Tài liệu Sử dụng phương pháp phản xạ toàn thân (tpr) để tăng cường khả năng ghi nhớ từ vựng cho học sinh lớp 3)

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES BUI THI DIEU HUONG USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE TO ENHANCE VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR THE THIRD GRADE STUDENTS (Sử dụng phương pháp phản xạ toàn thân (TPR) để tăng cường khả năng ghi nhớ từ vựng cho học sinh lớp 3) M.A. THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 THAI NGUYEN - 2020 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES BUI THI DIEU HUONG USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE TO ENHANCE VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR THE THIRD GRADE STUDENTS (Sử dụng phương pháp phản xạ toàn thân (TPR) để tăng cường khả năng ghi nhớ từ vựng cho học sinh lớp 3) M.A. THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Quyet, Ph.D. THAI NGUYEN - 2020 DECLARATION I certify that I myself write this thesis entitled “Using Total Physical Response (TPR) to enhance vocabulary retention for the third grade students" to fulfil the requirement for Degree Master of Art at School of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University. All the literature I used is properly quoted and listed in the Bibliography. Thai Nguyen, 2020 Approved by Supervisor Student Nguyen Thi Quyet, Ph.D. Bui Thi Dieu Huong i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At the completion of this thesis, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Nguyen Thi Quyet, Ph.D. for her valuable suggestions, instructions and encouragements. I would like to express my great gratitude to my colleagues as well as my third grade students at Quang Son Primary School for their support in the lessons, the tests and the questionnaire. Finally, I would like to express my deep appreciation to my family for all the wholehearted support I received to finish this thesis. ii ABSTRACT With the trend of globalization, teaching English to young learners has been attracting a lot of attention all around the world, including Vietnam. In teaching English, teaching vocabulary is an indispensable activity. It is not only about helping students remember the meaning of words but also about helping them to hear words, pronounce words correctly and apply words in communication. So finding the effective teaching methods is an urgent demand of all teachers, especially Primary English teachers. Total Physical Response (TPR), developed by James Asher in 1960s, is a language teaching method which encourages people to combine language learning with physical actions. This study explores the application of TPR method to vocabulary teaching in a primary school by carrying out the quasi-experimental method with two groups of students from Quang Son primary school in Tam Diep city, Ninh Binh Province. In the process of the experiment, one group of students was taught by the TPR teaching method, another group of students was taught by the common traditional teaching method. The data from this experiment shows that "TPR" group had a better command of the vocabulary retention and physical actions could encourage students to enjoy learning English. Through the above results, this study is hoped to be a useful resource for teachers to understand as well as to apply the TPR method in the class and help students to learn effectively. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ......................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... iv LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES ......................................................................vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................. viii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1 1.1. Rationale ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Aims of the study............................................................................................... 3 1.3 Research questions ............................................................................................ 3 1.4 Scope of the study ............................................................................................. 3 1.5 Structure of the study......................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND............................................... 5 2.1. Vocabulary ....................................................................................................... 5 2.1.1 Definition of vocabulary ............................................................................. 5 2.1.2 The role of vocabulary in language learning .............................................. 6 2.1.3 Types of vocabulary ................................................................................... 6 2.1.4 Vocabulary retention .................................................................................. 8 2.2. Teaching vocabulary for primary students ....................................................... 9 2.2.1 Characteristics of primary students ............................................................ 9 2.2.2 Principles of teaching vocabulary to primary students ............................. 10 2.2.3 Techniques of teaching vocabulary to primary students .......................... 11 2.3 Total Physical Response .................................................................................. 12 2.3.1 Definition of TPR ..................................................................................... 12 2.3.2 Objectives of TPR..................................................................................... 13 2.3.3 Principles of applying TPR in language teaching .................................... 15 2.3.4 The Role of the Teacher and Learners in TPR ......................................... 16 2.3.5 Application of TPR in language classroom .............................................. 17 iv 2.3.6 Advantages of using TPR in teaching vocabulary.................................... 21 2.3.7 Previous studies on using TPR in teaching vocabulary ............................ 22 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...................................................................... 25 3.1 Methods of research ........................................................................................ 25 3.2 Participants ...................................................................................................... 26 3.3. Data collection ................................................................................................ 26 3.3.1 Data collection instruments ...................................................................... 27 3.3.2 Data collection procedure ......................................................................... 30 3.3.3 Data analysis ............................................................................................. 33 3.4. Feasibility of the research method.................................................................. 34 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ................................................. 35 4.1 Tests analysis ................................................................................................... 35 4.1.1 The Results of Data Analysis of the Pretest ............................................. 35 4.1.2 The Results of Data Analysis of the Post-test 1 ....................................... 37 4.1.3 The Results of Data Analysis of the Post-test 2 ....................................... 40 4.2 Questionnaire result analysis ........................................................................... 43 4.3 Discussion........................................................................................................ 45 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................ 48 5. 1. Summary........................................................................................................ 48 5.2. Implications .................................................................................................... 49 5.3. Limitations of the study .................................................................................. 49 5.4. Suggestions ..................................................................................................... 49 5.4.1. For the english teachers ........................................................................... 49 5.4.2. For the students ........................................................................................ 50 5.4.3 For the other researchers ........................................................................... 50 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 52 APPENDIX A: VOCABULARY TEST 1 (PRETEST) ............................................. I APPENDIX B: VOCABULARY TEST 2 (POSTTEST 1) ...................................... III APPENDIX C: VOCABULARY TEST 3 (POSTTEST 2) ....................................... V APPENDIX D: LESSON PLAN FOR THEME 1: ................................................. VII v APPENDIX E: LESSON PLAN FOR THEME 2: ...................................................IX APPENDIX F: LESSON PLAN FOR THEME 3: ...................................................XI APPENDIX G: LESSON PLAN FOR THEME 4 ................................................. XIII APPENDIX H: THE STUDENTS' SCORES AND THE REALIBILITY COEFFICIENT OF THE TEST ITEMS IN PRE-TEST ........................................ XV APPENDIX I: THE STUDENTS' SCORES AND THE REALIBILITY COEFFICIENT OF THE TEST ITEMS IN POST-TEST 1 ............................... XVIII APPENDIX J: THE STUDENTS' SCORES AND THE REALIBILITY COEFFICIENT OF THE TEST ITEMS IN POST-TEST 2 ..................................XXI APPENDIX K: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (Vietnamese) .............. XXIV APPENDIX L: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (English) ...................... XXV vi LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES Tables Table 3.1: Test description ................................................................................... 28 Table 3.2: Questionnaire description .................................................................... 30 Table 3.3: The procedure of training .................................................................... 32 Table 3.4: Conversion of percentage range .......................................................... 34 Table 4.1: Students‘ scores of the control group in the pre-test ........................... 35 Table 4.2: Students‘ scores of the experimental group in the pre-test ................. 36 Table 4.3: Students‘ scores of the control group in post-test 1 ............................ 37 Table 4.4: Students‘ scores of the experimental group in post-test 1................... 38 Table 4.5: Students‘ scores of the control group in post-test 2 ............................ 40 Table 4.6: Students‘ scores of the experimental group in post-test 2................... 41 Table 4.7: Mean scores of two groups in vocabulary tests .................................. 42 Table 4.8: Question 1 - Students‘ opinions about TPR English lessons .............. 44 Table 4.9: Question 2 - Students‘ opinions about TPR activities ........................ 44 Table 4.10: Question 3 - Interest in learning English vocabulary through TPR activities................................................................................................ 45 Figures Figure 2.1: Vocabulary forms .................................................................................. 7 Figure 2.2: Atkinson and Shiffrin memory model (1968) ....................................... 8 Figure 3.1 Non Randomized Control Group Design ............................................ 25 Figure 3.2 Data collection procedure.................................................................... 30 Figure 4.1: The comparison between scores in post-test 1 of control and experimental group .............................................................................. 39 Figure 4.2: Comparison between pre-test score and post-test 2 score of experimental group .............................................................................. 43 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS % : Percent TPR : Total Physical Response FL : Foreign language L2 : Second language EFL : English as a Foreign Language CG : Control Group EG : Experimental Group viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In this chapter, the writer presents the rationale, aims, scopes and the structure of this study. 1.1. Rationale English is the language of international communication with official status in at least 80 countries around the world (British Council, 2016) so studying English is extremely important. Saleh (1997:12) argued, ―the success in mastering a language is determined by the size of the vocabulary one has learned‖. Wilkins (1972:111) said, ―Without grammar, very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed.‖ That is the reason why vocabulary is one of the most important elements of language. Many researchers believe that to build a language wall, the vocabulary is "bricks" and grammar and sentence structures are "mortar circuits" to bind the bricks that make up the language wall. Without vocabulary knowledge, both language production and language comprehension would not be possible. Therefore, the retention of vocabulary knowledge is one of the most important prerequisites to master a new language and it can only be possible when teachers apply effective teaching methods. Since children are playful, hardly concentrate and lack self-controlling, they can easily lose interest in learning without images. Thornbury (2002:23) adds ―The learner needs not only to learn a lot of words, but to remember them.‖ Moreover, teaching English for primary students is not the same as teaching English in secondary or high schools. Primary students face lots of difficulties. According to Brewster and friends (2002:81) children at this age are still in the process of building their first language and the learning of vocabulary in second language is a complex matter. They maybe have less motivation to learn English because their attention is weak and lack of sustainability, easily dispersed by sounds and events other than content of learning. So, it is a big challenge for the teacher to find a proper method to improve the students' ability in comprehension and retention vocabulary. 1 The key to stress-free learning is to tap into natural bio-program for language development and thus to recapture the relaxed and pleasurable experiences that accompany first language learning (Richards & Rodgers, 1986). Therefore, teachers should create an interesting classroom atmosphere and put a particular effort on more fully preparing materials and activities to get vocabulary instead of giving the boring meanings or keeping explaining it in front of the class without considering the children's characteristics and needs. There are lots of effective teaching methods that can be applied in teaching vocabulary. One of them is Total Physical Response. Total Physical Response (TPR) is a teaching vocabulary method proposed by James Asher (1988). TPR is built around the coordination of speech and action, it attempts to teach language through physical activity (Richard and Rodgers, 2001:73). TPR makes learning become enjoyable and less stressful because the children seem like playing and moving all the time. This method is especially effective for young learners to remember phrases and words well as their first vocabularies are usually easy to be conveyed in action. In Quang Son Primary School - a small school in a difficult mountainous commune, English teaching program for students from grade 3 to grade 5 has been implemented since 2015 in the spirit of Vietnam‘s National Foreign Language 2020 Project. However, the fact that students still face a lot of numerous difficulties in pronouncing the words, how to write and spell, how to use grammatical patterns correctly. Especially, most of them cannot retain knowledge for a long time. This fact pushes up the necessity in applying some way which can help children remember words better and TPR is a potential solution as it is psychologically suitable for children. Based on the explanation above, the writer is interested in conducting a research entitled "Using Total Physical Response to enhance vocabulary retention for the third grade students." The main purpose is to explore the effects of applying TPR method in teaching and learning in order to enhance students‘ retention of English vocabulary. Then this research would aim to propose the way that TPR can 2 be applied as a method to teaching and learning vocabulary to the third grade students in Quang Son Primary School. The writer also hopes that this study would be one of the references about teaching through TPR method. 1.2 Aims of the study The aim of this study is to explore the impact of applying TPR method in teaching and learning in order to enhance students‘ retention of English vocabulary. To fulfill the aim, the following objectives are carried out for exploration: - to investigate into how TPR can improve students' vocabulary. - to identify the improvement of students by using TPR method. - to give suggestions in applying TPR to help students enhance their vocabulary retention. 1.3 Research questions To make the tasks manageable, the above objectives are translated into the following research questions: 1. How does TPR improve students' vocabulary? 2. To what extent does the use of TPR help students to retain vocabulary? 3. What suggestions should be given regarding the application of TPR in enhancing students‘ vocabulary retention? 1.4 Scope of the study Teaching English to children needs to focus on all skills. However, this study only focuses on the influence of TPR method on the vocabulary retention of students within the context of teaching and learning English as a compulsory subject at Quang Son Primary School. Due to the time limit, this research is conducted on only two classes with 60 third grade students at Quang Son Primary School in school year 2019 - 2020. 1.5 Structure of the study This study is divided into five chapters. They are: Chapter I - Introduction - provides the rationale for the study, aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study and structure of the study. 3 Chapter II - Theoretical background - provides the theoretical background of the study, namely basic knowledge about English vocabulary and vocabulary learning; TPR method in generally and in teaching and learning vocabulary. Chapter III - Methodology - describes the methods used for this study, data collection instruments, data collection procedures and data analysis procedure. Chapter IV - Finding and discussion - presents, analyzes and discusses the results collected. In this chapter, the answer for the research question is found. Chapter V - Conclusion - summarizes the main issues of this paper, giving the limitations, pedagogical implications of the study and suggestions for further studies. 4 CHAPTER II THEORETICAL BACKGROUND In this chapter, the writer gives general knowledge about vocabulary and vocabulary learning; TPR method and several previous studies on using TPR in teaching vocabulary. 2.1. Vocabulary 2.1.1 Definition of vocabulary Vocabulary is obviously an extremely important element that requires mastering when learning a language. It can be defined in many different ways. According to Cambridge Advance Learner‘s Dictionary Online, vocabulary is: a) all the new words that a person knows or uses; b) all the words that in a particular language; c) the words that people use when they are talking about a particular subject; d) a lists of words with their meanings, especially in a book for learning a foreign language. There are also many other definitions of vocabulary proposed by experts. Hornby (1994) stated that vocabulary is total number of words that makes up a language. Hatch and Brown (1995) claimed that vocabulary is a list or set of words for a particular language or a list or set of words that individual speakers of a language might use. Brown (2001) viewed vocabulary items as a boring list of words that must be defined and memorized by the student, lexical forms are seen in their central role in contextualized and meaningful language. Richards (2002) added that vocabulary is one of the most recognized components of language. According to Kim and Kim (2012), ―vocabulary is the base of communication in that language. Therefore, it is critical to try out various and different teaching style that cheers students to acquire vocabulary easily without negative emotion about it‖. Talking about vocabulary, McCarthy (1990: 140) also stated that without words to express a wider range of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way. Students' vocabulary knowledge is a building 5 process that occurs over time as they make connections to other words, learn examples and non-examples of the word and related words, and use the word accurately within the context of the sentence (Snow, Griffin, & Burns, 2005). Based on the statements above, it can be assumed that vocabulary is the total number of words - a basic component of language proficiency which has a form or expression and contains of aspects, they are meaning, use of word, form (pronunciation and spelling). 2.1.2 The role of vocabulary in language learning According to Wilkins (1972), without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed. Thus, it can be said that vocabulary is the heart of every language because without sufficient vocabulary we cannot understand others or express our own ideas. In learning a foreign language, vocabulary plays an extremely important role. Mastering vocabulary is essential for successful second language use. As Huckin (1995) stated, second language readers rely heavily on vocabulary knowledge and the lack of that knowledge is the main and the largest obstacle for L2 readers to overcome. For example, when we come up with any meanings or concepts, we need a stock of vocabulary to choose and express suitably. Dunlap and Weisman (2007) asserted, vocabulary development is essential for English learners‘ academic success. There is a strong relationship between vocabulary knowledge and academic achievement. From the statements above, it can be concluded that vocabulary is a very important part of a language. The more words you know, the better you will be able to master the language. 2.1.3 Types of vocabulary Elfrieda and Michael (2005) stated that vocabulary can be presented in different types according to different purposes. According to Lehrer (2000), vocabulary is defined as the knowledge of word meaning so it can be classified into the oral and written vocabulary. 6 - Oral vocabulary includes all the words we use while speaking (speaking vocabulary) and all the words we hear and understand while listening (listening vocabulary). - Written vocabulary consists of all the words that we understand when we read text (reading vocabulary) and all the words that we can retrieve while writing what we want to express (writing vocabulary). Besides, Jo Ann Aeborsold and Mary Lee Field (1977) divided vocabulary into two main types: active and passive vocabulary. - Active vocabulary is the words that we understand and use in speaking or writing. It is called as the productive side of language for: • The use of right word in right place. • The spontaneous recall of words. • Grammatical accuracy: use of correct tenses, inflections and word order. • In speech, fluency and ability to reproduce correct sounds, pronunciation, intonation, rhythm etc. - Passive vocabulary, on the other hand, refers to words that we understand but are not yet able to use. It is called as the receptive side of language for: • A recognition of vocabulary in speech or writing. • An acquaintance with major grammatical items or forms. • The skill of stimulating rapidly the sense of large word groups. As such, it can be summed up that vocabulary consists of several major types in the diagram below: Passive (Receptive) Reading Listening Oral VOCABULARY Speaking Writing Active (Productive) Figure 2.1: Vocabulary forms 7 Written 2.1.4 Vocabulary retention Learning vocabulary is a complex task. According to Ellis (1995) it involves various components: processing auditory and visual input, producing spoken and written output, and knowing the syntactic and semantic relations between words. Before being used to produce meaningful sentences, vocabulary has to be retained in the learners' memory. Retention is defined as a memory storage process. Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) described this process through different stages. First, a new word would be detected by the sense organs and enters the sensory memory. Then, it is paid attention to and transferred to short-term memory. Repetition of information causes a new word to be transmitted to long-term memory. If maintenance rehearsal (repetition) does not occur, the word is removed from short-term memory and lost. Input Sensory memory Short-term memory Attention Long-term memory Forgetting Figure 2.2: Atkinson and Shiffrin memory model (1968) Thus, vocabulary retention can simply be understood as the ability to recall or remember things after an interval of time. Vocabulary retention is an essential factor affecting the success of vocabulary learning. ―In language teaching, retention of what has been taught may depends on the quality of teaching, the interest of the learners, or the meaningfulness of the materials‖ (Richards & Schmidt, 2002). Therefore, in order to transfer information accurately from working-memory to long-term memory, FL/L2 learners need to treat the information actively rather than passively, and interact with the information in meaningful ways (Schmitt, 2000). FL/L2 learners also need to look for both relationships and differences between the new information and other information that is already in long-term memory, and link them together (Amiryousefi & Ketabi, 2011; Mayer, 2014). One 8 way to transfer the new lexical terms from the short-term memory to the long-term memory is to build a connection through finding some elements ―in the mental lexicon‖ (Amiryousefi & Ketabi, 2011, p. 179), and attach the new lexical item to those elements (Schmitt, 2000). Information transfer in the present research context referred to the transfer of target words from L2 learners‘ short-term memory to their long-term memory. Thus, learners required some vocabulary learning strategies to acquire new lexical information and transfer them to memory for consolidation purposes. 2.2. Teaching vocabulary for primary students 2.2.1 Characteristics of primary students Primary school students are those aged between six to ten years old. Their characteristics and motivations are completely different from students at other levels. In this stage of education, encouragement positively affects them a lot. It requires that the teacher should have interesting teaching ways to attract children‘s attention to the lesson and stimulate their learning progress. In order to teach English successfully, above all, it is essential for the teachers to identify learners‘ characteristics to choose appropriate methods and activities. Most primary school students are: - Energetic and physically active: they prefer to get up and move with dynamic energy instead of sitting still for a long period. It means that their concentration is associated with their actions and practical activities. What they can interact directly will make them more focused and remember longer instead of the monotony and the conscription. - Spontaneous, active and receptive: they are willing to take part in activities and speak out in English without feeling embarrassed. They also are good imitators of language. They can repeat similarly the teacher, sing new songs, do variety actions, play different roles although they may not know English very well or even they don‘t know meaning of some words. - Imaginative and creative: students at this age are so imaginative. They like to join the role plays, interactive games, or perform activities that simulate familiar. 9 - Easily distracted and have short memory: primary school students‘ memory is a typical example of sensory memory. Due to the activity of the first signaling system in students this age predominates, the cerebral hemispherical shell is easy to receive specific visual, color, and object signals. They remember and preserve exactly the specific things, images and phenomena faster and better than long-term definitions and explanations. In short, it is very important to consider the characteristics of learners. Teachers should rely on them to choose appropriate methods and activities to achieve the best teaching results. 2.2.2 Principles of teaching vocabulary to primary students According to Chomsky (1959), learning was innate, in the sense that every child has an innate capability to learn a language. Meanwhile, Vygotsky (1986) believed that language was central to the cognitive development of children, and it was the support given by adults that helped children learn and develop. In agreement with Vygotsky, Bruner (1983) stated that the instruction from adults is like a scaffolding that helps children develop their thinking and learning process. Besides, children learn about their world in different ways of different ages. They may be characterized as visual, auditory or kinesthetic learners. Lado (1964), An American expert on modern linguistics gave some principles of language teaching, of which there are at least three principles that can be applied in teaching vocabulary to the primary students. These principles are as follows: Pattern as Habits Young learners enjoy imitating and skilful in listening accurately and mimicking what they have heard. Their language habits can be established by practicing patterns day by day and expanding bit by bit. According to Lado (1964:51) to know the language is to use its pattern of construction. Understanding or even verbalizing a pattern may help students learn it but will never take the place of practicing the pattern through analogy; variation and transformation to establish them as habits. For the third grade students - the beginner the language must be started from the simplest one. For example: 10