Tài liệu The use of technology enhanced language learning tools in english language among efl students at minh dam senior high school master of tesol

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY --------------- THESIS THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED LANGUAGE LEARNING TOOLS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AMONG EFL STUDENTS AT MINH DAM SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL Student’s name: Phạm Thị Phương Lan Student’s code: 18114164 Supervisor: Dr. Tran Quoc Thao BA RIA-VUNG TAU, 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY --------------- THESIS THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED LANGUAGE LEARNING TOOLS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AMONG EFL STUDENTS AT MINH DAM SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL Submitted to the Postgraduate Institute in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL Student’s name: Pham Thi Phuong Lan Student’s code: 18114164 Supervisor: Dr. Tran Quoc Thao BA RIA-VUNG TAU, 2022 i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: The use of technology-enhanced language learning tools in English language learning in EFL students at Minh Dam Senior High School. In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Postgraduate Institute, Ba Ria Vung Tau University Ba Ria Vung Tau, June 2022 Pham Thi Phuong Lan ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I am Pham Thi Phuong Lan, 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 thesis. Ba Ria Vung Tau, June 2022 Signature …………………… Pham Thi Phuong Lan iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My special thanks are due to all those who have made great contributions to my thesis completion. First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to Dr. Tran Quoc Thao, my supervisor, for his valuable comments and suggestions during the whole research process. His dynamism, enthusiasm, vision as well as his patience have deeply inspired me. Without his support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed. Secondly, I am very grateful to the Postgraduate Institute of Ba Ria – Vung Tau University who have supported me much time to implement this thesis. My sincere thanks also go to my friends and colleagues for all her help and encouragement. I would like to thank the research participants who have contributed to this study. Last but not least, I warmly thank my family for their countless support, greatest sympathy and unconditional love. iv TABLE OF CONTENT CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ............................................................ i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................1 1.1. Background of the study ......................................................................... 1 1.2. Statement of the problems....................................................................... 5 1.3. The aims of the study .............................................................................. 5 1.4. Research questions .................................................................................. 6 1.5. Scope of the study ................................................................................... 6 1.6. Significance of the study ......................................................................... 7 1.7. Definitions of the terms........................................................................... 7 1.8. Organization of the study ........................................................................ 8 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................10 2.1. Definitions of TELL .................................................................................10 2.2. Types of technology used as language learning tools .............................. 12 2.3. Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (TELL) ................................ 22 2.4. The use of TELL tools in English language learning ............................... 24 2.5. Students’ attitudes toward the use of TELL tools in English language learning ............................................................................................................ 25 2.6. Strategies for English language learning skill area in TELL ................... 28 2.7. Previous studies ........................................................................................ 30 2.8. Conceptual framework ............................................................................. 35 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................37 3.1. Research design ........................................................................................ 37 v 3.2. Description of the data collection instruments ......................................... 38 3.3. Data collection procedure ......................................................................... 40 3.4. Data analysis............................................................................................. 41 3.5. Reliability and validity ............................................................................. 41 3.6. Chapter Summary ..................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS .........................................44 4.1. Students’ attitudes towards the use of TELL tools in English language learning at Minh Dam senior high school ....................................................... 44 4.2. What TELL tools are used in English language learning at Minh Dam senior high school............................................................................................ 47 4.3. Students’ strategies for using of TELL tools for English language learning ......................................................................................................................... 49 4.4. The relationship between students’ attitudes and the use of TELL tools . 50 4.5. Discussions of the findings ...................................................................... 50 4.6. Chapter summary ..................................................................................... 53 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............54 5.1. Conclusions .............................................................................................. 54 5.2. Recommendations .................................................................................... 55 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................56 APPENDIX.....................................................................................................60 vi ABSTRACT In the era 4.0 of information and technology explosion, learning English is a must which not only helps the students know how to communicate well, but also know how to access, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize the vast quantities of information from the Internet in order to solve complex problems. Therefore, teaching is now becoming a more difficult job in which the teachers’ role and responsibility is also becoming as crucial as they are expected to lead the change of strategies, approaches, and tools in language learning and teaching. They have to replace their obsolete methods with the new one, the student-centered approach, where teachers should not teach everything to the students by using their own tools, strategies, approaches in order to guide them the way to study by themselves. One of the methods the teacher can apply to improve the effectiveness of English teaching and learning is to motivate and help students using technology in learning themselves. From these views, the research aims at investigating EFL students’ attitudes toward the use of technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) tools in English language learning, finding out EFL students’ use of TELL tools in English language learning, and examining the relationship between EFL students’ attitudes toward the use of TELL tools in English language learning and their use of TELL tools. The results show that they strongly agree TELL tools are good methods to help them improve English and encourage them autonomy learning effectively. Keywords: EFL; Technology-enhanced language learning; Student attitudes vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3. 1 Cronbach’s Alpha of the questionnaire ........................................................ 42 Table 4. 1. Students’ attitudes towards the use of TELL tools in English language learning .......................................................................................................................... 44 Table 4. 2 Students’ cognition towards the use of TELL tools in English language learning .......................................................................................................................... 45 Table 4. 3 Students’ affection towards the use of TELL tools in English language learning .......................................................................................................................... 46 Table 4. 4 Students’ behavior towards the use of TELL tools in English language learning .......................................................................................................................... 47 Table 4. 5 Students used TELL tools ............................................................................ 48 Table 4. 6 Students’ attitudes and use of TELL tools ................................................... 49 Table 4. 7 Improve target language or language skills ................................................. 49 Table 4. 8 Correlations .................................................................................................. 50 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2. 1 Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980) .............................. 26 Figure 2. 2 Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) ........................................... 27 Figure 2. 3 The conceptual framework of the study ..................................................... 36 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of the study The effect of the use of technology on education has been studied by a number of researchers in different settings and situations. Most of those researches shared a common result that is related to the effectiveness of the use of technology in education and how it assists in developing teaching methods and students’ knowledge such as (Frigaard, 2002; Schofield & Davidson, 2003; Miner, 2004; Timucin, 2006). According to Directive 3031 on August 26th 2016 of the Minister of Education and Training, Vietnam on the central duty of primary, secondary, high education is: to diversify teaching forms, pay attention to creative experience activities; to enhance the application of information technology in teaching and learning through the use of learning models combining traditional classrooms with online classes to save time and costs as well as enhance fairness in access to high quality educational services, etc. In addition, to organize students to perform learning tasks in the classroom, it is important to attach assigning tasks and guiding students to study at home or out of class. From then until now, technologyenhanced education is becoming an increasingly important part of general education. Technology not only gives learners the opportunity to control their own learning process, but also provides them with ready access to a vast amount of information over which the teacher has no power or control. Also, in the era 4.0 of information and technology explosion, learning English is a must which not only helps the students know how to communicate well, but also know how to access, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize the vast quantities of information from the Internet in order to solve complex problems. Therefore, teaching is now becoming a more difficult job in which the teachers’ role and responsibility is also becoming as crucial as they are expected to lead the 2 change of strategies, approaches, and tools in language learning and teaching. They have to replace their obsolete methods with the new one, the studentcentered approach, where teachers should not teach everything to the students by using their own tools, strategies, approaches in order to guide them the way to study by themselves. One of the methods the teacher can apply to improve the effectiveness of English teaching and learning is to motivate and help students using technology in learning themselves. Technology – the convenient and interesting product of today has shown its benefits in providing students with a strong motivation for learning the language which is considered as “a key goal in the success of language learners” (Gardner & Lambert, 1972, p.21). Students’ motivation is vital if the teacher is to help them how to learn. Also, it provides students with good opportunities to have access to authentic materials, tools and information which help them develop their language skills. Thanks to technology, students can manage their own learning based on what they have learned and their own choices. This leads students to greater autonomy and a more student-centered language learning. Technology is a goal to change teaching and learning methods. Crystal (2001) indicates that technology offers all students opportunities to learn in ways not previously possible. Its innovations have gone hand-in-hand with the growth of English and are changing the way in which we learn. The internet is changing languages partly because it gives rise to new vocabulary and more importantly because the users of this tool drive the language in certain directions. The present aim in Vietnamese education is to promote the use of information technology (IT) in teaching and learning, particularly in foreign languages. Because foreign languages are so vital in today's era of international integration, English is usually included in the high school curriculum as one of the 3 three primary topics. Furthermore, based on current language teaching approaches, the use of information technology in foreign language instruction is a need, and an unavoidable tendency in the age of the flat world. In industrial revolution 4.0, Vietnamese education really pays great attention to and tries to innovate English teaching methods, helping students to use a language fluently. Some solutions to apply IT in teaching English have been proposed as follows: ü For teachers Teachers are those who directly guide and impart knowledge and skills to students. Therefore, in the work of reforming English teaching methods, teachers play a pivotal role. To serve the application of IT in teaching English, teachers can flexibly use supporting software to design interesting and quality lectures such as: Window Media Maker software: Support teachers to cut audio; Create videos and clips for phonics teaching; Audacity software: Allows cutting and merging audio; sound recording; Mcmix software: Application in English test making. Building a bank of multiple-choice and essay questions; mix multiple-choice questions; Hotpotato software: Support teachers to compose exercises for slide presentation, including exercises of the form: multiple-choice, short-answer, cloze-test (for multiple-choice exercises, Hotpotato allows teachers to change question and answer order); Google Drive application: Helps to edit documents, compose presentations, allows storage and sharing of data, etc. ü For student The initial goal of educational innovation is to help students access knowledge, arouse interest in learning, develop comprehensively in thinking and 4 skills, and create a solid foundation for the future of students. To realize this goal, teachers can implement the following IT application solutions: - Duolingo is an effective English self-study app for students of different levels. This application works well on many smartphone platforms today. This is a rich source of materials, actively supporting students in learning English. Duolingo fosters students with many skills such as listening and pronunciation, grammar structure, meaning translation, vocabulary search, etc. - Hello English: Hello English is designed with a friendly interface, simple operation, easy to use. This application software supports students better in speaking and grammar skills. Moreover, this is also a very effective vocabulary learning tool for students. - BBC learning English: BBC learning English is a very good English self-study application, which is widely used today. The application is suitable for many learners of different levels. BBC Learning English helps learners practice basic English skills such as standard pronunciation, speaking skills, listening practice, vocabulary and grammar. Then, learners can foster advanced skills such as using words and slang, etc. - English learning website: The current English learning website system is very diverse and rich. These are essential open sources for finding materials as well as e-learning for students. Through famous website channels, students can easily and quickly access many important learning materials, helping to foster and improve their knowledge and master many different skills, etc. In current situation, recognizing the importance of using technology in teaching and learning EFL, teachers and students at Minh Dam senior high school 5 have recently applied it in their teaching and learning activities inside and outside classroom. The effectiveness of teaching and learning has also been improved, but it is still a disagreement and an unrecognition. Therefore, this study sought to investigate language students’ perceptions of technology-enhanced language learning tools. It employed to find the possible answers in order to gain a better understanding of the teaching and learning situation. 1.2. Statement of the problems At the context of Minh Dam High school, the school accesses the Wi-Fi internet and permits students to use their mart phones, computers in their classrooms in order to help students to study English and other subjects, and help them take responsibility to learn independently. However, according to our observation, they may not always use TELL tools in their English language learning. Although they can develop autonomous English learners by themselves, they may encounter different obstacles to English language learning by TELL tools. Also, they may not be able to utilize TELL tools to learn English effectively. In addition, students' learning attitude towards the use of TELL tools according to personal observations is sometimes good, sometimes not good. We also do not know how effectively students use TELL tools as well as what the teachers think about the students who access to learning through TELL tools. From the above reasons, with the hope to seek for the plausible answers to these problems, this study investigates how they use their TELL tools. 1.3. The aims of the study This study aims at exploring the EFL students’ use of TELL tools in English language learning at the context of Minh Dam Senior high school. The objectives are as follows: 6 (1) To investigate EFL students’ attitudes toward the use of TELL tools in English language learning; (2) To find out EFL students’ use of TELL tools in English language learning; (3) To examine the relationship between EFL students’ attitudes toward the use of TELL tools in English language learning and their use of TELL tools. 1.4. Research questions In order to realize the purpose of the study, the following research questions were addressed. (1) What are EFL students’ attitudes toward the use of TELL tools in English language learning at Minh Dam senior high school? (2) To what extent do EFL students use TELL tools in English language learning at Minh Dam senior high school? (3) What is the significant relationship between EFL students’ attitudes toward the use of TELL tools in English language learning and their use of TELL tools? 1.5. Scope of the study This study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The population of the study included 315 students at Minh Dam senior high school. The participants came from three groups: Group 1 consisted of 112 grade 10th students. Group 2 has 102 grade 11th students, and group 3 is 101 grade 12th students. All of them used TELL tools in learning English from grade 10th. They filled in the questionnaire. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of the participating students were females. The data of the study were collected and analyzed by SPSS software. 7 1.6. Significance of the study Technology has been used in many fields, including teaching and learning and it also brings some significant benefits. In an English language inside and outside classroom, the effectiveness of using technology such as zalo, viber, zoom, bloom apps on iphone, youtube, etc. in teaching and learning seems to be undeniable. In classroom, teachers use of vast resources and opportunities from technology makes their lessons colorful and understandable. Out of classroom, teachers also use them to suggest their students discuss and practice English joyful. However, since Ba Ria – Vung Tau used TELL tools in language teaching for students, there is no any survey to see what and how students use TELL tools in English language learning as well as what and how students’ perceptions on the use of TELL tools in English language learning. Hopefully, the results of the study can suggest some suitable ways to help teachers and students improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning English through TELL tools. The research results hope to help the author see an overview of the students’ perception of TELL tools and the effectiveness of using TELL tools at Minh Dam High School in particular, then help educational managers and English teachers can improve how to teach English and have an oriented further development. 1.7. Definitions of the terms Students’ attitudes towards the use of TELL tools are considered through their cognitive, affective and behavioral. Cognitive factors are considered as learning goals, learning plans, learning strategies, and learning processes such as memorizing, understanding, using, analysing, evaluating, creating. Affective factors are students’ emotion or feeling. They include students’ individual factors like self-esteem, personality and motivation. Behavioral factors are learning 8 actions like interacting with others, selecting learning ways, selecting learning tools. TELL is the use of technological resources to assist complementing and enhancing foreign language learning methods. TELL is thought to provide learners greater control over their learning by allowing them to study quicker, more autonomously, and more creatively. Technology is the practical application of knowledge, especially in a particular area. 1.8. Organization of the study The study consists of five chapters: Chapter 1, the introduction, mainly introduces the background of the study, the purpose of the study, the research questions, the significance of the study, the limitations, the delimitations, and the organization of the study. Chapter 2, the literature review, provides theoretical background to the study beginning with some common types of technology which can be used in the English classroom and at home (out of class). Also, the advantages and drawbacks of using TELL tools in learning English are introduced in this chapter. Finally, the notions of using technology in learning English are considered to motivate students learning themselves and to see students’ attitudes towards the use of TELL tools in English language learning and factors affecting their attitudes. Chapter 3, the methodology, describes research questions, the research design, the data collection including the instruments and the procedure of the data collection, data analysis, reliability and validity. 9 Chapter 4, the research findings and discussion, presents the analyzed data, the findings of the study based on the statistic tables and graphs, and discussion the findings. Chapter 5, the conclusions and recommendations, mentions some implications and recommendations for administrators, teachers and students of using the use of TELL tools in English language learning, and suggestions for further research. Finally, the conclusions of the study are also given at the end of the chapter. 10 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, some theoretical backgrounds of the study are reviewed. The definitions of “technology” are presented in the first section. Some types of technology used are mentioned. Also, the advantages and benefits of using technology in teaching and learning are reviewed. In addition, the disadvantages or barriers of using technology are stated in this chapter. The conceptual framework of the study will be drawn after summarizing some previous studies related TELL tools in English language teaching in Vietnam and other countries. 2.1. Definitions of TELL In the era of technology 4.0, technology has been used in many different fields. Education is among one of them. In recent years, technology has been widely used in teaching and learning and it has also showed the effectiveness, especially in teaching and learning foreign languages. To many people, technology has made great changes in the classroom and outside classroom, and it also plays such an important role in the learning process. There are a lot of definitions offered by scholars and dictionaries. According to Franklin (1989, p.6), it is practice, “the way we do things around here”. In this definition, the author would like to imply “a specific field of technology or to refer to high technology or just customer electronics rather than technology as a whole”. Another idea assumes that it is “a body of knowledge devoted to creating tools, processing actions and extracting of materials” (Yiga, 2013:9). In this author’s view, technology can be seen as “products, processes or organizations that people use to extend their abilities and to accomplish various tasks in their daily lives” (Yiga, 2013: 10).