VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA THESIS A SURVEY OF LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES WHEN THE TEACHER USES STORYTELLING IN SPEAKING LESSONS FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AT BLOOMING KIDS ENGLISH CENTER KHẢO SÁT THÁI ĐỘ CỦA NGƯỜI HỌC KHI GIÁO VIÊN SỬ DỤNG HOẠT ĐỘNG KỂ CHUYỆN TRONG CÁC BUỔI HỌC NÓI CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC TẠI TRUNG TÂM ANH NGỮ BLOOMING KIDS Student : DANG THI MAI UYEN Student code : 621202 Major : ENGLISH LINGUISTIC Supervisor : TRAN THU TRANG, M.A HANOI – 2021 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA THESIS A SURVEY OF LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES WHEN THE TEACHER USES STORYTELLING IN SPEAKING LESSONS FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AT BLOOMING KIDS ENGLISH CENTER KHẢO SÁT THÁI ĐỘ CỦA NGƯỜI HỌC KHI GIÁO VIÊN SỬ DỤNG HOẠT ĐỘNG KỂ CHUYỆN TRONG CÁC BUỔI HỌC NÓI CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC TẠI TRUNG TÂM ANH NGỮ BLOOMING KIDS Student : DANG THI MAI UYEN Student code : 621202 Major : ENGLISH LINGUISTICS Supervisor : TRAN THU TRANG, M.A HANOI – 2021 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In order to complete the graduation thesis with the topic of “A survey of learners’ attitudes when the teacher uses storytelling in speaking lessons for primary school students at Blooming Kids English Center”, besides my own constant efforts, I have received a lot of attention and support from teachers, family and friends I would like to express my sincerest thanks to the teachers in the Faculty of Education and Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University of Agriculture In particular, I would like to express my sincerest and deepest thanks to M.A Tran Thu Trang for her enthusiastic guidance and support during the process of completing my graduation thesis Next, I would like to thank the director and management team at Blooming Kids English Center and the students there for creating the best conditions for me to learn and understand the issues related to the process a thesis at the center Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends who always encouraged and helped me when I faced some difficulties During the process of doing my graduation thesis, I feel that I have learned and experienced many useful things From there, let me learn and draw experience for my future working process My thesis will not be able to avoid limitations and shortcomings I look forward to receiving comments and suggestions from teachers and classmates to help improve the thesis Ha Noi, 24th May 2021 The writer Dang Thi Mai Uyen i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “A SURVEY OF LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES WHEN THE TEACHER USES STORYTELLING IN SPEAKING LESSONS FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AT BLOOMING KIDS ENGLISH CENTER” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor 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, 2021 Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name) Date:…………………… ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii ABSTRACT vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1.2.1 Aims of the study 1.2.2 Objectives of the study 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 1.6 DESIGN OF THE STUDY PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES 1.2 REVIEW OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.2.1 Speaking skills 1.2.2 Storytelling 11 1.2.3 Attitude 14 iii 1.3 SUMMARY 16 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 18 2.1 RESEARCH GOVERNING ORIENTATION 18 2.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 18 2.2.1 Definitions of action research (AR) 18 2.2.2 Rationale for choosing action research 19 2.2.3 The procedures of action research 21 2.2.4 Classroom procedures 26 2.2.5 Data collection instruments 27 2.3 SUMMARY 29 Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 30 3.1 RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRES 30 3.1.1 The affective aspect of attitude towards learning speaking 30 3.1.2 The behavioral aspect of attitude towards learning speaking 32 3.1.3 The cognitive aspect of attitude towards learning speaking 34 3.1.4 Students’ positive evaluation on the effects of storytelling 37 3.1.5 Students’ negative evaluation on the effects of storytelling 39 3.2 RESULTS OF PERSONAL INTERVIEWS 40 3.2.1 Analyzing the students’ answers for interviews 40 PART 3: CONCLUSION 46 3.1 RECAPITULATION 46 3.2 CONCLUDING REMARKS 46 3.3 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY 47 iv 3.4 RECOMMENDATIONS/SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 47 3.4.1 For teachers 48 3.4.2 For other researchers 48 3.5 SUMMARY 48 REFERENCES 49 APPENDIX 52 APPENDIX 1: PRE-QUESTIONNAIRES 52 APPENDIX 2: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE 54 APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 57 APPENDIX 4: RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRES 58 APPENDIX 5: TRANSCRIBE STUDENTS’ INTERVIEW DATA 61 APPENDIX 6A: A SAMPLE LESSON PLAN 68 APPENDIX 6B: UNIT 6: THE BEST BED! 71 v ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to find out the influence of storytelling activities on students' attitudes towards their learning to speak An action research project was conducted in classrooms at Blooming Kids English Center Storytelling was conducted over the 12 weeks of term Participants (60 primary school students) answered two questionnaires at the beginning and end of the semester In addition, the students were interviewed at the end of the semester Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data on students' attitudes towards learning speaking when teachers used storytelling in English speaking lessons The data collected before the intervention showed that the students were reluctant and afraid to speak English However, after the 12-week action research project, the students showed positive attitudes towards the speaking lessons It was concluded that storytelling could have beneficial effects on learners' attitudes towards learning speaking skills Key word: attitudes, storytelling, speaking lessons vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 2.1 : Cyclical AR model based on Kemmis and McTaggart (1988)……21 Figure 3.1: The affective aspect of attitude before and after intervention ……30 Figure 3.2: The behavioral aspect of attitude before and after intervention… 32 Figure 3.3: The cognitive aspect of attitude before and after intervention… 34 Figure 3.4: Students’ positive evaluation on the effects of storytelling…….….37 Figure 3.5: Students’ negative evaluation on the effects of storytelling…….…39 vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY Education is one of the particularly important fields, of interest to the Party, the State and the whole society, investing in all educational levels; especially primary level - the initial stage to get used to learning activities in general and English language in particular In addition to the remarkable achievements in improving the quality of English teaching and learning in primary schools, there are still many limitations that need to be overcome, especially the speaking skills of children Currently, there is a large part of children who are learning English the wrong way, with a reversed sequence: Writing – Reading – Listening Speaking Children learn English in a passive and extremely boring way, the two skills of Listening and Speaking are not focused properly but only interested in grammar The wrong teaching method both limits the child's English communication skills while forming a habit of being afraid to communicate, making wrong pronunciation, and the more they grow up, the more difficult they will be to correct Obviously, to communicate in any language, but specifically English, speaking skill is the golden key to learning English better, helping students improve their proficiency and confidence to communicate Realizing the limitations of traditional teaching, recognizing the importance of speaking skills, as an English teacher, I have been constantly searching for different methods to improve learning to speak as well as creating excitement for learners There are many ways to improve students' English speaking: using English songs; watching short English cartoons, … Among the above methods, I have found that: the method of using storytelling activities is very suitable for students Because the storytelling method is suitable for the psychology of elementary school age, not only brings a lot of fun and excitement for children in the APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS These questions are designed to find out the teachers and students’ views on the use of Storytelling in speaking lessons All the information obtained from this question is for research purposes only Please give sincere answers as only this will guarantee the success of the study Interview questions for students: How you feel when your teacher used Storytelling technique in speaking lessons? (Bạn cảm thấy giáo viên sử dụng kỹ thuật Kể chuyện tiết dạy nói?) Can you describe how Storytelling activity helps to develop your positive attitude towards the foreign language learning? (Bạn mơ tả hoạt động kể chuyện giúp phát triển thái độ tích cực bạn việc học ngoại ngữ nào?) Were there any challenges/ difficulties you experienced when your teacher used storytelling activity in speaking lessons? (Bạn có gặp khó khăn / thách thức giáo viên sử dụng hoạt động kể chuyện học nói khơng?) Do you think storytelling technique should be used in speaking lessons in the future? Why/ Why not? (Bạn có nghĩ hoạt động kể chuyện nên sử dụng học nói tương lai? Tại không?) 57 APPENDIX 4: RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRES As mentioned in chapter 2, section 3.3.1 Data collection, includes two questionnaires: pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaires The pre- questionnaires consisted of 15 sentences and the post-questionnaires consisted of 27 sentences In it, there will be 15 similar sentences so that it is easy to compare the difference before and after learning To analyze the data, I use the formula by Anas (2002): P= F/N*100% Remarks: P = Percentage F= Frequency N= The number of sample 100%= Constant value Here are the results that I analyzed: 58 No Strongly disagree Pre Disagree disagree nor Agree agree Pre Pre Post 26,6% 13,3% 18,3% 13,3% 20% 8,3% 20% 38,3% 15% 25% 0% 18,3% 3,3% Post 5% 13,3% 11,6% 16,6% 18,3% 16,6% 61,6% 53,3% 25% 8,3% 23,3% 18,3% 21,7% 21,6% 11,7% 46,6% 23,3% 58,3% 18,3% 25% 13,3% 15% 18,3% 31,7% 15% 8,3% 1,6% 13,3% 8,3% Post agree Post 3,3% Pre Strongly Pre Post Neither 1,6% 25% 20% 10% 25% 8,3% 8,3% 21,7% 20% 10% 38,3% 11,7% 3,3% 21,6% 11,6% 25% 30% 43,3% 53,3% 20% 13,3% 8,3% 16,6% 8,3% 18,3% 15% 1,6% 23,3% 31,6% 35% 45% 20% 16,6% 25% 28,3% 20% 31,6% 18,3% 35% 21,6% 31,7% 20% 18,3% 25% 6,7% 15% 8,3% 10 20% 31,6% 25% 35% 16,6% 8,3% 21,6% 13,3% 16,6% 11,6% 11 15% 3,3% 21,6% 8,3% 13,3% 10% 28,3% 36,6% 21,6% 41,6% 12 5% 8,3% 8,3% 11,6% 15% 18,3% 3,3% 38,3% 31,6% 23,3% 13 28,3% 38,3% 23,3% 35% 21,6% 10% 14 1,6% 0% 15 26,6% 8,3% 15% 10% 11,6% 6,7% 3,3% 0% 25% 15% 38,3% 31,6% 31,6% 53,3% 25% 10% 15% 11,6% 18,3% 38,3% 15% 31,6% 59 EVALUATION ON STORYTELLING ACTIVITY Neither Strongly No disagree Disagree disagree Agree Strongly agree nor agree 16 3,3% 5% 6,7% 40% 45% 17 1,7% 8,3% 10% 38,3% 41,7% 18 35% 36,7% 11,6% 8,3% 8,3% 19 0% 0% 10% 38,4% 51,6% 20 1,7% 3,3% 11,7% 26,6% 56,6% 21 41,6% 31,6% 20% 5% 1,6% 22 1,6% 3,3% 10% 31,6% 53,3% 23 8,3% 11,7% 18,3% 33,3% 28,4% 24 6,7% 8,3% 13,3% 36,7% 35% 25 40% 30% 18,3% 5% 6,7% 26 5% 11,6% 15% 38,3% 30% 27 3,3% 5% 5% 30% 56,7% 60 APPENDIX 5: TRANSCRIBE STUDENTS’ INTERVIEW DATA As mentioned in section 3.3.1 Data collection, I will interview 20 students with questions Here are the results I have collected: Question number 1: How you feel when your teacher used Storytelling technique in speaking lessons? Participant 1: Uhmm, I find it really interesting I find the stories very good and really helpful Participant 2: Ok I want to learn this method in the future Because it makes me remember the lesson longer as well as improve my vocabulary (Smiling faces) Participant 3: Ahh, umm…I feel so tired from talking so much during class Participant 4: … I found the lesson very interesting It makes me feel new so I want to learn a lot to know more Participant 5: I feel this method is right for me Because it just makes me feel free to speak English to my heart's content Participant 6: I felt like I was drawn in and the content of the lesson This method helps me to remember longer Participant 7: I feel very satisfied with this method and using the stories helped me to understand the content of today's lesson more deeply Participant 8: I feel very excited every time I go to speaking class Because I like the stories that the teacher gives me Participant 9: I love this method because it encourages me to state my ideas and opinions Participant 10: I feel quite bored because the story is not really interesting Participant 11: I really find this method useful Because it made me feel stress free, but also learned many new words and sentence structures 61 Participant 12: I feel very happy because I interact a lot with teachers and friends Participant 13: I feel this method really works because it helps me not to feel sleepy during class Participant 14: Ahh, umm The story is also pretty good but I found it noisy I don't like noise Participant 15: The use of storytelling techniques in the speaking class makes me more expressive and bolder in speaking English Participant 16: I find the stories very interesting and useful I want to learn more in the future Participant 17: I feel scared when it comes to speaking class Because I couldn't tell the story fluently Participant 18: When studying, the classroom atmosphere is lively I find this very good Participant 19: I felt depressed because I couldn't fully understand the content of the story Participant 20: I enjoy learning English speaking lessons with storytelling Question number 2: Can you describe how Storytelling activity helped to develop your positive attitude towards the foreign language learning? Participant 1: From her short stories, I feel very excited to learn them Participant 2: It's really fun, it helps me learn while playing Made me very comfortable Participant 3: I find my speaking class more active and active than before, so I also feel more interested in learning to speak Participant 4: I have been thinking in English more than before I feel more confident and more sympathetic to this skill Participant 5: In the past, I found it very frustrating to learn speaking skills because only good friends would talk to her during class time I'm not good at 62 this skill so I'm shy when I say it But since learning this method makes me talk more and gradually, I become bolder and speak more That's why I enjoyed learning this method Participant 6: Normally, I don't like reading stories because it's very long but since learning this method I feel more like wanting to learn more stories so that I can say more Participant 7: The short stories that I learned were very interesting, so they also made me more enthusiastic and interested in learning Participant 8: Storytelling helped me stay motivated to study I no longer stress every time I study Participant 9: This method has a lot of new things that I have not learned before So, I feel very excited and want to learn more Participant 10: I always look forward to the speaking class so that I can express myself and learn more things Participant 11: Before, I thought that speaking English was very difficult So I rarely practice more But thanks to this method, I try to practice more to be able to communicate with many people Participant 12: From someone who is very afraid when she calls, thanks to this method, I am more conscious in preparing the lesson to confidently retell and talk more Participant 13: I rarely speak English because I am very forgetful But this method made me talk more so I remember longer and like to talk more Participant 14: I rarely speak English because I am very forgetful But this method made me talk more so I remember longer and like to talk more Participant 15: This method helps me a lot in learning to speak I find learning to speak more interesting Participant 16: Learning to speak using storytelling is really effective Not only did I react faster, but I spoke longer sentences So that makes me very excited 63 Participant 17: I have faster reflexes when learning this method because I have been practicing more with friends and teachers Participant 18: I have faster reflexes when learning this method because I have been practicing more with friends and teachers Participant 19: When I learned this method, I learned a lot of knowledge about vocabulary, sentence structure from interesting stories That helps me to have a more positive attitude in class Participant 20: Hearing many interesting stories, being told many stories that I know makes me more and more interested in this method Question number 3: Were there any challenges/ difficulties you experienced when your teacher used storytelling activity in speaking lessons? Participant 1: Yes, of course I have difficulty speaking because I don't have a lot of vocabulary Participant 2: No, I have no problems at all I am very confident with my speaking ability Participant 3: Umm I have some problems such as forgetting some details in the story Participant 4: The biggest problem I have is that it takes me a long time to understand the story and my reflexes are a bit slow Participant 5: The stories the teacher teaches are easy to understand, and her way of communicating is also good So, I have no problem at all Participant 6: My grammar is not good so I make some mistakes But the teacher corrected me and I memorized better Participant 7: There was some difficulty in remembering new words but I was able to deal with it Participant 8: I really like to speak English so I don't have any difficulty Participant 9: I have absolutely no difficulty because it really suits my ability 64 Participant 10: Because I don't have much time to think, sometimes I don't prepare in time Participant 11: No, there weren’t I found the lesson to be normal, not too difficult, so there was no difficulty for me Participant 12: No Because I find it very easy to understand a story Participant 13: I don't see any great difficulty As long as I pay attention to study, everything is ok Participant 14: I feel everything is fine there's nothing to worry about Participant 15: I did not find it difficult, but on the contrary, I found it very convenient to practice speaking Participant 16: The only problem I have is that I mispronounce some words so sometimes people don't understand what I say Participant 17: I found the story to be very suitable for my level so I didn't have any difficulty I want to learn more difficult stories Participant 18: I feel all very normal So, the difficulty is seemingly nonexistent Participant 19: I have no difficulty at all I find the good method very suitable for me Participant 20: When learning this method, the class is a bit noisy making it difficult for me to concentrate Question number 4: Do you think storytelling technique should be used in speaking lessons in the future? Why/ Why not? Participant 1: If I can learn this method in the future, this is a great thing for me because I love speaking English Participant 2: This method is different from the previous method I studied So, I feel it is very new and I want to learn more Participant 3: I completely agree to use this method in future speaking lessons because it helps me communicate better and remember the lesson longer 65 Participant 4: I love reading stories so I would love to learn this method in the future too Participant 5: I found this method also good to learn, so I think it should be used in future speaking lessons Participant 6: I'm excited to learn this method in the future Because the stories used to teach are very engaging Participant 7: Storytelling technique should be used in future speaking lessons because it helps me to remember for a long time and learn a lot of good things Participant 8: I think it is possible to intersperse this method in the speaking class because some of you not absorb much knowledge with this method Participant 9: I really want to learn this method more Because it makes me active and not bored Participant 10: Surely it should Because it helps me to understand more deeply in the lesson and reflect faster Participant 11: Yes Because I want to learn more stories Participant 12: This method should be taught in the future Because it really worked for me Participant 13: Thanks to learning this method, I can interact with her and friends more, so I want to learn more Participant 14: It can be applied but not applicable because I feel it's normal Participant 15: I don't think this method should be taught because it works a lot and makes me feel tired Participant 16: Yes, of course Because learning this method is fun and effective Participant 17: The lesson is very engaging and engaging I want to learn more in the future Participant 18: Really learning this method requires good speaking and good expression I find it a bit difficult for me But the method is very good and I would like to take about half of the speaking lessons 66 Participant 19: It makes me feel more understanding So, I think it should be applied in the future Participant 20: Why not? I found it very interesting 67 APPENDIX 6A: A SAMPLE LESSON PLAN Blooming Kids English center Time: 90 minutes Number of pupils: 15 students UNIT 6: THE BEST BED! Lesson six: Speaking Objective of this lesson By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: Students read and understand the fable Students learn some new words, grammatical structures and know how to use them Review the vocabulary and sentence structure learned Students pronounce correctly, improve their speaking ability, speak more fluently Develop a narrative mindset Complete sentences with the correct word Students can retell the story Material Course book, projector, slides, pictures, chalk, black board Procedure Stages Aim - Help Ss remember vocabulary, improve Prepronunciation speaking and stress (10 mins) Teacher’ s Activities Warmer: - Tell the Ss they are going to a race using text lesson When T say a word, Ss have to find the word on the page, but Ss have to be quick! - Call out core vocabulary from lesson in a different order from the order Ss appear on the page Ss have to point to the word on the page Students’ Activities - Ss listen and it 68 - Help Ss improve speaking through storytelling technique - Help Ss remember vocabulary, tell the story fluently - Help students review vocabulary and sentence structure While- Help students speaking interact and (75 speak English mins) more with friends and teachers Describe what is - Ss replied: happening in the picture (15 There are two mins) characters in - T ask Ss to describe what is the story happening in each picture They are: a - Ask questions to help elicit mother and the correct descriptions: her daughter How many characters are in (the girl) the story? Who are they? The girl sees a snake What did the girl see? The girl's mother ran How did the girl's mother out to see and react after hearing the girl say did not that? believe there was a snake New word (10mins) - Ask Ss to read the list and find and underline the new words in the text (Shouted help, stayed inside, bored) - T translates the meaning of words - Students find new words and underline them Ss indicates the meaning of the word (if necessary) - Ss listen and take notes Tell story (30 mins) I apply the organization -Ss works in according to Activity by groups and tells Jianing (2007): stories - Divide 15 students into groups Each group member tells each other about the story using the prompts below the 69 picture Then select one student from each group to tell their story in the class and the best one wins 10 points for their group Storytelling game organization (20 mins) - Ask each student to prepare a story (about two minutes long) in advance Divide the students into groups with four to five members in each group and ask them to tell his/her story in the group The best storytellers in each group win ten points and compete for the best storyteller of the class The winner wins another ten points for each member of his/her group and the second best wins eight points and so on - T for some of the paintings - Help Ss memorize what T guides and models to tell a story related to the new Postthey have speaking practiced; revise pictures, suggesting to help (5 mins) vocab and retell students practice telling stories from the new pictures at their stories home - Students discuss in groups and retell the story -Ss create their own stories - Ss take notes and follow the teacher's instructions 70 APPENDIX 6B: UNIT 6: THE BEST BED! 71