Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS improving young learners’ retention of english vocabulary through multiple intelligences approach

INTRODUCTION

Statement of the Problem and Rationale for the Study

Globalization is a catch-all term that refers to any activity that involves more than one country, for example, travel from one country to another, even need a common language Thanks to this situation, English has become a lingua franca, a global language generally used for communication between the speakers whose native languages are different from each other As a result, learning English is essentially crucial At the same time, vocabulary learning plays an important part in learning English Although learners may acquire English grammar, they seem to lack fluency due to the absence of vocabulary knowledge

It is noted that mastering a language is a matter of grasping its vocabulary or words For this reason, promoting vocabulary growth has been a major concern of educators in the area of second language acquisition My learning experience has told me that to make a word permanent, this word can be met several times (from five to seven times) My learning experience has shown me that if I do not put my learned words into practice, these words can fade away This shows us that learning vocabulary is not an easy task, it is much more sophisticated than it seems to be

Clearly, learning a new language and its outcome can depend on different factors from objective to subjective ones

The matter is, nowadays, the age of learning new languages is cut down; it means that young learners have chances to access to English very early Young learners seem to be unfamiliar with dictionaries or blackboards With most of the kids (especially preschool and primary school learners), they cannot sit on a chair to practice writing new words various times, or read books to find new words They, different individuals, are gifted with strengths and weaknesses in different areas

Any individuals can develop any intelligences to a reasonably high level with their particular environments, stimulation, and encouragement They can learn new things through multifarious ways Thus, conventional techniques used for learning vocabulary as the traditional way is not useful as it was

Vocabulary learning is flexible and vocabulary teaching can be diverse too In traditional teaching methods, words are written on blackboards with their mother tongue meanings, and students are encouraged to pronounce words lots of time

This method has been used widely in some educational areas Foreign language instruction in some public schools in Vietnam has still involved in memorization of vocabulary, and written grammar patterns exercises Teachers, partly, still play the centered roles, whereas students are in passive roles They are asked to read the course books or textbooks and look up the new words beforehand For the time being, communicative strategies are very limited, and students tend to forget the words in a short period of time

To escape from that traditional concept, and figure out how each individual intelligence works in various fields and contexts, in “Frames of Mind” (1983),

Howard Gardner, a professor of education at Harvard University, stated: “Surely in focusing on the educational process, we are considering a domain of utmost importance in all cultures, as well as an optimal area in which to observe the intelligences at work.” In that sense, Multiple Intelligence Theory may provide a good framework to use in ensuring good teaching practices and improved outcomes for young learners

Multiple Intelligence Theory by Howard Gardner has brought many implications for teaching and learning a foreign language It is a learner-centered theory that emphasized on the abilities-intelligence in each individual In terms of teaching English in general, it provides a lot of teaching strategies that can be implemented in the classroom For that reason, in vocabulary teaching for young learners, teachers can apply activities for different intelligences of the students, especially for young learners These activities can help the students to learn and remember the vocabulary easily in spite of their young age

In a nutshell, the theory of Howard Gardner can provide a framework to support students‟ English vocabulary retention It is believed that the retention of vocabulary learning can be easier when suitable activities are adapted based on students‟ intelligences.

Aims of the Study

Traditional teaching methods in general and, in particular, teaching vocabulary tend to treat students as a homogeneous group Teachers have tendencies to present the same in-class exercises and activities to all learners and expect the same outcome Sometimes, students do not show their interest in studying such new things in such mentioned stable old ways Using Howard Gardner (1983)‟s Multiple Intelligence Theory can be a good model for vocabulary teaching when it has various implications for educators in terms of classroom instructions

This action research is conducted with the aim of discovering whether students can improve their retention of English vocabulary through Multiple Intelligences Approach Specifically, the study will try to answer the following question whose result will be used for later discussion:

- To what extent do activities based on Multiple Intelligence Approach contribute to young learners‟ retention of English Vocabulary?

Scope of the Study

The study includes the teacher‟s speech and performance because the teacher plays an important role in giving instructions and guiding students to join in activities in the class Moreover, the teacher‟s interaction with young learners is also an essential key for students to improve learning and retention of vocabulary

In addition, there would be much inadequate if young learners‟ products and performance are not included The researcher has to measure students‟ development in learning vocabularies through their individual intelligence in order to figure out the most suitable activity to maximize learners‟ performance

As a study on groups of students at an English center in Hanoi city, the conclusion of the study may not be valid to be generalized for application to any other contexts It may be useful to serve as an intensive source of information to refer to or to provide a hypothesis for further studies.

Methodology of the study

Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to achieve the aims stated The data collected for the study is analyzed from the results of pre-test and post-test as well as teacher‟s observation sheets

Pre-test and post-test which have been examined to have an equivalent difficulty level, are used to test students‟ vocabulary before and after the project

The pre-test is delivered to students before the intervention and the post-test is used to collect the scores and then compare to the scores of the pre-test

The qualitative research method through teacher‟s observation sheet is used to measure how activities based on Multiple Intelligence Theory contribute to young students‟ vocabulary retention.

Significance of the Study

In fact, Multiple Intelligence Theory was generally applied in English teaching and learning, and there has been a wide range of studies about the implications of this theory However, there were a few studies about its effects on achievement and retention of English vocabulary

The findings of the thesis may serve as useful information not only for the researcher, involved students but also for all language teachers In particular, the study is conducted to enable young learners in search of their passion for learning vocabulary and then enhance their retention of English vocabulary Therefore, the results of this study may be generalized to apply for students at the same levels It is also hoped that the thesis will make contributions to the achievement in English learning of young learners in the private center Besides, this study may also bring new insights into language teaching when recommendations for other research are stated with the hope of taking the most advantages of the using Multiple Intelligence Theory as a model for vocabulary teaching.

Design of the Thesis

The study consists of five chapters as follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction – includes the rationale, aims, scope, significance and methodology of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review – presents literature related to the study including

Multiple Intelligence Theory, the definition of vocabulary, teaching English vocabulary to young learners, and research on Multiple Intelligence Theory and adaptation in teaching vocabulary for young learners

Chapter 3: Methodology – presents the setting, the background of participants as well as data collection instruments and procedures for carrying on the research including pre-post-test and students‟ self-assessment paper at the end of the intervention

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion – reports the main findings obtained from the data collection and discusses the prominent aspects

Chapter 5: Conclusion – summarizes the main research points, points out the limitation of the study and makes suggestions for further studies.

Summary

The focus of this chapter has been on introduction of the research It has clearly provided an overview of the study in terms of the statement of the problem and the rationale, the aims, the scope, the significance, the methodology of the study, and the design of the thesis.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Vocabulary retention and techniques to improve students‟ vocabulary

It is believed that human being‟s language is based on vocabulary Vocabulary is the most important element in learning well a foreign language since it helps us express our feelings, ideas, and emotions to others Vocabulary can be the creator‟s vehicle for bringing the world into existence

Different linguists hold different concepts about vocabulary, and it is defined in discrepant ways by different researchers In Advanced Learners‟ Dictionary of

Current English (1990), the vocabulary is: (1) all the words that a person knows or uses, (2) all the words in a particular language, (3) the words that people use when they are talking, and (4) a list of words with their meanings, especially in a book for learning a foreign language

Nation (1990) stated that: “Learners‟ vocabulary is divides into two groups, active and passive.” Active vocabulary is the one that learners could use in speaking and writing skill; whereas, passive vocabulary is the words that learners can recognize in listening and reading skills

In addition, Penny Ur (1996) defined vocabulary as the words that we teach in a foreign language She also made a statement that “a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: for example, post office, and mother-in-law, which are made up of two or three words but express a single idea.”

According to Hiebert and Kamil (2005), vocabulary consists of two types: oral vocabulary and print vocabulary “Oral vocabulary is the set of words for which we know the meanings when we speak or read orally Print vocabulary consists of those words for which the meaning is known when we write or read silently”

In short, vocabulary is the focus of language It is all the words that exist in a language It allows us to communicate with each other in all skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing) Vocabulary has a vital role in the process of language learning, but it is, generally, ignored so language learning becomes too difficult because of the lack of vocabulary knowledge

2.1.2 Vocabulary retention and strategies to improve students’ vocabulary retention

According to Nation (2005), vocabulary learning is a vital process for the successful acquisition of language It involves not only students‟ knowledge of word definitions, but their attention to different aspects of a word as collocation, synonym, and pronunciation as well The truth is vocabulary learning is important, but both vocabulary learning and vocabulary retention are the two matters of difficulty They even get more challenging for foreign language learners In language teaching, retention of which has been taught could possibly depend on the quality of teaching, the use of diverse strategies, or, more importantly, the interest of the learners

In Advanced Learners‟ Dictionary of Current English (1990), the word

„retention‟ refers to the ability to continue having something from a considerable time elapse, for example, weeks or months, or even longer Thus, vocabulary retention could be interpreted as a situation when learners can retain newly learned words and use them appropriately Furthermore, Schemitt (1997) stated that vocabulary retention refers to the techniques that learners utilize in order to obtain, store, retrieve and use the information

In fact, the general concept of using strategies or techniques to boost vocabulary learning is not new The concern for discovering effective ways to foster vocabulary retention is, prominently, the role of both vocabulary teaching and learning There is a wide range of strategies focused on enhancing vocabulary retention

O‟Malley (1985) reported that repetition was the most commonly used strategy among learners He added that repetition could activate cognition and it helped to facilitate target language learning

On the other hand, Schemitt (1997) emphasized some other strategies such as 'highlighting' important ideas or new vocabularies which are often so simple for students to take them for granted

Moreover, Oxford's (2003) comprehensive classification for improving vocabulary retention focused on direct and indirect strategies She figured out that the direct strategies necessitated the mental processing of the language They comprised memory, cognitive and compensation strategies The indirect strategies supported and managed language learning without directly involving the target language They fostered the business of language learning and included metacognitive, affective and social strategies

Later, Nation (2004) regarded memory strategies as the most effective to improve students‟ vocabulary retention The aims of memory strategies were to engage learners in storing and retrieving new pieces of information easier In line with Nation, Nemati (2009) also focused on memory strategies and their effects on long-term retention Additionally, in another article, Nemati (2013) investigated the impact of vocabulary learning strategies on both short-term and long-term retention of vocabulary items The outcome revealed that memory strategies could enhance long-term retention of vocabulary items significantly Using synonyms and short contexts is able to significantly enhance the retention of learners‟ vocabulary in terms of short and long period

In short, in order to help language learners to enhance vocabulary retention, there are various vocabulary learning strategies, and their effectiveness resides in the fact that all of them require learners to be active in their learning process

Generally, among a variety of vocabulary retention strategies, most language teachers have experienced the ones adapted for some students in one class with a little use for the rest of the students in the same learning environment The aroused issue is that a variation in leaning should focus on individual differences The multiple intelligences approach will be discussed more in detail later.

Multiple Intelligence Theory and the role of Multiple Intelligence Theory

In modern life, in order to assess the intelligence of children, I.Q ('intelligence quotient') testing is known as the most prominent form of intelligent testing

However, IQ tests seem to be one of those post-modern phenomena that continually develop and change They may assess the logical thinking skills and memory, but they cannot assess individuals‟ interpersonal skills or creativity

Therefore, someone who scores below average on an IQ test may still have exceptional creative abilities that IQ tests overlook

Basing on some limitations of IQ testing, with the reason to develop and fulfill the concept of general intelligence factor, a theory developed and published by Howard Gardner commonly referred to as Multiple Intelligences Theory came into being Howard Gardner, essentially, embarked on a pursuit to see through and describe the construct of intelligence Spending decades to study developmental and cognitive psychology, Howard Gardner, in some research, claimed that all human beings possess not just a single intelligence According to Gardner (1999a),

“intelligence is much more than I.Q because a high I.Q in the absence of productivity does not equate to intelligence.”

2.2.1 Multiple Intelligence Theory 2.2.1.1 Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

In his Multiple Intelligence Theory, Howard Gardner proposes eight types of intelligences: (1) linguistic intelligence, (2) logical-mathematical intelligence, (3) bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, (4) musical intelligence, (5) interpersonal intelligence, (6) intrapersonal intelligence, (7) spatial/visual intelligence, and (8) naturalist intelligence

Linguistic intelligence is the type of intelligence that deals with words, spoken or written Practically, linguistic intelligence is the extent to which people can use languages both verbal and nonverbal languages Those with linguistic intelligence can learn foreign languages easily because they have high verbal memory and they can understand or manipulate both syntax and structures at the same time

Logical-mathematical is one of several Multiple Intelligences People with logical-mathematical intelligence process information through logic, abstraction, reasoning, and numbers It is often assumed that those who with this intelligence do well with quantitative methods Their mind is sophisticated and functions like a computer

One of the six basic Multiple Intelligences, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is a special concept that many children possess and display It also refers to a keen awareness of prominent changes in the body balance In theory, people who have bodily kinesthetic intelligence should learn better by involving muscular movement

At times, they might not be studious and academically intelligent; nevertheless, they can excel in many other areas They seem to be very active, keep acting and cannot sit in one position

Musical intelligence is dedicated to how skillful an individual to do with rhythm or music Those people who excel in this intelligence typically are capable of using rhythms and patterns to create new things They can be good at performing, composing, and appreciating emotional power of music, musical notes, and tones

In addition, people with musical intelligence will assist in learning They, sometimes, use songs or rhythms to learn and memorize information

This intelligence has to do with interaction with others, and people with this kind of intelligence thrive with social interaction They tend to be extrovert and make friends easily They work well with others and have a lot of friends They are masters at collaboration and have the ability to cooperate in order to work as part of a group They communicate effectively and show their empathy with others, and may be either leaders or followers

Intrapersonal intelligence has to do with introspective and self-reflective capacities Those who with this kind of intelligence are typically intuitive and introverted They are skillful at deciphering, coding, and looking inward and figuring out their own feelings, motivations, and goals They have a deep understanding of others from their strengths or weaknesses, even what makes others unique They can predict their own reactions or emotions

This intelligence has to do with visualizing things A person who has spatial intelligence has sensitivity with form, color, shape, space, and line The ability to solve the problems related to the notion of space such as using a map to locate a place in a city or drawing a floor plan are examples of spatial intelligence With spatial intelligence, individuals can become future architects, navigators, painters, sculptors, and graphic artists

This kind of intelligence has to do with the natural world by classifying, recognizing and categorizing species found in nature like plants, animals, and minerals Individuals with naturalist intelligence can be able to distinguish the species that are harmful or beneficial for humans They show tendencies to go out and discover new things in nature rather than be indoors

In order to classify eight bits of intelligence above, in his book, “Frames of Mind” (1983), Gardner set up certain tests of criteria to help us decide which intelligence each learner has He identified basic signs that each intelligence could exhibit to be considered an intelligence

- An intelligence has been isolated through brain damage:

When people suffer accidents of illnesses and specific areas of the brain are affected, one intelligence is often damaged too For example, if a person has a lesion in Broca‟s area (left frontal lobe), linguistic intelligence may be greatly damaged However, the person might still be able to do math, dance, or sing For that reason, Gardner is actually proposing the existence of seven autonomous brain systems

Gardner suggested that single intelligence in certain individuals could operate at high levels Savants are people who demonstrate amazing abilities in one intelligence while other intelligences at the expense of the full functioning of the others Some intelligences can exist in each individual, for example, they can calculate multi numbers in their head or play a musical instrument after hearing once

The appropriateness of Multiple Intelligence Theory to young learners‟

We all know that learners are one of the key determinants in the teaching and learning process They affect directly the success of a lesson Therefore, teachers need to know clearly who learners are, what the learners‟ language learning needs, language competences, as well as the cognitive skills, are

Understanding learners‟ characteristics according to their age or grade level helps teachers apply appropriate methods in teaching The following table shows the characteristics of different aged groups

Figure 2.3 Learners‟ characteristics according to aged group

Very Young Learners Young Learners Older/ Late Young

Learners Age: 3-6 years old Age: 7-9 years old Age: 10-12 years old Grade:

Language Focus/ Language Focus/ Language Focus/ Skills

* No Grammar Teaching or metalanguage (can‟t analyze language but may be exposed to chunks through songs, classroom language)

(may recognize letters or short words)

* Listening & Speaking Vocabulary Items (concrete & familiar and new objects)

* New in Reading and Writing (word to sentence level)

* No Grammar Teaching or metalanguage (chunks through songs and classroom language)

* Vocabulary Items (concrete & abstract) Grammar (inductive)

* Low concentration span but easily excited

* Love talking but problems in sharing

* Short memory: Learn slowly Forget easily

* Repetition and revision is necessary

(using a pen and scissors) but kinesthetic and

* Low concentration span: Wide variety of activities needed

* Short memory: frequent revision is needed

* Problems in sharing in group work

* Developing confidence in expressing themselves

* Longer attention span but still children

* More cooperation in groups and in pairs

* Developed social, motor and intellectual skills

* Learning strategies are used and developing energetic

* Love stories, fantasy, imagination, art, drawing and coloring

* Limited motor skills (left-right)

These days, as English becomes more and more accepted as an international language, interest in teaching English to Young Learners has become a trend nowadays As be shown above, young learners are different from teenagers or adults (older learners) Thus, teaching young learners is probably not like teaching adults because children have their own way of learning They are keen on playing and having fun so that the learning and teaching process should be suited to the nature of the children themselves The teacher must create the process of English learning for young learners as interesting, exciting and challenging as possible

Young learners have a good memory and respond to something fast They are active, charm and easy to imitate because childhood is considered as the playing period With the term "learning style", we may realize that it is used to describe how a child learns Some young learners like learning by playing and doing some activities actively and naturally, some prefer to learn best visually while another learns best through movement Therefore, as a teacher or parent has a rule on how to teach English to young learners by using various techniques interestingly such as songs, games, stories, pictures or real objects

English learning for young learners aims to their future, in order that they can speak English communicatively The main purpose to teach English for young learners is to make them master some vocabularies as many as possible and they have no difficulty in learning English for the future

2.3.2 The appropriateness of Multiple Intelligence Theory to young learners’ characteristics

Teaching vocabulary is preferred at the first step to teach for young learners

The teachers need to use some interesting techniques to achieve the objectives of the study and to attract the students in the teaching-learning process

Traditionally, in teaching vocabulary, educators have adapted various teaching methods for young learners such as The Grammar Translation Method, The Direct method, The Audio-lingual Method, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), or

Post-methods In many schools or English centers, young students gain their knowledge through interesting activities such as games, stories Nevertheless, those teaching methods are applied in general for the whole group of students, and do not focus on any individuals

The fact is each student learns in different ways Some students learn best through words, other students do well through visual support such as pictures and photos, and some learn well through music, while others learn best by moving In this sense, the new thinking system based on theory such as Multiple Intelligence

Theory has brought new dimensions to teaching young learners It could be a much better way to understand the individuality of how kids learn

Howard Garner (1993) stated that each person has unique and distinct intelligence profiles that are shaped by different biological and environmental factors They are a blend of intelligences namely linguistic, mathematical/logical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist intelligence Moreover, Armstrong (2004) said that Multiple Intelligence Theory

“opens the door to a wide range of teaching strategies” It is one of the teaching approaches which is more enjoyable and easier to be received by the students, especially young learners This approach tries to accommodate the need of the students in learning

English based on their intelligences

As mentioned above, each individual has his or her own intelligence profiles, teachers should present information and allow kids to show what they have learned in various ways, or through diverse activities It is expected that this new approach is appropriate with young learners‟ characteristics In this case, the teacher is not only as a mere language teacher but they have to be facilitators, observers, and lesson designers as well.

The review of previous studies on the effectiveness of MI theory for

In terms of retention of foreign vocabulary, a myriad of research has been conducted based on Multiple Intelligences Approach founded by Howard Gardner

Researchers have attempted to explore the relationship between MI theory and learners‟ vocabulary retention

Firstly, the thesis carried out by Anderson (1998) was outstanding He studied the improvement of retention in foreign language vocabulary In this study, there was an experiment for increasing retention of foreign language vocabulary by using Multiple Intelligence Theory and Memory Enhancement Tools Multiple Intelligence Theory was preferred to focus all the intelligences of the students It indicated that using Multiple Intelligence skills in the learning and retention of vocabulary can be a helpful tool Students from each intelligence can learn when the activities are applied to him/her

Furthermore, the study on the effects of Multiple Intelligence Theory in teaching English vocabulary was carried out by Sefanur, A (2009) Traditional vocabulary teaching techniques and vocabulary teaching techniques based on Multiple Intelligence Theory are compared in the study It is a quantitative study which utilizes quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design Here, there was an Experimental Group and a Control Group, and both of them were pre-tested at the beginning of the study by using a vocabulary test Multiple Intelligence Inventory was also applied to Experimental Group to identify their dominant intelligences and prepare classroom activities accordingly In the Experimental Group, the lesson was taught through activities based on Multiple Intelligence Theory and in the Control Group the lesson was taught by using traditional teaching methods Both two groups were post-tested at the end of the study Furthermore, in order to determine the long-term retention, the vocabulary test was applied again two weeks after the study The results of the study suggest that Multiple Intelligence

Theory based activities have a significant effect on achievement and retention of students‟ English vocabulary

Moreover, Orensteinné (2013) conducted a program with the aim of to use Multiple Intelligence Theory to facilitate vocabulary acquisition and retention in

EFL primary classes in Hungary In three weeks, 60 students participated in the study Students were randomly assigned to an experimental group taught through the ideas based on Gardner‟s Multiple Intelligences theory in order to acquire vocabulary, and a control group received traditional teaching methods on vocabulary The data were collected through a Multiple Intelligences Profile questionnaire on both the teacher‟s and the students‟ multiple intelligence strengths and weaknesses, a vocabulary pre-test, an immediate vocabulary post-test and a delayed vocabulary test The result of the study showed that students taught through

Multiple Intelligences-based methods demonstrated more success in vocabulary acquisition and retention, than those who were exposed to traditional methods

Additionally, Farahani and Kalkhoran (2014) investigated the relationship between Iranian EFL learners‟ MI and incidental vocabulary learning The results indicated the significant relationship between Iranian EFL learners‟ MI and their incidental vocabulary, especially with naturalist intelligence

More recently, in TESOL Conference, 2015, Dr Yen Tran and Ms Hanh Le presented a study on Multiple Intelligence Theory and EFL Learners‟ Word

Retention The study aims at examining the effect of MI based lessons on EFL learner‟s word retention Before intervening program, a general English test, a vocabulary level test and an MI test were delivered in order to determine the participants‟ English proficiency, vocabulary level and intelligences It was found that there is a positive correlation between English proficiency and word retention

The results of the vocabulary test at the end of the experiment showed that MI based lessons can help the participants improve their ability to retain word spelling and meaning

In general, there is quite a mixed variety of the recent application of Multiple Intelligence Theory Although each was conducted at different levels of learners and educational background, it is time to note that using Multiple Intelligence Theory-based activities can be helpful in improving the learners‟ retention of vocabulary.

Summary

The literature review of the present study was clearly presented The theoretical framework underlying the issue includes the relevant knowledge around core concepts of vocabulary retention and the strategies to improve vocabulary retention, Multiple Intelligence approach and its appropriateness to young learners‟ characteristics, followed by a review of a variety of related studies.

METHODOLOGY

Setting

The center is the place for all primary students in all primary schools in Hanoi city to come and join in Students follow different curricula of learning English in class They can learn from different types of English materials or course books

However, in this center, young learners are supposed to follow Family and Friends textbooks Family and Friends series are divided into 6 main levels from Family and Friends 1 to Family and Friends 6

In the 2018-2019 academic year, the researcher has taken charge of one class with 4th graders (in equivalent with Family and Friends 4) Family and Friends 4 contains 15 units with 15 different topics With the content of the provided curriculum, students have one academic year (9 months) to fulfill this book There are two semesters in one academic year In each semester, the teacher will cover 7 units, and the last unit will be released for self-studying At the end of the academic year, students are supposed to take the achievement test to evaluate whether they are qualified enough to move on the next level or not There are two big tests (Final

1 st term test and final 2 nd term test) designed for this book and followed by many progress tests (summative tests, vocabulary tests, and grammar tests) After each unit, students have to take the vocabulary test

After observing in the first semester, the researcher realizes that young learners are getting some troubles with vocabulary Right after the unit, they can remember most of the words; however, after moving on two or three next units, students can recall some of the previous words only

With the above setting, the researcher expects to intervene with a new approach to see whether young learners‟ English vocabulary retention can be improved as expected.

Research Design

Action research design was selected in this study According to Mettetal

(2001), Classroom Action Research is a research designed to assist teachers in figuring out what is happening in his or her classroom, and then make use of that information to make changes for the future The selection of action research may have a significant contribution to improving students‟ performance and even suggest open-ended outcomes Moreover, action research can promote “teachers' growth as an empowered professional”, “teachers' confidence in their teaching ability”, and their “problem-solving skills as well” (Briscoe and Wells, 2002: 429)

In particular, when being engaged in action research, teachers can be more aware of the gaps between their beliefs and practices and of what their pupils are thinking, feeling, and learning

An action research was applied to this current study with the teacher as the researcher Action research is a suitable chosen research method for the study for some reasons First, learning and teaching English vocabulary and improving students‟ English vocabulary retention have noticeably concerned both educational people and students Moreover, besides many other teaching methods, the new sight of Multiple Intelligence Theory can be a useful approach for meeting the expectation to what extent Second, action research is often carried out both outside the classroom and inside the classroom Hence, that is very suitable for the current setting of the study Third, action research is aimed at changing things as well as suggest a reference source for other research From the findings of the effects of using activities based on Multiple Intelligence Theory on young learners‟ retention of English vocabulary, some constructive suggestions will be given so that teachers can facilitate students‟ English vocabulary learning

The below diagram illustrates the action research model

Figure 3.2 Action Research Model (Source: Susman, 1983)

In light of the model, the study started when the researcher realizes that there is a need to improve young students‟ retention of English vocabulary The new approach – using activities based on Multiple Intelligence Theory should be used

In other words, step 1 was implemented to figure out the problem The demand for a new approach in order to help students recall English vocabulary better was identified and then investigated

In this step, the researcher did a literature search before beginning the action research The literature review allowed the researcher to strengthen the validity of the research by giving the theoretical framework, and comparing the findings in others research with future findings

After having a quite clear literature review, the researcher refined the question for the research Participants of the study were the 4 th graders in a center where the researcher works and the material is Family and Friends 4

Firstly, in order to measure students‟ vocabulary level prior to the treatment, young learners took the pre-test within 15 minutes (APPENDIX 3) The teacher marked the pre-test, classified the scores into three different levels of students and kept the result for later usage

After that, the researcher delivered the survey (APPENDIX 2) to record the usual scores that students usually got and what the strategies that students usually used to improve their results The noted usual scores given by students play an important role for teacher to evaluate level of students in class

With the purpose to focus on developing individuals with a new approach, the scores survey was followed by the Multiple Intelligence survey (APPENDIX 1)

Students did the survey to find out their intelligences The teacher took four dominant intelligences into consideration to direct the teaching activities With the basic data, the researcher conducted the intervention after that

The intervening program lasted 8 weeks (2 months) The teacher based on the classified dominant intelligences to make a suitable lesson plan (APPENDIX 5) for teaching vocabulary in targeted units (Unit 8, 9, 10 in Family and Friends 4 – class book) The researcher followed the basic content of each lesson (words and reading), and tried to fulfill all the tasks in the class book However, in this program, in order to improve the young learners‟ retention of English vocabulary, the lesson plans put the premium on students‟ intelligences with preferable activities to help students remember as much as possible right in the class The detailed plan and activities under Multiple Intelligence Theory, as well as steps of the in-class lessons are mentioned below a The lesson plans with activities under the approach using multiple intelligences

The lesson plan is regarded as an essential vitamin for the teacher According to Rinvolucri (1996), it is a mental structure or the map teachers need initially to help them through the landscape Students can know what their teacher has in store for them

In fact, in his work, Harmer (2002) mentioned that planning a lesson can be visualized in different ways to achieve the goals In this action research, with the purposes to deliver the lesson by a new approach – Multiple Intelligences

Approach, the lesson plans were prepared carefully and focused on learning activities based on individuals‟ intelligences Through the learners‟ characteristics according to their aged group presented in Figure 2.3, the researcher figures out the characteristics of the young learners in the targeted class Moreover, in Figure 2.4, some vocabulary teaching activities for multiple intelligences were mentioned to be the suggestion for the teacher to design the appropriate activities to achieve the objectives of the research For example, for those who obsess musical intelligence, they are able to sing, and play musical instruments Besides, they can compose music Thus, the teacher allowed students to listen to narrative that uses the new word, repeated afterwards and even sang the songs containing new words

It is importantly noted here is that, in the lesson plan, all the sections were inserted with learning activities related to intelligences, especially four dominant bits of intelligence Specifically, a wide range of activities was adapted, for instance:

- listening and repeating (Musical intelligence) (Unit 8, lesson 1)

- role-playing (Bodily intelligence) (Unit 8, lesson 1)

- composing (Linguistic intelligence) (Unit 8, lesson 1)

- using pictures (Visual intelligence) (Unit 9, lesson 1)

- chain game (Linguistic intelligence) (Unit 9, lesson 1)

- guessing words (Linguistic Intelligence) (Unit 9, lesson 1)

- singing (Musical intelligence) (Unit 9, lesson 5)

- presenting (Linguistic intelligence) (Unit 10, lesson 5)

Moreover, some other activities that did not belong to dominant intelligences were also used such as: group working (Interpersonal intelligence) (Unit 10, lesson

5), and silently reading (Intrapersonal intelligence) (Unit 8, lesson 5) b Procedures of the in-class lessons

In order to help young learners to recall English vocabulary, all the in-class lessons contained the great effort of the researcher

Participants

The study is carried out through 2 months in the second semester of the school year 2018-2019 with the young learners in an English Center in Hanoi City,

29 students, aged 9-10, are selected as the targeted population of the research

These students come from different schools in Hanoi Among these students, some are quick on the uptake, and they make rapid progress However, there are some others who are not After a teaching period of time, the researcher can classify young learners into three main groups based on their studying levels: Average students, Pretty Good students, and Good students

The reasons for the mentioned population selection are their characteristics which are best suitable for the research‟s purposes These characteristics are presented as follows Firstly, vocabulary scores in the previous semester were relatively slow The research realizes that there is a need to help students to improve the situation Moreover, they all follow the same syllabus and teaching materials in the course For those reasons, the demand for supporting intervene is undeniably necessary

Two teachers were interviewed to compare the two tests (pre-and post-tests) in general in terms of content, the number of items and the level of difficulty Both of them are teachers at the chosen English center and are well-acquainted with the tests as test takers before being interviewed

In addition to the piloting of pre-and post-tests to a group of students before the project to ensure both tests are parallel, the tests were piloted to two teachers with the aim of intensifying the validity and reliability of both tests Although they participate in the study indirectly, their role is relatively crucial to achieve the final results.

Data Collection

In this research, both qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed

There are two research instruments: pre- and post - tests and teacher‟s observation

The former instrument measure learners‟ vocabulary The latter is used to see how learners‟ reaction to the new approach

The researcher used pre-test and post-test to measure the retention of young learners Pre-test was the scale to help teacher to figure out the level of students‟ vocabulary before the intervention The researcher could directly base on the result of the test to observe the progress of students After the intervention, post-test might play a crucial role to measure young learners‟ retention of vocabulary Obviously, if students gained higher mark, it would prove the better progress because the test was focused on different aspects of vocabulary

Theoretically, a pre- and post-test design requires that the researcher collects data about participants‟ level of performance before the intervention takes place, and that the researcher collects the same data after the intervention takes place The pre- and post-test design allows researchers to make inferences on the effect of the intervention by looking at the differences between the pre- and post-test results For this reason, the study‟s design of pre- and post-tests will be based on the following steps:

The students are delivered the two tests (one at the beginning of the project and one at the end of the project) The two tests are pre-tested and checked carefully by two teachers before being delivered to all learners

Match the words with their definitions

Number of the items of each section

Complete the words Write the words

Match the words with their definitions

3.4.2 Teacher’s observation pre-test intervention post-test

As mentioned above, teacher‟s observation plays a crucial role in this research All observation sheets allow the researcher to direct the action plan appropriately

The observation sheet contains three main sections: input/ activities in class, outcomes of young learners, and suggestions for later improvement In the

Activities/ Input section, the researcher listed out activities related to each intelligence and recorded whether students were interested in or not After that, in the Outcome section, the researcher recorded students‟ ability in terms of pronunciation, spelling and composition More details could be added in this section about each individual‟s mistakes The suggestion part was used the necessary changes in the lesson plan or in-class activities

When observing students in class, the researcher was supposed to figure out what activities interest young learners and what do not The adjustment should be occurred immediately.

Data Collection Instruments

This research resulted from the necessity to improve young learners‟ retention of English vocabulary, the researcher uses activities based on Multiple Intelligence Theory by Howard Gardner to report whether learners improve their vocabulary retention or not The data is collected throughout the process from the survey (before the study is conducted), vocabulary test (pre-test and post-test), and teacher‟s observation

In order to have the basic concept about young learners‟ attitude, at the first step, the researcher observed students‟ performance directly in the class

Observation (watching what people do) would seem to be an obvious method of carrying out this research The teacher noted how young learners reacted in most lessons (to what extent they find the activities interesting, boring), what activities they prefer to join in at break time together (APPENDIX 4)

From the first week of the course, the teacher took notes of how students react toward the activities based on Multiple Intelligence approach in order to identify the individual intelligence of each learner Basing on what the dominant activities are, teacher inserted some activities in relevance with intelligences in the lesson plan with the appropriate materials

The two tests (pre-test and post-test) were administered to 29 students by the researcher to determine the vocabulary level of the students

29 young learners were tested to assess their reliability at the beginning of the course (pre-test) After the course, the final test helped the researcher to evaluate the effectiveness of young learners‟ learning and retention of vocabulary (post-test)

These are the examples from the pre-test/ post-test (see APPENDIX 3)

I Complete the words w den la der

II Write the words hole ………

III Match the word in the box with its definition

A group of people who play different musical instruments

The data was collected in two main stages: before the intervention and immediately after the intervention Before the intervention using a new Multiple Intelligence approach, the pre-test was applied to young learners After the intervention ended, the post-test was applied again to evaluate the change in the score of the students

Another data collection instrument is Multiple Intelligence survey (APPENDIX 1) It was created with the purpose of identifying the dominant intelligences in the class Thus, the teacher could adapt appropriate teaching activities based on individuals‟ intelligences

This survey was adapted from McKenzie‟s (1999) MI inventory which is based on Gardner‟s (1983) multiple intelligences Because the targeted learners were fourth graders, the researcher simplified the language in order to create the understandable survey It consists of 39 statements covering eight sections:

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence, Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence, Visual/Spatial Intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence, Intrapersonal Intelligence, Musical Intelligence, Naturalist Intelligence in each intelligence

The Multiple Intelligence survey was administered to the participants after they took the pre-test and did the survey to record their usual scores When doing the survey, young learners were supposed to put a tick () next to the statements that described themselves The teacher picked up all the papers and listed out the two intelligences which have the highest total score from each section of each student The researcher would point out the four dominant intelligences, and the result would be analyzed later.

Data Analysis Method

Quantitative Research is used to quantify the problem by generating numerical data that can be transformed into useable statistics In terms of forms, quantitative data collection methods include various forms such as surveys, interviews, longitudinal studies, and systematic observations In the current research, the data was analyzed by means of Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS 20)

Descriptive Statistics and Analysis of covariance were applied Descriptive Statistics is used to get the Mean scores and Standard Deviation of the pre-test and post-test to examine the differences in the mean values of the dependent variables that are related to the effect of the controlled

3.6.2 Qualitative Data Analysis (for the data from observation)

Qualitative research is also useful in order to help the researcher gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations It provides insights into the problem, helps develop ideas or hypotheses for the potential quantitative research Out of the numerous qualitative research methods, qualitative content analysis is used to analyze text data It also can provide basic insights into how words are actually used

In the study, the observation of the researcher plays an important role The data of classroom observation were supported by field notes (APPENDIX 4) After each teaching and learning process, the field note was analyzed to get information about the students‟ performance in the classroom.

Summary

The study is conducted to figure out the extent that activities based on Gardner‟s Multiple Intelligence Theory in teaching vocabulary put the impact of young learners The data for analysis were taken from the data of vocabulary tests together with the researcher‟s observation

The findings of the study will be shown in Chapter 3 to answer the research question.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Findings

Before the intervention, the Multiple Intelligences survey was used for 29 targeted students in the class It is aimed to figure out which intelligences that students in the class obsess Their dominant intelligences can be seen in the diagram below

According to the students‟ Multiple Intelligences survey, the dominant intelligences of the students are Linguistic Intelligence (28%), Musical Intelligence (22%), Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (18%), and Visual Intelligence (14%) In lesson plans (see Appendix 4, Pages 69-115…), the researcher tried to insert activities using dominant intelligences so that young learners can develop maximum their abilities and attention in class Besides four dominant intelligences in the

Naturalist Intelligence 2% Intelligences of Students

Intrapersonal IntelligenceInterpersonal IntelligenceLinguistic IntelligenceMusical IntelligenceBodily-Kinesthetic IntelligenceVisual/ Spatial Intelligence Logical Intelligence Naturalist Intelligence survey, in some lessons, the teacher also used the other intelligences (interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and mathematical intelligence)

After a long period of observation and based on the scores of all the tests before 29 young learners are divided into three different levels: Average students,

Pretty Good students, and Good students

4.1.1 Activities based on Multiple Intelligence Approach contribute positively to young learners’ scores

The quantitative data was collected from pre-test and post-test Both tests are likely to parallel when containing 3 same tasks with the aim of testing achievement of students in terms of vocabulary They are at the same difficulty levels, the number of questions and test items The maximum score is 25 points with the clear marking criteria for each task This only aims at calculating the data more straightforwardly

The following table presents both tests scores of the students in three groups

Figure 4.1 Test scores of pre-test and post-test

Group Number Students’ name Pre-test Post-test

4.1.1.1 Pre-test’s and Post-test’s Descriptive Statistics for three Different

In order to figure out to what extent the activities based on Multiple Intelligence Theory contribute to learners‟ results, the researcher took a close look at the descriptive statistics among three different levels of young learners a Average Students

There are 6 students in this group as mentioned above, they are those who did not perform well in class, and just got 15 points and even lower in pre-test

During the intervening program, the researcher paid much attention to this group The following figures illustrate the statistics about both pre-test scores and post-test scores of the average group of students

Descriptive statistics of pre-test scores of average students

Descriptive statistics of post-test scores of average students

It is easy to note from above tables that the mean score of the pre-test is 13.50, and the mean score at the end of post-test is 17.00 The standard deviation is quite large, both in pre-test and post-test Besides, it is easy to note that the range of the scores is quite different between after and before the intervention There is a five- point range in pre-test (with the minimum 10 and maximum 15), and a seven-point range in post-test

Frequency of pre-test scores of average students

Frequency of pre-test scores of average students

Moreover, looking at the frequency of the scores (Figure 4.1c and Figure 4.1d), 100% students gets higher scores in post-test in comparison with pre-test

More specifically, in pre-test the scores are 10, 12, 14, and 15 However, in post- test, there are not 10 and 12 scores, the least score is 13, and the highest score is 20

To sum up, the statistics point out that after the intervention, average students achieve a good signal when they get higher scores than they used to b Pretty Good Students

The pretty good students group contains 9 students They are someone who performed pretty well in class, and they got the range scores from 18 to 20 points

Descriptive statistics of pre-test scores of pretty good students

Descriptive statistics of pre-test scores of pretty good students

Figure 4.2a and Figure 4.2b show that the pattern of the statistics for pretty good students appears to be nearly the same as for the above group – average- student group The range is 3 for pre-test and 5 for post-test, and the minimum and maximum score of this group are also higher in the post-test than in the pre-test: minimum is 17 in pre-test, 19 in post-test; maximum is 20 in pre-test, 24 in post- test Besides, the short range can also be seen from Standard Deviation, a higher standard deviation in the pre-test indicates that the data points are spread out over a wider range of values than in the post-test

In addition, in Figures 4.2c and 4.2d below, students also gain higher scores

The figure for 19/25 in pre-test is 33.3%, but only 11.1% in post-test, and other students get higher scores (from 20 to 24 scores)

Frequency of pre-test scores of pretty Good students

Frequency of pre-test scores of pretty good students

This may illustrate that the group of pretty good students make nice progress after accessing to the activities based on Multiple Intelligence Approach after 2 months c Good Students

There are 14 students in this group They gained pretty high scores in both tests

Descriptive statistics of pre-test scores of good students

Descriptive statistics of post-test scores of good students

As can be seen from the above figures, the statistics show that good students can develop themselves very well along with the intervention Similarly, the pattern of the statistics for good students seems to be nearly the same as for the pretty good group analysed above The standard deviation is pretty small in post-test because the variance is small in comparison with pre-test The short range is noted with 3- point range in pre-test and 1-point range in post-test More detailed frequency of tests‟ scores and be shown in Figures 4.3c and 4.3d below

Frequency of pre-test scores of good students

Frequency of post-test scores of good students

Figures 4.3c and 4.3d show that the minimum score in pre-test is 22 (14.3%) and maximum in Pre-test is 25 (42.9%); whereas, the minimum one in Post-test is

24 (7.1%) and maximum in Post-test is 25 (92.9%) This proves that students at this level have made great progress, and this marks a bright view for this study

4.1.1.2 Overall Test Descriptive Statistics for All Students

In general, after the above analysis, the overall test descriptive statistics for all students were analyzed

Descriptive statistics of pre-test and post-test scores

As can be seen in Figure 4.4a, the means of pre-test and post-test are 20.17 and 22.41 respectively while the scale is 25 points The different range of scores of the participants is also demonstrated in more detail In pre-test, the minimum score is 10 and the maximum is 25 while in the pre-test is 3 points higher, 13

Additionally, the frequency of both tests scores is shown below The proportion of minimum in pre-test is 3.4 %, the same as that in post-test However, the proportion of maximum in post-test is much higher than that in pre-test, 44.8 %

(in Post-test) with 20.7% (in pre-test)

In a nutshell, the statistics and the detailed analysis indicates that, generally, all students made good progress in learning vocabulary and remember them quite well

Frequency of pre-test scores

Frequency of post-test scores

To conclude, the intervention of using activities based on Multiple Intelligence Approach gets positive feedback It contributes positively to helping young learners improve their results in the vocabulary test Young learners get much higher scores in the test than they used to do

4.1.2 Activities based on Multiple Intelligence Theory help young learners improve their retention of English vocabulary

The researcher paid much attention to four dominant intelligences, namely linguistic intelligence, musical intelligence, visual intelligence, and bodily- kinesthetic intelligence In each lesson plan, the teacher designed activities based on different intelligences that students may be interested in

Observation sheets were taken during the intervention with the purpose to get direct feedback from students and observe the students‟ progress The researcher took notes on how students react to released activities Fortunately, the observation sheet indicates that most of the inserted activities in class draw the attraction of the young learners and they played an important role to get positive outcomes

Thanks to observational data, the effects of using activities based on Multiple Intelligences Approach for improving young learners‟ retention of English vocabulary in class will be discussed following in terms of three main aspects of vocabulary retention: pronunciation retention, spelling retention, and meaning retention a Pronunciation retention

Discussion

The present study was done with the aim of using activities based on the Multiple Intelligences Approach to improve the English vocabulary retention of young learners As the whole, the results reported a positive sign that young learners improved a lot throughout the study Firstly, their retention of vocabulary achieved through higher scores in the vocabulary test Moreover, students showed their ability to retain words in terms of pronunciation, spelling and meaning

The result of the present study has strengthened the result of Orensteinné

(2013) He conducted a program to use Multiple Intelligence Theory to facilitate vocabulary acquisition and retention in EFL primary classes in Hungary In his study, vocabulary acquisition was recorded when learners could use the words to write a story in a related topic Similarly, in the present study, the teacher kept the observation that students in primary school class could write a short note about their use of the computer and they could present in front of the class Both researches proved that using activities based on the approach of multiple intelligences helped young students to enhance vocabulary acquisition

In addition, students‟ scores in the post-test were higher in comparison with the scores in the pre-test This confirmed the finding of the study conducted by

Sefanur, A (2009) in that positive higher scores were reported after the intervening program using activities based on the new approach – Multiple Intelligence Theory

The matter is that the participants of that study were eleventh graders, while in the present research were fourth graders Besides, in that study, the dominant intelligences were Linguistic Intelligence, Musical Intelligence, and Visual

Intelligence, whereas the dominant in the present research were Linguistic

Intelligence, Musical Intelligence, Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence, and Visual

Intelligence It means that in the present study, the researcher could apply more activities accordingly with more intelligences than the previous study

Moreover, the result was in line with the work of Yen, Tr & Hanh, L (2015) on Multiple Intelligence Theory and EFL Learners‟ Word Retention, which to find that the spelling and meaning retention of the words enhanced well However, that study did not mention the improvement of learners in terms of the pronunciation aspect The present study found that young learners could pronounce words better

In general, this study reported on the positive effects of using Multiple Intelligences Approach on young learners‟ performance on English vocabulary retention All findings are in the same in with the outcomes of previous studies about the effects of activities based on Multiple Intelligences on learners However, the present study focused on targeted young learners after analyzing carefully learners‟ characteristics.

CONCLUSION

Summary of the Findings and Discussion

In this study, activities based on Multiple Intelligence Theory intervened in teaching vocabulary process for young learners The result of this intervention was analysed in some detail At the end of two months, when the results were compared between pre-test and post-test and observation were summarized We can see that activities based on Multiple Intelligence Theory have positive effects on vocabulary retention for targeted young learners When the pre-test and post-test mean scores of students were compared, it is clear that the mean score in post-test was higher than that in pre-test On the other hand, after a long period of observation, the researcher can point out that 29 young learners made quite positive progress in improving vocabulary retention in terms of spelling retention, pronunciation retention and meaning of the word retention Students could learn the words more easily at the first stage because they could pronounce words accurately Moreover, they practiced the words in the meaningful contexts through multiple activities such as role-playing, guessing words game, and composing sentences

The purpose of the research was to define to what extent English vocabulary retention of young learners can improve through activities based on Multiple

Intelligence Theory The findings of the study have shown that using Multiple

Intelligence-based activities is helpful in the retention of English vocabulary Young learners seem to be in favour of those interesting activities that can develop their intelligences and the teacher can find it easier to convey the knowledge to learners

The findings of the study are relatively consistent with those in previous studies All of them were conducted with the purpose of improving the learning quality and help learners develop their maximum talent Owing to the implementation of Multiple Intelligence activities, the scores of the students improved The research indicates that using Multiple Intelligence activities in the learning and teaching can be a helpful tool for teaching English vocabulary.

Limitations and Suggestions for Further Studies

Albeit the study has been conducted carefully, limitations remain unavoidable

At the first step, the survey about intelligences was delivered to 29 young learners in the class, and they were so supportive in doing the survey There were four dominant intelligences listed out: bodily/ kinaesthetic intelligence, visual intelligence, linguistic intelligence, and musical intelligence Most of the activities in the lesson plans were prepared based on above dominant intelligences, sometimes the teacher inserted some activities related to some other intelligences (intrapersonal intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, naturalist intelligence, and mathematic intelligence) The matter is that with some young learners who did show their interest in exploring the outside world through naturalist intelligence would not express themselves as well as the teacher expected They were not so interested in writing and composing activities although they still did that because they were supposed to do If that limitation could be improved, the study would be more successful and the teacher would get better feedback

Generally, using activities based on Multiple Intelligence Theory is a helpful tool in improving English vocabulary retention of young learners This study is just a local one: it only looked at young learners in a class of a private center in terms of retention of English vocabulary From those points, it is recommended that future researches should be conducted in a bigger scope like a full grade or a whole school Moreover, they should try experimenting Multiple Intelligence Theory activities to teach not only in English lessons but also on other aspects of English, especially presentation and speaking skill, or in all other school subjects because activities can attract the attention of the students well.

Conclusion

To sum up, this study was conducted in order to investigate the extent that activities based on Multiple Intelligence Theory can contribute positively to the retention of English vocabulary of young learners

Obviously, new kinds of activities could make the classroom‟s atmosphere better and students could both enjoy the lesson and learn easily The data was collected through both progress observation and tests Along with the detailed analysis, it was clear to note that the mean scores of all three groups in post-test were significantly higher than those before the project (pre-test) 29 young learners of the class got high scores in the final tests, and they can retain spelling, pronunciation as well as the meaning of the words they learn right in class

Moreover, from the implementation of the theory into classroom activities, the drawn lesson is that the teacher could design the teaching and learning activities based on Multiple Intelligence Theory quite well and effectively Young learners showed their interest in most lessons and activities, and more importantly, they could recall the vocabulary better Thanks to the positive outcome of this study, the teacher could adapt the theory in future lessons, not only in teaching vocabulary but also other skills or English learning aspects When a totally different learning and teaching atmosphere in classroom is created, students are expected to have more chances display their intelligence(s) to achieve better results in their studies

However, in order do this task successfully, teacher should be well informed more about this theory and solved the limitation

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Survey (1) - Multiple Intelligences Worksheet (for students)

Directions: Put a tick () next to the sentences that you think are true (You can choose more than one.)

1 I know a lot of words or enjoy learning new words

1 I remember things when I read or write them down

2 I like to learn foreign languages (English, Chinese…)

3 I like reading for fun most days

4 I am good at word games such as crosswords or puzzles

1 Math and Science are my favorite subjects

2 I can easily do sums in my head

3 Logic puzzles are fun and a strength of mine

4 I like to solve problems in a logical, step-by-step way

5 I enjoy playing strategy games such as chess

1 I can sing a song or play a musical instrument (the guitar, the piano…)

3 I remember song tunes and lyrics easily

4 I prefer to watch a musical rather than a play Total score for section 3: _

1 Art/ painting is one of my favorite subjects

2 I use camera or camcorder to record things around me

3 I often see clear visual images when I close my eyes

4 I like playing jigsaw, puzzles, or videogames

5 I remember images and faces easily

1 I like active and outdoor activities

3 I can learn new things by touching them

4 I enjoy watching sports games or seeing dancers perform

5 I often use body language when talking to somebody

1 I have a large group of friends

2 I would rather be with friends than be alone

4 I like playing team games (badminton, football)

5 I want to share my things with my friends

1 I like to work alone (reading books, swimming…)

3 I like playing computer or video games alone

4 I don‟t like go out with friends

1 I love playing with my pets or wish I had pets to play with

2 I love being outside to see animals, plant and flowers

3 When I grow up, I would like to work in a nature or animal field

4 I protect the environment by recycling, saving water…

5 I enjoy gardening and take care of flowers or vegetables

Survey (2) - Vocabulary quiz for students

(For research: Improving young learners‟ retention of English vocabulary through

Put a tick () next to the sentences that you think are true

1 In my vocabulary quizzes, I usually had………

20-25 points 15-19 points 10-14 points Less than 10 points

2 I had mistakes on my quizzes, because …………

- I don‟t have enough time to revise vocabulary

Put a tick () next to the sentences that you think are true

I think I could possibly improve my quiz scores by:

- spending more time on study at home

- learning more study skills about memorization

- learning vocabulary in more creative ways

- using games for myself in order to learn vocabulary

- taking a more serious attitude toward vocabulary study

APPENDIX 5 ENGLISH LESSON PLAN - FAMILY AND FRIENDS 4

ENGLISH LESSON PLAN - FAMILY AND FRIENDS 4

Unit 8 How much time have we got?

- Students (Ss) can identify words for airports

- Students can understand a short story

- Core: money, passenger, arrivals, departures, luggage, passport, suitcase, magazine, newspaper, coin

- Teacher (T): Text book, lesson plan, board, projector, CD, flashcards 61-70 and 71-80

Steps Learning activities Types of

Warm up and lead in

- Sts join in the word games (words from previous units)

+ T divides class into 2 teams + T notes down 6 blanks on the board correspondence with 6 letters in one word

+ T speaks out the clue related to the word (e.g: the action when you go from one place to another)

+ T asks each team to take turn to guess the letter If the call out the correct letter in each turn, they will get one star

+ The winner is the team that can guess the word + The word is “travel”

- T tells that “You can travel from one place to another place by many means of transport Among them is plane.”

+ T shows the picture of an airport and asks “Where is this?” see in the pictures? What are people doing?”

+ After 3‟, T asks 1 volunteer group to go to the board and write down what they have discussed

+ Other groups with exchange and check each other

+ T checks the answer on the board

+ T sumps up all the words that Sts list out and say “These are what we can see at the airport And the topic for new unit is “At the airport”

- T tells Ss they are going to learn some new words for talking about an airport

- T asks Sts to open Ss‟ books p 62

- T asks Sts to look at the pictures in the book and ask “How many pictures can you see in your textbook? What do you see?”

- T plays the recording and asks Sts to listen and point to picture while they‟re listening to the recording

- T plays the recording second time and Sts repeats

Words : Money, Passenger, Arrivals, Departures, Luggage, Passport

- T calls randomly some Students to stand up and speak out the words

- T uses flashcards about airport and Sts play a short game with flashcards

- T asks some questions about some of the flashcards (What do you call someone who travels on a plane? What has your photo and name in it?)

- T asks Sts to open the book p.62 again and look at the story

- T and Sts Talk about each frame of the story (T asks: Where are they? What have Amy and Leo got? What does Holly want to buy? What do they buy?)

- T plays a video clip, and Sts watch, listen and follow

- T plays the audio, Sts follow their story in the book

- T aks Sts some questions to check comprehension, e.g: Who goes to the shop?

How much money have they got? Do they buy any pencils? Who do they buy chocolates for?

- T asks Sts to close the book, and asks Sts what happened in the story Sts answered questions and try to remember as much detail as possible

- T calls 5 Ss (as Max, Mum, Holly, Amy, Leo) randomly to do a roleplay using the book

- T divides class into small groups of 5 members Each group will do a roleplay in 3 minutes

- T calls 1 volunteer group to be on stage to perform the story

- Linguistic intelligence (reading and telling story)

- Sts join in the game “Chain game”

- T prepares 10 flashcards with the learnt words

- T sets the time in 2 minutes

- T starts the game with a random word Each student will continue with one more word to make a meaning sentence (the content of the sentence should be related to the story that they learnt)

- After 2 minutes, T writes the sentence on the board

- All Sts will make comment

- Sts are asked to compose their new sentences and writes on their notebook

- T will go around and check individually

5 Further practice Workbook: Unit 8, lesson 1

6 Home-link 1 Review words learnt at class

2 Prepare for the new lesson (4,5,6)

Unit 8 How much time have we got?

- Students (Ss) can read and understand a letter describing a holiday

- Students can identify words and their meanings in a text

- Core: unusual, journey, fall asleep, whistle, hotel, disappointed, fireworks, fair

- Recycled: vocabulary and structures seen previously

- Extra: wake up, miss, station, get off, ticket seller, book into, unexciting, check in

- Teacher (T): Text book, lesson plan, board, projector, CD,

Steps Learning activities Type of intelligence Modes

- Sing Have you got any toothpaste? - Musical intelligence

- T writes a word “Holiday” on the board and show some places about holidays

- T writes 5 questions words “Where, How, Who, How long, What”

- T writes on the board some words: walk, wait, show

 T calls one student to change into the past tense

- T asks Sts 5 questions about their last holiday and calls randomly some Sts to answer the questions e.g: Where did you go last week? How long did you go?

Who did you go with? What did you do? How did you feel?

- T asks Sts to use words of previous lessons to answer

- T tells class that they are going to listen to a holiday of a boy named Finn

Individuals pictures - T asks Sts to describe what they see in the picture

- Elicit words like train, festival

- T asks question to elicit details of Finn‟s holiday (How did Finn travel?

Where did he go? What can you see at the festival?)

- T tells children they are going to read and hear Finn‟s letter about his holiday

- T ask Ss to listen and follow the recording

T plays the recording again, pauses at regular intervals and asks reading comprehension questions

(When were they going? Why did they miss their station? What did they see?

Was it a good start to their holiday?)

Underline these words in the text Guess their meanings and then check them in the

- T asks Sts to read the list and find and underline the new words in the text

- T encourages Sts to guess their meanings by looking at the surrounding text

- T writes the new words on the board (unusual, fall asleep, journey, hotel, disappointed, fireworks, fair)

- Sts can look up the words in the Dictionary in the Workbook to check whether their guesses were correct and find meanings for any words they don‟t know

- T asks Sts to look at the text and explains the meaning of the words in context

Read again and write T or

- Ask Ss to read the sentences silently

- Look at the example and explain that they have to write True or False

- T checks answers with the whole class

- T and Sts play “guessing word game”

+ T writes words from the vocabulary set with only the first two letters and the number of missing letters - Linguistic

- T asks Sts to look at the words that they have played with

- T writes a sentence using some words to talk about the story about Finn‟s holiday

- T asks Sts to rewrite what happened in Finn‟s holiday (about 7 sentences.)

- T calls two volunteer sts to share her/ his writing

- T asks Sts to open the book and check theirs They need to rewrite at home

4 Review words learnt at class

6 Prepare for the new lesson

ENGLISH LESSON PLAN - FAMILY AND FRIENDS 4

Unit 9 Something new to watch

- Students (Ss) can identify words for audio-visual equipment

- Students can understand a short story

- Core: cartoon, radio camcorder, the news, documentary, channel, advert, remote control, TV programme, mobile phone

- Teacher (T): Text book, lesson plan, board, projector, CD, flashcards 71-80 and 81-90

Steps Learning activities Types of

- T checks the previous lesson through flashcards

+ T raises flashcards randomly, and Sts speak out the words

+ T calls randomly one student to say the definition of the word (choose 4 words)

+ T lets Sts play the guessing word game (choose randomly 4 words and call 3 students use body language to express)

- T takes out the model of a TV, and asks Sts “What do you see? How often do you watch TV? What do you often watch?

+ T notes down what Sts answer

- T takes out a hidden box (with the model of a radio, a camcorder, remote control, mobile phone)

- T asks Sts to open Ss‟ books p 68

- T asks Sts to look at the pictures in the book and ask “How many pictures can you see in your textbook? What do you see?”

- Sts speak out which words that they‟ve known

- T plays the recording and asks Sts to listen and point to picture while they‟re listening to the recording

- T plays the recording second time and Sts repeats

Words Cartoon, radio, camcorder, the news, documentary, channel, advert remote control, TV programme, mobile phone

- T calls randomly some Students to stand up and speak out the words

- T uses flashcards about audio-visual entertainment and Sts play a short game with flashcards

- T asks some questions about some of the flashcards (When you switch on the

TV? What can you see, what do you use to listen to music and news? What do you use to make films? )

- T asks Sts to open the book p.68 again and look at the story

- T and Sts talk about each frame of the story (T asks: What are they doing?

What is Leo watching? What does Mum give them?)

- T plays a video clip, and Sts watch, listen and follow

- T plays the audio, Sts follow their story in the book

- T asks Sts to read silently the whole story individually in 2 minutes

- Sts play the lucky number game (there are 4 questions related to the story:

Why are the children arguing? What did Leo want to watch? What did Max want to do? What is the DVD of?)

- Sts answered questions and try to remember as much detail as possible

The volunteer student with the correct answer will get the small present

- T calls 5 Ss (as Max, Mum, Holly, Amy, Leo) randomly to do a role-play using the book

- T divides class into small groups of 5 members Each group will do a roleplay in 3 minutes

- T calls 1 volunteer group to be on stage to perform the story

- T releases 5 words that Sts have learnt (cartoon, documentary, remote control, channel, the news)

- T writes some sentences on the board “Yesterday, we watched some different

TV programmes My mum…… My sister… My dad… and I… ”

- T asks Sts to use 5 mentioned words to complete the story in 5 minutes

- After 5 minutes, T calls the volunteer student to read out their writing

- Linguistic intelligence (writing a story) Individuals

- Review words learnt at class

- Prepare for the new lesson Individuals

ENGLISH LESSON PLAN - FAMILY AND FRIENDS 4

Unit 9 Something new to watch

- Students (Ss) can read and understand a TV guide

- Students can identify words and their meanings in a text

- Core: steal, doughnut, villain, get into trouble, kick-off, stadium, play a trick on, giant

- Extra: dream, golden, brave, clever, naughty, escape, plan, world cup, skillful

- Teacher (T): Text book, lesson plan, board, projector, CD

Steps Learning activities Type of intelligence Modes

- Sing “how often……” from lesson 3 to warm up - Musical intelligence

- T shows a picture of four TV categories in a table on the board: Film, Cartoon, Sport, Documentary

- T asks Sts what their favorite TV programs are and writes some programs in the table

- T makes a vote with the whole class to find what are the most popular TV programs

Which TV programme would you like

- T points to the TV guide in Exercise 2

- T encourages Sts to look at the pictures and the titles of the programmes

- T asks question about the film and different TV programmes And find out who in class likes sports and who likes cartoons

- T takes a class vote to see which is the most popular programme - Bodily intelligence

- T tell Sts that they are going to read and hear a description of these TV programmes

- T plays the recording once all the way through as Sts follow the text in their books

- T asks Sts what the programmes are about

- T gives Sts a list of questions and gives them 3 minutes to answer some simple questions to check comprehensions

Channel 1:What does Gru want to be??Why does Gru adopt three little girls?

Channel 2:What is Bart like? What is Lisa like? What is Homer like?

Channel 3: What are the teams in the sport game? When is kick-off?

What are The Galapagos Islands?

Underline these words in the text Guess their meanings and then check them in the

- T asks Ss to read the list and find and underline the new words in the text

- T encourages Ss to work in group of 3 and guess their meanings by looking at the surrounding text

- T writes down some new words on the board

Words: steal, doughnut, villain, get into trouble, kick-off, stadium, play a trick on, giant

- T checks the meanings of the words through the “word chain” game + T asks Sts to stand up

+ T points randomly to a student He/ she says a sentence using the word that teacher raises

+ the game keeps going with different turns until each student has at least a chance it speak out their sentence

- T asks Ss to read the sentences silently

- Sts look at the example and T explains that they match the sentences with the pictures

- Sts do the exercise individually

- T checks the answers with the class

- T writes on the board “Yesterday, we watches a … ”

- T asks Sts to use the words in the lesson to write about what they watched

(they need to use all the words in Ex 3) Words: steal, doughnut, villain, get into trouble, kick-off, stadium, play a trick on, giant

- T calls two Sts to write their writing on the board

- Review words learnt at class

- Prepare for the new lesson

ENGLISH LESSON PLAN - FAMILY AND FRIENDS 4

Unit 10 I’ve printed my homework

- Students (Ss) can identify words for talking about computers

- Students can understand a short story

- Core: printer, screen, mouse, log on, speakers, click on, save a document, memory stick, search the Internet

- Teacher (T): Text book, lesson plan, board, projector, CD, flashcards 81-90 and 91-99

Steps Learning activities Types of

- Sts join in the “words guessing game + T divides class into 7 groups of 4 Sts (1 group can be 5 Sts) + T writes letters on the board

SAGIRDTLMVQHYNBCEOPUW + T asks Sts to use letters to write the meaningful words about audio visual entertainment in 5 minutes

+ T asks Sts to exchange their work and check together

(Answer: radio, news, documentary, advert, TV, mobile phone)

+ The winner of the game is the team that has the most correct answers

- T shows the picture of a computer and ask “what is this?”

- T asks “What activities can you do with a computer?”

- T asks Sts to open Ss‟ books p 80

- T asks Sts to look at the pictures in the book and ask “What do you see?”

- Sts can speak out what they‟ve known

- T plays the recording and asks Sts to listen and point to picture while they‟re listening to the recording

- T plays the recording second time and Sts repeats

Words: Printer, Screen, Mouse, Log on, Speakers, Click on, Save a document, Memory stick, Search the Internet

- T calls individuals to stand up and speak out the words

- T holds up the flashcards in a different order

- T asks some questions about some of the flashcards (Where can you here the sounds? What part of a computer do you look at? The action that you often do before turn off the document )

- T uses flashcards about computers to play game “Whispering”

+ All the Sts stand up

+ T divides class into 2 teams + T calls 2 students from each team to see the flashcard

She/ He need to whisper the word that she/he saw to friend and take turn until the end

+ If the last student can speak out the same answer with the flashcard, Sts will get the points

- T asks Sts to open the book p.80 again and look at the story

- T and Sts talk about each frame of the story (T asks: What are Holly and Mai

- T plays the audio, Sts follow their story in the book

- T asks Sts to read silently the whole story individually in 2 minutes

- Sts play the game “open the hidden box game”

+ T prepares 4 small boxes There are 4 questions related to the story in four boxes Each box contains the question of each frame: What have Holly and Max finished doing? What does Mum ask them to do? Who has tidied the cupboards? Do Max and Holly want to play now?)

- Sts open the number of the box randomly answered questions and try to remember as much detail as possible

The volunteer students with the correct answers will get the small present

- T calls 53 Ss (as Max, Mum, Holly) randomly to do a role-play using the book

- T divides class into small groups of 3 members Each group will do a roleplay in 3 minutes

- T calls 1 volunteer group to be on stage to perform the story intelligence (listening)

- Linguistic intelligence (reading and telling a story)

- T asks Sts to close all the books

- T delivers each student a paper with 2 sides: one side is True, the other side is False

- T reads out 3 sentences about the story If Sts think the sentence, they will raise the side True/ False

1 They‟ve made a mess in the room

2 Max has put the books into alphabetical order

3 The children are too tired to play now

4 Mum asks them to turn off the TV

- T writes down “I often use the computer to… First, … Second,… Last……” on the board

- T gives Sts 5 minutes to complete the story

- T calls randomly 5 students to check their writing

Further practice Workbook: Unit 10, lesson 1 (p 74)

- Review words learnt at class

- Prepare for the new lesson Individuals

ENGLISH LESSON PLAN - FAMILY AND FRIENDS 4

Unit 10 I’ve printed my homework!

- Students (Ss) can read and understand online instructions on how to send an email

- Students can identify words and their meanings in a text

- Students can match sentences and pictures

- Core: type the address, subject, keyboard, spell checker, attach a photo, a website, send a message

- Recycled: vocabulary and structures seen previously

- Extra: message, bowling, look forward to, afterwards

- Teacher (T): Text book, lesson plan, board, projector, CD

Learning activities Type of intelligence Modes

- Sing I‟ve really tried - Musical intelligence Whole class

- T asks Sts who know what an email is

- T writes 2 words on the board: email, Internet

T asks Sts to guess what is the word that email and Internet relate to

- T asks Sts “who likes sending emails?”

- T writes some of their email addresses on the board and compare them

- T shows the pictures of an email on the board and declare the lesson today is about “sending emails”

- Visual intelligence Whole class email What’s it about?

- T asks who these letters are from (Lucy, Kate)

(T explains the first email is from Kate, and this is the lower one When Lucy‟s relied, her email appeared above Lucy‟s.)

- T asks Sts to read silently to see what the emails are about

- T calls randomly two Sts to read out the email to the class Everyone follows

- Tell Ss that they are going to read and hear a description of an email and an email exchange between two friends (Lucy and Kate)

- T plays the recording once all the way through as children follow the text in their books

- T asks Sts to listen carefully

- T plays the recording again, pausing at regular intervals Ask children what the texts are about

- T and Sts join in the game “Ringing the golden bell?

+ The game contains some comprehension questions about the reading

+ T gives each student a piece of paper

+ Sts listen to the question and write the answer down the paper in 10 seconds

+ After ten seconds, Sts raise their papers and T will go around to check the answer

+ Each student has the correct answer will get 1 point

+ After the game, T will collect all the paper and mark individually

What do you use a mouse for? What do you use a keyboard for?

How do you check your spelling? What can you attach to an email?

What is Kate‟s email about? What‟s Lucy‟s reply to her?