THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE THUY NGA DEVELOPING LOWER-SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE BY INTERACTION WITH FOREIGN STUDENTS USING SKYPE IN ENGLISH CLASSES (Phát triển lực liên văn hóa học sinh bậc THCS thơng qua tương tác với học sinh nước sử dụng Skype dạy tiếng Anh) M.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 THAI NGUYEN – 2019 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE THUY NGA DEVELOPING LOWER-SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE BY INTERACTION WITH FOREIGN STUDENTS USING SKYPE IN ENGLISH CLASSES (Phát triển lực liên văn hóa học sinh bậc THCS thông qua tương tác với học sinh nước sử dụng Skype dạy tiếng Anh) M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Dr Nguyen Thanh Long THAI NGUYEN – 2019 DECLARATION ***** -I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Developing lower-secondary school students’ intercultural competence by interaction with foreign students using Skype in English classes” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Foreign Language Faculty, Thai Nguyen University Thai Nguyen, July 15, 2019 Le Thuy Nga Approved by SUPERVISOR Dr Nguyen Thanh Long ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who gave me the possibility to complete this thesis First and foremost, my gratitude goes to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thanh Long for his patient guidance and insightful advice throughout the duration of the study despite his busy schedule Without his assistance, motivation, enthusiasm and immense knowledge, this study would not have been completed However, shortcomings and errors, if any, in this thesis are my own Second, I’m especially thankful to teachers from School of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University for their valuable advice and spiritual support in the preparation and completion of this study I also would like to thank Ms Hoang Thi Hai Yen (English Teacher, Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School), Ms Bui Thi Kim Ngan (English Teacher, Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School) and five students of Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School who participated in the pilot study, contributing greatly to the finalization of the interview and as a result, to the completion of the research I am so grateful to Ms Ha Thi Trang (Head of English Department, Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School) for contacting the participants for my research I am also indebted to all of the participants for their invaluable responses to my interview Without them, this research would not have been possible Last but not least, I dedicate this thesis to my loving family, my husband, my daughter and my son for their ongoing support and love ABSTRACT Language teaching and learning can be seen as a great means to develop the intercultural awareness of language learners, which is the ultimate goal of language education in this era English, as widely accepted, has become an international language and the number of non-native English speakers has outnumbered native ones by twice In this sense, English language teaching and learning must include in itself the development of intercultural awareness in the learner One key purpose of English teaching is to develop learners’ awareness of cultural differences reflected in languages Therefore, the teacher’s role needs to include that of helping learners to realize that thoughts and views of different nationalities and different types of societies about nature and human society are quite different Therefore, it is of great importance to address culture as an integrated part of the language teaching and learning process, so as to help students to have a good command of necessary cultural knowledge, to develop intercultural skills, and to raise their intercultural awareness TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv ABSTRACT v Abbreviations viii LIST OF FIGURES TABLES .ix AND PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Research topic area The study context Focus of the study Rationale of the study Structure of the thesis PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Intercultural competence 1.2 Motivation 11 1.3 Technology, CALL and ICT, and Skype in ELT 12 1.3.1 Technology 12 1.3.2 CALL and ICT 15 1.3.3 Skype 17 1.4 Conclusion 20 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 21 2.1 Field site and participants 22 2.2 Data collection methods 23 2.2.1 Interviews 23 2.2.2 Classroom Observation .25 2.2.3 Participants’ diaries and reflections 26 2.3 Data analysis methods 27 2.4 Ethical considerations and data reliability 28 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 30 3.1 Students’ conceptualizations of intercultural competence 30 3.2 Students’ motivation on learning English by interactions in English using Skype33 3.2.1 A proactive approach to learning tasks .33 3.2.2 Students’ emotional reactions in interactive lessons .35 3.3 Components of intercultural competence developed from interactions with culturally different people 37 3.4 Discussion 39 PART C: CONCLUSION 41 Summary of the key findings 41 Pedagogical implications of the study 42 Limitations of the study 43 Recommendations 44 REFERENCES .46 APPENDIXES I Appendix 1: Interview guide I Appendix 2: Classroom observation protocol III Appendix 3: Diaries and/or reflection instructions V Abbreviations C A C m C E E L I C I C I C F L: P P The C Eng lish Inte rcul Inte rcul In r For eig Po wer LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure Byram’s model of five components of intercultural communicative competence, from Byram Table 2.1 Demographic information about participants Table 2.2 Interviews Table 2.3 Classroom observations PART A: INTRODUCTION This thesis examines how interactions on Skype with culturally different peers using English help lower-secondary school students’ development of intercultural competence This first section, Research topic area is followed by the other four sections including Study context, Focus of the study, Rationale for the study, and Structure of the thesis Section introduces the research topic area of the present study Section of the chapter describes the study context with a summary of the history of language education in Vietnam in general and foreign language teaching and learning in Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School in particular Section describes the focus of the study, which states the overarching research question and sub-research questions The rationale for the study will be presented in section The last section reveals the structure for the presentation of the thesis Research topic area In this day and age, mobility has become a part of every student’s life Most students now have a chance to visit other countries for educational purposes and learn more about other cultures Therefore, learning foreign languages has become the norm in the globalized world It is inevitable that students need a certain level of intercultural knowledge and competence to be able to survive in new cultures and educational contexts In this respect, one’s understanding of the new cultures, as well as his/her own culture, has a central role to become a globalized citizen Learning a language without culture is a recipe for becoming what Bennett (1993) calls a “fluent fool” A fluent fool is someone who speaks a foreign language well, but does not understand the social and philosophical content of that language Hence, the foreign language teachers’ role has become increasingly important since they serve as a medium to teach both the language and the culture of the foreign language In this regard, Jiang (2000) states: "Language and culture are inseparable." 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Unint  D id st u  H o  w H o Q  “I nt er  cu lt  ur al co m pe w W t d W W h i c Vietnamese version: C â u C b u ổi C ch o Gợi ý (Thú vị? Khôn g thú  E m n  E m  C  “ N ăn g lự  c li  ên vă n h óa C ác k ỹ nă nE m n T E m g Appendix 2: Classroom observation protocol OBSERVATION PROTOCOL (Used for classroom observations) Project title: Developing lower-secondary school students’ intercultural competence by interaction with foreign students using Skype in English classes  Observer’s role: Non-participant The observer does not take any active part in the class that is observed The observer’s activities are litmited to observing the students’ learning activities and taking notes of their perceptions towards the intercultural competence  What to be observed: During classroom observations in this project, observed are students’ learning activities and behaviour Teachers’ teaching activities are not observed and recorded  Who to be observed: In classroom observations, only the students are observed The teachers are not observed  What to be collected: The data to be collected include students’ learning activities and behaviour in the observed classes Evidence of teachers’ teaching practices and materials is not collected  What to be recorded: In classroom observation the students’ learning activities and behaviour are recorded The focus is on students’ attitudes towards the intercultural competence and their motivation on Skype collaborations Teachers’ teaching activities are not recorded  How to record: Recording of students’ learning activities and behaviour are conducted in form of run-on note-taking in an A4 notebook and video-taping on a computer Notes on the teacher’s practices and video-tapes are to be taken in silience and in a manner that is as unobstructive as possible Appendix 3: Diaries and/or reflection instructions INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITING DIARIES/ REFLECTION (Provided by Teachers) At the end of the Skype collaboration, each student is required to write a diary or reflection report page (either in English or Vietnamese) and submit it The report should present what has been learned, obtained during the lesson, the contributions of individuals to the group's common work, as well as difficulties, advantages, and remedies, in the process of interacting with students from other countries via Skype In the report, students should also state, if there is an opportunity to another similar Skype collaboration lesson, what changes will students make to achieve better results than this lesson Vietnamese version: HƯỚNG DẪN VIẾT BÁO CÁO PHẢN HỒI (Do Giáo viên cung cấp) Khi kết thúc buổi học, học sinh tham gia nghiên cứu yêu cầu viết trang báo cáo phản hồi (có thể tiếng Anh tiếng Việt) nộp cho cô giáo dự Báo cáo cần trình bày điều học được, thu suốt trình tham gia buổi trao đổi qua Skype, đóng góp cá nhân vào cơng việc chung nhóm, khó khăn, thuận lợi, biện pháp khắc phục,… trình tham gia tiết học Trong báo cáo, học sinh cần nêu rõ, có hội tham dự buổi trao đổi khác tương tự, học sinh có thay đổi để đạt kết tốt tiết học trao đổi ... WITH FOREIGN STUDENTS USING SKYPE IN ENGLISH CLASSES (Phát triển lực liên văn hóa học sinh bậc THCS thơng qua tương tác với học sinh nước sử dụng Skype dạy tiếng Anh) M.A THESIS (APPLICATION... can use Skype on whatever works best for them - on their phone or computer or a TV with Skype on it It is free to start using Skype - to speak, see and instant message other people on Skype for... tools like Skype in their home or in a classroom Skype is a free software application that allows instant communication through text, audio or video messaging through the Internet Skype was release