VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THANH BÌNH TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING AND THEIR CLASSROOM TEACHING PRACTICES (Niềm tin của giáo viên về phương pháp giảng dạy theo đường hướng giao tiếp và hoạt động giảng dạy trên lớp) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Major: ELT Methodology 60.10 Hanoi, 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THANH BÌNH TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING AND THEIR CLASSROOM TEACHING PRACTICES (Niềm tin của giáo viên về phương pháp giảng dạy theo đường hướng giao tiếp và hoạt động giảng dạy trên lớp) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Major: ELT Methodology Major code: 60. Ngô Hữu Hoàng Hanoi, 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENT Declaration. iii Table of content. iv List of abbreviation terms.
vi List of tables. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY. AIMS OF THE STUDY. SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANGE OF THE STUDY.
ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY. 5 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND. Definition of belief. Teachers’ beliefs about language teaching.
The relationship between beliefs and practices in language teaching. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).1 What is CLT .2 The background to CLT .2 Classic communicative language teaching .3 Current communicative language teaching. The characteristics of CLT. Teachers’ beliefs toward CLT.
Correspondence between beliefs and practices. Discrepancy between beliefs and practices. 17 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com v CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY. Context of the study.
Data collection instruments. Data collection procedure. 24 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Demographic characteristics of teachers studied.
Results of research question 1. Findings from the questionnaire. Findings from the interview. Results of research question 2 .1 Findings from the observation.
Difficulties in applying CLT in the classroom. How to deal with the difficulties. Results of research question 3. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER STUDIES. 44 APPENDICES Appendix 1 : Teachers’ beliefs questionnaire (in English) Appendix 2 : Teachers’ beliefs questionnaire (in Vietnamese) Appendix 3: A sample interview LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi List of abbreviation terms GTM Grammar Translation Method CLT Communicative Language Teaching HUBT Hanoi University of Business and Technology SD Strongly Disagree D Disagree N Neutral A Agree SA Strongly Agree LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vii List of tables Table 1: "Oppositions" between traditional and communicative language 11 teaching. Table 2: Gender of teachers………………………………………………… 26 Table 3: Age of teachers …………………………………………………. 27 Table 4: Years of English Teaching Experience of teachers……….……… 27 Table 5: The descriptive statistic of questionnaire………………………….
28 Table 6: Teachers‟ beliefs and practices in the classroom…………………. 32 Table 7: Factors affecting teachers‟ beliefs…………………………………. 38 List of figure Teacher cognition, schooling, professional education, and classroom Figure 1: practice. 8 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Rationale With regard to help learners to improve their English skills, linguist and language teachers have developed different teaching approaches and methods over the last centuries. In Vietnam, there exist two teaching methods and approaches, namely Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Grammar Translation Method (GTM). However, the way teachers practice teaching in the classroom depends on the beliefs that they think is the best for their students. In facts, it is undeniable that GTM is still the most widely-used and common English teaching approach applied in most of educational institutions in Vietnam.
However, in modern foreign language teaching and learning, GTM shows quite a lot of shortcomings. On the other hand, CLT is in favor and gets a lot of support as well as compliment. It is considered the best and most appropriate approach to teach foreign or second language, thus, it is able to replace the traditional GTM. CLT is well- supported from teachers and educators because of its benefits to learners such as emphasizing on communicative competence, teaching grammar in both deductive and inductive ways, motivating learners by relaxing atmosphere and small group activities.
Focusing on the teaching of CLT, this study explore teachers‟ beliefs, as the initial step towards understanding how to affect the process of schooling as well as understanding the values and beliefs of those who drive those process. Teachers‟ beliefs are important concepts in understanding teachers‟ thought process, instructional practices, change and learning to teach. It was, however, not until the 1970s that research on teaching emphasized the significance of teachers‟ beliefs , which reflect in their teaching practices. According to Borg (2003:81), teachers are “active, thinking decision makers who make instructional choices by drawing on LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 complex practically- oriented, personalized, and context- sensitive networks of knowledge, thought, and beliefs”.
He suggested that beliefs, by affecting the way in which we perceive reality, guide both our thoughts and behaviors. In other words, teachers‟ beliefs greatly impact their instructional decisions in the classroom. At Ha Noi University of Business and Technology (HUBT), English is considered as the most important subject in the curriculum because it helps students a lot in the future such as finding the job, communicating with foreigners, going abroad….Therefore, in order to improve learners‟ communicative competence, teachers had better apply CLT approach instead of GTM method. Although some studies have investigated teachers‟ beliefs about CLT and classroom practices in Asian context (e.g Choi, 1999) and in Vietnam (e.g Pham, 2007), no research has been carried out, to my knowledge, about the impact of English language teachers‟ beliefs on practices with regard to CLT at HUBT.
Studies on this topic draw on questionnaires,on classroom observation, interview,and the writers‟ teaching experiences. The aims of the study Given the need for the importance of teachers‟ beliefs in teaching practice, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between teachers‟ stated beliefs and their teaching in the classroom in terms of CLT approach with reference to 24 teachers at HUBT. The study also finds out the factors that influence what these teachers think, believe and practice. In addition, the results of the study recommend some implications for teacher development and teaching methods at HUBT and Vietnamese university English education.
Research questions: LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. What are HUBT English teachers‟ beliefs about communicative language teaching? 2. How are their teachers‟ beliefs reflected in their practice in the classroom? 3. What are the factors affecting their beliefs? 4.
Scope and significance of the study This paper only concentrates on finding beliefs of the teachers at HUBT in teaching CLT. Because the study explores teachers‟ beliefs in English department at HUBT, the results will not generalize to all teachers of English in Vietnam. In addition, the researcher investigates communicative approach in the relation with traditional method. In teaching foreign language, the most significant goal is to help students develop their communicative competence.
Hence, CLT has been considered as an ideal teaching approach to many teachers and researchers. In Vietnam, English teaching approach is mainly focus on traditional methods; as a result, students have shown low proficiency in speaking and listening. They also have difficulties in communicating in English although they are able to master vocabulary, grammar and reading quite well. Therefore, CLT is the best way to improve learners‟ communicative competence.
By investigating teachers‟ beliefs and classroom practices, this study explores how communicative language teaching has been implemented in HUBT context. Organization of the study: LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 4 This study is composed of three following parts: Introduction presents the background, aims, research questions, the significance, the scope, and the design of the study. Development is organized around three chapters as follows. Chapter 1- Theoretical background, conceptualizes the framework of the study through the discussion of teachers‟ beliefs and CLT Chapter 2 - Methodology, presents the context, the methodology used in this study including the subject, the data collection instruments, data collection procedure, and data analysis.
Chapter 3 – Findings and Discussions consists of a comprehensive analysis of the data and a discussion on the findings of this study. Conclusion offers a summary of the findings, recommendations, limitations, and future directions for further study. DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 The definitions of “Belief” LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 Belief is of great importance in teaching as well as in life. They are involved in helping individuals make sense of the world, influencing how new information is perceived, and whether it is accepted or rejected.
Beliefs colour memories with their evaluation and judgment, and serve to frame our understanding of events. In simple term, “beliefs”, based on the verb “believe”, which comes from two old English words: BE and LIFON. BE meaning "life" (as in being) and LIFON meaning "according to". Therefore, to believe, means to live according to what you believe.
Referring to the definition, “belief” is considered as “one which is part of a system of ideas” (Richards et all: 84). Pajares (1992) asserted that belief systems serve as a personal guide by helping individuals define and understand the world and themselves. The concept of beliefs is also defined by Borg (2001: 186) in the paper name “Teachers‟ beliefs” as : “a belief is a proposition which may be consciously or unconsciously held, is evaluative in that it is accepted as true by the individual, and is therefore imbued with emotive commitment; further, it serves as a guide to thought and behavior”. In the same article, Borg also mentioned four common features of beliefs, namely: (i) the truth element; (ii) the relationship between beliefs and behavior; (iii) conscious versus unconscious beliefs; and (iv) beliefs as value commitment.
In other words, beliefs in general are characterized in terms of knowledge, cognition, proposition, and idea which are accepted as true. Teachers’ beliefs From the 1970s until now, teachers‟ beliefs have been paid attention to by many researchers (Lee, 1998; Borg, 2001; Richards, J.A, 2001; Farrell & Lim , 2005; Altan, M. While Borg (2001) referred the term teachers‟ beliefs simply as teachers‟ pedagogic beliefs, or those beliefs of relevance to an individual‟s teaching, Nespor (1987) and Zheng (2009) share the same idea with a more fully concept that teacher beliefs, as a substructure of one‟s general belief system and coloured by former experience, LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 6 underlie planning, decision making, and behavior of teachers in the classroom. In another research, Basturkmen, Loewen, & Ellis (2004: 244) pointed out that “the term beliefs is defined as statements teachers made about their ideas, thoughts, and knowledge that are expressed as evaluations of what „should be done‟, „should be the case‟, and „is preferable‟” whereas Mohamed (2006) believed that “a teachers‟ beliefs represent a complex, inter- related system of often tacitly held theories, values and assumptions that the teachers deems to be true, and which serve as cognitive filters that interpret new experiences and guide the teacher‟s thoughts and behavior”.
One of the characteristics of teachers‟ beliefs is that it has a relationship with knowledge. However, in many studies on teachers‟ beliefs, it is difficult to distinguish between beliefs and knowledge. Therefore, it is also impossible to distinguish whether teachers refer to their knowledge or beliefs when they plan and make decisions and act in classroom (Verloop et al (2001: 446). Teachers’ beliefs about language teaching It is obviously true that teachers‟ beliefs have great impact on their decisions and judgments in the classroom.
When mentioning the importance of teachers‟ beliefs on language teaching, Pajares (1992) concluded that teachers‟ beliefs had a strong influence on the way they planned their lessons, on the decisions they made, and on their classroom teaching practices. Choi (1999: 5) also agreed that teachers‟ beliefs about language teaching are one of the most important factors that can affect students‟ success in language learning.