VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES NGUYỄN VIỆT HÙNG SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHER’S PERCEPTIONS OF TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING AND THEIR BELIEFS ABOUT THE CURRENT SERIES OF ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS (Nhận thức của giáo viên THPT về Phương pháp dạy học Tiếng Anh dựa vào nhiệm vụ và niềm tin của họ về bộ sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh) A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Hanoi, April 2017 z VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES NGUYỄN VIỆT HÙNG SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHER’S PERCEPTIONS OF TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING AND THEIR BELIEFS ABOUT THE CURRENT SERIES OF ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS (Nhận thức của giáo viên THPT về Phương pháp dạy học Tiếng Anh dựa vào nhiệm vụ và niềm tin của họ về bộ sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh) A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 62 14 01 11 Supervisor: Prof. Hoàng Văn Vân Hanoi, April 2017 z DECLARATION I certify that this dissertation does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief: (i) incorporate without acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher education; (ii) contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text; or (iii) contain any defamatory material. i z DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my parents who have brought me up and helped me to become the person I am. I offer them all my affection for their love and understanding of this important period of my life, which has taken me so far away from my family.
I also dedicate this dissertation to my lifelong partner, wife, and very best friend, Thu. Her life and her weekends have been put on hold for the previous years of our lives in order to help me achieve my goal of earning this doctorate degree. Her undying and loving support has helped me through this research process. My thesis would not have been materialized without her and her constant encouragement.
ii z ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Ph. thesis would not have become a reality without the help of many people. First and foremost, I acknowledge my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Hoang Van Van, for his continuing encouragement, invaluable suggestions and feedback, and patient guidance throughout my study.
He has showed impressive expertise in academic research and, as well, in the supervision of his postgraduate students. I have benefited not only from his rich experience in academic research, but also from his personal merits: earnest, kind, sincere, and caring. Secondly, I am enormously indebted to Prof. Nguyen Hoa, Assoc.
Le Hung Tien, Assoc. Le Van Canh, Dr. Do Quang Viet, and Dr. Huynh Anh Tuan, who have given me encouragements, generous help and suggestions in my research project.
Next, my heartfelt thanks goes to all the participants, from many provinces, who cooperated with me in this research. Their views and comments gave me boundless inspiration. Without their cooperation and contributions, this thesis would have never been made possible. A special thanks go to the following directors of different provincial department of education and training and co-ordinators of the National Foreign Language 2020 Project (NFL 2020 Project) of these departments who helped me get into contact with participants: Mr.
Le Van Quy – Director and Ms. Lu Thi Van – co-ordinator of NFL 2020 Project of Dien Bien Department of Education and Training, Mr. Nguyen An Ninh – Director and Mr. Le Thanh Hai – co-ordinator of NFL 2020 Project of Lao Cai Department of Education and Training, Mr.
Nguyen Minh Thanh – Director and Ms. Le Thi Hong – co-ordinator of NFL 2020 Project of Hoa Binh Department of Education and Training, Mr. Hoang Tien Duc – Director and Ms. Pham Thi Thuan – co-ordinator of NFL 2020 Project of Son La Department of Education and Training, Mr.
Do Van Han – Director and Ms. Pham Thu Hang – co-ordinator of NFL 2020 Project of Lai Chau Department of Education and Training, Mr. Tran Xuan Hung – Director and Mr. Dang Tran Ha – co-ordinator of NFL 2020 Project of Yen Bai Department of Education and Training.
In addition, I owe my debts to some of the experts in this field who gave me consultations to my questions in some stages of research, such as research design, research method, data analysis at times when I was highly confused: Assoc. Phan Le Ha, Assoc. Nguyen Thuy Minh, Prof. Nathan Carr, Prof.
Simon Borg, Dr. Hoang Xuan Hoa, Dr. To Thu Huong, Assoc. Nguyen Phuong Nga, Dr.
Duong Thi Nu, Dr. Tran Hoai Phuong, Dr. Duong Thu Mai, Dr. Hoang Thi Hanh, and Dr.
Vu Hai Ha. Moreover, I would like to extend my gratitude to my friends such as Nguyen Manh Cuong, Bui Van Hau, and Blake Nichols for their kind support and willingness to proofread of my drafts. Also, I wish to express my profound gratitude to my family, my parents, my sister, and my brother. They have been so supportive and encouraging that I can always feel their care.
Their love and encouragements have made my long journey to PhD thesis colorful and enjoyable. Last, but by no means least, I am thankful to my wife whose deep and warm love is the most important source of courage and motivation for me to move along this journey. Being so thoughtful and being always by my side, she has helped me in the most special and tender way! iii z TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. III TABLE OF CONTENTS.
IV LIST OF TABLES. VIII LIST OF FIGURES. Aim of the Study. Objectives of the Study.
Significance of the Study. Scope of the Study. Organization of the Study. The Main Concepts Related to the Research.
Teacher Perception and Teacher Belief. Task and TBLT. Theoretical Issues of Task-Based Language Teaching. Theoretical Foundations of TBLT.
Framework of TBLT. Definition of TBLT Framework. Different TBLT Frameworks. TBLT Framework by Willis (1996).
Principles of TBLT. Differences between TBLT and Other Teaching Models. Techniques of TBLT. The Current Series of English Textbooks for Upper Secondary Schools in Vietnam.
Content of the Textbooks. Target Knowledge Covered in the Textbooks. Language Skills Taught in the Textbooks Series. Tasks and Activities.
Previous Related Research. Research into Teachers’ Perceptions and Beliefs in Task-Based Language Teaching. Research Related to Teachers’ Beliefs about the Current Series of English Textbooks. Research Setting and Participants.
Research Collection Instruments. Quantitative Analysis in Phase 1. Qualitative Analysis in Phase 2. Data Analysis Techniques.
Reliability and Validity. Reliability and Validity of the First Questionnaire (Teachers’ perceptions of TBLT). Reliability and Validity of the Second Questionnaire (Teachers’ beliefs about Textbooks). Credibility, Transferability, Dependability and Confirmability.
General Findings about Teachers’ Perceptions of TBLT. Teachers’ Perceptions of “the Philosophies of TBLT”. Teachers’ Perceptions of “the Definitions of TBLT”. Teachers’ Perceptions of “the Principles of TBLT”.
Teachers’ Perceptions of “the Features of TBLT”. Teachers’ Perceptions of “the Stages of TBLT”. Teachers’ Perceptions of “the Techniques of TBLT”. General Findings about Teachers’ Beliefs about the Textbooks.
Teachers’ Beliefs about “the Textbook Objectives”. Teachers’ Beliefs about “the Content of the Textbooks”. Teachers’ Beliefs about “the Knowledge of the Textbooks”. Teachers’ Beliefs about “the Skills taught in the Textbooks”.
Teachers’ Beliefs about “the Tasks and Activities of the Textbooks”. Teachers’ Beliefs about “the Teaching Method of the Textbooks”. DISCUSSION AND INTERPRETATION. Discussions of the Findings about Teachers’ Perceptions of TBLT.
Teachers’ Perceptions of TBLT. Teachers have fair perceptions of TBLT. Higher Score on Teachers’ Perceptions of TBLT in the Quantitative Phase than in the Qualitative Phase. Differences in Perception of TBLT between Groups.
Teachers’ Perceptions of TBLT Tends to be Task-supported Language Teaching. Factors Affecting Teachers’ Perceptions of TBLT. Discussions of the Findings about Teachers’ Beliefs about the Textbooks. Teachers’ Beliefs about the Textbooks.
Teachers Have Fair Beliefs about the Textbooks. Higher Score on Teachers’ Beliefs about the Textbooks in Quantitative Phase 1 than in the Qualitative Phase 2. Differences in Beliefs about the Textbooks between Teachers in Groups. Factors Affecting Teachers’ Beliefs about the Textbooks and Main Proposals.
Summary of the Major Points of the Study. Summary of the Study. Limitation of the Study. Implications for Future Research.148 RESEARCHER’S ARTICLES RELATED TO THE THESIS .152 vii z LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Components of teacher cognition Table 1.2: General objectives to achieve in Grade 10 to Grade 12 (MOET, 2006: 19-25) Table 1.3: Topics in English 10, English 11 and English 12 Table 1.4: Themes covered in the English curriculum Table 2.1: Demographic Data of Survey Participants’ Background Information Table 2.2: Brief profiles of 30 cases in case study phase Table 2.3: Overview of the data analysis procedure case studies Table 2.4: The reliability of questionnaire 1 and its domains Table 2.5: Unreliable Items that need being left out the analysis Table 2.6: Correlation between domains in the whole questionnaire Table 2.7: Factor Analysis of Students’ attitudes towards TBLT Table 2.8: The reliability of questionnaire 1 and its domains Table 2.9: Correlation between domains in the whole questionnaire (5.10: Factor Analysis of Students’ attitudes towards TBLT Table 3.1: The descriptive statistics for Domain 1 Table 3.2: The interview’s main themes for Domain 1 Table 3.3: The descriptive statistics for Domain 2 Table 3.4: The interview’s main themes for Domain 2 Table 3.5: The descriptive statistics for Domain 3 Table 3.6: Teachers’ perception of principles of TBLT Table 3.7: The descriptive statistics for Domain 4 Table 3.8: Teachers’ perception of features of TBLT Table 3.9: The descriptive statistics for Domain 5 Table 3.10: The descriptive statistics for Domain 6 Table 3.11: Teachers’ perception of techniques of TBLT Table 3.12: The descriptive statistics for Domain 1 Table 3.13: Teachers’ beliefs about objectives of textbooks Table 3.14: The descriptive statistics for Domain 2 Table 3.15: Teachers’ beliefs about content of textbooks Table 3.16: The descriptive statistics for Domain 3 Table 3.17: Teachers’ beliefs about knowledge of textbooks viii z Table 3.18: The descriptive statistics for Domain 4 Table 3.19: Teachers’ beliefs about skills of textbooks Table 3.20: The descriptive statistics for Domain 5 Table 3.21: Teachers’ beliefs about tasks and activities of textbooks Table 3.22: The descriptive statistics for Domain 6 Table 3.23: Teachers’ beliefs about teaching method of textbooks Table 4.1: The descriptive statistics for the whole questionnaire and domains Table 4.2: Perception percentage of the whole questionnaire and domains Table 4.3: Typical focused themes of teachers’ perception of TBLT Table 4.4: Differences in teachers’ perception of TBLT according to provinces Table 4.5: Differences in teachers’ perception of TBLT according to economic Table 4.6: Differences in teachers’ perception of TBLT according to first degree Table 4.7: Qualitative data of teachers’ perception of TBLT Table 4.8: Model summary of the whole questionnaire and domains “Teachers’ perception of TBLT” Table 4.9: Coefficient of prediction model 3 for the main domain “Teachers’ perception of TBLT” Table 4.10: Unfocused themes of teachers’ perception of TBLT Table 4.11: The descriptive statistics for the whole questionnaire and domains Table 4.12: Belief percent of the whole questionnaire and domains Table 4.13: Typical focused themes of teachers’ beliefs about textbooks Table 4.14: Differences in teachers’ beliefs about textbooks according to provinces Table 4.15: Model summary of the whole questionnaire and domains Table 4.16: Coefficient of prediction model 3 for the main domain Table 4.17: Unfocused themes of teachers’ beliefs about textbooks ix z LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: The construct of teacher cognition (Borg, 2003) Figure 1.2: Modification construct of teacher cognition Figure 1.3: Willis’ framework of TBLT (Willis, 1996) Figure 1.