An investigation into how pictures are used to teach speaking to the children in han thuyen primary school

Basing on the theoretical frame work of child language acquisition, English language teaching methodology gained in the M.A training course and the personal experience obtained in the te

Ministry of education and training

Hanoi University

Le thi khue

An investigation into how pictures are used to teach speaking to the children in

Han Thuyen primary school

Submitted in patial fulfilment

of requirement of the degree

of master in Tesol

Hanoi November 2008

Ministry of education and training

Hanoi University

Le thi khue

An investigation into how pictures Are used to teach speaking to the children in

Han Thuyen primary school

Submitted in patial fulfilment

of requirement of the degree

of master in Tesol

Supervisor: Nguyen Thu Le hang, Ma

Hanoi November 2008

i

Table of contents TABLE OF CONTENTS I STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV ABSTRACT V LIST OF ABBREVIATION VI LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS VII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1

1.2AIMS OF THE STUDY 2

1.3SCOPE OF THE STUDY 3

1.4SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 2

1.5OUTLINE OF THE THESIS 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1CHILD LANGUAGE LEARNING 5

2.1.1 First language acquisition 5

2.1.2 Second language acquisition 6

2.2SPEAKING SKILLS AND THE TEACHING OF SPEAKING SKILLS 7

2.2.1 Definition of speaking skills 7

2.2.2 Teaching speaking skills 8

2.2.3 Factors affecting the development of speaking skills 9

2.3PICTURES AND DIFFERENT VIEWS ON THE USE OF PICTURES IN ELT 10

2.3.1 Different views on the use of pictures in ELT 11

2.3.2 Different uses of pictures in English language teaching 15

2.3.3 Some principles for choosing, designing and using pictures in ELT 18

2.3.4 Classification of pictures 19

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 21

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3.1DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTICIPANTS 21

3.1.1 The teachers in Han Thuyen primary school 21

3.1.2 The primary school children 23

3.2.DESCRIPTION OF THE DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT 23

3.2.1 Questionnaire 23

3.2.2 Observation 24

3.2.3 Interviews 25

3.3DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES 26

3.4PROCEDURE OF DATA ANALYSIS 28

3.5SUMMARY 28

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS 29

4.1RESEARCH QUESTION 1:HOW ARE PICTURES USED TO TEACH SPEAKING TO THE CHILDREN IN HAN THUYEN PRIMARY SCHOOL? 29

4.1.1 The teaching methodology 29

4.1.2 The teaching procedures 31

4.1.3 The teaching techniques 32

4.1.4 The amount of time spent on using pictures to teach speaking 33

4.1.5 The students’ activities in the speaking lesson 34

4.2RESEARCH QUESTION 2:WHAT KINDS OF PICTURES ARE MOST FREQUENTLY USED? 36 4.3RESEARCH QUESTION 3:WHAT ARE THE MAIN PURPOSES FOR USING PICTURES IN THE SPEAKING CLASS? 39

4.4RESEARCH QUESTION 4:WHAT ARE THE TEACHERS’ AND THE STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD THE USE OF PICTURES IN THE SPEAKING CLASS? 44

4.4.1 The teachers’ comments on pictures in the textbook 45

4.4.2 The teachers’ problems when using pictures to teach speaking 47

4.5SUMMARY 48

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 50 References

Appendixes

iv

Acknowledgements

This study has been completed with the assistance and guidance of many people First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Nguyen Thu Le Hang, M.A for her valuable suggestions, academic guidance, critical comments and practical advice Without her generous help this thesis cannot be completed

My sincere acknowledgements go to the teachers in Han Thuyen School who have helped me to complete the survey and proofread my thesis

Last but not least, I would like to thank all the people in my family and my friends who have spared no time and efforts to help and encourage me while the thesis is written

v

Abstract Pictures have been widely used in English language teaching and learning in many countries in the world including Vietnam But, how pictures are used to teach speaking effectively to the young learners in the primary school is a problem for many ELT teachers in Viet Nam Basing on the theoretical frame work of child language acquisition, English language teaching methodology gained in the M.A training course and the personal experience obtained in the teaching job, the writer of this thesis hopes to make an investigation into the use of pictures to teach speaking to the young children in Han Thuyen Primary school This action research focuses on four problems (1) the teaching methods employed when pictures are used to develop the speaking skills for the children, (2) the kind of pictures used in the speaking lesson, (3) the purposes of pictorial use in the speaking class and, (4) last but not least the teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward the use of pictures for English language instruction in a Vietnamese school where there is a lack of natural language environment In this research the data were gathered using three data collection instrument namely, questionnaire, interview and observation The collected data on the use of pictures to teach speaking to the young children in the school were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistic analysis with the help of the Microsoft Excel The research concluded that the systematic use of pictures as a supplementary teaching source has actively contributed to the successful teaching and learning of English to the young children in Han Thuyen School despite many difficulties

on the part of teachers and students

vi

List of abbreviations

In English

A-L: Audio- lingual

ALM: Audio-lingual Method

AP: Arranging pictures

A-V: Audio- visual

B.A: Bachelor of Arts

Three Ps: Presentation, Practice, Production

TPR: Total physical respond

TV: Television program

In Vietnamese

NXB ĐHQG: Nhà xuất bản đại học quốc gia

vii

List of tables and charts

Tables

Table 1: Personal background of Han Thuyen teachers

Table 2: The classification of teachers in Han Thuyen School

Table 3: The students’ number in different groups and the amount of their learning time Table 4: Han Thuyen teachers’ teaching methodology

Table 5: Han Thuyen teachers’ techniques to teach speaking skills

Table 6: The amount of time spent on using pictures to teach speaking

Table 7: Han Thuyen students’ activities in speaking lessons

Table 8: Kinds of pictures to teach speaking

Table 9: Purposes for using pictures in speaking lessons

Table 10: The teachers’ evaluation of the textbook pictures

Charts

Chart 1: The procedures for teaching speaking skills in Han Thuyen School

Chart 2: Evaluation of the children’s speaking skills in Han Thuyen School

Chart 3: Children’s attitudes and reactions toward pictorial use

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Background to the study

Nowadays English has become one of the most popular languages in the world and it is almost considered to be the international language It is widely used in science, technology, diplomacy, tourism, foreign trade, etc It seems easier for people from different countries to communicate, understand, study and exchange cultural and spiritual values through English In Vietnam since we have carried out economic reforms and open- door policies to attract foreign investment and cooperate with other countries, learning English has become more and more popular English has been widely taught everywhere in Vietnam Different methods have been employed but the result is still far from satisfactory Pictures as visual supplementary teaching materials

so far have been used for different teaching purposes Pictures have been used as a story stimulus to generate writing ideas or evoke emotional expression or as an effective guided writing tool to facilitate students’ writing process and to improve their writing proficiency Pictures are a good and useful tool for examination purposes because they encourage the learner to predict, infer, and deduce information from a variety of sources Pictures help to bring the outside world into the classroom, thus help to make the situation more real and in turn help the learner to use appropriate associated language Pictures have been used to present different linguistic elements Pictures have been so widely used that textbooks are filled with pictures However they have not been appropriately exploited to teach speaking effectively in many primary schools in Vietnam Statistics issued by the Ministry of Education and Training showed that the quality of English language teaching and learning in Vietnamese schools has been very poor A lot of time and money has been spent on teaching English to not only young children in the primary school but also the students in secondary schools but the result is far from desired However, there are some schools which succeed in helping young learners to learn English effectively as

a means of communication In these schools the government- selected textbooks have been taught Some supplementary textbooks in the training programs are the same as those used in other primary schools throughout Viet Nam But the communicative abilities of the students in these schools are surprisingly good Han Thuyen School is one of them What has led to this success may be contributed to many causes, but the

extensive use of a lot pictures to teach speaking can be clearly seen This has inspired the writer to investigate how pictures have been used to teach English speaking to the young children in Han Thuyen primary school

1.2 Aims of the study

The importance of English has made it a compulsory subject in not only most secondary schools, but in many primary schools as well However, the quality of teaching and learning English is still far from desired After years of learning English, the students can not acquire enough English to communicate effectively, because the teaching of speaking does not receive due attention Many school teachers do not view speaking skills as important ones as the speaking skill is not included in the end

of term or final tests So it is understandable that little attention is paid to the teaching and learning of speaking skills Basing on the theoretical basis the writer of this research intends to do an action research on how pictures are used to teach speaking

to the young children in a private primary school in Hanoi The writer not only wants

to know about the kinds of pictures which have been used but the procedure and techniques which have been applied to teach speaking in the school as well In addition the research also investigates the attitudes of the teachers and the students toward pictures in the speaking lesson and the problems faced by the teachers when using pictures These aims may be summarized into the following research questions:

1 How are pictures used to teach speaking to the children in Han Thuyen primary school?

2 What kinds of pictures are most frequently used?

3 What are the main purposes for using pictures in the speaking class?

4 What are the teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward the use of pictures in the speaking classes?

1.3 Scope of the study

Pictures include many things which can be used for teaching purposes for example actions, real objects, different kinds of boards, modern equipment, etc Due to the time limit this research only focuses on the use of pictures to teach speaking to the young children in Han Thuyen School The use of real objects, charts, diagrams will not

be taken into consideration The study deals with the use of pictures to teach speaking

to young children who study from grade 1 to grade 5 only Older children and adult

learners have their own ways of learning That is why in this study all the problems relating to them will be overlooked Pictures which are used to teach reading, writing and listening separately are also not discussed in this minor research, either

1.4 Significance of the study

There are many ways to enhance teaching and learning speaking skills for the Vietnamese young learners in Vietnamese primary schools in general and Han Thuyen Primary School in particular Among these ways, using pictures to teach speaking has been applied and it has proved to be effective, exciting and productive This study will help the writer and other practicing teachers get more insight into the theory of using pictures to teach speaking to young English language learners in general and to the young children in Han Thuyen Primary School in particular This study also sheds light on the method, procedures and teaching techniques which have been used to develop speaking skills to the young children in the primary level Furthermore, this study reveals many problems faced by the teachers when pictures are used to teach speaking to the young children in a Vietnamese school where there

is a lack of native language environment This will be beneficial to practicing teachers It is also hoped that this research will help school authorities and policy makers know more about the advantages and disadvantages of pictures in English language teaching in a primary school and the difficulties that the conscientious teachers have to encounter so that they can work out suitable policies to support or assist the teachers in designing and selecting pictures for ELT purposes

1.5 Outline of the thesis

The thesis consists of 5 main chapters

Chapter 1, Introduction, presents the background, the aims of the study and the research questions The scope, the significance and the outline of the study are also mentioned

Chapter 2, Literature review deals with the theory of child language learning and the theories which are related to the teaching of speaking skills and the use of pictures to teach speaking to young children

Chapter 3, Methodology, deals with the respondents, the data collection instruments, data collection procedures and procedure of data analysis which are used to obtain information for the research

Chapter 4, Data analysis is devoted to the analysis of the data which are collected through the data collection instruments with the aim of finding out the information which helps to answer the four research questions

Chapter 5, Conclusion and suggestion deal with the finding of the research and make some suggestions for the use of pictures to teach speaking

Chapter 2: Literature review

In this chapter young children’s language learning and acquisition will be considered The review of pictorial usage in English language teaching in general and

in teaching speaking skill in particular is also mentioned These considerations will lay the theoretical foundation for the study in the following chapters

2.1 Child language learning

2.1.1 First language acquisition

The marvelous capacity for acquiring competence in one’s native language within the first few years of life has been a subject of interest for many centuries According to Brown (1987) modern research on child language acquisition dates back

to the late eighteenth century when the German philosopher Dietrich Tiedemann his observations of the psychological and linguistic development of his young son … for the most part research was limited to diary like recordings of observed speech with some attempts to classify word types Only in the second half of the century did researchers begin to analyze child language systematically and try to discover the nature of the psycholinguistic process which enables every human being to gain fluent control of an exceedingly complex system of communication

Since then hundreds of linguists and psychologists have been studying linguistic, psychological, sociological, and physiological aspects of first language acquisition By about age three children can comprehend different linguistic behaviors and can communicate rather naturally This fluency continues into school age as children can produce and comprehend complex structures, expand their vocabulary, and sharpen communicative speaking skills By the time children enter primary school, they are sophisticated language users, operating a communicative system which no other creature or computer comes close to matching The speed of acquisition for all children has led to the belief that there is some innate predisposition

in the human infant to acquire language Chomsky (1965) claims that the existence of innate properties of language to explain the child’s mastery of his native language in such a short time despite the highly abstract nature of the rules of language This innate knowledge according to Chomsky is embodied in a “little black box” of sorts, a language acquisition device Lenneberg (1967) also proposes that language is a species- specific behavior and that certain modes of perception, categorizing abilities,

and other language related mechanism are biologically determined McNeil (1970) describes in detail the four innate linguistic properties: (1) the ability to distinguish speech sounds from other sounds in the environment, (2) the ability to organize linguistic events into various classes which can later be refined, (3) knowledge that a certain kind of linguistic system is possible and that other kinds are not, (4) the ability

to engage in constant evaluation of the developing linguistic system so as to construct the simplest possible system out of the linguistic data that are encountered So far there have been many other approaches to child language acquisition

Brown (1987) is right when he evaluated the contribution of Chomsky, McNeill and their colleagues to the theory of child language acquisition In his opinion Chomsky, McNeill and their colleagues helped us to see that the child’s language, at a given point, is a system in its own right The child linguistic development is not a process of developing fewer and fewer incorrect structures not a language in which earlier stages have more mistakes than later stages Rather, the child’s language at any stage is systematic in that the child is constantly forming hypotheses in speech and comprehension As the child’s language develops these hypotheses get continually revised, reshaped, or sometimes abandoned

2.1.2 Second language acquisition

The wave of research in child language acquisition has led foreign language teachers and teacher’s trainers to study some of the general findings of such research with a view to drawing analogies between first and second language acquisition, and even to justifying certain teaching methods and techniques on the basis of first language learning principles It is true that all children, given a normal developmental environment acquire their native language naturally, without special instruction from teachers or trainers But there are considerable differences between first and second language learning

Ellis (1994) confirms that in the case of L2 acquisition, the silent period is not obligatory, as the learner already knows about language, having already acquired one Yet many learners- especially children- opt for a silent period

Krashen (1982) claims that formulaic speech occurs when learners are forced

to speak before they are ready and that left to their own devices, they will remain silent But Krashen’s view seems to ignore the fact that it is perfectly natural for any language user to seek to simplify the burden of processing language- by using

formulas to establish islands of reliability for example Learners, like native speakers, learn formulas because it reduces the learning burden while maximizing communicative ability Pupils starting to learn a foreign language are often highly motivated We can help children maintain their initial motivation by encouraging them to become more actively and personally involved in their own learning, and by helping them build up their confidence and to perceive progress The younger the learners are, the easier it seems to learn a language Young children who are exposed

to more than one language before the age of puberty seem to acquire all the languages equally well Learning a second language differs qualitatively from learning the first language Psychological, physical and sociological factors are considered in addition

to the linguistics structure of second language and how it differs from the first language Individuals who are self- conscious about making mistakes often find learning second language difficult Children are unconcerned or unaware that they are making mistakes With the teachers’ help, children can learn from their mistakes to be better It is clear that children acquire their first language without explicit learning A second language is usually learned but to some degree may also be acquired or depending on the environment setting and the input received Brown (1987) says that the plasticity of the brain prior to puberty enables children to acquire not only their first language but also a second language and that possibly it is the very accomplishment of lateralization that makes it difficult for people to be able ever again acquires fluent control of a second language

Krashen (1982) proposes a distinction between acquisitions the process by which children unconscious acquire their native language and learning by which children unconsciously acquire their native language, knowing the rules, being aware

of them and being able to talk about them ELT teachers should know about this difference so that they can help the young learners learn or acquire the second or foreign language properly and effectively When the children are still young more attention should be paid to helping them acquire the language unconsciously through games, imitation, and real life activities and so on

2.2 Speaking skills and the teaching of speaking skills

2.2.1 Definition of speaking skills

Speaking skills are man’s ability in using language as a means of communication When defining speaking skills, “ We do not merely know how to

assemble sentences in the abstract: we have to produce them and adapt them in the circumstances This means making decisions rapidly, implementing them smoothly and adjusting our conversation as unexpected problems appeared in our path” Bygate (1987, p.3) Obviously, in the learning process, learners do not learn by heart every word; sentence and then gather them in the abstract but they learn how to speak in a particular situation It means that speaking skills help students to learn language as a means of communication in real life Speaking skills develop people’s ability to speak fluently, correctly and clearly and they can speak out in every situation

2.2.2 Teaching speaking skills

Rivers (1968) mentions the elements of speaking skills She deems it necessary to have a clear understanding of the processes involved in speech In the teaching of speaking skill, we are engaged in two processes: forging an instrument and giving the student practice in its use Then the teaching of speaking skill involves two levels of activity The forging of the instrument requires much practice in the arbitrary associations of the new language: lexical items, morphological and syntactical patterns, sentence types At this stage the student is asked merely to manipulate the elements of the foreign language code, so that he can express a number of possible meanings imposed upon him by the exercise or by the teacher When he has acquired facility in these mechanical associations he needs practice in setting in motion a number of interacting systems of a hierarchical nature Rivers also states clearly that speaking to express a personal intention is not sequential or linear process, one item generating the next throughout the utterance; rather is it a hierarchical process So it takes time and effort to develop this skill for the learners, especially the young ones In English language teaching teachers must be fully aware

of the main micro skills of speaking if they want to form or develop these skills for their students

Brown (1994) quotes the list of the macro skills of speaking put forward by Richards (1983) (see appendix 5) He draws the teachers’ attention to the importance

of focusing on both the forms of the language as well as the functions of the language When teaching speaking teachers are advised not to limit the student’s attention to the whole picture, even though that whole picture is important Teachers may help students see the pieces right down to the small parts of language that make up the whole

2.2.3 Factors affecting the development of speaking skills

There are many factors which affect the development of the speaking skills of the young children Below are the major ones

2.2.3.1 Age

Many researchers believe that the younger the children are the easier for them

to learn English: Diller (1981), Cummins (1981), Flege (1987) assume that a critical point for second language acquisition occurs around puberty, beyond which people seem to be relatively incapable of acquiring a native like accent of the second language

Brown (1994) acknowledges that young children have many advantages in second language learning First of all, children’s widespread success in acquiring second languages belies a tremendous subconscious effort devoted to the task and their fluency and naturalness are often the envy of adults struggling with second languages Generally speaking, children under the age of puberty stand at excellent chance of sounding like a native if they have continued exposure in authentic contexts These advantages of young children should be taken into consideration and made use of when ELT teachers teach young children in the primary level

2.2.3.2 Intellectual development

Brown (1994) argues that since children up to the age of about eleven are still

in an intellectual stage of what is called concrete operations you need to remember their limitations Rules, explanations and other even slightly abstract talk about language must be approached with extreme caution Children are centered on the here and now on the functional purposes of language They have little appreciation for our adult notions of correctness and they certainly cannot grasp the met language we use

to describe and explain linguistic concepts So instructions on language theory should

be avoided and more repetition and meaningful practice ought to be given 2.2.3.3 Attention span

Brown (1994) says that children have short attention spans; the short attention spans come up when you present the stuff which is boring, useless or too difficult Since language lessons can at time difficult for children, your job then is one of making them interesting, lively, and fun In order to help young teachers teach children more effectively He makes some interesting suggestions Because children

are focused on the immediate here and now, activities should be designed to capture their immediate interest A lesson needs to have a variety of activities to keep interest and attention alive A teacher needs to be animated, lively and enthusiastic about the subject matter Consider the classroom a stage in which you are the lead actor, your energy will be infectious to others While you may think that you’re overdoing it, children need this exaggeration to keep spirits buoyed and minds alert A sense of humor will go a long way to keep children laughing and learning Since children’s humor is quite different from adults, remember to put yourself in their shoes Children have a lot of natural curiosity “Make sure you tap into that curiosity whenever possible and you will thereby help to maintain attention and focus”

(Brown 1994, p.92) 2.2.3.4 Motivation and concern for speaking

According to Brown (1987) motivation is commonly thought of as an inner drive, impulse, emotion, or desire that moves one to a particular action It is easy to figure that success in a task is due to the fact that someone is motivated It is easy in second language learning to claim that a learner will be successful with the proper motivation Such claims are of course not erroneous, for countless studies and experiments in human learning have shown that motivation is a key to learning If that motivation and concern is high, then the necessary efforts will be expanded in pursuit

of goals Teachers can help learners to perceive or develop that motivation by showing, among other things how clarity of speech is significant in shaping their self image and ultimately, in reaching some of their higher goals All the above factors suggest that any learners who really want to can learn to speak English clearly and comprehensively You can assist in the process by gearing your planned and unplanned instruction towards all factors, especially motivation

2.3 Pictures and different views on the use of pictures in ELT

2.3.1 Pictures as visual aids

A picture is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as a painting, drawing, sketch, etc, especially as a work of art In the dictionary of applied linguistics, visual aids are objects, pictures, cut-outs, cards, drawings, charts, maps, etc, which are used by the teacher in the class for educational purposes Pictures as visual aids are visual images

or pictorial forms which include various types such as drawings, photos pictures,

paintings, posters, advertisements, stick figures, slides, flash cards, and so on They are mainly used as supplementary teaching materials

According to Mayer& Monero (2002) pictorial forms may be static materials

or dynamic materials such as video or animation The students perceive knowledge through watching and exploiting these things following teachers’ instructions

2.3.1 Different views on the use of pictures in ELT

2.3.1.1 Traditional points of view

Rivers (1968) proves that many generations of language teachers have been influenced by the grammar- translation method to L1 or L2 language teaching and learning This method is clearly rooted in the formal teaching of Latin and Greek which prevailed in Europe for many centuries Latin and Greek were not learned for communicative purposes between scholars The utility was considered at that time an inappropriate criterion to be applied to an area of advanced study The learning of Latin and Greek was then justified as an intellectual discipline: the mind being trained, it was asserted, by logical analysis of the language, much memorization of complicated rules and paradigms, and the application of these in translation exercises

In other words, learners are taught about the language The teaching of an ancient language for communication was not considered, the original pronunciation of which was even in doubt The reading and translation of texts was, therefore, of great importance, as were writing exercises in imitation of these texts Pictures were not used for language teaching purposes If any of them were used, they were for illustrative purposes only

2.3.1.2 Views of the direct method advocates

Brown (1994) clearly stated that the basic premise of the Direct Method was similar to that of Gouin’s Series Method, namely, that second language learning should be more like first language learning- lots of oral interaction, spontaneous use

of the language, no translation between first and second language, and little or no analysis of grammatical rules

Later, Richards and Rodgers (1986) also summarize the principles of the Direct Method and mention the use of pictures objects and miming to make clear the meanings of concrete vocabulary

Rivers (1968) pointed out that the direct method continues to flourish in its modified form in many areas To counteract the tendency toward inaccuracy and vagueness; teachers reintroduced some grammatical explanations of a strictly functional kind in the native language, given while retaining inductive approach wherever possible Where it was difficult to make the meaning of words and phrases clear by sketches or gesture they would give a short explanation in the native language Clearly, direct method reveals some limitations of pictorial use in language instructions, which should be taken into consideration by ELT teachers

2.3.1.3 The Audio lingual method followers’ viewpoints

The Audio-lingual Method (ALM) was firmly grounded in linguistic and psychological theory Structural linguistic of the 1940s and 1950s were engaged in what they claimed was a scientific descriptive analysis of various languages: teaching methodologists saw a direct application of such analysis to teaching linguistic patterns

Fries (1945) At the same time, advocated conditioning and habit- formation models of learning that were perfectly married with the mimicry drills and pattern practices of audio lingual methodology

Prator and Murcia (1979) summarize the characteristics of ALM and mention the use of tapes, language labs and visual aides to help introduce structural patterns, vocabulary, and new material and so on In a word, in this method great importance is attached to pronunciation and there is a great effort to get students to produce error-free utterances Structures are selected and sequenced my means of contrastive analysis and language practice was firmly grounded in behaviorism and structuralism Visual pictures are widely used in ALM, but they are used mainly to help students learn carefully graded structures and vocabulary in situations and contexts and much attention is paid to accuracy Much practice is done through repetition memorization and manipulation of structures presented in dialogues

2.3.1.4 Viewpoints of the Audio- visual method advocates

In its simplest form the audio- visual method has been employed for many years in classrooms where objects, pictures, actions and gestures have been systematically used with aural-oral work to elucidate meaning

Rivers (1968) explained that the advocates of audio- visual method put forward several reasons for considering the visual elements essential to the efficient

learning of listening and speaking It is believed that the pictures associated with the recorded voice eliminate the need to use the native language because the direct bond

is established for the student between the meanings and what is demonstrated in the image, and the foreign language utterance The intention is to train the student to think

in the foreign language, with recourse to his native tongue from the first lesson The need for the script is eliminated, because the spoken words become associated, not only with preceding and succeeding utterances, but also with the pictures stimulus so that it is possible later to eliminate the recorded voice and to use the picture series to evoke the sequence of utterances In this way the strain on the auditory memory is less than with a purely aural presentation with oral practice With the elimination of the script certain problems of native language interference in pronunciation, arising from similarities in appearance of words, do not arise

Rivers (1968) further analyses that in this method a lot of pictures are used to assist skill development Students are highly motivated With well-drawn pictures they find language classes interesting and enjoyable When they see the situations in which the phrases they are memorizing are appropriate, they feel they are learning something which is useful and practical As they associate phrases with people and incidents in the pictures, rather than learning them as abstraction, they see how these utterances serve real purposes They feel a more immediate involvement than when they learn from a printed script because they see the people talking, they can address utterances to them, and they can hear replies to their utterances from the recorded voice

Rivers (1968) on the one hand emphasizes the advantages of the audio-visual method She thinks that the picture, with accompanying voice, has a greater sensory impact than lines on printed page or even than that of the voice alone The student can see not only situations, but also gestures and expressions which have an essential role

in the clarification of elements of meaning conveyed by intonation and tone of voice Through his observation of personal relationships, the student also acquires some understanding of the register or level of language for which particular utterances are appropriate The attention of the students is kept focused on the picture, so that all the members of the class are concentrating on the same thing at the same time With all the advantages outlined, the audio- visual method maintains the specific advantages of aural- oral work The students hear the foreign language continually and speak it often They hear foreign language sounds from the first lesson in meaningful

sequences with the appropriate intonation patterns and concentrating as they are on situation and meaning, they begin to pronounce and speak without self- consciousness On the other hand, she points out the disadvantage of this method She says that in some cases if the meanings are abstract visual pictures can not help to elucidate meanings and misunderstanding of meanings frequently occurs

2.3.1.5 The “Designer” methods of the 1970

The Chomskyan revolution in linguistics drew the attention of linguists and language teachers to the “deep structure” of language, while psychologists took account of the effective and interpersonal nature of learning As a result, new methods were proposed to emphasize on the importance of psychological factors in language learning

Nunan (1989) referrers to these methods as designer methods, on the grounds that they took a one- side- fits- all approach These are two of the designer method They are suggestopedia and the silent way In suggestopedia way pictures are not used, relaxation is the chief means of retaining new knowledge and materials The students sit in comfortable seats when teachers try to present vocabulary, readings, role- plays and drama with classical music in the background

The silent way is the name given to a method of language teaching developed

by Thanasoulas (2002) The teacher is supposed to be silent hence the name of the method- and must disabuse himself of the tendency to explain everything to them The silent way makes use of mime, gesture, and all kinds of visual aids including color- coded pronunciation wall charts, and in particular These are a set of rods of different lengths and colors, which are used by teachers to encourage students to talk Particularly in the early stages, the learners talk intensively about rods, using a simple, controlled vocabulary and some basic verbs Learners then build up more complex structures During this process, the teacher remains relatively silent with the aim of encouraging the student of the language to be increasingly self- reliant and independent of the teacher

2.3.1.6 The communicative approach

The point of view that language is first and foremost as a system for communication has led to the emergency of the communication approach This is an approach to foreign language teaching, which emphasizes the learner’s ability to use

the language appropriately in specific situations It often uses authentic classroom materials and activities to reflect real life situations and demands Finocchiaro (1984) and Brumfit (1984) had presented on of the most comprehensive lists of CLT features compared with the audio lingual method Later on Nunan (1991) offers five features

to characterize CLT:

1 An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language

2 The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation

3 The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the learning process itself

4 An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning

5 An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom

According to the advocates of this approach, more attention is paid to fluency and less attention is paid to accuracy Errors may be permissible on condition that the student learns the target language and knows how to get the message across Teachers use real objects, pictures, flash cards, activities and students as visual aids in most effective way to develop students’ communicative competence Pictures are an indispensable part of teaching foreign language today In addition, the advocates of this method emphasizes information gap in ELT lessons and learners’ needs to use English as a means of communication in real life situations

2.3.2 Different uses of pictures in English language teaching

2.3.2.1 Using pictures to motivate the learners

In communicative language teaching, speaker motivation is considered the most important factor to succeed in language learning This is due to the fact that the learners who are interested in learning tend to do better than those who are not Pictures as visual aids are obviously stimulus to form language learners’ motivation

Lee and Coppen (1970) emphasized that visual aids can bring more variety and interest into language lessons Colorful, lively and interesting images of pictures, real objects, etc catch learners’ eyes, attract them and encourage them to talk freely and naturally without the fear of making mistakes, moreover, learners will be quickly bored with the lessons that they have nothing to attend to but the teacher, textbook

and themselves Pictures can refresh the atmosphere, warm up the atmosphere by living and interesting images that attract students’ attention and interest When students are keen on what are presented in the classroom they will be eager to talk and discuss that

2.3.2.2 Using pictures to create language contexts to teach linguistic elements and language skills

Krashen (1982) found that pictures are important because they can provide comprehensive input by assisting the learners to connect meaning with form The presence of pictures in the foreign language classroom is necessary because of the diverse learning styles of the students Research regarding the use of pictures in foreign language instruction points to effective results with learners such as Lee (1970) and Krahen (1982) Pictures can be used to enhance speaking, reading, writing and listening activities in the foreign language classroom Pictures can help students gain input, organize ideas, visualize ideas, and deduce more complex concepts

Krashen (1982) agree that in order for foreign language students to gain proficiency, pictures must be implemented in the classroom and be used in purposeful and effective manner According to them in the foreign language classroom pictures cater to the diverse needs of learners When considering the needs of diverse learners

in the foreign language classroom, it is imperative that the most effective classroom methodologies be determined to facilitate an increase in students’ language ability One of the major functions of pictures is helping students to practice what they have learnt

Bowen (1985) presents that pictures allow the teacher to talk less, by diminishing the importance of the verbal stimuli provided by the teacher voice and

allow the students to talk more When used, pictures attract students’ attention and

therefore, lower the role of the verbal stimuli provided by the teacher’s voice As a result, they allow students to talk more Moreover, pictures also help teachers to create circumstances and wake up students’ passion of expressing their own ideas; students have more time and more chance to practice language skills They help to teach listening, speaking, writing and reading and allow the teacher to integrate these skills constructively Consequently, students have opportunities to practice all four skills and gradually perfect their language

2.3.2.3 Using pictures to reduce memory loads

Using appropriate pictures in language teaching is a great help for students to memorize As noted above, pictures can create situation (context) in which language items are used As a result, students will have chance to learn language in real situation Language items that students use in each certain situation is obviously memorized longer than without situation It means that they will have sense of meaning and usage of certain language items naturally They absorb language without being aware of it And then next time, in the same situations, they will use the language items that they used last time in that situation

Bowen (1985) notes that visual aids as spotlight issues, providing a new dimension of dramatic realism and clarifying facts which might pass unnoticed or be

quickly forgotten In short, students will remember longer if language items are

presented in relation to certain images, certain contexts that are created by visual aids 2.3.2.4 Using pictures to test English Language competence

Canning (1996) shows that pictures are a good useful tool for examination purposes because they lead the learner into drawing out language from their own knowledge and personal experiences through exposure to, immersion to the stimuli presented before them Pictures permit strategies to organize knowledge into semantic

or associative clusters The Fleming System of classification suggests that humans systematically recognize pictures The older of the classification can aid classroom practitioners who develop materials or write tests using visual prompts According to the system the learners must show knowledge of the pictures This can be done through recall, recognizing similarities or differences to other pictures or the ability to relate it to other types of information The second level of classification suggests the viewer will analyze the picture image and then attempt to separate or identify parts and/ or compare the components of the illustration This act may include assessing, judging, describing and identifying the pictures Next, the learner will synthesize material In order to do this, the learner will combine components, formulate new relationship, and generalize information It is suggested that the learner will then apply the picture to the situation before applying the visual component being shown

to the situation or task at hand, such as the prompt on the foreign or second language exam

2.3.2.5 Using pictures to introduce culture

In his book Teaching Foreign Language, Rivers (1968) states that the highest purpose in the teaching of language may perhaps be said to be the access to the best thoughts and institutions of a foreign nation, its literature, culture- in short, the spirit

of the nation in the widest sense of the word “Any authentic use of the language, any reading of original texts as opposed to those fabricated for classroom use, any listening to utterances of native speakers, will introduce cultural concomitants into the classroom whether the teacher is conscious of them or not” (Rivers, p 262) So are the visual pictures or pictorial material Often pictures in magazines and newspapers, advertisements and paintings, etc, contain a lot of cultural information as they depict natural situations and activities of people of different ages Teachers should be aware

of this so that they can exploit and introduce the culture in the target language to the students Supplementary pictures as visual aids should be chosen by ELT teachers as well But care must be taken to see that they are not too cluttered with detail They should be illustrative of one main aspect of cultural behavior which is clearly depicted without caricaturing the life of the people It is important that pictures used in the early stages should show life as it is lived at the present time Textbook writers often choose pictures for teaching purposes Pictures are illustrative of one main aspect of cultural behavior Mere fluency in the production of foreign language utterances without any awareness of their implications or of their appropriate use, the reading of texts without a realization of the underlying values and assumptions- these so- called skills are of the factitious usefulness even on a purely practical level, and may well call into questions the claim of foreign language study to a place in a program of liberal education

2.3.3 Some principles for choosing, designing and using pictures in ELT

Corder (1966) wrote the book “A Theory of Visual Aids in Language Teaching” and a scientific report entitled “the visual element in language teaching” in ELT volume XVII N.2,1964, which dealt with some principles for choosing, designing and using visual material in ELT Below are some of them

2.3.3.1 Appropriateness

Corder (1966) says that in methodology literature pictures have been so widely used in ELT that textbooks are full of pictures depicting different aspects of life Sometimes teachers are so familiar with pictures that they seem to forget about one

important criterion which governs the design and selection of pictures used for educational purposes That is appropriateness Appropriateness of pictures entails the design and selection of pictures used in ELT to be suitable for educational purposes in terms of psychology, pedagogy, culture and economy Pictures which are selected and used in ELT lessons must not only be morally and culturally accepted but also suitable for the age of the students

2.3.3.2 Availability

Corder (1966) shows that the teacher should exploit to the full the potentialities of pictures in ELT However, it is not always easy to get access to them Many textbooks are full of printed pictures but they are solely used for illustrative purposes which are not suitable for language teaching purposes Many teachers are aware of the advantages of the effective uses of pictures in teaching English but they cannot draw or paint pictures themselves This prevents them from using pictures to develop language skills or cultivate cultural knowledge for the students Last but not least, pictures which can be utilized as visual aids are abundant for ELT purposes but not all of them can be exploited to teach young children because they must satisfy moral, cultural and pedagogical requirements Therefore, availability is one of the essential principles which teachers ought to take into consideration when using pictures for educational purposes in the classroom

2.3.3.3 Reusability

According to Corder (1966) another criterion that teachers need to consider is the reusability of visual aids It cannot be denied that pictures are very beneficial in ELT So they should be used frequently in each lesson The more the pictures are used, the more possibility for them to be damaged It will be a big waste of time and money if pictures are not recycled In recycling pictures teachers should not only know how to keep them for future use, but also know how to use them to teach different grades or different groups of learners as it is time- consuming to choose or design pictures for different language teaching purposes

2.3.4 Classification of pictures

There are different kinds of visual pictures which have been used in ELT They may be classified based on different criteria such as the color, the shapes and sizes, the style, the topics, the materials, etc In this research visual pictures are categorized according to the status of the pictures So only two kinds of pictures are

mentioned This classification is worked out by Mayer& Moreno (2002) According

to them pictorial forms includes static materials such as photos or illustration, and the dynamic material such as video or animation In this sense, pictures may be static or dynamic The static pictures include drawings, caricatures, stick figures, sticky pictures, flash card pictures, advertisements, newspaper photos and pictures, paintings and personal photos Dynamic pictures comprise projected pictures from video clips, and DVD films

Chapter 3: Methodology

In the previous chapter the rich literature on young children’s language learning and acquisition, the theory for the use of pictures in English language teaching and the development of speaking skills for young children through pictures have been presented as the theoretical basis for the study In this chapter the methodology of the study is described thoroughly regarding the participants, the instruments, the data collection and data analysis procedures, which help to reveal how pictures have been used to teach speaking to the young children and the problems arisen in the teaching and learning process in the school

3.1 Description of the participants

To get adequate information for the research on how pictures have been used

to teach speaking to young children in Han Thuyen primary school, the writer of this study has to seek help from two main kinds of participants who are directly involved

in the teaching and learning process They are the teachers and the primary school children in the school Below is the detailed description of these subjects

3.1.1 The teachers

Number

of teacher Male Female

Work experien

Table 1: Personal background of Han Thuyen teachers

Six teachers were interviewed and their classes were observed They were also requested to answer the survey questionnaire This has helped the writer gather adequate information on their knowledge of pictures in ELT and the way they exploited pictures to teach speaking to their students in Vietnamese teaching condition Details of this group can be summarized in table 1 with the age ranging from 22 to 50 years of age It can be clearly seen from the table that the percentage of male and female teachers who taught different grades were equal This percentage was quite reasonable for qualitative research

The work experience and the qualification of teachers were also displayed in the table Two teachers (33%) in Han Thuyen School were under 26 years of age Three teachers (50%) were under 30 years of age One teacher (17%) was over 50 years of age The table shows that four teachers (66%) in Han Thuyen School got B.A degrees Two teachers (34%) had higher qualification i.e they had M.A or PhD degree The teacher who had B.A degrees had fewer working years so they were classified as inexperienced teachers The teachers who had higher qualification and had more than 5 years of working experience were considered to be experienced teachers In Han Thuyen School there were 34% of experienced teachers by this standard The experienced teachers not only had more impact on the students but on other teachers in the school as well Data gathered from class observation revealed that the experienced teachers were more self- confident and flexible in exploiting and making use of pictures to develop speaking skills for their children they were in charge of

Grade Male Female

Number of inexperienced teachers

Number of experienced teachers

Table 2: The classification of teachers in Han Thuyen School

Table 2 also indicates that the teacher arrangement in English classes in the school was based on the experience and teaching years of the teachers The qualification and the working years of the teacher’s participants were very important because the result of the teaching process was dependent on the knowledge of visual pictures and their exploitation to teach English in general and speaking in particular Therefore, experienced teachers were requested to teach the first grade and the fifth grades One more thing which ought to be mentioned here is that all experienced teachers in Han Thuyen School were given more important status like “head teachers”

or “deputy principal” The teacher who got the master degree was the head teacher and the teacher who got the doctoral degree was appointed the deputy principal of the

school Some additional information about the teachers can be seen in table 2 The experienced teachers in Han Thuyen School were not only assigned different groups

to teach according to their qualification and experience but also appointed to assume different posts which had a big influence on the use of pictures to teach English in the school

3.1.2 The primary school children

Grade Number of

students Male Female Age

Learning time (by year)

Table 3: The students’ number in different groups and the amount of their learning time

The research can not be completed without the help of 100 students in Han Thuyen primary school The students are on average from 6 to 10 years of age Many

of them started learning before entering primary level Out of 100 student respondents

57 students had learnt English for over 5 years as they had attended the pre school courses for the kindergarten children 20 students had studied English from 4 to five years 23 students had studied English from 1 to 3 years because they were transferred

to Han Thuyen from other state or private schools in Hanoi They had not got English lessons in other school so they had some trouble in learning English in the new school The detailed information about these children is summarized in table 3 It can

be seen from the table that the children in Han Thuyen School studied in small groups

in comparison with the groups in the government schools Averagely, there were only

20 students in one group The smallest group had only 13 students, which created a very good condition for the teachers to teach speaking

3.2 Description of the data collection instruments

3.2.1 Questionnaire

The questionnaire, according to Nunan (1989), can provide a great deal of information about almost any aspect of the teaching and learning process in an

economical form Most information obtained for this study had been collected from questionnaire Two sets of questionnaires were designed by the researcher: one for the teachers and one for the students

The questionnaire for the teachers focused on the teacher’s opinions of the roles of pictures in ELT, the prevalent status of pictorial use to teach speaking skills to the young children in Han Thuyen School, the assessment of the students’ speaking ability, the benefits and problems of using pictures to teach speaking in the ELT process It consisted of 16 questions.10 questions (7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16) focused on the use of pictures to teach speaking to the young children in Han Thuyen school Question 1 was designed to identify the teachers who taught different groups Question 2 and 3 were used to get information on the textbooks and the supplimentary materials Question 4 was designed to collect information on the teaching methodology which laid theoretical basis for the exploitation of pictures to teach speaking to the children in Han Thuyen school Question 5 was designed to get information on the Han Thuyen teachers’ attitudes toward the importance of speaking skills in comparison with other macro skills Question 6 was used to get information

on the time spent on teaching speaking skills

The questionnaire for students was designed to collect information on the students’ reaction to the use of pictures in the English lesson, the variety of pictures used in the speaking lesson, the frequency of picture exposition, the procedure for the exploited pictures in a speaking lesson The questionnaire for the students was only used to cross check the information gathered in the teaching and learning process in the school

The questionnaire for the teachers was written in English But the questionnaire for the students was written in Vietnamese to make it easy for the students to answer Two sets of questionnaire included three main types of questions: rating, open-ended and multiple choice questions

3.2.2 Observation

According to Wajnryb (1992) observation was claimed to have many advantages as it could give rich data about how the subjects reacted in the real situation Six teachers were asked for permission to observe their speaking lessons The objectives were to get more objective information about the use of pictures to teach speaking to the young children in Han Thuyen primary school Each of the teachers’ classes had been observed five times The total number of observations was

30 times (20 hours) Field notes had been taken on every occasion that a speaking class was visited The requirements of each observation were listed in the checklist to help the observer focus on the main aspects which were directly related to the use of pictures to teach speaking The main aspects were how often pictures were used, what kinds of pictures were used, how the teachers taught speaking with the help of pictures and how the pupils reacted during the presentation of pictures The observed information was recorded in the form of notes A video camera and a digital camera were also used to capture the real atmosphere in the lesson for analysis in the study In addition, to reduce the disadvantage of observation, which was the subjectivity, the researcher had asked another observer to co-observe some random observations The observed information would serve to provide clearer and deeper information of the overall panorama of the utility of pictures to teach speaking skills in the school Furthermore, it could also be used to triangulate the information gained in the questionnaire and the interview

3.2.3 Interviews

Beside the questionnaire and the observation, the interview is one direct way

to get qualitative data from the teachers One thing that ought to be taken into consideration is that a liberal atmosphere should be created for participants to express their viewpoints freely As a result, the researcher might obtain objective and straightforward information without letting them go off-track Furthermore, the interview is also considered to be a method of triangulation to assure the consistency

of data, which could help the researcher to check the data collected from other instruments as well

Before the interview was given, an interview scheme was designed to seek information about the teachers’ theoretical background on pictures, the methods to exploit pictures in the speaking lesson, the problems and specific suggestions for improvement The interview schema in this research consisted of 10 questions 6 questions (1,5,6,7,9,10) focused on extracting information on the advantages of using pictures to teach speaking , the students’ reaction when pictures were used, the amount of time spent on exploiting pictures in each lesson, the teachers’ evaluation of the quality of pictures in the text book, the effects of extensive pictorial use on the students speaking skills and the suggestions to encourage teachers to use more pictures to teach speaking to the children in Han Thuyen school 3 questions (questions 2,3,4) center on the teachers’ attitudes toward the importance of speaking

skills in ELT, the methods and the teaching procedures As the researcher has mentioned in the literature review, the teaching methods reflected the teacher’s assumption on language and the exploitation of pictures to develop speaking skills for the learners One question (question 8) was designed get information on the evaluation of the speaking skills of the children in Han Thuyen School The same interview scheme was given to all the teacher respondents who taught different groups

so as to obtain the most reliable information relating to pictorial use in teaching English speaking to the young children in Han Thuyen School

The settings for all interviews were the staff room where there was no one available after the break time The respondents were interviewed in the free periods when they were waiting for the coming period The researcher tried to make the atmosphere informal so as to fully exploit the necessary information from all the respondents

Last but not least, the interviews were recorded with the help of a camera so that important information could be easily referred to in the data analysis procedure 3.3 Data collection procedures

The procedure of collecting data had been done as follows

First of all a visit to the school inspired the writer to do an action research on how pictures were used to teach speaking to the young children in Han Thuyen Primary school To prepare for this research, the writer started to collect data about the English course for the primary children and the use of pictures in speaking lessons

in Han Thuyen School The researcher took some brief interviews with the teachers and students to get information about the teachers’ attitude toward the role of pictures

in teaching speaking English and the students’ reaction toward pictures in the speaking lesson Based on this information the researcher started to devise the data collection instrument which consisted of the observation scheme, two sets of questionnaire one for the student and one for the teacher and a set of interview schemes For ethical reasons all personal information were kept confidential All the instruments were carefully piloted with volunteer respondents who were active students and teachers This stage aimed at identifying ambiguous, repetitive or redundant questions and criteria

Second, the researcher worked out a detailed plan to observe classes of six teachers who taught different grades from 1 to 5 to get direct information about the

teachers’ and students’ activities in speaking lessons and how the pictures were presented and exploited to develop speaking abilities for the young children All observation sessions were recorded with the help of a video camera and in note form with previous agreement of the observed teachers The plan was then handed over to the school principal for approval and official permission

Third, when the permission was granted (about one week later), the questionnaire was administered The teacher’s questionnaire was given directly to six teachers who taught English in the school without any guidance from the researcher to ensure high degree of objectivity But when the questionnaire for the students was distributed some guidance was offered 100 copies of student questionnaire were delivered to the students in person at break time or at the student class meetings on Friday at the end of the week In order to increase the quality of the information, the students were asked to fill in the questionnaire under the guidance of the researcher because they were still young So they could ask for help when they did not understand the requirement or hesitated about their choices The students’ questionnaire was collected on the spot, but the teachers’ questionnaire was collected two weeks later as most of the teachers were very busy during the week days They could find time to fill in the questionnaire on the week ends

Fourth, while the questionnaires were assessed, arrangements for class observation were made on the phone or by direct contact in the school during the break time 5 observation sessions were conducted each teacher with the hope of getting adequate information on the teachers’ systematic use of pictures as supplementary materials to teach speaking, the consistent and detailed procedure to exploit pictures and the behaviors and activities of the students in the speaking lessons 30 observations had been carried out within 2 weeks so as to save time for the researcher and avoid disrupting the activities of the teachers and students in the term Each observation session was assisted with an observation schema (see Appendix 4)

to ensure consistency of the observation and ease for the researcher to take field notes

A video camera was also used to record the activities of the teachers and students during the lesson

Fifth, the final stage was the interview First of all, the researcher made arrangement with each participant about the time and the place for the interview The time of the interview was mostly decided by the respondents who were busy doing many things besides giving private lessons The staff room was suggested for the

place of the interview as it was convenient for both the participants and the researcher Furthermore, the researcher believed that when the atmosphere was friendly the information would be more objective and true to life In order to save time and to keep the respondents on the track, the content of the interview was prepared in the detailed interview schema Each interview lasted averagely 40 minutes During the interview the participants’ answers were recorded with a recorder and the interview notes were taken with the help of the interview schema

3.4 Procedure of data analysis

After the data collection process, the information obtained from the observation, the questionnaires and the interviews were firstly classified into four groups which helped to answer the four research questions of the study All the information gathered through the questionnaires, the observations and the interviews were used to generate tables and charts On the basis of the findings the pedagogical implications had been suggested The software Microsoft Excel had been used to create data tables and charts of the numeric information in percent form for ease of analysis, comparison and contrast

3.5 Summary

In brief, the researcher approached the research questions in the light of the qualitative method Data obtained from the participants with the help of three data collection instruments, namely observation, interview and questionnaire were carefully and systematically analyzed to support the findings and conclusion of the research

Chapter 4: Data analysis

In this chapter, all the collected data will be analyzed and discussed to answer the four research questions The main information came from six teacher’s questionnaires, 6 interviews, 30 observation sessions, and the answers of 100 student’s questionnaires Therefore the structure of this chapter will follow the order

of the research questions

4.1 Research question 1: How are pictures used to teach speaking to the children

in Han Thuyen primary school?

The way which pictures were used to teach speaking to the young children in Han Thuyen School was reflected in the answers to questions 4, 7, 8, 11, 12 in the teacher’s questionnaire, in the answers to questions 3, 4 and 6 in the teacher’s interview schema The student’s answers to question 7 and 8 in the student’s questionnaire also provided additional information on the teaching methods exploited

to teach speaking with the help of pictures The first research question in this section will be discussed separately in the following points

4.1.1 The teaching methodology

Table 4: Han Thuyen teachers teaching methodology

As far as we have known teachers play a decisive role in determining the out comes of the training process The teachers’ knowledge on the teaching method will have great influence on the students’ learning contents and learning methods