Luận văn sử dụng giáo cụ trực quan và Động tác hình thể trong việc dạy từ vựng tiếng anh cho những học viện Ở trình Độ cơ bản

USEING VISUAL AIDS AND PHYSICAL ACTIONS IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR THE ELEMENTARY STUDENTS AT ENCI ENGLISH CENTER Sử dụng giáo cụ trực quan và động tác hình thể trong việc dạy

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI

USIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

+? k tế Ki thế ki k kh

CHUNG THI HUYE?

USEING VISUAL AIDS AND PHYSICAL ACTIONS IN TEACHING

ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR THE ELEMENTARY STUDENTS AT

ENCI ENGLISH CENTER

(Sử dụng giáo cụ trực quan và động tác hình thể trong việc dạy từ vựng

tiếng Anh cho những hục viên ở trình dộ cơ bản lại trung (âm Anh ngữ

Enci)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodolugy Code: 60140111

HANOI - 2016

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

eet eet itr ere tied

CHUNG THI HUYEN

TISING VISUAL AIDS AND PHYSICAL ACTIONS IN TEACHING

ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR THE ELEMENTARY STUDENTS AT

ENCI ENGLISH CENTER

(Sử dụng giáo cụ trực quan và động tác hình thé trong việc day từ vựng

tiếng Anh cho những hạc viên ở trình dộ cơ bản tại trung tâm Ảnh ngữ

Enci)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lê Hùng Liễn

HANOI - 2016

without being tired in order for the fulfillment of the prerequisite for the Degree of

Master of Arts at College of M‘oreign Languages and Intemational Studies, Vietnam

National University, Hanoi This study involves no material that has been written by

any other researchers and accepled for any ofher degrees in any olhor universitics

except due reference that has been acknowledged at the end of the thesis paper

Tanoi,2016

Chưng Thị Huyền

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people

Kirst and foremost, 1 would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my

supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Lé Hing Tién, who has patiently and constantly

supporied ine through the stages of the sludy, and whose stimulating ideas,

expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher

A special word of thanks goes lo alk the icachers of the Faculty of Post -

Graduate Studies at University of Languages and Intemational Studies, Vietnam

National University, Hanoi for their useful lectures, moe atid enthusiast

during my course Without their support and encouragement, it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished

Additionally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my beloved

students of GPL 100 and GPL 106 at Knoi English center with their participation in and dedication to the research Without their support, the thesis would not have

taken shaped

Finally, I want to show my appreciation to all the members in my family because of their help during the time T conducted my study as well as in my whole lite.

ABSTRACTS

This study presenls an allempl lo investigate visual-based lechniques in vocabulary teaching and the lexical learning gains of the elementary KFL learners at

Enci English Center after the course with the application of these aids The data

from a range of sources including observations, questionnaires, and written tests

were collected from thirty language learners at the elementary level at an linglish center over the period of nine weeks The analysis of data using both qualitative and

quantitative techtiques imdicated thai the participants had a significantly betler

performance at the end of the period of study ‘the results offer a wealth of pedagogical implications towards vocabulary learning classrooms

Key words: visual aids, physical actions, HSL classroom, learning English vocabulary, students at the elementary level, Enct English center

ii

4 Methods of thee SHY oecscucvcesscineieeiivieiinivtineinisvensnes 3

5

5

5

1 The importance of vocabulary in second Language teaching and learning:

1.2 Definition of vacabulary teaching

1.3 The changing trends of vocabulary importance in second language teaching

2 Principles of vocabulary teaching to elemtentary learners 7

3 Different teaching techniques and their effects on vocabulary teaching and learning

31 Transiation method

2.2 Using synonyms and antonyms

3.3 Teaching wolrlS usÌng c0HeXS coi

3.4, Using morphological anatysis int vacabulary teaching

3.5 Using collocation in vacabulary instruction

4 Visual aids and physical actions {mime) as 4 motivator for second language vocabulary learning XE th như Hi tre

4, 1 Definition of visual giản

42 Types of visual techniques

4.2 4, Mime (Gesture and facial expressions)

4, 3 The existing views on using visuat aids and physical actions (mime) in

teaching a foreign language vocabulary

CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY

3 Research method- Classroom aciion research

%1 General description of individual action research

3.2, Action research model.,

6 Research procedures H102 121m g1 0e tre

6.1 1 Identifying the problem

1 1 The reason of choosing observation in data collection

1.2 The criteria of observation

6 3 1, Data analysis of classroom obseTyation iu —

6, 3, 2 1, Siudents° denograpbic bIÐrHGHGH.« c cceeveeiircee 24 6.3 2 2 Data analysis of students’ questionnaire o.oo ¬ 6.3.2.2 1 The students! views loward the use of visual aids and physical actions in vocabulary teaching and the effectiyeness of visual-based lexical instructiơn 24

6.3.2.2 2 The amount of vocabulary remembered by the leamers after the course

6.3, 2 2 3, The leamers” views on the purpose of visual techniques employed in

6.3.2.2 4 The sIndenIs” views Loward thơ cffects öŸ visnal Icohatqups ơn then

'ooabulary learning 22s 2012 21100112122122.1.1cee 26

6.3.2.2 § The students’ views toward the difficulties in leaming vocabulary

6 3 3 Data analysis oŸ mid-term (eSlS vì cào cà c sec

6 4 1 The description of lessons to illustrate the changes that were made: 29

6 4 2 Data analysis of the questionnaire and post-tests

2.1 The difference in the students’ attitude toward the use of visual aids and

physical actions in vocabulary icaching before and aller the lessons being modified 30

6 4 2 2 The difference in the amount of vocabulary remembered by the learners tsefore and after the lessons being modified - Trai TÔ, 6.4.2.3 The difference in the test results of the participants before and after the

6.4.2.4 The difference in the students’ views toward their problems in vocabulary

learning with visual-based techmiques before and ater lessons being modified 32

Hư seein DD

CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS AND DICUSSION

Research question 1: What arc the Icarncrs’ attitudes towards lcarning

vacahulary through visual aids and physical movements? - 33

‘Research question 2: To whal extend do visual techniques affect the students" vocabulary learning? How have students improved after the experience of

JIE, Limitations and suggestions far further studies - - Al REFERENCES 0 cscsescs sss sinsssnsssmsiestsstssineeneesoneeietnonaeiatn

ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS

Grammar, Pronunciation Low

TASTS OF FABLES AND CHARTS

Table 1: The Jeamers’ views loward the purpose of visual techniques cuployed in

vocabulary iitrufioN cà cà cọc th th he cu cu 2Ô

Chart 1: Tho students! attitude toward the use of visual aids and physical actions in

'vocabulary teaching các ce nọ nọ HH sec DA

Chart 2: The learners’ evaluation of the effectiveness of visual-based lexical

Chart 3: ‘The amount of vocabulary remembered by the leamers after visually-

Chart 4; The percentage of sludents with and without dilficullics in learning

vocabulary through visual techniques setes covets eee D7

Chart 5: The students! lextcal competence im the midslle of the course with visual

hố cee sees severe cee sees ces seteee tiveness ate tee ee vere 8

Chart 6: The difference in the students’ attitude toward the use of visual aids and

physical action in vocabulary teaching before and after lessons being

Chart 7: The difference in the amount of vocabulary remembered by the learners

after the first half and the second half of the course - 30

Chart 8: The difference in mid-term test results of participants and their post- test

Chart 9: The difference in the students’ views toward their problems in vocabulary

Icarning with visual-based techniques before and after lessons being,

PART A: INTRODUCTION:

1 Rationale and significance of the study

The globalizalion is being [allowed by various changes in the world including the dominance of foreign language learning However, the trend has exposed many people to a varicly of obstacles as a result of the fact that not all of us were born ta

be talented at acquiring a new language Among the complex aspects of a foreign language, vocabulary is one of the greatest problems to the leamers According to Wei-Wei Shen (2003), whon students Jean a Corcign language, many thmk that learning vocabulary is fundamental, important, but difficult Nevertheless, it is impossible for this aspcot of langunge to be ignored because Wilkins (1972) insisted that “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vacabulary nothing can

be conveyed” It cannot be refused that vocabulary is extremely important in language teaching and Jearnizy: beeause regardless of written form or spoken form, vooabulary plays a great role in expressing thoughts and feelings McCarthy (1990) argues: ‘No maiter how well the student learns grammar, ne matter how successfully the sounds of L? are mastered, without words to express a wide range

of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way’

All the pois reveal thal vocabulary is ihe most important thing in a language

because without lexical items, no meaningful communication can be created

However, 1o master i exposes language learners to many difTivullics and takes both

much time and efforts Meanwhile, almost all of the students lack patience to wait

for success, This requires those who work as language instructors lo discover the

best way to make lexical lems more inferesling and easier Lo their students How

should we do in order to help our students overcome the obsession of leaming a set

of new words? And how can language learners be molivaled lo gain the betler performance in this significant aspect of language? These are puzzles towards to those who have devoted their time (o the instruction of foreign languages In Lacl,

language learners lend to pay attention to Ihe things which catch their interesis and

impression Sesnan (20U1) describes a good teacher as the one who does not only

use a good teaching method, but also takes into consideration af how to teach

students to carn effectively by themselves and to help them to be involved in the learning process with more interest In addition, he suggests same main ways to hold students’ interest such as: audio-visual aids including objects, flash cards,

pictures, overhead projector transpareney, (ihn, video, and language activilies like

games, songs, story-telling, projects Of these supplementary materials, using visual aids and physical movements is commonly regarded as an cffective lexical instruction method which can create a motivating and comfortable learning environment It is the reason why in my thesis paper, | want to investigate the use of visual techniques in vocabulary teaching 1o the English bogirmers al my English center This aims to pain the knowledge of the method’s effectiveness in vocabulary learning as well as the learners’ attitude towards their learning expericnee with these aids

2 The purpose of the study

Tn this resoarch, my eflorts aim to investigate he clTeetiveness of using visual aids and physical actions in vocabulary teaching for non-major students including their attitudes towards learning vocabulary with visual techniques and some drawbacks of applying the new method, and then discuss some suggestions and implications to use visual techniques effectively in vocabulary teaching

2 Scope of the study

Within the research, my concerns are about English basic learners and the application of visual techniques to vocabulary inslruclion in order Lo investigate their effects including both advantages and disadvantages on improving the Icamers’ lexical competence In addition, the study pointed out the participants’ altitude toward the new (caching method The projecl was conducted over the period of nine weeks on 30 participants who were taking GPL courses at Bnci English Counter A set of teaching materials such as pictures, word cards, drawings, and physical movements were used as effective supporting equipments for vovabulary instruction, The cowse book used for the rescarch is English Vocabulary in Use- Elementary level published by Cambridge University Presa including 60 units of various topics around real-life items.

4 Methads of the study

‘The method employed in the MA thesis is classroom action research

According to Ferrance (2000), action rescarch (AR) is regarded as one of the most

comunon research methods employed in current educational eicumstances With the choice of this method, data collection techniques including observation,

questionnaire and written tesis are used in order to have a deep investigation inka what is being studied

Firstly, observation will be done during the course of nine weeks to clarify the

taethod’s effectiveness as well as thinly participants’ attiiudes A sel of

questionnaires are carried out on all the participants to investigate their attitudes towards learning lexical items with the new teaching method twice The first is

conducted after the first half of the course The second one will be offered Lo all the

participants at the end of the course In addition, in order to collect more authentic

results about the participants’ linguistic competence and the successful level af visual-based (echriqucs, mid-lerm lesis and final tesls on vocabulary will be

provided to all the students

5 The design of the study

The paper is designed with three main parts as follows:

Part A is the introduction, which presents the background and rationale of the

fopie’s choice, the aim and the scope of the study, the research quostions, the

snethods to be employed as well as the study’s design

Part B consists of three chapters:

Chapter I is the review of some theoretical backgrounds relevant to the

purpose of the study This chapter composes of four main sub-parts

+ The first concems with the importance of vocabulary in second language

teaching and learning

+ ‘he second focuses on the principles of teaching vocabulary to Linglish beginners + The third is about different teaching techniques and their effects on vocabulary leaching and learning

+ The last discusses visual aids and physical actions as a motivator for foreign language vocabulary leaming

Chapter TT (oouses on methodology with the description of the study’s context and subjects, the syllabus and the course book as well as the presentation of data collection instruments and procedures, and lastly data analysis

Chapter IIT is findings and discussion

Part C summarizes the main points Moreover, the pedagogical implications, the limitations of the study and some suggestions for further studies are also included in this parL

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CUAPTER E LITERATURE REVIEW

1 The importance of vocabulary in second language teaching and learning:

1.4 Definition of vocabulary

Vocabulary is commonly defined as a list of words that speakers of a language

use (Hatch & Brown, 1995) or “all the words in a language, the erire vocabulary of

a language” (Barcroft, Sunderman, & Schmitt, 2011, p 571) Therefore, it is not a surprise for a person to recognize that vocabulary also includes lexical chunks,

phrases of Lwo or more wards, such as “Good morning” and “Nice to meel you”,

which involve more than one word but have a clear, formulaic usage and make up a significant portion of spoken or written English language usage In other words, vorabulary can be defined as the words of a language, including single ilems and phrases or chunks of several words which covey a particular meaning This may be

different from many people’s idea that vocabulary involves only single words,

therefore, knowing a language’s vocabulary is to learn by heart all the words without recognizing their relationship with others as well as their use in real situations,

1.2 Definition of vacehulary teaching

Teaching vocabulary is defined by Moras and Carlos (2001) as follows

“traditionally, the teaching of vocabulary above clementary levels was moslly incidental, limited to presenting new items as they appeared in reading or sometimes listening texts.” Ilowever, “nowadays it is widely accepted that

vocabulary teaching should be part of the syllabus, and taught ina well-planned and

segular basis.”

According, to this definition, vocabulary teaching is evaluated in a complete

way from both classical and modem view Especially, while vocabulary was

traditionally taught as a supporting material for language skills like reading, writing, listening and speaking, nowadays this aspect of language has been regarded as one

of the most, importanl aspects in language cilucation Tl means thal teaching lexical

items is now better valued than in the past Vocabulary teaching, however, depends

on the changes in vocabulary necessity in foreign language teaching and learning

that is going to be discussed in the

oxl part

1.3 The chonging trends of vocabulary importance in second language

teaching and learning

Traditionally, vocabulary was undervalued in contrast to Ihe dominance of

grammar in language teaching In fact, both linguists and language teachers thought that grammatical struchmes were more important than lexical items As a result, all

the tests and exams were all designed for checking the grammatical aspect of

language, which was followed by the language teachers” ignorance towards the lexical aspect in the classroom as well as the language leamers’ limited competence

of vocabulary Tn the carly 1980s, there was severe criticism of the neglect of

vocabulary research (Meara, 1980, 1984) In spite of little attention to research, the

importance of vocabulary was not completely ignored in language pedagogy, even

during the heydays of the development of the Commumicalive Language Teaching (CLT) For example, Wilkins (1972, 1974) as an early representative advocate of

the Communicative Approach, clearly indicated that learning vocabulary was as

unportant as lcarrung granunar by the statement “without gramunar very little can be

conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” ‘his underlines the

importance ol’ vocabulary in Jemguage teaching, as without vocabulary, il is difTioull

to communicate Allen (1983, p.5) also insisted that communication was frequently interfered by lexical troubles and could be damaged in case people used wrong words Therefore, from the late 1980s, vocabulary was an area that had attracted xesearchers' interest within the mainstream of the second language acquisition (Nation 1997) Researchers realized that many of learners’ difficulties resulted from

an tradequate vocabulary Accompatied with the posilive altitude of vocabulary

importance, LI'L vocabulary teaching was reformed outside Western contexts also bloomed Actually, vocabulary instruction is now seen as an effective tool for lexical Hams lo be presented int meaninglul contexts (Scrivener, 1994) Despite the

noglected aspect of in the past, its instruction and learning have been given much attention im the classroom in the last two decades (Douglas, 2000) In addition,

Carter & McCarthy (1988) state that the relevance and importance of vocabulary

instruction are being realized by teachers who are also conscious of their roles as facilitators and guides Therefore, teachers have paid attention to successful

stratogics to (cach vocabulary as well

Highly valued by both language teachers and leamers, vocabulary instruction has been improved through the use of various pedagogical methods Ilowever, these

methods cannot be created randomly, but should be based on some principles In the

next part, | will discuss the principles of vocabulary teaching to basic learners, who are the subjects of my thesis paper

2 Principles of vocabulary teaching to elementary learners

With the choice of English beginners as the study’s subjects, it is essential to

investigate the leamers’ characteristics and the main principles of teaching lexical

items to ther,

Ratnawati (2006) and Purwoningsih (2007) propose five following principles

‘basing on Wallace (1982) ideas

Furst of all, during the teaching and learning process, the objectives must be

clear, the teacher should determine what goal the learner is supposed to achieve

Secondly, the Leacher is to make a decision about the number of vocabulary items

to be leamed because too many words can make leamers confused and discouraged

Thirdly, during vocabulary lessons, words should be appropriately provided basing on each topic as well as the leamers’ needs Moreover, the teacher should also be an instructor to create an appropriate learning atmosphere in which the students are able to communicate the words needed

Fourthly, related to frequet exposure and repetition, i is said that during the

Last, but not least is meaningful presentation According to these writers, in order for students to have a clear understanding about the meaning of words, the teacher musk be a good language instructor Tt is also reported that lexical ilerns should be chosen and clearly presented in contexts as well as in appropriate situations It is also important for students to recognize the suitable word used in a

situation (formal er informal) or with the interlocutor

In short, with regards to the most important aspects such as the aims, quantity, needs, frequent repetition as well as meaningful presentation, the principles above

have completely responded to the essential requirements of vocabulary mstruction

for basic leamers

After these principles are considered, the decision of a suitable teaching amethod will be made by an instructor Tn the next part of the paper, Twill mention a number of teaching techniques commonly used in the current vocabulary

en language pedagogy in the

world, there are a varicty of methods applied to the teaching job with the aim to

facilitate leaming the target language ‘This part will be my concerns about some

common vocabulary teaching lechniques

34 Translation method

The first method is translation method which dated back to the late nineteenth and

early twentieth century and is now regarded as one of the most traditional techniques

commonly wed in most of foreign language classrooms for ages because of its popularity and simplicity to apply Translation is the method in which Dnglish teachers

are supposed to inoduce the meaning of an English word through the use of is

translation in the mother tongue or to ask students to look up it in a dictionary Vocabulary is presented mainly through direct translation from the native language and memorivalion Therclore, most of the Leaching work is done in the mother tongue

The second method applied to teaching words is using synonyms and antonyms

3.2 Using synonyms and antonyms

Synonyms are the words in the same part of speech with the same meaning: in contrast, antonyms are the words in the same part of speech with the opposite

ameaning According to Sanusi (2009), sytionyms and antonyms have an important

contribution to building new words because vocabulary can be known by learners Actually, these items are used to present the target words, recall them or find the

unknown words in reading tasks relying on their given signals, which have been

*mown by learners In reading texts, there are some signals to identify their presence for readers For example, some signals such as or, commas, dashes, and colons are

used lo recognize synonyins Meanwhile, some conjunctions such as instead,

although, but, yet, and however are used for antonym identification

The next method also commonly used in current language education is

{caching vocabulary [rom reading conlexis

3.3 Teaching words using contexts

Comlexts can be understood as something th which words are used Nallingger (1988:63) clauns that "guessing vocabulary from contexts is the most frequently way

of discovering the meaning of new word.” Similar to this idea, Oxford and Scarcella

(1994: 236) also points oul thal "guessing word meaning [rom contexts is the mosh

useful vocabulary leaming technique.” ‘The idea results from the belief that words taught in isolation are not retained as well as those presented in contexts

Furthermore, in order for the fuill meaning of a word or a phrase to be gained, leamers

should be aware of the linguistic environment in which these lexical items appear

The method mentioned in the next part is using morphological analysis in

lexical instruction

3.4 Using morphological analysis in vocabulary teaching

Morphology, a word of Greek origin, combines “morphe”, meaning form, and

“ology?” meaning the study of Morphology is the study of words, exactly word

formation such as how words are formed, how words are broken into smaller units

as well as how such units can be recognized Actually, the effectiveness of

amorphological analysis in vocabulary learning bases on its abibly in onabling students to apply a morpheme to many situations As a result, students are able to

recognize an unfamiliar word simply by identifying the affixes and the remaining

base word or rool (Carreker, 2005) Tn addition, according to Primes (2009), the

students with the understandings of how words are formed by affix and root combination tend to passess larger vocabularies and better reading comprehension

than peers without such knowledge and skills

In the current teaching condition, teaching vocabulary is not limited to simply teaching single words, but teaching phrases as well as word combination Thus,

some leachers prefer teaching lexical iloms (hrough the use of collocation

3.5 Using collocation in vocabulary instruction

There are two types of collocations: lexical collocations and grammatical collovations (Balms, 1993: Carler, 1998) Lexical collocations are combinations of

nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs such as Verb + Noun, Adjective + Noun,

Noun | Noun, Verb 1 Adverb Grammatical collocations are combinations of

content words (nouns, adjectives or verbs) and a grammatical word such as a preposition or certain structural patterns Words are better taught in combination than in isolation Therefore, collocations are widely accepted to be a very important

part of knowledge of second language acquisition and to be essential to non-native speakers of English in order to speak or write fluently and accurately (Jaén, 2007)

3.6 Topic-based vocabulary instruction

‘Topic-based vocabulary instruction is the method to teach lexical items basing

on topics, usually familiar topics to leamers It can be said that it is the most common way bolh 1m commumicalive classes and other classes The main characteristic of the technique is that the teaching work, learning materials as well

as classroom activities are all organized around a particular theme As Brinton,

Snow & Wesche (1989) stale, its maim objective is lo assist the students’ second

10

language competence by working on certain topic areas The greatest advantage of the method is to be put into practice with students of all ages, and to revolve around practically any area of content (Peregoy & Boyle, 2008:93) The method is considered to be practical and promote effective language learning (Brown, 2001}

The next lexical instruction method, which is commonly and effectively applied lo current teaching contexts and favored by most types of learners thank to the active and vivid classroom atmosphere created by it, is visual-based techmiques- the centre of my research paper It is the reason why 1 will discuss the method in the separale part

4 Visual aids and physical actions (mime) as a motivator for second language vocabulary learning

4 1 Definition of visual aids

According to Andrew and Safia (1991), visual aids can be anything seen by

the leamers and used for different purposes in a language class Domin (2007) also

suggests another definition that visual aids are ‘non-verbaP talerials appealing to the sense of sight used in the teaching process to supply a visual stimulant for

students? learning Tn addition, he clarifies this definition by making an explaration

of types of visual aids

2-dimensional aids include a wide variety of pictures and drawings, such as

all kind of pielures, posters and magazines, maps and plans, tables, charts,

diagrams, graphs, mind maps and time lines, picture stories, cartoons and comic stips, film, video, television, cinema and OIIP transparencies and slides

3-dimensional aids involve all teachers and students’ body language such as

animes, gestures, facial expression, acting a situation, puppets

(Other visual aids are used to present information visually in teaching processes

These are realia such as a calendar, a clock, a mirror, toys and art (paintings,

albums, sculpture) In his view, visual aids vary in types; nevertheless, shortly they can be understood as anything seen and used to visualize lexical items in the elass in

order Lo bring an intoresling and motivaling toarting almospherc

11

42 Types of visual techniques

Being defined as anything that can be seen by leamers in the classroom to

understand, remember as well as revall lexical tems, there are a lol of types of

visual-based materials applied to the real EFL classrooms In this part, some common visual techniques will be discussed

4 2 1 Chalkboards

It can be said that chalkboards are commonly found in almost all the classrooms with black or green color, especially it is a teaching aid easy to use as

well as Lo adapl Tn faci, with a chalkboard, the lesson cant be easily designed with

any type of instruction by a teacher such as writing, drawing, even organizing games In addition, the best advantage of chalkboards is that thank to their central

position in (he classroom, they are effective in calchinyg the studenls’ eyes as well as

their attention to lessons Furthermore, it is the easiest for a teacher to control the class from this location As Cable (1977) mentions, blackboard is the most

convenierily available instructional devive to display lellering and diagrams, drawn

on the spot in front of the class

4 2 2 Pictures

Among the types of visual aids, pictures are considered as being casy to prepare

and vivid encugh to attract students, especially the younger ones Pictures are various:

for example, pictures in the handouts, those on the sercen Additiomally, according io

Bowen (1982), there are some kinds of pictures such as flash cards, sequence pictures, wall pictures and wall charts, so forth, They are preferably use to show very large

objects which are not easily brought into the classroom, for example: an airplane, a car,

a washing machine, a typewriter, and rare or expensive items because it is troublesome for a teacher to prepare these aids Thus, the aid is seen as a helpful tool for teachers to

clarify the denolation meaning of vocabulary without much explanation as well as to

assist students to bring words back to their mind, Wright (1976:4) summarizes the role

of pictures in teaching vocabulary by saying “A picture can often show an action more

casily than even a talented actor can demonstrate.”

word ‘ring’ which is worn on finger, it is by far casier 1o shiow the material to the

students instead of devoting time on other techmques” ‘herefore, the we of real objects is regarded as having greater value than pictures

4.2 4 Mime (Gesture and facial expressions)

Mime or so-called physical actions is a type of action through gestures and facial expressions According to Alton’s definition (2002), “A gesture is a form of

nou-verbal commurmealion made wilh a part of the body, uscd inslead of or in

combination with verb communication.” Facial expressions are also simply known

as the expression on a person's face, resulting from specific use of the facial muscles” Doff (1988:14) claims, “The use of real objects, pictures and mime [or

suitable vocabulary is a very effective method as it is direct, interesting, and it makes an impression on the class” Dorin (2008) states that the use of mime is

effective to comvey the meaning of words, especially abstract oncs such as feelings

4 3, The existing views on using visual aids and physical actions (mime) in

teaching a foreign language vocabulary

Firstly, in the Allen, Kate & Marquez’s view (2007), visual aids are regarded

as an interesting learning tool to create a vivid learning environment in which the

leamers’ interest can be improved Moreaver, through the interaction ta visual aids,

students can be related to the real-life experience In addition, visual approach is believed to be helpful for the learners’ ideas or thoughts brainstormed and

presented, therefore, the approach is an effective stimulus for their oral competence

‘The researchers add that visual aids can be a “user-friendly” tool because all the participants can be offered to a chance of being involved as well as acting, even moving around the classroom, which can help create excilement, Basides, with the

13

benefits of having leamers to experience real-life situations, the leamers’ cunderstanding and retention level can be enhanced

Sccondly, Wright (1985) emphasizes the visual approach’s olTectivencss in

developing both the leamers’ productive skills and their receptive skills According to his view, productive skills including speaking and writing can be improved in the

same way Tu addition, he lists some important roles of the visual-hased approach in

speaking and writing skills such as to stimulate students to speak and write, to build

up contexts for language to be used, to supply some useful information for leamers to

deal with productive tasks, lo be an instructor lo spoken and written description, ar

narration, or dialogues and to promote students to discuss as well as to offer reference For receptive skills, visual aids are claimed to catch the leamers’ interest,

to offer the clear gist of lexts and invlividual language items, t provide a context for

‘both language and student activity, to provide cultural information and to seek for

specific information in the text and to assist the stadent’s non-verbal demonstration

Thirdly, Abede & Davidson (2012) slates “visuals holds the allention of the

learners on meaning, and help them to make the language used in the class more veal and alive.” Tw addition, it is also claimed that through visual aids, the

learners’ presentation, leaming and group activitics can be enhanced Besides,

conceptualized words are made to be more meaningful with the illustration by

visual techniques As a resull, students can be focuscd on meaning, and their

vocabulary knowledge can be developed Ihe authors also add “Visual materials actually economize time; insure more effective learning of vocabulary and

permanent retention than do verbal instruction ”

‘The next is the Hill’s view (1990) “Visuals evoke an immediate response from leamers in a class which is the vital seed of all meaningful language-leaming in

general and vocabulary in particular” He also believes that the use of various lypes

of visual materials in teaching vocabulary increases the learners’ imrinsic motivation because with the use of visual aids, the students’ interest in what they learn will be promoted Furthermore, it is suggested by psychologists that the

14

approach contributes to the efficiency, depth, and varicty of leaning by stimulating leamers' imagination, Consequently, the leaming will be made to be more permanent, pleasant and enjoyable

Moreover, many other researchers reveal their ideas about the effects of visual-based techniques in foreign language pedagogy Cook (2001) states that affective acquisition of voedbulary cam never be just the learning of individual words and thelr meanings in isolation, but it needs the use of various senses to visualize the meaning of the words Jordan (1997) points out that vocabulary

development is of concer to all four language skills wlrich cant be facilitated

through visual approach by associating words, remembering them and extending the networks Mayer and Sims (1994) indicate that an increasing body of research avidenee supports thal students! earning is affected positively by presenting words and illustrations or pictures together

Summary

Overall, as being widely used in FFT classrooms, visual techniques have been xegarded positively as one of the most effective lexical teaching methods by

researchers and linguists TL is generally accepled that visual-based lexical

instruction can help motivate vocabulary learming because they are interesting enough to attract students to lessons and to enhance their classroom activity

participation, Additionally, visual aids arc helpful in improve the learners” productive and receptive skills, With lexical items visualized, real-life experience and meaningful presentation can be created in vocabulary classes, which are

originally boring and hard to have

CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY

1 Research site

Founded on August 8®, 2009 at No 76, Giai Phong Street, Dong Da chstricl,

Hanoi city, Hnei Enalish center is swyounded with three largest Vietnamese universities such as Ianoi University of Science and Technology, National

TReonomie University and University of Civil Engineering This conler has leon

expanded with three current branches in the districts: Dong Da, Cau Giay, Thanh Xuan, With the slogan “Study locally, work globally”, inci has been chosen by

approximately len thousand learners for six past years with the system of well-

equipped classrooms, libraries, an enthusiastic consultant staff as well as weekly English clubs The further special thing about Enci is the use of a variety of

textbooks and matoriais by Cambridge, Oxford Longman, Macmillan, Colhns

Cobuild

With the experienced teaching staff, this center has been reputed for teaching

Fnglish aspects such as vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar, Fnglish

communicative skills and TOHIC, IKLT'S certificates from basic to advanced levels

With the aim (o involve all students in an English envirormnent, in addition Lo

interesting hours im the classrcom, Enci bas provided Icamers with a number of

weekly linglish clubs such as Lnci Hee, inci Cinema and inci Radio as well as

self-study hours in the library Tn this way, English learners are offered to a greal

opportunity of practicing English language in real-life contexts and mastering, this language with more ease and comfort

After a long time of teaching, I want to employ this center as the research site

of the study with the choive of two GPL classes at the elementary level

2 The participants

As mentioned above, this sludy is conducted on thirty English beginners al

inci Unglish center including both males and females, who come from different parts in Vietnam (rural and urban parts) Almost all of them are university students speciativad in olher different fickls, Despite having sludied English or

16

approximately ten years at school, little knowledge of English has been Ieft in their mind As a result, this subject has become their obsession during the years at university,

3 A brief description of the course hook

As mentioned above, the course book employed in the study is Inglish vocabulary im use elementary TL was crealed by Michael McCarthy, Felicity O'Dell, Geraldine Mark and published by Cambridge University Press This bool: consists

of sixty units of vocabulary for seli-study and classroom use All of the units in the

‘bouk are designed suitably 10 the level of English beginners with a variety of topics

close to our life such as clothes, animals, food and drinks and so forth Lesides, practice exercises at the end of each unit are appropriately responded to lessons”

coment However, due to the limied time, GPT classes aim 1o teach more than 40

units with more familiar topics

4 The syllabus

A GPI class lasts lon weeks meluding 30 lessons (lwo hours [or each lesson)

to teach students three language aspects: grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation Fach week has three lessons in which studerts are instructed all three different

aspects, Vocabulary is the first aspect taught every week on Mondays or Tuesdays

Lach lesson lasts two hours aiming at from two to five units of vocabulary in the

‘book named Erylish Vocabulary in Use- Elementary.

Vocabulary lessons are scheduled as follows:

1 ~ Unit 1; Talking about language

- Unit 2; Learning vocabulary

- Unit 4 & 7: The verbs: Go & come

2 - Unit 3 & 10: The verbs: Ilave an] get

- Unit § & 6: The verbs: Do & make

- Unit 8 & 9: The verbs: Take & bring

- Unit 11: Phrasal verbs

3 - Unit 15: Conjumctions and connecting words

- Unit 21; Common uncountable words

4 ~ Unit 22: Common adjectives: good and bad things

- Unit 23: Common adjectives: people

5 = Unit 30: Parts of body

7 - Unit 44: In the kitchen

- Unit 45: In the bedroom and bathroom

- Unit 46: In the living room

- Unit 48: At school and university

18

5 Research method- Classreom action research

‘The method used in this study is classroom action research

4.1 General description of individual action research

As defined by Kemmis (1983) in Hopkins (1993: p.44),

“action research is a fomm of selfreflective inquiry undertaken by

participanis im social (including educational) situation in order 10 improve Ihe

rationality and justice of (a) their own social or educational practices; (b) their understanding to these practices, and; (c) the situations in which the practices are

camied oul TL is most raionally empowering when underlaken by parlieipanls

collaboratively, though it is often undertaken by individuals and sometimes in cooperation with outsiders ”

4.2, Action research modet

The action research model consists of four steps in a spiraling process

(Glantz, 1998)

Siep 1: Sclecting a focus

‘This stage includes three sub-steps:

a Tdentify what you want 1o investigale

b Develop the questions or hypotheses around the area that has been choacn

e Ustablish a plan or research design to answer these questions

Step 2: Collecting data

After the area of research is specified, research questions are established and these questions are planned to solve, the researcher commences to gather all the data with the use of some data collection methods The data can be collected at the beginning, at the end or during the sesearch’s period in order to provide an appropriate response to research hypotheses

Step 3: Analyving and inferpreting data

After having been collected, data cannot answer research questions without this step of action research- data analysis and interpretation In this stage, the restarcher will code ali the data galhercd in terms of replying research hypotheses

19

Besides, the process helps reveal the strength and the weakness of the studied teaching method

Step 4: Taking action

It is the stage in which a decision can be made After the effectiveness as well

as the problems of the research area has been clarified, there are three possibilities:

a Conlinue the leaching program

b, Disband the program

c Or modify the program in some ways

The process does not necessarily have lo slop in any particular point,

therefore, action research is ongoing

‘These steps are appropriately adapted in my action research as follows:

6 Research procedures

Stop 1: Selecting a focus

6.1 1 Identifying the problem

Aller having graduated from universily, Fnci English was the first place where

I worked as a part-time teacher During the period of four years, | had a chance to

meet many sludents who wanled la master English for their job and study's requirements and fo teach them three language aspects: grammar, vocabulary and

pronunciation Llowever, among these three aspects, vocabulary classes were the

least frequently and enthusiastically atlended Meanwhik, as mentioned m the

literature review, the significance of vocabulary in language teaching and learning cannot be refused What causes learners not to have an appropriate attitude towards

the aspect of language regardless of its importance?

Moreover, while teaching vocabulary in the class was regarded as the most important to develop the students’ lexical competence, traditional methods failed to

satisfy the students’ needs about an effective lexical instruction method Tl was the

reason why lexical instruction in the class and the question of which method to facilitate vocabulary learning, came to my mind as the first concer, which pushed

ame lo conduct the study

20

In addition to the part-time job at Enci English center, I have been teaching 1inglish for kids for years in another center In the center, teachers are encouraged to

teach vocabulary with visual aids and physical movements 1o motivate the students’

participation in lessons 1 wondered if these aids could be effectively used in vocabulary teaching for Lnglish beginners at older ages Therefore, in my thesis

paper, T decided to conduct a study on using visual-based lechtiques to teach basic

English learners at Enci English center with the research hypothesis as follows

6 1 2 Research hypothesis

Visual aids and physical actions can be used lo improve English beginners’

lexical competence

6 1 3 Identifying research questions

Basiryy on the rescarch hypothesis above, Ihe study aims to solve three

research questions

1 What ave the learners’ attitudes toward learning vocabulary through visual

aids amd physical movements?

2 Yo what extend do visual techniques affect the students’ vocabulary

learning? How have students improved after the experience of visual techniques?

3 What difficulties do students have in learning vocabulary with visual-based

instruction?

6 1 4, Research plan

Firstly, the teacher instructs lexical lessons to all of the participants with visual

aids and physical actions during the period of nine weeks and observes the earners

to fill the information in the observation sheet In the middle of the course, a set of

questionnaires will be carried out on the participants to investigate their attitudes

toward learning lexical items with the new teaching method In addition, in order to

colleet more reliable resulls aboul the subjects’ Hnguistic competence and the

successful Jevel of visual-based lexical instruction, lexical mid-term tests are provided to all class members After the first half of the course is finished, the results of visual techniques” effectiveness as well as the students’ attitudes will

21

contribute to make a decision if the application of these aids to vocabulary

imstruction will be cycled in the second half of the course

The next step is to gather data to respond the research questians

Step 2: Collceting the data

Three instruments were used to collect the data for the study

6 2 1 Classroom observation

6 2.1 1 The reason of choosing observation in data collection

Classroom observation is conducted within nine weeks to collect the useful

information of both the studied teaching method and the study’s participants According to Richards et al (1992), observational methods are procedures and techniques based on systematic obscrvalion ol everils and arc often used in sludying language use and classroom events Therefore, this method was employed in the

research’s data collection

6,

During the period of nine weeks, classroom observation was carried oul.on all

1, 2 The criteria of observation

the participants with the effort to clarity the effects of using a new teaching method

basing on the following criteria:

The amount of class attendance of the participants in each lesson

# The lypes of visual aids used in each lessen

«How the visual aids were used

«’The students’ difficulties in learning vocabulary with these ads

All the data were recorded in Observation sheet (Appendix 1)

6.2.2 Questionnaire

6.2.2.1 The reason of choosing questionnaire in data collection

The second data collection instrument is questiormaire because Richard (1994) states that questionnaire is helpful in:

galhoring information about alfective dimensions of caching, and learning

such as beliefs, alfitudes, mohivalion, preferences, efc, and enables a (eacher lo

collect a large amount of information relatively quickly

‘This method aimed to understand students’ attitudes toward their lessons with

the visual-based lexical instruction, the self-cvaluation of the method’s effectiveness as well as the troubles encountered with the experience of the new

teaching technique

6 6 2 2 2 Description of the questionnaire

The questionnaire consists of twelve questions including six open-ended

questions, four closc-cnded questions and two lable questions with multiple choices

(as in Appendix 1) hese questions can be divided into four main pants: Part 1 consists of four questions from the first to the fourth to seek for the learners’

personal information, part TT consists of question 5 and question 6 in order to have

the understanding of the leamers’ views toward using visual techniques in vocabulary teaching and leaming; Part I with four next questions investigates the

participanis’ evaluation about the visual-based insiruvtion’s successfulness in

vocabulary teaching: Part IV including two last questions is to seek for the learners” difficulties in mastering lexical items with the method

6 2 3 Written lests

In order to have more reliable proofs about the method's effects on the

students’ learning, lexical mid-term tests and post-lesl are offered to all the thirly students to iMustrate their lexical competence after the experience of visual-based

instruction method, ‘The final lexical test used in the study is inglish Vocabulary in

Use Hlementary Level Test published by Cambridge University Pross (2008) (ciled

in Appendix 1) Fortunately, the test consists of 50 multiple-choice questions designed completely basing on the content of the units in the course book Therefore, it is helpful to check the learners’ lexical ability after the course

Step 3: Analysing data

6.3 1 Data analysis of classroom observation

During the period of research, an abservation is conducted on thirty students

in GPL classes as follows:

23

Field note 1

a Classroom description

Tt is a small room with a capacity of approximately 20 seats and with only one

entrance door and a window There are a teacher’s desk at the top right comer and a

white board in the middle of the wall next to the teacher’s desk All the students’

desks are randomly arranged depending on each lesson The room is equipped with

two fans and two air-conditioners in addition to a computer and a speaker to serve

the teaching job of teachers

b Class procedure (See Appendix V)

6 3 2 Data analysis of the questionnaire

6 3 2 1 Students’ demographic information

There are thirty students offered to take part in the questionnaire including 16

males and 14 females Their age ranges from 18 to 24 years old Most of them are

students at the university and only two of them are preparing for the entrance exam

to university Nevertheless, almost all of these participants have been studying

English for nearly ten years, even over ten years (from 6 to 15 years) It also means

that English lexical items have been approached for a long time, however, their

language level is approximately classified as beginners

6 3 2 2 Data analysis of students’ questionnaire

6 3, 2 2.1 The students’ views toward the use of visual aids and physical actions

in vocabulary teaching and the effectiveness of visual-based lexical instruction

Chart 1: The students’ attitude toward the Chart 2: The leamers' evaluation of

use of visual aids and physical actions in the tei ess of the visual-based

vocabulary teaching i@al instruction

It is clarificd im the first chart that almost all the learners tended to learn

lexical items through visual-based vocabulary instruction with interests (47%) except four students wilh neutral allilude (13%) Fspecially, none of the parlicipans showed negative attitude toward the experience with visual techniques such as very vminterested or uninterested

When asked aboul how effective the visual approach was in fhe students”

vocabulary learning, as shown in Chart 2, there were 93 % of the patticipants with a strong belief in the method's successfulness to support lexical instruction Among

them, there were 22 students representing 73% to think that the visual-based method

of lexical instruction was much effective in vocabulary teaching and there were six students who believed that this technique was very much effective in teaching the lexical aspecl of language Tn contrast, thore were only Iwo sludents who did nol

think that the method was effectively used in lexical classes

6.3 2.2.2 The amount of vocabulary remembered by the leamers after the

course with visually-supporled lexical instruction

Chart 3: The amount of vocabulary remembered by the

earners alter visually- supported lexical lessons

could remember half of the words (7%) while nearly three quarters of the

participants said that most lexical items (at least 70%) could be retained in their

anind aller the lessons visually instructed.

6.3.2 2.3 The lamers’ views on the purpose of visual techniques employed

in vocabulary instruction

To present new words To help practice new words

In general, all the statistics showed that most types of visual techniques aimed

to support leamers in the practice session Meanwhile, a few of these aids were

commonly used for lexical presentation such as chalkboard drawings (80%) and

pictures in the handouts (60%),

6 3 2 2 4 ‘The students’ views toward the effects of visual techniques on

their vocabulary learning

The effects of visual techniques Strongly 4 Neutral Disagree | el’

remember new words faster and longer

b, Visual techniques help the class 80% 20% % OM 0%

more interesting

6© Visual techriques make you more 93% 79% 4 0% 09%

comfortable ta leam new words

d Visual techniques help you use 33⁄4 54% 13% 0% 0%

English more

Table 2: The students’ views toward the effects of visual techniques on their

vocabulary learning

26

It is clearly revealed that the majority of participants (more than 80%) showed positive responses to the views toward the application of the new method to the EFL classrooms A small group of students (more or less 10%) showed their neutral view toward the method’s effects Especially, none of them revealed their

disapproval to any statements The statements that visual techniques enabled leamers to master vocabulary with interests and comfort were the most commonly

agreed by the participants Meanwhile, the beliefs that these aids facilitated learners

to have the more frequent use of English as well as to connect between the lessons

and their life seemed to be less strongly approved

Two last questions to investigate troubles with the visual-based vocabulary

teaching method were responded as in chart 4 and table 3

6, 3 2 2 5, The students’ views toward the difficulties in learning vocabulary

through visual techniques

Chart 4: The percentage of students with and without difficulties in

learning vocabulary with visual techniques

20%

™ The percentage of students with difficulties in learning vocabulary with visual