VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES --------------- --------------- NGUYỄN THỊ HOA THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING PICTURES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY AT SMART-KIDS SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE (Hiệu quả của việc sử dụng tranh ảnh trong việc dạy từ vựng tại trường Smart-Kids, tỉnh Bắc Ninh) M. MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES --------------- --------------- NGUYỄN THỊ HOA THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING PICTURES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY AT SMART-KIDS SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE (Hiệu quả của việc sử dụng tranh ảnh trong việc dạy từ vựng tại trường Smart-Kids, tỉnh Bắc Ninh) M. MINOR THESIS Field : English Language Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Supervisor: Hà Cẩm Tâm (Ph.D) Hanoi, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT I hereby certify that this thesis is my own work and effort and that it has not been submitted anywhere for any award. Nguyen Thi Hoa i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all the people who gave me the possibility to complete this thesis.
First of all, I would like to express my sincere and deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Hà Cẩm Tâm for her invaluable advice, careful instruction and helpful encouragement during the process of writing this minor thesis. Secondly, I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all of my lecturers in the Faculty of Post- graduate Studies, the University of Foreign Languages and International Studies for useful lectures and suggestion that have inspired and helped me much in the clarifications of my study. My special thanks also go to all teachers and students at Smart-kids school in Bac Ninh province who contribute to the idea budget and spent time completing observation and tests.
Finally yet importantly, I would also like to express my genuine appreciation to my friends and my family for their unending support and words of encouragement. If there had not been great help from the above people, the study could not have been fulfilled. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Vocabulary is one of the important elements in teaching English. In acquiring a foreign language, learning vocabulary is considered as one of important tasks.
At Smart-kids school, learning and teaching vocabulary is a major concern, too. In an attempt to investigate the effect of pictures in teaching vocabulary the study has been conducted in the form of an action research. The participation of the study comprised 30 kindergarten students. They were randomly assigned into two homogeneous groups each consisting of 15 learners.
The experimental group used pictures in teaching vocabulary but the control group didn‟t use. The classroom observation and tests were the main instruments employed for the data collection. The result showed that the students in the experimental group outperformed the students in the control group in their vocabulary knowledge. It means that the contribution of pictures in teaching vocabulary to students led to higher level of vocabulary improvement.
Therefore, using pictures in teaching vocabulary seems to be more effective than not using. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS.
Rationale of the study. Aims and significant of the study. Scope of the study. Organization of the study.
Stages in vocabulary teaching. Techniques in vocabulary teaching. Factors affecting vocabulary retention. Person-dependent factors.
Pictures in teaching vocabulary. The meaning of pictures. The types of pictures. 16 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Issues of using pictures in teaching vocabulary. Activities using pictures in teaching vocabulary. Review of previous studies on using pictures in teaching vocabulary. DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION.
The progress tests. The final test. Finding and comments. Limitations and recommendations for further studies.
VIII v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: The number of students remembers 3 ………………………………. 27 and 4 words Table 2: The progress tests …………………………………33 Chart 1: The students‟ participation in learning …………………………………28 activities in class Chart 2: Classroom interaction …………………………………32 Chart 3: The final test …………………………………35 Chart 4: Means of the tests …………………………………36 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION Part A – Introduction- provides the background to the study and statement of the problem, the aims, the research question, the scope of the study as well as the research methodology. It also outlines the organization of the thesis. Rationale of the study English teaching involves four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
One of the main tasks assigned to foreign language teaching at school is that of training students to be communicatively competent. Speaking is "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts" (Chaney, 1998: 13). In any second language teaching and learning, speaking is always believed to be the most vital skill and in teaching speaking, vocabulary is the most important thing. “If language structures make up the skeleton of language, then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh.
Cook‟s (2000) conclusion is also consistent with Wilkins in that “Grammar provides the overall patterns, vocabulary the material to put into those patterns”. Or some authors, led by Lewis (1993) argue that vocabulary should be at the center of language teaching, because „language consists of grammaticalised lexis, not lexicalised grammar‟. From the statement, it can be seen that vocabulary functions as a cornerstone without which any language could not exist. Speaking would be meaningless and perhaps impossible having only structure without vocabulary.
Therefore, the English teacher has to be able to organize teaching and learning activities; they have to give materials by using a suitable technique and master the lesson effectively. Especially in learning vocabulary, teachers must make the students able to memorize such words in English language and group of new words. Celce Maria stated that research in first and second language acquisition suggest that initial teaching priorities for language areas should be vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Therefore, the English teacher has to be able to organize teaching and learning activities and they have to give materials by using a suitable technique and master the lesson effectively.
1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Especially in learning vocabulary, teachers must make the students able to memorize such words in English language and group of new words. The statements above mean, vocabulary is important to teach and teachers must try to find the most effective way to help learners retain new words in long term memory. As a teacher at Smart-kids schools, I realize that teaching vocabulary is major concern because at the age of five, students cannot write or read and the effective way to teach is through pictures. Therefore, I choose this topic to understand more about the effectiveness of using picture in teaching vocabulary.
Aims and significance of the study This study is aimed at finding out the effectiveness of using picture in teaching vocabulary at Smart-kids school based on the understanding of vocabulary and pictures in linguistic notion and the situation of teaching and learning there. Through this, some implications to solve these problems will be suggested. The result of the research will be helpful for many English teachers in many schools especially Smart-kids school in Bac Ninh province. From this, the teachers will find an effective ways and apply many activities in class to attract students attention in learning new words.
Basing on suggestions in this research, teachers can have their own way to teach their students. Scope of the study I cannot go into details of all parts of language theory and practice because of the limited time, the shortage of reference books, and the students‟ language ability. This is also a wide topic so I mainly focus on the effect of using picture in teaching vocabulary in the field of memory, interest and interaction. Research methodology This methodology used in the study is those of an action research.
Thus, it applied both qualitative and quantitative approaches with two methods of data collection. The qualitative data were collected from observation and the quantitative data were collected from tests including two progress tests and one final test. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Organization of the study This minor thesis is composed of three parts as follow: Part A - Introduction: The first part presents rationale, aims and significance as well as scope of the study, research methodology and organization of the study.
Part B - Development: The second part consists of three chapters. Chapter 1 is for literature review, which provides the theoretical background of the study. Chapter 2 is methodology which represents the research question, describes informants and the design of the study. Chapter 3 presents the data analysis of classroom observation and test then discussion.
Part C – Conclusion: The final part summarizes the major findings of the experiment, voicing some implications for language teachers in teaching vocabulary and suggesting some recommendations for further studies. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, relevant literature is reviewed, underlying the necessity and the relevance of the study. In other words, background knowledge on vocabulary teaching in general and vocabulary teaching through pictures in particular is looked at critically to set up the theoretical framework for further investigation. The first section of this chapter is devoted to theoretical aspects of vocabulary teaching and the second section of this chapter is about pictures in language teaching.
VOCABULARY TEACHING It cannot be denied that vocabulary is one of the most important language elements among pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. According to McCarthy (1990:101), “vocabulary is the biggest component of any language. If you do not know enough vocabulary you will not be able to express yourself adequately”. In addition, “no matter how will the students learn grammar, no matter how successfully the sounds of second language are mastered without words to express a wider range of meaning, communication just cannot happen in any meaningful way” (McCarthy, 1990: piii).
From this, it can be said that teaching vocabulary plays an important role, too. Although traditionally, the teaching of vocabulary above elementary levels was mostly incidental, limited to presenting new items as they appeared in reading or sometimes listening texts. This indirect teaching of vocabulary assumes that vocabulary expansion will happen through the practice of other language skills, which has been proved not enough to ensure vocabulary expansion. Some authors, led by Lewis (1993) argue that vocabulary should be at the center of language teaching, because “language consists of grammaticalised lexis, not lexicalized grammar”.
Nowadays it is widely accepted that vocabulary teaching should be part of the syllabus, and taught in a well-planned and regular basis. To understand more about vocabulary teaching, it is necessary to describe stages in vocabulary teaching. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Stages in vocabulary teaching Basically as proposed by Doff (1988:98), there are four stages in teaching vocabulary namely presentation, practice, production, and review.
Presentation The first is presentation, one of the most important and complex preliminary stages in teaching vocabulary. The title of this stage indicates clearly its function is introducing new lexical items to learners. As suggested by Thornbury (2002: 75-76) learners need to learn both the meaning and the form of a new word. He also emphasizes some major factors subject to the number of word to be presented such as: the learner‟s level (beginner, intermediate or advanced), learner‟s likely familiarity with the words.