Vietnam national university, Hanoi College of foreign languages Post – graduate department NguyÔn thÞ nga Teachers’ conceptualization of using Task-Based Method in the standard English 11 coursebook at nguyen viet xuan high school, vinh phuc NhËn thøc cña gi¸o viªn ®èi víi viÖc sö dông ph-¬ng ph¸p giao nhiÖm vô trong s¸ch gi¸o khoa tiÕng anh 11 chuÈn t¹i tr-êng trung häc phæ th«ng nguyÔn viÕt xu©n, vÜnh phóc MA. Minor Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 hµ néi - 2009 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Vietnam national university, Hanoi College of foreign languages Post – graduate department NguyÔn thÞ nga Teachers’ conceptualization of using Task-Based Method in the standard English 11 coursebook at nguyen viet xuan high school, vinh phuc NhËn thøc cña gi¸o viªn ®èi víi viÖc sö dông ph-¬ng ph¸p giao nhiÖm vô trong s¸ch gi¸o khoa tiÕng anh 11 chuÈn t¹i tr-êng trung häc phæ th«ng nguyÔn viÕt xu©n, vÜnh phóc MA. Minor Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: d-¬ng thÞ nô, ph.d hµ néi - 2009 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration. iii Table of contents.
iv List of abbreviations .vii List of tables. viii PART I: INTRODUCTION. Rationale for the study. Aims of the study.
Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Teaching plan interpretations. Structure of the study.
3 PART II: DEVELOPMENT. 5 CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW. Theories of language. The functional view.
The interactional view. Theories of language teaching. 7 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Generative Learning Theory.
Task-Based Language Teaching. Definition of terminology. What is task-based language teaching?. Definition of task.
Tasks, activities and exercises. Varieties of task. Task-Based Language Teaching framework. Pre-task stage.
Task cycle stage. Components of Task-Based Language Teaching framework. Task-Based Instruction versus the traditional approach to language teaching. Teacher’s interpretation of task-based language teaching.
Teacher’s role in task-based instruction. Teachers’ interpretation of task-based language teaching. The fitness of case study to the research. The setting of the study.
An introduction to Nguyen Viet Xuan high school. Teaching plan interpretations. 25 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS. Findings of the interviews.
Teachers’ conceptualization of teaching methodology and tasked-based language teaching approach. Teachers’ conceptualization of task. Teachers’ task-based language teaching implementation. Teachers’ main issues in task-based language teaching implementation.
Students’ achievements learning in task-based language learning. Findings of the teaching plan interpretations. Findings of the classroom observations. Discussion of the findings.
38 PART III: CONCLUSION. Summary of the study. Limitations of the study. Implications for further study.
42 APPENDIXES LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching ELT: English Language Teaching NVX: Nguyen Viet Xuan PPP: Presentation – Practice - Production TBL: Task-based learning TBLT: Task-Based Language Teaching LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Teachers’ qualifications and teaching specification Table 2: Teachers’ conceptualization of task Table 3: Teachers’ teaching plans Table 4: Teachers’ teaching practice LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1 PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study The ongoing process of regional and global integration in Vietnam has resulted in an increasing demand for English teaching and learning. English not only is now taught at tertiary level but also becomes a compulsory subject at almost every senior high school. Such great demand is one of the most important reasons causing the innovation at secondary level driven by the Ministry of Education and Training.
The innovation started with the change of coursebooks. In 2003-2004 academic year, grade 10 students in 46 pilot secondary schools nationwide studied one of the two new English coursebooks: “English 10 – the piloted coursebook 1” and “English 10 - the piloted coursebook 2 ”. The two following academic years, grade 11 and 12 students in those schools worked with the new piloted coursebooks of English 11 and 12 respectively. Since 2006-2007 academic year, after the trials with evaluation and accordingly appropriate changes, the piloted coursebooks have been officially adopted to replace the old ones nationwide.
The introduction of the new set of coursebooks is actually an innovation in Vietnam’s education. Under the light of this innovation, the course objectives, content and methodology have been changed to meet the increasing demand for education quality in the new development period of the country. Being a teacher of English at a high school in Vinh Phuc, a province in the North of Vietnam, and having worked with all new coursebooks, I realize that the change in course methodology is the most important factor that leads to the success of the innovation. It can be easily seen from the change of course methodology in coursebooks, particularly in the standard English 11 coursebook that different approaches and methods of teaching are used combinatively.
They are theme-based approach, communicative approach, task-based learning and learner-centered teaching. Among these, task-based learning seems to be the most outstanding one. In fact, although task-based language teaching (TBLT) approach is very popular in Vietnam now; it is quite new to teachers of English at high schools in Vinh Phuc. The question raised here is that how well teachers understand TBLT and that with their degree of such understandings how they implement this approach to teach tasks in the set coursebook.
With this idea, the study follows the research paradigm that seeks to discover LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 teachers’ conceptualization of Task-based Method in the standard English 11 coursebook in the context of Nguyen Viet Xuan (NVX) high school, a typical high school in Vinh Phuc province. Aims of the study In attempt to investigate teachers’ conceptualization of TBLT, the study examines teachers’ understanding of TBLT concepts, and teachers’ views on TBLT implementation in the standard English 11 coursebook, and makes clear the relationship between the conceptualization of high school teachers of TBLT and the degree of success in its implementation. Reasearch questions In the light of the aims of the study, the following research questions are posed: (1). How well do teachers at Nguyen Viet Xuan high school understand task-based language teaching concepts? (2).
How do they implement task-based language teaching in classroom? (3). How does teachers’ conceptualization of task-based language teaching influence the achievements of students’ learning? 4. Scope of the study The study focuses on the teachers’ conceptualization of TBLT and their points of view on implementation of this method in the classroom with the material of the standard English 11 coursebook at NVX high school, which is one of the high schools having the best achievements in teaching and learning English in Vinh Phuc. The study was conducted in the second term of school year 2008-2009.
Significance of the study Information obtained from the study firstly will help teachers to realize the role of keeping themselves updated with the new knowledge of approaches they are working with. More importantly, the information also helps teacher trainers to make appropriate decisions on how to introduce TBLT in Vietnam contexts as well as to recommend suitable strategies of teacher development. Besides, it may inform concerned people such as education managers of LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3 how to provide teachers with necessary facilities and encouragement to adapt and apply TBLT to their teaching context. Methodology A qualitative case study is designed and conducted in the context of a high school in the countryside of Vinh Phuc.
Participants The sample consists of five teachers of English at NVX high school. Interviews As the sample size is small, interviewing has been adopted as the major instrument to obtain detailed information in this research. Interviews are conducted with individual teachers to get their interpretations of TBLT, their views on implementing this method in the classroom, issues in TBLT implementation in the classroom, and factors inhibiting TBLT implementation. Teaching plan interpretations The interpretation of teaching plan of teachers is used to find out how the teachers realize their understandings of TBLT in the preparation for lessons.
Classroom observations Classroom observations are used to clarify the validity of the interviews of the teachers and their realization of teaching plans. Structure of the study Part I: Introduction - is used to introduce the study presenting the rationale, the aims, the scope, the significance, the methodology and the structure of the study. Part II: Development - includes three chapters. Chapter one deals with a review of the literature.
It provides a theoretical framework focusing on learning and teaching theories. It is also concerned with the concepts and components of TBLT. Chapter two first refers to the context of the study. Besides, it describes the methodology, the procedure of data collection and data analysis of the study.
Chapter three presents all the findings and discussion of the findings. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 4 Part III: Conclusion - presents summary of the study, the conclusions and pedagogical implications, and limitations as well as recommendations for further study. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW There have been a lot of studies on the conceptualization of teaching methodology, particularly CLT and TBLT that were conducted in both foreign countries and Vietnam. Some outstanding studies among them can be mentioned below.
Karavas-Dou-kas (1995) carries out a study on the implementation of a communicative approach in Greek secondary school, in which she shows that teachers exhibited incomplete understanding of the innovation which they were adopting. In the Korean context, Li (1998) also reported that misconceptions about the nature of communicative approaches to language teaching were a barrier to their implementation. After that, Clark et al. (1999) found similar evidence that Hong Kong teachers had unclear conceptions about task-based teaching and learning, and this hindered its implementation.
In 2004, David Carless also studied issues in teachers’ reinterpretation of a task-based innovation in primary schools in the context of Hong Kong. In his study, Carless finds out issues in TBT implementation like mother tongue use and classroom management. In 2006, two authors In-Jae Jeon and Jung-won Hahn did the research “Exploring EFL teachers’ perceptions of task-based language teaching: A case study of Korean secondary school classroom practice”. These two authors studied teachers’ understandings of TBLT concepts, their attitudes toward and views on TBLT implementation, and the reasons why teachers use or avoid to TBLT in the classroom.
In Vietnam, there are also many researchers who have studied this issue. However, the author of this thesis only mentions two names, whose studies, to some extent, have something in common with mine. Firstly, Canh (2004) made a research on “Understanding foreign language teaching methodology”. In this research, he gave out understanding of different methods and approaches of teaching, including TBLT.
Secondly, Hung (2008) carried out a study on university teachers’ conceptualization of task-based teaching in Tay Bac University. He finds out that there exist congruence and incongruence between teachers’ conceptualization of task-based teaching and the composite view of TBLT, congruence between teachers’ practice of task-based teaching and teachers’ teaching plan with the LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 6 composite view of TBLT, and consistence and inconsistence between teachers’ conceptualization with teaching practices and teaching plans. For the researcher of this study, the conceptualization of high school teachers who have just accessed TBLT through the renovation of methodology plays a very important role in TBLT implementation. Nearly no studies have been conducted in order to explore the current situation of high school teachers in understanding TBLT and its implementation into reality.
Therefore, the researcher decided to do this study on purpose of filling this gap.