MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------------ NGUYEN THI BICH TIEN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INITIAL IMPACTS OF VIETNAM’S NATIONAL FOREIGN LANGUAGE 2020 PROJECT ON TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS TO YOUNG ENGLISH LEARNERS AT SOME PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HUE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.11 SUPERVISOR: CAO LE THANH HAI, Ph.D HUE, 2017 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ --------------------- NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH TIÊN NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ ẢNH HƯỞNG BAN ĐẦU CỦA ĐỀ ÁN NGOẠI NGỮ QUỐC GIA 2020 ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC GIẢNG DẠY KỸ NĂNG NÓI CHO HỌC SINH TẠI MỘT SỐ TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC Ở HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. CAO LÊ THANH HẢI HUẾ, 2017 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. Date: December 21st, 2017 Signature Nguyen Thi Bich Tien i ABSTRACT This MA thesis was to investigate the initial impacts of Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project on teaching speaking skills to young English learners at some primary schools in Hue.
With the use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, a sample of 30 English teachers from 9 primary schools in Hue was randomly selected to help answer the questionnaire, 10 teachers were chosen by chance for interview, and 5 classes were opted for observation. Data were gathered, analyzed, compared and generalized. The findings showed that although the VNFL 2020 has had many positive impacts on the teaching methods, techniques, materials, test and assessment, it still has some shortcomings. Many primary school English teachers have not acquired the B2- level required by VNFL 2020 and MOET.
In addition, teachers still encounter such difficulties in teaching English skills as big size of classes and heavy teaching loads. The results of the research also suggest what the MOET should pay attention to help teachers to overcome their difficulties in teaching as well as what teachers should do to improve the quality of teaching English speaking skills. Key words: Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project (VNFL 2020), young learners, speaking skills, language acquisition ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to all those who gave me the possibility to complete this thesis. I want to thank the English Department of Hue College of Foreign Languages for giving me a permission to commence this thesis in the first instance and to do a necessary research work.
Secondly, I sincerely thank Dr. Cao Le Thanh Hai, my supervisor, whose reference materials, support, stimulation suggestions and encouragement helped me in all stages of this research. Also I cannot fully express my gratitude to all of the Primary English teachers who spent their precious time completing the questionnaires and interview as well as gave me chances to observe their classes. Last but not least, I am very grateful to my family and my friends for being always ready to give me advice and encouragement whenever I met difficulties at the time carrying out this research.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES. vii LIST OF CHARTS.
viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. ix CHAPTER ONE. Scope of the study. Aims of the study.
Significance of the study. Content of the study. Definition of speaking skills. Components of speaking skills.
Factors that affect students‟ performance in speaking skills. Teaching speaking skills. Definition of young learners. Characteristics of young learners.
Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project. The implementation of Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project. Testing and Assessment. Research setting and participants.
Data collection instruments. Data collection procedure. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Teachers‟ perceptions towards Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project and the teaching of speaking skills.
Perceptions of teachers. The importance of teaching speaking skills to young learners. The Effect of Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project on the teaching of speaking skills to young learners at some primary schools in Hue. Levels of English teachers.
Speaking skills in teaching. Frequency and methods used in teaching speaking skills. Frequency and techniques used in teaching speaking skills. Testing and assessment.
Students‟ speaking skills. Limitations and further research .70 FROM THE INTERNET .74 APPENDICES vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Primary schools surveyed and Books used .33 Table 2: Information on research participants. Speaking skills in teaching .41 vii LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1. The importance of teaching speaking skills to young learners.
Levels of English teachers before VNFL 2020. Levels of English teachers after VNFL 2020. Frequency and methods used in teaching speaking skills before VNFL 2020. Frequency and methods used in teaching speaking skills after VNFL 2020.
Frequency and techniques used in teaching speaking skills before VNFL 2020. Frequency and techniques used in teaching speaking skills after VNFL 2020. Textbooks used before VNFL 2020. Textbooks used after VNFL 2020.
The effectiveness of books in teaching speaking skills before VNFL 2020. The effectiveness of books in teaching speaking skills after VNFL 2020. Speaking skills in English tests before VNFL 2020. Speaking skills in English tests after VNFL 2020.
Effectiveness of format of speaking test. Assessing speaking skills before VNFL 2020. Assessing speaking skills after VNFL 2020. Students‟ speaking skills before VNFL 2020.
Students‟ speaking skills after VNFL 2020. Difficulties in teaching speaking skills before VNFL 2020. Difficulties in teaching speaking skills after VNFL 2020. Strategies used by teachers to arouse their students‟ interest before VNFL 2020.
Strategies used by teachers to arouse their students‟ interest after VNFL 2020. Initials impacts of VNFL 2020 .62 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BEd : Bachelor of Education CEFR : Common European Framework of Reference for Languages CLIL : Content and Language Integrated Learning ETCF : English Teacher Competency Framework ESL : English second language EYL : English Young Learner LP : Language Proficiency MOET : Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam RLP : Required Language Proficiency TPR : Total Physical Response UNESCO : The United Nations‟ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization VNFL 2020 : Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project ix CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION I. Introduction According to figures issued by the UNESCO (The United Nations‟ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), the world's most widely spoken languages by number of native speakers and as a second language are Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, German and French. English is one of the only working languages used by the UN Secretariat, and is also commonly used in most business meetings (UN, n.
Additionally, the increasing number of international students coming to English- speaking countries shows how important the English language is all around the world. Furthermore, English is the dominant language in the sciences, most researches and studies in any given scientific field have been written in it as well. It can be said that knowledge of English makes a professional more competitive in comparison to that without this knowledge. In addition, the opportunity to communicate in languages other than mother tongue makes it easy to travel and do business.
In this sense English is one of the effective tools of communication. Thus, teaching English in the early years of education is considered as essential in the education system in many countries. According to the European Commission (2011, p. 3), starting to learn a second/foreign language early can help shape children‟s overall progress while they are in a highly dynamic developmental stage in their lives.
Hence, teaching English to young learners (henceforth TEYL) has recently received much attention. In Vietnam, knowing the importance of English nowadays, The National Foreign Language 2020 (VNFL 2020) was initiated with the aim “to renovate the teaching and learning of foreign languages within the national education system” (cited in Decision of VNFL 2020 Project, p. 1) by the Ministry of Education and Training. Among all foreign languages, emphasis is placed on English and this 12- year project managed by the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam (MOET) 1 aims to develop the English capacity of its workforce and to increase their ability to engage in a globalized world.
In order to achieve this aim, the VNFL 2020 is to explore new approaches to make English language teaching and learning in Vietnam more relevant, efficient, and productive. It is expected that by 2020, most Vietnamese students graduating from secondary and vocational schools, colleges, and universities will be able to use a foreign language in their daily communication. Hence, teaching English speaking skills at primary school plays an important role in improving the English ability of students. As a result, Viet Nam National Foreign Language 2020 Project has introduced many teaching and assessment methods as well as new materials to innovate and enhance teaching English skills for young learners.
This project has been carried out for about 8 years and has gotten some initial effects. Having worked as a primary school English teacher in Hue for five years, I have been trained in the VNFL 2020 for three years, and recognized that the VNFL 2020 has had some positive effects on my English teaching experience in general and teaching English speaking skill in particular. In addition, my students became more and more self-confident to express their speaking ability in English. They love communicating with foreigners and taking part in English activities.
However, it still has shortcomings when carrying out the VNFL 2020 such as the required- standard qualification towards teachers, kinds of materials and assessment. These are what I have experienced within five years for teaching and three years of the training of VNFL 2020. The other teachers in different schools have also experienced VNFL 2020. Hence, they will have different opinions about the impacts of VNFL 2020 towards their teaching and learning English speaking skills.
To help teachers with some useful information about the initial impacts of Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project in teaching speaking skills to young English learners in Hue as well as to give some suggestions to enhance the effectiveness of this Project, I decided to carry out my research with the topic “An investigation into the initial impacts of Vietnam’s National Foreign Language 2020 Project on teaching speaking skills to young English learners at some primary schools in Hue. Scope of the study This study investigated some initial impacts of Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project on teaching speaking skills to young English learners at some primary schools in Hue. Aims of the study This research aims to find out: - Teachers‟ perceptions towards the teaching of speaking skills and Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project at some primary schools in Hue. - The ways in which the application of Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project has affected the teaching of speaking skills to young learners at some primary schools in Hue.
- What the teaching outcomes were after the application of Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project. Significance of the study The study is meant to find out the initial impacts of the Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project on the teaching and learning of speaking skills at some primary schools in Hue, which will ultimately be beneficial to the enhancement of the quality of teaching and learning English in general. In particular, it is to help raise teachers‟ awareness of the importance of teaching speaking in English classes and the significance of Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project through the comparison and contrast of their practices and students‟ performance before and after the application of the project.