Experiences in using art to revise vocabulary for grade 4 pupils at quang phu primary school

THANH HOA EDUCATION & TRAINING DEPARTMENTTHANH HOA CITY EDUCATION & TRAINING OFFICE INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE EXPERIENCES IN USING ART TO TEACH VOCABULARY FOR PRIMARY PUPILS OF GRADE 4

THANH HOA EDUCATION & TRAINING DEPARTMENT

THANH HOA CITY EDUCATION & TRAINING OFFICE

INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE

EXPERIENCES IN USING ART TO TEACH

VOCABULARY FOR PRIMARY PUPILS OF GRADE 4

The implementer: Dam Thuy Dung

Position: Teacher School: Quang Phu Primary School Subject: English

THANH HOA, 2021

PAGE

2.2 Situation issues before applying experience initiative 42.3 The solutions of implementation 6

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 The reasons for choosing the topic.

Since English has become an international language, more and morepeople learn English The importance of English as a world language has madepeople to learn English as early as possible Teaching English as a foreignlanguage to young learners need special approach since young learners havespecial characteristics, they have their own way of learning English has becomethe main language of communication all over the world and early learning ofEnglish in the school context is becoming more common Teaching of Englishfrom primary education is very common many countries, including Viet Nam.Learning English starts at the age of 5 and 6

Teaching children can be immensely rewarding, teachers who hasexperienced that can tell about it But it’s not fun and games all the time, andsometimes it’s just not that easy English teachers who wish to teach childrenmust be aware of the challenges and difficulties they may encounter, andprepare accordingly But still the young age is different, children learn alanguage faster than adults, they do not learn through traditional languageteaching methods Through fun activities children can learn a language better aslearning becomes natural for them since these activities do not make themconscious that they are learning a language

Like any other children, Vietnamese children accept new foreignlanguages easily, but they get bored very fast if the teacher is teaching themusing the old conventional methods and techniques Teachers are responsible forfinding out interesting and attractive ways to teach and motivate their pupils

Teaching young learners is very difficult compared with teachingteenagers or adults because young learners get distracted very fast Children love

to have fun and do exciting things, so teachers should choose suitable teachingmethods that cater to children’s nature Painting art is one of the methods thatcould be used in order to avoid boredom in the classroom They have a specialrole in any foreign language teaching Both pupils and teachers will benefit fromincluding painting during class time Furthermore, teachers may achieve all theeducational outcomes through applying the use of art especially when teachingvocabulary

Children can learn better through interesting activities and for this reasonpainting art is very useful tools for teaching them a foreign language Actuallythese are the tools that help children learn in an enjoyable environment withoutmaking them feel the pressure of learning a foreign language

The learning process is important part to make children motivated withthe things The teacher will be happy when the children look enjoyed, self-confidence and low anxiety The objectives of the study are to know theadvantages of painting activity in teaching vocabulary for young learners and

to know the pupils respond of painting activity in teaching vocabulary Thisresearch uses the qualitative method The data were collected from the

observation and documents To analyze the data, this research did the directobservation during the class and taken the documents The subject of thisresearch is children or young learners who they are 6 till 10 years old The data

is taken form English course for primary The results show that the advantages

of painting activity in teaching English vocabulary are useful There advantagesare appropriate strategy, introducing the art project, practicing psychomotor,giving motivation, building their confidents and independent The respond arepositive because this activity can make the children addictive, enthusiasm andinterested

A class in which every child feels welcomed as a participating member is

a vital factor in effective teaching Sharing painting is easy to memorize, thechildren derive visible satisfaction and confidence from this newly acquiredfluency that comes so quickly

After exploring and accumulating the experiences from colleagues, I havesome experiences in using painting art to teach young learners and achievedquite effective results The pupils are more active and interested in learningEnglish, especially in learning vocabulary This improves that my methods areright With the passion and the love for teaching English, I have studied and

developed the research: "Experiences in using art to teach vocabulary for primary pupils of grade 4 "

1.2 The purpose of research.

- The research applies the methods of using painting art to involve pupils

in learning vocabulary

- Creating the language circumstance to communicate in English andpromote pupils to actively participate in communicative activities; offering somesolutions and methods for using painting art in teaching vocabulary

- Exchanging and sharing some experiences in using painting art inteaching vocabulary for young learners

1.3 The objects of research.

Research Time : School Year 2020 - 2021

Research Location: Quang Phu Primary School

Research Object: "Experiences in using art to teach vocabulary for primary pupils of grade 4 "

The respondents of the research: With this research I focused on theprimary pupils, especially the pupils of class 4

Systematizing some theoretical issues about the procedures and activities

in using painting art to teach vocabulary for young learners according to the

communicative approach

Exploring the present situation of using painting art to teach vocabulary at

Primary School and suggesting some techniques in using painting art to teach

vocabulary to develop speaking and listening skill for elementary pupils, helping

them be more confident to communicate in English

1.4 The methods of research.

Method of literature review

Method of survey (Questionnaire)

Method of secondary data

Method of statistical analysis

2 CONTENT

2.1 The behaviorist theory

Teaching young learners or children, the teachers should determine manyfactors that it can be found in the class Gordon [18] argues that the teachers canteach the learners to express with exploring their confidence In early learners,the teachers can introduce to increase grammar awareness that it is started fromyoung learners Blanckensee [19] states that the children will be exited abouttheir activity that they have done in the class and share their projects or works totheir parents at home Thus, the parents must be aware and appreciate theirchildren works in the school They should make a good impression that it canhelp the children to be confident

Teaching Young Learners Phillips [5] states that children will be awarethe activities given in the class especially spoken skills and encourage thelanguage in English Children like to express their feelings and attitudes whenthey meet the people therefore they have limited knowledge about English.Cameron and McKay [6] says that most of the young learners has like to usetheir imaginations like a hero, adult, old children, and so on so the children willuse their imagination to build their development language in English Lewis andMol [7] states young learners like the challenges and fun activity that thoseactivity can make them satisfaction in order that the leaner process will besuccessful The material will be interesting when they learn around theirenvironment

Teaching Vocabulary Bakhsh [8] assumed that the children like to usevisual context in teaching vocabulary especially real objects The method can beused in teaching vocabulary Demircioğlu [9] states the children is easy toreceive the new vocabulary with the natural learning from the environment.They should build their motivation that they will be aware to use the language sothey should make the learning process creatively Dolean and Dolghi [10] arguesthat there are many methods can be used in teaching and he compares betweenkeyword method and Total Physical response The result shows that thetraditional method can be stimulus to do the correct pronunciation for newwords while presenting a picture with the meaning Bavi [20] states that to teachvocabulary for children, the teachers must use fun activity because he found thatfun activity is better than traditional way Fun activity can make the learners tofeel easy to achieve the learning goals especially vocabulary

Painting Activity According to Oxford dictionary [11] "Painting is relatedwith colored liquid that is pun on a surface" Sakr & Kucirkova [12] states thatthe parents must consider the art activities for children that it does not use

technology like paint and drawing pictures Thus, painting activity is one of thekind of art that the children is interesting by using the uncommon method so one

of the activity can be used is water painting activity and must be creative Lou,

et [13] states that the individual must think the new concepts because it wouldexplore the creativity in the learning process Fabian [14] argues that the skillsand experiences must be built earlier to help the children confidence andcreativity They can express their ability from their own feeling through paintand color This is a good medium to teach children

As this research was conducted specifically to support English LanguageLearners through arts-based practices, it will benefit art educators, any educatorwho works with English Language Learners, the pupils of educators who readand apply this research to their own teaching practice, anyone interested inlanguage development in English Language Learners, anyone interested in howarts-based instruction can support language development, pupils, my schoolcommunity and myself This research will support language and communicationskill development in elementary school learners, because it has resulted in bestpractices that I have tested and determined outcomes for

2.2 Situation issues before applying experience initiative.

My claim, that there are art-teaching techniques that are effective insupporting language acquisition and communication skill development inEnglish Language Learners, is a practical one and I have tested my claimthrough action research in the classroom Due to the supportive and comfortablenature of the elementary art classroom, my claim is that collaborative art makingprocesses promote language acquisition and communication skill developmentfor English Language Learners Although there are many articles and journalsthat recommend best practices in working with English Language Learners,there are not many that delve into art specific teaching practices While there aremany ways to improve on communication skills, I find myself communicatingmore effectively with pupils who are Limited English Proficient (hereafterknown as LAP) with the assistance of visuals, hands on experience anddemonstrations Often I conference with Laps by demonstrating instructionswith a dry erase board and non-verbally prompting them to respond with adrawing of their own I picked up this practice from an art teacher I used to workwith in Quang Phu Primary School At my school, most pupils were EnglishLanguage Learners who spoke English as a foreign language As a result, thisresearch will reach a larger audience and because of this, support a large number

of pupils

There are many different ways of supporting language acquisition inEnglish Language Learners and this research explores five common art-basedteaching strategies Those strategies are small group collaboration, large groupcollaboration, and choice based art making I recognize other strategies;however, due to time constraints within the scope of the research, I was onlyable to explore five strategies My goal was to find an arts-based solution that

works for different groups of English Language Learners I tested out severalsolutions in hopes of finding at least one solution that worked for my pupils Through teaching, I work with hundreds of pupils each year with a wide range

of different needs Differentiating often comes naturally to me, but sometimes,when pupil needs are so varied, differentiating becomes a challenge

Teacher of young learners use art work, ubiquitously in the Englishclassroom Though art commonly used, teacher may not fully aware of thebenefits of art in the young learner classroom

The Vietnamese educational system believes in a well-balanced educationfor all, cooperative behavior, group discipline, and conformity to standards.General Education for Children Education is widespread in Vietnam TheVietnam Ministry of Education is instrumental in developing and maintainingnational curriculum guidelines as well as supporting materials It is common forVietnamese children to participate in additional activities not provided by thepublic schools Vietnamese children also participate in many arts or sportsactivities such as art lessons, commonly, dance, rhythmic gymnastics,swimming and painting These activities create greater motivation for pupils and

a broader school experience

Art is part of the educational system from kindergarten through highschool level, with several private and public schools focusing on arts training.The Ministry of Education provides arts education in the schools, museums,libraries, and other institutions, providing the most official support andpatronage of the arts Though music books boast a variety of musical genres, theministry favors traditional arts and crafts and "high culture" Art education inVietnam begins with its youngest children

Vietnamese culture and the educational system are unique in many ways

By understanding of the educational system, the power of groups, the challenge

of developing independence, individuality, and creativity, the influence ofperfectionism, the perception of Vietnamese uniqueness and its influence onlanguage and the importance of music, both Native English speaking teachersand Native Vietnamese speaking teachers might be able to teach Englishlanguage to children more effectively

The analysis of my school’s result in teaching and learning English inrecent years showed that our average score in vocabulary has been consistentlylower than those schools in urban areas It was a situation that was of concernand motivated the examination of the school’s approach to the teaching ofspeaking and listening

Our school is a public primary school in a rural area in Thanh Hoaprovince It is a large school with around 905 pupils, ranging from 6 to 10 yearsold There are three to six classes in each year levels, meaning that collaborationamong teachers is extremely important to ensure consistency in learningprograms After several years of teaching the book Tieng Anh 4, I found thatmany pupils can not learn vocabulary well However, they like painting art

during the lesson When the children draw the picture, it helps them toremember the items and terms better With this kind of activity you can teachalmost all kinds of vocabulary (parts of the body, days in a week, directions aswell as verbs and so on)

From those factors, I find that using art to teach vocabulary to arousechildren's interest and attention They set up a situation where children learn andremember the target language unconsciously So if we use art in teachingEnglish for young learners, the pupils will understand and remember the lessoneasily and effectively We have to take advantages of love to enrich the language– teaching environment There are numerous variations of activities and teachersare advised to choose what best suits their learners

The quality survey and pupils’ classification:

Based on the present situation of pupils in class 4, the level of all pupils isacquired after a few weeks of the school year with the methods of using art toteach vocabulary to develop speaking and listening skill I had 40 minutes to testpupils in class 4A and 4B to survey and classify the pupils The following willshow the result in the pupils’ speaking and listening skills :

After doing the survey, I have classified the pupils and immediatelyapplied the methods and experiences which I accumulated over the years toimprove the teaching and learning quality

2.3 The solutions of implementation.

In this part of the research I will suggest some techniques in using art toteach vocabulary for young learners This research is by no meanscomprehensive; rather it is an opportunity for sharing what I know about newperspectives in using art to teach vocabulary for young learners

The art classroom is one of the few places an English Language Learnercan feel safe and understood It is no wonder when an English Language Learnerwalks into art their steps are a bit lighter and their faces brighter They don’thave to face those overwhelming worries Of course, communication andlanguage are essential and should be practiced in the art room, but what is mostimportant is what you make Rather than what you say or how you say it, if youcompletely understood the directions, or even are “at grade level” in anything,art is about creating! Even better, the art room is an oasis where EnglishLanguage Learners can work at the same pace as, if not surpass, their peers

Does art have a place in language learning? I believe it does Children arenaturally creative They respond to visual images and have most activeimaginations Isn’t creating images what art is all about? Art can assist a teacherwith many aspects of teaching English

Teacher doesn’t have to be an artist If the teacher has artistic talents, then

he or she likely already know the value art can have in the language classroom

If not, here are some ideas for the teacher to teach in a language class

A color wheel can help you to demonstrate these Pick up some carbrochures from local dealers and see how they describe the colors of theirvehicles These can augment a lesson on using more descriptive adjectives Inone lesson, I first show my class a black and white illustration of a typical officesituation with several people engaged in various routines The pupils describewhat people are doing Then, I show the pupils a color version and have themelaborate on their description Color makes a big difference

2.3.2 Teaching shapes and tools

You can use art to teach shapes and simple tools artists use (includingtools pupils use every day such as pencils, pens, erasers, rulers, etc.)

2.3.3 Vocabulary building

This activity demands teacher’s preparation before the teacher starts anactivity The teacher needs to go to the nature or the place he or she will carryout the activity and hide the pictures and definitions at different places Thenbring children to the place and let them find all the cards They can be dividedinto small groups or work in pairs Each group or pair finds different pictureswith different definitions

Now tell the children to find the correct definition for each picture Thegroup who will collect the most card-pairs is the winner Learners are supposed

to practice common phrases, e.g What’s in your picture? What word do you

have? (The pupils' painting is in the appendix one and two)

2.3.4 Speaking practice

In speaking lesson, pupils can be invited to bring in a piece of art and

‘show and tell’ This is a wonderful speaking opportunity Think of possiblerelated research and writing assignments you could apply as well Local artists?Local museums or art galleries? Exhibitions? Art schools? Painting clubs? Any

of these may have someone who would be willing to come in to talk to your

class about what they do – maybe even put on a short demonstration (The pupils' painting is in the appendix 4)

2.3.5 Writing practice

Pupils can use their artistic talents to illustrate their writing efforts –

essays, short stories, descriptions of homes, friends, family, vacation, and othersuch typical ESL topics I have had pupils make Japanese scroll stories where

they have six or so panels on which to write and illustrate a short story Theythen tape the panels together to form a scroll, tying the finished product with aribbon In the next class, pupils untie their scrolls and read their stories to theclass.

Art can add another dimension to teaching English and is another wayyou can take advantage of local resources to support your efforts Through theInternet, you have the whole artistic world at your beck and call

Here are some kinds of art activities that I usually use to not onlyencourage pupils and their creativity but also help pupils understand and

remember vocabulary effectively (The pupils' writing are in the appendix three and four).

according to the flags (The pupils' cards are in the appendix three).

(Unit 1: Nice to see you again - P 11- English 4 - Vietnamese Educational

Teacher may give pupils time to do the task during the lesson or ask them

to do it as homework

Teacher calls some of the pupils to the front of the class and read aloud

what they have written in the cards (The pupils' cards are in the appendix four) (Unit 15: When's Children's Day? - P 35 - English 4 - Vietnamese Educational

Publisher)

2.3.7 Drawing pictures.

Example 1:

Teacher asks pupils to draw a picture of their favourite drink

Teacher asks pupils to think about what drink they like best

Teacher calls some pupils to the front of the class to show their pictures of

their family and say about their favourite drink to the class (The pupils' painting

is in the appendix five)

(Unit 15: Would you like some milk? - P 23 - English 4 - Vietnamese

Teacher calls some pupils to the front of the class to show their pictures of

their family and describe their family members to the class (The pupils' painting is in the appendix six).

(Unit 15: When's Children's Day? - P 29 - English 4 - Vietnamese Educational

Publisher)

2.3.8 Showing Various Example of Finished Projects

In order to encourage the creativity of the pupils, the teacher has to showthem what it means to be creative Showing a few options of the end result willhelp pupils see the whole picture For example, if the pupils are using a pencil tocreate an artwork, show them various methods and results they can achieve.Then, demonstrate what you, as the creative professional and educator, would dowith the supplies provided Also, you can show other pupils’ ideas along theway Furthermore, you can emphasize artwork does not have to look like theteacher’s example or a fellow artist’s example to be creative or successful

(The pupils' painting is in the appendix seven).

2.4 The efficiency of the experience initiative.

After applying successfully the methods and procedures to use artactivities to teach vocabulary, the pupils’ improvement in speaking and listeningskills can be seen clearly The result in the second semester of the school year2020-2021 shows the increase in the percentage of pupils who can improvelistening and speaking skills successfully What is especially pleasing is theimpact of learning vocabulary in class 4 as there are fewer pupils who can notremember the words than the beginning of the first semester The significance ofthe methods of using art activities to teach vocabulary can be seen whenexamining the percentage of pupils with a reading age above their chronologicalage since the program’s implementation Comparing with the result survey at thebeginning, I find that the recent result is better than the old one The followingchart will show the result:

Class The numbers

To sum up, the improvement of the pupils’ skills has been aresounding success The consistency and clarity it has afforded in teaching art

activities for primary pupils has been worth the time and effort My pupils arecapable and ready to understand and remember the words effectively whenlearning English Just as we take great care in decorating our classrooms tomake them warm and conducive to learning, we should think about how we aredecorating our classrooms with paintings Learning a foreign language can bestressful for anyone, especially young learners Fun, simple English art activitiesplaying as pupils enter the classroom help create a welcoming environment Thefollowing photographs are linked with the class’s atmosphere of which the

photographs are to be found in the appendix eight and nine.

3 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

3.1 Conclusion

Art has been a medium of visual expression used to convey a wide range

of tangible and intangible ideas Art can take the viewer to different times and todifferent worlds It can also be used to introduce different levels of vocabularyfor students of a second language

Learning a second language, for most teenagers, for example, is achallenging experience They are not only trying to adapt to a new language, butthey are also trying to adjust to themselves and a new environment They areaware of almost everything, but they are highly aware of their performance in theclassroom By changing the student’s focus to something creative whereeveryone participates, a certain degree of self-judgment is thus eliminated

The art experience in the classroom has to be a pleasant one for both thestudent and the teacher I do not propose an in-depth study of art, but the use of it

as a language development tool The student becomes familiar with the works ofart, but he does not really need to understand them in depth, it is the firstimpression that the student receives as a new observer that will provide thestarting point for the introduction of vocabulary

Art has always been an effective tool for teaching and learning amongvarious classes of people When combined with reading, writing, speaking andlistening, art can open doors to high levels of analysis and also challenge students

to explore their surroundings and thus find ways for sophisticated understandingand communication Familiarizing students with the arts is an enjoyable part ofauthentic learning “The heart and soul that complement the mind and body, apowerful integrative force that teaches every social, creative, emotional,intellectual and physical child” — (Le Francois, Psychology for Teaching, p.499)

When teaching young learners vocabulary using art, teachers must bepatient in finding new and interesting ways so that pupils enjoy learning Art canhelp young learners to learn their vocabulary effectively As explained above,there are five five art activities among many to be used to teach vocabulary e.g.making cards, drawing pictures, using picture books Teacher should considertime and materials when using art to teach vocabulary Although art hasadvantages and disadvantages when used to teach vocabulary, using them will

enable young learners to acquire the lesson with fun and creation where they canremember all the vocabulary easily

Though art which is very popular among young learners, they should not beoverused They should be chosen appropriately to pupils’ level, interest, andcontext Furthermore, it must be concerned with the presented topic andvocabularies Any art activities can be effective when it is used suitably to thetopic and is controlled by wise and skilled teacher The English teacher canchoose from among a lot of types of art activities

We know from our experience that children love art activities Allteachers should see this big advantage and use art activities as an permanent part

of their English lessons not only in primary school

In conclusion, art activities make large vocabulary background, likeexpressions and useful sentences They help to develop listening and speakingskill Art activities will help pupils become familiar with vocabulary, and thepictures with which words are in shapes and colour

Affectively, it is good to stimulate children’s interest in the new language,

to bring fun and variety to learning, to provide a relaxed atmosphere, to motivate

to learn to be active, to give an encouragement, even children are shy or slowlearning, coming out and losing their embarrassment

This research investigated the methods of teaching art activities forprimary pupils, lesson delivery and sequence of content and learningexpectations used by teachers of English at Quang Phu Primary School Thisresearch brings broader understanding of strategies for teaching art activities topupils whose first language is not English The rationale for the study stemsfrom the need to gain greater international perspective of the teaching of Englishlearners The results reflect analysis of classroom observation field notes of thepupils of class 4A and 4C

To sum up, the research provides some methods to improve teachingart activities for primary pupils in order to form the habit of using English wordsthat contributes to improve the quality of pupils' skills in particular and Englishfor academic subjects in general This research does reveal some promisingpractices but more research is needed

3.2 Suggestion

To the leaders:

To enhance the capacity of teachers in teaching English, the leadersshould organize the training courses for the English teachers regularly Throughthe training courses, teachers have the opportunity to exchange and learn theirexperiences

Acknowledgments:

I am grateful to the Ministry of Education and Training for publishing thebook Tieng Anh 3,4,5; for valuable discussions and innovative ideas andtechniques of teaching art activities during the program I would also like tothank the experts of Thanh Hoa City Education and Training Office, my