Impact of infusing computational thinking into English dialogue learning

Abstract

Computational Thinking (CT) is an essential problem-solving skill for people living in the 21st century and has the potential to help students live and study more efficiently in this digital world. As Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in English language education requires students not only to become the consumer but also the creator of technological tools, CT provides new ways of facilitating students’ English language knowledge and skills. Since only a few studies have been conducted on the topic of bridging CT and English education, very little is known about this field. Given this lacuna, this study aims to investigate student and teacher perspectives and attitudes towards infusing CT with English language learning. Therefore, this thesis searches the development of CT in the context of English dialogue learning and explores the possibilities and opportunities open to students when CT is utilized in English education. To realize this goal, CT is represented by the graphical programming language Scratch according to the Three-dimensional CT framework proposed by Brennan and Resnick. As a starting point, this study focuses on exploring students’ attitudes towards using graphical programming language in English dialogue learning. More precisely, it dedicates to investigate if there are any attitude changes towards both English dialogue learning and graphical programming language learning after students have experienced English dialogue learning via the graphical programming language environment Scratch. At the same time, this study sets out to explore what suggestions students and teachers may have in regard to improving the integration of CT into English education via graphical programming languages. To achieve this objective, a mixed method approach was adopted with an emphasis on the qualitative side. Data was collected through pre/post-lesson surveys, class observations, graphical programming projects and semi-structured interviews from nine Hong Kong primary students (four in Grade 4 and five in Grade 5) who attended extra-curricular lessons for computer programming using Scratch at their school. The preliminary results show that primary school students have positive reaction to the introduction of CT into English dialogue learning through graphical programming language. Students were more motivated to learn English dialogue after the class under study; however, there was no change in their attitude towards learning graphical programming language after the intervention. To better connect CT with English education via graphical programming language, students and the teacher in the group under study suggested making computers interact with people autonomically, designing games in graphical programming environments to encourage English learning, and adopting graphical programming language as a tool to finish summative English language assignments.