Monkey stories app and implication in teaching English for non- English majors

Abstract: This writing aims at analyzing advantages and disadvantages of the app Monkey Stories in learning English, then making use of this app in teaching English for non-English majo

Pham Thi Thanh Thuy!

Abstract: This writing aims at analyzing advantages and disadvantages

of the app Monkey Stories in learning English, then making use of this app in teaching English for non-English majors in classes at HNUE After that, the writer designs appropriate activities or tasks to apply this app

in order to develop students’ English skills Within this short study, the researcher tends to use both qualitative and quantitative methods including questionnaires and case study so that the data will be carefully analyzed and then the results are discussed for positive conclusions in teaching and learning English Hopefully, the results withdrawn from this research is useful for lecturers, students and anyone who Cares

Keywords: design activities, HNUE, Monkey Stories, teach English, develop students’ English skills

1 INTRODUCTION

Recently, the movement of teaching methods renovation has been deeply and wholeheartedly launched in nearly all schools and institutions all over the world and in Vietnam, as well One of the latest technological achievements applied

in teaching is using smartphones Students are able to learn English efficiently only by using a smartphone connected with the Internet Monkeystories is a

brand new app which helps students to learn English well, especially listening,

pronunciation, vocabulary and reading

As a result, the author thinks that it is necessary for her to teach English in

class with the assistance of smartphone and the Internet Nearly all the students own smartphones and they use them for different purposes daily, including listening to different kinds of music and surfing the Internet One point to bear

1 Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of Education

in mind is that their skills and vocabulary in English are limited When they set

up the app of Monkeystories in their cell phones, it is relatively convenient and easy for them to take away and learn wherever and whenever they feel like or

they have free time The writer has spent time experiencing Monkeystories app

in her smartphone She found out that it is of great use and naturally learners make progress if they are diligent and have strong motivation to practice English frequently day by day

In her research, she aims at answering the two questions below:

1 How confident are the non-English majors with their current levels of English?

2 In what ways are the app Monkeystories useful for the students to improve their skills in English?

In order to tackle these issues in her writing, she is going to organize her main contents logically and critically, as followed:

1 Introduction

2 Theoretical background

2.1 Literature review

2.2 Methodology

2.3 Overview about the app Monkeystories for smartphones, Ipads and Laptops/PCs

3 The study

3.1 Participants

3.2 Data collection

3.3 Data discussion and analysis

3.4 Implications in teaching English for non-English majors at HNUE

4 Conclusion

Reference

2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 Literature review

Learning, especially learning English with the support of the Internet resources seem to be fairly common and favored among language learners

including students In language education, materials are essential part of the learning and teaching process (Ahmet Basal, 2011) Online resources or web materials are significant resources for distance learners to achieve effective

learning (Mutiara, Zuhairi & Kurniati, 2007) These resources do assist learners

to study more effectively They do not need to spend too much time searching for materials in libraries; instead, they are able to sit at home comfortably and learn

with the Internet Moreover, using online resources is considered as having the

function to improve the quality of learning, increase the chance of assessing to education and training, reduce the expenditure which is consumed on education

and facilitate the effectiveness and efficiency of education (Alexander, 2001)

Learners, therefore, benefit quite a lot from online information they are capable

of collecting provided that they have laptops connected to the Internet As well,

they are advised to master essential skills of searching materials online, then

acquire knowledge with their smartphones, laptops, Ipads or PCs

Mobile apps are designed for mobile phones or Ipads On mobile phones,

two main app stores are used, that is, Google Play for Android and Apple App Store for iOS Google Play is an international online software store developed by

Google for Android devices (Chu, 2009) This app is currently available in nearly

all smartphones and comparatively useful for every type of users Apple App Store for iOS is the first app market for app distribution services In Vietnam, most apps can be downloaded easily and freely, while some others must be purchased

by mobile users These apps are varied, which interest mobile users a lot as they are able to play games or do a variety of things such as learning foreign languages using Apple App Store or Google Play

Learning English means learning listening, speaking, reading and writing Many apps create a multimedia instructional material, which is very useful for Vietnamese students who not only learn English from text but also suck in English through audio and video (Almet, 2011) In summary, learning English with the assistance of mobile apps has a positive effect on learners (Conroy, 2010) Learners are eager and curious to discover English while listening, writing, reading, learning grammar and vocabulary on these apps of smartphones In addition, they do feel relaxed and amused during their self-study with the apps

of studying English

2.2 Methodology

This brief study is done with qualitative and quantitative methods, as followed:

The writer consulted such materials as books, journals and webpages related

to the topic of the research

She designed questionnaires to collect data, then analyzed, discussed, withdrew conclusions and implemented in genuine teaching English at HNUE

2.3 Overview about the app Monkeystories for smartphones, Ilpads and Laptops/PCs

Image of the app Monkeystories Front page of the app Monkeystories

Source: Monkeystories.vn

As mentioned officially on the webpage of Monkeystories apps, this app was studied and developed by top language experts in the USA and famous writers

who frequently write stories for children in order to assist them understand and

use English fluently The app Monkeystories gives children chances to experience learning English with interesting, updated, interactive and inspiring method Firstly, the content of the stories was thoroughly assessed and built, basing

on the best criteria so as to help young learners develop knowledge of English by

reading English stories

The topics of stories are close to the children’s lives Such topics as family,

living environment and learning are preferences

There are repeated phrases in the stories, using popular expressions and possible estimation This helps children to remember the stories more easily, predict the process of the stories and promote their imagination

Characters in stories are familiar to the children Conversations between them are based on the most commonly-heard dialogues in their lives, helping them to develop speaking skill and using languages in every day topics

Picturesque images in stories help children to feel interested while reading the stories, understand exactly the content of the stories, which improve their skill of reading comprehension and develop their languages

Secondly, the app Monkeystories helps readers to use it easily and develop their languages most efficiently

¢ Different native speakers read the stories emotionally, which helps children to reinforce their listening, pronunciation and intonation

¢ Subtitles are printed below together with native speakers’ loud reading, which helps readers to follow easily and understand the relationship between languages for reading and words which are written

¢ Children can both read stories and touch the images of characters, which motivates them to learn

¢ After the stories are read loudly, follow-up games or exercises are designed to help readers increase their capability of memorizing, improve their critical thinking and skill of reading comprehension

¢ Both children and their parents are able to learn English through reading stories with the app Monkeystories

In conclusion, Monkeystories is a ready-to-use and convenient app for children to learn English in order to develop their knowledge of English naturally and standardizedly

3 THE STUDY

The author designed questionnaire for students to answer, then collected data for analysis and discussion The questionnaire is written with 16 questions,

focusing on the students’ attitude, understanding and implications in learning English The study is a case study

3.1 Participants

28 students from different faculties in HNUE were asked to answer the

questions in the questionnaires They are C67 students, who are studying English

for AO level They are from 19-20 years old Some of them are better at English than others Although they are of AO level, some students can speak and write a little in English The lecturer tested them through two speaking tests and another listening-reading-writing midterm test

3.2 Data collection

The questionnaires were given to students to answer after they had experienced studying English with the app Monkeystories All of them answered all the questions printed After that, the researcher analyzed the data collected, making it ready for discussion and analysis

3.3 Data discussion and analysis

From the data collected from the survey, it can be said that, as mentioned below 61% of the students totally agreed that listening and speaking are the most important skills when they learn English However, 50% of them said they are quite afraid of learning these two skills while studying foreign languages It is

true that nearly all Vietnamese students feel scared when they practice listening

and speaking English Some are too afraid that they do not want to speak in English as they can make mistakes

Although 79% agreed that being able to pronounce correctly is vital for their learning English, 71% of those non-English majors stated that their pronunciation

is not completely exact Language learners are aware of this problem when they learn English, but not all of them try hard to improve it They said that it is quite troublesome for them, as they did not learn English from early age

25% of them totally agreed that reading stories through Monkeystories is interesting Maybe it is because they have not had enough time to use the app for their English learning They did not hear about this app before the lecturer introduced in class and asked them to try learning with the app Monkeystories 47% students completely agreed that the native speakers’ loud reading is clear, emotional and understandable, however, 64% students partially agreed that they can learn English effectively through reading stories using Monkeystories app The author think that the students are likely to be interested in reading English stories after they have learnt with this app for certain time Importantly,

they felt that the images and the native speakers’ voice of reading are attractive

Only 25% students totally agreed that this app should be used in English

classes at HNUE in the coming time, whereas 57% of them partially agreed that

this app should be greatly made use of by lecturers

From this study, it can be seen that students started becoming fascinated by the Monkeystories app It takes time for them to use and practice English in order

to improve their knowledge of English

To answer the first research question, it can be seen that those students seem not quite confident with their competence of English They frequently become scared when they have to speak in English or listen to English talks The app has

helped them to be more open to overcome their troubles

For the second research question, the app of Monkeystories assisted them to

be aware of their real difficulties and got them involved in the activities using the

app in an amusing way Most of the students recognized how effective the app is

to help them improve their skills of English Many of them totally agreed that this app should be used in English class at HNUE

3.4, Implications in teaching English for non-English majors at HNUE

Here are several activities lecturers are capable of implementing in English class with the assistance of this app of Monkeystories

Activity 1

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Image of a child learning English with Monkeystories

- Lecturer turns on Monkeystories app on the smartphone or Ipad, then gives

it to each student in turns to practice listening and reading after

- Each student reads one or two sentences loudly after carefully listening to the native speaker reading loudly

- The student can read the sentences again until their pronunciation and intonation are clear and emotional

- Lecturer should connect the smartphone or Ipad with a loudspeaker so that all the students in class are able to listen to the story

* Note:

¢ The level of the story should be chosen thoroughly so that almost all the students can read and understand There may be phrases for students to

practice pronunciation or simple sentences for them to practice easily or complex long sentences in a paragraph for excellent students if they can read quickly and pronounce well enough

e The content of the story chosen must be suitable for the students’ age and psychology in order that most of them feel motivated and excited when

practicing reading

¢ Lecturer should choose the green button so that the readers can touch the screen when they read aloud

Activity 2

Mom put her soup over the fire

Dad cooked the meat over the fire

An image of a page in a story (Source: Monkeystories.vn)

- Lecturer turns on the app of Monkeystories on the laptop, connected with the projector and loudspeaker, then the image appears on the screen

- Lecturer chooses Autoplay button so that the story runs from the beginning

to the end The whole class listens to the story through the loudspeaker

- After that, all the students answer comprehension questions for the story they have listened Comprehension questions are designed as post-reading activity in the app If questions are not designed, lecturer should ask students questions After some stories, there are sometimes games for readers to play Lecturer shows the game for the class to play together

- If the students do not answer questions or play games, lecturer asks them to summarize the story to check their understanding This task is for good students only; others can sit and hear the good one speaks

Acitvity 3.

Daisy visits many places kết around the world

An image of a page in a story (Source: Monkeystories.vn)

- Lecturer chooses a few short interesting stories for students to read alone

as a competition among all students in class

- This may become an exciting activity if the students are eager to take part

in the competition

- There should be some surprising gifts for those who read well and clearly enough

Activity 4

An image of a child learning English with Monkeystories app at home (Source: Monkeystories.vn)

- Lecturer lends students her smartphone or Ipad to practice more at breaktime Students get together to look at and practice listening and reading stories in the app

- Then, they feel relaxed and can choose the stories they like to read and

listen They will become familiar with the app of Monkeystories, so they can decide to purchase and set up this app in their smartphones or Ipads to practice much more at home or anytime, anywhere they feel comfortable

4 CONCLUSION

Learning foreign languages has always been a trouble to any person including non-English majors at HNUE As the data collected within this research, most of them are scared when they have to speak in English or listen

to people talking in this language The app of Monkeystories has, in some ways, been helpful for them to feel motivated and interested while they read stories in a second language They become glad to imitate the native speakers naturally and emotionally

However, this is only a case study, so the positive effects are still limited The writer expects that the study will be further researched in the near future Then, more students have opportunities to get used to the app of Monkeystories and improve their knowledge of English through reading this updated store of stories

References

1 Ahmet Basal, Selahattin Yilmaz, Asli Tanriveri, & Lutfiye Sari Yildiz Technical University, Turkey (2016), “Effectiveness of mobile applications in vocabulary teaching” Contemporary Educational Technology, 2016, 7(1), 47-59

2 Ahmet, B (2011), ELT teachers as online material developers, retrieved from http:// www.fojdel.net/pdfv01102/v01102-02.pdf

3 Alexander, S (2001), E-learning development and experiences, Education & Training, Vol.43, No.4-5, pp.240-248

4 Andersen, I (2013), Mobile Apps for Learning English A Review of 7 Complete English Course Apps: Characteristics, Similarities and Differences

5 Bor-Tying Wang (2017), “Designing Mobile apps for English vocabulary learning” International Journal of Information Technology, Vol 7, No.4, April 2017

6 Chinnery, G (2006), Going to the MALL: Mobile assisted language learning,

LANGUAGE LEARNING & TECHNOLOGY, Vol.10, No.1, pp.9-16

7 Chu, Eric (2009), Android Market Update Support

8 Conroy, M.A (210), “Internet tools for language learning: University students taking control of their writing” Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, vol.26, no.6, pp.861-882

9 Emma Segev (2014), Mobile learning: improve your English anytime, anywhere, Retrieved from webpage http://www.britishcouncil.org