an investigation on the use of pictures in teaching english vocabulary to high school students

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION ENGLISH DEPARTMENTAN INVESTIGATION ON THE USE OF PICTURES IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS B.. This paper aims to study the use of pictures in

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

AN INVESTIGATION ON THE USE OF PICTURES IN TEACHING ENGLISH

VOCABULARY TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

B A Thesis Field of study: English Language Teaching

Supervisor: Tran Thi Chau Pha, M.Ed Researcher: Lam Hong Chi

Code: 7086620

Class: NN0852A2

Can Tho, April 2012

First of all, I wish to send my deep gratitude to the English Department who gave me an

opportunity to carry out this research paper and permitted me to work with my

supervisor, Ms Tran Thi Chau Pha

I would like to thank all of my teachers in the English Department, Can Tho University

for their encouragements Especially, I would like to express my special thanks to my

supervisor, Ms Tran Thi Chau Pha, for her support and guidance throughout my thesis

writing It is not my success without her valuable comments, suggestions and

corrections

Besides, I am sincerely thankful to Mr Nguyen Thien Nhiem, my supervisor for my

teaching practicum at Chau Van Liem High School and all students of the class 10A2

and 10A3 for their cooperation and assistance during my study

In addition, I really want to send my sincere thanks to all my friends who gave me a lot

of encouragement, especially to Dao Thi Doan Trang who helped me collect the data for

this study

Last but not least, I would love to send my special love to my family and my boyfriend

who always supported me during the time I conducted the thesis

Your contribution is important Thank you all for your help and support

Lam Hong Chi

Vocabulary plays an important role in learning foreign language It supports students in learning other skills such as reading, writing, listening and speaking There have been many techniques in teaching vocabulary including giving explanations, examples and using pictures (Duong, 2005; Nation, 1990) This paper aims to study the use of pictures in learning vocabulary to high school students Using pictures to teach vocabulary is one of the most popular methods used as part of learning and teaching English Through the use

of pictures in teaching vocabulary, teachers can help their students learn new words effectively and remember the words longer The paper focuses on students’ attitudes and perceptions toward using pictures in learning vocabulary and how effectively students can learn vocabulary with pictures The study was conducted from February to the middle of April, 2012 in Chau Van Liem High School with the participation of 45 Grade

10 students This was an experimental research with two instruments: a twenty-one-item questionnaire of five-point scale to know students’ attitudes on the use of pictures in learning vocabulary, classroom teaching and vocabulary tests The data results from questionnaire and tests were treated via SPSS 17.0 and Excel program The results showed that the students liked using pictures in learning vocabulary and had a positive attitude towards the benefits of this technique

Table of contents

Acknowledgements i

Abstract ii

Table of contents iii

List of tables vi

List of figures vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

I Rationale 1

II Research aims and questions 2

III Hypothesis 2

IV The significance of the thesis 2

V Organization of the thesis 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

I Vocabulary 4

1 Definition 4

2 The important role of vocabulary in teaching and learning English 4

3 How to make vocabulary teaching and learning effective 5

4 Techniques in teaching English vocabulary 5

II Pictures- an effective teaching aid of presenting new words 6

1 Definition 6

2 Types of pictures 7

3 The use of pictures 7

4 The advantages and disadvantages of pictures used 8

III Testing 9

1 The important role of testing 9

2 Vocabulary tests 10

IV Related studies on the use of pictures 11

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 14

I Research design 14

II Participants 14

III Instruments 14

1 Questionnaire 14

2 Vocabulary tests 15

IV Research procedures 16

1 The questionnaire 16

2 Vocabulary tests 16

CHAPTER 4: DATA RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 18

I Data results 18

1 Overview of questionnaire analysis 18

2 Vocabulary tests analysis 21

II Discussion on the results of the study 23

1 Students’ attitudes and perceptions towards using pictures in learning vocabulary 23 2 Using pictures help students learn vocabulary more effectively 24

CHAPTER 5: IMPLICATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 26

I Pedagogical implications 26

III Suggestions for further research 27

IV Conclusion 27

REFERENCES vii

APPENDICES x

Appendix 1 xi

Appendix 2 xv

Appendix 3 xix

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Clusters of the questionnaire 13

Table 2: Reliability Coefficient of the questionnaire 15

Table 3: Descriptive statistics of students’ perceptions and attitudes on the use of pictures 16

Table 4: Descriptive statistics of students’ perceptions and attitudes on the use of pictures 16

Table 5: The changes in some items of 2 questionnaires 17

Table 6: The mean score of 3 vocabulary tests 18

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The mean score of pre and post-questionnaire 17

Figure 2: Percentage of marks in the first test 19

Figure 3: Percentage of marks in the second test 19

Figure 4: Percentage of marks in the third test 20

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learning vocabulary Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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language- Teach Series, 13- 31.

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Longman

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the use of eliciting techiniques in English vocabulary lessons Can Tho: Can Tho

University

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APPENDICES

Appendix 1

QUESTIONNAIREDear students,

This research is designed to explore the use of pictures in teaching English vocabulary to high school students Your answer will be very helpful and highly appreciated for an important section in my Bachelor of Art thesis This information you provide is only used for this research and known by the researcher and her supervisor There is no right or wrong answer in this questionnaire So, feel free to give your opinions for 21 statements in the questionnaire within about 10-15 minutes

Please first give your personal information by filling in the following blanks and putting a tick () in one box that corresponds to your gender, and then complete the rest of the survey

PART B: ATITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS ON THE USE OF PICTURES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY

For each statement, please read and indicate to what extent you agree or disagree by ticking on a 5-point scale from (1)

“strongly disagree” to (5) “strongly agree” In each row, tick () ONE cell only

Number

Strongly agree

1 A large amount of vocabulary is the key to

3 Knowing new words helps me much in

reading, writing, listening and speaking

4 I prefer being taught new vocabulary by

using pictures

5 When my teacher uses pictures, I can guess

the meaning of new words easily

7 Pictures make me actively be involved in

learning process

8 I like my teacher to use pictures in teaching 1 2 3 4 5

new vocabulary

9 Learning new vocabulary by pictures, I can

remember the words longer

10 I feel bored when my teacher uses pictures

to teach new words

11 After the teacher elicits new words by

pictures, I feel stressful when the teacher

asks me to guess the meaning

12 Learning vocabulary by pictures helps me

develop my guessing meaning ability

13 Pictures make me pay attention to the

lesson and make me think more

14 I feel frustrated when I cannot find a

correct answer although my teacher uses

pictures and explains them

15 Pictures delight class and make me more

active

16 I sometimes cannot understand my

teacher’s pictures and explanations

17 After studying new words with pictures, I

can remember and apply about 80%

18 Pictures give me the motivating feeling to

express my opinion and contribute some of

my knowledge

19 Using pictures in teaching vocabulary will

make my class more interesting

21 When I learn vocabulary with pictures, I

always focus on the pictures and ignore

their meaning

Thank you for your contribution

If you would like to know more about my thesis, or if you have questions or suggestions about it, please email:

lhchi20@student.ctu.edu.vn

21 ý kiến được nêu trong bảng nghiên cứu này trong vòng 10-15 phút

Trước hết, vui lòng cung cấp vài thông tin về bạn bằng cách điền vào khoảng trắng bên dưới và đánh dấu () vào ô ứng với

giới tính của bạn trước khi hoàn thành bảng câu hỏi nghiên cứu

PHẦN A: THÔNG TIN CÁ NHÂN

Tên:………

Tuổi:………

Lớp: ……….…

PHẦN B: QUAN ĐIỂM VỀ HÌNH ẢNH TRONG VIỆC DẠY VÀ HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH.

Cho mỗi câu, vui lòng cho biết mức độ đồng ý hoặc không đồng ý của bạn dựa trên 5 mức độ được đưa ra từ (1) “hoàn

toàn không đồng ý” đến (5) “hoàn toàn đồng ý” Chỉ đánh dấu ( ) vào MỘT ô cho mỗi câu.

Hoàn toàn không đồng ý

Không đồng ý

Không có ý

Hoàn toàn đồng ý

1 Một số lượng lớn từ vựng là chìa khóa

3 Biết nhiều từ mới sẽ giúp tôi nhiều trong

nghe, nói, đọc, viết

4 Tôi thích được dạy từ mới bằng tranh ảnh

hơn là các kỷ xảo khác

5 Khi giáo viên của tôi sử dụng tranh ảnh,

tôi có thể đoán nghĩa của từ mới một cách

10 Tôi cảm thấy nhàm chán khi giáo viên sử

dụng tranh ảnh để dạy từ mới

11 Sau khi giáo viên gợi ý từ bằng tranh ảnh,

tôi cảm thấy áp lực khi giáo viên yêu cầu

tôi đoán nghĩa

12 Học từ mới bằng tranh ảnh giúp tôi phát

triển khả năng đoán nghĩa từ vựng

13 Học từ vựng bằng tranh ảnh giúp tôi chú

tâm và suy nghĩ đến bài học

14 Tôi cảm thấy nản khi không thể tìm ra

câu trả lời mặc dù giáo viên đã sử dụng

16 Thỉnh thoảng tôi không thể hiểu được

tranh ảnh và giải thích của giáo viên

17 Sau khi học từ vựng với tranh ảnh, tôi có

thể nhớ và áp dụng khoảng 80 %

18 Tranh ảnh cho tôi động lực để trình bày ý

kiến và đóng góp kiến thức cho bài học

19 Sử dụng tranh ảnh làm cho lớp tôi thích

thú hơn

21 Khi tôi học từ vựng với tranh ảnh, tôi chỉ

chú ý tới tranh mà không để ý đến nghĩa

của từ

Cám ơn các bạn đã tham gia trả lời các câu hỏi nghiên cứu.

Nếu các bạn muốn biết thêm thông tin về đề tài luận văn của tôi, hoặc có câu hỏi hay góp ý liên quan thì vui lòng liên

hệ email: lhchi20@student.ctu.edu.vn

1 One part of a film in which the events happen in one play It is…………

A view B setting C scene D scenery

2 In the film “Titanic”, Jack and Rose are the main………

3 She learned very………and was soon the best in the class.

A slowly B badly C rapidly D easily

4 He doesn’t move He is………

A still B silent C quiet D passive

5 A……… is an ordered list of objects or events

A story B sequence C film D play

6 The people who are very important in making a film They are…………

A producers B actors C directors D film makers

7 A decade is a period of………….years

A 5 B 10 C 50 D 100

8 The person who acts a role of a film or a play He is a (an)………

A character B actor C director D roller

Bài kiểm tra gồm 11 câu tất cả Trong mỗi câu có 4 sự lựa chọn nhưng chỉ có MỘT đáp án đúng Vui lòng khoanh tròn

vào phương án mà bạn cho là đúng.

1 She likes watching movies and going out with her friends to……….at the weekend

A make friends B stay healthy C play D entertain

2 Wedding songs make the wedding party more……….and happy

A joyful B mournful C sad D funny

3 Roses can be used to……….love.

A tell B talk C express D inform

4 He was very kind to us so when he died we all attended his………

A party B funeral C death D anniversary

5 It was a……….day in his life when his mother died

A mournful B happy C glad D cheerful

6 People play rock songs to make the………cheerful and rousing

A earth B atmosphere C mood D air

7 His funeral was held in a……… manner

A solemn B rousing C sad D delightful

8 Human being has 5……… They are sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch

A emotions B senses C organs D body parts

9 Comedies………us after a hard-working day

A delight B interest C please D enjoy

10 He……….his enthusiasm to everybody

A reflects B delivers C communicates D tells

11 The mother sings a song to……….the baby

A sleep B get up C wake D lull

1 “Romeo and Juliet” is a………… written early in the career of play write William Shakespeare.

A film B comedy C tragedy D tragic-comedy

2 ………….is a large commercial ship, especially one carrying passenger on a regular route

A boat B liner C canoe D ferry

3 Earthquake, flood and hurricane cause a lot of damage for human being They are natural………

A dangers B hazards C risks D disasters

4 Titanic is a………….ship It has many facilities such as a big dining room, bedrooms, a dancing floor, etc.

A large B beautiful C luxury D expensive

5 If you throw a stone into water, it…………

A sinks B breaks C floats D disappears

6 A(An)……… is a long trip, often involving traveling somewhere by plane or boat

A excursion B tour C travel D voyage

7 They are…………before getting married

A dated B interested C loved D engaged

8 ………… a very large block of ice that floats in the sea

A ice-man B ice-cream C ice-berg D ice-water

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This chapter will address 3 following sections: (1) the rationale of the research, (2) the research aims and questions, (3) the research hypothesis, (4) the significance of the thesis, and (5) the organization of the thesis.

Vocabulary plays an important role in learning foreign language The extent of students’ vocabulary knowledge relates strongly to reading comprehension and overall academic success (Baumann, Kame‘enui, & Ash, 2003; Becker, 1977; Davis, 1942; Whipple, 1925) If the students do not know much vocabulary, they will find it difficult to read a passage, to listen to a conversation, to write a paragraph and even

to communicate in English As a result, they gradually lose their interest in learning language Besides, most of students in high school often have problems with learning new words (Nguyen, 2011) They learn English vocabulary in an uninteresting and a passive way The teachers make a list of new words and give Vietnamese definitions and they try to learn them by heart As a result, the students tend to copy the definitions, repeat them back to the teacher and shortly forget the words altogether (Greenwood, 2002) Therefore, it is necessary that the teacher should apply other vocabulary teaching techniques to help students learn new words more effectively In fact, there are many kinds of methods and techniques to teach vocabulary to students such as teaching vocabulary by using pictures, examples, definitions and synonyms (Duong, 2005; Nation, 1990) Among them, using pictures is one of the techniques that play a significant role in helping learners remember the new words better (Nattinger, 1988 ; Gerlach, 1980) According to Nattinger (1988), words in our mental lexicon are connected with each other not only by meaning, form and sound but also by sight It means that pictures are useful aids in fixing words in students’ memory Moreover, Gerlach (1980) also states that pictures could attract students’ attention In short, pictures are really appropriate for presenting and checking meaning of the new words