VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES --- --- NGUYỄN THỊ CHUNG TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD THE USES OF THE COMPUTERS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING AT HA NAM TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE (Thái độ của giáo viên đối với việc sử dụng máy tính trong giảng dạy ngoại ngữ tại trường CĐSP Hà Nam) MINOR M.A THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 Hanoi, 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages Declaration………………………………………………………………. iii Table of contents…………………………………………………………. iv List of abbreviations……………………………………………………. vii List of tables and charts………………………………………………….
viii PART I – INTRODUCTION……………………………………………. Aims of the study………………………………………………. Scope of the study………………………………………………. Method of the study…………………………………………….
Significance of the study………………………………………. Definition of terms……………………………………………… 4 8. Structure of the study…………………………………………. 4 PART II – DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………… 5 Chapter 1: Literature review…………………………………………….
Definition of attitude……………………………………………. Dimensions of attitudes…………………………………………. Behaviors………………………………………………………… 6 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. The relationship between beliefs and behaviors of teachers…….
The relationship between feeling and behaviors of teachers……. English Language Teaching……………………………………. Computers in English Language Teaching……………………… 9 The roles and effectiveness of computers in English Language 1. Teachers’ attitudes toward computers in teaching ……….
Factors affecting teachers’ uses of computers…………………. 14 Summary………………………………………………………… 16 Chapter 2: Methodology…………………………………………………. Context of the study……………………………………………. Instrument for data collection…………………………………… 20 2.
Procedure of data analysis………………………………………. 22 Summary………………………………………………………… 23 Chapter 3: Data Analysis and Discussions……………………………… 24 3. Findings from Questionnaires…………………………………… 24 3. General attitudes toward the uses of computers………………… 25 3.
Some factors affecting teachers’ uses of computers in ELT……. Findings from classroom observations…………………………. Discussions of the findings……………………………. 38 Summary………………………………………………………… 39 PART III – CONCLUSION…………………………………………….
40 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Limitations of the study…………………………………………. Suggestions for further study……………………………………. APPRENDIX A: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ……………… I 2.
APPRENDIX B: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION VI CHECKLIST…………………………………………………. vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CALL Computer Assisted Language Learning ESL English As Second Language ELT English Language Teaching IT Information technology ICT Information and Communication Technologies OTA Office of Technology Association HNTTC Ha Nam Teachers’ Training College vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Pages Table 1: Background Information about Questionnaire Respondents 19 Table 2: Main sections of the questionnaires 21 Table 3: Teachers’ attendance of computer training course and teachers’ 24 computer ownership Table 4: Teachers’ frequency of using computers at home and at school 25 Table 5: Teachers’ feelings towards the uses of computer in an ESL 26 classroom Table 6: Teachers’ beliefs towards the uses of computer in an ESL 28 classroom Table 7: Teachers’ behaviors towards the uses of computer in an ESL 30 classroom Chart 1: Some factors affecting teachers’ computer uses in ELT 31 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale It can not be denied that computer technology has changed the face of education in many parts of the world as well as in Vietnam in recent years. More and more uses of its unique features are found every day and it is not surprising that the field of education is also being strongly affected by this tool.
As a result, English teaching and learning have been much easier and more effective under the assistance of computers. However, computer-based technology has also brought with it many new challenges for the teacher who seeks to determine what it has to offer and how that should be delivered to students. It is believed that there are many ways to encourage students to learn English and using computers as English teaching tools is considered one of the most effective ways. Recent years have witnessed a significant shift concerning the technology use in teaching and learning environment.
Remarkably, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has planned for a significant increase in ICT in education to take place in coming years and teachers are being encouraged to incorporate ICT technology into their lessons. Up to now, a great number of researches have been carried out to investigate the perceptions or effectiveness of using computers for language teaching and learning. However, the investigations into teachers’ attitudes toward the uses of computers in language teaching seem to be limited in Vietnam. Additionally, one factor in the successful implementation of computers in the classroom is users’ acceptance, which in turn might be greatly influenced by users’ attitudes.
Consequently, it is said that attitude of teacher can either be a hindering factor or a facilitator for computer integration in education. Ajzen and Fishbein (1977) states that by understanding an individual’s attitude towards something, one can predict with high precision the individual’s overall pattern of behavior to the object. If teachers have positive attitudes toward computers, they will use them to 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com improve their teaching and vice verse. For that reason, teachers’ attitudes are of great importance in deciding to use or not to use computers in language teaching.
After five years of teaching English at Ha Nam Teachers’ Training College, the researcher found that most of the teachers have integrated the computer technology into their teaching curricula, however, their applications of computers may vary depending on their attitudes and more importantly, the question whether teachers’ actual attitudes toward the uses of computers in their classrooms have not been answered yet. Stimulated by the above reasons, the researcher has decided to conduct the study on teachers’ attitudes toward the uses of computers in English language teaching at HNTTC. Hopefully, the findings of this study will contribute to the pedagogic methodology. Aims of the study The study is aimed at identifying the teachers’ attitudes toward the computer uses in English language teaching at HNTTC and exploring some main factors affecting the teachers’ uses of computers in their teaching.
Then teachers’ attitudes from the questionnaires and their classroom practice are compared to find out whether there is correlation between them. From the findings of the study, some suggestions for further study in this very interesting topic can be provided. Research questions In order to achieve the stated aims, the following research questions are raised: 1) What are the English teachers’ attitudes toward the uses of computers in language teaching at Ha Nam Teachers’ Training College? 2) What are the factors affecting the teachers’ uses of computers in language teaching? 3) Do teachers’ attitudes correlate with their classroom practices? 4. Scope of the study The study focuses itself on the investigation of teachers’ attitudes towards the uses of computers in English language teaching in order to understand the teachers’ views on teaching with computers as well as some main factors affecting teachers’ 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com computer use.
The participants are all of teachers of English of Faculty of Foreign Languages and Informatics at HNTTC. Methods of the study The study is carried out in form of a survey model. This survey was conducted at Ha Nam Teachers’ Training College to investigate teachers’ attitudes and some affecting factors on using computers in language teaching. The survey assessed the independent variables: age, time, technical support, experience, computer skills/ training, facilities, teachers’ positive attitudes and confidence to find out the main factors affecting teachers’ computer use in English language teaching (ELT) at HNTTC.
In order to achieve the above objectives, two methods will be employed to collect the data including questionnaires and observation. Questionnaires are used to investigate teachers’ attitudes towards the computer use in their classroom and the data were analyzed quantitatively by percentage of statistics. At the meantime, observation is to discover teachers’ actual behaviors, and then compare with teachers’ attitudes collected from the questionnaire. Significance of the study The study is significant in the following ways: - The first significance of the study is for the author herself to enhance the skills of conducting the study in educational contexts and for the other ESL teachers at HNTTC.
- The study is aimed at investigating teachers’ attitudes towards the uses of computers in ELT, which has not been carried out before in the context of HNTTC. Consequently, results of the study will display the present situation of using computers in the teaching and contribute appropriate ways to help teachers use computers in ELT more effectively. - This study can also lay grounds for further research on using new technology in teaching language and renovate the teaching language methods. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Definition of key terms Computer: In the context of this study, computer is used as a general term referring to any computer that can be used in language teaching. Attitude: Attitude is a relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioral tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols (Hogg & Vaughan, 2005, p.150) Attitude toward Computers: As can be inferred from the definitions above, attitude toward computer refers to how the respondents feel and think about the impact of computer use in education and then how they behave toward computer technologies and specific computer related activities. Structure of the study The thesis is composed of three main parts: introduction, development and conclusion. Part I is the introduction in which the rationale, aims, research questions, scope and significance of the thesis as well as methods and some definitions of key terms of study are presented.
Part II is the development. It consists of three chapters: literature review, methodology, data analysis and discussions. In chapter one, the literature review provides some grounds of attitudes, dimensions of attitudes, findings from prior studies around teachers’ attitudes toward the uses of computers, and understandings of computers in English language teaching as well as roles and effectiveness of computers in language teaching … It also provides the factors affecting teachers’ computer use in ELT. The second chapter introduces the methodology in terms of setting, participants, data collection instruments, and data analysis procedure.
In chapter three, results will be analyzed and discussions are presented. Part III is Conclusion part. In this part, concluding remarks, implications, limitations of the study and some suggestions for further study are presented. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This part presents a review of literature on topics related to the study.
The review focuses on some dimensions of attitudes, overview of ELT, the roles and effectiveness of computers in ELT, findings from prior studies around teachers’ attitudes toward the uses of computers, and the factors affecting teachers’ uses of computers. Definitions of attitude Attitude is an important concept to understand human behavior. There is no common definition of attitudes.150) states that attitude is “a relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioral tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols”. In other words, this definition identifies beliefs, feelings and behaviors as important aspects of attitude.
In the educational environment, attitudes expressed by teachers play an important role in the achievement of educational objectives. Specifically with regard to the uses of computers in the classroom, we can see teachers’ attitudes in their feelings and belief about the way of acting towards the lessons. Additionally, International Dictionary of Education (1977, p. 32) defines attitude as … “predisposition to perceive, feel and behave towards specific objects or certain people in a particular manner.
Attitudes are learned from experience rather than innate characteristics, which suggest that they can be modified.” For the Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary (2010), attitude is defined as the way that you think and feel about somebody or something; the way that you behave towards somebody or something that shows how you think and feel.” Apart from above definitions, there are still other definitions of attitude. However, the researcher adopted definition of attitude of Hogg & Vaughan (2005, p.150) for the purpose of this study. This definition centers on feelings, beliefs and 5 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.