MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY LE THI THANH THI EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHING VOCABULARY TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT QUY NHON-BASED PRIMARY SCHOOLS Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 8140111 Supervisor: Dr. Truong Van Dinh Binh Dinh - 2023 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN LÊ THỊ THANH THI NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN ANH NGỮ VỀ VIỆC DẠY TỪ VỰNG CHO HỌC SINH NHỎ TUỔI TẠI CÁC TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC Ở QUY NHƠN Ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 Người hướng dẫn: TS. Trương Văn Định i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP The thesis entitled “EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners at Quy Nhon-based Primary Schools” is conducted under the direction of Dr. Truong Van Dinh at Quy Nhon University.
I declare that the information reported in this study results from my 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 Le Thi Thanh Thi ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to express my gratitude to the EFL teachers at primary school who participated in this study. Without their participation, this study would not have been accomplished.
I am enormously grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Truong Van Dinh, for his excellent guidance, support, patience, and invaluable assistance. He has always been available to support me not only academically but also spiritually. I would also like to thank the lecturers in English, Department of Pedagogy, Quy Nhon University, for their support and guidance throughout the research process.
Besides, I am also indebted to the cooperation and support of 15 EFL teachers who spent their valuable time participating in the survey for my data collection. Last but not least, my family members have been enormously supportive of my efforts to complete this project. I am grateful to my parents for always encouraging and guiding me in my pursuits. They are the epitome of good role models.
Le Thi Thanh Thi iii ABSTRACT Nowadays, early English education has become one of the increasing demands in the world. The purpose of this research is to find out about primary school EFL teachers’ perceptions of teaching English vocabulary to young learners at primary level. This research was phenomenology research which was conducted in 4 Quy Nhon-based primary schools. To answer the research questions, the researcher employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches.
The qualitative approach was used with a questionnaire distributed to 15 primary teachers at 04 Quy Nhon-based primary schools and the qualitative approach was employed with interviews with these primary teachers to explore their perceptions and challenges of teaching English vocabulary to young learners. The results showed that the primary school EFL teachers had positive perceptions of the importance of teaching English vocabulary to young learners. Most primary school EFL teachers agreed that teaching vocabulary, selecting vocabulary and employing techniques are of great importance because of its usefulness in enhancing young learners’ ability to learn vocabulary. The results also revealed many essential aspects of vocabulary instruction, ranging from selecting vocabulary and challenges for primary school EFL teachers.
This study is expected to give reference and knowledge to primary school EFL teachers so that they can implement some suitable strategies for their own classes. Keywords: vocabulary, teaching English vocabulary to young learners, primary schools, primary school EFL teachers iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
vii LIST OF TABLES. viii 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. Design of the Study.
Child Language Acquisition and Learning. Characteristics of Young Learners. Teaching English to Young Learners. Challenges of Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners.
Definition of Vocabulary. Types of Vocabulary. Importance of Vocabulary. Techniques for Teaching Vocabulary.
Perception of Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners. 30 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Questionnaire Findings and Discussion. PSEFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Importance of Teaching English Vocabulary to Young Learners.
PSEFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Choice of Vocabulary. PSEFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Techniques for Teaching Vocabulary. PSEFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Challenges in Teaching English Vocabulary to Young Learners. Importance of Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners.
PSEFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Choice of Vocabulary. Challenges Faced by PSEFL Teachers in Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners. PSEFL Teachers’ Suggestions. 50 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS.
Suggestions for Further Research. 62 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS YLs Young Learners L1 Native Language or Mother Tongue EFL English as a Foreign Language PCK Pedagogical Content Knowledge PSEFL Primary School English as a Foreign Language viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3. Ethnological Information about participants………………. Description of items in the questionnaire…………….
PSEFL teachers’ perceptions of importance of teaching English vocabulary to young learners…………………. PSEFL teachers’ perceptions of choice of vocabulary……. PSEFL teachers’ perceptions of techniques for teaching vocabulary ………………………………………. PSEFL teachers’ perceptions of challenges in teaching English vocabulary to young learners……………………….41 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter introduces the current situation of teaching and learning English vocabulary at primary schools in Quy Nhon.
Research rationale, questions and research objectives of the current study are presented. The organization of the thesis is described. Rationale Reality shows that early English education has become one of the increasing demands in the world. In Vietnam, English has been decided to become a compulsory subject for third graders upwards and optional downwards at schools since 2020.
Learning vocabulary is widely held as an indispensable part in helping learners become competent in foreign or second language learning. Teaching English to young learners cannot be seen only as teaching the language. The demand for learning English as a foreign language, particularly at the elementary level, is expanding so rapidly. Vocabulary is an important part of starting and understanding a language.
Without a large vocabulary, it is impossible to communicate or express ideas effectively. Cameron (2001), Beck et al. (2002), Beck and McKeown (2007), and Hedge (2008) emphasized that it is essential to take vocabulary instruction into great consideration because of its utmost importance during this stage. There has been an oversight in primary language teacher education, which may lead to primary school EFL (PSEFL) teachers having insufficient knowledge and employing inadequate teaching methods in this area.
More significantly, the social demand for English at all educational levels, especially at the primary level in Vietnam increases so dramatically that the training of PSEFL teachers is not in pace with the increased demand (Pham, 2013, Le & Do, 2012). 2 A lot of studies have been undertaken to look into the challenges EFL teachers face of teaching English vocabulary to young learners. However, very few existing studies focus on the teaching of vocabulary to young learners and even fewer investigations have been carried out to find out about PSEFL teachers’ perceptions of teaching English vocabulary to this group of students. It is the reason why the researcher decided to do research into “EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners at Quy Nhon-based Primary Schools” with a view to helping PSEFL teachers to have effective measures to teach vocabulary to their students.
Aim and Objectives of the Study 1. Aim of the Study This study aims to work out PSEFL teachers’ perceptions of importance of teaching vocabulary to young learners and challenges that they face in the process of doing it. Objectives of the Study The objectives of this research are: 1) To find out PSEFL teachers’ perceptions of teaching English vocabulary to teach to young learners. 2) To examine challenges faced by PSEFL teachers in teaching English vocabulary to young learners.
Research Questions Based on the aim and objectives, the research questions are: 1. What are PSEFL teachers’ perceptions of teaching English vocabulary to young learners? 2. What challenges do PSEFL teachers face in teaching English vocabulary to young learners? 3 1. Scope of the Study From the above research questions, the study focuses only on EFL teachers’ perceptions of teaching English vocabulary to young learners at primary schools and finding out about the challenges that EFL teachers face in teaching vocabulary at school.
The participants in the study are mostly female teachers from some primary schools in Quy Nhon as indicated in Table 3. Due to time constraints and expenses, only 15 EFL teachers from 04 primary schools in Quy Nhon: Ngo Quyen Primary School, Nhon Phu Primary School, Bui Thi Xuan Primary School and Nguyen Khuyen Primary School participated in the study. The vocabulary is mainly taken from the textbook “I-learn Smart Start grade 1-5” published by Ho Chi Minh University of Pedagogy Publishing House. Significance of the Study Theoretically, the present study aims to provide a deep understanding of teachers’ perceptions of teaching vocabulary to young learners at primary school level.
Moreover, the study also contributes to the perfection of the study of the methods of teaching vocabulary to young learners. Practically, the researcher hopes that this study will have some benefits for EFL teachers who teach English in primary school level to get information about the benefits, challenges, and media that are used by the teacher in teaching English to young learners. The findings of the study help PSEFL teachers to be aware of challenges that they face in teaching vocabulary and provide them with some solutions to these problems. Also, curriculum designing will be facilitated in terms of providing appropriate tasks to assist students in mastering English vocabulary.
In addition to this, students can learn vocabulary more effectively. The findings of the research also may help high school EFL teachers gain insights on EFL teachers’ perceptions of teaching 4 English vocabulary to their students. Thanks to this, EFL teachers can adjust and improve their teaching methodology to help their students know how to learn English vocabulary effectively. Design of the Study The study is divided into five chapters as follows: - Chapter 1, Introduction, states the rationale, aim and objectives, significance, scope and design of the study.
- Chapter 2, Literature review, presents the theoretical issues which shed light on this study and the previous studies on teaching English vocabulary to young learners. - Chapter 3, Methodology, describes the research methods, the participants, the data collection tools and procedures. - Chapter 4, Findings and Discussion, unfolds the results revealed from the two sets of data - quantitative and qualitative. Also, it discusses the results, interpreting them and comparing them with those of the previous relevant studies.
- Chapter 5, Conclusion, exhibits a summary of the findings, some limitations and some pedagogical suggestions for teaching English vocabulary to YLs in Vietnam. It also puts forward some suggestions for further studies. LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter presents the theoretical issues which shed light on the investigation. The chapter continues with the characteristics of young learners of English as a foreign language and teaching English as a Foreign Language to children.
The chapter continues with a focus on methodology, paying specific attention to activities, teaching resources, and approaches. The final part provides an account of the previous studies closely related to this study. Child Language Acquisition and Learning A large number of authors and researchers try to segment learners strictly based on age: three to five years old, six to eight years old, etc. According to Cameron (2010), young learner is being learner aged between five and twelve years old, so the young learner’s age is in elementary school.
Linse (2005) also defines young learners (YLs) as children between the ages of five and twelve. Meanwhile, Scott and Ytreberg (1990) divide children into two groups: five to seven years old and eight to eleven years old.