An investigation into employing reading eggs app to extend english productive vocabulary for preschool learners at kindy city international preschool

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY ∞0∞ NGUYEN DAI TRANG AN INVESTIGATION INTO EMPLOYING READING EGGS APP TO EXTEND ENGLISH PRODUCTIVE VOCABULARY FOR PRESCHOOL LEARNERS AT KINDY CITY INTERNATIONAL PRESCHOOL MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL HO CHI MINH CITY, 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY ∞0∞ NGUYEN DAI TRANG AN INVESTIGATION INTO EMPLOYING READING EGGS APP TO EXTEND ENGLISH PRODUCTIVE VOCABULARY FOR PRESCHOOL LEARNERS AT KINDY CITY INTERNATIONAL PRESCHOOL Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Major code: 14 01 11 MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: DINH THI MINH HIEN, Ed.D HO CHI MINH CITY, 2022 TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC MỞ CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH Độc lập – Tự – Hạnh phúc KHOA ĐÀO TẠO SAU ĐẠI HỌC GIẤY XÁC NHẬN Tôi tên là: NGUYỄN ĐÀI TRANG Ngày sinh:14/11/1990 Nơi sinh:Bình Định Chuyên ngành: Lý Luận Phương pháp dạy học môn Tiếng Anh Mã học viên: 1881401110036 Tơi đồng ý cung cấp tồn văn thơng tin luận án/ luận văn tốt nghiệp hợp lệ quyền cho Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh kết nối tồn văn thơng tin luận án/ luận văn tốt nghiệp vào hệ thống thông tin khoa học Sở Khoa học Công nghệ Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh Ký tên Nguyễn Đài Trang i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled "An investigation into employing Reading Eggs app to extend English productive vocabulary for preschool learners at Kindy City international preschool” is my own work Except for the references, indicated in the thesis text, the work provided in this thesis is original to the best of my knowledge and belief I thus declare that I have not submitted this research for a degree or diploma in any institution Ho Chi Minh City, November 2022 Nguyen Dai Trang ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to take this occasion to convey my gratitude to everyone who contributed significantly to the completion of this thesis This thesis would not have been achieved without their invaluable guidance and support First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Dinh Thi Minh Hien (Ed.D), for her time and persistent efforts in helping me through the process of planning, conducting, and writing this paper I could sustain and nourish my energy during the long process of completing this thesis because of her compassion and support Second, I would like to express my gratitude to all my lecturers (Dr Vu Huu Thanh, SPSS professor, and other lecturers), who supplied me with priceless lessons and comprehensive knowledge that served as the foundation for this project I would like to express my gratitude to the academic staff of the he Graduate School (Ms Pham Thi Hong Anh and Ms Tran Viet Ha) for their support and timely reminders, and to Dr Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha, Academic Counselor for the Master in TESOL program, deserves special recognition for her consistent and enthusiastic assistance Finally, I want to express my gratitude to my family Specifically, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents and family members for their unspoken encouragement throughout the process of studying and writing this thesis I also express my gratitude to my husband for his continued support during my study His continuous encouragement gives me the confidence to tackle one of the most challenging tasks in my life - the thesis And I would like to express my gratitude to my children (a three-year-old son and a five-month-baby in the womb), who give me more metal power to attain my goal iii ABSTRACT The research was designed to investigate five-year-old preschool learners' vocabulary performance at Kindy City International Preschool through learning English with Reading Eggs app and paper flashcard To achieve the study's goal, the author conducted an experimental study at Cong Hoa campus of KC with the participance of four hundred preschool learners as population and forty preschool learners as sample The researcher applied the Reading Eggs app in teaching English for the twenty-participant treatment group (TG) and employed paper flashcards for the same number of control group participants To compare the mean scores of the two groups, the researcher used the results of a pretest and a posttest to compare the development of preschool learners' vocabulary knowledge and performance before and after a two-month treatment As a result, while there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups before and after the treatment, the Treatment Group outperformed the Control Group on the posttest The results from pretest and posttest were analyzed with the support of SPSS 26 In conclusion, the improvement of preschool learners' English vocabulary knowledge is the result of the efforts of the preschool learners, teachers, and administrative staffs, all of whom play important roles in the research This study can help teachers and other educators particularly the quality of English teaching and learning for preschool learners at Kindy City International Preschool Key words: preschool learners, experimental study, receptive vocabulary, productive vocabulary, Treatment Group, Control Group iv TABLES OF CONTENT STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENT iv LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Statement of the problem 1.3 Purpose of the study and the research questions 1.4 The significance of the study 1.5 The rationale for the study 1.6 The organization of the study 1.7 Scope of the study 1.8 Chapter summary CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical background 2.1.1 Definitions of key terms 2.1.2 Jean Piaget's Stages of cognitive development 11 2.1.3 Characteristics of preschool learners 12 2.1.4 Child foreign language vocabulary teaching and learning 14 2.1.5 Factors influencing preschool learners’ vocabulary learning 15 2.1.6 Vocabulary learning tools 16 2.1.6.1 Paper Flashcard 16 2.1.6.2 Reading Eggs application 17 2.1.7 Second language acquisition in foreign language education 19 2.1.8 Educational technology in language education for preschool learners 21 2.2 Previous studies on the employments of educational applications on preschool English teaching and learning 22 2.3 Research gap 25 v 2.4 Chapter summary 26 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 27 3.1 Research design 27 3.2 Research instruments 28 3.2.1 Pretest and posttest 29 3.3 Research site 30 3.4 Participants 31 3.4.1 Preschool learners 31 3.4.2 Teachers at 32 3.5 Data collection and data analysis procedure 32 3.5.1 Data collection procedure 32 3.5.1.1 Administering the pretest 33 3.5.1.2 Teaching schedule 33 3.5.1.3 Descriptions of TG class with Reading Eggs lesson 34 3.5.1.4 Descriptions of CG class with Paper flashcard lesson 37 3.5.1.5 Administering the posttest 38 3.5.2 Data analysis procedure 38 3.5.2.1 Analytical framework 39 3.6 Validity and reliability 40 3.6.1 Validity 40 3.6.1.1 Content validity 40 3.6.1.2 Face validity 40 3.6.1.3 Constructed validity 41 3.6.2 Reliability 41 3.7 Chapter summary 42 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS OF THE STUDY 43 4.1 Descriptive statistics 43 4.1.1 Qualitative variables: class and gender 43 4.1.2 Pretest results by two groups 43 4.1.3 Posttest results by two groups 44 4.1.4 Test of normality 44 4.2 Quantitative variables: 45 4.2.1 Mean 45 4.2.2 Comparisons: Participant’s performances at pretest and posttest results 45 vi 4.2.2.1.Two-Independent-Samples Test (Pretest results of TG and CG) 45 4.2.2.2 Two-Related-Samples Test (Pretest and posttest results of TG) 46 4.2.2.3 Two-Independent-Samples Test (Posttest results of TG and CG) ……47 4.2.2.4 Two-Related-Samples Test (Pretest and Posttest of CG) …………….47 4.3 Chapter summary………………………………………………………….50 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 52 5.1 Conclusion 52 5.2 Limitations of the study 52 5.3 Recommendations 57 5.3.1 Recommendations for teachers…………………………………………….58 5.3.2 Recommendations for school administrators………………………………58 5.3.3 Recommendations for further research…………………………………….59 5.4 Contribution of the study 60 5.5 Chapter summary 60 REFERENCES 61 APPENDICES 68 Appendix A A sample of a sixty-minute lesson plan for the CG 68 Appendix B A sample of a sixty-minute lesson plan for the TG 70 Appendix C Pretest content 73 Appendix D Posttest content 77 Appendix E Scoring rubrics 81 Appendix F Results of CG Pretest and Posttest 82 Appendix G Results of TG Pretest and Posttest 82