(SKKN 2022) using quizlet to enhance vocabulary acquisition of grade 11 students at hau loc 2 high school

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS……….…….… ……… i

I INTRODUCTION……….……… 1

1. Rationale of the study……….……… ………… 1

2. Aims and objectives of the study ……….……… 2

3. Scope of the study………… ……….……… 2

4. Methods of the study……….……… ……… 2

II CONTENT ……….……… …… 3

1 Theoretical background….………….……… ……… 3

1.1 Definition of vocabulary………….……….………… … 3

1.2 The role of Vocabulary in teaching and learning English …… 3

1.3 Technology and integrating technology in Vocabulary teaching 5

4.1 The improvements in students’ vocabulary acquisition whenQuizlet used within and outside the class.……….…

4.2 Effectiveness of Using Quizlet to motivate students’ autonomy invocabulary learning……… …

1618III CONCLUSION ……….…… ……….………….… 19

1. Conclusion……….……… ………… …… 19

2. Recommendation……….……… …… 20

REFERRENCES……… … ILIST OF GRADED STUDIES……… … IIAPPENDIX 1……… IIIAPPENDIX 2……… …… ……… IVAPPENDIX 3……… …… ……… VAPPENDIX 4……… …… ……… VIAPPENDIX 5……… ……… VII

i

I INTRODUCTION1 Rationale of the study

There is unanimous agreement that vocabulary plays an integral role inlearning a second language Insufficient vocabulary may limit one to understandand produce speech as well as text For instance, it will be much challenging foranyone to understand a non-specialized text without a vocabulary bank under 5000words (Nation, 1990, cited in Groot, 2000)

Language learning plays a significant role in a learner's learning process inwhich the development of main skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) andvocabulary, pronunciation, phonetics, etc., is such a complex process Among theseelements, vocabulary is considered the central component in successful foreignlanguage acquisition Lewis (1993, p.89) once stated that vocabulary is “the core orheart of language”, while according to Wilkins (1972, p.111), “without vocabulary,nothing can be conveyed” Therefore, promoting vocabulary learning has been a goalemphasized by English training programs, especially at basic levels.

Moreover, expanding vocabulary bank is very pivotal for many high schoolstudents in Vietnam because English exam papers for university admission and high-school graduation in Vietnam normally have high lexical demands According toDuy Van Vu (2021, p.7), who conducted a corpus-based lexical analysis of 20English exam papers for university admission and high-school graduation inVietnam during a period of 17 years (2002–2018), the exam papers required avocabulary knowledge of 5000 word families to reach 95% coverage Hence, inorder to get the Secondary School Education Certificate and win a place atuniversities, learners need to build up a large store of words.

Though enriching lexical knowledge is important, vocabulary acquisition ischallenging to a number of language learners due to the fact that it is by far themost sizeable and unmanageable component in language learning (Oxford, 1990).Moreover teachers can not find out an interesting way to motivate and engage themin acquiring new words In fact, from my observations in my classes and mycolleagues’ classes, students usually feel bored with learning vocabulary since theyhave not changed their learning habits They usually learn new vocabulary items onpaper, trying to learn by heart or rely on their teachers’ explanations Studentsclaim that it is hard for them to remember the new words Even when they havespent a lot of time learning them before, they easily forget the words after arelatively short time That’s why it is necessary to find a fascinating way toencourage students to learn new lexical items effectively

This factual situation encouraged me to introduce Quizlet to my classesunder expectation that it would become a remedy for vocabulary learning byproviding students with new learning experience, keeping students’ motivation oflearning, and enhancing students’ vocabulary retention and autonomy The research

“ Using Quizlet to enhance vocabulary acquisition of grade 11 students at HauLoc 2 high school” was conducted to investigate the impacts of Quizlet on

vocabulary acquisition and its potential to increase students’ autonomous learningof English vocabulary.

2 Aims and Objectives the study

This study was carried out with a view to achieving two goals Firstly, it aimsat investigating the effectiveness of an educational technical tool named Quizlet onvocabulary learning The second goal is to examine the potential impacts of Quizleton stimulating learners’ autonomy in vocabulary learning.

The research was concerned with two main areas including the effectivenessof technology-based game, Quizlet, in English vocabulary learning and teaching,and its promises to boost learners’ autonomy.

3 Scope of the study

Learning a second language as a scholar once said “is a long and complexundertaking” Therefore, teachers of a second language have to apply a lot oftechniques to accelerate the results of teaching and learning process However, thisstudy only focuses on the use of Quizlet of students at grade 11 rather than any otheronline tools 78 students coming from class 11A1, 11A4 at Hau Loc 2 high school,who were at the same level of knowledge and awareness and were all equipped withinternet connected devices, participated in this study The study lasted for 16 weeks.

4 Methods of the study

The study was designed to use both qualitative and quantitative methods.Besides, many resources such as books, and some sources on the Internet were readby the researcher.

In order to gain the most reliable results, quantitative data were collectedthrough pre-test and post-test designed to check students’ acquisition of the targetwords in the four vocabulary lessons in English 11 textbook The data then wereprocessed and analyzed and presented with a system of tables and charts for cleardescription of the findings

Questionnaires included a pre-survey questionnaire and a post-surveyquestionnaire Both of them consist of questions related to students’ attitudes tolearning vocabulary before and after using Quizlet, and the changes in theirlearning interest and habits

Along with the quantitative method, the qualitative data were obtained byclass observation and consultancy from other teachers to collect further informationabout the real situations of teaching and learning vocabulary in grade 11 at HauLoc 2 high school

II CONTENT1 Theoretical background

1.1 Definition of vocabulary

Vocabulary is commonly defined as all the words known and used by aparticular person However, for years, there have been a lot of studies trying to givemany other definitions

According to Nash and Snowling (2006), vocabulary is described as “the

knowledge of words and their meanings” (p 336) In the meantime, Sheehan

(2002) supposes that vocabulary is “the ability to understand and use words to

acquire and convey meaning” (Vocabulary, para 1) In brief, a word in vocabulary

is a sound or a combination of sounds presented in writing or printing to symbolizeand communicate a meaning.

Another notion from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocabulary says that“A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language A vocabulary,usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool forcommunication and acquiring knowledge.” According to this website, knowledgeof words can also be categorized into two forms: productive and receptive.

Productive vocabulary is a set of words used when writing or speaking Mostof them are well-known, common and frequently used words In contrast, receptiveor recognition vocabulary is that set of words, often less frequent in use, for whichan individual can assign meanings when reading or listening In general, receptivevocabulary is larger than productive vocabulary.

During the process of learning a second language, vocabulary refers to oneof four types, each of which represents a progressively increasing mastery oflexical terms These four types are listening vocabulary, speaking vocabulary,reading vocabulary and writing vocabulary Listening vocabulary refers to thewords we need to know to understand what we hear Speaking vocabulary consistsof the words we use when we speak Reading vocabulary refers to the words weneed to know to understand what we read Writing vocabulary consists of thewords we use in writing The first two types relate to oral use of language, whereasthe latter two are typically developed during the school years.

From the definitions above, it can be concluded that vocabulary is the totalnumber of words that are needed to communicate ideas and express the speakers'meaning That is the reason why it is important to learn vocabulary

1.2 The role of Vocabulary in teaching and learning English

Traditionally, vocabulary was neglected in language teaching programs andcurriculums for the sake of grammar and other parts of language Nowadays,however, researchers have realized that vocabulary is an important part of language

learning and teaching and it is worthy of attention because of the followingreasons

In the first place, vocabulary is important since it’s the basis of all language.Lewis (1993, p.89) ) stated that , “lexis is the core or heart of language” It’s theraw building blocks that people can use to express their thoughts and ideas, shareinformation, understand others and grow personal relationships In many case inreality, even without grammar, with some useful words and expressions, people canmanage to communicate As British linguists David A Wilkins (1972, p.111)eloquently put it, “without grammar, very little can be conveyed; withoutvocabulary nothing can be conveyed” Take how children acquire language as anexample Before they ever attempt to say complex structures, they utter singlewords such as ‘duck’, ‘ball’ and ‘teddy’ and are usually able to communicate whatthey want Similar to English learners, without using complex grammar structure,they are still able to communicate, using vocabulary alone

Secondly, vocabulary acquisition plays a significant part in learning Englishbecause a large vocabulary helps develop other language skills When studentshave a wide range of words in their target language, it also helps support their fourlanguage skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking As Paul Nation (2015)noted in his paper on vocabulary learning: “Vocabulary is not an end in itself Arich vocabulary makes the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing easierto perform” In fact, lexical knowledge is perhaps the most important factor whenit comes to reading comprehension Without a variety of words, students will haveto struggle to understand the meaning of the text Likewise, if learners have neverseen or heard a particular piece of vocabulary in a second language, it will be muchharder to recognize and decode the sounds and extract the meaning Hence, astudent’s vocabulary knowledge is not the only factor in developing listening skillsbut it certainly has an important role Moreover, learners’ receptive vocabulary sizeis found to be strongly associated with their reading and writing abilities It is mucheasier for students to express themselves in writing and speaking if they have avariety of lexical items They can have different selections of words and will beable to be more precise when expressing their thoughts, feelings, events or ideas

Finally, a larger vocabulary can be a stepping stone to higher levels oflanguage fluency In other words, the more vocabulary learners know, the easier itwill become to improve their language skills For example, if students have strongfoundational knowledge of vocabulary, they can easily understand the words fromtheir context, naturally expand their vocabulary and improve their language skillswithout needing to spend time looking the words up in a dictionary or askingsomeone for explanations Moreover, they are less likely to experience a time whena particular word is “on the tip of their tongue” but they are unable to remember it,which makes them unable to completely express their messages Hence, it is

obviously that the more English words they know, the more fluently they cancommunicate in this language

To sum up, there is clearly a strong link between a person’s understanding ofvocabulary and an individual’s skills with language Therefore, to improve thequality of teaching and learning English, both learners and teachers need to focusclosely on vocabulary

1.3 Technology and integrating technology in Vocabulary teaching

Technology has been defined by different researchers According to İŞMAN(2012), it is the practical use of knowledge particularly in a specific area and is away of doing a task, especially using technical processes, methods, or knowledge.The usage of technology includes not only machines (computer hardware) andinstruments, but also involves structured relations with other humans, machines,and the environment (İŞMAN, 2012)

Nowadays, students are referred to as "Digital Natives" since they arecomfortable with technology, computers, and the Internet, as well as video games.That has resulted in the necessity of integrating information technology in teachingand learning According to Hennessy, Ruthven, and Brindley (2005) andPourhosein Gilakjani (2017), technology integration is defined in terms of howteachers use technology to perform familiar activities more effectively and how thisusage can re-shape these activities Another notion from Dockstader (2008) statedthat technology integration as the use of technology to improve the educationalenvironment It supports the classroom teaching through creating opportunities forlearners to complete assignments on the computer rather than the normal penciland paper

The application of technology has considerably changed English teachingmethods Chalk and talk teaching method is no longer sufficient to effectively teachEnglish because of the effectiveness of Technology-enhanced teachingenvironment compared to lecture-based class.

One of the most remarkable benefits of Digital devices is that it can be usedto motivate and engage English language learners in the development of literacyand language skills (Traore & Kyei-Blankson, 2011; Ware, 2008) Learning a newlanguage requires incredible patience and nerves; therefore, if not being sufficientlymotivated during the long and tedious learning process, learners might bediscouraged to try harder By utilizing various kinds of technological devices,language learners gain a “sense of freedom, motivation, and encouragement theyneed for learning” (Megan Clark, 2013)

Moreover, utilizing technology in the classroom is a new method of teachingtechnique which provides more interaction, and makes students’ learning moreeffectively During the teaching activities, technology have been applied to variousaspects of pedagogies In English teaching fields, this kind of computer-assisted

language learning can support and extend English curriculum goals, which makestudents engage in meaningful English learning activities, increase their vocabularyrange and enhance their English communication skills.

Last but not least, applying new technologies in teaching and learningEnglish promises the emergence of students’ autonomy Learners are more activeand open to online resources, in which they can find every source of informationneeded to complete their assignments or to simply satisfy their curiosity of certainlearning aspects without having to depend on the teachers In other words, Digitaldevices enable them to access authentic materials for self-directed learning andlearn outside the classroom Thus, it can empower learners to learn independentlyand motivate life-long learning ability

All in all, integrating technology in English teaching can reach the followinggoals: inspire students’ learning motivation and interests, enhance the effectivenessof learning English, increase students’ communication skills, and strengthenstudents’ self-explosion and life-long learning ability

1.4 Overview of Quizlet

When learning Vocabulary, to memorize new words students use many wayssuch as writing and reading them again and again, doing word puzzles and gameslike crosswords, anagrams and word searches or using flash cash However, thesemethods are not only time-consuming, demotivating but also not really effective.Nowadays, thanks to the development of technology, English learners could usedigital flashcards to enrich their vocabulary size in a more interesting andconvenient way

Quizlet is an online learning tool that is specialized in vocabularydevelopment and created by high school sophomore Andrew Sutherland in Albany,California It was originally conceived in October 2005 and released to the publicin January 2007 In January 2014, this website had over 35 million user-generatedflashcard sets and more than 11 million registered users according to Wikipedia

Quizlet Application is considered as the digital flashcard that provides thepicture cards used through electronic devices such as smartphone or computer,either online or offline, to help learners memorize the form and meaning of thewords together As a memorization tool, it lets registered users create sets of termsand definitions customized for their own needs Quizlet then coverts thatinformation into six different study modes in a user-friendly and intuitive format,making it useful for any type of learner, from visual to auditory to reading orwriting Quizlet modes also include timed games, which are great for gettingcompetitive-natured students actively engaged in their learning, instead ofpassively trying to memorize a list of vocabulary Additionally, it also helps todevelop incorporate collaboration and teamwork skills When students take part inQuizlet Live, they are randomly sorts into teams to match the terms and definitions.

Therefore, to win the game members in each team have to work together to give thecorrect answers in shorter time

Learn Words and their meanings can be learned throughmultiple choice and writing questions Questions aresorted from easy to difficult.

Available AvailableFlashcard Digital flashcards demonstrate terms in which the

students can flip them by using mouse clicks or touchingthe screens to show definitions or pictures that explainthe term.

Available Available

WriteStudents are asked to write the definitions for the termsor the pictures exposed They can retake this module ifthey make an error.

Available AvailableSpellStudents are asked to type what they hear from the audio

prompt If they misspell the word, they will hear itdictated letter by letter while the correct answer is beingtyped in the screen.

Available AvailableTestA test consists of four types of questions: written,

Non-multiple choices, matching, and True or False Thequestions are based on the study set The scores gainedand the correct answers for the mistaken ones can bechecked.

Available Available

MatchA game in which learners are asked to match terms totheir definitions (or the corresponding pictures) asquickly as possible After finishing it, the app showsthem their scores and ranks among other learners.

Available Available

GravityIn this game, students are asked to type the term which iscorresponded with its definition before the asteroid fallsand crashes onto the planet.

Available AvailableLiveThere are 4 or more students required to play this module

Non-in which they are connected to http://Quizlet.com/liveand they are asked to enter the unique session code Afterthat, multiple-choice questions based on the study setsshould be answered by the students in each group throughtheir computers They have to collaborate to get thecorrect answers because the answers are randomlyscattered among the devices The winner is the first groupthat finishes the game.

Available Available

Non-Table 1: Different Learning mode of Quizlet

In conclusion, Quizlet is a digital learning tool which enables students tohave more flexibility to study what they want, when they want and in the way theywant

2 Practical background

Vocabulary acquisition has become more and more important for students,especially when the new general educational curriculum (in 2018) sets the goal thatstudents at high school have to master from 600 to 800 words related to the themesin the text books and by the time they finish their schooling, they will haveacquired about 2500 words

However, some research has indicated that Vietnamese learners of English asa foreign language have limited vocabulary knowledge, which makes it difficult forthem not only to learn English in higher level but also to find a well-paid job in thefuture According to Duy Van Vu and Elke Peters, who conducted a large-scalestudy to examine the knowledge of meaning recognition of 500 students in Grade12 (18 years old) across different high schools in different provinces of Vietnam,only a very small proportion of Vietnamese twelfth graders mastered the 2000-word level (14%) and even fewer students mastered the next word levels, eventhough their number of years of studying English ranged from 6 to 12 years Thisworrying fact is illustrated in Vietnamese students’ alarmingly low scores in recentnational high-school English examinations For example, in 2019, almost 70% ofVietnamese students scored below average in the national high-school Englishexam according to Ministry of Education and training In 2020, this rate was 63,13%, just decreasing slightly compared to that of 2019 Moreover, English learners’inadequate vocabulary knowledge might be one of the reasons why so many ofthem struggle with communicating in English although they have learned Englishfor a long time at high schools All these issues might have resulted - at least tosome extent - from learners’ poor vocabulary knowledge

Moreover, my observations in teaching process at Hau Loc 2 high schoolalso indicate that in Vietnam, a common procedure of teaching vocabulary can befound in many high schools At the beginning of an English lesson, a teacher maywrite on the board a list of new English words that will appear in the lesson,provide their Vietnamese translations, model their pronunciation, and ask the wholeclass to repeat them after the teacher several times The focus is normally on singleones, often selected either by intuition or based on glossaries in textbooks andreference books After the vocabulary introduction, the focus often moves to alanguage skill, which is normally reading, listening or grammar Under the pressureof limited time in face-to-face class, it’s also very difficult for teacher checkstudent’s understand of the given words Hence, every step in teaching vocabularyseems to be so quick and boring that many students find it hard to remember thespelling, pronunciation and meaning of the words immediately This problems leadto the necessity to find out a new and interesting way to improve the effectivenessof students’ learning vocabulary in in-person class

In addition, when it comes to their vocabulary learning at home, learners areoften left to their own devices To commit the words to the memory, students

usually write them automatically and read them repeatedly, which makes studentfeel bored and demotivated As a result, in the following class when the teacher callon some students to check their memorization of the words, many of them forgetthe words or some even remember the spellings and meanings but can’t pronouncethe words correctly Therefore, it’s necessary for teachers to provide students withanother interesting way to stimulate their autonomy in learning vocabulary outsidethe classroom.

Finally, the methods teachers currently use in class can not supply them anexhaustive assessment of students’ vocabulary knowledge In fact, at the beginningof new lessons, teacher usually call some students to the board to write the wordsand the meaning, which is so time-consuming that there is not enough time for theteacher to check the students’ learning of pronunciations, synonyms or antonyms orcollocations of the words.

From the above given facts, in order to improve the effectiveness of teachingand learning English, it’s necessary for teacher and students to apply a new methodto not only help teachers in presenting the English terms and checking students’vocabulary acquisition to improve the effectiveness of students’ learning in face-to-face class but also motivate them to study independently outside the class Hence,Quizlet, a digital flashcard used through both computers and smartphone, issupposed to be a great measure for vocabulary learning and teaching because it canprovide new learning experience to students, inspire them to learn the words, andpromote their autonomy in learning vocabulary

3 Utilising Quizlet to enhance vocabulary acquisition of Grade 11 students atHau Loc 2 High school

3.1 Preparation

Before applying the study to solve the problems in teaching and learningVocabulary, I chose two classes 11A1 and 11A4, which had the same number ofstudents with the same level of knowledge and awareness They were in the samelearning condition and were all equipped with digital devices connected withinternet

As previously mentioned, the research lasted for 16 weeks and consisted of 2phases During the first phase, lasting for eight weeks, students learnt unit 4, unit 6,unit 7 and unit 8 in English 11 textbook without introduction of Quizlet In both 2classes, I taught vocabulary in my normal way with the PowerPoint presentation,speaker, pictures, etc Students learnt the vocabulary by listening to their teacher’slectures and doing the tasks in the text book I also assigned homework to themwithout any special requirements and let them study the target vocabulary in theirown ways When students had finished unit 8, I asked them to do a 15 minute pre-test The result of the pre-test was followed.

ClassAverage scores

Table 2: The average scores of the pre-test

Figure 1: The pre-test results of class 11A1 and 11A4at Hau Loc 2 High school

The pre-test result showed that the average mark of the two groups wasnearly at the same level The average mark of class 11A1 was 6,41 while that figureof class 11A4 was 6,31 Furthermore, while the former class had only 1 morestudent to get over 8 points than the latter, the number of students who scored from5 to 7.5 in the latter is slightly higher than that of the former – 23 students in class11A4 and 20 ones in class 11A1 The numbers of students in class 11A1 and 11A4who couldn’t get 5 points were 8 and 7 respectively All in all, it could be affirmedthat the vocabulary knowledge and the ability to acquire new words of the twoclasses were almost equal

In the second phase, Quizlet was applied I created my Quizlet account andthen guided students to create their own ones After that, I set up class 11A4 on thiswebsite and sent the link to all the students in class 11A4 so that they could join theclass After this phase, a test was distributed to students to look for the score gainsof the second phase The post-treatment questionnaire was also given to students atthis time to collect further information regarding students’ opinions on theadvantages of learning with Quizlet as well as changes of their learning habitswhich could illustrate their autonomy in learning vocabulary.

3.2 Utilizing Quizlet to enhance vocabulary acquisition of Grade 11 students at Hau Loc 2 High school.

over 8from 5 to 7.5under 5

Class 11A1Class 11A4

3.2.1 Using Quizlet in to enhance students’ vocabulary acquisition in face class.

face-to-Traditionally, teachers presented the new words by using chalk and board,which seems to be very boring In recent years, although many teachers have usedsome other interesting ways such as making use of power point to introduce thewords, it takes them a lot of time and effort to design these lessons, especially tocut and insert the file of words’ pronunciation By using Quizlet, I can save a lot oftime as they just only need to enter the words and the definitions, or explanationsand choose some pictures if necessary then a study set is created

Figure 2: Presentation of the word “ Courteous”

To present the words, teachers use the projector to show the website to theclass and sign in then choose flashcards mode Teachers introduce the definitions

by “flipping” or “flowing” the cards The audio function provides learners with auseful model of pronunciation, and it can also be slowed down Pictures are shownto illustrate the meanings Teacher can also provide learners with the synonyms,antonyms and collocations of the words This mode promotes not only learners’productive but also their receptive vocabulary knowledge.

After presenting the words, teachers can move to Learn Mode to checkstudents’ memorizing of them at class Quizlet prompt users with different types ofquestions - flashcards, multiple choice and written ones in this mode As studentsanswer questions correctly, they’ll start to see harder question types (written,flashcards) more often than easier question types (multiple choice).

Figure 3: Written question in Learning mode

Moreover, instead of wasting time calling students to the board to write thewords of the previous lessons to check their vocabulary learning at the beginning ofthe lesson, teachers can use test mode in Quizlet In Test Mode, Quizlet willautomatically generate a random test using the terms and definitions from users’ setof flashcards Learners are able to customize Question Types (Written, Matching,Multiple Choice, and True/False), Prompt (Term, Definition, or both), andQuestion Limit When finishing the test, they click “Check Answers” at the bottomof the page to see how they did This mode is highly beneficial as it can beconducted as an assessment tool in the classroom.

Figure 4: Matching question in Test mode

Figure 5: Using Quizlet to check students’ learning vocabulary at thebeginning of the lesson in class 11A4 at Hau Loc 2 high school

In short, not only does Quizlet provide learners with the new words in amore interesting and less time-consuming way by using digital Flashcards but it