Brainmax and sight words methodology the amazing combination to improve speaking skills for children from 5 to 8 at thanh danh english center graduation paper, major english pedagogy (2)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Foremost, I would like to express my sincere \gratitude to my advisor, M.A Le Thi Thu, for the support of my graduation paper, for her patience, enthusiasm and immense knowledge In addition, she suggested that I could try sight words method together with my idea because that was also an interesting way to teach English for young learners She was also the one who wrote a reference letter to help me receive a scholarship from Luong Van Can Fund, which motivated me so much Besides my advisor, I would like to express the deepest appreciation to Mrs Truong Thuy Mai Khoi for giving me a right to use the Brainmax method in this graduation paper I must acknowledge my indebtedness to Directors, Professors and the staff of Luong Van Can Fund for putting their trust in me Without them, I will not be confident enough to make any challenge decision I also would like to thank to the rest of professors and counsellors in Department of English ofHochiminh University of Foreign Language and Information Technology for their supports and instruction in the completion of this paper I am extremely grateful to my fellow, Duong Dang Ngoc Tram in class BA1503, for her deepest encouraging and helps I can firmly announce that she takes an important part in this research paper for she spent her precious time on reading it and gave some recommendations I also give big thanks to Thanh Danh English centre, 14 young learners and teachers for helping me with the data collection from the observation, tests and practical teachings Finally yet importantly, lowe the greatest thanks to my family and my parents for their love and motivation Once again, I would love to show my heartfelt appreciation to all NGUYEN MINH PHI ABSTRACT People nowadays choose English as a second or foreign language, and speaking skills is the target of all learners Through the global trend, in Vietnam, a lot of people are learning English, and they also let their children study at very young age This paper aims to investigate the combination of Brainmax and sight words to enhance speaking skills for young learners According to the theory, each side of the brain - left-brain and right-brain - specializes in different missions (Nielsen et aI, 2013) (Dermatoglyphics Brainmax, a method Multiple Intelligence based on DMIT Science Test, focuses on some activities to exercise right brain In addition, Hayes claims that through sight-words reading, students are able to raise self-confidence and motivation (Hayes, 2016) Three objectives of the study were to identify the effect of the combination between Brainmax and sight words about enriching speaking skills, introduce a number of activities of Brainmax, and illustrate the role of Brainmax in English learning motivation The writer used pre-test, post-test, observation and practical teaching to conduct the data The results presented the great effects that most of young learners, from to age range, could respond correctly and confidently Furthermore, their attitude toward studying English changed positively The techniques used can support and encourage young learners to speak English naturally Generally, Brainmax and sight words could be combined to help young learners enhance speaking skills Key words: Brainmax, sight words, children, English speaking skills TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Backgrounds 1.2 Literature 1.3 Objectives 1.4 Scope 1.5 Organization CHAPTER review LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Reasons for children to learn English at the early age 2.2 The ways to improve English-speaking skills 2.3 Methods applied in teaching English in Ho Chi Minh City CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 12 3.1 Research paradigm 12 3.2 Participants 12 and context 3.3 Research instruments 13 3.3.1 Observation 13 3.3.2 Pre-test and Post-test 13 3.3.3 Practical teaching 14 3.4 Data collection 14 3.4.1 Observations 14 3.4.2 Pre-test 15 3.4.3 Practical teaching 15 3.4.3.1 Brain-gym: A story of a hunter 22 3.4.3.2 Educational movies 22 3.4.3.3 Dongle music 24 3.4.3.4 Brain-gym: Dancing with music 24 3.4.3.5 Relaxation exercises: dancing with music 25 Picture 3.5: I'm a Gummy Bear- Source: Screen capture 26 3.4.3.6 Memory game 26 3.4.3.7 Imaginative stimulation 26 3.4.3.8 Practical teaching on December 15th, 2018 27 3.4.3.9 Practical teaching on March 2nd, 2019 28 3.4.4 Post-test CHAPTER RESEARCH FINDINGS 28 29 4.1 Observations 29 4.2 Pre-test: 32 4.3 Practical teaching 35 4.3.1 Practical teaching on December 15th, 2018 36 4.3.2 Practical teaching on March 2nd, 2019 37 4.4 Post-test 38 4.5 Chapter summary 47 CHAPTER DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Discussions 5.1.1 Objectives 48 48 48 5.1.2 Review ofimportant findings and discussions 48 5.1.3 Limitations 52 5.2 Recommendations 53 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION This chapter shows the introduction of the case study First, the writer mentions numerous studies related to this research in the backgrounds and literature review Next, the writer gives information about the scope Finally, the researcher presents the organization of this study 1.1 Backgrounds Widely people in the world nowadays are speaking English Melitz claims that English is the leading language when non-native speakers choose to learn as a second or third language (Melitz, 2016) In more countries, the governments are trying to apply "learning foreign language" at Elementary level As indicated by Eurostar survey (2008), about 98 percent of primary students in Spain are studying foreign languages, and English is the most loved one picked by all understudies of Primary and Secondary education In France, English is always selected as a second language (Alonso, 2012) Albert and Thomas emphasized, "The English language of today reflects many centuries of development" They also claimed in their research that the political and social issues that have got in the course of English history significantly influenced by the English individuals in their national life have commonly recognizably affected their language (Baugh & Cable, 1993) Sneddon's point of view shows that English is a global language and it obviously plays an important role in the international communication, which includes financial relationship among nations, international business relations, worldwide trading, and others (Sneddon, 2003) One of the greatest variables influencing the wide spread of English was obviously the advancement of the WorId Wide Web in the U.S The Internet was conceived in the U.S., (Leiner, et aI., 2017) thus, the vast majority of everything is in English language At present, English seems, by all accounts, to be the most famous language on the Internet (Group, 2019) Because of such importance and popularity, the vast majority of people learn English as a second language or a foreign language In Vietnam, parents follow the global trends and let their children study English at very young age The children are able to learn English at home or in English centres The purpose of this research is to gain further findings of the methods to improve English speaking skills for young learners 1.2 Literature review Several of studies, which were conducted, have referred to situations or issues that are related to this research Scovel (1988) mentioned the reason why children might acquire native pronunciation and intonation In addition, Zaremba (2012) also concerned about speaking skills as a motivation and academic certification for new recruitment for employment Furthermore, story completion was one of the effective methods to enrich speaking skills (Hamsia, 2018) According to Leon and Cely (2010), games could encourage students to speak more actively 1.3 Objectives The target of this research is to identify the effect of Brainmax method together with sight words to enhance speaking skills for young learners (5 to years old) Furthermore, in the study, the writer also introduces numerous activities of Brainmax, which was copyright by Elite Global Finally, the researcher wants to illustrate the role of Brainmax in motivating young learners to study English 1.4 Scope The study is conducted at Thanh Danh English Center (Tay Ninh), on November 17th, 2018 We have got opportunity to work in this centre as a TFL teacher, so we choose to apply Brainmax combining with sight words as experimental teaching method In this research, the writer focuses on observing and recording the improvement of young learners' speaking skills Fourteen participants are children in the 5-8 age range 1.5 Organization The fIrst chapter of this case study is the introduction, from page to page 3, where the researcher gives background information about how English language influences some countries, including VN With the purpose to fIgure out the effectiveness of teaching method to enhance speaking skills for children from to years old, the writer spends much time to reads plenty of relevant studies, he decides to apply Brainmax and sight words at Thanh Danh English Center in Go Dau district, Tay Ninh Province In the second chapter, the writer presents studies related to this research, called Literature Review from page to 11, consist of reasons the parents want their children to learn English at early age The second chapter also explains numerous methods used in well-known English centre in Saigon The next chapter, which begins from page 12 to page 28, shows several procedures utilized for collecting the data After defIning the fIndings and results in chapter four, the writer discusses and gives out the number of recommendations through involvement page 47 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter mainly mentioned a review of literature related to the study Because of the various elements in this study, several issues are inspected First, the writer wants to find out the importance of English nowadays The wide spread of English includes several claims from other researchers and surveys on the Internet Then, the writer explores the purpose of his study is to improve English speaking skills through common ways applied in other countries Next, the writer also mentions a few methods used in some English centres in Saigon as well as the strong points and the weaknesses Finally, the study, which is based on a number of famous methodologies and other studies combining with the new one, Brainmax, from Elite Global Language School, is examined 2.1 Reasons for children to learn English at the early age English, nowadays, plays a major role in international communication Therefore, most people consider the benefits of starting learning English at early age In a research of Keith Breene, a national journalist, by 2016, a number of native English speakers are 400 million and approximately 1.1 billion people use English as a second language or foreign language (Breene, 2016) Although there are some arguments among the critical period hypothesis (CPR), children are now learning English at young ages English was taught compulsorily in the primary grades in Croatia (Nicolov, 2009) Through their surveys on teachers from 55 countries, Shin and Randall (2011) found out that approximately 50 per cent of those places shared that English was a compulsory subject for students since the third grades Reason why educators wanted children to learn English at young age APPENDIX APPENDIX Imaginative stimulation r HA~IMI1.r.YOl'O 11O,11N nJl,nu YOUe DOI:Atii LESSON PLAN Title of lesson Unit - Family Student profile Pre-S tarters I Skills to be emphasized Main skills: Speaking Language Structure: Sub skills: Reading, Listening and Writing Who is she/he -+ He/she is my dadlmomlsister/brother/friend SIGHT WORDS : _ How are you? I'm (ok, good, sad, so so ) _My name is _ How many students in the class? There are Objectives By the end of the lesson, Ss will be able to: - Remember the vocabulary related to family member - Ask and answer correctly Materials - Picture: flashcards - Teaching aids: board, sticky tape Warm-up (7 mins) - T introduces and asks Ss' names and leads Ss to the song "hello how are you" - T tries to make Ss speak aloud their feeling - T makes some questions to remind Ss some Sight words before Presentation T might use 1st language to check Ss' understanding if it's necessary (10 mins) ACTIVITY - Part A LESSON PLAN -T reviews the vocabulary in the previous lesson with flashcards -T tells Ss they are going to listen a song about family member -T plays the recording a whole way through in the fIrst time - T tells Ss they are going to listen a second time and number the picture in order -T plays the recording and pause at each word for Ss to write the number on the picture in their books -T plays the last time for Ss to sing along the recording (2 mins) GAME 1: Hang man -T organizes the game and uses the vocabulary related to family (10 mins) ACTIVITY 2: Part B -Tasks Ss to look at the pictures in part B -T makes some questions to guide Ss predict the word to circle -T lets Ss the task individually -T conducts the answers (2 mins) (20 mins) BRAINMAX ACTIVITY: Dongle music ACTIVITY 3: -T tells Ss they are going to draw their family and a friend in their books then they are going to introduce in front of the class -the model: "Hello everyone, my name is and this is my family LESSON PLAN He is my dadlbrother/jriend She is my mom/sister/jriend Thank you for listening" (2 mins) Brain break (8 mins) Brainmax : The story of a hunter Practice (10 mins) -T tells Ss they are going to circle Emma's family members -After that, Tasks Ss to work in pair, practice with the structure "who is he/she? He/she is my " (12 mins) GAME : Station -T sticks flashcards randomly surrounding classroom then asks Ss to find the flashcard when T speaks out the word -When T says "make a circle", Ss have to stand shoulder to shoulder When T says the word, Ss run to find the word and tap on it -The last one to tap on the flashcard will be elimnated The ftrst one to tap will hold the flashcard and ask the other "who is he/she?" and other Ss will say chorally "he/she my " Application Assessment (10 mins) Ss their Homework LESSON PLAN Follow-up (2 mins) Tasks Ss to bring their photo of their family members to the class and introduce their families next time Date: Dec 15th, 2018 Course book: Hangout Starters Pages: 22 23 ~ -, • A •• '1 Listen an d' sing Numberthe pictures in order ~riiena mom r ~ friend dad M:1 FamU:1 This 18 my