VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LÊ THANH HOA TEACHER TALK AT LY TU TAN HIGH SCHOOL, HANOI AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM INTERACTIONS (VIỆC SỬ DỤNG NGÔN NGỮ CỦ A GIÁ O VIÊN TẠI TRƯỜ NG THPT LÝ TỬ TẤN, HÀ NỘI VÀ NHỮNG GỢI Ý ĐỂ ĐẠT ĐƯỢC SỰ TƯƠNG TÁ C HIỆU QUẢ TRONG LỚ P HỌC) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi, 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LÊ THANH HOA TEACHER TALK AT LY TU TAN HIGH SCHOOL, HANOI AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM INTERACTIONS (VIỆC SỬ DỤNG NGÔN NGỮ CỦ A GIÁ O VIÊN TẠI TRƯỜ NG THPT LÝ TỬ TẤN, HÀ NỘI VÀ NHỮNG GỢI Ý ĐỂ ĐẠT ĐƯỢC SỰ TƯƠNG TÁ C HIỆU QUẢ TRONG LỚ P HỌC) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, M.A Hanoi, 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iii ABBREVIATIONS CLT = Communicative Language Teaching EFL = English as a Foreign Language FLT = Foreign Language Teaching IRF = Initiation/Response/Follow-up T1: Teacher 1 T2: Teacher 2 T3: Teacher 3 TTT = Teacher Talk Time STT = Student Talk Time LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Description of the teachers. 18 Table 2: Description of the subjects of the study.
19 Table 3: Students‟ opinion on lecture mode. 25 Table 4: Students‟ opinion on their paticipation in class. 26 Table 5: Students‟ opinion on wait-time. 26 Table 6: Students‟ opinion on the teacher‟s correction.
27 LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1: Amount of teacher talk, student talk and other activities. 21 Chart 2: Percentage of teacher talk in total class time. 22 Chart 3: Ways of Initiation. 23 Chart 4: Ways of Follow-up to No and Incorrect Answer.
24 Chart 5: Ways of Follow-up to Correct Answer. 25 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements. iii Lists of tables and charts. iv PART ONE: INTRODUCTION.
Rationale of the study. Purpose of the study. Scope of the study. Method of the study.
Significance of the study. Organization of the study. 4 PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT. 5 CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW.
The oretical background of classroom research. Interactions in EFL classes. The structure of classroom discourse. Theoretical background of Teacher Talk.
Definition of teacher talk. Role of teacher talk. Framework of teacher talk. Amount of teacher talk.
Features of teacher talk. 15 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY. Setting of the study. 16 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Method of the study. Data collection instruments. Data collection procedures. Methods of data analysis.
20 CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS. Analysis on teacher talk amount. Analysis on ways of teacher talk preferred by teachers and students. Analysis on students‟ opinion for effective teacher talk.
Findings and Discussions. The amount of teacher talk time (TTT) of the total class time. Ways of teacher talk preferred by teachers and students. 32 CHAPTER FOUR: IMPLICATIONS.
Implications for educational administrators. Implications for the teachers. Implications for the students. 37 PART THREE: CONCLUSION.
Summary of main findings. Limitations and suggestions for further study. IV LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION I. Rationale of the study Language teaching is a complex process involving many interrelated factors.
Since the 1960s, the research on classroom discourse has grown rapidly. Before that, teaching methodology has been explored and an effective teaching method is tried to be found. Since teaching methods don‟t play a decisive role in language classrooms (Long, 1981a), the focus has shifted from teaching methods to teacher talk in classroom process. Just as Ellis (1985:143) points out: “Classroom process research, as Gaies calls the study of communication in the classroom, has taken a different form.
The earliest was interaction analysis … An alternative approach focused only on the language used by the teacher when addressing second language learners. It sought to tabulate the adjustments which occur in teacher talk. ” Teacher talk is an indispensable part of foreign language teaching in organizing activities, and the way teachers talk not only determines how well they make their lectures, but also guarantees how well students will learn (Cook, 2000: 144). According to pedagogical theory (Cook, 2000; Chaudron, 1988; Zhao, 1998), the language that teachers use in classrooms determines to a larger degree whether a class will succeed or not.
In English classrooms, teachers‟ language is not only the object of the course, but also the medium to achieve the teaching objective. Both the organization of the classroom and the goal of teaching are achieved through teacher talk. Appropriate teacher talk can create harmonious atmosphere and, at the same time, promotes a more friendly relationship between teachers and students and, consequently, creates more opportunities for interactions between teachers and students. Learning English in Vietnam takes place mainly in classrooms and is usually done under the guidance and supervision of teachers.
Classroom language is the chief source of foreign language learning and, in some places, the only source. It functions not only as a major source of language learning but also as a tool by which a foreign language is taught. Until LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 recently, teacher talk in the EFL classroom was considered to be a problematic area for language teachers. For one time, it was thought that “good” teacher talk meant “little” teacher talk, since too much teacher talk deprived students of opportunities to speak.
However, it should be the “quality” rather than the “quantity” that counts. “Good teacher talk” should be judged by how effectively it was able to facilitate learning and promote communicative interactions in the classroom. Since a better understanding of the use of teachers‟ language can undoubtedly help students improve their learning, and students can make a better use of teacher talk to learn the target language, it is necessary to do some research on teacher talk from both theoretical and practical perspective. Personally, the researcher always thinks that teacher talk is one of the most important keys to success in the teaching and learning of a foreign language, so she devoted her time researching for the thesis: “Teacher Talk at Ly Tu Tan High School, Hanoi and its implications for effective classroom interactions” with its application to her and her colleagues‟ teaching of English at Ly Tu Tan High School, where she is working.
Purpose of the study The aim of the research is to investigate the nature of teacher-student interaction in English classes at Ly Tu Tan High School. In general, it has three purposes. First of all, it is to investigate the current situation of the teacher talk amount at Ly Tu Tan High School, Hanoi. Secondly, it aims at finding ways of teacher talk preferred respectively by teachers and students.
Finally, it is to provide teachers with some implications for effective teaching. The study aims at answering the following research questions: 1. What is the amount of teacher talk time (TTT) of the total class time in English classes at Ly Tu Tan High School? 2. What are the ways of teacher talk preferred respectively by teachers and students? 3.
What should be done to improve classroom interactions? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Scope of the study Teacher talk is such a broad and interesting theme that it requires the work of generations of scholars and researchers if it is to be thoroughly investigated. Therefore, within the framework of this paper, the researcher has no ambition of touching upon all aspects of this fascinating segment of FLT. In this thesis, an attempt was made to study teacher talk in speaking classes, especially a speaking period of Unit 15: CITIES in the English 10 textbook to investigate the amount of teacher talk in the process of interactions between teachers and students and to discuss ways of teacher talk in initiating an interaction and following up a student‟s response preferred respectively by English teachers and 10th-form students at Ly Tu Tan High School.
Method of the study Both quantitative and qualitative methods are employed to carry out the study. That is, the data serving analysis and discussion were collected by means of: - Reviewing the related document on interactions in language classes, structure of classroom discourse, amount of teacher talk and features of teacher talk. - Observing classrooms and audio-recording - Conducting questionnaires V. Significance of the study Teacher talk has always been given a significant position in language teaching.
Nevertheless, how to make teacher talk enhance foreign language teaching and learning effectively often poses great problems to both teachers and students. This study is important in some aspects. First, it may serve as an empirical study to investigate teacher talk. Then, it can also be taken as a reference for teachers to get a better understanding of classroom interactions.
Finally, some suggestions for making the classroom interactions more communicative are provided. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Organization of the study This study is composed of three parts: Part One: The Introduction presents the rationale, purpose, scope, method, significance and the organization of the study. Part Two: The Development consists of four chapters.
- Chapter One: Literature Review establishes the basic theoretical background from the literature on classroom research and teacher talk. - Chapter Two: Methodology describes the overall picture of how the research was carried out from the first step of determining the research design to the last step of gathering the results. Specifically, this chapter contains details of the setting, the collection of the data for the research and methods of data analysis. - Chapter Three: Data Analysis and Findings interprets the results of the study.
This chapter attempts to provide answers to the posed research questions and present the findings with some comments as well. - Chapter Four: Implications suggests some ideas for educational administrators, teachers and students so that teacher talk in class can be improved. Part Three: The Conclusion summarizes the main findings in the study, emphasizes implications for more communicative teacher talk and points out the limitations and provides some suggestions for further study on the field. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.
Theoretical background of classroom research 1. Interactions in EFL classes It is acknowledged that the FL classroom differs from other subject classrooms in that the target language is both what is being taught and the means by which it is being taught (Allwright & Bailey, 1991). Taking the language as the learning target, competent learners are expected not only to be good at the linguistic knowledge, but also to be competent in language use, which requires adequate exposure to the language. “In situations where the target language is seldom used outside the classroom, the students exposure to the target language is therefore mainly in the classroom” (Tsui, 1995:12).
It is, therefore, crucial to have a communicative FL classroom. A common theme underlying different methods of language teaching is that second language learning is a highly interactive process (Richards & Lockhart, 1994: 138). In language classroom settings, the teacher-learner interactive pattern is the most traditional pattern. In this pattern of interaction, the teacher plays the role of an expert, providing learners with direction and doing most of the talking and commenting (Lemke, 1990).
In consequence, such communication in the classroom influences students‟ perception of and participation in classroom activities (Farrell, 2002).