Luận văn exploring the usefulness of translanguaging in a ha nam high school an exploratory action reseach project

‘his thesis reports on the results of an action research project on the benefits and drawbacks of translanguaging in a high school conloxL In the light of the discussions relative bo th

VIETNAM NATIONAT UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

LƯƠNG THỊ BICH HUE

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 của việc sử dụng liên ngữ

tại một trường Trung học phổ thông ở Hà Nam)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field : English Methodology Code : 8140231.01

Hanoi, 2020

VIETNAM NATIONAT UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

LUONG THI BiCH HUE

EXPLORING THE USEFULNESS OF TRANSLANGUAGING IN A HA

NAM ILGH SCHOOL: AN EXPLORATORY ACTION

RESEARCH PROJECT

(Nghiên cứu hãnh động khám phá: Tìm hiểu lợi ich cia vide six dung liên ngữ

tại một trường Trung học phổ thông ở Hà Nam)

MLA MINOR TIULESIS

Field : English Methodology Code : $140231.01

Supervisor : Assoc Prof Dr Lé Van Canh

Hanoi, 2020

DECLARATION:

Thureby certify thal the thesis “Exploring the usefulness of using trarslanguaging

in the high school context in Ha Nam provinee: 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 Intemational Studies, Victram National Universily, Haxwci

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis has, in many senses, been accomplished with the help and encomagement 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 do 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 lo their lessors as well as needed helps, I could overcome cnormous obstacles when doing the research

In addition, I am also grateful to my colleagues and my students who helped ame cpllcet the necessary dala Special acknowledgement is also given to my students from classes 10A3, 11A6 and 11A8 for thew participation in the experimental lessons

Last but not least, Tam greatly indebted lo 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

Luong 'Thị Bích Huệ December , 2019

ABSTRACT

Tn recenl years, there has boon a significant shill from a monolingual approach ta teaching English as a second or foreign language to multilingual perspectives According to these perspectives, leamers’ first language (Ll) is considered as resources for Iearuing the second language (1.2) As # result, translanguaging in the EFL classroom has attracted great scholarly attention and interest ‘The mumber of studies on translanguaging in different contexts 1s increasing, considerably Despite

this fact, the term ‘iranslanguaging’ seems to be new lo many Vietnamese EFT teachers ‘his thesis may be the first one that deals with this topic ‘his thesis

reports on the results of an action research project on the benefits and drawbacks of translanguaging in a high school conloxL In the light of the discussions relative bo the effectiveness of translanguaging in the BIL classroom, the present study aims at

providing functions of translanguaging in both language teaching and leaming Data

was collected from a student questionnaire, recorded student translanguaging, teacher self-observation and the reflection ‘the findings provide initial insights into

the studerts’ altitudes towards translanguaging and the possible benefils of translanguaging to students’ learning English in the high school classroom

Key words: translanguaging, 1.1, 1.2, code-swiiching

ii

2.4, Previous sLudies on Wranslanguaging in L2 classrooms 1

3.4.1 The exploratory action research 18

iv

3.4.2 Data callection procedures

3.43 Data analysis procedures

APPENDIX T: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS

APPENDIX H: INTERVIEWS FOR STUDENTS

Vil

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AR : Action Research

11 + First, Language

EFL : English as Foreign Language

ELF : English as lingual franca

ELT : English Language ‘Teaching,

SPSS Statistical Packages for Social Sciences

TESOI, Teaching English to 8peakers of Other Languages

CHAPTER L 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 (he concept of translanguaging, defmed as “the plarmed 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 (1.1 2018a: 32) in ways that contd also be

beneficial to sludents Tn fact, translanguaging pedagogies are based on lhe view

that bi/multilingual leamer's first language (L1) can be valuable linguistic resources for second language (L2) leaming While interest in researching translanguaging as

a pedagogical strategy in HLT classrooms is growing globally, it has received little

aliention in Vietnam Tn facl, 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 LI'L classrooms Motivated by the benefits of translanguaging to L2 learning, 1 decided to use an action research approach to explore whothor translanguaging works in the conlex! 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 KML classrooms and the possible benefits of transtanguaying fo studonts’ learning English in the high school classroom

The study focuses specifically on using translanguaging in learning English

as well as evaluate the sturlents® altitudes 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 AG, 11 A8) ata

high school

1S 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’

allitudes towards the role of T.1 um 1.2 learning

1.6 Research Methodology

An exploratory action research design (Smith &Hebolledo, 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 studenis’ attitudes towards to use of Vicinamesc

in the English lessons through a survey questionnaire In the second phase, hased on

the results of the survey in the first phase, action, ie., the use of translanguaging, was taken in the classroom with a focus on the possible benefits of translanguaging

to students’ learning English in classroom Jearning tasks Then, the action was

evaluated to measure the effect of translanguaging on students’ engagement in

classroom fearing 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 translanguaying and using the (irst language im 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 rosoarch arc focused

Chapter 4: Hindings and discussion shows major findings, discussion and some recommendations for teachers and learners in using of tanslanguaging in teaching and learning English

Chapter 5: Conclusion- is a review of the study, suggestions for further

research and limitations of the sludy.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter reviews the literaluro on translanguaging in second andéor

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 variely of different contexts are reviewed to identity

the research gap where the present study fits

2.1 What is translanguaging’?

According to Conteh (2018), translanguaging was originaled in Welsh bilingual education in the 1980s “‘Irawsieithu’ 2 Welsh term coined by Cen Williams, and later translated into English as “translanguaging’ —was constructed as

a purposclul cross-cuticular strategy for ‘the planned and systemalic use of Iwo

languages for teaching and learning inside the same lesson’ (Lewis ef al 2012, p

3) Cenoz and Gorter (2011: 359) define translanguaging as “the combination of

(wo or more languages in systematic way within the same learning aetivily.” Thus,

translanguaging is understood to be a wider concept which contains not only cade-

switching bat many other kinds of bi/multilingual practices as welt

While code-switching refers to the alteration of switch between languages by bilinguals in communicative event, translanguazing focuses on how bilinguals take

advantages of their linguistic resources Lo make meaniry 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 Garcia, 2009, Blackledge and Creese, 2010) and the use of different

languages in written texts (e.g Canagarajah, 2011; Garcia and Kano, 2014)

2.2 Transtanguaging vs code-switching

Code-switching is a bilimgualanorde activily in which more tham one

language, typically speakers’ native language (L1) and second language (L2), are used intransententially or intersententially (Cook, 2001) Code-switching has not boen appreciated in traditional 1.2 classrooms where the students’ largel 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 Thorelore, according to Creese and Blackledye (2000), cade-

switching is occasionally employed by Ianguage cumiculum developers and instructors to assist language practices that multilingual speakers are engaged in

Meanwhile, translanguaging is a term which has recently used in Hine with code-

switching in the literature Similarly, wanslanguaging 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, 2 marker distinguishing translanguaging from eoda-switching

Garcia and Lewa (2013, 267) slale: “The concep of Irarslangusging 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 ‘parenis’

or codes, a new way of being, acting and languaging in a different social, cultural and political conext Translanguaging brings into the open discursive exchanges among people in ways that recoguize thew values of languaging In allowing thud 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,

Tn short, “ Translangnaging differs from the notion of code-switching in thal

it refers nol simply to a siifl 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.” (Garcia

&Wei 2014), Translanguaging is a planned and systematic use of two languages for leaching and leaming inside the same lesson Code-switching practice is particularly matigned by teachers in dual language education and bilinguat 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 leamers’ language in second language learning, according to which learners" language are viewed as a resource in the English as-a-foreign language (FL) classroom (c.g Corcoll& Gonzalcs-Davies, 2016, Creesc&Blackledge, 2010, Tihnan&Pictila, 2018) This view originales rom 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 EIT For example, Anderson (2008) has called for flexible approaches to pedagogy to respond to bilingual contexts that do 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 swituhing” (Arthur & Martin, 2006, p 197) and considered ways in which the rescarch might conlribule to a “icachable” pedagogic resource Important avenues of research have begun to question the validity of Doundaries 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 diglossiv functional separation” in New York classrooms

(p xiii), Conteh (2018, p 446) notes,

Language is scon as an ongoing ‘process’ rather than a ‘thing’, a ‘verb’ rather than a ‘noun’ (Becker, 1988: 25), as in the notion of ‘languaging’ ‘he focus

moves from how many languages an individual may have ai their disposal la 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

imown among some linguists as “code-switching” (Adamson:l'ujimoto-Adamson,

2012, p.59) Meanwhile, Greese and Blackledge (2010) extended this even further,

to state thal banslanguagmg goes beyond a basic acceplance or tolerance of the

leamer’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 im the classroom The first type consists of allowing and

encouraging students to use their first language to help learning, and translate when they do not understand 1 means thal they can communicate with their friends in Lhe class by using them mother tongue as well as in English This approach, when used

in English classroom, allows the development and support of leaming both the

oontent, and improving English comprehension The second type is called “planned

tvanslanguaging” This form of tanslanguaging 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 classrcom procedure and their lesson content in order to decide where and when it may be beneficial to inchide 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 linguislic 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:

repertoire

The multilingual

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 alteration 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 stratcgy Outside the classroom, trauslanguaging is used to exchange the ideas as a socializing tool or making fun When understanding the

distinction, (he researcher could design more aclivities depending on cach purpose

of translanguaging as well as help leamers distinguish the differences between translanguaging and code-switching

The importance of Iranslanguaging theory has bec revealed in provious

research from different aspects (e.g.: linguistic, educational, socio-political, etc.), and researchers tend to focus on three primary aspects, which cauld best reflect the

significance of this theory First of all, translanguaging is an approach lo make use

of languages of bimulti-linguals by considering they possess one linguistic repertoire instead of several different autonomous language systems (Kasula, 2016;

Garefa, 2009) Second, banslanguaging 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, belicf and ideology, their cognitive and physical capacity into one coordinated and meaningful performance” (Wei, 2010, pt 223)

Third, translanguaging theory fas deep social justice implications for the

education of bilingual students (Garcia, 2017), especially for the US cducation system in which bilingual or multilingual speakers used to be considered as

disadvantaged learners However in Fglish classrooms, we van design many

interesting activities by using translanguaging Garcia 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 corexts

- tomake space for students” bilingualism and ways of knowing

- to support students’ socioemotional development and bilingual identities

(Garcia, 2017, p29)

According to Lewis, Jones and Baker (2012), Garcia and Li (2014), there are two types of translanguaging strategies: “teacher-directed translanguaging to give voice, olarily, reinforce, manage the classroom and ask questions and sludent- directed translanguaging to participate, to elaborate ideas, to raise questions It means that teachers and students actually become active and excited with multiple

0)

languages in different contexts (Lewis: 665+

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 belavior and focuses on the need io develop the relationship

between Unglish and other languages Whereas, Seidlhofer (2017) highlights the importance of considering English as an additional communicative resource in the

qmullitingual 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 nulive language as a tool to help them excol in theïr target language.” Tl is

clear that developing students’ native language strengths the base for English and

increases learners’ Hieracy 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 (1.1) or in the target language (TT) The rescarcher emphasized thal 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, throngh translanguaging, the student can create an identity as a language learner who incorporates his or her L1 and home culture as well as the ‘PL and culture to

solve social situations and opportunities for communication

Lewis, Jones & Baker (201 2x 644) summarize Willians (1996) pedagogic theory

as follows:

“The process of translangnaging uses various cognitive processing skills in listening and reading, the assimilation and uccommodation 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 il moves from finding parallel words lo processing und relaying

meaning and understanding.”

2.4, Previous studies on translanguaging in L2 classrooms

Tina Gurmarsson (2014) presented in her research that learning English by

‘using trangslanguaging brings leamers 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 studeriLs

- a focus on function rather than form

- increase student motivation

- increase student parficipalion in class chscussions

In her study, translanguaging is used effectively in Swedish classrooms, For example, the researcher taught the sluderts how to draw on their complete language repertoires when Jeaming (not just language leaming) She also allowed her students

to collaborate with other students speaking the same language/s or both languages

(11 and 1.2) when she bcheved 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 ete.) and stimulated them to participate in metalmguistic discussions by, for instance, contrasting and comparing to other languages The author reported that

transtanguaging could be applied in four skills in learning Fnglish and it did

inerease the participation of the students and developed the fluency in using languages She pointed out that a translanguaging pedagogy is important for language mitoritized stndonts, whether they are emergent bilingual or not, because

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 inlo accounl when teaching — language, culture and history as well Ta

brief, the teacher can feach students how to use their complete language repertoires

as a resource for leaming

Nambisan (2014) showed im bis roscarch on teachers’ allitudes Lowards the usc

of translanguagive in Knglish language classrooms in Iowa that translanguaging is utilized in one specific BSL context and evaluate about the interest among teachers in these practices Tr ihe 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

franslanguaging helps sLudents by providing a sale onviromment where their identitios

and cuhures 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 Frglish 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, iil) monitoring or assisting students, and iy) correcting learners during the course of an activity he results showed that this switching from the L2 to the

T1 by the teacher was used lo 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

leamers’ 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 understandiry of the subject matter In addition, it helps the development of the

weaker language For example, the second language or forcign language is often considered as the weaker language and the mother tongue or the first language is more

dommant Next, using translanguaging facilitales home-school links and cooperation

Lastly, it helps the integration of fluent speakers with early leamers, When using or discussing the topic in one language and then writing about it in another language

troans that, the subject malter has lo be cognitively processed or digested

MeMillian and Rivers (2011) surveyed 29 participants (all native-speaker

BFL instructors) about their beliefs regarding the role of Ll in the EPL classroom

At Casi, the authors believed thal some of the participants who are hesilant to allow the L1 into the classroom may be preoccupied about how to incorporate it if their proficiency is low, sa that portion of the questionnaire allowed for data collection to

draw an interference on thal topic However, the responses were different from that

hypothesis Surprisingly, the teachers who had a more positive view of LI use in the

classroom had lower self-reported proficiency scores in Japanese, whereas the

{cachers who opposed 1.1 use had a higher proficioncy raling The study provided

valuable insight into the minds of teachers and helped share their viewpoims on why they agree with or oppose the presence of the 1.1 in the EFT classroom

Chungke & Shumin Lin (2017) chose a tanslanguaging approach to TESOL,

in Taiwan in their research They emphasized that this approach in LT stems from

the changing roles of a language teacher from providing linguistic knowledge and

skills to building leamers *self-leaming 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 icach by blonding English imfo her repertoire of teaching and by cncourging

students to translanguage in using English along with other languages

‘Yo 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 translangnaing lo explain complex concepls, vocabulary, and grammatical

features or structures (Ahmad, 2009; Greggio and Gil, 2007’ MeMillan and Rivers,

2011; Tian and Macaro, 2012) When teaching new vocabulary items, it is helpful

for instructors to code-switch inte the L1 to use definitions that are easier for the

students 1o understand, which helps ther catch the meanings and allows therm to

have beer understanding wll they are leaming (Ahmad, 2009) In aspect of

grammatical features and structures, using L) 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 ‘IL to present the grammar’s rules Cook (2001)

pointed out that translanguaging is a natural practice and allows students to make

connections between ther LI and L2

2.5 Chapter summary

‘This literature review shows that interest 1m translanguaging is increasing However, in order lo make translanguaging a widely acccpicd pedagogy, more

vesearch is needed

Creese and Blackledge (2010: 113) emphasizes “the need for further research

to explore what “teachable” pedagogic resources are available in flexible, comeurrenl approaches to learning and teaching languages bilingually.” In making

this call, they echo whal 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 occuring phenomenon for multilingual students Translanguaging cannot be completely restrained by monolingual educational policies

Tt can occur with minimal pedagogical effort from teachers However, such studies aight give the impression that translanguaging doesn’t have to be taught (p 8)

Canagarajah (2011: 9) goes further and recommends, “As we develop teachable strategics of translanguaging, we have to consider some serious issues for

14

assessing the effectiveness of this practice.”

Dospile the reported value of banslanguaging 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 Lo find out the students’ altitudes 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

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

‘This chapter provides background information about action research, the current

situation of teaching and learning English by using tanslanguaging 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.L Research context

The study was conducted at an upper-secondary school, a tural school of

fonner Ha Nam province The school bas 29 classes with over 60 teachers of all

subjects, Knglish is taught as a compulsory subject Curently there are 8 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 Tie districl 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 umuversity entrance exam Teaching English has

encountered some difficulties lirst of all, the class is often large with multi-level students There are from 10 to 45 studemts 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 Lnglish They cannot understand lessons if

teachers speak English all the time The last is the lack of materials Materials for

relcrence and self-study arc nol available Fusthertnore, some [acilities needed for

leaming such as computers and projectors are not enough

Nommally, students have three periods of sludying English every week TLis a

lnuted 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

oulside classroom All these factors have great elfeet on the students’ results in

leaming Knglish hey usually have low proficiency in Hnglish so they lack

16

vocabulary items or structures to cxpross 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

33.1 Questionnaires

According to Selinger and Shohamy (1989) a questionnaire is widely used in second language acrpuisition research to solicil information about certain conchtions 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 aboul the research subjects (Koul 1984) A mumber of lechmques are

used to collect data through questionnaires ‘he kinds of questions are various,

consisting of Yes/No question, muluple 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 T -was about the students’ personal information including gender, age, number of years in leaming 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 Hnglish class activities

33.2 Interviews

Sehnger and Shohamy (1989) pout out thal 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, semi- structured interview which consists of ten questions (four of them focused on using

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 inlerviewees may be good al or bad at learning Fnglish 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 thal the research could understand the students’ attitude toward learning English

in general and loward using Wanslanguaging in particular Each interview lasted about three or five minutes including questions, answers and cxplanation 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 ulilizing banskenguaging in English lessons The inlerviews were conducted int a following week aller processing the questionnaire [or the students

33.3 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’ altiturles and the change in their participations tu classroom activities The

researcher observed scveral English lessons she herself taughl, nofed dawn and

recorded the sludenty’ behavior and aclivilics In cach lesson, (he 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 trauslanguaging were noted and analyzed

3.4 Procedures

3.41 The exploratory action research

3.4.1.1 The exploratory action research

The exploratory first phrase which justified use of the adjective “explorartory” tefore “action research” can be seen to involve clarifying the existing situation-the

nature of a given “problan? or other issue- before any achion for change is

18

conceived and undertaken

The term “action research” refers to two dimensions of activity: the word

“research” in “action research” refers lo a sysiemalic approach Lo carrying oul

investigalions and collecting information thal is designed to Whaninate 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

uo

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)

Kompis &McTaggarl (1988) state thal “a group activity” and “a form of collective self-zeflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of the own social or educational practices, a3 well as their understanding of these practices and the situations in which these practices arc carried oul.”

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 effcets of such intervention.”

A necessary component of avtion research is collaboralion 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 cach olber in implementing classroom—cenlered action research projeots ÏL also needs the collaborative efforts of students who participate in the action research

project Sludents’ collaboration plays an important role in the success of the action

xoscarch project

Below is the difference between the action research and exploratory action research

Action research Exploratory AR

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

Sueps of Exploratory Acoom Research

Exploratory Action Research can be pictured like this (Smith & Rebolledo 2018 p

37)

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 9 weeks of the second semester of

20

school year 2018-2019 from March 4° to May5%, 2019 Adapting steps in Smith&

Rebolledo (2018)’s exploratory action research cyele, the study was developed in three

iain stops as follows:

Step 1: Plan to explore

From my experience from teaching as well as characteristics of leaming styles,

T realized thal there are some factors affecting students’ partivipation in English

lesson such as: fear of mistakes, shyness, amxiety, lack of confidence, lack of motivation Those became the main factors that affect Ss’ condition hecause 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 resalls revealed that students’ limited

vocabulary in English was the hinderance to their participation in Znglish speaking

activities While the principles of communicative language teaching do not encourage

the students Lo use their frst language, recent literature shows thal tarslanguaging can

be an appropriate pedagogy for bilingual/ multilingual leamers However, the

pedagogy is so new in many Vietnamese high schools T decided to experiment this

pedagogy m my classes, which were three different groups

Step 3: Analyse and reflect

The researcher decided to allow the students to usc 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 Jack vocabulary items

to convey their purposes and they felt eager to take part in English classroom

activities The research could also find some aricipaled problems during the process of applying translanguaging in Uinglish lessons

3.4.1.2 Rationale for the use of exploratory action research

Exploratory AR, aa this emerged within the project, can therclore be

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 cngage in research-based exploration of issues arising in their classrooms via means which do not interfere with their everyday teaching, rather than immediately plunging into action and attempted measurement of change

Cohen and Marion (2007) state thal the ait of action rescarch 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 spevific

context or situation and researchers can be participants - they do not have to

‘be distant and detached from the situation

Teachers in general and teachers of Fnglish in particular actually carry ont

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 rescarch was the recognition and observation of a roal

problem in the classes that my colleagues and T 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 imowledge about vocabulary to express their points of view ‘This research was

conducted with a desire lo observe students’ partictpalion 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 classronms, aimed al professional development through changin my methods

of teaching to motivate my students to take part in Tnglish classrooms

3.42 Det collection procedures

The daia of the research was collected by means of quesliormaires,

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 imformation from students Then, the teacher-researcher

conducted the lessans in which translanguaging was used for some pedagogical

purposes These lessons were self-recorded by the teacher-researcher herself with the smart phone put im her pooket ‘[hese audiorecorded lessons were then

transcribed and used as data for analysis The data was used as stimuli for the

purpose of finding oul the students’ altitudes towards classroom tanslanguaging through the post-lesson interviews

3.43 Data analysis procedures

The data was analyzed hoth 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 inchiding the justification for the use of action research design in this smdy,

the research questions, questionnaires and interviews uscd as lwols of collecting data, the participants of the study, the process of data collection and data analysis

apphed to seek the answers for the three research questions TL 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

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter provides the findings of the study It alsa inchides the presentation

of data gathered, its analysis and interpretation

Tollowing the intervention, which was the use of translanguaging, I administered a questionnaire to the students to find out their attitudes towards this new pedagagy

‘The questionnaire is composed of 11 Likert-type questious 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

41.1 Research question 1: What are the students’ attitudes towards

translanguaging in learning English?

4.1.1.1 Questionnaires

All surveyed students were studsnis from three different classes (80 students at

grade I1 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

dilTerent 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 6 to the

speaking English by using Iranslanguaging

when 1 do not remember or do not know

English wards

‘7 I would like the teacher to allow the “ a a is} 8g

students to use both English and

Vietnamese in group discussions

24

8.1 feel more comfortable when T often 5 62 408 94

use both English and Vietnamese in group

discussions

9 I would like the teacher to ask the 58 9 2326 99

students lo use Bnglish language

completely in English lessons

bilinguals combine both English and

Vicinamese in communication

11 1 think that the students will feel more 12 58 3.86 1.14

comfortable when the teacher allows them

to use both English and Vietnamese in

speaking and writing English classrooms

IE necessary, the teacher can translate

words or sentences from Vietnamese 10

English and vice versa so that the students

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 Finglish 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 Lnglish and Vietnamese in group discussion Of all the sample population, 62 stadents (accounts for 912 %) 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 scen thal only nine (9) of 80 confirmed that they Iiked the teacher to usc

complete English language in English classrooms It means that they had a positive

view towards translanguaging,

Table 4.2: Students’ attitude of L1 use in English classrooms (N— 45; Grade 10)

6 1 would like the teacher to allow speaking

Roglish by using translanguaging when T do

not remember or do not know English words

7 I would like the teacher to allow the students

to use both English and Vietnamese in group

discussions

8 1 feel more comfortable when | often use

‘both English and Vietnamese in group

9 Twould like the teacher to ask the students

to use Linglish language completely in Linglish

lessons

10 I think that it is normal when bilinguals

combine both English and Vietnamese in

communication

LL I think that the students will feel more

comfortable when the teacher allows them to use

both Knglish and Vietnamese in spealcing and

writing English classrooms If necessary, the

teacher can translate words or sentences from

Vietnamese to Linglish and vice versa so that the

students can understand the lessons better 19

3.91

As can be seen from the responses of 10" graders lo 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 Linglish mixing Vietnamese when they did not know that word in

Faglish These resulis were not surprising because (hey could continue speaking

when they were lack of vocabulary items, In the question 9, only two students agreed that the teacher used Lnglish language completely in English classrooms

The survey also shows thal 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 aclivities

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 pracliee in the classes

and language choice in teaching was acceptable to help them leam better af English

4.1.1.2 Class self-observations:

Through class sell- observations, the researcher realized that there were

different attitudes towards using translanguaging in English classrooms ‘These

altitudes can classily as a “range of different behaviors, including the decision of

which language(s) to leam, which language(s) to uae as one’s main means of communication” (Kircher, 2016, p 241) and can ultimately contribute to either

language shill or kmguage maintenance Many faclors 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 lear Further, the language ability of students can affect their attitudes towards learning in a particular language (Mutharma & Miao, 2015) Tf 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 thal has not been really explored in the emerging body of

translanguaging pedagory From my observation, I claimed that when the students have low proficiency in linglish they tend to utilize their native language to express their ideas They Vell eager to lake part in group discussions if they are allowed to use Vietnamese in Knglish classroom activities They had a positive response to using translanguaging in Inglish classrooms In contrast, there was another attitude towards using translanguaging The students did nol ike using Vietnamese when they were learning English They thought that if they did so, it could hinder their opportunities to leam English fluently Finally, some students did not have their

own ideas about using translanguaging in English classroom They oflen 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 lo usc tanslanguaging 10 help their friends, who bad weaker level of proficiency in English These students only used Vietnamese when necessary

Obviously, the observation showed that students with more linguistic

yesources and stronger proficiency did nol approve of using tanslanguaging whereas students with lack of language resources and weaker proficiency approved

of using Wranslanguaging in English classrooms

4.1.1.3, Interviews

‘These interviews were carried out during the application of using translanguaging in thrce classes The interviewees may be good or tol good al leaming English They answered some questions in Vietnamese hese 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

transtanguaping because it helped hslener smates 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 sludents believed thal they should nol use tanslangnaging They

28

often use a synonym or a word with closest meaning or they may stop talking, keep silent when they do not find an Jinglish word to convey their ideas Lispecially, they usually used their mother tongue in group discussions They explained thal 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 ilems 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 do not approve of using

raultilingual language m an ullerance They considered thal is a strange thing when

leaming Linglish Jelow are some the answers of students towards using translanguaging

‘The interview data was analyzed qualitatively and the following themes emerged from the data arilysis

These answers were extracted from the students’ response to show that when they are permitted to use translanguaging

SI: If] participate in group discussions, T cannot speak English fluently and clearly, so 1 don’t speak much But now when the teacher allows me fo use

Vietnamese when I don’t know how to say it in English, I can speak a little

Porẻ,

$2: If 1 join a group discussion, £ do not use Vietnamese to express my views

7 think that group discussion is a good chance for me ta practise pronouncing English words { don’t like using Vietnamese

S3: I like my teacher to let me use Vietnarnese combining English because

sometimes I da not know English words or expressions Thus, I can feel more

comfartable and confident when interacting with the teacher in English lessons This makes the lessons more effectively and I also feel more excited

when learning Fnglish

S41 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

S5: If I get involved in group discussion, J will not use Vietnamese because group discussion activities help me to tmprove English speaking and listening skills, Auhough 7 can make mislakes when speaking English, 7 still

limit to use Vietnamese

Through the interviews, it was revealed that students’ attitudes towards

translanguaging were mixed Tl seerucd that thos who were betler al 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

Quently In contrast, the weaker students fell more comfortable when they were

permitted to use L1 in their Linglish classrooms Some of them emphasized that translanguaging should not be overused This requires the teacher to be sensitive to the students’ altitudes and their level of English More importantly, translanguaging must be purposeful, ie 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 thorn have more opportunities to use Knglish fluently

4.1.2, Research question 2: What are the possible benefits of translanguaging 10 students’ leaning English in the high school classroom?

‘The findings showed that the possible benefits of translanguaging can be pointed out through the questionnaires, class scl(-obscrvations and interviews

according to Lhe themes about of anslanguaging: helping low proficiency students,

explaining grammar, classify the subject and vacabulary, changing the mood of the students and increasing motivation

4.1.2 1 Questionnaires

Other items in the survey are focused on students’ expectations about the use

of Vielnamese and English through many aspects of learting a language

@ Students’ expectations regarding the use of Vietnamese and English through

translation

Tu general, the student participants in 114 graders expressed their strong expectation

30