VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST –GRADUATE
******************

ĐỖ THỊ PHƯƠNG THÚY
DIFFICULTIES AND SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS IN TEACHING ENGLISH
TO GRADE ONE STUDENTS IN HADONG DISTRICT, HANOI. Những khó khăn và một số giải pháp trong việc dạy tiếng Anh
cho học sinh lớp một, quận Hà Đông, Hà Nội
M.A. Minor Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60-14-10

M.A. Minor Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60-14-10
Supervisor: Vu Thuy Quynh, M. A.

Hanoi - 2012
iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements …………………………………………………… ………………

4
2.2.2 Physical Development ……………………………… ….… ….…………
4
2.2.3 Intellectual Development ……………………….…….… ………….……
5
2.2.4 Individual Differences …………………………… …… … ……………
5
2.3 Children’s learning styles ……………………………… ….…… … …………
2.3.1 Spatial visual style ………………………………… … … ………
5
5
2.3.2 Kinetic style ……………………………………….…… … …….………
6
2.3.3 Language- oriented style …………………… …….…… … ……………
6
2.3.4 Logical style …………………………………………… … ….……….…
6
2.4 An overview of English teaching methods for young learners … … …………….
6
2.4.1 Listening skill ………………………………………… … ……… ……
6
2.4.2 Speaking skill ………………………… … ……….…….……….………
7
2.4.3 Reading skill ………………………… … ………………….……………
8
v

2.4.4 Writing skill………… … ………………………………….………… …
8
2.4.5 Teaching pronunciation ………………… … …………… ……………

16
3.2.1 Teachers ………………………… … ………………………….………
16
3.2.2 The school students …………………… … ……………….….….………
16
3.3 Instruments for collecting data ….… ……… … ………………………………
16
3.4 Data collecting procedure ………… ……… … ………… ………… ………
17
3.5 The methods of analyzing data …………… … ………………………………….
17
3.5 Summary …………………………………… … …………………………….…
17
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA …………
18
4.1 Presentation and analysis of data ……………………………… … ……………
18
4.1.1 Teachers’ opinions towards English teaching to 1st grade - students .… …
18
4.1.2 Children’s attitudes on learning English ………… … …………………
19
4.1.3 Teachers' English teaching methods to 1st grade students……… … … ….
20
4.1.4 Professional training courses for teachers….……… … …………………
24
vi

4.1.5 Classroom management ……….……………… …… … ………………
26
4.1.6 Teaching curriculum ………….………………… … ……………………

47
Appendix vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL English as a Foreign Language
YL Young Learners
EYL English for Young Learners
TPR Total physical Response
ESL English as a Second Language
TEFL Teaching English as a Foreign Language
L1 First language
L2 Second language
N

1.1 Rationale
Nowadays, English is an international language and it has been widely used in many
countries in the world. It is also an international language in diplomacy, business, science,
technology, banking, computing, medicine, aviation, armed forces, engineering, tourism, and
so on. Most countries in the world teach English as compulsory subject in their schools. In
Vietnam, English is also considered the most important foreign language and taught as a
compulsory subject in many schools through out the country. Especially, Vietnam Ministry of
Education and Training has issued the Decision No 1400- QD- TTg dated on September 30
th

2008 which targets to totally changing English teaching and learning in the national education
system, carrying out teaching and learning English in all levels from elementary schools to
colleges. To aim these objectives, it is very necessary for our educational system to teach
English from elementary school, especially right from 1
st
grade. In Hadong where I live,
English is chosen as an optional subject to teach for 1
st
grade students in the whole district. As
a result, this emerges a big challenge because most of the teachers in our country in general
and in Hadong in particular are not trained to teach English for young learners as such.
For all these reasons, it is necessary to find out difficulties in teaching English for
grade one children in Hadong district and suggest some possible solutions to this problems.
This urges the author to carry on a study named ―Difficulties in teaching English for 1
st
grade
primary school students in Hadong district, Hanoi city.‖ Once difficulties are identified, some
solutions to cope with them will be suggested.
1.2 The aims of the study
This study aims at:

the procedure for collecting data and also the methods of data analysis.
Chapter four: Presentation and analysis of data. This chapter presents and analyze the
data which have been collected and concluded the findings of the study.
Chapter five: Suggested solutions. This chapter deals with some suggested solutions to
the problems in the findings.
Chapter six: Conclusions. Summary, limitations as well as suggestions for further
studies and reference of the study are included in this chapter.
3

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter provides relevant literature which is needed to form the theoretical and
conceptual framework for the study. First, an overview on children’s characteristics, stages of
development and learning styles is mentioned because it is very important for teachers and the
educators to make better teaching and learning if they have a comprehensive look on children.
Second, English teaching methods on listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, and
pronunciation review are revealed. Next, a variety of elements related to the classroom
management is identified such as, organizing the classroom and planning the lesson,
preventive approaches to classroom behaviors problems, keeping proper and flexible moving
space of lessons, other basic recommendations, solutions to inappropriate behaviors in
classroom, teacher- learner references, proper punishment, and the factors outside the
classrooms which influence the classroom management.
2.1 Children’s characteristics
In a very well known book named ―Teaching English to Children‖, the authors
highlight some of the splendid characteristics of children such as they are always willing to
express their feelings about what they are doing, what they have done or heard, they can argue
for something and tell you why they think what they think. Moreover, they can use logical
reasoning and vivid imaginations. Especially, they can use the wide range of intonation
patterns not only in their mother tongue but also in second language. They have very short
attention and concentrations span, their own understanding comes through hands, eyes and
ears (Scott and Ytreberg, 1991).

children may be too assertive prior to learning from experience more appropriate ways of
relating to peers. It is a time of testing and exploring social relationships.
2.2.2 Physical Development
Physical activity is one common characteristic of children, although children vary a
great deal in the development of physical skills and abilities. Some children are slow and
cautious about trying new things; others seem to accept any challenge that is presented.
Most young children are full of energy, ready to run, swing, climb and jump, and are
eager to try their strength by moving big blocks or boxes. They are developing a sense of
rhythm, and enjoy such activities as marching, jumping or clapping to music. These group
activities need to be short and allow for more participation than standing. Required stillness is
more exhausting and stressful for most children than movement.
5

Sensory development is uneven. The coordination of the eyes and other senses are still
developing. Physical growth has slowed down. It is a time of consolidating gains and
developing fine motor control. However, over-emphasis on fine motor activities such as
writing, cutting and making discrete visual discriminations may result in tension and
frustration (Pinter, 1997).
2.2.3 Intellectual Development
Wood (1981) stated that children love to talk. Their intellectual development is reflected
in the rapid growth of vocabulary and the power to express ideas. They are developing visual
and auditory memory and the ability to listen to others. Their ears are keen but they still need
help in distinguishing sounds, although they can pick up another language and accurately
imitate other people's intonations and inflections. They are especially keen to acquiring new
words (the names of dinosaurs, for example) and to use such words as "infinity" (the idea of
something that has no end) and "trillion". They welcome opportunities to be inventive with
language, to play with rhyming, to joke, to explain things to each other and even to argue.
2.2.4 Individual Differences
Descriptions of general characteristics are helpful in understanding children. However,
such normative statements do not provide the information teachers need about particular

words accurately and easily. They can be good readers or prefer the spoken word more. These
kinds of children have excellent memory for names, dates and trivia. They like word games,
enjoy using tape recorders and often musically talented. There for the motivating tips are
encouraging own word problems, having child dictate a story to others, reading aloud together
and tape session for later playback.

2.3.4 Logical style
Children think conceptually, like to explore patterns and relationships. They enjoy
puzzles and seeing how things work; constantly question and wonder. They are capable of
highly abstract forms of logical thinking at early age; math problems are computed quickly in
their head. Strategy games, computers and experiments with purposes, creating own designs to
build with blocks/logos are all of these kinds of children’s favors.
2.4 An overview of English teaching methods for young learners
2.4.1 Listening skill
7

Listening is the language skill which learners usually find the most difficult. This often
is because they feel under unnecessary pressure to understand every word. To achieve the
aims related to this skill, the teacher plays an important role that is defined in the following
steps by Vale and Feunteun (1995):
 ―It is important to help pupils prepare for the listening task well before they hear the
text itself. First of all the teacher must ensure that the pupils understand the language they
need to complete the task and are fully aware of exactly what is expected of them. Reassure
the pupils that they do not need to understand every word they hear.
 The next important step is to encourage pupils to anticipate what they are going to hear.
In everyday life, the situation, the speaker, and visual clues all help us to decode oral messages.
A way to make things a bit easier to the pupils is to present the listening activity within the
context of the topic of a teaching unit. This in itself will help pupils to predict what the
answers might be. The teacher can help them further by asking questions and using the
illustrations to encourage pupils to guess the answers even before they hear the text.

highlighting the errors. And finally, always offer praise for effort regardless of the accuracy of
the English produced (Vale and Feunteun, 1995).
2.4.3 Reading skill
―When choosing texts we should consider not only their difficulty level, but also
their interest or their humor so that children will want to read for the same reasons they read in
their own language: to be entertained or to find out something they do not already know‖
(Slattery and Willis, 2001: 121).
It is important to spend time preparing for the task by using the illustrations (a usual
feature in reading activities for children), pupils' own knowledge about the subject matter, and
key vocabulary to help the pupils to predict the general content of the text. Discuss the subject
and ask questions to elicit language and to stimulate the pupils' interest in the text before they
begin reading. Also make sure that the pupils understand the essential vocabulary they need to
complete the task before they begin to read.
2.4.4 Writing skill
In primary schools, EFL pupils progress from writing isolated words and phrases, to
short paragraphs about themselves or about very familiar topics (family, home, hobbies,
friends, food, etc.)
9

Since many pupils at this level are not yet capable either linguistically or intellectually
of creating a piece of written text from scratch, it is important that time is spent building up
the language they will need and providing a model on which they can then base their own
efforts. The writing activities should therefore be based on a parallel text and guide the pupils,
using simple cues. These writing activities generally appear towards the end of a unit so that
pupils have had plenty of exposure to the language and practice of the main structures and
vocabulary they need.
At this stage, the pupils' work will invariably contain mistakes. The teacher should try
to be sensitive in his/her correction and not necessarily insist on every error being highlighted.
A piece of written work covered in red pen is demoralizing and generally counter-productive.
Where possible, encourage pupils to correct their own mistakes as they work. If there is time,

comfortable, competent and most important secure.
 The physical organization of the classroom is quite important. In an ideal world, the
classroom would have an area of easily removable desks and chairs, an open space for actions
songs and games, a quiet corner for reading or self – study. Such ideal conditions are rarely
found in the real world, but if all possible arrange the tables and chairs so that the young
learners can work in pairs or groups, and there should be a space for them to come out to the
board and to move around the classroom. Often the five or ten minutes spent on reorganizing
tables and chairs are well worth it to help an activity work well. It is a good way to display the
learners’ work and relevant posters on the wall and try to keep the display up to date.
 Create a stress free English learning environment for the young learners. Neither
teachers nor parents should push the young learners too hard. The young learners’ English
teachers should encourage them and their attempts to speak English words or sentences. When
they are hesitant, you need to be patient and show great interest. Do not blame them if they
make a mistake. Crucially, if they perform well, give them praise or a certain reward. If the
teacher responds with interest, they will try again because ―reward behavior is usually
repeated and become a habit‖ (Machado, 1985: 101).
2.5.2 Preventive approaches to classroom behavior problems
Setting rules to keep discipline: effective management requires teachers to define their
expectations for their students at the beginning of the school year. Discipline is the main
preoccupation of the teacher and the young learners. (1) Establish the list during the first few
class meeting. (2) Keep the list short and clear. (3) Focus on learners behaviors needed to
11

achieve lesson goal. (4) State the consequences for breaking the rules and rewards for
following them (Kounin, 1970) .
2.5.3 Keeping proper and flexible moving space of lessons
Kounin (1970) also found that the best classroom managers were careful to keep the
lesson moving at a brisk pace. Inappropriate learner behaviors increase when the lesson
becomes boring, so try to use topics and activities that you think will be interesting and
enjoyable.

The teacher should be positive and calm instead of showing authority so that good
communication with the learner can be made, which helps the learner make behavioral
progress.
2.5.6 Proper punishment
According to Loannou and Pavlou (2000), sometimes teacher may need to use some
kind of punishment for a trouble maker in the classroom. But never give a punishment that is
humiliating or unreasonable and always reintegrate learners into the group after they have
received a reprimand or punishment. This is important not just for the learner involved, but
also for the teacher’s standing with the group. The following two kinds of punishment may be
effective.
Temporary isolation: It means that the misbehaving learner is removed for a short time
from the class activities. The place used for the isolation should be dull and simple. But the
time should not be long, often five or ten minutes will be enough. Moreover, it must not be
forgotten that the isolation should not be used to frighten the learner.
Response cost: It means the removal of the quantity of reinforces related to a response.
For example, a teacher can take a learner’s water paints away from his desk because he was
painting his desk mate’s hands. Within the classroom environment, typical response cost may
be loss of tokens or privileges as part of a classroom management system. Many young
learners’ teachers agree that the response cost is a very effective way to reduce inappropriate
behaviors.
―It is also useful to develop your sense of humor, which is usually appreciated by
others and can help you face small and sometimes large problems.‖ (Hill, 1985:332).
2.5.7 The factors outside the classroom, which influence the classroom management
13

The graduation paper by Do, Thi Mai Chi (2008) mentioning factors outside the
classroom which influence the classroom management as follow:
 Peer relations: Peers play an important role in a young learner’s schooling. Peers serve
as reinforce be giving or drawing attention and approval. They also serve as models and basis
for social comparisons. Peer relations contribute to the young learner’s perception of their

3.1 The setting of the study
For the time being, Hadong district has twenty primary schools with more than seventy
teachers of English aged from twenty-three to forty in their teaching currency. And the
number of 1
st
grade classes is over ninety. Recently Hadong has been in its primary expands
so that by the year 2020 there will have been more than ten primary schools putting into
operation. Hadong Education and Training Department has given favorable conditions to all
primary schools to get access to English teaching from 1
st
grade by giving nongovernmental
organizations permissions to launch English program for 1
st
and 2
nd
grades. As a result, most
of the teachers have been teaching English in an unprofessional way because they were not
trained to teach English for young learners.
3.1.1 Teaching materials
For the time being in Hadong, there are 4 text books being used in grade one, they are:
Let’s learn, Phonics, Next Stop, and Family and Friends. They are all foreign books except
Let’s Learn published by Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training (2003). Thus, the
syllabus for each book is different. For example, Next Stop book by Macmillan publisher
(2007) has four units, each unit has ten lessons. All these books are at starter levels, each book
is designed with many colorful pictures to attract young children.
3.1.2 Teaching facilities
Teaching facilities also play an important role in teaching English and may affect the
teaching process positively or negatively. In Hadong in particular and Hanoi in general, the
issue of teaching facilities has been a hot topic for a long time and the answer is still pending.
According to Mr. Pham Xuan Tien (2010), Head of Primary Education Department,

for them. In fact, this is the first time they start study a foreign language. As the result, they
are very interested in studying English; this may be a favorable condition for teachers after a
lot of difficulties. They are from all classes of society. However, no matter where the children
are from, teachers always put the children’s study into a focus.
3.3 Instruments for collecting data
In this study, questionnaires and classroom observation are chosen as main tools for
collecting information because of some advantages. Firstly, these methods give the needed
data in quantitative form. Secondly, all informants have chance of expressing their attitudes.
As a result, the study will be more objective with accurate data.
17

The set of questionnaires was administered to get information concerning these
following aspects:
 Teachers’ attitudes towards English teaching for young learners
 Student’s attitudes towards learning English
 English teaching methods to children in Hadong
 Professional training courses for teachers
 Classroom management
 Teaching curriculum
 Materials required for teachers
 Teaching aids
 Teaching conditions
3.4 Data collecting procedure
The procedure of collecting data is as follow:
First, the teachers in Hadong are given a set of questionnaires with a clear purposes
provided by the researcher in break - time. Then they are all explained the benefits of this
research for their teaching; this helps to encourage the teachers to complete the questionnaires.
Finally, the researcher collects all the questionnaires right after the teachers have finished.
In order to make the result of the questionnaire more reliable, during 10 weeks, the
author conducts the observations in ten primary schools with ten teachers of English. To have