MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY PHAM THI THANH HUYEN A STUDY OF USING GAMES IN EFL PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY LEARNING AT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER MASTER OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING Binh Dinh – 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY PHAM THI THANH HUYEN A STUDY OF USING GAMES IN EFL PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY LEARNING AT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 8140111 Supervisor: Bui Thi Dao, Ph. BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN PHẠM THỊ THANH HUYỀN NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRÒ CHƠI TRONG VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH TẠI MỘT TRUNG TÂM ANH NGỮ Ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học bộ môn tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 Người hướng dẫn: TS. Bùi Thị Đào i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that the thesis titled “A study of using games in EFL primary school students’ vocabulary learning at a foreign language center”, is entirely my own original work except where otherwise indicated. I have not used any sources other than those listed and identified as references.
I further declare that I have not submitted this thesis at any other institution in order to obtain a degree. Quy Nhơn, December 2023 Phạm Thị Thanh Huyền ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would not have been able to complete my thesis without the help of my supervisor, committee members, and friends, as well as the love and support of my family. Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Bui Thi Dao, Ph., for the enthusiastic and continuous support of my thesis, for her patience, encouragement, and immense knowledge. Her guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis.
I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my research. I would send my special thanks to all lecturers and staff of the Department of Foreign Languages and the Department of Pedagogy, Quy Nhon University for their profound knowledge and guidance during my two years of studying. I am also thankful to all the English teachers and students at Cherry center for their enthusiastic participation in my research. Without their help, I would not have been able to complete this paper.
Last but not least, I own a great debt of gratitude to my beloved family whose support and encouragement have always been a great deal of motivation that has helped me to overcome all problems to complete my thesis. iii ABSTRACT This study was carried out in the form of an action research which investigates students’ reactions to the use of games in vocabulary learning and then figures out whether games in vocabulary teaching could help improve students’ vocabulary retention. In order to accomplish these purposes, five teachers and forty five young learners at Cherry Center in Tuy Hoa were selected to participate in the study. Data collection instruments were employed, namely students’ and teachers’ questionnaires and interview, class observation in order to have data to achieve most reliable findings for the research.
Results from the students’ questionnaire and interviews reflected a completely positive attitude of the students towards the use of games, claiming that game-based activities helped learning procedure more effectively. The study involved the active participation of both teachers and students, shedding light on the positive impact of games in vocabulary learning and providing valuable insights for teachers' instructional practices. Findings from observation revealed that students had experienced an improvement in their vocabulary memorization throughout the eight weeks of study and the reason for the vocabulary retention progress was mainly attributed to the use of games in language classrooms. Benefits of using games can be listed as the deeper impression of vocabulary on students’ memory and a more frequent exposure to vocabulary use.
On this basis, some implications for teachers’ preparation, classroom practices and future research were proposed. Keywords: games, vocabulary learning, students’ reaction, young learners iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. vii LIST OF TABLES .viii LIST OF FIGURES.
Research aims and objectives. Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Design of the study.
Introduction to games. Types of games used for learning vocabulary. Overview of primary school students. Characteristics of primary school students in using games for vocabulary learning.
Concepts of vocabulary and the importance of vocabulary. Previous related studies. Data collection procedure. Research reliability and validity.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. The most frequently used types of games for primary school students' vocabulary learning. The effective utilization of games in the classroom. Students’ reactions to games in their lessons.
The most frequently used types of games for primary school students' vocabulary learning. The effective utilization of games in the classroom for enhanced learning experiences. EFL students’ responses to the use of games to learn English vocabulary. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further research. 69 APPENDICES vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language SLA: Second language acquisition ESL: English as a Second Language viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3. Students’ Demographic Information.
Procedure for data collection. Students’ games in learning vocabulary .How to teach vocabulary in games to primary students. EFL students’ responses for using games in English language learning. 48 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.
Students’ reactions to the use of games in the classroom. Students’ shyness in classroom games. INTRODUCTION This chapter begins by discussing the use of games in teaching and learning in the context of education around the world and in Vietnam. It then describes the rationale for the study, the research aims and objectives, and the research questions.
This is followed by the scope and the significance of the study. Finally, there is an overview of the organization of the study. Rationale It is believed that vocabulary is one of the language components that play a significant part in the development of language skills. Building up useful vocabulary is important to the teaching and learning progress of a foreign language.
Limited vocabulary; therefore, is likely to be a barrier for students in their foreign language learning. For this reason, vocabulary is highly important to any language. Whether learners are adults or young children, they need to broaden their own vocabulary. Insufficient vocabulary may become a long-term problem.
In fact, to learn English vocabulary, memorization is very important for the learners. As Thornbury (2002) stated that in mastering English vocabulary, the students do not only need to learn a lot of English words but also to remember them (p. Accordingly, low proficiency makes students find it difficult to acquire the language knowledge and take part in class activities. It is clear that they could not communicate well because they lack the words they need.
As the importance of mastering vocabulary is obvious, the teaching of vocabulary should always receive high attention. However, the traditional vocabulary teaching techniques in such a way as presenting new words on blackboard together with its phonics, meaning which lead to the inefficiency of vocabulary retention, 2 especially to young learners. How words should be learnt attracts a lot of discussion from many influential experts. Adam (2015) suggested that games should be included in these courses since they give students the chance to practice their language skills and acquire self-assurance in their new abilities.
This learning material has become much more powerful than ever before; that is the reason why teachers can make use of it in learning a foreign language. This study aims to explore types of games to teach young learners and to investigate students’ reactions to the use of games to learn vocabulary. Hence, employing action research as the chosen methodology would be a suitable strategy. This approach involves the teacher, who is also the researcher, investigating the classroom environment, implementing specific teaching techniques within a particular class, and identifying solutions for any challenges encountered during the English teaching and learning process.
By adopting action research, this study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the teaching and learning dynamics in the English classroom and contribute to the development of effective instructional practices. For these purposes, I want to conduct a research about students’ vocabulary by the title, “A study of using games in EFL primary school students’ vocabulary learning at a foreign language center. Research aims and objectives The study aims to provide types of games used for vocabulary learning in an English center in Tuy Hoa, Phu Yen. Then, to some extents, to explore student’s reactions in the class in order that teachers have some suitable methods to teach students effectively.
To be more specific for the aim of the research, this study has been carried out to explore: 3 - To explore types of games that used for students’ vocabulary learning - To explore how games effectively used in the class. - To explore how students react to games in learning vocabulary. Research questions In an attempt to achieve the above-presented aims, the study seeks to answer the following research questions: 1. What types of games are the most frequently used for students’ vocabulary learning? 2.
Which types of games can be used effectively in the class? 3. What are students’ reactions to games in their lessons? 1. Scope of the study This research focuses on examining the impact of games on vocabulary learning at Cherry English Center and exploring students' perception of using games for vocabulary acquisition. Due to the limitations in terms of time and scope, this study will specifically discuss the utilization of selected games from gamestolearnenglish.com as a means of teaching vocabulary to primary school students, specifically those in 4th and 5th grades.
These grades were chosen as they exhibit higher engagement levels compared to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. Additionally, five English teachers who teach 4th and 5th graders at Cherry English Center will be interviewed to gain further insight. To accommodate the time constraints and the length of the study, a total of forty-five students between the ages of nine and eleven, who attend Cherry English Center in Tuy Hoa, will participate in the research. The study will span eight weeks and aims to investigate effective approaches to vocabulary learning through games, considering that 4 primary students may not be able to fully respond to all the research questions due to their young age.
The primary participants in the study will be the students themselves, while the input of the English teachers at Cherry English Center will be sought through interviews and questionnaire to gather additional perspectives. Significance of the study It is hoped that this study may provide some insights in both theoretical and practical significance. The literature review on the reaction to games on vocabulary learning can be said that games are an effective and motivating way to teach vocabulary in classes. The findings of this study are anticipated to contribute to learning the ways to learn vocabulary so that primary school students can learn English effectively.
Moreover, the findings of this study have the potential to make a meaningful contribution to the field of language education, offering practical implications for enhancing vocabulary learning strategies, particularly for primary school students. As the findings show, games can be effective in vocabulary acquisition. The current findings show that games, due to creating an interactive and motivating context as well as using games where learners can easily and subconsciously share their information, and also due to the requirements and obligations encountered by them during playing, are effective in vocabulary acquisition. The subjects acquire the new words via the games because they are willing to be the winner and get gifts or marks from the teachers.
They compete and cooperate with each other in an enjoyable environment to be the winners in these games.