A study on the use of visual aids in teaching English to the first-year students at Military Technical Academy : . M.A Thesis

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ HOÀNG MAI A STUDY ON THE USE OF VISUAL AIDS IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO THE FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS AT MILITARY TECHNICAL ACADEMY (NGHIÊN CỨU CÁCH SỬ DỤNG GIÁO CỤ TRỰC QUAN TRONG VIỆC DẠY TIẾNG ANH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT HỌC VIỆN KỸ THUẬT QUÂN SỰ) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.0111 HANOI- 2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ HOÀNG MAI A STUDY ON THE USE OF VISUAL AIDS IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO THE FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS AT MILITARY TECHNICAL ACADEMY (NGHIÊN CỨU CÁCH SỬ DỤNG GIÁO CỤ TRỰC QUAN TRONG VIỆC DẠY TIẾNG ANH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT HỌC VIỆN KỸ THUẬT QUÂN SỰ) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.0111 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lam Quang Dong HANOI- 2013 DECLARATION I certify that I am the sole author of this thesis and that it has not been summitted to any other university or institution wholly or partially Hanoi, 2013 Lê Hoàng Mai i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my thesis supervisor, Assoc.Prof Dr Lâm Quang Đông for his valuable comments and instructions, his instant assistance and his kind encouragement and correction in the process of completing this minor thesis I am grateful to my lecturers at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies-University of Languages and International Studies, National University, Hanoi for their useful and interesting lectures My sincere thanks also go to my colleagues and students at Military Technical Academy, who offered me excellent assistance during the process of data collection Finally, I wish to express my thanks to my friends who were willing to share me materials, ideas and proof reading that helped me much in completing my work ii ABSTRACT The research was aimed at finding out the types of current visual aids used and especially the effectiveness and drawbacks of using PowerPoint Presentation in teaching English to the first-year students at Military Technical Academy (MTA) This research was conducted with the participation of students and teachers of English in 17 classes at MTA The instruments used in this study included 17 class observations, interviews with 10 teachers and 20 students The findings showed that the teachers of English at MTA exploited various kinds of visual tools from the traditional aids to the modern ones such as: boards, pictures, realias, mime and gestures, projectors and PowerPoint presentation In addition, the study revealed that using the modern teaching aids – PPT brought many advantages and disadvantages to the teachers and the students at MTA From the result of the study, some pedagogical suggestions related to using visual aids and particularly PPT effectively are offered for teachers of English iii TABLE OF CONTENS PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Visual aids 1.1.1 Definitions of visual aids 1.1.2 Types of visual aids 1.1.3 Benefits of using visual aids in language teaching 1.2 PowerPoint 10 1.2.1 Overview of PowerPoint 10 1.2.2 Benefits of using PowerPoint Presentation in teaching English 12 1.2.3 Problems of using PowerPoint in teaching 16 1.2.4 Related studies about the pros and cons of PowerPoint 17 1.3 Summary 19 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 20 2.1 The English teaching and learning context at MTA 20 2.2 Methods of the study 21 2.2.1 Participants of the study 21 2.2.2 Instruments for data collection 21 2.3 Data collection procedures 22 2.4 Data analysis procedure 23 iv CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 24 3.1 Findings from observation 24 3.1.1 The kinds of current visual aids used at MTA 24 3.1.2 How visual aids are used in teaching English at MTA 25 3.1.3 Number of instructors using PowerPoint presentation in English lessons 26 3.2 Findings from interviews 27 3.2.1 Students‟ attitudes towards using PPT in English lessons 27 3.2.2 The effectiveness of using PowerPoint in English lessons at MTA 28 3.2.3 The drawbacks of using PPT Presentation in English lessons at MTA 31 3.3 Summary 31 PART C: CONCLUSION 33 Conclusion 33 Recommendations 35 Limitations and suggestion for further studies 36 REFERENCES 37 APPENDIX I v PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale To teachers of foreign languages, how to deliver lessons effectively and to motivate students are really big concerns There have been a variety of pedagogical solutions recommended to apply in these lessons, including the use of teaching aids, which are some of the most effective support tools in teaching and learning language Among those, visual aids can be considered a good way to teach language and motivate students, as people receive up to 55% of information through visual channel, 7% through texts and 38% through vocal means(Mehrabian, 2009) Grasping the important role of visual aids, many teachers in general and teachers of languages in particular exploit them to get students involved in the lectures Visual techniques are used for the same purpose by the teachers of English at Military Technical Academy At Military Technical Academy, students are non-English majors, and they, especially the first year ones, have quite low English proficiency as shown in the results of the placement tests at the beginning of the first semester As a result, the teachers there have to take full advantage of equipments and teaching aids to give English lessons so as to motivate students The researcher therefore carried out the study to find out the current exploitation of visual aids at MTA, how they are used in teaching English in order to suggest ways to deal with problems if there are any and enhance their effectiveness Because of the limitation of time and wide use of technology in lessons, my minor thesis focused on deeply investigating the effectiveness and drawbacks of using PowerPoint presentation in the English lessons by the teachers at MTA Aims of the study This minor thesis is aimed at: - Finding out the visual aids currently used in teaching English to the first year students at Military Technical Academy; - Finding out the good points and drawbacks of using PowerPoint presentation in English lessons at MTA; - Making suggestions on the use of PowerPoint in teaching English to the first year students at MTA Research questions This research seeks answers to the following questions: What are the types of visual aids currently exploited in teaching English to the first year students at Military Technical Academy? How are they used? What are the effectiveness and drawbacks of using PowerPoint in teaching English to the first year students at Military Technical Academy? Method To assure reliability and to achieve the aims above, the data for analysis are collected by means of: - Classroom observation; and - Interviews Scope of the study This minor thesis is carried to find out types of visual aids currently used at MTA and mainly focuses on investigating the use of PowerPoint in teaching English to first year non-English majors at Military Technical Academy through interviews and class observation Design of the study Part A Introduction, presents the rationale of the study, the aims, research questions, methods applied, and the scope of the research as well as the outline of the thesis Part B Development, chapter reviews the literature concerning the use of visual aids and PowerPoint program in language teaching Chapter describes the sorts of visual aids in use and how they are used in teaching English skills to the first year student at Military Technical Academy Chapter presents the effectiveness and limitations of PPT use in teaching English at MTA, based on which recommendations are made for improved effectiveness Part C Conclusion, concludes the thesis, together with limitations of the study and suggestions for further study and structure patterns whilst realias and pictures were exploited to provide the content of the writing Generally, the teachers alternated diverse kinds of visual aids in teaching each English skill All the techniques were utilized to stimulate students acquiring a new foreign language 3.1.3 Number of instructors using PowerPoint presentation in English lessons Lecturers’ ages No of lecturers No of lecturers using PPT (1) >45 (2) 45 – 35 (3)