Rationale
In the history of language teaching, while many methods have been created in order to help learners study a second language (L2) People have started questioning whether using mother tongue in English classes is useful or not The attitude towards this problem has changed dramatically over centuries and has been the subject of much debate and controversy It is known that there must be different teaching and learning methods for different learners of different levels The way the teachers use to teach the beginners cannot be the same with the teaching method for the advanced learners
However, many teachers and curriculum designers think that creating communicative environment for learners is the best choice It is true that in most language classes, the teachers always create opportunities to help the students practice and get familiar with the target language as much as possible The communicative environment here may be in the middle of the lecture when the teacher is lecturing or communicating with their students in English It will be quite easy for the higher levels but to the beginners who have a limited range of vocabulary or grammar rules of the target language, whether this method is useful is a problem The modern teaching methods focus on the practice and use of the target language as much as possible, which will help the learners get familiar with the language they learn as well as motivate them in the study It is important to note that at the beginning level, the learners do not have enough vocabulary and structures to understand and catch up with the lesson in English The questions are whether the first language plays an important part in teaching the second language and how they are applied in teaching
Being aware of those problems, the researcher would, therefore, like to conduct this research to explore the impact of the mother tongue on the learning and teaching of a second language with some hope that both the learners and teachers can find an easier and more effective teaching and learning method
Typically, the questions to be answered in this study are as follows:
1 What are the impacts of mother tongue on the teaching and learning of English?
2 What are the degree and situations for the use of mother tongue in the teaching and learning of English ?
From the rationale above, the aims of the study were set out in order to specify the research as follows:
Identifying the role of mother tongue in the teaching and learning of English at Thai Nguyen University of Education
Investigating the students' attitudes towards the use of mother tongue in teaching and learning of English
Suggesting the suitable degree and situations for using mother tongue among the 1st year students at Thai Nguyen University of Education
The research is confined to language use in classroom, especially the use of mother tongue in teaching English However, due to the time constraint, the study only concentrates on the impact of mother tongue, namely Vietnamese and how to use it to teach English for the first year non-English major students at Thai Nguyen University
This study is significant for several reasons Firstly, it provides an overview of the use the mother tongue in teaching the second language in general and in teaching English in particular Secondly, the author hopes this study can help the teachers to find a suitable method to teach English as well as change their stereotype on the use of mother tongue Finally, this study also provides some suggestions on how to use the first language in an appropriate way to avoid its negative effects on the students' learning
The graduation paper consists of three parts Part 1, Introduction, introduces the rationale, the scope and the ai ms of the study Part 2, Development, consists of four chapters: Chapter 1 provides the theoretical basis which supports the study, including some mother-tongue – related discussions Chapter 2 presents the issues of methodology including the subjects of the study, data collection instruments and the procedures of data collection Chapter 3 presents the results of a survey conducted for the investigation of the use of the mother tongue in teaching English in classrooms at Thai Nguyen University by means of analyzing the students‟ responses to questionnaires and interviews with the teachers as well as classroom observations
Following the results of chapters 2 and 3 is chapter 4, which gives some discussion for the results and the implications in the teaching and learning English Part 3 of the thesis, Conclusion, includes the summary of the main findings of the study, conclusions, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further study
This chapter deals with different points of views on the first language and its use in teaching and learning a second language Besides, some teaching methods and some kinds of language classes in which the mother tongue can be used are also mentioned It is strongly believed that those different opinions about the use of the mother tongue in class will make some contributions to this research
1.1 Second language use and learning
The use and practice of the second language is not that easy to most learners when the L2 is rarely used in their society It is generally accepted that that learning a language without frequent use and practice is not effective As Lightbown and Spada
(1993) ever noted, the second language learners also have to "pass through sequence of development" Fortunately, it is the fact that the learners have a little opportunity to use the second language (L2) outside the classroom Therefore, it is important to maximize the use of L2 in the language classroom through different activities in class
However, it should be remembered that not all students have the same levels and competence in using the target language Lightbown and Spada (1993) enlightened that even in the same classroom setting, there were still be some students that progress more rapidly in learning a new language It will be impractical if the same amount and level of the language are used for different types of learners For the low - level learners, the requirement of the use and practice of the target language should be suitable and should not be too difficult As being mentioned in the introduction section, there should be different ways of using the language in class for learners with different levels of English It is known that advanced learners are good at listening and interacting with difficult words and phrases in class without the explanation or help of the teacher The elementary level learners require a much simpler way of using a foreign language in teaching
In many situations in which the learners share the same first language, there is a tendency that the tasks which should be done in L2 (e.g conversation preparation, discussion, preparation for writing.) can be done in L1 Many teachers may disapprove of the use of the first language in the language classroom However, according to Paul Nation (2003) there are some reasons for the use of the first language Firstly, it is easier and more communicatively effective to use L1 because some of the learners do not have enough knowledge of the language they are learning to express their ideas
Secondly, that the teacher‟s frequent use of L2 in class may be incomprehensible for shy and low-level learners, thus they become inactive in discussions
1.2 Language choice 1.2.1 Mother tongue or second language?
Basically, the mother tongue is learnt first and the second language is learnt after a period of time in human beings' life A child often learns a language naturally
However, those who learn a second language later in their life are often influenced by many other factors outside the classroom One of those is the prior knowledge of the language which they have learnt In other words, it is widely believed that someone who has a good knowledge of their prior language can learn another language more easily Or, as we can say, the way babies learn a language (mother tongue) is natural but the way that school children or adults who have different or developed cognitive, mental and conceptual capacities pick up their a language is not as natural as babies do It is generally argued that what a person has learnt from their previous language will have great influence on their current target language Therefore, when we talk about second language teaching we should take into account the knowledge and skills of their first language that the learners bring into their target language It is what we call the switching or transform from L1 to L2 In the past, most methods in L2 teaching pedagogy dictated that L1 should be minimized or prohibited in the classroom However, in the real practice of English language teaching, it proves that this attitude is not totally effective Lynn Cameron (2001) stated the gap between that theory and practice According to the researcher, those approaches seem to "ignore the possibility that certain use of a common mother tongue might also contribute to foreign language learning" The question of whether students' first language should be used in the teaching of foreign language has been debated for many years Many people support the idea that mother tongue should be used in class in order to help the learners to understand the lesson better In a monolingual classroom, the target language is supposed to be the only language used in class which can offer the learner opportunity and learning environment to study the language However, it is misjudgment to say that the L2 learners will not think in their mother tongue
Otherwise, there are many controversial points of view that mother tongue should not be used in language class Those people who agree with this stated that mother tongue can prevent the students from the frequent use of the target language In other words, the rationale for the use of L2 in class is that the more the students use the target language in class, the more quickly they can learn and also it can help them to think in English Therefore, teachers are told not to use L1 for the benefits of their learners
Douglas Brown, admitted that "the facilitating effects of the native language are surely powerful in the process or more so, even though they are less observable." And to avoid the "first language crutch syndrome", he somehow agreed with the idea of the
Scope of the research
The research is confined to language use in classroom, especially the use of mother tongue in teaching English However, due to the time constraint, the study only concentrates on the impact of mother tongue, namely Vietnamese and how to use it to teach English for the first year non-English major students at Thai Nguyen University.
Significance of the study
This study is significant for several reasons Firstly, it provides an overview of the use the mother tongue in teaching the second language in general and in teaching English in particular Secondly, the author hopes this study can help the teachers to find a suitable method to teach English as well as change their stereotype on the use of mother tongue Finally, this study also provides some suggestions on how to use the first language in an appropriate way to avoid its negative effects on the students' learning.
Development
In the history of language teaching, while many methods have been created in order to help learners study a second language (L2) People have started questioning whether using mother tongue in English classes is useful or not The attitude towards this problem has changed dramatically over centuries and has been the subject of much debate and controversy It is known that there must be different teaching and learning methods for different learners of different levels The way the teachers use to teach the beginners cannot be the same with the teaching method for the advanced learners
However, many teachers and curriculum designers think that creating communicative environment for learners is the best choice It is true that in most language classes, the teachers always create opportunities to help the students practice and get familiar with the target language as much as possible The communicative environment here may be in the middle of the lecture when the teacher is lecturing or communicating with their students in English It will be quite easy for the higher levels but to the beginners who have a limited range of vocabulary or grammar rules of the target language, whether this method is useful is a problem The modern teaching methods focus on the practice and use of the target language as much as possible, which will help the learners get familiar with the language they learn as well as motivate them in the study It is important to note that at the beginning level, the learners do not have enough vocabulary and structures to understand and catch up with the lesson in English The questions are whether the first language plays an important part in teaching the second language and how they are applied in teaching
Being aware of those problems, the researcher would, therefore, like to conduct this research to explore the impact of the mother tongue on the learning and teaching of a second language with some hope that both the learners and teachers can find an easier and more effective teaching and learning method
Typically, the questions to be answered in this study are as follows:
1 What are the impacts of mother tongue on the teaching and learning of English?
2 What are the degree and situations for the use of mother tongue in the teaching and learning of English ?
From the rationale above, the aims of the study were set out in order to specify the research as follows:
Identifying the role of mother tongue in the teaching and learning of English at Thai Nguyen University of Education
Investigating the students' attitudes towards the use of mother tongue in teaching and learning of English
Suggesting the suitable degree and situations for using mother tongue among the 1st year students at Thai Nguyen University of Education
The research is confined to language use in classroom, especially the use of mother tongue in teaching English However, due to the time constraint, the study only concentrates on the impact of mother tongue, namely Vietnamese and how to use it to teach English for the first year non-English major students at Thai Nguyen University
This study is significant for several reasons Firstly, it provides an overview of the use the mother tongue in teaching the second language in general and in teaching English in particular Secondly, the author hopes this study can help the teachers to find a suitable method to teach English as well as change their stereotype on the use of mother tongue Finally, this study also provides some suggestions on how to use the first language in an appropriate way to avoid its negative effects on the students' learning
The graduation paper consists of three parts Part 1, Introduction, introduces the rationale, the scope and the ai ms of the study Part 2, Development, consists of four chapters: Chapter 1 provides the theoretical basis which supports the study, including some mother-tongue – related discussions Chapter 2 presents the issues of methodology including the subjects of the study, data collection instruments and the procedures of data collection Chapter 3 presents the results of a survey conducted for the investigation of the use of the mother tongue in teaching English in classrooms at Thai Nguyen University by means of analyzing the students‟ responses to questionnaires and interviews with the teachers as well as classroom observations
Following the results of chapters 2 and 3 is chapter 4, which gives some discussion for the results and the implications in the teaching and learning English Part 3 of the thesis, Conclusion, includes the summary of the main findings of the study, conclusions, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further study
Literature Review 1.1 Second language use and learning
Language choice
Basically, the mother tongue is learnt first and the second language is learnt after a period of time in human beings' life A child often learns a language naturally
However, those who learn a second language later in their life are often influenced by many other factors outside the classroom One of those is the prior knowledge of the language which they have learnt In other words, it is widely believed that someone who has a good knowledge of their prior language can learn another language more easily Or, as we can say, the way babies learn a language (mother tongue) is natural but the way that school children or adults who have different or developed cognitive, mental and conceptual capacities pick up their a language is not as natural as babies do It is generally argued that what a person has learnt from their previous language will have great influence on their current target language Therefore, when we talk about second language teaching we should take into account the knowledge and skills of their first language that the learners bring into their target language It is what we call the switching or transform from L1 to L2 In the past, most methods in L2 teaching pedagogy dictated that L1 should be minimized or prohibited in the classroom However, in the real practice of English language teaching, it proves that this attitude is not totally effective Lynn Cameron (2001) stated the gap between that theory and practice According to the researcher, those approaches seem to "ignore the possibility that certain use of a common mother tongue might also contribute to foreign language learning" The question of whether students' first language should be used in the teaching of foreign language has been debated for many years Many people support the idea that mother tongue should be used in class in order to help the learners to understand the lesson better In a monolingual classroom, the target language is supposed to be the only language used in class which can offer the learner opportunity and learning environment to study the language However, it is misjudgment to say that the L2 learners will not think in their mother tongue
Otherwise, there are many controversial points of view that mother tongue should not be used in language class Those people who agree with this stated that mother tongue can prevent the students from the frequent use of the target language In other words, the rationale for the use of L2 in class is that the more the students use the target language in class, the more quickly they can learn and also it can help them to think in English Therefore, teachers are told not to use L1 for the benefits of their learners
Douglas Brown, admitted that "the facilitating effects of the native language are surely powerful in the process or more so, even though they are less observable." And to avoid the "first language crutch syndrome", he somehow agreed with the idea of the
"direct use of the second language in class However, in practice, this approach seems practical and true only for the advanced learners and those who have a good knowledge of the target language they are learning The non-native teachers of low- level students find that L2 only is rather ideological than pedagogical There are many situations in which even the EFL teachers and learners, in practice, cannot handle the situation in teaching and learning without the help of mother tongue To those people, first language is said to be the switching or transference from mother tongue to foreign language use When learners study a second language, it is necessary for them to have a certain experience and knowledge of the communication in their mother tongue The reference to the mother tongue is necessary and useful in the learning of another language so that it can help the learners not to feel unfamiliar with the new language and handle the situation in communication more easily In the course book " Practical techniques for Language teaching", Lewis once stated that despite the danger of word - to -word translation in using English, there are also situations in which first language is of great importance in learning and teaching second language
1.2.2 Factors in language choice The level of the learners: It is the most important factor that decides whether to use first language or target language in the classroom According to Lynn Cameron, the amount of the first language to be used in class depends on the learners' ability rather than the teachers' proficiency For instance, with the learners who have a low level of language, it is impractical for the teachers to use the target language all the time For many years, learners - centered approach has been considered important to all educators Hence, the amount of knowledge that the learners can pick up is really of great importance In this case, students with different levels of English will have different levels of competence in comprehending what is being said during the lesson Whether the learners with a low level of English can understand English only lesson is a big question
Emphasis: Another important factor that may influence the way of choosing the language in language classes is the emphasis of the lesson In other words, as Lynn Cameron said, the choice of the language in the lesson depends on the importance of what is being said Additionally, she also emphasized that the use of the first language may reflect the seriousness of the problems in order to help the learners have clear understanding of the problem As being mentioned, this way proves to be the most suitable for the low-level learners who have a poor knowledge of the target language
In order to avoid the misunderstanding in the process of study, the teachers sometimes can use the mother tongue to explain
Alignment: It is necessary to create the feeling of being aligned with the students It is the fact that most beginners of English often feel shy and unconfident in class when they are forced to speak in the target language It is natural when a student with a poor knowledge of the language is lazy in participating in class activities The passiveness in the class can cause the demotivation in learning On the other hand, there is a fact that most teachers appreciate the English only policy in class and try to speak in the target language all the time It will be suitable for the learners who are at advanced levels or have a good knowledge of English in order to comprehend the whole lesson The English only policy sometimes will make the learners feel unfamiliar and unconnected to the class Lynn Cameron has shown that the choice of language can reflect the teachers' alignment to the students, or, in other words how much the teacher is "on their side".
L1 use in the classroom
It cannot be denied that in order to master a language, the practice and frequent use of the language play an important part However, to the beginners ò language, using a second language in the initial stage is difficult According to Brian McMillan
(2009), the use of the mother tongue is considered as "contravening the basic premises of immersion" Each teacher has her own way of teaching the ESL learners in order to help them pick up the target language effectively It is widely believed that the most usual way of starting from the easiest thing to the most difficult one will be suitable for learners with certain levels By this means, the use of L1 in the classroom is the same
"The amount used was not dependent on teacher's proficiency since they could all use English fluently and confidently Rather, the different seems to come from the teachers' perception of their pupils' ability and the status of the school"
It is the student's ability, as Lynn Cameron ever stated, that decides the amount of the first language to be used It means that in the process of preparation for the lesson, the teacher should investigate and change the way of using the language in the classroom so as to help the students anticipate in the lesson With high-level or academic students, first language should be less used On the contrary, to those who have a poor knowledge of English and low levels, the amount of the mother tongue is certain to be bigger However, it is not recommended that the first language is always used in the whole lesson According to Lynn Cameron, despite the low level of the students, "the core of language content" remains in the target language
However, as being said above, the use of the first language can bring negative influence There are reasons for the teachers to be cautious of the use of the first language In fact, the beginners of English often rely on their previous language knowledge to help them understand the structure, organization and principles behind the target language First language in the classroom should be used with care because its wrong use can lead to a wrong direction and bad result in the learning process
"When to use", "where to use" and "how to use" should be questioned exactly and carefully before the decision on the amount of the first language is made
According to Lewis (1985), there are some situations in which the first language is useful In class, if the students have a difficult problem, it will be natural for both the teacher and students to speak in the first language He also emphasized that the teacher does not need to make the situation become more difficult to the students just by insisting them to talk in English
What will happen in the classroom cannot be predicted The teacher himself/herself should prepare for each difficult situation to happen Although there are some techniques that can reinforce the students' motivation in learning, it is not recommended to use the mother tongue all the time in class However, "ignore the mother tongue in the monolingual classroom is almost certainly to teach with less than maximum efficiency" (Atkinson, 1987, p243-244) So, in which situation should the mother tongue be used?
Giving suggestions: Using students' native language to elicit language can be really helpful in some ways For example, when the teacher wants to give suggestions to the students to say something or ask about the vocabulary like
"How do you say X in English?" In stead of using any kind of illustration or pictures, there is some kind that takes less time and less ambiguity
Checking comprehension: According to David Atkinson, mother tongue can be used to check comprehension of the concept behind the structure or comprehension of the listening or reading text
Giving instruction: Atkinson's reason for using mother tongue in this case is "
Give the instruction in the target language and ask for their repetition in the students' language to ensure that everyone fully understands what to do."
Group discussion: Atkinson suggested that both the languages should be used in group discussion for the early level because in the foreign language there may be some aspects that are "unfamiliar or initially unacceptable to some students."
L1 transfer - linguistic theory of the role of the first language
There are many researches on the relationship between mother tongue and second language learning The aim of those studies is to find out the influence of the mother tongue on the process of second language teaching and learning It is important to remember that the students do not step into the classroom with empty heads but they have lived and communicated in their mother tongue for a long period of time Also, it is not a coat that can be taken off easily and thrown away before a student enters a foreign classroom What the learners have learnt from their mother tongue is firmly printed in their minds Consequently, it is not easy to ignore the transfer of their mother tongue and only use English to think It is natural for them to consider the mother tongue as a medium to link the foreign language and their thinking together In order to have a clear look at the previous points of views of the L1 effects on L2 learning, it is important to clarify its effects on L2 learning in terms of linguistic views
According to Ellis (1998), L1 transfer refers to the "influence that the learners' L1 exerts over the acquisition of a L2" It is known that the first language has great effect on the way a person picks up a new language To the beginners of L2 who are not familiar with the rules of the target language, it is natural to bring the rule of their first language into the target language in the process of learning Therefore, the content of the mother tongue is very easy to influence the use of the foreign language
However, it is not a best solution to force the beginners to speak the target language and follow those unfamiliar rules The pedagogical experts suggested a "L1 transfer" period for the L2 learners which can help them to get used to a new language
According to Ellis, L1 transfer can have both positive and negative effects
When the relevant units or structures of the two languages are the same, the L1 transfer can lead to a correct language production It is called positive transfer In other words, it is likely to occur when learners recognize common features among concepts, principles, skills, structures of the two languages Then the theory which is applied to this language learning can also exist in the other One common feeling and thoughts of all language learners is that they have tendency to be shy and afraid of taking part in the lesson if they do not know anything about what they are learning By this means, those similarities among different languages in the world and the first language, or what we call "language transfer", can facilitate learning Many teachers' explanation of the reason for using language transfer in the classroom is that the ESL learners tend to feel more confident and motivated if they know "something" about the target language Positive transfer is very helpful to foreign language teachers and learners That is to say, the learners‟ mother tongue can facilitate their foreign language learning
On the other hand, when the language characteristics of the two languages are not completely similar, the mother tongue will not help the students to learn well It can even result in their big errors in the process of learning which is called negative transfer The negative transfer is most likely to occur when the learner incorrectly believes that these are common features and improperly links the information while encoding it, or incorrectly sees some value in using information from one setting to another It is also known as negative interference When there are differences in a structure between two languages, the different points will always be the difficulty for the learners Rob Ellis, in his "second language acquisition", stated that in the early day of second language teaching, negative transfer was considered "the result of interference" That is why first language was "supposed to prevent the learners from learning the habits of second language." (Ellis, 1997)
However, in fact, the result of positive transfer seems to be unnoticed According to Ellis (1997), "the differences between the target and native languages do not always result in learning difficulty" Generally speaking, the more similar the two languages are, the more the learners will be aware of the relation between their structures, vocabulary, linguistics, the more input the learners can have.
Grammar -translation Teaching versus Communicative Language Teaching
In the era of technology and communication nowadays, each person is required to know at least a foreign language in order to communicate with other people from many countries That demands from the society has given the learners many new challenges The change in the world of work also makes all schools change their ways of teaching For centuries, the foreign language has been taught with Grammar - translation method, which was first called the classical method (Douglass
Brown,1994) To put it more simply, this method was used to teach foreign language for the sake of being scholar in that language, not for oral competence This classical method, which was first used before the nineteenth century is still in practice in many schools nowadays under the name of grammar -translation teaching method In Grammar translation method, the influence of the mother tongue on second language learning and teaching is partly an important factor It is known that the first language is formed first and, to some extent, affects the way of thinking and use of the foreign language The language transfer, according to many experts, has great influence on the way of learning a foreign language On the one hand, it can help us understand the influence of one language on the other; for example, how the errors appear in the process of learning because of language transfer By this means, understanding those influences, the students will be able to avoid such errors in producing and performing second language In other words, first language transfer can have some positive influences on the learning of the second language So, how is the Grammar Translation method used? Douglas Brown (1994) once agreed with the characteristics listed by the two experts Prator and Celce-Murcia before that classes should be taught in mother tongue with the little use of the second language Richards (2001) also agreed with the contribution of the mother tongue in teaching second language in Grammar translation method but he considered the use of first language as "the medium of instruction" He also emphasized that mother tongue is only used to " explain new items and to enable comparisons to be made between the foreign language and student's native language"
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is the learner-centered method and it emphasizes communication and real-life situations The role of the teacher in CLT is quite different from traditional teaching methods In the traditional classroom, the teacher is in charge and “controls” the students In CLT, the teacher serves as more of a facilitator, allowing students to be in charge of their own learning The main difference is that In CLT classroom, the students are required to use the second language all the time in order to practice using the target language It is considered as
"English only" classes However, Lewis (1985) said that although using mother tongue in class can bring a lot of danger in the process of learning a foreign language, the teacher should not be afraid of students' mother tongue As being mentioned above, the use of second language must depend on the student's level Lewis also thought that the best way is to use both the languages in class For example, in a discussion activity, some students may not have enough English vocabulary to express their ideas while the others can be good at it Both of those kinds of students can share ideas, help and learn from each other He emphasized that the students' native language should be used in some "clearly defined areas" to make the activities in class more interesting and to achieve "a higher standard of English" Mother tongue can be regarded as the bridge or the means for the students of low level of English to express what they want to say
According to Atkinson (1987), after knowing what the learners want to say the teacher then can "encourage them to find a way of expressing their meaning in English, or, if necessary, help out"
The Monolingual Approach versus the Bilingual Approach
Communicative language teaching is becoming the most effective teaching method nowadays Many people have realized its benefits when using CLT in teaching and learning second language
In the previous section, the opposite views of the use of L1 in L2 classroom have been stated as a current problem in teaching methodology In many English classrooms, mother tongue is becoming useless Native teachers are considered better than the EFL teachers The English only policy is the best choice in language classes Those who support the monolingual approach in language classroom state that L1 can give the hindrance to the students in the process of learning L2 However, as mentioned, the support for the use of L1 in language classroom has been increasing which indicates that the appropriate use of L1 can lead to a significant success of teaching and learning language So, what are Monolingual approach and Bilingual approach?
In many Asian countries where English is considered the second language and a compulsory subject in many universities, the teachers are encouraged to use "English only" policy in the classroom This English only policy is what we call monolingual approach As discussed in the previous section, this approach is supported by those who consider L1 as a hindrance in teaching and learning second language Krashen (1982)
Fsuggested the "first language interference" as the "major source of syntactic errors in adult second language performance" or the "indication of low acquisition" In other words, in monolingual classes, the target language is the only language that is allowed to be used
This approach is often conducted by the native-speaker teachers who believe that it can provide the best language environment for students to learn the target language Students in monolingual classes are assumed to be able to learn English faster and to have better performance
In contrast, according to Phillipson (1992), monolingual approach seems to be
"impractical" and "seldom carried out through" in practice and "its very existence puts the teacher into false position" The low-level students have a small vocabulary, limited to a narrow range of topics, with a limited knowledge of colloquial use, and confused about the word orders None of these situations are rare in English-only classrooms, but the important is the level of the language here; for example, a vocabulary of 500-1500 words in the target language compared to 2500-4000 in English The teacher in a monolingual classroom can assume that students have a good knowledge of English and can make use of that knowledge In many cases, EFL teachers of the monolingual class at lower levels of English can find prohibition of the mother tongue to be practically impossible in teaching Instead of looking at the students' native language and cultural background as inferior or a source of errors, they accept the native language to be used as a tool to maximize foreign language learning The mother tongue represents a powerful resource that can be used in a number of ways to enhance learning but it must always be used in a principled way
To put it more simply, bilingualism is about two languages or the ability to speak and write in both languages (productive competence) According to Baker (2006), many teachers see bilingual "as two monolinguals in one person" It means the ability to use two languages at the same time First language has long been considered as a lower language and a source of errors in teaching and learning This view is now being criticized because EFL teachers have become more aware of the significance of L1 Richards (1994) agreed that in bilingual classrooms, the bilingual approach can help the teachers to" successfully communicate his or her intensions, maintain student's engagement in instructional tasks and monitor students' performance on class"
In fact, most language classes consist of a large amount of non-native speaker students who have a low level of English, so most of them often have limited understanding of what is being said in "English-only" class The teacher in the bilingual classroom can be reasonably sure that the learners' knowledge in the target language is not good enough to understand the difficult English structure
In the foreign language teaching, it has been suggested that we should create a
"pure foreign language environment It is no doubt that it is helpful to make the students improve their foreign language level However, is it suitable for the students who only have a poor knowledge of the target language or just start learning it? The differences of the language ability between low-level and advanced learners cannot be denied In this cases, the mother tongue can be helpful to motivate or play as a "language transfer" in the second language learning The debate on whether it is helpful to use mother tongue in English class is still fierce The ESL teacher should be careful in choosing language and the amount of using the first language in class There is always two sides of one thing, but there is no doubt that the first language is quite essential for low-level non- native students of English.
Methodology 2.1 Subjects of the study
Data collection instrument
The study will consist of three parts with different subjects One part will involve a survey questionnaire and the other parts will be an interview and a classroom observation
The questionnaire consists of a number of open-ended and closed-ended questions printed and typed in a definite order and form and submitted to a sampling population The responses of the questionnaire are elicited and used for the study of the research The purpose of the survey questionnaire is to examine the role of the mother tongue and the students' attitudes towards the use of the mother tongue in the teaching and the learning of English One of the advantages of the survey questionnaire is that the writer can collect the opinions in the fastest way but it still guarantees the accuracy and honesty of the results Griffee (2012) agreed that questionnaire can be used to gather the data in a short period of time and also help to collect data in a group which is too large to observe directly The persuasive numbers of the results will assist exactly the role of the first language in teaching second language It is often a good way of collecting a large number of quantitative data The questionnaire consists of 8 questions with different contents about the learners' use and attitudes towards the use of the mother tongue in the language classroom the questions range from ticking (√) to multiple choice For each question, the participants are suggested to give their thought or explain their answer if necessary
The interview will aim at finding the teachers' opinions about the use of the mother tongue in teaching English and how they use it in their lessons Many researcher considered interviewing as a friendly method in research because it does not require any statistical analysis (Griffee, 2012) The interview is conducted in English since all of the teachers are specialists in English while the survey questionnaire was in the mother tongue (Vietnamese) The reason for this is that most of the teachers in this study have been teaching for at least 10 years; therefore, their opinions are useful for my research in evaluating the effectiveness of using the first language in the teaching of the second language Collecting data from the learners' point of view and the teacher's point of view, who are the participants of the language lessons, can provide the researcher a full picture of the fact in using native language in the classroom
The last part will focus on classroom observation in order to experience the fact of the use of the mother tongue in English classes It will be able to help avoid the subjective elements in collecting data The observation is carried out in 10 English classes of Thai Nguyen University of Education The students' use and attitude in the language class will be counted as well as the teachers' use of the mother tongue An observation sheet was prepared in order to have the exact categories that the researcher needs to observe In addition, to make sure of the reliability of the result, no participant is announced about the content of the observation beforehand In this way, the researcher can identify the way the teachers use the mother tongue and the fact of using it in class.
Data analysis
After being collected, the data will be further interpreted and analyzed The data consisted of both quantitative and qualitative questionnaires with 110 students and an interview with 10 teachers The respondents provide the information using standard closed and open-ended questions about their perception and reaction towards the use of the mother tongue in the language class After all the data are collected, they are analyzed to have the best overview on the use of the native language in English lessons
Then the data will be categorized and the number of the answers will be counted
The statistic result will be counted with the following formula:
P = percentage N1 = the number of the participants choose an item N2 = The total number of the participants
The result and data are shown in numbers of tables and charts in order to have the best view on the fact of using L1 in the L2 classroom and to compare variables in each question In the interview part, the data is collected and analyzed basing on the teachers' opinion about several interview questions The responses for the interview questions will be sorted out and analyzed in terms of the similarity in the content of the response
The result of the classroom observation will be counted by the number of times that the teachers use Vietnamese for a single purpose on the observation sheets These data are then analyzed and compared to find out in which situations the teachers often use the mother tongue most in reality Also, the recorded time of the use of mother tongue in class by both the teachers and students is counted approximately only This data is then compared with the results of survey questionnaire and interviews
This chapter provides a detailed description of the methodology employed in this study The first-year students of K46 course and the English teachers of the foreign language faculty at Thai Nguyen University of Education are chosen to participate in this study
The Result of the Study 3.1 The situation of English Teaching and the Learning at Thai Nguyen
Results of classroom observation
Explaining new words or phrases 2 3 3 2 3 2 1 1 1 3 Explaining difficult grammar points 3 4 5 4 4 5 3 3 4 6 checking understanding 1 2 1 2 1 3 1 0 2 3
Explaining complex ideas 1 1 2 3 2 2 3 2 1 1 other purposes 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 1
In order to have an exact view on the use of the mother tongue in the language class, the researcher found it really necessary to do a class observation 10 random classes were chosen to be observed without any announcement beforehand Table 10 shows the result of class observations as well as the number of times at which L1 was used in 50 minutes for different purposes The table displays clearly the items that were observed in the lesson, including giving instructions, explaining new words or phrases, explaining difficult grammar points, checking understanding, giving feedbacks, motivating students in class, explaining complex ideas and concepts and other purposes Although the mother tongue is believed not to be used in the language class, in all 10 observed classes, the teachers tended to use mother tongue in some certain situations in which English does not help According to the observation which can be seen above, the main use of L1 was to explain some difficult grammar points of the lesson This result seems to match with the result of the teacher interviews and the students' questionnaires Therefore, it can be easily proved that most of the teachers and students of Thai Nguyen University of Education have found it necessary to use the first language in teaching and learning grammar points It is important to note that grammar is considered a difficult field which contains many difficult special vocabularies and concepts Those words and concepts can be beyond students' ability to be mastered in English Therefore, it is not a surprise that the mother tongue is often used in grammar lessons The second situation in which the mother tongue was also much used "Explaining the meaning of difficult words and phrases" According to the observation, when teaching vocabulary and phrases, most teachers often use simple English or gestures to explain them However, there are still some difficult words that cannot be explained in these ways, so the first language is the best solution As can be seen from the table, the teacher in each class often used the mother tongue at least one time to explain new words The maximum times that were recorded is 3 times per period at which L1 was used to explain difficult words or phrases For "Motivating students in class" item, as being observed, the teachers sometimes created fun in class in order to decrease the stress and make the students more excited Sometimes they even told a simple joke in English, but most of the time they did it in the first language For some other situations, all the teachers who were observed tried to minimize the time of using the first language and only use them in necessary situations It can be seen easily from the table that in some classes, the mother tongue was not applied in such cases as giving feedback and giving instructions
What about the students' attitude to the use of mother tongue in those classes? It was found that in the bilingual class where both Vietnamese and English were used for teaching, the students felt more comfortable and confident because they could understand what the teachers said, and even in some difficult situations that they did not have enough ability to ask and answer the questions in English, they were allowed to use the mother tongue to ask for help and suggestions from the teachers or their partners Some students in the classes where English was used most of the time, for instance, in Class 1, were somewhat stressful at first It took them more time to catch up with the teachers and some other good students However, the number of "good" students who were able to understand the lesson in English was quite small Most of the time, the other students who had a low level of English needed to depend on their friends to understand the whole lesson Some students in class 1 in which English was used more than in the other classes were less active and appeared bored with the lessons They had to rely a great deal on the so-called good students who helped facilitate the teacher's English instructions and explanation On the contrary, the students from the other classes were found more interactive Although they were required to use the target language for communication as much as possible, they were allowed to use their mother tongue to ask the teachers for help or explain some parts of the lesson that they did not understand
Table 10 below shows the percentage of time out of the teacher's and the students' talking time in using the mother tongue in the English classes This result provides a good source for the author to have a conclusion in how much the mother tongue should be used in class The percentage was counted approximately according to the recorded time
Table 11:The percentage of mother tongue - speaking time used by used by the teachers and the students in the class observation Variables C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 Average
According to the observation above, the average percentage of time in which the teachers used the mother tongue during the lesson was 34% (approximately 17 minutes out of 50 minutes) while the students spent about 39% of time communicating with their teachers and their partners This result does not have much difference from the result from the survey and interview The smallest percentage of time used to speak in native language is about 21% in class 1 while the students in the same class had to use much more time to communicate in the mother tongue in order to understand the lesson This amount of talking time in Vietnamese depends on the students' level of English in that class Therefore, the teacher in class 10 seemed to use much more time to talk in Vietnamese than the other classes The common point in those observed classes is that the time that the students spend communicating with their teachers and partners in Vietnamese is somehow higher than the teachers' time
The result shows little difference between the result of questionnaire, the interview and the class observation Both students and teachers admitted the contribution of the mother tongue in the teaching and learning of the second language but in some necessary situations only, for example to explain some difficult grammar points and vocabularies 20 % to 30% is the amount of time per a period that most of the teachers and students think the mother tongue should be used by the teacher in class Additionally, the students also agreed that the amount of time (40% of time in a period) used by the students to speak the first language should be higher than the teachers' time Similarly, according to the result of the class observation, the average amount of time spent using the mother tongue is only a little bit higher with 34% to be used by the teachers and 39% by the students.
Discussion and Implications 4.1 Discussion
Implications in teaching
Nowadays using the mother tongue can be seen as an ineffective method in teaching language However, taking into consideration the influence of the mother tongue, the relationship between the mother tongue and the target language, and the advantages of the mother tongue into consideration, it is impossible to abandon the mother tongue in English classes This study demonstrates that there are judicious ways in which language teachers can use mother tongue for explanation, in other words, translation from second language to first language in the lesson with the purpose of improving the learners‟ proficiency in study It proves from the fact that it is not necessary to deprive the students from using their mother tongue in order to help them have more chance to practice English
It cannot be denied that the mother tongue has many advantages in the teaching the second language, but it is not easy to use it properly How to help the teachers and the students use the mother tongue appropriately in English class? How to avoid negative transfer and promote positive transfer? It is generally agreed that English teachers should use as much English as they can in class However, it does not mean that the mother tongue should be completely avoided
It is now generally believed that language transfer, or cross-linguistic influence, does occur and cannot be avoided in the teaching English as a foreign language Using the first language can have both positive and negative effects on the study of a second language Raising learners‟ consciousness before teaching can be valuable It is necessary that the teachers should point out the differences between the target language and students' mother tongue and show how harmful it is if the students do not know how and when to use both the languages properly Once the students understand this, translation, or, in other words, the use of the mother tongue, can be useful and effective The students can use the mother tongue with carefulness and avoid negative effects which may arise in their study This suggestion should be done before or during the teaching and learning process
Explaining the meaning of a grammatical item is an important part of the language course and it can be conducted in both English and the mother tongue because explanation in English is sometimes too complicated For example, in teaching the formation of English plural nouns, when examples are given for the students to find out the rule of the formation, it is necessary to let the students speak out the rule in their language The teacher, then, should summarize the rule in simple English so that the students can understand and make some further explanation in the first language An important note is that the mother tongue should be used only in difficult situations which cannot be done in the target language
Maximizing the opportunity to practice English is necessary However, in some situations, for example, checking understanding while the students do not have enough competence to communicate in English, it is not suggested to force them to do it in the target language To check the students' understanding about the requirement of the activities or the lesson, the mother tongue is really useful The teacher can ask a simple question in English, then allow the students to repeat the requirement in their first language The important thing is maximizing the use of English and minimizing the use of the mother tongue in the practice
Besides those situations, the teachers can also employ their mother tongue to correct the wrong pronunciation, explain the meanings of some abstract words and expressions, explain some parts in the listening or reading activities that can be ambiguous In this way, the time can be saved to carry out other class activities Of course, the teachers should always bear it in mind that the mother tongue should only be used when necessary and they should try their best to create an English setting for the students so that the students can have more exposure to English although class time is limited
In the previous parts, much consideration has been put in the issues of using mother tongue in the language class and its impact in the teaching land learning second language Based on that discussion, some conclusions can be drawn out as follows:
Firstly, the role of the mother tongue in teaching and learning English has been denied for many years Although it is the fact that the mother tongue can have both negative and positive effects, it still brings many benefits to both the teachers and students in the teaching and learning process According to the result of this study, the students consider first language as a means to help them study the target language easily To those who have a low-level of English, the use of the mother tongue is of great importance To the teachers, the mother tongue can help to solve many issues that English cannot do
Secondly, although both teachers and students agree with the role of the target language in the teaching and learning process, there are some certain occasions in which mother tongue can do the work better Explaining some difficult grammar points, explaining the meaning of some difficult words and concepts are the most suitable situations for the use of mother tongue All the teachers and students emphasize that it is recommended not to overuse it in teaching or it will bring a lot of harm According to the result, both the teachers and the students suggest an approximate amount of 20-30% of time per period to be spent on the mother tongue spoken by the teachers in first-year classes while the students themselves prefer a little bigger amount of time of 30% - 40% for them to get a better understanding of the lesson and to feel more comfortable in difficult language situation
Thirdly, the students of Thai Nguyen University of Education have various levels of English To the first - year students whose communicative skills are not good enough for them to learn and understand the whole lesson in English, the use of the
Conclusion 1 Conclusions
Limitations and suggestions for further research 41 References
Due to the limitation of time and unfavorable conditions, our study was only implemented in a small scale Furthermore, we had no chance to study its impact on the students of other levels of English Also, this matter is practical to the first-year classes Therefore, it is suggested that other study on the impact of mother tongue onto the teaching and learning of second language should be carried out in a larger scale with a longer span of time Moreover, it is better to study its practical capability in other language and at other levels, for example, the students of third year or final year
1 Atkinson, D (1987) The mother tongue in the classroom: a neglected resource? ELT Journal, 41(4), 241-247 OUP
2 Baker, C (2006) Foundations of Bilingual Education And Bilingualism
3 Brown, H.D (1994) Teaching Principles: An interactive Approach to Language
4 Cameron, L (2001) Teaching Languages to Young Learners CUP: Cambridge
5 Cook, G (2000) Language Play and Language Learning OUP: Oxford
6 Ellis, R (1997) Second Language Acquisition OUP: Oxford
7 Griffee, D., T (2012) An Introduction to Second Language Research Method:
Design and Data TESL-EJ Publication: America
8 Hamers, J F, & Blanc, M H, (2000) Bilinguality and Bilingualism CUP:
9 Krashen, S D (1981) Second language acquisition and second language learning Pergamon Press
10 Krashen, S D (1982) Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition
11 Lewis, M.& Hill, J (1985) Practical Techniques for Language Teaching
12 Lightbown, P., & Spada, N (1993) How Languages are Learned OUP: Oxford
13 McMillan, B & Turnbull, M (2009) Teachers‟ Use of the First Language in French Immersion: Revisiting a Core Principle In Turnbull, M & O‟Cain, J.D (ed.) First Language Use in Second and Foreign Language Learning (pp 15-
14 Nation, P (2003) The role of the first language in foreign language learning
15 Phillipson, R (1992) Linguistic Imperialism OUP: China
16 Richard, J C (1990) The Language Teaching Matrix CUP: Cambridge
17 Richards, R.C & Rodgers, T.S (2001) Approaches and Methods in language teaching, 2nd edition CUP: Cambridge
Phiếu điều tra dành cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất Vai trò của tiếng mẹ đẻ trong việc giảng dạy tiếng Anh
Dưới đây là bản điều tra về việc sử dụng tiếng mẹ đẻ và lợi ích của nó trong việc học tập và giảng dạy tiếng Anh cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất Phiếu điều tra bao gồm một số câu hỏi liên quan đến vấn đề đang được điều tra mà chúng tôi rất hi vọng bạn trả lời một cách thành thật Câu trả lời cho những câu hỏi này chỉ được dùng cho mục đích nghiên cứu
Trước khi trả lời các câu hỏi điều tra, xin vui lòng hay điền một vài thông tin cơ bản sau:
2 Bạn đã học tiếng Anh được bao lâu rồi?
3 Tại sao bạn học tiếng Anh? _
Hãy trả lời các câu hỏi sau:
1 Tiếng mẹ đẻ có nên được sử dụng trong việc giảng dạy tiếng Anh không?
2 Theo bạn thì bạn muốn giáo viên sử dụng bao nhiêu tiếng mẹ đẻ trong lớp học?
rất nhiều một chút thỉnh thoảng không Hày giải thích câu trả lời của bạn:
3 Tiếng mẹ đẻ nên được sử dụng trong khi học:
ngữ pháp từ vựng không sử dụng Hày giải thích câu trả lời của bạn
4.Theo bạn thì giáo viên nên sử dụng tiếng mẹ đẻ trong các trường hợp nào sau đây (bạn có thể chọn hơn một đáp án)
giải thich nghĩa của những từ vựng khó
giải thích một vài chủ điểm ngữ pháp khó
đưa ra lời chỉ dẫn
đưa ra phản hổi, nhận xét cho sinh viên
giải thích cách sử dụng của một vài những cụm từ hoặc khái niệm
kích thích sinh viên trong lớp học (ví dụ như kể một vài câu chuyện cười )
Giải thích một vài phần của bài đọc hay bài nghe khó đối với sinh viên
Kiểm tra xem sinh viên có hiểu bài không
không nên sử dụng Các trường hợp khác mà bạn gợi ý:
5 Theo bạn sinh viên năm thứ nhất nên được sử dụng tiếng mẹ đẻ khi:
khi làm việc theo cặp hoặc theo nhóm
Khi yêu cầu giáo viên giải thích những phần của bài học mà bạn không hiểu
đưa ra ý kiến Các trường hợp khác mà bạn gợi ý:
6 Tại sao bạn lại nghĩ rằng việc sử dụng tiếng mẹ đẻ là rất cần thiết cho việc học tập và giảng dạy tiếng Anh?
Nó giúp tôi hiểu bài học hơn
Nó giúp tôi biết cách sử dụng những từ vựng khó trong tiếng Anh
Nó giúp tôi hiểu được yêu càu của giáo viên trong mỗi hoạt đọng
Nó giúp tôi cảm thấy thoải mái và ít căng thảng hơn Các trường hợp khác mà bạn gợi ý:
7 Bạn có nghĩ rằng việc sử dụng tiếng mẹ đẻ trong lớp học tiếng Anh có thể giúp bạn học ngôn ngữ này tốt hơn không ?
không một chút bình thường rất nhiều
8 Bao nhiêu phần trăm thời gian của một tiết học mà bạn nghĩ tiếng mẹ nên được sử dụng khi giảng dạy tiếng Anh (chọn một đáp án duy nhất) : a Bởi giáo viên
50 % 60 % 70 % không Xin chân thành cảm ơn sự giúp đỡ của các bạn !
Questionnaire for the 1st -year students The role of mother tongue in teaching English
Below is an inventory to see your attitudes towards the use of mother tongue in English classroom and its benefits in the learning of English There are a number of statements and questions that we would like you to answer sincerely The answers will be used for research purposes only
Before doing the survey, we would like you to give some basic information as follows
1 Which department are you studying in?
2 How long have you been learning English?
3 Why do you learn English? _
Now please give your ideas about the following questions
1 Should mother tongue be used in English classroom? Yes No
2 How much do you like your teacher to use your mother tongue in class:
a lot a little sometimes no Give your explanation:
3 It's better to use mother tongue when learning:
grammar vocabulary none of them Give your explanation:
4 When do you think the teacher should use mother tongue in English classroom?
explaining the meanings of some difficult words
explaining some complex grammar rules
explaining the use of some phrases or concepts
motivating students in class (telling some jokes )
Explaining some parts of the reading or listening that are too difficult to the students
5 When do you think students should be allowed to use mother tongue in class?
when working in pairs or groups
when asking the teachers to explain some parts of the lessons that you don't understand
6 Why do you think using mother tongue is necessary in English classroom ?
it helps me to understand the lesson better
It helps me to know how to use some difficult words and phrases better
It helps me to understand the teacher's requirement of each activity
It helps me to feel more comfortable and less stressed Others:
7 Do you think the use of mother tongue in English classroom can help you learn this language well?
8 What percentage of time do you think mother tongue should be used in class? (Choose only one) a by the teacher:
Thank you for your co-operation!
Interview questions for the Teachers
Below are some questions related to the use of mother tongue in general and Vietnamese in particular Please, answer them sincerely
1 In what way do you think the English native teachers are better than the teachers of the first language when teaching English to the first-year students?
2 When do you allow your students to speak in Vietnamese?
3 Do you think using Vietnamese is necessary to teach English to the 1st-year students? Why?
4 How often do you use Vietnamese to teach English to the first-year students?
5 What benefits do you and your first years students gain from using Vietnamese in an English class?
6 When and how should mother tongue be used to teach English to the 1st-year students?
7 How much time do you think Vietnamese should be used to teach English to the 1st-year students?
Items Teacher's activities Student's response
Explaining new words or phrases