Dạy từ vựng cho học sinh nhỏ tuổi nhận thức và thực hành của giáo viên việt nam dạy tiếng anh ở bậc tiểu học tt tiếng anh

As teaching vocabulary to language learners, especially to young language learners, has been proved to be critical to their language acquisition, the overall aim of this research is; the

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, early English education has become one of the increasing demands in ASEAN nations In Vietnam, English has been decided to be become a compulsory subject to third graders upwards and optional downwards at schools since 2020 while formal primary English language teacher education has remained scarce at universities and colleges

As teaching vocabulary to language learners, especially to young language learners, has been proved to be critical to their language acquisition, the overall aim of this research is; therefore, to investigate Vietnamese EFL teachers‟ perceptions and their practice of teaching vocabulary in elementary school settings in four provinces in Central Vietnam

To answer the research questions, the investigation employed a quantitative and qualitative approach through a questionnaire among 206 primary teachers in Central Vietnam, 20 videotaped observations of 20 full class visits and 05 recorded teacher interviews to explore their perceptions and assess their teaching practice After comparison and contrast of the observation and the questionnaire data were made, a few existing peculiarities were further examined to verify teacher interview data The triangulated data results are surprisingly revealing in many essential aspects

of vocabulary instruction, ranging from selecting vocabulary, teaching vocabulary directly and indirectly, explaining vocabulary meanings, teaching vocabulary through skills in various teaching phases in class Hopefully, the findings of the study have provided an insightful understanding of vocabulary teaching practices in the primary school settings in Vietnam From these empirical findings, relevant implications are suggested for better vocabulary instruction to young learners in Vietnam

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of primary English education in Asia and in Vietnam

This section features the general background of primary English teaching and learning (PELT) in Asia and Vietnam by reviewing research and work conducted by both international scholars (e.g Halliwell, 1992; Nikolov, 2002; Moon, 2005; McKay, 2008; Wray & Medwell, 2008; Nikolov, 2009; Garton, et al., 2011) and Vietnamese researchers (e.g Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa & Nguyen Quoc Tuan, 2008; Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa, 2011; Pham Thi Hong Nhung, 2013; Le Van Canh and Do Mai Chi, 2013; Mai Vu Trang & Pham Thi Thanh Thuy, 2014; Pham Thi Hong Nhung, 2015; Le Van Canh & Nguyen Thi Ngoc, 2017), from which major issues and gaps are highlighted in EFL teacher education and language planning due to the overgrowth of EFL pupil populations in comparison with the primary EFL teaching staff in Vietnam and need addressing

1.2 Research rationale

The above global and regional impacts - the development of science, high technology, education and the global popularity of English expanding their influence on primary English learning and teaching - have urged Vietnam to promote innovations in language planning and policy for world integration through a Circular 7274/BGDĐT-GDĐH dated 31/10/2012 on the National Foreign Languages Project 2020 issued from MOET in conjunction with the British Council (Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa & Nguyen Quoc Tuan, 2008; Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa, 2011; Pham Thi Hong Nhung, 2015) Additionally, as

a teacher trainer at Quynhon University, where PELT is not included in English teacher education, the institutional and individual demands have urged a professional development need to investigate into the area

1.5 Research significance

The research significance involves three values - providing insightful understanding of the surveyed teachers‟ perceptions and their real practice in vocabulary instruction to YLLs, presenting evidence-based findings in answer to the two questions and suggesting practical modifications in the area

1.6 Structure of the thesis

The thesis is structured in five chapters

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Definitions of the key terms

2.1.1 Young learners

“Young (language) learners” in this paper refers to Vietnamese EFL

children of 8-11 years of age ranging from third graders upwards

2.1.2 Vocabulary

Vocabulary, synonymous to words, is defined as the collection of meaningful chunks including single words or multi-unit words – collocations, set expressions and idioms

2.1.3 Perceptions of teaching vocabulary to YLLs

In this research, perception will be used to refer to their intention,

recognition and understanding of their teaching behaviours in teaching vocabulary to learners of this age group

2.1.4 Practice of teaching vocabulary to YLLs

In this research both practice and practices are interchanged to mean

any verbal or non-verbal teaching behaviours, teaching activities, techniques

or procedures that are systematically and deliberately conducted in EFL primary classes so as to develop YLLs‟ English vocabulary

2.2 Young language learners’ characteristics

The features of YLLs have been categorized in terms of readiness for schooling (Nunan, 2011), intellectual development (McKay, 2006), affective learning (Pinter, 2006) and preferential physical activities (Moon, 2000) Along with the above common features, in spite of few articles about Vietnamese primary learners‟ characteristics, the brief overview of Vietnamese cultures (Tran Quoc Vuong, 2003; Tran Ngoc Them, 2006) hopefully may shed light on the Vietnamese children‟s features - obedience, attachment to extended family kinship, age respect, more listening than asking questions

2.3 Child language acquisition and learning

2.3.1 Vygotsky’s guidelines in child language deveplopment

Vygotsky„s social constructivist theory (1978) is employed in this study to illuminate the key principles in PELT, the development of scientific concepts in childhood and socio-cultural interaction, and highlight the critical role of vocabulary in child language development

2.3.2 Child first language acquisition and learning

As stated earlier about YLLs‟ characteristics, their first language acquisition has been hypothesized through a large amount of oral input for comprehension and daily interactions (Cameron, 2001; Linse, 2005; Pinter, 2010) A quick overview of L1 experience from oracy to literacy third graders undergo for concept accumulation before their FL learning could be seen through the analyses of Vietnamese textbooks (MOET, 2014)

2.3.3 Child foreign language learning

In this section, from YLLs‟ path to L1, the process of children learning foreign languages by Cameron (2001) and Pinter (2010) was referred to emphasize a priority of oral language over reading and writing and vocabulary focus

Figure 2.1: Child foreign language learning 2.4 Foreign language teaching approaches, methods and techniques for YLLs

In the combination of FL learning and acquisition for communication, Cameron (2001), Linse (2005), Pinter (2010) and Nunan (2011) emphasized that “the essence of language is meaning and vocabulary is the heart of language” (p 36) and suggested the inclusion of several teaching methods What PELT researchers share in common with Nation‟s study is the importance of teaching vocabulary to young learners

2.5 Child foreign language vocabulary learning and teaching

2.5.1 The importance of vocabulary in early foreign language learning

Several systematic reviews (Cameron, 2001; Graves, 2013 and Silverman & Hartranft, 2015) of the importance vocabulary have been undertaken as a tool for YLLs‟ verbal ability, reading, concept accumulation, thinking, and communication skills

2.5.2 Factors influencing young learners’ vocabulary learning

In reference with word learning burdens (Nation, 1990) along with many primary researchers namely Nikolov (2009), Cameron (2001), Linse (2005), Pinter (2010), the essential similarities and differences between Nation‟s vocabulary theory (1990) and PELT theories have been clarified - influential factors, vocabulary focus versus learners‟ responsibilities and learning strategies, from which the primary teacher‟s roles were taken into consideration

2.6 Teaching vocabulary

In this section, the main theoretical guidelines and good practice in teaching vocabulary to young learners are addressed on the basis of our critical review of relevant literature

2.6.1 Selecting vocabulary for instruction

According to Cameron (2001), Linse (2005) and Pinter (2010), as YLLs develop oracy before literacy, “selecting the types of words that children find possible to learn” may prioritize oral vocabulary in chunks for YLLs to be initially engaged in communication and then textbook vocabulary pools in connection with the teacher‟s understanding

2.6.2 Direct and indirect teaching

As stated earlier in 2.2, YLLs are affective learners, it is essential to incorporate direct teaching with motivating contextualizing (Halliwell, 1992; Cameron, 2001), simple and basic explanation, and offering modeling

(Silverman & Hartranft, 2015) and indirect teaching involving visual incidental learning (Cameron, 2001; Slattery, 2011), extended reading (Graves, 2013) and self-discovery guide (Silverman & Hartranft, 2015)

2.6.3 Explaining vocabulary meanings

To YLLs who count meanings first (Cameron, 2001), several basic teaching principles were considered including translating (Nation, 1990; Cameron, 2001), semantic connections (Cameron, 2001; Hedge, 2008), specific-abstract progression (Cameron, 2001), connections with child-friendly language experiences, topical connections and multisensory learning (Cameron, 2001)

2.6.4 Developing vocabulary through skills for communication

From the purpose of FL learning and acquisition for communication, teaching children differs from teaching older learners or adults in a way that several guidelines involve teaching phonic skills (Nunan, 2011), oracy and literacy skills (Cameron, 2001; Nunan, 2011), teaching vocabulary chunks to develop grammar skills (Cameron, 2001), differentiation with multimedia support (Silverman & Hartranft, 2015)

2.6.5 Conducting vocabulary teaching procedures

As YLLs are good imitators, their learning is certainly influenced by the teacher in staging or sequencing teaching activities Nation (2000, p 107) defined vocabulary teaching procedures as procedures to ensure that words are repeated and that various aspects of what is involved in knowing a word are covered by contextualizing meaningfully (Cameron, 2001), presenting meaning prior to use and form (Cameron, 2001; Silverman & Hartranft, 2015), reinforcing, and personalizing (Linse, 2005; Nunan, 2011) are sequenced at the PPP model

2.7 Previous studies

A wide range of published articles on teaching vocabulary to YLLs were critically reviewed in the school context of Asian countries and in Vietnam The section also documents the theoretical foundation with

essential principles in the area and at the same time provides several research methods in the literature as a platform for the next chapter

2.8 Chapter summary

In a nutshell, the review of the above scholarly vocabulary studies and the previous published articles has steered various directions in teaching vocabulary

to young learners highlighting its importance Yet, a systematic understanding

of how primary teachers perceive and practise teaching vocabulary to young learners during their full class happenings is still lacking Taking from this position, the current study was conducted to filled the identified gap in the literature

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research design

In this study, a quantitative method with a questionnaire was secondary

to a qualitative approach with observations and interviews in answer to the two research questions The observations played a critical transitional role for the following reasons - a smooth transitional data mixing, realistic teaching and evidence-based findings

Table 3.1: Research Design Mixed Method Approach

3.2 Research participants

The surveyed subjects were 206 primary EFL teachers from four provinces in Central Vietnam (Binhdinh, Danang, Gialai and Kontum) Of the respondents, 86% were female teachers aged 21-40 (only 8 males out of 206) As for their English proficiency, their levels ranged from A2 (7), B1

(31), B2 (123), C1 (10), and the rest kept their language proficiency unrevealed (35)

3.3 The role of the researcher

As an inside researcher, several principles suggested by Borg (2006), Barnard & Burns (2012) were followed without any intervention and in the priority of the semi-structured observations prior to the questionnaire for naturalistic teaching coupled with the technically processed questionnaire for objectivity and universality and semi-structured interviews for truth revelation by the participants

3.4 Research procedure and administration

For validity and reliability of the research, the sequential procedure of the data collection in the quantitative-qualitative approach is chronologically presented in the order – observation, questionnaire and teacher interview

3.5 Research instruments

This section gives a summary of data collection methods in details with three instruments in the research design, their purposes, participant populations, response formats and their data types

3.5.1 Questionnaire

On the basis of Nation‟s vocabulary theory and the reviewed research

of teaching vocabulary to YLLs by Cameron (2005), Linse (2005), Pinter (2010) Nunan (2011) and Silverman & Hartranft (2015), the questionnaire was built with its reviewed coding scheme to collect numerical data among

206 primary teachers involving five aspects of teaching vocabulary to YLLs

- vocabulary selection, direct and indirect vocabulary teaching techniques, communicating vocabulary meaning, teaching vocabulary through skills for communication and conducting teaching procedures

3.5.1.1 Questionnaire structure

The official questionnaire was structured in 3 parts (Appendix 1) First was a cover letter involving the purpose of the survey, participants‟

demographic and professional background and a questionnaire with 26 carefully reworded items about teaching vocabulary to YLLs

3.5.1.2 Pilot questionnaires

The official questionnaire has been twice piloted The contributions of the two pilot questionnaires highlighted a need to address more critically how to teach vocabulary through its basic elements - meanings, use in contexts and forms in direct and indirect child-friendly approaches instead of the importance of teaching vocabulary or teaching vocabulary in general

3.5.2 Classroom observation

Each of the 20 videotaped observations was twice observed and transcribed for inter-observer agreement or inter-coding (Wrag, 1999, p.113), chronologically detailed for subsequent reference and descriptively transcribed both verbal and non-verbal teaching behaviours as the observed classes progressed in full length

3.5.2.1 Video recording

Video recording was chosen in this research for the following reasons – on-going preparation for the questionnaire administration, full capture of the participants‟ verbal and non-verbal teaching behaviours in 20 full class visits, convenient comparison and contrast or reference and realistic presentations

3.5.2.2 Observation checklist

As Wragg (1999) assumed that observers can quantify what happens in the classroom and “quantities can be informative, especially when these are related to intentions” (p 20), a checklist was built on the coding frame of the observation transcripts for frequency and emergence counts of verbal and non-verbal vocabulary teaching activities, techniques and procedures The checklist was adapted from a ready-made vocabulary teaching classroom observation (Sostaka, 2000, p 31) and restructured 20 observations on the reviewed framework as a full class progressed (see Appendix 2)

3.5.2.3 Pilot videotaped observation

The pilot class observation was the very first video class observation Its contributions to the subsequent ones were careful preparations for technical videotaping equipment, the observer‟s informal talks to the observed teachers to clear their tension and to the young classes to study as usual to ensure naturally occurring classes, the video recorder‟s positions for the teacher‟s activities and learners to capture for live data and careful descriptions with limited intervention

3.5.3 Interviews

The third instrument, phone teacher interviews among five participants, were conducted with careful ethical considerations to verify a few existing peculiarities

3.5.3.1 Pilot interview

Prior to official interviews, a 10-minute interview was piloted in a group of the 5 randomly chosen teachers; however, it was too difficult to quantify or qualify the interviewing data partly because it was too challenging for the interviewees to take turns in giving opinions Some seemed to be eager to talk while others just kept silent and listened and partly because the background effects were too noisy for in-depth sharing The biggest contribution of the interviews was a reminder to work out for individual phone recording of good quality for subsequent reference without geographical barriers

3.5.3.2 Official interview

To clear the above hurdles, the interviews were individually scheduled with careful technical preparations, the semi-structured interview questions sent in advance and self-reflection upon their linked prior teaching without any intervention from the researcher

3.6 Data analyses

This section dealt with data processing and analyses each of the three above instruments took on ranging their coding schemes, the inferential

statistics they attempted to seek for and their significance levels for objectivity, naturalistic practice, universality in order to strengthen one another for validity and reliability

3.7 Ethical considerations

For each instrument of the three, relevant ethical considerations were clarified such as both the teachers‟ and their pupils‟ full consent, negotiation for natural video recordings, anxiety clearance and confidential confirmation

3.8 Research reliability and validity

3.8.1 Research reliability

An explanation about internal consistency reliability of the questionnaire through the Cronbach‟s alpha coefficients and the Corrected Item-Total Correlation (Gass & Mackey, 2010), or the necessary preparations for video recorded semi-structured observations, inter-coder agreement for data processing (Creswell, 2009) coupled with 05 teacher semi-structured interviews on the research framework of five aspects of vocabulary teaching to YLLs

3.8.2 Research validity

Along with reliability for consistency in research design, validity refers

to the findings of the research that were validated by the theoretical foundations of Cameron (2001), Linse (2005), Pinter (2010), Nunan (2011) and Silverman & Hartranft (2015) in reference with Nation (1990, 2001, 2008) along with the findings in the relevant articles on vocabulary instruction to YLLs

3.9 Chapter summary

To sum up, the chapter has included the overview of the research design, administration, the ethnological information about the participants, the researcher‟s role, three instruments for data processing to address the two research questions on primary teachers‟ perceptions of teaching vocabulary

to YLLs and their teaching practice for validity and reliability