Khóa luận tốt nghiệp a study on difficulties in learning english vocabulary

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA THESIS A STUDY ON DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY NGHIÊN CỨU NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH Student : NGUYỄN THỊ CHI Student code : 621204 Major : ENGLISH Supervisor : PHẠM THỊ HẠNH, MA Hanoi - 2021 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA THESIS A STUDY ON DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY NGHIÊN CỨU NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH Student : NGUYỄN THỊ CHI Student code : 621204 Major : ENGLISH Supervisor : PHẠM THỊ HẠNH, MA Hanoi - 2021 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “Study on difficulties in learning English Vocabulary” (submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor in English Language) Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2021 Nguyen Thi Chi Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name) Date:…………………… i TABLE OF CONTENTS Part 1: INTRODUCTION Page Rationale for the study Aim and objective of the study Research questions Scope of the study Significance of the study Design of the study Part 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Review of previous studies (at home/abroad) 1.2 Review of theoretical background 1.2.1 Statement of framework chosen 1.2.2 Vocabulary’s aspects 1.2.3 Vocabulary learning 11 1.2.4 Word structure and formation 13 1.2.5 Semantics 16 1.2.6 Phraseology 17 1.2.7 Etymology 19 1.2.8 Lexicology 22 1.2.9 Difficulties in learning English vocabulary 24 1.3 Summary 29 Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research governing orientation 30 2.1.1 Research questions 30 ii 2.1.2 Research type 30 2.1.3 Research procedure 30 2.1.4 Criteria for data collection and data analysis 30 2.2 Research method 31 2.2.1 Major methodology 31 2.2.2 Research setting 31 2.2.3 Data collection 31 2.2.3.1 Data collecting instrument 31 2.2.3.2 Data collecting procedure 31 2.2.3.3 Data analysis 31 2.3 Summary 32 Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Student’s difficulties in learning English vocabulary 33 3.1.1 Student’s English study time 33 3.1.2 Student’s level of English vocabulary 33 3.1.3 Students assessment of the importance of learning English 34 vocabulary 3.1.4 Frequency of students having obstacles in learning English 34 vocabulary 3.1.5 Level of students agreement with common difficulties in 35 learning English vocabulary 3.1.6 Level of students agreement with causes in learning English 36 vocabulary 3.2 Suggestions to help students learn English vocabulary better 38 iii 3.2.1 Level of students agreement with suggestions to learn English 38 vocabulary better 3.3 Discussion about student’s difficulties in learning English 41 vocabulary 3.4 Discussion about useful suggestions to learn English vocabulary 42 3.4.1 Useful suggestions to learn English for teacher 42 3.4.2 Useful suggestions to learn English for students 43 3.5 Summary 46 Part 3: CONCLUSION Recapitulation 47 Concluding remarks 48 Limitation of the study 48 Suggestions for further study 49 REFERENCES 50 APPENDICES 53 iv ABSTRACT This study is carried out to figure out difficulties in learning English vocabulary of students From those difficulties, some suggestions to help students learn English vocabulary more effectively have also been given In order to accomplish the purpose, 101 English language major freshmen at Vietnam National University of Agriculture participated The data collection instrument is a quantitative research that uses the survey questionnairewith English language major freshmen about the difficulties faced when learning English vocabulary Based on the data obtained, the factors that cause difficulties in students' learning English vocabulary include pronunciation, spelling, word's grammar and vocabulary meanings To be able to improve the above difficulties, some ways are also given to learn vocabulary better such as: Learning vocabulary through topics, learning vocabulary by recording in notebook, learning vocabulary by reading English books, newspaper or magazines and learning vocabulary through English vocabulary apps v List of charts and tables Charts Chart 2.1: Student's English study time Chart 2.2: Student’s level of English vocabulary Chart 2.3: Student assessment of the importance of learning English vocabulary Chart 2.4: Frequency of students having obstacles in learning English vocabulary Tables Table 2.1: Level of student’s agreement with common difficulties in learning English vocabulary Table 2.2: Level of student’s agreement with common causes in learning English vocabulary Table 2.3: Level of students' agreement with suggestions to help learn English vocabulary better vi PART I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE Vocabulary is very crucial for language learning acquisition It is also an indispensable unit for learning reading, speaking, writing, and listening skills By having rich English vocabulary, students can speak, write, read and listen to English as they want Proficiency in English vocabulary can also help students get high scores in exams since it is one of the compulsory subjects Nevertheless, many students in Vietnam still have difficulties learning English vocabulary In learning any foreign language, vocabulary is the most significant component Language acquisition cannot take place without learning its lexis in various contextual variables Vocabulary is one of the most essential parts because it is the basis for language skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing Without learning the vocabulary, it is difficult to communicate in the language since it is central to communicative competence Low vocabulary knowledge can prevent learners from communicating effectively Therefore, without vocabulary, the learners will be demotivated to use the language In reality, in Vietnam, almost all students only study vocabulary in their textbooks at school as well as through teacher's sources They have the habit of only learning new vocabulary in class but they not often have the habit of reviewing vocabulary, leading to not being able to remember long and having difficulty in using words even though they have not been studying for that long Many of them are not able to use vocabulary properly in various contexts or pronounce it correctly Vocabulary mastery is one of the ways to master a foreign language The students have the ability in understanding and using the words and meanings Not only students know the words, but also their meaning Students can learn vocabulary more easily and understand the meaning of those words It means that it will cause a big problem if someone doesn’t have a rich vocabulary The bigger vocabulary understudies are, the better they perform their language By having a constrained vocabulary, the learners will get difficulties in English abilities From the above perspectives, as well as an English language major senior, I hope to implement this study to find out difficulties in learning English vocabulary among English language major freshmen at Vietnam National University of Agriculture Besides that, this study will also propose some useful English vocabulary learning methods for them 1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY This study aims to find out difficulties in learning English vocabulary that English language major freshmen at Vietnam National University of Agriculture encounter After that, some helpful suggestions will be provided to support students learning English vocabulary more effectively 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS This study is accomplished to tackle the following research questions: - What are the difficulties in learning English vocabulary of English language major freshmen at Vietnam National University of Agriculture? - What are the recommendations that help English language major freshmen at Vietnam National University of Agriculture vocabulary better? 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY There have been a number of researches on the difficulties in learning English vocabulary up to now This study was performed to figure out difficulties in learning English vocabulary faced by students at Vietnam National University of Agriculture Participants are about 101 English language major freshmen at Vietnam National PART 3: CONCLUSION Recapitulation This study is aimed at difficulties in learning English vocabulary faced by English language major freshman at Vietnam National University of Agriculture, then offering some recommendations to overcome those difficulties The study starts with vocabulary's aspects and vocabulary learning Then, it presents difficulties in learning English vocabulary and useful methods suggestions to learn English vocabulary In order to answer two research questions, a major research instrument was used, namely a questionnaire survey The goal of this instrument was to find out troubles in learning English vocabulary that English language major freshman at Vietnam National University of Agriculture confronted with The statistics from the questionnaire indicates difficulties in learning English vocabulary related to pronunciation, spelling, word's grammar and word meaning From the above difficulties, some suggestions were provided to overcome difficulties in learning English vocabulary Those recommendations are: Teachers should pay more attention to teaching English vocabulary; Teachers need to design more attractive English vocabulary teaching activities; Teachers should give compulsory vocabulary tests in the course; Students should search suitable English vocabulary learning methods by themselves Some ways which help students learn English vocabulary easier like: Learning English vocabulary by topics; Use notebook; Learning English vocabulary through English books and magazines or newspapers and Learning English vocabulary through English learning apps also recommended It is hoped that what has been discussed in the study would be advantageous for students, help them identify their weakness of learning vocabulary This study also 47 hopes to give benefits to those who want to conduct research in this area and who are concerned about the problem Concluding remarks The difficulties in learning English vocabulary faced by English language major freshman at Vietnam National University of Agriculture related to factors such as pronunciation due to the difference between English and Vietnames sounds system; spelling because there are inconsistencies in the spelling and reading of English words; word's grammar since there are many rules of word's grammar in English and word meaning because the complex change in meaning of words in different contexts also confuses when students learn and use words To help students learn English vocabulary better, some suggestions were shown Firstly, teachers pay more attention to teaching vocabulary for students, give compulsory vocabulary tests, design attractive English vocabulary lessons teaching and guide students self-study to learn English vocabulary Beside that, students can apply some English vocabulary methods such as learning vocabulary by topics, writing new words in notebooks, reading English books, newspapers, magazines which are suitable for level or using English vocabulary learning apps on smartphones or laptops Limitation of the current research This study also has some limitations Firstly, due to time limitations and knowledge limitations, the research was conducted only on a small size of participants This number is inadequate for the researcher to understand, full of difficulties in learning English vocabulary of students Furthermore, because the questionnaire is self-report, the participants may have inadvertently responded incorrectly 48 Furthermore, due to the scope limitations, the study can not investigate all difficulties and provide useful ways to learn English vocabulary better for students Suggestions for further research The study opens some suggestions for upcoming research: Firstly, researchers can investigate what factors make difficulties in learning English pronunciation, spelling, word grammar and meaning The study can provide solutions as well as strategies to deal with those difficulties when learning vocabulary in their study effectively In addition, upcoming research may suggest other effective ways of learning vocabulary apart from those mentioned methods in current research Effective vocabulary learning strategies can be devised by teachers and students 49 REFERENCES Afzal, N (2019) A Study on Vocabulary-Learning Problems Encountered by BA English Majors at the University Level of Education Arab World English Journal, p 81-98 Brown, D (2001) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching New Jersey: Prentice Hall Brown, D (2001) Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, (New York: Longman, ), 2nd Edition, p.283-284 Christiane, D and Barbara, S (1994), Pronunciation,Oxford University Press Cowie, A and Howarth,P (1996) Phraseology - a Select Crow, J and Quigley, J (1985), A semantic field approach to passive vocabulary acquisition for reading comprehension,TESOL, p.497-513 David, C (2003), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language Cambridge University Press Fauconnier,M (1985) Mental spaces: aspects of meaning contraction in natural language, Cambridge, Mass-London: MIT Press Finegan, E (1994) Language-Its structure and Use New york: Harcourt Brace College Publishers 10 Gledhill, C (2000) Collocations in Science Writing, Tubingen: Gunter Narr Verlag 11 Graham, S and Miller, L (1979) Spelling research and practice: A unified approach Focus on Exceptional Children 12 Hiebert, E and Kamil, M (2005) Teaching and Learning Vocabulary: Bringing Research to Practice 13 Hoang, T.T (1993) Từ vựng học tiếng Anh ( Basic English lexicology) Trường Đại học Sư phạm Ngoại ngữ Hà Nội 50 14 Hornby, A.S (2006) Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Oxford: Oxford University Press 15 Howard, J and Etienne, Z A (2007) Words, Meaning and Vocabulary: An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology Continuum 16 Hurford, J and Heasley, B (1984) Semantics Coursebook, Second edition, Cambridge 17 Hudson, R (1984) The Grammar of Words An introduction to Linguistic Morphology Oxford linguistic 18 Hudson, R (1990) English Word Grammar Oxford: Blackwell 19 Hudson, R (2005) Word grammar New perspectives on a theory of language structure 20 Ilson, R (1983) Etymological information: Can it help our students? ELT Journal, 21.Kuznetsova (1968) Notes on English Lexicology 22 Lestari, D (2019) "Analysis of consonant mastery on the student's pronunciation", An undergraduate thesis, Tarbiyah and Teacher training faculty English education department 23 Le, T.M (2013) Difficulties in learning English vocabulary faced by the 10th form students at Dong Son I upper secondary school, MA, Minor programme thesis, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 24 Lyons, J (1995) Linguistic semantics: An Introduction Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 25 Neuman, S and Dwyer, J (2011) The importance of vocabulary in language learning and how be taught, International Journal of Teaching and Education, p 22-34 51 26 Nguyen, H (2004) Understanding English Semantics, Hanoi:VNU publishing house 27 Pham, T.T.H (2010) Investing difficulties in learning the vocabulary of ethnic minority learners at Son La ethnic boarding high school and some suggested solutions, MA, Minor programme thesis, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 28 Penny, U (1996) A Course in Language Teaching, Practice and Theory,Cambridge, London 29 Richard, J (1987) Longman dictionary of applied linguistics, London group limited 30 Richards, J and Renandya W (2002) Methodology in Language Teaching, An Anthology of Current Practice Cambridge: Cambridge University 31 Roach, P (1991) English phonetics and phonology,(Cambridge),Chapter 7, p.46-55 32 Thorbury, S (2002) How to teach vocabulary.England, Pearson Education Limited, A course in language teaching Cambridge University Press 33 Wallace, M J (1998) Action Research for Language Teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 34 Wehmeler (2003) An experimental study: improving student’s vocabulary mastery by using English songs, Indonesian journal of integrated English language teaching 52 APPENDICES Survey questionnaire The following questions were designed to investigate difficulties in learning English vocabulary of English language major freshmen at Vietnam National University of Agriculture Vietnamese Phần A: Những khó khăn việc học từ vựng tiếng Anh sinh viên năm chuyên ngành Ngôn ngữ Anh trường Học viện Nông nghiệp Việt Nam Theo bạn việc học từ vựng tiếng Anh là: Rất khơng quan trọng Ít quan trọng Quan trọng Rất quan trọng Tần suất bạn gặp trở ngại việc học từ vựng tiếng Anh? Không Hiếm Thỉnh thoảng Thường xuyên Rất thường xuyên Mức độ đồng ý bạn khó khăn thường gặp việc học từ vựng tiếng Anh (1 Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý (2 Khơng đồng ý (3 Bình thường (4 Đồng ý (5 Hồn tồn đồng ý) 53 4.1 Tôi gặp khó khăn việc phát âm từ tiếng Anh 4.2 Tơi gặp khó khăn việc ghi nhớ cách viết từ tiếng Anh 4.3 Tơi gặp khó khăn việc ghi nhớ nghĩa từ 4.4 Tơi gặp khó khăn việc ghi nhớ từ loại từ 4.5 Tơi gặp khó khăn việc ghi nhớ văn phong (tone) từ (suồng sã, trung tính, trang trọng) 4.6 Tơi gặp khó khăn việc ghi nhớ ngữ cảnh (register) sử dụng từ (văn nói, văn viết) 4.7 Tôi sử dụng từ học nói 4.8 Tơi khơng thể sử dụng từ học viết Phần B Tìm hiểu nguyên nhân giải pháp cho khó khăn học từ vựng Mức độ đồng ý bạn với nguyên nhân gây khó khăn việc học từ vựng (1.Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý 54 Khơng đồng ý Bình thường Đồng ý Hoàn toàn đồng ý) 1.1 Do hệ thống âm tiếng Anh tiếng Việt khác 1.2 Do không quán cách viết cách đọc từ tiếng Anh 1.3 Do quy tắc chức ngữ pháp từ không quán 1.4 Do thay đổi phức tạp nghĩa từ văn cảnh khác 1.5 Do thiếu công cụ để tra cứu từ vựng (vd:từ điển giấy, từ điển trực tuyến) 1.6 Do không dành nhiều thời gian cho việc học từ vựng 1.7 Do thiếu hiểu biết tầm quan trọng từ vựng tiếng Anh 1.8 Do việc học từ vựng tẻ nhạt Lý khác (vui lòng ghi rõ): Mức độ đồng ý với đề xuất để giúp việc học từ vựng tiếng Anh tốt 55 (1.Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Khơng đồng ý Bình thường Đồng ý Hoàn toàn đồng ý) 2.1 Giáo viên nên trọng đến việc dạy từ vựng 2.2 giáo viên cần thiết kế hoạt động dạy từ vựng hấp dẫn 2.3 Giáo viên nên đưa từ vựng thành nội dung kiểm tra bắt buộc khóa học 2.4 Giáo viên nên hướng dẫn phương pháp tự học từ vựng cho sinh viên 2.5 Sinh viên nên tự tìm kiếm phương pháp học từ phù hợp 2.6 Học từ vựng theo chủ đề 2.7 Ghi chép từ vựng vào sổ 2.8 Học từ vựng việc đọc sách, báo, tạp chí tiếng Anh 2.9 Học từ vựng qua ứng dụng điện thoại laptop, English 56 Part A: Difficulties in learning English vocabulary of English language major freshmen in English at Vietnam National University of Agriculture According to you, learning English vocabulary is: Very unimportant Less important Important Very important You are interested in learning English vocabulary because: How often you have trouble learning English vocabulary? Never Seldom Sometimes Often Always Level of agreement with common difficulties in learning English vocabulary? (1 Totally disagree (2 Disagree (3 Normal (4 Agree (5 Totally agree) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Difficulty in pronouncing English word Difficulty in remembering how to spell English word 57 Difficulty in remembering English word meaning Difficulty in remembering types of word in English Difficulty in remembering the style of word (casual, neutral, formal) Difficulty remembering the context in which word uses (speaking or writing context) Can not use words learned when speaking Can not use words learned when writing Part B Find out the causes and solutions for difficulties in learning vocabulary Level of agreement with the causes of difficulty in learning vocabulary? (1 Totally disagree Disagree Normal Agree Totally agree) 58 (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Due to the difference between English and Vietnamese sounds system Due to the inconsistency in the spelling and reading of English words Due to the inconsistency in rules of the grammatical function of words Due to the complex change in the meaning of words in different contexts Due to lack of tools to look up vocabulary (paper dictionary, online dictionary) Due to lack of spending much time to learn vocabulary Due to the lack of understanding about the importance of English vocabulary Due to the tedious vocabulary learning Other reasons: 59 Level of agreement with suggestions to help learn English vocabulary better (1 Totally disagree Disagree Normal Agree Totally agree) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Teachers should pay more attention to teaching English vocabulary Teachers need to design more attractive English vocabulary teaching activities Teachers should give compulsory vocabulary tests in the course Teachers should guide students on self-study English vocabulary methods Students should search suitable English vocabulary learning methods by themselves Students can learn English vocabulary through topics Students can learn English vocabulary by recording in notebook 60 Students can learn English vocabulary by reading English books, newspapers or magazines Students can learn English vocabulary through English vocabulary apps on smartphones, laptop, 61