Teachers’ perceptions and practices of using total physical response in teaching english vocabulary to young learners at primary schools in quy nhon city

Trang 1 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI MY HANH TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO Y

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI MY HANH TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN QUY NHON CITY MASTER THESIS IN THEORY AND METODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING Binh Dinh, 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI MY HANH TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN QUY NHON CITY Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 8140111 Supervisor: Ha Thanh Hai, Ph.D BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHON NGUYỄN THỊ MỸ HẠNH NHẬN THỨC VÀ THỰC TẾ GIẢNG DẠY CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TRONG VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP PHẢN ỨNG CƠ HỌC ĐỂ DẠY TỪ VỰNG CHO HỌC SINH TẠI CÁC TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC Ở THÀNH PHỐ QUY NHƠN Ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 Người hướng dẫn: TS Hà Thanh Hải i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true and have not been published elsewhere Quy Nhon, 2023 Nguyen Thi My Hanh ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without the support, encouragement, and contributions from my supervisor, my professors, my school, colleagues, friends, and family, the successful completion of this thesis work would not have been possible I take this chance to express my deepest thanks to them for their support First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Ha Thanh Hai, for his continuous support, expert guidance, and patience throughout the study He provided me with assistance at every stage of the process and always expressed his faith in me I am gratefully indebted for his very valuable comments on this thesis I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the teachers at primary schools in Quy Nhon City who devoted their time to taking part in this research I was also thankful to my colleagues for their support during my study time I am also grateful to Quy Nhon University, Post-graduate Department, and the Foreign Languages Department for the administrative assistance Last but not least, I must express my gratitude to my family for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout the course and the study of this thesis iii ABSTRACT This study aims at exploring teachers’ perceptions of using TPR in teaching vocabulary to young learners in primary school It also examines how teachers use it in the classroom The research was conducted with the participation of 50 EFL teachers at 18 primary schools in Quy Nhon City This research implemented quantitative and qualitative approaches to collecting the data by using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and observation checklists The findings showed that teachers had a positive perception of using TPR in their vocabulary teaching However, the limited time and classroom conditions, coupled with some noisy students and some shy students were obstacles to teachers using TPR Hence, some suggestions were forwarded so as to minimize problems encountered and maximize the implementation of TPR for young learners at primary schools Based on the findings, implications for educators, school administrators, and teachers were also offered iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF CHARTS viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Rationale 1 1.2 Aim and Objectives of the Study 3 1.2.1 Aim of the Study 3 1.2.2 Objectives of the Study 3 1.3 Research Questions 3 1.4 Scope of the Study 3 1.5 Significance of the Study 4 1.6 Organization of the Study 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5 2.1 Teaching Vocabulary 5 2.1.1 Definitions of Vocabulary 5 2.1.2 Types of Vocabulary 6 2.1.3 Teaching Vocabulary 7 2.2 Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners 8 2.2.1 Young Learners and Their Characteristics 8 2.2.2 Teaching English Vocabulary to Young Learners at Primary Schools 9 2.3 Total Physical Response (TPR) 10 2.3.1 Definition of TPR 10 2.3.2 Principles of TPR 12 2.3.3 Teachers’ and Learners’ Roles in TPR 13 v 2.3.3.1 Teachers’ Roles 13 2.3.3.2 Learners’ Roles 14 2.3.3.3 Instructional Materials’ Roles 14 2.3.4 Implementation of TPR in Language Classroom 14 2.3.4.1 TPR Activities 14 2.3.4.2 The Procedure of Vocabulary Teaching Using TPR 17 2.3.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of TPR 18 2.3.5.1 Advantages of TPR 18 2.3.5.2 Disadvantages of TPR 20 2.4 Teachers’ Perceptions 20 2.4.1 Introduction to Perception 20 2.4.1.1 Definitions of Perception 20 2.4.1.2 Types of Perception 21 2.4.2 Teachers’ Perceptions 21 2.5 Previous Studies 22 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 24 3.1 Research Design 24 3.2 Participants 25 3.3 Data Collection 27 3.3.1 Questionnaire 27 3.3.2 Classroom Observation 28 3.3.3 Interview 30 3.4 Data Analysis 31 3.5 Chapter Summary 32 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33 4.1 Teachers’ Perceptions of Using TPR Method to Teach English Vocabulary To Young Learners at Primary Schools 33 4.1.1 Teachers’ Perceptions of Advantages of TPR Method 33 4.1.2 Teachers’ Perceptions of Disadvantages of TPR Method 37 4.1.3 Teachers’ Perceptions of Necessity of TPR Method 40 vi 4.2 Implementation of TPR to Teach English Vocabulary 42 4.2.1 Frequency of Using TPR in Teaching Vocabulary 42 4.2.2 TPR Activities 44 4.2.3 How do Students Respond when TPR is Implemented? 47 4.2.4 Factors Affecting Implementation of TPR 50 4.2.4.1 Factors from Teachers 50 4.2.4.2 Factors from Learners 51 4.2.4.3 Other Factors 52 4.2.5 Challenges of Using TPR Method faced by EFL Teachers 53 4.3 Discussion 57 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 65 5.1 Summary of the Key Findings 65 5.1.1 Teachers’ Perceptions of Using TPR in Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners at Primary Schools 65 5.1.2 Teachers’ Practices of Using TPR in Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners at Primary Schools 66 5.2 Implications 67 5.2.1 Implications for Educators 67 5.2.2 Implications for Teachers 68 5.3 Limitations of the Study 69 5.4 Suggestions for Further Research 70 REFERENCES 71 APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX 2 APPENDIX 3 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 A brief description of survey participants p 26 Table 4.1 Teachers’ perceptions of advantages of TPR method p 34 Table 4.2 Teachers’ perceptions of disadvantages of TPR p 38 method Table 4.3 Teachers’ perceptions of necessity of TPR method p 40 Table 4.4 Teachers’ activities p 46 Table 4.5 Students’ responses p 49 Table 4.6 Challenges that teachers may face when using TPR p 53 method Table 4.7 Classroom conditions p 54