Novice EFL teachers' professional challenges and responses in teaching English at high schools in Binh Dinh province = Nghiên cứu về những thách thức chuyên môn và phản hồi của giáo viên tiếng Anh mới tại các trường trung học phổ thông trên địa bàn tỉnh Bình Định

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

TRAN THI TRUC

NOVICE EFL TEACHERS‟ PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES

AND RESPONSES IN TEACHING ENGLISH AT HIGH

SCHOOLS IN BINH DINH PROVINCE

MASTER THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION

Binh Dinh, 2022

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

TRAN THI TRUC

NOVICE EFL TEACHERS‟ PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES

AND RESPONSES IN TEACHING ENGLISH AT HIGH

SCHOOLS IN BINH DINH PROVINCE

Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching

Code : 8140111

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. NGUYEN QUANG NGOAN

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

TRẦN THỊ TRÚC

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHỮNG THÁCH THỨC

CHUYÊN MÔN VÀ PHẢN HỒI CỦA GIÁO VIÊN

TIẾNG ANH MỚI TẠI CÁC TRƢỜNG TRUNG HỌC

PHỔ THÔNG TRÊN ĐỊA BÀN TỈNH BÌNH ĐỊNH

Chuyên ngành: Lý luận và phƣơng pháp giảng dạy Tiếng Anh

Mã số : 8140111

Ngƣời hƣớng dẫn: PGS. TS. NGUYỄN QUANG NGOẠN

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hearby declare that I am the sole author of this matter thesis entiled

―Novice EFL teachers‘ professional challenges and responses in teaching English at

high schools in Binh Dinh Province‖ and that I have not used any sources other than

those listed in the references. I further declare that I have not submitted this thesis to

any other institution in order to obtain a degree.

Binh Dinh, May, 2022

TRAN THI TRUC

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This graduation thesis would not have been accomplished without the great

assistance of all individuals around me.

First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my research

supervisor, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoan, who has dedicated his time and effort

to correct and instruct me to complete my thesis despite his huge workload. Without

his enthusiasm, empathy and encouragement, this paper woud have never been

accomplised. I had no idea how fortunate I was to have such a wonderful mentor for

my M.A. thesis. I'd like to express my gratitude to him for his patience and

understanding during my difficult moments.

Next, I am grateful to show gratitude to all lecters in my M.A. course for

their committed and enthusiastic teaching over the past two years.

I must also thank to all my M.A. classmates and colleagues for giving me

useful advice during the course of study and research.

Besides, I am also indebted to the cooperation and support of 50 novice EFL

teachers in Binh Dinh Province who spent their valuable time participating in the

survey for my data collection.

Last but not least, I particularly thank to my family, friends and all of my

beloved ones who have always supported and motivated me to finish this thesis.

This study is totally created by their love and encouragement.

Quy Nhon, May 2022

iii

ABSTRACT

It is undoubtedly acknowledged that teachers play such an integral part in

teaching. Admittedly, every year, a large number of new teachers graduate from

colleges and universities and begin their teaching career. During their initial years

of teaching, they encounter a lot of challenges. Based on the theoretical background

of novice EFL teachers‘challenges, the study aims to deliver the professional

challenges faced by them. The data of the study are selected from the survey

conducted with 50 novice EFL teachers who are teaching English at high schools in

Binh Dinh Province through survey questionnaires and interviews which are two of

the principle tools adopted in the research. Specially, the purpose of the study is to

focus on exploring the professional challenges in terms of knowledge, skills and

attitude and then find out the responses or solutions to help novice teachers

overcome their challenges. The findings indicated they experienced skills

challenges and attitude challenges a little more often than the knowledge

challenges. After carrying out this thesis, the researcher hopes to find out the best

ways to help novice teachers overcome their difficulties during their teaching. There

are three effective approaches for novice EFL teachers to overcome their

professional obstacles. These responses are giving mentoring programs to newbie

teachers; more pragmatic aspects of courses should focus on the contents in order to

effectively apply theories to practice and providing more professional training on

the use of innovative student-centered teaching methods, techniques and approaches

in EFL classrooms.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ............................................................................i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT........................................................................................ ii

ABSTRACT............................................................................................................ iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS .........................................................................................iv

ABBREVIATION.................................................................................................. vii

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ viii

LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................ix

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

1. RESEARCH RATIONALE..............................................................................1

1.2. RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES .......................................................4

1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS.............................................................................4

1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY ...............................................................................5

1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ................................................................5

1.6. ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS .............................................................5

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................7

2.1. NOVICE TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ..........................7

2.1.1. Definition of Novice Teachers.................................................................7

2.1.2. Definition of Teacher Professional Development .....................................8

2.1.3. The Importance of Professional Development for EFL novice teachers.10

2.2. NOVICE EFL TEACHERS‘PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES IN

PREPARATION STAGE ....................................................................................11

2.2.1. Challenges in relation to foreign language teaching and learning for high

school teachers..................................................................................................11

2.2.2. Challenges in relation to forms of professional support..........................14

2. 3. THE TYPES OF SUPPORT FOR EFL NOVICE TEACHERS ..................17

2.3.1. Physical Support .....................................................................................17

2.3.2. Emotional Support..................................................................................18

2.3.3. Instructional Support...............................................................................19

v

2.3.4. Institutional Support ...............................................................................20

2.4. RELATED STUDIES ...................................................................................21

2.5. SUMMARY..................................................................................................27

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY...........................................................................28

3.1. METHODS/DESIGN OF THE STUDY.......................................................28

3.1.1. Research Design .....................................................................................28

3.1.2. Participants .............................................................................................30

3.2. DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT .......................................................31

3.2.1. The survey questionnaire ........................................................................31

3.2.2. Interview.................................................................................................31

3.3. DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE .........................................................32

3.4. DATA ANALYSIS.......................................................................................33

3.5. RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY ................................................................35

3.5.1. Reliability ...............................................................................................35

3.5.2. Validity ...................................................................................................35

3.6. SUMMARY..................................................................................................35

CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ...................................................36

4.1. TEACHERS‘BACKGROUND INFORMATION ........................................36

4.1.1. Novice teachers‗ perceptions about teaching ..........................................36

4.1.2. Novice EFL Teachers‘ Training and Professional Development ............40

4.2. PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES FACED BY BINH DINH EFL NOVICE

TEACHERS DURING THEIR INITIAL YEARS OF TEACHING ...................44

4.2.1. Items of Knowledge Challenges.............................................................44

4.2.2. Items of Skills challenges .......................................................................45

4.2.3. Items of Attitude Challenges...................................................................47

4.2.4. Concluding remarks................................................................................48

4.3. RESPONSES OF NOVICE EFL TEACHERS .............................................48

4.3.1.The responses of novice EFL teachers.....................................................48

4.3.2. Concluding remarks................................................................................50

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS..........................................54