Luận văn teachers’ use of the mother tongue in english language classrooms for young learners at a language center

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, ILA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDLES FACULTY OF POST — GRADUATE STUDIES PHUNG THI HIEN TEACHERS’ USE OF THE MOTHER TONGUE IN ENGLISH LA

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, ILA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDLES

FACULTY OF POST — GRADUATE STUDIES

PHUNG THI HIEN

TEACHERS’ USE OF THE MOTHER TONGUE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS AT A LANGUAGE CENTER: A CASE

STUDY

@IEN CCU VE VIEC SU DUNG TIENG MẸ DE CUA GIAO VIÊN

TRONG LGP HQC TIENG ANH CHO TRE EM 6 MỘT TRUNG

TÂM NGOẠI NGỮ)

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology

Code: 6014 10

Hanoi — 2012

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, ILA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST — GRADUATE STUDIES

PHUNG THI HIEN

TEACHERS’ USE OF THE MOTHER TONGUE IN

ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS AT A LANGUAGE CENTER: A CASE

STUDY

@IEN CUU VE VIEC SU DUNG TIENG ME BE CUA GIAO

VIEN TRONG LOP HQC TIENG ANH CHO TRE EM 0 MOT

TRUNG TAM NGOAI NGU)

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology

Code: 60 14 10

Supervisor: Do Thi Thanh Ha, Ph D

Hanoi — 2012

1, Rationale of the study —

W Aims and Objectives of the study

3 Scope of the study

4 Methods of the study

5 Layout of the thesis

PART II: DEVELOPMENT HHu re

CHAPTER 1; LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Young learners

1.2 History of the use of 11 in L2 classroom

1.3 Debating surrounding Ge use of LI in the 1.2 classroom

1.3.1, Argumonts against LÌ tse

1.3.2 Arguments favoring L1 use

1.4, Use of 1 in 1.2 classroom

1.5 The amount of L1 in the English classroom

1.6 Finpirical 1escarches

‘This thesis consists of three parts, namely Introduction, Development and

Conclusion

Part I, the Introduction, presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the method and the

design of the study

Part II, the development, consists of three chapters Chapter 1, the Literature review,

presenls background of the study This includes major arguments against and for the

use of L1, the use and amount of LI in L2 classroom In addition, it reviews some

previous studies telaled to the lopic Chapter 2, the Methodology, introduces the

participants, the data collection instraments and data analysis procedure Chapter 3

(Results and Discussions) mainly deals with the results and the discussion of the

findings

Part HI is the Conclusion of the study In this part, the major findings, some recommendations, limitations of the research as well as suggestions for further study are presented

The appendixes are the last part of the study following the reference

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 Qualitative Multi case study approach

2.2, Setting and Participants ¬—

2.3 Data collection Instruments

2.3.2, Stimulated Recall sesesntnee

2.3.3 Semn Structured Interview

2.4, Data collection proeedure

2.5, Data analysis HHu re

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Findings HHu re HHu re

3.1.1 Case 1 (teachor in class for 5-6 ycars old students)

3.1.2 Case 2 (teacher in class for 6- 8 years old students)

3.1.3 Case 3 (teacher in class for above 8 years old students)

3.2 Discussions

PART TIE: CONCLUSION

1 Summary of major findinga

2 Rocommendations sesesntnee

‘This thesis consists of three parts, namely Introduction, Development and

Conclusion

Part I, the Introduction, presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the method and the

design of the study

Part II, the development, consists of three chapters Chapter 1, the Literature review,

presenls background of the study This includes major arguments against and for the

use of L1, the use and amount of LI in L2 classroom In addition, it reviews some

previous studies telaled to the lopic Chapter 2, the Methodology, introduces the

participants, the data collection instraments and data analysis procedure Chapter 3

(Results and Discussions) mainly deals with the results and the discussion of the

findings

Part HI is the Conclusion of the study In this part, the major findings, some recommendations, limitations of the research as well as suggestions for further study are presented

The appendixes are the last part of the study following the reference

2 Why do teachers use the mother tongue?

3 What are teachers’ beliefs about MT use? Do teacher’s beliefs correlate to their

practices?

3 Scope of the study

In practice, L1 can be used by both students and teachers in L2 classroom However,

wilhin the [ramework of this ininar thesis, the study only (focuses on teachers’ use of

the MT in English classes for young learners Specifically, the study aims at

invesligaling the amount of T.1 use by leachers of different levels and the reasons

underlying thew L1] using In addition, teachers’ belicf about L1 use 1s also addressed

in order to find out the concordance to their practices

4 Methods of the study

‘The study is carried out in form of a qualitative multi case study approach in which three teachers teaching three different levels for young learners will be investigated in order to compare and contrast their MT use in L2 classroom Three

research methods, including classroom observation, stimulated recall interview, and

semi- structured interview are used to reach the aim of the study The researcher

believes that the combination of different methods to collect data could provide more reliable and valid information for analysis Classroom observations are used to

discover the amount and im which sections Vicinamese was used Stimulated recall

interview was applied to gain insights into teachers’ rationale of using the MY in the

classroom The recall interviews were fully transcribed and analyzed qualitatively

according to emerging themes The semi-structured interviews are to explore teachers’ opinions of the use of the first language in the classroom, and then compared with

teacher’s practices Semi structured inlerviews were conducted aller linishing all

observations and stimulated interviews As in the case of stimulated recall, semi structured interviews were transcribed fully

5 Layout of the thesis

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

In the process of forcign language teaching, the issue of the mother tongue (MT) itself has been debated for many years ‘he various views are reflections on the methodological changes in English language teaching which have in such way brought different perspectives on the role of mother longue For a long time, many popular English language-teaching methods tend to discourage the use of the first language (1.1) in the second lanyguage (1.2) classroom As a result, the English ontly approach has become a dominant and often understood to be the hallmarks of good language teaching, Despite the almost undeniable acceptance of the monolingual belief to EFL classes, recent years have wilnessed a considerable shift of views among the FLT professionals concerning the utility of students’ mother tongue (MI) in the L2 classroom What the reasons for the ignorance of MT use are, when and how the MT can be applied in the classroom and how much L1 should be used in the classroom are currently main seeking among scholars, linguists and teachers,

In the global scale, there have been various studies focusing on this topic such

as the stuces conducted by Schweers (1999) at the University of Puerto Rico, Beressa (2003) at Adama Teachers College, Tang (2002) at a university in Beijing, Duff and Polio (2009) al Universily of California, Al-Nolaic (2010) in Saudi public schools Tt

is obvious that most of them have investigated this issue at high level of education In addition, these studies emphasized mainly the use of the first language from two sides teachers and Icamers In Victnamesc context, however, it 1s rather difficult to find research in this topic Kieu Mang Kim Anh (2010) investigated the attitudes of Vicinamose Universily teachers toward Vietnamese use in Figlish language leaching Some other research is carried out by graduate students as their M A thesis like the works by Tran Ngoc Thuang (2010) on teachers’ and students’ attitude toward the use

of the MT al a high school, or Do Thi Kharh Van (2010) with her emphasis on the role

"

and use of the LI in learning vocabulary x English classes st a university Comes to the conclusion, there still exists huge gaps on the reality of using the mother tongue in classroom at every level, in every aspect in Victram

Therefore, there is a need to investigate the issue of the MI use in second language classroom from different perspectives and in different fields such as from leachers’ and sludenis’ views, int loaning of grammar, vocabulary, skills, cle This study focused on only one of those factors that are teacher’s use of MT in classes for young learners The reason the researcher focused on teachers’ use of the MT is thai teachers’ talk or language choice in the L2 classroom has a central role and is of great significance to language learners One of the main reasons for the interest is that EFL classroom and Ieachers are the only and the primary resources of the 1⁄2 for FFT students (Polio & Duff, 1994), Schweers (1999) also pointed out that if the teacher used L2, the leamers would use it also, and this created the opportunity for them to interact with their teachers and peers However, Song (2009) asserted that if teachers shared the same MT with their students, they might hardly avoid the use of LI Hopefully the findings of this study will contribute to the pedagogic methodology, especially in teaching English to young children

2 Aims and objectives of the study

The aim of this study is ío examine teacher's use of the MT- Vietnamese in English language classroom for young learners at an English centre

The objectives of the study are investigating the amount of 1.1 use by teachers

of different levels and the reasons underlying their L1 using In addition, teachers’ belief about L1 use is also addressed in order to find out the concordance to their

praclices:

In order to achieve the aim, the study addresses these following main questions:

1 Tlow much Li is used and in which sections do teachers use Li in the

classroom?

4, Suggestions for further study

REFERENCES HH

APPENDICES

vi

4, Suggestions for further study

REFERENCES HH

APPENDICES

vi

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

In the process of forcign language teaching, the issue of the mother tongue (MT) itself has been debated for many years ‘he various views are reflections on the methodological changes in English language teaching which have in such way brought different perspectives on the role of mother longue For a long time, many popular English language-teaching methods tend to discourage the use of the first language (1.1) in the second lanyguage (1.2) classroom As a result, the English ontly approach has become a dominant and often understood to be the hallmarks of good language teaching, Despite the almost undeniable acceptance of the monolingual belief to EFL classes, recent years have wilnessed a considerable shift of views among the FLT professionals concerning the utility of students’ mother tongue (MI) in the L2 classroom What the reasons for the ignorance of MT use are, when and how the MT can be applied in the classroom and how much L1 should be used in the classroom are currently main seeking among scholars, linguists and teachers,

In the global scale, there have been various studies focusing on this topic such

as the stuces conducted by Schweers (1999) at the University of Puerto Rico, Beressa (2003) at Adama Teachers College, Tang (2002) at a university in Beijing, Duff and Polio (2009) al Universily of California, Al-Nolaic (2010) in Saudi public schools Tt

is obvious that most of them have investigated this issue at high level of education In addition, these studies emphasized mainly the use of the first language from two sides teachers and Icamers In Victnamesc context, however, it 1s rather difficult to find research in this topic Kieu Mang Kim Anh (2010) investigated the attitudes of Vicinamose Universily teachers toward Vietnamese use in Figlish language leaching Some other research is carried out by graduate students as their M A thesis like the works by Tran Ngoc Thuang (2010) on teachers’ and students’ attitude toward the use

of the MT al a high school, or Do Thi Kharh Van (2010) with her emphasis on the role

"

and use of the LI in learning vocabulary x English classes st a university Comes to the conclusion, there still exists huge gaps on the reality of using the mother tongue in classroom at every level, in every aspect in Victram

Therefore, there is a need to investigate the issue of the MI use in second language classroom from different perspectives and in different fields such as from leachers’ and sludenis’ views, int loaning of grammar, vocabulary, skills, cle This study focused on only one of those factors that are teacher’s use of MT in classes for young learners The reason the researcher focused on teachers’ use of the MT is thai teachers’ talk or language choice in the L2 classroom has a central role and is of great significance to language learners One of the main reasons for the interest is that EFL classroom and Ieachers are the only and the primary resources of the 1⁄2 for FFT students (Polio & Duff, 1994), Schweers (1999) also pointed out that if the teacher used L2, the leamers would use it also, and this created the opportunity for them to interact with their teachers and peers However, Song (2009) asserted that if teachers shared the same MT with their students, they might hardly avoid the use of LI Hopefully the findings of this study will contribute to the pedagogic methodology, especially in teaching English to young children

2 Aims and objectives of the study

The aim of this study is ío examine teacher's use of the MT- Vietnamese in English language classroom for young learners at an English centre

The objectives of the study are investigating the amount of 1.1 use by teachers

of different levels and the reasons underlying their L1 using In addition, teachers’ belief about L1 use is also addressed in order to find out the concordance to their

praclices:

In order to achieve the aim, the study addresses these following main questions:

1 Tlow much Li is used and in which sections do teachers use Li in the

classroom?

4, Suggestions for further study

REFERENCES HH

APPENDICES

vi

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

In the process of forcign language teaching, the issue of the mother tongue (MT) itself has been debated for many years ‘he various views are reflections on the methodological changes in English language teaching which have in such way brought different perspectives on the role of mother longue For a long time, many popular English language-teaching methods tend to discourage the use of the first language (1.1) in the second lanyguage (1.2) classroom As a result, the English ontly approach has become a dominant and often understood to be the hallmarks of good language teaching, Despite the almost undeniable acceptance of the monolingual belief to EFL classes, recent years have wilnessed a considerable shift of views among the FLT professionals concerning the utility of students’ mother tongue (MI) in the L2 classroom What the reasons for the ignorance of MT use are, when and how the MT can be applied in the classroom and how much L1 should be used in the classroom are currently main seeking among scholars, linguists and teachers,

In the global scale, there have been various studies focusing on this topic such

as the stuces conducted by Schweers (1999) at the University of Puerto Rico, Beressa (2003) at Adama Teachers College, Tang (2002) at a university in Beijing, Duff and Polio (2009) al Universily of California, Al-Nolaic (2010) in Saudi public schools Tt

is obvious that most of them have investigated this issue at high level of education In addition, these studies emphasized mainly the use of the first language from two sides teachers and Icamers In Victnamesc context, however, it 1s rather difficult to find research in this topic Kieu Mang Kim Anh (2010) investigated the attitudes of Vicinamose Universily teachers toward Vietnamese use in Figlish language leaching Some other research is carried out by graduate students as their M A thesis like the works by Tran Ngoc Thuang (2010) on teachers’ and students’ attitude toward the use

of the MT al a high school, or Do Thi Kharh Van (2010) with her emphasis on the role

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

In the process of forcign language teaching, the issue of the mother tongue (MT) itself has been debated for many years ‘he various views are reflections on the methodological changes in English language teaching which have in such way brought different perspectives on the role of mother longue For a long time, many popular English language-teaching methods tend to discourage the use of the first language (1.1) in the second lanyguage (1.2) classroom As a result, the English ontly approach has become a dominant and often understood to be the hallmarks of good language teaching, Despite the almost undeniable acceptance of the monolingual belief to EFL classes, recent years have wilnessed a considerable shift of views among the FLT professionals concerning the utility of students’ mother tongue (MI) in the L2 classroom What the reasons for the ignorance of MT use are, when and how the MT can be applied in the classroom and how much L1 should be used in the classroom are currently main seeking among scholars, linguists and teachers,

In the global scale, there have been various studies focusing on this topic such

as the stuces conducted by Schweers (1999) at the University of Puerto Rico, Beressa (2003) at Adama Teachers College, Tang (2002) at a university in Beijing, Duff and Polio (2009) al Universily of California, Al-Nolaic (2010) in Saudi public schools Tt

is obvious that most of them have investigated this issue at high level of education In addition, these studies emphasized mainly the use of the first language from two sides teachers and Icamers In Victnamesc context, however, it 1s rather difficult to find research in this topic Kieu Mang Kim Anh (2010) investigated the attitudes of Vicinamose Universily teachers toward Vietnamese use in Figlish language leaching Some other research is carried out by graduate students as their M A thesis like the works by Tran Ngoc Thuang (2010) on teachers’ and students’ attitude toward the use

of the MT al a high school, or Do Thi Kharh Van (2010) with her emphasis on the role

2 Why do teachers use the mother tongue?

3 What are teachers’ beliefs about MT use? Do teacher’s beliefs correlate to their

practices?

3 Scope of the study

In practice, L1 can be used by both students and teachers in L2 classroom However,

wilhin the [ramework of this ininar thesis, the study only (focuses on teachers’ use of

the MT in English classes for young learners Specifically, the study aims at

invesligaling the amount of T.1 use by leachers of different levels and the reasons

underlying thew L1] using In addition, teachers’ belicf about L1 use 1s also addressed

in order to find out the concordance to their practices

4 Methods of the study

‘The study is carried out in form of a qualitative multi case study approach in which three teachers teaching three different levels for young learners will be investigated in order to compare and contrast their MT use in L2 classroom Three

research methods, including classroom observation, stimulated recall interview, and

semi- structured interview are used to reach the aim of the study The researcher

believes that the combination of different methods to collect data could provide more reliable and valid information for analysis Classroom observations are used to

discover the amount and im which sections Vicinamese was used Stimulated recall

interview was applied to gain insights into teachers’ rationale of using the MY in the

classroom The recall interviews were fully transcribed and analyzed qualitatively

according to emerging themes The semi-structured interviews are to explore teachers’ opinions of the use of the first language in the classroom, and then compared with

teacher’s practices Semi structured inlerviews were conducted aller linishing all

observations and stimulated interviews As in the case of stimulated recall, semi structured interviews were transcribed fully

5 Layout of the thesis

EEL English as a foreign language

ELT: English Language teaching,

GTM: Grammar Translation Method

SR: Stimulated Recall

4, Suggestions for further study

REFERENCES HH

APPENDICES

vi

EEL English as a foreign language

ELT: English Language teaching,

GTM: Grammar Translation Method

SR: Stimulated Recall

"

and use of the LI in learning vocabulary x English classes st a university Comes to the conclusion, there still exists huge gaps on the reality of using the mother tongue in classroom at every level, in every aspect in Victram

Therefore, there is a need to investigate the issue of the MI use in second language classroom from different perspectives and in different fields such as from leachers’ and sludenis’ views, int loaning of grammar, vocabulary, skills, cle This study focused on only one of those factors that are teacher’s use of MT in classes for young learners The reason the researcher focused on teachers’ use of the MT is thai teachers’ talk or language choice in the L2 classroom has a central role and is of great significance to language learners One of the main reasons for the interest is that EFL classroom and Ieachers are the only and the primary resources of the 1⁄2 for FFT students (Polio & Duff, 1994), Schweers (1999) also pointed out that if the teacher used L2, the leamers would use it also, and this created the opportunity for them to interact with their teachers and peers However, Song (2009) asserted that if teachers shared the same MT with their students, they might hardly avoid the use of LI Hopefully the findings of this study will contribute to the pedagogic methodology, especially in teaching English to young children

2 Aims and objectives of the study

The aim of this study is ío examine teacher's use of the MT- Vietnamese in English language classroom for young learners at an English centre

The objectives of the study are investigating the amount of 1.1 use by teachers

of different levels and the reasons underlying their L1 using In addition, teachers’ belief about L1 use is also addressed in order to find out the concordance to their

praclices:

In order to achieve the aim, the study addresses these following main questions:

1 Tlow much Li is used and in which sections do teachers use Li in the

classroom?

EEL English as a foreign language

ELT: English Language teaching,

GTM: Grammar Translation Method

SR: Stimulated Recall

EEL English as a foreign language

ELT: English Language teaching,

GTM: Grammar Translation Method

SR: Stimulated Recall

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 Qualitative Multi case study approach

2.2, Setting and Participants ¬—

2.3 Data collection Instruments

2.3.2, Stimulated Recall sesesntnee

2.3.3 Semn Structured Interview

2.4, Data collection proeedure

2.5, Data analysis HHu re

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Findings HHu re HHu re

3.1.1 Case 1 (teachor in class for 5-6 ycars old students)

3.1.2 Case 2 (teacher in class for 6- 8 years old students)

3.1.3 Case 3 (teacher in class for above 8 years old students)

3.2 Discussions

PART TIE: CONCLUSION

1 Summary of major findinga

2 Rocommendations sesesntnee

‘This thesis consists of three parts, namely Introduction, Development and

Conclusion

Part I, the Introduction, presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the method and the

design of the study

Part II, the development, consists of three chapters Chapter 1, the Literature review,

presenls background of the study This includes major arguments against and for the

use of L1, the use and amount of LI in L2 classroom In addition, it reviews some

previous studies telaled to the lopic Chapter 2, the Methodology, introduces the

participants, the data collection instraments and data analysis procedure Chapter 3

(Results and Discussions) mainly deals with the results and the discussion of the

findings

Part HI is the Conclusion of the study In this part, the major findings, some recommendations, limitations of the research as well as suggestions for further study are presented

The appendixes are the last part of the study following the reference

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

In the process of forcign language teaching, the issue of the mother tongue (MT) itself has been debated for many years ‘he various views are reflections on the methodological changes in English language teaching which have in such way brought different perspectives on the role of mother longue For a long time, many popular English language-teaching methods tend to discourage the use of the first language (1.1) in the second lanyguage (1.2) classroom As a result, the English ontly approach has become a dominant and often understood to be the hallmarks of good language teaching, Despite the almost undeniable acceptance of the monolingual belief to EFL classes, recent years have wilnessed a considerable shift of views among the FLT professionals concerning the utility of students’ mother tongue (MI) in the L2 classroom What the reasons for the ignorance of MT use are, when and how the MT can be applied in the classroom and how much L1 should be used in the classroom are currently main seeking among scholars, linguists and teachers,

In the global scale, there have been various studies focusing on this topic such

as the stuces conducted by Schweers (1999) at the University of Puerto Rico, Beressa (2003) at Adama Teachers College, Tang (2002) at a university in Beijing, Duff and Polio (2009) al Universily of California, Al-Nolaic (2010) in Saudi public schools Tt

is obvious that most of them have investigated this issue at high level of education In addition, these studies emphasized mainly the use of the first language from two sides teachers and Icamers In Victnamesc context, however, it 1s rather difficult to find research in this topic Kieu Mang Kim Anh (2010) investigated the attitudes of Vicinamose Universily teachers toward Vietnamese use in Figlish language leaching Some other research is carried out by graduate students as their M A thesis like the works by Tran Ngoc Thuang (2010) on teachers’ and students’ attitude toward the use

of the MT al a high school, or Do Thi Kharh Van (2010) with her emphasis on the role

"

and use of the LI in learning vocabulary x English classes st a university Comes to the conclusion, there still exists huge gaps on the reality of using the mother tongue in classroom at every level, in every aspect in Victram

Therefore, there is a need to investigate the issue of the MI use in second language classroom from different perspectives and in different fields such as from leachers’ and sludenis’ views, int loaning of grammar, vocabulary, skills, cle This study focused on only one of those factors that are teacher’s use of MT in classes for young learners The reason the researcher focused on teachers’ use of the MT is thai teachers’ talk or language choice in the L2 classroom has a central role and is of great significance to language learners One of the main reasons for the interest is that EFL classroom and Ieachers are the only and the primary resources of the 1⁄2 for FFT students (Polio & Duff, 1994), Schweers (1999) also pointed out that if the teacher used L2, the leamers would use it also, and this created the opportunity for them to interact with their teachers and peers However, Song (2009) asserted that if teachers shared the same MT with their students, they might hardly avoid the use of LI Hopefully the findings of this study will contribute to the pedagogic methodology, especially in teaching English to young children

2 Aims and objectives of the study

The aim of this study is ío examine teacher's use of the MT- Vietnamese in English language classroom for young learners at an English centre

The objectives of the study are investigating the amount of 1.1 use by teachers

of different levels and the reasons underlying their L1 using In addition, teachers’ belief about L1 use is also addressed in order to find out the concordance to their

praclices:

In order to achieve the aim, the study addresses these following main questions:

1 Tlow much Li is used and in which sections do teachers use Li in the

classroom?

"

and use of the LI in learning vocabulary x English classes st a university Comes to the conclusion, there still exists huge gaps on the reality of using the mother tongue in classroom at every level, in every aspect in Victram

Therefore, there is a need to investigate the issue of the MI use in second language classroom from different perspectives and in different fields such as from leachers’ and sludenis’ views, int loaning of grammar, vocabulary, skills, cle This study focused on only one of those factors that are teacher’s use of MT in classes for young learners The reason the researcher focused on teachers’ use of the MT is thai teachers’ talk or language choice in the L2 classroom has a central role and is of great significance to language learners One of the main reasons for the interest is that EFL classroom and Ieachers are the only and the primary resources of the 1⁄2 for FFT students (Polio & Duff, 1994), Schweers (1999) also pointed out that if the teacher used L2, the leamers would use it also, and this created the opportunity for them to interact with their teachers and peers However, Song (2009) asserted that if teachers shared the same MT with their students, they might hardly avoid the use of LI Hopefully the findings of this study will contribute to the pedagogic methodology, especially in teaching English to young children

2 Aims and objectives of the study

The aim of this study is ío examine teacher's use of the MT- Vietnamese in English language classroom for young learners at an English centre

The objectives of the study are investigating the amount of 1.1 use by teachers

of different levels and the reasons underlying their L1 using In addition, teachers’ belief about L1 use is also addressed in order to find out the concordance to their

praclices:

In order to achieve the aim, the study addresses these following main questions:

1 Tlow much Li is used and in which sections do teachers use Li in the

classroom?

‘This thesis consists of three parts, namely Introduction, Development and

Conclusion

Part I, the Introduction, presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the method and the

design of the study

Part II, the development, consists of three chapters Chapter 1, the Literature review,

presenls background of the study This includes major arguments against and for the

use of L1, the use and amount of LI in L2 classroom In addition, it reviews some

previous studies telaled to the lopic Chapter 2, the Methodology, introduces the

participants, the data collection instraments and data analysis procedure Chapter 3

(Results and Discussions) mainly deals with the results and the discussion of the

findings

Part HI is the Conclusion of the study In this part, the major findings, some recommendations, limitations of the research as well as suggestions for further study are presented

The appendixes are the last part of the study following the reference

EEL English as a foreign language

ELT: English Language teaching,

GTM: Grammar Translation Method

SR: Stimulated Recall

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 Qualitative Multi case study approach

2.2, Setting and Participants ¬—

2.3 Data collection Instruments

2.3.2, Stimulated Recall sesesntnee

2.3.3 Semn Structured Interview

2.4, Data collection proeedure

2.5, Data analysis HHu re

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Findings HHu re HHu re

3.1.1 Case 1 (teachor in class for 5-6 ycars old students)

3.1.2 Case 2 (teacher in class for 6- 8 years old students)

3.1.3 Case 3 (teacher in class for above 8 years old students)

3.2 Discussions

PART TIE: CONCLUSION

1 Summary of major findinga

2 Rocommendations sesesntnee

2 Why do teachers use the mother tongue?

3 What are teachers’ beliefs about MT use? Do teacher’s beliefs correlate to their

practices?

3 Scope of the study

In practice, L1 can be used by both students and teachers in L2 classroom However,

wilhin the [ramework of this ininar thesis, the study only (focuses on teachers’ use of

the MT in English classes for young learners Specifically, the study aims at

invesligaling the amount of T.1 use by leachers of different levels and the reasons

underlying thew L1] using In addition, teachers’ belicf about L1 use 1s also addressed

in order to find out the concordance to their practices

4 Methods of the study

‘The study is carried out in form of a qualitative multi case study approach in which three teachers teaching three different levels for young learners will be investigated in order to compare and contrast their MT use in L2 classroom Three

research methods, including classroom observation, stimulated recall interview, and

semi- structured interview are used to reach the aim of the study The researcher

believes that the combination of different methods to collect data could provide more reliable and valid information for analysis Classroom observations are used to

discover the amount and im which sections Vicinamese was used Stimulated recall

interview was applied to gain insights into teachers’ rationale of using the MY in the

classroom The recall interviews were fully transcribed and analyzed qualitatively

according to emerging themes The semi-structured interviews are to explore teachers’ opinions of the use of the first language in the classroom, and then compared with

teacher’s practices Semi structured inlerviews were conducted aller linishing all

observations and stimulated interviews As in the case of stimulated recall, semi structured interviews were transcribed fully

5 Layout of the thesis

EEL English as a foreign language

ELT: English Language teaching,

GTM: Grammar Translation Method

SR: Stimulated Recall

2 Why do teachers use the mother tongue?

3 What are teachers’ beliefs about MT use? Do teacher’s beliefs correlate to their

practices?

3 Scope of the study

In practice, L1 can be used by both students and teachers in L2 classroom However,

wilhin the [ramework of this ininar thesis, the study only (focuses on teachers’ use of

the MT in English classes for young learners Specifically, the study aims at

invesligaling the amount of T.1 use by leachers of different levels and the reasons

underlying thew L1] using In addition, teachers’ belicf about L1 use 1s also addressed

in order to find out the concordance to their practices

4 Methods of the study

‘The study is carried out in form of a qualitative multi case study approach in which three teachers teaching three different levels for young learners will be investigated in order to compare and contrast their MT use in L2 classroom Three

research methods, including classroom observation, stimulated recall interview, and

semi- structured interview are used to reach the aim of the study The researcher

believes that the combination of different methods to collect data could provide more reliable and valid information for analysis Classroom observations are used to

discover the amount and im which sections Vicinamese was used Stimulated recall

interview was applied to gain insights into teachers’ rationale of using the MY in the

classroom The recall interviews were fully transcribed and analyzed qualitatively

according to emerging themes The semi-structured interviews are to explore teachers’ opinions of the use of the first language in the classroom, and then compared with

teacher’s practices Semi structured inlerviews were conducted aller linishing all

observations and stimulated interviews As in the case of stimulated recall, semi structured interviews were transcribed fully

5 Layout of the thesis

2 Why do teachers use the mother tongue?

3 What are teachers’ beliefs about MT use? Do teacher’s beliefs correlate to their

practices?

3 Scope of the study

In practice, L1 can be used by both students and teachers in L2 classroom However,

wilhin the [ramework of this ininar thesis, the study only (focuses on teachers’ use of

the MT in English classes for young learners Specifically, the study aims at

invesligaling the amount of T.1 use by leachers of different levels and the reasons

underlying thew L1] using In addition, teachers’ belicf about L1 use 1s also addressed

in order to find out the concordance to their practices

4 Methods of the study

‘The study is carried out in form of a qualitative multi case study approach in which three teachers teaching three different levels for young learners will be investigated in order to compare and contrast their MT use in L2 classroom Three

research methods, including classroom observation, stimulated recall interview, and

semi- structured interview are used to reach the aim of the study The researcher

believes that the combination of different methods to collect data could provide more reliable and valid information for analysis Classroom observations are used to

discover the amount and im which sections Vicinamese was used Stimulated recall

interview was applied to gain insights into teachers’ rationale of using the MY in the

classroom The recall interviews were fully transcribed and analyzed qualitatively

according to emerging themes The semi-structured interviews are to explore teachers’ opinions of the use of the first language in the classroom, and then compared with

teacher’s practices Semi structured inlerviews were conducted aller linishing all

observations and stimulated interviews As in the case of stimulated recall, semi structured interviews were transcribed fully

5 Layout of the thesis

‘This thesis consists of three parts, namely Introduction, Development and

Conclusion

Part I, the Introduction, presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the method and the

design of the study

Part II, the development, consists of three chapters Chapter 1, the Literature review,

presenls background of the study This includes major arguments against and for the

use of L1, the use and amount of LI in L2 classroom In addition, it reviews some

previous studies telaled to the lopic Chapter 2, the Methodology, introduces the

participants, the data collection instraments and data analysis procedure Chapter 3

(Results and Discussions) mainly deals with the results and the discussion of the

findings

Part HI is the Conclusion of the study In this part, the major findings, some recommendations, limitations of the research as well as suggestions for further study are presented

The appendixes are the last part of the study following the reference

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

In the process of forcign language teaching, the issue of the mother tongue (MT) itself has been debated for many years ‘he various views are reflections on the methodological changes in English language teaching which have in such way brought different perspectives on the role of mother longue For a long time, many popular English language-teaching methods tend to discourage the use of the first language (1.1) in the second lanyguage (1.2) classroom As a result, the English ontly approach has become a dominant and often understood to be the hallmarks of good language teaching, Despite the almost undeniable acceptance of the monolingual belief to EFL classes, recent years have wilnessed a considerable shift of views among the FLT professionals concerning the utility of students’ mother tongue (MI) in the L2 classroom What the reasons for the ignorance of MT use are, when and how the MT can be applied in the classroom and how much L1 should be used in the classroom are currently main seeking among scholars, linguists and teachers,

In the global scale, there have been various studies focusing on this topic such

as the stuces conducted by Schweers (1999) at the University of Puerto Rico, Beressa (2003) at Adama Teachers College, Tang (2002) at a university in Beijing, Duff and Polio (2009) al Universily of California, Al-Nolaic (2010) in Saudi public schools Tt

is obvious that most of them have investigated this issue at high level of education In addition, these studies emphasized mainly the use of the first language from two sides teachers and Icamers In Victnamesc context, however, it 1s rather difficult to find research in this topic Kieu Mang Kim Anh (2010) investigated the attitudes of Vicinamose Universily teachers toward Vietnamese use in Figlish language leaching Some other research is carried out by graduate students as their M A thesis like the works by Tran Ngoc Thuang (2010) on teachers’ and students’ attitude toward the use

of the MT al a high school, or Do Thi Kharh Van (2010) with her emphasis on the role