Teaching english vocabulary effectively implications for 7th grade students at denlu secondary school

Graduation Paper TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENT PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Aims of the study Scope of the study Research questions Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW Theoretical knowledge of vocabulary 1.1 Definitions of vocabulary 1.2 Aspects of vocabulary knowledge 1.3 Classification of word 11 1.3.1 According to the meaning 11 1.3.1.1 Notional words (lexical words) 11 1.3.1.2 Functional words(grammatical words) 11 1.3.2 According to the concept of morphemes 12 1.3.2.1 Simple words 12 1.3.2.2 Derived words 12 1.3.2.3 Compound words 13 1.3.3 According to skills 13 Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03 - (2012-2016) Graduation Paper 1.3.3.1 Reading vocabulary 13 1.3.3.2 Listening vocabulary 13 1.3.3.3 Speaking vocabulary 14 1.3.3.4 Writing vocabulary 14 1.4 Principle of learning and teaching vocabulary 14 Methods of teaching vocabulary 15 2.1 Visual technique 15 2.2 Verbal Techniques 15 2.3 The Use of Dictionary 17 CHAPTER II: THE STUDY 18 Subject 18 Setting 18 Method 18 3.1 Observation 18 3.2 Questionnaire 20 Finding and discussion 27 4.1 Difficulties of students in learning English vocabulary 27 4.2 Difficulties encountered by the teachers 30 CHAPTERIII:RECOMMENDATIONTOTEACHENGLISHVOCABULARY EFFECTIVELY FOR 7th GRADE STUDENT AT DEN LU SECONDARY SCHOOL 31 The process of teaching English vocabulary for 7th grade students 31 Techniques to attract the student’s attention in vocabulary lesson 36 Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03 - (2012-2016) Graduation Paper Useful advice for English vocabulary teaching 37 PART C: CONCLUSION 39 INFERENCE 40 APPENDIX APPENDIX Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03 - (2012-2016) Graduation Paper LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The importance of learning English vocabulary 26 Table 2: The interest of students in learning English vocabulary 26 Table 3: Difficulties of learning English vocabulary 27 Table 4: Source(s) student use to learn English vocabulary 27 Table 5: Things students when learning English vocabulary 28 Table 6: strategies to learn English vocabulary 28 Table 7: Ways teachers often use to present new word 29 Table 8: Frequency of using modern equipment in teaching English vocabulary 30 Table 9: Obstacles in teaching English vocabulary 30 Table 10: Methods to encourage 7th grade students learning English vocabulary 31 Table 11: The biggest challenge of 7th grade students when learning English vocabulary 32 Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03 - (2012-2016) Graduation Paper PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale In today’s global world, the importance of English cannot be denied and ignored since English is the most common language spoken everywhere With the help of developing technology, English has been playing a major role in many sectors because it can help people to master their knowledge to gain success English seems as an essential condition to integrate, especially in Vietnam Hence, English is a compulsory subject in school to improve the ability of using English effectively for Vietnamese To understand the language, we have to invent the meaning of words as many as possible either in a sentence or in whole texts The writer assumes that language is a systematic communication tool that may transfer ones' ideas orfeeling through body language, signs, sounds and gesture having understoodmeanings On the other hands, by using language, one can express his ideas,feeling or information either orally or written.Because the definition of language refers to the expression of certainmeanings, of course, we may not neglect the role of vocabulary chosen It plays an important role as means of understanding the meaning of words correctly Vocabulary is also an important part of the English teaching process It is supposed to be a very effective communicative device as it carries the highest level of importance within peoples' verbal interaction Vocabulary teaching and learning is a constant challenge for teachers as well as students Due to this, an increased emphasis on vocabulary development is crucial for the English language learner in the process of language learning Therefore, the writer would like to execute this investigation in 7th grade students at Den Lu secondary school in order to find out difficulties of Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page Graduation Paper teaching and learning English vocabulary Besides, some modern teaching methods are mentioned as effective solutions for English teachers could be able to teach the English vocabulary as many as possible in order to the students can actualize some or all of these points with the target vocabulary Additionally,these points enable the English teachers to cover the language skills and thelanguage components, such as speaking, writing, grammar, pronunciation andspelling The study also mentioned strategies that help secondary students learn English vocabulary effectively Aims of the study This study focus on • giving the theory on English vocabulary • researching the factual English vocabulary teaching situation • defining difficulties of teaching and learning English vocabulary of 7th grade students • analyzing these obstacles to find out the causes • suggesting effective strategies to solve these issues • proposing supporting methods for teaching English vocabulary Scope of the study The study limits itself to the investigation of teaching and learning English vocabulary of 7th grade students in Den Lu secondary school The solutions are provided to improve English vocabulary teaching in secondary school Research questions • What are the difficulties of teaching English vocabulary of 7th grade students? • What are the causes of these issues? • How to teach English vocabulary for 7th grade students effectively? Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page Graduation Paper Methods of the study To this study, the writer combines two research methods are observation and survey questionnaire Each method has its own advantages that can help writer has objective evaluation of research topic Both methods are executed in the 7th grade of Den Lu secondary school The data collected from the students and teachers of secondary school are analyzed to answer to research questions Finally, the writer recommends some strategies to improve English vocabulary teaching and learning Design of the study This study is divided into main parts: part A: introduction, part B: development, part C: conclusion In part A, the research includes rationale, aim, scope and method of the study It also mentions about research questions While part B named development has smaller chapters: the literature review, the study and the recommendation The literature review supplies lots of basis knowledge of vocabulary such as definition, the importance or different aspects, the classification of words, etc The study category describes particularly process of conducting research include subject, setting, methods about learning and teaching English vocabulary in Den Lu secondary school The collected data was analyzed to find difficulties of students and teachers there and suggest some useful advices in article recommendation The last part is conclusion summarized the main ideas of the study Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page Graduation Paper PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW Theoretical knowledge of vocabulary 1.1 The definitions of vocabulary Learning a new language cannot be separated from vocabulary Meaning that in learning a new language people have to know its vocabulary Vocabulary can be defined in various ways Experts have proposed some terms about vocabulary According to Richards and Renandya (2002: 255), vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how learners speak, listen, read and write Without an extensive vocabulary and strategies for acquiring new vocabulary, learners often achieve their potential and may be discouraged from making use of language learning opportunities around them such as listening to the radio, listening to the native speaker, using language in different context, reading or watching television The other definition of vocabulary states from Hatch and Brown (1995:1), they say that vocabulary refers to a list or set of words for a particular language or a list or set of words that individual speakers of language might use Hatch and Brown (1995:1) also state that vocabulary is the only system involved of alphabetical order Ur (1994: 60) defines vocabulary as the words we teach in the foreign language In addition, Brown (2001: 377) views vocabulary items as a boring list of words that must be defined and memorized by the students, lexical forms are seen in their central role in contextualized, meaningful language Richard in Schmitt (1997: 241) also states that knowing a word meaning knowing how often it occurs, the company it keeps, its appropriatness in Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page Graduation Paper different situations, its syntactic behavior, its underlying form and derivations, its word associations, and its semantic features Vocabulary is central to second language (L2) acquisition As McCarthy (1990: 140) states that without words to express a wider range of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way Nation in Schmitt (2000: 5) proposes a list of the different kinds of knowledge that a person must master in order to know a words: the meaning of word, the written form of the word, the spoken form of the word, the grammatical behavior of the word, the collocations of the word, the register of the word, the association of the word, and the frequency of the word Hebert and Kamil (2005: 3) define vocabulary is the knowledge of meanings of words The term vocabulary has a range of meanings For example, some teachers use the term to mean sight-word vocabularies, referring to students‟ immediate recognition of words in print; other teachers refer to words students understand as their meaning vocabularies Still other teachers use the term to mean listening vocabularies, or students‟ understanding of words that they hear in the spoken language Content teachers use the term academic vocabulary to refer to content-specific words Within this section, we use the term vocabulary to refer to students‟ understanding of oral and print words Vocabularies include conceptual knowledge of words that goes well beyond a simple dictionary definition Students‟ vocabulary knowledge is a building process that occurs over time as they make connections to other words, learn examples and non-examples of the word and related words, and use the word accurately within the context of the sentence (Snow, Griffin, & Burns, 2005) Based on those statements, it can be assumed that vocabulary is a list of words as a basic component of language proficiency which has a form or Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page Graduation Paper expression and contains of aspects, they are meaning, use of word, form (pronunciation and spelling) 1.2 Aspects of vocabulary There are several aspects of lexis that need to be taken into account when teaching vocabulary The list below is based on the work of Gairns and Redman (1986) in Moras: • Boundaries between conceptual meaning: knowing not only what lexis refers to, but also where the boundaries are that separate it from words of related meaning (e.g cup, mug, bowl) • Polysemy: distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form with several but closely related meanings (head: of a person, of a pin, of an organization) • Homonymy: distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form which has several meanings which are not closely related (e.g a file: used to put papers in or a tool) • Homophony: understanding words that have the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings (e.g flour, flower) • Synonymy: distinguishing between the different shades of meaning that synonymous words have (e.g extend, increase, expand) • Affective meaning: distinguishing between the attitudinal and emotional factors (denotation and connotation), which depend on the speakers attitude or the situation A Socio-cultural association of lexical items is another important factor • Style, register, dialect: Being able to distinguish between different levels of formality, the effect of different contexts and topics, as well as differences in geographical variation Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page Graduation Paper • Small Group Mime Game This is an active game Before doing this game, the writer explained the word of touch, rub, stamp, lift, raise, put, bend etc by demonstration Then, both the writer and students sang a song “If you’re Happy” with the action After that, the writer gave a few commands for students to follow Example: - Touch your nose! Rub your nose! Touch your mouth! Touch your eyes! Raise your right hand! Put both your hands on your shoulder! The best students the action would be a winner • Word Set In this game, the writer drew a box layout on the blackboard The name of one student is written across to top to provide initial letters The students should play the game with the rules as follows: Students should work in group (one group consists of students) Students have to find parts of the body words which begin with the prescribed letter Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page 35 Graduation Paper The fastest group would be the winner • A word set box d Assessment In this part, the writer should check the student’s progress Then, the writer can review about the material explained before; the writer can also give homework to the students It means, the homework can be used to determine lesson for next session After finishing the material, the writer closed the lesson by saying The writer: Ok students, I think time is up See you next week The Students: Goodbye teacher Techniques to attract the student’s attention in vocabulary lesson According to writer's research by observation and questionnaire, many 7th grade students in Den Lu secondary school did not concentrate on their lessons The reason is they began to decline when teachers try to teach them the same thing at the same time in the same way They felt English vocabulary lesson is not interesting at all Therefore, teachers have to create interesting and fun activities in teaching There are several techniques to attract the student's attention during teaching process • Using song and rhymes Learning songs and rhymes provides an opportunity for pupils to practice, through imitation and repetition, the rhythm and intonation of the English language - and to enjoy themselves at the same time (Brewster, Ellis, and Girard, 1992:173) Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page 36 Graduation Paper Listen and repeat technique can be applied Teachers have to pronounce correctly and clearly in order to students can listen, and subsequently, they can imitate correctly (Suyanto, 2007: l 14) • Using Pictures Visual support helps pupils understand the meaning and helps to make the word more memorable (Brewster, Ellis, and Girard, 1992: 91) Visual tool that is widely used to teach English young learner is flashcard Pictures in the flashcards are grouped according to the type or the class Color pictures will be more attractive because children love colorful pictures (Suyanto, 2007: 109) • Using Objects Introducing a new word by showing the real object often helps pupils to memorize the word through Visualization (Brewster, Ellis, and Girard, 1992: 90) Real objects can be obtained from what is already available at home or school (Suyanto,2007:107) • Using games A game is an activity with rules, a goal, and an element of fun (Hadfielcd, 1998:4) Children may wish to play game for fun However, teachers need to consider which game to use, when to use them, how to link them up to the syllabus, textbook and how, more specifically, different games will benefit children in different way ( Brumfit, C (et al.), 1995: 146) Children like playing games because they are happy when they play games They can learn through games When they play together, children will interact with another In the interaction, language skills can be built especially listening and speaking (Suyanto, 2007: 117) • Using Realia Realia is a three-dimension object that can be brought to the classroom as teaching tool Realia is a right tool for the children to learn how to describe an object Useful advicefor English vocabulary teaching effectively According to the research, the writer found that a lot of teachers were not confident when standing in front of students Some of them are too young and Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page 37 Graduation Paper others are lack of some necessary skills It's is real situation of teaching in many school Knowing that, experts of ESL have summarized some below useful tips that can help to solve these problems efficiently • Improve computer skill In technology life nowadays, modern equipment supports people a lot Teachers must know not only how to use technology but also when and why to use it • You don't need to stick to a lesson plan This may come as a shock, but things will happen in your classes that you don't expect! Students will finish some activities too soon and take longer on others Some things will be easy for them, and others that you expect them to understand quickly will be tougher It is more important to be flexible than stick rigidly to something that isn't working • You don't need to know all the answers I taught some classes where they asked me questions I couldn't answer right then I told them I would find out for them, and I did As long as you are honest, say you don't know, and then give the answers later, that's fine • Every student is different Now, that may be obvious, but so many teachers forget this when they are teaching and treat each student in the same way That won't work Get to know your students, their learning styles and their strengths and weaknesses If possible, create a variety of tasks to suit different students in the class • You can't force students to learn, nor should you Teachers often feel responsible if their students don't progress You can give them the tools for learning and inspire them to want to learn, but then it become the individual student's responsibility to learn, not only yours • Have a personality Be yourself Let the students see you're a human being and not a teaching machine Laugh at yourself if you make mistakes Bring humor into the classroom • Be encouraging Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page 38 Graduation Paper Error correction is essential in the right circumstances, but if you correct every mistake then you can easily destroy a student's confidence Praise good work and never tell students they are stupid Students who think they are stupid lose motivation • Balance your lessons between different skills A teacher who teaches 90% grammar is not helping the students Communication skills, reading, writing, and vocabulary building are all as important as grammar Possibly even more important than grammar! • Keep an emergency resources box Include games, paper, colored pencils, extra worksheets, magazines etc This will be invaluable if you need to add a new activity into the lesson or toextend something the students are working on • Give homework This is controversial! You can't force students to homework, but if you give them the choice then they will feel encouraged and they can take responsibility for their learning It is really important to mark the homework if you give it, and not leave it on your desk for weeks • Have fun! If you enjoy your lesson, then your students will too Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page 39 Graduation Paper PART C: CONCLUSION Vocabulary is an important part of the English teaching process It is supposed to be a very effective communicative device as it carries the highest level of importance within peoples´ verbal interaction However, language itself is not only individual lexemes put together, but it is necessary to follow a set of grammar rules to assure correct comprehension of speaker’s intention Therefore, vocabulary together with grammar rules acquisition plays significant role in foreign language teaching The purpose of this thesis is to find out typical obstacles of learning and teaching English vocabulary for 7th grade students Difficulties about pronunciation, usage or spelling, etc.of 7th grade students were revealed by observation and survey questionnaire methods among students at Den Lu secondary school This process can be the initial step of defining causes and solutions of teaching English vocabulary effectively The investigation of some English teachers there also mentioned about the fact of teaching English vocabulary in secondary schools in Vietnam It supplies general and exact assessment to improve teaching methods The writer has collected data and analyzed it to release useful information for this study Beside traditional teaching techniques such as visual, verbal or using dictionary, the researcher also summarized some useful suggestions and techniques in teaching process according to other researchers Although the thesis has accomplished the objectives set at the beginning, the researcher cannot avoid some shortcomings due to the limitation of time and knowledge The researcher will try to serve for further research on activities to improve education quality at Den Lu secondary school Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page 40 Graduation Paper REFERRENCES Brophy, Jene 1998 Motivating Students to Learn USA: MC GrawHill Company Brown, H Douglas 1994 Principles of language learning and teaching New Jersey: Prentice Hall.2001 Teaching by Principles New York: Longman Brumfit, Christopher (et all) 1995 Teaching English to Children New York: Longman Cross, David and Normale, Ecole 1991 A Partical Handbook of LanguageTesting England: Phoenix ELT Gage, Narthan 1964 Principles Language Learning and Teaching SanFransisco: United State University Gower, Rojer, Philips, Diana and Steve 1995 Teaching Practice Handbook.Great Britain: Heireman Halliwell, Susan 1998 Teaching English in the primary Classroom New York:Longman 10 Hamilton, Richard and Ghatala, Elizabeth 1994 Learning and Instruction UnitedState of America 11 Harmer, Jeremy 1991 The Practise of English Language Teaching New York:Longman 12 _1998 How to Teach English: An Introduction to the Practice ofEnglish Language Teaching London: Longman 13 Jarolimek, John 2001 Teaching and Learning in the Elementary School NewJersey: Prentice Hall Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page 41 Graduation Paper 14 Kleim, Stephen 1996 Learning Principles and Applications USA: Mississippi, State University 15 Moore, Kenneth, D 1998 Instructor’s Manual to Accompany ClassroomTeaching Skill America: Mc GraW-Hill companies 16 Murphey, Tim 1996 Music and Song New York: Oxford University Press 17 Philips, Sarah 2003 Young Learners Oxford: Oxford University Press Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03-(2012-2016) Page 42 Graduation Paper APPENDIX Table 1: The importance of learning English vocabulary How important you think leaning English vocabulary is? percentage(%) important 40% not as important as grammar 58% not important 2% Table 2: The interest of students in learning English vocabulary Are you interested in learning English vocabulary? percentage yes 44% no 43% not sure 13% Table 3: Difficulties of learning English vocabulary What difficulties you have when learning English percentage vocabulary? the pronunciation 30% the spelling 25% the meaning 68% the handwriting 16% Table 4: Source(s) student use to learn English vocabulary Which source(s) you use to learn English vocabulary? percentage textbook 100% topical vocabulary book 13% Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03 - (2012-2016) Graduation Paper music/film/game 35% other sources 11% Table 5: Things students when learning English vocabulary What you when you learn English vocabulary percentage learn the meaning 100% learn the usage 35% learn the pronunciation 27% learn the handwriting 72% Table 6: strategies to learn English vocabulary Which strategies you use to learn English vocabulary? percentage (can choose more than one answer) read loudly 61% write it many times 73% make sentence with new word 35% stare at new word 13% Table 7: Ways teachers often use to present new word What ways you often use to present new words to your percentage students? translating into Vietnamese 68% using visual aids 19% using gesture, facial expression 5% using other ways(games, songs…) 8% Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03 - (2012-2016) Graduation Paper Table 8: Frequency of using modern equipment in teaching English vocabulary How often you use modern equipment (laptop, percentage television, projectors ) in teaching vocabulary? always 25% sometimes 50% rarely 16% never 9% Table 9: Difficulties encountered by the teachers What obstacles you have to deal with when you teach percentage English vocabulary?(can choose more than answer) students' attention 40% lesson plan 58% computer skill 32% teaching technique 37% Table 10: Methods to encourage 7th grade students learning English vocabulary Which methods are suitable to encourage 7th grade percentage students learning English vocabulary? games/songs 46% team work 14% practical exercise 32% tests 8% Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03 - (2012-2016) Graduation Paper Table 11:The biggest challenge for 7th grade students when learning English vocabulary what aspect is the biggest challenge for 7th grade students percentage when learning English vocabulary? the meaning 13% the usage 25% the pronunciation 17% memorial ability 45% Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03 - (2012-2016) Graduation Paper APPENDIX Survey questions for students Question 1: How important you think learning English vocabulary is? A Important B Not as important as grammar C Not important Question 2: Are you interested in learning English vocabulary? A Yes B No C Not sure Question 3: What difficulties you have when you learn English vocabulary? A The pronunciation B The spelling C The meaning D Others Question 4: Which source(s) you often use to learn English vocabulary?(can choose more than one answer) A Textbook B Topic Vocabulary Book C Music, film… D Other source Question 5: What you when you learn English vocabulary?(can choose more than one answer) A Learn the meaning B Learn the usage Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03 - (2012-2016) Graduation Paper C Learn the pronunciation D Learn the writing style Question 6: which strategies you use to learn English vocabulary?(can choose more than one answer)? A read loudly B write it many times C make sentence with new word D stare at it Question 6: why students not interested in learning English vocabulary? A they are lazy B vocabulary lessons are too hard C vocabulary lessons are boring D vocabulary lessons are not important Survey questions for teachers Question 1: Which ways you often use to present new words to your students? A Translating into Vietnamese B Using visual aids C Using gesture, facial expression D Using other ways( games, songs…) Question 2: How often you use modern equipment (laptop, television, projector…)in teaching vocabulary? A Always B Sometimes C Rarely D Never Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03 - (2012-2016) Graduation Paper Question 3: What obstacles you have to deal with when you teach English vocabulary? A Student's attention B Lesson plan C Computer skills D Teaching technique Question 4: What factor is challenge for 7th grade student when learning English vocabulary? A The meaning B The usage C The pronunciation D The retention Question 5: which methods are suitable to encourage 7th grade students learning English vocabulary? A games B songs C practical exercises D tests Do Thi Thuy Linh - 1271A03 - (2012-2016)