Applying communicative approach in teaching english reading using authentic materials to first year english non majored students at thu dau mot university

Untitled THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ************* REPORT WRITING APPLYING COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH IN TEACHING ENGLISH READING USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS TO FIRST YEAR ENGLISH NO[.]

THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

*************

REPORT WRITING

APPLYING COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH IN TEACHING ENGLISH READING USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS TO FIRST YEAR ENGLISH NON-MAJORED STUDENTS AT THU

DAU MOT UNIVERSITY (TDMU)

Student name : NGUYEN THI KIM CA

Student code : 18C2202010006

Class : KBV18AV101 Major : ENGLISH LANGUAGELecturer : NGUYEN THI HONG QUE, M.A

Binh Duong, April, 2021

Title of paper: The Use Of Songs to Teach English Vocabulary to

Young Children at A Dong Language Center

I hereby confirm that I am the sole author of the paper presented Where the work of others has been consulted, this is duly acknowledged in the paper’s bibliography I have also not consulted any other unnamed online sources All verbatim or referential use of the sources named in the bibliography has been specifically indicated in the text

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT 5

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 6

1.1 Background of the study 6

1.2 Statement of the problem 7

1.3 The aim of the study 7

1.4 Research questions 7

1.5 Significance of the study 8

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 9

2.1 Definition of language teaching and learning 9

2.1.1 Language teaching 9

2.1.2 Language learning 9

2.2 The characteristics of young learners 9

2.3 Teaching English to Young Learners 10

2.4 The important of Teaching Vocabulary 11

2.5 Young learners’ difficulties in learning vocabulary 12

2.6 Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners through English songs 12

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 15

3.1 Research site 15

3.2 Participants 15

3.3 Materials 15

3.4 Research methodology 15

3.4.1 The experimental teaching 15

3.4.2 Classroom observation 16

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 17

4.1 Data analysis 17

4.1.1 Test results 17

4.1.2 The observation 18

4.2 Discussion 18

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 20

5.1 Conclusion 20

5.2 Suggestions 20

REFERENCES 28

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this report is to describe the use of communicative approach using authentic materials to improve English reading to English non-majored students By using

the approach combined with authentic materials, the students can understand the meaning of what they have read and have active reading behaviour Authentic materials are a motivating and enjoyable aid to

learn language Reading many English authentic materials that are related to their interests could enrich the

students’ vocabularies and help them build good reading habit As the result, the

scores of English are increasing well

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Vietnam has been in the process of international integration and intensive cooperation with other countries Therefore, the demand of foreign language, especially English is becoming vital than ever before For training high quality labour force for the society in helping develop the country, Vietnamese government has decided English as a compulsory subject in most of all educational institutions Therefore, elementary school will be the first step for young learners to encounter with English learning If elementary school does well in teaching English, the students will not get significant difficulties in learning English in the future

Vocabulary is a central of language teaching and learning, which means that when mastering vocabulary with grammar, students will not have much difficulty in producing sentences in spoken as well as written ones Teaching English to children of elementary schools is not an easy job because they sometimes face with problems of acquiring the language as it is a foreign language Consequently, teachers should be creative and be a good model to their students Moreover, the learning should be interesting, enjoyable, relevant active, memorable and social for them

According to Medina (2000) says that music is important in growing and developing process of a child’s vocabulary mastery By singing songs, children can express their feelings, communicate and play together with their friends Using chants and songs are good ways for children to be active and repeat vocabulary and phrases The researcher is aware of the important of learning vocabulary so an investigation of the implication of using songs to teach English vocabulary to young learners was conducted The expectation of the study is seeking out an effective way to teach and improve young learners’ vocabulary

1.2 Statement of the problem

It is important for kids to be surrounded by a variety of words as they develop The more words kids are exposed to, the stronger their vocabulary skills become, especially when they learn vocabulary in an active way As a teacher of English teaching kid classes at A Dong Language Center, I found that my students have encountered with difficulty in learning vocabulary because they just have three class meetings a week for one and a half hour per one class Students do have time to learn vocabulary, and do the other tasks However, with limited time for vocabulary, they cannot remember the words they have learnt Sometimes, they cannot reread the word or even remember the meaning

of the words when they are asked in the following class meeting Moreover, vocabulary

is mostly taught in a traditional ways; the teacher writes the words on the board, the students copy them into their notebooks They are asked to read aloud, copy many lines

of the same words into their notebooks The students easily feel bored and scared of learning vocabulary

1.3 The aim of the study

Due to the difficulties that young learners at A Dong Language Center, the researcher is seeking a way to teach vocabulary more effectively The research was conducted with the desire of teaching English vocabulary through songs to young learners to gain their interest in learning vocabulary The underlying consideration of the study is providing some pedagogical recommendations for using songs in teaching English vocabulary

1.4 Research questions

To achieve the aim of the study, the researcher conducted the research to answer the following questions:

What difficulties do young learners encounter when they learn vocabulary?

How does teaching English vocabulary through songs help young learners improve their vocabulary?

1.5 Significance of the study

Enhancing learners’ English vocabulary is necessary at A Dong Language Center Its practicality contributes to the context of English learning and teaching in Vietnam nowadays Based upon the findings in the research, the researcher gives recommendations to the teachers and administrators the effectiveness in the practice of teaching English vocabulary to young learners through songs She also gives herself the self-reflection in her teaching

The study, thus, does have significance to the center It convinces the teachers to employ the strategy in their own situation

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE

2.1 Definition of language teaching and learning

2.1.1 Language teaching

According to Wright (1987:10) stated that “teaching is essentially social activities, implying relationship between teachers and learners, learners and learners” This means that teaching is active communication and interaction not only between teachers and learners but also between learners and learners

As Brown (2000:7) states that teaching is a process of “showing or helpingsomeone to learn how to do something, giving instruction, guiding in the study of something, providing with knowledge causing how to know or understand.” This means

in teaching activities, teachers do not only help their students in doing tasks but also guiding them in finding the mistakes and correcting them Therefore, as Halliwell (1992:7) pointed out “the language teaching should be concerned with real life”, which implies that the language teaching should be taken from the daily life in order to make the teacher can teach the materials easily and the learners can understand it well

2.1.2 Language learning

Learning started when human was born until the end of their life This helps change people’s behaviours, abilities better than in the past Learning is a process not only getting lessons from the formal education but also getting knowledge from daily events happened in their life According to Nunan (1992:11),

“Learning is most often figuring out how to use what you already know in order to go beyond what you currently think” For that meaning, learning is seen as a process of not only getting knowledge but also giving and distributing the knowledge to other people

2.2 The characteristics of young learners

Since the importance of English as an international language has been recognized,

it is believed that English should be introduced since young As Suyanto (2007:15) defines “Young learners are the students of elementary school of 6-12 years old They

can be divided into younger group (6-8 years old) and older group (6-12 years old).” This

means young learners are classified based on their age

The work of Hashemi Masoud (2011) indicates that young learners share the following characteristics:

(1) Language learning class for them is their first year of schooling

(2) They are highly motivated and energetic

(3) They are new sponges to absorb

(4) They have various language back grounds

(5) They are easily frustrated if corrected immediately

(6) They are ready to imitate and participate

(7) They love group work

(8) They love independence

(9) They need respect and attention

(10) They easily learn from their environments

(11) They are great competitors

From the above characteristics, young learners are active ones, so teaching young learners should involve class activities that create physical ones

2.3 Teaching English to Young Learners

There are several reasons for teaching English at primary level As Singleton (1989) states that young learners:

(1) need to expose from the early age to understand foreign cultures

(2) link communication to the understanding of new concepts

(3) maximize learning time as the earlier they start, the more they get

(4) can decrease their difficulties in learning English later

According to Ikhfi Imaniah, M.Pd Nargis, M.Hum (2017: 8) states that “Most activities for children should consist of movement and involve their senses The teacher needs many objects, visuals and pictures to work with, and to create a possibility to use all of the school's surroundings It is also important for the teacher to let the children play with the language, talk to themselves as much as it is possible, use songs, rhymes and tell stories.” For this idea, teaching English vocabulary to young learners through songs is a suitable method which will help maximize their learning ability

2.4 The important of Teaching Vocabulary

Learning a new language means learning its vocabulary, which means vocabulary

is a core component of language proficiency Therefore, vocabulary is the crucial skill that is necessary to other skills in learning language: reading, writing, reading and

listening In language teaching and learning, it is important for students and teachers to

be aware of what vocabulary is Hatch and Brown stated that “vocabulary is a set of words for a particular language or set of word that individual speaker of language might use” This means a speaker must use vocabulary to communicate and express their ideas Without sufficient vocabulary students cannot understand others or express their own ideas in both forms of spoken and written effectively As stated by Harmer (1993) that “if language structures are the skeleton of language, then the vocabulary is the vital organ and the flesh” More importantly, Thornbury, (2002) stated that “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” This means that even students are good at grammar but it will be useless if they do not know many vocabularies In addition, the idea was supported by Penny Ur (1996), vocabulary is one “

of important things to be taught in learning foreign language because it will be impossible to speak up without variety of words Those statements imply the ”importance of teaching vocabulary as a foreign language However, teachers and learners have been facing with many difficulties in teaching and learning vocabulary, especially those who are young learners

2.5 Young learners’ difficulties in learning vocabulary

Learning vocabulary is a crucial part in learning English However, learning vocabulary is not easy for young learners because vocabulary is a difficult part to learn because of its big numbers Therefore, teacher needs to be more creative, which means that teachers should choose suitable methods to help students to maintain their interest and motivation Without a suitable one, learning vocabulary will be boring although the teacher has prepared a good useful material for the learners According to Rohmatillah, (2015) stated that the first steps in successful teaching vocabulary are to identify the difficulties that faced by the students

According to Thornnury (2004:27) states some factors that make vocabulary difficult to learn as follows:

(1) Pronunciation - Words that are difficult to pronounce are more difficult to learn

(2) Spelling - Sounds-spelling mismatches are likely to be the cause of difficulties

in learning vocabulary in pronouncing or spelling Words that contain silent letters are , particularly problematic: headache, climbing, etc

(3) Length and complexity - Long words are more difficult to learn than short ones

(4) Grammar - The grammar associated with the word can also be a problem in learning vocabulary Remembering that a verb such as enjoy, love, or hope is followed by

–ing forms, can be a challenge to young learners

(5) Meaning - Young learners get confused, when two words overlap in meaning (6) Range, connotation and idiomatic terms - English vocabulary can be used in a wide range of contexts, and in different contexts, they have different meanings, especially in idiomatic expressions This can cause a lot of difficulties to young learners

2.6 Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners through English songs

According to Medina (2000) states that music plays an important role in growing and developing of a child’s vocabulary mastery Children can express their feelings,

communicate and play together with their friends through the activities when singing songs

Larry M Lynch (2012) proposes nine reasons that teachers should use songs to exceed the efficiency of language classroom They are:

(1) Songs almost always contain authentic, natural language

(2) A variety of new vocabulary can be introduced to students through songs

(3) Songs are usually very easily obtainable

(4) Songs can be selected to suit the needs and interests of the students

(5) Grammar and cultural aspects can be introduced through songs

(6) Time length is easily controlled

(7) Students can experience a wide range of accents

(8) Song lyrics can be used in relating to situations of the world around us

(9) Students think songs are natural and fun

These are reasons for songs being useful in the language learning classroom They not only contain authentic language, which are easy to obtain, provide vocabulary, grammar and cultural aspects and are fun for the students, but also provide enjoyable speaking, listening, vocabulary and language practice both in and out of the classroom Therefore, teachers are recommended considering using songs as a regular part of their classroom activities

As Simpson (2015) indicated that the process of selecting a song is one of the most difficult aspects of using music in a lesson Here are some things teachers probably need to think about to ensure they get the right song

(1) Carefully examine what teachers want their classes to learn in the lesson Is this going

to be a lesson focusing on vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, or a particular topic? (2) Think about the language level of the class

(3) Think about the age of learners

(4) Think of specific cultural issues regarding the make-up of the class

(5)Think about kind of access to the song

He also proposed the following six steps for making a song the focus of the class (1) Listen to the song - start things off by just listening make it fun and exciting –

(2) Ask some questions about the title

(3) Listen to the song again, this time with lyrics

(4) Focus on a particular verb tense or aspect of grammar

(5) Focus on vocabulary, idioms and expressions

(6) Round things off with some creativity

In short, songs that are chosen to teach vocabulary should be appropriate with the topic of the English lessons as well as the level of the learners and attract the students’ attention There are also several steps of carrying out the lessons through songs However, which steps should be focused and which should be skipped is mainly due to the core of the lesson requirements