VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYEN THI THAO PHUONG THE APPLICATION OF “SCAFFOLDING METHOD” INTO PROMOTING ENGLISH LEARNERS' AUTONOMY AT AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL IN HANOI – AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT (Áp dụng “Phương pháp giàn giáo” vào việc nâng cao tính tự chủ trong việc học Tiếng Anh cho học sinh tại một trường quốc tế tại Hà Nội – Nghiên cứu hành động) MINOR MASTER THESIS Major: Language Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HANOI 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYEN THI THAO PHUONG THE APPLICATION OF “SCAFFOLDING METHOD” INTO PROMOTING ENGLISH LEARNERS' AUTONOMY AT AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL IN HANOI – AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT (Áp dụng “Phương pháp giàn giáo” vào việc nâng cao tính tự chủ trong việc học Tiếng Anh cho học sinh tại một trường quốc tế tại Hà Nội – Nghiên cứu hành động) MINOR MASTER THESIS Major: Language Teaching Methodology (Lý luận và phương pháp giảng dạy tiếng anh) Code: 8140231. Pham Lan Anh HANOI 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I certify that the thesis entitled ―The application of ‗Scaffolding method‘ into promoting English learners' autonomy at an International School in Hanoi –An action research project‖ is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Viet Nam National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees. Signature: Supervisor Researcher Pham Lan Anh Nguyen Thi Thao Phuong Date: 3/2019 i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Pham Lan Anh for her critical feedback and valuable guidance throughout the process of this research.
I would also like to thank lecturers and staff of the Postgraduate Department of University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University for their interesting lectures, precious support, guidance, and constant encouragement. My sincere thanks also go to my colleagues of English Group, in Global International School, who as my good friends, were always willing to help and give me their best suggestions. A special thank -would also go to all the students in Global School who took part in the research. Without their participation and cooperation I would not be able to complete this research paper.
Last but not least, my deep appreciation and gratitude to my beloved family, especially my parents and my husband for their encouragement, inspiration and unconditional love, which enormously helped me towards the completion of my research. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Learner autonomy, a recurrent topic in language teaching over the last three decades, has been advocated from a pedagogical point of view and from the perspective of philosophy. Learner autonomy is one of the most important factors leading to the success in second language learning as well as life-long learning. In view of the necessity of learner autonomy in the context of the foreign language classrooms, the aim of this study is to foster autonomy of EFL learners in speaking skill by encouraging them to take the responsibility in the learning process.
This is an action research conducted with 28 grade 10 English gifted students from class 10D at Global International School. The goal was achieved by raising their awareness, training them the necessary strategies, and applying proposed activities. After twelve lessons of implementing the action plan, questionnaire and was administered to discover the difference in the level of autonomy among the subjects. Other data collection instruments like follow-up interviews and classroom observations were also exploited to validate the results.
The findings analyzed against a set of given criteria revealed that after having worked with this action plan, these learners were able to improve their autonomy as well as their spoken English. They became more aware of how certain aspects of language work and they were able to develop their self-confidence and stimulate their motivation to continue learning in class. This suggests a way of gauging students‘ responsibility for their own learning and that learner autonomy, as a life-long mode of learning, can only be achieved with the efforts of both the teacher and the learner. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.
iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES. vi PART A: INTRODUCTION. Rationale for the study. Aims and objectives of the study.
Methods of study. Scope of the study. Structure of the study. 5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Definition of learner autonomy. Roles of learner autonomy. Characteristics of learner autonomy. Teacher’s roles in learner autonomy.
The nature of speaking and characteristics of an effective speaking lesson. Autonomy in speaking skill. More Knowledgeable Other (MKO). Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).
Basic scaffolding strategies for English language learner. The application of scaffolding theory in oral English teaching. Review of previous studies on autonomy. Subjects of the thesis.
25 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS. Suggestions for further study .XIX v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Characteristics of independent learning Table 2: Students‘ attitudes and performance during the project Table 3: The benefits of the projects to the students Table 4: Students‘ self-evaluation of their speaking skill Figure 1: The Learner Independence Continuum Figure 2: Students‘ opinions on the continuity of a similar project Figure 3: Level of students‘ involvement during the project Figure 4: Students‘ changes in their perception of learner autonomy vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study Learner autonomy, a concept promoted by Holec (1981) and others in the context of European language education, has become a favorite topic for analysis for the last twenty years. In fact, people pay more attention to the process of acquiring than the product of learner autonomy.
Over the history, many great thinkers such as Galileo, Rousseau, Dewey, Kilpatrick, Marcel, Jacotot, Payne and Quick have mentioned about the importance of autonomy by proposing their ideas on education in different times (Balcikanli, 2008). Students who depend on themselves in learning speaking are more able to succeed academically and more motivated than those who do not have effective strategies in learning by themselves (Holec,1981).Despite being discussed worldwide, learner autonomy remains an unfamiliar concept in Vietnam. Whether or to what extent learner autonomy is developed and practiced in Vietnamese schools is still open to question. Due to very limited time spent on teaching and learning pronunciation in the classroom, it has become increasingly essential to provide them with useful learning strategies so that they can employ in their self-study time.
In this case, the success of learning English speaking depends very much on how effectively and autonomously the students practice self-study. For all the reasons above, I have decided to undertake a study on students‘ autonomy in learning English speaking at Global International School (GIS), Hanoi. Despite the effort made to implant learner autonomy, it is still at a low level in upper secondary school setting in Vietnam, and the students in GIS are of no exception. Even the students who are gifted at English exhibit low responsibility in their English - learning process.
When asked to work in pairs and groups in speaking lessons, they start to write down their own ideas as a long presentation or some key points and revise their own work individually, and ready to communicate only when they are perfectly sure of their part and their ideas. Furthermore, they are generally reluctant to question the teacher or give their opinions. 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com An open discussion in Vietnamese with the students explicates that their low autonomy has resulted from psychological, social and personal grounds. Their misleading beliefs, minute confidence, restricted knowledge as well as the previous learning experience are agreed upon as the primary causes of their passive learning style.
The beliefs and attitudes learners hold have a strong influence on their learning behaviors. It is, therefore, essential to assist students in moving towards greater autonomy, especially in learning speaking. This situation urges the conduction of this research to aid students in their second language learning and life-long learning. This is basically no easy task since autonomy does not blossom automatically.
Due to the highly complex nature of language and language learning, augmenting autonomy in language learners often proves to be a doubly difficult objective. Although few research have been done in Vietnam to boost students‘ active engagement in speaking, a large number of studies in other countries have reported favorable results in developing their students‘ autonomy. Most of them use awareness-raising activities, portfolio, self-assessment, homework and assignment in their studies. Regarding all these practices, the present paper is an attempt to search the current research then build an appropriate project of actions for the English gifted students in English, GIS who have average level of learning autonomy.
The expectation is to help learners generate a sense of autonomy in language learning, elevate the students speaking skill as well as render effective speaking lessons. Aims and objectives of the study This research aims at: - identifying the current grade 10 (GIS) English gifted students‘ autonomy in speaking skill - working out the appropriate scheme of actions to improve the situation - finding out the effectiveness of the selected activities in the action plan In particular, it is conducted to ascertain the following objectives: 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com What scaffolding strategies can be used to develop students’ autonomy in speaking lessons? What are the attitudes of the students towards autonomy in learning English speaking? How do the students improve throughout the application of scaffolding in teaching speaking? 3. Methods of the study As mentioned above, this is an action research to solve the problem of low level of learner autonomy in grade 10 English gifted students, GIS. To reach the goal, an intervention was launched into the classroom environment.
It was divided into two stages. The former consists of selected awareness-raising activities such as contract signing, and essential speaking-strategies training activities to raise students’ awareness of the problem as well as equip them with necessary skills to acquire more confidence in speaking skills. The latter pertains the practice of such skills in doing their home assignments and in-class activities to habituate their speaking practice and active engagement. After the intervention, questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations were conducted to get the feedback.
The data aims at getting the students evaluation on the activities and more remarkably, to examine whether they become more autonomous. Scope of the study Learner autonomy is undoubtedly vast issue in the second language learning. It borders different aspects. However, this study touches upon only one researchable aspect of autonomy, i., developing autonomy in speaking skill.
In the literature, there is a range of actions to ensure students self-directed learning; however, several pertinent activities are adopted in consideration of the context of GIS and the small scale of this research for the sake of limited time and students‘ low level. Furthermore, the subjects of this study are the grade 10 students who are gifted in English as these students often exhibit the least autonomy in learning. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Structure of the study This paper is organized into three main parts as follows: Part A: Introduction This part presents the rationale, the aim, scope, method and design of the study.
Part B: Development This part is divided into different chapters. Chapter 1 serves as the theoretical background for the study, presenting the concepts and relevant theories.