An action research study on using pictures to develop speaking ability of the fifth grade students at an english center in hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THANH THÚY AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY ON USING PICTURES TO DEVELOP SPEAKING ABILITY OF THE FIFTH-GRADE STUDENTS AT AN ENGLISH CENTER IN HA NOI (Một nghiên cứu hành động việc sử dụng tranh ảnh để phát triển khả nói học sinh lớp trung tâm tiếng Anh Hà Nội) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi - 2020 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THANH THÚY AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY ON USING PICTURES TO DEVELOP SPEAKING ABILITY OF THE FIFTH-GRADE STUDENTS AT AN ENGLISH CENTER IN HA NOI (Một nghiên cứu hành động việc sử dụng tranh ảnh để phát triển khả nói học sinh lớp trung tâm tiếng Anh Hà Nội) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor : Dr Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã Hanoi - 2020 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby confirm that the thesis entitled “An action research study on using pictures to develop speaking ability of the fifth-grade students at an English center in Hanoi” is the result of my own work to fulfill of the requirement of the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty at Post-graduate Studies, the University of Language and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi The thesis has not been submitted to any other universities or institutions Hanoi, 2020 Nguyễn Thị Thanh Thúy Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name) Dr Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã Date: i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to give my all grateful words to express my sincere thanks to people who have supported and assisted me during the hard time to carry out the research I would like to especially express my sincere thanks to my beloved supervisor Dr Vu Thi Thanh Nha for her warm-hearted guidance as well as encouragement that she gave me in the process of thesis implementation The thesis would not have been completed without the help of the lectures and staff of the Faculty at Post-graduate Studies, the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi I would like to take this opportunity to send my deep appreciation to those whose assistance has enabled me to take the pursuit of the degree I am truly indebted to involvement offered from my colleagues and students in research participation I deeply wish to give my thanks to my family and friends for their great support ii ABSTRACT Speaking is one of the most important skills in learning foreign languages It also plays an indispensible role in daily life communication When speaking, people produce oral utterance to others by using words, grammatical structures, pronunciation and intonation that they have learned or imitated Aiming at improving fifth grade students’ speaking ability and changing their learning attitude, I conducted an action research at an English center in Hanoi to explore the benefits of pictures and how they were applied to teach English To maximize the use of pictures’ effectiveness in speaking lessons, picture description and storytelling were employed in the research A diagnostic test and post-test were adopted in order to measure students’ improved performance in speaking skills Teacher’s teaching diaries and the questionnaire were used to explore speaking ability developed in the process of employing pictures as well as students’ learning attitude towards this strategy The results from collected, processed and analyzed data indicated that students’ speaking skill in terms of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and fluency have been improved Besides that, pictures could enhance their imaginativeness and their ability to speak out more easily and persuasively Most of students had positive attitudes towards the use of pictures in speaking lessons The use of pictures was also beneficial to students in terms of logical thinking, self-confidence and motivation The findings of the research also displayed some problems leading to some suggestions for further research in the future iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AR Action research CAR Classroom action research DT Diagnostic test PT Post test SA Strongly agree SD Strongly Disagree iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 3.1: Topics of speaking lessons 20 Table 3.2: Research procedures .27 Table 3.3: Meetings in cycle one 28 Table 3.4: Meetings in cycle two 30 Table 4.1: Summary of cycle one .35 Table 4.2: Summary of cycle two .37 Table 4.3: Students’ opinions about pictures used in speaking lessons 40 Table 4.4: Students’ opinions about picture description in speaking lessons 41 Table 4.5: Students’ opinions about storytelling with the use of pictures in speaking lessons .42 Table 4.6: Students’ speaking skill elements comparison 45 between diagnostic test and post-test 45 Table 4.7: Students’ ability of catching words or phrases 46 Table 4.8: Students’ speaking ability components improvement .46 Table 4.9: Deviation between diagnostic test and post-test ratings in comparison 47 Table 4.10: Using pictures make students speak out easily and naturally 47 Table 4.11: Using pictures make present more persuasively 48 Table 4.12: Using pictures stimulates student’s imaginativeness .48 Table 4.13: Using pictures enhances students’ self-confidence .49 Table 4.14: Students’ feeling when using the pictures in speaking lessons .50 Table 4.15: Students' desire to use pictures in speaking learning .51 Figure 2.1: An approach to creative speaking 13 Figure 3.1: Cyclical Action Research Model by Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988 .23 v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the research 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.3 Research questions of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Methods of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Speaking .5 2.1.1 Definition of speaking .5 2.1.2 The importance of teaching and learning speaking 2.1.3 Requirements of speaking ability elements 2.2 Pictures 2.2.1 Definition of pictures 2.2.2 Types of pictures .9 2.2.3 Criteria of using pictures 10 2.2.4 Advantages and benefits of using pictures in teaching speaking 10 2.2.4.1 Advantages of using pictures in teaching speaking .10 2.2.4.2 Benefits of using pictures in teaching speaking 11 2.2.5 Approaches to teaching speaking with the use of pictures .13 vi 2.3 Speaking assessment 14 2.4 Previous studies 16 2.4.1 Previous studies overseas 16 2.4.2 Previous studies in Vietnam 17 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 20 3.1 Setting of the study 20 3.2 Materials .21 3.3 Participants of the study .21 3.4 Research approach .22 3.5 Data collection instruments 24 3.5.1 Diagnostic test and post-test 24 3.5.2 Teaching diaries 25 3.5.3 Questionnaire 26 3.6 Research procedures 26 3.6.1 Diagnostic test 28 3.6.2.Cycle one 28 3.6.3 Cycle two 29 3.6.4 Post-test 31 3.6.5 Teaching diaries 31 3.6.6 Questionnaire 32 3.7 Data analysis 33 3.8 Summary 33 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 35 4.1 Summary of two cycles 35 4.1.1 Cycle one 35 4.1.2 Cycle two 37 4.2 Findings 39 4.2.2 How the use of pictures influences the fifth grade students’ speaking ability44 4.2.3 Students’ attitude towards the use of pictures in speaking lessons 49 vii 4.3 Discussion 52 4.3.1 Choosing materials suitable to the topic of lessons 52 4.3.2 Using pictures to implement the popular activity of picture description 53 4.3.3 Using pictures in different practical working organizations 53 4.3.5 Using pictures positively influences students’ attitudes 54 4.3.6 Other benefits from the use of pictures besides speaking ability improvement 55 4.4 Summary 55 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 57 5.1 Recapitulation 57 5.2 Limitation 58 5.3 Implications and suggestions .59 REFERENCES 61 APPENDICES I Appendix 1: Diagnostic test II Appendix 2: Lesson plan sample of the last meeting in cycle one III Appendix 3: Lesson plan sample of the last meeting in cycle two VI Appendix 4: Pictures IX Appendix 5: Post-test XXXIII Appendix 6: Speaking assessment criteria rubric XXXIV Appendix 7: Scores of diagnostic test XXXV Appendix 8: Diagnostic test result summary XXXV Appendix 9: Scores of post-test XXXVI Appendix 10: Post-test result summary XXXVI Appendix 11: Teaching diaries XXXVII Appendix 12: Questionnaire in English Version XL Appendix 14: The result of synthesised questionnaire responses XLVI viii Appendix 6: Speaking assessment criteria rubric (Adapted from Judith and McTighe (2000)) Vocabulary Mark Use suitable 9-10 words to describe points (Excellent) the pictures 8-8.9 points (Good) 6-7.9 points (Fair) 5-5.9 points (Pass) < points (Poor) Grammar Use correctly complicated grammar structures to express what are in the pictures Pronunciation Pronounce correctly and appropriate intonation Fluency Speak fluently without hesitation Hardly have incorrect grammatical expression Hardly have wrong pronunciation Dominantly using simple words or sometimes have inappropriate ones Have confusion in using words or mistakes use simple grammatical patterns and sometimes have errors in tenses Occasionally have errors in grammatical structures Sometimes pronounce incorrectly but in control Fair in time balance to express ideas, thoughts or detail description Rather good in repetition Have several troubles in speed of speaking Definitely not know as many descriptive words as required or get stuck in using simple words Frequently use grammatical inaccuracy or vagueness in tenses A lot of wrong phonetics Flexibility variety of in using words in the contexts or topics Rarely use wrong words Use the remarkably appropriate words in picture description XXXIV Have errors in pronunciation or unclear phonetics Hardly control repetition and time balance when expressing ideas, thoughts or detail description A lot of hesitation and repetition and out of time control Appendix 7: Scores of diagnostic test No 10 11 12 Full name Đỗ Phương Linh Đỗ Ngọc Long Nguyễn Bích Ngọc Nguyễn Thảo Linh Nguyễn Đức Khánh Phan Tâm Anh Bùi Ngọc Minh Trần Tường Minh Phạm Khánh An Nguyễn Khôi Nguyên Đoàn Đức Anh Nguyễn Phương Anh Vocabulary 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 Grammar 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 1 0.5 1.5 0.5 Pronunciation 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 0.5 0.5 1.5 0.5 Fluency 0.5 0.5 1 1.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.5 0.5 Total 3.5 3.5 5.5 5.5 6.5 3.5 2.5 2.5 4.5 Appendix 8: Diagnostic test result summary Grade Corresponding Vocabulary Grammar Pronunciation mark 2.5 0 Excellent 2 Good 1.5 Fair 5 Pass 0.5 Poor Total 12 12 12 XXXV Fluency 0 12 Appendix 9: Scores of post-test No 10 11 12 Full name Đỗ Phương Linh Đỗ Ngọc Long Nguyễn Bích Ngọc Nguyễn Thảo Linh Nguyễn Đức Khánh Phan Tâm Anh Bùi Ngọc Minh Trần Tường Minh Phạm Khánh An Nguyễn Khôi Nguyên Đoàn Đức Anh Nguyễn Phương Anh Vocabulary 2 2.5 2.5 2 1.5 2.5 1.5 Grammar 2 2 2 1.5 2.5 1.5 Pronunciation 1.5 1.5 2 1.5 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 Fluency 1 2 1.5 1.5 1.5 Total 6.5 6.5 8.5 8.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 Appendix 10: Post-test result summary Grade Corresponding Vocabulary Grammar Pronunciation Fluency mark 2.5 0 Excellent 4 Good 1.5 2 Fair 1 Pass 0.5 0 0 Poor 12 12 12 12 Total XXXVI Appendix 11: Teaching diaries The first meeting of cycle one In the first meeting, the teacher introduced how pictures could be used to help the students speak out more easily They were acquainted with the use of pictures in speaking activity step by step They understood what and how they had to as instructed by the teacher, looking at the pictures and eliciting what the picture was about The topic of the first meeting was about their house or flat description via given pictures After discussion, each student had three or four minutes to present a house or a flat by looking at pictures and describing Some of the students felt nervous as it was the first time of their speaking performance by describing the pictures Other students such as An, Ngoc, Khanh, Thao Linh, Phuong Linh, Long and Tam Anh were willing to talk Meanwhile, Duc Anh, Tuong Minh and Ngoc Minh, Nguyen and Phuong Anh showed their confusion They made mistakes in vocabulary and grammar structures so they sputtered and hesitated This made them shy and inactive (1st teaching diary dated Thursday, September 19th, 2019.) The second meeting of cycle one The topic of the second meeting was about daily routine It was quite familiar with the students I found that most of them were eager to talk about their activities in a day in a chain with partners of each group They had experiences about the topic and the guidance of the teacher through consolidating the daily activities which were clearly shown in visual pictures The students really liked to see the pictures, imagined what they used to in a day and then gave their talk by describing numerical activities in the morning, in the afternoon and in the afternoon However, I found some of the students including Duc Anh, Phuong Anh and Tuong Minh sometimes forgot the adverbs of frequency (2nd teaching diary dated Tuesday, September 24th, 2019.) The third meeting of cycle one To widen the imagination of the students, I had chosen a really exciting topic XXXVII relating to their last holiday All of them liked journeys or trips to harmonize with natural landscapes In groups, every student felt excited and wanted to share their last experiences in which most of them were summer holiday by the seashore They were motivated to share their trips although some of them had difficulties in pronouncing the new words or improperly remembering the grammatical structure in the past especially with irregular verbs (3rd teaching diary dated Thursday, October 3rd 2019.) The first meeting of cycle two All of the students had relevant experience with the topic given in the meeting “Tell about your last birthday party” Each of them remembered their birthday and was eager to share their memorial activities on their own day They worked in six pairs, one asked and one answered Most of them showed their confidence when talking about their own birthday and they presented naturally Some of them such as Duc Anh, Tam Anh and Ngoc Minh felt confused because they had trouble with irregular verbs in the past form, got stuck when pronouncing the words (4th teaching diary dated Tuesday October 8th 2019.) The second meeting of cycle two The topic “Tell about what your family members in free time” did not require as many grammatical patterns as previous ones The students were taught about the adverbs of frequency and present simple tense so they got the knowledge faster and better Their speaking was more fluent and seamless I saw the change that students Duc Anh, Tam Anh and Ngoc Minh were better at pronouncing and they could speak more fluently (5th teaching diary dated Thursday, October 17th, 2019) The last meeting of cycle two One more chance for all students practiced with the use of past simple tense The topic of the last meeting in cycle two required the students to cooperate to build up and present a whole story of Mai An Tiem It was stated to be interesting but difficult Some of the students sometimes forgot ordinal time words but they gave XXXVIII evidence that they worked rather well in group I also found that few students including Phuong Anh, Tuong Minh, Tam Anh, and Nguyen felt a little bit nervous when joining in storytelling because it was different from pictures describing They were faltering and hesitant to speak out with several sentences in a paragraph instead of a sentence (6th teaching diary dated Tuesday, October 22nd 2019) XXXIX Appendix 12: Questionnaire in English Version This questionnaire aims at collecting the study data of applying the use of pictures to develop and improve the students’ speaking ability Your cooperation is highly appreciated with all completed items Thank you for your assistance and cooperation Name: Male/ Female: Q1 What is the most difficult thing you encounter when you learn speaking skill? a Vocabulary b Grammar c Pronunciation d Self-confidence Q2 How does the teacher’s instruction help you know how to use the pictures in speaking lessons? a Not at all b A bit c Much d Very much Q3 What is your opinion about pictures used in speaking lessons? a Very suitable to topics b Suitable to topics c A little suitable to topics d Unsuitable to topics Q4 What is your opinion about picture description in speaking lessons? a Exciting b Difficult c Boring d Meaningless XL Q5 What is your opinion about storytelling with the use of pictures in speaking lessons? a Exciting b Difficult c Boring d Meaningless Q6 What are the benefits of using the pictures in speaking lessons? Please, tick the column Easy to catch the words or phrases from provided information Enable to speak out easily and naturally More persuasive oral presentation with cues Stimulate diverse imagination Enhance self-confidence Easy to catch the words or phrases from provided information (SA: Strongly agree; A: Agree; D: Disagree; SD: Strongly Disagree) Q7 Which of your speaking criteria have been improved after using pictures? a Vocabulary b Grammar c Pronunciation d Fluency e Self-confidence d all of choice above Q8 How you feel when using the pictures in speaking lessons? a Very exciting b Exciting c A bit exciting d Not exciting XLI Q9 How often you want your teacher to use pictures in speaking lessons? a Always b, Often c, Sometimes d, Never XLII Appendix 13: Bảng câu hỏi khảo sát Bảng câu hỏi nhằm mục đích thu thập liệu nghiên cứu việc áp dụng sử dụng tranh ảnh để phát triển cải thiện khả nói học sinh Các bạn vui lịng lựa chọn hồn thành mục Cảm ơn hỗ trợ hợp tác bạn Tên: Nam / Nữ: Câu Khó khăn bạn gặp phải bạn học kỹ nói gì? a Từ vựng b Ngữ pháp c Cách phát âm d Sự tự tin Câu Sự hướng dẫn giáo viên giúp bạn biết cách sử dụng hình ảnh học nói mức độ nào? a Không chút b Một chút c Nhiều d Rất nhiều Câu Ý kiến bạn tranh sử dụng học nói gì? a Rất phù hợp với chủ đề b Phù hợp với chủ đề c Phù hợp với chủ đề chút d Không phù hợp với chủ đề Câu Ý kiến bạn hoạt động mơ tả tranh học nói gì? a Sơi động b Khó khăn c Nhàm chán d Vô nghĩa XLIII Câu Ý kiến bạn việc kể chuyện cách sử dụng tranh ảnh học nói gì? a Sơi động b Khó khăn c Chán d Vô nghĩa Câu hỏi Lợi ích việc sử dụng hình ảnh học nói gì? Đánh dấu vào cột cho phù hợp Lợi ích Hồn tồn Đồng Khơng Hồn tồn đồng ý ý đồng ý không đồng ý Dễ dàng nắm bắt từ ngữ pháp từ thông tin cung cấp Giúp cho việc nói dễ dàng tự nhiên Thuyết trình thuyết phục với gợi ý Kích thích tưởng tượng phong phú Làm tăng tự tin Câu Những yếu tố liên quan đến kỹ nói bạn cải thiện sau sử dụng hình ảnh? a Từ vựng b Ngữ pháp c Cách phát âm d Lưu loát e Tự tin d tất lựa chọn XLIV Câu Bạn cảm thấy sử dụng hình ảnh học nói? a Rất thú vị b Thú vị c Một chút thú vị d Không hứng thú Câu Bạn muốn giáo viên bạn sử dụng hình ảnh học nói thường xun ? a Ln b, Thường thường c, Đôi d, Không XLV Appendix 14: The result of synthesised questionnaire responses Q1 What is the most difficult thing you encounter when you learn speaking skill? Criteria Number of students a Vocabulary b Grammar c Pronunciation d Self-confidence Total 12 Q2 How does the teacher’s instruction help you know how to use the pictures in speaking lesson? Opinions a Not helpful b A little helpful c Helpful d Very helpful Total Number of students 12 Q3 What is your opinion about pictures used in speaking lessons? Opinions a Very suitable to topics b Suitable to topics c A little suitable to topics d Unsuitable to topics Total Number of students 0 12 Q4 What is your opinion about picture description in speaking lessons? Opinions a Exciting b Difficult c Boring d Meaningless Total Number of students 12 XLVI Q5 What is your opinion about storytelling with the use of pictures in speaking lessons? Opinions Number of students a Exciting b Difficult c Boring d Meaningless Total 12 Q6 What are the benefits of using the pictures in speaking lessons? Please, tick the column Agree Benefits SA Easy to catch the words or phrases from provided information Enable to speak out easily and naturally More persuasive oral presentation with cues Stimulate diverse imagination Enhance self-confidence (SA: Strongly agree; Agree; Disagree; SD: Strongly Disagree) Disagree SD 0 Q7 Which of your speaking criteria have been improved after using pictures? Criteria Number of students a Vocabulary b Grammar c Pronunciation d Fluency e Self-confident d all of choice above Total 12 Q8 How you feel when using the pictures in speaking lessons? Feeling a Very excited b Excited c A bit excited d Not excited Total Number of students 12 XLVII Q9 How often you want your teacher to use pictures in speaking lessons? Frequency a Always b, Often c, Sometimes d, Never Total Number of students 12 XLVIII ... Aims and objectives of the study The study aims at investigating how the use of pictures can help the fifth grade students improve their speaking ability at an English center in Hanoi The main... teaching and learning pronunciation Looking at pictures which illustrate how to use the tongue and other vocal organs or the symbols of intonation, students can understand and follow pronunciation... research on how to change the speaking ability of the students The findings revealed that the implementation of pictures in speaking teaching encouraged the students to be active in speaking performance