VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ HÂN A STUDY ON USING STORYTELLING TO IMPROVE ENGLISH SPEAKING FOR STUDENTS AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN HANOI (Nghiên cứu về việc sử dụng phương pháp kể chuyện để nâng cao khả năng nói Tiếng Anh cho học sinh ở một trường tiểu học ở Hà Nội) M. MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HANOI- 2020 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ HÂN A STUDY ON USING STORYTELLING TO IMPROVE ENGLISH SPEAKING FOR STUDENTS AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN HANOI (Nghiên cứu về việc sử dụng phương pháp kể chuyện để nâng cao khả năng nói Tiếng Anh cho học sinh ở một trường tiểu học ở Hà Nội) Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231. Hoang Van Van HANOI- 2020 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I, Phạm Thị Hân, hereby certify that the thesis “A study on using storytelling to improve English speaking ability for students at a primary school in Hanoi” is submitted for the partial fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Although when doing my research, I have consulted various books, articles, and webpages for my references, I exacted some ideas relating to my study from their work.
I declare that this assignment is my own work and does not involve plagiarism or collusion. Hanoi, 2020 Phạm Thị Hân TIEU LUAN MOI download i: skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to give my cordial thanks to my supervisor Prof. Hoang Van Van for his enlightening support, invaluable feedback and recommendations during my fulfillment of this minor thesis. My sincere thanks go to all of the lecturers and the staff of the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies at University of Languages and International Studies for their valuable lectures on which help me to orient the research.
I would like to convey my warmest appreciation and thanks to invaluable assistance to teachers at Ly Nam De Primary School. I truly wish to thank all the students in grade 3 at Ly Nam De Primary School who have actively participated in the research. I am deeply grateful to my family for their great encouragement. Without their support, I could not have completed this thesis.
TIEU LUAN MOI download ii: skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT Young learners have spent more time in learning English at primary schools in Hanoi recent years. As a result, students have more chances to learn English. However, a wide range of young learners face lacking speaking proficiency which their grammar, content, vocabulary, and fluency are limited. Moreover, students have low motivation and lack confidence in learning speaking.
There are different techniques of teaching speaking skills which are employed to be successful. One of the concerned techniques is storytelling. This research is an investigation into the effectiveness of teaching speaking to young learners through storytelling. The primary aim of the study is to determine whether storytelling has an extended impact on young learners’ speaking.
It also studies students’ attitude to this technique. The data were collected through observation, questionnaire, and tests and then analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The results of the data analysis indicate that most of the students achieved considerable progress in their speaking after using storytelling. Students also participated in the lesson actively and excitedly.
In addition, storytelling can motivate students to communicate. TIEU LUAN MOI downloadiii: skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION………………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEGEMENTS………………………………………………… ii ABSTRACT. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
vii LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Statement of the problem…………………………………………. Aims and objectives of the study ………………………….
Scope of the study …………………………………………. Significance of the study …………………………………. Organization of the thesis…………………………………………. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4 2.1 Definitions of speaking skill…………………………………….
2 Techniques to teach speaking skill to young learners…………….3 Assessing speaking skill………………………………………….4 Criteria levels for evaluating speaking skill……………………….1 Definition of storytelling………………………………………….2 The advantage of storytelling………………………….4 Criteria for selecting storybooks………………………………….2 Characteristics of primary students……………………………… 11 TIEU LUAN MOI download iv: skknchat@gmail.4 Previous studies in the world and in Vietnam…………………… 12 2.5 Summary……………………………………………………………… 14 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY………………………………………… 15 3.1 Context of the study…………………………………………………….1 Setting of the study……………………………………………….3 Data collection instruments…………………………………………… 23 3.4 Data analysis methods…………………………………………… 25 3.5 Summary…………………………………………………………… 25 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 27 4.1 Analysis of test results………………………………………….2 Analysis of questionnaires……………………………………… 32 4.3 Analysis of observation………………………………………… 37 4.2 Findings and discussion……………………………………………… 39 4.1 To what extent can storytelling technique affect children’s 39 speaking ability? ……………………….2 Students’ attitude towards storytelling.3 Summary……………………………………………………………… 40 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION…………………………………………….2 Concluding remarks………………………………………………… 42 TIEU LUAN MOI download v: skknchat@gmail.3 Limitation of the study……………………………………………….4 Recommendations and suggestions for further study…………. 45 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: LESSON PLAN…………………………………………. I APPENDIX 2A: POST-TREATMENT QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) ……………………………………………. V APPENDIX 2B: POST-TREATMENT QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) ……………………………………….
VIII APPENDIX 3A: PRE-TEST OF SPEAKING SKILL…………………… X APPENDIX 3B: POST-TEST OF SPEAKING SKILL…………………. XII APPENDIX 4: SPEAKING RUBRIC……………………………………. XIV APPENDIX 5: THE FORMULA OF MEAN, STANDARD DEVIATION AND MEDIAN………………………………………. XVI APPENDIX 6: TEACHER’S OBSERVATION………………………….
XXV TIEU LUAN MOI download vi: skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS %: Percentage TIEU LUAN MOI downloadvii: skknchat@gmail.com LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: The course procedures …………………………………….1: The students’ content of speaking ….2: The students’ fluency of speaking ……………………………… 28 Table 2.3: The students’ grammar of speaking …………………………… 29 Table 2.4: The students’ vocabulary of speaking ………………………… 29 Table 2.5: Record of students’ test scores………………………………….6: Comparison of mean, standard deviation, mode, minimum and maximum between the pre-test and post-test……………………………… 31 Table 3: Students’ attitude toward storytelling…………………………… 32 TIEU LUAN MOI downloadviii: skknchat@gmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the research English is considered as an international language which is used wider and wider. As a result, English has been taught in almost every school and mostly become a compulsory subject in Vietnam. At school, teachers teach all the 4 skills of speaking, reading, listening and but not all students can develop all skills equally.
Brown and Lee (2015) state that learning to speak a foreign language is often regarded as one of the most difficult for students. From the researcher’s observation, students seemed to have difficulties in speaking up during speaking lessons. They faced lacking speaking proficiency. As a result, their grammar, content, vocabulary, and fluency are limited.
Therefore, they rarely answered the questions given by the teachers orally or they spoke with pauses and got trouble in finding appropriate words to express their ideas. Besides, students had low motivation in learning speaking. They rarely had opportunities to practice the foreign language in their daily life and speaking activities for students were not attracted them. That routine activities in learning can make students bored that decrease their motivation and participation in learning.
Brown and Lee (2015). Another problem is that students often lack confidence in speaking. They tended to be passive in speaking lessons. They were afraid of making mistakes and being laughed by their friends and teachers.
Therefore, they preferred using the native language or keeping quite when teachers or friends raised the questions. Many researchers revealed that psychological factors such as anxiety or shyness, lack of confidence, motivation of fear of mistakes commonly prevented students from speaking (Nunan, 1999; Sato, 2003; Thornbury, 2011). With these problems in mind, teaching English for communication to young learners is an important topic to study. Ulas (2008) recommends that successful communication is speaking nicely, articulately and efficiently, as well as using effective voice projection, speaking is linked to success in life, because it occupies an important position both individually and socially.
It is true to students in primary TIEU LUAN MOI download 1: skknchat@gmail.com school because speaking performs students’ thought and it is the oral output of learning. Nunan (1991) said that success of language is measured considering the ability to carry out a conversation in the target language. Therefore, teachers of English should make more effort to teach children more effectively and help students feel competent and confident by providing them with safe, entertaining, and educational environment (Schindler, 2006; Scott & Ytreberg, 2001). Hence, teachers try to find the methods that can bring the better results and attract students to the speaking lessons.
This lead the author to the choice of the study “A study on using storytelling to improve English speaking ability for students at a primary school in Hanoi” to gain some insights into speaking strategies and find out the good ways to help the students improve their speaking skill. Statement of the problem The researcher studied a number of studies investigating the effectiveness of storytelling, but most of them focus on developing vocabulary, listening, or presentation on the teenagers and adults. Therefore, the specific problem addressed in this study was to investigate the effectiveness of storytelling on primary students’ speaking skill and their attitudes to this technique. Aims of the study This research aims to investigate the effectiveness of storytelling on speaking skill and their attitudes to this technique in speaking at Ly Nam De Primary School.
This aim is specified into the following objectives: 1. To examine the impact of applying storytelling in teaching speaking for the young learners at a primary school in Hanoi. To determine the students’ attitudes in learning speaking through storytelling. Research questions In an attempt to achieve the aims and objectives stated above, the following research questions were addressed: 1.
To what extent can storytelling affect children’s English speaking ability? TIEU LUAN MOI download 2: skknchat@gmail. What are the students’ attitudes towards using storytelling in developing speaking skill? 5. Scope of the research The study was conducted at Ly Nam De Primary School in Hanoi. The research concentrates on the young learners of eight years old.
The participants involved in the research are 14 students at Ly Nam De Primary School. This study investigated the effects of storytelling and students’ attitude towards using storytelling in learning speaking. Therefore, the teaching of other speaking strategies to other grades would be beyond the scope. Significance of the study In terms of theory, the study is expected to contribute the effective ways to develop speaking skill.
In terms of practice, the findings of this study can be used as a reference for teachers of English in general and teachers at the Ly Nam De school in particular to improve teaching speaking skills and attract students in learning speaking. Organization of the thesis The study consists of three main parts: the introduction, the development and the conclusion. CHAPTER 1: “Introduction” presents rationale, statement of the problem, aims and objectives of the study, research question, the scope of the study, significance of the study, and the design of the study. CHAPTER 2: “Literature” provides a literature review on theoretical issues related to speaking, storytelling, students’ attitude and previous studies.
CHAPTER 3: “Methodology” describes an overview on context of the study, research design, instrument used in the study. CHAPTER 4:“Data analysis and discussion” presents details in the methodology, the data analysis, findings and discussion. CHAPTER 5: “Conclusion” gives a brief review of the whole study and some limitations of the study and suggestions for further study. TIEU LUAN MOI download 3: skknchat@gmail.com Chapter 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of speaking skill Speaking is an important skill in daily life as emphasized by many educators and researchers.
Bailey and Savage (1994) emphasize that speaking is a basic skill which is the output of reading and listening and it is used to communicate every day. Similarly, Hayriye (2006) states that speaking is considered as a vital part of language learning because the ability to communicate plays an important part in students’ school life and in other fields throughout life. Nunan suggests that speaking is considered as the same an oral interaction which are conventional ways of speaking information, expressing the idea, and thought in mind (Nunan, 1991).