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

THAI NGUYEN – 2023

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201

Supervisor: Bui Thi Huong Giang, Ph.D

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)

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 SUPERVISOR

Dr Bui Thi Huong Giang

Author’s signature

Le Thi Nhung

Thai Nguyen, February, 2023

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

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

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

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

APPENDIX 3 IVAPPENDIX 4 VAPPENDIX 5 VIIAPPENDIX 6 XAPPENDIX 7 XIIAPPENDIX 8 XVIAPPENDIX 9 XVIIIAPPENDIX 10 XXAPPENDIX 11 XXIIIAPPENDIX 12 XXVAPPENDIX 13 XXVIIAPPENDIX 14 XXIX

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

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Characteristics of a mind map 10

Figure 2.2 Network tree example 11

Figure 2.3 Cycle concept map example 12

Figure 2.4 Spider concept map example 13

Figure 2.5 Mind map guidelines 14

Figure 3.1 Action research cycle 34

Figure 4.1 Result of the pre-test 34

Figure 4.2 Result of the post-test 36

Figure 4.3 Comparison between the pretest and the posttest 37

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

% : Percent

MM : Mind map NHPS : Nguyen Hue Primary School

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

With the aim of bringing readers an introduction to the study, in this initial chapter, the rationale, along with the aims, the scope and significance of the study are going to be presented Moreover, so as to provide clear guidance for the whole thesis, the research questions and organization of the study are being illustrated

1.1 Rationale of the study

Nowadays, English has been playing an important role in various aspects of life such as entertainment, economy, science and education…As its popularity, our education system attaches special importance to teaching and learning English in many school levels from primary to university or higher education one A plenty of programs and methods have been introduced aiming at improving Vietnamese’s English skills

It cannot be denied that vocabulary is the core of learning English This is because vocabulary is integral to every language skill, including reading, writing, listening and speaking skill Without it, students fail to understand what other people say and express their own ideas To emphasize the importance of vocabulary, Schmitt (2000, p.55) states that “lexical knowledge is central to communicative competence and to the acquisition of a second language” British linguist Wilkins (1972) once said, “Without grammar, little can be conveyed; without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed” (pp 111–112) Therefore, learning vocabulary is always one of the most concerned to English learners

At Nguyen Hue Primary School, English is a compulsory subject in the curriculum and it is taught for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students to equip the students with some basic knowledge to communicate and complete basic tasks in the textbooks After a five-year period of teaching English at the school, the teacher identified a problem that the students felt difficult to memorize and recall English vocabulary items including their pronunciation, their spelling and especially their meaning It is clear that they could not communicate and practice writing tasks well because they lack the words they need In fact, there are many vocabulary learning techniques such as matching, role play, dictionary use…introduced to students to

improve their English vocabulary by the teachers, however, how to improve vocabulary is still a big problem which needs solving

With the purpose of helping the students to be more successful in memorizing English vocabulary and to motivate them to learn new words, I would like to conduct

this study entitled “A study on the use of mind-mapping technique towards students’ English vocabulary retention at a primary school” in Thai Nguyen City 1.2 Aim of the study

The research focuses on using mind maps to improve vocabulary retention of the 4th grade students at NHPS and to motivate them in learning English vocabulary

In order to achieve the aim stated, the following research questions are formulated:

1 To what extend does mind mapping strategy affect students’ vocabulary retention?

2 What are the students’ attitudes towards mind-mapping technique?

1.3 Scope of the study

The scope of this research was limited on the influence of mind-mapping technique on students’ vocabulary retention within the context of teaching and learning English as a compulsory subject at NHPS in Thai Nguyen city

Due to the limited time, this research was conducted on only 40 fourth-grade students at NHPS in the second term of the school year 2020 - 2021

1.4 Significance of the study

This study is potentially significant for English language teachers and students

in some ways Firstly, for English teachers, this study gives detailed information about the application of MM technique and its impacts on vocabulary retention for 4 graders This can be a reference for teachers who want to use the same technique in their classrooms The study can also be useful for students who are seeking for a suitable way to improve the ability of vocabulary memorization

1.5 Organization of the study

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION - introduced the rationale, the aims, scope

of the study, and significance of the study and organization of the study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW – set up theoretical background related to vocabulary, mind-mapping and previous studies on it

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY - provided the methodology which included the general information about study subjects, context, method of the study, data collection instruments, data collection procedure, and data analytical method

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION – presented research findings and discussed research questions

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION– summarized the key issues in the study, points out the implications, limitations, and provided some suggestions for further study

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This part focuses on the theoretical background and the literature review of the study It includes a number of important theoretical terms related to vocabulary, vocabulary retention, mind-mapping and previous studies related to the research

as the only system involved of alphabetical order Penny Ur (1996) characterized vocabulary as the words we teach in the foreign language She also stated that a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: a compound of two or three words or multi-word idioms In addition, Read (2001) viewed words as the basic building blocks of language, the units of meaning from which the larger structures such as sentences, paragraphs and whole texts are formed (p.1)

There are numerous ways to understand the concept of “vocabulary” However, from the definitions above, it can be concluded that vocabulary is a list of words or a set of words in a language and knowledge of words regarding its forms and meanings In the present study, vocabulary refers to the words, compounds and phrases in a language that have meanings used to convey and receive information in oral and written communication

2.1.2 The role of vocabulary

Even though vocabulary is the sub-set of a language, it plays a very important role in language It is considered as “the Everest of a language There is no larger task

way without vocabulary A large, rich vocabulary gives them the right words to use at the right time Underlining the importance of vocabulary acquisition, Schmitt (2000) emphasizes that “lexical knowledge is central to communicative competence and to the acquisition of a second language” (p 55) Limited vocabulary in the second language blocks successful communication According to Richards and Renandya in 2002, vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how well learners speak, listen, read, and write Sharing the similar opinion, McCarthy stated that if a person does not know enough vocabulary, he or she will not be able to express himself or herself adequately Having a wide range of vocabulary, listening and reading will improve because he or she will be able to understand more of what is written or spoken Their writing will become more effective and more powerful

A person with a limited vocabulary will never be able to speak, write, read or understand English effectively Hence, vocabulary shortage affects all the other skills Nation (2001) emphasized the need to constantly expand vocabulary knowledge acquisition of vocabulary is typically a more conscious and demanding process

In brief, vocabulary seems to be seen as one of the most prior area in any language learning and teaching However, the main obstacle all students face in vocabulary learning is to recall words or memorize words to use them effectively in communicative situations Therefore, a focus on improving vocabulary retention is essential for learners to raise their English proficiency

2.1.3 Kinds of vocabulary

In vocabulary learning, words to be learned can be classified into two categories which are content words and function words Content words have lexical meanings, whereas function words have grammatical meanings In language, to understand functions of words students can arrange words in a correct sentence and analyze the sentence (Cameron 2001: 82) In term of the meaning of words, content words are the word classes of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs In teaching content words, the teacher can explain the words and their meanings in a direct and explicit way (Cameron 2001: 82) Function words, on the other hand, are the classes

of articles, prepositions, conjunctions, and pronouns In teaching function words, the

teacher teaches words incidentally and uses them continuously in a range of different discourse contexts (Cameron, 2001)

However, according to Thornbury (2002: 3-10), there are six kinds of vocabulary, including:

1) Word classes: Word classes or parts of speech They are divided into eight classes, such as: noun, pronouns, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition and determiner

2) Word families: It discusses about affixation of a word, such as: prefixes , de-) and suffixes (-tion, -ness)

(in-3) Word formation: such as compounding, clipping, blending and so on Affixation is also a kind of word formation

4) Multi-word units: about phrasal verbs and idioms

5) Collocations: Collocation is word partners The typical collocation of specific items is another factor that makes a particular mixture Example: this week, once more, once again, as well

6) Homonyms: Kinds of vocabulary will be useful for students and teachers in different situations in learning and teaching a language

2.1.4 Aspects of knowing a word

Nation (2001) indicated three aspects of knowing a word that teachers and

learners need to be aware of and focus on, including form, meaning, and use

Form: the form of a word involves its pronunciation (spoken form), spelling

(written form), and any word parts that make up this particular item (such as a prefix, root, and suffix)

Meaning: Meaning knowing the meaning of a word includes connecting form

and meaning, concept and referents, and word associations Normally the word form and meaning are learned together it means that when learners hear and see the word form, the meaning of this word will retrieved and vice versa

Use: knowing how to use a word involves knowing grammatical functions,

In this study, within limited time the researcher only focused on measuring

ability to remember meanings and use of words

2.2 Vocabulary memorizing

2.2.1 Vocabulary retention

In the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2005) retention is defined as

“an ability to remember things (p.1297) There is another definition on the website https://en.wikipedia.org/, in which retention can be defined as “the ability to retain facts and figures in memory”

Vocabulary retention is an essential factor affecting the success of vocabulary acquisition It can be understood as the fact of keeping information in one’s memory

or is the power or capacity of holding and absorbing a certain number of words in their memory Vocabulary retention can refer to short-term memory and long-term memory

2.2.2 Short-term and long-term memory

Memory has been classified as short-term and long-term based on the duration

of memory retention and the ability to recall information after the original input Short-term memory is to store or keep information while it is being processed while long-term memory is used to retain information in anything but the immediate future Learning new items involves storing them first in our short-term memory, and afterwards in long-term memory However, when learning vocabulary, learners have difficulties in memorizing words for a long time They usually fail to put the words into long-term memory Thus, the goal of learning vocabulary is to transfer the lexical information from short-term memory to long-term memory during the process

of learning (Schmitt, 2000)

In this study, the initial memory of the word meaning at the end of the lessons is considered as short-term memory whereas the long -term memory is referred to the number of words can be recalled at the next lessons or at the end of the study as the participants in the study have only four forty-minute lessons per week

2.2.2 Major factors affecting vocabulary retention

There are numerous reasons why some students remember words more than others Word retention is affected by factors such as the nature of the words themselves, the situations in which the words are learned, how the words are taught

to students, and so on According to Gairns and Redman (1986), learning new items entails storing them first in the short-term memory and then in the long-term memory, and the long-term memory can hold any amount of information They demonstrated that our "mental lexicon" is well-organized and efficient, with semantically related items stored together Word frequency is another factor that influences storage because the most frequently used items are easier to retrieve We can help the learning process by categorizing vocabulary items into semantic fields such as topics

Furthermore, retrieval is another challenge that students face when learning vocabulary Nunan (1990) asserted that learners can be motivated to develop their own personal learning styles for vocabulary, including areas such as memorizing and retaining new words Cater et al (1989) demonstrated, however, that storing information does not guarantee its retrieval Learners must improve their retrieval probability because they require techniques to recall appropriate words for a specific occasion Cater also pointed out that the meanings of words are prioritized over their forms in order to improve production, as the majority of our production involves searching for an appropriate meaning to fit the specific situation Therefore, connecting the words with meaning is seemed to be the most effective method

2.3 Mind maps

2.3.1 Definition of mind maps

“Mind-mapping” or “Mind map” was developed by the British psychologist Tony Buzan in the late 1960s in an attempt to help students take notes effectively In term of definition, different scholars proposed different views Mind map, according

to Buzan (2006), is a technique of making an outline which used the represent words,

mind map, the list of information that are so long and boring can be changed into colorful diagram and make easy to remember

Furthermore, Marton and Booth (1997) state that Mind map is a tool for enhancing learning and thinking It provides a structure to reveal various aspects of a story such as the sequence of events, the key points, the cause and effect, the relation

of ideas and so on Students can use mind maps for revising and clarifying thoughts

so as to get the deep meaning of a story Additionally, Murley (2007) affirms that mind maps are a nonlinear visual outline of complex information that can aid creativity, organization, productivity, and memory

According to Buzan (1993: 1) in “The mind map book”, mind mapping is a powerful graphic technique, which provides a universal key to unlock the potential

of brain Mind mapping technique imitates the thinking process, namely possible us

to move from one topic to another topic back and forth Recording the information through symbols, pictures, emotional meaning and colours, exactly the same like our brains process it A pattern which at least consists of picture, symbol and color that will not just help the students to understand the vocabulary knowledge but also makes the students feel good, enjoyable and attract their brain which at last lead them to have interest in mastery vocabulary knowledge

All in all, it is clear that mind map is an effective method used to generate ideas, take notes, organize thinking, and develop concepts It is a graphic organizer in which the major categories radiate from a central idea and the sub-categories are represented as branches of larger branches (Murley, 2007) In other words, it is a tool for language teaching that helps the teacher introduce or bring together multiple words that are linked

to one subject or theme (Budd, 2003; Murley, 2007; AlJarf, 2011)

2.3.2 Characteristics of mind maps

Murley (2007) states that a mind map includes five essential characteristics as follows:

•The main idea, subject or focus is crystallized in a central image

•The main themes radiate from the central image as 'branches'

•The branches comprise a key image or key word drawn or printed on its

associated line

•Topics of lesser importance are represented as 'twigs' of the relevant branch

•The branches form a connected nodal structure

Figure 2.1 Characteristics of a mind map

2.3.3 Classfification of mind maps

According to Buzan (2006) cited in Hawrani (2011, p.17), there are many different types of mind maps Here are four common types which are network tree,

event chain, cycle concept map and spider concept map

Network tree

A network tree is a representation, which shows the relationships among ideas

or concepts that are depicted in the form of branches The terms are normally ordered from general to specific and should incorporate examples to reinforce the word meanings It can be used to show causal relationship In science, it is often used to show a progression of ideas such as particle to atom to iron to molecule to sub-atomic particles or any classification process such as those for animals, plants or rocks, also for hierarchical relationship such as food chains, manufacturing processes or energy transforms

Figure 2.2 Network tree example

Even chain

An event chains is a visualization that shows the relationships between events and tasks and how the events affect each other In science, an events chain can be used to

describe a sequence of events, the steps in a procedure, or the stages of a process

Cycle concept map

A cycle concept map is a special type of event chain map In a cycle concept map, the series of events does not produce a final outcome Instead, the last event in the chain relates back to the initiating event It is suitable to show a correlation how

a combination accident is interacting to produce a group of result repeatedly

Figure 2.3 Cycle concept map example

Spider concept map

A spider concept map has a central or unifying concept in the center with related concepts radiating out from the main one This is a map that you can use for brainstorming Once you have a central idea, you may find you have a jumble of ideas that relate to it, but are not necessarily clearly related to each other By writing these ideas outside the main concept, you may begin to separate and group unrelated terms so that they become more useful

Figure 2.4 Spider concept map example

2.3.4 The functions of mind maps

Michael Michalko in Buzans’ book (2009: 6) gives some functions of mapping as following:

mind-a To make active all parts of brain

b To make people (learners) be focus in the main topic

c To help show the relation among parts of information that mutual separated

d To give a certain illustration in the whole and detail

e To help grouped the concept and compare it

2.3.5 Steps to create a mind map

According to Al Naqbi (2012: 15), there are seven steps in developing mind maps:

a) Starting from the center of blank paper, the long side of which is put flatly b) Using picture or photograph for central idea It is because a picture or photograph will have a thousand words helping the brain use imagination to express

c) Using attractive color It is because for brain, color is as interesting as picture d) Connecting the main branches to central picture, and connecting the second-order and third-order branches to the first-, second-order, and so on

e) Drawing curving rather than straight connecting line It is because straight line will

make the brain bored

f) Using one keyword for each line It is because a single member keyword has more

power and flexibility in mind mapping

g) Using pictures It is because every central picture means thousand words (See the example of mind map guidelines)

Figure 2.5 Mind map guidelines

2.3.6 The significance of mind-mapping in the language classroom

According to Casco (2009) mind-mapping is an effective vocabulary learning and teaching tool because it can activate prior knowledge on a specific topic and assist learners in organizing and recalling vocabulary items When using mind maps, the teacher begins with the main topic or theme as the central idea, and the students consider new and old items related to the topic given As a result, this will result in a more comfortable and active learning environment, which is effective for longer

retention of the learned words

Furthermore, mind maps can facilitate an interactive learning process By using the mind-mapping technique in the classroom, both the teacher and the students can collaborate to build on the map

In addition, mind-mapping is a pattern that includes at least one picture, symbol, and color, which not only makes studying vocabulary more enjoyable and interesting for students, but also helps them remember vocabulary more quickly

To summarize, mind maps can be an effective technique in vocabulary learning and teaching for the improvement of vocabulary retention

2.3.7 The application of mind-mapping to teaching a foreign language

It is obvious that memory is crucial in learning and mastering a foreign language Mind-mapping is a helpful memory technique which makes it easier to remember new materials and to visualize the thinking process, so mind-mapping proves to be a very helpful tool to master a foreign language Although it may cost time to use the technique, it will eventually speed up the learning process when learners know and understand how to use it

There are some applications of mind-mapping in teaching a foreign language, suggested by Casco (2009) as follows:

Engage the learners:

Thanks to the map, the learners know easily what comes next and focus the learners’ attention on the topic Moreover, the map supports a structure to reduce the

learners’ anxiety when they receive input through listening and reading when they speak

Active prior knowledge:

The use of keywords stimulates memory of what the student knows about the topic

Encourage the learner to ask questions:

The map shows clearly what the students know and what they do not know about the topic Image and interrogation marks widen the information gap and

encourage the learners to find out what they do not know

Scaffold reading and listening comprehension:

The map is an efficient tool to facilitate comprehension because it offers the students a globe view of listening or reading contents Furthermore, the cues showing

in the map helps the learner to form inferences as an aid to understanding

Scaffold speaking:

The map helps the learner to organize their thought and speech Thanks to the different linked and cross-referenced elements of the map allow the learner to create

a various discourse each time he/she use the map

Assess oral production:

The map can assess the students‟ oral production by explaining the link of the maps The learner has to use new structure and lexical items to introduce the content

of the map

Scaffold written production:

The map can be considered the starting point or the outline to write a paragraph

or an essay on the topic explored

2.3.8 The application of mind-mapping in teaching English vocabulary

Casco (2009) states mind-mapping was originally used in foreign language instruction in the 1990s as a tool to activate past knowledge on a particular topic and help learners to organize and recall items of vocabulary When being used to activate prior knowledge, the teacher asks learners what they know about a certain topic and the learners brainstorm associations which the teacher writes on the board creating a collective map When being used for vocabulary acquisition, teachers first ask learners to brainstorm items of vocabulary associated with a certain topic and then learners are asked to create their own maps instead of the more traditional approach

of creating glossaries with new vocabulary

A mind map consists of picture, symbol, color that will not only help the students to understand the meanings of vocabulary but also makes the student feel enjoyable, attract their brain to memorize vocabulary for a long time

2.3.9 The advantages and possible shortcomings of using mind maps in the classroom

Advantages:

The mind map application in education brings many benefits for both teachers and students As Hofland (2007) mentioned, mind mapping is a way that provides learners with more meaningful repetitions and retention of the new words in any target language By using pictorial and graphical design, mind mapping can provide

a more vivid teaching atmosphere which promotes memory retention as well as the motivation of the learners (Liu, Zhao, & Bo, 2014)

Mind maps are pictorial techniques which facilitate knowledge acquisition and retrieval of information through the use of visual clues such as images, shapes and colors (Budd, 2004) Mind maps are specifically beneficial for young learners to

recall their memories As DePorter and Hernacki (in Abdurrahman, 2008: 172)

described, these are some advantages of using mind-mapping technique:

1 Flexible: Explaining something can be easy without confusing in adding the material based on the mind mapping We can put the label and category of something based on our own opinion anywhere in the mind mapping

2 Concentrate on the Topic: Getting the subtopics what we talk about with focus on the main ideas easily Keep focus on the keyword can help us to make it simple and it does not waste the time

3 Increasing Comprehension: Using mind mapping can make easy in understanding the material Mind mapping is a simple think pattern so it is not make

us confuse to understand what we have learned and easy to remember the material

4 Enjoyable: Imagination and creativity are unlimited in using mind mapping, so

it can be funny to learn By using pictures and colors, it makes the brain enjoy and excited

in thinking something what we want about the material The branches should be curvy and in the same length as the words or pictures above it These branches can be seen as sub headings It is thinner branches and containing details

5 Good memory: Color is a very good memory sign and it involves the right brain in learning for long term memory Colors encourage creativity and help in memorization Adding plenty of colors via branches, map background and images will add life to your mind map It makes easier to comprehend and remember

From all the effectiveness discussed above, mind maps tend to be widely chosen by more teachers in vocabulary learning and teaching for the improvement of vocabulary retention

Possible shortcomings:

Beside the powerful advantages mind-mapping offers as stated above, we need

to admit the disadvantages that mind-mapping brings about in the classroom (Hofland, 2007)

First, mind-mapping seems to be not widely used in many primary schools

very simple mind-map when they first use mind-mapping technique This results into

a complicated experience as the students may think it is time consuming

Another disadvantage in mind-mapping technique is that it uses many images, symbols, and colors while not all students are good at drawing and coloring This could make it difficult to get some students with poor ability of drawing to use mind-mapping technique

2.4 Previous studies

Regarding researches on mind maps, the writer took several previous researches to teach English vocabulary for various subjects both in the world and in Viet Nam The first study was carried out by Ita Kurniawati with her research paper

entitled Improving Students’ Vocabulary Mastery through Mind Mapping Strategy

-Classroom Action Research at the Second Year of SMP Negeri 2 Polanharjo, Klaten

in the Academic Year of 2010/2011 The research was aimed to describe the

procedure of mind-mapping strategy on teaching vocabulary and to know the improvement of students' vocabulary mastery after teaching learning vocabulary through mind-mapping strategy Through the research, the writer found some similarities between this one and the writer’s study First of all, these two both used action research as the method of study Besides, this thesis also presented the procedure of mind-mapping strategy on teaching vocabulary, which could be a reference for the writer to answer the question in research question section

In the study The Use of Mind Mapping Technique in Teaching Vocabulary,

Samhudi (2015) aimed to describe the procedure of mind mapping technique on teaching vocabulary and to know the improvement of students’ vocabulary mastery after learning vocabulary through the technique In this study, the research focused

on 35 students, 15 boys and 20 girls who were randomly assigned to experimental group and control group From the result of tests, the researcher concluded that mind mapping technique improved students’ vocabulary mastery Also, based on the data from the questionnaire, most of the students agreed that mind maps could advance

them, improve their vocabulary, expand their ideas, and increase their self-confidence

in learning

The other study was an action research named Using Mind-mapping as a Tool

to Teach English Vocabulary for the Elementary Students by Carol Pua, Dorothy Li,

Cherie Lui & Shirley Cheng at Ta Ku Ling Ling Ying Public School In this study, the researchers aimed at improving students’ competence in English learning by introducing mind-mapping techniques to facilitate the knowledge acquisition and retrieval process, reflecting on techniques in teaching vocabulary and increasing students’ motivation to do more revision Through the findings, researchers have indicated that mind-mapping could be an effective tool that helps students to associate new information to their existing knowledge

In Viet Nam, the first study the writer found was entitled Using mind mapping

to help students at Thanh Hoa college of Agriculture and Forestry recycle vocabulary

by Luu Van Hau (2013) aiming at reviewing the notion of mind mapping and its applications to teaching English vocabulary and finding out how effective mind mapping is to recycle vocabulary Through questionnaires and interviews, the study also concluded that this kind of visual diagram was successfully motivated students, increased their enthusiasm toward learning English The second one was the research

by Dang Thanh Diem entitled Using Mind Maps and Diagrams to teach vocabulary for first year mainstream students, Faculty of English language teacher education to

find out the current application of the techniques to teach vocabulary for first year mainstream English majors and figuring out whether the techniques work to teach vocabulary at Division I The findings of the study indicated that mind maps and diagrams were applicable and effective to teach vocabulary at Division I Therefore, the techniques were suggested to be exploited more in the context of teaching vocabulary for first year students Although these above theses focused on different kinds of learners in language teaching and learning, they could serve as references

Another research was Using mind-mapping technique to improve vocabulary retention of first-year students: An action research project at military technical academy carried out by Nguyen Thi Lien (2016) This paper investigated whether

applying mind-mapping technique to teach vocabulary can help students to improve their vocabulary retention or not and the students’ attitude towards using mind-mapping as a tool to improve their retention The author carried out an action research

in which 32 first-year students at Military Technical Academy were investigated The result of data analysis proved a remarkable improvement in students’ vocabulary retention and the positive attitudes of participants toward the application of mind-mapping technique, which supported a significant evidence that mind-mapping was

a good alternative technique to enhance the students’ vocabulary retention

From the previous studies related to the research problem, the writer found that all these studies used mind-mapping in teaching vocabulary, but in different fields and different kinds of learners in language teaching and learning as compared with the writer’s study Few researches have been reported on the influence of mind-mapping approach on improvement English vocabulary retention of primary students Therefore, with the aim of contributing to narrow this gap, the writer carried out this study on the young learners at NHPS as the target population

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the context of the study, subject of the study, method

of study, data collection instrument, procedures of data collection and data analytical method

3.1 Context of the study

The study was conducted at Nguyen Hue Primary School which is situated in the center of Thai Nguyen city, Thai Nguyen province With a long period of construction and development, the school has gained many achievements for education and training

Currently, there are more than 1000 students and 40 teachers in Nguyen Hue Primary School English is taught here as a compulsory subject in the curriculum by

4 teachers aged from 30 to 40 The textbook consists of twenty units for two terms The course book is designed in themes with familiar topics to children Each theme includes five topics, a review and a short story Learning activities in each topic are organized into three lessons for four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and basic language knowledge (phonics, vocabulary, grammar) Learning activities are suitable with young learners’ characteristics, with Vietnamese culture as well as international one The total number of students selected would do vocabulary tests named pre-test and post-test And then, two survey questionnaires were conducted to get more opinions from students about the treatment before and after the technique was applied

3.2 Subjects of the study

The participants of this study are 40 students in class 4B at Nguyen Hue Primary School in Thai Nguyen City, consisting of 22 females and 18 males The

foreigners at some English centers However, the teacher-researcher found that her students’ vocabulary memory was quite poor and their vocabulary strategies seemed

to be ineffective Therefore, the researcher chose them to become volunteer participants in the action research project

The researcher is an English teacher at Nguyen Hue primary school She has been working there for 5 years and is now taking a Master course at School of Foreign Languages in Thai Nguyen University

3.3 Method of the study

The study was aimed at helping the students at grade 4 to improve their English vocabulary retention To achieve this, the writer would do an action research through questionnaires as the main research instrument and tests as the confirmation proof for the results collected

Action research

Action research is first and foremost situational, being concerned with the identification and solution of problems in a specific context The aim of action research is to improve the current state of affairs within the educational context in which the research is being carried out (Cohen and Manion, 1985) Similar with this idea, Parsons and Brown in 2002 stated that action research is an investigation carried out by teachers attempting to find solutions to problems and improve their professional practice in their own classroom

Harmer (2002:334-345) stated that action research is the name given to a series

of procedures teachers can engage in their classroom either because they wish to improve aspect of their teaching or because they wish to evaluate the success and appropriateness of certain activities and procedures

Based on the above definitions, action research is an appropriate method in this thesis The research aims to identify the effects of mind-mapping technique on the students’ vocabulary retention This leads to changing the attitude of participants positively towards this technique

In this study, action research was designed and conducted based on the cycle adopted from McBride & Schostak (1995)

Figure 3.1 Action research recycle

As can be seen in the diagram, the process starts with the problem identification and then initial data is collected through a pretest and a questionnaire

to confirm the stated problem in stage 1 Then data was analyzed to generate a hypothesis The next phase of the study is planning actions The researcher provides alternatives to the old ones to get the desired results Implementing actions is the process of introducing mind maps to the participants to see the change in their vocabulary retention and attitude towards this kind of new technique During this process, students took 2 immediate post-tests which could be seen as mini-tests to check their short term memory In the next step, students were delivered a post-test

intervention Finally, the collected data was analyzed, compared and discussed to reveal the findings of the study

3.4 Data collection procedures

The study was conducted over a period of 10 weeks First of all, the students were asked to fill in the first questionnaire in Week 1-2 to identify the actual situation

of students’ vocabulary learning before the mind mapping was applied They also took the pretest during this period of time to check the memory of vocabulary items learnt in the previous units All procedures of the study were shown in Table 3.1 Then, mind mapping was introduced in the lesson The teacher presented the students how to create or read a mind-mapping diagram in order that the students could be familiar to the technique In each lesson, the teacher created mind-mapping diagrams used to introduce and revise vocabulary items with the topics of each unit (16, 17, 18, and 19) of Tieng Anh 4 textbook To make sure that every student could observe clearly the diagrams, the teacher showed some mind -mapping diagrams in the big size

Depending on each lesson, the teacher provided some interesting activities related to mind maps to encourage the students to use their English vocabulary in the class activities in order that they could remember the words The first activity was to memorize vocabulary items in the mind-mapping diagram with the aim to help the students recall all the words mentioned earlier The second one was to fill out incomplete mind-mapping diagrams with the correct words so as to make the students write the words with the correct spelling These activities were carried out to help the students use the words learned in the English language either in spoken or written forms Students could complete some tasks at home if there was not enough time in class After every two units, the teacher gave students an immediate test to check their ability of memorizing English vocabulary Therefore, there were 2 mini-tests equivalent to four units

In Week 10, students took the post-test as the final one to check whether their retention towards learned vocabulary was improved or not after intervention and they were also asked to fill in the second questionnaire to show opinions about this new technique

Finally, the data was collected to analyze and discuss before conclusions, implications and suggestions were made

Table 3.1 The study procedures

Week 1-2

Pre-test Questionnaire 1

Students took the pre-test and questionnaire 1, and were introduced mind-mapping technique

Week 3-4 Unit 16 Lesson plan implementation

Week 5-6 Unit 17 Lesson plan implementation

Mini-test 1

Week 7-8 Unit 18 Lesson plan implementation

Week 8-9 Unit 19 Lesson plan implementation

Mini-test 2

Week 10

Post-test Questionnaire 2

Subjects were asked to the post-test and to fill in questionnaire 2

3.5 Data collection instruments

This study used questionnaires as the main instruments and tests as the

confirmation of the result for the data collection

3.5.1 Questionnaires

According to Salkind (2003), “individuals can complete them without any direct assistance or intervention from the researchers”, so questionnaire is a useful tool for data collection which saves time and effort for both the researcher and participants In the study, two questionnaires are designed, one at the pre-action stage and another at the post-action stage Each of them was comprised of seven questions ranked from 1 point to 3 points, in which 1 point stood for “disagree”, 2 points stood for “neutral” and 3 points stood for” agree”

Questionnaire 1 is aimed to identify the actual situation of the students’

learning vocabulary and find out the attitudes of the students towards the teacher’s vocabulary teaching strategies before intervention Question 1 was set up to identify the students’ attitudes towards learning English vocabulary Question 2 aimed at determining level of the students’ vocabulary retention Question 3 identified the attitude of the students toward vocabulary in English 4 Question 4 was designed to ask students about the classroom atmosphere during the vocabulary lesson Question 5,6 collected the students’ attitude toward the vocabulary teaching technique of the teacher

Questionnaire 2 was given at post-action stage to evaluate the learners’

attitudes towards the effects of mind-mapping on learning vocabulary Question 1 was conducted to determine the level of students’ vocabulary memory after 10 -week treatment Question 2-3 showed the student’s opinion about the effectiveness of using mind-mapping in the classroom after the action stage Question 4-5 designed to ask students to reflect the attitudes of the students towards the use of mind-mapping

3.5.2 Tests

In the study, the teacher designed a pre-test and some post-tests to measure the vocabulary retention of students before and after applying mind-mapping in teaching vocabulary The results from the tests determined the effectiveness of the use of mind-mapping technique towards in the classroom Nation (1990) considered tests as a tool

to find learners' total vocabulary size, to compare vocabulary knowledge before and after the course, to keep a continuing check on progress, to encourage learning by setting short-term goals, to see the effectiveness of the teaching The pre-test and the final post-test lasted twenty minutes while four immediate post-tests took only five minutes The tests were valid as the content and based on the “Guideline of testing and assessment” under the guideline of No.22/2016/TT-BGĐT by Ministry of Education and Training The vocabulary items used in the tests are taken from the Tieng Anh 4 by Hoang Van Van- Sach Hoc Sinh, Tieng Anh 4- Sach Bai Tap

The pre-test was delivered when students finished Unit 13, 14, 15 without intervention In the pre-test, students were asked to answer 20 questions to check their vocabulary The pretest was divided into 4 parts, in which there were 5 questions In part 1, students were required to look at the pictures and read the sentences and then write Yes or No according to the pictures given Then they matched pictures with the words in the following part In part 3 the test-takers were required to rearrange the letters to make a correct word, using a picture as cues In the last part, the students were asked to write the Vietnamese equivalent meaning of the words Each correct answer was marked 0.5 point and the total score of the test is therefore 10

The immediate post-tests were given to the students after Unit 16, 17 and Unit

18, 19, lasting ten minutes for each of one These tests were categorized into 2 parts in the forms of matching and gap filling with the aim of identifying students’ capacity of memorizing vocabulary in a short term Both the tests were comprised of ten questions