USING GAMES IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO PRIMARY SCHOOLS STUDENTS

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAININGVINH UNIVERSITY DANG THI PHUONG THAO USING GAMES IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO PRIMARY SCHOOLS STUDENTS Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Othe

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY

DANG THI PHUONG THAO

USING GAMES IN TEACHING ENGLISH

VOCABULARY

TO PRIMARY SCHOOLS STUDENTS

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Nghe An, 2017

The study attempted to examine effects of using games in teachingvocabulary for primary schools students It aims to find out students’sdifficulties in learning this comprehensive skill, their expectations of teacher’smethodology as well as their attitude towards using games

Both qualitative and quantitative research methodology were utilized inthis study The data was collected through the proficiency pretest and posttest,questionnaires, interviews The participants of the research include eighty sixstudents, forty two females and forty four males at Vinh Univerity PedagogicalPractice School in Nghe An Province were selected and assigned into twogroups

Learning is one of the primary activities of students in the classroom.Successful learning is only on the right way to lead the process Good learningatmosphere and method can guide the students to learn more meaningful Toaccomplish such conditions, teachers must create various and attractive methodsfor the class.What should a teacher do if their students get bored? Using varitypegames can be an alternative solution to handle this problem Games, as a matter

of fact, can help and encourage many students to sustain their interest and work

By this paper, the writer wants to share experiences about “how effective games

to teach English vocabulary”

One of the best ways of doing this is through games Games can help theteachers to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful Inthe whole process of teaching and learning by games, the students can take partwidely and open-mindedly To win the games each student or group shouldcompetitively answer the questions addressed by the teacher or other students orgroups In order to do so they must understand what the teacher or others are

saying or have written, and they must speak or write in order to express theirown point of view or give information The English instruction in elementaryschool is intended to endorse the mastery and development of the four basicabilities and skills The need to use various instructional media will be able tohelp students to increase their English vocabulary Teaching vocabulary isclearly more than just presenting new words It also includes a decision thatwords should teach the basic of how frequently they are used by speaker of thelanguage The words are most commonly used are those a teacher should teachfirst But commonly and usually the way of teaching makes the students lazyand bored The teacher needs something different to make students interested,because mostly students are very easy to get bored Therefore, teacher needssomething interesting which can make motivate them It is based on thecharacteristics and attitude of the children that they are curious and often seeksomething that the teacher notices them and shows appreciation for what theyare doing So, to motivate them teacher needs something new that can stimulatetheir curiosity With the current analysis on communication in teachinglanguage, using games appears to hold a solution for many teachers Thecommunication activities somehow involves in a varied use of language It hadbeen found in many schools that teachers use games activities as their teaching-aid The students really appreciate any kind of activities which provideexcitement and fun It will be easy to understand and practice English Thewriter chooses games as the simple illustrated media to facilitate students’method of learning, as we know children learn while playing games

It is easy to be understood and comprehended by students However,learning English vocabulary using games has an important role for elementaryteachers and students The first, as students, they have strong and goodmotivation to deepen English language The second, they are easy to accept the

English language because they learn by playing game The third, teachingEnglish vocabulary using games can help teacher in teaching learning process.Finally, they (teacher and students) can teach and learn English vocabulary usinggames

Above of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my belovedsupervisor Associate Pro.Dr Ngo Dinh Phuong for his invaluable support,patient guidance and encouragement he gave me and my research

I also wish to send my sincere thanks to the students of the classes Itaught in order to experiment amd gather information for my survey questionaireand interview Without their enthusiastic contribution, this study could not havebeen successful

I am indebted to my friends, my classamates, as well as my colleagues fortheir invaluable comments and criticism and also for their continued interest andencouragement

Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my familymembers who are always beside me, creating favorable conditions andsupporting me both spiritually and materially to complete this thesis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 4

3 Scope of the study 4

4 Research Questions 4

5 Significance of the study 5

6 Organization of the study 5

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 6

I Introduction 6

II Literature review 6

III Theoretical Background 9

3 Vocabulary 9

3.1 Definition of vocabulary 10

3.2 Types of vocabulary 11

3.2.1 Listening Vocabulary 11

3.2.2 Speaking Vocabulary 11

3.2.3 Reading Vocabulary 11

3.2.4 Writing Vocabulary 12

3.2.5 Receptive vocabulary 12

3.2.6 Productive vocabulary 13

3.2.7 Active vocabulary 13

3.2.8 Passive vocabulary 13

3.3 The importance of vocabulary 13

3.4 Games to teach vocabulary in primary schools 15

3.4.1 Games 15

3.4.2 The effects of using games on English vocabulary learning 15

3.5 Psychology features of primary students 17

3.5.1 Social and emotional development 17

3.5.2 Intellectual development: 18

3.6 How to teach vocabulary in games to primary students: 19

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 22

1 Introduction 22

2 Research methods 22

3 Participants 23

4 Research Instruments 23

4.1 Vocabulary pretest: 24

4.2 Interviews 24

4.3 Questionnaires 25

4.4 Vocabulary Posttest 26

4.6 Lesson Plans 27

5 Data Analysis 27

6 Data Collection Procedures 27

7 Summary 28

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 29

1 Introduction 29

2 Student’s interest in learning English ( Question 1, Appendix) 29

3 Teachers’ and students’ opinion toward the role of English vocabulary: 30

4 Students’ and teachers’ difficulties in learning and teaching vocabulary 31

4.1 Students’ difficulties to memorize the new words in a lesson (Question 3, question 4, appendix 1) 31

4.2 Teachers’ opinion on the difficulties their students can face while learning vocabulary (Question 6, appendix 2) 32

4.3 Teachers’ difficulties when teaching vocabulary for primary students (Question 5, appendix 2) 33

4.4 The teachers’ and students’ opinion on currently used techniques in learning vocabulary (Question 6, appendix 1 and question 3, appendix 2) 34

5 Tips are applied to help learning English vocabulary 35

5.1 The ways students often apply in memorizing words 35

5.2 The tips teachers use to help their students memorizing new words in class .37

6 The comparision of efficiency between games and other techniques in teaching vocabulary 38

7 Effects of games on student’s vocabulary 39

7.1 Effects on vocabulary test results 40

7.2 Effects on students’s motivation 45

8.Some suggested games in teaching English vocabulary in primary schools in Nghe An 46

8.1 Crossword 46

8.2 Word order 48

8.3 English quiz 48

8.4 Word search 51

8.5 Guess the word 52

8.6 Call My Bluff / Two Truths and A Lie 53

8.7 Erase a Word 53

8.8 Hangman 54

8.9 The Mime 54

8.10 Simon Says 55

9 Pedagogical Implications 56

9.1 For teachers: 56

9.2 For students 58

9.3 For school administrators 58

10 Summary 59

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 60

1 Summary of the key findings 60

2 Limitations of the study 61

3 Suggestions for further research 61

REFERENCES 63

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

No one denies the importance of English language in the present time asglobal language It is clear that English has become more and more dominantaround the world Actually, in some countries it is used as the mother tongue andother countries learn it as second language in their schools There is no doubtthat English is the language of communication between the people fromdifferent cultures Moreover, English is the language of science and technology

It is also the language of computers that help to integrate the people around theworld via Internet technology and e-mail Needless to say, people who knowEnglish can deal with the Internet Therefore, the need of mastering a foreignlanguage especially English, is becoming more and more necessary English isnow taught in many primary schools all over the world and chidren from a veryearly age experience an English lesson as part of their daily rountine When theymake an effort to use English, they need to be encouraged so that they will enjoythe experience of communicating in this new language

Research suggests that vocabulary is enormously important to children’sdevelopment, especially in reading Research clearly indicates that children withlarger vocabularies have higher school achievement in general (Smith, 1941,cited in Beck, McKeown, and Kucan, 2002) In fact, people with largervocabularies even have higher IQs ( Bell, Lassiter, Matthews and Hutchinson,2001; Hodapp and Gerken, 1999)!

Vocabulary is central to English language teaching because withoutsufficient vocabulary students can not understand others or express their ownideas Wilkins (1972) wrote that “….while without grammar very little can beconveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” Students often

instinctively recognize the importance of vocabulary to their language learning.

As Schmitt (2010) noted, “learners carry around dictionaries and not grammarbooks” Teaching vocabulary helps students understand and communicate withothers in English Voltaire purportedly said “Language is very difficult to putinto words” Vocabulary, much more than grammar, is the key to your childunderstanding what she hears and reads in school and to communicatesucessfullly with other people For this reason, it is very important for her toquickly build up a large store of words Research studies have shown the stronglinks between having an extensive vocabulary and achieving school success

Learning vocabulary through games had attained a lot of attention.Donmus (2010) believed that "The value of educational games has beenincreasing in language education since they help to make language educationentertaining "(p.1497) According to Kuzu and Ural findings (as cited inDonmus, 2010, p.1499) "when games and education are combined, it can beeducative and education environments can be entertaining The learners wholearned with the use of games, gain positive attitudes and can be more motivatedwhile learning" This is a review of the effects of using games on learningvocabulary in English as a foreign language (EFL).Vocabulary in English ismostly taught out of context as isolated words, the main criticism of this way ofteaching is that vocabulary cannot be learnt in isolation The Effects of UsingGames on English Vocabulary Learning 40 (Al Neyadi, 2007) Activities whichinvolve learners in thinking about the words, like using games allow learners toremember the target words more easily Learning vocabulary is a hard work, soattempt is required to understand, produce and manipulate the target words.Games help and encourage many learners to learn target language more easily.They also help teachers to create contexts in which the target words are usefuland meaningful; they also bring fun for students, thus help them learn and retain

new words more quickly In other words, game-based learning can create ameaningful context for language learning process After learning and practicingnew vocabulary through games, students have the opportunity to use language in

a nonstressful way (Uberman, 1998) Games are advantageous and effective inlearning vocabulary They are motivating because they usually involve friendlycompetition and create cooperative learning environment, so students have anopportunity to work together They improve students’ communicative skills andthey have a chance to use the target language (Sorayaie- Azar, 2012).Therefore,vocabulary games bring real world context into the classroom, and enhancestudents' use of English in a flexible, communicative way The role of games inteaching and learning vocabulary cannot be denied However, in order toachieve the most from vocabulary games, it is essential that suitable games bechosen Whenever a game is to be used, the proficiency level and culturalbackground of the students should be taken into account, and also it should beuseful for students with lower language ability and should be easily applied inthe class Many experienced textbook and methodological manual writers haveargued that games are not just time-filling activities but have a great educationalvalue (Riahipour & Saba, 2012) This paper offers the rationale forimplementing games as a stress-free tool of learning words It is believed thatgames can have the potentiality to contextualize learning words

I have worked as a teacher at Vinh university Pedagogical Practice Schoolfor two years I found that learners face serious problems in remembering thevocabularies, they are unable to memorize them They may read the words butthey can not know how to write them correctly Moreover, they find themselvesconfronted with a vast variety of information, grammatical structures andresources that make it extremely hard for them to pick their ways though.Consequently, if the teachers do not teach actively, the better students will

develop them on their own and the worse ones will find studying veryfrustrating.

All the aforementioned reasons urge the author to carry out the study entitled “Using games in teaching English vocabulary to primary school students” I hope thatthe results could serve as a useful source of references for those who are concernedabout the subject matter

2 Aims of the study

With the presented rationale, the specific aims of the study, accordingly,are:

1) to find out the real situation of teaching and learning vocabulary atprimary school

2) to find the way of learning and teaching vocabulary

3) to propose some suggestions and recommendations to improvelearning vocabulary of students at primary school

3 Scope of the study

This research focuses on investigating how games affect vocabulary atVinh University Pedagogical practicing primary school Due to the limitation oftime, and knowledge of mine is limited so this study can only focus on studysome games to teach vocabulary for primary students at 2nd , 3rd grades becauseall most of primary schools start teaching English for these grades Some startfrom 1st grade but it is not popular

5 Significance of the study

The study is expected to be a good reference for teachers and students toimprove students’ vocabulary In addition, it is also hoped that the findings ofthis study will contribute to further understandings of improving vocabulary.Moreover, through this study, teachers, along with their students, will becomemore aware of the crucial role of games, and be able to use those strategiesappropriately to their learning requirements

6 Organization of the study

The study includes five chapters as follows:

Chapter 1 - Introduction - provides the rationale, the aims of the study, thescope of the study, the research questions, the significance of the study, and theorganization of the study

Chapter 2 - Theoretical Background - presents the review of previousstudies related to the thesis and some concepts as theoretical basis for the study

Chapter 3 - Methodology - describes the research design, instruments fordata collection, data collection, data analysis, and research procedures, whichgives details of the research method and describes how the hypothesis of thethesis is interpreted and explained

Chapter 4 - Findings and Discussions - presents the results anddiscussions developed after the linguistics figures are analyzed

Chapter 5 - Conclusion - summarizes the main issues touched upon in theresearch, the limitations of the research and some suggestions for further studies.Following the chapters are the references and appendices

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

I Introduction

“If language structures make up the skeleton of language, then it is

vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh”, (Harmer 1993-153)

With the aim of providing a theoretical background to this study, thechapter also provides a literature review which focuses on previous studiesrelated to the present research This present study has been designed in view ofthe findings of previous studies which are reviewed in this chapter

II Literature review

The present paper intends to represent a few examples from the literatureconcerned with the use of vocabulary games in learning the target words AsNguyen Thi Thanh Huyen and Khuat Thi Thu Nga (2013) demonstrated thatthey began action research which included applying games in their own classes,observing other teachers' classes, and interviewing both teachers and learners so

as to elicit students' reactions, feelings and the effectiveness of games invocabulary learning The research shows they are effective in helping students toimprove their vocabulary building skills To achieve their goal, they focused onthe perception and attitudes of their students as well as what students gainedthrough their learning with vocabulary games The plan involved conductingdifferent kinds of games in their lessons so that they could see how studentsreacted to this method of learning vocabulary They also wanted to find if therewere any problems that occurred during the process of teaching In addition, inline with research methodology and principles (Robertson, 2002) it wasnecessary to enrich our perspectives by observing some experienced teachers'classes at HUFS, reviewing other teachers' lessonplans for games andinterviewing some teachers and students as well A simple questionnaire was

designed beforehand to help students understand clearly the purpose of thesurvey Furthermore, experienced teachers also helped us work out differentways of conducting effective vocabulary games by their lesson plans, handoutsfor games and their helpful advice Further triangulation involved interviewing astudent who had conducted similar research one year prior Before the gamestarted, the teachers tried to explain the game' rules to students and gave someexamples Once students understood the rules, they quickly rearranged theirseats and grouped as instructed Students tried to use as many phrases and wordsthey had learnt as possible Thus, through this kind of activity students may beable to remember their vocabulary better Their research reveals that gamescontribute to vocabulary learning if they give students a chance to learn, practiceand to review the English language in a pleasant atmosphere From the research,they found that students are demanding a new way of teaching vocabulary, andthey themselves are in search of a new way of learning this subject as well.

As has been shown (Riahipour & Saba, 2012), traditional activities such

as memorization of long vocabulary lists, derivations, repetition of words,translation, fill-in-the-blank exercises are boring for students Scrivener (as cited

in Riahipour & Saba 2012, p.1259) states that using long list of words and theirtranslation items make no guarantee that remembering will take place By usingvocabulary games, learning process is going to be more valuable, this methodcan make vocabulary learning more enjoyable, so it can help students to retaintarget words more quickly Alternatively, Aghlara and Hadidi- Tamjid (2011)conducted a study on the effects of using a digital computer game on improvingIranian children’s vocabulary learning The participants of their study were 40six to seven year old girls with no prior knowledge of English which weredivided into two groups of experimental and control; in the Journal of AppliedLinguistics and Language Research, 2015, 2(3) experimental group, they used

the SHAIEx digital game, whereas in the control group, English vocabulary wastaught through traditional methods At the end of the teaching period, theycompared the participants’ performances The result of their research indicatedthat the mean score of the children in the experimental group was higher thanthat of the control group This indicated the positive effect of using digital games

in teaching English vocabulary to children; therefore, they suggested that “Usinggames in young learner’s class smooths their learning because the games capturetheir attention and motivate them” Similarly, Aslanabadi and Rasouli (2013)conducted a study on the effect of games on improvement of Iranian EFLvocabulary knowledge in kindergartens The aim of their study was to find away to help young EFL learners fix the novel vocabulary in their minds Thestudy was conducted at two kindergartens They divided the students into theexperimental and control group The experimental group gives an onlinelanguage teaching game and the control group gives regular teaching The result

of their study revealed that Games not only bring fun for learners to the class,but they also motivate learners and improve their confidence Moreover, Yip andKwan (as cited in Aghlara & Hadidi- Tamjid, 2011, p.558) suggested thatstudents who used games for their learning became more successful in learningnew words compared to those who learned the same vocabulary throughtraditional method

DeHaan, Reed and Kuwada (2010) investigated the effect of interactivitywith a music video game on second language vocabulary recall The participants

of their study were divided into two groups; one of them played an language music video game for 20 minutes, while the other group watched thegame simultaneously on another monitor After playing the game, a vocabularyrecall test, an experience questionnaire, and a two week delayed vocabularyrecall test were administered The results of their study showed that both the

English-players and the watchers of the video game recalled vocabulary from the game,but the players recalled less vocabulary than the watchers DeHaan et al (2010)argued that although a video game that contains target language vocabulary can

be enjoyable, its interactivity can prevent language acquisition process because

of this players were unable to recall the game’s vocabulary as well as watchers.They also argued that the players of the video game were asked to play the gameand attend to the vocabulary simultaneously and these multiple foci of attentionprevented them from noticing and recalling more vocabulary items than thewatchers" (p.85).Their findings do not reveal that vocabulary can be acquiredmore effectively through non-interactive approach than interactive one, for theseplayers Zheng, Young, Brewer and Wagner (as cited in DeHaanet al., 2010,p.74) found that "language learners’ attitude and self-efficacy towards theirsecond language improved through the use of tools to communicate with nativespeakers to complete quests in a game-like virtual world"

III Theoretical Background

3 Vocabulary

Vocabulary is one of the most important aspects of learning a language.Neglected or granted only minor attention for years in favor of grammarand language skills (Coady, 1997; Oxford & Crookall, 1990; Prince, 1996),vocabulary teaching strategies have started to be of interest to researchers as theimportance of vocabulary knowledge has gained recognition (Gass & Selinker,2008; Prince, 1996; Zimmerman, 1997) Two of the problems directly related tovocabulary strategies have been the knowledge and use of these strategies Thisstudy investigates second language vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) andtheir frequencies of use by second language learners

This chapter discusses some theoretical issues about second languagevocabulary learning that have been raised among practitioners and researchers

Drawing scholars' and teachers’ attention to the importance of vocabularyteaching, Penha (2006) pointed out that no reading, writing, speaking, listening,

or literature- based activity discussion can be conducted with learners withoutproviding them with the conventional vocabulary to perform the activity Itconsequently goes without saying that vocabulary building is one of the mostimportant aspects of learning a second language

3.1 Definition of vocabulary

Vocabulary can be defined as the words of a language, including singleitems and phrases or chunks of several words which covey a particular meaning,the way individual words do Vocabulary addresses single lexical items—wordswith specific meaning(s)—but it also includes lexical phrases or chunks

Vocabulary is knowledge of words and word meanings However ,vocabulary is more complex than this definition suggests First, words come intwo forms: oral and print Oral vocabulary includes those words that werecognize and use in reading and writing Second, word knowledge also comes

in two forms, receptive and productive Receptive vocabulary includes wordsthat we recognize when we see or hear them Productive vocabulary includeswords that we use when we speak or write Receptive vocabulary is typicallylarger than productive vocabulary and may include many words to which weassign some meaning, even if we do not know their full definitions andconnotations or even use them ourselves as we speak and write( Kamil &Hiebert, in press)

Besides, according to Webster’s Dictionary (1993- 327) “Vocabulary is alist or group of words and phrase, usually in alphabetical order”

In general, vocabulary is a component of language that maintains all ofinformation about meaning and using word in language( Harimurti kridalaksana1993-27) It is one of the important factors in learning English besides soundsystem, grammar and culture A vocabulary usually grows and evolves with

ages, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication andacquiring knowledge Therefore, a person’s vocabulary is the set of words theyare familiar with in a language

3.2.1 Listening Vocabulary

Listening vocabulary is the words we hear and understand Furthermore,babies are listening during all their waking hours and we continue to learn newwords this way all of our lives By the time we reach adulthood, most of us willrecognize and understand close to 50,000 words (Stahl, 1999; Tompkins, 2005)Children who are completely deaf do not get exposed to a listening vocabulary.Instead, if they have signing models at home or school, they will be exposed to a

“visual” listening vocabulary The amount of words modeled is much less than ahearing child’s incidental listening vocabulary

3.2.2 Speaking Vocabulary

Speaking vocabulary is the words we use when we speak Our speakingvocabulary is relatively limited: Most adults use a mere 5,000 to 10,000 wordsfor all their conversations and instructions This number is much less than ourlistening vocabulary most likely due to ease of use

3.2.3 Reading Vocabulary

Reading vocabulary is the words we understand when we read text Wecan read and understand many words that we do not use in our speaking

vocabulary This is the 2nd largest vocabulary IF you are a reader If you are not

a reader, you can not “grow” your vocabulary

3.2.4 Writing Vocabulary

Writing vocabulary is the words we can retrieve when we write toexpress ourselves We generally find it easier to explain ourselves orally, usingfacial expression and intonation to help get our ideas across, then to find just theright words to communicate the same ideas in writing Our writing vocabulary isstrongly influenced by the words we can spell Think about it: When reading, achild with hearing will say all the phonemes related to a word to sound it out.They will then guess a word they know This is dependent upon their lexicon(mental The following information was based on information from Judy K.Montgomery’s book: The Bridge of Vocabulary: Evidence Based Activities forAcademic Success (NCS Pearson Inc, 2007) dictionary) Children would notguess a word they did not know Deaf students do not use auditory memory tosound out a word They mostly memorize spelling patterns Therefore, studentswho are deaf typically use a reduced variety of words in writing while they arelearning How many words are needed for Vocabulary Knowledge? The EnglishLanguage has a very large vocabulary, estimated to between 450,000 and750,000 words (Stahl, 1999; Tompkins, 2005)

3.2.5 Receptive vocabulary

Receptive vocabulary is knowing a word involves being able to recognize

it when it is heard ( what is the sound like?) or when it seen ( what does it looklike?) and having an expectation of what grammatical pattern the word willoccurrence This includes being able to distinguish it from word with similarform and being able to judge if the word form sounds right or look right

3.2.6 Productive vocabulary

Productive vocabulary is knowing a word involves being able to pronouncethe word How to write and spell it, how to use it in grammatical pattern along withthe word in usually collocates with it, it also involves not using the word too often

if it typically a low frequency word and using it in a suitable situation using theword to stand for the meaning it represents and being able to think of suitablesubstitutes for the word if there any Jo Ann Aeborsold and Mary Lee Fieldclassified vocabulary into two terms: active vocabulary and passive vocabulary

3.2.7 Active vocabulary

Active vocabulary refers to items the learner can use appropriately inspeaking or writing and it is also called as productive vocabulary, although, infact, it is more difficult to put into practice It means that to use productivevocabulary, the students are supposed to know how to pronounce it well, theymust know and be able to use grammar of the language target They also hoped

to be familiar with collocation and understand the connotation meaning of thewords This type is often used in speaking and writing skill

3.2.8 Passive vocabulary

Passive vocabulary refers to a language items that can be recognized andunderstood in the context of reading or listening and also called as receptivevocabulary Passive vocabulary or comprehension consists of the wordscomprehended by the people, when they read and listen From the explainingabove, every experts in every book is different in classifying the kinds ofvocabulary, because every person has different way in showing and telling theiropinion and ideas

3.3 The importance of vocabulary

All word learning tasks are not equal in difficulty A child may understandthe concept behind a word, but not know the word itself For example, the word

cease represents a known concept to most children; however, a young child hasprobably not heard this word used for stop Learning a new word that represents

a known concept is not as difficult as learning a new word that represents a newconcept Teachers in the primary grades introduce many new concepts, anddirect instruction is necessary to build up the understanding of these conceptsand the vocabulary words that represent them

When teaching vocabulary words that represent known concepts, theemphasis should always be on the context in which the word appears.Discussing the meaning of the word from the context of the reading selectiontogether with supplying a definition of the word will help to build meaning forstudents If students are to acquire this word as part of their vocabulary, thenthey must be given repeated exposure of the word in a variety of contexts Theymust also have opportunities to practise using the word in conversation and/orwriting

By the time children enter second grade, they are likely to know between2,000 and 5,000 vocabulary words This amazing growth continues throughoutthe elementary years, as most children gain 3,000 - 4,000 new vocabulary wordseach year that they can read and understand (Teaching Reading in the 21stCentury, 2001) By encouraging independent reading and providing bothindirect and direct instruction in vocabulary, students can be helped to developthe vocabulary knowledge they will need for effective comprehension

When many people think of vocabulary, they think of it as a tediouslearning process However, it is very vital to your success in our world of today

It is no longer enough to just know what is happening in your neighborhood,city, or country It is equally important for you to understand what is happening

on a global scale

Improving your vocabulary from an early age will allow you to becomeinformed It will allow you to successfully convey your ideas to others, and itcan also improve your career outlook Having said that, it is important forparents to focus on improving the education of their children from an early age

In general, vocabulary plays an important role in the development of eachlanguage, its importance is concluded in this list:

An extensive vocabulary aids expressions and communication

Vocabulary size has been directly linked to reading comprehension Linguistic vocabulary is synonymous with thinking vocabulary

A person may be judged by others based on his or her vocabulary

3.4 Games to teach vocabulary in primary schools

3.4.1 Games

Teaching games are the ways which are used by teachers to presentinformation to be learned The teaching resources best suited to the students,such as the latest technology, may not be available to teachers, teachers mustfind the best techniques to teach the students using the resources available tothem

Learning vocabulary through games had attained a lot of attention.Domus(2010) believed that “The value of educational games has beenincreasing in language education since they help to make language educationentertaining” (p.1497)

3.4.2 The effects of using games on English vocabulary learning

Methods such as using games are very occasionally used to teach andlearn vocabulary They are only used for a limited time Games can help theteachers to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful.Wight, Betteridge and Buck (as cited in Rohani & Pourgharib, 2013, p.3541)believe that “ With the use of games the teacher can create various contexts in

which students have to use the language to communicate, exchange informationand express their own opinions”.

To effectively promote learning, games must include ways for students toreflect on and explain what is happening In fact, learning may not occur withouttime for reflection Teachers should encourage students to take advantage ofgames in their learning process They also need to monitor their students’ use ofthese vocabulary games to make sure that the structure and rules of the games donot take higher rank over learning Learning vocabulary through games is one ofthe effective and interesting ways that can be applied in classrooms Games helpand encourage many learners to learn target language more easily They alsohelp teachers to create contexts in which the target words are useful andmeaningful; they also bring fun for students, thus help them learn and retain newwords more quickly In other words, game - based learning can create ameaningful context for language learning process After learning and practicingnew vocabulary through games, students have the opportunity to use language in

a non-stressful way (Uberman,1998)

Games are advantageous and effective in learning vocabulary They aremotivating because they usually involve friendly competition and createcooperative learning enviroment, so students have an opportunity to worktogether They improve sudents’s communicative skills and they have a chance

to use the target language (Sorayaie- Azar, 2012) Therefore, vocabulay gamesbring real world context into the classroom and enhance students’ use of English

in a flexible, communicative way The role of games in teaching and learningvocabulary cannot be denied

Games provide educator with an opportunity to engage learners in animmersive and interactive environment that requires knowledge, decisionmaking, and information management skills However, the use of immersive

learning environments can be controversial; their association with play and fun

is often considered non educational Even so, games are gaining increasedcultural acceptance In the development tendency of modern education, gamesare studied to assist pupils” learning There are many types of learning gamessuch as acting 26 games, intelligent games, art games According to the lessoncontent and psychology features, people will use the game suitably Game is alight teaching forms which attracts students into active learning

3.5 Psychology features of primary students

George Czapar posited that the growth of six, seven and children is slow but steady They have gained control of their major muscles.Most children have a good sense of balance They can stand on one foot andwalk on a balance beam They enjoy performing physical tricks They enjoytesting muscle strength and skills They like to skip, run, tumble, and dance tomusic They can catch small balls They can manage buttons and zippers Theycan learn to tie their shoelaces They can print their names They can copydesigns and shapes including numbers and letters They use utensils and toolscorrectly with supervision Older School-Age Children are very active with lots

eight-year-old-of energy Their fine motor and large motor skills have become much better

3.5.1 Social and emotional development

They think of themselves more than others until about age seven or eight.They play well in groups but may need some time to play alone Many childrenhave a best friend and an enemy They tend to prefer playmates of the same sex.Children often tell on each other This is done for two reasons: to help themunderstand the rules and to get an adult's attention They do not like criticism orfailure It is best to have each child compete against himself or herself not otherchildren They can be helpful with small chores They have a strong need forlove and attention from their parents They are beginning to care about the

feelings and needs of others They may enjoy taking care of and playing withyounger children To them, "good" and "bad" are what parents and teachersapprove or disapprove of They are starting to develop a moral sense such asunderstanding honesty They begin to develop a sense of humor and may enjoynonsense rhymes, songs, and riddles They become upset when their behavior orschool work is criticized or ignored.

When children are nine or ten year old, they have a strong need to feelaccepted and worthwhile Smith, 1941, cited in Beck, McKeown, and Kucan,2002) found they show their ability to be independent by being disobedient,using back-talk and being rebellious They prefer individual achievements overcompetition They like encouragement and suggestions over competition Theystill look to adults for approval They begin to take responsibility for their ownactions They like to join organized groups They prefer to be with members oftheir own sex They look up to and imitate older youth They are beginning tobuild and understand friendship They want to be accepted by the peer group

3.5.2 Intellectual development:

Katheleen Kampa(1991) found that students can tell left from right Their

ability to speak and express themselves develops rapidly This is important forsuccess in school They talk to each other about themselves and their families

During play, they practice using the word and language they learn in school.

They start to understand time and days of the week They like silly rhymes,riddles, and jokes Their attention span is longer They can follow more involvedstories They are learning letters and words By six, most can read words orcombinations of words

Like the social and emotional development, there are some differences inchildren’ intellectual development, they need opportunities to share thoughts andreactions They see things as either "black or white." They have interests which

change often They are easily motivated and eager to try new things Theyusually do best when the work is done in small pieces They need guidance fromadults to stay at a task to achieve their best.

In conclusion, being the 1st grade student is the most important changes of

children With new environment they must concentrate in a long time between

35-40 minutes They are not curious children like three-age-boys, moreover, they areenjoy discovering and understanding interesting things in life Primary studentsgradually dominate their curiosity in order to form the discipline and implementlearning regulations… All these above are children’s challenges, the care andassistance of families, schools and society depending on the understanding ofscientific knowledge will help children overcome these difficulties better

3.6 How to teach vocabulary in games to primary students:

Teaching English to primary school students is not an easy task forteachers since they should introduce English as a new lesson for students Thestudents are expected to have the skills of language in simple English So themastery of vocabulary is very important since it is essential in conductingcommunication There are several principles in teaching vocabulary in order tomake the teaching learning process more interesting They are as follows:

- It interests the learners

- It makes the learners give attention to the spelling, pronunciation, meaning

or use of word

- It gives a chance for repetition

According to some authors, the fundamental reasons for teaching English

at primary schools are longer study results in greater fluency and betterpronunciation “One of the most important factors influencing the development

of the language proficiency is the amount of time spent in working with thelanguage When language learning begins earlier, can go on longer and provide

more practice and experience, leading ultimately to greater fluency andeffectiveness” ( Helena Anderson,1993-3) The earlier a child stars to learn aforeign language, the easier it will be for him/her to acquire betterpronunciation It is proved by Krashen as quoted by Helena Anderson: “Olderlearners have an advantage over children in almost every area tested with asmall advantage for children in the area of native like pronunciation at least inmost classroom settings” (Krashen, 1982) in teaching vocabulary to children,teachers have to select suitable words to be taught in the first stage The choice

of words should be based on the following consideration: Commonest words:

“They are the words which are commonly used or the words that the studentsneed” It is important to teacher to make the words list before the lesson starts.Its purpose is to know what the most common words are used by the students.Students’ need is a major consideration for teacher to teach the primary students.Sometimes they are interested in knowing the things around them It makesthem motivated to learn

When thinking about vocabulary lesson in the first stage, the teacher ofEnglish in the primary school should have the awareness of five facts as stated

by Allen:

- Foreign words for familiar objects and person are important to teach, but

we can not expect most members of the class to learn them easily

-Teaching such words will require special skill because students often feeltheir native language words for familiar objects and person are all they reallyneed

- Students are very likely to feel that foreign words for familiar objects arenot really needed when the foreign language is not used for communication outside the language class

- When a student feels no real need to learn something, a feeling of needmust be created by the teacher

- To creat in students’ minds a sense of personal need for a foreign word,

it is not enough to say “ Here is the word to learn”, “Here is what the wordmeans”, “ The word will be very useful to you someday” Allen, 1983-3) Fromthe quotation above, it is concluded that in order to create a personal sense ofneed for a foreign word, teachers have to put the students in a situation whichforces them to use the English words

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

1 Introduction

In the previous chapter, contextual and theoretical background has beensummarized in order to support the study This chapter will explore themethodology to be applied in the study by discussing in detail the participants,the instruments and the procedures of data collection and analysis The purpose

of this chapter is showing the attitudes and expectations of primary students inNghe An province toward teaching English vocabulary

2 Research methods

The study aims at investigating the effects of games on studyingvocabulary of primary students Therefore, a combination of quantitative andqualitative methods were used for this study in order to identify the difficultiesencountered by primary students in learning vocabulary based on data collectedfrom the results of a STARTERS test, questionnaires and interview Condelli andWrigley (2003, p.1) point out that the best research design is a mixed design thatintegrates qualitative and quantitative research because “by using a rigorousdesign, the quantitative methods can tell us what works, while the qualitativecan tell us how it works” Similarly, Bryman (1988) argued for a “best of bothworlds” approach and also suggested that qualitative and quantitative should becombined Weinreich (1996) contended that the advantages of the quantitativemethod are that it provides the researcher with quantifiable, reliable date that isusually able to be generalized to some larger population It is most appropriatefor conducting needs assessments or for evaluations comparing outcomes withbaseline date Besides, qualitative method is designed to provide researcher withthe perspective of target audience members through immersion in a culture orsituation and direct interaction with them in the research process The quasi-experimental design which consisted of two groups; experimental group and

control group was also used The experimental group was taught using games,while control group was taught without games A pre-test before treatment wascarried out for both group to ensure their equivalence on the dependent variable

of the study (students achievement in reading comprehension) as well as toidentify students’ difficulties in order to apply appropriate games

The study included two variables The independent variable was themethod of teaching vocabulary with games and without games The dependentvariable comprised the students’ achievement on the vocabulary posttest

Using the advantages of both methods, as well as a quasi-experimentaldesign, the researcher expects to seek the answers to the research questions sothat games can be applied appropriately for primary students

3 Participants

In fact, the relationship between teachers, educational materials andstudents is always interdependent In addition, teaching and learning condition isalso a very important factor All of those are really decisive in bringing success

to lectures Because of the limitation of time, the survey questionnaires wereonly conducted in Vinh university Pedagogical practicing primary school inNghe An province and found their reality The focus of survey questionnairesdepended on the characteristics of teachers, students, the teaching and I carriedout this survey questionnaires with 4 English teachers and 100 students 2nd

graders at Vinh university Pedagogical Practicing primary school They tookpart in 14 survey questionnaires relating to teach English vocabulary

4 Research Instruments

In this chapter, I will deal with two sections: the first is the reality in someprimary schools in Nghe An, and the second reveals the results and analysis ofthe collected data from survey questionnaires

In order to obtain a sufficient collection of reliable and valid data for thestudy, a vocabulary test at STARTERS, MOVERS level, questionnaires andinterviews were employed.

The design of every unit in English text book First Friends 2’ studentbook is divided into six lessons, with a review section after every unit Eachlesson is identified by a colorful icon Each unit has following parts:

 Let’s talk: functional dialogue

 Let’s sing: interactive song based on the dialogue

 Let’s learn: new grammatical structure

 Let’s learn some more: related grammatical structure

 Let’s read: Reading skills development

 Let’s listen: listening test and unit review

 Let’s review: further review after every two units

4.1 Vocabulary pretest:

In this study, a vocabulary pretest at STARTERS level was held at the firstweek of February when nothing taught The pretest consists of 5 parts with 35questions aimed to assess the performance of the study groups in vocabulary test aswell as to identify students’s difficulties in learning vocabulary To meet theappropriate readability level for students, the pretest was chosen from CambridgeEnglish YLE English Test This assessment helps the researcher to apply appropriategames and the pretest results were also utilized to compare with those of the posttest

to confirm the effects of games on vocabulary test for young learners

games in order to improve vocabulary skills for students Newman (2002) pointsout that face-to-face interview may have the highest response rates Moreover,according to Nunan (1998), an unstructured interview is more like a naturalconversation between the interviewer and interviewee Therefore, students wereencouraged to talk freely and truly in a formal atmosphere The researcher, bythis way, could get some more reliable and specific information from students.The interview was also conducted in Vietnamese so that students couldunderstand fully and correctly the interviewer’s questions They could,therefore, find it easy and comfortable to talk and express their though andideas The interview was done during break time at school and was recorded forlater analysis

4.3 Questionnaires

According to Mc Millan and Schumacher (1993, p.238), “thequestionnaires is the most widely useful technique for obtaining informationfrom subjects” Many researchers suppose that using questionaire in languageresearch has many advantages First, questionaire can be given to a great number

of students at the same time and it is self-administered Second, to protect theprivacy and keep the fairness, the subjects’ names might not be appeared on thequestionaire So subjects tend to share the information more naturally, evensome sensitive information Third, the data collected are more accurate becausequestionaire is usually given to all the subjects at the same time Thus the surveyquestionnaire was intended to serve as one of the main sources of datacollection It served as a valuable tool for the researcher to examine the games inteaching vocabulary There were two sets of questionnaires A and B I usedsurvey questionnaires to get information about teaching and learning Englishvocabulary in Nghe An province In this survey questionnaire, two sets ofquestionnaire are conducted (one for students, one for teacher) Teachers and

students were asked to tick the most suitable answers which correspond withtheir opinion The questionnaires are designed as below: For teachers: there are

7 questions to

Question 1: English teaching time of primary teachers

Question 2: Teachers’ attitudes towards the role of vocabulary

Question 3+4 : The games used in teaching vocabulary and theireffectiveness

Question 5+ 6: Teachers’ opinion on difficulties of teachers and studentswhen teaching and learning vocabulary

Question 7: Teachers’ tips used to help students remember new words inclass

For students: there are 7 questions conducted in order to study

Question 1+2: Students’ attitud towards learning English in general andlearning vocabulary in particular

Question 3+4: Students’ difficulties when learning vocabulary

Question 5: Students’ ways in learning the meaning of words

Question 6+7: Students’ opinion on current used games and theireffectiveness in teaching vocabulary

4.4 Vocabulary Posttest

The post test was taken at the last week of May; this means 11 weeks afterthe beginning lesson Like the pretest, the posttest was chosen from CambridgeEnglish YLE English Test with five vocabulary parts, 35 questions Students arerequired to sit for this test for 60 minutes and as usual, the teacher does notforget to tell them that the results of this test will not affect the results of the testsubjects The purpose of this work is the teacher’s expectation that all students

do not copy each other, and help her get an accurate survey finding Both the preand posttest are included in the appendix

4.6 Lesson Plans

The researcher designed a lesson plan for each unit, which was based on athrough revision of literature about games and the teacher’s book Basing on thecontent of each unit and some appropriate games were used

5 Data Analysis

Based on the feedback obtained from interviews and the questionnaire,data analysis was mainly used by qualitative and quantitative approaches Theresults of the reading pre and posttest and the data from the questionnaire werequantitatively processed using statistical frequency based on percentage bymeans of tables or charts through Excel formulas The information collectedfrom interviews were described and reported in words

6 Data Collection Procedures

The researcher collected information in the academic year 2015-2016.The procedure of the research includes the following steps:

6.1 Gathering information and reviewing the previous research related tothe study

6.2 Administrating vocabulary pre test at STARTERS MOVERS level.6.3 Collecting the data from the results of the pretest, designing questionsfor the questionnaire A and then delivering the questionnaire to the students

6.4 Analyzing data from the results of the pretest and the questionnaire,and then implementing a studying vocabulary program for 3 months

6.5 Administrating vocabulary posttest at STARTERS MOVERS level,designing questionnaire B and then delivering questionnaire to students

6.6 Collecting and analyzing the data from the results of the posttest andquestionnaire

6.7 Conducting statistical analysis and data tabulations

6.8 Explaining and interpreting the collected data presented in tables andcharts.

7 Summary

A detailed description of the research approach, the subjects andparticipants, data collection instruments, data collection procedures and dataanalysis procedures of the study has been presented The study was completedwith the help of the students and teachers at Vinh university Pedagogicalpractising primary school The analysis of data collected served as someimportant input for confirming effects of games in teaching and learningvocabulary as well as improving pedagogical methods so that students can bestimprove their vocabulary

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

1 Introduction

This chapter deals with an analysis of data collected mainly from theresults of pre- and posttest administered at Vinh University to students, thequestionnaires and the informal interviews conducted with students Thefindings are presented with the researcher’s explanations and evaluations aiming

to confirm the effects of games on vocabulary for younger students

2 Student’s interest in learning English ( Question 1, Appendix)

Chart 1: Student’s interest in learning English

This question is to find how primary students are interested in learningEnglish The results indicate that 90% of students are fond of studying English,

in which 40% of them like it very much They say that they feel very excitedwhen saying “hello” or “good bye” to everyone, they also like singing thealphabet song Others showed their interest in this subject, but it is not verymuch, because they sometimes have some difficulties in pronouncing and