VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES ---***--- ĐINH THỊ XUYẾN STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS USING MOTHER TONGUE IN EFL CLASSROOMS: A SURVEY STUDY AT TIEN LANG HIGH SCHOOL, HAI PHONG THÁI ĐỘ CỦA HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TIẾNG MẸ ĐẺ TRONG CÁC LỚP HỌC TIẾNG ANH: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU KHẢO SÁT TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT TIÊN LÃNG, HẢI PHÒNG M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES ---***--- ĐINH THỊ XUYẾN STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS USING MOTHER TONGUE IN EFL CLASSROOMS: A SURVEY STUDY AT TIEN LANG HIGH SCHOOL, HAI PHONG THÁI ĐỘ CỦA HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TIẾNG MẸ ĐẺ TRONG CÁC LỚP HỌC TIẾNG ANH: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU KHẢO SÁT TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT TIÊN LÃNG, HẢI PHÒNG M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr. Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Quỳnh HANOI – 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATIONS I – Đinh Thị Xuyến - hereby declare that the thesis entitled “Students’ Attitudes Towards Using Mother Tongue In EFL Classrooms: A Survey Study At Tien Lang High School, HaiPhong” is the result of my own research in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post Graduate Studies - University of Languages and International Studies, VNU, Hanoi and this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or institution.…………………………… i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS During the process of writing this thesis, I have been fortunate to receive supports and assistance from a variety of people.
First and foremost, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Quynh, Ph., who allows me to draw fully on her wisdom and experience in implementing this study. Her guidance, encouragement and invaluable detailed critical feedback have been most generous. I would like to convey my thanks to all my teachers of the Post Graduate, Cohort 21 whose fundamental knowledge about language teaching and learning is of great importance to the achievement of my academic study.
It is my pleasure to acknowledge my debt to the Board of Management of Foreign Languages Department for their support and the favorable conditions they have granted me during my study. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my deepest thanks to all the teachers, especially Ms. Nguyen Thi Nguyen, at Tien Lang High School for their help in completing the survey questionnaires, for their constructive suggestions to this research, and for their willingness to share their relevant problems with me. I am most thankful to the students of grade 11B8 and 11B2 at Tien Lang High School whose cooperation is great significance to the completion of the study.
Finally, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my parents whose loving support has been encouraging me to fulfill this thesis successfully. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This study is an attempt to investigate whether or not students at Tien Lang High School support the use of Vietnamese in EFL classrooms and then compare high achievers’ and low achievers’ attitudes. A questionnaire was administered to 91 11th grade students at Tien Lang High School, Hai Phong. Then, the responses of 24 high achievers (11th grade English final mark is above 8.0), and 29 low achievers (English final mark is below 5.
Ten students with different attitudes were then further investigated through an interview. The results show that all participants supported both teacher’s and students’ use of L1. Also, there was almost no difference between two groups, except for some reasons of motivation, level of proficiency, and the occasion of checking their production with their peers. However, the study also indicates that for the best use of Vietnamese, it should be used reasonably in L2 classrooms so as to expose students to English communicative opportunities as much as possible.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language L1: the first language L2: the second language Ss: students T: teacher RQ1: research question 1 RQ2: research question 2 SD.: standard deviation M1: high achievers’ mean M2: low achievers’ mean iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Tables: Table 1: Students’ reasons for supporting teacher’s use of L1 in EFL classrooms. 24 Table 2: Learning occasions in which students prefer their teacher to use L1 in EFL classrooms. 27 Table 3: Students’ reasons for using L1 in EFL classrooms. 29 Table 4: Learning occasions in which students prefer to use L1 in EFL classrooms.
31 Figures: Figure 1: Students' general attitude towards teacher's use of L1 in EFL classrooms. 23 Figure 2: The frequency that Ss prefer teacher to use L1 in EFL classrooms. 26 Figure 3: Students' general attitude towards students' use of L1 in EFL classrooms. 28 Figure 4: Students’ overall view regarding the frequency of their using L1 in L2 classes.
30 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATIONS. iii LIST OF ABREVIATIONS. iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES. v TABLE OF CONTENTS.
vi PART A: INTRODUCTION. Aims and objectives of the study. The methodology of the study. The scope of the study.
The significance of the study. Design of the paper. 6 CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of attitudes.
Language attitude and effects of language attitude. Effect of attitude on behavior. Effect of attitude on mental operation. Effect of attitude on affection.
Use of mother tongue in EFL classrooms. Support for monolingual approach. The weaknesses of monolingual approach. 11 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Support for bilingual approach. The role of mother tongue in learning English. Students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards using L1 in English classrooms. Studies on students’ attitudes towards using L1 in L2 classrooms.
Studies on both Sts’ and Ts’ attitudes toward using L1 in English classrooms. 15 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY. The setting of the study. Subjects of the study.
Instruments of collecting data. 20 CHAPTER THREE: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS. Students’ general attitude towards teacher’s use of L1 in L2 classes. Students’ reasons for supporting teacher’s use of Vietnamese in EFL classrooms.
The expected frequency of teacher’s using Vietnamese in EFL classrooms. Learning occasions in which students prefer the teacher to use Vietnamese. What are Tien Lang students’ attitudes towards students’ use of Vietnamese in EFL classrooms?. Students’ general views on their own use of Vietnamese in L2 classes.
28 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Students’ reasons for using L1 in EFL classrooms. The expected frequency of students’ using Vietnamese in English classes. Learning occasions in which students prefer to use L1.
What are high-achievers’ attitudes towards teachers’ use of Vietnamese in EFL classrooms compared to those of low-achievers?. Students’ general attitudes toward teacher’s use of Vietnamese. Students’ reasons for preferring teacher’s use of Vietnamese. Students’ expectation of the teacher’s frequency of using Vietnamese.
Students’ preference of learning occasions in which teacher uses Vietnamese. Students’ general attitudes towards their own use of Vietnamese. Students’ reasons for using Vietnamese. Students’ preference of the frequency of using Vietnamese.
Students’ preference of learning occasions. A summary of study and implications. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further research.
I viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION Part A provides an introduction to the current study. It discusses the rationale, the aims and objectives of the study. In addition, two research questions are drawn and the scope, the significance and the design of the study are shown out clearly. Rationale Nowadays, while the monolingual approach is a widespread principle underlying second language (L2, in this case, English) teaching, some studies have suggested that this approach may not necessarily be the most appropriate, especially when the teacher and the students share the same first language (L1, in this case Vietnamese).
The issue of whether using L1 in EFL classrooms or not is an ongoing debate. Some educational institutions do not have specific policy and allow teachers to use L1 in the classes, others give out a strict rule to the use of L1 in classrooms. They require teachers to keep to English only. Some other institutions encourage instructors to use English in classes; however, they have no strict rule about language use, so that L1 can be used in classroom instructions.
Teachers and students themselves hold different views on the use of L1 in English as a Foreign Language classrooms. Generally, my own experience of first observing and then teaching English at a high school proved that policy makers and teachers tend to impose their students on monolingual approach without considering the benefits of using L1 in English lessons. Especially, in some formal classroom evaluation contexts, L1 is banned to use under any circumstances whereas in other situations, Vietnamese is used much more frequently than English because of students’ levels and examination – oriented method. Although there have been a lot of studies supporting the inclusion of learners’ mother tongue (Schweers 1999; Swain & Lapkin 2000; Burden 2001; Prodromou 2002; Tang 2002; Al-Nofaie 2010), such pedagogical decisions regarding the exclusion of learners’ L1 have been made on ‘unexamined and taken-for-granted assumptions’ (Auerbach 1993, p.
In general, it seems quite reasonable that English classrooms at high school level are conducted in English 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. However, whether this policy enhances effective learning or not is still a question. In addition, there have still been very few studies conducted to clarify the role of L1 and students’ views on this issue in Vietnam context, though a lot of recent research shed light on the use of mother tongue in EFL classrooms. The research by Kim Anh (2010) only focused on university teachers’ attitudes towards using Vietnamese in teaching English.
Specially, there has never been any research on students’ attitudes with regard to using L1 in English classes at Tien Lang High School. Therefore, this paper is done to break this gap in the literature. Since both learners and teachers are major stakeholders in learning and teaching process, learners’ voices need to be heard before effective pedagogical decisions can be made. This study was conducted in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms in a high school where teachers and students are encouraged to use English only in their class, especially in formal classroom evaluation contexts, the use of English is limited as much as possible.
The educational policy makers believe that only English classes enhance students’ maximized exposure to target language as in line with the Natural Approach (Karashen, 1981). Aims and objectives of the study Since there have been few of studies paying attention to the L1/L2 issue in Vietnamese context, I have been motivated to undertake more investigation to find out the attitudes of Vietnamese students towards applying Vietnamese in EFL classrooms. With the above aim, the objectives of the study are as followed: Explore whether or not Ss support both T’s use and Ss’ use of L1 in L2 classes, their reasons and in which contexts they prefer using L1. Investigate the differences of Ss’ attitudes towards the use of L1 in L2 classrooms according to their language proficiency levels.
2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Research questions Basing on the given aims and objectives, the study finds the answers to following questions: 1.