Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng ngôn ngữ đích trong lớp học của giáo viên tiếng Anh cấp Tiểu học ở thành phố sông Công

guage 
all the time as they self-reported in the 
questionnaires. 
Figure 1. The frequency and the amount of time 
of using TL 
Figure 2. The amount of time of using TL 
from classroom observation 
The results from observation checklists 
demonstrate that all the teachers used TL for 
greeting, making questions and giving 
feedback for their lessons. There were some 
certain structures and phrases which the 
teachers used during their lessons, as 
presented in Table 1. However, not many 
Nguyen Thi Hong Minh et al TNU Journal of Science and Technology 199(06): 93 - 100 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 96 
teachers used classroom language for giving 
instructions; only 20% of them totally used 
English classroom language to give 
instructions while the majority of them gave 
instructions in English and then explained in 
Vietnamese. In addition, 80% teachers did 
not use classroom language when they 
wanted to explain the requirements of the 
task or summarize the lesson, which means 
only 20% of them used TL for those 
activities. None of the teachers used 
classroom language for making transition to 
the following part in the lessons, which 
proves that this activity has not been popular 
in English lessons at Cai Dan, Binh Son 1 
and Binh Son 2 primary schools. 
Table 1. TL use in activities 
Activities with TL use 
Percentage 
(%) 
Structures or phrases that the teachers used 
Greeting 100% “Good morning”, “Hello everyone” 
Making questions 100% “How many people are there in this picture?”, “Do you have 
a doll?”, “How many pictures are there?”, “What’s the 
weather like?”, “Are you ready?”, etc. 
Giving feedback 100% “Good”, Thank you. Sit down, please”, “OK”, “Well done”. 
Giving instruction 20% “I give you three times to listen. The first time you listen. 
The second time you listen and number. The third time you 
check it.” 
Giving explanation 20% “ I have a game called “Slap on the board”. When I say 
“cloudy”, you slap on the word “cloudy”. When I say 
“cloudy”, you slap on the word “sunny” so you’re wrong.” 
Summarizing the lesson 20% “Today we stop here. Thank you”. 
Making transition to the 
next part 
0% 
3.2. The quality of English primary teachers’ TL use 
The charts shown in Figure 3 present the rate of fluency and accuracy in some language aspects 
which is taken from observation checklists. 
Figure 3. The rate of fluency and accuracy of English teachers’ TL use 
Figure 3 depicts the rate of fluency in using classroom language. As displayed in the Figure, the 
rate of fluency is 60%, proving that quite a big number of the teacher are fluent to use classroom 
language; however, the rate of repetition is also 60%, which means the teachers repeated the 
structures as well as vocabularies many times. Moreover, a small number of teachers still 
hesitated and paused while they were using TL; this may make their lesson not go smooth in its 
process. 
Nguyen Thi Hong Minh et al TNU Journal of Science and Technology 199(06): 93 - 100 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 97 
It is clear from the Figure that some of the 
teachers were quite good at language aspects 
(pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar). 
Nonetheless, only one teacher was excellent 
at pronunciation, while some of them were 
good (60%) and one of them was fair (20%). 
Although no one was bad at pronunciation, 
there were some teachers whose 
pronunciation was below B2 level 
requirements; for example, they made 
mistakes in pronunciation such as “s” sounds 
or consonants /l/ and /n/. Besides, teachers 
sometimes used L1 to explain or give 
instructions to students, or they spoke English 
and then explained in Vietnamese. In 
addition, some teachers are not good at some 
language aspects such as fluency, 
pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, 
which does not reflect English proficiency at 
B2 level as required. 
3.3. The teachers’ difficulties in using TL 
Table 2 presents the problems in using TL 
that the teachers have been encountering. It 
can be seen that all the teachers have 
problems in giving instructions which 
students cannot understand. 100% of the 
teachers admitted that they could not use TL 
in all class time. The source of this problem 
came from the fact that most students lived in 
the rural areas, so they had few chances to 
improve their English skills and have 
difficulty understanding English, which 
prevents the teachers from full use of English 
instructions. A further difficulty is time-
limited (appromiximately 60%), which means 
that the teachers are afraid that they do not 
have enough time, so they use Vietnamese 
instead to explain to students. Besides, large 
classes (40%) and mixed ability (40%) in 
classes are also the reasons why classroom 
language cannot be used very often. Another 
factor that affects the quality of using 
classroom language is the fact that students 
do not support them, so they cannot do the 
task successfully. 
These difficulties reported by the English 
primary school teachers in Song Cong City 
are congruent with Tennant and Negash’s 
(2009) [19] list of possible problems in TL 
use. All teachers agree that students cannot 
understand what they say is the difficulty in 
the first place driving the teachers not to use 
TL extensively. Nonetheless, it is revealed 
from the observation that 60% of the students 
can totally understand the teachers’ 
instructions and can perform the given tasks 
successfully. Therefore, this should not be 
accounted as the teacher’s difficulties in 
maximizing the TL use in English classes. 
Table 2. Teachers’ difficulties in using TL 
 Problems in using TL Percentage 
1 Students cannot understand what you say 100% 
2 You worry that you do not have the time and that it is faster to explain to students in L1 60% 
3 Large classes (difficult to speak English as not all students understand) 40% 
4 Mixed ability classes 40% 
5 Students do not support you, so they do the task unsuccessfully 20% 
6 You are not used to using English classroom language 0% 
7 You are not confident enough to use English in the class 0% 
8 You do not actually know the right words or phrases 0% 
Moreover, though no teachers have reported “You are not used to using English classroom 
language”, “You are not confident enough to use English in the class” and “You do not actually 
know the right words or phrases” as their problems, due to the low rate of fluency and accuracy 
(as discussed above), it can be withdrawn that the English primary teachers in Song Cong City 
are not very proficient in TL use and the practice of using English instructions have not been a 
Nguyen Thi Hong Minh et al TNU Journal of Science and Technology 199(06): 93 - 100 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 98 
regular practice of the teachers. Furthermore, 
the factors preventing the teachers from using 
the TL in class extensively should not exclude 
the problems from the instructors themselves. 
This, in consequences, may suggest more 
effective professional development courses in 
which enhancing the use of English classroom 
language is supposed to be a crucial component. 
4. Conclusion and Recommendations 
The article has examined the situation of TL 
use in English classes in Song Cong 
primary schools. The results indicate that 
the amount of time devoted to TL use in 
those schools does not reach the amount of 
90% plus as recommended by ACTFL 
(2010) [13]. Moreover, the quality of 
teacher’s TL use is still in question with the 
low rate of fluency and accuracy. 
As suggested by ACTFL (2010), in order to 
maximize TL use, teachers should consider 
applying a variety of strategies including: 
providing a language-rich environment; 
Supporting comprehension and production 
through context/gestures/visual support; 
Focusing on meaning before details; 
Conducting comprehension checks to ensure 
understanding; Negotiating meaning with 
students and encourage negotiation among 
students; Eliciting talk that increases in 
fluency, accuracy, and complexity over time; 
Encouraging self-expression and spontaneous 
use of language; Teaching students strategies 
for requesting clarification and assistance 
when faced with comprehension difficulties; 
Avoiding the mother tongue as the default for 
checking on meaning or understanding [13]. 
4.1. Providing a language-rich environment 
It is discussed in the earlier parts that it is the 
teacher’s key role to offer students with a rich 
language environment which includes 
everything that the learners encounter. 
Sometimes with simple feedback like “Good 
job”, You’re gorgeous”, “You got it”, Better 
try next time” can provide natural language 
use as well as encourage students to fulfill 
language tasks. Moreover, when students are 
surrounded by authentic inputs supplied and 
prepared by the instructors, it is more likely 
that they will increase the intake to transform 
what they have exposed in English class into 
their own repetoire. 
4.2. Supporting comprehension and production 
through context/ gestures/ visual support 
Learners at all levels seem to acquire TL 
more effectively if the teachers’ instructions 
in TL are supported through context, 
gestures, visual objects, or connections with 
prior learning or experiences. It is 
particularly true with students at primary 
schools who prefer animation and are more 
engaged with visual things regardless of 
whether they are visual learners or not. The 
biggest benefit this strategy can offer is 
keeping and increasing students’ interest and 
motivation in learning. The feeling of 
comfort in a friendly language environment 
to a large extent can guarantee students’ 
comprehension in and production of the TL. 
4.3. Focusing on meaning before details 
Before digging in to figure out details or 
nuances, primary students need support to get 
a general understanding of what is heard, 
read, or viewed, which will facilitate their 
success in classroom task performance. It is 
the instructors that provide students with a 
strong context, visuals, and a focused task 
such as finding out what is new information, 
or figuring out the main idea. Once students’ 
understanding of meaning is formed, they will 
feel more comfortable and motivated in 
learning; the effectiveness of English learning 
is better guarantted and thus the teacher’s use 
of TL will bring about benefits for both 
teachers and learners. 
4.4. Conducting comprehension check to 
ensure understanding 
Students take many advantages from showing 
their understanding frequently. Frequent 
comprehension checks give students feelings 
that their efforts are valued and know what is 
necessary for them to improve upon. These 
comprehension checks also give teachers 
essential data to adjust their English 
instructions, whether they need to change 
Nguyen Thi Hong Minh et al TNU Journal of Science and Technology 199(06): 93 - 100 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 99 
their instruction-giving techniques or develop 
better TL use to support students’ 
understanding. 
4.5. Negotiating meaning with students and 
encouraging negotiations among students 
Learning takes place when learners are 
engaged and become essential part of the 
process. Teachers should help this happen by 
encouraging students’ participation in class 
negotiation. During an interpersonal activity 
to negotiate meaning and ideas, learners may 
need certain phrases to make their interactions 
more natural and teachers can provide these 
in the moment, adding key phrases to a 
physical or virtual “word wall” for learners to 
access during future language activities. 
4.6. Eliciting talk that increases in fluency, 
accuracy, and complexity over time 
In order to raise primary students’ speaking 
skill, teachers should make simple questions 
such as tag questions or yes/no questions. The 
teachers also need to encourage students to 
interact with them by adding more details 
(who, when, what, etc.) since learners practice 
asking such questions, their speaking 
performance with increasing rate of fluency, 
accuracy and complexity will be improved 
over time. 
4.7. Encouraging self-expression and 
spontaneous use of language 
It is crucial for students to realize from the 
beginning that they can respond in the TL, 
though simply at the word-level or with 
comprehensive gestures. This can be 
supported by teachers’ giving lots of choices 
using visuals and repetitive phrases that can 
be easily modified. As confidence builds, 
young learners should be encouraged to mix 
and match their language chunks to create 
their own messages. Students who apply 
their learned vocabulary and/or structures in 
new contexts are making their progress in 
English learning. 
4.8. Teaching students strategies for 
requesting clarification and assistance when 
faced with comprehension difficulties 
To maintain target language use by both 
teachers and learners in English classes in 
primary schools, set phrases should be taught 
for students to ask for help or clarification in 
the target language (What? Huh? What do 
you mean by ___? How do you say ____? I 
don’t understand. Can you repeat that?). 
These learning aids, as well as other common 
classroom phrases, can be included on a 
“word wall” or printed on a list that can be 
given to the learners or even taped to desks. 
4.9. Avoiding the mother tongue as the default 
for checking on meaning or understanding 
Another importance strategy is making 
careful instructional decisions about when 
NOT to use TL (keeping the minimum 
amount of classtime of what students say, 
hear, read, write, or view in the mother 
language). Teachers should maintain that for 
deeper processing of understanding in 
generally private exchanges between teacher 
and student, for reflection on the learning 
process or for explaining deeper 
understanding on an assessment. Native 
language use of Vietnamese is reserved for 
some certain situation and purposes, such as 
explaining why this approach is worthwhile 
and what learners should expect in this class 
(not knowing every word, but being able to 
guess at the meaning and show understanding 
in a variety of ways), to briefly explain a 
concept that would take too long to act out or 
demonstrate, or to allow for brief processing 
of an idea. The mother tongue should not be 
an easy default choice – otherwise, learners 
simply wait to hear words given in 
Vietnamese. This does not help build up 
students’ English yet decrease their efforts 
and strategies in communicating in the TL. 
From the revealed findings, it is seen that the 
teachers have been encountering some 
difficulties in using TL. The following 
recommendations are based on those 
difficulties.