Luận văn Thạc sĩ Khoa học giáo dục: An investigation into teacher's beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city

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The aim of the study is to describe the beliefs of teachers in some English centers in Ho Chi Minh City regarding the selection of supplementary materials and how supplementary materials are adapted and designed; identify the most influential sources of teachers’ beliefs; examine the convergence and divergence between teachers’ beliefs and their practice.

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Nội dung Text: Luận văn Thạc sĩ Khoa học giáo dục: An investigation into teacher's beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM TP. HỒ CHÍ MINH Phùng Tuấn Ngọc AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHER'S BELIEFS AND PRACTICE ABOUT DEVELOPING SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS FOR IELTS LEARNERS AT LANGUAGE CENTERS IN HO CHI MINH CITY LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ KHOA HỌC GIÁO DỤC Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh – 2021
BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM TP. HỒ CHÍ MINH Phùng Tuấn Ngọc AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHER'S BELIEFS AND PRACTICE ABOUT DEVELOPING SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS FOR IELTS LEARNERS AT LANGUAGE CENTERS IN HO CHI MINH CITY Chuyên ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học bộ môn tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ KHOA HỌC GIÁO DỤC NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. NGUYỄN THANH BÌNH Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh - 2021
LỜI CAM ĐOAN Tên tôi Phùng Tuấn Ngọc. Tôi xin cam đoan luận văn về đề tài “An investigation into teacher's beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for IELTS learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh City” là công trình nghiên cứu cá nhân của tôi trong thời gian qua theo yêu cầu của chương trình thạc sĩ tại trường Đại học Sư phạm Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Số liệu và kết quả nghiên cứu trong luận văn này chưa từng được sử dụng hoặc công bố trong bất kỳ công trình nào khác. Hồ Chí Minh, 2021 Phùng Tuấn Ngọc i
DECLARATION My name is Phung Tuan Ngoc. I hereby certify that my thesis entitled “An investigation into teacher's beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for IELTS learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh City” is solely the result of my own work as the fulfillment of the requirements for the Master’s program at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy. The data and results of this thesis have not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Ho Chi Minh, 2021 Phùng Tuấn Ngọc ii
LỜI CẢM ƠN Trong quá trình nghiên cứu và hoàn thiện luận văn tác giả đã nhận được rất nhiều sự hỗ trợ và động viên của các cấp lãnh đạo, thầy cô, bạn bè đồng nghiệp và gia đình. Trước hết tác giả xin được gửi lời cảm ơn chân thành nhất đến giáo viên hướng dẫn – TS. Nguyễn Thanh Bình, người đã trực tiếp hướng dẫn, tận tình chỉ bảo và giúp đỡ tác giả trong các hoạt động nghiên cứu để hoàn thành bài luận văn này. Tác giả cũng xin được bày tỏ lòng cảm ơn sâu sắc đến phòng Sau đại học trường Đại học Sư phạm Tp. HCM và các thầy cô giáo tham gia giảng dạy trong toàn khóa học vì đã cung cấp những giờ học hữu ích và ý tưởng cho bài luận văn của tác giả. Xin chân thành cảm ơn các anh chị đồng nghiệp đã tham gia vào quá trình khảo sát và trả lời phỏng vấn. Đặc biệt là thầy Lê Huy Lâm, cô Đặng Ngọc Anh Thư, và chị Trịnh Mỹ Linh đã giúp đỡ tác giả rất nhiều trong giai đoạn thu thập dữ liệu. Cuối cùng, tác giả xin tỏ lòng biết ơn đến gia đình và bạn bè đã hỗ trợ và động viên trong cuộc sống và thời gian hoàn thành luận văn thạc sĩ. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Throughout the writing of this thesis, I have received a great deal of support and encouragement from leaders, lecturers, colleagues, and parents. First and foremost, I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor – Dr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, for his inspiration, guidance, and assistance in the research activities to finalize the thesis. I am deeply grateful to the staff of the Postgraduate Department at Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy and lecturers participating in the Master’s program for their interesting, helpful lectures and ideas for my thesis. My heartfelt thanks also go to my colleagues who have participated in the questionnaire and responded to my interviews. Particularly, I am indebted to Mr. Le Huy Lam, Ms. Dang Ngoc Anh Thu, and Ms. Trinh My Linh, who have enthusiastically supported me during the phase of data collection. Last but not least, I wish to express my appreciation to my parents and friends for their constant support and encouragement in life as well as in the time of doing this thesis. iv
ABSTRACT Much literature in the pedagogic field has focused on language teaching and learning aspects, while there are apparent gaps concerning materials development. Moreover, materials development appears to be a contemporary field worth more attention from researchers in the flourishing era of printed and electronic materials for English language teaching and learning. This thesis is to investigate teachers’ beliefs about IELTS supplementary materials and explore how they select, adapt, and design these types of materials. In this thesis, two instruments, including survey questionnaires and interviews, were employed to attain the research objectives. The study focuses on teachers who have experience in EILTS training at language centers in Ho Chi Minh City. One hundred and thirty-one teachers participated, and twelve of them were interviewed. The results show that most teachers believe supplementary materials for IELTS classrooms are those extra exercises. These materials are used in addition to the main coursebooks provided by their language centers. With respect to the factors affecting teachers’ beliefs, rather than education and theoretical knowledge, the influence of personal experience and teaching contexts is tremendous. Most teachers reported the impact of former exposure to supplementary materials as learners and the policies at their language centers on their current decision. Moreover, although there is a significant convergence between teachers’ beliefs and practice, some beliefs do not translate into actual practice due to internal and external factors. It is expected that this study will contribute to the repertoire of materials development and the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practice, a field that receives little attention from researchers. The results may also have prospective implementation for training teachers and managing language courses. Keywords: belief, practice, supplementary materials, IELTS v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... v LIST OF ABBREVIATION............................................................................................ x LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 1.1. Background to the study .................................................................................... 1 1.2. Problem statement .............................................................................................. 2 1.3. Aims and Scope ................................................................................................. 3 1.4. Significance of the study .................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................ 5 2.1. Teachers’ beliefs in English language teaching ................................................. 5 2.1.1. What are teachers’ beliefs? ...................................................................... 5 2.1.2. Teachers’ belief system ........................................................................... 7 2.1.3. Teachers’ beliefs and practice ............................................................... 10 2.2. The role of materials in ELT classrooms ......................................................... 12 2.2.1. What are language-learning materials? ................................................. 12 2.2.1.1. Ready-made coursebooks ................................................................... 13 2.2.1.2. Teacher-generated materials............................................................... 24 2.2.1.3. A need for flexibility .......................................................................... 26 2.2.2. Types of language-learning materials .................................................... 27 2.2.3. Materials for IELTS training ................................................................. 28 2.3. Supplementary materials in IELTS classrooms ............................................... 31 2.3.1. Selecting supplementary materials for IELTS training ......................... 32 2.3.2. Designing supplementary materials for IELTS training........................ 36 2.3.3. Adapting supplementary materials for IELTS training ......................... 37 2.4. Theoretical framework from literature review................................................. 39 vi
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................... 41 3.1. Research questions ........................................................................................... 41 3.2. Method design .................................................................................................. 41 3.3. Research Setting ............................................................................................... 42 3.4. Participants ....................................................................................................... 43 3.4.1. Description of the population ................................................................ 43 3.4.2. Sampling method ................................................................................... 43 3.5. Data collection methods ................................................................................... 49 3.6. Pilot Study ........................................................................................................ 54 3.6.1. The questionnaire ................................................................................... 54 3.6.2. The interview ......................................................................................... 55 3.7. Data analysis methods...................................................................................... 56 3.8. Reliability and validity ..................................................................................... 60 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS ........................................................................................... 62 4.1. Findings from the survey ................................................................................. 62 4.2. Findings from the interview ............................................................................. 72 4.2.1. The notion of supplementary materials in IELTS classrooms .............. 72 4.2.1.1. The purposes of supplementary materials for IELTS classrooms ..... 72 4.2.1.2. The benefits of supplementary materials for IELTS classrooms ....... 74 4.2.1.3. The sources of supplementary materials for IELTS classrooms ........ 76 4.2.2. Internal and external sources ................................................................. 78 4.2.2.1. Teaching context ................................................................................ 78 4.2.2.3. Teachers’ experience .......................................................................... 82 4.2.2.2. The washback effect of the IELTS examination ................................ 85 4.2.2.4. Theoretical knowledge ....................................................................... 86 4.2.2.5. Personalities ........................................................................................ 88 4.2.3. Teachers’ practice of developing supplementary materials .................. 88 4.2.3.1. Selecting supplementary materials ..................................................... 89 vii
4.2.3.2. Designing supplementary materials ................................................... 91 4.2.3.3. Adapting supplementary materials ..................................................... 95 4.2.4. The convergences and divergences between teachers’ beliefs and practice ............................................................................................................... 98 4.2.4.1. Convergences ..................................................................................... 99 4.2.4.2. Divergences ...................................................................................... 100 4.3. Data triangulation ........................................................................................... 101 4.3.1. Teachers’ beliefs and practice about the concept of supplementary materials ............................................................................................................. 102 4.3.2. Teachers’ beliefs and practice about the reasons to develop supplementary materials ....................................................................................... 104 4.3.3. Teachers’ beliefs and practice about the criteria for developing supplementary materials ....................................................................................... 106 CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION ..................................................................................... 110 5.1. Teachers’ beliefs about IELTS supplementary materials .............................. 110 5.1.1. Beliefs about the concept of supplementary materials ........................ 110 5.1.2. Beliefs about the reason to develop supplementary materials ............. 111 5.1.3. Beliefs about the criteria for developing supplementary materials ..... 113 5.2. Factors affecting teachers’ beliefs about IELTS supplementary materials ... 115 5.2.1. Contextual factors ................................................................................ 115 5.2.2. Teachers’ experiences .......................................................................... 116 5.2.3. Other factors ........................................................................................ 117 5.3. The relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practice ............................... 119 5.3.1. Convergences ....................................................................................... 119 5.3.2. Divergences ......................................................................................... 119 CHAPTER VI: CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 121 6.1. Summary of the major findings ..................................................................... 121 6.1.1. Teachers’ beliefs about developing supplementary materials for IELTS courses ............................................................................................................. 121 viii
6.1.2. The factors affecting teachers’ beliefs about developing supplementary materials for IELTS courses ................................................................................. 122 6.1.3. Teachers’ actual classroom practices and their beliefs about developing supplementary materials for IELTS courses ........................................................ 124 6.2. Implications .................................................................................................... 125 6.3. Limitations of the study ................................................................................. 130 6.4. Suggestions for further studies....................................................................... 130 References ................................................................................................................... 132 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. 141 Appendix A: Teachers’ beliefs questionnaire .......................................................... 141 Appendix B: Personal Interview Questions ............................................................. 144 Appendix C: Interview protocol .............................................................................. 147 Appendix D: Themes, subthemes, codes, and counts of the qualitative data .......... 151 Appendix E: Coding System of the Interviews (presented with examples) ............ 155 Appendix F: Examples of Interview Transcript ....................................................... 160 ix
LIST OF ABBREVIATION IELTS The International English Language Test ELT English Language Teaching UNCLES University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate CLT Communicative language teaching SLA Second language acquisition ESP English for Specific Purposes CEFR The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages x
LIST OF TABLES Table 3. 1 Demographic Characteristics of Participants in the Interview .................... 48 Table 3. 2 Examples of data condensation ................................................................... 57 Table 3. 3 The categorization of themes in relation to the research questions ............. 59 Table 4. 1 Teachers’ beliefs about the concept of supplementary materials ................ 63 Table 4. 2 Teachers’ beliefs about the reasons to develop supplementary materials ... 64 Table 4. 3 Teachers’ beliefs about the criteria for developing supplementary materials ....................................................................................................................................... 65 Table 4. 4 The difference between the mean scores of male and female teachers regarding Concepts, Reasons, and Criteria of supplementary materials development . 66 Table 4. 5 The ANOVA results for teachers’ beliefs of Concepts, Reasons, and Criteria of supplementary materials development according to their level of education ........... 67 Table 4. 6 The ANOVA results for teachers’ beliefs of Reasons and Criteria of supplementary materials development according to their teaching experience ............ 70 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2. 1 Burns’ Model of intercontextuality of teacher thinking and beliefs ............ 9 Figure 2. 2 Beliefs act as filters, frames, or guides ...................................................... 10 Figure 2. 3 Sheldon’s Textbook evaluation sheet ........................................................ 35 Figure 3. 1 Gender of participants ................................................................................ 45 Figure 3. 2 Education level of participants . ................................................................. 46 Figure 3. 3 Teaching experience of participants .......................................................... 47 Figure 3. 4 Coding tree representing the codes, subthemes, and themes ..................... 58 xi
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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background to the study In the language teaching context, most English courses use a combination of “published books and in-house produced material” (Jordan, 1997; Harmer, 2001). In Vietnam, while at public schools there is a must to use the official coursebooks offered by the Education Ministry, English centers appear to leave more room for directors, managers, or even teachers to select and develop their own teaching materials (McDonough, Shaw, & Masuhara, 2013, p. 53). Evidently, most language centers possess unique course books which are usually designed by famous publishers, namely Pearson, Cambridge University Press, or Oxford University Press. Textbooks, thus, become more and more powerful and are treated as selling points of a curriculum. Edward (2010), cited as a chapter introduction in McGrath (2013) (p. 15), remarks on the reality in which such a lot of institutions emphasize the role of “materials and equipment” over teachers and students. Despite their benefits and convenience, it is teachers who teach rather than materials themselves (ibid.). There has been doubt about the actual value of textbooks because they ostensibly include cultural bias (McGrath, 2013; Bao, 2016) or consume much time to be adopted. Some scholars even call for abandoning course books and replacing them with teachers’ resources. Such an approach may serve the needs of students better and thus be more flexible and learner-centered. The scenario can be straightforward for experienced teachers; however, novice teachers often have trouble dealing with it. Furthermore, additional administration resources will be needed to ensure teachers do not use the same materials in different classes. In order to compromise this dilemma, Thornbury and Meddings (2002), cited in McGrath (2013), propose a “Dogme” approach that “activities […] provide optimal exposure, attention, output, and feedback, thereby maximizing the chance of language emergence.” Other scholars such as Graves (2000), Nation and Macalister (2010), and McGrath (2013) 1
supported the notion of adapting coursebooks to mix and match with learners’ needs and learning outcomes. However, few studies have touched on the field of supplementary materials. A commercial textbook usually accompanies at least a workbook, other visual, audial, or online resources with the advent of technology. Those are typically considered supplementary materials. If making changes to a coursebook is often based on teachers’ beliefs (Harmer, 2001, p. 8-9), they may also influence the selection, adaptation, and design of supplementary materials. 1.2. Problem statement Teachers’ beliefs have captured the interests of pedagogical researchers because they give valuable clues about teachers’ decisions and classroom practices (Richards & Rodgers, 2001; Nation & Macalister, 2010). There has been a large amount of literature on what teachers believe affects their instructional choices, feedbacks, learning, and learners (Borg & Al-Busaidi, 2011; Nobuhiro, 2014; Bai & Yuan, 2018). However, the gap between teachers’ beliefs and materials development is still a new issue in the pedagogical realm. It may be because language-learning materials have been neglected, and up until the mid-1990s, materials development was regarded as an independent field of research (Tomlinson, 2012). Supported by the idea of using course books as a springboard for language instructions, developing supplementary material is of paramount significance. As for the scale of the classrooms, many teachers have familiarized themselves with the preparation of supplementary documents in order to bridge the gap between the preplanned textbooks and the actual needs and the ability of learners. The process, thus, centers more on learners and promotes teacher autonomy. McGrath (2013) notes that in the process of planning a lesson, “many teachers are subconsciously on the look-out for materials” (p. 83) because they may learn that particular exercises or activities in the textbooks are monotonous. It seems that the decision made by teachers in these situations is somewhat 2
based on instinct and experience as opposed to rational thoughts. If it is the case, the supplementary materials play only a role as fillers and have no contribution to learning experiences. However, according to the document published by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (Ministry of Education & Training, 2018), a teacher in a language center must meet two requirements:  Must have at least a degree of associate in the field of language teaching  Must have at least a degree of associate in the field of language and a teaching certificate Another document by the Ministry about competencies and standards for language teachers (Ministry of Education & Training, 2014) also stressed that teachers must have adequate knowledge of “material design.” The subject is also incorporated in other private teacher training programs. Therefore, it is worth believing that the decision of teachers on supplementary materials is not entirely free from learning, teaching theories, and principles. As a result, there is a need to have a thorough understanding of how teachers articulate their beliefs in selecting, adapting, and designing supplementary materials, what salient factors contribute to their beliefs, and whether their beliefs align with practice. 1.3. Aims and Scope The aim of the study is to (1) describe the beliefs of teachers in some English centers in Ho Chi Minh City regarding the selection of supplementary materials and how supplementary materials are adapted and designed; (2) identify the most influential sources of teachers’ beliefs; and (3) examine the convergence and divergence between teachers’ beliefs and their practice. 3
1.4. Significance of the study The result from this study may contribute to teachers’ professional development and, at the same time, provide ideas for teacher training in terms of evaluating, adapting, and designing supplementary materials in language centers. In addition, it is also expected to contribute to the theory of materials development. As for a more local scale, the research’s outcomes will help IELTS course managers at English centers in Ho Chi Minh City to have a deeper understanding of teachers’ use of supplementary materials and form that they can have proper adjustments to the syllabus to promote teaching and learning experience. 4
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Teachers’ beliefs in English language teaching 2.1.1. What are teachers’ beliefs? Although the term “beliefs” has been broadly adopted in various studies and fields, there is still little consensus on a comprehensive and integrative theory of it. A belief can vary from constitutional elements such as “metaphysical, moral, philosophical, political, scientific and religious principles” to more incidental ones like “details of everyday life” (Ohlsson, 2011, p. 293). Amstrong (1973) defends and further explains the anatomy of Ramsey (1931) about beliefs – “a map of neighbouring space by which we steer.” He concludes that beliefs are formed through interpreting reality, and, as echoed in Pajares (1992), they are driving factors for human decisions and actions (p. 4). It has been recognized that beliefs are also what humans accept to be true (Richardson, 1996; Tran, 2012). However, people also hold disbelief towards the world. Ohlsson (2011) seems to agree with Borg (2001) about beliefs that comprise a proposition and a truth value or element. The proposition refers to the assumption assigned to reality (bearing a resemblance to Amstrong’s analogy of map), while the truth value/ element is the perception of a proposition is true or false (reflecting the conceptualization of “individual's judgment of the truth or falsity of a proposition”; Pajares, 1992, p. 316). Basically, beliefs are the lens through which people interpret the external reality based on true-false judgment and are action-guiding, and therefore, teachers’ beliefs are overall “tacit, often unconsciously held assumptions about students, classrooms, and the academic material to be taught” (Kagan, 1992, p. 65) It has been acknowledged that in the course of the teaching career, teachers have to make a large number of decisions before, during, and after each lesson (Richards & Lockhart, 1999). These decisions are heavily influenced by what teachers believe and know about the language itself, teaching and learning nature, and other educational 5
processes. However, teachers usually lack a standard protocol to handle their work but rather turn to their previous experience and instinct – personal understanding – which originates from beliefs (Senior, 2006, p. 247; Decker & Rimm-Kaufman, 2008, p. 46). In other words, teachers’ beliefs are served as primary elements encompassing “conceptions, world views, and mental models” (Mandasari, 2016) that tailor their actions and behaviors (Senior, 2006; Williams, Mercer, & Ryan, 2015; Nguyen, 2019) and thus, affect the teaching quality and learning potential (Nguyen, 2011, p. 128; Levin, 2015, p. 49; Cheng, 2018, p. 7). For instance, some teachers may want their learners to achieve “accuracy” in English, while others may emphasize the “fluency” factors. Despite an overt parallel between teachers’ beliefs and beliefs in general, this is only “the tip of the ice berg”. The brief definition in the earlier part, nevertheless, appears to be incapable of capturing a comprehensive picture of teachers’ beliefs, let alone those of a larger system. Fives and Buehl (2012), on the one hand, admit the “murky” reality of research literature on the attempt to define teachers’ beliefs but vehemently oppose Pajares’ (1992) assumption of difficulty in conceptualizing – “a game of player’s choice.” What actually matters is to pinpoint the consistent definition and terms within and across the field of research (p. 473). An example of divergent terms that, of course, lead to different definitions can be found in Pajares’ (1992) lengthy and inexhaustible list of anonymous terms used in literature about teachers’ beliefs: “attitudes, values, judgments, axioms, opinions, ideology, perceptions, conceptions, conceptual systems, preconceptions, dispositions, implicit theories, explicit theories, personal theories, internal mental processes, action strategies, rules of practice, practical principles, perspectives, repertories of understanding, and social strategy” (p. 309). In the quest of settling the “messy” construct of teachers’ beliefs by coding method, Fives and Buehl (2012) manage to identify five characteristics encompassing: implicit and explicit nature (also known as conscious and unconscious nature in Borg (2001)), stability over time, situated 6