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

LÊ THỊ QUYÊN

USING ANIMATED E-STORIES TO IMPROVE
PRIMARY STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY RETENTION
AT AN ENGLISH CENTER IN NINH BINH
(Sử dụng truyện tranh điện tử để cải thiện việc ghi nhớ và lưu giữ từ vựng cho
học sinh tiểu học tại một trung tâm Anh ngữ Ninh Bình)

M.A. MINOR THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code : 8140231.01

Ha Noi- 2020


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

LÊ THỊ QUYÊN

USING ANIMATED E-STORIES TO IMPROVE
PRIMARY STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY RETENTION
AT AN ENGLISH CENTER IN NINH BINH
(Sử dụng truyện tranh điện tử để cải thiện việc ghi nhớ và lưu giữ từ vựng cho
học sinh tiểu học tại một trung tâm Anh ngữ Ninh Bình)


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I deeply appreciate my supervisor, Dr. Mai Thi Loan due to her
enlightening guidance, critical comments, invaluable suggestions and her providing
various sources of references during the fulfillment of this minor thesis.
My sincere thanks go to all the lecturers and the staff of the Faculty of Post
Graduate at University of Languages and International Studies for their valuable
lectures on which my minor thesis was laid the foundation.
Additionally, I would like to offer my thanks to the students in class 3A, 3B
at Toeic Center who have actively participated in the research.
Finally yet importantly, I am deeply grateful to my family for their great
support and assistance.

ii


ABSTRACT

The research aims at investigating the effectiveness of using animated estories to teach vocabulary to primary students. On the basis of experimental
research, the two third-classes 3A, 3B who are learning English at Toeic center
participated in this research in the role of experimental group and control group.
Data were collected throughteaching diaries, questionnaire and tests, then analyzed
quantitatively and qualitatively. Via results gathered from the questionnaire and
teaching diaries, most of the students have positive attitudes towards the application
of animated e-stories in vocabulary lesson. Learners are interested in participating
in the lessons actively and effectively through a wide range of activities and
techniques

in


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. iii
LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES................................................................... vii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................1
1.1. Rationale of the study...........................................................................................1
1.2. Aim and objectives of the study ...........................................................................2
1.3. Research questions ...............................................................................................2
1.4. Scope of the study ................................................................................................2
1.5. Method of the study .............................................................................................2
1.6. Significance of the study ......................................................................................3
1.7. Design of the study...............................................................................................3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................5
2.1. Previous studies ....................................................................................................5
2.2. Vocabulary in foreign language teaching ............................................................6
2.2.1. Vocabulary definition ........................................................................................6
2.2.2. Vocabulary retention........................................................................................................ 6
2.2.3. Vocabulary knowledge ......................................................................................7
2.2.4. Methods of teaching vocabulary .....................................................................11
2.3. Young learners and language teaching ..............................................................14
2.3.1. Definition of young learners ...........................................................................14
2.3.2. Characteristics of young learners ...................................................................15
2.3.3. Teaching English to young learners ...............................................................16
2.4. Animated e - stories as a teaching tool ..............................................................17
2.4.1. Definition of animated e – stories ...................................................................17
2.4.2. Criteria for animated e-stories selection ........................................................18
2.4.3. The benefits of animated e-stories in vocabulary teaching ............................18

iv



v


4.2.6. Students’ preference of activities in practicing new words through animated
e-stories .....................................................................................................................39
4.2.7. Students’ preference of activities in consolidating new words through
animated e-stories .....................................................................................................39
4.3. Analysis of tests .................................................................................................40
4.3.1.Comparison between pretest scores of experimental group and control group...... 40
4.3.2. Comparison between posttest scores of experimental and control group ....41
4.3.3. Comparison between pretest and posttest scores of experimental group and
control group .............................................................................................................42
4.4. Summary ............................................................................................................43
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ...............................................................................44
5.1. Recapitulation ....................................................................................................44
5.2. Concluding remarks ...........................................................................................45
5.3. Pedagogical implications ...................................................................................46
5.4. Limitations of the study and suggestion for further research ............................47
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................49
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... I
APPENDIX 1A: TEACHING DIARIES ................................................................ I
APPENDIX 1B: CRITERIA FOR TEACHING DIARIES ............................. XIII
APPENDIX 2A:QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION)........................ XIV
APPENDIX 2B: QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) .............. XVI
APPENDIX 3A: PRE-TEST ............................................................................ XVIII
APPENDIX 3B: POST-TEST .............................................................................. XX
APPENDIX 4: THE FORMULA OF MEAN, STANDARD DEVIATION AND
MEDIAN ............................................................................................................ XXIII
APPENDIX 5:SAMPLE LESSON PLAN ...................................................... XXIX
APPENDIX 6A: PHIẾU ĐỒNG THUẬN THAM GIA NGHIÊN CỨU ... XXXV

vii


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Rationale of the study
To primary students,vocabulary is the first step to learn English.If adult
learners are able to cope with abstract ideas, young learners, in contrast, need very
concrete vocabulary that connects with objects they can handle or see, according to
Cameron (2001:81). However, not only understanding the word meanings, the
researcher finds out that the 3rd graders at Toeic center get troubles in vocabulary
retention. Many students encounter difficulty in retaining new words that they have
learnt in previous lessons. They find it harder to remember and recall vocabulary
effectively. As a result, vocabulary lesson is boring and ineffective for most
students.
Some related studies which conducted in the Vietnamese context, have
provided various methods of teaching vocabulary at primary schools. Vu Thi Thanh
Tam (2013) investigated the using stories and dramas in teaching English to the
third grade students at Quan Tru primary school. The research got the positive result
which could enhance students’ speaking and listening skills. Vu Thi Xuan (2014)
introduced the using of music and animated cartoons to teach English to primary
students. In this thesis, the writer investigated the use of animated cartoons to teach
students vocabulary with the hope of giving them more pleasure and linking
learners with learning activities. It can be said that there has been no study
concerned with using animated e-stories in vocabulary teaching and learning so far.
Being aware of the key roles of vocabulary, knowing the problems that teachers
and students encounter, and finding the gaps of previous studies that have not been
explored yet in Viet Nam context, the writer desired to find out solutions and decided to
conduct this research entitled “using animated e-stories to improve primary students’
vocabulary retention at an English center in Ninh Binh”. Considering animated e-stories

instruments areteaching diaries, questionnaire and tests.
Firstly, the pre-test was delivered to both experimental class (class 3A) and control
class (class 3B) to check their vocabulary retaining from the previous lessons.
Secondly, the experimental class was taught vocabulary through animated estories in five weeks. Meanwhile, the control class was taught by using normal
2


textbook only. In order to take a closer look into the students’ attitudes towards
animated e-stories application and how animated e-stories were implemented in the
vocabulary lesson, the researcher wrote the teaching diaries after each lesson in
experimental class.
After that, the questionnairewas carried out on the participants in experimental
group at the end of the course to get more information about the students’ attitude
and reactions towards learning vocabulary by the application of animated e-stories.
The post-testwas administered to both experimental and control class to
measure students’ vocabulary retention after the course.
Finally, the data were collected, sorted and analyzed both quantitatively and
qualitatively to obtain realistic results.
1.6. Significance of the study
The writer hopes that this study may provide some insightsin both theoretical
and practical significance. In term of the theory, the study contributes to the general
theory of vocabulary and vocabulary retention improvement techniques to help
pupils remember and recall vocabulary better and for a longer time. Moreover,
practically, this study may provide some guidelines to teach and enhance primary
students’ vocabulary retention at an English center, Ninh Binh province. Teachers
can drill and perform the new words to young learners basing on the advantages and
positive effectiveness of animated e-stories.
1.7. Design of the study
This study is divided into five chapters:
Chapter 1 is the Introduction, presenting therationale of the study, the aim and

the impact of animated electronic books on the vocabulary and language
development of preschool-aged children in two schools settings. The data of the
study came from a curriculum-based vocabulary measure, audio-taped book
retellings, observation and researcher’s notes. The results from the study showed
that animated e-books could play an important role in helping a child develop
vocabulary and positively affecting the literacy development of young children.
This study showed that animated e-books could be an effective way to teach
vocabulary and to implement vocabulary instruction in the classroom. However, the
study only took place across three weeks. Moreover, due to its brief duration, the
small sample, findings could not be generalized to other settings.
Korat and Shamir (2012) conducted a study that also involved using e-books
to help support children’s vocabulary. The study had 288 Israeli children from
twelve classes, six of which were pre-kindergarten classes and six of which were
kindergarten classes. Children in the study were randomly assigned to an
intervention group and they read the e-books on the computer. The children in the
study only used the “read story with dictionary” mode, which means the story was
orally read to them and had a dictionary portion that provided explainations of
difficult words for the children. The words were pronounced, shown on the screen
and supported with pictures. The children’s vocabulary was tested before and after
the reading target words. However, the children were only asked the meanings of
sixteen words that came from e-books, without checking the spoken form and the
use of new words. The results of the study showed that the children who were in the
experimental group and participated in the e-books advanced more significantly

5


than the children from the control group who were not exposed to the e-books. The
study showed that the use of e-books had potential to support a child’s learning of
words and e-books could be a tool that helped to build a child’s vocabulary.



multi-word idioms such as call it a day; like father, like son; or phrasal verbs : face up
to, look up; collocation like hot summer,….etc. From his point of view, vocabulary can
be defined as lexical chunk. In the same way, Linse and Nunan (2005: 121) defines that
vocabulary is the collection of words that an individual knows.
According to Hiebert and Kamil (2005:3), vocabulary is the meaning of
words for which we must master in using language.The set of words which we
speak or read orally, are called oral vocabulary. Meanwhile, those words for which
we write or read silently, are considered as print vocabulary.
In addition, Richards and Rennadya (2002: 255) definethat vocabulary is related
to mastering all of skills in English learning: “Vocabulary is a core component of
language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how well learners speak, listen,
read and write”.
From the above definitions, we can realize that vocabulary may be a single
word or a set of words which are used to communicate. Learning English skills will
be more effective if students master vocabulary.
2.2.2. Vocabulary retention
Many researchers have devoted to vocabulary retention. In the Oxford
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2005: 1297), retention is defined as “an ability to
remember things” or “the ability to retain facts and figures in memory”.
Furthermore, Aminafshar and Mojavezi (2017) describe vocabulary retention
as the ability to remember and maintain the meaning of things after a period of time.
In addition, there are three major processes constituting the retention of vocabulary,
namely noticing, retrieving and using vocabulary creatively, according to Kersten
(2010).
Of all these phases, vocabulary retention can be clarified as the storage of
vocabulary in the memory.
2.2.3. Vocabulary knowledge
According to Miller and Gildea (1987), knowing a word does not simply

that denotation meaning of a word primarily refers to the real meaning, this is often
the sort of definition that is given in the dictionary. On the other hand, connotation
meaning of a word is a less obvious component of the meaning, beyond its
denotative meaning.Connotation meaning is related to the attitudes of the language
users.

For

example:

“a

baby”:

denotative

meaning

is

[+human],

[young],[male/female]; and connoted meaning as [innocent], [noisy]. Moreover,
8


word appropriateness learning is useful for a learner to know how to use the word in
common, or relatively rare, or “taboo” in polite conversation, or tends to be used in
writing but not in speech, in formal or informal discourse, …etc. For example, “I
haven’t got a clue” is synonymous in denotation with “I don’t know”, but “I haven’t


meaning also and the ability to connect the two: “The strength of the connection
between the form and its meaning will determine how readily the learner can
retrieve the meaning when seeing or hearing the word form when wishing to
express the meaning”. In the sense of use, Nation (2001: 55) documents that
teachers should provide learners with the understanding of grammatical function,
collocations and constraints on use. According to his study, students need to know
what part of speech it is and what grammatical patterns it can fit into so that learners
can use words in the right way. He also finds that knowing a word involves
knowing what words it typically occurs with which called collocation. Finally, in
the aspect of constraints on use, Nation (2001: 57-58) proposes that it may differ
across culture or can come from the way the word is translated into the first
language or from the context in which the word is used. For example: In Vietnam,
to say hello to anyone, they can ask “Where are you going?” or “what are you
doing?”. However, it is less acceptable in English communication.
Table 2.1: What is involved in knowing a word(Nation, 2001)
Aspect
Form

Component
Spoken

Receptive knowledge
What does the word
sound like?
Written
What does the word look
like?
Word part
What

How
is
the
word
pronounced?
How is the word written
and spelled?
What word parts are
needed to express the
meaning?
What word form can be
used to express this
meaning?
What items can the concept
refer to?
What other words could
people use instead of this
one?
In what patterns must
people use this word?
What words of types of
words must people use with
this one?
Where, when, and how


on
use often
would
people often can people use this

of
imagines,
elaboration,
deliberate
inferencing
Repetition

Grammar
Implicit learning
collocation
Constraints Explicit learning
Explicit
guidance
and
on use
feedback
In conclusion, knowing vocabulary knowledge is a complexprocess. In this

thesis, the researcher follows up Nation’s model. Therefore, teachers should
consider and help learners learn and use word items correctly in different contexts.
2.2.4. Methods of teaching vocabulary
According to Hatch and Brown (1995), there are numerous types of
approaches, techniques, exercises and practice that can be used to teach vocabulary.
However, teacher should decide what types would be best for their students and
their circumstances. Some major teaching methods are summarized as following.

11


2.2.4.1. The Grammar – Translation Method

12


oral skills. However, students learn easily and forget fast, they feel embarrassed in
facing the real context. This shows that learners can copy easily, but they gain little
understanding in different contexts.
2.2.4.4. Communicative language teaching method (CLT)
The goal of this method is to develop procedure of teaching language skills
(listening, speaking, reading and writing), and the communicative competence. In
the viewpoint of Richards and Renandya(2002:2), communicative language
teaching can be understood as a set of principles about goal of language teaching,
how learners learn a language, the kind of classroom activities that best facilitate
learning and the roles of teachers and learners in classroom. Communicative
language teaching makes use of real-life situations. Harmer (2001: 85) statesthat
“activities in CLT typically involve students in real or realistic communication”with
the goal ofsuccessful achievement of the communicative tasks they are performing
and without focusing onthe accuracy of the language. Instead of focusing on
repetition and drills as in audio-lingual method, students are likely to encounter
real-life and useful situations such as job interview, telephoning, asking
information, etc; or other activities such as role-play, picture strip to story, learning
by teaching, etc. Lessons are theme-based, topics with target grammar are hidden in
context. Teachers are in the roles of facilitators or monitors. Students interact with
each other in pairs or in groups rather than just with teachers. However, CLT
focuses on communication and fluency too much and overlooks grammatical
accuracy.
2.2.4.5. Total physical Response method(TPR)
TPR is very popular with young learners as it aims at oral proficiency.
Theydevelop listening skills, but they do not put pressure on young learners to
speak. Teachers use TPR to introduce language in visual or in contextualized ways
involving activity and movement. Accordingly, children are acquired to respond

groups of young learners: very young learners (age 3-6 years old), young learners
(age 7-9 years old) and older/late young learners (age 10-12 years old).
Suyanto (2007: 15) comes into conclusion that young learners are primary
school students aged 6 to 12 years. They can be divided into two groups, the first
one is younger group (aged 6-8 years) and the second group is older group (aged 912 years).
To summarize, it is complex to define precisely the age range for young
14


learners. In this thesis, the researcher strong agrees and follows up the assumption
of children’s age between six and twelve according to Vietnamese primary
schoolingage range.
2.3.2. Characteristics of young learners
Scott and Ytreberg (1990: 1-5) state that the age group is based not only on
general characteristics but also language development ofyounglearners. We find
that almost all of the typical characteristics of young learners in the study of
Slatterly and Willis (2001:4-5)as following:


Be learn through seeing, listening, copying and doing



Be unable to understand an explanation of grammar rules



Be likely to understand the meaning partly through non-verbal

communication activities

development through doing tasks and activities. Children learn fast and forget fast.
Hence, they need a lot of recycling for consolidation of recently learnt knowledge.
Brewster et al. (2002) and Brumfit et al. (1991) also emphasize that young
learners need physical movement in the classroom due to their high levels of
energy.It is important to teach them with methods and activities that leave place for
physical movement in the classroom. Halliwell(1992) also supposes that
imagination and stories which involved in an element of fantasy, children can make
sense of the real world.
15


Generally, it can be concluded that the most important feature of young
learnersis that they learn and imitate through what they see and hear.Children learn
very easily but they forget very quickly. Moreover, young learners are so energetic,
and they have a short span of attention. As a result, teachers should be aware
ofthese characteristics of young learners when building their lesson plans and
creating activities in language classes.
2.3.3. Teaching English to young learners
Teaching English to young learners is not only a process of transferring a new
language to children,but it also needs many considerations. Cameron (2001)
suggests some optimal conditions for helping learners to learn:
 Making learning English enjoyable and fun
 Not worrying about mistakes
 Encouraging and making sure children feel comfortable and not afraid to
take part in
 Using a lot of gestures, action, pictures to demonstrate what you mean
 Talking a lot to them using English, especially about things they can see
 Playing games, sing songs, saying rhymes and chanting together
 Telling simple stories in English, using pictures and acting with different
voices