KINDERGARTEN
TEACHERS’ VIEWS TOWARD
THE CODE
SWITCHING STRATEGY
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Nadia Angela Danuatmadja
112012009
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
i
KINDERGARTEN
TEACHERS’ VIEWS TOWARD
THE CODE
SWITCHING STRATEGY
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Nadia Angela Danuatmadja
112012009
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
vi
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text.
Copyright @2016: Nadia Angela Danuatmadja and Joseph Ernest Mambu, Ph.D. All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the prior written permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English Language Education Program, Faculty of Language and Literature, Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
COVER ... i
PERNYATAAN TIDAK PLAGIAT ... ii
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN AKSES... iii
PUBLICATION AGREEMENT DECLARATION ... iv
APPROVAL FORM ... v
Young Learner and Second Language Learning ... 4
Review of Previous Study ... 5
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 7
Functions of Code Switching ... 7
Reasons or Motivations of the Use of Code Switching ... 7
THE STUDY ... 8
Quantity of the Use of L1 and L2 in Code-Switching Use ... 11
Function of Code Switching ... 13
Reasons or Motivations of Code Switching ... 14
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1
KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS’ VIEWS TOWARD THE CODE-SWITCHING STRATEGY
Nadia Angela Danuatmadja
ABSTRACT
Many parents in urban areas expect their children to understand and use a second language including the English as early as possible. With this demand, there are many kindergartens in Indonesia which offer English as one of the school subjects. However, there is a controversy among kindergarten English teachers whether to use only English or to switch the language from English to Bahasa Indonesia in the classroom. With these as the background, the study aims to examine kindergarten teachers’ perspectives of their code-switching strategy in helping young learner to acquire English. To understand these teachers’ perspectives, three kindergarten teachers who teach English twice a week at a school in Kudus, Central Java, Indonesia were interviewed. To choose the participant, the three teachers should have the criteria such as they had at least two years of experience to be a teacher especially in teaching young learners and understand both Indonesia and English languages. For choosing the participants, I used quota sampling, because the participants were selected based on a number of the above criteria. The results of the interviews can be categorized into three crucial points: (1) quantity of the use of L1 and L2 in Code-Switching use, (2) function of Code Switching, and (3) reasons or motivations of Code-Switching.
Key words: code switching strategy, young learner
INTRODUCTION
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benefits for them as young learners. For example, Westly (2011) argued that learning a second language can give kids brain boost. It can boost the neuronal cell density in certain areas which is important for cognitive functioning. However, some other people may think that learning a second language in early age will cause a burden for the children. For example, Genesee (2008) stated that there are wrong assumptions about learning dual language in an early age. For instance it will “cognitively and linguistically burdensome for children” (p. 60) and “the child will learn better and faster if they only learn one language” (p. 61).
Stephen-Kalong (2008) expressed concern that code-switching in teacher instruction might lead students to feel bored and lose their attention to the previous instruction in the target language. It happens because teachers often repeat their instruction in students’ first language. However, this study will focus
on those who agree that early age English education is important and those who agree to put their child in a kindergarten which has an English class.
There are several techniques used by English teachers in early age school to teach students from around 2.5 years old to 6 years old. One of the techniques is by using code switching. Some researchers believe that it is better for English teachers in early age school to use code-switching strategy to teach young learners. Winford (2003) stated that code switching is the use of two languages as an alternative between sentences. According to Williams & Anselmo (2012), the code-switching strategy has been used by teachers who shuttle between English and Spanish during reading a book, giving explanations, and instructions to the
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the material and it helped young learners understand the lessons. Besides that, Timm (1993), as cited in Riegelhaupt (2000), also stated that code switching will probably be effective and conducive to create a more relaxed classroom atmosphere, which can enhance the enthusiasm of the learning process. That is, when the students do not understand about meanings in the second language, then the teacher will use their mother tongue to translate and explain the second language itself.
There are two reasons why the researcher chooses this topic of the research. The first reason is that English language is an International language which is important to learn especially in teaching English for young learner. In fact, to teach English language to young learner is not easy because English is the young learners’ second language and young learners do not master it yet and
because young learners have several characteristics which differ them from adult. The second reason why I have chosen this topic is because it seems that many English teachers are confused about whether they have to use code switching to teach young learners or not. Considering the confusion between English teachers in kindergarten, I am interested in doing a study how English teachers in a kindergarten view code switching in order to give information about teachers of kindergarten’s views about code switching. The result of this study can
4 stated that code mixing is a conversation which happens when the languages are mixed in a single utterance. In this study, however, I use the notion of code switching to also mean code mixing.
Young Learners and Second Language Learning
According to Kalendova (2008) a young learner means children who are in the first stage of formal schooling. They are eleven to twelve years old. In addition, Slattery and Willis (2001) stated that young learners can be divided into two groups. The first group consists of very young learners who are children under seven years old. The second group includes young learners who are children from eight to 12 years old. Moreover, Khatib and Mellati (2012) proposed another definition of young learner. According to them, young learners are students who attend pre-primary school and primary school. Similarly, Ersoz (2007) proposed several stages of children’s second language learning (p. 3). The first stage is called “very young learners,” who range from age 3-6 years old. The second stage is called “young learners,” who range from age 7-9 years. The third stage is called “older/late young learners,” who range from age 10-12 years old.
5 referred from the statement above, therefore, that children from 2.5 to 6 years old may have a greater chance to be more proficient in the second language than Anselmo, 2012), the researchers focused on the use of code switching for young learners. However, the theoretical framework for my current study is adapted from Edstrom (2007). Although she focused on adult learners, Edstrom’s work was
published in a reputable journal, and her findings are highly related to mine.
Review of Previous Studies
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journal, and written questionnaires with 15 participants who are students of her Spanish class. The majority of students ranged from 18 to 22 years old, who were beginners who had learnt the Spanish language. The finding of the study was divided into three sections: quantity of L1 use, functions of L1 use, and reasons or motivations for L1 use. The teacher used 18 percent of English in the first month and 42 percent of English in the last month. Edstrom (2007) reported that the teacher used L1 for grammar instruction, classroom management, and to compensate for a lack of comprehension.
Another study was conducted by Williams and Anselmo (2012) in a rural area but has a high population of families speaking Spanish as their primary language. The participants of the study were 19 preschoolers from Spanish backgrounds in two classrooms. In their study, Williams and Anselmo examined code-switching techniques demonstrated by the teacher to help English language learners acquire a second language. The findings of this study suggest that the code-switching technique appeared to support the acquisition of a second language for English language learners.
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Theoretical Framework
Although Edstrom (2007) investigated the use of L1 with her adult learners, the themes of her findings are suitable to be the theoretical framework of the current study.
Functions of Code Switching.
There are several functions of code switching in second language learning. Edstrom (2007) in her study found out that code switching in second language learning was useful for grammar instruction, for classroom management, and to compensate for a lack of comprehension. For classroom management, she used the code-switching strategy for dealing with an unsuccessful vocabulary activity, raising grammar-related questions, discussing some cultural issues, connecting with students, and translating.
Reasons or Motivations of the Use of Code-Switching.
There are also several reasons or motivations of teacher for using code switching. Edstrom (2007) in her study found out several reasons for using code switching. The first reason is because that the teacher is concerned about communicating respect and creating a positive environment. The second reason is because teacher has multiple goals. Examples of the second reason in Edstrom’s
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avoid stereotypical ideas about Hispanic cultures. The third reason is because teacher is lazy and tempted to use L1 to save time.
THE STUDY
Research Methodology
This research is conducted with a qualitative method by interviewing three English teachers of Agape Kenari Kindergarten School in Kudus, Central Java, Indonesia. In this qualitative study, I will address this research question: What are the English teachers’ views toward code switching strategy in English language learning for young learners?
Context of the Study
This research was conducted in Kindergarten Agape Kenari in Kudus, Central Java, Indonesia. There was only one reason why I chose Agape Kenari as the setting. Agape Kenari was a kindergarten which does not normally use English language on a daily basis. However, there is an English class which is held twice a week. The purpose was the teacher wanted to acquaint the young learners with English as an international language. In the learning process, the teacher applied the code-switching strategy in their teaching for young learners.
Participants
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criteria determined by the researcher
(http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/quota-sampling.html). In order to conduct this qualitative research, I interviewed three teachers in Agape Kenari kindergarten school in Kudus. There are two main criteria for selecting these participants. The first criterion is all teachers should have experience in teaching English to young learners because Hanushek (1986) argue that experience has effect on students’ achievement even though the effect is not really significant.
The second criterion is all teachers should be able to speak both Indonesia and English. To choose the participants, I used quota sampling, because the participants were selected based on the above criteria.
Data Collection Methods
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transcribed it. See the Appendix for the list of interview questions to get the teachers’ view about code switching strategy. For further information, I did the first interview on Saturday, 30 January 2016; the second interview on Thursday, 4 February 2016 and follow-up interviews on Thursday, 25 February 2016. All data that I report here have been translated from Bahasa Indonesia to English.
Data Analysis Procedure
As I read my transcribed data, I made marginal notes on them, highlighting any teacher responses which I believed would illustrate particular points, and then listed what I saw, I grouped the data into several key themes based on Edstrom’s (2007) statement which are (1) quantity of the use of L1 and
L2 code switching use, (2) functions of code switching, and (3) reasons or motivations of code switching. Edstrom’s framework has also been combined with Johansson’s (2013) study about when and why code switching is used and teachers’ reasons of doing it.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
I do not mention the teacher’s name and I use the term of Interviewer (I),
Interviewee 1 (Teacher 1), Interviewee 2 (Teacher 2), and Interviewee 3
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Quantity of the Use of L1 and L2 in Code-Switching Use
On the interview, Teacher #2 and Teacher #3 argued that it is better if they teach their student using English language around (80%) and Indonesia language use around (20%). The reason of that decision was to make the students accustomed to English therefore they will be able to speak English in early age. As Teacher #2said:
I think children have strong memory. Therefore, if I make them exposed to English, they will be able to speak English fluently. Besides, it is an English class not an Indonesia class, so I prefer to use English language more often rather than Indonesia language in order to make the students accustomed with English. I expect that if the students are accustomed to listening to English, they will be able to speak English in early age. (Interview, January 30, 2016)
This statement corresponds to Cummins (1981 as cited in Mati, 2004) who stated that young learners’ good memory contributes to high levels of proficiency
in two languages. It can be inferred that young learners may be able to remember utterances in English quickly and may easily achieve native-like proficiency if the teacher speaks English more often than Bahasa Indonesia in the classroom.
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However, an opposite view came from Teacher #1 who agreed to use 20 percent English and 80 percent Bahasa Indonesia because she thought the students would lose their mother tongue (Bahasa Indonesia) if they are more exposed to English than Bahasa Indonesia, as Teacher #1 stated below: “I think the use of
Bahasa Indonesia is needed because if I used English too often, student will get confused and it will decrease their mother tongue. Therefore, I should only teach English vocabulary for students.” (Interview, January 30, 2016)
This statement corresponds to Ramirez’s (1985) finding that there was a
controversy between the use of code switching in teaching English because it can cause regressive code switching, a condition where children are losing their first language and leaning on their second language to supply missing elements.
Interestingly, even though Teacher #3 agreed to use more English than Bahasa Indonesia in the classroom, she was also aware that teaching English for young learners brings a risk for the loss of Bahasa Indonesia as learners’ mother
tongue, as quoted below:
I think the students do not fully master Bahasa Indonesia because they are just children who are still in the process of acquiring Bahasa Indonesia. Using full English in the
classroom may slow down or even obstruct their ability to speak Bahasa Indonesia. That’s
why I still use a little bit Bahasa Indonesia in the classroom. (Interview, 04 February 2016)
It can be concluded that Teacher #1 and Teacher #3 are basically aware that teaching English for young learners is quite risky for students’ process of
13 “Umm, I usually use Bahasa Indonesia when I explain my lessons to my student.
For example, I show a picture and say ‘banana, pisang.’ So, I must translate it in order to make my student understand more” (Interview, January 30, 2016).
Another example was given by Teacher #2 who stated that she would use code switching when there are some new students who join the class. She would translate her utterances from Indonesia to English. Teacher #2 stated:
When I explain the material and if there are some new students who join the class recently, I usually use Bahasa Indonesia first then I translate it in the English language to make them understand what I say and I think that student need adaptation in the learning process. (Interview, January 30, 2016)
The two statements above similar to one of Johansson’s (2013) findings in
her study that teachers use code switching to make it easier for the students to understand what they are teaching. This finding also corresponds to Edstrom (2007) and Polio & Duff (1994) who stated that code switching is useful for translating difficult words.
The second function of code switching is to reprimand students, as Teacher #1 quoted below:
I usually use Bahasa Indonesia without planning. It happens when I want to reprimand a student who disturbs another student when I am explaining in the class.Because if I use English language, I believe that there are students who cannot understand what I’m saying
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It can be concluded that Teacher #1 think that code switching is useful for classroom management because Rahman (2011) stated that one of several aspects of classroom management is providing a suitable reprimand. Therefore, teachers’
use of code switching to reprimand students can also be said useful for classroom management. This finding corresponds to Polio’s & Duff’s (1994) who think that
reprimand is useful for classroom management.
Reasons or motivations of Code Switching
There are two reasons why teachers use code switching. The first reason is because they realize that the students have different levels of proficiency. Therefore, they switched the language from Indonesia to English to avoid negative atmosphere, as Teacher #2 stated below:
I don’t differentiate my choice of language in all classes even though there are certain classes in which many of the students have high proficiency in English. It’s because there
are still some students who don’t understand English yet. So, I think it’s better if I use both Bahasa Indonesia and English in each class. (Interview, January 30, 2016)
It can be concluded from the finding that if the teachers used 100 percent of English in the classroom, students with low level of proficiency may be burdened. Therefore, to create positive atmosphere the teachers used code switching. This finding corresponds to Edstrom (2007) who state that the teachers used code switching in order to create a positive environment to the students.
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Sometimes students are not confident to speak English even to speak short and simple sentences that I have explained. Therefore I switch from English to Bahasa Indonesia to make the students be more comfortable. I hope when the students feel comfortable and enjoy the lesson, they will be more confident in speaking English. (Interview, 04 February 2016)
It can be inferred from the statement above that the teacher attempted to understand students’ feeling. Therefore, she switched from English to Bahasa
Indonesia. This finding is closely related to one of several categories of L1 use proposed by Polio & Duff (1994) which is to express their empathy/solidarity.
CONCLUSION
This study was conducted to find out what strategies used by English teachers in a kindergarten school which offers a dual-language program for young learners. Data in this study is derived from the interview that has been done in an English class with three teachers in Agape Kenari Kindergarten School in Kudus, Central Java, Indonesia. The finding shows that the teacher used code switching strategy which was grouped in 3 themes there are (1) quantity of the use of L1 and L2 code switching use, (2) function of code switching, and (3) reasons or motivations of code switching. Based on the three themes, code switching was used consistently in the classroom.
The first theme is concerned with quantity. Teacher #2 and Teacher #3 used 80 percent English and 20 percent Indonesia in the classroom because they think it is needed for students to train and familiarize themselves to speak English as soon as possible. This statement supported Cummins (1981 as cited in Mati, 2004) who stated that young learners’ good memory contributes to high levels of
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percent Indonesia in the classroom because she thinks that using Bahasa Indonesia more often than English is possible for students in order to maintain their mother tongue. This statement is supported by Ramirez (1985) who stated that there was a controversy between the use of code switching in teaching English because it can cause regressive code switching (i.e., a condition where children are losing their first language). Interestingly, even though Teacher #3 agreed to use more English than Bahasa Indonesia in the classroom, but she aware that teaching English for young learners had a risk for students’ mother tongue. She realized that students have a risk to loss of Bahasa Indonesia as their mother tongue. However, Teacher #3 prefer to use English as much as possible in the classroom considering the fact that young learners have a great chance to master English due to their good memories.
The second theme is about the functions of code switching. The first function is for translation. All teachers in my study thought that the use of code switching was necessary to translate some difficult word to the student. The second function of code switching is for giving reprimands to the student.
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As the implication for pedagogical practice, teachers are recommended to use code switching strategy for kindergarten school students since code switching has well various benefits for young learners which can help them to learn English easier and to be more confident in speaking English.
Finally, I hope that this study may be useful for English teachers in kindergarten schools to be more confident about using code switching after knowing it is benefits. However, considering the limitation of time, context, and number of participants, this study could be developed on more than one kindergarten contexts with larger number of participant to know various teachers’
views toward code switching. I also encourage researchers to use classroom observations to check the extent to which teachers’ responses regarding code
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REFERENCES
Clark, J. J. (2004). Early and late Spanish–English bilinguals' acquisition of English word stress patterns. Cambridge Journals, 7(3), 207-226.
Edstrom, A. (2007). L1 use in the L2 classroom: One teacher’s self-evaluation. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(2), 275-292
Ellis. (2005). Principles of instructed language learning. The Asian EFL Journal, 7(3), 9–24.
Ersoz, A. (2007). Teaching English to young learners. Ankara: EDM Publishing. Genesee, F. (2008). Dual language development in preschool children. Arizona
State University, 59-79.
Hanushek, E. (1986). The Economics of Schooling: Production and Efficiency in Public Schools. Journal of Economic Literature,24(4), 1141-1177.
Jeffery, L. (2008). Early language learning research white paper report.
Johansson, S. (2013). Code-switching in the English classroom: What teachers do and what their students wish they did (Unpublished MA thesis). Karltads University.
Kalendova, E. (2008). The use of game-like activities in teaching English to young children. Masaryk University, English language.
Khatib, M. & Mellati, M. (2012). Literature and young learners in an EFL situation. Journal of Comparative Literature and Culture, 1(1), 18-22. Mati, X. (2004). Using code switching as a strategy for bilingual education in the
classroom. Proceedings of the 21st annual AEAA Conference, 1-28. Polio, C. & Duff, P. (1994). Teachers' language use in university foreign language
classroom: A qualitative analysis of English and target language alternation. Modern Language Journal, 78, 313-326.
Quota Sampling. (n.d.) Business dictionary online. Retrieved from April 25, 2016 http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/quota-sampling.html.
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Ramirez, A. G. (1985). Bilingualism through schooling: Cross-cultural education for minority and majority students. New York: State University of New York Press.
Riegelhaupt, F. (2000). Codeswitching and language use in the classroom. In F. Riegelhaupt, & A. Roca (Eds.), Research on Spanish in the U.S. (pp. 204-217). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
Slattery, M., & Willis, J. (2001). English for primary teachers: A handbook of activities and classroom language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stephen-Kalong. (2008). Code-switching as a Resource in Content and Language
Integrated Learning or Bilingual Classroom. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from
http://studentbounty.com/essays/code-switching-as-a-resource-in-content-and-language-integrated-learning-or-bilingual-classroom/
Wardhaugh, R. (2006). An introduction to sociolinguistics (5th ed.). Hongkong: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Westly, E. (2011). The bilingual advantage: Learning a second language can give
kids’ brains a boost. New York City.
Williams, M. & Anselmo, G. (2012). Does code switching work for young children? A case study of English language learners. Undergraduate Research (NCUR), Weber State University, Ogden Utah.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Thankfulness to God Almighty, this study has been finished. This hard long effort could not be done without those who supported me during on the study. I would like to dedicate my acknowledgement to:
Jesus Christ who has accompanied and blessed me during the process of my study.
My father Harsono Danuatmadja (alm) and my mother (Elsjawani Tjokrosoeharto) who have supported and prayed for the smoothness of my study.
My brother, Hans Kristanto Danuatmadja. You have supported and prayed for the smoothness of my study.
My big Tjokrosoeharto’s family who have cared and prayed for me to finish my thesis soon.
Bapak Joseph Ernest Mambu, Ph.D. who gave me a big chance and trust to join his Proposal class when I didn’t have a Proposal class yet and thank you for being patient and kind in guiding me to compose this thesis.
Bapak Christian Rudianto, M.Appl.Ling. Thank you for being a good, kind, and friendly examiner.
My beloved boyfriend, Rendra Pramana Putra Kurniawan who gave me supported, accompanied, helped, and prayed for the smoothness of my study.
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APPENDIX Interview Questions
• Male ( ) Female ( )
• What are your subject(s) beside English? • How many years have you been teaching?
1. What do you think about the use of Bahasa Indonesia in the English classroom, in general?
2. In what situations do you choose to speak Bahasa Indonesia?
3. Are there times and situations when you always speak Bahasa Indonesia? When and why?
4. Are there advantages in changing from English to Bahasa Indonesia in your teaching?
5. Are there times and situations when you never speak Indonesia or try extra hard not too? When and why?
6. Are there disadvantages in changing the language to Indonesia when you teach?
7. Are there times when you speak Indonesia when it was not planned ahead? When does this occur? What situations make you switch into Indonesia? Why do you use Indonesia in those situations?
8. Is your choice of language different if you are talking to the whole class or with a single student?
9. Is your choice of language different depending on which one of your classes you are teaching?
10.Are there advantages when students switch to Bahasa Indonesia when you teach?
11.Are there disadvantages when the students switch to Bahasa Indonesia when you speak?
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13.In the new syllabus for English it is said that teaching should as far as possible be conducted in English. What has this new guideline meant for your teaching?
