SKKN using the web duolingo as a tool to teach vocabulary effectively for the 10th graders at a high school

NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING TEACHING EXPERIENCE Topic: “Using the web Duolingo as a tool to teach vocabulary effectively for the 10th graders at a high school.” School year 2021 - 2022 NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING NAM DAN HIGH SCHOOL TEACHING EXPERIENCE Topic: “Using the web Duolingo as a tool to teach vocabulary effectively for the 10th graders at a high school.” Author: Nguyen Thi Mai Huong Group: english - literature Phone number: 0834 867 784 School year 2021 - 2022 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY .1 1.2 THE AIMS OF THE STUDY 1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1.4 METHODS OF THE STUDY PART II: CONTENTS 2.1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1.1 NATURE OF VOCABULARY 2.1.1.1 The definition of vocabulary 2.1.1.2 The Importance of Learning vocabulary 2.1.1.3 The component of effective vocabulary teaching 2.1.1.4 The problems of learning vocabulary 2.1.2 DUOLINGO 2.1.2.1 The definition of Duolingo 2.1.2.2 The purposes of using Duolingo 2.1.2.3 The advantages of Duolingo .9 2.1.2.4 The disadvantages of Duolingo 2.1.2.5 The procedure of learning vocabulary by Duolingo 10 2.2 PRACTICAL BACKGROUND .10 2.2.1 SETTING OF THE STUDY 10 2.2.1.1 Difficulties from the teachers 11 2.2.1.2 Difficulties from the students: 12 2.2.1.3 Low English proficiency 12 2.2.1.4 Mixed- ability level 12 2.2.1.5 Lack of motivation 12 2.2.1.6 Overuse of Vietnamese .13 2.2.2.METHODS OF THE STUDY 13 2.2.2.1 Quasi- experimental design: .13 2.2.2.2 Instruments of the Research .13 2.2.2.3 Questionnaire 14 2.2.3 FINDING AND DISCUSSION 14 2.2.3.1.FINDING FROM THE TESTS 14 2.2.3.2 FINDING FROM QUESTIONNAIRE 19 2.2.3.3 DISCUSSION 24 PART III CONCLUSION 26 SUMMARY 26 LIMITATION: .26 3.3 SUGGESTION: 26 REFERENCES 28 APPENDICE…………………………………………………………………… 29 PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY We are living in the global world in which English language has rapidly become an international language English is regarded as the medium of communication in many different fields such as: diplomacy, science, technology, education, economics, politics, aviations, international sport, etc With the spread of globalization and the rapid expansion of information and technologies, there has been a tremendous explosion in the demand for English worldwide It is seen as a means to bridge the gap and promote mutual understanding and cooperation among countries all over the world English makes the user easier to interact with the world both in the education, work and the main factors as a way to improve the knowledge and technology In learning English, besides the four basic language skills such as: listening, reading, speaking and writing, there are also aspects that play important roles to support the language skill, consist of vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar The three of basic aspects need to be taught Vocabulary is the essential and significant part in learning language If the foreigners learn a new language without mastering vocabulary of the language, they will find it difficult to understand that language Vocabulary is, therefore, one of English components of sub skill that must be taught to the learners because of its primary role for all languages Carter (2014) states that vocabulary is knowledge about words and word meanings Vocabulary is the basic competence that must be reached by students in order to get other competences such as listening, speaking, reading and writing The students need to have adequate vocabulary so as to communicate fluently It is not easy for them to master the other competences without mastering and understanding the vocabulary better In learning foreign languages in general, in learning English in particular, students should know about vocabulary, due to throughing knowing the words, they will make great efforts how to use it to express their opinions, convey their thoughts and feelings and communicate In fact, the vocabulary can not be seperated from other aspects of language According to Amri (2013), the concept curriculum 2013 is scientific approach which means students learn more independently in the learning process Hence, if students have lack of vocabulary, they will be difficult in learning and understanding the material which is supplied by curriculum It is very necessary to consider because learning vocabulary will assist students to understand the material Teachers as facilitators will have vital role in learning process In addition, they fullfill students’ achievements in their lesson plans They always try their best to think how to improve students’ vocabulary Nowadays, teachers only focus on material in syllabus In syllabus, there is no teaching vocabulary seperately It merly focuses on basic skills such as: speaking, reading, listening and writing As a result, students have a lack of vocabulary will be difficult are often ordered to write the vocabulary on the white board in doing the exercises and some of them cope with the problems where there are many words that have multiple meaning Students are asked to rewrite the vocabulary on the white board by the teachers, pay attention on what teacher’ s explanation and memorize the vocabulary that they have written at home Harmer (1991) pointed out the problem on improving vocabulary that researcher can mention and carry out Many students have some difficulties in enhancing vocabulary because the teachers’ techniques are not interesting and make students feel bored or disappointed These require the teachers to have to find out and implement the suitable creative method and media that enhance students’ motivation in learning vocabulary They are indeed using media in teaching, but ignore to support vocabulary learning with those In this case the teaching of the four skills should be taught together with vocabulary for language learners to avoid many troubles in learning English language Nation (1994) stated several strong reasons for which the vocabulary components of language courses should be prepared carefully First, the different of vocabulary gives a very different feedback for study Second, most language teaching courses make vocabulary learning more difficult than it should be Third, vocabulary learning opportinities and the quality of vocabulary learning can be greatly improved through the careful design of both vocabulary and other skii activities Therefore, the author wants to see how the influence of Duolingo if teacher implemented it in classroom teaching to the 10th student at a high school Duolingo is one of the popular applications in learning English that was downloaded by more than 300 million users in the world The company missions are to make education free, accessible to all users and fun learning Duolingo designed to feel like a game in learning process and scientifically proven to be effective in learning language Duolingo is an application which is designed to help students learn language easily and fun It willl be aimed to see whether it will assist them to improve vocabulary or not It is expected to blow positive and exciting atmosphere in the classroom It also can be an effective alternative way to keep the students’ vocabulary Although the teachers of English tried their best to provide students with opportunities to develop the knowledge of vocabulary, how to teach and learn vocabulary effectively is still a challenging question to both teachers and students to many high schools in Vietnam Because of the above reasons, my teaching experience is titled: “Using the web Duolingo as a tool to teach vocabulary effectively for the 10th graders at a high school” 1.2 THE AIMS OF THE STUDY The study was conducted in order to improve students’ vocabulary through Duolingo at a high school and to make them interesting, exciting and active in learning and practicing their English, especially vocabulary by using Duolingo and also to see whether it will be helpful and enjoyable or not for them in practicing their English 1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study only covers vocabulary mastering However, focus is mainly put on the use of the web Duolingo as a tool in teaching vocabulary for the 10 th graders at a high school 1.4 METHODS OF THE STUDY The study was done to offer some useful solutions in using the web Duolingo as the valuable tool, especially in classroom to 10 th graders A survey is also delivered to students after the time of treatment Quasi- experimental method was utilized to collect data The data collected was from general test, a pre-test and post test design, a questionnaire, conducted The participants of this research come from two classes including 84 10th students They were chosen randomly from classes at a high school Most of them have already learnt English for at least four or five years all of the participants have the same educational and language background and they all have already obtained basic knowledge of English including basic structures and common vocabulary Class 10C2 is considered as treatment group and class 10C3 is control group They were asked to join a general test, a pre-test and post-test Their results were collected for the data of the study PART II: CONTENTS 2.1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1.1 Nature of vocabulary 2.1.1.1 The definition of vocabulary It is obvious that vocabulary plays an integral part in the process of acquiring a language in general and in learning English in particular It is a vital element because vocabulary is required when language learners learn to speak, read, write and to make them understand from what they listen from a language that they listened It means that a limitation in mastering vocabulary will cause the obstackles to language learners in learning a new language Different scholars had different definitions about it According to Jack C Richards (2002, p 255), “vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basic how well learners speak, listen, read and write Without an extensive vocabulary and strategies for acquiring newword, from making use language learning opportunites around them such as listening radio, listening to native speakers, using the language in different context, reading, or watching television.” Students have to master vocabulary to develop another aspects in language, such as speaking, listening and writing Nunan (1991) emphasizes that vocabulary is hardly get in learning process in classroom although it is the easiest aspect of second language to learn The teachers at senior high schools and junior high schools not really focus on teaching vocabulary that causes to help students more easily to increase their ability in understanding the language because mastering vocabulary is needed by all language skills For example, in reading, students will have difficulties in understanding and comprehending the text which they read if they not know the meaning of the words in the text In speaking, they will be hard to communicate to each other in foreign language if they only have few vocabulary Mastering a language is not easy if not start with the easiest one, it is impossible to learn a new language without mastering vocabulary 2.1.1.2 The Importance of Learning vocabulary To learn something new, people should know the importance of the things what they would like to learn In this case, the significance of learning vocabulary is to help the students in mastering a target language what they learn Learning language is not only prepares the material of the language but also supplies the training to students how to use that language, whether oral or written It means that in accordance essentially language learning, learning vocabulary was not taught the words or phrases separated off, but was involved in discourse context, with regard to subjects and also related with specific areas as an example of the discourse on the theme of games In order to achieve optimal learning outcomes vocabulary, teachers need to equip their students with words related to particular field In every field of science used special words Vocabuary enrichmen effort needs to be done continuously and can be obtained through certain areas To sum up, mastering vocabulary is very essential and significant in order to understand the language The students are able to communicate both verbally and orally To acieve those students’ need, the teacher must make sure that the component in teaching learning process adequate in mastering of vocabulary Thus, the words related in specific areas to the students are the words around them like nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs 2.1.1.3 The component of effective vocabulary teaching To be affective, a programme of teaching vocabulary should provide students with opportunities for word learning by: Encouraging wide reading Students learn words by encountering them in the text By reading, increasing the opportunities for such encounters improve students’ vocabulary knowledge, as a teacher, the single most important thing, they can to improve their students’ vocabulary is to get them to read more and more (Tesas Education Agency, 2002) The volume of students’ reading is strongly related to their vocabulary knowledge According Herman (1987) shows the effects of wide reading: Firstly, there is the evidence of those evit readers who acquire large of vocabularies largely apart from any type of explicit instruction of vocabulary Secondly, there is a growing body of research showing that, although the odds of learning any particular word from context are small, the cumulative effects of learning from reading can be large The teacher can guide their students in developing reading strategies that will allow them to read more challenging texts with lower levels of frustration When students have been taught comprehension strategies, they tend to more reading, so the teachers have a vital role in motivating their students in reading As it is true for any method of promoting vocabulary growth, based on Tesas Education Agency (2002) wide reading has some limitations One is that it obviously can not be effective with vey young students who are not yet able to read very much on their own Another limitation is that, although wide reading may be effective in producing general vocabulary growth, it is not an effective method for teaching the words that students need to master a particular selection or a concept related to a specific content area Promoting word consciousness: Word consciousness means having an interest and awareness of words It also mentions awareness of word structure, including and understanding of word parts and word order Grave & Juel (2000), word consciousness is the knowledge of and interset in words Word conscious students are fond of learning newwords and engaging in word play They know and use many words, and are aware of the subtleties of word meaning and of the power words can have Word consciousness can be promoted in a way that helps students become aware of differences between Standard English and non- standard varieties, without stigmatizing the later Shirley Brice Health (1983) describes classrooms in which students learned to be “language detectives”, “studying how people speak differently in different groups and different situations She believes that this awareness made an important contribution to the students’ academic success Based on that, people should take advantage of opportunities to develop students interest in words, how to have fun with words and how words and concepts are related and across different context Providing explicit instruction of specific words Although students obtain most of their word knowledge through wide reading, explicit instruction of specific words and their meanings also can contribute greatly to their vocabulary development Explicit instruction is especially important for students who exposure to the vocabulary of literature Engish is limited (Tesas Education Agency, 2002) To be the most effective, explicit vocabulary instruction should be dynamic and involve a variety of techniques Students often need explicit instruction in how to use what they find in a dictionary entry so they are able to transfer that information into something useful Students may be confused by different meaning for the same word or the meaning of the word that provided in dictionary may be difficult to understand The Tesas Education Agency (2002) suggested the ways how to resolve that problems: * Use background knowledge about the content in the text * Have the sense of the gramatical use in the text * Read and understand more to each definition of the words Providing modeling and instruction in independent word - learning strategies Techniques that teachers can model and teach to students so as to help them to figure out the meanings of unknown words on their own Because students learn most newwords incidentally, through wide reading, help students to acquire a set of wordlearning strategies is important to their vocabulary development One of the example of instruction in independent word - learning strategies is teaching students how to use information about word parts can be valuable in promoting vocabulary growth Many students, however, are not aware this strategy Even students who have learned to break words into parts in their decoding instruction may not understand that they can use this knowledge to figure out word meaning Teachers modeling helps to make this strategy’ s value clear to students (Beck, 2002) PAPER time) LISTENING (approximately 30 minutes, including minutes transfer PART 1: QUESTION 1-5 You will hear five short conversations, each one twice There is one question for each conversation For questions 1-5, choose the correct answer Where will Claire meet Alex 11 12 11 10 A9 11 10 12 B9 6 A C B C When are they going to have the party? July 11 A July 18 B July 25 C What was the weather like on the picnic? A B 10 What time should the man telephone7again?5 12 C 5 How much are the shorts? £5 £15 A £20 B C PART 2: QUESTION 6-10 You will hear Robert talking to his friend, Laura, about a trip to Dublin For each question, choose the correct answer Who has already decided to go with Robert? A family members B colleague C tennis partners B a guest house C a hotel They’ll stay in ……… A a university Laura must remember to take A a map B a camera Why does Laura like Dublin? A the people are friendly B.the buildings are interesting C the shops are beautiful 10 Robert’s excited about the trip to Dublin because A he can’t wait to go to the music festival B he loves the food there C he wants to go to a new art exhibition C a coat PAPER 3: SPEAKING Choose one of the familiar topics to talk: * Introduce yourself * Family * School * Music * Sport EXAMPLE: - What’ s your name? - Where are you from? - Where you live? - What are your hobbies? - Tell me about your family - How many people are there in your family? - How many brothers and sisters you have? - Can you tell me about your parents? - What’ s your father’ s job? - What’ s your mother’ s job? - Which secondary school did you go to? - What ‘s the name of your high school? - What subjects you like best? - Can you tell me about the tests and examinations at your school? - What kind of music you like? - Why you like it? - When you listen to it? - What kind of sport you like best? APPENDIX 1B: KEYS OF THE GENERAL– TEST PAPER 1: READING AND WRITING (50 points) I READING (20points) PART 1: QUESTION 1-5 (10points) B C B A B B 10 C PART 2: QUESTION 6-10 (10points) B B A II WRITING (30 points) : PART 1: QUESTIONS 1-5 (10 point) I don’ t mind taking you to the airport in my car Are you interested in joining our local drama group? I haven’ t seen him since 2001 If I had money, I could lend you some They used to live in London Part 2: (20 points) Hi, Tony Are you free at this weekend? I would like to invite you to go swimming with me on Saturday And I think it would be nice to have you, Tony We will go to Sunflowers swimming pool It’s not far from my house, so we can walk there We will meet at 5p.m in front of my house I look forward to see you soon I hope we will have a fun and refreshing afternoon together! Your best friend, Duc PAPER 2: LISTENING (20 points) PART 1: QUESTION 1-5 A C C A A B B PART 2: QUESTION 6-10 B A PAPER 3: C SPEAKING (30 points) Topic: Students can choose one of the familiar topics to talk: * Introduce yourself * Family * School * Music * Sport REQUIREMENT AND KEY: - Content: 10 points - Ways of expressing: points - Grammar: points - Fluency: points B KEYS OF PRE - TESTS PART 1: QUESTION 1-5 B B A C B A A PART 2: QUESTION 6-10 A B C PART 3: QUESTION 11-15 11 (a/ an/ the)(fantastic) waterfall(s) 12 (a/ an/ the)(fantastic) shark(s) 13 (a/ an/ the/ her) horse 14 (a/ an/ the) musical (show/ play) 15 sugar PART 4: QUESTION 16-20 16 C 17 A 18 B 19 A 20 A C KEYS OF POST - TESTS PART 1: QUESTION 1-5 A B C C C PART 2: QUESTION 6-10: B A C C 10 B PART 3: QUESTION 11-15 11 radio 12 (news)paper(s) PART 4: QUESTION 16-20 16 A 17 A 13 jackets 14 people 15 business 18 C 19 B 20 C APPENDIX 2A: PRE – TEST (20 minutes) I For questions 1-8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap Why we need to play Human being are not only the creatures that like to have fun Many animals play, as some birds, however, no other creatures spend so much time enoying themselves as human beings Indeed, we (1)….onto our sense of fun right into adulhood So why human beings spend so much time playing? One reason is that we have timefor leisure: animals have very little time to play as the most of their life is spent sleeping and (2)….food So, is play just an opportunity for us to (3)….in enjoyable activities or does it have a more important (4)… ? According to scientists , (5)….from being fun, play has several very real (6)….for us- it helps our physical, intelectual and social development It also helps to (7)… us for what we have not yet experienced With very (8)….risk, we can act out what we would in unexpected, or even dangerous, situations A hold A searching A engage A motive A excluding A assets A plan A brief B keep B looking B combine B purpose B except B profits B prepare B short C save C seeking C contribute C intention C apart C services C practise C narrow D stay D gaining D involve D cause D away D benefits D provide D little II For questions 9-16, read the text below Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits in the gap Tea Tea is an extremely popular drink with many people It is estimated that the consumtion of tea in England alone exceeds 165 million cups daily Despite this, the drink was virtually (know) (9)… in England until about 400 years ago The first (refer) (10) …….to tea in England comes in a diary written in 1660 However, its (popular) (11) … really took off after the (marry) (12)…….of King Charles II to Catherine of Braganza It was her great love of tea that made it (fashion) (13)… It was believed that tea was good for people as it seemed to be capable of reviving the spirits and curing certain minor (ill) (14)…….It has even been suggested by some historians that it played a significant part in the industrial Revoluion Tea, they say, increased the number of hours that (labour) (15)… could work in factories as caffeine in tea made them more (energy) (16)……and consequently able to work longer hours APPENDIX 2B: KEYS OF THE PRE – TEST I For questions 1-8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap 1.A C A B C D 7.D D II For questions 9-16, read the text below Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits in the gap unknown 11 popularity 13 fashionable 10 reference 12 Marriage 14 Illness 15 labourers 16 energetic APPENDIX 3A: POST – TEST (20 minutes) I For questions 1-8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap Home and abroad After a short time living in a foreign country, I noticed a conversation with locals assumed a predictable pattern There were standard answers to the usual questions Most questions caused little (1)… it was rather like dancing, where both partners know how to avoid (2)…….on each other’ s toes But, ‘when are you going home?’ was a question I (3)….to answer, whenever (4)… my life and the direction it seemed to be (5)… In the last ten years, I had lived in a dozen countries And I had travelled through dozens more; usually in (6)… of a purpose or a person; occasionally to see the attractions This kind of travel is not (7)… wandering, but is the extensive exploration of a wide (8) of cultures However, it doesn’ t allow you to put down roots At the back of your mind, though, is the idea of home A puzzle B trouble C obstacle D barrier A touching B moving C walking D stepping A worked B competed C stretched D struggled A considered B thought C reflected D believed A making B finding C seeking D taking A look B search C sight D inquiry A aimless B unreasonable C unreliable D indefinite A difference B arrangement C variety D order II For questions 9-16, read the text below Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits in the gap Running speed Ellte competitors like the Jamaican Boit have regularly been clocked running at nearly 45 kilometres per hours Such speed would have seemed (9) (believe)… not so long ago Scientists now suggest that humans can move (10) (consider)… faster than even that, perhaps, as fast as 65 kilometres perhour For years, it was assumed that simple muscle power determined human speed, but recent research suggest otherwise The most important (11) (limit)… factors appears to be how quickly the muscles can contract and thus (12) (minimum)… the time a runner’ s foot is in contact with the ground Is our athletic abiliy inherited? Researcher Alun Williams has (13) (identity)… twentythree inheritedfactors that influence sporting performance, such as the (14) (efficiency) ….use of oxygen, and strength As the world population rises, predicts Williams, the (15) (possible) of there being someone with the right genes for these twenty- three (16) (character)… will increase noticeably and thus faster runners are likely to emerge in future APPENDIX 3B: KEYS OF THE POST – TEST I For questions 1-8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap B D D A D B A C II For questions 9-16, read the text below Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits in the gap unbelievable 11 limiting 13 identified 10 considerably 12 minimise/ minimize 14 efficient 15 possibiliy 16 characteristics APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONNAIRES (English Version) This questionnaire is designed to seek for the information of students’ attitude towards extensive listening in improving listening skill to 10 th graders at Nam Dan High School The answer will be used as important data for the research not for any other purposes The answer, therefore, should be frank and accurate to your own ideas and teaching context Thank you very much for your cooperation! Please put a tick (√) on the answer you choose …………………………………………………………………………………… Do you think students are more motivated to learn English by using Duolingo?  Yes, very much  Yes  No Does using Duolingo make students more skillful in memorizing vocabulary?  Very correct  Not very correct  Correct  Incorrect Are students keen on learning English by using Duolingo?  Very much  Much  Not very much  Not at all Does learning with Duolingo give learners an opportunity to be more active in learning English?  Very correct  Correct  Incorrect How often does Duolingo encourage students to discover new ideas ?  Always  Often  Rarely Do you think learning with Duolingo make students better understand the material and the texts? Yes  No  Not sure  Never Do you think acquiring English by using Duolingo allows students to apply their English skill in daily routines? Yes  No  Not sure  Never Will you keep your habit of using Duolingo to learn English even if nobody asks you to it in the future?  Yes  No  Not sure  Never Do you find using Duolingo in learning English is boring? Yes  No  Not sure  Never 10 Do you think students can not express their ideas while using Duolingo ? Yes  No  Not sure  Never ...NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING NAM DAN HIGH SCHOOL TEACHING EXPERIENCE Topic: ? ?Using the web Duolingo as a tool to teach vocabulary effectively for the 10th graders at a high school. ”... of the above reasons, my teaching experience is titled: ? ?Using the web Duolingo as a tool to teach vocabulary effectively for the 10th graders at a high school? ?? 1.2 THE AIMS OF THE STUDY The. .. students They were chosen randomly from classes at a high school Most of them have already learnt English for at least four or five years all of the participants have the same educational and language