The Effectiveness of Home Language Medium Instruction on Improving Primary School Students’ Mathematical Performance Gopal Singh Sijapati SID 18460009 Thesis submitted to the partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Research School of Humanities and Communication Arts Western Sydney University Parramatta South Campus, Sydney, Australia June 2017 Dedication This thesis is dedicated to all prospective researchers, Australian Indigenous peoples, especially Kunwinjku, and their communities. Acknowledgements My sincere and hearty gratitude goes to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Robert Mailhammer, Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney University, Australia, who inspired me to select Kunwinjku language for the purpose of the research project. His trust, kindness, motivation, enlightening ideas, supervision, proper guidance and valuable suggestions helped me complete this research work successfully. Without his inspiration and constructive feedback, I would not have been able to accomplish this thesis in the present form. I would like to thank to Dr. Susan Mowbrary, Academic Literacy Advisor, Graduate Research School, Western Sydney University, Australia, for her constructive feedback and creative approach to précising ideas that have turned the study into a standard and complete form. My sincere thankfulness goes to the lecturers, especially Dr. Jack Tsonis, Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, Graduate Research School and Dr. Jennifer Mensch, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney University, Australia, for their direct guidance and suggestions that helped me get started and enabled my research intent to flourish in the form of present study. I am also grateful to Dr. Judith M Snodgrass, Director, Higher Degree Research, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney University, Australia, whose valuable suggestions to develop the study further are always appreciable. I would like to thank to the School of Humanities and Communication Arts and Research Graduate School, Western Sydney University, Australia, for granting my application to research travel funding. Also, thanks to Dr. Wayne Peake, Senior School Administration Officer and Ms. Amanda Mcnamara, School Administration Officer, Dean’s Unit, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney University, Australia, for their support and kind cooperation to the arrangement of travel funding for the field study. I cannot continue without thanking Ms. Heleana Wauchope, Teacher at Mamaruni School, Croker Island, Northern Territory, Australia, who assisted me to conduct an experiment among Kunwinjku students, residing in the community of Minjilang. This project would have not been possible without her support and great effort to arrange the Kunwinjku participants in the experiment. I am also thankful to Dr. Aug Si (University of Cologne) and Prof. Nicholas Evans (Australian National University) for their help with the transcription of the Kunwinjku data. Thanks to all the children who participated in the experiments. I am also thankful to those parents who allowed and encouraged their children to participate in the project. Also thanks to Mr. Damien Moran, Principal, Ashfield Public School, New South Wales, Australia, who permitted me to conduct a baseline test in the school. I am thankful to all the team members, particularly Mr. Arjun Akheli Chhetry, Mr. Arun Gautam and Mr. Jhalak Gurung, of Opera Academy Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia, who permitted me to use their office printer and encouraged me to complete the study successfully. Finally, I would like to thank all my family members whose motivation and support during the project was invaluable. Statement of Authentication I declare that the work presented in this research is original and of my own effort. The content of the thesis, to the best of my knowledge and belief, except where due reference is cited in the text. I hereby certify that I have not submitted this thesis before, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other university. ___________________ Signature Gopal Singh Sijapati June 16, 2017 Table of Contents Dedication Acknowledgements Statement of Authentication Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………………i List of Tables ……………………………………………………………………………..iv List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………............v Abbreviations …………………………………………………………………………….vi Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………….viii Prologue …………………………………………………………………………………..x Chapter 1 – Introduction ………………………………………………...1 1 General Background ………………………………………………………………......1 1.1 Research Aims and Questions ……………………………………………………..4 1.2 Research Setting …………………………………………………………………….4 1.3 Methodology ………………………………………………………………………….5 1.4 Limitations …………………………………………………………………………….5 1.5 Thesis Structure …………………………………………………………………......6 1.6 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………7 Chapter 2 – Home Language in Primary School Education……….8 2.1 Definitions of Home Language …………………………………………………….8 2.2 Medium of Instruction ……………………………………………………………….9 2.3 Significance of Instructing in Home Language ………………………………….10 2.3.1 Cognitive Advantages ………………………………………………………...10 2.3.2 Reduction in Student Drop-out ………………………………………………15 2.3.3 Development of Self-esteem ………………………………………………...16 2.3.4 A Case Study from Papua New Guinea ……………………………………17 2.3.5 Māori Immersion and Revitalisation: A Case Study from New Zealand…19 2.4 Language and Identity ……………………………………………………………..20 i 2.4.1 The Kunwinjku Speaking People on Croker Island ………………………..21 2.4.2 Language Endangerment and Shift in Australia …………………………...22 2.4.3 Language Policy in the Northern Territory ……………………………........25 2.4.4 Conclusion to Language and Identity …………………………………........30 Chapter 3 – Home Language in Mathematics Education ………...31 3.1 Linguistic Relativity …………………………………………………………………31 3.2 Reviewing the Model of Culturally Responsive Education …………………….32 3.3 The Role of Home Language in Mathematics Education ……………………...34 3.4 Mathematics and Culture ………………………………………………………….36 3.4.1 Ethnomathematics ……………………………………………………………..37 3.4.2 Spatial Language as a Cultural Construct …………………………………..38 3.4.3 Spatial Thought in the Northern Territory Curriculum Framework………...39 3.4.4 Frame of Reference ……………………………………………………………40 3.5 Introduction to Kunwinjku ……………………………………………………........41 3.6 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………..44 Chapter 4 – Methodology ………………………………………………45 4.1 Research Design …………………………………………………………………...45 4.2 Methods ……………………………………………………………………………..46 4.2.1 Experimental Tool …………………………………………………………….46 4.2.2 The Animals in a Row Matching Task……………………………………….47 4.2.3 Limitations of the Task ………………………………………………………..49 4.3 Sample Procedure …………………………………………………………………49 4.3.1 Participants ………………………………………………………………........49 4.3.2 Participant Consent …………………………………………………………...51 4.3.3 Limitations of Sample Population ……………………………………………51 4.4 Stimuli and Procedure ……………………………………………………………..51 4.5 Data Processing ……………………………………………………………………52 4.6 Process of Data Analysis …………………………………………………............53 4.7 Ethical Considerations ……………………………………………………………..54 ii Chapter 5 – Data Analysis and Interpretation ……………………...55 5.1 Mathematical Concepts Tested in Experiments ………………………………...55 5.2 Coding of Data ……………………………………………………………………...56 5.3 Animals’ Names in Kunwinjku Used in the Task ………………………………..56 5.4 Approach to Glossing ……………………………………………………………...57 5.5 Mathematical Performance of Control Group …………………………………...57 5.6 Mathematical Performance of Experimental Group …………………………….58 5.6.1 Kunwinjku Students’ Performance in English (Session I of Experiment 2) ………………………………………………………………………………………….59 5.6.2 Kunwinjku Students’ Performance in English after Kunwinjku Instruction …………………………………………………………………………………………..59 5.6.3 Comparing Scores Achieved by Kunwinjku Students Before and After Getting Kunwinjku Medium Instruction: The Dependent One Tailed (Paired Sample) t-test ………………………………………………………………….61 5.6.4 Comparison Between the Results of Experiment 1 and Experiment 2…..64 5.6.5 Kunwinjku Students’ Performance on Mathematical Concepts Corresponding to Ordinality and Spatial Skills ……………………………..64 5.7 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………….65 Chapter 6 – Findings, Discussion and Recommendations ……...67 6.1 Major Findings from Experiment 1 ……………………………………………….67 6.2 Main Findings from Experiment 2 ………………………………………………..68 6.3 Findings from Observations ……………………………………………………….69 6.4 Discussion …………………………………………………………………………..70 6.5 Significance ………………………………………………………………………...73 6.6 Implications and Recommendations ……………………………………………..74 6.7 Limitations …………………………………………………………………………..75 6.8 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………..76 References ………………………………………………………………………..........77 Glossary ………………………………………………………………………………...87 Appendices …………………………………………………………………………….91 iii List of Tables Table 1: Total Number of Speakers of Indigenous Languages in NT, Australia Table 2: Participants of Control Group Table 3: Participants of Experimental Group Table 4: List of Vocabulary Corresponding to Ordinality and Spatial Skills Table 5: Sample of Data Codification Table 6: Five Animals’ Names in Kunwinjku with their Corresponding Names in English Table 7: Kunwinjku Students’ Scores in English Table 8: Data Frames Used in the Sessions I and II of Experiment 2 Table 9: Differences Between Pretest Scores Mean and Posttest Scores Mean Table 10: Mean Difference and Standard Deviation