EXPLORING THE GAP BETWEEN CTU TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ BELIEFS ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AND THE USEFULNESS OF CLASSROOM SPEAKING ACTIVITIES IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

CAN THO UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

B.A Thesis

EXPLORING THE GAP BETWEEN CTU
TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ BELIEFS ABOUT
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AND
THE USEFULNESS OF CLASSROOM SPEAKING
ACTIVITIES IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Supervisor: M.A. Bùi Minh Châu

Student: Hồ Xuân Mai
Code: 7062906
Class: English Education 01- C32

Can Tho, April 2010


CONTENTS
Contents .................................................................................................................... i
List of Tables and Figures ......................................................................................... iii
Abbreviation ............................................................................................................. iv
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... v
Tóm tắt ..................................................................................................................... vi
Abstract .................................................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................... 1
1.1 Rationale .................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Research aims and questions .................................................................................. 2

1.3 Research hypothesis ............................................................................................... 2
1.4 Research significance ............................................................................................. 2
1.5 Research organization ............................................................................................ 3
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................... 4
2.1 Speaking and speaking activities ........................................................................... 4
2.1.1 Speaking ............................................................................................................ 4
 Definition .............................................................................................................. 4
 Functions of speaking .......................................................................................... 4
2.1.2 Speaking activities ............................................................................................ 5
 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity ............................................... 5
 Activities to promote speaking............................................................................ 6
2.1 The teaching of speaking ........................................................................................ 8
2.2.1 Definition ......................................................................................................... 8
2.2.2 Reasons for teaching speaking ....................................................................... 8
2.3 Beliefs in language learning ................................................................................... 8
2.3.1 Teachers’ beliefs .............................................................................................. 9
 Definition .............................................................................................................. 9
 The role of teachers’ beliefs in language learning and teaching ....................... 9
2.3.2 Students’ beliefs .............................................................................................. 10
2.3.3 Research on the effects of the mismatch between teachers’ and students’
beliefs about language learning.................................................................. 10
CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY......................................................... 13
3.1 Research design ....................................................................................................... 13
3.2 Participants............................................................................................................... 13
3.2.1 English language students ................................................................................ 13
3.2.2 English language teachers ................................................................................ 14
3.3 Instruments............................................................................................................... 14
3.3.1 The questionnaire for students......................................................................... 14
3.3.2 The questionnaire for teachers........................................................................ 15
3.4 Data collection procedures..................................................................................... 15

CHAPTER 4. RESULTS ........................................................................................... 17
4.1 Students’ and teachers’ beliefs in English language learning and speaking
skill learning .......................................................................................................... 17
4.2 Students’ and teachers’ beliefs in the usefulness of classroom speaking
activities ................................................................................................................. 18

i


CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSION................................................ 22
5. 1 Discussions ............................................................................................................ 22
5.1.1 Students’ and teachers’ beliefs in English language learning and speaking
skill learning ..................................................................................................... 22
5.1.2 Students’ and teachers’ beliefs in the usefulness of classroom speaking
activities ............................................................................................................ 23
5. 2 Implications for learning and teaching English ................................................... 25
5.3 Limitations and recommendations for further research ....................................... 26
5.4. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 27
References. ............................................................................................................... 28
Appendices ............................................................................................................... 31
Appendix A ......................................................................................................... 31
Appendix B ......................................................................................................... 34

ii


List of Tables and Figures
Table 1 Profiles of the students .......................................................................
Table 2 Results of students’ general beliefs .....................................................
Table 3 Results of teachers’ general beliefs .....................................................

Table 4 A comparison of students (N = 80) and teachers (N = 10) mean ratings
of selected student activities ................................................................
Figure 1 Teacher and student mean ratings of the usefulness of speaking
activities….. .........................................................................................

iii

12
17
18
20
19


Abbreviation
CTU
Can Tho University
SPSS
Statistical Package for Social Sciences
EFL
English as a Foreign Language
ESL
English as a Second Language
BALLI Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory
CLT
Communicative Language Teaching

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Most of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms.
Bùi Minh Châu, for her encouragement and enthusiastic help during the process of
this research development. She was willing to spend her valuable time giving me
good advice and making corrections many times in order for this research to be
completed.
I would also like to express my deep thanks to Ms. Bùi Lan Chi, who was
enthusiastic to help me deliver questionnaires to participants. She really helped me
have good conditions in collecting the data for my research.
Next, I am indebted to Ms. Ngô Thị Trang Thảo for her invaluable lessons and
advice on analyzing the data.
I would also like to send my thanks to the second readers for my thesis, Dr. Trịnh
Quốc Lập and Ms. Phan Thị Mỹ Khánh, for their good advice to perfect my thesis.
My deep thanks should also be sent to the English language teachers in the
Department of English Education, who responded to the questionnaires and gave me
a lot of information for my study.
Also, my best regard is respectfully sent to my friends, Miss Cao Lê Phước
Ngọc, Miss Nguyễn Thị Nhuyễn, Miss Vũ Thị Hồng, Miss Lim Ngọc Hân and Miss
Nguyễn Thị Trúc Linh, who helped me get experiences in the data analysis with the
SPSS program.
I am also particularly grateful to all the students who provided me with valuable
information. Without their contribution, my research questions would never have
been answered.
Finally, my deepest appreciation goes to my mother, my brother and sister for
their unconditional love and support.
Hồ Xuân Mai

v

TÓM TẮT
Các nhà nghiên cứu Horwitz (1988) và Richards & Lockhart (1994) khẳng định nếu
niềm tin của người học và của giáo viên về những hoạt động có ích cho việc học
tiếng Anh như là một ngôn ngữ thứ hai tương ứng với nhau thì một môi trường học
tập tốt sẽ được hình thành và dẫn đến một quá trình dạy và học hiệu quả và thành
công. Bài nghiên cứu này nhằm tìm ra những khác biệt trong niềm tin của sinh viên
chuyên ngành tiếng Anh năm hai và giáo viên dạy tiếng Anh của họ tại trường Đại
học Cần Thơ về việc học tiếng Anh nói chung, việc học môn nói, và sự hữu ích của
các hoạt động nói trong lớp học. Có 80 sinh viên và 10 giáo viên của bộ môn Sư
phạm Anh văn tham gia trả lời phiếu điều tra trong nghiên cứu này. Phiếu điều tra
có hai phần bao gồm 14 câu phát biểu và 12 hoạt động nói để đánh giá niềm tin của
họ về (1) việc học tiếng Anh nói chung, (2) việc học kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh, và (3)
sự hữu ích của các hoạt động nói trong lớp học. Số liệu được phân tích bằng phần
mềm thống kê số liệu (SPSS). Theo kết quả nghiên cứu, 7 hoạt động mà cả giáo vên
và sinh viên đều chọn như những hoạt động phổ biến nhất được thực hiện trong lớp
học là: thảo luận, tường thuật, chia sẻ thông tin để lấp khoảng trống, phỏng vấn,
vận dụng trí tuệ để giải quyết một vấn đề, đóng kịch và kể chuyện. Những kết quả
đó cũng đã cho thấy có một sự không tương hợp giữa niềm tin của giáo viên và sinh
viên; cụ thể là, hoạt động thảo luận và tường thuật đã được sinh viên xếp hạng thứ
nhất và thứ hai về sự hữu ích của nó trong khi đó giáo viên lại xếp hạng thứ nhất và
thứ hai cho hai hoạt động vận dụng trí tuệ để giải quyết một vấn đề và phỏng vấn (là
hoạt động mà sinh viên có cơ hội giao tiếp nhiều hơn trong những tình huống cụ
thể). Dù cả hai nhóm đều xem kể chuyện là hoạt động có hiệu quả kém nhất trong 7
hoạt động nhưng sự đánh giá về mức độ có ích của hoạt động này thì hoàn toàn
khác nhau – sinh viên đánh giá khá cao trong khi giáo viên lại đánh giá thấp . Dựa
vào kết quả thu được, tác giả cũng đã đưa ra những đề xuất trong giảng dạy và
hướng nghiên cứu mới.

vi

ABSTRACT
Research has suggested that if learner beliefs match teacher beliefs concerning
which activities are useful for EFL, a good learning environment will be
established, and as such leading to both effective teaching and successful learning
(Horwitz, 1988, and Richards & Lockhart, 1994). The present study aims to explore
the existence of differences of beliefs in the usefulness of classroom speaking
activities held by the second year English major students and their teachers of
English in Can Tho University. Two questionnaires were used to collect the data
from 80 EFL students and 10 EFL teachers of the Department of English Education
at CTU. The participants were given a two-section questionnaire with 14 statements
and 12 speaking activities to assess their beliefs in (1) the learning of English, (2)
the learning of speaking skills, and (3) the usefulness of particular classroom
speaking activities. The SPSS program was used to analyze the quantitative data
from the questionnaires. According to the study, seven speaking activities were
chosen by both teachers and students as the most common done in class; they were
Discussion, Reporting, Information Gap, Interview, Brainstorming, Role Play, and
Storytelling. The results also revealed that a considerable mismatch between
teachers’ and students’ beliefs was found – in particular, the activities of discussion
and reporting were ranked top and second in order of usefulness by students while
brainstorming and interview which allow students more communication in specific
contexts were ranked top and second by teachers. Although both groups of the
participants considered Storytelling as the least useful activity among the seven,
their ratings for its usefulness were quite different – medium high by students while
low by teachers. On the basis of the findings, discussions and pedagogical
implications are accordingly proposed.

vii

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will address (1) the rationale of this research, (2) the research aims and questions,
(3) the research hypothesis, (4) the significance of the research, and (5) the thesis organization.

1.1 Rationale
English has been widely used in many areas such as politics, economics, tourism,
electronics, telecommunication, culture and science and technology. English is not
only a means but also a key to accessing the latest achievements of science and
technology. Therefore, it is necessary for people, especially the Vietnamese, to have
a good command of English to satisfy the growing needs in a developing country
like Viet Nam.
Speaking is an essential skill for English as a second or foreign language
(ESL/EFL). Especially, in modern society, communication in English is much
required for any temporary or more permanent needs of communication in life.
Therefore, the mastery of speaking skills in English is a priority for many secondlanguage or foreign-language learners. Consequently, learners often evaluate their
success in language learning as well as the effectiveness of their English course on
the basis of how much they feel they have improved in their spoken language
proficiency. As a result, teaching speaking effectively needs to be focused in the
classroom.
Teaching speaking is a very important part of second language learning. The
ability to efficiently communicate in a second language contributes to the success of
the learner in school and later in every phase of life. Therefore, it is essential that
language teachers pay great attention to teaching speaking. Rather than leading
students to pure memorization, providing a rich environment where meaningful
communication takes place is desired.
However, when learners and their teachers meet for the first time in class, they
may bring with them different expectations concerning not only the learning process
in general, but also concerning what will be learned in a particular course and how
it will be learned (Brindley 1984, p.95). Richards and Lockhart (1994) state that the

differences between teachers’ and learners’ beliefs reinforce the importance of
clarifying to learners the assumptions underlying teachers’ classroom practices, or
accommodating classroom practices to match them more closely to students’
expectations. The consequences of not doing so are likely to be misunderstanding
and mistrust on the part of both teachers and learners. This may cause a mismatch
between teachers’ and learners’ beliefs in what is useful to focus on in a language

1


lesson. Furthermore, a mismatch between learners’ and teachers’ beliefs can lead to
problems in class. As Green (1993, p.2) claims, “[a] mismatch between student
needs and expectations and the ... style of the teacher may result in learning
problems for the students.”
More importantly, learners have their own beliefs about what they should study.
McDonough (1995, p.121) maintains that learners “have their own learning
agendas”, and that “activities valued by teachers were not the same as activities
valued by learners” (p. 131). In a particular speaking lesson, the usefulness of
speaking activities organized in class will decrease when a mismatch between
teachers’ and learners’ beliefs in the usefulness of speaking activities occurs in the
classroom. As a result, the target of encouraging students to communicate
effectively through speaking lessons will not be satisfactorily obtained by the
teachers and success of students’ speaking skills will not be appreciated. Having
learned about this issue in language teaching and learning, I wish to find out
whether there is a mismatch between CTU English teachers’ and students’ beliefs
about the English language learning and the usefulness of speaking activities.
1.2 Research aims and questions
The aims of the research were, first, to explore teachers’ and students’ beliefs
about the English language learning and the effectiveness of various speaking
activities organized in speaking lessons and then to consider whether there is any

considerable mismatch between their beliefs.
It is hoped that this study would find out the answers to the following questions:
1) What are teachers’ beliefs about the English language learning?
2) What are students’ beliefs about the English language learning?
3) What are CTU teachers’ beliefs in the usefulness of classroom speaking
activities in language learning?
4) What are second-year English major students’ beliefs in the usefulness of
classroom speaking activities in language learning?
5) Is there any mismatch between their beliefs?
1.3 Research hypothesis
To carry out this topic for my study, I hypothesized that there was a considerable
mismatch between teachers’ and students’ beliefs about the English language
learning and the usefulness of speaking activities in language learning.
1.4 Research significance
As mentioned in the previous section, this study explores the beliefs in the
usefulness of speaking activities of English teachers and students at School of
2


Education of CTU. The findings of this study might be helpful to both English
teachers and students at CTU in that based on the knowledge of students’ beliefs,
teachers can design their speaking lessons with more effective activities and so
students can gain more success in their language study.
1.5 Research organization
The thesis consists of five chapters:
Chapter 1, Introduction, presents the rationale for conducting the study, the
aims of the study, the research questions and hypothesis, the research significance
and the organization of the thesis.
Chapter 2, Literature review, provides a theoretical framework for the study,
including the definitions of speaking skills, teaching speaking skills and beliefs in

language learning and teaching. Besides, functions of speaking and reasons for
teaching speaking skill as well as characteristics of a successful speaking activity
and activities to promote speaking English are also discussed in this chapter.
Finally, research on the effects of the mismatch between teachers’ and students’
beliefs in language learning is presented at the end of this chapter.
Chapter 3, Research Methodology, presents the methodology used in the
research including research design, participants, instruments and the procedures for
data collection and analysis.
Chapter 4, Results, reports the findings of the study.
Chapter 5, Discussion and Conclusion, which summarizes what is addressed in
the study, points out the limitations, suggests pedagogical implications and provides
some suggestions for further study.

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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter includes three parts. The first part presents the definition and functions of
speaking, the characteristics of a successful speaking activity and the description of common
speaking activities. The second part discusses the definition of and the reasons for the teaching of
speaking. In the third part, teachers’ and students’ beliefs in language learning and research on the
effects of a mismatch between them on language learning are mentioned.

2.1 Speaking and speaking activities
2.1.1 Speaking
 Definition
When people learn English, many of them believe that among the four skills –
listening, speaking, reading and writing – speaking is the hardest. This is because of
two reasons. Firstly, unlike reading or writing, speaking happens in real time; i.e.,

usually the person we are talking to is waiting for us to speak right then. Secondly,
when we speak, we can not edit or revise what we wish to say as we can while we
are writing.
Speaking has been defined in many different ways. Speaking is “the process of
building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in
a variety of contexts” (Chaney, 1998, p.13). However, Bygate (1987, p.58)
emphasizes that speaking is “a skill which deserves attention every bit as much as
literacy skills, in both first and second languages. Our learners often need to be
able to speak with confidence in order to carry out many of their basic transactions.
It is the skill by which they are most frequently judged, and through which they may
make or lose friends. It is the vehicle par excellence of social solidarity, of social
ranking, of professional advancement and of business. It is also a medium through
which much language is learnt, and which for many is particularly conducive for
learning”.
Nunan (2003) points out that in language teaching, the four skills are described in
terms of their direction. Language generated by the learner (in speech or writing) is
referred to as productive. Language directed at the learner (in reading or listening)
is called receptive. Another important idea is the channel, which refers to the
medium of the message (aural/oral or written). Thus, speaking is the productive
aural/oral skill. It consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey
meaning.

4


 Functions of speaking
Numerous attempts have been made to classify the functions of speaking in
human interaction. Brown and Yule (1983) make a useful distinction of functions of
speaking. These researchers mention that language can be seen as having two
functions:

transferring
information
(transactional
function)
and
establishing/maintaining social relationships (interactional function). Interactional
spoken language is characterized by shifts of topic and short turns. The accuracy
and clarity of information is not of primary importance, and facts/views are not
normally questioned or challenged. In transactional spoken language longer turns
are the norm and there is a clear topic. Since the effective transference of
information is the goal, interlocutors are actively engaged in the negotiation of
meaning. Brown & Yule summarize the above stating that whereas interactional
language is "listener oriented", transactional language is "message oriented".
2.1.2 Speaking activities
 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity
Speaking activities and speaking practice in the classroom should enable students
to gain experience using all the “prerequisites” for effective oral communication
that have been mentioned (Murcia & Olshtain, 2000). Classroom activities that
develop learner’ ability to express themselves through speech would therefore seem
an important component of a language course. According to Gower, R., Phillips, D.
and Walters, S. (1995), one of the ways required to encourage students in speaking
English is to give students a reason or purpose for speaking in every activity.
However, it is more difficult to design and administer activities for speaking than so
do we for listening, reading and writing. This means that teachers should carefully
consider the characteristics of an effective speaking activity when designing
classroom speaking activities.
Ur (1991) figures out that a successful speaking activity should include a large
amount of learner talk, even participation, high motivation, and acceptable
language. According to Ur (1991), most of the time given to the speaking activity
should be occupied by learner talk; however, the researcher adds, often most of the

class time is taken up with teacher talk or pauses. An effective speaking activity
should also involve all learners; i.e. all learners will get opportunities to speak, and
contributions are fairly evenly distributed. Moreover, learners should be highly
motivated; that is, they should be eager to speak possibly because of an interesting
topic or of their desire to achieve a task objective. Finally, learners’ discourse
should be relevant, easily comprehensive to each other, and of an acceptable level
of language accuracy.

5


 Activities to promote speaking
In “Teaching Speaking: Activities to Promote Speaking in a Second Language”
from the website Kayi (1984) suggested the
following activities which are considered to be helpful in getting students to
practice “speaking-as-a-skill”.
Discussions and Brainstorming
These two activities are similar in ways of organizing. There is a given topic or
context set by the teacher. The common requirement here is that students have to
discuss in groups to share ideas or find solutions for the topic or context. However,
brainstorming can also be an individual activity and students are not criticized for
their ideas, while discussion cannot. Certainly, students are required to work in a
limited time to avoid chatting with each other about irrelevant things. These
activities foster critical thinking and quick decision making, and students learn how
to express and justify themselves. For efficient group discussions, it is always better
not to form large groups because quiet and shy students may avoid contributing in
large groups. The group members should also be determined and rearranged in
every discussion activity by the teacher so that students can work with various
people and learn to be open to different ideas. Lastly, in class or group discussions,
the students are encouraged to report or state their ideas by asking questions,

paraphrasing ideas, expressing ideas and so on.
Role Play and Simulations
Other ways of getting students to speak are role-play and simulations. In roleplay activities, the teacher gives information to the learners such as who they are
and what they think or feel. Students are required to play a variety of social roles in
various social contexts. Simulations are very similar to role-plays; however, they
are more elaborate. In simulations, students can bring items to the class to create a
realistic environment. For instance, if a student is acting as a singer, she brings a
microphone to sing, etc. Role-plays and simulations have many advantages. First,
since they are entertaining, they motivate the students. Second, as Harmer (1984)
suggests, they increase the self-confidence of hesitant students, because in roleplays and simulations activities, they will have a different role and do not have to
speak for themselves, which means they do not have to take the same responsibility.
Storytelling and Story Completion
The aim of these activities is to foster creative thinking from students. It also
helps students express ideas in the format of beginning, development, and ending,
including the characters and the setting that a story has to have. In these two
6


activities, students are required to tell a story. In storytelling, students can briefly
summarize a tale or story they heard from somebody beforehand, or they may create
their own stories to tell their classmates. Story Completion is a very enjoyable,
whole-class, free-speaking activity. For this activity, students often sit in a circle,
and the teacher starts to tell a story, but after a few sentences he or she stops
narrating. Then, each student starts to narrate from the point where the previous one
stopped. Each student is supposed to add from four to ten sentences. Students can
add new characters, events, descriptions and the like. These two activities are very
effective in encouraging students to be active, flexible and creative for speaking
activity in class.
Picture Narrating, Picture Describing and Find the Difference
These three activities are similar in that they are all relevant to pictures; i.e.,

students are required to talk about the pictures their teacher gives them. In picture
narrating, students are asked to tell the story taking place in the sequential pictures
by paying attention to the criteria provided by the teacher as a rubric. Rubrics can
include the vocabulary or structures they need to use while narrating. However, in
picture describing activity, students are given just one picture and they have to
describe what it is in the picture. This activity fosters the creativity and imagination
of the learners as well as their public speaking skills. In the activity of find the
difference, students are asked to discuss the similarities and/or differences in the
two different pictures (e.g. one picture of boys playing football and another picture
of girls playing tennis). In these activities, students can work in pairs or groups, then
share information with other pairs or groups and lastly report to the whole class.
Interview
In this activity, students can conduct interviews on selected topics with various
people. The teacher is suggested to provide a rubric to students so that they know
what type of questions they can ask or what path to follow, but students should
prepare their own interview questions. Conducting interviews with people gives
students a chance to practice their speaking ability not only in class but also outside
and helps them become socialized. After interviews, each student can present his or
her study to the class.
Information Gap
In this activity, students are supposed to be working in pairs. One student will
have the information that his or her other partner does not and they will share their
information. Information gap activities serve a number of purposes such as solving
a problem or collecting information. Also, each partner plays an important role
7


because the task cannot be completed if the partners do not provide the information
the other needs. Such activities are effective because everybody has the opportunity
to talk extensively in the target language.

Reporting
This activity requires students to read a newspaper or magazine article before
class, then in class they will report to their friends what they find as the most
interesting news. Students can also talk about whether they have experienced
anything worth telling their friends in their daily lives.
2.2 The teaching of speaking
2.2.1 Definition
Speaking is a crucial part of second language learning and teaching. Despite its
importance, for many years, teaching speaking has been undervalued and English
language teachers have continued to teach speaking just as a repetition of drills or
memorization of dialogues (Chaney, 1998). However, today’s world requires that
the goal of teaching speaking should be to improve students’ communicative skills,
because, only in that way, students can express themselves and learn how to follow
the social and cultural rules appropriate in each communicative circumstance.
According to Nunan (2003), what is meant by “teaching speaking” is to teach
English second language learners to correctly produce the sounds, stress, intonation
and the rhythm of English as well as to properly use words and sentences in every
situation. In addition, learners should be taught to organize their thoughts in a
meaningful and logical sequence and use language to express values and judgments
quickly, confidently with few unnatural pauses. In other words, “teaching speaking”
means teaching learners to communicate successfully; that is, they can use language
accurately, fluently and appropriately.
2.2.2 Reasons for teaching speaking
Teachers should not only be aware of the importance of teaching speaking but
also consider reasons for teaching speaking to have more effective speaking lessons.
Harmer (2003) suggests three main reasons for getting students to speak in the
classroom. Firstly, speaking activities give students opportunities to practice reallife speaking in the safety of the classroom. Secondly, through the language
students use to accomplish the speaking tasks both the teacher and the students can
evaluate how well the students are doing; i.e. how successful they are, and also what
language problems they are experiencing. Finally, the more opportunities students

have to activate the various elements of language stored in their brains, the better
they become at using language. As a result, students gradually become autonomous
8


language users. This means that they will be able to use words and phrases fluently
without very much conscious thought.
2.3 Beliefs in language learning
2.3.1 Teachers’ beliefs
 Definition
Through their studies, researchers observe that teachers come to the classroom
with their own system of beliefs and, to some extent, these determine many of the
choices they make in relation to what and how they teach. So, what is “teachers’
beliefs”? According to Richards (1998, p.66), teachers’ belief is “the information,
attitudes, values, expectations, theories, and assumptions about teaching and
learning that teachers build up over time and bring them to the classroom”. Also, in
Murphy’s (2000, p.4) teachers’ beliefs are regarded as the representation of:
… a complex and inter-related system of personal and professional
knowledge that serves as implicit theories and cognitive maps for experiencing
and responding to reality. Beliefs rely on cognitive and affective components
and are often tacitly held.

As Nespor (1987) states, beliefs come into play when teachers attempt to define
goals and tasks which they have no direct experience. The researcher then suggests
that “…teachers’ beliefs play a major role in defining teaching tasks and organizing
the knowledge and information relevant to those tasks” (Nespor 1987, p.324).
To sum up, as teaching is a very personal activity, individual teachers will
certainly bring to teaching very different beliefs and assumptions about what
constitutes effective teaching. Therefore, an investigation of teachers’ beliefs is
necessary in order to gain a better understanding of what goes on in the classroom

(Borg, 2001).

 The role of teachers’ beliefs in language learning and teaching
Since teachers’ beliefs are central to the instructional strategies they implement,
beliefs become one of the foremost important factors in driving their actions in class
and contributing to the effectiveness of teaching and learning (Feiman-Nemser &
Floden, 1983; Stallings & Stipek, 1986).
Similarly, Johnson (1994) suggests that teachers’ beliefs influence their
perception and judgment as well as play a role in how information about teaching is
translated into classroom practices. He states that because teachers are the critical
factor in the implementation of an appropriate approach, their values, attitudes, and
beliefs about classroom practices are important.
9


It should also be noted that although classroom practices are concluded to be
based on a logical system of beliefs, previous research on teacher practice has
focused little attention on the thoughts and beliefs teachers have about their practice
(Erickson, 1986; Gardner, 1987). Thus, it is important to have an understanding of
teachers’ belief systems, in order to identify and understand the variables that
mediate the difference between teachers’ thinking and practices (Gardner, 1987).

2.3.2 Students’ beliefs
Language learners bring a variety of beliefs to the classroom. These beliefs can
be categorized as (a) difficulty of language learning, (b) foreign language aptitude,
(c) the nature of language learning, (d) learning communication strategies, and (e)
motivations and expectations (Horwitz, 1988). They can also be grouped into the
following areas as in Wenden’s (1986) study: (a) designating (language), (b)
diagnosing (language proficiency), (c) evaluating (outcome of strategies), (d) selfanalyzing (personal factors), and (e) theorizing (how best to approach language
learning).

According to Tumposky (1991), learners’ beliefs are influenced by the social
context of learning and can influence their attitude toward the language itself as
well as toward language learning in general. For example, they can influence
learners’ motivation to learn, their expectations about language learning, their
perceptions about what is easy or difficult about a language, as well as the kind of
learning strategies they favor (Richards & Lockhart, 1994, p. 52).
Also, it is suggested that learners’ beliefs not only influence their approaches to
language learning and acquisition but also affect the way they respond to teaching
activities. According to Horwitz (1987), learners bring various expectations to the
classroom. For instance, some students prefer to have more free conversations
rather than pattern drills, and some others insist on their teacher’s correction. As a
result, if the teaching methods in which they are engaged differ from what they
believed those teaching methods should be, they may feel frustrated and offer
resistance. This situation can in some ways hinder learners’ progress in language
learning. As stated in Horwitz, (1987, p. 119), ‘when language classes fail to meet
student expectations, students can lose confidence in the instructional approach and
their ultimate achievement can be limited.’

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2.3.3 Research on the effects of the mismatch between teachers’ and
students’ beliefs about language learning
Richards & Lockhart (1994) mention that differences between teachers’ and
students’ beliefs can sometimes lead to a mismatch between their assumptions about
what is useful to focus on in a language lesson. This can lead to students
undervaluing an activity assigned by the teacher. For example, a teacher working
with intermediate-level students in a speaking class reported that she included a
large number of group and pair work tasks in the course. However, her students
gave poor evaluations for the course. They commented that they could not see the

point of such activities; in other words, they could not identify the teaching point
(Richards & Lockhart, 1994, p. 52).
Actually, there are only a few studies that have investigated the relationship
between teachers’ and students’ beliefs. Four of them are studies of Allen (1996),
Kern (1995), Kuntz (1997), and Peacock (1998). Of these four studies, just one
(Allen, 1996) employed classroom observation. Kern (1995) and Kuntz (1997) used
the BALLI (Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory) and compared students’
and teachers’ answers to the questionnaire items.
Kern (1995) examined the degree to which American foreign language
students’ beliefs about language learning corresponded to those of their teachers.
The BALLI was given at the beginning and at the end of the semester. The
researcher reported that students were not matched with their respective instructors,
and that the results were not conclusive. They indicated that overall, students’ and
teachers’ beliefs were similar, but individually, they showed differences. He
concluded that teachers’ beliefs might be influential on an individual basis.
Kuntz (1997) examined and compared the beliefs of 27 adult students and 10
teachers of Arabic in the US. She used the Kuntz-Rifkin Instrument (KRI) with five
demographic statements and 47 statements, in Likert-scale format. The results
suggested that there were differences between teachers’ and students’ beliefs.
According to the researcher, the problem of her research is that she gave the same
questionnaire to teachers and students. On the one hand, this is good because she
had the same statements to compare. On the other hand, some of the statements did
not apply to teachers or to students.
Allen (1996) investigated the extent to which a teacher’s beliefs about language
learning influenced a learner’s established beliefs and perceptions of success and
the learner’s own language learning behavior. Her subject is from Libya. He was an
intermediate-level student of English for Academic Purposes at Carleton School of
Linguistics, in Canada. The methodology included classroom observations and
teacher and student interviews. The results indicated that the student seemed to have

11


been affected by his teacher’s beliefs about language learning. At the end of the
term, the student’s beliefs had become more similar to the teacher’s. According to
Allen, “these evolving criteria, in turn, had an effect on his [the students] sense of
his level of success and his language learning behaviors and strategies” (p.79).
Moreover, Peacock (1998) explored the gap between teachers’ and learners’
beliefs about ‘useful’ activities for EFL. The methodology included questionnaires
and interviews hold by 158 EFL students and 30 EFL teachers in a Hong Kong
University. A considerable mismatch between learner and teacher beliefs was found
- in particular, learners rated error correction and grammar exercises much higher,
and pair work and group work much lower, than did the teachers. The results
revealed that that this wide gap almost certainly had a negative effect on learners’
linguistic progress, satisfaction with the class, and confidence in their teachers, and
that similar differences probably occur in many other contexts and classrooms.
Generally, the studies about beliefs mismatch have not presented conclusive
results, partly because the methodologies adapted in most studies have failed to
investigate beliefs according to participants’ meaning. Furthermore, there have not
been studies on the mismatch between teachers’ and students’ beliefs in classroom
speaking activities. Therefore, this research aims at finding out whether CTU
English teachers and students hold different or similar beliefs in speaking activities.
I hope the results of this research will help teachers of English at CTU to design
more efficient speaking lessons.

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CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter will present the methodology of the research, including (1) the research design, (2)
the participants, (3) the research instruments, (4) the data collection procedures.

3.1 Research design
The aim of the study was to investigate the beliefs of CTU English teachers and
students about the English language learning and the usefulness of classroom
speaking activities in language learning so that both instructors and learners could
get benefits for their teaching and learning; therefore, this study is a descriptivesurvey in which quantitative data were collected.
3.2 Participants
The participants were 80 EFL students and 10 EFL teachers at CTU. These
participants were selected randomly.
3.2.1 English language students
The students in this study were second-year learners of English as a foreign
language, aged between 20 and 22. All of them have studied English for around 9
years. At CTU they have spent nearly two years studying Listening/ Speaking as
well as other subjects. Having had opportunities to practice speaking for nearly four
semesters, they certainly have formed beliefs in language learning in general and in
the study of speaking in particular.
The detailed numbers of the participants and their classes are displayed in Table
1 below.
Table 1: Profiles of the students

Course
34
34

Classes
English Education
Bachelor of English

Numbers of participants
Male
Female
6

38

9

27

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3.2.2 English language teachers
All the teachers are Vietnamese and have been teaching at the English Education
Department of CTU. Most of them had Master degrees and all had at least two years
of experience of teaching speaking.
3.3 Instruments
Beliefs are unobservable; hence, the only way to investigate teachers’ and
students’ beliefs is to rely on means of self-report. As a result, the instruments used
in this study were questionnaires. These include (1) a learner self-report
questionnaire on speaking activities, and (2) a teacher self-report questionnaire on
speaking activities. Based on the literature, the researcher designed the
questionnaires by herself. The learner questionnaire was then pilot-tested with 20
sophomore students and run for the reliability statistics to ensure the accuracy of the
survey. The questionnaire had a Conbrach alpha of .7132. Therefore, this data
collection instrument was considered acceptable.
3.3.1 The questionnaire for students
The first part of the survey questionnaire was the participants’ personal

information such as class, course and gender. Thanks to this information, the
researcher could describe the major characteristics of the participants in her
research.
The two main sections of the questionnaires are described below:
SECTION 1:
This section included 14 statements. The participants were asked to respond to
the statements as they apply to their study of English. In order to complete this
section, the participants had to read the statements and decide whether they strongly
agree, agree, are undecided, disagree or strongly disagree with the statements. The
major purpose of this section was to get information about participants’ beliefs in
studying English, studying speaking English and the usefulness of the speaking
activities organized in class. With the answers from this section, the researcher
could know what the participants thought about English learning, speaking English
learning and speaking activities.
SECTION 2:
This section was divided into two parts.

14


Part A:
This part included 12 speaking activities. The participants were asked to choose
the activities their teachers usually organized in speaking classes. The participants
could complete this part easily and quickly because these activities were explained
to them and most of the activities were applied in their real speaking classes.
Part B:
The purpose of this part was to assess the usefulness to the students of the
speaking activities that they chose in part A. The participants were asked to rate the
usefulness of the activities, but just the activities they chose in part A. These beliefs
were represented by scores given for each activity. Items were graded on sevenpoint Likert scale to allow the participants more flexibility in answering. The

categories for the scale were 7 points for an activity of very high usefulness to the
participant; 6 high; 5 medium high; 4 medium; 3 medium low; 2 low; and 1 very
low.
3.3.2 The questionnaire for teachers
The questionnaire for teachers was generally similar to the learner questionnaire.
The difference was that teachers responded to the statements as they apply to their
teaching of English. The similarity between the learner and the teacher
questionnaire played a vital role in this study because it gave the researcher
advantages to compare teachers’ and students’ beliefs in the effectiveness of
speaking activities. Thanks to these results, the answers of the research questions
were found out, that is, the researcher could find out whether there was a
considerable mismatch between teachers’ and students’ beliefs in the usefulness of
speaking activities.
3.4 Data collection procedures
The data collection procedures were carried out in 6 weeks of February, March
and April, 2010. The researcher herself and some teachers helped her deliver and
collect the questionnaires.
Firstly, the learner questionnaire was piloted with 20 second-year English major
students. The data were subjected to SPSS program in order to find out the
reliability of the questionnaire. The questionnaires were then redesigned with 6
statements crossed out to enhance the reliability.
Secondly, the learner questionnaires were delivered during class session.
Instructions on how to complete the questionnaire were given in Vietnamese. Also,
some technical terms such as simulations, storytelling, story completion, picture
narrating, picture describing, etc. were explained clearly. The participants were
15


asked to finish the questionnaires in 20 minutes. The students were also reminded
that there was no right or wrong answer and that they should not spend too much

time on any of the items.
The teacher questionnaires were also delivered to the teachers at the Department
of English Education. The questionnaires were collected a week after the delivery.
Finally, the data gained from the questionnaires were subjected to SPSS program
in order to find out any mismatch between teachers’ and students’ beliefs about the
English language learning and the usefulness of classroom speaking activities in
language learning.

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CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
This chapter reports the results of the study. First, the beliefs of the participants in the learning
of English, the learning of speaking and the usefulness of classroom speaking activities are
described. Second, the comparison between the teachers’ and the students’ rankings for the
usefulness of the speaking activities is presented.

Mean scores for all questionnaire items were computed, and all data tabulated.
Correlation between teacher and learner questionnaires via Pearson r was not done
because of the unequal numbers of learner and teacher questionnaires collected.
The two main sections of the questionnaires were presented separately.
4.1 Students’ and teachers’ beliefs in English language learning and
speaking skill learning
Section 1 of the questionnaires including 14 statements was designed to diagnose
the beliefs of the participants in (1) the learning of English, (2) the learning of
speaking and (3) the usefulness of speaking activities organized in class.
The data gained from the questionnaires were subjected to the SPSS program.
Through the reliability analysis, the student questionnaire produced an alpha .7015
compared to an alpha .8431 for the teacher questionnaire. The results implied that

the questionnaires were quite reliable to carry out.
Generally, the students (N = 80) and the teachers (N = 10) nearly agree with
given 14 statements in the questionnaires (M = 3.96 and M = 3.84, respectively).
Specific beliefs of teachers and students were explored through each cluster of the
statements. The mean scores were presented in Table 2 and Table 3 below.
Table 2: Results of students’ general beliefs
Descriptive Statistics

General beliefs
Beliefs in the learning of English
Beliefs in the learning of speaking
Beliefs in the usefulness of speaking
activities
Valid N (listwise)

N

Minimum

Maximum

80
80
80

3
3
3

5

5
5

Std.
Deviation
3.96
.350
3.87
.578
4.35
.559

80

3

5

3.90

Mean

.383

80

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