VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN TÁ NAM APPLYING CONTENT BASED INSTRUCTION TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS FOR STUDENTS MAJORING IN TOURISM AT A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY IN HANOI (Áp dụng phương pháp dạy học tích hợp với nội dung để phát triển kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên chuyên ngành du lịch tại một trường đại học ở Hà Nội) M.A. MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HANOI-2020 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN TÁ NAM APPLYING CONTENT BASED INSTRUCTION TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS FOR STUDENTS MAJORING IN TOURISM AT A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY IN HANOI (Áp dụng phương pháp dạy học tích hợp với nội dung để phát triển kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên chuyên ngành du lịch tại một trường đại học ở hà nội) M.A. MINOR THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Supervisor : Dr. Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã HANOI-2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... i DECLARATION ................................................................................................ iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................. v ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................ vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ............................................................... viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1 1.1.Rationale of the study ................................................................................... 1 1.2.Aims and objectives of the study .................................................................. 2 1.3.Research questions ....................................................................................... 2 1.4.Scope of the study ........................................................................................ 3 1.5.Significance of the study .............................................................................. 3 1.6.Organization of the thesis ............................................................................. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................... 5 2.1.Content-based instruction ............................................................................. 5 2.1.1.Definitions of Content-based instruction ................................................... 5 2.1.2.Types of Content-based instruction ........................................................... 6 2.1.2.1.Theme – based Model............................................................................. 7 2.1.2.2.Sheltered Model ..................................................................................... 7 2.1.2.3.Adjunct Model........................................................................................ 8 2.1.3.Benefits and Challenges of Content-based instruction ............................... 9 2.1.3.1.Benefits of Content-based instruction ..................................................... 9 2.1.3.2.Challenges of Content-based instruction ............................................... 10 2.1.4.Problems existing in teaching English speaking for tourism students ...... 11 2.1.5. CBI in teaching English speaking for tourism students ........................... 13 2.2.Teaching speaking skills:............................................................................ 15 2.2.1.Overview of speaking skills..................................................................... 15 2.2.2.Speaking skills for tour guides................................................................. 18 2.2.3.Traditional Teaching speaking................................................................. 19 i 2.2.4.CBI teaching Speaking ............................................................................ 20 2.3.Previous studies .......................................................................................... 20 2.3.1.Previous studies in the world ................................................................... 21 2.3.2.Previous studies in Vietnam .................................................................... 22 2.4.Summary ................................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ................................................................... 25 3.1.Context of the study ................................................................................... 25 3.1.1.Setting of the study .................................................................................. 25 3.1.2.Participants .............................................................................................. 27 3.1.3.Materials ................................................................................................. 27 3.1.3.1.Teaching materials................................................................................ 27 3.1.3.2.Course requirement for students ........................................................... 28 3.1.3.3.Speaking in each lesson. ....................................................................... 28 3.1.3.4.The relevance of the book. .................................................................... 29 3.1.3.5.Classroom procedures for a period of Speaking teaching ...................... 30 3.1.4.A model lesson ........................................................................................ 31 3.2.Research study ........................................................................................... 32 3.2.1.Research approach ................................................................................... 32 3.2.2.Research procedure ................................................................................. 32 3.3.Data collection instruments ........................................................................ 34 3.3.1.Questionnaire .......................................................................................... 34 3.3.2.Teaching diaries ...................................................................................... 35 3.4.Data analysis methods ................................................................................ 36 3.5.Summary ................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ............................................. 37 4.1.Findings ................................................................................................... 37 4.1.1. To what extend CBI is implemented to develop speaking skills for students at the Faculty of Tourism at a university. ............................................ 37 4.1.2.Students‘ attitudes toward CBI implementation. ...................................... 41 4.1.3.Students‘ improvement after the course. .................................................. 45 ii 4.2.Discussion .................................................................................................. 48 4.2.1. Some experience lessons after applying CBI into teaching speaking. ..... 48 4.2.2.Previous related finding discussion.......................................................... 49 4.2.3. Students‘ participation ............................................................................ 50 4.2.4. Reading materials ................................................................................... 51 4.2.5.Suggested changes ................................................................................... 52 4.3.Summary ................................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION ......................................................................... 53 1.Recapitulation ............................................................................................... 53 2.Concluding remarks ...................................................................................... 53 3.Limitations ................................................................................................... 54 4.Recommendations ......................................................................................... 54 REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 56 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................... I APPENDIX 1 The questionnaire on applying Content-based instruction to develop speaking skills for students majoring in Tourism ................................... I APPENDIX 2 Criteria for teaching diaries ....................................................... III APPENDIX 3 A sample of teaching diary ........................................................ IV APPENDIX 4 A sample lesson plan for the experimental Class ...................... VII APPENDIX 5 Extra material for Unit 1 ........................................................... XI APPENDIX 6 Lesson plan number 1: Working in a hotel ............................... XII APPENDIX 7 Lesson plan number 2: Water city .......................................... XIV APPENDIX 8 Lesson plan number 2: Water city ........................................... XV iii DECLARATION I, Nguyen Ta Nam, hereby certify that the thesis entitled ―Applying content-based instruction to develop speaking skills for students majoring in tourism at a public university in Hanoi.‖ is submitted for the partial fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. I also declare that this thesis is the result of my research and efforts and it has not been submitted for any other purposes. Hanoi, 2020 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt thank and my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Vu Thi Thanh Nha for her enlightening guidance, precious suggestions, and invaluable encouragement during my fulfillment of this minor thesis. My sincere thanks go to all of the lecturers and the staff of the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies at the University of Languages and International Studies for their valuable lectures on which my minor thesis was laid the foundation. I truly wish to thank all the students of class QTLH D2019 at a public university who have actively participated in the research. I am deeply grateful to my family for their great support and to many of my friends for their notable assistance. v ABSTRACT This research aimed to find out how Content-based instruction was implemented to improve speaking skills for university tourism students and their attitudes toward this CBI method. Data were obtained through the questionnaires and teaching diaries instruments and then analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings indicate that most of the students achieved considerable progress in their speaking while being taught with CBI method in speaking lessons, and their attitudes toward CBI implementation were positive. Besides, the findings and discussion of the research suggested how to implement CBI Theme-based Model into teaching students to speak in class and how to ensure that each lesson focus on both Content learning objectives and Language learning objectives. Keywords: Content-based instruction, Speaking, Vietnamese tourism, vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CBI: Content-based Instruction CBLP: Content-based Lesson Plans ESP: English for Specific Purposes LSP: Language for Specific Purposes vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1: Students‘ roadmap to learning English in the Faculty of Culture and Tourism ............................................................................................................ 26 Figure 2. Classroom procedures of speaking teaching to students learning English in the faculty of Culture and Tourism .................................................. 30 Figure 3: Dialectic Action Research Spiral. Mills (2003, pp.18-19) ................. 33 Figure 4: The objectives that the teacher wants students to have after the lessons ......................................................................................................................... 38 Figure 5: Topics of lessons are necessary for students‘ career in the future ...... 39 Figure 6: Students‘ favorite activities in speaking lessons ................................ 39 Figure 7: Teacher‘s emphasis is on subject content .......................................... 41 Figure 8: Suitability of CBI implementation for students majoring in tourism . 42 Figure 9: Students‘ teaching method preference ............................................... 42 Figure 10: Topics of lessons are necessary for students‘ career in the future .... 43 Figure 11: Students‘ speaking anxiety .............................................................. 44 Figure 12: Students‘ interest in learning English .............................................. 44 Figure 14: Students‘ confidence after the course .............................................. 46 Figure 15: Students‘ presentation skills after the course ................................... 47 Figure 16: Students who can talk about tourism-related topics ........................ 47 Figure 17: Students‘ improvement in tourism-related vocabulary .................... 48 viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION In this chapter the rationale of this study is explained, the aims and objectives of the study are provided. Then it is followed by the research questions, the scope of the study, and the significance of the study. Finally, the organization of the thesis is provided. 1.1. Rationale of the study There is no doubt that studying methodologies to improve Teaching and Studying quality is more and more important. The fact that, in some non-major English universities, there are still many students who are not good at studying English, especially Speaking, and teachers have been facing a lot of new arising problems. Therefore, this thesis is about studying how to apply the Content- Based Instruction (CBI) Method in teaching third-year students majoring in tourism in a public university in Hanoi, Vietnam because of its effectiveness. ―English for International Tourism‖ is the book that has been using to teach students for several years, and it cannot be denied that this book has many interesting parts about teaching speaking, but the result still does not meet the need for reality. It is because most students are not still excited to speak in the class even when teachers have tried many ways to encourage them to speak out. Rivers (1981) also argues that in communicating, speaking is used twice as much as reading and writing. It is no doubt that communication plays a vital role in human life. It not only helps to facilitate the process of sharing information and knowledge but also helps people to develop relationships with others. Therefore, the importance of communication cannot be underestimated. Every day, we communicate with a lot of people including our families, our friends, our colleagues, or even strangers. We should learn how to communicate effectively to make our lives better. Speaking is one of the important skills that students of the Tourism Faculty need to master. It is means students can communicate with visitors or customers or to express what they want to speak, what they want to introduce to 1 the visitors. Besides, to become a tour guide, especially an international tour guide, students need to have a good level of speaking and good knowledge about the beauty spots in the tour program. Moreover, students need to study much more about the knowledge of tour information in Hanoi, not only the things written in the book so that they can meet the demands of jobs when they are working in a tourism career. That is the reason why improving students‘ speaking ability with several extra materials for speaking activities in ―English for International Tourism‖ applying CBI method is very important. This is also exactly the belief that led the author to conduct this action research entitled ―Applying Content-Base Instruction to develop speaking skills for students majoring in Tourism at a public university in Hanoi.‖ to find out good ways to help the students improve their speaking skill. 1.2. Aims and objectives of the study This research aimed at studying how to apply CBI method in teaching Speaking skills for third-year students in Tourism Faculty effectively. With the expectation of being able to help those students improve their speaking skills, this thesis was conducted to evaluate how content-based instructions could help students to be better at speaking or making presentations. Moreover, based on the analysis of the cause of the problem the objective of this thesis was to know the attitudes of students toward Content-based Instruction (CBI) implementation. 1.3. Research questions To achieve the aims and objectives mentioned above, the following research questions were addressed: 1. To what extend is CBI implemented to develop speaking skills for students at the Faculty of Tourism at a university? 2. What are students’ attitudes toward CBI implementation? 2 1.4. Scope of the study There have been various activities and teaching methods that help learners improve their speaking skills; however; within the limitation of a minor thesis, this study is about to focus on the impact of content-based instruction on improving students‘ speaking skills. This study was implemented with the third-year students of Tourism faculty in a public university in Hanoi whose speaking skills are at the Pre- intermediate level and they are working with the course book ―English for International Tourism‖ written by Strutt (2003). 1.5. Significance of the study Theoretical significance: There have been many studies about Content- based instruction in the world, and this study is conducted with the hope of making Content-based instruction more popular and make practical contributions to the field of English for Specific Purposes or ESP for short in Vietnam. Especially, the proposed theoretical significance of this thesis is to supply teachers of English a different aspect to approach Content-based instruction application in Vietnam with both its advantages and disadvantages. Practical significance: The thesis is conducted to find out how CBI is applied in teaching speaking for students majoring in Tourism and how students‘ attitudes are toward it. After that, there will have some suggestions about how to approach content-based instruction effectively. 1.6. Organization of the thesis The study consists of five chapters: they are introduction; literature review; methodology; data analysis and findings and conclusion. Chapter 1 is the introduction presenting the rationale, aims, objectives, research questions, scope, significance, and design of the study. Chapter 2 is the literature review that reviews theoretical issues related to the nature of Content-based instruction, speaking skills, the importance of reading strategies, teaching speaking strategies, and their classifications. 3 Chapter 3 is about the methodology of the study, including the background information of the context where the study is conducted, the subject, the instruments used to collect data, and the procedures of data collection. Chapter 4 is about the data analysis and findings which aims at describing the analysis of data in detail and giving a summary of the findings as well as a thorough discussion of the findings of the study. Besides, some explanations and interpretations of the findings are also presented in this chapter. Chapter 5 is the conclusion of the study, it provides a summary of the main issues and conclusion. Furthermore, the limitations as well as some recommendations for further research are also discussed in this part. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, the author would like to provide foundation knowledge of Content-based instruction and teaching speaking methods for students so that the author can apply it to this study to answer the research questions. 2.1. Content-based instruction 2.1.1. Definitions of Content-based instruction According to Richards and Rodgers (2001), Content-based instruction (CBI) is ―an approach to second language teaching in which teaching is organized around the content or information that students will acquire, rather than around linguistic or other types of syllabus‖ (Richards & Rodgers 2001,p.204). CBI is defined by Brinton et al (1989) as an approach in which particular content is integrated within language teaching, aiming at the success of students learning a language. They state that the curriculum in CBI is organized around the academic needs of students in which the focus is the students‘ acquisition of information through language learning by developing their academic language skills. Snow (2001) emphasizes the connection between CBI and the tradition of English for particular Purposes, where the components of education such as materials and curriculum are based on the needs of learners determined in advance, the aim of which is to prepare students to be successful in their academic studies. Krahnke (1987) defines CBI as the teaching of content or information in the language, which is learned with little or no direct or explicit effort to teach the language itself separately from the content being taught‖ (p.240). Grabe and Stoller (1997) emphasize the complementation of content and language to each other in CBI: ―the language is as a medium for learning content and content as a source for learning a language‖ for an overall definition of the approach. Following these definitions, Richards and Rodgers (2001) stress the importance in CBI of using language as a vehicle for acquiring knowledge, 5 pointing out the three common assumptions about language and language learning in CBI as follows: 1. Language is text and discourse-based: language learning is beyond the formation of sentences, and the knowledge to be conveyed or comprehended underlies the nature of language in CBI. 2. Language use draws on integrated skills: In CBI, language is the use of all skills reflecting the real world. 3. Language is purposeful: Language is learned or taught for a specific purpose due to the expectations or needs of learners (p.208). According to Briton, Snow, and Weshe (1989), the application of CBI in language teaching incorporates the practical experiences and theories of several types of language teaching models in which the target language is developed through subject matter content. Examples are Language Across the Curriculum, Language for Specific Purposes, and Immersion Education Programs (Briton, Snow & Weshe,1989; Richards & Rodgers, 2001). The language used for specific purposes is described to be the best example of a content-based language model aiming at preparing the learners for real demands. Samples of language for specific purposes were initial developed in Britain at universities and occupational settings for adults having identifiable second language objectives (Briton, Snow, and Weshe,1989) In short, CBI in language teaching has been widely used in a variety of different settings since the 1980s such as English as Specific Purpose ( ESP); Language for Specific Purpose (LSP)… CBI refers to an approach rather than a method, so specific techniques or activities are associated with it. It is recommended that ― authentic‖ materials are more identified and utilized. Last but not least, CBI also provides the opportunity for teachers to match learners‘ interests and demands with interesting, meaningful content. 2.1.2. Types of Content-based instruction Brinton et al (1989) stated that CBI has three common models in elementary, secondary, and university education: the theme-based model, the 6 sheltered model, and the adjunct model. According to Richards and Rodgers (2001), there are two more models of CBI in addition to these: team-teaching and skills-based approaches, which are also applied in educational settings. In this thesis, the author would like to discuss the three kinds of models of Briton et al (1989). 2.1.2.1. Theme – based Model The first model of CBI is the theme-based model, where language courses are designed around themes or topics which are integrated into teaching all skills (Briton et al,1989). The teacher arranges language learning activities around those topics or themes in a different way compared with traditional language courses in which the topics are specifically used for a single activity (Snow,2001). It is reported by Snow (2001) that the theme-based model has been widely used in language courses of college or university level students with different backgrounds but with a common goal in need of academic English skills. The theme-based model is mainly applied in adult schools, language institutions, and all other language programs. It is suitable for low to advanced students. 2.1.2.2. Sheltered Model The second model is named sheltered content instruction. For the second time, the main objective is that students understand the content. The fact that students are still learning the target language which makes the teachers change the lesson (vocabulary, speed, and others) so that the students can grasp the materials. Moreover, the teacher also offers some class time to explain what is related to the content of a specific lesson (Brinton, 2003). According to Richards and Rodgers(2001), It is pointed out that the teacher is a content expert. In other words, the strategies which are used by language teachers in this model make the content of the lessons approachable to students (Stryker & Leaver, 1997). In the sheltered model, the content courses are given by a content specialist who is a native speaker of the target language to a segregated group of 7 ESL students (Brinton et al,1989). To be able to make the course comprehensible, the teacher uses a level of language which is appropriate for the students (Richards & Rodgers,2001). Besides, the sheltered courses are required to have changed such as carefully selected texts and linguistic adjustments that help comprehension (Brinton et al, 1989). 2.1.2.3. Adjunct Model In the adjunct model, a language course and a content course are well- linked and sharing the same objectives and assignments (Brinton et al,1989). Learners need to attend the content course and language course at the same time. The language course complements non-native learners‘ needs in order to be successful in the content course (Snow,2001). Moreover, the adjunct courses also aim to help the non-native students have more self-confidence by providing them practical tasks to accomplish using the language (Stryker & Leaver,1997). According to Briton et al. (1989), the adjunct model is suitable for high intermediate to advanced levels. In summary, these three models of content-based instruction share many common features. Firstly, authentic tasks and materials are used in the three models. Secondly, the significant principles which are helpful to students to deal with the content materials are also shared in different ways. In this thesis, the author followed the theme-based model. It began with a review of CBI and its theme-based approach and then discussed the program design, curriculum development, and instructional practice of the program. The impacts of the theme-based approach were researched based on the questionnaire and the teaching diaries. Theme-Based teaching (also termed theme-based instruction or topic-based teaching) is one of the approaches with the broader model of content-based instruction (CBI) in which the emphasis is on exposing students to a highly contextualized second language environment by using the subject matter as the content of language learning. In a theme-based course, different teaching activities are integrated by their content, the teaching of different skill areas is incorporated into the theme. Other important advantages of Theme- 8 Based Teaching for language learning as suggested by Cameron (2001) include the fact that new vocabulary items can be learned easily, with the theme providing a meaningful context for understanding, and for the natural use of a wide range of discourse types, both written and spoken. 2.1.3. Benefits and Challenges of Content-based instruction Like other approaches, CBI is not absolutely the perfect method. It has both benefits and challenges in teaching and learning. 2.1.3.1. Benefits of Content-based instruction Grabe and Stoller (1997) share that keeping students motivated and interested are two important factors underlying content-based instruction. Motivation and interest are also crucial in supporting learners successful with challenging, informative activities that help learners develop complex skills, including listening; speaking; reading, and writing. Being motivated: This one is very important because language learners tend to be significantly more motivated when authentic materials, content, and contexts are used. This is in contrast to traditional instructional methods and materials such as textbooks, translating memorization, and grammar practice. Since CBI embraces the use of authentic materials, learners tend to appreciate their school experience significantly more. We all know that humans have a natural desire to learn; it is just a matter of finding ways to make new material interesting, and CBI does just that. Being more active: CBI provides students with the opportunity to think actively. The materials are always connected to real life. Learns do not have to study with traditional methods but a new method that can make them more excited, more interested, and learners who learn via the CBI method are better equipped to apply their language abilities in real-life contexts. Critical thinking improvement: Related to the point above, CBI allows students to improve critical thinking and life skills that might be used in countless ways outside of the language learning environment in the future. The CBI approach helps learners use language skills across school subjects rather 9 than traditional approaches that restrain language learning. Classroom management success: When learning is made more fun and interesting in the classes, students‘ behavior problems will naturally decrease. Therefore, the management in the class will be certainly much better. 2.1.3.2. Challenges of Content-based instruction Stryker and Leaver (1993) state that there may be some challenges for learners to take participate in CBI courses. CBI is in the "learning by doing" school of pedagogy and learners are required to be more active in different roles and more cooperative with each other. Besides, they also need a commitment to learning language skills in CBI courses. This is a challenge for learners who are accustomed to studying with traditional methods in whole-class, independent, and traditional learning and teaching models. Additionally, learners need to possess a minimum level of language skills so that they can understand the knowledge or information in the CBI courses. Stryker and Leaver (1993) also suggest that learners ought to be prepared both psychologically and cognitively for CBI. If learners are not well prepared, teachers should offer the missing plans needs for learners. Or learners need to be stopped from enrolling in CBI courses until they are ready. It is suggested that those teachers need to design a lesson that is interesting and attractive enough to encourage students to take participate in the lessons. Moreover, teachers need to know how to shelter the content of the lessons to make it accessible to students. Another challenge is that language teachers have been trained to teach linguistic knowledge rather than a content subject so far. Therefore, teachers "may be insufficiently grounded to teach subject matters." (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.220). Undeniably, language teachers have not been trained to teach content subjects as in CBI courses, and they may be questioned about their credibility as well. From my perspective, I would say that teaching a language teacher can ask for support from content teachers. Additionally, teaching language teachers can choose a content subject that is familiar with and easy to instruct. Do not try to teach all subject‘s content, that is, language teachers should begin with small or short paragraphs. 10