Nghiên cứu về việc xử lý các khía cạnh liên văn hóa trong lớp học tiếng Anh của giáo viên ở trường chuyên Hạ Long

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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

LE THI NGA

A STUDY ON HA LONG GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH

TEACHERS’ ADDRESSING OF INTERCULTURAL ASPECTS

IN THEIR CLASSES

(Nghiên cứu về việc xử lý các khía cạnh liên văn hóa trong lớp học

tiếng Anh của giáo viên ở Trường Chuyên Hạ Long)

M.A. THESIS

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 8220201

THAI NGUYEN – 2019

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ATTESTATION OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby declare that this submission of the minor thesis entitled “ A study on

Ha Long gifted high school English teachers’ addressing of intercultural aspects

in their classes” is my own work. To the best of my knowledge, it contains no

materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial

proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree

or diploma at SFL or any other educational institutions. The thesis has not been

submitted to any other examining body and has not been published. Any contribution

made to the research by others is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis.

Thai Nguyen, July 2019

Le Thi Nga

Approved by

SUPERVISOR

Dr. Nguyen Thi Hang

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This thesis could not have been accomplished without the help and support from

a number of people.

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere thanks and my deepest

gratitude towards Dr. Nguyen Thi Hang, my supervisor, for her thorough instruction,

precious guidance and ideas and constant encouragement from the first day of working

out the outline for the research to the last days of writing up the thesis. Without her

invaluable support, this graduation paper would not have been completed.

My special thanks are also sent to my colleagues and my beloved students at Ha

Long high school for gifted students for their enthusiastic participation in my study.

Their devoted and sincere contribution helped shape the validity and reliability of this

study.

Last but not least, I owe a great debt of gratitude towards my family and my

friends for their endless care, support and faith in me.

Thai Nguyen, July 2019

Le Thi Nga

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ABSTRACT

This study examines the practice of teaching culture among English teachers at

high school in Vietnam with practical experience in English as a foreign language. It

focuses on the forms of intercultural learning provided by teachers and teachers’ utility

of culture input to develop students’ intercultural competence.

Teachers of English at Ha Long high school for gifted students are considered a

cultural group, which is the reason for me to apply an ethnographic method in the study.

The data for analysis is collected from two sources: class observations and post￾observation interviews with the teacher participants.

The findings show that culture teaching is now integrated closely with linguistic

competence in the curriculum. The teachers exploit different forms of intercultural

learning to provide students with intercultural knowledge, among which project-based

learning activity, discussion on cultural differences and role plays are of extreme

preference, enabling students to self-discover the culture aspects assigned. Noticeably,

most of those forms are based on the input available in the set English textbook. Teachers

had little opportunity to use supplementary material. In the practice of culture teaching,

the factors preventing both students and teachers from achieving their culture-intaking

were also explained, among which time constraint was the key reason.

Based on the findings of the study, recommendations are provided for both

English teachers and educational administrator for improving the quality and quantity of

culture teaching at high schools in Vietnam.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................1

1.1. Introduction ...............................................................................................................1

1.2. Rationale ...................................................................................................................2

1.3. Aims of the study ......................................................................................................4

1.4. Research questions....................................................................................................4

1.5. Significance of the study...........................................................................................4

1.6. Scope of the study .....................................................................................................5

1.7. Design of the study....................................................................................................5

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW.....................................................................6

2.1. Conceptualisations of culture....................................................................................6

2.2. Culture in language education...................................................................................7

2.2.1. Relationship between language and culture ..........................................................7

2.2.2. Intercultural competence .......................................................................................8

2.3. Cultural content in language teaching materials.......................................................9

2.4. Previous studies of IC teaching...............................................................................10

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY ..............................................................................13

3.1. Ethnography ............................................................................................................13

3.2. Field site and participants........................................................................................14

3.3. Data collection procedure .......................................................................................16

3.3.1. Classroom observation.........................................................................................16

3.3.2. Semi-structured interviews...................................................................................17

3. 4. Data analysis ..........................................................................................................19

3.4.1. Step 1....................................................................................................................19

3.4.2. Step 2....................................................................................................................20

3.4.3. Step 3....................................................................................................................20

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CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ........................................................21

4.1. Forms of intercultural learning provided by the teachers.......................................21

4.1.1. Project-based learning.........................................................................................22

4.1.2. Discussion on cultural differences.......................................................................25

4.1.3. Role-play ..............................................................................................................27

4.2. Teachers’ utility of culture input to develop students’ intercultural competence........30

4.2.1. Teachers’ use of set teaching materials...............................................................31

4.2.2. Teachers’ use of supplementary culture input .....................................................36

4.3. Summary .................................................................................................................40

CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................41

5.1. Summary of the findings.........................................................................................41

5.1.1 Forms of intercultural learning provided by the teachers....................................41

5.1.2. Teacher’s utility of culture input..........................................................................42

5.2. Recommendations for more effective integration of culture into English lessons... ..42

5.2.1. Physical dimension...............................................................................................42

5.2.2. Professional dimension ........................................................................................43

5.2.3. Providing teachers with more professional support............................................43

5.3. Limitations of the study ..........................................................................................44

5.4. Suggestions for further study ..................................................................................44

5.5. Conclusion...............................................................................................................45

REFERENCES.............................................................................................................46

APPENDICES ................................................................................................................ I

APPENDIX 1: CLASS OBSERVATION SHEET.......................................................... I

APPENDIX 2: THE INTERVIEW GUIDE ...................................................................II

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