Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards using language games to teach vocabulary a study at a primary school in hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES HOÀNG THỊ NGA TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS USING

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

HOÀNG THỊ NGA

TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS USING LANGUAGE GAMES TO TEACH VOCABULARY:

A STUDY AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN HANOI

(Quan điểm của giáo viên và học sinh đối với việc sử dụng trò chơi trong việc dạy từ vựng: một nghiên cứu tại một trường tiểu học tại Hà Nội)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

MAJOR: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

CODE: 8140231.01

SUPERVISOR: PROF HOÀNG VĂN VÂN

HANOI - 2020

DECLARATION

I, Hoang Thi Nga, state that the minor thesis, entitled “Teachers’

and students’ attitudes towards using language games to teach vocabulary: a study at a primary school in Hanoi” is my own research

result and that it has not been submitted for any other universities and institutes

Hanoi, 2020 Student‟s signature

Hoàng Thị Nga

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof Hoàng Văn Vân, my supervisor for his invaluable advice During this thesis writing period, he provided much helpful guidance and encouragement Without constructive criticism, precious correction, my thesis could not have been completed

My thanks also go to all of the lecturers and staff of the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable lectures and useful materials

I am also thankful to all the English teachers and students at Van Con Primary School for answering the questionnaires, which are indispensable for the analysis and discussion in my study

Last but not least, my hearted thanks are reserved for my family and friends for their love and support that have encouraged me a lot in conducting this thesis

ABSTRACT

The current study aims at helping fifth-grade students at a primary school in Hanoi to improve their vocabulary learning through language games The school chosen for the study is Van Con Primary School in Hanoi The quantitative and qualitative methods are employed for the study Therefore, it is an attempt to investigate the teachers and students‟ attitudes towards using language games to teach vocabulary The subjects

of the study are 05 English teachers and 106 fifth-grade students (03 classes) from Van Con Primary School in Hanoi The data have been gathered via survey questionnaires for both the teachers and students and informal interviews only for the teachers The first finding indicates the majority of the teachers and students have positive attitudes when applying language games to teach vocabulary The second finding is that most of the teachers have applied different types of sources of word games in teaching vocabulary However, there are some certain limitations They mainly use language games to present new words but not really call interest from their students or motivate them in learning new words This means that they have not yet made advantage of its potentials The final finding shows some possible difficulties faced by the teachers and the students when using language games to teach and learn vocabulary

Based on the findings, some recommendations, it is hopeful that the study can be support to the teachers and students at Van Con Primary School for reference to teach and learn vocabulary more effectively

TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages

DECLARATION……… i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……… ii

ABSTRACT……… iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS……… iv

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES……… vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION……… 1

1 Rational of the study……… 1

2 Aim and objectives of the study……… 2

3 Research questions……… 2

4 Scope of the study……… 2

5 Methods of the study……… 3

6 Significance of the study……… 4

7 Structure of the study……… 5

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW……… 6

2.1 Attitudes in teaching and learning foreign language……… 6

2.1.1 Definition of attitude……… 6

2.1.2 The role of attitude in language learning……… 7

2.2 Games in teaching and learning language……… 8

2.2.1 Definition of language games……… 8

2.2.2 Types of language games……… 10

2.2.3 Benefits in using language games to teach vocabulary…… 12

2.3 Vocabulary in teaching and learning language……… 15

2.3.1 Definition of vocabulary……… 15

2.3.2 The role of vocabulary in language learning……… 16

2.3.3 Techniques to teach vocabulary through games……… 17

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……… 20

3.1 Context of the study……… 20

3.1.1 The textbook……… 20

3.1.2 The subjects……… 20

3.2 Data collection instruments and procedures……… 21

3.2.1 Instruments……… 21

3.2.2 Procedures……… 24

3.3 Summary 24 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION………… 26

4.1 Teachers’ attitudes towards the use of language games in teaching vocabulary………

26 4.2 Students’ attitudes towards the use of language games in learning vocabulary………

34 4.3 Results from interview for teachers ……… 45

4.4 Discussion……… 49

4.3 Summary……… 51

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION……… 52

5.1 Recapitulation……… 52

5.2 Concluding remarks……… 53

5.3 Limitations and suggestions of the study……… 54

REFERENCES……… 52

APPENDICES……… I

APPENDIX 1……… I

APPENDIX 2……… III

APPENDIX 3……… VI

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES Pages

Table 1: Teachers’ ways of using language games to teach vocabulary and its

frequency of use………

30

Table 2: Sources to get games by teachers……… 31

Table 3: Challenges faced by teachers in using language games to teach

Table 5: The reasons for the students’ de-motivation in learning vocabulary

through language games………

44

Table 6: Any problems in learning vocabulary through language games……… 45

Figure 1: Teachers’ use of language games to teach vocabulary……… 27

Figure 2: Teachers’ interest in using language games to teach vocabulary…… 27

Figure 3: Teachers’ evaluation of language games in general……… 28

Figure 4: Teachers’ frequency of language games in teaching vocabulary…… 29

Figure 5: Language games’ availability……… 30

Figure 6: Any problem encountered by teachers when using language games in

the processing of teaching vocabulary………

32

Figure 7: The role of vocabulary in language teaching……… 35

Figure 8: Students’ interest when learning English vocabulary through using

language games by teachers in lessons………

36

Figure 9: Students’ evaluation on the usefulness of games in learning

vocabulary………

37

Figure 10: Level to learn vocabulary thanks to language games……… 38

Figure 11: Students’ attitudes towards the effectiveness of language games……

Figure 12: Students’ evaluation on their teachers’ frequency of using language

games to teach vocabulary………

40

Figure 13: Students’ attitudes towards using language games to learn new

words in the options below………

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Nowadays in Vietnam, teaching and learning English has become a topical issue emerging for concerns of both learners and researchers It has become an international language which is used widely all over the world, especially after Vietnam‟s integration into the WTO, learning English gets more important in the all the fields of social life such as economy, technology, diplomacy, foreign trade, education and tourism Therefore, teaching and learning English has become ever urgent issue for everyone anywhere

In the recent years, English has been taught in the light of the communicative and learner-centered approach which gives students more chances to communicate However, teaching and learning English has been out of learners‟ satisfaction Both teachers and especially students are facing difficulty in teaching and learning English vocabulary They are really difficult to read and remember In fact, many students cannot remember words for a long time and even cannot apply them in practice, especially in speaking, listening and writing skills

Van Con Primary School in Hanoi is not an exception, English learning situation here is that the students find it hard to learn and remember new words although there are many techniques used during lessons such chants, songs, telling stories… all are not really effective Hence, using games in teaching vocabulary is bringing surprising results; this shows in the learning attitudes of the students Use of language games not only helps students remember new words faster and better but also motivates them in learning and using English as well

Theoretically, many linguists in the world have studied the use of language games in teaching vocabulary, and in Vietnam, there have been many such research works, but no one has studied about the teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards using language games to teach vocabulary at a primary school In practical terms, in the course of its teaching, the researcher finds that the application of the game brings many practical benefits From the above-said reasons, the researcher wants to conduct this research based on a practical basis for the purpose of enhancing the use of language games to improve vocabulary for primary students

2 Aims and objectives of the study

Aims of the study

The aim of the study is to find out the teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards using language games to improve students‟ vocabulary in the context

of a primary school in Hanoi

Objectives of the study

To be more specific for the aim of the study, this study has been carried out to explore:

- To investigate teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes to teach and learn vocabulary through using games

- To investigate the extent of game sources applied to teach vocabulary

- To investigate difficulties faced by the teachers and students

- What are the problems faced by the teachers and students when teaching and learning vocabulary through language games?

4 Scope of the study

The research has been conducted in a primary school in Hanoi The research aims at investigating attitudes of teachers and students towards using language games The researcher would like to discover how vocabulary games are applied to teach and learn new words in the English learning classes and difficulties faced by the teachers and students The study has been conducted with the participation of 106 fifth-grade students of Van Con Primary School in Hanoi

5 Methods of the study

This study uses both qualitative and quantitative methods Data collections for analysis originate from the teachers and the students at the primary school by instruments:

- Survey questionnaires

- Informal interviews

6 Signification of the study

It is hoped that the findings of the study will be useful to the teachers of English as well as provides the teachers with the benefits of using language games in teaching language, especially teaching vocabulary It will help the teachers to realize their students‟ attitudes towards using language games to improve vocabulary The study also suggests the ways of using games in lessons

7 Organization of the thesis

The study is divided into five chapters:

Chapter 1 – “Introduction” provides the rationale for the study, aim

and objectives of the study, scope, methodology and structure of the study

Chapter 2 “Literature review” provides overview of theoretical

background of attitude, vocabulary, brief views of language games and benefits of using language games in teaching and learning vocabulary

Chapter 3 “Methodology” describes an overview on setting, textbook,

instruments used in the survey In addition, the details of teachers and students at the primary school are supplied

Chapter 4 “Data Analysis and Discussion” is related to collecting the

data from Van Con Primary School in Hanoi and analyzing the data to find out the teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards using language games in teaching vocabulary to primary learners In addition, the data is collected in order to find out game sources preferred by the teachers, and some difficulties faced by the teachers and students as well as suggestions for choice of suitable games to teach vocabulary

Chapter 5 – Conclusion – sums up what has been studied, provides

some recommendations for the teachers and students and points out the limitations of the thesis, and suggestion for further studies

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter is to aim at providing a theoretical background to the study The review of the issues related to the study is included: definitions, role of the attitudes in language learning In addition, an overview of language games, including their definitions, role in language learning, as well as vocabulary with their definitions, role in language learning will be mentioned clearly

2.1 Attitudes in teaching and learning foreign language

2.1.1 Definition of attitude

In general, attitude can be understood as people‟s responses to a certain thing In fact, there are many researchers have different definitions of attitude from various aspects Specially, they distinguish language attitude from general attitudes that language attitudes are precisely about language (Faso, 1984: 148) It can be understood that the language attitude refers to people towards language

According to Rayan and Giles (1982), language is “any affective, cognitive and behavioral index of evaluation reactions towards different language varieties or their speakers” So, attitude is the way to feel, think and behave to different languages in a certain situation

Similar to the above-said opinions, Gardner (1985) also states that “an individual‟s attitude is an evaluation reaction to some referent or attitude object on the basics of the individual‟s beliefs or options about the referent”

It leads that people‟s belief or perception can cause favorable or unfavorable attitude to an object

On the basis of Gardner‟s argument, Wenden (1991) scrubs general definition of the attitude He classifies attitude into three components: behavioral, cognitive and affective The behavioral aspect of attitude

mentions the way one person behaves in a certain situation The cognitive component is shown in beliefs, ideas, and opinions about the attitude The affective component indicates the feeling of “like” or “dislike” the objects or surrounding contexts These components are relevant and they always appear whenever a person has an attitude

In addition, Baker (1992: 10) defines attitude as “a hypothetical construct used to explain the direction and persistence of human behavior”

So, from the point of view, attitude is the way which human people act and behave in the specific situation to the object

In summary, from the above-said definitions indicated that, attitude can

be seen as emotion affecting the behaviors of human beings All people‟s reaction and responses to certain things depend on attitude to this language Hence, attitude is an important factor in learning second language

2.1.2 The role of attitudes in language learning

In consideration of the role of attitude in learning language, a lot of studies have indicated that there is a reciprocal relationship among teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes Attitudes towards a specific language might be either positive or negative In fact, that both positive and negative attitude decides success or failure in learning language

It is said that those have positive attitude towards the target language might obtain higher proficiency in language learning As stated by Gardner and Lambert (1972) in the study, positive attitude toward a language can strengthen students‟ proficiency

Besides, Karahan (2007: 84) states that “positive language attitudes let learners have positive orientation towards learning English” He believes that the students get more active in the processing of learning when they have

favorable attitudes, so their positive attitudes can enhance them to the target language better

From the above-said views, attitude is regarded as one of the most essential factors influencing on the students‟ achievement in language learning It is obvious that language learners get many benefits when they own positive attitudes Hence, it is crucial to explore students‟ attitudes towards the target language to enhance their positive attitudes and reduce their negative ones

2.2 Language games in teaching and learning language

2.2.1 Definition of language games

In general, games are forms of fun; they are physical activities or mental activities or mixture both of them According to Ludwig Wittgenstein‟s game term, it refers to the linguistic practices around the use of words, pragmatics that determine the meaning of the particular word in the particular situation Actually, games are a great way to learn all sorts of things about English These games are for English language learners, or native speakers who are addicted to word games Further, according to Rixon

(1974), “a game consists of play governed by rules” And Gibb (1974) said “a

game is an activity carried out by cooperating or competing decision markers, seeking to achieve, within a set of rules, their objectives”

Therefore, there are different definitions of games, but its normal target

is to create funny activities in order to motivate learners in learning vocabulary effectively

Games used in English classes are regarded as one type of games entitled language games According to Hadfield‟s viewpoint (1996), language games as activities with rules, a goal and an element of fun Based on the above-said definition, games help teachers generate language learning

activities Learning language is a hard job, and learning new words becomes more and more difficult Students must master its meaning, pronounce and know how to use them Of course, learning language will take a long time Language games can help students feel interested, motivate to learn naturally

In addition, language games allow the teachers to create the contexts in which words are meaningful, students can remember new words for a long time and save time in learning

Language games are considered as task based according to Lewis (1999, p.5), language game is a tool to help students achieve their language goals To participate in a language game, the teachers must provide a set of rules that guide students to understand their actions ad strategies

Also, according to Richard-Amato (1996), even though games are often associated with fun, we should not lose sight of their pedagogical values, particularly in second language teaching Games are effective because they provide motivation, lower students‟ stress, and give them the opportunity for real communication

Furthermore, language games maybe carried out by a group, a pair of learners, and of course they are competitive Students‟ task is obtaining prize, goal to beat other groups According to Greenal (1984), language games are regarded as “activity which is used to consolidate language already taught or acquired and occurs during the free stage of lesson or during occasions such

as English club meeting

In short, language games can be used any stage of lesson to present new words or check old words in order to help student remember and retain vocabulary better and longer Language games are physical, mental or used both, and participants are groups or individuals or pairs and game rules must

clear a certain goal Besides, word games enable learners to pronounce clearly and correctly that help others understand them and follow

2.2.2 Types of language games

Language learning can be a hard task and sometimes it can be stressing Continuous effort is required to properly understand, pronounce and manipulate a new language Therefore, games are considered as very relaxing and effective tools for teaching and learning a language because they create motivation, lower stress for students, and provide the opportunity for real communication to learners

According to Hadfield (1999), language games are used into 2 categories - linguistic and communicative games He stated that linguistic games emphasis on accuracy, for instance, it provides the right synonyms and antonyms In contrast, communicative games presume successful interchange

of information and ideas Actually, games have an excessive academic value and it can be used in the classroom to make learners use the language in place

of thinking about learning the right forms Games encourage learners to work together, be creative, cooperative and impulsive in using the language in a significant way Students want to participate in activities to play games and are normally relatively competitive

Language games have many more categories in viewpoint of Hadfield (1999) As with the classification of games as linguistic games or communicative games, some games will contain elements of more than one type:

Sorting, ordering, or arranging games

For example, students have a set of cards with different products on them, and they sort the cards into products found at a grocery store and products found at a department store

Information gap games

In such games, one or more people have information that other people need to complete a task For instance, one person might have a drawing and their partner needs to create a similar drawing by listening to the information given by the person with the drawing Information gap games can involve a one-way information gap, such as the drawing game just described, or a two-way information gap, in which each person has unique information

Guessing games

These are a variation on information gap games One of the best-known examples of a guessing game is 20 questions, in which one person thinks of a famous person, place, or thing The other participants can ask 20 Yes/No questions to find clues in order to guess who or what the person is thinking of Matching games

As the name implies, participants need to find a match for a word, picture,

or card For example, students place 30-word cards, composed of 15 pairs, face down in random order Each person turns over two cards at a time, with the goal of turning over a matching pair, by using their memory

and simulations, students come up with their own words, although preparation

is often useful

In summary, the researcher has just provided some types of games to help the teachers design suitable games for each lesson as well as basis for the researcher to study the next steps

2.2.3 Benefits in using language games to teach vocabulary

There are numerous techniques concerned with vocabulary presentation However, there are a few things that have to be remembered irrespective of the way new lexical items are presented If teachers want students to remember new vocabulary better, it needs to be learnt in context, practiced, and then revised to prevent students from forgetting Teachers must make sure students have understood the new words, which will be remembered better if introduced in a «memorable way» Bearing all this in mind, teachers have to remember to employ a variety of techniques for new vocabulary presentation and revision The researcher believes that one of the effective ways of vocabulary presentation is using games

Games are used as a technique or method to engage learners in learning

a new language with fun and easiness Well selected and premeditated games are helpful as they provide learners a break and simultaneously allow them to practice language skills The benefits of games from the perceptive feature of learning to more co-operative group dynamics and as a result games are very motivating at the same time challenging.

Naturally when playing games, students are trying to win or to beat other teams for themselves or on the behalf of their team They are so competitive while playing because they want to have a turn to play, to score points and to win In the class, students will definitely participate in the activities Therefore, it is possible for a teacher to introduce students to new

words As in the dictation game, students are so competitive that they want to finish first and win It can be clearly seen that games can capture students‟ attention and participation They can motivate students to want to learn more Moreover, they can transform a boring class into a challenging one

Games are often used in language classes is that they lower students‟ stress in the classroom In conventional classrooms, there is a lot of stress put

on students trying to master the target language Schultz (1988) said that

“ Stress is a major hindrance in language learning process This process [Learning language in traditional way] is by its nature time consuming and stress provoking raise the stress level to a point at which it interferes with student attention and efficiency and undermines motivation One method has been developed to make students forget that they are in class relax students by engaging them in stress reducing task (games).”

As a result, games can help lower their anxiety, make them feel comfortable, and want to learn more It is believed that when students play games, they relax and have fun Since students know that they are playing games and want to communicate efficiently they do not worry about making mistakes and do not try to correct themselves in every single sentence When students are free from worry and stress, they can improve their fluency and natural speaking styles

Another advantage is increasing students‟ proficiency Playing games

in the classroom can enormously increase students‟ ability in using language because students have a chance to use language with a purpose in the

situations provided Hadfield (1990) confirms that “games provide as much

concentrated practice as a traditional drill and more importantly, they provide an opportunity for real communication, albeit within artificially defined limits, and thus constitute a bridge between classroom and the real

word.” Like in a traditional classroom, students have an opportunity to drill

and practice using grammatical rules and other functions

On the other hand, Lee Su Kim (1995) mentioned that there is a common perception that all learning should be serious and solemn in nature and that if one is having fun and there is hilarity and laughter, then it is not really learning This is a misconception It is possible to learn a language as well as enjoy oneself at the same time One of the best ways of doing this is through games

According, below are advantages of using games in the classroom by Lee Su Kim (1995):

Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the language class

They are motivating and challenging

Learning a language requires a great deal of effort, games help students

to make and sustain the effort of learning

Games provide language practice in the various skill-speaking, writing, listening and reading

They encourage students to interact and communicate

They create a meaningful context for language use

According to Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen and Khuat Thi Thu Nga written in the Asian EFL Journal in (2003), that there are advantages and effectiveness

in learning vocabulary in various ways through games Firstly, games bring in relaxation and fun for students, thus help them learn and retain new words more easily Secondly, game gives friendly competition and they keep learners interested These create the motivation for English learners to get involved and participate actively in the learning activities Thirdly,

vocabulary games bring real world context into the classroom, and enhance students‟ use of English in a flexible, communicative way

Hence, vocabulary games brings many benefits and we use them flexibly

in each situation and in each stage of various lessons From the above-said theories, games are used not only for mere fun, but more importantly, for the useful practice and review of language lessons, thus leading toward the goal

of improving learners‟ communicative competence

In short, the researcher has just given some benefits in using language games in order to help the teachers understand its values and encourage them

to use games because of its great advantages In addition, it is a basis for the researcher to make the next steps in this study

2.3 Vocabulary in teaching and learning language

2.3.1 Definition of vocabulary

Vocabulary was defined as “the words we teach in the foreign

language.” It was recognized as “a new item of vocabulary may be more than

a single word: for example, post office and mother-in-law, which was made

up of two or three words but express a single idea” in the view of Ur

(1996:60) In addition, the viewpoint of Pyles and Algeo (1970: 96) is that

“vocabulary is the focus of language with its sound and meaning, which

interlock to allow us to communicate with one another, and it is words that

we arrange together to make sentences, conversation and discourse of all kinds” It is referred that the vocabulary is very important in the process of

learning languages in general and especially in learning foreign languages in particular

Moreover, in the view of Morgan and Rinvolucri (1986), “A word is a

basic unit of a language denoting concepts, things and phenomena in the society”

In summary, there are different ways of defining vocabulary, each of them presents definition of vocabulary in their understanding, but there is a same point that vocabulary items more than single words Therefore, vocabulary consists of a bigger aspect of language and it is a medium for language learners to express their ideas It is considered that vocabulary is as

a means for people to communicate Without words, we are very difficult to transform information

The researcher has provided some definitions of vocabulary in order to prove that vocabulary is interested by the linguistic writers in the world, and

is also affirmed to play an important role in learning language That is an urgent topic interested by the researcher in the study process

2.3.2 The role of vocabulary in language learning

According to David Wilkins (1972), “Without grammar very little can

be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” As above said,

vocabulary can be regarded as the most important part of a language, to communicate successfully, we need to have vocabulary firstly, maybe we do not use grammar structure fluently, but based on new words provided, audience can still understand what we have said Similarly, McCarthy (1990:

viii) emphasizes that: “No matter how well the student learns grammar, no

matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wider range of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way” This is why teaching and learning

vocabulary can serve the communicative purposes

Clearly, the rich vocabulary helps learners communicate better They have many words to express their ideas and understand others‟ thought The rich vocabulary also promotes four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing

This explains why learning vocabulary is really important Learning vocabulary not only understands its meaning but also understand its forms and usage If someone has sufficient vocabulary, she/he will feel more confident in communicating with others as well as expressing her/his ideas in both oral and written forms Learners know a lot of new words, and know how to use them; they will success in the process of communication

Folse (2004) defined that “the lack of grammar knowledge can limit

conversion; lack of vocabulary knowledge can stop conversation”

Undeniably, vocabulary is the essential component of a language, teaching and learning vocabulary should be seriously taken in account when teaching English Therefore, it is necessary to take vocabulary teaching activities as integrated parts of teaching language skills, and as the basis to develop learners‟ language skills

It can be seen that the role of vocabulary in language learning is very important and it is confirmed by linguists in the above definitions This is also the basis for the researcher to carry out the next research steps

2.3.3 How to choose language games to teach effectively

Mei and Yu-jing (2000) affirmed that games are fun and it is important that children like them Through vocabulary games, children experiment, discover, and interact with their environment Through playing games, students can learn English as children learn their mother tongue without being aware they are studying In other words, using games is to help students speak English naturally; thus, without stress, they can learn much even shy students can participate positively Also, they point how to choose a suitable game:

A game must be more than just a fun

A game should involve “friendly” competition

A game should keep all of the students involved and interested

A game should encourage students to focus on the use of language rather than on the language itself

A game should give students a chance to learn, practice, or review specific language material

It is possible students wish to play games purely for fun Teachers, however, need more convincing reasons

Teachers should consider which games to use, when to use them, how to link them up with the syllabus, text book or programmed, and how, more specifically, different games will benefit students in different ways The key

to a successful language game is that the rules are clear, the ultimate goal is well defined and the game must be fun

In summary, language games are good and useful tools in language teaching and learning that English teachers should use to motivate their students in learning process, especially teaching vocabulary However, to make the advantage of language games‟ benefits, teachers should understand the characteristics of each type of games, and choose suitable ones in order to bring the best effectiveness to their students

In this section, the researcher has provided the ways to choose games to teach vocabulary effectively, namely the ways are given by Mei and Yu-jing (2000) that helps the researcher design questionnaires for the teachers and students properly

2.4 Summary

In brief, in this chapter the researcher has reviewed some definitions of vocabulary and its importance in teaching and learning language in general and teaching and learning vocabulary in particular In addition, the issue of games is a great concern The researcher has dealt with some definitions of games, its classification, its benefits brought in the process of use and ways to

choose a good game Consequently, the researcher has an overview of game and vocabulary, and can design the appropriate questionnaire in this study Understanding these things will lead to better analysis in the next chapter

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODLOGY

In this chapter, subjects of the study, the instruments of the data collection will be presented in detail as follows:

3.1 Context of the study

3.1.1 The textbook

The textbook Tiếng Anh 5 (English 5) is the third of the three-level

textbook series for Vietnamese primary school pupils It is written by Hoàng Văn Vân (General Editor), Phan Hà (Editor), Đỗ Thị Ngọc Hiền, Đào Ngọc Lộc, Trương Thị Ngọc Minh with the collaboration of Ken Wilson (an researcher of MacMillan Education) (2020a, 2020b) The textbook follows the curriculum approved by the Ministry of Education and Training [MoET] (2018) includes 20 units and 6 reviews Each unit has a common structure of

3 Lessons/Unit and the knowledge consists of 4 parts: Competences, Sentence patterns, Vocabulary and Phonics At each Lesson, students are trained in Listening - Speaking - Reading - Writing skills

3.1.2 The subjects

The subjects of the study are the students of three classes and the teachers in the primary school The total population is 106 fifth-grade students and aged from eleven to twelve and 5 English teachers at Van Con Primary School The students participating in the study have been learning English for more than two years and the English teachers aged from 25 to 45 have been teaching for many years

The students

The participants for the study are the 106 fifth-grade students from three classes 5A, 5B, and 5C at Van Con Primary School in Hoai Duc There are about 33-36 students in each class They consist of 64 males and 402 females aged from eleven to twelve All these students have been learning English for more two years since they were in grade 5 Most of them have got familiar with English teaching and learning methods at elementary level They do not know the best way to learn English, especially vocabulary They find it difficult to memorize new words During vocabulary learning activities, it is the teachers who have to talk much and the students are passive

to acquire

The teachers

All the teachers participated are female, they are teaching from 3rdgrade to 5th-grade students and chosen as informants of the study All these teachers aged from 25 to 40 have been teaching for at least three years Two teachers graduated from the English faculty, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University and the other were trained at the English Department, Hanoi University and Thai Nguyen University They are dynamic and willing to donate their time and energy to English teaching in general and vocabulary teaching in particular They are interested in applying language games in teaching new words

3.2 Data collection instruments and procedures

3.2.1 Instruments

In order to get in-depth and rich data for investigating the attitudes of teachers and students towards the effective use of teaching vocabulary through games, the study used two methods for data collection: survey questionnaires and interview The survey consists of two questionnaires, one

is for the teachers and another is for the students In this minor thesis, the survey questionnaire is the main research instrument used to collect quantitative and qualitative data According to Babbie‟s opinion (1973), the survey is a non-experimental, descriptive research method Surveys can be helpful when a researcher wants to collect data on phenomena that cannot be directly observed Besides, the interview is employed to support the results obtained from the questionnaires

Survey questionnaire

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions for the purpose of gathering information from respondents Questionnaires can be thought of as a kind of written interview They can be carried out face to face, by telephone, computer or post In addition, A social survey is a method of gathering information about a specified group of people (a „population‟) by asking them questions…A social survey, therefore, can be

defined as a technique for gathering statistical information about the

attributes, attitudes or actions of a population by administering standardized questions to some or all of its members (Buckingham & Saunders, 2004, pp

12-13)

The main instrument for collecting data in the study is the

questionnaire “Questionnaires are any written instruments that present

respondents with a series of questions or statements to which they are to react

either by writing out their answers or selecting from among existing answers”

is stated by Brown (2001: 6) Survey questionnaires are always considered one of the most frequently used and effective methods for studying This is reason why the researcher would like to use this method as the main one in

my thesis The survey questionnaire is mainly to collect information from the subjects of this research Moreover, it is easy and simple to summarize and report the collected data while the researcher does not spend much time on it

1 Teachers’ questionnaire

Based on the types of language games as well as the advantages of using language games and Vu Ngoc Long‟s questionnaires (2014), the researcher has designed a survey questionnaire for the teachers on their attitudes when using language games to teach vocabulary The survey questionnaire for the teachers, including ten questions, was delivered to all the five teachers at Van Con Primary School at the ending of December 2019 The survey was divided into three parts The first three questions focus on finding the teachers‟ attitudes towards teaching vocabulary through games The second four questions aim at investigating the extent of game sources used by teachers to teach vocabulary The two questions are to investigate teachers‟ problems when applying language games in vocabulary teaching The last question is to collect the suggestions made by the teachers for a better exploitation of games in vocabulary teaching All the teachers are asked to complete the questionnaire and return them in two days They are free to ask for clarification when they are in need The questionnaire consists of both open-ended questions and closed-ended questions, so the informants could provide their answers in a free manner

2 Students’ questionnaire

Same as in designing the teachers‟ questionnaire, based on the types of language games as well as the advantages of using language games and Vu Ngoc Long‟s questionnaires (2014), the researcher has designed a survey questionnaire for the students on their attitudes when using language games to learn vocabulary The students‟ questionnaire, consisting of ten questions, was delivered to the 106 fifth-grade students at the same time of the teacher questionnaire Similarly, the survey for the students covered three parts: The first five questions investigate the students‟ attitudes towards using games in the process of learning vocabulary The second part from question six to question seven is to find out the extent to which language games have been used to in learning vocabulary The final part from question eight to ten aims

at to explore the challenges faced by the students when using games to learn vocabulary To ensure that all students understand the questions fully and clearly, the questionnaires were written in Vietnamese All of the delivered questions were handed back to the researcher after two days

3 Interview for teachers

Interviews can be defined as a qualitative research technique which involves “conducting intensive individual interviews with a small number of respondents to explore their perspectives on a particular idea, program or

situation.” (Boyce, C & Neale, P., 2006)

There are three different formats of interviews: structured, structured and unstructured

semi-Structured interviews consist of a series of pre-determined questions that all interviewees answer in the same order Data analysis usually tends to

be more straightforward because researcher can compare and contrast different answers given to the same questions

Unstructured interviews are usually the least reliable from research viewpoint, because no questions are prepared prior to the interview and data collection is conducted in an informal manner Unstructured interviews can be associated with a high level of bias and comparison of answers given by different respondents tends to be difficult due to the differences in formulation of questions

Semi-structured interviews contain the components of both, structured and unstructured interviews In semi-structured interviews, interviewer prepares a set of same questions to be answered by all interviewees At the same time, additional questions might be asked during interviews to clarify and/or further expand certain issues

From the definitions and characteristics of the two above-said instruments, the researcher has designed the survey questionnaires and interviews in a proper manner for both the teachers and students to get the most reliable data

In this research, apart from the survey questions, the interview is also applied to get more insightful information to supplement the result of the teachers and questionnaires or to interpret responses to questionnaires Moreover, through the interview, the researcher has the opportunity to ask further information and depth-in understanding of the teachers‟ attitudes as well as experiences in teaching vocabulary via games The interview includes five questions designed by the researcher, based on Nguyen Thi Thoan‟s questionnaire (2014) (open-ended and yes/no questions), conducted by five teachers individually at their class-off, therefore, the researcher can get all the teachers‟ answers without interruption or interval

The data collected from the survey were read through to obtain the overall results They are will categorized and analyzed The results will be

shown in tables and charts In each table and chart, there is followed by analysis and discussion The results from the interviews are also exhibited in words The findings from the study will be summed up at the end of this chapter

3.2.2 Procedures

The data collection includes three stages:

Stage 1: The questionnaires are carefully designed The questionnaires

for the students are both in Vietnamese and English but questionnaires for the teachers only in English

Stage 2: The questionnaires were delivered to the students The

instruction has been supplied clearly and easily understood to the respondents The researcher was sure that all the questionnaires had been conveniently completed Besides, after having completed the questionnaires to the teachers, the researcher conducted informal interviews with them

Stage 3: All the data from the questionnaires were collected, encoded

in tables and charts to analyzed and compared to have answers to the research questions

3.3 Summary

This chapter presents the research methodology as well as the procedure of data collection and analysis to find out the answers to the research questions The chapter gives a full description of methodology to carry out the study As said above, the study takes advantage of questionnaire and teacher interview as the main research instruments because they are extremely suitable for aims of the study The participants of the study are 106 students of three classes and five teachers The characteristics of the participants in the study are fully described in order to help readers understand the present context where the study is conducted In the next

chapter, findings of the research and some discussions of the finding will be provided

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, the data collected from the teachers‟ interview and the survey questionnaires for both teachers and students will be presented and discussed in detail in order to provide a summary of the result of the research questions

The data analysis is divided in two parts: the first part is the presentation of the results of questionnaires for the teachers and students and the remaining part is the results of the teachers‟ informal interview with five teachers

4.1 Teachers’ attitudes towards the use of language games in teaching vocabulary

4.1.1 Teachers’ attitudes towards the use of language games in teaching vocabulary

The first three questions for the survey questionnaire are designed to investigate the teachers‟ attitudes towards the use of language games in teaching vocabulary In this part, the researcher will present the data of each question as follows:

As can be seen from Figure 1, all the teachers at Van Con Primary School said that they often used language games in teaching vocabulary This means that language games are considered one of the very popular types in teaching English classes in Van Con Primary School, and preferred by them

It is hopeful that the application of language will bring interest and effectiveness to their students

Teachers’ use of language games to teach vocabulary

Figure 1: Data collected from the question 1

From the Figure 2 can be seen that, when being asked how interested they are in the application of language games, 100% of the teachers recognized the interest and advantages in the use of games to teach new words The majority of the teachers (60%) said that they were very interested

in using games to teach vocabulary in lessons While up to 40% of the teachers felt rather interested In contrast, no of them felt that the use of language games is not useful and interested That reveals that more and more teachers are interested in this method which is regarded as extremely effective

in learning new words

Teachers’ interest in using language games to teach vocabulary

Figure 2: Data collected from question 2

As can be seen, Figure 3 shows the teachers‟ evaluation on the role of language games in teaching vocabulary 60% of the teachers thought language games in teaching English were very useful The remaining teachers said that language games were useful Otherwise, none of them thought that language was not useful at all From this result showing value of language games brought benefit to the teachers as well as learners not small at all

Teachers’ evaluation of language games in general

 a Very useful

 b Useful

 c Not useful at all

Figure 3: Data collected from question 3

4.1.2 The extent which language games have been used in teaching vocabulary

In this part, there are four questions supplied to investigate the extent which language games are used by the teachers in teaching vocabulary All the data collected from the question will be presented as follows:

Figure 4 shows the teachers‟ frequency of using games to teach vocabulary As can be seen, 80% of the teachers always use language games

to teach vocabulary Clearly, the majority of the teachers make thorough advantage of language games to teach new words While only 20% of the

teachers sometimes use language games in classroom to reinforce knowledge

or motivate the students In contrast, no of the teachers (0%) never uses games in lessons They thought that the employment of the games has brought much benefit to practice as well as reinforce students‟ knowledge

Teachers’ frequency of language games in teaching vocabulary

Figure 4: Data collected from question 4

Table 1 describes the teachers‟ ways of using language games to teach new words and their use frequency of these ways to teach vocabulary In this question, most of the teachers thought that the application of language games

is mainly used as cues or prompts to reinforce students‟ knowledge In contrast, half of the teachers sometimes used the language games to present new words This fact reveals that word games have not been really made use

of its potentials to support their students in vocabulary learning Actually, few teachers still often perceive games as mere time-fillers

Table 1: Data collected from question 5

Teachers’ ways of using language games to teach vocabulary and its

frequency of use

Always Sometimes Never

2 help students practice and reinforce new

words

Figure 5 presents the teachers‟ responses As can be seen in the figure below, more than half of the teachers (60%) agreed that language games are popular Some of these teachers said there are many different sources to seek for and easy to get a suitable game to teach vocabulary in contexts Otherwise, other teachers (40%) thought they met difficulty in finding out sources of suitable games in spite of diversity of games Thus, some maybe find language games available whereas, others do not

Language games’ availability

Figure 5: Data collected from question 6