Sử dụng các trò chơi ngôn ngữ như những hoạt động bổ trợ để dạy từ vựng tiếng anh cho học sinh lớp 4 luận văn thạc sĩ giáo dục

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -    - NGUYEN THI VAN USING LANGUAGE GAMES AS SUPPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES TO TEACH ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO THE FOURTH GRADERS (SỬ DỤNG CÁC TRÒ CHƠI NGÔN NGỮ NHƯ NHỮNG HOẠT ĐỘNG BỔ TRỢ ĐỂ DẠY TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 4) FIELD: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.10 MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION VINH - 2011 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -    - NGUYEN THI VAN USING LANGUAGE GAMES AS SUPPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES TO TEACH ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO THE FOURTH GRADERS FIELD: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.10 MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI VAN LAM (M.A.) VINH - 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT For the completion of the study, I have received valuable contributions from many people First of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Ms Nguyen Thi Van Lam (M.A.), whose useful instructions and advice, as well as detailed critical comments and encouragements help me a great deal from the beginning to the end of the thesis writing process Without her help, the study would have never finished I also would like to thank all the teachers who have taught me during the course and have given me useful advice and favourable conditions for the completion of the thesis Additionally, I am grateful to all teachers of English and students at Hung Binh Primary School, Nghi Lien Primary School, Vinh Tan Primary School, Ha Huy Tap II Primary School and Quang TRung Primary School, who have helped me much to carry out the survey for my thesis Finally, my thanks go to my family as well as my friends for their support and encouragement Vinh, 2011 Nguyen Thi Van STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I declare that this dissertation represents my own work, and that it has not been previously submitted to this University or to any other institutions for a degree, diploma or other qualifications ABSTRACT The success of learning a foreign language is much determined at the early stage of learning that language Thus, teaching English to primary school students needs to be considered important for this is the stage children begin familiarizing with and learn this language For the communication purpose, one of the important things is to build up a stock of vocabulary for children besides developing the four skills With the aims to help primary school teachers see the positive effects of games as well as encourage them to use games as supplementary activities to teach vocabulary to their students, the investigation was carried out with the support of 10 teachers and 200 fourth graders from the five primary schools in Vinh city to find out the answers for the three main issues: the attitudes of teachers and students towards the teaching and learning vocabulary, the real situation of using games in teaching vocabulary, and the effects of using games teaching this language element Data were collected through one questionnaire for the teachers and two questionnaires for the students, and some follow-up interviews The results reveal that first, although most teachers still too seriously value the role of grammar above vocabulary for the purpose of communicative competence, and the students meet difficulties in learning vocabulary, they are all aware of good effects of mastering vocabulary Secondly, games are used with low frequency and the ways of organizing the games are not really effective in teaching vocabulary to students Lastly, games are proved to be very useful and effective in vocabulary learning and teaching to the students through the experimental teaching Hence, games are highly recommended for teaching vocabulary to primary school students Hopefully, with the results achieved from the survey, the recommendations for using games and some samples to apply games into some specific lesson, the dissertation will be a useful source of reference for teachers of English in improving vocabulary learning and teaching LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: Teachers’ attitudes towards the textbooks and vocabulary items provided in the books .49 Figure 3.2: Students’ attitudes towards English learning (Students’ questionnaire number 1) 50 Figure3.3: Students’ attitudes towards English vocabulary learning (Students’ questionnaire number 1) 51 Figure 3.4: Students’ ability of remembering new words after each lesson (Students’ questionnaire number 1) 52 Figure 3.5: Teachers’ attitudes towards the importance of vocabulary in comparison with grammar for communication purpose 54 Figure 3.6: Teachers’ priority focus on aspects of vocabulary 55 Figure 3.7: Teachers’ frequency of using games for teaching vocabulary 56 Figure 3.8: The moments of using games of the teachers 57 Figure 3.9: The ways of organizing class of the teachers when using games 58 Figure 3.10: Students’ involvement in the games 59 (Students’ questionnaire number 1) Figure 3.11: Students’ attitudes towards the games used in the experimental vocabulary teaching (Students’ questionnaire number 2) 63 Figure 3.12: Students’ involvement in the games 63 (Students’ questionnaire number 2) Figure 3.13: Students’ attitudes towards learning English (Students’ questionnaire number 2) 64 Figure 3.14: Students’ attitudes towards English vocabulary learning (Students’ questionnaire number 2) 65 Figure 3.15: Students’ ability of remembering new words after each lesson (Students’ questionnaire number 2) 66 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: The most difficult issue to students when learning vocabulary 51 Table 3.2: Teachers’ attitudes towards the effects of mastering vocabulary 53 Table 3.3: Teachers’ frequency of using some specific games .60 in teaching vocabulary Table 3.4: The level of the students’ familiarity with some specific games (Students’ questionnaire number 1) 61 Table 3.5: Students’ attitudes towards English vocabulary learning 66 Table 3.6: The effects of games in learning vocabulary to students 67 (Students’ questionnaire number 2) TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ABSTRACT LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Reasons for Choosing the Subject .5 Aims and Objectives of the Study .7 Scope of the Study .7 Methods of the Study Format of the Study .8 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .10 2.1 Second Language Learning .10 2.1.1 First and Second Language Learning 10 2.1.2 Factors Affecting Second Language Learning .13 2.2 Characteristics of Children as Learners 16 2.2.1 Children in General 16 2.2.2 Eight to Ten - Year - Old Children in Particular 17 2.3 Motivation .17 2.3.1 Definition .17 2.3.2 Motivation in Classroom Setting 18 2.4 English Vocabulary 19 2.4.1 Definition .19 2.4.2 The Importance of Vocabulary 19 2.4.3 Aspects of Vocabulary 20 2.4.3.1 Form: Pronunciation and Spelling 20 2.4.3.2 Grammar 20 2.4.3.3 Collocation 21 2.4.3.4 Aspects of Meaning 21 2.4.3.4.1 Denotation, Connotation and Appropriateness 21 2.4.3.4.2 Meaning Relationships 22 2.4.3.5 Part of Speech 23 2.4.3.6 Word Formation 24 2.4.3.7 Word Use 25 2.4.3.8 Active and Passive Vocabulary 26 2.4.3.9 Concrete and Abstract Vocabulary 27 2.4.4 Teaching Vocabulary in Communicative Language Teaching 27 2.4.4.1 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) .27 2.4.4.2 Stages of Teaching Vocabulary in CLT 30 2.4.4.2.1 Presentation 30 2.4.4.2.2 Practice 30 2.4.4.2.2.1 Controlled Practice 30 2.4.4.2.2.2 Free Practice .30 2.4.4.2.3 Revision 31 2.4.5 Factors Affecting the Decision in Choosing Vocabulary Items to Teach 31 2.4.5.1 Type of Lesson 31 2.4.5.2 Purpose of Using Words 31 2.4.5.3 Lexical Syllabus 32 2.5 Games .32 2.5.1 Definition .32 2.5.2 Types of Games 33 2.5.3 The Roles of Games in Teaching Vocabulary to Primary School Students 36 2.5.4 Principles in Using Games 39 2.5.5 Moments of Using Games 41 CHAPTER 3: USING LANGUAGE GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO THE FOURTH GRADERS 42 3.1 Research Context 42 3.1.1 The Setting of the Survey 42 3.1.2 Overview of the Textbook Let’s Learn English - Book 42 3.2 Research Methodology 43 3.2.1 Research Questions 43 3.2.2 Subjects of the Study 44 3.2.2.1 The Teachers .44 3.2.2.2 The Students .44 3.2.3 Research Instruments 45 3.2.3.1 The Survey Questionnaire for the Teachers 45 3.2.3.2 The Survey Questionnaires for the Students .46 3.2.3.2.1 Students’ Questionnaire Number – Before the Experimental Teaching .46 3.2.3.2.2 Students’ Questionnaire Number – After the Experimental Teaching .46 3.2.4 Data Collection Procedure 47 3.2.5 Data Analysis .48 3.3 Findings and Discussion 48 3.3.1 The Attitudes of the Teachers and Students towards the Teaching and Learning of English in General and English Vocabulary in Particular in Grade Four of the Primary Schools48 3.3.2 The Real Situation of Using Games in Teaching Vocabulary to the Fourth Graders 55 3.3.3 The Effectiveness of Using Games in Teaching and Learning Vocabulary in Grade Four of the Primary Schools 62 CHAPTER 4: APPLICATION OF THE STUDY 69 4.1 Some Recommendations for Using Games in Teaching Vocabulary .69 4.1.1 Deciding Which Game to Use .69 ... 30 2 .4. 4.2.2 Practice 30 2 .4. 4.2.2.1 Controlled Practice 30 2 .4. 4.2.2.2 Free Practice .30 2 .4. 4.2.3 Revision 31 2 .4. 5 Factors Affecting... 27 2 .4. 4 Teaching Vocabulary in Communicative Language Teaching 27 2 .4. 4.1 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) .27 2 .4. 4.2 Stages of Teaching Vocabulary in CLT 30 2 .4. 4.2.1... 20 2 .4. 3.2 Grammar 20 2 .4. 3.3 Collocation 21 2 .4. 3 .4 Aspects of Meaning 21 2 .4. 3 .4. 1 Denotation, Connotation and Appropriateness 21 2 .4. 3 .4. 2 Meaning