Benefits of learning english at an early age of children in vietnam context graduation paper, major english pedagogy

TABLE OF CONTENTS  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Children should start learning foreign languages at an early age 1.2 Significance of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Structure of the Thesis CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Background of “golden age period” for children to learn English effectively 2.2 Benefits of learning English at an early age 2.2.1 Cognitive development 2.2.2 Academic achievement 10 2.2.3 Better linguistics 11 2.2.4 Career and salary boost 12 2.2.5 Social abilities 13 2.3 Difficulties in teaching English to children at a very young age 14 2.4 Review of English learning programs for Vietnamese children in English centers 15 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 18 3.1 Research approach 19 3.2 Research setting 19 3.3 Description of the subjects 22 3.4 Procedures of data collection 23 3.5 Data analysis 24 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULT 25 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 39 5.1 Purpose of the study 40 5.2 Review of important findings and discussion on the results 40 5.2.1 The importance for children to learn English at a very young age 40 5.2.2 The “golden age period” for children to learn English effectively 41 5.2.3 Benefits of learning English at an early age 41 5.2.4 Difficulties in teaching English to children at a very young age 45 5.3 Limitations of the study 46 5.4 Implication 47 5.5 Recommendations 47 REFERENCES 54 APPENDIX 59 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the first place, I would like to show my most sincere thanks and deep gratitude to my graduation research paper advisor, Ms Diep Minh Chau, who has contributed greatly in the process of forming this research from day one From the beginning, she gave me helpful instructions for identifying the best ways for this graduation research paper Moreover, without her encouragement, I could not go through my crisis period, and this research would have not been finished In addition, I would like to appreciate her useful comments and sincere advice Therefore I was able to promptly correct the errors which I encountered during the process I also would like to deliver my heartfelt thanks to my beloved friends in AV1504 and SA1502 classes They also helped me a lot and gave me useful tips during the process of this research paper Moreover, I am particularly grateful to 30 English teachers of Vietnam USA Society English System-VUS at Hau Giang Campus, District They enthusiastically participated in conducting the survey, and also their teaching experience and objective answers greatly helped me in finding the results of this study Last but not least, I would like to thank my greatly supportive family members, especially my parents, who always give me strong supports and energy thus I could continue to carry on my research paper  ABSTRACT Nowadays, we live in a globalized world, where everyone communicates with each other through many languages People realize the importance of learning English, especially in Vietnam The demand for learning English in Vietnam is currently growing strongly, and parents are now having their children learn English at a very young age Furthermore, researchers show that in order to achieve a fluent of speaking English, children should start learning English from a very young age Early learning of English does not only brings certain benefits but also helps them adapt foreign language better Many people know that learning English at an early age brings many benefits, however, there are some still not know what the specific benefits of learning English at a very young age are Therefore, the writer worked on this research paper to aim at pointing out the benefits of learning English to children in the Vietnam context and investigating the “golden age period" for kids to start learning English, and the result of the study is helpful for English centers in developing English classes which are suitable for the “golden age period” of young kids To carry out this paper, 30 teachers, who have been teaching kids from four to six years old at Vietnam USA Society English Centers (VUS)-Hau Giang CampusDistrict were selected to take part in the investigation A 2-sections-questionnaire was delivered to the teachers to examine the teachers’ perspective about the benefits of learning English at an early age and the “golden age period” of learning English for kids Section A had four closed questions about the teachers’ personal information Section B contains nine questions, including six Likert-scale-questions, two closed questions, and one opened question In this research paper, the result was based on both perspective and teaching experience of the teachers, it indicates that the “golden age period” for young kids to learn English effectively is from three to six years old The result of the survey also pointed out that learning English helps children develop many cognitive skills such as problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills, creativity, the flexibility of mind, memory improvement, multitasking abilities Furthermore, these advantages such as higher academic achievement, better linguistics, career and salary boost, and social abilities were found in learning English at an early for children The result of the study is helpful for English language centers in developing English classes which are suitable for the “golden age period” of young kids Although most of the VUS teachers recognized the benefits of learning English at an early age, they admitted that they found it is difficult to teach English for children at a very young age This leads to some recommendations were given to teachers with the hope that they can partly help them overcome the difficulties which are mentioned above  BẢN TÓM TẮT Ngày nay, sống giới toàn cầu hóa, nơi người giao tiếp với thơng qua nhiều ngôn ngữ Mọi người nhận tầm quan trọng việc học tiếng Anh, đặc biệt Việt Nam Nhu cầu học tiếng Anh Việt Nam tăng mạnh, bậc cha mẹ cho em học tiếng Anh từ cịn nhỏ Hơn nữa, nhà nghiên cứu cho thấy để đạt khả nói tiếng Anh thành thạo, trẻ em nên bắt đầu học tiếng Anh từ cịn nhỏ Học tiếng Anh sớm khơng đem lại lợi ích định cho trẻ mà cịn giúp chúng tiếp thu ngơn ngữ tốt Mọi người biết học tiếng Anh từ nhỏ mang lại nhiều lợi ích, nhiên, cịn có số người chưa biết lợi ích cụ thể việc học tiếng Anh từ sớm Do đó, tác giả thực nghiên cứu để lợi ích việc học tiếng Anh từ sớm cho trẻ em Việt Nam khảo sát độ tuổi vàng, thích hợp để trẻ bắt đầu học tiếng Anh, kết nghiên cứu hữu ích cho trung tâm tiếng Anh việc phát triển lớp học tiếng Anh phù hợp với độ tuổi vàng để học tiếng Anh trẻ nhỏ Để thực nghiên cứu này, 30 giáo viên, người dạy tiếng Anh cho trẻ em từ bốn đến sáu tuổi Hệ thống Anh văn Hội Việt Mỹ (VUS)-Cơ sở Hậu Giang-Quận chọn để tham gia thực khảo sát Một bảng câu hỏi gồm hai phần gửi cho giáo viên để khảo sát quan điểm giáo viên lợi ích việc học tiếng Anh từ nhỏ độ tuổi vàng thích hợp để trẻ học tiếng Anh Phần A gồm bốn câu hỏi thông tin cá nhân giáo viên tham gia làm khảo sát Phần B gồm chín câu hỏi, có sáu câu hỏi sử dụng thang đo xếp hạng Likert năm mức độ, hai câu hỏi đóng câu hỏi mở Trong tài liệu nghiên cứu này, kết dựa quan điểm kinh nghiệm giảng dạy giáo viên tiếng Anh trung tâm Anh ngữ VUS, kết độ tuổi vàng để trẻ em học tiếng Anh hiệu từ ba đến sáu tuổi Kết khảo sát cho thấy việc học tiếng Anh giúp trẻ phát triển nhiều kỹ nhận thức kỹ giải vấn đề, kỹ tư phê phán, sáng tạo, linh hoạt, cải thiện trí nhớ , khả đa nhiệm Hơn nữa, lợi thành tích học tập cao hơn, ngơn ngữ học tốt hơn, tăng khả tìm kiếm hội việc làm tương lai khả xã hội tìm thấy học tiếng Anh từ sớm trẻ em Kết nghiên cứu hữu ích cho trung tâm tiếng Anh việc phát triển lớp học tiếng Anh phù hợp với độ tuổi vàng để học tiếng Anh trẻ em Mặc dù hầu hết giáo viên nhận lợi ích việc học tiếng Anh từ sớm, nhiên họ thừa nhận gặp khơng khó khăn dạy tiếng anh cho trẻ độ tuổi nhỏ Do đó, vài đề xuất đưa cho giáo viên với hy vọng đề xuất phần giúp giáo viên khắc phục khó khăn đề cập bên  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Children should start learning foreign languages at an early age Nowadays learning English is absolutely necessary for all ages Instead of focusing on studying Maths and Physics as before, parents now let their children study English when they are at an early age However, unlike studying Maths and Physics, the sooner we learn a language, the better it will get Learning English at an early age is totally beneficial At this age, it is easier for them to adapt a new foreign language, therefore children can absorb English naturally like their first language And of course, when children acquire language as their mother tongue, it can help children pronounce words more exactly and naturally like native speakers Moreover, it helps children reduce a lot of time in learning English communication because adults who want to learn English communication will take a lot of time and will not be able to communicate fluently like native speakers At the stage of six months, infants begin to babble and imitate sounds that they usually hear For example, they may try to call their parents and make some simple sounds such as “baba” and “mama” Louise and Brenda’s research (2013) showed that children who are from one to two years put single words to make a sentence and this is the time when they start to make questions about anything surroundings them Furthermore, they are extremely interested in listening to songs for kids and singing along although they not even know the meaning of the song When children are at this stage of age, they will develop the ability to learn a new language better than children at other ages No one can deny the significance of brain development in early babyhood education Nowadays, with technology development and research, we may have an opportunity to study more about the brain, how it works and the detailed periods for its development At the age of two to three, infants seem to have an interest in the world and begin to make lots of “why” questions about their environment They In your opinion, learning a foreign language can help children gain more knowledge about empathy and cultural understanding Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree What are your difficulties in teaching English to children at a very young age? …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… Thank you very much for your co-operation! If you wish to add any other comments please so below or on a separate sheet 62 APPENDIX “Monkey Banana-Baby Monkey” song on Pinkfong! Kids songs and stories 63 APPENDIX “Numbers rap” song on Badanamu 64 APPENDIX “Hello song” on Super Simple songs 65 APPENDIX “Musical chairs” game 66 APPENDIX “Slap the board” game 67 APPENDIX “Duck, duck, goose" game 68 APPENDIX Puppets in teaching English for very young children 69 APPENDIX Food toys in teaching English for kids 70 APPENDIX 10 Mini-books in teaching English for young learners 71 APPENDIX 11 Rainbow coloring sheets on Pinterest 72 APPENDIX 12 Classroom rules for very young kids 73 APPENDIX 13 Teaching single consonant sounds by the foreign teacher on Youtube 74 APPENDIX 14 Phonics song on KidsTV123 75 APPENDIX 15 Let's Dance ABC!” song on Pinkfong! Kids songs&stories 76