microteaching technique.2 Rationale I choose this topic for my research:An Investigation into English Language Teachers’ and Students’ Attitudes towards Microteaching at Tien Giang University for the following reasons: Tien Giang University has trained students to become junior high school teachers of English since 2008 and there have been no studies related to microteaching so far. English majored students study the methodology course in the training curriculum and experience two teaching practicums (one in the second year and the other in the third year) in junior high schools in the province. In these two practicums, they do have difficulties applying the techniques they have studied on the methodology course. They do not practice the techniques and steps of teaching thoroughly enough.
Lecturers who are assigned to teach methodology mainly convey theories of methodology to students rather than organize classroom microteaching. They provide the steps of teaching grammar lessons in a communicative way and teaching skills lessons. They do model the techniques first then ask the whole class to prepare within 10-15 minutes. They then appoint one or two students to demonstrate the techniques in front of the class.
This clearly limits the mastery of the techniques among the other students. Most English majored students come from districts in Tien Giang Province and their entrance exam scores are very low. When they study the methodology course in the second year, they find it really hard to master theories of the techniques if these techniques are not practiced in groups. In other words, they have difficulties working in 8 groups and undoubtedly have greater difficulties microteaching the techniques they have just studied.3 Research aims Microteaching, simply defined as a training context in which a teacher's situation, has been reduced in scope or simplified in systematic way, can be used to train the would-be-teachers at Tien Giang University in their second year.
This technique has been used to teach the course entitled ELT (English Language Teaching) methodology at Tien Giang University for 3 years. During this period, the attitudes of ELT methodology learners who are the first target group have not been investigated to examine the impact of such technique on them. Therefore, this study aims at investigating the attitudes of second year English majored students towards on-campus microteaching at Tien Giang University. Simultaneously, this study also aims at identifying their difficulties in microteaching then suggesting possible solutions to these difficulties.4 Research scope This research focuses on investigating Tien Giang University English Language teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards microteaching.5 Research questions This study focuses on answering the following questions: 1-What are Tien Giang University English Language teachers‟ attitudes towards microteaching? 2-What are 2nd year English majored students‟ attitudes towards microteaching? 3- What are students‟ difficulties in microteaching? 4-What can be done to solve these difficulties? 1.6 Structure of the thesis The research includes five main chapters.
Chapter 1 introduces the research. Chapter 2 introduces literature review with some definitions related to microteaching. Chapter 3 refers to the methodology of the research. The most important part is chapter 4 which refers to findings and discussion.
And chapter 5 summarizes several main findings and 9 gives out some suggestions that might help other researchers with similar interest to conduct further investigation into the same subject matter. The research can be summarized as follows: Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Literature review Chapter 3: Research methodology Chapter 4: Findings and discussion Chapter 5: Conclusion and suggestions In short, this first chapter has justified the reasons for conducting this research paper and simultaneously stated the four research questions as an initial guide for the rest of the paper. Afterwards, the aims, the scope and the structure of the paper are also provided. The next chapter provides a theoretical background of the study and introduces the Vietnamese students‟microteaching at Tien Giang University as well as states some related studies done previously.
10 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter provides a theoretical background of the study, including an overview of important concepts, key terms “microteaching” and “attitude”. Then comes the introduction to the Vietnamese students and their microteaching at Tien Giang University. Last are related studies done previously.1 Introduction In general, foreign language teaching is usually seen as a stressful situation in which teachers encounter a number of problems in the classroom (Joseph 2000; Adams 2001). Some teachers regard such a situation as an undeniably complex one.
It requires a lot of specialized knowledge in the field of teaching and learning, high standards of professional knowledge and high standards of professional conduct as well. Pultorak (1996) argues that preparing student teachers to teach effectively and to reflect on the sequence and consequences of their teaching actions is a prominent issue among teacher trainers who must facilitate the integration of theory and practice through the expansion of field-based experiences and the use of structured reflective thinking components such as journal writing and reflective interviews. It can be noted that natural classrooms are not always the most accommodating settings for fostering novice teachers‟ reflection on their teaching actions. In order for reflectivity on teaching to succeed, it should be nurtured through microteaching in a supportive on-campus setting.
At this point, the concept of microteaching emerges for the purpose of preparing excellent would-be teachers as teaching is believed to be an experience that needs to be learnt during the students' teaching period. Brain (1998), in this regard, maintains that if someone aims to become a better teacher, there are four essential qualities that distinguish exceptional teachers: knowledge, communication skills, interest, and respect for students. These qualities, if taken seriously, can be used for preparing effective and reflective teachers in Vietnam and particularly for creating excellent, memorable teachers of English as a second language. Moreover, with the explosion in language teaching nowadays, there has been an increasing demand for language teachers and the consequent need to train these teachers.