A study on using mind mapping technique in teaching vocabulary to grade 10 students at chu van an high school

Trang 1 i DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled "A study on using mind mapping technique in teaching vocabulary to grade 10 students at Chu Van An High School" is my own

DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled "A study on using mind mapping technique in teaching vocabulary to grade 10 students at Chu Van An High School" is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any university, other institution or tertiary education Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given Supervisor Student (Signature, full name) (Signature, full name) Nguyen Thi Ha Hoang Thi Dieu i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have completed without the help, encouragement and support of a number of people who all deserve my sincere gratitude and appreciation First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Nguyen Thi Ha, M.A, a lecturer at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hong Duc University From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for her hearted guidance and valuable recommendations Without her, I might not accomplish my thesis Besides, I highly appreciate the teachers at Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hong Duc University for their precious and profound lessons which provided me with solid knowledge backgrounds for my thesis Many sincere thanks are also needed to give to students in classes 10A7 and 10A4 at Chu Van An high school who patiently completed the survey questionnaires and answered my interviewing questions Last but not least, I give my warm heart to my family and classmates They encouraged and supported me to go the end Thanks for all! ii ABSTRACT Language learners have different methods to learn vocabulary; however, a large portion of them find it difficult to memorize words In fact, most of them learn separately and use short-term memory to memorize words It does not mean that all learners cannot remember new words immediately and for a long time, but in order to synthesize whole related items, it requires a powerful and suitable method to deal with Mind mapping is a useful tool for teachers to teach and learners to learn the new language To communicate fluently, learners must have a large vocabulary stock This study objective is to test the feasibility of using Mind mapping technique to grade 10th students at Chu Van An High School The researcher carried out the experiment by teaching English and gives two tests for students The experiment phase continued for 8 weeks Participants in the study included 80 students in classes 10A4 and 10A7 at Chu Van An high school They were chosen to become the subjects of survey questionnaires about attitudes as well as techniques to learn vocabulary Furthermore, 80 students were divided into 2 groups (a controlled group and an experimental group) to be subjects who took part in the experimental research Both groups answered the pre-test and post-test questions about vocabulary However, the experimental group used mind map technique while the control one used traditional methods of learning vocabulary At the end of the study, the students of the experimental group who applied mind mapping techniques showed more positive results in memorizing vocabulary than the control one Therefore, the effectiveness of mind map in improving vocabulary had been proven In addition, some recommendations were given for further study in the future iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .iv ABBREVIATION vii LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES ix PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 1 Rationale 1 2 Aims of the study .2 3 Research Questions 2 4 Scope of the study .2 5 Methods of the study 3 6 Design of the study 3 PART II: DEVELOPMENT 5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .5 1.1 An overview about vocabulary .5 1.1.1 Definitions .5 1.1.2 Classifications of vocabulary 6 1.1.3 The importance of vocabulary in learning language .7 1.2 Learning vocabulary .8 1.2.1 Definition .8 1.2.2 Aspects in knowing a word 10 1.2.3 Difficulties in learning vocabulary 12 1.2.4 Techniques used in teaching vocabulary 13 1.3 Mind map 15 1.3.1 An overview of Mind Map 15 1.3.2 Mind Mapping technique 16 1.3.3 Classifications of mind map 17 1.3.4 Features of mind map 19 iv 1.3.5 Steps for making mind mapping technique 20 1.3.5 Relationship between Mind Mapping technique and vocabulary teaching .24 1.4 Previous researches 34 1.4.1 Studies abroad 34 1.4.2 Vietnamese studies 38 1.5 Summarize 38 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY .32 2.1 Settings 32 2.2 Participants .32 2.3 The current textbook English 10 33 2.4 Data collection instruments 33 2.4.1 Teacher interview 33 2.4.2 Survey questionnaires 33 2.4.3 Tests 34 2.4.3 Classroom observations .35 2.5 Research procedure .35 2.6 Summarize 46 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 40 3.1 Data analysis before experiment 47 3.1.1 Data analysis from survey questionnaire before experiment .47 3.1.1.1 Current situation of students‟ learning vocabulary 47 3.1.1.2 Students‟ frequency of learning vocabulary 40 3.1.1.3 Students‟ methods in learning vocabulary 41 3.1.1.4 Problems the students encountered when learning vocabulary 41 3.1.1.5 Students‟ perception in learning vocabulary by using Mind mapping technique 42 3.1.2 Data analysis from classroom observation 44 3.1.3 Results of interview .45 3.1.4 Data analysis from the result of pre-test 45 3.1.5 Summarize 48 3.2 Data analysis after experiment…………………………………………………48 v 3.2.1 Data analysis from survey questionnaire after experiment 48 3.2.1.1 Students‟ attitude toward learning vocabulary with mind maps 48 3.2.1.2 Effectiveness of using mind maps in vocabulary teaching and learning 49 3.2.1.3 Challenge in learning vocabulary with mind maps 50 3.2.1.4 Students‟ opinions about using mind maps in teaching and learning 50 3.2.2 The results of post-test 51 3.3 Comparison of the pre-test and post-test in experimental group .52 3.4 Comparison the result of this study with previous researches…………….…… 54 3.5 Summarize 56 PART III: CONCLUSION 55 1 Summary and conclusion 55 2 Implications 56 2.1 For teachers 56 2.2 For students 56 3 Limitations of the study 56 4 Suggestion for further research 57 REFERENCES 58 APPENDIXES I vi WORDS ABBREVIATION STAND FOR EFL FFL English as a Foreign Language L2 Faculty of Foreign Languages MMP Target Language HDU Mind Mapping Hong Duc University vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Major aspects of vocabulary 11 Table 1.3: How to create a Digital Mind Map through Software 30 Table 2.5: Mind map application in teaching vocabulary (Experiment) .43 Table 3.1.1: Students’ methods in learning vocabulary 48 Table 3.1.2: Problems the students encoutered when learning vocabulary 48 Table 3.1.3: Students’ opinions about the benefits of using Mind mapping technique in learning vocabulary .50 Table 3.1.4: The result of classroom observation 51 Table 3.1.5: Number of test in score level according to pre-test results 53 Table 3.1.6: Number of test in score level according to Pre-test results between two classes 54 Table 3.2.1: Benefits of using mind maps in learning vocabulary 49 Table 3.2.2: Students’ opinions about using mind maps in teaching and learning vocabulary 57 Table 3.2.3: Number of tests in score levels according to Post-test results 51 Table 3.3.1: Number of tests in score levels according to pre-test and post-test results of Experimental Class - 10A7 60 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Network tree 18 Figure 1.2: Event chain 18 Figure 1.3: Cycle concept map 19 Figure 1.4: Spider concept map 19 Figure 3.1.1: Students’ perception towards the important of vocabulary 40 Figure 3.1.2: Students’ frequency of learning vocabulary 40 Figure 3.1.3: Students’ techniques used in learning vocabulary 42 Figure 3.1.4: Students’ perception about Mind mapping technique 42 Figure 3.1.5: Skills that students use Mind mapping technique in learning vocabulary 50 Figure 3.1.6: The percentage of score levels according to pre-test results 53 Figure 3.1.7: The percentage of score levels according to pre-test results between two classes 54 Figure 3.2.1: Students’ interest toward learning vocabulary with mind maps 55 Figure 3.2.2: Students’ opinions about the effectiveness of using mind maps in teaching and learning vocabulary .56 Figure 3.2.3: Challenges in learning vocabulary with mind maps 50 Figure 3.2.4: Number of tests in score levels according to post-test results in two classes 52 Figure 3.2.5: The percentage of score levels according to pre-test and post-test results 60 ix PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Nowadays, English plays a significant role in our life and it is considered as a universal language It is assummed that around 90% of the population use English as a lingua franca Therefore, English is one of the important subjects that are included in the curriculum This subject has been taught from primary up to university level of education In the past, it used to be taught in a dull and uninspiring way At that time, students just passively absorbed the knowledge from their teachers Furthermore, the education system placed great emphasis on grammar knowledge As a result, it caused invisible pressure on students and made learning English boring Consequences, teaching English has been the main concern of many educators as well as teachers around the world in general, particularly in many areas in Vietnam and Thanh Hoa is no exception To learn vocabulary, it is important to use explicit instruction of vocabulary learning strategy to facilitate their knowledge and recognition of vocabulary learning strategies that they can use outside classroom to learn new words (Atay & Ozbulgan, 2007) In short, apart from knowing how word is learned, it is also important for teachers to know how a word is recalled by their students so as to come up with better techniques to benefit vocabulary learning which leads to promoting reading comprehension Thinking of method that is suitable for teaching and learning is essential to achieve goals (Nation, 2009) In English language classes, educators can choose methods which can accelerate learning, especially learning vocabularies and reading comprehension Teachers can use a variety of teaching and learning strategies and techniques to motivate learners and achieve the objectives Thus, importance of vocabulary requires from teachers to select the suitable strategy that help learners to recall vocabulary meaning There have been so far many studies on this issue However, any research on using mind-map technique in teaching vocabulary to students at grade 10 at Chu Van An high school has not been done before All efforts to have this study are for not only participants but also those who want to improve and promote English vocabulary The aforementioned important roles of vocabulary and vocabulary 1