Luận văn using english as the medium of instruction in english classes for the first year non english majored students a case study at a university

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYÊN THỊ PHƯƠNG THẢO USING ENGLISH AS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYÊN THỊ PHƯƠNG THẢO

USING ENGLISH AS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

IN ENGLISH CLASSES FOR THE FIRST-YEAR NON-ENGLISH

MAJORED STUDENTS — A CASE STUDY AT A UNIVERSITY

(Sử dựng tiếng Anh làm phương tiện ngôn ngữ dạy học (rong lớp tiếng Anh

cho sinh viên không chuyên Anh năm thứ nhất—

Nghiên cửu trường hựp tại một trường Đại hục)

M.A MINOK PROGRAMME TLLESIS:

Major: English Tcaching Mcthodology Code: $140231.01

TIANOI - 2018

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYEN TI] PIIU'ONG TILAO

USING ENGLISH AS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

IN ENGLISH CLASSES FOR THE FIRST-YEAR NON-ENGLISH

MAJORED STUDENTS — A CASE STUDY AT A UNIVERSITY

(Sử dụng tiếng Anh làm phương tiện ngôn ngữ dạy học trong lớp tiếng Ảnh

chơ sinh viên không chuyên Anh năm thứ nhất—

Nghiên cửu trường hợp tại một trường Đại học)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS:

Major: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Dr Nguyén Thi Mai Huong

Nguyễn Thị Mai Ì lương

HAROI - 2018

STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY

I hereby state that the Master's thesis entitled “Using English as the medium of

instruction in English classes for the first-year non-English majored students -— A case study at a university” was carried out by me for the degree of Master of English

Teaching Methodology under the guidance and supervision of Dr Nguyễn Thị Mai

Huong Where I have quoted from the work of others, the sources are always given

With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely an my own work I confirm

that the work has nol be submitted for any other degree or professional qualification

J agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions

established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper

Signature

Nguyễn Thị Phương Thao

"xố

an indispensable factor in the fulfillment of this research

I was also obliged to the teachers at the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies of University of Languages and International studies for their precious lessons, They provided me with understandings and skills relating to English language teaching, which supported much for the completion of this study particularly and my career generally

Furthermore, 1 sincerely appreciate the cooperation of the leacher- and student-participants 1 would like to thank ‘Teacher A and ‘Teacher [3 for their

willingness to let me observe their EFL classes and enthusiastic participation in my

interviews 1 am also thankful to 93 students of the two A2 classos for agrecing to participate in the survey, They are the ones who directly influenced the results of this study,

Last but not least, 1 am also indebied to my beloved family, who has constantly supported me since I started participating in the Master programme, and

my friends, who have always encouraged me and gave me valuable suggestions

ABSTRACT

In the context of Vietnam, Vietnamese is still commonly utilized in English teaching while the use of English is encouraged With the deep concems about this situation, the researcher carried out study titled “Using English as the medium of instruction in English classes for the first-year non-English majored students: A

case study af w university” The main purpose of this research was to find out the teachers? and students’ pereeplions of using English as the medium of instruetion,

as well as to look for possible factors hindering the usc of English tv tcach English The participants were 93 first-year non-English majored students from a university and their English teachers The methods adopted were both quanttative and

qualitative approaches Questionnaires, interviews and observations were employed

to triangulate the information from various aspects, hence ensure the validity and

the reliability of the research ‘he results showed that teachers and students were

aware of the necessity of using English in L:)'L classes, however, in fact, teachers

uscd both English and Vietnamese The combination of twe languages was caused

7s und students

duc to various hindering factors tolating susinly to both toad

Basing on these major findings, a number of suggestions for better use of English as mediun of instruction in EFL classes were indicated, Therefore, the paper would be

a good reference for researchers, teachers and students to have a closer look on the issue as well as to improve their performances in EEL classes

Key words: meduem of insiruction, EFL classes, non-English majored students

11/12 First language’ Second language

CLT Communicative Language ‘Teaching

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Classification of the items in the questionnaire

Table 2.2 Classification of interview questions

Table 2.3 Classification of items im observation checklist

Table 3.1 Advantages of using Enplish as medium of instruction

perceived by students Table 3.2 | Disadvantages of using English as medium of instruction

perceived by students

Table 3.3 Hindering factors relating to teachers

Table 3.4 Hindering factors relating to sludents

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Procedure of data collection

Figure 2.2 Data fiom questionnaire analysis procedure

Figure 2.3 Data from interview and obscrvation analysis procedure

Figure 3.1 Medium of instruction students pretimed

Figure 3.2 | Mediwn of instruction tcachcrs used perceived by students Figure 3.3 Contexts in which students wanted English to be used

Figure 3.4 The effectiveness of using English as medium of

instruction perceived by students

Figure 3.3 ‘Reasons for students’ learning English

TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Statement of the problem and rationale of the study

2 Aims and research questions

3 Signifi

5 Methods of the study

6 Organization of the thesis

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Second Language Acquisilion

1.1.1 The Input Mypothe

1.2.2 Differant viewpoints on medium of instruction in EFI classes 9

1.2.3 Classification of teacher's language in class

1.2.4, Using English as medium of instruction effzctively

1.2.5, Factors affecting the use of English as the medium of instiuction

2.1.1, Case study LH HH HH Hưng HH gang re

3.1.2 Mixed method, cà nheneneeerrarerrriereeiree TẾ, 2.2, Parti

2.4 Data collection procedure

2.8, Data analysis methods

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

3.1 The perceptions of teachers and students of using English as medium of instruction in English classes

3.1.1, Results from questionnaire .esnsssesnenensioensneisnianienen 92

3.1.3 Results #om observatiơn sàn neeeieeeririeereeoee AĐ

3.1.4 Discussion

3.2 Factors hindering the use of ing h

classes tor the first-year non- English majored students

struction in Engl

3.2.1, Results from questionnaire

3.2.2, Resulls from intarview " -

3.2.4, Discussion

3.3 Implications and suggestions

3.3.1 Controlling teacher talk tỉme 56

3.3.2 Maximizing English teacher talk and focusing ơ on ngưng | the ne Tanguay 57

3.3.3 Improving students’ autonomy and motivation 48

APPENDIX A: QUESTI AIRE

APPENDIX B: GUIDED QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW

APPENDIX C: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLIST

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

Jn this part some brief information about the paper is provided Five main

pomts presented are (1) statement of the prohlem and rationale of the study, (2)

aims and objectives of the stedv, (3) significance of the stidy, (4) scope of the study,

(3) method of the study and (6) oryanization of the thesis

1 Statement of the problem and rationale of the study

In 1986, Viemam adopted a socialist-oriented market economy under the State management Since then, the economics relations between Vietnam and other

countries in the region and in the world have rapidly expanded, which was officially

marked with the participation of Vietnam in Association of Southeast Asian Nations

(ASEAN) in 1995 and the World ‘Trade Organization (WT) in 2007 Asa result of

this international integration English is required as a means of communication, and the importance of English teaching and leaming in Vietnam has rapidly grown and

oxpanded Since the carly 1990s, due lo the acknowledgement that commmivalios

is the key in language use, Commmmicative Language Teaching (CLT) has quickly become popular in Vietnam (Kieu, 2012) In accordance with the popularity of CLT

in the country, the use of English in English teaching is widely supported

‘The issue of encouraging ML teachers to use target language in classrooms

is not brand new but has been raised for a long time by different researchers For Ellis and Wells (1980), i learners do not lave opportunities lo expose to the target language, they carmot acquire il The reason is that acquiring a target language

similar to the first language acquisition, which is a slow and laborious process Knop (1995) also shares the same viewpoint about using English to teach English

According to him, for EFL leamers, it is very important to experience real

communicative environments in which they will leam how to express their own

opinions and viewpoints, and to develop their oral dueney and accuracy Ile

be impossible Er almosl siudenls, und foreign language classrooms become the main environment in which students Icam to communicate in the language

In spite of the need for oral comnmunication skills and the requirement for CLT in Vietnam, most teachers continue to apply grammar-translation methods in English classes, in which the emphasis still remains on grammar rather than on communicative competence (Le, 2011), and the use of Vietnamese in the process of leaching is still common, These have led to a controversial opinion among Vietnamese teachers, whether lönglish or Vietnamese should be used as medium of

instruction in EFL das:

‘There have been prior rescarch on using English as the medium of instruction in EFL classes, “The effectiveness of using English as the sole medium

of instruction in English classes: student responses and improved English proticiency” of Wong (2009) and “English Only’ Language Instruction to Japanese University Students in Low-Level Speaking 4 Listening Classes” of Lee (2013) are typical ones It was revealed that students had great interest in English as the medium of instruction, Moreover, thanks to the use of English as the sole medium

of instruction, their Tnglish proficiency had been improved, Unlike these prior roscarch, which explored the issuc of using Fnglish as modium of instruction in EEL classes basing on students’ viewpoint, this study investigated both teachers’ and students’ perceptions In Vietnam, a considerable number of previous research have been conducted on the issue of instruction language in English classes, such as

Do (2010) and Phung (2010), Nevertheless, they mostly evaluated the use of mother tongne, Vietnamese In this study, the use of target langnage — English — to teach English, was investigated

Particulmly, this study provides an insight into the Fnglish teaching and leaming practices at a university which is located in a small rural town in Vietnam

‘The geographical location was supposed to prevent its students from being exposed

to real English commutative environments, and EFL classes were considered playing a vital role in teaching and learning English successfully Additionally,

there has not hed any research studying the use of English to teach English at this university Last but not least, in the case of the first-year non-English majored students, who just entered university and many of whom had relatively low proticiency in English, the researcher wondered whether English instructions work

or put too much pressure on them ‘hose reasons encouraged the researcher to conduct a research to find out the situation of applying English as the medium of

instruction to teach Lnglish for the first-year non-Lnglish majored students at a

university in Vietnam,

2 Aims and research questions

The proposed rescarch aims to find out the teachers’ and students’ perceptions of using English as the medium of instruction in EFL classes It also looks tor possible factors hindering the process of using English to teach and Jearn English Basing on such findings, some implications to apply English as the medium of instmuetion effectively were suggested

‘To achieve these aims, the cuurent research answers the following questions: (1) What are the students’ and teachers’ perceptions of using Hnglish as the medium of instruction in EFL classes?

(2) What factors hinder the use of English as the medium of instruction in EFL classes for the first year non-English majored students?

The results of this study will hopetully contribute to the insights into effective approaches of using instruction language, especially English instruction, when teaching first year non-English majored students, As a result, the first-year non-English majored students at the investigated miversity in particular and other EEL learners in general might have a better environment to leam and practice English

3 Significance of the study

With this study, the researcher sxpeclcd to gain insights info students" and teachers’ perceptions of using English as medium of instruction in English classes tor the first-year non-English majored students At the same tune, the major factors

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that hindered the procedure of using English to teach English were also addressed From that, some suggestions for improvement were also indicated, Once completed, the research would serve as reterences for EFL teachers and learners who wish to improve the use of English as medium of instruction in English classes The findings might also be a primary resource for further research on related issues

4 Scope of the study

Medium of instruction might be understood in various ways It could refer to Content and Tanguzge Integrated Learning, leaching English as 4 Coreign language through English, Faglish for Specific Purposes, or even British for Academic Purposes, Morcover, the term medium of instruetion covers the Janguage choice of sither mother tongue or second language To be able to have in-depth understanding of the research problem, this research focused on only second language used by teachers in language class, which means Enghsh medium of instruction used by teachers to teach English as a foreign language

Moreover, the participants of the study were restricted to the first-year non- English majored students at a certain university in Vietnam and the teachers who were in charge of teaching Fnglish for thera ‘The first-year stulenls were required

to make acquaintance with the university environment, particularly the language cumriculum which required them to do all of the four linguistic skills listening, speaking, reading, and writing, The use of English as medium of instruction to teach them was expected to support their leaning but might met a number of hindering factors It was also worth emphasizing that participants of the study were 93 first- year non-English majored students, This number was hopefully well-represented because it counted for more than two fifths of the population

5 Methods of the study

‘The research was designed as a case sludy, which provided an insigh! into a particular issue the use of English as the medium of instruction in EEL classes, as well as gained a deeper understanding, of the issue apphed on particular subjects the first-year non-English majored students at a university in Vietnam In this case

study, the researcher adopted both quantitative and qualitative approaches As

quantitative procedures required instrument-based questions, survey design was used, On the other hand, as qualitative procedures involved open-ended questions, interview and observation design were utilized Therefore, the study is a mixed

design with the application of three types of data collection methods, observation of language classroom, questionnaire and interview

6 Organization of the thesis

‘The resuÏls are presented into a thesis and overall conclude tnze main parts

Port A: Introduction: deals with the rationale, aim significances, scope, anul

structurs of the rascarch

Part B: Development: consisls of three chapters

Chapter 1: Literature Review: provides the definitions of key concepts and the theoretical framework which creates the base of the research,

Chapter 2; Methodology, describes the selection of subjects, research instiuments, data collection and data analysis procedure

Chapter 3: Results and discussions: presents, analyzes and discusses the findings obtained from the data collection procedure

Part C: Conclusion: summarizes the main points discussed in the research, briefly mentions some limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHIAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter summarices the theoretical framework which described the most

important issues in the theories relatimg to the research it consists of two main sections The first section presents general content of second language acquisition,

which explains much for the choice of instructional language in RFT classes The second one focused on the direct issue of this research — medium of instruction,

which are different viewpoints on using medium of mstruction, classification of

teacher's language in claysroum, how to use medium of instruction effectively, and

sonie faciors affecting tie use of English as medium of instruction

1.1 Second Language Acquisition

Krashen (1985) defined Second Language Acquisition as the process by

which an L2 student learns the language To be more specific, the subject of Second Language Acquisition theories is “the developing knowledge and use of a language

by children and adults who already know af least one other language” (Spada &

Lighlbown, ciled im Liu, 2015) IL is obvious thal the application of English us the medium of instruction in EFL classes has a close relation with the theories of Second Language Acquisition The three most typical ones are the Input Hypothesis, the Output Hypothesis and the Interaction Hypothesis

1.1.1 The Input Hypothesis

One of the most relevant Second Language Acquisition theories to the use of

English as mnediumn of instruction im RPTL classes is Krashen’s Comprehensible Input hypothesis, According to Krashon (1985), there are two modus of 1.2 development, subsonscious layuage acquisition and conscious language learning He states that Icamers improve their Janguage ability not by lcaming but by acquizing language, which means generally not consciously aware of the rules but have a feel for the comectness, For Krashen, input plays a critical role in language development because humans acquire language in only one way — by understanding messages, or

by receiving comprehensible input Tt is explained in the shnehue “+1”, in whieh Icamer’s current linguistic level is “i”, and “1” stands for the items learners intend

to leam Acquisition occws, which means learners move fiom “i” - their current

level, to “1+1” - the next level provided that they understand language contained in

“i+1” with the help of context, knowledge of the world, and previous acquired linguistic competence Long (1983) also shares the same viewpaint with Krashen lle firmly confirms three arguments to support for the important role of comprehensible input, which are:

(I) Access to comprehensible mput is a characteristic of all cases of succesyfid ucquisition

(2) Greater quantities of comprehensible input seem to result in beter acquisition

(3) Lack of access to comprehensible input results in little or no acquisition

In other words, the use of L2 should be maximized in the classroom;

however, this L2 input must be comprehensible, which means not too easy and not

too difficult for the learners

1.1.2 The Output Ilypothesis

The Inpul Hypothesis has been criticized for the argument thal impul may play a vital role but it is not a sufficient condition for second language acquisition This argument is raised by Swain (1985) In Swain’s Output Hypothesis, she emphasizes the importance of output, which is the language produced by students,

in second language acquisition Being pushed to produce language provides leamers with the opportmity to test their hypothesis about the language It is possible for

them to try out means of expression, even modify the output, and then see if it

works Afler that, when feedback is given, they may notice their problems or gaps

in the trgel language This awareness could encourage the Ieamers to fill in their hotes of language skills, corveel {heir errors, and develop their targel language level

As oan be seen that during this procedure, feedback has a critical function Swain

believes that leamers can improve the accuracy of output if they receive proper

feedback Grom their teachers In short, for the Qutput Hypothesis, although Icacher’s

language is important during the preecss of language Icaming, teachers should also manage to push their students to produce output, provide them with opportunities to practice the target language and then give them feeđbaok

1.1.3 The Interaction Hypothesis

Long (1996) proposes his Interaction Lypothesis as an extension of

Krashen’s Input Hypothesis, Both researchers emphasize comprehensible target language inpul, however, de major difference is thal Krashen focuses on one-way input while Long acknowledges the importance of two-way communication in

target language Long (1996) states that when a language leamer interacts with a native speaker or another non-native speaker of a higher level, a naturalistic SLA environment is created Through input and interaction, language leamers have

opportunities to notice ditterences between their own formulations of target language and the language of their parmers, and then become aware of gaps in their target language knowledge Moreover, they also learn from negotiation of meaning

in which the linguistic input they receive is modified during the conversation and

they are pushed to modify tisir oulpul accordingly As can be seen that

conversation is not only a medium of practice, bul alsa the means by which leaning

takes place According to Xiao-yan (2006), classroom interaction is mainly

happened with the model of teachers’ initiate — students’ respond — teachers’ feedback, which means that teachers often initiate interaction by asking questions

and then guide students to participate in negotiation of meaning during the conversation

1.2, Medium of instruction

1.2.1 Definition

British Councit (1998) defines that medium of instruction is the layguage

used by the teacher to teach a language or an educational content It may or may not

be the official language and the issue of which language should be used is

controversial In case of teaching a language, the use of target language increases

the opportunities the earners expose to it and comumunicate in it, and therefore, to

develop their control of it

According to Dearden (2014), English medium of instruction is considered

as the use of English language to teach academic subjects in countries where the first language of the majority of the population is not English From the language

teaching literature, he asserts that the use of English instructions brings learners benefits to acquire the second Targuage: however, there exists Timitations in some

cases

As can be seen thal these defimitions have similar poms The term “tnediure

of instruction” shares certain features with “teacher talk’, which is defined in Longman dictionary of Language teaching and applied language (2002) as the variety of language used by teachers when they are in the process of teaching

Besides, it should be noted medium of instruction is a pedagogic discourse which is

often modified and has a well-defined structure (Coulhard, 1977, cited in Susana, 2002)

Dearden (2014) also adds that English medium of instruction is a new and

nonfixed concep! thal is used in some countries and not in others I ean be confuscd with many other terms like CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Leaming), EFL (teaching English as a Foreign Language through English), ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and EAP (English for Academic Purposes) Due to

the limit of this current study, English medium of instruction is understood as the English language which teacher uses in EFL classes to serve pedagogic purposes

(Wong, 2009; Lee, 2013)

1.2.2 Different viewpoints on medium of instruction in El'L classes

‘There are different viewpoints on which medium of instruction should be uuilized im EPL classes The debate over whether EFT classroom shoukd include or

exclude students’ native language has been a contentious issue tor a Jong time Both

the ones who approve using mother tongue (L1) and the others who support using,

larget language (1.2) as medium of instruction Imve their own reasons and explanation

1.2.2.1, Using first language as medium of instruction

‘The approach of using first language as medium of instruction in EFL classes can be traced back to the idea of the early linguistic and scientific theorist Sweet

(p.193, 1964) that language instruction must “begin with a knowledge of one’s own

language” and “the first preparation for the study of a foreign language is the acquisition of a thorough knowledge of the peculiarities of one’s own language” Palner (1956) also

language He considers the usc of Li as harmless ad in many cases positively

the potential of using ative language in lesming another

potential Since then, a number of researchers has supported for the use of first language (L1) in foreign language class due to its different advantages, such as multi-functions, time-saving, confusing-lowering and relationship-tacilitating,

A number of studies have documented the important functions of Li instruction Ina foreign language class, L1 can be used to explain grammar, explain activities and give out background information (Mitchell, cited in Miles, 2004), sHeit language, check comprehension aml give instructions (Atkinson, cited in Miles, 2004)

Particularly, Harbord (1992) emphasizes that the use of L1 can help teachers save time, Skinner (cited in Tumbull & Dailey-O’Cain, 2009) supports for this argument by explaining that some L1 can facilitate connections between the target language and prior knowledge and ideas aleady developed in L1 Therefore, the use of Ll is especially necessary in teaching and learning contexts where the cognitive load of many tasks is heavy and students’ target language skills are limited

Last hut, nat Jeast, lowering studsnls” confusion, facilitating teacher and student relationship (Harbord, 1992) and helping leamers cooperating with each other (Atkinson, cited in Miles, 2004) are also argued, It is due to the tact that L1 is fimiliar with students and taking part in a classroom with LI gives them a sense of

10

seeurily, allow them {o express [heruselves in ways they may nơi ïn 1⁄2-only setting,

expericnec higher levels of motivation for leaming L2, and develop a greater sense

of comfort participating in pair, group as well as whole-class activities

1.2.2.2 Using second language as medium of instruction

During the time, various researchers have supported for using target

language as medium of instruction in foreign language classes, which is generally called using English as the medium of instruction in EFL classroom due to the

limitation of the current study To explain for this approach, many reasons such as

enriching the input, creating favorable environment for the output, and increasing

students’ motivation have been raised

Fust of all, the usc of English as the medium of instruction helps enrich the input In language learning, input is defined as the language data which leamers are exposed to It plays a vital role in forming language proticiency because language

leaming is a slow and labonous process, the more exposure the learners receive, the

more and the faster they will learn (Ellis & Wells, 1980) Thanks to the use of

Unglish medium of instruction, “the academic dimension of language becomes part

of the students’ language learning experience”, In other words, the use of English

medium of instruction in EFL classcs should be maximized

Moreover, using English as the medium of instruction in EFL classes provides leamers with a favorable environment to make output Output is the language produced by learners, a necessary requirement for successfull language

learning In the classroom, if teacher uses the target language, there will be a lot of situations offering students chances not only to hear but also to use phrases that are useful in the real world, teachers’ L2 encourages students’ L2 and language in the

classroom will come ta “resemble ordinary academic interaction more and more”

(Hughes, 2007, p.32), and “the cormmnunivative potertial is closer to real interaction

than is ofen assumed” (Hughes, 1981, p.6) As 2 resuli, English medium of

instruction usage allows the meaningtul situational use of language.

Last but not Ieast, with the use of English medium of instruction in FFT classcs, students’ motivation can inoreasc, MacDonald (cited in Tumbull & Dailcy- Cain, 2009) supports for this argument by explaining that students can see how knowledge of the second language will be immediately useful to them Similarly, as

said by Varshney (cited in Jones, 2010, p.9}, without continmous target language

input, students tend to lose confidence in using that language, which leads to “lose interest in or are discouraged from participating in future second language

1.2.3 Classiti ‘tion of teacher’s language in class

Apart from the categorization basing on the language position (first, second,

of foreign language), teacher’s language in class has also been classified in another way following the stmdird of langage function or the contexts in which language

is uscd, This categorization has been accepted and documented by a range of researchers

Evans (2000) lists out a wide variation of the teacher’s language use for purposes: teaching the whole class, giving instructions to the students, answering students’ questions in front of the whole class, managing the classroom, discussing ideas with the whole class, and talking to individual students about their work ‘This division seems to be unequal, managing classroom is general while the other fictions are specific

According to Kaneko (1992, cited in Znlfah, Rasyid, Rahman & Rahman, 2015), teacher's language use is divided into three categoties basing on its functions: languape used for core goals, framework goals and social goals

Einsily, language uscd for eore gouls means b

used for explicit pedagogic purpose of the Iesson Ht is similar to the instructional talk defined by Zulfah, Rasyid, Rahman & Rahman (2015), the teacher’s language relates to transfer of teaching materials hike giving lecture, giving explanation, grving conection, asking,

and answering question Weddel (2008) adds more with giving instruction, making

transition between activities, giving feedback after a task and checking students’ understanding

Besides, language used for ftamework goals is the one which support for organization requirements in classroom Zulfuh, Rasyid, Rubus & Ralunan (2015) call this category of teacher’s language with another name, management talk According to them, this type of language relates to control and discipline in the classroom, Checking attendance, grving announcement and dismissing the class are mentioned as typical examples

‘Thirdly, language used for social goals can be understood as the language teacher uses for private information such as grectings, personal experience talk (Kaneko (1992, cited in Zulfah, Rasyid, Rahman & Rahman, 2015), warm-up chat (Wedidel, 2008), giving advice, making humor (Zulah, Rasyid, Rabunan & Rahman,

2015) As evaluated by these ruscarehers, this classification has lilfle relation to the

pedagogic purpose of the lesson, therefore, it would be out of the research problem

of this study

In short, this study would investigate the English language which teacher uses in EFL classes for core goals — instructional talk, and ftamewark goals — management talk, for example checking attendance, giving lecture, giving

instruction giving cortection, giving feedback, giving explanation, giving

announcement, asking and answering question, and dismissing the class

1.2.4 Using English ay medium of instruction effectively

‘Using English as the medium of instruction in EFL classes provides many advantages tor the teaching and learning process, However, it is not easy to apply

English medium of instruction to teach first-year non-English majored students

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because there may exist differen! hindering fieturs To be successful in the process,

teachers should be well aware of how much they should talk, how the language

should be, as well as equip themselves necessary techniques

4.2.4.1 Teacher talk time

The amount of teacher talks, which is called teacher talk time, has

considerable influences on leamers’ L2 acquisition Darn (2008) lists out various

bad effects caused by the over-use of teacher talk such as limiting the amount of

student talk fine, leading to students’ toss of concentration and enthusiasm, and

tesirieting student autonomy This issu: has been mentioned by many other former

rescarchers It is asserted by Xiao-Yan (2006) that if the classroom is dominated by teacher talk, students will have few opportunities to talk, discuss, and then be restricted from developing their language proficiency Paul (2003) also contizms that the greater amount of teacher talk, the less te students get to practice L2 ina

classroom and therefore, the less effctiveness of the lesson Allwright (1982) claims good language teachers to be able to provide students with opportunities to

work in the classroom rather than work too much themselves Por him, the teachers

whe falk too mach in the classroom werewL teaching effectively As a 1ssulL, ä

timber of rescarchers call on minimizing leacher talk time whilo maxinizdng student talk time

Darn (2008) and Davies (2011) suggests a usefill guideline for the amount of

teacher talk is “a limit of 30% of a lesson, and no more than 10 minutes at one

time.” ‘I'o be able to reduce teacher talk time, he encourages teachers to give students more pair work or group work instead of teacher-led activities Even when some activities need to be done individually they can be checked in pairs Students

should also be asked to give feedback on their tasks amoug themselves before

receiving feedback from teachers Moreover, teachers do not need to present clear examples and explanations all the times, but use clicitation, body language, mime,

gestures or facial expressions Last but not least, silence is advised to be tolerated

because it is considered as students’ processing time Being patient to wait for

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studenis’ respoust is sometimes better than urmeeessary talking Particularly,

according to Darn (2008), there cxists some forms of teacher talk which would make the 30% ofa lesson beneficial They are questioning, which demands students

to brainstomm to respond, holds students’ attention and involvement; natural

conversation, which helps introduce functional and everyday language in a more

memecrable way than lessons; personalized presentation, in which teachers talk

about real issues fo interest students in the content: and story or joke telling, which

may be used to stimulate students” interest during the lesson

1.2.4.2 Grading language

One of the most majar theorics related to the idea of graded language should

be Krashen’s Comprehensible Input (1985) The theory highily concerns about the input which needs being slightly beyond the level which learners are currently at

This is a vital condition for language acquisition, learners’ subconscious procedure

to achieve language It should be noted that Krashen was not the first researcher

who poinied out this issue Another earlier theory closely related to Krashen’s is Vgotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development Vgotsky (1986) makes no clear

distinction between learning and acquisition, nevertheless, he asserts children grasp Tanguage concapts quils naturally He adds more thal loaning can take place if the material is something just slightly higher than lamers” current ability On the one hand it's crucial for learners’ development that they are able to interact with more knowledgeable others, but on the other hand they will be pulled along if the presented material is too difficult

‘The following issue is that in which ways input of target language can be made comprehensible to lamers According to Chaudron (1988), teacher talk is simplified in various ways — synlactically, phonclogically and sermantically, In details, a number of features of teacher speech might be modified such as:

(1) Pauses hetween utterances, which may be evidence of the speaker

planning more, are possibly more frequent and longer

(2) Overall rate of speech appears to be slower

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(3) Pronunciation tends to be clearer and exaggerated Pitch range is higher

and wider More stresses are used and rhythm is obvious and clear Contracted form of kinguaye is lesy used For example, teachers use

more “He will” instead of “He'll” in pronunciation

(4) Vocabulary use is more basic Teachers carefully select the words they use according to the students’ proficiency and level

(3) Degree of subordination ts lower

(6) More declaratives and statements are used than questions

()) Teachers may self-repeat more frequently

4.2.4.3 Some useful techniques

The following techniques are raised basing on the guideline by Ur (1996) Firstly, teachers should have a thorough preparation before giving Enghsh instruction in class According to Ur (p.16), teachers’ explanations “are often not as

clear to their students as they are to themselves” For this reason, preparation is worth noticing and this calls for a need of thinking about the words to use, the

illustration to provide for every complicated instruction

Secondly instmctions need to be brief and clear Instructions should be

bicken down info stall separale steps to help students understand them completely, especially when there is a lot of information in instructions and teachers want students to understand every word Modifying language, using simple words, sentence structures, common expressions and slow speech will be helpful

In addition, there is a need for repetition when giving English instructions Presenting the information more than once provides students with a second chance

to understand thoroughly what they have to do since “leamers’ attention wanders occasionally.” Teachers can represent the instructions in diffzrent modes, either

restating or writing it up

Lastly, getting feedback fromm students after givin instructions is very

important Merely asking the students if they understand the instructions is not enough Students may say that they do even if in fact they do not Instead,

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requesting students cilher to paraphrase (he instructions or do Mustrations of their own is a better choice for checking instructions According to Rosenshine (2012), these checks support the process of moving new leaming into long-term memory and let teachers know if students are developing misconceptions as well

To sum up, English is utilized as medium of instruction efffsctively when teachers have a good preparation; instructions are short, precise and simple, the

information is repeated in different ways, and sludents’ understanding is regularly

checked after the information is given

1.2.5 Factors affecting the use of English as the medium of instruction

Even though English is cneouraged to be used as the medium of instruction

as much as possible, there is a fact that several factors may influence its effectiveness, These factors may exist in students, teachers as well as resources

For students, their low English proficiency and passive leaming, style may prevent teachers from using English medium of instruction effectively Because of the low English proficiency, students cannot understand what their teacher talks

students to understand and

Kip (1999) wonders how one can expect the firs

use the language when they cannot understand the interactions and the materials in the baget langusge Coyne, Kamd'enui & Currie (2010) shares the sauce idea by saying that students may fail to understand what teacher is talking about, and may become frustrated when they have an idea but cannot adequately express their thoughts in English,

decreases during class time, Besides, in some cases, students with passive leaming

As a result, students’ leaming motivation and concentration

cngaging, and appropriate for learners Therefore, toachers should be aware of theit students’ English capacity to decide the difficult level of the language used In addition, their teaching skills need to be good enough to simplify the language, enable students follow as well as make students motivated dunng <lass time Last but not least, for Lam Hoang & Filipi (2016) teachers also need to be proficient in their command of English; however, not all of the gradnating English teachers in Vietnam are capable of using Linglish fluently and accurately in their teaching In other words, lack of understanding about students, lack of English proficiency as well as teaching skills many hinder tcachers from using English as the medium of instiuction effectvely

Apat from factors relating to students and teachers, there would be another factor which is rather objective, resources In the view of Vu & Bums (2014), resources mean both physical and material facilities Shortage of inadequate supplies of reférence materials, teaching equipment and Intemst access may cause further obstacles for teaching and leaming with the application of Lnglish as medium of instruction,

Generally, during the process of applyimg Tnglish as the medium of instruction to teach Euplish for tho fist-yuar nowFnglish majored students, affecting thetors can be found in students and teachers themselves, as well as in teaching resources They may be the students’ English proficiency and leaming style ‘They may also be the extent to which teachers understand their students and teachers’ teaching skills, Last but not least, they may be the problems relating to teaching resources as well

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY This chapter describes the methods empluyed to carry out the study, which ave presenied in five main party (Ij design of the study, (2) selection of

participants, (3) research instruments, (4) data collection procedure, and (5; data analysis procedure

2.1, Design of the study

For this study, the investigation will be taken place on the issue of using English as the medium of instruction in EFL classes, Moreover, the participants will

be only bounded to a number of the first-year non-English majored students at a certain university in Vietnam and their teachers of English ‘This instance studied can be generalized to the situation of other first-year non-linglish majored students

and other EFT, teachers ai this university, as well as the situation of the fir

non-English majored students and EFL teachers at other universities in Vi

2.1.2 Mixed methad

Mixcd methods xescarch represents rescarch that involves coliccting,

analyzing, and interpreting quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or ina

series of studies that investigate the same umderlying phenomenon (Leceh & Onwurgbuzic, 2008), which is reasonable for this casc The rescarcher applicd both

quantitative and qualitative approaches As quantitative procedures require the

collection and analysis of data in numeric forms (Blaxter, Highes & Tight, 1996), close respons? questionnaires were used On the other hand, as qualitative procedures involved collecting and analyzing information chiefly non-numeric with open-ended questions, interview and observation were utilized

‘Three types of data collection method, which are questionnaire, interview and observation were applicd with the purpose of triangulation, As defined by John (1992, p 90), triangulation is the attempt to reach “the same meaning by at least three different independent approaches”, Mackey & Gass (2005, p.181) shared the same Viewpoint by saying that it is the application of “multiple, independent methods of obtaining data in a single investigation” to get the same research findings All of them agreed on the advantages of triangulation which is seeking convergent results, reducing observer or interviewer bias and enhancing the validity and reRability of the information

2.2.1 Sampling method

Simple two-stage clustering was utilized As explained by Creswell (2009),

in a clustering procedure, after sampling groups, the researcher obtains names of individuals within groups or clusters, and then sample within the clusters, Ahmed

(2009) elaborates more on simple two-stage clustering method that after selecting

the clusters, the researchers sampled the clusters in the second stage, usually by simple random sampling In this study, after the researchers obtained the list of first- year non-English classes with the name of their in-charge teachers, students from

two classes with lwo different teachers were chosen as the samples of the study by

simple random sampling method

Simple random sampling method were applied so that each class remaining

in the population had the same probability of being selected for the sample, which

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gusrantecs hai te sample seloelion is Iakcn plaoe iu an unbiased way The clustering method also helped the sescarchers reach one of the goals of the study, which is to make conclusions pertainmg to the population obtained fiom a sampling group’s results, Due to the representativeness ofa sample in cluster sampling, it was reasonable to make generalizations from the results of the sample back to the population

2.2.2, Student-particlpants

‘The research was conducted on the first-year noreTnglist majored stuflents

al a curlain university If the students’ results for the university entrance exam

included the English marks, these marks would be uscd to place them into different categories, If not, before being, accepted into English classes, they were required to take a placement test with the form similar to the university entrance test The mark range to categorize students of both situations was the same, including the ones who were not allowed to be in any classes (mark under 5), the ones who got to level 1 classes (mark from $ to 7), and the ones who got to level 2 classes (mark above 7}

De to the fact that the study investigated the application of English as medium of instruction, an issue which demanded students to have a reasonably proper linguistic knowledge and skills, it would pay atlontion lo the category of level 2 only In details, students from two elasses participated in the research In the first class, there were 53 students, however, only 49 of them agreed to participate In the second class, all of 44 students gave their consent to the research, Therefore, the total number of student participants was 93 ‘This mumber was evaluated as appropriate among the population of 230

In their first year, students in both classes leamed with the core textbook

“lá shauenlry” published by National Geographic learning and Cengage leaming, Integrated skills design require students to not only revise grammar and vocabulary but also lear systcmatically about the four skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening, AU of the participants were expected to be at the level of A2 after completing all required English courses They had learnt English during high

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school years as a vornpulsory subjecl, however, this goal seemed ta be ot as casily achicved as expceted In fact, the university entrance cxam did not contain the parts

of speaking and listening, and students were affected by traditional teaching approach, they did not pay much attention to practice linguistic skills, especially speaking and listening Facing to the problem, the suggestion of using English as the medium of instruction are supposed to help them improve and develop their English proficiency although it may cause a cerlain number of difficulties In general, it is worth conducting the research among these samples

2.2.3 Teacher-particlpants

After the two classes had been sclected, two teachers taking charge of teaching English to the classes, namely Teacher A and Teacher B, were invited to take part in this study, It should be noted that each teacher was in charge of one class, respectively named class A and class B Having worked with the first-year non-English majored students at the university for about two years and the student participants for more than two months, they had an insightful grasp of the students” language competence Moreover, they used instructions to teach English to the siuden|-participants, so they could give their own reflection and feedback ow using English as the mnadium of instruction, share somes convericnes as well as difficullics they had got, and then suggest some solutions to use English instruction effectively basing on their experiences

2,3 Data collection instruments

2.3.1 Questionnaire

Justification

As defined by Brown (2001), questionnaires are “any written instruments

that present respondents with a series of questions or statements to which they were

reeted cither by writing out f any Sor ting fiom among existing

answers” TMowever, it should be emphasized that a questionaire was neither a sork

of official form ner a set of questions which had been casually jotted down without much thought It is an important instrument of research, 2 tool for data collection

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with the typical fimelion of measurement, Tis đetailed spedi ñewion oŸ essurernenl

aims must be related to the aims of the overall rescarch plan and objectives (Oppenheim, 1992)

For this study, questionnaires were used to get data from 93 first-year non-

English majored students at the university This method was chosen because of its

suitability and convenience As Mackey & Gass (2005, p.92), questionnaire is “one

of the tost common tethods of collecting data on altitudes and opinions from a large group of participants” and it helps researcher gather participants’ report about themselves For this study, thanks lo questionnaire, hc researcher could collcet the students’ perception of using English as the medium of instruction, the advantag: and disadvantages they had when their teacher talked English in classes Thanks to this method, fairly straightforward information from the samples could be collected

Moreover, the samples of the research were students from two separate classes;

therefore, the researcher could easily distribute as well as collect the questionnaires

ina short time

In addtion to such advantages, using questionnaires as a strategy to elicit

information contained sore limitations According to Yount (2006), when using the questionnaire, the yesearchers could not measure the motivation level of the subjzets

when they filled out the form For example, the subjects’ mental state: were they

busy, overworked, concentrated or contemplative? It was not good because subjects’ motivation had certain effects on the questionnaire’s result He also

mentioned the loss of control ‘here was no control over the order in which the

questions were answered Particularly, there was no control over leaving the answer

blank Somnefimes students might not be willing lo answer the questions, so they left

shal

it blank, which could cause “missing dala” Bovause all of those disadvantags

beeu aware, the researchers tried lv reduve them by giving careful explanation in

advance about why the intormation was being collected and how the results would

be beneficial to the participants

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Questionnaire design

Afler the first draft of the questionnaire had Uccn completed, 3 students, who were first-year non-English majored students at the university, but not the research’s samples, were chosen to pilotit The results tiom the pilot process helped the researchers retine the questionnaire

Because the samples were 93 first-year non-Linglish majored students at the university, who were not specialized at English, it would be possible for them to mnisunderstand the meaning or feel discouraged if the questiormaire was in English

As a result, the questionaire was designed in Vietnamese The researchers usual both closed questions and open-ended questions The close questions allowed analyzing the data convemently And the open-ended questions gave respondents the fieedom to express their own ideas and pave researchers the opportunity to colleet a variety of information,

Thanks to the questionnaire, the researcher could explore students’ perception on using English as medium of instruction in EFL classes as well as find out some factors relating to student participants which affected the use of linglish as medium of instruction to teach them Bnylish Last but wol least, as being sindents who dircetly took part in the EFL classcs, participant students were also able to raise some suggestions and implications to improve the use of English as medium

of instruction,

Students’ perception of using English as medium of 2,3,4,5,6,8

instruction in EFL classes

Factors affecting the use of English as medium of 17

instruction in EFL classes

2.3.2 Semi structured imterview

Justification

Unlike structured interview in which rescarchers usually ask an identical sct

of questions of all respondents, researchers in semi-structured one use a written list

of questions as a guide (Mackey & Gass, 2005) On the same topic, according to Case (1990), semi-structured interview is the interview conducted with a fairly open framework which contains more general questions in comparison with structured design and those questions are often made during the interview Pric (1995) shared the same viewpoinl by noting thal sc

beforchand because detailed structure would be worked out during the procedure Generally speaking, a semi-structured interview is flexible with no foxmalized

English majored students, and uscful suggestions raised as the role of EFL teachers

This type of interview allowed for focused, conversational, two-way communication (Case, 1990) Greater flexibility and more extensive responses was

allowed because the researcher could change the order of the questions as well as

ask questions back, ask further related questions to get more information from the

interviewees The researchers — the interviewers — remained the ones who decided the directions of the interview but with more freedom and activeness Similarly, the interviewees were considerably free to choose whal to talk about, how much to say and how ip oxpress it, Tl Iielpod the researchers 10 understand thoroughly the

answers provided by interviewees (Harrell & Bradley, 2009)

Nevertheless, interview method possibly had certain drawbacks It might involve memory loss from both interviewer and interviewee, Participants’ attitude

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mmd cmotion could also impact what they said (Mackey & Gess, 2005) Therefre,

the rescarcher tricd to make the interviewee comfortable by conducting the

interview in a familiar place - in the classroom after class hour, and encourage open-ended discussion during the interviews The two interviews were all recorded from the beginning to the end, which had been expected to be useful for the researchers in deciding the trustworthiness of the answers

Interview question design

‘The instruments were constructed based on the research questions Firstly, the researchers found the indicators of cach question and then nade question(s) for

cach indicator Each indicator may have one or more questions,

‘Whal are the teachers’ | See if) ~ Preferable MOT 2,3,1,6,8 perceptions of using | English |- The cases in which teacher

English as medium of | should be | should apply English as MOT

instruction (MOI) in|usedas |- fhe advantages and

EBL classes for the | MOL disadvantages of using English as

first year non-English | perceived | A727

majored students? by - The effectiveness of using

teachers | £nglish ae AZO}

What factors hinder | Consider |- Students’ English proficiency,| 1,5,7 the use of English as | both motivation and learning styles

MOI in EFL classes | personal |- Yeachers’ linguistic knowledge,

for the first year non | and teaching skills and background

English majored | outside knowledge

students? factors - The suitability of syllabus,

texthook and required materials

- Other factors

Implications and | Strategies |- By help from teachers 9

suggestions 1o ~ By students themselves

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tefers fo the methods of collecting data which “involve the researcher immetsing

[him or herself] in a rescarch sctting and systematically obscrving dimensions of that setting, interactions, relationships, actions, events, and so on, within it” Considering the fuot that this research was aimed at investigating the use of English

as medium of instruction in EFL classes, it was necessary to observe the situation in classrooms ‘Thus, four observations were conducted on four sessions in two

separate classes containing teacher and student participants, two sessions per class

Each of them lasted for 50 minutes, so 200 minutes in total During the

observations, he researcher was nol part of the activities taking place, bul simply observed Audiorecording ad note-taking would much support the following step

of analyzing data

Observation was considered helpful as providing the researcher with “the

opportunity to collect Jarge amounts of rich data on the participants’ behaviors and actions within a particular context” (Mackey é& Gass, 2005, p.175) In other words,

this method allowed the researcher to collect data at the place and time different

events and activities were occurring, directly see what participants did rather than

telying on whal they said they did Tt provided a chance to learn things thal participants might be unwilling to mention in questionnaires or to discuss in interviews The collected data was helpful for the rescarcher to double check the results from the questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.

Apart from the suitability of observation method for the research, the researcher cared for the “observer’s paradox” (Labov, cited in Mackey & Gass, 2005) It means that the presence of observer might influence the performance of

those being observed To minimize this threat, the researcher decided to sit down at

the end of the class not to distract the participants Additionally, with two

observations per class, the participants were expected to get accustomed to the

observer’s presence and the researcher was also able to compare and contrast the

data collected from the two

Observation feature design

Medium of instruction in use | English or Vietnamese

Factual situation of using | When teachers use English as MOI

English as MOL ‘The way teachers check students’ understanding

Figure 2.1: Procedure of data collection

The procedure of collecting data consisted of four main steps listed as follows.

‘Step 1: Preparation

The researcher designed questionnaires, interview questions and observation checklists based on the research questions, Firstly, indicators for each research question were found, and then detailed questions in each instrument for each indicator were created

Step 2: Agree access to the respondents

‘The researcher contacted with the teachers and students beforehand to get their consent and make appointments Andio-recording must have been allowed by

both Icachers ond slulents as well, Basing on the available time of tcachors und timetable of the classes, schedule was organized suitably

Step 3: Datu collection with interview and questionnaire

According to the appointment, the researcher interviewed the teachers During the interviews, note-taking and audio-recording was used, Questionnaires for students were also distributed and collected Instructions to the ways of completing the questionnaire were carefully given before the process (Questionnaire distribution and interview were taken place one week before observation,

Step 4: Data collection with observation

Basing on the general results received from the intervis:

cand questionaire procedure, observation checklist was revised in some points Then the researcher spent tume observing classes with the support of observation checklist, note-taking, and andio-recording,

25, Data analysis methods

Questionnaires, interview notes and recordings, and observation checklists and recordings were used for analysis as the primary source of data In this stage, two analysis methods, quantitative and qualitative methods were applied to make sense of the findings

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2.5.1 Quantitative Analysis Strategy

Prepare data >» | Report statistics Ì Visualize data

Figure 2.2: Data from questionnaire analysis procedure

Step 1: Prepare the data

Some essential elements needed checking included the completeness of the collected questionnaires, the consistence of each questions as well as the given answers, and the understandability as well as the validity of the answers

Step 2: Report the statistics

The information obtained from questionnaires was expressed in numerical

form In details, the researcher listed out, counted and grouped the number of

similar responses The statistics were reported by frequency distribution and measures of central tendency,

Step 3: Visualize collected data

The data were converted into charts and graphs to be logical and easy-

The data collected ftom observation checklist, observation recordings,

interview note-taking, and interview recordings was transcribed

Step 2: Code/ Conceptualize

‘After that, the data supposed to be relevant and supportive were selected and

coded/ conceptualized The aim of this step was to link specific quotes to analytic

voncpls and œatcgoics Basing on describing cach defined indicator, different

aspcets which helped answered rescarch questions were measured

Step 3: Analyze

Once the data became selective, direct and conceptually motivated after the

initial coding phase, the researchers chose qualitative method to analyze the data

based on the research questions and the purposes of the study In this step, the analyzed data were generalized and theorized into findings and grounded theory

Step 4: Conclude

s, the

Finally, the findings were reported The findings from the gussliorursir interviows und ihe obscrvations were triangulalely chocked {hen, Some disonssion and implications were drawn accordingly

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CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

In this chapter, the results of the research obtained from the three

instruments -student questionnaires, teacher interviews and class observations - are

presented in response to the research questions After the results have been

presented, discussions about the results are provided

3.1 The perceptions of teachers and students of using English as medium of instruction in English classes for the first-year non-English majored students

3.1.1, Results from questionnaire

3.1.1.1 Preferable types of medium of instruction

Figure 3.1: Medium of instruction students preferred

five situations: only Vietnamese, only English, mainly Vietnamese and sometimes

English, mainly English and sometimes Vietnamese, and Vietnamese and English at

the same amount

Among these five situations, the medium of instruction preferred by students

in English classes has been found out and illustrated in Figure 3.1 As can be seen from the figure, none of the students wanted their teachers to use only Vietnamese

to teach English while only 3.20% of them liked their teachers to use mainly

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