Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS a study on using chants, songs and games to develop language in teaching english to students at doan xa primary school m a thesis linguistics

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES -  - NGUYỄN THỊ THOAN A STUDY ON USING CHANTS, SONGS AND GAMES TO DEVELOP LANGUAGE IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO STUDENTS AT DOAN XA PRIMARY SCHOOL NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ PHÁT TRIỂN NGÔN NGỮ CHO HỌC SINH TRƢỜNG TIỂU HỌC ĐỒN XÁ THƠNG QUA ĐIỆU CA, BÀI HÁT VÀ TRỊ CHƠI M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60 14 0111 Hanoi – 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES -  - NGUYỄN THỊ THOAN A STUDY ON USING CHANTS, SONGS AND GAMES TO DEVELOP LANGUAGE IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO STUDENTS AT DOAN XA PRIMARY SCHOOL NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ PHÁT TRIỂN NGÔN NGỮ CHO HỌC SINH TRƢỜNG TIỂU HỌC ĐỒN XÁ THƠNG QUA ĐIỆU CA, BÀI HÁT VÀ TRÒ CHƠI M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60 14 0111 Supervisor : Dr Mai Thi Loan Hanoi – 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I certify that the thesis entitled “A study on using chants, songs and games to develop language in teaching English to students at Doan Xa Primary school” which is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts, is the result of my study It has not been presented anywhere Hanoi 2014 Nguyen Thi Thoan i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor - Dr Mai Thi Loan for useful instructions, comments and support during the process of fulfilling the thesis Secondly, I would like to give my sincere thanks to all the teachers of English at the department of post graduate who gave me useful lectures My gratitude also sends to all English teachers at Doan Xa Primary school for their interesting and important ideas which helped me so much for my questionnaire Finally, I am thankful to my family and friends for their valuable care and encouragement ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether using chants, songs and games in teaching language in general and teaching vocabulary in particular is effective or not The researcher also tries to find out the ways of using chants, songs and games to teach language for the third-grade students at Doan Xa Primary school In order to reach the aims of the thesis, the author used the following data collection instruments: interview for teachers, survey questionnaire for students and tests for students The results and findings show that students’ vocabulary improves considerably after learning English through chants, songs and games Furthermore, the findings also point out that in the lessons using chants, songs and games, teachers should design a variety of tasks such as gap-filling, multiple choice, ticking true or false to enhance students’ vocabulary Teachers should also choose chants, songs and games from various sources such as internet, CD, VCD or television to attract students’ concentration iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Chart 1: Students’ attitude towards learning vocabulary with the use of chants, songs and games 22 Chart 2: Teachers’ frequency of using chants, songs and games 26 Chart 3: Teachers’ attitudes towards the effectiveness of chants, songs and games 27 Chart 4: Raw marks in vocabulary test (pre-test) 31 Chart 5: Raw marks in vocabulary test (post-test) 33 Table 1: Students’ improvement after they had been taught with the use of chants, songs and games 23 Table 2: Students’ favorite tasks in the lesson with the use of chants, songs and games 24 Table 3: The sources of chants, songs and games 28 Table 4: Frequency distribution (pre-test) 30 Table 5: Mean and standard deviation (pre-test) 31 Table 6: Frequency distribution (post-test) 32 Table 7: Mean and standard deviation (post-test) 33 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i DECLARATION ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims and objectives of the study Research questions Scope of the study Significance of the study Methodology Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of language 1.2 The role of teachers and students in teaching and learning language 1.2.1 Teachers’ role 1.2.2 Students’ role 1.3 Review of methods and approaches for teaching language 1.3.1 Methods of teaching language 1.3.2 Approaches for teaching language 1.4 Chants, songs and games as motivations for students to improve language 1.5 Aspects of language that can be improved through chants, songs and games 11 1.5.1 Pronunciation 11 1.5.2 Vocabulary 11 1.5.3 Listening 12 1.5.4 Speaking 13 1.6 Choosing chants, songs and games 13 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1.6.1 Choosing chants and songs 13 1.6.2 Choosing games 14 1.7 Review of related studies 14 1.8 Summary 16 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 17 2.1 The setting of the study 17 2.1.1 Conditions which affect students’ participation in a language lesson 17 2.1.2 Teaching and learning conditions at Doan Xa primary school 17 2.2 Participants 19 2.3 Data collection instruments 19 2.3.1 Questionnaire for students 19 2.3.2 Interview for teachers 20 2.3.3 Tests 20 2.4 Data collection and analysis procedure 20 2.5 Summary 21 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 22 3.1 Questionnaire for students 22 3.1.1 Aims 22 3.1.2 Participants 22 3.1.3 Data analysis 22 3.1.3.1 Students’ attitude towards learning vocabulary with the use of chants, songs and games 22 3.1.3.2 The improvement of students after they had been taught with the use of chants, songs and games 23 3.1.3.3 Students’ favorite tasks in the lesson with the use of chants, songs and games 24 3.1.3.4 The difficulties the learners had while they studied with the use of chants, songs and games 24 3.2 Interview for teachers 26 3.2.1 Aims 26 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3.2.2 Participants 26 3.2.3 Data analysis 26 3.2.3.1 Teachers’ frequency of using chants, songs and games 26 3.2.3.2 Teachers’ attitudes towards the effectiveness of chants, songs and games.27 3.2.3.3 The difficulties the teachers had while designing a lesson with the use of chants, songs and games 27 3.2.3.4 The sources of chants, songs and games 28 3.2.3.5 The tasks teachers design to teach students with the use of chants, songs and games 29 3.3 Tests 29 3.3.1 Aims 29 3.3.2 Participants 29 3.3.3 Test description 30 3.3.4 Data analysis and findings 30 3.3.4.1 Pre-test (at the beginning of the term) 30 3.3.4.1.1 Frequency distribution 30 3.3.4.1.2 Correlation 31 3.3.4.2 Post- test (at the end of the term) 32 3.3.4.2.1 Frequency distribution 32 3.3.4.2.2 Correlation 33 3.4 Summary 34 CHAPTER 4: PEDAGOGICAL SUGGESTIONS 35 4.1 The use of chants, songs and games in the lesson 35 4.1.1 The use of chants 35 4.1.2 The use of songs 35 4.1.3 The use of games 36 4.2 Suggestions for task designing 36 4.3 A sample lesson plan using chants, songs and games 37 4.4 Summary 38 PART III: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 39 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Recapitulation 39 Conclusion 39 Limitations of the study 40 Suggestions for further study 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE VERSIONS) I APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW FOR TEACHERS V APPENDIX 3: PRE-TEST VIII APPENDIX 4: POST-TEST IX APPENDIX 5: SAMPLE TASKS X APPENDIX 6: SAMPLE LESSON PLAN XIV viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Question 4: To what extent you like the following tasks? Level of interest Tasks Very much Much A little Not at all Filling the blanks with correct words Choosing the correct answers Putting words in order to make meaningful sentences Ticking true or false items Matching Mistake correction Question 5: Name some disadvantages you have when learning English through chants, songs and games? A: I can not remember the rhythm of the chants, songs or the rules of games B I can not listen to the words of chants and songs clearly C There are many new words in chants, songs and games that I not know D Others: Thank you very much for your assistance! II LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PHỤ LỤC CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT CHO HỌC SINH Chào em, cô thực bảng câu hỏi điều tra với mục đích thu thập số liệu cho đề tài “ Nghiên cứu phát triển ngôn ngữ cho học sinh trường Tiểu học Đồn Xá thơng qua điệu ca, hát trị chơi.” để nghiên cứu tính hiệu cách dạy điệu ca, tiếng hát trò chơi học Các em khoanh câu trả lời cho câu hỏi dƣới viết câu trả lời Cô cảm ơn tham gia em Câu hỏi 1: Em thấy điệu ca, hát trò chơi sách giáo khoa nhƣ nào? A Thú vị B Quá dễ C Quá khó D Nhàm chán Câu hỏi 2: Em có thích học Tiếng Anh qua điệu ca, hát trị chơi khơng? A Rất thích B Thích C Bình thƣờng D Khơng thích tí Câu hỏi 3: Từ vựng em có cải thiện sau đƣợc học với điệu ca, hát trị chơi khơng? A Rất nhiều B Nhiều C Khơng nhiều D Rất D Không cải thiện III LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Câu hỏi 4: Em thích dạng tập mức độ nhƣ nào? Mức độ thích Bài tập Rất nhiều Nhiều Thích Khơng thích Điền từ vào chỗ trống Chọn đáp án Sắp xếp cụm từ để tạo thành câu có nghĩa Đánh dấu đáp án sai Nối từ Sửa lỗi Câu 5: Hãy kể tên số khó khăn mà em gặp phải học Tiếng Anh thông qua điệu ca, hát trò chơi? A: Em không nhớ đƣợc giai điệu hát luật trị chơi B: Em khơng nghe rõ lời điệu ca, hát C Có nhiều từ mà em chƣa biết D Ý khác: IV LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX INTERVIEW FOR TEACHERS Teacher: Vu Thi Xuan Huong Date of birth: 1988 Researcher: Do you often use chants, songs and games in teaching English to your students? Xuan Huong: Yes, of course Researcher: Do you think it is useful when using chants, songs and games in teaching English to primary students? Xuan Huong: It’s very interesting Researcher: Do you have any difficulties in using chants, songs and games to teach? Xuan Huong: I not sing well, so I am not self-confident to use songs to teach Researcher: Where you get chants, songs and games? Xuan Huong: They are available in the textbook Researcher: What are the types of tasks you often design to teach through chants, songs and games? Xuan Huong: Choosing the correct answers A, B, C or D, filling the blanks with missing words, ticking true or false items Teacher: Nguyen Thi Nhung Date of birth: 1986 Researcher: How often you use chants, songs and games in teaching English to your students? Nhung: Always Researcher: What you think about using chants, songs and games in teaching English to primary students? Nhung: It’s very important Students feel relaxed and excited Researcher: What are your difficulties in using chants, songs and games to teach? Nhung: I can not remember the rhythm of chants and songs Sometimes I spend much time on instructing the rules of them Researcher: Do you find chants, songs games from internet? Nhung: I often use those on the textbook V LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Researcher: What are the types of tasks you often design to teach through chants, songs and games? Nhung: I often use filling the blanks with missing words, choosing the correct answers A, B, C or D and ticking true or false items Teacher: Pham Thi Hieu Date of birth: 1981 Researcher: Do you often use chants, songs and games in teaching English to your students? Hieu: Always Researcher: What are your attitudes towards using chants, songs and games in teaching English to primary students? Hieu: It’s good to use chants, songs and games to teach English to primary students because they love games, songs and chants very much Researcher: Do you face difficulties in using chants, songs and games to teach? Hieu: I spend much time on introducing the requirement of the task, modeling and practicing Researcher: What resources you get chants, songs and games? Hieu: I often use those on the textbook Researcher: What types of tasks you often design to teach through chants, songs and games? Hieu: I often use some tasks such as: filling the blanks with missing words, choosing the correct answers A, B, C or D and ticking true or false items Teacher: Bui Thi Nga Date of birth: 1989 Researcher: Do you often use chants, songs and games in teaching English to your students? Nga: Sometimes I want my students to more grammar exercise Researcher: Do you like using chants, songs and games in teaching English to primary students? Nga:: Sometimes I use them to teach to my students VI LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Researcher: Do you have any difficulties in using chants, songs and games to teach? Nga: My students want new chants, songs and games I have to spend time on finding new ones Researcher: What resources you get chants, songs and games? Nga: I often use those on TV, internet Researcher: What types of tasks you often design to teach through chants, songs and games? Nga: I often use some tasks such as: choosing the correct answers A, B, C or D and ticking true or false items Sometimes I use filling the blanks with missing words, VII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX PRE-TEST I Choose the words that are different from the others a She b He c I d Tom a big b room c small d new a sit b stand c book d come a school b classroom c library d music room a rubber b pencil c ruler d school a hello b hi c goodbye d fine a hide-and-seek b play c chess d football a my b her c you d your II Fill the blanks with missing letters m sic b g sho t sch l ba mint n pe ci .las room c mpu er Keys: I Choose the words that are different from the others d Tom b room c book a school d school d fine b play c you II Fill the blanks with missing letters music big short school badminton pencil classroom computer VIII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX POST-TEST I Choose the words that are different from the others a father b mother c friend d sister a table b student c desk d chair a dog b pet c cat d parrot a doll b robot c toy d ship a violet b pink c flower d yellow a under b on c desk d above a sunny b weather c rainy d cold a house b dining room c bathroom d kitchen II Fill the blanks with missing letters w ther sunn c lour gr n abbit orto se rob t ba mi ton Keys: I: Choose the word that are different from the others c friend b student b pet c toy c flower c desk b weather a house II: Fill the blanks with missing letters weather sunny colour green rabbit tortoise robot badminton IX LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX SAMPLE TASKS Task 1: Choose the right words to fill in the blanks (Chọn từ thích hợp điền vào chỗ trống) Rules of game: Divide students into two groups to play the game lucky number by choosing the right words to fill in the blanks If they get lucky number, they can get two, three or four stars If it is not lucky number, they have to choose one word to fill in the blank and get two stars with each correct answer (Luật chơi: Chia lớp thành hai nhóm để chơi trị chơi số may mắn Học sinh bắt thăm chọn từ thích hợp điền vào chỗ trống Nếu bắt thăm đƣợc số may mắn, học sinh có hai, ba bốn ngơi sao; không, phải chọn từ điền vào chỗ trống đƣợc hai với câu trả lời đúng.) on are lamp is picture This is my living room There are many things in the living room There (1) one table There (2) four chairs There are some books (3) the table There is a (4) near the books There is a (5) on the wall Keys: is are on lamp picture Task 2: Listen to the song and circle the correct answers (Nghe hát khoanh đáp án đúng) The weather is today A sunny B windy Let’s go playing in the A classroom B school yard The .is bad today A sun B weather Let’s go in our room C cloudy D fine C garden D summer day C rain D homework X LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com A playing B fishing C cycling D skiing Keys: D fine C garden B weather A playing Tapescript: Let’s go playing song The weather is fine today! (2) Let’s go playing in the garden, My dear friends The weather is bad today! (2) Let’s go playing in our room, My dear friends Task 3: Put words/phrases in order to make meaningful sentences (Sắp xếp lại từ/ cụm từ để tạo thành câu có nghĩa) Suggestions: This task is established in a game If it is the song/ chant, teacher can the same way Rules: Divide students into two groups Give students flash cards of each sentence and ask students in each group to put words/ phrases in order to make a meaningful sentence by sticking on the board The faster is the winner (Luật chơi: Chia lớp thành hai nhóm Đƣa cho học sinh thẻ từ câu đề nghị học sinh nhóm dán lên bảng tạo thành câu có nghĩa Đội chơi nhanh đội thắng cuộc.) Phong and Nam/ What/ doing/ are/? are/ garden/ playing/ in/ They/ the/ football/ playing/ are/ They/ like/ very much/ playing/ They/ football/ Keys: What are Phong and Nam doing? XI LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com They are playing in the garden They are playing football They like playing football very much Task 4: Listen to the chant, then tick True (T) or False (F) (Nghe điệu ca đánh dấu vào cột sai) T F I don’t like cats The cat is chasing a rat I like dogs He’s chasing a parrot Keys: F T T F Tapescript: Chant Cats, cats I like cats Where’s your cat? He’s chasing a rat Dogs, dogs I like dogs Where’s your dog? He’s chasing a frog Task 5: Listen to the chant, then match two words with underlined parts having the same sound (Hãy nghe điệu ca sau nối hai từ mà có phần gạch chân có âm giống nhau) red A shoe green B bean XII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com blue C head Keys: C B A Tapescript: Chant I like red Touch your head I like green Plant your bean I like blue Touch your shoe Now all of you Do what I Task 6: Listen to the song, then find out mistakes from the underlined words (Hãy nghe hát sau tìm lỗi từ gạch chân) The weather song What is the weather nine (1)? It’s snowy(2) and rainy (3) In Mai (4) hometown Keys: like sunny windy my Tapescript: The weather song What is the weather like (2) It’s sunny and windy In my hometown XIII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX SAMPLE LESSON PLAN UNIT 12: HOW OLD ARE YOU? Page 12 – 13 Lesson Time: 35 minutes I Objective: By the end of the lesson, students will have been able to bear in their mind the numbers from one to ten to ask and answer about the age II Students’ level: Grade III Resources: Student’s book, recording, flashcards, posters IV Procedures: Warm up - Teacher gives out some words and divides class into three groups (2 minutes) Call three students from three groups to go to the board to arrange them to make a meaningful sentence Jumbled words: happy we a are family At the same time, teacher asks other students to sing the song A happy family, page 11, unit 11 Key: We are a happy family Pre- Teacher shows the picture on page 12 and asks students to tell what teaching they see about the picture (2 minutes) Possible answer: Mai, Tom, say hello, go to school While- Activity 1: teaching - Teacher asks students to works in groups of four, listen to the (26 minutes) dialogue and fill in the blank with one word Mai: My name’s Mai Tom: Hello, Mai My name’s (1) XIV LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Mai: How(2) are you, Tom? Tom: I’m nine years old Mai: Oh, I’m(3) years old too Answer: - Teacher plays the tape the second time, pause at the answer - Teacher asks students to report the answer, then gives the feedback Key: 1.Tom old nine - Teacher asks students to listen and repeat the dialogue sentence by sentence Then teacher asks students to practice the dialogue in groups, in pairs without listening to the tape - Teacher teaches students the numbers from one to ten through the song number song One, two, three, four, five – jump Six, seven, eight, nine, ten – jump One, two, three, four, five – go around Six, seven, eight, nine, ten – go around Activity 2: - Teacher asks students to chant this model sentences after the teacher, in groups, in pairs and individually • T: • How old are you? • • Class: I’m nine XV LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com - Teacher asks students to practice in pairs by using the number from one to ten Activity 3: - Teacher asks students to play game Lucky number to practice the sentence pattern: How old are you? – I’m nine years old Rule of game: Teacher divides students into two groups to play the game lucky number by asking and answering about the ages of people on the book The group which gets a lucky number will get two, three or four stars If it is not lucky number, they have to ask and answer about the ages of people on the book and get two stars with each correct answer Post- - Game: “through the ball” Teacher has a ball Teacher says teaching “I’m nine How old are you?” then the teacher throws the ball Who ( minutes ) catches the ball will say the age and ask for other friends’ age Make the same dialogue as the text book on page 12 Homework XVI LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether using chants, songs and games in teaching language in general and teaching vocabulary in particular... definition of language; the role of teachers and students in teaching and learning language; review of traditional methods and approaches for teaching language; chants, songs and games as motivations... designing, suggestions for using the topic of chants, songs and games, role of teacher in teaching language and a sample lesson plan using chants, songs and games Part 3: Conclusion and recommendations