Teacher’s choice of english and vietnamese as classroom language in teaching grade 10 students speaking skills a case study at a high school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER TEACHER’S CHOICE OF ENGLISH AND VI

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

TEACHER’S CHOICE OF ENGLISH AND

VIETNAMESE AS CLASSROOM LANGUAGE IN TEACHING GRADE 10 STUDENTS SPEAKING SKILLS: A CASE STUDY AT A HIGH SCHOOL

Supervisor: Ms Ph Th Thu H (M.A) Student: Trần Xu n nh

Year: QH2012

Hanoi, May - 2016

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

L h n ng n ngữ h gi vi n tr ng d y

n ng n i h h sinh 10

Gi vi n hư ng dẫn: Th sĩ Ph Th Thu H Sinh vi n: Trần Xu n nh

Khóa: QH2012

Hà Nội, Tháng 5 - 2016

ACCEPTANCE PAGE

n X n n n n for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the Coll l n o n on n of lo ’ G on P p deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, 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

Date

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to send my sincere gratitude to my supervisor

Ms Pham Thi Thu Ha, M.Ed for her precious guidance, her great patience and encouragement throughout the process of this research

I also would like to express my special thanks to my senior, Ms Nguyen Nhat Hanh for giving me the inspiration to conduct the research on classroom language Her work on the same topic served as useful concrete foundations for my thesis

My sincere thanks go to the English teachers and all students of classes: 10 Literature, 10 Chemistry, 10 Informatics and 10 Biology at Le Hong Phong high school in Nam Dinh, for their enthusiastic participation Without their cooperation, this research could never be completed

Finally, I am grateful to my friends and family for their support from the beginning to the end of the process of conducting this research

ABSTRACT

Like the situation in many other high schools, English teachers at Le Hong Phong high school for the gifted in Nam Dinh are currently really concerned about non-English major students’ capability to communicate in English after graduation

As a result, use of English or Vietnamese as classroom language in teaching such communicative skills as speaking and listening are attracting increasing attentions from the teachers Through observations, questionnaires and interviews with the two young English teachers and four grade 10 classes that they were in charge of, the researcher expected to explore the frequency and driving factors, as well as the students’ perceptions of the teachers’ use of English and Vietnamese as classroom language in teaching speaking skill The case study has revealed that both teachers used English most of the time during speaking lessons and the reasons for their choice were mainly related to students’ proficiency improvement, favorable learning environment creation and speaking tasks Meanwhile, Vietnamese was rarely used

In general, most of the students were satisfied with their teacher’s use of classroom language Findings of this study provide a reference for teachers and authorities that are concerned about improving students’ communicative skills Suggestions for future research on similar topics are given at the end of the paper

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of tables and figures vii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Statement of research problem and rationale of the study 1

1.2 Aims and research questions 2

1.3 Scope of the study 3

1.4 Significance of the study 3

1.5 Organization of the study 4

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Definitions of key terms 5

2.1.1 Classroom language 5

2.2 Using target language as classroom language 6

2.3 Using mother tongue as classroom language 12

2.4 Use of classroom language in different language teaching methods 14

2.5 Driving factors of teacher’s use of L1 and L2 in EFL classroom 15

3.4.5 Exploratory interview with the two teachers and students 23

3.5 Procedure of data analysis 23

3.5.1 Data from observation 23

3.5.2 Data from questionnaire 23

3.5.3 Data from exploratory interviews 24

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Question 1: How often do teachers use Vietnamese and English as classroom language in speaking lessons?

25

4.2 Question 2: What factors drive teachers to use Vietnamese or

English as classroom language in speaking lessons?

5.1 Summary of answers to research questions 44

5.1.1 Research question 1: How often do teachers use

Vietnamese and English as classroom language in speaking

lessons?

44

5.1.2 Research question 2: What factors drive teachers to use

Vietnamese or English as classroom language in speaking

lessons?

44

5.1.3 Research question 3: What are students’ levels of

satisfaction towards their teachers’ use of Vietnamese and

English as classroom language in speaking lessons?

45

5.2 Implications 45

5.3 Limitations of the research and suggestions for further studies 47

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Page

Table 2.1: Functions of classroom English in teaching English 7

Table 2.2: Suggested uses for L1 in the EFL classroom 13

Table 3.1: Information about four chosen classes 20

Table 4.1: Teachers’ frequencies of using classroom language 26

Table 4.2: Teachers’ reasons for using classroom English 31

Table 4.3: Teachers’ reasons for using classroom Vietnamese 37

Figure 4.1: Teachers’ frequencies of classroom language in each class 27

Figure 4.2: Students’ perception of their teacher’s classroom language

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1 states the problem and rationale of the study, along with the aims, objectives and the significance within the scope of the study In this chapter, research questions are also clearly stated and serve as guidelines for the whole paper

1.1 Statement of the research problem and rationale of the study

In many monolingual countries such as Japan, Thailand or Vietnam, it still remains a heated debate over the necessity or importance of using students’ L1 in English classes A number of researchers emphasize the importance of L1 in the process of L2 acquisition Stern (1992, as cited in Nguyen, 2005, p.1) claims the inseparable relation between L1 and L2 on the ground that “the new knowledge is learnt on the basis of the previous learnt knowledge” Cole (1998), in fact, indicates that some course books, such as the Headway series by Soar and Soars take advantage of sentence structures to distinguish the grammar of L1 from L2, which

to certain extents corresponds with Stern’s idea Similarly, the “Functional – Translation Method” places significant emphasis on the “social meaning of everyday language” and utilizes students’ L1 “for comparative analysis of L2” (as cited in Cole, 1998) Besides, Auerbach (1993) concludes in his research that students often speak their minds and interact more confidently in an English class where L1 is also permitted In general, many researchers share the view that L1 is useful in an English classroom when it is used “at appropriate times and in appropriate ways” (Atkinson, 1993, p.2)

However, as a common trend of teaching English all over the world, an increasing number of researchers advocate the domination of L2 in English classes Knop (1995) claims that students’ proficiency is in direct proportion with the amount of input provided in L2 Brown (2000, as cited in Kieu, 2010, p.120) shares the same idea that input is the major determinant of success in acquiring a foreign language Also, Gardner and Gardner (2000) support an “English – speaking atmosphere” to encourage students to use L2 by themselves They recommend that

translation should be avoided from the very beginning so as to form students’ habit

of thinking in L2

Recently, there has been a great concern in Vietnam over students’ inability to communicate in English when they have graduated from high school The same case applies to many students who do not major in English at Le Hong Phong high school in Nam Dinh Being a school for gifted students, Le Hong Phong high school requires students to pass an entrance exam, in which English is compulsory Therefore, most students here have acquired fundamental knowledge in the language, mostly in grammar, regardless of their majors by the time they progress to grade 10 However, the paradox is that despite a promising foundation for linguistic development, most still fail to communicate effectively at graduation Therefore, to follow the common trend of teaching English and improve students’ communicative ability in English, an increasing number of teachers at Le Hong Phong are promoting the use of L2 in English classes, especially in lessons for communicative skills such as speaking or listening right from grade 10

For all the above mentioned reasons, the researcher conducts a research on

“Te her’s h i e f Vietn ese nd Eng ish s ngu ge ssr in

te hing gr de 10 students s e ing: A se study t high s h ”

1.2 Aims and research questions

The research aims at investigating the trend of teacher’s use of English and Vietnamese as classroom language in teaching grade 10, non-English-major students speaking skill at Le Hong Phong high school for the gifted in Nam Dinh

To be more specific, the researcher explores the frequency, driving factors and students’ levels of satisfaction towards their teacher’s use of English and Vietnamese in speaking lessons From those elements, a conclusion can be drawn toward the appropriateness of L1 and L2 use in English classes for non-English-major students at Le Hong Phong high school in particular, and high schools for the gifted in general To achieve the goal, three research questions are going to be answered:

1 How often do teachers use Vietnamese and English as classroom language in speaking lessons?

2 What factors drive teachers to use Vietnamese or English as classroom language in speaking lessons?

3 What are students’ levels of satisfaction towards their teachers’ use of Vietnamese and English as classroom language in speaking lessons?

1 3 Scope of the study

The research focused on the teachers’ choice of Vietnamese and English as classroom language in speaking lessons for grade 10, non-English major students at

Le Hong Phong high school Both participants of the case study belong to young generations of the school, since they are the most accurate reflections of current trend of use of classroom language in the environment of Le Hong Phong high school in specific, and high schools for the gifted in general Together with the teachers, students from two classes taught by each were chosen

Within the scope of this study, classroom language only refers to the

language used for communication between the teacher and students, not among students Also, the researcher only looked into three dimensions of classroom language: teacher’s frequency, teacher’s driving factors in using classroom language and students’ perception of their teacher’s use of classroom language

1.4 Significance of the study

Through the research, the researcher hopes to figure out the reasons for teacher’s use of L1 and L2 in teaching speaking and students’ satisfaction towards their teacher’s choice Thus, a conclusion toward the appropriateness of use of L1 and L2 for non-English major students at gifted high schools in the current scenario

of Vietnam can be drawn From that, it can raise high school teachers’ awareness of their choice of classroom language in teaching speaking

In addition, although this is only a case study, it can still serve as empirical references for other studies on classroom language in the future, especially those aim at schools for gifted students

1.5 Organization of the study

This study consists of five chapters:

Chapter 1 – Introduction presents the rationale, aims and research questions,

scope, significance and organization of the study

Chapter 2 - Literature review explains key terms, reviews previous related

research and presents research gaps

Chapter 3 - Methodology describes and explains the choice of participants,

research instruments, procedure of data collection and data analysis

Chapter 4 - Results and Discussion analyzes the data and discusses the findings of

this study

Chapter 5 - Conclusion summarizes main points, reveals the limitations of the

study, and provides some suggestions for further studies on the topic Following this chapter are the References and Appendices

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter first gives definitions of key terms which the study concerns After that, it presents different viewpoints on using L1 and L2 as classroom language, as well as the use of L1 and L2 in different teaching methods Finally, several factors that drive teachers to use classroom language and gaps of previous related studies are indicated

2.1 Definitions of key terms

2.1.1 Classroom language

According to Louwerse (2001), the concept “classroom language” refers to the language used for communication between the teacher and students, and among students themselves in a classroom The language can be used for a variety of purposes, from giving instructions: “Open your books”, praising: “Good job”, controlling the class: “Please pay attention” and so on

In this study, teacher’s choice of L1 and L2 as classroom language in teaching speaking is investigated In ELT, L1 stands for the first language, the language that

a child has acquired from childhood (Schweers, 1999) L1, thus, is often referred to

as the speaker’s mother tongue Schweers (1999) also explains that L2 refers to the second and foreign language L2, accordingly, is the language that is not obtained via natural exposure from childhood, but at a later stage

2.2 Using target language as classroom language

A number of researchers have emphasized the importance of using as much L2

as possible in an English classroom Gardner and Gardner (2000) state that utilizing English in English lessons at school creates an “English-speaking atmosphere”, which is an ideal promotion of students’ learning and using the target language because it will keep students thinking in L2 constantly Moreover, using L2 in various interactions with peers and teacher acts as impetus for students’ progress since according to Rivers (as cited in Knop, 1995, p.2), they “achieve facility in using a language when their attention is focused on conveying and receiving authentic messages – messages that contain information of interest to speaker and listener in a situation of importance to both – that is, through interaction… interactions between people who have something to say” Besides, when students successfully respond to teacher’s instructions, their confidence can be significantly boosted, thus facilitating the language acquisition (Gardner & Gardner, 2000) Cook (2001, p 406) shares the same idea that it is vital for EFL learners to get the possibly greatest exposure to L2 in English lessons His argument is based on the principle of acquiring L1, which he claims to bear notable similarity to L2 acquisition Accordingly, L2 can be mastered when students are continually required to listen, imitate and respond to what they hear from the surrounding environment Nguyen (2015), in her research on language of instruction in EFL classroom, reports the results of a number of studies conducted by researchers specializing in English Language Teaching (Macaro, 2001; Philipson, 1992), as well

as in other disciplines (McMillan & Turnbull, 2009, as cited in Tsukamoto, 2011), all of which serve as concrete support for Cook’s idea

Advocates of using L2 in EFL classes, at the same time, indicate numerous detriments of L1 to students’ language learning Swan (1985) criticizes the use of L1 in teaching English as an impediment to students’ progress in L2 Krashen (1981) completely concur with Swan and further explains that L1 can lead to errors

in learners’ L2 performance In addition, Turnbull (2001) claims that L1 can

demotivate students in learning L2 since they deprive students of valuable opportunities to get exposed to the language, which is already limited in daily interactions for EFL learners While learning a foreign language primarily depends

on practice, this deprivation may hamper students’ progress (Macaro, 2001) More seriously, if L2 is neglected, students will be under the impression that L2 is not an effective means of communication (Turnbull, 2001)

In general, advocates of classroom English unanimously agree that the more English is used in classroom, the greater progress students are capable of making

As a result, it is necessary for teacher to acknowledge various opportunities in class

to maximize the use of English Among various functions that classroom English may perform, the followings are classified and suggested by Hughes (1981, pp 9-11)

Table 2.1: Functions of classroom English in teaching English

Open your book at page

73

Come out and write it on the board

Listen to the tape, please

Get into groups of four

The teacher can control the pupils’ behavior by means of commands, requests, and suggestions Usage should correspond to native-speaker

Could you try the next

one

I would like you to write

this down

usage Would you mind

switching the lights on

The teacher can vary form of instructions in order to show the range of possibilities in the foreign language

Everybody, please

All together, now

The whole class, please

I want to join in

The teacher can offer the pupils alternatives, i.e different working methods, themes, groups

Who would like to read?

Which topic will your group report on?

Do you want to answer question 6?

A2 Sequencing The teacher can sequence the

lesson effectively and communicate this sequencing to the pupils

First of all, today

Right Now we shall go

on to exercise 2

All finished? Ok For the last thing today, let’s The teacher can check what

stage the pupils have reached, whose turn it is, and so on

Whose turn is it to read?

Which question are you on?

Next one, please

Who hasn’t answered a question yet?

The teacher can introduce the class to a new activity and new stage of the lesson

Let me explain what I want you to do next

The idea of this exercise

is for you to make

The teacher can set time-limits related to various activities

You have ten minutes to

do this

Your time is up

Finish this by twenty to ten

The teacher can check that all pupils are equally capable of starting the next stage of the lesson

Can you all see the board?

Have you found the place?

Are you all ready?

A3 Supervision The teacher can direct pupils’

attention to the lesson content

Look this way

Stop talking

Listen to what Alan is saying

Leave it alone now?

The teacher can give warnings and threats

Be careful of the lead

One more word and

B

Where’s Alan?

Is Alan in the kitchen?

Tell me where Alan is

The teacher can ask questions related to specific communicative tasks, e.g

giving a description, opinion, reason, or stimulating conversation

What was the house like?

What do you think about this problem?

Yes, but how can you tell?

B2 Replying to

questions

The teacher can give verbal confirmation of pupils’ replies and/or guide them to the correct reply

Yes, that’s right

Fine

Almost Try it again

What about this word here?

The teacher can give encouraging feedback both in controlled drill-type exercises and freer conversation

Very good

That’s more like it

Could you explain what you mean?

C EXPLANATION

C1 Metalanguage The teacher can produce and

also get the pupils to produce a translation, a paraphrase, a summary, a definition, a correct

What’s the Swedish for

“doll”?

Explain it in your own

spelling, a correct pronunciation and grammatical corrections

Fill in the missing words

Mark the right alternative

Reference The teacher can give

appropriate background factual information related to people, places and events

After they left the USA in

1965, the Beatles … The church was started in the last century

The teacher can give a verbal commentary to accompany pictures, slides and films

This is a picture of a typically English castle

In the background you can see …

The teacher can use basic rhetorical devices to make the commentary more interesting and more easily followed

While we’re on the subject of …

As I said earlier … Let me sum up then

D INTERACTION

D1 Affective The teacher can express anger, That’s interesting!

Attitudes interest, surprise, friendship,

appreciation, pity, sympathy, disappointment, etc., as needed

in the classroom situation

That really is very kind of you

Don’t worry about it

D2 Social Ritual The teacher can use everyday

phrases related to recurrent social situations, e.g greeting, leaving, apologizing, thanking, congratulating, and other seasonal greetings

Good morning

Cheerio now

God bless!

Have a nice weekend

Thanks for your help

Happy birthday!

Merry Christmas!

2.3 Using mother tongue as classroom language

Although L2 as classroom language is undeniably of prime importance in students’ language acquisition, some researchers argue that it does not deny the significance of mother tongue in the process Atkinson (1993) admits the impossibility of defining a “right balance” or a perfect model for using L1, but he regards L1 as a valuable when used “at appropriate times and in appropriate ways” First, use of L1 in classroom can facilitate students’ L2 acquisition Corder (1992, as cited in Kieu, 2010, p 121), claims that because L1 can assist learners “in the process of discovery and creation”, “the effect of the mother tongue on learning L2”

is “facilitatory” Specifically, Cole (1998) suggests teacher’s exploitation of their students’ previous L1 experience to stimulate their understanding of L2 Yamamoto Wilson (1997) agrees and regards teacher’s failure to make meaningful connections between L1 and L2 as a probable contributor to students’ failure to master L2 Indeed, teachers can resort to their experience as EFL learners to understand

common mistakes caused by L1 interference, from which they can adopt an appropriate teaching method (Lee, 1965)

In addition, L1 in English classroom generates a friendly learning environment Auerbach (1993) concludes in his research on adults’ learning English

as a second language (ESL) that students tend to become more encouraged to express their ideas when L1 is also permitted in English lessons Besides, when L1

is used along with L2, it can produce “a sense of closeness with the students, either

to show understanding or to create friendly support” (Hoff, 2013, as cited in Nguyen, 2015, p 10)

Moreover, it is sometimes more economical to use L1 instead of L2 as far as time is concerned (Cole, 1998) Atkinson (1993) shares the same idea, stating that the struggle to refrain from L1 completely may trigger anguish and a waste of time when a language item can be explained by being simply translated into L1 Similarly, Weschler (1997, as cited in Cole, 1998) suggests using L1 for warm-up brainstorming since abstract words may be challenging to explain in L2

Some researchers also indicate the impracticality of using L2 as the sole classroom language in EFL classroom Phillipson (1992) relates the idea to the fact that the majority of EFL teachers are non-native speakers, whose English competence may not be enough to conduct an English-only lesson As a result, if they are forbidden to use L1, the quality of teaching performance may be negatively affected This is not to mention the case that when students are at low level, excluding L1 from English lessons is out of the question (Nunan & Lamb, 1996, as cited in Kieu, 2010, p 121)

The following table describes common uses of L1 in an L2 classroom

Table 2.2: Suggested uses for L1 in the EFL classroom

Suggested uses for L1 in the EFL classroom

1 Eliciting language: “How do you say “X” in English?”

2 Checking comprehension: “How do you say I’ve been waiting for ten

minutes in Vietnamese?” (Also used for comprehension of a reading or

listening text.)

3 Giving complex instructions to basic levels

4 Co-operating in groups: Learners compare and correct answers to exercises

or tasks in the L1 Students at times can explain new points better than the teacher This is because “when you’ve just learned something, you can explain it better to somebody who doesn’t understand than the experts who know the concept so well they’ve forgotten when and how they first learned

it” (Weimer, 2012)

5 Explaining classroom methodology at basic levels

6 Using translation to highlight a recently taught language item

7 Check for sense: If students write or say something in the L2 that does not

make sense, have them try to translate it into the L1 to realize their error

8 Testing: Translation items can be useful in testing mastery of forms and

meanings

9 Developing circumlocution strategies: When students do not know how to

say something in the L2, have them think of different ways to say the same

thing in the L1, which may be easier to translate

Adapted from “The mother tongue in the classroom: a neglected resource?” by David Atkinson (1987, as cited in Schweers, 1999, p 7)

2.4 Use of classroom language in different language teaching methods

During the history of language pedagogy, “the role of L1 in L2 teaching is one

of the most long-standing controversies” (Stern, 1992) Thus, it comes as no

surprise that different teaching methods adopt different viewpoints on use of classroom language

Throughout early 1800s in Western countries, the Grammar Translation method dominated L2 classroom, in which L2 was taught though grammar illusion, bilingual vocabulary lists and translation exercises This method allows for free use

of L1 as “a reference system” in the process of L2 acquisition (Stern, 1983, as cited

in Kieu, 2010, p 120) The noteworthy stage in the development of English teaching methods was the emergence of Direct Method in the late nineteenth century, which emphasizes the spoken language Thus, Direct Method views L2 “as

a means of instruction and communication in the language classroom”, and through

“the avoidance of the use of L2 and of translation as a technique” (Stern, 1983) The followed Audiolingual Method shares the same notion, while Communicative Approach, which has been gaining the most attention over the last fifty years, allows for use of mother tongue and translation when learners find it necessary

2.5 Driving f t rs f te her’s use f L1 nd L2 in EFL ssr

It is a fact that different teachers may have different views on appropriate use

of classroom language in EFL classroom As a result, many researchers have attempted to find out behind-the-wheel factors for teacher’s choice of L1 or L2 in teaching English

Duff and Polio (1990) in their study on English teacher’s language use in classroom indicate a number of possible factors consisting of departmental policy, the type of exercises and the nature of teaching training Besides, other studies (Kim

& Elder, 2004; Rolin-Ianziti & Brownlie, 2002; Taylor 2002) regard activity-type as

a contributor to teacher’s use of L1 and L2 in classroom Specifically, Kim & Elder (2004) claim that task-based activities offer more chances for teachers to use L2 than grammar focused activities Another factor is teachers’ pedagogical belief and goals Taylor (2002) finds out that while some teachers use L1 as a means of developing and maintaining a friendly relationship with students, others prefer more L2 so as to set power distance with their students In addition, a factor of prime

importance in teacher’s language use is students’ level of competence Crawford’s (2004) study shows that the amount of teacher’s use of L1 declines as students progress to higher levels

2.6 Research gaps

Considering the importance of classroom language in students’ language acquisition, a number of researchers in Vietnam have investigated classroom language in its various dimensions

Nguyen, A (2010) and Nguyen, N (2015) conducted two studies on teachers’ language in instructing and raising questions, respectively However, these studies’ focuses (instruction and questions) are rather narrow in the scope of classroom language Nguyen (2013) did a more comprehensive research on “The effectiveness

of using English as a classroom language to teach English for academic purposes for the first year mainstreams students” at a university Yet, her research tries to figure out difficulties of teacher’s use L1 in teaching and suggest solutions to maximize the effectiveness of L1 in English classes for academic purposes, which is different from the focus of this research Moreover, the populations of two studies are also dissimilar

Regarding teacher’s classroom language at high school, Dang (2002) investigates difficulties in exploiting English classroom language and recommends solutions However, her research was done thirteen years ago, which may not remain relevant to the current scenario of English teaching in Vietnam

Moreover, although there have been numerous studies conducted at high schools, few have focused on high schools for gifted students, whose starting point in English is remarkably higher than average high school students, thus requiring a different approach in teaching the language

Summary

In a nutshell, this chapter provides an overview of different viewpoints on using L1 and L2 as classroom language, along with common functions that each language usually performs should it be used in in EFL classes Besides, it also synthesizes

results of previous studies on teacher’s reasons for using classroom language and points out the limitations of research on the same topic conducted in the context of Vietnam These viewpoints and results would be compared with the results of this research where relevant

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

The previous chapter has given a review on literature on the research topic, which serves as theoretical basis for the researcher to conduct the study In this chapter, the researcher is going to describe and explain the choice of participants and research instruments Besides, procedure of data collection and data analysis are also going to be described in detail

3.1 Sampling method

For this case study, between two main methods of sampling: probability and non-probability (Cohen, L., Manion, L and Morrison, K., 2007, p.112), the researcher resorted to the latter (non-probability sampling) Cohen, L., Manion, L and Morrison, K (2007, p.113) indicate that “The selectivity which is built into a non-probability sample derives from the researcher targeting a particular group, in the full knowledge that it does not represent the wider population; it simply represents itself” The researcher acknowledges that, like other case studies, this study lacks generalizability However, what he expected to explore is not the whole picture of using classroom language at high schools, but only particular pieces of the picture Non-probability sample, thus, served as an appropriate choice More specifically, among many types of non-probability sampling, the researcher used purposive sampling Because the research focuses on the trend of using classroom language, both chosen teachers belong to the young generations of English teachers

at Le Hong Phong high school so as to reflect part of the trend of using classroom language

3.2 Participants

The case study aims at discovering the current trend of using classroom language in teaching speaking skill to grade 10, non-English major students at Le Hong Phong high school There are in total 15 English teachers at Le Hong Phong high school Their ages range from 24 to 54 years old, and their teaching experiences are also various, ranging from 2 to more than 30 years Participants of the study are purposefully chosen, being two teachers, Ms Gaga and Ms Minaj

(pseudonymous names) Both of them are in their 20s Ms Gaga has been teaching

at Le Hong Phong high school for two years, while it is three years for Ms Minaj Obviously, both of them belong to the young generation of English teachers at the school, thus their teaching methods may partly reflect the current trend of teaching English at the high school

Regarding student participants, the researcher investigated four classes at grade 10 which do not specialize in English: 10 Chemistry, 10 Literature, 10 Informatics and 10 Biology The reason for this choice is that from the researcher’s experience as an alumnus at Le Hong Phong high school, at the transition from secondary school to high school, students in Nam Dinh often struggle to get accustomed to the new English teaching and learning styles, which begin to pay more attention to communicative skills Thus, teacher’s choice of L1 or L2 in classroom is of critical importance to students’ acquisition In addition, unlike students in grade 11 or grade 12, grade 10 students have yet to focus too much on main subjects for university entrance exam as well as their major to compete in exams for the gifted As a result, they still have time to pay attention to improving such communicative skills as speaking

Among four chosen classes, two are taught by Ms Gaga and the other two are taught by Ms Minaj The English competencies between classes show certain differences Ms Gaga shares that 10 Chemistry is at remarkably higher level than

10 Literature, especially in communicative skills As a result, she may use 100% English in 10 Chemistry with rather complicated words, while in 10 Literature, the ratio of English and Vietnamese is usually 70:30 with, most of the time, simple vocabulary In the case of Ms Minaj, she says that although she uses Vietnamese and English in both classes, 10 Biology is more competent, thus there are usually fewer needs for Vietnamese than 10 Informatics

The following table gives detailed information about four chosen classes

Table 3.1: Information about four chosen classes

Class Teacher in charge Number of Students

3.3 Data collection instruments

3.3.1 Observation

Observation serves as a fair and precise way to record the teacher’s frequency of using L1 and L2 in the natural setting and an essential part in understanding the participants’ “ways of seeing” (Cohen & Crabtree, 2006) This method, hence, helps the researcher to find the answer to research question 1 on teacher’s frequencies of teacher’s use of L1 and L2, as well as the underlying reasons for her choice

In this study, the researcher used tally charts while observing to do rough calculation of teacher’s use of Vietnamese and English every ten minutes Each tally represented 20 words Vietnamese and English were marked by red and black tallies, respectively Also, the researcher noted down incidents that were related to teacher’s use of classroom language and questions for later clarification Besides,

recorders will be placed at different positions for further analysis In terms of number, the researcher observed two speaking lessons of each class, which made the total number of eight observations

3.3.2 Questionnaire

Mackey and Gass (2005, p.92) states that “Questionnaire is one of the most common methods of collecting data on attitudes and opinions from a large group of participants”, and allows learners “to report about themselves” Thus, questionnaire

is essential to investigate students’ perceptions of their teacher’s use of L1 and L2 as classroom language (research question 3) Besides, questionnaire also allows the researcher to answer research question 2 on driving factors for teacher’s choice of L1 and L2 as classroom language

In this study, two sets of questionnaires were distributed to teachers and students who agreed to participate in the study Although the research report includes both Vietnamese and English versions of questionnaires, only Vietnamese version was delivered to students regarding their language competence The questionnaire for teachers consists of 3 sections The first section discovers the perception of teachers on the frequency of their use of Vietnamese and English on a frequency scale, ranging from never to always The answer was then used to compare with the researcher’s observation and calculation The second include16 questions on possible objective and subjective reasons for teacher’s choice of English as classroom language, regarding students’ level, task type, class room environment, teacher’s beliefs and external factors Answers to these questions are given on a 7-degree-Likert scale, ranging from completely disagree to completely agree The third section is constructed in similar pattern Besides, questions in the second and third sections are followed by space for participants to write reasons of their own, which the researcher might not have anticipated The format and most of anticipated reasons in the questionnaire that the researcher used was adapted from the research entitled “Teachers’ choice of English and Vietnamese as the language

of instruction in the EFL classroom: A case study at FELTE – ULIS” by Nguyen

(2015) The researcher re-constructed the question of language frequency (frequency scale was used instead of percentage guess), and added the reasons related to school policy and speaking tasks Meanwhile, questionnaire for students consists of two sections The first one explores students’ perceptions of their teachers’ frequency of using L1 and L2 in speaking lessons on a frequency scale, ranging from never to always The second sections requires them to rate whether they are satisfied with their teachers’ frequency or not If the answer is no, they are required to give a satisfactory frequency

3.3.3 Semi- structured interview

Interview can inspect what is “not directly observable” and assist researchers

to “elicit additional data if initial answers are vague, incomplete, off-topic, or not specific enough” (Le, 2011, p.32) In addition, semi-structured interview provides clear instructions, and obtain “reliable, comparable qualitative data”, allows for flexibility to dig deeper into relevant topics that come up during the interview, which enables interviewers to develop new insights into the topic (Cohen & Crabtree, 2008) Flexibility is necessary for this case study because there are various matters regarding teaching styles, approach, or methods that researchers cannot anticipate but can only find out through the teacher’s answers By this way, interviews can collect in-depth information, which increases validity for a qualitative research as this present study This method allows the researcher to find answers to research question 2 on teacher’s reason for using L1 and L2, and research question 3 on students’ satisfactions towards their teacher’s choice

3.4 Procedure of data collection

3.4.1 Preparation

The researcher contacted Ms Gaga and Ms Minaj to ask for their permission

to conduct the study, and arrange suitable time for conducting observations, questionnaire and interview

At this step, detailed observation scheme and questionnaire were designed and possible interview questions were drafted out

3.4.2 Exploratory interview with the two teachers

The researcher interviewed two teachers to obtain a good understanding of their philosophies on using L1 and L2 in teaching English Such awareness would support subsequent observations

3.4.3 Observation

The researcher observed and recorded two speaking lessons of each class After that, the approximate numbers of words in L1 and L2 were counted To ensure recording clearly all of the teacher’s words when she moved around the classroom, several recorders were placed at different places

3.4.4 Questionnaire

The researcher handed two sets of questionnaires to the teacher and students right after the second observation of each class Three days before this official survey, the researcher delivered the drafted questionnaire to 3 random students of the class for piloting

3.4.5 Exploratory interview with the two teacher and students

Two weeks afterwards with data from step 1 and 2 synthesized, the researcher interviewed the teachers for further justifications of their using L1 and L2

in the observed lessons Some students were also interviewed to clarify their opinions in the questionnaire

3.5 Procedures of data analysis

3.5.1 Data from Observation

The researcher adopted a quantitative method in analyzing data from observation He first transcribed the interview, and then counted the approximate number of words in L1 and L2 the teacher used during the lessons The figures were then visualized in charts The results from observation served as a source of data for analyzing results from questionnaire and interview

3.5.2 Data from Questionnaire

Quantitative method was adopted to analyze results of questionnaire Collected data were presented in numbers These numbers were then analyzed and compared with results from observation and exploratory interview

3.5.3 Data from Exploratory Interviews

The researcher adopted qualitative method to analyze data from interview The result of exploratory interview 1 was used as a resource of data for the researcher to design proper questionnaire After analyzing the results of questionnaires and observations, the researcher then designed questions for exploratory interview 2

The data from exploratory interview 2 aimed to clarify the possible mismatch between results from interview 1, observation and questionnaire

Summary

Chapter 3 has described in detail the sampling method and choice of participants for the study Specifically, the researcher used purposive sampling and investigated the use of classroom language of two young teachers, Ms Gaga and

Ms Minaj and four classes that they were in charge of Data collection instruments for the study included observation, questionnaire and interview Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze collected data

The next chapter is going to present and discuss findings of the study

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter is going to present results collected from observation, interview and questionnaire These results are going to be analyzed in depth to give answers to three research questions which have been stated in the first chapter Specifically, the researcher investigates the frequency of teachers’ use of English and Vietnamese as classroom language in speaking lessons, driving factors of their choice as well as students’ perception of their teacher classroom language

4.1 Question 1: How often do teachers use Vietnamese and English as classroom language in speaking lessons?

To explore the frequency of teacher’s use of L1 and L2 in speaking lessons, the researcher resorted to data from two sources of information: exploratory interview and observation

For observation, the researcher recorded two lessons of each class (four lessons for each teacher) and used tally chart during observing the lesson The approximate number of words in each language was then calculated separately to determine the frequency of L1 and L2 that was used by the teacher during their lessons and the frequency in particular classes

The following table presents the frequency of classroom English and Vietnamese that each teacher used during 4 speaking lessons

Table 4.1: Teachers’ frequencies of using classroom language

It can be seen from the table that both teachers used English most of the time during observed four speaking lessons (more than 98%) Specifically, Ms Gaga used English more frequently than Ms Minaj (99.7% vs 98.7%) This frequency is also in line with their belief that although use of L1 or L2 depended on a number of factors, teachers should always ensure the most possible use of L2 in class, especially in speaking lessons In both cases, English was flexibly used for a variety

of purposes, from organizing, interrogating, explaining to interacting, which were in

correspondence with functions suggested by Hughes (1981) in A handbook of

English classroom (see Table 2.1) Meanwhile, use of Vietnamese was very limited

(below 2%) and teachers used the language for eliciting, explaining or giving complex instructions Compared with the most recent finding of Nguyen (2015) in

her research entitled “ ’ o of n l n V n m l n

of instruction in the EFL classroom: A case study at FELTE – UL S”, Ms Gaga and

Ms Minaj used relatively more L2 than the average percentage of L2 that teachers

in Nguyen’s research used (95.3%) The dissimilar scopes of two studies may partly account for this difference While Nguyen investigated language of instruction, which is only part of classroom language, in all English lessons, this research

focuses on use of classroom language in speaking lessons only Besides, students in Nguyen’s research were university students, so their lessons might involve much more complicated vocabulary, which might require teacher’s translation, than high school students These differences might have led to different results, and are going

to be analyzed more thoroughly in Section 4.2

Apart from unequal frequencies of using L1 and L2 by each teacher, Ms Gaga and Ms Minaj also used L1 and L2 differently in each of their classes

The following pie charts present the frequencies of teachers’ use of L1 and L2 in each class that they were in charge of:

Figure 4.1: Teachers’ frequencies of classroom language in each class

It is obvious that although the difference in the frequency of classroom English and Vietnamese that the teachers used in each class was not really

significant, there is a contradiction between teachers’ perception and their actual frequency in each class

In the case of Ms Gaga, she said that communicative skills of 10 Chemistry are a little better than that of 10 Literature, so she used English in 10 Chemistry more frequently than in 10 Literature Also, vocabulary that she used for 10 Chemistry was often more complicated than for 10 Literature However, in two observed lessons, she used 100% English in 10 Literature while in 10 Chemistry, Vietnamese accounted for 1% of classroom language Specifically, she used Vietnamese in order to elicit students’ responses, and explain a new word This discrepancy between teacher’s perception and reality may result from the teacher’s overestimation of her students Her supposition that 10 Chemistry was on higher level than 10 Literature may have led to her more complicated use of words in 10 Chemistry, which then required translation

The same situation applied to the case of Ms Minaj Although she believed that with the same lesson, she used English more frequently in Biology, because of their superior language competence over 10 Informatics, it turned out the opposite However, unlike Ms Gaga, she used Vietnamese to seek help from students with technical equipment and to settle down students The mismatch, in the case of Ms Minaj obviously results from unexpected problems that occurred during the lessons Besides, because the speaking lessons in 10 Biology fell on the last period of the morning, the teacher might have become too tired to use English to settle down naughty students

Another factor that may affect the discrepancy between the teachers’ perceptions and their practice is the limited number of observations Because of limited time allowance, the researcher could only observe 2 lessons of each class, so the observation may not be able to reveal the complete picture of the teachers’ use

of classroom language in each class

4.2 Question 2: What factors drive teachers to use Vietnamese or English as classroom language in speaking lessons?

4.2.1 Te hers’ re s ns f r using ssr Eng ish in s e ing ess ns

To explore the driving factors for teacher’s use of English as classroom language, the researcher used data from questionnaires which had been delivered to each teacher, and face-to-face interviews

The following table presents the result of questionnaire

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Completely

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

Agree

Completely Agree

Why do you use classroom English in teaching speaking? Item Ms

2 …because my students are

good enough to understand

4 …because it helps improve

students’ listening and

speaking skill

5 …because it makes the 5 6 11

students think in English

6 …because I feel more

confident when using

8 …because I will receive

more respect from the

10 …because I use English as

a habit, I don’t even notice