1 Vietnam national university, noi UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - o0o - HỒ THỊ MỸ HẠNH TREATMENT OF CROSS-CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE TEACHING OF SPEAKING SKILL TO GRADE 12A1 STUDENTS OF ENGLISH IN NAM DAN HIGH SCHOOL IN NGHE AN PROVINCE Xử lý yếu tố giao văn hố dạy nói tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp 12A1 Trường THPT Nam Đàn 1, tỉnh Nghệ An M.A MINOR - THESIS Field: Code: English linguistics 602215 HÀ NỘI, 2010 Vietnam national university, noi UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - o0o - HỒ THỊ MỸ HẠNH TREATMENT OF CROSS-CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE TEACHING OF SPEAKING TO GRADE 12A1 STUDENTS OF ENGLISH IN NAM DAN HIGH SCHOOL IN NGHE AN PROVINCE Xử lý yếu tố giao văn hố dạy nói tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp 12A1 Trường THPT Nam Đàn 1, tỉnh Nghệ An M.A MINOR - THESIS Field: Code: Supervisor: English linguistics 602215 Assoc Prof Dr Ngơ Đình Phương HÀ NỘI, 2010 DECLARATION I, Ho Thi My Hanh, certify that this thesis is entirely my own work and contains no material which has been submitted for the examination in any other courses or accepted for the award of a degree in any other university or institution The thesis also contains no material previously published or written by other person, except where due reference is made in the text ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In carrying out this study, I have received immeasurable help, encouragement, advice and guidance from a lot of people to whom I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks and my deep gratitude Firstly, I am sincerely grateful to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Ngo Dinh Phuong, who has been constantly encouraging me and giving me valuable guidance, suggestions and advice throughout the study Without his great help I would have never been able to finish this study Secondly, my gratitude is also to all my friends and colleagues for their valuable support in data collection Thirdly, I would like to acknowledge all the lecturers in University of Languages and International Studies for their teaching and instructions which are of great values to this thesis Lastly, I find myself in debt to my parents who have always provided me with favorable conditions to carry out my minor study ABSTRACT Understanding a language involves not only knowledge of grammar, phonology and lexis but also the certain features and characteristics of the culture The thesis is concerned with the contribution and incorporation of cultural characteristics into teaching the foreign language The study is divided into parts; they are Introduction, Development and Conclusion In the development part, there are chapters, in the first chapter, the researcher provided theoretical background related to the relationship between cultural knowledge and ELF and speaking skills In the second chapter the research concentrated on developing the research methodology The questionnaire was used to collect the data for the survey It was conducted with two groups of participants (teachers and students) The final chapter focused on the summary of the findings, some implications and suggestions for teaching culture in foreign language classroom From the data result, it is strongly believed that it could help students and teachers at Nam Dan I high school find out the ways to exploit cultural elements in their learning and teaching English and make this process become more interesting and effective TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION…………………………………………………………… … i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………… ……………… ii ABSTRACT………………………………………………….………………… iii TABLE OF CONTENT iv LIST OF TABLE .v LIST OF FIGURE iv PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Aims of the study .2 Scope of the study Research questions Methods of the study Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature review 1.1 The importance of cross- cultural knowledge in foreign language learning 1.1.1 Definitions of term “culture” and “cross-culture” 1.1.1.1 What is culture? 1.1.1.2 What is cross-culture? 1.1.2 The relationship between language and culture 1.2 Goals and objectives for treatment cross-cultural characteristics in English teaching 1.3 Some consideration in raising students` cross-cultural awareness when teaching English as Foreign language 1.4 Speaking skill and the position in E language teaching 1.4.1 Definition of speaking skill .12 1.4.2 The position of speaking skills in English language teaching 13 1.5 What types of culture should be taught in the foreign language classroom? 13 Chapter 2: The study 2.1 Situation analysis 2.1.1 Setting of the study 17 2.1.2 Participants and Classroom context 17 2.2 Data collecting instruments…………………………………………………………….18 2.3 Data analysis 2.3.1 The attitudes of the learners towards the target culture 2.3.1.1 Positive attitudes towards the target culture .18 2.3.1.2 Negative attitudes towards the target culture 20 2.3.2 The attitudes of the teachers and learners towards the importance of culture ELT 20 2.3.3 The attitudes of the learners and teachers towards cross-cultural characteristics in speaking skills 21 2.3.4 The students' evaluation on the applied culture teaching activities .24 2.3.5 Speaking as the best way of enhancing cross- cultural knowledge .25 2.3.6 The change in NDI students' test result after inserting and treating English cultureteaching activities into the teaching of speaking at NDI high school……………………… 25 2.4 Discussion of the findings …………………………………………………………… 27 Chapter 3: Suggestions for treatment cross-cultural characteristics into teaching of speaking in English to grade 12A1 students in Nam Dan I high school 3.1 Implications 3.1.1 To teachers .29 3.1.2 To students .31 3.2 Suggestions for treatment cross- cultural characteristics into teaching of speaking in English to grade 12A1 students in Nam Dan I high school 3.2.1 Teachers and students` sources in Nam Dan I high school for enriching crosscultural information 31 3.2.2 Activities for improving cross-culture teaching methods in NDI high school 32 PART C: CONCLUSIONS Recapitulation……………………………………………………………………… 36 Suggested issues for further research………………………………………………37 REFERENCES APPENDICES SUGGESTED LESSON PLANS LIST OF TABLE Table 1: Positive attitudes toward the target language .19 Table 2: Negative attitudes toward the target language 20 Table 3: The attitudes of the students toward the rank of skills in order of importance in learning speaking skill 21 Table 4: The attitudes of the teachers toward the rank of skills in order of importance in learning speaking skill 22 Table 5: The attitude of students toward the importance of speaking skill in enhancing cross-cultural knowledge 24 Table 6: The change in students` test result after treating English culture-teaching activities into the teaching of speaking skill 26 LIST OF FIGURE Figure 1: The students` perception of the role of culture in English learning 20 Figure 2: The attitudes of the students toward the rank of skills in order of importance in learning speaking skill 21 Figure 3: The attitudes of the teachers toward the rank of skills in order of importance in learning speaking skill 22 Figure 4: the attitudes of teachers and students toward influence of the difference between Vietnamese and English culture on their teaching and learning spoken English 23 Figure 5: The students` evaluation on the applied culture teaching activities 24 Figure 6: The change in students` test result after treating English culture-teaching activities into the teaching of speaking skill 26 10 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale English, the most popular foreign language in Vietnam, has been taught from the early age (at the age of six or even younger) in most of schools throughout the country as a compulsory subject Thus, many Vietnamese, especially the young people, can speak English; however; not many of them have intelligible cultural knowledge Personally, I think that cultural gaps are one of the most important keys lead us to success in communicating genuinely and understanding the real world outside the classroom In order to use the language effectively, language teachers should realize that knowledge of the world's language and culture is increasingly important Language learners need to have mastery of not only the language itself but also the culture in which the language is used Therefore, it is suggested that language teachers should focus on the integration of culture in language classroom, which serves as a tool for helping students understand and appreciate other cultures Nowadays, in teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam, speaking has received a great deal of attention Nonetheless, English is learnt and taught in a non-native environment, students usually not have close contact with native speakers of English and have little opportunity to discover how these speakers think, feel, and interact with others That is the reason why they not feel confident enough to converse with English teachers or native speakers It proves everything clear that culture and language can not be separated and the teaching and learning of a foreign language should always be a culture- based course So as to improve student's communicative competence, teacher should insert cross- cultural knowledge into the learning and teaching of speaking skills From my teaching experience, cultural challenges in speaking-class have become a great source of inspiration for my thesis, which deals with the problem: "Treatment of cross-cultural characteristics in the teaching of speaking skill to grade 12A1 students of English." This study is, hence, to aim at treating cross-cultural characteristics into teaching of speaking in English for the teacher and students at Nam Dan I high school 53 a Food b Salary c Whether d Family In English, when you cross middle finger with index finger, it means that: a I not know b I cannot hear you c Good luck d Come here In UK, when people are invited to a party, they often take a A bottle of wine b A flower c A cake d A loaf Which statement is considered cheerful farewell in the US but may be considered insincere in Britain? a Have a nice day! b Good luck to you! c A happy day! d See you again! In US, when invited to a dinner party, people usually arrive a Later than the time appointed b Earlier than the time appointed c On time d Within fifteen minutes of the appointed time Suggested answers: 1a, 2c, 3a, 4c, 5c, 6a, 7a, 8d, 54 Test True False Don't know When Vietnamese people meet each other, they usually greet each other with " Good morning" It is normal or polite when an American asks his/her friend's hobby People from discussing Western business culture matters enjoy during lunch or dinner Walking is the most popular leisure activity among the British and the Vietnamese In England, when you are first introduced to some one, shake their right hand with your own right hand In UK and America, students use the word "teacher" to address their teacher to show their respect It is considered polite when a Vietnamese asks an American about his/her age In US, men and women friends may kiss each other on the cheek if they see each other after a long time, or even each time they meet In Vietnamese, at informal party, people 55 don't wait to be introduced They introduce themselves 10 In the UK they have to drive on the left 11 It is polite to ask Americans questions about their salary 12 In UK, when being entertained at someone's home it is nice to take a gift for the host and hostess 13 to In England, it is impolite for men wear hats indoors especially in churches 14 In Vietnam, when yawning or coughing always cover your mouth with your hand 15 In American, everyone greet each other only when they are close friends and relatives 16 In Vietnam, it is very impolite to speak with your mouth full of food 17 The most common and typical foods eaten in Britain are the sandwich, fish and chips, pies, trifle 18 In the US It is believe that if your left eye winks, you will meet some unlucky 19 In the US, people shake hands when they meet each other people for the first time, but not every time they see them after that 20 In England, you want to talk to 56 someone you not know at a party There is no one to introduce you What would be the most polite way to address the person? a Hi, my name is b I not think we have met, have we? My name is c What is your name? d Do I know you? Suggested aswers: 1f 2t 3t t 5f 6f 17f 18f 7t 8f 9t 10t 11t 12t 13f 14t 15t 16f 20b Suggested lesson plans for treatment cross-cultural characteristics into teaching of speaking in English to grade 12A1 students in Nam Dan I high school LESSON PLAN 1: UNIT 1: HOME LIFE Lesson 2: speaking I Aims: By the end of the lesson, students will able to: - Review related words about family life including household chores, responsibility, wash the dishes - Talk about household chores - Express their ideas about family life 57 II Materials : charts, cards, picture, textbook III Procedure TIME STEPS WORK ARRANGEMEN 5' I WARM UP T Group work Divide class into teams Ask students to give out as many words/ phrases involved household chores as possible The team having more correct answers will be winner Suggested answers: - Making the bed - Washing dishes - Cleaning the floor - Watering plants - Do cleaning - Going shopping - Cooking - Washing up Lead in: Today, we will speak about the division of household chores among the members of the family 10' II Individually PRE - SPEAKING Have students work individually, check the suitable box for information that apply to his/her own family Teachers is advised to help student fully understand all the information by giving them meaning of the following words: 58 Work: kiếm tiền (v) Share: chia sẻ (v) Interest: sở thích (n) Closely (adv): cách chặt chẽ Make an important decision: dưa định quan trọng Pair work Call on some pairs to give their choices Drilling: Put students into pairs to practice speaking about their family, based on the sentences in 15' task Call on some students to speak out their ideas III Pair work WHILE-TEACHING Task 1: Ask students to work in pairs to ask each other the following questions: + Who works in your family? + Who does household chores? + What's your responsibility in the family? + What is the interest the family members share closely? + Who is the person you often share secrets with? + Who is the person you talk to before making an important decision? Move around the room to give help and jot down students' mistakes in pronunciation and grammar for later correction Call on some pairs to act out their dialogues Make correction and comments Task 2: Group work 59 Role-play Arrange students to work in groups of four or five and act as if they were members of a family (the father, the mother, the eldest child, the youngest child, or the son, the daughter) Each person in the family says something about their family and duties their family Call on some groups to act out in front of the class Make corrections if needed and make comments Suggested answers: - I am the eldest child in my family I come from a family of four: my parents, my sister and I My parents love their children very much and have done everything for our upbringing - As a father I' ve got a lot of duty to I have to go to work to support my family I' ve got to help my wife with housework 12 - As a mother, I have to household chores and keep the house in order I have to cook meals, go shopping, wash up My husband sometimes helps me - After school I always make time to help my mother with housework and my younger sister with homework We as children always try to get on well with one another in order to create a happy and harmonious home environment Group work 60 IV POST-SPEAKING Divide class into groups Give each group one poster Ask students to work in groups to find out the difference between the division of household chores among members in the Vietnamese families and the English families After 10 minutes, ask students to hang their poster on the board, and then each group choose a leader to present their ideas Suggested ideas: Mother 3' Vietnamese English Family -Do nearly all family -Share household household chores chores and take -Take care of care of children children with their husband Father -Bread winner: -Join hand to Childre earning money -Spend most help wife -Have n time at school responsibility to and extra household classes chores -Have a little -Have equal role time to in family household chores -Depend on parents' Individually 61 arrangement V HOMEWORK Ask students to answer the questions: Why should family members share household chores? Example: - Relieve the burden on parents' shoulder - Help children become more independent LESSON PLAN 2: UNIT 2: CULTURAL DIVERSITY Lesson 2: speaking I Aims: By the end of the lesson, students will able to: - know about some typical features of different cultures - talk about the differences and similarities between Vietnamese and American cultures II Materials : charts, pieces of cards, posters, textbook III Procedure STEPS TIME WORK ARRANGEMEN T 7' I WARM UP Game : good luck or bad luck? - divide class into groups - give students questions: 1.In Britain, what does a black cat mean? Group work 62 a good luck b bad luck c a feature weeding In Vietnam, when the bride leaves her own family to live in groom' family, what object will the bride take with her? a a hat b shoes c a pillow In Vietnam, what does it mean when it starts to rain on the wedding day? a the couple will be poor b the couple will be happy c the couple will be rich In France, what creature brings you good luck? a a mouse b a spider c a fox In Britain, you are in a crowded bus and by accident step on somebody's toes You say: a please excuse me b oh god c I'm sorry d I must apologies Great Britain is a England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland b England, Scotland and Wales c England and Scotland d England only Ask students to read questions and work in each group to discuss With each question, which group raise their 63 hands more quickly, this group will have chance to answer 8' The group with the most correct answers Pair work wins Key: 1.a 2.a 5.c 3.c 4.c 6b II PRE-SPEAKING Have Ss work in pairs, express their point of view on some matters related to cultural views by using suitable expression following the example: I think it is not convenient for a family of four generations to live together under one roof The distance of ages may cause disagreement among the members Some expressions to express the points of 12' view: + I think/ feel/ believe + In my opinion/ In my point of view/ As far as I am concerned/ For me + I agree/ I not agree/ it is not true because + Perhaps you are right,/ but / I think it is wrong to + I not really have any strong opinions about + Shall we come back to that later? III WHILE SPEAKING Group work 64 Divide class into teams Teacher prepares some typical features of the American and Vietnamese culture The teacher writes these typical feature on the pieces of paper and stick them on the board Students have to find out which are the typical features of the American culture and which are the typical features of the Vietnamese culture Some features of American and Vietnamese culture: Christmas and New Year holidays are the most important Two generations live in a home Elders live with children and are taken care by their son Tet (Lunar New Year) is the most important Children often sleep with their parents Groceries are bought everyday American can greet anyone in the family first Old-aged parents live in nursing homes Children sleep in their own bedrooms 10 A .greets the head of the family or an older person first, then the younger ones 15' 11 it is not polite to ask questions about age, marriage and salary 12 .celebrate death days They prepare meal and invite their relatives 65 to get together and talk about good respect of the dead person 13 Asking about age, marriage and salary is acceptable 14 Three or sometimes four generations live under one roof 15 Groceries are bought once a week 16 celebrate birthdays and give presents at birthday party Which teams have more correct answers will win Call some students to read statements again Suggested answers: American culture: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 11, 15, 16, Vietnamese culture: 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 14, IV POST-SPEAKING Compare and Contrast Ask students to work in groups Give each group a poster and a board marker In group, students write about the similarities and the differences between the Vietnamese and American cultures, then stick the posters on the board Invite representatives from the groups to talk about the similarities and differences between Vietnamese and American cultures Remind student of words and expressions used to compare and contrast: Comparison : Similarly; likewise; .the same as ; .also ; ., too; both; in the same Group work 66 way; X and Y are similar in that they ; like X, Y (verb) Contrast: However; in contrast; by contrast; , but; , yet; on the other hand; even though; unlike; while; nevertheless; whereas; Give feedback and make comment Suggested ideas: Differences: American culture: - Most of the Americans are individualists - People always ask if it is ok when they want to smoke - People often kiss friends on the cheek when they meet to express friendliness - Young people usually live in their own houses or flats after marriage - Teenagers go out on dates a lot - Asking someone about his/ her age/ marriage is considered to be impolite - People live in nuclear family Vietnamese culture: - the Vietnamese are collectivists - Smokers light up cigarettes at any time without asking permission - The Vietnamese never exchange cheekkisses It is a shock to most married women - It is OK to blow your nose in public individually 67 - Young people usually live with their parents after their marriage - It is OK to ask people about their marriage/ age - People live in extended family Similarities: - America and Vietnamese are multiculture countries - Both Americans and Vietnamese are friendly, hospitable, and hard-working people who always proud of their countries - They both hate war and love peace - They like doing charity work V HOMEWORK Ask students to prepare a short paragraph about some typical features of Vietnamese culture and present it at the next lesson ESSON PLAN 3: UNIT 3: WAYS OF SOCIALISING Lesson 2: speaking I Aims: By the end of the lesson, students will able to: - Practice giving compliments in different situations - Know how to respond to compliments II Materials : charts, cards, textbook III Procedure STEPS TIME WORK ARRANGEMEN T 7' I WARM UP ... cultural characteristics into teaching of speaking in English to grade 12 A1 students in Nam Dan I high school 3.2 .1 Teachers and students` sources in Nam Dan I high school for enriching crosscultural... by themselves 3.2 Suggestions for treatment of cross- cultural characteristics in the teaching of speaking skill to grade 12 A1 students of English in Nam Dan I high school in Nghe An province. .. DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - o0o - HỒ THỊ MỸ HẠNH TREATMENT OF CROSS- CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE TEACHING OF SPEAKING TO GRADE 12 A1 STUDENTS OF ENGLISH IN NAM DAN HIGH SCHOOL IN NGHE AN