Present research quotes from journals written by Vietnamese teachers of English during an in-service course. Teachers implement new ideas at the same time as incorporating the traditional features valued in their educational systems.
Present research quotes from journals written by Vietnamese teachers of English during an in-service course. Teachers implement new ideas at the same time as incorporating the traditional features valued in their educational systems.
Present research quotes from journals written by Vietnamese teachers of English during an in-service course. Teachers implement new ideas at the same time as incorporating the traditional features valued in their educational systems.
Cultures of teaching: voices from Vietnam Marilyn Lewis and Fiona McCook Recent articles have commented on the lack of uptake by teachers in Asia of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) principles, as introduced during teacher education programmes. One suggested reason for this is that teachers may assume that there is an opposition between CLT and traditional approaches. Studies on this topic draw on questionnaires, on the writers teaching experiences, and on classroom observation. The present research quotes from journals written by Vietnamese teachers of English during an in- service course. The journals reveal that teachers do implement new ideas at the same time as incorporating the traditional features valued in their educational systems. Teacher education The uptake or rejection of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in and Communicative Asian classrooms continues to attract discussion, with China the most Language Teaching studied example. Particular interest has been shown in the eect of in- service courses on later practice. Chinese senior-middle school teachers on a course taught by Hird (1995: 22) in Hangzhou saw only limited possibilities for the use of Western methodology in their teaching. Hird sums up the teachers doubts about CLT in relation to three factors: past traditions, current practices, and the way in which CLT has been interpreted. Lamb (1995) also refers to a clash between the new and the traditional, illustrated by comparing in-service course content in Indonesia with later classroom practice. The results of his enquiry a year after the in-service course make discouraging reading. They include no uptake, confusion, and adaptation and rejection, with only a few teachers reporting a fundamental change in their approach to teaching (Lamb 1995: 78). In response to this mismatch Ellis (1996), whose experience was in Vietnam, recommends that Western teachers should look for common ground between Vietnamese cultural values and CLT. Holliday (1997) too, having examined six communicative English language classes at universities in India and China, suggests examining classroom culture in terms of the wider culture to show the interrelationship between local, national, international, professional, and academic cultures. This report, therefore, continues with a review of Asian traditions of learning, and of current interpretations of CLT, before discussing the specic interpretations of one group of teachers. Asian traditions of Cortazzi and Jin (1996) speak of a culture of learning in China which may learning and determine students behaviour in language classrooms. When they asked teaching Chinese students what was expected of a good student, the highest scoring category (43%) from the list of eleven points was hardworking, followed some distance behind by sociability/learning from and with others (18.5%). Some researchers, however, point to the inuence of the teacher in modifying traditional stereotypes of learners. For example, Howe (1993), with experience of teaching in Vietnam, addresses the commonly-held perception of passivity amongst Asian students, by suggesting that whether language learners are passive or active in class depends more on their teachers expectations than on culturally-based learning styles. Hirds (1995: 23) impressions are that traditional Chinese teaching styles involve a meticulous analysis of meaning in all its minute detail, leading to a painstaking understanding of every language item, in which individual interpretations are not valued. Students are considered to be in class to receive language rather than construct it. The value is on care and certainty rather than on quantity, and on experimenting with language. Output is expected to be error-free, and memorization is valued. The teacher is at the centre of the process. In another China- based study, Matalene (1985: 191) speaks from her own experience as a foreign teacher. As she stood before her students she was aware of unbroken cultural continuity for over 3,000 years: Over my head as I stood at the yellow lectern with the red star were the thoughts of Chairman Mao in eight large characters: Be united, Be alert, Be earnest, Be lively. Current Tradition is only one inuence on teachers interpretations of new ideas interpretations introduced through in-service courses. Hird (1995) suggests that there is of CLT a mismatch between what teachers believe CLT to be, and the way it has evolved over a quarter century. In summary, he says, people assume the following contrasts: CLT emphasizes . rather than . language use language knowledge uency, appropriateness, spontaneity accuracy oral communication written communication interaction, informality formality Some see CLT as failing to incorporate teaching and learning styles, such as the skill of memorization, and the emphasis on perfection, which are traditionally valued in Asian countries. This view was reinforced in questions written by teachers during an earlier in-service course in Vietnam (Lewis 1996). Asked to express any concerns they might have had about implementing the ideas suggested in the course, teachers asked how a communicative approach could work in monolingual classes, and whether it was acceptable to include some traditional methods in CLT. In Hollidays (1994) observation of current interpretations of CLT, four categories emerged: the place of text (oral or written, produced by the teacher or by the students), accuracy and uency, lecturer authority and Cultures of teaching 147 control, and cultural continuity. Holliday saw more communicative involvement when there was a focus text than there was during oral practice. He also found that communicative involvement can be achieved even without group or pair work provided teachers do not dominate the lesson discourse. The detail of where teachers stand, and how a large class is seated, do not have to inhibit communicative engagement. His nal observation was similar to Elliss (1996): that innovation will succeed only if there is cultural continuity between CLT and more traditional forms. Planning the study The studies summarized above draw on a number of sources: classroom observation, learners reports, and the impressions of local or overseas teachers. The present study examines the views of 14 Vietnamese high school teachers of English, as expressed in their journal entries during ongoing in-service workshops. In examining their writing we ask the following questions: 1 What beliefs and practices about language teaching and learning do they express? 2 How do these compare with reports in the literature from various parts of Asia? The workshops were conducted by the primary researcher (McCook 1998), who was working on a teacher education project in Central Vietnam, which was funded by New Zealand. Two of the teachers had also attended a shorter in-service seminar conducted two years earlier by the second researcher (Lewis 1996). The focus of the workshops was CLT, and included attention to the written language. The role of the state textbooks in secondary schools was acknowledged. As a prompt to their writing, the teachers were provided with a written guide that listed questions under three headings. their teaching objectives, materials, language techniques, the lesson plan (following or modifying it) the students whether they were active, whether they understood the lesson, what they learnt, liked, and didnt like being a teacher sources of teaching ideas, development as a teacher. In total, 260 journal entries referring to the students were extracted. These entries were grouped under two headings which emerged from the data: the learning focus, and the teachers understanding of what makes a good student. The number of occurrences in each sub-topic were not counted, since many comments touched on more than one sub- topic. The results were then compared with the literature. The teaching-learning Unlike the Indonesian teachers reported by Lamb (1995), these focus Vietnamese teachers were clearly interested in applying the principles of CLT that had been introduced during their workshop. At the same time, they retained traditional aspects of language teaching. Their journal entries emphasized uency and accuracy, contextualized language use, and knowledge about language, oral and written language, and pair work, as well as individual exercises marked on the board. 148 Marilyn Lewis and Fiona McCook While not always satised with the results, the teachers had both uency and accuracy of form as a focus of their teaching. Fluency included reading aloud (They cant read uently.) and speaking spontaneously (They could speak but a little but not very well and naturally.). Some teachers consciously put aside their usual concerns about accuracy (They made many mistakes on spelling but to make them feel condent I didnt pay attention so much on it.). At other times, form was denitely the focus, although students sometimes pronounced badly and usually forget adding s at the noun. The teachers role included modelling correct intonation. (I play the roles of the persons in the dialogue saying the dialogue with correct intonation.) Other entries emphasized language in context and knowledge about language. The teachers reported going beyond the textbook to create, or help students to create, local contexts for language use. The pupils practised in real situations I gave them. Students had a lot of fun when I took real examples in the local area. They could use this structure in real situation. The traditional role of the teacher in explaining grammar was important. (I used pictures and time-line to illustrate the use of this tense, so the pupils could understand the lesson.) Again, success was mixed. (I think they couldnt distinguish innitive from simple past.) The teachers seem to have avoided the belief mentioned by Hird (1995), that CLT only emphasizes oral language. Writing was a part of their classroom practice (They could make sentences of their own.) as was oral language, although it was sometimes in the context of repeating xed dialogues. (I play the roles of people in the dialogue saying the dialogue with correct intonation. I see that my students look more interested in listening to me than they used to be.) Continuing their balance between CLT and traditional methods, the teachers mentioned memorizing and understanding as being important. Dialogues, in particular, were memorized and then recited individually and in chorus, sometimes successfully (They spoke out the conversation naturally without looking at any words on the board.), and sometimes not (Most of them couldnt remember the speech of dialogue.). Students understanding was also valued, and in some cases its lack of success was noted: My pupils comprehended the contents of the text. But when I asked them why? they couldnt answer correctly. The lesson was successful because students used their own words to summarise the text. One gives the rst idea, and others added next ideas. Understanding included the teachers explanations in English. (Its very hard for them to understand my explaining, although I use very easy simple sentences. They said they didnt hear the teacher speak in English at secondary school.) Some tried English and then reverted to Cultures of teaching 149 Vietnamese for greater understanding. (During the lesson the pupils can only understand it when I explain in Vietnamese.) The good student Cortazzi and Jin (1996) reported on expectations of the good student. The highest scoring category from their study was hard work. The Vietnamese teachers, too, valued hard work, which they measured partly in terms of the amount of studying done outside class. They didnt want to prepare the lessons at home I asked him if he studied at home. He said yes, and he began to cry. He said I studied them and I forget everything. One teacher took the credit for this hard work: ( and I found that I was successful because the students prepared the lesson at home very well.). Being active in class as well as at home was valued by a number of teachers in our study. (Most of the pupils were active during the lesson.) However, in one comment the use of but suggested that liveliness and happiness might not be the same thing. (The class time was quite [lively] but they were very happy and clapped their hands aloud ) Does this suggest that the word lively can have negative connotations, as in out of control? Creating a positive learning environment, and motivating less able students, were seen as essential parts of the teachers role: My pupils were happy. P is a weak student, but today he could answer. I asked them to play a game of vocabulary to consolidate their vocabulary. I found that they have not many words. In his Vietnam study, Howe (1995) suggested that whether students were passive or active depends on the teachers expectations. The comments of these teachers suggests that they wanted, and worked towards encouraging an active attitude in their students. The second feature in the Chinese students list (Cortazzi and Jin 1996) was sociability, and learning from others. These were also valued by the teachers in our study. So they organized pair activities: I think students really learned from the lesson because they can practise with a partner uently. My pupils worked in pairs to make up new conversations after they saw me demonstrate with a pupil. The teachers were on the lookout for anything that spoiled this co- operation. One teacher was unhappy when humour was introduced at the expense of particular students: When they chose the weak students, it was seemingly that they made jokes because the latter spoke stammeringly and unclearly. At the same time as encouraging co-operation through pair work, the teachers continued with traditional exercises marked on the board: I asked some pupils to go to the blackboard to ll in. They did quite well. Whether classroom initiative belongs to the students or the teacher is 150 Marilyn Lewis and Fiona McCook sometimes described as a distinction between CLT and more traditional methods. Some teachers in our study encouraged their students to suggest activities and ask questions. They often suggest me singing more songs. pupils were allowed to ask any questions they like. So they asked me many dierent words and phrases which they hear on TV from the football commentator. This policy did not always lead to the intended outcome. the students were too embarrassed to answer my questions. They didnt give many examples because they were afraid of speaking English. By contrast, other teachers liked to retain control of the topic and the activity. I had a big problem, because the students kept talking about the pictures and got to another topic. Summary and Table 1 uses Hirds (1995) summary of oppositions between traditional discussion of results and communicative language teaching to summarize the emphases mentioned by the teachers in our study. CLT Traditional Fluency Accuracy Contextualized language use Knowledge about language Oral language Written language Understanding Memorizing Students active and happy Students working hard Pair work and co-operation Exercises Student initiative Teacher control Given Elliss (1996) advice to have cultural continuity between CLT and traditional forms of teaching, we were interested to see that, collectively, the teachers stated their roles in terms of both communicative and traditional language-teaching principles. Like the teachers in Hirds (1995) study, they seemed willing to take aspects of CLT and incorporate them into their classrooms. However, Hirds reference to the undervaluing of individual interpretations does not seem to be supported in our study. While he found that the traditional role of students was to receive rather than create language, these teachers in our study clearly valued the use of authentic language by students. While Hird reported Cultures of teaching 151 table 1 Teachers emphases that the teacher was at the centre of the process, our journal entries showed not only that the teachers used pair work, but also that they encouraged the students to take the initiative in suggesting activities, and in the choice of what vocabulary to learn. The general picture of these Vietnamese teachers classrooms recalled, from quite a dierent context, Matalenes (1985) reference to Chairman Maos words about being united, alert, earnest, and lively. Perhaps this illustrates Howes (1993) belief about the relationship between liveliness and teachers expectations. As in the Cortazzi and Jin (1996) study of Chinese students values, teachers in our study valued hard work in their students, as illustrated by references to homework. The 18.5% of the Cortazzi and Jin students who valued sociability, and learning from others, seemed to be reected in the diary entries about co-operative learning. One teacher was concerned when students laughed at someone who spoke unclearly. In summary, the dated view of CLT mentioned by Hirds teachers (1995) was not shared by the teachers in our study. Conclusion The present study records teachers attempts to implement CLT in one region of one country. It is important to note that the diary entries were written during the in-workshop period, and not, as in the case of Lambs (1995) study, a year later. The results suggest that teachers were applying what they had been introduced to, sometimes successfully, sometimes less so. Their comments add to an understanding of the initial uptake of ideas presented in a workshop. It would have been interesting to survey those same teachers a year or two later, as in the Lamb (1995) study. However, as neither of the researchers is working in the region now, that would be impossible. A more ambitious study could compare the language learning of students in these teachers classes with results from colleagues who had not attended the workshop. This could be divisive, of course, since other teachers would have liked to be selected for the course, and would not want to be left behind, and seen as less successful. A long-term study of these teachers classrooms would probably be carried out more eectively by the local authorities, who have responsibility for the ongoing in-service programme. Final version received November 2000 152 Marilyn Lewis and Fiona McCook References Cortazzi, M. and L. Jin. 1996. Cultures of learning: language classrooms in China in Hywel Coleman (ed.). Society and the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ellis, G. 1996. How culturally appropriate is the communicative approach? ELT Journal 50/3: 21318. Hird, B. 1995. How communicative can language teaching be in China? Prospect 10/3: 217. Sydney: NCELTR. Holliday, A. 1994. Appropriate Methodology and Social Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Holliday, A. 1997. Six lessons: cultural continuity in communicative language teaching. Language Teaching Research 1/3: 21238. Howe, S. 1993. Teaching in Vietnam. Interchange 22: 2932. Lamb, M. 1995. The consequences of INSET. ELT Journal 49/1: 7280. Lewis, M. 1996. Teaching English in Vietnam. Occasional Papers: 1. Institute of Language Teaching and Learning, University of Auckland. McCook, F. 1998. A longitudinal study of responses to in-service teacher education by Vietnamese English language teachers. Unpublished MA thesis. Massey University. Matalene, C. 1985. Contrastive rhetoric: an American writing teacher in China. College English. 47/8: 789808. The authors Marilyn Lewis is a senior lecturer in the Department of Applied Language Studies and Linguistics at the University of Aukland. She has taught in India, Cambodia, run workshops for language teachers in several countries, and written materials for language teachers and learners. Email: mn.lewis@auckland.ac.nz Fiona McCook has taught English and trained teachers in Central Vietnam. She is now teaching in Hanoi. Email: onam@fpt.vn Cultures of teaching 153
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