VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO.

4 (2021) 149

DISCUSSION
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS' PRACTICES
OF DEVELOPING DISCOURSE COMPETENCE
THROUGH SPEAKING SKILLS FOR GRADE 10 STUDENTS:
A CASE STUDY

Vu Hai Ha, Nguyen Nha Uyen*

Faculty of English Language Teacher Education,
VNU University of Languages and International Studies, Pham Van Dong, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam

Received 2 February 2021

Revised 15 April 2021; Accepted 23 July 2021

Abstract: Being one of the compulsory foreign languages in Vietnam and recently regarded as
one of the requirements for higher education enlistment, English has received growing attention from
Vietnam high school students (Nguyen, 2021). In Circular 32 (2018), the Vietnam Ministry of Education
and Training [MOET] officially recognised communicative competence as the primary outcome of the
English National Program of which Discourse Competence (DC) is a crucial component (MOET, 2018).
Although the program aims to achieve the outcome with more emphasis on listening and speaking skills,
Vietnamese high school students remain to struggle to form extended spoken discourse (Le, 2011). With
the view to gaining insights into the actual state of cultivating DC through speaking skills in students,
the study investigates four Grade 10 teachers with varied backgrounds and teaching styles in a private
school awarded twice by the MOET for educational reforms and their attempts to integrate CLT in the
English language teaching curriculum. After conducting the interviews and classroom observation, the
findings imply that teachers devised a combination of approaches that had implicit impacts on different
aspects of DC-based on students' English proficiency while preserving their teaching philosophies. Such
innovativeness could suggest a rudimentary framework for teaching and teacher training programs
regarding fostering DC in speaking for EFL students.
Keywords: English language teachers, discourse competence, speaking skills, perceptions,
practices, grade 10 students, Hanoi

1. Introduction* English language in Vietnam has been given

more credibility recently with the observable
With the emergence of globalisation, surge in the number of universities that
the demand for a measure to support cross- include international language certification
country communications grows. into one of its criteria for enlistment (Ngoc,
Consequently, people start to focus on 2021). Therefore, students need to make a
language applications rather than language detailed plan for their English learning since
subject learning (Castro et al., 2004). The grade 10th to reach level B1 according to

*
Corresponding author.
Email address: nhauyen6299@gmail.com
https://doi.org/10.25073/2525-2445/vnufs.4754
VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 4 (2021) 150

CEFR after graduation from high school numerous challenges, such as being
(Vietnam Ministry of Education and inexperienced and the negative washback
Training, 2018) and increase their chances of from the high-impact exams (Bui, 2006;
getting into a qualified university (Ngoc, Nguyen et al., 2017; Nguyen et al., 2020)
2021). To catch up with the status quo, the 2) the issue of how to foster DC through
Ministry of Education and Training [MOET] speaking skills which is crucial to
has released Circular 32 in 2018, aiming to communicate in foreign languages (Egan,
renovate the National English Program that 1999). All in all, the research question of the
gave official recognition of CLT with study is:
emphasis on listening and speaking skills "What are the teaching practices
with communicative competence as the applied by English language teachers to
outcome (MOET, 2018). Although speaking foster the development of discourse
is recognised as a critical skill in language competence through speaking skills for
learning (Egan, 1999), students are Grade 10 students?"
accustomed to a grammar-based approach.
Quite predictably, they found producing an 2. Literature Review
extended speech an arduous task (Le, 2011;
Nguyen, 2021). "Competence" was first coined by
Chomsky (2014) that views language as
Dating back to the last few decades,
existing independently from context.
numerous efforts have been put into
However, it is soon re-considered a dynamic
delineating and constructing a relevant
process to use the language pragmatically
framework to foster and assess
(Savignon, 1983; Stern et al., 1983).
communicative competence, the ultimate
Communicative competence can be
outcome of language learning (Canale &
generally understood as a set of knowledge
Swain, 1980; Celce-Murcia et al., 1995;
and skills required to communicate (Canale
Pham, 2007). Among components of
& Swain, 1980; Savignon, 1983). The goal
communicative competence, discourse
of this concept is to put forward the
competence (DC), the ability to produce
fundamentals for effective communication
extended text and speech (Pennycook,
(Celce-Murcia, 2008) and establish a
1994), is crucial in achieving
foundation for CLT (Canale, 1983).
communicative competence and interacting
According to Circular 32 (2018),
efficiently in a cross-cultural environment
communicative competence is "the ability to
(Castro et al., 2004). Despite the attempts to
apply knowledge about language
lay the theoretical groundwork for actual
components like lexis, grammar, and
language teaching practices, investigations
phonology to fulfil communication activities
into applications and methods to cultivate
in speaking, listening, writing, reading to
communicative competence in students are
meet personal or social demands" (MOET,
limited, especially when it involves the
2018, p. 16). Communicative competence
techniques needed to foster a specific
has been delineated through history, from
component of communicative competence.
only two components (linguistic and
Regarding DC, past studies only focused on
sociolinguistic) (Hymes, 1972) to five
writing and reading skills (Mauranen, 1996;
(Canale & Swain, 1980; Canale, 1983;
Do et al., 2018). Hence, to amend for the
Celce-Murcia et al., 1995). The most
possible gap in the body of literature, this
updated model presented by Celce-Murcia et
study aims at 1) the Grade 10 EFL teachers,
al. (1995) defines the five components as
who are at the frontline to be in charge of
discourse competence, linguistic
students' learning while concurrently facing
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competence, actional competence, socio- Canale (1983), Celce-Murcia et al. (1995),

cultural competence, and strategic four main sectors constitute discourse
competence. competence: cohesion, deixis, coherence,
Discourse is broadly understood as generic structure, and conversational
any utterance larger than a sentence structure. These sectors will serve as the
(Kinneavy, 1971; McCarthy, 1991), while framework for thematic data analysis in this
competence, concerning discourse, is a paper for two reasons. First, this is the most
dynamic process in which the realisation is detailed synthesis of what discourse
the speaker's performance in real-life competence includes. Second, each
situations (Savignon, 1983). Therefore, component is selected based on its role to
discourse competence is the ability to constitute the manifestation of discourse and
arrange words, phrases, sentences, and other how it links with other competencies (such
language structures into a well-connected as linguistic, strategic, and socio-cultural).
and comprehensible text (Canale, 1983, To be specific, the elaboration of each
1984; Celce-Murcia, 2008). According to category is presented below.
Table 1
Components of Discourse Competence (Celce-Murcia et al., 1995, p. 14)

Cohesion

- Reference (anaphora, cataphora)

- Substitution/ellipsis
- Conjunction
- Lexical chains (related to content schemata), parallel structure

Deixis

- Personal (pronouns)
- Spatial (here, there; this, that)
- Temporal (now, then; before, after)
- Discourse/textual (the following chart; the example above)

Coherence

- Thematisation and staging (theme-theme development)

- Management of old and new information
- Prepositional structures and their organisational sequences (temporal, spatial, cause-effect,
condition-result, etc.)
- Temporal continuity/shift (sequence of tenses)

Genre/Generic structures

- Narrative, interview, service encounter, research report, sermon, etc.

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Conversational structures (inherent to the turn-taking system in conversation but may extend to a
variety of oral genres)

- How to perform openings & reopenings

- Topic establishment & change
- How to hold & relinquish the floor
- How to interrupt
- How to collaborate & backchannel
- How to do pre-closings and closings
- Adjacency pairs (related to actional competence), first and second pair parts (knowing preferred
and dispreferred responses)

Practice is widely understood as of CLT (Li, 1998; Maley, 1984; Liao, 2000;
collecting an individual's mindset, Do, 2009; Pham, 2017). Among different
experience, skills, and behaviours (Larrivee, parts of communicative competence,
2008). On top of that, the characteristic of discourse competence is prevalent in
practice is what the participants actively act research looking into the EFL teaching of
out their consciousness in real situations, or writing skills (Belmonte & McCabe, 2004;
in other words, what they do (Ellis, 2002; Yang & Sun, 2012), reading skills (Cziko,
Grossman et al., 2009; Lampert, 2010). In 1978; Mauranen, 1996; Ntuli & Pretorius,
this sense, teaching practice is when teachers 2005), and the integration of ICT to help
carry out professional tasks based on their developing discourse competence (Chun,
perceptions of a matter (Lampert, 2010). 1994; Hussein et al., 2016). The findings
Practice entails techniques for facilitating implied that students' performance was
the ability to connect language in alignment improved with the advent of ICT. In
with the lesson objectives and some Vietnam, Do (2018) conducted experimental
everyday activities to form different stages research that showed students' writing skills
of classroom discourse like giving have favourable progress when being taught
presentations, telling stories, etc. (Richard, discoursal knowledge.
2005; Legutke, 2012). In this research, Additionally, discourse competence
practices of fostering DC in students refer to is also underscored as the goal that language
how teachers monitor the classroom and set users should attain to communicate
up activities that intentionally aim to effectively in a multicultural environment
facilitate a particular or a few aspects of DC. (Castro et al., 2004; Ngo, 2012; Nguyen,
Previous studies primarily focused 2016) with suggestions on diversifying the
on establishing the fundamentals of input of students in the class to enhance DC.
communicative competence models by The input should range from knowledge of
eminent researchers, such as Halliday and the language, knowledge of the
Hasan (1989), Hymes (1972), Canale and field/profession, to the world's knowledge
Swain (1980), Celce-Murcia and Thurrell (Do, 2009). In addition, the social-cultural
(1995), Bachman (1990), Savignon (1983), understanding of the speaking context is
Brown (2000), and the like. In Asian deemed indispensable from discourse
countries and Vietnam, multiple attempts competence. Hence, the input relevant to this
have been made to summarise the work of area is equally vital to cross-cultural
eminent experts to propagandise the benefits interactions (Ngo, 2012).
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From what has been elaborated communicative competence based on the

above, the research gaps are evident that CEFR and the CES (Cambridge English
could be filled by the study. First and Scale) with the help of various rating scales
foremost, most studies were theoretical. (the MBTI, the brain profile) to promote
Hence, research that investigates applying personalised learning. The English
such theories is radically on demand, which curriculum in school A follows a backward
is one of this research's purposes. Second, design, which means the course objectives
the insufficient number of papers are identified first, then EFL teachers could
investigating the execution of the theoretical incorporate their unique teaching methods to
framework primarily revolved around help students communicate as global citizens
writing and reading skills, with limited (Wiggins & McTighe, 2006). With the view
attention paid to speaking skills. While to helping students function in a
speaking is deemed to be crucial in multicultural environment, DC is of key
communication, this absence should be more importance (Castro et al., 2004; Ngo, 2012;
acknowledged. Finally, a certain hypothesis Nguyen, 2016). All in all, the
has been put forward regarding techniques to aforementioned factors are conducive to the
cultivate DC in students. Therefore, this isolation of EFL teachers as an investigated
study examines whether the participants, the subject with diverse approaches to
EFL teachers, consider these suggestions developing DC in students, which is what
and devise proper plans to support their this study attempts to discover.
students. Given the critical role of a proper
strategy in the qualitative case study
3. Research Method
research (Gable, 1994), the study chose
The paper's primary approach is maximum variation sampling to render
qualitative research design to examine the richer data and allow the researcher to
research problem that is socially compare among different participants to
sophisticated (Dörnyei, 2007). Because this strengthen the validity of the findings.
study aimed to collect data to gain an in- According to Postiglione et al. (2008), the
depth articulation to form plausible teachers' practices have a close tie with their
hypotheses about teacher's practices for ages, educational background, years of
further investigations, case study is a experience, and relevant experiences. These
reasonable choice to achieve this end contributing factors constitute the
(Feagin et al., 1991). "knowledge, skills and attitudes towards
learners" of the teachers, which could shape
The setting of the study is School A,
their practices (Borg, 2006, p. 7). Those are
the first campus of a private K-12
also the criteria for selecting participants.
educational system with well-equipped
Their profiles are presented in the table
teaching aids and technological devices. The
below. The participants’ identities are
English teaching of the school claims to
protected by using pseudonyms.
foster students' ability to attain
Table 2
The Profiles of Four Investigated Cases
Profile Huong Lan Hoa Lien
Ages 34 years old 25 years old 31 years old 46 years old
Educational Bachelor – Bachelor – Master degree Master degree
backgrounds Local university Local university awarded by awarded by overseas
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overseas institution
institution
Years of 11 3 8 16
experiences
Relevant Specialised in Novice teacher. Used to study Currently a senior
experiences teaching false Used to teach abroad for a teacher and academic
beginner English in public master’s degree manager. Used to be
students. school for 2 in TESOL for 1 the Head of the
years. year. English department in
her previous job.
Classroom 33 students, 12 34 students, 18 31 students, 15 32 students, 19 boys
profile girls and 21 girls and 16 boys girls and 18 boys and 13 girls
boys Pre-intermediate Upper- Advanced level,
Foundational level, around B1- intermediate around C1-
level, around level, around B2-
A2+

After sending the invitation letters teacher had six observation sessions with a
and receiving approval from both the school pre-session and post-session interview for
principal and four EFL teachers, each each lesson.
Table 3
Data Collection Procedure
Name of the stages Content of the stage
Pre-session interview Objectives of the lesson & Rationale for each activity in the lesson in
(N = 6) terms of helping students to develop DC in students
Observation Practices of developing discourse competence in class
(N = 6)
Post-session interview Reflections on the lesson and the effectiveness of in-class practices to
(N = 6) develop DC in students

In the first observation session, the Likewise, during the observation

pre-lesson interview is supposed to collect session, the data is collected using a side
the general methods that the participants note and video recording to make data
prefer to use in their classrooms based on the analysis convenient (Merrell & William,
components of discourse competence table 1994; Carroll et al., 2008; Collier et al.,
by Celce-Murcia et al. (1995) that has been 2015). The observation side note is divided
mentioned in the literature review. In the into two main parts: the first part collects
following sessions, the pre-observation information about the class's profile and
interview is about the general information of overview of the lesson; the second part is the
the class (number of students, their levels teaching practices that are intentionally
and learning styles, lesson objectives and contrived to help accelerate specific aspects
activities, the expected outcome of each of discourse competence according to the
activity). Accordingly, the post-observation components of discourse competence by
interview reflects on the teacher's thoughts Celce-Murcia et al. (1995).
after the lesson.
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Because the conceptual framework 2) Generating initial codes

has clear pre-determined themes taken from 3) Searching for themes
Cele-Murcia et al. (1995) components of DC 4) Reviewing themes
(including cohesion, deixis, coherence,
generic structures, conversational 5) Defining and naming themes
structures), the thematic analysis appears to 6) Producing the report
be convenient to gather findings from the The descriptive coding and In Vivo
data. The six-phase framework of thematic coding are applied to data taken from the
analysis designed by Braun and Clark (2006) interview; process coding to data from
is applied, including: observation (Saldaña, 2009). The example of
1) Familiarising with the data each type of coding is presented in the table
below:
Table 4
Qualitative Coding Examples
Quote extract Code - theme Types of code
I saw that my students still struggled with Insufficient lexical range – Descriptive
supporting their ideas because they could not lexical cohesion coding (Saldaña,
find the words to elaborate on their arguments. 2009)
A particular thing that I know when I'm working Scared to be wrong – DC's In Vivo coding
with Vietnamese students is that the students development's significance (Saldaña, 2009)
here are very scared to be wrong. & feasibility
After each presentation session, the teacher Monitoring peer-feedback – Process coding
always assigned a particular group of students Generic structures (Saldaña, 2009)
in the class to give feedback to the presenting
group.

4. Findings and Discussion agree? Many adults only want to

study because they can get a higher
Huong – The constructor salary instead of wanting to actually
Most of the time, Huong specialised learn the language. Teaching them is
in facilitating false beginner students with like building blocks, and sometimes
foundational English proficiency, around A1 the task can be daunting as you do
to A2, according to the CEFR. She was not want to work with people who
given the title "the constructor" because her already do not intend to study.
core principle in teaching was to "help my
(Huong)
students by starting small then gradually
going up." Huong was careful and apprehensive
when fostering cohesion. To gather the
Huong noticed that her students, as
momentum for learning, Huong did not
false beginners, showed a significant lack of
focus on deductively teaching students the
motivation. She exclaimed:
discourse structures that helped them to be
[Interview extract 1] more cohesive in their speeches. She
Many students only study because inductively exposed students to cohesive
their parents want them to, do you devices via input, such as reading materials,
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listening audios, and videos. The link picking up accurate expressions to use in
between input and development of DC has specific contexts, which is believed to
been recognised by Do (2009) and Ngo consolidate grammatico-lexical cohesion
(2012) when the input is the prerequisite for (Li, 2013).
DC, especially grammatico-lexical Regarding coherence, Huong
cohesion. allowed students to constantly review and
Huong gave attention to both reflect on the thematic staging of their
grammatical and lexical aspects of cohesion. speech by noting down their ideas on the
In terms of grammar, she instructed students paper and using the notes for speaking. With
to practice the same structure with slight the combination of task repetition
variation throughout a lesson. Regarding (answering the question structure "what
vocabulary, she extended the words with somebody is/are like") and pre-task planning
similar ones belonging to the same category (using side notes), the two most used
and explained the connotations behind each scaffolding strategies, Huong could reduce
word to widen students' lexical chains. The the strain put on students if they had to
session was inductive rather than deductive, impromptu. Notably, these scaffoldings also
a more preferred instruction delivery automatised some of the cognitive stages
approach in CLT (Nunan, 1987; Tan, 2005). required for speaking so that students could
It allows students to interact with the target focus more on the thematic structure of the
content as a cognitive process (Piaget, 1976). speech (Cameron et al., 1996; Skehan, 1998;
[Observation extract 1] Segalowitz, 2010).
Huong: So what are your friends like? [Observation extract 2]
Student A (who was reading the Huong: Next, please tell us what
notes of student B with three adjectives your parents like. C, can you tell me?
describing himself noted down): He is lazy, Student C: My mother is strict,
fat, and loyal. violent, and hard-working.
Huong: Really? B? Huong: What, your mom is violent?
Student B: Yes. Student C: Yes, when I do wrong, she
Huong: Alright, good job A and B, will hit me. But I know she loves me in her
but I don't think you should use that own way.
adjective. In English, there are words with Huong: That is typical of Asian
similar meanings but have very different tones. moms. We have different levels of Asian
The class: yeah, true moms, do you know? Like the slipper level,
the broom level, the plate level.
Huong: You can, like, use chubby
instead. Chubby is quite cute. But fat, no, if (Some of the students started to giggle).
that was your girlfriend, you could be in Student C: My mom uses hanger.
great trouble. Huong: It's only a bit over slipper
Class: (laugh) level. You are still lucky.
By giving prompts to students to (C and other students laughed).
produce their discourse first then navigating From the extract above, the
them to reflect on the connotations of their conversation was genuine and casual
choices of language was one of the ways to because Huong demanded an authentic
leave a long-lasting impression of discourse response from the students. Hence, no
formation on students (Long, 1981). As a reading materials and dictionaries should be
result, they would be more mindful of
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within grasp during practice sessions. As a [Interview extract 3]

result, students had to proactively organise The professional training programs
their speech and partake in negotiation to that we had regularly at school now
adjust the discourse (Vygotsky, 1978). only mentioned some general
Concerning generic structures, problems in teaching. I wish to have
although the presentation was the only genre more content regarding how, in the
that the students were expected to perform, most realistic and applicable ways,
its familiarity spared students time to review
the teachers of national exam takers
the discourse formation of their spoken texts
could effectively follow the
(Skehan, 1998; Segalowitz, 2010). Due to
the tension Asian students experience when communicative approach while
communicating in the target language remaining on the track to prepare for
(MacIntyre & Gardner 1989; Li & Lui, the exam...
2011), Huong refrained from the role of an The overall impression was slightly
instructor. She refused to correct students' didactic regarding what strategies Lan had
mistakes or give feedback, although these applied to foster students' discourse
might benefit them (Chaudron, 1988). competence. Her lessons often followed a
Giving priority to reducing the affective Presentation - Practice - Produce sequence,
barriers was a wise choice of Huong, starting from reading and listening exercises
particularly to beginners who might be to speaking practices. This is a natural
affected more seriously (Cohen & sequence of language acquisition (Golkova
Norst,1989). & Hubackova, 2014). However, Lan was
[Interview extract 2] aware that her students were reluctant to
I don't want students to feel that they speak because they were accustomed to
are performing before a judging grammar-based teaching (Savaşçı, 2014).
She provided deliberately detailed cue cards
panel. I want to give them respect on
for the speaking sessions.
par with an actual speaker. They will
[Observation extract 3]
be more confident about themselves,
and that in turn affects their output. Lan: We have completed a reading
passage about the traditions and customs of
Lan – The commander Russia and The UK. Now, we will do a
During her few years of teaching, speaking activity. We will learn how to
Lan, a novice EFL teacher, taught pre- compare things with what we learn from the
intermediate students around the A2-B1 passage. I will show on the slide the
level based on the CEFR. She owned the structures.
nickname "the commander" because of her (On the slide): Compare: both A and
teacher-front manner in class that even Lan B…; the things in common are…;
acknowledged being the shortcoming similarly,...; A is the same as B in terms of…
herself. She partially blamed this on the Contrast: on the contrary; in
ineffectiveness of professional training. This contrast; A is different from B in terms of…;
accusation is valid to some extent, as the lack on the other hand…; unlike A, B is…
of hands-on experience is one of the reasons Lan: Alright, now who wants to
why EFL teachers struggle to follow CLT volunteer?
and teacher-centred approach (Edwards,
1987; Pace, 1992; Nguyen et al., 2017; One student: Teacher, but I speak
Nguyen & Nguyen, 2020). very bad.
VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 4 (2021) 158

Another student: Do you grade us for then whether the speakers needed to
this? "practice more" with no insightful
Lan: Who can speak well will receive suggestions or solutions. The absence of a
a bonus point. And who is called but refuses well-defined marking rubric and proper
to speak will get the point deduced. I will peer-feedback training could be held
show the structures, vocabulary and main accountable for this (Zhu, 1995; Berg, 1999).
ideas from the previous reading passage. Hoa – The listener
You can look at it and speak.
Hoa was an EFL teacher with
Unlike Huong and other experienced considerable experience relating to
EFL teachers, Lan spoon-fed students the intercultural communication. Her students
structures, vocabulary and ideas to the point were of around B1 to B2 level following the
of over-scaffolding (Willis, 1996). It took CEFR. Her students praised her for being an
away the freedom to produce and maintain a excellent listener because she paid close
discourse independently to make it cohesive attention to what the students said during the
and coherent to the listeners (Piaget, 1976; lessons and could recall it with high
Vygotsky, 1978).
accuracy in the subsequent speaking
Like Huong, Lan taught students the sessions. Even her students were amazed at
presentation format "because it was ready- her excellent memory.
made in the textbook, so it is quite Due to the time limitation, she
convenient". Lan relied extensively on organised speaking activities in the class
feedback to guide students to present following the think - pair - share sequence.
appropriately, even though she did not Accordingly, students were guided to level
adhere to a pre-determined marking rubric.
up from just mechanically repeating what
This might help to create an interactive was learned, critically review the
lesson. However, the feedback was information, and then use it to create
repetitive and redundant across different something of their own. Because the
performances. previous activity effectively scaffolded the
[Observation extract 4] subsequent ones, students had plenty of time
Lan: Okay, anyone wants to ask any to review the text's cohesive devices and
question or comment. Remember this is coherent structures (Ellis, 2008; Wood et al.,
compulsory. Group one, anyone wants to 1976).
speak? The same as Huong and Lan,
A student from group one: I think.. receptive input was an indispensable part of
They speak very well. Especially students X Hoa's classroom. Her speaking activities
and Y. The slide is pretty, and the font is easy were tied with the content of the prior
to read. But student Z needs to speak more materials. A wide variety of input helped
confidently. equip students with general knowledge, the
Lan: I agree. The presentation is foundation of DC development (Castro et
logical, the slide is nicely designed, they can al., 2004; Do, 2009; Ngo, 2012). She asked
use pictures and videos to illustrate their questions to help students figure out how the
ideas. But I agree, Z needs to practice more idea was arranged and supported in the text.
at home. Maybe you should present in front Then, there was a follow-up speaking
of the mirror. session where students had the chance to
apply what they learned from the sample
Most of the feedback had similar
content. First, it mentioned the visual aid, instantly into use.
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[Observation extract 5: Practice change their perceptions. Let's say, if you

instructions] talk about one famous sports player, this
Talk about a job you would like to do. should be easy, right? Like okay, I will talk
Follow this template: about Quang Hai, and I will talk about his
achievements, blah blah.. That is not
1. Describe yourself, what sort of
particularly interesting. But if you could tell
person you are.
your personal story about what Quang Hai
2. Say what you're good at. means to you, it's a much better hook. You
3. Say what you're interested in. can offer the audience another dimension to
4. Say what you hope you will be look at Quang Hai.
doing by the time you are 25. Apart from this, she carefully
Example: I'm easy-going, patient, designed the marking rubric for the
and creative. I'm good at working in a team. assignment and asked students to read them
I'm interested in designing clothes so I'd aloud and asked for their feedback. This
really like to work in fashion. By the time I'm could set the goal clear to motivate students
25, I hope I will be working for a famous to participate (William, 2013) and promote
fashion designer. task authenticity (Willis, 1996).
Compared to Lan, who also designed Lien – The constructor
cue cards for students, Hoa's speaking
Lien was the EFL teacher with the
prompts were illustrative. However, this
most extended years of practice compared to
technique left room for students' freedom of
the other cases. She was also the only teacher
expression, as it did not specify what kinds
with experience as a manager and head of
of jobs or ideas they should mention. This is
the English as a second language academic
a crucial part of CLT (Nunan, 1987; Tan,
department in her previous high school. Lien
2005), thus also targeted to the development
mainly taught advanced levels and adhered
of DC, particularly in terms of cohesion and
to the constructivism teaching model. She
coherence.
was viewed as a conductor because she
To reject pre-existing stereotypes allowed great learners' autonomy in class
about the teacher requiring students' and only offered sufficient facilitation when
confirmation and respect as a superior necessary.
(Nguyen, 2002), Hoa spent a significant
She helped students develop
amount of time listening to each student's
coherence by stimulating students to revise
idea like a close friend. She emphasised
their speech and refer it to the contexts, the
establishing the link between the content of
key to communication (Savignon, 1983). To
the speech and students' personal experience
do this, Lien did not limit her feedback on
"because that is what stays with the audience
the arguments that students proposed in class
after the talk". By pointing students to the
but extended it by asking follow-up
fact that their presentations need to leave an
questions. This propelled students to refer to
impact on the audience, Hoa could raise their
their previous parts of the speech and point
awareness of the features of the context
towards their subsequent propositions. As a
where the genre was used (Flowerdew,
result, constant practice of extended
2002).
argumentative activities gave students
[Observation extract 6] chances of mastering the uses of references,
Hoa: So when you are doing a discoursal deixis, and thematic staging
presentation, the point is you are not only (Hanks, 1992, p. 47; Dörnyei & Thurrell, 1994).
giving them the information, but you need to
VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 4 (2021) 160

[Observation extract 7] help the monkey climb the tree. So,

(One group of students was you have the idea. Anyone who is
presenting about the uses of emoji in online new in the company has to learn their
communication) ways like the monkey". Some
Student A (presenter): Sometimes teachers might be like, "Here is what
emoji is also used for dark humour, a we learn today." But I always want
sarcastic way to make a joke but not them to interact with the content.
offensive. They will truly remember it and feel
Student B (audience): Can dark motivated to use it for their own
humour be a milder form of cyberbullying? good. (Lien)
Student A: No, it's just for fun, not for On the condition that Lien's students
criticism, and people do not take it seriously. had mastered the rhetorical structures of the
Lien: To some people, they might genre, Lien adopted a flipped model to save
take the joke lightly, but others might take it students' time. She guided them to research
seriously, and the joke can actually offend or the topic at home then engaged in multiple
hurt them. A, do you have any opinion on this? activities in class (Rajesh, 2015). This gave
Student A: I believe emoji is used students plenty of space to find out for
positively and rarely for cyber bullying. themselves how to form the discourse that
was intact, coherent, and persuasive to the
Because Lien's class was of
listeners (Rajesh, 2015).
advanced level, the input Lien prepared for
them was far more diversified. For example, [Observation extract 8]
she started to introduce to them the idioms (A group has just done presenting
based on different themes or topics. In one about high-end fashion brand using animals
lesson, she asked the class for revision of the as one of the materials for their products)
previously taught idiomatic expressions. Lien: Now, there are many
Surprisingly, the class could remember all of organisations which are fighting against
them and use them in the speaking practice excessive animal killing for fashion and
activities. Since when the nature of second therefore fighting for animal rights, like
language acquisition is not a habit formation PETA. Now, my question is: Why can’t we
(Piaget, 1976) but rather be a cognitive close companies that are excessively killing
process (Hammerly, 1975; Fischer, 1979), animals?
creating opportunities for students to interact Students A: From my point of view,
with the target content was a rational way to because they are very strong companies that
reap the content from the input for coherence have a huge impact on the economy
and cohesion consolidation. worldwide. If we remove them there will be
[Interview extract 4] a lot of relevant issues. So it's not easy to
When I want to introduce a new shut them down.
vocab or idiom, I tend to use Lien: That's right. And one of the
prompts, like pictures. In class today, issues that these companies cannot be closed
I show them a picture of a baby down easily is that they are providing jobs
monkey holding a rope. So I ask for a lot of people. There are people who are
them: "What do you see? A baby depending on them for, basically, their day-
monkey. Why is the monkey holding to-day incomes.
the rope? Because the rope might Student B: And because they provide
a lot of taxes for the society too.
VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 4 (2021) 161

Lien: That is an interesting idea. Do 5. Conclusion

you want to talk more about that, B?
Regardless of the limitations coming
(The discussion continued for a while)
from the study's scope and other practical
The arguments in the Q&A session issues, the findings of this study call into
after each presentation were appropriately attention a few notable phenomena that
supported thanks to the preparation in might carry meaningful implications. EFL
advance. Lien periodically announced the teachers were standing in a dilemma
presentation assignment as a small project, between the new teaching agenda and the
so students had to put more time and effort remnant of old language teaching practices.
into upgrading their final product. This To help students overcome affective barriers
project-based learning model required and the negative impacts of traditional
deeper cognitive functions (Bransford et al., teaching methods, teachers had to be
1999), which laid the groundwork for versatile to adapt to different types of
discourse construction (Li, 2013). learners. Despite having distinct teaching
Less covered areas styles, the four investigated cases shared
The data showed that two aspects of common ground in their practices to
DC were much less mentioned, including cultivate DC in students. These practices,
deixis and conversational structures. The therefore, had been confirmed by previous
exclusive teaching of deixis was meagre, studies, which were: 1) following an input-
while deixis was "the key points of juncture to-output sequencing and putting effort in
between grammar and context" (Hanks, introducing a wide range of input; 2)
1992, p. 47). On the condition that the providing proper scaffoldings, particularly
desirable outcomes of CLT are the task repetition and pre-task planning; 3)
competencies to communicate appropriately giving priority to help students to overcome
in contexts (Savignon, 1983), deictic their affective barriers before DC
expressions should be the field within the development; 4) providing chances of
spotlight. Similarly, conversational putting forward authentic ideas and
structures, the backbone that keeps the participating in meaning negotiations and 5)
conversation going without breaking down preparing a well-defined marking rubric and
(Dörnyei et al., 1994), deserved to be noticed training students carefully to make peer-
more. However, the four teachers had feedback more effective. These implications
admitted that they presumed the students could be meaningful for three aspects. First,
would naturally obtain the rules of conversation the MOET is currently gathering force to
and deixis through the communicative improve the professional standards of EFL
activities they attended in class. This teachers to standardise English teaching
presumption might be true, as indirect teaching according to Decision 2080 (MOET, 2017).
of grammatical and linguistics regulations is As a result, the data from this study can
integral to CLT (Richards, 1990). enrich the input for teachers' training
Notwithstanding, more direct instructions to programs, especially concerning the
raise students' consciousness over these principles they should consider during
matters were necessary because such practices. Another central idea was that the
methods rendered the faster and more incorporation of various inputs was deemed
deliberated understanding of the subject to be pivotal. Therefore, both the teachers
(Rutherford & Smith, 1985; Widdowson, and material designers should be more aware
2001; Richards, 1990). of establishing an input database for EFL
learners.
VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 4 (2021) 162

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THỰC HÀNH CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH

TRONG VIỆC PHÁT TRIỂN NĂNG LỰC DIỄN NGÔN
THÔNG QUA KỸ NĂNG NÓI CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 10:
NGHIÊN CỨU TRƯỜNG HỢP ĐIỂN HÌNH

Vũ Hải Hà, Nguyễn Nhã Uyên

Khoa Sư phạm tiếng Anh, Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ, Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội,
Phạm Văn Đồng, Cầu Giấy, Hà Nội, Việt Nam

Tóm tắt: Tiếng Anh hiện nay đã trở thành môn học bắt buộc từ bậc tiểu học và dần trở thành
một tiêu chí xét tuyển quan trọng tại các bậc đại học và cao đẳng, cho nên việc học tiếng Anh đã trở
thành ưu tiên hàng đầu của rất nhiều học sinh trung học phổ thông (Nguyen, 2021). Thêm vào đó, việc
học tiếng Anh hiện nay đang hướng đến hình thành năng lực giao tiếp cho học sinh, mà năng lực diễn
ngôn chính là một phần không thể thiếu. Đây cũng là một mục tiêu then chốt được khẳng định trong
Thông tư 32 (2018) của Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo. Mặc dù chương trình tiếng Anh mới đã có sự chú trọng
nhiều hơn vào các kĩ năng giao tiếp như nghe và nói, nhưng học sinh vẫn gặp nhiều khó khăn khi diễn
ngôn bằng lời (Le, 2011). Để mở ra những phương án giải quyết nhằm nâng cao năng lực diễn ngôn
thông qua kĩ năng nói cho học sinh, nghiên cứu đã tập trung vào bốn đối tượng giáo viên tiếng Anh với
lý lịch, kinh nghiệm và phong cách giảng dạy đa dạng từ một hệ thống giáo dục đã hai lần được giải
thưởng của Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo cho những đóng góp vào phong trào cải cách giáo dục và đưa đường
hướng giao tiếp vào giảng dạy tiếng Anh. Sau khi thực hiện phỏng vấn và quan sát lớp học của bốn giáo
viên, nghiên cứu nhận thấy giáo viên thường kết hợp linh hoạt nhiều cách tiếp cận khác nhau để giúp
học sinh phát triển năng lực diễn ngôn, tuy nhiên, sự kết hợp này vẫn phản ảnh đúng phương châm và
phong cách giảng dạy của giáo viên đó. Kết quả của nghiên cứu có thể trở thành nguồn tham khảo hữu
ích cho các giáo viên tiếng Anh, cũng như mở ra bước đầu trong việc xây dựng một bộ quy chiếu giúp
giáo viên tự tìm ra phương pháp thích hợp để nâng cao năng lực diễn ngôn cho học sinh của mình.
Từ khóa: giáo viên tiếng Anh, năng lực diễn ngôn, kĩ năng nói, nhận thức, thực hành, học sinh
lớp 10, Hà Nội