Language transfer in non english major students speaking performance at hue university

HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - TRAN THI THANH THANH LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ SPEAKING PERFORMANCE AT HUE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - TRAN THI THANH THANH LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ SPEAKING PERFORMANCE AT HUE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: PHAN THI THANH THAO, PhD THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ - TRẦN THỊ THANH THANH CHUYỂN NGƠN NGỮ TRONG PHẦN TRÌNH BÀY NĨI CỦA SINH VIÊN NGOẠI NGỮ KHƠNG CHUN TẠI ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS PHAN THỊ THANH THẢO THỪA THIÊN HUẾ, 2021 STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree in any university I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Signed: Date: / / i ABSTRACT Based on the common reality of transferring word by word from Vietnamese to English of many B1 students in speaking skills, this research was carried out to analyze the cases of language transfer in speaking performance of B1 students in more details and grouped them into different categories This research also aimed to explore their perceptions of language transfer The participants of this research were 83 non-English major students of B1 level at Hue University Both the qualitative and quantitative approaches were employed in this investigation and two main instruments were language transfer cases analysis and interview The language transfer cases were taken from the recordings of 83 students Besides, students also participated into some interviews The findings showed that 65% of the students transferred negatively from L1 to L2 in their speaking performance, which proved that this is a common phenomenon among B1 students In addition, there were 158 cases of language transfer detected in students’ speaking performances and they were categorized into main linguistic aspects namely Syntax, Lexis and Discourse Among them, students found Syntax the most problematic Preposition and to be were the two subcategories that witnessed the highest frequency of language transfer cases The analysis of the detected language transfer cases demonstrated the contrasts and differences in many aspects between English and Vietnamese Through the interview, it could be found that students were unaware of their negative transfer, there are reasons why they transferred and they acknowledged both the benefits and drawbacks of language transfer Lastly, there were some pedagogical implications to enhance the quality of speaking performance such as focusing more on English syntax, especially preposition and to be; involving in more class activities related to language transfer; following the contrastive tables with negative language transfer cases established by the teachers ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my instructor, Ph.D Phan Thi Thanh Thao for all of her sincere comments as well as her significant suggestions and her constant encouragement during my process of conducting this research I am also indebted to all teachers who have devotedly taught me during my Master courses at University of Foreign Language, Hue University I would also like to say thank you to all of the students of two B1 classes at Hue University, who contribute greatly to the accomplishment of this dissertation I also take this opportunity to thank all of my friends for their valuable sources of information through discussions, which helped me overcome the obstacles throughout the learning process Finally, my warmest and special thanks go to my parents and all other members of my dear family, who have always given encouraging words as spiritual supports iii LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 Language transfer in linguistic category classification 38 Table 4.5.1.3 Lacking preposition 84 Table 4.5.2.1 To be with adjectives or adjective phrases 85 Table 4.5.2.2 To be with prepositional phrases 86 Table 4.5.3.1 Indefinite article “a/an” 87 Table 4.5.3.2 Definite article “the” 88 Table 4.5.4.1 Use present tense for simple past tense 89 Table 4.5.4.2 Use present tense for present perfect tense 90 Table 4.5.5.1 The order of adjective and noun 91 Table 4.5.5.2 The order of noun and noun 92 Table 4.5.6 Gerund 93 Table 4.5.7 Subject-Verb agreement 94 Table 4.5.8 To-infinitive 95 Table 4.6.9 Declarative clause formation 96 Table 4.5.10 Quantifiers 97 Table 4.5.11 Possessive 98 Table 4.5.12 Others 99 Table 4.6.1 Word class 100 Table 4.6.2 Plural form of noun 101 Table 4.6.3 Word choice 102 Table 4.7 Language transfer cases related to discourse 103 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1 The percentage of students with and without transfer 36 Figure 4.2 The frequency of transfer cases in linguistic aspects 37 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CEFR : Common European Framework of Reference L1 : First Language L2 : Second Language SLA : Second Language Acquisition ESL : English as a Second Language EFL : English as a Foreign Language CLT : Communicative Language Teaching vi TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii LIST OF TABLES iv LIST OF FIGURES v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi TABLE OF CONTENTS vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Rationale of the study 1.3 Research purposes 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Organization of the study 1.6 Scope of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Language transfer 2.2.1 Definition of language transfer and its development in history 2.2.2 Types of language transfer 2.2.3 Linguistic aspects related to language transfer 13 2.2.3.1 Lexical Transfer 14 2.2.3.2 Syntactic Transfer 15 2.2.3.3 Discourse Transfer 17 2.2.4 Factors influencing language transfer 17 2.2.4.1 Language Distance 18 2.2.4.2 Proficiency 19 2.3 English speaking skills 20 2.3.1 Definition and importance of English speaking skills 20 2.3.2 Language teaching theories related to CLT 21 2.3.3 The role of speaking performance assessment 22 vii APPENDIX 12 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions We also eat many food last week Chúng tơi ăn nhiều ăn tuần trước We also ate many foods last week We also go to Hoi An Chúng Hội An We also went to Hoi An At the end of the holiday, when we start to comeback to our home, we take a lot of pictures and buy some souvenir in that beach Vào cuối kỳ nghỉ, bắt đầu trở nhà chúng tôi, chụp nhiều ảnh mua số quà lưu niệm bãi biển At the end of the holiday, when we started to comeback home, we took a lot of pictures and bought some souvenirs on that beach Table 4.5.4.1 Use present tense for simple past tense 89 APPENDIX 13 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions I don’t play any musical instruments before Tôi không chơi nhạc cụ trước I haven’t played any musical instruments before I live in Quang Binh 20 years Tơi sống Quảng Bình 20 năm I have lived in Quang Binh for 20 years I learn English about 10 years Tôi học tiếng Anh khoảng 10 năm I have learnt English for about 10 years I live in there about 19 years Tơi sống khoảng 19 năm I have lived there for about 19 years Table 4.5.4.2 Use present tense for present perfect tense 90 APPENDIX 14 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions There are people here so great Có nhiều người tuyệt vời There are so great people here Quang Binh is a province small in Vietnam Quảng Bình tỉnh nhỏ Việt Nam Quang Binh is a small province in Vietnam My hometown is a village Quê small làng nhỏ My hometown is a small village I can wear clothes cool such as T-shirt, skirt Tơi mặc áo quần mát mẻ áo phông, chân váy I can wear cool clothes such as T-shirt, skirt English helps me make money more Tiếng Anh giúp làm nhiều tiền English helps me make more money Environment have a role very important to people Mơi trường có vai Environment plays a trò quan trọng đối very important role to với người people Quang Nam have an environment very good Quảng Nam có mơi trường tốt In my country have beach, seafood and have many food delicious Ở đất nước tơi có biển, My country has beaches, hải sản có nhiều seafoods and a lot of thức ăn ngon delicious foods Quang Nam has a very good environment Table 4.5.5.1 The order of adjective and noun 91 APPENDIX 15 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions It has a parking car Nó có bãi đậu xe It has a car parking The weather summer very Thời tiết mùa hè great tuyệt The difficulties I have when I study are skill reading and skill translate book Điều khó khăn tơi có học kỹ đọc, kỹ dịch sách The summer weather is very great The difficulties I have when I study are reading skill and book translation skill Table 4.5.5.2 The order of noun and noun 92 APPENDIX 16 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions I like go travel Tơi thích du lịch I like going travel I like work in a food factory Tôi thích làm việc I like working in a food nhà máy thực factory phẩm I like study English Tơi thích học tiếng Anh I like studying English Because we like play football in the afternoon Bởi chúng tơi thích chơi trị đá banh vào buổi chiều Because we like playing football in the afternoon I like take care of flowers, Tơi thích chăm sóc hoa, I like taking care of read book and listen đọc sách nghe nhạc flowers, reading book music and listening music Tôi thích chơi thể thao, chơi trị chơi điện từ thời gian rảnh I like playing sport, playing video games in my free time I feel comfortable after go Tôi cảm thấy thoải mái to the beach sau đến bãi biển I feel comfortable after going to the beach I like play sport, play video game in my free time We spend time eat together, play together Chúng dành thời gian ăn Table 4.5.6 Gerund 93 We spend time eating together and playing together APPENDIX 17 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions Hue city have beautiful place such as Thien Mu pagoda, Truong Tien bridge Thành phố Huế có nhiều nơi xinh đẹp chùa Thiên Mụ, cầu Trường Tiền Hue city has beautiful places such as Thien Mu pagoda, Truong Tien bridge Quang Nam have the environment very good Quảng Nam có mơi trường tốt Quang Nam has a very good environment Healthy help me live good than Khoẻ mạnh giúp sống tốt Being healthy helps me live better Learning English help me Học tiếng Anh giúp Learning English helps me The weather always rain Trời luôn mưa It always rains Table 4.5.7 Subject-Verb agreement 94 APPENDIX 18 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions I want introduce a little about myself Tôi muốn giới thiệu chút thân I want to introduce a little about myself I want discover the Tôi muốn khám phá văn culture, food and people hố, ẩm thực người there I want to discover the culture, food and people there People need exercise every morning Mọi người cần tập thể dục buổi sáng People need to exercise every morning We need eat enough vegetables Chúng ta cần ăn đủ rau củ We need to eat enough vegetables I plan go out with my friend Tôi dự định chơi với bạn I plan to go out with my friend I have plan play football, play volleyball and have a trip Tơi có kế hoạch chơi đá banh, chơi bóng chuyền có chuyến I have a plan to play football, play volleyball and have a trip Table 4.5.8 To-infinitive 95 APPENDIX 19 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions Because near house, near family Bởi gần nhà, gần gia đình Because it is near my house, I can live near my family I enjoy studying law because my dream when I was a kid Tơi thích học luật giấc mơ tơi tơi cịn đứa trẻ I enjoy studying laws because it was my dream when I was a kid Because a lot of rain in the winter Bởi nhiều mưa vào mùa đơng Because of a lot of rain in the winter Summer is coming so hot Mùa hè đến nóng Summer is coming and it is so hot When I stress Khi căng thẳng When I am stressed I don’t like weather in Hue city because it’s very hot and many rainy Tơi khơng thích thời tiết Huế trời nóng nhiều mưa I don’t like the weather in Hue city because it’s very hot and rains much Table 4.6.9 Declarative clause formation 96 APPENDIX 20 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions We also eat many food Chúng tơi ăn nhiều ăn We also eat a lot of foods It’s very hot and many rainy Trời nóng nhiều mưa It’s very hot and rains much It helps me many in my study Nó giúp tơi nhiều việc học It helps me a lot with my study Table 4.5.10 Quantifiers 97 APPENDIX 21 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions Go hometown Đi quê Go to my hometown read many documents about major đọc nhiều tài liệu ngành học read many documents about my major Because, near family Bởi gần nhà, gần gia đình Because it is near my house, I can live near family and free time I go swimming thời gian rảnh bơi and in my free time I go swimming Table 4.5.11 Possessive 98 APPENDIX 22 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions Myself always improve listening, vocabulary Bản thân luôn cải thiện việc nghe, từ vựng I myself always improve my listening, vocabulary Healthy help me live good than Khoẻ mạnh giúp sống tốt Being healthy helps me live better My school is smallest in Hue University Trường nhỏ Đại học Huế My school is the smallest in Hue University I feel interesting and comfortable after go to the beach Tôi cảm thấy thú vị I feel interested and thoải mái sau đến bãi comfortable after biển going to the beach That’s four reasons I like summer Đó lý tơi thích mùa hè Table 4.5.12 Others 99 Those are four reasons I like summer APPENDIX 23 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions improve translate and vocabulary Cải thiện dịch từ vựng improve the translation and vocabulary Thua Thien Hue is a beautiful province in centre Vietnam Thừa Thiên Huế tỉnh xinh đẹp miền trung Việt Nam Thua Thien Hue is a beautiful province in central Vietnam The difficulty I have when I study is skill reading and skill translate book Cái khó khăn tơi có tơi học kỹ đọc, kỹ dịch sách The difficulties I have when I study are reading skill and book translation skill It’s very hot and many rainy Trời nóng nhiều mưa It’s very hot and rains much I think they like the modern Tơi nghĩ họ thích đại I think they like the modernity Table 4.6.1 Word class 100 APPENDIX 24 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions I really love travelling many place Tơi thích du lịch nhiều nơi I really love travelling to many places I have chance to travel to many place Tôi có hội để du lịch đến nhiều nơi I have a chance to travel to many places We visited many place Chúng ghé thăm nhiều nơi We visited many places Hue city have beautiful place Thành phố Huế có nhiều nơi xinh đẹp Hue city has beautiful places There are many different flavor like vanilla, matcha, chocolate and coconut Có nhiều vị khác vani, trà xanh, sô-cô-la, dừa There are many different flavors like vanilla, matcha, chocolate and coconut I can have many day off Tơi có nhiều ngày nghỉ buy some souvenir in that beach mua số quà lưu niệm bãi biển I can have many days off bought some souvenirs on that beach Table 4.6.2 Plural form of noun 101 APPENDIX 25 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions My fingers too hurt Những ngón tay tơi đau My fingers hurt a lot I really like the holiday in that Tôi thực thích kỳ nghỉ I really like the holiday there Here is famous tourist region Đây vùng du lịch tiếng This is a famous tourist region I can feel relaxed, comfortable after a hard-working day Tôi cảm thấy thư giãn, thoải mái sau ngày chăm I can feel relaxed, comfortable after a day of hard work It makes me not relax Nó khiến không thoải mái It makes me uncomfortable Learning English help me can Học tiếng Anh giúp Learning English enables me I like go to cinema, go to coffee shop, talk together Tôi thích xem phim, đến qn cà phê, nói chuyện I like going to cinema, going to coffee shop, talking to each other Table 4.6.3 Word choice 102 APPENDIX 26 Students’ English utterances Vietnamese versions Teacher’s suggested versions Excuse me, teacher speak again question please Xin lỗi Cơ nói lại câu hỏi giúp em Excuse me Could you repeat the question, please? I with my friend go to the coffee shop Tôi với bạn tới quán cà phê My friend and I go to the coffee shop I with my friends usually drink orange juice Tôi với bạn thường uống nước cam My friends and I usually drink orange juice Table 4.7 Language transfer cases related to discourse 103