(Luận văn thạc sĩ) students’ attitudes towards using mother tongue in EFL classrooms a survey study at tien lang high school, hai phong

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES -*** - ĐINH THỊ XUYẾN STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS USING MOTHER TONGUE IN EFL CLASSROOMS: A SURVEY STUDY AT TIEN LANG HIGH SCHOOL, HAI PHONG THÁI ĐỘ CỦA HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TIẾNG MẸ ĐẺ TRONG CÁC LỚP HỌC TIẾNG ANH: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU KHẢO SÁT TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT TIÊN LÃNG, HẢI PHÒNG M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2015 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES -*** - ĐINH THỊ XUYẾN STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS USING MOTHER TONGUE IN EFL CLASSROOMS: A SURVEY STUDY AT TIEN LANG HIGH SCHOOL, HAI PHONG THÁI ĐỘ CỦA HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TIẾNG MẸ ĐẺ TRONG CÁC LỚP HỌC TIẾNG ANH: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU KHẢO SÁT TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT TIÊN LÃNG, HẢI PHÒNG M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Quỳnh HANOI – 2015 DECLARATIONS I – Đinh Thị Xuyến - hereby declare that the thesis entitled “Students’ Attitudes Towards Using Mother Tongue In EFL Classrooms: A Survey Study At Tien Lang High School, HaiPhong” is the result of my own research in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post Graduate Studies - University of Languages and International Studies, VNU, Hanoi and this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or institution Date:…….…………………………… Signature: …………………………… i ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS During the process of writing this thesis, I have been fortunate to receive supports and assistance from a variety of people First and foremost, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Nguyen Thi Ngoc Quynh, Ph.D., who allows me to draw fully on her wisdom and experience in implementing this study Her guidance, encouragement and invaluable detailed critical feedback have been most generous I would like to convey my thanks to all my teachers of the Post Graduate, Cohort 21 whose fundamental knowledge about language teaching and learning is of great importance to the achievement of my academic study It is my pleasure to acknowledge my debt to the Board of Management of Foreign Languages Department for their support and the favorable conditions they have granted me during my study I would also like to take this opportunity to express my deepest thanks to all the teachers, especially Ms Nguyen Thi Nguyen, at Tien Lang High School for their help in completing the survey questionnaires, for their constructive suggestions to this research, and for their willingness to share their relevant problems with me I am most thankful to the students of grade 11B8 and 11B2 at Tien Lang High School whose cooperation is great significance to the completion of the study Finally, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my parents whose loving support has been encouraging me to fulfill this thesis successfully ii ABSTRACT This study is an attempt to investigate whether or not students at Tien Lang High School support the use of Vietnamese in EFL classrooms and then compare high achievers’ and low achievers’ attitudes A questionnaire was administered to 91 11th grade students at Tien Lang High School, Hai Phong Then, the responses of 24 high achievers (11th grade English final mark is above 8.0), and 29 low achievers (English final mark is below 5.5) were compared Ten students with different attitudes were then further investigated through an interview The results show that all participants supported both teacher’s and students’ use of L1 Also, there was almost no difference between two groups, except for some reasons of motivation, level of proficiency, and the occasion of checking their production with their peers However, the study also indicates that for the best use of Vietnamese, it should be used reasonably in L2 classrooms so as to expose students to English communicative opportunities as much as possible iii LIST OF ABREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language L1: the first language L2: the second language Ss: students T: teacher RQ1: research question RQ2: research question SD.: standard deviation M1: high achievers’ mean M2: low achievers’ mean iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Tables: Table 1: Students’ reasons for supporting teacher’s use of L1 in EFL classrooms 24 Table 2: Learning occasions in which students prefer their teacher to use L1 in EFL classrooms 27 Table 3: Students’ reasons for using L1 in EFL classrooms 29 Table 4: Learning occasions in which students prefer to use L1 in EFL classrooms 31 Figures: Figure 1: Students' general attitude towards teacher's use of L1 in EFL classrooms 23 Figure 2: The frequency that Ss prefer teacher to use L1 in EFL classrooms 26 Figure 3: Students' general attitude towards students' use of L1 in EFL classrooms 28 Figure 4: Students’ overall view regarding the frequency of their using L1 in L2 classes 30 v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATIONS i ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABREVIATIONS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims and objectives of the study Research questions The methodology of the study The scope of the study The significance of the study Design of the paper PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW Attitudes 1.1 Definition of attitudes 1.2 Language attitude and effects of language attitude 1.2.1 Effect of attitude on behavior 1.2.2 Effect of attitude on mental operation 1.2.3 Effect of attitude on affection Use of mother tongue in EFL classrooms 2.1 Monolingual approach 2.1.1 Support for monolingual approach 2.1.2 The weaknesses of monolingual approach 2.2 Bilingual approach 11 vi 2.2.1 Support for bilingual approach 11 Related studies 13 3.1 The role of mother tongue in learning English 13 3.2 Students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards using L1 in English classrooms 14 3.2.1 Studies on students’ attitudes towards using L1 in L2 classrooms 14 3.2.2 Studies on both Sts’ and Ts’ attitudes toward using L1 in English classrooms 15 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY 17 The setting of the study 17 Subjects of the study 17 Instruments of collecting data 17 Data collection 18 Data analysis 20 CHAPTER THREE: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 22 Results 22 1.1 Students’ questionnaire 22 1.1.1 Students’ general attitude towards teacher’s use of L1 in L2 classes 22 1.1.2 Students’ reasons for supporting teacher’s use of Vietnamese in EFL classrooms 23 1.1.3 The expected frequency of teacher’s using Vietnamese in EFL classrooms 25 1.1.4 Learning occasions in which students prefer the teacher to use Vietnamese 26 1.2 What are Tien Lang students’ attitudes towards students’ use of Vietnamese in EFL classrooms? 28 1.2.1 Students’ general views on their own use of Vietnamese in L2 classes 28 vii 1.2.2 Students’ reasons for using L1 in EFL classrooms 28 1.2.3 The expected frequency of students’ using Vietnamese in English classes 30 1.2.4 Learning occasions in which students prefer to use L1 31 2.1 What are high-achievers’ attitudes towards teachers’ use of Vietnamese in EFL classrooms compared to those of low-achievers? 32 2.1.1 Students’ general attitudes toward teacher’s use of Vietnamese 34 2.1.2 Students’ reasons for preferring teacher’s use of Vietnamese 34 2.1.3 Students’ expectation of the teacher’s frequency of using Vietnamese 35 2.1.4 Students’ preference of learning occasions in which teacher uses Vietnamese 35 2.2.1 Students’ general attitudes towards their own use of Vietnamese 37 2.2.2 Students’ reasons for using Vietnamese 37 2.2.3 Students’ preference of the frequency of using Vietnamese 38 2.2.4 Students’ preference of learning occasions 38 1.2 Students’ interview 39 PART C: CONCLUSION 43 A summary of study and implications 43 Limitations of the study 44 Suggestions for further research 44 REFERENCES 45 APPENDICES I viii children’s attitudes and social perspectives In P Homel, M Palij& D Aaronson (Eds).Childhood Bilingualism: Aspects of Linguistic, Cognitive and Social Development New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates McDonough, J & McDonough, S (1997) Research methods for English language teachers London:Arnold Mann, Henry B.; Whitney, Donald R (1947) On a test of whether one of two random variables is stochastically larger than the other Annals of Mathematical Statistics 18 (1), pp 50–60 Matthews G (2009) Second Language Acquisition of English Reflexives by Taiwanese Speakers of Mandarin Chinese Retrieved from http://books.google.com.vn/books Nunan D (1988) The learner-centred Curriculum Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Nation P (2003) The role of the first language in foreign language.Asian EFL Journal, vol (2), pp 1-8 Nazary M (2008) The Role of L1 in L2 Acquisition: Attitudes of Iranian University Students.Novitas Royal, (2), pp 138- 153 Razali N.M., &Wah, Y.B (2011) Power comparisons of Shapiro – Wilk, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Lilliefors and Anderson-Darling tests Journal of StatiscalModelling and Analytics, (1), pp 21 -33 Prabhu N S (1987) Second language pedagogy Oxford: Oxford University Press Pham L.H.N (2004) Retrieved from http://text.123doc.vn/document/1021214-huong-dan-thuc-hanh-spss-coban.htm Prodromou L (2002) From mother tongue to other tongue.Teaching English Retrieved from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/mother-tongueother-tongue 47 Richards J & Rodgers T (2001) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching 2nded New York:Cambridge University Press Santos J.R.A (1999) Cronbach’s Alpha: A tool for assessing the reliability of scales Journal of Extension, 37(2), pp 1-4 Schweers, W Jr (1999).Using L1 in the L2 classroom English Teaching Forum, 37( 2), pp 6–9 Schensul S L., Schensul J J & LeCompete M D (1999) Essential Ethnographic Methods: Observations, Interviews, and Questionnaires Oxford: AltaMira Press Shapiro S.S., &Wilk M.B (1965) An analysis of variance test for normality (Complete samples) Biometrika, 52 (3/4), pp 591-611 Silverman, D (2005) Doing Qualitative Research 2nded London: Sage Storch N & Aldosari A (2010) Learners' use of first language (Arabic) in pair work in an EFL class Language Teaching Research, vol 14(2), pp 355– 375 Swain M &Lapkin S (2000) Task-based second language learning: The uses of the first language Language Teaching Research, vol 4(3), pp 251-274 Tang J (2002) Using L1 in the English classroom English Teaching Forum, 40 (1), pp 36-43 Turnbull M (2001) There is a role for the L1 in second and foreign language teaching Canadian Modern Language Review, vol 57 (4), pp 531-540 Wechsler R (1997) Uses of Japanese (L1) in the English classroom: introducing the functional translation method The Internet TESL Journal, vol 3(11) Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Wechsler-UsingL1.html 48 APPENDICES APPENDIX Questionnaire for students Dear Students, The aim of this survey is to investigate your attitudes and beliefs towards using your first language, Vietnamese, in English classes All the collected data is confidential and will only be used for research purposes Your answers will help teachers and educators to better understand your needs Your input is very important to the understanding of the impact of using Vietnamese in English classes Thank you for your cooperation! Age: …………………… Gender:………………… English Final mark in grade 11: < 5.5 6.5 – 7.9 5.5 – 6.4 8.0 – 10.0 PART 1: (Items – 18): Circle the appropriate number (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) to indicate how much you agree or disagree with TEACHER’S USE OF VIETNAMESE in each following statement Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Teachers should use Vietnamese in English classrooms I feel more comfortable when the teacher talks to students in 5 Vietnamese in English lessons Teacher’s use of Vietnamese motivates me to participate more I in English classroom activities That teacher using only English in class makes me feel 5 5 nervous I prefer the teacher to use Vietnamese in English lessons because I not learn English well Teacher’s use of Vietnamese in class helps me learn English better I understand the lesson much better when the teacher uses Vietnamese How much you like teachers to use Vietnamese in English classes? Never Almost never Sometimes Almost every time Every time Explain your answer: …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… Items – 18: Do you agree with teacher’s use of Vietnamese in these below cases? Motivating students in classes (joking around with students…) 5 10 Helping students feel more comfortable and confident II 11 Explaining difficult concepts or vocabulary items 12 Explaining difficult grammar points 13 Explaining the relationship between English and 14 Giving difficult instructions 15 Giving students comments 16 Getting contact with individual students 17 Checking for comprehension 18 Should not be used Vietnamese (compare English and Vietnamese) PART TWO: (Items 19 – 34): Circle the appropriate number (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) to indicate how much you agree or disagree with STUDENTS’ USE OF VIETNAMESE in each following statement 19 Students should be allowed to use Vietnamese in 5 5 English classrooms 20 I feel more comfortable when I talk to my teacher in Vietnamese in English lessons 21 Being allowed to use Vietnamese motivates me to participate more in English classroom activities 22 I prefer to use Vietnamese in English lessons because I not learn English well III 23 Having to speak English only in class makes me feel 5 nervous 24 I prefer to use Vietnamese because I’m afraid of being laughed at by my classmates 25 Being allowed to use Vietnamese in class helps me learn English better 26 How much you like students to use Vietnamese in English classes? Never Almost never Sometimes Almost every time Every time Explain your answer: …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… Items 27 – 34: Do you agree with students’ use of Vietnamese in these below cases? 27 Doing translation tasks 28 Clarifying meaning of words in English IV 5 29 Doing group works or pair works 30 Explaining tasks to my classmates 31 Negotiating the roles we are going to take 32 Checking my understanding 33 Checking production of language against my peers 5 2 34 Should not be used V VI APPENDIX Phiếu điều tra dành cho học sinh Các em học sinh thân mến, Mục đích phiếu điều tra khảo sát thái độ em việc sử dụng tiếng Việt lớp học tiếng Anh Tất liệu thu thập bảo mật dùng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Những câu trả lời em giúp cho giáo viên nhà giáo dục hiểu nhu cầu, nguyện vọng em việc sử dụng tiếng Việt tác động lớp học Anh văn Trước trả lời câu hỏi, em vui lòng điền vài thơng tin sau: Tuổi:……… Giới tính: …………… Điểm tổng kết tiếng Anh năm lớp 11: < 5.5 6.5 – 7.9 5.5 – 6.4 8.0 – 10.0 PHẦN 1: (Câu – 19): Khoanh tròn vào số tương ứng với mức độ đồng ý em việc GIÁO VIÊN SỬ DỤNG TIẾNG VIỆT lớp học tiếng Anh câu sau: Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Khơng đồng ý Phân vân Đồng ý Hoàn toàn đồng ý Giáo viên nên sử dụng tiếng Việt lớp học tiếng 5 Anh Em cảm thấy thoải mái giáo viên nói chuyện với học sinh tiếng Việt tiết học tiếng Anh VII Việc giáo viên sử dụng tiếng Việt lớp học tiếng Anh 5 5 thúc đẩy em tham gia vào hoạt động học Giáo viên sử dụng tiếng Anh lớp học khiến em trở nên lo lắng Em thích giáo viên sử dụng tiếng Việt lớp học tiếng Anh tiếng Anh em khơng tốt Việc giáo viên sử dụng tiếng Anh giúp em học tiếng Anh tốt Em hiểu giáo viên sử dụng tiếng Việt lớp học tiếng Anh Em muốn giáo viên sử dụng tiếng Việt lớp học tiếng Anh? Không Hầu không Thỉnh thoảng Hầu lúc Mọi lúc Hãy giải thích câu trả lời em …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… (Câu – 18): Em có đồng ý với việc GIÁO VIÊN SỬ DỤNG TIẾNG VIỆT trường hợp sau không? VIII Tạo hứng thú cho học sinh lớp học (kể chuyện cười…) 5 12 Giải thích chủ điểm ngữ pháp khó 13 Giải thích mối quan hệ tiếng Anh tiếng Việt 14 Đưa lời dẫn tập khó 15 Đưa phản hổi, nhận xét cho học sinh 16 Nói chuyện với riêng cá nhân học sinh 17 Kiểm tra xem học sinh có hiểu hay khơng 18 Không nên sử dụng 10 Giúp học sinh cảm thấy thoải mái, tự tin 11 Giải thích từ vựng, khái niệm khó tiếng Anh (so sánh giống khác tiếng Anh tiếng Việt…) PHẦN (Câu 19 – 34): Khoanh tròn vào số tương ứng với mức độ đồng ý em việc HỌC SINH SỬ DỤNG TIẾNG VIỆT lớp học tiếng Anh câu sau: 19 Học sinh nên sử dụng tiếng Việt lớp học IX tiếng Anh 20 Em cảm thấy thoải mái nói chuyện với giáo viên 5 5 5 tiếng Việt học tiếng Anh 21 Được sử dụng tiếng Việt tiết học tiếng Anh thúc đẩy em tham gia vào hoạt động học 22 Em thích sử dụng tiếng Việt lớp học tiếng Anh tiếng Anh em khơng tốt 23 Việc học sinh sử dụng tiếng Anh lớp học khiến em trở nên lo lắng học tiếng Anh 24 Em sử dụng tiếng Việt lớp học tiếng Anh em sợ bạn chê cười em sử dụng tiếng Anh sai 25 Được sử dụng tiếng Việt lớp học tiếng Anh khiến em học tiếng Anh tốt 26 Theo em học sinh nên sử dụng tiếng Việt lớp học? Không Hầu không Thỉnh thoảng Hầu lúc Mọi lúc Hãy giải thích câu trả lời em …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… X …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………… (Câu 27 – 34): Em có đồng ý với việc HỌC SINH SỬ DỤNG TIẾNG VIỆT trường hợp sau không? 27 Làm tập dịch 28 Làm rõ nghĩa từ tiếng Anh 29 Làm việc theo cặp theo nhóm 30 Giải thích nhiệm vụ học cho bạn 5 5 hiểu 31 Phân công nhiệm vụ học với bạn 32 Giải thích học cho bạn 33 Kiểm tra đáp án tập tiếng Anh em với bạn học 34 Không nên sử dụng Cảm ơn hợp tác tất em!