MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY TRAN THI TRUC NOVICE EFL TEACHERS‟ PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES IN TEACHING ENGLISH AT HIGH SCHOOLS IN BINH DINH PROVINCE MASTER THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION Binh Dinh, 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY TRAN THI TRUC NOVICE EFL TEACHERS‟ PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES IN TEACHING ENGLISH AT HIGH SCHOOLS IN BINH DINH PROVINCE Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code : 8140111 Supervisor: Assoc. NGUYEN QUANG NGOAN BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN TRẦN THỊ TRÚC NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHỮNG THÁCH THỨC CHUYÊN MÔN VÀ PHẢN HỒI CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH MỚI TẠI CÁC TRƢỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG TRÊN ĐỊA BÀN TỈNH BÌNH ĐỊNH Chuyên ngành: Lý luận và phƣơng pháp giảng dạy Tiếng Anh Mã số : 8140111 Ngƣời hƣớng dẫn: PGS. NGUYỄN QUANG NGOẠN i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hearby declare that I am the sole author of this matter thesis entiled ―Novice EFL teachers‘ professional challenges and responses in teaching English at high schools in Binh Dinh Province‖ and that I have not used any sources other than those listed in the references. I further declare that I have not submitted this thesis to any other institution in order to obtain a degree.
Binh Dinh, May, 2022 TRAN THI TRUC ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This graduation thesis would not have been accomplished without the great assistance of all individuals around me. First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my research supervisor, Prof. Nguyen Quang Ngoan, who has dedicated his time and effort to correct and instruct me to complete my thesis despite his huge workload. Without his enthusiasm, empathy and encouragement, this paper woud have never been accomplised.
I had no idea how fortunate I was to have such a wonderful mentor for my M. I'd like to express my gratitude to him for his patience and understanding during my difficult moments. Next, I am grateful to show gratitude to all lecters in my M. course for their committed and enthusiastic teaching over the past two years.
I must also thank to all my M. classmates and colleagues for giving me useful advice during the course of study and research. Besides, I am also indebted to the cooperation and support of 50 novice EFL teachers in Binh Dinh Province who spent their valuable time participating in the survey for my data collection. Last but not least, I particularly thank to my family, friends and all of my beloved ones who have always supported and motivated me to finish this thesis.
This study is totally created by their love and encouragement. Quy Nhon, May 2022 iii ABSTRACT It is undoubtedly acknowledged that teachers play such an integral part in teaching. Admittedly, every year, a large number of new teachers graduate from colleges and universities and begin their teaching career. During their initial years of teaching, they encounter a lot of challenges.
Based on the theoretical background of novice EFL teachers‘challenges, the study aims to deliver the professional challenges faced by them. The data of the study are selected from the survey conducted with 50 novice EFL teachers who are teaching English at high schools in Binh Dinh Province through survey questionnaires and interviews which are two of the principle tools adopted in the research. Specially, the purpose of the study is to focus on exploring the professional challenges in terms of knowledge, skills and attitude and then find out the responses or solutions to help novice teachers overcome their challenges. The findings indicated they experienced skills challenges and attitude challenges a little more often than the knowledge challenges.
After carrying out this thesis, the researcher hopes to find out the best ways to help novice teachers overcome their difficulties during their teaching. There are three effective approaches for novice EFL teachers to overcome their professional obstacles. These responses are giving mentoring programs to newbie teachers; more pragmatic aspects of courses should focus on the contents in order to effectively apply theories to practice and providing more professional training on the use of innovative student-centered teaching methods, techniques and approaches in EFL classrooms. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii LIST OF TABLES. viii LIST OF FIGURES. RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY. ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS. NOVICE TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
Definition of Novice Teachers. Definition of Teacher Professional Development. The Importance of Professional Development for EFL novice teachers. NOVICE EFL TEACHERS‘PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES IN PREPARATION STAGE.
Challenges in relation to foreign language teaching and learning for high school teachers. Challenges in relation to forms of professional support. THE TYPES OF SUPPORT FOR EFL NOVICE TEACHERS. METHODS/DESIGN OF THE STUDY.
DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT. The survey questionnaire. DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE. RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. TEACHERS‘BACKGROUND INFORMATION. Novice teachers‗ perceptions about teaching. Novice EFL Teachers‘ Training and Professional Development.
PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES FACED BY BINH DINH EFL NOVICE TEACHERS DURING THEIR INITIAL YEARS OF TEACHING. Items of Knowledge Challenges. Items of Skills challenges. Items of Attitude Challenges.
RESPONSES OF NOVICE EFL TEACHERS .The responses of novice EFL teachers. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS. CONCLUSION ON NOVICE TEACHERS‘PERCEPTIONS ABOUT TEACHING. CONCLUSION ON NOVICE EFL TEACHERS‘ TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
CONCLUSION ON PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES IN TERMS OF KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ATTITUDE. CONCLUSION ON THEIR RESPONSES TO THEIR CHALLENGES. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES.
58 REFERENCES APPENDIX vii ABBREVIATION EFL English as a Foreign Language SLA Second language acquisition viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page Title Table number number 4.1 The extent to which novice teachers like their profession. 37 Correspondence of the Two Perceptions( as novice teacher & 4.3 EFL Novice Teachers Motivation 40 4.4 In-service Training for EFL Novice Teachers 42 4.5 In-service Training Effectiveness 42 4.6 Items of Knowledge Challenges 43 4.7 Items of Skills Challenges 44 4.8 Items of Attitude Challenges 46 4.9 Items of responses 47 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Title number number 4.1 Teaching experience of novice EFL teachers at high school 37 4.2 Perception about teaching as EFL Novice Teachers.3 Perception about teaching as EFL Novice Teachers. 38 Correspondence of University Specialty with Teaching 4.5 The Supply of Necessary Teaching Skills by Universities 42 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter includes six parts: (1) the rationale for this study, (2) the aim and objectives of this study, (3) research questions, (4) scope of the study, (5) significance of the present study, and (6) the organization of the thesis 1. RESEARCH RATIONALE Each year a great number of beginning teachers graduate from colleges as well as from universities and start their teaching profession.
These newcomers are so numerous that one out of each ten teachers could be a member of their group. During the primary years, many of those young teachers fail and plenty of more gradually become discouraged and leave the teaching profession, which could help them to make ends meet. This dilemma has faced education sector recently. These obstacles and failures of beginning teachers are not of recent development, they seem to have existed within the profession from its period.
One might remember their first days of teaching or greeting students for the very first times without hiding their trembling or shaking. Graduates of pre-service teacher education programs are frequently confronted with the realization that, as new teachers, they must immediately begin teaching in a classroom setting. Anyone who is teaching a new course for the first time is considered a novice teacher (Farrell, 2012, p. However, in general, a novice teacher is someone who has recently completed pre-service teacher education and has less than four years of teaching experience.
The data reveal that it is not commonplace for new instructors, even new English teachers, to have to deal with a variety of demands from seasoned and professional colleagues. This is a difficult task for new teachers, especially if there isn't much professional aid and support available in the classroom. In most parts of our province, beginning school teachers are not any longer faced with physically forcible removal from their situations, but the actual fact that even the most effectively adjusted of them have definite problems is clear to oldsters, school boards, administrators, and fellow teachers alike. The importance of 2 this paper in terms of the issues' nature can scarcely be denied.
This study is going to provide two essential components. First and foremost, beginning teachers realize that the ideals they formed while training may not be appropriate for the realism they faced with during their first years of teaching. That is to say, during their first few months in the classroom, novice teachers are bombarded with a variety of situations that they have not anticipated. It is unfortunate that this concern has not been fully addressed in schools in our province as beginning teachers have the identical responsibility as full-time lecturers with a few years of service.
It is suggested that it is not until they need survived the initial shock of the primary year that novices are ready to begin to think about the fact that long-term planning, overarching student goals, and individual student needs are all important considerations. It has been discovered that during their first year of teaching, new instructors ask themselves several identification questions, such as ―Who am I in my story of teaching? Who am I in my place in school? Who am I in my children‘s stories? Who am I in my administrator‘s stories?‖ (Connelly & Clandinin, 1999, p. Given the conflicts, reality shocks, and anxieties that many studies into new teachers' teaching experiences have identified as common characteristics of the transition from student to teacher (Huberman, 1989; Vonk, 1993; Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011), novice teachers often struggle to find appropriate answers to these questions, leaving them feeling overwhelmed and challenged (Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011). Because there is no progressive entrance into the teaching profession, beginning teachers‗s move from pre-service education to professional practice is typically unsettling.
Novices frequently teach like experienced teachers, allowing them to play multiple roles such as student, teacher, and researcher (Smith & Sela, 2005). There appears to be a consensus that what is expected of an experienced teacher is equally expected of a new teacher. Despite the fact that novice instructors lack the attributes of experienced teachers, they are expected to match similar standards as soon as they enter the field, and this injustice occasionally goes even 3 further, with beginning teachers receiving the most demanding teaching assignments (Yost, 2006). This adds to the difficulties faced by new teachers.
As a consequence, ―beginning teachers leave the field at higher rates than beginning workers in other careers‖ (Wonacott, 2002, p. Numerous studies on novice teachers of English have been conducted in terms of covering several aspects of novice teachers. Research by Brannan and Bleistein (2012), for instance, reported that novice teachers were desperately in need of support from their mentors, both of logistical knowledge and of those related to professional and pedagogical competences. Moreover, research by Ai Phuong (2015) explored the construction of professional identity of a novice EFL teacher in Vietnam.
However, these studies were conducted on novice teachers of secondary schools and just explored the profession identity of novice teachers. In other words, although much has been written in the educational literature about novice teachers' experiences in their first years of teaching, the subject has received less attention in the fields of English language teaching (ELT) and language teacher education.