Key Concepts and Theories Origins of Monolingual Principle

An Ethnographic Classroom Research Design

Ethnographic classroom research involves both descriptions and explanations of observable and unobservable language behaviours and adopts multiple data-gathering methods to generate multiple types of data for thick description (Canagarajah 2009). An ethnographic approach is particularly suitable for studying the covert and taken-for-granted elements of language ideologies. There is an emphasis on classroom-based investigation to discover teachers’ and students’ actual language practices and to understand classroom participants’ perspectives on classroom language policies and practices. Following the ethnographic methodological principle, the study has incorporated participants’ perspectives with their practices and has combined macro-micro analytical concerns (Watson-Gegeo 1999).
In order to develop a holistic approach to examining L2 classroom language use, this study provided descriptive data through classroom observation of language use patterns and explanatory data through semi-structured interviews to elicit teachers’ perspectives as well as a questionnaire to survey students’ language attitudes. The primary outcome of this study could be a diverse array of first-hand data that will lead us to define and discuss Chinese language education in terms of necessary engagement with multilingualism and the tensions created by monolingual principles.
The study seeks to answer two major research questions: (1) How is L1 being used in CSL classrooms? and (2) What are the attitudes of CSL teachers and students towards classroom language practices and pedagogies? The overall objectives of this study are to (1) understand stakeholders’ (CSL curriculum designers, teachers and students) views of classroom language use in beginners’ classrooms; (2) identify the challenges of teaching and learning in multilingual CSL classrooms in the sociolinguistic context of Hong Kong; and (3) provide classroom-based research findings to inform development of curriculums and teaching methods. The study could provide research evidence to address the complex issue of medium of instruction policy planning in CSL education in Hong Kong and to challenge the myth of monolingual approach prevailing in CSL classes.
Before the fieldwork, the research team collected and analysed documents relating to CSL teaching and learning for ethnic minority students in Hong Kong. Articles from newspapers, journals, government and NGO reports relating to classroom language policies and pedagogies for ethnic minority CSL classes were first analysed. After the key participants were identified, papers and documents relating to school language policies in each teacher’s classes were collected and analysed accordingly. Field notes are written down at the time of the classroom observations and interviews or very soon after. As only audio recorders were used for data collection, field notes are important for later interpretation of data. Instructional strategies and non-verbal behaviour have also been coded and analysed.