research-article

Does Native Language Play a Role in Learning a Programming Language?

Authors:

Adalbert Gerald Soosai Raj,

Kasama Ketsuriyonk,

Jignesh M. Patel,

Richard HalversonAuthors Info & Claims

SIGCSE '18: Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

Pages 417 - 422

https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159531

Published: 21 February 2018 Publication History

Abstract

Computer Science (CS) is taught in India, using English as the medium of instruction, to students whose native language is not English. This places a high cognitive load on students who learn programming for the first time and who are not very proficient in English. The problems these students face become even harder since learning to program can be an incredibly difficult task. Our study aims to find out if a student's native language has any effect on the student's ability to learn programming. We taught linked list, a basic concept in CS, to two groups of undergraduate students for a week in Tamil Nadu, India. We used English to teach one group of students and English and Tamil (the native language in Tamil Nadu) to teach the other group. Our intervention consisted of three lectures and one live-coding session. We collected quantitative and qualitative data using technical tests and open-ended feedback respectively. We found that although teaching programming using both English and Tamil is no different when compared to using only English with respect to student learning, students have expressed positive opinions about teaching and learning CS using two languages.

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Cited By

Zhang IJia YCheng XSon JStigler J(2025)Empowering Novice Programmers: Redesigning Documentation for Effective Informal LearningJournal of Educational Computing Research10.1177/07356331241311505Online publication date: 15-Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331241311505
Geyser H(2024)Decoloniality, Digital-coloniality and Computer Programming EducationACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/370233224:4(1-30)Online publication date: 17-Dec-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3702332
Tshukudu EDodoo EHermans FMudongo M(2024)Bilingual Programming: A Study of Student Attitudes and Experiences in the African contextProceedings of the 24th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research10.1145/3699538.3699561(1-11)Online publication date: 12-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3699538.3699561
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Index Terms

Does Native Language Play a Role in Learning a Programming Language?
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs
        Computer science education

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cover image ACM Conferences

SIGCSE '18: Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

February 2018

1174 pages

ISBN:9781450351034

DOI:10.1145/3159450

General Chairs:
Tiffany Barnes
North Carolina State University, USA
,
Daniel Garcia
University of California, Berkeley, USA
,
Program Chairs:
Elizabeth K. Hawthorne
Union County College, USA
,
Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones
UNC Charlotte, USA

Copyright © 2018 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Published: 21 February 2018

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SIGCSE '18: The 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

February 21 - 24, 2018

Maryland, Baltimore, USA

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SIGCSE '18 Paper Acceptance Rate 161 of 459 submissions, 35%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 1,787 of 5,146 submissions, 35%

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Cited By

Zhang IJia YCheng XSon JStigler J(2025)Empowering Novice Programmers: Redesigning Documentation for Effective Informal LearningJournal of Educational Computing Research10.1177/07356331241311505Online publication date: 15-Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331241311505
Geyser H(2024)Decoloniality, Digital-coloniality and Computer Programming EducationACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/370233224:4(1-30)Online publication date: 17-Dec-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3702332
Tshukudu EDodoo EHermans FMudongo M(2024)Bilingual Programming: A Study of Student Attitudes and Experiences in the African contextProceedings of the 24th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research10.1145/3699538.3699561(1-11)Online publication date: 12-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3699538.3699561
Alaofi SRussell SStephenson BStone JBattestilli LRebelsky SShoop L(2024)Improving Knowledge of CS1 Terminology Through a Peer Reviewed Translation Activity: Results and FeedbackProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3626252.3630876(46-52)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3626252.3630876
Raffaa SAlhamami MAli N(2024)Perspectives of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) Policy From Computer Instructors in Saudi ArabiaIEEE Transactions on Education10.1109/TE.2024.336932867:6(817-828)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2024
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Gaikwad DAkurathi JRao M(2024)Impact of the Language of Instruction for STEM Subjects on Student Engagement, Motivation, and Further Learning: A Case Study in Maharashtra, IndiaSustainability: Science, Policy, and Practice in India10.1007/978-3-031-50132-6_6(71-83)Online publication date: 7-Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50132-6_6
Lee HLin CWang WChang WHuang Y(2023)Precision education via timely intervention in K-12 computer programming course to enhance programming skill and affective-domain learning objectivesInternational Journal of STEM Education10.1186/s40594-023-00444-510:1Online publication date: 8-Aug-2023
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Grover SRaman ABanati H(2023)Does Bilingual Specification impact students' comprehension of problems in Introductory Programming?Proceedings of the 16th Annual ACM India Compute Conference10.1145/3627217.3627237(66-71)Online publication date: 9-Dec-2023
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Villegas Molina ISalguero AZhong SSoosai Raj ALaakso MMonga MSimon Sheard J(2023)The Effects of Spanish-English Bilingual Instruction in a CS0 Course for High School StudentsProceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3587102.3588845(75-81)Online publication date: 29-Jun-2023
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Alaofi SRussell SChoppella VPhatak DLuxton-Reilly ACraig M(2023)The Use of English Language to Teach CS1 to Non-Native English Speakers: Students PerspectiveProceedings of the ACM Conference on Global Computing Education Vol 110.1145/3576882.3617931(15-21)Online publication date: 5-Dec-2023
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