Luận án An investigation into efl teachers’ and students’ perspective on factors influencing oral fluency in the context of the university in vietnam

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES HUE UNIVERSITY VO NGUYEN DA THAO AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE ON FACTORS INFLUENCING ORAL FLUENCY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE UNIVERSITY IN VIETNAM DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING HUE, 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES HUE UNIVERSITY VO NGUYEN DA THAO AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE ON FACTORS INFLUENCING ORAL FLUENCY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE UNIVERSITY IN VIETNAM DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 9140111 SUPERVISOR: Assoc. Prof. Dr. TRAN VAN PHUOC Dr. TRAN QUANG HAI HUE, 2023 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ VÕ NGUYÊN DẠ THẢO NGHIÊN CỨU NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ SINH VIÊN VỀ CÁC YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN VIỆC NÓI TIẾNG ANH LƯU LOÁT Ở TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC TẠI VIỆT NAM LUẬN ÁN TIẾN SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH HUẾ, 2023 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ NGHIÊN CỨU NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ SINH VIÊN VỀ CÁC YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN VIỆC NÓI TIẾNG ANH LƯU LOÁT Ở TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC TẠI VIỆT NAM LUẬN ÁN TIẾN SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 9140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS.TS. TRẦN VĂN PHƯỚC TS.TRẦN QUANG HẢI HUẾ, 2023 ABSTRACT This study analyzes the perspectives of teachers as well as learners regarding the elements that influence the oral fluency of students majoring in English at university levels. In addition to this, it investigates the evaluations made by EFL teachers regarding the probable factors that could affect the speaking fluency of EFL students. The study was a mixed-method sequential explanatory model (Creswell & Clark, 2007). Using a questionnaire consisting of 32 questions, data were gathered from 115 EFL students and 45 EFL teachers studying and teaching at universities in Vietnam. Six in-depth interviews with a semi-structured format were carried out. The findings revealed that both EFL teachers and students were knowledgeable about factors contributing to the speaking fluency of EFL students. To be more specific, they were almost unanimous in their opinion that instructional and motivational elements are among the most influential ones, but task type was the factor that had the least amount of impact. Their comments, on the other hand, did not completely and accurately reflect their perceptions. EFL teachers displayed positive opinions regarding instructional aspects, despite the fact that they put forth a lot of effort to improve their teaching methodology. On the one hand, the evaluations of the students were affected by effective factors, among which motivational and instructional factors were among the most prominent. From the findings, methodological and pedagogical implications are made for improvements to LOF in teaching and learning EFL in higher education. i TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... i LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 1.1. Background of the study ........................................................................................... 1 1.2. Statement of the problem .......................................................................................... 2 1.3. Purpose of the study ................................................................................................. 2 1.4. Research questions ................................................................................................... 3 1.6. Significance of the study .......................................................................................... 5 1.7. Definitions of key terms ........................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................................... 11 2.1. Overview of teaching speaking and speaking in Vietnam ..................................... 11 2.2. Theoretical background .......................................................................................... 15 2.2.2 Accuracy .............................................................................................................. 17 2.2.3.1. Fluency as proficiency ...................................................................................... 22 2.2.3.2. Utterance fluency .............................................................................................. 24 2.2.3.3 Cognitive fluency .............................................................................................. 24 2.2.3.4. L2 perceived fluency ........................................................................................ 25 2.2.4. Segalowitz’s framework for L2 fluency .............................................................. 26 2.2.5. L2 Oral fluency factors ........................................................................................ 27 2.2.5.1. Motivation ........................................................................................................ 29 2.2.5.2. Behavior and attitude ........................................................................................ 29 2.2.5.3. Tasks ................................................................................................................. 30 2.2.5.4. Instructions ....................................................................................................... 31 2.2.5.5. Exposure to English .......................................................................................... 33 2.2.6. Peer Interaction .................................................................................................... 33 ii 2.2.7 Communicative competence ................................................................................ 35 2.2.8 Fluency development ............................................................................................ 39 2.2.9. Summary of Theoretical Framework................................................................... 41 2.3. Previous studies ...................................................................................................... 42 2.4 The Gaps in the Literature ....................................................................................... 59 2.5. Summary ................................................................................................................. 60 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 62 3.1. Research Paradigm ................................................................................................. 62 3.2. Research design ...................................................................................................... 64 3.3. Participants ............................................................................................................. 67 3.4. Data collection instruments .................................................................................... 70 3.4.1. Questionnaires for teachers and students ............................................................ 72 3.4.2. Semi-structured interviews for teachers and students ......................................... 74 3.5. Data collection procedure ....................................................................................... 78 3.5.1. Piloting the questionnaires .................................................................................. 78 3.5.2. Piloting the semi-structured interview ................................................................ 79 3.5.3. Administering questionnaires .............................................................................. 80 3.5.4. Administering the semi-structured interview ...................................................... 82 3.6. Data analysis procedures ........................................................................................ 83 3.7. Reliability and Validity .......................................................................................... 85 3.8. Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................ 86 3.9. Summary ................................................................................................................. 87 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ....................................................... 88 4.1. Findings .................................................................................................................. 88 4.1.1. The quantitative analysis of teachers’ and students’ perspectives on LOF ......... 88 4.1.1.1. The descriptive analysis of teachers’ perspectives on LOF ............................. 89 4.1.1.2 The descriptive analysis of students’ perspectives on LOF .............................. 90 4.1.2. The qualitative analysis of teachers’ and students’ perspectives on LOF ........... 91 4.1.3. The overall analysis of teachers’ and students’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF ....................................................................................................................................... 95 iii 4.1.3.1. The overal analysis of teachers’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF...... 96 4.1.3.2. The overal analysis of students’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF...... 97 4.1.4 The quantitative analysis of teachers’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF . 98 4.1.4.1. Behavior and attitude factors ............................................................................ 99 4.1.4.3. Tasks Factors .................................................................................................. 101 4.1.4.4. Instructional Factors ....................................................................................... 102 4.1.4.5. Exposure Factors ............................................................................................ 103 4.1.6. The descriptive analysis of students’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF ..................................................................................................................................... 105 4.1.6.1. Behavior and attitude factors .......................................................................... 106 4.1.6.2. Motivational Factors ....................................................................................... 107 4.1.6.3. Tasks Factors .................................................................................................. 108 4.1.6.4. Instructional Factors ....................................................................................... 109 4.1.6.5. Exposure Factors ............................................................................................ 110 4.1.7. The qualitative analysis of students’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF 111 4.2. Discussions ........................................................................................................... 112 4.2.1. LOF from EFL students’ and teachers’ perspectives ........................................ 112 4.2.2 Teachers’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF ........................................... 113 4.2.3. Students’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF .......................................... 114 4.2.4. Teachers' and students' perspectives on factors influencing LOF ..................... 115 4.3. The summary ........................................................................................................ 120 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 122 5.1. Summary of the Study .......................................................................................... 122 5.2. Summary of the Findings ..................................................................................... 122 5.3. Limitations of the study ........................................................................................ 124 5.4. Implications and contributions of the study ......................................................... 124 5.5. Recommendations for Future Research................................................................ 126 5.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 127 LISTS OF AUTHOR’S WORK PAPERS .............................................................. 128 1. The impacts of motivation and task types on L2 oral fluency development in higher iv education in Vietnam ................................................................................................... 128 2. The impacts of technology on the development of L2 oral fluency in higher education in Vietnam. .................................................................................................. 128 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 129 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................ 150 v LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1. Summary of the student participants’ personal information ........................ 69 Table 3.2. Summary of the teacher participants’ personal information ........................ 69 Table 3.3. How data were collected for this study. ....................................................... 71 Table 3.4. Summary of the Questionnaire Instrument with closed-ended items for quantitative data ............................................................................................................. 73 Table 3.5. Interview questions for teachers and students .............................................. 76 Table 3.6. Coding for interviewing teacher participants ............................................... 77 Table 3.7. Coding for interviewing student participants ............................................... 77 Table 3.8. The reliability of teachers’ pilot questionnaire ............................................ 79 Table 3.9. The reliability of students’ pilot questionnaire ............................................ 79 Table 3.10. The reliability of the official questionnaire- Teachers ............................... 80 Table 3.11. The reliability of the official questionnaire- Students ................................ 80 Table 3.12. The reliability of the theme - Teachers ...................................................... 81 Table 3.13. The reliability of the theme - Students ....................................................... 82 Table 4.1. EFL students’ and teachers’ perspectives towards LOF .............................. 88 Table 4.2. EFL teachers’ perspectives towards the importance of LOF ....................... 89 Table 4.3. EFL students’ perspectives towards the importance of LOF ....................... 90 Table 4.4. Summary of the Themes for Interview Question One - Teachers ............... 91 Table 4.5. The summary of emergent themes from students’ responses. ..................... 92 Table 4.6. Summary of the Themes for Interview Question One - Teachers ............... 93 Table 4.7. Summary of the Themes for Interview Question One - students ................. 94 Table 4.8. EFL teachers’ and students’ perspectives towards factors influencing LOF ....................................................................................................................................... 95 Table 4.9. EFL teachers’ perspectives towards factors influencing LOF ..................... 96 Table 4.10. EFL students’ attitudes towards factors influencing LOF ......................... 97 Table 4.11. EFL teachers’ attitudes towards Student Behavior and Attitude factors ... 99 Table 4.12. EFL teachers’ attitudes towards Motivational factors.............................. 100 Table 4.14. EFL teachers’ attitudes towards Tasksactors ........................................... 101 vi Table 4.15. EFL teachers’ attitudes towards Instructional factors .............................. 102 Table 4.17. EFL teachers’ attitudes towards Exposure factors ................................... 103 Table 4.19. EFL students’ attitudes towards Behavior and Attitude Factors .............. 106 Table 4.20. EFL students’ attitudes towards Motivational Factors ............................. 107 Table 4.21. EFL students’ attitudes towards Tasks factors ......................................... 108 Table 4.22. EFL students’ attitudes towards Instructional factors .............................. 109 Table 4.23. EFL Students’ attitudes towards Exposure factors .................................. 110 Table 4.24. Summary of the Themes for Interview Question four - students ............. 111 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1. Aspects of L2 fluency – Segalowitz’s model ............................................. 21 Figure 2.2. The framework of oral fluency factors ....................................................... 26 Figure 3.1. Four elements of research design ................................................................ 64 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT EMI ELT Communicative Language Teaching English Medium Instruction English Language Teaching IELTS International English Language Testing System L2 Foreign Language or Second Language LOF L2 oral fluency MOET MALS Ministry of Education and Training Mobile Application for Listening and Speaking PhD Doctor of Philosophy TEFL Teaching English as a Foreign Language TBLT TL Task-Based Language Teaching Target Language SD Standard Deviation SLA Second Language Acquisition SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of the study Internationalization has emerged as a prevalent trend in the globalizing world of higher education in an effort to recruit a more diverse student population and facilitate global, regional, and domestic institutional competition for students (Wallitsch, 2014). English is often recognized as the major language of communication for people in many regions of the world as it continues to grow in importance as the most extensively used international language (Chen, 2009). Additionally, many individuals today use English in many social contexts and for a variety of communication styles throughout the world (e.g., academic settings and workplace environments). The need to reconceptualize traditional notions in language teaching and learning such as ‘fluency’ is therefore more necessary than finding the most efficient teaching pedagogical technique that can be applicable to all teaching and learning contexts (Jacobs & Renandya, 2016, p. 4). Therefore, rather than emphasizing propositional knowledge (knowledge of what or language norms and conventions), EFL instructors should focus on establishing procedural knowledge in their classes (Cana