VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE A CASE STUDY ON THE USE OF CODE- SWITCHING IN TEACHING GRAMMAR AT VIETNAM USA SOCIETY LANGUAGE CENTERS A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By TRAN THI KIM ANH Supervised by TRAN THI MINH PHUONG, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER 2022 A CASE STUDY ON THE USE OF CODE- SWITCHING IN TEACHING GRAMMAR AT VIETNAM USA SOCIETY LANGUAGE CENTERS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to express a profound gratitude towards my supervisor, Trần Thị Minh Phượng, Ph.D, for her great support. I really appreciate her taking the time out of her busy schedule to read my work and provide constructive feedback.” Secondly, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all the teachers who participated in my study.” Thirdly, another big thank you is sent to Ms. Tran Chau Lan, the training quality manager of the language center, for her approval for the conduct of the research at the center.” Last but not least, I heartily thank all of my friends, my colleagues and especially my family for their encouragement that helped me finish the project on time.” II STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY “I certify that this thesis entitled “A CASE STUDY ON THE USE OF CODE- SWITCHING IN TEACHING GRAMMAR AT VIETNAM USA SOCIETY LANGUAGE CENTERS” is independently written by me under the direction of the advisor. In addition to what is specially labeled and contained in the acknowledgement, the thesis does not include anything published or written by other persons or organizations.
Inspirations and contributions by other people have been clearly stated and appreciated in the thesis.” Author’s Signature: Ho Chi Minh city,13/12/2022 Tran Thi Kim Anh III RETENTION OF USE I hereby state that I, Trần Thị Kim Anh, being a candidate for the Master’s degree in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library. The author fully understands the provisions of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities on keeping and using degree theses, namely: the school reserves the right to retain a copy of the thesis and allow it to be searched and read by others. The school may publish all or part of the thesis and retain it by photocopying, microprinting or other reproduction means.” Author’s Signature: Ho Chi Minh city, 13/12/2022 Tran Thi Kim Anh IV ABSTRACT Code-switching as a medium of instruction is a controversial issue that is worth investigating in the field of teaching English. The researcher carried out a survey of forty-three teachers at VUS language centers, where English-only policy is applied, to examine the differences between frequency, pedagogical factors and situations of using code-switching to teach grammar for three groups of levels of proficiency.
This study seeks to understand teachers’ attitudes towards code- switching, examine their use in reality in teaching grammar as well as providing suggestions on how to use this tool to its fullest. Analysis of the data using Excel spreadsheet, Likert scale and chi-square tests also explored the differences between teachers’ answers and their background information. Initial results from the population seem to indicate that code-switching is preferable in teaching grammar for students from beginners to pre-intermediate, but not at intermediate and upper-intermediate level. Vietnamese teachers at the center were aware of the pedagogical use of CS rather than using it unconsciously and habitually.
Therefore, they provided numerous suggestions, from broader recommendations to specific techniques to control the amount and situations they code-switch. Key words: code-switching, levels of proficiency, teaching grammar, teachers’ attitudes V TABLE OF CONTENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .II STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY. III RETENTION OF USE. V TABLE OF CONTENT.
VI LIST OF ABBREVIATION…………………………………………………….IX LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………….X LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………….XI CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 Background to the study .2 Aims of the study .4 Scope of the study .5 Significance of the study .6 Organization of the thesis. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Definitions of key concepts .2 Code switching and its types .3 Learners’ levels of proficiency .2 Principles on grammar teaching .3 Code-switching versus Grammar-translation method .4 Views on using L1 and L2 in grammar teaching.1 Arguments for avoiding the First Language .2 Pedagogical functions of CS in teaching grammar .5 Code-switching in teaching English in Vietnamese context. 26 VI CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .1 Context of the study .4 Research instrument and pilot study.5 Data collection procedure .5 Data analysis scheme. 35 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .2 Teacher’s background information .3 Teachers’ attitude and teachers’ self-reported reality of using code- switching in three groups of level .1 The preference for language of instruction in teaching grammar .2 The frequency of using code-switching to teach Beginners and the reasons behind teachers’ preference of language use.3 The frequency of using code-switching to teach Elementary and Pre- intermediate learners and the reasons behind teachers’ preference of language use.4 The frequency of using code-switching to teach Intermediate and Upper-intermediate learners and the reasons behind teachers’ preference of language use.4 Teachers’ attitude towards the amount, frequency and situations applied CS to teach grammar .1 Pedagogical factors influencing the teachers’ decision of using codeswitching .2 Teachers’ self-reported frequency of using CS in particular situations .3 Grammatical structures that teachers find necessary to use CS in instruction .4 Teachers’ reflection about their amount of CS used in instruction.5 Teachers’ suggestions on efficiently employing code-switching in teaching grammar while avoiding overusing L1 .1 Suggestions to avoid using too much Vietnamese in teaching grammar .2 Broader recommendation to use code-switching efficiently in teaching grammar .1 Summary of findings .3 Limitations of the study .4 Recommendations for further study.
80 VIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CS: Code-switching L1: First language L2: Second language TL: Target language ELT: English Language Teaching VUS: Vietnam USA Society Language Centers IX LIST OF TABLES: Table 3.1: Pilot study participants Demographics Table 3.2: Correspondence of Data sources, Participants and Role of the instruments Table 4.1: Teacher’s qualification Table 4.2: The preferred language use to teach 3 levels Table 4.3: Genders and preference for language use to teach Beginners Table 4.4: Genders and preference for language use to teach elementary and pre- intermediate learners Table 4.5: Genders and preference for language use to teach intermediate and upper-intermediate learners Table 4.6: Pedagogical factors influencing the teachers’ decision of using CS Table 4.7: Teachers’ self-reported frequency of using CS in particular situations Table 4.8: Teacher’s reflection about their amount of CS used in teaching grammar Table 4.9: Descriptive Statistics Table 4.10: Reliability Statistics Table 4.11: Relationship between teachers' qualification and teacher’s difficulty of using more CS than expected Table 4.12: Relationship between teachers’ years of experience and whether they can control the amount of code-switching they intended to use X LIST OF FIGURES: Figure 2.1: English exams on the CEFR Figure 2.2: Coursebook Levels and CEFR levels Figure 2.3: Two opposing viewpoints on using Code-switching in teaching grammar Figure 4. Years of experience Figure 4.2a Teachers’ self-reported frequency of CS used in reality (teaching beginners) Figure 4.2b Teachers’ attitude about the most efficient frequency of CS (teaching beginners) Figure 4. Reasons for using both English and Vietnamese to teach grammar for Beginners Figure 4.4a Teachers’ self-reported frequency of CS used in reality (elementary and pre-intermediate) Figure 4.5: Reasons for using both L1 and L2 to teach grammar for students at elementary and pre-intermediate levels Figure 4.4b Teachers’ attitude about the most efficient frequency of CS (elementary and pre-intermediate) Figure 4.6a Teachers’ self-reported frequency of CS used in reality (intermediate and upper-intermediate) Figure 4.6b Teachers’ attitude about the most efficient frequency of CS (intermediate and upper-intermediate) Figure 4.7 Reasons for using only English to teach grammar for elementary and pre-intermediate learners Figure 4.8: Grammatical structures teachers think are difficult to teach without CS Figure 4.9: How teacher avoid using too much Vietnamese when teaching grammar XI CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study Code-switching as a medium of instruction is a controversial issue that is worth investigating. It is studied in the domain of bilingualism, is the interchanging use of two separate languages and is considered as a shared characteristic of people who speak more than one language.
This is also a common feature in most bilingual classes where students use their mother tongue in parallel with the target language. Teaching and learning English has been going through a long process of development with different preferable methods and approaches for different eras with the purpose of finding a more effective way of teaching and learning. Then, the viewpoints towards using the first language and second language have also changed depending on different methods and approaches of those different periods of time. First language was used widely in the most first and basic teaching approach in 18th and 19th centuries, namely, Grammar-Translation method, which made it suffer from criticism when latter teaching approaches and methods were developed.
The popular teaching methods of the twentieth century differed in many ways, including Direct method, Audiolingual method, Task-based learning, etc. They almost always avoided using the learners' first language in the classroom. These methods shared the common belief that the less the first language is utilized in the classroom, the better the instruction. The teaching methods which are popular in the twentieth century are still preferred in twenty- first century.
The first language is even forbidden in a number of schools or language centers and the Vietnamese teaching context is not an exception. Teachers are frequently encouraged to dissuade pupils from participating in pair and group activities using their mother tongue. However, code-switching is widespread and exists frequently in language schools around the world during teaching and learning the target 1 language. Indeed, there have been a lot of studies investigating the use of CS and proving its positive implication.
According to Cook (2016, p.196), “Stopping codes witching in the classroom, which is what a ban on the L1 actually amounts to, is denying a central feature of many L2 situations.” Because the first language can supply part of the scaffolding that goes with communication, the students should not be discomforted with a natural element of L2 use. Demir (2012) believed that if ‘using L1’ means merely speaking to learners in their mother tongue and requiring them to do solely translation exercises, this is out of the question, because it would imply a return to the Grammar-Translation method with all of its drawbacks. There would be no achievement on L2 communication, which is obviously insufficient. However, if we're talking about concise and understandable grammatical rule explanations accompanied by – most likely – a few translation tasks to assist eliminate native tongue interference, this could be considered a possibility.
In addition, a number of experts in language education and translation studies have argued that the ‘judicious’ use of CS in second language classes can help students learn more deeply and focus more on the input they got (Demir, 2012; Arshad & Hidayati, 2012; Abdolrahimpour & Najafi 2015; Nguyen, 2017; Grant & Nguyen, 2017; Navidinia, Khoshhal, & Mobaraki, 2020). The modification on diverse teaching methods and approaches through time has been clearly expressed on teaching language knowledge like grammar. Previous studies have shown that when there are arguments on benefits of using code switching versus English only class policy, code switching has been widely used by teachers as a medium of instruction, especially teaching grammar. As Navidinia et al.1) stated, the facilitative role of CS may be even more significant when it comes to teaching specific grammatical rules that learners find difficult to acquire through implicit instruction.
There is now a number of evidence to support the hypothesis that students acquire grammar lessons more efficiently if code-switching is integrated as a facilitative tool. This is proved in studies conducted by Abdolrahimpour et al. (2015), Arshad et al. (2012), Nabifar & Khalilzad (2017), Navidinia et al.