an action research on using body language in teaching english to 5-year-old children at sao mai kindergarten = nghiên cứu hành động về dạy tiếng anh cho trẻ 5 tuổi qua ngôn ngữ cử chỉ tại trường mầm non sao mai

ABSTRACT The present research aims to discover the attitudes of five years old children towards the use of body language in their English lessons and the subsequent changes in their spe

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI - 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: TÔ THỊ THU HƯƠNG, Ph.D

HANOI - 2014

DECLARATION

I hereby state that I, Đỗ Thu Hương, being a candidate for the Degree of Master of Arts, accept the requirement of the University relating to the retention and use of M.A Thesis deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited

in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper

July 20th, 2014

Đỗ Thu Hương

ABSTRACT

The present research aims to discover the attitudes of five years old children towards the use of body language in their English lessons and the subsequent changes in their speaking and listening competences after being taught English with body language To achieve the objective of the study, the students were observed in traditional English language lessons where the teacher used teacher-centered methods with less body language and in innovative lessons where teacher taught with more body language

The obtained results showed the children‟s positive attitude which could assist them in learning English faster and more effectively Additionally, the students‟ speaking and listening competences appeared to be improved evidently with teachers using more body language in teaching English Furthermore, the study provided implications for teaching English through body language to children, especially to five year old ones at Sao Mai Kindergarten

With the main findings mentioned above, the researcher believes that this study provides EFL teachers with relevant knowledge in designing and implementation activities with body language for children in English classes

Secondly, I would like to send my sincere thanks to my informants in this study, whom I selected as the target subjects of this research Without their enthusiastic contribution and cooperation, this research would certainly not have been completed

In the thesis, it is inevitable that the ideas of many other writers in this field are reflected and developed Their ideas have stimulated my thinking on doing this paper My debt to the authors listed in the references is equally great To all these scholars, I offer my sincere thanks

Finally, I am greatly thankful to my family and friends, who are forever a great source of support and encouragement

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

Teacher

LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES

Table 1: Evaluating the students‟ English speaking competence Table 2: Evaluating the students‟ English listening competence

Table 3: Evaluating the students‟ English speaking competence Table 4: Evaluating the students‟ English listening competence Table 5: Involvement and attention in the activities

Table 6: Students‟ attitude toward ELT

Table 7: Idea and feeling expression

Table 8: Vocabulary understanding

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration……….…i

Abstract ii

Acknowledgements iii

List of abbreviations and symbols iv

List of charts and tables iv

Table of contents v

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the research 1

2 Aims of the research……… 2

3 Scope of the research……… 2

4 Research questions……… 2

5 Methodology……… 2

5.1 Action research design……… 2

5.2 Participants……… 4

5.3 Procedures……… 4

PART B: DEVELPOMENT……… 6

CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Teaching English to children……… 6

1.1.1 Typical characteristics of children……… 6

1.1.2 The teaching of English to children……… 8

1.2 Using body language in teaching English to children……… 10

1.2.1 Body language……… 10

1.2.1.1 Definition……… 10

1.2.1.2 Classification of body language……… 11

1.2.2 Advantages of using body language in teaching English to children 13

1.2.2.1 Vocabulary improvement……… 13

1.2.2.2 Speaking improvement……… 14

1.2.2.3 Daily language understanding……… 15

1.2.3 Some kinds of body language used in English teaching class……… 16

1.2.3.1 The use of gestures……… 16

1.2.3.2 The use of facial expression……… 16

1.2.3.3 The use of eye contact……… 17

CHAPTER II: THE STUDY – USING BODY LANGUAGE IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO CHILDREN……… 19

2.1 Research questions and design……… 19

2.2 Planning stage……… 19

2.2.1 The problem……… 19

2.2.2 Observing a lesson that illustrated the problem……… 19

2.2.3 Analyzing the video-taped sessions……… 25

2.2.4 Consulting with colleagues……… 25

2.2.5 Drawing a plan of action to solve the problem……… 27

2.3 Acting stage……… 27

2.3.1 Speaking lesson using body language……… 27

2.3.2 Listening lesson using body language……… 29

2.4 Observing stage……… 31

2.5 Evaluation stage……… 31

2.5.1 Student evaluation……… 31

2.5.2 Teachers‟ evaluation……… 33

PART C: CONCLUSION……… 37

1 Conclusions……… 37

2 Limitations………… 38

3 Implications and suggestions for teaching English through body language……… 39

REFERENCES 41 APPENDICES I

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the research

The professor of linguistics and English as a Second Language, Andrew

Cohen (1975: 65), once said: “Learning another language frees you,

broadens your mind and enhances your cognitive flexibility The more languages you know, the more doors open to you” Knowing more languages

seems to create you more good chances in your life Additionally, English is becoming a global language today Therefore, learning English is becoming a popular trend, especially in Vietnam English is so important that it has been taught in many schools and universities of all levels and Vietnamese children are approached English at very early age So many Vietnamese parents want their children to learn English as early as possible and to have a head start in their children‟s lives To meet these parents‟ need, the teaching English for kids in kindergarten has emerged British Council and Apollo are popular English centers considered as models taking the lead in this field However, there is a fact that many English teachers are not trained comprehensively to teach English to such special learners with special characteristics, children in kindergarten Almost the students in these kindy classes are only four or five years old, which creates a huge difficulty for the teaching in general and English teaching in particular Furthermore, teaching methods and techniques

to those so young learners is still a big gap Hence, the study reported in this thesis, on using body language in teaching English to five year old children, especially to improve their English speaking and listening skills, was carried out as an effort in filling the quality gap mentioned above by finding out suitable and effective techniques to make contribution to teaching English for kids

2 Aims of the research

- Identifying the attitudes of the students towards the use of body language in their English lessons

- Exploring how the uses of body language in teaching English can enhance their speaking and listening skills

3 Scope of the research

Due to the limitation of time and knowledge, this thesis only focused

on using body language in teaching English to five year old students at Sao Mai Kindergarten in the second term of the school-year of 2013-2014

5.1 Action research design

Following the common approach, the action research consisted of four main stages: Planning, Acting, Observing and Evaluation

Stage 1: Planning

- The author found out problem and its causes through video recording three classes in which the teacher used traditional teaching method to teach English

to children Besides, an evaluation of the students‟ speaking and listening abilities was made using the criteria for evaluating each student‟s speaking and listening abilities in English lessons include speaking and listening skills There are standard tasks to evaluate student‟s speaking and listening abilities

in 3 English classes for 5 year old children

- The author drew strategies for improvement (plan for action): planning lessons to try out the use of body language in English teaching to motivate Sao Mai five years old students to learn English and to improve their English speaking and listening skills

Stage 2: Acting

The author used techniques of using body language in English lessons and making records of what happened in class

Stage 3: Observing

Ten volunteer teachers were asked to observe the lessons using a

Stage 4: Evaluation

- The speaking and listening tasks mentioned in the stage 1 with marking criteria was carried out again to evaluate the students‟ improvement after English lessons using body language in teaching

- The results of observation were used to evaluate the children‟s attitudes towards the use of body language in English teaching and the success of the action on using that to teach English to the five years old students at Sao Mai Kindergarten Next, the conclusion and commendations were made

5.2 Participants

30 five - year - old students and 10 teachers of Sao Mai Kindergarten took part in the research which was carried out during the second term of the academic year 2013-2014

5.3 Procedures

- At the beginning of second term of the academic year 2013-2014, three English lessons taught in the traditional way from 3 classes with 30 students were recorded with a video camera Then an evaluation of students‟ speaking and listening skills was carried out Video tapes recorded on the lessons were watched carefully and the result of the evaluation was used to find out the problem and its causes which made the low teaching and learning English in Sao Mai Kindergarten

- The researcher planned lessons to try out the use of body language in English teaching to motivate Sao Mai five year old students to learn English

- The researcher tried out the techniques of using body language in English lessons and making records of what happened in 3 classes with 30 students

- Ten volunteer teachers were asked to observe lessons in the three classes and observation checklist were used

- The tasks with speaking and listening criteria in the planning stage were carried out again to evaluate the children‟s speaking and listening improvement

- The result of observation for 3 classes was used to evaluate the students‟ attitude towards the use of body language in their English lessons and the

success of the action on that to teach English to the five year old at Sao Mai Kindergarten

- Data from observation tool data was analyzed quantitatively for descriptive statistics and qualitatively for tendency towards the two themes represented

in the two research questions

- Then writing up was made to complete the research

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH 1.1 Teaching English to children

1.1.1 Typical characteristics of children

Good teaching begins with knowing the learners‟ characteristics – what they are like developmentally, individually and culturally In general, children are interested in funny activities in which they can feel happy and relaxed Not only choosing what they like, children also feel highly attracted to activities in which they can create their own rules (Valencia Forero, 2011) When teaching, the teacher should pay attention to the children‟s behaviors because these actions are the signs showing their development

Kindergarten children, no matter what their cultural and experiential background, have characteristics in common with other children their age and characteristics that are particularly their own

Firstly, physical activity is one common characteristic of kindergarten

children, although children vary a great deal in the development of physical skills and abilities While some children are slow and cautious about trying new things, others seem to accept any challenge they can get Most kindergarten children are full of energy, ready to run, swing, climb and jump and are eager to try their strength by moving big blocks or boxes They are developing a sense of rhythm, and enjoy such activities as marching, jumping

or clapping to music Movement activities should follow any stillness activity Stillness is more exhausting and stressful for most kindergarten children than movement (Characteristics of Kindergarten Children, n.d.)

Secondly, children develop socially and emotionally during the

kindergarten year (Characteristics of Kindergarten Children, n.d.) At the beginning of going to school, some children may be shy and afraid of the new environment They have to stay with new teachers, play with new friends and

do not meet their parents all the time However, when they are acquainted with the situation, the teachers and peers, they usually gain confidence and begin to establish friendship and become an active part of the class Playing with other kids in the class is also a time of testing and exploring social relationship By participating in activities such as sharing the toys, exchanging the ideas with peers, suggesting solutions to practical problems, children are able to develop some skills as working in group, helping the partners, control their behaviors to the right way It shows that the kids may develop not only a sense of independence but also learn how to work cooperatively with others and show considerable empathy toward poor people and animals

In addition, at the young age, children also develop their intelligence

rapidly Their intellectual development is reflected in the quick growth of vocabulary and the ability to express their ideas (Characteristics of Kindergarten Children, n.d.) They are developing visual and auditory memory and the ability to listen to others Opportunities to talk about what they do, what they see and what they hear may help children construct the meaning and learn from their experiences The language and ideas shared by others enable children to gradually organize and attach meaning to their daily observations and activities They love to find out about new things and ask many questions about them, sometimes those are unanswerable Their curiosity leads them to figure out concepts and relationships, and become interested in symbols

Furthermore, according to Scoot and Ytreberg (1990), there are some characteristics of children:

1 The children ask questions all the time;

2 They rely on both the spoken word and the physical representation of the word to convey and understand meaning;

3 They have definite views about what they like and do not like to do;

4 They have developed sense of fairness about what happens in the classroom and they begin to question the teacher‟s decisions;

5 They are able to work with others and learn from others

In order to teach English effectively to children, the teacher must comprehend their typical features to choose and apply suitable methods, techniques and activities The use of body language may be one of the suitable teaching methods and techniques which can develop children‟s characteristics and help them learning better basing on those ones

1.1.2 The teaching of English to children

According to Sukarno (2008), in teaching English to children, the teachers should understand the concept of acquisition and learning Acquisition can be defined as a process of having language naturally or sub-consciously In this way, children can develop their ability in language by using it in natural and communicative situations On the other hand, learning is a process of having language consciously For instance, a student can have a conscious knowledge about grammar, phonetics and so on through some rules It is said that acquiring a language is “picking it up” and language learning is “knowing the rules” (Krashen and Terrell, 1983:18)

In line with children‟s development and the two concepts mentioned above (acquisition and learning), the teaching of English to children requires

situations in which the students acquire language abilities by means of acquisition rather than learning It means that the students acquire language naturally and communicatively In the teaching-learning process, the English teachers must know the kinds of language learning resources for children, as follows (Sukarno, 2008:59):

a Learning resources are materials which are ordered and learned

as interesting activities which children usually do in their daily lives

b Learning resources for children must be appropriate for children’s aptitude, will, world, and so forth Therefore, ideal English teachers to young learners are those who are familiar with English songs and games in English In addition, they are able to change those materials into interesting ones

c There must be a clear distinction between technique and resource Songs, stories, poems, and games are resources

In teaching English to children, the English teachers need to comprehend language learning principles, which are as follows:

1 Children learn through experiences by using or controlling surrounding objects This means that they learn through playing with the toys or acting as what they see in the environment As a result, music, drama or interesting activities are good choices for the teachers in delivering the materials so that their students are able to obtain the lessons quickly and effectively

Hudelson (1991: 257) states that children learn in social contexts, in groups where some group members know more than others Hence, the teachers had better create teaching situations which are familiar with social contexts and children‟s lives

3 Sukarno (2008) states that acquisition happens when learners understand how the language is used By using and testing out the language, the learners find out how the language works For that reason, the English teacher should use English correctly in appropriate situations

4 Language acquisition occurs through social interaction This theory is supported by Vygotsky in Hudelson (1991: 257) It means that English should

be used in the class room naturally as if they were in their society (Sukarno, 2008: 60)

From those above - mentioned issues, we can see that teaching to children

is very different from that to adults Unlike many adults, children are still developing cognitively, linguistically, socially, emotionally and physically At this age, the children are discovering rules for interacting with others, understanding their own reactions to others and to events Therefore, teacher should not teach them with so complicated explanation In teaching vocabulary, for example, using pictures, body language, or music are suggested to explain new words in easy ways to understand Besides, children often learn slowly and forget quickly Hence, creating natural environment and practicing regularly are considered necessary to teach a new language to them

1.2 Using body language in teaching English to children

1.2.1 Body language

1.2.1.1 Definition

Body language is an important media through which people communicate with each other According to Barbara (1957: 3), body language can be

defined as “non – verbal behavior (movements and postures, facial

expression, glances and eye contact, automatic reactions, spatial and

touching behavior) which is meaningful in both natural and fictional communication.” It is an important aspect of non – verbal communication

which is usually understood as the process of communicating what you are feeling or thinking by the way you place and move your body rather than by words It refers to the patterns of facial expressions and gestures that people use to express their feelings in communication

1.2.1.2 Classification of body language

There are three ways to classify body language (Nguyen Quang, 2008:112):

According to function, we can divide body language into five groups

They are emblems, illustrators, affect display, regulators, and adaptors According to origin, body language can be divided into seven groups including universal, inborn, genetically transferred, individual, group specific, area specific, and cultural specific one

According to body parts, body language can be divided into six groups They are denoted as eye contact, facial expression, physical characteristics, gestures, postures and body movements, and touch

Eye contact is an event in which two people or animals look at each other‟s eyes at the same time As saying goes “The eyes are the window of the soul” That is to say, we can read one‟s mind through his/her eyes Eyes language can express complicated feelings and it is an important way to judge the intimacy of communicators In humans, eye contact can show personal involvement and create intimate bonds Mutual gaze narrows the physical the physical gap between humans (Nguyen Quang: 2008)

Facial expressions results from one or more motions or positions of the muscles of the face These movements convey the emotional state of the individual to observers Some examples of feelings that can be expressed are: anger, concentration, confusion, contempt, desire, surprise, and so on (Nguyen Quang: 2008)

Physical characteristics of certain person, such as eye (small, big…), nose, mouth (full lip, thin lip, narrow…), body (high, short, fat, thin…), skin (white, sunburnt…) immediately transfer any certain message of his or her social status, physical status, literacy… at different level of accuracy (Nguyen Quang: 2008)

Gesture is movement or position of the hand, arm, body, head, or face that

is used to convey an idea, opinion, or emotion This form of communication gets a point across without the use of words, making it a form of non-verbal communication Gestures can be used in many ways from showing ones anger with physical violence to expressing a gesture of sympathy at a funeral by placing flowers on the casket Gestures in that sense are not just movements

of the body, but symbolic gestures For example, it could be a nice “gesture”

to send someone a thank you card for a present they have given you Another example of a nice gesture would be to send someone flowers when they sick

or something bad has happened to them

Postures and body movements are the position of the body; the situation

or disposition of the several parts of the body with respect to each other, or for

a particular purpose The anthropology of posture Hewes (1957) said:

“Posture is a matter of how people sit, walk, stand and move”

Touch (tactile/ haptics) refers to the way people exchange information by touching one‟s body Touching is often used as a form of demonstrating

sympathy, intimacy, particularly between women Men also may use it, but it

is easily confused with acts of power (it may also be mistaken for homosexual acts of intimacy) (Guirdham, 1999)

1.2.2 Advantages of using body language in teaching English to children

From the above – mentioned things, it is referred that using body language

in the development of teaching is appropriate for the characteristics of the children for the reason that they are attracted to the physical movement It seems to be easier for them to learn something which is taught through facial expression, gestures, eye contact and so on Children enjoy moving around without thinking whether they can break the classroom rules or not Furthermore, children love to play, they learn better when they are enjoying themselves and they like thinking what they are doing is a real work There are some advantages of using body language by which a child can learn new things naturally and effectively in English teaching class, as follows:

1.2.2.1 Vocabulary improvement

Teaching vocabulary is one of the most important duties in English teaching to children The kids often learn new things easily and also forget quickly Therefore, the teachers should pay more attention to teaching methods and using body language is one of them to fully mobilize their study interest in word teaching In this way, the teachers do the action while teaching words or phrases There are a lot of words which can be directly expressed through actions For example, when teaching adjectives “happy, sad, hungry, angry, tired”, the teacher may say the words and using facial expressions and gestures showing those emotions at the same time (expressing “happy” with a smiling face, “sad” with a crying one ) Along those lines, teachers also only do the actions and ask the students to guess the

meanings of these ones, then tell them in English By this way, the kids will understand how these words denote the meanings more easily and remember them quickly and effectively

1.2.2.2 Speaking improvement

According to Zhang Xing Mei (2013), the spoken language is one of the important ways to communicate, so we should try to develop the students' ability of speaking Factually they are helped to reach the aim in a certain degree by their teacher's body language

In general, body language can improve the students‟ speaking skill and their ability of using English in suitable situations In the English class, the teachers should not only use body languages themselves, but also ask the students to use them according to the different situation This can be seen when teaching a greeting lesson It is the time when the students first meet and they do not know each other So to start, the teacher can introduce herself first During the introduction, the teacher should use the new vocabularies and sentence structures together with attracting expressions and gestures as possibly as she can She smiles when she says hello to the class; she shakes hands with some students saying "Nice to meet you"; she writes name down

on the blackboard; she imitates the action of holding a micro and singing, playing badminton and turning pages to explain her hobbies After her introduction, the teacher can create a circumstance for the students to practice Usually, the application of body language in different situations will result in

an attracting and successful lesson The children not only understand the usage of the structures but they can also practice these naturally in the right situation, which improve their speaking competence

1.2.2.3 Daily language understanding

In kindergarten school, the children are just acquainted with English So, some oral sentences of the English teachers are not easy to be understood, and then the teachers can use gestures while saying For example (Zhang Xing Mei, 2013):

point

praise students

The students will understand unconsciously the meaning of words as long

as continuous training like this

In a lesson, body language is available from beginning to end, whether teaching letters and words, sentences, or songs, to optimize the teaching Another, in the English teaching classroom, using body language may change difficulty into ease

In conclusion, in English teaching activities, both encouraging eyes and a caressing action of teachers can let children feel love, support and trust Effective use of body language may enhance teacher - student feelings, arouse interest in learning, and then improve the teaching effect In addition, improper use body language will let children cause error in understanding In the long run, it can make children lose interest in learning Therefore, teachers should consciously and properly use body language well and together with the spoken language in order to achieve the aim of English teaching effectively

1.2.3 Some kinds of body language used in English teaching class

1.2.3.1 The use of gestures

Sign language, which is the movement or position of fingers, palms and arms acting with each other to spread feelings and reach the idea, is an important part of body language In English teaching, the appropriate application of the sign language to assist education is very necessary For example, when a teacher wants to hint a student to stand up to answer a question, he or she can then head the center of his palm up and lift it On the contrary, if a teacher wants to ask a student to sit down, he or she can wield the center of his or her palm down When a student‟s answer to a question is right, the teacher stick out the thumb means “How great you are!” When explaining the meaning of “Shake hands with somebody” in detail, the teacher makes an action of handshake, then the students appreciate it right away This shows that the fittingly application of sign language can assist the teaching work, even some students who are poor in foundation can understand the teacher‟s meaning and receive the information amusedly In this way, the students can memorize the lesson, succeed in communication, and the teachers also strengthen the effect of their teaching

1.2.3.2 The use of facial expression

The facial expression is the useful information source in teaching English Yin Li (2001) states that it is called „the weather chart” of the person‟s thought affection In the classroom, the teacher‟s facial expression has a great influence on students‟ mood For instance, if the teachers show their kind and genial faces, the students will feel the teacher‟s love and faith, kindness and sincerity, then they will be in high spirits, and go into the study with full enthusiasm, and increase their study efficiency In a so long lesson such as

grammar one, for another example, a smile from the teacher may also make them full of spirit though they felt tired The smile can draw near the distance between teachers and students When they do a good job, the teacher may appreciate them not only using words but also the facial expression by closing the eyes with full of smile This is a kind of appraising facial expression used

to appraise students‟ good deeds When they make some mistakes, the teacher can narrow the eyes, raise the corners of the mouth and smile In a word, all the kinds of facial expression, no matter conscious or unconscious, can encourage the students and making good use of facial expression is a better way to increase the effect of teaching

1.2.3.3 The use of eye contact

The eye is “the window of the mind”, and it can reflect inside things in deep place in people‟s mind In the English teaching, teachers have to be good

at using their own eyes so as to catch the feedback information in time and adjust the teaching way and the teaching speed

In general, there are three kinds of positive eyesight that the teacher is always using The first one is serious eyesight The sight line should be straight, eyeballs should not move casually, the facial expression should be serious and careful When the teacher wants to make a student recognize his

or her wrong deed, the teacher can use serious eyesight to make him or her tell the truth The second one is concerned eyesight The sight should be kind, gentle, natural, and the facial expression should not be more serious or more casual in order to make the students feel that they are noticed, encouraged, hinted etc In this way, the students can think actively and get touch with the teacher carefully The third one is closely eyesight When talking with a