Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS factors affecting students learning of ESP vocabulary at state commercial no5 school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LÊ THỊ NGA FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ LEARNING OF ESP VOCABULARY AT STATE COMMERCIAL No5 SCHOOL NHỮNG YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG TỚI VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CỦA SINH VIÊN TRƯỜNG TRUNG CẤP THƯƠNG MẠI TRUNG ƯƠNG M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi- 2011 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LÊ THỊ NGA FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ LEARNING OF ESP VOCABULARY AT STATE COMMERCIAL No5 SCHOOL NHỮNG YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG TỚI VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CỦA SINH VIÊN TRƯỜNG TRUNG CẤP THƯƠNG MẠI TRUNG ƯƠNG M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Dr LÊ VĂN CANH Hanoi- 2011 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Candidate’s statement………………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………… ii Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………… iii Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………….iv List of abbreviations………………………………………………………………………… vi List of tables and charts……………………………………………………………………….vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….1 Rationale…………………………………………………………………………… Aims of the study…………………………………………………………………….2 Research questions………………………………………………………………… Scope of the study……………………………………………………………………2 Method of the study………………………………………………………………….2 Design of the study……………………………………………………… …… …2 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………………………… Chapter 1: Literature Review……………………………………… …………….…… ….4 1.1 Vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning………… …………….…4 1.1.1 Definition of vocabulary………………………………………… .… …4 1.1.2 The importance of vocabulary in language teaching and learning……………4 1.2 Vocabulary learning in ESP………………………………………………… ……5 1.2.1 What is involved in knowing a word? .5 1.2.1.1 Form of a word……………………………………………………….….5 1.2.1.2 Meaning…………………………………………… ….………… ….6 1.2.1.3 Use of a word………………………………………… ………………7 1.2.2 Terminology…………… ………………………… …………… ……… 1.2.2.1 Definition of terminology…………………………… ……….……….7 1.2.2.2 Characteristics of accounting terminology………… …………… …7 1.2.2.3 Classification of terminology…………………………………….….… 1.2.3 Explicit vocabulary learning and Implicit vocabulary learning…… … … LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com v 1.2.3.1 Explicit vocabulary learning………………………………………… …….9 1.2.3.2 Implicit vocabulary learning……………………………………… … … 1.3 Factors affecting vocabulary learning ………….…… 10 1.3.1 Person-related factors…………………………………………….………… 10 1.3.2 Intralexical factors ………………………………………….……….…… 12 1.3.3 Vocabulary learning task ……………………………….…………… …… 16 1.3.4 Vocabulary learning strategies ……………………….…………………… 17 1.3.5 Learning context …………………………………….……………….…… 18 Chapter 2: The context of teaching and learning ESP at State Commercial No5 School.20 2.1 The teachers and their methods of teaching…………………….… …20 2.2 The students and their background………………………………… …….….…20 2.3 The teaching materials and facilities…………………………………………… 21 Chapter 3: The study……………………………………………… ……….………… ….22 3.1 Subjects of the study…………………………………………………….……… 22 3.2 Data collection instrument…………………………………………………… 22 3.3 Data analysis……………………………………………………………… … 23 3.4 Conclusion and discussion……………………………………… …… … … 30 Chapter 4: Some suggested solutions………………… … ………………………… ….32 4.1 Training students to become self-studiers…………………….…………… … 32 4.2 Providing students with different vocabulary learning strategies……….…….….32 4.3 Improving teachers’ techniques in teaching vocabulary…….…………… …….34 4.4 Improving teachers’ professional knowledge…………………….….… …… 36 PART 3: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………38 Summary of the study……………………………………………… ……… ….38 Limitations and suggestions for further study……………….……… ………… 39 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………… 40 APPENDIX…………………………………………………………………………………… I LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ESP: English for Specific Purposes EGP: English for General Purposes EFL: English as a Foreign Language L1: First Language L2: Second Language SLA: Second Language Acquisition SCS: State Commercial No5 School LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vii LIST OF TABLES & CHARTS Table 1: Students’ strategies in learning ESP vocabulary Table 2: Teachers’ techniques to present new words Table 3: Useful ways of new words presentation to students Table 4: Students’ most interested way of vocabulary practice Table 5: Students’ suggestions for better effects on learning accounting vocabulary Chart 1: Students’ attitudes towards the importance of vocabulary learning Chart 2: Students’ attitudes towards learning of English vocabulary Chart 3: Students’ difficulties in learning a new word Chart 4: Students’ difficulties in learning vocabulary of accounting Chart 5: Students’ interest towards teachers’ activities in vocabulary lesson LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale The rapid growth of English as an international language of communication has stimulated its worldwide popularity in language teaching and learning for decades In Vietnam, English has been considered to be the most popular foreign language since the economic open-door policy Especially after becoming a member of the World Trade Organization, English has become a great demand for schooling and job opportunities English, particularly English for specific purposes (ESP) has recently become popular in numerous educational, vocational and academic institutions which are mandated to train qualified workforce for the society In learning English for General Purposes (EGP) in general and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in particular, vocabulary plays an important role Because meaning is chiefly conveyed through words, vocabulary is the foundation of communication, without which communication would be very limited In order to become independent users of English, students should acquire an adequate number of words and should know how to use them accurately However, vocabulary acquisition, especially the acquisition of technical words in ESP, is really challenging to every student, especially students with limited proficiency in English In the context of State Commercial No5 School in Thanh Hoa, English is a compulsory subject to the students They have to learn ESP at the beginning of the first year when they have not learnt any major subjects With limited knowledge of vocabulary and English grammar, it is difficult for the students to study ESP, especially ESP vocabulary The students often complain that they not know how to learn and how to memorize words effectively The situation is worse when they have to learn technical words of their own specialism because technical words are difficult to pronounce and use This problem has been a concern of many ESP teachers As an ESP teacher, I received many questions from our students about the difficulties in learning ESP vocabulary such as: “ Why is it very difficult to remember new words?” or “How I learn English vocabulary effectively?”, etc However, up to now there have not LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com been any research on students‟ difficulties in ESP vocabulary learning at our English teaching setting Therefore, I conducted a study to find out the causes of their difficulties Then, the factors that most affect their learning of ESP vocabulary can be identified The solutions to these factors will be suggested to improve the learning and teaching of ESP vocabulary at State Commercial No5 School Aims of the study The study is aimed at finding out the factors affecting students‟ learning of ESP vocabulary at State Commercial No5 School Once these factors have been identified, solutions to help students study ESP vocabulary more effectively will be suggested Research questions The research is carried out with an attempt to find out answers to the following research questions: 1, What are the factors affecting students‟ learning of ESP vocabulary at State Commercial No5 School? 2, What solutions should be suggested to help the students learn ESP vocabulary effectively? Scope of the study The study is confined to the identification of factors that affect vocabulary acquisition, especially the acquisition of accounting-related vocabulary by the students of Accounting at State Commercial No5 School The solutions are also provided to improve the students‟ ESP vocabulary learning at State Commercial No5 School Method of the study In order to achieve the aims mentioned above, the major method used in the study is the quantitative one That is all comments, conclusion, suggestion given in the thesis are based on the analysis of the data from survey questionnaires responded by the students Design of the study This study is organized into main parts: PART 1: Introduction LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com In this part the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the scope, the method, and the design of the study are presented PART 2: Development: It consists of four chapters Chapter deals with the theoretical background of the research, which is related to the issues relevant to the topic of the research Chapter describes the context of teaching and learning ESP at State Commercial No5 School Chapter presents subjects of the study, data collection instrument, the analysis of data, conclusion and discussion Chapter offers some suggested solutions to improve the students‟ learning of ESP vocabulary at State Commercial No School PART 3: Conclusion: This part presents a summary of the study, limitations and suggestions for further study LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning 1.1.1 Definitions of vocabulary There have been a wide variety of definitions of vocabulary Each linguist or scholar, in their specialized field, with their own set of criteria, defines vocabulary from their own specialized perspective According to Peny Ur (1996: 60), 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 idioms” Pyles and Algeo (1970: 96) also note that: “It is in words that sounds and meanings inter-lock to allow us to communicate with one another, and it is words that we arrange together to make sentences, conversations and discourses of all kinds” In this thesis, vocabulary is defined as the total number of all the words that a language possesses, including a single word, two or three word items expressing a single idea and multiword idioms of which meaning cannot be deduced from the analysis of the component words but only understood in the sentences, or in contexts 1.1.2 Importance of vocabulary in language teaching and learning In the context of learning English as a foreign language, the vital role of vocabulary is inevitable Vocabulary is commonly accepted to be the most important language elements among pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar McCarthy (1990: viii) states that “ the biggest component of any language course is vocabulary No matter how well the student learns grammar, no matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wide range of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaning way” Wilkins (1972: 11) emphasizes this with his saying, “without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” This is true in learning a foreign language If a learner has a wide range of vocabulary, he can help himself understood and understand others easily On the contrary, if his vocabulary is limited he will surely have difficulty in doing so and in English learning Therefore, nobody can learn a language without learning vocabulary, and nobody can be a LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 30 As can be seen from the table, a high percentage of the students (95%) expressed their wish to learn vocabulary effectively in more interesting and useful ways than the traditional ones that they knew Therefore, they suggested that the teachers should use various techniques in teaching vocabulary Another finding is that 97% of the students wanted the teachers to provide them vocabulary learning strategies The same number of the students expected to be encouraged to apply new words of ESP in the real context (97%) That sounds a really good way to remember new words 98% of the students wanted their teachers to give and explain Vietnamese equivalents for specific words Moreover, 92% suggested that their background knowlegde of accounting should be equipped before starting the ESP course 3.4 Conclusion and discussion From the above analysis, we can come to a conclusion that the students‟ learning of accounting vocabulary at State Commercial No5 School was not effective and affected by a number of factors Firstly, the results from the survey questionnaire indicate that majority of the students were well aware of the importance of English vocabulary, but they did find vocabulary learning difficult When learning vocabulary of accounting, they often either read the words many times or wrote the words in English and its Vietnamese equivalence repeatedly until they thought they had made them theirs It is evident that the students‟ vocabulary learning strategies were quite limited and ineffective Therefore, teachers need to provide the students with different vocabulary strategies to help them learn vocabulary better Learning strategies instruction can help “EFL learners become better learners In addition, skill in using learning strategies assists students in becoming independent, confident learners” (Chamot, 1999: 1) Secondly, the common factor is in the nature of the accounting vocabulary that makes the students encountered some difficulties in learning vocabulary such as incorrect pronunciation, poor word memory, and incorrect word usage First, students‟ incorrect word pronunciation is often interfered by their mother tongue (Richard, 1974) For instance, they tend to pronounce /e/ in words beginning with the letter e For example, /resi:t/ (receipt) instead of / risi:t/ or /ek‟pens/ (expense) instead of /ik‟pens/, etc In addition, their incorrect pronunciation is repeatedly influenced by other causes: the limited time for word LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 31 pronunciation practice during lessons, not enough guideline from teachers on how to have a look at dictionary phonetic transcription for students‟ self-learning Second, reasons for students‟ poor word memory are lack of time for vocabulary practice, and necessary instruction on effective self-learning ways to review and strengthen their learned vocabulary, as state by Gairns & Redman (1986: 77) that “We need to practice and revise what we learn otherwise the new input will gradually fade in the memory and ultimately disappear” Third, concerning the problem of incorrect word usage, the interference of mother tongue takes place to cause students to say a company profitable, not a profitable company, or pay for someone instead of pay someone Another reason is the intralingual errors like overgeneralization and incomplete application of the previously learned rules such as I payed, or She can borrows money Besides, the aspect of word collocation often causes the errors in word usage For example, take a decision instead of make a decision Moreover, the meaning of terminologies may cause students to be unable to use them correctly as they cannot find the correct Vietnamese equivalence or understand them properly Meanwhile, in their first year, the students have not been introduced fundamental knowledge about Accounting Therefore, the learning of accounting vocabulary becomes more specific and challenging Thirdly, the teachers‟ methodology is a factor that affects the students‟ learning of ESP vocabulary The common vocabulary teaching method which many teachers still follow is the Grammar-translation one which is not stimulating but rather boring and depressing When presenting new words, the teachers rarely used visual aids, mimes, gestures and facial expressions to interest students and develop their imagination They used translation technique during most of the time This may create bad habits of learning vocabulary for the students: they become dependent on their teachers and lazy in thinking In addition, the teachers did not pay much attention to help students improve and develop speaking and reading skills As a result, students easily forget the words they have learned because they have no chance to practice new words in classroom or in daily communication Thus, teachers should pay much attention to tailor their teaching methods to suit all levels of students and create more activities to make them highly motivated in the lesson for better result of ESP vocabulary acquisition LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 32 CHAPTER 4: SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS 4.1 Training students to become self-studiers Basing on the findings in the previous part, one of the students‟ difficulties is ESP vocabulary understanding and remembering In order to help students overcome these difficulties It is, therefore, an important responsibility of the teachers to help students to become self-studiers First, the teacher helps students understand the nature of vocabulary learning process: an active process, which requires students actively take part in the vocabulary learning process This means that the students no longer depend on teacher‟s lecture, they must actively join in all vocabulary activities in order to understand and remember vocabulary better In addition, the teacher trains their students to become self-studiers If they can self-study effectively, they are eager to learn and they are more interested in exploring further materials for accounting Thus, their vocabulary, grammar, and background knowledge will be also improved much more Moreover, the teacher should give homework frequently so that students have chance to practice what they have learnt and hence reinforce their specialized knowlegde If students become self-studiers and develop their autonomy in learning, not only students‟ difficulties will be overcome but also teacher‟ heavy task in lecturing will be reduced 4.2 Providing students with different vocabulary learning strategies Findings of the survey questionnaires indicate that students‟ vocabulary learning strategies were quite limited Moreover, they expected their teachers to provide them with strategies to learn vocabulary effectively Some typical vocabulary learning strategies such as learning words in group, making association, guessing words from the context, and using billingual dictionary are highly beneficial * Learning words in groups By putting words which have something in common, students can remember them better and expand their vocabulary a lot Here are some words which have been sorted in groups LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 33 Group 1: yen, dollar, pound, mark, euro, pound, franc, (VN) dong Group 2: managing director, sales manager, tours manager, secretary, accountant, clerk, personal assistant, typist Group 3: rice, sugar, coffee, rubber, tin * Making association Research has shown that students remember words better by making associations in their mind For example, when you learn the word “bank‟ you would generate a number of words and phrases: money, account, deposit, accountant, invest, loan, credit card, cheque, etc * Guessing words from the context There are two useful ways that help students to guess the meaning of new words or phrases without dictionary by using structural formation and context clues - Using structural formation: The meaning of new words can be work out by referring to the information such as prefixes, suffixes and parts of speech For example, prefixes un-, disalways have negative meanings (comfortable- uncomfortable, like- dislike) Suffixes: -ful, able, - less often occur in adjectives such as helpful, payable, useless - Using context clues: Students can deduce the possible meaning of unfamiliar words or phrases by using the meanings of other words such as synonyms and antonyms in the same sentence or paragraph as a whole Here is an example: Unit Six –Lesson We receive eight percent of the profits In addition, we get special terms for our tours You underline the two words recieve and get with the same meaning, then make a guess * Using bilingual dictionary Many researchers suggested that using a bilingual dictionary as a reference work supports their self-learning in order to become active learners Using dictionary offers learners many advantages First, it gives you the spelling of the words and both formal and informal expression Second, it puts words in context and show you how to use them in context Last, “ a learner who makes good use of a dictionary will be able to continue learning outside the classroom” (Gairns, R & Redman, S 1986: 77) Teachers should introduce students how to look up the meaning of a word, showing how to explore all the expressions related to a word, look for examples in which it is used, LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 34 how to interpret its pronunciation and stress as well as part of speech 4.3 Improving teachers’ techniques in teaching vocabulary According to the result of the study, the greatest difficulties in learning ESP vocabulary of the students are their poor memory, mispronunciation and incorrect usage of words In addition, one of their desires from their teachers is using various teaching techniques In order to overcome these problems and satisfy their students‟ expectations, some suggestions are offered below: Basing on characteristics of different groups of students, the teachers should use appropriate techniques or even in the same class the teacher also has to employ various techniques in different vocabulary lessons in order to renew the classroom atmosphere and maintain the students‟ interests and motivation Vocabulary should not be taught seperately but integrated into skills (reading, speaking, listening, writing and translation) First, at the presentation stage, besides the traditional techniques like saying the words clearly one by one and writing them on the board, translating all the words into Vietnamese, the teacher should use visual aids, guestures and facial expressions, giving examples, asking students to guess the meanings from the context, especially word games are very useful and effective ways which help to develop students‟ ability and motivation to learn vocabulary effectively Visuals like real objects, photographs, pictures are used regularly to attract students‟ attention Also, students can learn a lot from examples containing new words because they know how the word is collated to others It is noted that when learning ESP vocabulary, students often have difficulties with terminologies, idiomatic expressions, or polysemantic words In this situation, teachers should use the learnt terminologies and language usage from the proceeding units to explain, if necessary, give the Vietnamese equivalence instead of trying to make lengthy explanation in English which makes matters worse Here is an example: Unit Six- Lesson - buy something on credit: mua chịu - rate of interest: lãi suất - loan application form: đơn vay tiền - period of repayment: thời hạn toán - amount of loan: số tiền vay - bank loan: tiền vay ngân hàng LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 35 Second, at the vocabulary practice stage, the teacher should try to create more exercises with different forms and levels of difficulty such as matching words, filling in the gaps, multiple choice, making sentences with given words, finding synonyms and antonyms, translation, and word games However, due to limited time of the course, these exercises should give to students after each lesson and they may be checked as a warm-up activities in the next class, lasting for 10- 15 minutes only By doing this, the teacher can review and recycle the words their students have learned so that the students can remember them better, the lesson becomes more attractive and efficient, the students are more interested in the lesson as they are involved in more activities, they have chance to practice their knowledge Here are some of the sample activities suggested by the researcher to provide students to in their classroom or at home Sample activity 1: Word form Aim: Revise learned word usage in Unit 6- Lesson Time: 10- 15 minutes Source: Designed by the researcher to revise learned word usage in Unit 6- Lesson Procedures: - The teacher gives 10 incomplete sentences with a given word in bracket - Students open the bracket to complete the sentence For example: 1, The total…investment…is $30 million.(INVEST) Sample activity 2: Word pronunciation Aim: Check students‟ pronunciation of s-ending of plural nouns in Unit One- Lesson Time: 10- 15 minutes Source: Activity sheet for homework Procedures: Teacher gives some plurals ending with -s Ask students to put them in the correct columns For example: /z/ /s/ /iz/ managers accountants offices LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 36 Sample activity 3: Roleplay Aim: Recall students‟ memory of learned words and word usage in Unit Six- Lesson Time: 10-15 minutes Source: Designed by the researcher to help students memorize words and revise word usage in Unit Six- Lesson Procedures: - Teacher asks students to work in pairs and roleplay this situation: Student A You are in a bank You are a customer You want to borrow some money to buy a new car Ask questions about the terms such as: rate of interest, period of repayment, deposit, etc Student B You are the bank manager Answer A‟s questions and ask A to fill in the loan application form - Students work in pairs, roleplay the situation For example: A Good morning B Good morning What can I for you? A Can I borrow $30 thousand from your bank? B ……………………………………………… 4.4 Improving teachers’ professional knowledge Basing on the discussion with ESP teachers at State Commercial No5 School, the most challenging of the teachers of English for Accounting is their poor knowledge of Accounting There has been much discussion on this aspect Ellis, M & Johnson, C (1994: 31), “it is really misconception that teacher needs to be an expert in the subject matter” However, the ESP teacher, in order to teach ESP vocabulary effectively and make right questions to students, “must know something about subject matters of ESP materials” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987: 161) Some suggestions offered below are from the experience in teaching ESP of the teaching staff here In order to prepare to teach English for Accounting, the ESP teachers have to self-study the Vietnamese course books on Accounting to enrich their basic knowledge on the subject matter and achieve necessary vocabulary and terminologies Before each lesson, they have to LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 37 prepare lesson plans carefully, looking at difficult issues, preparing expected questions from students If they still have any problems, they can discuss with ESP colleagues and teachers of Accounting major for their help Moreover, the teacher should try to creat more exercises for students to after each lesson On one hand, the lesson becomes more attractive and efficient On the other hand, the teacher while creating further exercises can improve their specialized knowledge, look into difficult issues and then may avoid unexpected problems in teaching Besides, ESP teacher should take part in training courses on professional knowledge, attend workshops or lectures given by Accounting lecturers/ specialists Therefore, the teacher‟s knowledge is profound enough and they can look into various problems in Accounting adequately In addition to the above-mentioned suggestions, in order to improve the teaching and learning of ESP vocabulary in general, accounting vocabulary in particular at State Commercial No5 School, placement tests at the beginning of the course should be given to classify students‟ levels of English According to the score of the test, students with the same level of English will have chance to learn together This will enable students to learn English more effectively and help teachers choose appropriate materials and teaching methods Moreover, ESP course should be taught in the second year as soon as the students have learnt their major subjects LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 38 PART 3: CONCLUSION Summary of the study It is apparent that there exists some major factors that affect the learning of ESP vocabulary of students at State Commercial No5 School To better the situation, the study has presented some suggestions, which are considered to be appropriate for improving the learning of ESP vocabulary at SCS The study started with the literature review which provides the definition of vocabulary, the importance of vocabulary learning, vocabulary learning in ESP, accounting terminology and factors affecting vocabulary learning In the next chapter, important features about the context of teaching and learning ESP vocabulary including the teaching staff and teaching methods, students and their background, the teaching materials and teaching facilities at SCS are also described In order to find out the factors affecting students‟ learning of ESP vocabulary at SCS, the survey were carried out with 100 students of Accounting to look into their attitudes towards English vocabulary, their difficulties in learning vocabulary, especially accounting vocabulary, the teachers‟ activities in teaching vocabulary and the students‟ expectations From the result of the study, it can be seen clearly that the teaching and learning vocabulary of accounting are not very effective The students often encounter difficulties from their personal factors, that is their background knowledge as well as the intralexical factors Moreover, they are not equiped with necessary skills to learn ESP vocabulary However, parts of students‟ difficulties are due to the lack of vocabulary learning strategies, and teaching techniques of their teachers Based on the result of the study, some solutions are suggested to overcome those difficulties These include strategies for students to learn ESP vocabulary, encouraging them to develop their self-studying in order to become active learners, and the training for ESP teachers to improve their classroom techniques and professional knowledge In conclusion, all the aims of the study have been achieved and it is hoped that the study will make a significant contribution to the current teaching and learning vocabulary of accounting at State Commercial No5 School LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 39 Limitations and suggestions for further study The greatest limitation of this study lies in the fact that only one instrument, which is the questionnaire, was used for data collection This means the questionnaire can at best capture the surface information The second limitation is the number of respondents was quite small They were selected purposively Therefore, they could not represent the whole student population of the school Further studies need to use different methods such as Think-Aloud techniques and interviews in oder to gain better insights in the students‟ vocabulary strategies and their difficulties in learning ESP vocabulary Studies on how student factors such as linguistic backgrounds, motivation affect the ESP vocabulary learning are also needed LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 40 REFERENCES Allen, V.F (1983) Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary Oxford University Press Beck, I.L & McKeown, M (1991) Conditions of Vocabulary Acquisition In R Barr, M.L Kamil, P Mosenthal, & P.D Pearson (Eds.), Handbook of Reading Research (Volume 2) White Plains, NY: Longman Blum, S and Levenston, C (1978) Lexical Simplification in Second Language Acquisition Cambridge University Press Canh, L.V (2004) Understanding Foreign Language Teaching Methodology Hanoi National University Press Collier, V.P ((1988) The Effect of Age on Acquisition of a Second Language for School New focus The National Clearing House for Bilingual Education No2, Winter, 1987-88 Cooper, P & McIntyre (1996) Effective Teaching and Learning- Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives Open University Press Great Britian Decarrico Jeanetes (2001) English as a Second Language London: Thomson Ellis, R (1985) Understanding Second Language Acquisition Oxford University Press Ellis, R ( 1994) The Study of Second Language Acquisition Oxford University Press 10 Gairns, R & Redman, S (1986) Working with Words- A Guide to Teaching and Learning Vocabulary Cambridge University Press 11 Giap, N.T (1985) Từ vựng học tiếng Việt Nxb ĐH&THCN Ha Noi 12 Hatch, E.& Brown, C (2000) Vocabulary, Semantics and Language Education (3rd ed) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 13 Hunt and David Beglar (2001) Current Research and Practice in Teaching Vocabulary Cambridge University Press 14 Hulstijn, J (2001) Intentional and Incidental Second Language Vocabulary learning: a reappraisal of elaboration, rehearsal and automaticity In P Robinson (ed.) Cognition and Second Language Instruction Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 15 Hunt and Bedlar, D (2001) Current Research and Practice in Teaching Vocabulary Cambridge University Press 16 Hutchinson, T & Waters, A (1987) English for Specific Purposes Cambridge University LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 41 17 Laufer, B (1997) What’s in a word that makes it hard or easy: Some intralexical factors that affect the learning of words In N Schmitt and M McCarthy, editors, vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy, Cambridge University Press 18 Leech, G (1974) Semantics New York: Penguin Xii 19 Lightbown, P & Spada, N (1993) How Languages are Learned Oxford University Press 20 Lightbown, P and Spada, N (1999) How Languages are Learned Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers Oxford University Press 21 Littlewood, W T (1981) Foreign and Second Language Learning: Language-acquisition research and its implications for the classroom Great Britian: Cambidge University Press 22 McCarthy, M (1990) Vocabulary Oxford University Press 23 Miller, G A & Gildea, P.M.(1987) How children learn words.Scientific American, 257(3) 24 Nation, P (1990) Teaching and Learning Vocabulary New York: Newbury House 25 Nation P (1994) New Ways in Teaching Vocabulary, Bloomington: Pantagraph Printing 26 Nation P (2001) Learning Vocabulary in Another Language Cambridge Cambridge University Press 27 Penny Ur (1991) A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory Cambridge University Press 28 Penny Ur (1996) A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press 29 Pyles, T & Algeo, J (1970) English: An Introduction to Language New York: Harcourt, Brace & World 30 Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman (1986) Working with Words Cambridge University Press 31 Rubin, J and Thompson, I (1994) How to be a More Successful Language Learner: Toward Learner Autonomy USA: Heinle Publishers 32 Schmitt, N & McCarthy, M (1997) Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy Cambridge University Press 33 Schmitt, N (2000) Vocabulary in Language Teaching New York: Cambridge University Press 34 Taylor, L (1990) Teaching and Learning Vocabulary, New Your: Prentice Hall 35 Wilkins, D.A (1972) Linguistics in Language Teaching London, Edward Arnold LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com I APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE This survey questionnaire is designed for my study on “Factors affecting students’ learning of ESP vocabulary at State Commercial No5 School” The information collected from this survey will be valuable for us in teaching and learning English in general and learning ESP vocabulary in particular I am grateful for your goodwill and cooperation in truthfully completing the Questionnaire You can be confident that you are not to be identified in any discussions or printed material Please write the answer or put a tick (√) where appropriate SECTION 1: About you Your gender: Male Female Age: Residence: Which language have you learned before entering State Commercial No5 School? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… How long have you learned English? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… Where have you learned English before entering State Commercial No5 School? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… Have you learned Accounting before learning English? Yes No SECTION 2: Factors affecting students’ learning of ESP vocabulary How you think of the importance of vocabulary in learning a foreign language? a, Very important b, Important c, Not important What you think of learning English vocabulary? a, Very difficult b, Difficult LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com II c, Not difficult How you usually learn ESP vocabulary? a, Writing words in English many times b, Translating the words into Vietnamese c, Reading words many times d, Using the words to make sentences e, Learning by heart the words f, Other ways (please specify…) What you think is the most difficult in your learning a new word? a, Its pronunciation b, Its stress c, Its spelling d, Its collocation e, Its meaning f, Its use What you think makes learning the vocabulary of accounting difficult to you? a, I cannot pronounce the word b, I don’t know how to use the word c, I cannot remember the word d, I cannot translate the word into Vietnamese How your teachers present new words? a, Using synonyms and antonyms b, Using visual aids c, Using target language to define the new word d, Using mines, gestures and facial expressions e, Saying the words clearly and writing them on the board f, Translating all the words into Vietnamese g, Other ways (please specify…) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com III Which way(s) of presenting new words you think useful to you? a, Translating all the words into Vietnamese b, Using visual aids c, Using mines, gestures and facial expressions d, Using target language to define the new word e, Saying the words clearly one by one and writing them on the board f, Using synonyms and antonyms g, Other ways (games, songs, TV) Which way of vocabulary practice are you most interested in ? a, Making sentences with the new words b, Asking and answering questions related to new words c, Filling the gaps d, Completing sentences e, Finding synonyms and antonyms f, Matching words g, Playing games h, Other ways (please specify…) What would you like your teachers to in vocabulary lesson? a, Review learned vocabulary regularly b, Provide many examples of word usage c, Use language activities in teaching vocabulary d, Instruct you how to pronounce words correctly 10 What are your suggestions for better effects on learning accounting vocabulary? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... the students of Accounting at State Commercial No5 School The solutions are also provided to improve the students‟ ESP vocabulary learning at State Commercial No5 School Method of the study In... luanvanchat@agmail.com 38 PART 3: CONCLUSION Summary of the study It is apparent that there exists some major factors that affect the learning of ESP vocabulary of students at State Commercial No5 School. .. to these factors will be suggested to improve the learning and teaching of ESP vocabulary at State Commercial No5 School Aims of the study The study is aimed at finding out the factors affecting