Topic INVESTIGATING ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING GAMES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY TO ELEMENTARY STUDENTS AT NAM SAO ENGLISH LANGUAGE SCHOOL

In the initial stages of learning a language, vocabulary plays a primary role in acquisition and communication providing much of the basic for how well learners speak, listen, read and write. Using games for learning and teaching vocabulary has been applied in many countries in the world. Therefore, I put my attempt on learning about the usefulness of games in studying new words at Nam Sao English Language School (Nam Sao ELS). I used the following data collection instruments: class observations, questionnaires, interviews with students and teachers. The results and findings showed that games not only created the motivation for learning vocabulary but also enhanced students’ vocabulary memorization. In addition, games help students learn without a conscious analysis or understanding of the learning process while they acquire communicative competence as foreign language users. At the same time, teachers and further researchers also paid attention to many disadvantages of using games in teaching such as the effects of time, class management and other class activities

THE SAIGON INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

GRADUATION THESIS

Major: English Language

Course: 8 – Class: 15DTA Instructor: Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, M.A

Ho Chi Minh City, 07/2019

INVESTIGATING ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

OF USING GAMES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY TO

ELEMENTARY STUDENTS AT NAM SAO ENGLISH

LANGUAGE SCHOOL – CAMPUS 1

Name: Vo Thi Thuy Quynh Student ID: 97011501056

DECLARATION

I, Vo Thi Thuy Quynh, hereby declare that this graduation thesis is entirely my own work and does not involve in plagiarism or collusion It also has not been accepted as part of

a submission to another purpose elsewhere I accept heavy penalty for any cheating or plagiarism

Name: Vo Thi Thuy Quynh

Student’s ID: 97011501056

Course: 8 – Class: 15DTA

Major: English Language

The Saigon International University (SIU)

Date submitted: ………

Signature: ………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Every book has a story, and this one involves a lot of helpful people The study would not have been completed without the invaluable assistance and encouragement of many

people for whom I am grateful

Firstly and foremost, I would like to express thanks to the School Board of The Saigon International University (SIU) and the Faculty of Foreign Languages for providing me with a professional learning environment and facilities, as well as creating favorable conditions for me to carry out my thesis

Secondly, I would like to give the appreciation from the bottom of my heart to Ms

Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, M.A and all teachers in the English Language major for professional guidance and useful comments for my study as well as their encouragement that helped me to overcome difficult time to complete the thesis Besides, they also gave enthusiasm and

sympathies in order to lift me to be as good as I am today

Thirdly, I also would highly like to appreciate Nam Sao Language School for offering

me a chance to carry out surveys for my thesis, Ms Nguyen Thi Bich Duyen, Ms Nguyen

Kim Quynh Nhu, Ms Ngo Thi Luong, Ms Phan Nguyen My Linh and Mr Nguyen Khanh

An, who gave me chances to observe their classes, and all students at Nam Sao Language

School who eagerly participated in my vocabulary games and responded to my

questionnaires

Last but not least, I also deeply thank my internet-friends for not only providing me with valuable and precious sources and experience but also always being willing to help me during the graduate thesis

In addition, because my limited knowledge, shortcomings and mistakes cannot be

avoided, I expect to receive helpful advice from lecturers to make the paper more perfect

I am indebted to you all, who gave me energy, encouragement and inspiration for

finishing my research

Sincerely,

Vo Thi Thuy Quynh

SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS

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CONTENTS

DECLARATION 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4

SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS 6

LIST OF TABLES 9

ABSTRACT 10

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 11

1.1 Rationale 12

1.2 Research goals 13

1.3 Research questions 14

1.4 The scope of the research 14

1.5 Significance of the research 15

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 16

2.1 Definitions of the key terms 17

2.1.1 Vocabulary in language teaching & learning 17

2.1.2 Young students at elementary level 20

2.1.3 Games 22

2.2 Review of previous works 23

2.2.1 The benefits of games in teaching vocabulary to elementary students 23

2.2.2 The role of games 24

2.2.3 Advantages of using games in teaching vocabulary 25

2.2.4 Disadvantages of using games in teaching vocabulary 27

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 29

3.1 The place of investigation 30

3.2 Research methodology & research methods 31

3.2.1 Research methodology 31

3.2.2 Research methods 31

3.3 Participants 32

3.4 Procedures 33

3.5 Data analysis 34

Chap 4: ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION 35

4.1 Common games are usually used in teaching vocabulary 36

4.2 The importance of using games in teaching vocabulary 37

4.3 The benefits of games in teaching & learning vocabulary 38

4.3.1 In the students’ point of view 38

4.3.2 In the teachers’ point of view 40

4.4 The difficulties of using games in teaching vocabulary 45

4.5 Results of the interviews 47

Chap 5: CONCLUSION 48

5.1 A review of major aims 49

5.2 Summary of the study 49

5.3 Limitation 49

5.4 Recommendations for the further research 50

REFERENCES 52

APPENDIX 56

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

1 Table 1: The frequency of games

2 Figure 1: The important role of games in teaching vocabulary

3 Figure 2: The feelings of students towards playing games (Question 2)

4 Table 2: Students' opinions about the benefits of games in learning vocabulary (Question 3 to 6)

5 Table 3: The benefits of using games in teaching vocabulary for elementary students

6 Figure 3: Games are easy, convenient and time-saving

7 Figure 4: Games help teachers create motivations and attract students’ attention

8 Figure 5: Games help teacher review the vocabulary

9 Table 4: Using games in teaching vocabulary benefits students' learning process

10 Table 5: The difficulties of using games in teaching-learning vocabulary of elementary students

11 Figure 6: The disadvantages of games

ABSTRACT

In the initial stages of learning a language, vocabulary plays a primary role in

acquisition and communication providing much of the basic for how well learners speak,

listen, read and write Using games for learning and teaching vocabulary has been applied in

many countries in the world Therefore, I put my attempt on learning about the usefulness of

games in studying new words at Nam Sao English Language School (Nam Sao ELS) I used

the following data collection instruments: class observations, questionnaires, interviews with

students and teachers The results and findings showed that games not only created the

motivation for learning vocabulary but also enhanced students’ vocabulary memorization In

addition, games help students learn without a conscious analysis or understanding of the

learning process while they acquire communicative competence as foreign language users At

the same time, teachers and further researchers also paid attention to many disadvantages of

using games in teaching such as the effects of time, class management and other class

activities

Key words: vocabulary, games, young learners, elementary level, etc

Chapter 1:

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale

Today, we cannot deny the importance of English in our life as an international language It is most widely used in communication around the world and spoken as the first language in many countries Therefore, English learners need to be good at not only the four skills (writing, speaking, reading, and listening) but also vocabulary In fact, many researchers have defined the vocabulary Without building a powerful vocabulary foundation, comprehension and appropriate language uses will not be obtained and acquired Some researchers argued that “the single most important task facing language learners is acquiring sufficient language vocabulary” Therefore, we have a question “What is the most effective way to teach vocabulary?” Some say flashcards, some say real materials and the others say games Therefore, teachers need to use effective ways and appropriate strategies to help students to develop their vocabulary knowledge

I still wonder why students at Nam Sao ESL still have not found a way to learn vocabulary effectively Consequently, I choose the study on the use of games in teaching English vocabulary to young learners for many following reasons:

First of all, we can see that vocabulary is a very important element of a language so teaching English vocabulary is also a key factor in learning English Moreover, the relationship between vocabulary and four basic skills including listening, speaking, reading and writing is mutual Actually, the master of vocabulary helps learners to develop four skills better

Secondly, Brumfit (1995) stated that “Children play and children want to play Children learn through playing In playing together, children interact and in interacting they develop language” Being aware of the fact that young learners learn through playing, most teachers use games in teaching vocabulary Games create a relaxing, cheerful and enjoyable

atmosphere for learning Besides, games also help them learn new words faster and remember better because they have a lot of advantages and effectiveness so they become an effective way in teaching and learning English vocabulary

Lastly, I had worked at Nam Sao ESL – Campus 1 for nearly a year, I realized that most teachers usually use games in their vocabulary lessons Therefore, I have conducted this research to look for games which usually are used in teaching vocabulary for young learners and find out the benefits of using these games

1.2 Research goals

First of all, the purposes of this study are to find out the importance and application of using games in teaching vocabulary to point out some common effect that elementary students at Nam Sao ESL usually have and how to learn new words through games Next, I would like to find the answer to the question “What are advantages and disadvantages of using games to teach vocabulary?”

Secondly, although games have been applied successfully for educational purposes in many countries and using games is not a new method, they have not been used in Nam Sao ESL in particular and in Vietnam in general As a result, I did the research to identify whether Nam Sao students felt more interested in learning vocabulary through games than such methods as writing new words down over and over again on the papers, taking a look at new words, and reading them out loud several times, etc Also, I would like to get rid of the old prejudice that games just can be used for fun, or time-filling, not for earnest and educational purposes such as teaching and learning languages

1.3 Research questions

To elucidate this problem, the following specific questions will be analyzed:

1 What games do teachers usually use in teaching English vocabulary to elementary learners?

2 How do games affect students’ English vocabulary learning?

3 What are advantages and disadvantages of using games to teach vocabulary for elementary learners?

1.4 The scope of the research

I have worked at Nam Sao ELS – Campus 1 for nearly a year and I have realized that all learners at this English center do not like learning English Due to the limitation of time, experience and knowledge, this thesis only focuses on exploiting English games as an essential method in teaching English vocabulary for young learners from 10 to 12 years old

In other words, learners do not want to learn English in the traditional way Teachers are expected to use new methods or techniques to teach active learners, especially in teaching

by games The idea of using games to engage learners in the process of active learning is not new I have conducted several games with my learners as a means to review previously taught materials and to prepare for tests I have noticed that most of my learners tend to enjoy hands-on activities in my classes

In my point of view, I am seeking to learn more about the effectiveness of using games to teach vocabulary Additionally, in a more general approach I am seeking

information that supports the question: What makes an educational game effective in the classroom? McLester (2005) stated “Nearly seventy percent of students learn best actively

and visually” As a result, I want to find an explanation for this statement because I feel that there are many potential benefits of active learning through games in the classroom

1.5 Significance of the research

This work was conducted to figure out what types of games are usually used in

teaching English vocabulary to elementary students and the benefits of using games in the

lessons My work not only benefits elementary students at Nam Sao ELS but also helps the readers know about the favorite games of young learners

Chapter 2:

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Definitions of key terms

The focus of the present research is on the use of games in teaching English vocabulary to elementary learners at Nam Sao ELS Therefore, to understand what I am investigating

clearly, I will explain some of the definitions associated with my topic: vocabulary, young learners and games

2.1.1 Vocabulary in language teaching and learning

a Definitions of vocabulary

In the book A Course in Language Teaching, Penny Ur (1996) defined vocabulary as

“the words we teach in a foreign language” (1996:60) In addition, vocabulary can be defined

as ''words we must know to communicate effectively; words in speaking (expressive vocabulary) and words in listening (receptive vocabulary)'' (Neuman & Dwyer, 2009, p 385) Besides that, Hornby (1995) defined vocabulary as “a list of words with their meanings”, while Ur (1998) stated: “Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language.”

However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than just a single word: for example, post office, and mother-in-law, which are made up of two or three words but express a single idea A useful convention is to cover all such cases by talking about vocabulary "items" rather than "words"

Additionally, Burns (1972) defined vocabulary as "the stock of words which is used

by a person, class or profession” According to Zimmerman cited in Coady and Huckin (1998), vocabulary is central to language and of critical importance to the typical language

learning Furthermore, Diamond and Gutlohn (2006) in www.readingrockets.org/article

according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary New 9 th Edition (2005), vocabulary is all

the words that a person knows or uses From the definitions above, it can be concluded that vocabulary is the total number of words that are needed to communicate ideas and express the speakers' meaning That is the reason why vocabulary plays an important role to learn new languages

b Kinds of vocabulary

Some experts divide vocabulary into two types: active and passive vocabulary Harmer (1991) distinguishes between these two types of vocabulary The first type of vocabulary refers to the one that the students have been taught and that they are expected to

be able to use and make sentences with them Especially, they can talk independently with these words Meanwhile, the second one refers to the words which the students will recognize when they meet them, but they will probably not be able to pronounce them perfectly

On the other hand, Haycraft, quoted by Hatch and Brown (1995), indicated two kinds

of vocabulary, namely receptive vocabulary and productive vocabulary Receptive vocabulary is the words that learners recognize and understand when they are used in contexts, but which they cannot produce It is vocabulary that learners recognize when they see or meet in reading texts but do not use it in speaking and writing (Stuart Webb, 2009) Productive vocabulary is the words that the learners understand and can pronounce correctly and use constructively in speaking and writing It involves what is needed for receptive vocabulary plus the ability to speak or write at the appropriate time Therefore, productive vocabulary can be addressed as an active process because the learners can produce the words

to express their thoughts to others (Stuart Webb, 2005)