An investigation into how visual aids are used in the process of teaching english to10th grade classes at krongbuk high school

In order to know how picturesincluded in the 10th grade students’ textbooks and other kinds of visual aids areused in the process of teaching English in KrongBuk District, where theresea

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

Chapter one consists of five parts The first part introduces the background

to the study; the second part states the aims of the study; the third part gives thescope of the study; the fourth part introduces the research questions and then inthe fifth part, the outline of the thesis is presented

1.1 Background to the study.

Visual aids are considered very valuable teaching tools Students began tosee visual aids at very early stages of their schooling ages: When they firstattended preschools or kindergartens They saw the first formal use of visual aids

in the bulletin boards, blackboards and while boards which the teacher used toillustrate concepts for early learning so it is obvious that when at higher levelsstudents are used to learning their lessons through visual aid(Jeary_www.TonyJeary.com)

The reason for using visual aids in language teaching lies in the fact thatvisual aids have three main following pedagogical values Firstly, visual aids help

to get lessons into the learners’ minds A study of U.S Department of Labor(www.osha.gov) stated that three days after a lesson, the students retain 10% ofwhat they heard from an oral presentation, 35% from visual presentation and 65%from a visual and oral presentation Secondly, visual aids can help the teacherssave time Thirdly, they add interest into the lesson and improve learner’sunderstanding (www.csus.edu /b /burnetln /VASO1/ index.htm)

Because of these above mentioned advantages reasons, the new Englishtextbooks for Vietnamese students, especially those being used for 6th to 10th

grade students contain a variety of pictures In order to know how picturesincluded in the 10th grade students’ textbooks and other kinds of visual aids areused in the process of teaching English in KrongBuk District, where theresearcher practiced her English teaching for two months, the researcher wouldlike to carry out the study: ” An investigation into how visual aids are used in theprocess of teaching English to10th grade classes at KrongBuk High School,DakLak Province ”

1.2 The aims of the study: The study aims to investigate:

1 What kinds of visual aids are used in the process of English atKrongBuk High School?

2 What are they used for and how they are used ?

3 What do the teachers’ and the students think about the usefulness ofvisual aids

4 Whether the teachers like to use visual aids

4.1 The reasons why they like to use visual aids

4.2 The reasons why they do not like to use visual aids

5 Whether the students like their teachers to use visual aids

5.1 The reasons why they like their teachers to use visual aids

5.2 The reasons why they do not like their teachers to use visual aids.Based on the study, the researcher gives some suggestions on how to usevisual aids more frequently and effectively in teaching English at KrongBuk HighSchool

1.3 The scope of the study.

Visual aids are considered as good teaching aids, there are a lot of visualaids that teachers can use in the process of teaching in general and in teachingEnglish in particular Blackboard is considered good teaching tool that teachersuse in every lesson but in this study, the researcher only want to focus on pictures

in tenth grade students’ textbooks and some simple visual aids that can beprepared by teachers

1.4 Research questions.

The study is to answer the following research questions:

1 What kinds of visual aids are used in the process of teaching English

2 What are visual aids used for ?

3 How often they are used and how they are shown to the students?

4 What are teachers and students’ opinions about visual aids?

1.5 Outline of the thesis

The thesis is composed of five chapters

Chapter one: Presents the background to the study, the aims of the study,the limitation of the study, the research questions and the outline of the thesis.

Chapter two: Reviews the literature related to the study Firstly, it gives abrief introduction of visual aids Secondly, it states the advantages of using visualaids in language teaching Thirdly, it points out the requirements of good visualaids and finally it gives tips for using visual aids

Chapter three: Describes KrongBuk High School, where the research wascarried out, the subjects of the study, the data collection instruments

Chapter four: Reports and dicusses the result of the study

Chapter five: Gives suggestions and conclusion of the study

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter reviews the literature related to using visual aids in theprocess of teaching English It is composed of four main parts The first partgives a brief introduction of visual aids, which consists of two sub-parts:Definition of visual aids and types of visual aids The second part states theadvantages of using visual aids The third part points out the requirements ofgood visual aids Then the fourth part presents some tips for using visual aids

2.1 A brief introduction of visual aids.

2.1.1 Definition of visual aids.

According to Doff (1988), visual aids are pictures, objects and things forstudents to look at

Dr Lade Adeyjanju (http:// ultibase.rmit.edu.eac/Articles/nov 03/adeyanju1.htm) clarifies the definition of visual aids: are designed materials that may

be locally made or commercially produced They come in form of wall charts,illustrate pictures, pictorial materials and other two dimensional objects

2.1.2 Types of visual aids.

According Doff’s classification, visual aids are some as follows:

- Flashcards: are cards with simple pictures, which can be held up by theteacher They can be used for presenting and practicing new words, structures andfor revision

-Charts: are large sheets of card or paper with writing, pictures ordiagrams They can be used for more extended presentation practice They wouldusually be displayed on the wall or blackboard

- Real objects: are things in the classroom such as table, fan, window, ect

or things brought into the classroom to present vocabulary, practice language andthey are often inform of food, clothes, containers, household objects, etc

- The teachers themselves: The teachers can use gestures, facial expressionand actions to help show the meaning of words and illustrate the situations Forinstance: The teacher can walk again and again before the students to illustrate

the structures “present continuous tense" or using the facial expressions to teachsome adjectives, etc.

And according to Peter Hubbard, Hywel Jones, Barbara Thornton and RobWheeler (1985), pictures that the teacher can collect from magazines, calendars,greeting cards, free pamphlets and brochures can be used as visual aids to presentnew situations and vocabulary

Besides these above visual aids, video tapes and handouts and all sorts ofprojectors with sound attributes are also considered common types of visual aidsused in the process of language teaching A video tape electronically carries both

a picture and a sound track Its features of sound, movement, vivid image, colorand variety hold a learner's attention the way film does Video tape can be used toprogram an entire presentation, or to support a teacher's remarks by highlightingcertain topics (www.osha.gov)

And handouts are printed information given to the students, they canreinforce important information, provide summaries, reading lists, supplysupporting data or set of exercises, etc (http://.meas.ncsu.edutipsvisual.htm,http://www.hawaii.edu/mauispeech/html/visualaids.html), Dr Lade Adeyjanju(http:// ultibase.rmit.edu.eac/Articles/nov 03/adey anju1.htm)

2.2 The advantages of using visual aids in teaching English.

Visual aids should be used in the process of teaching in general and inteaching English in particular because of some following advantages

First of all, visual aids can add learners’ retention of information In manystudies, experimental psychologists and educators have found that retention ofinformation after meeting or other events was six times greater when informationwas presented through visual and oral presentation than when the informationwas presented by spoken words alone Studies by educational researchers suggestthat approximately 83% of human learning occurs visually; the retaining 17% isthrough these other senses: 11% through hearing, 3.5% through smelling, 1%through tasting and 1.5% through touching The studies also suggest that threedays after an event, people retain 10% of what they heard from an oral

presentation, 35% from a visual presentation and 65% from a visual and oralpresentation (U.S.Department of Labor, 3, www.osha.gov)

Secondly, Doff (1988:82) states that ”having something to look at will keepthe students’ attention, make the class more interesting and the language used inclass more real and alive” This statement is supported by Jeary(www.TonyJeary.com) “using visual aids can focus learner attention in one place;add strongly interest to your speech An audience’s attention is quite naturally drawnfrom the teacher to anything that is put on a screen, blackboard orflipchart.”(http://wwww.means.ncsu.edutips.visaul htm.htm) Furthermore,interesting visual aids, such as booklets, posters, or practice equipment will motivatelearners by capturing their attention and curiosity(www.motivation.org/uk/_over_work/documents)

(http://presentersuniversity.com/visual_visauls_usingnotes,1): visual aids have greatadvantages in languages teaching because the students will feel comfortable whenknowing that their teacher is on his/her planned track Furthermore, as the teacherfollows his/her plan, he/she will feel more relaxed and confident (Cross, 1999)

In addition, also by Doff (1988); visual aids can be used at any stages ofthe lesson: to help in presenting new language or introducing a topic; as part oflanguage practice; and reviewing language that has been presented earlier Forexample: Flashcards are a handy resource to have and can be used at every stages

of the class They are a great way to present, practice and recycle vocabulary andwhen students are familiar with the actives used in class, they can be given out toearly finishers to use in small groups (Joanna Budden, 1, www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/resources/flashcard.shtm) Besides, good visual aids are notjust used once, but again and again and can be shared with different teachers

Finally, most of visual aids are easy, inexpensive to make and update (PatMcCarthy,1,http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intrament/committes/facoercom/guidebk/teachingtips/visuals.htm) Teachers can make visual aids by themselves Forinstance, the charts felt-tip makers and graphic materials are readily available andwith a modest ability at lettering, the teachers can compose the desired visual aids

in house (U.S.Derpatment of Labor, 5, www.osha.gov) or the teachers can getpictures from magazine, picture library which is built up by either as a joint venture

at their school or privately at home (Peter Hubbard, Hywel Jones, BarbaraThornton and Rob Wheeler, 1985)

In conclusion, using visual aids in the process of teaching English hasgreat advantages for both students and teachers For the students, visual aids help

to add the learner’s retention, keep their and attention and make the languageused in class more real and alive and visual aids also make them like studying

For the teachers, visual aids are easy to make, do not cost too much moneyand time to prepare and can be used at any stages of the lesson and can be sharedwith other teachers

2.3 Requirements of good visual aids.

Visual aids are considered good teaching aids if they meet these followingrequirements:

First of all, visual aids must be legible and clearly visible to the entirelearners If visual aid is not visible and legible it is not an aid(www.meas,ncsu.edutip.visual.htm) Far too frequently, visual aids are hard tosee The lettering or the graphs which are too small for the teacher and thestudents to strain to read them Furthermore, the teacher displays an object that isdifficult to see would be almost as bad as not using anything At the same time, it

is also considered a complete waste of the learner’s time At least, the letteringsize to use for distances from the board, chart, or flashcard to the last row of thelearners must be: 2.5cm letters for 9 meters or less, 5cm letters for 9 to 15 metersand 7.5cm letters for over 15 meters (www.meas.ncsu.edutipvisual.htm.htm)

Secondly, visual aids should be clear, simple, have few words and are easy

to grasp Albert Einstein says that:”everything should be made as simple aspossible, but not simple” Visual aids are used in teaching process as tools tosupport the teacher’ presentation They give learners brief summaries, prompts topractice, clear idea of what the teacher will explain to them If there is too muchinformation in the visual aids, it will take learners too much time to read or totake notes By doing like that, the usefulness visual aids will be lost Jeary

(TonyJeary.com) also states that:” the best visual aids are pictures or graphics

(www.meas.ncsu.edutipvisual.htm.htm)

Finally, the teachers are also visual aids The teacher should have goodgrooming, wear appropriate clothes (no clanky jewelry, no extreme fashion noexcessive make _up) In short, the teachers should be simple Besides the teachersshould always give a happy and friendly look to the learners and a smile on his orher face is the most important visual aids in teaching process Anne Miller(http://www.presentersuniversity.com.visual_visuals_virtuosity.php.htm)

2.4 Tips for using visual aids.

Using visual aids in the process of teaching English seems to be verysimple but actually it requires many things and to use them effectively, theteachers should follow some tips as follows:

Firstly, the teachers must prepare in advance Teachers have to knowexactly what learners will do or get by seeing the visual aids Teachers need toprepare pens, papers, film, ect to support learners in case they do not have.Visiting the class in advance is another thing that the teachers must do (KayeVivian_http:// users.cl.9.net.Kayevivan.htm.) By doing like this, the teachers will

be sure about the elements in the classroom like windows, doors, whiteboard, theroom’s width and permanent audio visual equipment, like electronic screen All

of these will help the teachers use visual aids more effectively

Secondly, the teachers should use visual aids not just display them Allaids should be used as teaching devices, never to merely intention fill in time or

to decorate the room (bible.ca/lesson_planner/chapter_2.htm,1),(www.humboldt.edu/jmf2 /floss/visual aids.htm.)

Thirdly, according to http://meas.ncsus.edutips,5 teachers should use colorfor emphasis, distinction and clarity Use of color in visual aids dramatically willimprove retention of information Highlighting headings and key points, graphs,charts is good, functional use if color Using color for aesthetic value isacceptable but does not over use it because according to Tony at www

TonyJeary.com, too many color and different fonts can destroy the simplicity theteachers need for effectiveness The teachers should be careful with coloredbackgrounds because some color can make black figures or text less distinct.Yellow and bright blue are good background colors; dark blue and red usually arenot, unless the figure or text is reversed to white If possible, the teachers shouldavoid using blue with orange, blue violet with yellow orange and violet withyellow in your visual aids.

Fourthly, the teachers should remove or cover the visual aid when he/shefinishes using it (Chris@witt com, 2) The moment a visual piece is presented, thelearner's attention is drawn to it When the teachers finish using one visual aids ,the teachers should not show it any more when he/she continues with anotherteaching point

Finally, variety is what is needed because to use only flashcards, forexample, and to use them every lesson, would be almost as bad as never usingthem at all Cross (1999, 119) suggests that teachers should use all kinds of visualaids, whenever possible and appropriate

CHAPTER III: THE STUDY

There are three parts in this chapter The first part, setting, gives thegeneral introduction about KrongBuk High School The second part, description

of the subjects, describes the subjects of the study The instruments to collect thedata are presented in the third part

3.1 Setting.

KrongBuk High School, where the study is carried out, is located at thecentre of KrongBuk District, DakLak province It is a big school with 2535students and a teaching staff of 106 members

There are totally 58 classes in this school, including 20 tenth grade classes,

21 eleventh grade classes and 16 twelfth grade classes The total number of 2535students consists of 1478 boys and 1057 girls and it includes 809 tenth formstudents, 978 eleventh form students, 748 twelfth form students Their age rangesfrom 15 to 18

106 teachers in the teaching staff are in charge of different subjects.Eleven of them are teachers of English, including 6 males and 5 females Most ofthem are young teachers, the oldest of whom is 44 years old and the youngest one

is at the age of 24 and there are six tenth grade teachers of English

3.2 Description of the subjects.

Six tenth grade teachers of English and a group of 200 tenth grade studentsare the subjects involved in this study The students were chosen at random from

20 tenth grade classes and in each class 10 students were chosen

The six tenth grade teachers of English at KrongBuk High School areyoung teachers and most of them have been teaching English for 6 years All ofthem said that pictures in textbooks were very useful and they used them in everylesson They all said that they rarely learnt English through visual aids when theywere at high school and university Four of them sometimes used some otherkinds of visual aids besides the pictures in the students' textbooks

The students participating in this study all studied English for four years atsecondary school Most of them like learning English through visual aids verymuch.

3.3 Data collection instruments.

The instruments to collect data for this study are questionnaires, follow upinterviews and observations

Questionnaires are distributed to six teachers of English who teach English

to tenth form classes and a group of 200 students of the School to get thenecessary information for the study Besides the close-ended questions, therespondents are offered opportunities to give their own opinions if necessary

 The questionnaire for the teachers

The questionnaire for the teachers is composed of 14 questions.

Questions 1 helps to find out what kinds of visual aids are used in theprocess of teaching tenth grade English at KrongBuk High School

Questions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 help to answer what visual aids are used forand how they are used to teach different aspects/skills

Question 9 helps to find out the reasons why visual aids are used in theprocess of teaching English at KrongBuk High School.

Questions 10 is designed in the questionnaires to seek the teachers'attitudes about the usefulness of visual aids they have been using,

Question 11 is given in the questionnaires to find out the reasons whyvisual aids are not used in the process of teaching English at KrongBuk HighSchool

Questions 12, 13 and 14 are included to seek the necessary informationabout the subjects of the study

 The questionnaire for the students

The students respondents in this study were asked to state their opinionsabout learning English through visual aids, including whether they like or dislikelearning English through visual aids or not, why they like to learn English thoughvisual aids, what kinds of visual aids they like their teacher to use, how often theylike learning English through visual aids, their opinions about the usefulness ofvisual aids, their reasons for not liking to learn English though visual aids besidesthe pictures in the textbooks and their suggestions to have visual aids use morefrequently and effectively Because of these, the questionnaires for the studentswere distributed after the questionnaires for the teachers had been collected

The questionnaire for the students is a set of 8 questions To avoid

misunderstanding of the students, it is translated into Vietnamese

Question 1 aims to find out whether the students like learning Englishthrough visual aids or not

Question 2 is to investigate the reasons why the students like studyingEnglish through visual aids

Question 3 is to find out which visual aids the students like their teachers

to use when learning different aspects/skills

Question 4 is to find out how often the students like learning Englishthrough visual aids

Question 5 the students' opinions about the usefulness of visual aids

Question 6 the reasons why the students do not like studying Englishthrough visual aids.

Question 7 aims to seek the students ‘suggestions to have visual aids usemore frequently and effectively

Question 8 aims to seek necessary information about the subjects of thestudy

3.3.3 Observation.

Besides questionnaires and interviews, observation is also used to collectinformation because according to Hayllar, Brace and Vea Tony (1996):Observation plays an important role in most research and sometimes it can be themain technique used in a project Observation involves looking and recordingwhat is observed In the study, the researcher took some photographs to illustativeher observations

CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter reports and discusses the results of the study The findings ofthe study of the study are presented in five main following issues:

(1) What kinds of visual aids are used at KrongBuk High School

(2) What visual aids are used for and how they are used This section iscomposed of three parts: part one answers purposes of using visual aids, part twopresents the frequency of using visual to teach different aspects/skills and partthree shows ways visual aids are shown to the students

(3) Teachers ' opinions about using visual aids in teaching English Thissection consists of three parts: part one presents the teachers' reasons for usingvisual aids, part two reports the teachers' opinions about the usefulness of visualaids the teachers' reasons for using visual aids, part three is about the teachers'reasons for not using visual aids besides the pictures in the students’ textbooks

(4) Students ' opinions about learning English through visual aids Thissection is divided into seven parts: part one answers whether the students likelearning English through visual aids, part two gives the reasons why studentswant to learn English through visual aids , part three shows kinds of visual aidsthe students like their teachers to use when teaching different aspects/skills, partfour shows how often they want to learn English through visual aids, part fivegives the students' opinions about the usefulness of visual aids, part six gives thereasons why students do not want to learn English through visual aids and partseven gives some students ‘suggestions to have visual aids used more frequentlyand effectively

4.1 What kinds of visual aids are used.

What kinds of visual aids are used at KrongBuk High School is shown in Table 1

What kinds of visual aids are used in teaching

English

Teachers’ responses(n=6)

Pictures in the students' textbooks 6(100%)

Source: Questionnaires for the Teachers

Table 1: Teachers’ Responses on What Kinds Of Visual Aids Are Used.

Table 1 shows that all English teachers who teach English to 10th form students at KrongBuk High School (n=6,100%) used pictures in the students' textbooks and teachers themselves in the process of teaching English Four of them used handouts Flashcards,overhead projectors, video tapes were used by one teacher The reasons for not using other kinds of visual aids may be English textbooks for tenth grade students contain too much knowledge that the teachers did not have enough time to use other kinds of visual aids expect for the pictures

in the students' textbooks

4.2 What visual aids are used for and how they are used.

4.2.1 Puposes of using visual aids.

What visual aids are used for is shown in Table 2

What visual aids are used for Teachers’ responses(n=6)

-To teach structure 0(0%)

- To use as prompts for practice 5(83.3%)

- To review newly learned language 3(50%)

Source: Questionnaires for the Teachers

Table 2: Teachers’ Responses on Puposes of Using Visual Aids

Table 2 shows that all the teachers (n=6) used visual aids to introduce newlessons, five teachers (83.3%) used visual aids to teach vocabulary and the samenumber of the teachers (n=5) used visual aids as prompts for practice Whenbeing interviewed why they did not use visual aids when teaching structures they

said they were used to giving a lot of examples to be sure that their students couldunderstand the lessons well And through the observation, the researcher saw thatmost visual aids were used to introduce new lessons, to teach vocabulary and touse as prompts for practice newly learned language.

4.2.2 The Frequency of Using Visual Aids to Teach Different Aspects/Skills.

This section presents the frequency of using visual aids to teach differentaspects/skills

BẢNG

4.3.3 The teachers' reasons for not using other visual aids besides the pictures in the textbooks.

The reasons of the teachers for not using visual aids are shown in Table 7below

As can be from table 3, all teachers (n=6,100%) always used the pictures

in the textbooks in the process of teaching English Besides the pictures in thetextbooks, teachers at KrongBuk High School also used other kinds of visual aidsbut the purposes and the frequency of using them were various

Pictures in the textbooks were the only kind always used by all theteachers and they were used to introduce new lessons When being interviewedwhy they mainly used the pictures in the textbooks to teach this aspect, theseteachers said that they thought the pictures in the textbooks were useful enoughand they always used these pictures as they were designed to lead into the newlessons Furthermore, they explained that they usually wanted to use the pictures

in the textbooks because they were not sure of the usefulness of other kinds ofvisual aids.

Table 3 also reveals that four teachers usually used the teachersthemselves when introducing new lessons Three teachers sometimes used whiteboards to review the newly taught language As the researcher's observations, theteachers usually used the white boards to present the summary of the lessons,structures or some important notes The reason for using white boards to reviewnewly taught language given by the three teachers were that they wanted to usethis kind of visual aids to refocus the students on some important points in eachlesson By doing this, they were able to save time and in that way the studentscould also take some notes to review newly learned language Besides, there weresome white boards available in the school library

Three other teachers who never used any kinds of visual aids to reviewnewly taught language When being interviewed about this, the three teacherssaid they often asked the students to look at the green board again and repeat thelanguage that they had taught to the students The main reason for not using anyother kinds of visual aids to review newly taught language given by them wasthat there was so much knowledge in the students’ textbooks that they did nothave enough time to use them

From this table we also can see that handouts were used to practice newlytaught language by four teachers with different frequency: two teachers usuallyused them and two teachers sometimes used them

One or two teachers sometimes used magazines pictures, flashcards, wallcharts, real objects, overhead projectors and teachers themselves Whenintroducing new lessons, two teachers used flashcards, teachers themselves, oneused magazines pictures and one used real objects

There were five teachers who sometimes used the pictures in thetextbooks to teach vocabulary and most of them never used any other kinds ofvisual aids to teach this aspect When being interviewed, all the teachers said theyrealized the usefulness of visual aids in teaching vocabulary, for them visual aids

in general and real objects in particular were very useful to teach this aspect but

firstly because the shortage of time and because there were no materials to makevisual aids and there were too many new words in the students’ textbooks that theteachers could not usually use visual aids Secondly, the number of students whowere good at English and fond of learning English was not big so they often gavedirect meaning in Vietnamese and sometimes they gave example to illustrate thenew words to be sure that the students could understand the reading texts Alsoaccording to them, it was the easiest way to make the students like learningreading skill And through the research’s observations, five teachers usually gavethe students a lot of new words, it was not like the theory that the teachers shouldgive from 6 to 7 new words in one period or just give key words.

As can be seen more from table 3, all the teachers never used visual aids

to teach structures The reason for not using visual aids to teach structures given

by the teachers Were firstly, the language focus parts in the students’ textbooksalways contained too much knowledge wit a lot of exercises If the teachers usedvisual aids, there would not be enough time to finish all the given exercises.Besides the pictures in the textbooks, they wanted to be sure that the studentscould understand the grammar points so that they often wrote/gave exampleswhenever they taught new grammar points

Also from table 3, only one teacher who sometimes used overheadprojectors, two teachers who sometimes used wall charts and two teachers whosometimes used handouts to practice newly taught language The results were the

same as the researcher's observations that most teachers usually let the students doexercises or tasks in the students’ textbooks and they seldom used visual aids to letstudents practice newly taught language When some visual aids were used, theyoften came in form of exercises or prompt to practice writing When the researcherinterviewed some teachers whom sometimes used visual aids to practice newlytaught language, they said they did that way to let the students have chance to domore exercises, made some tasks became easier, more real and alive

4.2.3 Ways Visual Aids Are Shown To The Students.

Table 4 shows ways visual aids are shown to the students

How visual aids are shown to the students Teachers'

responses(n=6)

Students look at pictures in the students’ textbook 6 (100%)

Students look at visual aids hung on the board 4(66.7%)

Students look at visual aids as well as hearing the tape

Source: Questionnaires for the Teachers

Table 4: Teachers ' Responses on Ways Visual Aids Are Shown To the Students.

As the table reveals, all visual aids are shown to the students by askingthem to look at pictures in the students’ textbooks and asking them to look at theteachers themselves There were four teachers (66.7%) showed visual aids byasking the students to look at visual aids hung on the board Table 4 also showsthat there was no teacher letting their students look at visual aids as well ashearing the tape recorder That may be because when hearing the tapes thestudents must pay their attention to the tapes to do the given tasks Also fromtable 4, we can see that there was one teacher (16.7%) showed visual aids byletting the students look at films and one teacher showed visual aids by letting thestudents look at video screen

4.3 Teachers 'Opinions about the Usefulness of Visual Aids in Teaching English.

This section presents teachers' reasons for using visual aids teachers'opinions about the usefulness of visual aids and their reasons for not using visualaids

4.3.1 The teachers' reasons for using visual aids.

Table 5 reports the reasons of the teachers for using visual aids

Teachers' Reasons for Using Visual Aids Teachers’ responses

(n=6)

Because they make the language used in class more real

Because they keep students' attention 4(66.7%)

Because they make the class more interesting 4(66.7%)

Because they provide informal atmosphere 4(66.7%)

Because it is easy, inexpensive and readily available to

Because they improve learners' understanding and

Because they save both the teachers and students’ time 4(66.7%)

Source: Questionnaires for the Teachers

Table 5: Teachers ' Responses on Reasons for Using Visual Aids

Besides The Pictures in The Textbooks.

The four teachers who sometimes used other kinds of visual aids besidesthe pictures in the textbooks responded in this table As can be seen from table 5most the teachers of English at KrongBuk High School (n=4(66.7%) used visualaids in the process of English teaching because firstly they thought visual aidscould make the language used in class more real and alive, secondly, according tothem visual aids can keep students' attention, thirdly they believed that visualaids could make the class more interesting, fourthly they realized that visual aidscould provide informal atmosphere besides they thought visual aids couldimprove learners' understanding and retention and they used visual aids becauseaccording to them using visual aids could help both the teachers and students

According to two other teachers (33.3%), they used visual aids in theprocess of English teaching because they found out that it was easy, inexpensive

and readily available to make them

4.3.2 Usefulness of Visual Aids.

Magaz ines pictur es

Flash cards

Wall charts

Real object s

White board s

Hand outs

Video tapes

Over head proje c tors

Teach ers them selves

4(66.67%)

Table 6: Teachers' Opinions about the Usefulness of Visual Aids.

As can be seen from the table 6, all the teachers (n=6,100%) thought thatpictures in students' textbooks and the teachers themselves were two very useful

kinds of visual aids The four teachers who sometimes used other kinds of visual

aids besides the pictures in the textbooks and the teachers themselves also

believed that these kinds of visual aids were very useful however; they expressed

different level of appreciation It, thus, can be said that all the teachers realized

the value of visual aids though they did not use them very often

The teachers' reasons for not using visual aids besides the pictures in the textbooks.

Teachers’

responses (n=6)

Because it takes time to prepare visual aids 2(33.3%)

Because pictures in students' textbooks are useful enough 2(33.3%)

Because there are no available materials to make visual aids 0(0%)

Because I do not have enough time to use visual aids 2(33.3%)

Source: Questionnaires for the Teachers

Table 7: Teachers' Responses on Reasons for Not Using Visual Aids.

As can be seen from table 7 there were only two out of six teachers(33.3%) who only used the pictures in textbooks in the process of teachingEnglish When interviewed, both the teachers said the pictures in students'textbooks were useful enough Furthermore, it took time to prepare visual aids.And English textbooks contain so many tasks and focused too much onknowledge that they did not have enough time to use visual aids, they gave someexamples to identify their responses: there were a lot of vocabulary that studentsdid not know in the reading texts, listening lessons were not easy to all thestudents, ect

4.4 Students ' opinions about learning English through visual aids.

In this section the researcher presents whether the students like learningEnglish through visual aids or not, the reasons why students want to learnEnglish through visual aids, kinds of visual aids the students like their teachers

to use when teaching English, how often they want to learn English throughvisual aids, the students' opinions about the usefulness of visual aids, thereasons why students do not want to learn English through other kinds ofvisual aids besides the pictures in the textbooks

4.4.1 Whether Students Like Learning English through Visual Aids.

Table 8 shows whether students like learning English through visual aids or not

Whether Students Like Learning English

through Visual Aids Students' responses (n=200)

Source: Questionnaires for the Students

Table 8: Students' Responses on Whether Students Like Learning English through Visual Aids.