Luận văn a study on the teaching of mathematics in english at an 8th grade class at doan thi diem private secondary school

This research studies on the subject of Math because il is universal Lo people more than any others: its aims arc to examine whether teaching Math in English is beneficial or not, the t

NATEONAL UNIVERSITY OF ITANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

¥ACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDEES

HARA RARER RIRR RARE

TRAN THI THUY

A STUDY ON THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS

IN ENGLISH AT AN 872 GRADE CLASS AT DOAN THI DIEM PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOL

NGHIEN CUU VIEC DAY TOAN BANG TIENG ANH TRONG MOT

LOP 8 TAT TRUONG TRUNG HOC CO SO DAN LAP BOAN THI DIEM

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME TIIESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 140111

Supervisor: Dr Mai Thi Loan

HANOI - 2015

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES,

TRAN THI THUY

A STUDY ON THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS

IN ENGLISH AT AN 8'" GRADE CLASS AT

DOAN THI DIEM PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOL

NGHIEN CUU VIEC DAY TOAN BANG TIENG ANH TRONG MOT

LGP & TAI TRUONG TRUNG HOC CO SG DAN LAP BOAN THI DIEM

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English caching Mcthodology Code: 60 140 111

Supervisor: Dr Mai Thi Loan

HANOT - 2015

DECLARATION:

I certify my authorship of the thesis:

A study on the teaching of Math in English al an 8 grade class

at Doan Thi Diem private secondary school

is the result of my own for the Degree of Master of Arts at College of Foreign Languages, Hanoi National University, and this thesis has not boon submitted for

any degree at any other university or institution

Hanoi, 2015

Signature

Tran Thi Thay

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

From the bottom of my heart, I thank all people who have supported and

encouraged me Unrough the process T completed this thesis

First of all, I would like to send my most sincere and deepest gratitude to my

supervisor, Dr Mai Thi Loan for her wholchearled imsiruclions, precious

suggestions and knowledgeable advice to my study Without her enthusiasm, this

work would never have been accomplished

Next, I sincerely would like to acknowledge other teachers at the Department

of Post-Graduate Studies for providing me numerous interesting, valuable lectures and guidance

Thave profound regards for Mr David Devine, an excellent Math leacher and for all 8M students, at Doan Thi Diem private socondary school who spent their

precious time answering my survey questions Owing to their cooperation, my thesis has been succes

Lully completed

Last but not least, I owe my life to my family and close friends for their incessant cnvouragemionls which have raised ue up a lot lo finish any Uesis.

ABSTRACT

Math, Science and Literature have been taught to ELLs in parts of the word

This research studies on the subject of Math because il is universal Lo people more

than any others: its aims arc to examine whether teaching Math in English is beneficial or not, the teaching methods used by the Math teacher, the challenges of

teaching Math in English in 8M al DTD School and to find out the

secommendations to improve the situation of teaching Math in English in the future

To fulfill these targets, three instruments employed to collect data were the

classroom observations, the questionnaire for the students and the interview for the

Math teacher

The study was carried out and involved an American teacher of Math and 16

Vietnamese students in grade 8 at DID School Statistical analysis revealed that most of the students initially struggled with mathematical vocabulary, cultural dilTerences in icachers’ leaching methods and students’ leaming styles and especially, their English limited proficiency Gradually, they had improvement in

their English competence and mathematical knowledge thanks to the Math teacher’s

yolatively well-plarmed lessons Several stralogics which are recommended to deat with the found challenges inchie differentiating specific instructions, teaching

mathematical vocabulary properly, applying technology, enhancing

communications among students, parents, teacher and school and holding more

Math competitions to encourage students to study Math in Iénglish

ii

List of abbreviations sesenenneenmetnneaestne siemens hi

4, Scope of the Sh1ổy su 0n HH Hư HH0 re

7 Design of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAT BACKGROUND

1.1 Teaching Math in English to Fl

1.2 Teaching Math iu Bnglish —a CLI approach coe

1,3 Implementations of teaching Math in Unglish sssnsmnenensnenemnenieD 1.3.1 History of teaching Math in English in Asia cone

1.3.2 Situation of teaching Math in English in Viein att women rienrneneien8 1.3.3 Benefits of teaching Math in English recognised by scholars 9

iv

1.3.4, Factors affecting Ells’ success in studing Matf, sec 1.35 Challenges for Math teachers and learners 10

1.3.6 Strategies for Math teachers and learners

1.4 Review of previous stucies related lo teaching Math in English 13

1.5, Summary

CHAPTER 2: METUODOLOGY

2.1L The current situation of teaching and learning at ITD School 1S

3.1.3 Interview for the Muth teacher 30

1 Recapitulation .ccssncunencnninnaeineneinnnenieinenianenieieninenieane

2 Limitations of the study

3.Recommendations for further studies .0 :c:cccesseesssssssenseneneteeesessssnescanvaneiees

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

vi

45

4 46

ACP: American Credit Program

AAAS: Association of the Advancement of Science

CLIC: Content and Language Tntegrated Tcarning

DTD School: Doan Thi Diem private secondary school

ELLs: English Language Leamers

NCTM: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Math: Mathematics

OKCD: the Organizations for Kconomic Co-operation and Development

PISA: Programme for Tnterralional Student Assessment

SCS: Salomon Christian School

TESOL; Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

vii

Jarcelt’s and Kersaint’s stralogics in leaching Math in Bnglish lo FLLs 11

Learning environment in the classtoomt 0c0.ccccc cc ceeees sects eee ees › ⁄20

Teachers instructional strategies in the classroom 2 Students’ leaning strategies in the classroom sa 23 'Teacherˆs teaching siratepies in the cÏassroom 26 Students’ challenges of studying Math in English 2?

Students’ suggeslions lo make the program better 29

'Yypes and frequency of work for studenfs 3]

Teachcr”s mstruclidral toola mi the classroom - 24 Teacher`s assessment in the classroom se hoc,

Students’ benefits of studying Math in English - S28

vit

PART A: ENFRODUCTON

‘The part is to introduce the rationale for the study, the aim and objectives of the study

as well as the research questions for this study to search for the answers Furthermore, this part presents the scope, the method, the significance and the design of the study

1 Rationale

Aller nearly lwo years of academivally leaching at DTD School, the researcher realizes and highly appreciates the positive effects of teaching Math m Unglish in M classes in which students are bilingual and learn four American subjects To be more specific, M

classes are connceled to the progran: ACP at SCS in Edmonds, Washinglon, Umied States

Besides Viemamese curriculum, the students in this program have to study four

ience and Math The results

compulsory American subjects, narucly Frylish, Literature, S

are counted according to the grading system in the United States and are accepted by SCS

if the students wish to continue this program there In this program, the leamers have experienced interesting and informative lessons which are lolally taught by American teachers ‘hese native teachers have been certificated by ‘I! /SOL before they come to teach Vietnamese students In particular, among four subjects, Math is commonly preferred by the Vietnarnose learners because il is an irlcrnalional language (Dale & Cuevas, 1992) and they can compare and follow like studying Math in their home language Studying Math in Frylish brings the studeris skills of problem-solving, reasoning and communicaling, which strongly supports learning English lenguage (larrett, 1999) As a result, this potential

situation motivates the research to conduct a paper on how to assist the educators to reach

the recognition and application of leaching Math in Fnglish im Vietnamese educational

environments

2 Aims and objectives af the study

Hor the aim of promoting the teaching of Math in Linglish, the researcher desired to undertake a research with the following objectives:

(1) to discover the teaching strategies used by the teacher in Math lessons,

(2) 1o examine the benefits of taching aud leaming Math in English,

(3) to investigate the challenges of teaching and learning, Math in #nglish,

(4) lo suggest recommendations to help the teachers and tearners in this program,

3 Research questions

With a view to accomplishing the objectives of the study, these three research questions

were raised:

(1) What are the teaching strategies often applied by the teacher in the Math classes?

(2) What are the benefits for the teacher and learners in teaching and learning Math in

English?

(3) Wheat are the challenges for the teacher and learners in teaching and learning Math in English?

(4) What are the recommendations to a more effective application of teaching and learning

Math m English at DTD School?

4, Scope of the study

It can be widely recognized that a variety of subjects have been taught in English to

ELLs such as Science or Literature in order Lo improve their English abilities; however, the

researcher only focused her study on one subject and its effectiveness — ie teaching and earning Math in Raglish Tn addition, only a limited number of students, not all of the

students at ID School in Hanoi, were chosen as the subjects of the study

5 Method of the study

‘Lhe study was carried out following these steps:

First, the classroom observation was made by the researcher to discover the learning

environment, teacher’s instructional strategies, teacher mouitoring, students’ learning strategies, teacher’s instructional tools and the ways of assessment,

Next, the questionnaire was delivered lo the 16 Vietnamese students to imvestigale their

thoughts about teacher’s teaching activitios, students’ benefits and challenges in this

program as well as their recommendations to promote the teaching and leaming Math in English more cffectively

‘Third, a personal interview with the Math teacher was conducted so as to indicate the

teacher’s leaching strategies, the advantages and difficulties of teaching Math in English to

ELLs and several of his suggestions to onhanee this program

After that, the data was collected and analyzed to reveal the major findings and give answers lo the rescarch questions imi dotail

6 Significance of the study

Afler this study, the participants were expected to be more aware of the relatively new

education approach of teaching Math to bilingual students In the light of teaching methodology the results of this study can be set as the framework for English teachers and Vicinamese educators at DTD school in particular and other schools across the counry in

general to design suitable, effective lessons and activities that encourage students to

practice English in a communicative and academic approach

7 Design of the study

The main body of this thesis consisis of three main parts:

Part 1 — INTRODUCTION states the rationale, aims and objectives of the study, the

research questions, method, significance and design of the study

Part TT — DEVELOPMENT consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1: Theoretical background provides the literature review of teaching and

impletnentation of teaching Math in English to BE,T.s and review of previous relaled studies

Chapter 2: Methodology describes the setting and the rescarch design including the participants of the study, the data collection instruments, data collection and analysis procedure

Chapter 3: Data Analysis and Findings releases the findings of the study after analyzing the collected data in categories and summarizes the answers to the three research questions

Part C - CONCLUSION abridges the results of the entre research and discusses the

limitations of the study along with suggestions for further research

3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND This chapter reveals an overview of related literature and researches that deal with teaching Math in English to KLLs

1.1 Teaching Math in English to ELLs

1.1.1 Definition of ELLs

This term was initially originated in the United States when (here was a huge flow of immigrants and refugees coming there ‘These newcomers changed America into the most

multicultural and multilingual nation in the world Hence, ELLs were known as a new and

homogenous population who were limited or empty-minded in English when they entered

America (as cited from NCTM, 2008, p.1) Ilowever, this concept has been generalized

over the time since English became the international language, and alnosL every country in

the world teaches Linglish to their citizens to be adaptive to the globalization ‘the current circumstance is that peaple who want to study English do not need to immigrate or move to

Britain or Amernca lo cormmumeale with native speakers The reason for this is the much

appearance of the Hnglish or American natives in foreign countries Besides, as cited in Sanla Crux (2009), Fi

simmons (2007) wrole that HLIs were second language learners who were still developing their proficiency in academic English and simultaneously studying content areas through Linglish

To sum up, ELLs ean be generally portrayed as “active learners of the English language

who may benefit from various types of language support programs” (NCTM, 2008, p.2)

1.1.2 Why ta teach

Written in a publication of Cardiff School of Mathematics in 2006, Math is a universal part of human culture It is also the language of almost every field of people's life such as commerce, engineering, physics, computing, and biology.

With regard to its importance, Math is one of the greatest cultural and intellectual

achievements of human-kind; heres, people should develop an appreciation and understanding of that achievement (NCTM, 2000, p.4)

Obviously, Math can assist the people to recognize pallerns and to understand the

world around Furthermore, leaming Math can force the poople to foam how to think logically and to solve problems using that skill It also teaches them to be precise in thoughis, words and hfe skills, especially whor they are living in an extremely complex society (Wisniowski, 2014, p.19)

For all of these reasons, over the last few years, the issues connected with learning and

leaching Math have become matlers of high importance for everyone involved in education, training and publishing,

1.1.3 What to teach

Math education in the United States varies considerably within its 51 states More noticeably, America differs from most other countries in which Math is generally separated

by topic at high-school level (Wikipedia, 2014)

Generally, the students in this country start studying Math at about five or six years of age, continuing through secondary schoo! and inlo bigher education

According to the information updated from the websites of Wikipedia (2014) and NCTM (2014), the standards and focal points of mathematical content taught in American can be generalized as follows During the grades of elementary school, students are IaughL basic arithmetic: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division Later on, these concepts are inlerpreled more specifically at nriddle schools, where students will lear basic algelra and concepts of variables, integers and polynomials At high schools, the general Math curriculum contains algebra 1, algebra 2 and geometry in grades 9 and 10 At this level, algebra 3, otherwise knows as trigonomelry cant be taught (or 11h graders Additionally either pre-calculus or calculus can be completed by students at an honor level in their

senior year

Asian countries such as Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Viemam and Singapore scored

above mlemational averages (Kelly, Mullis & Martin, 2000 as cited m Hoang (2007) The

proof is that on December 3 2013, OECD officially published the results from the PISA,

an exam administered every three years to the 15 and 16-year-old students im several

countries Although Victnam joined the test for the first tune, the whole score in Math and

Science was surprisingly higher than America and Lritain (Llefling, 2013)

Tm short, the students im Vietnam can follow the Math curneulum in America because this Common Core State Standards Initiative has been effectively used in American states

(Wikipedia, 2014) and can be flexibly applied in Vietnamese schools The problem is

whether the students’ Eughish proficiency allows them to study with the native speakers

and whether the teaching and leaming style can be integrated in harmony

1.2 Teaching Math in English — a CLIL approach

1.2.1 What is a CLIL appraach

The CLIL approach is the short abbreviation of the term Content and Language Integrated Leaning” which was created in 1994 by David Marsh and Anne Maljers (Wikipedia, 2015) Tt is an approach for learning content through a foreign or second language, thus teachers covers both teaching the subject and the language ‘Ihe aims of CLIL is generalized in four Cs: Communication, Content, Culture and Copnition Spovilically, the communication aims at improving overall target language compeleney; the content is to study the knowledge and skills of the subject leamt; the cognition heads for developing learers’ thinking skills (Coyle, 2007 as cited in: Spratt, 2011)

In this integrated approach, the target language is the means used to teach the subject content Honce, its success depends mostly on learners’ language compeleney so thal leamers can understand and study the subject In his publication, Dalton-Puffer (2011) implied that teachers in this approach will normally be nonnative speakers of the target

language but mstead conten experls However, there is a doubt about this idea because the

applications of CLUL to teaching Math m Lnglish in the Asian area were not successful

because the Math teachers were not English natives

6

1.3 Lmplomentations of tcaching Math in English

1.3.1 History of teaching Math in English in Asia

The idea of teaching Math in Rnglish has been imported inlo Asian countries for nearly a decade such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam Several of these programs showed a variety of advantageous aspects on the leamers’ progress of studying Math and English On the other hand, a quantity of different programs did not receive many approvals and encouragements Yo be more specific, in Indonesia, a reform for International Standard [igh School was suggested to teach Math and Science in English

according to the Decree of Ministry of Educalion m 2009 IL was required thal the native

teachers used Linglish and Indonesian in teaching and leaming activities, and the proportion

of the use of English in the classroam should be gradually increased 100 % in four years

Despite this requirement, the teachers al R-SMA-RI 1 SUTIBONDO, im East Java,

Indonesia did not use English as often as expected because they themselves were well aware of their limited English As a consequence, the example of leaching Malh in Engkish inthis context did not achieve significant successes (Hidayat & Anugerahwati, 2012)

Another application of this method was camied out in 2003, in Malaysia The

background was in an urban school m Porak Since 2002, Ihe Malaysian government had

issued a new policy in which the schools in Malaysia had to use English as an instruction language to the subjects including Math, Science and Technology The reason for this was that the government realized English as an imporlant mechanism lor the diroct acquisition

of knowledge in the field of Math, Science and Technology (Anian, 2003 as cited in Tan &

Ong, 2007, p.2) A good point was added to this program when the government organized

professional development course for the native teachers to improve subject content and linguistic skills because they knew that the Malaysian teachers and leamers were not proficient in English On the contrary, the siudenis still looked empty and scomed unable to understand Consequently, a research by Nor, Aziz and Jusoff (2011) testified whether the leamers of such a program in Malaysia had improved in English Their participants were

students at a well-known boarding school in Johor After the researchers collected the data

through the questionnaires, they concluded that the students’ academic performances

+

declined Even though they felt several improvements on their English, there was no positive indication of those feclings in Frylish exam outcomes The findings of the research lead them to a disentangling situation whether English for teaching Math and Science in Malaysia should be abolished or nol

1.3.2 Situation of teaching Math in English in Vietnam

Teaching findamental subjects in English, including Math, is one of the main issues

indicated in projects No 1400 and 959 approved by the Prime Minister of Vietnam (Chien,

2010) From the very first applications of these projects at various Jevel of education, those

who taught Math in English were Vielnamese leachers of Math at Foreign Language

Specialized School or Amsterdam Llanoi Specialized School ‘hese teachers might have a strong foundation and good knowledge about this specified subject On the other hand, the majority ol them were nol sulliciently equipped with English proficiency to teach [hair students /As a result, the primary objectives set by the administrators could not be fulfilled (Chien, 2010)

Recognizing the above problems, many of the Vietnamese schools had been applying the teaching of Math in English by a relatively different approach These schools employed English native speakers to teach Malh for their students However, the point was that these teachers had to come from Great Liritain, America or at least from Linglish-speaking countries such as Singapore or Australia; they already graduated in the major of Math and qualified by TESOT about their ability of teaching in Fnylish lo the students in Fnglish non-speaking comiries The main difficulty for these schools was a large amount of budget

they had to spend hiring English natives Lo Leach their students Due to this reason, in big

cities, there have becn a few private and international schools which can afford the salary

for the foreipn teachers Several reputable schools are Hanoi Academy, British Vietnamese

Tnfernational School, Singapore Tnternational School, Doan Thi Diem School, Brendon

School, American Intemational School, Saigon South Intemational School, and RMIT Viet Nam and so on These schools have been given good compliments for their foreign

leachers who are young, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and adaptive lo Vietnamese leamers

1.3.3 Benefits of teaching Math in English recognized by scholars

It is commonly known that ELLs have to spend more thant one year developing conversational language and approximately five years equipping sufficient academic

language to learn in Bnglish, Otherwise, they can leam Bnglish easily and quickly by heing

exposed to and surrounded by English native speakers (Hamis, 2007, p.5) Because of the

factors related to the learning environment in which LiLLs have more chances to interact

with the English native teachers, the program of teaching Math in English has been widely applied in the context of Vietuam The primary purpose of such educational programs is to enable the students to acquire English proficiency while they leama specified area — Math

According to AAS (1998), the ability to speak Fnglish as a 2 language, combined with

strong skills in Math and Science would provide unlimited opportunities (as cited in Jarrett,

1999, p.6)

1.3.4, Factors affecting EUs’ success in studying Math

When considering (he benefits of teaching Math in Raglish to ELLs, educators also have to look inside the factors affecting KLLs’ success ‘he most influential features have been discovered as follows:

Culowal differences: Math hes beon regarded as a waversul language where numbers comect people regardless of culture, religion, age or gender Llowever, there is a big difference in leaming styles across countries For example, in many Asian countries, rote memorization and self-study underlies the motive of schooling and learning Thus, these students may have little or even no experience in working in cooperative groups, sharing

2011, p.25)

and discussing how to solve problems (Harris

Linguistic knowledge: A number of the ELLs do not have cnough knowledge of academic English to use in school This causes troubles as they face the challenge of understanding and learning specified vocabulary (Dale & Cuevas, 1992; Hallidal & Martin,

1993, Kang & Pham, 1995)

Conceptual knowledge or background knowledge: Depending on various

fundamentals, students may not have adequate echucalion or lack basic Math skills and the

ability to grasp the new concepts taught in Math courses Consequently, the interference in

thi

tudying can become more and more problematic (Maschokovish, 2000)

‘The complexities of reading mathematical texts and understanding its language are

always challenging for almost ELLs Math teachers are advised 1o study these factors thai

may meddle the teaching and leaming Math in English

13.5 Challenges for Math teachers and learners

‘As mentioned above, in the exemplifications in Malaysia and Indonesia, these programs failed to meet the demands which had been targeted by the ministers and

educators as the teacher staff were nalives and their English proficiency was nol stroug

enough to transfer mathematical concepts and teaching instructions effectively In addition, the content Imowledge and language proficiency of the leamers themselves in these countries were limited to got the lessons through Thus, the expected improvements ould not be satisfactory Regarding other contexts such as in Vietnam, the teachers and students also have to cope with # variely of difficultics although their Math teachers are English native speakers ‘he most challenging and most easily recognized problem is that Math language consists of a huge mumber of specialized vocabulary and discourse features (Kang

& Pham, 1995; Jarrett, 1999, p.8) Moreover, everyday language wilh different meanings is popularly used in Math textbooks Several specific examples are extracted from amis (2005, p.15) as follows:

Addition: add, plus, and, combine, sum, total of, mare than, increased by, ete:

Subtraction: subtract, minus, less, less than, fewer than, decreased by, difference,

lower, lake away, from, shorler, etc

Multiplication multiply, times, product, as a factor, twice, double, ote

Division: divide, divided by, quotiem, separated into equal proups, ete

Equal: is, are, result, make, cle

Additionally, the symbols of Math are sometimes totally different in use from one

country to another For instance, in the United States, the dot is functioned as the decimal

10

point to separate whole mumbers from decimal numbers such as 0.5 whereas for the same idea, Vicinamese (cachers and learners write the comma instead Hike 0,5

Last but not least, the use of mathematical concepts, problems and instructions in English differs in word expressions (Jarrell, 1999) As cited from Dale and Cuevas (1992, p-335), the number a is five less than the number 5, which the student may mistakenly restate as a 5-b, which it should be a— 2-5,

Besides the examples of content-related issues, olhwr problems that EI.Ls have to

experience may be concerned with cultural differences, difficulties in learning English or limited prior knowledge of mathematical concepts in the leamers’ mother tongue language

Towards the English native teachers, for instance, they come to Vieinamn and absolutely

encounter certain kinds of cultural shock when they communicate and teach in Vietnamese

educational environments The style of teaching and leaming in their own country also varies in aspects in comparison with thal, of Vietnam, which occasionally troubles and

stresses them

1.3.6 Strateyies for Math teachers and learners

From the troubles raised above, numerous strategies were suggested to make teaching Math in English more compressible lo ELLs With respect to this issue, Jarrett (1999) and Kersaint (2009) proposed several similar and different strategies as illustrated in the following table:

2 Engage ELLs in the classroom discourse so that they can participate in Math lessons

3 Choose appropriate types of assessment for ELLs,

6 Develop LLLs’ mathematical 6.l/liminate or addres linguisie

7, Be aware of affective influences such as

visual aids or games during the lessons

8 Involve the family in teaching ELLs

Tuble 1: Jarrett’s and Kersaint's strategies in teaching Math in English to ELLs

Tlowever, in some researches, the environment for teaching and leaming Math in

English is the most important and influential factor to learners (NCTM, 2000;

Moschokovish, 2000; Jasper & IIuber, 2005) They believed that establishing a good leaming context could help the leamers feel safe, comfortable, motivated and engaged instead of being amcious and disruptive in Math lessons

Similarly, Hoffert (2009) and Jasper & Huber (2005) showed out a specific list of simalegies to accelerate the leaching ol’ Malh in English such as highlighting key words, use graphic organizers, use technology, enhance students’ Hnelish language skills and so on

Overall, the writer relied on the findings by Harris (2005) when he summarized the

strategies into three categories: classroom management strategies, instructional strategies to increase comprehension and assessment strategies ‘These categories almost systematically covered the strategies previously discussed by other authors He reckoned that an effective environment should have comprehensible input, provide contextual clues, facilitate verbal interaction and encourage active participation Additionally, the teachers are supposed to

iMegrale language and content to icrease the leamers’ comprehension by using daily aud

popular vocabulary to explain mathematical problems, starting lessons with warm-up activities and designing pair or group work, for instance More importantly, assessment siralegies such as authentic performance tasks for example learning logs, exercises and problems, should be put into great consideration because they help the teachers check and

promote their students’ understanding and progress before, during and afler the lesson.

1.4, Review of previous studies related to teaching Math in English

Evidently, the teaching and learning of Math in English bas appealed much attention of international and Victnamese rescarchers whon it is inereasingly becommg a global tendency to help HLLs develop their English language skills as well as mathematical knowledge

Initially, Cuevas (1984) did research on the learning of Math in English as a second language He concluded that, lo apply this way, learners had to require a variely of

linguistic skills Furthermore, teachers and schools ought to assess students’ mathematical

achievement properly and draw out a well-designed curriculum to develop the second

language skills

After that, Moschokovish (1998) discovered the needs of Latino students in reform-

onented Math classrooms From the fmdm

Latino students had to be designed based on mathematical discourse and students’

participation, ‘I'wo years later, this scholar conducted a study to help teachers and learners change challenges into resources when teaching Math in two languages (Moschokovish,

2000),

T thề cordexL OẼ Malaysia, Khere werc al least Ghree studies which mvestigated the

teaching of Math and/or Science in Linglish after the educational reform in this country Namely, Nordin (2004) explored students’ perception on teaching and learning Math in English This research found out that the respondents were well aware of the importance of

he stressed thal classroom matruclion for the

English in daily life and career development Conversely they admitied that sturlying this subject in English was extremely challenging whon they lacked of mathematical knowledge and instruction language

After that, Tan and Ong (2007) academically dug into teacher's experiences and classroom practices in the implementation of the change in language of instruction for Math and Seienee, From the result, he collected Gee factors influsncing this implementation were teacher’s prior educational background, school’s linguistic environment and students’ linguistic abilities

As followed, Nor, Aziz and Jusoff (2011) carried out a research to answer whether English for teaching Math and Science in Malaysia should be abolished as he praved that his participants made a little progress after studying this program

13

In the context of Indonesia, Hidayat and Anugerahwati (2012) examined the use of

English in the teaching of Math and Science at R-SMA-BI 1 SUTUBONDO However, this author indicated that this approach was not cffcctive when the teachers used their

mother tongue in almost all the time during the teaching process

Although the issue of teaching and leaming Math in Lnglish has been widely

researched on for a long time a few studies have been published on it in Vietnam

Hoang (2007) investigated the relationship between earring and instruction ia Math

instruction of 12-year-old students in Saigon, Vieam In conclusion, he strongly approved

of the use of cooperative leaning activities in class and active leaming strategies as well as

homework after school to facilitate learners’ academic achievement and self-confidence to

study Math

Chien (2010) reported the realities of teaching Math 1 English at Vietnamese high

schools ‘his teacher also proposed some feasible approaches to deal with these problems

at Vietnamese high schools in general and at Voreign Language Specialized School in particular

Last but nol least, Phuc (2010) discovered the difficulties most teachers and studeris al

Minh Khai | primary school faced with in teaching and learning English for Malh by the textbook Practice Math 1 After analyzing the difficulties, the author listed out practical solutions and suggestions to promote this program

As a teacher of English and having participated in the Math classes taught in English

by native spoakors, the resgarcher of this study did recognive much improvement of ler students’ English language skills and mathomatival knowledge However, she also witnessed the difficulties being struggled by both teachers and students ‘hus, she studied

on the use of teaching and leaning Math in English for her students with a view to support this program more effectively

1.5 Summary

In short, this chapter has clearly touched upon the issues associated to the topic of the study It discusses the notion of ILLs, the application of teaching Math in English and previously related literature The following, Chapter 2 will be devoted to the discussion of

the methods of the study in the light of the above-mentianed theories

14

CUAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 Setting

21.1 The current situation of teaching and learning at DTD School

DCD School has been a reputed educational environment in Llanoi for a long period of time because this school has been considerably successful in teaching its students both subjects in Vicnam”s educational cumculum and several basic subjects in English according to the intemational systems of Singapore and America In general, the students at DTD School not only accoruplish the compulsory subjects in Wietwarn bul also master Ubeir English communication skills and Vietnamese common core knowledge

In particular, the students from grade 6 to 9 can attend M clas s to follow a program

jemt with ACP al SCS in Edmonds, Washington, the United States This means that

besides compulsory subjects of Vietnam, they must study other four subjects: English, Science, Math and Literature as required in America Specifically, the M graders leam weekly 15 periods with American natives for Science, Math and Literature, three periods for English whereas 20 periods for the subjects are taught m Vietnamese It can be seen that the number of periods during a week for two educational programs are almost equal

‘Thanks to spending, a big amount of time working with the native speakers, the students were expected to make much progress in their English proficiency and increase in their

spevilied knowledge

2.1.2 Material description

Holt McDougal Algcbra 1, which is included in The Holt McDougal High School

Mathematics series with Geometry and Algebra 2, was compiled and published by Burger, Kennedy, Chard, Leinwand, Renfro, Roby & Waits (2012)

Algebra t is designed to the philosophy of the Common Core State Standards as a program that prepares high school students for college and career readiness These

textbooks provide comprehensive instructions focused ơn conceptual understanding

supported with ongoing progress-monitoring and intervention tools, to make a balanced

and complete standard-based curriculum.

In total, Algebra 1 contains ten chapters: chapter 1-equations, chapter 2-inequalities; chaplor 3-funclions: chapler 4Hincar funclions; chapler S-sysicms of cqualions and inequalities, chapter G-exponents and polynomials, chapter 7-factoring polynomials;

chapler 8-quadratic Functions and equalions; chapler 9-exponential functions; chapter 10-

data analysis and probability Particularly, cach chapter is divided into sub-units illustrated

by related problems, useful pictures and practical examples to promote the students’ mathematical understanding and praclice

2.2 Research design

22.1 Participants

3.2.1.1 The Math teacher

The first respondent was David Devine who was a 24 year old Amenecan Ieacher of

Math After he graduated from Whitman College, he gained the certificate of TESOL and

travelled to Vietnam for his first leaching expericnecs He had beon teaching at DTD

School for nearly two years ‘Thanks to the charity activities he experienced teaching in America, his youth and creativeness, he contributed to his students so many interesting and

effective Math lessons that he received a number of compliments and positive comments

on his teaching method and personalities from the school, students and their parents

2.2.1.2 The 8M students

The main participanis of the sludy are 16 Victmmmese sludenis im 8M class at DTD

School Actually, these leamers had been studying Math in English for more than two

years, Along with Math, they learn Science, Fnglish and Literalure; all of these subjects

were taught by American teachers who were selectively qualified by the principals of the two schools

Overall, the majorily of the 8M studenis lived in Hanoi and had been studying English with the native speakers since elementary school Hence, their English proficiency was considerably good Besides, only one student was born in Dngland and came back Viemam

with their family It can be said that his English communication was more excellent and

familiar with studying Math in Linglish than the other classmates

lá

22.2, Data collection instruments

3.2.2.1 Classroom observation

On purpose of having the factual information about the action, the researcher used an

intlass observation checkhst as the first tool Lo collect data The researcher chose this tool

to have a chance of cye-witnessing how teaching Mathomatics in English was applied in the real environment, Moreover, using the class observation can help gather more in-depth information for the diseussion part

8 classrcom observation checklists were used to observe 8 Math periods at the beginning of the second semester of the school year [ere is the list of 8 Math periods

1) Solving systems by graphing (page 329- chapter 5), on 25 February 2014

2) Solving systems by substitution (page 336- chapter 5), on 28" Hebruary 2014

3} Adding and subtracting polynamials (page 414-chapter 6), on 25“ February 2014

4) Muliplying polynomials (page 422-chapler 6), on 7 March 2014

5) Factoring by Greatest Common Factors (page 163-chapter 7), on 11 March 2014

6) Factoring 2 | bx | c (page 480-chapler 7), on 14% March 2014

7) Graphing quadratic functions (page 538-chapter 8}, on 18" March 2014

& Solving quadratic equations by factoring (page 554-chapter 8), on 21 March 201

Fach checklist includes the folowing criteria

Category 1 Learning environment

Category 2 — Teacher's instructional strategies

Category 3 Teacher’s monitoring

Category 4 — Student's learning strategies

Category 5 — Teacher's instructional tools

Calogory 6 - Teacher's Assessment

(Details can be seen in Appendix A)

2.2.2.2 Survey questionnaire for the students

According to Nunan (1993), using survey questionnaire is incredibly helpful because

researchers can save a plenty of time in delivering or collecting the questionnaires, and it is

convenient to summarize and report collected data by this way As a result, this tool was

used to collec! the dala for the study

Written in both English and Vietnamese, this set of questionnaire inchades four

questions The first question aims al asking the frequency of the Math teacher’s activilies in

class The next question has a purpose of investigating the students’ difficulties when leaming Math in Linglish ‘I'he third is to examine whether the students gained benefits from studying Math in English or nol The last question collecis the students’ suggestions

to make the teaching and learning Math in English more effective

(Details can be seen in Appendix B & C)

2.2.2.3 Interview for the teacher

According to James (1997), interviewing is a direct face-to-face attempt to gather

reliable and valid measures in the form of verbal responses from one or more respondents

Fepocially, using an interview can help the research ablain the partivipanl’s personal

information, attitudes, perceptions or beliefs [lence, the last tool to collect the date for this

sindy 1s an tilerview wilh the Math Leacher

The unstructured interview consists of four categories:

Category 1 Teaching Strategies used in Math classes

Category 2 - Benefits of teaching Math in English

Category 3 Challenges of teaching Math in English

Category 4 — Recommendations to the program

(Details can be seen in Appendix D)

2.23 Data collection and analysis procedure

2.2.3.1 Data analysis procedure

The data collection was conducted in the procedure as follaws:

To begin with, the Classroom Observation Checklist was done in 8M class at DTD School ‘he researcher made this in-class observation to gain more acute understanding about the methods, strategies and instructions which the Math teacher applied in his

lessons The delivery of the Vielramese version of the questionnaire to the participants was

18

the next step in the procedure The questionnaire described above was sent to the 16 sludents al 8M to investigale specific difficulties and benefits they experienced in learnirus Math in English Finally, a personal interview was atranged with the Math teacher to

discover the benefits and difficulties as well as recommendation he expressed aller

teaching Math in English

‘Lhe results of the collected data were analyzed and presented in percentage and words anid then used for the discussion part of the study

2.2.3.2 Data collection process

The qualitative data were obtained through 8 class observations, 16 questionnaires and

an unstructured interview which were analyzed descriptively As the interview dala was

qualitative, the interview was analyzed subjectively by the researcher, whereas, the

questionnaire data and was analyzed with the help of SPSS statistical software package

2.3 Summary

The chaplor has a desp discussion of the settmg m which the study was carried out The

method and procedure of collecting and analyzing data used in the study were also fully described In the next chapter, the major findings include the benefits, the challenges of teaching and leaning Math in English and several recommendations to promote the program in the selected educational environment

19

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

‘This chapter comprises two parts in which the first part describes analysis of the

inlerview for the teacher, the quesiionnaire for the students and class observations The

other part shows the findings of the data collected through the study

3.1 Data analysis

3.1.1 Classroom observations

2 | Clear, relevant objectives aligned with 125 50 375

national standards are guiding the lesson

well-equipped (TV, loudspeakers, projector)

Table 2: Learning environment in the classroom The table shows how the leaming environrnent in the classroom was evaluated 50% of the periods were excellently evaluated when the teacher clearly established rules and procedure at the beginning of four periods The same proportion of the periods received the satisfactory comments because the objcetives of the lessons were closely aligned with the content In particular, all observed periods (100%) were taught in the classroom environment which was well-equipped with modem and sufficient facilities Tl can be said that these good factors were potentially basis to the success of the Math lessons

3.1.1.2 Teacher's instructional strategies

Tn the second category, the ubserver collected a big ammount of information aboul the instructional strategies used by the Math teacher to his students

20

‘The percentage of periods (¥)

pror knowlodge lo corlerrL

6 | ‘The teacher uses whole-group/large- 37.5 37.5 25

group tistruction

7 | The teacher uses small-group instruction, 625 35 135

3 | The teacher uses cooperative group 30 37.5 125

instruction

10 | The teacher guides student practice a skill 375 375 3

Table 3: Teacher's instructional strategies in the classroom

‘The table 3 indicates how 12 instructional strategies were applied in the Math periods Among them, half of the periods were satisfactorily and excellently evaluated because the Math teacher activated and linked students’ prior knowledge to content during the lesson content This can be considered a good start for each lesson Besides, 50 % is also the

21

percentage accounting for the three best appreciated items 13, 14 and 15 since the teacher

used experiential/ hands-on learning activities, used compare and contrast activities as well

as used summarizing strategies However, in terms of whole-group/large-group instruction

and guiding student practice a skill or procedure, the teacher needed to pay more attention

because about two-fifths (37.5 %) of the periods were undervalued Especially, the teacher

did not use small-group instruction properly to his students during a significant proportion

(62.5%) of the periods More noticeably, three criteria 5, 8 and 11 needed more

improvement, which accounted for exactly half of the periods According this data, the weakness in the teacher's instructional strategies might be due to that he did not

differentiate his ways of explaining the lesson content and vocabulary suitably to his

Chart 1: Teacher monitoring in the classroom

From this chart, a majority of the periods (62.5%) were excellently evaluated when the

teacher interacted enthusiastically and friendly with students The same percentage of the

periods was considered an excellence as the teacher monitored all areas where students

were working in the class However, nearly two-fifths (37.5%) of the periods still needed

improvement because the way the teacher transited activities or components of the lessons

22

was not effective enough In general, the teacher's monitoring style in his classes was

disruptive most of the time

21 | Students ask questions about the lesson content, 375 50 125

22 | Students are practicing skills/procedure 25 37.5 37.5

independently

23 | Sindenis are practicmg oral presontations to 50 375 125

explain their ways of thinking

25 | Students are applying content knowledge (eg, 0 30 50

Table 4: Sindents’ learning strategies in the classroom

‘The table 4 indicates the learning strategies that the students employed in their own

studying of Math in English Most noticeably, the highest percentage (10046) of the periods

was excellently cvaluated as all paiticipants took notes during the lesson Nevertheless, this

number is twice reduced when only four periods (50%) were excellently evaluated owing

lo the students’ being engaged on task, and not disruplive most ol the time, analyzing

presented material and applying, content knowledge (the criteria 19, 24 and 25) Another

important point is that a half of the observed periods needed more improvement when the

students did nol prachce many oral presentations to explain their ways of thinking

Overall, the students” learning strategies were relatively effective although they seemed to

be limited in orally expressing their ideas ar wonders to the teacher and class

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3.1.1.5 Teacher's instructional tools

The data about the use of instructional tools is clarified in this chart followed:

Manipulatives Textbooks are Other printed Technology (e.g.,

are used used, materials (e.g, computers,

worksheets, calculations, dictionaries) are projector, TV) is

learning tool

Chart 2: Teacher’s instructional tools in the classroom

As revealed from the third chart, the textbook Algebra I was satisfactorily used in all 8

Math periods (100%) This can be due to the fact that the textbook is extremely rich in

pictures, mathematical problems and mathematical applications in real life Even so, the

Math teacher did not use the textbook all the time and he also delivered his students other

printed materials such as worksheets (see the appendix E) or let them use their own

dictionary to look for the meaning of the difficult mathematical vocabulary These

instructional tools contributed to the satisfaction of 37.5% and the excellence of 37.5% of

the periods The secondly most excellent tool of instruction is manipulatives, accounting

for 62.5% of the 8 periods By contrast, other instructional devices like computers and

projectors were not much employed by the teacher as three-quarters (75%) of the periods

needed to use more technology

3.1.1.6 Teacher's assessment

The last part of the class observation is spent checking how the teacher assessed his

students.

Teacher's Assessment in the classroom

Needs improvement Satisfactory" Excellent 87.5

62.5 62.5

125

The teacher assesses students by The teacher assesses students by The teacher assesses students by

Chart 3: Teacher's assessment in the classroom From the data above, the teacher’s three ways of assessing the students in 8 periods received a good evaluation This is thanks to the excellence of a very large number of

periods (87.5%) in which the teacher assessed his students by checking their understanding,

of knowledge and skills Additionally, just over three-fifths of the periods (62.5%)

predominated satisfactorily as the teacher gave points or credits to the students with good

performances Also, the same percentage of the periods was excellently evaluated when the

teacher assessed students by checking their classwork and homework In short, the

teacher’s assessment methods appeared to be flexible and matching to the students’ learning style and abilities

In summary, the data analysis from the classroom observation succeeded in discovering the actuality of teaching and learning Math in English This authentication is

testified through the deep observation during the 8 periods Briefly, the six most influential

factors to an effective period including learning environment, teacher’s instructional

strategies, teacher monitoring, students’ learning strategies, instructional tools and

assessment were carefully observed and well evaluated However, the things needed

changing by the teacher are his instructional methods, vocabulary explanation and

technology application

bà a

3.1.2 Questionnaire for the students

3.1.2.1 Teacher's leaching strategies

The teacher uses a variety of methods for teaching Math 100 0 9

The teacher uses (echnical aids to help me learn Math 125 3 ø5 The teacher makes me feel curious and wari to know more 3 625 135 about Math,

‘The teacher is well organized and prepared for classes 875 125 9

The teacher gives me helpful comments on my work s0 35 125 The teacher instructs me to think about why I get something | 100 0 0

wrong

The teacher keeps an eye on how T am domg in Malh 135 875 135 The teacher shows me how Math helps me in real Life 6875 | 1875 | 125 The teacher gives specific and suitable instructions to me 125 1875 | 6875

Table 5: Teacher's teaching strategies in the classroom

As scen from the table, the Math teachor applied almost every teaching strategy given because no student chose the option “never” Most outstandingly, 100 % of the informants

stated that their teacher always used a variety of methods for teaching Math and instructed

them to think about why they did something wrong Similarly, the vast majority of the

students confirmed that their Math teacher often let them work with other students in the

class and kept an eye on thei sludying Math with the percentages of 81.25 aml 87.5

respectively Also, 87.5 % of the respondents said that the teacher always organized and

prepared very well for his classes Conversely, the teacher rarely used technical aids to help

his students learn Math and gave spevilic and suitable imstructions to thera, This imitation

is revealed with respective percentages of 62.25 % and 68.75%

26

3.1.2.2 Students’ challenges of studying Math in English

When being asked about the possibility of challenges of sludying Math ini Rngtish, all

of the participants confirmed it ‘The data in the table 6 is followed to unveil the difficulties

interfering with the students when they learn Math in English

a | The knowledge and concepts are too difficult 68.7 31.25

b | The western ways of solving the Math problems are very 87.5 125

diffcrent from/contrast to the castern ones

¢ | The teacher’s western culture totally opposites my eastern 75 25

culture

d | The teacher’s instruction is not specific and helpful to me 62.5 375

e | The teacher assigns a lot of classwork and homework 12.5 87.5

† | The teacher has many tests and quizaxs 50 50

g | My Rnglish proficiency is not gaod enough to understand 31.25 68.75

all of teacher’s lectures and difficult lessons

h | My classmates are much better at Math than me 56.25 43.75

Table 6: Students’ challenges of studying Math in English

Specifically, a very large majority of the students agreed that the teacher’s westem ways of solving the Math problems and weslem culture were very different (rem/contrast

to their eastern ones Those percentages are 87.5% and 75% respectively Next, the slightly lower proportion of the students, occupying 68.7 % and 62.5%, considered the difficult knowledge/concepts and the teachor’s incffoctive instructional stratogics as their troubles in studying Math in Lnglish Last but not least, half of the students stated that they might be stressed of the number of school tests’ exams and the rate of the participants worried about the competiveness among their classmates was a little higher at nearly three- fifths (56.25%) In sum, these numbers shows that the most challenging problems to the

students in learning Math in English are related to the cultural, academic and spiritual

factors

3.1.2.3 Students’ benefits of studying Math in English

100 percentage of the students agreed that they gained many benefits from studying

Math in English The responses to those benefits are shown in the chart below

I can help explain the solutions to mathematical problems to my friends

Tcan practice my leadership skills when

I work in pairs or groups

Tenhance reasoning, problem-solving

skills critical thinking

mg Í improve English proficiency (speaking,

listening, reading and writing)

I know more Western cultures from

American teachers

I know more methods to solve

Chart 4: Students’ benefits of studying Math in English

The bar chart brings out seven advantages the learners could achieve from studying

Math in English Nevertheless, there are three most outstanding benefits confirmed by the

participants 100% of them said that they knew more specified words about Math in

English, more methods to solve mathematical problems from the west and more Western

cultures from American teachers A big number of the students (87.5%) also admitted that

they improved English proficiency whereas three quarters of them (75%) could enhance

reasoning, problem-solving skills, critical thinking after studying Math in English Finally,

for the last two benefits, over three-fifths of the respondents (62.5%) said that they

practiced their leadership skills in working cooperatively while 56.25 % benefited from

explaining the mathematical problems to their classmates On the whole, the leamers in this

program had many advantages for their cultural enrichment, academic enhancement and

personal development.