The effective strategies to learn vocabulary of huflit foreign languages department seniors graduation paper

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY – (HUFLIT) DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES GRADUATION PAPER THE EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO LEARN VOCABULARY OF HUFLIT FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT SENIORS Instructor: Vo Le Thuy Nga (M.A) Student: Tran Ngoc Hong Phuc Student’s number: 15DH710050 Class: TA1505 HO CHI MINH CITY, June, 2019 INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENT TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC NAME: Tran Ngoc Hong Phuc STUDENT ID: 15DH710050 UNIT NAME: Graduation Paper EMAIL ADD: hongphuctran147@gmail.com DATE SUBMITTED: June 18th, 2019 WORD COUNT: 5325 Declaration I certify that the attached material is my original work No other person’s work or ideas have been used without acknowledgment Except where I have clearly stated that I have used some of this material elsewhere, I have not presented this for assessment in another course or unit at this or any other institution Name/signature Date: June 18th, 2019 TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This study would never have been completed if it had not received the support and help of many people Firstly, I want to express my sincere thanks to Ms Thuy Nga who willingly accepted to instruct me during months of this graduation thesis project Her warm encouragement, meticulous guidance and excellent assistance contributed a lot to the completion of this thesis Her willingness to give abundant ideas and suggestions as well as correct my research has been very much appreciated Secondly, I greatly appreciate the support of Huflit English major students who willingly took part in and gave their precious time and effort to complete the survey If they had not agreed to participate, the project would have never seen the full fruition Lastly, I am very thankful to have my beloved family and friends who always encouraged me and gave precious advices which helped me a lot to finish my research I am particularly grateful for the encouragement given by my mother who gave me the moral support during this tough time Special thanks should be given to my friends who gave me consolation and positive encouragement when I had difficulties in doing the research They wholeheartedly assisted me to complete the survey without any impediment TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC ABSTRACT Vocabulary learning strategies are ways that each student employs to help himself remember words deeply and use them in necessary situations as well as the useful tools which help people to achieve their goal effectively The aim of this research was to find out popular difficulties of Huflit English major students in learning vocabulary and investigated effective strategies which help students overcome their problems The participants of this survey were 50 seniors who are studying English as their major in Foreign Languages Department at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology (HUFLIT) The data was collected through qualitative and quantitative analysis The results showed that almost students believe that the strategies can help them improve vocabulary learning outcome The most effective strategies are using support tools such as dictionaries or applications on telephones or Website and listening to English songs, watching English films or reading English books because of their convenience as well as the low cost Vocabulary learning strategies are really important which help to improve student’s vocabulary size as well as language learning process Keywords: Vocabulary learning strategies, language learning, effective strategies, HUFLIT seniors TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION 8-12 1.1 Background 1.2 Problem Identification 1.3 Research Objectives 11 1.4 Scope of the Study 11 1.5 Research Organization 12 LITERATURE REVIEW 13-20 2.1 What is vocabulary? 13 2.2 What is vocabulary learning strategies? 14 2.3 Subjective factors effecting on vocabulary learning process 15 2.4 Objective factors effecting on vocabulary learning process 16 2.5 Classification of vocabulary learning strategies 18 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 21-22 3.1 Description of the Subjects 21 3.2 Procedures of Data collection 21 3.3 Statistical Treatment 22 RESULTS 23-29 4.1 Difficulties in learning vocabulary 23 4.2 Exploring meaning of unfamiliar words 25 4.3 Keeping words in long-term memory 26 4.4 Positive changes when applying these methods 28 TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 30-33 5.1 Purpose of the Study 30 5.2 Findings and Explanation 30 5.3 Limitations 32 5.4 Implication 32 5.5 Recommendations 33 REFERENCES 34 APPENDIX A: RESEARCH PROPOSAL 36 APPENDIX B: STUDENT’S QUESTIONNAIRE 42 TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background: Nowadays, no one can deny that English is a global language which appears everywhere in this integration and immigration age People can hear it on television which spoken by politicians from all over the world If people go abroad, they can see the English signs and advertisements on streets If people go to a restaurant, they will see the English menu beside the native one (Crystal, 2003) It is not easy to calculate English proportional use towards the other languages in daily life It is estimated that more than 50% of academic papers which were printed every year are written in English, and it was increasing yearly English is also an unquestioned language of science and technology, and many countries was changing scientific journals from lingos to English According to Noack (2015), English is by far the most common studied foreign language in the world with over 1.5 billion learners Learning English is really important because it takes a part in helping people to contact with the world’s development and culture Moreover, it is also beneficial in getting jobs and expands more opportunities for leaners in a modern life which requires foreign languages in many jobs (Chơn, 2018) English is not only a global language but also the common language of business over the world Because both communication and business have been globalized, there is a need for a common spoken and written language which can be understood and accepted across borders All the borders of ethnic, race and religion exist because human created them Therefore, cross- TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC border learning means breaking all the borders to see the whole world; and English is one of the weapons for us to break those limits Understanding that situation, Viet Nam has put English into official education program as a compulsory subject in colleges since March, 2019 (An, 2018) However, Vietnamese students still have many problems when learning and using English In fact, Ánh (2018) said that there were only 10 to 15 percent of students who can reach the English outcome standard in universities in 2016 One of the essential elements which helps English learners to gain the best result is vocabulary size However, most of English learners in Viet Nam have an inadequate size of vocabulary which is not enough for even the basic daily conversations To success, learners have to apply not only one method but also the combination of strategies, methodologies and different practical activities to learn new words effectively 1.2 Problem identification The main section of language is vocabulary which plays a very essential role in language learning process If people wish to use a language fluently, they need to be excellent in all of four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing A learner with an inadequate size of vocabulary will not effectuate language excellently (Susanto, 2017) However, vocabulary has not been appreciated in teaching foreign languages for many years It becomes a serious problem, especially in Asian countries A big dictionary includes about 128.000 word families in it, and it is estimated that average college students know about 58,000 normal basic words, 1,700 rare basic words and 96,000 derivatives and compounds (Zhang, 2011) People tend to attach more special importance to grammar than vocabulary, and it usually becomes a measurement to evaluate a TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC person’s English ability However, this is the wrong way to approach English, because vocabulary is a basis step; therefore, it need to be learned carefully before starting learning other parts of English How people understand a strange word immediately when they see it, how they remember a number of vocabulary by their effort or how they use them effectively when communicating in practice is a hard problem for them to achieve (Susanto, 2017) Similar to the above findings, many Vietnamese students in general as well as HUFLIT students in particular have problems with vocabulary learning Firstly, students cannot recognize sounds when listening to English This problem proceeds from the lack of the adequate vocabulary and wrong pronunciation, and when foreigners say with a correct pronunciation, they cannot recognize them English is different from Vietnamese; therefore, learners usually have some basic mistakes when pronouncing a word such as sound swallowing, lack of stressed sound and intonation, etc Thus, when listening to a foreigner with their fast pronounce, spirant and ligature, learners cannot recognize the words which leads to the poor listening ability Secondly, although they have had a long time of studying this foreign language, they cannot speak English naturally It takes them a long time to response to the opposite person For example, when somebody asks them “How are you?”, they will translate the sentence to Vietnamese, and then they translate again the answer from Vietnamese to English This habit results in the postponed and interrupted conversation because they cannot expose their thoughts smoothly Lastly, students are short of confidence because of the anxiety of making mistakes and the poor response ability which leads to the unconfident and hesitant state Gradually, it makes learners become negative and think that TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 10 CHAPTER V DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATONS 5.1 Purpose of the Study The primary purpose of this research paper was to find out the ways that students approach different vocabulary learning strategies and effective methods in practice The survey was carried out at the Foreign Language Department of Huflit where students learn English as their major; and therefore, vocabulary learning strategies are essential to them to master the target language There are several strategies which have been proved to be effective in learning vocabulary; however, students have their own methods which are suitable for their characters, habits and goals These above selected methods are used to appraise their effecting rate in acquiring vocabulary in practice Thence, the more profound objective of this survey was to suggest different vocabulary learning approaches for students to choose, apply for their learning process, complete their skills and improve the language learning outcome 5.2 Findings and Explanation After the general survey, it was found that most of students have to face with the problem of remembering word’s meaning during their language learning process, because they not have habit of a usual vocabulary learning Students tend to learn vocabulary as fast as possible to cope with the exams; and then, they not look at them again after the exam was finished This is not a good habit when learning a foreign language because to keep a word in the long-term TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 30 memory, language learners should review them again after 24 hours, after a week and after a month and apply them into daily dialogues as much as possible Following the results of the survey, many people agreed that using tools such as dictionary and vocabulary learning applications and Websites are the best ways for them to discover meaning of a new word; and listening to English songs, reading books or watching films are effective in keeping the new words in their long-term memory With the strong development of Internet and technology like nowadays, language learning is easier than ever before People not have to bring heavy books or dictionaries when going to school and coming back home because everything is available in telephones and laptops at a very little expense People can learn vocabulary anywhere and anytime and set the pace and rhythm of their learning This method becomes popular between language learners because of its convenience and efficiency Similarly, students agreed that learning vocabulary through English songs, films or books is their favorite method because all of them are available on the Internet Listening to English songs, watching films or reading books not only helps people learn vocabulary but also helps them build cultural knowledge Understanding the context around certain words and phrases helps them to use English more effectively and communicate more clearly Furthermore, listening to songs or watching films will definitely take a part in training learner’s accent because when they listen to English songs, they will tend to repeat the songs again and again Therefore, they can enjoy practicing instinctively Memorizing the thick academic documents and books may be onerous and boring to young people; TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 31 therefore, this kind of method can build the learner’s motivation and enjoyment because it allows learner to relax while studying The percentage of students who have “Correct pronunciation” and “Deep memorization” after applying these methods specifically “Using tools” and “Listening to songs, watching films or reading books” reach the highest peak, both fluctuated at 56% and 54% respectively It shows that learners can have optimistic signals and improve their vocabulary problems by scientific and suitable methods 5.3 Limitations During the research writing period, the researcher had to face two main difficulties Firstly, the research was a small survey because participants who took part in the survey were limited in Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology This research only focused on 50 seniors of Foreign Languages Department Therefore, it was limited by the accurate sample size and cannot be generalized to all the students of other universities over the country The reliability of this research could be promoted if there were larger number of students The second difficulty was the time limit To catch up with the research progress, there was not much time to survey large number of students and find out more previous studies about the same topic from different researchers 5.4 Implications Relied on the survey’s results, some implications can be observed Firstly, an advantage of this study is that it can raise the public awareness of the importance of vocabulary learning strategies in the language learning process Secondly, this study helps students to discover different kinds of vocabulary TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 32 learning strategies, choose their own suitable learning styles to overcome their difficulties during the language learning process and achieve the best result Lastly, this study can assist language teachers to improve their teaching methods by introducing the vocabulary learning strategies and techniques to their students 5.5 Recommendations The next study can be carried out to find out the difference of learner’s strategies with different level from primary to university Furthermore, studying the effect of background, culture, school and home environment, gender, peer group, etc can be useful in discovering related strategies At the beginning of new semester, a seminar of effective vocabulary learning strategies should be held for students before starting English lessons This can raise student’s awareness of how the vocabulary learning strategies can help them in their language learning process Language teachers should have a meeting to discuss the role of vocabulary learning strategies, how these strategies can increase student’s language learning ability, how to recommend strategies to students as a part of language learning lesson and how to encourage students to apply these strategies One remarkable thing is that teachers should know that various strategies may be advantageous to students differently; and each student’s learning style may effect on the general outcome TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 33 TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 34 TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 35 APPENDIX A RESEARCH PROPOSAL Research title: The effective strategies to learn vocabulary of HUFLIT Foreign Languages Department seniors CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION A Background of the problem Nowadays, no one can deny that English is a global language which appears everywhere People can hear it on television which spoken by politicians from all over the world If people go abroad, they can see the English signs and advertisements on streets If people go to a restaurant, they will see the English menu beside the native one (Crystal, 2003) According to Noack (2015), English is by far the most common studied foreign language in the world with over 1.5 billion learners Learning English is really important because it takes a part in helping people to contact with the world’s development and culture Moreover, it is also beneficial in getting jobs and expanding more opportunities for leaners in a modern life which requires foreign languages in many jobs (Chon, 2018) Understanding that situation, Viet Nam has put English into official education program as a compulsory subject in colleges since March, 2019 (T.An, 2018) However, Vietnamese students still have many problems when learning and using English In fact, Anh (2018) said that there were only 10 to 15 percent of students who can reach the English outcome standard in universities in 2016 TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 36 B Problem Identification Trà (2016) referred to three main problems of students when learning English Firstly, people cannot recognize sounds when listening to English Secondly, although they have had a long time of studying this foreign language, they cannot speak English naturally Lastly, young people are short of confidence because of the anxiety of making mistakes and the poor response ability Most of above problems originate in the lack of basic knowledge, correct pronunciation and especially vocabulary Vocabulary is a prime part of language which plays an essential role in language learning process The obtainment of a vocabulary and the ways to use it in practice are fundamental things in learning language If people want to use a language fluently, they need to be excellent in all of four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing However, vocabulary has not been appreciated in teaching foreign languages for many years It becomes a serious problem, especially in Asian countries (Zhang, 2011) C Research Objectives Although, there are a lot of ways to learn new words, but people still wonder about their methods and desired effects The purpose of this study is to investigate the really effective methods for learning vocabulary of Vietnamese students in general and Huflit English major students in particular TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 37 D Research Organization This study will be divided into five sections The first part of this research study is the introduction about English and vocabulary learning in Vietnam Domestic and foreign studies will be reviewed in the second part The third part is the method which researcher uses to carry out the research In the part 4, the research findings and discussion will be outlined In the terminal part, the report gives a conclusion with many recommendations to improve and develop methods of learning vocabulary for Vietnamese students CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW A Theory Description Izzah (2015) stated that “Vocabulary is a word or list with meaning and which is known by speakers and which is used to communicate among those speakers and used by the group or individual” He also mentioned different kinds of vocabulary: word classes, word families, word formation, collocation and homonyms Asgari (2011) said that vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) are ways used by the language learners which help them to acquire new English words He believed that there are kinds of VLSs: discovery strategies and consolidation strategies There are two main kinds of factors that effect on vocabulary learners Firstly, subjective factors consist of student’s awareness and their interest of learning vocabulary Secondly, objective factors include teaching methods, teaching equipment and materials (Linh, 2017) TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 38 Huong (2018) pointed out many ways to learn vocabulary effectively, such as building motivation, decoding and guessing the meaning of words, using dictionary, taking notes of words, phrases and their usages, etc B Research Questions What are efficient methods for English major students to master vocabulary as well as English language? How these methods effect on the English learners? CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A Research Approaches In conducting the research, the researcher uses both Quantitative and Qualitative research methods It helps the researcher to use both exploration and analysis in the same study B Research Setting The participants for this survey are 50 students at Huflit university C Research Subjects The participants are seniors in Foreign Language Department at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology They also have experienced learning vocabulary and take interest in information and news about English learning methods TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 39 D Data Collection Methods and Research Instruments The study use questionnaire as a method of data collection Questionnaires will be delivered by hand to the students Then, the researcher gives the particular directions to participants to the survey The questionnaires will be gathered after the students finish it The time for participants to complete the questionnaire is 5-10 minutes E Data Analysis Technique In this paper, after the general survey, the data will be analyzed within Microsoft Excel because this tool is widely used for the entry and management of data CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION AND APPLICATION REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Anh, H (2018, 12 15) Only 10 to 15 percent of students reach the English outcome standard? Retrieved 4, 2019, from Thanh Nien News: https://thanhnien.vn/giao-duc/chi-10-15-sinh-vien-dat-chuan-dau-ra-tienganh-1033401.html Asgari, A (2011) The Type of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by ESL Students in University Putra Malaysia Chon, L Q (2018, 12 8) Why is teaching English not effective in Viet Nam? Retrieved 2019, 3, from Vietnamese Education: TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 40 http://giaoduc.net.vn/Giao-duc-24h/Tai-sao-day-tieng-Anh-o-Viet-Namkhong-hieu-qua-post193491.gd Crystal, D (2003) Englsh as a global language Cambridge: The Press Syndicate of The University of Cambridge Huong, V V (2018) The study The Effective Vocabulary Learning SelfLearning Methods and Strategies of Tay Bac University’s Students Izzah, Z (2015) The Use in Word Chain Game to Improve Vocabulary Mastery for The Eight Grade Students Linh, D T (2017) Influental Factors to Sixth Graders’ English Vocabulary Memorization Skill Noack, R., & Gamio, L (2015, 23) The world’s languages, in maps and charts Retrieved 17, 2019, from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/04/23/theworlds-languages-in-7-maps-andcharts/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.adb0c1bee0a5 T.An (2018, 10 9) English will be a coumpulsory subject in college training Retrieved 4, 2019, from Hochiminh City Education Newspaper: https://www.giaoduc.edu.vn/tieng-anh-se-la-mon-bat-buoc-trong-dao-taocd.htm Tra, M (2016, 31) problems of Vietnamese students when learning English Retrieved 2017, 2019, from Zing News: https://news.zing.vn/3-van-decua-sinh-vien-viet-khi-hoc-tieng-anh-post677882.html Zhang, B (2011) A study of vocabulary learning strategies used by Chinese students English Didactics, TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 41 TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 42 TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 43 TRAN NGOC HONG PHUC 44