VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
ĐÀO THỊ MẾN
AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON USING PICTURES TO
ENCOURAGE 4TH GRADERS TO PARTICIPATE
IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL
IN BAC NINH PROVINCE
(Nghiên cứu hành động về việc sử dụng tranh ảnh nhằm khuyến khích cho học sinh
lớp 4 tại một trường tiểu học ở Bắc Ninh tham gia vào các hoạt động nói)
M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 8140231.01
Hanoi - 2020
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
ĐÀO THỊ MẾN
AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON USING PICTURES TO
ENCOURAGE 4TH GRADERS TO PARTICIPATE
IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL
IN BAC NINH PROVINCE
(Nghiên cứu hành động về việc sử dụng tranh ảnh nhằm khuyến khích cho học sinh
lớp 4 tại một trường tiểu học ở Bắc Ninh tham gia vào các hoạt động nói)
M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 8140231.01
Supervisor: Nguyễn Thu Hạnh, PhD.
Hanoi - 2020
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CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY OF PROJECT REPORT
I certify my authority of the Study Project Report submitted entitled “An
Action Research Project on Using Pictures to Encourage 4th Graders to
participate in speaking activities at a Primary School in Bac Ninh Province” in
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts.
Hanoi, July 2019
Đào Thị Mến
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to register my profound gratitude to Mrs.
Nguyen Thu Hanh, my respected supervisor, for her invaluable instruction,
contribution and great care to my research.
I wish to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to the teachers
of Department of Post-Graduate Studies who have supplied me with the good
conditions to conduct this thesis and finish this M.A course.
My thanks go to my managers at my school, my colleagues for their
assistance, encouragement during the time I participated in M.A course.
Also, I owe my debt to my colleagues and students who are the subjects of
my thesis for their willingness to answer my talks, questionnaires, and interviews.
Lastly, I am also grateful to my families for their kindly encouragement
during the research‟s finalization.
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ABSTRACT
Teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) encourage students to take a
more active role in the oral activities in the classroom through different strategies.
This study was conducted with the purpose to identify the effectiveness of using
pictures to encourage the student‟s participation in speaking activities. The study
showed that most students at this primary school experienced many difficulties in
speaking English and they were not confident when they spoke or talked to their
friends. To make situation better, an action plan was made, focusing on using
pictures to motivate them actively to participate in speaking English. The subjects
of the study were 32 fourth graders of a primary school in Bac Ninh province. To
that end, action research (AR) was attempted with the use of quantitative and
qualitative methods to determine whether the use of pictures can improve the
students‟ participation in speaking activities in class as well as their attitudes
towards the use of pictures during speaking lessons. The data were collected
through the talks with colleagues, students‟ pre and post-questionnaires, and
interviews. The research was conducted during the first semester of the school year
2016 – 2017.
The findings of the study suggested that through using pictures the fourth graders‟
participation in speaking activities increased because this technique made the lessons
more interesting and attractive.