MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY HOANG VIET LINH 443035 ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE IMPORTANCE OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGE: A STUDY AT HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY GRADUATION THESIS Hanoi - 2023 MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY HOANG VIET LINH 443035 ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE IMPORTANCE OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGE: A STUDY AT HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY Major: English Language GRADUATION THESIS SUPERVISOR Nguyen Thi Hong Thu, MA. Hanoi - 2023 DECLARATIONS I hereby state that I: Hoang Viet Linh — Class 4430, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper 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 purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper. April 2", 2023 Supervisor Student Nguyen Thi Hong Thu, M.
Hoang Viet Linh iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to pay my special regards to those who have offered me invaluable assistance in the completion of my graduation thesis. My great reverence is for all the respected lecturers of the Faculty of Legal Foreign Languages for their substantial help during my years of formal education at Hanoi Law University. My eternal gratitude to my Supervisor, Ms. Hong Thu Nguyen Thi, M., for her unwavering guidance, constructive criticism, and practical suggestions throughout the duration of the thesis.
My genuine appreciation to every member of the Thesis Committee for their fair assessment and comprehensive review, as well as favorable feedback for my future research. My heartfelt thanks go to the legal English-majored students from course 44 for their active cooperation in the process of data collection. Iam profoundly indebted to my beloved family and close friends for their wise counsel and sympathetic ear throughout the journey. In the absence of the unconditional, unequivocal, and wholehearted support of these individuals, my graduation thesis could not have been accomplished.
ABSTRACTS The strong relationship between language and culture has been widely acknowledged by many scholars and researchers. Numerous studies have been conducted to figure out the importance of cultural learning in English language education. Promoting the interest in learning English through literature is viewed as one of the most ways to increase a student’s proficiency in a second language. On that account, this study aimed to investigate what English- majored students perceive about the importance of English literature in English language learning, difficulties in learning process and some methods to improve so that they can enhance their foreign language competence.
The research was implemented with the cooperation of 97 questionnaire respondents, together with 15 interviewees from legal English majors at HLU (course 44). The study was conducted by taking a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods with a survey questionnaire and in-depth interviews. The findings revealed that most of the students expressed positive attitudes towards the role of culture in English language learning. The results also signify that some seniors had to confront some problems and adopt numerous methods to improve the efficiency of their language over the process of learning English literature.
Some constructive recommendations for students, educators, and the Faculty of Legal Foreign Languages were given regarding facilitating the quality of foreign language learning acquisition in English literature classes at HLU. TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATIONS iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv ABSTRACTS V LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES. x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xii INTRODUCTION 1 1. Rationale for the study 1 2.
Aims of the study 3 3. Objectives of the study 3 4. Scope of the study 4 6. Significance of the study 4 7.
Organization of the study 5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Learning foreign language in higher education. The definition of foreign language. Learning foreign language in Vietnam and abroad.
Learning English at Hanoi Law UniVersÌty. English literature and learning English literature at university. The definition of English literafure.-- -- «+ s««+s+esexsx+esex 9 vi 1. The importance of English literature in learning foreign language 1.
Learning and teaching literature at Hanoi Law University. Previous studies in relation to the importance of English literature in learning foreign lang b 15 1. Procedures of đdata eollecfion. Data from questionnaire 21 224:2.
Date fromrancdepth interview ta sxsssencsns asarssenevcousnceoccennesnanceonecenannsns 22 2.8 Y 24 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS. Results and diseussion of the quesfionnaire. The legal English-majored seniors” information.1:1:1: The:senii6fsˆ øeniđef PAG coi cssscsssoticg66354466065 006516 10601438301816 25 3. The seniors’ years of learning English.
The seniors° English proficiency levels. The legal English-majored seniors’ perceptions towards the importance of English literature in learning foreign language. The seniors’ perceptions towards the importance of English literature in learning foreign language. The seniors’ perceptions towards the difficulties of learning English literature during the €OUITS€S.
The methods employed by the legal English-majored seniors for the improvement to foreign laguage skills through learning English literature 40 3. The seniors’ opinions on the best ways to improve foreign language skills through English literature classes. The seniors’ anwers on the methods students should do to improve foreign language skills through English literature at home 44 3. Results and discussion of the interview 3.
The legal English-majored seniors’ perceptions towards the importance of English literature in learning foreign language through literature courses 47 3. The legal English-majored seniors’ difficulties with English literature in learning foreign language. The methods employed by legal English-majored seniors to handle the problems in learning foreign language through English literature classes 49 3.8 y 50 viii CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS. Recommendations for legal English-majored seniors.
Recommendations for legal English-majored lecturers. Recommendations for the Faculty of Legal Foreign Languages. Summary of the main finding 56 2. Limitations and suggestions for further research.-- 58 REFERENCES i APPENDICES vi Appendix I: Survey quesfÏ0nNNÏF€.
-- 5c tt Sexeverrrtetrrexex vi Appendix II: In-depth ÍnterVi€W. ác Sàn xi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES FIGURES: Eigure 1. The seniorsˆ gender rafio (N97). The seniors ` years 0ƒ learning English (N=97).
The seniors` English profìcieney levels (N=97). Integration of Mean Score of Descriptive VaÌe. The seniors’ perceptions towards the importance of English literature in learning foreign l guag 28 Table 3. The seniors’ perceptions towards difficulties of learning English literature during the courses 35, Table 4.
Case summary of seniors’ opini 40 Table 5. The seniors’ opinions on the best ways to improve foreign language Skills through English literature ClASS€S. - se ++++v+x+v+e+vsveeevrvevrvee 41 Table 6. Case summary of seniors’ answers Table 7.
The seniors’ answers on the methods students should do to improve foreign language skills through English literature at home xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HLU : Hanoi Law University EFL : English as a Foreign Language SPSS : Statistical Package for the Social Sciences INTRODUCTION The principal objective of this section is to form the basis of the research paper with a detailed explanation of its rationale, aims, research questions, scope, significance, and organization. Rationale for the study English is agreed that it was and will continue to be the most prevailing language in the world in the years to come, in Vietnam, it has developed and changed over the years. Due to globalization and the rapid development of information and communication technologies, English is becoming more and more important in the Vietnamese education system. Hence, the role of language education is of vital necessity in order to equip younger generations with a good command of the English language for the purpose of becoming global citizens.
It is widely agreed that language and culture have a strong relationship and it is impossible to separate them from each other. Such an interwoven relationship has been investigated and confirmed by many researchers and scholars. To equip students for a modern society of globalization and economic integration, it is ultimate to help them understand the role of culture in English language learning because communication nowadays is taken place among people from diversified cultural backgrounds. Carter and McRae (2001:10) recommend using literature to help students go beyond “acquiring basic knowledge of the language” to “learning about the language and how it works” because using literature can help develop the “fourth” skill in language.
The use of literature as a technique for teaching both basic language skills (i., reading, writing, listening, and speaking) and language areas (i., vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation) is very popular within the field of foreign language learning and teaching nowadays. Similar to other countries in the world, English literature is taught in Vietnam for a number of reasons, the most common being that it provides easy 1 access to motivating content materials and cultural context, facilitates language acquisition, broadens students’ language awareness, and develops students’ interpretive skills. In terms of students’ perceptions of the importance of English literature in EFL, it was a vital component as their perceptions had a strong impact on their success in language learning and culture learning, and especially, people possessed positive attitudes towards language learning through literature and its people could learn target better than those who did not have a such positive attitude. The texts in the course will encourage reading, thereby promoting language acquisition and increasing students’ language awareness.
Traditionally, students only learn the grammar and technicalities of the language, but as literature is introduced into the curriculum, literature classes become more effective for foreign language learning because of its funny and close. Smith (Smith: 1972:276) points out a similar attitude when he states that “No teacher of literature ignores linguistic problems and no language teacher really wants to leave his students speaking a sterile impoverished version of the language”, implying that a knowledge of literature ‘adorns’, ‘hones’, and ‘polishes’ language learners’, and by the same token any language user’s linguistic skills and competencies while knowledge of language allows for better and more appreciative readers of literary texts. In response to the urgent demand for literature acquisition with the aim of learning a foreign language, the faculties of English in various tertiary institutions have incorporated the subject of English - American Literature into the curriculum, and the Faculty of Legal Foreign Languages at HLU is no exception. However, not many legal English-majored seniors perceive the significant influence of English literature on foreign language learning so as to study the subject with deliberate efforts and to prepare meticulously for their English credits of basic language.
For that reason, the researcher, as a student majoring in legal English, have reached a decision to undertake a study on legal English-majored students’ perceptions towards the importance of English 2 literature in learning a foreign language at HLU with the hope that this study partly helps the seniors better in their English foreign language. Aims of the study The chief purpose of the study is to explore the legal English-majored students’ perception towards the importance of English literature in learning foreign language at HLU. To be more specific, this study is conducted to seek the answers to the following issues: e The students’ perception towards the importance of English literature in learning foreign language. e The difficulties of learning English literature that students encounter to improve foreign language.
e The recommended methods for students to improve their foreign language through English literature. Objectives of the study The study objectives describe how the researcher accomplish the study project about the legal English-majored students’ perception towards the importance of English literature in learning foreign language at HLU. The main objectives of the study may be indicated as under: ¢ Conduct a survey to investigate students’ perceptions. e Carry out the interviews to find out the challenges.
e Point out some techniques which can help students improve. Research questions The research will be implemented to resolve the following question: ¢ Question 1: What are the perceptions of the English major students at HLU about the importance of English literature in learning foreign language through literature courses?