MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------------ NGUYEN THI TRA MY AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF FLASHCARDS TO TEACH ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT SOME PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HUE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.11 SUPERVISOR: LE PHAM HOAI HUONG, ASSOC.DR HUE, 2017 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ -------- NGUYỄN THỊ TRÀ MY ĐIỀU TRA VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG FLASHCARDS ĐỂ DẠY TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHO TRẺ Ở MỘT SỐ TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC Ở HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS. LÊ PHẠM HOÀI HƯƠNG HUẾ, 2017 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. Signature i ABSTRACT This research is conducted to investigate the use of flashcards in teaching English vocabulary to young learners at some primary schools in Hue.
Firstly, it aims at investigating the teachers‟ perceptions of using flashcards. Secondly, this study examines the reality of using flashcards to teach English vocabulary to young learners. Finally, it helps to give some suggestions in using flashcards effectively in classroom. The data were collected through questionnaire, interview and observation.
Seventy English teachers who were teaching at some primary schools in Hue took part in the study. The data obtained through questionnaires, interview and observation were analyzed based on both quantitative and quantitative approaches. The findings of the study show that most primary school English teachers have positive attitudes towards using flashcards to teach English vocabulary to young learners. They are also aware of the benefits of the use of the flashcards to the teaching and learning process.
However, besides the above positive aspects, there still are some shortcomings. Most teachers reported to face the difficulties such as time consumption, unsuitable flashcards and lack of the experience in using flashcards. Based on the findings, suggestions are given to help to improve the effectiveness of the use of flashcards to those who need such as teachers and educators at primary schools in order to enrich the English vocabulary of primary school students. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To complete this graduation paper, I owe profound indebtedness those who are willing to help me during the conduct of my research.
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Assoc. Le Pham Hoai Huong, for her helpful comments and whole hearted guidance from the beginning to the end of carrying out this study. Secondly, I would like to send my heartfelt thanks to the primary school English teachers at Quang Trung, Ly Thuong Kiet, Vinh Ninh, Kim Long, Huong Long, An Cuu, Thuy Duong, Da Le, Thanh Lam, Thanh Toan, Thuy Chau, Phu Bai I, Phu Bai II, Thuy Tan, Vy Da, Huong Toan, Huong An primary schools, who enthusiastically helped me to carry out the study with ease. Without their participation, I could not have enough valuable data to complete this graduation research paper.
Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their encouragement and support during my research process. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES AND FINGURES .vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
viii CHAPTER ONE. Aims of the study. Organization of the thesis. Characteristics of young learners.
How young students learn. The importance of vocabulary. Techniques in teaching vocabulary. Types of flashcards.
The importance of flashcards in learning vocabulary. The advantages and disadvantages of using flash cards. Using flashcards with young learners. Procedures of data collection.
Piloting the questionnaire. 30 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Teachers‟ attitudes towards using flashcards in teaching English vocabulary. Teachers‟ perceptions of the use of flashcards to teach English vocabulary.
The reality of using flashcards in teaching English vocabulary in some primary schools. Teachers‟ frequency of using flashcards in teaching English vocabulary. Teachers‟ difficulties in using flashcards to teach English vocabulary. Suggestions to use flashcards effectively in teaching English vocabulary.
Summary of the key findings. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further research. 54 vi LIST OF TABLES AND FINGURES I.
List of tables Table 4.1: Teachers‟ attitudes towards using flashcards in teaching English vocabulary .2: Teachers‟ perceptions of the benefits of using of flashcards to teach English vocabulary .3: Teachers‟ frequency of using flashcards in teaching English vocabulary .4: Teachers‟ opinion about the stages into which flashcards are integrated.5: Types of flashcards used most often at some primary schools in Hue .6: Work arrangement for using flashcards in teaching English vocabulary 42 Table 4.7: Difficulties in using flashcards to teach English vocabulary.8: Suggestions to use flashcards effectively in teaching English vocabulary. List of figures Figure 1: Teachers‟ awareness of necessity in using flashcards to teach English vocabulary .31 Figure 2: Teachers‟ opinion about the stage into which flashcards are integrated .399 Figure 3: Teachers‟ work arrangement when using flashcards to teach English vocabulary .432 Figure 4: Teachers‟ responses to suggestions how to use flashcards .48 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ELT: English Language Teaching L1: The first Language L2: the Second language M: mean SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences TEYL: teaching English to young learners YL: young learners viii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Teaching English to young learners (TEYL) is a rapidly growing field around the world, and English education is increasingly found at the primary levels. However, TEYL is not easy at all.77) wrote, “Working with young learners does not suit everyone”.
It means that not all teachers can teach this unique kind of learners. In fact, there are various opinions showing that teaching children is more complicated than working with adults even. Compared with teaching teenagers or adults, teaching young learners is more difficult because young learners are easy to get distracted. Agreeing with Target, Arsenio et al (2009, p.220) said “Teaching young learners is far more difficult and exhausted” because young learners do not have any personal reason for studying English.
It is simply like another subject that they have to study at school or that their parents have told them they need to learn. At this point in their lives, they may not know or comprehend how important these classes can be. They might view English classes as simply other fun daily activities. In order to encourage all students to participate, it is important to make English lessons relaxing and fun.
Young students will be learning very basic material but teachers have to design creative lessons, which is hard and difficult. For young leaners, vocabulary is the basic competence that must be reached by students in order to get other competencies like reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Thus, it can be said that learning vocabulary is very important because it is the basic knowledge for learning English. Without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed (Thornbury, 2002).
Vocabulary learning is the centre of language acquisition, whether the language is the first, second, or foreign. In recent years, specialists now emphasize the need for a systematic and principled approach to vocabulary by both teachers and learners. Especially, the use of flashcards is more and more popular in classes at primary schools. In 1 addition, some researchers discovered that teaching with flashcards can help learners acquire words more effectively (Khodareza & Komachali, 2012; Schmitt & Schmitt, 1995).
It is in line with Thornbury (2002) who stated that flashcards help teachers to demonstrate a simple sequence of activities to the learners. Moreover, in another investigation on the use of flashcards in another aspect, Komachali & Khodareza (2012) studied the effect of using vocabulary flashcard on Iranian pre- university students‟ vocabulary knowledge. The result showed that flashcards could lead the students to a higher level of vocabulary improvement. For the above mentioned reasons, I would like to conduct a study on “An investigation into the use of flashcards to teach English vocabulary to young learners at some primary schools in Hue.” This paper aims to explore teachers‟ perceptions and the reality of using flashcards to teach English vocabulary to young learners, the role of the flashcards in teaching and learning vocabulary as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using flashcards to improve young learners‟ understanding towards English vocabulary in ELT classroom classes.
More importantly, the result of this research is expected to give useful information to improve and share experiences of the teachers‟ knowledge of teaching English in using the flashcard in the classroom. Aims of the study Together with the purpose to investigate the teachers‟ perceptions of using flashcard, this study also examines the reality of using flashcards to teach English vocabulary to young learners as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using flashcards to improve young learners‟ understanding towards English vocabulary in ELT classroom classes. It also hopes to give some suggestions in using flashcards effectively in classrooms. Research questions This research attempts to find out the answers to the following questions: 1.
What are teachers‟ perceptions of using flashcards to teach English vocabulary to young learners? 2 2. How are flashcards used to teach English vocabulary to young learners? 3. What difficulties do teachers face in using flashcards to teach English vocabulary to young learners? 1. Research significance This research is believed to result in several implications.
The findings from the research help to raise teachers‟ awareness of the benefits of the flashcards in teaching English vocabulary to young learners. Besides, this study gives some solutions in order to help teachers overcome difficulties which they faced in teaching English vocabulary. Last but not least, based on the result of this study, it is hoped to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning English in Vietnam. Organization of the thesis This research is organized into five chapters.
Chapter one provides a brief introduction with the background, significance of the study, research questions and scope. Chapter two provides a review of previous literature in relation to the use of flashcards. Chapter three describes the research methodology used in this study. Chapter four presents the findings and discussion of the study.
Chapter five shows the conclusion, some limitations as well as recommendations and implications for teachers‟ use of flashcards in teaching English vocabulary to young learners. 3 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2. Introduction The purposes of this chapter are to review relevant studies and theories that serve as the base for the current research. First of all, it reviews how young students learn, characteristics of young learners, definitions of vocabulary and teachniques in vocabulary teaching.
Next, it shows the definitions of flashcards, the importance of flashcards in teaching vocabulary, the advantages and disadvantages of using flashcards. Finally, it shows some previous studies related to this topic in Vietnam as well as in other countries. Characteristics of young learners It can be said that children are the future of a country, so teaching children plays an important role in the development of each country. In order to conduct this responsibility successfully, teachers must understand children‟s characteristics.
There are many authors studying about the characteristics of young learners. However, the study of Brown (2001) seems to be clearer. According to Brown (2001: 88), young learners had their own characteristics. Firstly, they have short attention span.
They do not pay attention to one thing in a long time, whether it is interesting or not. Therefore, teachers should not make the students sit strictly and read or listen to what teachers talk. Sitting down and studying for a few hours, this actual process is nearly impossible for young learners. Young students always find something funnier and stranger than the boring lesson in class.