An exploratory study of english vocabulary teaching strategies to young learners at popodoo english center in ha noi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES DƯƠNG THỊ DOAN AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY TEACHIN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

DƯƠNG THỊ DOAN

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY TEACHING

STRATEGIES TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT POPODOO

ENGLISH CENTER IN HA NOI

(Nghiên cứu khám phá chiến thuật dạy từ vựng tiếng Anh cho trẻ em

tại trung tâm Anh ngữ PoPoDoo ở Hà Nội)

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI - 2016

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

DƯƠNG THỊ DOAN

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY TEACHING

STRATEGIES TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT POPODOO

ENGLISH CENTER IN HA NOI

(Nghiên cứu khám phá chiến thuật dạy từ vựng tiếng Anh cho trẻ em

tại trung tâm Anh ngữ PoPoDoo ở Hà Nội)

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Tô Thị Thu Hương

HANOI - 2016

DECLARATION

I, Dương Thị Doan, hereby declare that this thesis is my own work, and I have provided fully documented references to the work of others In addition, this thesis has not been submitted for assessment in other formal courses in any other universities I also accept all the requirements of ULIS relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library

Hanoi, March 2016

Signature

Dương Thị Doan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor,

Dr To Thi Thu Huong, for her professional advice, thoughtful and constructive comments on almost every aspect of the study Her insightful suggestions and support helped me a lot from the beginning to the end of this study

Second, my thanks also go to all the lecturers at ULIS for their inspirational lectures in class, providing me useful knowledge to complete my thesis

Third, I am also deeply grateful to PoPoDoo English Center directors, English teachers and students who participated in this research work I thank them for their support and co-operation

Last but not least, my special thanks go to my parents, my husband, and my friends for their love, care, and encouragement

ABSTRACT

The overall purpose of this research is to explore vocabulary teaching strategies to the young learners at an English center in Ha Noi Besides, the study tried to find out differences in teachers‟ use of vocabulary teaching strategies to learners of different age groups (4-6 years old, 7-9 years old, and 10-12 years old), and which strategies teachers and students most prefer to use The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods The data were collected from survey questionnaire with 30 teachers and the interview with 15 randomly chosen teachers and 45 learners Thus, descriptive statistics using frequencies and percentages were employed in analyzing the quantitative data and the qualitative data were analyzed qualitatively The results

of the study revealed that there were several strategies which were used to teach vocabulary to all groups of learners However, there were also differences in the strategies used with learners in different age groups The reasons were perhaps due to different language focus or skills used and different characteristics of each age group

In addition, it was found that there were vocabulary teaching strategies which were most preferred by only teachers, only learners or both teachers and learners Finally recommendations and limitations were shown

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration ……… i

Acknowledgement ……….……… ii

Abstract ……… iii

Table of contents ……… iv

List of tables ……… vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION ……… 1

1 Rationale of the study ……….1

2 Aims of the study ………2

3 Research questions ……… 3

4 Scope of the study ……… 3

5 Significance of the study ………3

6 An overview of the rest of the study ……… 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT ……… 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ……… 4

1.1 Vocabulary ……… 4

1.1.1 Definition of vocabulary ……… …4

1.1.2 The roles of vocabulary ……….5

1.1.3 Aspects of vocabulary to be taught ……… 5

1.2 Vocabulary teaching strategies ……… … 7

1.3 Review of some common methods associated with vocabulary teaching 8

1.3.1 The grammar translation method ……… …8

1.3.2 The Direct method ……… 9

1.3.3 The Audio-lingual method ………9

1.3.4 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) ……… 10

1.3.5 Post – methods ………10

1.3.5.1 Total Physical Response (TPR) ……….…10

1.3.5.2 The Silent way ……… 11

1.3.5.4 Suggestopedia ………12

1.4 Teaching English to young learners ………13

1.5 An overview of PoPoDoo English center in Ha Noi ……… 18

1.5.1 Introduction ……….18

1.5.2 Teaching program ……… …18

1.6 Concluding remarks ………19

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY……….……… ……20

2.1 Participants ……….……20

2.2 Data collection instruments ……… 20

2.3 Procedure of data collection ……… 22

2.4 Data analysis methods ………23

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ……….….24

3.1 Findings ………24

3.1.1 Analysis of data obtained through questionnaire ……… …24

3.1.2 Analysis of data obtained through interview ……… …41

3.2 Discussion ………45

PART C: CONCLUSION ……….48

1 Conclusion……….48

2 Recommendations ……….49

3 Limitations of the study ………49

REFERENCES ……… 50 APPENDICES……… I

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Classification of young learners according to age group

Table 2: Vocabulary teaching strategies in the questionnaire

Table 3: Teachers‟ attitude towards English vocabulary teaching

Table 4: Teachers‟ attitude towards using strategies in teaching English vocabulary to

young learners

Table 5: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

learning styles in Presentation phase for age group 3-6

Table 6: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

learning styles in Presentation phase for age group 7-9

Table 7: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

learning styles in Presentation phase for age group 10-12

Table 8: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

activating prior knowledge in Presentation phase for age group 3-6

Table 9: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

activating prior knowledge in Presentation phase for age group 7-9

Table 10: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

activating prior knowledge in Presentation phase for age group 10-12

Table 11: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

learning styles in Practice phase for age group 3-6

Table 12: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

learning styles in Practice phase for age group 7-9

Table 13: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

Table 14: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

activating prior knowledge in Practice phase for age group 3-6

Table 15: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

activating prior knowledge in Practice phase for age group 7-9

Table 16: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

activating prior knowledge in Practice phase for age group 10-12

Table 17: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

learning styles in Production phase for age group 3-6

Table 18: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

learning styles in Production phase for age group 7-9

Table 19: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

learning styles in Production phase for age group 10-12

Table 20: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

activating prior knowledge in Production phase for age group 3-6

Table 21: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

activating prior knowledge in Production phase for age group 7-9

Table 22: Teachers‟ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies basing on

activating prior knowledge in Production phase for age group 10-12

Table 23: Strategies most preferred by very young learners (3-6 years old)

Table 24: Strategies most preferred by young learners (7-9 years old)

Table 25: Strategies most preferred by older/ late young learners (10-12 years old)

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Vocabulary is a very important element in a language It helps us express our feelings, ideas, and emotions to others Without vocabulary, there is nothing we can express As a result, communication cannot exist

However, for many years, vocabulary has been the victim of discrimination by researchers who claimed syntax to be a more important issue in the language development process (Carter, 1988) As a result, vocabulary teaching and learning were not regarded as an area to focus on

After many decades of being neglected, the importance of vocabulary for language learning and teaching is admitted by theorists, methodologists and researchers today In teaching and learning a foreign language, vocabulary plays a very important role It is essential in all four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing; and is considered as a tool to learn the four skills well Whether vocabulary teaching is effective in the classroom or not is really a constant challenge for teachers Accordingly, several types of strategies which are the ways teachers use to allow learners to access the information have been introduced into the field to teach vocabulary Several researchers conducted studies on vocabulary learning and teaching strategies The interest of focusing on vocabulary teaching strategies may come from various reasons Firstly, for language teachers, it is one of the significant areas they concern so that their learners can access vocabulary items they teach Secondly, for language learners, vocabulary teaching strategies that teachers use have great impact on the success of their vocabulary learning Each strategy teachers practice in class may form a means to vocabulary learning that may enhance their learners‟ vocabulary knowledge or help them to be better in reading, writing, listening, and speaking

One thing is that teaching English in general and vocabulary in particular to young learners is different from teaching to adults Age plays a crucial role in what we teach and how we teach it, since a young learner class is different from an adult and/or

a teenager class in terms of the learners‟ language learning needs, the language

vocabulary to young learners seems to be more difficult According to Paul Fletcher and Michael Garman (1986), “Children learn new language from what they hear and they use their ability to imitate a sound of a word from the adult” Therefore, to teach vocabulary to young learners, the teachers have to learn first about the way young learners learn and decide how to teach them

However, researches on vocabulary teaching to young learners have not received enough attention in English language teaching contexts in Vietnam There are few studies on English vocabulary teaching strategies to young learners in the Vietnamese context, only from secondary education It becomes more difficult for teachers to design an effective English vocabulary lesson The effectiveness of vocabulary lessons depends on teaching strategies teachers use in the classroom

For these above reasons, I would like to conduct a research to explore vocabulary teaching strategies to the young learners at an English center in Ha Noi I hope the result of my study will help teachers improve the effectiveness of English lessons in general and English vocabulary lessons with young learners in particular

2 Aims of the study

2.1 Overall aim

As mentioned above, the overall aim of this study was to explore vocabulary teaching strategies to the young learners at an English center in Ha Noi in order to improve the effectiveness of English lessons in general and English vocabulary lessons in particular

2.2 Specific objectives

Based upon the overall aim, this research was intended to achieve the following specific objectives:

a) To investigate the strategies of English vocabulary teaching to young learners

(3-12 years old) used by teachers at an English center in Hanoi

b) To explore differences in using vocabulary teaching strategies to learners of different age groups (3-6 years old, 7-9 years old, and 10-12 years old)

c) To find out which strategies teachers and students most prefer to use

3 Research questions

The study was carried out with an attempt to find out the answer to the overall research question:

What are the strategies used by teachers at PoPoDoo to teach English vocabulary to their young learners?

which was further broken down into:

1 Are there any differences in the strategies used with learners in different age groups? If yes, what are the differences?

2 Which strategies are most preferred by teachers and learners?

4 Scope of the study

This study was restricted to the area of investigating vocabulary teaching strategies The samples of the study were also limited to only 30 teachers and 45 learners at PoPoDoo English center in Ha Noi

5 Significance of the study

The study is an attempt to shed light on English vocabulary teaching strategies to Vietnamese young learner, an under-researched area in Vietnam The findings of this study were expected to be useful to any contemporary teachers of the young learners

to help them improve their performance in teaching vocabulary

6 An overview of the rest of the study

The rest of the study included the following parts:

Chapter 1 (Literature review) provided the background of the study, including definitions of key concepts as well as information related to the thesis

Chapter 2 (Methodology) described the participants, data collection instruments, the procedures employed to conduct the research, and data analysis methods

Chapter 3 (Findings and discussion) consists of a comprehensive analysis of the collected data from the questionnaire and interview and a discussion on the findings of this study

Conclusion summarized the main issues discussed in the thesis, the findings that the researcher found out according to the research questions The limitation of the research, implications and recommendations for further studies were also mentioned References and appendices were presented lastly

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Vocabulary

1.1.1 Definition of vocabulary

There are some definitions of vocabulary

In her book, Penny Ur (1996, p.60) stated that “vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in a foreign language‟ She also pointed out “a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: for example, post office, and mother-in-law, which are made up of two or three words but express a single idea”, and “there are also multi-word idioms where the meaning of the phrase cannot be deduced from an analysis of the component words” From this view, we can realize the variety of vocabulary types to be learned Vocabulary consists of all the words in a language, regardless of the number of words in a word

According to Adrian Akmajian, Richard A Demers, Ann K Farmer, and Robert

M Harnish (1993, p.11), the word is one of the most fundamental units of linguistics structure Words play an integral role in the human ability to use language creatively

In the viewpoint of Hiebert and Kamil (2005, p.3), vocabulary consists of two types “Oral vocabulary is the set of words for which we know the meanings when we speak or read orally Print vocabulary consists of those words for which the meaning

is known when we write or read silently.”

Briefly, vocabulary is the focus of language It is all the words that exist in a language It includes not only single words but also two-word items or three-word ones or even multi-word idioms It allows us to communicate with others in all forms reading, listening, speaking, and writing

1.1.2 The roles of vocabulary

As mentioned above, vocabulary is a very important part of a language It is crucial for learners to acquire a sufficient number of vocabularies The reason is that, without vocabulary, learners cannot communicate with others or express their own

feelings, emotions, and ideas The role of vocabulary is indicated clearly by a famous British applied linguist, Wilkins (1972) He wrote that “without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” Mastering vocabulary is very important for students The mastery of vocabulary can help them

do their communication better They have words to express their ideas and understand others‟ thinking When students know several words, the learning of four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing will be promoted

This explains why teaching and learning vocabulary is very important, especially

in the high time of the communicative approach Therefore, learners need to pay a big attention to vocabulary learning in order to obtain a rich knowledge of vocabulary

1.1.3 Aspects of vocabulary to be taught

Normally, when learners want to access a new English word, they need to be provided the basic level of that word: its meaning and its form In addition, the usage

of words is also important so that learners can use them appropriately According to Penny Ur (1999, p.60), there are several aspects of vocabulary to be taught:

- Form: pronunciation and spelling

- Grammar

- Collocation

- Aspects of meaning (1): denotation, connotation, appropriateness

- Aspects of meaning (2): meaning relationship

- Word formation

 Form: pronunciation and spelling

Penny Ur (1999, p.60) wrote that “in teaching we need to make sure that both

these aspects are accurately presented and learned.” Pronunciation refers to what the word sounds like and spelling refers to what the word looks like It is not difficult to remember the spelling of a word However, to pronounce correctly a word, learners

have to know well about pronunciation rules and word‟s stress

 Grammar

According Penny Ur (1999, p.60), “the grammar of a new item will need to be taught if this is not obviously covered by general grammatical rules An item may have an unpredictable change of form in certain grammatical contexts or may have some idiosyncratic way of connecting with other words in sentences; it is important to provide learners with this information at the same time as we teach the base form.”

There are several grammar features of a word that teachers should provide learners, including singular and plural forms, regularity and irregularity, transitiveness or intransitiveness

 Collocation

Collocation is another piece of information about a new item which it may be worth teaching It is a combination of words in a language that happens very often and more frequently than would happen by chance The dictionary of collocations is available, either by providing the whole collocation under one of the head-words Therefore, learners can learn new items as many as possible

 Aspects of meaning (1): denotation, connotation, appropriateness

Denotation is the meaning of a word what it refers to in the real world It is often given in dictionary For example, “dog” denotes a kind of animal which has four legs

“A less obvious component of the meaning of an item is its connotation: the associations, or positive or negative feelings it evokes, which may or may not be indicated in a dictionary definition” (Penny Ur, 1999, p.61) Therefore, connotational meaning is related to the attitudes of the language user, his emotional reaction For example, the word “dog” to the British, has positive connotations of friendship and loyalty whereas to the Arabic, has negative associations of dirt and inferiority

One more important aspect of meaning that often needs to be taught is appropriateness Penny Ur (1999, p.61) stated that “It is useful for a learner to know that a certain word is very common, or relatively rare, or “taboo” in polite conversation, or tends to be used in writing but not in speech, o r is more suitable for formal than informal discourse, or belongs to a certain dialect.”

From the above information, words have various types of meaning Therefore, teachers should consider and help learners use word items correctly in different contexts

 Aspects of meaning (2): meaning relationship

The fact is that words have meaning relationships with the others Learning meaning relationship is also considered as a good way to remember new words Therefore, “how the meaning of one item relates to the meaning of others can also be useful in teaching (Penny Ur, 1999, p.620) Teachers should use relationships between words in teaching vocabulary to deepen students‟ understanding of the new items, enhance students‟ lexical capacity and long-term retention Some main relationships between words are synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms, co-hyponyms or co-ordinates, superordinates and translation

 Word formation

“Vocabulary items, whether one-word or multi-word, can often be broken down into their components “bits” Exactly how these bits are put together is another piece of useful information” (Penny Ur, 1999, p.62) Actually, teachers can wish to teach the common prefixes and suffixes They also need to help learners know how to make a new vocabulary item by combining two words (two nouns, or a gerund and a noun, or

a noun and a verb

1.2 Vocabulary teaching strategies

Vocabulary is obviously a vital element within a language Words play a significant role in expressing our feelings, emotions, and opinions As a result, vocabulary teaching is one of the most important components of any language class It determines the success of learning a foreign language It has the goal to help learners not only to improve but also extend their vocabulary According to Nation (2001), teaching vocabulary should not only consist of teaching specific words but also aim at equipping learners with strategies necessary to expand their vocabulary knowledge Strategies that teachers use to teach vocabulary make language learning process

easier, faster, more enjoyable, more effective and more favorable Therefore, it is necessary to use teaching strategies in general and vocabulary teaching strategies in particular in a language class in order to help learners attain certain outcomes

B O Smith (1963) defined teaching as “a system of actions intended to induce learning” and a strategy as “a pattern of acts that serves to obtain certain outcomes and

to guard against certain others.”

In contrast to Strasser (1964), teaching strategy is a generalized plan for a lesson (s) which includes structure, desired learner behavior, in terms of the goals of the instruction and an outline of tactics necessary to implement the strategy

Based upon the term “teaching strategy”, we can see that vocabulary teaching strategies are actions taken by the teacher to teach or practice target vocabulary When vocabulary units need to be taught to students, teachers need to consider how to teach them Therefore, strategy is the way teachers are going to perform the teaching tasks There are several ways that teachers can use It can be a combination of different approaches, methods, and techniques All have the goal to help learners learn and keep a larger vocabulary

In brief, in this study, I suggest vocabulary teaching strategies refer to the selecting teaching approach, teaching methods, techniques, and activities in order to achieve vocabulary teaching objectives In other words, vocabulary teaching strategies

in my study can include approaches, methods, or techniques that teachers use to teach vocabulary to young learners

1.3 Review of some common methods associated with vocabulary teaching 1.3.1 The grammar translation method

According to Richards and Rodges (1986, p.5), “In the mid – and late nineteenth century, opposition to the Grammar translation method gradually developed in several European countries” This method focuses on translating grammatical forms, memorizing vocabulary, and learning rules It also aims at providing the students with a wide literary vocabulary in written exercises

However, there are a number of weak points of this method shown quite clearly

in terms of communicative goal According to Richards and Rodges (1986, p.3),

“vocabulary selection is based solely on the reading texts used, and words are taught through bilingual word lists, dictionary study, and memorization In a typical Grammar-Translation text, the grammar rules are presented and illustrated, a list of vocabulary items are presented with their translation equivalents, and translation exercises are prescribed” Therefore, students taught in this method are generally good

at grammar, reading, and translation skills but could hardly communicate in the target language

1.3.2 The Direct method

This method focuses on oral communication with speaking and listening Correct pronunciation and grammar are also emphasized Therefore, this method is very useful for teaching vocabulary In the Direct method, only everyday vocabulary and sentences are taught Teachers can teach concrete vocabulary through

demonstrations, objects, and pictures; abstract vocabulary by association of ideas

However, this method was perceived to have several drawbacks According to Richards and Rodges (1986, p.10), “it required teachers who were native speakers or who had native like fluency in the foreign language It was largely dependent on the teacher‟s skill, rather than on a textbook, and not all teachers were proficient enough

in the foreign language to adhere to the principles of the method.”

1.3.3 The Audio-lingual method

This method focuses on the ability of communication “Oral proficiency is equated with accurate pronunciation and grammar and the ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations The teaching of listening comprehension, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary are all related to development of oral fluency.” (Richards and Rodges, 1986, p.52)

In this method, dialogues and drills form the basis of audiolingual classroom practices Dialogues are used for repetition and memorization Correct pronunciation,

stress, rhythm, and intonation are emphasized Moreover, there is little or even no grammatical explanation Grammatical patterns in the dialogue are selected and become the focus of various kinds of drill and pattern – practice exercises

1.3.4 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

According to Richards (2006, p.2), CLT “can be understood as a set of principles about the goals of language teaching, how learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning and the roles of teachers and learners in the classroom.” In addition, CLT “sets as its goal the teaching of communicative competence”

This method stresses the significance of language functions rather than focusing solely on grammar and vocabulary In addition, “activities in CLT typically involve students in real or realistic communication, where the accuracy of the language they use is less important than successful achievement of the communicative task they are performing” (Harmer, p.85)

1.3.5 Post – methods

1.3.5.1 Total Physical Response (TPR)

The general objectives of TPR are to teach oral proficiency at a beginning level However, learners need to develop listening competence before they develop the ability to speak Accordingly, learners are acquired to respond physically to spoken language in the form of parental commands Language processing is thus matched with physical actions Therefore, imperative drills are the major classroom activity in TPR Role plays and slide presentations are also included

As cited in the book “Approaches and methods in language teaching” by Richards and Rodges (1986, p 88), James Asher, the originator of TPR, stated that

“most of the grammatical structure of the target language and hundreds of vocabulary items can be learned from the skillful use of the imperative by the instructor”

Although certain features of TPR have had an influence, “the experimental support for the effectiveness of TPR is sketchy (as it is for most methods) and

typically deals with only the very beginning stages of learning” (Richards and Rodges,

1986, p 97) As a result, TPR may appropriate for beginner learners Therefore, it should be included together with other methods and techniques

1.3.5.2 The Silent way

According to Richards and Rodges (1986, p.99), the Silent way “is based on the premise that the teacher should be silent as much as possible in the classroom and the learner should be encouraged to produce as much language as possible” Caleb Gattegno, who devised this method, believed that learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates language rather than remembers or repeats what has been taught The Silent Way adopts a basically structural syllabus, with lessons planned around grammatical items and related vocabulary Normally, pronunciation is the first part focused on in a lesson The teacher will silently point individual symbols and combinations of symbols and monitor student utterances After the sounds of the language are solved, sentence patterns, structure, and vocabulary are practiced

In brief, “the Silent Way teacher, like the complete dramatist, writes the script, chooses the props, sets the mood, models the action, designates the players, and is critic for the performance” (Richards and Rodges (1986, p.107)

However, according to Harmer (p.89), “To some, the Silent way has seemed somewhat inhuman with the teacher‟s silence acting as a barrier rather than an incentive” The responsibility placed upon students under the controlling but indirect influence of the teacher to acquire the language

1.3.5.3 Community Language Learning (CLL)

CLL is most often used in the teaching of oral proficiency Richards and Rodges (1986, p.119) pointed that “CLL does not use a conventional language syllabus, which sets out in advance the grammar, vocabulary, and other language items to be taught and the order in which they will be covered” In CLL, learners become members of a community – their fellow learners and the teacher They learn through interacting with other members

A circle is formed in a CLL class The teacher stands outside the circle Each learner says something in his own language The teacher then gives him the English equivalent for him to use so that he can say his message to another learner in the circle When learners feel confident to express their target language, they are put in lines facing each other for pair work discussion In addition, messages‟ students can

be recorded in order to replay and analyze then

In short, teachers in a CLL class are considered as counselors They help their students achieve what they want, and provide a safe environment for them to learn and grow Therefore, “this job is to “facilitate” rather than to “teach”.” (Harmer, p 88)

1.3.5.4 Suggestopedia

According Richards and Rodges (1986, p 142), “the most conspicuous characteristics of Suggestopedia are the decoration, furniture, and arrangement of the classroom, the use of music, and the authoritative behavior of the teacher” All of these are to ensure that learners are comfortable, confident and relaxed when taking part in a class

In a Suggestopedia lesson, learners are firstly took part in an oral review section in which previously learnt material is used for discussion In this part, grammar, vocabulary, and precise questions and answers are paid more attention to After that, new dialogue material and its native language translation is presented and discussed The dialogue is the central focus of each unit It is presented with an accompanying vocabulary list and grammatical commentary Finally, in the third part

- the seance or concert session - learners listen to the music coming from a recorder while the teacher reads or recites a new text in a harmonic way with the music phrases There are several minutes of solemn silence during the phrases At the end, the students silently leave the room without doing any homework

Although “Suggestopedia has probably received both the most enthusiastic and the most critical response of any of the so-called new methods” (Richards and Rodges,

1986, p 152), it is now accepted as an important method of teaching It is the fact that

techniques and procedures in Suggestopedia may prove useful in a language classroom

In conclusion, there are several methods used to teach English in general and vocabulary in particular It is important that the teachers know what methods are appropriate to their learners with different age groups

1.4 Teaching English to young learners

We all know that learners are one of the key determinants in teaching and learning process They affect directly the success of a lesson Therefore, teachers need

to know clearly who learners are, what the learners‟ language learning needs, language competences as well as the cognitive skills are Understanding learners‟ characteristics according to their age or grade level helps teachers apply appropriate methods in teaching Especially, a young learner class is different from a teenager or

an adult class In addition, children also differ from each other in their class because every one year of age makes a big difference in learning something

According to Ersoz (2007), there are three classes or groups of young learners, which are very young learners (age 3-6 years old), young learners (7-9 years old), and older/late young learners (10-12 years old) Each group has specific characteristics as well as language skills used

(From http://ocw.metu.ed u.tr/file.php/79/Week_I_Who_are_Young_Learners.pdf)

The above grouping reflects the EFL teaching environment and the learners of

English in the primary education in Turkey In comparison, learners of different age

groups in Vietnam have characteristics and skills used as mostly the same as learners

in Turkey Only one thing I think it is different from Vietnam Grammar is always

paid much attention to As a result, children sometimes have to learn grammar early

In the age group of 7-9 years old in Vietnam, in addition to chunks through songs and

classroom language, learners are also taught simple grammar so that they can read and

write short and simple passages Normally, learners are acquainted with simple

grammar from 8 years old It is clearly shown in English centers in Vietnam including

the English center where I conduct my study

Basing on grouping in the EFL teaching environment and the learners of

English in the primary education in Turkey, the researcher suggested the classification

of Vietnamese young learners according to age group In addition, vocabulary

teaching strategies which seem to be suitable for each group are attached

This following table is considered as a guideline for my study

Very young learners Young learners Older/ Late young

learners Age 3-6 years old 7-9 years old 10-12 years old

Grade Pre-school Education 1st – 3rd grade 4th – 6th grade

be exposed to chunks through songs, classroom language)

- No reading & writing

- Listening & speaking -Vocabulary Items:

(concrete, familiar and new objects)

- Simple grammar teaching

- Learn how to read and

- Listening/ Speaking/ Reading/ Writing

- Vocabulary Items (concrete & abstract)

- Grammar (inductive)

short words) level)

- Love stories, fantasy, imagination, art, drawing, and coloring

-Low concentration span:

wide variety of activities needed

-Short memory: frequent frequent revision is needed

-Logical-analytical:

Asking questions

- Problems in sharing in group work

- Developing confidence

in expressing themselves

- Developing world knowledge

- Limited motor skills (left-right)

- Reasonable amount of input

- Love stories, fantasy, imagination, drawing &

coloring

- Longer attention span but still children

- Taking learning seriously

- World knowledge

- More cooperation in groups and in pairs

- Developed social, motor and intellectual skills

- Learning strategies are used and developing

Vocabular

y teaching

strategies

-Visual teaching strategies (the use of real objects or video; pictures, photos, flashcards, slides, wallcharts, posters;

mines, gestures, body actions, facial expressions, …)

- Auditory teaching

-Visual teaching strategies

- Auditory teaching

-Visual teaching strategies

- Auditory teaching

strategies (imitation of

sound; using hearing aids,

video, music, songs,

rhymes, chants)

- Verbal strategies

(translation)

- The teacher‟s modeling

of the target word

- The teacher‟s modeling

of the target word

- Written repetition

- Contextualization (dialogues, role-play)

- Using vocabulary exercises (to practice vocabulary)

strategies

- Verbal strategies (translation, definition, exemplification)

- The teacher‟s modeling

of the target word

- Story-telling

- Using vocabulary exercises

- Strategy training strategies (to teach learners strategies for independent

vocabulary learning like guessing from context, word-building,

dictionary use and keeping vocabulary notes)

1.5 An overview of PoPoDoo English center in Ha Noi

1.5.1 Introduction

PoPoDoo English center has established and developed for more than 7 years It

is widely available in many provinces of Vietnam such as Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang At the present, PoPoDoo English center becomes one of the reliable addresses in teaching English for young learners from 3 to 12 years old

In term of teacher, there are about 7 or 8 teachers in each branch of PoPoDoo Most of them are full – time teachers All graduated from university Some of them have the degree of Bachelor in English teaching methodology, and some are in English language They are mostly women, aged from 22 to 30 All of them are enthusiastic with their teaching career Each teacher can responsible for from three to six classes, including classes of learners of three groups mentioned above: very young learners (3-6 years old), young learners (7-9 years old), and older/later young learners (10-12 years old)

In term of infrastructure, PoPoDoo is a modern English center with 5 or 6 classroom in each branch All classes are well equipped with enough facilities such as boards, tables, chairs, lights, speakers, laptops and projectors Especially, there is one

IT board in each room so that learners can interact with it in their learning The fact is that IT board is one of the things that learners are attracted to from the first lesson In addition, the classrooms are big enough for learners to have physical movements and activities They are decorated colorfully and brightly

1.5.2 Teaching program

PoPoDoo uses the exclusive book set There are two kinds of book They are Phonics Book, and PoPoDoo Book with the CDs, CD- Rooms and DVDs The featured characteristics of PoPoDoo book set are presented as follow:

- It is suitable for Asian children psychology

- The content is classified according to topics

- Lessons are developed basing on characters‟ psychological movements

- Cartoon characters are personified

- Learners are taught natural pronunciation from A to Z, and are taught directly according to the mother tongue method

- Multiple songs and verses are used

- A lot of games and activities are presented in one unit

- Grammar is analyzed clearly and comparatively

- Multimedia teaching method is used: book, television, online learning and extracurricular activities

Recently, the book set “Family and Friends” is also in use It supports well for developing all 4 skills of language (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) Especially, it makes learners get involved in drilling to get the international certificate

in Cambridge Young Learners English (YLE) Tests with 3 levels: Starters, Movers, and Flyers

Normally, a lesson at PoPoDoo English center is conducted with the following basic parts Firstly, learners are taught natural pronunciation from A to Z in association with vocabulary teaching Secondly, simple structures or grammatical phenomena are solved While teaching these parts, language skills are practised Especially, contents are reviewed and consolidated by lots of useful activities with the support of different materials In one lesson, vocabulary is one of the focused parts in most of teaching-learning time Therefore, knowing lots of vocabulary items becomes one of learners‟ strengths at PoPoDoo English center

1.6 Concluding remarks

In this chapter, I have been concerned with some key knowledge related to my thesis I have presented several definitions of vocabulary, its roles in teaching and learning a foreign language, and some aspects of vocabulary to be taught In addition, some common methods as well as approaches associated with vocabulary teaching are also recommended Moreover, I have also given some information about teaching English to young learners Classification of young learners according to their age with their characteristics, their language competence, as well as their cognitive skills is shown clearly The last point is that I have given an overview of the center where I conducted my study I personally believe that understanding these things may help me have a better analysis in next chapters

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 Participants

The process of data collection involved the participation of teachers and students

at PoPoDoo English center As mentioned in “Literature review” part, there are several provinces such as Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang where PoPoDoo is located However, only teachers in Ha Noi participate in this study because of the distance reason

There are several PoPoDoo branches in Ha noi, such as My Dinh, Thuy Khue, Hoang Ngan, and Dong Da About 30 teachers participated in the study All of them have Bachelor degrees They are from 22 to 30 years of age Some of them have at least 1-year teaching experience, and some have just graduated from universities Each teacher is responsible for four or five classes, including both classes of learners from 3 to 6 years old and classes of learners from 7 to 12 years old

In addition, 45 students also participated in the study They are of different age groups Each age group consists of 15 students

2.2 Data collection instruments

In order to get sufficiently reliable and valid data for the study, questionnaire and interviews were employed

The questionnaire was the major data collection instrument The purposes were to find

out how teachers teach vocabulary in the classroom and differences in using vocabulary teaching strategies to different age groups of learners

The data from the interview helped to clarify and complement the information from questionnaire in order to offer the researcher an insight into the issue Especially, the interview data showed what strategies teachers and learners most preferred

2.2.1 Questionnaire

In order to collect data for the study, survey questionnaire was chosen The questionnaire was designed to find out how teachers teach vocabulary in the classroom and differences in using vocabulary teaching strategies to different age groups of learners

To be specific, the questionnaire for teachers consisted of two parts as follow:

The first part contained two questions to seek information about the teachers‟ attitude towards English vocabulary teaching and using strategies in teaching English vocabulary to the young learners

The second part focused on strategies teachers use to teach vocabulary to young learners at PoPoDoo English center Vocabulary teaching strategies were listed according to three phases: Presentation, Practice, and Production Each phase was divided into two types: strategies basing on learning styles and strategies basing on activating prior knowledge In fact, different learners have different learning styles When learners are taught by using strategies consistent with their learning styles, they learn more easily, faster, and can retain and apply concepts more readily to future learning In addition, learners sometimes need to use their prior knowledge to access new information Therefore, I decided to investigate vocabulary teaching strategies basing on the two points: learning styles, and activating prior knowledge

For more detail, a table of vocabulary teaching strategies in survey questionnaire is provided below:

Presentation Learning styles 1 -> 6 6

Activating prior knowledge 7 -> 11 5 Practice Learning styles 12 -> 16 5

Activating prior knowledge 17 -> 21 5 Production Learning styles 22 -> 24 3

Activating prior knowledge 25 -> 28 4

Table 2: Vocabulary teaching strategies in the questionnaire

Generally, in terms of content, all the questions in questionnaire set were to solve the research questions

2.2.2 Interview

The purpose of using the interview was to verify whether or not some of the information obtained from the questionnaire was accurate, and to elicit more reliable information from the interviewees as they were invited to tell the researcher in a face

to face communication about what they did in teaching vocabulary

Two sets of interview questions were designed, one for teachers and the other for learners

For teachers, the researcher employed semi-structured interview It had similar contents with the questionnaire to crosscheck the responses drawn through the questionnaire To be specific, the interview for teachers consisted of four questions It was set and conducted with 15 teachers The first three questions had similar contents with the questionnaire The last question aimed at exploring strategies which were most preferred by teachers to use in teaching vocabulary to each age group of learners For young learners, the interview was designed in Vietnamese to make sure that all understood and completed all the questions In addition, it was easier for young learners to express their ideas The responses were then translated into English by the researcher with cross checking with the interviewees

2.3 Procedure of data collection

The data collection went through two major phases: delivering questionnaire, and interviewing

2.3.1 Phase 1

Vocabulary teaching strategies survey questionnaires were distributed to 30 teachers

of different branches of PoPoDoo English center They were asked to return the questionnaire after 1 day The researcher made sure that the instructions were explained carefully for thorough understanding

on key points and important information

With learners, the interviews were recorded During the interview, the researcher took notes on important points which were useful for later transcription of the tape

Afterwards, transcripts of interview were translated and analyzed according to the research questions

2.4 Data analysis methods

The data which were gathered from teachers and learners through questionnaire, and interviews would be classified according to the research questions It was analyzed, interpreted and discussed accordingly Responses were calculated and transferred into numerical forms Then, the data was presented in the forms of tables

to facilitate the synthesis, comparison and generalization of the data

In conclusion, Chapter 2 describes the research methodology for the present study Participants, data collection instruments, procedure of data collection, and data analysis methods are described in detail Chapter 3 presents a comprehensive analysis

of the collected data from the questionnaire and interview and a discussion on the findings of this study

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter gives a presentation of the findings from the quantitative results of the survey questionnaire and the qualitative results from the interview respectively

After that, a discussion according to the research questions is presented

3.1 Findings

3.1.1 Analysis of data obtained through questionnaire

3.1.1.1 Teachers’ attitude towards using strategies in teaching English

vocabulary to young learners

The first part of the questionnaire consisted of two statements to seek information about the teachers‟ attitude towards vocabulary teaching and using strategies in teaching vocabulary to young learners

Statement 1: I think vocabulary teaching in English teaching is:

Very important Important Quite

important

Not very important

Unimportant

No Percent No Percent No Percent No Percent No Percent

19 63.3% 8 26.7% 3 10% 0 0% 0 0%

Table 3: Teachers’ attitude towards English vocabulary teaching

From Table 3, it was found that the majority of the teachers assented to the importance

of vocabulary teaching in English teaching The result showed that 63.3% of the teachers stated that vocabulary teaching in English teaching is “very important” and 26.7% of the teachers thought that it is “important” On the other hand, 10% of the teachers regarded vocabulary teaching as “quite important” Finally, no one reported that vocabulary teaching is “not very important” and “unimportant”

Statement 2: Using strategies in teaching English vocabulary to young learners is:

Very necessary Necessary Quite

necessary

Not very necessary

Unnecessary

No Percent No Percent No Percent No Percent No Percent

21 70% 9 30% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%

Table 4: Teachers’ attitude towards using strategies in teaching English

vocabulary to young learners

From Table 4, it can be seen that all the teachers were aware of the necessity of using

strategies in teaching vocabulary to the young learners Most of the teachers stated

that using strategies in teaching vocabulary to the young learners is “very necessary”,

with the percentage of 70% The rest of the teachers thought it is “necessary” with the

percentage of 30%

In conclusion, the majority of the teachers recognized the importance of vocabulary

teaching in English teaching and the necessity of using strategies in teaching

vocabulary to the young learners

3.1.1.2 Teaching English vocabulary to young learners at PoPoDoo English

center

The second part of the questionnaire focused on strategies teachers use to teach

vocabulary to young learners at PoPoDoo English center On the one hand, the results

from this part answered the overall research question On the other hand, the answer to

the first sub-research question “are there any differences in the strategies used with

learners in different age groups?” was shown

In this part, the researcher presented and analyzed the results from the questionnaire

according to three phases: Presentation, Practice, and Production Each phase was

divided into two parts according to the strategies of learning styles, and activating

prior knowledge

3.1.1.2.1 Teachers’ responses to using vocabulary teaching strategies in

Presentation phase

Basing on learning styles:

For age group 3-6:

Items Always Usually Often Sometimes Rarely Never Total

No % No % No % No % No % No % No %

1 25 83.33 5 16.67 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 30 100

2 7 23.33 10 33.33 7 23.33 0 0 3 10 3 10 30 99.99