INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Vocabulary is an essential part in learning a foreign language One of the most important issues in second language teaching and learning is vocabulary learning And, perhaps, one of the most difficult aspects of learning a second language is the retention of learning vocabulary (Holden, 1999)
Vocabulary seems to be the foundation of language It encourages students to learn the four macro skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking
Vocabulary is a very crucial element because without vocabulary students cannot learn other skills as Wilkin (1972) puts it, “Without grammar, little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed”
In the context of a medical college under study, (here by called college X), almost all the students have spent many years neglecting learning English before their college enrolment Therefore, they get into trouble of attaining knowledge in general and vocabulary retention in particular The students have difficulties in remembering the writen form and spoken form of English vocabulary specially the medical vocabulary which belongs to a specialized professional area The pronuncation, spelling and function of vocabulary make them confused in practicing and using them They cannot remember the words they have learnt for a long time so they make mistakes each time the researcher asks them to do exercise
There are some main reasons that demotivate them in learning English
They do not use English in their career as well as in their daily life, so they feel it is useless to learn English In addition to this, medical terms cause them difficulties in pronouncing and writing which discourages them to learn English Therefore, they do not have motivation to learn English.
Identification of problem
The problem of lacking motivation in learning medical English makes it difficult for the students in acquiring medical vocabulary through English lessons
What is the best way to transfer knowledge to students effectively is becoming a big question for many teachers
Nguyen and Khuat (2003) believe that students prefer to learn language in a relaxing environment such as vocabulary games They believe that in an interesting and communicative class, learners can learn 80 percent of what they are exposed to
According to Freeman (1986), learners enjoy language games as well as they enjoy communicative involvement in the classroom He believes that games can provide a healthy and constructive competition Games can encourage learners to discover and involve in the learning process Games can also establish a better bonding between teachers and learners Finally, a good designed language game can create a real communication context in the classroom which can help learners to improve their vocabulary
With the purpose of motivating the students to learn medical English vocabulary by using language games in lesson, this study was implemented with the participation of all the students in the class K7C The methodology used in the research is action research with a number of tools such as teacher’s diary, a pre-test, a post-test and questionnaire
The purpose of using games is making the medical lessons become more interesting and helping the students remember the lessons easier.
Research objectives and research questions
The research sets objectives of finding out how vocabulary games help improve students’ vocabulary retention Besides, it explores students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games In order to achieve these goals, there is a need to answer the following questions:
1 How do vocabulary games help improve students’ vocabulary retention?
2 What are the students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games?
Scope of the study
When vocabulary is chosen to study, some researchers focus on vocabulary retention, some others increase vocabulary size and some researchers improve vocabulary usage In this research, the researcher designed the study to improve the students’ vocabulary retention and change the students’ opinions by encouraging them to interact with each other through vocabulary games The study was carried out in five weeks and the participants of this study were 30 students from class K7C at college X in Ha Noi.
Significance of the study
The findings of this study would be significant to the teachers, the students as well as the researchers Firstly, for English teachers, this research may provide more insights on how to improve the students’ vocabulary retention Secondly, the study would serve as input for the students at a medical college in Ha Noi to be aware of medical English vocabulary They would be informed on their weaknesses so that they can devise ways to improve their vocabulary Third, for other researchers who conduct the same research, the results of the research would be expected to be a reference and contribute more information to solve the same problem In addition, the use of language games would enable students to improve their vocabulary and to use vocabulary correctly Moreover, the students would enjoy English lessons more and feel comfortable to use English vocabulary Last but not least, this study might provide recommendation for English teachers at a medical college to prepare more effective English lessons so that learners’ English vocabulary would be improved not only in classrooms but also beyond.
Structure of the study
The thesis is divided into five chapter
Chapter 1 introduces the background, the problem, the aims, the scope, the significance and the structure of the study
Chapter 2 provides the theoretical framework of the study, including medical vocabulary, techniques in teaching medical vocabulary, types of games and roles of games in teaching medical vocabulary Besides, review of previous studies and the gap for the study are also stated
Chapter 3 demonstrates the research methods applied in the study with details on how and why these methods were implemented in the research
Besides, this chapter presents the data collected and analyzed from teacher’s diary, questionnaire as well as from the pre-tests and post-tests
Chapter 4 demonstrates the results and discussion of the study, which answer the three research questions
Chapter 5 summarizes the main issues covered in the paper It presents the summary of majors findings, the implications, limitations as well as suggestions for further research
References and Appendices are presented in the last part of the thesis.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Vocabulary
In this part the definition of vocabulary is discussed Actually, learning vocabulary plays an important role in learning foreign language like Schmitt
(1997, p.40) argues that vocabulary is a basis of the language; it is very important to be mastered first People cannot speak well and understand written materials if people do not master it He adds that no matter how successfully the sound of the foreign language is mastered, without words to express the wider range of meanings, communication is a foreign language just cannot happen in any meaningful way
Some experts provide several definitions of vocabulary Hornby (1995) states that vocabulary is the total number of words which make a language It means that vocabulary is the key to understand a foreign language When someone has a large number of vocabulary, he/she can easily express his/her idea in communication (p.959)
In line with Hornby (1995), Burn (2008) states that vocabulary means
1) all the words in a particular language, 2) all the words that a person knows or uses, 3) a list of words with their meanings, especially in a book for learning a foreign language From the definition, it can be inferred that vocabulary is a stock of words with their meaning which makes up a language used by person, class, or profession As such, vocabulary plays an important role in learning a language because it helps learners to understand and use language correctly
In the context of education Ur (1998) claims that vocabulary can be roughly defined as the words people teach in a foreign language It means that vocabulary is a written or spoken unit of language, and can be considered as a symbol of idea in a foreign language introduced to learners If a teacher teaches new words in a foreign language, it means the teacher teaches vocabulary
The differences between the vocabualary retention and vocabulary learning is:
The vocabulary retention is the definition which focuses on remembering the pronounciation and the meaning of the vocabulary while vocabulary learning is the definition which focuses on many other factors of vocabulary as vocabulary size, vocabulary usage
In conclusion because of the context of education that vocabulary plays an important role in learning medical English, the definition of Ur (1998) is considered to be used in this study
Medical English can be defined in terms of the distinction from other language variants and general language, as in Lankamp (1989) The vocabulary of medical English clearly belongs to a specialized professional area This means that non-professionals might not have knowledge of medical vocabulary or at least of the specialized senses of vocabulary items relevant in a medical professional environment On the other hand, there is a certain degree of overlap with general vocabulary This raises crucial questions about specialized vocabulary and its relationship to words and terms It is very difficult for students to remember how to pronounce and how to use Medical English so using games to teach medical English is very necessary and important
2.1.2 Techniques in teaching vocabulary of medical English
Teaching medical English vocabulary is like to teach general English vocabulary It is necessary to master some important techniques
From what are mentioned by Lewis and Hill (1992: 102- 103), the researcher summerizes ten vocabulary teaching techniques
The first technique is Contrast For example, a teacher can present the meaning of the word “sick” by contrasting it with the word “healthy” students can learn two words instead of one
The second technique is Synonym Sometimes it is helpful to provide a quick synonym explanation It is helpful if a teacher says “it is similar in meaning to build up in the students’ mind the idea that language consists of choices and that words do not mean the same as each other
The third technique is Enumeration It deals with general and specific words A teacher can explain the meaning of the word “disease” by enumerating or listing various items as “pneumonia, migraine, kidney stones ”
The fourth technique is Explanation This technique can be better used with intermediate students Explaining the meaning of a medical word must include explaining any fact of word used which is relevant If a teacher explains the meaning of “a dull ache”, she has to explain that: A dull ache means “is steady and not too painful” This explaination is more often used for medical area
The fifth technique is Using a dictionary Teachers can ask students to look up the medical word in the dictionary This way provides students with practice in important learning skills, dictionary using
The sixth technique is Translation It is a quick and easy way to present the meaning of medical words, but it is not always easy to translate medical word However, there are always some medical words that need to be translated and this technique can save a lot of time If teachers do translate medical vocabulary, they need to exemplify the medical word in context so that students will not forget it easily
The seventh technique is Using vocabulary in context If a medical word occurs in a text or passage, the meaning can often be deduced when other words in the sentence are already known This deductive process applies particularly to the use of reading passage in the medical field
The eighth technique is Creating a context This is the only way to teach the meaning of many abstract medical words by creating a context or situation from which students can then deduce the meaning
Teaching vocabulary of medical English using games
Gibbs (1981) defines games as an activity carried out by cooperating or competing with decision-makers who want to achieve their objectives following a set of rules Games are activities that have a beginning and an end with a winner who defines the end of the game (Rixon, 1981) When playing games, learners need to have cooperation and competition against another team or players While playing, learners need to use the language and repeat patterns which help in developing and improving their skills Players can communicate with words, use body movements and gestures in order to guarantee fun and unpredictability (Rixon, 1981)
2.2.2 Kinds of games in language teaching and learning
Different writers have different classification of games Lee (2000, p
65) classifies games into ten kinds: structure games, vocabulary games, spelling games, pronunciation games, number games, listen-and-do games, read-and-do games, games and writing, miming and role-play, and discussion game However, Mc Callum (1980, p.74) categorizes games for language learning into seven kinds: vocabulary games, number games, structure games, spelling games, conversation games, writing games, role-play and dramatics
From these two writers’ division, we have five main kinds of games: vocabulary games, structure games, writing games, reading games, and games for developing speaking and listening skills Each kind of game focuses on a language component or a skill, so when choosing games, one of the factors that teachers have to consider is the aim of the lesson As mentioned above, the language games chosen in this study must serve the purpose of helping the learners recall medical vocabulary Vocabulary games were devided into three types as following:
- Vocabulary games for revision or warm up:
In this part the researcher chose some games like Lucky Numbers, Memory challenge, Bingo With the purpose of reminding students of the vocabulary they have learnt in previous lessons, these games help students to memorize the spoken and writen form of medical vocabulary These games help students start the new lesson excitedly and effectively
- Vocabulary games for concept checking
After presenting new medical vocabulary, it is very necessary to use games to revise and check the words Games as Matching, Scrambled letters, Taboo can be good to be used in this part
In this part the researcher managed to use games as cloze excercises, puzzle, scrambled word, taboo, charades for practicing The games were applied flexibly by teachers not only with the purpose of bringing students fun and relaxation but also with the purpose of checking students’understanding about the words they have learnt
2.2.3 Role of games in vocabulary retention of medical English
Medical English leads to the exploration of medical English as a variety of English for special purpose – in other words, to theoritical research in medical discourse focusing on such issues as lexical, linguistic, and textual investigations into medical text-types and genres, medical translation, historical and diachronic studies of medical discourse, and so on
In order to learn and retain new medical words, learners should participate in different activities in their classroom and such activities also include vocabulary games which especially focus on helping learners develop and use words in different contexts by making the lessons enjoyable
Therefore, it is necessary to explore whether students learn medical vocabulary effectively through games or not and how they learn it Many experts of language teaching methodology agree that playing games is a good way to learn vocabulary, especially in communicative language teaching classes Games have been shown to have advantages and effectiveness in learning vocabulary in various ways
Firstly, using games is a good way to increase exposure to medical vocabulary which enhances students’ medical vocabulary acquisition
Learning is a process by which “information is obtained, stored, retrieved, and used” therefore teachers need to provide initial encoding of new words and then “subsequent retrieved experiences” (Rubin, 1987, p 29) Also, Bunch
(2009, para 1) points out that English language learners will have the benefit of a variety of activities which aim at increasing exposure to key vocabulary
In order for the learners to retain medical vocabulary, medical words have to be recycled numerous times As games provide another encounter with the target words, they have the advantage of being fun, competitive, and consequently memorable (Sửkmen, 1997, p 242) Using some of the games, teachers can revise a massive amount of medical vocabulary and grammar in a few minutes Clearly, students have more chances to be exposed to medical vocabulary through games According to Hadfield (1999, p 91), in order to retain a medical word, students have to go through three distinct processes: fixing the meaning of the medical word in their mind, make the medical word their own and using the medical word to communicate with others He adds that games can help learners through these three processes It can be said that games are very effective in helping students to increase exposure to medical vocabulary
Secondly, games can maintain students’ motivation in medical vocabulary learning because they are amusing and interesting (Uberman,
1998, p 18) It is fast and easy for students to remember things in an easy, relaxing atmosphere (Uberman, 1998, p 18) Similarly, games bring in relaxation and fun for students, thus help them learn and retain new medical words more easily (Nguyen and Khuat, 2003, p 11) They also add that games usually involve friendly competition and they keep learners interested so these create the motivation for learners of English to get involved and participate actively in the learning activities (p 11) Games also help learners recall material in a pleasant, entertaining way (Uberman, 1998, p 20) Using games helps students relax and it also helps them remember things faster and better Furthermore, games can lower anxiety, thus making the acquisition of input more likely (Richard-Amato, 1988, p 147) As Nguyen and Khuat
(2003, p 11) put it, students tend to learn and retain new vocabulary better when it is applied in a relaxing environment such as playing vocabulary games Especially, labeling and displaying pictures depicting new vocabulary is helpful for beginners Matching words to pictures is a useful review exercise (Bunch, 2009)
Third, games can provide students with intensive and meaningful practice of language (Wright, Betteridge, and Buckby, 2005, p 11) In fact, most vocabulary games make learners use the language instead of thinking about learning the correct forms (Lee, 1995, p 78) Hadfield (1984, p 127) shares the same view that games can provide an opportunity for real communication and bridge the game between the classroom and the real world Language games thus allow the use of meaningful and useful language which is used in real contexts (Ersoz, 2000, p 85) Language games are able to provide a chance for students to use the language that they have learnt as well
In recent years, research focusing on the effectiveness of games has been conducted and discussed There are several benefits of games in teaching English vocabulary such as promoting learners’ autonomy and improving their motivation The findings from those previous studies seem relevant and useful to the present study in terms of investigating the effects of games towards learning English vocabulary
Aghlara and Hadidi- Tamjid (2011) conducted an experimental study in using a digital computer game to promote vocabulary learning of children in Iran
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
To improve students’vocabulary of medical English, the researcher uses classroom action research With the purpose of classroom action research, quantative and qualitive methods are used in the study
Nunan (1992, p.229) states that action research is a form of self-reflective inquiry carried out by practitioners Action research aims at solving problems, improving practice, or enhancing understanding He also suggests an action research procedure which includes 7 steps: Initiation, Preliminary investigation, Hypotheses, Intervention, Evaluation, Dissemination and Follow-up
Mills (2000, p.6) states that action research is any systematic inquiry conducted by teachers, principals, school counselors, or other stake holders in teaching or learning environment to gather information on how their particular schools operate, how they teach, and how well their students learn
He has presented a four-step action research process which he terms “dialectic action research spiral” which is shown in Figure 1
Figure 1: Dialectic Action Research Spiral
This model was described by Mills as teachers did research with the purpose of helping both teachers and students He also said this model was the dynamic and responsive one which can be adapted to different contexts and purposes
Meanwhile, Carr and Kemmis in Burns (1999, p.30) state that action research is simply a form of self-reflection which was undertaken by participants in social situation in order to improve their own practices
Similarly, according to the model of Kemmis and Mc Taggart in Burns
(1999, p.32), the implementation of the classroom action research includes four steps: identifying problems and planning the action; implementing the action; observing the action; and reflecting the result of the observation
MacIsaac (1995) developed a simple model of the cyclical nature of the typical action research process (Figure 2) There are two cycles and each cycle has four steps: plan, action, observe and reflect
Figure 2 Simple Action Research Model (from MacIsaac, 1995: p53)
In this study, the researcher would adopt the action research model by Kemmis and Mc Taggart in Burns (1999, p.32) because the researcher recognised that this model would be fine and practical to apply to solve the problems.
Settings
The study was implemented in college X located in Ha Noi The students in a medical college spent two years completing the course Each class had thirty to forty students Like many classrooms of other schools in Vietnam, the students were arranged into two rows of desks facing the teacher Besides, it is rather convenient for the students to move tables and chairs when playing games or participating in other activities
The students spent two terms studying English In the first term, they study general English, in the second term they studied medical English
The study was implemented in the second term of the course and lasted more than one month The students started to learn at 7.30 a.m and finished at 11.00 a.m The time for studying English of the first-year students lasted four hours a week, so there were two meetings which consisted of two-hour-meeting every week.
Participants of the study
The participants of the research was 30 first-year students (fifteen boys, fifteen girls) in class 7C of college X They have learnt English because English was one of the compulsory subjects beside medical lessons Although students started learning English from grade 6, this was the first time they have learnt medical English, they were reported to have difficulties in medical vocabulary retention
Research instruments
In order to increase the validity and reliability of the study the researcher triangulated the research instruments by using teacher’s diary; a pre-test, a post-test and questionnaires
In order to answer the first question and the second question the reseacher decided to use teacher’s diary as a tool to find out how vocabulary games helped students remember the vocabulary , use the vocabulary correctly in the lesson and what students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games are
The purpose of using teacher’s diary is to record important information as types of games which were used to teach medical vocabulary, students’ participation and students’ retention so as the researcher could get the data to indicate whether vocabulary games helped students remember, use the vocabulary correctly in the lesson and the students had positive attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games (see Appendix 1) This was considered as a good tool to help support the researcher's memory and this can inspire new ideas for use in next lessons
3.4.2 Pre-test and post-test
To answer the first question about how vocabulary games helped students memorise the vocabulary for a long time, the researcher asked the students to do a test before games were used to teach medical vocabulary (pre-test) and a test after games were used to teach medical vocabulary (post- test) Then the researcher compared the scores of two tests to see the differences The tests consisted of ten questions including multiple choice questions and open-ended questions (see Appendix 2) Actually, multiple choice questions and open-ended questions are good ways to test participants’understanding about the use and the meaning of vocabulary This form of tests is considered to be a good way to reinforce vocabulary and allow students to encounter the vocabulary in a variety of contexts
In order to answer the first question about how vocabulary games helped students remember and use the vocabulary correctly in the lesson and the second question about what the students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games were, the researcher exploited questionnaire during intervention Questionnaires were conducted in a simple way in order for the students to get easy to give the answers These ten questions are aimed to investigate the games’ effectiveness towards remembering and using correctly the vocabulary of the students and their attitudes towards the games used in each lesson
The questionnaire consisted of ten questions varying in three main categories The first category dealt with the students’attitudes towards medical English exploited by the researcher The second category aimed to find out the students’attitudes towards the effectiveness of the games used in teaching the medical vocabulary The last was to reach the feeling of the students after joining games (see Appendix 4).
Research procedure
In this study, the researcher followed the action research procedures suggested byKemmis and Mc Taggart in Burns (1999, p.32) which included four steps: identifying problems and planning the action; implementing the action; observing the action; and reflecting the result of the observation
Based on the observation and experience from teaching medical English at college X as well as discussions with the learners and the colleagues, the researcher found out that one of learners’ biggest problems is medical vocabulary’s retention
As stated above, medical English vocabulary was mainly focused on in this term, so games were used with the purpose of improving students’ medical English learning Games were used for starting the lesson, checking vocabulary and practicing the vocabulary This plan was shown in detail on the basis of the course and briefly demonstrated as in the table in Appendix 3
(see Appendix 3) Based on the purpose of each game used in each lesson the researcher planned to choose suitable games in order for the students to get the most benefits There are three types of games as follows:
- Vocabulary Games for Revision or Warm up:
In this part the researcher chose some games like Lucky Numbers, Memory challenge, Bingo With the purpose of reminding students of vocabulary they have learnt in previous lessons, these games help students to memorize the spoken and writen form of medical vocabulary These games help students start the new lesson excitedly and effectively
- Vocabulary Games for Concept Checking
After presenting new medical vocabulary, it is very necessary to use games to revise and check the words Games as Matching, Scrambled letters, Taboo can be good to be used in this part
In this part the researcher managed to use games as cloze excercises, puzzle, scrambled word, taboo, charades for practicing The games were applied flexibly by the teachers not only with the purpose of bringing students fun and relaxation but also with the purpose of checking students’understanding about the words they have learnt
The medical English lesson plans for five units (unit 1, unit 2, unit 3, unit 4, unit 5) from English for Nurse textbook were designed focusing on medical English vocabulary and knowledge about medical area Other techniques such as allocating time for each game, facilitating students during taking part in the games The games were also used in the lesson as follows
Table 3.1: The vocabulary teaching plan
Firstly the researcher grouped the students The researcher asked the students to count one and two in a sequence manner and the students with the same number would gather in the same group Next, the students could be asked to choose a name for their group to be written on the white board to record their scores In case of there was an uneven number of the student e.g five students, one group would have 3 students and the others have two
Grouping techniques of this kind would help to create a cooperative and competitive atmosphere among the members of the groups
Secondly, it was important to explain the game to students in order to achieve the desired outcome and fulfill the goal behind its implementation
When implementing games the researcher gave the students clear explainations and instructions about games so that the students could understand how to play and practice the medical vocabulary intended to be learned This was considered to be an integral part because if the researcher did not explain the rules and instructions of the game, choosing games as a method to explain vocabulary to the students would be a waste of class time
There would be no outcomes if the students did not know what to do and they would get bored very fast
Thirdly, the researcher monitored while the students were taking part in the game The reseacher observed and wrote down information about the students such as how actively the students join the games, the number of the students playing the games as well as the number of the students who do not play the games
Lastly, the researcher need to evaluate the games which were used in the lessons Based on the information that the researcher has just observed the researcher can find out which type of game is effective and the time when that game can be used in order for the students to get the most benefits
In order to increase the validity and the reliability, the researcher asked the students to do the post-test as well as questionnaire The post-test was given to the students to check their retention of medical vocabulary after games were used to teach the vocabulary After completing the course, the questionnaire was also given to the students in order for the researcher to see how vocabulary games helped improve students’ vocabulary retention and explore students’attitudes towards medical English when games were used in the lessons
When implementing the games the researcher intended to focus on some important information as what types of games used in each lesson, students’ participation and students’ retention To do this successfully, the researcher divided the students into groups Each group had one leader Just after games finished, the leader was asked to inform the researcher the number of students in the group taking part in the games and the number of vocabulary they coud remember when that game was used Just after finishing each lesson, the reseacher spent time writing the diary with the headings being: Type of game; Unit /time; Note; Students’participation;
In order to access the learning medical English vocabulary the researcher used notes of the teacher’s diary, test, and questionnaire to see how the games affect the learning vocabulary of medical English of the students The notes of the teacher’s diary provided the researcher with the feeling of the students when they took part in the games The tests proved whether games led to the high scores of the students when the games were used or not The questionnaire provided the researcher with the students’attitudes toward learning when the games were used
Data collection Procedure
As soon as the researcher finished the lesson, the researcher spent time recording the diary with the headings as Type of game; Unit /time; Note in detail ; Students’participation; Students’retention carefully The information in the diary could be ensured to be truthful since the researcher collected it just after finishing the activity As a result, the researcher managed to reflect on the games used on that day whether the games were effective or not The students were interested in taking part in the games or not? What were the reasons? Based on such data, the answers for the first research question and the second question were generated
The researcher carried out the pre-test on July, 15 th 2018 in A2 room, at college X in Hanoi Thirty participants had fifteen minutes to do the test under the supervision of the researcher which ensures that they did the test by themselves and no cheating occured After the students completed the test, the researcher collected the test and marked it carefully
The post-test was implemented on August 31 st , 2018 in A1 room, at college X in Hanoi The same procedure as in the pre-test was implemented
The tests were constructed by the researcher with the reference to reliable source as medical English Lessons, Nursing (1)- Oxford English for Career : Nursing 1 Student Book and CD (2007) by Tony Grice After that, the vocabulary tests were formed and consistently used along the whole research
The time for each test was forty-five minutes The researcher gave a test mainly on vocabulary of medical English which they have studied From the results of the tests the researcher could see the scores of the pre-test in comparision with the scores of the post-test
After all of the intervention the researcher administered the questionnaire for fifteen minutes First, the researcher spent time explaining the purpose of the questionnaire, the requirements of the informants, then the questionnaire was given to the participants If there was anything unclear in the questionnaire, the informants were encouraged to raise questions Then the participants were instructed to complete the questionnaire.
Data analysis procedure
The notes from the teacher’s diary provided the researcher with how the students took part in the games, they active or not, they were interested in taking part in the games or not The notes also provided the researcher which types of games or which parts of the games caused the students the most problems, which attracted the students to take part in
Besides, according to the percentage assigned for the number of students’ participation and for the level of students’ retention of the learned vocabulary, the researcher provided a unified type of statistic and compared those statistic The number of students’ participation and the number of students’ retention of medical vocabulary in each lesson were compared to see how effective the games were used
Based on the information of the number of students’ participation and the number of medical English vocabulary memorized by the students in the lessons when the games were used, the researcher could find out how vocabulary games help improve students’vocabulary retention Besides, the information on students’ participation helped answer the second question of what students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games were
3.7.2 Data from the pre-test and post-test
The researcher analysed the score of students doing the pre-test before games were used in the lesson in comparision with the scores of students doing the post-test after games were used in the lesson The score of pre-test and post-test analyzed using a formula proposed by Arikunto et.al (2010:150)
In this research, after computing the mean score, the students’ mean score of the pre-test can be compared to the students’ mean score of the post- test to know whether vocabulary games helped students memorise the medical vocabulary for a long time
In order to analyse the results of the questionnaires percentage count was calculated For ease of comparison, a number was assigned for each category (1,2,3,4) For example, in question 5, number 1, 2, 3, 4 were assigned for the categories like very much, like, so so, dislike respectively
Chapter 3 has presented information on the research design and the rationale for conducting the action research project It has described the subjects who participated in the study and the research setting Furthermore, the research instruments used for the study have been presented in details
The procedure for researching, data collection, data analysis has also been described.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Answer to the research question 1
To answer the first question, the researcher analysed the data from the teacher’s diary, the pre-test and the post-test and the questionnaire To answer the first and the second question a quantitative analysis was carried out on students’ responses to questionnaires
In order to help improve students’ vocabulary retention, the researcher intended to used three types of games They were vocabulary games for revision or warm up, vocabulary games for concept checking and vocabulary games for practicing In terms of vocabulary games for revision or warm up the researcher used games with the name as lucky numbers, memory challenge, bingo These games were used to warm up the class before the lessons began The students were comfortable to start the lessons In terms of vocabulary games for concept checking, they were the games as matching, scrambled letters, taboo which were used after the researcher presented the new vocabulary or they were used when the researcher wanted to check the taught vocabulary In terms of vocabulary games for practicing, some games as clozed excercises, puzzle, scrambled word, taboo, charades were often used to help students recall and remember the vocabulary they have learnt
Because of the characteristics of each game, vocabulary games for practicing seem to be students’ favourite games This could be seen clearly through the results from the teacher’s diary Based on the information that the leader of each group informed to the researcher just after the games finished the researcher had specific information:
Table 4.1: Students’participation and students’retention
- only some students joined the game
- the students did not seem to like the game
- At first the students were attracted
- Few students could remember the image
-They remembered but they coudn’t say out the word
- The students want to find out the lucky number
- the students could not give the perfect answer : Correct but not perfect
Board Unit 5- - The students 12 students 13 students race Lesson 1
(14/8/2018) were more interested than yesterday
- However they only joined the game when the teacher asked
- Only some students liked the game
- The students did not remember the word when they matched
Games for concept checking: scrambled letter
- The students got difficulty in rearrange the word
- The game seemed to be difficult for them
- Only some students vollunteered to express the word
- Most of the students like the game
- The students were active to express the word by action
- They were relaxed when they joined the game
- The students seemed to like the game
- They could say out the word when seeing the drawing
As can be seen from the table that type of game influences much on students’participation and students’retention This can be analysed specifically as follows:
In lesson 2 of unit 5, for games for practicing the researcher used the game “pictionary” In this game one student volunteer to go to the board to draw the image of one the words that they have just been taught, the others looked at the image carefully and guessed what the word was The information on students’participation indicated this game provided the researcher the highest the percentage of students’participation which accounted for 80 percent of the total number When being asked about the games which the researcher used in the lesson whether what was the game that had the number of students chose most The number of students who chose “pictionary” were 15 students- the highest number of students chose that game The researcher found out the reason for this choice was that this game motivated the students, the students felt relaxed when they took part in this game
In terms of students’retention, the highest percentage of students’ retention was in lesson 2 of unit 5 when the researcher used the game
“pictionary” Twenty-five students could memorise vocabulary which accounted for 75 percent of the total number Taking part in this game, the number of students who memorised the word increased in comparision with taking part in other games because students said that the image could make them remember the word easier
In contrast, as can be seen from table 4.0, the lowest percentage of students’participation was in lesson 2 of unit 1 On that day the researcher used games for concept checking with the name “matching” The students who took part in the game were only 9 students which accounted for 30 percent of the total number When being asked the reason they answered that for “matching” game there was no information to help them to match correctly They had to memorise the word with no suggestion so it cause them lot of problem when they joined the game
The table 4.0 shows that the lowest percentage of students’retention was also in lesson 2 of unit 1 There were only 6 students which accounted for
20 percent of the total number when “matching” game was used Explaining for this result the students answered that they had difficulty in doing this exercise because they didnot have the basis which easily cause them confused when they matched
In conclusion, for three types of games the researcher used to teach medical English vocabulary, games for practicing was the game that had the most students joining the game and memorising the word They could be
“pictionary” or “charades” that the researcher could consider to use When these games were used in the lesson, the number of students joining in the game as well as the number of students remembering the words increased In contrast, the type of games which the students had difficulty and they often got confused when they joined the game was game for concepting checking for example “matching” and “scrambled letter”
4.1.2 Results from the pre-test and post-test
As mentioned above, the pre-test and post-test were used before and after the intervention (see Appendix 5) in order for the researcher to examine whether vocabulary games help improve students’ vocabulary retention The data from the pre-test and post-test were computed, analyzed and reported in the following table:
Students gain 1 mark Students gain 2 marks Students gain 3 marks
The table shows that 6 students gained 1 mark, 23 students gained 2 marks and 1 student gained 3 marks
Besides, the mean score of the pre-test and the post-test were computed according to the following formula:
In which: Χ : Mean of pre-test scores
Y : Mean of post-test scores
∑x : The sum of pre-test score
∑y : The sum of post-test score After computing the result the researcher recognised that the mean score of the pre- test is 5.16 while the mean score of the post- test is 7.03
This proved that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of the two tests Before the games were used in teaching vocabulary, no student got excellent marks (9 to 10 pts) Only one student got good mark (8 pts) and four students got quite good marks (7 pts) Half of the students (15 students accounting for 50% of the students) got average marks (5-6pts) The students who got bad marks account one third (33%) (below 5 pts) However the results changed positively after the researcher used language games in teaching vocabulary Most of the students gained two marks after the games were used in the lesson in comparision with the results before the games were used The number of student getting excellent marks (9 to 10 pts), good marks (8pts), quite good marks (7pts) increased by 17% There was no students who got bad marks (below 5) It indicated that the students’ vocabulary retention increased but it had not satisfied yet
From the results of the pre-test and the post-test it can be concluded that the results helped answer the first question that vocabulary games help students to remember the vocabulary for a long time
- Results from learners’ survey questionnaire
To address the first and the second question a quantitative analysis was carried out on students’ responses to questionnaires
To make the data analysis process more efficient and easy to follow, the data were summarized into tables to facilitate the synthesis, comparision and generalization of the data
Question1: Do you like learning Medical English?
Table 4.2: The student’s attitudes towards studying medical English
As can be seen from table 4.1, the number of students who disliked learning medical English was 70% (21 out of 30 students) Most of them thought that it was not easy to learn English, moreover, medical English contained medical terms which made students difficult for students to read and to remember Only about one third of students (9 out of 30 students) found learning medical English interesting These students thought medical English was useful for their jobs because the knowledge of medical English could support their works in the future
Question 2: Does medical English support your job in future?
Table 4.3: Role of medical English for students’ jobs in future
Table 4.2 shows that only one fifth of the students agreed that medical English supported their future job, whereas 90% of the students said that medical English did not support their job in the future They believed that their works would mainly focus on medical area, that they would never use English to promote their work
Question 3: In your opinion, how is learning medical English for you?
Table 4.4: Attitudes of students when learning medical English
Number of students (N0) very difficult difficult so so not difficult
Discussion
After using three types of games (games for revision or warm up, games for concept checking and games for practicing) the researcher found that when the games for practicing were used, the number of students joining the games increased in comparision with those when the games for warm up or the games for concept checking were used
In addition to this, the results of the data analysis of the diary, the questionnaire, the pre-test and the post-test in section 4.1 the researcher could claim that:
Firstly, the vocabulary games especially the games for practicing partly helped improve students’ vocabulary retention From the results of the teacher’s diary, it can be assured that the use of vocabulary games helped students remember the medical vocabulary , use the vocabulary correctly and the results from the students’ participation showed that the students have good attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games When the students participated in the games, they were provided with more opportunities to use the vocabulary, to pratice the vocabulary which helped them remember the medical vocabulary longer and more deeply From the results of the tests it could be claimed that vocabulary games helped students remember the medical vocabulary for a long time In comparison with the results in the pre- test, there was a rather big difference in the students’ vocabulary retention in the post-test The mean score of the pre-test was 5.16 while the mean score of the post-test was 7.03 This proved that there was a positive change between the mean scores of the two tests The students’ vocabulary retention has been improved rather considerably
Secondly, students had positive attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games The results of the questionnaire 5 and 6 showed that 67% of the students liked the games used in learning vocabulary and 83% of them recognised the importance and the necessity of the games used in learning medical vocabulary Besides, the results of the question 9 showed that 60% of the students felt relaxed and motivated after taking part in the games When the researcher used the vocabulary games to teach medical English, 40% said that vocabulary games helped them remember vocabulary easier and longer In brief, with all the data demonstrated and interpreted above, it was proved that it was effective to use vocabulary games Vocabulary games helped improve students’ vocabulary retention Most students had a positive attitude towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary of major findings
The study was a small action research about the effectiveness of games on improving medical English vocabulary of the students at a medical college in
Ha Noi It also investigated the students’ opinion regarding to the application of games in vocabulary lessons This sought answer to the following questions:
1 How do vocabulary games help improve students’ vocabulary retention?
2 What are the students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games?
To answer the first research question and the second question, the results from the teacher’s diary, pre-test, post-test and questionnaires indicated that there was a considerable improvement in students’ vocabulary retention by using games First, the results from the teacher’s diary and those at the questionnaires proved remarkably improvement in remembering the vocabulary and use the vocabulary correctly in the lesson Second, the results of the students’participation proved that students had positive attitudes towards the teacher’s use of the vocabulary games Third, the results collected from the vocabulary assessment of the pre-test and post-test showed that after games were used in teaching medical vocabulary, the students could partly memorise the vocabulary for a long time For instance, most students could memorise the written form and spoken form of the vocabulary easily because they used the vocabulary repeatedly when they took part in the games The students did the vocabulary exercises correctly because they partly memorise the meaning of the medical vocabulary Fourth, the results collected from the questionnaires showed that games made students more interested, relaxed, motivated and confident when learning medical English In summary, from the findings of the research, it can be concluded that language games could help improve students' vocabulary retention significantly
To answer the second research question, the results collected from the questionnaires showed that most of the students expressed their positive attitudes towards games carried out in teaching medical vocabulary Firstly, it can be concluded from the results of the questionnaires that most students appreciated the application of the researcher’s organizing of vocabulary games They found vocabulary games interesting and effective Games partly helped improve their medical vocabulary Thanks to the researcher’s clear instructions, her encouragement, the students’ pairs and group discussion, the students could remember the medical vocabulary better Secondly, the results from the questionnaires indicated that learning medical English through the vocabulary games offered the students benefits Games supported language learning and encouraged the students to take part in the learning activities actively Moreover, the students expressed that they were more relaxed, more motivated, more self -confident and more interested in learning medical English According to the students’ opinions, the vocabulary games helped them remember the medical vocabulary easier and longer
On the whole, the results in this study showed that the implementation of language games was effective and could improve students’ medical vocabulary retention However there still need further studies on medical vocabulary should be conducted with other participants on a larger scale and if possible in different contexts.
Implications
From the major findings of the study, the researcher hopes to have some pedagogical implications to help medical English vocabulary learning at a medical college in HaNoi
Firstly, motivating students to learn medical English vocabulary is really necessary and important because medical English vocabulary includes difficult terms, words relating to medical area In order to have a successful project of improving medical vocabulary, students need to be constructed and encouraged by teachers If medical English vocabulary is left to be done by students alone, the project to get students to improve vocabulary may be unsuccessful However, improving vocabulary involves both in-class and out- of class practice, which demands significant planning At first, teachers should have a specific plan of using games in teaching medical English vocabulary, which refers to what kind of games to be used, the time when teachers use that game and what activities students do when taking part in the game When teachers provide students with careful orientation, teachers not only help students to improve their vocabulary’s retention, but also might open a door to the variety of world that medical vocabulary can present
Secondly, teachers are advised to pay attention to games selection (games for revision or warm up, games for concept checking or games for practicing)
How to play games and materials used in the games must be easy with a variety of games and the games should be chosen by students Therefore, teachers should find out what kinds of games students like most and gain the most benefits Encouraging students to take part in the games actively can promote their independence and autonomy
Finally, teachers are advised to design, collect and store interesting games which will help teachers have a big selection of games Besides, it’s very necessary and important for teachers to use games flexibly so that teachers can get the most effectiveness when vocabulary games are used in teaching medical English.
Limitations
To some extent, the findings proved that the study was a success overall However, it must be asserted that there are some limitations that could not be advoided
The post-test seems tobe easier than the pre-test The researcher recognised this limitation however it was not enough time for the researcher to change the test
The research was carried out during a period of ten teaching section
During a lesson of 120 minutes, only 30 to 40 minutes was spent on vocabulary work This may have been too short time to come to a general conclusion on how to teach vocabulary effectively to students Perhaps, if the research process could be lengthened, the results of the study would be more certain and comprehensive.
Suggestions for further research
Based on the limitations of the study as discussed above, the recommendations are raised for further research as follows First and foremost, further studies should be carried out in longer duration, long enough to conduct 2 cycles of action research in order to produce more reliable results Second, the subjects of the study need to be broadened, for example with the second-year students Third, games may be applied in other skills such as listening, writing and reading Fourth, beside the teacher’s diary, questionnaires, tests other instruments such as interview, observation should be used in further research Fifth, it is important, especially with less confident students, to create a positive supportive, low stress atmosphere that encourages creativity and risk taking Finally, some further research if possible should be taken on studying the tips or techniques in order to apply vocabulary games to improve students’ English vocabulary
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Note Ss’participation Ss’retention
- the students were interested in taking part in the game
- they were excited to know which one was the lucky number
- Most of the students did not remember the words relating medical area
- The students feel relaxed to start new lesson
- This game seemed to be attracted the students however
6 students (account 20%) the students got difficulty in finding out the answers of the questions so they could not give the perfect answer
- Which make the students like this game most was the lucky number They got marks without answering questions
- This game was rather excited but the students seemed not to be active when they joined the game Besides, this game did not provide the students with suggestions in order for the students to give the correct answer
APPENDIX 2 PRETEST AND POST TEST
A treats B supports C prepares D performs Câu 2-002- C1 An anaesthetist………… surgeons in the operating theatre
A treats B supports C prepares D performs Câu 2-003- C1 A surgeon……….operation
A treats B supports C prepares D performs Câu 2-004- C1 A pharmacist……… medicine for the patients
A treats B supports C prepares D performs Câu 2-005- C1 A midwife delivers………
A babies B blood vessels C other images D tissues Câu 2-006- C1 A/ An………… takes of people’s eyes
A dentist B ophthalmologist C surgeon D obstetrician Câu 2-007- C1 A lab technican examines samples and ……… under a microscope
A babies B blood vessels C other images D tissues Câu 2-008- C1 A cardiologist specializes in illnesses of the heart and………
A babies B blood vessels C other images D tissues Câu 2-009- C1 A radiologist takes x- ray and ………
A babies B blood vessels C other images D tissues Câu 2-010- C1 An emergency responds to emergencies and gives…………
A babies B blood vessels C other images D first aid
Câu 3-001- C1 Obstetricians care for pregnant women They help the women with the birth of their babies
A women B women who are doctors
C women who are sick D women who will have babies Câu 3-002- C1 The order from the highest grade to the lowest of nursing profession in Britain is………
A nursing officer- auxiliary nurse- sister- staff nurse
B nursing officer- sister - staff nurse - auxiliary nurse
C nursing officer- staff nurse - auxiliary nurse- sister
D auxiliary nurse- sister- nursing officer- staff nurse Câu 3-003- C1 Anesthesiologists put patients to sleep during operations Then the patients feel no pain
A hurt B do not hurt C operate D do not sleep Câu 3-004- C1 Exams and courses that you have taken is………
A qualifications B pension C overtime D further study Câu 3-005- C1 Money that you will receive when you are old………
A qualifications B pension C overtime D further study Câu 3-006- C1 Extra hours you can work to earn more money ………
A qualifications B pension C overtime D further study Câu 3-007- C1 You’ve done this work before so you have………… about it
A qualifications B pension C overtime D experience Câu 3-008- C1 More advanced learning means………
A further study B skills C pay- scale D basic training Câu 3-009- C1 Special abilities means………
A further study B skills C pay- scale D basic training Câu 3-010- C1 The levels of pay is………
A further study B skills C pay- scale D basic training
A LESSON PLAN OF TEACHING VOCABULARY
Date Unit/Lesson Activities Time
July 18 th , 2018 Unit 1: The hospital team – Part 1
July 20 th , 2018 Unit 1: The hospital team – Part 2
July 25 th , 2018 Unit 2: Pain- Part 1 - Present the vocabualry
July 27 th , 2018 Unit 2: Pain- Part 1 - Present the vocabualry
Unit 3: Blood- Part 1 - Game for warm up
Unit 3: Blood- Part 2 - Game for warm up
Bảng câu hỏi dưới đây nhằm phục vụ cho để tài nghiên cứu việc cải thiện từ vựng tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Y thông qua các trò chơi ngôn ngữ tại một trường Trung cấp Y tại Hà Nội Các thông tin và câu trả lời của các em thực sự rất quan trọng với nghiên cứu này Các dữ liệu chỉ phục vụ cho mục đích nghiên cứu không vì mục đích nào khác Chân thành cảm ơn sự hợp tác của các em
Mời các em đánh dấu (v) vào câu trả lời mà các em lựa chọn hoặc viết câu trả lời vào phần để trống:
1 Em có thích học môn tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Y không? a Có b Không
2 Môn tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Y có phục vụ cho công việc của em sau này không? a Có b Không
3 Việc học từ vựng tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Y với em thế nào? a Rất khó b Khó c Bình thường d Không khó
4 Em có gặp khó khăn gì khi học từ vựng tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Y? Nếu có đó là những khó khăn gì? Tại sao? a Đọc từ b Viết từ c Nhớ tứ d Dùng từ
5 Suy nghĩ của em khi giáo viên kết hợp trò chơi ngôn ngữ để dậy từ vựng tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Y? Tại sao? a Rất thích b Thích c Bình thường d Không thích
6 Theo em trò chơi từ vựng có cần thiết và quan trọng đối với việc học từ vựng tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Y không? Tại sao? a Rất cần thiết b Cần thiết c Bình thường d Không cần thiết
7 Trong các trò chơi giáo viên đã sử dụng trong giờ học từ vựng tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Y, em đánh số thứ tự trò chơi mà em thích từ 1 đến 8 (theo mức độ tăng dần) Giải thích lí do?
Scrambled words Lucky number Bingo
8 Trong khi chơi trò chơi, em a Tham gia một cách tích cực b.Tham gia trò chơi chỉ khi giáo viên yêu cầu c Tham gia chỉ khi có hứng thú d Không tham gia
9 Sau khi chơi trò chơi từ vựng, em cảm thấy thế nào? a Rất thoải mái b Bình thường c Khó chịu
10 Theo em trò chơi từ vựng mang lại cho em hiệu quả gì? a Làm cho việc học từ vựng đơn giản, dễ dàng hơn b Giúp em nhớ từ vựng lâu hơn, chính xác hơn c Giúp em có vốn từ vựng đa dạng, phong phú hơn d Không có tác dụng gì