MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE TO IMPROVE GRADE EIGHT STUDENTS' ENGLISH VOCABULARY: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HA LONG CITY Sử dụng phương pháp TPR - Phản xạ toàn thân - trong việc cải thiện vốn từ vựng Tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 8 tại một trường cấp 2 ở thành phố Hạ Long NGUYEN THI THU TRANG Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Dr. Dang Nguyen Giang Hanoi – 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M. THESIS USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE TO IMPROVE GRADE EIGHT STUDENTS' ENGLISH VOCABULARY: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HA LONG CITY. Sử dụng phương pháp TPR - Phản xạ toàn thân - trong việc cải thiện vốn từ vựng Tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 8 tại một trường cấp 2 ở thành phố Hạ Long NGUYEN THI THU TRANG Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Dr.
Dang Nguyen Giang Hanoi – 2023 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE TO IMPROVE GRADE EIGHT STUDENTS' ENGLISH VOCABULARY: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HA LONG CITY submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language. Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis. Hanoi, 2023 Nguyen Thi Thu Trang Approved by SUPERVISOR Dr. Dang Nguyen Giang i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude and deep appreciation to Dr.
Dang Nguyen Giang, my supervisor, for his helpful and warm encouragement as well as his insightful comments on my work from the beginning to the end of my study. Another special word of thank would go to other lectures of the Faculty of English at Hanoi Open University for their encouragement and help in supplying material for me to complete my thesis accomplished. I also wish to thank each one of the members in my class for always there for me from the commence to terminate. Finally, I owe my deep thanks to my dear family for their endless love, material and spiritual support throughout this research who always stand for me with their consideration and encouragement.
ii ABSTRACT The learning and teaching vocabulary to students in secondary schools has been a challenge to all the teachers and students themselves. The objectives of this research are to evaluate the efficiency of implementing TPR method in teaching vocabulary to secondary students. There were 45 students involving in this research. The Classroom Action Research was used as the research design, which means that the research was conducted in 2 cycles.
There are 4 stages in each cycle: Planing, Acting, Observing, Reflecting. The data collection instruments are the pre test, the post tests, questionnaires and interviews. The pre test and 2 post tests were used to measure the improvement of the students’ vocabulary mastery. The score was analyzed after every cycle and there was an improvement after every test.
Questionnaires and interviews were used to investigate the students’ attitude on the TPR classes. Based on the collected data, it can be concluded that the TPR method does not only improve the students’ ability to memorize the new words but also enhance the learning environment. The students can accumulate a large number of new words while having through games and activities. They also enjoy the new teaching method and look forward to having more TPR lessons in the future.
Besides, by adopting this possitve teaching method, the teachers can become more creative and confident, which is a significant factor in the process of teaching English. iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1: Lewin (1946) Action Research Model.29 Figure 2: Model CAR (Kemmis and McTaggert). Students’ test results in cycle 1. Comparison of distribution of test score range in cycle 1.
Students’ test results in cycle 2. Comparison of distribution of test score range in cycle 2. Comparison of total test scores in 2 cycles. Comparison of mean scores in 2 cycles.
41 Table 7 Students’ opinions about vocablaries and TPR. The students‘ attitude towards the implementation of TPR in teaching vocabulary. 45 iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TPR: Total Physical Response CAR: Classroom Action Research CPH: Critical Period Hypothesis v TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY. iii CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION.
Aims and objectives of the study. Methods of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study.
Structure of the study. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of vocabulary. The significance of vocabulary in learning English.
Definition of TPR. Characteristics of TPR. Procedures of TPR. Principles of TPR.
Benefits of TPR. Secondary school learners. Psychological and physical characteristics of middle school students. Learning characteristics of middle school learners.
Learning stages of middle school students. Age characteristics affect the ability to acquire foreign languages. Definition of the Critical Period Hypothesis. Differences in language approaches between adults and children.
The influence of the golden period. Some limitations of the Golden Phase .The ability to perceive grammar. Rate of learning. Previous research overseas.
Previous research in Vietnam. 25 CHAPTER 3 : RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Data collection instruments. Classroom Action Research.
33 CHAPTER 4 : FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Results and analysis from tests. Results and analysis from questionnaires. Results and analysis from interviews.
Limitation and suggestions for further studies. I APPENDIX 1: LESSON PLAN 1. V vii APPENDIX 2: LESSON PLAN 2. XII APPENDIX 3 : UNIT 1 : PRE-TEST.
XIX APPENDIX 4 : UNIT 1 : POST-TEST .XX APPENDIX 5 : UNIT 2 : PRE-TEST. XXI APPENDIX 6 : UNIT 2: POST TEST. XXIII APPENDIX 7 : WORKSHEET - UNIT 1. XXIII APPENDIX 8 : WORKSHEET – UNIT 2.
XXV APPENDIX 9 : INTERVIEWS .XXVII APPENDIX 10 : QUESTIONNAIRES. XXVIII viii CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Vocabulary is an integral part of a language and plays a very important role in language teaching and learning. In teaching and learning English, vocabulary is one of three elements (along with grammar and phonetics), forming a system of linguistic knowledge and acting as a means and condition for forming and developing communication skills.
It can be seen that language in general and English in particular is a collection of lexical units. We cannot understand language without understanding vocabulary. In other words, lack of vocabulary knowledge affects all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Thus, learning vocabulary and practicing vocabulary usage skills are considered the leading factors in language transmission and acquisition.
British linguist Wilkins (1972) said that “without grammar little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” Learning vocabularies must be a long process of practice, study and accumulation. In general, students are very "afraid" and "lazy" to learn new words, their use of words is still limited. They often misspell or use wrong words; mispronunce or use words incorrectly, which is not suitable for the context. Most children have the habit of memorizing the meanings of words.
Some children only learn by rote as a coping mechanism to volunteer on the board or when the teacher tests, and then when they need to use it, they forget or don't know how to use the words. Many students try to memorize all the new words they encounter, so they find that every lesson has a lot of new words, leading to fear and reluctance to learn new words. This happens frequently is because students do not know how to learn vocabulary and have not found a suitable vocabulary learning method for themselves. Through the practice of teaching English at a secondary school and English centers for many years, I have found that teachers have always made efforts to help students understand and remember vocabulary.
However, many students 1 cannot remember the words they have learned into long-term memory and recall them to use when necessary even though they have spent a lot of time learning vocabulary. Limited vocabulary causes many obstacles for them in acquiring language knowledge as well as developing communication skills. In order to draw students' attention and willingness to learn vocabularies, it was necessary to use an effective and engaging method for teaching English vocabulary, particularly to secondary students. Secondary school English instruction should ideally follow a strategy that takes advantage of children's natural tendencies to learn by doing, hearing, and seeing.
The reality demonstrates how prevalent the translation approach is among secondary school English teachers. That is why I chose the TPR method in my research in order to figure out the efficiency of implementing this method when teaching vocabularies to secondary students. Aims and objectives of the study The purpose of this research is to help students at a secondary school in Ha Long city improve their vocabulary mastery with the implementaton of TPR method. In order to achieve this aim ,the study is expected to reach the following objectives: - To evaluate the effectiveness of Total Physical Response method on students’ vocabulary mastery.
- To ascertain students’ attitudes on the implementation of Total Physical Response method in learning English vocabulary. Research questions What is the effectiveness of Total Physical Response method on students’ vocabulary mastery? 2 What are the students’ attitudes on the implementation of Total Physical Response method in learning English vocabulary? 1. Methods of the study In order to achieve the aim, action research procedures are used in the study. The data will be collected via survey questionnaires, interviews, and tests.
Scope of the study The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of Total Physical Response method on improving students’ vocabulary mastery and the attitudes of 45 8-graders in a secondary school in Ha Long city on the implementation of Total Physical Response method in learning English vocabularies The study did not address other abilities like listening, speaking, reading, or writing since it only looked at the usefulness of TPR on improving their vocabularies. Significance of the study Theoretically, the outcomes of the study are intended to provide the researcher and English language teachers with information about the Total Physical Response and its implementation in teaching vocabularies to secondary students. Practically, the findings of the study could be beneficial for the English teachers in Ha Long city in particular and those in Vietnam in general to enhance their teaching skills with this teaching method, which in turn, may result in the improvement of their students' vocabulary mastery and their learning attitude towards English subject. Structure of the study In addition to the references and appendices, the thesis is composed of five chapters: CHAPTER 1: Introduction 3 CHAPTER 2: Literature review CHAPTER 3: Methodology CHAPTER 4: Findings and discussion CHAPTER 5: Conclusion 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.
Definition of vocabulary Vocabulary definitions can take many different forms. According to Richards and Renandya (2002), vocabulary is the cornerstone of language proficiency and the basis for learning speaking, listening, reading, and writing strategies. Hatch and Brown (1995) defined vocabulary as a collection of terms from a particular language or a list of phrases that a person can use. Active receptive vocabulary and passive receptive vocabulary are the two categories of vocabulary.
When students employ passive receptive vocabulary— vocabulary they haven't thought of yet but that they grasp when they see or hear it—they can use it while speaking or writing. Words that students comprehend when reading or listening and instantly use while speaking and writing are known as active receptive words.