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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES& INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES - - LUU THI THU HA AN ACTION RESEARCH ON USING THE COMIC BOOK CALVIN AND HOBBES TO MOTIVATE NON-MAJOR STUDENTS AT AIC AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL TO LEARN VOCABULARY ( Nghiên cứu cách sử dụng truyện tranh Calvin and Hobbes để khuyến khích học viên khơng chun trường Quốc tế Mỹ học từ vựng) M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE SUPERVISOR DO TUAN MINH (Ph.D) Hanoi, 20th May 2010 iv CONTENT TABLE CONTENTS PAGES DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF TABLES iv Chapter 1: Introduction 1-3 A Statement of Problems……………………………………………… B Purpose of the Study………………………………………………… C The Significance of the Study……………………………………… D Theoretical Frame Work …………………………………………… How Calvin and Hobbes comics help students at AIC learn vocabulary? ………………………………………………………… What are the students’ attitudes toward learning vocabulary through the comic? …………………………………………………………… What are the problems faced by students when learning vocabulary through the comic? …………………………………………………… Chapter 2: Literature Review 4-10 A Overview …………………………………………………………… B Literature Review …………………………………………………… Aspects of the vocabulary teaching ………………………………… “Motivation” in English language teaching…………………………… v The use of comic in teaching vocabulary …………………………… Background about Calvin and Hobbes comic………………………… C Conclusion………………………………………………………… Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology 10 11-13 A Design of the Research…………………………………………… 11 B The Sample………………………………………………………… 11 C Description of Instruments………………………………………… 11 D Procedure of the Observations and the Interviews………………… 12 E Pilot Testing………………………………………………………… 12 F Research Schedule……………………………………………… 12 G Methodology…………………………………………………… 13 Chapter 4: Results and Discussion 17-29 A Overview …………………………………………………… 17 B Result…………………………………………………………… 17-27 Results of Questionnaire………………………………………… 1.1 Characters………………………………………………… 1.2 Students’ Ratings of the Comic Appeal………………… 1.3 Measurement of Students’ Perceived Learning Observations Result…………………………………………… 27 Interview Result………………………………………………… 28 C Discussion……………………………………………………… 29 Chapter 5: Recommendation 32-34 A Summary of Findings……………………………………………… 32 B Recommendations………………………………………………… 33 vi Teachers should show their enthusiasm for the comic first…………………………………………………………………………… Choose Your Comic Carefully…………………………………… Be more active and creative……………………………………… C Limitation and Suggestion for Further Research…………………… 34 Chapter References A Book Source………………………………………………………… 36 B Internet Source……………………………………………………… Appendices I- XVII vii LIST OF TABLES TABLES PAGES Table 1: Student Perceptions of Comic Appeal…………………… 20 Table Text difficulty…………………………………………… 20 Table Learning activities……………………………………………… 22 Table Comic’ suitability……………………………………………… 23 Table Effectiveness of the method…………………………………… 24 Table Substitute material for teaching………………………………… 25 Table Engagement into the lesson ………………………………… 26 Table Enhance the relationship……………………………… 26 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION A Statement of Problems Learners at the American International College (AIC) study English as a foreign language Their ages fluctuate from nineteen to thirty Although they are keen on learning English, they are often off-task and not using their time effectively, or ―being stuck‖ and not knowing what to next When teaching I noticed that many of them did not have the strategies or tools they need to proceed in writing or reading While observing the students reading for details, speaking to communicate, or convey a given massage; they ask a lot about words they not know or words they need to use Therefore, I began to go through my own materials that I had collected in training sessions and look for good strategies for teaching vocabulary, writing process, and classroom management Bearing in my mind, it is important for people to take responsibility for their learning and productivity in order to be positive contributors in and outside the classroom What could I as a teacher to help students develop the skills they need to take responsibility? Comic Books took my interest in reading, and they also helped me in the subject of English Although some teachers thought that there were a lot of slang words and misspelling, comics were and still are proof read and checked for misspellings, grammar and punctuation Nevertheless, many successful English teachers say that one of the most important aspects of teaching English is making it fun and interesting Finding applicable techniques that students can relate to and have fun doing so is quite a chore The teaching could be so boring and difficult without using interesting materials Although we usually associate comics with entertainment, in fact they can have many more serious applications Everybody loves comics - as we all know from the fondness they have for the comics - so why not make this attractive medium work for teaching and learning? Comic materials have been found to be highly motivational for improving language Spector (1992) insisted that ―it is vital for reading programs to provide plenty of opportunities for that one of the most difficult aspects of students to experience life‘s comical teaching English is making it fun and nonsensical characters and events.‖ Using comic can be a part of successful teaching that may make students enjoy Comic come in a variety of forms and clearly demonstrate that a picture is often worth a thousand words Often comic contain written language, but even when they not they can provide students with numerous possible ties for learning English B Purpose of the Study The use of comic for teaching is explored more thoroughly One of the more obvious applications is to use comic to teach English and composition The students read the comic, and then discuss the plot, the characters, and the setting They then write the story of what they have done so far or their adjustment to the characters, ect As a teacher of the American International College, I regularly use comic to teach such topics as vocabulary, sentence construction, grammar, part of speech as well as speaking and translating Using comic can be a part of successful teaching, making English a real enjoyable as ―through the lesson students could learn something about skill choosing words, ability to adopt linguistic accent, repertoire of jokes, imagination so on and so forth‖ (Peter Woods, p 85) C The Significance of the Study There are many factors that are important to how a student learns These factors include the following; how the teacher teaches the students, the curriculum the teacher uses, the environment of the students, and the home-life of the students However, students are rarely asked what they think about how the type of material impacts their learning In particular, the importance of this study is to find out from the students, if they feel whether they can learn best when they use students books in class for a period of time of 100 minutes or whether they think they can learn better if they have additional material to work on This study may have value to several different groups It can be valuable to the teacher, first and foremost, because if a teacher can decide what kind of material for teaching and learning that goes on in a class, impacts a students, the teacher may be able to make modifications within the framework of the school schedule, that incorporate these ideas Secondly, it might be interesting in the future to continue this study with major students and see how the type of material they have impacts their learning? Another potential study in the future might be to interview teachers who teach the students books only and those who teach with additional materials, and see what differences exist between these two materials in terms of their effect to the teacher‘s attitude and their teaching methods D Theoretical Frame Work Learning is an extremely complex human process During my five years of teaching I have used many strategies to enhance students learning and to teach new concepts I am still not convinced that I thoroughly understand how students learn Yet, at this point, I believe students learn through experiences They build on past experiences and previous knowledge to process new concepts Students need to be actively involved in their education Interested and enthusiastic students are more willing learners, and I believe willing learners become active participants in their own instruction As students become more actively involved in their learning, they develop interest and enthusiasm for the content and/or the process that is their conduit for acquiring new knowledge During the process of conducting an action research on using Calvin and Hobbes in teaching and learning English, the following questions should be answered simultaneously: How Calvin and Hobbes comics help students at AIC learn vocabulary? What are the students’ attitudes toward learning vocabulary through the comic? What are the problems faced by students when learning vocabulary through the comic? Through this study I hoped to find that the Calvin and Hobbes comic would be the material that my students needed to acquire new knowledge, develop new concepts, and express strong understanding in general In particular, I will focus on how this comic influences the usage of vocabulary as well as how their interaction is enabled Also, the study will test the usefulness of using picture-based text in teaching English of all levels Through the attraction and varieties of the comic, I hoped to tap the enthusiasm of my students towards learning English and make them active participants in their own instruction CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW A Overview Learning is considered a serious matter in helping learners to develop, is still a need to liven the process of understanding different concepts Not only does humor offer a new type of learning, but also is known to provide learners who are learning different topics with the ability to remember different ideas at a more thorough level If you have students who are learning vocabulary, writing or reading, then using vocabulary comic is a simple way to liven the learning process Even though most consider vocabulary comic as a secondary source or addition to the learning process, many others have found that there are more to comic then meets the eye B Literature review related to the study Aspects of the vocabulary teaching ―Motivation‖ and ―attitude‖ in English language teaching The use of comic in teaching English What is the origin of Calvin and Hobbes? Its characteristics? Aspects of the vocabulary teaching Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings As Steven Stahl (2005) puts it, "Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world." Vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be fully mastered; it is something that expands and deepens over the course of a lifetime Instruction in vocabulary involves far more than looking up words in a dictionary and using the words in a sentence Vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to words and intentionally through explicit instruction in specific words and wordlearning strategies According to Michael Graves (2000), there are four components of an effective vocabulary program: wide or extensive independent reading to expand word knowledge instruction in specific words to enhance comprehension of texts containing those words instruction in independent word-learning strategies, and word consciousness and word-play activities to motivate and enhance learning As a vocabulary teacher, we have to be focused on building the learner's 'start up' or initial vocabulary, developing the learner's understanding of what learning words means, and showing the learner how to learn the words most effectively With the comic, students can choose to study vocabulary directly through dictionary or indirectly through studying activities The ultimate aim, of course, is to develop the learners as independent word learners; and hence improving their English proficiency “Motivation” and “attitude” in English language teaching Motivation is often defined as the psychological quality that leads people to achieve a goal For language learners, mastery of a language may be a goal For others, communicative competence or even basic communication skills could be a goal In linguistics, sociolinguistics and second language acquisition, a number of language learner motivation models have been postulated (www.wikipedia.org) Gardner and Lambert (1972) distinguish between attitude and motivation They define ‗attitude‘ as the persistence shown by the learner in striving for a goal, where as ‗motivation‘ is seen in terms of the overall goal or orientation However, attitudes are related to motivation by serving as supports of the learner‘s overall orientation Brown (1981) uses the term ‗attitudes‘ to refer to the set of beliefs that the learner holds towards members of the target language group and also towards his own culture Stern (1983:376-7) distinguishes three types of attitudes in second language learning situation : '(a) Attitudes towards the community and people who speak the L2 ( group specific attitudes), (b)Attitudes towards learning the language concerned; and (c) Attitude towards languages and language learning in general.' They may also be influenced by the particular social milieu within which the language learning process takes place Brown (1981) also makes the distinction between attitude and motivation He identifies three types of motivation (1) Global motivation that consists of a general orientation to the goal of learning a L2; (2) situational motivation, which varies according to the situation in which learning takes place and (3) task motivation, which is the motivation for performing particular learning tasks 33 Numerous other related activity possibilities exist, which may be applied with just a bit of imagination For example, have your English learners relate: who the author or creator of the comic / cartoon series is a biography of the author with photos describe the setting and theme of the comic or cartoon series show examples of cartoons, comics and characters in class, then compare them Try teaching language arts with comics and lead your students down the path of thinking outside the box Grab your students' attention and keep it Let your students read the comics while you use these fresh language arts teaching ideas Parents, teachers, and other staff can keep you supplied with comics by bringing in their daily and weekend newspapers They are all full of comics C Limitation and Suggestion for Further Research Limitation of the Study Due to the fact that no teachers here have ever used the comic, I meet difficulties in asking them to use the material I designed in their class Not having survey from the teachers is the most pity in this thesis Hence, the commitment of the comic‘s effectiveness might not be as strong as I expected Moreover, spending only three hours a week for eight weeks is a limited time for practice and observation of an action research Moreover, there are bound to be aspects of class communication that would not be revealed during my observations Moreover, students might get bored with the same materials if I use them regularly Hence, I also had to spend time designing the comic is such a way that students are interested in it and then they can make use of it in their studying and practicing I chose not to observe multiple classes, even though such comparisons might be valuable, in order to allow more depth of understanding regarding the group on which I focus Additionally, I did not use structured interviews in order to minimize my obtrusiveness and my influence on the class members Along with using the printed materials, using Internet in reading and employing the works is my first priority due to the fact that Internet provides me an abundance of academic knowledge as well as the teaching resources However, I guess I must be wise in choosing what is best for me and my research 34 Suggestion for further research Using a comic as an alternative text structure for reading alters a person's view of traditional text structures such as narrative texts (storybooks), non-narrative texts (nonfiction), and poetry In addition, students who struggle with reading often report that they not read for pleasure This can be attributed to the difficulty they experience when they approach the task of reading Using comics, which are humorous, visual, and limited in text, can alleviate the negative view of reading for some students Struggling readers, often unengaged with literacy in general, need a corrective approach to reading intervention—their ability to improve has to be based on building confidence with positive, successful reading Comics help motivate disengaged readers, offering an ingenious hook to reading that can ultimately bridge their literary interests to more conventional text structures Using comics for instruction is a quick, concise way to teach, practice, and apply reading skills whether it is for initial instruction or remediation of reading difficulties With the assistance of visual literacy skills, the acquisition of sight words and phonics skills and the building of vocabulary and reading comprehension strategies are fostered in developing readers Hence, teachers have frequently used comics as teaching tools in elementary Typically, using comic has been for the purpose of motivating students to become recreational readers, enabling them to expand their vocabulary knowledge, to engage their imaginations, and to inspire a love of studying English Free voluntary reading is the most effective tool available for increasing the student‘s ability 35 CHAPTER REFERENCES A BOOK SOURCE Brown.H.D(1981) Principles in language learning and teaching Englewood cliffs New Jesey: Prentice- Hall, Inc Chad E Smith, M.Ed.Letting Calvin and Hobbes Teach English Gina Wisker( p.156-2001) mentioned The post graduate research handbook Palgrave.study.guides ( page 156) Macmillan Press Gentile, L & McMillan, M (1978) Humor and the reading program Journal of Reading, 21(4) George Chilcoat Pow! Zap! Wham!Creating Comic Books from Picture Books in Social Studies Classrooms (2002) Luckner, J & Humphries, S (1990) Helping students appreciate humor Perspectives in Education and Deafness, 8(4), 2-4 Michael Graves Teaching Word-Learning Strategies (2000) McCloud, 1993, Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form p 9 Nunan.D.(2001) Research methods in language learning Cambridge University Press 10 Peter Woods Explorations in the sociology of the school P 85 11 R.C Gardner and W.E Lambert, Attitudes and motivation in second language learning, Rowley Mass., New Bury House Publishers, 1972 12 Spector, P A (1992) Summated Rating Scale Construction: An Introduction Newbury Park, CA, Sage 13 Steven Stahl Teaching word meaning (2005) 14 Sones, W (1944) "The comics and instructional method." Journal of Educational Sociology 18: 232–240 15 Stern.H(1983) Fundamental concept of language teaching Oxford:OUP 16 Thomas Gilmore, Jim Krantz and Rafael Ramirez, "Action Based Modes of Inquiry and the Host-Researcher Relationship," Consultation 5.3 (Fall 1986): 161 17 Williams Effects of comic Strips on L2 Learners' Reading Comprehension (1995) 36 B INTERNET SOURCE http://elmo.scu.edu.au/schools/sawd/arr/arr-home.html This site provides a brief summary of the methodologies used in action research, a bibliography with a substantial list of authors and titles, frequently asked questions, and links to various action research sites http://www.nivmedia.com/calvin/index.php This sites provide information about the original of Calvin and Hobbes We can find the earliest strip as well as the links to other Calvin sites in here http://www.librarything.com/groups/calvinandhobbes#forums This site is about the forum which have discussion on using Calvin and Hobbes in teaching English http://progressiveboink.com/archive/calvinhobbes.htm This site gives us information about 25 great Calvin and Hobbes strip http://chris.ericbosken.net/pages/calvin.html This site supplies us with Calvin and Hobbes‘ quotes www.sesa.org/newsltr/Fall00/hobbes.html We can find information about using Calvin and Hobbes as an interesting teaching methodology http://englishcompanion.ning.com/profiles/blogs/discipline-and-authority-in This is about the argument about good teaching methodologies http://www.eslprintables.com/buscador/buscar.asp?nivel=any&age=0&tipo=any&con tents=Calvin+and+Hobbes This site provides resources to teach or learn English Language Here I can find a good collection of worksheets, exercises, lesson-plans, online games, etc http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/calvinandhobbes/ The official website of the Andrew MacMell Publishing which has the authorization of publishing Calvin and Hobbes 10 http://www.theheartofgold.org/jumpstation/links.html Every links related to Calvin and Hobbes 11 http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/SPSS/modules/descript.htm Guiding web about SPSS- 37 12 http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/activities/activities-using-comic-strips Comic designing method 13 http://www.humblecomics.com/comicsedu/history.html Comic in education 14 http://www.web.net/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html Tutorial on action research 15 http://pdfdatabase.com/index.php?q=action+research+questions+examples Action research sample question 16 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/911267/_teaching_strategies_using_comic_ strips.html 17 http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/css/Css_37_1/FTcomics_in_social_studies.htm Link of the book Pow! Zap! Wham!Creating Comic Books from Picture Books in Social Studies Classrooms by George Chilcoat I APPENDICES APPENDIX Full Name: _ Check one: Male Female We are interested in what you think about studying with the comic strip, “Calvin and Hobbes” Please answer the following questions as honestly and completely as possible Your feedback will help us improve our teaching method for future learners Thank you! Please check one box for each question below What level are you currently studying? Elementary Pre- Inter Inter Upper-inter Advanced Out of student’s books, you usually use extra materials to study English? Yes No Not certain No answer Is this the first time you use this comic in studying? Yes No Not certain No answer II How Did You Feel About the Comic? Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements Check one box for each statement Statement I strongly I agree agree I disagree I strongly disagree I’m not sure a I liked the format of the comic b The story was interesting c I would like to read more comics like this one d Overall, the story was too long e The story was easy to understand f I liked the drawings g The drawings helped me understand the story h I’d like to read more stories about the same characters If the words were hard to read, check the reasons below: _ The text was too small _ There were too many words _ I didn’t know some of the words _ Other reason Please explain why:………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Did you like the characters? Yes No Not certain No answer III Please verify: …………………………… What did you like most about the comic? …………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… What did you like least about the comic? …………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… IV Did you learn anything from this comic? Yes No Not certain No answer Please specified:………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 10 What kind of studying activities with regard to the comic did you like most? Activities Please chose (one or more) Create a written story based on the picture Reorder the story Reduce each paragraph to one sentence for each frame Write sentence descriptions of what happened in each frame Notice the words you didn’t know yet and try to figure out what they mean by the context Divide into teams and will be required to write vocabulary down within an allotted timeframe Exploit characters Learn the culture-specific words and phrases, synonyms and antonyms to expand vocabulary Grammar building Rearrange the paragraph Create the same comic and vote for the best one Take turns discussing the action in the story Write a short paragraph interpreting the comics Reflect on interactive ( satire, irony, and cynicism ect ) techniques as used by writers Summarize all the comics that you have read so far, then write a short passage about the American value V 11 How did the comic engage you in the lesson? A lot A little Not certain No answer 12 What skill you think you are most improved after studying with the comic? Listening Reading Writing Speaking Translating Please explain why:…………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 13 Do you think the comic can be used as a substitute for teaching and studying in the class? I strongly agree I agree I disagree I strongly disagree I’m not sure Please explain why:………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 14 Do you think the comic is also suitable for teaching other communicative skills? Yes No Not certain No answer Please explain why:………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 15 How much you think the comic suit for you to study? A lot A little Not certain No answer Please explain why:………………………………………………… VI 16 Out of the traditional method (with the use of workbook) , you think the method of using the comic in studying really work? I strongly I agree agree I disagree I strongly disagree I’m not sure Please explain why:………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 17 Does the use of the comic in interactive activities help you enhance your relationship with your teacher? Yes No Not certain No answer Please explain why:…………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 18 Do you agree with the following statement: “When the cartoons express something that interrelates to the vocabulary, it gives learners an extra way of visualizing and seeing the concept More than this, the cartoon provides a memorable way to keep a vocabulary word in mind, which reinforces what the student is learning”.( Smith, Chad (2000) Letting Calvin and Hobbes Teach English Odyssey (Spring, 2000).) I strongly agree I agree I disagree I strongly disagree I’m not sure Please explain why:…………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 19 Do you have any other comments or ideas? Please share them:………………………………………… VII APPENDIX POWER POINT PRESENTATION GAME TASK: Look at the picture Ask and answer about Calvin’s emotion For example: How does he feel? He feels happy VIII IX APPENDIX Read the following story: Answer the following question: A READING COMPREHESION What is the story about? How many characters are there in the story? What does Calvin sell? What is Susie reaction over his price for the good? Was he successful with his business? What you think about this story? B VOCABULARY BUILDING How many words can you learn from the story? Look for its meaning and fill in the table: X Words Meaning Demand(v) Nhu cầu Variety Phrases Synonym Antonym Demand(n) Demanding(adj) Have a demand on sth Have high demand require, Supply need, want, call for, necessitate, command, claim, press for C TRANSLATE THE LESSON INTO VIETNAMESE Sample sentence He usually has high demand on his studying ... in English language teaching The use of comic in teaching English What is the origin of Calvin and Hobbes? Its characteristics? Aspects of the vocabulary teaching Vocabulary is the knowledge of. .. content and/ or the process that is their conduit for acquiring new knowledge During the process of conducting an action research on using Calvin and Hobbes in teaching and learning English, the following... interesting, liked the drawings and said that the drawings helped them understand the words in the stories Students also enjoyed the humor of the comic, especially that the characters were interesting
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