An investigation into vocabulary learning and vocabulary learning strategies used by english majored students at banking academy

BANKING ACADEMY THE FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - - GRADUATION THESIS TOPIC: AN INVESTIGATION INTO VOCABULARY LEARNING AND VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT BANKING ACADEMY Student : NGUYEN BICH HIEN Class : K22ATCA Course : 2019 – 2023 Student ID : 22A7510113 Instructor : DR HOANG QUOC THINH Hanoi, May 2021 Tai ngay!!! Ban co the xoa dong chu nay!!! 17014125841841000000 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation is my original thesis submitted to the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Banking Academy This is a work done by me under the guidance of Dr Hoang Quoc Thinh - Lecturer at Banking Academy This research paper has not been submitted to any university or educational institution before Additionally, I acknowledged and cited all of the sources to which I referred for this study Hanoi, 20 April 2022 Author Nguyen Bich Hien i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This section is dedicated to those who have always stood by my side, supported me, and assisted me in completing this thesis First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my respected teacher Dr Hoang Quoc Thinh Thanks to my mentor's guidance and insightful comments and feedback, it has helped me to complete my thesis as a researcher His extensive knowledge and enthusiastic support are the basis for my research I would like to thank all the teachers at the Faculty of Foreign Languages and students of the Bank for the past years who have always loved, taught and supported me during my university life In addition, I would like to thank all the students who actively assisted me with this research paper Thanks to your contributions, my essay could be completed I would also like to salute Bui Hien and Truong Anh Phuong, who assisted me in reaching K25, K24, and K23 students for the survey Above all, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my beloved parents who always make silent sacrifices and support me to complete my thesis regardless of its difficulty Lastly, I would like to thank everyone for everything I wish my loved ones a lifetime of happiness ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF FIGURES vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii ABSTRACT viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study 1.1.1 Statement of the problem .1 1.1.2 Rationale for the study 1.2 Objectives of the study 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Structure of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition of vocabulary 2.2 The importance of vocabulary .6 2.3 Classification of Vocabulary 2.4 Student's difficulties in learning vocabulary 2.4.1 Non-lexical factors .8 2.4.2 Lexical factors 2.5 Vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) 10 2.5.1 Definition of Vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) .10 2.5.2 Importance of vocabulary learning strategy .11 2.5.3 Classification of vocabulary learning strategies .12 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS 16 3.1 Locale of the study .16 3.2 Research design 16 3.3 Participants 17 3.4 Research instrument 18 3.5 Data collection procedure 19 3.6 Data analysis procedure .20 3.7 Reliability 22 CHAPTER 4: FINDING PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION 26 4.1 Findings presentation 26 4.1.1 Findings on students' perception of the importance of vocabulary 26 iii 4.1.2 Findings on students' difficulties on learning vocabulary 28 4.1.3 Findings on vocabulary strategies 37 4.2.1 Discussion on students' perception of the importance of vocabulary .46 4.2.2 Discussion on students' difficulties on learning vocabulary 47 4.2.3 Discussion on vocabulary strategies .50 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, LIMITATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 53 5.1 Summary of findings 53 5.2 Limitation 54 5.3 Recommendations 54 5.3.1 Recommendation for students 54 5.3.2 Recommendation for lecturers 56 5.3.3 Recommendations for further research 57 5.4 Conclusion 57 REFERENCES 59 APPENDICES 67 iv LIST OF TABLES Chapter 3: Table 3.1: Information on the Demographics of the Questionnaire's Respondents Table 5.1: Coding survey table variables Table 7.1 Reliability Scale of Students' perception of the importance of vocabulary Table 7.2 Reliability Scale of Student ’difficulties in learning vocabulary Table 7.3 Reliability Scale of VLS for discovering meaning of the word Table 7.4 Reliability Scale of VLS for consolidating a word Chapter 4: Table 1.1: Survey students’ response on perceptions on the importance of vocabulary Table 1.2: Survey students’ response on difficulty of memory Table 1.3: Survey students’ response on difficulty of teacher’s teaching methods Table 1.4: Survey students’ response on difficulty of pronunciation Table 1.5: Survey students’ response on difficulty of meaning Table 1.6: Survey students’ response on difficulty of grammar Table 1.7: Survey students’ response on using Determination strategy Table 1.8: Survey students’ response on using Social strategy Table 1.9: Survey students’ response on using Social strategy Table 1.10: Survey students’ response on using Memory strategy Table 1.11: Survey students’ response on using Cognitive strategy Table 1.12: Survey students’ response on using Cognitive strategy Chapter 6: Table 5.1: Suggested vocabulary note-taking v LIST OF FIGURES Chapter 2: Figure 5.1: Classification of VLSs devised by Schmitt (1997) Chapter 3: Figure 4.1: Level of Agreement Figure 4.2: Level of Frequency Table 7.1: Reliability Scale Chapter 4: Figure 1.1: The applied scale of measurement Figure 1.2: Summary of students’ responses from Table 1.1 (in percentage) Figure 1.3: Frequency of difficulty in learning vocabulary Figure 1.4: Summary of students’ responses from Table 1.2 (in percentage) Figure 1.5: Percentage of vocabulary students remember after a week Figure 1.6: Summary of students’ responses from Table 1.3 (in percentage) Figure 1.7: Summary of students’ responses from Table 1.4 (in percentage) Figure 1.8: Summary of students’ responses from Table 1.5 (in percentage) Figure 1.9: Summary of students’ responses from Table 1.6 (in percentage) Figure 1.10: Summary of students’ responses from Table 1.7 (in percentage) Figure 1.11: The use of dictionary by genre of the participant (%) Figure 1.12: Elements of words that are looked up in a dictionary (%) Figure 1.13: Summary of students’ responses from Table 1.8 (in percentage) Figure 1.14: Summary of students’ responses from Table 1.9 (in percentage) Figure 1.15: Summary of students’ responses from Table 1.10 (in percentage) Figure 1.16: Summary of students’ responses from Table 1.11 (in percentage) Figure 1.17: Summary of students’ responses from Table 1.12 (in percentage) vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ATC Faculty of foreign languages VLSs Vocabulary learning strategies DET Determination strategies SOC Social strategies MEM Memory strategies COG Cognitive strategies MET Metacognitive strategies IELTS International English Language Testing System M Mean SD Standard deviation vii ABSTRACT Title: Investigation into vocabulary learning and vocabulary learning strategies used by English-majored students at Banking Academy Author: Nguyen Bich Hien Key words: ATC students, Banking Academy, Vocabulary Learning Strategies, Difficuty learning vocabulary, perception on vocabulary Adviser: Dr Hoang Quoc Thinh This research was conducted to determine the actuality of vocabulary learning and student vocabulary strategies at Faculty of Foreign Languages of Banking Academy The researcher explores students' perceptions of the significance of vocabulary and the challenges they face when learning vocabulary A questionnaire method bases on 5-level Likert scale is carried out among 171 students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Banking Academy In general, students recognize the significance of vocabulary and strongly concur that instructors should devote more time to teaching vocabulary In addition, students acknowledge having many difficulties with learning vocabulary, particularly in terms of word meanings The survey results also indicate that students employ a variety of strategies for acquiring vocabulary Despite utilizing so many vocabulary learning strategies, students are unable to overcome their vocabulary learning difficulties This study concludes with several recommendations for both students and lecturers with the desire to improve students' vocabulary learning viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter focuses on presenting general information about current study The main objectives include the statement of the problem, the rationale for the study, the research questions, and the significance of the thesis Additionally, the researcher also discusses the scope, limitations, and structure of studying in this chapter 1.1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study 1.1.1 Statement of the problem English is the international language, with more than 60 countries where English currently predominates or is an official language (Lucantoni, 2006) Vietnam is actively promoting the tendency of global integration across all industries As a result, the study of foreign languages, particularly English, is becoming more and more important in the area of education English is considered a formal foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is taught in all levels of education, from elementary school to university In recent years, primary schools have been implementing an elective English curriculum for grades and While English used to be only taught to students from grade 3rd In addition, Dang (2020) also emphasized that the most widely used language in the world is English Fluency in English will make it easier for students to acquire skills, access a wide range of human knowledge, and comprehend multinational culture Therefore, English is valued in the era of globalization when it is not only a global language; it also has a significant role in a number of fields, including politics, commerce, society, and education There are four basic skills required for learning English: listening, speaking, reading, and writing (Baỗeci & Yaar, 2007; Barn, 1997, as cited in Darancık, 2018) However, human language depends on the vocabulary used or acquired Without vocabulary, learners will not be provided with a motive for using language (Richards & Renandya, 2002) As a result, vocabulary is one of the components of language that requires attentive study as well as instruction According to (Cahyono & Widiati, 2008), if students know inside-out vocabulary, they can quickly make progress in their linguistic abilities in speaking, listening, reading, and writing The