HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --------------- TRUONG THI XUAN HUYEN INCORPORATING SERVICE-LEARNING INTO SPEAKING SYLLABUS FROM STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE AT UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --------------- TRUONG THI XUAN HUYEN INCORPORATING SERVICE-LEARNING INTO SPEAKING SYLLABUS FROM STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE AT UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: DR. BAO KHAM THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ --------------- TRƯƠNG THỊ XUÂN HUYỀN TÍCH HỢP HỌC TẬP PHỤC VỤ CỘNG ĐỒNG VÀO CHƯƠNG TRÌNH HỌC MÔN NÓI TỪ GÓC NHÌN CỦA SINH VIÊN TẠI ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ, ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. BẢO KHÂM THỪA THIÊN HUẾ, 2021 Statement of original authorship The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree in any university. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.
Signed: ………………………… Truong Thi Xuan Huyen Date: 4/11/2021. i Abstract Service-learning has been studied as an effective teaching method worldwide. Nonetheless, it is still fairly new in Vietnam generally and at Hue University particularly. At Hue university, some studies have mainly focused on integrating service-learning into university curriculum for English as a Foreign language (EFL) students of the pedagogy sector, whereas there seems to be a scarcity in the studies on incorporating service-learning into Speaking syllabus at universities for English language study sector.
This study, therefore, aims to investigate students’ perception of service-learning and incorporating service-learning into the English Speaking syllabus at University of Foreign Languages, Hue University, specifically students’ perceived concept of service-learning and their perceptions of challenges in integrating service- learning into speaking syllabus. The qualitative research methodology was utilized for the research in which the data analyzed came from focus-group interviews with10 English majors, including 5 fairly good students and 5 good students. The findings revealed that, initially, in terms of students’ perceived concept of service-learning, even though service-learning was unknown to them before, after the discussion, they quite understood what service-learning was and how different it was from volunteerism. Secondly, the students supposed that challenges existed for beneficiaries (store/restaurant owners), service providers (students), and lecturers when incorporating service-learning into the English speaking syllabus.
Some suggestions from students were manifested to better integrate service-learning into speaking syllabus. Key words: service-learning, speaking syllabus, university ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I am deeply grateful to my supervisor Dr. Bao Kham, who devoted his time and effort to correct every single mistake in my study. Not only did he encourage me to develop my idea from random thoughts to a complete research plan, but he also gave me a rich source of necessary documents for references.
His gentleness, enthusiasm, and scholarly advice helped me overcome the difficulties of researching without any pressure. My second round of thanks goes to the participants of this thesis. In spite of their hectic schedules, they managed to spend time with me and shared valuable thoughts. Without their passionate participation and input, the research could not have been successfully conducted.
I would also like to acknowledge the significance of the library at University of Foreign Languages, Hue University because the door was always open to me whenever I needed information for my writing. I am especially thankful for the school librarians, who always smiled and made sure that the needed books were at my disposal. Finally, I am so blessed to have my mother, my older brother, and my older sister in my life. They have always been loving me unconditionally.
I am happily aware that my Dad always watches over me from the heaven so that I can have enough strength and stamina to conquer all obstacles in life, this painstaking research included. Hue, November 4, 2021 iii List of Tables Table 1. The participants’ detailed information. 31 iv List of figures Figure 1.
27 v List of Abbreviations SL.Service-learning EFL. English as a Foreign Language SLA.Second language acquisition vi Table of contents Statement of original authorship. ii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………iii List of Tables. iiv List of figures.
v List of Abbreviations. vi Table of contents. vii Chapter 1: Introduction. Research aims and objectives.
Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Structure of the study. 4 Chapter 2: Literature Review.
Speaking skills and incorporating service learning into speaking syllabus. Importance of speaking skills. Problems in teaching and learning speaking skills. Integrating service-learning into speaking syllabus.
Designing SL-incorporated courses. Challenges in incorporating service-learning into the language curriculum. Incorporating service-learning in the local context. Method of data collection.
Validity and reliability. 35 Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion. Students’ perceived concept of service-learning. Fairly good students’ perceived concept.
Good students’ perceived concept. Students’ perception about challenges of incorporating service-learning into speaking syllabus. Fairly good students’ perception. Good students’ perception.
Students’ perceived concept of service-learning. Fairly good students’ perceived concept .2 Good students’ perceived concept. Students’ perception about challenges of integrating service-learning into speaking syllabus. Fairly good students’ perception.
Good students’ perception. 56 Chapter 5: Conclusion and Implication. For service providers (English majors). For service organizers (lecturers and universities).
Limitations of the study. Recommendations for further studies. 100 ix Chapter 1: Introduction 1. Introduction Only attending to teaching the theoretical knowledge in teaching and learning is no longer considered to be sufficient.
Traditional classrooms do not provide real-life practical learning environment, and therefore traditional education system is unable to provide practical skills, which are required to be effective in actual working environment (McLeod, 2013). It was acknowledged that integrated service-learning programs develop a better and practical learning environment for students and community members, to understand the nexus between classroom learning theories and real-life problems (Fair and Delaplane 2015; Penick et al. According to Albrwani & Almkekhlafi (2014), service-learning (SL) is learning as well as giving. Service- learning allows them to apply their knowledge and skills to contribute to the community, and then students are more engaged in the learning process.
Growing popularity of service-learning, demand of social responsibility and increasing community collaboration have fostered modern higher institutions to adopt service-learning as a means to achieve their academic outcomes (Darby and Newman 2014; Maddrell 2014; McLeod 2013). In other words, service-learning has become a central element of higher education’s longstanding mission to cultivate more engaged citizens (Bringle & Steinberg, 2010); and one of the most sufficient definitions is Bringle and Hatcher’s (1995) that service-learning is as “a credit-bearing, educational experience in which students participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs and reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility” (p. Statement of the problem Service-learning is increasingly used in the second language education field as a strategy for learners to communicate with target language communities (Baker, 2019). Service-learning intuitively complements second language education; regular, meaningful interaction with native speakers promotes learners’communicative 1 proficiency goals (Thompson, 2012).
These in-person exchanges are increasingly accessible to university students without requiring study-abroad sojourns. In the present Vietnam context, a new market economy with the growth of international businesses and trades, the increasing number of foreign tourists and the rapid development of the internet as an indispensable information means, the ability to communicate in English has become more and more necessary than ever. From these facts, Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training has done a big revolution in methodology of teaching and learning English since the replace of the textbook in 2006. The new textbook requires teachers and students to change their ways of teaching and learning from Grammar- translation method to communicative approach and from teacher-centered method to student- centered method.
Service-learning may be considered as an effective teaching strategy to meet this requirement. Although service- learning is considered important for developing the college students' academic and soft skills, or personal attributes that people need in order to work with others, including communication skills, empathy, social skills, listening skills and attitudes (Suwaed, 2018), it is still a neglected area in the Viet Nam educational system. In Viet Nam in general and in Hue University in particular, a majority of studies have focused on integrating service-learning into university curriculum for English as a Foreign language (EFL) students of the pedagogy sector such as studies of Chau Thi Cam Lien (2015), Tran Thuy Tram Anh (2019), Truong Vien (2020), whereas there seems to be a scarcity in the studies on incorporating service-learning into Speaking syllabus at universities for English language study sector. As Oster-Aaland et al.
(2007) stated, “Communication studies are a disciplinary leader in service-learning” (p. 349), with more recent pedagogical studies demonstrating how it can be meaningfully incorporated into myriad communication courses (De La Mare, 2014; Hinck & Scheffels, 2015). For those reasons, in an effort to fill the gap of unresolved problems regarding service-learning and Speaking syllabus in the foreign language education at universities, the present study is intended to comprehensively investigate students’ perception on incorporating service-learning into Speaking syllabus at University of Foreign Languages, Hue University. This study will delve further into students’ perceived 2 concept of service-learning and students’ perception of challenges of integrating service-learning into speaking syllabus.
Research aims and objectives The overall objective of this study is to investigate students’ perception of incorporating service-learning into the English speaking syllabus at University of Foreign Languages, Hue University. To be more specific, this research aims to explore, prelimirarily, what students’ perceived concept of service-learning is; and secondly, how students perceive challenges of incorporating service-learning into speaking syllabus. Research questions The study is conducted with a view to finding answers to the following research questions about students’ perception of service-learning and incorporating service- learning into speaking syllabus. What is students’ perception of service-learning? 2.
What challenges do students think they will face in service-learning? 1. Scope of the study The data of the study are collected from 10 English majored sophomores, including five students who have an average speaking grade of over 8.0 and five students who have an average speaking grade of 6.9 at University of Foreign Languages, Hue University about incorporating service-learning into speaking syllabus. In addition, the study will compare differences in these two kinds of students’ perception. Two scenarios are designed for English majored sophomores and students are planned on going to Dong Ba market and Walking Street in Hue city to practice speaking with native speakers.
Significance of the study As quite a new notion to many teachers and students in Viet Nam, service-learning is thoroughly studied to live up to the following expectations: For teachers Firstly, the research is expected to be able to offer an in-depth overview on service- learning for more teachers, especially who are teaching English speaking courses. The 3 definitions and typical features of this educational approach will equip them with an essential glimpse then excitement to adopt new strategies and adapt their own teaching practices better. Secondly, via challenges likely to be faceted in incorporating service-learning into Speaking syllabus, teachers can refer to suggestions for a more effective incorporation of service-learning into their teaching. In addition, schools and universities are more acutely aware of the pros and cons of service-learning before improving their academic and teaching performance.