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AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF ATTITUDES TOWARD BILINGUAL EDUCATION IN GIA LAI PROVINCE OF VIETNAM A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education College of Education University of Canterbury by Bao Cao Tran 2014 Abstract This case study examines the attitudes of Jarainese people (an indigenous group in Gia Lai province of Vietnam) towards bilingual education related to bilingualism, the maintenance of the native language, its use in their own communities, and its perceived importance within formal schooling. The research employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods by which the data were collected. Quantitative data were obtained via 345 questionnaires administered to Jarainese students (N=173) and their grandparents and parents (N=172). Qualitative data were obtained via individual interviews of 13 parents and 5 focus group interviews with students. The qualitative data analyses were reported in three narratives as examples of the views of parents, and as thematic interpretations of the student focus groups. The findings reported in this thesis revealed the high degree of ethnic and cultural identity reported through the attitudes of the Jarainese people towards the use of the mother tongue and its maintenance. Jarainese people use their mother tongue to consolidate their ethnic and cultural identity and solidarity. However, the results revealed that Jarainese children tend to use more Vietnamese in their daily life whereas their parents and grandparents retain their oral native language. Additionally, there was a low level of self-reported literacy in Jarainese across the individuals surveyed. The findings disclosed that both languages are seen as important by the Jarainese people. They indicate that Jarainese people do not reject Vietnamese, because it is considered as a language of educational, social and economic advantages and advancement; however, they show the desire of the Jarainese people to affirm their cultural identity by retaining their native language. Despite this desire, the results ii demonstrated how impacts from the social milieu such as mass media, education and national dominance of Vietnamese hinder the maintenance of Jarainese. The findings confirm the results of other research in the field concerning the benefits and challenges of promoting bilingual development and preserving the native language. The results also confirm a link between demographic dimensions such as level of education, occupation, and living areas, and language attitudes. Furthermore, parents’ attitudes seem to influence their children’s perspectives toward bilingualism. In conclusion, this case study provides further evidence for the importance of values and knowledge related to bilingualism, as well as the need for bilingual development. This evidence is taken from a relatively unique context of the study: i.e., the communist context of Vietnam and under-studied indigenous minority groups in this area of the world. Hence, implications of the findings for bilingual education and regional language policy consideration are discussed. It recommends that the Vietnamese Government and education sector should pay greater attention to, and provide more support for, Jarainese people’s struggles to provide Jarainese children with minority language education. In addition, it is important to specify that a bilingual education program and a regional language policy should be considered and implemented in order to create environments in which Jarainese – Vietnamese bilingual children can develop and promote their bilingual proficiency and knowledge of bilingualism. iii Acknowledgments I would first like to thank my supervisory team members: my senior supervisor, Professor John Everatt, for his support and guidance throughout the dissertation process; Professor Janinka Greenwood, my co-supervisor, who always guided and inspired me and asked important questions and gave me insightful suggestions. Her encouragement and input have assisted me through the long process of this thesis. I also would like to acknowledge the financial support from NZAID scholarship program of New Zealand Government for my doctoral study. It has been a long journey for me to complete my doctoral study and finish the dissertation. Writing a dissertation in my second language has not been an easy task for me. I thank my friends, Helen Gibbins, Filipe D. Santos and especially Dr. Amir Sadeghi, who kindly corrected my manuscript. I also thank my colleagues in Vietnam, PhD students in College of Education and especially my former teacher Dr. Lloyd Holliday, who gave me precious feedback, the courage and their constant support gave me the strength to complete it. Most importantly, I want to thank all the Jarainese grandparents, parents and children in the research area in Gia Lai province of Vietnam where I conducted my research. You and your voluntary participation have made my project successful and have helped broaden my perspective on the life of the Jarainese people. You involved me into your community, for this I will be eternally grateful. Many thanks are owed to the principals and the form teachers of four schools, who fully supported my main study, gave me opportunities to get access to the Jarainese students and the parents of their schools. iv My deepest gratitude goes to my family, friends and students, without whom I could not have accomplished this goal. I am appreciative of their advice and support to my friends and students, Nguyễn Văn Thành, Đặng Ngọc Ánh, Nguyễn Minh Hưng, Ngô Thành Công, Trần Trung Dũng, Nguyễn Hữu Lợi and Huỳnh Ngọc Thành who all in one way or another helped me succeed academically and personally. I would especially like to thank my grandmother, my parents-in-law, my aunts and uncles, my brothers and my sisters for their love, support, and understanding throughout my entire academic career. Finally, last but not least, I would like to thank my dear wife; Hằng accepted to live without me and looked after our two children, the smart daughter Tina (Uyên Phương) and the intelligent son Kiwi (Cao Nhân), who I left behind in my home country with love and torment in my heart. The journey was not always easy for me, but the encouraging words and love from my dear wife made it a wonderful adventure. Thank you, Hằng! v TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages CHAPTER 1: PROBLEM STATEMENT ........................................................ 1 1.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Background of the Problem .............................................................................. 1 1.3. Context of the Jarainese people ........................................................................ 5 1.4. Statement of the Problem ............................................................................... 10 1.5. Purpose of the Study ...................................................................................... 12 Research Questions ...................................................................................... 13 1.6. Importance of the Study ................................................................................. 14 1.7. A Review of the Research Problem ............................................................... 15 1.7.1. Indigenous Language ....................................................................... 15 1.7.2. Bilingualism/ Bilingual Education ................................................... 18 1.7.3. Language Maintenance .................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................... 23 2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 23 2.2. Attitudes toward Language Use ..................................................................... 24 2.2.1. The Use of Mother Tongue as a Resource for Ethnic and Cultural Identity ............................................................................................. 24 2.2.2. Family Domain as an Agent for Language Maintenance ................. 26 2.3. Attitudes toward Bilingualism and Motivation .............................................. 30 2.4. Influential Factors on Attitudes ...................................................................... 38 2.5. Need for Language Maintenance ................................................................... 41 2.6. Urgent Appeal to Introduce the Indigenous Language in Local Schools ...... 45 2.6.1. The Role of Mother Tongue in Education ....................................... 45 vi 2.6.2. Difficulties of Maintenance without School Support....................... 49 Summary ................................................................................................................. 52 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .................................................................... 55 3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 55 3.2. Pilot Study ...................................................................................................... 56 3.3. Design of the Study ........................................................................................ 59 3.4. Research Site .................................................................................................. 61 3.5. Recruiting Process of Participants .................................................................