VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATES ĐỖ THU HÀ AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING ENGLISH SONGS
INTRODUCTION
Rationale of the study
With the trend of globalisation, English has become an international language that facilitates cross-cultural communications among people from different nations and cultures It is taught as a major subject in almost every school in Vietnam In comparison with other components of English, vocabulary seems to be the heart of the language because the majority of meanings are carried lexically
A good range of vocabulary considerably contributes to effective communication The absence of visual input prevents visually-impaired students from recognising the non-verbal language of others, so they heavily rely on verbal communication This point is likely to make their needs for mastering vocabulary more imperative However, retaining a lexical item is not an easy job It requires students to know its form (pronunciation and spelling), grammar, collocation, meaning (denotation, connotation and appropriates), meaning relationships and word formation (Ur,
Like their sighted peers, visually-impaired students encounter specific challenges in vocabulary retention These difficulties, synthesised by Fatiha and Iman (2019), include understanding meanings and mastering spelling The first difficulty stems from the inadequate understanding and use of a given word The problem does not result from the lack of certain word knowledge but from the misunderstanding of the word itself Poor spelling is another obstacle that visually- impaired students may face in their journey of learning vocabulary In some situations, they find it harder to acquire the word's spelling than its meaning McCall (1999, as cited in Papadopoulos et al, 2009) highlights that visually- impaired students are exposed to the written words less frequently than the sighted ones, making it more difficult for them to achieve accuracy in spelling
It demands to find an appropriate method to help visually-impaired students overcome the difficulties in vocabulary acquisition and retention A large number of researchers have proved the usefulness of songs in improving students‟ vocabulary
2 retention After 10 years of incorporating songs in language teaching, Orlova (2003) points out that using songs in language classes puts students at ease, makes them more attentive and motivates them to learn a language Lynch (2005) also notes that songs contain a rich source of natural language which students can easily obtain Students are believed to learn a wide range of vocabulary as well as pronunciation and different accents Additionally, the enjoyment provided by songs creates stress- free classroom atmosphere in which students can learn English better
The above benefits of song incorporation in vocabulary learning is the major motivation for conducting the present study even though a few studies showing the effectiveness of this method on visually-impaired students have been found Fortunately, the compensation of other senses together with the sense of music possibly contributes to their success in this way of learning vocabulary The focus of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of songs in improving vocabulary retention of upper-secondary visually-impaired students in a private English class in Hanoi.
Purpose of the study
This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of using English songs to improve vocabulary retention of upper-secondary visually-impaired students in a private class in Hanoi In other words, the research looks into the extent to which song application in vocabulary lessons can help those students retain lexical items The students definitely encounter certain difficulties, so the study intentionally identifies what remains the most difficult to them and try to offer possible solutions to help them and other similar students.
Research questions
This study seeks answers to the following questions:
1) Which aspect (s) of vocabulary knowledge do upper-secondary visually- impaired students find most difficult?
2) To what extent does teaching vocabulary through English songs help to improve vocabulary retention of upper-secondary visually-impaired students?
Scope of the study
This study was conducted with the participation of two grade-eleven visually-impaired students at a private English class in Hanoi to investigate the effectiveness of using English songs in improving their vocabulary retention Therefore, teaching vocabulary to students in other grades or with no visual impairment and using other strategies would be out of scope.
Significance of the study
This study hopefully provides some insights in both theoretical and practical significance In terms of theory, it may contribute to the general literature on strategies to help students remember vocabulary better and for a longer time Furthermore, the research findings are expected to suggest the teachers in charge of classes including visually-impaired students one more way to support their students to overcome their difficulties in retaining vocabulary, especially through songs.
Method of the study
The study is carried out in the form of action research The data collection instruments comprise tests and interviews
Initially, the pre-test is administered to the participants to check their lexical knowledge of the selected topic before teaching
Secondly, the first semi-structured interview is conducted to get more information about students‟ experience in learning vocabulary as well as their music preferences
Next, three vocabulary lessons on the selected topic take place with song application in three weeks After every lesson, students are asked some questions about their self-reflection on the present lesson and their expectations for the next lesson
The post-test is delivered to the students after the third lesson The final interview is conducted for the purpose of investigating students‟ perception in the effectiveness of the intervention on their vocabulary retention after the course and their expectations for future lessons (if this method continues to be applied)
Finally, the research findings are obtained after data collection and analysis.
Structure of the thesis
The thesis is divided into five chapters:
Chapter 1 - INTRODUCTION presents the rationale of the study, the aim of the study, the research questions, the scope, significance, method and structure of the thesis
Chapter 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW gives a critical review on the theoretical background of vocabulary knowledge, vocabulary retention, vocabulary teaching techniques, visually-impaired learners and the use of songs in vocabulary teaching
Chapter 3 - METHODOLOGY introduces the selected action research model, the overview of research context, participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedure, the action process and data analysis procedure
Chapter 4 - FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION describes the data analysis in detail, presents and discusses the research results
Chapter 5 - CONCLUSION summarises the main points of the study along with pedagogical implications The limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are also included
LITERATURE REVIEW
Justification for this study
If learning a language is like building a house, vocabulary is supposed to be the core materials Richer knowledge of vocabulary can lead to better
25 communication However, learners with or without visual impairment also encounter many difficulties in mastering this component There have been various approaches to help them solve those problems, and song incorporation is one of the most popular methods Using songs has shown its effectiveness in the real context as well Despite the large number of studies on how to effectively apply songs in general vocabulary teaching, it is hard to find the ones discussing the way to do with visually-impaired students As music is the strength of many students with visual disability, it is such a pity if songs are not deployed in helping them learn vocabulary That is the main reason why the researcher decided to conduct this study despite the awareness of possible challenges It is an action research in which songs will be used as a tool to teach vocabulary for visually-impaired students for the purpose of investigating the improvement in their vocabulary retention The theoretical framework of this study is proposed by Burns (2010), which will be summarised in chapter 3.
Summary
This chapter reviewed previous research and outlined the theoretical framework for the study The first part summarised some studies on using songs to improve vocabulary retention of visually-impaired students The second part defined vocabulary and vocabulary knowledge, explored aspects of vocabulary knowledge, highlighted key points of vocabulary retention and discussed techniques for teaching vocabulary The third part addressed definitions and characteristics of visually-impaired learners The fourth part covered strategies and challenges associated with teaching vocabulary to learners with visual impairment The last part focused on the use of songs in vocabulary instruction, discussing the benefits of using songs in vocabulary teaching, criteria for selecting songs in vocabulary teaching and strategies of learning vocabulary through songs
METHODOLOGY
Action research
Burns (2010) notes that action research is a self-reflective practice for language teachers By doing action research, they take an area to examine their own teaching and investigate the problematic situation which refers to the gap between the current teaching situation and their expectations The main aim of an action research is taking deliberate interventions in the problem to make some changes, or even improvements, in practice The progress gained from new interventions not only improve student‟s learning environment but also benefits teachers themselves
In that case, a teacher is likely to play the roles of a researcher as well as a participant in his or her research
Burns (2010) proposes four phases of action research process: planning, acting, observing and reflecting
Table 1: Action process by Burns (2010)
Getting permission and covering ethical issues
Taking stock of planning Acting
Collecting data by observation or non-observation method
Providing reflections on practice, research process, beliefs and values or feelings and experiences
3.1.3 Rationale for using action research model by Burns (2010)
Burns (2010) provides detailed instructions on how to do an action research together with examples, which is quite easy for the researcher to follow He places an emphasis on teacher involvement by engaging them in the research process This model facilitates the development of context-specific solutions tailored to the special needs of their students Encouraging flexibility and adaptability, it allows researchers to continuously refine their methods based on ongoing observation and feedback.
An overview of the study context
This study was conducted in a private English class in which all visually- impaired students are studying at different inclusive upper secondary schools in Hanoi The students participating in the class would like to get better academic results The course provides them with general knowledge of topical vocabulary and grammar points following the Ministry of Education and Training programme The students also have opportunities to practise four essential language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing In the process of teaching, the teacher, also the researcher, realises that those students encounter many difficulties in retaining vocabulary and need more special support than their sighted peers.
Participants
Two grade-11 students with visual impairment were invited to take part in this study Each of them had his or her own experience of learning English vocabulary
Participant 1, the male student with low vision, began learning English in grade 1 In two first years, his English instruction was provided by teachers from an English center Vocabulary instruction mainly relied on games Visually-impaired students did not receive enough attention Since grade 3, he has learned English from the programme by the Ministry of Education and Training
Participant 2, the female student, faces total blindness She started learning English at the age of four At that time, her mother acted as her teacher Her early
28 vocabulary learning was enjoyable because there was no pressure of scores, and she received rewards for word acquisition Like participant 1, she received limited attention from the English teachers during the first two years of primary school She has also used English book by the Ministry of Education and Training as the core material since grade 3
In spite of their different starting points, both participants face certain difficulties in learning vocabulary They have tried different ways of learning but have not achieved great improvement This study marks their first experience with vocabulary learning through songs with instructions Fortunately, they both have a passion for music, and each of them can play at least one musical instrument Their sense of music is believed to be a great advantage for learning vocabulary by this way They are going to do the same tests and receive the same instructions in this study For their special needs, all materials will be prepared by the teacher and sent to them via email The students will use their own laptops when attending the class.
Data collection instruments
Two instruments including tests and interviews were used for collecting data
The participants were required to do a test at the beginning of the data collecting process and another at the end The test contents were based on the selected topic in English 11 course book by Vietnam Education Publishing House and six aspects of vocabulary knowledge that a student needed to know The chosen topic was “Relationships” covering unit 1, 2 and 3 in the course book
The pre-test featured 24 items (20 multiple-choice and 4 short-answer items)
It checked students‟ vocabulary on the topic “Relationships” The test items addressed all the six aspects of vocabulary knowledge but only focused on some components of each aspect due to time limit The total score was 10 points Each correct multiple-choice answer earned 0.4 point, and each correct short-answer earned 0.5 point Unanswered items were marked as incorrect
Like the pre-test, the post-test also contained 24 items with the same format The tested topic and lexical aspects remained identical The test items covered the
29 words and phrases that had been taught with songs There was no change in the total score and the marking scheme
The students had 30 minutes for completing each test To ensure accessibility, soft copies of the tests were delivered to them via email They wrote their responses on the test papers rather than on the answer sheets The completed tests were submitted to the teacher through email no later than the time allowed The test results were used for analysis to investigate students‟ difficulties in vocabulary retention as well as evaluated their progress after the intervention
Five semi-structured interviews were conducted throughout the study The first interview took place after students had finished the pre-test It allowed the researcher to explore their experiences with learning English vocabulary, including any challenges they faced, and their musical preferences Following each of the three lessons, quick interviews were held to gather their thoughts on the new teaching method, specifically which aspects of vocabulary knowledge were easier to retain, what challenges persisted, and their expectations for the next lesson After the post-test, the final interview was carried out to collect participants‟ feedback on the intervention and identify any remaining difficulties in vocabulary retention.
Data collection procedure
The following steps were carried out to collect data from tests and interviews
In week 1, the pre-test was administered to the participants to check their existing vocabulary knowledge of “Relationships” Then, the first interview was conducted to get to know about the experience in learning vocabulary and music preference of the participants
From week 2 to week 4, vocabulary lessons with song application were carried out After each lesson, a quick interview took place to elicit students‟ self- reflection on the lesson and their expectations for the next one Based on students‟
30 performances and feedback, the teacher also reflected on the lesson and make necessary adjustments for the subsequent ones
In week 5, the students‟ improvement in vocabulary retention was assessed by the results of the post-test Finally, the last interview was conducted for the purpose of synthesising students‟ self-assessment of their improvement thanks to the treatment, their remaining difficulties and their expectations for the future lessons Their responses would be the basis to work out possible solutions in the future.
The action process
In general, three vocabulary lessons with song incorporation were conducted from week 2 to week 4 of the data collection process The topic to be taught was
“Relationships”, which covered the first three units in English 11 course book by Vietnam Education Publishing House The content of each lesson was built on an English pop song with comprehensible lyrics and a soft rhythm Due to time limit, a few vocabulary items related to some typical components of lexical knowledge were introduced in each lesson The students were encouraged to discover further on their own At the end of each lesson, a quick interview was conducted to gather participants‟ feedback on their achievements and expectations for the next lesson The detailed description of the action process would be presented below
The first lesson took place in week 2 of the data collection process and was scheduled for 60 minutes By the end of the lesson, students were expected to (1) Memorise at least 12 words/phrases about relationships, (2) Apply the words/phrases they have learned in context, (3) Distinguish between /s/ and /ʃ/ sounds, (4) Identify the stress patterns in common two-syllable nouns, adjectives and verbs, (5) Form adjectives with -less, and (6) Sing the song “Beautiful in white” by Shane Filan
The materials included an mp3 file of the song, three teacher-generated handouts and an excerpt from a YouTube lecture video on pronouncing /s/ and /ʃ/
31 sounds Students used their laptops with Internet connection to read the materials, complete the tasks and take notes
The lesson focused on form and meaning which participants found most challenging Being afraid that introducing only new vocabulary would discourage the students, the teacher chose “Beautiful in white” song by Shane Filan containing interesting words and phrases related to relationships, some of which they had learned such as “fall in love”, “nervous” And “believe” This approach hopefully kept students more engaged in the lesson On the other hand, like many people in the north of Vietnam, participant 1 admitted making mistakes between /s/ and /ʃ/ sounds, potentially leading to misunderstanding in some cases Participant 2 was confident with this minimal pair, but the teacher noticed her usual mistakes
“Beautiful in white” included many words with these sounds, and the pronunciation of the singer was quite clear, making it a good resource for this lesson
The lesson began with a warm-up in which students discussed the popular colours of wedding dresses and their meanings They quickly mentioned red and white but did not know what these colours stood for
To save time, the teacher sent students all the materials through email before activity 1 and asked them to open handout 1 first Then, the teacher told them that they would listen to the song called “Beautiful in white” by Shane Filan, which expressed what a man wanted to say to his wife on their wedding day The students were asked to listen to the song and fill in each gap with no more than three words There were 12 gaps in total The students listened to the song once for enjoyment and simultaneously read through the lyrics to identify the gaps The song was played again, pausing after each gap for students to type their answers They had some more seconds to move to the next blank After confirming the responses, the teacher introduced the pronunciation, meaning and part-of-speech of each word/phrase Other factors like a verb‟s transitivity and regularity were also noted The students practised pronouncing the terms and noted them down The teacher spelt the words/phrases for them when they needed The use of “very” in the phrase
“very moment” was also discussed, surprising the students as they had not thought an adverb could be followed by a noun
Activity 2 focused on pronouncing /s/ and /ʃ/ sounds To provide clearer instructions, the teacher let students watch an extract from a YouTube video in which the lecturer explained how to produce these sounds carefully After viewing, the class discussed what they heard, and the rules were confirmed by the teacher Next, the teacher gave two examples of the words with these sounds and asked the students to come up with at least three more examples When they got stuck, the teacher supported by providing Vietnamese meanings for some words like saying
“bán” and “vỏ” to prompt “sell” and “shell”
Activity 3 offered another chance for practice by having the students find words with those sounds in the song They did this task successfully
The next thing to deal with was stress Three two-syllable words - an adjective, a noun and a verb - were taken from the song as samples The teacher pronounced the words one by one The students‟ task was to identify the stress syllable while listening and then practise pronouncing them The teacher corrected their pronunciation as needed
Activity 5 was built on activity 4, requiring students to identify the stress principles of the words in the previous activity They found this task straightforward and performed well in both identifying the rules and giving examples
Activity 6 (handout 2) involved matching the words and phrases in the left column with their definitions in the right column to help students understand six terms from the song It was quite difficult for the students to draw lines, so they were allowed to write their answers in the numbered blanks (i.e 1 A; 2 B) They required assistance from the teacher due to difficulties with some English definitions, but they were able to finish the activity after the teacher provided explanations in Vietnamese
Activity 7 concentrated on word formation Two adjectives ending in -less could be found in the song Following this, the teacher and students explored the
33 meaning of “-less” and the process of creating adjectives with it The rule was demonstrated through at least five examples given by the students
Since the start of the lesson, the students had only practised with individual words and phrases In activity 8 (handout 3), they would get the chance to create complete sentences For this task, six words and phrases from the song lyrics were provided, and the students had to build meaningful sentences with them, using any tenses they wished Once they completed the activity, their responses were submitted to the teacher through email for feedback The assessment was based on five criteria: (1) The sentences include all the given words and phrases; (2) The sentences are grammatically accurate; (3) Every word is spelt correctly; (4) The sentences convey meanings; (5) The sentences that sound natural will be considered a plus point These criteria were established based on the aspects of lexical knowledge
Participant 1 managed to complete the task without any assistance from the teacher He successfully included the given words/phrases in his sentences, most of which conveyed clear meanings However, he still made some grammar and spelling mistakes For example, in the sentence “We fall in love in the center.”, the word “fall” should be in the past simple tense because it refers to a past event Participant 1 said he forgot the past simple form of this verb The spelling mistake appeared in the sentence “He gound the missing piece of his robot under the table.” The word “gound” should be replaced with “found” Furthermore, he used the phrase “missing piece” with its denotation, whereas it was expected to be used with the connotation as in the song
This exercise was quite challenging for participant 2 Initially, she struggled with brainstorming Once Ideas began to be formed, she could not articulate them in English To assist her, the teacher asked her to express her thoughts in Vietnamese and then translate each part of the sentence into English For example, to construct a sentence with the word “nervous”, she wanted to say: “Tôi/ cảm thấy/ lo lắng về/ kỳ thi.” She respectively translated each part , marked by a slash (/), into English This
34 process resulted in the sentence: “I feel nervous about the exam.” Despite taking considerable time, participant 2 finally completed the task Thanks to the teacher‟s support, her sentences generally met the criteria except the error in the first sentence using the phrase “fall in love” It should be “fell” in stead of “falled” Like her classmate, she also did not remember the past simple form of this verb
Finally, the teacher summarised the lesson and assigned homework The students needed to practise singing the song They were also encouraged to find at least one synonym, one antonym and/or one collocation for each of the following words: “nervous”, “cherish” and “believe” These words were frequently encountered in their studies Additionally, having tried, the teacher realised that finding their synonyms, antonyms and collocations was relatively simple The students could use Google or dictionaries to complete this task Then, they reorganised their vocabulary notes by semantic categories For example, the word
“believe” should be followed by its synonyms, antonyms and collocations Brewster, Ellis and Girard (2004), along with Xiaowei (2010),, state that grouping vocabulary items whose meanings are related to each other aids learners in better retention Their homework would be reviewed in the next lesson
Data analysis procedure
The data were gathered from the results of the pre-test and post-test in addition to the responses from semi-structured interviews The students‟ test results were compiled and synthesised using Microsoft Excel and subsequently analysed to find out their difficulties in vocabulary retention and assess their progress in each aspect of lexical knowledge The interview responses were examined to select suitable songs, design effective learning activities and make necessary changes for the future vocabulary lessons
Summary
This chapter provided a summary of the action research model by Burns
(2010), followed by the rationale for choosing it Conducted in a private class in Hanoi, the study involved the participation of two grade-11 visually-impaired students of this class The data collection process took place in five weeks It began with the pre-test and the first interview Subsequently, three vocabulary lessons with song application were delivered with a quick interview after each The final week included the post-test and the last interview Data were collected through tests and interviews and were analysed to seek the answers to the two research questions
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The current difficulties in vocabulary retention
The participants‟ difficulties with vocabulary retention were discovered by analysing their pre-test results and interview responses The analysis of the pre-test results provided an initial prediction of the challenges, and what participants shared helped to have deeper understanding inside those problems
To begin with, the pre-test results were analysed to objectively assessed the vocabulary retention difficulties experienced by visually-impaired students The analysis encompassed all aspects of lexical knowledge However, for some aspects with multiple components like meaning relationships and grammar, the test only concentrated on a few points as the students had studied at school The results were presented in table 2 The test included 24 items - 20 multiple-choice and four short- answer questions - on THE topic of “Relationships” In a row, the numbered question was followed by the tested aspect (s) and participants‟ scores Correct multiple-choice answers were awarded 0.5 point each, and correct short-answer responses received 0.5 point each Incorrect answers were assigned a score of 0, and questions with no responses were also considered incorrect The total score of each participant could be seen in the final row
Questions Tested aspects Participants' scores
The first four questions aimed to test pronunciation and stress, which made no difference from what participants did at school Participant 1 answered two out of four questions correctly (one in pronunciation and one in stress) Participant 2 achieved three correct answers (one in pronunciation and two in stress)
Four subsequent items focused on testing synonyms and antonyms - two key components of meaning relationships Both participants answered questions 5, 6 and 7 correctly, which led to the prediction that they were quite good at synonyms and antonyms
The purpose of questions 9 to 20 was to test collocation, meaning (connotation, denotation and appropriates) and grammar (irregular verbs) Some items tested more than one aspect It could be seen that denotation (questions 12 and
13) took the first place with 100% correct responses by both participants The second position belonged to collocation and connotation (questions 9-11) with two out of three correct answers by each participant The lowest accuracy was associated with appropriates - a component of meaning (questions 14-16) Each participant got only one out of three correct answers, which accounted for approximately 33.33% The difference occurred in grammar (questions 17-20) Half of the items received correct responses from participant 1, and most of them (75%) were answered correctly by participant 2
Since the final four questions were short-answer, it helped to check whether the students could form and write a word correctly There was a distinction between two results Participant 1 responded correctly to three out of four questions while the other got only one correct answer
An interesting fact could be found out from the figures above Participant 1 struggled most with appropriates but excelled in denotation Both appropriates and denotation belonged to the aspect of meaning Participant 2 got into the same problem with participant 1; moreover, she also got the most inaccuracy in spelling and word formation
Examining from the subjective side, the participants‟ responses in the first interview helped to have a deeper look inside their difficulties In general, the participants coped with obstacles in every aspect of vocabulary knowledge Because of the small sample size, the problems of each participant were going to be analysed to see which aspect was the most difficult for him or her
Participant 1 encountered the greatest difficulty in meaning relationships When he learned a new word, he often got to know its synonyms and antonyms at
47 the same time However, The large number of items impeded him from memorising all of them It appeared contradictory with the prediction from his pre-test result
It was a similar story with meaning (denotation, connotation and appropriates) Participant 1 said that it was easier to understand the denotation of an item than its connotation since it was nearly impossible to comprehend the connotation without putting the item in context Besides, appropriates refers to the proper use of words or phrases For example, the word “learn” is defined as “to gain knowledge or skill by experience or being taught” (Oxford dictionary, 2023) while the word “study” means “to spend time learning a subject by reading or going to school” (Oxford dictionary, 2023) The concept of appropriates also involves recognising whether an item is formal or informal as well For example, the word
“courteous” is perceived as more formal than the word “polite” Consequently, it enhanced the need for mastering the formality and suitability of the items Participant 1 acknowledged that his vocabulary was not rich enough to do well in this aspect
The large number of vocabulary items to remember was also the reason for his problems in grammar, collocation and word formation Like learning synonyms and antonyms, participant 1 tried to note down as many related items as possible, which might have overwhelmed him and hindered his retention Being aware of the importance of relevant items was a good idea, but there was concern that his ambition partly had reverse influence on his ability to retain vocabulary
In terms of form (pronunciation and spelling), participant 1 got benefits from the screen reader – a text-to-speech software set up in his laptop When doing phonetics exercises, he listened to it reading out the texts on screen, which enabled him to identify the word whose underlined part was differently pronounced or the one with a different stress pattern in a group Despite its advantage, participant 1 believed that he could not completely rely on the screen reader because machine voice was sometimes inaccurate Indeed, the supportive voice varied by different accents installed For example, the word “donate” is stressed on the second syllable
48 in British English, whereas the stress falls on the first syllable in American English This variance could cause confusion Participant 1 suggested basing on the other words in a group to decide on the correct answer; however, this strategy was likely to work only in the exercises, not in the real world Another inconvenience occurred in listening to homophones (i.e peace and piece) It was quite difficult to guess which one had been mentioned In that case, participant 1 used the arrow keys to read the characters one by one It was such an effective way to memorise how to write words
Without the assistance of the screen reader, participant 1 faced some other difficulties in pronunciation He had a habit of skipping ending sounds, which often led to misunderstanding He also made mistakes in pronouncing minimal pairs that were distinguished by short and long vowels (i.e sit – seat) Finally, he admitted being affected by the regional accent Like most people living in the north of Vietnam, he nearly made no difference between the sounds /s/ and /ʃ/, whereas it had to be made clear in English
The improvement of the participants in vocabulary retention with song
Both participants were in the agreement that adjective formation and stress were the easiest parts They had already known the function of the suffix -less and its use in forming an adjective Besides, the simple principles of identifying the stress in common two-syllable nouns, adjectives and verbs did not challenge the participants though it was the first time they heard about them Indeed, they succeeded in giving extra examples of these contents
Participant 2 also found it straightforward to make difference between /s/ and /ʃ/ sounds There was a inconsistency between her self-assessment and her actual performance She often produced /s/ sound even in words containing /ʃ/ sound It could be interpreted by her infrequent pronunciation practice She mainly focused on completing exercises that required finding the word whose underlined part differed from the others in pronunciation As mentioned above, doing these exercises received great benefits from the screen reader
In terms of difficulties, the participants had different opinions Participant 1 said meaning was the most challenging because almost all the items were new to him, and it was quite hard for him to guess the connotation of certain ones For example, he had no idea about the meaning of the phrase “missing piece” As he had shared, his learning strategy relied heavily on revising what had been taught He seldom got to know new items himself
Participant 2 got troubles with word/phrase recognition She was sometimes unable to recognise what to fill in the gaps For example, she said the singer‟s pronunciation of the word “timeless” differed from what she was accustomed to This may have been due to her unproper pronunciation or singers‟ accent or intended mispronunciation according to singing techniques (Xiaowei, 2010) One more problem lied in the sentence construction task which was designed to assess if she could work well with the other aspects It took her quite a long time to finish the task even with teacher‟s support She got stuck with brainstorming When ideas emerged, it was difficult for her to develop them into coherent sentences She was not sure about how words went together in a sentence Again, it might result from her limited practice frequency
The participants shared the view that stress was the least difficult for them They performed well in finding the stress syllables in the provided words and pronouncing them with correct stress What they should improve was giving examples by themselves
Participant 1 thought pronunciation was more difficult than the other parts
He had to pay much attention to the distinction between /ɪ/ and /iː/ sounds, especially in full sentences Sometimes the fast speech made him confused He needed to rely on context or surrounding words to make inferences In contrast, the only thing challenging participant 2 in pronunciation was generating her own examples
Participant 2 had other problems with meaning, sentence building and gap- filling She expressed difficulty in remembering the meanings of all the new items at once When the researcher asked her if she was overloaded by too many items, she made sure that it was a reasonable number Some items were not in high frequency; therefore, it was normal if she could not memorise them immediately Making complete sentences with the words given still challenged her with idea generation and word organisation The biggest concern stuck to gap-filling activity
52 which required accuracy in grammar, collocation and appropriates She admitted paying insufficient attention to verb tenses and irregular verbs She just tried to choose the word/phrase that best fitted each blank in terms of meaning
The common thing between the participants was the difficulty in memorising the meanings of the vocabulary items They said most of the words and phrases were new to them Participant 1 could not guess the written form of words from their pronunciation as he had been doing It was a good news that participant 2 had fewer difficulties in remembering the meanings after teacher‟s summary of the new items Her ability to make sentences also showed slight improvement It took her less time and effort to write a meaningful sentence despite the need for teacher‟s instructions
Pronunciation and stress continued to be the simplest part for participant 2 It would be better if she practised more in order that her tongue worked more flexibly
On the other side, stress was considered a trouble for participant 1 To use that stress rule, it was important to make sure that all syllables of a word contained short vowels However, his limited vocabulary range sometimes did not allow him to do it especially when its written form was inconsistent with its spoken form
After three lessons, meaning was the common problem of the two participants Participant 2 thought nothing was easier than pronunciation and stress, whereas they challenged participant 1 to some extent The participants mentioned nearly no obstacles in the other aspects but the considerable number of items to remember In fact, there were underlying problems that hey might not realise as those discussed in the first two lessons
The post-test results and the final interview response interpretations were going to take an overall evaluation of their improvements in vocabulary retention after the treatment Again, they respectively gave the objective and subjective look in the issue
The format of the post-test was largely identical to that of the pre-test The marking scheme also stayed unchanged The only difference was the change in the order of the tested aspects The specific results would be presented in table 3
Table 3 The post-test results
In general, the most noticeable change lied in the participants‟ total scores Participant 1 gained 8.4, an increase of 2.1 points compared to the pre-test Participant 2 got 6.3, slightly lower than her pre-test score by 0.2 point The detailed analysis was going to be conducted to identify the aspects where the participants made progress and where further improvement is needed
The first four questions regarding pronunciation and stress were responded exactly by both participants, marking an improvement over their pre-test performances While the screen reader was still credited with aiding their success, the participants expressed increased confidence in the brief follow-up interviews
Discussion
Section 4.2 examined the improvement of the participants thanks to the treatment as well as their remaining problems in vocabulary retention This part purposefully suggests some possible solutions to those difficulties Before giving recommendations, it is necessary to see how the participants retain vocabulary
From what they shared in the first interview, some similarities in their ways of retaining vocabulary could be found The most noticeable common thing was learning word meaning, word spelling and word use by memorising and doing exercises Each participant had his or her own way to memorise Participant 1 liked to take notes of the new items and read them again and again Meanwhile, participant
2 tried to remember as many items as possible while taking notes She seldom reviewed her notes at home They also practised by doing exercises The more exercises they did, the more vocabulary they could memorise However, they mainly focused on paper exercises such as matching, multiple-choice, gap-filling and short- answer They were afraid of productive practices such as role-play, sentence making and paragraph writing, which might benefit them much in the real life
Secondly, they rarely guessed the meaning of a word through its English interpretation which might be a simple definition, an example, a synonym or an antonym (Nation, 2001) They said it was too difficult for them to guess a new word from other new ones Instead, they learned it by its Vietnamese equivalent Introducing a new item by translating into students‟ first language is applied by many Vietnamese teachers It not only saves time but also is understandable for learners
Though translation appears beneficial for both teachers and learners, it was impossible for the teachers who do not speak Vietnamese to do that In addition, students also need a translation tool to look up new items by themselves In this case, consulting dictionaries is one of the best solutions The participants of this study used Google Translate as their main translation tool because it allowed them to find the Vietnamese meaning of a word in a very short time Participant 2 loved using Google Translate for translating the whole sentence Then she read it again to identify the meanings of the new words She said she was not patient enough to look up separate words The advantages Google Translate brings to users is undeniable, but it has some drawbacks Initially, the first equivalent provided is the most common meaning of an item; however, it does not match the context in some cases Even when the whole sentence is translated, it might still offer an inaccurate translation to some extent As a result, Google Translate seems not to be an ideal tool for translation
One more similar point lied in their use of audio aids Both participants enjoyed English podcasts, radio shows and YouTube lecture videos However, they reported that it was not an effective way When watching a lecture video on YouTube, participant 2 found it hard to memorise the items introduced because the lecture just showed them on screen Her blindness prevented her from seeing how to write a word She said she could not remember a word if she did not know its spelling Participant 1 listened to podcasts and radio shows for main ideas only He did not get to know more about the unknown words since it was time-consuming Therefore, his vocabulary range seemed not to be enriched
Their reliance on the screen reader in learning the spoken form of a word could be viewed as the final common thing The screen reader offered samples of word pronunciation, which might helped the participants imagine how those words were pronounced They also learned pronunciation by imitating other people like their teachers, or participant 1 sometimes consulted Google Translate However, using the screen reader remained the most popular choice although it was machine voice
Tackling the remaining problems requires non-stop attempts from both teacher and students The following strategies, including song incorporation, are believed to be useful
Initially, it is important for students to take full advantage of dictionaries (Brewster, Ellis & Girard, 2004; Xiaowei, 2010) For learners with visual impairment, consulting online dictionaries seems to be the better choice Surpassing paper dictionaries, those available online offer samples of word pronunciation with human voice together with phonetic symbols Visually-impaired students can listen to the audio samples and practise pronouncing, which is likely more accurate than imitating other people like their teachers or the singers of the songs Online dictionaries also provide users with word meaning, part-of-speech, grammar, examples, collocations and associated words like synonyms and antonyms If an item had more than one meaning, students should consult the dictionary and put the meanings in the context of the song to see which one is the most appropriate
For the reason of accessibility, visually-impaired students have fewer choices of online dictionaries than their sighted peers From my experience as a user, Cambridge dictionary and Oxford dictionary are the most accessible If learners would like to hear the audio sample, it is easier for them to access it in Cambridge dictionary than in the other If they find English interpretations difficult to comprehend, they may use Cambridge dictionary to look up Vietnamese equivalents
Apart from the screen reader, relying on stress principles appears to be an effective way (Xiaowei, 2010) However, students do not necessarily learn so many rules at once Instead, they should gradually acquire them It will be better if they relate each principle to at least one sample For example, if a noun ends with -tion, its stress is often placed at the syllable right before -tion (i.e into’nation, com’pletion) The participants have heard some rules and recognised their advantages, but they have not put them in use very often Perhaps they need more opportunities for practice
Spelling is said to be learned better from pronunciation (Nation, 2001) Students should be exposed to the spoken form of a word before seeing its written form (Brewster, Ellis & Girard, 2004) The models of pronunciation may come from other people like their teachers or from online sources like dictionaries and YouTube videos To introduce word spelling to visually-impaired learners, the teacher normally spells it slowly though it takes much time Students may learn word spelling from the song lyrics, but the thing to bear in mind is memorising it together with the written form
The way of storing vocabulary is of great importance as well Students are encouraged to store lexical items in their notebooks or computer files Whichever storage they choose, vocabulary items need to be sorted in a semantic system (Xiaowei, 2010) For example, when introducing the word “happy”, the teacher may talk about its antonym (“unhappy”) and the related noun (“happiness”) This method obviously takes more time than taking notes according to the learning process, and it possibly leads to the excess of time limit Alternatively, students may do the notetaking in accordance with the learning process in class and reorganise them as home assignment
If the students are afraid of learning too many items at the same time, the teacher can select the most important items to introduce in class and ask them to discover the associated ones on their own The discoveries may be made via home worksheets, or the teacher may check students‟ work through some activities in the next lesson It not only saves time but also motivates students‟ learning autonomy
The expectations of the participants for future lessons reaffirmed the importance of song selection Besides appropriate tone, the selected songs need to contain some of the items students learned in the previous lessons The more frequently they see those words/phrases, the longer they keep them in mind
Vocabulary retention also involves the creative use Thus, more productive activities need to be held For example, learners can make complete sentences using
61 some words/phrases from the song At a higher level, those items can be utilised to create a paragraph or a story.
Summary
Chapter 4 presented the analysis of the data which were collected through tests and interviews The two research questions were answered one by one Question 1 investigated participants‟ current difficulties in vocabulary retention In general, the participants struggled with most aspects of vocabulary knowledge Question 2 looked into the improvement they made in every aspect as well as their remaining problems after three vocabulary lessons with song application This method partly helped them deal with some aspects such as word formation and meaning Finally, it discussed possible solutions to the difficulties still facing the participants after the treatment
CONCLUSION
Recapitulation
This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of using English songs to improve vocabulary retention of upper-secondary visually-impaired students in a private class in Hanoi Two grade-11 visually-impaired students were invited as participants Tests and interviews were used as the data collection instruments
At the beginning, the pre-test was administered to check students‟ vocabulary knowledge on the topic of relationships After the pre-test, the students took part in a semi-structured interview with a view to investigate their experience in vocabulary learning, including their difficulties in vocabulary retention, as well as their musical preferences
Three vocabulary lessons with song application were then conducted Each lesson was built on an English pop song The selection of songs followed the criteria suggested by Lynch (2005) Because of time constraint, each lesson only introduced some aspects of vocabulary knowledge based on students‟ vocabulary levels and challenges Vocabulary items were introduced through various techniques such as teaching from context, eliciting and using synonyms or antonyms When students got confused with English interpretations of any items, Vietnamese equivalents were provided for clarification The students were required to find more associated lexical items and reorganise their vocabulary notes in accordance with semantic categories At the end of each lesson, students had some time to share their thoughts Particularly, they discussed the easiest and the most difficult parts, provided feedback on the lesson process and expressed their expectations for the next lesson Necessary adjustments were made based on students‟ responses as well as the teacher‟s self-reflection
After three lessons, students took the post-test to see how they got improvement in vocabulary retention Finally, the final interview was conducted to get to know about their feedback on the treatment, their remaining difficulties and their expectations for future lessons if this method continued to be applied
Concluding remarks
The study sought the answers to two questions First, the existing difficulties of the participants in vocabulary retention were found out through the analysis of their pre-test results and the first interview The participants coped with challenges in most aspects of vocabulary knowledge The biggest difficulties were respectively meaning relationships and spelling
Then, the participants got involved in three vocabulary lessons with song incorporation Their reflection at the end of each lesson served as the formative assessment of their progress, allowing the teacher to make necessary changes for the next lesson After three lessons, both participants identified meaning as their primary problem Additionally, participant 2 found pronunciation and stress to be the simplest aspects, whereas they posed challenges participant 1 to some extent The participants mentioned nearly no obstacles in the other aspects except the large number of vocabulary items In fact, certain underlying problems, as revealed in the first two lessons, seemingly went unnoticed by the participants
At the end of the data collection process, both participants reported their improvement in meaning, which marked their significant effort since this aspect often challenged them most They also agreed that the biggest obstacle in grammar, collocation and meaning relationships stemmed from the numerous items However, there were some differences between their opinions Participant 1 became more confident in word formation, but he did not think his pronunciation was better after the treatment Participant 2 kept complaining about her spelling She also faced difficulties in word recognition when listening to the songs, which could be inferred the problems in pronunciation.
Pedagogical implications
To take full advantage of songs in teaching vocabulary to students with visual impairment, the following recommendations would be of some use
Selecting appropriate songs Students are central to the learning process, and their engagement greatly
64 contributes to the success of lessons Therefore, selecting songs based on students‟ favourite topics should be the top priority Besides, the language in the selected songs need to align with the students‟ lexical proficiency levels and cultural backgrounds That means the lyrics are neither too difficult nor too simple and are free from offensive language In addition, soft and slow rhythms can facilitate listening and singing As participant 1 shared, he was afraid of not catching the song lyrics if he listened to rousing music such as rock or rap The singers‟ pronunciation is another important factor to consider It is advisable for teachers to choose the songs performed by singers from English-speaking countries Finally, the chosen songs have to match the lesson objectives
It may take visually-impaired students longer time to process information and complete the tasks For example, in a lyrics completion activity, they need some time to identify and fill in a gap and a few more seconds to move to the next one, whereas their sighted peers can do it nearly immediately Thus, it is necessary for teachers to give them sufficient time for fulfilling learning activities To save time, some activities can be assigned as homework
Considering accessible factors Both participants of this study used their laptops for learning, so the soft copies of handouts and the mp3 files of the songs were delivered to them via email Digital materials not only help to save time for preparation but also facilitate reviewing However, their use necessitates electronic devices, a stable Internet connection and good computer skills In the absence of these resources, teachers can prepare Braille or large-printed handouts
Furthermore, visually-impaired students need to read the materials word by word or even character by character It is really hard for them to sing the song right after completing the lyrics Consequently, it is recommended that the students practise singing at home and perform in class in the next lesson
Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research
Although the aim of the study has been achieved, there are some shortcomings First of all, since the researcher was a part of the study, some interpretations carried my personal experience as the teacher of the class and even as a learner with visual impairment The experience played an essential role in action taking, but it might affect the objectivity of the study
Moreover, the intervention only focused on some components of every aspect For example, the participants learned how to distinguish three minimal pairs while there were many other things to learn in pronunciation
For further research, it is recommended to investigate the efficiency of using English songs to improve more components of lexical aspects The selected topics should also be varied
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Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions
Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of the primary stress in each of the following questions
Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word (s) closest in meaning to the underlined word (s) in each of the following questions
5 I was shocked to find out my boyfriend had cheated on me
6 From the moment they met, he was completely attracted by her
Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word (s) opposite in meaning to the underlined word (s) in each of the following questions
7 I look up to my father for my whole life
A depend on B disapprove C disrespect D underestimate
8 Then the strangest thing happens – Will and Marcus strike up an unusual friendship
A cover up B give up C make up D remain
Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions
9 I don‟t know what to say to break the _ with someone I‟ve just met at the party
10 All the three boys seem to fall _ over heels in love with her
11 They are a match _ in heaven They enjoy doing things together and cannot stand being away from each other for even a single day
12 Due to financial conflict over years, they decided to get _
13 Many husbands and wives can‟t remember why they ever got _ in the first place because they no longer have anything in common
14 The generation _ is the difference in the thoughts and viewpoints amongst generations living together
A distance B gap C space D all are correct
15 In my opinion, family members are responsible for _
A the housework B the chores C homework D A and B
16 The director informed that no candidates _ all the criteria for the administrative position
17 I _ a cup of coffee this morning
18 She _ her bike to school yesterday
19 We _ a chance to talk to him
20 The plane _ over the sea
Give the correct form of the words in brackets
21 If you have feeling for someone, then you have worked up the to ask them out (ENCOURAGE)
22 You seem more now (RELAX)
23 What‟s the matter? You look (HAPPINESS)
24 It was essential for him to be financially of his parents, so he decided to have a part-time job (DEPEND)
Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions
Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of the primary stress in each of the following questions
Give the correct form of the words in brackets
5 I feel both excited and because I‟ve got a date with John tomorrow (NERVE)
6 My darling, you looked in that dress (BEAUTIFY)
7 Healthy relationships allow both partners to feel supported and connected but still feel (DEPEND)
8 Warmth, and understanding should cost nothing in any country (SYMPATHISE)
Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions
9 She _ a new dress for the event
A buyed B bought C was bought D buy
10 He _ his keys when he _ the house
Some people are meant to fall in love _ each other but not meant to be together
A forgot/ was leaving B forgotten/ left C forget/ left D forgot/ left
11 I wonder how you _ when you broke up with your ex-girlfriend
A Felt B feel C had felt D feeled
12 When we got to the party, they _ home
A had gone B went C had went D gone
13 Thanks to many investors, my dream to set up my own trading company came _
14 Parents are always willing to lend a sympathetic _ to their children when they have problems
15 Everyone in my community _ to help those impacted by the hurricane
16 _ is the fact of someone having been born into a family that belongs to the highest social class
A cold blood B blue blood C bad blood D fresh blood
17 After marriage, Mrs Lucy always keeps good _ with her mother-in-law
18 My son is making a diagram of our family _ for a school project
19 When his wife gave birth to a baby boy, Mr Jack became the sole _
20 John had a _ childhood, growing up with happily married parents and three brothers
Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word (s) closest in meaning to the underlined word (s) in each of the following questions
21 He was furious of himself for letting things get out of control
22 Billy, come and give me a hand with cooking
A attempt B help C prepare D be busy
Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word (s) opposite in meaning to the underlined word (s) in each of the following questions
23 We greatly respect my teacher for all of the best things that she brought to us
A look up to B look forwards C look for D look down on
24 He‟s a wonderful example of a kind-hearted person with good judgement
Part A: Student‟s experience in vocabulary learning
Question 1: How long have you learned English?
Question 2: How many hours a week do you learn English?
Question 3: What do you think is vocabulary?
Question 4: What aspects do you think vocabulary includes?
Question 5: In what way (s) do you learn vocabulary?
Question 6: Which aspect (s) of vocabulary do you find most difficult to learn? Why? a) Form
(pronunciation, spelling) b) Grammar c) Collocation d) Aspects of meaning (denotation, connotation, appropriates) e) Aspects of meaning (meaning relationships) f) Word formation
Question 7: What have you done to deal with those difficulties? Do those solutions work? Why?/ Why not?
Question 8: Have you learned vocabulary through songs?
- If yes, how have you learned? Do you find it interesting?
- If not yet, do you like to learn in this way?
Question 1: Have you ever learned to play a musical instrument or taken a singing course?
- If yes, which instrument do you play? How long have you played it? Or how long have you learned to sing?
- If not yet, do you like to learn to play a musical instrument or take a singing course? Why?/ Why not?
Question 2: Do you like singing or listening to songs? How often do you sing or listen to songs?
Question 3: Which is your favourite kind (s) of music? a Country/folk b Pop/top 40 c Electronic/dance d R & B e Jazz/Blues f Rap g Opera h Rock/alternative i Ballad Question 4: Who/what is your favourite singer/band?
Question 1: Which part (s) of the lesson‟s content do you find the most difficult to learn?
Question 2: Which part (s) of the lesson‟s content do you find the easiest to learn? Question 3: What do you think of the (lesson (i.e song selection, content, activities and materials)?
Question 4: What are your expectations of the next lesson (i.e song selection, activities, materials, content)?
Question 1: Which part (s) of the lesson‟s content do you find the most difficult to learn?
Question 2: Which part (s) of the lesson‟s content do you find the easiest to learn? Question 3: What do you think of the lesson (i.e song selection, content, activities and materials)?
Question 4: What are your expectations of the next lesson (i.e song selection, activities, materials, content)?
Question 1: Which part (s) of the lesson‟s content do you find the most difficult to learn?
Question 2: Which part (s) of the lesson‟s content do you find the easiest to learn? Question 3: What do you think of the lesson (i.e song selection, content, activities and materials)?
Question 1: After three lessons, which aspect (s) of vocabulary knowledge do you find the most difficult?
Question 2: In which aspect (s) of vocabulary knowledge have you made the greatest improvement?
Question 3: What do you think of song incorporation in vocabulary retention?
Question 4: What are your expectations if this method continues to be applied in the future?
APPENIDX 3: SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN
TOPIC: RELATIONSHIPS Lesson 2: Love to be love by you
By the end of the lesson, students can:
- Memorise at least 12 words/phrases related to relationships
- Use the lexical items they have learned in appropriate situations
- Identify the stress of the words containing long vowels
- Sing the song “Love to be loved by you” by Marc Terenzi
- “Love to be love by you” song mp3 file
Students may need more time to fulfill the tasks Therefore, activity 5 can be assigned as homework to save time
Contents and timing Teacher‟s activities Learners‟ activities
Sing “Beautiful in white” song again
Play the song for the students to sing
Pay attention to their pronunciation and provide feedback after they have finished
Review students‟ homework Give feedback as needed
Correct their mispronunciation if needed
Edit their homework as needed
Distribute all the three handouts
Complete the lyrics with no more than three words for each gap (handout 1)
Ask students to open handout 1 first
Tell students that they are going to listen to the song called “Love to be loved by you” by Marc Terenzi In this song, a man wants to show his love with his girlfriend
Ask students to listen to the song and complete the lyrics with no more than three words for each gap
Play the whole song for students to enjoy
Check answers and correct the mistakes
Introduce the pronunciation, meaning and part-of-speech of each word/phrase for enjoyment and scan the lyrics to locate the gaps
Listen again and complete the lyrics
Share answers with the class Correct the mistakes
Practise pronouncing the words/phrases
Note down the new vocabulary items
Complete each of the following sentences with a suitable word from the box You may change the form of the word if needed (handout 2)
* Ask students to open handout 2
* Ask students to complete each of the sentences with a suitable word from the box They may change the form of some verbs if needed
* Elicit answers and correct the mistakes
* Check answers and correct the mistakes
03:34) Pay attention to the way to pronounce the sounds /ɪ/ and /iː/ Can you give some
Tell students that they are going to watch an extract of the video which introduces how to pronounce the sounds /ɪ/ and /iː/
Watch the video Pay attention to the way of pronouncing the two sounds
Share what they understand from the video
+ When pronouncing the sound /ɪ/, your tongue is a little higher in your mouth, closer to the front Stretch out your lips a little
+ When pronouncing the sound /iː/, your tongue is a bit higher, closer to the front Stretch out your lips a little more
Pause after the instructions on each sound and discuss the rule with students
Give two examples of the sounds
Ask students to give at least three more examples Provide hints (if needed) Correct their pronunciation
Give at least three examples of the sounds They may take examples from the song lyrics
Identify the stress syllable in each of the following words Can you give more examples?
Stress is often placed at the syllable that contains a long vowel sound
Compare, bamboo, prefer, canoe, species,
Pronounce three words Ask students to identify the stress pattern in each word
Discuss the rule with students
Require students to give at least five more examples Provide clues (if needed) Correct their pronunciation
Listen to the words Identify the stress syllable in each word
Give at least five ore examples
XVI defeat, across, police, people
Make sentences using the phrases given (handout
1 Scientists have found out some kinds of vaccine to prevent covid-
2 The speaker keeps on his speech even though most of the audiences have fallen asleep
3 Their friendship has turned into a romantic relationship
4 Don‟t give up! I believe you can do it
* Ask students to open handout 3
Ask them to make meaningful sentences from the phrases given They may use whatever tenses
Collect the handouts Give feedback to the students‟ work
+ The sentences include all the given words or phrases
+ The sentences are grammatically accurate
+ The sentences that sound natural will be considered a plus point
Hand it in via email
Edit their responses based on teacher‟s feedback
Identify other forms of the words
“patiently”, “blind” and belong” You may provide either the adjective or the non forms of these words Then reorganise your vocabulary notes according to semantic categories
List out either the adjective or the noun forms of the given words
Reorganise their notes according to semantic categories
Activity 1: Listen to the song Complete the lyrics with no more than TWO WORDS for each gap
LOVE TO BE LOVED BY YOU
I can‟t believe I‟m standing here Been waiting for so many years and Today I found the (1) to (2) my heart
You changed by life so (3)
And (4) it into something good and real
I feel just like I (5) in all my dreams There are questions hard to answer can‟t you see?
Baby tell me how can I tell you That I love you more than life Show me how can I show you I‟m (6) by your light When you touch me I can touch you
To (7) the dream is true
I love to be loved by you
You‟re looking kind of a scared right now You‟re waiting for the (8)
But I don‟t know if my tongue‟s able to talk
Your beauty is just blinding me Like sunbeams on a summer stream And I gotta close my eyes to protect me
Can you take my hand And lead me from here please?
Yeah Baby tell me how can I tell you
That I love you more than life Show me how can I show you That I‟m blinded by your light When you touch me I can touch you
To find out the dream is true
I love to be loved by you
I know they‟re gonna say our love‟s not strong enough to (9) forever And I know they‟re gonna say that we‟ll (10) because of any weather
But how can they understand That our love is just heaven sent
We (11) going on and on Cause this is where we both (12)
Baby tell me how can I tell you That I love you more than life Show me how can I show you That I‟m blinded by your light When you touch me I can touch you
To find out the dream is true
I love to be loved by you
Yes I love to be loved by you
Activity 2: Complete each of the following sentences with a suitable word from the box You may change the form of the word if needed
Belong Reign Blind Vow Last
1 You take a when you marry someone It‟s formal promise
4 We hope our love will forever
5 His jealousy him He lost his best friend.