VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ HOA THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING PICTURES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY AT SMART-KIDS SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE (Hiệu quả của việc sử dụng tranh ảnh trong việc dạy từ vựng tại trường Smart-Kids, tỉnh Bắc Ninh) M.A. MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ HOA THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING PICTURES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY AT SMART-KIDS SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE (Hiệu quả của việc sử dụng tranh ảnh trong việc dạy từ vựng tại trường Smart-Kids, tỉnh Bắc Ninh) M.A. MINOR THESIS Field : English Language Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Supervisor: Hà Cẩm Tâm (Ph.D) Hanoi, 2014 i CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT I hereby certify that this thesis is my own work and effort and that it has not been submitted anywhere for any award. Nguyen Thi Hoa ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all the people who gave me the possibility to complete this thesis. First of all, I would like to express my sincere and deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Hà Cẩm Tâm for her invaluable advice, careful instruction and helpful encouragement during the process of writing this minor thesis. Secondly, I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all of my lecturers in the Faculty of Post- graduate Studies, the University of Foreign Languages and International Studies for useful lectures and suggestion that have inspired and helped me much in the clarifications of my study. My special thanks also go to all teachers and students at Smart-kids school in Bac Ninh province who contribute to the idea budget and spent time completing observation and tests. Finally yet importantly, I would also like to express my genuine appreciation to my friends and my family for their unending support and words of encouragement. If there had not been great help from the above people, the study could not have been fulfilled. iii ABSTRACT Vocabulary is one of the important elements in teaching English. In acquiring a foreign language, learning vocabulary is considered as one of important tasks. At Smart-kids school, learning and teaching vocabulary is a major concern, too. In an attempt to investigate the effect of pictures in teaching vocabulary the study has been conducted in the form of an action research. The participation of the study comprised 30 kindergarten students. They were randomly assigned into two homogeneous groups each consisting of 15 learners. The experimental group used pictures in teaching vocabulary but the control group didn‟t use. The classroom observation and tests were the main instruments employed for the data collection. The result showed that the students in the experimental group outperformed the students in the control group in their vocabulary knowledge. It means that the contribution of pictures in teaching vocabulary to students led to higher level of vocabulary improvement. Therefore, using pictures in teaching vocabulary seems to be more effective than not using. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS vii PART A. INTRODUCTION 1 1. Rationale of the study 1 2. Aims and significant of the study 2 3. Scope of the study 2 4. Research methodology 2 5. Organization of the study 3 PART B. DEVELOPMENT 4 CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW 4 1.1. Vocabulary teaching 4 1.1.1. Stages in vocabulary teaching 5 1.1.1.1. Presentation 5 1.1.1.2. Practice 5 1.1.1.3. Production 6 1.1.1.4. Review 7 1.1.2. Techniques in vocabulary teaching 7 1.1.3. Factors affecting vocabulary retention 9 1.1.3.1. Memory 9 1.1.3.2. Motivation 11 1.1.3.3. Person-dependent factors 13 1.2. Pictures in teaching vocabulary 15 1.2.1. The meaning of pictures 15 1.2.2. The types of pictures 16 v 1.2.3. Issues of using pictures in teaching vocabulary 17 1.2.4. Activities using pictures in teaching vocabulary 19 1.2.5. Review of previous studies on using pictures in teaching vocabulary . 20 CHAPTER 2. METHODOLOGY 22 2.1. Research question 22 2.2. Informants 22 2.3. Planning 23 2.4. Acting 24 2.5. Observing 25 2.6. Reflecting 25 CHAPTER 3. DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 26 3.1. Classroom observation 26 3.1.1. Memory 26 3.1.2. Interest 28 3.1.3. Classroom interaction 32 3.2. Test result 34 3.2.1. The progress tests 34 3.2.2. The final test 35 3.3. Finding and comments 37 PART C. CONCLUSION 40 1. Conclusion 40 2. Implications 41 3. Limitations and recommendations for further studies 41 REFERENCES 43 APPENDIX I APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 IV APPENDIX 3 VI APPENDIX 4 VIII vi LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: The number of students remembers 3 and 4 words ………………………………. 27 Table 2: The progress tests …………………………………33 Chart 1: The students‟ participation in learning activities in class …………………………………28 Chart 2: Classroom interaction …………………………………32 Chart 3: The final test Chart 4: Means of the tests …………………………………35 …………………………………36 1 PART A: INTRODUCTION Part A – Introduction- provides the background to the study and statement of the problem, the aims, the research question, the scope of the study as well as the research methodology. It also outlines the organization of the thesis. 1. Rationale of the study English teaching involves four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. One of the main tasks assigned to foreign language teaching at school is that of training students to be communicatively competent. Speaking is "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts" (Chaney, 1998: 13). In any second language teaching and learning, speaking is always believed to be the most vital skill and in teaching speaking, vocabulary is the most important thing. “If language structures make up the skeleton of language, then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh.”(Harmer 1993: 153). Cook‟s (2000) conclusion is also consistent with Wilkins in that “Grammar provides the overall patterns, vocabulary the material to put into those patterns”. Or some authors, led by Lewis (1993) argue that vocabulary should be at the center of language teaching, because „language consists of grammaticalised lexis, not lexicalised grammar‟. From the statement, it can be seen that vocabulary functions as a cornerstone without which any language could not exist. Speaking would be meaningless and perhaps impossible having only structure without vocabulary. Therefore, the English teacher has to be able to organize teaching and learning activities; they have to give materials by using a suitable technique and master the lesson effectively. Especially in learning vocabulary, teachers must make the students able to memorize such words in English language and group of new words. Celce Maria stated that research in first and second language acquisition suggest that initial teaching priorities for language areas should be vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Therefore, the English teacher has to be able to organize teaching and learning activities and they have to give materials by using a suitable technique and master the lesson effectively. 2 Especially in learning vocabulary, teachers must make the students able to memorize such words in English language and group of new words. The statements above mean, vocabulary is important to teach and teachers must try to find the most effective way to help learners retain new words in long term memory. As a teacher at Smart-kids schools, I realize that teaching vocabulary is major concern because at the age of five, students cannot write or read and the effective way to teach is through pictures. Therefore, I choose this topic to understand more about the effectiveness of using picture in teaching vocabulary. 2. Aims and significance of the study This study is aimed at finding out the effectiveness of using picture in teaching vocabulary at Smart-kids school based on the understanding of vocabulary and pictures in linguistic notion and the situation of teaching and learning there. Through this, some implications to solve these problems will be suggested. The result of the research will be helpful for many English teachers in many schools especially Smart-kids school in Bac Ninh province. From this, the teachers will find an effective ways and apply many activities in class to attract students attention in learning new words. Basing on suggestions in this research, teachers can have their own way to teach their students. 3. Scope of the study I cannot go into details of all parts of language theory and practice because of the limited time, the shortage of reference books, and the students‟ language ability. This is also a wide topic so I mainly focus on the effect of using picture in teaching vocabulary in the field of memory, interest and interaction. 4. Research methodology This methodology used in the study is those of an action research. Thus, it applied both qualitative and quantitative approaches with two methods of data collection. The qualitative data were collected from observation and the quantitative data were collected from tests including two progress tests and one final test. [...]... This study attempts to examine the effectiveness of using pictures in terms of students‟ English learning The research question is: Is using pictures in teaching vocabulary more effective than not using pictures? 2.2 Informants In the study, 30 kindergarten students dividing into 2 groups: the control group and the experimental group at Smart-kids school in Bac ninh province were employed as the participants... had positive attitudes toward using pictures in teaching and learning vocabulary The use of pictures in vocabulary teaching and learning was highly appreciated because using pictures made lessons more enjoyable and memorable In addition, the teachers just made use of the available pictures in the textbook and they only use pictures in presentation stage of teaching vocabulary Secondly, the thesis by Khuong... teachers‟ attitudes and students‟ attitudes toward using pictures in teaching vocabulary In addition, it aimed at determining the effectiveness of 20 using pictures in teaching vocabulary of English to the second year students in her college She collected data from observation and questionnaires to gain valuable and reliable information for the study As a result, both of the teachers and students at her... draw a line on the board to separate the two teams Have the two teams sat on the floor or in chairs in separate rows facing the board The first student should be near to the board and last student in the row should be near the back of the class The teacher goes to the back of the two rows and whispers three or four of the flashcards into the back two student‟s ears The students at the back of each... Review of previous studies on using pictures in teaching vocabulary There are many studies which have been conducted on teaching vocabulary through pictures Firstly, a M.A minor thesis named using pictures in teaching vocabulary of English to the second year students of Mechanical department at Hai Phong Industrial Vocational College” by Nguyen Thi Thu Hoa in 2010 The thesis aimed at finding the teachers‟... in evaluate the effectiveness of using pictures in teaching vocabulary Most of students in general liked the relaxed atmosphere, the competitiveness and the interest that learning activities which were brought to the classroom This is because students have a chance to "use their imagination and creativity" during activities like games in the classroom; therefore they are interested in learning During... whisper these cards to the student in front of them and so on, until the words have travelled all the way to the front of the row The student at the front of the row must grab the mentioned flashcards and stick them to the board in the order they heard The first team to put up the flashcards in the correct order wins a point Who is lying? Divide students in groups of three and have them sit in their... Khuong Ha Linh, in 2011 named the exploitation of pictures in teaching vocabulary according to communicative approach for first year students at Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Economics and Business” The research aimed at finding out whether pictures had been exploited and classifying the fundamental advantages and disadvantages of using pictures in teaching vocabulary according to communicative... that it is time to observe the effect of the critically informed action in the context in which it occurs As being suggested, the effects of using pictures in teaching vocabulary were observed in the treatment group and teaching and learning process in the control group each week In the research, I myself taught the experimental and control group during 8 weeks Observation process was prepared basing... real things, pictures, gestures, definitions, and situations On the other hand, Doff (1988, p 96) groups these techniques into four categories: showing the meaning of words visually, showing the meaning of words in context, using synonyms or antonyms and translation He adds that a combination of the techniques should be implemented when it comes to the effectiveness of presenting meaning of new words . THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING PICTURES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY AT SMART-KIDS SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE (Hiệu quả của việc sử dụng tranh ảnh trong việc dạy từ vựng tại trường Smart-Kids, tỉnh. TEACHING VOCABULARY AT SMART-KIDS SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE (Hiệu quả của việc sử dụng tranh ảnh trong việc dạy từ vựng tại trường Smart-Kids, tỉnh Bắc Ninh) M.A. MINOR THESIS . finding out the effectiveness of using picture in teaching vocabulary at Smart-kids school based on the understanding of vocabulary and pictures in linguistic notion and the situation of teaching