Classroom code switching in english language teachers’ lectures at viet bac high school

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS CLASSROOM CODE-SWITCHING IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ LECTURES AT VIET BAC HIGH SCHOOL CHUYỂN MÃ TRONG CÁC TIẾT DẠY CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT VIỆT BẮC NONG THUY LINH Field: English Linguistics Code: 8.22.02.01 Hanoi, 2020 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS CLASSROOM CODE-SWITCHING IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ LECTURES AT VIET BAC HIGH SCHOOL CHUYỂN MÃ TRONG CÁC TIẾT DẠY CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT VIỆT BẮC NONG THUY LINH Field: English Linguistics Code: 8.22.02.01 Hanoi, 2020 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, in the undersigned, certify my authority of the study project report entitled Classroom Code-Switching in English Language Teachers’ Lectures at Viet Bac High School submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2020 Nong Thuy Linh Approved by SUPERVISOR Pham Lan Anh, Ph.D Date: May 5th 2020 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to my academic supervisor, Dr Pham Lan Anh, for her conscientious guidance, helpful suggestions, constructive feedback and invaluable encouragement in the writing of this thesis Without her professional supervision, my study would not have been completed A special word of thanks goes to all the lecturers at the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies at Hanoi Open University and the English staff at Viet Bac high school and many others, without whose support and encouragement it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished Last but not least, my wholehearted appreciation goes to my beloved husband and my family for their love, understanding, encouragement and support to help me complete this study They are the power to help me overcome any difficulties while this thesis was carried out ii ABSTRACT This is an exploratory study which investigates frequency, types, and reasons of teachers‟ code-switching while teaching students in classroom at Viet Bac high school in Lang Son city It also explores teachers' opinions towards Vietnamese and English code-switching, and the students‟ attitude toward the lectures with codeswitching in the classroom Both quantitative and qualitative data collecting instruments were used to collect data, including the recording of nearly twenty different lectures of English teachers of Viet Bac high school in Lang Son city The data collected was then analyzed to measure the frequency, types, and reasons of teachers‟ code-switching as well as differences in the teachers‟ language attitudes towards each of the languages being taught, and the effects of such attitude on learning English at a high school level First of all, eight teachers of Viet Bac high school with sixteen lectures at their classrooms were recorded naturally In the classroom the teachers taught their students different skills such as Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus of English book 10,11,12 The students were in different grades from grade 10 to grade 12 Both inter-sentential code-switching, intra-sentential code-switching, mix- switching and question tags were used regularly in the lectures Then the findings from the study were categorized the forms, situations, as well as the reasons for their switches and the students‟ attitude toward teachers‟ code switching in the classroom Finally, the results of the study may also serve as sources of information on classroom language use, and especially it is useful for language teacher developers and policy makers in Vietnam, as well as in other countries which have a similar socio-cultural context In the future, it is hoped that there will be more suggestions for further research emerging from the present study concerning teachers‟ code-switching practice iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CS Code-switching CLT Communicative Language Teaching EFL English as Foreign Language L1 L2 The first language (mother tongue) The second language SLA Second language acquisition GE VB high school T1 T2 General English Viet Bac high school Teacher Teacher T3 T4 T5 T6 Teacher Teacher Teacher Teacher T7 T8 S S1 Teacher Teacher Student Student S16 MA BA Student 16 Master of Arts Bachelor of Arts F Q Q1 Female Question Question iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 3.1: The survey of informants Table 4.1 Summary of teachers' code-switching forms Table 4.2 Individual teachers' code-switching forms Table 4.3 Summary of teachers' code-switching situations Table 4.4 Factors leading to teachers‟ code-switching Table 4.5 Attitudes to code-switching in relation to teachers‟ use of code-switch Table 4.6 Attitudes to code-switching in relation to subject access Table 4.7 Attitudes to code-switching in relation to classroom management Table 4.8 Attitudes to code-switching in relation to interpersonal relations v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims and research questions 1.2.1 Aims and objectives of the study 1.2.2.Research questions 1.2.3 Scope of the study 1.2.4 Significance of the study 1.2.5 Thesis organization CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Code- switching 2.1.1 Definition of code-switching 2.1.2 Code-switching in language classroom 2.2 Code-mixing 2.2.1 Definition of code-mixing 2.2.2 Importance of code- mixing in social interactions 2.3 Code-switching and other language contact phenomena 2.3.1 Distinction between code- switching and borrowing 2.3.2 Distinction between code-switching and interference 2.3.3 Distinction between code-switching and code- mixing 10 2.4 Types of code -switching 10 2.5 Reasons of code-switching 12 2.5.1 Lack of Facility 12 2.5.2 Lack of Register 12 2.5.3 Mood of the Speaker 12 2.5.4 To Emphasize a Point 12 2.5.5 Habitual Experience 13 2.5.6 Semantic Significance 13 2.5.7 To Show Identity with a Group 13 2.5.8 To Address a Different Audience 14 2.5.9 Pragmatic Reasons 14 2.5.10 To Attract Attention 14 2.6 Previous studies 14 2.7 Research gap 18 vi CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 19 3.1 Research methods 19 3.2 Setting of the the study 19 3.3 Participants 20 3.4 Data collection instruments 21 3.4.1 Classroom observation 21 3.4.2 Class recording 22 3.4.3 Writing field notes 22 3.4.4 Interviewing 23 3.4.5 Questionnaires 23 3.5 Data analysis 24 3.6 Ethical considerations 24 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 25 4.1 Findings: The forms and situations of code-switching 25 4.1.1 The forms of code-switching 25 4.1.2.1 Teaching content 31 4.2 Answer to RQ2: Factors leading to teachers‟ code-switching 37 4.2.1 Classroom-related factors 38 4.2.2 Teachers‟ personal factors 40 4.2.3 Environmental and curricular factors 42 4.2.4 Teachers‟ own past education and practice 44 4.3 Answer to RQ3: Students‟ attitudes toward teacher‟s code-switching 49 4.3.1 Attitudes to code-switching in relation to teachers‟ persona 49 4.3.2 Attitudes to code-switching in relation to subject access 49 4.3.3 Attitudes to code-switching in relation to classroom management 50 4.3.4 Attitudes to code-switching in relation to interpersonal relations 51 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 54 5.1 Recapitulation 54 5.2 Concluding remarks 55 5.3 Limitations of the current research 56 5.4 Recommendations and suggestions for future research 57 REFERENCES 58 APPENDICES 61 vii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION In this chapter, an overview of the thesis is presented through five sections The first section outlines the general context and the need for the study is the rationale of the study In the next section, the aims and research questions as well as objectives of study are mentioned Afterwards, the chapter presents the scope of the study and its significance The final section of the chapter is devoted to a framework of the thesis organization, which provides the key issues covered in the five chapters of the study below 1.1 Rationale of the study English is spoken all over the world In Vietnam it is considered as one of the main subjects at all grades in all schools In each class whenever teaching and learning occur, code-switching will appear It is clear that code-switching plays an important role in human communication life This linguistic phenomenon creates room for code-switching analysis in classroom interactions in terms of forms and functions The research, therefore, is hoped to contribute to the understanding of types of code-switching and the reasons why teachers and students use code-switch in classroom context Teaching and Learning English for communication have increasingly become integral parts of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum in many non-English speaking countries Developing learners‟ communicative competence has been the main aim of teaching and learning English in EFL classes As English (L2) is not used as an official language for social communication by EFL learners, it is necessary to maximize the interaction and the use of L2 in language classrooms Among many methods applied to achieve the aforementioned goal is group work, which is regularly used by teachers in EFL classes, especially in teaching foreign language lessons at a high school Regarding these issues, being a teacher at a high school in a mountainous area, the researcher is aware of the use of code-switching and wants to find out the frequency, types, reasons of code-switching and students‟ opinion on codeswitching in learning English at a high school in a mountainous area In addition, like many other people, some English teachers and learners here have also been in the opinion that code-switching is a kind of language interference which should be eliminated As observed and discussed, the researcher realizes that compared to higher-level students and other students who live in big cities, high school students APPENDICES Appendix 1: Observation sheet Observation sheet Date of observation: Class: Teacher‟s name/code: Lesson details: Activities/Situations Language teacher uses Language students use in responses Others 61 Appendix 2: Interview guide for teachers Interview guide for Teachers Questions Prompts ● ● ● Do you use mostly Vietnamese or English in the classroom for English teaching? Do you use Vietnamese at some points when teaching English to students? What language you use when you: ● When switch classroom teaching? introduce lessons to students ● teach, or explain, or expand vocabulary you ●in explain ● ● grammar rules find difficult communicating with students want to build relationships with students (e.g expressing emotion, making students relaxed, encouraging students, ● ● expressing humour, building solidarity or gaining intimate relationship) manage, or organize classrooms make sure, or clarify students‟ understanding, or highlighting important information What other situations you use Vietnamese when teaching English to students in the classroom? 62 Now, let’s see this excerpt from a recorded leson you taught you on… ● Why …… Why did you switch here? Were your switches to explain grammar, or to encourage your students, or for other reasons? switch? ● …… What are the advantages of your use of Vietnamese at some ● phases of English teaching in the class? What are the disadvantages? ● ● ● What language your students usually use to respond when you ask them in English? when you ask them in Vietnamese? How you feel when you use Vietnamese at certain points to teach English to students? What is your opinion about “using English only” in English language teaching classroom? 63 Appendix Excerpted sample of class recording Class recording transcript of teacher 10 (C.R.Tr.T1.1) Participant:Teacher 1, class hour (T1.1) Class: 10A1 Observer: Hoang Thi Tu Recorded: 06/1/2020 Transcribed: 10/1/2020 Checked: 12/1/2020 Length: 45 minutes Sound quality: Good V: Vietnamese E: English St(s): Student(s) Teacher‟s Signature:………………………………………… St: [00] [talking in V] T1: Yes, thanks, take a seat at the back [telling the observers] [talking in V] St: T1: What? St: [talking in E] T1: Oh yes.|| You‟re welcome || Ờ …I want to introduce some teachers attend [attending] our class today || Let‟s welcome them Sts: [clapping hands] [talking in V] T1: [01] Now students, how are you? Sts: [no response] T1: You are…Are you worried? || Are you nervous? Sts: [no response] T1 Who‟s absent today, the monitor, Vi ? 64 S [Nobody] T1 Thanks [write down on the board ] T1 Look at the picture and answer my questions?|| Is it Ha Long Bay? || Have you ever visited Ha Long Bay? Ss Yes, T1 Where is Ha Long Bay? Ss In Quang Ninh T1 Can you name some places we can have an exercusion in Lang Son? || Where đâu nhỉ? T1 Can you name some places we can have an exercusion in Lang Son? || Where are they? Ss Mẫu Sơn, || Thành nhà Mạc Ss Mau Son mountain, || Mac Wall T1 [Lead to the new lesson ] [ Write down on board Unit 6: An Exercusion ] Ss [no response] T1 Read the request and ask Ss to match pictures with their information[no response] || Show the pictures || Picture S1 Thien Mu T1 Second picture?|| What‟s this? S2 Ha Long Bay T1 And Picture 3? S3 Chùa Một Cột ! One- Pilar Pagoda T1 Yeah! That‟s great || Class! what‟s this? Ss Huong river T1 Other idea? || || Now matching Ss [Matching] T1 Which place would you like to visit? || Why? S4 [ answer] T1 Đấy số địa danh Chúng ta đến với địa điểm lớp bạn Lan Trước cô cung cấp cho em số từ mới.ok không 65 ? || Write the new words Those are some places.|| Let‟s go to Lan‟s Trip || First, I will give you some new word, ok ? Ss [write down and read in chorus ] T1 [ play the tape] Ss [ listen ] T1 Sau nghe xong đọc em đọc thầm lại đọc hoàn thiện Task cho cô phút Ss [ the tasks ] T1 [ correct] Homework hơm em học thuộc từ viết lại Task 1,2,3 vào vở, right? Homework is to learn by heart all new words and rewrite Task 1,2,3 on notebook , right? Ss [ write homework] 66 Appendix Questionnaires Introduction: In this section, there are 20 questions on the attitudes to the teachers‟ code-switching in foreign language classroom Teacher‟s Code-switching in Classroom is presented in the following example: Teacher: This time, if you cannot answer my question (Just now, some classmates, if can‟t answer my question?) Maybe because there are some new words in it (There some new words, aren‟t there) Ok, now look at it again In the following questions we would like you to answer by simple giving marks from to For example, in the following questions, If you Strongly agree the opinion in the question, tick „5‟ in the check, If you Strongly disagree the opinion in the question, tick „1‟ in the check, 5=strongly agree; 4=agree; 3=not sure; 2=disagree; 1=strongly disagree Part Teacher’s use of code-switch Question1 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese or from Vietnamese to English can express themselves clearly in both languages 54321 Question2 Teachers who switch codes from Vietnamese to English or from English to Vietnamese may cause difficulty in understanding 54321 Question3 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese or from Vietnamese to English pollute languages 54321 Question4 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese are deficient in English 54321 Question Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese are proficient in English 54321 67 Part Subject access Question6 Teachers who switch codes from Vietnamese to English or from English to Vietnamese can so in all kinds of topicode-switching in class 54321 Question7 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese can better explain the grammatical points and lexical items in the text 54321 Question8 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese can better explain cultural topicode-switching in the text 54321 Question9 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese can better elicit responses from students 54321 Question10 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese can better clarify the lesson content taught 54321 Part3 Classroom management Question11 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese can better clarify task instruction 54321 Question12 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese can better discipline the students 54321 Question13 Teachers who code-switch from English to Vietnamese can better engage students‟ attention 68 54321 Question14 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese can better request quiet 54321 Question15 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese can better direct (call on) students 54321 Part4 Code-switching for interpersonal relations Question16 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese can better encourage students 54321 Question17 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese can better praise students 54321 Question18 Teachers who switch codes from Vietnamese to English or from English to Chinese can better enliven the atmosphere of class (e.g make a joke for humor) 54321 Question 19 Teachers who code-switch from English to Vietnamese can better comment on the students‟ response 54321 Question 20 Teachers who switch codes from English to Vietnamese can better negotiate with students (reduce distance) 54321 69 Question 21: In which languages (Vietamese or English) would you prefer to use in lesson of English? Question 22: Please explain why you prefer the language(s) in question 1? 70 Appendix 5: Interview guide for students Interview guide for students Questions Question Prompts In which ● Do you prefer your teacher using mostly languages (Vietnamese or English) Vietnamese or English in the classroom for would you prefer to use in lesson of English teaching? English? ● introduce lessons to students Question Please explain why you ● teach, or explain, or expand vocabulary prefer the language(s) in question●1? explain grammar rules ● find easier to communicate ● make relaxed ● manage, or organize classrooms ● make easier to understand 71 Appendix A lesson plan Date of preparation: 16/ 1/ Date of teaching: Class:12A5 20 /1 /2019 12A6 20 /1 /2019 Period: 2019 57 UNIT 10 : ENDANGERED SPECIES LESSON 3: LISTENING I Mục Tiêu: Qua học HS cần: Về kiến thức: - Nghe hiểu đoạn văn nói đời sống loài khỉ đột để làm tập True / False điền thơng tin thiếu sách giáo khoa Tích hợp môn Sinh Học Về Tinh Tinh Về kỹ năng: - Phát triển kỹ nghe hiểu thông tin lấy thơng tin chi tiết Về tư thái độ: - Hiểu vận dụng thơng tin đời sống lồi động vật hoang dã có ý thức bảo vệ chúng - Biết nhận xét đánh giá làm bạn tự đánh giá kết học tập - Chủ động phát hiện, chiếm lĩnh tri thức Có tinh thần hợp tác học tập II Chuẩn bị GV HS Chuẩn bị GV: Ngồi giáo án, phấn, bảng cịn … Chuẩn bị HS: Ngoài đồ dùng học tập SGK, bút… - Kiến thức cũ giáo dục đại học Việt nam III Phương pháp dạy học Vận dụng linh hoạt PPDH nhằm giúp học sinh chủ động, tích cực phát hiện, chiếm lĩnh tri thức như: trình diễn, thuyết trình, giảng giải, gợi mở vấn đáp, nêu vấn đề, … Trong phương pháp sử dụng đàm thoại, gợi giải vấn đề IV Tiến trình học Ổn định tổ chức.(1‟) Kiểm tra sĩ số, kiểm tra chuẩn bị học sinh cho học (sách vở, dụng cụ, tâm thế, …) 72 Kiểm tra cũ : (5’) - Câu hỏi 1: Can you name some kinds of wild animals that are endangered of extinction ? - Câu hỏi 2: What should we to protect them ? Bài mới: Activities Contents Activity ( mins) Warm-up - Purpose: To relax Ss and activate them to lead in the lesson - Instruction: Ask Ss to discuss some questions It is one kind of animals living in the forest It has something looking like people It look like a monkey → WHAT IS IT? - Ss pay attention to Teacher and find out the correct answers Expected answers: It is a GORRILA - Write down and repeat → Lead in " Our lesson today will focus on a special animal: GORRILAS " Tích hợp môn Sinh học Tinh Tinh * Purpose: This activity focuses on Ss’ prediction Activity ( mins) about the listening passage Pre- listening Choose the best answer * Instruction: Choose the best answer A, B, or C: A,B,or C - Ask students to work in pairs to discuss and choose the best answer A,B,C - Guide the students to answer if necessary - Give further information Answer: C Africa A 3 B 40 - Read through the statements and underline key words 73 Activity ( mins) Vocabulary * Purpose: This activity helps Ss to revise and practise some key words in the listening passage * Instruction: Listen to the passage and repeat Task: - Explain the words that will appear in the listening text - Teach vocabulary: gorilla (n) sociable (a) sub-adult nest (n) (n) bared teeth (n) silverback (n) civil war (n) forest ranger (n) - Have Ss practise reading new words - Lead in the new lesson - Practise reading words - Copy down Activity ( mins) While- listening TASK *Purpose: This activity focuses on listening for specific information * Instruction: Listen and answer - Ask students to read the statements carefully - Ask them to guess the answers - Play the tape once then check how many answers can students find - Play the tape again - Check and give remarks - Call some students to say out their answers and the evidences they get to prove their answers Expected answer: A Activity ( mins) 2.B D C D * Purpose: This activity focuses on listening for 74 While- listening TASK specific information and inference *Instruction: Listen again and gap filling - Introduce the task: Task Listen again and complete the chart - Ask Ss to read the statements carefully and find out key words or information of each sentence - Play the tape - Call some Ss to give the answers - Play the tape the last time to check their answers Expected answer: peaceful plant – eating a few females and their young plants and a few kinds of insects in trees in grasses civil wars forests being cut down Activity ( mins) Post- listening * Purpose: This post-listening activity aims summarise the main ideas of the passage * Instruction: - In group, ask students to summarise the main ideas of the passage ,using the information and the answers in task and - Move around to help if necessary - Give remarks or even suggestions Consolidation: (1min) - Learn new words - Remember the ways to give and to response the compliments - Prepare part D WRITING 75 ... research only investigated code- switching in classroom in participant-related and discourse-related situation in general Another study into learners‟ code- switching is ? ?Code- switching in the classroom: ... forms of code switching occurred in the class such as intersentential code switching, intra-sentential code switching, extra-sentential code switching (tag switching) and borrowing code switching. .. use of code- switching and wants to find out the frequency, types, reasons of code- switching and students‟ opinion on codeswitching in learning English at a high school in a mountainous area In addition,