Tài liệu Efl students' perceptions of scaffolding activities in learning listening skills at long hai phuoc tinh high school master of tesol

BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY ---------THESIS HA THI TRANG EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SCAFFOLDING ACTIVITIES IN LEARNING LISTENING SKILLS AT LONG HAI-PHUOC TINH HIGH SCHOOL Ba Ria – Vung Tau 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY ---------THESIS EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SCAFFOLDING ACTIVITIES IN LEARNING LISTENING SKILLS AT LONG HAI-PHUOC TINH HIGH SCHOOL Submitted to the Postgraduate Institute in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL Course code: 8140111 By Ha Thi Trang Supervised by Tran Quoc Thao, Ph.D. Ba Ria – Vung Tau 2022 The thesis entitled Efl students’ perceptions of scaffolding activities in learning listening skills at Long Hai - Phuoc Tinh High School was successfully defended and approved on September 18th at Ba Ria Vung Tau University (BVU). Academic supervisor: Dr. TRAN QUOC THAO Examination Committee 1. ………………………………………………………. Chair 2. ……………………………………………. ………… Reader 1 3. ………………………………………………………. Reader 2 4. ………………………………………………………. Member 5. ……………………………………………………….. Secretary Member BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE Ba Ria-Vung Tau, July 2022 MASTER’S THESIS REPORT Student name: HA THI TRANG Sex: Female Date of birth: 01/04/1989 Place of birth: Thanh Hoa province Major: English Language Student code: 18114189 I- Thesis title: EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SCAFFOLDING ACTIVITIES IN LEARNING LISTENING SKILLS AT LONG HAI-PHUOC TINH HIGH SCHOOL II-Objectives and contents: This study's goal is to explore the EFL students' perceptions of scaffolding activities in learning listening skills at Long Hai-Phuoc Tinh High school. The research objectives are as follows: To find out the EFL students' perceptions of the roles of scaffolding activities in learning listening skills at Long Hai-Phuoc Tinh High school. To examine the EFL students' perceptions of the effectiveness of scaffolding activities on EFL students' listening skills. This study was conducted at Long Hai – Phuoc Tinh High School in Long Hai Town in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province. Although teachers at Long Hai - Phuoc Tinh High School have applied scaffolding to teaching English listening skills recently, its effectiveness has not been verified. Since then, the author has conducted this study to examine the views of 10th grade students at Long Hai - Phuoc Tinh High School on the role and effectiveness of scaffolding in teaching English listening skills. The mixed-methods approach (quantitative and qualitative) was used to get the findings. To gather data, the author utilized two tools: a questionnaire and a semistructured interview, both of which were used with 120 students in grade 10 at Long Hai - Phuoc Tinh High School. III- Starting date: (as stated in the Decision issued by the University) IV- Completing date: 30/7/2022 V- Academic supervisor: (full name,title) TRAN QUOC THAO, Ph.D. CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SCAFFOLDING ACTIVITIES IN LEARNING LISTENING SKILLS AT LONG HAI-PHUOC TINH HIGH SCHOOL In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by Higher Degree Committee of Postgraduate Institute, Ba Ria Vung Tau University, Ba Ria Vung Tau province, July 2022 HA THI TRANG ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Ha Thi Trang, being a candidate for the degree of TESOL accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses. Ba Ria Vung Tau, July 2022 Signature …………………… Ha Thi Trang iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere thanks to those who have made great contributions to my thesis completion. First of all, I would like to express my special appreciation and thanks to Dr. Tran Quoc Thao, my supervisor, for his great patience, careful guidance, insightful advice, and constant encouragement through the whole research process. Without his support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed. Secondly, I am very grateful to the school board staff including the principal of Long Hai-Phuoc Tinh High School in Ba Ria - Vung Tau who have given me encouragement, support of time, and permission to complete the MA course and implement this thesis there. My sincere thanks also go to my friends and colleagues for all their help and motivation. I would like to thank the research participants, my students, who have contributed to this study. Last but not least, my deepest gratitude goes to my family, including my husband, my daughter, my sons and my parents-in-law with their unconditional love, understanding and help. I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my family who has provided me strong spiritual and material support. iv ABSTRACT Scaffolding instruction is a handful method to enable students to study actively and fit their learning styles. Even though there are numerous studies on the effectiveness of scaffolding in learning English, the study on students' perception of the role and effectiveness of scaffolding in teaching and learning EFL listening is little. Thus, this research is aimed to address the research gap. The mixed-methods approach (quantitative and qualitative) was used to achieve the research purpose. To gather data, the author utilized two tools: a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview, both of which were used with 120 students in grade 10 at Long Hai - Phuoc Tinh High School. The results of this study showed that 10th-grade students agreed with the role of scaffolding learning activities in learning listening skills, which included (1) Scaffolding as taskenabling support within the zone of proximal development and (2) Scaffolding as languagemediated co-regulation. Second, the qualitative and quantitative data showed that students had a positive attitude toward the effectiveness of the scaffolding learning activities in learning listening skills. (172 words) Keywords: attitudes, listening, scaffolding, high school students v CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY .................................................................................. ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ...................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ v CONTENTS ....................................................................................................................... vi APPENDICES .................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 1.1. Background to the study ........................................................................................ 1 1.2. Statement of problems ........................................................................................... 3 1.3. Aims and objectives of the study ........................................................................... 6 1.4. Research questions ................................................................................................. 6 1.5. Scope of the study .................................................................................................. 7 1.6. Significance of the study ........................................................................................ 7 1.7. Definition of the study ........................................................................................... 8 1.8. Organization of the study ....................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................... 10 2.1. Scaffolding in teaching and learning ................................................................... 10 2.1.1. Definition ...................................................................................................... 10 2.1.2. Scaffolding mechanisms ............................................................................... 12 2.1.3. Scaffolding modalities .................................................................................. 13 2.1.4. Basic segments of scaffolding instruction..................................................... 15 2.1.5. Application of Scaffolding Instruction in the Teaching of English Listening .. ....................................................................................................................... 16 2.2. Role of Scaffolding toward EFL listening skills ................................................. 21 2.2.1. Scaffolding as task-enabling support within the zone of proximal development ................................................................................................................ 21 2.2.2. 2.3. Scaffolding as language-mediated co-regulation .......................................... 24 Effectiveness of Scaffolding in education ........................................................... 25 vi 2.4. Previous Studies ................................................................................................... 28 2.5. Conceptual framework ......................................................................................... 32 2.6. Summary .............................................................................................................. 33 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................... 34 3.1. Research design.................................................................................................... 34 3.2. Research site ........................................................................................................ 34 3.3. Sample and sampling procedures......................................................................... 36 3.4. Research instruments ........................................................................................... 37 3.4.1. Questionnaire ................................................................................................ 38 3.4.2. Semi-structured interview ............................................................................. 39 3.5. Data collection procedures ................................................................................... 40 3.6. Data analysis procedures...................................................................................... 41 3.7. Reliability and Validity ........................................................................................ 42 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .......................................... 45 4.1. Results .................................................................................................................. 45 4.1.1. Students' perceptions of the roles of the scaffolding learning activities in learning listening skills ............................................................................................... 45 4.1.2. Students' perceptions of the effectiveness of the scaffolding learning activities in learning listening skills ........................................................................... 55 4.2. Discussion ............................................................................................................ 59 4.2.1. Students' perceptions of the roles of the scaffolding learning activities in learning listening skills ............................................................................................... 59 4.2.2. Students' perceptions of the effectiveness of the scaffolding learning activities in learning listening skills ........................................................................... 61 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................... 64 5.1. Summary of the main findings of the thesis ........................................................ 64 5.2. Recommendations ................................................................................................ 65 5.3. Limitations and further research suggestions ...................................................... 68 REFERENCE .................................................................................................................... 69 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................... 77 Scaffolding as language-mediated co-regulation........................................................ 79 vii Learner’s learning success .......................................................................................... 80 viii APPENDICES Appendix A: Questionnaire for Students Appendix B: Interview Questions Appendix C: Bảng khảo sát ý kiến học sinh Appendix D: Câu hỏi phòng vấn Appendix E: A sample lesson plan ix LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Demographic information of the participants ................................................... 36 Table 3.2 Cronbach’s Alpha Score .................................................................................... 43 Table 4.1 Students’ perception of Scaffolding as task-enabling support within the zone of proximal development ....................................................................................................... 46 Table 4.2 Students’ perception of Scaffolding as language-mediated co-regulation ........ 51 Table 4.3 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of scaffolding in improving their knowledge acquisition ....................................................................................................... 55 Table 4.4 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of scaffolding in improving their learning success ................................................................................................................. 56 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Teaching-learning zones based on Mariani’s (1997) teaching style framework (p.4).................................................................................................................................... 23 Figure 2.2 Conceptual framework of the relationships of EFL listening skills and scaffolding ......................................................................................................................... 33 xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background to the study In modern society, foreign languages are an effective means to enter the world faster. Especially English is the common language, the language used for international communication. It is likened to a passport, a bridge to create stable merit jobs with a higher salary. In Vietnam, English is currently a compulsory subject at all levels of education, from elementary to college and university. The popular public school system's English teaching styles include book-centered, teacher-centered, and grammar-translation approaches (Liu & Littlewood, 1997). Listening to the instruction, repeating the teacher, and finally following the linguistic models given by the teacher constitute pedagogy in Vietnamese English language classes (Pham, 2000). Consequently, in the English listening lesson, it is typical for students to listen to the recorded audio and then respond to the questions. The teachers then double-check the responses. Although this approach stresses the result of listening (Siegel, 2014), it inhibits students from acquiring other English listening skills. This adds to the fact that many Vietnamese students, after years of training, are unable to communicate effectively in English (Mai & Iwashita, 2012). Listening is the most essential of the four language skills for Vietnamese students to develop (Nguyen, 2007). Goh (2000) discovered ten real-time comprehension problems in English as foreign language (EFL) listeners during an investigation of their listening problems. These problems included rapidly forgetting what was heard, failing to recognize words they already knew, and an incapacity to create a mental image from the heard speech. She claimed that learners could overcome stated listening difficulties by implementing cognitive, metacognitive, and social/effective methods. 1 In recent years, both psychologists and educators have used the word scaffolding to describe how instructors provide essential and active support to students throughout the learning process. According to Mercer (1995), a teacher's scaffolded participation supports the student in engaging in specific tasks that they cannot manage themselves. Scaffolding seems to need (1) instructor involvement in the learning process, (2) a willing learner, and (3) an unsuitable learning task that consists of specific teacher support to get the assignment done (Mercer, 1995). Bruner (1985) claims that scaffolding refers to steps that the teacher uses to measure the flexibility level in doing particular tasks so that he can guide the learner to focus on each level of the problematic skills while he or she is acquiring the language. Therefore, in scaffolded learning activities, students need the teacher's cognitive and strategic help, which, according to Mercer (1995), provides support and assistance that is more or less with regard to the learner's absorbing ability. This requires a knowledge of understanding the students' needs, challenges, and level of specific skills that the students are in. As a consequence, the instructor may determine the amount of scaffolding required. A successful scaffolded activity can engage students' self-learning ability. This requires the teacher to research thorough the essentials of the technique. One crucial rule of thumb is the teachers' responsibility to establish students' motivation to practice their autonomy learning and lead them toward comprehension. This is achieved through establishing a balance of challenge and encouragement while applying the scaffolded method. (Roehler & Canlton, 1997). Scaffolding is based on the concept of providing additional assistance to students as they learn new skills. As students demonstrate better growth, the instructor gradually decreases their support and assistance. Thus, the learning credit will transfer from the instructor to the student. Vygotsky's (1978) thesis built the concept of scaffolding that the children can achieve any complex tasks that they 2 cannot manage themselves by the adults' support and guide. Vygotsky's line of research has been pursued by several academics who have investigated the scaffolding teaching methods in teaching and learning a language (Mercer, 1995). Notwithstanding, the scope of scaffolding has been broadened recently, including a number of ways that the teachers guide their students, varying from recommendations, feedback, or sample work done by instructors. Branfords and colleagues (1999) think that instructors, peers, or computers may provide scaffolding and that it can include tutoring, a performance system, and online help. Scaffolding, for example, may also be integrated into the information or input by providing visual supports. At Long Hai-Phuoc Tinh High school, English listening teaching and learning are not effective. The school used English textbooks as the primary materials to teach listening skills. These kinds of materials are not attractive, efficient, and practical enough. Students seem to lack focus while listening as they cannot catch up with the speed and the speech's content. On the other hand, some teachers see the problems and study to implement new English listening teaching methodology such as scaffolding. But the problems of students' worse listening comprehension skills do still not improve much. 1.2. Statement of problems In language learning and acquisition, listening is seen as a critical ability. It is a complicated and dynamic skill that offers interactive instruction and more knowledgeable, methodical, and intentional assistance for language learners. Many academics and course designers have found that teaching listening comprehension abilities have piqued their interest. They start to investigate the English textbook materials for listening skills and found that some insights of teaching English listening skills are neglected in new English school textbooks for 3 10th Vietnamese students. Some listening exercises are included in the textbooks. However, listening and practicing materials in the English textbooks are treated unequally; they are not participatory, and the teacher's assistance is unclear. The listening teaching method provided in the textbook is examined further due to the complexity of listening skills and the challenges that novices of English language acquisition have while listening to the language. It is argued that providing some listening exercises and giving a recorded speech to practice are good methods, but they are not adequate, as shown by the research on listening comprehension. These techniques are not the same as training in listening comprehension. According to Arnold's (2005) thesis, only requiring students to listen to the recording and answer a few related questions is inadequate and makes learning English listening boring as well as restricts the development of listening ability. She states that foreign language learners may suffer from insufficient listening practice. Many students are scared of English listening and get discouraged when they listen to a speech and realize they do not comprehend much of it. In light of these considerations, in the first level of EFL language learning, simultaneously listening and comprehending spoken language is challenging. Furthermore, one of the obstacles that students have to overcome when practicing listening skills is time. The fact that students have to spend time studying various subjects at school spontaneously affects their attitudes towards implementing listening practice effectively. The demands to study all the subjects well at school from their parents also prevent students from concentrating on their listening skills effectively. Long Hai – Phuoc Tinh High School is located in a small town in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province. As this location is a rural area in Vietnam, local students do not have much exposure to English. In particular, the school's 10th graders have a much worse English background than their local middle school students. Students in grade 4 10 have little exposure to English from a young age because they are limited by economic conditions to equip Internet-connected devices or listening devices to be able to contact English. In addition, students lack motivation to self-study and practice their English skills. Many reasons lead to the loss of students' self-study motivation, one of which is not seeing this language learning application other than applying to participate in classroom tests. Due to limited economic conditions, students did not have many opportunities to interact with the practical applications of English, not to listen to their favorite programs in English, or to see the real-life application and communication of English. The second reason that can be mentioned is that the learning materials to practice listening skills are meager and monotonous. The source of materials to practice listening skills for high school students in the Vietnamese education system mainly comes from English textbooks. Although this book series has recently been modified, increased in length, and updated with more realistic listening content, it has not improved much. Students do not have many exercises or resources other than a few dialogues in the book. Thus, students feel that the lessons or exercises are very unattractive, and unmotivated students to selfpractice listening skills at home. One of the challenges in successfully applying this approach is a lack of expertise in teaching scaffolding in the teaching of English listening skills. Teachers must be adequately prepared for changes in teaching techniques while using new teaching methods. Some teachers, particularly those in their forties and fifties, may be averse to change since it requires time and effort. Teachers must carefully lead students, adequately explain their responsibilities, and offer assistance as needed; yet, there is currently a lack of training for teachers to utilize scaffolding in their classrooms successfully. Because they do not have enough time in the classroom 5