Primary students’ motivation in learning English A case study at Nhan Phuc Primary School = Động lực học Tiếng Anh của học sinh Tiểu học Nghiên cứu cụ thể tại t

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


NGUYỄN THỊ HOA


PRIMARY STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN
LEARNING ENGLISH: A CASE STUDY AT
NHAN PHUC PRIMARY SCHOOL
ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC:
NGHIÊN CỨU CỤ THỂ TẠI TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC NHÂN PHÚC

M.A. Minor Programme Thesis


Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code : 601410


Hanoi - 2013

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


NGUYỄN THỊ HOA

PRIMARY STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN
LEARNING ENGLISH: A CASE STUDY AT
NHAN PHUC PRIMARY SCHOOL
ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC:
NGHIÊN CỨU CỤ THỂ TẠI TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC NHÂN PHÚC

M.A. Minor Programme Thesis

Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code : 601410
Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vo Dai Quang



Hanoi- 2013
i

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled
“Primary students’ motivation in learning English: A case study at Nhan Phuc
Primary School” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
of MA in English Linguistics.
Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used
without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis.

Hanoi, 2013

Nguyen Thi Hoa

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a
number of people.

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Vo Dai Quang, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me
through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and
suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic
researcher.

A special word of thanks goes to my lecturers, my friends, my classmates, my
colleagues, my students and many others, without whose support and
encouragement it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis
accomplished.

Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for the sacrifice they have
devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work.







iii

ABSTRACT
The research in this minor thesis is carried out to investigate students’ motivation at
Nhan Phuc Primary School. By employing questionnaires and semi-structured
interviews as research data collection, the study found out that the young learners at
Nhan Phuc Primary School have tendency towards intrinsic motivation in learning
English. Also, the researcher explored three main factors affecting the students’
motivation, namely students’ self interest, caregivers’ encouragement and anxiety.
In this study, motivational strategies also were discussed.
In short, it is hoped that this thesis will help to improve the teaching and studying of
English at Nhan Phuc Primary School as well as pave the way for future studies in
the field of young students’ motivation in English learning.

iv


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Certificate of originality of study project report i
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iii
Table of contents iv
List of abbreviations vii
Tables and figures viii
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale for the study 1
2. Aims and objectives of the research 2
3. Scope of the research 3
4. Significance of the research 3
5. Structural organization of the thesis 4
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
1.1. Review of previous studies related to the research area of the thesis 5
1.2. Theoritical background 9
1.2.1. Motivation in language learning 9
1.2.2. How children learn foreign languages? 10
1.2.3. Teaching English to children 13
1.3. Summary 9
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15

2.1. Research - governing orientations 15
2.1.1. Research questions 15
2.1.2. Research setting 16
2.1.3. Research approach 17
2.2. Research methods 18
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2.2.1. Major methods 15
2.2.2. Data collection techniques 16
2.2.3. Data analysis techniques 17
2.3. Summary 19
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 24
3.1. Primary students’ motivation in learning English in the context of
Nhan Phuc Primary School 24
3.2. Factors affecting student’s motivation in learning English in the
context of Nhan Phuc Primary
School
3.3. Techniques for motivating students at Nhan Phuc Primary
School
PART C: CONCLUSION 36
(i) Recapitulation 36
(ii) Concluding remarks on each of the thesis objectives 36
(iii) Limitations of the current research 37
(iv) Recommendations 38
(v) Suggestions for future research 39

REFERENCES 40
APPENDICES 41
Appendix A:Questionnaire 1 42
Appendix B: Questionnaire 2 44

Appendix C: Interview questions 46




vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CEFR
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:
Learning, Teaching, Assessment
EFL
English as a Foreign Language
SLA
Second Language Acquisition

vii


TABLES AND FIGURES
Table 1. Population of informants for the study 20
Table 2. Students’ responses to 15 questionnaire items 30
Table 3. Students’ preference of motivational strategies 33
Table 4. Students’ expectation of teacher’s motivational strategies 34
Table 5. Preferred techniques ranked by students 35
Figure 1. Students' opinions whether they like learning English or not 24
Figure 2. Students' interest in English learning 24
Figure 3. Students’ reasons for studying English 25
Figure 4. Students' awareness of their own language competence 27
Figure 5. Summary of students' motivation patterns at Nhan Phuc Primary School . 27
Figure 6. Factors affecting students' motivation at Nhan Phuc Primary School 32

1

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale for the study

Perhaps, there has been a “global revolution” of learning and teaching English at
primary schools nowadays. The term “global revolution” may appear something of
an over-statement, but actually the teaching of English has become especially
important in recent years. The trend towards an early start in learning English turns
out to be a worldwide phenomenon. The number of countries now introducing
English at primary levels has been increasing, including Viet Nam. It is expected
that English soon will be compulsory from grade 3 in every part of Viet Nam,
though the policy has been implemented in many provinces of the country. Viet
Nam has been taking a lot of important actions in an ambitious education reform so
that by the year 2020 all students will reach B1 level adopting CEFR standard after
leaving high schools. The Ministry of Education and Training is taking a phased
approach in which primary English language teaching plays a very important role.
Although it has long been believed that children can learn a second language more
quickly and efficiently than adults, in fact, there is no clear evidence for this belief.
Obviously, children’s language acquisition and adults’ differ from each other quite
a lot in terms of physiological characteristics, cognitive ability, span of attention,
faculty of memory, self-consciousness, linguistic capacities, learning style,
motivation for studying and so on. Because of learner difference and learning
context difference, a varied view on motivation in language learning should be
taken by researchers and teachers in order to devise suitable teaching styles that can
both enhance language learning and facilitate the achievement of education goals.
Numerous studies have been carried out to investigate motivation, which is
considered to be one of the most important elements in language learning, however
limited research has been done to thoroughly evaluate children’s motivation.
2

Working as a primary English teacher for nearly three years in a village in Ha Nam
made me think about the topics “teaching English to children” and “student
motivation” a bit deeper than I probably would. When I first started to work with
young learners, it raised fears and questions in my mind as well. For example:

“Whether children like to learn English or not?” “How can I inspire them?” “What
strategies should be used to fit children’s characteristics?” “What should be done to
motivate young learners?” While much attention has been devoted to English
teacher education and student motivation at high schools and secondary schools, a
little has been paid specifically to children’s motivation in learning English in Viet
Nam. Besides, many children living in the countryside generally, in my region
particularly are often provided with limited facilities in learning a foreign language.
In other words, these young learners will have to deal with more obstacles in
acquiring a foreign language rather than those living in a city. As such, both
teaching and learning English at a primary school in a village would create potential
dilemmas. The current context inspires me to study the issue of young learners’
motivation in English in rural regions so that I could understand the motives
underlying my pupils’ learning process and I myself can better the teaching
methods to help them have a foundation of English at their early stage of learning.
At the same time, I hope that other teachers who encounter the similar teaching
contexts may have some suggestions to improve their own situation.
2. Aims and objectives of the research
The study aims at understanding young learners’ motivation in English learning so
that appropriate teaching techniques would be applied to offer them opportunities
for absorbing a new language easily. In order to achieve this aim, the research has to
fulfill the specific objectives below:


3

- Identifying children’s motivation in learning English at Nhan Phuc
Primary School
- Exploring the factors affecting young learners’ motivation in the
context of Nhan Phuc Primary School
- Suggesting motivational strategies for teaching English at Nhan Phuc

Primary School
3. Scope of the research
Due to time constraint, the length of the thesis and the researcher’s knowledge, this
study only focused on students’ motivation in English learning at one primary
school in Ha Nam, where the researcher has been working for nearly three years.
Based on the general profile of motivation of primary students at Nhan Phuc
Primary School, some recommendations are given to teachers who face the same
teaching context so that they can sharpen their pedagogical to some extent.

4. Significance of the research
This study would be very helpful in explaining why young learners are interested in
learning English. Although the research is conducted in one primary school in Ha
Nam, it is believed to be an attempt to look into the matter of primary students’
motivation in learning English in Viet Nam generally. The result of the study will
be of some contribution to inspire primary English teachers to conduct more
interesting and effective lessons based on their students’ interest. The researcher
hopes that insights into this area will help to address the matter of motivation in
other primary schools. In addition, this study may be of useful suggestions to
enhance primary language teachers’ professional skills in Ha Nam and other
provinces throughout the country.


4

5. Structural organization of the thesis
The thesis is divided into three parts: the introduction, the development and the
conclusion.
Part A is the introduction which reveals the rationale, the aims and objectives of the
study, the scope of the study, the significance and the structure of the research.
Part B includes three chapters.

Chapter I discusses the theoretical background and previous studies relevant to the
study. It is an attempt to review the literature of motivation in foreign language
learning, how children learn foreign languages and teaching English to children.
Chapter II discusses the research-governing principals and research methods. This
section covers the research questions, the research setting, the approach adopted,
and the methods of collecting data, the data collection techniques, and data analysis
techniques.
Chapter III deals with findings and discussion of the study. It shows the detailed
results of the surveys and covers a comprehensive analysis on the data collected
from questionnaires and interviews.
Part C is the conclusion which summarizes the study with suggestions for further
research. This part also includes concluding marks, implications and limitations of
the study.





5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Review of previous studies related to the research area of the thesis
In this section, I would like to review the research entitled “Motivation for Learning
English as a Foreign Language in Japanese Elementary Schools” by Junko
Matsuzaki Carreira who is now working as a PhD candidate at Tsuda College,
Tokyo. Her research was published in JALT Journal, Vol. 28, No. 2, November,
2006 (JALT Journal is the research journal of Japan Association for Language
Teaching). In this study, she explored the factors underlying Japanese pupils’
motivation for learning EFL. The research was conducted on 345 Japanese pupils in

which 174 are at third grade and the rest are at sixth grade. The study revealed that
five factors affecting primary students in Japan were interest in foreign countries,
intrinsic motivation, caregivers’ encouragement, instrumental motivation and
anxiety. The result of the study demonstrated that there was a developmental
decrease in motivation for learning EFL, regarding the age factor. Despite of its
limitation, this study made a contribution towards understanding Japanese young
learners’ motivation in learning EFL generally. She also implied the improvement
of teaching methods for higher grades should be done. The author left room for
more investigation of cognitive, linguistic development, strategies and social
cultural factors in the future.
It is worth noticing that in her research, the author stressed the importance of
research into children’s motivation for learning foreign languages because the
results from studies on adults’ motivation cannot be applicable in the case of young
learners. The fact calls for a thorough research on children’s learning motivation.
She reported several important researches done by Masgoret, Bernaus, and Garner
(2001) and Nikolov (1999). According to Masgoret et al. (2001) there was “no clear
indication of independent cluster reflecting Integrativeness, Attitude towards the
6

Learning Situation, Motivation, or Language Anxiety.” Nikolov who studied a
group of children in Hungary remarked that external reasons for learning English
could be found in 8-to-11 year old rather than 6-to-8 year old children. Moreover,
the oldest of the group (11-to-14 years old) proved to be more practical than the
rest.
Although the findings from the mentioned studies cannot be applied to the context
of primary teaching and learning English in Vietnam, they serve as helpful sources
for an overall picture of children’s learning motivation generally. As a researcher, I
find these researches a big help for me to get deeper background knowledge about
the topic “motivation” in order to conduct a study on young learners’ motivation in
learning English in my own teaching context.

1.2. Theoretical background
1.2.1. Motivation in language learning
1.2.1.1. What is motivation?
Motivation is an important factor in second and foreign language learning. Success
and failure in language learning seems to largely rely on the learners’ motivation to
learn the target language. From the Latin verb “movere” meaning to move,
motivation is a process that starts with a need and leads to a behavior that moves an
individual towards achieving a goal (Menledy, 2008). Guay et al, (2010: 712) refers
motivation as “the reasons underlying behaviors”. In other words, Bredler ,
Broussard and Garrison (2004: 106) broadly define motivation as “the attribute that
moves us to do or not to do something”. In discussion of this term, Richards and
Schmidt (2002: 243) considers motivation as “the driving force in any situation that
leads to actions”. Pintrich and Schunk, (2002: 5) offers the view that “motivation as
the process whereby goal-directed activity is instigated and sustained”. According
to Dornyei (2001), there are two key factors relating to one’s motivation, namely
7

“individual expectations of success” and “the value individuals put on success”. If
both factors bring someone positive feelings, he/ she will be highly motivated. By
contrast, missing one of these factors will result in individuals’ low degree of
motivation. He sees motivation as embracing static and process-oriented
conceptualizations (Dornyei, 2001: 126). Motivation in language learning then is
not only an intensive need for learning but also an inner cause that makes students
involved in their learning process with enthusiasm and willingness. Gardner’s
definition emphasizes the element of pleasure perceived by learners as he defines
language motivation as “the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of
learning the language plus favorable attitudes towards learning the language”
(Gardner, 1985: 10). Among many definitions, I prefer the one proposed by Keller
(1983: 389), in which he explains motivation as “the choices people make as to
what experiences or goals they will approach or avoid and the degree of effort they

will exert in that respect”. It might not be the most perfect definition of motivation,
however, to my viewpoint; the author covers the term with a wide range of relating
items.
In the study of motivation, other terms such as orientation, attitude commonly
arise, causing confusion to readers. These terms are distinguished with motivation
as the following. According to Belmechri and Hummel (1998:238) “orientations
are related to motivation” and “they function as predictors of motivation”. In
foreign language learning, orientation is a tendency, which sustains learners’
motivation to learn the language, but may not necessary lead to effort in acquiring
the goal of the learning process. It differs from motivation in term that orientation
excludes the activity or effort in learning the target language. There are many
understandings of “attitude” resulting from different perspectives. Gardner (1985:
8) defines attitude as “an evaluative response” to some referent or attitude object,
inferred on the basic of the individual’s beliefs or opinions about the referent”.
Wenden (1991) noted that there have been many ways of expressing the nature of
attitude which share three characteristics of attitude:
8

a. Attitude always have an object.
b. They are evaluative.
c. They predispose to certain actions.
In foreign language learning, attitude is an evaluative response based on learners’
beliefs and thinking about language learning that predisposes learning behaviors
while orientation does not maintain the effort in language learning.
The concept of motivation itself involves too many factors and contexts and is “too
complex and multifaceted” (Dornyei, 1998: 117), so these above definitions add to
the understanding of the motivation nature. It would be unwise to try to seek the
most satisfying definition among them. Generally speaking, when educators discuss
student motivation, they usually mention the same concept: motivation known as
the combination of desire and attempt to perform some activity and achieve a goal.

In addition, motivation has close relation with such factors as self-confidence,
anxiety and perceived competence.
1.2.1.2. Types of motivation
There are many types of motivation that contribute substantially to the learning
process. The most well-known types are discussed in this section.
1.2.1.2.1. Intrinsic motivation
Paul Eggen & Don Kauchak (1994: 428) suggest that such behaviors as curiosity,
the need to know, and feelings of competence or growth reveal a learner’s intrinsic
motivation, the needs that exist within the learner. Paraphrasing if someone works
without asking for some external value, just because of an inner desire to
accomplish a task successfully, he/she has an intrinsic motivation to do the task.
Intrinsically motivated students are willing to learn the language in the purpose of
fulfilling of their curiosity, the need to know and feeling of competence. They also
enjoy the learning process for their interest, not praise or rewards. Challenging tasks
are often attractive to them. Learners’ autonomy can be the root of their intrinsic
9

motivation as they make their own choice of what, how and why to learn. Sharing
the same point, Ellis (1997: 76) said that learners’ intrinsic motivation “involves the
arousal and maintenance of curiosity and can ebb and flow as a result of such
factors as learners’ particular interests and the extent to which they feel personally
involves in learning activities”.
Three types of intrinsic motivation are classified by Vallerand (1997) as follow:
- Intrinsic motivation that refers to involvement in an activity for
pleasure, satisfying one’s curiosity to learn.
- Intrinsic motivation for achievement where the learner engages in an
activity for suppressing or accomplishing something.
- Intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation that refers to the
learner’s engagement in an activity to experience pleasant sensation.
1.2.1.2.2. Extrinsic motivation

The distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is one of the most general
and well-known in psychological motivational theory (Dornyei, 2001). In contrast
to intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation is “a construct that is involved
whenever an activity is done in order to attain some separable outcome” (Ryan &
Deci, 2000: 7). It is referred as an outward force in the form of expectation, praise
and rewards stimulating students’ interest in learning. Cheryl L. Spaulding (1992:4)
explains that extrinsic motivation exists when individuals are motivated by an
outcome that is external or functionally unrelated to the activity in which they are
engaged. If the reasons for someone to work hard are to win his parents’ favor, gain
teachers’ praise, or earn rewards, his motivation is primarily extrinsic. Students’
purpose of learning a language is not for the knowledge itself, but outward rewards,
they will be encouraged to study actively with praise and rewards. Such students do
not carry out an activity for the enjoyment of the activity itself.
There are four different types of extrinsic motivation depending on the degree of
self-determination that learners have in it (Deci & Ryan, 1985). They are ranked
10

from external regulation - motivation for a task over which one does not control, to
integrated motivation – motivation for a task that one totally accepts and adapts.
The more controlling and less self-determining that regulation is, the less learning
will take place (Deci et al., 1991).
1.2.1.2.3. Integrative motivation
Integrative motivation shares some common features with intrinsic motivation.
According to Gardner and Lambert (1959), integrative motivation has been
conceptualized as “one’s willingness to be liked valued members of the language
community”. Integratively motivated students would be interested in and have
positive attitude toward the target language community, the course and the teacher
and enjoy learning the language. Ellis (1997) explains that some learners prefer to
learn a particular second language because they are interested in the people and
culture represented by the target language. Dickenson (1995) notes “Learners with

an interactive attitude have a compelling purpose for learning which is intrinsic to
a target language. Learners who are integratively motivated seem to have a strong
intrinsic motivation to learn a language.” Gardner (1959) was the first one to
introduce the concept of integrative motivation in which he referred to the desire of
assimilating oneself to the target culture while learning the language. He describes
integrative motivation as “a complex attitudinal, goal-directed and motivational
attributes” (Gardner, 2001: 6). That means students who have this type of
motivation will high value the target language and community, approach language
study with the intention of entering that community and have tendency to evaluate
the learning situation in a positive way. Learners who have positive attitude towards
target culture and want to integrate into it are likely to succeed in language learning;
otherwise they will get failure. Gardner and Macintyre (1991) argue that students
with integrative motivation are more active in the classroom in learning class and
have a great desire to interact with community of the language. The level of
integrative motivation depends largely on the context of learning. Schummann
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(1976) suggests that in EFL classroom, the need for assimilation and acculturation
is practically non-existent, especially at beginning levels. In many cases, it seems
too far away and irrelevant to the situation. Integrative motivation can also be
demonstrated through interest in listening to songs of target language, talking to
foreigners, reading stories or literature works. This is more commonly found in
many EFL contexts.
1.2.1.2.4. Instrumental motivation
Gardner (1972) in his well-known socio-educational model also is the one who
initially raised the idea of constructing instrumental motivation with integrative
motivation. Instrumental motivation refers to second language learning for some
functional reasons such as passing exams or getting a prestigious job. The interest
and focus of the learners in this process is placed too heavily on the expected
outcomes of learning process. Students who see language learning as having

beneficial career prospects or something that will enable them to use transactional
language with speakers of the foreign language will be motivated instrumentally. It
underlines the goal to gain some social or economic reward through L2
achievement, thus referring to a more functional reason for language learning
(Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Dornyei’ study (1996) of Hungarian secondary school
learners of English revealed that instrumental motivation is the central component
of motivation where it is relevant. He also claims that foreign language learning in a
classroom setting doesn’t involve attitudes towards the L2 community because
learners have little or no contact with members of L2 group.
Instrumental motivation is especially important for adult learners for reasons of
practical purpose. Many studies were carried out to support such an idea. In a study
about motivation for learning English among first year female university students in
Zayed University in the UAE (1999), the researcher found out that the key
motivating factor for the learner was instrumental. Attitudinal studies conducted on
Arab students (1984) have shown that Arab students are instrumentally motivated to
12

learn English and it was true that some learners are integratively motivated but they
are in minority.
1.2.1.3. Importance of motivation in language learning
Numerous studies have revealed that motivation is the key of language learning
process. In a series of research on language achievement, Gardner (1977) found that
greater motivation and attitudes lead to better understanding. Oxford and Shearin
(1994) noted that “Many researcher consider motivation as one of the main
elements that determine success in developing a second or foreign language; it
determines the extent of active, personal involvement in L2 learning”. They also
stated that research shows that motivation directly influences how often students use
L2 learning strategies, how much students interact with native speakers, how much
input they receive in the language being learnt, how well they do in curriculum-
related achievement tests, how high their general proficiency level becomes, and

how long they preserve and maintain L2 skills after language study is over.(Oxford
& Shearin, 1994: 12). That is to say motivation is one of major factors contributing
to one’s success in learning a second or foreign language. Oller et al. (1997)
investigated the importance of motivation in second language acquisition by the
research involving 44 Chinese participants studying at two American universities.
The research showed that integrative motivation played a vital role in the
participants’ acquisition of English, and correlated with their language proficiency.
Language learning is different from other kinds of learning because of its social
nature. William and Burden (1997: 115) state that “the learning of a foreign
language involves far more than simply learning skills, or a system of rules, or a
grammar, it involves an alternation in self-image, the adoption of new social and
cultural and behaviors and ways of being, and therefore has a significant impact on
the social nature of the learner”.
Motivation also helps to promote the choice of strategies among students learning a
second or foreign language. Research has shown that studying a second or foreign
13

language can be successful by using specific learning strategies and techniques.
“The conscious, tailored use of such strategies is related to language achievement
and proficiency.” (Oxford, 1994, cited by Tran Long, MA Thesis “Motivating
students to learn English: A study on Hanoi Industrial College students, 2005). The
author gave an emphasis that “More motivated students tend to use more strategies
than less motivated students, hence, they tend to be more successful.”
1.2.2. How children learn foreign languages?
Knowledge about children’s learning is seen as fundamental to effective teaching.
The way a child learn a new language is quite different from adults’ because it is
evidence that children and adults have their own typical learning styles. In this
section, besides the discussion of Mary Slattery and Jane Willis, which shows
typical features of young learners, I adapt the work of two famous theorists in
developmental psychology, Piaget and Vygotsky, whose ideas highlight the way

one may think about the child as a language learner.
 Mary Slattery and Jane Willis (2001: 4-5) point out 12 characteristics of
children as language learners as follow:
+ Learning through seeing, listening, copying and doing.
+ Being unable to understand an explanation of grammatical rules.
+ Understanding the meaning partly through non-verbal communication activities.
+ Copying exactly.
+ Loving to play and use imagination.
+ Having short attention.
+ Being curious.
+ Enjoying repetition of activities.
+ Developing independent thinking.
+ Being able to distinct between reality and imagination.
+ Being able to organize the best to implement any activity.
+Team working.
14

(Cited by Do Thi Mai Chi, MA thesis)
 Piaget: The child as active learner
Piaget’s theory concentrated in how the world surrounding children affects their
mental development and how they function in that world. From his viewpoint, it is
action is central to cognitive development. In this way, “thought is seen as deriving
from action”. The idea was illustrated by the example of how a child solves the
problem of getting food from a bowl into her mouth. She can use a spoon or her
fingers to get the food, that is, she learns to feed herself by muscle control or
direction finding. Such action is not inborn, but “actively constructed”. Piaget
suggested two ways for children’s active development: assimilation and
accommodation. “Assimilation happens when action take place without any change
to the child; accommodation involves the child adjusting to features of the
environment in some way” (Lynne Cameron, 2007: 3, Teaching Language to Young

Learners). Actually these two processes happen together and compose the thinking
processes. A child has to experience a series of stages before reaching the end point
of development – logical thinking. However, Piagetian psychology neglected social
aspect of children’s lives, an important dimension in a child’s development.
Taking Piaget’s key point, Donaldson’s work (1978: 86, cited by Lynne Cameron)
emphasizes that “the child actively tries to make sense of the world. … . Also from a
very early stage, the child has purposes and intentions: he wants to do.” The child
is then considered sense maker, however, he/she has little knowledge and
experience to make sense of everything around. The world, in turn, provides the
child with opportunities for development. Transferring this idea to learning
environment, a teacher should offer children chances or create classroom activities
for them to work with objects or ideas so that they can learn through action.




15

 Vygotsky: The child as social
Vygotsky stressed importance on a child’s social interaction, that is, the
communication between the child and adults, other children or people in the world
surrounding. His ideas not only gave priority to children’s social dimension but also
mentioned individual cognitive development. By contrast to Piaget’s theory,
Vygotsky considered the child as an active leaner in a world full of other people.
“In a whole range of ways, adults mediate the world for children and make it
accessible to them. … . With the help of adults, children can do and understand
much more than they can on their own” (Lynne Cameron, 2007: 6). For example:
when a child tries to feed herself and gets difficulty in using a spoon, an adult may
assist her by putting his hand over the child and guide her to filling the spoon. Such
instruction can be helpful to promote children’s development. Vygotsky proposed

the idea of ZDP (Zone of Proximal Development) which supports the new meaning
of intelligence, that is, intelligence should be measured by what a child can do with
skilled help rather than what a child can do alone. The notion of ZDP can help
teachers in both lesson planning and interactions with pupils and mediate “what
next it is the child can learn”.
1.2.3. Teaching English to children
Teaching English to kids has been increasingly important in the context of business
globalization today as English is an international language. The field of teaching
English to young learners has been received attention in the last ten years. More
concern was devoted to the area of teaching such as the theories and researches
contributed by Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner. Each of them approached the issue
from different perspectives, but they all seek to explore how young learners learn a
language and to find out the best method to teach them. The researches by Bruner,
Wendy A. Scott and Lisbeth H. Ytreberg are 2 other significant understandings
which should be considered here.
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 Bruner
According to Bruner (1990), language is the most important tool for cognitive
growth and adults have used language to mediate the world for children and help
them to solve the problem. He is the one who initiate a useful technique labeled
“scaffolding” to teach foreign language for primary students. Like parents who
scaffold tasks for their children, the teachers should do the following:
- Make the children interested in the task;
- Simplify the task;
- Keep the child on track towards completing the task by reminding what the
goal is;
- Point out what important to do;
- Control the child’s frustration during the task;
- Demonstrate an idealized version of the task;

(Quoted by Lynne Cameron, 2001)
 Wendy A. Scott and Lisbeth H. Ytreberg
The book Teaching English to children by Wendy A. Scott and Lisbeth H.
Ytreberg offers practical, down-to-earth advice on useful techniques and approaches
in the classroom. They make the following recommendations to primary language
teachers:
Words are not enough: Teachers try to put children in meaningful contexts by
making use of the surroundings. Spoken word only is not a good policy for kids.
They need more than just saying words. Most of activities for children should
include movement and involve the sense.
Play with the language: The advice is to let students acquire a foreign language in
the most natural way. Children can play with the language by activities like singing
songs, telling stories, making up rhymes, and so on.