Action Research

Problem Description The Chinese Classes I observed and am student teaching are in Lehi High School. The classes include one Grade I, one Grade II and two Grade III students. Students are almost native English speakers, except one exchange student from Germany. The site teacher is also a native English speaker and is fluent in Chinese and Thai. The students are motivated to learn Chinese or Chinese culture. The teacher utilizes varieties of activities to engage the students and all the students are well behaved. However, the class communication is not able to be maintained in Chinese all the time. The teacher uses the target language to explain vocabulary and ideas, but will use English to give activity instruction, grammar points, Culture Knowledge or classroom management. Most students are able to understand the teachers explanation in target language and would respond both in Chinese and English. Most students outputs are chunks of the target language; fewer students can produce the language at sentence level. One interesting observation is that the target language use decreases as grades increase. When the teacher explains ideas and concepts of the vocabularies in Chinese, Grade 1students are more likely to respond in Chinese while Grade 3 students will more likely to use English. It also has been observed that, the vocabulary of some higher grade students is still limited. It might due to the lack of use of the target language or in turn might be the reason for not using the target language. Another thing which has been observed in the class is that many students still heavily relied on the vocabulary wall

during instant conversation. Some students have to keep looking at the vocabulary for words for either dialogue or for written assignments. Through professional training in second language education, I believe that in a secondary language class, the teacher and students should stay in the target language at least 90% of the time (Crouse, 2012). Concerning on teachers language use, Krashen, S.D. (1985) states that ample of meaningful and comprehensible input of the target language is the key for second language acquisition. It is important especially in a foreign language class. The teacher might be the only person who can provide the target language. However, it might be very hard to do in the classroom. According to researches done before, Bateman (2008) suggests six salient factors which might limit teachers target language use related to the teacher. These are Classroom management; Lack of time; Linguistic limitations of nonnative teacher; Teacher fatigue; Building rapport with students; Avoiding unfamiliar vocabulary. Looking at students language use, the importance of language output cant be emphasized more in a language class. Students need to engage in the class to develop conversations practicing their oral and listening skill in second language class. Swain maintains that comprehensible input is necessary but not sufficient for language development. Learners need the opportunities to produce output so they can: Validate their own hypothesis about the target langue; Have the chance to try the new rules and realize the gap between what they want to say and what they are able to say. Moreover, by using the language in natural communication, the leaner is forced to produce

comprehensible output so they can pay attention to the forms (Swain, 2005). However, there are also many reasons related to the students: Bateman (2008) lists factors which limit the students target language output: limitations in students language level, cognitive development and motivation level. For this action research, I think it would be very helpful if I could identify the relevant factors which affect the limited use of the target language related to the teacher and students. Interviews with the teacher, questionnaires for the students would be used to collect data and identify the reasons. As a student teacher without much experience in classroom management, I think staying in the target language will also be a great challenge for me. There are researches available suggesting strategies and techniques which I could apply in my classroom for the action research. For example, student teachers can discuss with their students their rationale for conducting class in the target language and the benefits in terms of language learning. They can explain that the students will not be expected to comprehend every word, but should strive to understand the general meaning of what the teacher says. Taylor and Luckau (1996) suggest: using the target language for daily routines such as welcoming the class, conducting warm-up activities, or correcting homework, as well as having clear procedures for differentiating between times when the target language and the L1 will be used. In my action research, my goal is to identify the reasons in my classes what are the core reasons to limit teachers and students target language use. Apply variety of

strategies and techniques which can help to stay 90% of the target language in the classroom and find out the effectiveness of these strategies.

Plan of Action Assignment

Problem Statement: The purpose of this study is to describe the effects of many strategies on teacher and students target language use in Chinese classrooms. Variables: The independent variable is the use of strategies. Input strategies are used to make the target language comprehensible and meaningful to the students. The output strategies are used to engage students to produce more output in the target language. The dependent variables are teachers and students use of target language and participation. The use of the target language is measured as the percentage of total language use. The participation is defined as their response to intermediate questions in class, class discussion and their accomplishment of in-class tasks. Research Questions: 1. How do students perceive their use of the target language (at the beginning and at the end of the action research)? 2. What are their expectations about their language proficiency? 3. When students first language is needed? How much is needed?

4. Will classroom management be affected when the target language is used? 5. How to differentiate the instruction in terms of language use? Especially for lower level students. 6. How will subject or content affect the use of the target language? 7. What are some factors which might discourage the use of the target language?

The Membership of the Group: The target groups in this study are four high school classes of Chinese from level 1, level 2 and level 3. I teach three classes (two Chinese III, one Chinese I) on B days and one class (Chinese II) on A days, with about 30 students in B1 and about 12 students in B2 for Chinese III, 25 students in Chinese II and 25 students in Chinese I. Among all the students, there are two special needs students. The students role in this study is to come to the class and receive the instruction and participate in the classroom activities. The site teacher, who is guiding my teaching, will also be part of the research. He will help to discuss the implementing the strategies, assess the effectiveness of the strategies and share his perspectives on the target language use in the interview. I, the student teacher, is also the implementer of the strategies.

Negotiations: No prior negotiations will be required before implementing and practicing the strategies. A Timeline: Every Weekend: Teacher reflections and notes Feb 7th: Site Teacher Interview Feb 10th and 11th: First Student Survey Feb 27th and 28th: Second Student Survey March 4th: Video recording of the classes March 26th and 27th: Final Student Survey March 28th: Site Teacher Interview

A Statement of Resources: The strategies practicing is very simple and does not require any additional resource beyond traditional class settings (projector, computer, papers, and pencils). A video recorder is needed at some point during the research and at the end of the research for observation. Data Collection Ideas: Data will be collected from three primary sources, listed below. I will store all data using notebook, Word and Excel files.

1. Teacher reflections and notes each week 2. Site teacher interview 3. Questionnaires from students 4. Video recording of the class