VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE INTERCULTURAL BARRIERS FACED BY EXPATRIATE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH AT FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTERS IN VIETNAM A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the completion of the Master’s thesis in TESOL By VO HUYNH THANH Supervised by PHO PHUONG DUNG, Ph. HO CHI MINH CITY, JUNE 2019 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I certify that this thesis entitled “INTERCULTURAL BARRIERS FACED BY EXPATRIATE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH AT FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTERS IN VIETNAM” is my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution. Ho Chi Minh City, June 8th, 2019 Võ Huỳnh Thanh i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Võ Huỳnh Thanh, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of the theses. Ho Chi Minh City, June 8th, 2019 Võ Huỳnh Thanh ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my valued teacher and supervisor, Dr. Phó Phương Dung, for her wholehearted guidance, encouragement and dedication. But for her untiring perseverance in the face of my terrible procrastination, her indefatigable support and her precious counsel, this thesis would have never been on completion.
I am also really indebted to my colleagues and friends, especially Ms. Phương Thảo, Ms. Bích Hảo, Ms. Ngọc Diệp, Ms.
Thu An, Mr. Minh Mẫn, Mr. Chí Thành who were willing to help me deliver the questionnaires to expatriate teachers during the data collection process. I am also deeply thankful to Mr.
Ngọc An for his careful proofreading my paper, and Mr. Minh Giang and Ms. Thị Thảo who were very kind to share with me their valuable research experience. I am also grateful for Dr.
Phương Vũ, whose effective medical treatment has helped me ease my chronic depression, overcome my desperation and get my energy back for the completion of this thesis. My heartfelt thanks also go Ms. Thu An, whose never-ending source of support and inspiration have led me through the tough times of my thesis. I also owe sincere thanks to many other teachers, friends and colleagues for their valuable advice, encouragement and mental support.
Finally yet importantly, my deepest gratitude goes to my family, my loving mother and father. Without the unconditional love, constant care, endless support and relentless drive they gave me, my thesis would have never been completed. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of originality. i Retention and use of the thesis .iii List of abbreviations.
ix List of tables. x List of figures. xv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION. Background to the study.
Aims of the study. Significance of the study. Scope of the study. Outline of the thesis.
6 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW. Operational definitions of terms. Culture and foreign language education. Culture and education.
Culture and English language teaching. Views and approaches of studying culture. Viewpoints on culture. Approaches of studying culture.
Models of cultural dimensions. Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions. Contextualization of Hofstede’s model in Vietnam’s educational context .2 Individualism versus Collectivism. Masculinity versus Femininity.
Short-term versus long-term orientation. Indulgence versus Restraint. Expatriate teachers and their problems working overseas. Challenges facing expatriate teachers working overseas.
Anticipatory factors in expatriates’ intercultural adjustment. Conceptual framework of the study. Context of the study. The main study.
Data collection procedure. Data analysis procedure. 55 v CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS. Perception of expatriate EFL teachers about the cultural differences.
Level of cultural differences. Challenge level of cultural differences. Expatriate teachers’ encounters with intercultural barriers resulting from Vietnamese students’ characteristics. Frequency of expatriate teachers’ encounters.
Challenge level of expatriate teachers’ encounters with cultural dimensions of Vietnamese students’ characteristics. Association between frequency and challenge level of intercultural barriers facing the expatriate teachers. Effects of expatriate teachers’ personal factors on their perception of intercultural barriers in EFL classes. Effects of expatriate teachers’ personal factors on frequency of their encounters with intercultural barriers.
Effects of expatriate teachers’ personal factors on challenge level of their encounters with intercultural barriers. Discussion of results. Expatriate teachers’ perception of cultural differences. Frequency and challenge level of expatriate teachers’ encounters with intercultural barriers resulting from Vietnamese students’ characteristics.
Association between frequency and challenge level of intercultural barriers. Effects of personal factors on expatriate teachers’ encounters with intercultural barriers. 92 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Implications of the study.
Implications for expatriate EFL teachers. Implications for Vietnamese EFL learners. Implications for other EFL stakeholder. Limitations and recommendations for future research.
112 APPENDIX 1 SUMMARY OF VIETNAMESE STUDENTS’ CHARACTERISTICS ACCORDING TO HOFSTEDE’S CULTURAL DIMENSION. 113 APPENDIX 2 CULTURAL VALUE SCORES BETWEEN VIETNAM AND NATIONS OF EXPATRIATE EFL TEACHERS. 115 APPENDIX 3 OBSERVATION GUIDE. 116 APPENDIX 4 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.
117 APPENDIX 5 QUESTIONNAIRE ON INTERCULTURAL BARRIERS FACING EXPATRIATE ENGLISH TEACHERS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTERS IN HCMC. 118 APPENDIX 6 SPSS OUTPUT OF PARTICIPANTS’ DEMOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 125 APPENDIX 7 SPSS OUTPUT OF RELIABILITY ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE. 128 APPENDIX 7A SPSS OUTPUT OF RELIABILITY ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE (PILOTING VERSION).
129 APPENDIX 7B SPSS OUTPUT OF RELIABILITY ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE (OFFICIAL VERSION). 131 APPENDIX 8 SPSS OUTPUT OF TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES. 133 vii APPENDIX 9 SPSS OUTPUT OF FREQUENCY OF TEACHERS’ ENCOUNTERS WITH INTERCULTURAL BARRIERS. 134 APPENDIX 10 SPSS OUTPUT OF CHALLENGE LEVEL OF TEACHERS’ ENCOUNTERS WITH INTERCULTURAL BARRIERS.
140 APPENDIX 11 SPSS OUTPUT OF ASSOCIATION BETWEEN FREQUENCY AND CHALLENGE LEVEL OF TEACHERS’ ENCOUNTERS WITH INTERCULTURAL BARRIERS. 146 APPENDIX 12 SPSS OUTPUT OF EFFECTS OF PERSONAL FACTORS ON TEACHERS’ ENCOUNTERS WITH INTERCULTURAL BARRIER. 147 APPENDIX 12A SPSS OUTPUT OF EFFECTS OF PERSONAL FACTORS ON FREQUENCY OF TEACHERS’ ENCOUNTERS WITH INTERCULTURAL BARRIERS. 148 APPENDIX 12B SPSS OUTPUT OF EFFECTS OF PERSONAL FACTORS ON CHALLENGE LEVEL OF TEACHERS’ ENCOUNTERS WITH INTERCULTURAL BARRIERS.
152 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ELT English Language Teaching TEFL Teaching English as a Foreign Language EFL English as a foreign language TESOL Teaching English to speakers of other languages CELTA Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages HCMC Ho Chi Minh City SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences ANOVA Analysis of variance ix LIST OF TABLES Table 2. Different classifications of cultural dimensions. Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture…………………………….3 Differences in educational circumstances between Small and Large Power Distance Societies………………………………………………………………………. Differences in educational circumstances between Collectivist and Individualist societies.
Differences in educational circumstances between Weak Uncertainty Avoidance and Strong Uncertainty Avoidance societies. Differences in educational circumstances between Feminine and Masculine societies. Differences in the learning culture between Western and Eastern culture. Summary of participant demographical characteristics.
Distribution of items in the questionnaire. Comparison between the piloting questionnaire and the official questionnaire. Specifications of instrument delivery. Process of administering the questionnaire.
Analysis framework for the Means scales of questionnaire items. Level of general cultural differences perceived by expatriate teachers. Challenge level of cultural differences between expatriate teachers and Vietnamese students. Frequency of intercultural barriers according to cultural dimensions.
Frequency of teachers’ encounters with students’ features of Power Distance dimension. Frequency of teachers’ encounters with students’ features of Collectivism dimension. Frequency of teachers’ encounters with students’ features of Uncertainty Avoidance dimension. Frequency of teachers’ encounters with students’ features of Feminism dimension.
Frequency of teachers’ encounters with students’ features of Long-term Orientation dimension. Frequency of teachers’ encounters with students’ features of Restraint dimension. Challenge level of intercultural barriers according to cultural dimensions. Challenge level of teachers’ encounters with students’ features of Power Distance dimension.
Challenge level of teachers’ encounters with students’ features of Collectivism dimension. Challenge level of teachers’ encounters with students’ features of Uncertainty Avoidance dimension. Challenge level of teachers’ encounters with students’ features of Feminism Dimension. Challenge level of teachers’ encounters with students’ features of Long-term Orientation dimension.
Challenge level of teachers’ encounters with students’ features of Restraint Dimension. Tests of normality of frequency and challenge level of intercultural barriers. Correlations between frequency and challenge level of intercultural barriers. Test of Normality for challenge level of intercultural barriers.
Kruskal-Wallis test for frequency of intercultural barriers with nationality as a grouping variable. Ranks for frequency of intercultural barriers. Mann-Whitney test for frequency of intercultural barriers with gender as a grouping variable. Kruskal–Wallis test for frequency of intercultural barriers with age as a grouping variable.
Kruskal–Wallis test for frequency of intercultural barriers with teaching experience as a grouping variable. Kruskal-Wallis test for frequency of intercultural barriers with interaction types as a grouping variable. Ranks for frequency of intercultural barriers for the teachers with and without previous intercultural training. Mann-Whitney test for frequency of intercultural barriers with previous intercultural training as a grouping variable.
Tests of normality of challenge level of intercultural barriers. Test of Homogeneity of Variances for challenge level of intercultural barriers among expatriate teachers’ nationalities. ANOVA statistics for challenge level of intercultural barriers among expatriate teachers’ nationalities. Statistical comparison of challenge level of encounters between genders 83 Table 4.
Levene’s Test and Independent-Samples T-test for challenge level of intercultural barriers between expatriate teachers’ genders. Test of Homogeneity of Variances for challenge level of intercultural barriers among expatriate teachers’ age groups. ANOVA statistics for challenge level of encounters among age groups. Test of Homogeneity of Variances for challenge level of intercultural barriers among expatriate teachers’ levels of teaching experience.
ANOVA statistics for challenge level of intercultural barriers among expatriate teachers’ levels of teaching experience. Statistical comparison among expatriate teachers’ interaction types on challenge level of intercultural barriers. Test of homogeneity of variances of challenge level of intercultural barriers among expatriate teachers’ interaction types. ANOVA statistics for challenge level of intercultural barriers among expatriate teachers’ interaction types.
Post hoc Tukey HSD of challenge level of intercultural barriers among expatriate teachers’ interaction types. Comparison of expatriate teachers with and without previous intercultural training on challenge level of intercultural barriers. Levene’s Test and Independent Samples Test for challenge level of intercultural barriers between expatriate teachers with and without previous intercultural training. 87 xiii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.
Conceptual framework of the study. Frequency of intercultural barriers facing expatriate teachers according to cultural dimensions. Challenge level of intercultural barriers facing expatriate teachers according to cultural dimensions. Summary of major research findings.
93 xiv ABSTRACT The past century has witnessed thousands of foreigners entering Vietnam to work as English teachers. Coming from different countries, these expatriate teachers inevitably encounter a number of potential challenges to their language instruction such as dissimilar teaching-learning styles, teacher-student roles and interaction, and classroom etiquette. These challenges, as a matter of fact, lie at the root of cultural differences, where there exists a mismatch between these teachers and their local students regarding their learning culture, which has still been an unexplored issue in the context of Vietnam.