VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* PHẠM LÊ NỮ TUYẾT NGÂN THE APPLICATION OF CLT: THE GAPS BETWEEN TEACHERS’ THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES AT BACH VIET COLLEGE VIỆC ÁP DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY CLT: NHỮNG KHOẢNG CÁCH GIỮA LÝ THUYẾT VÀ THỰC HÀNH CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG BÁCH VIỆT M. MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* PHẠM LÊ NỮ TUYẾT NGÂN THE APPLICATION OF CLT: THE GAPS BETWEEN TEACHERS’ THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES AT BACH VIET COLLEGE VIỆC ÁP DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY CLT: NHỮNG KHOẢNG CÁCH GIỮA LÝ THUYẾT VÀ THỰC HÀNH CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG BÁCH VIỆT M. MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 SUPERVISOR: PHAN THẾ HƯNG, Ph. Hanoi, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis is my original work.
No other person‟s work or ideas have been used without acknowledgement. Except where I have clearly stated that I have used some of this thesis elsewhere, I have not presented this for assessment in another course or unit at this or any other institution. I have retained a copy of this thesis. Signed: Date: i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the assistance and support of many individuals.
I would like to acknowledge and express my appreciation of these people for their invaluable contributions. Firstly, I would like to express my warmest gratitude to Dr. Phan Thế Hưng, my supervisor, for his instructive suggestions and valuable comments on the writing of this thesis. Without his invaluable help and generous encouragement, the present thesis would not have been accomplished.
Secondly, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to all participants in the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Bach Viet College who have made significant contributions to the completion of my thesis. Last but not least, my thanks would go to my beloved parents for their loving considerations and great confidence in me all through these years. I also owe my sincere gratitude to my best friend, Đỗ Thị Tuyết Sương, and my classmates who gave me their help and time in listening to me and helping me work out my problems during the difficult course of the study. In short, I offer my regards and blessing to all of those who supported me in any respect during the completion of my thesis.
ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Since the importance and requirement to communicate in English cannot be declined, in the current trend of improving quality education, many EFL countries in general and Vietnam in particular have changed from traditional grammar- based teaching method into communicative-focused approach. However, some studies have reported that there is still a gap between the theory of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and classrooms‟ actual practices. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the teachers‟ theoretical knowledge of CLT, their understandings about CLT and their practices into their classrooms when applying CLT at Bach Viet College (BVC). Besides, this qualitative study also tries to investigate some challenges that prevent these teachers from implementing CLT into English classrooms at BVC.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DEFINITION OF TERMS. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Teacher‟s theoretical knowledge. viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
ix LIST OF TABLES. Aims and Objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Design of the study .5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Characteristics of CLT. Principles of CLT. Communicative technique in the classroom. Roles of teachers and students in CLT.
Roles of teachers. Roles of students. Challenges of implementing CLT in EFL contexts. Challenges related to students.
Challenges related to teachers. Challenges related to educational system. Participants and setting of the study .13 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Setting of the study.
Data collection instruments. Data collection procedures. Data analysis procedures .15 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Research question 1: What is the teachers‟ theoretical knowledge of CLT?.
Theoretical knowledge of CLT and its characteristic. Theoretical knowledge of activities in CLT. Research question 2: Do the teachers‟ understandings towards CLT reflect their actual classroom practices?. Research question 3: What are the difficulties that teachers face in adopting CLT at BVC?.
Difficulties related to teachers. Difficulties related to students. Difficulties related to educational system. The gaps between teachers‟ theoretical knowledge of CLT and their practices.
Difficulties and challenges of implementing CLT in classrooms. Difficulties and challenges related to teachers. Difficulties and challenges related to students. Difficulties and challenges related to educational system .29 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
For educational system. Conclusions of the study. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further study.
VII vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DEFINITION OF TERMS 1. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) According to Richards, et al. (1992), CLT is an approach to foreign or second language teaching which emphasizes that the goal of language learning is communicative competence. This approach aims at focusing on developing communicative competence among learners.
Communicative Competence In order to use the language effectively, learners need to develop communicative competence – the ability to use the language they are learning appropriately in a given social setting. According to Savigon‟s definition (1972), communicative competence may be defined as the ability to function in a truly communicative setting -that is, in a dynamic exchange in which linguistic competence must adapt itself to the total informational input, both linguistic and paralinguistic, of one or more interlocutors. Besides, it is the view of Canale and Swain (1980) that communicative competence includes grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence. - Grammatical competence involves knowledge of vocabulary and rules of word formation, pronunciation or spelling and sentence formation which provide the learners with knowledge of how to express utterances accurately.
- Sociolinguistic competence relates to the ability to use the language properly in social contexts depending on contextual factors such as topic, status of participants, and purpose of the interaction. - Discourse competence concerns the ability of how to combine grammatical forms and meanings to achieve a unified spoken or written text. - Strategic competence refers to the mastery of communication strategies which enhance the effectiveness of communication or compensate for breakdowns in communication due to limiting factors in actual communication. vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com In addition, the concept of communicative competence on Batchman‟s study (1990) comprises two main factors which are organizational competence and pragmatic competence.
While organizational competence refers to grammatical competence and discourse competence, pragmatic competence relates to illocutionary competence and sociolinguistic competence. In short, communicative competence is the measurement of learning aptitude of a learner. In an attempt to help learners have the best environment to develop communicative ability and master the language, teachers need to be active in implementing communicative approach in order to design lessons which are appropriate to learners‟ level and various classes 3. Teacher’s theoretical knowledge According to Shannon (2007), theoretical knowledge, also known as declarative or propositional knowledge, is knowledge than can be codified or articulated 4.
Teacher’s practices According to Oxford Dictionary, the practice is the actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method, as opposed to theories relating to it. viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BVC: Bach Viet College CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching ESL: English as Second Language FFL: Faculty of Foreign Languages L1: First Language L2: Second Language T: Teacher ix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1 (Characteristics of CLT as perceived by teachers) .25 x LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale In the general trend of integration nowadays, English is considered as the most popular language which is used in communication, exchange of economy and culture all over the world. As a result, the area of English has always become a special interest because of the importance of English in any scope of social communication.
In Vietnam, learning English has been of importance to all levels. Since Vietnam became the 150th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), more and more investors, who require English as a means of communication, have invested into the country; therefore, the demand for workforce with good English has sharply increased. However, the communicative competence in English of Vietnamese workforce has not met the requirements of the employers. It is proved that a large number of fresh university graduates have not been employed by foreign enterprises due to their unqualified English competence.
They may have a good knowledge of grammar and a wide range of vocabulary, but they find it more difficult to communicate in English fluently. As we know, language educators have not stressed the need for concentration on grammar, memorization and learning by heart today, but rather used language and knowledge as a means to communicate everyone all over the world. Today, CLT is the popular approach they are applying in classrooms thanks to its advantages. The purpose of the Communicative Approach is to develop learners‟ communicative competence, so classroom becomes a favorable environment for learners to take part in using English to communicate practically and meaningfully.
In recent years, there has been an increasingly interest in using communicative activities. CLT is based on real life situations that require efficient communication. As Vietnam is in the course of international integration, it is undeniable that people‟s ability to communicate in English is thought to be as important as ever, especially in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City. 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Moreover, as Littlewood (2007) stated that to overcome the limitations of traditional methods, CLT has been introduced in EFL settings to improve students‟ abilities to use English in real contexts.
Learners gradually use the language in accordance with specific communicative purposes. In fact, successfully learning a foreign language is determined by how well learners have developed their communicative competence and how much they are able to apply the language in real life situations. However, the new method has brought new challenges, so there is a huge burden upon the teacher.136) pointed out that „while a great deal has been written on the theory and practice of CLT, there have been comparatively few studies of actual communicative language practices‟. It is true that EFL teachers are facing a great challenge in turning theory into practice.
In the Vietnamese context, studies on the implementation of CLT have investigated two respects: teachers‟ attitudes to and perceptions of CLT (Lewis & McCook, 2002; Pham, 2007; Sullivan, 1996), and how Vietnamese teachers cope with conflicts between Western values embedded in CLT and traditional Vietnamese values (Pham, 2004; Sullivan, 2000). It is clear that teachers‟ perceptions are very important in their decision to implement CLT. With regard to theory, when using CLT, it is supposed that teachers will make the most of certain roles that supplement the approach. Nevertheless, it does not seem to be always true that teachers fully understand the potential of these roles and practices: it is very important to understand what teachers actually believe and practice in their classroom (professional life), because these beliefs will influence their teaching (Raths & McAnich, 2003).
In the same sense, right in the Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL) at Bach Viet College (BVC) in Ho Chi Minh City, teachers are encouraged to apply CLT to their teaching.