Teachers' beliefs on the use of authentic materials in teaching speaking at high schools in Ho Chi Minh city

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

______________________________

TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ON THE USE OF AUTHENTIC MATERIALS

IN TEACHING SPEAKING AT HIGH SCHOOLS IN HO CHI MINH CITY

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL

Submitted by: DOAN THI NIEM

Supervisor: Dr. NGUYEN DINH THU

Ho Chi Minh City, October 2018

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

______________________________

TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ON THE USE OF AUTHENTIC MATERIALS

IN TEACHING SPEAKING AT HIGH SCHOOLS IN HO CHI MINH CITY

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Code: 60 14 01 11

Submitted by: DOAN THI NIEM

Supervisor: Dr. NGUYEN DINH THU

Ho Chi Minh City, October 2018

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this master thesis entitled “Teachers‟ beliefs

on the use of Authentic Materials in teaching speaking at high school in Ho Chi Minh

City”, 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 at any other institution in order to

obtain other degree.

Ho Chi Minh City, 01 August 2018

___________________________

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who gave me the

possibility to complete my research. I would like to thank my supervisor Nguyen Dinh

Thu Ph.D. for his patience, enthusiasm, motivation, and unstinting support of my

research. His encouragement, constant guidance and creative criticism helped me in all

time of research and writing of this thesis. This research could not be done without his

continuing support, and I am so glad to have him as my supervisor in doing this research.

Besides my supervisor, I thank my TESOL classmates for their encouragements and

valuable suggestions in commenting on my first draft of questionnaire and interview

questions. I appreciate their helps and the great time we worked together.

Lastly of all, I would like to thank my family for their love, continuing supports and

confidence in my efforts. Special thanks to my devoted husband who supported my

decision to attend the MA TESOL course at Ho Chi Minh City Open University and

always be with me whenever I need, and my lovely little daughter, who always waited

patiently for me to return home and play with her.

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ABSTRACT

Speaking is regarded as the most important skill that needs to be acquired by

students in learning English for communication. In reality, to that end, however, many

students experience difficulties in using English to communicate. Those difficulties

appear because students lack topical knowledge and vocabulary. Therefore, using

authentic materials (AMs) in teaching speaking is an appropriate way since it relates

directly to the real world. The research will examine the congruence between teachers‟

beliefs on the use of AMs in teaching speaking, and their classroom practice.

The population for this research is English teachers in Ho Chi Minh City and the

sample is 66 English teachers at seven high schools. This research adopts a quantitative

research using descriptive analysis with cross-sectional design. Quantitative data,

collected from copies of questionnaire, are analyzed by SPSS software version 20.0 and

supplemented with one-to-one interviews.

The results showed that most teachers approved the effects of the use of AMs in

teaching speaking; however, almost all the high school teachers did not frequently

exploited that kinds of materials in their speaking classes. This incongruousness is

stemmed from some factors such as time, students‟ knowledge and English level, fixed

curriculum, as well as the diversity and complexity of authentic materials.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..............................................................................................ii

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

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

LIST OF CHARTS AND FIGURES ............................................................................viii

LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ix

LIST OF ABBREVIATION ............................................................................................. x

CHAPTER 1....................................................................................................................... 1

1.1. Background to the Study........................................................................................ 1

1.2. Rationale for the Study .......................................................................................... 4

1.3. Research Questions................................................................................................ 5

1.4. Significance of the Study ....................................................................................... 6

1.5. Overview of the Study ........................................................................................... 6

CHAPTER 2....................................................................................................................... 8

2.1. Teachers‟ Beliefs....................................................................................................... 8

2.1.1. Definition of Teachers‟ Beliefs .......................................................................... 9

2.1.2. Category of Teacher Beliefs............................................................................. 10

2.1.3 Relationship between Teachers‟ Beliefs and Practices ..................................... 11

2.2. Authentic Materials................................................................................................. 12

2.2.1. Definition of Authentic Materials..................................................................... 12

2.2.3. Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Authentic Materials in the Classroom

.................................................................................................................................... 13

2.2.4. Criteria for Choosing Authentic Speaking Materials....................................... 15

2.3. Speaking .................................................................................................................. 16

2.3.1. Definition of Speaking...................................................................................... 16

2.3.2. Components of Speaking.................................................................................. 17

2.3.3. The Importance of Speaking............................................................................. 17

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2.3.4. Methods of Teaching Speaking ........................................................................ 18

2.3.4.1 The Grammar-Translation method (GTM) ................................................. 18

2.3.4.2 The Audio-Lingual Method (ALM)............................................................ 19

2.3.4.3 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) ............................................... 19

2.4. Descriptions of English Textbooks Used at Vietnamese High Schools ................. 21

2.5. Studies on the Use of AMs in the Teaching of English Language ......................... 24

2.6. Research Gap........................................................................................................... 28

2.7. Summary………………………………………………………………………… 29

CHAPTER 3..................................................................................................................... 30

3.1. Research Design and Research Process.................................................................. 30

3.1.1. Research Design ............................................................................................... 30

3.1.2. Research Process .............................................................................................. 32

3.2. Research Site and Participants................................................................................ 33

3.2.1. Research Site .................................................................................................... 33

3.2.2. Participants ....................................................................................................... 34

3.3. Research Instruments .............................................................................................. 35

3.3.1. Questionnaire.................................................................................................... 35

3.3.1.1. Rationale for the Questionnaire.................................................................. 35

3.3.1.2. Description of the questionnaire ................................................................ 36

3.3.2. Interview........................................................................................................... 38

3.3.2.1. Rationale for the Interview......................................................................... 38

3.3.2.2. Description of the Interview....................................................................... 38

3.4. Data collection procedure ....................................................................................... 39

3.4.1. Administering the questionnaire....................................................................... 39

3.4.2. Conducting the Interview ................................................................................. 40

3.5. Date Analysis Procedure ......................................................................................... 40

3.5.1. Quantitative Analysis for Questionnaire .......................................................... 40

3.5.2. Qualitative Analysis for Interview ................................................................... 40

3.6 Summary………………………………………………………………………….. 40

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CHAPTER 4..................................................................................................................... 41

4.1. Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 41

4.1.1. Analysis of the Questionnaire........................................................................... 41

4.1.1.1. Reliability of the Questionnaire ................................................................. 41

4.1.1.2. Teachers‟ Beliefs........................................................................................ 42

4.1.1.2.1. The Role of Authentic Materials in Teaching Speaking...................... 42

4.1.1.2.2. The Contrast between the Local English Textbooks and Authentic

Materials............................................................................................................... 43

4.1.1.2.3. The Effects of Using Authentic Materials in Teaching Speaking ....... 45

4.1.1.2.4. The Selection of Authentic Materials in Teaching Speaking .............. 46

4.1.1.3. Teachers‟ Practices..................................................................................... 49

4.1.1.3.1. Teaching Approach of Speaking Skill ................................................. 49

4.1.1.3.2. The Frequency of Using the Authentic Materials in Teaching Speaking

.............................................................................................................................. 51

4.1.1.3.3. The Types and Sources of the Most Used Authentic Materials .......... 52

4.1.1.3.4. The Hindrances on Using the Authentic Materials in Teaching

Speaking............................................................................................................... 54

4.1.2. Analysis of the Interview.................................................................................. 55

4.1.2.1. The Teachers‟ Beliefs about the Effects of Using Authentic Materials in

Speaking Classes at the High School Context (Interview Question 3)................... 55

4.1.2.2. The Teachers‟ Beliefs about the Roles of Authentic Materials in Speaking

Classes at the High School Context (Interview Questions 2, 4) ............................. 58

4.1.2.3. The Teachers‟ Perceptions about the Challenges of Using Authentic

Materials in Speaking Classes at the High School Context (Interview Question 5)

................................................................................................................................. 59

4.1.2.4. The Teachers‟ Beliefs about Selecting Authentic Materials for Their

Effective Teaching of Speaking Skill (Interview Question 6)................................ 60

4.1.2.5. The Teachers‟ Actual Practices of Using Authentic Materials in Teaching

Speaking at the High School Context (Interview Questions 1, 7, and 8)................ 62

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4.1.2.6. The Teachers‟ Revelation of The Factors Impacting the Relationship

between Their Beliefs and Actual Practices of Using Authentic Materials in

Speaking Classes (Interview Question 9)................................................................ 65

4.2. Discussion of Findings............................................................................................ 67

4.2.1. Research Question 1 ......................................................................................... 67

4.2.2. Research Question 2 ......................................................................................... 70

4.2.3. Research Question 3 ......................................................................................... 71

4.3 Summary…………………………………………………………...................…... 72

CHAPTER 5..................................................................................................................... 73

5.2. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Methodology ..................................................... 74

5.2.1. Strengths........................................................................................................... 74

5.2.2. Weaknesses....................................................................................................... 75

5.3. Implications............................................................................................................. 75

5.4. Suggestions for further research.............................................................................. 77

5.5. Summary ................................................................................................................. 78

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 79

APPENDIX A................................................................................................................... 92

APPENDIX B................................................................................................................... 97

APPENDIX C................................................................................................................... 98

viii

LIST OF CHARTS AND FIGURES

Chart 4.1 a: The Use Frequency of Grammar-Translation Method .................................. 49

Chart 4.1 b: The Use Frequency of Audio-Lingual Method ............................................. 50

Chart 4.1 c: The Frequency of Employing Communicative Language Teaching............. 50

Chart 4. 2: The Use Frequency of the Authentic Materials in Teaching Speaking........... 51

Chart 4. 3: The Types of the Frequently Used Authentic Materials ................................. 52

Chart 4. 4: The Sources of the Obtained Authentic Materials .......................................... 53

Chart 4. 5: The Hindrances on Using Authentic Materials............................................... 54

Figure 3. 1: Research Process............................................................................................ 32

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2. 1 : The MOET‟s Objectives for Speaking Skill .................................................. 21

Table 2. 2: Types of Speaking Activities in the Speaking Section ................................... 22

Table 3. 1: Types of Research Designs............................................................................. 30

Table 3. 2: Research Site ................................................................................................... 33

Table 3. 3: The Demographic Variables of Participants ................................................... 34

Table 3. 4: Research Instruments ...................................................................................... 35

Table 3. 5: Description of the Questionnaire..................................................................... 36

Table 3. 6: Description of the Questionnaire (part B: Teachers‟ Beliefs)......................... 37

Table 3. 7: Description of the Questionnaire (Part C: Teachers‟ Practices) ..................... 37

Table 4. 1: Reliability Analysis of Teacher Questionnaire (Cronbach‟s Alpha) .............. 41

Table 4. 2: Teachers‟ Beliefs about the Role of Authentic Materials in Teaching Speaking

........................................................................................................................................... 42

Table 4. 3: Teachers‟ Beliefs about the Contrast between the Local English Textbooks

and Authentic Materials..................................................................................................... 44

Table 4. 4: Teachers‟ Beliefs about the Effects of Using Authentic Materials in Teaching

Speaking ............................................................................................................................ 45

Table 4. 5: Teachers‟ Beliefs about the Challenges in Selection of Authentic Materials for

Teaching Speaking ............................................................................................................ 47