USING LANGUAGE GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO THE GRADERS AT NGHI HUNG SECONDARY SCHOOL

MINITRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY DANG THI THUONG USING LANGUAGE GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO THE EIGHTH GRADERS AT NGHI HUNG SECONDARY SCHOOL MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION NGHE AN, 2015 MINITRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY DANG THI THUONG USING LANGUAGE GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO THE EIGHTH GRADERS AT NGHI HUNG SECONDARY SCHOOL Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Code: 60.14.01.11 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION Supervisor: NGO ĐINH PHUONG, Assoc Prof., Ph.D Nghe An, 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study would not have been completed without the invaluable assistances and encouragements of many people for whom I am grateful I especially would like to acknowledge with all my greatest attitude the support, guidance and invaluable critical feedback which I have received from my supervisor Mr Ngo Dinh Phuong, Assoc Prof., Ph.D I also would like to thank to Nghi Loc education and training department and Vinh university for offering me a chance to this thesis For it the knowledge and experience I gained in my study is very helpful My sincere thanks goes to all teachers of English and students in Nghi Hung secondary school as well as teachers of English in Nghi Dong, Nghi My, Nghi Cong secondary school who have helped me to carry out the surveys for my thesis I am really in debt to my beloved family and my friends for their help and encouragement during the process of writing this thesis Although the study has been done with all my attempts, my limitations of ability and knowledge may cause mistakes in the thesis Therefore, all comments and remarks on the thesis be highly appreciated Nghe An, 2015 Dang Thi Thuong i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Using language games to teach English vocabulary to the 8th graders at Nghi Hưng secondary school ” is the result of my own work, and that the minor thesis or any part of the same has not been submitted to any university or institution Nghe An, 2015 Author’s signature Dang Thi Thuong ii ABSTRACT Using games in language classroom in general and in learning vocabulary in particular gives a great deal of benefits for teaching and learning process With the aims to help secondary school teachers see the positive effects of games as well as encourage them to use games to teach vocabulary to their students, the investigation was carried out to find out the answers for the two main issues: the real situation of using games in teaching vocabulary, and the effects of using games teaching this language element The results reveal that first, although most students meet difficulties in learning vocabulary, they are all aware of good effects of mastering vocabulary Secondly, games are proved to be very useful and effective in vocabulary learning and teaching to the students through the experimental teaching Hence, games are highly recommended for teaching vocabulary to secondary school students In order to make the study more practical, some suggested games have been provided for teacher of English to apply in teaching vocabulary in the th form Hopefully, this dissertation will be a useful source of reference for teachers of English in improving vocabulary learning and teaching iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CAH : Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis CLT : Communicative Language Teaching CAH : Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis EAP : English for Academic Purpose EST : English for Science and Technology EOP : English for Occupational Purpose EAP : English for Academic Purpose FL : Foreign language L1 : First language L2 : Second language SLA : Second language acquisition FLA : First language acquisition SLL : Second language learning IQ : Intelligence quotient iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ABSTRACT LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES Chapter INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims and Objectives of the Study .2 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 Scope of the Study .2 1.5 Methods of the Study 1.6 Format of the Study Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Foreign and Second Language Learning 2.1.1 First, Second and Foreign Language Learning 2.1.2 Behaviorism, innatism, and interactionist position 2.2 Reasons for learning a foreign/second language .7 2.2.1 School curriculum .7 2.2.2 Advancement 2.2.3 Target language community .8 2.2.4 English for specific purposes 2.2.5 Culture .9 2.2.6 Miscellaneous 2.3 Ability to learn 2.3.1 Cognitive factors .9 2.3.2 Personality .10 2.3.3 Age 10 2.5 English Vocabulary 12 2.5.1 Definition 12 v 2.5.2 Type of Vocabulary 12 2.5.3 Concrete and Abstract Vocabulary 13 2.5.4 The Importance of Vocabulary .13 2.6 Aspects of Vocabulary need to be taught 14 2.6.1 Form: Pronunciation and Spelling 14 2.6.2 Grammar 14 2.6.3 Collocation 14 2.6.4 Meaning: denotation, connotation, appropriateness/ formality .14 2.6.5 Word formation .15 2.6.6 Word Use 15 2.7 Teaching Vocabulary in Communicative Language Teaching .16 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) .16 2.8 Stages of Teaching Vocabulary in CLT 19 2.8.1 Presentation .19 2.8.2 Practice 19 2.8.3 Revision 20 2.9 Factors Affecting the Decision in Choosing Vocabulary Items to teach 20 2.9.1 Type of lesson 20 2.9.2 Purpose of using words 21 2.9.3 Lexical syllabus 21 2.10 Games 21 2.10.1 Definition 21 2.10.2 Language games 22 2.10.3 Educational games 23 2.11 Types of language Games .23 2.12 The Advantages of Games in Teaching Vocabulary .26 2.13 Principles in Using Games 32 2.14 When to use games 34 2.15 How to organize a game? 35 2.16 Teachers’ preparation 37 Chapter RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Background to the study 38 3.1.2 Subject of the study 38 3.1.3 The textbook 38 vi 3.2 Research questions 39 3.3 The instruments .40 3.2.4 Data Collection .40 3.4 Procedures and methods of data collection .41 3.2.5 Data Analysis 42 Chapter FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Presentation and analysis of data .43 4.1.1 Pre-task questionnaire .43 4.1.2 Post-task questionnaire 47 4.2 Some samples applied in English 55 Chapter CONCLUSION 5.1 Recapitulation 60 5.2 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study .61 REFERENCES APPENDIXES vii LIST OF TABLES Pages Table 4.1 Students’ attitudes towards English learning Table 4.2 The most difficult issue to students when learning vocabulary Figure 4.1 Students’ ability of remembering new words after each lesson (Students’ questionnaire number 5) Figure 4.2 Students’ attitudes towards English vocabulary learning Figure 4.3 Students’ attitudes toward English vocabulary learning (Students’ questionnaire number 4) Table 4.3 The most difficult issue to students when playing games in learning vocabulary Table 4.4 Students’ preferences of teachers techniques exploited in teaching vocabulary Figure 4.4 Students’ attitudes towards playing games (Students’ questionnaire number 7) Table 4.5 Students’ feeling and attitudes towards language games exploited by the teacher (Question 1,2,3) Figure 4.5 Students’ attitudes towards English vocabulary learning in “Tieng Anh 8” textbook (Students’ questionnaire number 7) Figure 4.6 The effectiveness of the use of language games (Students’ questionnaire number 8) Table 4.6 Students’ evaluation of the effectiveness of language games used to teach vocabulary Figure 4.7 Teachers’ frequency of using games for teaching vocabulary Figure 4.8 The ways of organizing class of the teachers when using games Figure 4.9.The effectiveness of the use of language games (Teachers’ questionnaire number 8) viii - Students of object both reading definition of benefit and find out the picture of fax & to whole class see - Students go on finding out the pictures which suitable with the definition / benefits of them - Student have right answers will be the winners - The teacher gives feedback & congratulates the winners Sample 3: Verb snake Unit 4: Our past Type: Individual Objective: Review some verbs which student's have learnt Materials: poster and handouts Preparation: prepare handouts and poster Time: 10' Sally hopes to …………… around America one day My neighbors …………… a beautiful house They boy wants to …………… his cat Lion What would you like to …………… ? Sandwiches Could you …………… me the time ? Yes, it's 10 o'clock …………… the lamp, please It's rather dark here I often …………… my younger brother to the zoo The tiger tried to …………… from the iron cage, but it couldn't Procedure: - Teacher stick poster on the board, deliver handouts to students - Ask students to work individually, use suitable verb below to fill in the box on the snake - Note the ending letter of the verb is the beginning of the verb in the next sentence - students find out first are the winner - Ask students to read the full sentences 57 - Finally, teacher gives feedback Key: go take own name eat tell light escape Sample 4: Drawing simple pictures Unit 5: Study habits (English 8) Type: Individual work Objective: remember vocabulary through simple pictures Time: 10' Procedure: Teacher draws below simple picture on the board Teacher asks students to know what meaning of this simple picture is Students answer: thirsty - Teacher writes the below phrases on the board & ask students to draw the simple to describe to (cry) sunny weather a plane lands under the table - Students work in individual then compare their pictures with you’re their partners - Teacher asks students who have simple and clear pictures to write on the board - Students find some words which can describe by simple pictures Teacher encourages students to learn & remember word through simple pictures - Teacher give feedback Simple 5: Face to face Unit 7: My neighborhood (English 8) Type: Team work Objective: Make sentence in order to remember & use vocabulary Time: minutes Procedure: Teacher asks students to make sentences which they're learnt Which team have right sentences & quick will get score 58 Each student has to make a sentence Teacher points to student who don't make a sentence is out The teacher gives feedback and congratulates the winners Vocabulary: pancake Simple 6: close by serve, try, tasty Acrostic crosswords Unit 7: My neighborhood Type: Group work Objective: Checking vocabulary about places found in a neighborhood Time: 10 minutes Preparation: - empty crossword (15 x 20) In each box has neighborhood in cross Procedure: Divide the class into group of student each group is given a frame of crossword Students work in group and find out the words in down about places found in a neighborhood Each down word contains one letter of the crossword Each down work will get one mark Which group has more marks will won Teacher feedback congratulates the better groups Suggested crossword: S W I M M I W H A D R U T P S C S H A G H T R O A N E I G H B O R H O O D G T R S E A S K O C L I P M D T A K P O R E R E R T L K S E R Y A T E E R L Y S U 59 O A R O T E I M E S T E R ‘ O R E S L T Chapter CONCLUSION 5.1 Recapitulation In this study, the author has mentioned the main aspects in teaching vocabulary through using games for the eighth students at secondary school With the purpose of seeking one effective teaching technique to improve students’ vocabulary learning because vocabulary has a very important role Games have been used as an educational tool for centuries and have shown their outstanding advantages It has been only a few years since the communicative approach became dominant in teaching English in Vietnam Since games help people a lot making full use of this superior approach, there is an urgent need to find out the way to deploy them in order to improve the quality of teaching vocabulary in particular and that of teaching English in general Sharing the same concern in games used in teaching students to learn English vocabulary with many teachers and researchers of English, I have invested a lot of time and efforts in studying how games are used in teaching vocabulary at secondary schools Before the application of games is presented, the study has first dealt with the theoretical background about vocabulary with the hope that they can provide readers with a brief overview on vocabulary as well as its importance for the competence of communication Next, the author has discussed a framework of games with the view that this would clarify the necessity using games and the importance of games in English vocabulary learning and teaching Moreover, with the time of carrying out the investigation about the current situation of using games in teaching vocabulary in secondary schools, the survey aims to see the attitudes of both the teachers and students towards the teaching and learning of English in general and of English vocabulary in particular, the reality of using games in teaching vocabulary, and the positive effects of the use of games in vocabulary learning and teaching 60 Thanks to games, the students are more motivated and interested in English learning in general and English vocabulary learning in particular Also, through games, the students have chances to be close to and know their classmates more Therefore, games should be often used to improve the teaching and learning of vocabulary In order to make the study more practical, some suggested games have been provided for teacher of English to apply in teaching vocabulary in the 8th form Finally, the author hopes that the findings in this study will be some sort of supplementary information for those who are interested in games to teach students vocabulary To be honest, this thesis was completed with author's best attempt but mistakes are unavoidable and the author would be grateful to receive any suggestions, comments as well as advice on her study 5.2 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study Although the study has accomplished the objectives set at the beginning, it can not avoid some limitations Due to the limitation of time and the scope of the study, the study only deals with the use of games in teaching vocabulary to grade eight students It is too broad to talk about all the aspects of English learning and teaching as well as the role of games to the language teaching Therefore, the author would like to give some suggestions for related further studies such as: - Using language games to teach vocabulary to the 6th form, the 7th form or the 9th form students - Using language games for the teaching of grammar to secondary school students - Using language games to form the habit of enjoying language skills to secondary school students Obviously, mistakes are unavoidable, all comments and remarks on this research will be highly appreciated 61 REFERENCES Vietnamese: Hoàng Thị Diệu Hoài, Phan Thị Như Ý (2004) Hoạt Động Luyện Tập Tiếng Anh Nhà xuất Giáo dục Nguyễn Văn Lợi (Ed.), (2004) Tiếng Anh 8, Sách Giáo Viên Nhà xuất Giáo dục Lê Thị Thanh Quý, Lê Thị Diễm Tú (2005) Thiết Kế Bài Giảng Tiếng Anh Nhà xuất Đại học Sư phạm English: Aydan, E (2002) Six games for the EFL / ESL classroom The internet TESL journal Balloto, F (1996) How to motivate learners of English English teaching forum Baudains, R.M (1990) Alternatives Great Britain: Pilgrims Longman Byrne, D (1987) Techniques for classroom interaction Harlow: Longman Byrne, D and S.Rixon (1979) Communication games NFER Carrier, M (1991) Take five games and activities for the language learner British Centre 10 Collons, G (1980), Play games with English London Longman press 11 Cross, D (1992) A Practical Handbook of Language Teaching Bath: Prentice Hall International Ltd 12 Doff, Adrian 1988, Teach English, Cambridge University press 13 Dornyei, Z (1998) Motivation in Second and Foreign Language Learning Blackwell Publishers 14 Dornyei, Z (2001) Teaching and Researching Motivation Harlowperson Education 15 Gardner, R.C (1994) Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: the Role of Attitudes and Motivations London: Edward Arnold 16 Gibbs, G (1978) Dictionary of Gaming, Modelling and Simulation 62 London: E & F Spon, Ltd 17 Gower, R., Phillips, D & Walters, S (2005) Teaching Practice Handbook, New Edition Oxford: Heinemann Publishers 18 Greenall, S (1984) Language Games and Activities London: Hulton Educational Publications Ltd 19 Hadfield, J (1990) Intermediate Communication Games England: Addison Wesley Longman Ltd 20 Hadfield, J (1999) Beginners' Communication Games China: Addison Wesley Longman Ltd 21 Hadfield, J (1999) Intermediate Vocabulary Games Harlow, Essex: Longman 22 Hadfiels, J (1990) Intermediate Communication Games England Addison Wesley Longman Ltd 23 Harmer, J (1991) How to Teach English London, Longman press 24 Harmer, J (1994) The Practice of English Language Teaching London: Longman 25 Hatch, E & Brown, C (1995) Vocabulary, Semantics, and Language Education New York: Cambridge University Press 26 Kealey, J and Inness, D (1997) Grammar-focused interactive ESL / EFL activities and games The United States of America: Pro Lingua Associates 27 Lam, Nguyen Thi Van & Phuong, Ngo Dinh (2007) Language Teaching Theory Vinh University 28 Lam, Nguyen Thi Van & Phuong, Ngo Dinh (2007) English Teaching Methodology Vinh University 29 Larsen - Freeman, D.(1986) Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching Oxford: Oxford University Press 30 Laufer, B (1997) What’s in a word that makes it hard or easy: Some intralexical factors that affect the learning of words In Schmitt, N & McCarthy, M (Eds.) (1997), Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and 63 Pedagogy (pp.140-155) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 31 Lee, W R (1979) Language Teaching Games and Contests Oxford: Oxford University Press 32 Lee, W.R (1979) Language teaching games and contests Hongkong: Oxford University Press 33 Lewis, G and Bedson, G (1999), Games for children, Oxford University Presss Wright, A; Betteridge, D& Buckly, M (1983), Games for language learning, Cambridge University Press 34 LittleWood, W (1981) Communicative Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 35 McCallum, G P (1980) 101 Words Games for Students of English as Second or Foreign Language Oxford: Oxford University Press 36 McCallum, G (1980) 101 word games Hongkong: Oxford University Press 37 McCarteen, J (2007) Teaching Vocabulary New York: Cambridge University Press 38 McCarthy, M J (1990) Vocabulary Oxford: Oxford University Press 39 Meara, P (1981) Vocabulary Acquisition: A Neglected Aspect of Language Learning Language Teaching and Linguistics Abstracts, Vol 13, No (Oct 1981), pp.221-246 40 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Method New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents 41 Nunan, D (1999) Second Language Teaching and Learning Boston: Heinle & Heinle 42 Pintrich, P.R & Schunk, D.H (1996) Motivation in Education: Theory, Research and Applications England Cliffs: NJ: Prentice- Hall, from http://www.uky.edu 43 Quirk, R & Greenbaum, S (1975) A University of English London: Longman 44 Rixon, S (1981) How to Use Language Games in Language Teaching 64 London: Macmillian Publishers Ltd 45 Rixon, S (1998) How to use games in language teaching London: Macmillan 46 Schultz, M and A Fisher (1988) Games for all reasons The United States of America: Addison Wesley Publishing Company 47 Scott, W.A & Ytreberg, L.H (2004) Teaching English to Children London: Longman 48 Silvers, S.M (1982) Games for the classroom and the English-speaking club English teaching forum, 20, 2, pp 29-33 49 Stenton, A., & Lambert, S (Eds.) (1985) Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics Great Britain: The Chaucer Press 50 Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory Cambridge, NewYork and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press 51 Vien Truong, Dr Hue University, Language Teaching, 2007 Da Nang Publishing house 52 Wallance, Michael 1987, teaching vocabulary Heinerman, educational books limited 65 APPENDIXES APPENDIX PRE - TASK SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE The survey questionnaire is designed for my study “Using language games to teach vocabulary to the eighth graders at Nghi Hung secondary schools Your assistance in fulfilling the following items is greatly appreciated Please, tick (V) in the given boxes to indicate your choice Your class: Your English learning experience How necessary is English in the school course A Very necessary B Necessary C Normal D Unnecessary How you like learning English? A Very much B Much C Not much D Not at all How important you think about vocabulary? A Very important B Important C Normal D Not important at all What you think about learning vocabulary? A Very difficult B Difficult C Not very difficult D Easy After the lessons, you learn vocabulary by heart at class? A Yes B No When learning vocabulary, which is the most difficult to you? A Pronounce the words correctly B Remember the meaning of words C Use words to make sentences and communicate with your friend How interested are you on playing games ? A Very interested B Quite interested C A little interested D Not interested at all What you think of using language games in teaching vocabulary for ? A For relaxing only B For teaching only C For both relaxing and teaching D Time covering What is difficulty you find when playing a game in learning vocabulary activity ? A Lack of time B The rule of game is not clear C Don’t remember new words D Other 10 In order to encourage students in learning vocabulary, you think the teacher should …(You can choose more than one ) A Use visual aids (pictures, charts, etc…) B Use language games C Use songs D Others (Please specify) APPENDIX POST - TASK SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE The survey questionnaire is designed for my study “Using language games to teach vocabulary to the eighth graders at Nghi Hung secondary schools “Your assistance in fulfilling the following items is greatly appreciated Please, tick (V) in the given boxes to indicate your choice How much you like playing game in learning vocabulary class ? A Very much B Much C Not very much D Not at all What you while playing games ? A Enthusiastically take part in every activity B Not very excitedly take part in activities C When feeling interested D Take part in possible How you feel after playing games ? A Relaxed and motivated B Normal C Uncomfortable D More effective What you think the teacher should ? A Teacher should demonstrate what to to students B Teacher should explain the rule of game clearly and an easy to understand language C Teacher should exploit the language games suit student’s level D Others (Please specify) Playing games in learning vocabulary helps you? A Remember more words B Be interested, excited and comfortable C Practice pronouncing words more D A,B,C are correct What problems did you have when playing games when learning vocabulary ? A I didn’t understand the teacher’s instruction B I didn’t have enough time to play the game C I didn’t have any problem D Other problem: What you think about vocabulary in “ Tieng Anh 8” textbook? A It's easy to learn B It's neither too easy nor too difficult to learn C It's difficult to learn D Others In your opinion, is the use of language games to teach vocabulary effectively? A Yes B No QUESTIONNAIRE This survey questionnaire is designed for my study on teaching English vocabulary through games This information will be collected from secondary school teachers to investigate the use of games in teaching English vocabulary at secondary schools Your assistance in completing the following items is greatly helpful and highly appreciated Thank you very much! Please circle the options you choose or write your answers How often you use games in teaching vocabulary? A Never B Sometimes C Often D Usually Why you use games in teaching vocabulary? (You can choose more than one option) A To help students overcome their shyness B To motivate students to learn vocabulary C To make the lesson more interesting D Both of them What kind of games you usually use in teaching English? (You can choose more than one option) A Structure games B Vocabulary games C Pronunciation games D Role - play What kind of work arrangement you use in the class when using games in teaching vocabulary? (You can choose more than one option) A Individual work B Pair work C Group work D Team work What kind of work arrangement works best when you use games in teaching vocabulary? A Individual work B Pair work C Group work D Team work What problems you have when using games in teaching vocabulary? (You can choose more than one option) A Noise B Difficulties in controlling the class C Students don’t understand the instructions D Other problems: How you cope with these problems? (You can choose more than one option) A Give clear instructions in English B Give clear instructions in Vietnamese C Give clearly defined tasks D Other solutions: Do you think it is a good idea to use games in teaching vocabulary? A Yes D No