VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES --------***------- NGUYỄN THỊ LAN ANH AN INVESTIGATION INTO STUDENTS’ RETICENCE IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS- A CASE OF TOAN THANG HIGH SCHOOL (ĐIỀU TRA VỀ TÍNH TRẦM LẶNG CỦA HỌC SINH TRONG CÁC GIỜ NÓI TIẾNG ANH - ĐIỂN CỨU TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT TOÀN THẮNG) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60. ĐỖ THỊ THANH HÀ HANOI, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES --------***------- NGUYỄN THỊ LAN ANH AN INVESTIGATION INTO STUDENTS’ RETICENCE IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS- A CASE OF TOAN THANG HIGH SCHOOL (ĐIỀU TRA VỀ TÍNH TRẦM LẶNG CỦA HỌC SINH TRONG CÁC GIỜ NÓI TIẾNG ANH - ĐIỂN CỨU TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT TOÀN THẮNG) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.
ĐỖ THỊ THANH HÀ HANOI, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby state that I, Nguyễn Thị Lan Anh, being a candidate for the Degree of Master of Arts, accept the requirement of the University relating to the retention and use of M. Thesis deposited in the library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for care, loan, or reproduction of the paper.2014 Signature Nguyễn Thi ̣Lan Anh i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Đỗ Thị Thanh Hà, for her valuable advice, constructive comments, patient support and encouragement in the completion of this M.
I would like to send my sincere thanks to my informants in this study, whom I selected as the target subjects of this research. Without their enthusiastic contribution and cooperation, this research would certainly not have been completed. In the thesis, it is inevitable that the ideas of many other writers in this field are reflected and developed. Their ideas have stimulated my thinking on doing this paper.
My debt to the authors listed in the references is equally great. To all these scholars, I offer my sincere thanks. Finally, I am greatly thankful to my family and friends, who are forever a great source of support and encouragement. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Realizing many 11th graders at Toan Thang high school being passive in English Speaking classes, this study aims to explore students‟ perception toward their reticence behaviour in real- world classes, factors contributing to it and students‟ expectation.
A total of 373 students enrolled in eight 11th grade classes, were first observed in eight English Speaking lessons, and then filled in two sets of open-ended questionnaire. After that, six of them were interviewed using semi- structured format. A mix- method analysis is conducted to explore the findings. From the study, it is revealed that students have strong willingness to participate in English activities though they rarely do so in reality due to various learning misconceptions.
The result indicates that teachers need not only to use interesting, various and suitable activities to encourage students to learn the target language but also to explain and have more informal talks with students to teach them how to learn effectively. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .vi LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS. vii PART A: INTRODUCTION.
Aim of the study. Scope of the study. Design of the study.4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Reticence behaviour in foreign language class.
The concept of reticence. Interpretation of reticence. Consequences of reticence. Students‟ reticence behaviour in English speaking lessons.
Students’ participation in verbal interaction. Potential obstacles to students’ verbal participation. Teachers’ roles towards students participation .9 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODS OF THE STUDY. Participants and setting of the study.
Setting of the study. Data collection instruments. Data collection procedure. Data analysis procedure .18 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS.
Students’ reticence behaviour in English Speaking classes. Factors affecting students’ behaviour .30 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. To what extent do the students remain reticent in English speaking classes, and what activities make them the most reticent?. What are students’ perception of their own learning behaviour and factors influencing such behaviour?.
What are students’ perspectives on whether, and how, to move the classroom to a more interactive mode?. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further study .39 APPENDIX 1: OBSERVATION TRANSCRIPT. VIII APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE (English) -Part 1.
XV APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE (English) -Part 2. XVIII APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONNAIRE (Vietnamese) -Part 1. XXI APPENDIX 5: QUESTIONNAIRE (Vietnamese) -Part 2 .XXIV APPENDIX 6: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (English). XXVII APPENDIX 7: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (Vietnamese) .XXIX APPENDIX 8: DETAILED ANALYSIS RESULT FOR GRAPH 1 .XXXI APPENDIX 9: DETAILED ANALYSIS RESULT FOR GRAPH 2.
XXXIV APPENDIX 10: DETAILED ANALYSIS RESULT FOR GRAPH 3. XXXV v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT Communicative Language Teaching EFL English as a Foreign Language ELT English Language Teaching Ss Students T Teacher vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS TABLE 1 Data collection procedure in brief Page 18 GRAPH 1 Students‟ self evaluation- The frequency of Page 22 attending English Speaking Activities GRAPH 2 Students‟ real participation in class Page 24 TABLE 2 Students‟ self evaluation- The frequency of XXXI attending English Speaking Activities (with Mean, Mode, Median, Standard Deviation, p- value and Standard Deviation formula in excel) GRAPH 3 Students‟ evaluation of main factors affecting Page 26 their reticence TABLE 3 Students‟ self evaluation- The frequency of XXXII attending English Speaking Activities (with Correlation coefficient formula) TABLE 4 Students‟ self evaluation- The frequency of XXXII attending English Speaking Activities (with Spearman- Brown correction formula) TABLE 5 Students‟ real participation in class (with p- XXXIV value formula) TABLE 6 Students‟ evaluation of main factors affecting XXXV their reticence vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Because of the increasing status of English as a world language, people in Viet Nam in general and in my hometown of Tien Lang in particular are becoming more and more aware of the importance of the spoken English. This awareness was reflected not only during many daily informal talks but also officially in the national English language curriculum (MOET, 2006) which required high school students to be able to conduct conversations in English on familiar daily life topics.
Despite this expectation, many high school students have been observed to be either quiet, uncooperative or to speak English with a trembling voice, make numerous unnecessary pauses, or have shaking hands or legs, etc. during the lesson. This study was motivated by my concern about the apparent reluctance of Toan Thang high school students to participate in English- speaking class interactions. The decision to look into students‟ reticence at Toan Thang high school was first inspired by my teaching and living experience with the students in this school for more than three years.
Such contact not only allows a valuable rapport with members of this case but also encourages my interest in further understanding students‟ perception and expectation. Initial observations at the selected location reveals that spontaneous discourse was rare in many English speaking classes and many oral interactions not only did not include any students‟ individual thoughts or elaborated responses but also fostered a great deal of dependence on the teacher. As a result, both teachers and students have become frustrated and often complained about the quality of the learning outcome. This makes it urgent to examine this phenomenon to better understand the learning situation at Toan Thang high school and ultimately enhance the learning and teaching of oral English here.
The second reason is my realization that students themselves and students in different context (both educational context and 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com background) exhibit different behaviour and worldviews, which would contribute diverse perspectives, experiences and insights into the topic of reticence. The above reasons actually drive the researcher to a study thesis, namely “An investigation into students’ reticence in English speaking lessons - A case of Toan Thang high school”. Aim of the study The current study aims at: Exploring the nature of students‟ reticence in English speaking lessons at Toan Thang high school and some common situations for reticence to flourish, Investigating students‟ viewpoints of their own learning behaviour and potential obstacles to their verbal participation in the classroom, Finding out students‟ aspiration on whether, and how, to move the classroom to a more interactive mode. Research questions (1) To what extent do the students remain reticent in English speaking classes, and what activities make them the most reticent? (2) What are students‟ perceptions of their own learning behaviour and factors influencing such behaviour? (3) What are students‟ perspectives on whether, and how, to move the classroom into a more interactive mode? 4.
Scope of the study Within the framework of a minor M. thesis, the researcher only focuses on the real situation of reticence happening among 11th graders in their English speaking lessons at Toan Thang high school, as well as their various angles and desires towards this issue. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Methods To achieve the aims mentioned above, the study adopts the methodological approach of a survey study using mixed methods for data collection.
The tools for data gathering include class observation, semi-structured interview and questionnaire. Design of the study There are three main parts in the thesis: Part A: Introduction, which presents the rationale, aims, scope and research questions. Part B: Development of the research which includes: Chapter 1: Literature Review, which reviews theoretical foreground from the previous studies on students‟ reticence behaviour in general and in English speaking classes in particular. Chapter 2: Research Methods of the Study, which composes of 3 parts: the fitness of case study to the research purpose, participants‟ description and setting of the study (the case), and data collection.
Chapter 3: Findings and discussion, which is the discussion of the findings through an analysis of the data collected through means of researching: observations, semi-structured interviews and questionnaire. Part C: Conclusion, in which major findings of the study will be briefly summarized as well as the acknowledgement of the limitations of the study will be elaborated. Besides, the classroom transcripts, interview transcripts, questionnaires and tables of data analysis results are included in the Appendices. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.
Reticence behaviour in foreign language class 1. The concept of reticence The terminology of reticence in academic writing was first introduced in 1965 with Phillips‟ article introducing to the field of speech communication and the notion that some people had difficulty communicating across a range of situations. After his groundbreaking contribution, reticence caught the attention of many researchers and linguists under different cognate constructs such as reticence (Keaten & Kelly, 2000), communication incompetence, communication apprehension (McCroskey, 1970) and unwillingness to communicate (Burgoon, 1976). Their studies, no matter how different they were, agreed with Keaten and Kelly on an affirmation that reticence was a communication problem with cognitive, affective and behavioral dimensions and was due to the belief that one was better off remaining silent than risking appearing foolish.
(Keaten & Kelly, 2000) My own standpoint of reticence is strongly influenced by Keaten & Kelly‟s affirmation, which has been narrowed down to a specific situation- English Speaking classroom.