(LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ) Teachers'' attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching vocabulary for grade - 10 students at Thai Van Cu High school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST GRADUATE DEPARTMENT NGUN THÞ THANH H»NG TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS APPLYING CLT IN TEACHING VOCABULARY FOR GRADE-10 STUDENTS AT NGUYEN VAN CU HIGH SCHOOL ( Nghiên cứu thái độ giáo viên việc dạy từ vựng theo đ-ờng h-íng giao tiÕp cho häc sinh líp 10 t¹i Tr-êng THPT Nguyễn Văn Cừ) M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: SUPERVISOR: Dr Đỗ TUấN MINH HANOI, 2010 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration Acknowledgement Abstract Table of contents Abbreviation List of tables PART A: INTRODUCTION Pages Rationale Aims of the study Significance of the study Scope of the study Research questions Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Vocabulary and its status in language teaching and learning 1.1.1 Definition of vocabulary 1.1.2 The status of vocabulary in language teaching and learning 1.2 An overview on language teaching methods in teaching vocabulary 1.2.1 The Grammar- Translation Method 1.2.2 The Direct Method 1.2.3 The Audio-lingual Method 1.3 CLT on teaching vocabulary 1.3.1 Definition of CLT 1.3.2 Characteristics of vocabulary communicative activities 1.3.3 Vocabulary teaching techniques in combination with communicative activities 1.4 Factors affecting teachers’ attitudes 1.4.1 Definitions of teachers’ attitudes TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 1.4.2 Factors affecting teachers’ attitudes 1.5 Summary 10 CHAPTER 2: THE INVESTIGATION 11 2.1 Current situation of the teaching and learning of English at Nguyen Van Cu High School 2.1.1 School factors 11 2.1.2 Teachers’ factors 11 2.1.3 Learners’ factors 12 2.1.4 The teaching materials 12 2.2 Methodology 13 2.2.1 Subjects of the study 13 2.2.2 Data collection instrument 13 2.2.3 Data analysis and result 15 2.2.3.1 Results and discussions from the questionnaires 15 2.2.3.2 Results and discussions from the observation 26 2.2.3.3 Results and discussion from the interviews 28 CHAPTER 3: FINDING AND SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS 29 3.1 Finding 29 3.1.1 Teachers’ attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching vocabulary for grade-10 students at NVCHS 29 3.1.2 The reason causing teachers’ attitudes in teaching vocabulary communicatively and their own solutions 29 3.2 Suggestions 30 3.2.1 Suggestions for overcoming the problems in teaching vocabulary communicatively 3.2.1.1 Training and retraining teachers in CLT 30 3.2.1.2 Redefining students’ role and teacher’s role 31 3.2.1.3 Changing students’ attitudes towards learning English 31 3.2.1.4 Improving students’ motivation in learning vocabulary 31 3.2.2 Suggestions on vocabulary learning communicative activities for grade-10 students at NVCHS TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 33 PART C: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 38 Conclusion 38 Limitations of the study 39 Suggestions for further study 40 REFERENCES APPENDIXES TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Vocabulary is an essential element of language Whether in speaking or writing, learners need vocabulary to communicate and understand others Unlike native speakers, second language learners are unable to absorb new vocabulary from a natural, English-speaking environment They acquire language mostly by learning at school However, in Vietnam for most of teachers, the most common way to communicate meaning of words is by translating through wordlist and many learners use rote strategies as their major way of vocabulary learning Together with innovation in English teaching and learning methods everywhere in Vietnam, the new series of English textbook for grade 10 was introduced nationwide in academic year 2006-2007 The new textbooks are designed to apply the communicative approach with learner-centered learning This has leaded teachers and learners to face some difficulties in English teaching and learning especially in teaching and learning vocabulary The reason is that it is the first time for them to adapt the new method of teaching and learning instead of the old one, the grammar translation approach, which has existed in our education for along time As a teacher of English at Nguyen Van Cu High School ( NVCHS), I found that thanks to the movement of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) many language teachers are now aware of the need to take vocabulary seriously, but their students are unable to use English effectively There maybe problems in their students’ ways of using vocabulary, but problems in teaching vocabulary are undeniable In order to better vocabulary teaching and learning, I have conducted a research to find out teachers’ attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching vocabulary for grade 10, pointing out the main problems in teaching vocabulary communicatively, then offering some solutions to these problems Aims of the study The aims of the study as follows: - To give brief overview about the role of vocabulary, its relevance in teaching and learning methodology, and factors affecting teachers’ attitudes - To find out teachers’ attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching vocabulary for grade-10 students at NVCHS, and the reasons causing their attitudes TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com - To make some suggestions on overcoming the teachers’ problems in the application of CLT in teaching vocabulary Significance of the study This study plays an important role in improving vocabulary teaching methods to grade-10 students at NVCHS Its implicated suggestions will make the application of CLT at my school successful and effective Scope of the study As it has been stated above, the study aims to investigate the teachers’ attitudes towards vocabulary teaching through communicative approach for grade-10 students Then, based on the teachers’ reasons leading different attitudes, some feasible solutions will be introduced Research questions To achieve the aims of the study, the following research questions were proposed: In what ways teachers at Nguyen Van Cu High School teach vocabulary to students? Are teachers aware of the need to teach vocabulary communicatively? What have teachers done to teach vocabulary communicatively? What should teachers to teach vocabulary communicatively? Methods of the study The research is done by both quantitative and qualitative methods; it is carried out on the basic of situation analysis, material collection, survey questionnaires, class observations and follow-up interviews In the first place, for the theoretical basis, a lot of reference material on vocabulary, its relevance in teaching and learning methodology, and factors affecting teachers’ attitudes have been gathered, analyzed and synthesized thoroughly Secondly, situation analysis has a look at the background to the study including the description of the current context at Nguyen Van Cu High School Eventually, for the practical basis, questionnaires, classroom observation, follow-up interviews were carried out with the teachers to gather the most reliable data for analysis to find answer to the research questions mentioned above Design of the study This thesis consists of three parts: TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Part A is the introduction, which present the rationale, aims, significance, scope, research questions methods and design of the study Part B consist of three chapters Chapter1 deals with a literature review It starts with vocabulary and its status in language teaching and learning, then an overview on language teaching methods in teaching vocabulary The next is about CLT on teaching vocabulary which includes the definition of CLT, characteristics of vocabulary communicative activities, vocabulary teaching techniques in combination with communicative activities The final is some factors affecting teachers’ attitudes Chapter2 presents the survey First, there is a description about the present situation of English teaching and learning at NVCHS Second, the methodology is performed in the study It provides participants, instruments and data analysis Chapter presents the findings and suggestions Firstly, the findings of the study are analyzed and discussed Secondly, some suggestions for overcoming the problems in teaching vocabulary communicatively for 10-grade students at NVCHS are proposed Some communicative activities for a vocabulary lesson are also recommended Part C is about the conclusion, and suggestions for a further study References and Appendixes come in the end of the study TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Vocabulary and its status in language teaching and learning 1.1.1 Definition of vocabulary There have been various ways of definition vocabulary The most general one is that vocabulary is “a set of lexemes, including single words, compound words and idoms” from Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics ( quoted in Richards:1997:400)) Similarly, Penny Ur (1996:60) also gave idea about vocabulary as “ 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 multi-word idoms” The above quotation indicates that vocabulary is “ the total number of words in a language” ( Hornby, 1995:1331) In short, vocabulary deals not only with a single word but also two or three word items expressing a single idea and multi-word idioms whose meaning cannot be deduced from the analysis of the component words A useful convention is to cover all such cases by talking about vocabulary “item” than “words” 1.1.2 The status of vocabulary in language teaching and learning The status of vocabulary in language teaching and learning has changed dramatically in the last two decades “Since the mid-1980s, there has been a renewed interest in the role of vocabulary in second language learning” ( Coady & Huckin,1997:IX) According to Mc Carthy (1990:VIII), vocabulary is the biggest component of any language course and “ No matter how well the student learn grammar, no matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wide range of meaning, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way” In fact, vocabulary is an essential component of language A good knowledge of vocabulary will help learners develop the four skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing Nowadays, vocabulary is considered an important aspect of teaching and learning a foreign language Thus, second language vocabulary acquisition has been paid the attention of researchers, teachers, and learners of concern 1.2 An overview on language teaching methods in teaching vocabulary There are many influential method widely used by language teachers in the world in general and in Vietnam in particular, but the following is a brief discussion of some major foreign language teaching approaches and their role in teaching vocabulary TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 1.2.1 The Grammar- Translation Method It is one of the oldest method foreign language teaching According to Rivers (1981:29), it “aims at inculcating an understanding of the grammar of the language and training the students to write the new language accurately by regular practice in translating from the native language…” Using this method, teachers teach vocabulary in the form of bilingual lists and the intricacies of grammar are provides by long elaborate explanations to give the rule for putting words together Respecting the teaching of vocabulary, this approach may be easy, cheap and useful but its relevance is restricted because it concentrates on form and not meaning ( Krashen, 1984, p.128) 1.2.2 The Direct Method It is useful for teaching vocabulary In the classroom, only the target language is used, the words used are very common, active and concerning everyday activities This method focuses on speaking and listening which enables teachers to drill students more on vocabulary With this method, teachers can introduce concrete vocabulary through demonstration, objects, and pictures, while abstract vocabulary is taught by association of ideas 1.2.3 The Audio-lingual Method It is very successful in improving students’ comprehension and fluency in speaking the target language In this method, the vocabulary content of pupils is strictly limited and only learnt in context, new teaching material is presented in dialogues Thus, students only have chance to focus on taking firm control of words and structures When the dialogue has been learnt its adaptation with a more personal application to the students’ own situation, provide more consolidation of learning and provide chances for more flexible use of the material 1.3 CLT on teaching vocabulary 1.3.1 Definition of CLT There is a variety of definitions about CLT The most general one is that CLT views language as a system for the expression of meaning Activities involve oral communication, carrying out meaning task and using language, which is meaningful to the learners Objectives reflect the needs of the learners, they include integrator The teacher’s role is as facilitator of the communication process Materials promote communicative language use; they are task-based and authentic ( Nunan (1989:194)) TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 1.3.2 Characteristics of vocabulary communicative activities According to Nation , P and Newton, J (2000:224) communicative activities that encourage vocabulary learning have the following features: - help speakers to set their speech to a suitable level for the particular listeners and to adjust it when listeners indicate a lack of understanding; - provide meaningful context or an illustrated setting within which to encounter new vocabulary; - learners will be exposed to repeat use of the new items during the course of the activities; - learners are likely to be required to use new items productively in the activity These features include the choice of vocabulary and its placement within the textual input for the activities, the teachers’ and learners’ strategies for arriving at the meaning of unfamiliar items, and the processing demands of the activity By being aware of these features and the way they affect learners’ responses to unfamiliar vocabulary, teachers can improve the quality of vocabulary learning that is likely to occur during performance of communicative activities In addition, communicative activities encouraging vocabulary learning are not limited to oral productive language A communicative activity can be a written format such as vocabulary exercises including word-building, matching word with various types of definitions, studying vocabulary in context, semantic mapping, and split information activities focusing on vocabulary Thus, choosing a relevant communicative activity for teaching require thought and planning on the part of the teacher 1.3.3 Vocabulary teaching techniques in combination with communicative activities Based on communicative activities, students can acquire vocabulary through more effective techniques such as visual techniques, verbal techniques, games or role -play 1.3.3.1 Visual techniques According to Zebrowska ( cited in Grain and Redman (1986)), visual techniques pertain visual memory It is clear that learners can remember better the material that has been presented by many means of visual aids Therefore, communicative using visual aids such as flashcards, photographs, blackboard drawing, wall charts and relia can stimulate students to speak the language Regarding visual aids, students can benefit from communicative activities since they “ help to provide the situation which light up the meaning of the utterances used” ( Lee, W.R and Coppen, H,1970:1) In addition, mine TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com The data in table 14 show that all the teachers (8/8) give the same idea that they expect the students to be motivated to learn English Obviously, besides the teachers’ help, the students will be successful at their study when they pay much attention to it Also, the highest percentage of the teachers believes that they should have self-improvement in their English level and teaching methods 100% agree that attending regular workshops or exchange experiences and train teachers’methodology among English vocabulary In addition, 8/8 favored encourage collaborative work from students Most of the teachers (75%) expect to be trained and retrained on sociolinguistic competence as well as have further training on teaching methods because an effective way of teaching is as important as good knowledge of language To success at teaching, the teachers meet a lot of demands, for example, 75% believe that they should combine vocabulary with other language skill, and use language which is suitable with the students’level in the classroom 50% think that they should spend more time teaching English vocabulary and teach vocabulary memory strategies to students Only 25% of them expect that they should follow the guide for the teachers and be facilitated more equipment 2.2.3.2 Results and discussions from the observation During the period from November 2nd to December 3rd 2009, I observed grade-10 teachers in classes I informed my visit to teachers beforehand; and the following result and discuss is my own observation And the common feature of all periods is that all teachers taught vocabulary in the part of pre-reading, speaking, listening, writing, and language focus Therefore, I mainly focused on these parts to find out the way teachers teach vocabulary at our school 2.2.3.2.1 Results and discussions from the lesson ( see appendix D1) It was period 32 Listening of Unit Lesson started with chatting among teacher and students Then teacher presented new vocabulary by asking students to read after tape, the providing students with their meaning in Vietnamese To help students to practice new words, the teachers asked students to repeat them And to consolidate new words, teachers let students play the game “ Rub out and remember” to check From my observation, new vocabulary are taught in the part “ before you listen” 2.2.3.2.2 Results and discussions from the lesson 2( see appendix D2) This period was Language focus of Unit In order to warm-up the lesson, teacher used pictures to get students’ attraction towards the sound / ə / and / з: / Then she instructed 26 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com students how to pronounce, and ask them to read after CD She helped students practice by asking them to read again In order to practice the sounds in sentences, she played CD and had them listen Then she asked students to work in pairs to practice the sentences and paid attention to the two sounds At the end of the part teaching vocabulary, two students were required to read aloud sentences, and teacher checked with whole class which words are pronounced / ə /, / з: / Lesson was the most exciting one I have ever observed Most of the students supported teacher’s activity They worked in pairs with high motivation and the class was very active Most of them looked very enthusiastic and listened to the teacher’s instructions very attentively 2.2.3.2.3 Results and discussions from the lesson ( see appendix D3) It was period 38 Speaking of Unit The teacher began his lesson by organizing his play the game “ Jumble words” to lead the word “mass media” Before teaching his students to speak about mass media, he taught new vocabulary by asking students to open the wordlist and read after him twice times Then his students were asked to practice themselves In order to consolidate new words, teachers called some students to read aloud 2.2.3.2.4 Results and discussions from the lesson ( see appendix D4) It was period 40: Writing of Unit The lesson was started by chatting among teacher and her students Next she also asked her students to look at new words in wordlist and read after teacher To practice them, she had students read words by themselves, and check by calling two students to read new words Then let students read again in chorus to consolidate Before instruct students the way to write the advantages and disadvantages of mass media, she provided them with some structure 2.2.3.2.4 Results and discussions from the lesson 5( see appendix D5) Teacher began her lesson by the game “ Guessing words” to lead the word “village” Next, she presented new vocabulary with some way such as pictures, synonyms, and translation However, she used her mother tone ( Vietnamese) right after using synonyms And she asked students to read after her as the way they practiced The to consolidate new words, teacher used the games “ Rub out and remember” to check In short, all the observed teachers followed similar procedure Teachers began with some warm-up activities such as: chatting, playing games, using pictures, synonyms, and translation The lessons focused on integrated skill In general, teachers followed the below procedure: a warm-up activity, presentation of new vocabulary or new structure, chorus 27 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com reading and listening, and answering teachers’ questions to consolidate new vocabulary It can be said that students took part in different activities initiated by their teachers and it seemed that the lessons were student-centered However, most of the classroom activities were controlled practice Although teachers taught new vocabulary by different ways, then they use Vietnamese to explain the meaning of words Moreover, in spite of using pair work and group work, they resulted in noise but not good result Teachers often asked students to repeat new words as the way of practice And I found out some students did not repeat Furthermore, teachers only spent about 10 minutes to teach vocabulary, which caused to limit students’ creative learning as making sentences with new words, making dialogues using new words, etc It seemed that teachers followed rigidly the textbook with their aims to complete all the tasks From my observation, I found out that all the observed teachers tried to apply CLT in teaching vocabulary, but right after they used Vietnamese to explain As a result, students also used Vietnamese to discuss in pairs or groups 2.2.3.3 Results and discussions from the interviews For the question 1: “What techniques and activities you often use in presenting new words?”, half of the teachers reported that they always use translation for vocabulary teaching Whereas, 25% of them often use verbal techniques And 25% of them stated that they frequently use games, and visual techniques for their teaching When being asked the questions 2: “Do you think that teaching English vocabulary through communicative activities can motivate learning and therefore help students retain vocabulary?”, 50% of the participants claimed that they strong agreed that teaching English vocabulary through communicative activities can motivate learning and therefore help students retain vocabulary And 25% agreed with the issue given Whereas, the number of the participant disagreed with the raise is 25% For the question 3: “Which items of vocabulary teaching techniques you frequently use in vocabulary teaching through communicative activities?”, half of the teachers, are interested in using verbal techniques for designing classroom based communicative activities, while the number of teacher use visual techniques, and game, role-play is the same ( 25%) 28 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND SOME FOSSIBLE SOLUTIONS 3.1 Findings 3.1.1 Teachers’ attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching vocabulary for grade-10 students at NVCHS - Both teachers and students are aware of the importance of the teaching and learning vocabulary in their language teaching and learning process - Most of teachers take a positive view of the communicative approach to language teaching, they find it difficult to apply CLT in teaching vocabulary - Teachers’ awareness of teaching English vocabulary through communicative activities does not coincide with their present teaching at NVCHS - In fact most of them often teach vocabulary by translating all new words into Vietnamese and vice-versa and saying the words clearly, and writing them on the board, then the teachers asked students to read after in chorus and individually In order to consolidate the new words, teachers often check students’ understanding the meaning of words Teachers rarely use visual, aids, mimes gestures, and facial expressions presenting new words - Vocabulary teaching activities applied by teachers of grade-10 students at NVCHS are not well match to students’ ages, abilities and interests For example, 60% of the survey students suppose that communicative activities can help them to retain vocabulary and to be interested in the lesson as well, whereas most of teachers (75%) highlight the importance of teaching vocabulary for examination - To teach vocabulary communicatively, half of the teachers are interested in using verbal techniques for designing classroom based communicative activities, some use visual techniques, game, and role-play However, they sometimes use the techniques, and they often teach vocabulary communicatively only when other teachers attend their lesson or when they have to sit for examinations or when they are inspected by educational officials 3.1.2 The reasons causing teachers’ attitude in teaching vocabulary communicatively and their own solutions Although most of teachers take a positive view of the communicative approach to language teaching, they find it difficult to apply CLT in teaching vocabulary There are lots of reasons such as lack of training or retraining in CLT, students’ lack of good attitudes to learning vocabulary, large class size, multi-level classes, the school’s grammar-based exams non justifying to use CLT, students’ using Vietnamese in work-group or pair-work, 29 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com deficiency in strategic and sociolinguistic competence in English, misconception about CLT, students’ low English proficiency Besides the mentioned problems above, there are other reasons as follows: few opportunities to learn how to use CLT, lack authentic teaching materials, students’ passive styles to evaluate communicative competence, students’ uneven participation in class activities, lack of time and expertise to develop CLT materials and poor teaching facilities In order to overcome these problems, many suggestions are given by the own teachers One of the most favorable solutions is that teachers should self-improve their English level and teaching methods as well as enhance their sociolinguistic competence by attending workshop or seminars on CLT Another effective way to solve the problems is motivating students more to learn English because students are regarded as an important factor in the process of teaching and learning Besides these, giving open-ended questions that allow weaker students to give their answers too, encouraging collaborative work from students and giving encouragements and positive correction and feedback on their students’ mistakes are considered as useful techniques to encourage students to participate in communicative activities Moreover, the teachers hope to have further training on teaching methods and be provided with sufficient facilities and authentic materials 3.2 Suggestions 3.2.1 Suggestions for overcoming the problems in teaching vocabulary communicatively 3.2.1.1 Training and retraining teachers in CLT One of the reasons why the teachers may be reluctant to apply CLT in teaching English in general and vocabulary in particular is that they are not trained and retrained in CLT sufficiently To solve the problem, the cooperation between the administrators and teachers should be had Firstly, the administrators should give the teachers assistance, support and encouragement in applying new ideas and materials Also, they need provide the teachers opportunities to be trained and retrained in CLT and to improve strategic and sociolinguistic competence in English Moreover, more workshops and seminars should be held so that the teachers can share their teaching experience as well as improve their knowledge about it Thus their misconception about CLT might be solved For these reasons, the administrators obviously play a very important role in overcoming the problem 30 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com For the teachers, beside the administrators’ assistance and support, they need to try their best to self-study and self-improve their knowledge and teaching methods Self-study is an effective way because the teachers may achieve knowledge from various sources such as books, magazines or media 3.2.1.2 Redefining students’ role and teachers’ role Students’ role and teachers’ role should be re-learnt On the other hand, students are not passive recipients any longer They become communicator in the class They can join in class activities and are free to express their ideas, to give their disagreements with the teachers or to put the teachers their questions On the other hand, teachers are no loner to “ knowledge-transmitter” They perform the role of a facilitator of the students’ learning, a management of classroom activities, an advisor to answer students’ questions and to control their performance, and a “ co-communicator” to engage in the communicative activities a long with the students ( Littlewood,1981) The students’ new role and teachers’ role is a new concept for students Thus, teachers need to be flexible to control the class because it take time for the students to get familiar to the new one 3.2.1.3 Changing students’ attitude towards learning English To apply CLT effectively in a traditional language classroom, changing students’ attitude towards learning English in general and vocabulary in particular is essential to be changed English should be considered as important as other subjects in the training course and communication should be their final goal of learning English Besides the students’ own effects, teachers play a very important role in changing students’ attitude Obviously, CLT is a “ Western method”- a new method, so they need to let their students have opportunities to get used to it In my opinion, to change students’ attitudes, improving students’ motivation in learning vocabulary needs to be considered 3.2.1.4 Improving students’ motivation in learning vocabulary Some effective ways for the teachers can be applied in the classroom to improve students’ motivation in learning vocabulary 3.2.1.4.1 Designing suitable exercises It is necessary for the teachers to design exercises that are suitable with the students’ level In fact, at NVCHS big and mixed-ability classes are popular Thus, suitable exercises need to be arranged from easy to difficult ones As a result, good English proficiency students 31 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com not feel de-motivated with the limited competence tasks and low ones can also catch up with the others 3.2.1.4.2 Organizing English reading club It may be a good chance for students to exchange knowledge obtained from reading books In addition, through this kind of reading, learners consciously and subconsciously acquire new vocabulary in the books By retelling stories, paraphrasing ideas, or critiquing a poem, for instance, students will remember the words they have read A reading club benefits students because it provides a context where language input, output, and interaction facilitate learning vocabulary Moreover, a reading club can increase motivation, if the books chosen reflect common interest or popular topics 3.2.1.4.3 Creating interesting topics, games and communicative activities This may make the students enjoy learning English as well as create enjoyable atmosphere in the class When the students find something interesting, they are willing to join in Because the environment in which students learn a foreign language is very important, as it has great effect on the learning process In ESL environment, teachers can rely on students’ picking up vocabulary outside the class However, generally EFL students have encounter new items mostly only during class time Thus, teachers should exploit communicative vocabulary activities to bring students into contact with language as it is used in real situation to meet actual communication need Also, the vocabulary activities need to be carefully chosen so that they can be really useful to the students, and they need a careful preparation Teachers have to familiarize himself or herself with material and the activity, decide the organization steps and time allowance Besides, the following questions should be raised: i) What is the purpose of the activity? ii) What help might students need? iii) How can the teacher generate interest in the activity? iv) What instructions are needed? Besides, teachers should consider some factors during the class as follows: + Create interesting topics and set the scene: For instance, teachers raise questions about the topic to discuss + Model preparatory task When teachers give instruction, they should make clear its goal, the rules and the steps 32 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com + Student preparation time While the teacher monitors, the students write + Modeling T-S, S-T, S-S This is probably the most important for successful communicative activities It can be used: - To show target language in action and elicit relevant vocabulary - To clarify/ illustrate the requirements or the objective of the task - To highlight the type of conversational framework needed - To identify potential problem areas - To gauge the students’ readiness to begin the activity - To build student confidence + Pair work Monitor, teachers only interrupt when students really get stuck Monitor aims to: - Allow students to work on the task without too much interference - Identify any common errors or areas of breakdown - Offer encouragement, and recognize when best to change the pairings + Deal with problems Error correction can still be done effectively when you don’t want to interrupt students in the middle of a conversation First, write typical problems that you have heard on the board Next, draw attention to these problems after the tasks have been completed Then, encourage the students to offer suggestions for solving the problems Pair work New pairing By repeating the activity with a new partner, students can attempt to incorporate the corrections and suggestions made during the previous stage Conclusion Let students present their findings Finally, it is worth remembering that teachers don’t have to apply often all of these guideline because the students themselves will always influence the way an activity unfolds 3.2.2 Suggestions on vocabulary learning communicative activities for 10-grade students at NVCHS In order to attract students’ attention to learn vocabulary communicatively, the researcher 33 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com would like to introduce some communicative activities for the practice of some lessons in Tieng Anh 10 by Education Press 3.2.2.1 Same activity 1: Topic based activity: Profession Level: Elementary Aim: Help students to see not only one word but also its relation with the others Class time: 10 minutes Resources: specific vocabulary design by teachers Example: Find out not only new words concerning profession, but also the place of work ( An example of period Reading- Unit is given for illustration) Profession Place of work Duties Farmer field To the farming work Doctor Worker Seller Teacher 3.2.2.2 Same activity 2: Speaking Level: Elementary Aim: Revise learned items Class time: 10-15 minutes Resources: designed activity ( An example of period Speaking- Unit is given for illustration) Procedure: The teacher give students a situation as follows: “ Imagine that your family has built a new house You have only old furniture Here is a list of things you may find useful Choose the most useful thing from point of view” A radio, a TV, an electric cooker, an air conditioner, a cell phone, a computer, a camera, a mirror, a fridge Students work in pairs for about 6-8 minutes After that they read the list of words they have chosen E.g: I need an air conditioner to keep air cool or warm when it is hot or cold 3.2.2.3 Same activity 3: Collocation Activity 34 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Level: Elementary Aim: To enrich previously met items Class time: 10-15 minutes Resources: a sheet Example: Collocation use with Miss, Get, Do and Make Choose which one of the following four verbs goes with the expression listed below Miss Get Do Make a ( Miss/ Get/ Do/ Make) a goal f ( Miss/ Get/ Do/ Make) permission b ( Miss/ Get/ Do/ Make) home g ( Miss/ Get/ Do/ Make) money c ( Miss/ Get/ Do/ Make) progress h ( Miss/ Get/ Do/ Make) mistake d ( Miss/ Get/ Do/ Make) frightened i ( Miss/ Get/ Do/ Make) cooking e ( Miss/ Get/ Do/ Make) a chance j ( Miss/ Get/ Do/ Make) message 3.2.2.4 Same activity 4: Describing picture Level: Elementary Aim: Learn new words through pictures Class time: 10 minutes Resources: Pictures ( An example of period Reading- Unit1 is given for illustration, see Appendix D) Procedure: Stick pictures on the boards Use pictures to teach the following new words + peasant (n) + transplanting + leading buffalo + ploughing and harrowing + pumping water + plot of land 3.2.2.5 Same activity 5: Word form Level: Elementary Aim: Check words learnt Class time: 10 minutes Resources: Activity sheet ( An example of period Listening- Unit6 is given for illustration) 35 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com glorious (… ) left-over (…….) sleep soundly(…) spacious (……) delicious (…….) assemble (… ) destination (……) Botanic Garden (…… ) Procedure: Give words of verbs, nouns, adjectives Ask students if they are nouns (n), verbs (v), or adjectives (adj) Students open the bracket to find out word form, and make examples For example: Delicious (adj) → This meal was very delicious 3.2.2.6 Same activity 6: Semantic mapping Level: Elementary Aim: to enhance vocabulary remembering by helping students link new items with the learned ones Class time: 15 minutes Procedure: Select a word central to the topic Display the target word Invite students label categories as many words as possible that relate to the target word Have students label categories From the list, construct a map ( An example of period Reading- Unit2 is given for illustration, see Appendix E) 3.2.2.7 Same activity 7: Game ( Word guessing game) Level: Elementary Aim: Revise learned items Class time: 10 -15 minutes Resources: Activity sheet Procedure: Choose five words relating to recent conversational themes Write sets of clues to help students Play with whole class or teams Use one word per lesson over five lessons or use all words in one session as a longer game Example clues: 36 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com “ I am a noun but I am very important I begin with the letter “m” I have types I help people to entertain I have letter” 3.2.2.8 Same activity 8: Perception Level: Elementary Aim: Learn new words through piece of music Class time: 10 minutes Resources: piece of music ( An example of period Listening- Unit12 is given for illustration,) Procedure: Play some parts of the songs and ask Ss to answer some questions: What is the name of the song? (Suoi Mo, Lang Toi, Tien Quan Ca + Truong Ca Song Lo) How is the song? Ask Ss to find out adjectives to describe the songs Suoi Mo: sweet and gentle Tien Quan Ca + Truong Ca Song Lo: rousing and solemn Lang Toi: lyrical Teacher check their answer, T gives English words if Ss don’t know 3.2.2.9 Same activity 9: Picture matching Level: Elementary Aim: Learn new words through pictures Class time: 10 minutes Resources: Activity sheet Procedure: Prepare a sheet containing about 10 small pictures Students are asked to work in pair to match new items with pictures Teacher check their answer ( An example of period Reading- Unit7 is given for illustration, see Appendix F) 37 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART C: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY Conclusion On the trend of regional and global integration, good English proficiency people in both grammatical competence and sociolinguistic competence are certainly needed to participate into the world In order to meet the demands of practical needs and settings, the educational system in general and in the area of language education in particular should be reformed For these reasons, traditional English teaching methods seem not to be suitable and useful in the new social situations so finding another method for innovation is essential Naturally, CLT should be a suitable alternative to the traditional ones and be implemented in the educational system to meet the demands of the social contexts However, it should be applied with a close and careful consideration of the cultural values of Vietnam This research is an attempt to find out the teachers’ attitude towards apply CLT in teaching vocabulary for grade-10 students at NVCHS Based on the instrument as questionnaires for both teachers and students, observation, and interview, the study has figured out the important findings with a help to improving the English at the school The findings are divided into two categories such as attitude, reasons leading to the attitude, and suggestions Teachers are aware of the importance of the teaching and learning vocabulary in their language teaching and learning process Although most of teachers take a positive view of the communicative approach to language teaching, they find it difficult to apply CLT in teaching vocabulary in teaching vocabulary Thus, teachers’ awareness of teaching English vocabulary through communicative activities does not coincide with their present teaching at NVCHS The main reasons leading the attitude are lack of training or retraining in CLT, students’ lack of good attitudes to learning vocabulary, large class size, multi-level classes, the school’s grammar-based exams, students’ using Vietnamese in work-group or pair-work, deficiency in strategic and sociolinguistic competence in English, misconception about CLT, students’ low English proficiency In order to overcome these problems, the suggestions are presented Firstly, the students’ attitudes towards learning English should be changed Teachers can make a change in students’ attitudes by enhancing students’ motivation To solve the students’ lack of 38 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com motivation in learning English in general and vocabulary in particular, interesting topics, games, and communicative activities, suitable exercises and English reading clubs should be created so that the students feel motivated to learn Moreover, by asking easy questions, giving positive praise and giving mistake correction at the right time, the teachers may encourage low English proficiency students to take part in class activities The teachers also need to reduce the students’ anxiety in public speaking by forming groups, pairs including both good and bad students, changing group leader respectively so that each student can have a chance to speak to their peers and have responsibility to the task Working in pairs or in groups can also dealt with the problem of students’ low English proficiency Last but not least, to avoid students’ using their mother tongue during pairs or group, teachers should move around the class and observe and give their students assistance if they need Moreover, the administrators should provide the teachers with more opportunities to express to CLT by attending the workshops or seminars about CLT The teachers themselves should self-study to improve their knowledge on sociolinguistic competence as well as teaching method so that they will feel self-confident enough to manage communicative activities in class They also can overcome the lack of teaching aids by taking advantage of genuine situations, designing games… or being flexible in managing group works in class To apply CLT in teaching vocabulary effectively, some of useful class activities are recommended In conclusion, the implementation of CLT at the school will be successful if there is contribution and cooperation of the administrators, teachers and students Among these factors, teachers are central to long-lasting changes that can affect the success or failure of the innovation Besides the administrators’ support and assistance, the teachers must try their best to adapt themselves to use CLT Good communicative competence, creativity and enthusiasm are necessary for the teachers to apply CLT in teaching effectively Limitations of the study Despite some expected results, the study has some limitations in itself The questionnaire does not cover fully the teachers’ attitudes and reactions to teaching vocabulary communicatively Both teachers and students are given a list of items based on the writers own experiences so the result not reflect all the information of teaching vocabulary Moreover, the data collection period took place nearly at the end of the first term when the 39 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com teachers were busy preparing for their students’exams As a result, the teachers might not have spent sufficient time thinking over the questions in the interview before responding Furthermore, although classroom observation were conducted, both the teachers and his/ her students may behave differently during the observed lesson Suggestions for further study On the basis of the findings and limitations of the study, some suggestions are given with hope to achieve more benefits for teaching English at school in term of CLT application - There should be study on material design to match the local context - Study should be implemented to define what difficulties confronted by teachers in terms of CLT application in teaching other aspects: reading, speaking, listening, writing, grammar - Further study should be carried out to figure out better ways to introduce students to the new concepts of CLT and this way of learning - Additional study with EFL teachers in other high school in Gia Lam district might be a useful correlation study These suggestions should be accomplished with the purpose of improving English teaching at the school 40 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ... when applying CLT in teaching vocabulary to grade- 10 students at NVCHS Question attempts to find out the teachers’ problems when applying CLT in teaching vocabulary to grade- 10 students at NVCHS... discussion from the interviews 28 CHAPTER 3: FINDING AND SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS 29 3.1 Finding 29 3.1.1 Teachers’ attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching vocabulary for grade- 10 students at. .. CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND SOME FOSSIBLE SOLUTIONS 3.1 Findings 3.1.1 Teachers’ attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching vocabulary for grade- 10 students at NVCHS - Both teachers and students are