The effects of storytelling on the comprehension and oral production of english opaque idioms among efl learners at ikun

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE THE EFFECTS OF STORYTELLING ON THE COMPREHENSION AND ORAL PRODUCTION OF ENGLISH OPAQUE IDIOMS AMONG EFL LEARNERS AT IKUN A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By NGUYỄN MINH GIANG Supervised by PHÓ PHƯƠNG DUNG, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, APRIL 2018 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Phó Phương Dung It has been my luck to have a supervisor to allow me considerable freedom to discover most of the things by myself, and at the same time tirelessly help me whenever I get stuck I am also grateful for her extremely careful proof-reading and comments on my writing Additionally, her patience with a slow researcher like me is really admirable Had it not been for her patience and guidance, I would never have finished my thesis My heartfelt thanks also go to a colleague of mine, who has wholeheartedly supported me in the data collection process He also helped me to pilot some of the instruments used in the current study I also owe sincere thanks to many of my teachers, friends, and students for their encouragement and advice during the process of conducting this study and writing my thesis, which means a lot to me Without their mental support, it would have definitely taken much more time for the thesis to be completed i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I certify that this thesis entitled “THE EFFECTS OF STORYTELLING ON THE COMPREHENSION AND ORAL PRODUCTION OF ENGLISH OPAQUE IDIOMS AMONG EFL LEARNERS AT IKUN” is my own work This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, April 2, 2018 Nguyễn Minh Giang ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Nguyễn Minh Giang, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of the theses Ho Chi Minh City, April 2, 2018 Nguyễn Minh Giang iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Statement of originality ii Retention and use of the thesis iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations viii List of tables ix List of figures x Abstract xi Chapter Introduction 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Context of the study 1.3 Aims of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Outline of the thesis chapter Literature review 2.1 Storytelling 2.1.1 Definition of storytelling 2.1.2 Requirements of storytelling 2.1.3 Other factors related to storytelling 10 2.1.3.1 Available stories and self-designed stories 10 2.1.3.2 Online storytelling and face-to-face storytelling 11 2.1.3.3 Story reading and storytelling 11 2.1.3.4 Practice of storytelling 12 2.1.4 Use of storytelling to teach other aspects of language, not idioms 13 2.2 Opaque idioms 15 2.2.1 Idioms 15 2.2.1.1 Definition of idioms 15 2.2.1.2 Reasons to use idioms 17 2.2.2 Opaque idioms 18 iv 2.2.3 Methods for teaching idioms 20 2.2.3.1 Teaching idioms using non-story methods 21 2.2.3.2 Teaching idioms using stories 23 2.2.4 Contexts in language teaching 25 2.3 Language comprehension and oral language production 27 2.3.1 Language comprehension 27 2.3.2 Oral language production 29 2.4 Issues yet to be solved 30 2.5 Summary 31 Chapter Methodology 32 3.1 Research design 32 3.2 Research site 33 3.3 Pilot studies 34 3.4 Participants 37 3.5 Teaching materials 38 3.5.1 Selection of the idioms 38 3.5.2 Design of teaching materials for both groups 40 3.5.2.1 Design of the teaching materials for the EG 40 3.5.2.2 Design of the teaching material for the CG 41 3.5.3 Teaching of idioms in both groups 42 3.5.3.1 Teaching in the EG 42 3.5.3.2 Teaching in the CG 44 3.6 Research instruments 45 3.6.1 Pretest 45 3.6.2 Posttest 46 3.6.2.1 Comprehension Posttest 46 3.6.2.2 Oral Production Posttest 47 3.6.3 Interview 50 3.7 Data collection procedure 52 3.8 Data analysis procedure 53 3.9 Summary 55 v Chapter Results and discussion 56 4.1 Preconditions of Independent-samples T-tests 56 4.2 Pretest 57 4.3 Effects of the storytelling method on the students’ comprehension of the English opaque idioms 59 4.4 Effects of the storytelling method on the students’ oral production of the English opaque idioms 63 4.5 Students’ viewpoints on the storytelling method 69 4.5.1 What the students liked and disliked about the storytelling method 69 4.5.1.1 What the students liked about the stories 69 4.5.1.2 What the students disliked about the stories 70 4.5.1.3 Students’ feelings when studying with the storytelling method 72 4.5.2 Students’ contributions to the enhancement of the storytelling method 76 4.5.2.1 Students’ contributions to the enhancement of comprehension of the opaque idioms 76 4.5.2.2 Students’ contributions to the enhancement of oral production of the opaque idioms 77 4.6 Summary 80 Chapter Conclusion 81 5.1 Summary of the current study 81 5.2 Pedagogical implications 82 5.2.1 Implications for EFL learners 82 5.2.2 Implications for EFL teachers 83 5.2.3 Implications for material writers 85 5.2.4 Implications for syllabus designers 85 5.3 Limitations of the study 86 5.4 Recommendations for future studies 87 References 88 Appendices 93 Appendix Pre-intermediate communication syllabus 94 Appendix Survey of English opaque idioms 95 vi Appendix Result of the survey 98 Appendix List of 40 English opaque idioms used in the treatment (alphabetically ordered) 99 Appendix Teaching materials 100 Appendix 5A Eight idiom stories told in the EG 101 Appendix 5B Eight idiom lessons taught in the CG 110 Appendix Sample lesson plans 119 Appendix 6A Experimental group − lesson plan (lesson − can you tell me why?) 120 Appendix 6B Control group − lesson plan (lesson 2) 123 Appendix Pretest 125 Appendix Comprehension Posttest and Oral Production Posttest 127 Appendix 8A Comprehension Posttest 128 Appendix 8B Oral Production Posttest 131 Appendix Scoring criteria for the Oral Production Posttest 144 Appendix 10 Interview 146 Appendix 10A English version of the interview 147 Appendix 10B Vietnamese version of the interview 148 Appendix 11 SPSS output of the tests of normality 149 Appendix 12 SPSS output of between-group comparisons 150 Appendix 12A SPSS output of the Pretest results 151 Appendix 12B SPSS output of the Comprehension Posttest Results 152 Appendix 12C SPSS output of the Oral Production Posttest results 153 Appendix 13 Pictorial illustration for the idiom GIVE SOMEONE BEANS 154 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ADJ adjective ADV adverb CG control group EFL English as a foreign language EG experimental group L1 first language L2 second language N noun S1, S2, S3,…, S11 student 1, student 2, student 3,… ,student 11 SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences V verb viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Result of the survey 39 Table 4.1 Tests of normality for the scores of the two groups 56 Table 4.2 Result of Mann-Whitney U test for the Pretest scores 58 Table 4.3 Descriptive statistics of the Comprehenion Posttest scores 59 Table 4.4 Results of Mann-Whitney U test for the Comprehension Posttest scores 60 Table 4.5 Descriptive statistics of the Oral Production Posttest scores 64 Table 4.6 Results of Mann-Whitney U test for the Oral Production Posttest scores 64 Table 4.7 Frequency of mistakes in each mistake group 66 ix Question What is she doing? 140 Question Where is the man? 141 Question What is he doing? 142 Question 10 What happened to him? 143 APPENDIX SCORING CRITERIA FOR THE ORAL PRODUCTION POSTTEST 144 Score Reduced 0.5 1.0 Explanation Example for part Example for part no mistake incorrect verb form misuse of article sit on the fence sat on the fence instead of sit on the fence shoot a breeze instead of shoot the breeze he gives her beans he give her beans instead of he gives her beans she let a cat out of a bag instead of she let the cat out of the bag the test was with flying colors instead of he passed the test with flying colors go banana instead of go bananas she’s giving him bean instead of she’s giving him beans give someone beans instead of go bananas die instead of kick the bucket she passed the exam in the club instead of she passed the exam with flying colors it’s o’clock sharp instead of it’s o’clock on the nose bring the bucket instead of kick the bucket he’s buying her beans instead of he’s giving her beans shoot the wind instead of shoot the breeze the shirt fits him to a C instead of the shirt fits him to a T great oil instead of good oil he passed the exam with running colours instead of he passed the exam with flying colours he’s in the river instead of he’s up the river misuse of the function of the idiom (for part ONLY) misuse of noun number no answer wrong idiom use definition of the idiom instead of the idiom itself misuse of V, N, ADJ, ADV, and preposition sit under the fence instead of sit on the fence 145 APPENDIX 10 INTERVIEW 146 APPENDIX 10A ENGLISH VERSION OF THE INTERVIEW What story/ stories you like? Why? What story/ stories don’t you like? Why? How you feel (comfortable, nervous, etc.) when learning with this method? Does the method help you to understand the idioms easily? If yes, in what way? If not, what difficulties you have in understanding the idioms when learning with this method? Does the method help you to easily use the idioms when speaking English? If yes, in what way? If not, what difficulties you have in using the idioms orally when learning with this method? Did this method help you to the Comprehension Posttest? Why or why not? Did this method help you to the Oral Production Posttest? Why or why not? In your opinions, how can this method be improved to help learners like you understand the idioms better? In your opinions, how can this method be improved to help learners like you better use the idioms when speaking English? 147 APPENDIX 10B VIETNAMESE VERSION OF THE INTERVIEW Em thích (những) câu chuyện nào? Tại sao? Em khơng thích (những) câu chuyện nào? Tại sao? Em cảm thấy (thoải mái, lo lắng, vv) học với phương pháp này? Phương pháp có giúp cho em hiểu thành ngữ dễ dàng khơng? Nếu có cách nào? Nếu khơng học với phương pháp em gặp phải khó khăn việc hiểu thành ngữ đó? Phương pháp có giúp em sử dụng thành ngữ dễ dàng nói tiếng Anh khơng? Nếu có cách nào? Nếu khơng học với phương pháp em gặp phải khó khăn việc sử dụng thành ngữ lúc nói tiếng Anh? Phương pháp có giúp em làm kiểm tra trắc nghiệm cuối khóa 2khơng? Nếu có có? Nếu khơng khơng? Phương pháp có giúp em làm kiểm tra nói cuối khóa 3khơng? Nếu có có? Nếu khơng tài khơng? Theo em phương pháp cải tiến để giúp người học em hiểu thành ngữ tốt hơn? Theo em phương pháp cải tiến để giúp người học em sử dụng thành ngữ tốt lúc nói tiếng Anh? The examiner handed the test-taker the Comprehension Posttest when he asked this question The examiner handed the test-taker the Oral Production Posttest when he asked this question 148 APPENDIX 11 SPSS OUTPUT OF THE TESTS OF NORMALITY Tests of Normality group Kolmogorov-Smirnova Statistic df Sig Pretest CG 323 12 001 EG 232 11 100 Comprehension CG 200 12 200 Posttest EG 382 11 000 Oral Production CG 137 12 200* Posttest EG 122 11 200* * This is a lower bound of the true significance a Lilliefors Significance Correction 149 Shapiro-Wilk Statistic df 780 12 822 11 836 12 701 11 936 12 985 11 Sig .006 018 025 000 442 987 APPENDIX 12 SPSS OUTPUT OF BETWEEN-GROUP COMPARISONS 150 APPENDIX 12A SPSS OUTPUT OF THE PRETEST RESULTS Descriptive Statistics Mean Std Deviation N Minimum Maximum Pretest 23 7826 67126 00 2.00 Group 23 1.4783 51075 1.00 2.00 Mann-Whitney Test group Pretest CG EG Total Ranks N Mean Rank 12 11.79 11 12.23 23 Sum of Ranks 141.50 134.50 Test Statisticsa Pretest Mann-Whitney U Wilcoxon W Z Asymp Sig (2-tailed) Exact Sig [2*(1-tailed Sig.)] a Grouping Variable: group b Not corrected for ties 63.500 141.500 -.170 865 880b 151 APPENDIX 12B SPSS OUTPUT OF THE COMPREHENSION POSTTEST RESULTS Descriptive Statistics N Mean Std Deviation Minimum Maximum Comprehension Posttest 23 18.6957 1.74342 15.00 20.00 Group 23 1.4783 51075 1.00 2.00 Mann-Whitney Test group Comprehension Posttest CG EG Total Ranks N Mean Rank 12 9.46 11 14.77 23 Sum of Ranks 113.50 162.50 Test Statisticsa Comprehension Posttest Mann-Whitney U Wilcoxon W Z Asymp Sig (2tailed) Exact Sig [2*(1tailed Sig.)] a Grouping Variable: group b Not corrected for ties 35.500 113.500 -2.003 045 b 059 152 APPENDIX 12C SPSS OUTPUT OF THE ORAL PRODUCTION POSTTEST RESULTS Descriptive Statistics Mean Std Minimum Deviation N Oral Production Posttest Group Maximum 23 9.9783 4.98516 2.00 18.50 23 1.4783 51075 1.00 2.00 Mann-Whitney Test Oral Production Posttest group CG EG Total Ranks N 12 11 23 Mean Rank 10.58 13.55 Sum of Ranks 127.00 149.00 Test Statisticsa Oral Production Posttest Mann-Whitney U Wilcoxon W Z Asymp Sig (2-tailed) Exact Sig [2*(1-tailed Sig.)] a Grouping Variable: group b Not corrected for ties 49.000 127.000 -1.048 295 316b 153 APPENDIX 13 PICTORIAL ILLUSTRATION FOR THE IDIOM GIVE SOMEONE BEANS (This picture was drawn by a colleague of the researcher) 154 ... aimed at investigating the effects of the storytelling method on the comprehension and oral production of the selected 40 English opaque idioms among EFL learners at a language center called IKUN. .. I certify that this thesis entitled ? ?THE EFFECTS OF STORYTELLING ON THE COMPREHENSION AND ORAL PRODUCTION OF ENGLISH OPAQUE IDIOMS AMONG EFL LEARNERS AT IKUN? ?? is my own work This thesis has not... the traditional method on the oral production of English opaque idioms among pre-intermediate EFL students at IKUN? (3) What are the students’ viewpoints on the application of the storytelling