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

HOÀNG THỊ NGA
TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS
USING LANGUAGE GAMES TO TEACH VOCABULARY:
A STUDY AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN HANOI
(Quan điểm của giáo viên và học sinh đối với việc sử dụng trò chơi trong
việc dạy từ vựng: một nghiên cứu tại một trường tiểu học tại Hà Nội)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

MAJOR: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 8140231.01
SUPERVISOR: PROF. HOÀNG VĂN VÂN

HANOI - 2020


DECLARATION
I, Hoang Thi Nga, state that the minor thesis, entitled “Teachers’
and students’ attitudes towards using language games to teach
vocabulary: a study at a primary school in Hanoi” is my own research
result and that it has not been submitted for any other universities and
institutes.

Hanoi, 2020
Student‟s signature

Hoàng Thị Nga

attitudes towards using language games to teach vocabulary. The subjects
of the study are 05 English teachers and 106 fifth-grade students (03
classes) from Van Con Primary School in Hanoi. The data have been
gathered via survey questionnaires for both the teachers and students and
informal interviews only for the teachers. The first finding indicates the
majority of the teachers and students have positive attitudes when
applying language games to teach vocabulary. The second finding is that
most of the teachers have applied different types of sources of word
games in teaching vocabulary. However, there are some certain
limitations. They mainly use language games to present new words but
not really call interest from their students or motivate them in learning
new words. This means that they have not yet made advantage of its
potentials. The final finding shows some possible difficulties faced by the
teachers and the students when using language games to teach and learn
vocabulary.
Based on the findings, some recommendations, it is hopeful that
the study can be support to the teachers and students at Van Con Primary
School for reference to teach and learn vocabulary more effectively.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pages

DECLARATION………………………………………………………..

i


2

4. Scope of the study…………………………………………………

2

5. Methods of the study……………………………………………..

3

6. Significance of the study………………………………………….

4

7. Structure of the study……………………………………………

5

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW……………………….....

6

2.1. Attitudes in teaching and learning foreign language………

6

2.1.1. Definition of attitude………………………………………

6


16

2.3.3. Techniques to teach vocabulary through games……………..

17

iv


CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY…………………..

20

3.1. Context of the study…………………………………….......

20

3.1.1. The textbook………………………………………………

20

3.1.2. The subjects………………………………………………..

20

3.2. Data collection instruments and procedures……………..

21

3.2.1. Instruments……………………………………………..


4.3. Summary……………………………………………………..

51

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION……………………………………..

52

5.1. Recapitulation………………………………………………..

52

5.2. Concluding remarks…………………………………………

53

5.3. Limitations and suggestions of the study…………………..

54

REFERENCES………………………………………………………

52

APPENDICES……………………………………………………….

I

APPENDIX 1………………………………………………………..


42

Table 5: The reasons for the students’ de-motivation in learning vocabulary

44

through language games…………………………………………………………………
Table 6: Any problems in learning vocabulary through language games………..
Figure 1: Teachers’ use of language games to teach vocabulary………………….
Figure 2: Teachers’ interest in using language games to teach vocabulary…….

45
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Figure 3: Teachers’ evaluation of language games in general…………………….
Figure 4: Teachers’ frequency of language games in teaching vocabulary……..
Figure 5: Language games’ availability……………………………………………….
Figure 6: Any problem encountered by teachers when using language games in
the processing of teaching vocabulary…………………………………………………

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29
30
32

Figure 7: The role of vocabulary in language teaching……………………………...

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topical issue emerging for concerns of both learners and researchers. It has
become an international language which is used widely all over the world,
especially after Vietnam‟s integration into the WTO, learning English gets
more important in the all the fields of social life such as economy,
technology, diplomacy, foreign trade, education and tourism. Therefore,
teaching and learning English has become ever urgent issue for everyone
anywhere.
In the recent years, English has been taught in the light of the
communicative and learner-centered approach which gives students more
chances to communicate. However, teaching and learning English has been
out of learners‟ satisfaction. Both teachers and especially students are facing
difficulty in teaching and learning English vocabulary. They are really
difficult to read and remember. In fact, many students cannot remember
words for a long time and even cannot apply them in practice, especially in
speaking, listening and writing skills.
Van Con Primary School in Hanoi is not an exception, English learning
situation here is that the students find it hard to learn and remember new
words although there are many techniques used during lessons such chants,
songs, telling stories… all are not really effective. Hence, using games in
teaching vocabulary is bringing surprising results; this shows in the learning
attitudes of the students. Use of language games not only helps students
remember new words faster and better but also motivates them in learning and
using English as well.

1


Theoretically, many linguists in the world have studied the use of
language games in teaching vocabulary, and in Vietnam, there have been
many such research works, but no one has studied about the teachers‟ and

The research has been conducted in a primary school in Hanoi. The
research aims at investigating attitudes of teachers and students towards using
language games. The researcher would like to discover how vocabulary
games are applied to teach and learn new words in the English learning
classes and difficulties faced by the teachers and students. The study has been
conducted with the participation of 106 fifth-grade students of Van Con
Primary School in Hanoi.
5. Methods of the study
This study uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. Data
collections for analysis originate from the teachers and the students at the
primary school by instruments:
- Survey questionnaires
- Informal interviews
6. Signification of the study
It is hoped that the findings of the study will be useful to the teachers of
English as well as provides the teachers with the benefits of using language
games in teaching language, especially teaching vocabulary. It will help the
teachers to realize their students‟ attitudes towards using language games to
improve vocabulary. The study also suggests the ways of using games in
lessons.
7. Organization of the thesis
The study is divided into five chapters:
Chapter 1 – “Introduction” provides the rationale for the study, aim
and objectives of the study, scope, methodology and structure of the study.

3


Chapter 2 “Literature review” provides overview of theoretical
background of attitude, vocabulary, brief views of language games and

general attitudes that language attitudes are precisely about language (Faso,
1984: 148). It can be understood that the language attitude refers to people
towards language.
According to Rayan and Giles (1982), language is “any affective,
cognitive and behavioral index of evaluation reactions towards different
language varieties or their speakers”. So, attitude is the way to feel, think and
behave to different languages in a certain situation.
Similar to the above-said opinions, Gardner (1985) also states that “an
individual‟s attitude is an evaluation reaction to some referent or attitude
object on the basics of the individual‟s beliefs or options about the referent”.
It leads that people‟s belief or perception can cause favorable or unfavorable
attitude to an object.
On the basis of Gardner‟s argument, Wenden (1991) scrubs general
definition of the attitude. He classifies attitude into three components:
behavioral, cognitive and affective.

The behavioral aspect of attitude

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mentions the way one person behaves in a certain situation. The cognitive
component is shown in beliefs, ideas, and opinions about the attitude. The
affective component indicates the feeling of “like” or “dislike” the objects or
surrounding contexts. These components are relevant and they always appear
whenever a person has an attitude.
In addition, Baker (1992: 10) defines attitude as “a hypothetical
construct used to explain the direction and persistence of human behavior”.
So, from the point of view, attitude is the way which human people act and
behave in the specific situation to the object.

2.2.1. Definition of language games
In general, games are forms of fun; they are physical activities or
mental activities or mixture both of them. According to Ludwig
Wittgenstein‟s game term, it refers to the linguistic practices around the use of
words, pragmatics that determine the meaning of the particular word in the
particular situation. Actually, games are a great way to learn all sorts of things
about English. These games are for English language learners, or native
speakers who are addicted to word games. Further, according to Rixon
(1974), “a game consists of play governed by rules”. And Gibb (1974) said “a
game is an activity carried out by cooperating or competing decision
markers, seeking to achieve, within a set of rules, their objectives”.
Therefore, there are different definitions of games, but its normal target
is to create funny activities in order to motivate learners in learning
vocabulary effectively.
Games used in English classes are regarded as one type of games
entitled language games. According to Hadfield‟s viewpoint (1996), language
games as activities with rules, a goal and an element of fun. Based on the
above-said definition, games help teachers generate language learning

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activities. Learning language is a hard job, and learning new words becomes
more and more difficult. Students must master its meaning, pronounce and
know how to use them. Of course, learning language will take a long time.
Language games can help students feel interested, motivate to learn naturally.
In addition, language games allow the teachers to create the contexts in which
words are meaningful, students can remember new words for a long time and
save time in learning.
Language games are considered as task based according to Lewis

communication to learners.
According to Hadfield (1999), language games are used into 2
categories - linguistic and communicative games. He stated that linguistic
games emphasis on accuracy, for instance, it provides the right synonyms and
antonyms. In contrast, communicative games presume successful interchange
of information and ideas. Actually, games have an excessive academic value
and it can be used in the classroom to make learners use the language in place
of thinking about learning the right forms. Games encourage learners to work
together, be creative, cooperative and impulsive in using the language in a
significant way. Students want to participate in activities to play games and
are normally relatively competitive.
Language games have many more categories in viewpoint of Hadfield
(1999). As with the classification of games as linguistic games or
communicative games, some games will contain elements of more than one
type:
Sorting, ordering, or arranging games.
For example, students have a set of cards with different products on them,
and they sort the cards into products found at a grocery store and products
found at a department store.

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Information gap games.
In such games, one or more people have information that other people
need to complete a task. For instance, one person might have a drawing and
their partner needs to create a similar drawing by listening to the information
given by the person with the drawing. Information gap games can involve a
one-way information gap, such as the drawing game just described, or a twoway information gap, in which each person has unique information.
Guessing games.


are

numerous

techniques

concerned

with

vocabulary

presentation. However, there are a few things that have to be remembered
irrespective of the way new lexical items are presented. If teachers want
students to remember new vocabulary better, it needs to be learnt in context,
practiced, and then revised to prevent students from forgetting. Teachers must
make sure students have understood the new words, which will be
remembered better if introduced in a «memorable way». Bearing all this in
mind, teachers have to remember to employ a variety of techniques for new
vocabulary presentation and revision. The researcher believes that one of the
effective ways of vocabulary presentation is using games.
Games are used as a technique or method to engage learners in learning
a new language with fun and easiness. Well selected and premeditated games
are helpful as they provide learners a break and simultaneously allow them to
practice language skills. The benefits of games from the perceptive feature of
learning to more co-operative group dynamics and as a result games are very
motivating at the same time challenging.
Naturally when playing games, students are trying to win or to beat
other teams for themselves or on the behalf of their team. They are so

situations provided. Hadfield (1990) confirms that “games provide as much
concentrated practice as a traditional drill and more importantly, they
provide an opportunity for real communication, albeit within artificially
defined limits, and thus constitute a bridge between classroom and the real

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word.” Like in a traditional classroom, students have an opportunity to drill
and practice using grammatical rules and other functions.
On the other hand, Lee Su Kim (1995) mentioned that there is a
common perception that all learning should be serious and solemn in nature
and that if one is having fun and there is hilarity and laughter, then it is not
really learning. This is a misconception. It is possible to learn a language as
well as enjoy oneself at the same time. One of the best ways of doing this is
through games.
According, below are advantages of using games in the classroom by Lee Su
Kim (1995):
Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the language
class.
They are motivating and challenging.
Learning a language requires a great deal of effort, games help students
to make and sustain the effort of learning.
Games provide language practice in the various skill-speaking, writing,
listening and reading.
They encourage students to interact and communicate.
They create a meaningful context for language use.
According to Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen and Khuat Thi Thu Nga written in
the Asian EFL Journal in (2003), that there are advantages and effectiveness
in learning vocabulary in various ways through games. Firstly, games bring in

learning languages in general and especially in learning foreign languages in
particular.
Moreover, in the view of Morgan and Rinvolucri (1986), “A word is a
basic unit of a language denoting concepts, things and phenomena in the
society”.

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In summary, there are different ways of defining vocabulary, each of
them presents definition of vocabulary in their understanding, but there is a
same point that vocabulary items more than single words. Therefore,
vocabulary consists of a bigger aspect of language and it is a medium for
language learners to express their ideas. It is considered that vocabulary is as
a means for people to communicate. Without words, we are very difficult to
transform information.
The researcher has provided some definitions of vocabulary in order to
prove that vocabulary is interested by the linguistic writers in the world, and
is also affirmed to play an important role in learning language. That is an
urgent topic interested by the researcher in the study process.
2.3.2. The role of vocabulary in language learning
According to David Wilkins (1972), “Without grammar very little can
be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. As above said,
vocabulary can be regarded as the most important part of a language, to
communicate successfully, we need to have vocabulary firstly, maybe we do
not use grammar structure fluently, but based on new words provided,
audience can still understand what we have said. Similarly, McCarthy (1990:
viii) emphasizes that: “No matter how well the student learns grammar, no
matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to
express a wider range of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot

students can learn English as children learn their mother tongue without being
aware they are studying. In other words, using games is to help students speak
English naturally; thus, without stress, they can learn much even shy students
can participate positively. Also, they point how to choose a suitable game:
A game must be more than just a fun.
A game should involve “friendly” competition.
A game should keep all of the students involved and interested.

16


A game should encourage students to focus on the use of language
rather than on the language itself.
A game should give students a chance to learn, practice, or review
specific language material.
It is possible students wish to play games purely for fun. Teachers,
however, need more convincing reasons.
Teachers should consider which games to use, when to use them, how to
link them up with the syllabus, text book or programmed, and how, more
specifically, different games will benefit students in different ways. The key
to a successful language game is that the rules are clear, the ultimate goal is
well defined and the game must be fun.
In summary, language games are good and useful tools in language
teaching and learning that English teachers should use to motivate their
students in learning process, especially teaching vocabulary. However, to
make the advantage of language games‟ benefits, teachers should understand
the characteristics of each type of games, and choose suitable ones in order to
bring the best effectiveness to their students.
In this section, the researcher has provided the ways to choose games to
teach vocabulary effectively, namely the ways are given by Mei and Yu-jing

Listening - Speaking - Reading - Writing skills.
3.1.2. The subjects

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