VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ************* NGUYỄN THỊ TOÀN A STUDY ON BELIEFS OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH AT DUONG XA HIGH SCHOOL, GIA LAM, HA NOI ABOUT LEANER AUTONOMY (Nghiên cứu về niềm tin của giáo viên tiếng anh tại trường THPT Dương Xá, Gia Lâm, Hà Nội về tính tự chủ của người học) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi, 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ************* NGUYỄN THỊ TOÀN A STUDY ON BELIEFS OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH AT DUONG XA HIGH SCHOOL, GIA LAM, HA NOI ABOUT LEANER AUTONOMY (Nghiên cứu về niềm tin của giáo viên tiếng anh tại trường THPT Dương Xá, Gia Lâm, Hà Nội về tính tự chủ của người học) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Mai Thi Loan, Ph.D Hanoi, 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION The material contained in this dissertation is all my own work. When the work of others has been adopted/paraphrased (e.
books, articles, handouts, conference reports, questionnaires, interview questions, etc), it has been acknowledged according to appropriate academic convention. Sources of direct quotations are clearly identified. I have read and understood the University‟s statement concerning plagiarism and collusion. Hanoi 2015 Nguyễn Thị Toàn i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Mrs Mai Thi Loan, for her generous assistance and guidance while I was doing this project.
I am really grateful for her precious advice and constant support. I would also like to send my sincere thanks to the teachers of English in Duong Xa High School for their participation. I am also in debt to my lecturers, my friends, my classmates as well as my colleagues for their invaluable comments and criticism. Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my beloved people, my parents, my sister, my brother who have always encouraged me to complete this study.
ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This research investigated the extent to which high school teachers of English in Vietnam understood the concept of learner autonomy and their beliefs about this concept. Despite the fact that learner autonomy is gaining momentum as an educational phenomenon and various research has sought to create solutions for fostering learner autonomy in Asian countries, there is very little research on how high school teachers‟ beliefs have been conducted, especially in Vietnamese context. Data were collected through two phases of the study, utilizing both quantitative methods (questionnaire) and qualitative methods (interviews). This study found that, due to many obstacles, teachers generally do not fully understand about learner autonomy.
The findings of this study will provide teachers and policy-makers new insights into learner autonomy against the backdrop of educational reforms in Vietnam. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .iii TABLES OF CONTENT. iv LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS. vii LIST OF TABLES.
Aims and objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Method of the study.
Design of the study. Definitions of learner autonomy. Principle of learner autonomy. Characteristic of autonomous leaners.
Characteristic of autonomous classroom. Approaches to fostering learner autonomy. Resource-based approaches. Technology-based approaches.
Curriculum-based approaches. Teacher-based approaches. Classroom-based approaches. Learner-based approaches.
The learners‟ roles / teachers‟ roles in developing learner autonomy. The learner‟s roles. The teachers‟ roles. Definition of teachers‟ beliefs.
Teachers‟ beliefs about learner autonomy. Factors affecting teachers‟ beliefs about learner autonomy. Review of related studies. 28 CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY.
Setting of the study. 29 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Teachers background information. Data collection procedure.
Data analysis procedure. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS .1 Restatement of the question. Data analysis of interviews for teachers. High school teachers‟ beliefs about learner autonomy.
High school teachers‟ understandings of learner autonomy. Teachers beliefs about teachers‟ responsibilities in autonomous classroom. Teachers‟ beliefs about students‟ ability to become autonomous. Teachers‟ attitude to practicality of learner autonomy.
Suggestions to improve leaner autonomy at high school. Factors affecting the implementation of learner autonomy in high school context. Solution to foster learner autonomy at DXHS. Data analysis from Class observation - Teachers‟ actual teaching practice.
Discussion of the findings. Teachers‟ understanding of learner autonomy. Teachers‟ roles in fostering learner autonomy. Ability student become autonomous.
The degree of alignment between teachers‟ beliefs and practices. Suggestion to developing learner autonomy at high school context. Suggestions for further study. 66 LIST OF REFERENCES.
III v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. XXI vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS DXHS: Duong Xa High School LA: Learner autonomy AL: Autonomous learner ELT: English Language Teaching ESL: English as Second Language IQ: Interview question vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLE Table 1: Participants‟ profile. 30 Table 2: Participants‟ understanding of leaner autonomy.1: Grouping participants‟ understanding of leaner autonomy .2: Teacher beliefs about autonomous learner .1: Teachers‟ beliefs about person in charge of fostering learner autonomy .2: Participants‟ beliefs towards teachers‟ responsibilities in autonomous classroom. 44 Table 4: Participants‟ belief towards students‟ ability to become autonomous45 Table 5: Participants‟ beliefs towards developing learner autonomy.
47 Table 6: Factors impacting the extent of learner autonomy implementation. 48 Table 7: Solution to fostering learner autonomy at DXHS. 51 Table 8: Teachers – students exchanging learning procedure and objectives. 53 Table 9: Teachers‟ instructional behaviors.
53 Table 10: Teachers‟ monitoring strategies. 55 Table 11: Teachers‟ instructional tools. 56 Table 12: Teachers‟ assessment. 57 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Rationale As many other subjects, learning English is considered as a lifelong endeavor (Thomson, 1996:78). Regarding to this, learner autonomy has become an important issue in teaching and learning English recently. In the last forty years, the idea that learners need to be able to take control over their own learning to be successful not just in class, but also to learn independently without a teacher outside the class, has become widely accepted in mainstream language teaching (Benson, 2001). Along with this, the role of teachers in developing learner autonomy is recognized more widely.
For teachers, to foster learner autonomy, they should have an understanding of the concept and an understanding of what strategies would be effective for them to use to foster the development of learner autonomy. Furthermore, teachers must have a belief that learner autonomy is worth incorporating into their pedagogy. In context of Vietnam, while there have been many researches investing on learner autonomy under perspective of students; teachers‟ voices have, however, been largely absent from such analyses, and little is actually known about what learner autonomy means to language teachers. This study addressed this gap by examining what learner autonomy means to English language teachers in Vietnam.
Aims and objectives of the study Being aware of the necessity of learner autonomy in quality of learning English and the significant role of teachers of English on promoting autonomy in learners, this research is conducted with the aim of finding out teachers‟ beliefs on leaner autonomy in high school context. The aim is fulfilled with three objectives: a) Investigate high school teachers‟ beliefs about learner autonomy. b) Find out how high school teachers of English promote leaner autonomy among their students. c, Find out constraints to promoting leaner autonomy at high school context and solutions to these obstacles.
1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Research questions These objectives of this study are addressed through three main following research questions: 1- What does the term “learner autonomy” mean to high school teachers of English? 2- To what extent, teachers of English promote learner autonomy in their actual teaching practice regarding their beliefs about learner autonomy? 3- What are teachers’ beliefs about constraints to promote leaner autonomy at high school context and solutions to these obstacles? 4. Scope of the study Firstly, the scope of this research is confined in its population; only eight Vietnamese high school teachers will be investigated. Data collection and analysis focus on only that small number of high school teachers of English which were selected to yield the most information for the research questions.
Although unique in their own ways, the participating teachers are all considered highly proficient teachers and almost all of them have got master degree or are pursuing them. This study may help to build knowledge and understanding of teachers‟ beliefs on leaner autonomy, but it is unable to generalize the research results to the variety of high schools. The purpose of this study is only of the benefit of learner autonomy at a specific high school, so the results may be unable to be applied universally. Secondly, this research studies about learner autonomy from the view of teachers only.
Opinions of students on aspects of this theory are neglected in this work. Significance of the study Theoretically, this thesis will be a small contribution to the theory of ELT on the learner autonomy under the perspective of high school English teachers. For the actual situation, information obtained from this study will help educational planners in deciding what priorities and strategies/principles are needed to apply to promote leaner autonomy. Its findings may also imply materials for in-service training for 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com high school English teachers in creating autonomous class.
Lastly, the author hopes to draw up changes in curriculum and framework in teaching and learning English at high school. Method of the study This study was carried out through the steps below First, personal interviews with eight teachers were conducted with the purposes of: - Investigating teachers‟ understandings on concept of learner autonomy - Fingering out teachers‟ beliefs on their responsibilities in promoting learner autonomy - Determining teachers‟ difficulties in developing learner autonomy - Finding out their suggestions to develop learner autonomy Second, class observations were made to study teachers‟ teaching method regarding to developing learner autonomy as well as their difficulties in enhancing learner autonomy in their classrooms. After the data were collected, sorted and analyzed, realistic results were obtained. To end with, pedagogical implications for enhancing learner autonomy at high school context were proposed based on the results found from all data collections instruments.
Design of the study The research consists of three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion. The first part – Introduction presents the rationale, the aims and objectives, the scope, the significance of the study, and the overview on the method and design of the study. The second part - Development is sub-divided into three chapters. Chapter one, Literature review, provides a thorough review of the research and literature about learner autonomy, the role of teacher and learner in developing learner 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com autonomy as well as teachers‟ beliefs and practices in relation to learner autonomy.
In addition, previous related studies are summarized in brief. Chapter two, Methodology, explains the methodology used in the study including the participants‟ information, instrumentation, data collection and data analysis. Chapter three presents the main content with findings and discussions basing on the results from class observations and interviews. The last part - Conclusion offers a summary of the findings and further implication for fostering learner autonomy in Vietnam high school.
4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.