Tài liệu Nghiên cứu về chiến lược khích lệ của giáo viên các nước nói tiếng anh và giáo viên việt nam trong lớp học tiếng anh

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER AN INVESTIGATION INTO ANGLOPHONE AND VIETNAMESE TEACHERS’ ENCOURAGING STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH CLASS Supervisor: Phan Thi Van Quyen, M.A Student: Phan Thi Thanh Loan Course: QH2008.F1.E4 HANOI, MAY 2012 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA TIẾNG ANH SƯ PHẠM KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CHIẾN LƯỢC KHÍCH LỆ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN CÁC NƯỚC NÓI TIẾNG ANH VÀ GIÁO VIÊN VIỆT NAM TRONG LỚP HỌC TIẾNG ANH Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Ths. Phan Thi Van Quyen Sinh viên: Phan Thi Thanh Loan Khóa: QH2008.F1.E4 HANOI, 5/2012 DECLARATION I hereby that I, Phan Thi Thanh Loan, class 08.1.E4, being candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation deposited in the library. In term of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper. Ha Noi, May 2012 Phan Thị Thanh Loan i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many people without whose help the present thesis could not have been completed. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Mrs. Phan Thi Van Quyen for her invaluable guidance, insightful comments and endless support. I wish to express my deep indebtedness to all teachers from Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, foreign teachers from English centers: Language Link, Apollo, British Council, New Ocean, Sunshine School, TVN Center. All teachers have done my survey questionnaire and let me observe their English lessons. Without their kindness and encouragement, I could not fulfill this study. Finally, I owe the completion of this dissertation to my parents and my siblings, my friends, who have always given me their love, understanding and encouragement throughout my study. To all mentioned, and to many more, my heart extends the warmest thanks. ii ABSTRACT In the time of integration, the mutual exchange of education and culture has diversified. The connection between teaching and culture is progressively explored. In the classroom context, the choice of encouragement strategies is a method that deserves careful consideration by both Vietnamese and Anglophone lecturers. Cultural differences can lead to misunderstanding in encouragement and even culture shocks for Vietnamese students during learning from foreign teachers or studying overseas. This study was carried out for the following purposes: investigating verbal and nonverbal strategies that Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers adopt to encourage students in English class, finding out the similarities and differences between Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers‘ strategies to encourage students in English lesson. This project is based on two kinds of methods: questionnaire and observation. The result shows that Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers use eleven verbal encouraging strategies: giving positive remarks, expressing positive emotions, reassuring, proposing actions, offering help, asking questions, congratulating, expressing sympathy, promising gift, giving advice and predicting bright future to perform the act of encouraging; and thirteen nonverbal encouraging strategies: smiling, nodding head, keeping a direct eye contact, raising eyebrow, putting hand up, making a thumb-up gesture, clapping hands, leaning the body toward students, turning the body toward students, patting students on the back, patting students on the shoulder, rubbing students‘ head, moving closer to students. The similarities and differences are found in the choice of encouraging strategies, the frequency and the effectiveness of encouraging strategies. iii TABLE OF CONTENT * Acknowledgements * Abstract * Table of contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………...1 1. 1. Statement of the problem and the rationale for the study………………….....1 1. 2. Aims and Objectives of the study..………………………………………….…2 1. 3. Scope of the study……………………………………………………………...3 1. 4. Methods of the study…………………………………………………………..3 1. 5. Design of the study………………………………………………….…………4 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………….….…….5 2.1 .Culture…………………………………………………………………….……5 2.1.1 .Culture……………………………………………………………….…..5 2.1.2 .Components of culture………………………………………….…….….6 2.2. Communication…………………………………………………………………7 2.2.1 .Definition…………………………………………………………….…...7 2.2.2 .Classification of communication…………………………………..……..8 2.2.3 .Verbal communication……………………………………………..……..9 2.2.4 .Non-verbal communication…………………………………….……….10 2.3 . Cross-cultural communication………………………………………………..11 2.3.1 .Teacher- student communication…………………………..……………11 2.4. Encouragement……………………………………………………….………..12 2.4.1 .Definition……………………………………………………….……….12 2.4.2 .Types of encouragement………………………………………………..14 2.5. Verbal encouragement………………………………………………………...14 2.5.1 .Speech acts……………………………………………………………..15 2.5.2 .Encouraging as a speech act……………………………………………17 2.5.3 .Politeness……………………………………………………………….18 iv 2.5.4 .Politeness in encouraging ……………………………………………...20 2.6. Nonverbal encouragement…………………………………………………….20 2.7. Encouragement in multicultural classroom…………………………………...24 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY……………………………………………..25 3.1 .Selections of subjects…………………………………………………………..25 3.2 .Research instruments…………………………………………………………..26 3.3 .Procedures of data collection…………………………………………………..27 CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION………………………………..28 4.1 The verbal encouraging strategies by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers.....28 4.1.1 Realization of verbal encouraging strategies…………………………..28 4.1.2 Choice of verbal encouraging strategies by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers…………………………………………………………………32 4.2 The nonverbal encouraging behaviors by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers 4.2.1 Realization of nonverbal encouraging behaviors………………………34 4.2.2 Choice of nonverbal encouraging behaviors by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers……………………………………………………36 4.2.3 The effectiveness of nonverbal encouraging behaviors by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers………………………………………………39 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION………………………………………………….42 5.1 .Summary of findings………………………………………………………….42 5.1.1 .The verbal encouraging strategies by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers…………………………………………………………..………….42 5.1.2 .The nonverbal encouraging strategies by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers…………………………………………………………………..43 5.2 .Implications…………………………………………………………………...43 5.3 .Limitations…………………………………………………………………….44 5.4 .Suggestions for further studies………………………………………………..45 REFERENCE APPENDICES v LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS Graph 1: Nguyen Quang‘s diagram of components of communication Graph 2: Choice of verbal encouraging strategies by Anglophone and Vietnamese and teachers Table 1: The frequency of nonverbal encouraging behaviors by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers Table 2: The effectiveness of nonverbal encouraging behaviors by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A Anglophone teachers V Vietnamese teachers vi CHAPTER I- INTRODUCTION This initial chapter states the problem and the rationale of the study, together with the aims, objectives and the scope of the whole paper. Above all, in this chapter, the research questions are identified to work as clear guidelines for the whole research. 1. 1. Statement of the problem and the rationale for the study In order to meet the growing demands of learning English, in recent years, there is increasing number of Vietnamese students going oversea to pursue higher education. Besides, collaboration with English-speaking countries in inviting English teachers allows Vietnamese students to have not only more effective English learning opportunity, but also to have knowledge of other‘s culture and civilization. Unfortunately, often cultural differences are the most severe cause of misunderstanding, unpleasantness and conflict in cross-cultural communication in classroom. In the time of integration, the mutual exchange of education and culture has diversified. The connection between language teaching and culture is progressively explored. According to McKay (2003), culture influences language teaching in two ways: linguistic and pedagogical. Linguistically, it affects the semantic, pragmatic, and discourse levels of the language. Pedagogically, it influences the choice of the language materials used due to their cultural content. Hence, the cultural basis of the teaching methodology is taken into consideration while deciding upon the materials used. In the classroom context, the choice of encouragement strategies is a method that deserves careful consideration by both Vietnamese and Anglophone lecturers. Encouragement refers to ―a positive acknowledgment response that focuses on students‘ efforts or specific attributes of work completed‖ (Elvin Klassen, 2005). Obviously, encouragement helps students to develop an appreciation of their own behaviors and achievements as quoted from Anatole France (French Writer, member of the French Academy and Nobel Prize for Literature in 1921, 1844-1924) that: ―Nine tenths of education is encouragement‖. Teachers, who give 1 encouragement, create a comfortable environment whereby students are not feared by continuous evaluation and they are given room for mistakes and learn from them. In this environment, they do not feel pressurized to meet other's standard of excellence but to strive for their own standard. Encouragement fosters autonomy, positive self-esteem, a willingness to explore, and acceptance of self and others. Therefore, appropriate and effective expressions of encouragement is essential for ―changing the way teachers run their classrooms and relate to students, resulting in students who are more involved, responsible, and academically successful.‖(Timothy D. Evans, 1996). In some cases, teachers can use actions, gestures or conveying something to encourage students. Encouragement is commonly used in our daily life and it varies under the influence of socio- cultural factors such as religion, education, communication setting, personalities, and cultural background etc. These differences can lead to misunderstanding in communication and even culture shocks for Vietnamese students during learning from foreign teachers or studying overseas. A number of studies were conducted to explore the usage and principles of encouragement (Timothy D. Evans, Ph.D. & Cameron W. Meredith, PhD on ―The art of encouragement‖, 2011) or to present language, and strategies necessary for effective encouragement (Timothy Evans, ―The tools of encouragement‖, 2005). Although those investigations have been successful, to a certain extent, there is a large gap in the cultural aspects of verbal and non-verbal encouragement used by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers. This gap urges the researcher to pursue the study. 1. 2. Aims and Objectives of the study This study was carried out for the following purposes. Firstly, the research aims at investigating verbal and nonverbal strategies that Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers adopt to encourage students in English class. Besides, the study has the goal of finding out the similarities and differences between Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers‘ strategies to encourage students in English lesson. Lastly, the dissertation achieves the purpose of finding out the influence of 2 culture on strategies employed by the Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers to encourage students in English class. The study addresses the following questions: (1) What are the verbal and nonverbal strategies employed by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers to encourage students in the English class.? (2) What are the similarities and differences in encouraging strategies used by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers in the English class? 1. 3. Scope of the study The study focuses on both verbal and nonverbal expressions of encouraging. The chosen samples of study are Anglophone teachers, Vietnamese teachers and Vietnamese students who are from 18 to 20 years old. In this study, the chosen Vietnamese teachers are experienced in teaching English. The context, which is examined, investigates teachers‘ verbal and nonverbal encouraging strategies, is in English classroom. English is the only language used in the investigation. 1.4. Methods of the study This research project is based on two kinds of methods: questionnaire and observation. Firstly, the researcher conducted a structured observation of some of teachers‘ English lessons to work out the most common situations in which students need encouragement from teachers, verbal encouraging statements and nonverbal behaviors that teachers display when giving encouragement. After that, two questionnaires were designed; a questionnaire is to find out verbal encouraging strategies of the English language teachers. This questionnaire includes five common in-class situations in which teachers will write what they would say to encourage their students. Another questionnaire was formulated for students to explore the most frequent and encouraging teachers‘ nonverbal encouraging behaviors. The conductor carried out the qualitative and quantitative analysis of data. 1. 5. Design of the study Chapter I: Introduction: The description of the research‘s rationale, aims, research questions, scope and method 3 Chapter 2: Literature Review: The theoretical foundation of the research, offering readers the overview of 1) culture, 2) communication, 3) encouragement Chapter 3: Methodology: The details of the methods and procedures applied and implemented by the researcher Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion: The presentation of the researcher‘s findings and further discussions on the similarities and differences of encouraging strategies used by Anglophone and Vietnamese teachers Chapter 5: The summary of the main points, the implications, the limitations of the research as well as the suggestion for further studies At the end of the paper is the inclusion of the references and appendices. 4 CHAPTER II- LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter provides the framework of the theoretical background from which the researcher’s area of investigation lays foundation and operates. Firstly, it deals with the conceptual aspects of the relationship between culture and communication. Secondly, the speech act theory, the politeness strategy theory and the act of encouraging will be reviewed. Lastly, the presentation of nonverbal behaviors will be highlighted. 2.1 Culture 2.1.1 Definition From different viewpoints, the term ―culture‖ has been defined by many scholars. Richard et al (1992: 94) defined:‖Culture is the total set of beliefs, attitudes, customs, behavior, social habits of the members of a particular society‖. This definition not only sheds light on the culture but also lists the components of culture. Beliefs, attitudes, customs are not innate; they are learnt through socialization process and affect people‘s behaviors. Levine and Adelman (1993) compared culture to an iceberg, which means that people can only see some visible parts of culture. This comparison is adopted from their book: … Culture is like an iceberg, much of the influence of culture on an individual can hardly be seen but strongly be felt. The visible part of culture does not always create cross-cultural difficulties. The hidden aspects of culture exercise a strong influence on behavior and interactions with others. According to Levine and Adelman, the visible part of the iceberg of culture consists of appearance, food, language, traditions and customs while the invisible part includes values, beliefs, attitudes and communication styles, perceptions. People can understand the cultural characteristics of a nation through the language, the cuisine or traditional habits. However, it is difficult to make sense of all ways of thinking, feeling, and acting and patterns for doing certain things in certain ways in a culture. 5 According to Nguyen Quang (1994: 3), culture is ―a shared background (for example, national, ethnic, religious) resulting from a common language and communication style, customs, beliefs, attitudes, and values‖. Ferrando (cited in Nguyen Quang‘s Lecture notes) gave the definition: ―Culture is everything that people have, think or do as a member of a society‖. Culture distinguishes one human from animals. Culture can be seen in a more dynamic way: ―Culture is non-natural. Culture is something that was and has been created throughout the history of human development. Culture is not static, however, and is always changing. The beliefs and values we know now are not completely the same as those held in the pre-history or medieval times, or 100 years ago‖. (cited in Thanh & Trang, 2006, p.5) In general, this study uses the definition of culture as a human concept containing beliefs, values, attitudes, behaviors, habits, customs, etc. which are accepted by a community of people and commonly follow to distinguish them from other communities. 2.1.2 Components of culture All cultures comprise different components that are necessary for members of society to participate competently in social life and interactions. Therefore, it is greatly necessary to apprehend the most important components of culture: beliefs, values, attitudes. Beliefs According to Stephen Moore, (1986: 4 cited by Do Mai Thanh & Dao Thu Trang, 2006: 5), Beliefs are general, vague opinions, which held about the world and about the nature of society. They vary by society and sometimes by subcultures, etc. Besides, Mooney (2000) defined Beliefs as definitions and explanations about what is assumed true. The belief of an individual or group influence whether that individual or group views a particular social condition as a social problem. Values 6 In Stephen Moore‘s definition, Values are vague beliefs about what is right or wrong in the world. They imply that there are certain appropriate forms of action that ought to be taken. Mooney (2000) defined that Values are social agreements about what is considered good and bad, right and wrong, desirable and undesirable. Frequently, social conditions are viewed as social problems when the conditions are incompatible with or contradict closely held values. For example, crime contradicts the values of honesty; racism and sexism violate the values of equality and fairness. Attitudes According to Aswathappa (2000, p. 166), Attitudes are ―positive or negative evaluations, feelings and tendencies which make an individual behave in a particular way towards people and objects.‖ Hogg and Vaughan shared the same ideas that Attitudes are an individuals‘ evaluation – either positive or negative – of some person, object or issue (Hogg and Vaughan, 2002). 2.2 Communication 2.2.1 Definition In human society, people communicate to build up and maintain relationships, to cooperate in work, to exchange information and share feelings, etc. Communication can happen everywhere such as in the street, in workplace, at home, and in the classroom. Saundra Hybels and Richard L. Weaver II (1992) offered a specific definition of communication: ―Communication is any process in which people share information, ideas and feelings. That process involves not only the spoken and written words, but also body language, personal mannerisms and style, the surroundings anything that adds meaning to a message‖ (1992:5). From my point of view, this definition reveals the content of communication (information, ideas and feelings), the means of communication (speak, write, use body language, individual manners) and the surroundings that contribute to the transmission of the hidden meaning. Nguyen Quang (1998) provided a brief and concise definition of communication: ―Communication is the process of sharing meaning through verbal 7 and nonverbal behaviors‖. It is evident that this definition presents not only the function of communication but also the channels through which communication can be transmitted: verbal and nonverbal communication. ―Verbal communication is spoken words, including the use of words and intonation to convey meaning‖. ―Nonverbal communication is ―silent‖ communication, including the use of gestures, facial expression, eye contact, conversation distance‖ (Nguyen Quang, 1998: 3). Obviously, in the process of communication, two or more individuals interact and influence the ideas, beliefs and attitudes of each other through words, gestures, signs and symbols, expression, etc. In the teacher-student communication, Miller (1998) stated, ―Communication is an ongoing process of sending and receiving messages that enables humans to share knowledge, attitudes and skills. Effective teaching depends on successful communication. When teachers and students interact, explicit and implicit communication occurs‖. It is clear that in managing and teaching new language concept, the teacher not only uses language, but also uses nonverbal behaviors to communicate with students in order to make the lessons more appealing. However, when teachers and students come from different cultures, successful communication will not be easily obtained. ―Communication (verbal or non verbal) between people from different cultures is influenced by cultural values, attitudes and behavior, the influence of culture on people and their reactions and responses to each other‖ (Nguyen Quang, 1998:3). Due to different beliefs, values, norms, roles… interpretation might be right in one‘s culture, but inappropriately in other cultural situations. 2.2.2 Classification of communication Manohar (2008) suggested communication to be divided into verbal and nonverbal communication: ―the process of communication can be broadly classified as verbal and nonverbal communication. Verbal includes written and oral communication whereas the nonverbal communication includes body language, facial expressions and visuals diagrams or pictures used for communication‖. 8 Nguyen Quang (1998:3) proposed that communication is ―the process of sharing meaning through verbal and nonverbal behaviors‖. Thus, communication can be categorized into two types: verbal communication and nonverbal communication. His classification is demonstrated in the following diagram: Nonverbal Communication Paralanguage -Vocal characteristics Extralanguage Body language/ Kinesics Object language/ Artifacts Environmental language - Eye contact - Clothing - Setting -Facial expressions - Jewelry - -Physical characteristics - Accessories + Rate + Vocal quality - Gestures - Types of vocal flow - Postures -Artifactual scents -Body movements - Gifts - Color - Touch/ Haptics/ Tactile… - Flowers… - Heat…. + Pitch + Volume -Vocal interferences - Make-up Conversational distance/ Proxemics -Time/ Chronemics -Lighting system - Silence… Graph 1: Nguyen Quang’s diagram of components of communication 2.2.3 Verbal communication Verbal communication refers to the use of sounds and language to relay a message. It serves as a vehicle for expressing desires, ideas and concepts and is vital to the processes of learning and teaching. In combination with nonverbal forms of communication, verbal communication acts as the primary tool for expression between two or more people. Verbal communication is far more precise than nonverbal cues. No matter how clear we believe we are being; different gestures have different interpretations between different cultures and even between two members of the same culture. Verbal communication is most effective when combined with 9 other forms of communication like body language to help cue the intensity of the verbiage. 2.2.4 Non-verbal communication Nonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. Such messages can be communicated through gesture, posture, facial expression and eye contact, objects such as clothing, hairstyles or even architectures; symbols. According to Nguyen Quang (1998: 61), ―Nonverbal communication: ―silent‖ communication including the use of gestures, facial expressions, eye contact and conversational distances‖. Therefore, these elements should be taken into consideration in order to interpret and understand the meaning of message sent in the right way. J. Burgoon and T. Saine (1978) assumed that nonverbal communication is ―those attributes or actions of humans, other than the use of words themselves, which have socially shared meaning, are intentionally sent or interpreted as intentional , are consciously sent or consciously received, and have the potential for feedback from the receiver‖. In this sense, nonverbal communication is understood as the conscious or unconscious human actions of communication and and social meaning of them are dependent on how the actions are culturally interpreted. Nonverbal communication has implication for the teacher as well as the learner. Feldman (1990) asserted that researches, which regarded the use of nonverbal cues in education, demonstrated that educators often send messages regarding their expectations via non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and overall body language. These nonverbal cues, according to Feldman, can have a notable impact on student response and behavior. Additionally, Houser and Frymier (2009) noted the role of non-verbal communication in the development of student empowerment and achievement. According to these authors, the manner in which an educator responds to a student during an interaction will be reflected through both verbal and non-verbal communication. Educators whose verbal and non-verbal 10 communication patterns are congruent and reinforcing will be able to provide students with a clear sense of confidence in their actions. 2.3 Cross-cultural communication Cross-cultural communication is simply defined as ―the exchange of information between individuals who are unalike culturally‖ (Roger and Steifatt 1999: 103) or ―whenever a message producer is a member of one culture and a message receiver is a member of another‖ (Porter and Samovar, 1985: 39). Cross-cultural communication is also described as ―communication (verbal and non-verbal) between people from different cultures; communication that is influenced by cultural values, attitudes and behavior; the influence of culture on people‘s reactions and responses to each other‖. (Levine and Adelman, 1993:94). Communication is multidimensional in which it involves verbal, non-verbal and written communication which could be formal or informal, and direct or indirect. These modes of communication vary between individuals and cultures. Therefore, in intercultural situations, cultural differences can lead to misinterpretations of the communicated message. Cross-cultural miscommunication occurs when the person from a different culture does not understand the sender's intended message. The greater the differences between the sender's and the receiver's cultures are, the greater the chance for cross-cultural miscommunication is. Effective intercultural communication requires each member of the community to respect and support others‘ self-concepts including cultural, ethnic, gender and personal identities. 2.3.1 Teacher- student communication In classroom context, the teacher can use language to explain, question, request, comment, criticize or encourage. Between a teacher and pupils, there is an exchange of information at both verbal and nonverbal level. The teacher‗s nonverbal communication can function to contradict, substitute, complement, accent or regulate the verbal. Nonverbal communication in the classroom includes distance, physical environment, facial expression, vocal cues, body movements and gestures, touch, time, physical attractiveness, and dress. From my personal experience, as a student and as a teacher, I am aware that there is variety of 11 nonverbal signals emitted from the teacher in classroom which influence classroom atmosphere, students‘ mood, perception, learning and even attitudes towards knowledge and school. Obviously, if the primary function of teacher‘s verbal behaviors is to give content to improve students‘ cognitive learning, that of nonverbal behaviors in the classroom is to improve students‘ affection or liking to the subject matter, teacher, class and to instill motivation to learn more about the subject matter. In cross-cultural communication, teachers and students from different cultures may not understand each other or may be in trouble if they bring their cultural values and norms into mutual exchanges. For example, many students from Asia are used to formal classroom environment whereby the utmost respect is shown to the teacher‘s authority. While, in western countries, the relationship between the teacher and students is more informal, and a university student will be more flexible in dressing. Nonverbal communication may also be misinterpreted in classrooms. An example by Samovar and Porter (2004) shows that direct eye contact is viewed as rule in many Asian cultures, while in United States lack of eye contact signals a student‘s disinterest and disrespect. All the above examples can be said to be culture shock, which can lead to the feelings of estrangement, confusion, anger, hostility, indecision, frustration, etc. Therefore, in teacher- student communication, both teachers and students should consider their differences and respect and support others‘ self- concepts including cultural, ethnic, gender and personal identities. 2.4 Encouragement 2.4.1 Definition In many in-class situations, encouragement is a process in which the teacher expresses positive feeling toward students‘ learning effort and encouraging aims at reinforcing students‘ confidence and persistence to complete the instructed tasks. By encouraging, the teacher communicates understanding that the task is challenging, and he has the faith that with sufficient effort and an effective strategy for performing the task, students can complete the task successfully. Irrespective of 12