MINISTERY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI KIEU OANH AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF CARTOONS IN TEACHING ORAL SKILLS FOR GRADE 5 STUDENTS AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages, HUE, 2019 MINISTERY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI KIEU OANH AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF CARTOONS IN TEACHING ORAL SKILLS FOR GRADE 5 STUDENTS AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: ASSOC. LUU QUY KHUONG HUE, 2019 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ NGUYỄN THỊ KIỀU OANH NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHIM HOẠT HÌNH TRONG VIỆC DẠY CÁC KỸ NĂNG NGHE, NÓI CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 5 Ở CÁC TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC THUỘC TỈNH THỪA THIÊN HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS. LƯU QUÝ KHƯƠNG HUẾ, 2019 STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no materials previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.
Signed:………………… Nguyen Thi Kieu Oanh Date:. i ABSTRACT Now, as English textbook new versions are brought out, there is a need of a new look onto teaching and learning of English. Accordingly, the trend is mainly concentrating on reducing grammar and improving communicative skills for learners, especially at their young ages. In the modern life, there is a need of a new pedagogical methodology which is combined with technology.
Improving speaking and listening skills (Oral skills) with the use of cartoons, for young students at primary schools in Thua Thien Hue province is a promising application. Hence, the research aims to find out the effectiveness of using cartoon movies in teaching oral skills, what are their advantages, disadvantages, and difficulties for grade 5 students in some primary schools Two primary schools (Tran Quoc Toan primary school and Huong Phu primary school) were chosen to conduct teaching demo. The survey was done on 117 students and 6 teachers in both schools. The researcher directly took part in the classes in Tran Quoc Toan primary school, and indirectly in Huong Phu primary school.
The contents of these videos relate to the topics of three units (unit 18, unit 19 and unit 20) with around 2-minute length for each clip and 3-minute speaking and listening activities after watching the videos. In the study, the qualitative and quantitative methods were used. The on-site observations, videotaping and questionnaires were used to make sure the reality and validity of this study. As a result, thanks to the analysis on the observations and statistics, a series of findings was pointed out.
After that, solutions were posed to reduce limitations so that the teachers could take advantages of their advantages. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the process of completing this research paper, I have received a great deal of helps, guidance and encouragements form teachers, relatives, friends, students and colleagues. First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Assoc. Luu Quy Khuong.
It is important that he provided me with the careful guidance and helpful and valuable suggestions right from the beginning of the investigation. In addition, during the challenging study, he always supported enthusiastically for my every single step as well as made necessary comments and corrections for my writing from spelling to the content in each part of the dissertation. Furthermore, he still patiently helped me to complete my study well and on schedule. Second, I wish to give a big thank for teachers in Huong Phu primary school and Tran Quoc Toan primary school, who facilitated favorable conditions and supports throughout my investigation.
Third, I would like to spend my kindest words for my relatives who always stand my side throughout my study. They are my honorable parents due to their strong motivation for me whenever I felt down and bored of doing the study. Thanks to their encouragement, I was able to follow up time by time and complete every stage on time. I also could not help mentioning to my beloved younger sisters and brothers who brought me happy and relaxing things to cheer me up and helped me feel better in the hard time of my study.
Next, a special person that I wish to make a great thank for is my venerable husband. Respectfully, he is with me and has made great contributions during my study in both spiritual and material values. Also, as I was in pregnancy, which made me feel stressful and tired, but he still assisted me to deal with troubles. By the way, I desire to spend lovely words for my baby- my blissfulness and my big motivation to complete the study on time.
Next, I greatly appreciate the supports from my colleagues. They gave me the permission to attend all lessons and created favorable conditions for me to follow all the sessions in the school and to accomplish the master course as planned. Finally, I wish to give thanks to my lovely students and friends who are also supported me by their encouragements to finish the research paper. Thua Thien Hue, July 25, 2019 Nguyen Thi Kieu Oanh iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of original authorship.
iii Table of contents. iv List of tables. vii List of figures. viii List of abbreviation.
ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .2 Statement of problem .3 Aims and objectives .4 Scope of the study .6 Significance of the study .7 Organization of the research. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .1 Teaching English for Young Learners .1 Definition of “Young Learners” .2 Characteristics of Young Learners .3 Teaching English to Young Learners .2 Types of Cartoons .3 Characteristics of Cartoons .4 Animation Cartoons/ Cartoon Movies. Characteristics of Cartoon Movies .5 Teaching English to Young Learners with Cartoons.2 Characteristics of Oral Skills .4 The Pedagogical Values of Cartoons and Animation Cartoons .1 The Pedagogical Values of Cartoons .2 The Pedagogical Values of Animation Cartoons .2 Previous studies related to the thesis .1 The Qualitative Approach .2 The Quantitative Approach .Questionnaires to Students .Questionnaires to Teachers .5 Reliability and validity. 31 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .1 Findings from the Collected Data .1 Students‟ Excitement of Learning English with Cartoons .2 Students‟ Opinions about Learning Speaking Skill with Cartoons .3 Students‟ Feeling on Learning Listening Skill with Cartoons .4 Teachers‟ Opinions about Using Cartoons in Teaching Oral Skills .2 Findings from the Questionnaires to Students .3 Findings from the Questionnaires to Teachers .4 Findings from Observation and the Recordings .1 Advantages of the Use of Cartoons in Teaching Oral Skills at Primary Schools in Thua Thien Hue Province .2 Disadvantages in Teaching English by Using Cartoons at Primary Schools in Thua Thien Hue Province .2 Recommendation of the implication .3 Limitation of the study.4 Suggestions for further research.
52 APPENDICES vi LIST OF TABLES Table 4. Huong Phu Primary School Students‟ Opinions about Learning English and Oral Skills. Tran Quoc Toan Primary School Student‟s Opinions about Learning English and Oral Skills. Huong Phu Primary School Students‟ Opinions about the Effects of Cartoon Movies on Their Learning Speaking Skill.
Tran Quoc Toan Primary School Students‟ Opinions about the Effects of Cartoon Movies on Their Learning Speaking Skill. The Important Factors in the Survey on Speaking Aspects in Huong Phu Primary School. The Important Factors in the Survey on Speaking Aspects in Tran Quoc Toan Primary School. 39 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.
Huong Phu Primary School Students‟ Opinions about Learning English and Oral Skills. Tran Quoc Toan Primary School Student‟s Opinions about Learning English and Oral Skills. Huong Phu Primary School Studentts‟ Feeling on Learning English Speaking Skill. Tran Quoc Toan Primary School Students‟ Feeling on Learning English Speaking Skill.
Students‟ Wanted Frequency of Learn English Speaking Skill with Cartoon Movies. Students‟ Need of Learning Listening Skill by Watching Cartoons. Students‟ Wanted Frequency of Learning Listening Skill by Watching Cartoons. 40 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATION 1.
HP school: Huong Phu primary school 2. TQT school: Tran Quoc Toan primary school ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale With the ongoing expansion of the English language, one of the most common languages in the world, and the most popular second language of study in Vietnam (Crystal, 2012), there has been increasing interest in teaching English for primary school children. This has been a notable feature in recent years as English now is becoming compulsory in many primary schools in Viet Nam. One of the purposes of teaching English is that students must be able to speak English fluently and naturally.
That is truly challenging for teachers. Hence, it requests an alternative method and various kinds of activities apart from textbooks or any kinds of materials. As a result, it is necessary to utilize fascinating activities in the classrooms, and cartoons will be a perfect option. Furthermore, by using cartoons, what the teachers can make use of it in teaching English and how they can foster students‟ ability in learning English especially in oral skills are the points that I am going to investigate in this study.
Additionally, this study aims at the investigation on how to apply cartoons in teaching English in the context of Viet Nam the results of the application are; how far the students develop, and particularly the development of students‟ oral skills by applying cartoons.2 Statement of problem In fact, teaching and learning English in a non-native speaking English country like Viet Nam is extremely challenging with the following reasons. First, Peterson (2014) stated that the EFL education system and examinations focus almost entirely on grammar and vocabulary. Since the Vietnamese students study English to pass examinations and to move to further study (Denham, 1992), they tend to overlook the verbal communication such as pronunciation, speaking and listening. Also, grammar and exam-orientation are traditionally utilized in teaching English for primary school students with large classes and lacking teaching facilities (Le & Barnard, 2009; Nguyen, 2013).
Even though Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training now would like to stress on the development of practical communication skills, the reality is that vocabulary, structures, and reading comprehension are preferably focused on because the students are expected to pass the tests in class and the university entrance exams. Thus, the students just have to learn in their text books in accordance with the curricula and allocated time, and take the traditional tests. Second, Confucian culture continues to lay the 1 foundation for social behavior in Vietnam (Borton,2000; Goldin, 2011; McHale, 2002), so it makes great effects on teaching and learning. According to this culture, Phuoc (1975, cited in Ellis, 1995:10) stated that the Confucian model is teacher-centered, closed, suspicious of creativity, and predicated on an unquestioning obedience from the students.
In this method, the students become more and more passive, shy and lack of creativity in learning. In fact, the whole picture of learning and teaching English in the context of primary schools in Viet Nam is still depend so much on their teachers, so students feel shy to perform their English naturally in communicating with foreigners or whenever to be asked in English. Also, how to replace the traditional learning and teaching ways is extremely trouble since language learning is still generally thought of as a process of accumulating knowledge (Pham, 1999).