A study on the use of visual aids in teaching English vocabulary for 3rd grade schoolers = Nghiên cứu về việc sử dụng giáo cụ trực quan trong việc dạy từ vựng tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp 3. M.A Thesis Linguistics: 60 14 10

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES  M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS A STUDY ON THE USE OF VISUAL AIDS IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR 3rd GRADE STUDENTS Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng giáo cụ trực quan việc dạy từ vựng tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp Supervisor: Dr Ha Cam Tam Student: Tran Thi Nhung Code: 14045084 Training code: 60140111 Date of birth: 02/26/1981 Class: K23C Hanoi, 2018 A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 DECLARATION I certify that no part of the report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other person‟s work without acknowledgement and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor, Dr Ha Cam Tam Date submitted: 08/2018 Student Tran Thi Nhung i A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have given me great assistance in the completion of my research work In the first place, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr Ha Cam Tam, who has provided me with insightful discussion, helpful comments, valuable support in the preparation and completion of this thesis Without her guidance and help, this work would not have been accomplished Secondly, my sincere thanks also go to all lecturers and staff of the department of Post- Graduate studies for their valuable lessons and precious helps Thanks to their lessons as well as needed helps, I could overcome enormous obstacles when doing the study I also wish to acknowledge the cooperation of my colleagues and the students from two primary schools, helping me doing the research Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my family for their encouragement and great support during my time of fulfilling this thesis ii A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 ABSTRACT This study was implemented to find the impacts of using visual aids in teaching English Vocabulary for the third grade students The method the researcher used to study is Action Research (AR) Firstly, the result of the study proved that using visual aids in teaching improved third grade students‟ vocabulary mastery in listening, understanding, speaking and writing However, it was found that in the second intervention the students‟ improvement was often in Part of the test – Listening and number/choose Secondly, the findings revealed that visual aids help students improved their listening and understanding more than speaking and writing Thirdly, the students‟ interest in learning English was improved during the process of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary The result of the study was concluded that using visual aids in teaching English Vocabulary can improve students‟ vocabulary mastery and their interest in learning English iii A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Objectives of the study Scope of the study Research questions Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW Vocabulary 1.1 Definitions 1.2 The importance of Vocabulary 1.3 Teaching Vocabulary for children Visual Aids 2.1 Definitions 2.2 Kinds of visual aids 2.3 The advantages of visual aids Action Research 10 Characteristics of young students 12 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15 Setting of the study 15 Participants 16 Steps of action research 16 Schedule of implementing the action 17 iv A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 Research instruments 17 5.1 Planning the action .18 5.2 Implementing the actions 19 5.3 Observing the action 26 CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 27 Data analysis procedure 27 Findings 28 2.1 Tests 28 2.2 Observation 31 PART C: CONCLUSIONS 35 Summary of the study 35 Some limitations of the study 36 Suggestions for practicing teachers .37 Conclusion .37 REFERENCES 38 APPENDIX 1: LESSON PLANS APPENDIX 2: TESTS APPENDIX 3: FLASHCARDS APPENDIX 4: OBSERVATION SHEETS v A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Nowadays, English has become the most popular foreign language not only in Vietnam but also all over the world In many countries such as Canada, Germany, The Philippines, India, Pakistan … English has been the second language In Vietnam, English is not used in daily communication but it plays an important role in Vietnam because many English-speaking foreigners from across Asia, Australia, America and Europe have come to invest in Vietnam This has motivated the people of Vietnam to learn English to facilitate efficient and effective communication among their counterparts The importance of English was immediately acknowledged by the Vietnamese government, which has resulted in the outlook of the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) for teaching and learning English, which are much concerned by people from all walks of life in society; primary schools, parents, educational strategy planning managers…Therefore, the number of people learning and using English has been increased dramatically English is being introduced to ever more and younger children In which, there are children at kindergarten And, English is now one of the compulsory subjects in primary education in many countries around the world The researcher has opportunities to work with students from some primary schools Most of them are in third grade level; learn English from first grade level It means they have learnt two English books: one in first grade level and the other in second grade level However, when working with them, the author found some problems: the students don‟t remember much the vocabulary which they have learnt before; they can hardly write any English words, most of them pronounce the vocabulary incorrectly, they seem boring when talking about English Acknowledging the importance of learning English vocabulary and the students‟ problems in learning English, the researcher would like to find an effective and appropriate strategy to improve students‟ vocabulary retention and their interest in learning English The researcher has looked over the list of the major themes in A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 education in the book, published in 2009 and entitled „English Language Teaching (Major Themes in Education)‟, edited by Patricia Hedge, University of Warwick, UK, Nick Andon and Martin Dewey, all at Kings College, University of London, UK At the same time, the researcher has looked over the list of previous minor MA thesis topics in VNU – ULIS (from 1993 to 2012) but there is also no topic relating to the use of visual aids in teaching English vocabulary for third grade students Based on the reasons above, the researcher is interested in conducting a research entitled “A study on the use of visual aids in teaching English vocabulary for third grade students” Objectives of the study This study was conducted with the aim to find the impacts of using visual aids in teaching English Vocabulary for the third grade students Scope of the study The study is limited into English vocabulary for the students in the third grade The scope of this study is using visual aids in teaching to improve the students‟ vocabulary mastery and their interest in learning English Research questions With the objectives stated above, the following question was proposed for the study:  To what extent does the use of visual aids in teaching improve the third grade students’ English vocabulary mastery and their interest in learning English? Organization of the study The study is entitled with “A study on the use of visual aids in teaching English vocabulary for the third grade students” and designed with three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion The first part - Introduction is a brief overview of the study with more details of the rationale, the objectives, the research question, the scope, and the design of the study A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 The second part - Development consisted of three chapters: - Chapter is literature review which discussed the theoretical background of the thesis, relating to the key terms: vocabulary, visual aids, action research, and characteristics of young students - Chapter is methodology, which discussed the setting of the study, participants, steps of action research, schedule of implementing the action, and research instruments used in the study - Chapter deals with data analysis and the findings The last part - Conclusion is devoted to the summary and some limitations of the study This chapter also provides some suggestions for further study The conclusion will put an end to this part References will be in the end A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW Vocabulary 1.1 Definitions According to Webster Dictionary (1935:1073), vocabulary is “A list or collection of words usually alphabetically arranged and explained or lexicon, stock of words use in language or by class, individual, etc.” Brown and Hatch (1995:1), vocabulary is “a list or set of words for a particular language or a list or set word that individual speakers of language might use” According to Oxford Leaner‟s Pocket Dictionary (2003:482), vocabulary is all the words that a person knows or uses; all the words in language; and all the words with their meanings, especial in a book for learning a foreign language Hornby (2004:1447) stated that vocabulary is a total number of words in a language that is used by a person It means vocabulary is all the words that people use in a language Word and language are set of symbols connected each other Therefore, learning a language also means researching a word While McMillan English Dictionary in Lucie Kristenova (2006) states that the word “vocabulary” means all the words in a particular language From the definitions above, it can be concluded that vocabulary is the total number of words which are needed to communicate ideas and express the speakers‟ means 1.2 The importance of Vocabulary Can we live in a frame of a house? Can we build a house without bricks, cement, sand and stone? Can we communicate without mastering any vocabulary of the language we use? These are the same with Harmer‟s statement (1991: 153) of the importance of vocabulary by saying, "If language structure makes up the skeleton of the language, then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh." Harmer further states that grammatical structure is important but vocabulary A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students I Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 Post-test Listening and choose a, B or C (10ms) A B C A B C A B C A B C A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 II III A B C Look at five of the above pictures and say the word (5ms) Spelling (5ms) _onkey D_ck Wate_ _ircle _iamond A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students I Mini Test Listening and number (12ms) A II III Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 B C A B Look at the picture and say the word (6ms) Spelling (6ms) C _anana Grape_ Cuc_mber _emon Appl_ Car_ot A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students I Mini Test Listening and number (12ms) A II III Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 B A B Look at the picture and say the word (6ms) Spelling (6ms) C C Librar_ _lassroom Sc_ool Playgroun_ _ym Comp_ter room A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 Mini Test I Listening and number (12ms) II Look at the picture and say the word (6ms) III Spelling (6ms) _randfather Gran_mother Fa_her Mothe_ _ister Broth_r A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 Post-test I Listening and choose (10ms) A B C A B C A B C A B C A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students A Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 B C II Look at five of the above pictures and say the word (5ms) III Spelling (5ms) Ban_na Cuc_mber F_mily Libr_ry Sc_ool A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 APPENDIX 3: FLASHCARDS APPLE BANANA A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 CARROT CUCUMBER A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 GRAPES LEMON A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 LIBRARY COMPUTER ROOM A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 CLASSROOM PLAY GROUND A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 SCHOOL FAMILY A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 APPENDIX 4: OBSERVATION SHEETS Name Happy Like Go to class on time Homework complete Con fident Listening carefully to teacher Looking attentively at the board Following teacher’s instruction immediately Pair work Group work Individual work V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V Total 2 V V V V V 2 V Group work Individual work Table 7: STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN LEARNING ENGLISH – SESSION Go to class on time Homework complete V V V V V V V V V V V V Name Happy Like Con fident Listening carefully to teacher Looking attentively at the board Following teacher’s instruction immediately V V V V Pair work V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V Total V V 3 V Group work Individual work Table 8: STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN LEARNING ENGLISH – SESSION Name Happy Like Go to class on time Homework complete V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V Con fident Listening carefully to teacher Looking attentively at the board Following teacher’s instruction immediately V V V V V V V Pair work V V V V V V V V V V V V V V Total 3 3 Table 9: STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN LEARNING ENGLISH – SESSION V A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students Name Happy V V V V V Listening carefully to teacher Looking attentively at the board Following teacher’s instruction immediately Pair work Group work Individual work V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V Like Go to class on time Homework complete V V V V V V V V V V V V V V Student: Tran Thi Nhung-K23C Code: 14045084 Con fident V V V V V V V v V V V V Total 9 9 8 Pair work Group work Individual work V V V V V V V Table 10: STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN LEARNING ENGLISH – SESSION Name Happy Like Go to class on time Homework complete V V V Con fident Listening carefully to teacher Looking attentively at the board Following teacher’s instruction immediately V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V Individual work Total V V V V Table 11: STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN LEARNING ENGLISH – SESSION Con fident Listening carefully to teacher Looking attentively at the board Following teacher’s instruction immediately Pair work Group work V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V Total 9 9 5 Name Happy Like Go to class on time Homework complete V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V 7 V Table 12: STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN LEARNING ENGLISH – SESSION ... (1999: 156- 160) , there are five stages in analyzing the data, including: a) Assembling the data, 27 A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the Third Grade Students... Reading Using word saying the words each other in pair flashcards, - Looking at flashcards and listening teacher 25 to the A Study on the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching English Vocabulary for the. .. of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary The result of the study was concluded that using visual aids in teaching English Vocabulary can improve students‟ vocabulary mastery and their interest