A study on the benefits and challenges of applying project based activities at a primary school in ha noi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN HẰNG NGA A STUDY ON THE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF APPLYING PROJECT BASED ACTIVITIES AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN HA NOI (Nghiên cứu thuận lợi khó khăn áp dụng hoạt động dạy học theo dự án trường tiểu học Hà Nội) M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I) Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi - 2020 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN HẰNG NGA A STUDY ON THE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF APPLYING PROJECT BASED ACTIVITIES AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN HA NOI (Nghiên cứu thuận lợi khó khăn áp dụng hoạt động dạy học theo dự án trường tiểu học Hà Nội) M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I) Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Ass Prof.Phạm Thị Thanh Thùy Hanoi – 2020 DECLARATION I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THE STUDY PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED ENTITLED A Study On The Benefits and Challenges Of Applying Project - Based Activities At a Primary School in Ha Noi IS MY OWN STUDY IN THE FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS Ha Noi, 2020 Nguyen Hang Nga i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all people who have given me great supports during my MA course and in the completion of my study First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ass Prof Pham Thi Thanh Thuy for her advice, guide, encouragement and supervision throughout the study She consistently encouraged me to write this paper, but would steer me in the right direction whenever I needed it I am always greatly thankful to have her as my supervisor I also would like to thank to my lecturers who have taught QH2017.D1 for their lectures as well as their enthusiasms during the MA course I am extremely grateful to all the staff and faculty members for their assistance in all the problems that I encountered during my studying here My sincere gratitude goes to three teachers of English and one hundred seven students at grade 3,4,5 at Phu Linh primary school for their contributing to the data collection presented in the research Lastly, I would like to express my thanks to my family, my colleagues for their care and encouragements during my time of fulfilling this study ii ABSTRACT The study was conducted with an attempt to examine the real situation of applying PBL in order to investigate the benefits and challenges of using PBL in improving speaking skills as perceived by teachers and students The subjects involved in the study are three English teachers and one hundred- seven in grade 3, 4, chosen at random from sixteen classes The data were collected from questionnaires for students and teachers, classroom observation and interviews for students and teachers The results of the study have shown that PBL motivates students to speak English, helps them interact more frequently with other students and teachers, remember and use the target vocabulary and structures in the project lessons For teachers, PBL increases student-teacher interaction, helps teachers correct students’ mistakes in pronunciation and grammar and assess students’ understanding Also, the findings of the study point out PBL’s challenges for students: lack of confidence in talking in front of the big groups, slow reaction to questions from other students and teachers, time limitation and frequent use of mother tongue For teachers, teachers have problems with time, students’ error correction, related knowledge, experience and students of mixed levels, little motivation and interest Therefore, those findings may benefit schools and teachers that have the same problems in implementing PBL Additionally, the present study may provide valuable information for the researchers and teachers who are interested in cooperating PBL into their teaching iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.5 Scope of the research 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Structure of the thesis CHAPTER II- LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical background of project- based lang 2.1.1.Definition of projects and project- based language teaching 2.1.2.Features of project- based language teaching 2.1.3.Stages in conducting a project 2.1.4.Benefits of the project-based language teaching 2.1.5.Challenges of applying project-based language teaching 2.2 Related studies 2.2.1 In the world 2.2.2 In Vietnam 2.3 Summary CHAPTER III- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Setting of the study 3.2 Research procedures 3.3 Conduct a preliminary study 3.4 Description of the curriculum and the textb 3.5 Participants 3.5.1 Students iv 3.5.2 Teachers 3.6 Data collection instruments 3.6.1 Questionnaires 3.6.2 Interview 3.6.3 Classroom observation 3.7 Pilot study 3.8 Data analysis 3.9 Limitations of the methods 3.10 Summary CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Real situation of PBL in improving speaking skills as perceived by students 4.1.1 Participation 4.1.2 Performance 4.1.3 Time 4.1.4 Language use 4.2 Real situation of PBL in improving speaking skills as perceived by teachers 4.2.1 Interaction 4.2.2 Feedback and correction 4.2.3 Time 4.2.4 Student management 4.2.5 Language use 4.2.6 Knowledge and experience 4.3 Summary of the benefits and challenges of using PB speaking skills 4.3.1.Summary of the benefits of using PBL in improving speaking skills 4.3.2.Summary of the challenges of using PBL in improving speaking skills 5.1 Summary and conclusion 5.2 Pedagogical implication for applying PBL in improving 5.3 The limitation of the study 5.4 Recommendations for further related studies APPENDICES APPENDIX APPENDIX v APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS PBL: Project – based learning L1: Mother tongue/ vietnamese L2: Second language/ english T: Teacher T1: The first teacher T2: The second teacher T3: The third teacher S: Student S1: One student in grade S2: One student in grade S3: One student in grade G3: Students in grade G4: Students in grade G5: Students in grade vii LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Charts Chart 4.1.Spending time for PBL according to students’ questionnaires 29 Table Table 3.1 Summary of the benefits of using project- based learning in improving speaking skills (Source: Summary of the author) 16 Table 3.2 Summary of the challenges of using PBL in improving speaking skills (Source: Summary of the author) 17 Table 3.3 The information of English teachers 19 Table 4.1.1.Students’ motivation in PBL according to students’ questionnaires 24 Table 4.1.2 Students’ motivation in PBL based on classroom observations 25 Table 4.1.3 Students’ participation in speaking activitiesaccording to students’ questionnaires 26 Table 4.1.4 Students’ participation based on classroom observations 27 Table 4.1.5 Students’ performance from students’ questionnaires 27 Table 4.1.6 Students’ performance from class observations 28 Table 4.1.7 Students’ spending time for PBL based on classroom observations 29 Table 4.1.8 Students’ language use 31 Table 4.2.1 Teacher- student interaction according to classroom observations .32 Table 4.2.2 Feedback and correction according to classroom observation 33 Table 4.2.3 Time for PBL according to classroom observations 33 Table 4.2.4 Student management according to classroom observations .34 viii IX VI Knowledge and experience 28 Show knowledge and experience about the projects to guide students Thank you for your participation! X APPENDIX THE RESULTS FROM QUESTIONNAIRESStudents’ questionnaires Statements I Motivation I am interested in the project activities I want more opportunities to speak English I feel confident to speak in front of the class I am willing to speak in my group I spend more time speaking English after PBL lessons II Participation I interact more frequently with other students I can give feedback on other students’ presentation I can talk about the project without hesitating I can make questions for other groups III Performance I use the words learnt from previous lessons I use the structures learnt from previous lessons I answer quickly teachers’ and other students’ questions I speak English fluently after PBL lessons I speak longer sentences after PBL lessons IV Time I have enough time for practising speaking before the presentation step I have enough time for presenting the projects I have enough time to give comments, make questions for other students V Language use I use Vietnamese for communication during the projects XI I use English for communication during the projects APPENDIX THE RESULTS FROM CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS Students I Motivation Be interested in the project Feel confident to speak English in front of the class Be willing to speak English in their groups II Participation Interact frequently each other Give feedback on other students’ performance Present the project fluently Make questions for other groups III Performance Use target words from previous lessons Use target structures from previous lessons Answer quickly teachers’ and other students’ questions IV Time spend time on practising speaking before presenting the projects spend time on presenting the projects spend time on giving comments, making questions for other students V Language use Use Vietnamese for communication during the projects Use English for communication during the projects Teachers XII I Interaction Interact with students more frequently Help students use suitable words for the projects Help students use suitable structures for the projects II Feedback and correction Correct students’ mistakes in word choice Correct students’ mistakes in grammar Correct students’ mistakes in pronunciation III Time Spend time for students to practise speaking before the presentation step Spend time for all groups in the presentation step Give students feedback, evaluation at the end of the lesson IV Student management Manage students of different levels during the projects Manage students with little motivation and interest V Language use Use suitable language(L1/ L2) for giving instructions and communicating with students VI.Knowledge and experience Show knowledge and experience about the projects to guide students XIII Interview with student 1(S1) Researcher (R) S1 R S1 R S1 R S1 R S1 R S1 R S1 R S1 Interview with student 2(S2) Researcher(R ) S2 R S2 R S2 R S2 R S2 R S2 R XV S2 R S2 Interview with student 3(S3) Researcher(R) S3 R S3 R S3 R S3 R S3 R S3 Transcript of interviews with teachers Interview with teacher 1(T1) Researcher (R) T1 R T1 R T1 R T1 R T1 R T1 Interview with teacher 2(T2) Researcher (R) T2 R T2 R T2 R XVIII T2 R T2 R T2 Interview with teacher 3(T3) Researcher (R) T3 R T3 R XIX T3 R T3 R T3 R T XX APPENDIX SAMPLES OF PBL ACTIVITITES USED FOR STUDENTS IN THE TEXTBOOK Activity 1: Write the names of the rooms in the school and tell your classmates about them (6 Project, Tiếng Anh 3.1, p.51) Activity 2: Draw and colour school things Write their names and talk to your friends (6.Project, Tiếng Anh 3.1, p.57) Activity 3: Make a card about your friend’s school and class Talk about it (6 Project, Tiếng Anh 4.1, , p.45) Activity 4: Interview three classmates about where they will go and what they will next weekend (6.Project , Tiếng Anh 5.1, p.35) XXI ... 1(Orientation and planning); research, materials and project preparation are included in phase 2(Research and implementation); presentation preparation and presentation are included in phase 3(sharing... activities Those concerns have led to the constitution of the study ? ?A Study On The Benefits and Challenges Of Applying Project - Based Activities At a Primary School in Ha Noi" 1.2 Aims of the. .. students’ motivation and performance since students are interested in project activities and can apply the lexical and grammatical items to the projects They also indicate that their pronunciation is