VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ LỆ TUYẾT TEACHERS’ ROLES IN ENHANCING LEARNER AUTONOMY - A CASE STUDY IN SPEAKING AND LISTENING CLASSES AT FELTE, VNU-ULIS Vai trò của Giáo viên trong việc thúc đẩy tính tự học của sinh viên - Một nghiên cứu tình huống trong lớp học kỹ năng nghe nói tại khoa Sư phạm tiếng Anh - ĐHNN - ĐHQG Hà Nội Minor Thesis Field: Theory and Methodology in Teaching English Code : 60140111 HÀ NỘI - 2017 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ LỆ TUYẾT TEACHERS’ ROLES IN ENHANCING LEARNER AUTONOMY - A CASE STUDY IN SPEAKING AND LISTENING CLASSES AT FELTE, VNU-ULIS Vai trò của Giáo viên trong việc thúc đẩy tính tự học của sinh viên - Một nghiên cứu tình huống trong lớp học kỹ năng nghe nói tại khoa Sư phạm tiếng Anh - ĐHNN - ĐHQG Hà Nội Minor Thesis Field: Theory and Methodology in Teaching English Code : 60140111 Supervisor: Mai Ngoc Khoi, Ph.D HÀ NỘI - 2017 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACCEPTANCE PAGE I hereby state that I (Pham Thi Le Tuyet, QH2014), being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) accept the requirements of the University‟s relating to the retention and use of Master‟s Minor Thesis deposited in the library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper. Signature i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This minor thesis may not be completed without the invaluable help and unconditional support from a number of people. Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mr.
Mai Ngoc Khoi for his stimulating suggestions, critical comments and endless support from the initial to the final stage, which motivated me to continue the hard work. Secondly, I owe my heartfelt thanks to 107 first-year mainstream students and 11 teachers of speaking and listening skills at Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (FELTE, VNU-ULIS), who have enthusiastically helped me to carry out the study with ease. Thirdly, it would be an omission without mentioning the great encouragement from my parents, my friends Van, Tuyet, Thao, Huong, who gave me tremendous support in any circumstances. Lastly, I also express my blessings to all of those who supported me in any respect during the completion of the study.
ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT In the recent decades, the concept of learner autonomy has drawn attention from many researchers and educators. In attempt to explore students‟ and teachers‟ perspectives on teachers‟ roles in enhancing leaner autonomy and the strategies teachers used to promote learner autonomy in speaking and listening lessons at English Division 1, Faculty of English Teacher Education, VNU-ULIS, this paper includes five parts in which theoretical background related to the two key terms “learner autonomy” and “teachers‟ roles in fostering learner autonomy”, the research methodology as well as major findings and pedagogical implication basing on the data gathered will be fully clarified. To be more specific, the investigation involving the participation of 11 teachers and 107 students was pursued with three research instruments, classroom observations, questionnaires and interviews. The analysis of the collected data focused on student‟s and teachers‟ perceptions on the roles of teachers in the process of developing autonomous learning, and teachers‟ strategies to foster self-learning in the aforementioned context as perceived by both groups of participants.
In the process of data analysis, mismatches in teachers‟ and students‟ responses were mainly utilised to add into discussions. Afterwards, the issues raised in the discussions were explained in the light of theoretical framework to draw significant implications which are expected to help better application of learner autonomy in improving students listening and speaking skills and other skills in the future. iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS ACCEPTANCE PAGE. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
iv LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS. vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Research problem, theoretical background and rationale.
Research aims and research questions. Significance of the study. Scope of the study. Methods of the study.
Organization of the study .4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Learner autonomy in language learning. Dimensions of learner autonomy. Levels of learner autonomy.
Components and assessment of learner autonomy. Approaches to support learner autonomy. Teacher‟s Roles in Fostering Learner Autonomy. Teacher‟s Roles and Autonomous Learning.
Related studies on the roles of teacher in fostering learner autonomy .24 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Data collection instruments. Data collection procedure. Step 1 - Design research instruments.
Step 2 - Conduct observations in the participating classes. Step 3 - Distribute questionnaires to the participants. Step 4 - Conduct interviews with the participants. Data analysis methods and procedure .35 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND MAJOR FINDINGS.
Results and findings from survey questionnaires. Results and findings from interviews. Results and findings from teachers‟ interviews. Results and findings from students‟ interviews.
Results from classroom observations .57 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION. Major findings of the study. Research question 1: What are teachers‟ roles in enhancing learner autonomy in speaking and listening classes as perceived by teachers and students?. Research question 2: What strategies have teachers used to promote learner autonomy in speaking and listening lessons?.
Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further studies. V v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.XXIX vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: The levels of learner autonomy (Nunan, 1997, p.2: Teacher‟ roles in developing learner autonomy from students‟ 16 perspectives (Xu & Xu, 2004 as cited in Ligang, 2014) Table 3.1: The process of selecting participants 25 Table 3.2: Question items categorised in different teacher‟ roles to foster 27 learner autonomy Table 3.3: Classroom observations schedule 27 Table 3.4: Teacher‟ roles and descriptions (adapted from Xu & Xu, 2014) 31 Table 4.1: Teachers‟ strategies to promote learner autonomy 32 Table 4.2: Students‟ perspectives of teachers‟ roles in fostering learner 45 autonomy in speaking and listening lessons Table 4.3: Teachers‟ roles in the classroom 52 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1: Role mean scores of teachers‟ and students‟ responses 38 vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS FELTE Faculty of English Language Teacher Education ULIS University of Languages and International Studies VNU Vietnam National University, Hanoi ESL English as a Second Language viii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The initial chapter is intended to provide a brief introduction of the rationale, aims, significance, scopes and organisation of the research. In other words, the researcher sets herself the target of explaining the principles underlying her selection of the topic, stating primary objectives, underscoring the importance of conducting this research, defining the boundary and providing an outline of the study.
Research problem, theoretical background and rationale Learner autonomy, as a subject for research and an educational goal, has captivated many scholars in the recent decades. In fact, learner autonomy has been commonly mentioned in the field of English Language teaching only over the late 19th and early 20th century, when the „father‟ of learner autonomy, Henry Holec coined this term in his book Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning in 1981. In this work, Holec underlined the importance of autonomy as the necessity to promote individuals‟ freedom by acquiring abilities which will permit him to take more responsibility for administering the affairs in the society that he lives in (Holec, 1981). Sharing the same interest in this issue, many other great thinkers and educators in history attached great importance to the necessity of autonomy in education.
It is by all odds that the concept of autonomy has been given an increasing attention because it can promote a development in which the learners‟ ability and motivation to learn are improved. Therefore, learning how to learn has become a crucial component in order to ensure the effectiveness of the whole learning process. However, to the best knowledge of the researcher, even though learner autonomy has been widely researched in Vietnam and many other countries, the role of teachers in the process of fostering this ability is still a relatively new field. Most studies carried out in the context of Vietnam are large-scale projects with a large sample from different universities, and focus upon teachers‟ and students‟ 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com beliefs in enhancing learner autonomy in general (Dang, 2010; Dang, 2012; Nguyen, 2012; Le, 2013; Nguyen, 2014; Nguyen et.
Their results, therefore, may not faithfully reflect the underlying realities in a narrow context as Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (FELTE, VNU - ULIS). Meanwhile, to most freshmen in FELTE and to the researcher‟s subjective experience as a student and a teacher trainee here, developing listening and speaking tend to be more complicated than the acquisition of other skills, such as reading or writing. The principal reason behind this fact is the lack of teaching and practicing these skills in the lower education. Deep concentration on studying English grammar to pass or get better results in school exams has had negative impact on students‟ confidence and English skill development.
Furthermore, learner autonomy has been of particular interest to the researcher. Having been teaching English for students at a wide range of age, she understands that only by improving their autonomous learning can the students be more motivated and responsible for their own learning progress. In fact, the class hours are unanimously inadequate for the learners to make significant progress; and therefore, the teacher plays a pivotal role in guiding their self-study. In conclusion, the importance of learner autonomy in improving language learning, the dearth of studies on teacher‟s roles in fostering learner autonomy, the researcher‟s personal interest and the first-year mainstream students‟ difficulties in learning and practicing listening and speaking skills encouraged the researcher to take an investigation in analysing the roles of teachers in developing autonomous learning, the strategies that they used and the relationship between teachers‟ beliefs in learner autonomy and their teaching practices.
Research aims and research questions The study was conducted with the aims to investigate teachers‟ responsibilities in developing their learners‟ autonomous learning in listening and 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com speaking lessons from students and teachers‟ points of view. Similarities and differences in their responses would be highlighted in order to draw potential implications in teaching and learning the two skills. Besides, teachers‟ employment of strategies to promote learner autonomy as generated from teachers‟ and students‟ answers with different research instruments would also be properly explored. Briefly, the objectives of the study can be summarised into two research questions: 1) What are teachers’ roles in enhancing leaner autonomy in speaking and listening classes as perceived by teachers and students? 2) What strategies have teachers used to promote learner autonomy in speaking and listening lessons? 1.
Significance of the study This paper is carried out with the hope to benefit a target population including students and teachers belonging to the Division 1 in particular and those at FELTE (ULIS, VNU) in general. For teachers, the research can help raise their awareness of their crucial roles in promoting learner autonomy and in helping their students find their most appropriate learning methods. Accordingly, they can look into the real situation of their students‟ self - practicing listening and speaking skills and have some improvements in teaching methods if necessary.