VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES TA THI THANH HUONG USING MIND MAPS TO IMPROVE 4T” GRADERS’ ORAL PERFORMANCE IN “SPEAK OUT” LESSONS: ACTION RESEARCH AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN HA NOI (Sw dụng biểu dé tư duy nhằm cải thiện khả năng nói Tiếng Anh của MA.MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi, 2024 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES TA THỊ THANH HUONG USING MIND MAPS TO IMPROVE 4T GRADERS’ ORAL PERFORMANCE IN “SPEAK OUT” LESSONS: ACTION RESEARCH AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN HA NOI (Sử dụng biểu dé tw duy nhằm cải thiện khả năng nói Tiếng Anh của MA. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231. Nguyen Viet Hung Hanoi, 2024 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that no part of the thesis entitled “Using mind maps to improve 4" graders’ oral performance in “Speak out” lessons: Action research at a primary school in Hanoi” has been copied or reproduced by me from any other works without acknowledgement. It is the result of my own original research under strict guidance of my supervisor.
Hanoi, 2024 Student’s signature Ta Thi Thanh Huong Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name) Dr. Nguyễn Việt Hùng ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Viet Hung for his enthusiastic support, encouragement and valuable guidance throughout the process of conducting this study. Secondly, I would like to thank all my lecturers and the staff of Faculty of Post- Graduate Studies department, VNU for supporting me with a lot of knowledge and giving me the best environment to fulfill my thesis.
Also, I want to send my thanks to teachers and all students at NGS who help me complete my research with their willingness to participate in the research. Finally, I owe my whole-hearted thanks to my family, especially my husband who has always supported and encouraged me to complete this thesis. Hanoi, 2024 ii ABSTRACT The research aims at investigating the effectiveness of applying mind- mapping techniques in order to improve students’ oral performance in “Speak out’”’ lessons at a primary school in Hanoi. Moreover, the study also tries to find out the like-dislike rates of students or levels of students’ satisfaction after each lesson with the help of mind maps.
The instruments employed for data collections included two tests (pretest and post-test), one questionnaire after the intervention, and observation checklists. The participants were 29 fourth-grade students. The findings showed that the students have improved their speaking outcomes after the 11-lesson intervention (each lesson lasts 45 minutes). The students are quite satisfied with the help of mind maps in their speaking lessons.
Based on the findings, some pedagogical implications and some recommendations for further studies are suggested with the hope that English teachers, educators and students can benefit from this study. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP .- LH HH HH HH HH Hư il LIST OF TABLES.- Á- HH TH nh nh TH HH nh TH nàn Vii LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS 1. icccececeeeeeeceeeeeteeeeeeeaeeaeenee Vili CHAPTER 1. Rationale of the Study.
Aims of the Study `. Scope of the Study.- SH TH TH HH HH HH 3 1. The organization of the thesis. Oral performance nIẠỌIỌIỊIỊ)Ụidđa.
The definition of speaking skill and its importance in learning English 5 2. Components of speaking and criteria for speaking assessment. How to teach English speaking skills to young learners (YL) .-- - - -- <6 +1 119301911193 HH ng Hy 10 2. The origin of mind mapping.
The definitions of mind mappIng.-- - -- + «+ £+++xk+sseeesseeeese II 2. Guidelines for making a mind map. Types of mind maps (thinking mapDS). Benefits of mind maps in teaching and learning speaking skill.
Theories related to the use of mind maps in teaching. Previous studies on the use of mind maps in language teaching. Previous studies on the use of mind maps in oral performance. Definitions of action research.
Procedures of action research in the stUdy. Research design and apprOacCh. Data collection 1nIS{TUTN€TIES. Pre-test and DOS{ t€S[.-- c5 + HT TH ng nh nh ng nh tt 34 3.
Data collection procedure. Data analys1s methOCS. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Results from DT€-fS(.
1v vn ng ng ri 41 4. Results from DOSf-f€S.-- - -- c1 231121 n1 HH HH ng ng re 42 4. Comparison between pre-test score and post-test SCOTE. <6 + 1E E101 91 E930 91 vn ng ngư 47 CHAPTER 5.- Án HH HH re 51 5.
Implications in teaching English in øeneral. Suggestions for a speaking lesson using mind map. Suggestions for further Study .- HH HH HH TH HH TH HH Tu HH nh 55 APPENDICES.- Án HH HH TT Ho CC HT nh HH I APPENDIX 1: PRE-TEST AND POST TEST RESUL/TS.- --- I APPENDIX 2: LESSON PLANS OF SPEAK OUT IN 11 WEEKS. II APPENDIX 3: PRIE- TIESSÏT,.
(<3 E191 191 9101 9v nh ng ng ng rớt VỊ APPENDIX 4: POSTT-TIESTT”.- - << 1n TH HH nrưệt IX APPENDIX 5: OBSERVATION CHECKLIST I. --- ---- XI APPENDIX 6: OBSERVATION CHECKLIST 2 .-- ---- XIH APPENDIX 7: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE AFTER USING MIND MAPS IN VIETNAMESE AND ENGLISH.-- --- SĂ Si erey XV APPENDIX 8: SAMPLE OF OBSERVATION FOR TEACHER. XVIH APPENDIX 9: SAMPLE OF OBSERVATION FOR STUDENTS. XIX vi LIST OF TABLES Table 4.
Comparison between the students’ overall scores of pretest. Students’ satisfaction rate about topic-related mind mapping APP]ICALION 0. Students’ satisfaction rate about using mind maps as a way of expanding 1deaS. -- - -- -- << + 1E 1193191111930 19x HH ngờ 45 Table 4.
Students’ satisfaction rate about using mind maps as a way of OFYANIZING 1dCAS. eee eeeeecceseeseeesceeseeeseeeseeeseeeseeeeceeeseeseeeecesessaeeseesaeesseesaes 46 Table 4. Students’ satisfaction rate about using mind maps as a way of IMPTOVING CT€AIVIẨY.- SG 1 111 nh 46 Vil LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS Figure 2. Example of mind ImapS.-- -- - «+ + + + *£++*kE£+seeeeseeeeeeeese 13 Figure 2.
Thinking maps as a common visual language. Change as three steps of Lewin’s model of change. Action Research SpIral/CyCÌe. The action research heÌ1X.
Elliott’s research model. Students’ pretest SCOT€S. Students’ post-test SCOT€S. Gv re 42 Chart 4.
Comparison between each criterion’s pretest and post-test. Rationale of the study English gradually becomes an international language which is spoken by the majority of people in the world. Therefore, there is a need for Vietnamese people to learn English as their second language. Realizing the importance of learning English, Vietnam's teaching curriculum has been designed differently compared to the past, which adapts English as one of the core subjects from elementary to tertiary levels.
When it comes to English, it is believed that speaking is of the most crucial skill to be achieved by students because speaking is “a means of communication in expressing ideas, information and feelings to others. The main purpose of learning or acquiring one language is to communicate, so it is one of the most troublesome challenges to master speaking skill. Even though English is spoken globally including Vietnam, Vietnamese teachers have been struggling with the best method to help students gain all four main skills. The hardest skill to be achieved by students in Vietnam is speaking, which means that they can hardly produce “systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning.
Normally, due to Vietnamese students’ characteristics and personalities, they are too shy to raise their voice or they lack confidence, which leads to their speaking performance getting worse and worse. Being a teacher of English at an elementary school, the researcher has faced several challenges, including difficulties in maintaining student engagement during lessons, particularly in speaking activities where responses are lacking. Moreover, the shift to technology-based learning due to the Coronavirus outbreak has led to students’ bad habits of learning such as class absences, lack of concentration, and lack of learning autonomy when they return to school. Furthermore, students exhibit a constrained level of oral proficiency in English (which includes a limited range of vocabulary, grammar and ideas, etc.), leading to prolonged response times when confronted with teacher’s questions.
All of those difficulties raise a big concern to the teacher. Among all teaching methods that motivate students to speak up, mind-mapping technique is considered to be one of the most effective ones in helping students in every speaking lesson. Instead of using traditional techniques to speak English effectively, teachers can motivate students to make use of mind maps with the aim to not only change a new way of critically thinking about how to express their ideas but also motivate students to utilize their 100% of creation in the process of learning. “Mind mapping is the easiest way to put information into your brain and to take information out of your brain — it is a creative and effective means of note taking that literally ‘Maps Out’ your thoughts” (Buzan, 2005, p.
Therefore, the researcher can define mind mapping as a creative, engaging, and practical method that effectively "Maps Out" the thoughts. It can be considered the simplest way to put ideas into our brains and bring them out. It implies that pupils will be able to arrange their imaginative ideas and that speaking directly in front of the class will be made simple for them. In other words, to increase kids' speaking ability, teachers should encourage students to use the appealing and precise method of mind mapping.
Applying mind-mapping techniques is not new to teachers, educators or students. A lot of researchers have been trying their best to help learners overcome their fear of learning English, especially speaking English. With a need for improving my own students’ oral performance, I decided to carry out the topic entitled “USING MIND MAPS TO IMPROVE 4" GRADERS’ ORAL PERFORMANCE IN “SPEAK OUT” LESSONS: ACTION RESEARCH AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN HA NOI”. Aims of the study This study aims to investigate the influence of applying mind maps in every speaking lesson as well as to evaluate the usefulness of mind-mapping approaches in addressing students' issues with brainstorming, vocabulary expansion, and coherence in "Speak out" lessons.
Furthermore, the study also tries to find out the like-dislike rates of students or levels of students’ satisfaction after each lesson with the help of mind maps. Research questions To achieve the above aims, the study will answer the following questions: Question 1: To what extent does mind mapping technique influence students’ oral performance? Question 2: To what extent are the students satisfied with the help of mind maps? 1. Scope of the study The study is an investigation of the effectiveness of using mind maps, and the like-dislike rates after using mind-map technique in speaking classes of fourth graders at a primary school in Hanoi. Significance of the study This study is expected to explore the current situation of students’ speaking level, and it also points out the effectiveness of using mind maps as a technique with the aims of helping students to improve their oral ability.
The research will lay the foundation for other studies to explore more about the effectiveness of using mind maps in order to boost other skills. The organization of the thesis This research paper includes five main chapters. Chapter 1 is an introduction part. Chapter 1 provides related background information, the rationale of the study, the aims and objectives, the research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, and the organization of the thesis.
Chapter 2 is about the literature review, presenting the concepts related to oral performance, mind mapping, and the previous studies about the use of mind maps in language teaching and oral performance. Chapter 3 illustrates the methodology of the study. It consists of the setting, participants, the overview of action research, the research design and approach, data collection procedure, and the data analysis procedures.