ict in foreign language teaching in an innovative ...

ICT IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING IN AN INNOVATIVE UNIVERSITY IN VIETNAM: CURRENT PRACTICES AND FACTORS AFFECTING ICT USE

Submitted by

Xuan Thu Dang B.A., Hanoi University, Vietnam Graduate Diploma PG in TESOL, University of Canberra, Australia M.A. in TESOL, University of Sydney, Australia

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Education

Faculty of Education, Melbourne La Trobe University Bundoora, Victoria 3086 Australia

Date of submission: 28 August, 2013

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis. The thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree of diploma in any other tertiary institution. This thesis integrates the publications authored by me or with my supervisors during my candidature as listed below. Most of them have been drawn on and all uses acknowledged. All research procedures reported in the thesis were approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee, Faculty of Education, La Trobe University, FHEC No. R053/09.

Xuan Thu Dang Date: 28 August, 2013 Publications integrated in the thesis: Dang, X. T. (2011). Factors influencing teachers’ use of ICT in language teaching: A case study of Hanoi University, Vietnam. Proceedings of the International Conference “ICT for Language Learning” 4th edition, 20th-21st October, 2011, Florence, Italy. Retrieved from http://www.pixel-online.net/ICT4LL2011/conferenceproceedings.php Dang, X. T. (2012). Using internet resources to teach listening and speaking. Paper presented at the ICTEV 2012 State Conference: Creative Connections, Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved from http://ictev.vic.edu.au/node/2358 Dang, X. T., Nicholas, H., & Lewis, R. (2012a). Factors affecting ubiquitous learning from the viewpoint of language teachers: A case study from Vietnam. Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal, 4(2), 57-68. Retrieved from http://ijq.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.186/prod.176 Dang, X. T., Nicholas, H., & Lewis, R. (2012b). Key barriers to ICT uptake in foreign language teaching in Vietnam: A case study. Proceedings of the 6th International Technology, Education and Development Conference, 5-7 March, 2012, Valencia, Spain. Retrieved from http://www.iated.org/inted2012/ Pham, N. T., Thalathoti, V., Dakich, E., & Dang, X. T. (2012). English discoveries online (EDO): Examining leaner-instructor interaction: A case study at Hanoi University, Vietnam. Proceedings of the First Teleconference on ICT in ELT in Vietnam, 23 September, 2012., Hanoi. Retrieved from http://etesol.edu.vn/index.php/teleconference Dang, X. T., Nicholas, H., & Lewis, R. (2013). ICT training and ICT use among Vietnamese foreign language teachers. Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal, 5(3), 13-24. Retrieved from http://ijq.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.186/prod.213

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere thanks to the following people who have contributed to the completion of this thesis: My principal supervisor, Dr Howard Nicholas, for his dedicated supervision, invaluable guidance, critical thinking, detailed comments and practical suggestions; My co-supervisor, Professor Ramon Lewis, for his professional guidance on data analysis with SPSS, constructive feedback and continuous encouragement; Mr Nguyen Xuan Vang, Director General, Vietnam International Education, Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam for his continuous support, encouragement and provision of essential information regarding different aspects of Vietnamese education system; President of Hanoi University (HANU), Associate Professor, Dr Nguyen Dinh Luan, for his strong support and approval for data collection at HANU; The academic staff at HANU for taking part in this study by answering the questionnaire and/or participating in the follow-up semi-structured interviews; a group of HANU students for their help in transcribing 20 interviews; Associate Professor Lina Pelliccione, Head of School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, Curtin University, Australia for allowing me to adapt her survey; My PhD friends, Dang Tan Tin, Nguyen Cao Thanh, Tran Thi Tuyet, Pham Ngoc Thach, Do Minh Hoang, Ngo Van Giang and Nguyen Nguyet Minh for their positive encouragement throughout the study; The Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) programme of AUSAID for granting me the ALA scholarship and generous financial sponsorship; Sponsored Students Officer, Ms Tina Huynh, International Office, La Trobe University for her prompt support and enthusiastic encouragement; My mother, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoang, and my parents-in-law, Mr. Le Trong Cuong and Mrs. Duong Khanh Ngoc, for their love, encouragement and support. Last but not least, my beloved wife, Le Phuong Dzung, and my dear daughters, Dang Phuong Khanh and Dang Bao Chau for their endless love, care, support, tolerance, understanding and encouragement throughout my research journey. Although my father is not alive to see me completing the doctorate studies, he is always in my heart during the thesis writing. Without all these people, this thesis would never have been completed.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of Authorship Acknowledgements Table of Contents List of Tables List of Figures List of Appendices List of Abbreviations Abstract & Keywords

i ii iii v v vi vi viii

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Thesis organisation

1 1 10 10 11 12

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 2.2 ICT tools for foreign language teaching and learning 2.2.1 Different uses of ICT in foreign language teaching 2.2.2 Awareness of possible disadvantages of ICT in teaching 2.3 Factors influencing ICT use 2.3.1 Teacher level factors 2.3.2 Institutional level factors 2.4 The theoretical framework of this study 2.5 Summary of Chapter Two

14 14 14 15 16 18 18 26 30 38

Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND METHODS 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Research paradigm, methodology and methods 3.3 Research design 3.4 Piloting the questionnaire 3.5 Site of study 3.6 Data collection 3.6.1 Quantitative data collection - Questionnaire 3.6.2 Qualitative data collection - Interviews 3.7 Data analysis 3.7.1 Quantitative data analysis with SPSS 3.7.2 Qualitative data analysis with NVivo

41 41 41 43 44 45 46 46 51 54 54 54

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3.8 Reliability and validity 3.9 Ethical considerations 3.10 Summary of Chapter Three

54 55 58

Chapter 4: RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS 4.1 Research question 1: ICT use 4.1.1 Purposes of ICT use 4.1.2 Different dimensions of ICT use 4.2 Research question 2: Factors influencing ICT use 4.2.1 Identifying major factors 4.2.2 Major factors and their relations with ICT use 4.3 Summary of Chapter Four

59 59 60 70 80 81 92 103

Chapter 5: DISCUSSION 5.1 Research question 1: ICT use 5.1.1 Technological dimension of ICT use 5.1.2 Pedagogical dimension of ICT use 5.2 Research question 2: Factors influencing ICT use 5.3 Summary of Chapter Three

105 105 106 107 110 119

Chapter 6: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Key results of the study 6.1.1 ICT use by teachers 6.1.2 Factors affecting ICT use 6.2 Major contributions of this study 6.2.1 Theoretical contribution 6.2.2 Country-specific contribution 6.3 Implications of the study 6.3.1 Implications for university leaders 6.3.2 Implications for language teachers 6.3.3 Implications for ICT support staff 6.4 Limitations of the study 6.5 Recommendations for a new research agenda 6.6 Conclusions

121 121 121 124 127 127 129 129 130 133 134 135 137 140

REFERENCES

142

APPENDICES

171

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List of Tables Table 4.1 Table 4.2 Table 4.3 Table 4.4 Table 4.5 Table 4.6 Table 4.7 Table 4.8 Table 4.9 Table 4.10 Table 4.11 Table 4.12 Table 4.13 Table 4.14 Table 4.15

ICT tools for lesson preparation and classroom teaching An extract of the total variance explained of three groups Eigenvalue from PCA vs. random ordered value from PA Pattern Matrix for PCA with Oblimin rotation of the first group (Q13.1-Q13.20) Pattern Matrix for PCA with Oblimin rotation of the second group (Q13.21-Q13.44) Pattern Matrix for PCA with Oblimin rotation of the third group (Q13.45-Q13.61) Eleven factor scales from three groups of factor analysis Correlations between 11 factors and ICT use Models of prediction for ICT use for lesson preparation – hierarchical multiple regressions Models of prediction for ICT use for classroom teaching – hierarchical multiple regressions Correlation between core constructs of UTAUT model and ICT use Pattern matrix of second order factor analysis Multiple regression analysis of inhibitors/facilitators and ICT use for lesson preparation Multiple regression analysis of inhibitors/facilitators and ICT use for classroom teaching Correlations of ICT use, facilitators, inhibitors between teachers of English and teachers of other languages

60 83 85 87 88 89 91 92 95 95 98 99 100 101 102

List of Figures Figure 2.1

The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) The extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT 2) The pedagogy * technology model of information and communications technology integration in education The combined unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and pedagogy * technology model (C-UTAUTPTM) as the theoretical framework for this study

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Figure 3.1

Design of the mixed methods study

47

Figure 4.1

Scree plots of three groups of items

84

Figure 2.2 Figure 2.3 Figure 2.4

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34 36 37

List of Appendices Appendix 1: Appendix 2: Appendix 3: Appendix 4: Appendix 5: Appendix 6: Appendix 7: Appendix 8: Appendix 9: Appendix 10: Appendix 11:

Survey questionnaire Interview protocols Selected quotes from interviews: Vietnamese & English Study documents Approval letter of HANU President Human Research Ethics Committee Approvals Statement of Audit Trail Useful ICT applications from the literature Useful ICT applications suggested by survey participants Demographics Statistical tables relating to data analyses in Chapter 4

172 186 188 197 211 213 214 215 221 226 228

List of Abbreviations HANU ICT CALL UTAUT PE EE SI FC UTAUT 2 PTM C-UTAUT-PTM MOFA MOET DOET VNNIC SPSS ANOVA NVivo NAATI IELTS EFA PCA PA PBAE EOU PBT TPB

Hanoi University, Vietnam Information and communications technology Computer-assisted language learning Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology Performance expectancy Effort expectancy Social influence Facilitating conditions Extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology Pedagogy * technology model for information and communications technology integration in education The combined unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and pedagogy * technology model Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam Department of Education and Training, Vietnam Vietnam National Internet Centre Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Analysis of variance A qualitative data analysis software produced by QSR International National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters International English Language Testing System (an international standardised test of English language proficiency) Exploratory factor analysis Principal components analysis Parallel analysis Positive beliefs, attitudes, experience Ease of use Perceived benefits for students Teacher perception of benefits

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DFT PFO LS G LA IT TP BECTA USB TESOL TESL TEFL UNESCO OECD NETS ISTE BYOD MOOCs ELT ESL EFL ASEAN BBC ABC CNN VOA CD CD-ROM EDO UK USA BC AD N/A n/a

Disadvantages for teachers Pressure from others Leadership support Guidelines Limited access ICT training Technical problems British Educational and Communications Technology Agency Universal serial bus (a flash drive for data storage) Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Teaching of English as a second language Teaching English as a foreign language United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development National Educational Technology Standards International Society for Technology in Education Bring your own device Massive open online courses English language teaching English as a second language English as a foreign language Association of Southeast Asian Nations British Broadcasting Corporation Australian Broadcasting Corporation Cable News Network Voice of America Compact Disc Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory English Discoveries Online United Kingdom United States of America Before Christ Anno Domini Not applicable Not available

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ABSTRACT The aims of this study are to document current practices of ICT in teaching foreign languages and investigate major factors influencing ICT use by teachers of foreign languages in one innovative university in Vietnam. The research uses the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) of Venkatesh et al. (2003) and Lin, Wang and Lin’s pedagogy * technology model (2012) as the main theoretical frameworks to better understand and explain what teachers are doing with ICT and which factors encourage or discourage their ICT usage. A mixed methods approach was employed, starting with a survey of language teachers (n = 222), then semi-structured interviews with senior university leaders (n =18), classroom teachers (n = 23) and ICT support staff (n = 2). The study shows that a majority of teachers used ICT for lesson preparation and classroom teaching but their usage was restricted to some frequently used applications and practices such as word processing, PowerPoint presentations, Internet search and downloading. Their usage was affected by 11 major factors. Those factors were initially categorised as 7 barriers (lack of adequate ICT training, disadvantages for teachers, lack of leadership support, limited access to ICT facilities, pressure from others, technical problems and lack of guidelines) and 4 enablers (positive beliefs, attitudes and experience, ease of ICT use, teacher perception of ICT benefits and perceived ICT benefits for students). Positive beliefs, attitudes and experience plus ease of use are the strongest predictors of ICT use. It emerged that the ‘barriers’ mentioned above positively related to ICT use, meaning that they did not prevent usage. The more engaged teachers were with ICT, the more aware they became of the challenges. Consequently ‘barriers’ need to be re-classified as challenges to ICT use, which users overcome. The findings suggest a need for dissemination of good ICT practices and teacher-specific professional development programs, emphasising effective pedagogical use of ICT. The UTAUT model reveals facilitating conditions and effort expectancy as the dominant influencing factors while the pedagogy * technology model discloses the current scope of ICT use ranging from level 1(non-use) to level 5 (customising multimedia resources) on the technological dimension, and from direct teaching (level A) to cognitively active learning (level B) on the pedagogical dimension. This study makes substantial contributions by adding the pedagogy * technology model to expand the construct of “use behaviour” in UTAUT into technological and pedagogical uses of ICT for lesson preparation and classroom teaching; and providing updated knowledge about ICT practices and key factors affecting ICT use in teaching foreign languages at tertiary level in a less studied country such as Vietnam. The study suggests that models of technology acceptance may not work in the same way for all professions and may work differently according to beliefs, attitudes, experiences and cultures of participants. Keywords: Information communications technology (ICT), ICT use, factors affecting ICT use, UTAUT, pedagogy * technology model, foreign language teaching, higher education, Hanoi University (HANU), Vietnam

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