Using multimedia to improve english lessons for 5th graders at an english academy

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -oOo - PHẠM HỒNG TRANG USING MULTIMEDIA TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LESSONS FOR 5TH GRADERS AT AN ENGLISH ACADEMY (SỬ DỤNG CÔNG NGHỆ ĐA PHƢƠNG TIỆN ĐỂ CẢI TIẾN GIỜ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP TẠI MỘT HỌC VIỆN ANH NGỮ) M.A MINOR PROGRMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2017 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -oOo - PHẠM HỒNG TRANG USING MULTIMEDIA TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LESSONS FOR 5TH GRADERS AT AN ENGLISH ACADEMY (SỬ DỤNG CÔNG NGHỆ ĐA PHƢƠNG TIỆN ĐỂ CẢI TIẾN GIỜ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP TẠI MỘT HỌC VIỆN ANH NGỮ) M.A MINOR PROGRMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lâm Quang Đông HANOI – 2017 DECLARATION Title: “USING MULTIMEDIA TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LESSONS FOR 5TH GRADERS AT AN ENGLISH ACADEMY” I certify that no part of the thesis has been copied or reproduced by me from any other works without acknowledgement and that the thesis is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor Hanoi, 2017 Student‟s signature Phạm Hồng Trang i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to send my sincere and special gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Lâm Quang Đông, who has given valuable assistance, guidance, precious suggestions, advice, and reference materials to me so that I can complete this thesis The success of my paper would have been almost impossible without his tireless support My thanks and gratitude also go to all professors and lecturers at Faculty of PostGraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable lectures I am also grateful to the manager of Smartcom center for his cooperation so that I could fulfill my thesis better Last but not least, I would like to send my gratitude to my parents, all members in my family and my friends for their support and encouragement during the process of writing this thesis ii ABSTRACT Multimedia plays an important role in all stages of second language acquisition Multimedia has been considered an effective tool for enhancing English teaching and learning process The paper aims to study the use of multimedia for enhancing the quality of English teaching and learning process at one English center in Hanoi and investigate its effectiveness to the 5th graders at this center In order to conduct the study, three tools were used: (1) observation, (2) recording and (3) interview The findings show that learners in the center were very excited about the lessons when multimedia was used It also means that multimedia can support the teachers in attracting the learners to the lesson In other words, using multimedia brought many benefits for not only learners but also teachers in the center However, using multimedia caused a couple of disadvantages For example, the interaction of some learners decreased when they used multimedia before class and it took the teacher considerable amounts of time to prepare the lessons Hopefully, the study can be a useful source of reference for those teaching English to young learners iii TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENT iv LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vi PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale .1 Aims of the study Research questions Methods of the study Significance of the study .2 Structure of the thesis PART II: DEVELOPMENT .4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 1.1.Learning styles of learners 1.2.Teaching English to primary graders 1.3.Multimedia 1.3.1.Definitions of terms 1.2.2.Why should teachers use multimedia? .9 1.2.3 The use of multimedia in English teaching .9 1.2.4.Review of previous related studies 10 1.3 Conceptual framework 11 1.4 Chapter summary 12 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 13 2.1 The setting of the study 13 2.2 The participants 15 2.3 Research question revisited 15 iv 2.4 Methods and instruments .16 2.4.1 Data collection instruments .16 2.4.2 Data collection procedure .17 2.5 Chapter summary 31 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 32 3.1 Data analysis 32 3.1.1.Data from observation 32 3.1.2.Data from recording on the website 32 3.1.3.Data from interviews 38 3.2 Findings and discussion 39 3.3 Chapter summary 41 PART III: CONCLUSIONS .42 Conclusions .42 Limitations of the study 43 Suggestions for further research 43 REFERENCES 45 APPENDIX I v LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1.1 Elements of multimedia Figure 2.1 The lesson in the first two hours 14 Figure 2.2 Research procedure 17 Figure 2.3 The name of the grammar lesson 18 Figure 2.4 The first slide of the language input 18 Figure 2.5 The second slide of the language input 18 Figure 2.6 The third slide of the language input 19 Figure 2.7 The fouth slide of the language input 19 Figure 2.8 The fifth slide of the language input 19 Figure 2.9 The sixth slide of the language input 20 Figure 2.10 The first activity of the practice 20 Figure 2.11 The first question in the first activity 20 Figure 2.12 The answer to the first question 21 Figure 2.13 The second activity of the practice 21 Figure 2.14 The first question in the second activity 21 Figure 2.15 The answer to the second question 22 Figure 2.16 The third activity of the practice 22 Figure 2.17 The first question in the third activity 22 Figure 2.18 The answer to the third question 23 Figure 2.19 The fourth activity of the practice 23 Figure 2.20 The first question in the fourth activity 23 Figure 2.21 The answer to the fourth question 24 vi Figure 2.22 Table of English possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns 24 Figure 2.23 Language practice 25 Figure 2.24 Homepage of the website 26 Figure 2.25 One chapter of the story 26 Figure 2.26 The cover of the story 27 Figure 2.27 The first page of the story 27 Figure 2.28 Vocabulary practice 28 Figure 2.29 Grammar Practice 28 Figure 2.30 Listening practice 29 Figure 2.31 Speaking card 29 Figure 2.32 Submission of one learner 30 Figure 2.33 Feedback by recording 30 Figure 3.1 Performance report 33 Figure 3.2 Performance report 33 Table 3.1 Relationship between learners‟ using website at home and their interaction in class 34 Table 3.2 Content of the feedback on the website 34 Table 3.3 Speaking card of one story on the website 35 vii PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale English is one of the most widely used languages in the world It is the reason why many parents in Vietnam are willing to invest in their children‟s English education in order to ensure a better future for their children in this increasingly globalized world Teaching English to young learners, however, is not always easy My own teaching experience shows that three following common problems make children‟s English learning in class ineffective Firstly, the classes are not really attractive because they are basically about grammar It can easily make children feel bored and hard to acquire the language Secondly, children have no motivation Normally, adults study English to have better jobs or better lives while children are not conscious of that, so they have no inspiration to study English Thirdly, they lack an interactive environment An interactive environment is one of the most important things for children to practice English efficiently Smartcom Academy1, the English center chosen for this study, is not an exception when the class time does not really attract one hundred percent of children‟s attention To address such problems, using multimedia in teaching English seems to be one of the best solutions to improve English lessons for children Therefore, I want to use the multimedia to see how effective it is for children, especially 5th graders in Smartcom Aims of the study The research aims to enhance the quality of English teaching and learning process in Smartcom Academy, particularly the 5th graders‟ English in this center by using multimedia The researcher managed to obtain the center‟s consent to use its real name, as provided in the Appendix The participants showed that they were really interested in the interview, so they answered comfortably and naturally The first question was aimed at finding out whether the learners did exercises and whether they read the story before the class or not Accordingly, most answers received revealed that they always read the story before coming to the class They said that they could understand and remember the lesson better As a result, they always joined activities actively and enthusiastically in the class Those who did not always read the story before class said that it could impact somewhat on their studying It was the reason why they seldom raised their hands to answer the questions Only one feedback thought that reading the story before class means that he knew the ending beforehand, it could make him feel bored to study again in the class However, this case related to the foreign teacher‟s hour This study only focuses on the Vietnamese teacher‟s one hour For the exercises on the website, some said that they did before the class but not always, some said that they only did the exercises after class, others admitted that they rarely used the website to the exercises They said that it did not affect their language learning in the class 3.2 Findings and discussion In order to answer the question: “How effective is the use of multimedia in teaching and learning English to 5th graders in Smartcom Academy?”, the study must be considered in two aspects: advantages and disadvantages of using multimedia in the two classes The advantages of using multimedia in teaching and learning English to 5th graders in the center Analysis of data collected from three instruments shows that leaners‟ attention depends much on using multimedia of the teacher in the class Thanks to special features of Powerpoint, the teacher not only showed more information after one click but also designed slides attractively from the way they appeared to the way 39 they moved The young learners could not take their eyes off the slides, especially those who were curious As a result, the children tried to outdo one another in responding to questions The findings reveal that learners‟ participation in class activities relies much on their preparation before class as well More specifically, the children reading the story before class interact with the teacher and the lesson better than those who rarely read stories before the lesson Accordingly, their interaction made the class atmosphere extremely vibrant Data analysis also shows that the learners achieved advances when receiving voice feedback from the teacher It means that the teacher‟s feedback from the website is very helpful for the children‟s learning To sum up, using multimedia brings benefits to not only the learners but also the teacher when it can support her in teaching English effectively The disadvantages of using multimedia in teaching and learning English to 5th graders in the center Data analysis shows that one learner felt bored when he had read the story before class In other words, there was nothing interesting when he had known the ending already As a result, he rarely joined activities in the class actively The data also shows that although one learner had done exercises on the website relatively completely before the lesson, her interaction in class was not good Besides, one more drawback realized by the researcher is that the teacher must spend much time preparing the lesson on PowerPoint The teacher must seek appropriate materials such as the content, images, sounds, and so on and research the way to present information on each slide to appeal to the children as much as possible However, everything has two sides The disadvantages mentioned above are only small things compared to big benefits of multimedia Hopefully, they can contribute in finding better ways in teaching English to young learners 40 3.3 Chapter summary The chapter has presented the findings of the study after analyzing the data The findings show both advantages and disadvantages of using multimedia in teaching English to the two 5th classes in the center They help the researcher, to some extent, answer the research question: “How effective is the use of multimedia in teaching and learning English to 5th graders in Smartcom Academy?” 41 PART III: CONCLUSIONS Conclusions The action research was about improving English lessons for 5th graders by using multimedia This research was conducted in two 5th classes in a new branch of Smartcom Academy which began in March and ended in May 2017 In line with the findings and discussion in the previous chapter, it could be confirmed that multimedia is an effective tool to improve teaching and learning English process in the center The research findings show that the children became more active and engaged in the lesson Most of the learners‟ interaction was much better when the teacher used multimedia in the class In other words, multimedia classroom could attract the young learners‟ attention better than traditional grammar classroom The children not only did not feel stressful like in the traditional classes but they, even those who rarely joined the class activities before, also raised their hands and their voices enthusiastically They are readier to interact to answer questions on PowerPoint In other words, PowerPoint can help the children become active learners rather than passive learners like in the traditional classroom In addition, most of the learners using website at home were more enthusiastic in joining the lesson It means that the class‟ atmosphere became more alive In other words, multimedia supported the teacher so much in improving the lessons for the young learners It can make the lessons in the class much smoother Besides, the advances of the children when receiving voice feedback of the teacher on the website are pretty clear In short, it can be summarized that multimedia brings numerous benefits for not only the teaching process but also the learning process Hence, in comparison with the classes before using multimedia, it can be seen that the participation of the children are much better, even those who rarely raised hands before also interact more actively The grammar lessons, which used to be dry and 42 difficult to understand, now are more interesting with colorful pictures, sounds and movement However, the findings also show that using multimedia caused several disadvantages For example, the interaction of some learners decreased when they used multimedia before class It means that using multimedia does not always have positive influences on learners‟ in-class study Besides, using multimedia took the teacher considerable amounts of time to prepare the lessons as well It is the teacher‟s job to find ways to minimize such disadvantages Limitations of the study Although the use of multimedia brings great benefits for teaching English to young learners, due to limited time, the researcher has not implemented some following issues Firstly, pre-test and post-test had not been conducted to compare the concrete results the children got before and after the teacher used multimedia Another limitation of the study is that the teacher could only interview 19 learners instead of 26 learners Moreover, the child who did exercises in the website quite well at home but her interaction in the class was not much absented right on the interview day It caused some difficulties for me to analyze the data Last but not least, the researcher has not found out solutions to restrain some disadvantages above Hopefully, subsequent studies will help me overcome these limitations Suggestions for further research It can be said that no way is the best way in teaching, especially teaching English to young learners because each learner has his own features of learning and acquisition This way may be good for this learner but may be not for another Hence, the teacher should be not only the practitioner but also the researcher in her own classes It means that teaching is trying and experiencing to find out the most suitable way for her learners Another important thing is that the teacher should be closer to her learners to better understand each learner‟s feeling Understanding 43 learners‟ feeling is such a key for the teacher to design the lesson as attractively as possible However, the teacher should not fix any teaching method or any way of using multimedia It can totally be appropriate to children today but it cannot be appropriate to them forever Repetition can cause boredom It means that the teacher should change or prepare for a change everyday by studying more to adapt to any young learners‟ changes 44 REFERENCES Abdurrahman, A (2006) The effect of computer assisted language learning (CALL) on United Arab Emirates English as a foreign language (EFL) school students' 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Do you think that it or read stories on the website before anything in the class? can influence your studying in the coming to the class? (Y): Yes (N): No class? (Y) No benefits in the class (Y) (did after class) Longer memory (Y) (did before Effective class) (Y) (only read Longer memory, better understand in the stories) class (Y) (did after class) Remember vocabulary (Y) Remember the story (Y) (read and did Remember the story before class) (Y) (read stories before class) (N) 10 Entertain & remember the story No answer (Y) (did after class) III 11 (Y) (read all chapters before class) Feel normal 12 (Y) (read and did but sometimes) Learn better a little bit (N) 13 Have no time It affected the class time 14 (Y) (read before class) Know in advance => remember the story but bored in the class 15 (Y) (read all and did Better understand the lesson & know in after the first lesson) advance the ending 16 (Y) (read before class but sometimes) Don‟t benefit much 17 (Y) (read before class) Don‟t know 18 (Y) (read before Can answer the questions of the teacher at class) the beginning of the lesson (Y) (read before class) Know in advance the lesson => learn faster, remember the lesson better 19 IV APPENDIX THE CENTER’S CONSENT TO USE ITS REAL NAME Research ethical regulations stipulate that researchers must secure participants' prior consent before any studies It was my fault not to have done that earlier However, I have managed to obtain necessary permission for using the real names of the centers as well as the fifth graders by the dates shown in the following email messages V VI VII ... Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lâm Quang Đông HANOI – 2017 DECLARATION Title: USING MULTIMEDIA TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LESSONS FOR 5TH GRADERS AT AN ENGLISH ACADEMY I certify that no part of the thesis has...VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -oOo - PHẠM HỒNG TRANG USING MULTIMEDIA TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LESSONS FOR 5TH GRADERS. .. aims to study the use of multimedia for enhancing the quality of English teaching and learning process at one English center in Hanoi and investigate its effectiveness to the 5th graders at this