using short stories in teaching english in the context of vietnam australia school - hanoi = việc sử dụng truyện ngắn trong giảng dạy tiếng anh tại ngữ cảnh trường trung học việt úc - hà nội

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES-VNU, HANOI
POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT



PHAM THU HA




USING SHORT STORIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN THE
CONTEXT OF VIETNAM AUSTRALIA SCHOOL – HANOI

(VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRUYỆN NGẮN TRONG GIẢNG DẠY TIẾNG ANH TẠI NGỮ CẢNH
TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC VIỆT ÚC – HÀ NỘI)




M.A. Minor thesis
Field: Methodology
Code: 601410

HANOI-2009

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES-VNU, HANOI
POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT



PHAM THU HA



USING SHORT STORIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN THE
CONTEXT OF VIETNAM AUSTALIA SCHOOL- HANOI
(VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRUYỆN NGẮN TRONG GIẢNG DẠY TIẾNG ANH TẠI NGỮ CẢNH
TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC VIỆT ÚC – HÀ NỘI)



SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR
THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS








SUPERVISOR: PHÙNG HÀ THANH, M.Ed

HANOI-2009

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES, AND ABBREVIATIONS vii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. Rationale of the study 1
1.2. Aims of the study 3
1.3. Scope of the study 4
1.4. Research methods 4
1.5. Significance of the study 5
1.6. Structure of the study 5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6
2.1. Literature and language teaching 6
2.1.1. Concept of literature 6
2.1.2. Features of literature 6
2.1.3. Using literature in language classroom 7
2.2. Short stories in language classroom 9
2.2.1. Definition of a short story 9
2.2.2. Benefits of using short stories in language classroom 10
2.2.2.1. Reinforcing the skills 10

2.2.2.2. Motivating students 11
2.2.2.3. Introducing literary elements 11
2.2.2.4. Teaching culture 12

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2.2.2.5. Teaching higher-order thinking 13
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 16
3.1. Sampling 16
3.2. Data collection instruments 16
3.2.1 Questionnaires 18
3.2.2 Interviews 17
3.3. Procedure of data collection 18
3.4. Procedure of data analysis 20
CHAPTER 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 21
4.1. Reseach question 1: How do teachers percieve the use of short stories in teaching
English in terms of necessity? 21
4.2. Research question 2: How do students percieve short stories as a source of language
input in terms of interest and importance? 22
4. 3. Research question 3: How do teachers exploit short stories in teaching English in
terms of purpose, strategy and frequency? 23
4.3.1. The frequency of using short stories in teaching English 23
4.3.2. The purposes of using short stories in teaching English 24
4.3.3. The strategies to exploit short stories in teaching English 25
4.4. Research question 4: To what extent do teachers feel satisfied with their use of short
stories in teaching English? 27
4.5. Research question 5: What are the obstacles that have limited teachers’ use of short
stories in teaching English? 28
4.6. Research question 6: What are the obstacles that challenge students in learning
English with short stories? 29

vi
4.7. Research quesetion 7: What are the recomendations and expectations for using
short stories in teaching English given by students and teachers? 31
4.7.1. Teachers’ recommendations 31
4.7.2. Students’ expectations 31
4.7.2.1. Students’ expectations in terms of length, level of difficulty and theme of a
short story 31
4.7.2.2. Students’ expectations for the activities in class 32
4.8. Summary of the findings from the interview 34
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 37
5.1. Major findings of the study. 37
5.2. Recommendations 38
5.2.1. Selecting and evaluating short stories. 39
5.2.2. Suggested techniques for integrating short stories in English teaching 40
5.2.2.1. Problems solving 40
5.2.2.2. Activities for using a short story in class 41
5.3. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study 41
REFERENCES 44
APPENDICES I
APPENDIX 1: SOME SHORT STORIES USED IN THE STUDY I
APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS III
APPENDIX 3: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS VII
APPENDIX 4: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (Vietnamese version) X
APPENDIX 5: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE XIII



vii
LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES, AND ABBREVIATIONS

TABLES
Table 4. 1: Students’ practice with short stories 23
Table 4. 2: Teachers’ purposes of using short stories in teaching English 24
Table 4. 3: Teaching strategies 25
Table 4. 4: Teachers’ satisfaction with the use of short stories in teaching English. 27
Table 4. 5: The obstacles in using short stories in teaching English. 28
Table 4. 6: Obstacles challenging the students in learning with short stories 30
Table 4. 7: Teachers’ recomendations 31
Table 4. 8: Students’ expectations in terms of length, level of difficulty and theme of a short story
31
Table 4.9: Students’ expectations for the activities in class 33
Table 4.10: Profile of the interviewees 34
FIGURES
Figure 4. 1: The presense of short stories in the teaching practice of the teachers 20
Figure 4. 2: Students’ perception of short stories in terms of interest 21
Figure 2.3: The frequency of using short stories in teaching English 23

ABBREVIATIONS
VAS: Vietnam Australia School- Hanoi





1
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the background information, and states the problems and reasons
for the study. It also outlines the overall purpose and objectives of the study, describes the
significance of the study, poses the research questions to be answered and provides an
overview of the research design.

1.1. Rationale of the study
Today, English is the global means of communication. It is now an official language in
more than 75 countries, with a total population of over 2 billion speakers. Three quarters of the
world‟s mail are in English and 80% of the world‟s electrically stored information is also
currently in English (Crystal, 1997). English is the working language of the Asian trade group
ASEAN and the official language of the European Central Bank (Wallraff, 2000). Briefly,
with the spread of globalization and the rapid expansion of information technologies has come
an explosion in the demand for English worldwide.
Unexceptionally, in Vietnam, English is considered the key to success in modern life.
The number of English learners has been increasing rapidly in the last few decades. To meet
the demand, a great deal of schools and centers with special English teaching and learning
programs have been set up everywhere, especially in big cities. Vietnam Australia School-
Hanoi (VAS), a private high school which is located in My Dinh, Hanoi, is one example.
Established in 2007, VAS is to offer an ideal environment for learning English. It cooperates
with PLC, a famous school in Australia in curriculum and education programs. Students in
VAS have to follow the English syllabus of Vietnam carried out by Vietnamese teachers.
Besides they have global English and global commerce classes with Australian teachers,
hence, there are many chances for them to practice and improve English in real life
conversations with native speaking people. All of the parents hope that their children can have
the best learning conditions, especially the best English learning environment so that their
children will be able to go on studying overseas or to have the best preparation for their future.
However, one of the challenges facing English teachers of VAS, including the author
of this study, is composing extra materials. In VAS, students have five to six periods a week

2
with Vietnamese teachers, which is twice as much as other ordinary schools. Therefore,
besides the textbooks, extra materials are needed. Normally, many teachers select or compose
more written practice tests to drill what students have learned in the textbook. However, this
type of materials does seem to have attracted much interest. Sometimes, extra written practice
tests are blamed for a boring atmosphere in many classes. Thus, there should be variations so

that students feel more interested in learning. In VAS, a number of sources of teaching
materials such as poems, short stories, drama, films, English songs, etc. have been exploited
now and then. Among these, using short stories as teaching supplementary materials has been
taken into consideration for some following reasons.
Firstly, short stories can be seen as an interesting and suitable source of teaching
materials. As reading texts, short stories can serve the language skill drilling function quite
well. More importantly, short stories in particular and literary texts in general are favorable for
students‟ language and cultural development and personal involvement. Since literature
enables students to understand and appreciate other cultures and societies, it encourages
personal growth and intellectual development. According to Ibsen‟s view (1990), literary texts
appeal to students in term of emotion and personal experience because each student will meet
the text in his/her own way based on experiences and knowledge of literature and life. This
creates meaningful and interesting discussions among students and draws on personal
responses form learners. In other words, learners become more personally involved in the
process of language learning and can begin to own the language they learn more fully. It also
retains a good learning climate in a relaxing atmosphere.
Moreover, in comparison with other sources of teaching materials such as written
practice exercises, poems, films, English songs, short stories are believed to have several
advantages. Written practice exercises as mentioned above do not always interest students.
Poems seem rather complex and abstract for schoolchildren. Not every available English song
and film which suits the taste of students can serve the language skill drilling function
properly. Whereas, there is a variety of short stories to choose, ranging from elementary to
proficiency levels. Relatively short, fun, memorable and meaningful short stories are not too
difficult in terms of vocabulary, grammatical structures and syntax. Furthermore, they can

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bring about room for endless debate where students can live in the real human experience
world. Above language, they can learn many useful lessons about real life to develop their
personalities.
In Vietnam- Australia school, Hanoi, short stories are mostly used as supplementary

material for teaching by Australian teachers and sometimes applied by Vietnamese teachers.
However, there has been no official research on using them in teaching English. This study
has been conducted with the purpose to investigate how other teachers and students think
about the use of short stories in teaching English and to what extents they have employed them
in their teaching.
All these above explain why the author tries to do the research. It is hoped to result in
useful ideas of using short stories in language classroom, especially in the context of Vietnam
Australia School, Hanoi.
1.2. Aims of the study
Parallel with the reasons leading to the research are some following aims:
- To investigate the perception of students towards the use of short stories.
- To study on the current use of short stories by teachers in Vietnam Australia School,
Hanoi
- To discuss some suggestions of using short stories in classroom such as selecting
materials and using these materials in a way that is relevant to the students.
This study seeks the answers to the following questions.
1. How do teachers percieve the use of short stories in teaching English in terms of necessity?
2. How do students percieve short stories as a source of language input in terms of interest and
importance?
3. How do teachers exploit short stories in teaching English in terms of purpose, strategy and
frequency?
4. To what extent do teachers feel satisfied with their use of short stories in teaching English?

4
5. What are the obstacles that have limited teachers‟ use of short stories in teaching English?
6. What are the obstacles that challenge students in learning English with short stories?
7. What are the recomendations for using short stories in teaching English given by students
and teachers?
1.3. Scope of the study
In this study, the author intends to deal with the question of using short stories

beneficially in language teaching. Other literary texts are not concerned in the study.
The study was conducted in VAS with the participation of 10 teachers, both
Vietnamese and Australian, and 100 senior high school students, who were chosen randomly
from the alphabetical list of names. The number of the teacher participants made up three-
fourths and the students participants accounted for five-sixths of the whole population.
However, the focus of the researcher was not put into junior high school students, so the
implication might be not applicable in classes of junior high school students.
1.4. Research methods
Data collection for analysis in the study are mainly gained through survey
questionnaires and interviews.
The questionaires aim at studying the students‟ and the teachers‟ attitude towards
using short stories in classroom and their feedbacks after having lessons with short stories.
Meanwhile, semi-structured interviews were conducted among the teachers to triangulate the
data collected from the questionnaires and to gather further information.
After that, the data collected were collectively analyzed to address the research
questions. Tables, charts and diagrams were used for clearer presentation and comparison.
1.5. Significance of the study
By looking into the perception of the use of short stories in English classes, the
satisfaction of both teachers and students with their achievements and improvement in
teaching and learning process, and the obstacles facing them, the study brings about an overall
picture of the exploitation of short stories in VAS. It is hoped to raise the awareness of

5
teachers, especially those teaching in VAS, of one possible source of teaching material, short
stories. It also informs teachers of the benefits of using short stories and suggests some useful
ways of applying them in teaching English.
1.6. Structure of the study
This study is divided into five chapters:
Chapter 1, Introduction, briefly presents the reasons for doing the study, its aims, scope,
subjects as well as the research methodology.

Chapter 2, Literature review, presents an overview of literature and short stories in language
teaching.
Chapter 3, Methodology, states the reason for choosing research methodology and the
descriptions of the setting, subjects, instruments and the procedure of data collection and
analysis
Chapter 4, Data analysis and Results, provides an analysis of collected data and the findings.
Chapter 5, Conclusion and recommendations, suggests teaching techniques and conclusion
















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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Literature and language teaching
2.1.1. Concept of literature
The term "literature" has different meanings depending on who is using it and in what
context. Different people approach literature in their own ways.
Lazar (1993, p.1) introduced some definitions of literature:

Literature is “feelings” and “thoughts” in black and white. Literature is the use of language to
evoke a personal response in the reader or listener. Literature is the world of fantasy, horror,
feelings, visions put into words. Literature means to meet a lot of people, to know other
different points of view, ideas, thoughts, minds to know ourselves better.
According to Iris Murdoch (1978), literature could be said to be a sort of disciplined
technique for arousing certain emotion. And for Ezra Pound (1981), great literature is simply
language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.
From these definitions quoted above, it can be concluded that literature is as literature
does. In exploring what literature is, it is useful to look at some of the things that literature
does. Literature is something that reflects society, makes us think about ourselves and our
society, allows us to enjoy language and beauty, it can be didactic, and it reflects on the human
condition. It both reflects ideology and changes ideology, just like it follows generic
conventions as well as changing them. Literature is the creation of another world, a world that
people can only see through reading literature.
2.1.2. Features of literature
Literary texts are distintive from other texts. Its language involves a special, or unusual
use of language. Many linguists have pointed out that there are a number of features of literary
language which can be isolated. Many of these features occur in other forms of discourse as
well, but in many literary texts they combine to form a highly unified and consistent effect,
which strongly reinforces the message of the text. (Brumfit and Carter, 1986).



7
2.1.3. Using literature in language classroom
The use of literature in language teaching tends to be ignored since it is treated as a
means of relaxation. Because most of ESL teachers think literature is too structurally complex
for learners to read, it is supposed by ESL teachers to contribute very little to their main goal -
to teach learners the grammar of the language so that learners can use the language in daily
communication. However, in fact, literature is not just for literature students; literature should

be sensibly used in a language classroom for a number of reasons.
Literature- motivating and valuable authentic material
“Literature is “feelings” and “thoughts” in black and white. Literature is the world of
fantasy, horror, feelings, visions put into words. Literature means to meet a lot of people, to
know other different points of view, ideas, thoughts, minds to know ourselves better ”
(Lazar (1993, p.1). Therefore, literature is human life. In other words, literature reflects real
life all around the world. More than that, it transcends the time and culture to speak directly to
a reader of a different country at a different period of time (Collie & Slater, 1987). This is the
reason why many works of famous writers such as William Shakespears, Nguyen Du, Mark
Twain, ect are still alive despite the challenge of time. What‟s more, literature is not written
for the specific purpose of teaching but the native readers. There are many different linguistic
forms and uses used in daily life. Thus, through the language of literature, learners can be
exposed to such a kind of authentic language, which is the aim of any language teachers.
Furthermore, once students are familiar with literature in their own language, then
studying some literature in English can provide an interesting and thought-provoking point for
comparison. For example, teachers can ask students to retell short stories from their own
culture before getting them to read an authentic story in English on a similar theme. It could be
highly motivating. Additionally, a good novel or short story can involve students in the
suspense of unravelling the plot. When reading literary texts, readers are said to live with the
characters they like. They respond to what the characters say and do and keep sharing their
emotion from the beginning to the end. Readers are absorbed in the events of the story and
eager to find out what happens next. Really, the students are well-motivated and willing to

8
take part in the journey of exploring the unknown language territory, which wil create the very
positive effects on the process of language learning.
Literature- a good access to cultural background
Literature can provide students with access to the culture of the people whose language
they are studying. Sage (1987, p9) said “literary texts can serve as open windows to the target
language.” When reading literature students can find out much information about the social,

political and historical events which form the background of the literary work. Besides,
literature “does seem to provide a way of conextualising how a member of a particular society
might behave or react in a specific situation” (Lazar, 1993, p.17). It is very interesting and
useful to find out insights into the relationship, emotions, beliefs, attitudes, lifestyles of people
from other cultures. Hence, literature is considered as the best complimentary material that
helps to increase learners‟ knowledge about other countries.
Literature- an encouragement for language acquisition
In many countries in the world including Vietnam students have limited access to
spoken English, and written English often takes on primary importance for stimulating
language acquisition. Literature may provide a particularly appropriate way of stimulating this
acquistion as it provides meaningful and memorable contexts for processing and interpreting
new language. Obviously, at lower level, students may be unable to cope on their own with a
genuie novel or short story in English. Any extensive reading should be of graded material.
However, at higher levels, students may be so absorbed in the plot and characters of an
authentic novel or short story that they acquire a great deal of new language. Because
literature is very rich in meaning, the use of literary texts within the classroom is often a
particularly successful way of promoting activities in which students need to share their
feelings and opinions such as discussion and groupwork. Focussing on a task which demands
that students express their personal responses to multiple levels of meaning can only serve to
improve the students‟ acquisition of language.



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Literature- personal education
Besides linguistic benefits, literature has an educational function, which is considered
the strongest and the most important effect on the language learners. It stimulates the
imagination of students, develops their critical abilities and increases their emotional
awareness. For example, if we ask students to respond personally to the texts we give them,
they will become incresingly confident about expressing their own ideas and emotions in

English. They will feel empowered by their abilities to deal with the text and its language and
to relate it to the values and traditions of their own society.
2.2. Short stories in language classroom
2.2.1. Definition of a short story
The following definition about short stories is extracted from the encyclopedia: “The
short story refers to a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, usually in narrative
format. The short story is characterized by the number of words contained therein.”
Determining the actual length of a short story is problematic. Short story definitions
based upon length differ somewhat even among professional writers. Many short story writers
define their work through a combination of creative, personal expression and artistic integrity.
As a result, definitions of the short story based upon length splinter even more when the
writing process is taken into consideration. A classic definition of a short story‟s length is that
it must be able to be read in one sitting but in contemporary usage the term most often refers
to a piece of fiction up to 20,000 words. In practice, however, a short story‟s length is
determined by the publisher. In the United States, for example, short stories, which are called
“long short stories”, can be anything up to 10,000 words. In the United Kingdom, short stories
average around 5,000 words but in Australia, they are rarely more than 3,500 words. Although
some short stories called micro narratives can be just a few hundred words long, there is an
expectation among contemporary readers that short stories are at least 1,000 words in length.
Short stories are considered shorter than novels. Therefore, they are also less complex.
Usually a short story focuses on only one incident, has a single plot, a single setting, a small

10
number of characters who are somehow connected with each other, and covers a short period
of time and a sequence of events.
2.2.2. Benefits of using short stories in language classroom
2.2.2.1. Reinforcing the skills
Murdoch (2002) indicates that “short stories can, if selected and exploited
appropriately, provide quality text content which greatly enhances ELT courses for
learners ”(p.9). In other words, short stories allow teachers to teach the four skills to learners

of all language proficiency levels.
Oster (1989) affirms that literature helps students to writes more creatively. Teachers
can create a variety of writing activities to help students to develop their writing skills. They
can ask students to write dialogues or more complex writing activities if students have reached
a high level of language proficiency.
In addition, stories can be used to improve students‟ vocabulary and reading. Lao and
Krashen (2000) compared a group of students that read literary texts and another group that
read non-literary texts at a university in Hongkong. The group who read literary texts showed
inprovement in vocabulary and reading. What they read gave them the oppotunity to come up
with their own insights and helped them to speak the language in a more imaginative way.
They became more creative since they faced with their own point of view, that/those of the
main character(s) of the story and those of their peers.
Focusing on point of view in literature enlarges students‟ vision and fosters critical
thinking by dramatizing the various ways. Therefore, when students read, they interact with
the text. By interacting with the text, they interpret what they read. By interpreting what they
read, they can work toward speaking English more creatively.
In reference to listening, teachers can read the story out loud or play the story out loud
so students have the oppotunity to listen to the story and correct their pronunciation first.
Students listen and find answers to questions given to them prior to the listening activity. For
students to understand the story when they listen to it for the first time, the questions can be

11
based on literary structures such as “who is the main character of the story? Where/when does
the story take place?; what is the problem in the story?”
2.2.2.2. Motivating students
Since short stories usually have a beginning, development and ending, they encourage
students at all levels of language proficiency to continue reading them until the end to find out
how the conflict is resolved. Elliott (1990), for example, affirms that literature motivates
advanced students and is “motivationally efective if students can genuiely engage with its
thoughts and emotions and apprecite its aesthetic qualitites” (p.197). He stresses the

importance of developing student-response (individual and group levels) and competence in
literature. In addition, literature motivates students “to explore their feelings through
experiencing those of others” (p.1). Besides, according to the Internet article (author not
named) “Using Literature in Teaching English as a Foreign/Second Language” (2004),
“Literature is motivating Literature holds high status in many cultures and countries. For this
reason, students can feel a real sense of achievement at understanding a piece of highly
respected literature. Also, literature is often more interesting than the texts found in
coursebooks”. As a result, teachers should agree that literary texts encourage students to read,
and most literary texts chosen according to students‟ language proficiency levels and
preferences will certainly be motivating.
2.2.2.3. Introducing literary elements
Teachers can introduce literary elements with short stories. With beginning and low
intermediate levels, teachers can teach simple elements such as characters, setting and plot.
The same and more complex elements, such as conflicts, climax, resolution, etc can be
introduced to more advanced levels. Gajdusek (1988) explains how literature can be
introduced by describing the order of activities: pre-reading activities, factual in-class work,
analysis and extending activities. In the pre-reading activities, students have the oppoturnity to
learn about the background of the story and vocabulary. In factual-in class activities, students
should be introduced to who, what, when, where of the story, or the point of view, chatracter,
setting and action. The question should be placed next to the paragraph in which the answer is
found so students can begin to understand each literary element means with the help of the

12
teacher. The questions can be: Who is the main character of the story? Where does the story
take place? When does the story happen? Who is narating the story?
Extending activities, on the other hand, deals with “why”, that is, “involvement and
experience” (Gajdusek, p. 245). Students must be able to use their knowledge of the language
to express their ideas. Thus, only students who have reached a high intermediate/advanced
level of language profiency should be introduced to these activities. For him, these activities
ask for “creative and relevant response from the readers” (p. 251). Role-play is one of the

extending activities that can get students more involved in the story. Teachers can ask students
to play the role of several characters. For example, with the story “The wisdom of Solomon”,
teachers can ask students to do the following tasks:
 Imagine you are the guard who is told by the King to cut the child in half. If you don‟t
think you can do what the King asks you to do, tell him how you feel. Make sure you
are convincing.
 Suppose you are the guard who is told by the King to cut the child in half. After cutting
the child in half, tell the King how you feel about his decision. Make sure you are
convincing.
2.2.2.4. Teaching culture
Short stories are effective when teaching culture to EFL students. Short stories transmit
the culture of the people about whom the stories were written. By learning about the culture,
students learn about the past and present, and about people‟s customs and traditions. Culture
teaches students to understand and respect people‟s differences. When using literary texts,
teachers must be aware that the culture of the people for whom the text was written should be
studied. As students face a new culture, they become more aware of their own culture. They
may start comparing their culture to others‟ to see whether they find similarities and/or
differences. Misinterpretation may occur due to differences between the two cultures
(Gajdusek, 1988). To avoid misinterpretation, teachers should introduce the culture to the
students or ask them to find relevant information about it.

13
For instance, before reading/listening to the story “The Wisdom of Solomon”, students should
read some information about King Solomon:If students have access to the Internet, teachers
can ask them to read information about the King from
before they read/listen to
the story:
Solomon became king of Israel after the death of his father, David. The Old Testament account of his
life tells of how he had a special dream early in his reign. In his dream God told him that he could ask
for anything he desired. Solomon answered that he wanted nothing more than to have an understanding

heart in order to rule wisely over his people. According to the account, God then praised Solomon for
asking for wisdom rather than riches and honor. The Old Testament writer says that Solomon
subsequently became the wisest leader in the world. Many came to seek his advice, even leaders of other
countries. The most famous story of the wisdom of Solomon, however, is the one in which he settles a
dispute between two women about questions of motherhood. (Janssen, 1981, p. 123)
2.2.2.5. Teaching higher-order thinking
Of all the benefits of short stories, developing higher-order thinking skills is
significant. High intermediate/advanced students can analyse what they read; therefore, they
start thinking critically when they read stories. Young (1996) discusses that “stories have two
crucial advantages over traditional content: First, because they are entertaining,
students‟pervasive apprehension is reduced, and they learn from the beginning that critical
thinking is natural, familiar, and sometimes even fun. Second, the stories put issues of critical
thinking in an easiy remembered context” (p.90). Howie (1993) agrees on the use of short
stories to teach critical thining. He points out that teachers have the responsibility to help
students to develop cognitive skills because everyone needs to “make judgement, be decisive,
come to conclusions, synthesize information, organize, evaluate, predict, and apply
knowledge” (p. 24). By reading and writing, students develop their critical thinking skills.
According to Bloom‟s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain, thinking skills include
both lower-order and higher-order thinking. Depending on students‟ level of profiency,
teachers can activate students‟ lower- order or higher-order thinking. Beginners are able to
recall information and respond to questions about dates, events, and places. Thus, when asked
about names of characters, setting and plot of the story, they will have no difficulties
responding to the questions. This is level 1 of the taxonomy-knowledge. As students become
more proficient in the language, they can move to level 2-comprehension. In this level, they

14
must demostrate their comprehension by comparing, interpreting, giving descriptions and
stating main ideas. When students become even more proficient, they move to level 3-
appplication in which they try to solve problem by using the knowledge they have about the
story. In level 4-analysis, students must have reached the high intermediate level to succeed.

The reason is that students must analyse, compare, contrast, explain, infer, ect, facts and ideas
about the story. Upon reaching the advanced level of proficiency, students can synthesize and
evaluate what they read, the last two levels of the taxonomy (synthesis and evaluation).
Teachers can then ask questions such as “How would you change the plot?”, “What would
happen if ?”, “What changes would you make to solve ?”, “Do you agree with the
action ?, with the outcome ?” (Bloom‟s critical thinking questioning strategies). Such
questions added to each story should train the students to think critically.

With the short story “The Wisdom of Solomon”, teachers may raise some questions like
below:
1. What would have happened if the real mother of the baby who was about to be cut in
half had stayed quiet instead of pleading to King Solomon not to cut him and give him
to the other woman?

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2. What would have happened if King Solomon had heard the real mother of the baby
and cut the baby in half, giving half to the real mother and half to the other woman
who claimed to be the real mother?
3. Do you agree with the way King Solomon acted? Do you agree with the way the real
mother acted?
4. Do you agree with the resolution of the story?
The questions 1 and 2 require students to think of a different end to the same story and
probably see both the real mother of the baby and King Solomon in different ways from how
they were portrayed in the original story. Question 3 and 4 require students to make
judgement.
Different stories may elicit different questions. The questions will depend on the plot,
characters, conflict, limax, complicaions and resolution of each story. The more questions
requiring higher-order thinking students answer, the better prepared they will be to face in the
real world.

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
In the previous chapter, a brief overview of the literature on the research topic was
given, which laid the theoretical basis for the whole study. In this chapter, the methods
employed to answer the research questions would be described in details. The participants, the
instruments and the procedure of data collection and analysis would be justified.
3.1. Sampling
The study was conducted in Vietnam Australia School, Hanoi (VAS) where the author
is doing the teaching job. The school has totally 350 students including 120 senior high school
students. According to their English level and their grade in other subjects in Vietnamese,
these students are catergorized and assigned into classes from A1 to A3 or V1 to V3.
This study was carried out with the participation of 10 teachers and 100 senior high
school students in VAS. The students were chosen randomly from the alphabetical list of
names.They accounted for five-sixths of the whole students in year 10 and year 11 of VAS
(the school has not had any students in year 12 yet). Moreover, the students participating in the
study came from different classes taught by different teachers with various teaching methods
and techniques. Therefore the data collected can be believed to be representative.
There are totally twenty teachers of English in VAS but only ten teachers (five
Vietnamese ans five Australian ones), who were in charge of English classes in senior high

school, were chosen to take part in the survey questionnaire. Due to the shortage of time, four
teachers were interviewed after the survey.
3.2. Data collection instruments
To achieve the research objectives, a combined data collection process using both
survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews was employed.
3.2.1 Questionnaires
In order to obtain sufficient data, the survey questionnaire was chosen as a main
instrument.

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First of all, the structuring of questions was intentional corresponding to the research
questions to obtain factual, behavioral and attitudinal information from the participants (the
situation of using short stories in teaching English in VAS, the perception of teachers and
students and its benefits in teaching and learning in English classes).
Secondly, using questionnaires is particularly “efficient in terms of researcher time,
effort, and financial resources” (Hoang and Nguyen, 2006, p.10). By administrating the
questionnaire, a huge amount of information can be collected from a large number of people
within a short period of time, and the personal investment required is a mere fraction of other
instruments such as observation. Furthermore, the questionnaire construction is made
convenient for the data to be processed. Specifically, the Likert scale is adopted to reveal the
participants‟ attitudes and behaviors. Likert scale is believed not only to save space and time
but also to enable the respondents to give more specific answers which increases the accuracy
of the interpretation of data.
However, there are some weaknesses of questionnaires such as the “simplicity and
superficiality generated in questionnaires” (Dornyei 2003, p.210) and the “fatigue effect” or
tiredness and boredom that influence responses towards the end of the questionnaire. In order
to minimize these drawbacks of questionnaire, the researcher has attempted to make the
questionnaire items clear and brief. Besides, interviews have been conducted to get more
detailed information.
The survey questionnaire for teachers consists of 8 questions organized into five parts

which correspond to the five research questions. Part 2 with 3 questions focusses on the
exploitation of short stories in teaching English including the purpose and the frequency of
the use of short stories and the techniques applied to exploit a short story. Part 3 studies the
satisfaction with the use of short stories in teaching English. Part 4 investigates the obstacles
in using short stories in teaching English. In part 5, respondents can make any
recommendations to ensure the better use of short stories in teaching English.The teachers
who have already applied short stories in teaching English have to answer all the questions in
the five parts whereas those who have not used short stories in teaching English skip part 2
and 3 and answer the questions in part 1, part 4 and part 5. Part 1 aims to elicit the teachers‟
perceptions of using short stories in teaching English in VAS.

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The student survey questionnaire is designed similarly but shorter (2 pages in length)
and simple. It is translated into Vietnamese so that the students can understand the questions
clearly to give correct answers. The questionnaire for students is organized into three parts
with five questions. It concerns the perceptions of the use of short stories in learning English,
the obstacles in using short stories in English class as supplementary materials and their
expectations.
3.2.2 Interviews
Together with the survey questionnaire, the interview was exploited as a valuable
research instrument to examine the research problem.
In light of research methodology, “interviews are particularly useful for getting the
story behind a participant‟s experiences. The interviewer can pursue in-depth information
around the topic. Interviews may be useful as follow-up to certain respondents to
questionnaires, e.g., to further investigate their responses” (Hoang and Nguyen, 2006, p.47). In
this study, the interviews were conducted after the collection of the survey questionnaires, and
its content mostly focuses on interesting or controversial aspects noted from the
questionnaires.
Semi-structured interviews were adopted with the participation of four teachers. The
researcher entered the interview with a general idea of the areas to focus on rather than a fixed

list of questions. As this research tool allows the interviewer a certain degree of both control
and flexibility while it still leaves the interviewee some power over the course of the interview
(Hoang and Nguyen, 2006, p.45), it could elicit rich information from the respondents and
help address the research questions effectively. Its purpose is to triangulate the data collected
from the survey and obtain in-depth information, so clarifications and further explanations are
frequently provided to the respondents.
3.3. Procedure of data collection
The procedure of data collection consists of three main phases as follows:



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Phase 1: Preparation
During this period, the survey questionnaire and interview schedule were designed
based on the conceptual framework established in the Literature Review. Each research
question was further divided into sub-questions. In any of these instruments, personal
information of participants was kept confidential and anonymous for ethical reasons. These
forms were then sent to the supervisor of the researcher for feedback. Besides, the survey
forms and interview schedules were piloted on five voluntary students. Thanks to this step, the
layout of the whole questionnaire and the wording of several questions had been considerably
improved to avoid possible ambiguity and misunderstandings of respondents. Also, the pilot
survey highlighted the need to establish strict supervision and consistent understanding of
terms to participants to ensure the reliability of data collected.
Phase 2: Administering the questionnaires
The second phase was to conduct the survey questionnaire. Due to difficulties in
making direct contact and time constraints, questionnaires for teachers were mostly delivered
via email so that the participants could complete it at their convenience.
As for the students, it took the researcher an enormous amount of time to arrange
appropriate time and place to carry out the survey. The introduction about the study,
instructions and definitions of key terms were given clearly and the researcher was ready to

answer any questions that arose in order to guarantee the quality of the information. All the
questionnaires delivered were returned.
Phase 3: Conducting interview
In the third stage, some teachers were invited to join an interview. This was to
triangulate the data collected through questionnaires and, at the same time, gather further
information about their thoughts and expectations. The interview was conducted in the
teacher‟s room during after class. Permission was asked for in advance to record the interview.
Besides, the researcher was ready to take note of any special non-verbal behaviors of the
interviewees.
Phase 4: Transcribing the interviews
In this final stage of the data collection procedure, all the interviews were transcribed.
Since data from the interviews came in large amount, the transcripts were then summarized