MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY ------------------------ NGUYEN THI GIANG AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE ENGLISH PRACTICE FOR LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN QUANG TRI PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Language HUE, 2019 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY ------------------------ NGUYEN THI GIANG AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE ENGLISH PRACTICE FOR LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN QUANG TRI PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: ASSOC. TRUONG VIEN HUE, 2019 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ ------------------------ NGUYỄN THỊ GIANG NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NGOẠI KHÓA ĐỂ THÚC ĐẨY THỰC HÀNH TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ Ở TỈNH QUẢNG TRỊ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS. TRƯƠNG VIÊN HUẾ, 2019 STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in this thesis itself.
Nguyễn Thị Giang Date:. i ABSTRACT This paper aims to investigate the use of extracurricular activities (ECAs) to promote English practice for lower secondary school students in Quang Tri. Instruments of the research include the questionnaire and the interview, which aim to collect both quantitative and qualitative data for the research. The questionnaire is used to collect responses for teachers’ perceptions of the use of ECAs to promote students’ English practice, the reality of using ECAs to promote students’ practice and difficulties that teachers encountered in organizing ECAs.
The interview is carried out to gain in-depth ideas of the teachers and students in order to qualify the results found in the questionnaire. The participants consist of 20 teachers and ten students at some lower secondary schools in Quang Tri province. The findings reveal that teachers had high perceptions of using ECAs in promoting students’ English practice. In terms of the reality of using ECAs, for most teachers and students, the most common ECAs often used are holding some games, listening to English songs and taking part in the English clubs.
Besides, the findings also point out that ECAs can be the most effective for improving speaking skills, listening skills and English vocabulary. Thanks to the use of ECAs, teachers and students benefit in teaching and learning, especially, students interact with their friends and teachers more and are more confident in using the English language. However, teachers have to face up with a lot of difficulties in organizing ECAs. Among these difficulties, lack of time is the most common.
Another problem for both teachers and students is that students cannot find the balance between schools and ECAs. To overcome these difficulties and make ECAs become more effective, there should be the close cooperation among teachers, students and the school administrators. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the process of choosing and conducting the research, I am fortunate enough to receive valuable assistance and support. Sincerely, I would like to thank my supervisor Assoc.
Truong Vien for the warm and enthusiastic support throughout the study. I am also deeply indebted to him for the experienced guidance and useful materials for the research. My second thanks go to the lower secondary school teachers who participated in this research for their willingness to share valuable ideas and experience of the use of extracurricular activities through the questionnaires and the interviews. Especially, I would like to send my big thanks to all my friends of the English MA class (2017-2019) for assisting and encouraging me during the thesis.
Finally, I would like to show my deep gratitude to my family members, especially my husband who has always been with me, gives me the mental support and encourages me to overcome a lot of difficulties to finish the thesis. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Statement of Original Authorship. iii Tables of contents. iv List of tables.
vii List of abbreviations. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Aims of the research. Significance of the research.
Scope of the research. Structure of the research. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definitions of Extracurricular Activities.
Basic Principles of Extracurricular Activities. The Role of Extracurricular Activities in Language Teaching. Authentic Language Materials. Some Extracurricular Activities.
Difficulties in Conducting ECAs. Review of Previous Studies. Gaps of the Research. Data Collection Instruments.
Data Collection Procedure. 16 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .1 Teachers’ perceptions of the use of ECAs to promote English practice. Results from the questionnaire data. Results from the interview data.
Extracurricular activities often used. Results from the questionnaire data. Results from the interview data. English skills and knowledge improved by extracurricular activities29 4.
Results from the questionnaire data. Results from the interview data. Benefits of using extracurricular activities. Results from the questionnaire data.
Results from the interview data. Difficulties in organizing extracurricular activities. Results from the questionnaire data. Results from the interview data.
42 CHAPTER 5: IMPLICATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Summary of the key findings. Lower secondary school teachers’ perceptions of the use of ECAs. The reality of using ECAs in promoting English practice for students by teachers.
Extracurricular activities often used. English skills and knowledge improved by extracurricular activities. Benefits of using extracurricular activities. Difficulties in organizing extracurricular activities.
For school administrators. Contributions of the research. Limitations of the research. Recommendations for further research.
54 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 4. The use of ECAs to promote English practice for lower secondary school students in Quang Tri province. Teachers’ perceptions of the use of ECAs to promote English practice. One-Sample Stastistic.
Teachers’ perceptions of the use of ECAs to promote English practice in detail. Extracurricular activities often used. Extracurricular activities often used in detail. English skills and knowledge improved by extracurricular activities.
English skills and knowledge improved by extracurricular activities in detail. Benefits of using extracurricular activities. Benefits of using extracurricular activities in detail. Difficulties in organizing extracurricular activities.
Difficulties in organizing extracurricular activities in detail. 36 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ECAs Extracurricular Activities EFL English Foreign Language et al et alia FL Foreign Language GS Generic Skills i.e For example L2 Second Language MA Master of Arts SPSS The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Software Ss Students YUA Youth union and its associates viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter firstly introduces the background of this research paper. Then it describes its rationale, the aims and the significance of the research. It also presents the scope as well as research questions of the research.
The last section in this chapter is the structure of the research. Background Along with the development of global education, learning English is becoming more and more important for students in Vietnam. Everyone needs to learn English to catch up with the level of globalization. As a result, there is a strong requirement for students to develop English skills to fluently communicate in English, which is the key to success in the future.
On account of that, English learners need to become proficient in each of the four language skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. Honestly, the four language skills are all interconnected. Language teachers aim to make students master language skills to ensure achievement and proficient performance both in oral and written communication. Many types of researches have been carried out to explore ways to motivate English practice, how to help students be able to use English efficiently and naturally, and how to help students express themselves accurately and fluently.
One of these ways proposed by educators is utilizing extracurricular activities (ECAs) inside as well as outside English language classrooms to promote English practice informally away from the pressure of grades and exams. Rationale To the language learning and teaching, although it is not a new issue, the author decides to conduct a research on the use of ECAs to promote English practice for students by teachers of English at lower secondary schools. First of all, foreign language teaching by its very nature is an interactive process. It is significant for learners who are studying English in non-English speaking setting to experience real communicative situations.
Those will help them learn how to express their views and opinions, and develop their oral fluency and accuracy which are essential for the success of EFL communication. For the majority of students, involvement in ECAs plays an integral role in the learning experience. Students join in ECAs not only for entertainment, social and enjoyment purposes but most importantly, to gain and improve skills. Extracurricular activities create opportunities for the 1 classroom community to engage in and interact in ways that allow developing knowledge and skills.
Language clubs, language corners, events—all of these appear to have some effects on students' performance. Extracurricular activities as they seem, are necessary and useful as a way to enhance learning. Moreover, the teaching and learning English in Vietnam in general and in Quang Tri province in particular, have been struggling to promote English practice for students. A lot of English clubs have been set up at schools to help students develop their language skills more effectively.
Thanks to this, teachers of English can have more opportunities to use ECAs in promoting their students’ English practice. From the reasons above, I chose this topic to point out teachers’ perceptions of using ECAs, the reality of using them to promote the practice of English by teachers of English and difficulties they encounter in organizing these activities. As an English teacher, with my knowledge and experience in teaching, I am interested in those activities and how they are used to promote students’ English learning. Thus, the thesis for my MA dissertation is“An investigation into the use of extracurricular activities to promote English practice for lower secondary school students in Quang Tri province ".
Aims of the research This research is implemented to investigate into lower secondary school teachers' perceptions of using ECAs in promoting English practice for their students. The researcher also aims to survey the reality of using ECAs by teachers of English in some lower secondary schools in Quang Tri province. Moreover, this research hopefully discovers the difficulties that teachers encounter toward that use of ECAs. Additionally, through this research, the researcher would like to make an all-out effort to bring out some possible implications to that use of ECAs.
They will be accommodating for the teachers of English in lower secondary schools in Quang Tri, as well as for teachers in other schools in Viet Nam, to promote English practice for students. Significance of the research Extracurricular activities seem to be not only popular in English language teaching contexts around the world, but also in Vietnamese English language teaching contexts. In the case of Quang Tri province where the research takes place, many English teachers have regularly been exploiting this technique in promoting English practice, especially for lower secondary school students. Thus, when this research on the use of ECAs is 2 successfully implemented, it is expected that ECAs can be used more popularly to benefit at least English teachers at Quang Tri lower secondary school in their teaching career; at the same time promote their students’ English practice.
Moreover, it is also hoped that more and more ECAs will be designed and applied by teachers.