MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY THE USE OF FIRST LANGUAGE IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO ELEMENTARY LEVEL LEARNERS: A STUDY AT VIETNAMESE AMERICAN ENGLISH CENTER A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Submitted by ĐẶNG VĂN KHƯƠNG Supervisor Dr PHẠM NGUYỄN HUY HOÀNG Ho Chi Minh City, September 2016 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled “The Use of First Language in Teaching English Vocabulary to Elementary Level Learners: A Study at Vietnamese American English Center” as the statement of requirements for thesis in Master’s Programs at Ho Chi Minh City Open University, issued by the Higher Degree Committee Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does not contain material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for any degree in any other tertiary institution Ho Chi Minh City, 2016 ĐẶNG VĂN KHƯƠNG i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Dang Van Khuong, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to many people who have helped me achieve this final product This thesis has been completed with the help and counsel of many people whom I now wish to acknowledge with very deep appreciation and gratitude First and foremost, I would like to express special thanks to my supervisor Dr Pham Nguyen Huy Hoang for revising my thesis, for his valuable advice, kind and helpful assistance that he provided me throughout the thesis He has been a tremendous mentor to me while I was writing up my master thesis My special thanks also go to all the teachers who have instructed me at Ho Chi Minh City Open University (HCMCOU) for their precious lectures in class, by which I have been motivated to explore a lot of interesting issues concerning English language teaching and learning I would like to extend my special thanks to Mr Phan Tang - the headmaster of VAE Center, and my special thanks to the administrators of VAE Center for assisting me in obtaining the data for the study analysis I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the teachers and the learners who took part in my study and made it possible for me to analyze their attitudes on the use of Vietnamese in teaching English vocabulary Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my close friends Nguyen Van Khanh, Nham Chi Buu, Chau Tuan Nam, and Doan Quynh Nhu for their contribution on the first draft of this study, and for their sharing with me a lot of reading materials which were very useful for me to conduct my study iii ABSTRACT There has been a long-standing debate over the issue of including or excluding the learner’s mother tongue (L1) in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom There are two opinions in this regard: monolingual approach and bilingual approach While advocates of monolingual approach suggest that learning is determined by the exposure to the target language, those advocating the bilingual approach think that L1 makes a valuable contribution to the learning process Although the widespread use English-only in EFL classes, the use of first language is still a perennial topic So this study attempts to examine the use of Vietnamese language in English classes at a foreign language center in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City The main objective was to find out whether L1 plays a positive role or negative role in teaching English vocabulary to the elementary learners in Vietnamese context nowadays The approach employed to conduct this study was mixed one: quantitative and qualitative approach The tools which were used to collect data were classroom observation, questionnaire, and interview The participants were ten teachers and 153 elementary level learners at Vietnamese American English Foreign Language Center The results indicated that all the teacher participants overused Vietnamese in teaching English vocabulary to elementary learners The main reasons were to help the learners understand the meaning of difficult words, and to help the teachers save time The learners’ attitudes towards the way their teachers used Vietnamese in vocabulary teaching were supportive iv CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS III ABSTRACT IV CONTENTS V LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND CHARTS .IX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS XII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENTS 1.3 AIM OF THE STUDY 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 1.6 ASSUMPTION OF THE STUDY 1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 10 2.1 DEFINITION OF TERMS 10 2.1.1 Vocabulary teaching 10 2.1.2 L1 and L2 10 2.1.3 Elementary level learners 11 2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY 12 2.2.1 The role of L1 in teaching methodology 12 2.2.2 Positive roles of L1 in FL classrooms 14 2.2.3 Negative roles of L1 in FL classrooms 19 2.3 VOCABULARY TEACHING 24 2.3.1 How many words are there in English and how many teachers need to teach? 24 2.3.2 What teachers need to teach about vocabulary? 25 2.3.3 Techniques for vocabulary teaching 26 2.3.4 The use of L1 in L2 vocabulary teaching 30 v 2.4 PREVIOUS STUDIES SUPPORTING THE POSITIVE ROLES OF L1 IN L2 VOCABULARY TEACHING 33 2.5 LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS L1 USE IN L2 VOCABULARY TEACHING 42 2.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY 45 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 46 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN 46 3.2 SAMPLING 47 3.2.1 Population 47 3.2.2 Sample 48 3.3 INSTRUMENTS 49 3.3.1 Observation 49 3.3.2 Questionnaire 52 3.3.3 Interview 56 3.3.4 Data collection process 57 3.3.5 Validity and reliability of instruments 58 3.3.6 Means 59 3.4 DATA ANALYSIS 59 3.4.1 Research question 1: To what extent is L1 used in teaching English vocabulary to elementary learners? 60 3.4.2 Research question 2: What are the rationales for the teachers’ use of L1 in teaching English vocabulary to elementary learners? 61 3.4.3 Research question 3: What are the learners’ attitudes towards the way they learn English vocabulary with L1? 61 3.5 PILOT STUDY 62 3.5.1 Vocabulary items explained in the pilot study 64 3.5.2 Vocabulary items taught without using Vietnamese 65 3.5.3 Using Vietnamese in teaching English vocabulary 66 3.5.4 Refinements of the observation sheet 66 3.5.5 Refinements of the learner questionnaire 67 3.5.6 Refinements of the interview questions for both teachers and learners 68 3.5.7 Answering the three research questions 68 3.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY 70 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS OF THE FINDINGS 71 4.1 RESEARCH QUESTION 1: TO WHAT EXTENT IS L1 USED IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO ELEMENTARY LEARNERS? 71 vi 4.1.1 Quantitative data collected from classroom observation 72 4.1.2 Quantitative data collected from the teacher questionnaire 77 4.1.3 Qualitative data collected from teacher interview 80 4.2 RESEARCH QUESTION 2: WHAT ARE THE RATIONALES FOR THE TEACHERS’ USE OF L1 IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO ELEMENTARY LEARNERS? 82 4.2.1 Quantitative data collected from teacher questionnaire 82 4.2.2 Qualitative data collected from teacher interview 86 4.3 RESEARCH QUESTION 3: WHAT ARE THE LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE WAY THEY LEARN ENGLISH VOCABULARY WITH L1? 94 4.3.1 Quantitative data collected from learner questionnaire 95 4.3.2 Qualitative data collected from the learner questionnaire 100 4.3.3 Qualitative data collected from the learner interview 106 4.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY 117 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND LIMITATIONS 119 5.1 CONCLUSIONS 119 5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS 122 5.3 LIMITATIONS 123 REFERENCES 125 APPENDICES 131 APPENDIX 131 APPENDIX 132 APPENDIX 134 APPENDIX 135 APPENDIX 136 APPENDIX 140 APPENDIX 144 APPENDIX 163 APPENDIX 165 APPENDIX 10 167 APPENDIX 11 171 APPENDIX 12 175 vii APPENDIX 13 179 APPENDIX 14 183 APPENDIX 15 187 APPENDIX 16 189 APPENDIX 17 191 APPENDIX 18 198 APPENDIX 19 200 APPENDIX 20 202 APPENDIX 21 209 APPENDIX 22 218 viii LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND CHARTS LIST OF TABLES TABLE 2.2.2: POSITIVE ROLES OF L1 IN FL CLASSROOMS 18 TABLE 2.2.3: NEGATIVE ROLES OF L1 IN FL CLASSROOMS 23 TABLE 2.4A: REASONS WHY TEACHERS USED L1 IN L2 VOCABULARY TEACHING 40 TABLE 2.4B: OTHER REASONS WHY TEACHERS USED L1 IN THE CLASSROOMS 41 TABLE 2.5: SYNOPSIS OF DATA OF LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE USE OF L1 IN TEACHING L2 VOCABULARY 43 TABLE 3.5: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SCHEDULE OF THE PILOT STUDY 63 TABLE 3.5.1: NUMBER OF VOCABULARY ITEMS TAUGHT IN THE PILOT STUDY 64 TABLE 4.1.1A: NUMBER OF VOCABULARY ITEMS TAUGHT THROUGH THIRTY OBSERVATIONS 72 TABLE 4.1.1B: WAYS OF USING VIETNAMESE IN VOCABULARY TEACHING 74 TABLE 4.1.2: FREQUENCY OF THE WAYS TEACHERS TAUGHT VOCABULARY WITH USING VIETNAMESE 78 TABLE 4.1.3: SITUATIONS TEACHERS USED VIETNAMESE TO TEACH ENGLISH VOCABULARY 80 TABLE 4.2.1: FREQUENCY OF THE REASONS WHY TEACHERS USED VIETNAMESE IN VOCABULARY TEACHING 83 TABLE 4.2.2A: REASONS WHY TEACHERS USED VIETNAMESE IN ENGLISH VOCABULARY TEACHING 86 TABLE 4.2.2B: USING OR NOT USING VIETNAMESE, WHICH WAS BETTER? 89 TABLE 4.2.2C: STRONG POINTS OF USING VIETNAMESE IN VOCABULARY TEACHING.90 TABLE 4.2.2D: DISADVANTAGES OF USING VIETNAMESE IN ENGLISH VOCABULARY TEACHING 91 TABLE 4.2.2E: WHEN TEACHERS SHOULD USE VIETNAMESE IN VOCABULARY TEACHING 92 ix Usually true Total 20,0 20,0 10 100,0 100,0 100,0 Item 3.3c: You write the English word on the board, and ask students to say it in Vietnamese Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Never true 20,0 20,0 20,0 Rarely true 20,0 20,0 40,0 Sometimes true 40,0 40,0 80,0 Usually true 20,0 20,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total Item 3.3d: You write the English word on the board, give an example in English, and ask students to say it in Vietnamese Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Usually true 60,0 60,0 60,0 Always true 40,0 40,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total Item 3.3e: You read aloud the English word, and ask students to say it in Vietnamese Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Never true 30,0 30,0 30,0 Rarely true 10,0 10,0 40,0 Sometimes true 50,0 50,0 90,0 Usually true 10,0 10,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total Item 3.3f: You read aloud the English word, and the Vietnamese meaning orally Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Never true 30,0 30,0 30,0 Rarely true 10,0 10,0 40,0 Sometimes true 50,0 50,0 90,0 Usually true 10,0 10,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total 211 Item 3.3g: New words are presented in an easy context with Vietnamese definitions and explanations Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Sometimes true 20,0 20,0 20,0 Usually true 60,0 60,0 80,0 Always true 20,0 20,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total Item 3.3h: You tell a short story which you insert carefully chosen vocabulary items in Vietnamese Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Never true 20,0 20,0 20,0 Rarely true 20,0 20,0 40,0 Sometimes true 50,0 50,0 90,0 Usually true 10,0 10,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total The third theme: Frequency of the reasons why the teachers used Vietnamese in teaching vocabulary Item Statistics Mean Std Deviation N Item 3.2a: It allows elementary learners to focus attention on 3,3000 1,15950 10 3,2000 1,39841 10 4,1000 1,10050 10 3,2000 1,03280 10 2,5000 ,97183 10 vocabulary items Item 3.2b: It is natural for you to use L1 in teaching vocabulary because your students have the same L1 as you Item 3.2c: It provides a foundation of meaning so that your students can rely on to understand new words Item 3.2d: It is easier for you to use your L1 in teaching new words Item 3.2e: It is more effective to use L1 to teach vocabulary 212 Item 3.2f: It helps make clear the meaning of abstract words 4,7000 ,48305 10 3,5000 1,43372 10 3,9000 1,52388 10 3,6000 1,34990 10 or difficult words Item 3.2g: whether It helps your check students understand the words clearly Item 3.2h: It misunderstanding prevents of the meaning of new words Item 3.2i: It helps save time when there are a lot of new words in one teaching session Item 3.2a: It allows elementary learners to focus attention on vocabulary items Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Never true 10,0 10,0 10,0 Rarely true 10,0 10,0 20,0 Sometimes true 30,0 30,0 50,0 Usually true 40,0 40,0 90,0 Always true 10,0 10,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total Item 3.2b: It is natural for you to use L1 in teaching vocabulary because your students have the same L1 as you Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Never true 10,0 10,0 10,0 Rarely true 20,0 20,0 30,0 Sometimes true 40,0 40,0 70,0 Always true 30,0 30,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total Item 3.2c: It provides a foundation of meaning so that your students can rely on to understand new words Cumulative Frequency Valid Rarely true Percent 10,0 213 Valid Percent 10,0 Percent 10,0 Sometimes true 20,0 20,0 30,0 Usually true 20,0 20,0 50,0 Always true 50,0 50,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total Item 3.2d: It is easier for you to use your L1 in teaching new words Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Rarely true 30,0 30,0 30,0 Sometimes true 30,0 30,0 60,0 Usually true 30,0 30,0 90,0 Always true 10,0 10,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total Item 3.2e: It is more effective to use L1 to teach vocabulary Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Never true 20,0 20,0 20,0 Rarely true 20,0 20,0 40,0 Sometimes true 50,0 50,0 90,0 Usually true 10,0 10,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total Item 3.2f: It helps make clear the meaning of abstract words or difficult words Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Usually true 30,0 30,0 30,0 Always true 70,0 70,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total Item 3.2g: It helps check whether your students understand the words clearly Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Never true 20,0 20,0 20,0 Sometimes true 10,0 10,0 30,0 Usually true 50,0 50,0 80,0 Always true 20,0 20,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total 214 Item 3.2h: It prevents misunderstanding of the meaning of new words Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Never true 10,0 10,0 10,0 Rarely true 10,0 10,0 20,0 Sometimes true 20,0 20,0 40,0 Always true 60,0 60,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total Item 3.2i: It helps save time when there are a lot of new words in one teaching session Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Never true 10,0 10,0 10,0 Rarely true 10,0 10,0 20,0 Sometimes true 20,0 20,0 40,0 Usually true 30,0 30,0 70,0 Always true 30,0 30,0 100,0 10 100,0 100,0 Total Analytical framework of reliability and validity of the teacher questionnaire Frequency of the ways which the teachers taught vocabulary with using Vietnamese Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Cronbach's Alpha Items ,762 N of Items ,717 Summary Item Statistics Maximum / Mean Item Means 2,850 Minimum 2,200 Maximum 4,400 Range 2,200 Item-Total Statistics 215 Minimum 2,000 Variance ,720 N of Items Scale Corrected Item- Squared Cronbach's Scale Mean if Variance if Total Multiple Alpha if Item Item Deleted Item Deleted Correlation Correlation Deleted Item 3.3a: You write the English word on the board and then 20,6000 21,600 ,021 ,646 ,805 20,5000 15,833 ,524 ,981 ,727 20,2000 15,511 ,703 ,959 ,687 18,4000 22,489 -,027 ,990 ,790 20,4000 14,711 ,819 ,999 ,661 20,4000 16,044 ,630 ,979 ,703 18,8000 21,067 ,182 ,995 ,774 20,3000 16,011 ,729 ,999 ,687 give a direct translation orally Item 3.3b: You write the English word on the board, and write the Vietnamese meaning on the board as well Item 3.3c: You write the English word on the board, and ask students to say it in Vietnamese Item 3.3d: You write the English word on the board, give an example in English, and ask students to say it in Vietnamese Item 3.3e: You read aloud the English word, and ask students to say it in Vietnamese Item 3.3f: You read aloud the English word, and the Vietnamese meaning orally Item 3.3g: New words are presented in an easy context with Vietnamese definitions and explanations Item 3.3h: You tell a short story which chosen you insert vocabulary carefully items in Vietnamese Frequency of the reasons why the teachers used Vietnamese in teaching vocabulary Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Cronbach's Alpha ,849 Items N of Items ,859 216 Summary Item Statistics Maximum / Mean Item Means Minimum 3,556 Maximum 2,500 Range 4,700 Minimum 2,200 Variance 1,880 N of Items ,395 Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean Scale Corrected Squared Cronbach's if Item Variance if Item-Total Multiple Alpha if Item Deleted Item Deleted Correlation Correlation Deleted Item 3.2a: It allows elementary learners to focus attention on 28,7000 42,233 ,618 ,950 ,829 28,8000 41,511 ,523 ,987 ,840 27,9000 46,322 ,358 ,954 ,853 28,8000 40,844 ,832 ,948 ,810 29,5000 44,278 ,593 ,877 ,833 27,3000 49,567 ,454 ,960 ,850 28,5000 40,278 ,580 ,990 ,834 28,1000 38,989 ,608 ,983 ,831 28,4000 39,156 ,705 ,981 ,818 vocabulary items Item 3.2b: It is natural for you to use L1 in teaching vocabulary because your students have the same L1 as you Item 3.2c: It provides a foundation of meaning so that your students can rely on to understand new words Item 3.2d: It is easier for you to use your L1 in teaching new words Item 3.2e: It is more effective to use L1 to teach vocabulary Item 3.2f: It helps make clear the meaning of abstract words or difficult words Item 3.2g: whether It helps your check students understand the words clearly Item 3.2h: misunderstanding It prevents of the meaning of new words Item 3.2i: It helps save time when there are a lot of new words in one teaching session 217 APPENDIX 22 QUANTITATIVE DATA EXPORTED FROM SPSS VERSION 22 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR LEARNERS Descriptive statistics of mean and SD of the learner questionnaire The first theme: Frequency of the fact that the learners saw their teachers using Vietnamese compared with what the learners thought L1 should be used Item Statistics Mean Std Deviation N Item 3: How often does your teacher use Vietnamese to 2,3268 ,60513 153 2,0588 ,63074 153 teach English vocabulary? Item 4: How often you think Vietnamese should be used to teach English vocabulary? Item 3: How often does your teacher use Vietnamese to teach English vocabulary? Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always 11 7,2 7,2 7,2 Usually 81 52,9 52,9 60,1 Sometimes 61 39,9 39,9 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total Item 4: How often you think Vietnamese should be used to teach English vocabulary? Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always 26 17,0 17,0 17,0 Usually 92 60,1 60,1 77,1 Sometimes 35 22,9 22,9 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total The second theme: Reasons why the learners liked their teachers to use Vietnamese in teaching vocabulary 218 Item Statistics Mean Item 5.1: It will help Std Deviation N you understand the meaning of the 1,6340 ,79266 153 2,1569 1,02030 153 2,3399 1,11310 153 2,3203 1,07394 153 2,4314 1,24480 153 1,6340 ,96485 153 word more easily Item 5.2: It will help you remember the word more easily Item 5.3: It will help you retain the word for a longer time Item 5.4: It will help you focus on the word you are learning Item 5.5: It will make you feel interested in the lesson Item 5.6: It will help you prevent misunderstanding the meaning of the word Item 5.1: It will help you understand the meaning of the word more easily Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always true 81 52,9 52,9 52,9 Usually true 51 33,3 33,3 86,3 Sometimes true 18 11,8 11,8 98,0 Rarely true 1,3 1,3 99,3 Never true ,7 ,7 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total Item 5.2: It will help you remember the word more easily Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always true 48 31,4 31,4 31,4 Usually true 52 34,0 34,0 65,4 Sometimes true 36 23,5 23,5 88,9 Rarely true 15 9,8 9,8 98,7 Never true 1,3 1,3 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total Item 5.3: It will help you retain the word for a longer time 219 Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always true 45 29,4 29,4 29,4 Usually true 40 26,1 26,1 55,6 Sometimes true 42 27,5 27,5 83,0 Rarely true 23 15,0 15,0 98,0 Never true 2,0 2,0 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total Item 5.4: It will help you focus on the word you are learning Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always true 43 28,1 28,1 28,1 Usually true 43 28,1 28,1 56,2 Sometimes true 45 29,4 29,4 85,6 Rarely true 19 12,4 12,4 98,0 Never true 2,0 2,0 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total Item 5.5: It will make you feel interested in the lesson Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always true 45 29,4 29,4 29,4 Usually true 41 26,8 26,8 56,2 Sometimes true 33 21,6 21,6 77,8 Rarely true 24 15,7 15,7 93,5 Never true 10 6,5 6,5 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total Item 5.6: It will help you prevent misunderstanding the meaning of the word Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always true 96 62,7 62,7 62,7 Usually true 28 18,3 18,3 81,0 Sometimes true 20 13,1 13,1 94,1 Rarely true 4,6 4,6 98,7 Never true 1,3 1,3 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total 220 The third theme: Situations in which learners liked their teachers to use Vietnamese in teaching vocabulary Item Statistics Mean Item 6.1: Any time your teacher teaches English vocabulary Item 6.2: When you cannot catch up the meaning in English Std Deviation N 2,8105 1,18517 153 2,3660 1,28632 153 1,9935 1,13842 153 2,4248 1,19038 153 1,8954 1,06477 153 Item 6.3: When there are some abstract words which are difficult to understand Item 6.4: When your teacher wants to check what you understand is correct or not Item 6.5: When your teacher wants to prevent misunderstanding the meaning of the word Item 6.1: Any time your teacher teaches English vocabulary Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always true 19 12,4 12,4 12,4 Usually true 50 32,7 32,7 45,1 Sometimes true 42 27,5 27,5 72,5 Rarely true 25 16,3 16,3 88,9 Never true 17 11,1 11,1 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total Item 6.2: When you cannot catch up the meaning in English Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always true 53 34,6 34,6 34,6 Usually true 37 24,2 24,2 58,8 Sometimes true 26 17,0 17,0 75,8 Rarely true 28 18,3 18,3 94,1 Never true 5,9 5,9 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total 221 Item 6.3: When there are some abstract words which are difficult to understand Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always true 74 48,4 48,4 48,4 Usually true 28 18,3 18,3 66,7 Sometimes true 32 20,9 20,9 87,6 Rarely true 16 10,5 10,5 98,0 Never true 2,0 2,0 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total Item 6.4: When your teacher wants to check what you understand is correct or not Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always true 42 27,5 27,5 27,5 Usually true 41 26,8 26,8 54,2 Sometimes true 43 28,1 28,1 82,4 Rarely true 17 11,1 11,1 93,5 Never true 10 6,5 6,5 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total Item 6.5: When your teacher wants to prevent misunderstanding the meaning of the word Cumulative Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Percent Always true 69 45,1 45,1 45,1 Usually true 51 33,3 33,3 78,4 Sometimes true 19 12,4 12,4 90,8 Rarely true 5,2 5,2 96,1 Never true 3,9 3,9 100,0 153 100,0 100,0 Total Analytical framework of reliability and validity of the learner questionnaire Frequency of the fact that the learners saw their teachers using Vietnamese compared with what the learners thought L1 should be used Reliability Statistics 222 Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Cronbach's Alpha Items N of Items ,766 ,767 Summary Item Statistics Maximum / Mean Item Means Minimum 2,193 Maximum 2,059 Range 2,327 Minimum ,268 1,130 Variance N of Items ,036 Item-Total Statistics Scale Scale Mean Variance if Corrected Item- Squared Cronbach's if Item Item Total Multiple Alpha if Item Deleted Deleted Correlation Correlation Deleted Item 3: How often does your teacher use Vietnamese to 2,0588 ,398 ,622 ,386 2,3268 ,366 ,622 ,386 teach English vocabulary? Item 4: How often you think Vietnamese should be used to teach English vocabulary? Reasons why the learners liked their teachers to use Vietnamese in teaching vocabulary Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Cronbach's Alpha Items ,731 N of Items ,732 Summary Item Statistics Maximum / Mean Item Means 2,086 Minimum 1,634 Maximum Range 2,431 ,797 Item-Total Statistics 223 Minimum 1,488 Variance ,130 N of Items Scale Item 5.1: It will help Variance if Corrected Squared Cronbach's Scale Mean if Item Item-Total Multiple Alpha if Item Item Deleted Deleted Correlation Correlation Deleted you understand the meaning of the 10,8824 13,499 ,448 ,247 ,702 10,3595 12,008 ,522 ,324 ,677 10,1765 11,199 ,577 ,372 ,658 10,1961 12,435 ,416 ,213 ,708 10,0850 10,947 ,515 ,273 ,680 10,8824 13,407 ,340 ,148 ,727 word more easily Item 5.2: It will help you remember the word more easily Item 5.3: It will help you retain the word for a longer time Item 5.4: It will help you focus on the word you are learning Item 5.5: It will make you feel interested in the lesson Item 5.6: It will help you prevent misunderstanding the meaning of the word Situations in which learners liked their teachers to use Vietnamese in teaching vocabulary Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Cronbach's Alpha Items ,452 N of Items ,455 Summary Item Statistics Maximum / Mean Item Means Minimum 2,298 1,895 Maximum Range 2,810 ,915 Minimum 1,483 Variance ,135 N of Items Item-Total Statistics Scale Item 6.1: Any time your teacher teaches English vocabulary Variance if Corrected Squared Cronbach's Scale Mean if Item Item-Total Multiple Alpha if Item Item Deleted Deleted Correlation Correlation Deleted 8,6797 8,456 224 ,139 ,088 ,466 Item 6.2: When you cannot catch up the meaning in English 9,1242 7,425 ,248 ,299 ,390 9,4967 7,502 ,324 ,306 ,336 9,0654 7,785 ,243 ,121 ,393 9,5948 8,190 ,245 ,077 ,394 Item 6.3: When there are some abstract words which are difficult to understand Item 6.4: When your teacher wants to check what you understand is correct or not Item 6.5: When your teacher wants to prevent misunderstanding the meaning of the word 225 ... English vocabulary to elementary learners? 2) What are the rationales for the teachers’ use of L1 in teaching English vocabulary to elementary learners? 3) What are the learners attitudes towards the. .. use L1 in teaching English vocabulary for elementary level learners 1.3 Aim of the study The aim of the present study is to investigate the use of Vietnamese language in teaching English vocabulary. .. translating what the students are learning in their heads is a “natural part of any language learner’s behavior,” because the learners always try to make sense a new language through a language