THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY VO KIM TRAN THE USE OF FLASHCARDS IN TEACHING VOCABULARY FOR YOUNG LEARNERS AT DOAN HUNG INFORMATICS & FOREIGN LANGUAGE SCHOOL Major: TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES Major code: TESOL 739 MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: Dr NGUYEN DINH THU Ho Chi Minh City, 2016 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled “The Use of Flashcards in Teaching Vocabulary for Young Learners at Doan Hung Informatics & Foreign Language School” is my own work Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary situation Ho Chi Minh City, 2016 Vo Kim Tran i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my deep thanks to the contribution of those who supported and encouraged me during the time I wrote this thesis I cannot finish this research without their help First and foremost, I would like to send my great gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Dinh Thu, Dean of Foreign Language Department of HCMC University of Technology and Education, for all of his support during the time I have done this thesis His enthusiastic instruction and useful advice helped me acquire much more knowledge to accomplish the thesis His sincere encouragement also motivated me to overcome difficulties and finish this paper I am also extremely thankful to Mr Ha Dang Van, the manager of Doan Hung Informatics Foreign Language School who created the best condition for me to conduct the sample teaching as well as to collect the data His encouragement also raised me up during the thesis writing process I also thank all of the teacher participants for their open-hearted sharings and the student participants for their enthusiastic participation in all of the activities Last but not least, I would like to send my gratitude to my family who gave me spiritual encouragement to finish this thesis Vo Kim Tran ii ABSTRACT Young children mainly learn vocabulary in their English learning Therefore, teachers often invest lots of time to find out useful teaching techniques and teaching aids which can help them be successful in teaching young learners vocabulary This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of using flashcards to teach young learners vocabulary This paper examines whether flashcards can give young children motivation in learning new words and whether they can enhance their vocabulary retention The research also investigates the teachers’ perception of using flashcards to teach young learners vocabulary 34 young learners who are learning English at Doan Hung Informatics & Foreign Language School participated in this study during weeks Both qualitative data, including classroom video recordings, teaching journals, and teachers interviewing, and quantitative data, including pre-test and post-test scores were analysed to answer the two research questions The findings of this research showed that most of the participants in the experimental group were highly motivated to learn the new words Besides, the participants in this group also improved their vocabulary retention Finally, the teacher interviewees expressed their positive attitudes towards using flashcards to teach young learners vocabulary Some suggestions for further research in using flashcards for teaching young learners vocabulary are also suggested iii TABLE OF CONTENTS pages STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF ABBREVIATION viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the research 1.2 Statement of the problem 1.3 Aims of the research 1.4 Research questions 1.5 The significance of the research 1.6 Limitations of the research 1.7 Overview of the research CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 10 2.1 Young learners 10 2.2 Vocabulary in English teaching and learning 12 2.3 Young learners’ learning characteristics 15 2.3.1 Intellectual 16 2.3.2 Vocabulary retention 16 2.3.3 Span of attention 17 2.3.4 Sensory input 18 2.3.5 Motivation 19 2.4 Flashcards 21 2.4.1 Flashcards in language teaching and learning 21 2.4.2 Roles of teachers in using flashcards in classrooms 25 iv 2.5 Study on flashcards 25 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 27 3.1 Pedagogical context 27 3.1.1 Settings 27 3.1.2 Participants 28 3.2 Instruments 28 3.3 Procedures 29 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND RESULTS 38 4.1 Response to research question 38 4.2 Response to research question 44 4.3 Response to research question 49 4.3.1 The first interviewee’s response 49 4.3.2 The second interviewee’s response 51 4.3.3 The third interviewee’s response 52 CHAPTER DISCUSSION THE FINDINGS 54 5.1 Flashcards gave the young learners motivation 54 5.2 Flashcards enhance the young learners’ vocabulary retention 55 5.3 The interviewed teachers’ agreement with using flashcards to teach young learners vocabulary 56 CHAPTER CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 58 6.1 Conclusion 59 6.2 Pedagogical implications 60 6.3 Recommendations 61 REFERENCES 63 APPENDICES 69 v LIST OF TABLES Table Independent Samples Test of the pre-test scores of the control group and the experimental group Table Independent Samples Test of the post-test scores of the control group and the experimental group Table Paired Samples Test of the pre-test and post-test scores of the control group Table Paired Samples Test of the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group vi LIST OF ABBREVIATION DH: Doan Hung Informatics Foreign Language School EFL : English Foreign Language FC: Flashcard VR: Vocabulary retention CG: Control group EG: Experimental group vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter mentions the general background of the research It also talks about the importance of vocabulary in language teaching and learning In addition, the chapter also raises the problem in teaching vocabulary to young learners at Doan Hung Informatics & Foreign Language school Then it gives some issues such as aims of the research, the research questions, the significance of the research 1.1 Background of the research It is the fact that vocabulary itself shows its important position in English language teaching and learning Shen (2003) said that “vocabulary has got its central and essential status in discussion about learning a language” There are many highlighted studies on teaching vocabulary Nation (2001) pointed out the goals of vocabulary in language learning, the use of vocabulary in specific learning skills as well as the strategies for teaching and learning vocabulary Thornbury (2002) introduced the forms of words, how words are learnt and words of classroom and test sources Brand (2004) also integrated word learning in his literacy workshop in grades 3-6 Lauffer (1997) argued that vocabulary learning is at the heart of any language learning and language use (as cited in Carter & Nunan, 2001) Harmer (1991) also confirmed: “ If language structures make up the skeletons of the language, then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh” In other words, vocabulary plays a vital role on mastering other language learning patterns Richard & Renandya (2002) called vocabulary a key to language proficiency Indeed, vocabulary supports learners to develop their four skills: speaking, listening, writing and reading For instance, without vocabulary, learners not understand the meanings of words, so they cannot make up good communication, which seems to be the main target of language learning Vocabulary also helps learners themselves find confident to deal with comprehension reading texts as well Research declared that vocabulary knowledge is essential for English (L2) development of all ages of learners Whether learners are adults or young children, they need to broaden their own vocabulary Especially, young children who are at the beginning level of learning English, vocabulary is much more important because it plays a role in laying the foundation for their future language development In other words, teaching young learners is similiar to building a house To build a beautiful and high quality house, the background must be stable and firm while to become a good English learners in the future, vocabulary should be good enough It is clear that teachers and young learners have dealt with a large number of vocabularies in their long-term process of English language teaching and learning Young children are familiar with learning new words because they have got in touch with lots of new vocabularies during English courses It is clear to see that in most English textbooks of children, vocabulary is introduced first, and then there are some other tasks for further practicing such as sentence samples, conversations Dekeyser (2007) said that learning vocabulary is not just about its meaning but the other collocations, association, the related grammatical rules,etc (as cited in Ur, 2012) In addition to this, children learn vocabulary better than grammar as they may see grammar rules are difficult to remember (Demircioglu, 2010) Although young learners are used to learning simple words, it is such a difficult task for teachers to teach them vocabulary with the purpose of giving them interest and engagement in lessons, and improving their retention of what they have just learned II Look at the pictures again Write the name of animals no leg two legs four legs III Look and complete sentences IV She’s l t e I’m t l It’s b Write te ue ack b l ue whi br o 3.bl 74 wn V Complete y _ _ _ _ _ m _ _ _ r _ _ _ j _ _ _ _ VI Write and match f _ _ _ VI Match a p p e l c a r t r o w a e r t rbeda e a t m 75 VII Circle c b o b c m l t s p e f THE END 76 b a j m g e APPENDIX QUESTIONS FOR THE TEACHER PARTICIPANTS INTERVIEW (ENGLISH VERSION) Question 1: How long have you been teaching English at Doan Hung? Question 2: Who are you teaching there? (Do you teach young children?) Question 3: In your opinion, what English language proficiency is important for young learners? (Do you think young learners’ learning vocabulary is important?) Question 4: When teaching vocabulary, you use any teaching aids so as to support you? (Do you use flashcards as one of tools to teach vocabulary?) Question 5: If you use flashcards, how often you use it? If you don’t use flashcards, can you give the reasons? Question 6: What types of flashcards that you have known or used? Question 7: At Doan Hung center, are you supported flashcards for teaching? If yes, can you give some more information as well as your own opinions about those flashcards + What the flashcards look like? + What types of flashcards are they? + Do the other teachers use them for teaching? + Do they support your aim at teaching? + Can you give your contribution to the center’s flashcards for better improvement? Question 8: After watching the three videos, can you share your ideas about using flashcards as a main vocabulary teaching aid? 77 + How is the classroom atmosphere? + How is the students’ learning attitude? + What are the advantages and disadvantages of using flashcards to teach vocabulary? + What are your further contribution? 78 APPENDIX QUESTIONS FOR THE TEACHER PARTICIPANTS INTERVIEW (VIETNAMESE VERSION) Question 1: Thầy/ Cô dạy tiếng Anh Trung Tâm Đoàn Hưng ? Question 2: Thầy/ Cô dạy tiếng Anh cho đối tượng học viên nào? Thầy/ Cơ có dạy trẻ khơng? Nếu có, xin Thầy/ Cô cho biết cụ thể lứa tuổi trẻ Question 3: Xin Thầy / Cô cho biết kỹ khía cạnh tiếng Anh quan trọng trẻ tiếp xúc nhiều nhất? Thầy/ Cơ có nghĩ việc học từ vựng quan trọng với trẻ không? Question 4: Khi dạy từ vựng, Thầy/ Cơ có dùng công cụ hổ trợ giảng dạy không? Thầy Cơ có dùng tranh ảnh khơng? Question 5: Nếu Thầy/ Cơ có dùng tranh ảnh để dạy từ vựng xin Thầy/ Cô cho biết tần suất sử dụng tranh ảnh giảng dạy từ vựng cho trẻ? Nếu Thầy/ Cơ khơng dùng dùng, xin Thầy/ Cơ cho biết lí Question 6: Thầy/ Cơ biết qua loại tranh ảnh dùng việc dạy từ vựng? 79 Question 7: Ở Đồn Hưng, Thầy/ Cơ có trung tâm hổ trợ tranh ảnh để dạy từ vựng cho trẻ khơng? Nếu có,xin Thầy/ Cơ cho biết ý kiến tranh ảnh (tranh ảnh trung tâm nào, có hiệu trợ giúp học từ vựng, có đáp ứng mong muốn sử dụng Thầy/ Cô hay không? ) Question 8: Sau xem đoạn băng ghi hình giáo viên dùng tranh ảnh dạy từ vựng cho trẻ, xin Thầy/ Cơ cho biết cảm nghĩ (khơng khí lớp học, thái độ trẻ , tính hiệu hay không hiệu tranh, ảnh, ) Thầy/ Cơ có muốn dùng tranh ảnh cơng cụ chủ yếu để dạy từ vựng cho trẻ không? Xin chân thành cảm ơn nhiệt tình chia sẻ Qúy Thầy / Cô 80 APPENDIX PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST SCORES OF THE CONTROL GROUP Pre-test scores Post-test scores Students (33 questions ) (33 questions) 31 31 23 24 23 25 31 32 26 27 33 32 33 33 19 17 11 11 10 29 32 11 31 33 12 33 33 13 29 31 14 27 30 15 27 30 16 33 25 17 29 28 81 APPENDIX PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST SCORES OF THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP Students Pre-test scores Post-test score 16 18 29 29 28 27 22 25 29 30 23 27 33 33 24 25 33 33 10 28 28 11 28 30 12 26 30 13 30 33 14 14 15 15 25 28 16 30 31 17 22 23 82 APPENDIX TEACHING JOURNAL Before the experimental teaching, the researcher prepared teaching materials, video recordings and teaching techniques for about one week All of the flashcards were printed by the researcher The flashcards had the formats of the pictures in the textbook Family and Friends The classroom activities were designed basing on the teacher book of Family and Friends as well as the researcher’s own experiences The video recordings were recorded in both classes of the two groups, the control group and the experimental group The experimental teaching in the two groups took place in different days - Before the first lesson in the control group, the researcher got difficulty with the video recordings She needed the help of the school assistant All of the other lessons took place smoothly However, the researcher were not sastified with the quality of the videos This is also one of the limitations of the research - The participants in the control group studied in the normal atmosphere At first, they showed their laziness to start the lesson However, all of them participated in all of the activities - In the experimental group, at the first time when the researcher brought flashcards into the class, the students seemed to be very excitied They asked each other what the purposes of the flashcards were - All the participants in the experimental group were interested in the activities using flashcards They were enthusiastic to take part in the activities Most of them wanted to play once more time - At the end of the lessons, some students in the experimental group borrowed the flashcards from the researchers They gave compliments to the beautiful 83 flashcards They shared that all activities in class are funny They hoped to learn English with flashcards in next lessons - The researcher felt the encouragement in her teaching young children over the experimental teaching 84 APPENDIX PICTURES FOR PRINTING FLASHCARDS USED IN THE EXPERIMENT TEACHING LESSON 85 APPENDIX FLASHCARDS FOR EXPERIMENT TEACHING LESSON 86 APPENDIX 10 PICTURES FOR PRINTING FLASHCARDS USED IN THE EXPERIMENT TEACHING LESSON 87 88 ... background of the research It also talks about the importance of vocabulary in language teaching and learning In addition, the chapter also raises the problem in teaching vocabulary to young learners at. ..STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled The Use of Flashcards in Teaching Vocabulary for Young Learners at Doan Hung Informatics & Foreign Language School is my... (2004) also integrated word learning in his literacy workshop in grades 3-6 Lauffer (1997) argued that vocabulary learning is at the heart of any language learning and language use (as cited in Carter