Using songs to teach english vocabulary to primary school children

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES HÀ THỊ THU HƯƠNG USING SONGS TO TEACH VOCABULARY TO PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT DIENBIEN PRIMARY SCHOOL, THANH HOA PROVINCE SỬ DỤNG BÀI HÁT ĐỂ DẠY TỪ VỰNG CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC, MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG TẠI TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC ĐIỆN BIÊN, THANH HÓA M.A Minor Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 HANOI, 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES HÀ THỊ THU HƯƠNG USING SONGS TO TEACH VOCABULARY TO PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT DIENBIEN PRIMARY SCHOOL, THANH HOA PROVINCE SỬ DỤNG BÀI HÁT ĐỂ DẠY TỪ VỰNG CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC, MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG TẠI TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC ĐIỆN BIÊN, THANH HÓA M.A Minor Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Phùng Thị Kim Dung, M.A HANOI, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the Problem 1.2 Aims of the Study 1.3 Objectives of the Study 1.4 Scope of the Study 1.5 The Significance of the Study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Characteristics of Young Learners 2.2 Teaching English to Young Learners 2.3 Vocabulary 10 2.4 Teaching Vocabulary 11 2.5 Vocabulary Teaching Techniques 14 2.5.1 Using Flashcards or Pictures 14 2.5.2 Translation 14 2.5.3 Using Games 15 2.5.4 Using Songs 15 2.6 Using Songs in teaching Vocabulary 16 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 A Brief Introduction to Context of Teaching and Learning English at Dien Bien Primary School 19 3.2 Research Design 19 3.3 Subjects 20 iii 3.4 Research Instruments 20 3.4.1 Observation 20 3.4.2 Questionnaires 21 3.5 Data Collection Procedures 22 3.6 Data Analysis 22 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS 4.1 Analysis of Data from Observation 24 4.1.1 The Situation of the class 24 4.2.2 The Participation of the students 25 4.2.3 The Pronunciation of the Students 25 4.2 Analysis of Data from Questionnaire 26 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Conclusion 29 5.2 Suggestions 29 REFERENCES I APPENDICES Classroom Observation 1-8 IV Questionnaire XII Collection of songs XIV iv CHAPTER INTRODUCTION In this chapter, the researcher will discuss about the statement of the problem, aims and objectives of the study, scope of the study and the significance of the study All of these items will be explained below 1.1 Statement of the Problem English is one of international languages, which is used throughout the world and in many fields of life such as in Politics, Economics, Social and Education Therefore, English as a language in international communication is clearly needed by many learners to deliver thought and interact in a variety of situations Because of the importance of English, English has been taught to students since they are in the Elementary school According to Yuliana (2003), teaching young learners is not like teaching adults because children have their own way of learning Since children like to play and have fun, the learning and teaching process should be suited with the nature the children themselves Larsen-Freeman (2000) state that in teaching English to young learner context, children will learn a foreign language more effectively under certain conditions As the basic components of the four language skills (listening, reading, writing and speaking) vocabulary has to be mastered by learners Vocabulary is the main point to learn English Without having adequate vocabulary we will get difficulty to learn English In Elementary School, vocabulary is the first step to learn English, because without knowing a lot of vocabulary in English the children will get difficulties in mastering English Thus, vocabulary should be the first priority in English language teaching and learning To teach vocabulary in Elementary school, especially for children, is not an easy way Teaching children is different from teaching adults We must have extra power to teach them, because the children have certain characteristics and need certain treatment Therefore, in teaching vocabulary to young learners, it needs appropriate technique According to Brown (2001) technique is any of a wide variety of exercises, activities, or tasks used in the language classroom for realizing lesson objective In addition, in any kinds of language learning activities, techniques may certainly constitute an indispensable factor that facilitates every successful effort in vocabulary mastery Therefore, we can say that techniques of teaching vocabulary to young learners are important because it can help the students learn easier and enjoy the material presented Furthermore, some sources explain techniques in teaching vocabulary in elementary school can be applied such as games, songs, memorization, dictation, etc Among these techniques, song is one useful technique to young learners because most children enjoy listening to songs Many empirical works were done to prove the theoretical consideration above Purwoharto (2002) study about the vocabulary teaching techniques of the fourth class students at MIN I Malang, Indonesia The study was conducted to know what the techniques used by the teacher and what the most appropriate technique to be employed by the teacher The research design used was descriptive qualitative design The result of the study showed that the teacher used two techniques in teaching vocabulary The techniques were guessing pictures and singing a song Between those two techniques above, students were interested in singing a song They were very enthusiastic because they were free to express their styles and they felt happy In Vietnam, teaching English at primary school to children at grade has been applied since 2010 Two years after the implementation of English at primary level, there are many problems of language teaching that can be identified as research subjects We could discuss about methods, material selection, and others Some study had been done to explore the use of modern equipments and techniques to find out the effective ways of teaching English to primary school children Vu Thi Luong (2002 cited in Do Thi Mai Chi, 2007) conducted a study on using games in teaching English to primary school children The research pointed out that game is a useful teaching technique in primary English language teaching; however, the teachers had many different opinions about them as well as difficulties in using them 90% of teacher in the study sample agreed that games are effective to language teaching but almost all of them complained that they did not have any book about using games in teaching so they used only some games repeatedly In this research it is identified that teaching technique for primary level is challenging Moreover, we know that technique in teaching vocabulary is important to help students to increase their achievement in English Therefore, the researcher intends to a research: “Using songs to teach English vocabulary to Primary school children: an action research at Dien Bien Primary school, Thanh Hoa province” The reason of choosing this research is the researcher believes that song is a useful technique in teaching vocabulary that supports the successful of learning and teaching process, especially to young learners who are learning English 1.2 Aims of the Study This research is carried out with the hope that it could raise teachers‟ awareness of using song in teaching vocabulary and provide them a useful teaching technique Through using song in teaching, it could attract students‟ interest in language learning Based on that, it is hoped to increase effectiveness of English teaching and learning process in Dien Bien primary school 1.3 Objectives of the Study The main purposes of the study are to find out the effectiveness of using songs to teach vocabulary to elementary students and the learners‟ responses toward this technique The statement of the problem can be formulated into the general research questions: How effective is the use of songs in teaching vocabulary to elementary students? How are the learners‟ responses toward the technique? 1.4 Scope of the Study The research was carried out with no ambition to cover all problems over all Vietnamese learners of English Scope of the research is limited as it is only conducted on the students in the third grade at Dien Bien Elementary school 1.5 The Significance of the Study The writer hopes that this study will be useful for teachers of elementary level Practically, it is hoped that this research will give the guideline how to teach and learn language better, especially in vocabulary subject So, the teachers themselves are expected to improve their performance in teaching Beside that, they are able to use songs as an appropriate technique in teaching vocabulary Theoretically, this study is also expected to increase and enlarge the researcher‟s understanding in using teaching vocabulary techniques and help the other researchers to provide information in mastering language components especially vocabulary CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter presents the review of related literature It concerns with the theoretical understanding as the references of this study The references that will be discussed are (1) characteristics of young learners, (2) teaching English to young learners, (3) Vocabulary, (4) teaching vocabulary, (5) vocabulary teaching techniques, (6) song and vocabulary 2.1 Characteristics of Young Learners Young learners will learn best if the people involved in the teaching learning process facilitate the learning and take into account the way they learn into the teaching practices Piaget (1967 cited in McCloskeey, 2002), suggested that children developed through specific stages, they are: Sensor-Motor Stage (from – years) in which children seemed to learn through physical interaction with the world around them Pre-operational stage (from - years) when children need concrete situations to process ideas Concrete Operational Stage (from - 11 years) in which children begin to conceptualize and some abstract problem solving, though they still learn best by doing Formal Operational Stage (from 11-15) in which children are able to use abstract thinking Based on the cognitive development above, the third grade students of Elementary School, who are involved in this research, are in the concrete operational stage It means that they are in the stage of learning language and thinking more concrete to actions, objects, and properties Teachers require REFERENCES Do Thi Mai Chi (2007), Challenges of teaching English to primary students: Teachers’ Voices from Ninh Binh, M.A thesis, University of International and Foreign Languages, VNU Allen, Harold B (1965), Teaching English as a Second Language: A Book of Reading, McGraw-Hill, INC, United States of America Anderson, M and K Anderson (1997), Research and Education, Practice Hall, Inc, New Jersey Ary, Donald., Jacobs, L.C., & Razavieh, A (2002), Introduction to Research in Education, Hult, Rinehart and Winston, Inc, New York Bogdan, R.C., Biklen, S.K (1992), Qualitative Research for Education: An Introduction to Theory and Methods, Allyn and Bacon, Toronto Brown H Douglas.(2000), Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, Wesley Longman, Inc, San Fransisco State University Brown, Lewis and Hacleroad (1969), Audio Visual Instruction, Mc Graw, Hill Book Company, New York Brumfit.C., Jane Moon and Ray Tongue (1991), Teaching English to Children, Harper Colin, London Burns, RB (2000), Introduction to Research Method, Sage Publication, New Delhi Cameron, L (2002), Teaching Language to Young Learners, Cambridge University Press, New York Cameron, L (2001), Teaching English to Young Learners, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge I Callahan Joseph F., Clark Leonard H.(1988), Teaching in the Middle and Secondary Schools: Planning for Competence, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York Curtain, H A and Pesola, C A (1988), Language and Children – Making the Match, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, New York Evelyn Hatch and Cheryl Brown ( 1995), Vocabulary, Semantic and Language Education, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p.1 Edward, David Allen and Rebecca M, Vallete.(1997), Classroom Technique Foreign Language and English as a Second Language, Harcout Brave Javanovich, New York, P.149 Harris, D P (1969), Testing English as a Second Language, Mc.Graw-Hill Book Company, New York Harmer, J (2001), The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman : Essex Harmer, J (1978), Teaching Vocabulary, Longman : Essex Hellay (1971), Teaching for Children, Practice Hall, Inc, New Jersey Mc Millan James H (1992), Educational Research, Fundamentals for the Consumer, Harper Collins Publisher, New York Larsen-Freeman, D (1996), Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, English Teaching Forum, New York Murphey, T (1992), Music and Song, Oxford University Press, Oxford Nation, I.S.P (1990), Teaching and Learning Vocabulary, Heinle & Heinle, Boston Nunan, D (1992), Research Methods in Language Learning, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Phillips, Sarah (1993), Young Learners, Oxford University Press II Purwoharto (2002), The Techniques of Teaching English Vocabulary, Malang, Unplublished thesis Richards, Jack C & Rodgers, Theodore S (2001), Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, United States of America Scott, Wendy A., & Ytreberg, L.H (1990), Teaching English to Children, Longman, Inc, New York Schmitt, N (2000), Vocabulary in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Schoepp, K (2001), Reasons for using songs in the ESL/EFL classroom Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Schoepp- Songs.html Slaterry, W and Willis, J (2003), Teaching for Foreign Language, Oxford University Press, New York Slattery, M and Willis, J (2001), English for Primary Teachers, Oxford University Press, Oxford Sudijono, Anas (2004), Pengantar Statistik Pendidikan, Jakarta: PT Raja Grafindo Persada, Jakarta Vietnam Educational Publishing House & SNP Panpac Publishing House(2010), “Let’s learn English book 1”, Hanoi Wallace, L; Marry (1982), Vocabulary Building and Word Study, Mc.GrawHill Book Company, New York http://youtobe.com III Appendix Classroom observation  Unit 7: Ages  Class: 3B  Date: Thursday, February 22nd 2012  Time of observation: 20 minutes  Vocabulary: numbers from to 10  Song used in the lesson: Counting song 1) Presentation stage The teacher asked students to look at the new words in the textbook and read after her They read the numbers three times 2) Core stage Activity 1: Listen and sing The teacher gave each student a copy of the song and explained the lyrics in Vietnamese She played the CD, asked them to listen Then, the class sang the song two times following the teacher‟s performance Each number was signaled by hand Activity 2: Sing and The whole class stood up, sang the song and performed as teacher‟s instruction Then, each side of the class sang the song one time 3) Follow-up stage The teacher wrote the number on the board in random and asked them to read Then, they wrote down the new words IV Classroom observation  Unit 7: Ages  Class: 3A  Date: Thursday, February 22nd 2012  Time of observation: 25 minutes  Vocabulary: numbers from to 10  Song used in the lesson: Ten little numbers (video) 1) Presentation stage The teacher asked students to look and read after her She played the video and paused at each number for them to read Then, they read the numbers again without seeing the video 2) Core stage Activity 1: Listen and sing The teacher gave each student a copy of the song She played the video, asked them to listen Then, the class sang the song following the video two times Activity 2: Sing and play The class was divided in group of ten and numbered from to 10 Each group made a line The teacher explained the rule for them in Vietnamese: “Whenever you hear your number 1, or you step forward one step If you not, step out of the line When the song end, which group has more members will win” They did the activity two times 3) Follow-up stage The teacher checked their understanding by asking them to count from to 10 in each line Then, they wrote the vocabulary in their notebook V Classroom observation  Unit 7: Ages  Class: 3C  Date: Friday, February 23rd 2012  Time of observation: 24 minutes  Vocabulary: numbers from to 10  Song used in the lesson: Counting song 1) Presentation stage The teacher asked students to look at the new word in the textbook and read after her They read the numbers three times 2) Core stage Activity 1: Listen and sing The teacher gave each student a copy of the song and explained the lyrics in Vietnamese She played the CD, asked them to listen Then, the class sang the song two times Activity 2: Sing and play The class was divided in group of ten and numbered from to 10 Each group made a circle The teacher explained the rule for them in Vietnamese: “ Whenever you heard you number step forward one step and say your number Next time, you step back one step” After each time, the teacher numbered the students again They sang three times 3) Follow-up stage The teacher signaled the number by hand and asked the class to read After that, she instructed them to write the new word VI Classroom observation  Unit 10: The Weather  Class: 3B  Date: Tuesday, March 20th 2012  Time of observation: 24 minutes  Vocabulary: the weather (cloudy, sunny, windy, rainy)  Song used in the lesson: The weather song (video) 1) Presentation stage The teacher asked students to look and read after her She played the video and paused at each word for them to read She also performed action for each word Then, she asked the class to stand up, read and follow her action 2) Core stage Activity 1: Listen and sing The class sang the song following the video one time Next, they stood up, sang and acted as teacher‟s instruction Activity 2: Sing and The class was divided in two sides Each side sang each sentence of the song in turn They sang two times and changed their turn 3) Follow-up stage The teacher played the video again, stopped at each word and asked to check their understanding VII Classroom observation  Unit 10: The Weather  Class: 3A  Date: Tuesday, March 20th 2012  Time of observation: 20 minutes  Vocabulary: the weather (cloudy, sunny, windy, rainy)  Song used in the lesson: How‟s the weather 1) Presentation stage The teacher drew simple pictures of the weather on the board, asked learners to read after her two times 2) Core stage Activity 1: Listen and sing The teacher asked the class to look at the board and listen She played the CD, pointed to the picture and sang Then, she sang the questions, pointed to each picture for learners sang the answers Next time, the students could sing the song without teacher‟s help Activity 2: Sing and The class was divided in two sides Each side sang each sentence of the song in turn They sang two times and changed their turn 3) Follow-up stage She pointed to the pictures and asked “How‟s the weather?” She called some students to give their answers VIII Classroom observation  Unit 10: The Weather  Class: 3B  Date: Tuesday, March 20th 2012  Time of observation: 25 minutes  Vocabulary: the weather (cloudy, sunny, windy, rainy)  Song used in the lesson: How‟s the weather 1) Presentation stage First, the teacher asked students to look at the new words in the textbook and read after her She gave action for presenting each word Then, she asked them to read and perform following her They read three times 2) Core stage Activity 1: Listen and sing The teacher played the CD, sang and acted as model for learners Next, she requested them to stand up, sing and perform following her three times Activity 2: Sing and The class was divided in groups of five They practiced in group, one sang the question, the other sang the answers They could their turn After five minutes, the teacher called some groups to sing and perform in front of the class 3) Follow-up stage The teacher gave the action for each new word, asked the class to ask and answer in pairs IX Classroom observation  Unit 10: Our Pets  Class: 3C  Date: Wednesday, April 4th 2012  Time of observation: 20 minutes  Vocabulary: pets (a dog, a cat, a bird, a fish)  Song used in the lesson: The pets song (video) 1) Presentation stage The teacher asked students to look and read after her She played the video and paused at each word for them to read Then, they read the words again without seeing the video 2) Core stage Activity 1: Listen and sing The teacher played the video, asked them to listen Then, the class sang the song following the video two times Activity 2: Sing and play The learners were divided in groups of five In group, four students were given names of pets The student without animal name sang the song, the other acted and made the sound like in the video They could change their turns 3) Follow-up stage The teacher made the sound of the pets and asked learners to guess X Classroom observation  Unit 10: Our Pets  Class: 3A  Date: Tuesday, April 3rd 2012  Time of observation: 25 minutes  Vocabulary: pets (a dog, a cat, a bird, a fish)  Song used in the lesson: The pets song (video) 1) Presentation stage The teacher drew simple pictures of the pets on the board, asked learners to read after her two times 2) Core stage Activity 1: Listen and sing The class sang the song following the video one time Next, they stood up, sang and acted as teacher‟s instruction Activity 2: Sing and play The teacher divided the class in groups of four Each member was named a pet Each groups made a circle and sit down The teacher played the video again Whenever they heard their name, they stood up act and made the sound as in the video 3) Follow-up stage The teacher pointed to the picture and called some students to read the word and act as in the video XI Appendix QUESTIONNAIRE Please, tick () on the appropriate responses (Hãy dánh dấu  vào ô mà cho thích hợp) Yes (Có) Questions Do you like learning English vocabulary through songs? Con có thích học từ vựng qua hát không Do you like joining in activities with songs? Con có thích tham gia hoạt động học hát không? Could songs help you in learning vocabulary? Việc sử dụng hát có giúp việc học từ vựng không? Do you like the teacher to use songs in English lessons regularly Con có thích giáo sử dụng hát học tiếng Anh thường xuyên không? XII No (Không) Appendix Collection of songs Ten little numbers (Unit 8, Let’s learn book 1) One little, two little, three little numbers Four Four little, five little, six little numbers Five Seven little, eight little, nine little numbers Six Ten little numbers Six little number One Seven Two Eight Three Nine Three little numbers Ten, ten! Counting song (Unit 8, Let’s learn book 1) One, two, three Counting is so much fun Four, five, six Counting up and then Seven, eight, nine, ten Counting back down to one Ten, nine, eight Now let‟s count again Seven, six Five, four, three, two, one XIII The weather song ( Unit 10, Let’s learn book 1) It‟s sunny How‟s the weather? It‟s cloudy Is it rainy? It‟s windy No, no It‟s rainy How‟s the weather How‟ the weather? Is it sunny? Is it cloudy? Yes, yes No, no It‟s sunny today How‟s the weather? Let‟s go out and play Is it windy? No, no How’s the weather? ( Unit 10, Let’s learn book 1) How‟s the weather? It‟s sunny How‟s the weather? It‟s sunny How‟s the weather? It‟s sunny It‟s sunny today XIV The pets song It‟s a dog Woof, woof It‟s a bird It‟s a dog Chirp, chirp Woof, woof It‟s a fish It‟s a cat Swim Meow It‟s a fish It‟s a cat Swim Meow Ba ba ba ba , Yah Ba Ba Ba Ba XV ... Therefore, the researcher intends to a research: ? ?Using songs to teach English vocabulary to Primary school children: an action research at Dien Bien Primary school, Thanh Hoa province” The reason... techniques to find out the effective ways of teaching English to primary school children Vu Thi Luong (2002 cited in Do Thi Mai Chi, 2007) conducted a study on using games in teaching English to primary. .. FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES HÀ THỊ THU HƯƠNG USING SONGS TO TEACH VOCABULARY TO PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT DIENBIEN PRIMARY SCHOOL, THANH HOA PROVINCE SỬ DỤNG BÀI HÁT ĐỂ