MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------------ NGUYEN HOANG KIM AU USING TRANSLATION FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS IN HUE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.11 SUPERVISOR: TRUONG BACH LE, Ph. HUE, 2016 i BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ ------------ NGUYỄN HOÀNG KIM ÂU SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP DỊCH TRONG DẠY VÀ HỌC TIẾNG ANH TẠI MỘT SỐ TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG TẠI HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. TRƯƠNG BẠCH LÊ HUẾ, 2016 ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.
Signed: Nguyễn Hoàng Kim Âu Date: December 19th, 2016 iii ABSTRACT The research aims to investigate teachers‟ perceptions and use of translation in teaching English as well as students‟ perceptions and use of translation in learning English, whereby some suggestions and implications can be drawn out to improve English teaching and learning efficacy. Therefore, in order to collect data for the study, totally 24 EFL teachers and 90 students from 3 high schools in Hue were chosen as participants. Here, two research instruments including questionnaire and interview were employed. The results of the study show that both EFL teachers and learners not only have acknowledged the role of translation but have applied such teaching tool in the process of English teaching and learning as well.
More specifically, teachers often use translation to teach vocabulary, idioms, and grammatical points or to explain complicated issues. Regarding students, they usually use translation in class to talk with classmates in group activities and to learn words, idioms or grammar points and practice translation exercises at home. After examining the results, the research also suggests some guidelines of better teaching and learning English with the support of translation. The study concludes that pedagogical translation, if effectively used, can be of great values for both English teaching and learning.
Despite its existing difficulties and limitations, the paper may act as a useful contribution to foreign language pedagogy, especially at high schools. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Truong Bach Le, whose enthusiastic support and valuable advice helped me a lot in conducting the research and completing this paper. I could not have imagined having a better mentor for my master study.
Secondly, I would like to thank the EFL teachers and students at Nguyen Hue High school, Quoc Hoc High school and Gia Hoi High school, who participated in the research as participants and gave me precious information and comments. My best thanks also go to the staff working at the university library, who created favorable conditions for me to get access to necessary material and information for the study. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family and friends for supporting me spiritually throughout writing this thesis in particular and my life in general. Without all the aforementioned support and encouragements, this research would have never been completed.
v TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Page SUB COVER PAGE 1. i SUB COVER PAGE 2 .ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP. v TABLE OF CONTENTS. vi LIST OF TABLES.
x LIST OF CHARTS. xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. xiii CONTENTS OF THESIS CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .1 Rationale for the research .2 Objectives of the research .4 Significance of the research .5 Scope of the research .6 Brief outline of the research .4 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW.2 Origins and some definitions of translation .3 The notion of pedagogical translation .4 Translation in some foreign language teaching approaches .1 Grammar-translation method .2 Community language learning .4 Audio-lingual method .5 Pros and cons of the use of translation in foreign language classroom .1 Arguments against translation.2 Arguments for translation .6 English teaching and pedagogical translation in Vietnam .1 Some traits of English teaching and learning in Vietnam .2 Pedagogical translation in English teaching in Vietnam. 28 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
32 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .1 Background information of research participants .1 Teachers‟ background information .2 Students‟ background information .2 Findings and discussion from questionnaires and interviews .1 Teachers‟ perceptions towards the use of translation in teaching English .1 Language employment in teaching English .2 The role of translation in English teaching .3 Advantages of translation towards teachers in teaching English .4 Disadvantages of translation towards teachers in teaching English .5 Translation‟s efficacy on the teaching of four skills .2 Teachers‟ use of translation in teaching English .1 Using translation tasks and activities .2 Using translation in certain situations.3 Textbook sections in which translation is often used .4 Translation tasks often employed in terms of language .5 Translation tasks often employed in written or oral form .6 Translation tasks often employed in terms of linguistic units .7 Requirements for preparing Vietnamese meanings of new words before class .3 Suggestions for better teaching efficacy by using translation .4 Students‟ perceptions towards the use of translation in learning English .1 The role of translation in English learning .2 Preference for major types of English learning activities.3 Advantages of translation towards students in learning English .4 Disadvantages of translation towards students in learning English .5 Translation‟s efficacy on the learning of four skills .5 Students‟ use of translation in learning English .1 Practicing translation tasks .2 Situations for using translation in EFL classes .3 Frequently translated linguistic units for self-study .4 Mental translation when hearing or reading English .5 Mental translation before writing or speaking English .6 How students remember word meanings .7 Using translation tools to support English learning .6 Suggestions for better learning efficacy by using translation. 76 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS .1 Conclusion of the research .1 Teachers‟ perceptions and use of translation in English teaching .2 Students‟ perceptions and use of translation in English learning .2 Implications for better English teaching and learning efficacy with the use of translation .3 Limitations of the research .4 Suggestions for further investigations. 82 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: Questionnaire for teachers. 91 APPENDIX 2: Questionnaire for students.
96 APPENDIX 3: Interview sheet for teachers. 101 APPENDIX 4: Interview sheet for students. 103 ix LIST OF TABLES Page Table 4.1: Background information of teachers.2: Background information of students. 34 x LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 4.1: Teachers‟ language employment in teaching English .2: Teachers‟ evaluations of the role of translation in English teaching .3: Teachers‟ opinions on translation‟s advantages .4: Teachers‟ opinions on translation‟s disadvantages .5: Teaching areas where translation is considered to be appropriate .6: Frequency of using translation tasks and activities in teaching English.7: Frequency of using translation in some situations in English teaching .8: Lesson types in which translation is used frequently .9: Translation tasks frequently employed in terms of language .10: Translation tasks frequently employed in written or oral form .11: Translation tasks frequently employed regarding linguistic units.12: Frequency of requirements for preparing Vietnamese meaning of new words before class .13: Suggestions for better English teaching by using translation.14: Students‟ evaluations of the role of translation in English learning .15: Students‟ preference for major kinds of English learning activities .16: Students‟ opinions on translation‟s advantages .17: Students‟ opinions on translations disadvantages .18: Language skills that can be improved thanks to translation .19: Frequency of practicing translation tasks .20: Situations in which translation should be used .21: Translation tasks students often practice in terms of linguistic units .22: Mental translation into Vietnamese when reading or hearing English.23: Mental translation before writing or speaking English .24: How students remember word meanings .25: Frequency of using translation tools.26: Suggestions for better English learning by using translation.
75 xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ALM: Audio-Lingual Method BA: Bachelor of Arts CLL: Community Language Learning CLT: Communicative Language Teaching CSs: Communicative Strategies EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESP: English for Special Purposes FL: Foreign Language GTM: Grammar-Translation Method L1: first language L2: second language MOET: Ministry Of Education and Training SLA: Second Language Acquisition xiii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the research Since the 19th century, the ceaselessly increasing use of English as a means of communication among people from different countries, cultures and linguistic backgrounds has led to the situation in which millions of people learn English as their second language or foreign language to fulfill their personal purposes. Therefore, teaching and learning English are of great importance nowadays. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the use of translation the field of EFL teaching and learning. To tell the truth, the notion of translation seems to be perceived differently by people all over the world.
Its use in EFL classrooms, also, is surrounded by much controversy and criticism. Some authors and educators advocate the use of translation in teaching EFL whereas others do not. Despite the fact that the use of translation in language classes has aroused controversial viewpoints and comments, it is still commonly considered as “a means to help learners acquire, develop and further strengthen their knowledge and competence in a foreign language” (Leonardi, 2010, p. Translation, as one of the suggested methods in learning and teaching English, may play an important part in this field if used properly.
Therefore, the vital role of translation in foreign language teaching and learning is indeed worth considering. In the second half of the 19th century, according to Liu and Littlewood (1997), in most countries in East Asia in general and in Vietnam in particular, EFL teaching is conducted with the use of Grammar-Translation method, in which grammar, reading and translation tasks are much appropriated while oral language teaching is out of favor. As time goes by, English has become an international language and things have changed. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has gradually found its way to Vietnamese education and become favorable.
However, in spite of the preference on communicative approach recently, pedagogical translation is still in use at a lot of schools in Vietnam. Particularly, in Hue City, this phenomenon is 1 also popular, especially at secondary schools and high schools. Therefore, conducting studies concerning to the use of such tool for better teaching and learning English in Vietnam is necessary. After due consideration of the seriousness of the issues above, I decide to carry out a research named “Using translation for teaching and learning English at some high schools in Hue”.
The paper focuses on identifying the perceptions of both EFL teachers and students at some high schools in Hue city towards the role of pedagogical translation as well as how they employ such tool in teaching and learning English. Additionally, it is hoped that some useful implications can be drawn out in order to help both EFL teachers and students to raise the quality of learning and teaching English via the use of translation.2 Objectives of the research The study attempts to reach these objectives: 1. Investigate the perceptions of EFL teachers at some high schools in Hue towards the use of translation in English teaching. Investigate the perceptions of EFL students at some high schools in Hue towards the use of translation in English learning.
Identify how translation is used in the process of teaching English by EFL teachers at some high schools in Hue. Identify how translation is used in the process of learning English by EFL students at some high schools in Hue. Suggest some guidelines concerning the use of translation in the process of teaching and learning English.3 Research questions In order to reach those aims above, the study seeks to address the following research questions: 2 1.