INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study
Aims of the study
The first aim of the study is to investigate whether using MM to teach vocabulary can help students at MTA to improve their vocabulary retention or not
Secondly, the study also evaluates the students’ attitudes towards using MM as a tool to improve their vocabulary retention.
Research question
Based on the above-mentioned aims, the following questions are formulated:
1 Does teaching vocabulary using MM help students at MTA to improve their vocabulary retention?
2 What are the students’ attitudes towards using MM to improve their vocabulary retention?
Scope of the study
Because of the limitation of time and resources, the researcher only focuses on the use of MM as one technique to improve students’ poor vocabulary retention
The study was conducted on the K51 Information class of 32 first-year students at MTA Due to the fixed curriculum and limited time, the study was carried out during the second term of school year 2015-2016.
Significance of the study
Essentially, the practical consideration of the research is the significance of the expected research Hence, the results of this study are expected to be useful to students, teachers and researchers in the field of English language teaching and learning The research is expected to explore and prove the effectiveness of
MM in teaching so that the teachers will conduct the teaching and learning activities more effectively Students can use MM as a technique to improve vocabulary retention The future researchers are expected to develop some dimensions which have not been developed in this research such as using different student population, different students’ condition, etc.
Method of the study
The study was based on action research The subject of the research was the English non-major first-year students of MTA Because the researcher wanted to investigate whether using MM technique to teach vocabulary can improve the students’ vocabulary retention or not, a pre-test and post- test were carried out
The purpose of pre-test was to know the students’ knowledge before treatment
After treatment, the researcher conducted a post-test to know the effectiveness of treatment after the course of using MM Also, a survey questionnaire was designed and administered to students at the end of treatment so that they could express their ideas about treatment.
Design of the study
This study is divided as followed:
Chapter 1: Introduction - provides the rationale, the aim, the research question, the scope, the significance and the organization of the study
Chapter 2: Literature review–presents the concepts relevant to the topic of the thesis: vocabulary and its importance, memorizing word meanings, some basic knowledge about MM, the previous studies related to the fields and some gaps for present study
Chapter 3: Methodology - presents the context of the research including the research settings, teaching materials, research participants This chapter also provides information about the action research in general and the instruments, the data collection procedures and data analysis of this study
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion - focuses on the results of the tests and the results from the questionnaire This chapter also includes the analyses and discussions of the results
Chapter 5: Conclusion - points out some limitations, recommendations and suggestions for further study.
LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Vocabulary and its importance
Vocabulary definition
English consists of four main skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing
Along with these skills are other sub-skills, namely vocabulary, grammar, collocation, etc Among these sub-skills, vocabulary plays a crucial part in the language learning process Having a wide range of vocabulary is strongly related to the degree of language proficiency Hence, it is necessary to make clarify this term in this study at first
So far there have been a lot of definitions of vocabulary Specially, Ur (1996) characterized vocabulary as the words we teach in the foreign language She also stated that a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: a compound of two or three words or multi -word idioms In addition, Read (2001) viewed words as the basic building blocks of language, the units of meaning from which the larger structures such as sentences, paragraphs and whole texts are formed (p1)
Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, according to the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, as following:
- All the words known and used by a particular person
- All the words which exist in a particular language or subject
In short, from the definition above, it can be concluded that vocabulary is a list of words or a set of words in a language or knowledge of words regarding its forms, meanings In the present study, vocabulary refers to the words, compounds and idioms in a language that have meanings used to convey and receive information in oral and written communication.
The role of vocabulary in second language learning
Even though vocabulary is the sub-skill of a language, it plays a very important role in language No one can communicate in any meaningful way without vocabulary A large, rich vocabulary gives them the right words to use at the right time
According to Richards and Renandya in 2002, vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how well learners speak, listen, read, and write Similar opinion was also expressed by McCarthy who stated if you do not know enough vocabulary, you will be able to express yourself adequately For learners, he also claimed that no matter how well the students learn grammar, no matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wider range of meaning, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way
Having a wide range of vocabulary, one’s listening and reading will improve because he/she will be able to understand more of what is written or spoken
Their writing will become more effective and more powerful A person with a limited vocabulary will never be able to speak, write, read or understand English effectively Hence, the lack of vocabulary shortage affects all the other skills
Nation (2001) emphasized the need to constantly expand vocabulary knowledge “acquisition of vocabulary is typically a more conscious and demanding process” Additionally, he claimed that even at an advanced level, learners are aware of limitations in their knowledge of L2 words He clarified the importance of vocabulary by bringing evidence that vocabulary knowledge is what the students most need while doing reading activities in order to make sense of what they are reading Moreover, it’s his claim that those who do not attain enough vocabulary cannot understand enough of what they read
Furthermore, they have more limited contextual information provided by known words to allow them to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words
All in all, from various above points of view, vocabulary can be seen as priority area in language learning and teaching However, the main obstacle all students face in vocabulary learning is to recall words or memorize words
Therefore, a focus on improving vocabulary retention is essential for learners to raise English proficiency.
Memorizing word meanings
Vocabulary retention has been defined as “the ability to recall or remember things after an interval of time In language teaching, retention of what has been taught (e.g grammar rules and vocabulary) may depend on the quality of teaching, the interest of the learners, or the meaningfulness of the materials”
Vocabulary retention is of the essence in learning English as a foreign language It can be understood that as well as the learned vocabulary knowledge is retained in the memory, the learner can get benefit from it when the time of recalling it comes Vocabulary retention is one crucial factor affecting the success of vocabulary acquisition since it is the ability to recall words that have been learnt for use when needed
Memory has been categorized into different sub-types according to duration of memory retention and capacity of recalling information after original input
According to Plotrick, R and Kouyoumdjian, H in 2013, there are three kinds of
Sensory memory is an initial process that receives and holds environment information for a brief period of time, from an instant to several second In contrast, short-term memory can hold only a limited amount of information for a short period of time, two to thirty seconds Actually, if sensory memory is a little or un-controlled processing then short-term memory is a controlled processing procedure at which the learner can retrieve their newly knowledge with effort
Finally, there is long-term memory, which can store an almost unlimited amount of information over long periods of time This is an automatic processing procedure that ensure retrieved without effort
Learning new items involves storing them first in our short-term memory, and afterwards in long-term memory However, when learning vocabulary, learners have problems with memorizing words for a long time They usually fail to put the words into long-term memory Thus, the goal of learning vocabulary is to transfer the lexical information from short-term memory to long-term memory during the process of learning This can be done by various techniques teachers apply The more interested in what students have learnt, the better they can remember Therefore, teachers should apply vocabulary teaching strategies effectively so that the students could feel interested in what they learnt
2.2.3 Strategies of teaching and learning vocabulary
Vocabulary has a crucial role in foreign teaching and learning However, from the researcher’s English teaching experience, vocabulary teaching in class is less focused on than teaching English grammar Most teachers still emphasize English grammatical rules in class and neglect vocabulary teaching strategies As a result, the learners have difficulties in memorizing large numbers of new words throughout the entire course In vocabulary lessons, the main method of word repetition, saying the L2 word form aloud with the L1 translation is likely to be used as an aid to remember the words Hence, both teachers and learners have little interest or enjoyment when teaching and learning vocabulary The question is how to teach and learn vocabulary effectively Up till now, the learners need training in vocabulary learning strategies so that they are able to remember as much as possible for what they learnt
O’Malley and Chamot in 1990 defined learning strategies as special thoughts or behaviors that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn, or retain new information Vocabulary learning strategies are one part of language learning strategies, which in turn part of general learning strategies (Nation, 2001)
In classifying learning strategies, scholars have different ways of classifying language learning strategies According to Wenden and Rubin in 1987, learning strategies consists of cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies, gaining the most attention compared to other strategies
Cognitive strategies include the tools that help a learner store, combine, and recall the information These strategies include repetition, review and development of the concept and the organization of the material In other words, cognitive strategies involve interacting with the material to be learned, manipulating the material mentally or physically or by applying a specific technique to a learning task (O`Malley and Chamot, 1990)
Meta-cognitive strategies include the tools for guidance and supervision of cognitive approaches, such as determination of learning goals, posing questions and evaluation of what has been read These strategies include supervision, monitoring, organization and planning In other words, according to O`Malley and Chamot (1990), meta-cognitive strategies are higher order executive skills that may entail planning for, monitoring, or evaluating the success of a learning activity; meta-cognitive strategies operate directly on informing information, manipulating it in ways that enhance learning
MMs could be classified as cognitive learning strategies since they fulfill the main function of cognitive strategies by helping the learners to relate the new items to the already existing one and recall the information Therefore, the researcher elaborates on the term MMs in the following section.
Mind-mapping
The mind-mapping or mind map concept was developed in the early 1970s by Tony Buzan as a method for students to take notes as briefly as possible
Buzan in 1993 defined MMs as “a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain” This opinion was supported by Al-Jarf (2011) who argued that a MM is a graphic organizer in which the major categories radiate from a central idea and sub-categories are represented as branches of larger branches In other words, MM is a visual tool that can be used to generate ideas, take notes, organize thinking, and develop concepts There are no limits to the number of connected ideas and links MM thus promotes creative thinking and is “a creative note-taking method, which eases us to remember much information” (De Porter, Reardon, and Nourie,
1999) The best MM is enhanced and enriched with color, picture, symbol and dimension that will not just help the students to recall information but also make them feel good in mastering vocabulary knowledge
By now, it is clear for us to understand that MM is a technique using diagram for visual presentation of ideas The diagram is focused on a main concept which is placed in the center and therefore certain ideas, words or even phrases related to main concept can be connected Each idea, word or phrase is written down and then linked by lines, arrows, branches, or some ways of showing connections to its major or minor item This is specifically beneficial for young learners to recall their memories
2.3.2 Steps to create a mind map
MM may be presented in a variety of ways Tony Buzan stated that the steps for presenting MM are as follows:
1 Start in the CENTRE of a blank page turned sideways Why? Because starting in the centre gives your brain freedom to spread out in all directions and to express itself more freely and naturally
2 Use an IMAGE or PICTURE for your central idea Why? Because an image is worth a thousand words and helps you use your Imagination A central image is more interesting, keeps you focused, helps you concentrate, and gives your brain more of a buzz!
3 Use COLOURS throughout Why? Because colours are as exciting to your brain as are images Colour adds extra vibrancy and life to your Mind Map, adds tremendous energy to your Creative Thinking, and is fun!
4 CONNECT your MAIN BRANCHES to the central image and connect your second- and third-level branches to the first and second levels, etc Why?
Because your brain works by association It likes to link two (or three, or four) things together If you connect the branches, you will understand and remember a lot more easily
5 Make your branches CURVED rather than straight-lined Why? Because having nothing but straight lines are boring to your brain
6 Use ONE KEY WORD PER LINE Why? Because single key words give your Mind Map more power and flexibility
7 Use IMAGES throughout Why? Because each image, like the central image, is also worth a thousand words
2.3.3 The significance of mind-mapping in language classroom
MM is an effective form of vocabulary learning and teaching tool because it can activate prior knowledge on a certain topic and help learners to organize and recall items of vocabulary (according to Casco in 2009) When using MM, the teacher starts with main topic or the theme as the central idea and the students think about the new and the old items related to the topic given
Therefore, this will lead to more comfortable and more active learning atmosphere which is effective for longer retention of the learnt words
Additionally, MM can promote interactive learning process By implementing the MM technique in teaching, both the teacher and students can work together to build on the map building involving the targeted content The teacher can help students to recall the prior knowledge related to the topic given
MMs provide students with an active interaction allowing them to learn through the use of a central image They are encouraged to join in and express their ideas to the map building The constructing process of map building involving discussing in groups/ class, writing words down, categorizing and grouping words with related ones can reduce the students’ passive learning in vocabulary lesson
Furthermore, MM is a pattern which at least consists of picture, symbol and color that will not just make the students more enjoyable and interesting in studying vocabulary but also help students to remember vocabulary in their fast time
To sum up, MM can be an effective technique in vocabulary learning and teaching for the improvement of vocabulary retention Following is the review of the studies related to this study.
Related studies
There are many studies related to this topic The study “The Effect of Mind
Mapping on Vocabulary Learning and Retention” was written by Heidari &
Karimi (2015) This study attempted to explore the effects of MM on vocabulary learning and its retention 40 male first-grader high school students in Shahed High School in Hamedan, Iran took part in the study Participants were divided equally into two groups of which one was control group and the other was experimental group The study concluded that the students in the experimental group (using MM technique) were able to store the vocabulary in their long-term memory for longer periods of time MM helped the students acquire and retain English vocabulary directly and very strongly because of its “visual appeal”
Because MMs were easy to review, so the students could integrate the newly acquired words with the old previously learnt ones and see connections between words Also, MMs in the present study were colorful and with their colorful structures and three tree diagrams could give the high school students adequate motivation to engage with vocabulary lessons
In “Teaching vocabulary through MM technique to the tenth grade students of SMA Negeri 15 Palembang”, Yusuf Effendi (2004) aimed to find out whether or not it was significantly effective to teach vocabulary through MM technique to the tenth grade students of SMA Negeri 15 Palembang 360 students of SMA Negeri 15 Palembang took part in the study Based on the analysis of the data in this study, it could be concluded that there was a significant difference between the students’ progress in the experimental group (using MM technique) and the control group (using traditional method) From the data analysis, the writer indicated that the use of MM technique was effective in teaching vocabulary to the tenth grade students of SMA Negeri 15 Palembang
In “The Use of Mind Mapping Technique in Teaching Vocabulary”, Samhudi (2015) aimed to describe the procedure of MM technique on teaching vocabulary and to know the improvement of students’ vocabulary mastery after learning vocabulary through MM technique In this study, the research focused on 35 students, 15 boys and 20 girls The participants were randomly assigned to experimental group and control group In collecting the required data, the writer did test and questionnaire The writer as teacher tried to apply MM technique in teaching vocabulary mastery of students The results of test showed that MM technique improved students’ vocabulary mastery Also, based on the data from the questionnaire, most of the students agreed that MMs could advance them, improve their vocabulary, expand their ideas, and increase their self-confidence in learning
2.4.2 Review of related studies in Vietnam
In “Using MMs and diagrams to teach vocabulary for first year mainstream students, Faculty of English Language Teacher Education”, Dang Thanh Diem (2011) had the purpose of introducing using MMs and diagrams as a technique to teach vocabulary for first-year English main stream majors It can be concluded from the study that using MMs and diagrams to teach vocabulary could help students have better and longer memory of word items taught
Students after attending a lesson with MMs and diagrams really wanted to have chance to learn with those techniques They shared the benefits that MMs and diagrams could help them remember words better
In “Using mind-mapping to teach vocabulary to the first-year non- English major students at Bac Giang University of Agriculture and Forestry”,
Nguyen Thi Thuy Lan (2012) was to explore the effectiveness of MM in teaching vocabulary to the first-year non-English major students at Bac Giang University of Agriculture and Forestry, using the course book New Cutting Edge
(Elementary) The results from her study showed that MM could help students to brainstorm a new topic and activate the prior knowledge Besides, it could be a tool to facilitate students to summarize the lessons effectively Also, students could apply MM to take note during the lesson
2.4.3 GAPS IN PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON MIND-MAPPING
From the previous studies related to the research problems, the writer found that most of the studies focused on applying MM in teaching vocabulary
There are not many studies on using MM to improve students’ vocabulary retention To address this gap, the writer carried out this study on the first-year students at MTA as the target population.
Summary
This chapter was an overview of literature related to the study The first section of this chapter reviewed definitions of vocabulary and its importance
The second part discussed vocabulary retention, types of memory as well as strategies of teaching and learning vocabulary Next, definitions of MM, the steps to create a MM and its usage in vocabulary learning were mentioned Also, some related studies worldwide and in Vietnam were presented with a clear description of the studies and the gained findings This chapter was ended with gaps in previous research on MM.
METHODOLOGY 3.1 The context of the study
Research setting
The Military Technical Academy is a polytechnic institute that was founded in 1966 It consists of sub-institutes and sub-centers whose duty is to mainly produce military engineers Since 2002, it has been assigned by the State of Vietnam and Ministry of National Defense to train civilian engineers
Together they make knowledgeable and qualified technicians of all degrees:
Bachelor, Master, Doctor to serve in military and to devote to the industrialization and modernization of our country
Undergraduates of MTA are of two categories: military students and civilian students Like students of other colleges and universities in Vietnam, the students of MTA come from different English backgrounds and many different parts of the country, from the North to the South of Vietnam For civilian students, they have to study English as a compulsory subject while military students study either English or Russian depending on their majors As for those who study English, the English course is divided into two stages: General English (360 periods) and English for Specific Purposes (45 periods) General English is taught in the first two academic years and the rest is in the first semester of third year.
Teaching material
In the 2015-2016 academic year, the “New English File – Elementary” was officially used to teach the first- year students within 180 periods during the first two semesters NEFE designed by Clive Oxenden, Christina Latham-Koenig and Paul Seligson was first internationally published in 2004 by Oxford
University Press NEFE presents the basic structure of English and develops them through a variety of social contexts After this course, the students can make conversations for the suggested topics, describe their personality, daily activities or express their opinions in simple situations associated with their life
In NEFE Students’ Book, there are nine units, each of which is divided into sections marked with letters A, B, C, and D ( except for the last unit) At the end of each unit, three special sections follow The first one is called Practical English, the second one is Writing, and the last one is Revision and Check For each section of each unit, there are grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation listed that are taught within the section As for Vocabulary, it is organized File by File It includes all the words in the Vocabulary Banks in the Student’s Book and the MultiROM, all the words which are highlighted in the Student’s Book, and all the words in the More Words to Learn sections of the Workbook.
Research participants
The participants in this study consisted of 32(2 females and 30 males) first -year students of the K51 Information class at MTA in the academic year of 2015-2016 After the first semester, the teacher-researcher found that her students’ vocabulary was very poor and their vocabulary strategies seemed to be ineffective Therefore, the researcher chose them to become volunteer participants in the action research project The total number of students was selected to do two vocabulary tests named pre-test and post-test And then, a survey questionnaire was conducted to get more opinions from students about the treatment.
Research methodology
This study was carried out using action research approach
Action research is first and foremost situational, being concerned with the identification and solution of problems in a specific context The aim of action research is to improve the current state of affairs within the educational context in which the research is being carried out.”(Cohen and Manion, 1985).Similar with this idea, Parsons and Brown in 2002 stated that action research is an investigation carried out by teachers attempting to find solutions to problems and improve their professional practices in their own classroom
Based on the above definitions, action research is an appropriate method in this thesis The aim of this research is to improve first-year students’ vocabulary retention by using MM techniques This leads to change the students’ attitudes positively towards English vocabulary learning
Different authors and researcher have established and proposed different models of action research In this study, action research was designed and conducted in line with the cycle adopted from McBride & Schostak (1995):
As can be seen in the diagram above, the process starts with the identification of the problem area This is followed by collecting initial data, from which a pre-test during thirty minutes is implemented so as to confirm the problem stated in stage 1 After that, the data collected from the pre-test is analyzed to form a hypothesis The next step of this action research study is planning action In this phase, the researcher presents the alternatives to the usual practice so that the study could bring about desired changes Implementing action is the process of introducing the MM method as a major technique to see if there is any development in the students’ vocabulary retention and their attitudes towards the use of this technique At the phase of collecting data to monitor change, the students are given the post-test during thirty minutes to determine the effectiveness of the intervention Along with the post-test, the students also receive one survey questionnaire to show their perceptions and opinions about this new technique After the researcher analyzes data collected through tests and questionnaire, reflection identifies the result of the research
3.2.3 Data collection instrument 3.2.3.1 Pre-test and post-test
In this study, the two tests were designed to examine the effectiveness of
MM on first-years students’ learning vocabulary retention Many reasons for vocabulary testing are indicated by Nation (1990): To find learners' total vocabulary size, to compare vocabulary knowledge before and after the course, to keep a continuing check on progress, to encourage learning by setting short- term goals, to see the effectiveness of your teaching, to investigate learning
The two tests were designed with the same format including three parts:
-The first part of both tests consisted of 5 sentences The students were asked to complete the missing words based on the given pictures
- The second part of both tests consisted of 30 sentences The students were asked to choose the best answer by circling the correct letter A, B, C or D
- The third part of both tests consisted of 5 sentences The students were asked to match the sentence with the appropriate picture by writing the letter A,
Each test lasted thirty minutes The vocabulary items used in the tests were taken from the students’ book and the test booklet NEFE taught in the second semester Each test had 40 questions; each question was given 2.5 points, so the total score was 100 points
Questionnaire was selected as the second data collection instrument in this study because “ questionnaires are useful ways of gathering information about affective dimensions of teaching and learning, such as beliefs, attitudes, motivation, and preferences, and enable a teacher to collect a large amount of information relatively quickly” ( Richards & Lockhart, 1994)
In this study, the questionnaire included 8 closed-questions and used a five-point Likert Scale with five options ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree McIver and Carmines (1981) described the Likert scale as “a set of items, composed of approximately an equal number of favorable and unfavorable statements concerning the attitude object, is given to a group of subjects They are asked to respond to each statement in terms of their own degree of agreement or disagreement Typically, they are instructed to select one of five responses: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, or strongly disagree”
In this study, the students had 10 minutes to answer the questionnaire The questionnaire (see Appendix 3) consisted of two main parts with statements asking the students’ attitudes towards MM technique ( item 1,2,3,4,) and their self-evaluation on the effectiveness of this technique( item 5,6,7,8)
The MM technique was applied in 6 weeks in the K51 Information class during the second semester of the 2015- 2016 academic year at MTA The following table summarized the procedures of the research:
Week 1 The researcher identified the issues to be changed and prepared the instructional strategy (MM) which was theoretically effective to improve the situation and solve the problem
Week 2 - The class was given the pre-test before the treatment to evaluate the student’s vocabulary capacity
-The data collected from the pre-test was analyzed to form a hypothesis
Week 3 -The researcher made a detailed plan of what she intended to implement, when it has to be completed, what the modifications to the curriculum are, how the revised teaching strategies will be implemented, etc At this stage information gathering instruments should be prepared
Week 4-9 MM was implemented in the stage of teaching and learning vocabulary during the 3 units (from unit 6 to unit 8)
Week 10 -The students were administered the post-test to determine the effectiveness of the intervention
-The students were asked to fill in the questionnaire to figure out students’ attitudes towards MM
-The data collected from the post-test and questionnaire were analyzed to identify any improvements and evaluate students’ opinions about the treatment used
- Evaluated the effectiveness of the treatment and identified the results of the research
Table 1: Procedure of the research
As shown in the table 1, the MM technique was applied from week 4 to week 9 in the class K51 Information class During six-week treatment, the students had nine periods every week and one forty-minute period for vocabulary was taught in each lesson
The results of the study were presented in quantitative data which were collected from the results of the two tests and questionnaire
For the two tests, the scores were calculated and analyzed by the software names Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20 Here, the researcher used paired samples t-test to compare the means of two sets of test scores before and after the treatment Also, a paired sample t-test could be used to examine whether or not there was a statistically significant difference between two sets of tests derived from the same participants
In this study, there were two hypotheses:
The “null hypothesis” might be:
H0: The mean of two paired samples are equal
The “alternative hypothesis” might be:
H1: The mean of two paired samples are not equal
According to Cramer and Howitt (2004), the level at which the null hypothesis was rejected was usually set as 05 So, in this study, if the value of significance (p-value) is equal to or less than 05 then the null hypothesis is rejected and there is a difference before and after the treatment If the value of significance (p-value) is more than 05, the null hypothesis is accepted and there is no difference before and after the treatment
For the survey questionnaires, after collecting them from the students, the researcher used SPSS to calculate the valid percent Then, the researcher compared the valid percent of some agree opinions with some disagree options to get the subject’s opinions about the treatment.
Summary
This chapter presented the research settings, the participants and teaching material They were followed by action research definition, action research procedure The chapter was finally concluded by the through description of data collection instruments, data collection procedure and data analysis procedure
The following chapter will show the results of the study.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Quantitative description of results from the pre-test and post-test
The distribution of the test results
After collecting the paper tests of students, the researcher herself marked and categorized the scores according to the above score interval After that, the researcher made comparison pre-test and post-test scores to find out any difference before and after the treatment The following table presented the distribution of the test results
Figure 2: Comparison between pre-test and post-test score
As can be clearly seen from the chart, before treatment, the majority of the students could not do the test successfully Up to 56.3% of the students got poor marks and 12.5% of them achieved very poor marks The number of the students who got 50 and 65 points comprised 15.6% Especially, only 9.4 % of the students received good marks and there were two students who got excellent marks (6.3%) The results indicated that the vocabulary retention ability of the students was comparatively low Therefore, the researcher decided to try a new method of teaching vocabulary knowledge in classroom with expectation of solving this problem
Also from the above chart, it can be clearly seen that there was considerable improvement in the students’ scores after the treatment was used
The most outstanding point is the difference between the number of students who got poor marks at the post-test and that at the pre-test The number of the students who received poor marks was significantly reduced by 56.3% to 18.8 % after the post-test On the contrary, the number of the students who got average scores considerably increased by 15.6% to 34.4% In the pre-test, there were two students (6.3%) who got excellent marks, but in the post-test, there were 6
Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor
Pre-test scorePost-test scores students, accounting for 18.8% of the total number of students Similarly, the number of students getting good scores in the pre-test increased from 3 students to 9 students in the post-test None of them gained very poor marks in the post- test
This research used descriptive statistics to analyze the data The following table summarized some significant descriptive statistics of the results achieved by the students in the two tests
Table 3: The descriptive statistics of the two tests scores
Based on the table of the statistical analyses above, it can be found that the mean score of the pre-test was 46.25 and the mean score of the post-test was 64.22 It means that students’ mean score increased by 17.97 after the post-test
Furthermore, the maximum score of the post-test was higher than that of the pre- test (95>90) The minimum score increased from 20 in the pre-test to 30 in the post-test
More importantly, the significant value (p-value) was 0.000, which was much less than 0.05 It indicated that there was a significant change in the subject’s vocabulary retention after the treatment
4.2 Quantitative description of results from the questionnaire
The analysis of results collected from the questionnaire aimed at answering the second question of the study The questionnaires including eight items were to investigate the subjects’ attitudes towards the treatment Items 1, 2,
3 and 4 investigated the students’ attitudes towards MM technique Items 5, 6, 7 and 8 aimed at presenting the students’ self-evaluation on the effectiveness of the
MM technique in vocabulary retention
4.2.1 Students’ attitudes towards MM technique
N0 Opinions Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
1 I find it easy to use MM to recall learnt vocabulary
2 MM gives me more pleasure in learning E vocabulary
3 I started to feel like learning new words by using MM technique
4 MM is a creative technique for vocabulary learning
Table 4: Students’ attitudes towards MM technique
The students were firstly asked whether using MM to recall learnt vocabulary items was easy or not As can be seen from the table 4, most of the students reported that it was not a difficult method to be applied in recalling learnt vocabulary items About 71.9 % shared this view and 21.9% disapproved
A few respondents (6.3%) had neutral feelings in this statement
Item 2 was to investigate the students’ excitement in the vocabulary lessons when the teacher used the MM technique It presented clearly that a large number of students felt pleasure in MM technique In other words, the percentage of strongly agree and agree responses were 93.8% in this item
Whereas, only 6.3% of the students did not enjoy learning vocabulary through
MMs and none of them chose neutral opinion or had no idea
The results of item 3 indicated that a large number of students started to feel like learning new vocabulary by using MM technique To be in more detail, 84.4% of students strongly agree and agree that they felt like learning new vocabulary by using MMs Only a few students (6.3%) did not know whether they liked or disliked learning new words with the use of MM and a small number of participants (9.4%) were not interested in vocabulary lessons after the treatment used
By creating branches out from the central idea, the students can free their minds to think creatively on the subjects related to the central idea Therefore, 78.2% of the students highly appreciated the creativeness of MM techniques
About 15.7 % disagreed with this statement and 6.3% of them had neutral idea
4.2.2 The students’ self-evaluation on the effectiveness of the MM technique
N0 Opinions Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
5 It helps me to enhance my vocabulary knowledge considerably
6 I can remember vocabulary items right at class thanks to MM
7 It helps me to activate my prior knowledge and link to new items
8 MM technique can help me memorize and recall the word meanings more easily for a longer time
Table 5: The students’ self-evaluation on the effectiveness of the MM technique
Generally speaking, the majority of the students reported positive attitudes about the technique in vocabulary learning and retention Concerning the vocabulary background knowledge, more than 80% of the students agreed that they could enhance the vocabulary knowledge thanks to MM technique in the vocabulary lessons Only 6.3% of them did not think so and 6.3% of them had neutral opinion
One more interesting thing is that up to 68.7% of the students could remember lexical items right at the classroom thanks to MM MMs utilize visual images to represent ideas and concepts related to the same topic, so students with little or no knowledge about some new words are still able to construct some good ideas under the teacher’s control With visual learning, new concepts are more thoroughly and easily remember through MMs
Also, 87.5% of students shared the same view that MM helped them connect the prior knowledge with new information, which helped them transfer what they learnt and apply it to new situations Actually, when building a MM with a key concept, it activated their previous knowledge In this way, the knowledge was revised again and again and retention ability would be better
The last, 78.2% of survey respondents agreed and strongly agreed that
MM could help them know how to use vocabulary and recall word meaning easily With the use of visual clues such as images, errors and colours, MMs could speed up the learning process and help students to memorize and recall information effectively
Quantitative description of results from the questionnaire
The analysis of results collected from the questionnaire aimed at answering the second question of the study The questionnaires including eight items were to investigate the subjects’ attitudes towards the treatment Items 1, 2,
3 and 4 investigated the students’ attitudes towards MM technique Items 5, 6, 7 and 8 aimed at presenting the students’ self-evaluation on the effectiveness of the
MM technique in vocabulary retention
4.2.1 Students’ attitudes towards MM technique
N0 Opinions Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
1 I find it easy to use MM to recall learnt vocabulary
2 MM gives me more pleasure in learning E vocabulary
3 I started to feel like learning new words by using MM technique
4 MM is a creative technique for vocabulary learning
Table 4: Students’ attitudes towards MM technique
The students were firstly asked whether using MM to recall learnt vocabulary items was easy or not As can be seen from the table 4, most of the students reported that it was not a difficult method to be applied in recalling learnt vocabulary items About 71.9 % shared this view and 21.9% disapproved
A few respondents (6.3%) had neutral feelings in this statement
Item 2 was to investigate the students’ excitement in the vocabulary lessons when the teacher used the MM technique It presented clearly that a large number of students felt pleasure in MM technique In other words, the percentage of strongly agree and agree responses were 93.8% in this item
Whereas, only 6.3% of the students did not enjoy learning vocabulary through
MMs and none of them chose neutral opinion or had no idea
The results of item 3 indicated that a large number of students started to feel like learning new vocabulary by using MM technique To be in more detail, 84.4% of students strongly agree and agree that they felt like learning new vocabulary by using MMs Only a few students (6.3%) did not know whether they liked or disliked learning new words with the use of MM and a small number of participants (9.4%) were not interested in vocabulary lessons after the treatment used
By creating branches out from the central idea, the students can free their minds to think creatively on the subjects related to the central idea Therefore, 78.2% of the students highly appreciated the creativeness of MM techniques
About 15.7 % disagreed with this statement and 6.3% of them had neutral idea
4.2.2 The students’ self-evaluation on the effectiveness of the MM technique
N0 Opinions Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
5 It helps me to enhance my vocabulary knowledge considerably
6 I can remember vocabulary items right at class thanks to MM
7 It helps me to activate my prior knowledge and link to new items
8 MM technique can help me memorize and recall the word meanings more easily for a longer time
Table 5: The students’ self-evaluation on the effectiveness of the MM technique
Generally speaking, the majority of the students reported positive attitudes about the technique in vocabulary learning and retention Concerning the vocabulary background knowledge, more than 80% of the students agreed that they could enhance the vocabulary knowledge thanks to MM technique in the vocabulary lessons Only 6.3% of them did not think so and 6.3% of them had neutral opinion
One more interesting thing is that up to 68.7% of the students could remember lexical items right at the classroom thanks to MM MMs utilize visual images to represent ideas and concepts related to the same topic, so students with little or no knowledge about some new words are still able to construct some good ideas under the teacher’s control With visual learning, new concepts are more thoroughly and easily remember through MMs
Also, 87.5% of students shared the same view that MM helped them connect the prior knowledge with new information, which helped them transfer what they learnt and apply it to new situations Actually, when building a MM with a key concept, it activated their previous knowledge In this way, the knowledge was revised again and again and retention ability would be better
The last, 78.2% of survey respondents agreed and strongly agreed that
MM could help them know how to use vocabulary and recall word meaning easily With the use of visual clues such as images, errors and colours, MMs could speed up the learning process and help students to memorize and recall information effectively
In short, findings from the survey questionnaire indicated that most of the students in the K51 Information class at MTA presented their positive attitudes towards the use of MM technique which was carried out for a period of 6 weeks
Most of them preferred MM technique because it generated an interesting, creative learning environment and the students benefited from the technique in improving their vocabulary performance and memorization.
Reliability analysis and correlations
Cronbach's alpha is the most commonly used measure of internal consistency (McDowell and Newell 1996) In this study, it was used to see if the questionnaires with multiple Likert scalequestions were reliable
According to Nunnally and Bernstein, the acceptable values of alpha range from 0.70 to 0.95 A low value of alpha could be due to a low number of questions and poor interrelatedness between items For example, if a low alpha is due to poor correlation between items, some should be revised or discarded The easiest method to find them is to compute the correlation of each test item with the total score test; items with low correlations (approaching zero) are deleted If alpha is too high, it may suggest that some items are redundant as they are testing the same question but in a different guise (Tavakol, M and Dennik, R in 2011)
The following table was the Reliability Statistics one that provided the actual value for Cronbach's alpha, as shown below:
Here, this questionnaire certainly was reliable, since the α was 0.884 suggesting that the items had relatively high internal consistency
The Item-Total Statistics table presented the "Cronbach's Alpha if Item
Deleted" in the final column, as shown below:
Corrected Item-Total Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted
The values in the column labeled Corrected Item - Total Correlation are the correlations between each item and the total score from the questionnaire
Pallant stated that Corrected Item-Total Correlation- minimum value for valid item is 0.3 Pallant’s statement indicated that any item with Corrected Item-Total Correlation value under 0.3 needs to be reconsidered, even removed Based on the table 9, all data items had Item-Total Correlations above 0.3, which was probably a reasonable goal
Cronbach’s Alpha if Item Deleted shows how the alpha for the scale would change if the item was deleted from the scale (Richard Williams, 2015) Pallant
(2001) also stated that if any of the values in the Cronbach’s Alpha If Item Deleted column are higher than the final alpha value then the researcher may want to consider removing this item from the scale In this study, all the values were less than the final alpha value (smaller than 0.884); therefore, all the values were reliable and all the items in the scale should be kept
The aim of this part was to seek the correlation between students’ achievements shown in their gain scores and students’ attitudes shown in questionnaire To analysis this, a Pearson correlation was conducted Pearson’s correlation coefficient is a statistical measure of the strength of a linear relation between paired data It is denoted by r and depicted as -1≥ r ≤ 1 A positive r value means a positive linear between the tested variables and vice versa (Vian Ahmed, Alex Opoku, Zeeshan Aziz, 2016) If Pearson’s r is close to 1 then there is a strong relationship between two variables When Pearson’s r is close to 0 then there is a weak relationship between your variables
Sig (2-Tailed) value tells the statistically significant correlation between two variables Often times, this value will be referred to as the p- value If the Sig (2- Tailed) value is greater than 0.5 then there is no statistically significant correlation difference between two conditions If the Sig (2-Tailed) value is less than or equal to 0.5 then there is a statistically significant correlation between two conditions
The following table showed the value for Pearson’s r, the sig.(2-tailed) value and the number (N) value
From the above table, it can be seen that all the Pearson’s r value was more than -1 and less than 1 and all the Sig 2‐tailed level was less than 0.5 as well It indicated that there was a statistically significant correlation between students’ achievements and their attitudes The higher gain scores the students had, the better feelings they had about this technique
In summary, this chapter presented findings from the results of the two tests and questionnaire The results proved that MM helped the students to recall words better Also, almost students had good feelings about using MM technique The next chapter will cover the conclusions of the study, some limitations and some suggestions.
Summary
As the closing chapter of this research report, this chapter presented the conclusion that was based on the analysis of the findings It also presented some limitations and suggestions of the study
Vocabulary plays an important role in language learning and teaching
Through the researcher’s teaching experience, she found that university students in general and MTA students in particular encountered difficulties in memorizing and recalling learnt vocabulary There are many reasons to be blamed for this problem including inappropriate teaching method Recognizing the importance of teaching method in learners’ success in foreign language learning, the researcher found it urgent to apply a technique to help students to memorize and recall words more effectively In fact, there are several techniques concerning the teaching of vocabulary such as semantic-mapping, mind- mapping, role play, dictionary use, etc After having studied and compared, the researcher tried to apply MM as a good method to solve the problem
The study was supported by the consistent literature review as well as the previous related studies on using MM The study aimed at investigating whether
MM technique helps to improve students’ vocabulary retention and how students react while using this technique in vocabulary acquisition The aims of the study were translated into two main research questions: (1) Does teaching vocabulary using MM help to improve the students’ vocabulary retention? And (2) What are the students’ attitudes towards using of MM to improve their vocabulary retention? To have answers to these two questions, the study was conducted on the K51 Information class at MTA in 10 weeks.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 5.1 Conclusions
Limitations of the study
Although this research was conducted with the best of researcher’s efforts, limitations are unavoidable
The first drawback involves the number of participants There were 32 participants and only in a group, thus they could not present the whole students at MTA The results of the study would be more reliable and general if it had been carried out with a bigger sample size with more balance between female and male participants
The second limitation relates to the time constraint The period of time for an action research in this study (more than 2 months) was just enough for one cycle
There was only two test of vocabulary retention used in this study to measure students’ vocabulary memorizing If the researcher had had more time, she would have assigned more tests and produced more cycles so as to gain more convincing results
The third shortcoming involves the resource limitation There were too few references of Vietnamese authors related to this study And because of resource limitation, the theoretical background of study might not provide enough information If there had been more publications of this kind, the quality of this research would have been better.
Suggestions
There are not many studies on the use of MM to improve vocabulary retention, so it offers other researchers to do a similar research with a similar topic by using a wider scope and larger population Also, there should be more cycles in action research project so that the results could be more reliable
Teachers of English are expected to embody sections related to MM into not only in vocabulary lessons but also in other skills so as to make students interested in foreign language learning
The students are suggested to pay attention to the teacher’s explanation about the lessons and participate in the knowledge of memorizing vocabulary through
MM technique By practicing remembering and using words with the use of
MM, students will gradually better in learning English and enhancing their four English skills
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APPENDICES Appendix 1: VOCABULARY PRE-TEST
Time allowance: 30mins Full name:
I/Look at the picture and complete the missing words with go, have or get
II Read the sentences and choose the word the best fits each space Circle the correct letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet
6 I met James last week, had dinner together and we about getting married a told b said c talked d spoke
7 She is too busy to think of any kinds of entertainment She goes out with her friends a hardly b always c regularly d usually
8 What did you study university? a in b at c for d on
9 She was his aunt, so he was her a son b grandson c nephew d niece 10 cannot be used to describe a person a long b tall c short d thin
11 We must a decision soon or it will be too late a take b do c make d create
12 I cannot find my keys Can you help me to them? a look for b look after c look at d look forward to
13 We’ll time if we go on the motorway There’s much less traffic a save b waste c spend d take
14.…… cigarettes do you smoke a day? a how much b how many c how d what
15 There’s lots of night-life in Chicago It’s one of the most cities in the
US a exciting b quiet c polluted d dangerous
16 Lee has just phoned He is going to you back in an hour a send b call c look d see
17 I work for a newspaper I’m a ……… a.journalist b.politician c.lawyer d musician
18 I’ve twenty people to a pool party tomorrow, so don’t forget to fill the swimming pool a offered b invited c taken d encouraged
19 She’s a wonderful She can make a delicious meal out of almost anything a chef b cooker c waiter d waitress
20 Doing exercise is a good way to……… stress a improve b lose c reduce d make
21 I think we have to buy an air conditioner The hits 38 degrees today
But it’s such a big expense a temperature b weather c climate d hot
22 After the flight, we went to the reclaim to pick up our bags a trolley b check-in c baggage d arrivals
23 We ……… the dog for a walk twice a day a.take b.go c.make d get
24 Anna went to the to book a flight ticket to Paris a travel agent’s b police station c chemist’s d railway station
25.I usually ……… dressed at eight o’clock a go b have c get d wear
26 Can you ……… that noise? a find b.take c.hear d listen
27 My brother is really……….He always makes mistakes or has accidents a care b cared c careful d careless
28 A is an object that helps you to remember a place you have visited a memory b diary c gift d souvenir
29 I often get up at five fifty and dressed a take b wear c get d put on
30 She bought a new for the party a clothes b clothing c dress d shoe
31 It’s very to borrow something from someone without asking for permission first a polite b good c impolite d convenient
32 My friend $ 1,500 from me three weeks ago a borrowed b lent c gave d brought
33 I’m dealing…… a lot of paperwork at the moment so I don’t have time to do research on some potential markets a about b with c on d.at
34 She………….off her boots and walked into the living room a put b tried c got c took
35 My mom’s brother is my…… a aunt b uncle c cousin d brother-in-law
III/Which notice (A-H) says this (1 – 5)? Match the notice and the sentence Write the letter A, B, C or H to indicate your answer on the answer sheet
36 You should put things in the right place 36
37 Go here if you have lost something 37
38 You must walk in this place 38
39 These students do have lessons 39
40 You can’t go in through here 40
No entrance to art room Use other door B
Turn off all mobiles During lessons
FOUND Student’s bag See Mrs Wade in office D
No history class today Teacher ill
IN FRONT OF THIS ROOM
STUDY CENTRE PLEASE RETURN ALL BOOKS
4 Go to a restaurant 9.C 14.B 19.A 24.A 29.C 34.A 39.B 5.Have breakfast 10.A 15.A 20.C 25.C 30.C 35.B 40.A
Time allowance: 30mins Full name:
I Look at the picture and complete the missing words
II Read the sentences and choose the word the best fits each space Circle the correct letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet
6 That is the dirties I have ever seen The water is black, and full of rubbish a mountain b country c river d park
7 We’ll have an exam Friday afternoon a on b in c at d x
8 Grapes and bananas are my favourite a vegetables b fruit c meat d drinks
9 He went to the to buy some medication for his son a travel agent’s b polite station c chemist’s d railway station
10 There’s a bedside table and an armchair in the and there’s also a big
TV by the window a bedroom b living room c dining room d bathroom
11 My Dad often a cup of coffee for his breakfast a gets b drinks c has d have
12 There are some on the walls in the living room a mirrors b stairs c shelves d A and C
13 The to cook this dish are mushrooms, meat and butter a ingredients b recipe c flour d vegetables
14 The butter is fridge a on b at c in d between
15 What is the opposite of “generous” a honest b nice c pessimistic d mean
16 It’s very… to borrow something from someone without asking for permission first a polite b good c impolite d convenient
17 Jane is always asking personal questions She’s a very person a curious b furious c serious d dangerous 18.I can’t see anything because it’s very a cloudy b sunny c foggy d windy
19 Can you a photo of us? a.have b call c.take d get
20 I by car every day a.travel b.run c.use d ride
21 Sally the train to work every morning a go b have c get d ride
22.I hate using credit cards, so I pay for everything a money b bills c debts d cash
23 Tom wants to reach the top in his career He is very a punctual b relaxed c ambitious d rude
24 My father’s a He flies all over theworld a.pilot b.builder c.nurse d reporter
25 You can buy food at a pharmacy b market c post office d art gallery
26 A is a kind of doctor who look after people’s teeth a nurse b dentist c plumber d electrician
27.I often go to the countryside at the weekends The quiet and atmosphere there calm me down a noisy b polluted c dirty d peaceful
28 My sister is very busy, so sometimes I help her to the kids from school a.pick up b look after c wait for d play with
29 Sally is my father’s brother’s daughter She is my a niece b cousin c nephew d uncle
30 The film was really…….I nearly fell asleep a interesting b thrilling c boring d tiring
31 He applied for a…… in the office of a local newspaper a work b duty c career d.job
32 Nguyen Du was a famous……… in Vietnam a musician b designer c correspondent d poet
33 The plane made an emergency landing, but……….no one was hurt a unfortunately b immediately c luckily d suddenly
34 There is some……in the fridge Let’s have a look! a apples b grapes c milk d bars of chocolate
35 I can strongly recommend this…… as the best available on the market today a producer b product c production d produce
PART 2: Which notice (A-H) says this (1 – 5 )? Match the notice and the sentence Write the letter A, B, C,… or H to indicate your answer on the answer sheet
36 You must have a ticket to go past here 36
37 If you want to travel Monday to Friday, this ticket is cheaper 37
38 Please let anybody carrying a lot of luggage sit here 38
39 You can only buy your ticket here if you have cash 39 40.People who are travelling can eat something here 40
These ticket machines take £20 and £10
These seats are for people with heavy suitcases
Sorry–restaurant is closed on today’s London- Glasgow train
Passengers only through this gate.Have your ticket ready
Station Café opens all day (opposite ticket office)
Passengers with bicycles pay £5 extra on this train
Please do not leave luggage here
Buy a weekly travel ticket here
Case Pre-test Post-test Gain
Please answer the questionnaire by ticking (v) the column which reflects your opinion
N0 Opinions Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
1 I find it easy to use MM to recall learnt vocabulary
2 MM gives me more pleasure in learning E vocabulary
3 I started to feel like learning new words by using MM technique
4 MM is a creative technique for vocabulary learning
5 It helps me to enhance my vocabulary knowledge considerably
6 I can remember vocabulary items right at class thanks to MM
7 It helps me to activate my prior knowledge and link to new items
8 MM technique can help me memorize and recall the word meanings more easily for a longer time
Scale Mean if Item Deleted
Scale Variance if Item Deleted
Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
Appendix 7: Sample lesson plan File 6A: A house with a history
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
- Grammar: - Know how to use the structure there is/ there are
- Vocabulary: - Get familiar with vocabulary related to the topic “houses and furniture”
- Pronunciation: Pronounce the letter /ð/ và /eə/, sentence stress
- Text-book, projector, chalk, lesson plan, laptop ……
- Greet and check Ss’ attendance
Contents Time Teacher’s activities Students’ activities Pre- lesson
3 -Ask some students to talk about where they live, for example it is a house or a flat, kinds of house (one-floor house, two-floor house, apartment,) how many rooms, etc
- Elicit Ss to guess the topic of the lesson and lead to the lesson
-Divide the class into 2 big groups Draw
2 maps about rooms and furniture on the board and ask Ss to close the book and complete them
-After a representative of each group completes his (her) mind map on the board, teacher will call 2 students to give the recommendation of the 2 maps A student in group A gives a recommendation for the map of group B, and a student in group B gives a recommendation for the map of group A
At the end of this step, the teacher will give his recommendation to the maps of two groups
-Give the suggested completed map by delivering the map prepared to Ss
-Work in groups and complete the maps
-Elicit them to give their Vietnamese meaning
- Help Ss practice pronouncing these words
-Give their meaning in Vietnamese
4 -Ask Ss to focus on the three anagrams
Tell Ss that they are three rooms in a flat or house Ss in pairs reorder the letters
-Call some representatives to speak aloud in front of the class
-Check answers Model and drill pronunciation
3 -Elecit from the class two items of furniture for each room, e.g: bath, cooker, fridge, bed, etc
Go to Vocabulary Bank flats and houses on page 151
- Ask Ss work in pairs to match the words and pictures in part 1
-Check answers Model and drill pronunciation
-Now give Ss 5 mins to do part 2a in pairs
-Check answers Model and drill pronunciation
- Get Ss to cover the words and use the picture to test themselves or each other with the words from 1 and 2
-Tell Ss to close their books In pairs they should try to tell each other what they have in at least two rooms in their own - house/flat
3 -Ask students to summarize what they have leant
1 -Suggest that Ss can practice these words on the MultiROM and on the NEFE website
File 7A: What does your food say about you?
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
- Grammar: get to know more about countable- uncountable nouns and the rules for using a/an, some/any…
- Vocabulary: Get familiar with vocabulary related to the topic “food and drink” and identify which type of food and drink is countable and which one is uncountable
- Pronunciation: Pronounce the letter ae
- Text-book, projector, chalk, lesson plan, laptop ……
- Greet and check Ss’ attendance
Contents Time Teacher’s activities Students’ activities Pre- lesson
5 Call three students to do some activities
+Ask the 1 st student: "What did you eat for dinner yesterday?
+Ask the 2 nd Ss to repeat what the 1 st Ss
-Speaking said and ask him/her the same question
+ Ask the 3 rd Ss to repeat what the 1 st and
2 nd Ss ate and ask him/her the same question
- Elicit Ss to guess the topic of the lesson and lead to the lesson
-Guess the topic of the lesson
15 -Introduce the topic: FOODS AND
- Divide the class into 2 big groups Draw
2 maps about foods and drinks on the board and ask Ss to close the book and complete them
-After that, a representative in each group would do the task by completing the map on the board -Give the suggested completed map by delivering the map prepared to Ss
-Elicit them to give their Vietnamese meaning
- Help Ss practice pronouncing these words
-Work in groups and do the task
- Write down the answer on the board
-Give their meaning in Vietnamese -Practice pronouncing these words
Do 4 -Ask Ss to focus on the picture Ask Ss - Look at the exercise a what they think Laura writes in her Food
Diary (what she eats and drinks every day) and why (to try to control her diet or her weight)
-Ask them to write the missing letters
-Tell them that there is only one letter missing from each word
-Now check answers getting SS to tell the first letter for each word
-Get Ss to check their answers by answering the questions: What did Laura have to eat and drink yesterday? pictures and answer
-Write the missing letters and answer
4 -Ask Ss focus on the two columns headings and explain the difference
+Countable words are used in the singular or plural and that they are things you can count(e.g a banana, two apples)
+Uncountable nouns are used in the singular and that they are things you cannot count( e.g sugar, rice)
-Ask Ss to work in pairs and find food and drink in the picture given One puts the words in task 2 into countable nouns box,
-Work in pairs others puts them into uncountable nouns box
-Call some pairs to speak aloud in front of the class
- Get Ss focus on the groups of words and the table, and the photos of food for breakfast, lunch, dinner and desserts and snacks
-Ask Ss to do in pairs
-Call some pairs to speak aloud in front of the class
-Check answers Model and drill pronunciation
-Get Ss to cover the words and use the picture to test themselves or each other
-Work in pairs and do the task
3 -Ask students to summarize what they have leant
2 -Write 5 sentences about your favourite food/drinks using uncountable and countable nouns
Suggest that Ss can practice these words on the MultiROM and on the NEFE website
Appendix 8 Mind map on rooms and furniture