INTRODUCTION
Rationale of the study
Vietnam is step by step reaching to the association and development of the world with many open-door policies Education which gets plenty of effects from outside belongs to that flow Learning and teaching English become a very important factor not only in education itself but also in country’s development English plays a role as the most important foreign language in Vietnam Both English and English learning appears in a huge number of researches as a proof of this phenomenon
When talking about Asian students, Robinson (2000) proposes, “many will agree they are quiet, diligent, shy, attentive, and keen to learn and seldom cause problems in class Do we know and understand their learning styles and problems? What is known about Asian learners?” A number of studies as Watkins & Biggs (1996) edited collection on “The Chinese Learner: Cultural, Psychological and Contextual Influences” has especially focused on understanding Chinese English learners There is a widespread belief that Chinese learners are oriented to Rote Learning (RL) The use of RL by Chinese learners has been seen as simple repetition or memorization of vocabulary lists Xiuping Li’s research (2004) focused on a deep analysis of Chinese EFL learners’ beliefs about role of rote learning in vocabulary learning strategies This reflects the view that language learning strategies are shaped by learner’s beliefs and that beliefs are probably shaped by their cultural backgrounds (e.g Horwitz, 1987; Wenden, 1987) It is generally accepted that many aspects of EFL learners’ choices of strategies are explained by different cultural beliefs (e.g Biggs 1997) Traditionally, Vietnamese learners usually remember vocabulary by heart and RL is one of the most popular ways to learn English vocabulary in all strategies they can use To understand the reason why Vietnamese EFL learners use RL, it is vital to understand Vietnamese learner’s attitude about role of RL in learning Actually, learners’ perceptions about learning strategies should be carefully considered This study gives concern for students’ attitude about RL at an Upper Secondary School – Nguyen Sieu, a school which always has a trend to change methods in learning and teaching English As a teacher of English at school I recognize that vocabulary learning is so important to students that they always try to remember any word they think it is new
However, to look into the ways students usually use when learning English, I would like to focus on RL to find out whether it is available or not to students at present
For all the above reasons, and motivated by the idea of finding relevant vocabulary learning strategies, it is my strong desire to purpose a study on “Students’ attitude about the role of Rote Learning in Vocabulary Learning Strategies at Nguyen Sieu Upper Secondary School”.
Objectives of study
This paper is carried out with these following purposes:
1 to promote a positive understanding of the concept of RL in vocabulary learning strategies
2 to test whether Nguyen Sieu students use more RL strategies than other memory strategies and the reasons why they do so
3 to offer possible guidance to Vietnamese EFL teachers and students who are interested in choosing and using RL in vocabulary learning strategies.
Research questions
To achieve the objectives of the study, the following research questions were proposed:
1 Do Nguyen Sieu students use more RL strategies than other memory strategies in vocabulary learning?
2 Are RL strategies helpful and effective in vocabulary learning nowadays although it is a traditional method?
3 Is RL given a positive appreciation because of its important role in vocabulary learning?
Scope of the study
There is a wide range of methods that help students to retain vocabulary However, in this minor thesis I would focus my research on RL, students’ attitude about RL and their preference for RL when learning English vocabulary Although RL is usually considered as a traditional, out- of - date, boring and ineffective way in learning language, this study hopes to give several positive opinions about it Through gathering information about learner’s attitude about learning and memorizing EFL vocabulary, the role of RL strategies in vocabulary learning strategies will be made clearer.
Method of study
To find answers to the above - stated research questions, the study uses a combination of qualitive and quantitive research approaches, which include data analysis and survey questionnaire In the study, data which is collected through questionnaire will be processed and analyzed to investigate into learner’s vocabulary learning strategies.
Design of the study
The thesis consists of three parts as follows:
Part I – Introduction, which states the rationale, objectives, scope and research questions, as well as the methods and design of the study
Part II - Development includes three chapters Chapter I presents all the necessary theoretical background of the research Chapter II deals with the investigation into Nguyen Sieu students’ attitude to RL and their preference for it through identifying the subjects, the setting of the study and the instruments used questionnaires Chapter III reports the results of the study, provides the discussion of the findings in this study, addresses the limit of the study, applications of the findings and gives recommendations for further study
Part III – Conclusion gives the summary of the study, some limitations of the study and implications for further study.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Some major findings concerning language learner’s attitudes and learning strategies
It is true that language learners’ choice and use of language learning methods reflect their beliefs, attitudes, which are strongly determined by different cultural backgrounds
Learners bring a complex set of attitudes experiences, expectations, and learning strategies to the language learning task
Horwitz (1987) developed an instrument Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory
(BALLI) to assess students’ beliefs about language in five major areas
The difficulty of language learning
The nature of language learning
The BALLI has succeeded in finding close relationship between learners’ beliefs and their choice of language learning strategies Through BALLI, Horwitz indicated that Asian language learners appreciate vocabulary learning Besides Horwitz, another researcher, Wenden (1987) set out to investigate language learners’ assumptions underlying their choice of strategies Her study is carried out with 25 adult - English as Secondary Language (ESL) - learners who were asked to talk about language learning activities in which they engage in the classroom and outside Wenden’s work stated that these learner’s explicit beliefs about how best to learn a language seemed to provide the logic for their choice of learning strategies Some other researchers as Gu & Johnson (1996), Sakui &
Gaies (1999) and Yang (1999) contributed to the history of studying about vocabulary learning strategies Gu & Johnson’s (1996) research relates to English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ strategies in vocabulary learning in China The study seems to suggest negative beliefs about the use of Rote learning which is taken for mere rote memorization In the study, Gu & Johnson used a vocabulary learning questionnaire to elicit 850 Chinese students’ opinions of their beliefs about vocabulary learning strategies
Although the results of Gu & Johnson’s research indicate that these learners do not value rote learning (RL) as highly as other strategies, and that they employ other vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) such as guessing, dictionary use, note-taking, etc., the findings do not detail the explanation why the learners responded negatively to RL
Whereas, Sakui & Gaies (1999) tend to develop and validate an instrument and procedures for investigating almost 1300 Japanese learners’ beliefs about English learning Their study supplied the collection and analysis data specially related to learners’ beliefs and their choice of vocabulary learning strategies Yang (1999) investigated whether EFL learners’ beliefs in language learning are related to their use of learning strategies or not” The study found that while the students reported learning English by memorizing English vocabulary, grammatical rules, and even whole pieces of English articles, they intended to use a limited inventory of Memory strategies because for them Memory strategies mean only rote memory
The above - stated studies indicated that learners’ attitudes is an important factor which affects their choice of learning strategies These research studies have value discussions and analysis on learning strategies in general as well as RL in particular In fact, RL gets both negative and positive views of researchers, educators, teachers and students
Therefore, to have a deeper about RL, its role in learning strategies, especially vocabulary learning strategies and relationship between RL and learners’ attitudes, it is necessary to investigate more about some issues addressed below.
Vocabulary learning strategies
1.2.1 Definitions of vocabulary learning strategies
In the literature on language learning strategies, there is no official definition for vocabulary learning strategies Perhaps, the reason is that vocabulary learning strategies are part of language learning strategies, which is a part of learning strategies Therefore, the definition of vocabulary learning strategies in this study is adapted from Rubin (1987) cited in Schmitt (1997) that learning strategies are defined as “the process by which information is obtained, stored, retrieved, and use” and “ therefore vocabulary learning strategies could be any which affect this broadly – defined process” (p 203)
1.2.2 General considerations about importance of vocabulary learning strategies
In the process of identifying and improving language learning strategies, many studies deal with vocabulary learning because of the growing awareness of the importance of vocabulary Few language learners will disagree with the importance of vocabulary
Horwitz (1987), using her “Beliefs about language learning Inventory”, found that with respect to vocabulary learning, all groups of EFL students agreed that the important part of learning a language was learning vocabulary Wilkins (1972:111) emphasized “with out grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.”
Cook’s (1991:37) concluded that grammar provides the overall patterns but vocabulary is the material to put in the patterns One can not speak, understand, read or write a foreign language without knowing a lot of words According to Rubin & Thompson (1994: 79), vocabulary is at the heart of mastering a foreign language.” Further more, Vocabulary is central to language and of critical importance to the typical language learner The importance of vocabulary in language learning has been widely recognized and a number of specific strategies for learning vocabulary have been identified by many researchers such as Oxford (1990) and Schmitt (1997)
Many researches indicate that a build - up of English vocabulary has been one of the objectives of EFL learners besides consolidation of structures, development skills and others Vocabulary learning strategies are very various: Mechanical/rote learning strategies, grouping strategies, keyword strategies, bilingual dictionary strategies, etc Each learner adopts different strategies For instance, they remember vocabulary through spelling a word, studying the sound of a word, saying a new word aloud when studying, imaging word form, underlying initial letters of the word, using keyword method and using action when learning a word
Many studies on learning strategies encourage the learners to use all the means available to them as they learn English vocabulary Schmitt’s (1997) study on vocabulary strategy survey showed five vocabulary learning strategy groups as indicated in 1.2.3
Determination, Social , Memory, Cognitive and Metacognitive All strategies which play important roles in vocabulary learning strategies are clarified as the following parts
1.2.3 Classification of vocabulary learning strategies
Although individual vocabulary learning strategies have been increasingly researched such as Lawson & Hogben (1996); Avila & Sadoski (1996); only two researchers have investigated vocabulary learning strategies as a whole In recent research by Stoffer (1995) she developed a questionnaire with 53 items designed to measure specifically vocabulary learning strategies These items divided into nine categories as follows:
1 Strategies involving authentic language use
2 Strategies used for self motivation
3 Strategies used to organize words
4 Strategies used to create mental linkages
8 Strategies used to overcome anxiety
In another research by Schmitt (1997), he proposed his own classification of vocabulary learning strategies He distinguished the strategies which learners use to determine the meaning of new words when they encounter them from the ones they use to consolidate meanings when they encounter they words again The former includes determination (DET) and social strategies (SOC) and the latter includes social, memory (MEM), cognitive (COG), and metacognitive strategies (MET) The social strategies are included in the two categories because they can be used for both purposes This categorization is based, in part on Oxfords’ (1990) classification scheme The details can be seen on the tables below
Table 1.1: Strategies for the discovery of a new words’ meaning
Strategies for the discovery of a new words’ meaning
DET Analyze part of speech
Analyze affixes and roots Check for First language (L1) cognate Analyze and available picture or gestures Guess from textual context
Word lists Flash cards Monolingual dictionary
SOC Ask teacher for an L1 translation
Ask teacher for an L1 translation Ask teacher for a paraphrase or synonym of new word
Ask classmate for meaning Discover new meaning through group work activities
Table 1.2: Strategies for consolidating a word once it has been encountered
Strategies for consolidating a word once it has been encountered
SOC Study and practice meaning in group
Teacher checks students’ flash cards or word lists for accuracy
Interact with native speakers MEM Study word with a pictorial representation of its meaning
Image word’s meaning Connect word to a personal experience Associate the word with its synonyms and antonyms Associate the word with its coordinates
Use semantic maps Use “scales” for gradable adjectives
Peg Method Loci Method Group words together to study them Group words together spatially on a page Use new word in sentences
Groups words together within a storyline Study the spelling of a word Say new word aloud when studying
Image word form Underline initial letter of the word
Configuration Use Keyword Method Affixes and roots (remembering) Part of speech (remembering) Paraphrase the word’s meaning
Use cognates in study Learn the words of an idiom together Use physical action when learning a word
Written repetition Word lists Flash cards Take notes in class Use the vocabulary section in your textbook
Listen to tape of word lists Put English labels on physical objects Keep a vocabulary notebook MET Use English – language media (songs, movies, newscast, etc,.)
Testing oneself with word tests Use spaced word practice Skip or pass new word Continue to study word over time
1.2.4 Clarification of Schmitt’s vocabulary learning strategies
As the vocabulary learning strategies classification system proposed by Schmitt (1997) plays an important role in this investigation, the clarification of these vocabulary learning strategies will be presented in detail below as a source of reference
1.2.4.1 Determination strategies Determination strategies are used when students discover a new word’s meaning without resource to another person’s expertise Students can have the meaning of a new word from the following techniques
Guessing from their structural knowledge of the language: Learners may be able to discern the new word’s part of speech, which can help them in guessing process
Hints about meaning can also obtained from its root or affixes
Guessing from an L1 cognate: Cognate are words in different languages which descended from a common parent word If the target is closely related to learners’ first language, cognate can be an excellent resource for both guessing the meaning of and remembering new words
Guessing from context: An unknown word’s meaning can be guessed from context However, learners must have a certain level of language proficiency as well as adequate background knowledge of the subject and the strategic knowledge of how to effectively go through inferencing process
Using reference material: Dictionaries are primary in this position
Word lists and flash cards: Those are suggested to be useful for initial exposures to a new word
Social strategies are used to both discover the meaning of a new word and consolidate a word once it has been encountered They can be defined as those are used to understand a word by asking someone who knows it Teachers are said to be often in this position They can expected to give help in a number of different ways such as giving L1 translation, giving a synonym, giving a definition by paraphrase, using a new word in a sentence, checking learners’ help from their classmates or benefit from interactions with others such as group work activities or interaction with native speakers
Memory strategies are approaches which relate new materials to existing knowledge using some forms of imagery or grouping The strategies can be listed as followed:
Picture/ imagery: Students can learn new words by studying them with pictures of their meaning instead of definitions, by creating their own mental images of a word’s meaning, or by associating new words with a particularly vivid personal experience of the underlying concept
Related words: New words can be linked to Second language (L2) words which students already know This usually involves some types of sense relationship such as coordination, synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, or meronymy
Unrelated words: words that have no sense relationship can be linked together while they are learnt Peg method and Loci method are two examples of this kind of strategies
Attitudes and vocabulary learning Strategies
What are attitudes? There is no complete consensus on meaning, although the definition of this concept enjoys popularity in language learning research Below are some of the definitions of attitude about language and language learning:
notions about language learning that students have acquired (Kuntz 1996:4);
an individual’s opinions about language learning (Banya and Cheng 1997);
synonymous with beliefs, representations, opinions or ideologies (Fraser and Gaskell 1990);
central constructs in every discipline which deals with human behaviour and learning (Sakui & Gaies 1999:474);
Besides some above definitions, Jung (1971: 687) gives his definition about attitude
According to Jung attitude is a "readiness of the psyche to act or react in a certain way"
Within this broad definition Jung gives several kinds of attitudes such as extrovert and introvert, rational and irrational or individual and social
According to Wikipedia – online dictionary, an attitude is considered as a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for an item Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person on places, things, or events People can have conflicts with themselves towards an object It means that they simultaneously possess both positive and negative attitudes towards the item in question Moreover, attitude is predisposition or tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain idea, object, person, or situation Attitude influences an individual’s choice of action, and responses to challenges, incentives and rewards
Although there are many different definitions of attitudes, all of definitions above clearly show that language learning and attitudes have a close relationship This study hopes to find out influences of attitudes on choosing and using vocabulary learning strategies and make this relationship clear
1.3.2 Role of attitudes to choice and use of vocabulary learning strategies
As identified above, attitudes reflect learners’ views about language learning When they like something, they have motivation to finish it For example, if students are not interested in learning English, they cannot study English well Even if students are compelled to learn, they only try to learn in a forced way without any interest, pleasure and motivation
Many researches look at the influence of language learners’ attitudes on strategy choice through their different cultural backgrounds The connection of specific beliefs to specific learning strategies is based on cultural backgrounds Previous studies of EFL learners’ beliefs and choice of language learning strategies indicate that the importance of learners’ attitudes There are some studies such as Chang’s (1993) and Rao’s (1996) relating to influences of Chinese learners’ attitudes on RL strategy use and choice In the West, learners believe that high ability will bring success, and that failure is the result of low ability In the contrary, Asian learners believe that effort and hard work can compensate for lack of ability as Cortazzi & Jin (1996) point out Attitude is actually an effective encouragement in helping students to access a new language In learning English, especially learning vocabulary, attitude holds an important role to choose and use vocabulary learning strategies No matter whether RL is positive or negative, there should be no denial that RL is used by language learners, and that it can be as effective as other strategies just because they favour RL than other strategies In fact, of many groups of learning strategies (in Table 1.1 and 1.2) which are suggested for English vocabulary learning strategies, Memory strategies are preferred by many learners like traditional methods
1.4 Importance of memory strategies in vocabulary learning strategies
1.4.1 Rote learning 1.4.1.1 Definition of rote learning
Traditionally, rote is considered as memory or habit, rather than understanding
According to Cambridge International Dictionary of English (1995:1235), rote learning(RL) means learning something in order to be able to repeat it from memory rather than learning it in order to understand it It is shown that Rote learning is memorization Besides, Macquarie Dictionary also quoted from Biggs (1997:1), “rote learning is considered as learning in a mechanical way without thought of meaning"
Moore (2000:1) stated that rote learning is a method involving repetition and memorisation
From the above definitions, RL does not involve any processes which enable the learner to understand or interpret the information learnt Rote learning is only memorising or storing the information learners get for later use; RL is basically a simple and passive process
However, some other researchers have positive comments about RL For example, Gairns
& Redman (1986:93) point out that RL is a memorisation technique which has a long history in language learning: RL involves repetition of target language items either silently or aloud RL may involve not only oral but also writing form These definitions focus on repetition, practice and memorisation They all refer to the strategies which contribute to storage and retrieval of new knowledge
Repetition Oxford (1990:45) categorised repetition into cognitive groups Repetition is the phenomenon of saying or doing something over and over such as listening to something several times; rehearsing or imitating a native speaker In many researches, repetition is considered a type of strategy most frequently used by foreign language (FL) learners
Practice Practice refers to strategies which contribute to the storage and retrieval of language while focusing on accuracy of usage Practice involves strategies such as: repetition, rehearsal, experimentation, application of rules, and imitation
Memorisation Memorisation also focuses on the storage and retrieval of language In memorisation, attention is paid to the storage and retrieval process Gairns & Redman (1986:93) point out that RL is a memorisation technique involving repetition According to them, some main features of RL have been shown as follows
To read silently or aloud
To write down the items (more than once)
To learn in list forms or cards (can be taken anywhere and studied at any free moment)
1.4.1.2 Importance of rote learning in vocabulary strategies
Rote learning is used in many strategies such as translation and audio-lingual However, its role displayed specially clear in vocabulary learning strategies RL actually suggests a lot of effective ways of remember vocabulary Learners can remember new words through repetition of these words silently or loudly, use words cards or flash cards, review them many times, etc In the conditions in which technology of information, internet and visual aid have not been supplied; and education still brings traditional factors, RL is one of the most popular ways in vocabulary learning Through repetition, practice and memorization, vocabulary can be remembered more easily than other strategies Gairns & Redman (1986) shows that RL is evaluated as an effective method which helps learners to memorise vocabulary in short time and leads them to reach high levels of proficiency
Although, RL has advantages in vocabulary learning, it also gets negative comments
Therefore, The concepts of RL can be classified into two broad negative and positive categories
1.4.2 Attitudes about the role of rote learning in vocabulary learning strategies 1.4.2.1 Negative view of rote learning
Some researchers give negative comments on RL According to these researchers RL is understood as the mechanical use of the memory without necessarily understanding what is memorized RL means surface level learning For example, Gu & Johnson (1996) state that visual repetition of new words was the strongest negative predicator of both vocabulary size and general proficiency They described RL as an ineffective strategy and learners who used it as Passive Strategy Users Some empirical evidence from recent studies strongly supports view of passive RL The studies argue that RL constitutes an obstacle to creative learning Nelson (2001) seems to see RL as a rigid learning strategy and emphasises that RL has impaired students’ learning abilities Overall, the above- mentioned researchers believe that RL is not conducive to creativity They consider RL is a passive, rigid, uncreative way of learning Further more, RL is not helpful and effective for students’ vocabulary learning Some other researchers present practical examples to demonstrate what they see as the ineffectiveness of RL Cheung (2000), for example, argues that Hong Kong needs employees who are more creative: the type of free thinkers which the current education system fails to produce He complains that Hong Kong's RL-based educational system seems to reward memorisation highly, but students who have only learned by heart often lack the thinking patterns needed to apply this knowledge to real-world problems
Despite the negative views about RL, there are positive opinions about RL in vocabulary learning According to these opinions, RL is an effective way of getting basic knowledge in the early stages of language learning RL is preferable because basic skills of learning can be developed through RL and it may be beneficial for the accuracy of knowledge The positive views about RL also suggest that RL may help consolidate knowledge and deepen understanding Rubin & Thompson’s (1994) study indicates that language learners who prefer traditional ways of learning may be more reluctant to use other strategies and as a certainty, they choose RL Besides, Gairns & Redman (1986:
93) make the following comment on RL: In the early stages of language learning, repetition gives the students the opportunity to manipulate the oral and written forms of language items, and many learners derive a strong sense of progress and achievement from this type of activity Schmitt (1997:132-133) also states, “commonly used vocabulary learning strategies seem to be simple memorisation, repetition, and taking notes on vocabulary.” Rubin & Thompson’s (1994) study suggests that using RL to retain a small amount of material is easier than other Memory strategies Therefore, sometimes, mechanical strategies can be favoured over more complex ones Schmitt (1997:201) found that repetition was the most commonly mentioned strategy Moreover, a research carried out by Crothers and Suppes (1967) revealed that seven repetitions were sufficient for learners to master 108 Russian-English word pairs Nation (2001) claims that RL is an effective way of learning a great deal of vocabulary in a short time Tinkham (1989) found that Japanese learners tended to have well developed rote learning skills He believed that there is no better way to develop basic skills except through RL: repetition - regular correct practice over a period of time This view is applied to the fields of music, sports, language and art that the more often learners repeat an activity, the better they become at it Oxford (1990:70) provides some examples to show that some FL learners understand foreign words better by listening, reading or writing them repeatedly She states, “ Although the strategy of repeating might not at first sound particularly creative, important, or meaningful, it can be used in highly innovative ways, is actually essential for all four language skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing.”
Vocabulary learning strategies in Vietnam
Vietnamese EFL learners favour RL, generally because RL has become a habit of any learner At schools, they are required to learn by heart many subjects such as Literature, History, Biology, etc, They have to remember all poetries, definitions, terms, formulas or regulations To them, RL is a combination of repetition, memorisation, practice including reviewing which are leading to deep understanding rather than simple repetition/memorisation which are shallow and ineffective However, the Reform of Education gives Vietnamese teachers and learners many modern methods Education methods have changed a lot in recent years New methods have been used in teaching and learning, especially English Learning English is not only a dictation between teachers and students Students have opportunities to practice communication, to create ideas, to show themselves It is a fact that although vocabulary learning is renewed with modern methods, learners still use some traditional ways, especially RL
1.5.1 Influence of traditional methods on vocabulary learning strategies
The Vietnamese students tend to see memorisation as a part, though not the whole, of the process of learning The distinction between memorisation and learning is often less clear-cut for Vietnamese than for Western students Repetition and practice are interchangeable terms for many Vietnamese learners Traditionally, the Vietnamese people usually have a saying “Repetition is the route to understanding”, whereas; Western stereotypes have a different view of the concept of RL from Vietnamese learners In Western learners’ view, Vietnamese learners in particular and Asian learners in general are affected by mechanical methods Among foreign EFL teachers, educators, and specialists, there is a number of commonly held assumptions about Vietnamese learning methods and their effects on the teaching and learning of English in Vietnam
Influenced by traditional FL teaching and learning approach, a teacher-centred, book- centred, grammar-translation method and an emphasis on the text have dominated English teaching in Vietnam Ji, F (1984) identified the methods prevalent in the 1980s’ “intensive reading” class as “emphasising sentence-level analysis, grammar or vocabulary study” (p.33) Thus, there were few opportunities to use and practise spoken English in real situations as functionalists suggested These traditional language teaching approaches continue to dominate the typical Vietnamese classroom for learning
English; that is, most of the interaction in the classroom is from teachers to students
There is little student initiative and little student-student interaction Thus, more long- standing Vietnamese approaches have affected the way in which functional practice ideas have been adopted In Vietnam, teachers usually play as the centre of the class and students are only listeners They listen to teachers all the time, hoping to get the correct answer from their teachers, receiving information without using their own minds In order to save time or finish the teaching task on schedule, teachers also give students the answers, not encouraging them to think why
English classes in Vietnam lack of communicative strategies and appropriate teaching materials Actually, each lesson in the textbook consists of an English text, words and expressions with Vietnamese explanations and notes, comprehension questions, and translation questions In classes, all students follow the teachers reading the new words and expressions by rote again and again Then, teachers explained the new words one by one
This kind of teaching turned students into bookworms Many students could read and understand English, but it was difficult for them to speak and listen to it It was a case of inculcation rather than interaction, of being fed unwillingly rather than through practice
Vietnamese learners still apply traditional ways to learn vocabulary To remember something well, Vietnamese learners go over what they want to remember a lot of times so that they will understand it better Therefore, Vietnamese learners often combine the processes of memorisation and understanding In other words, for Vietnamese learners, memorising and understanding may occur together They also believe that practice involves reviewing and reviewing is a part of learning
1.5.2 Influence of the Vietnamese educational background on English as a foreign language
The Imperial examination system, which was created as a means to recruit qualified officials for civil service, was employed from many dynasties in Vietnam Rote learning of literature and documents was fundamental to success in the exams, and the scholar who obtained the highest degree, would have his memory trained to a tremendous degree To pass the exams, scholars have to learn many books by heart And RL is the best and most helpful way which scholars apply to their learning strategies
The survey of the literature indicates that there are two broad types of beliefs about RL
Negative views focus on practical aspects while positive views are based on explanation of its values The negative views suggest that RL may be not as effective as other Memory strategies in vocabulary learning and the results of using RL may reduce creativity, rob imagination, and destroy individuality Such an approach may help students to pass examinations, but this has no value in real terms as it does not prepare them for the varied challenges of life The positive beliefs suggest that RL is effective in the initial stages of vocabulary learning Furthermore, the literature review reveals current views among some researchers that RL is not meaningless repetition but it can assist understanding.
THE METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
Method
Nguyen Sieu is a private upper secondary school in Hanoi The school has 15 classes at 3 grades 10, 11 and 12 Students have 7 periods of English per week: 3 basic periods using textbooks due to required syllabus of Ministry of Education and Training, 2 other periods for further practice and two are for working with native speakers The textbook used at Nguyen Sieu school is TIẾNG ANH 10, 11 and 12
65 students were chosen randomly from 13 classes of grades 10, 11, 12 These students are mostly aged from 16 to 18 Up to 85% of them were born and grew up in Hanoi, the rest come from other provinces
All students have learnt English for 4 or 6 years Many of them have more than 6 - year experiences of learning English Most students are active at learning English Their ability of speaking and listening skills are quite good because they have chance to wok with native speakers except a small number of students who come from country sides or remote areas
Because these students do not have not as good conditions to learn English as those live in cities, their students’ English competence, especially listening and speaking are not as good as students from cities Almost students favour the methods of vocabulary learning through visual aids such as pictures, words cards, flash cards, etc; listening to English songs; and games However, the main method to learn English vocabulary is learning by heart
7 teachers were asked to take part in the interview of the study They are aged from 24 to
40 years; 6 out of 7 teachers were trained at the Colleges of Foreign Languages; 1 teacher finished her university course in Australia Half of them have been teaching English for more than 5 years Almost teachers are active in applying information technology for teaching They usually visit websites to download materials and use projectors in delivering their lectures to students Nguyen Sieu teachers take part in training a 5 - month course of Apollo on methodology every year The courses supply them with modern methods in teaching English, especially in teaching vocabulary Actually, they use many ways in teaching vocabulary such as translation, using pictures, cards, real objects, giving synonym or antonym, etc, as suggestions for students to remember new words However, their most common way is that they ask students to remember new words through repetition.
Instruments
In this study, questionnaire consists of 23 questions including 20 statements and 3 open questions 20 statements focus on Nguyen Sieu students’ attitude about the value of RL in vocabulary learning and their preference for RL 3 open - ended questions were designed to promote the students to give vocabulary learning strategies in details The following table will gives a detail view on the students’ questionnaire
Table 2 1: Points of investigation of the students’ questionnaire
Points of investigation Reponses to students’ questionnaire
Statements relating to Nguyen Sieu upper secondary students’ attitudes about the value of RL in vocabulary learning
Statements relating to students’ preferred
Open questions designed to prompt the students to give vocabulary learning strategies in detail
Questionnaire was chosen because it is believed that questionnaires are the most commonly used description method in educational research There are several advantages to using survey questionnaire as a research method “The main attraction of questionnaire is their unprecedented efficiency in terms of (a) researcher time (b) researcher effort, and (c) financial resources.” (Zoltan Dornyei (2003: 9) In the history of learning strategies research, questionnaire is considered “the most frequently used method for identifying students learning strategies is through questionnaire” Oxford (1990) In some studies, questionnaires have been developed basing on task that students have just completed such as research by Rubin and Thompson (1994) Questionnaires allow the researcher to control the content and focus on only the questions and responses previously aimed
Besides, questionnaires are very efficient in obtaining necessary information
In this study, the questionnaire was delivered to 65 students They are asked to complete the questionnaire and respond to the research after getting questionnaire for 1 week
Interviewing is a method of collecting data that can stand on its own or be a follow-up to another method For example, interviews may offer insights that help researchers to interpret responses to questionnaires During the interview, both the researcher and the respondents have the opportunity to ask for further information and go into in-depth understanding of both the researcher’s and the research participants’ perspectives or experiences
Interview in this study is carried out with 7 teachers They were told that their comments on their habitual strategies and beliefs in relation to RL would prove extremely helpful to this research Each teacher was interviewed individually in English for about 10 minutes
There are 5 questions in the teachers’ interview with yes/no questions, open – ended questions and statements to give their comments on (see appendix for details)
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Results of students’ questionnaire
The vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire (VLSQ) contained closed questions in Part 1, and open questions in Part 2 (see Appendix 1) The results from each part will be presented separately
3.1.1 Student questionnaire: Part 1 Students’ responses to statements
This section looks at the responses from the students' questionnaire Two tables below show students’ attitudes about RL in vocabulary learning strategies and statements relating to students’ preferred RL
Table 3 1: Responses to students’ attitudes towards RL in vocabulary learning strategies
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
Table 3.2: Responses to students’ preference of RL
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
(No = Number of students) These statements are divided into 2 groups Group 1 consists of 5 statements (statements
1, 2, 3, 4, 5) - Table 3.1 which focus on Nguyen Sieu students’ attitudes towards the value of RL in vocabulary learning Whereas, group 2 – Table 3.2 with 15 statements are intended to investigate the students’ preference of RL The statements of 2 groups will be analysed in turns by counting their percentage
3.1.1.1 Students’ attitudes about the value of RL in vocabulary learning
Figure 3.1: Students’ attitudes towards the value of RL in vocabulary learning
(Q1= question 1; Q2 = question 2;Q3 = question 3; Q4 = question 4; Q5 = question 5) The responses to question 1 show that all students think vocabulary should be learnt through repetition with 58.5% strong agreement and 41.5 % agreement
In question 2, 27.7 % of the students strongly agree that RL is an effective way to memorise words and 49 2% agree However, 23.1 % of the surveyed students disagree with the statement
The third question suggests using word list, charts or cards to learn vocabulary 13.8 of the students strongly agree with the statements while 67.7% show their agreement with it
Although most students agree with the statement, there were still 12 students disagreeing with it which counted to 18.5 %
38.5 % of the students strongly agree that translation equivalents of Vietnamese and English are helpful (question 4) while 61.5 % agree with it
More than half of the asked students (52.3 %) strongly agree that English words have fixed meanings in question 5 The rest of them (47.7 %) give agreement
Students' attitudes towards the value of RL in vocabulary learning
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 p er ce n t (% ) (% ) strongly agree agree disagree strongly disagree
3.1.1.2 Students’ preference of RL in vocabulary learning
Figure 3.2: Students’ preference of RL in vocabulary learning
( Q6= question 6; Q7 =question 7; Q8 = question 8; Q9 = question 9; Q10 = question 10 ; Q11= question 11; Q12 =question 12; Q13 = question 13; Q14 = question 14; Q15 question 15 ; Q16= question 16; Q17 =question 17; Q18 = question 18; Q19 = question 19; Q20 = question 20 )
As can be seen in Figure 3.1.1.2, making vocabulary lists of new words is strongly supported by 29.2% of the students (question 6) Whereas, more than 70% (70.8 %) agree
When asked whether they wrote new words on one side of a card and explanations on the other side or not (question 7) 61.5 % of the students strongly agree 30.8% agree with that way and 7.7 % disagree
Keeping the vocabulary lists of new words (question 8) gets strong agreement of 26 students (40%) and the rest of the students (60%) agree with it
In question 9, 23.1% of the students strongly agree with going through vocabulary lists several times until understanding all words while 33.8 % agree However, the number of
Students' preference of RL in vocabulary learning
Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 Q19 Q20 p er ce n t (% ) strongly agree agree disagree strongly disagree students who disagree with the statements holds 43.1%
69.2 % of the surveyed students strongly agree with taking vocabulary cards after making them (question 10) 23.1% agree with this way However, 4.6% strongly disagree and only 3.1% disagree
Verbal repetition aloud (question 11) gets 13.8% of strong agreement 50.8% of the students preferred verbal repetition when learning new words Whereas, 23 students (35.4
Written repetition in question 12 is a common strategy in many parts of the world (Schmitt, 1997) As shown in Figure 3.1.1.2, 75.4% of the students strongly agree with this strategy and 24.6 % said that they agree
From Figure 3.1.1.2, it can be recognized that 27.7 % the students strongly agree that they write both the English new words and their Vietnamese equivalents repeatedly to remember them (question 13) Whereas, the number of the surveyed students agree with this way accounts for 63.1% and the rest of the students (9.2 %) disagree with it
In question 14, 12.3% of the students claim that strongly agree that they focus their attention on completing vocabulary exercises repeatedly when the exams are coming and 87.7% agree with the statement given
As shown in Figure 3.1.1.2, 21.5% of the asked students strongly agree with doing oral spelling exercises with their classmates or anyone whose English level is at a similar level of theirs (question 15) The number of the students agree with the raised issue is 76.9%
Question 16 aims at finding out whether the students can use words correctly and efficiently after memorising them or not More than half of students (30.8%) strongly agree with this strategy However, 15.4% disagree
It can be seen from the Figure 3.1.1.2, 30.8 % of the students give strong agreement to remembering one dictionary definition for the meaning of a word (question 17) The majority of surveyed (61.5%) agree with raised issue However, the rest of the asked students (7.7 %) disagree with it
In question 18, 41.5% of the students preferred memorising examples in some context when using the words Most of the students reported that they agree with this strategy
Paying attention to set phrases and collocations that go with a word (question 19) gets
38.5 % of strong agreement while 61.5 % of the students said that they agree with this strategy
The last question (question 20) raises an issue that whether students use RL all the time since they began to learn English or not 41.5 % of the asked students strongly agree with this statement 43.1 % agree and 15.4 % disagree
3.1.2 Student questionnaire: Part 2 Students’ responses to open questions
At the end of the VLSQ, there was an open-ended section with three questions to prompt the students to give vocabulary learning strategies in detail The questions were designed to elicit from students the certain answers about vocabulary learning strategies which they use for their vocabulary learning The responses to the open-ended part of the questionnaire will be presented in turn
3.1.2.1 What are the most effective strategies to learn vocabulary?(Q1)
The responses focused on two large categorises, rote learning and reviewing 100 % of students reported that rote learning and reviewing are the most effective strategies to learn vocabulary Repetition as a main feature of RL both in spoken and written form was highly evaluated to be the most effective strategy for their learning and memorising vocabulary As can be seen from the chart below, 80% of students choose RL as the most effective strategies to learning vocabulary while the rest supports for reviewing The result shows that RL is the most effective and popular strategies to learning vocabulary of Nguyen Sieu students
Figure 3.3: Students’ responses to the most effective strategies to learn vocabulary 3.1.2.2 What do you think of rote learning for Vietnamese learners in vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs)?(Q2)
Students’ responses were divided into 3 categories: most effective way, sometimes good and not the only way The results show that 90% of the students responded “most effective way”, 7% of them revealed partial support to RL and 3% responded “only one of the ways for learning” The results contribute to affirm the role of RL in vocabulary learning strategies although to them RL is not only strategies Students’ responses are shown as the following chart
Figure 3.4: Students’ views about RL for Vietnamese students in vocabulary learning strategies
3.1.2.3 Do you have any other strategies for either learning or memorising vocabulary?
The majority of the students (95%) answered “No” to this question as they thought that RL was a combination of many ways such as repetition, reviewing practice, and understanding including interaction or communication 5% remainder of students revealed some other strategies such as guessing the meaning in the context, listen to the tape of word list, etc
This result contributes to prove the popularity of RL to Nguyen Sieu students as well as Vietnamese learners in vocabulary learning strategies The chart below gives a detail description about the result
Most effective Sometimes good Not the only one
Figure 3.5: Students’ responses about having other strategies in vocabulary learning strategies
In the teachers’ interview, five questions were raised
1 Nguyen Sieu students use more rote learning than any other memory strategies Is it true? Why?
2 Rote learning is considered as the best way of Nguyen Sieu upper secondary students to memorise vocabulary What do you think about it?
3 Rote learning works better than other memory strategies at Nguyen Sieu in particular and in Vietnam in general Do you agree?
4 Rote learning is effective in vocabulary learning and it is helpful for all the learners at all stages: from beginners to advanced learners Please comment on it
5 Do you think it’s necessary to teach vocabulary rote learning strategies to students at Nguyen Sieu school?
The results of teachers’ interview are presented in Table 3 3
Table 3.3 - Results of the responses from EFL teachers
Agree Disagree Others ( partially agree)
(No = Number of teachers) All the 5 questions are divided into 3 categories: Agree, Disagree and Others
Although question 5 did not seem focus on “agree” or “disagree” responses, the teachers’ statements is about whether RL suits Nguyen Sieu students, leading to a form of “agree” or
“disagree” response These are presented in Table 3.3 From the data in Table 3.3, generally, the results of questions 1, 2, 4 and 5 appeared more positive than negative except question 3, which received more negative than positive responses According to their explanations, RL is still the most useful strategy at the beginning of learning, but they implied that other vocabulary strategies should be used in vocabulary learning strategies
The questions in the interview will be analysed one by one as follows
3.2.1 Teachers’ attitudes towards students’ use more RL than other memory strategies
Figure 3.6: Teachers’ attitudes towards students’ use more RL than other memory strategies
Factors arising from analysis
The results from this study suggest that Vietnam EFL environment is another factor contributing to the use of RL English as a world language is a total foreign language in Vietnam That is, it is taught in schools, often widely, but it does not play an essential role in national or social life This means that very few people actually use English in day-to- day interaction English is largely confined to international trade, some aspects of education and the media Although Nguyen Sieu students have chance to practice English with native speakers, but practice is only in classes When they leave their English classes, they are affected by the environment of total society and there are few chances for practice
The findings from this study confirm that RL involving repetition and reviewing are the main features of Nguyen Sieu students’ learning styles which are considered a Vietnamese traditional habit RL have deep roots in traditional Vietnamese and to Vietnamese people, RL is a traditional habit that deeply ingrained in their mind This kind of learning strategy has been carried out from generation to generation
The results of the data analysis suggest that Nguyen Sieu students favour “advanced learning strategies” such as communicative strategies which would help them follow the world-wide trend, but mainly rely on examination- oriented memory strategies
They believe that RL would help them succeed in the examination The students revealed that, in order to do well in the examinations, they prepared themselves through careful and close reading of text books and/or reference books with a lot of exercises, and memorised keys to some fixed collocations In other words, they used RL strategies that ensured their getting high scores in the examinations
3.4.4 Failure to try out new strategies
It should be noted here that their detailed explanations indicate that they were actually reluctant to give up RL The responses suggest that they see RL as quite significant in their learning Many students who considered getting rid of RL but later they gave up the idea
There are some reasons to explain for the failure of Nguyen Sieu students as well as Vietnamese learners to try out new strategies Firstly, RL is a familiar strategies; the second is the limited time available to try new strategies and the third is the pressure of exams, which require accuracy for higher scores.
Suggestions for teaching and vocabulary learning strategies
The findings have revealed some pointed above factors In order to help students and teachers have the most effective vocabulary teaching and learning, some suggestions have been made with hope to improve vocabulary learning with RL at Nguyen Sieu school in particular and schools in Vietnam in general
3.5.1 Suggestions for the Vietnamese Exams
All students are afraid of tests and exams In fact, there is an impact of Vietnam’s examination-driven educational system on the students’ RL approaches to EFL learning Students learn by heart just for accuracy in exams, but this sort of accuracy does not necessarily lead to fluency in spoken English This indicates that this problem may be solved firstly from schools in Vietnam when the emphasis on communicative competence is more overt, not just on accuracy for scores
The educational system in Vietnam has important influences on learners’ success in society in their future The educational system biases on testing the ability to memorise which led Vietnam learners to rely heavily on memorisation for examinations Thus, Vietnamese learners are usually characterised as hard-working but lacking in creativity
However, RL actually is a combination of many other strategies such as repetition, memorisation, practice, including reviewing and understanding rather than mere repetition or memorisation Therefore, the exam paper designer could attempt to discover what strategies the students are actually using as profitable information for designing the paper The designers might also take into account of the pract ical need in social development to provide students with chances to solving problems What is learnt through repetition or memorisation as accurate knowledge might be tested in a variety of testing methods such as recognising different meaning in specific contexts through multiple choice, answering questions based on given materials or writing essays on required topics, requirements of achievements from pair or group work, making real situational conversations etc to invoke reactions and communicative competence
3.5.2 Suggestions for teachers at Nguyen Sieu and other schools
Students always hope to be taught learning methods not only knowledge when they learn vocabulary Almost students ask their teachers the ways to remember vocabulary effectively within short time They like teachers who teach new words systematically, require students to memorise new words and teach them methods of memorizing new words
Nowadays, some strategies for vocabulary EFL teaching and learning which are very popular in the world work very well Vietnam However, this does not mean teachers rigid all traditional methods It is more effective if teachers find out the harmony between modern and traditional methods in vocabulary teaching Although RL is considered a vocabulary learning strategies with many negative aspects, it still has a lot of positive effects
Teachers should encourage students to find out the most useful and effective ways vocabulary learning basing on characteristics, age, gender, living environment and hobby These methods of vocabulary learning can be integration of different learning strategies beside the important role of rote learning
The environment in which students learn a foreign language is very important, as it has great effect on the learning process In ESL environments, teachers can rely on students’ pick up vocabulary outside the class However, generally EFL students have encounter new items mostly only during class time Therefore, teachers should exploit various vocabulary learning strategies to provide students with more knowledge which can upgrade their other skills
3.5.3 Suggestions for students at Nguyen Sieu and other schools
Although rote learning is a traditional method, it still shows its strong points in vocabulary learning strategies RL plays an important role in vocabulary learning strategies with good effects proven It is a reason for the question the number of students who use RL in vocabulary learning is high However, students should not be so dependent on only RL In vocabulary learning, many learning strategies should be operated together They can find out the most effective method of learning for themselves.
CONCLUSION
Summary of the study
Vocabulary plays very important role in English learning Enlarging vocabulary is not a easy way to English learners Although each learner has their own methods to approach this target, most learners have a common opinion about supporting the role of RL in vocabulary learning This issue also appears to Nguyen Sieu students Why a method which is considered as a traditional method gains such many supports? This questions drives the researcher to conduct this study namely “Students’ attitude about the role of rote learning in vocabulary learning strategies attitudes Nguyen Sieu upper secondary school”
1, to prommote a positive understanding of the concept of RL in vocabulary learning strategies
2, to test whether Nguyen Sieu students use more RL strategies than other memory strategies and the reasons why they do so
3, to offer guidance to Vietnamese EFL teachers and students who are interested in choosing and using RL in vocabulary learning strategies
The result of the study shows some statements about Nguyen Sieu students Firstly,
Nguyen Sieu students generally hold highly positive beliefs about RL in EFL vocabulary learning The results are consistent with the widely-held beliefs that Nguyen Sieu use more RL than other strategies in vocabulary learning The second statement is that analysis of the 23 items on Nguyen Sieu students’ attitudes about the use of RL indicated the learners’ reflecting the influence of Vietnamese traditional habits on their learning strategies Furthermore, for Nguyen Sieu students in particular and Vietnamese learners in general, RL does not mean passive learning, but a combination of memorisation and understanding In their view, RL is an integration of repetition, memorisation and practice rather than mere repetition, and that RL strategies also involve reviewing, which plays an important part in their approach to learning Thus,
RL should be given an appreciate in vocabulary learning The fourth statement is that
Nguyen Sieu students prefer accuracy to fluency They believe that it is essential to gain a solid foundation in English vocabulary, which is primarily, based on accuracy It also contributes to using RL in vocabulary learning The next statement is that Nguyen
Sieu students believe that RL is an effective way to learn vocabulary but may not be the best way They believe that there is no single “best” strategy for them to learn EFL vocabulary However, last but not least, Nguyen Sieu students continue to use RL in preference to other strategies
The findings of the study supports for the hyphothesis that Nguyen Sieu students use more
RL strategies than other memory strategies in vocabulary learning To them, RL strategies are helpful and effective in vocabulary learning nowadays although it is a traditional method And as a result, RL is given an appreciate because of its important role in vocabulary learning.
Limitations of the study
Up to now, the researcher has made a great deal of effort to carry out the study The stud y has certain strengths such as real data collected from survey questionnaire and interview for students and teachers However, because of time limit, lack of resources, the researcher’s ability, it is obvious that the study has a number of limitations such as the number of participants involved in the survey and interview is still small so the findings may not be generalized to all the students at Nguyen Sieu school and other schools.
Implications for future research
The findings in this study have suggested some implications which might be considered for future research These implications will be presented in two main aspects
The first implication is about carrying out more researches about reasons for Nguyen Sieu students’ choosing and using RL in vocabulary learning The second is that the implications which arise directly from this study for educational practice relating to the teaching, learning and examination of EFL at Nguyen Sieu and other places in Vietnam
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APPENDIX 1 VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES QUESTIONNAIRE
(For Nguyen Sieu upper secondary students)
The questionnaire is designed to gather information about how you, as a Vietnamese students of English, go about learning and memorising vocabulary The following pages are statements related to the acquisition of vocabulary items
You are required to rate each statement on a 5-point scale by circling one of the responses (1, 2, 3 or 4) to indicate your attitude about the statement and what you actually do when you learn English words
- Strongly agree means that you almost always behave as described in the statement
- Agree means that you behave as described in the statement more than half of the time
- Disagree means that you behave as described less than half the time, but more than in very rare instances
- Strongly disagree means that you behave as described in the statement only in very rare instances
Please complete the questionnaire as seriously as possible There are no right or wrong responses to these statements The researcher is simply interested in your opinion
1.Vocabulary should be learnt through repetition
2 Rote learning is an effective way to memorise words
3 Word lists, charts or cards are very helpful
4 The translation equivalents of Vietnamese and English are helpful
5 English words have fixed meanings
6 I make vocabulary lists of new words that I meet
7 I write the new words on two sides of a card
8 I keep the vocabulary lists of new words that I make
9 I go through my vocabulary list several times until I understand
10 I make vocabulary cards and take them with me wherever I go
11 When I try to memorise a word, I repeat it aloud to myself
12 When I try to remember a word, I write it repeatedly
13 I write new words and their Vietnamese equivalents repeatedly
14 I focus on completing vocabulary exercises repeatedly for exam
15 I do oral practice with a person whose English level is similar
16 I can use words correctly and efficiently after memorising them
17 I remember one dictionary definition for the meaning of a word
18 I memorise examples in some context when using the words
19 I pay attention to set phrases and collocations that go with a word
20 I use the rote learning strategies (e.g repetition) all the time
This section offers you opportunity to give your opinions on Vocabulary learning strategies
(Please express yourself in your own words either in English or Vietnamese Your views will be very valuable to the research.
21 In your opinion, what are the most effective strategies when you use to learn vocabulary?
22 What do you think of rote learning for Vietnamese learners in Vocabulary learning strategies?
23 Do you have any other strategies for either learning or memorising vocabulary?
Thank you very much for your co-operation!