VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ QUYÊN USING ANIMATED E-STORIES TO IMPROVE PRIMARY STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY RETENTION AT AN ENGLISH CENTER IN NINH BINH (Sử dụng truyện tranh điện tử để cải thiện việc ghi nhớ và lưu giữ từ vựng cho học sinh tiểu học tại một trung tâm Anh ngữ Ninh Bình) M. MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Ha Noi- 2020 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ QUYÊN USING ANIMATED E-STORIES TO IMPROVE PRIMARY STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY RETENTION AT AN ENGLISH CENTER IN NINH BINH (Sử dụng truyện tranh điện tử để cải thiện việc ghi nhớ và lưu giữ từ vựng cho học sinh tiểu học tại một trung tâm Anh ngữ Ninh Bình) M. MINOR THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231. Mai Thi Loan Ha Noi- 2020 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled:“Using animated e-stories to improve primary students’ vocabulary retention at an English Center in Ninh Binh”submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Linguistics.
Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis. Hanoi, 2020 Lê Thị Quyên Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name) Date:…………………… i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I deeply appreciate my supervisor, Dr. Mai Thi Loan due to her enlightening guidance, critical comments, invaluable suggestions and her providing various sources of references during the fulfillment of this minor thesis. My sincere thanks go to all the lecturers and the staff of the Faculty of Post Graduate at University of Languages and International Studies for their valuable lectures on which my minor thesis was laid the foundation.
Additionally, I would like to offer my thanks to the students in class 3A, 3B at Toeic Center who have actively participated in the research. Finally yet importantly, I am deeply grateful to my family for their great support and assistance. ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT The research aims at investigating the effectiveness of using animated e- stories to teach vocabulary to primary students. On the basis of experimental research, the two third-classes 3A, 3B who are learning English at Toeic center participated in this research in the role of experimental group and control group.
Data were collected throughteaching diaries, questionnaire and tests, then analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Via results gathered from the questionnaire and teaching diaries, most of the students have positive attitudes towards the application of animated e-stories in vocabulary lesson. Learners are interested in participating in the lessons actively and effectively through a wide range of activities and techniques in teaching stages.In addition,the results of the tests and questionnaireindicated that the experimental students achieved considerable progress in their vocabulary retention after learning vocabulary through using animated e-stories.Moreover, from the findings, the researcher gives pedagogical implications to utilize the animated e-stories as an useful teaching tool, some of which are selecting suitable animated e-stories, allocating time and frequency for using animated e-stories, combining animated e-stories with other activities, designing exciting tasks and giving clear instructions. iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.
iii LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES. vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Rationale of the study. Aim and objectives of the study.
Scope of the study. Method of the study. Significance of the study. Design of the study.3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Vocabulary in foreign language teaching. Methods of teaching vocabulary. Young learners and language teaching. Definition of young learners.
Characteristics of young learners. Teaching English to young learners. Animated e - stories as a teaching tool. Definition of animated e – stories.
Criteria for animated e-stories selection. The benefits of animated e-stories in vocabulary teaching .18 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Definition of experimental research. Experimental research process.
Experimental research designs. Rationale of using quasi-experimental method. Context of teaching and learning vocabulary at Toeic center. An overview of Toeic English center in Ninh Binh.
An overview of the text book TIENG ANH 3. Data collection instruments. Data collection procedure. Data analysis procedure .30 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS.
Analysis of the teacher’s diaries. Analysis of the questionnaire. Students’ opinions about vocabulary learning through animated e-stories. Students’ evaluation of their vocabulary retention after lessons using animated e-stories.
Students’ reaction to the classroom atmosphere in vocabulary lesson using animated e-stories. Students’ opinions about the frequency of using animated e-stories in English lessons. Students’ preference of techniques in presenting new words .38 v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Students’ preference of activities in practicing new words through animated e-stories.
Students’ preference of activities in consolidating new words through animated e-stories. Analysis of tests .Comparison between pretest scores of experimental group and control group. Comparison between posttest scores of experimental and control group. Comparison between pretest and posttest scores of experimental group and control group.
Limitations of the study and suggestion for further research. I APPENDIX 1A: TEACHING DIARIES. I APPENDIX 1B: CRITERIA FOR TEACHING DIARIES. XIII APPENDIX 2A:QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION).
XIV APPENDIX 2B: QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION). XVI APPENDIX 3A: PRE-TEST. XVIII APPENDIX 3B: POST-TEST. XX APPENDIX 4: THE FORMULA OF MEAN, STANDARD DEVIATION AND MEDIAN.
XXIII APPENDIX 5:SAMPLE LESSON PLAN. XXIX APPENDIX 6A: PHIẾU ĐỒNG THUẬN THAM GIA NGHIÊN CỨU. XXXV APPENDIX 6B: PHIẾU ĐỒNG THUẬN THAM GIA NGHIÊN CỨU. XXXVI vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 2.1: What is involved in knowing a word (Nation, 2001) .2: Kinds of vocabulary knowledge and the most effective kinds of learning (Nation, 2001) .1: Kinds of experimental research.1: Students’ opinions about vocabulary learning through animated e-stories.2: Students’ evaluation of their vocabulary retention after lessons using animated e-stories.3:Students’ preference of techniques in presenting new words .4: Students’ preference of activities in practicing new words through animated e-stories.5: Students’ preference of activities in consolidating new words through animated e-stories.6: Mean and standard deviation (Pre-test) .7: Descriptive statistics for the pretest and posttest scores of experimental group and control group .1: Students’ reaction to the classroom atmosphere in vocabulary lesson using animated e-stories .2: Students’ opinions about the frequency of using animated e-stories in English lessons .3: Results of the pretest scores of experimental group and control group.4: Results of the posttest scores of experimental group and control group 41 vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale of the study To primary students,vocabulary is the first step to learn English.If adult learners are able to cope with abstract ideas, young learners, in contrast, need very concrete vocabulary that connects with objects they can handle or see, according to Cameron (2001:81). However, not only understanding the word meanings, the researcher finds out that the 3rd graders at Toeic center get troubles in vocabulary retention. Many students encounter difficulty in retaining new words that they have learnt in previous lessons. They find it harder to remember and recall vocabulary effectively.
As a result, vocabulary lesson is boring and ineffective for most students. Some related studies which conducted in the Vietnamese context, have provided various methods of teaching vocabulary at primary schools. Vu Thi Thanh Tam (2013) investigated the using stories and dramas in teaching English to the third grade students at Quan Tru primary school. The research got the positive result which could enhance students’ speaking and listening skills.
Vu Thi Xuan (2014) introduced the using of music and animated cartoons to teach English to primary students. In this thesis, the writer investigated the use of animated cartoons to teach students vocabulary with the hope of giving them more pleasure and linking learners with learning activities. It can be said that there has been no study concerned with using animated e-stories in vocabulary teaching and learning so far. Being aware of the key roles of vocabulary, knowing the problems that teachers and students encounter, and finding the gaps of previous studies that have not been explored yet in Viet Nam context, the writer desired to find out solutions and decided to conduct this research entitled “using animated e-stories to improve primary students’ vocabulary retention at an English center in Ninh Binh”.
Considering animated e-stories as a multimedia teaching tool due to its various pedagogical benefits, young children will 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com learn more effectively from presentations that include words combined with motion pictures and background sound, music than from words alone, according to Schnotz and Rasch (2005). The writer believed that the study’s results can change the situation of her own teaching and students’ learning. Aim and objectives of the study This research aims at examining the effectiveness of using animated e-stories to teach vocabulary to the primary studentsat Toeic English center. This overall aim can be achieved through the following objectives: (1) To find out primary students’ attitudes towards learning vocabulary through animated e-stories.
(2) To investigate the effectiveness of teaching vocabulary through using animated e-stories. Research questions In order to reach the above aim and objectives, the study is going to seek answers for the following research questions: (1) What are the students’ attitudes towardslearning vocabulary by using animated e-stories? (2) To what extent do animated e-stories affect students’ vocabulary retention? 1. Scope of the study This study was conducted with the participation of fifty two 3rd grade students at Toeic center to investigate the effectiveness of the use of animated e-stories on primary students’ vocabulary retention. Therefore, teaching vocabulary to students in other grades and using other vocabulary strategies would be beyond the scope.
Method of the study The study was carried out in the experimental research. The research instruments areteaching diaries, questionnaire and tests. Firstly, the pre-test was delivered to both experimental class (class 3A) and control class (class 3B) to check their vocabulary retaining from the previous lessons. Secondly, the experimental class was taught vocabulary through animated e- stories in five weeks.
Meanwhile, the control class was taught by using normal 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com textbook only. In order to take a closer look into the students’ attitudes towards animated e-stories application and how animated e-stories were implemented in the vocabulary lesson, the researcher wrote the teaching diaries after each lesson in experimental class. After that, the questionnairewas carried out on the participants in experimental group at the end of the course to get more information about the students’ attitude and reactions towards learning vocabulary by the application of animated e-stories. The post-testwas administered to both experimental and control class to measure students’ vocabulary retention after the course.
Finally, the data were collected, sorted and analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively to obtain realistic results. Significance of the study The writer hopes that this study may provide some insightsin both theoretical and practical significance. In term of the theory, the study contributes to the general theory of vocabulary and vocabulary retention improvement techniques to help pupils remember and recall vocabulary better and for a longer time. Moreover, practically, this study may provide some guidelines to teach and enhance primary students’ vocabulary retention at an English center, Ninh Binh province.
Teachers can drill and perform the new words to young learners basing on the advantages and positive effectiveness of animated e-stories. Design of the study This study is divided into five chapters: Chapter 1 is the Introduction, presenting therationale of the study, the aim and objectives, research questions, scope, method, significance as well as the design of the study.