VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ THỊ THU TRANG VIETNAMESE TEACHERS’ VIEWPOINTS ON THEIR USE OF VIETNAMESE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS IN MAY SCHOOL ENGLISH CENTER Quan điểm của giáo viên Việt Nam đối với việc sử dụng tiếng Việt của họ trong các lớp học Tiếng Anh cho trẻ em tại Trung Tâm Ngoại Ngữ Tháng Năm M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI, 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ THỊ THU TRANG VIETNAMESE TEACHERS’ VIEWPOINTS ON THEIR USE OF VIETNAMESE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS IN MAY SCHOOL ENGLISH CENTER Quan điểm của giáo viên Việt Nam đối với việc sử dụng tiếng Việt của họ trong các lớp học Tiếng Anh cho trẻ em tại Trung Tâm Ngoại Ngữ Tháng Năm M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc. Nguyễn Xuân Thơm HANOI, 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I declare that this thesis submitted for the Master of Art degree at the University of Languages and International Studies is a presentation of my own research and has not been previously submitted at any other universities for any degrees.
Wherever contributions of other researchers are involved, every effort is made to indicate this clearly, with due reference to the literature, and acknowledgement o collaborative research and discussion. The work was done under the guidance of Associated Professor Nguyen Xuan Thom, at the University of Languages and International Studies. Hanoi, 2016 Vũ Thị Thu Trang i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT At the completion of this thesis, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my lecturer and my supervisor, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thom for his valuable support and instructions without which it would have been really difficult for me to handle the task.
I would like to acknowledge my debt to my colleagues in May School English Center for their effective cooperation in collecting data for completing this study. Their enthusiastic participation was indispensable to my research. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family for all the support I received to finish this thesis. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The use of the mother tongue has been argued for ages in English language teaching and the argument over whether students‟ native language should be included or excluded in English language classrooms has been a controversial issue.
Conducted in the context of Vietnam, the study is an attempt to address the use of Vietnamese as mother tongue in English language classrooms in a prestigious English center for young learners in Hanoi (May School). It focuses on the viewpoints of Vietnamese teachers in May School on their use of Vietnamese as mother tongue in their English language classrooms as well as the amount and situations in which it is employed. The findings and discussion are based on the analysis of the data collected from group interview of five female teachers and ten one-hour classroom observations. The current study supports the judicious use of Vietnamese in some situations such as giving instructions, responding to students‟ Vietnamese.
The results also highlight that the use of Vietnamese is significantly different in classrooms in May School but the average amount of its use is quite limited. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABRREVIATIONS ALM: Audio-Lingual Method CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching FL: Foreign language GMT: Grammar Translation Method L1: First Language L2: Second Language TL: Target Language iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Chart 1: The amount of Vietnamese used in observed classes Table 1: Participating teachers‟ profile Table 2: Information of observed classes Table 3: The occasions of teachers‟ use of Vietnamese in Starters classes Table 4: The occasions of teachers‟ use of Vietnamese in Movers classes Table 5: The occasions of teachers‟ use of Vietnamese in Flyers classes v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENT Declaration. iii List of abrreviations. iv List of charts and tables .v Table of content.
vi PART A: INTRODUCTION. Aims and objectives of the study. Aims of the study. Objectives of the study.
Scope of the study. Methods of the study. Significance of the study. Design of the study .5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.
A brief history of language teaching method focusing on mother tongue use in English classroom. Arguments about the use of mother tongue in EFL classroom. Arguments against using mother tongue in EFL classroom. Arguments in favor of using mother tongue in EFL classrooms.
Studies focusing on teachers‟ L1 use in EFL classrooms. Amount of mother tongue use. Situations of mother tongue use .13 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY. Setting and participants.
General information about May School. Students and English classes in May School. Data collection instruments. Data collection procedure.
Data analysis procedure.20 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION. Group interview analysis. Teachers‟ general viewpoints. Amount of Vietnamese use.
Situations of Vietnamese use. Classroom observation analysis. Amount of Vietnamese use. Situations of Vietnamese use.
Findings and discussion. Summary of major findings. Suggestions for further studies. 41 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
II viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale In the process of teaching and learning a foreign language, the use of mother tongue is a controversy topic for many years, especially when Communicative Language Teaching becomes popular. In global scale, many studies were conducted to investigate the use of mother tongue in English classrooms such as Schweers (1999) at the University of Puerto Rico, Tang (2002) at a university in Beijing, Duff and Polio (2009) at University of California, Al-Nofaie (2010) in Saudi public schools. In Vietnam, a few researchers also investigated the attitude of teachers and students towards the use of Vietnamese in English classroom at universities and high schools.
However, it is rather difficult to find studies in which the subject of using Vietnamese in teaching English for young learners is focused. There still exist huge gaps on the reality of Vietnamese use in English classroom for children. Working as a teacher of English in May School English Center (from now mentioned as May School) for young learners in Hanoi, the researcher found that Vietnamese teachers in this center have different language choices for their lessons. Therefore, this study focuses on their viewpoints on as well as their practice of Vietnamese use in English classrooms.
Aims and objectives of the study 2. Aims of the study As the title suggests, the overarching aim of this thesis is to study Vietnamese teachers‟ use of their mother tongue in English classrooms in the context of an English center in Hanoi, in order to guide English teachers in their use of L1 in L2 classrooms. Objectives of the study To achieve the above aim, the following objectives are set for exploration: 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. examining the attitudes of teachers toward Vietnamese use in English classrooms in May School; b.
identifying the average percentage of Vietnamese used in different levels in the center in comparison with the number given by teachers there; and c. defining the situations in which Vietnamese is preferred by teachers in English as second language (EFL) classroom 3. Research questions To make the task manageable, the above objectives are translated into the following research questions: 1) How much Vietnamese is used by Vietnamese teachers in English classrooms in May School? 2) In which situations is Vietnamese preferred by Vietnamese teachers in May School? 3) What are Vietnamese teachers’ viewpoints on their use of Vietnamese as mother tongue in English classrooms? 4. Scope of the study In fact, the first language (L1) (i.
Vietnamese) can be used by both teachers and learners in second language (L2) classrooms. However, within the framework of this minor thesis, the study only focuses on Vietnamese teachers‟ use of the mother tongue in English classes for children. Specifically, the main objective of the study is investigating the perspectives of teachers toward their L1 use, the amount of L1 use as well as the situations for L1 use in English classrooms in May School. Methods of the study The study adopted qualitative and quantitative method for data collection and data analysis.
Five teachers teaching different levels of students were investigated so as to compare and contrast their use of mother tongue in their EFL classes. Two 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com collection instruments were employed including teacher group interview and classroom observation. Significance of the study The findings of the present study are hoped to be useful to the following groups: a. Teachers of English in May School and other English centers for children can make use of the findings and become aware of their practice in language choice.
They also can adjust their use of mother tongue while teaching English for different student levels so that they can get the best results in teaching English. Academic staff in May School and other English center can use the results of the study as a reference to consider some changes if needed in teacher training process. Language teaching methodology researchers can conduct further studies in the area which may form other new English teaching methods and techniques that identify the appropriate role of mother tongue in the classroom. Design of the study The thesis consists of three parts, namely Introduction, Development and Conclusion.
Part A: Introduction This part presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the method and the design of the study. Part B: Development This part consists of three chapters including Literature Review, Methodology and Data analysis and discussion. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter 1: Literature Review This chapter provides an overview of history of English Language Teaching focusing on L1 use, some arguments for and against mother tongue use as well as the review of related works in this topic. Chapter 2: Methodology It presents the subjects of the study, research instruments, collecting data procedure and data analysis procedure from which answers for research questions could be found.
Chapter 3: Data analysis and discussion The data collected from group interview and classroom observations are analyzed in this chapter. Also, some findings and discussion based on the analysis are presented. Part C: Conclusion In this part, the major findings, some recommendations, limitations of the research as well as suggestions for further study are presented. The appendices are the last part of the study following the reference.
4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. A brief history of language teaching method focusing on mother tongue use in English classroom In the history of foreign language (FL) teaching, different linguistics suggested diverse methods and approaches which were widely used for different periods. According to Stern (1992), the role of mother tongue in language teaching is “one of the most long-standing controversies in the history of language pedagogy” (as cited in Nguyen Thi Nhu Quynh, 2011). The following quick look will summarize the periodic changes in the role of mother tongue in English teaching.
By the early nineteenth century, Grammar-Translation Method (GTM) was the standard way of FL teaching in Western countries. At that time, it was believed that to learn a language was to read its literature.