Teachers' and students' attitudes toward using of authentic reading materials in English for information technology at Binh Thuan vocational college

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I, Tran Van Ty, certify that this thesis entitled, “Teachers’ and students’

attitudes towards using of authentic reading materials in EIT at Binh Thuan

Vocational College”, is my own work.

Except where reference is made in the text of the study, this thesis comprises material

published everywhere or extracted either in whole or in part from a thesis by which I

have qualified for or been awarded another diploma or degree.

No other person’s work has been utilized without due acknowledgments in the main text

of the thesis.

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other

tertiary institution.

Ho Chi Minh City, 2018

MR. TRAN VAN TY

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I cannot express enough gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Le Hoang Dung,

Dean of the Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature, for his mindful

supervision.

My completion of the study would not have been occurred without my

support of my family and colleagues, who gave me great help in sharing my own

household chores as well as at work during the study.

Also, I am grateful to all my TESOL9 classmates, who were always beside

me and helped me out of difficulties.

Last but not least, my special thanks for my wife, Khue Khuc Khanh Van. I

would not have been able to go beyond in accomplishing the thesis without her

high sympathy and understanding.

iii

ABSTRACT

The utilization of authentic materials has been regarded as an effective teaching

method through its great contribution to the enhancement of English reading for

Information Technology. Accordingly, the study on authentic materials would like to

examine the teachers and IT students’ attitudes toward using authentic materials in IT

reading class.

To achieve these objectives, relevant literature on background of authentic

materials, reading comprehension and previous studies were reviewed in the theory

chapter to shape the theoretical framework of the study.

The study was carried out at Binh Thuan Vocational College with the participation

of 35 IT students and 5 EFL teachers. Mixed-methods research was employed in this

study, i.e., both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from the questionnaire

and semi-structured interview. As for data analysis, descriptive statistics (e.g., mean,

standard deviation, and frequencies/percentages) were used to analyze quantitative data,

whereas qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis.

The findings showed that both teachers and students had positive attitudes on the

effect of authentic materials in IT reading classroom apropos of suitability, naturalness,

usefulness or exploitability. However, while teachers believed the chosen materials

embraced their readability, their students opposed to that.

From the research findings, it is recommended that the teachers should select the

authentic supplementary materials readable and relevant to their students’ cognitive and

proficiency levels.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENT

Page

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENT iv

LIST OF TABLES viii

ABBREVIATIONS ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1. Background of the study 1

1.2. Rationale for the study 3

1.3. Research questions 4

1.4. Significance of the study 4

1.5. Scope of the study 5

1.6. Organization of the study 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1. Background on authentic materials 6

2.1.1. Definitions 6

2.1.2. Authenticity of materials 8

2.1.3. The needs to authentic materials in language teaching 10

2.1.4. Challenges in the use of authentic materials 11

2.1.5. Criteria for choosing authentic materials 12

2.1.6. Adaptation of authentic materials

14

2.2. Understanding of reading 16

2.2.1. Definition of reading 16

2.2.2. Reading comprehension and English for Specific Purposes 17

2.3. Teachers’ and students’ attitudes 17

2.3.1. Definition of attitudes 18

v

2.3.2. Components of attitudes 18

2.3.2.1. Affective attitude dealing with authentic reading materials 18

2.3.2.2. Behavioral attitude dealing with authentic reading materials

20

2.3.2.3. Cognitive attitude towards dealing with authentic materials 20

2.4. Previous studies regarding the use of authentic materials 21

2.5. Research gaps 25

2.6. Conceptual framework of the study 26

2.7. Chapter summary 27

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 28

3.1. Research method 29

3.2. Research site 29

3.2.2 Participants for the research 29

3.2.2.1. Students 29

3.2.2.2. Teachers 30

3.3. Description for reading syllabus in the currently used material 31

3.4. Research tools 33

3.4.1. Student Questionnaire 34

3.4.1.1. Rationale for employing questionnaire 34

3.4.1.2. Description of the student questionnaire 34

3.4.2. Interview 36

3.4.2.1. Rationale for interview 36

3.4.2.2. Description of the student and teacher interviews 36

3.5. Data collection process 37

3.5.1. Administering the questionnaires 37

3.5.2. Conducting teacher and student interviews 38

3.6. Analytical framework 39

3.6.1. Quantitative analysis for questionnaires 39

3.6.2. Qualitative analysis for interviews 39

vi

3.7. Reliability and validity 39

3.7.1. Reliability and validity of questionnaire 40

3.7.1. Reliability and validity of interview 40

3.8. Chapter summary 41

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDING DISCUSSION 42

4.1. Data analysis 42

4.1.1. Data analysis of the questionnaire 42

4.1.1.1. Reliability of the questionnaire 43

4.1.1.2. The IT students’ attitudes on the suitability of authentic materials 43

4.1.1.3. The IT students’ attitudes on the readability of authentic materials 44

4.1.1.4. The IT students’ attitudes on the usefulness of authentic materials 47

4.1.1.5. The IT students’ attitudes on the form-related naturalness of

authentic materials

48

4.1.1.6. The IT students’ expectations on the future use of authentic

materials

49

4.1.2. Data analysis of the interview 51

4.1.2.1. Data analysis of the student interview 51

4.1.2.2. Data analysis of the teacher interview 58

4.2. Discussion 71

4.2.1. Discussion on research question 1 71

4.2.2. Discussion on research question 2 74

4.3. Chapter summary 77

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 78

5.1. Summary of key findings 78

5.2. Recommendation for teachers and students 79

5.2.1. For teachers 79

5.2.2. For students 80

5.3. Evaluation of methodology 80

5.3.1. Strengths 80

vii

5.3.2. Limitations 80

5.4. Recommendations for further research 81

5.5. Chapter summary 81

REFERENCES 82

APPENDIX A.1: STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) 85

APPENDIX A.2: STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 87

APPENDIX B.1: STUDENT INTERVIEW PROMPTS 89

APPENDIX B.2: TEACHER INTERVIEW PROMPTS 90

APPENDIX C: AUTHENTIC MATERIALS DOWNLOADED FROM INTERNET 91

APPENDIX D: CONSENT FORM (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 106

APPENDIX E: TEACHER INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS 107

APPENDIX F: STUDENT INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS 113

viii

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 2.1 The Criteria for Using Authentic Materials in Language Teaching 14

Table 3.1 Demographic Information of Student Participants 30

Table 3.2 Demographic Information of Teacher Participants 31

Table 3.3 An Overview of Reading Materials Used in Class 32

Table 3.4 The Linkage between Research Questions and Research Instruments 33

Table 4.1 Reliability Analysis of Student Questionnaire (Cronbach’s Alpha) 42

Table 4.2 The IT Students’ Attitudes on the Suitability of Authentic Materials 43

Table 4.3 The IT Students’ Attitudes on the Readability of Authentic Materials 44

Table 4.4 The IT Students’ Attitudes on the Usefulness of Authentic Materials 47

Table 4.5 The IT Students’ Attitudes on the Form-related Naturalness of Authentic

Materials

48

Table 4.6 The IT Students’ Expectations on the Future Use of Authentic Materials 49

Table 4.7 Results from Student Interview 51

Table 4.8 Results from Teacher Interview 58

ix

ABBREVIATIONS

TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

SPSS: Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences

IT: Information Technology

EIT: English for Information Technology

M: Mean

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

MOLISA: Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs

EFL: English as Foreign Language

B.A: Bachelor of Arts

M.A: Master of Arts

BTVC: Binh Thuan Vocational College

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This study is intended to investigate the use of authentic reading materials to

enhance students‘ EIT learning as well as investigate their attitudes towards this kind of

materials. This chapter starts with the general background for the study, research

questions, purpose of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, and

organization of the study.

1.1. Background of the study

In today‘s demand of integration and globalization, the role of English language

has become more and more essential when functioning as a bridge to gap the nations

throughout the world. In the Vietnamese context, English has been considered to be an

automatically compulsory subject in professional at colleges and universities in order to

―provide a new tool of communication to gain scientific knowledge, advanced

technology and so on for students in the period of the current globalization‖ (Le, 2005, p.

67). In this respect, it is definitely necessary that learners should develop four skills,

namely Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. However, in the existing tertiary

context of Vietnamese education, the reality of English teaching and learning reaches to

an alarm to be wakened up. According to Tran (2005) in her article of ―Factors affecting

teaching and learning English in Vietnamese universities‖ published by Vietnam

National University-Hanoi, she defined several problems affecting English language

teaching and learning in Vietnam regarding the size of each class, traditional form–

focused instruction rather than interactive teaching approach, and low English proficient

levels of the majority students when entering university, and especially severe lack of

authentic context for language study.

According to Hart (2003), English language learners need to be exposed to and

have access to the same language by which native speakers typically use and

communicate in a natural way. In other words, materials in general play a crucial part in

language learning and teaching, this accounts for the fact that discussions about the roles

2

of materials appear in almost all books on course design. Therefore, introducing

authentic materials in teaching English can be beneficial for students as these materials

prepare them for real life communication. Authentic materials ‗expose‘ students to real

language as it is used in real life situations by native speakers (Peacock, 1997).

Additionally, the role of motivation in foreign language learning is a very

important ingredient linked to students‘ success of language performances (Gardner,

1985), and the way of teaching is considered in the heart of learning process so; that is to

say, the more we encourage and motivate our students to research and to communicate

their information and share it with each other, the more independent they become. In

this respect, Nuttall (1996) argues that ―authentic texts can be motivating because they

are proof that the language is used for real-life purposes by real people‖ (p. 172).

Along with the issues set above, in teaching English reading for Information

Technology (IT), students almost depend upon the currently used materials which are

double repeated with out of date information whereas it is students who are in need of

the new knowledge related to their future work. Besides, most of the students spend 120

periods learning with general English, which is not enough for them to master the

language employed in the materials. Hence, the English teachers are obliged to employ

not only the suitable teaching techniques but also provide the supplementary materials so

as to enhance students‘ motivation in learning to read English. As proved by Berry

(2000), the majority of the currently used materials put emphasis on teaching English

proficiency skills rather than teaching real language that students really need to interact

with and communicate in the real world. In addition, the contrived materials of

traditional textbooks have often presented learners with a meager, and frequently

distorted, sample of the target language to work with and have failed to meet many of

their communicative needs (Schinffrin, 1996). In short, employing suitable materials is

one of big issues in making considerable contribution to language teaching and learning

successfully. To put simply, when used appropriately, materials might help to expose

learners to closer with the target language and become to gain better skills.

According to Alderson and Bachman (2000), there is a close relationship between

3

the readers and the texts. Therefore, if the materials that are collected and introduced fit

students‘ interests and levels in reading class, they can be a great support for students to

learn a foreign language as well as enhance this group‘s learning motivation. Hence, it is

high time language teachers needed to stimulate this world into the classroom by

introducing students numerous types of materials the fact that since the outcome of

language learners is for communication and knowledge of the world.

In order to provoke students‘ learning involvement and make the learning

environment more active, it is advisable that language teachers should bring

supplementary materials in the reading class to provide students with the innovative

knowledge and real language for student practice. Due to being insufficient here and

there to present the language, authentic materials, a new concept has been introduced

with a view to helping students whose majors are in IT to better gain for reading.

1.2. Rationale for the study

Indeed, the debate over the role of authenticity, as well as what it means to be

authentic, has become increasingly sophisticated and complex over the years and now

embraces research from a wide variety of fields such as second language acquisition,

social psychology, etc. With its expansion across the globe, English has naturally

diversified into arrays of forms, varying in pronunciation, intonation, grammar,

vocabulary, spelling and conventions of language use, as it has been adapted to suit new

surroundings. It is this unavoidable variation of the English language in the world that

urges language teachers to introduce authentic materials in teaching English, which can

be beneficial for students as these materials prepare them for real life communication.

In the same line with this trend, Binh Thuan Vocational College (BTVC) has

incorporated some authentic materials such as newspaper articles, magazines, etc. into its

teaching beside the main instructional material, namely English for IT & Computer

Users, written Thac Binh Cuong and Ho Xuan Ngoc, published in 2005 by Ha Noi

Technology and Science Publishing Housing, to the students who are of IT

specialization. In reality, the issue of authentic materials is not only about which one is

better, but also about how it is best applied to the teaching and learning process. In many