The use of instagram application to improve grade 10th students vocabulary at a high school

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES HÀ THÙY LINH THE USE OF INSTAGRAM APPLICATION TO IMPROVE GRADE 10TH STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY AT A HIGH SCHOOL LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ Thái Nguyên, tháng 12 năm 2022 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES HÀ THÙY LINH THE USE OF INSTAGRAM APPLICATION TO IMPROVE GRADE 10TH STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY AT A HIGH SCHOOL Major: English teaching theories and methodology Code: 8140111 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ NGÀNH LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH Người hướng dẫn khoa học: TS Nguyễn Thị Hồng Chuyên Thái Nguyên, tháng 12 năm 2022 i DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby affirm that this thesis is my original work, completed after registering for the MA degree at Thai Nguyen University of Education I cited a number of sources, as shown in the references section The information and findings in the thesis have not been revealed in any other studies Thai Nguyen, 2023 Student Ha Thuy Linh ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I want to specifically thank everyone who helped and motivated me during the course of the study Firstly, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the administrators of the Faculty of Foreign Language of Education at Thai Nguyen University of Education for giving me the opportunity to carry out this thesis Secondly, this endeavour would not have been possible without the assistance of Prof Nguyen Thi Hong Chuyen, my adviser, who read through my numerous revisions and assisted in clearing up the chaos Next, I would like to thank my students at a high school in the Thai Nguyen province for their assistance in completing my thesis Finally, words cannot express my gratitude to my family, their faith in my abilities has preserved my spirits and confidence high throughout this process iii ABSTRACT The study was conceived and conducted to evaluate the current status of English vocabulary learning for 10th grade students to test whether using Instagram can enhance grade 10th students' English vocabulary retention Research was carried out to evaluate students' progress in English vocabulary retention through learning and reviewing English vocabulary with Instagram The study followed action research with the number of participants being 25 students from class 10P in a northern province of Vietnam Research subjects used Instagram to learn English vocabulary for 8 weeks The current status of students' English vocabulary learning was clarified by questionnaire and pro-test The students' attitudes towards the method of learning vocabulary with Instagram were captured by focus group interviews The author divided the class into 5 small groups to control the research subjects' learning using Instagram After every 2 weeks, the author had a test aiming at effectively control learning The most accurate conclusion was analyzed after the post-test results Findings of the research confirmed that using Instagram application had positive impacts on improving grade 10th students’ vocabulary retention Besides, participants also showed their positive attitude forwards this way of learning iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP .i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vi Chapter I: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Rationale 1 1.2 Aims and objectives .7 1.3 Scope of the study 7 1.4 Research questions .7 1.5 Significance of the study 8 Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW 9 2.1 Theoretical background 9 2.1.1 English vocabulary .9 2.1.2 Instagram application 19 2.2 Previous researches 25 Chapter III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 27 3.1 Research design 27 3.2 Participants 28 3.3 Data collection instruments 28 3.3.1 Questionnaire 28 3.3.2 Pre test and post-test 29 3.3.3 Observation checklist 29 3.3.4 Interview .30 3.4 Data collection procedure 30 3.5 Data analysis 32 Chapter IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33 4.1 Findings 33 4.1.1 Findings of questionnaire 33 v 4.1.2 Results of Tests 35 4.1.2 Results of interview questions 38 4.2 Discussions 40 Chapter V: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 44 5.1 Conclusions 44 5.2 Implications 46 5.3 Limitations 46 5.4 Recommendations 47 REFFERENCES .49 APPENDICES 57 APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE 57 APPENDIX B: 61 APPENDIX C .83 APENDIX D .95 APENDIX E 96 vi LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure1.1 Which language should children whose first language is not English be taught at school? 1 Figure 1.2 Number of people using social medial platforms, 2004 to 2008 4 Picture 2.1.1.2 An example of looking up vocabulary 10 Figure 2.1.2.2 Instagram popularity among students in Vietnam 18 Picture 2.1.2.4.1 a post from tienganh.genzzz 21 Picture 2.1.2.4.2 a post from bbclearningenglish 22 Table 3.4 Actual teaching plan 30 Table 4.1.1.2 Students’ English vocabulary learning (before participating in the study 32 Figure 4.1.1.3 Students' purpose of using Instagram before participating in the study 34 Table 4.1.2.1 Results of pre-test and post-test 35 Figure 4.1.2.1 Changes in English vocabulary test scores 35 Table 4.1.2.2 Results of observation checklist 36 Table 4.1.2.3 Results of test 1-4 36 Figure 4.1.2.2 Changes in English vocabulary test 1-4 scores 37 1 Chapter I: INTRODUCTION The researcher introduces general information about the context of the study in this chapter The chapter provides rationale of the study, aims and objectives, scope, research questions and significant of the study 1.1 RATIONALE Everyone knows the popularity of English, which is clearly proven by the numbers According to Elizabeth Gration (2022), the English language is now used by approximately 1.35 billion individuals across the globe That equates to 17% of the world's population 62% of UK adults believe that English is the most essential subject for non-native kids all over the planet to acquire while attending school Besides, the English language is the official one in 75 countries, which means that English is the main language in 39% of the world's nations The average age at which children should begin studying English in schools around the world is seven and a half Also from Elizabeth Gration (2022), people can see which languages are important for children to learn where English is not an official language Figure1.1 Which language should children whose first language is not English be taught at school? (Gration, 2022) 2 61,9 %, more than half of the survey participants, those who are asked believe English should be taught in the place where it is not the official language The above analysis figures clearly show that English plays a huge role in human life English is the key to help people connect with the world, increase their knowledge and develop themselves English vocabulary plays a significant role in mastering a language The understanding of vocabulary has been considered a prerequisite skill that must be learned in order to improve other linguistic talents Vocabulary is a fundamental requirement for the majority of other language abilities (Roche, 2013) Growing one's vocabulary is essential for language mastery A student with a little vocabulary will struggle to succeed in all aspects of language According to Yang (1997), the reason why many college students are still having trouble with reading their English textbooks is that they are unable to read complete vocabulary The basis of a person's language is vocabulary, which is made up of three fundamental language units: pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar Grammar gives the overarching structures, and lexicon is the fundamental content used to fill in the gaps because "Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed" (Wilkins, 1987) Vocabulary acquisition is a gradual procedure including methods, and the prudent implementation of these tactics will accelerate vocabulary development (Nation, 2008) To summarize, vocabulary is essential as it constitutes the foundation of all languages It is the raw material from which we can express our opinions and concepts, share information, understand others, and create personal relationships One can communicate even if he or she only knows a few words and have no understanding of grammar There are so many learning media that students may utilize to increase knowledge and language proficiency (Putri & Sari, 2020) like printed books, brochures, modules, pamphlets, CD, multimedia, videos, internet (Sari, 2016), etc Real books are one of the mediums that is recognized as a very efficient medium for pupils to boost their language understanding Teachers can also benefit from printed