Tài liệu Novice efl teachers' professional challenges and responses in teaching english at high schools in binh dinh province

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 vi 5.1. CONCLUSION ON NOVICE TEACHERS‘PERCEPTIONS ABOUT TEACHING ......................................................................................................... 55 5.2. CONCLUSION ON NOVICE EFL TEACHERS‘ TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT .................................................................. 55 5.3. CONCLUSION ON PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES IN TERMS OF KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ATTITUDE ....................................................... 56 5.4. CONCLUSION ON THEIR RESPONSES TO THEIR CHALLENGES ..... 57 5.5. PEDOGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS ............................................................. 57 5.6. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY ............................................................... 58 5.7. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES .............................................. 58 REFERENCES APPENDIX vii ABBREVIATION EFL English as a Foreign Language SLA Second language acquisition viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page Title Table number number The extent to which novice teachers like their profession. 37 4.1 Correspondence of the Two Perceptions( as novice teacher & 39 4.2 former students). 4.3 EFL Novice Teachers Motivation 40 4.4 In-service Training for EFL Novice Teachers 42 4.5 In-service Training Effectiveness 42 4.6 Items of Knowledge Challenges 43 4.7 Items of Skills Challenges 44 4.8 Items of Attitude Challenges 46 4.9 Items of responses 47 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Title number Page number 4.1 Teaching experience of novice EFL teachers at high school 37 4.2 Perception about teaching as EFL Novice Teachers. 38 4.3 Perception about teaching as EFL Novice Teachers. 38 4.4 4.5 Correspondence of University Specialty with Teaching Profession The Supply of Necessary Teaching Skills by Universities 42 42 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter includes six parts: (1) the rationale for this study, (2) the aim and objectives of this study, (3) research questions, (4) scope of the study, (5) significance of the present study, and (6) the organization of the thesis 1. RESEARCH RATIONALE Each year a great number of beginning teachers graduate from colleges as well as from universities and start their teaching profession. These newcomers are so numerous that one out of each ten teachers could be a member of their group. During the primary years, many of those young teachers fail and plenty of more gradually become discouraged and leave the teaching profession, which could help them to make ends meet. This dilemma has faced education sector recently. These obstacles and failures of beginning teachers are not of recent development, they seem to have existed within the profession from its period. One might remember their first days of teaching or greeting students for the very first times without hiding their trembling or shaking. Graduates of pre-service teacher education programs are frequently confronted with the realization that, as new teachers, they must immediately begin teaching in a classroom setting. Anyone who is teaching a new course for the first time is considered a novice teacher (Farrell, 2012, p. 437). However, in general, a novice teacher is someone who has recently completed pre-service teacher education and has less than four years of teaching experience. The data reveal that it is not commonplace for new instructors, even new English teachers, to have to deal with a variety of demands from seasoned and professional colleagues. This is a difficult task for new teachers, especially if there isn't much professional aid and support available in the classroom. In most parts of our province, beginning school teachers are not any longer faced with physically forcible removal from their situations, but the actual fact that even the most effectively adjusted of them have definite problems is clear to oldsters, school boards, administrators, and fellow teachers alike. The importance of 2 this paper in terms of the issues' nature can scarcely be denied. This study is going to provide two essential components. First and foremost, beginning teachers realize that the ideals they formed while training may not be appropriate for the realism they faced with during their first years of teaching. That is to say, during their first few months in the classroom, novice teachers are bombarded with a variety of situations that they have not anticipated. It is unfortunate that this concern has not been fully addressed in schools in our province as beginning teachers have the identical responsibility as full-time lecturers with a few years of service. It is suggested that it is not until they need survived the initial shock of the primary year that novices are ready to begin to think about the fact that long-term planning, overarching student goals, and individual student needs are all important considerations. It has been discovered that during their first year of teaching, new instructors ask themselves several identification questions, such as ―Who am I in my story of teaching? Who am I in my place in school? Who am I in my children‘s stories? Who am I in my administrator‘s stories?‖ (Connelly & Clandinin, 1999, p.3). Given the conflicts, reality shocks, and anxieties that many studies into new teachers' teaching experiences have identified as common characteristics of the transition from student to teacher (Huberman, 1989; Vonk, 1993; Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011), novice teachers often struggle to find appropriate answers to these questions, leaving them feeling overwhelmed and challenged (Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011). Because there is no progressive entrance into the teaching profession, beginning teachers‗s move from pre-service education to professional practice is typically unsettling. Novices frequently teach like experienced teachers, allowing them to play multiple roles such as student, teacher, and researcher (Smith & Sela, 2005). There appears to be a consensus that what is expected of an experienced teacher is equally expected of a new teacher. Despite the fact that novice instructors lack the attributes of experienced teachers, they are expected to match similar standards as soon as they enter the field, and this injustice occasionally goes even 3 further, with beginning teachers receiving the most demanding teaching assignments (Yost, 2006). This adds to the difficulties faced by new teachers. As a consequence, ―beginning teachers leave the field at higher rates than beginning workers in other careers‖ (Wonacott, 2002, p.3). Numerous studies on novice teachers of English have been conducted in terms of covering several aspects of novice teachers. Research by Brannan and Bleistein (2012), for instance, reported that novice teachers were desperately in need of support from their mentors, both of logistical knowledge and of those related to professional and pedagogical competences. Moreover, research by Ai Phuong (2015) explored the construction of professional identity of a novice EFL teacher in Vietnam. However, these studies were conducted on novice teachers of secondary schools and just explored the profession identity of novice teachers. In other words, although much has been written in the educational literature about novice teachers' experiences in their first years of teaching, the subject has received less attention in the fields of English language teaching (ELT) and language teacher education. Compelled by this very fact, the piece of writing ―Novice EFL Teachers’ Professional Challenges and Responses in Teaching English at High Schools in Binh Dinh Province” is aim to thoroughly examine professional challenges that novice teachers in our province face in their early experience of teaching at high schools through a review of serious literature. Supported recent studies from the literature, these professional challenges are discussed and future direction for research during this field is recommended. Secondly, it is necessary to come up with pragmatic implications so as to support new teachers, helping them to solve the challenges that they are likely to encounter in their daily tasks and duties. This paper also provides specific advice as well as tips for finding solutions to real teaching challenges, all of which are summarized in brief and comprehensive ways teachers can be able to apply in the reality and keep for future reference. For the purpose of finding out what problems beset the beginning teachers, a survey was made of fifty teachers in high schools. The term ―beginning teachers‖ 4 in this study refers to those teachers who have had no more than five years of teaching experience. The schools range from the very small to the very large and from the poorly equipped to the most modernly equipped. Unfortunately, the majority of English teachers in our province in general and in high schools in particular have not had any opportunities or chances of being heard or listened in terms of their daily struggling. They have to accomplish their tasks as well as duties without being provided any kinds of pragmatic assistance. The most effective components in English language education are teachers. They play an essential role in the learning and achievement (DarlingHammond, 2003). According to Shafie and Nayan (2010), knowledge transmitter, role model, facilitator, student assessor, curriculum assessor, and course planner are some of the primary tasks instructors are required to play in educational settings. Teachers are expected to have proper training and qualifications due to the crucial responsibilities they play. As a result, in this research, it is expected to have a closer look atall of the participants‘ professional challenges, as well as their attitudes towards not only their own obstacles but also their co-workers and peers. Moreover, the focus of the study is also looking for particular suggestions or pieces of advice or support to help the novice teachers in their own career of teaching. 1.2. RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES This study aims to investigate the professional challenges of EFL teachers in their initial years of teaching at high schools in Binh Dinh Province. To achieve this aim, the researcher tries to fulfill the following objectives: - To identify the professional challenges experienced by novice teachers. - To examine how they respond to their challenges. 1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS In order to achieve the aim and objectives, this study attempts to address the two subsequent questions: 1. What are the professional challenges in terms of knowledge, skills and attitude experienced by novice teachers? 5 2. How do novice teachers respond to their challenges? 1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY This study concentrates on particular professional challenges of English teachers as they need to continually search for distinctive approaches to cope with extra issues which will arise each day. Besides, this paper also provides useful and pragmatic implications or suggestions which might partially assist novice teachers to beat these obstacles. The study is conducted at some high schools in Binh Dinh Province. The participants are fifty beginning teachers, who have been teaching English as a foreign language for almost five years. 1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Theoratically, there has been so far no investigations into the professional challenges faced by novice EFL teachers; it thus helps to provide valid data to tackle the difficulties. Pedogogically, three components that have had great influence on English teaching profession related to professional challenges consist of knowledge, skills and attitude. Practically, the study benefits for novice teacher to have a better understanding of the major challenges. Besides, this research also provides encouragement at the start of their teaching careers. As a result, novice teachers may obtain better approaches of individualizing learning and teaching processes; in working with students who have special educational needs; in cooperating with parents and in motivating students to learn and other. 1.6. ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS The thesis is divided into five chapters: Chapter 1 consists of the research rationale, the aims and objectives, the research questions, the scope, the significance of the study. Chapter 2 includes the information about some concepts relating to common problems that novice EFL teachers face. Chapter 3 comprises the research methods and procedures. Chapter 4 presents the findings and discussion. 6 Chapter 5 concludes the study, informs some limitations of the study and gives some suggestions for future research. 7 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter discusses the theoretical background to the thesis and reviews the previous studies. The former includes four main part: (1) Novice teacher professional development, (2) novice EFL teachers‘professional challenges in preparation stage and (3) types of support for EFL novice teachers and (4) related studies. 2.1. NOVICE TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 2.1.1. Definition of Novice Teachers In research on beginning teachers, the term "novice" has been often used, and as Farrell (2012) pointed out, there is no clear-cut definition of a novice teacher in the literature. Anyone teaching something new for the first time or entering a new cultural context for the first time is considered a novice (Farrel, 2012). There is also no agreement on how many years of teaching are required to complete the novice stage. A novice, according to some studies, is a teacher with less than five years of experience (Kim & Roth, 2011). Others referred to it as an instructor with no more than two years of experience (Haynes, 2011). The phrase novice teachers, also known as beginning teachers, pre-service teachers, and neophytes, have been used in a variety of studies. The word "novice teacher" is sometimes used in conjunction with the term "induction," which refers to the early phase of one's career or the system of support that may be available during that phase (Strong, 2009). The majority of studies focus on the importance of the initial years of teaching in a teacher's career, as well as how teachers' experiences impact their identity and future practices. Pitton (2006) argued that ―the success of new teachers is critically linked to their first teaching experiences and the opportunities they are given to talk through issues they face in the classroom‖ (p. 2). If they are left alone with their problems and begin to feel ineffective, they will conclude that they are unfit for the job and will quit. Researchers have referred to the gap between pre- 8 service education and in-service development as one of the causes for the increase in teachers leaving the profession. Following their university education and employment, novice teachers lose contact with their teacher educators, and they face the same issues as their more experienced colleagues on the first day of school with little guidance from their new school (Farrell, 2012). When statistics on dropout rates are evaluated, it is clear how terrible the problem is. ―25% to 50% of beginning teachers leave during their first three years of teaching, and nearly 10% leave in their first year‖ (Ozturk, 2008, p. 20). These figures highlight the need of investigating the issues that novice teachers face and assisting them in overcoming their difficulties during their first years of teaching. In this study, I define a novice teacher as a teacher with less than five years of experience in the classroom as suggested by Kim & Roth, (2011). I focus on the professional challenges of novice language teachers. Furthermore, I explore the types of support needed and their availability. 2.1.2. Definition of Teacher Professional Development Professional development (PD) has been utilized in a variety of circumstances; in some ways, it emphasizes the idea that teaching is a profession, and it is thus defined in several ways. Wong, M.S. (2011) describes PD in the context of English teaching as "a lifetime endeavor, a way of being, and a perspective on how one practices as well as the practice itself." In other words, professional development raises instructors' working practices to a higher level. PD can also be defined as "the engagement of individuals in any activity for the enhancement of their capacity at work and to gain, improve, and share a body of knowledge and skills that are relevant to perform particular duties in their workplace.", according to Alemu (2014). As a result, professional development that strives to improve teachers' knowledge, skills, and attitudes includes both formal and informal experiences such as reading professional publications, watching television documentaries relevant to an academic topic, and so on. As a result, Richards, J.C., and Farrell, T.S.C. (2005) noted that it has become more acknowledged in recent years that both EFL and ESL teachers require professional