MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY PHAN MỸ LINH A STUDY ON EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE USE OF QUIZLET IN TEACHING VOCABULARY TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT AN ENGLISH CENTER Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 8140111 Supervisor: TRUONG VAN DINH, Ph. Binh Dinh - 2023 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN PHAN MỸ LINH NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG QUIZLET ĐỂ DẠY TỪ VỰNG CHO TRẺ EM Ở TRUNG TÂM ANH NGỮ Ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 Người hướng dẫn: TS. TRƯƠNG VĂN ĐỊNH Bình Định - 2023 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP The thesis entitled “A study on EFL teachers’ perceptions of the use of Quizlet in teaching vocabulary to young learners at an English center” is conducted under the direction of Truong Van Dinh, Ph. at Quy Nhon University.
I declare that the information reported in this study is the result of my own work and effort, except where due reference is made. This thesis has not been submitted to any university for the award of a degree. Binh Dinh, 2023 PHAN MY LINH ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The total completion of this scientific research project is the result of not only my efforts but also the precious assistance of those to whom I would like to express my sincere gratitude. First of all, I am really grateful to my supervisor, Dr.
Truong Van Dinh, for her great instruction, encouragement, patience, and vital assistance. He has always been available to support me not only academically but also spiritually. Secondly, I would like to thank the primary teachers and English center teachers who participated in this study for their willingness to contribute useful thoughts and experiences about teaching English to young learners through questionnaires and interviews. Thirdly, my heartfelt thanks also go to the Department of English teachers for the invaluable knowledge they shared with me during my M.
I would also like to thank all of the librarians at Quy Nhon University for allowing me to find and borrow valuable documents. Furthermore, my greatest gratitude is also sent to my loving family, which includes my parents, younger sister, and older brother. I dedicate this thesis to my family because of their constant support and unconditional love. Their love drives me to finish this degree.
Finally, I would like to show my gratitude and blessings to everyone who assisted me in completing my thesis. iii ABSTRACT Vocabulary is at the heart of developing proficiency and achieving competency in any language learning skill. Moreover, as technology advances, the process of incorporating technology with education has become increasingly necessary. Therefore, this study aimed to explore teachers’ perceptions of using Quizlet to teach vocabulary to young learners.
This study used a descriptive quantitative and qualitative approach, collecting data via questionnaires and interviews. The research was conducted at an English center in Gia Lai Province with the participation of 17 EFL teachers. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of teachers had positive attitudes of using Quizlet in teaching vocabulary to young learners. The teachers said that using Quizlet helped their students acquire new vocabulary quickly, remember vocabulary longer and draw young learners’ greater attention.
However, there are also some difficulties that EFL teachers face with Quizlet such as limited time, controlling classrooms, Internet connection. The researcher suggests that further studies in this area should consider a bigger sample size as well as use a variety of instruments to get a deeper understanding of EFL teachers’ perceptions of teaching vocabulary with Quizlet. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. viii LIST OF TABLES. ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Aim and Objectives of the Study.
Aim of the Study. Objectives of the Study. Scope of the Study. Significance of the Study.
Organization of the Study. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of Vocabulary. Importance of Vocabulary.
Types of Vocabulary. Vocabulary Teaching and Learning. Teaching vocabulary to young learners. Definition of Young Learner.
Characteristics of Young Learners. Authentic, meaningful language. Definition of Quizlet. Application of Quizlet to Teaching and Learning Vocabulary.
Benefits of Quizlet in Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. Use of Quizlet. Definition of teachers’ perceptions. Types of Perception.
24 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Findings from Questionnaire.
EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Importance and Necessity of Quizlet. EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Benefits of Quizlet. EFL Teacher’s Perceptions of Disadvantages of Quizlet. Findings from Interview.
A Useful App for EFL Teachers’ Vocabulary Teaching. Least Useful Aspects of Quizlet in Teaching. Some Useful Aspects of Quizlet in Teaching Vocabulary. EFL Teachers’ Difficulties in Using Quizlet to Teach Vocabulary.
EFL Teachers’ Suggestions for Using Quizlet more vii Effectively. EFL Teachers’ Future Intentions of Teaching Vocabulary with Quizlet. Implications of the Study. Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Further Research.
Limitations of the Study. Suggestions for Further Research. 53 APPENDICES viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A Agree App Application D Disagree EFL English as a Foreign Language ICT Information and Communication Technology MALL Mobile-assisted Language Learning PC Personal Computer R Researcher SA Strongly Agree SD Strongly Disagree T Teacher U Unsure YL Young Learner ix LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Quizlet learning modes on website and mobile app .1: Participants’ background characteristics (Valizadeh, 2021) .2: Description of the items used for the survey .1: EFL Teachers’ perceptions of importance and necessity of Quizlet .2: EFL Teachers’ perceptions of benefits of Quizlet .3: EFL Teachers’ perceptions of disadvantages of Quizlet. 40 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 introduces the rationale underlying this current study.
The chapter is divided into six main parts: Rationale, Aim and Objectives, Research Questions, Scope, Significance and Organization of the Study. Rationale English, an international language used by many people all over the world, is the target language taught in most schools in Vietnam and is used to communicate across nations either orally or in writing. It is also regarded as one of the world's required languages and is critical to master, particularly for young students. Moreover, English is one of the compulsory subjects at almost schools across Vietnam.
Therefore, more and more Vietnamese people are spend much time studying English as a second language. Speaking, listening, reading, and writing are the four language skills that English teaching aims to help students acquire. Learning language elements, such as pronunciation, grammar, spelling, and vocabulary, is important to assist the development of the four language skills. Among them, vocabulary is thought to be one of the language components that contribute significantly to the development of language skills.
Schmitt and McCarthy (1983) believes that in order to grasp a language, students must memorize thousands of words. Indeed, vocabulary is core component of any foreign languages, and English is no exception. Whether learners are adults or young children, it is important for them to expand their vocabulary. This is because a lack of vocabulary can become a long-term trouble.
Therefore, learners should find out the suitable ways to learn vocabulary as soon as possible since their brain is ready for learning and 2 most of them have abilities to memorize well from a very early age. Hence, teaching or learning vocabulary is always a problem which attracts learners’ attention these days. In other words, a lot of teachers are concerned about how to teach vocabulary to their students effectively. Schmitt and McCarthy (1997) suggest the following methods for learning vocabulary: (1) guessing from context, (2) using words parts and mnemonic techniques to remember words, and (3) using vocabulary cards to remember foreign language-first language word pairs.
With these methods, students need to take much time to learn by heart new words, which makes them feel bored, especially to young learners. Moreover, it is difficult for learners to use the vocabulary in communication. Fortunately, we are living in the 21st century with the development of technology at an alarming rate. There is a great variety of applications which were appeared, especially Quizlet.
Quizlet is a useful app that combining colorful pictures, words and even sounds, which makes students increase their motivation of learning vocabulary and help them learn a lot of vocabulary in short time. Furthermore, the issue is that few studies were carried out on the fields of using Quizlet to teach and learn vocabulary to young learners in Vietnam. Based on all the reasons above, the researcher has made a decision to conduct the study entiled “EFL teachers’ perceptions of the use of Quizlet in teaching vocabulary to young learners at an English center. Aim and Objectives of the Study 1.
Aim of the Study This study aims to find out about EFL teachers’ perceptions of the use of Quizlet in teaching vocabulary to young learners with a view to helping them to improve the effectiveness of teaching vocabulary to this type of learners with Quizlet. Objectives of the Study In order to achieve the aims, the objectives of the study are: + To find out about the challenges EFL teachers face of teaching vocabulary to young learners with Quizlet. + To investigate EFL teachers’ perceptions of teaching vocabulary to young learners with Quizlet. Research Questions To accomplish the aim and the objectives, the study seeks to answer the following research questions: 1.
What challenges do EFL teachers face in teaching English vocabulary to young learners with Quizlet? 2. What are EFL teachers’ perceptions of teaching vocabulary to young learners with Quizlet? 1. Scope of the Study This study is only carried out in the academic year 2022–2023. Because of limited time, competence as well as research conditions, the scope of the study is only limited to 17 teachers at an English center in Gia Lai Province.
Participants’ background characteristics are presented as indicated in Table 3. In addition, this study concentrates only on two aspects: teachers’ perceptions of teaching vocabulary with Quizlet to YLs and the challenges that EFL teachers face when utilizing Quizlet to teach vocabulary to YLs. Significance of the Study Theoretically, the study not only provides some insight into EFL teachers’ perceptions and their practice of teaching vocabulary to YLs but also suggests some approaches to the challenges posed by the teaching of the 4 vocabulary to learners of different ages. Practically, it is hoped that the research will bring a variety of benefits for teachers, YLs and researchers.
For teachers, they could have a deeper understanding about the effectiveness of using Quizlet and they have more opportunities to learn about how to apply Quizlet in classrooms effectively. For YLs, hopefully, this study can help them raise the awareness of the importance of learning vocabulary so that they are able to find out suitable methods themselves at an early age. Also, the study can make a contribution as a source of references for other researchers in conducting further research. Organization of the Study The research is divided into 5 chapters: Introduction, Literature Review, Research Methodology, Findings and Discussion and Conclusions and Recommendations.
Chapter 1, Introduction, provides the rationale, aim and objectives, research questions, scope, significance and organization of the study. Chapter 2, Literature Review, gives definition of vocabulary, importance of vocabulary, vocabulary teaching and learning, definition of young learners, characteristics of young learners, definition of Quizlet, application of Quizlet in teaching and learning vocabulary, benefits of Quizlet in teaching and learning vocabulary, use of Quizlet and previous studies related to the topic of the present study. Chapter 3, Research Methodology, presents the research methods of the study, data collection and data analysis. Chapter 4, Findings and Discussion, explains the results gained in the processing of the data and discusses the results of the data analysis.
Chapter 5, Conclusion, presents the research findings, limitations and 5 makes some suggestions for further study.