Code switching in communication by male and female english majors a case study at universities in binh duong province

Trang 1 BINH DUONG PROVINCIAL PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY DO THANH NHAN “CODE-SWITCHING IN COMMUNICATION BY MALE AND FEMALE ENGLISH MAJORS: A CASE STUDY AT UNIVERSITIES IN

BINH DUONG PROVINCIAL PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY DO THANH NHAN “CODE-SWITCHING IN COMMUNICATION BY MALE AND FEMALE ENGLISH MAJORS: A CASE STUDY AT UNIVERSITIES IN BINH DUONG PROVINCE” MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAJOR CODE: 8220201 MASTER THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE BINH DUONG, 2023 BINH DUONG PROVINCIAL PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY DO THANH NHAN “CODE-SWITCHING IN COMMUNICATION BY MALE AND FEMALE ENGLISH MAJORS: A CASE STUDY AT UNIVERSITIES IN BINH DUONG PROVINCE” MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAJOR CODE: 8220201 MASTER THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE SUPERVISED BY TRAN THANH DU, Ph D BINH DUONG, 2023 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Background of the Study 1.3 Aim(s) of the study 12 1.4 Research questions 12 1.5 Significance of the study 13 1.6 Scope of the study 13 1.7 Summary 14 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 15 2.1 Introduction 15 2.2 Definition of Code-switching 16 2.3 Types of Code-switching 19 2.4 The functions of Code-switching 20 2.5 The Concept of First and Second Language 23 2.6 Bilingual Communication 24 2.7 The Differences in Communication between Males and Females 24 2.8 Gender and Language 29 2.9 Gender and Code-Switching 30 2.10 Code-Switching and Register 34 2.11 Overview of Studies Related to the Code-switching Phenomenon in Vietnam 36 2.12 Overview of Worldwide Studies Related to the Code-switching Phenomenon 37 2.13 Theoretical Framework 41 2.14 Chapter summary 45 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 46 3.1 Research Design 46 3.2 Settings for the present study 47 3.3 Instrument 47 3.4 Sampling 50 3.5 Ethical considerations 51 3.6 Participants 52 3.7 Data collection procedures 52 3.8 Data analysis 53 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 55 4.1 Introduction 55 4.2 Results 55 4.2.1 Results from the Questionnaire 55 Part I: Essential questions (Questions 1, 2, 3, and 4) 55 Part II (Questions 5, 6, and 7) 58 Part III (Questions 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12) 61 4.2.2 Results from the Interviews 65 4.2.2.1 Results from the Interviews with the Students 65 4.2.2.2 Results from the Interviews with the Teachers 66 4.3 Findings 66 4.3.1 Findings (organized by Research Questions) 66 4.3.2 The Study’s Findings and Discussion 67 4.3.3 Some illustration examples for cases of CS of male and female learners 69 4.4 Summary of Findings 70 4.5 Chapter summary 71 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 72 5.1 Conclusion 72 5.2 Suggestions 73 5.2.1 To the Students 73 5.2.2 To the Teachers 73 5.2.3 To the Faculty of Foreign Languages 74 5.3 Implications 74 5.4 Limitations 76 5.5 Suggestions for Future Research 76 5.6 Chapter summary 77 REFERENCES 78 Appendix A: English Questionnaire 90 Appendix B: Vietnamese questionnaire 95 Appendix C: Table Responses from the students 99 Appendix D: Table Responses from the teachers 106 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify my authorship of the Master thesis submitted today entitled: “Code-switching in Communication by Male and Female English Majors: A Case Study at Universities in Binh Duong Province” for the degree of English Linguistics Master, is the result of my own research, except where otherwise acknowledged, and that this thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree at any other institutions To the best of my knowledge, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by other people except where the reference is made in the thesis itself Binh Duong, October 2023 Đỗ Thành Nhân ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply indebted to a number of people for helping to make this MA thesis possible First and foremost, my deepest gratitude goes to Dr Tran Thanh Du, my supervisor, who supported and encouraged me generously throughout this research study Without his excellent academic guidance and support, my thesis would not have been possible I would like to sincerely thank the anonymous participants who contributed data to this study Many thanks also to the teachers at Thu Dau Mot and Binh Duong universities, who kindly allowed me to involve their students in the data collection process Without their outstanding cooperation, this thesis would not have been completed My appreciation is also extended to a number of staff members of the Faculty of Foreign Language at Thu Dau Mot and Binh Duong Universities for offering me the opportunity to implement the thesis I would like to send my very special thanks to my close friends for their kind support and warm encouragement throughout my difficult times completing the thesis Without them, I could not have overcome my ups and downs and concentrated on my studies And last, but by no means least, my heartfelt thanks go to my parents, without whose unfailing love and understanding I cannot complete this program ABSTRACT Nowadays, code-switching is a common and intricate phenomenon Together with the rise of increasingly bilingual and multilingual communities, code-switching has become a critical linguistic and academic issue The purposes of this study are to discover the features of code-switching toward male English learners on the impact of their first language and second language; the features of code-switching toward female English learners on the impact of their language (L1) and second language (L2) to identify the differences and similarities in code-switching between male and female English-majored students on the impact of their first language (L1) and second language (L2), and to suggest the solutions as well as some implications for English teaching community including language learners, teachers, and curriculum developers in terms of speaking abilities A total of 150 students from Thu Dau Mot University and Binh Duong University in Binh Duong province were included in the study The data were collected and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively through a mixedmethod study using the tools of a questionnaire (for students) and a semi-structured interview (for teachers and students in charge of the experimental classes) According to the study results, English-majored students could only occasionally switch from L1 to L2 language during discussions and may require more effort to acquire higher IELTS scores Furthermore, English-majored students rarely convert from their native tongue to another second language and should regard English as the classroom instruction language However, alternating between native and L2 languages is beneficial For further research, the author suppose that the other researchers may work on the other popular languages such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean in terms of code-switching perspective to provide more delightful insights of code-switching phenomenon in bilingual community LIST OF TABLES Number of Names tables Table The percentage of male and female students Table The number of languages that students speak well Table The languages students use to communicate with their university friends Table The language(s) students use to interact with their English teachers Table The frequencies of switching/changing from one language to another one during one class period at university among students Table The correlation between gender and code-switching frequencies Table Rationales for using words in students’ language even while speaking English Table Responses from the students Table Responses from the teachers LIST OF FIGURES Number of Names figures Figure The type of and degree of code-switching (Adapted from Poplack, 1980) Fugure Conceptual Framework of the Study Figure Student sample size calculated by Yamane’s (1967) formula Figure Students’ best or highest test scores in TOEFL/IELTS Figure Students’ age groups Figure The language(s) is spoken most often by students LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS • CS: Code-switching • L1 Language: The First Language • L2 Language: The Second Language • LCT: Language Contact Theory • SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences