AN ACTION RESEARCH ON USING STORIES AND DRAMA IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO PRIMARY STUDENTS AT QUAN TRU PRIMARY SCHOOL = Nghiên cứu hành động về dạy Tiếng Anh

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


VŨ THỊ THANH TÂM


AN ACTION RESEARCH ON USING STORIES AND DRAMA IN
TEACHING ENGLISH TO PRIMARY STUDENTS AT QUAN
TRU PRIMARY SCHOOL

NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ DẠY TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC QUA
TRUYỆN VÀ KỊCH TẠI TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC QUÁN TRỮ


M.A. MINOR THESIS

Major: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10.




HANOI - 2012
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES


VŨ THỊ THANH TÂM

AN ACTION RESEARCH ON USING STORIES AND DRAMA IN
TEACHING ENGLISH TO PRIMARY STUDENTS AT
QUAN TRU PRIMARY SCHOOL
NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ DẠY TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC QUA
TRUYỆN VÀ KỊCH TẠI TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC QUÁN TRỮ

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Major: Methodology of English Teaching
Code: 60.14.10.
Supervisor: TÔ THỊ THU HƯƠNG, Ph.D



HANOI - 2012

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………….
Abstract………………………………………………………………………
Table of contents…………………………………………………………….
List of charts, figures and tables……………………………………………
List of abbreviations and symbols………………………………………….
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION………………………………………….
1.1. Rationale of the research………………………………………………
1.2. Aims of the research ……………………………………………………
1.3. Scope of the research……………………………………………………
1.4. Research questions………………………………………………………

1.5. Methodology ……………………………………………………………
1.5.1. Action research design…………………………………………
1.5.2. Participants……………………………………………………….
1.5.3. Procedures……………………………………………………….
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ……………………
2.1. Teaching English to primary school children …………………………
2.1.1. Typical characteristics of young learners ……………………………
2.1.2. Models of teaching English to primary-school students………………
2.2. Child development through the use of stories and drama ………………
2.2.1. Cognitive development…………………………………………………
2.2.1.1. Reading………………………………………………………………
2.2.1.2. Writing……………………………………………………………….
2.2.1.3. Speaking and listening……………………………………………….
2.2.1.4. Teaching nonverbal communication…………………………………
2.2.2. Physical development…………………………………………………
2.2.3. Social development…………………………………………………….
2.2.4. Emotional development……………………………………………….
2.3. Typical activities in English lessons using stories and drama…………
2.3.1. Finger puppet show…………………………………………………….
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2.3.2. Character Description ………………………………………………….
2.3.3. Picture Book Drawing…………………………………………………
2.3.4. Group Acting – Role play………………………………………………
2.3.5. Letter writing…………………………………………………………
2.3.6. Miming………………………………………………………………….
2.3.7. Teacher in role………………………………………………………….
2.3.8. Hot seating……………………………………………………………
2.3.9. Thought – tracking……………………………………………………
CHAPTER III: THE STUDY- USING STORIES AND DRAMA IN

TEACHING ENGLISH TO PRIMARY STUDENTS…………………….
3.1. Action research questions and design……………………………………
3.2. Planning stage……………………………………………………………
3.2.1. The problem……………………………………………………………
3.2.2. Observing a lesson that illustrated the problem……………………….
3.2.3. Conducting a survey to get information from the students…………….
3.2.4. Consulting with colleagues ……………………………………………
3.2.5. Drawing up a plan of action to solve the problem……………………
3.3. Acting stage………………………………………………………………
3.3.1. Lesson using the story and drama "Little Red Riding Hood"…………
3.3.2. Lesson using the story and drama "Goldilocks and Three Bears"…….
3.4. Observing stage…………………………………………………………
3.5. Evaluation stage………………………………………………………….
3.6. Summary of the main findings…………………………………………
CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION……………………………………………
4.1. Summary of the main findings ………………………………………….
4.2. Implications for teaching speaking and listening through stories and
drama…………………………………………………………………………
4.3. Limitations and suggestions for further research……………………….
4.4. Conclusion………………………………………………………………
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
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LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS AND TABLES

Figure 1: Writing through drama…………………………………………
Chart 1: The lessons using stories and drama have made English easier for
you to learn………………………………………………………………….
Table 1: Evaluating students‟ speaking abilities…………………………

Table 2 : Evaluating students‟ listening abilities…………………………
Table 3: The reasons why the teachers do not usually use stories and drama
in their English lessons……………………………………………………
Table 4: The English lessons using story and drama……………………
Table 5: The successful changes made by the teacher……………
Table 6: The Ss‟ changes after taking part in the lessons using stories and
drama……………………………………………………………………….
Table 7: The Ss‟ problems in the lessons using stories and drama………
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

%
EFL
LRRH
Ss
T

Percent
English as a Foreign Language
Little Red Riding Hood
Students
Teacher

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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the research

English has become a world language and is used as the medium of international
communication and is the language of professional advancement. It has become the
number one foreign language to be taught both inside and outside the formal
educational systems of many countries. Nowadays, English teaching and learning in
Vietnam has been developing at an unprecedented speed. As a primary English
teacher, the author has witnessed how English has become one of the compulsory
subjects in the curriculum and how Vietnamese education system appreciates the
importance of English learning nowadays, especially at primary schools. The
National Foreign Language 2020 Project demands better English teaching and
learning quality by expecting teachers to improve their language competence to
train primary students. However, the fact that many primary English teachers,
including the author, are not trained comprehensively to teach English to such
special learners with special characteristics, primary students. Not only the teachers‟
low language competency but also their non-flexibility and uncreativeness in
applying various teaching techniques and methods into their real teaching make a
big quality gap in the current English teaching and learning. Most language
teachers, following a traditional, test-oriented teaching approach, often concentrate
on teaching English vocabulary, grammar, and sometimes on pronunciation, all the
language elements covered in the textbooks, although there are more pleasant,
practical and useful ways to introduce and practice all these textbook requirements.
Stories and drama are such effective vehicles in teaching English to primary
students because of their important roles in bringing about young learners‟ interests
and excitement. Thus, the study, reported in this thesis, on using stories and drama
in teaching English to primary students, especially to improve their English
speaking and listening skills, was conducted as an effort in filling the quality gap
mentioned above by finding out suitable and effective techniques in teaching
English to primary students.

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1.2. Aims of the research

- Finding out the attitudes of primary teachers and students towards the use of
stories and drama in English lessons.
- Exploring how the use of stories and drama in teaching English can enhance
primary students‟ English speaking and listening skills.
1.3. Scope of the research
Due to the limitation of time and knowledge, this thesis only focused on
using stories and drama in teaching English to third - grade students at Quan Tru
Primary School in the second term of the school-year of 2011-2012.
1.4. Research questions
1. What are the attitudes of Quan Tru third-grade teachers and students towards
the use of stories and drama in English lessons?
2. How can the use of stories and drama in teaching English enhance Quan Tru third-
grade students‟ English speaking and listening skills?
1.5. Methodology
The methodological approach was action research using various methods for
data collection. The tools for data gathering include two questionnaires, one for
teachers and one for students, class observation and teacher journals.
1.5.1. Action research design
The action research consisted of four main stages: Planning, Acting,
Observing and Evaluation stage.
Stage 1: Planning:
- Identifying problem and causes of the problem: low quality of English teaching -
learning due to unsuitable methods and techniques used by teachers of English at
Quan Tru Primary School. The unsuitable methods and techniques coupled with the
wrong focus on teaching language elements for high test scores lead to students‟
low level of motivation and their underdeveloped English speaking and listening
skills. A video camera was used to record three third-grade English lessons, and

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then an evaluation of the students‟ speaking and listening abilities was made. The

criteria for evaluating each student‟s speaking and listening abilities in English
lessons include pronunciation, vocabulary, accuracy, fluency, communication and
interaction and mentioned listening skills. There are standard tasks to evaluate
student‟s speaking and listening abilities in 3 English classes for third-graders.
- Designing strategies for improvement (plan for action): plan lessons to try out the
use of stories and dramas in English teaching to motivate Quan Tru third-grade
students to learn English and to improve their English speaking and listening skills.
Stage 2: Acting
- Trying out the techniques of using stories and drama in English lessons and
making records of what happened in class.
Stage 3: Observing
- Three volunteer teachers were asked to observe a lesson after the trying-out stage
that illustrated the changes in Quan Tru third-grade students‟ English speaking and
listening skills.
- The results of class observation ware used to evaluate the success of the action on
using stories and dramas to teach English to third-graders at Quan Tru Primary
school.
Stage 4: Evaluation
- A questionnaire survey was carried out to get information from students on the
extent to which the use of stories and drama has helped improve their English
speaking and listening skills. The 4 questions in the questionnaire were designed in
Vietnamese for thorough understanding and translated into English by an
experience translator.
- From the surveys, conclusion and commendations were made.
1.5.2. Participants
The participants of the research were 80 third - grade students and 10 teachers of
Quan Tru Primary School. The research was carried out during the second term of
the academic year 2011-2012 at Quan Tru Primary School.

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1.5.3. Procedures
- At the beginning of second term of the academic year 2011-2012, three third-
grade English lessons from 3 classes with 80 students were recorded with a video
camera, then an evaluation of the students‟ speaking and listening abilities (80
students) was made. The criteria for evaluating each student‟s speaking and
listening abilities in English lessons include pronunciation, vocabulary, accuracy,
fluency, communication and interaction and listening skills. There are standard
tasks to evaluate student‟s speaking and listening abilities in 3 English classes for
third-graders.
- A consultation with 10 teachers and a student pre-trying-out questionnaire survey
were conducted to find out the causes of students low English speaking and
listening skills as well as their attitudes towards the use of stories and dramas in
teaching English.
- The researcher planned lessons to try out the use of stories and dramas in English
teaching to motivate Quan Tru third-grade students to learn English and to
improve their English speaking and listening skills.
- The researcher tried out the techniques of using stories and drama in English
lessons and making records of what happened in 3 classes with 80 students in her
journals.
- Three volunteer teachers were asked to observe lessons in the three classes after
the trying-out stage that illustrated the changes in Quan Tru third-grade students‟
English speaking and listening skills;
- The results of class observation were used to evaluate the success of the action on
using stories and dramas to teach English to third-graders at Quan Tru Primary
school.
- A post-trying-out questionnaire survey was carried out to get information from
the 80 students on the extent to which the use of stories and drama has helped
improve their English speaking and listening skills. The 5 questions in the

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questionnaire were designed in Vietnamese to ensure students understanding and
truthful answers then translated into English by an experience translator.
- Data from teacher/student questionnaires, class observations, and teacher journals
were analyzed quantitatively for descriptive statistics and qualitatively for tendency
towards the two themes represented in the two research questions.
- Then writing up was made to complete the research























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CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF THE
RESEARCH
2.1. Teaching English to primary-school students
2.1.1. Typical characteristics of young learners
Young learners are physically active. As Pauncz (1980) points out, it is
children‟s nature to fidget, jump, talk, and interrupt. The teacher should provide
activities which allow the child‟s body to be in motion. However, their need to
move is often ignored in the primary classroom because Vietnamese teachers often
consider this a discipline problem. They always expect their students to learn in nice
way which means their students have to keep silent every time during the lesson. If
someone move, talk or interrupt, they are considered not to obey the classroom‟s
rules and will be punished. This happens even in foreign language classes in almost
all primary schools in Vietnam. As argued by Brumfit et al. (1991), young learners
need physical movement and activity as stimulation for their thinking, and the
closer together these can be, the better. Children need to use language for making or
doing things. By doing so, they are able to fix the linguistic input and situations in
the long-term memory and strengthen recall. Thus, it is necessary to take suggestion
for English teachers of young learners – we should fill our lessons with physical
activity, such as having students act out things , play games, or do Total Physical
Response activities”
Children are also social beings and interaction with peers and adults is
crucial to their learning. Contrary to traditional instruction featuring
competitiveness, independent work and passive listening, cooperative learning is a
matter of “sinking or swimming together.” It is “positive interdependence,”
according to Johnson et al.(1994:27), which links students together “in a way that
makes it impossible for anyone to succeed unless the entire group succeeds”.
Therefore, each individual in the group should actively contribute their knowledge
to the assigned task and actually get down to doing something. The concrete
collaborative experiences and active experimentation can then feed into the young

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learners‟ transformation of abstract language concepts into their frame of reference.
However, the benefits of cooperative learning cannot be reaped without deliberate
efforts made by both the children and teacher. Teachers may encounter difficulties
in keeping young children on-task when having them carry out cooperative work. It
is imperative to take into account the need for frameworks, scaffolding, and interim
goals so as to keep them engaged.
The child is generally considered to be motivated to learn a second language
with less inhibition and anxiety. Terrell describes, “children acquire their first
language and a second language in order to identify and be a member of the group
that speaks that language" and "this strong motivation for identification or
assimilation forces them to attend to the input very carefully. For young learners, to
enjoy means to have fun,, which is an indispensable factor to enhance children‟s
effective learning. It is often argued that children have short attention span but
Brown (2001) reminds us that only when children have to deal with material that
they find boring, useless, or too difficult will short attention come into play.
Fun activities motivate pupils and keep them focused while it is easy to
overlook the care teachers should take “about exactly what the children are
absorbed in” (Rixon, 1995, p. 33). Although drama is generally considered among
the range of fun activities, as far as language learning is concerned, it takes more
than playful activities which merely entertain the child without language pay-off
and learning benefits. The teacher needs to have a thorough understanding about
how drama can be a means for promoting children‟s language learning and integrate
drama games and techniques into teaching with sufficient rigour.
In order to teach English effectively to primary students, the teachers have to
know and use suitable methods, techniques, materials and activities to suit their
young learners‟ characteristics. The use of stories and drama may be one of the
suitable teaching methods and techniques which can develop young learners‟
characteristics and help them have better learning based on those characteristics.
2.1.2. Models of teaching English to primary-school students

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It is a big and very important question and should be carefully considered by
all teachers and methodologists. Brumfit and Moon (1991:8) point out that there is
not a straightforward answer to this key question. There are two main models of
classroom practice:
the classical EFL practice model on the one hand and the mainstream primary
practice model on the other. The classical EFL practice model is characterized
by a presentation and practice model, developed largely with adults and
focusing on questions of language and communication. On the other hand,
mainstream primary practice “embodies a less structured conception of
language, more appropriate to the educational needs of children, which
focuses on questions of curriculum content and cognitive development.” (Ellis
and Brewster, 1991:8)

2.2. Child development through the use of stories and drama in English lessons
We all know that the National Foreign Language 2020 Project demands
primary students‟ comprehensive development. Ellis and Brewster (1991) also have
given various arguments for the impacts of stories and drama in teaching English to
young learners, highlighting the benefits which accrue in terms of the child‟s
physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development. However, the fact that
many parents and English teachers just focus on the cognitive aspects of their
child's development when teaching them English is clear, and other aspects of the
child‟s development including physical, emotional and social development which
are also vitally important to your child's growth are often overlooked. In this
section, the author is going to take the impact of stories and drama in consideration
on the child‟s comprehensive development.

2.2.1. Cognitive development

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This area of development includes language skills, creativity, discovery,
symbolic thought, problem-solving skills, and reasoning. Cognitive development
also involves the ability to focus and control behaviour.
Firstly, it is clear that events that happen in both stories and drama are
playful. People may meet giants, escape from hungry lions, fall in love, get lost,
angry, hurt or even die, but everybody knows that in the story or drama this is only
„pretend‟, and that these things don‟t really happen. Even very young children
quickly learn to distinguish between the conventions and boundaries of stories and
drama on the one hand, and real, everyday life on the other. As well as being
fascinating and pleasurable for children, exploring the differences between stories,
drama and real life develops their potential for creativity and imagination in a
similar way to when they are engaged in play.
Secondly, short stories and drama allow teachers to teach the four skills to all
levels of language proficiency, thus develop the child‟s cognitive aspects. Drama
offers an excellent opportunity for students to develop fluency in English. Drama is
concerned with both the product (the performance) and the process of language
learning. Murdoch (2002: 9) indicates that “short stories and drama can, if selected
and exploited appropriately, provide quality text content which will greatly enhance
ELT courses for learners at all levels of proficiency”.
2.2.1.1. Reading
Short stories and drama are very useful to improve students‟ vocabulary and
reading. The results of Lao and Krashen‟s (2000) study which compared the reading
achievement between a group of students that read literary texts and a second group
that read non-literary texts revealed that the group who read literary texts made
better improvement in vocabulary and reading.
Young learners of a foreign language need more visual and aural assistance
in order to understand a text. Byron (1986) observes that young learners in general

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are “stronger at reading action, or words-embedded-in-action, than they are at
reading words alone”. Images, both still and moving, play an influential part in
children‟s perception of meaning. Acknowledging the importance of the visual in
children‟s lives and the increasing use of multi-modal texts in today‟s technological
world, drama makes the literary world more accessible for children because it
permits them to turn the abstract written words into concrete images and to
construct meaning from the text based on collective experience. To Neelands
(2004), “drama provides pupils with an immediate and physical means of getting to
grips with texts and textual representation”. Through drama, children enter a
fictional world created by the writer‟s descriptions, taking on roles to be in the
character‟s shoe. This emotional engagement can motivate them to keep on reading
and their participation in drama activities, furthermore, brings life into the written
text, which is no longer dull and featureless print on paper. The teacher can use
many drama activities like hot-seating, thought tracking, interviews, interrogations,
or acting.
2.2.1.2. Writing
Short stories and drama can be a powerful and motivating source for writing in
foreign language classes. Through stories and drama, children link together the
“there and then” in stories and the world of “here and now,” building up their
understanding upon their experience in drama, which “can bring vividness and an
authentic voice” to their writing. The role of drama in children‟s writing
development is made clear in the following figure:
Purposeful
contexts
created
Fictional
roles
engaged with
Fictional
viewpoints

established
Reasons for writing emerge
within the imagined experience



Figure: Writing through drama (Baldwin & Fleming, 2003:21)
New writing demands
tackled in role
Writing development

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Different drama conventions can act as catalysts for varied forms of writing.
In her article, Grainger (2004:96-103) suggests a list of drama activities which
naturally generate different kinds of genres. Freeze frames, for instance, lead to
narrative writing. Thought tracking supports writing in the reflective mode such as
diary or letter writing. Questions and answers in hot seating have the potential to
prompt news articles or magazine interviews. Formal meetings in court and public
events can be turned into the raw materials for meeting minutes, official records or
posters. Research has shown that discussion method in a more traditional classroom
is less effective in improving children‟s writing skills. Talk in the drama world, on
the contrary, is an interplay of each pupil‟s background knowledge and social
interactions, which can serve as oral rehearsal for writing
2.2.1.3. Speaking and listening
Besides, short stories and drama can also be a powerful and motivating
source for teaching both speaking and listening. “Listening to stories helps children
become aware of the rhythm, intonation and pronunciation of language”. (Ellis and
Brewster, 2002:2) Oral reading, dramatization, improvisation, role-playing,
reenactment, and discussion are some effective learning activities which English
classes can use for enhancing these two skills. Asking students to read stories aloud

can develop their speaking as well as listening skills.
To develop listening skill using a short story, teachers can do the activities
such as asking the learners to read the story out loud so students have the
opportunity to listen to a native speaker of English or playing the story if a
recording is available.
Drama can also develop primary students‟ speaking and listening skills.
Baldwin and Fleming (2003:18) put it clearly that “children are required by the
drama to use language, which is appropriate to both role and situation, including
different models of speech and registers”. Corden (2000:136) argues that certain

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types of teacher talk can generate “more extensive and educationally productive
responses from children”. He suggests that teachers should initiate through
challenging, directing, inquiring, inviting, stating, suggesting, modelling, and
listening. Aside from that, they should provide feedback by praising, encouraging
exploration, orienting, helping children to reflect, offering hypotheses, providing
information, relating to own experience, relating to the child‟s experience, seeking
clarification, and urging amplification.
For those teachers who have applied drama into their teaching, all these
strategies for encouraging exploratory talk may sound familiar because they are
commonly used skills for sustaining a make-believe world. Drama also draws the
class together “in listening, thinking, and building the event with speculation and
anticipation as they look for clues to the emerging dramatic world in which they
participate” (Liu, 2002:68). Since the fictional world is constructed through mutual
participation, it gives students a sense of ownership toward the activity which
engages them in making verbal contribution to keep the drama going and extend its
scope and depth. In a well-designed dramatic situation constituted with conflicts
and roles, the learners‟ need for communication tends to overcome their fear of
inadequacy of language so that they are able to make the best use of the language
skills they already possess (Somers, 1994:139). The above discussion clearly shows

why drama is seen as a suitable way to increase opportunities for pupils‟ oracy
development.
2.2.1.4. Teaching nonverbal communication
Some previous researches has shown that English learners use less body
language in more traditional classroom activities such as answering teacher-led
questions or drill-like exercises. With only two 40-minute classes each week, they
often have to work under the pressure of catching up with the teaching schedule. As
a result, non-verbal activities which do not seem to generate too much language
tend to be excluded from the teaching plans. Stories and drama can be one of the
most suitable ways to help children to speak with more confidence, with better

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articulation and resonance including quality and volume and learn how to use voice
to convey different emotions (inflexion, tone/pitch and intonation). Almond
(2005:64) suggests that learners are able to practice the broader aspects of
communication in stories and drama, such as “gesture and gesticulation, facial
expression, eye contact and eye movement, posture and movement, proxemics, and
prosody”, which may assist them to become a better communicator.
2.2.2. Physical development
Physical development is by far the easiest area of development to measure
and track. It includes many aspects of health and well-being. Hand-eye
coordination, sensory development, control of physical actions, motor skills, dietary
habits, and hygiene all figure into healthy physical development. The activities of
stories and drama facilitate young learners‟ body movements – they can move,
jump, jog, hop or clap hands, wave hands. Contrary to some other traditional
lessons in which the young learners have to silently stick in their seats and listen or
write, the lessons using stories and drama help the students actively learn English
through a lot physical activities As a result, all these activities can promote the
students‟ physical development
2.2.3. Social development

Another aspect in the child‟s development process which we need to pay
attention to is social development. As children learn to play in larger and larger
groups, they begin to learn about appropriate behaviors within certain contexts.
Learning to interact with peers and authority figures is critical to successful
development as well as enabling children to function well in society.
Social development leads to growth in different areas, both in and out of the home.
 Developing interaction with peers and other people
 Expanding interactive environment
 Family unity, awareness and bonding
 Communication/language enhanced.

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The use of stories and drama can positively affect the child‟s social development
in several ways. Children often work in groups or pairs when dramatizing. Children
have to make decisions as a group, listen to each other, and value each other‟s
suggestions. They have to cooperate to achieve their aims, find ways of setting their
differences, and use the strength of each member of the group. These things will
help the students build up their team-work competency. In the twenty-first century,
it is team-work competence that makes people succeed; therefore, the use of stories
and drama in English lessons is considered a suitable and intelligent way to enhance
the child‟s social development.
2.2.4. Emotional development
While emotional development can be difficult to measure, it provides the
foundation for mental health and well-being. This includes feelings of happiness,
feelings of power over the environment, emotional awareness, emotional strength
and stability. Emotional development also includes spontaneity, humor, feeling
about self and sensitivity to others.
Emotional development can be observed in several areas such as.
 Self esteem/confidence/self motivation
 Positive attitude

 Temperament control
 Independence.
In The Storytelling Handbook (Ellis and Brewster, 1991) state that stories are
motivating and fun; they create a deep interest and a desire to continue learning.
Besides, listening to stories is a shared social experience; it provokes a shared
response of laughter, sadness, excitement and anticipation. Using stories and drama
in the young learner classroom gives children who are shy when speaking a foreign
language a character to “hide behind” and express their thoughts, feelings through

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various activities such as thought-tracking, puppet, drawing and so on.
2.3. Typical activities in English lessons using stories and drama
2.3.1. Finger puppet
Puppets are colorful and enjoyable way to present new language in the
language classroom. They have their “power to hold and sustain the attention of a
class” (McCaslin: 2005) and they are safe vehicles for expressing ideas and
feelings. Researches have shown that pupets can foster children‟s language
development and our language teachers can benefit from using puppets in the
classroom. They are viewed as a very versatile resourse and teaching aids in the
young learners‟ classroom. “Children use language while making them, often
respond to puppets more readily than to the teachers, and are usually enthusiastic
about manipulating them. The process of making a puppet is a rewarding craft
activity itself and the end product, the puppet, plays a key role in a subsequent
activity” (Philips:1999)
2.3.2. Character description
This activity can bring the young learners a detailed view on all the
characters in the stories and drama. The teachers give them a lot questions about the
characters‟ physical appearances, personality, routines to make young learners
brainstorm about. This activity can be conducted as pre-storytelling activity.
2.3.3. Picture book drawing

Picture books always attract young learners and have made good motivation
to their language learning. Picture book drawing activity helps young learners
represent ideas and develop their creative expressions. For children with lower
levels of English proficiency, drawing made it possible for them to go beyond their
limited vocabulary and they can express themselves in visual ways. Drawing can
bring visual quality to learning and facilitate their comprehension cognitive
development. Wilhelm (1997) points out “the word is a symbol that evokes an icon,
or concrete image. If the word doesn‟t evoke a picture, no meaning has been made”
2.3.4. Group acting

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This group-work activity can assess young learners‟ performance and co-
operation competence. The children have time to act together and they will perform
their working result in the ways they like. This activity help young learners develop
their team-work skills and linguistic skills effectively because they have to observe,
listen and respond logically to conform to other learners‟ performance.
2.3.5. Letter writing
Letter writing is a popular activity in the language classroom as it allows
children to produce short, meaningful written work (Scott & Ytreberg, 1990). The
students are given opportunities to write letters in different roles. This activity can
stimulate children‟s ability to imagine and use the target language to express what‟s
in their minds. This activity can also connect their experiences that they have gained
through stories and drama to their real lives.
2.3.6. Miming
Mime is “the art of conveying ideas without words” (McCaslin: 2005). To
represent ideas or feelings, facial expressions, hand gestures, and body movements
are used silently instead. It is a form of visual representantion. Mime challenges
students to convey meaning in unusual ways without words. It helps them learn
about communication and in particular body language. The children will feel
comfortable about communicating through mime. The value of incorporating non-

verbal episodes such as mimes in the second language classroom has also been
underscored by Kao and O‟Neill (1998) “working in mime releases students from
the constraints of language. In other words, mime is an alternative for learners at
low competence levels to express their thoughts with their body and not in the
language that they are yet comfortable with”
2.3.7. Role play – Teacher in role
Role-play is any speaking activity when you either put yourself into
somebody else's shoes, or when you stay in your own shoes but put yourself into an
imaginary situation. The joy of role-play is that students can 'become' anyone they
like for a short time such as The President, the Queen, a millionaire, a pop star.

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Students can also take on the opinions of someone else. 'For and Against' debates
can be used and the class can be split into those who are expressing views in favor
and those who are against the theme.
Functional language for a multitude of scenarios can be activated and
practiced through role-play. 'At the restaurant', 'Checking in at the airport', 'Looking
for lost property' are all possible role-plays.
2.3.8. Hot seating
A character is questioned by the group about his or her background, behavior
and motivation. The method may be used for developing a role in the drama lesson
or rehearsals, or analyzing a play post-performance. Even done without preparation,
it is an excellent way of fleshing out a character. Characters may be hot-seated
individually, in pairs or small groups. The technique is additionally useful for
developing questioning skills with the rest of the group.
The traditional approach is for the pupil playing the character to sit on a chair
in front of the group (arranged in a semi-circle), although characters may be hot-
seated in pairs or groups. It is helpful if the teacher takes on the role of facilitator to
guide the questioning in constructive directions. To help students begin you can try
hot-seating children in pairs or in groups

2.3.9. Thought-tracking
A group makes a still image and individuals are invited to speak their
thoughts or feelings aloud - just a few words. This can be done by tapping each
person on the shoulder or holding a cardboard 'thought-bubble' above their head.
Alternatively, thought tracking (also called thought tapping) can involve other
members of the class speaking one character's thoughts aloud for them.
In conclusion, the literature reviewed in this chapter on the typical
characteristics of young learners, on the benefits of and typical activities for using
stories and drama in teaching English has based the theoretical framework for the
current study detailed in the next chapter.

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CHAPTER III - THE STUDY
3.1. Research questions and design
The study set out to find answers to the two following questions:
1. What are the attitudes of Quan Tru third-grade students and teachers
towards the use of stories and drama in English lessons?
2. How can the use of stories and drama in teaching English enhance Quan
Tru third-grade students’ English speaking and listening skills?
The methodological approach was action research using mixed methods for data
collection.
The action research consisted of four main stages (Planning, Acting, Observing
and Evaluation) which are detailed below.
3.2. Planning stage
STEP 1: IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM
3.2.1. The problem
The action research was carried out to solve the following problem: the
third-grade students at Quan Tru Primary School have low level of English
speaking and listening skills, an evidence of the low quality of English teaching -

learning due to unsuitable methods and techniques used by teachers of English at
Quan Tru Primary School
3.2.2. Observing a lesson that illustrated the problem
A video camera was used to record three third-grade English lessons,
evaluation of the students‟ speaking and listening abilities was made and a survey
was conducted to find out the reasons that make the students have low speaking and
listening skills. Through the survey, the students‟ attitudes toward using stories and
drama in English lessons were found out.
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE EVALUATION
1. Total number of students evaluated: 80 (3 classes)
2. Textbook: Let’s learn 1

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3. Evaluating the student’s English speaking abilities
The criteria for evaluating each student‟s speaking abilities in English lessons
include pronunciation, vocabulary, accuracy, fluency, communication and
interaction. There are standard tasks to evaluate student‟s speaking abilities in 3
English classes for third-graders.
Part 1 : The students have to identify people, animals and things in different
pictures by pointing in response to questions:
Where’s the cat? Where are the pencils?
Part 2 : The students have to practice placing smaller pictures in different positions
on a larger picture in response to instructions such as:
Put the hat next to the dog Put the cat between the chair and the ball.
Part 3 : The students have to practice listening to and answering (with one-word
answers) simple questions about a picture.
What’s this? (house)
What color is it? (green)
How many pens are there? (five)
What pets have you got? (cats)

Parts 4 and 5 : The students have to give basic information about themselves and
can understand and answer questions:
What’s your name?
How old are you?
Have you got any pets?
Is your house big or small?
4. Evaluating the student’s English listening abilities
The criteria of evaluating each student‟s listening abilities in English lessons include:
Part
Main skill focus
Input
Expected response/item type
1
Listening for names and
descriptions
Picture, names and
dialogue
Draw lines to match names to
people in a picture
2
Listening for names,
spellings and other
information
Form or page of
notepad with missing
words and dialogue
Write words or numbers in
gaps
3
Listening for specific

Pictures, pets and
Draw lines from pets to correct