Students' and teacher's perception of warm up activities at Yen Phong 2 high school

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERISITY

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LAGUAGES

TRINH THI NGOC LAN

STUDENTS’ AND TEACHER’S

PERCEPTION OF WARM UP ACTIVITIES

AT YEN PHONG 2 HIGH SCHOOL

M.A THESIS

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 8220201

THAI NGUYEN - 2020

ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN

TRƯỜNG NGOẠI NGỮ

TRỊNH THỊ NGỌC LAN

NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH

VỚI CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG KHỞI ĐỘNG BÀI HỌC

TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT YÊN PHONG SỐ 2

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ

Ngành: Ngôn ngữ Anh

Mã số: 8220201

Người hướng dẫn: TS. Vũ Kiều Hạnh

THÁI NGUYÊN - 2020

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that no part of the enclosed Master Thesis “USING WARM

- UP ACTIVITIES TO INCREASE STUDENT’S EFFECTIVE ENGLISH

LEARNING AT YEN PHONG 2 HIGH SCHOOL” has been copied or reproduced

by me from any other’s work without acknowledgement and that the thesis is originally

written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor.

Approved by Supervisor Thai Nguyen, 2020

Student

Vu Kieu Hanh Trinh Thi Ngoc Lan

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend my deepest thanks to all those who gave me the

possibility to complete this thesis.

First of all, I would like to thank my principal supervisor, Dr. Vu Kieu Hanh,

for her help, guidance and encouragement throughout the research process. I am

truly grateful to her for her advice and suggestions from the very beginning when

this research was in its infancy. Without her tireless patience in reading the

manuscript and suggesting me to develop research from my original idea it would

not have been possible to obtain this thesis. Whenever I have problems in research,

investigation, and information gathering, she is enthusiastic and patient to give

suggestions for me to better solve the problem. More importantly, she is a strong

source of motivation for me to complete my research.

Much appreciation is conveyed to all the lecturers and my former teacher,

Nguyen Hong Hanh, MA. of the School of Foreign Languages - Thai Nguyen

University for their valuable teaching and great support during the time I did my

graduate course there.

I would also like to express my sincere thanks to my colleagues and the

students at Yen Phong 2 High School who have actively participated in this

research, enthusiastically completed the questionnaires as well as provided me very

important information for this research. Without their help, this study could not

have been successful.

My sincere thanks also sent to my classmates in my Graduate Course who

took the time and trouble to warn me of the flaws in my thesis and provided me

with useful data as the basis for this thesis.

Very importantly, my deepest gratitude goes out to my family, who have

supported and encouraged me so much to complete my study.

Although I have tried my best to complete this thesis, but due to my limited

experience and knowledge, this thesis still has certain limitations. I hope to receive

constructive feedbacks and contributions from teachers, researchers as well as others.

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ABSTRACT

Learning will be more effective through joyful learning. It will not be a

successful lesson if the students do not feel interested at the very beginning of a

lesson. Thus, a teacher should try to start a lesson in a way which keeps his/her

students engaged. An interesting way of starting a lesson could be using activities

called warm-up activities or icebreakers (Robertson & Acklam, 2000). An effective

classroom warm-up activity can help teachers in creating a positive and joyful

classroom atmosphere. Many teachers put too much mechanical activities and they

think it is the best way to spend the time in the classroom. Few of them put the warm￾up activities in the beginning of the lesson to attract students’ interest in learning.

Based on the fact, the researcher concluded that, the warm-up was effective

to the students’ English learning at 10th grade of Yen Phong 2 High School. It was

also proved by the observation which indicated that students always enjoy, be

active, energize, feeling happiness, interactive in the classroom, stay in the class

during learning process, and focus on the lesson.

Based on the findings, it is advisable that, the English teachers apply or

implement the warm-up in their English classes. It can improve the students'

effective English learning. It is also advisable that, the future researchers conduct a

similar study to different level of students.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION ........................................................................................................ i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... ii

ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................. iii

TABLE OF CONTENT............................................................................................ iv

ABBREVIATIONS.................................................................................................. vii

LISTS OF TABLES................................................................................................ viii

LIST OF CHARTS AND FIGURES ........................................................................ ix

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................1

1.1. Background of the study ......................................................................................1

1.2. Rationale of the study...........................................................................................3

1.3. Aims of the study .................................................................................................5

1.4. Research questions...............................................................................................6

1.5. Significance of the study......................................................................................6

1.6. Scope and limitation.............................................................................................7

1.7. Design of the study...............................................................................................7

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................8

2.1. Literature review ..................................................................................................8

2.1.1. Definition of warm-up ...................................................................................8

2.1.2. Goals of warm-up ..........................................................................................9

2.1.3. The functions of the warm-up and its effect on students’ learning .............10

2.1.4. Principles of Warm-up Activity...................................................................15

2.1.5. Drawbacks of warm-up activities................................................................18

2.1.6. The role of the teacher in warm-up activities..............................................19

2.2. Related studies ...................................................................................................24

CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..................................................27

3.1. The Context of the Study ...................................................................................27

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3.2. Research Methodology.......................................................................................27

3.2.1. Research participants...................................................................................27

3.2.2. Research Design ..........................................................................................28

3.2.3. Data Collection Instruments........................................................................28

3.2.4. Data Collection Procedure...........................................................................30

3.2.5. Data Analysis Method and Procedure .........................................................31

3.3. Summary ............................................................................................................31

CHAPTER 4. RESULTS, DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS ...............................32

4.1. The Questionnaires.............................................................................................32

4.1.1. The Questionnaire for Students...................................................................32

4.1.2. The Questionnaire for Teachers...................................................................42

4.2. The Class Observations......................................................................................50

4.2.1. Class Observation 1 .....................................................................................50

4.2.2. Class Observation 2 .....................................................................................52

4.2.3. Class Observation 3 .....................................................................................53

4.2.4. Class Observation 4 .....................................................................................54

4.2.5. Class Observation 5 .....................................................................................55

4.2.6. Class Observation 6 .....................................................................................56

4.2.7. Class Observation 7 .....................................................................................57

4.2.8. Class Observation 8 .....................................................................................58

4.2.9. Class Observation 9 .....................................................................................59

4.2.10. Class Observation 10 .................................................................................59

4.3. The Interviews....................................................................................................60

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION ...............................................................................62

5.1. Summary of research..........................................................................................62

5.2 Limitation of the study........................................................................................63

5.3. Implications and recommendations ...................................................................64

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REFERENCES........................................................................................................66

APPENDIX 1. SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE........................................................... I

APPENDIX 2. SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (For Teachers)............................... IV

APPENDIX 3. CLASS OBSERVATION ..............................................................VII

APPENDIX 4. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (For Students) ................................... IX