Luận văn thạc sĩ using flashcards to teach vocabulary for young learners at an english center in quy nhon = sử dụng thẻ từ vựng để dạy từ vựng cho học sinh nhỏ tuổi tại một trung tâm anh ngữ quy nhơn

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY VÕ TRẦN THU THẢO USING FLASHCARDS TO TEACH VOCABULARY FOR YOUNG LEARNERS AT AN ENGLISH CENTER IN QUY NHON Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140111 Supervisor: Võ Duy Đức, PhD BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN VÕ TRẦN THU THẢO SỬ DỤNG THẺ TỪ VỰNG ĐỂ DẠY TỪ VỰNG CHO HỌC SINH NHỎ TUỔI TẠI MỘT TRUNG TÂM ANH NGỮ QUY NHƠN Chuyên ngành: LL & PP giảng dạy môn tiếng Anh Mã số : 8140111 Người hướng dẫn: TS Võ Duy Đức i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that the thesis titled “Using flashcards to teach vocabulary for young learners at an English center in Quy Nhon”, is entirely my own original work except where otherwise indicated I have not used any sources other than those listed and identified as references I further declare that I have not submitted this thesis at any other institution in order to obtain a degree ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Võ Duy Đức, PhD, for the enthusiastic and continuous support of my thesis, for his patience, encouragement, and immense knowledge His guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my research I would send my special thanks to all lecturers and staff of the of the Department of Foreign Languages and the Department of Pedagogy, Quy Nhon University for their profound knowledge and guidance during my two years of studying I am also thankful to all the English teachers and students at IALC center for their enthusiastic participation in my research Without their help, I would not have been able to complete this paper Last but not least, I own a great debt of gratitude to my beloved family whose support and encouragement have always been a great deal of motivation that has helped me to overcome all problems to complete my thesis iii ABSTRACT This study was carried out in the form of an action research which investigates teachers perspectives towards the use of flashcards in vocabulary lessons and then figure out whether this visual aid in vocabulary teaching could help improve students‟ vocabulary retention In order to accomplish these purposes, five teachers and fifteen young learners at IALC center (International Active Learning Center) in Quy Nhon were selected to participate in the study, which last for eight weeks Data collection instruments were employed, namely teachers‟ questionnaire and interview, pre-test and post-test, and class observation in order to have data to achieve most reliable findings for the research Results from the teachers‟ questionnaire and interviews reflected a completely positive attitude of the teachers towards the use of flashcards, claiming that flashcard-based activities helped teaching procedure more effectively Findings from the tests and observation revealed that students had experienced an improvement in their vocabulary memorization throughout the eight weeks of study and the reason for the vocabulary retention progress was mainly attributed to the use of flashcards in language classroom Benefits of using flashcards can be listed as the deeper impression of vocabulary on students‟ memory and a more frequently exposure to vocabulary use On this basis, some implications for teachers‟ preparation, classroom practices and future research were proposed iv TABLE OF CONTENT STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Research aims and objectives 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5.Significance of the study 1.6 Design of the study CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Vocabulary 2.1.1 Vocabulary definition 2.1.2 Kinds of vocabulary 2.1.3 Stages of Vocabulary teaching 2.1.4 Techniques in teaching vocabulary 2.1.5 Vocabulary retention 10 2.2 Flashcards 10 2.2.1 Flashcards definition 10 2.2.2 Kinds of flashcards 11 v 2.2.3 Use of flashcards 12 2.2.4 Flashcard as a language teaching and learning tool 14 2.2.5 Advantages and disadvantages of using flashcards 16 2.2.6 Teacher‟s roles in using flashcards 17 2.3 Young learners 18 2.3.1 Introduction 18 2.3.2 Characteristics of young learners 20 2.4 Action research 23 2.5 Previous studies on the relationship between flashcards and vocabulary retention 26 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 31 3.1 Research design 31 3.2 Research context 31 3.2.1 Participants 31 3.2.2 Textbook 33 3.3 Data collection instruments 34 3.4 Procedure 38 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 43 4.1 Teachers‟ perception towards the use of flashcards in teaching vocabulary 43 4.1.1 Findings and discussion from teachers‟ questionnaire 43 4.1.2 Findings and discussion from teacher interviews 50 4.2 The extent to which flashcards can improve young learners‟ vocabulary retention 55 4.2.1 Results of pre-test and post-test 55 4.2.2 Comparison between pre-test and post-test 56 4.3.Summary 60 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 61 vi 5.1 Conclusions 61 5.2 Implications 62 5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further research 63 REFERENCES 65 APPENDICES vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Design of the textbook “Every Body Up 4” 34 Table 3.2 What Is Involved in Knowing a Word (Adapted from Nation, 2010) 37 Table 3.3 Procedure for data collection 40 Table 4.1 Teachers‟ common techniques in teaching vocabulary 43 Table 4.2: Teachers‟ frequency of using flashcards in teaching vocabulary 46 Table 4.3 Teachers‟ purposes of using flashcards to teach vocabulary and its frequency of use 46 Table 4.4 Teachers‟ sources to get flashcards 47 Table 4.5: Challenges faced by teachers in using flashcards to teach vocabulary 48 Table 4.6: Scores of pre-test and post-test 56 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 Action research model based on Kemmis and McTaggart (1988)24 Figure 4.1: The teachers‟ view on the role of vocabulary teaching 44 Figure 4.2 Teachers‟ evaluation of flashcards in general 45 Figure 4.3 Language games‟ availability 47 Figure 4.4: Problems encountered by teachers when using flashcards in the processing of teaching vocabulary 48 Figure 4.5 Results of the pre-test 55 Figure 4.6 Results of the post-test 56 AP.11 APPENDIX 4A: LESSON PLAN SAMPLE UNIT 2: LAND AND SEA – LESSON The date of preparing : …………………………… The date of teaching: ……………………………… I Objectives Knowledge + To understand the definition of animals and insects; + To grasp the meaning of new words to name and describe animals and insects in the land and sea; + To apply the words learnt in communicative follow-up activities Orientation towards students’ competency development: To develop students‟ language vocabulary, communication, cooperation and team-work II Preparation of teacher and students On the teacher’s part: flashcards to illustrate the new words and carry the activities, laptop, PowerPoint,… On the students’ part: Lesson preparation (textbooks, notebooks, new words) III Teaching procedures Stabilization Classroom activities A Start/warm up activity Aims of the activity: To activate students’ background knowledge of the topic and lead in the new lesson through flashcards Lesson content and techniques for Expected products and organizing students’ learning activities assessment of student work - T shows some flashcards of animals and *Suggested answers: AP.12 insects on the board (See Appendix 4B) + I know lions, butterflies and - T involves the whole class by asking Ss gorillas questions: + I love gorillas most because + How many animals and insects can they are smart you name? + I‟m so scared of lions because + What animals you love? they are dangerous + What animals are you scared of? - T calls some Ss to share ideas - T leads in the new lesson - T asks Ss to open their books B Knowledge formation activities (10 ms) Aims of the activity: To introduce students vocabulary of the lesson and their meanings through flashcards Lesson content and techniques for Expected products and organizing students’ learning activities assessment of student work - T introduces the vocabulary by *Suggested answers: showing the flashcards (see Appendix hippo (n): hà mã 4B) and asks Ss to guess the meaning of gorilla (n): vượn the word through these flashcards panda (n): gấu trúc - T listens and corrects Ss if necessary butterfly (n): bướm - T asks Ss to write down vocabulary on caterpillar (n): sâu bướm their notebooks bee (n): ong - T asks Ss to listen and repeat these mall-smaller-smallest (adj): words twice in chorus nhỏ-nhỏ hơn-nhỏ E.g The bee is smaller than the panda big-bigger-biggest (adj) lớn- AP.13 lớn hơn-lớn E.g The elephant is the biggest - Ss can guess the meaning of the words - Ss can understand the meaning of these words - Ss can listen and repeat the vocabulary and write them down in their notebooks C PRACTICE ACTIVITIES (14 ms) Aims of the activity: To enable students to recall the vocabulary through flashcards for specific information Lesson content and techniques for Expected products and organizing students’ learning activities assessment of student work -T deletes the Vietnamese equivalent - Ss can recall vocabulary from meanings and asks Ss to go to the board memory as well as find the and write all of them again Or T deletes missing information English words and ask Ss to write Vietnamese - T ask Ss to read them carefully -T ask students to read the words again themselves D APPLICATION AND EXTENSION ACTIVITIES (6 ms) Activity 1: Work in groups Describe the flashcards (6 ms) Aims of the activity: To help to improve student’s comprehension skills and develop ability to express their ideas AP.14 Lesson content and techniques for Expected products and organizing students’ learning activities assessment of student work - T divides Ss into groups *Suggested answer: - T asks each group to pick up one I used to see gorillas on TV I told flashcard which contains the name of an my mother how much I liked them animal or insect (see Appendix 4B) Last weekend, my mother took me - T allows Ss discuss about this animal or to the zoo so I could see the insect and its characteristics and take gorilla in real life They have note the answers dark fur and a strong body Their - T gets the representative from each eyes look very cute They really group to present their ideas to the whole like to eat bananas I love gorillas class much! - T asks other Ss listen and then give - Ss join in the group‟s comments discussion - T gives comments and feedbacks - Ss participate in giving comments on their friends‟ answers Activity 2: Make a Word Map (6 ms) Aims of the activity: To help students practice forming definition, synonym, antonym of the vocabulary Lesson content and techniques for Expected products and assessment organizing students’ learning of student work activities - T introduces the vocabulary word and the map to the students - T teaches them how to use the map *Suggested answers: AP.15 by putting the target word in the central box - T encourages students to use synonyms, antonyms, and find the correct flashcard to help illustrate the new target word or concept - T goes around the class to help if necessary - T asks Ss check their answers in pairs - T calls some Ss to present their answers - T corrects and gives feedback E WRAP UP (5 ms) - T consolidates the lesson - T asks Ss to prepare the new lesson - Ss are assessed through their presentation AP.16 APPENDIX 4B FLASHCARDS USED IN THE LESSON PLAN AP.17 AP.18 APPENDIX SAMPLE ACTIVITIES USED IN TEACHING VOCABULARY Activity (Week 2): Repetition Repeating seems to merely repeat It does not prompt to reflect on what to to enable that repetition to lead to results So it is best to move away from thinking that repeating something, it will help students learn or retain words Instead of moving towards using language and practicing that encourage the learners to be active in front of their learning, exploring the variations, the patterns and the subtleties in any contexts and new words Before teacher asks students to repeat words, she should ask them to learn to listen more carefully In the case of pronunciation, so when “repeating”, teacher must be certain that they have already had a very clear auditory memory Then, by engaging in such practice, teacher needs to “force” more present and to pay more attention This is more likely to promote learning and to improve understanding and unfolding awareness if teacher maintains this rigor, students‟ learning effectiveness will be improved As the more and more this happens, the more increasingly effective the learning will become This activity was performed through the following steps: - Firstly, teacher showed the essential flashcards on the board and asked students to look - Next, teacher asked students to listen to her reading carefully and took note them how to pronounce exactly, especially stress - Then, teacher asked students to listen and repeat some times in chorus - After that, teacher asked them to read themselves in chorus - And teacher called them to read individually (about 10 or more students) AP.19 - The last step, teacher checked vocabularies whether students could remember them or not by deleting one by one word and deleting all Then, calling students to read and write them on the board again Activity (Week 3): Word Map A Word Map is a visual organizer that promotes vocabulary development It engages students in developing a definition, synonyms, antonyms, and a picture (in this case a flashcard) for a given vocabulary word or concept, and it also encourages students to define new vocabulary words on their own terms through writing and drawing How to use word map - Introduce the vocabulary word and the map to the students - Teach them how to use the map by putting the target word in the central box - Ask students to suggest words or phrases to put in the other boxes which answer the following questions: "What is it?" "What is it like?" and "What are some examples?" - Encourage students to use synonyms, antonyms, and find the correct flashcard to help illustrate the new target word or concept - Model how to write a definition using the information on the word map Students were divided to work in groups four or five to write on the paper and assign each group with a different word Students were asked to give its definition, synonym, antonym, and to find the correct flashcards for this word After one minute, representatives of groups presented in front of the class Teacher asked groups to give their comments Then teacher feedbacked and gave marks In Unit 2, the word “tall” is taken as an example AP.20 Activity (Week 4): Finding Synonym and Antonym This activity was made to practice and revise vocabulary The way to as follows: Teacher guided and elicited students to find words which had the same or opposite meanings with the given flashcards shown on the board and then matched them together in column A with a word or phrase word in column B to make a pair of synonym or antonym This activity could help students retain two words or phrase-word at once time There are some examples applied in Unit – Land and Sea Exercise 1: Match a flashcard in column A with a word in column B to make a pair of synonym A B A SPECTACLES B TIMER AP.21 C SASH D MITTEN Key: 1B 2A 3D 4C Exercise 2: Match a flashcard in column A with a word in column B to make a pair of antonyms A B A SHORT HAIR B SMALL EYES C WHITE HAIR D CURLY HAIR Key: 1D 2C 3B 4A Activity (Week 5): Word definition matching AP.22 This activity seems to be considered as one of the most effective ways to teach vocabulary because it can help students revise lexical knowledge before doing other skills For example, to teach Unit - lesson 1, teacher classified students into many pairs and showed the activity on PowerPoint Then, teacher asked students to match the flashcards in column A with their definitions in column B in two minutes Teacher required students to compare and discuss their answers with other pairs And then, representatives of pairs gave their answers and teacher gave comments marks for the pairs that give the correct responses The activity should be practiced in the classroom many times Exercise: Match the flashcards in column A with their definitions in column B A B A a game in which two teams use their hands to hit a large ball backwards and forwards over a high net without allowing the ball to touch the ground B a game played by two teams of nine players, in which a player hits a ball with a stick and tries to run around four bases on a large field before the other team returns the ball C a game played between two or four people on a special playing area that involves hitting a small ball across a central net using a racket D a game played by two teams of five players who score points by throwing a large ball into a net AP.23 E a game played on grass in which each player tries to hit a small ball into 18 small holes, using a long, thin stick Key: 1B 2D 3A 4E 5C Activity (Week 6): Jumbled Words This kind of activity is popularly used in English language vocabulary teaching It is important for word revision and students have many opportunities to work in groups Teacher divided class into three or four teams to practice and remember words by rearranging the letters into correct and meaningful words and then finding the correct flashcards To make students feel very highly enthusiastic in their work, marks were given for the quickest group that got the exact jumbled words The following model activity was included in this week Exercise: Rearrange the letters to make words you have learnt They begin with the first letter NESLOOD CYRRU SISUH LOMNEDAE GPERA JECUI A Key: 1B B 2C 3A C 4D D E 5E Activity (Week 7): Crossword Puzzle The whole class was divided into small groups of 3-4 students Teacher gave students the crossword puzzle handouts and asked them to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases by looking the flashcards on AP.24 the board, which leaded to the answers The group finished first and had all the correct answers would be the winner The following example was taken from Unit – Being Creative CROSSWORD PUZZLE Directions: Use the flashcard clues on the board to solve these crossword puzzles Across Down AP.25 KEY: DESIGN CLOTHES PAINT PICTURES BAKE COOKIES MAKE JEWELRY MAKE MOVIES MAKE MODELS COOK DINNER SING SONGS WRITE STORIES