VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* KIỀU THỊ HÀ AN INVESTIGATION INTO INTERCULTURAL COMPONENTS IN THREE PILOTED ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS FOR VIETNAMESE HIGH SCHOOLS UNDER NATIONAL FOREIGN LANGUAGE 2020 PROJECT.A MINOR THESIS (Type I) Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi - 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* KIỀU THỊ HÀ AN INVESTIGATION INTO INTERCULTURAL COMPONENTS IN THREE PILOTED ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS FOR VIETNAMESE HIGH SCHOOLS UNDER NATIONAL FOREIGN LANGUAGE 2020 PROJECT.A MINOR THESIS (Type I) Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231. Nguyễn Hòa Hanoi - 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this thesis and that no part of this thesis has been published or submitted for publication. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my thesis does not infringe upon anyone‟s copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, techniques, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my thesis, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices. i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have taken efforts in this study.
However, it would not have been possible without the tremendous support and help of individuals. I would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of them. I am highly indebted to my honor supervisor, Professor Nguyễn Hòa, for his guide, advice and suggestions as well as correction during the course of my writing. Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude to my close friend for helping me get access to necessary information regarding the topic and their support in completing the study.
Thirdly, my thanks go to Ms. Nguyễn Huyền Ly for her comment and corrective feedback on my work. Last but not least, I also would like to thank my family for their indispensable support and encouragement. Therefore, it is possible to state that without the help from the aforementioned people, this paper would never have been finished ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT As the rise in demand for intercultural communication, using language appropriately in social and cultural contexts is becoming a concern of the teaching and the learning process.
Textbooks, as the main source of teaching material, provide learners with not only language input and practice but also intercultural knowledge and skills to build up learners‟ intercultural communication competence. For those reasons, I conducted this study to find out whether textbooks under the NFLP 2020 implemented in high schools include intercultural elements and help students in improving students‟ intercultural communication competence through learning tasks. To achieve the aims of the study, I employed both qualitative method to analyze the content of the textbooks and quantitative method to report the results of the textbook analysis procedure and to discuss further the findings of the research. The results of the study indicate that textbook compilers integrated cultural information from various sources including intercultural interactions in the textbook series.
On examining learning tasks presented in three textbooks, I found that textbook writers included tasks to develop students‟ intercultural competence in different dimensions according to Byram‟s model of IC. The textbook series was developed in a rather efficient way to help students improve their international communication skills through diverse activities. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS IC : Intercultural competence ICC : Intercultural communication competence SC : Source culture TC : Target culture InC : International culture ICI : Intercultural interaction UC : Universality across Culture CEFR : Common European Framework of Reference for Languages NFLP : National Foreign Language 2020 Project iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 2.3: The categories and the criteria to classify culture (adapted Chao (2011)) ……………………… .1: Topics presented in the textbooks for high school students .a: Numbers of aspects of analysis on cultural-related content .b: Percentage of Source Culture, Target Culture, International Culture, Intercultural Interaction and Universality across culture in three textbooks .c: Frequency of Source Culture, Target Culture, International Culture, Intercultural Interaction and Universality across culture .1: Dimensions of IC addressed in the learning tasks of three textbooks. 48 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.: Factors in intercultural communication (Byram, 1997, p.d: Byram‟s Model of intercultural communication competence (1997).
Tieng Anh 10 representing source culture (Unit 3, p.b: Tieng Anh 11 representing target culture (Unit 7, p.c: Tieng Anh 11 representing international culture (Unit 5, p.d: Tieng Anh 10 representing intercultural interaction (Unit 4, p.e Tieng Anh 12 representing universality across culture.a: An example of the learning task developing knowledge.b: An example of the learning task developing attitudes ( Tieng Anh 10, p.c: An example of the learning task developing attitudes (Tieng Anh 11, p.d: An example of the learning task developing attitudes 37(Tieng Anh 12, p.e: An example of the learning task developing skills of interpreting and relating (Tieng Anh 10, p.f: An example of the learning task developing skills of discovery (Tieng Anh 11, p.g: An example of the learning task developing skills of discovery (Tieng Anh 10, p.1: Ratio of learning tasks aiming at increasing learners‟ IC. 47 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDICES Appendix 1: Coding scheme- Sources of cultural information. I Appendix 2: Coding scheme- Learning task analysis. II Appendix 3: An example of a learning task aiming at developing students‟ attitude in Tieng Anh 10 (p.III Appendix 4: An example of a learning task aiming at developing students‟ attitudes in Tieng Anh 10 (p.
IV Appendix 5: An example of a learning task aiming at developing students‟ skills of discovery in Tieng Anh 11 (p. V Appendix 6: An example of a learning task aiming at developing students‟ skills of discovery in Tieng Anh 10 (p. VI vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .iv LIST OF TABLES .v LIST OF FIGURES.
vii TABLE OF CONTENTS. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Rationale for the study. Aims of the study and research questions.
Methods of the study. Significance of the study. Scope of the study. Structure of the thesis .5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Role of textbooks as a source of cultural inputs .2 Intercultural communication competence .1 Intercultural communication competence in English language teaching .2 Model of intercultural communication competence .3 Sources of cultural information.
Structure of ONE unit .20 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Addressing research question 1 .2 Data collecting procedure. Addressing research question 2 .2 Data collecting procedure .34 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. The findings for the first research question.
The findings for the second research question.1 Knowledge of cultures .2 Attitudes toward cultures.3 Skills of interpreting and relating .4 Skills of discovery. Recap and conclusion of the study. Implications and recommendation .4 Suggestions for further studies. I ix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale for the study In today‟s world, globalization has brought nations, cultures, and people closer. English becomes the language for international trade, commerce, and communication and its teaching and learning become growing needs. Language does not exist in a vacuum but it is a part of society and culture. Therefore, teaching and learning a language also means learning about the culture of that language.
The relationship between language and culture in English language classrooms has been the focus of many studies (Kramsch,1993; Byram,1989). Communication among people from different cultural backgrounds may cause misunderstanding in intercultural situations as people may base on their cultures for interpretations (Kramsch, 1993). Therefore, there is a hidden risk of false impression and conflict if one uses a language without the understanding of culture background (Woflson, 1989). To avoid misinterpretation in international situations, learners of foreign languages should draw attention to cultural differences when communicating.
Apart from that, they should be equipped with knowledge and skills to deal with conveying their messages in an intercultural environment while learning foreign languages. Teaching materials have a powerful influence on the process of teaching and learning a language. According to Tomlinson (1998), materials can be instructional, experiential, elicititative and exploratory for learners to discover the language. Textbooks are one of the main sources of inputs for learners and the language practice that takes place in classrooms.
Since the contents of textbooks have a significant association with the learning of the students, it is supposed that textbooks should include intercultural knowledge which can help learners communicative successfully in intercultural contexts. In other words, apart from language skills, textbooks also provide intercultural knowledge and provide chances 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com for learners to improve intercultural communication skills so that they can build up their intercultural communication competence. Recently, there is an increasing trend of high school students applying for other high schools, colleges or universities in English speaking countries after finishing at least a semester. Therefore, teaching and learning English are given significant attention to help students with sufficient skills to be independent and confident especially when studying abroad.
It is necessary to raise awareness and equip students with knowledge of cultural differences, skills to communicate with people from different cultures to avoid misunderstanding. That would help them survive in international environments. There are numerous studies on intercultural communication in many aspects. Walinski (2012) focused on the way to enhance ICC in an online assessment environment using the CEFcult project.
Reid (2015), on the other hand, exploited techniques that develop ICC in English lessons. It is a brief guidance to teachers on how to integrate ICC in English language lessons. Moeller and Nugent (2014) were also interested in developing ICC in classrooms. They reviewed and summarized models of intercultural competence and examples of tasks that promote ICC and can be practiced in classrooms.
In Vietnam, a new English textbook series has been implemented in some Vietnamese high schools under the National Foreign Language 2020 Project for 5 years. The new English textbook series shows their improvements in many aspects as compared with the previous ones such as book structure, unit structure, component heading, and time allocated. Since the English textbook series was piloted in high schools, there exists a question about whether the textbooks can server the objectives of teaching and learning English at the school context. There are some studies to investigate some aspects when implementing the series in some schools.
Hoang (2017) looked into teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes toward the piloted textbook in a high school in Nam Dinh. In 2018, Nguyen dug into how source culture, target culture, and international culture were represented in the 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com textbook series for high schools in visual forms, texts or listening, and speaking tasks. There has also been much research related to analyzing cultural and intercultural elements and components in textbooks. For example, Farzaneh et.al (2014) sought social-cultural contexts in Top Notch series.
However, there has not been any study on intercultural components and learning tasks in the piloted English textbooks under the 2020 project. The above-mentioned reasons motivated me to investigate intercultural components presented in the new pilot textbooks implemented at high schools to find out whether those textbooks could foster intercultural communication in students through learning tasks and the dimension of IC that can be found in learning tasks. Aims of the study and research questions In order to seek the answer to whether English textbooks under the national project 2020 launched by the Ministry of Education and Training foster ICC, the study sets out to investigate intercultural components and the learning tasks presented in the textbooks.