An action research project on the employment of language games to enrich english vocabulary for the 3rd graders at a primary school in thai nguyen province

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES    MA THI LINH AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF LANGUAGE GAMES TO ENRICH ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR THE 3RD GRADERS AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE M.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 THÁI NGUYÊN - 2020 ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN TRƯỜNG NGOẠI NGỮ    MA THỊ LINH NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC ÁP DỤNG CÁC TRỊ CHƠI NGƠN NGỮ TRONG MỞ RỘNG TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC Ở THÁI NGUYÊN LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ Ngành: Ngôn ngữ tiếng Anh Mã số: 8220201 THÁI NGUYÊN - 2020 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “An action research project on the employment of language games to enrich English vocabulary for the 3rd graders at a primary school in Thai Nguyen Province” is the study of my own research and the substance of this research has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution Thai Nguyen, November 2020 Approved by Supervisor Signature Dr Nguyen Thu Hanh Ma Thi Linh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study cannot be completed without the help of many people Therefore, I would like to show my great thanks to those for their great support and encouragement throughout the realization of this thesis First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my beloved supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thu Hanh for her valuable assistance, considerable encouragement and awesome inspiration she transferred me during the time this research conducted Besides, I would like to express my gratitude to all my lecturers and staffs at School of Foreign Languages-Thai Nguyen University whose support and consideration have enabled me to pursue the course Furthermore, I would also like to express my sincere thanks to teachers and all students at Trung Hoi Primary School for their cooperation to participate in the research Last but not least, I owe a big thank to my parents who have always encouraged me to complete this study ii ABSTRACT Learning English is a challenging task for students in Vietnam It is much more difficult for students in mountainous areas in general and in Trung Hoi in particular because most of them are from ethnic minorities, they not have good oppotunities to study as the ones in the big cities The basic level in teaching English is how students can retain English vocabulary and use them to communicate in English environment Therefore, teachers need to design the lessons to be intersting and suitable for students here Among effective English teaching methods, using games is studied that it can help students enhance their vocabulary attention This research is going to conducted on techniques of using games in teaching English vocabulary for primary school students Through finding the answers of the research questions, the researcher can find out effectiveness of using game techniques in teaching English vocabulary for primary school students Its results are hoped to be helpful reference for futher researches, as well as for teachers who desire to help students in studying English Keywords: Language Games, Vocabulary, Teaching, Action Research iii TABLES CONTENTS DECLARATION i ABSTRACT iii TABLES CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the research 1.2 Aims and objectives of the research 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the research 1.5 Method of the research 1.6 Significance of the research 1.7 Thesis organization CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview of vocabulary and vocabulary teaching and learning 2.1.1 Definition of vocabulary 2.1.2 Aspect of vocabulary 2.1.3 Types of vocabulary 2.1.4 Vocabulary knowledge 2.1.5 Teaching and learning vocabulary 2.2 Games in vocabulary teaching and learning 2.2.1 Games in teaching and learning English 2.2.2 Games in teaching English vocabulary 10 2.2.3 Steps of teaching English vocabulary through games 12 2.3 Previous studies 14 Summary 18 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 19 3.1 Design of the study 19 3.2 Setting of the study 21 3.3 Suggested games applied in the current study 21 iv 3.4 Action research procedure 27 3.4.1 Warming up 27 3.4.2 Presentation 28 3.4.3 Explanation 28 3.4.4 Production 29 3.5 Data collection instruments 29 3.6 Data analytical method 30 Summary 31 CHAPTER 4: FINDING AND DISCUSSION 32 4.1 Findings from observation 32 4.1.1 Pre-observation results 32 4.1.2 Post-observation results 33 4.2 Findings from tests 34 4.2.1 Pre-test results 34 4.2.2 Post-test results 35 4.2.3 Differences in students’ vocabulary use before and after using language games in teaching vocabulary 36 4.3 Findings from interviews 36 4.3.1 Interviews with teachers 36 4.3.2 Interviews with students 37 4.4 Discussion 38 Summary 39 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 40 5.1 Recapulation 40 5.2 Implications 40 5.3 Limitations of the research 41 5.4 Suggestion for further studies 42 REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES I v LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES TABLES Table 4.1: The overall descriptive data of the tests .36 FIGURES Figure 3.1: Steps in the action research cycle (Kemmis & Mc Taggart, 1998) 20 Figure 4.1: Pre-test outcome 34 Figure 4.2: Post-test outcome 35 vi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the research Currently, English is seen as a compulsory subject at schools in Vietnam It is no longer new and strange for students, this subject has received the attention of parents and students English is also a subject for students to love, explore, compare the differences between languages, learn about the cultures, people and socioeconomy of the country that children are studying In recent years, the current requirements of education require innovation in teaching methods at all subjects and levels, in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning Therefore, English subject in general and English subject in elementary school in particular also need to have more powerful innovation, promote positive, proactive creativity of students, student-centered Vocabulary plays a crucial role in everyday as well as academic communication Its significance is evident even in the initial stages of second language learning process In this way, vocabulary is one of the core elements of language aptitude and reflects how well learners listen, speak, read and write Language ability of learners can be improved by vocabulary improvement The importance of the methods of vocabulary acquisition is increasing day by day as vocabulary learning is often considered a laborious and monotonous process However, various approaches have been introduced in helping second language learners develop and learn vocabulary, i.e reading books, newspapers, playing games, watching foreign cartoons or films with subtitles, listening to foreign music At Trung Hoi Primary School, students start learning English at grade of Most of students are ethnic minorities and their mother tongue is Tay, Nung, Dao language They sometimes have difficulties in Vietnamese speaking Therefore, English is seen as challenges for them Besides, there are still a few students who are not aware of the importance of the subject in life so they are not interested in learning this subject Moreover, students here not have chances to study English with native speakers, or buy modern equipment such as a radio, a computer or even books except their text books of English at school As a result, English teachers here must find out the method to teach English so that it can encourage the students to study and help them intend knowledge effectively In order to give students a passionate spirit of learning English, it is necessary to give them a vibrant learning environment, the teaching method of teachers must always be innovative, scientific and effective Therefore, playing the role of a teacher, I always look for the most appropriate method to apply in the lesson, helping the learner to quickly memorize the lesson well and especially the passion for with the subject Teachers must inspire students’ learning by engaging them in learning activities Inspiring them is giving them confidence in the subject, as well as confidence in their language skills, so that they can learn English well I myself always explore and learn through colleagues, through the media, through many different resources to be able to find many interesting teaching methods, especially methods for elementary school students because their knowledge acquisition is limited In teaching progress with a great number of students, I realize that creating a passion for them is indispensable for elementary students because they are just acquainted with English, familiar with simple sentences and they learn English well if they find it enjoyable Using games for teaching and learning vocabulary is very popular in many countries of the world The game has rich content, uses interesting and useful language to suit their perception Through the games, they will acquire knowledge and ability to use language in communication easily, consolidate and inculcate knowledge firmly, giving them passion and excitement in studying, in employment When we offer games in English lessons on a regular and scientific basis, the quality of teaching English will surely increase Because of these reasons, I chose the research topic “An action research project on the employment of language games to enrich English vocabulary for the graders at a primary school in Thai Nguyen province” 1.2 Aims and objectives of the research Firstly, the study aims to investigate the attitudes of teachers and students toward using game techniques in vocabulary lessons Secondly, the reseacher wants resources such as time, access to participants and also instruments for data collection, particularly, better result would be obtained if longer time was given to the application of language games in teaching and learning vocabulary and different research instruments such as student interviews and students’ diaries were taken In spite of the unavoidable limitations, the researcher believed that this study will be beneficial to the teaching and learning of English vocabulary to the students at at Trung Hoi Primary School, Dinh Hoa District, Thai Nguyen Province and this may lead to improvement in students’ vocabulary learning 5.4 Suggestion for further studies Language games are considered as vocabulary teaching and learning technique which has been studied by numerous researchers and educators for many years The study just dealt with a small aspect of this technique Hopefully, therefore, there will be further research on educational purposes of language games The following suggestions for further research aim to compensate for the limitation of the study Firstly, in order to make the findings more representative, further studies need to recruit a greater number of students from different grades For example, the work needs to be conducted in different classes, schools, to see if the results found are generalisable Secondly, this study only concentrates on vocabulary improvement, but its is recommended that further study can be done on the effectivenes of language games in improving language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing Thirdly, it is suggested that longitudinal data collection should be conducted in future in order to investigate more precisely the progress of students in lexical knowledge and more research is needed to explore how to increase the students’ awareness of the significance of autonomous vocabulary learning 42 REFERENCES Bera, L.K (2016) The Effect of Contextual Learning Strategy on the Basis of Language Exposure Ecology and Learning Motivation on the Matery of English Vocabulary Unpublished thesis, Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia: International conference on Education Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K (2007) Research Methods in Education (6th ed.) London and New York, NY: Routledge Falmer DeCarrico, Janette S (2001) Vocabulary learning and teaching In Teaching English as a second or foreign language Celce-Murcia, Marianne (ed.) Boston: Heinle and Heinle 285-299 Duong Thi Huong Lan (2019) The Effectiveness of Language Games in Teaching Vocabulary among First-year Students at Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration, TNU, IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME) e-ISSN: 2320–1959.p- ISSN: 2320–1940 Volume 9, Issue Ser I (Mar - Apr 2019), PP 76-82 Finch, G (2000), Linguistic Terms and Concepts Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Gnoinska, A (1998) Teaching vocabulary in color English teaching forum, 36(3), p Vocabulary (2013) In OxfordDictionaries.com Retrieved from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/vocabulary Hadfield, J (1990) An Collection of Games and Activities for Low to MidIntermediate students of English Intermediate Communication Games Thomus and Nelson and Sons Ltd Harmer, J (1991) The practice of English language teaching London: Longman 10 Hatch, E., & Brown S (1995) Vocabulary, Semantics, and Language Education New York: Cambridge University Press 11 Haycraft, j (1978) An Introduction to English Language Teaching Singapore: Longman 12 Hornby, A S (1995) Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Oxford: Oxford University Press 43 13 Hu, M., & Nation, I.S.P (2000) Vocabulary density and reading comprehension Reading in a Foreign Language, 13(1), 403–430 14 Kemmis, S., & McTaggart, R (1988) The action research planner (3rd ed.) Geelong: Deakin University 15 Koshy, L (2005) Action Research for Improving Practice: A Practical Guide London: Sage Publications 16 Le Pham Hoai Huong (2013) Play Activities for Primary English Learners in Vietnam, Language Education in Asia, 2013, 4(1), 76- 87.http://dx.doi.org/10.5746/LEiA/13/V4/I1/A6/Le 17 Lee, S K (1995, January-March) Creative games for the language class Forum, 33(1), 35 (Online) Retrieved 11 February 2006, from http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol33/no1/P35.htm 18 Lee, W R (1979) Language teaching games and contests Oxford: Oxford University Press 19 Lewis, G and Bedson, G (1999) Games for Children Oxford: Oxford University Press 20 Martinson, B & Chu, S (2008) Impact of learning style on achievement when using course content delivered via a game-based learning object In R E Ferdig (Eds.) Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education (pp 478-488) Pennsylvania: IGI Global 21 Mokhtar, A.A., Rawian, R.M., Yahaya, M.F., and Mohamed, A.R (2017) Vocabulary Learning strategies of adult ESL learners The English Teacher, Vol XXXVIII, pp.133-145 22 Mohamed, M & Waelateh, B (2017) The breadth of receptive vocabulary knowledge among english major university students Journal of Nusantara Studies, 1(1), 7-17 23 Nguyen Van Hoang Anh (2010) A study on the use of games in teaching English vocabulary to grade 10 studens at high school, Can Tho University, B.A Thesis 24 Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen and Khuat Thi Thu Nga (2003), LEARNING VOCABULARY THROUGH GAMES: The Effectiveness of Learning Vocabulary Through Games, The Asisan EFL Journal, Volume Issue 4, Article 44 25 Nunan, D (1992) Research Methods in Language Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 26 Qian, D.D (2005) Demystifying lexical Inferencing: The role of aspects of vocabulary knowledge TESL Canada Journal, 22(2), 34-54, 35 27 Richards, L (2005) Handling Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide London: Sage Publications 28 Rixon, S (1981) How to Use Games in Language Teaching London: Macmillan 29 Rupley, W.H., Logan, J.W., & Nichols, W.D 1999) Vocabulary instruction in a balanced reading program The Reading Teacher No 52(4), pp.125-132 30 Setiawan, B (2010) Improving The Student’ Vocabulary Masery Trough Direct Instruction, Surakarta: SebelasMaret University 31 Tsui, A.B (1993) Helping teachers to conduct Action Research in their classrooms In D Freeman, with S Conwell (Eds) New ways in Teacher Education, Alexandria, VA: TESOL 32 Ur, P (1999) A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 33 Yıltanlılar, A & Caganaga, K C (2015) The role of using games in ELT: Teenagers, International Journal of Innovative Education Research, pp.15-25 34 Wallace, M.J (2001) Action Research for Language Teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 45 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: INTERVIEWS PHỤ LỤC 1: CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN I CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN VỚI GIÁO VIÊN Thầy vui lịng cho biết ý kiến tầm quan trọng việc dạy từ vựng tiếng Anh? Thầy có thường xun sử dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ dạy từ vựng tiếng Anh không? Thầy cho mục đích trị chơi ngơn ngữ dạy từ vựng tiếng Anh gì? Thầy cô cho sở vật chất trường có đáp ứng u cầu thầy tổ chức trị chơi cho học sinh khơng? Thầy cô nhận thấy thái độ học sinh tham gia trị chơi ngơn ngữ học tiếng Anh nào? Thầy cô nhận thấy việc hướng dẫn học sinh chơi trò chơi tiếng Anh nào? II CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN VỚI HỌC SINH Em có thường xun sử dụng trị chơi ngôn ngữ để học từ vựng tiếng Anh không? Khi học từ vựng với trị chơi ngơn ngữ, em thấy tiến nào? Em có thấy thích thú tham gia trị chơi ngơn ngữ học tiếng Anh nào? Nếu có, sao? I APPENDIX 2: PRETEST A LISTENING Part 1: Listen and match Ví dụ: 0B A B D C 1 Part 2: Listen and number Example: E 1 a b d c B READING AND WRITING Part 1: Look and circle the best answer Ví dụ: sit down stand up pen ruler II go out notebook classroom school library football chess badminton eight nine seven Part 2: Look and fill in the blank with the correct letters given below ss Ví dụ: - oo - en - ci - I play che_ss_ Op your book, please ! My sch l is big These are my pen ls I like badm ton Part 3: Re-order the words to make the sentences your / Close / , please / book  her / What / name ? / is  you / much / Thank / very  / How / spell / you/ name? / your  Part 4: Look and choose the best answer Ví dụ: I play _ A basketball B badminton C chess III in These are my A notebooks B pencil cases C rulers A table tennis B football C chess I play Do you like ? A hide-and-seek B skating C skipping B eight C six I'm years old A ten Part 5: Match each question with a suitable answer Ví dụ: How you spell your name? a My name is Peter How are you? b I'm eight years old What's your name? c P- H- O- N-G How old are you? d I play chess What you at break time? e I’m fine Thank you Part 6: Read and complete the paragraph with the suitable word nine - name - school - is Hello My (1) _ is Nga I'm (2) years old I'm in class 3A This is my (3) _ It's big It has ten classrooms, a gym, a library and a computer room It (4) _ very beautiful IV APPENDIX 3: POSTTEST PART LISTENING Question 1: Listen and number (1,25 pt) A B C Question 2: Listen and tick the picture (1,25 pt) A V D E Question 3: Listen and chose the best answer ( 1,25 pt) How many maps are there in the living room? A There are two B there are three Are there any sofas in the room B No, there aren’t any A.Yes, there are Do you have a robot? A No, I don’t B Yes, I Her father is ………………… A young B handsome What does your mother look like? A she is nice B she is young PART READING AND WRITING Question Look and read Put a tick ( ) or cross (X) in the box (0,75pt) This is pen They are skating It’s sunny Question 5: Read and match (1,0pt) A B Who's that? a Yes, I Do you have any toys? b Yes, there is How old is your father? c He's thirty-seven Is there a balcony in your classroom? d It's my sister VI Answers Question 6: Fill in the gaps (1,25pt) near watching reading dog living room My family is in the (1) living room My father is (2)……………… a book My mother and I are (3) ……………… TV My sister is (4) ……………… with her cat (5) the TV My (6) …………… is under the table Question 7: Put the words in order (0,75pt) My / Hello / Mary/ name’s/ - …………………………………………………………………………………… old / How / your father? / is - …………………………………………………………………………………… many / How /fans/there? /are - …………………………………………………………………………………… PART III SPEAKING (2.5pts) Part 1: Getting to know each other (1.0pt) The examiner asks questions: 1.What’s your name? 2.How you spell your name? 3.How are you today? 4.How old are you? Part 2: Talking about your family (1.5pts) 1.What’s this? 2.Who’s that man? 3.Who’s that woman? 4.How many people are there in your family? 5.How old is your sister? 6.How old is your brother? VII APPENDIX 4: CLASS OBSERVATION This form is designed to collect information about what games and how teachers use games to teach English vocabulary in Trung Hoi Primary School It is a compulsory form which is used for teachers in Dinh Hoa District Date: Period: Teacher: Classroom: Number of students: Absent: Subject: Unit: … Lesson: Time Teacher’s activities Students’ activities VIII Note APPENDIX 5: SAMPLE LESSON PLAN UNIT 12: THIS IS MY HOUSE Lesson 1: Part 1-2-3 I Objectives: Knowledge: By the end of the lesson Ps will be able rooms in the house Skills: - Develop Ss speaking and listening skills Language focus: - Sentence Partners: There is a living room - Vocabulary: house, garden, over there, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, dining room, garden II Teaching aids: Teacher’s: student’s and teacher’s book, pictures, cassette Students’: books, notebooks, workbooks III Teaching processes: Class organization: - Greeting - Checking for the students' attendance Oral test: - Have pupils greet and introduce their names and their health New lesson Teacher’s actions Students’ actions Warm up: Read the chant Read the chant Look, listen and repeat Ask Ss to identify the characters in the picture on Look at the pictures in the page 12 and what they are saying book Set the scene “you are going to listen to Linda and Mai greet and introduce their names Play the recording and asks Ss to listen to the tape T asks Ss to listen and repeat in chorus two times IX Teacher’s actions Students’ actions Call on one pair One repeats Linda’s part, the other Listen and repeat repeats Mai’s part Have whole class repeat all the phrases a few times to reinforce their pronunciation Point and say - Have pupils look at pictures on Page 12 Elicit the characters in the pictures and their names Teach vocabulary: House garden over there kitchen bathroom bedroom dining room garden - Let students play the game “Bingo” to check - Play the game vocabulary: + Explain the rules of the game The rule of the game: Each student will have sheet of paper with squares containing words, phrases, numbers or pictures that match the content of the vocabulary topic to be revised The contents of these sheets are the same, but the order of the squares is different Then, the administrator will read aloud the vocabulary or the name of the picture, the student's task is to find the square corresponding to the audible content If they find words or pictures that form a horizontal / vertical / diagonal line or points at the corners, they will shout “Bingo” and win + Let students play as a trial time Look and find out the + Have students to play the games model sentences + Give feedback X Teacher’s actions Students’ actions - Model sentence: There is a living room Ask pupils to guess and complete the speech bubbles Point the pictures and - Model: Call on a pair Allocate the parts of the practise characters Mai and Nam to the pupils Ask them to point the pictures and act out the dialogues Using the pictures in their books Monitor the activity and offer help Correct pronunciation errors (stress, assimilation of sounds, intonation) when necessary - Call on some pairs to perform their task at the fron of the class The rest of the class observe and give comments - Have the whole class repeat all the phrases in chorus to reinforce their pronunciation Let’s Talk Ask students to look at the pictures in the book Ask Practise in pairs them to identify the characters in the pictures Ask Ss work in pairs to identify the rooms in Nam’s house Call some pairs to act out Correct their pronunciation 4.Consolidation Do exercises in the Summary the lesson workbook 5.Homework - Do exercises in workbook, learn by heart the new words XI ... using language games to vocabulary teaching and learning These results served as the foundation for the innovation in English teaching methods in general and English vocabulary teaching and learning... arrangement, word formation, word meaning and use, word collocation To conclude, after analysing the data, it can be said that the participants in the study had favourable attitudes towards the. .. use of English language in an adaptable and appropriate communicative way Vocabulary learning language games help and encourage ESL learners to sustain their interest Games result in fun and