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, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG THẢO USING ENGLISH AS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN 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 dụng tiếng Anh làm phương tiện ngôn ngữ dạy học trong lớp tiếng Anh

cho sinh viên không chuyên Anh năm thứ nhất – Nghiên cứu trường hợp tại một trường Đại học)

HANOI - 2018

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Major: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN 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 dụng tiếng Anh làm phương tiện ngôn ngữ dạy học trong lớp tiếng Anh

cho sinh viên không chuyên Anh năm thứ nhất – Nghiên cứu trường hợp tại một trường Đại học)

HANOI - 2018

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Major: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Dr Nguyễn Thị Mai Hương

Nguyễn Thị Mai Hương

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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 Hương Where I have quoted from the work of others, the sources are always given With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely on my own work I confirm that the work has not be submitted for any other degree or professional qualification

I 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 Thảo

Hanoi, ……….20…

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, I sincerely appreciate the cooperation of the teacher- and student-participants I would like to thank Teacher A and Teacher B for their willingness to let me observe their EFL classes and enthusiastic participation in my interviews I am also thankful to 93 students of the two A2 classes for agreeing to participate in the survey They are the ones who directly influenced the results of this study

Last but not least, I am also indebted 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

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ABSTRACT

In the context of Vietnam, Vietnamese is still commonly utilized in English teaching while the use of English is encouraged With the deep concerns 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 at a university” The main purpose of this research was to find out the

teachers’ and students’ perceptions of using English as the medium of instruction,

as well as to look for possible factors hindering the use of English to teach English The participants were 93 first-year non-English majored students from a university and their English teachers The methods adopted were both quantitative 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 The results showed that teachers and students were aware of the necessity of using English in EFL classes, however, in fact, teachers used both English and Vietnamese The combination of two languages was caused due to various hindering factors relating mainly to both teachers and students Basing on these major findings, a number of suggestions for better use of English as medium 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 EFL classes

Key words: medium of instruction, EFL classes, non-English majored students

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

L1/ L2 First language/ Second language

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 in observation checklist Table 3.1 Advantages of using English 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 students

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Procedure of data collection

Figure 2.2 Data from questionnaire analysis procedure

Figure 2.3 Data from interview and observation analysis procedure

Figure 3.1 Medium of instruction students preferred

Figure 3.2 Medium of instruction teachers 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 3.5 Reasons for students’ learning English

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Statement of the problem and rationale of the study 1

2 Aims and research questions 3

3 Significance of the study 3

5 Methods of the study 4

6 Organization of the thesis 5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 6

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

1.1 Second Language Acquisition 6

1.1.1 The Input Hypothesis 6

1.1.2 The Output Hypothesis 7

1.1.3 The Interaction Hypothesis 8

1.2 Medium of instruction 8

1.2.1 Definition 8

1.2.2 Different viewpoints on medium of instruction in EFL classes 9

1.2.3 Classification of teacher’s language in class 12

1.2.4 Using English as medium of instruction effectively 13

1.2.5 Factors affecting the use of English as the medium of instruction 17

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 19

2.1 Design of the study 19

2.1.1 Case study 19

2.1.2 Mixed method 19

2.2 Participants 20

2.2.1 Sampling method 20

2.2.2 Student-participants 21

2.2.3 Teacher-participants 22

2.3 Data collection instruments 22

2.3.1 Questionnaire 22

2.3.2 Semi-structured interview 25

2.3.3 Observation 27

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2.4 Data collection procedure 28

2.5 Data analysis methods 29

2.5.1 Quantitative Analysis Strategy 30

2.5.2 Qualitative Analysis Strategy 30

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 32

3.1 The perceptions of teachers and students of using English as medium of instruction in English classes 32

3.1.1 Results from questionnaire 32

3.1.2 Results from interview 37

3.1.3 Results from observation 39

3.1.4 Discussion 41

3.2 Factors hindering the use of English as medium of instruction in English classes for the first-year non-English majored students 44

3.2.1 Results from questionnaire 44

3.2.2 Results from interview 46

3.2.3 Results from observation 48

3.2.4 Discussion 52

3.3 Implications and suggestions 56

3.3.1 Controlling teacher talk time 56

3.3.2 Maximizing English teacher talk and focusing on grading the language 57

3.3.3 Improving students’ autonomy and motivation 58

PART C: CONCLUSION 60

1 Summary of findings 60

2 Limitations 61

3 Suggestions for further research 62

REFERENCES 63 APPENDICES I APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE I APPENDIX B: GUIDED QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW V APPENDIX C: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLIST VII

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

In this part, some brief information about the paper is provided Five main points presented are (1) statement of the problem and rationale of the study, (2) aims and objectives of the study, (3) significance of the study, (4) scope of the study, (5) method of the study and (6) organization of the thesis

1 Statement of the problem and rationale of the study

In 1986, Vietnam 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 (WTO) in 2007 As a result of this international integration, English is required as a means of communication, and the importance of English teaching and learning in Vietnam has rapidly grown and expanded Since the early 1990s, due to the acknowledgement that communication

is the key in language use, Communicative 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 EFL 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), if learners do not have opportunities to expose to the target language, they cannot acquire it The reason is that acquiring a target language is 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 learners, it is very important to experience real communicative environments in which they will learn how to express their own opinions and viewpoints, and to develop their oral fluency and accuracy He considers travelling abroad and immersion experiences two of many factors greatly affect the language acquisition process In fact, travelling or living abroad seems to

There have been prior research 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 proficiency” of Wong (2009) and “English Only’ Language Instruction to Japanese University Students in Low-Level Speaking & 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 English proficiency had been improved Unlike these prior research, which explored the issue of using English as medium of instruction in EFL 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 tongue, Vietnamese In this study, the use of target language – English – to teach English, was investigated

Particularly, this study provides an insight into the English teaching and learning 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,

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there has not had 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 proficiency in English, the researcher wondered whether English instructions work

or put too much pressure on them Those reasons encouraged the researcher to conduct a research to find out the situation of applying English as the medium of instruction to teach English for the first-year non-English majored students at a university in Vietnam

2 Aims and research questions

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

To achieve these aims, the current research answers the following questions:

(1) What are the students’ and teachers’ perceptions of using English 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 hopefully 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 university in particular and other EFL learners in general might have a better environment to learn and practice English

3 Significance of the study

With this study, the researcher expected to gain insights into students’ and teachers’ perceptions of using English as medium of instruction in English classes for the first-year non-English majored students At the same time, 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 references 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 Language Integrated Learning, teaching English as a foreign language through English, English for Specific Purposes, or even English for Academic Purposes Moreover, the term medium of instruction covers the language choice of either 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 English 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 English majored students at a certain university in Vietnam and the teachers who were in charge of teaching English for them The first-year students were required

non-to make acquaintance with the university environment, particularly the language curriculum 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 learning 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 study, which provided an insight into a particular issue – the use of English as the medium of instruction in EFL classes, as well as gained a deeper understanding of the issue applied on particular subjects – the first-year non-English majored students at a university in Vietnam In this case

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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 results are presented into a thesis and overall conclude three main parts

Part A: Introduction: deals with the rationale, aims, significance, scope, and

structure of the research

Part B: Development: consists 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

instruments, 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

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter summarizes the theoretical framework which described the most important issues in the theories relating 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 EFL classes The second one focused on the direct issue of this research – medium of instruction, which are different viewpoints on using medium of instruction, classification of teacher’s language in classroom, how to use medium of instruction effectively, and some factors affecting the 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 at least one other language” (Spada & Lightbown, cited in Liu, 2015) It is obvious that the application of English as 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 medium of instruction in EFL classes is Krashen’s Comprehensible Input hypothesis According to Krashen (1985), there are two modes of L2 development, subconscious language acquisition and conscious language learning He states that learners improve their language ability not by learning but by acquiring language, which means generally not consciously aware of the rules but have a feel for the correctness For Krashen, input plays a critical role in language development because humans acquire language in only one way – by understanding messages, or

(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 Hypothesis

The Input Hypothesis has been criticized for the argument that input 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 learners with the opportunity 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 After that, when feedback is given, they may notice their problems or gaps

in the target language This awareness could encourage the learners to fill in their holes of language skills, correct their errors, and develop their target language level

As can be seen that during this procedure, feedback has a critical function Swain believes that learners can improve the accuracy of output if they receive proper

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feedback from their teachers In short, for the Output Hypothesis, although teacher’s language is important during the process of language learning, teachers should also manage to push their students to produce output, provide them with opportunities to practice the target language and then give them feedback

1.1.3 The Interaction Hypothesis

Long (1996) proposes his Interaction Hypothesis as an extension of Krashen’s Input Hypothesis Both researchers emphasize comprehensible target language input, however, the major difference is that 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 learner 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 learners have opportunities to notice differences between their own formulations of target language and the language of their partners, 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 their output accordingly As can be seen that conversation is not only a medium of practice, but also the means by which learning 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

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the opportunities the learners expose to it and communicate 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 language; however, there exists limitations in some cases

As can be seen that these definitions have similar points The term “medium

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 non-fixed concept that is used in some countries and not in others It can be confused with many other terms like CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), 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 EFL classes

There are different viewpoints on which medium of instruction should be utilized in EFL classes The debate over whether EFL classroom should include or exclude students’ native language has been a contentious issue for a long time Both the ones who approve using mother tongue (L1) and the others who support using

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target language (L2) as medium of instruction have 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” Palmer (1956) also sees the potential of using native language in learning another language He considers the use of L1 as harmless ad in many cases positively 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-facilitating

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

Particularly, Harbord (1992) emphasizes that the use of L1 can help teachers save time Skinner (cited in Turnbull & 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 already developed in L1 Therefore, the use of L1 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 but not least, lowering students’ confusion, facilitating teacher and student relationship (Harbord, 1992) and helping learners cooperating with each other (Atkinson, cited in Miles, 2004) are also argued It is due to the fact that L1 is familiar with students and taking part in a classroom with L1 gives them a sense of

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security, allow them to express themselves in ways they may not in L2-only setting, experience higher levels of motivation for learning 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

First of all, the use of English as the medium of instruction helps enrich the input In language learning, input is defined as the language data which learners are exposed to It plays a vital role in forming language proficiency because language learning is a slow and laborious process, the more exposure the learners receive, the more and the faster they will learn (Ellis & Wells, 1980) Thanks to the use of English 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 classes should be maximized

Moreover, using English as the medium of instruction in EFL classes provides learners with a favorable environment to make output Output is the language produced by learners, a necessary requirement for successful 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 to “resemble ordinary academic interaction more and more” (Hughes, 2007, p.32), and “the communicative potential is closer to real interaction than is often assumed” (Hughes, 1981, p.6) As a result, English medium of instruction usage allows the meaningful situational use of language

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Last but not least, with the use of English medium of instruction in EFL classes, students’ motivation can increase MacDonald (cited in Turnbull & Dailey-O’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 continuous 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 endeavors”

To conclude, applying English as the medium of instruction benefits the second language acquisition of learners and many researchers agree to maximize it

in EFL classes Rolin-Ianziti & Varshney (2008) even confirms that L2 should be used in all instructions to eliminate teachers’ overuse of L1 and students’ dependence on L1

1.2.3 Classification of teacher’s language in class

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

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

is used 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 functions are specific

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

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Firstly, language used for core goals means being used for explicit pedagogic purpose of the lesson It is similar to the instructional talk defined by Zulfah, Rasyid, Rahman & Rahman (2015), the teacher’s language relates to transfer of teaching materials like giving lecture, giving explanation, giving correction, 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 framework goals is the one which support for organization requirements in classroom Zulfah, Rasyid, Rahman & Rahman (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, giving 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 greetings, personal experience talk (Kaneko (1992, cited in Zulfah, Rasyid, Rahman & Rahman, 2015), warm-up chat (Weddel, 2008), giving advice, making humor (Zulfah, Rasyid, Rahman & Rahman, 2015) As evaluated by these researchers, this classification has little 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 framework goals – management talk, for example checking attendance, giving lecture, giving instruction, giving correction, giving feedback, giving explanation, giving announcement, asking and answering question, and dismissing the class

1.2.4 Using English as medium of instruction effectively

Using English as the medium of instruction in EFL classes provides many advantages for 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 different hindering factors 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

1.2.4.1 Teacher talk time

The amount of teacher talks, which is called teacher talk time, has considerable influences on learners’ 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 time, leading to students’ loss of concentration and enthusiasm, and restricting student autonomy This issue has been mentioned by many other former researchers 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 confirms that the greater amount of teacher talk, the less time students get to practice L2 in a classroom and therefore, the less effectiveness 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 For him, the teachers who talk too much in the classroom weren’t teaching effectively As a result, a number of researchers call on minimizing teacher talk time while maximizing student talk time

Darn (2008) and Davies (2011) suggests a useful guideline for the amount of teacher talk is “a limit of 30% of a lesson, and no more than 10 minutes at one time.” To 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 among themselves before receiving feedback from teachers Moreover, teachers do not need to present clear examples and explanations all the times, but use elicitation, 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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students’ response is sometimes better than unnecessary talking Particularly, according to Darn (2008), there exists some forms of teacher talk which would make the 30% of a lesson beneficial They are questioning, which demands students

to brainstorm to respond, holds students’ attention and involvement; natural conversation, which helps introduce functional and everyday language in a more memorable way than lessons; personalized presentation, in which teachers talk about real issues to 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 major theories related to the idea of graded language should

be Krashen’s Comprehensible Input (1985) The theory highly 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 pointed 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 language concepts quite naturally He adds more that learning can take place if the material is something just slightly higher than learners’ 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 learners According to Chaudron (1988), teacher talk is simplified in various ways – syntactically, phonologically and semantically In details, a number of features of teacher speech might be modified such as:

(1) Pauses between 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 language is less 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

(5) Degree of subordination is lower

(6) More declaratives and statements are used than questions

(7) Teachers may self-repeat more frequently

1.2.4.3 Some useful techniques

The following techniques are raised basing on the guideline by Ur (1996) Firstly, teachers should have a thorough preparation before giving English 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, instructions need to be brief and clear Instructions should be broken down into small separate 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 “learners’ attention wanders occasionally.” Teachers can represent the instructions in different modes, either

restating or writing it up

Lastly, getting feedback from students after giving 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 either to paraphrase the instructions or do illustrations of their own is a better choice for checking instructions According to Rosenshine (2012), these checks support the process of moving new learning 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 effectively when teachers have a good preparation; instructions are short, precise and simple; the information is repeated in different ways; and students’ 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 encouraged 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 learning style may prevent teachers from using English medium of instruction effectively Because of the low English proficiency, students cannot understand what their teacher talks Knop (1995) wonders how one can expect the first-year students to understand and use the language when they cannot understand the interactions and the materials in the target language Coyne, Kami’enui & Carnine (2010) shares the same 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 As a result, students’ learning motivation and concentration decreases during class time Besides, in some cases, students with passive learning style, who are “not willing to make efforts to hear and use target language during activities or interactions, simply tune out during class sessions” (Knop, 1995) For teachers, they may lack understanding about their students, teaching skills, and English proficiency as well According to the results from the research of Flores (cited in Weddel, 2008), English medium of instruction usage is not effective when teachers use very complicated language that distract or confuse learners Weddel (2008) emphasizes that teacher talk needs to be authentic, meaningful,

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engaging, and appropriate for learners Therefore, teachers should be aware of their 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 during class 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 graduating English teachers in Vietnam are capable of using English 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 teachers from using English as the medium of instruction effectively

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

Generally, during the process of applying English as the medium of instruction to teach English for the first-year non-English majored students, affecting factors can be found in students and teachers themselves, as well as in teaching resources They may be the students’ English proficiency and learning 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

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the methods employed to carry out the study, which are presented in five main parts: (1) 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

2.1.1 Case study

A case study is a study of “the particularity and complexity of a single case, coming to understand its activity within important circumstances” (Skate, cited in Bassey, 2009, p.27) Sturman (cited in Bassey, 2009) adds more details about the boundaries of the case, which may be an individual, a group or a phenomenon Due

to such boundaries, case studies allow researchers to have insights into certain aspects of the cases in their particular contexts, which is rarely possible in other group research (Markey & Gass, 2005) This may be the reason why case studies have been used in a wide range of second language research studies However, there exists a problem of generalization within this type of research while single case or cases are not easily generalizable It asks for the researcher’s extreme caution to sample, analyze and draw conclusions

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-English majored students and other EFL teachers at this university, as well as the situation of the first-year non-English majored students and EFL teachers at other universities in Vietnam

2.1.2 Mixed method

Mixed methods research represents research that involves collecting, analyzing, and interpreting quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or in a

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series of studies that investigate the same underlying phenomenon (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2008), which is reasonable for this case The researcher applied both quantitative and qualitative approaches As quantitative procedures require the collection and analysis of data in numeric forms (Blaxter, Highes & Tight, 1996), close response 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 applied 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 reliability of the information

2.2 Participants

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 two 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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guarantees that the sample selection is taken place in an unbiased way The clustering method also helped the researchers reach one of the goals of the study, which is to make conclusions pertaining to the population obtained from a sampling group’s results Due to the representativeness of a sample in cluster sampling, it was reasonable to make generalizations from the results of the sample back to the population

2.2.2 Student-participants

The research was conducted on the first-year non-English majored students

at a certain university If the students’ results for the university entrance exam included the English marks, these marks would be used 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 5 to 7), and the ones who got to level 2 classes (mark above 7) Due 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 attention to the category of level 2 only In details, students from two classes 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 number was evaluated as appropriate among the population of 230

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

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

2.2.3 Teacher-participants

After the two classes had been selected, 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 student-participants, so they could give their own reflection and feedback on using English as the medium of instruction, share some convenience as well as difficulties 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 reacted either by writing out their answers or selecting from among existing answers” However, it should be emphasized that a questionnaire was neither a sort

of official form nor a set of questions which had been casually jotted down without much thought It is an important instrument of research, a tool for data collection

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with the typical function of measurement Its detailed specification of measurement aims must be related to the aims of the overall research plan and objectives (Oppenheim, 1992)

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

non-of the most common methods non-of collecting data on attitudes and opinions from a large group of participants” and it helps researcher gather participants’ report about themselves For this study, thanks to questionnaire, the researcher could collect the students’ perception of using English as the medium of instruction, the advantages 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

in a short time

In addtion to such advantages, using questionnaires as a strategy to elicit information contained some limitations According to Yount (2006), when using the questionnaire, the researchers could not measure the motivation level of the subjects 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 There was no control over the order in which the questions were answered Particularly, there was no control over leaving the answer blank Sometimes students might not be willing to answer the questions, so they left

it blank, which could cause “missing data” Because all of those disadvantages had been aware, the researchers tried to reduce them by giving careful explanation in advance about why the information was being collected and how the results would

be beneficial to the participants

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Questionnaire design

After the first draft of the questionnaire had been completed, 5 students, who were first-year non-English majored students at the university, but not the research’s samples, were chosen to pilot it The results from the pilot process helped the researchers refine the questionnaire

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

As a result, the questionnaire was designed in Vietnamese The researchers used both closed questions and open-ended questions The close questions allowed analyzing the data conveniently And the open-ended questions gave respondents the freedom to express their own ideas and gave researchers the opportunity to collect 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 English as medium of instruction to teach them English Last but not least, as being students who directly took part in the EFL classes, 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

instruction in EFL classes

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8

Factors affecting the use of English as medium of

instruction in EFL classes

1, 7

Table 2.1: Classification of the items in the questionnaire

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2.3.2 Semi-structured interview

Justification

Unlike structured interview in which researchers usually ask an identical set

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 Eric (1995) shared the same viewpoint by noting that semi-structured interview got a general structure beforehand because detailed structure would be worked out during the procedure Generally speaking, a semi-structured interview is flexible with no formalized questions

It was suitable for a small number of participants, so semi-structured interview was conducted with two teacher-participants at different times The researchers were able to discover the teacher participants’ perception on the issue of using English as the medium of instructions in EFL classes, which factors might affect the application of English as medium of instruction for the first year non-English majored students, and useful 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 what to talk about, how much to say and how to express it It helped the researchers to 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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and emotion could also impact what they said (Mackey & Gass, 2005) Therefore, the researcher tried 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 each question and then made question(s) for each indicator Each indicator may have one or more questions

What are the teachers’

perceptions of using

English as medium of

instruction (MOI) in

EFL classes for the

first year non-English

majored students?

See if English should be used as MOI perceived

by teachers

- The effectiveness of using English as MOI

2, 3, 4, 6, 8

What factors hinder

the use of English as

MOI in EFL classes

for the first year

non-English majored

students?

Consider both personal and outside factors

- Students’ English proficiency, motivation and learning styles

- Teachers’ linguistic knowledge, teaching skills and background knowledge

- The suitability of syllabus, textbook and required materials

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improve 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, the researcher was not part of the activities taking place, but simply observed Audio-recording and note-taking would much support the following step

of analyzing data

Observation was considered helpful as providing the researcher with “the opportunity to collect large amounts of rich data on the participants’ behaviors and actions within a particular context” (Mackey & 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 relying on what they said they did It provided a chance to learn things that participants might be unwilling to mention in questionnaires or to discuss in interviews The collected data was helpful for the researcher to double check the results from the questionnaires and semi-structured interviews

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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

English as MOI

When teachers use English as MOI The way teachers check students’ understanding The way teachers explain when students do not understand

Reactions of students Teacher talk time Grading language

Table 2.3: Classification of items in observation checklist

2.4 Data collection procedure

Figure 2.1: Procedure of data collection

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

questionnaire Observation

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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 Audio-recording must have been allowed by both teachers and students as well Basing on the available time of teachers and

timetable of the classes, schedule was organized suitably

Step 3: Data 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 interview and questionnaire procedure, observation checklist was revised in some points Then the researcher spent time observing classes with the support of observation checklist, note-taking and audio-recording

2.5 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

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 followed

easy-2.5.2 Qualitative Analysis Strategy

Figure 2.3: Data from interview and observation analysis procedure

Step 1: Transcribe

The data collected from 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

Step 4: Conclude

Finally, the findings were reported The findings from the questionnaires, the interviews and the observations were triangulately checked then Some discussion 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

Two languages were available for medium of instruction - English and Vietnamese; therefore, the use of medium of instruction could be categorized into 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

Mainly Vietnamese, sometimes English Mainly English, sometimes Vietnamese English and Vietnamese equally