Vocabulary Teaching and Learning in a Multilingual Classroom

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Vocabulary Teaching and Learning in a Multilingual Classroom

Elin Solberg

Dept. of Language Education USX04P

Degree project 15 hp, second cycle Language Education

Autumn 2012

Supervisor: Tore Nilsson

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Vocabulary Teaching and Learning in a Multilingual Classroom

Elin Solberg

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of the strategies used for vocabulary teaching and learning in a multilingual adult education English classroom with recently arrived students in Sweden. Through classroom observations, an analysis of the textbook used, an interview with the teacher, and interviews with recently arrived students, several strategies and approaches to teaching or learning English vocabulary were found. The most common strategies for teaching vocabulary were to explain the word in the target language and to put it in context, although Swedish translations were also frequently used.

Among the students’ strategies found were the use of dictionaries, flash cards, wordlists, and guessing from similar words in other languages. The students reported some difficulties with Swedish

translations of English words and the use of Swedish in the classroom, albeit some also appreciated the opportunity to learn more Swedish. From these findings, some potential challenges for a multilingual classroom with recently arrived students were drawn.

Keywords

recently arrived, English, vocabulary, multilingualism

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1. Introduction

Sweden, like many other Western countries, has a steady stream of incoming refugees and immigrants from other countries. Many of these come to stay, and those without high school grades who want to go on to further studies need to begin or continue their schooling in Sweden. These recently arrived students have very different backgrounds and different experiences and length of previous schooling.

What they do have in common is that they usually do not have Swedish as their first language and do not speak or understand Swedish very well (Skolverket, 2008). When they come to Sweden, the first priority is for them to learn Swedish, often from both their and the Swedish state’s perspective.

However, considering the status of the English language in today’s globalized world, the English subject is in Sweden regarded as highly important and moreover required for further studies. The recently arrived immigrants therefore also need to learn English. Their level of English may differ greatly, from those who have no previous knowledge of the language to those who have studied it for several years in their home country. This factor – that the students have to learn Swedish as well as English – presents challenges for the English education in Swedish schools. This essay will deal with some of these challenges, focusing especially on vocabulary teaching and learning in English.

It may be quite common in Sweden to teach vocabulary through the medium of the common first language of the students. For instance, textbooks often have vocabulary lists where the words are translated from English to Swedish. This may be an appropriate way of dealing with vocabulary teaching and learning in a classroom where everyone shares a common non-target¹ language, or is at least fluent in it. With recently arrived students, however, this is not the case. If these students are to learn English before they have a good enough grasp of Swedish to learn other subjects through it, there is no common first language to lean on for comparisons and contrasts. A report from the Swedish National Agency for Education (Jönsson, 2007) points out that the syllabi for English and other foreign languages are monolingual; that is, they do not require any other language than the target one to complete the course, and she suggests that English education should be held in English only so that these students are also able to enrol in and complete the courses. Recent research, however, seems to suggest otherwise. It has shown the importance of the mother tongue in learning a foreign language, in contrast to earlier endorsements to only use the target language in the foreign language classroom (Meiring & Norman, 2002).

In recent years, studies concerning multilingualism and third language acquisition have increased, as it is being recognized that multilingualism and acquiring a third and even additional languages, as opposed to bilingualism and learning a second language, is becoming increasingly common in today’s globalized world (Hammarberg, 2009). The recently arrived students have a first language and often also one or more second or foreign languages in addition to this. They are therefore multilingual and

1 This term is used instead of ‘first language’ as a shared first language may equally not exist in

classrooms where all students know Swedish. These students may still have different first languages as many of them have a ‘foreign background’; the difference to recently arrived students is that they know Swedish well.

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possess a metalinguistic awareness to varying degrees. They may thus be able to use their knowledge of other languages when learning vocabulary in English.

This study will look at the way a teacher in a multilingual, adult education, English language classroom deals with vocabulary teaching, and how recently arrived students who do not necessarily share a first language with the teacher or each other go about learning vocabulary in English. This will contribute to giving additional insight into the way vocabulary is learnt by recently arrived students and how teaching vocabulary can be done in a setting where there is no shared non-target language, as well as present some challenges for the multilingual English language classroom.

1.1. Aim and research questions

The aim of this study is to describe and analyze the approaches to vocabulary teaching and learning taken by the teacher and recently arrived students in a multilingual, adult education, English language classroom in Sweden, in order to find out what challenges there may be in such a classroom when it comes to vocabulary teaching and learning.

This aim is approached in the following research questions:

What strategies does the teacher of English to recently arrived students use to teach vocabulary?

What strategies do recently arrived students use to learn English vocabulary, and how do they deal with unknown English words in the classroom?

What do the teacher and the students find is challenging when it comes to teaching or learning vocabulary in English?

2. Background

2.1. Theoretical background

Three topics considered important for this study will be presented here, as they are related to the special learning situation for recently arrived students and the special teaching situation for their teachers, both in general and specifically for vocabulary teaching and learning. One of these situations is the language used in the classroom, for instance when explaining a new word. Another is the fact that the students and the teachers may have very different linguistic backgrounds and use their

knowledge of other languages in teaching or learning new vocabulary in English. The third topic deals with some specific vocabulary teaching and learning strategies that may be especially important in a multilingual setting and related to the two previous topics.

2.2.1 Use of target language vs. L1 in the classroom There has previously been much emphasis placed on the importance of the use of only the target language (TL) in the foreign language classroom to enhance students’ acquisition of the language.

This view has its roots in the Direct Method, and was renewed with the introduction of the

Communicative Language Teaching approach (Meiring & Norman, 2002, p. 27). Cummins (2007)

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suggests that instructional policies have adapted this approach to the extent that monolingual

instruction is seen as common sense and the first language (L1) often ignored, while there is actually very little empirical evidence for this view (pp. 222, 224-225). Turnbull and Arnett (2002), who reviewed recent research on the use of TL versus L1 in second and foreign language classrooms, found that most research agreed that the target language should be used as much as possible, but they note that for future research it is important to establish how and when TL or L1 should be used (p.

211). In later years, more research has been done on how the L1 can benefit students’ learning of other languages.

Littlewood and Yu (2011) show how the L1 can be used strategically to achieve learning goals in various areas of the curriculum. Most relevant for this study is the use of the L1 in teaching and learning vocabulary. Here they argue that the L1 can be efficient for defining meaning of words and phrases in order for the students to be able to move on more quickly to internalizing the word and being able to use it (p. 71).

The L1 can also be used strategically to help raise the conditions for learning to an ultimate level.

Research has shown that removing the element of the L1 by putting students in a foreign environment may decrease motivation and make the students feel alienated, disoriented, and powerless (Littlewood

& Yu, 2011, pp. 70, 72). This may be especially relevant in the case of recently arrived students, who have come to just such a foreign environment where their L1 may be absent not only because the teacher chooses to speak the target language, but because the “first language” of the classroom may not be the same as the first language of the student, but rather a second or third language that the student may neither be nor feel very familiar with.

Furthermore, Auerbach (1993) shows in her study that using L1 or other languages is both effective and necessary in adult ESL (English as a Second Language) classrooms where the students have limited literacy in their L1 or limited schooling (as cited in Cummins, 2007, p. 225). She also says that using the students’ linguistic resources can be favourable at all levels of ESL (ibid.).

For classrooms with immigrant and recently arrived students, there may not be a common L1 for the teacher and students to benefit from the use of. Nonetheless, Cummins (2007) shows that it is not necessary to have such a common first language in the classroom; the teacher can still draw from the students’ multilingual resources and make use of their L1s (p. 226). It is also possible to increase and develop the students’ multilingualism by using the native language of the country, for instance in translation exercises or the teaching of cognates, so as to increase the students’ vocabulary knowledge in both the language of the country and the foreign language being taught (pp. 228, 230).

These aspects of previous research are of interest when it comes to English teaching and learning for recently arrived students, as their L1 is in great risk of not being taken into account in the classroom (for natural reasons; usually the teacher is not proficient in all the students’ L1s). This may be an impediment to their language learning, including their vocabulary learning, and the way that they and their teacher deal with this will be an important part of this study.

2.2.2 Multilingualism and transfer

While much research has previously focused on first and second language acquisition and

bilingualism, it is being recognized that acquiring a third, fourth or even more languages, is becoming more and more common in a globalized world (Hammarberg, 2009, p. 3). More recent research has therefore begun to study third language acquisition and multilingualism.

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As Hammarberg (2009) points out, the terms first, second, and third language (L1, L2, and L3, respectively) are used in different ways in the literature and their definitions are sometimes far from clear (p. 4). For this study, the terms will be used in the following way, taken partly from his work: L1 refers to a language learned in infancy, sometimes also called mother tongue or native language. A person can have more than one L1 if it has been learnt in infancy. L2 is a language acquired after infancy. Without the term L3, it would be possible for a person to have several L2s, as s/he may well learn more than one language after infancy. However, it has been found that the acquisition of a third language is very different from the acquisition of a second because of the learner’s previous

experience of learning a non-native language, and therefore it has been important to introduce the term L3, which then refers to any language learnt after the L2 (Hammarberg, 2009, p. 6). Learners of an L3 have previous knowledge of language learning, especially if they have learnt an L2 in a formal setting, and therefore possess metalinguistic skills and learning strategies that create linguistic and cognitive systems that are very different from those of a monolingual speaker and that help them learn another foreign language (Jessner and Cenoz, 2007, pp. 158, 160; Falk & Bardel, 2010, p. 192). Research has also shown that the acquisition of additional languages after the third one is not radically different in the same way, and thus only the term L3 is used for all languages learnt after the L2, regardless of how many they are (Hammarberg, 2009, p. 6).

Recently arrived students in Sweden, then, will have one or more L1s that are usually (and for the informants in the present study) not Swedish. They may or may not have acquired an L2 in their home country. They will then have to learn Swedish as either an L2 or an L3, depending on their previously learnt languages. Furthermore, English, being a subject required to be admitted to senior high school, would be learnt either as a continued L2 (continued from their home country) or as an L3 (if they have not studied it before). The linguistic background of these students is, consequently, complex. They are multilingual and therefore the way that the languages they know affect each other in the learning of English vocabulary will be another interesting aspect of this study.

Transfer or cross-linguistic influence is the theory of how previously learnt languages (also called background languages) influence the language being learnt. For a multilingual learner, all languages (L1, L2, and L3s) can influence each other (Jessner & Cenoz, 2007, p. 158). In vocabulary learning, students may use their previous knowledge of languages and language learning as a strategy for guessing the meaning of words (cf. section 2.2.3 below). The most important factors that influence transfer seem to be typology, L2 status, and proficiency level (Falk and Bardel, 2010, p. 193).

Typology has to do with the similarities between the language being learnt and a background language that the learner knows. Much research has shown that multilingual speakers tend to draw on their linguistic knowledge of non-native languages that are typologically close to the target language (De Angelis, 2005, p. 383). One aspect of typology is the actual distance between these languages; another is the perceived (by the learner) distance (also known as psychotypology). When investigating the recently arrived students’ thoughts and attitudes towards vocabulary learning in English, and their strategies, these two aspects – whether English vocabulary is typologically similar to any of the students’ background languages and whether it is perceived to be so – will be of interest.

L2 status means that the very fact that the L2 learnt previously is a foreign language and not a native one seems to influence transfer. Studies have shown that L3 learners are inclined to make transfers more from the L2 than from their L1, even though they are more fluent in the L1. This is explained by the L1 being perceived by the learner as ‘non-foreign’ and therefore not relied on for cross-linguistic influence (Falk & Bardel, 2010, p. 195). The above-mentioned factor of L3 acquisition drawing on the

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metalinguistic and metacognitive knowledge acquired when learning a second language may also be an explanation (Falk & Bardel, 2010, p. 190).

When it comes to proficiency level research has found that transfer seems to often be made from a background language of approximately the same proficiency level as the TL; that is, a low-proficiency background language is most likely to be active for transfer if the level of the TL is low, and a high- proficiency background language will be in place if the level of the TL is high (Falk & Bardel, 2010, p. 197).

2.2.3 Vocabulary teaching and learning strategies There is a range of strategies available for teachers and students when teaching and learning

vocabulary. Research has been done on what strategies prove most helpful for learners in learning new vocabulary and lists of strategies have been compiled. For this study, the strategies will be used in collecting data and analyzing the data collected, and therefore some knowledge about what previous research has shown about the value of different strategies is useful. Since one rather comprehensive list of strategies includes as many as 58 strategies (Schmitt, 1997) it will not be possible to refer to all available strategies here; rather, those that may be of importance for the case of recently arrived students with different L1s and L2s will be brought up.

Dictionaries. Dictionaries are useful for learning vocabulary and for understanding and producing text (Nation, 2001, p. 283). There are three main types of dictionaries when it comes to foreign language learning: monolingual, bilingual, and bilingualized dictionaries (Nation, 2001, p. 288). According to Cummins (2007), research consistently shows that in vocabulary learning, bilingual dictionaries are more efficient than monolingual dictionaries or learning from context (p. 226). As Nation (2001) points out, several studies have revealed that vocabulary learning is considerably more effective with L2-L1 pairs than L2-L2 pairs (p. 290). He also argues that bi- and monolingual dictionaries can complement each other, in that the bilingual dictionary provides the learner with an easily accessible meaning of the word, while the monolingual dictionary gives more detailed information about it (p.

290). Bilingualized dictionaries provide this combination.

Lists and flash cards. According to Nation (2001), several studies have shown that if the meaning of a word is translated into the learner’s L1, s/he is able to learn faster, since this type of explanation is short and helps the learner relate to familiar experience and the many rich associations that s/he has to the word in the L1 (pp. 66, 304). When using vocabulary lists and flash cards, then, it seems best that the learner writes a translation into his/her L1 on it to facilitate faster learning (p. 304). Proponents of the approach where only the target language is taught in the classroom might oppose this, but as we have seen above, an appropriate amount of L1 in the foreign language classroom may actually promote learning of the target language, rather than hinder it.

Translation. Using findings from a case study, Cummins (2007) argues that translation between L1 and L2 (one may assume that L2 can also include L3) can be “a powerful tool to develop language and literacy skills and increase metalinguistic awareness” (p. 237). Allford (1999), promotes the use of translation activities that need close analysis of words, structures, and discourse as they can make the learner more aware of differences between the target language and the L1, and argues that together with extensive use of the TL, the TL will be complemented rather than weakened by such cross- lingual comparisons (p. 231).

Guessing from context. Nation (2001) points out that an important factor influencing students when they try to guess the meaning of words from the context in which they are found is the similarity

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between the L1 and L2 of the learner (p. 247). As shown in the previous section, this also includes L3s, though Nation did not focus his work on this aspect. We have also seen that the perceived similarity between two languages is of importance. In a section on cross-lingual transfer, Cummins (2007) insists that it is possible to achieve learning efficiencies by teachers clearly showing students similarities and differences between their languages, and also help them acquire learning strategies that they can use across languages (p. 233).

Cognates. Cohen (1990) states that lists of cognates across languages can help vocabulary learning, as the learner would only need to be made aware of the fact that the word in the target language is the same or similar to the word in their L1 or another language that they know – being aware, at the same time, of false cognates (p. 33). This is also related to transfer and typology, as languages that are clearly related will have a high percentage of true cognates (ibid.), and thus help students whose background languages are related to the target language to learn new vocabulary.

2.2. Syllabus

Municipal adult education is divided into courses and Basic English (equivalent to years 1-9 in the compulsory school) in adult education has its own syllabus. This syllabus states among other things that education should “ge möjlighet att vidareutveckla flerspråkighet där kunskaper i olika språk samverkar och stödjer varandra.”² (Skolverket, 2012a, p. 9) The syllabus thus supports and encourages multilingualism.

In addition to this, the syllabus states that “Undervisningen ska i allt väsentligt bedrivas på engelska”³. A report about the situation for recently arrived students in Swedish schools published by the Swedish National Agency for Education points out that:

Kursplanerna i engelska och moderna språk är exempelvis ‘enspråkiga’ och kräver inte kunskaper i något annat språk. Det innebär att utbildningen han [sic] bedrivas helt på målspråket, dvs det språk eleven skall lära sig, enligt kursplanen. Om utbildningen bedrivs på målspråket kan nyanlända elever följa utbildningen även om de inte har kunskaper i svenska.⁴ (Jönsson, 2007, p. 28)

It also states that when language education is conducted in and based on Swedish, it excludes recently arrived students or makes their studies more difficult (p. 8). The appendix of the report concludes by suggesting that to improve the situation for recently arrived students, among other things the teaching of English and modern foreign languages should be conducted in the target language only (Jönsson, 2007, Appendix, p. 24). At the same time, another suggestion for improvement is that there should be mother tongue education and instruction in the mother tongue in other subjects for these students (ibid.). Furthermore, the Education Act (SFS 2010:800) states about adult education that,

2 “provide the opportunity to develop multilingualism where proficiencies in different languages cooperate an support each other.” (Author’s translation)

3 “Teaching should as far as possible be conducted in English” (From the translated syllabus for English in high school, Skolverket, 2012b, para. 4)

4 “The syllabi for English and modern languages are for instance ‘monolingual’ and do not require proficiency in any other language. That means that the teaching can be conducted entirely in the target language; that is, the language that the students should learn, according to the syllabus. If the teaching is conducted in the target language, newly arrived students will be able to follow the education even if they are not proficient in Swedish.” (Author’s translation)

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Om en elev i utbildning på grundläggande nivå har bristfälliga kunskaper i svenska språket, får utbildningen tillhandahållas på elevens modersmål eller något annat språk som eleven behärskar.

Sådan utbildning ska kompletteras med undervisning eller träning i svenska språket.⁵ (ch. 20, § 12) According to these steering documents it thus seems to be possible for recently arrived students with little knowledge of Swedish to learn English without knowing Swedish at all. This could be done either by the English education being held in English only, as syllabi and reports from the Swedish National Agency for Education suggest, or by it being provided in the L1 of the student, which according to the previous research presented above, may be preferable.

Although the syllabus does not place specific emphasis on vocabulary learning, its focus on communication makes vocabulary an important building block in all of the other skills involved, as Brown (2007) points out (p. 435). The knowledge of words would therefore be implicitly assumed as necessary in order to be able to communicate in the language. Hence vocabulary is an important part of language teaching and learning to focus on.

3. Method

For this paper a case study of an adult education English language classroom with some recently arrived students and their teacher was carried out, using observations, qualitative interviews, and textbook analysis. The case study method was chosen because in-depth responses to the research questions were desired for this study (Johansson & Svedner, 2010, p. 54). As case studies typically use several methods and as it is recommended to supplement one method with at least one more in order to get a more complete picture of the situation (Johansson & Svedner, 2010, p. 15), three methods were chosen that were considered appropriate to answer the research questions. The classroom observations of the teacher’s strategies for teaching vocabulary were designed to answer the first research question about what strategies the teacher uses when teaching vocabulary to recently arrived students. In order to obtain more material for this question, to find out about the teacher’s thinking behind her approach and to answer part of the third research question, an interview with the teacher was also conducted. As a textbook is often used in English education, and this textbook usually contains new vocabulary, an analysis of the textbook used in the class would also provide answers to what vocabulary teaching strategies the students are met with. After collecting data on this first research question, interviews with recently arrived students were conducted, in order to answer the second and third research questions about what strategies these students use to learn vocabulary, how they deal with new words in the classroom, and what they experience as challenging when it comes to learning vocabulary in English.

5 If a student in basic level education has limited knowledge of the Swedish language, the instruction may be given in the student’s mother tongue or another language that the student commands. Such

instruction should be complemented by teaching or training in the Swedish language.” (Author’s translation)

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3.1. Informants

This study was carried out at an adult education school where the students can study English from beginner’s level to English 7 (the equivalent of English 7 in senior high school). Basic English is divided into four modules – English 1 to 4 – where the last one is equivalent to year 9 in the Swedish compulsory school. The class in which this study was carried out was a mix of Basic English levels 3 and 4 (due to the school being in the middle of changing their system in accordance with the new curriculum implemented in 2011).

At the school, the textbook Stepping Stone 1-3 was used for levels 1-4 (book 3 being used for both level 3 and 4). This book is specifically written for adult education programmes. The textbook used for the class participating in this study was thus Stepping Stone 3.

The teacher for this class was a 32-year-old woman from Iran. She had lived in Sweden since she was six years old. Her mother tongue was Baluchi but she also spoke Persian, some Urdu, English,

Swedish, and Bosnian. She said that she also understood some Arabic, Turkish, and Kurdish. Through Bosnian she could understand Serbian, Croatian, much of Russian, Polish, and Bulgarian. She received a teaching degree in English and religion and had taught English to adults in three different schools since 2008. For two years before that she taught SFI (Swedish For Immigrants). At all these schools she had worked with recently arrived or immigrant students. She had worked at this school for two years.

The students interviewed were selected from those having most recently arrived in Sweden and with a variety of background languages, in order to get as varied information as possible, in accordance with the characteristics of this and other similar classrooms where the students are from many different countries. Pseudonyms are used for all these students.

Pari. A 33-year-old woman from Iran, with Persian as her first language, who had been in Sweden for two years and eight months. She had studied English in public and private school in Iran. She had finished SAS (Swedish as a Second Language) 2.

Flora. A 31-year-old woman from the Ivory Coast, with Baoulé and French as her first languages (Baoulé being spoken with her parents and French in school, with friends, and on the streets in her home country), who had been in Sweden for three years. She had studied English in high school in the Ivory Coast and was currently studying SAS 1.

Miguel. A 38-year-old man from Mexico, with Spanish as his first language, who had been in Sweden for almost one year in 2010 and currently for 10 months. He had studied English in high school and at university in Mexico and was at present studying SAS 1. He also knew a little Italian.

Regina. A 55-year-old woman from Russia, with Russian as her first language, who had been in Sweden for one year and nine months. She had studied English in school as a child and was currently studying SAS 1. She said that she could understand some Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, and Czech, because of their similarity to Russian.

3.2. Material

The observation protocol (Appendix 1) was designed selecting vocabulary teaching strategies from Schmitt (2007) and Nation (2001), using the categories that were likely to be the most used in the

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classroom (also revised after a pilot study), and including an ‘other’ category for unexpected discoveries. Following is a brief explanation of some of the strategies used in the protocol:

Word pair: a translation (TL-L1) or synonym (TL-TL) of the word is given.

Dictionary: a dictionary is used to find the meaning of the word.

Context: an example of the word in context is given.

Underlying meaning: the underlying concept of a word is given; for instance a ‘fork’ is explained by its shape, thus helping the learner understand all the meanings of the use of the word (‘a fork in the road’, ‘eating fork’, ‘tuning fork’ etc.) (Schmitt, 2007, p. 835)

Grouping: a word is grouped together with other words that are similar or belong together (e.g. ‘football’ is a sport).

Body language: the meaning of the word is expressed physically.

Rich instruction: specific, focused time is taken to working with the word[s] (Nation, 2001).

Space to enter details about place, date and time, and the placement of the observer were also added to the observation protocol, as suggested by Johansson and Svedner (2010, p. 41).

The interview type used both for the interview with the teacher and with the students was a combination of a structured and a qualitative interview, where the focus lay on the qualitative interview (Johansson & Svedner, 2010, p. 31). The qualitative interview was chosen because it often gives interesting results about the interviewee’s thoughts, attitudes, approaches, and planning and is sensitive to what each interviewee brings up (Johansson & Svedner, 2010, p. 30), which would be suitable for the aim of this study to find out about the teacher’s thoughts and ideas behind his/her vocabulary teaching and students’ thoughts and approaches to vocabulary learning. In the interview with the teacher (Appendix 2), some structured questions were needed for background information, such as “Hur länge har du jobbat med nyanlända i engelska?”, but the main part of the interview had predetermined areas to talk about, for instance, “Hur gör du för att lära ut nya ord på engelska till dessa elever?”, with some follow-up questions to choose from. The interviews with the students (Appendix 3) also had more structured questions for eliciting background information, but the main part, although qualitative in nature, used more structured questions, especially follow-up questions, in order to guide the students along and be able to focus on the specific areas this study wanted to look at – for example, “Do you use a dictionary? What kind?”. These follow-up questions were created from the theoretical background presented in the previous section as well as from the results of the

observations, textbook analysis, and interview with the teacher.

In designing the protocol for analysing the textbooks (Appendix 4), the following questions were asked:

How is new vocabulary presented?

How is new vocabulary explained?

Some of the categories in the observation protocol, such as word pairs, explaining in the TL, context, dictionaries, grouping, and pictures/diagrams, were also used for this analysis, as it would help categorizing and grouping the strategies together for the analysis and since many of the categories were appropriate to use for the textbook as well. Following is a brief explanation of some of the strategies used in this analysis:

Context: the word should be put into context or its meaning deduced from context.

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Word families/word parts: breaking a word up into its component parts, making derived meanings, or changing the word class of the word using prefixes or suffixes.

Pictures/diagrams: used to describe the word or to find the word that the picture represents.

3.3. Procedure

Figure 1 shows the general procedure of this study. First, classroom observations, the interview with the teacher, and textbook analysis were carried out. This provided a range of strategies that the teacher and the textbook used for teaching vocabulary. Using these findings, interviews with students were carried out in order to see, among other things, how they deal with these strategies. Johansson and Svedner (2010) suggest beginning with observations as a good way of obtaining a basis for an interview (p. 35).

classroom observations interview with teacher textbook analysis

interviews with students vocabulary

teaching strategies

Fig. 1 Procedure of the study.

Two observations of the English lessons were carried out before conducting the interview with the teacher. These observations were done first because it would reduce the risk of the teacher being influenced by the interview questions and adapting her lessons to what s/he thought that the study was looking at (Johansson & Svedner, 2010, p. 55). The observations took place on three mornings in the same week. The class was given brief information about the topic of the study and the purpose of the observations at the beginning of the first lesson. The first observation included only 30 minutes of instruction, as the teacher then took the students out one by one to talk to them, and a teacher trainee led the rest of the lesson. On the second occasion, two hours of class were observed. After the interview with the teacher, one more lesson of one and a half hour was observed in order to obtain further data for the analysis. At this point enough material was considered to have been collected as the observations began to show the same pattern, and further data was not needed (Johansson &

Svedner, 2010, p. 38).

The materials used for all the observations were a printed version of the observation protocol and a pencil to complete it. The position in the classroom was, each time, on the right hand side in one of the middle rows, where the front of the classroom where the teacher would normally be positioned, could be seen clearly. The teacher was the only one being observed – the students were not, as these

observations focused on answering the first research question about the teacher’s strategies. The observation protocols were later assembled.

The interview with the teacher was carried out in the afternoon after the second lesson had been observed. It took place in an empty classroom. The interview was held in Swedish and recorded with a dictating machine and the central parts (excluding background questions and deviations from the topic) later transcribed.

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The textbook was analyzed twice, so as to give it higher intra-rater reliability (McKay, 2006, p. 12), by going through each unit and looking at the way vocabulary was presented and analyzing the strategies used in the exercises that focused specifically on words. The results were noted in the textbook analysis protocol and later assembled.

The interviews with the students took place in the morning during their English lesson. All of them were conducted after the interview with the teacher had been subject to an initial analysis and the analysis of the textbook had been done, in order for the interviews to be able to focus on relevant areas and strategies used in the classroom by the teacher and the textbook. The interviews were conducted with the students individually and took place in an empty and quiet hall in the school. Three of the interviews were carried out in Swedish, and one in English (questions) and Spanish (answers). All student interviews were recorded with a dictating machine and the central parts (excluding background questions) later transcribed.

3.4. Validity and reliability

To ensure validity and reliability – or in McKay’s (2006) words, for qualitative studies, credibility, transferability, and dependability (pp. 13-14) – several measures were taken. Firstly, triangulation – employing more than one method for collecting data – was used in order to achieve higher credibility as McKay suggests (p. 13) and which Johansson and Svedner (2010) emphasize the importance of when discussing weaknesses of the interview method (p. 34). The observations could in that way to some extent confirm the teacher’s answers in the interview and give more reliable answers to the first research question. Secondly, the order of the data collection procedure (classroom observations before the interview with the teacher) was an attempt to ensure higher validity, as the teacher would not adapt her teaching to the answers she had given in the interview. Thirdly, the constructs selected are

applicable to other groups (similar observations, textbook analysis and interviews could be done in any foreign language class) and the setting of the study is general enough for the results to be applied to other contexts where recently arrived adults studying English are involved (and there are many of those contexts in Sweden today), although the case study nature of this study makes generalizations on a larger scale impossible (McKay 2006, pp. 13-14). Nevertheless, McKay shows that qualitative research has a different kind of generalizability than quantitative studies, and that qualitative research may instead be able to shed light on issues for other people and can provide further evidence in a certain area as it relates to previous research (pp. 14-15).

For the observations, a protocol was used so as to ensure that focus on the items to observe was kept.

Also, several lessons with similar content were observed (this was possible due to it being an intensive course), which also increases the credibility of the study (McKay, 2006, p. 13). A pilot observation gave the possibility of making changes to the observation protocol so as to ensure greater reliability.

The textbook analysis used a protocol in the same way. The book was also analyzed twice, on two different occasions, thus giving it higher intra-rater reliability (McKay, 2006, p. 12).

In order to achieve higher validity and reliability in the interviews, one of the students was allowed and encouraged to answer the questions in Spanish, his first language. This was done so that the student would be able to give more in-depth answers to the questions and be able to express himself the way he wanted more easily.

The interviews were furthermore recorded, thus ensuring that no subconscious interpretations would be made during the interviews and that all information would be included – another thing that McKay

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brings up as a way to ensure credibility (p. 13). Special attention was paid to making interview questions that focused on the teacher’s and students’ experiences rather than their motives and attitudes behind them, as why-questions may cause the interviewee to become defensive or only answer what s/he thinks the interviewer wants to hear (Johansson & Svedner, 2010, pp. 35-36).

3.5. Ethical considerations

The teacher was informed about the topic of the study and the methods to be used for data collection via e-mail. At the start of the interview she was informed again about the topic of the study, her right to cancel her participation at any time, that she and the school would be anonymous, and how the study would be published (on DIVA), all according to Vetenskapsrådet’s guidelines.

The teacher was informed about the general topic of the observations (vocabulary teaching)

beforehand via e-mail. It was also presented to the class at the beginning of the first lesson observed. It was emphasized that only the teacher would be observed, not the students. Therefore only the teacher was asked for consent.

Information about the interviews with the students was given to the students in two lessons, where the topic (vocabulary learning for recently arrived students) was presented, the time the interview would take, and their anonymity in the study. Those who then wanted to participate were given written information about the study just before the interview, in Swedish, English, and Spanish (as there were several Spanish-speaking students in the group) (Appendix 5).

3.6. Methods of analysis

The observation protocol and the textbook analysis protocol were analyzed by assembling the different strategies into a table, adding up the number of times each strategy was employed in order to identify what strategies for teaching vocabulary were used most often. In what situation each strategy was employed was also taken into account, as it might affect the results.

The transcribed interviews were analyzed by colour-coding the informants’ responses according to categories and themes and grouping these together, thus applying a cross-case analysis method as this would accentuate certain aspects of the topic and show differences and similarities between the students (McKay, 2006, pp. 56-57).

4. Results

4.1. Description of material

The material collected was three observation protocols filled in from three lessons observed of in total four hours, one textbook analysis protocol from the analysis of the textbook, one interview of 23 minutes with the teacher, and four interviews with students, of 14, 15, 19 and 20 minutes respectively.

The interviews were transcribed and are presented in Appendices 6 (teacher), 7 (Pari), 8 (Flora), 9 (Miguel), and 10 (Regina).

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4.2. Data analysis

4.2.1. Strategies used by the teacher and in the textbook Table 1 shows the strategies from the observation protocol and the number of occurrences of each strategy in the lessons observed. The observations showed that the strategy used most frequently by the teacher in the classroom for explaining words was to translate the word into Swedish (18

occurrences, including words that occurred in Swedish and were translated into English). This strategy was, however, most frequently used during grammar explanations (11 occurrences out of 18), and was thus not so frequently used during more specific vocabulary teaching phases of the lessons.

Word pair (Swe) 18 Explanation in TL 15

Context 13

Word pair (Eng) 1

Grouping 1

Dictionary 0

Underlying meaning 0 Word families/parts 0

Body language 0

Pictures 0

Objects 0

Rich instruction 0

Table 1. Vocabulary teaching strategies used by the teacher in the classroom

The strategies used for more specific vocabulary teaching were to give explanations in the TL (15 occurrences) and to give examples; that is, to use the word in context (13 occurrences). The teacher would for example explain the word ‘poisonous’ with the phrase “when something is poisonous, it’s dangerous”, or put the word ‘once’ into sentences such as “once upon a time”. These strategies are also what the teacher herself said in the interview that she prefers using. She has stopped using dictations as she is unsure of their value (the focus being more on spelling) and now lets the students choose 10-15 words from each unit and write sentences with each word to hand in to the teacher. She says, “...jag märker att det blir skillnad i och med de försöker använda orden, sätta dem i sammanhang så lär de sig bättre.”⁶

She also mentions giving examples, explanations in English, and synonyms several times in the interview. She recommends electronic, monolingual dictionaries to the students –

thefreedictionary.com and the Farlex app – and says the she herself always has her Smartphone ready to look up a word in order to be able to give another synonym or a better example if the students do not understand the word.

It thus seems that the most prominent vocabulary teaching strategies used in the classroom by the teacher are explanations in English and examples/putting the word into a context. Outside of the classroom the teacher encourages the students to put words into sentences (context) and to use monolingual dictionaries that give explanations in English, synonyms, word class, and examples.

Table 2 shows the strategies for vocabulary teaching/learning used in the textbook. It also scores high on the strategy of translating into Swedish, because of the wordlist at the end of each main text (there are two of these per unit). These wordlists present the English word on the left hand side and its

6 “…I notice a difference in that they try to use the words, put them in a context makes them learn better.” (Author’s translation)

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Swedish translation on the right hand side. The main texts nevertheless also present the new vocabulary in context, in the text itself. In the vocabulary exercises included in each unit Swedish translations are not used. Instead, context or examples are the most prominent here (32 occurrences).

Many exercises require the student to fill in the missing word in a text (cloze tests) or to write his/her own sentences using the words. Other strategies used frequently are explanations in English (often used in matching exercises), grouping (the student is asked to find the “odd one out” in a group of four words), word pairs in English (also often used in matching exercises), and matching collocates

(idioms, expressions, phrasal verbs). The student is also often asked to change verbs or adjectives into nouns or vice versa, with the help of a prefix or a suffix (word families/word parts).

Context 32

Context (main text) 16

Word pair (Swe) 16

Grouping 9

Explaining in TL 9

Word pair (Eng) 8

Matching collocates (idioms, expressions, phrasal verbs, collocations, proverbs) 8

Word families/word parts 7

Antonyms 4

Dictionary (unspecified type) 3

Pictures 3

”Say what they mean” (unspecified language) 2

Dictionary (bilingual) 1

Phonetic spelling 1

Body language (“point to your own body”) 1

Come up with other words 1

Come up with similar proverbs in Swedish/other language 1

Table 2. Vocabulary teaching/learning strategies used in Stepping Stone 3.

The textbook thus makes use of context in its strategies for teaching new words and letting the student practice new vocabulary, but also of explanations in English, synonyms, grouping, and matching collocates. This corresponds to the teacher’s strategies of teaching vocabulary to a great extent – especially the use of context and explanations – although the textbook uses a wider range of strategies than did the teacher during the lessons observed. It is also worth mentioning that the part of the textbook used by the teacher in class during the lessons observed was mainly the main text for each unit and its related English-Swedish wordlist. The students did not work with the vocabulary exercises in class.

4.2.2. Strategies used by the students in the classroom In the interviews the students were asked about what they do when a new word that they do not understand comes up in the classroom. All respondents mentioned dictionaries as the one of the first strategies. Common for all of them is that they translate from English into their first language,

sometimes via Swedish. If, however, they know the word in Swedish, they do not think it necessary to translate it into their first language. Pari explained that since she does not have a good website for looking up words from English to Persian, she has to first translate from English to Swedish, for which she uses ord.se, and then to translate from Swedish to Persian with KTH Lexin

(http://lexin2.nada.kth.se/lexin):

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…jag tar hjälp av Lexin eller nån annan sajt i, vad heter det, nät, för att det finns alltid översättning till svenska, en bra sajt, men det finns ingen, vad heter den, bra sajt från engelska till persiska, jag får hjälp av engelska till svenska och sen svenska till persiska. Lång väg!⁷

Regina said that she has her old dictionary from school, an English-Russian one. However, as her level of Swedish is not so high (“jag har också inte så bra nivå i svenska”⁸), she also needs to use a Swedish dictionary now, so she uses her English-Russian and a Swedish-Russian dictionary together.

Nevertheless, she also says that she does not necessarily need to see the word in Russian to understand it better; it is often enough to see it in a sentence for her to understand it.

Flora said that she usually translates a word into Swedish before translating it into French, as she wants to know all the words in all three languages. She prefers using a dictionary on her phone, as it is easier and faster than a traditional, printed one. On her phone she uses Google Translate

(translate.google.com) to translate first into Swedish and then into French, if necessary. If she already knows the word in Swedish, she does not have to look it up in French.

Miguel uses either a traditional or an electronic dictionary from English to Spanish made by some English institute, such as Cambridge, in order to solve the problem of the unknown word, though usually only after asking the teacher to explain the word to him: “…le pregunto a la profesora y si me la resuelve, pues, la acepto. Si no, lo investigo yo.”⁹ If there is a word that he does not know in Swedish, he uses KTH Lexin to find out what it means in Spanish, but also the English-Spanish dictionary to see if the meanings coincide, which he says they usually, but not always, do.

Apart from Miguel, only Pari mentioned asking the teacher for explanations, but that is only when it comes to expressions, not words. Flora said that she is too shy to ask the teacher but that she can do it if she waits until she and the teacher are alone. Otherwise she prefers asking her classmates, who then explain to her in Swedish or English. Miguel also asks for help from his classmates. Many of them also speak Spanish, so sometimes they help each other in Spanish, and other times in Swedish or English. Regina feels that at this level she does not have to ask her classmates or the teacher – she understands enough from the context, or she uses the dictionary.

Guessing what a word means is quite common among these students. Flora could guess many words due to their similarity to French words. Her experience is that her guesses are usually correct (she checks with a dictionary) and she thinks that there are many words that are the same in English and French (true cognates). Flora also guesses words from the context, as do Pari and Regina. Pari said that for example in tests or when reading it is sometimes too complicated to look a word up in the dictionary, so then she guesses its meaning from the context. Regina said that she understands most of the words in a text because she can simply look at the sentence and understand the words, and that if she understands the words from the sentence, she does not need to look them up in the dictionary:

“…jag förstår hela meningar, men om till exempel jag förstår inte några ord jag bara tittar i lexikon, eller om det hela mening kan visa så det behövs inte.”¹⁰

7 “…I get help from Lexin or some other site in, what’s it called, internet, because there’s always

translation into Swedish, a good site, but there’s no, what’s it called, good site from English to Persian, I get help from English to Swedish and then Swedish to Persian. Long way!” (Author’s translation)

8 “I have also not so good level of Swedish” (Author’s translation)

9 “…I ask the teacher and if she solves it for me, well, then I accept it. If not, I look it up myself.”

(Author’s translation)

10 “…I understand whole sentences, but if for example I don’t understand some words I just look in dictionary, or if the whole sentence can show, it is not necessary.” (Author’s translation)

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4.2.3. Strategies used by the students at home The students use varying strategies to learn vocabulary at home or outside the classroom. Pari explained how she in Swedish class used flash cards with the Swedish word on one side with an example, and the Persian translation on the other side. She said that that is what she would do with English vocabulary as well, with translations in Persian, if she had the time. She also reads a lot of books and learns many words that way.

Det [flash cards] funkade mycket bra för mig och sen… gissning var mycket bra. Den vana att läsa bok, för mig, och när jag kommit här i Sverige slutade jag att läsa på persiska. Hela tiden läste jag bara svenska. Och det hjälpte mig mycket mycket mycket. Det finns och det fanns och finns mycket ord som jag kunde och kan inte fortfarande men det spelar ingen roll för mig, jag kan läsa brev från någon annan verket, något som de andra som var här i mer än tio år kan inte, de är van att förstå exakt varje ord vad menar, men jag gör inte så, jag gissar bara, och det hjälper mycket du vet.¹¹

Regina uses a more traditional approach where she writes the English words in one column and the Russian translation in another, covers one side and tries to remember the meaning of the word, then vice versa. She also writes the ten to fifteen sentences using the words and hands them in to the teacher, as the teacher encourages the students to do. She said that she prefers writing the words so that she can see them; she thinks that she has a visual memory: “…jag gillar att skriva, för mig det är bättre. Skriva och kanske jag har minnes… synminne kanske. Det är bättre för mig att skriva.”¹² Miguel learns a lot of vocabulary at home by watching television in English with Swedish subtitles, and through videos on YouTube: “…a mi me parece fenomenal los videos de YouTube, donde se explican en poco tiempo historias, entonces te van quedando muchas palabras, mucha información.”¹³ He also said that the normal way for him to learn new words is first to investigate their meaning, then to write them, and after that, to speak them.

Flora likes to use the new words in sentences and say them to her daughter:

…jag försöker använda orden. När jag pratar. Göra en mening eller jag brukar säga nånting till min barn. Jag använder denna ordet, jag säger något till mitt barn och försöker förklara till henne. Det är så jag gör. Jag gör det med min barn, hon är 8 år, och vi lär oss tillsammans. Engelska, svenska.¹⁴

4.2.4. TL vs. other languages in the classroom

In the interview the teacher expressed a fairly strong belief in using the target language in the classroom almost exclusively:

11 It [flash cards] worked very well for me and then… guessing was very good. The habit to read book, for me, and when I’ve come here in Sweden I stopped reading in Persian. All the time I just read Swedish.

And it helped me a lot a lot a lot. There are and there were and are much word that I didn’t know and still don’t know but it doesn’t matter to me, I can read letters from some board, something that the others who were here for more than ten years can’t, they are used to understanding exactly each word means, but I don’t do that, I just guess, and that helps a lot you know. (Author’s translation)

12 “…I like to write, for me it’s better. Write and maybe I have memory… visual memory maybe. It’s better for me to write.” (Author’s translation)

13 “…to me the videos on YouTube, where they explain stories in a short time, are great, then many words and much information sticks with you.” (Author’s translation)

14 …I try to use the words. When I talk. Make a sentence or I usually say something to my child. I use this word, I say something to my child and try to explain to her. That’s how I do it. I do it with my child, she is 8 years old, and we learn together. English, Swedish. (Author’s translation)

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Eftersom jag har jobbat på SFI då är det svenska på svenska så ansåg jag helt logiskt att det skulle vara engelska på engelska och inte blanda in svenskan i engelskan, för då blir det en liten soppa av det, speciellt när de pluggar det samtidigt.¹⁵

…helst engelska, precis. Jag har märkt att det hjälper inte om man översätter det. Inte för alla, men för vissa hjälper det, de vill ha svensk översättning, då är det en annan sak. Men, enklast är att ge ett exempel på hur man använder det. Eller förklara det på engelska. Det är bästa sättet för dem att förstå det, på det språket.¹⁶

She said that the online dictionary that she recommends (thefreedictionary.com) has such a thorough explanation of each word that translation into another language is not necessary. At the same time, she thinks that she should recommend the students to use bilingual dictionaries more, especially KTH Lexin that has translations for many of the students’ L1s. ”Det skulle vara bra. För det är bättre att de lär sig engelskan på sitt modersmål än på svenska i och med att det är starkare från modersmålet på det sättet.”¹⁷ She said that if she knows a word in the student’s first language, she gladly says it, because it makes them understand better and they become more motivated.

She also mentioned that she does not like the textbook very much, since it brings in a lot of Swedish.

She said that the most difficult part for the students is not the English words in themselves but rather the Swedish translations of them, and that she therefore always has to go through the list and ask them if they have understood the translation.

It seems, then, that the teacher prefers using English and not bringing in too much Swedish in the classroom, although with the textbook that she is obliged to use she does not have much choice. As we have seen, nonetheless, she does express a positive attitude towards using the students’ first languages more, as she thinks that it would give the students more motivation and help them understand better.

The students’ L1s seem to, however, rarely be used in practice in the classroom (at least in the lessons observed in this study) even though the teacher herself knew many languages. In the interview with the Persian-speaking student she said that she never hears a word of Persian from the teacher.

In contrast to this reluctance towards the use of Swedish by the teacher, some of the students interviewed actually expressed a positive attitude towards the English-Swedish wordlists and translations into Swedish by the teacher.

…para mi que estoy aprendiendo sueco me sirve mucho porque me ayuda reforzar palabras que tal vez he escuchado en sueco con el inglés, y a la vez aprendo del inglés para el sueco. Entonces es muy bueno, porque me ayuda a aprender o a refirmar los dos idiomas. Pienso que es así conmigo.¹⁸ (Miguel)

15 Since I’ve worked at SFI then it’s Swedish in Swedish so I thought logically that it would be English in English and not mix Swedish into English, because then it becomes a bit of a mess, especially when they study it at the same time. (Author’s translation)

16 …preferably English, exactly. I’ve noticed that it doesn’t help if you translate it. Not for everyone, but for some it helps, they want the Swedish translation, that’s another thing. But, the easiest thing is to give an example of how it’s used. Or explain it in English. That’s the best way for them to understand it, in that language. (Author’s translation)

17 “That would be good. Because it’s better that they learn English in their mother tongue than in Swedish as it’s stronger from the mother tongue in that way.” (Author’s translation)

18 …for me since I’m learning Swedish it helps me a lot because it helps me strengthen words that perhaps I’ve heard in Swedish with English, and at the same time I learn from English for Swedish. So it’s very good, because it helps me to learn or strengthen both languages. I think that’s the way it is for me.

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…det är bra för att det finns några ord som man kan inte även på engelska och på svenska, nej. Jag tror det är bra för att man lär sig samtidigt två språket. Det är jättebra. För mig det är jättebra.¹⁹ (Flora)

All of the students interviewed said that there usually are some words that they do not understand in Swedish in the wordlists, which they have to look up in their first language, but none of them seem to have a great problem with them. They rather see them as an opportunity to learn more Swedish in addition to English.

Pari gives some interesting insight into a student’s perspective on the language used in the classroom:

I: Er lärare kan ju också persiska. Brukar hon ibland säga ordet på persiska?

P: Nej, aldrig. Jag hörde ingen persisk ord av henne. Ingen ord.

I: Skulle det vara bra tycker du om hon sa det på persiska?

P: Ääh… inte i klassrummet. För att vet du att vi har en annan tjej som kommer i vår klassrum för att lära sig hon ska – du känner henne kanske, den andra tjej som kommer med dig… [en VFU-student]

Hon jobbar med några stycken på spanska, och det är inte rolig för mig till exempel. Det kan hända för andra. Om vi skulle prata persiska de andra kanske får lite negativ energi. Eller hur? Man måste ha gemensam undervisning, jag tänker.

I: Hur tycker du det är när det blir på svenska då?

P: Du menar när hon förklarar på svenska något? Det hjälper kanske men inte mycket för att… om vi… vi brukar att säga, höra, och sen, ja, vi brukar att göra allting på engelska det är lättare för hjärnan för att, vet du, det är lättare för oss som engelska eller svenska är inte, vad heter den, vår språk, är mycket svårt att, vad heter den, kontrollera – en stund på svenska och en stund på engelska.

Om hon kommer att prata bara engelska, det är lättare.²⁰

However, she also gives an example of how she was very excited when the teacher explained a word in English that was the same in Persian: “Jag var mycket glad och fick mycket energi av det här litet ord som var likadant i mitt språk.”²¹

19 …it’s good because there are some words that you don’t know both in English and in Swedish, no. I think it’s good because you learn at the same time the two language. It’s really good. For me it’s really good. (Author’s translation)

20 I: Your teacher also knows Persian. Does she sometimes say the word in Persian?

P: No, never. I didn’t hear any Persian word from her. No word.

I: Would it be good, do you think, if she said it in Persian?

P: Umm… Not in the classroom. Because you know that we have another girl who comes in our classroom to learn she will – maybe you know her, the other girl who comes with you… [a teacher trainee] She works with some in Spanish, and that’s not fun for me for example. It can happen to others. If we would speak Persian maybe the others will get some negative energy. Right? You have to have common instruction, I think.

I: What do you think about when it’s in Swedish then?

P: You mean when she explains in Swedish something? Maybe it helps but not much because… if we… we usually say, hear, and then, yes, we usually do everything in English it’s easier for the brain to, you know, it’s easier for us who English and Swedish are not, what’s it called, our language, is very difficult to, what’s it called, control – one moment in Swedish and one moment in English. If she will speak only English, it’s easier.

21 “I was very happy and got a lot of energy from this little word that was the same in my language.”

Vocabulary Teaching and Learning in a Multilingual Classroom

Vocabulary Teaching and Learning in a Multilingual Classroom

Elin Solberg

Vocabulary Teaching and Learning in a Multilingual Classroom

Abstract

Table of contents

1. Introduction

1.1. Aim and research questions

2. Background

2.1. Theoretical background

2.2. Syllabus

3. Method

3.1. Informants

3.2. Material

3.3. Procedure

3.4. Validity and reliability

3.5. Ethical considerations

3.6. Methods of analysis

4. Results

4.1. Description of material

4.2. Data analysis