A study on the use of mind mapping technique towards students’ english vocabulary retention at a primary school

Trang 1 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE THI NHUNG Trang 2 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE THI NHUNG Trang 3 ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN TRƯỜNG NGO

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE THI NHUNG A STUDY ON THE USE OF MIND-MAPPING TECHNIQUE TOWARDS STUDENTS’ ENGLISH VOCABULARY RETENTION AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL M.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 THAI NGUYEN – 2023 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE THI NHUNG A STUDY ON THE USE OF MIND-MAPPING TECHNIQUE TOWARDS STUDENTS’ ENGLISH VOCABULARY RETENTION AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL M.A THESIS (ACTION RESEARCH) Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Bui Thi Huong Giang, Ph.D THAI NGUYEN – 2023 ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN TRƯỜNG NGOẠI NGỮ LÊ THỊ NHUNG NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG KĨ THUẬT SƠ ĐỒ TƯ DUY TRONG VIỆC GHI NHỚ TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ (Nghiên cứu hành động) Ngành : Ngôn ngữ Anh Mã số : 8220201 Cán bộ hướng dẫn : TS Bùi Thị Hương Giang THÁI NGUYÊN – 2023 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A study on the use of mind-mapping technique towards students’ English vocabulary retention at a primary school” is the study of my own research and the substance of this research has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution Approved by Author’s signature SUPERVISOR Dr Bui Thi Huong Giang Le Thi Nhung Thai Nguyen, February, 2023 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To finish this paper completely, I have received a lot of support and encouragement First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Ms Bui Thi Huong Giang who gave me pretty much valuable assistance, considerable encouragement as well as great inspiration of a great woman in modern time while I was conducting my research Without her careful guidance and valuable suggestions, this paper really could not be completed Secondly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all my lecturers and staffs at School of Foreign Languages-Thai Nguyen University for their lectures and support which enables me to gain both useful theoretical and practical knowledge to complete this master's course In addition, I would like to say thanks to teachers and all students of Nguyen Hue Primary School for their cooperation to participate in the research Last but not least, I would like to give my special thanks to my family who have always been encouraging and supporting me to complete this thesis ii ABSTRACT This thesis was an attempt to find out the effectiveness of mind-mapping technique on the 4th graders’ vocabulary retention at Nguyen Hue Primary School An action research was carried out to answer two research questions: 1 To what extend does mind mapping strategy affect students’ vocabulary retention? 2 What are the students’ attitudes towards mind-mapping technique? To get the data of the study, two data collection instruments were used: questionnaires and the pre-test and post- tests toward before and after applying the mind-mapping in teaching vocabulary The findings of the data analysis showed that mind-mapping can help the students to improve their abilities in memorizing English vocabulary and the students had positive attitudes toward the mind-mapping technique Moreover, some limitations and suggestions for further studies were included in this study iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Rationale of the study 1 1.2 Aim of the study 2 1.3 Scope of the study 2 1.4 Significance of the study 2 1.5 Organization of the study .2 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 4 2.1 Vocabulary .4 2.1.1 Vocabulary definition .4 2.1.2 The role of vocabulary .4 2.1.3 Kinds of vocabulary 5 2.1.4 Aspects of knowing a word 6 2.2 Vocabulary memorizing 7 2.2.1 Vocabulary retention 7 2.2.2 Short-term and long-term memory 7 2.2.2 Major factors affecting vocabulary retention 8 2.3 Mind maps .8 2.3.1 Definition of mind maps 8 2.3.2 Characteristics of mind maps 9 2.3.3 Classfification of mind maps 11 2.3.4 The functions of mind maps 13 iv 2.3.5 Steps to create a mind map 13 2.3.6 The significance of mind-mapping in the language classroom 15 2.3.7 The application of mind-mapping to teaching a foreign language 15 2.3.8 The application of mind-mapping in teaching English vocabulary .17 2.3.9 The advantages and possible shortcomings of using mind maps in the classroom .17 2.4 Previous studies .19 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 22 3.1 Context of the study .22 3.2 Subjects of the study 22 3.3 Method of the study .23 3.4 Data collection procedures 25 3.5 Data collection instruments 27 3.5.1 Questionnaires 27 3.5.2 Tests 28 3.6 Data analytical methods .29 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 30 4.1 Data analysis 30 4.1.1 Results of Questionnaires .30 4.1.2 Results of the tests 33 4.2 Discussions 39 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 41 5.1 Summary of the study 41 5.2 Implications of the study .41 5.3 Limitations of the study 42 5.4 Suggestions for future research .43 5.5 Concluding remark 43 REFERENCES 45 APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 II v APPENDIX 3 IV APPENDIX 4 .V APPENDIX 5 VII APPENDIX 6 .X APPENDIX 7 XII APPENDIX 8 XVI APPENDIX 9 XVIII APPENDIX 10 XX APPENDIX 11 XXIII APPENDIX 12 XXV APPENDIX 13 XXVII APPENDIX 14 XXIX vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 The study procedures .26 Table 4.1 Result of Questionnaire 1 .30 Table 4.2 Result of Questionnaire 2 .32 vii