Exploring the usefulness of translanguaging in a ha nam high school an exploratory action reseach project

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES LƢƠNG THỊ BÍCH HUỆ EXPLORING THE USEFULNESS OF TRANSLANGUAGING IN A HA NAM HIGH SCHOOL: AN EXPLORATORY ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT (Nghiên cứu hành động khám phá: Tìm hiểu lợi ích việc sử dụng liên ngữ trƣờng Trung học phổ thông Hà Nam) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Hanoi, 2020 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES LƢƠNG THỊ BÍCH HUỆ EXPLORING THE USEFULNESS OF TRANSLANGUAGING IN A HA NAM HIGH SCHOOL: AN EXPLORATORY ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT (Nghiên cứu hành động khám phá: Tìm hiểu lợi ích việc sử dụng liên ngữ trƣờng Trung học phổ thông Hà Nam) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Supervisor : Assoc Prof Dr Lê Văn Canh Hanoi, 2020 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis “Exploring the usefulness of using translanguaging in the high school context in Ha Nam province: An action research approach” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis has, in many senses, been accomplished with the help and encouragement of many people Therefore, I hereby wish to send my application to all of them First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Le Van Canh for his invaluable and insightful comments, guidance, and encouragement he gave me during the time I tried to the research This thesis would not be completed without his great help from the beginning when this study was only in its formative stage My sincere thanks also go to all lecturers and staff of Postgraduate Studies for their valuable lessons and precious helps Thanks to their lessons as well as needed helps, I could overcome enormous obstacles when doing the research In addition, I am also grateful to my colleagues and my students who helped me collect the necessary data Special acknowledgement is also given to my students from classes 10A3, 11A6 and 11A8 for their participation in the experimental lessons Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my beloved family whose support and encouragement have always been the great source of inspiration for me in bringing this study to a success Without all this support, I could not have finished this thesis Lƣơng Thị Bích Huệ December , 2019 ii ABSTRACT In recent years, there has been a significant shift from a monolingual approach to teaching English as a second or foreign language to multilingual perspectives According to these perspectives, learners‘ first language (L1) is considered as resources for learning the second language (L2) As a result, translanguaging in the EFL classroom has attracted great scholarly attention and interest The number of studies on translanguaging in different contexts is increasing considerably Despite this fact, the term ‗translanguaging‘ seems to be new to many Vietnamese EFL teachers This thesis may be the first one that deals with this topic This thesis reports on the results of an action research project on the benefits and drawbacks of translanguaging in a high school context In the light of the discussions relative to the effectiveness of translanguaging in the EFL classroom, the present study aims at providing functions of translanguaging in both language teaching and learning Data was collected from a student questionnaire, recorded student translanguaging, teacher self-observation and the reflection The findings provide initial insights into the students‘ attitudes towards translanguaging and the possible benefits of translanguaging to students‘ learning English in the high school classroom Key words: translanguaging, L1, L2, code-switching iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF TABLES vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Research Methodology 1.7 Structure of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 What is translanguaging? 2.2 Translanguaging vs code-switching 2.3 Theoretical foundation of translanguaging 2.4 Previous studies on translanguaging in L2 classrooms 11 2.5 Chapter summary 14 3.1 Research context 16 3.2 Participants 17 3.3 Instruments 17 3.3.1 Questionnaires 17 3.3.2 Interviews 17 3.3.3 Classroom self- observations 18 3.4 Procedures 18 3.4.1 The exploratory action research 18 iv 3.4.2 Data collection procedures 23 3.4.3 Data analysis procedures 23 3.5 Summary 23 4.2 Discussions and implications 47 4.2.1 Discussions 47 4.2.2 Implications 49 4.3 Summary 52 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 53 5.1 Summary of the study 53 5.2 Limitations and suggestions for further study 53 REFERENCES 55 APPENDIX I APPENDIX I: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS I APPENDIX II: INTERVIEWS FOR STUDENTS VIII v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AR : Action Research L1 : First Language L2 : Second Language EFL : English as Foreign Language ELF : English as lingual franca ELT : English Language Teaching SPSS : Statistical Packages for Social Sciences TESOL : Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages TL : Target language vi LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Students’ attitude of L1 use in English classrooms (N= 80; Grade 11) 24 Table 4.2: Students’ attitude of L1 use in English classrooms (N= 45; Grade 10) 26 Table 4.3: The percentage of 11th graders’ responses towards the question 31 Table 4.4: The percentage of 10th graders’ responses towards the question 31 Table 4.5: Students’ perception of L1 use in learning grammar (N= 80; Grade 11) 32 Table 4.6: Students’ perception of L1 use in learning grammar (N= 45; Grade 10) 33 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study In recent years, working in bi/multilingual contexts, scholars, researchers and teachers in the field of second or foreign language education has been increasingly interested in the concept of translanguaging, defined as ―the planned and systematic use of two languages for teaching and learning inside the same lesson‖ (Lewis et al 2012, p 3), Teachers in many different contexts have begun to recognize the pedagogic potential of translanguaging (Li 2018a: 32) in ways that could also be beneficial to students In fact, translanguaging pedagogies are based on the view that bi/multilingual learner's first language (L1) can be valuable linguistic resources for second language (L2) learning While interest in researching translanguaging as a pedagogical strategy in ELT classrooms is growing globally, it has received little attention in Vietnam In fact, the concept of translanguaging is new to many Vietnamese EFL teachers, and as a result, this innovative pedagogy has not been extensively researched in Vietnamese EFL classrooms Motivated by the benefits of translanguaging to L2 learning, I decided to use an action research approach to explore whether translanguaging works in the context of Vietnamese high schools 1.2 Aims of the study This exploratory action research is aimed at exploring the students‘ attitudes towards translanguaging in the EFL classrooms and the possible benefits of translanguaging to students‘ learning English in the high school classroom 1.3 Research questions In an attempt to achieve the aims of the study, the following research questions are formulated: What are the students‘ attitudes towards translanguaging in learning English? What are the possible benefits of translanguaging to students‘ learning English in the high school classroom? 1.4 Scope of the study Cummins, J (2008) Teaching for transfer: Challenging the two solitudes assumption in bilingual education In J Cummins & N H Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education: Vol Bilingual education (2nd ed., pp 65–75) Boston: Springer Science+Business Media Donough, M (2002) The Teacher as a Language Learner:Worlds of differences? ELT Journal [online] Garcia, O (2005) Positioning heritage languages in the United States Modern Language Journal, 89, 601– 605 Garcia, O.And W.Li.2014.Translanguaging: language, Bilingualism and Education Houndmills:Palgrave Macmillian García, O., & Wei, L (2014) Translanguaging and education In Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education (pp 63-77) Palgrave Macmillan, London Ke, I C., & Lin, S (2017) A translanguaging approach to TESOL in Taiwan English Teaching & Learning, 41(1), 33-61 Kemmis, S & Mc Taggart, R (1998) The Action Research planner Victoria, Australian: Deakin University Press Kircher, R (2016) Language attitudes among adolescents in Montreal: Potential lessons for language planning in Quebec Nottingham French Studies, 55(2), 239-259 Koshy, V (2005) Action Research for Improving Practice: A Practical Guide SAGE.Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1989).Longman Koul, O (1984) Azadirachtin: I‐interaction with the development of red cotton bugs Entomologia experimentalis et applicata, 36(1), 85-88 Muthanna, A., & Miao, P (2015) Chinese students‘ attitudes towards the use of English-medium instruction into curriculum courses: A case study of a national key university in Beijing Journal of Education and Training Studies, 3(5), 59-69 Lin, A M Y., & Martin, P (2005) (Eds.) Decolonisation, globalisation: 56 Language-in-education policy and practice Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Lewis, G., B.Jones and C.Baker.2012 ―Translanguaging: Developing Conceptualisation and Contextualisation.” Educational Research and Evaluation 18 (7): 665-670 Li.W (2018b) ―Linguistics(super) diversity, post-multilingualism and translanguaging moments‘ in A Creese and A Blackledge (eds) The Routledge Handbook of Language and Superdiversity.London: Routledge, 16–29 Ortega, L (2014) Ways forward for a bi/multilingual turn in SLA In S May (Ed.), The multilingual turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and bilingual education London: Routledge Norany, N B., & Osman, M D S Translanguaging: A Pragmatic Approach to Dual Language Programme Perkinns (1985) Sensitizing Advanced Learners to Problems of L1-L2 Translation Selinger, H W., & Shohamy, E (1989).Second Language Research Methods Oxford: Oxford University Press Smith, R., & Rebolledo, P (2018) A handbook for exploratory action research London, UK: British Council Gunnarsson, T., & Källkvist, M (2014) Multilingual students' use of their linguistic repertoires when writing in a non-native language In Symposium on Second Language Writing: Professionalizing Second Language Writing: November 13-15, 2014, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (pp 57-57) Turnbull, B (2018) Reframing foreign language learning as bilingual education: Epistemological changes towards the emergent bilingual International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(8), 1041-1048 Vogel, S., & García, O (2017).Translanguaging 57 APPENDIX APPENDIX I: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS General information: Age: ……… Sex: Male/ Female I have been learning English for … years Please choose one degree from to and tick the appropriate column for the following statements Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Items Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly disagree (4) (3) (2) Agree (5) (1) I understand the lesson better when the teacher translates English complex sentences into Vietnamese I understand the lesson better when the teacher explains grammar in Vietnamese I understand the lesson better when the teacher asks the students to I compare the grammatical structure in English and Vietnamese I understand the lesson better when the teacher asks the students translate complex grammatical from to structures English to Vietnamese or vice versa When the teacher compares the pronunciation of English sounds with Vietnamese equivalent sounds, I can pronounce these sounds better I would like the teacher to allow speaking English by using translanguaging when I not remember or not know English words I would like the teacher to allow the students to use both Vietnamese English in and group discussions II I feel more comfortable when I often use both English and Vietnamese in group discussions I would like the teacher to ask the students to use English language completely in English lessons 10 I think that it is normal when bilinguals combine both English and Vietnamese in communication 11 I think that the students will feel more comfortable when the teacher allows them to use both English and Vietnamese in speaking and writing English classrooms If necessary, the teacher can translate words or sentences from Vietnamese to English and vice versa so that the students can understand the lessons better III CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH Thông tin chung: Họ tên:……………………………………………… Giới tính ( Nam/ Nữ) :…… Tuổi: …… Số năm học tiếng Anh: … Phiếu điều tra nhằm khảo sát việc sử dụng Tiếng Việt dạy học tiếng Anh Sự kết hợp hai ngôn ngữ tiết dạy hiệu hay không hiệu Sự tham gia em kết khảo sát đóng góp quan trọng vào nghiên cứu góp phần nâng cao chương trình mục đích giảng dạy tiếng Anh Nhà trường Mọi thông tin cung cấp khảo sát đảm bảo bí mật khơng ảnh hưởng đến kết đánh giá học tập em Chúng mong em trả lời trung thực câu hỏi phiếu khảo sát Xin trân thành cảm ơn cộng tác em! Em cho biết quan điểm em nội dung bảng hỏi cách đánh dấu (√) vào thích hợp Rất Khơng Khơng khơng đồng ý biết Đồng Rất ý đồng đồng ý ý (5) Em hiểu tốt học tiếng Anh giáo dịch câu tiếng Anh khó tiếng Việt Em hiểu tốt học tiếng Anh giáo giải thích ngữ pháp tiếng Việt IV (4) (3) (2) (1) Em hiểu tốt học tiếng Anh cô giáo yêu cầu học sinh so sánh cách diễn đạt tiếng Anh với tiếng Việt Ví dụ so sánh tiếng Anh người ta nói: Can I borrow your pen? Trong tiếng Việt người ta nói: Bạn cho mượn bút Em hiểu tốt học tiếng Anh cô giáo cho học sinh dịch câu có cấu trúc ngữ pháp khó từ tiếng Anh tiếng Việt từ tiếng Việt tiếng Anh Ví dụ như: Forest fires are caused by human carelessness Sự cẩu thả người nguyên nhân gây nạn cháy rừng Hoặc Your failure in understanding the lesson is a result of your lack of attention Bạn không hiểu lơ học/ thiếu ý học Hoặc V Suốt tuần chưa lúc trời hửng nắng The sun hasn’t come out for the whole week Khi cô giáo so sánh cách phát âm âm tiếng Anh với âm tương ứng tiếng Việt em phát âm âm tốt Em thích giáo cho phép học tiếng Anh nói tiếng Anh có pha lẫn tiếng Việt em không nhớ từ tiếng Anh cần thiết Em thích giáo cho phép học sinh dùng tiếng Anh tiếng Việt lúc thảo luận nhóm Em thường dùng tiếng Anh tiếng Việt lúc thảo luận nhóm em thấy thỏa mái Em thích học tiếng Anh cô giáo yêu cầu lớp phải sử dụng tiếng Anh 100% 10 Em nghĩ người biết tiếng Anh tiếng Việt giao tiếp họ lồng từ tiếng Anh vào câu tiếng Việt từ tiếng Việt vào câu tiếng Anh chuyện VI bình thường 11 Em nghĩ học tiếng Anh, học sinh thấy thoải mái giáo cho phép học sinh chỗ nói viết tiếng Anh nói viết tiếng Anh; chỗ khơng nói viết tiếng Anh sử dụng tiếng Việt Sau giáo dịch từ câu tiếng Việt học sinh sử dụng tiếng Anh để học sinh hiểu VII APPENDIX II: INTERVIEWS FOR STUDENTS The aim of the some suggested questions is to collect data on your attitudes towards the use of translanguaging and changes in your involvements in English classrooms It is absolutely essential that you reflect your real opinions You can give your answers in written or oral form or both You can also express your viewpoints in your mother tongue Thank you for your co-operation in the study QUESTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW Question 1: Do you like learning English? Why yes or no? Question 2: How long have you learnt English? What skills or aspects of English you find it the most difficult to learn? Question 3: Have your friend ever forgotten English words or expressions when speaking? And have you ever used Vietnamese language in these situations? Question 4: Does your teacher often use translanguaging in English classroom? If yes, in what situations does she/he use? Question 5: Do you like your teacher allows you to use translanguaging in English classrooms? Why yes/no? Question 6: In English classrooms, you often participate in group discussion? Why yes/no? Question 7: If you take part in group discussions, you use translanguaging to express your opinions? Why yes/no? Question 8: What you think about the using of translanguaging of your teacher in teaching English? Which part or which period is the most suitable for using translanguaging ? Or Should teachers use English completely in every period? Question 9: What you think about your using of translanguaging in which case? Question 10: Do you feel more comfortable and confident when you are allowed to use translanguaging in English classrooms? Why yes/no? THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION! VIII PHỎNG VẤN ( INTERVIEW) Full name:………………………………………………………… Class:…………………………………………………………… Age:…………… Dưới số câu hỏi, em trả lời hình thức viết nói Để có kết xác đề tài nghiên cứu với chủ đề “Nghiên cứu hành động: Tìm hiểu lợi ích việc sử dụng liên ngữ giảng dạy tiếng Anh trường Trung học phổ thông Hà Nam.” , mong hợp tác em Mọi thông tin cung cấp phần trả lời đảm bảo bí mật không ảnh hưởng đến kết đánh giá học tập em Chúng mong em trả lời trung thực câu hỏi phần câu hỏi Xin trân thành cảm ơn cộng tác em! Câu hỏi 1: Bạn có thích học tiếng Anh khơng? Tại có/khơng? (Question 1: Do you like learning English? Why yes or no?) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………….………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Câu hỏi 2: Bạn học tiếng Anh rồi? Kĩ phần tiếng Anh bạn cảm thấy khó nhất? (Question 2: How long have you learnt English? What skills or aspects of English you find it the most difficult to learn?) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………….………………………… IX ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Câu hỏi 3: Em nghĩ bạn nói tiếng anh bị qn hay khơng biết cách diễn đạt nội dung tiếng anh bạn nói từ hay ý tiếng việt? Em làm chưa?Vì sao? (Question 3: Have your friend ever forgotten English words or expressions when speaking? And have you used Vietnamese in these situations? Why?) …………………………………………………….………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………….…………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Câu hỏi 4: Cơ giáo bạn có thường xun sử dụng tiếng Việt dạy tiếng Anh khơng? Nếu có cô thường dùng để dạy phần nào? (Question 4: Does your teacher often use translanguaging in English classroom? If yes, in what situations does she/he use? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………….………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………….…………………………………………………… X Câu hỏi 5: Bạn có thích giáo cho phép bạn sử dụng tiếng Việt xen lẫn tiếng Anh học không? Tại có/tại khơng? (Question 5: Do you like your teacher allows you to use translanguaging in English classrooms? Why yes/no?) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………….………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………….…………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………….……… ………………………… Câu hỏi 6: Trong học tiếng Anh, em có tham gia tích cực hoạt động thảo luận nhóm khơng? Tại có/Tại khơng? (Question 6: In English classrooms, you often participate in group discussion? Why yes/no?) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………….………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Câu hỏi 7: Nếu tham gia hoạt động nhóm em có sử dụng tiếng Việt để chia sẻ quan điểm khơng? Tại có/Tại khơng? (Question 7: If you take part in group discussions, you use translanguaging to express your opinions? Why yes/no?) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… XI …………………………………………….………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Câu hỏi 8.Theo quan điểm em, việc giáo viên sử dụng tiếng Việt học tiếng Anh tiết học hay phần học phù hợp nhất? Hay giáo viên nên sử dụng 100 % tiếng Anh tất tiết học? (Question 8: What you think about the using of translanguaging of your teacher in teaching English? Which part or which period is the most suitable for using translanguaging ? Or Should teachers use English completely in every period?) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………….………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………….…………………………………………………………………… Câu hỏi 9: Theo quan điểm em, em thích sử dụng tiếng Việt học tiếng Anh phần tiết học nào? Tại sao? (Question 9: What you think about your using of translanguaging in which case?) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………….………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………….…………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… XII Câu hỏi 10: Bạn có thấy tự tin thoải mái sử dụng tiếng Việt học tiếng Anh không? Tại có/Tại khơng? (Question 10: Do you feel more comfortable and confident when you are allowed to use translanguaging in English classrooms? Why yes/no? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………….………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………….…………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………….……… ………………………… CẢM ƠN SỰ HỢP TÁC CHÂN THÀNH CỦA CÁC EM! THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION! XIII ... strategy) and student-initiated translanguaging (interpersonal strategy) a Explanatory strategies (Teacher-initiated translanguaging) Translanguaging and teaching vocabulary The first type of translanguaging. .. codes Translanguaging, resting on the concept of transculturation, is about a new languaging reality, original and independent from any of the ‗parents‘ or codes, a new way of being, acting and languaging... understanding than just translanguaging as it moves from finding parallel words to processing and relaying meaning and understanding.” 2.4 Previous studies on translanguaging in L2 classrooms Tina Gunnarsson