VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BÙI THỊ NGỌC DINH TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN THROUGH APPLICATION OF TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE ACTIVITIES (DẠY TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC QUA VIỆC ỨNG DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG THỂ CHẤT TỔNG THỂ) M. MINOR THESIS Major : English teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 HANOI- 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BÙI THỊ NGỌC DINH TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN THROUGH APPLICATION OF TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE ACTIVITIES (DẠY TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC QUA VIỆC ỨNG DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG THỂ CHẤT TỔNG THỂ) M. MINOR THESIS Major : English teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Supervisor: Prof. Hoàng Văn Vân HANOI- 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby, certify the thesis entitled “ Teaching English Vocabulary to PrimarySchool Children through Application of Total Physical Response Activities” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
The thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other universities or institutions. I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library can be accessible for the purposes of study. Hanoi, 2014 Bùi Thị Ngọc Dinh i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT It has been known that all babies can speak their mother tongue well as their listening comprehension skill develops before speaking skill. In other word, they will be able to speak when they are willing.
Basing on the way a baby learns his first language, James Asher, a teacher of psychology of the State University of San Joe developed a teaching method that motivates children to learn a foreign language well. The objectives of this study are to describe the procedure of teaching English Vocabulary to primary school children through application of Total Physical Response activities (TPR) and to justify the importance and effectiveness of using TPR activities in teaching foreign language vocabulary. To achieve the objectives of the study, the writer conducted the study at Hoa Binh II Primary School in Thuy Nguyen District, Hai Phong city. Students of grade I were the subject of the study.
There were 50 students; 20 girls and 30 boys. In carrying out this study, the researcher believes this study is a reliable and useful source of reference for language classes in general and for any Vietnamese EFL learners and teachers who share the same concern. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to praise and express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Hoàng Văn Vân for his valuable advice, constructive comments, enthusiastic support and encouragement, leading me to reach the completion of this M. I would like to send my sincere thanks to my informants in this study, whom I selected as the target subjects of this research.
Without their enthusiastic contribution and cooperation, this study would certainly not have been completed. In this thesis, that the ideas of many other writers in this field are reflected and developed is inevitable. Their ideas have stimulated my thinking on doing this paper. My debt to the authors listed in the references is equally great.
To all these scholars, I offer my sincere thanks. And finally yet importantly, I am greatly thankful to my family and friends, who are forever a great source of support and encouragement. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION……………………………………………………………………… i ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………….
Rationale of the Research ……………………………………………………. Objectives of the Research ……………………………………………………. Scope of the Research…………………………………………………………. Significance of the Study…………………………………………………….
4 PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5 CHAPTER I: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE……………….1 Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language in the Primary School ….1 English Teaching and Learning……………………………………………. Characteristics of Primary School Students and the First Grade Students……. The Primary English School Teachers ………………………………………. Teaching English Vocabulary to Primary Students ….
Definition of Vocabulary………………………………………. The Importance of Vocabulary……………………………………. Teaching English Vocabulary to the First Graders…………………. Total Physical Response (TPR)…………………………………….
The Definition of Total Physical Response……………………………………. The Goals of TPR………………. The Teacher and learner Role in TPR…………………………. The Teacher Role…………………………………………………………….
The Learner Role……………………………………………. The Principles of TPR ………………………………………………………… 14 1. Typical Activities in English Lessons Using TPR………………. 17 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Type of Study…………………………………………………. Context of Study…………………………………………………………………. Material Used in TPR Learning……………………………………………. Instruments of Study…………………………………………………….
Observation/ Field-notes………………………………………………. Data Analysis Procedures…………………………………………. Observing and Recording……………………………………………………… 21 2. Data Analysis Procedures………………………………………….
Introduction into Practical Part………………………………………………. Learning Vocabulary Through TPR …………. Lesson: Letter C September 17 , 2013 at 7: 30…………………. Lesson: Letter D September 23 , 2013 at 7:30……………….
Lesson: Revision of Letters A, B, C, D September 30th , 2013 at 7:30 28 3. Findings from Observation and Recordings……………………………………. The TPR Promotes a Free-stress Class Environment Among Students, Catches Students’ Attention During Lessons, and Improves Active Attitude and Motivation……………………………………………………………………………… 31 3. Listening is the Main Skill Developed Through the TPR Method………….
Flashcards, Games, Songs, and Chants Benefit Vocabulary Teaching and Learning Through Application of TPR Method……………………………. TPR Activities Promote Co-operative Learning and Self-confidence Among Students…………………………………………………………………………. Findings from Questionnaire…………………………………………. 40 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART C: CONCLUSION……………………………………….
Some suggestions for further recommendations……. 44 APPENDICES vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the Research Language as a means of communication plays an important role in social relationship among human beings. English is one of the international languages which has been taught in many parts of the world.
In Vietnam, English is one of the compulsory subjects which is taught from junior high schools to senior high schools and to universities. In recent years English has become so popular in Vietnam that it has been taught in many primary schools and some kindergartens as well. The aim of teaching English in primary schools is to motivate them to be ready and have self-confidence in learning English so that they can study the language further at higher level of education. The students of primary schools just learn English in the simple patterns (vocabulary, grammar, etc.) since they learn it for the first time.
Teaching English to primary children should be different from teaching English to adolescents and adults as they easily get bored or lose interest after ten minutes or so. Teaching English to the first graders means teaching children between the age of six and seven years old. With children of this age group, the teacher should understand certain characteristics that she would be aware of and take into account when teaching her pupils. In teaching English to children, the teacher plays an important role since she has to be able to arouse students’ interest and motivation in learning English.
Teachers of this level need to plan a range of activities for a given time period, and be flexible enough to move on to the next activity when they see the students get bored. In order to make English teaching to be successful in primary schools, some factors should be considered such as the qualifications of the teachers, the students’ interest, motivation, etc. in the teaching and learning process. Besides, there are other important factors; they are teaching techniques and the use of teaching media which play no less important roles.
However, the fact that in Vietnam many primary English teachers, including the writer, are not adequately trained to teach English to such special group of learners 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com with special characteristics as primary students. Most primary teachers of English are uncreative, inflexible to apply various techniques and methods to their real teaching contexts, which is a big quality gap in the current English teaching and learning. Furthermore, most primary teachers of English follow traditional approaches to English language teaching and testing which make it difficult for students use English as a means of communication and which make them bored or even scared of learning foreign English while there are more pleasant, practical and useful ways to teach English. Total Physical Response (TPR) is a method of teaching English developed by James J.
Asher, a teacher of psychology of the State University of San Jose. It is is one of methods of foreign language teaching that has attracted much attention from both foreign language methodologists and foreign language teachers. This method can also be presented by using a game that is appropriate to the learners’ characters. James Asher (http:/ tpr-world.com,1) states that “use TPR method for new vocabulary and grammar, to help students immediately understand the target language in chunks rather than word-by-word.
This instant success is absolutely thrilling for students”. This shows that using TPR is considered an effective method to help students to learn the target language because they can practice directly using the vocabulary in real context. By doing so, students can develop the storage of the vocabulary in a short time. Besides that TPR method also helps the children to understand and memorize linguistic input because they use body movement as media in the process of learning.
It is mentioned by Richards and Rodgers (1986: 92) that “The movement of the body seems to be powerful mediator for the understanding, organization and storage of macro details of linguistic input”. In this study the writer will focus on how to teach English vocabulary to primary students of English, using TPR considering that vocabulary constitutes the knowledge of meaning which is one of the components of language. Studying a language cannot be separated from studying vocabulary. It is very essential to 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com improve the four language skills that are very useful in conducting communication and studying other languages.
By learning vocabulary first, learners will be able to communicate in English. Researchers such as Asher (1983), Scott & Ytreberg (1990), and Cameron (2011) have proved that there is a significant effectiveness of the students’ achievement in mastering English vocabulary by using TPR. Therefore, the writer will concentrate on applying TPR in teaching English vocabulary to the first graders to reaffirm the previous researches. By using the TPR to teach English vocabulary to the first graders, it is hoped that the teacher will be able to motivate her students to learn English more effectively not only in language knowledge (pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar) but also in language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing).
Objectives of the Research The aims of this research are as follows: 1. To promote an overview of TPR and identify aspects of TPR that are relevant to teaching vocabulary to the first graders. To use TPR to teach English vocabulary to the first graders. To prove the effectiveness of using the TPR method in teaching foreign language vocabulary.
Scope of the Study Due to the limitation of time and knowledge, this thesis only focuses on using TPR to teach vocabulary to the first graders at Hoa Binh II Primary School in the school year of 2013-2014. Research Questions In order to realize the aims of the study, the following questions are raised for exploration: 1. What aspects of TPR are relevant to teaching vocabulary to primary school children? 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. How is TPR used to teach English vocabulary to primary school children effectively? 3.
Is TPR an effective method for teaching English vocabulary to the first graders? 5. Significance of the Study By carrying out this study, the writer hopes that: 1. Primary school students can learn English Vocabulary more effectively and their vocabulary will be enriched through the use of TPR method. Teachers can use TPR method as an alternative way to teach English in general and English vocabulary in particular to primary school students.