Linguistic Studies: Effective Teaching

Myanmar as a Foreign Language

through Rhymes

SANDAR HTAY
DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS,
YANGON UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES,
YANGON, MYANMAR
 CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION
2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
3. LITERATURE REVIEW
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
5. LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE RHYMES
6. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
7. CONCLUSION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
REFERENCES

2
1. INTRODUCTION

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• Nursery rhymes can be regarded as the first steps in learning a language to remember
and retain words - short, sweet and contain moral lessons for the young learners.
• The rhymes are used to improve their speaking skills (Murphey, 1992)_useful tools in
vocabulary learning, sentence structures, and sentence patterns.
• The way of inductive teaching is used to help students improve their pronunciation
and fluency in EFL setting.
• Numerous studies have been conducted, but no such research has been conducted in
the setting of teaching Myanmar as a foreign language – the Myanmar rhymes were
analyzed at different levels of Linguistic analysis with the pedagogical purpose
• The rhymes can be used in the context of teaching Myanmar as a foreign language or
not and to what extent the students satisfy their improvement at the end of the
lesson.

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2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

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• to find out the teaching objectives of the rhymes, taught at the primary
level (Grade – 1) Myanmar, from linguistic point of view

• to find out the effective ways of teaching Myanmar as a Foreign

Language (MFL) at the basic level through rhymes from Linguistic
point of view.

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3. LITERATURE REVIEW

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A. Brief Description of the Myanmar Language

B. Teaching Nursery Rhymes in the Language Education (Frist

language and Foreign language Teaching)

C. Teaching Rhymes in the Classroom Setting in Myanmar

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 A. Brief Description of the Myanmar Language
• Tonal language which means phonemic contrasts can be made on the basis of the tone
of a vowel. There are three tones and a glottal stop. (Tun Myint, U, 1995)
Rising tone /  / Level tone /  / High falling tone /  / Glottal stop /  /

/ka/ /ka/ /ka / /ka/

Dance (V) Cover (V) Bestride (V) Stick (V)
• Syllable pattern of the Myanmar language can be found as follows:
V CV CV(diphthong) CCV

• Word order pattern of the Myanmar Language is Subject-Object-Verb; Grammar

particles are prominent usage.

• Verbs can also be suffixed with at least one particle which conveys such information as
tense, intention, politeness, mood.

• Nouns are also pluralized by suffixing the particles.

9
 B. Teaching Nursery Rhymes in the Language Education
• “Most children are interested in singing songs, and they can positively change their routine form of
learning a foreign language through rhythmic sounds for educational purposes.” (Blondel & Miller,
2011).
• The songs can be used effectively in teaching a language to the learners with different proficiency
levels. (Bodden, 2010).
• Foremost educationist Frederick Frobel (1782-1852) and Madame Montresor (1870) made the
unhappy children to be happy in their school environment starting Kindergarten where they can sing
songs in their mother tongue or first language.
• Moreover, Lo and Fai Li (1998) state that the rhymes are essential in motivating the foreign language
learners to enable the students develop their proficiency skills. The rhymes can be used to develop
the students’ performance on the area of pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. (York, 2011).
• There is a number of evidence in research showing the use of rhymes in the English language
classroom successfully. (Schon, Boyer, Moreno, Besson, Peretz, & Kolinsky 2008; Wallace, 1994).
“There is also a growing body of research confirming that songs are a useful tool in SLA.” (Wallace,
1994; York, 2011). 10
C. Teaching Rhymes in the Classroom Setting in Myanmar
• The rhymes , which came down from antiquity through oral transmission from
generation to generation, in the first language are started to be printed in 1911,
which were included in the prescribed text books for primary students.
(Lwin Lwin Soe,1991)
• Myanmar rhymes are used in the Myanmar textbook for primary students in the
first language teaching setting.
• The rhymes prescribed in Grade – 1 Primary text books are traditional as well as
modern verses – pedagogical or authentic

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C. Teaching Rhymes in the Classroom Setting in Myanmar
• Different themes/ purposes in their first language learning as follows:
• to remember the alphabets and basic consonant sounds through associations of
the ideas:
• to remember the written vowel symbols in the combination of vowels and
consonants:
• to remember the numbers and counting formulas: Tint-hnit-sar-ko-chit (Ten
Counts)
• Rhymes are rarely used for adult language learners.
• Reciting rhymes are used to in order to improve their pronunciation and
proficiency.
• There are some significant features of Myanmar rhymes – pedagogical purpose
• They should be analysed and the inductive teaching method has to be used in the
teaching learning context.
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4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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 A. Research Questions

• What are the teaching objectives of the rhymes, taught at the primary
level (Grade – 1) Myanmar, from linguistic point of view: phonological,
morphological, lexical, and semantic analysis?
• How can a language be learned effectively through the rhymes in
teaching Myanmar as a Foreign Language at the basic level from
Linguistic point of view?
• What is an alternative way of teaching the Myanmar language
communicatively and making the learners engaged in their learning?
• What pedagogical implications can be drawn for the teachers in
teaching Myanmar as a foreign language setting?

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 B. Research Method

• Descriptive-qualitative method – based on the performance of

the students
• Descriptive – analyzing the rhymes from linguistic point of view:
phonological, morphological, lexical, and semantic analysis on
teaching objectives
• Quantitative –collecting the data of the questionnaires on the
students’ survey

15
 C. Data Collection
• Cluster sampling through questionnaire and the students' performance –
describing trends and comparing groups
• types of data : Linguistic data of the rhymes; a performance on a target lesson
of the students and the satisfaction survey of the students at the end of the
lessons
• Subjects of the study – 36 adult foreign learners at basic level (aged 25-40) –
Thai, Laos, Cambodians and Chinese
• Two classes focused on same content with same teacher: Traditional lesson
class (total = 20, 14 men and 6 women) and a Rhyme-based lesson class (total =
16, 9 men and 7 women)
• Myanmar is used as a medium of instruction.
• Comparing the results of tow groups taught with the different lesson plans
designed from linguistic point of view 16
 D. Research Procedures

• Analysing the Rhymes form linguistic point of view with

pedagogical purposes

• Preparing the lessons on the focused language forms/patterns

• Teaching 2 different classes with different approaches

• Comparing their performance between two classes

• Comparing the results of students’ satisfaction survey

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5. LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE RHYMES

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• Two rhymes taken from Grade 1 Primary Myanmar Textbook

A. Ma-Ma-Wa-Wa /ma ma wa wa/ (Chubby Big Sister)

B. Pho-Thar-Htoo /pho a thu/ (A Fat Boy)

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 A. Ma-Ma-Wa-Wa /ma ma wa wa/ (Chubby Big Sister)
Rhyme
\ma ma wa wa
tha tha ka
 ka p th ma
ka ba ka ba ma ma ja
a a la a a
a  kha a sa ja
ma ma wa wa
tha tha ka \
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Theme
About the fat girl who is dancing in the evening

Objectives (first language learners)

to teach children the basic vowel sounds

to upgrade the students’ motivation and participations in their learning

(pedagogical purpose)

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Linguistic analysis of the rhyme in different levels
(pedagogical purpose)
Linguistic levels Data found at the levels (teaching perspectives)
Phonetic and Phonological • Consonant sounds: /m/, /w/, /th/ and //
levels • Vowel sounds: /a/ three different tones /a/, /a/ /a/
• The “stream of speech” with /m/, /w/, /th/ and //
phonemes with full voicing in the first syllables
followed by /m/, /w/, /th/ and // phonemes with no
voicing in the second.

Morphological level • One-syllable word – basic alphabets : /ka/

(dance), /a/ (night), /la/ (moon), and /wa/ (fat)
• Reduplicated words(V, Adj) : /ma ma /, /ta ta/,
/wa wa/, /hla hla/, /a a/

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Linguistic analysis of the rhyme in different levels
(pedagogical purpose)
Linguistic levels Data found at the levels (teaching perspectives)
Syntactic level Verb and Verb particles: /pa/ (imperative), / t/
(indicative), / m/ (subjunctive)
Verb particles: ………. /pa/ , ……….. /t/,
…….. /m/
e.g.
/ta pa/ /ta t/ /ta m/
- (Wake up!) ( woke up) (going to get up)
(Drilling methods)

Verb: Verb (question forming)

/ka/ –
A: /ka la/ /ka pa/
B: /ka t/ /ka m/
(Dialogue practise)
23
 B. Pho-Thar-Htoo /pho a thu/ (A Fat Boy)

Rhyme

\pho a thu pho a thu

 -lU wa d pho a thu
pho a thu ga wa pu bu
pho wa dI n tu
tu ba  kw m -joU a
I hma tI ba la\

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Theme
About a fat boy, who has got big belly, looked like /pho wa joU\ (a traditional
toy)

One of the authentic rhymes which makes students amuse

Objective (first language learner)

To be able to arose students motivation and participation in their learning
(pedagogical purpose)

25
 Linguistic analysis of the rhyme in different levels
(pedagogical purpose)
Linguistic levels Data found at the levels (teaching perspectives)
Phonetic and Phonological Myanmar monophthongs /o/ /a/ and /u/
levels Especially /u/ with different tones /u/ /u/ /u/
Different vowel sounds including diphthongs
Morphological and • Full reduplicated form – /pu/ adj (big)  /pu pu/ (very big) - /pu bu/
Syntactic levels voicing N+ Adj – \wa pu bu\ very big belly
• Verb particle – /ba la/ (suggest/ask sb to do something)
e.g. \tI ba la\, \sa ba la\

• Modification of Adjectives with Adverbs:

Adverbial / -lU\ (very) - / -lU wa/ (very fat)
Adjectival particle - /t/ - / -lU wa t lu\ (a very fat man)
Adverbial / -lU\ (very) - / -lU wa/ (very fat)
Adv + Adj + Adjectival particle + N form

Semantic level Lexicon: /wa/ fat-full [homonym], /pu/ big-hot[homonym], \wa\ -

/baI\ belly [synonym] or [Clipped word] 26
6. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

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A. Classroom Observation

B. Students’ Response on the Satisfactory Survey

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 A. Classroom Observation

Traditional Class Rhyme-based Class

Warming up Warming up

Presentation Presentation/ Global

Input Comprehension
Practise Conceptualization
Processing Final Comprehension
Production
Production/ Evaluation
Output
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 Traditional Class
Stage Teaching Procedure
Warming up
Presentation the teacher explained the rules of the targeted
language form
Practise the teacher gave some vocabularies/ asked the
students to repeat the words. They were also asked
to do the exercises: gap filling and drilling
Production students were asked to write down the sentences
concerned with the language form that they have
learnt at the lessons – to explain and write what
they had understood on the targeted language
form

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 Rhyme-based Class
Stage Focus/ Specific Aims Teaching Procedure
Warming up • recite the rhyme with the action
Presentation/ Global • introduce the aim or topic of the lesson inductively
Input Comprehension
Conceptualization • learn the patterns and use of the targeted language form in
details.
Processing Final Comprehension • use different communicative activities provide the learners a
wide variety of possibilities to practice and review their
linguistic and communicative skills
• use matching exercises, cloze type, and text completion to
develop language of learning
• ask each other questions, explaining, comparing and
contrasting, and describing people in terms of pair works and
group work
Production/ Evaluation the most challenging for the students – involved ‘creation’
Output
• expected to produce authentic material on their own and use
the target language to interact with their peers 31
The results of the performance of both classes in the
production stage of the Lessons

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• Performance of the rhymed-based class students is much better than the students in
traditional class.
• Difference in the results of the two groups of students are high. It is surprisingly found out
that the performance difference in Lesson 2 (Modification of Adjectives) is higher than in
Lesson 1(Verb particle)
• The students are much more interested in Lesson 2 as the targeted language form is new
and useful in describing people
• The first lesson is about the verb particles.
• In this lesson, their performance is almost fair and the difference between two groups is
low.
• At the production stage in both lessons, it can clearly be seen that the students who are
taught through rhymes can use the learnt language form correctly and appropriately.
• In contrast, the traditional class student only engaged in surface learning by practicing and
reproducing the learnt language form.
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B. Students’ Responses

• At the end of each lesson, the students from both classes are asked to give response to
the questionnaires. The questionnaire includes (8) statements:
1. I enjoy the class.
2. I understand Myanmar used in the class.
3. I think my Myanmar has improved after the lesson.
4. I can use the language form taught at the lesson.
5. I understand the lesson.
6. The lesson is difficult to me.
7. The lesson is so much fun.
8. I am satisfied with the lesson.

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B. Students’ Responses
• rhyme-based class students have the better attitude than the
traditional class students
• the learners were more satisfied with the lessons and their language
have improved
• the language teachers must have the linguistic knowledge: have to
create the effective lessons for the students and but also have to be
proficient in target language
• Almost all of the rhymed-based class students were totally satisfied
with the lesson.

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 Results of the questionnaires after Lesson 1 and 2

I can use the language form taught at the lesson. I can use the language form taught at the lesson.

Totally Disagree
Totally Disagree

Traditional class Traditional class

Rhyme-based class Rhyme-based class

Traditional class Traditional class

Disagree
Disagree

Rhyme-based class Rhyme-based class

Traditional class Traditional class

Agree
Agree

Rhyme-based class Rhyme-based class

Totally agree
Totally agree

Traditional class Traditional class

Rhyme-based class Rhyme-based class

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

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 Results of the questionnaires after Lesson 1 and 2

I am satisfied with the lesson. I am satisfied with the lesson.

Traditional class Traditional class

Disagree

Disagree
Totally

Totally
Rhyme-based class Rhyme-based class

Traditional class Traditional class

Disagree

Disagree
Rhyme-based class Rhyme-based class

Traditional class Traditional class

Agree

Agree
Rhyme-based class Rhyme-based class
Totally agree

Totally agree
Traditional class Traditional class

Rhyme-based class Rhyme-based class

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Totally agree Rhyme-based class Totally agree Traditional class Totally agree Rhyme-based class Totally agree Traditional class
Agree Rhyme-based class Agree Traditional class Agree Rhyme-based class Agree Traditional class
Disagree Rhyme-based class Disagree Traditional class Disagree Rhyme-based class Disagree Traditional class
Totally Disagree Rhyme-based class Totally Disagree Traditional class Totally Disagree Rhyme-based class Totally Disagree Traditional class

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CONCLUSION

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• Linguistically analysed rhymed can be used as an alternative way of teaching the Myanmar
language communicatively – proved by the performance and results of satisfaction survey
• Various teaching points in each and every levels of linguistics analysis: phonological,
morphological, lexical, syntactic and semantic levels.
• Rhymes can be used potentially in making the learners ready to improve their speaking skills
useful tools as well as in vocabulary learning, sentence structures, and sentence patterns.
• Myanmar rhymes for primary students can be used as a teaching tools in the field of teaching
and learning Myanmar as a foreign language at the basic level.
• Communication, emerged in the class of teaching language through rhymes, seems to be in
progress of active student and teacher participation.
• Role of the language teacher is one of the important phenomena in using the linguistically
analysed rhymes in the foreign language classroom.
• Language teachers must have Linguistic knowledge and they must have the ability to do
linguistic analysis of the target language.
• Fostering Myanmar language teaching more effective is a one of the ways of the Nation
building 39
 RECOMMENDATION
• Using rhymes in the teaching Myanmar as a foreign language context is an effective
way by means of language learning.

• It is important to pay attention on linguistic knowledge, the teaching methodology

and also teacher’s attitudes in accepting the alternative ways in their teaching
profession.

• Due to the time constraints, the researcher has focused only on a private class of
teaching Myanmar as a foreign language with different nationalities from south-east
Asia who were represented for the foreign learners of Myanmar language.

• The researcher has an intention to do this study at the Yangon University of Foreign
Languages in the future.

• There are still more ideas to be studied in the public universities for future 40

researchers.
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Thank You.

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