MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN LÊ HƢƠNG LAN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF KAHOOT APPLICATION FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING VOCABULARY MASTER OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING Binh Dinh - 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN LÊ HƢƠNG LAN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF KAHOOT APPLICATION FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING VOCABULARY Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 8140111 Supervisor: VO DUY DUC, PhD BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN NGUYỄN LÊ HƢƠNG LAN KHẢO SÁT VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG ỨNG DỤNG KAHOOT ĐỂ DẠY VÀ HỌC TỪ VỰNG Chuyên ngành: Lý luận và phƣơng pháp dạy học bộ môn tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 Ngƣời hƣớng dẫn: TS. VÕ DUY ĐỨC i STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work presented in this thesis has never before been submitted to a university for a degree or certification. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no information that has already been published or written by another person, with the exception of passages where appropriate citation is made. Date: 01/ 08/2022 Signed: Nguyen Le Huong Lan ii ABSTRACT In each language acquisition skill, vocabulary is at the heart of growing proficiency and achieving competency.
Furthermore, as technology advances, the practice of incorporating technology into education has become unavoidable. The purpose of this research was to find out the perceptions of teachers and students when using "Kahoot!" in vocabulary teaching and learning. This study took a descriptive quantitative and qualitative approach, collecting data through questionnaires and interviews. The research investigated fifty teachers and one hundred and twenty students who used "Kahoot!" App in the teaching and learning process from high schools in Quy Nhon City.
Most teachers and students had positive thoughts regarding the usage of "Kahoot!" Application in boosting vocabulary skills. The students stated that using ―Kahoot!‖ helped them enhance their vocabulary abilities and use their English effectively, and that the activities on "Kahoot!" pushed them to be more motivated and thrilled to practice English with their peers. Furthermore, with the use of "Kahoot!" in the classroom, students could exchange their expertise with one another. Technical issues such as unreliable internet connections, difficulty reading questions and answers on a projected screen, inability to change an answer after submission, stressful time pressure for giving answers, insufficient time to answer, fear of losing, and difficulty catching up if an incorrect answer was given are among the main challenges mentioned by teachers and students.
Getting the difficulty level of questions and answers, network connectivity challenges, and scoring based on how quickly students answer were also cited by teachers. Teachers and students alike are thrilled about using the ―Kahoot!‖ App to teach and learn vocabulary. Teachers are encourged to use the ―Kahoot!‖ App as a teaching and learning technology tool. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without the encouragement and support of numerous people and organizations, I would not have been able to finish this paper.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for all of their help during the difficult process of writing this paper. I want to start by saying how appreciative I am to Dr. Vo Duy Duc, who served as my supervisor, for his encouragement, patience, and support throughout my research. His technical and editorial guidance was crucial to the preparation of this publication and has given me countless insights and lessons about how academic research generally functions.
Also deserving of my sincere gratitude are the English Department instructors who taught me valuable information while I was enrolled in the M. I also want to express my gratitude to the Quy Nhon City high school participants for their steadfast assistance with this study work. Without their enthusiastic involvement and feedback, the study could not have been carried out satisfactorily. Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere appreciation and affection to my family and friends for their commitment and the many years of support during my thesis studies, which laid the groundwork for my effort.
Finally, I thank everyone who helped me finish the thesis and extend my best wishes to them. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF FIGURES.
Aim of the study. Objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study.
Organization of the study .1 The importance of vocabulary .2 Vocabulary teaching and learning .3 Vocabulary learning and vocabulary memorizing.2 "Kahoot!" Application in teaching and learning vocabulary. Previous studies on using ―Kahoot!‖ in teaching and learning vocabulary21 v CHAPTER 3.2 The semi- structured interview. Data collection and data analysis .1 Data collection procedure. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
Teachers’ perception on the use of "Kahoot!" App for teaching vocabulary. Increasing students’ motivation with "Kahoot!" App. Developing students’ rapid-thinking skills through the use of "Kahoot!" App. Promoting an active learning towards using "Kahoot!" App.
Offering a good technique to teaching vocabulary. Creating a measurable goal to work toward employing "Kahoot!" App. Providing feedback effectively through the use of "Kahoot!" App 43 4. Promoting teachers’ active role in a class with "Kahoot!" App.
Supplementing textbooks through "Kahoot!" App. Obtaining various topics via "Kahoot!" App’ activities. Using "Kahoot!" App for warm-up activities. Using "Kahoot!" App for reviews.
The teachers’ problems and their solutions when using "Kahoot!" App in teaching vocabulary. Some obstacles in using "Kahoot!" App to improve the ability of students in teaching vocabulary. Some solutions to tackle the problems. Students’ perception of using "Kahoot!" App on learning vocabulary 53 4.
A clear and understandable App. An enjoyable atmosphere when learning with "Kahoot!" App. An easy and effective teaching aid. Students' vocabulary improvement.
A wider range of vocabulary activities. Accessibility by students’ own devices. Students’ preference for written vocabulary lists. The opportunity to deliver richer content towards using "Kahoot!" App.
Students’ problems students face when using "Kahoot!" App in learning vocabulary. Summary of the study. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS. Limitations and suggestions for further research.
71 APPENDICES vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1: The teacher's frequency of teaching "Kahoot!" App in class .2: The promotion of students' motivation .3: Development of Rapid-thinking skills .4: An active learning environment .5: An effective strategy for teaching vocabulary .6: A measurable goal when using "Kahoot!" App .7: Teachers’perception of giving feedback over "Kahoot!" App .8: The vigorous teachers’ role .9: The supplement of textbooks through "Kahoot!" App.10: Acquiring various topics through "Kahoot!".11: The use of Kahoot! App for an introductory activity .12: A check-in activity through "Kahoot!" .13: The student's frequency of learning "Kahoot!" in class .14: A clear and understandable App.16: An effective teaching aid .18: A wider variety of vocabulary activities .19: Connecting to the app on their own devices .21: The ability to give deeper content through the use of Kahoot!. 61 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 introduces the rationale underlying this current study. The chapter includes 7 main parts: the rationale, the aim of the study, the objectives of the study, the research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, and the organization of the study. Rationale Vocabulary represents one of the most important skills required for foreign language teaching and learning.
It is the basis for developing all other skills such as reading comprehension, listening comprehension, speaking, writing, spelling, and pronunciation. Vocabulary is the main tool for students to use English effectively. Wilkins (1972) argued: ―Without grammar little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed. Indeed, people need to use words in order to express themselves in any language.
The teacher has an essential role in helping students to improve their vocabulary. Nowadays, there is a great variety of activities for teachers to use for vocabulary presentation and practice. Vocabulary is no longer treated as an add-on and teachers become more aware of the importance of vocabulary and attention is paid to the grammar of words, collocations, and to word frequency. To address students' vocabulary learning needs, some digital learning tools, including "Kahoot!", have been introduced as a means to enhance students' ability to acquire vocabulary and retain vocabulary.
Particularly as students develop greater fluency and expression in English, it is significant for them to acquire more productive vocabulary knowledge and to develop their own personal vocabulary learning strategies. To fulfill students' need for vocabulary learning, numerous digital learning tools, such 2 as "Kahoot!", have been launched as a way to improve students' vocabulary acquisition and retention. In the context of integration and globalization in Vietnam, language instruction and improvement, particularly in English, is a major concern. Students who receive context-based, multi-sense instruction often show statistically and educationally significant increases in their vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension compared to students who do not.
These benefits are most evident in reading comprehension. This is inconsistent with Harmer (2001) stating that vocabulary is considered as the core of the language. Students need to know the words in context to see how they are used during the interaction. As vocabulary plays an important role, as a basic component of language proficiency (Richard & Renandya, 2002), it provides much of the basis for how well learners speak, listen, write, and read.
Nevertheless, due to a number of difficulties, English language instruction in Vietnam has not been as successful as hoped. One of the most serious issues is that, despite the importance of vocabulary in learning English, the instructor cannot devote much time in the classroom to teaching vocabulary due to time constraints and other factors. As a result, providing students with a choice of learning resources and assisting them in becoming self-sufficient learners is critical. As a result, the use of technology in the classroom, particularly the usage of mobile phones in teaching and learning, is promoted.
Numerous mobile apps have been launched to facilitate the teaching and learning process in Vietnam as a result of the integration of information technology (IT) in education. The issue is that there have been few researches in Vietnam on the use of mobile vocabulary applications for language teaching and learning in high school. Therefore, the use of "Kahoot!" App in the classroom was conducted through teachers and their perceptions were clarified. According to Gibson (1996), teacher perception is the process of how teachers see or 3 understand the phenomena that occur in the classroom during the teaching and learning process.
In this study, teachers' perceptions are needed to know the teachers' point of view about the use of "Kahoot!" App in the teaching and learning process. The teachers look at the activities taking place in the classroom and then they give their opinions and also the teacher's perceptions arise based on their experiences. Nowadays, the use of "Kahoot!" in the classroom is not very common in Vietnam. When there is an English class in school, some high schools use it to teach classes on English language proficiency, including reading, speaking, and writing.
As a result, in order to fill a research gap perceived to use "Kahoot!" in improving L2 learners' vocabulary knowledge in the context of high schools in Vietnam, this study aims to investigate teachers' and students' perceptions in teaching and learning vocabulary. Aim of the study The research is aimed at investigating teachers as well as students’ perceptions toward using "Kahoot!" App for teaching and learning vocabulary at high schools in Quy Nhon City. Objectives of the study The objectives of this research are as follows: 1) To find out the teachers’ perception toward the use of "Kahoot!" Application in teaching vocabulary. 2) To identify students’ perception on the use of "Kahoot!" Application in learning vocabulary.
Research questions: The current study aims at investigating teachers’ and students’ perception of the use of "Kahoot!" App for teaching and learning.