THANH HOA EDUCATION & TRAINING DEPARTMENT
THANH HOA EDUCATION & TRAINING OFFICE

INITIATIVE
“ EXPERIENCE IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY
FOR PRIMARY STUDENTS OF GRADE 4 ”

The implementer : Mai Thị Huệ
Occupation :A teacher of English
Group : Quang thinh Primary school
Subject : English

THANH HOA , April 2016

0


INDEX
A. BACKGROUND

Page
2

I. Rationale

2-3

II. Research

3


3. Giving introductions

7-15

3.1 Teaching vocabulary in general

7- 9

3.2 The tips that I have applied effectively when teaching English
vocabulary for students of grade 4 in my school

9-12

3.3 Notice

12

3.4 Practice

12 -16

IV. Achieved results

17

V. The applied lesson plan
C. CONCLUSION

17-20
21

learning section but to listen to their teacher. Second, students only think of
vocabulary learning as learning the primary meaning of new words. Therefore,
they ignore all other functions of the words. Third, students usually only learn
new words in their textbooks or those given by teachers during classroom
lessons. For example, learners find many new words in a text and then ask the
teacher to explain their meanings and usages. Forth, many Vietnamese learners
do not want to take risks in applying what they have learnt. Students may
recognize a word in a written or spoken form and think that they already "know
the word", but they may not be able to use that word properly in different
contexts or pronounce it correctly. As the result, the class is often quiet and
inactive and the lessons appear to be uninteresting. Students just seat in silence,
do the exercises, and wait for the correct answers from the teachers. They seem
to get bored of having the same ways of learning every day. Therefore,
classroom vocabulary learning activities help learners develop and use words in
different contexts and make the lessons enjoyable.

2


Having been teaching English to the primary students for 10 years,
especially students in grade 4, I realized that in order to approach the objectives
mentioned above, the teachers must work hard, research and find out the most
effective teaching methods. There are a variety of issues in the procedure of
teaching English to the primary students that need the serious concerns;
however, what made me really puzzled was how to help them understand the
vocabulary easily, get the words’ meaning and use them in communicating as
well as in doing exercises. In order to do this work I have learnt a lot from the
materials, from friends and colleagues, and now, I would like to present my
“Experiences in teaching English vocabulary for primary students of grade
4”


break and at the same time allow students to practise language skills. Learning
activities are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time
challenging. Furthermore, they employ meaningful and useful language in real
contexts. They also encourage and increase cooperation.
We consider vocabulary learning activities a way to help students not only
enjoy and entertain with the language they learn, but also practice it incidentally.
So, vocabulary-learning activities are useful and effective tools that should be
applied in vocabulary classes. They make the lessons more interesting,
enjoyable and effective.
There are, of course, many ways to motivate the students to learn English
effectively. However, in this minor thesis, I would focus my research on the
effectiveness of classroom vocabulary learning activities in my school in Vinh
city. The reason is that my students are too passive to learn vocabulary. They
need to participate more actively in learning activities. I hope that through some
classroom vocabulary activities, I will find the most effective learning activities
to improve students’ vocabulary learning. My students have chance to use the
words productively.
The scope and object of this research are aiming to the students of the
grades 4 in my school.

4


B. SOLUTIONS
I. Theoretical background
It is undeniable that vocabulary, one of three components of laguages
( grammar, vocabulary, phonetics), has a main function in language. Actually,
Michael Mc Cathy stated that: “no matter how well the student learns grammar,
no matter how successfully the sounds of the second language are mastered,

I myself was involved in training program of new English textbook 4; so I
master the syllabus, also the basic teaching methods. I know how to combine the
teaching techniques in order that my lessons can achieve high effectiveness.
5


There are many changes in the structure and appearance of the textbooks,
with more pictures and the topics which are more familiar to the students, so
they feel excited and very positive to learn English. Especially, students are
aquainted with informative technology early, they use computer, the Internet and
they get a lot of English resourses from here. Moreover, they have chance to
take part in many English pleasure grounds such as: English club, English
Violympic, Ringing golden bell…. These grounds help students develop and
increase their vocabulary very much.
2. Disadvantages:
Most of the students do not realize the importance of learning English.
They are shy and not active, which leads to the limitation in communication.
Their parents do not show a remarkable attention to the children’s learning the
subject of English since it is just an optional subject and do not affect the overall
transcript result.
The ability of absorbing the second language is limited at the primary
students for a variety of factors: the time in class for English is little while many
students of this age still find difficult in mastering their mother language. In
addition, each class is always crowded with more than 30 students, which causes
difficulties in drilling and practicing the communication skills.
Also, students often learn vocabulary by reading words in English and try
to remember that in Vietnamese, writing following teachers’ requests, not selfconscious his check to inculcate new words and vocabulary available. Therefore,
they are forgetful and easily confused with other words. As a result, many
students get bored and abandon school.
Especially, English pronunciation is a big obstacle for students. The

Average

Weak

Number
of Ss

%

Number
of Ss

%

Number
of Ss

%

Number
of Ss

%

4A

29

7


2

6.9

4C

31

7

22.6

9

29.0

12

38.7

3

9.7

2. Getting attention
That result shows that students’ quality is not high. The main reasons are:
- Students could not write vocabulary. Most of them only imitated pronunciation
but could not write words on the paper.
- Students did not know the meaning of words, so they could not manipulate in
perceivable exercises.

Distinguish two kinds of vocabulary words to help teachers focus,
systematicalize and save time if necessary.
b. Factors to clarify the introduction of new words:
Three basic elements of the language should be clarified: form (morphology),
meaning (semantics), use (how to use). These elements are specified by
introducing corpus diagram as follows:
Introduce new semantics (meaning)
Grammatical morphology (grammatical form)
Using (use)
Writing (spelling)
Phonetics (pronunciation)
Please regularly check the dictionary is the best way to help the teacher can
identify this information explicitly.
c. The basic steps to present words:
Introduction post, introducing topics: this is an important step in teaching
vocabulary . This step will determine the success of the class, it will inspire
students to think of the school from going through all the newly introduced point
The most important thing in introducing new words is to comply with the order:
listening, speaking, reading and writing. Never start from other activities but
"hear". Remember the learning process of our mother tongue, always start by
listening, imitating pronunciation and then to the other activities. Please help
your students have a new habit to learn from the best:
Step 1: In new 2-3 times, articulation. About the meaning of words (written or
oral). Illustrated oral repeated questions to help students understand the
vocabulary quickly.
Step 2: Let the class repeat a few times. (from chorus to individuals)

8



* Using real objects:
This method requires teachers to prepare the objects in the real life before
the lessons. Teacher raises thing, students look and know what the meaning is.
This tip can apply for vocabulary related to topics of body parts, things,
clothes, fruits… And if teacher prepare well, teaching vocabulary will become
easier and save time.

9


* Using pictures:
If in the lesson, teacher cannot use the realia to present vocabulary, they
can also collect pictures from newspapers, magazines, down load them from
Internet or use Powerpoint.
Examples:
+ In Unit 9: In my classroom – Lesson 1 ( English 4 )

T: Look- This is a board. (Pointing to the board): “a board... a board”
Ss:A a board.
T: (show)What is it?
Ss: A board.
 My experience :
This is a trick taught by highly effective, direct, inspire and make a memorable
impression. So when using this tip, teacher should:
- Choose simple pictures with clear purpose.
- The real object should be introduced quickly, easily and clearly.
- Use crosswords with pictures to teach and practice vocabulary of topic
which help students retentive.
b. Tip 2: Using quick drawings.
Sketching help students realize the meaning of vocabulary very fast. This way

+ Teach some actions:
c. Tip 3: Mimin

Swim

Run

Jump

Examples:
+ Teach the phrase “play the piano” (E4- Unit 4 – Lesson 1- P1.2 )
T: Look. (Gestures play the piano) I play the piano. PLAY THE PIANO.
PLAY THE PIANO. Can you say and do it?
Ss: PLAY THE PIANO. (Say with action)
T: again.
Ss: PLAY THE PIANO.
11


- In Unit 7: My school subjects – Lesson 1- P1.2 ( English 4 )
T: Point to the boosk and say: Now, look at these. This is Maths, this is
English, this is Science. Then pick up the three books and ask: And they are…?
Ss: Books / School subjects
T: Good. They’re school subjects. Say it again.
Ss: school subjects.
c.Tip 3: Translation
This is a way to save the teachers’ time of using unsuccessful explanation in
English. Many teachers find it extremly effective in case the new words are two
complicated or too difficult to explain in English.
Example: Teach some descriptive adjectives in Unit 14: My

group. When teacher reads the words, students quickly get the cards. The winner
is the one who has the most cards.

b. Chain game
This game is useful and interesting to help train pronounciation. Strengthen
training is the ability to remember words and use of them and create excitement
for the children to participate in lessons.
For example: English 4- Unit 13 – Lesson 1- P1.2- The topic of food
S1: I like fish.
S2: I like fish and chicken.
S3: I like fish, chicken and noodles.
S4: I like fish, chicken, noodles and beef.
S5: I like ......
c. Guessing the word
“Guessing the word” game is useful in vocabulary presentation. The class
is divided into four or five groups. The teacher writes one of the new words on
the board and asks students to listen carefully to the explanations in English.
Depending on the explanations, the groups try to guess the Vietnamese
equivalent of the word. For each correct guess, they get a point. For example:
When presenting new words in Unit 15: Festivals - Grade 4 (Mid Autumn
Festival), our teachers say: “This is festival for children in August”. The
quickest group who can find out the Vietnamese meaning “ Ram Trung Thu”
will get a point. After all the words have been presented, the group with the
highest score is the winner.
d. Word matching
This activity helps students revise vocabulary before listening or speaking.
This is an example when you teach speaking (Unit 7: My School Subjects –
Grade 4 - 1st term). Students are divided into many pairs and delivered handouts.
Students are asked to match the words with their subjects. After 2 minutes, the
teacher receives the answer of the first five pairs. The teacher reads the answer

Ruler
Eleven
Maths
Map
Ten
Art
Notebook
Twelve
g. Network
Students write words of given topic
fly a kite

ride a
bicycle
ride a horse

go for a picnic

play the piano

ACTIVITIE
S
play hide-andseek

draw a picture

* Some games teachers can design on powerpoint, slide
These games are used to revise the vocabulary. They makes students curious
and interested in playing and remembering the words.
14

10

S

H

A
S
O
S
T
O

I D
U R
D O

R
S
C

I
E
T

V

E

O

R

1
2
3
4

T
A

N

A

N

R
E

8
9

R

10

5
6
7


teachers should use the suggestive ways such as: jumbled words, word square,
matching, ordering… Furthermore, teachers need be creative and apply flexibly
in checking vocabulary regularly to get the most effective result.
IV. Achieved results
By doing this research, I have applied the experience mentioned above
into my teaching to the students at grades 4. The acquisition I got was better
than my expectation.
According to the survey taken before I applied those techniques, the number
of students who understood and remembered the English vocabulary was quite
low.
Since I applied the techniques to my teaching vocabulary to the students at
primary schools, the result was significantly improved with the figures bellows:
 Result:
Quality
Clas Total
s
number

Excellent

Fair

Average

Weak

Number
of Ss

%

13.8

0

0

4B

29

14

48.2

12

41.4

3

10.4

0

0

4C

31


grade 4 , the result was that the lessons became more active, interesting and
effective: the students concentrated and memorised the new vocabulary at class.
V. THE APPLIED LESSON PLANS
The lesson plan use matching technique to teach and practice
vocabulary
Unit seven: My school Subjects ( ENGLISH 4)
Lesson 1: (P 1, 2)
I. Objective:
By the end of the lesson, Ss will be able to ask and answer questions about
school subjects.
II. Language input:
* Vocabulary: - Maths, English, Music, Art, Science, Vietnamese,
IT( Information Teachnology), subjects,like,love.
* Sentence pattern:
- What lessons have you got today?
- I’ve got…………………….
* Short write: I’ve got = I have got
III. Resourses:
- Student book Tieng Anh 4, unit 7, page 48
- Audio and visual aids: cards, recordings, pictures, handouts, robot teacher.
flashcards of subjects .
IV. Procedures:
Teacher’s Activities
I. Greeting and warming up (5’)
The teacher greets pupils and asks some
questions about where a school is and what
class/ grade someone is in…
II. Leading in:

Students Activities

- Science(n)

- Music(n)

Answer the questions
We are learning Engish.
Read after robot teacher
Look at the picture
Answer the questions
They are Tom and Nam
In the street.
They are talking about their
school subjects.
Listen

Listen and repeat

- Listen and repeat

- Vietnamese(n)

- IT( Information Teachnology)(n)
- subjects ( n)
- like (v) : thích
- Read the new words
- love (n) : yêu
- Ask sts read new words and correct, comment.
* Checking vocabulary:
- The teacher calls 2 pupils (boy & girl) to
come to the board to do matching exercise

2. Look and say:
- The teacher shows pictures from A to F and
ask Sts Asking and answering questions about
school subjects.
- What lessons have you got today?
-I’ve got .........................................
- Teacher asks some Sts :
- What lessons have you got today?
- What lessons has she got today?
- What lessons has he got today?
- What lessons have they got today?
* Production:
-The teacher devides the class into groups of 7
and delivers the handouts. Then the teacher

Pupils play role of Nam and
practice the dialogue
Practice the dialogue.
Perform

Answer the questions
Answer
Listen and repeat
( individuals, groups, and the
whole class)

Listen, repeat and take note

Look and correct


my teaching presentation after every lesson. By this way, I learned from both my
20


good and bad points. Besides, I often observed my colleagues’ lessons and
consulted with their ideas, so I learned from them. I also worked hard with
various kind of materials related to the area of linguistics, especially the English
language.
In addition, one of the factors that contributed to my success was the
visual teaching aids. I always searched for and collected the things that can be
used as visual teaching aids such as pictures, old calendar, hard carton, plastic
animals, toys… because the younger learners are always fond of lively
objects.The last experience I would like to share here are my teaching rules:
+ Prepare the lesson plans carefully.
+ Distribute the time appropriately in each lesson.
+ Be self-confident in teaching.
+ Control the class well.
+ Encourage the students in class.
+ Check the students’ understanding with the exercises in “Further
Practice”
+ Give the students clear instructions about self-study after every lesson.
Above are some methods, techniques as well as my experience in teaching
English vocabulary to the students at primary schools. I would like to present
them here in order to contribute to the improvement of teaching and studying
English at schools, especially at primary schools. I would like to receive any
comment from the colleague, so that my project would be more effective.
I would also like to thank all of you for sincere contributions to my work.
I would keep studying for more teaching methods and techniques so that better
teaching results will be acquired.
Comfirmation of the Head master :