The aim of the study and research questions
The main aim of this research is to investigate the employment of animated cartoons as a medium to teach English at Dong Hoa Primary School and to find out the attitudes of third-grade students towards learning English by using animated cartoons
To fulfill the aim of the study, the following questions are raised:
1 Is the employment of animated cartoons to teach English to the third grader students at Dong Hoa Primary School effective?
2 What are the attitudes of Dong Hoa third-grade students towards studying English by using animated cartoons?
The significance of the study
It is hoped that this study will benefit both teachers and students For teachers, this study will introduce to them a cartoon-based lesson and how to use cartoons to teach English to young learners It will bring them a new medium and a new way of teaching English at primary schools and provide them with some techniques of using animated cartoons to teach English to their students effectively
For students, this study will offer an effective lesson and a fun learning model which can involve them in the learning process It will also help them to improve their proficiency of English.
Scope of the study
Given the aim of the study as stated in Section 2, this study will confine itself to the application of animated cartoons to teach English to the third graders at Dong Hoa Primary School to see whether it is an effective technique of teaching English to children In this study, music is mentioned in the title, but it does not mean using songs in teaching English Rather, it is used as the background music accompanying animated cartoons activities.
Method of the study
This study is an action research After providing the theoretical background, the writer follows the action research procedures There are different views on procedures of an action research In this study, the author implements the procedures suggested by McNiff (1992:7) There are four stages The first stage is planning which is done to give the solution to the identified problems The solution is employing animated cartoons to teach English to the third grade students In order to apply animated cartoons in teaching, first the researcher plans to search animated cartoons on the internet, then redesigns animated cartoons so that they are appropriate to the content of textbook; next makes lesson plan using these cartoons, and finally designs questionnaires to collect students‟ responses after every lesson to see whether the lesson is effective or not The second stage is acting in which the writer carries out the treatment referring to the plan has been made The author presents three lessons using the animated cartoons The third stage is observing in which the writer identifies and analyzes the data collected during the treatment The fourth stage is reflecting in which the writer presents some findings In the process of researching, the author employs both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the data.
Design of the study
The thesis will be organized in three parts as follows:
Part A is the Introduction which presents the rationale, the aim and the research questions, the significance, the scope, the method and the design of the study
Part B is the Development which consists of three chapters Chapter 1 is the Literature Review which offers the theoretical background to the study
Chapter 2 is the focus of the study which reports the context of teaching English at Dong Hoa Primary School, identifies the problems and conducts the action
Chapter 3 is concerned with data analysis and findings It provides an analysis of the data and the interpretation of the results
Part C is the Conclusion which summarizes what has been studied, makes some recommendations for textbook writers and primary English teachers, points out the limitations of the research and makes the suggestion for further study
The References is the last `part of the thesis, followed by the Appendices.
LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Introduction
Teaching English to young learners
This section explores the possible views on definition and characteristics of young learners in addition to a literature review relating teaching English to young learners
There are many viewpoints on definition of young learners by many authors, some of which will be stated here According to McKay (2006:1), he categorized elementary school students as young language learners who are learning a foreign or second language and doing so during the first six or seven years of formal schooling In terms of age, young learners are between the ages of approximately five and twelve Phillips (1993:5) identifies the term young learners as children from the first year of formal schooling (5 or 6 years old) to 11 or 12 years of age
Cameron (2001) means by young children, those between 5 and 12 years of age
Based on those statements, we can know that young learners as students of primary school ages ranging from 5 to 12 years old They are studying English as a foreign language for about one up to four years In Vietnam, young learners are those who attend at primary schools and are usually at the ages of 6 to around 10
Young learners have their own special characteristics that differentiate them from adult learners The characteristics cover their ways of thinking, their attitude and their aptitude They also prevail to the children‟s ways of learning language, which, of course, influences the ways of teaching There should be known and understood by the teachers to give contribution to improve their quality of teaching and learning process In relation to this, Scott and Ytreberg (1999:1) provide some basic characteristics of the young language learners as follows: (a) Children sometimes have problems to distinguish the real world from the imaginary world
(b) When working or playing they like to be accompanied with others Most of them do not like to work alone (c) They use language skills long before they are aware of them (d) They love to play and the learning itself can be effective only in case they are enjoying themselves (e) They learn by mimics, using gestures and body movements The physical world is very important and dominant at all times (f)
They have a very short attention and concentration span (g) They do not always understand the world of adults (h) Young children are motivated when they are praised
According to Harmer (2001:38), young learners have a number of characteristics: (a) they respond to meaning even if they do not understand the words; (b) they often learn indirectly then directly; (c) their understanding comes not just from the explanation, but also from what they see, hear and crucially have a chance to touch and interact with; (d) they generally display an enthusiasm for learning and curiosity about the world around them; (e) they have a need for individual attention and approval from their teacher; (f) they are taken on talking about themselves and responding well to learning that use themselves and their own lives as main topic in the classroom; (g) they have limited attention span, unless activities are extremely engaging making them easily getting bored and losing interaction after 10 minutes or so
Based on different views on the nature of children stated above, the main characteristics of young learners can be summarized as follows:
1 They understand situations more quickly than they understand the language used
2 They use language skills long before they are aware of them
3 Their own understanding comes through hands, eyes and ears
4 They can generally imitate the sounds they hear quite accurately and copy the way adults speak
5 They have a very short attention and concentration span
6 They are often happy playing and working alone but in company of others
7 Children love to play and learn best when they are enjoying themselves
8 Children are enthusiastic and positive about learning
9 They are comfortable with routines and enjoy repetition
10 They are very active and curious
11 They respond well to praise and rewards
Knowing the characteristics of young learners is essential for the successful teaching of English in primary schools Understanding the young learners' characteristics, instincts, and interests helps the teacher to decide how to build a lesson to make sure that the young learners are fully involved in the learning process It is believed that acknowledging these characteristics lead to an effective teaching process
1.2.3 Teaching English as foreign language to young learners
Teaching English to young learners is both a difficult and an enjoyable experience for teachers It is difficult because they always have to find new and interesting methods and techniques in order to stir the learners' interest, but at the same time it is enjoyable because teachers are given the chance of becoming child again, of seeing the world through a child's eyes, when working with children As far as young learners are concerned, they mostly find these lessons enjoyable, as they are active parts in the process They use the language in order to communicate their ideas They play games and tell stories to improve their English Learning a foreign language does not mean only to be able to speak, but also to speak it correctly In the process of teaching and learning, teachers should use appropriate media and techniques based on the students‟ ability According to Cameron (2001), amongst knowledge and skills, teachers of young learners need: an awareness of how children think and learn; skills and knowledge in spoken English to conduct whole lessons orally; an ability to identify children‟s interests and use them for language teaching; to be equipped to teach initial literacy in English
Cameron (2001:1) also maintains that teaching young learners is considerably different from teaching adults because children are more enthusiastic and lively as learners They want to please the teacher rather than their peer group They will do the activity even if they do not quite understand why and how They lose interest more quickly and are less able to keep themselves To help the learners in learning English, Cameron (2001) suggests some useful techniques of teaching such as (a) making learning English enjoyable and fun; (b) not worrying about mistakes; encouraging and making sure children feel comfortable and not afraid to take part;
(c) using a lot of gestures, action, pictures to demonstrate what you mean; (d) talking a lot to them use English especially about things they can see; (e) playing games, sing songs, saying rhymes and chanting together; (f) telling simple stories in English, using pictures and acting with different voices; (g) not worrying when they use their mother tongue; (h) planning lesson with varied activities, some quite, some noisy, some sitting, some standing and moving
Phillips (1993:3), on the other hand, provides the following suggestions for teachers to keep in mind when teaching young learners:
1 The activities should be simple enough for the children so that they understand what to do and what is expected of them
2 The tasks should be amusing and within children‟s abilities, so that the learners can easily reach their goals
3 The task should be stimulating and motivating for learners to feel satisfied with their work
4 Written activities should be used only in a small amount In the sixth or seventh year of age the children are not yet so good at writing in their native language
5 Mostly the speaking activities should prevail – indeed, with very young children listening activities will take up a large proportion of class time
In short, the activities that have a communicative value are considerably efficient in teaching language to young learners Activities that involve singing, role-playing, acting, storytelling, coloring and sticking contribute to a sufficient learning process.
Instructional media
There is a wide diversity of standpoints about what is meant by media The term “media” is derived from the Latin word “medium” which means “between” It refers to anything that carries information between a source (teacher) and a receiver (student) When media provide messages with an instructional purpose, for example to facilitate as communication, they are considered instructional media, Heinech et al (1993:9) Gerlach and Ely (1980:241) define a medium as any person, material or event that creates circumstances that put the pupils in a position to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes According to Theo Van Els et al (1984:280), media are all aids which may be used by teachers and learners to attain certain educational objectives In line with the ideas of stated previously, Arsyad (2003) states that media are graphic, photographic or electronic instrument for catching, processing, rearranging visual or verbal information In other words, he states that media are instruments that can be used to distribute some points in a material of subject
In conclusion, media are the collection of materials, aids or instruments that can be used effectively for communication These are used in the planning process of giving instruction Instructional media with its various types affect different senses and act as an integral part of teaching and learning process, and thus helping to bring about meaningful experiences
In general, there are three kinds of instructional media They are audio, visual, and audio-visual media Audio media are media that can be listened to, while visual media are media that can be seen The instructional media that involve the senses of sight and hearing are named as audio-visual media (Kasbolah, 1993:57)
Finocchiaro (1973:155-185) mention some examples of the media for each type
The visual media may include blackboard, textbook, real object, picture file, chart, pocket chart, flash card, word card, number card, flannel or felt board, magnetic board, opaque projector, overhead projector and transparency, filmstrip, and miscellaneous materials The audio aids include record player, tape recorder, and language laboratory The last, audio-visual media cover film, television, and programmed instruction According to Romiszowski (1988), media which refer to devices and materials employed in teaching and learning include hardware like blackboards, radio, television, tape recorders, video tapes and recorders and projectors; and, software like transparencies, films, slides, teacher-made diagrams, real objects, cartoons, models, maps and photographs Similarly, Nuhung Ruis et al
(2009:2) cite Scanlan‟s statement that “instructional media encompasses all the materials and physical means an instructor might use to implement instruction and facilitate students' achievement of instructional objectives This may include traditional materials such as chalkboards, handouts, charts, slides, overheads, real objects, and videotape or film, as well newer materials and methods such as computers, DVDs, CD-ROMs, the Internet, and interactive video conferencing.”
From the classification, it is clear that animated cartoons fall under audio- visual aids and belong to traditional software instructional media.
Animated cartoons
According to Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary (2005), “animated cartoon” is a film produced by photographing a series of gradually changing drawings which give the illusion of movement when the series is projected rapidly
From the definition, it is obvious that to some extent the terms “animated cartoon”,
“cartoon” and “animation” are synonyms referring to a kind of film or movie made by creating moving effect for a series of pictures or drawings
According to writers‟ point of view, Titi (2007) explains that a cartoon movie is moving diagrams or cartoons that are made up of a sequence of images displayed one after the other In addition, Pande (2008) explains that a cartoon movie is an exaggerated amusing illustration caricaturing in moving diagram way of criticizing a person or event with some toughs A cartoon movie is a special form of art to present amusing appearance with the help of colorful moving diagram exaggerated
Based on the definition above, the researcher defines animated cartoon as a kind of film which involves a sequence movement of colored images and texts with sounds Animation is like movies, but the duration of the moving pictures is no more than 10 minutes
1.4.2 Advantages of using animated cartoons in ELT
Videos in general and cartoons in particular have been widely used as one of the teaching media in EFL classes They have been used due to their interesting visual images, which can attract students to learn Cartoons are also considered excellent teaching tools because they not only add humor to a topic but also illustrate the idea in a memorable way In this regard, many writers cite the some advantages of animations as follow:
Wilberschied and Berman (2004:534) state that students who received authentic pictures taken from authentic videos and students who watched cartoons increased listening comprehension Waters and John (2007:34), on the other hand, cite that using animation films helps students developing listening, speaking and reading skills This strategy provides an environment with native speakers, real texts and thousands of real-life images The teacher through using animation films introduces the new vocabulary through defining them with objects, pictures and events Thus, students acquire the new vocabulary and the language by linking them to objects and events from the real world around them
2 Make learning faster and save time and effort:
Hegarty and Sims (1994) state that animation may help students learn faster and easier Furthermore, they add that this is an excellent aid for teachers to teach student difficult subjects It has been argued that such systems (animation system) can reduce time by an average of 33% and aid the quality of learning, as compared with more traditional techniques (Stephenson, 1994:179) Lin, Chen and Dwyer (2006:203) confirm that computers generated animation are more effective than static visual in assisting students' retention of the more difficult and complex knowledge than they received from instructions
In fact, all students, both with and without a strongly dominant modality preference, benefit from instruction that includes video Video is a form of multimedia that conveys information through two simultaneous sensory channels: aural and visual It often uses multiple presentation modes, such as verbal and pictorial representations in the case of on-screen print and closed-captioning (Mayer, 2001) This multiplicity means that video communicates the same information to students through simultaneous learning modalities and can provide students with multiple entry points into the content (Gardner, 2006) The combination of moving pictures and sound can present language more comprehensively and more realistically than any other teaching medium (Susan Stempleski and Barry Tomalin, 1990:3) Mayer (2001:4-5), additionally, suggests that learners are able to create a deeper understanding of words when they establish connections between words and pictures than from words or pictures alone
Using video materials in an English Language Teaching environment can motivate students Learners will get more skills, which is the main reason to make them more motivated Harmer (2001:282) states that one of the main advantages of film is that students do not just hear language, they see it too For that reason, most students show an increased level of interest when they have a chance to see language in use as well as hear it, and when this is coupled with interesting task
William and Fisher (2001:324) suggest that students find using animation in education more satisfying and engaging than traditional learning modalities Susan Stempleski and Barry Tomalin (1990:3) state that children feel their interest quicken when language is experienced in a lively way through video
Briefly, animations aim to reduce learners‟ time and useless effort of learning, and to make it more practical and task-oriented The use of animations as a process of creating interactive learning environment helps students with visual tendencies understand and maintain the learnt material Students learn more deeply from a multimedia explanation than from a verbal explanation and they learn better when animations are included Animations also increase learner's motivation and develop their language skills
1.4.3 Criteria for selecting animated cartoons for teaching
Animated cartoons facilitate teaching and learning activities and, consequently, attain the lesson objectives However, this depends on the adequacy and appropriateness of cartoons so selected This, in effect, means that animated cartoons are not selected haphazardly Indeed, learning animated cartoons to be used should be carefully selected by the teacher This is an aspect of the teachers‟ duty Animated cartoons should be chosen for instructional purpose based on specific criteria which are suggested by Susan Stempleski and Barry Tomalin (1990:9) in “Video in Action” as follows:
Interest Students do not think of video as teaching material They think of it as television Therefore, if they consider that a video sequence is dull, they will not want to watch it or learn through it Any sequence chosen for use in class must be intrinsically interesting or attractive and must comprise a complete unit of meaning regardless of its context
Length With a few exceptions, the video sequences must be suitable for exploitation in a single one-hour class period They are, therefore, likely to be no more than five minutes in length for most classroom activities “How much video should the teacher use? The short answer is under five minutes Many teachers suggest that as little as two minutes of video is sufficient for one hour‟s teaching.”
Flexibility Most sequence should be suitable for several of activity categories described in the book
Appropriateness of Content The content should be related to the textbook and suitable for young learners It is also useful to see if the linguistic content in the sequence can be linked to that of the language in the course book
Language items to be taught In using video to present language, an important factor to consider is the linguistic items (particular grammatical structures, language functions, or colloquial expressions) presented in the scene If the aim of the lesson is to teach language from the screen, then the presence of relevant functions and structures will be a prime consideration in selecting a sequence If, however, the aim is to stimulate discussion or other skills work among students, then specific language items are not so important
Language level The language level of the video should be appropriate for the level of the class without the teacher having to explain too much
1.4.4 Techniques for utilizing animated cartoons in classroom
Previous studies related to TEFL to young learners
There are many studies related to English language teaching methodology in Vietnam But, few of them concern the methods and techniques of teaching English to young learners Although, in recent years, there have been some studies carried out to investigate the techniques of teaching English to students at primary schools by drawing and using chants, songs, games, pictures, stories and VCD, but none of them have been concerned with using animated cartoons to teach English Some of the studies will be summarized below:
Nguyễn Trần Vân Trang (2008) carried out a study on using VCD as a stimulating factor to increase the young learners‟ time on task The study attempted at identifying the advantages of VCD in increasing learners‟ time on task The result of study revealed that using VCD in the classroom helps pupils to understand the lesson better, increases pupils‟ involvement in classroom activities, and makes the lesson more exciting But she did not provide the techniques of applying VCD in the classroom and activities associated to VCD Phạm Thị Thu Trang (2012), on the other hand, conducted a study on using storytelling to teach vocabulary to primary children She investigated the techniques to apply story to teaching vocabulary to the fifth graders and by this way she assessed and evaluated the effectiveness of the techniques in increasing students‟ motivation at Dinh Tien Hoang Primary School
Vũ Thị Thanh Tâm (2013) conducted a research on using stories and dramas in teaching English to the third grade students at Quan Tru Primary School Her study provided primary teachers with techniques of using stories and dramas in teaching English to improve primary students‟ English speaking and listening skills
Although the study proved that stories and dramas could be used to motivate students in learning English and enhance students‟ speaking and listening skill
Unfortunately, the stories she used to teach the students are not related to the content of the textbook.
Conclusion
This chapter presents the literature view on the definitions, characteristics and teaching English to young learners, and this helps the current study in guarantying and proving the effectiveness of using animations to teach English to third graders In addition, this chapter provides the fundamental information of the main variables of the study, animations As animations have a number of advantages, this information indicates that using animated cartoons is a good quality technique for teaching the language Finally, the chapter presents some previous studies on methodology of ELT at primary schools.
THE STUDY 2.1 Introduction
The context of teaching English at Dong Hoa Primary School
Dong Hoa Primary School is a public school that is located in Dong Hoa Ward, Kien An District, Hai Phong Dong Hoa Ward is a semi-rural village and is densely populated, so the number of students is rather many Dong Hoa is a school that is still evolving; it is seen from the extensive and school facilities There are 17 classrooms, 1 computer room and 1 language laboratory which is well equipped with a projector, a set of computers and a loudspeaker The facilities of the school are still quite good and well maintained When using school facilities, students and teachers consider it as their own
The book “Let‟s Learn English” is used to teach English It consists of twelve units covering four themes Each theme covers three units and one self- check Theme one, „You and Me‟, has three units that are Hello, Thank You, Our Names Theme two, „My School‟, consists of units such as My Friends, My School and My Classroom Theme three, „My Family‟, includes three units: Family Members, Ages and My House Theme four, „The World Around Us‟, comprises three units: The Weather, Our Pets, and Our Toys
The components of the units include two sections: Section A and Section B
The elements of Section A mostly contains (1) Look, listen and repeat, (2) Look and say, (3) Let‟s talk, (4) Listen and number/check, (5) Say it right, (6) Let‟s write and
(7) Let‟s play /read aloud The elements of Section B is mainly designed as (1) Listen and repeat, (2) Let‟s talk, (3) Listen and number, (4) Read and match, (5)
Let‟s write, (6) Let‟s play/ Let‟s sing and (7) Summary Each section is taught in two periods The first period covers three first parts of each section and the second period covers the remaining parts in the section
„Look, listen and repeat‟ in Section A and „listen and repeat‟ in Section B occur at the beginning of the section that aims to prepare students with vocabulary and modal sentence for the following activities and set the situation in which the target language is used This section normally includes a dialogue of two or three students The skills are presented in the following parts of the units In a single unit, four language skills are presented in various forms The Summary part which is written at the end of unit aims at consolidating what have presented in the unit
The book written by Nguyen Quoc Tuan et at and with the cooperation of Wong Lei Lin is published by the Vietnam Education Publishing House and it is used widely in public primary schools It is published with full package of a teacher‟s book, an audio CD, and a teaching and learning pack According to the authors, “Let‟s Learn English 1” addresses third grade students of primary schools
The authors stated that the students‟ age, interest and knowledge had been taken into consideration in the design and planning of the book The authors also stated that it was composed basing on communicative and learner-centered approach The activities inside the textbook are of communicative in nature and they encouraged learners‟ activity and creativity.
Identifying the problem
At every first semester of school year, I see all third grade students are eager in the lessons since it is the first time they have been learnt English They felt happy and enthusiastic in doing the tasks in the textbook and taking part in the other learning activities But only after few first units, students‟ interest in English lessons tends to gradually decrease They are not as involved in the lessons as before They like to talk to their friends, do their own work, or study other subjects instead of learning English They look bored, sleepy, inattentive and unmotivated They do not enjoy practicing the activities in the textbook any more Instead of using the textbook, they often read comic books or picture books or see pictures on their magazines in the lessons It is very difficult to get them involved in the lessons So, as a teacher, I wondered “Why my students are not as interested in learning English as before?”, and “What can motivate my students to learn English?”
In order to answer these questions, it is time to look for causes of the problems In the teaching process, I observe that the main cause of these problems come from teaching material that is the textbook “Let‟s Learn English 1” “Let‟s
Learn English 1” is not quite suitable to primary students because it has the following limitations:
Firstly, its appearance and design are not beautiful and attractive It is necessary for a textbook to have a colorful, motivating and an attractive appearance
Illustrations can be considered as the most important aspect of the design in EFL textbook A colorful and appealing selection of the pictures is effective in terms attracting students‟ attention in the language learning process (Sheldon, 1988) In addition, young learners‟ curiosity and attention are attracted when the material is visually attractive and well organized They tend to be caught by brightly colorful visuals They feel more enjoyable with animated pictures However, the illustrations in “Let‟s Learn English 1” are not attractive and catchy They are in poor quality both color and clarity They are simple in form The illustrations are not presented in a mixture of forms such as colorful pictures, drawings, black and white photos, and the cartoons One form of illustrations, i.e colorful pictures, is repeatedly printed in the entire book One more limitation of every book not only “Let‟s Learn
English 1” is that the pictures are not animated and they cannot contextualize the content of the dialogue Secondly, the design and organization of every unit are virtually identical to the next The tasks and activities in twelve units are the same
Songs, chants and rhymes are not composed This tends to make the book seem duplicated, redundant, and even boring after a few lessons – especially in cases where a new and less experienced teacher might be relying on the textbook for most of their teaching ideas, strategies, activities, and lesson planning Thirdly, supplemental materials such as audio CD and teaching & learning pack are poor in quality Flashcards do not look interesting and fun to children VCD is not included and supporting teaching resources are not available in the book In short, as stated
“Let‟s Learn English Book 1” is not quite suitable to primary students at beginner level, corresponding to Level A1 of the Common European Framework as the National Foreign Language 2020 Project.
Planning
After finding the cause, I also search for a solution to the problem I want to look for a new technique that can give my students more motivation and interest
Considering children‟s characteristics and interest, I see that all students at the age of primary school enjoy watching cartoon films My son, for example, is five and half years old, my nephew is nine years old and my niece is six years old All of them like watching cartoons so much that they even stop eating They can sit hours in front of the TV to watch their favorite cartoon films even they do not understand their language Most kids want to watch cartoons all day long without feeling bored
There are children being addicted to watching cartoon films Therefore, I decided to choose animated cartoons as a teaching medium to teach English to young learners and I do this action research to examine the application of animated cartoons in teaching English to third graders at Dong Hoa Primary School At the planning stage, I plan to search for animated cartoons on the internet, select animations which are appropriate for the content of textbook and design lesson plans applying selected animations In the process of choosing animations, I follows a certain criteria stated in Chapter 1.
Acting
After the plans have been made, I carry out the application of cartoon clips to teach three lessons in “Let‟s Learn English Book 1” I follow three-stage lesson plan as Tomalin (1986:29) suggested They are Comprehension stage, Language Study stage, and Extension and Transfer stage After each lesson, I gave students a questionnaire to see students‟ attitude towards the technique The presentations of the lessons are attached in the Appendix (1)
This chapter provided the context of teaching English at Dong Hoa Primary School and the problems found in the process of teaching in the school I described the plans of three lessons that employed animated cartoon as a teaching medium to teach English Although the three lessons are not many, they may be sufficient for me to see the preliminary results of using this kind of media However, whether the use of cartoon to teach English is effective or not depends on the teacher‟s view as much as on students‟ Is the use of cartoons an effective technique in teaching English to primary students? This question will be answered in Chapter III.
Conclusion
This chapter presents the identification and analysis of data collected from the questionnaires for students and also shows reflection on the result of analysis through the findings The questionnaires are designed in open-question form They are written in Vietnamese for my students to understand and are translated into English and under the edition of my supervisor I made three questionnaires, each of which consists of three questions List of questionnaires is attached in Appendix (2)
Student‟s questionnaires were distributed to obtain data on the students‟ responses after the implementation of animation clips in the lesson The writer distributed the questionnaires to 39 students and received back 39 questionnaires
The task of the students was just to tick the answer The data from questionnaires are analyzed and counted based on the frequency of the students‟ answers The frequency of each item chosen by the students is divided by the total number of the students in class and its result was multiplied by 100% to get the percentage The response of the students is given in either tabular or non-tabular format At the end of this chapter, there are some findings which are drawn based on the result of questionnaires analysis
After the presentation of each lesson using the cartoon clip, the author gave students a questionnaire The questions are about students‟ interest and opinion on this technique, classroom atmosphere, and frequent use of animated cartoons Their responses to each questionnaire are described below:
The first question asks whether students like the cartoon clip given in the lesson or not The result is shown in the following chart:
Chart 1 Students’ attitude to the animated cartoon clip used in the lesson
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 3.1 Introduction
Analysis of questionnaire 1
The first question asks whether students like the cartoon clip given in the lesson or not The result is shown in the following chart:
Chart 1 Students’ attitude to the animated cartoon clip used in the lesson
The chart indicates that 32 (82.05%) students felt that the clip very interesting,
6 (15.38%) students felt the clip rather interesting; and 1 (2.56%) student said that he or she did not like the clip and she/he added the reason that she/he had the VCD at home This answer seems to be relevant to the children‟s psychology and interest
They always want to do something new and want to watch something fun
Especially, children at the age of primary school are always attracted by cartoon movies because of the humor and fantasy of their characters and content
Question 2 asks about the student‟s opinion on the lesson using the cartoon clip
Their response is presented in the chart below:
Chart 2 Student’s reaction to the classrom atmosphere in English lesson using the animated cartoon
Chart 2 shows all students (100%) gave positive answers; they all agreed that English lesson was enjoyable None of them found the English lesson tedious This proves that using the animated cartoon clip could make the lesson more interesting and could create exciting atmosphere in the classroom
Question number 3 asks about students‟ attitude toward learning English by cartoons On this question, students gave varied responses as could be seen on the following chart:
Chart 3 Students’ response to studying English by the animated cartoon
The chart indicates that the percentage of students who were interested in learning English by the cartoon clip is 95% (37 students) This means that animated cartoons can motivate students to learn Young learners can learn better when they do not have sense of learning This echoes Tomalin‟s (1990) statement when he said
“students don‟t think of video as teaching material They think of it as television”
However, there are 2 (5%) students who did not find learning English by the cartoon interesting.
Analysis of questionnaire 2
Question number 1 of the second questionnaire asks students whether learning English is difficult or not Most students said that English was difficult to learn It was not easy to remember the pronunciation and spelling of a new word, and it was difficult to remember model sentences and their responses The students‟ answers toward this question are presented in the following table:
In comparison with studying Vietnamese and Maths, how do you think about studying English?
Please choose the aspects that are difficult for you to learn
According to the chart, 35 (90%) is the number of students who said English was more difficult to learn, and 36 ( 92.3%) students said that it was difficult to learn a new word 35 (90%) students responded that it was difficult to memorize a sentence pattern A lot of students said that it was difficult to read fluently a dialouge and do the acting out the dialogue even if the dialogue is very short They found difficult memorize the English words However, almost all of the students responded that the animated cartoons could make the process of learning easier and quicker, which could be seen from table 2 that showed students‟ responses on the use of this technique is presented below:
The teaching and learning activities using the animated cartoon more help you in understanging the dialogue?
Do you find it quicker to remember a sentence pattern and meaning of a new word when I showed you the animated cartoon?
According to Table 2, 39 (100%) in 39 students perceived that by watching the animated cartoon they more understand the dialogue Many students perceive that English vocabulary and model sentence are not easy to remember However, the use of this method could motivate them to learn and reduce the difficulty in learning English Majority of students (90%) stated that they could memorize the model sentences quickly by watching the animated cartoon, but there are 4 (10%) students responding that the method could not help them in reducing the difficulty in learning an English sentence pattern
Question number 3 is concerned with whether students liked the cartoon characters or not The results can be presented in the following table:
Do you like acting out the dialogue as it was in the animated cartoon clip?
Which one do you like, the characters in the animated cartoon clip or in your textbook?
Table 3 presents that the number of students who liked to take part in doing role-play of characters in the cartoon clip is 35 (90%) On the contrary, there are 4 (10%) students who stated that they did not like to be involved in the cartoon clip to acting out the dialogue Based on the result of questionnaire, most of them (36 students) said that they enjoyed the characters in the clip better than characters in their textbook The reason why students enjoy the cartoon characters is that they are humorous and fantastic They can move and talk like human whereas characters in the book are just sill pictures.
Analysis of questionnaire 3
Question number 1 in the third questionnaire explores the students‟ opinion toward cartoon-based lessons and traditional lessons The chart below will present the result:
Chart 4 Students’ opinion on the cartoon-based lessons and the traditional lessons
Responding to this question points out that all students (100%) found the cartoon-based lesson more enjoyable than traditional lesson It means students gave a positive attitude toward the use of cartoons in classroom Although, majority of students like using cartoons in the lesson, their responses to question number 2 and
3 make the author confused The results of students‟ responses are presented in the following table:
Question 2: Do you want your teacher to use the animated cartoons in the English lesson?
Question 3: How do you feel if the teacher uses the animated cartoon in every English lesson?
Table 4 shows that despite the fact that a large number of students (38 (≈
97%) students) wanted the teacher to use the animated cartoon in the English lesson, only 1 (2.56%) students said that they did not want the teacher to use the cartoon in the lesson Despite the fact that there are almost all of students (37 (95%) students) answering that they will not be bored if the teacher uses the cartoon regularly, it is necessary for the teacher to consider the frequent use and content of the cartoon in teaching The teacher should take into consideration how often the animated cartoons are used is enough for students to make sure that the teacher does not overuse the animated cartoons in teaching and students are not fed up with them.
Findings
From the questionnaires, the following findings are found:
(1) Majority of students have positive attitudes towards the use of animated cartoons in teaching English They are interested in the application of animated cartoons in the English lessons The animated cartoons could increase students‟ motivation in learning English
(2) Animated cartoons could make the English lesson more interesting and make learning English process quicker and easier They reduce the difficulty in learning English both vocabulary and sentence pattern The teaching and learning activities using animated cartoons help students in understanding the content of the dialogue and meaning of new words These findings answer the research question “Is the employment of animated cartoons to teach English to the third grader students at Dong Hoa Primary School effective?”
(3) The animated cartoons cannot give students activities that are necessary to practice in the English lesson so the cartoons cannot be separated from the textbook
(4) Although students expected that teaching by using the animated cartoons would be given regularly, they also get bored if animations are overused Therefore, using cartoons should be integrated with other media in teaching English to young learners It is the teachers who must be flexible in choosing and changing media and techniques regularly to break students‟ boredom Using cartoons is only one of alternative media that can help in teaching
(5) After conducting research, the students got closer to the teacher This relationship gave a positive effect to them, encouraging them to learn English more effectively Therefore, the primary English teachers must be close and friendly, patient, tolerant, and fair to all students Students enjoyed English more because they were given a new media to learn English that had never been given to them by their classroom teacher before
This thesis has described a research in which the author tried to tackle the problems of teaching English at Dong Hoa Primary School As stated in the previous chapters, the major problems come from the limitations of the textbook
Let‟s Learn English Most of primary students feel the use of animated cartoons in
English lessons quite interesting and effective but it is not included or suggested in supplementary teaching aids to the textbook Most of primary teachers still follow the traditional teaching methods which no longer arouse students‟ interest This study was carried out with the purpose of answering three main questions:
1 Is the employment of animated cartoons to teach English to the third grader students at Dong Hoa Primary School effective?
2 What are the attitudes of Dong Hoa third-grade students towards studying English by using animated cartoons?
In order to answer these questions, the author used various techniques for data collection The tools for data gathering include document analysis, lesson plan and questionnaire for 39 students The results of the study have shown that using animated cartoons is a good technique to teach English effectively to young learners.
Recommendations
Based on the findings above, the following recommendations are made for the textbook writers to improve the quality of textbook writing and for primary English teachers to improve the quality of their teaching a For textbook writers
(1) In addition to audio or visual teaching aids such as CD, pictures, flashcards and puppets, textbook writers should support teachers with a VCD containing some educational cartoon movies or suggest them some websites where primary teachers could get their supplemental teaching materials
(2) Textbook writers should provide the strategy of teaching English to young learners using the animated cartoons in the Teacher‟s Book and organize seminars on how to apply them to teach English effectively b For primary teachers
(1) The employment of cartoons is one of the media that is very useful for teaching English Therefore, primary teachers should be familiarized with the techniques of using this kind of media and animated cartoons should be integrated into the inventory of his or her teaching method
(2) Primary English teachers should be flexible and active in selecting and changing methods and techniques which are suitable to the language taught and could encourage students to learn so that the class becomes alive and entertaining
(3) The primary teachers should be more friendly, patient and tolerant to the students so that they are not demotivated by their teachers.
Limitations and suggestion for further study
Because of the constraint in time and limited knowledge of the researcher, this study still has some shortcomings Firstly, the number of students involved in the survey is still limited, so the findings may, to some extent, not be representative
Secondly, the study only considers the employment of using animated cartoons to teach English to third graders at Dong Hoa Primary School to see its effect on motivating students to learn English It is suggested that further research should be extended to all students of the school and should be investigated the effect of using animated cartoons on developing students‟ proficiency in English in the near future
This research was carried out to examine the application of animated cartoons in teaching English to the third graders at Dong Hoa Primary School According to research findings in the previous chapter, the writer concluded that the use of animated cartoons in English teaching can give sutdents more pleasure and can get students more involved in learning activities than other media It can be seen from the analysis of questionanires It means that animated cartoons need applying in teaching English to young learners
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APPENDICES Apeendix (1): Sample lesson plans
I Lesson plan: Unit Seven: Family Members – Section B: 1, 2, 3
- Language content: At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to be able to ask and give answer to the question about name of the third singular person
- Language skill: speaking and listening
- Key language: What‟s his name? His name‟s Tony
What‟s her name? _ Her name‟s May
* Teaching aids: projector, computer, loudspeaker
* Materials: Students‟ book, characters‟ pictures, worksheets, cartoon clip
- T has students listen and sing along a song “What‟s your name?”
- T asks some students question “what‟s your name?”
- T sets up the situation: T explains that students will see a cartoon clip about a dinosaur and his friends
- T sets up an active viewing task: T delivers a list of words to students and also writes them on the board T lets students read the words and makes sure they understand each word T plays the cartoon clip twice and gets students to circle the word they hear or see after watching the cartoon clip
Which one did you see or hear?
- T plays the clip with sound on vision off right through once: students hear and
- T plays the clip with sound on vision on right through once: while students watch, or just after they have watched, they circle the words they saw from the clip
- After watching the clip, students check their answers with T
- T plays the clip again and pauses at the target language which are taught in the lesson
- T has students repeat the target language from chorally to individually
- After the video is played, T elicits from students the language taught by asking them to retell the sentences
- T writes up complete sentences on the board and has students repeat chorally T instructs students to say the sentences naturally and say with right stress and intonation
1 What‟s her name? Her name‟s Jenny
2 What‟s his name? His name‟s Tony
- Consolidate the language taught through the clip: T plays the clip again and encourages students to respond either aloud or mouthing the response quietly
- Language exercise and drills from the textbook: T gives each group pictures of six students in the book on page 71 and some others, has them work in pairs to ask the names of students in the pictures
- T calls students to present at front of the class
- T lets students ask and answer names of friends in their groups
- T observes and helps students if they face any problems
* Stage 3: Extension and transfer: Acting out the dialogue
- T gives each group the video transcript with some missing words T plays the clip and gets students to fill in the blanks After all the blanks are filled, T gives time to students to practice the dialogue after that T collects the video transcript and has them to practice in pairs
- T goes round each group, helps them prepare the role and helps with language if they forget
- When the groups are ready, T asks them to act out the dialogue During the acting out, T listens and take notes
- T praises their work and gives some immediate feedback on their work
- After students‟ presentation, T has students listen to the song on the clip then sing along sentence by sentence
GoGo: Hello, Tony Hello, Jenny
Tony: How are you, GoGo?
Tony: Oh, Gogo His name‟s Peter
Gogo: Peter, his name‟s Peter
Gogo: May, her name‟s May His name‟s Peter Her name‟s May
Tony and Jenny clap the hands
Gogo: Hello Jenny: What‟s his name?
Gogo: His name‟s Gogo Tony and Jenny clap the hands
II Lesson plan: Unit Eight: Ages – Section A: 1, 2, 3
- Language content: At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to be able to say numbers from one to ten in English and ask and give the answer to the question about the age of people who are speaking to them
- Language skill: speaking and listening
* Key language : numbers from one to ten;
How old are you? _ I‟m ten
* Teaching aids: projector, computer, and speaker
* Materials: students‟ book, number cards, worksheets, cartoon clip
- T gets students to listen, repeat and do as T does these actions: jump, step forward, step back, spin around from twice to three times
- T lets students watch a video and encourage them to sing along either aloud or mouthing and imitate the actions as they are done in the video
- T asks students the content of the song
- T asks students the application of numbers and introduces the topic
- Pre-teach vocabulary: T shows card of number 1 and asks students to say number in English If not, T says aloud the word and has students repeat from chorally to individually T does the same to the next numbers When all numbers are presented, T revises vocabulary through the clip by getting students to read aloud numbers when the clip is playing
- T sets up an active viewing task: T writes a list of words and phrases on the board T lets students read the words or phrases and makes sure they understand them thoroughly T has them watch the cartoon clip and asks them to circle the word they hear or see in the clip
Which one did you see or hear?
- First the video is played: T plays the cartoon clip with sound on vision on: students watch and do active viewing task individually
- After playing the video, T has students read aloud the words or phrases they hear or see and T will circle the words they say and play the clip to checks their answers
- T plays the clip with sound on vision on and pause at the target language which is taught in the lesson
- T has students repeat the target language from chorally to individually
- After the video is played, T elicits from the class the language taught by asking them to retell the sentences
- T writes up complete sentences on the board and has students repeat chorally T instructs students to say the sentences naturally and say with right stress and intonation
How old are you? I‟m ten
- Consolidate the language taught through the clip: T plays the clip again and encourage students to respond either aloud or mouthing the response quietly
- Language exercise and drills from the textbook: T delivers number cards to each group The group leaders take number cards T asks them to put cards down on the table so that number side is against the table and mix the cards to make sure the other group members do not know number in the cards The group leaders get members to choose their own cards but do not let the others know The numbers that they choose indicate their ages In order to know their partners‟ ages, they have to ask by using the new language taught
- T observes and helps students if they face any problems
- T calls each group to present at front of the class
- T praises and comments their work
* Stage 3: Extension and transfer: Role-play
- T sets up some situations (written in Vietnamese) accompanied with a sample dialogue that is practiced in which the new language taught through the clip is used and the characters Two or three members in the group play the role of characters in that situation to practice speaking
- T goes round each group, helps students to prepare the role and helps with language
- When the groups are ready, T asks students to do the role-play at front of class
During the role-play, T listens and takes notes
- T praises their work and gives some immediate feedback on the role-play
- Situation 1: You go to Lan‟s House to ask her for borrowing a book You see her mother She greets and asks your names and ages Talk to her using the following sample dialogue
Lan‟s mother: Hi Nice to meet you
Student 1: Nice to meet you too
Student 2: Nice to meet you too
Lan‟s mother: What‟s your name?
Student 1: My name‟s ………… Student 2: My name‟s ……… Lan‟s mother: How old are you?
- Situation 2: On the way to school, a student wants to make friends with you
He/she greets and asks your name and age Talk to her or his using the following sample dialogue
A: Hi, nice to meet you
B: Hi, nice to meet you
A: My name‟s ………… … How old are you?
- Situation 3: You are in a game show Introduce yourself
* Suggested language: Hi, my name‟s …… I‟m … Nice to meet you
III Lesson plan: Unit Eight: Ages – Section B: 1, 2, 3
