Exploring the usefulness of translanguaging in a Ha Nam high school An exploratory action reseach project

Exploring the usefulness of translanguaging in a Ha Nam high school An exploratory action reseach project Exploring the usefulness of translanguaging in a Ha Nam high school An exploratory action reseach project luận văn tốt nghiệp thạc sĩ

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 The study focuses specifically on using translanguaging in learning English as well as evaluate the students‘ attitudes towards this pedagogy in a high school in Ha Nam province The study limits itself to the teaching and learning English, and the subjects of the study are 125 non-English majors from three classes studying new ―English 10‖ textbook ( 10 A3) and ―English textbook 11‖ (11 A6, 11 A8) at a high school 1.5 Significance of the study The findings of this study are beneficial in two ways First, they provide initial empirical insights into the possible benefits of translanguaging in the context of Vietnamese high schools Secondly, the study will help to influence stakeholders‘ attitudes towards the role of L1 in L2 learning 1.6 Research Methodology An exploratory action research design (Smith &Rebolledo, 2016) is used to achieve the aim of the study The study was conducted in two phases In the first phase, the researcher explored the students‘ attitudes towards to use of Vietnamese in the English lessons through a survey questionnaire In the second phase, based on the results of the survey in the first phase, action, i.e., the use of translanguaging, was taken in the classroom with a focus on the possible benefits of translanguaging to students‘ learning English in classroom learning tasks Then, the action was evaluated to measure the effect of translanguaging on students‘ engagement in classroom learning Data for this evaluation was obtained by means of the teacher‘self-observation, reflective journals and interviews of the students 1.7 Structure of the thesis The thesis is composed of five chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction- deals with the rationales, aims, methods, scope, significance and design of the study Chapter 2: Literature review – provides some theoretical background about translanguaging and using the first language in the second language classrooms Chapter 3: Research Methodology – presents the situation analysis, participants, data collection instrument, data collection procedures and data analysis The detailed results of the research are focused Chapter 4: Findings and discussion – shows major findings, discussion and some recommendations for teachers and learners in using of translanguaging in teaching and learning English Chapter 5: Conclusion- is a review of the study, suggestions for further research and limitations of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter reviews the literature on translanguaging in second and/or foreign language teaching and learning It first provides the definition of the concept of translanguaging Next, the theoretical foundation of translanguaging is discussed Finally, studies conducted in a variety of different contexts are reviewed to identify the research gap where the present study fits 2.1 What is translanguaging? According to Conteh (2018), translanguaging was originated in Welsh bilingual education in the 1980s ‗Trawsieithu‘—a Welsh term coined by Cen Williams, and later translated into English as ‗translanguaging‘—was constructed as a purposeful cross-curricular strategy for ‗the planned and systematic use of two languages for teaching and learning inside the same lesson‘ (Lewis et al 2012, p 3) Cenoz and Gorter (2011: 359) define translanguaging as ―the combination of two or more languages in systematic way within the same learning activity.‖ Thus, translanguaging is understood to be a wider concept which contains not only codeswitching but many other kinds of bi/multilingual practices as well While code-switching refers to the alteration of switch between languages by bilinguals in communicative event, translanguaging focuses on how bilinguals take advantages of their linguistic resources to make meaning or to make sense (Li, 2018b) The distinction between the two concepts is detailed in the following section Researchers use the term ‗translanguaging‘ to describe multilingual oral interaction (e.g García, 2009; Blackledge and Creese, 2010) and the use of different languages in written texts (e.g Canagarajah, 2011; García and Kano, 2014) 2.2 Translanguaging vs code-switching Code-switching is a bilingual-mode activity in which more than one language, typically speakers‘ native language (L1) and second language (L2), are used intransententially or intersententially (Cook, 2001) Code-switching has not been appreciated in traditional L2 classrooms where the students‘ target language and native language were viewed as being compartmentalized or separated, and the target language was the ―legitimate‖ language in the classroom while the native language was a taboo Therefore, according to Creese and Blackledge (2000), codeswitching is occasionally employed by language curriculum developers and instructors to assist language practices that multilingual speakers are engaged in Meanwhile, translanguaging is a term which has recently used in line with codeswitching in the literature Similarly, translanguaging and code-switching are related to multilingual speakers‘ transferring between languages in a natural way Nevertheless, translanguaging was purposefully switched (Williams, 2002) in Welsh bilingual classrooms The purpose is, therefore, a marker distinguishing translanguaging from code-switching García and Leiva (2013, 207) state: ―The concept of translanguaging goes beyond code-switching Code-switching refers to the mixing or switching of two static language 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 in a different social, cultural and political context Translanguaging brings into the open discursive exchanges among people in ways that recognize their values of languaging In allowing fluid discourses to flow, translanguaging has the potential to give voice to new social realities.‖ Another important distinction between translanguaging and code-switching involve modes and the means through which language is embodied (Canagajah, 2013).Translanguaging highlights various modes that users adopt in expressing their ideas The intersections of different linguistic elements embroidered in various modes illustrate the creativity and fluidity prioritized in translanguaging In short, ― Translanguaging differs from the notion of code-switching in that it refers not simply to a shift or a shuttle between two languages, but to the speakers‘ construction and use of original and complex interrelated discursive practices that cannot be easily assigned to one or another traditional definition of language, but that make up the speakers‘ complete language repertoire.‖ (García &Wei 2014) Translanguaging is a planned and systematic use of two languages for teaching and learning inside the same lesson Code-switching practice is particularly maligned by teachers in dual language education and bilingual students use language in complex and dynamic ways 2.3 Theoretical foundation of translanguaging Recently, there have been significant changes in the outlook on the role of learners‘ language in second language learning, according to which learners‘ language are viewed as a resource in the English –as-a-foreign language (EFL) classroom (e.g Corcoll& Gonzales-Davies, 2016; Creese&Blackledge, 2010; Illman&Pietila, 2018) This view originates from new findings in neuroscience (Cook, 2008), bilingual education research (Anderson, 2008; Cummins, 2008) and multilingualism (Ortega, 2014) These findings have questioned the dominant English-only principle in ELT For example, Anderson (2008) has called for flexible approaches to pedagogy to respond to bilingual contexts that not fit easily into existing paradigm The research documented in Lin and Martin (2005) and Arthur and Martin (2006) described the pedagogic potentials behind code switching These include increasing the inclusion, participation, and understandings of pupils in the learning processes; developing less formal relationships between participants; conveying ideas more easily; and accomplishing lessons They spoke of the ―pedagogic validity of code switching‖ (Arthur & Martin, 2006, p 197) and considered ways in which the research might contribute to a ―teachable‖ pedagogic resource Important avenues of research have begun to question the validity of boundaries around languages Garcia (2007) showed in her work in New York schools that languages are not hermetically sealed units Garcia prefers the term translanguaging (p xii) to code switching to describe the usual and normal practice of ―bilingualism without diglossic functional separation‖ in New York classrooms (p xiii) Conteh (2018, p 446) notes, Language is seen as an ongoing ‗process‘ rather than a ‗thing‘, a ‗verb‘ rather than a ‗noun‘ (Becker, 1988: 25), as in the notion of ‗languaging‘ The focus moves from how many languages an individual may have at their disposal to how they use all their language resources to achieve their purposes Li (2018b: 24) argues that translanguaging ‗challenges the conventional understanding of language boundaries between … culturally and politically labelled languages.‖ In educational contexts, translanguaging is a practice in which educators allow the mixing of languages in bilingual educational settings; this practice is also known among some linguists as ―code-switching‖ (Adamson&Fujimoto-Adamson, 2012, p.59) Meanwhile, Greese and Blackledge (2010) extended this even further, to state that translanguaging goes beyond a basic acceptance or tolerance of the learner‘s native language to the ―cultivation of languages through their use‖ (p.103) Rosemary Orlando (2019) argues that there are two types of translanguaging that can be developed in the classroom The first type consists of allowing and encouraging students to use their first language to help learning and translate when they not understand It means that they can communicate with their friends in the class by using their mother tongue as well as in English This approach, when used in English classroom, allows the development and support of learning both the content and improving English comprehension The second type is called ―planned translanguaging‖ This form of translanguaging is an extensive language into the curriculum to support both learning and language development In this approach, teachers while planning their lessons with two languages being integrated can consider their classroom procedure and their lesson content in order to decide where and when it may be beneficial to include L1 It is useful for students to work on a particular topic Vogel & Garcia (2017) provide the three core premises for translanguaging: - It puts forward that individuals select and implement features from a unitary linguistic repertoire in order to communicate - It takes up a perspective on bilingualism and multilingualism that privileges speakers‘ dynamic linguistic and semiotic practices above the named languages of nations and states - It recognizes the material effects of socially constructed named language categories structuralist language ideologies, especially for minoritized language speakers (p.4) Cenoz&Gorter (2011, 2015) discussing the use of translanguaging in multilingual views, focused on multilingualism (FoM) through three dimensions: FoM The multilingual speaker The whole linguistic repertoire The social context These dimensions are related to each other because the multilingual speaker uses his/her whole linguistic repertoire to communicate in social contexts The use of linguistic resources from the whole linguistic repertoire is referred to translanguaging In the context of multilingual education, there is a distinction between pedagogical and spontaneous translanguaging At first, pedagogical translanguaging is not limited to the alternation of input and output It included other pedagogical strategies based on the use of the multilingual speaker‘s linguistic resources from the whole linguistic repertoire Nevertheless, spontaneous translanguaging refers to the reality of multilingual usage in naturally occurring contexts where boundaries between languages are fluid and constantly shifting It can take place both inside and outside classroom Inside the classroom, translanguaging can have pedagogical value but it has not been planned in advance as a pedagogical strategy Outside the classroom, translanguaging is used to exchange the ideas as a socializing tool or making fun When understanding the distinction, the researcher could design more activities depending on each purpose of translanguaging as well as help learners distinguish the differences between translanguaging and code-switching The importance of translanguaging theory has been revealed in previous research from different aspects (e.g.: linguistic, educational, socio-political, etc.), and researchers tend to focus on three primary aspects, which could best reflect the significance of this theory First of all, translanguaging is an approach to make use of languages of bi/multi-linguals by considering they possess one linguistic repertoire instead of several different autonomous language systems (Kasula, 2016; García, 2009) Second, translanguaging also provides multilingual speakers with support in affirming language identities by ―creating a social space bringing together different dimensions of their personal history, experience and environment, their attitude, belief and ideology, their cognitive and physical capacity into one coordinated and meaningful performance‖ (Wei, 2010, p1223) Third, translanguaging theory has deep social justice implications for the education of bilingual students (García, 2017), especially for the US education system in which bilingual or multilingual speakers used to be considered as disadvantaged learners However in English classrooms, we can design many interesting activities by using translanguaging García has summarized major objectives of using this pedagogy as follow: - to support students as they engage with and comprehend complex content and texts - to provide opportunities for students to develop linguistic practices for academic contexts - to make space for students‘ bilingualism and ways of knowing - to support students‘ socioemotional development and bilingual identities (García, 2017, p29) According to Lewis, Jones and Baker (2012), García and Li (2014), there are two types of translanguaging strategies: ―teacher-directed translanguaging to give voice, clarity, reinforce, manage the classroom and ask questions and studentdirected translanguaging to participate, to elaborate ideas, to raise questions It means that teachers and students actually become active and excited with multiple languages in different contexts (Lewis: 665-670) Jenkins (2019) explains the importance of the concept of translanguaging in ELF studies and she emphasizes that translanguaging should be regarded as a normal language behavior and focuses on the need to develop the relationship between English and other languages Whereas, Seidlhofer (2017) highlights the importance of considering English as an additional communicative resource in the multilingual speaker‘s repertoire and of building on the learner‘s own language experience Cummins (2008, p.65) points out that ―translanguaging allows for students to use their native language as a tool to help them excel in their target language.‖ It is clear that developing students‘ native language strengths the base for English and increases learners‘ literacy skills in their native languages Translanguaging allows English language learners to have a chance to choose how to express themselves using all of the linguistic resources available to them, whether it is in their native language (L1) or in the target language (TL) The researcher emphasized that the key to the students‘ progress and achievements was the respect paid to the native language and culture and the students used them as aids for learning Briefly, through translanguaging, the student can create an identity as a language learner who incorporates his or her L1 and home culture as well as the TL and culture to solve social situations and opportunities for communication Lewis, Jones & Baker (2012b: 644) summarize Williams (1996) pedagogic theory as follows: ―The process of translanguaging uses various cognitive processing skills in listening and reading, the assimilation and accommodation of information, 10 choosing and selecting from the brain storage to communicate in speaking and writing Thus, translanguaging requires a deeper 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 (2014) presented in her research that learning English by using trangslanguaging brings learners a number of benefits: - the message of the instructor is more easily conveyed - the message is more easily comprehended by students - increased understanding of class content - students can communicate in any language in order to get their point across or collaborate with other students - a focus on function rather than form - increase student motivation - increase student participation in class discussions In her study, translanguaging is used effectively in Swedish classrooms For example, the researcher taught the students how to draw on their complete language repertoires when learning (not just language learning).She also allowed her students to collaborate with other students speaking the same language/s or both languages (L1 and L2) when she believed this could help them learn more effectively Moreover, the teacher created a classroom atmosphere where translanguaging was accepted as the norm – translanguaging space (Wei 2011) She, thus, encouraged the students to be open to using different language tools (dictionaries etc.) and stimulated them to participate in metalinguistic discussions by, for instance, contrasting and comparing to other languages The author reported that translanguaging could be applied in four skills in learning English and it did increase the participation of the students and developed the fluency in using languages She pointed out that a translanguaging pedagogy is important for language minoritized students, whether they are emergent bilingual or not, because 11 it builds on students‘ linguistic strengths The implication of this study is that the teacher should take advantages of the students existing skills and take their background into account when teaching – language, culture and history as well In brief, the teacher can teach students how to use their complete language repertoires as a resource for learning Nambisan (2014) showed in his research on teachers‘ attitudes towards the use of translanguaging in English language classrooms in Iowa that translanguaging is utilized in one specific ESL context and evaluate about the interest among teachers in these practices In the study, the survey used items based on the McMillan and Rivers‘ (2011) study and other items to collect information about the teacher‘s experience and teachers‘ attitudes towards use of L1 in the classroom The results showed that translanguaging helps students by providing a safe environment where their identities and cultures were valued, which helped the more reserved students take a more active and involved role in their education The researcher also proposed some implications for the teacher to make use of using translanguaging in English classrooms Greggio and Gil (2007) reported in their study that the beginner group used code-switching in four particular situations: i) explaining grammar, ii) providing instruction, iii) monitoring or assisting students, and iv) correcting learners during the course of an activity The results showed that this switching from the L2 to the L1 by the teacher was used to clarify words (especially difficult words), expressions, structures or rules to make sure that the learners understood her clearly and effectively Using code-switching is applied in different levels depending learners‘ language proficiency in an EFL context The author concluded that professionals in the realm of foreign or second language learning should be open to the benefits that code-switching offers in facilitating classrooms interaction and language learning Baker (2001) points out some educational advantages of using translanguaging He notes that using translanguaging promotes a deeper understanding of the subject matter In addition, it helps the development of the 12 weaker language For example, the second language or foreign language is often considered as the weaker language and the mother tongue or the first language is more dominant Next, using translanguaging facilitates home-school links and cooperation Lastly, it helps the integration of fluent speakers with early learners When using or discussing the topic in one language and then writing about it in another language means that the subject matter has to be cognitively processed or digested McMillian and Rivers (2011) surveyed 29 participants (all native-speaker EFL instructors) about their beliefs regarding the role of L1 in the EFL classroom At first, the authors believed that some of the participants who are hesitant to allow the L1 into the classroom may be preoccupied about how to incorporate it if their proficiency is low, so that portion of the questionnaire allowed for data collection to draw an interference on that topic However, the responses were different from that hypothesis Surprisingly, the teachers who had a more positive view of L1 use in the classroom had lower self-reported proficiency scores in Japanese, whereas the teachers who opposed L1 use had a higher proficiency rating The study provided valuable insight into the minds of teachers and helped share their viewpoints on why they agree with or oppose the presence of the L1 in the EFL classroom Chungke & Shumin Lin (2017) chose a translanguaging approach to TESOL in Taiwan in their research They emphasized that this approach in ELT stems from the changing roles of a language teacher from providing linguistic knowledge and skills to building learners ‗self-learning capacity, learner agency and L2 identities It also discusses the viability of a translanguaging approach in TESOL in Taiwanese contexts In this paper, they used some examples of translanguaging practices in an EFL classroom in a rural junior high school in Taiwan to illustrate the potentials of translanguaging pedagogy for developing learner agency and identities In this study, the teacher intuitively translanguaged in intentional and purposeful ways The teacher in this study used all elements in her and students‘ linguistic repertoires, including English in her EFL classrooms She used ―translanguaging‖ to teach by blending English into her repertoire of teaching and by encouraging 13 students to translanguage in using English along with other languages To sum up, some studies influenced and guided this current study on using translanguaging in English classrooms This suggests that the teachers can make use of translanguaing to explain complex concepts, vocabulary, and grammatical features or structures (Ahmad, 2009; Greggio and Gil, 2007‘ McMillan and Rivers, 2011; Tian and Macaro, 2012) When teaching new vocabulary items, it is helpful for instructors to code-switch into the L1 to use definitions that are easier for the students to understand, which helps them catch the meanings and allows them to have better understanding what they are learning (Ahmad, 2009) In aspect of grammatical features and structures, using L1 can assist the teacher to explain the difficult points of grammar more easily because it sometimes makes the students confused when the teacher uses the TL to present the grammar‘s rules Cook (2001) pointed out that translanguaging is a natural practice and allows students to make connections between their L1 and L2 2.5 Chapter summary This literature review shows that interest in translanguaging is increasing However, in order to make translanguaging a widely accepted pedagogy, more research is needed Creese and Blackledge (2010: 113) emphasizes ―the need for further research to explore what ―teachable‖ pedagogic resources are available in flexible, concurrent approaches to learning and teaching languages bilingually.‖ In making this call, they echo what other scholars like Lin and Martin (2005) have also considered important in order to move multilingual language acquisition forward According to Canagarajah (2011), what current classroom studies show is that translanguaging is a naturally occurring phenomenon for multilingual students Translanguaging cannot be completely restrained by monolingual educational policies It can occur with minimal pedagogical effort from teachers However, such studies might give the impression that translanguaging doesn‘t have to be taught (p 8) Canagarajah (2011: 9) goes further and recommends, ―As we develop teachable strategies of translanguaging, we have to consider some serious issues for 14 assessing the effectiveness of this practice.‖ Despite the reported value of translanguaging to second language learning, this pedagogical practice has not been applied widely and adequately researched both globally and in Vietnam This fact motivates me to conduct this exploratory action research in order to find out the students‘ attitudes towards translanguaging and how translanguaging can work in the context of a high school in Vietnam, where exposure to English outside the classroom is limited to the students 15 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter provides background information about action research, the current situation of teaching and learning English by using translanguaging at a high school and a description of the methodology employed to collect data for the study This study is a modest attempt to respond to the call for more research on translanguaging by exploring the students‘ attitudes towards translanguaging as well as the possible benefits of translanguaging to students‘ learning English in the high school classroom 3.1 Research context The study was conducted at an upper-secondary school, a rural school of former Ha Nam province The school has 29 classes with over 60 teachers of all subjects English is taught as a compulsory subject Currently there are teachers of English and over 1200 students ranged from grade 10 to grade 12 Most of the students come from villages and towns in Thanh Liem district and Phu Ly city Although most students are aware of the importance of learning, English is not paid much attention by most of the students in school Few students choose English as a subject to take university entrance exam Teaching English has encountered some difficulties First of all, the class is often large with multi-level students There are from 40 to 45 students in each class It is hard for teachers to set up communicative activities, monitor class and give feedbacks The second is most students are not familiar with teaching in English They cannot understand lessons if teachers speak English all the time The last is the lack of materials Materials for reference and self-study are not available Furthermore, some facilities needed for learning such as computers and projectors…are not enough Normally, students have three periods of studying English every week It is a limited time for students to practice and develop skills as well as enrich their vocabulary and structure capacity What‘s more, English is hardly used to talk outside classroom All these factors have great effect on the students‘ results in learning English They usually have low proficiency in English so they lack 16 vocabulary items or structures to express their ideas in English As a result, they feel lack confidence and motivation when learning English 3.2 Participants The participants of the study were 125 students who were from my classes 10A3, 11A6 and 11A8 The research was conducted in the second term of the school year All the participants took part in the survey questionnaires by answering all the given questions In addition to questionnaires, 10 students were interviewed in order to have in – depth data 3.3 Instruments 3.3.1 Questionnaires According to Selinger and Shohamy (1989) a questionnaire is widely used in second language acquisition research to solicit information about certain conditions and practices, in particular to collect data on phenomena which are not easily observed, such as perceptions and attitudes It is also used to obtain background information about the research subjects (Koul 1984) A number of techniques are used to collect data through questionnaires The kinds of questions are various, consisting of Yes/No question, multiple choice, Ranked question, and question in Likert scale The survey questionnaires which were used in the study consist of eleven checklist questions and scales shopping from strongly agree to strongly disagree Part I was about the students‘ personal information including gender, age, number of years in learning English and class Part II aimed to find out the level of students‘ participation, their assessment towards using translanguaging in English lessons and the influences of applying translanguaging on their involvements in English class activities 3.3.2 Interviews Selinger and Shohamy (1989) point out that the use of interview as data collection instrument permits a level of in-depth information, free response and flexibility that can not be obtained by other procedures In this study, semistructured interview which consists of ten questions (four of them focused on using 17 translanguaging and their attitudes towards translanguaging) was used There were specific core questions determined before hand, but at the same time it allows some elaboration in the questions and answers Interviews were conducted in English between the researcher and 10 students The interviewees may be good at or bad at learning English They could answer in written or oral form There were ten interview questions for the students acted as a conversation All of the interviews were carried out in Vietnamese to help the interviewees express their opinions more easily and exactly The interviews were recorded under the permission of the interviewees The purpose of interviews is that the research could understand the students‘ attitude toward learning English in general and toward using translanguaging in particular Each interview lasted about three or five minutes including questions, answers and explanation The interviews were in the form of an informal conversation compiled in a paper sheet and recorded their answers to investigate their complete understandings about utilizing translanguaging in English lessons The interviews were conducted in a following week after processing the questionnaire for the students 3.3.3 Classroom self- observations Besides survey questionnaires and the interviews, self-observation was also used to justify the reliability and validity of the information about factors affecting students‘ attitudes and the change in their participations in classroom activities The researcher observed several English lessons she herself taught, noted down and recorded the students‘ behavior and activities In each lesson, the information of teacher‘s and students‘ activities, teaching techniques (giving instructions, encouragement, comment and feedback) and students‘ involvement and attitudes towards some ways of using translanguaging were noted and analyzed 3.4 Procedures 3.4.1 The exploratory action research 3.4.1.1 The exploratory action research The exploratory first phrase which justified use of the adjective ―explorartory‖ before ―action research‖ can be seen to involve clarifying the existing situation-the nature of a given ―problem‖ or other issue- before any action for change is 18 conceived and undertaken The term ―action research‖ refers to two dimensions of activity: the word ―research‖ in ―action research‖ refers to a systematic approach to carrying out investigations and collecting information that is designed to illuminate an issue or problem and to improve classroom practice, meanwhile the word ―action‖ refers to taking practical action to resolve classroom problems (Richards, 2005) Therefore, action research achieves both action (change or improve) and research (understanding) Action Research = Action + Research  Change/ Improve Understand •To achieve both action (change or improve) and research (understanding) • Practical research used to ―bridge the gap between research and practice‖ (Cohen et al, 2007) Kempis &McTaggart (1988) state that ―a group activity‖ and ―a form of collective self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of the own social or educational practices, as well as their understanding of these practices and the situations in which these practices are carried out.‖ According to Cohen and Manion (2007), action research is ―small-scale intervention in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the effects of such intervention.‖ A necessary component of action research is collaboration among different people They are teachers, their colleagues and students, who should be willing to talk with each other about the problems and find out the solutions together, as well as help each other in implementing classroom–centered action research projects It also needs the collaborative efforts of students who participate in the action research project Students‘ collaboration plays an important role in the success of the action research project Below is the difference between the action research and exploratory action research 19 It means that in this study, the researcher paid attention to the process of exploring the students ‗attitudes and analyse the possible benefits of translanguaging according to these steps Exploratory Action Research can be pictured like this (Smith & Rebolledo 2018 p 27) The researcher followed Smith & Rebolledo (2018)‘s model and students' questionnaires from 125 students were calculated by using software SPSS 20.0 The exploratory action was conducted during weeks of the second semester of 20 school year 2018-2019 from March 4th to May5th, 2019 Adapting steps in Smith& Rebolledo (2018)‘s exploratory action research cycle, the study was developed in three main steps as follows: Step 1: Plan to explore From my experience from teaching as well as characteristics of learning styles, I realized that there are some factors affecting students‘ participation in English lesson such as: fear of mistakes, shyness, anxiety, lack of confidence, lack of motivation Those became the main factors that affect Ss' condition because it comes from each individual Step 2: Explore I gave them a survey consisting of 11 questions so that he/she could understand why the students‘ participation was so low The results revealed that students‘ limited vocabulary in English was the hinderance to their participation in English speaking activities While the principles of communicative language teaching not encourage the students to use their first language, recent literature shows that translanguaging can be an appropriate pedagogy for bilingual/ multilingual learners However, the pedagogy is so new in many Vietnamese high schools I decided to experiment this pedagogy in my classes, which were three different groups Step 3: Analyse and reflect The researcher decided to allow the students to use Vietnamese when they had problems with English while they were speaking English She also modelled this to the students Also, she cautioned them that Vietnamese should be used only when necessary while English should be maximized The students could become more confident when they lack vocabulary items to convey their purposes and they felt eager to take part in English classroom activities The research could also find some anticipated problems during the process of applying translanguaging in English lessons 3.4.1.2 Rationale for the use of exploratory action research Exploratory AR, as this emerged within the project, can therefore be 21 characterized as a gradualist approach, developed to be useful for induction into teacher-research in difficult circumstances, whereby teachers are encouraged first of all to engage in research-based exploration of issues arising in their classrooms via means which not interfere with their everyday teaching, rather than immediately plunging into action and attempted measurement of change Cohen and Manion (2007) state that the aim of action research is to improve the current state of affairs within educational context in which the research is carried out Koshy (2005) also maintains that action research is a powerful and useful model for practitioner research because research can be set within a specific context or situation and researchers can be participants - they not have to be distant and detached from the situation Teachers in general and teachers of English in particular actually carry out action research for most of their time Whenever s/he identifies a problem which is happening in the class, it is his/her task to find ways to solve that problem Therefore, the exploratory action research is inevitably a very common practice This research was carried out by me, a practitioner, a teacher of English The inspiration for the research was the recognition and observation of a real problem in the classes that my colleagues and I taught in the past few school years Most of the students appeared to unwillingly participate in English classrooms Many of them are passive and unenthusiastic because they may lack background knowledge about vocabulary to express their points of view This research was conducted with a desire to observe students' participation in English lessons by using translanguaging This study would help them have inspiration of engaging more into the lessons in class With this view, this research meets the definition of exploratory action research as aiming at exploring and reflecting the problems This is also an action study because it was conducted in the real context of my classrooms, aimed at professional development through changing my methods of teaching to motivate my students to take part in English classrooms 22 3.4.2 Data collection procedures The data of the research was collected by means of questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations Firstly, the teacher-researcher delivered the questionnaires 125 students who were in her classes at her school Secondly, after collecting the information from the questionnaires, she started interviews with 10 students to get further information from students Then, the teacher-researcher conducted the lessons in which translanguaging was used for some pedagogical purposes These lessons were self-recorded by the teacher-researcher herself with the smart phone put in her pocket These audio-recorded lessons were then transcribed and used as data for analysis The data was used as stimuli for the purpose of finding out the students‘ attitudes towards classroom translanguaging through the post-lesson interviews 3.4.3 Data analysis procedures The data was analyzed both descriptively and interpretively The quantitative data is analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and tabulated while qualitative data from interviews was categorized into themes to identify the patterns and the peculiars The qualitative data is therefore presented according to themes 3.5 Summary This chapter has presented in some detail the methodological framework of the study including the justification for the use of action research design in this study, the research questions, questionnaires and interviews used as tools of collecting data, the participants of the study, the process of data collection and data analysis applied to seek the answers for the three research questions It also consists of the class observation to record students‘ performances during carrying out the study In the next chapter, there will be a presentation of the findings of the study and a discussion of the two research questions raised in this study 23 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION This chapter provides the findings of the study It also includes the presentation of data gathered, its analysis and interpretation Following the intervention, which was the use of translanguaging, I administered a questionnaire to the students to find out their attitudes towards this new pedagogy The questionnaire is composed of 11 Likert-type questions Participants‘ responses were analysed by means of descriptive statistics using the computer software SPSS 20.00 The results of analysis are as follows 4.1 Findings 4.1.1 Research question 1: What are the students‘ attitudes towards translanguaging in learning English? 4.1.1.1 Questionnaires All surveyed students were students from three different classes (80 students at grade 11 and 45 students at 10) between 15 to 17 ages When they were asked about their attitudes towards using translanguaging in English classrooms, they had different responses The first Likert items on the main survey are used to ask students‘ attitudes towards using translanguaging in learning English, especially from the question to the question 11 Table 4.1: Students’ attitude of L1 use in English classrooms (N= 80; Grade 11) Questions Frequency (F) Disagree I would like the teacher to allow Mean SD Agree 68 4.15 94 65 4.12 89 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 English and Vietnamese in group discussions 24 I feel more comfortable when I often 62 4.03 94 58 2.26 99 32 37 3.2 1.12 12 58 3.86 1.14 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 From the survey, it was found that the majority of students (68/80) would prefer to be allowed to use translanguaging when they did not find the suitable words in English or vice versa (in question 6) Only six (6) had ―No idea‖ in this case The study also paid attention to students who reported that they would like to make use of both English and Vietnamese in group discussion Of all the sample population, 62 students (accounts for 91.2 %) hoped to participate in group discussions if they had chance to get involved in English classrooms The reason was that they felt more comfortable and more confident when they could use Vietnamese and English (62/80 students agreed in the question 8) From the table, it can be seen that only nine (9) of 80 confirmed that they liked the teacher to use complete English language in English classrooms It means that they had a positive 25 view towards translanguaging Table 4.2: Students’ attitude of L1 use in English classrooms (N= 45; Grade 10) Questions Frequency (F) I would like the teacher to allow speaking Mean SD Disagree Agree 37 4.22 1.04 38 4.20 81 33 4.02 96 39 1.95 79 19 12 2.68 1.10 33 3.91 1.18 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 English and Vietnamese in group discussions 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 As can be seen from the responses of 10th graders to a question about their attitudes towards using translanguaging, only six (6) participants selected 26 ―disagree‖, representing that the majority of the participants would like to be permitted to speak English mixing Vietnamese when they did not know that word in English These results were not surprising because they could continue speaking when they were lack of vocabulary items In the question 9, only two students agreed that the teacher used English language completely in English classrooms The survey also shows that 39 of 45 students (accounts for 86.7%) disagreed with this point Besides, it can be seen from the table that the majority of participants felt more relaxed and confident when they could take part in group discussions with the use of translanguaging in English activities So far, the overall results indicated that most of the students had the similar ideas about that they strongly agreed to use translanguaging in English classroom activities They thought that translanguaging was a regular practice in the classes and language choice in teaching was acceptable to help them learn better at English 4.1.1.2 Class self-observations: Through class self- observations, the researcher realized that there were different attitudes towards using translanguaging in English classrooms These attitudes can classify as a ―range of different behaviors, including the decision of which language(s) to learn, which language(s) to use as one‘s main means of communication‖ (Kircher, 2016, p 241) and can ultimately contribute to either language shift or language maintenance Many factors contribute to student language attitudes, including use and familiarity with the target language, stereotypes regarding the language, and the students‘ future goals (Galloway as cited in Muthanna & Miao, 2015) As these attitudes affect how native speakers and language learners view languages, it makes sense that they may affect how students learn Further, the language ability of students can affect their attitudes towards learning in a particular language (Muthanna & Miao, 2015) If the student has a negative attitude towards the target language, then their language ability may be affected (Sze-yan as cited in Muthanna & Miao, 2015) However, the topic of language attitudes is one that has not been really explored in the emerging body of 27 translanguaging pedagory From my observation, I claimed that when the students have low proficiency in English they tend to utilize their native language to express their ideas.They felt eager to take part in group discussions if they are allowed to use Vietnamese in English classroom activities They had a positive response to using translanguaging in English classrooms In contrast, there was another attitude towards using translanguaging The students did not like using Vietnamese when they were learning English They thought that if they did so, it could hinder their opportunities to learn English fluently Finally, some students did not have their own ideas about using translanguaging in English classroom They often kept silent or shy to participate in learning tasks if they did not know the way to express in English language Moreover, some students with a higher level of English would like to use translanguaging to help their friends, who had weaker level of proficiency in English These students only used Vietnamese when necessary Obviously, the observation showed that students with more linguistic resources and stronger proficiency did not approve of using translanguaging whereas students with lack of language resources and weaker proficiency approved of using translanguaging in English classrooms 4.1.1.3 Interviews These interviews were carried out during the application of using translanguaging in three classes The interviewees may be good or not good at learning English They answered some questions in Vietnamese These interviews between the research and participants were recorded The results from these interviews were really different It meant that the students expressed a variety of their ideas on using translanguaging in English classrooms (inside and outside classrooms) Most of the students thought that it was a good idea to use translanguaging because it helped listeners/classmates understand more what they were saying When they use translanguaging, they would pay attention to learning new words From these activities they could enrich their vocabulary items However, some students believed that they should not use translanguaging They 28 often use a synonym or a word with closest meaning or they may stop talking, keep silent when they not find an English word to convey their ideas Especially, they usually used their mother tongue in group discussions They explained that they could understand more about a problem and easier to find out the solution The participants were eager to take part in group discussions because they lacked vocabulary items or structures to express their views Another response is that they never used translanguaging because they thought that the foreigners or classmates would laugh at them The second reason is that they not approve of using multilingual language in an utterance They considered that is a strange thing when learning English Below are some the answers of students towards using translanguaging The interview data was analyzed qualitatively and the following themes emerged from the data analysis These answers were extracted from the students‘ response to show that when they are permitted to use translanguaging S1: If I participate in group discussions, I cannot speak English fluently and clearly, so I don’t speak much But now when the teacher allows me to use Vietnamese when I don’t know how to say it in English, I can speak a little more S2: If I join a group discussion, I not use Vietnamese to express my views I think that group discussion is a good chance for me to practise pronouncing English words I don’t like using Vietnamese S3: I like my teacher to let me use Vietnamese combining English because sometimes I not know English words or expressions Thus, I can feel more comfortable and confident when interacting with the teacher in English lessons This makes the lessons more effectively and I also feel more excited when learning English S4: I like my teacher giving permission to use both Vietnamese and English because we cannot speak English fluently It is really difficult for us to use English during the lessons 29 S5: If I get involved in group discussion, I will not use Vietnamese because group discussion activities help me to improve English speaking and listening skills Although I can make mistakes when speaking English, I still limit to use Vietnamese Through the interviews, it was revealed that students‘ attitudes towards translanguaging were mixed It seemed that those who were better at English did not like translanguaging They believed that using English in speaking and listening skills is necessary This makes them have more opportunities to use English fluently In contrast, the weaker students felt more comfortable when they were permitted to use L1 in their English classrooms Some of them emphasized that translanguaging should not be overused This requires the teacher to be sensitive to the students‘ attitudes and their level of English More importantly, translanguaging must be purposeful, i.e., to serve a particular teaching problem that may occurs unexpectedly in the classroom In other words, flexibility is a must They believed that using English in speaking and listening skills is necessary This makes them have more opportunities to use English fluently 4.1.2 Research question 2: What are the possible benefits of translanguaging to students‘ learning English in the high school classroom? The findings showed that the possible benefits of translanguaging can be pointed out through the questionnaires, class self-observations and interviews according to the themes about of translanguaging: helping low proficiency students, explaining grammar, classify the subject and vocabulary, changing the mood of the students and increasing motivation 4.1.2 Questionnaires Other items in the survey are focused on students‘ expectations about the use of Vietnamese and English through many aspects of learning a language a Students’ expectations regarding the use of Vietnamese and English through translation In general, the student participants in 11th graders expressed their strong expectation 30 regarding the use of Vietnamese in their English lessons This is revealed in the frequency of their response to question 1: ―I understand the lesson better when the teacher translates complex English sentences into Vietnamese.‖ 40 of them stated that they strongly agreed with this statement while 31 of them stated that they agreed None of them objected to this statement, but nine (9) of them chose the ‗No idea‘ category Table 4.3: The percentage of 11th graders’ responses towards the question Question No idea Agree Strongly agree Frequency Percent 31 40 11.2% 38.8% 50% According to the survey, there were 44 of 45 students in 10th graders who agreed in the question Only one (1) of them had no idea with this statement Table 4.4: The percentage of 10th graders’ responses towards the question Question No idea Agree Frequency Percent Strongly agree 21 23 0.02 % 46.7 % 51.1% In short, in the question most of the students in grade 10 and 11 shared the same idea that they could understand the lesson better when the teacher translated complex English sentences into Vietnamese Translation is not a boring activity in the process of acquiring a language It is in every part of our life so communicative translation is commonly used in English classrooms because it makes the main points understandable b Students’ expectations regarding the use of Vietnamese and English through grammar It has been claimed that English language teaching in Vietnam is grammar-based, that indicates the importance of grammar in ELT However the question of how to teach grammar effectively is a big concern of every English teacher Choosing the suitable method(s) to teach grammar is really an important step to achieve the teaching and learning purposes Through the 31 survey, the results showed the students‘ perception of L1 use in learning grammar Table 4.5: Students’ perception of L1 use in learning grammar (N= 80; Grade 11) Questions Frequency (F) Disagree I understand the lesson better when the Mean SD Agree 76 4.36 57 10 62 3.91 93 62 3.95 87 teacher explains grammar in Vietnamese I understand the lesson better when the teacher asks the students to compare the grammatical structure in English and Vietnamese I understand the lesson better when the teacher asks the students to translate complex grammatical structures from English to Vietnamese or vice versa A great majority of 11 graders (n= 76) felt that when the teacher used Vietnamese to explain grammar in Vietnamese (M= 4.36; SD= 57) None of the participants disagreed with this and only four of them chose the category of ‗No idea‘ Meanwhile, 62 of 80 students approved of the comparison between Vietnamese expressions and English ones Only eight (8) belonged to ―No idea‖ category Especially, most of them agreed that they could understand the lessons better if the teacher translated difficult structures into Vietnamese For example, Forest fires are caused by human carelessness (Sự cẩu thả người nguyên nhân gây nạn cháy rừng), it is the difference of using passive voice in English and Vietnamese grammar 32 Table 4.6: Students’ perception of L1 use in learning grammar (N= 45; Grade 10) Questions Frequency (F) Mean SD Disagree Agree I understand the lesson better when the teacher explains grammar in Vietnamese 42 4.28 79 30 3.84 97 38 4.2 91 I understand the lesson better when the teacher asks the students to compare the grammatical structure in English and Vietnamese I understand the lesson better when the teacher asks the students to translate complex grammatical structures from English to Vietnamese or vice versa From the table, we can see that the majority of 10th graders agree that they can understand the lesson better when the teacher explains grammar points in Vietnamese It accounts for 93.3 percent of the total responses In addition, 30 of 45 students believe that they can understand the lesson better when their teacher compare the grammatical structures in Vietnamese and in English For example, in English when asking for permission, we can say that Can I borrow your pen? (Applied in Unit 6- English textbook 10); however, in Vietnamese we can say that:Bạn cho mượn bút c Students’ expectations regarding the use of Vietnamese and English in learning pronunciation Like all language learners in the world, Vietnamese students inevitably have to face a number of difficulties in learning English due to the differences between their mother tongue and the target language In fact, Vietnamese learners are thought to have not too many difficulties when pronouncing English sounds as English and Vietnamese have the same Latin alphabet However, there is a big difference in the phonetic alphabets between two languages and the ways to pronounce English and Vietnamese sounds The learners' 33 misunderstanding about English and Vietnamese sounds; their confusion of some English sounds for Vietnamese similar ones lead them to a great number of pronunciation problems In the question 5: ―When the teacher compares the pronunciation of English sounds with Vietnamese equivalent sounds, I can pronounce these sounds better.‖ Only of them disagreed with this statement meanwhile sixty eight students agreed with it It means that students found it easier to learn English pronunciation when the teacher made a comparison so that they could realize the similarities as well as the differences Table 4.7: The percentage of 11th graders towards question Question No idea Agree Frequency Percent Strongly agree Disagree 11 43 23 13.7 % 53.8 % 28.7 % 7.5% In the survey, 31 of 45 students at grade 10 have agreements with the point that the teacher can compare the differences between Vietnamese sounds and English sounds so that they could understand the lessons better Only four (4) students disagree with that and 10 students belong to ―No idea‖ category Table 4.8: The percentage of 10th graders towards question Question No idea Agree Strongly agree Disagree Frequency Percent 10 19 12 22.2 % 42.2% 26.7% 8.9% For example, in English textbook 10, stress is taught during the second semester However, in Vietnamese we not have stress in words Consequently, the students had difficulties in putting the correct stress on word patterns or sentences The teacher can use Vietnamese to explain these differences Overall, the use of the students‘ native language for purposes related to discussing content in class was used very often in the classrooms with the help and support of the teacher Through the survey, the researcher can see that the students expressed their opinions about the benefits of using translanguaging in learning 34 grammar, difficult concepts and pronunciation 4.1.2.2 Class self-observations The findings from classroom self-observation focus on the possible benefits of using translanguaging from teacher and students‘ practice in teaching and learning English The data from this study was divided into the teacher-initiated translanguaging (explanatory strategy and managerial strategy) and student-initiated translanguaging (interpersonal strategy) a Explanatory strategies (Teacher-initiated translanguaging) Translanguaging and teaching vocabulary The first type of translanguaging pedagogy is used by the teacher-researcher to give instructions, explain and elaborate grammar rules and lexical uses, translate new words and interpret cultural meaning The teacher-researcher used translanguaging to classify the meaning of a word The teacher-researcher and students saw the benefits of L1 in vocabulary teaching Extract provided an example: Modeling dialogues samples in English classrooms to teach and learn vocabulary Extract 1: T: Look at the picture and can you give me the word ―phi hành gia‖ in English S1: ―Phi hành gia‖ is the person who flies in the space S2: I know that word, it is a pilot T: No, no A pilot is a person who operates the control of an aircraft ―Phi hành gia” is a person who travels in a spacecraft It is called ―astronaut‖ in English S1 I understand it So, an astronaut can fly in the space with tình trạng khơng trọng lượng S2: Certainly, in weightlessness He can eat, drink and sleep in weightlessness Extracted from Unit 15: Reading period – Class 11A8 It is a good way to introduce a new word or a difficult one, besides that the 35 teacher-researcher can use the pictures to help the students distinguish two words ―pilot‖ or ―astronaut‖ after teaching them This activity helps students remember new academic words Explicit vocabulary instruction is a regular way to teach new words It is a link between new English word and a familiar mother tongue record or concept Moreover, it also helps retain and retrieve word meanings more easily Pictures that illustrate word meanings also help students overcome the English language barrier and demystify what new word mean Dodson‘s (1985) Sandwich Method (L2-L1-L2) has been strategically adopted to build a connection between students‘ inputs and teachers‘ outputs The teacher-researcher naturally offered translation of new phrase and reinforced the Vietnamese by repeating it twice; these kinds of translanguaging practices occurred frequently when the students found it difficult to express their ideas with using correct words This is example extracted from Unit 9: Preserving the environment (English 10-new textbook): Extract 2: T: Can you tell me some kinds of pollution? S1: In my opinion, there are some kinds of pollution such as: soil pollution, water pollution, air pollution and……… ô nhiễm tiếng ồn T: Really? I not understand why you say ― ô nhiễm tiếng ồn‖ , it may be called ―noise pollution‖ Look at this picture you will understand more 36 S1: Yes, exactly Because it can be gây bởithe loud sounds of motor vehicles, railway, factory and nhạc cụ âm nhạc T: I see So can you tell me some types of pollutants causing soil pollution? S2: Việc ném plastic or other chất thải vô in the ground and the overuse of phân bón hóa học T: I know that it is called inorganic waste There are two kinds of waste: organic or inorganic waste The organic waste is produced and practiced without using chất hóa học nhân tạobut the inorganic waste is not related to animals, plants or trees Phân bón hóa học in English is chemical fertilizes They are used in agriculture to help the farmers in the crops S2: Yes, I can learn and distinguish these words now Extracted from Unit (English 10-Lesson 3: Reading) Class: 10A3 Translanguaging is also used by students to help other partners to understand new words or new concepts It is a way to check and learn vocabulary effectively This is a conversation between two school girls Extract 3: S1: Trời ơi, you know what Nam did with his girlfriend Hoa yesterday? S2: No, chuyện hot thế? S1: He bình luận vào ảnh selfie Lan on facebook and chí cịn dùng icons nháy mắt He is an idiot, today Hoa miserable S2: Không thể tin Hoa is a girl innocent, tớ thấy poor her 37 S1: Yes, tớ quen cô từ thời childhood Trước she was fat, ugly no boy likes her, so she khơng có nhiều experience hẹn hị ý Tớ khơng phải expert chuyện u đương but I have never quay lại với Nam nghe rumor about him? S2: Thật á? Tin đồn vậy? S1: Cậu khơng biết á, nghe nói Nam kissed some girls in our school Thậm chí cịn có photos He is dishonest S2: Uhm Tốt we không nên love tuổi Extracted from class 11 A6 In short, native language is beneficial to make connections with vocabulary They believed that when learning new vocabulary words another student may say a Vietnamese word to help explain the English vocabulary word Although Greggio and Gil (2007) explored the use of translanguaging in regards to explaining vocabulary, there is not much existing research on this use of translanguaging; despite this, most students in the current study found it to be a very important use of their native language in the classroom Translanguaging and teaching grammar and structures Translanguaging is important to explain complicate concepts or difficult aspects of grammar and structures The teacher-researcher can give some pieces of poem, song or advertisements in Vietnamese to teach English grammar and structures such as in this example: E.g 1: Use these given words or structures to translate this song into English Nếu chim, tơi lồi bồ câu trắng Conditional sentences Nếu hoa, đóa hướng Type A possible action in the present dương or the future Nếu mây, vầng mây ấm If + S + V-present simple, S + will/can Nếu người, chết cho quê hương + Vo Là chim, cất cao đôi cánh mềm Type 2: an unreal present action Từ Nam Bắc báo tin nối liền If 38 + S + V-past simple, S + Là hoa, tơi nở tình u ban sớm would/could+ Vo Cùng mn trái tim ngất ngây hồ bình Suggestions: Là mây, theo gió tung bay khắp trời • If I were ……… Nghìn xưa oai hùng tơi xin tiếp lời • Dove Là người, xin lần nằm xuống • Sunflower Nhìn anh em đứng lên phất cao cờ • Fly • Flag • Sky • Peace (Applied in grade 11A8) Through this activity, students can brainstorm and use their language resources to complete the tasks The below self-observation was carried out in grade 10 when they learned about the natual environment This activity helped students improve their vocabulary items related to the topic The teacher-researcher encouraged her students to make the meaning of some words clear and translated some sentences in the activity E.g.2 Use these given words or structures to translate this piece of advertisementinto English Em khen bò sữa ngoan Suggestions: Em khen bò sữa ngoan I am said to be……………… Vì nói khơng với chất bảo quản I say no to……………… Ta làm nguồn sữa tươi I am from………… Cùng nói khơng với dư lượng trừ sâu Preservatives Em khen bị sữa ngoan Pesticides Vì nói khơng với hóc mơn tăng trưởng Growth hormone Trăm phần tram từ nguồn sữa tươi Pure milk Vinamilk sữa tram phần trăm I am a gift to every family Nào trao nhà 39 (Applied in grade 10A3) Managerial strategies (translanguaging in other uses) The managerial strategies used for classroom management such as giving instructions for an activity, giving feedback, praising, checking the students‘ comprehension and planning assignments For example: Extract 4: T: Think about personal electronic devices Ss: Whatdevices? T: It means thiết bị điện tử cá nhân Do you have a personal electronic device? Ss: Yes, I have a điện thoại thông minh T: Really, you are rich Today, you have to list some personal electronic devices and thảo luận thuận lợi bất lợiof one of these devices This is your homework Do you understand? Ss: Yes, madam Extracted from Unit (English 10-Lesson 8: Looking back and project) A student did not seem to get the instruction and she asked the teacher in English to explain they would in Vietnamese In this particular situation the teacher encouraged the use of Vietnamese to help a low level student The teacher-researcher used songs to teach English because these songs use translanguaging to make English more interesting Construtivists encourage students‘ learning rather than dictate them to follow their instructions Many activities are designed to offer students opportunities to accomplish independent or cooperative tasks This is a piece of song by the young Teacher Nguyen Thai Duong to teach some phrasal verbs of bring This song the research took advantage of teaching phrasal verbs towards 11th graders It encouraged students to learn English better Extract 5: T: Today, we will learn about the use of phrasal verbs There are various 40 phrasal verbs and it is very difficult for you to remember Thus, you should learn them day by day The lesson is going to introduce about the usage of phrasal verbs with the verb Bring Do you know what this verb means? S1: Yes, it means ―mang‖ T: Very good, but there are a lot of phrasal verbs with Bring Do you like play a game? Ss: Yeah, what is the rule of the game? T: You will work in two teams; each team points out a representative to take not any phrasal verbs with bring in this song The winner is the team which has more correct answers Are you ready? Ss: Of course T: This song is covered from the song ―Shape of you‖ by teacher Nguyen Thai Duong in Ho Chi Minh City Now let‘s play a game.(The teacher plays this song and Ss take notes while listening) "Từ lâu ta mong học từ cần học lần nhớ, nhớ, nhớ Thế hơm nghe tơi ngân nga câu ca cho không quên, cho không quên bao giờ" Bring about = bring on: gây ra, mang lại kết Bring back: trả lại Bring up: nhắc đến Bring up: ni nấng Bring someone around: làm đổi ý Bring someone around: làm tỉnh lại Bring something off: làm điều Bring something into play: phát huy Bring down: hạ bệ Bring in: giới thiệu, đưa Bring out: làm bật 41 Another song covered from the song ―Sóng gió‖ is implemented in teaching students about some of verbs, some kinds of vegetables and so on The researcher applied this song to teach for 10th graders Extract 6: T: Do you like listening to music? Ss: Yes, we T: What kind of music you like? S1: Pop music S2: Nhạc dân ca T: yeah, it is called ―folk music‖ What about you, S3? S3: I like V-Pop such as my ―thần tượng‖ Sơn Tùng MTP T: Your idol is Son Tung MTP? Một boyđẹp trai, these days a hot trend is ―Hồng nhan, Sóng gió, Bạc phận‖ Do you know these songs? S4: Of course, these songs are composed by Jack and K-ICM They are not only young but also handsome T: Oh, wonderful So you like listening to a song covered from the song ―Sóng gió”? Ss: Yes (they feel very excited) T: Now, I would like to divide the class into teams Four representatives go to the board, listen, write these English words and then give Vietnamese meanings Do you understand the requirements? However, you will take notes on the poster, then when the song finishes; you will stick your answer on the board Which group has more correct words and correct meanings will be the winner The prize is 20 thousand VND Do you understand the rules of the game? Ss: Oh yeah T: Let‘s start the game (T plays the song and observe Ss working) 42 (Extracted from the lyrics of the song : Bỏ dầu vô chảo bắc lên nghĩa ta muốn chiên dùng từ FRY nhớ dùng từ FRY F-R-Y Nhưng thay chảo dầu bỏ chút vào ta thêm vào chút nước sau ta có mịn xào STIR-FRY nghĩa xào STIR FRY Nghĩa ta thêm STIR vô chữ FRY (hàhà) Nhưng mà ta bắc than mang vĩ nướng để ta GRILL ta có GRILL ta nướng, qm! Cịn ta muốn luộc dùng từ gì? BOIL BOIL cịn chi Cịn muốn nói gia vị có đường SWEET ta có đắng BITTER, mặn SALTY cịn cay ta có từ HOT hay từ SPICY Cịn từ chưa, ghi vơ SOUR giùm (ới ới à) This language activity involved constructivity a simple English sentence from coloured word strips broken into noun, verbs, adjectives etc For example, the word order of English grammar is S-V-O However, in Vietnamese it is much different The teacher helps students distinguish this order Extract 7: T: Can you translate this sentence into English ―Cô gái đẹp‖? S1: A girl beautiful Is it right? T: No, in English the subject is a girl, the verb is ―is‖ and the adjective is ―beautiful‖ and the correct order is ―A girl is beautiful.‖ S2: Yes, another example I am confused is that in Vietnamese we say that ―Đại học Hồng Đức‖ but in English it is ―Hong Duc university‖ T: Well, an interesting question, because in English we use proper name before a common noun This activity helps students understand the differences between English and Vietnamese grammar It is important for writing skill b Interpersonal strategies This category was mostly initiated by students They often interacted or chatted with each other by using multiple languages to translate questions raised by teachers to classmates sitting nearby Or they use translanguaging to socialize with a wide variety of topics Data showed that the teacher negotiated meaning with students in a role of a co-learner or facilitator, which can be seen in Extract and 9: 43 Extract 8: Discuss in pairs/groups: How can school students use persona electronic devices to learn English? S1: Do you know some personal electronic devices to learn English, Lan? S2: Yes, there are many electronic devices such as computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones S1: Well, so how can we use these devices to learn English? S2: In my opinion, we can download free digital lessons and put them in our media player or other similar mobile devices? S1: Oh, we can also listen and study anywhere because these devices are “dễ mang theo” S2: You means ― dễ mang theo” is easy to bring along It‘s portable S1: I completely agree with you Morever, there is also software that can help improve our pronunciation We can chat, speak Engish to ― người xứ” S2: Do you know who is called ―người xứ‖? – native speaker? Is it right? S1: I mean those who live in speaking English countries S2: I see Let‘s choose a suitable device for our learning style so that we can learn English easier and more effective Extracted from Unit (English 10-Lesson 3: Reading)Class 10A3 Another activity is group discussion Translanguaging helps the conversation continue longer and longer The students can use Vietnamese in case they not brainstorm the correspondent English words This activity was carried out by 11th graders Extract 9: S1: What kind of things you usually in your free time? S2: I am into playing video game Thế bạn ? S1 : I love to anything outdoors Do you enjoy camping? S2 : Camping for one evening is ok , but I couldn't it for much longer 44 than one night S3 :Sounds great Have you ever cắm trại ĐàNẵng, S1 ? S1 : Yes , I've been there once What leaves me most impressed is Hội An S3: : Can you tell me more about it ? S1 : Hội An has been successful in preserving and restoring its charming roots nhờ mà recognized as Di sản văn hóa giới by UNESCO in 1998 Most traditional houses here are the combination of different architectures from nhiều văn hóa khác China, Japan, France and Viet Nam Ở ta walk ngắm phố phường cổ kính Hội An Riverside is the best place to be at night as the area is thắp sáng lanterns cổ tạo nên vị trí đẹp để có perfect pictures Hội An is also famous với ẩm thực hấp dẫn với price phải The highlights of the meal often include local specialities such as bread and Cao Lau S2: Do you have any photos of any of your campaign trips there ? S1 : Sure , would you like to see them ? S3 : That's be wonderful Extracted from class 11A6 Translanguaging and socializing (outside classroom) Translanguaging theory helps the researcher recognize students‘ language resources; it may be utilized outside classroom Students‘ prior knowledge plays a significant role in transferring their thoughts and feeling Translanguaging is often used in daily conversations by students to chat or to give funny elements Extract 10: This is a piece of conversation the teacher listened to students accidentally S1: Do you want xôi khúc tomorrow? S2: Ủa of course thím if xơi khúc double thit đỗ free mẹ Pink like hihi S1: Not free, 8k nha babe: S2: Đã lấy number phone chị bán xôi chưa S1: Not yet S2: Liệu mai me (tơi) có xơi ăn 45 S1: If not xơi khác S2: Oh nope nha Nếu bạn cho 5k để mua hotdog nha S1: Địi hỏi I‘m not your mother This is a piece of message which a student sent the researcher when she chatted with her friend at home S1: Thế chị order dép chưa chị two S2: actually me khơng có order S1: Why You bảo eat bánh tráng à? S2: because tiền để mua lemon water + hạt sun flower để chém gió with you vui kiki S1: You bao go S2: Được nha: me bao đến lượt you bao nha 50 k hết nấc, bữa breakfast S1: Share if we have time S2: Trà chanh quy lưu, giao lưu tea room Extracted from class 11A8 From these examples, we can see that students usually use translanguaging when chatting with their friends They use both languages to share and express their ideas so that the conversations happen smoothly and also funnily 4.1.2.3 Interviews From the interviews, when the researcher asked the interviewees about the use of translanguaging in English classrooms and stated some possible advantages of translanguaging, the results show the different responses to the benefits of using translanguaging Some students say that the teacher should use L1 when teaching vocabulary or different aspects of grammar I like my teacher to let me use Vietnamese combining English because sometimes I not know English words or expressions Thus, I can feel more comfortable and confident when interacting with the teacher in English lessons This makes the lessons more effectively and I also feel more excited when learning English 46 (Extracted from Ss’ answers) This response emphasized that translanguaging helps students learn English words or complicated structures It is a good way to explain to the listeners about new words and the lessons become more interesting, especially towards some students who not like learning English Others would like their teacher use translanguaging in translation, reading and writing skills so that they could understand the lessons easily S1: I feel more confident because of my limited language resources S2: I would like to use translanguaging in group disscussions so that my friends and I can understand the problem we are discussing In addition, most of the students expressed that one of the most important benefit of using translanguaging is communicative function They can use it inside or outside classroom, especially in daily conversations or when the conversations not occur smoothly or fluently Nevertheless, one or two student answered that the teacher should not use Vietnamese in speaking and listening skills because it did not help them improve their English skills Briefly, the interviews were carried out to show that the students conveyed some good points as well as provided some negative aspects of using translanguaging Different students‘ level of English proficiency leads to a wide range of responses to the benefits of translanguaging 4.2 Discussions and implications 4.2.1 Discussions The results demonstrated in this chapter match state of above studies This study explored the students‘ attitude towards using translanguaging in teaching and learning English Through the questionnaires, classroom self- observations and interviews, the study showed that translanguaging brings some possible benefits in learning English in the high school The data instruments provide the researcher 47 with the essential results and help her to answer two research questions more effectively First and foremost, findings from the two research questions pointed to a new trend, a new approach in teaching English which is using translanguaging It is considered as a natural phenomenon for multilingual students in the high technology era By the development of electronic devices, students can learn many languages at the same time We acknowledge the fact that the idea of using translanguaging is appropriate in a high school These translanguaging pedagogies appeared to open up spaces for students to engage in sensitive and important topics (such as hobbies, music or daily conversations) and also enhance students‘ learning, cultivating students‘ identity It is a chance for them to express themselves in developing language resources These attitudes towards using translanguaging are regarded as the acceptance and the motivation of learning English Valdes (2005) recognized that it is imperative that we identify how heritage language learners differ in their use of two or even three or more languages Through the practices in classrooms, the study presented that using translanguaging in teaching and learning English was to be legitimated and accepted by participants‖ (Creese & Blackledge, 2010, p.113) Secondly, the design of the lessons and the instructions from the teacher can develop students‘ strategic learning skills These activities keep students motivated Motivation in learning English helps them express their individual interests and situational interests They can easily convey their ideas without hesitation or making mistakes It is an opportunity for student to learn English from their teachers and their friends The students are eager to take part in English classroom activities (both inside and outside classroom) Thirdly, from the results, it is clear that there are some major reasons for the students‘ attitude towards using translanguaging in learning English First of all, most of the students are short of vocabulary items or language resources to express their ideas Thus, they seem to keep silent or stop talking when they not find out 48 a suitable word It is clear that translanguaging is a bridge to connect the teacher with his/her students so the atmosphere classroom will be more comfortable Fourthly, the results also approved of some points of view in some previous studies We can see that both teachers and the students understand the benefits of using translanguagingin English classrooms Translanguaging makes them emphasis more on learning new words or structures so that they can communicate with each other smoothly Moreover, students can learn from their classmates when using translanguaging It creates the conversations moving forward These benefits are similar to the ones Bakers (2001) pointed out in his research Especially, the students can use translanguaging as socializing function when they can easily chat or exchange different aspects of daily lives Last but not least, from the results the study also shows that translanguaging should be used in some suitable situations The students thought that they would like to use translanguaging when they not remember English words or in daily conversations However, in some skills such as speaking and listening they not use both languages because this hinders the improvement of English skills 4.2.2 Implications The findings of this study indicate that translanguaging can be used to enhance the students‘ participation in classroom learning activities for developing all language skills in any English language lesson However, depending on the purposes or objectives of the lesson, translanguaging should be varied to achieve its effectiveness to the students‘ learning Specifically, - Reading skill: • Let students find difficult or complex words in reading texts and then discuss the meanings with other students If they cannot find out the answers, the teacher can teach them by using some techniques of teaching vocabulary such as using pictures, visual aids or translation • Create some posters to motivate Ss use more languages in a lesson so that they can develop multilingual competence 49 • Design some activities such as gap-filling, a student gives Vietnamese meaning of a word in their dialogues and another students provides it in English and vice versa Another activity is that the teacher elicits the vocabulary items by using sticks on the board The students choose a paper consisting of an English word and sticking a correspondent word in Vietnamese - Speaking skill: • Use Preview (other languages-may be L1)- View (the language of the lesson)Review (other languages) to facilitate Ss‘ understanding and language learning • Encourage Ss to carry out more daily conversations by using translanguaging (connected with grammar and vocabulary) so that they can enrich more vocabulary items and consolidate structures in English • Assign language partner in class ( a better student helps a weaker student so that they can be supportive each other in learning process) - Listening skill: • Allow Ss to explain or share ideas by using all their language resources (T can use in Pre-Listening stage) - Writing skill • Use translanguaging in the written text (in any language if possible) • Ask Ss to write some structures, a paragraph or an essay by using translanguaging (in case the students not know the words or structures in English) • Help Ss understand the differences between writing in Vietnamese and in English language • Design more sentences or a short paragraph in Vietnamese language and ask Ss to translate in English or vice versa • Allow Ss to brainstorm some ideas in their mother tongue before writing so that they can have more ideas for their choices in the following parts - Language: • In some complex aspects of grammar, design more activities to help Ss distinguish the differences between Vietnamese and English language (such as 50 passive voice, reported speech and so on) • Building dual-language or multimodal texts which students write and record texts in both of their languages is a favourable activity • A two way translation method is helpful in making the meaning of challenging texts clear In other words, the teachers need to value their students‘ languages and cultures and supply activities that focus on aspects of different cultures and language resources In addition, the students can spend more time reading more materials in English to improve their vocabulary items as well as take notes special structures in reading texts More importantly, they can share these documents with others Next, the students should be willing to work with an assigned partner in each period for mutual assistance In order to work in groups successfully, students should cooperate and have good relationship with each other They can work together to prepare for the topics, exchange the ideas, peer correction and give comments on others‘ performance during the presentation In addition to cooperation with friends, students should work well with the teacher in joining discussion, answering questions or giving comments More importantly, students can take advantage of the teacher‘s help in case of meeting new words (they can use translanguaging in this situation), pronunciation problems in order to carry out the tasks effectively Last but not least, as we know that some passive students are often reluctant to speak in the class for fear of making mistakes or being laughed at by others However, according to Brown (1994), risk – taking is one of the essential characteristics of a successful second language learner Students, therefore, should make use of opportunities to practise speaking English or use translanguaging and make sure that making mistakes is inevitable in language learning process Gradually, they will be more confident in front of the class To sum up, to have more successful lessons, classroom factors played an additional role in students‘ learning success Most students preferred a cooperative learning environment to a competitive and stressful one A pleasant and supportive atmosphere could help students feel safe and comfortable to share ideas with friends On the contrary, a tense classroom climate would increase students‘ shyness 51 and anxiety Moreover, in large classes students were of different levels, lower students were often anxious and even scared of negative judgment by other friends In short, classroom is one important factor that teachers should pay great attention to in order to improve students‘ engagements Therefore, using translanguaging becomes a bridge to connect this gap between the teacher and the students as well as between the students and the students 4.3 Summary Chapter has presented some major findings, discussions and recommendations about the students‘ attitudes and the possible benefits of using translanguaging in English classrooms at a high school The researcher hopes that the implications will be beneficial to all language teachers and learners 52 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary of the study The study aims to explore the usefulness of translanguaging for students at a high school With the instruments such as using questionnaires (for students- eleven questions), interviews for students (at least eight questions) and classroom selfobservations, we have reached the answers to the two research questions: As for the first question, ―What are the students‘ attitudes towards translanguaging in learning English?‖ we have found that the students would like to use translanguaging in English lessons so that they can understand the lessons better and more effectively As for the second question, ―How are the possible benefits of using translanguaging to students‘ learning English in the high school classroom?‖ the results also obtained through survey, interviews and classroom self- observation confirmed they can use translanguaging to learn vocabulary, grammar and complex concepts of English language Thus, the using of translanguaging encourages them to take part in the lessons and makes them more confident and comfortable As a result, students become more interested in English classroom activities and more importantly, the students‘ change in participation increased considerably In conclusion, the findings of this study will make a significant contribution to improve the current situation in teaching and learning English for students at a high school 5.2 Limitations and suggestions for further study The study has a number of strengths, however, due to the limited time and ability weaknesses are unavoidable First, the subjects of the questionnaire are 125 students, which can not cover all students at the school Second, time for the 53 treatment is too short to generalize the effectiveness of the applied teaching and learning process Moreover, in some extent, using translanguaging may be more suitable for elementary and intermediate levels (Ss with low proficiency in English) In addition, choosing the use of translanguaging should be taken into account by the teacher and the students Another reason of using translanguaging is that it is considered as a technique in teaching and learning English, it is not used in academic examinations Thus, the study would like to emphasis that we should not overuse of translanguaging in English classroom activities We can use it depending on students‘ level and the purpose of each lesson Basing on the findings and the limitations of this study, I would like to continue the study with the following topics: - Strategies to maximize students‘ involvement in language learning - Increasing the effectiveness of collaborative work in English lessons - Personalizing oral activities to increase students‘ participation - Finding more funny stories or songs to use translanguaging in English classrooms In order to pilot the effectiveness of the study, the further research should 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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 không đồng ý biết Đồng Rất ý đồng đồng ý ý (5) Em hiểu tốt học tiếng Anh cô giáo dịch câu tiếng Anh khó tiếng Việt Em hiểu tốt học tiếng Anh cô 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 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 khơng biết 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 cô 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 khơng 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 không? Nếu có 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 khơng? 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