Impact of Warm Up Activities in Teaching English to 9th Grade Students

This study aims to increase students’ attention to the subject of warm-up activities and their impact on teaching the English language to the students of 9th grade. It provides an introduction with a particular emphasis on the advantages of warm-up activities in learning. Then the literature review section covers the principles of warm-up events, their significance, and drawbacks. Then the research methodology of the survey, its findings, discussions are provided and lastly the conclusion of the research.

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What Is The Impact Of Using Warm Up Activities In Teaching English To Students Of 9th
Grade?
by
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Date:

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Table of Contents
Abstract.....................................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................4
1.1 Background Information..................................................................................................4
1.2 Defining the Problem.......................................................................................................4
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................5
2.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................5
2.2 Definition of Warm-up.....................................................................................................5
2.3 Principles of Warm-up Activity.......................................................................................5
2.4 Significance of Warm-up.................................................................................................5
2.4.1 Create a rapport..........................................................................................................5
2.4.2 Inspiration..................................................................................................................5
2.4.3 Attention....................................................................................................................6
2.5 Disadvantages to Warm-up..............................................................................................6
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.......................................................7
3.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................7
3.2 Research Design...............................................................................................................7
3.3 Instrumentation.................................................................................................................7
3.4 Sampling Plan...................................................................................................................7
3.5 Data Collection.................................................................................................................7
3.6 Data Analysis....................................................................................................................8
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION............................................................9
4.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................9
4.2 Findings and Discussions.................................................................................................9
4.3 Conclusion......................................................................................................................14
References................................................................................................................................15

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Abstract
This study aims to increase students’ attention to the subject of warm-up activities and their
impact on teaching the English language to the students of 9th grade. It provides an
introduction with a particular emphasis on the advantages of warm-up activities in learning.
Then the literature review section covers the principles of warm-up events, their significance,
and drawbacks. Then the research methodology of the survey, its findings, discussions are
provided and lastly the conclusion of the research.

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Information
Most students whine of boredom if they repetitively do the same thing right from the start of
the class session to its end. The more they become disinterested in class, the more they cannot
go far in learning a language. Unluckily, most of the instructors are not conscious whether or
not the learners are fascinated and interested to adopt the class activities they design for them.
It is significant to ascertain the means and ways in which students can be kept interested in
learning (Vasiljevic, 2010). The use of warm-up activities is one way by which teachers can
break boredom in a class session and to interest, the students, capture their attention, offer
them with objective and inspiration (Vasiljevic, 2010).
1.2 Defining the Problem
Some instructors do not regard warm up as significant for learning neither do they give
attention to it. Most the teachers will adopt warm-ups at the beginning of each session of
new courses in order to offer the opportunity for them to know each other. The other primary
importance of warm-up activities in the classroom is overlooked. For instance, warm up
activities can serve to motivate the learners to get involved in class events, trigger the
background know-how of the student, assist the teachers when introducing a new topic in a
captivating manner or help to arrest the concentration of the student. Alternatively, other
methods that are usually used by teachers include questioning, evaluation of materials learned
in the former class, casual chat with the learners by the use of jests, songs, comic videos,
playoffs, stories and the use of images to create interest in the students towards the class
session.
The objective of the researcher is to ascertain the impact of using warm-up activities in
teaching English to students of 9th grade of Muscat International School.

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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
The success of the class will have to involve the students and make them feel interested at the
onset of the lesson. Thus, a teacher should initiate the session in a manner likely to engage
the learners. Different types of warm-up activities such as deliberation questions, games
among others can be used to focus the class. This section comprises the definition of warm
up, principles of warm-up activities, their importance, and drawbacks.
2.2 Definition of Warm-up
According to (Rushidi, 2013) warm-up is a preparatory phase that creates a relaxation feeling
among the learners in addition to creating a positive mood suitable for learning. A warm-up
stage for learning a language is at the start of the lesson (Rushidi, 2013).
2.3 Principles of Warm-up Activity
Some of the principles of input in the class have been suggested by Burns (2009). The author
argues that warm-up activities should be initiated at the start of the session, for it will aid the
instructor in arresting the attention of the learner. Also, it ought to be exciting and short to
inspire the class at the start. Burns also proposes that the input be relevant to the study topic
to integrate the learners at different steps and in other activities for easy learning.
2.4 Significance of Warm-up
2.4.1 Create a rapport
The process of learning is expedited through the creation of a positive association with the
learners. Richards & Bohlke (2011) opines that an exciting class primarily relies on the
instructors because their disposition and method of teaching inspire the students to develop a
positive attitude in learning. A rapport between teachers and students will allow the students
to share their views with ease in the classroom (Richards & Bohlke, 2011). Warm-up
activities assist in the creation of build a relaxed classroom setting and creates peer trust
among the learners thus enabling them to interact easily (Burns, 2009).

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2.4.2 Inspiration
According to Wiśniewska (2013), students are motivated if warm-up activities occupy the
initial minutes of the class session the inspiration to learn is subjective to the students’
interest in class activities. Interest develops the enthusiasm and exploration to study, establish
solid knowledge and to acquire skills and expertise (Wiśniewska, 2012).
2.4.3 Attention
The lack of concentration and noticing hinders the retention of unattended material making it
stay in the memory for a short time. The initial class activity focuses the attention of the
learners on the lesson and develops a positive learning attitude among the learners (Richards
and Bohlke, 2011).
2.5 Disadvantages to Warm-up
Richards and Bohlke (2011) opine that the activity used for students has to adhere to the i+1
formula where i represents the current knowledge of the student and 1 is the next competence
level of the student from the present one. Majority of the designed warm-up activities do not
meet the needs of the students because of the mismatch between the organization of the
language of warm-up activities of the teacher and that of the students’ mind, thus hampering
the learning process (Gaspar et al., 2016).
Additionally, introvert learners can perceive warm-up activities as a threat. More so, in cases
where such a student has to conduct activities individually in the presence of all his/her peers
(Richards and Bohlke, 2011). If the activity negatively affects the student emotionally such as
it creates fear, anxiety, stress, etc. then it will as well be an obstacle to the learners
understanding.

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CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter outlines in details the approach adopted by the researcher to gather data from
Muscat International School and analyse it.
3.2 Research Design
This study used a cross-sectional survey to explore and describe the study topic. It assists the
researcher to gain more knowledge concerning the views and attitudes of respondents.
Structured questionnaires were used to collect data. Questionnaires are easy to interpret the
outcomes, analyze and deliberate.
3.3 Instrumentation
The researcher designed the students’ questionnaires using simple language to encourage the
participants to give their views with ease. The questionnaires comprised of the questions
aimed at identifying the attitudes of the students towards warm-up activities and their impact
on learning the English language. The participant students were to rate their best answers by
ticking against each item. A five-point Likert scale was used ranging from entirely disagree
to agree with values of 1 to 5 respectively entirely. Then the opinions were changed to
arithmetic figures.
3.4 Sampling Plan
The target population was all 9th grade English class students at Muscat International School.
The researcher used random sampling to select one class of 9th-grade students at Muscat
International School as a sample for data collection. This prevents biasness on the side of the
researcher and increases the reliability of the findings. The respondents comprised of 200
students.

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3.5 Data Collection
Data was gathered from 9th grade English students of Muscat International School. The
researcher sought permission in writing from the heads of the English department of Muscat
International School and English teachers whose classes were under survey.
3.6 Data Analysis
The mean score obtained from the responses was used to analyze the data. This is the total
sum of each score of all the items in a cluster divided by the number of items .The mean
shows the overall response of each group as a whole. The formula is shown below:
X = ∑X/n where;
X = mean
∑X = total sum of all respondents
n = number of respondents

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CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction
This section shows the implications of the findings from the survey
4.2 Findings and Discussions
This section discusses the findings in table 4.1.
The following explanation key is applied to the discussion if the outcomes
Bad attitude = 1.00 to 2.25
Not contented = 2.26 to 3.00
Contented = 3.01 to 3.75
Very contented = 3.76 to 5.00
Table 4.1 Findings of the questionnaire survey
No. Items
Entirely
Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Agree
Entirely
agree
Mean Score
A. Principles of Warm up activities
1 It is a short input and not
the major section of the
lesson
3 9 7 26 5 50
3 18 21 104 25 3.42
2 A warm up is linked to the
study topic and class
activities
2 5 8 25 10 50
2 10 24 100 50 3.72

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3 It initiates thinking in
English, overview of
former session, and
creates interest
3 5 10 23 9 50
3 10 30 92 45 3.6
B. Significance of Warm-up
i. Create a rapport
1 Warm-up activities
establish a good learning
atmosphere for the
learners to easily
contribute in class
2 3 4 28 13 50
2 9 12 112 65 4
2 Warm-up activities create
a connection and shared
confidence between
instructors and learners
1 5 6 25 13 50
1 10 18 100 65 3.88
3 Warm-up activities assist
to understand each other
and develop trust
amongest students
2 3 4 28 13 50
2 9 12 112 65 4
ii. Inspiration
1 Warm-up activities foster 2 4 7 25 12 50

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inspiration in students
2 8 21 100 60 3.82
2 Warm-up activities helps
assists the learners to
begin the session with
interest
2 5 7 27 9 50
2 10 21 108 45 3.72
3 Warm-up activities trigger
the interest of the learners
ready to learn
3 5 6 27 9 50
3 10 18 108 45 3.68
iii Attention
1 Students' concentration is
needful from the start to
the end for effective
learning of English
3 4 6 27 10 50
3 8 18 108 50 3.74
2 Warm-up activities
improve learners'
concentration in class
2 5 7 26 10 50
2 10 21 104 50 3.74
C. Disadvantages of Warm-up
1 Warm up activities
discourage students if they
are above their
3 5 8 25 9 50

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competence level
3 10 24 100 45 3.64
2 Warm up activities can be
a source of intimidation
for introvert learners more
so when they become
afraid to do an acvitity in
the presence of the entire
class
2 6 7 27 8 50
2 12 21 108 40 3.66
3 Instructor should give
warm up activity i+1 level
of the student (i stands for
the current knowledge of
the student and 1 is a step
higher than the learners'
present competence level)
2 6 8 24 10 50
2 12 24 96 50 3.68
N/B The figures in at the top are the scores whereas those below are the converted arithmetic
values. The means are derived from the derived figures at the bottom.

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Of all the items under ‘principles of warm-up,’ the attitudes of the learners is ‘contented’ for
the first (mean score 3.42), the second item (mean score 3.49) and for the third item (mean
score 3.60). When asked of the significance of warm up in a classroom, they were ‘very
contented’ that it creates a rapport under items 1, 2, and 3, with means scores of 4.00, 3.88
and 4.00 respectively.
Similarly, the findings show that the students are ‘very contented’ with the fact that warm-up
activities act as an inspiration under item 1, and ‘contented’ under items 2, and 3 with mean
scores of 3.82, 3.72, and 3.68 respectively.
The students also had a ‘contented’ attitude on the idea that warm-up activities increase the
students’ attention in the classroom. Both items 1 and 2 had a mean score of 3.74.
Students were ‘contented’ of the disadvantages of warm-up activities under items 1, 2, and 3
with mean responses of 3.64, 3.66, and 3.68 respectively.
From the findings, it can be seen that the principles of warm-up activities are averagely
appreciated and will have a positive impact on the learning of English language at Muscat
International School. These findings are in agreement with those of Burns (2009).The warm-
up activities create a good relationship with the students and amongst themselves thus
promoting a productive learning environment through participation and involvement.
Additionally, warm-up activities motivate the students hence encouraging their participation
in the classroom. They also make the class interesting thus sparking interest in the students
towards lesson, therefore, improving effecting learning of English language. Through the use
of warm-up activities, the instructors can arrest the attention of the learners and direct their
focus to the lesson objectives. These findings are in agreement with those of (Wiśniewska,
2013). However, the results also show that warm-up activities can also be disastrous when

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they are not used efficiently, primarily, when they create fear for introverts and when they do
not tally with the learners’ competence level.
4.3 Conclusion
The study has demonstrated that warm-up activities can be used for many reasons in teaching
an English language class. For instance, they can be used to establish good rapport between
instructors and learners, to create an effective learning environment, for inspiration, and focus
students’ attention on the class. However, this study found out that different students have
different perceptions on the use of warm-up activities. Some acknowledged that warm-up
activities make them concentrate, some perceived it to be a means of creating relationships
and as a source of motivation.

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References
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practitioners. Routledge.
Gaspar, Y.B., León, J.D.H., Barrios, J.A.G., Inglesa, L.E.L. And Pereira, C. (2016) The
Effects of Warming Up Activities in a Primary State Students' Listening Comprehension
Classroom Project (Doctoral dissertation, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira. Facultad de
Bellas Artes y Humanidades. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa).
Harper, C.A. and de Jong, E.J. (2009) English language teacher expertise: The elephant in the
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Lam, R. (2010) A peer review training workshop: Coaching students to give and evaluate
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Mackey, A. and Gass, S.M. (2015) Second language research: Methodology and design.
Routledge.
McNiff, J. (2013) Action research: Principles and practice. Routledge.
Richards, J.C. and Bohlke, D. (2011) Creating effective language lessons. Cambridge
University Press.
Rushidi, J. (2013) The Benefits and Downsides of Creative Methods of Teaching in an EFL
Classroom: A Case Study Conducted at South East European University, Tetovo-
Macedonia. Benefits, 4(20).
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comprehension to L2 learners. English language teaching, 3(1), p.41.
Wiśniewska, D. (2013) Interest and interest-enhancing strategies of adolescent EFL
learners. ELT journal, 67(2), pp.210-219.