Vệc sử dụng giáo cụ trực quan trong giảng dạy ngữ pháp cho học sinh nghiên cứu tại một trường tiểu học Vệc sử dụng giáo cụ trực quan trong giảng dạy ngữ pháp cho học sinh nghiên cứu tại một trường tiểu học luận văn tốt nghiệp thạc sĩ
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER THE USE OF VISUAL AIDS IN TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR TO YOUNG LEARNERS: A CASE STUDY IN A PRIMARY SCHOOL Supervisor: Cấn Thị Chang Duyên, M.A Student: Nguyễn Thị Thanh Hòa Course: QH2014.F1.E6 HÀ NỘI – 2018 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP VIỆC SỬ DỤNG GIÁO CỤ TRỰC QUAN TRONG GIẢNG DẠY NGỮ PHÁP CHO HỌC SINH: NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Cấn Thị Chang Duyên Sinh viên: Nguyễn Thị Thanh Hòa Khóa: QH2014.F1.E6 HÀ NỘI – 2018 ACCEPTANCE PAGE I hereby state that I: Nguyễn Thị Thanh Hòa, QH2014.F1.E6, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts English Language Teacher Education accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Signature Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Can Thi Chang Duyen, M.A., for her patience, profound knowledge, as well as her whole-hearted assistance during my research Also, I also owe my sincere thanks to the teachers and students at Pham Hong Thai Primary School, Nam Dinh, who have been the enthusiastic participants in my research Without them, my research could not be completed and successful I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to my lecturers in Faculty of English Language Teaching Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable instruction and assistance throughout the realization of this thesis Last but not least, I am heartily thankful to my friends and my family, especially my elder sister, who have constantly inspired and encouraged me to overcome difficulties to complete this study i ABSTRACT The use of visual tools in teaching and learning is considered by many researchers, but there is a lack of study on the use of these tool in teaching grammar at primary level The study aims at finding some types of visual aids implemented in class and their used frequencies, the strengths and weaknesses of them and the satisfaction level of teachers when using these tools Mixed research, which is the combination of qualitative research and quantitative one, was implemented with the population was three official teachers at Pham Hong Thai Primary school The analysis of the result revealed that chalkboards were utilized the most as they were equipped in every class and the preparation for the lesson instructed by blackboard was the least among these six tools Besides, in spite of the advantages that projectors bring along, this tool was less used as it took time to prepare The most used visual aids at this school were pictures and flashcards because of its availability Last but not least, the satisfaction level of the teachers was based on the strengths and weaknesses of these tools instead of their used frequencies in class The recommendations, then, can facilitate grammatical teaching and learning process with the taking advantages of visual aids in classroom activities ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACCEPTANCE PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF FIGURES, AND ABBREVIATIONS, ETC v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background and statement of research problem 1.2 Research questions 1.3 Scope of study 1.4 Significance 1.5 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Grammar 2.2 Deductive and inductive methods of teaching grammar 2.3 Teaching grammar for different ages 2.4 Types of visual aids in teaching English 2.4.1 Picture 2.4.2 Flashcards 10 2.4.3 Chalkboard 10 2.4.4 Overhead projector and slide projector 11 2.4.5 Realia 12 2.4.6 Videos 12 2.5 Previous studies on using visual aids in language teaching process 13 2.5.1 Studies on using visual aids in language teaching process 13 2.5.2 Studies on using visual aids in language teaching process in Vietnam 14 CHAPTER 3: 3.1 METHODOLOGY 16 Setting and participants 16 3.1.1 Setting 16 3.1.2 Participants 18 iii 3.2 Data collection 19 3.2.1 Research collection instruments 19 3.2.2 Data collection procedure 20 3.3 Data analysis procedure 21 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 23 4.1 Research question 23 4.2 Research question 26 4.3 Research question 3: 34 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 39 5.1 Summary of the findings and conclusion 39 5.2 Recommendations 41 5.3 Limitations 41 5.4 Suggestions for further research 42 REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES 47 APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE for TEACHERS of ENGLISH 47 APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW GUIDELINE 53 APPENDIX 3: CLASS OBSERVATION FORM 54 iv LIST OF FIGURES, AND ABBREVIATIONS, ETC FIGURES Figure Grammar flashcard 10 Figure 2: Chalkboards (Wright, 1989) 11 Figure 3: Overhead Projector (Wright, 1989) 12 Figure 4: Slide projector (Wright, 1989) 12 Figure 5: Kinds of visual aids used in teaching grammar at Pham Hong Thai Primary School 23 Figure 6: The frequency of each types of visual aids in teaching grammar at Pham Hong Thai Primary School 24 Figure 7: The stages using visual aids in teaching grammar at Pham Hong Thai Primary School 25 Figure 8: General teachers’ perspective about strengths of using visual aids in teaching grammar 27 Figure 9: Unit When's your birthday? 30 Figure 10: General weaknesses of visual aids in teachers’ perspective 31 Figure 11: Weaknesses of visual aids in teaching English at Pham Hong Thai Primary School 32 Figure 12: Satisfaction level of teachers with the use of visual aids in teaching English grammar at Pham Hong Thai Primary School 34 TABLES Table 1: Strengths and weaknesses of visual aids in teaching English at Pham Hong Thai Primary School 28 Table 2: Satisfaction level of teacher [1] with the use of visual aids in teaching English grammar at Pham Hong Thai Primary School 35 Table Satisfaction level of teacher [2] with the use of visual aids in teaching English grammar at Pham Hong Thai Primary School 36 v Table Satisfaction level of teacher [3] with the use of visual aids in teaching English grammar at Pham Hong Thai Primary School 37 ABBREVIATIONS O.P&S.P: Overhead projector and slide projector CB: Chalk board MOET: Ministry of Education and Training vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Grammar is considered an essential element of a language; and learning grammar is taken for granted as an important process during the period of attaining a new language This project is on purpose of researching the process of teaching grammar at primary school and deeply exploring a method used in teaching grammar to young learners According to several previous studies, there are many approaches to teach grammar, two main of which are inductive and deductive ones Each approach contains merits and demerits For example, deductive approach may confuse learners with a wide range of grammar rules and it is suitable for adult learners (Ellis, 2009, cited in Cruz & Mosquera, 2017) In contrast, inductive approach can match young students with exposure of active examples and practice and let them find out the rules of grammar (Thornbury, 1999) According to Rodríguez (2009), after a long period of time investigation, researchers pointed out that explicit grammar instruction, which is the main method of deductive approach, is an effective method to present grammatical knowledge to adult learners On the contrary, young learners have some distinctive characteristics that require different approaches to instruct grammatical knowledge (Harmer, 2007) Hence, teachers should create suitable and enjoyable activities and instruction embedded grammatical structures to help children know, understand and apply grammar without memorizing such long and boring rules One of the most useful methods is using visual tools Basically, visual tools are what people can see such as pictures, charts, slides, etc In the literature review, concepts, studies and findings related to this project will be presented Regarding the theoretical concept of grammar, grammar teaching, young learners and visual aids These studies were implemented in different contexts and with different participants, but showed significant results that have contributed to the development of my project ranged from “neutral” to “very satisfied” with the detailed rates presented in the previous part All things considered, the small study figures out that the teachers at Pham Hong Thai Primary School utilized the combination of six kinds of visual aids, namely pictures, flashcards, blackboard, projectors, objects and videos in their grammatical instruction To make their lesson be more attractive, active and informative, the teachers employed each type of visual aid with different frequency and in different stages or classroom activities The teachers also based on strengths and weaknesses of these aforementioned tools to decide to use which type of aids for which activity In general, chalkboards were utilized the most as they were equipped in every class and the preparation for the lesson instructed by blackboard was the least among these six tools As Pham Hong Thai Primary School was recognized as a high quality school of Nam Dinh Province, classrooms were geared with a slide projector, which was confirmed to usefully facilitate teachers to illustrate their lessons A minor point of this tool was the time for preparing a lesson was more than others As a result, in spite of taking advantage of this tool, the teachers tent to less use projectors as a frequent tool during their teaching process It can be proved that pictures and flashcards were the two tools that were the most favorite tools of English teachers at Pham Hong Thai Primary School The reason for this choice is the availability of these tools, which was noted that the materials were attached with the textbook and teachers’ book Based on the use of each type of visual aids and the teachers’ interview responds, the researcher point out that English teachers at Pham Hong Thai Primary School normally satisfied with the use of visual aids in teaching grammar There may be some barriers hindering the higher rate of satisfaction such as the availability of the materials, the time for preparing the material, the facilities of classroom, the environment of the class, and so on 40 5.2 Recommendations After analyzing aforementioned information, the author provokes several recommendations regarding to the issue of using visual aids in grammatical instruction at primary school Initially, based on the characteristics of students and the benefits and drawbacks of each category of visual aids, teachers should select the appropriate kinds to fully make use of it in their teaching Moreover, each teacher should combine and collect visual materials into a package with clarify categories so that, teachers can reuse the materials and reduce the time for preparing for the lesson Teachers in a group or a school should contribute to the group and share the materials in order to enlarge the general storage In addition, course designers should take care the development of visual materials By this, the author means that, course designers should attach more offline as well as online materials in textbook so that the teachers can rely on the availability of the aids and take advantage of them Last but not least, in the case of Pham Hong Thai Primary School, the teachers are fervent to use projector to illustrate their instruction due to the fulfill equipment of this school Via this study, the author would like to recommend to the policy makers that they should gear school, especially primary school with advanced equipment, which can efficiently facilitate the use of visual materials in class as well as enhance motivate students to learn English 5.3 Limitations Despite considerable efforts of the researchers, certain limitations could be identified in this study due to time restriction and other factors First, as the restriction of interview permission, the research cannot collect the qualitative and quantitative data of primary school students This may lead to the subjective conclusions of the paper Secondly, the study did not include English teaching process of native teachers As the author observed, native teachers who take turn to in charge of a 41 lesson per week for each class completely neglect the grammatical teaching process Nonetheless, during their lesson, some sentences were repeated and they can be considered as a minor aspect of their teaching process The study includes no test, which has a restriction in evaluating the effects of visual aids on teaching and learning process However, the paper also reported the evaluation of teachers in terms of the improvement of students when using visual aids in English classes and in grammar lessons in particular Despite the aforementioned shortcomings, the researcher’s serious work and justified data collection and research methodology, the researcher hope that the results of the study were ensured to some extent Besides, it is notable that these above limitations could be taken into consideration for the further related studies 5.4 Suggestions for further research As the limitations of this paper, it is potential for future authors to continue and broaden this issue For instance, the next research can investigate the use of other kinds of visual aids such as gestures, mimes and facial expressions After analyze the result, author of this study can compare and contrast to the previous study to make a more sufficient conclusion of using visual aids in teaching English Another study could be taken over is investigating the attitude of teachers and students at different ages towards using visual aids in teaching and learning process This research can compare the differences in teaching English through visual tools to different learner categories 42 REFERENCES Anglomaniacy.pl (n.d.) There is, there are | Grammar lessons for kids learning English [online] Available at: http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/verbs-therelesson.htm [Accessed Dec 2017] Allen, V F (1983) Techniques in teaching vocabulary New York: Oxford University Press Bowen, B M (1982) Look Here! : Visual AIDS in Language Teaching London and Basingstole: The Macmillan Press Limited Brown, H D (2007) Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy White Plains, NY: Pearson Education Bryman, A (2004) Social Research Methods Oxford: Oxford University Bui, T P (2012) A study on using visual aids to teach ESP vocabulary for the students of the Shipbuilding Faculty at the Central Vocational College of Transport No II Teaching Methodology Celce-Murcia, M., & Hilles, S (1998) Techniques and resources in teaching grammar Oxford University Press, USA Chien, C (2015) Analysis the Effectiveness of Three Online Vocabulary Flashcard Websites on L2 Learners’ Level of Lexical Knowledge English Language Teaching, 8(5), 111-121 doi:10.5539/elt.v8n5p111 Cruz , S H., & Mosquera, S D (2017) Using visual aids to teach grammar to children in a public school Teaching grammar with visual aids Crystal, D (2003) English as Global Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Dolati, R., & Richards, C (2010, September) Harnessing the Use of Visual Learning Aids in the English Language Classroom Retrieved from Arab World English Journal: http://www.awej.org/index.php/awej-volume-2no-1-january-2011/11-awej-volume-2-no-1-january-2011/29-harnessingthe-use-of-visual-learning-aids-in-the-english-language-classroom Duong, T M (2011) The use of pictures in teaching English speaking in an English center Teaching methodology Ellis, R (2001) Introduction: Investigating Form-Focused Instruction Language learning, 51(1), 1-46 doi:10.1111/j.1467-1770.2001.tb00013.x Ellis, R (2009) Chapter Implicit and explicit learning knowledge and instruction In R Ellis, S Loewen, C Elder, R Erlam, J Philp, & H 43 Reinders, Implicit and explicit knowledge in second language learning, testing and teaching (pp 3-25) Bristol, Buffalo, Toronto: Multilingual Matters Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5ec0/633509ac14ba2474bf1 Ellis, R., Basturkmen, H., & Loewen, S (2001, June) Learner Uptake in Communicative ESL Lessons Language Learning, 51(2), 281-318 doi:10.1111/1467-9922.00156 English Singsing (2014) What are you doing? (Preset progressive) English song for Kids - Enjoy the song [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja0xp2j_JhM [Accessed Apr 2018] Francis, W Nelson (2009) Revolution in grammar, Quarterly Journal of Speech, 40:3, 299-312, DOI: 10.1080/00335635409381991 Gelfgren, V (2012) Fun with flashcards Retrieved from http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/sites/default/files/funwithflashcards.pdf Ha, V (2009, June 09) How Vietnamese students learn English Radio Free Asia Harmer, J (2007) The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th ed.) London/Newyork: Pearson Longman Harper, D (n.d.) Grammar Retrieved from Online Etymological Dictionary: https://www.etymonline.com/word/grammar Hoang, V V., Nguyen, T Q., Phan, H., Do, H T., Dao, L N., Truong, M T., & Wilson, K (2016) English Hanoi: Vietnam Education Publishing House Ikpia, V I (2003) The attitudes and perceptions of adult english as a second language students toward explicit grammar instruction Kruţicová, M (2015) Different Approaches to Teaching Grammar at LowerSecondary School Level Ministry of Education and Training (2015) Circular 41 about primary school regulation Hanoi: Ministry of Education and Training Nam Dinh Executive Commitee of Communist Party (2011) Resolution 10NQ/TU of Developing some high quality schools Nam Dinh: Nam Dinh Executive Commitee of Communist Party Nguyen, L T (2010) The practice of using teaching aids inteaching english grammar to 10 th formstudents at luong van gifted highschool and its implications Teaching Methodology 44 Nguyen, T T., & Nguyen, T M (2007) Using visual aids to motivate the first year students at Hanoi University of Industry to learn vocabulary Teaching Methodology Parker, M (2015) Pronunciation & Grammar: Using Video and Audio Activities Ponto, J (2015) Understanding and Evaluating Survey Research Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology, 6(2), 168-171 Rodríguez, A G (2009) Teaching Grammar to Adult English Language Learners: Focus on Form Center for Adult English Language Acquisition CAELA Network Brief Schiffman, H F (2000, May 19) Language and Popular Culture Retrieved from University of Pennsylvania - School of Arts & Sciences: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/popcult.html Schmid, E C (2008) Potential pedagogical benefits and drawbacks of multimedia use in the English language classroom equipped with interactive whiteboard technology Computers and Education, 1553-1568 Scrivener, J (1994) Learning teaching Oxford: Heinemann Scrivener, J (2003) Teaching grammar Oxford: Oxford University Press Sobecki, D (2010) Mathematics in our world New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education Surovee, M J (2014) Teaching Grammar to Young Learners Dhaka, Bangladesh: BRAC University T N (2015, June 2) Nam Định xây dựng sở giáo dục chất lượng cao Retrieved from Nhan Dan Online: http://www.nhandan.com.vn/giaoduc/tin-tuc/item/26512102-nam-dinhxay-dung-co-so-giao-duc-chat-luong-cao.html Thornbury, S (1999) How to teach grammar Harlow, England: Pearson Education Ur, P (1996) A course in language teaching: Practice and theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Wade, N (2002) Teaching grammar through visual aids in beginner classes Wright, A (1989) Pictures for Language Learning Cambridge University Press Yassaei, S (2012) Using Original Video and Sound Effects to Teach English English teaching forum, 50(1), 12-16 Young, R (2008) Using Technology Tools in the Public School Classroom 45 Zainal, Z (2007) Case study as a research method 46 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE for TEACHERS of ENGLISH This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into the use of visual aids in teaching English grammar for young students at a primary school Your assistance in completing this survey will be of great importance and is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is kept secret and used solely for the study purpose Thank you very much for your sincere co-operation! Survey conductor: Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa, Undergraduated student, QH2014.F1.E6SP, Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Please tick (☒) or fill in the information where appropriate Full name: Age: Gender: ☐ Male ☐ Female How long have you been teaching English? years What kind of visual aids you use in teaching grammar? ☐ Pictures ☐ Flashcards ☐ Chalk board ☐ Overhead projector and slide projector ☐ Realia ☐ Videos ☐ Other 47 How often you use the following types of visual aids in teaching grammar? Note: always (during each lesson) often (every second / third lesson) sometimes (four times a month) rarely (once a month) hardly ever (a few times a year) never Types of visual aids always often sometimes rarely hardly ever never Pictures Flashcards Chalk board Overhead projector and slide projector Realia Videos How often you use visual aids to…? always often motivate attract students / students’ attention provide students with suitable context to explore grammar 48 sometimes rarely hardly ever never present new grammar help students compare and contrast information or grammatical knowledge What are strengths of visual aids in your perspective? (You can choose more than one option) ☐ Using visual aids helps me teach grammar more effectively ☐ I feel fashionable to use visual aids ☐ My students prefer learning though visual aids ☐ My student can remember grammatical rules more easily ☐ My students have more chances to speak English ☐ My students feel comfortable in lesson ☐ The class is more active ☐ The lesson is more interesting ☐ I can save time to present new grammatical rules ☐ I am forced to use visual aids by the authority of my school ☐ I use visual aids because my colleagues use them, too ☐ Others (please specify) What are weaknesses of visual aids in your perspective? (You can choose more than one option) ☐ Time-consuming to prepare ☐ Difficulties to prepare ☐ The lack of time when using ☐ Difficulties in finding suitable visual materials ☐ Difficulties in class management ☐ Inconvenience for storing and carrying 49 ☐ Cost consuming ☐ Others (please specify) _ What are strengths and weaknesses of visual aids? (You can choose more than one option) NOTE: Please only reflect your teaching process and your use of visual aids in teaching Pictures Flashcards Chalk Overhead Realia Video board projector and slide projector Visual aid creates aid creates enticing visual Visual special interactive environment Visual aid allows me to be creative Visual aid can be used to teach different grammar points Visual aid is easy to prepare I feel fashionable to use visual aids My students prefer learning though visual aids Visual aid makes students concentrate on the lesson Visual aid helps students to understand the content of the lessons better My student can remember 50 grammatical rules more easily The class is more active The lesson is more interesting I can save time to present new grammatical rules I am forced to use visual aids by the authority of my school It’s time-consuming to prepare visual aid It’s difficult to prepare / find suitable visual material It’s time-consuming when using visual aid It’s difficult to manage class when using visual aid It’s inconvenience to store and carry visual aid It’s cost consuming to prepare visual aid Students may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information Visual may encourage laziness on the part of the students Other 10 To what extend you satisfy with using visual aids in teaching grammar at school? ☐ Very satisfied ☐ Satisfied ☐ Neutral 51 ☐ Dissatisfied ☐ Very dissatisfied 11 To what extend you satisfy with these following types of visual aids in teaching grammar at school? Very Types of visual aids satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied Pictures Flashcards Chalk board Overhead projector and slide projector Realia Videos This is the end of the questionnaire THANK YOU FOR YOUR SINCERE CO-OPERATION ONCE AGAIN 52 APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW GUIDELINE Which stage of grammatical teaching process you use visual aids? Which types of visual aids you use in those stages? What are your techniques when you use visual aids in those stages? Have you ever tried to use different kinds of visual aids in one stage? Differences among applying those visual materials? What problems you meet when teaching grammar through visual aids? Why you use pictures (or flashcards / chalk and board / overhead projector and slide projector / realia / video) the most to teach grammar? Why you use pictures (or flashcards / chalk and board / overhead projector and slide projector / realia / video) the least to teach grammar? Why you satisfy with pictures (or flashcards / chalk and board / overhead projector and slide projector / realia / video) the most when using them to teach grammar? Why you satisfy with pictures (or flashcards / chalk and board / overhead projector and slide projector / realia / video) the least when using them to teach grammar? 53 APPENDIX 3: CLASS OBSERVATION FORM Observer(s)’ Class/es and Group: Teacher’s name Date: School/English Center Number of students Males: Females: Textbook Grade: Lesson/unit: Teaching aids Time Activities Visual aids including 54 Feelings Note ... HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP VIỆC SỬ DỤNG GIÁO CỤ TRỰC QUAN TRONG GIẢNG DẠY NGỮ PHÁP CHO HỌC SINH: NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC... Training, 2015) Besides, one reason for choosing this school as the case of the study is that Pham Hong Thai Primary School is one of the best primary school in Nam Dinh As noted in a Resolution... a primary school, the author should use mixed methods in this case By this, the researcher means that questionnaires were used to collect the data from English teachers at chosen school and then