Tài liệu Learning guides in speaking english in in class and out of class activities for vietnamese freshman students in the thai nguyen university system

i THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines LEARNING GUIDES IN SPEAKING ENGLISH IN IN-CLASS AND OUT-OF-CLASS ACTIVITIES FOR VIETNAMESE FRESHMAN STUDENTS IN THE THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of Graduate School Batangas State University Batangas City, Philippines In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major in English By Van Thi Quynh Hoa (Flower) Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn i THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ABSTRACT Title: Learning Guides in Speaking English in In-class and Out-of-class Activities for Freshman Students in the Thai Nguyen University System. Author : Van Thi Quynh Hoa (Flower) Course : Doctor of Philosophy Major : English Year : 2015 Adviser : Dr. Amada Banaag Summary This study was undertaken to determine the level of English language performance and the extent of participation of students in inclass and out-of-class activities of the freshman students in the Thai Nguyen University system to propose learning guides in speaking English both for in-class and out-of-class activities. The respondents of the study were four hundred (400) students also from these universities who served as respondents. Specially, the study sought to answer the following questions: Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn ii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 1. What is the level of English language performance of the students? 2. What is the extent of participation of students in in-class activities which require speaking in English? 2.1 listening; 2.2 speaking; 2.3 reading and 2.4 writing? 3. To what extent do students‘ engage in the following out-of-class activities? 3.1 contests; 3.2 clubs; 3.3 sports; 3.4 games and 3.5 entertainment? 4. Is there any significant difference between the extent of participation in in-class and that of out-of-class activities? 5. In which among in-class and out-of-class activities do teachers find communication barriers? 6. What learning guide in speaking English both for in in-class and out-of-class activities may be proposed? The hypothesis of the study is no significant difference between the extent of participation in in-class and out-of-class activities In order to analyze the data gathered: Weighted mean was used to determine the levels of language performance of the students and the extent of participation of using English in in-class and out-of-class activities. Dependent sample t-test was utilized the significant difference between the extent of participation of student in in-class activities and out–of–class activities. The study was revealed that the level of English language performance of freshman students of Thai Nguyen University System Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn iii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines was on the average only. Additionally, the extent of participation of using English in in-class activities was high on reading and speaking; there was a moderate extent of participation on entertainment as a form of out-of-class activities; the performance of the students in using English in in-class activities is better than in out-of-class activities; writing was deliberate as communication barriers in terms of in-class activities while joining clubs was noticed on out-of-class activities and a proposed learning guide was formulated to enhance students English speaking. With the result of the study, the following recommendations are given. First, the faculty may use verbal and non-verbal cues to encourage participation. Second, English Lecturers may undergo training and must be equipped with modern teaching methodologies so as to increase the effectiveness of English language teaching. Third, students should be encouraged to watch and listen to English news like CNN, BBC, DD news etc… and English serials/movies in TV/Radio so as to learn right pronunciation of various words and develop their listening skill. Fourth, Students should be given enough practice to face interviews by conducting mock interviews in schools and colleges so as to build their confidence in spoken communication. Dramatization technique can be used to improve spoken English skill. Fifth, students should be encouraged to write letters to their friends in English. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn iv THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Motivate them to use complete English words to communicate using SMS by mobiles phones outside the college hours so as to improve written communication skill of the students and a proposed learning guide may be used to enhance students‘ ability to speak in English. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn v BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam ACKNOWLEDGMENT The writer extends her sincerest thanks and appreciations to those people who in one way or another have helped make this piece of work a reality. Dr. Dang Kim Vui, President of Thai Nguyen University, for establishing the international cooperation relationship between BSU and TNU. Dr. Hoang Bich Thao, Director for International Training Center, for his assistance and for supporting the researcher a chance to gain professional growth through completion of this study. The Panel of Examiners, for their honest and meaningful comments and recommendation to go on with this research work. Dr. Amada Banaag, her adviser and mentor, who drained all her effort and her best during the entire preparation and revision of this study. To the Rectors of the University, for his permission to conduct the research at Thai Nguyen Universities. To the students who served as her respondents for their assistance and collaboration in providing information necessary for the completion of the study. To her husband and her children, for inspiring her fulfill her dream. To her ever dearest friends, and relatives who in one way or another, gave her encouragement and remarkable support. V.T.Q.H Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn vi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines DEDICATION With pride and honor, This piece of work is lovingly dedicated To her beloved parents, her loving husband and to her children V.T.Q.H Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn vii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .............................................................................................. i ACKNOWLEDGMENT............................................................................ v DEDICATION ......................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................ xii CHAPTER I. THE PROBLEM .................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................ 1 Statement of the Problem ...................................................... 5 Scope, Delimitation and Limitation ..................................... 6 Significance of the Study ....................................................... 7 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE .................................................. i Conceptual Literature ............................................................. 8 Research Literature ............................................................... 39 Several studies were reviewed by the researcher in order to come up with a strong foundation for the present study........................................................................... 39 Synthesis .................................................................................. 43 Theoretical Framework ....................................................... 47 Conceptual Framework ........................................................ 48 Hypothesis of the Study ....................................................... 62 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn viii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Definition of Terms ................................................................ 62 III. RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE .................... 64 Research Environment ......................................................... 64 Research Design.................................................................... 66 Subjects of the Study ............................................................ 67 Data Gathering Instruments ................................................ 69 Data Gathering Procedure .................................................. 71 Statistical Treatment of Data .............................................. 73 IV. PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA .................................................................................. i V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................. i Summary ................................................................................ 143 Findings .................................................................................. 145 Conclusions ........................................................................... 148 Recommendations ............................................................... 149 BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES A. Questionnaire on In-Class and Out-Of-Class Activities of Vietnamese Freshman Students in the Thai Nguyen University System ............................... 167 B. Test on English Language Performance of Vietnamese Freshman Students .............................. 173 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn ix THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines C. Validation Letter of the Questionnaire for Students ............................................................................................ 180 D. Letters of Request to the Head of the Colleges .... 181 E. Documents for Validation of Questionnaires and Test in ............................................................................... 185 F. Photographs of the Study Sites .......................... 186 G. Photographs of the Approval Test Administration of the Head of Colleges ................................................ H. Photographs of the Student Respondents ................ CURRICULUM VITAE Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn x THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page 1. Distribution of Student Samples by Colleges............................................68 2. Level of English Language Performance of the Students .......................75 3. Extent of Participation of Students in In-Class Activities in Terms of Listening ...............................................................................................78 4. Extent of Participation of Students in In-Class Activities in Terms of Speaking ..............................................................................................81 5. Extent of Participation of Students in In-Class Activities in Terms of Reading ................................................................................................84 6. Extent of Participation of Students in In-Class Activities in Terms of Writing ..................................................................................................86 7. Summary Table on the Extent of Participation of Students in In-Class Activities ...............................................................................................89 8. Extent of Participation of Students in Out-Of-Class Activities in Terms of Contests ...............................................................................................90 9. Extent of Participation of Students in Out-Of-Class Activities in Terms of Clubs ....................................................................................................92 10. Extent of Participation of Students in Out-Of-Class Activities in Terms of Sports ...................................................................................................94 11. Extent of Participation of Students in Out-Of-Class Activities in Terms of Games ..................................................................................................96 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn xi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 12 .Extent of Participation of Students in Out-Of-Class Activities in Terms of Entertainment ......................................................................................99 13. Extent of Participation of Students in Out-Of-Class Activities ............ 101 14.Difference Between the Extent of Participation in In-class and Out-ofclass Activities................................................................................... 103 15. Difficulty Encountered in In-class Activities in Terms of Listening...... 106 16. Difficulty Encountered in In-class Activities in terms of Speaking ...... 108 17. Difficulty Encountered in In-class Activities in terms of Reading ........ 109 18. Difficulty Encountered in In-class Activities in terms of Writing .......... 111 19. Summary Table on the Difficulty Encountered in In-class Activities .. 111 20. Difficulty Encountered in Out-Of-Class Activities in Terms of Contest ....113 21. Difficulty Encountered in Out-Of-Class Activities in Terms of Clubs .... 114 22. Difficulty Encountered in Out-Of-Class Activities in Terms of Sports. 116 23. Difficulty Encountered in Out-Of-Class Activities in Terms of Games ...117 24. Difficulty Encountered in Out-Of-Class Activities in Terms of Entertainment ................................................................................... 119 25. Summary Table on the Difficulty Encountered in Out-Class Activities ........................................................................................................... 120 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn xii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Title Page English language performance, extent of participation in in-class and out-of-class activities towards proposed learning guides ………………………………………………….50 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn 1 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction English language is a global language which is used for communication with native-speakers and non-native-speakers in the world, especially in the education sector, all university students need it in their studies in order to search information and obtain knowledge. With this, a lot of the universities throughout the world need to include English language as one of their educational tool requirements as it is the central language of communication in all sectors of society. Due to requirements including increasing foreign companies, expanding international trading relations and the growing tourist industry and number of students undertaking overseas study, English is now taught not only in general education levels and university levels but also in most foreign language centers. This means that the needs and requirements of English language learners have changed. In the past, students only wanted to be good at grammar and gain as much vocabulary as possible so that they could read, understand and even write in English. Nowadays, English is needed for daily communication and employment. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn 2 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Students who enter university lacking the English competency necessary to pursue their studies effectively can suffer anxiety, frustration, de-motivation and an inability to engage with the learning process. Professional courses that involve work placements, such as education, pharmacy and nursing, can be particularly problematic and result in high levels of student stress and even expulsion if they are unable to meet the communicative demands involved. Students facing these kinds of situations may ultimately opt to withdraw from their studies, a decision which can carry with it the stigma of ―failure within their families and/or cultures and thus represent a source of real trauma. Equally, those for whom language competence is not an issue can and do become frustrated as they see their own progress as being hampered by students who, they may feel, should not be enrolled in degree programs if they do not have the language skills needed to cope and keep up. Such feelings intensify when, as tends to happen, students cluster together for course tasks and activities or receive ―special attention in the form of credit-bearing English courses their native-speaker peers sometimes perceive as soft options. For their part, lecturers can feel awkward and confounded by students who struggle with the language, sometimes opting to ignore them and/or simply directing them to learning advisers in the hope that they will be able to ― address the concern. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn 3 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines In Thai Nguyen University, students are facing two problems when they learn English. First, university students continue to make some basic errors in pronunciation, spelling, morphology and syntax. Second, they are unable to express themselves confidently and efficiently either when dealing with 'academic topics' or 'common everyday topics'. The students' major difficulty arises from the fact that they cannot use English correctly and appropriately in and out the classroom when required to do so. This means that the difficulty is related to the students' deficiencies in communicative competence and self-expression. The university can enhance student learning by using its existing resources more effectively. The key tasks in transcending the artificial boundaries between in-class and out-of-class learning activities are to break down the barriers between various units (e.g., academic departments, administrative services, student affairs) and to create situations in which students examine the connections between their studies and life outside the classroom and to apply what they are learning. Key steps are for universities to address the importance of outof-class experiences explicitly in the institution's mission, develop a common understanding of the desired outcomes of undergraduate education and the combination of institutional conditions and student Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn 4 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines experiences most likely to produce these outcomes, assess regularly the impact of in-class as well as out-of-class environments on students. The researcher still believes that something can still be done to upgrade English language performance in in-class and out-of-class activities if only more meaningful measures are taken with focused attention. What is needed are not always surveys to diagnose the defect, but rather take a micro inquiry on the matter, and come up with measures that are adoptable to a particular element. This is the stance that the researcher takes in conducting a study on in-class and out-of-class activities of Vietnamese freshman students in the Thai Nguyen University system in the hope of proposing learning guides for both activities. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn 5 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Statement of the Problem This study dealt with the Learning Guides in speaking English in in-class and out-of-class activities for freshman students in the Thai Nguyen University system. Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions: 1. What is the level of English language performance of the students? 2. What is the extent of participation of students in in-class activities which require speaking in English? 2.1 listening; 2.2 speaking; 2.3 reading and 2.4 writing? 3. To what extent do students‘ engage in the following outof-class activities? 3.1 contests; 3.2 clubs; 3.3 sports; 3.4 games and 3.5 entertainment? 4. Is there any significant difference between the extent of participation in in-class and that of out-of-class activities? Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn 6 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 5. In which among in-class and out-of-class activities do teachers find communication barriers? 6. What learning guide in speaking English both for inclass and out-of-class activities may be proposed? Scope, Delimitation and Limitation The study focused on learning guides in speaking English in inclass and out-of-class activities for Vietnamese freshman students in the Thai Nguyen University system during the first semester of academic year 2013-2014. The subjects of the study were limited to the freshman students of Thai Nguyen University who were from the College of Agriculture and Forestry; College of Education; College of Information Technology; College of Sciences; and College of Economics and Business Administration. The level of English language performance of the first year college students was also evaluated by the college English test. It also included the extent of participation of students in in-class activities and out-of-class activities. For in-class activities, it was limited only to listening, speaking, reading and writing; while for out-of-class activities its is limited only to contests, clubs, sports, games and entertainment. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn 7 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Significance of the Study The study is deemed significant for its contributions to the following groups of individuals. University administrators of Thai Nguyen University. They will benefit from the study as it will be their basis for curriculum development and academic planning. College English teachers. They will be provided with a rationale and understanding as to why the students language performance is such and would instill in them a deep appreciation of the remedial strategies that will be designed. College students of English. They will benefit from the study especially in areas that concern measures to take in order to improve English language performance. To the researcher herself. As an English teacher, she is always confronted with the challenge of improving English language performance of her students, therefore hopes the findings of the study will help her become a better teacher. To the future researchers. This study may serve as the springboard of other researchers along the same concern. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn