Teaching vocabulary to the young learners through miming a study at Hi Language school center = Nghiên cứu dạy từ vựng cho trẻ em thông qua điệu bộ tại

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






TRƯƠNG HƯƠNG LAN




TEACHING VOCABULARY TO THE YOUNG LEARNERS
THROUGH MIMING:
A STUDY AT HI! LANGUAGE SCHOOL CENTER

(NGHIÊN CỨU DẠY TỪ VỰNG CHO TRẺ EM THÔNG QUA ĐIỆU
BỘ TẠI TRUNG TÂM TIẾNG ANH HI! LANGUAGE SCHOOL)




Minor M.A. thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410

Hanoi - 2012


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






TRƯƠNG HƯƠNG LAN




TEACHING VOCABULARY TO THE YOUNG LEARNERS
THROUGH MIMING:
A STUDY AT HI! LANGUAGE SCHOOL CENTER

(NGHIÊN CỨU DẠY TỪ VỰNG CHO TRẺ EM THÔNG QUA ĐIỆU
BỘ TẠI TRUNG TÂM TIẾNG ANH HI! LANGUAGE SCHOOL)

Minor M.A. thesis


Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410
Supervisor: Phạm Thị Thanh Thủy, M.A.









Hanoi - 2012
iv

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1 Reasons for using miming in teaching vocabulary to young learners
Table 2 The benefits of using miming in teaching vocabulary for the teachers
at Hi! Language School Center
Table 3 When do the teachers use miming to teach a word?
Table 4 The learners‟ understanding the word meaning through miming
Table 5 Difficulties in applying miming in teaching vocabulary
Figure 1 The teachers‟ keenness on miming in teaching vocabulary to the
young learners
Figure 2 Usefulness of miming in teaching vocabulary to the young learners
Figure 3 Importance of using miming in teaching vocabulary to the young

learners
Figure 4 Necessity of using miming in teaching vocabulary to the young
learners
Figure 5 The young learners‟ interest in miming in learning vocabulary
Figure 6 The young learners‟ attitudes towards usefulness of miming in
learning vocabulary
Figure 7 The young learners‟ interest in miming in comparison with that of
some other techniques for teaching vocabulary
Figure 8 The benefits of miming in the children‟s learning vocabulary
Figure 9 Situation of using miming in teaching
Figure 10 Situation of using miming in learning
Figure 11 Frequency of using miming in teaching vocabulary
Figure 12 Stages at which miming is often adopted
Figure 13 Time for using miming in teaching vocabulary
Figure 14 Word classes used in miming to teach vocabulary
Figure 15 Class organizations when vocabulary is taught via miming
Figure 16 Preparation for teaching vocabulary through miming
Figure 17 Ways of checking the young learners‟ understanding of the vocabulary
the teachers mime.
Figure 18 The young learners‟ participation in the miming activities
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Figure 19 The teachers‟ using the other teaching aids in miming
Figure 20 The teacher‟s combining miming with the other techniques
Figure 21 The teachers‟ feeling pleased with the results from using miming in
teaching vocabulary

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LIST OF TERMS

YL young learner
YLs young learners

TESOL teaching English as a second language
HLSC Hi! Language School Center
VNU Vietnam National University
ULIS University of Languages and International Studies
























vii

TABLE OF CONTENT PAGE
DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF FIGURES TABLES AND FIGURES iv
LIST OF TERMS…………………………………………………………….vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Research Title 1
2. Rationale for the Research 1
3. Aims of the Research 2
4. Research Questions 2
5. Scope of the Research 2
6. Signification of the Research 3
7. Design of the Research 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
1. An Overview of Vocabulary 4
1.1. Definition of Vocabulary 4
1.2. The Roles of Vocabulary in Language Learning and Teaching 4
2. An Overview of Young Learners 5
2.1. Definition of Young Learners 5
2.2. Nature of Young Learners 6
3. An Overview of Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners 8
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3.1. Principles of Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners 8
3.1.1 Criteria for selection of vocabulary 8
3.1.2 What to teach? 9

3.2. Techniques of Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners 10
3.2.1 Techniques of presenting vocabulary 10
3.2.2 Techniques of checking and consolidating vocabulary 11
4. An overview of miming. 12
4.1 Definition of Miming. 12
4.2 The Roles of Miming in Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners 13
. 4.3 Related Studies 14

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY
1. Settings 16
2. Participants 16
3. Data collection methods 16
3.1. Questionnaires……………………… 16
3.2. Interview 17
3.3. Observation 18
4. Data collection procedure 18
5. Data analysis methods 19

CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
1. Research question 1 20
2. Research question 2 25
3. Research question 3 32
PART C: CONCLUSION
1. Summary of findings 34
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2. Pedagogical Implications 34
3. Limitations of the study 36
4. Recommendations for further studies 37

REFERENCES 38
APPENDICES I
Appendix 1: Questionnaire for the teachers I
Appendix 2: Questionnaire for the young learners VII
Appendix 3: Interview questions for the teachers and the young learners V
Appendix 4: Interview for the teachers XI
Appendix 5: Interview for the young learners (Vietnamese version) XIII
Appendix6: Interview for the young learners (English version) XIV
Appendix 7: Data collected from the questionnaire for teachers XV
Appendix 8: Data collected from the questionnaire for the young learners XXI
Appendix9: Students‟ book XXI











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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Research Title:
Teaching vocabulary to young learners through miming: A study at Hi!
Language School Center
2. Rationale for the Research
In Vietnam, English has become more and more essential in every part of life so far.

The need of learning English comes from different purposes including
communicating with foreigners, promoting to higher positions at work, exchanging
cultures with the English speaking countries, or simply entertaining, and so on. That
the parents send their children of early age to the international schools or English
centers is a popular trend currently. The reason for this might be because they want
their children to get a basis of English and chances of communicating with the
foreigners when they are very young.
At Hi! Language School Center (HLSC), this trend is seen clearly. The children start
learning English at the youngest age of six. Unlike the classes for adults which often
focus on many different aspects of language such as grammar, phonetics…, the
classes for children put emphasis on providing them with vocabulary. The fact is
that vocabulary plays an important role in teaching and learning language, the basis
for the language learners to move up the higher level of English. However, for such
young children, it is difficult to use verbal techniques to teach them the meaning of
the words. Moreover, their concentration on the teachers‟ speaking in the class is
often interrupted easily. Especially, all the teachers teaching the young learners here
are native English speakers and know few Vietnamese words. How can those
teachers deal with the challenges above?
Of those techniques in classrooms such as role-play, miming, singing songs,
storytelling, games… miming is the technique which the teachers use quite
frequently. Many researches show that it is easy and effective to introduce and
consolidate the vocabulary and increase the children‟s motivation. It is a help for the
teachers to get the shy learners into the class activity. Does miming affect teaching
and learning vocabulary in the same way at HLSC? What do the teachers and
learners there think about miming? What do they apply miming in teaching
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vocabulary? How do they apply it? Do any difficulties exist? All the questions above
urge the author to the study “Teaching vocabulary to the young learners through
miming: A study at Hi! Language School Center.”

3. Aims of the Research
This study aims at:
- providing English language teachers a specific understanding about miming as well
as when and how miming can be applied in context.
- investigating the Hi! Language School Center teachers and the young learners‟
attitudes towards miming in teaching and learning English vocabulary.
- figuring out the current situation of teaching vocabulary through miming to young
learners at Hi! Language School Center; and
- finding out the difficulties in teaching vocabulary to young learners through
miming to young learners at Hi! Language School Center
4. Research Questions
The following questions were made to achieve the aims above:
Research question 1: What are the attitudes of the teachers and the young learners
(aged from 6 to 8) at Hi! Language School Center towards miming in teaching and
learning English vocabulary?
Research question 2: What is the current situation of teaching vocabulary to the
young learners (aged from 6 to 8) at Hi! Language School Center?
Research question 3: What are the difficulties the teachers at Hi! Language School
Center often cope with when teaching vocabulary through miming to the young
learners (aged from 6 to 8)?
5. Scope of the Research
This study puts emphasis on using miming in teaching and learning vocabulary at
HLSC. The age range of young learners at Hi! Language School Center varies from
five to twelve. However, due to the limited time and small scale of the research, the
author only investigated the participants‟ age range between six and eight. Only
thirty-eight children from three classes and six foreign teachers took part in the
study.
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6. Signification of the Research

Many issues are looked into in this study: the attitude of the teachers and the young
learners, the current situation of miming in teaching at HLSC as well as some
difficulties when the teachers adopt it. Therefore, the author hopes this research will
be able to improve the teaching and learning quality of the young learners in terms
of vocabulary at the center of Hi! Language School. It could also be the
recommendations for the enhancing primary English education in Vietnam and the
other parts of the world.
7. Design of the Research
There are three main parts in this study, namely Introduction, Development and
Conclusion.
The introduction begins with the rationale, aims, research questions, scopes,
signification, and the design of the study. In the part of Development, chapter I,
Literature Review, presents the theory background on which the study based
including overview of vocabulary, overview of young learners, overview of teaching
vocabulary to young learners, and overview of miming. The second chapter provides
the methodology including settings, participants, data collection methods, data
collection procedure, data analysis methods. The findings and discussion is the next
chapter which deals with three research questions. The last part includes the
summary of the findings, implications, limitations and recommendations for further
studies.








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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
1. An overview of vocabulary
1.1 Definition of vocabulary
“Like so many other things that are basic and elemental in our lives, we take them
for granted and we are apt to be surprised to find how hard it is to say what exactly a
word is” (Quirk, 1974:128). Those words show the importance as well as the
difficulty of linguists in giving the precise definitions for vocabulary.
However, some different definitions of vocabulary have been found. Some linguists
define vocabulary as separate words. According to Lyons, “a word may be defined
as the union of a particular grammatical employment” (1974:200). Moreover, Hunt
and David Beglar in “Current Research and Practice in teaching Vocabulary” (2000)
emphasized that a word includes the base form and its inflections and derivatives.
Nation (1990:3) stated that “Knowing a word involves not only knowing its
meaning(s) but also its forms and its usage”. These notions, though differ in
expressions, share the same idea that a single word may consist of different aspects.
Besides, vocabulary is also defined as lexical chunks. Vocabulary, from Ur‟s
viewpoint (1996:60), is “the words we teach in the foreign language. However, a
new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: a compound of two or
three words or multiword idioms”. Dowling (2003) mentioned words as Lexis.
Therefore, seeing words that come in phrases, groups or words that combine
together, which then means looking at areas of vocabulary as fixed, and semi-
phrases, idioms, and collocations.
In brief, it can be concluded that vocabulary, whether it is an individual word or
more than one word items, refers to all the words that a language possesses. Not
only form but other aspects such as meaning and usage should be taken into
consideration in studying and teaching vocabulary.

1.2. The Roles of Vocabulary in Language Learning and Teaching
Beside a wide range of grammar structures, knowledge of vocabulary is the essential

part of language that learners need to obtain to communicate successfully. This is all
true in teaching and learning a foreign language. Hence, vocabulary is more than
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once proved to be significant in language learning and teaching. Pyles and Algeo
(1970:96) had an idea about its role. They wrote “when most of us think about
language we think first about words. It is true that the vocabulary is the focus of
language. It is in words that sounds and meanings interlock to allow us to
communicate with one another, and it is in words that we arrange together to make
sentences, conversation and discourse of all kinds”. Also, Troike (1976:87)
emphasized that “vocabulary is the most important for understanding and knowing
names of things, actions and concepts”. Wilkins supported those statements through
his saying. That is, “without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without
vocabulary nothing conveyed” (1972:11). Dublin and Olshtain (1986:111, 112)
referred to the fact that “possessing a good vocabulary stock is what enables many
learners to use their knowledge effectively and in ways which fit their specific
needs”.
The role of vocabulary is indirectly affirmed through the problems lacking
vocabulary brings in including learners‟ feeling of their difficulties in both receptive
and productive language use (Nation, 1990) and “an obvious and serous obstacle”
(Nagy, 1989:1).
It is clear that vocabulary plays a central role in helping people communicate as well
as creating lots of different kinds of discourse. Teaching and learning a foreign
language effectively or not depends a lot on knowledge of vocabulary. Therefore,
vocabulary should be a crucial aspect in foreign language teaching methodology.
2. An Overview of Young Learners
2.1. Definition of Young Learners
The definitions of young learners are of general agreements and mainly based on the
young learners‟ age as well as the years spent in the primary or elementary stages of
formal education before the transition to secondary school. However, the age range

varies considerably from author to author and different categories were added to the
definitions.
Kasihani (2007:15) states 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 9-12 years). And according to
their class level they are divided into two groups also. Year 1, 2 and 3 is in the
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category of Lower Classes Students and year 4, 5 and 6 is in the category of Upper
Classes Students. The same age range can be found in Vietnam while the years at
primary school are from 1 to 5.
Concerning young learners, Scott and Ytreberg (1990:1) referred to them as „an
average children” and distinguished between two groups. The children aged 5-7
years are called Level One, while those at the age of 8-10 belong to Level Two. In
addition, some “certain characteristics of young children” are used to define the
average child.
In comparison with the two definitions, Sarah Phillips mentioned young learners as
“children from the first year of formal schooling (five or six years old) to eleven or
twelve years of age” (Phillips, 1993: 5). Also, she claims that it is not about the age
of children but their maturity need considering when we define who young learners
are.
The definition of Young Learners between the ages of about 5 years old to 12 years
old was also given by Rixon (1999), while in Lynne Cameron‟s view, young
learners are those under 14 years old.
All in all, it is not easy to define precisely the age range for the young learners. In
this minor thesis, I am going to use the assumption of the children‟s age between 6
and 12 according to Vietnam‟ age range for primary schooling.
2.2. Nature of Young Learners
In “The Practice of English language teaching” (2007), Harmer introduces a list of
generalizations of young learners in comparison with two other groups of language

learners including adolescents and adults:
- They respond although they do not understand.
- They learn from direct experience: they learn indirectly rather than directly.
- They understand mostly when they see, hear, touch and interact rather than from
explanations.
- Abstract concepts are difficult to deal with.
- They generally display a curiosity about the world and an enthusiasm for learning a
language
- They like talking about themselves and respond to learning that uses their lives as
the main topic.
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- They love discovering things, making or drawing things, using their imagination,
moving from one place to another, solving puzzles.
- They have a short attention span; they can easily get bored after 5-10 minutes.
Scott and Ytreberg (1990: 1-5) show not only general characteristics but also
language development of a young language learner based on their age groups. Their
lists of general characteristics share some same points as Harmer‟s (2007) to some
extents. Hence, five to seven year olds generally can:
- plan activities;
- talk about what they are doing, what they have done or heard;
- use logical reasoning;
- use their vivid imaginations;
- use a wide range of intonation patterns in their mother tongue;
- understand direct human interaction.
In the area of language, the very young learners are aware of the fact that the world
is governed by rules. They may not always understand them, but they know that they
are to be obeyed. Additionally, the rules nurture a feeling of security which they
require. Young learners also understand the situations more quickly than they
understand the language used and can use language skills long before they are aware

of them. Since their own understanding comes through the senses of hearing, touch
and vision, their physical world is dominant at all times. One of the prominent
features is their short attention and concentration span. What is more, they may have
difficulty in distinguishing between fact and fiction. Also, they cannot decide for
themselves what to learn. In general, young learners are enthusiastic and positive
about learning.
The group from eight to ten year olds is considered relatively mature children with
an adult side and a childish side. Because of their developing adult side, their basic
concepts are formed. They can tell the difference between reality and the imaginary
notions and make decisions about their own learning. Personal feature is asking
questions all the time and the fact that they have already formed definite views about
what they like and do not like doing. Their sense of fairness is developed and their
ability to work with others and learn from others. By the age of ten, the language
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young learners are able to understand abstracts and symbols, generalise and
systematise.
Another list of major characteristics of young learners was also provided by
Halliwell (1992:3). In this list, the author focuses on the nature of language young
learners in stead of them in general. Children, in terms of language learning:
- are already very good at interpreting meaning without necessarily
- understand the individual words;
- already have great skill in using limited language creatively;
- frequently learn indirectly rather than directly;
- take great pleasure in finding and creating fun in what they do;
- have a ready imagination;
- take great delight in talking.
For those features of young learners above, it is the language teachers‟ awareness of
taking both general and particular characteristics into their consideration when
teaching them a second language.

3. An Overview of Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners
3.1. Principles of Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners
3.1.1 Criteria for selection of vocabulary
Considerable attention should be paid in the selection of words teacher wants to
teach. Three main criteria for selecting words were offered by Gairns and Redman
(1986) including “frequency, students‟ need and level, cultural factor and
expediency”. First of all, we can decide which words to teach on the basis of how
often the words are used by the speaker of the language. For young learners, those
words that they are familiar with and they can stick to them should be chosen.
Hands-on, high frequency words are put into the textbook according to themes or
topics, which makes it easier for teachers to go for them. Secondly, whether the
words match learners‟ needs and level or not is more important. Very beginning
young learners should be taught more simple words than older learners. Normally,
words that have quite specific meaning should be avoided with young learners.
Cultural factors and expediency should also be taken into consideration. It is the fact
that the way people from different parts of the world expressing ideas are not the
9

same. Moreover, language usage in the class needs meet the requirement of
appropriation with its certain types.
Pinkley (2005) also gave an idea with some common points with Gairns and
Redman (1986) about the most useful criteria for making decisions about
vocabulary. In her saying, teachers must first consider the types of vocabulary items
to target: single words, multi-word items in the form of collocations, fixed
expressions, and semi-fixed expressions. Second, the vocabulary should be selected
according to usefulness. She explains teaching situations are different; words
relevant in one context may not be so in a different context. Items may be targeted as
receptive or productive. Third, teachers should consider the frequency of an item,
referring to some popular frequency lists. Fourth, particularly with children, they
should weigh factors such as learners‟ personal interest and relevance to content

areas of the school curriculum. Fifth, teachers need to be mindful of learners‟ ages
and levels of cognitive development. And sixth, they need to consider expediency to
figure out if it will be helpful to teach common classroom language, the language of
instruction, grammatical terminology, or phonological terminology.
Based on word aspects, Harmer (2007) differs in his view on the criteria for
selection of vocabulary. He lists three criteria: concretion vs. abstraction, coverage
(general words should be taught before more specific terms), and students‟ rapport
with words.
3.1.2 What to teach?
Nation (1990) claims that “knowing a word involves not only knowing its
meaning(s) but also knowing its forms and its usage”. This statement is once again
asserted through the research of Ur (1996) with more details. Ur uses the linguistics
components to point out what the learners need to be taught. Thus, the first item
should be the form of the word, then grammar, collocations, meaning and word
formation. Referring to the form, pronunciation and spelling are emphasized. “The
learner has to know what a word sounds like (its pronunciation) and what it looks
like (its spelling)” (Ur, 1996:60). Next, the grammatical rules of a new item need
introducing depending on the learners‟ level. For example, when teaching verbs,
generally we would like to present their present forms, especially the form of the
third singular person. In collocations, “The meaning of a word is primarily what it
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refers to in the real world, its denotation”. (Ur, 1996, p 61). I don‟t think this aspect
of word is important to teach young learners as they are quite small. Notably,
meaning of a word can be brought about carefully. Context can be used to help
young learners to find the right meaning. Word formation – using prefixes and
suffixes, using hyphenated words and so on is too difficult for young learners.
3.2. Techniques of Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners
3.2.1 Techniques of presenting vocabulary
In presenting the meaning of the new items to young learners, language teachers

have a wide range of choices of techniques. Depending on their techniques of
preference, the types of words, their students‟ age, they may choose to use visual
techniques or verbal ones or combine different techniques.
Visual techniques consist of visuals and mime, action and gestures. Visuals can be
among the following things: pictures-flash cards, photographs and magazine
pictures, wall charts, posters, blackboard drawings, word pictures, several regalia
that teacher can hold up and point to. What is more, mime, action and gestures can
be used especially for explaining actions, feelings, or status adjectives. Learners can
easily label pictures or objects or perform an action. In general, visual techniques
prove to be useful to draw young learners‟ attention to the lessons, especially for
those of low level.
Verbal techniques may fall into such ways as using illustrative situations,
descriptions, synonyms and antonyms, collocations, scales, and using various forms
of definition: for example, definition by demonstration (visual definition), definition
by abstraction, contextual definitions, and definition by translation. For the young
learners of beginning levels, explanation can become extremely difficult.
Furthermore, translation can be a very effective way of conveying meaning of new
words. This technique is not used much recently, even though it saves time of the
lesson as well as quickly disposes the low frequency items but can be very
discouraging for young learners. It is the fact the meaning is given beforehand,
therefore the learners just wait for the teachers‟ explanation without having to
concentrate on working out the meaning. In other words, they hardly have chance to
interact with the words.
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Context building is another useful technique in introducing vocabulary. The goal of
vocabulary teaching is more than simply covering a certain number of words on a
word list, and learners have to be given opportunities to use the item effectively
(Moras, 2001). Through this kind of technique, students can figure out the meaning
of the words on their own and how they can be used in speech. When adopting this

technique, the teachers had better take the socio-cultural factor in choosing context
so that learners can guess or understand the meaning of a word easily.
Different techniques are also adopted by teachers often. Teachers may use miming
technique while making use of the real objects in the classroom. The most obvious
advantage of this way is that each technique can reinforce and support one another,
thus make the presentation clearer and more effective (Doff, 1988:98).
To sum up, each technique has its own pros and cons. In my opinion, teachers can
use those techniques in combination with the others to introduce vocabulary as
effectively as possible.
3.2.2 Techniques of checking and consolidating vocabulary
The follow-up stage of checking and revising is necessary after the children have
met with the new words. This is to build up the children‟s long-term memory of
those words and encourage their using of vocabulary more regularly. Hence,
“students need at least three exercises on all new words to stand a chance of
incorporating them into their store of active vocabulary, and that should be the
ultimate goal”, Bermheden (2002:8).
Teachers can adopt particularly or simultaneously the different techniques as follows
to check their children‟s understanding. According to Seal (1991, cited from
“Children learning English as a foreign language” by Pinkley (2005)), teachers may
use the concept questions to help them know whether the children understand the
vocabulary or not. For instance, for the concept of “grocery store”, some questions
can be “Can I buy shoes in a grocery store?” or “What can you buy in a grocery
store?” Additionally, fill-in-the-blank, category sorts and matching pairs are the
other effective techniques. Notably, the author uses the technique of pictorial
schemata like grids, word maps, Venn diagrams, stepped scales, clines, and other
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graphic organizers. I am particularly interested in the last techniques because it can
be used in both presenting and checking stages.
To consolidate the vocabulary, Pinkley (2005) shows a list of techniques:

(1) tasks: the teacher assigns students tasks through problem solving, doing
projects, or values clarification (ranking, for/ against, cause and effect)
(2) story or dialogue writing: students have to read their work in class, act out or
make a class book
(3) discussion: students consolidate words by discussing the guided or free topic,
playing board games and card games, making conversation cubes
(4) role plays “real life”: students are asked to play role in the daily situation like
doctor and patient or grocer and shopper.
(5) Role plays “creative life”: requires young learners to imagine an unreal
situation such as talking dog or visitor from Mars.
Also, in Vietnam, Nguyen Bang et all (2003) showed a list of techniques which are
used in both checking and consolidating the vocabulary: ordering, rub out and
remember, networks, bingo, word storm, slap the board, guess the picture, matching,
noughts and crosses, what and where, word squares, jumble words. Those popular
techniques are mostly word games which are widely used by Vietnamese teachers.
When taking part in those games, students not only have opportunities to interact
with words but also feel at ease, thus they acquire the target language without even
realizing it.
Undoubtedly, checking and consolidating vocabulary for young learners help much
build the children knowledge of vocabulary. In my opinion, each technique should
be taken in to account carefully when teacher apply it in teaching. More importantly,
the activities of consolidation should be conducted regularly to maximize young
learners‟ using and practicing words.
4. An overview of miming l
4.1 Definition of Miming
In the light of art, Paul Curtis, founder and director of the American Mime Theatre,
uses the following definitions “Pantomime is the part of creating the illusion of
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reality by dealing with imaginary objects or situations. Its art rests on the ability to

imply weight, texture, line, rhythm and force to the air around them. Mime, on the
other hand, is the art of acting silently through various kinds of theatrical
movement”. Mime, according to Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary (2011), is
the use of movements of your hands or body and the expressions on your face to tell
a story or to act something without speaking; a performance using this method of
acting”. Likewise, John Dougill (1987) considers it as “a no-verbal representation of
an idea or story through gestures, bodily movement and expression”. From the
definitions mentioned, we can come to a conclusion that mime is a non-verbal
means of conveying the language meaning.
4.2 The Roles of Miming in Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners
As a non-verbal means of communication, mime belongs to the groups of visual
techniques in the light of techniques in teaching vocabulary. It has proved to be one
of the effective techniques so far. Zyoud (2011) highlights the role of mime in
building up the confidence of learners by encouraging them to get up and doing
things in front of one another. Further, mime helps develop students‟ power of
imagination and observation and can also be quite simply “a source of great
enjoyment” with students tending „to be enthusiastic about this aspect of drama”
(Hayes, 1984). He adds that it is also a supportive means for translating verbal
words (both receptive and expressive) for children to make better sense of what has
been said through the movement. In teaching language, “when used as one simple
single action per word, mimes can make linear sentences”, therefore, if we “label the
mime with the word, so that the child can connect the experience of the movement
with its verbal label” (Bogdashina, 2005). In addition, mime is a great way of
reinforcing memory by means of visual association, and recall of language items is
assisted whenever an associated image is presented (Rose, 1985, cited Zyoud
(2011)). Mime can generate language use where explanation is required teacher‟s
instructions and the discussion of the students – if the mime involves pair work or
group work, learners normally find it easier and more motivating to produce
language when they have to accomplish a task (Ur, 1981). This can be the most
crucial role mime plays in the teaching vocabulary. It shows its support for language

teachers in conveying and helping children reinforce vocabulary.
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4.3 Related Studies
A handful of researches on mime have been carried out until now, however, very
few of them are found in the field of language teaching in general and teaching
vocabulary to young learners in particular. Miming is mostly mentioned as a part of
drama activities to improve teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in a
research by Zyoud (2011). Based on the theoretical perspective, the author
synthesizes words from many famous authors to prove the benefits mime and other
activities can bring to learners and teachers, especially the change in the teachers‟
roles from the authority or source of knowledge to the facilitator in the classroom.
The other study that the researcher finds interesting and useful is that of Liliance
Bois Simon. The author writes about the use of dramatic techniques in the teaching
of English as EFL. She considers the relationship between mime and language
including mime for limited language and mime for unlimited language. For the first
purpose, an example of using miming in teaching verb tenses was given. From the
analysis of it, the author comes to a conclusion that mime helps students deal with
drills in language structures and “a preparation stage for further linguistic work”
(Simon, 2007). The later type is mime which teachers may apply it for teaching
various meanings (an object, a feeling, a scene). It is the basis for a two-staged
language: information and discussion. Simon also refers mime as a creative exercise.
Its creativity falls in not only the mime itself but the follow-up activities as well.
Some more benefits of mime are added then.
In Vietnam, no researches mention miming as a single technique in teaching
vocabulary. Miming is often referred to in the different techniques which are
combined in teaching or a part of drama techniques. The study “Techniques in
teaching vocabulary to the young learners at ILA school” is an illustration for this.
The researcher named the most popular techniques employed frequently by the
teachers and pointed out the common situation of the teachers‟ limited combination

of different techniques during their teaching vocabulary. She added that the
techniques in the specific classes are not the same.
Another study by Nguyen Thi Bich Hien (2005) was given more space for miming
as a part of drama techniques. In this case, different techniques including miming
15

were not familiar to many participants. When the teacher mixed them with the other
activities, they helped to draw students‟ attention and motivation. However, in
comparison with other techniques such as drama games, role-play and simulation,
miming as well as improvisation did not work better.

16

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY
1. Setting
Hi! Language School is an English Center which was founded in 2010. It covers the
area of teaching English to both young learners and adults.
The set of Grammar and Friends 1 of Oxford University is currently used in this
center‟s syllabus for teaching the six-to-eight children. The textbook consists of
fifteen units under the tendency theme-based approach for three courses. Each unit
includes six lessons; each lesson covers at least two of the following sections:
grammar, vocabulary, skills (reading, listening, speaking, and writing). For the new
young learners of the starter level, they will be taught the first five lessons in the first
course. Furthermore, when adapting the textbook in reality, the center does not
follow the exact order of the lessons, but they combine two lessons for one teaching
class. This is to make sure that the young learners are provided with enough
knowledge of English and the content of each teaching lesson is diverse.
2. Participants
This study was carried out with 38 children from three classes. All of them are aged
from six to eight, corresponding to the grade 1 and 2 at their primary school. Most of
the young learners live in the district of Ba Dinh, Ha Noi. They have done the
placement test, and at present, their English is of starter level for young learners.
They have been placed in the first course. Some of them have learnt English at
kindergarten or other English centers before, whereas some are new to English. In
general, their knowledge of English is very little.
English courses for children are all run by foreign teachers. Hence, there are six
English teachers who involved in the research. Each has worked part time for HLSC
for at least six months. Four of them have the TESOL Certificates while the two
others have a Bachelor degree in English language. All have gained at least two

years of experience in teaching English to both young learners and adults.
3. Data collection methods
3.1. Questionnaires
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The instruments for gathering data in this study were questionnaire, interview,
and class observation. Of those instruments, questionnaire is the main one with
two sets of questions: one for the English teachers and the other for the young
learners.
The teachers were asked to put a tick or write down the answers for 22 questions
which were divided into four sections based on the research questions. The
following table details the content of those questions:
Questions for teachers
Purposes
Q.2-Q.7, Q.22
The attitudes of the teachers towards using
miming in teaching vocabulary
Q.1, Q8-Q.17
The current situation of teaching vocabulary
through miming
Q.18, Q.19
The difficulties the teachers cope with during
using miming in teaching vocabulary
Q.20
How the teachers deal with the difficulties above

For the young learners, due to their very young age, it is impossible to elicit their
ideas about difficulties and solutions to teaching vocabulary through miming. As
a result, the author used 15 questions. They are:
Questions for the young

learners
Purposes
Q.2 – Q.12, Q.14. Q.15
The attitudes of the young learners towards using
miming in teaching vocabulary
Q.1, Q.6 – Q.13
The current situation of teaching vocabulary
through miming

3.2. Interview
After having done the survey questionnaire, there remained some parts that the
researcher was not clear. Therefore, the instrument of interview was conducted
face-to-face with six foreign teachers, which was to search for further
explanation of their own difficulties in teaching context. The teachers were also