MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI UNIVERSITY HOÀNG NGỌC HƯƠNG THE EFFECTS OF SEMANTIC MAPPING ON VOCABULARY RETENTION OF NON ENGLISH MAJOR FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT HANOI COMMUNITY COLLEGE AN ACTI.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI UNIVERSITY - HOÀNG NGỌC HƯƠNG THE EFFECTS OF SEMANTIC MAPPING ON VOCABULARY RETENTION OF NON-ENGLISH MAJOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS AT HANOI COMMUNITY COLLEGE: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN TESOL SUPERVISOR: Dr ĐẶNG XUÂN THU Hanoi, August, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS i LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v ABSTRACT vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Aim of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 The significance of the study 1.5 The organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Vocabulary and its importance 2.1.1 Vocabulary 2.1.2 The importance of vocabulary 2.2 How to teach and learn vocabulary effectively? 2.3 Memorizing word meanings 10 2.3.1 Vocabulary retention 10 2.3.2 Short-term and long-term memory 10 2.3.3 Major factors affecting word memorization 11 2.3.4 Strategies to improve vocabulary retention 12 2.4 Techniques in vocabulary teaching 12 2.4.1 Traditional vocabulary teaching techniques 12 2.4.2 Semantic mapping technique 13 2.5 Relevant semantic mapping studies 18 2.6 Summary 21 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 22 3.1 Research methods 22 3.1.1 Definitions of action research 22 3.1.2 Action research procedure 23 3.2 Setting of the study 26 i 3.3 Participants 27 3.4 The course book “Lifelines- Pre-Intermediate” 29 3.5 Data collection instruments 29 3.5.1 VKS tests (pre-test and post-test) 30 3.5.2 Questionnaire 32 3.5.3 Interviews 35 3.6 Data collection procedure 36 3.7 Data analysis and procedure 37 3.8 Summary 38 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 39 4.1 Answers to the first research question 39 4.2 Answers to the second research question 46 4.3 Summary 61 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 62 5.1 Major contributions of the study 62 5.2 Implications of the study 64 5.3 Limitations of the study 65 5.4 Recommendations for further studies 66 5.5 Conclusions 67 REFERENCES 71 APPENDICES 75 Appendix 1: Questionnaire 75 Appendix 2: Suggested interview questions + selected quotes from the interviews 77 Appendix 3: Tests (pre-test and post-test) 79 Appendix 4: Example of a lesson plan using semantic mapping 85 ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EGP: English for General Purposes ESP: English for Specific Purposes HCC: Hanoi Community College VKS: Vocabulary Knowledge Scale iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 2.1: The Structure of Semantic Maps 15 Figure 3.1: Action Research Cycle…………………………………………….23 Table 4.1: Pretest and Post-test …………………………………………… 40 Table 4.1.1: Difference: word & word 41 Table 4.1.2: Difference: from word to word 22 42 Table 4.1.3: Difference: from word 16 to word 26…………….…………… 47 Table 4.1.4: Difference from word 17 to word 33…………… ………… 43 Table 4.1.5: Difference: from word 28 to word 41………… …………… 44 Table 4.1.6: Difference: word 49…………………………………………… 45 Table 4.2a: Valid percent with keywords: ………………….…………… 47 Table 4.2.1: keyword: enjoy………………………………………………… 49 Table 4.2.2: keyword: use……………………………………….…… …… 50 Table 4.2.3: keyword: engaged ……………… …………………………… 51 Table 4.2.4: keyword: remember and recall…… …………………….…… 52 Table 4.2.5: keyword: remember longer…………………………….…… … 53 Table 4.2.6: keyword: reasons …………………………………………… ….53 Table 4.2.7: keyword: compared with traditional methods………… ……… 54 Table 4.2.8: keyword: creative, effective…………………………….…… …55 Table 4.2.9: keyword: further study ……………………………….…….…….55 Table 4.2.10: keyword: suggestions…………………………… …………… 56 Table 4.2b: Total % (agree + strongly agree)…………………………… ……57 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help, encouragement, and support of a number of people who deserve my sincerest appreciation First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Dang Xuan Thu for his valuable supervision, strong support, and timely encouragement throughout the research process and thesis writing Second, I would like to send my thanks to all my colleagues who have helped me a lot in creating good working conditions and sharing with me their experiences Especially, I would like to thank Ms Pham Kim Dung and Ms Nguyen Thu Huong who have provided me with constructive and insightful comments as well as suggestions for this thesis My special thanks also go to the students of class K8-KT1 for their willingness to answer my questionnaire and semi-structured interviews Without their help, this study could not have been fulfilled I owe a great debt of gratitude to my beloved family – my parents, my young sister’s family whose support and encouragement have always been a great deal of strength that has helped me to overcome all problems to complete this thesis Finally, I would like to send my special thanks to my readers for their concern, interest, and constructive comments, if any v ABSTRACT Like many other methodological innovations, semantic mapping method has been applied to English language curriculum in Vietnam to improve the vocabulary retention for Vietnamese students This thesis reports the results of an action research project regarding the effects of and students' attitudes towards the use of the semantic mapping method in relation to vocabulary retention The data were collected through a questionnaire, tests (pre-test and post-test) with 50 female students of one class intake at Hanoi Community College Semi-structured interviews were then conducted with a smaller group of students The results provided empirical evidence to support the positive attitudes towards semantic mapping and this innovative technique is likely to improve the students’ vocabulary retention Practical implications for different stakeholders were also presented and followed by sensible recommendations for further studies In conclusion, semantic mapping turns out to be an effective technique of vocabulary teaching with extensive advantages for the students It is also suggested that other methods should be employed to accommodate different learning styles Keywords: Vocabulary retention, teaching vocabulary, effects, semantic mapping, students’ attitude, TESOL methodology, Vietnam vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The objective of this chapter is to set the scene for the study, starting with the general background regarding the importance of English learning and teaching in Vietnam The aim and the research questions are presented right at the beginning to provide readers with an overall direction and specific steps towards the goal Furthermore, the significance of the study and the organization of the thesis are presented for easy navigation 1.1 Background to the study English has already played an especially important role in the increasing development of science, technology, and international relations, which has resulted in the growing needs for English language learning and teaching in many parts of the world English has become a compulsory subject in national education in many countries, among which Vietnam has considered learning and teaching English as a major strategic tool to develop human resources, as a way to keep up with other countries Therefore, at any level of education, from primary to tertiary or postgraduate levels, students are keen on learning English English is widely learned in Vietnam today and its popularity is increasing day by day This is due to the fact that Vietnam has recently adopted an open-door policy which broadens its relationship and cooperation with other countries in various aspects such as diplomatic, economic, cultural, scientific and technological areas English is not only a means but also a key to gaining access to the latest scientific and technological achievements for a developing country such as Vietnam, where modern science and technology are badly needed In this regard, it is true that English is essential Fully aware of the importance of the English language, the leadership of Hanoi Community College always encourages the students to learn English and even makes it a compulsory subject English is also a key subject in the university curriculum This seems to be the case in many other universities and colleges in Vietnam Page To be a good English learner, no one can ignore vocabulary learning Vocabulary is an inseparable part of any language learning process It would be impossible to learn a language without vocabulary (Komachali & Khodareza, 2012; Vaezi, 2013a) Many learners regard language learning as synonymous with knowing a large number of words by heart Although it is not a valid assumption, it should not be forgotten that words constitute a major part of language (Baleghizade & Yousefpoori Naeim, 2011; Bogaards, 2001) Vocabulary is the most sizeable and unmanageable component in the learning of any languages (Baleghizade & Yousefpoori Naeim, 2011; Ramachandran & Rahim, 2004; Yang & Dai, 2011) In order to communicate well in many foreign languages, students should acquire an adequate number of words and should know how to use them appropriately That is why, vocabulary is regarded at least as important as grammar (Baleghizade & Yousefpoori Naeim, 2011; Davies, 2000) Lack of adequate vocabulary knowledge is an obvious and serious obstacle for many students New words can help students to express themselves at ease, therefore, vocabulary is considered vital to language learning For instance, vocabulary knowledge is fundamental to reading comprehension One cannot understand texts without knowing what most of the words mean For university students, learning vocabulary is an important task, however, this is also a challenge for them Students may spend a lot of time learning vocabulary but their ability of vocabulary memorizing and recalling is limited One of the reasons for the students’ low vocabulary retention and retrieval can be their learning habits Such learning habits as writing down words on notebooks, learning words by heart, heavily depending on wordlist in textbooks, passively waiting for teacher’s explanations for new words, etc seem to be ineffective and make students feel bored with learning vocabulary In order to learn new words, the students often use rote memorization techniques Some of the common techniques are writing down the words in notebook for several times, speaking words aloud and making sentences with new words However, rote learning fails to help students recall most of the words they learn as pointed out by Nguyen and Khuat (2003, pp 2-3) With great concern for this situation, there is a surging task of helping learners to effectively store and retrieve words in the target language with effective pedagogical methods on teaching vocabulary (Nirattisai & Chiramanee, 2014; Sokmen, 1997) It is Page because a task of language teachers is to arouse students’ interest in words (River, 1987; Vaezi, 2013b) River (1987) also suggests that language teachers must help their students by giving to them ideas on how to learn vocabulary and some guidance on what to learn A number of different techniques have been utilized throughout the teaching and learning process in order to help learners remember words effectively On the one hand, learners are exposed to words in isolation without any context given and are then supposed to memorize them through repetition A constant keeping of words and their meaning in the short-term memory is hoped to transfer them to the long-term memory A good example of a meaningful technique, on the other hand, is inference or guessing techniques where learners are asked to infer, or at other times guess the meaning of certain words in a context, using any clues provided before or after that word in the context or even any other strategies However, there are some cases when it is not feasible to include a context for every single words or when we plan to present the words before the learners go through the text In such cases, semantic mapping can be helpful Semantic mapping includes a meaningful and a mechanical aspect It is meaningful in the sense that words is presented according to the semantic relationship among them, and it is mechanical in that the words still need to be practiced out of a context With the aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of this learning vocabulary technique, the researcher is encouraged to undertake the study is entitled: “The effects of semantic mapping on vocabulary retention of non-English major first-year students at Hanoi Community College: An action research project” There has been a wide variety of previous researches into the effects of semantic mapping on vocabulary memorizing (Dilek & Yürük, 2013; El-Koumy, 1999; Hoàng, 2013; Le, 2013; Nguyễn, 2013; Ramezani & Behrouzi, 2013; Zahedi & Abdi, 2012) Those research projects all shared the positive effects of semantic mapping on vocabulary retention for students Despite the effectiveness of the semantic mapping method, which is used elsewhere in the world, in the teaching context at Hanoi Community College (Vietnam), semantic mapping has been rarely exploited in teaching vocabulary To the best of my knowledge, there have not been any studies on the use of semantic mapping in vocabulary teaching and learning at this college Page ... demonstrate the effectiveness of this learning vocabulary technique, the researcher is encouraged to undertake the study is entitled: ? ?The effects of semantic mapping on vocabulary retention of non- English. .. shared the positive effects of semantic mapping on vocabulary retention for students Despite the effectiveness of the semantic mapping method, which is used elsewhere in the world, in the teaching... for them Students may spend a lot of time learning vocabulary but their ability of vocabulary memorizing and recalling is limited One of the reasons for the students? ?? low vocabulary retention