VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ĐỖ THỊ THANH DUNG TEACHER-STUDENT INTERACTION AND STUDENTS’ SPEAKING: A STUDY ON LISTENING – SPEAKING CLASSES WITH FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT FELTE – ULIS - VNU Tương tác giữa giáo viên – sinh viên và kỹ năng nói của sinh viên năm thứ nhất trong các buổi học Nghe – Nói tại Khoa sư phạm Tiếng Anh – Đại học Ngoại ngữ - ĐHQGHN M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI, 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ĐỖ THỊ THANH DUNG TEACHER-STUDENT INTERACTION AND STUDENTS’ SPEAKING: A STUDY ON LISTENING – SPEAKING CLASSES WITH FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT FELTE – ULIS - VNU Tương tác giữa giáo viên – sinh viên và kỹ năng nói của sinh viên năm thứ nhất trong các buổi học Nghe – Nói tại Khoa sư phạm Tiếng Anh – Đại học Ngoại ngữ - ĐHQGHN M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc. Le Van Canh HANOI, 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “Teacher-student interaction and students’ speaking: A study on listening – speaking classes with first year students at FELTE – ULIS - VNU” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Languages and International Studies, Viet Nam National University.
This thesis has not been previously submitted for any other degrees. The work was done under the guidance of Associate Professor Le Van Canh, at the University of Languages and International Studies. Hanoi, June 2016 Đỗ Thị Thanh Dung i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express the deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Associate Professor Doctor Le Van Canh for his encouragement, supervision and support all along the course of research. This paper would not have been accomplished without his expert, constant and valuable guidance and criticism.
My special thanks also go to my colleagues and students at Division 1, Faculty of English Language and Teaching Education, ULIS – VNU for their enthusiastic participation during the process of data collection. Finally, I would also like to express my sincere thank and love to my family who gave me time and encouragement to overcome all obstacles during the completion of this study. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Due to its significant influence on learners' linguistic skills, classroom interaction has been widely discussed by researchers of the field. This present research aims to present an analysis of teacher-learner in-class interaction at speaking-listening classes in the context of Vietnam.
Interaction patterns, teachers‟ question and feedback and learners‟ talk are put into investigation. The participants include 75 first year students and three teachers at Faculty of English Language Teaching Education, University of Languages and International Studies. Data is collected by classroom observation with audio-taping and field notes. After transcripts are produced, interviews with three teachers and six students are implemented to obtain more information.
Interaction patterns are categorized, different aspects of teacher talk and learner talk are analyzed according to recognized frameworks. The result demonstrates that the structure of classroom interactional mechanism is characterized by Initiation-Response-Follow up pattern, in which most of the first and the third moves are taken by teachers. Teachers‟ questioning creates many opportunities for learners to produce output, whereas their feedback sometimes interrupts learners‟ flow of talk. Although students do not take initiatives to make questions, they fully participate in discussions.
Pedagogical recommendations and propositions for future fields of research are offered at the end of the study. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABRREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching DQ: Display questions RQ: Referential questions FELTE: Faculty of English Language Teaching and Education FL: Foreign language L2: Second Language ULIS: University of Languages and International Studies TL: Target Language VNU: Vietnam National University iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ii PART A: INTRODUCTION. Time spent on major episodes in a roughly 60-minute lesson.
Patterns used in Teacher-Student Interaction. Number of turns students speak in exchanges with Teacher. Teacher's Follow-up. Lexical density and Mean of Responses to Display questions and Referential questions.
56 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF ABRREVIATIONS. iv LIST OF FIGURES. v TABLE OF CONTENTS.
vi PART A: INTRODUCTION. Problem Statement and Rationale. Objectives and Significance. 5 CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Classroom Interaction: A definition. The role of interaction in second language learning. Theoretical perspectives on classroom interaction. The cognitive interactionist tradition.
The sociocultural theory tradition. Approaches to studying classroom interaction. Discourse analysis approaches. Conversation analysis approaches.
13 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Types of classroom interaction. Teacher - student interaction. Student - student interaction.
24 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY. Context and Participants. Data Collection Instruments. Data Collection Procedure.
Data analysis instruments. 31 CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS. Teacher‟s Initiating Questions. 55 CHAPTER FOUR: DISCUSSION.
65 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Teachers‟ Initiating Questions. I viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction The influence of classroom interaction on students‟ learning in the context of second/foreign language education has been researched from different theoretical perspectives (e.
It has been documented in the literature that classroom interaction is noticeably central to all classroom activities that make up classroom practices (e. For example, River (1987) states that students have opportunities to practice their possess of the target language and increase their language store. This is also confirmed in Mackey‟s research (1999) about the relationship between interaction and language acquisition. The participation in the interaction could facilitate learning development.
Furthermore, Long (1990) asserts that language acquisition is the result of an interaction between the learners‟ mental abilities and the linguistic environment. For English foreign language learners, especially those are studying English in a non-English speaking setting, classroom is often considered a prime educational institution where they can practice the target language. In other words, practicing English as a foreign language usually occurs inside the classroom. To put it differently, students are rare to practice the target language outside the classroom.
Accordingly, classroom interaction is considered a vital means to master the language and speaking skills in particular. In English foreign language class, the teacher‟s role is crucial since teachers integrate every element under their role to create or facilitate an appropriate learning environment in the classroom. They can foster classroom conditions that encourage or restrict successful student participation (Hall, 1998). In fact, the teacher is expected to initiate, manage, and keep conversation and communication going.
To involve students in classroom interaction, asking questions and giving feedback to learners' responses are two of effective measures that teachers could utilize. 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Obviously, learners also play an integral role in their language acquisition. Swain (1988) considers that students are learning while participating in classroom interaction. They need to use the language resource they have already acquired to produce "comprehensible output".
By interacting verbally, learners manage to use diverse strategies as speaking in a low pace, repeating while clarifying their view points throughout paraphrasing to make themselves understood by their colleagues and teacher (Chadia, 2011). In order to improve teaching and learning, apart from devoting a considerable amount of time to teaching methods and to subject knowledge, teachers are suggested to be well aware of the significance of teacher talk, the process of interaction and their nexus with learning. They, in practice, need to stimulate students to interact verbally and arouse their thinking by asking genuine questions. Beforehand, it is essential to make students comprehend how important and significant discussing in the process of learning is.
On the other hand, students are supposed and expected to provide contributions of their own. As a result, teachers and learners work collectively when dealing with language tasks, listening to one another in a respectful way, and valuing others' contribution. Problem Statement and Rationale Despite a large body of research on classroom interaction, the issue remained under-researched in the context of Vietnam. Some of studies are Classroom interaction in a Vietnamese university English class (Dung, 2004), Teacher questioning strategies and classroom interaction in Ly Thai To school (Thu, 2008).
These research tends to concentrate on effects of teachers‟ questioning behaviors, without examining teachers‟ feedback as an influencing factor on learners‟ talk. Students‟ use of language also receives less investigation than expected. In addition, while there has been evidence that students could learn the target language through interaction in classroom, it has not been known properly to what extent different kinds of interaction lead to language learning. Another drawback could be found in 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com recent studies such as Kouicem's in 2009, Bouraya‟s in 2011 is the single source of data from students‟ questionnaire and/or teachers‟ interview to examine the relation of classroom interaction and learners' speaking.
Without audio-recorded or video- taped lessons, this data collecting instrument might not provide adequate information and evidence to reveal the concerned topic. Motivated by the current situation, the present study proposes to investigate classroom interaction with a larger focus by utilizing various data collection and analysis instruments. To be more specific, it is to examine the nexus between teacher – student interaction and its effects on students‟ speaking. Objectives and Significance The current study was conducted at the Faculty of English Language Teaching Education - University of Languages and International Studies.
While the overall aim of the study was to explore classroom interaction patterns in speaking- listening lessons and the extent to which those interaction patterns engaged the students in practicing speaking English, it was designed to achieve the following objectives: 1. to identify the teachers‟ question and feedback as a form of interaction that involves the students into the process of negotiation of meaning; 2. to identify the degree of students‟ engagement in classroom interaction as the result of the teachers‟ approaches to classroom interaction. In order to achieve the above aim and objectives, the study seeks answers for the following questions: 1.
What are features of teacher - student interactions in the lessons? 2. To what extent do teacher - student interactions influence students' speaking? The findings of the present study hopefully enrich reference in the area by providing more empirical evidence. More importantly, the results of this study could contribute to the teacher‟s awareness of their present use of the target 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com language, its critical role and preparing the ground for a more reasoned language use in class. To put it differently, teachers are encouraged to adjust the appropriate language use in class when they understand it more comprehensively.
This also means that learners can benefit, for instance, by being given more interactive learning opportunities or being provided effective feedback. Holding no less importance, teacher-trainers may take classroom interaction analysis into consideration while attending teacher-training courses and doing their practicum. Last but not least, language teaching methodology researchers and teachers might conduct further research in the area to advance English language teaching methods and techniques in the EFL classroom. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.
Classroom Interaction: A definition Interaction is the collaborative exchange of thoughts, feelings or ideas between two or more people, leading to a mutual effect on each other as River (1987). In general, interaction consists of two types: non-verbal interaction and verbal interaction.