Using multimedia to improve english lessons for 5th graders at an english academy

Multimedia has been considered an effective tool for enhancing English teaching and learning process.. The paper aims to study the use of multimedia for enhancing the quality of English

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-oOo -

PHẠM HỒNG TRANG

USING MULTIMEDIA TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LESSONS

(SỬ DỤNG CÔNG NGHỆ ĐA PHƯƠNG TIỆN ĐỂ CẢI TIẾN GIỜ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 5 TẠI MỘT HỌC VIỆN ANH NGỮ)

M.A MINOR PROGRMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2017

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-oOo -

PHẠM HỒNG TRANG

USING MULTIMEDIA TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LESSONS

(SỬ DỤNG CÔNG NGHỆ ĐA PHƯƠNG TIỆN ĐỂ CẢI TIẾN GIỜ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 5 TẠI MỘT HỌC VIỆN ANH NGỮ)

M.A MINOR PROGRMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lâm Quang Đông

HANOI – 2017

DECLARATION

Title: “USING MULTIMEDIA TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LESSONS

FOR 5 TH GRADERS AT AN ENGLISH ACADEMY”

I certify that no part of the thesis has been copied or reproduced by me from any other works without acknowledgement and that the thesis is originally written by

me under strict guidance of my supervisor

Hanoi, 2017 Student‟s signature

Phạm Hồng Trang

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to send my sincere and special gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Lâm Quang Đông, who has given valuable assistance, guidance, precious suggestions, advice, and reference materials to me so that I can complete this thesis The success of my paper would have been almost impossible without his tireless support

My thanks and gratitude also go to all professors and lecturers at Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable lectures

Post-I am also grateful to the manager of Smartcom center for his cooperation so that Post-I could fulfill my thesis better

Last but not least, I would like to send my gratitude to my parents, all members in

my family and my friends for their support and encouragement during the process

of writing this thesis

ABSTRACT

Multimedia plays an important role in all stages of second language acquisition Multimedia has been considered an effective tool for enhancing English teaching and learning process The paper aims to study the use of multimedia for enhancing the quality of English teaching and learning process at one English center in Hanoi and investigate its effectiveness to the 5th graders at this center In order to conduct the study, three tools were used: (1) observation, (2) recording and (3) interview The findings show that learners in the center were very excited about the lessons when multimedia was used It also means that multimedia can support the teachers

in attracting the learners to the lesson In other words, using multimedia brought many benefits for not only learners but also teachers in the center However, using multimedia caused a couple of disadvantages For example, the interaction of some learners decreased when they used multimedia before class and it took the teacher considerable amounts of time to prepare the lessons Hopefully, the study can be a useful source of reference for those teaching English to young learners

TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENT iv

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vi

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 1

3 Research questions 2

4 Methods of the study 2

5 Significance of the study 2

6 Structure of the thesis 2

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 4

1.1.Learning styles of learners 4

1.2.Teaching English to primary graders 5

1.3.Multimedia 7

1.3.1.Definitions of terms 7

1.2.2.Why should teachers use multimedia? 9

1.2.3 The use of multimedia in English teaching 9

1.2.4.Review of previous related studies 10

1.3 Conceptual framework 11

1.4 Chapter summary 12

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 13

2.1 The setting of the study 13

2.2 The participants 15

2.3 Research question revisited 15

2.4 Methods and instruments 16

2.4.1 Data collection instruments 16

2.4.2 Data collection procedure 17

2.5 Chapter summary 31

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 32

3.1 Data analysis 32

3.1.1.Data from observation 32

3.1.2.Data from recording on the website 32

3.1.3.Data from interviews 38

3.2 Findings and discussion 39

3.3 Chapter summary 41

PART III: CONCLUSIONS 42

1 Conclusions 42

2 Limitations of the study 43

3 Suggestions for further research 43

REFERENCES 45 APPENDIX I

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 2.14 The first question in the second activity 21

Figure 2.20 The first question in the fourth activity 23

Figure 2.22 Table of English possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns 24

Table 3.1 Relationship between learners‟ using website at home and their

interaction in class

34

Smartcom Academy1, the English center chosen for this study, is not an exception when the class time does not really attract one hundred percent of children‟s attention To address such problems, using multimedia in teaching English seems to

be one of the best solutions to improve English lessons for children Therefore, I want to use the multimedia to see how effective it is for children, especially 5thgraders in Smartcom

2 Aims of the study

The research aims to enhance the quality of English teaching and learning process

in Smartcom Academy, particularly the 5th graders‟ English in this center by using multimedia

1 The researcher managed to obtain the center‟s consent to use its real name, as provided in the Appendix

3 Research questions

In order to achieve the aim above, the study focuses on answering the research question: How effective is the use of multimedia in teaching and learning English to

5th graders in Smartcom Academy?

4 Methods of the study

Action research is chosen for the study As its name suggests, action research has two targets: action and research Action is to bring about change or improvement in

a specific teaching situation; and research is to examine the practice and understand the situation (Dick, 1992; Hughes & William, 2001) These are appropriate to my present study which is to plan and perform an intervention using multimedia to change the traditional teaching situation

In order to find out the answer to the research question, I conducted the study in six stages: planning, acting, observing, recording, interviewing and data analyzing

5 Significance of the study

The study is carried out with the first hope that it can improve English learning outcomes in Smartcom Academy in particular and in other English centers in Vietnam in general Another possible contribution of the study is that it can provide

a better way of English teaching, especially English teaching for primary graders through multimedia to create an interactive environment instead of traditional grammar classes

6 Structure of the thesis

The thesis is organized as follows:

PART I: INTRODUCTION - introduces the rationale; aims of the study; research questions; methods of the study; significance of the study; and the thesis structure PART II: DEVELOPMENT – the main part of the study, consists of three chapters: Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK –

reviews and presents relevant theories and studies to the study Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY – describes the setting of the study, the participants, research question, methods and instruments Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION – presents an analysis of the data and discusses the findings of the study

PART III: CONCLUSIONS – summarizes the study, limitations of the study and suggestions for further research

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL

FRAMEWORK

English language education has changed dramatically in recent decades all over the world In different countries, especially those in the Expanding Circle (Kachru, 1991), a large number of parents want their children to start to learn English early It

is crucial for language educators to understand children‟s psychological development at different ages and have an accurate concept of approaches to language teaching and teaching aids in use This chapter reviews and presents the current understanding of second language teaching to primary graders, and the use

of multimedia in English teaching The theoretical framework upon which the study relies is also presented

1.1 Learning styles of learners

According to studies of professors and Neuro-linguistic programming specialists, learners receive information through five senses including three main ways: visual, auditory and kinesthetic These three ways form learning styles for each learner 1.1.1 Visual: learners prefer using pictures, images, and spatial understanding 1.1.2 Auditory: learners prefer using sound and music

1.1.3 Kinesthetic: learners prefer using your body, hands and sense of touch

According to Dunn and Dunn (1978), only 20-30% of school age children appear to

be auditory learners, 40% are visual learners, and 30-40% are tactile/kinaesthetic or visual/tactile learners Barbe and Milone (1981) stated that for grade school children the most frequent modality strengths are visual (30%) or mixed (30%), followed by auditory (25%), and then by kinaesthetic (15%) Barbe and Milone (1981) stated that primary grade children learn better via auditory (verbal) means and are least well developed kinaesthetically, however between kindergarten and sixth grade a

modality shift occurs and vision becomes the dominant modality and kinaesthesia overtakes audition (Barbe & Milone, 1981) Barbe and Milone (1981) also wrote that adults are more likely to have mixed modality strengths than children In addition, it has been found that modality strengths differ with regard to achievement level Price, Dunn, and Sanders (1980) found that very young children are the most tactile/kinesthetic, that there is a gradual development of visual strengths through the elementary grades, and that only in fifth or sixth grade can most youngsters learn and retain information through the auditory sense Carbo (1983), investigating the perceptual styles of readers, found that good readers prefer to learn through their visual and auditory senses, while poor readers have a stronger preference for tactile and kinesthetic learning

In a classroom environment students with limited English proficiency rely heavily

on visual clues for the comprehension and acquisition of learning content (Olmeda, 2003) In a study on perceptual learning styles and achievement in a university level foreign language course, Renou (2004) found out that there is no significant difference between the predominant learning style groups and course graders In other words, whether one is a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner, this has no significant bearing on achievement in school as measured by grades In their research, Kia, Alipour, and Ghaderi (2009) found that among students in Payame Noor University in Iran, those with visual learning style have the greatest academic achievement Peacock (2001) has examined the learning style preferences of EFL and ESL students The results of these studies show that students prefer kinesthetic learning styles above others, whereas the teaching methods mostly suit auditory learners

1.2 Teaching English to primary graders

As English becomes the world‟s common language, many countries all over the world have utilized English language instruction as a part of their education system

Many countries choose the primary level to begin teaching English, and students are studying the language at younger and younger ages (Jenkins, 2009)

Diana et al (1999) asserted:

The purpose of teaching English in the primary school is to develop pupils‟ abilities to communicate effectively in speech and writing and to listen with understanding It should also enable them to be enthusiastic, responsive and knowleadgeable readers‟ (National Curriculum Order for English, 1995) Such communication is central to society, and the media encompass this in their everyday functions In other words, the raison d‟être of the media is communication, and to this end a rich tapertry of literacies are employed which reflect and shape society (p.169)

Teaching English to young learners at primary school is different from that to adults English teachers at primary schools, therefore, need to master the theories of language teaching-learning to primary graders

In this case, the teachers must completely understand the concept of language acquisition and learning Language acquisition is a process of getting language naturally or sub-consciously Krashen and Terrell (1983) state that acquiring a language is “picking it up” It means that developing language ability by accessing

to it regularly in daily situations On the contrary, language learning is a process of getting language consciously Language learning is “knowing the rules” In other words, learning is getting conscious knowledge about grammar Teaching English

to primary graders should require context in which children can acquire language by acquisition rather than learning

Teaching foreign language effectively to children needs specific skills that differ from teaching adults It is important to consider four categories proposed by Brown (2001) They are as follows:

The word “media” comes from Latin (Oxford2) Accordingly, “multimedia” could

be called multiple media There are various definitions of multimedia According to Cambridge dictionary, multimedia is a “combination of moving and still pictures, sounds, music, and words, especially in computers or entertainment” Multimedia is defined in Oxford dictionary as “using more than one medium of expression or communication” Marshall (1999) states, “multimedia is the field concerned with the computer-controlled integration of text, graphics, drawings, still and moving images (video), animation, audio, and any other media where every type of information can be represented, stored, transmitted and processed digitally” According to Mayer (2001), multimedia simply presents both words and pictures

In short, basic elements creating multimedia are shown as below:

2

Retrieved August 7 2017, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/media

Figure 1.1 Elements of multimedia

In this study, multimedia refers to multimedia materials used for improving English lessons for the children The materials include the content from Power Point Presentations and Storytelling website

1.2.1.2 Power Point Presentation

PowerPoint is a presentation program developed by Microsoft PowerPoint is “a software package designed to create electronic presentations consisting of a series

of separate pages or slides” (Oxford dictionary3) As a part of Microsoft Office, PowerPoint has become widely used presentation program PowerPoint is considered an effective pedagogical tool in classroom when it integrates images, graphics, text, sound, animation and hyperlinks to other documents They allow users to make animated and interactive presentations According to Bozarth (2008),

interactivity is very necessary to support instruction

1.2.1.3 Storytelling website

Storytelling is an “activity of telling or writing stories” (Oxford dictionary4

) According to Pesola (1991, p.340), storytelling is “one of the most powerful tools

Video

for surrounding the young learner with language” Accordingly, storytelling can improve their four language skills (Wilson, 1997) Storytelling seems to be a practical and powerful teaching tool, especially for language learning

Similar to PowerPoint, storytelling website also integrates texts, graphics, sounds, animation, and so on to create an interesting and lively foreign language learning

environment

1.2.2 Why should teachers use multimedia?

It is important for teachers, especially primary teachers, to recognize that multimedia plays a significant role in children‟s lives Children cannot “escape exposure to the technology revolution which generates so much information and so many ideas, nor should they” (Diana et al., 1999)

The teaching of English is concerned primarily with communication via the written and spoken word, and thus, it is obvious that excluding multimedia from the primary English curriculum will prevent children from accessing a significant language resource “which is representative of a high proportion of society‟s communication” (Diana et al., 1999)

In short, the teacher should take advantage of multimedia to help the children have better language development

1.2.3 The use of multimedia in English teaching

The common use of multimedia can bring a big change for people in sending, receiving and expressing information Pea (1991) states:

Multimedia functions to help students for several reasons, among them are:

first, it is much better that written text so that student can understand the

material well Second, it provides the context for the abstract word or explanation such as different emotion on human face Third, it may overcome

the individual needs and preference so that students can learn the material accordingly (p.2)

Lin & Chen (2007) thought that multimedia is beneficial for foreign language learners Joshi (2012) showed in his study that using multimedia in classroom supported learners in enhancing their language acquisition

The new function of multimedia led the programmer to develop new softwares for

teaching and learning process A more interactive program such as story, animation and games has grown in the last decade Interactive video discs, CD-ROM, and CD-

I become more accessible to teachers and learners Multimedia allows integration of texts, graphics, audio, and motion videos in a range of combinations As a result, learners can interact with textual, aural, and visual media in a wide range of formats In brief, there are a diversity of multimedia uses in teaching Teachers should consider the suitable form of multimedia to learners‟ objectives so as to achieve better results

1.2.4 Review of previous related studies

The roles of multimedia and its effectiveness in English teaching have been the subject of many studies Recently, Rostami, Akbari and Ghanizadeh (2015) studied the effect of technology-enhanced environments on learners‟ reading comprehension ability in Smart schools The population in this study consisted of

124 female students in the first grade of two different high schools Smart board, Power Point Presentation and World Wide Web were used as multimedia tools in this study The results presented that this application had a positive and significant influence on learners‟ reading comprehension ability and on the retention of reading materials

Another study by Shao (2012) aimed to examine the use of multimedia software to vocabulary acquisition It explored the effectiveness of multimedia application in Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners and the learners‟ attitudes toward multimedia application as well The participants were 80 freshmen students

in China The results revealed that students had highly positive attitudes to the application of multimedia software The results also showed the effectiveness of multimedia software to the development of vocabulary acquisition

Al-Hammadi (2011) had a quasi-experimental study to research the effectiveness of multimedia software for developing listening skills among EFL Saudi secondary school students The study showed that the software was useful to the development

of students‟ listening skills

Junjula, Leksirilak and Kaewpradidt (2010) developed multimedia on English vocabulary for sixth grade Thai learners The results indicated that the learners‟ achievement after learning with multimedia was much higher

Abdurrahman (2006) investigated the effect of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) on 83 learners with the age of 11 to 13 years old in the UAE The instrument was a pre- and post-achievement test The results proved that CALL had

a positive effect on English learning

In short, relevant studies above show that multimedia seems to be an effective tool

in teaching English to every age Thus, the present study was conducted with the aim to see whether multimedia has effects on teaching English to the fifth graders at Smartcom or not

1.3 Conceptual framework

According to Mayer (2003), the rationale for using multimedia is that “people learn more deeply from words and picture than from words alone” (p47) In other words, the main purpose of multimedia is to improve teaching – learning process Hence, using multimedia in class needs to be based on approaches to teaching and learning Constructivism theory and cognitive psychology are two conceptual frameworks of multimedia in English teaching

Constructivism is a learning theory which interprets how people can acquire

experiences It emphasizes the learner‟s active engagement during studying process Accordingly, the process focuses on learner-center and the teacher plays the part of

a facilitator Therefore, teachers should put effective new modes in using multimedia in English classroom to enhance active engagement in learners (Zhou, 2004)

Cognitive psychology focuses on learners‟ advances and features such as attention, memory, acquisition and use of knowledge Based on the cognitive psychology, learning process must depend on learners‟ interests It means that teachers should arouse leaners‟ interests in teaching by using integration of multimedia such as texts, images, sounds, animation and so on to present the lesson in a multi-dimensional way (Matlin, 1989)

Therefore, the researcher will use these two theories as a conceptual framework to conduct the action research

1.4 Chapter summary

The chapter has provided the ways to teach English to young learners effectively through theories of children‟s language development Previous related studies reviewed in this chapter also show that using multimedia is such a good way in teaching English to the children Besides, the chapter has presented the conceptual framework for doing the study The next chapter will present how the study was conducted

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 The setting of the study

The English center in this study, Smartcom, has its headquarter based in Hanoi Smartcom was established in 2006 It has opened various branches until now The one where I am teaching is a new branch of the center

Each classroom in the center is equipped with a white board and a big screen TV connected to a wireless network The TV is used as a computer and a projector screen Each classroom is about 30 square meters The children in this study took the course that lasted about two months

As mentioned above, the branch I am teaching is a new one of the center It means that everything is new from teachers to learners Before becoming an official teacher in this center, I had a chance to observe some classes in the branch in the first week In my observation, I realized that most of the children here were very smart; they learnt everything very fast However, some students were problematic They were very passive and they did not focus on the lessons most of the time, especially when learning from Vietnamese teachers That could seriously affect the quality of the learning process of other students at times Thus, I assumed that I had

to do something for a change However, I did not know what to do at that time until

I became an official teacher in the center An idea of using multimedia began to form in my mind Then I decided to apply it in my first lesson in the center

I was assigned to teach two 5th classes in this center Each class had about 13 young learners The number of two classes was not fixed because the classes sometimes had new members Each lesson lasted three hours per week The main content of the first two hours taught by a foreign teacher focused on one chapter of a story More specifically, the foreign teacher had to teach vocabularies related to the story The story would be told through the voice of the teacher when the learners mastered the

new words after some games These games could relate to flashcards or slide shows

on PowerPoint All activities had been designed carefully on PowerPoint by other Vietnamese teachers of the center before the lesson My task in these two hours was

a teaching assistant and an observer

Figure 2.1 The lesson in the first two hours

In the last one hour, a Vietnamese teacher had to design the grammar lesson herself

As mentioned above, after observing some classes in my first week, I realized that teaching grammar in traditional ways with a white board was not definitely effective The participation of most learners was not high They could concentrate

in some first minutes and they were easily distracted after that, especially when doing exercises on worksheets

After consideration, I chose two main multimedia tools to design the lesson in my one hour They are PowerPoint and storytelling website

2.2 The participants

The study was conducted on two 5th classes with 26 learners, one foreign teacher and one Vietnamese teacher – the researcher The children were from 8 to 11 years old with 14 boys and 12 girls There was no difference between them in terms of syllabus The only thing that may distinguish them from others was the enthusiasm

in study In order to ensure reliable data, real names of the learners are kept and the researcher obtained their consent to use them

2.3 Research question revisited

The study was carried out to answer the question: How effective is the use of multimedia in teaching and learning English to 5th graders in the center?

In order to answer this question, it is necessary to define the concept of “effective” Defining the effective teacher, effective teaching and teaching effectiveness can be complex and controversial “Effectiveness” is a contested term that can evoke strong emotions because of its perceived links with notions of professional competency and high stakes accountability in some systems It may question individual teachers‟ beliefs about their professional autonomy Notions of what constitutes high quality or good teaching, the idea that teaching is an art or a craft rather than a science, are sometimes used to raise concerns with narrower concepts

of effectiveness However, beliefs about what constitutes „good‟ or „high‟ quality practice in teaching can vary markedly for different age groups of students, at different times and in different contexts

Effective teaching requires criteria for effectiveness These criteria refer to the objectives of education in general and of teaching in particular Thus, the objectives

of education and the definitions of the quality and effectiveness of education are closely connected This means that defining effective teaching must be done in

relation to understanding the objectives of education Promoting students‟ cognitive development can be seen as one of the prime purposes of education and teaching

2.4 Methods and instruments

2.4.1 Data collection instruments

The study employed qualitative method for gathering and analyzing data from the use of multimedia In order to collect reliable and valid data, three instruments adopted in this study were: (1) observation; (2) interview with the learners in the two classes and (3) recording from the website

2.4.1.1 Observation

Observation is a way to collect “live” data It is useful means to gather information about phenomena in a second and foreign language classroom, such as types of language, activities, interactions and instruction (Mackey & Gass, 2005) The researcher observed the learners‟ reaction and performance while she was using multimedia to introduce the grammar lesson, assign the grammar practices and review the story in the class The children were not informed of being observed so that they could respond, act, or behave as naturally as possible Data from the observation was analyzed according to the children‟s reaction to the program – physical, facial and verbal expressions

2.4.1.3 Interview

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 young learners in the two classes The main aim of each interview was to investigate how the children‟s use of the storytelling website at home affects their in-class performance

2.4.2 Data collection procedure

In order to collect information related to the study as much as possible, the researcher carried out the study in the following stages:

Figure 2.2 Research procedure

As shown in Figure 2.2, data of the study was collected during the process of multimedia application Thus, data collection procedure will be presented in the following part

2.4.2.1 Application of multimedia in teaching 5 th graders in the center and data collection

The observation was carried out with two 5th classes in the Vietnamese teacher‟s one hour within 8 weeks These two classes had the same syllabus and teachers (one

is the foreign teacher, the other is the Vietnamese teacher) Some noteworthy issues

were taken notes during the lesson Then they were collected for the teacher to write

class reports at the end of each lesson

2.4.2.1.1 Application of PowerPoint in the class and observation

I believed that PowerPoint was a perfect combination of images and sounds More interestingly, it has great tools to show information attractively Hence, I used it to design grammar lessons in my one hour The following illustrations were shown in

my first grammar lesson:

Figure 2.3 The name of the grammar lesson

Figure 2.4 The first slide of the language input

Figure 2.5 The second slide of the language input

Figure 2.6 The third slide of the language input

Figure 2.7 The fouth slide of the language input

Figure 2.8 The fifth slide of the language input

Figure 2.9 The sixth slide of the language input

The images above are examples of the input presentation in one grammar lesson The next images are illustrated for the exercises:

Figure 2.10 The first activity of the practice

Figure 2.11 The first question in the first activity

Figure 2.12 The answer to the first question

Figure 2.13 The second activity of the practice

Figure 2.14 The first question in the second activity

Figure 2.15 The answer to the second question

Figure 2.16 The third activity of the practice

Figure 2.17 The first question in the third activity