Effects of games on optional english classes in ben tre primary school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES PHAM THI HOANG EFFECTS OF GAMES ON OPTIONAL ENGLISH CLASSES IN BEN TRE PRIMARY SCHOOL Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in TESOL Supervisor: LE THI THANH THU, Ed D HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 2007 CERTIFICATE OF THE ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: EFFECTS OF GAMES ON OPTIONAL ENGLISH CLASSES IN BEN TRE PRIMARY SCHOOL in terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Programs issued by Higher Degree Committee Ho Chi Minh City, July 15th, 2007 PHAM THI HOANG -i- RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, PHAM THI HOANG, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan or reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, July 15th, 2007 PHAM THI HOANG - ii - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Le Thi Thanh Thu, who read my manuscript with great care, gave thoughtful and insightful comments, and provided valuable support in the preparation and completion of this thesis I wish to send my sincere thanks to Mr Nguyen Van Quang, the director of Ben Tre College, who gave me the opportunity to attend this Master course and my colleagues in the English section, who shared the school work so that I could have time to study and finish the research I am also grateful to all the lecturers of this Master course for their valuable instructions, advice and encouragement I am deeply indebted to Ms Huynh Thuy Quynh Nhu, the English teacher of Ben Tre Primary School, who spent a great deal of time discussing the textbook, and the lesson plans with me and enthusiastically cooperated in the research I would also thank to the children of classes 55 and 58 of Ben Tre Primary School for their active participation in the study Last but not least, my special appreciation goes to my beloved family Their love, support and heartfelt sympathy have given me strength and confidence to overcome difficulties to study and fulfill this thesis - iii - ABSTRACT To meet young children’s need to learn and play at the same time and the aim posed for the syllabus of teaching English to primary schoolchildren by MOET developing the integrated skill, in which more focus must be made on listening and speaking, I carried out the research In this research, I introduced listening and speaking games into the further practice stages of Lessons and of Units 15, 16 and 17 of Book of Tiếng Anh Dùng Cho Học Sinh Tiểu Học that the fifth graders of Ben Tre Primary School were studying at the beginning of the second semester By means of class observations, oral interviews and tests in the Ben Tre Primary School context, the data gathered in the study showed that games brought the following benefits to the pupils in this school From the interview, I knew that the children enjoyed learning lessons with games very much because games gave them a great fun and a lot of chances to practise speaking and listening, and the teacher preferred conducting such lessons to normal ones From the class observations, I saw that the games stimulated the children’s interest and created meaningful contexts for them to practise the language communicatively As a result, the pupils’ participation in the task, and their mutual interaction highly increased From the tests, I found that the experimental pupils surpassed the control pupils in getting average marks and above: 97.5% versus 95% in Test A and 100% versus 95% in Tests B and C, and especially the percentage of the experimental pupils getting good marks was over 1.5 times higher than that of the control pupils In conclusion, the research proved that games had positive effects on the pupils in the experiment group They were happier in learning and made much more progress in listening and speaking than their peers in the control group - iv - TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ♣ Certification of originality i ♣ Retention and use of the thesis ii ♣ Acknowledgements iii ♣ Abstract iv ♣ Table of contents v ♣ List of tables and graphs ix ♣ Abbreviations x CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationales 1.2 Objectives of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Limitation 1.5 Hypotheses 1.6 Significance of the thesis 1.7 Definitions of terms 1.8 Background of the study 1.81 Aims of the syllabus 1.8.2 The textbook 1.8.3 The school .10 1.8.4 Characteristics of the fifth graders in optional English classes in Ben Tre Primary School 11 -v- 1.8.5 The teaching staff 12 1.9 Structure of the thesis .13 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW .14 2.1 Children’s L2 learning .14 2.2 Main factors affecting children’s EFL learning 17 2.2.1 The language-learning environment 17 2.2.1.1 Class organization and management .18 2.2.1.2 Class activities 19 2.2.1.3 Physical environment 21 2.2.2 The learner 24 2.2.2.1 Age 25 2.2.2.2 Motivation 29 2.2.3 The teacher and teaching method .32 2.2.3.1 The teacher 32 2.2.3.2 The teaching method .33 2.3 Games .35 2.3.1 Game definition 35 2.3.2 Kinds of games used for language learning 36 2.3.3 Effects of games in a language classroom 37 2.3.4 When to use games 40 2.3.5 How to choose games 41 2.3.6 The teacher’s role in a game 42 2.3.7 Organization of the class 44 - vi - 2.4 Conclusion 46 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 48 3.1 Research question .48 3.2 Research design 48 3.2.1 Subjects .49 3.2.2 Experiments 50 3.2.3 Instruments 53 3.2.3.1 Tests 53 3.2.3.1.1 Test contents 53 3.2.3.1.2 Test procedures 54 3.2.3.2 Interviews 54 3.2.3.3 Class observations 55 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 57 4.1 Results and discussions .57 4.1.1 Findings from the class observations 57 4.1.1.1 Pupils’ practice time on the language .58 4.1.1.2 Pupils’ participation in the task 60 4.1.1.3 Pupil-to-pupil interaction on the task 61 4.1.1.4 Problems the teacher confronted in class 63 4.1.1.5 Conclusion 65 4.1.2 Findings from the test results 65 4.1.2.1 Test A results 66 4.1.2.2 Test B results 67 4.1.2.3 Test C results 69 - vii - 4.1.2.4 Conclusion 70 4.1.3 Findings from the interviews .72 4.2 Conclusion 74 CHAPTER CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 78 5.1 Conclusion 78 5.2 Implications .80 5.2.1 Solutions to noisiness 81 5.2.2 Giving instructions .82 5.2.3 Time and class control 84 5.2.4 Groupwork 85 5.2.5 Learner participation 86 5.2.6 Scoring 88 5.3 Recommendations .91 Bibliography 92 Appendices .97 Appendix 3A: Test A 97 Appendix 3B: Test B .99 Appendix 3C: Test C .101 Appendix 3D: Pupil Interview 102 Appendix 3E: Teacher Interview 106 LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS - viii - Page Table 4.1 Results of class observations 58 Table 4.2 Test A results of two groups 66 Table 4.3 Test B results of two groups 67 Table 4.4 Test C results of two groups 69 Graph 4.1 Test A results in comparison between two groups 67 Graph 4.2 Test B results in comparison between two groups 69 Graph 4.3 Test C results in comparison between two groups 70 ABBREVIATIONS CFBT : Council of British Teachers - ix - 23 Khan, J 1996 Teaching English to Children From Practice to Principle England Longman 24 Krashen, S D 1982 Acquiring a Second Language World Language English 25 Krashen, S D 1987 Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition Prentice-Hall International 26 Lee, W R 2000 Language Teaching Games and Contests Oxford University Press 27 Lenneberg, E 1967 Biological Foundations of Language Wiley 28 Lewis, G and G Benson 1999 Games for children Oxford University Press 29 Lewis, M and Hill, J 1999 Practical Techniques for Language Teaching Language Teaching Publications 30 Lightbrown, P and Spada, N 1999 How Languages Are Learned Oxford University Press 31 McCallum, G.P 1980 101 Word Games Oxford University Press 32 Nunan, D 1999 Second Language Teaching and Learning Heinle and Heinle Publishers 33 Richard-Amato, P.A 1988 Making It Happen: Interaction in the Second Language Classroom: From Theory to Practice Longman 34 Richards, J.C and Rodgers, T.S 1992 Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching: A Description and Analysis Cambridge University Press 35 Richards, J.C., Platte, J and Platte, H 1992 Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Longman Dictionaries 36 Rixon, S 1981 How to Use Games in Language Teaching Macmillan Publishers Ltd - 92 - 37 Singleton, D 1989 Language Acquisition: the Age Factor Multilingual Matters 38 Skehan, P 1998 A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning Oxford University Press 39 Turkington, C 2003 Memory John Wiley & Sons, Inc 40 Vale, D and Feunteun, A 2000 Teaching Children English Cambridge University Press 41 Weinstein, C S., Andrew, J., and Mignano, Jr 2000 Elementary Classroom Management The McGraw-Hill Companies, INC 42 Weir, Cyril J 2005 Language Testing and Validation Palgrave Macmilan 43 Wright, A., Betteridge, D and Buckby, M 1992 Games for language learning Cambridge university press 44 Watcyn-Jones, P 1995 Grammar Games & Activities for Teachers Penguin Books 45 Zdybiewska, M 1994 One Hundred Language Games Warszawa: WSIP Vietnamese authors Phạm Đăng Bình 1996 Tiếng Anh dùng cho học sinh tiểu học (Lớp ba, bốn, năm) NXB Giáo dục Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Nhung 2005 The Effectiveness of Games on Teaching Speaking to Vietnamese Young Learners Nguyễn Văn Thêm 1980 Tâm lý học Giáo Trình Dùng Cho Hệ Trung Học Sư Phạm Bồi Dưỡng Giáo Viên Cấp Một NXB Giáo Dục Nguyễn Quang Uẩn – Lê Ngọc Lan 1998 Tâm lý học Giáo Trình Đào Tạo Giáo Viên Tiểu Học NXB Giáo Dục - 93 - Báo Sài Gòn Giải Phóng, số ngày 12-10-2006 Báo Tuổi Trẻ, số ngày 12-10-2006 Bộ Giáo dục Đào Tạo Đề Cương Nội Dung Lớp Tập huấn Cốt Cán Cấp Tỉnh 7-1998 Trung Tâm Bồi Dưỡng Giáo Viên Và Thông Tin Giáo dục Tâm lý học 1994 Online Kim, L S Creative Games for the Language Class ‘Forum’ Vol 33 No 1, January – March 1995, Page 35 Lengeling, M M and Malarcher, C Index Cards: A Natural Resource for Teachers ‘Forum’ Vol 35 No 4, October – December 1997, Page 42 Mei, Y Y and Yu-Jing, J From ‘Using Games in an EFL Class for Children’ Daejin University ELT Research Paper Fall, 2000 Uberman, A The Use of Games for Vocabulary Presentation and Revision ‘Forum’ Vol 36 No 1, January – March 1998, Page 20 http://www.teflgames.com/why.html (July 25th, 2006) Hong, L Using Games in Teaching English to Young Learners http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Lin-UsingGames.html (May 21st, 2006) - 94 - APPENDICES APPENDIX 3A TEST A I Hãy trả lời câu hỏi sau thân em (5 ñ) What time is it now? -2 Is your house on the phone? -3 Where you live? - 95 - Is your father a teacher? -5 Do you get up at six o’clock? -II Haõy lắng nghe khoanh tròn A, B C tương ứng với tranh mà em chọn (5 đ) 12 11 11 10 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 10 9 6 C 10 12 12 10 C B 10 A 12 12 10 11 6 10 B 11 12 12 10 7 A 11 C 8 3 10 12 B 6 12 10 10 11 A 8 12 10 - 96 - A 12 11 B 11 10 A 11 10 12 C 9 12 10 B C The end APPENDIX 3B TEST B I Haõy trả lời câu hỏi sau thân em (5 ñ) Do you like music? What colour you like? -3 What you like to eat? What you like to now? - 97 - What you like to in the evening? -II Hãy lắng nghe khoanh tròn A, B C tương ứng với tranh mà em chọn (5 đ) A B C A B C A B - 98 - C A B C A B C The end APPENDIX 3C TEST C I Trả lời câu sau thân em (5 đ) What time you get up? -2 Do you eat breakfast? -3 Do you go to school in the morning? -4 What time you eat lunch? - 99 - What you in the evening? -II Nghe đánh số câu theo thứ tự (5đ) I go to school I my homework I watch TV I go to bed I read books I play football The end APPENDIX 3D The translation of the interviewing questions to the pupils and the answers What’s your name? How old are you? Pupil 1: My name’s Châu Vónh Phát I’m 11 years old Pupil 2: My name’s Trương Thoại Nghi, a pupil of Class 58 I’m 11 years old How did you feel when you played and learned at the same time? P1: I felt enjoyable and confident because games were very interesting and I could speak English without being stopped to correct by the teacher or laughed at by my friends P2: I felt relaxed and happy As you know, our class became hot in the hot weather Learning in this room in the afternoon, many of us felt sleepy and others got bored - 100 - and tired very quickly, especially when having to sit in one place for a long time repeating words and sentences many times However, when learning lessons with games, we felt excited and seemed to forget the unpleasant things we used to suffer from We felt as if time went by very quickly and always waited for the coming lesson What did you like most when playing the games? P1: The things I like best are that I could talk to my friends, move around and compete with them to be the winner P2: I like to move around, talk and share ideas with each other I like to learn because I see learning is useful and interesting, not because the teacher or someone else forces me to learn Could you practise the language a lot when you learned the lessons with games? P1: Yes, I think I could practise a lot P2: Yes, much more than the normal lessons Which did you practise most in such lessons: vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, reading or writing? P1: I think I could prastice all of them, especially listening and speaking which I rarely did in normal lessons P2: I see that I practised listening and speaking most Through this practice, I learned vocabulary and grammar, too What didn’t you like most in playing games? P1: I disliked two things First, when winning the games, some of my friends cheered so loudly that the losers were embarrassed, and my teachers felt worried - 101 - because the noise affected the neighboring classes Second, I hate being put in a weak group because it was difficult to become the winner P2: The thing I disliked was that some of my friends cheated in the games to finish the tasks earlier as well as to become the winner Did the games help you remember the lessons more easily? P1: I think that games really helped me remember vocabulary and grammar more easily because I had chances to use them in speaking Besides, they always seemed to connect with interesting events happening in the class, so perhaps I would remember them longer P2: Yes, while playing games, I practised listening and speaking so I could remember what I learnt easily Besides whenever I remember happy moments we had while playing games, some words and grammatical items related with them seem to appear in my minds Did you have any difficulty in playing the games? P1: No, I didn’t Although sometimes some of my friends were too excited and caused some trouble, we generally cooperated with each other My teacher always treated us fairly She gave encouraging comments on each group; for example, group one worked very hard and finished most of the work, group two ran fast, and knew how to divide the work, etc Therefore, both winners and losers felt satisfied P2: No, but when I first played the game, I was a little surprised because the teacher let us free, and we all managed ourselves What did you think about the relationship between the teacher and you as well as the relationship between you in the lessons? - 102 - P1: I found that the teacher got closer to us She was very friendly with us I liked her to join our group It was very funny Sometimes she pretended to say something wrong and we burst out laughing We all felt secure and happy to work in such an environment Besides, I also found that games reinforced our friendship Every day we only played with the friends we liked The boys usually play with boys and the girls played with girls, but in games when we were put in groups, we all united, and supported each other P2: Every day we were afraid of our teacher because she looked rather serious, and sometimes scolded us when we did mischievous things However, in lessons with games, she gave us more freedom and were very friendly Whenever we got stuck in our work, she sat down with us, and gave help I felt as if she were my mother or sister As for the relationship between us, it seemed that games linked us with each other Every day we only played with the pupils sitting near us or the ones we had something in common However, while playing games, once put in a group or in a team, we forgot our disagreement and cooperated with each other with the hope to win the game 10 What did you expect after learning the lessons? P1: I expected my teacher to use more games in teaching so that we could learn and play at the same time P2: We liked learning lessons with games and expected to continue learning in such a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere - 103 - APPENDIX 3E The translation of the interviewing questions to the teacher and the answers What’s your full name? When were you born? My full name’s Huỳnh Thụy Quỳnh Như I was born in 1971 How long have you taught in this school? I have taught in this school for twelve years What qualifications have you got? I’ve got a college graduation diploma in 1995 and a BA diploma in 2005 What achievements have you obtained in teaching? I’ve been the Good Teacher of the Town for two years What you comment on the pupils’ reactions to playing games during the lessons? - 104 - The pupils were very happy and excited They seemed to forget their tiredness due to learning in the afternoon and in a rather hot room Did you feel interested in conducting such lessons? Why or why not? Yes, I liked conducting these lessons better than the normal ones because games stimulated the pupils’ interest and created useful and meaningful contexts for the pupils to practise the language communicatively Besides games helped focus the pupils’ attention on specific structures, grammatical patterns and vocabulary items, and enabled her involve participation of the whole class from both fast pupils and weak ones in the task What you comment on the pupils’ communicative practice on the language, their participation in the task, and their mutual interaction during the lessons? I saw that the percentage of the pupils engaged in the activities highly increased The pupils had more practice as well as more mutual interaction than in my normal lessons Did the pupils make many mistakes in speaking? Yes, they did That was a problem Do you think that it was a serious problem? Why or why not? No, I don’t think so Mistakes in speaking might be forgivable because it is difficult to speak without making mistakes Besides, our pupils are beginners in learning a language How can we stop them from doing it? 10 Do you think that we need to correct their mistakes? Yes, but not all the mistakes, just some related to the lessons they are learning 11 What other problems did you have when conducting the lessons with games? - 105 - As you know, the rooms in this school have no separate walls, so sound can go from one room to another Noise worried me because it annoyed the teachers in the nearby classes Besides, it was not convenient for the pupils to play games in a room which was equipped with long desks stuck with benches like this 12 What you expect after teaching such lessons? I want to apply more games in my class I am only afraid that the headmaster and other teachers may not support me because of noise and disruption the pupils may make during games - 106 -