Nghiên cứu về phát triển ngôn ngữ cho học sinh trường Tiểu học Đoàn Xá thông qua điệu ca, bài hát và trò chơi = A study on using chants, songs and games to DEVELOP LANGUAGE IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO STUDENTS AT DOAN XA PRIMARY SCHOOL

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ---  --- NGUYỄN THỊ THOAN A STUDY ON USING CHANTS, SONGS AND G

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

-  -

NGUYỄN THỊ THOAN

A STUDY ON USING CHANTS, SONGS AND GAMES TO DEVELOP LANGUAGE IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO STUDENTS AT DOAN XA PRIMARY SCHOOL

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ PHÁT TRIỂN NGÔN NGỮ CHO HỌC SINH

TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC ĐOÀN XÁ THÔNG QUA

ĐIỆU CA, BÀI HÁT VÀ TRÒ CHƠI

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60 14 0111

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

-  -

NGUYỄN THỊ THOAN

A STUDY ON USING CHANTS, SONGS AND GAMES TO DEVELOP LANGUAGE IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO STUDENTS AT DOAN XA PRIMARY SCHOOL

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ PHÁT TRIỂN NGÔN NGỮ CHO HỌC SINH

TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC ĐOÀN XÁ THÔNG QUA

ĐIỆU CA, BÀI HÁT VÀ TRÒ CHƠI

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60 14 0111

Supervisor : Dr Mai Thi Loan

DECLARATION

I certify that the thesis entitled “A study on using chants, songs and games to

develop language in teaching English to students at Doan Xa Primary school” which is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master

of Arts, is the result of my study It has not been presented anywhere

Hanoi 2014

Nguyen Thi Thoan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor - Dr Mai Thi Loan for useful instructions, comments and support during the process of fulfilling the thesis

Secondly, I would like to give my sincere thanks to all the teachers of English at the department of post graduate who gave me useful lectures

My gratitude also sends to all English teachers at Doan Xa Primary school for their interesting and important ideas which helped me so much for my questionnaire

Finally, I am thankful to my family and friends for their valuable care and encouragement

ABSTRACT

The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether using chants, songs and games in teaching language in general and teaching vocabulary in particular is effective or not The researcher also tries to find out the ways of using chants, songs and games to teach language for the third-grade students at Doan Xa Primary school

In order to reach the aims of the thesis, the author used the following data collection instruments: interview for teachers, survey questionnaire for students and tests for students

The results and findings show that students’ vocabulary improves considerably after learning English through chants, songs and games Furthermore, the findings also point out that in the lessons using chants, songs and games, teachers should design a variety of tasks such as gap-filling, multiple choice, ticking true or false to enhance students’ vocabulary Teachers should also choose chants, songs and games from various sources such as internet, CD, VCD or television to attract students’ concentration

LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES

Chart 1: Students’ attitude towards learning vocabulary with the use of chants, songs

and games 22

Chart 2: Teachers’ frequency of using chants, songs and games 26

Chart 3: Teachers’ attitudes towards the effectiveness of chants, songs and games 27

Chart 4: Raw marks in vocabulary test (pre-test) 31

Chart 5: Raw marks in vocabulary test (post-test) 33

Table 1: Students’ improvement after they had been taught with the use of chants, songs and games 23

Table 2: Students’ favorite tasks in the lesson with the use of chants, songs and games 24

Table 3: The sources of chants, songs and games 28

Table 4: Frequency distribution (pre-test) 30

Table 5: Mean and standard deviation (pre-test) 31

Table 6: Frequency distribution (post-test) 32

Table 7: Mean and standard deviation (post-test) 33

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i

DECLARATION ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Significance of the study 2

6 Methodology 2

7 Design of the study 3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Definition of language 4

1.2 The role of teachers and students in teaching and learning language 4

1.2.1 Teachers’ role 4

1.2.2 Students’ role 6

1.3 Review of methods and approaches for teaching language 7

1.3.1 Methods of teaching language 7

1.3.2 Approaches for teaching language 8

1.4 Chants, songs and games as motivations for students to improve language 9

1.5 Aspects of language that can be improved through chants, songs and games 11

1.5.1 Pronunciation 11

1.5.2 Vocabulary 11

1.5.3 Listening 12

1.5.4 Speaking 13

1.6 Choosing chants, songs and games 13

1.6.1 Choosing chants and songs 13

1.6.2 Choosing games 14

1.7 Review of related studies 14

1.8 Summary 16

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 17

2.1 The setting of the study 17

2.1.1 Conditions which affect students’ participation in a language lesson 17

2.1.2 Teaching and learning conditions at Doan Xa primary school 17

2.2 Participants 19

2.3 Data collection instruments 19

2.3.1 Questionnaire for students 19

2.3.2 Interview for teachers 20

2.3.3 Tests 20

2.4 Data collection and analysis procedure 20

2.5 Summary 21

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 22

3.1 Questionnaire for students 22

3.1.1 Aims 22

3.1.2 Participants 22

3.1.3 Data analysis 22

3.1.3.1 Students’ attitude towards learning vocabulary with the use of chants, songs and games 22

3.1.3.2 The improvement of students after they had been taught with the use of chants, songs and games 23

3.1.3.3 Students’ favorite tasks in the lesson with the use of chants, songs and games 24

3.1.3.4 The difficulties the learners had while they studied with the use of chants, songs and games 24

3.2 Interview for teachers 26

3.2.1 Aims 26

3.2.2 Participants 26

3.2.3 Data analysis 26

3.2.3.1 Teachers’ frequency of using chants, songs and games 26

3.2.3.2 Teachers’ attitudes towards the effectiveness of chants, songs and games.27 3.2.3.3 The difficulties the teachers had while designing a lesson with the use of chants, songs and games 27

3.2.3.4 The sources of chants, songs and games 28

3.2.3.5 The tasks teachers design to teach students with the use of chants, songs and games 29

3.3 Tests 29

3.3.1 Aims 29

3.3.2 Participants 29

3.3.3 Test description 30

3.3.4 Data analysis and findings 30

3.3.4.1 Pre-test (at the beginning of the term) 30

3.3.4.1.1 Frequency distribution 30

3.3.4.1.2 Correlation 31

3.3.4.2 Post- test (at the end of the term) 32

3.3.4.2.1 Frequency distribution 32

3.3.4.2.2 Correlation 33

3.4 Summary 34

CHAPTER 4: PEDAGOGICAL SUGGESTIONS 35

4.1 The use of chants, songs and games in the lesson 35

4.1.1 The use of chants 35

4.1.2 The use of songs 35

4.1.3 The use of games 36

4.2 Suggestions for task designing 36

4.3 A sample lesson plan using chants, songs and games 37

4.4 Summary 38

PART III: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 39

1 Recapitulation 39

2 Conclusion 39

3 Limitations of the study 40

4 Suggestions for further study 40

REFERENCES 41

APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE VERSIONS) I APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW FOR TEACHERS V APPENDIX 3: PRE-TEST VIII APPENDIX 4: POST-TEST IX APPENDIX 5: SAMPLE TASKS X APPENDIX 6: SAMPLE LESSON PLAN XIV

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

“The entire middle class seem want to learn English for their children as an international vehicle which they can then use with the rest of the world” (Arthur Mc

in Graddol and Meinhof, 1995:5) This is true that people all can not deny that nowadays English plays a significant role in the world in general and in our life in particular It is the international language in the world which is used widely in many fields of our daily life It is the language of science and technology, economy and commerce It is also the language of aviation, tourism, education and many other fields It is chosen to be taught in many schools in many countries as the second language Therefore, governments pay more attention to teaching and learning English

One of the most crucial goals of teaching and learning English is to communicate Communication helps people exchange knowledge, love, experiences, etc but if people do not have enough knowledge of that language, they will have many difficulties in exchanging information They can not understand the things people want to talk to them or they do not know how to express their thoughts or it maybe lead to misunderstanding or the communication breakdown Recognizing the significance of language in our life, howerver, most of the classrooms in Vietnam in general and at Doan Xa primary school in particular, people do not appreciate highly English - the language which is taught as the second language

Students learn Vietnamese and Maths more than six periods per week They even learn more these subjects at school or in the teachers’ house, while, they have two periods a week to learn many skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing As a result, many students complained that they had spent plenty of time studying English but they can not remember lessons they had learned and some days later even some hours later they forgot them completely This is the reason why teaching and learning English requires a new method to make learning English language interesting and effective

Facing with this situation, the researcher chooses the study on using chants, songs and games to develop language for students at Doan Xa school

2 Aims and objectives of the study

The study aims at finding out how chants, songs and games are used by teachers in the classroom and how students respond to the ways chants, songs and games are used in the classroom

To be more specific, the objectives of this study are to:

- investigate how chants, songs and games are used to teach language for primary students

- find out the ways to teach language for primary students with the use of chants, songs and games

2 What are the student’s opinions of chants, songs and games in their learning?

4 Scope of the study

Developing English language is a large field to research Due to limitation of

time, experience and knowledge, this thesis only focused on exploiting English

chants, songs and games as supplementary materials to enrich vocabulary for the

3rd-form students at Doan Xa primary school

5 Significance of the study

The study provides the teachers with the benefits of using chants, songs and games in teaching language, especially in teaching vocabulary This study also suggests the ways of using chants, songs and games in the lesson

6 Method of the study

In order to achieve the aims of the study, the following data collection

instruments were used:

1 A survey questionnaire for experimental class

2 An interview for four teachers of English at Doan Xa primary schools

3 A pre- test and post- test for both experimental and control classes

The collected data comes from four teachers of English and 60 students at Doan Xa primary school The data collection time lasted 17 weeks during the second term of the school year 2013- 2014

7 Design of the study

The study includes three parts:

Part 1 Introduction shows rationale, aims, objectives, research questions, scope, significance, method and design of the study

Part 2 Development includes 4 chapters:

Chapter 1: Literature review deals with some theoretical background relevant

to the study: definition of language; the role of teachers and students in teaching and learning language; review of traditional methods and approaches for teaching language; chants, songs and games as motivations for students to improve language; aspects of language that can be improved through chants, songs and games; choosing chants, songs and games and review of related studies

Chapter 2: Research methodology focuses on the current situation of

teaching and learning Tieng Anh 3 at Doan Xa primary school, participants of the

study, data collection instruments, and data collection and analysis procedure

Chapter 3 shows data analysis and findings

This chapter of the study goes on with data analysis and findings

Chapter 4 shows implication for using chants, songs and games in the lesson, suggestions for task designing, suggestions for using the topic of chants, songs and games, role of teacher in teaching language and a sample lesson plan using chants, songs and games

Part 3: Conclusion and recommendations

This chapter summarises the major findings in part 2, states out the limitations of the study and gives suggestions for futher study

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of language

Language is defined in many ways by many authors Sapir (1921:3) defined language as a primarily human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols

Wharmough J (1956:34) stated that “Language is a human, a verbal systematic symbolism, a means of transmitting information, a form of social behavior with a high degree of convention.”

According to Robert H R (1963:7), language is a symbol system, based on pure and arbitrary convention, infinitely extendible and modifiable according to the changing needs and conditions of the speakers

Since language is a complicated concept which involves many aspects, it is very difficult to make clear what definition of language is the most appreciated In opinion of the researcher, language is all of the ways which human use to communicate and exchange information

1.2 The role of teachers and students in teaching and learning language

1.2.1 Teachers’ role

Teacher plays a significant role in the success of second language learning Teacher plays one of the most influential roles to help students engage and persist in the long process of second language acquisition Joachim A (1995:4) stated that teachers have two major roles in the classroom: to create the conditions under which learning can take place - the social side of teaching; to impart, by a variety of means, knowledge to their learners - the task-oriented side of teaching

Oxford and Shearin (1994:4) has mentioned some roles in the classroom of language teacher as follows:

- Figure out learners’ real reasons for learning the language

- Help students build challenging but achievable goals

- Show students the benefits of learning the language

- Create a safe, welcoming, and non-intimidating teaching environment

- Motivate students to develop high but realistic intrinsic motivation

From the researcher’s viewpoint, teacher has a significant role in teaching language to children as follows:

Firstly, teacher has an important role in showing students real reasons for learning the language because most of the students love playing than learning They

do not know the important role of learning in general and learning language in particular, therefore teacher should highlight learners’ real reasons for learning the language

Furthermore, teacher often gives students challenging to help students find learning not an easy job To get the target of language is not an easy process which requires great efforts Depending on students’ ability of language, teacher gives the suitable levels of challenge so that students feel learning not easy but not too difficult Of course, when facing with challenging, students sometimes feel tired and want to give up the task At this time, teacher helps students how to get achievement goals

In addition, many students are never absent from the class but they do not recognize the real purpose of their learning Some children go to school because their parents want that Some students see their all friends go to school and want to

go there to meet friends and have fun Students try their best to get the best marks, but they do not understand that what they do at school is for their future Therefore, the role of teacher is showing students the benefits of learning in general and learning language in particular Especially, nowadays learning language is very significant English is more important than an optional subject

Moreover, the environment has a great influence on students’ learning If the atmosphere of the classroom is good, students will have fun and their learning is more effective Even shy students are not afraid of speaking, therefore, teacher should create a safe, welcoming and non-intimidating teaching environment

Finally, teacher also motivates students to develop high but realistic intrinsic motivation Teacher encourages students to develop their abilities that

are realistic to avoid wasting time and to get their purpose speedily

1.2.2 Students’ role

Leo J (2007:6) mentioned the role of learners as follows:

- Working alone, preparing ideas or making notes before a discussion, doing a listening task, doing a short written assignment, or doing grammar or vocabulary exercises

- Working together in pairs or groups, comparing and discussing their answers, or reading and reacting to one another’s written work and suggesting improvements

- Working together in discussions or in role-plays, sharing ideas, opinions, and experiences

- Interacting with the teacher and the whole class, asking questions or brainstorming ideas

Gardner R C and Macintyre P D (2008:1-11) have listed some roles of students such as: Firstly, students should have positive attitudes towards learning They have to learn vocabulary and they have to recognize the model as exactly as they can In each three lessons of one unit, there are two model sentences that students have to remember because these are the language focus of the units To do this, students need to recognize, imitate and repeat activities until they can practice the sentence pattern freely and correctly In addition, if students would like to be good language learners, they should find out their motivations The progress depends mainly on students’ effort, not teachers Teacher can not help students to get the language target if they do not practice, imitate, repeat sentence pattern Therefore, the important role of students is to find out their motivation and respond activity during the lesson

In the researcher’s opinion, environment is an important factor in learning language Teacher can only provide students with safe, welcoming, and non-intimidating teaching environment at school only, therefore students should find another environment to practice speaking language Especially, nowadays there are many foreigners in Vietnam, students should find the opportunity to practice English language

Preparing new lessons and reviewing old ones are also important for students because learning language without self-practicing regularly makes students easy to forget it Therefore, the teacher should find the best way to encourage students to learn by themselves

1.3 Review of methods and approaches for teaching language

It is very necessary to understand the differences between a method and an approach According to Harmer (2001:78), an approach is a set of correlative assumptions about the nature of language and language learning, and a method is a plan for presenting the language material to be learned about and should be based upon a selected approach

1.3.1 Methods of teaching language

Rack R and Theodore R (1986:44-98) listed some methods of teaching language as follows:

The Direct Method

The basic premise of the Direct Method was that students should attempt to learn a second language in the same way as they learn their first language The method emphasized oral interaction, spontaneous use of language, no translation between first and second languages, and little or no analysis of grammar rules Therefore, this method is rather difficult for primary students to use it because the teaching is carried out entirely in the target language and emphasized good pronunciation

Grammar-translation method

The method focused on studying grammatical rules and morphology, doing written exercices, memorizing vocabulary, translating texts from prose passages into the language Students have to keep in memory long lists of vocabulary by heart There is little or no emphasis placed on developing oral ability Therefore, this method is not suitable to primary students because they love action, and they will learn better when taking part in lively activities

Audio-lingual method

The emphasis of this method was on memorisation through pattern drills and

conversation practices rather than promoting communicative ability It tends to be teaching-centred Language practice is carried out with the whole class; it is not often carried out in pair-work and group-work; the language practiced is entirely predictable and does not make too many demands on the teacher This method encourages students to listen carefully and memorize chunks of language, however,

it does not focus on meaning or encouraging students to think themselves or produce language independently

During the late 1960s and the 1970s, there has been a move from centered to learned-centered classrooms There is more emphasis on learners and the teacher has to pay more attention to students’ need, meaningful task-based practices to reach meaningful communication Consequently, changing teaching language methods must be the goals for any courses

teacher-1.3.2 Approaches for teaching language

Jean B and Gail E (2004:43-45) mentioned some common approaches used

in teaching language as follows:

Total physical response

Total physical response is an approach to teaching a second language based

on the theory that the memory is enhanced through association with physical movement This approach is very popular in language teaching in general and teaching language to children in particular since it develops listening skills, introduces new language in a very visual, contextualized way, involves activity, movement and does not give students any pressure

The communicative approach

The communicative approach is based on the social-interactionist theory which emphasizes the social nature of language learning and interaction For children, this approach means language teachers engage learners in drawing, acting out, listening, talking, reading or writing based on meaningful and contextualized

tasks using language which has been carefully prepared for

Task-based learning

This is one of the most recent methodological approaches in English

language teaching This approach has three phases: pre-task preparation (introduction of new language and procedures to be used), task cycle (the macro task in pairs with a final public summary of their results) and language focus

Using this approach, teachers encourage children to use the language they have recently learned by providing a framework and supporting for the macro-task and then allowing students to use language for their own purposes and meanings

Story-based

This is a teaching approach using storybooks and storytelling Its educational value has always been undisputed throughout the world as follows: Stories are motivating, challenging and fun and can help develop positive attitudes Furthermore, children can become personally involved in a story as they identify with the characters and try to interpret the narrative and illustrations Stories also link fantasy and imagination with the child’s real world They provide a way of enabling children to make sense of their everyday life and forge links between home and school

Cross-curricular

This approach is linked to the activity-based approach and tasked-based learning The development of the students is linked to other areas of the curriculum, such as Art, Physical Education, Mathematics or Nature Study

Those are teaching language approaches and according to the researcher, total physical response, the communicative approach, task-based learning and story-based approach should be used to teach language to primary students Depending on students’ ability, teacher chooses the suitable ones

1.4 Chants, songs and games as motivations for students to improve language

Teaching language in general and teaching English in particular through chants, songs and games brings students with many benefits

In contrast to traditional methods, children love actions, they learn better through actions so teaching through chants, songs and games can improve concentration Students will focus more on the lessons than chatting, playing or thinking something else

Jean B and Gail E (2004:162) emphasized the benefits of chants and songs

in many fields such as:

- They provide for lots of natural and enjoyable repetition

- They can be used to develop all skills in an integrated way

- They help improve all aspects of pronunciation

A psychological/ affective resource

- They are motivating and fun and help develop positive attitudes towards the target language

- They are non-threatening and the more inhibited child will feel secure when singing and chanting as a class or in group

- They can encourage a feeling of achievement and build children’s confidence by allowing children to learn chunks of language which they can show off or teach to friends or to members of the family

A cognitive resource

- They help to develop concentration, memory and coordination

- They sensitize children to rhyming clues as aids to meaning

- Repetition enables children to predict what comes next and to consolidate language items

- Accompanying actions or gestures help to reinforce meaning, while channelling high levels of energy in a positive way

- The variety they provide changes the pace and atmosphere of a lesson and caters for different learning styles

- They can be compiled into songs/ rhyme books to help children develop good study habits

A cultural resource

- They are from authentic sources and can contribute to the cultural component of a language programme Children can be encouraged to compare with those in their own language

A social resource

- Singing and chanting together is a shared social experience and helps to develop a class and group identity

- They can be used as the basis for a performance or show

According to Jean B and Gail E (2004:162), teaching and learning through games also bring a lot of benefits:

- They add variety to the range of learning situations

- They change the pace of a lesson and help to keep pupils’ motivation

- They lighten more formal teaching and can help to renew pupils’ energy

- They provide hidden practice of specific language patterns, vocabulary and pronunciation

- They can help to improve attention span, concentration, memory, listening skills and reading skills

- Pupils are encouraged to participate; shy learners can be motivated to speak

- They increase pupil-pupil communication which provides fluency practice and reduces the domination of the class by the teacher

- It helps create a fun atmosphere and reduces the distance between teacher and pupils

- They can help reveal areas of weakness and the need for further language

- They can help to motivate and improve writing skills by providing a real audience context and purpose

Now, with the all clues, people can not deny the role of chants, songs and games in teaching English

1.5 Aspects of language that can be improved through chants, songs and games

Jean B and Gail E (2004:163-172) stated that children enjoy chants, songs and games They are not only motivating and fun but also provide excellent practice for improving pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and the four language skills To

be brief, aspects of language which can be improved through chants, songs and

games are as follows:

1.5.1 Pronunciation

Jean B and Gail E (2004:166-164) pointed out that chants, songs and games are particularly useful for practising pronunciation This includes individual sounds and sounds in connected speech, features relating stress, rhythm and intonation Chants, songs and games are useful for showing what happens to sounds in connected speech Furthermore, more important features of pronunciation, such as stress and rhythm, can also be practiced in a very natural way by clapping the beat

1.5.2 Vocabulary

Carthy Mc ( 1990:210) showed the role of vocabulary that “No matter how well the students learn the grammar, no matter how successful the sounds of second language are mastered, without words to express a wide range of meanings, communication in the second language just can not happen in any meaningful ways.” Recognizing the importance of vocabulary, the researcher finds that teaching and learning with the use of chants, songs and games can enhance students’ vocabulary because the regular repetition of words, wonderful melody, fun atmosphere can focus students’ attention and reinforce students’ vocabulary greatly

1.5.3 Listening

Be aware of listening in English is very important because the purpose of language teaching is to communicate Students can interact with others in a more extended way better when they listen well Karen L (2007:3) said that “Listening is the catalyst that fosters mutual understanding and provides us with insight into people’s needs and desires so that we can connect with them” Poor listening is the cause of misunderstandings Therefore, listening must be highly appreciated in each lesson By focusing on listening to the chants, songs and games to do the tasks such

as gap-filling, ticking true or false, multiple choice, etc, students’ listening skill has

great progress

a result, students are self-confident to practice to improve their English speaking frequently

1.6 Choosing chants, songs and games

1.6.1 Choosing chants and songs

Songs and chants can be used in many different ways, some examples of which are warm – up, a transition from one activity to another, introducing language target, getting students’ attention, etc Curtain & Pesola (1988:246-265) stated that the teachers should select chants and songs basing on the following criteria:

- The chants and songs should contain limited vocabulary

- The song should contain language compatible with that being used in the classroom

- The song should present a limited musical challenge

- The rhythm should be straight forward and repetitive

- Song topics should be within the experiences of children

- For primary level 4 and 5 it is useful if songs are accompanied by actions

- It is also helpful if the words of the songs are highly repetitive and if they have a refrain: a repeated stanza, between verses of the song

According to researcher, depending on the conditions of class, the teachers have their own methods, but the participants are primary students, therefore chants and songs should contain sentence pattern, but a few new words Chants and songs should be accompanied by actions since this attracts students’ attention

1.7 Review of related studies

In modern society, teaching and learning language play a prominent role in our life Learning language opens many opportunities for learners such as getting a good job, exchanging information, learning civilization from other countries in the world, etc

There have been many foreign researches investigating the teaching language methodology with the use of chants, songs and games Eberhard K (2001) studied about ways and means of teaching young learners listening and speaking skills and realized that songs and rhymes combine important didactic claims like the holistic, the monolingual and the contextual approach with fun, activity and motivation Furthermore, almost incidentally the children become familiar with parts of the foreign culture and see them as enrichment for their own life

Claudia S S (2002) carried out the study about the significance of songs and found the effects of songs in the foreign classroom on text recall and involuntary mental rehearse

Veronika R (2007) conducted the diploma thesis about the use of music in teaching English and recognized the importance of songs in language teaching such

as cultural significance, enjoyable drill, the help of songs when learning pronunciation, the help of songs focused on sounds, the help of songs focused on words, the help of songs focused on connected speech

Shaheen A (2009) investigated the use of chants, songs and games in teaching English to young learners in Bangladesh and found that chants, songs and games can be used in children’s classes to utilize their natural ability to learn a language and the high motivation results from enjoyable lessons in the primary schools where learning takes place through chants, songs and games

Jin Z (2011) studied the benefits of chants in language teaching and found that listening and speaking are probably the most important skills a person needs to

be able to communicate Music, rhyming and chanting can combine these two necessary skills for learning a language and give the system of language pleasure

Mohammed M E (2011) examined the effectiveness of using children songs

on developing the fourth graders' English vocabulary in Rafah Governmental schools The results showed that children songs had many benefits in enhancing students’ vocabulary

Some Vietnamese scholars also carried out the studies about chants, songs and games and the results showed that chants, songs and games have a positive role

in teaching and learning language

Bui Thi Minh Thu (2005) exploited songs to motivate students in learning English grammar She pointed out that songs have an important role in helping students memorize the grammatical rules more easily

Tran Thi Tuyet Mai (2010) did the research on the use of English traditional songs to improve students’ pronunciation She found that the use of songs could make students’ pronunciation better and she also suggested how to exploit songs in class to teach pronunciation to students

There are a lot of studies proving that chants, songs and games can be used to improve students’ listening Vu Thi Huyen (2006), Nguyen Thi Trang (2006) and many others suggest the use of songs to enhance students’ listening competence

Le Thi Le Thuong (2005), Tran Thi Thu Trang (2011), Bui Thi Thuy Nga (2012) also showed out that using games was an interesting and effective way to teach vocabulary Children could learn English through playing without thinking that they are studying, thus they learn a lot without stress

As a teacher of English, the researcher realized that the students have difficulties in learning language in general and in vocabulary in particular Despite recognizing the importance of learning vocabulary, it is not taught as a separate skill but incorporated into reading, listening, speaking and writing tasks As a result, students’ vocabulary is not good as the teacher hopes To help students change this situation, the author of the study is interested in this topic

1.8 Summary

This chapter has reviewed the definition of language, the teachers’ role and students’ role in teaching and learning language In addition, the researcher also gave review of methods and approaches in teaching language, and introduced chants songs and games as motivations for students to improve language Moreover, aspects of language that can be improved through chants, songs and games are mentioned Finally, the author suggested the ways choosing chants, songs and games and reviewed previous related studies

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 The setting of the study

2.1.1 Physical conditions which affect students’ participation in a language lesson

English has played an important role in communicating all over the world and the environment in which students learn can greatly influence their ways of learning It can be seen as physical conditions which have great impact on students’ learning

Text books and authentic material can be seen as important resourses that encourage students in their learning Text books give students knowledge They can

be considered as students’ friends Krashen S (1981:126) also emphasized that if the text books which were taught for students suitable to their cognition, they would

be of great benefit to develop students’ language competence Authentic materials such as tapes, tape- recorder, laboratories, wall- pictures, wall charts, other display facilities, slides, films, radio, television, videos and libraries motivate students greatly They soon realize that authentic materials are so interesting and different from the traditional materials Bowen B M (1982:1) stated that authentic materials encourage the learners to lift their eyes form their books, which makes it easier and more natural for one to speak another In fact, different types of authentic materials can help to create good atmosphere of a classroom

2.1.2 Teaching and learning conditions at Doan Xa primary school

The study was conducted at Doan Xa Primary school which was founded in

1990 and situated by the river and far from the centre of Hai Phong city English is

a new subject in this school

The school has enough rooms for teaching, but there is no classroom for only English Furthermore, in the school, there is a serious shortage of facilities Learning to speak as a native speaker is very important but there is even no radio for learners to develop listening skill They are only familiar with the voice of their teacher, so it is very difficult for them to improve their English abilities The school has an overhead projector but the teacher has little chance to use it because it is not

enough for all classrooms and because of the shortage of rooms for the English subject so if the teacher wants to teach a powerpoint lesson it will take a lot of time

to insert the computer with the projector

Apart from the lack of facilities, Doan Xa school is a small country in the countryside so people do not care much about English Parents’ need is very simple They hope their children can read Vietnamese fluently and do simple sums Some parents think that their children should focus on their mother-tongue Some others think that English is also important but their children can learn better in the secondary school Therefore, learners in Doan Xa primary school spend a lot of time taking care of their siblings or doing the housework

Since 2012, the school has used the new syllabi published by the ministry of

Education and Training which are regarded as updated but more difficult than Let’s

learn English Many learners find it difficult to learn as the new syllabuses are

different from the old ones They focus more on listening and speaking interaction whereas learners are affected by their language for a long time New language, new syllabuses, new methods and poor facilities are all the difficulties for the learners

Although most of the learners started learning English at the same time, many of them have low proficiency of English because of their wrong attitudes towards English learning as well as the shortage of time for English In many schools in the city, English is taught 4 periods per week with the same syllabuses but at Doan Xa primary school, learners have only two periods per week As a result, learners do not have enough time to practice as well as review the lesson

There are many difficulties in teaching and learning English at Doan Xa primary school, however, one of the advantages here is teaching staff who are young, helpful and well-trained The school has four English teachers, both of whom are female When working with the new syllabi, they find it difficult to manage the class Fortunately, they do not mind changing the methods and they are eager to learn new ones to help students improve their language competence

2.2 Participants

The participants in this study were 60 third- grade students at Doan Xa primary school in class 3A and 3B The experimental group is class 3A which included forteen females and sixteen males while the control group is class 3B that had sixteen females and forteen males The two groups have a relatively similar level of proficiency in English

There are also four English teachers who participate in answering the interview for teachers

2.3 Data collection instruments

Both questionnaire and tests were employed in this research so as to get the accurate data These instruments help the study get more in-depth data for analysis

2.3.1 Questionnaire for students

The questionnaire is established in this study since it is one of the most common forms of data collection tools With the help of questionnaire, large amount of data can be collected quickly and economically from a large sample at the same time Furthermore, questionnaire is not difficult to prepare and carry out It

is also used by many researchers because of its reliability Therefore in this study, the researcher used questionnaire for class 3A-experimental class to find out the effectiveness of using chants, songs and games in teaching vocabulary and the ways

to use chants, songs and games in teaching vocabulary for primary students It has five questions which focus on four main aspects that the researcher wants to investigate as follows:

- Question 1 and question 2 were to find out the students’ attitudes towards learning vocabulary with the use of chants, songs and games

- Question 3 aimed at finding out the improvement of students in the lessons with the use of chants, songs and games

- Question 4 clarified students’ favorite tasks in the lesson with the use of chants, songs and games

- Question 5 aimed at finding the difficulties the learners had while they studied with the use of chants, songs and games

The participants of this research are primary students so the questionnaire was delivered to them in Vietnamese so that students can understand and express their feeling completely and exactly

2.3.2 Interview for teachers

The interview was conducted with four teachers of English at Doan Xa primary school It consists of five questions which focus on finding out the difficulties teachers encounter and working out the ways of using chants, songs and games to teach vocabulary to students

- Question 1 is to find out the frequency teachers used chants, songs and games to teach vocabulary

- Question 2 showed the teachers’ attitudes towards the effectiveness of chants, songs and games

- Question 3 worked at the difficulties the teachers had while designing a lesson

with the use of chants, songs and games

- Question 4 was to find out available sources teachers get chants, songs and games

- Question 5 aimed at finding out the tasks teachers design to teach students with the use of chants, songs and games

2.3.3 Tests

There is a pre-test and a post-test given to both class 3A - experimental class and class 3B - control class The aim of the test is to answer the question whether chants, songs and games can help learners enrich vocabulary or not The time for each test to be carried out was fifteen minutes with different levels The first test was given to learners as a pre-test after the first week of the second term and the second test was carried out at the end of this term

2.4 Data collection and analysis procedures

The data are collected and analyzed by following steps:

- In the first place, the survey questionnaires were delivered to the experimental class and an interview was conducted to each four teachers of English at Doan Xa primary schools at the end of the second term

- A pre-test was given to two classes at the beginning of the second term and a post- test was delivered to two classes at the end of the second term to check students’ progress after using chants, songs and games

- After collecting information, data were consolidated and categorized

- The result then was analyzed and presented in forms of tables, charts and figures Data analysis and findings will be presented in the next chapter

2.5 Summary

In this chapter, the author presents the context of the study, teaching and learning conditions at Doan Xa Primary school, the conditions that affects students’ learning in language In addition, the researcher gives some background information about the lessons at primary schools Tests and questionnaires are the data collection instruments of this study In the last part of the chapter, the author introduced data collection instruments, and data collection and analysis procedures

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 3.1 Questionnaire for students

3.1.1 Aims

The questionnaire was used to find out students’ ideas about the effectiveness of using chants, songs and games in teaching vocabulary and students’ favourable tasks when using chants, songs and games

Chart 1: Students’ attitude towards learning vocabulary with the use of chants,

songs and games (questions 1 and 2)

It can be seen from the table that 93.3% of the students reported that they liked learning English with chants, songs and games 12 of 30 students that take up 40% of students said that they liked the lessons with the use of chants, songs and games very much 13 of 30 students taking up 43.3 % said that chants, songs and games helped them improve their vocabulary greatly and they liked them 10% of

40%

43.3%

6.7%

10%

the respondents felt that they had no ideas about chants, songs and games They liked the traditional methods but with the use of chants, songs and games they did not find bothered However, a number of students ( 6.7%) frankly said that they did not share the same point of view They said that they could not remember the rhythm of chants and songs While they tried to remember the lyrics of the chants and songs, they could not understand the content, as a result they got nothing when going home They also complained that the games cost them a lot of time because they wanted to play games all the time

3.1.3.2 The improvement of students after they had been taught with the use of chants, songs and games

Table 1: Students’ improvement after they had been taught with the use of chants,

songs and games (question 3)

The results in the table indicate that chants, songs and games have great impact on students’ learning vocabulary Students found vocabulary learning more interesting This is proved by the fact that 100% of respondents said that their vocabulary is better than before They added that they liked learning vocabulary through chants, songs and games than other ways such as translating words into Vietnamese or using the target language to define words or writing down the words many times or sticking words on their bedroom 36.7% stated that their vocabulary was improved very much and 46.7% of students made much progress Four students which take up 13.3% showed that their vocabulary was enhanced but not much A student honestly expressed that she did very little progress The reason is that she could not catch up with other students in the class

3.1.3.3 Students’ favorite tasks in the lesson with the use of chants, songs and games

Level of interest

Tasks Very much Much A little Not at all Gap-filling 33.3% 36.7% 20% 10% Multiple choice 40% 36.7% 20% 3.3% Putting words in order 26.7% 23.3% 30% 20% Ticking true or false 50% 36.7% 10% 3.3%

to be difficult for student since students had to pay more attention to this kind of task

19 students frankly said that they did not like mistake correction at all since sometimes they had a headache after doing the task and they also complained about bad marks Students added that they could not recognize the words they learned before Gap-filling is also a difficult task for students to solve, however 70% of students were interested in this kind of task The reason for this is that they often played this task in the English lessons and as a result they were acquainted with this kind of task

3.1.3.4 The difficulties the learners had while they studied with the use of chants, songs and games