SUMMARY OF THESIS TEACHERS USE OF THE MOTHER TONGUE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS AT A LANGUAGE CENTER A CASE STUDY

1 PART I: INTRODUCTION This part introduces the rationale, the scope, the aims, the research questions, the research methodology and the design of the study. 1. Rationale of the study In the process of foreign language teaching, the issue of the mother tongue (MT) itself has been debated for many years. In the global scale, there have been various studies focusing on this topic such as the studies conducted by Schweers (1999) at the University of Puerto Rico, Beressa (2003) at Adama Teachers College, Tang (2002) at a university in Beijing, Duff and Polio (2009) at University of California, Al-Nofaie (2010) in Saudi public schools. It is obvious that most of them have investigated this issue at high level of education. In addition, these studies emphasized mainly the use of the first language from two sides: teachers and learners. In Vietnamese context, however, it is rather difficult to find research in this topic. Kieu Hang Kim Anh (2010) investigated the attitudes of Vietnamese University teachers toward Vietnamese use in English language teaching. Comes to the conclusion, there still exists huge gaps on the reality of using the mother tongue in classroom at every level, in every aspect in Vietnam. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the issue of the MT use in second language classroom from different perspectives and in different fields. This study focused on only one of those factors that are teacher’s use of MT in classes for young learners. The reason the researcher focused on teachers’ use of the MT is that teachers’ talk or language choice in the L2 classroom has a central role and is of great significance to language learners 2. Aims and objectives of the study The aim of this study is to examine teacher’s use of the MT- Vietnamese in English language classroom for young learners at an English centre. 2 The objectives of the study are investigating the amount of L1 use by teachers of different levels and the reasons underlying their L1 using. In addition, teachers’ belief about L1 use is also addressed in order to find out the concordance to their practices. In order to achieve the aim, the study addresses these following main questions: 1. How much L1 is used and in which sections do teachers use L1 in the classroom? 2. Why do teachers use the mother tongue? 3. What are teachers’ beliefs about MT use? Do teacher’s beliefs correlate to their practices? 3. Scope of the study In practice, L1 can be used by both students and teachers in L2 classroom. However, within the framework of this minor thesis, the study only focuses on teachers’ use of the MT in English classes for young learners. Specifically, the study aims at investigating the amount of L1 use by teachers of different levels and the reasons underlying their L1 using. In addition, teachers’ belief about L1 use is also addressed in order to find out the concordance to their practices. 4. Methods of the study The study is carried out in form of a qualitative multi case study approach in which three teachers teaching three different levels for young learners will be investigated in order to compare and contrast their MT use in L2 classroom. Three research methods, including classroom observation, stimulated recall interview, and semi- structured interview are used to reach the aim of the study. The researcher believes that the combination of different methods to collect data could provide more reliable and valid information for analysis. Classroom observations are used to discover the amount and in which sections Vietnamese was used. Stimulated recall interview was applied to gain insights into teachers’ rationale of using the MT in the 3 classroom. The recall interviews were fully transcribed and analyzed qualitatively according to emerging themes. The semi-structured interviews are to explore teachers’ opinions of the use of the first language in the classroom, and then compared with teacher’s practices. Semi structured interviews were conducted after finishing all observations and stimulated interviews. As in the case of stimulated recall, semi structured interviews were transcribed fully. 5. Layout of the thesis This thesis consists of three parts, namely Introduction, Development and Conclusion. Part I, the Introduction, presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the method and the design of the study. Part II, the development, consists of three chapters. Chapter 1, the Literature review, Chapter 2, the Methodology, introduces the participants, the data collection instruments and data analysis procedure. Chapter 3 (Results and Discussions) mainly deals with the results and the discussion of the findings. Part III is the Conclusion of the study. In this part, the major findings, some recommendations, limitations of the research as well as suggestions for further study are presented. The appendixes are the last part of the study following the reference. 4 PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter provides background information on the use of L1 in the L2 classroom. Firstly, it presents definitions of young learners. Secondly, it discusses the role of L1 in major ELT methodologies. Thirdly, it gives an insight into theoretical and practical research favoring or not favoring the use of L1. Fourthly, it deals with the use and amount of L1 use in the English class. It also discusses some empirical researches on the L1 use in L2 classroom. 1.1. Young learners 1.2. History of the use of L1 in L2 classroom 1.3. Debating surrounding the use of L1 in the L2 classroom 1.3.1. Arguments against L1 use 1.3.2. Arguments favoring L1 use 1.4. Use of L1 in L2 classroom 1.5. The amount of L1 in the English classroom 1.6. Empirical researches 5 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1. Qualitative Multi case study approach In the present study, a qualitative multiple case study approach was employed due to the following reasons: To begin with, a multiple case study was conducted because it helps understand the case in depth and detailed description of specific phenomenon. According to Cohen, Manion, & Morrison (2007), case studies are useful for analytic rather than statistical generalization It enables the researcher to answer “how” and “why” type questions, while taking into consideration how a phenomenon is influenced by the context within which it is situated. Secondly, collective case study enables the researcher to analyze within each setting and across setting. In a multiple case study, some cases are being examined to understand the similarities and differences between the cases (Baxter and Jack, 2008: 550). In general, qualitative multi-case study research was considered to be the most appropriate approach for the present study. It was believe that the study could contribute somehow for further investigation in teacher’s use of L1 in L2 classroom. 2.2. Setting and Participants 2.2.1. Setting The study was conducted in an English Centre. The centre addresses children with age range from three to twelve years old. Students are divided into classes due to their age and sometimes their level. In this English centre, Vietnamese is the only mother tongue and English as the foreign language. 2.2.2. Participants Three teachers of English, who are teaching three different levels at this English Center, then were invited to share their opinion and experience on the investigated issue. 6 Although they can come from diverse education background, all three teachers already passed the training courses in teaching English for kids, the condition to work in the English School, which hold by the headquarter. In addition, teachers also attend annual workshop which invite experts in teaching kids to train new skills. Like students, all of them are native speakers of Vietnamese. 2.3. Data collection Instruments The techniques employed in this study were non- participant classroom observation, stimulated recall technique and semi- structured interviews. The combination of these three instruments was used to achieve a triangulation of data and thus generate the validity and reliability of the study. 2.3.1. Classroom observation In the study, a structured observation format, which was modified from Cook (2001), Atkinson (1987), and Cameron (2001), was used. What was observed during the class was the amount of the MT and the TL used by teachers in different lesson sections. The researcher observed three different level English classes (each class will be observed four times). The researcher played as non- participant observation. 2.3.2. Stimulated Recall (Appendix 2) In this study, SR was conducted during 24 hour after the observed lesson in order to make sure that the information was fresh and the research would get the best information. Because of the limited time, the researcher could not interview teacher in all four observed lessons, just two of them will be chosen to implement an interview. Since the researcher was afraid that teachers’ proficiency under study was not good enough to express all of their thinking, so the interview was conducted in Vietnamese. Another reason for applying Vietnamese in interview is that both participants and the researcher are Vietnamese, so it is easily to exchange idea and to dig deeply the information. The researcher audio taped each SR interview and then transcribed. 2.3.3. Semi structured Interview (See Appendix 3) 7 A semi-structured interview was conducted with three teachers after finishing all observations and stimulated interviews. As teachers’ responses might vary in the topic questioned, a list of prepared questions was used as a guide. Therefore, some changes could be applied due to the interviewees’ answers. Semi structured interview also was conducted in Vietnamese and then interpreted in English. The questions were asked in a fixed order and the interviews were audio recorded for transcription later. 2.4. Data collection procedure Data collection started by contacting the principal of the private language center informing her about the purpose of the study and asking for her consent for the research to take place. Secondly, the teachers were contacted in person asking for their consent to observe the classes and being involved in the SR and semi- structured interview procedure. The research started with classroom observations. Each teacher was observed four times in a 60 minutes lesson of the different levels. Two of the observed lessons were chosen in advance for stimulated recall interview. SR interviews were conducted within 24 hours after the observation. After finishing all observations and SR, semi structure interview was conducted to find out teachers’ belief about the L1 use in the classroom. 2.5. Data analysis This research applied qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques. Firstly, from the data in the observation sheet, the quantity of Vietnamese language and English utterance during four observed lessons were calculated. The L1 use in different sections were sorted out, summarized and analyzed qualitatively. Secondly, the data from the stimulated interview was analyzed according to the emerging theme in the interview. Finally, after finishing semi-structured interview, the researcher summarized each teacher’s ideas, and then compared with the data obtained from the observation. 8 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION This chapter will include the results obtained from data collected by the use of classroom observation, SR interview and semi structure interview. The above results then will be also analyzed and discussed according to the literature and other empirical researches mentioned in chapter 1. 3.1. Findings 3.1.1. Case 1 (teacher in class for 5-6 years old students) 3.1.2. Case 2- teacher in class for 6- 8 years old students 3.1.2. Case 3- teacher in class for above 8 years old students 3.2. Discussion The results of this study on teacher’s use of Vietnamese in English classroom for young learners bear many similarities, differences to previous studies. 9 PART III: CONCLUSION This concluding chapter provides the summary and evaluation of the whole paper by giving summary of main findings, stating the recommendations, limitations of the study as well as providing several suggestions for further investigation on L1 use in English class for young children. 1. Summary of main findings Based on the data obtained through the three instruments the following findings could be presented: Results revealed that the TL is the main medium of instruction in the classroom, while Vietnamese was used occasionally when teachers found L2 failed to work. It also indicated that the use of Vietnamese was an unavoidable phenomenon in English classrooms for young learners. Concerning the use of the MT in various sections, results showed significant differences among different levels. Giving instruction, was the area that scored the highest in MT use in classes for 5-6 years old while presenting/ explaining grammar and vocabulary was the section applying MT in classes for 6-8 and above 8 years old. Teachers had various reasons for employing Vietnamese. The common reason that all teachers gave was the support of students’ understanding and learners’ level. Beside this agreement, each teacher responded differently for her L1 employing. The first case (teachers for 5-6 years old) cited three more reasons for her applying L1. Unlike teacher1’s reasons, teacher 2 proposed that using Vietnamese in the class facilitated the learning process. The notion of L1 serving as "a time–saving device" is one justification for L1 use given by teacher 3. Next, teachers have positive attitudes towards to the use of Vietnamese in English language classroom. However, two out of three teachers do not plan when they are going to use English or Vietnamese in the lesson. By drawing a connection between 10 teachers’ beliefs and their actions, it is observed that there is a general match between teachers’ thought and their performance. Researcher’s position as a result of this study is that ‘the MT taboo has been with us for a long time, but fortunately now things seem to be changing. I believe that many teachers have continued to use the MT because it is both necessary and effective’ (Deller and Rincoluci, 2002:3). Teachers, then, can benefit from exploring their own views on this issue and becoming aware of their reasons for using (or avoiding) the L1 in their English lessons. 2. Recommendations Based on the findings of the present study, the following recommendations are offered. The amount of L1 use and how it is employed should vary with classroom environment. Maximizing L2 use should be the goal in every classroom (Meyer, 2008). However, teachers also have to find ways to modify their English input. It also is recommendable that maximum L2 can be achieved through habit formation and training. Planning the language is going to be used in particular lesson sections could help teachers be more consistent with the use of each language. It is also recommended that the Ministry of Education should hold workshops, programs and seminars on the role of the native languages in the EFL classroom. 3. Limitations The study was conducted in one small language center with restricted sample size. Therefore, generalization of the findings should be cautioned. Another limitation is that although the teachers in this study were observed and interviewed, the number of observations was still limited and the interviews did not yield sufficient in-depth information because the researcher was lack of interview skill and experience. 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