INTRODUCTION
Rationale
Recently, although the curriculum in Vietnam has been changed a lot, the teaching of English language fail to fulfill its goals Even after years of English learning, the learners do not gain the confidence of using the language in and outside the class
Their output in the language is limited to writing run-of-the-mill answers for literature chapters and producing grammatically accurate, but isolated sentences while real communication involves ideas, emotions, feelings, appropriateness and adaptability
Besides, English is becoming a language of global communication To have access to information and interaction with others over the world, the useful tool for most people is English skills That is why improving students‘ speaking ability should be paid more attention, even in the low grades To achieve this goal, many teachers have applied different methods and techniques
However, it is a challenging task for language teachers to establish a successful language classroom which can develop students‘ speaking skill the best Vietnamese students learn English in a non-English speaking environment, so the acquisition of English is not generally considered essential for the enhancement of their life in the community In addition, there is no oral English test in most of exams in primary and secondary schools Consequently, many students have very low motivation of speaking English
Many studies have demonstrated that motivation has important role in the effectiveness of teaching and learning process Learners with high motivation tend to gain more success than unmotivated ones Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the benefits of picture stories in promoting students‘ motivation with the hope to find good teaching material for teaching speaking English The researcher hope findings from this study can be useful for other teachers and researchers.
Aims of the study
The purpose of this study was to investigate the usage of picture stories as a teaching strategy on pupil‘s motivation In order to achieve the aim of the study, the research questions below will be addressed:
- What are the attitudes of eighth grade pupils at Luong The Vinh Junior Secondary School toward the use of picture stories in their speaking lessons?
- Does pupils‘ involvement increase in the class using picture stories?
- How do teachers evaluate the effectiveness of picture stories in motivating students speaking?
- What are the difficulties of using picture stories to teach speaking skill for the 8 th grade pupils in Luong The Vinh Junior Secondary School?
Scope of the study
The study limits its scope to speaking skills and to its participants of eighth grade students at Luong The Vinh Junior Secondary School.
Methods of the study
The study used questionnaires to gather data and describe the current situation of using picture stories to motivate the 8 th grade pupils in speaking class Survey questionnaire was used in data collection of the study due to its unprecedented efficiency in terms of researcher time, researcher effort and financial resources according to Jo and Steve (1997, cited by Nunan, 1998) Thanks to a questionnaire, the researcher could collect a huge amount of information in a short period of time and ―if the questionnaire is well – constructed, processing the data can also be fast and relatively straightforward‖
(Gillham, 2000) Moreover, three types of data including ―behavioral‖, ―factual‖ and
―attitudinal‖ which can be easily yielded through using questionnaire can provide the researcher with the information to answer the research questions about the current situation of using communicative task to enhance the speaking competence of the 10th grade students In brief, due to its great effectiveness, the researcher chose survey questionnaire as an effective method of data collecting in this study.
Organization of the study
The thesis is divided into six parts:
Chapter 1 introduces the research problem and rationale of the study It also states the significance, aims, scope, and methods of the study
Chapter 2 not only provides an overview of background of the study, including key concepts and theories relating to the research topic but also discusses previous studies of this field to reveal the research gap which needs filling
Chapter 3 defines the methodology applied in the study including features of the participants, context, research instruments, data collection and data analysis procedure
Chapter 4 presents the results of the research and data analysis which gives comprehensive answers to the research questions It also offers suggestions to involved participants to solve all the diagnosed problems for a higher effectiveness of elicitation
Chapter 5 summarizes significant findings, highlights contributions of the research, puts forward practical suggestions for further future research as well as addresses notable limitations.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Motivation
Many studies have revealed that motivation is one of the major factors contributing to one‘s success in learning foreign languages According to Gardner (1985), learners with a positive attitude and high motivation towards the subject are more likely to succeed in second language learning
Labonde (1982) also claimed that motivation is one of important factors which help to determine the proficiency achieve by different learners and the most successful learners will be those who have both talent and a high level of motivation for learning
In educational psychology, the definition of what it is to be motivated is quite simple: ―to be motivated is to be moved to do something‖ (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p 54) However, further breakdowns of the term tend to become rather complicated, especially when considering the variable facets of motivation involved in a task as complex as the socially- and culturally-bound, long-term endeavor of foreign language learning
Gardner (1985), in his landmark account of a socio-educational model of language acquisition, wrote that motivation to learn a foreign language can be described as a complex of constructs, involving both effort and desire, as well as a favorable attitude toward learning the language at hand This model promoted the notion that self- identify and identification with the foreign language community is important to the language-learning process For example, a pupil may feel he or she does not ―fit in‖ with the target language speakers (a de-motivating factor), or may want to ―fully integrate‖ and become, perhaps, completely passable as a native speaker of the language (a highly motivating factor) Where one is along this continuum is described as one‘s integrative motivation, or how much one wants to integrate with the target language community
According to Gardner, another motivation pupils may posses is instrumental: they may want to learn the foreign language to achieve a practical goal, such as a job promotion or to obtain course credit (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1991)
Another set of definitions stemming from research is intrinsic and extrinsic motivation — intrinsic motivation comes from the joy or pleasure derived through language learning itself, while extrinsic motivation results from the desire to obtain some particular outcome, reminiscent of Gardner‘s notion of instrumental motivation
Dửrnyei and Ottú (1998) described how motivation changes over time for any given learner, and described how the flux in motivation may be related to temporal components as small as a task in the language learning classroom or as large as the flow of a foreign language course over an entire academic year According to this dynamic, process-oriented approach to motivation, in either small- or large-scale time frames, pupils‘ motivation consists of three stages: pre-actional, actional, and post-actional (Dửrnyei, 2003):
First, motivation needs to be generated According to Dửrnyei (2005), the generated motivation helps the pupil select the goal or task to pursue and launches the pupil into action The pupil‘s own initial goals, values and attitudes associated with the learning process, perceived likelihood of success, and the support the pupil gets (both mental and physical) can all influence this stage of motivation
Next, Dửrnyei (2005) wrote that at the actional stage, the motivation needs to be
―maintained and protected‖ (p 84) (by the quality of the learning experience, by the nature of the classroom environment, by teachers, peers and/or parents, or by the pupil through self-regulation) during the particular action, which may be a classroom-based task or the long-term endeavor of learning the foreign language in the classroom Dửrnyei mentioned that this is especially important for classroom settings where pupils may be distracted by mitigating factors such as anxiety, competing interests (established by teachers, parents, peers, or the school), or even physical conditions (e.g., noise or poor classroom conditions)
After the action is completed, at the post-actional stage, the pupil retrospectively evaluates how things went to help determine the type and quality of activities he or she will be motivated to pursue next Dửrnyei (2005) noted that some of the main motivational influences on this stage of learning are grades and/or feedback obtained from teacher(s) and/or others and the pupil‘s own sense of what was learned, along with an introspective measure of his or her self-confidence and self-worth in relation to what was learned and how things went in the classroom
Each of these three stages of motivation can be influenced not only by the learner, but also by the environment external to the learner, including the classroom environment and all that it entails (classroom peers, classroom implementations of state mandates, parents, textbooks, teachers, etc.) Thus, with a processing approach to motivation, we have pedagogical implications associated with learner motivation: pupils can not only employ self-motivating strategies throughout tasks, but teachers too can implement motivational strategies in the classroom to influence the quality and type of motivation that drives foreign language learning.
Motivate adolescent learners
Adolescent learners are from 13 to 18 years old These learners are at the transitional stage of development between childhood and adulthood During this period of time, a person experiences a variety of biological changes and encounters a number of emotional issues He/ She develops abstract thinking abilities, becomes more aware of his/ her sexuality, develops a clearer sense of psychological identity, and increases his/her independence from parents Harmer described characteristics of this age as follows:
1 They seem to be less lively and humorous than adults
2 Identity has to be forged among classmates and friends; peer approval may be considerably more important for the pupil than the attention of the teacher
3 They would be much happier if such problem did not exist
4 They may be disruptive in class
5 They have a great potential creativity and a passionate commitment to things that interest them
In the same view, Ur (1996:288) pointed out that children, unlike adults, do not maintain a high interest level if engaged in activities over a long span of time However, they may be likely to spend a great amount of time and effort in doing the activities in which they show a great interest Thus, teachers can raise learning motivation of adolescent learners at a great deal if they can create class activities and lesson materials that interest their learners
In addition, learning goals and classroom atmosphere are also important factors contributing pupils‘ motivation The learning goals should be challenging, but manageable and clear enough for pupils to achieve If the goals are so difficult to reach, learners will soon lose their confidence and get bored Classroom climate should be supportive and non-threatening Learners should be ensured that they can express their opinion without the risk of being ridiculed and losing face.
Picture stories
A picture book, in its broadest definition, is a book in which the illustrations play a significant role in telling the story Picture books for young children possess the following five features (Sutherland, 1997):
• Present the story line in a brief and straightforward manner
• Contain a limited number of concepts
• Include concepts that children can comprehend
• Provide text that is written in a direct, simple style
• Provide illustrations that complement the text There are many kinds of pictures books such as wordless picture books, concept books, picture storybooks, illustrated story books, etc However, teachers in Luong The
Vinh Junior Secondary School focus on using comic strips and picture books with plots to motivate their pupils to speak.
Why picture stories
For the reason why teachers should use picture stories in the class as their teaching material, Michael stated as follows:
The name “picture books” evokes images of brightly colored, beautifully illustrated books that beg to be read No matter what our age, most of us still enjoy reading them because of their vibrant pictures, rich and evocative language, and poignant and meaningful themes Picture books speak to us in the same way photographs do They touch our emotions, delight our senses, appeal to our whimsy, and bring back memories of our childhood Picture books invite us to curl up and read them
On the same view, Taufik (2006) also discussed about two main benefits of picture stories in the class:
1 The vocabulary used there can be inferred from both pictures and the context, so the pupils do not waste their time to look up the meaning of difficult words in a dictionary
2 The sentence structures, which are used in picture stories, are simple They enable pupils to understand what the sentence means
(Cited by Royanti, 2007) Strengths of picture stories can be summarized in some main points as follows:
Pupils, especially young learners, like to read picture stories If they are given options to study or read picture stories, they will choose to read picture stories So, with the use of picture stories as a medium in teaching English, the pupils do not realize that they are learning English They will be more motivated to learn English
Picture stories motivate pupils by its pictures The use of colors, the name of animals, and the identification of the main parts of human body can be studied and understood fast with the use of cartoon stories Sones (1944) theorized that pictures tell any story more effectively than words According to him, ―The potency of picture story is not a matter of modern theory but of anciently established truth Before man thought in words, he felt in pictures…it is too bad for us ―literary‖ enthusiast, but it‘s the truth nevertheless, pictures tell any story more effectively than words‖
Picture stories, being composed of pictorial and other images, are a fundamentally visual medium The interest of pupils in pictures of the stories emphasizes the potential of visual medium In a study comparing comics to text, Sones (1944) found that visual quality of comic (a kind of picture stories) increases learning Sones divided four hundred sixth into two groups, balanced in terms of both school grade and intelligence To the first group he presented comics, to the second only text Afterwards, each group was given a test on the content of the story The result was the first group scored significantly higher than the second group At the end Sones concluded that a strong trend in favor of the picture continuity was indicated by two sets of results ―Sones‘ conclusion foreshadows the trend towards teaching to multiple intelligences among educators today
He writes ―An assumption implied in most school instruction is that all children will read the printed material with equal effectiveness…The absurdity of this practice is patent‖
Visual learners benefit from visual media‖
Picture stories can serve as an intermediate step to difficult disciplines and concepts Many language arts educators have used picture stories in this manner with tremendous success Koenke (1981) suggests that comic, a type of picture stories, can lead pupils toward the discipline of learning Hutchinson‘s experiment (1949) found out that many teachers discovered comic strips to be particularly useful in special classes or for slow learning pupils in regular classes
Versaci (2001) found out that discussions on comics are generally livelier than those on classic novels Through comics, Versaci encourages his pupils to think critically about the literary worth of books and the formation of the literary canon ―Using comics,
Versaci challenges college literature pupils to consider, evaluate, and question the very concept of a ―literary canon.‖ Because comics are rarely considered literature, Versaci than leads his class in a discussion on literary worth He has found out those discussions on comics are generally livelier than those on classic novels‖
Picture stories are read popularly by children If we ask the pupils, whether they have read picture stories or not, most of them would say, ―yes.‖ It is very popular because picture stories often have simple, but interesting plots and full of colors That is why the children like it By picture stories, pupils can learn about culture Teachers can introduce popular culture into their classroom easily and effectively through picture stories By incorporating popular culture into curriculum teachers can bridge the separation many pupils feel, between their lives in and out of school
There are some studies that have investigated on the relevant topics with this study Dang Thuy Chi (2007) in her M.A Thesis Linguistics ―Using pictures to motivate tenth graders to participate in speaking activities at Le Quy Don High School‖ has investigated the effectiveness of pictures on students‘ levels of motivation
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tu (2005) with the study ―A study on using short stories to improve the efficiency of teaching English to the first year students at Viet Nam Maritime University‖ has deeply discussed about the advantages of short stories in teaching English process
Another work about using stories in the class is ― Stories for teaching speaking skill to pupils at Upper Secondary Schools in Hanoi‖ written by Dinh Dai Ngoc (2005) M.A Thesis Linguistics
The above studies are mentioned to the use of pictures and stories as unrelated materials There have not had any studies on the advantages of picture stories to English teaching and learning yet From the researcher‘s notice, many children prefer stories with pictures to unillustrated ones Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate if picture stories have any positive effects on students‘ motivation in the class.
Previous studies
Chapter 3 presents the methodology including the context of teaching English in Luong The Vinh School, participants, instruments, data collection and analysis procedure
The study was conducted at Luong The Vinh Junior Secondary School, Ha Noi in the school year 2009-2010 In the school year, there were 10 eighth grade classes which were divided into three groups: group A (including four classes: A1, A2, A3, A4) , group
C (with four classes: C1, C2, C3, C4), and group D (with 3 classes: D1, D2, D3) The A classes belong to Natural Science Department, the C classes belong to Social Science Department, and the D classes belong to the Basic Department In each department, classes were numbered There were totally 487 pupils, including 259 girls and 228 boys, ranged between 12- and 14- years of age Most of these pupils had been learning English for 2 years, and their level of English proficiency were pre-intermediate Though in reality, some pupils were above or below that level
As in many other schools in Viet Nam, to get high scores in the Secondary Education Exam is nearly the only goal of the pupils For some reason, there is no oral English test in the Junior Secondary Education Exam
In addition, since there are usually over 45 pupils in each class, the pupils have little chance to practice speaking in class This leads to the result that the speaking skills of most pupils are comparatively lower than other skills such as writing, reading and grammar
Furthermore, the fear of "losing face" prevents the pupils from speaking English
Face is still of great importance to most Vietnamese, especially adolescents On the one hand, it motivates people to work hard to win face; on the other, people tend to conceal their mistakes and weaknesses for fear of losing face For many English learners, they believe if they make mistakes or fail to find suitable words to express themselves, they
METHODOLOGY
Participants
The study was conducted at Luong The Vinh Junior Secondary School, Ha Noi in the school year 2009-2010 In the school year, there were 10 eighth grade classes which were divided into three groups: group A (including four classes: A1, A2, A3, A4) , group
C (with four classes: C1, C2, C3, C4), and group D (with 3 classes: D1, D2, D3) The A classes belong to Natural Science Department, the C classes belong to Social Science Department, and the D classes belong to the Basic Department In each department, classes were numbered There were totally 487 pupils, including 259 girls and 228 boys, ranged between 12- and 14- years of age Most of these pupils had been learning English for 2 years, and their level of English proficiency were pre-intermediate Though in reality, some pupils were above or below that level
As in many other schools in Viet Nam, to get high scores in the Secondary Education Exam is nearly the only goal of the pupils For some reason, there is no oral English test in the Junior Secondary Education Exam
In addition, since there are usually over 45 pupils in each class, the pupils have little chance to practice speaking in class This leads to the result that the speaking skills of most pupils are comparatively lower than other skills such as writing, reading and grammar
Furthermore, the fear of "losing face" prevents the pupils from speaking English
Face is still of great importance to most Vietnamese, especially adolescents On the one hand, it motivates people to work hard to win face; on the other, people tend to conceal their mistakes and weaknesses for fear of losing face For many English learners, they believe if they make mistakes or fail to find suitable words to express themselves, they will lose face To protect themselves from being laughed at, they are reluctant to speak English So there is the vicious circle: the less they speak, the less they improve their speaking skills, and the more they are afraid of speaking
From the school year 2008-2009, in the plan to improve teaching and learning quality, the English section of Luong The Vinh School has encouraged teachers to use supplementary materials in teaching to enhance pupils‘ learning motivation and English skills Picture stories are one of material types widely used in the class Teachers in the English section has together collected a great quantity of picture stories and modified them to apply in the class
In order to guarantee the reliability as well as the validity of the samples, this study chose simple random sampling Thanks to this sampling strategy, each member of the target population has an equal and independent chance of being selected The researcher assigned a number to all ten eight-grade classes one to fourteen and wrote fifty numbers in fifty pieces of paper, put all the papers in a box and pulled them out at random Lastly, pieces of paper with the numbers: 2, 5, 10, 17, 22, 26, 33, 37, 41, and 44 were selected
100 students from 10 classes were chosen as informants of the research The table below describes basic information about the chosen pupils including their gender, their group, and their years of learning English
Instruments
3.2 The instruments 3.2.1 Questionnaire for pupils
A 10-item questionnaire assessed pupil attitudes and motivation toward using picture stories in speaking class was constructed It consisted of two main sections The initial section requested information about the gender and learning English years of the participants The second section investigated information about pupils‘ involvement in speaking class, pupils‘ motivation toward the use of picture stories in speaking class, and the difficulties pupils may have in speaking lessons with picture stories
Group Gender Years of learning English
The questionnaire for teacher consisted of two main parts In the first part, personal information regarding gender, years of teaching English is required In the second part, information about the exposure of using picture stories in teaching speaking, teachers‘ remarks on their pupils‘ feeling toward picture stories used in the classes, difficulties arise when using picture stories in teaching process
Prior to conducting the questionnaire a pilot study was undertaken in order to assess the suitability of the questions selected and the Likert scale chosen Ten pupils were chosen to undertake the initial questionnaire, with one pupil being randomly selected from each class involved in the proposed study In the first questionnaire design a five-point Likert scale was selected, with undecided as a neutral answer It was discovered that some subjects had a tendency to select undecided when not required to make a commitment to either a positive or a negative response For this reason, in some questions, the five-point scale was reduced to a four-point scale to eliminate undecided as a response answer Some questions even used three-point scale
A teacher of English was also invited to doing the first version of the questionnaire for teachers
Based on the pupils and teacher‘s direct suggestion for the survey improvement, the researcher made some word changes in some statements in order to provide clarity for pupils The questionnaire for students was written in Vietnamese and the questionnaire for teachers was in English for clear understanding.
Data collection procedures
A total of 100 questionnaires were distributed The pupils who participated in the study were informed that the data collected from the questionnaire would be used to conduct research and would not be viewed by their classroom English teacher This was done in an attempt to secure the most honest and accurate responses from the pupils involved They were also made aware of the fact that their name and pupil number would not be required This information is frequently requested on test style question sheets
Classroom teachers of other subjects (not English) were instructed to give the pupils some initial guidelines regarding how to complete the questionnaire answer sheet
This included directions on the four-point scale and the importance of circling one answer only The teachers were also asked to allow the pupils adequate time to complete the questionnaire in order to collect the most accurate information The teachers were given a one-week time period in which to administer the questionnaire This was done in an attempt to allow teachers to select the most appropriate time to complete the task with their pupils All pupils completed the questionnaire during class time Administration of the questionnaire was carried out in week 7 of semester 2 and took approximately 10 to
15 minutes to complete By administering the questionnaire in the week 7 of semester 2, it was anticipated the information provided by pupils would be more accurate as they were still in the process of studying in their regular classes After one week, 83 questionnaires were completed and returned The questionnaires not completed were attributed to absences on the day the survey was administered
Regarding questionnaire for teachers, the researcher had a chance to directly discuss with all the teachers at the meeting of the Foreign Language Group and distribute the questionnaires to them Ten questionnaires were delivered to the teachers at the end of the meeting Fortunately, all the questionnaires were fulfilled and returned after fifteen minutes.
Data analysis procedures
Descriptive statistics method was used to process the data Based on the results of 83 returned questionnaires from students and 10 questionnaires from teachers, the researcher classified collected data into four main categories:
- The motivation of pupils toward using picture stories in teaching speaking skill
- Pupils‘ involvement in the class using picture stories
- The teachers‘ perception of using picture stories in speaking class
- The difficulties of using picture stories to teach speaking skill The number of students‘ choice for each letter (A, B, etc.) was counted, calculated percentage and then displayed by tables, bar charts, and pie charts in the reader-friendly way Detailed explanation followed the charts and tables to make the analysis more comprehensible
With the purpose of avoiding inconsistency and possible bias, all collected data were analyzed by the researcher alone.
PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
Students’ attitudes toward the use of picture stories in their speaking lessons
In order to get information about students‘ opinion on the use of picture stories in their speaking lessons Four questions are addressed
* Question 1: Do you like reading picture stories?
Chart 1: Students' interest in picture stories reading
10% 5% a Like very much b Like a bit c Neutral d Dislike
It is not very surprising that almost 62% students liked picture stories very much and 20% liked this kind of books a bit Nearly 10% students had neutral idea and only 5% did not like picture stories In the daily life, we can note many young students keep concentrating on picture stories Some of them may like literature, some of them may not But they all have the same interest in stories with illustration Colorful pages with beautiful characters and not very complicated situations are really great passion of young children Therefore, picture stories can create an intrinsic motivation for children to learn Students will learn for their interest And learning will pose much less pressure than forced learning
* Question 2: How do you find speaking lessons with picture stories?
Chart 2: Students' attitude toward the use of picture stories in speaking lessons
7% a Very interesting b Interesting c Not very interesting d Boring
Similarly to the first question, over a half of the respondents (55%) found speaking lessons with picture stories very interesting, 24% found the lessons interesting, 14% did not find the class very interesting, and 7% said they felt bored The results show good attitudes of students to the use of picture stories in speaking class The respondents were motivated and they liked the lessons This is a crucial factor to make the class‘s success If students like the lessons, they will take part in the activities actively and enthusiastically
However, it is necessary to note that only about 5% respondents did not like picture stories but the percentage of students who found the use of picture stories in the lessons boring is a bit higher (7%) The reasons may come from students themselves, or they may come from teachers
* Question 3: Do you understand picture stories in English?
Chart 3: Students' perception of picture stories in English
13% a Understand very much b Understand a bit c Don't understand
This question is to investigate students‘ perception of picture stories in English As the chart displays, 39% respondents said that they understand English picture stories very much 48% just understood the stories a bit And 13% did not understand the stories The percentage of students who did not understand picture stories may have caused the high rate of de-motivated students in question 2 Students, often lose their interests and patience if the task is so difficult To overcome this problem, teachers should help their students to understand the stories and requirements of the lessons With picture stories, students can guess the word meaning from the illustration and the context However, in case the word is so difficult to understand, teachers should provide more explanation to their students, especially weak students
* Question 4: You learn many structures and vocabulary from picture stories
13% a Strongly agree b Agree c No idea d Don't agree
As can be seen from the chart, 30% of the sample agreed that they could learn many structures and vocabulary from picture stories However, only 20% respondents strongly agreed with the assumption A great number of students (37%) had no idea on the statement They were not sure that they could learn new structures and new words from the stories The rest 13% claimed that they did not learn structures and vocabulary from the stories The implication of the results is that many students concentrate on the content rather than on the structure or the language of the stories It is the fact that picture stories often have simple plot and easily-guessed content
Therefore, students can keep reading the whole story in original English literary text without being stuck by new words and structures This has good effect on students‘ emotion because it makes them feel satisfied, and increases their motivation
However, expressions and words in the picture stories are often closely to life, and they are also useful for learners Therefore, teachers should enrich their students‘ language knowledge with picture stories by drawing students‘ attention to new structures and vocabulary in the stories They may have their students practised structures, and expressions through drama
From the above analyses, we can see that adolescent students have positive attitude to the use of picture stories in speaking class Most of them like reading picture stories and find speaking lessons using this material type interesting
Vocabulary used in the stories can be inferred from both pictures and the context, and the sentence structures are simple so the pupils can understand the content easily
This reduces students‘ anxiety and motivates them to participate actively in the lessons.
Students’ involvement in the class
4.2.1 Students’ confidence in class using picture stories
10% a Strongly agree b Agree c Neutral d Don't agree
Chart 5 shows the levels of students‘ confidence in speaking class using picture stories Approximately 33% of students said that they were very confident in the class
46% students felt confident to take part in the lessons 11% of the respondents felt as usual, and 10% were unconfident in the class
4.2.2 The atmosphere in speaking classes using picture stories
6% 1% a Strongly agree b Agree c Neutral d Don't agree
As can be seen from the chart, the majority of the students (42%) thought that they felt very comfortable in the class using picture stories Another number (51%) also reported that they were comfortable Only 6% believed that the class was as usual And 1% felt stressed and uneasy in the speaking lessons In general, in the context of the study, picture stories were very successful in building a comfortable atmosphere for the class In such a safe classroom environment, learners‘ motivation will reach its peak As a result, students‘ involvement will be increased much
4.2.3 Students’ involvement in activities exploited from picture stories
Chart 7: Students' participation in activities
The findings show that over a half of the sample (51%) took part in speaking activities using picture stories actively 22% acted as in normal lessons And 22% did not involve actively in the class Thus, as the above analysis, good attitudes toward the use of picture stories really enhanced students‘ motivation and increased their involvement in the activities in the class
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0 a fairy tales, science fiction b Adventure c Daily life d Others
According to the chart, fairy tales and science fictions are the most favorite themes, accounted for 95% vote 66.3% choices were for adventure stories 30.6% respondents liked topics about daily life And 24.1% enjoyed stories of other topics
Other topics as students listed in the survey were history, school, and friendship
This is the basis for teachers to choose suitable stories for their students
4.2.5 Favorite activities in speaking class using picture stories
Activity The appropriate number students rank activities according to their interests
(percentage of respondents) a Discussing 6.0% 2.4% 24.1% 67.5% b Drama 42.2% 39.8% 9.6% 8.4% c Creating stories for a series of pictures
Table 2: Students‘ rank on the activities in accordance to their interest
Table 2 revealed that among activities, 42% students liked drama most The explanation for this could be that drama activities are often funny They bring students together and create the comfortable atmosphere in the classroom As a result, students‘ self-confidence is also strengthened In addition, when students act the drama, they can use what they are learning with pragmatic intent, something that is most difficult to learn through explanation In other words, drama simulates reality and develops self expression
Besides, students were also interested in making stories for given picture series
Approximately 40% students liked this creative activity most Participating in creating stories gives learners an opportunity to develop their imagination and their creativity
This is a good chance for students to freely produce their own work Humorous and free features of this activity help students less anxious and stressful about the lesson
However, not many students were fond of discussing and retelling activities These activities, especially discussion, have high requirement on vocabulary, grammar structures, and language competence Students, especially low level students, often do not know how to express their ideas in English Thus these activities may make students depressed when they fail presenting their ideas
In summary, findings from the survey showed the advantages of picture stories in speaking class They help students feel more self-confident, make the class atmosphere more comfortable, and increase students‘ active participation Adolescent students tend to be interested in fairy tales or science fiction, so teachers should choose suitable stories to attract students the most Activities based on picture stories such as drama, and creating stories are favored most by students.
Students’ difficulties in speaking lessons using picture stories
As it was clearly illustrated in the chart, the most challenged task for the students in speaking class is retelling the story Approximately 54% students claimed that they could not retell the stories though they enjoyed and understood the stories 39% students said that they were embarrassed when they had to make stories for the given picture series Though they were interested in this activity as stated in question No 9, it was sometimes not very easy for them to fulfill the task 16% respondents reported that they
Chart 9: Students' difficulties in speaking lessons
10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 a Can’t understand the stories b Can’t retell the stories c Can’t make stories for comic trips d Others met difficulty to understand the stories And 18.1% stated other difficulties For example, some students claimed that his/her other partner did not want to involve in the activities when they had role-play tasks; Some other students did not believe that stories could improve their English because it did not relate to exams A small number of respondents
(2) said that they could not follow their classmates
To ensure the benefits of using picture stories in speaking class, teachers should be aware of their students‘ difficulties to help them overcome The tasks should be designed to be suitable to students‘ level And weaker students should be given more attention from teachers to catch up with others.
Teachers’ evaluation on the effectiveness of picture stories in speaking lessons
The majority of teachers (70%) usually used picture stories in their speaking lessons Not any teachers have never used this type of material in the class However, teachers used picture stories for different purposes
Chart 10: Teachers' information on the frequency of using picture stories
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 a Relaxing only b Teaching only c Relaxing and teaching d Time covering
Chart 11: Teachers' purposes of using picture stories
Half of the respondents used picture stories for both relaxing and teaching purposes The number of teachers used picture books for one separate purpose as relaxing or teaching only is small and equal at 20% Only 10% teachers used stories to cover the time
For the question ―Do your students like the usage of picture stories in the class?‖ teachers were asked to observe their students, and then give remarks on students‘ feeling toward picture stories used in speaking class
60% of the respondents reported that their students liked picture stories very much 40% said that the students liked the application but sometimes they got bored Not any teachers thought their students did not care about or dislike the use of picture stories
With these findings, the assumption that adolescent pupils like picture stories is once again confirmed This also stresses the effectiveness of picture stories on pupils‘ intrinsic motivation Because students learn for their interest, they will learn with their best effort
The explanation for the fact that students sometimes got bored with the use of picture stories could be unsuitable stories and tasks, or students‘ bad state of health and psychology In this case, teachers should determine the cause and then have proper changes
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 a Yes They like very much b Yes But sometimes they get bored c No They don't care d No They don't like
Chart 12: Teachers' remarks on students' attitudes toward the use of picture stories
Table 3: Teachers‘ rank on the activities according to their students‘ interest
The above table presents teachers‘ rank of their students‘ interest levels for activities based on picture stories The findings are quite similar to relevant results from questionnaires for students Drama was still considered as the most favorable activity for students as 50% teachers‘ observation The next choice was for creating stories for picture series Discussing was not chosen as a good activity in speaking lessons using picture stories From the above findings, we can see that teachers understood their students‘ interests well This is a crucial factor for teachers to teach successfully
Teachers can develop favorable tasks more to draw their students‘ participation On the other hand, they have appropriate modification to unfavorable activities to make classroom activities more various
Success of any teaching and learning processes depends on both teachers and learners Suppose that teachers do not perceive the benefits of picture stories usage, the use of this teaching material type will not be promoted though students like picture stories Therefore, in the questionnaire for teachers, the researcher investigated teachers‘ ideas on the advantage of picture stories usage in speaking class
The appropriate number teachers rank activities according to their students‘ interest
(percentage of respondents) a Discussing 0 % 0 % 30 % 70 % b Drama 50% 40% 10% 0 % c Creating stories for a series of pictures
As can be seen from the chart, surprisingly all the teachers (100%) agreed with the assumption that picture stories could motivate students and make classroom atmosphere less stress 70% of the respondents said that illustrated stories could encourage co-operation through group work And 30% thought that this type of material could improve students‘ fluency From the results, we can see that the teachers all knew the good points of picture stories well This will promote them to apply the material to get the best success Teachers were then asked to evaluate the effectiveness of using picture stories in their speaking class The findings are as follows:
Answer Percentage a Very effective 30% b Effective 60% c Not sure 10% d Ineffective 0% e Counter-effective 0%
Table 4: Teachers‘ evaluation on the effectiveness of picture stories
Chart 13: Teachers' ideas on the advantages of the usage of picture stories
20 40 60 80 100 120 a Motivate students b Make classroom atmosphere less stress. c Encourage co- operation through group work d Improve students' fluency
According to the findings, most of the teachers believed that the use of picture stories were effective, and even very effective Only 10% of the informants were ―not sure‖ about the effectiveness of the stories No student regards picture stories either
In general, results from questionnaire for teachers are very positive All teachers in the survey highly evaluated the use of picture stories in speaking lessons They all understood the benefits of pictures stories and knew trends to modify the tasks based on the material in order to suit their learners This has a great effect on the success of the lessons.
Difficulties in teaching English using picture stories
Though picture stories bring many advantages to English teaching and learning process, they impose some challenges upon teachers
All the teachers complained that they had difficulties in choosing suitable stories though there had a collection of picture stories gathered by teachers of English section
All of them also said that using picture stories was difficult because of different levels of students These two obstacles seemed to relate to each other The differences in students‘
Chart 14: Teachers' difficulties in applying picture stories
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 a Large class b Time consuming c Different levels d Difficulties in choosing suitable stories
English levels caused difficulties for teachers not only in choosing suitable materials, but also in designing appropriate tasks Simple materials and easy tasks may suit students at low levels, but they make students of higher competence bored Conversely, appropriate materials and tasks for high – level students will be too hard for low-level students
Moreover, to choose a good picture story for the class, teachers should take into their consideration many factors such as students‘ preference, time allowance, class size, etc
Besides, 40% teachers thought that the use of picture stories in speaking lessons was very time consuming Large class was also a problem for 60% teachers It was not easy for teachers to control a class of more than 40 students when they developed group work tasks
Moreover, some other difficulties were pointed out by the teachers For example, some teachers had problem with the heavy load of the textbook They could not cover the textbook fully if they used supplementary materials for extra activities A small number of teachers felt hard to evaluate their students‘ work
Overall, in this chapter, the researcher has presented the findings collected from the questionnaire for students and for teachers Because the survey was restricted to only a small number of teachers and students, the result surely cannot be an accurate evaluation of the effectiveness of picture stories in teaching speaking at Vietnamese Junior Secondary school However, the findings here may provide useful information for teachers and researchers to build the most suitable method for teaching speaking English in certain contexts.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Findings and discussion
Overall, the study investigated thoroughly the use of picture stories in speaking lessons for eighth- grade pupils at Luong The Vinh Junior Secondary School, Dan Phuong, Ha Noi Through the critical analysis of the instrumentation, significant results could be put forward as follows:
Firstly, students have very positive attitudes to the use of picture stories in speaking lessons Most of adolescents enjoying reading illustrated stories because these stories often have simple plot and attractive pictures They do not meet many difficulties to understand the story content Though few students believe that they can learn structures and vocabulary from picture stories, they find the lessons using this material type very interesting Thus, their intrinsic motivation is increased
Secondly, using picture stories in speaking lessons make the classroom more comfortable and supportive This helps students gain more confidence to take part in speaking activities As a result, students‘ involvement in the class is enhanced However, we should note some themes and activities can draw more attention from students than others For example, drama is favored by most students, but discussing is not Fairy tales and science fiction are approved the most by children Teachers should have proper modification to promote their students‘ participation
Moreover, as regards to teachers‘ remarks on effectiveness of picture stories, teachers highly evaluate the benefits brought to speaking class by this type of material
According to them, picture stories are very effective in speaking class The material makes their students participate more actively in the class, and reduces their anxiety
Finally, using picture stories in speaking class also encounters some difficulties
On the side of students, it may be difficult for them to understand the stories because the plot is not always simple, and the pictures may not usually illustrate the content exactly
In addition, some activities based on stories have high requirements on language competence and knowledge They cause some students depressed because they can not catch up with the rest of the class Moreover, working with others in group is not always smoothly On the side of teachers, using picture stories is quite complicated due to large class with different levels Teachers find it hard to ‗pitch‘ their lessons at a level where all students can be engaged Besides, heavy load of textbook is also a critical problem
For some teachers, it is hard to both cover the text book and promote picture stories in the class because using this supplementary material seems to be very time consuming
In brief, results from the survey show that generally there is evidence to suggest that picture stories have potential to motivate students to speak If teachers can find good solutions for the difficulties, they can increase students‘ motivation the best.
Recommendation
In this part, the researcher would like to give some suggestions for difficulties of using picture stories in speaking class
Firstly, for the situation that students may get bored because they do not understand the stories, teachers should choose stories with simple plot to ensure students‘ understanding More contexts or pictures can be provided to support students Teachers should also pay more attention to weak students to help them catch up with others
Secondly, teachers can help their students retell a story easily by using the picture series of that story with the text deleted Students may have difficulty to memorize the content to retell But with the assistance of pictures, this task is much easier
Thirdly, to deal with mixed ability of the class, it is possible to take group work as one useful solution Weak students will feel more confident to raise their voices in groups rather than in front of the class Group work also helps to form the cooperation among the members in the class However, to ensure the effectiveness of group work, teachers should arrange students of the same level into a group With such arrangement, weak students will not have feeling of falling behind Moreover, teachers can also pair weaker students with stronger students Both students benefit in this situation Stronger students solidify their knowledge of English because they have to explain things to the weaker students And weaker students benefit because they get things explained to them in different ways
Lastly, teachers should share resources among themselves so that they will not spend so much time on searching for new materials.
Limitation
Due to many restrictions in terms of time, scope of the study and the author‘s limited knowledge and experience, the drawbacks are unavoidable The subject matter of the thesis has not been researched as thoroughly and deeply as it should be What is written and investigated in the thesis is partly based on the different reference materials on the issue and partly attributes to the author‘s own knowledge in methodology
Hopefully, the author would receive both critical and lenient review from the readers.
Conclusion
The objective of this study is to examine effects of picture stories on motivating students speaking English Findings from the study show that both pupils and teachers have positive attitudes toward the use of picture stories in the class Pupils feel self- confident, comfortable, and more involved in the class using this type of material For teachers, they are all aware that picture stories can motivate their students effectively
The researcher concluded that the use of picture stories can be effective in promoting the interest and motivation in speaking activities in English class of eighth grade students at Luong The Vinh Junior Secondary School.
Suggestion for further studies
Further researchers who wish to conduct further studies on applying picture stories in teaching English can delve into the topic by enlarging and diversifying the participants of the study Pupils of other grades can be involved to make a wider scale of target populations In such a way, the topic can be expected to produce more generalised results
On the other hand, apart from speaking skill, picture stories can be applied in writing, reading or even listening skill The combination of pairs, for example listening and speaking, reading and writing, can be feasible with the application of picture stories
Thereby, English teaching and learning will be more interesting, effective and motivating for teachers and students Furthermore, further investigations of this field can help to find out popular implications for effective methods to improve students‘ speaking competence in Vietnam
1 Dang Thuy Chi (2007) Using pictures to motivate tenth graders to participate in speaking activities at Le Quy Don High School, M.A Thesis, Viet Nam National
2 Dinh Dai Ngoc (2005) Stories for teaching speaking skill to pupils at Upper Secondary
Schools in Hanoi, M.A Thesis, Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi
3 Dửrnyei Z., Ottú I (1998) ―Motivation in action: A process model of L2 motivation‖,Working Papers in Applied Linguistics, Thames Valley University, London), pp.43-69
4 Dửrnyei Z (2003) ―Attitudes, orientations, and motivations in language learning:
Advances in theory, research, and applications‖, Language Learning 53(Supplement
5 Dửrnyei Z (2005) The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition Mahwah,Lawrence Erlbaum, NJ
6 Gardner R C (1985) Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of
Attitudes and Motivation, Edward Arnold Publisher, London
7 Gardner R.C., MacIntyre P.D (1991) An instrumental motivation in language study:
Who says it isn’t effective? Studies in second language Acquisition, Cambridge
9 Harmer J (2001) The Practice of English Language Teaching (3 rd Ed.) Pearson
10 Hutchinson K (1949) ―An experiment in the use of comics as instructional material,‖
Journal of Educational Sociology, pp 236-245
11 Koenke K (1981) ―The careful use of comic books‖ Reading Teacher
12 Lalonde R.N (1982) Second language acquisition: A causal analysis Unpublished
M.A.Thesis, University of Western Ontario, London
13 Michell D (2002) Children’s Literature An invitation to the world, Allyn & Bacon
14 Nguyen Ngoc Tu (2005) A study on using short stories to improve the efficiency of teaching English to the first year students at Viet Nam Maritime University M.A
Thesis, Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi
15 Nunan D (1998) Second language teaching and learning, Heinle & Heinle, Boston
16 Richard M.R., Edward L D (2000a) Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic
Definitions and New Directions Contemporary Educational Psychology, Vol.25,
17 Royanti (2007) The use of English Comics to Improve Students’ Ability in Story
Retelling, M.A Thesis, Semarang State University, Semarang
(http://digilib.unnes.ac.id/gsdl/collect/skripsi/index/assoc/HASH01ca/4c74fd06.dir/ doc.pdf)
18 Sutherland Z (1997) Children and Books (9 th Ed.), Longman, New York
19 Sones W (1944) ―The comics and instructional method‖, Journal of Educational
20 Ur P (1996) A course in language teaching: Practice and theory, Cambridge
21 Versaci R (2001) How comic books can change the way our students see literature:
One teacher's perspective English Journal 91 (2), pp.61-67
Bảng câu hỏi dưới đây được thiết kế để thu thập dữ liệu cho nghiên cứu về việc sử dụng truyện tranh để tạo động lực cho học sinh lớp 8 trường THCS Lương Thế Vinh trong tiết học nói Sự giúp đỡ của các bạn trong việc trả lời các câu hỏi có ý nghĩa đặc biệt quan trọng đối với sự thành công của nghiên cứu Tất cả các thông tin do bạn cung cấp chỉ phục vụ cho mục đích nghiên cứu, những thông tin về các nhân của bạn sẽ được giữ bí mật tuyệt đối
Cảm ơn sự hợp tác của bạn
- Giới tính của bạn: Nam
- Bạn đã học tiếng Anh được ……… năm
II Trả lời các câu hỏi dưới đây bằng cách khoanh tròn câu trả lời đúng nhất đối với bạn: (Với một số câu hỏi, bạn có thể chọn nhiều câu trả lời)
1 Bạn có thích đọc truyện tranh không a Rất thích b Hơi thích c Bình thường d Không thích
2 Bạn thấy các giờ học nói sử dụng truyện tranh có thú vị không? a Rất thú vị b Thú vị c Không thú vị lắm d Nhàm chán
3 Bạn có hiểu các truyện tranh viết bằng tiếng Anh không? a Rất hiểu b Hơi hiểu c Không hiểu
4 Bạn học được nhiều cấu trúc và từ vựng từ truyện tranh a Hoàn toàn tán thành b Tán thành c Không biết d Không tán thành
5 Bạn cảm thấy tự tin khi tham gia các hoạt động nói khai thác từ truyện tranh a Hoàn toàn tán thành b Bình thường c Không tán thành
6 Bạn thấy thoải mái khi tham gia các hoạt động nói khai thác từ truyện tranh a Hoàn toàn tán thành b Tán thành c Bình thường d Không tán thành
7 Bạn có tích cực tham gia vào các hoạt động nói không? a Có b Bình thường c Không
8 Bạn thích giáo viên sử dụng truyện tranh về chủ đề gì trong giờ học nói? (có thể chọn một hoặc nhiều câu trả lời) a Cổ tích, khoa học viễn tưởng b Phiêu lưu, mạo hiểm c Cuộc sống thường ngày d Loại khác (hãy liệt kê phía dưới) - - -
9 Sắp xếp các hoạt động dưới đây theo mức độ bạn yêu thích (đánh số thứ tự cho các hoạt động, số 1 cho hoạt động bạn yêu thích nhất) a Thảo luận về nội dung truyện 1 2 3 4 b Đóng kịch theo nội dung truyện 1 2 3 4 c Sáng tác truyện theo chuỗi tranh có sẵn 1 2 3 4 d Kể lại truyện 1 2 3 4
10 Bạn gặp khó khăn gì trong giờ học nói sử dụng truyện tranh? (có thể chọn một hoặc nhiều câu trả lời) a Không hiểu được truyện b Không kể lại truyện được c Không thể sáng tác truyện theo chuỗi tranh giáo viên đã cho d Khó khăn khác - - -
Cảm ơn sự hợp tác nhiệt tình của các bạn
This survey questionnaire is designed for my study on using picture stories in speaking class to motivate eighth-grade students at Luong The Vinh Junior Secondary School
Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appreciated You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of this data under any circumstances
Thank you very much for your kind support
- You have been teaching English for years
- You have been teaching English for 8 th grade students for ……… years
II Circle the most suitable answer to you In some questions, you can have more than one answer, or give your own ideas
1 How often do you use picture stories in speaking class? a Usually b Sometimes c Never
2 You often use picture stories in speaking lessons for: a Only relaxing b Only teaching c Teaching and relaxing d Time covering
3 Do your students like the usage of picture stories in the class?” Có, rất thích a Yes They like very much b Yes But sometimes they get bored c As usual d No They don’t like
4 In your opinion, what are the advantages of using picture stories in speaking lessons? a Motivate students b Make the classroom atmosphere less stress c Encourage co-operation through group work d Improve students’ fluency
5 Which activities are liked most by your students? (Rank the answer, No.01 for the most) a Discussion 1 2 3 4 b Drama 1 2 3 4 c Create stories for given picture series 1 2 3 4 d Retell the stories 1 2 3 4
6 How do you evaluate the effectiveness of the use of picture stories to motivate students in speaking class? a Very effective b Effective c Not sure d Ineffective e Counter-effective
7 What difficulties do you often have in using picture stories in speaking lessons? a Large class b Time consuming c Different levels d Difficulties in choosing suitable stories e Khó khăn khác:
Cảm ơn sự hợp tác nhiệt tình của các bạn
APPENDIX 3: SCORES ON QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDENTS
Questions Answer Number of students Percentage %
Question 1 a Like very much 51 61.5 b Like a bit 20 24.1 c Neutral 8 9.6 d Dislike 4 4.8
Question 2 a Very interesting 45 54.2 b Interesting 20 24.1 c Not very interesting 12 14.5 d Boring 6 7.2
Question 3 a Understand very much 32 38.6 b Understand a bit 40 48.2 c Don't understand 11 13.3
Question 4 a Strongly agree 17 20.5 b Agree 25 30.1 c No idea 30 36.1 d Don't agree 11 13.3
Question 5 a Strongly agree 27 32.5 b Agree 39 47.0 c Neutral 9 10.8 d Don't agree 8 9.6
Question 6 a Strongly agree 35 42.2 b Agree 42 50.6 c Neutral 5 6.0 d Don't agree 1 1.2
Question 8 a Fairy tales, science fiction 79 95.2 b Adventure 55 66.3 c Daily life 32 38.6 d Others
4 7 8.4 c Creating stories for given picture stories
Question 10 a Can’t understand the stories 13 15.7 b Can’t retell the stories 45 54.2 c Can’t make stories for given picture series 32 38.6 d Others 15 18.1
APPENDIX 4: SCORES ON QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS
Questions Answer Number of teachers
Question 2 a Relaxing only 2 20 b Teaching only 2 20 c Relaxing and teaching 5 50 d Time covering 1 10
Question 3 a Yes They like very much 6 60 b Yes But sometimes they get bored 4 40 c As usual 0 0 d No They don't like 0 0
Question 4 a Motivate students 10 100 b Make classroom atmosphere comfortable 10 100 c Encourage co-operation through groupwork 7 70 d Improve students' fluency 3 30
4 0 0 c Create stories for given picture series
Question 6 a Very effective 3 30 b Effective 6 60 c Not sure 1 10 d Ineffective 0 0 e Counter-effective 0 0
Students’ difficulties in speaking lessons using picture stories
10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 a Can’t understand the stories b Can’t retell the stories c Can’t make stories for comic trips d Others met difficulty to understand the stories And 18.1% stated other difficulties For example, some students claimed that his/her other partner did not want to involve in the activities when they had role-play tasks; Some other students did not believe that stories could improve their English because it did not relate to exams A small number of respondents
(2) said that they could not follow their classmates
To ensure the benefits of using picture stories in speaking class, teachers should be aware of their students‘ difficulties to help them overcome The tasks should be designed to be suitable to students‘ level And weaker students should be given more attention from teachers to catch up with others
4.4.Teachers’ evaluation on the effectiveness of picture stories in speaking lessons
The majority of teachers (70%) usually used picture stories in their speaking lessons Not any teachers have never used this type of material in the class However, teachers used picture stories for different purposes
Chart 10: Teachers' information on the frequency of using picture stories
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 a Relaxing only b Teaching only c Relaxing and teaching d Time covering
Chart 11: Teachers' purposes of using picture stories
Half of the respondents used picture stories for both relaxing and teaching purposes The number of teachers used picture books for one separate purpose as relaxing or teaching only is small and equal at 20% Only 10% teachers used stories to cover the time
For the question ―Do your students like the usage of picture stories in the class?‖ teachers were asked to observe their students, and then give remarks on students‘ feeling toward picture stories used in speaking class
60% of the respondents reported that their students liked picture stories very much 40% said that the students liked the application but sometimes they got bored Not any teachers thought their students did not care about or dislike the use of picture stories
With these findings, the assumption that adolescent pupils like picture stories is once again confirmed This also stresses the effectiveness of picture stories on pupils‘ intrinsic motivation Because students learn for their interest, they will learn with their best effort
The explanation for the fact that students sometimes got bored with the use of picture stories could be unsuitable stories and tasks, or students‘ bad state of health and psychology In this case, teachers should determine the cause and then have proper changes
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 a Yes They like very much b Yes But sometimes they get bored c No They don't care d No They don't like
Chart 12: Teachers' remarks on students' attitudes toward the use of picture stories
Table 3: Teachers‘ rank on the activities according to their students‘ interest
The above table presents teachers‘ rank of their students‘ interest levels for activities based on picture stories The findings are quite similar to relevant results from questionnaires for students Drama was still considered as the most favorable activity for students as 50% teachers‘ observation The next choice was for creating stories for picture series Discussing was not chosen as a good activity in speaking lessons using picture stories From the above findings, we can see that teachers understood their students‘ interests well This is a crucial factor for teachers to teach successfully
Teachers can develop favorable tasks more to draw their students‘ participation On the other hand, they have appropriate modification to unfavorable activities to make classroom activities more various
Success of any teaching and learning processes depends on both teachers and learners Suppose that teachers do not perceive the benefits of picture stories usage, the use of this teaching material type will not be promoted though students like picture stories Therefore, in the questionnaire for teachers, the researcher investigated teachers‘ ideas on the advantage of picture stories usage in speaking class
The appropriate number teachers rank activities according to their students‘ interest
(percentage of respondents) a Discussing 0 % 0 % 30 % 70 % b Drama 50% 40% 10% 0 % c Creating stories for a series of pictures
As can be seen from the chart, surprisingly all the teachers (100%) agreed with the assumption that picture stories could motivate students and make classroom atmosphere less stress 70% of the respondents said that illustrated stories could encourage co-operation through group work And 30% thought that this type of material could improve students‘ fluency From the results, we can see that the teachers all knew the good points of picture stories well This will promote them to apply the material to get the best success Teachers were then asked to evaluate the effectiveness of using picture stories in their speaking class The findings are as follows:
Answer Percentage a Very effective 30% b Effective 60% c Not sure 10% d Ineffective 0% e Counter-effective 0%
Table 4: Teachers‘ evaluation on the effectiveness of picture stories
Chart 13: Teachers' ideas on the advantages of the usage of picture stories
20 40 60 80 100 120 a Motivate students b Make classroom atmosphere less stress. c Encourage co- operation through group work d Improve students' fluency
According to the findings, most of the teachers believed that the use of picture stories were effective, and even very effective Only 10% of the informants were ―not sure‖ about the effectiveness of the stories No student regards picture stories either
In general, results from questionnaire for teachers are very positive All teachers in the survey highly evaluated the use of picture stories in speaking lessons They all understood the benefits of pictures stories and knew trends to modify the tasks based on the material in order to suit their learners This has a great effect on the success of the lessons
4.5.Difficulties in teaching English using picture stories
Though picture stories bring many advantages to English teaching and learning process, they impose some challenges upon teachers
All the teachers complained that they had difficulties in choosing suitable stories though there had a collection of picture stories gathered by teachers of English section
All of them also said that using picture stories was difficult because of different levels of students These two obstacles seemed to relate to each other The differences in students‘
Chart 14: Teachers' difficulties in applying picture stories
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 a Large class b Time consuming c Different levels d Difficulties in choosing suitable stories
English levels caused difficulties for teachers not only in choosing suitable materials, but also in designing appropriate tasks Simple materials and easy tasks may suit students at low levels, but they make students of higher competence bored Conversely, appropriate materials and tasks for high – level students will be too hard for low-level students
Moreover, to choose a good picture story for the class, teachers should take into their consideration many factors such as students‘ preference, time allowance, class size, etc