INTRODUCTION
Rationale
English is one of the most widely used languages in the world It is the reason why many parents in Vietnam are willing to invest in their children‟s English education in order to ensure a better future for their children in this increasingly globalized world Teaching English to young learners, however, is not always easy My own teaching experience shows that three following common problems make children‟s English learning in class ineffective Firstly, the classes are not really attractive because they are basically about grammar It can easily make children feel bored and hard to acquire the language Secondly, children have no motivation Normally, adults study English to have better jobs or better lives while children are not conscious of that, so they have no inspiration to study English Thirdly, they lack an interactive environment An interactive environment is one of the most important things for children to practice English efficiently
Smartcom Academy 1 , the English center chosen for this study, is not an exception when the class time does not really attract one hundred percent of children‟s attention To address such problems, using multimedia in teaching English seems to be one of the best solutions to improve English lessons for children Therefore, I want to use the multimedia to see how effective it is for children, especially 5 th graders in Smartcom.
Aims of the study
The research aims to enhance the quality of English teaching and learning process in Smartcom Academy, particularly the 5 th graders‟ English in this center by using multimedia
1 The researcher managed to obtain the center‟s consent to use its real name, as provided in the Appendix.
Research questions
In order to achieve the aim above, the study focuses on answering the research question: How effective is the use of multimedia in teaching and learning English to
5 th graders in Smartcom Academy?
Methods of the study
Action research is chosen for the study As its name suggests, action research has two targets: action and research Action is to bring about change or improvement in a specific teaching situation; and research is to examine the practice and understand the situation (Dick, 1992; Hughes & William, 2001) These are appropriate to my present study which is to plan and perform an intervention using multimedia to change the traditional teaching situation
In order to find out the answer to the research question, I conducted the study in six stages: planning, acting, observing, recording, interviewing and data analyzing.
Significance of the study
The study is carried out with the first hope that it can improve English learning outcomes in Smartcom Academy in particular and in other English centers in Vietnam in general Another possible contribution of the study is that it can provide a better way of English teaching, especially English teaching for primary graders through multimedia to create an interactive environment instead of traditional grammar classes.
Structure of the thesis
The thesis is organized as follows:
PART I: INTRODUCTION - introduces the rationale; aims of the study; research questions; methods of the study; significance of the study; and the thesis structure
PART II: DEVELOPMENT – the main part of the study, consists of three chapters:
Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK – reviews and presents relevant theories and studies to the study Chapter 2:
METHODOLOGY – describes the setting of the study, the participants, research question, methods and instruments Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION – presents an analysis of the data and discusses the findings of the study
PART III: CONCLUSIONS – summarizes the study, limitations of the study and suggestions for further research.
DEVELOPMENT
LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
English language education has changed dramatically in recent decades all over the world In different countries, especially those in the Expanding Circle (Kachru,
1991), a large number of parents want their children to start to learn English early It is crucial for language educators to understand children‟s psychological development at different ages and have an accurate concept of approaches to language teaching and teaching aids in use This chapter reviews and presents the current understanding of second language teaching to primary graders, and the use of multimedia in English teaching The theoretical framework upon which the study relies is also presented
According to studies of professors and Neuro-linguistic programming specialists, learners receive information through five senses including three main ways: visual, auditory and kinesthetic These three ways form learning styles for each learner
1.1.1 Visual: learners prefer using pictures, images, and spatial understanding
1.1.2 Auditory: learners prefer using sound and music
1.1.3 Kinesthetic: learners prefer using your body, hands and sense of touch
According to Dunn and Dunn (1978), only 20-30% of school age children appear to be auditory learners, 40% are visual learners, and 30-40% are tactile/kinaesthetic or visual/tactile learners Barbe and Milone (1981) stated that for grade school children the most frequent modality strengths are visual (30%) or mixed (30%), followed by auditory (25%), and then by kinaesthetic (15%) Barbe and Milone (1981) stated that primary grade children learn better via auditory (verbal) means and are least well developed kinaesthetically, however between kindergarten and sixth grade a modality shift occurs and vision becomes the dominant modality and kinaesthesia overtakes audition (Barbe & Milone, 1981) Barbe and Milone (1981) also wrote that adults are more likely to have mixed modality strengths than children In addition, it has been found that modality strengths differ with regard to achievement level Price, Dunn, and Sanders (1980) found that very young children are the most tactile/kinesthetic, that there is a gradual development of visual strengths through the elementary grades, and that only in fifth or sixth grade can most youngsters learn and retain information through the auditory sense Carbo (1983), investigating the perceptual styles of readers, found that good readers prefer to learn through their visual and auditory senses, while poor readers have a stronger preference for tactile and kinesthetic learning
In a classroom environment students with limited English proficiency rely heavily on visual clues for the comprehension and acquisition of learning content (Olmeda,
2003) In a study on perceptual learning styles and achievement in a university level foreign language course, Renou (2004) found out that there is no significant difference between the predominant learning style groups and course graders In other words, whether one is a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner, this has no significant bearing on achievement in school as measured by grades In their research, Kia, Alipour, and Ghaderi (2009) found that among students in Payame Noor University in Iran, those with visual learning style have the greatest academic achievement Peacock (2001) has examined the learning style preferences of EFL and ESL students The results of these studies show that students prefer kinesthetic learning styles above others, whereas the teaching methods mostly suit auditory learners
1.2 Teaching English to primary graders
As English becomes the world‟s common language, many countries all over the world have utilized English language instruction as a part of their education system
Many countries choose the primary level to begin teaching English, and students are studying the language at younger and younger ages (Jenkins, 2009)
The purpose of teaching English in the primary school is to develop pupils‟ abilities to communicate effectively in speech and writing and to listen with understanding It should also enable them to be enthusiastic, responsive and knowleadgeable readers‟ (National Curriculum Order for English, 1995)
Such communication is central to society, and the media encompass this in their everyday functions In other words, the raison d‟être of the media is communication, and to this end a rich tapertry of literacies are employed which reflect and shape society (p.169)
Teaching English to young learners at primary school is different from that to adults English teachers at primary schools, therefore, need to master the theories of language teaching-learning to primary graders
In this case, the teachers must completely understand the concept of language acquisition and learning Language acquisition is a process of getting language naturally or sub-consciously Krashen and Terrell (1983) state that acquiring a language is “picking it up” It means that developing language ability by accessing to it regularly in daily situations On the contrary, language learning is a process of getting language consciously Language learning is “knowing the rules” In other words, learning is getting conscious knowledge about grammar Teaching English to primary graders should require context in which children can acquire language by acquisition rather than learning
Teaching foreign language effectively to children needs specific skills that differ from teaching adults It is important to consider four categories proposed by Brown
(2001) They are as follows: a Intellectual Development b Children understand something concrete It means that teachers should avoid grammar rules because they include abstract terms c Attention span: It is known that children have short attention spans Therefore, activities should be designed lively to capture children‟s interest d Sensory input: In the matter of sensory input, multimedia can be an effective means of teaching English to young learners It can help teachers make classroom situations more alive
The following terms are defined specifically because they occur frequently and repeatedly in the study
The word “media” comes from Latin (Oxford 2 ) Accordingly, “multimedia” could be called multiple media There are various definitions of multimedia According to Cambridge dictionary, multimedia is a “combination of moving and still pictures, sounds, music, and words, especially in computers or entertainment” Multimedia is defined in Oxford dictionary as “using more than one medium of expression or communication” Marshall (1999) states, “multimedia is the field concerned with the computer-controlled integration of text, graphics, drawings, still and moving images (video), animation, audio, and any other media where every type of information can be represented, stored, transmitted and processed digitally”
According to Mayer (2001), multimedia simply presents both words and pictures
In short, basic elements creating multimedia are shown as below:
2 Retrieved August 7 2017, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/media
In this study, multimedia refers to multimedia materials used for improving English lessons for the children The materials include the content from Power Point Presentations and Storytelling website
PowerPoint is a presentation program developed by Microsoft PowerPoint is “a software package designed to create electronic presentations consisting of a series of separate pages or slides” (Oxford dictionary 3 ) As a part of Microsoft Office, PowerPoint has become widely used presentation program PowerPoint is considered an effective pedagogical tool in classroom when it integrates images, graphics, text, sound, animation and hyperlinks to other documents They allow users to make animated and interactive presentations According to Bozarth (2008), interactivity is very necessary to support instruction
Storytelling is an “activity of telling or writing stories” (Oxford dictionary 4 )
According to Pesola (1991, p.340), storytelling is “one of the most powerful tools
3 Retrieved August 7 2017, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/powerpoint
4 Retrieved August 7 2017, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/storytelling
Animation Graphics for surrounding the young learner with language” Accordingly, storytelling can improve their four language skills (Wilson, 1997) Storytelling seems to be a practical and powerful teaching tool, especially for language learning
Similar to PowerPoint, storytelling website also integrates texts, graphics, sounds, animation, and so on to create an interesting and lively foreign language learning environment
1.2.2 Why should teachers use multimedia?
It is important for teachers, especially primary teachers, to recognize that multimedia plays a significant role in children‟s lives Children cannot “escape exposure to the technology revolution which generates so much information and so many ideas, nor should they” (Diana et al., 1999)
The teaching of English is concerned primarily with communication via the written and spoken word, and thus, it is obvious that excluding multimedia from the primary English curriculum will prevent children from accessing a significant language resource “which is representative of a high proportion of society‟s communication” (Diana et al., 1999)
In short, the teacher should take advantage of multimedia to help the children have better language development
1.2.3 The use of multimedia in English teaching
The common use of multimedia can bring a big change for people in sending, receiving and expressing information Pea (1991) states:
Multimedia functions to help students for several reasons, among them are: first, it is much better that written text so that student can understand the material well Second, it provides the context for the abstract word or explanation such as different emotion on human face Third, it may overcome the individual needs and preference so that students can learn the material accordingly (p.2)
Lin & Chen (2007) thought that multimedia is beneficial for foreign language learners Joshi (2012) showed in his study that using multimedia in classroom supported learners in enhancing their language acquisition
METHODOLOGY
2.1 The setting of the study
The English center in this study, Smartcom, has its headquarter based in Hanoi
Smartcom was established in 2006 It has opened various branches until now The one where I am teaching is a new branch of the center
Each classroom in the center is equipped with a white board and a big screen TV connected to a wireless network The TV is used as a computer and a projector screen Each classroom is about 30 square meters The children in this study took the course that lasted about two months
As mentioned above, the branch I am teaching is a new one of the center It means that everything is new from teachers to learners Before becoming an official teacher in this center, I had a chance to observe some classes in the branch in the first week In my observation, I realized that most of the children here were very smart; they learnt everything very fast However, some students were problematic
They were very passive and they did not focus on the lessons most of the time, especially when learning from Vietnamese teachers That could seriously affect the quality of the learning process of other students at times Thus, I assumed that I had to do something for a change However, I did not know what to do at that time until
I became an official teacher in the center An idea of using multimedia began to form in my mind Then I decided to apply it in my first lesson in the center
I was assigned to teach two 5 th classes in this center Each class had about 13 young learners The number of two classes was not fixed because the classes sometimes had new members Each lesson lasted three hours per week The main content of the first two hours taught by a foreign teacher focused on one chapter of a story More specifically, the foreign teacher had to teach vocabularies related to the story The story would be told through the voice of the teacher when the learners mastered the new words after some games These games could relate to flashcards or slide shows on PowerPoint All activities had been designed carefully on PowerPoint by other Vietnamese teachers of the center before the lesson My task in these two hours was a teaching assistant and an observer
Figure 2.1 The lesson in the first two hours
In the last one hour, a Vietnamese teacher had to design the grammar lesson herself
As mentioned above, after observing some classes in my first week, I realized that teaching grammar in traditional ways with a white board was not definitely effective The participation of most learners was not high They could concentrate in some first minutes and they were easily distracted after that, especially when doing exercises on worksheets
After consideration, I chose two main multimedia tools to design the lesson in my one hour They are PowerPoint and storytelling website
The study was conducted on two 5 th classes with 26 learners, one foreign teacher and one Vietnamese teacher – the researcher The children were from 8 to 11 years old with 14 boys and 12 girls There was no difference between them in terms of syllabus The only thing that may distinguish them from others was the enthusiasm in study In order to ensure reliable data, real names of the learners are kept and the researcher obtained their consent to use them
The study was carried out to answer the question: How effective is the use of multimedia in teaching and learning English to 5 th graders in the center?
In order to answer this question, it is necessary to define the concept of “effective”
Defining the effective teacher, effective teaching and teaching effectiveness can be complex and controversial “Effectiveness” is a contested term that can evoke strong emotions because of its perceived links with notions of professional competency and high stakes accountability in some systems It may question individual teachers‟ beliefs about their professional autonomy Notions of what constitutes high quality or good teaching, the idea that teaching is an art or a craft rather than a science, are sometimes used to raise concerns with narrower concepts of effectiveness However, beliefs about what constitutes „good‟ or „high‟ quality practice in teaching can vary markedly for different age groups of students, at different times and in different contexts
Effective teaching requires criteria for effectiveness These criteria refer to the objectives of education in general and of teaching in particular Thus, the objectives of education and the definitions of the quality and effectiveness of education are closely connected This means that defining effective teaching must be done in relation to understanding the objectives of education Promoting students‟ cognitive development can be seen as one of the prime purposes of education and teaching
2.4 Methods and instruments 2.4.1 Data collection instruments
The study employed qualitative method for gathering and analyzing data from the use of multimedia In order to collect reliable and valid data, three instruments adopted in this study were: (1) observation; (2) interview with the learners in the two classes and (3) recording from the website
Observation is a way to collect “live” data It is useful means to gather information about phenomena in a second and foreign language classroom, such as types of language, activities, interactions and instruction (Mackey & Gass, 2005) The researcher observed the learners‟ reaction and performance while she was using multimedia to introduce the grammar lesson, assign the grammar practices and review the story in the class The children were not informed of being observed so that they could respond, act, or behave as naturally as possible Data from the observation was analyzed according to the children‟s reaction to the program – physical, facial and verbal expressions
The children‟s performance in doing exercises was recorded right on the storytelling website Besides, the teacher recorded her voice to comment on their speaking cards on the website as well Data from the recording was analyzed according to the following criteria: (1) the percentages the children were engaged in using each part of the website and (2) the progress they obtained when doing speaking cards
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 young learners in the two classes The main aim of each interview was to investigate how the children‟s use of the storytelling website at home affects their in-class performance
In order to collect information related to the study as much as possible, the researcher carried out the study in the following stages:
As shown in Figure 2.2, data of the study was collected during the process of multimedia application Thus, data collection procedure will be presented in the following part
2.4.2.1 Application of multimedia in teaching 5 th graders in the center and data collection
The observation was carried out with two 5 th classes in the Vietnamese teacher‟s one hour within 8 weeks These two classes had the same syllabus and teachers (one is the foreign teacher, the other is the Vietnamese teacher) Some noteworthy issues were taken notes during the lesson Then they were collected for the teacher to write class reports at the end of each lesson
2.4.2.1.1 Application of PowerPoint in the class and observation
I believed that PowerPoint was a perfect combination of images and sounds More interestingly, it has great tools to show information attractively Hence, I used it to design grammar lessons in my one hour The following illustrations were shown in my first grammar lesson:
Figure 2.3 The name of the grammar lesson
Figure 2.4 The first slide of the language input
Figure 2.5 The second slide of the language input
Figure 2.6 The third slide of the language input
Figure 2.7 The fouth slide of the language input
Figure 2.8 The fifth slide of the language input
Figure 2.9 The sixth slide of the language input
The images above are examples of the input presentation in one grammar lesson
The next images are illustrated for the exercises:
Figure 2.10 The first activity of the practice
Figure 2.11 The first question in the first activity
Figure 2.12 The answer to the first question
Figure 2.13 The second activity of the practice
Figure 2.14 The first question in the second activity
Figure 2.15 The answer to the second question
Figure 2.16 The third activity of the practice
Figure 2.17 The first question in the third activity
Figure 2.18 The answer to the third question
Figure 2.19 The fourth activity of the practice
Figure 2.20 The first question in the fourth activity
Figure 2.21 The answer to the fourth question
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
With the aim of the study to find out the effectiveness of using multimedia to improve English lessons for 5 th graders, qualitative analysis was used Qualitative analysis was conducted in the real situation where the learners were being taught with multimedia
The findings were presented by generating from the data of observation, recording and interviews After the data was collected, the next step was analyzing the whole data obtained With those techniques of data analysis, it is expected to answer the research question adequately and appropriately
The collected data from observation showed that young learners were really excited about the lessons when the teacher used multimedia In the grammar lesson, right after the teacher showed the first slide, the children‟s faces expressed an extremely happy surprise The young learners‟ attention was very high and they quickly gave out the answers based on the key words on the slides and instructions of the teacher
Even some children said that they had known some concepts already, all of them still showed that they were really interested The children looked more excited when the teacher moved to the practice The grammar lesson seemed to go smoothly when the children participated really enthusiastically
3.1.2 Data from recording on the website 3.1.2.1 Data from reports on learners’ performance on the website
The performance of each learner was reported in detail according to each part of each chapter he/she did on the website It was expressed as a percentage below:
Figure 3.1 Performance report 1, retrieved July 7, 2017 from http://elearning.smartcom.vn:8080/openreports/ Copyright © 2015 Smartcom All rights reserved
Powered by Smartcom Việt Nam
Considering the aim of the research question, the data above is analyzed qualitatively to see the relationship between the learners‟ use of multimedia at home and their study in class The yellow mark is a good student in my class when she joined every activity in class actively with good results Meanwhile, the red one is not really good when she did not participate enthusiastically in most of the activities in class The yellow in the following image was another good student in my class
Figure 3.2 Performance report 2, retrieved July 7, 2017 from http://elearning.smartcom.vn:8080/openreports/ Copyright © 2015 Smartcom All rights reserved
Powered by Smartcom Việt Nam
To be more precise, the researcher summarized marked learners below:
Table 3.1 Relationship between learners’ using website at home and their interaction in class
Learners Using websites at home Interaction in class
Hà Minh Trang Yes Yes
Ngô Hoàng Trang Yes Rarely Đinh Hoàng Hải A little Yes
The above information does not yield anything about this relationship Hence, the researcher must continue to implement interviews to collect more data
3.1.2.2 Data from recording of speaking card
The aim of the data is to find out the progress the children had when recording on the speaking card and received feedback from voice recorded of the teacher
In order to know whether the children obtained the progress after receiving feedback, the content of the feedback will be summarized below:
Table 3.2 Content of the feedback on the website
About the text About the recording
Grammar Spelling Pronunciation Intonation Details
In order to make the comments as efficiently as possible, the language the teacher used was Vietnamese For each grammar or spelling mistake, the teacher only pointed out for the children to correct by themselves For each pronunciation or intonation mistake, the teacher always tried to give clear examples for the children to imitate As a result, most of the resubmission showed that the children could overcome most of their problems
The data shown below is examples of some learners having prominent advances:
Table 3.3 Speaking card of one story on the website
Learners Speaking card 1 Speaking card 2 Speaking card 3 Speaking card 4 Ngọc
The toad son:Yes,I want.So you must to be my wife
And Thumbelina begin to crys
The toad:He wants to a wife
Bổ sung ngoặc kép; ngữ pháp
“wants to a wife” + file ghi âm
The mouse:here she is
The mole:you can be my wife
Thumbelina:I don't want to be your wife
Bổ sung ngoặc kép; viết hoa đầu câu + file ghi âm
“I think you need a new clothes.”
“You be my wife tomorrow.”
Đã nhớ có ngoặc kép; đã nhớ viết hoa đầu câu
File ghi âm bị lỗi
-"Here is your blanket"-said Thumbelina Suddenly, she heard a quiet
"thump!;thump!'' The bird was alive!And it opened its eyes
-"Thank you,Im warmer now"-said the bird
And then,one day,the mole came to the mouse's house when Thumbelina was working for the mouse.Thumbelina sang to him
The toad's dad says:"You can be his wife."
And the toad take the flower to Thumbelina:"I want to marry with you!"
Thumbelina says."I don't want to marry with you !"
"You can be his wife." the mouse says
The mole says:"I'am very rich.I have a lot of money."
Thumbelina says:"How do you feel now?"
"I am warmer now."says the bird
One day, the mole visits them.He says:
"He is very ngoặc kép + lỗi NP
“takes” dòng 2 + file ghi âm rich."says the mouse."Think about it ,Thumbelina."
But Thumbelina says:"I don't want to marry with the mole!"
File ghi âm bị lỗi, không nghe đƣợc Phúc
You can be his wife Says the toad
Dài hơn, Đọc diễn cảm hơn + bổ sung file text
Đọc rất tốt nhƣng hơi ngắn + bổ sung file text
The toad:"My son wants a wife.You can be his wife."
The toad's son:"I want you to be my wife."
File đã tự chỉnh sửa lại
The mole:"Thi s is my house."
The mouse:"H e is very rich."
File đã sửa; đọc diễn cảm
Thumbelina:"T his blanket is for you."
The bird:"Thank you.I am warmer now"
"How can I help you ,mole?"
The mole:"I want her to sing for me."
File ghi âm diễn cảm
Where am I ? Toad:This is the river My son wants a wife You can marry him
Toad's son: Wow, you are so beautiful
Bổ sung ngoặc kép + file ghi âm
Mouse: This is my friend, a mole
Mole: I need a wife You can be my wife
The Mole: “I want to marry you tomorrow.”
Bài rất ok từ file ghi âm cho tới file text
Toad: You can be his wife
Toad son ' s: she is beautiful a little girl : oh no
Bổ sung ngoặc kép; viết hoa đầu câu
Mole says :This is my house
Mouse says :He 's very rich
Thumbelina says : He 's needs a wife
Bổ sung ngoặc kép; lỗi ngữ pháp
File ghi âm ok + bổ sung
The bird says:”Thank you!”
“All winter, I'm working for the mouse.”
File text đã có tiến bộ
File ghi âm diễn thêm ngữ điệu cảm hơn
Dương Minh Khôi the frog mum say : you can be his wife the frog son say :you can be my wife thumblina say : i don't want you now
Bổ sung ngoặc kép; viết hoa đầu câu; lỗi ngữ pháp
“say” the mole say :this is my house the mouse say :he very rich thumblina say : i does ' t like it
Viết hoa đầu câu; lỗi ngữ pháp
“he very rich”; “I does’ t like”
File ghi âm bị lỗi
The mouse says: “She is very good”
Thumbelina says: “What this do you speak?”
Đã có tiến bộ từ bài viết đến bài nói
The questions in the interviews are shown as below (the interview was conducted in Vietnamese so as to elicit the most information from the children):
Do you often do the online exercises or read stories on the website before coming to the class?
A (If yes) Which parts do you often do? Do you think they can help you anything in the class?
B (If not) Why? Do you think that it can influence your study in the class?
The participants showed that they were really interested in the interview, so they answered comfortably and naturally
The first question was aimed at finding out whether the learners did exercises and whether they read the story before the class or not Accordingly, most answers received revealed that they always read the story before coming to the class They said that they could understand and remember the lesson better As a result, they always joined activities actively and enthusiastically in the class Those who did not always read the story before class said that it could impact somewhat on their studying It was the reason why they seldom raised their hands to answer the questions Only one feedback thought that reading the story before class means that he knew the ending beforehand, it could make him feel bored to study again in the class However, this case related to the foreign teacher‟s hour This study only focuses on the Vietnamese teacher‟s one hour For the exercises on the website, some said that they did before the class but not always, some said that they only did the exercises after class, others admitted that they rarely used the website to do the exercises They said that it did not affect their language learning in the class
In order to answer the question: “How effective is the use of multimedia in teaching and learning English to 5 th graders in Smartcom Academy?”, the study must be considered in two aspects: advantages and disadvantages of using multimedia in the two classes
The advantages of using multimedia in teaching and learning English to 5 th graders in the center
Analysis of data collected from three instruments shows that leaners‟ attention depends much on using multimedia of the teacher in the class Thanks to special features of Powerpoint, the teacher not only showed more information after one click but also designed slides attractively from the way they appeared to the way they moved The young learners could not take their eyes off the slides, especially those who were curious As a result, the children tried to outdo one another in responding to questions The findings reveal that learners‟ participation in class activities relies much on their preparation before class as well More specifically, the children reading the story before class interact with the teacher and the lesson better than those who rarely read stories before the lesson Accordingly, their interaction made the class atmosphere extremely vibrant Data analysis also shows that the learners achieved advances when receiving voice feedback from the teacher It means that the teacher‟s feedback from the website is very helpful for the children‟s learning To sum up, using multimedia brings benefits to not only the learners but also the teacher when it can support her in teaching English effectively
The disadvantages of using multimedia in teaching and learning English to 5 th graders in the center
Data analysis shows that one learner felt bored when he had read the story before class In other words, there was nothing interesting when he had known the ending already As a result, he rarely joined activities in the class actively The data also shows that although one learner had done exercises on the website relatively completely before the lesson, her interaction in class was not good Besides, one more drawback realized by the researcher is that the teacher must spend much time preparing the lesson on PowerPoint The teacher must seek appropriate materials such as the content, images, sounds, and so on and research the way to present information on each slide to appeal to the children as much as possible However, everything has two sides The disadvantages mentioned above are only small things compared to big benefits of multimedia Hopefully, they can contribute in finding better ways in teaching English to young learners
The chapter has presented the findings of the study after analyzing the data The findings show both advantages and disadvantages of using multimedia in teaching English to the two 5 th classes in the center They help the researcher, to some extent, answer the research question: “How effective is the use of multimedia in teaching and learning English to 5 th graders in Smartcom Academy?”
CONCLUSIONS
Conclusions
The action research was about improving English lessons for 5 th graders by using multimedia This research was conducted in two 5 th classes in a new branch of Smartcom Academy which began in March and ended in May 2017 In line with the findings and discussion in the previous chapter, it could be confirmed that multimedia is an effective tool to improve teaching and learning English process in the center
The research findings show that the children became more active and engaged in the lesson Most of the learners‟ interaction was much better when the teacher used multimedia in the class In other words, multimedia classroom could attract the young learners‟ attention better than traditional grammar classroom The children not only did not feel stressful like in the traditional classes but they, even those who rarely joined the class activities before, also raised their hands and their voices enthusiastically They are readier to interact to answer questions on PowerPoint In other words, PowerPoint can help the children become active learners rather than passive learners like in the traditional classroom
In addition, most of the learners using website at home were more enthusiastic in joining the lesson It means that the class‟ atmosphere became more alive In other words, multimedia supported the teacher so much in improving the lessons for the young learners It can make the lessons in the class much smoother Besides, the advances of the children when receiving voice feedback of the teacher on the website are pretty clear In short, it can be summarized that multimedia brings numerous benefits for not only the teaching process but also the learning process
Hence, in comparison with the classes before using multimedia, it can be seen that the participation of the children are much better, even those who rarely raised hands before also interact more actively The grammar lessons, which used to be dry and difficult to understand, now are more interesting with colorful pictures, sounds and movement
However, the findings also show that using multimedia caused several disadvantages For example, the interaction of some learners decreased when they used multimedia before class It means that using multimedia does not always have positive influences on learners‟ in-class study Besides, using multimedia took the teacher considerable amounts of time to prepare the lessons as well It is the teacher‟s job to find ways to minimize such disadvantages.
Limitations of the study
Although the use of multimedia brings great benefits for teaching English to young learners, due to limited time, the researcher has not implemented some following issues Firstly, pre-test and post-test had not been conducted to compare the concrete results the children got before and after the teacher used multimedia
Another limitation of the study is that the teacher could only interview 19 learners instead of 26 learners Moreover, the child who did exercises in the website quite well at home but her interaction in the class was not much absented right on the interview day It caused some difficulties for me to analyze the data Last but not least, the researcher has not found out solutions to restrain some disadvantages above Hopefully, subsequent studies will help me overcome these limitations.
Suggestions for further research
It can be said that no way is the best way in teaching, especially teaching English to young learners because each learner has his own features of learning and acquisition This way may be good for this learner but may be not for another
Hence, the teacher should be not only the practitioner but also the researcher in her own classes It means that teaching is trying and experiencing to find out the most suitable way for her learners Another important thing is that the teacher should be closer to her learners to better understand each learner‟s feeling Understanding learners‟ feeling is such a key for the teacher to design the lesson as attractively as possible However, the teacher should not fix any teaching method or any way of using multimedia It can totally be appropriate to children today but it cannot be appropriate to them forever Repetition can cause boredom It means that the teacher should change or prepare for a change everyday by studying more to adapt to any young learners‟ changes
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APPENDIX 1 FIELD NOTES FORM (TEACHING RECORD)
Students Pronunciation Interaction Acquisition Notes
Time Class Number of students Students Others
STT Do you often do the online exercises or read stories on the website before coming to the class?
(If yes) Do you think they can help you anything in the class?
(If not) Why? Do you think that it can influence your studying in the class?
1 (Y) No benefits in the class
2 (Y) (did after class) Longer memory
Longer memory, better understand in the class
5 (Y) (did after class) Remember vocabulary
7 (Y) (read and did before class)
11 (Y) (read all chapters before class)
12 (Y) (read and did but sometimes)
It affected the class time
Know in advance => remember the story but bored in the class
15 (Y) (read all and did after the first lesson)
Better understand the lesson & know in advance the ending
16 (Y) (read before class but sometimes)
Can answer the questions of the teacher at the beginning of the lesson
Know in advance the lesson => learn faster, remember the lesson better
THE CENTER’S CONSENT TO USE ITS REAL NAME
Research ethical regulations stipulate that researchers must secure participants' prior consent before any studies It was my fault not to have done that earlier However, I have managed to obtain necessary permission for using the real names of the centers as well as the fifth graders by the dates shown in the following email messages.