Using vocabulary games to improve english vocabulary usage among the tenth graders at a high school in tuyen quang province

INTRODUCTION

Rationale

Language learning plays a prominent role in the present scenario as English is a language for communication in education and business, sports, trade Currently, more than 53 countries and territories use English as an official language Vietnam is not out of the trend and has begun to teach English from the primary school level Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has set English as one of the three most important subjects at school Specifically, many study promotion programs are proposed, from English talent contests in schools to competitions on the Internet, on TV, in scientific journals, annual Olympic competitions, etc These programs are the motivation for students to practice and apply English in practice (Bahang, Hamzah, & Lanre, 2020)

Vietnamese students are also aware that English is considered indispensable condition on the path of integration and development, a universal key to open the doors of knowledge to help them reach out to the world To improve the quality of teaching English at schools, English teachers have applied various teaching methods in teaching

An engaging learning environment with numerous opportunities to speak in real-world settings will inspire learners to be more motivated and active in English teaching and learning Using games in English classes is one of the most successful ways to promote and improve students' interest in studying, and it is the first step in attracting students' attention (Richards & Renandya, 2002) Moreover, the utilization of games in the lesson can be considered as a form of classroom management In reality, games in English education frequently boost learning motivation for students because of their characteristics of activeness and competitiveness (Moon, 2000) From this knowledge, using games to teach vocabulary can be an effective and attractive method for ESL teachers

Moreover, as a public teacher at a high school in Vietnam, the author desires to apply and discover the effects of using games to practice vocabulary in teaching English as a Second language to teenagers Teaching vocabulary through games was chosen as the focus area for this research for several reasons

Firstly, the observation during the course of many lesson taughts during the author's teaching career as an ESL teacher at Xuan Van High School in Tuyên Quang Province reveals that new vocabulary in English lessons in Vietnamese public high schools is mainly taught through the translation approach It means the teacher writes words on the board and tells the students the Vietnamese meaning, then asks them to learn by heart the spelling, pronunciation, and Vietnamese meaning Secondly, it is often that the vocabulary is taught out of context, as isolated words And thirdly, there is little diversity in the teaching approach employed in ESL classes in Vietnamese public high schools, especially those in suburban and rural areas The main method is to focus on drilling the vocabulary so that students can generate the proper pronunciation of words Other approaches, such as adopting games, are used infrequently to teach vocabulary (Richards & Renandya, 2002); but because using games takes time, teachers prefer to utilize drilling as an instant means of teaching and practice English vocabulary

In conclusion, it is practical for the author to conduct research in using games to teach English vocabulary for tenth graders at Xuan Van High School.

Aims and Objectives

This study aims to discover the effectiveness of vocabulary games in improving the English vocabulary use for tenth graders at Xuan Van High School in Tuyen Quang With this aim, some objectives of the research are presented:

- To what extent does the use of vocabulary games improve the students’ vocabulary use?

- What are the learners’ opinions towards the use of games in their vocabulary learning?

Scope of Study

The study was conducted with 40 students in Grade Ten at Xuan Van High School in Tuyen Quang to discover the effectiveness of using games in improving the English vocabulary use In the school where the research was conducted, Vietnamese is the medium of instruction Students are encouraged to speak in English when they answer and interact with their classmates in English class The translation is generally avoided, but it is sometimes used to clarify complex linguistic concepts and clarify meaning This action research employs a mixed-method approach Its data is collected through questionnaires, student's pre-tests and post-test, and the interview results Since the limit of time and resources, this research only focuses on some language games used in English classrooms but not other educational games or digital applications that retain English vocabulary.

Research Question

According to the aims and objectives of study, the research questions are included:

1 To what extent does the use of vocabulary games improve the students’ vocabulary use?

2 What are the learners’ attitudes towards the use of games in their vocabulary learning?

Significance of study

This study sheds light on the efficacy of employing games in vocabulary acquisition to improve students' enthusiasm for learning Theoretically, this study enhances the community of ESL teachers' beliefs and knowledge about the value of utilizing games in education, particularly in teaching and learning the vocabulary of a new language

Practically, this study provides practical material that English teachers and other languages teacher to identify innovative teaching techniques that interest students more In addition, the curriculum developers, educational researchers might use the findings of this study to create a realistic vocabulary acquisition curriculum for their educational institutions

This thesis includes five main chapters

Chapter 1 is an introduction part Chapter 1 provides related background information, the rationale of the study, the aims and objectives, the research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the definitions of the key terms, and the organization of the thesis

Chapter 2 is about the literature review, presenting the information related to using game in teaching English vocabulary learning, its effectiveness and difficulty of applying game in teaching This part also briefly mentions the previous study by both foreign and Vietnamese researchers

Chapter 3 illustrates the methodology of the study It consists of the research design, the research site, the sample and sample processes, the research equipment, the data collecting process, and the data analysis procedures

Chapter 4 is a description of the study's findings based on data analysis from the vocabulary tessts, questionnaire and semi-structured interview The data is also compared and contrasted with data from earlier research in the debate

Chapter 5 summarizes the thesis's key results, the study's implications, the research's limitations, and recommendations for further research.

Organisation of the study

This paper is constructed based on three theories as follow:

The first theory is Constructivism, which is a subset of postmodernism, and game-based learning is founded on this foundation theory (Knight, 2006) Piaget

(1950) proposed that learning is a quest for knowledge and that pupils construct their own knowledge via involvement Piaget (1950) also contended that kids learn through a set of interconnected, interdisciplinary abilities and aims acquired through solo and collaborative inquiry Constructivism is founded on three tenets: "knowledge is built by people," "knowledge is conjectural and imperfect," and "knowledge increases with exposure" (Knight, 2006, p 96-97) Social constructivism "focuses on the importance of sociocultural context in understanding what occurs in the world through social interaction and constructing knowledge" (Wu et al., 2011, p 271) Through the social constructivist lens, game-based learning emphasizes interaction among players and games, which are socially created as students develop new knowledge in a social environment (Wu et al., 2011)

The second theory is Social constructivism, which is based on a synthesis of Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural learning theory and Piaget's (1950) constructivist learning theory, and it supports Dewey's (1897) educational philosophy of pragmatism, which holds that individuals learn by hands-on experiences Vygotsky

(1978), a well-known developmental psychologist, proposed that play significantly impacted a child's development Through sociocultural learning theory, Vygotsky

(1978) stated that learning is essentially social activity and that children may learn through activities in a social environment with the use of mediating instruments According to Vygotsky (1978), "Play creates a zone of proximal development for the child In playing, a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior" (p 102) Vygotsky summarized his socio-cultural findings in 1997: "Every function in the cultural development of the child appears on the stage twice, in two planes, first the social, then the psychological, first between people as an instrumental

LITERATURE REVIEW

Theoretical Background

This paper is constructed based on three theories as follow:

The first theory is Constructivism, which is a subset of postmodernism, and game-based learning is founded on this foundation theory (Knight, 2006) Piaget

(1950) proposed that learning is a quest for knowledge and that pupils construct their own knowledge via involvement Piaget (1950) also contended that kids learn through a set of interconnected, interdisciplinary abilities and aims acquired through solo and collaborative inquiry Constructivism is founded on three tenets: "knowledge is built by people," "knowledge is conjectural and imperfect," and "knowledge increases with exposure" (Knight, 2006, p 96-97) Social constructivism "focuses on the importance of sociocultural context in understanding what occurs in the world through social interaction and constructing knowledge" (Wu et al., 2011, p 271) Through the social constructivist lens, game-based learning emphasizes interaction among players and games, which are socially created as students develop new knowledge in a social environment (Wu et al., 2011)

The second theory is Social constructivism, which is based on a synthesis of Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural learning theory and Piaget's (1950) constructivist learning theory, and it supports Dewey's (1897) educational philosophy of pragmatism, which holds that individuals learn by hands-on experiences Vygotsky

(1978), a well-known developmental psychologist, proposed that play significantly impacted a child's development Through sociocultural learning theory, Vygotsky

(1978) stated that learning is essentially social activity and that children may learn through activities in a social environment with the use of mediating instruments According to Vygotsky (1978), "Play creates a zone of proximal development for the child In playing, a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior" (p 102) Vygotsky summarized his socio-cultural findings in 1997: "Every function in the cultural development of the child appears on the stage twice, in two planes, first the social, then the psychological, first between people as an instrumental

[interpsychological] category, then within the child as an intramental [intrapsychological] category" (Page 106)

The last theory is Pragmatism Long before social constructivism was established as a philosophy, Dewey (1897), a pragmatist, argued in his pedagogic that students are social creatures and education is a social institution "Education, therefore, must begin with a psychological insight into the child's capacities, interests, and habits It must be controlled at every point by reference to these same considerations" (Article One) Dewey (1897) recognized the need for social learning and engaging pupils at most ease He thought that hands-on experiences and game- based learning were excellent methods of reflective learning (Finstad, 2010) In 2008,

97 percent of American teenagers aged 12 to 17 reported playing video games on computers, handheld devices, consoles, or the internet (Lenhart et al., 2008) With the development of smartphones and tablets, virtually all American teenagers now play games; hence, it makes sense to focus on game-based learning in order to successfully engage today's students, providing them with a method to relate learning to familiar situations

No consensus has been reached on second language acquisition theories for sure For the objectives of this research, Vygotsky (1978) stressed the importance of the social environment in language learning through sociocultural theory Furthermore, Gass (2012), a social interactionist, proposed that the learner builds knowledge in a second language through conversational exchanges Swain (2013) bolstered Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, which combines cognition and emotion in social learning for second language acquisition, by stating that both comprehensible input and output are necessary for effective second language acquisition Students learn a second language through interactions with other second language learners, native language learners, and teachers (Malone, 2012).

Literature Review

In general, vocabulary may be seen from various viewpoints since, as Finch

(2019) points out, it can be viewed as a collection of all words in a particular language or as internal information held by speakers of that language Rupley et al

(1998) also mentioned "Vocabulary is the glue that connects stories, ideas, and content together, and vocabulary improves understanding" (p.99) The basic concept behind the preceding definitions is to think of vocabulary as a discrete unit of teaching in second language learning As described by Lewis and Wollis (1998, as cited in Rupley, et al.) at the end of the 1980s, the Lexical Approach demonstrated the importance of vocabulary in SLA Basanta's (2010) insights were significant, and she asserted in her psychopedagogic model of acquiring vocabulary that "lexical competence lay at the core of communicative competence and was thus fundamental to ELF teaching/ learning At a glance, vocabulary is regarded as a crucial component of foreign language learning, and several studies have been undertaken in this area" (Basanta

2010, p.175) As Gruss (2016) points out, vocabulary may also be thought of as a collection of terms A new piece of vocabulary, on the other hand, may consist of more than one word: for example, post office and mother-in-law, both of which are made up of two or three words yet represent the same notion A good convention is to refer to vocabulary 'things' rather than 'words' in all such circumstances" (Gruss, 2016, p.69)

2.2.2 Receptive and productive acquisition of vocabulary

Passive vocabulary, according to Corson (1995), contains the active vocabulary and three additional forms of vocabulary - words that are only partially understood, low-frequency words that are not readily available for use, and terms that are avoided in active usage, Nation (2001) wrote Corson's (1995) concept is based on whether or not a specific word is employed by the learner rather than on receptive and productive mastery of words Even if a student does not use these terms frequently, he or she may be familiar with them and be able to use them at any time in speech or writing (names of holidays, for example) In many cases, though, the less often a given word is used, the poorer the knowledge of these words learners have so that they can forget some of the aspects (remember meaning but forget spelling, for example) DeKeyser and Sokalski (1996) prove that receptive and productive knowledge require different forms of practice They question that receptive acquisition provides all knowledge needed for productive use On the contrary, Ellis and Beaton (1993) show a slightly different perspective stating that receptive and productive knowledge need to be accessed differently, especially at the early stage of developing L2 proficiency L1 translation means that the only way for young learners to access a foreign word is to rely on their L1 and translate it The study on receptive and productive acquisition involves many areas and various perspectives Nevertheless, it is important to explore this area in order to understand why learners are able to use some words actively while they only recognize other ones in a text or during a conversation Noting how this process takes place might be useful while preparing and designing lessons and tasks focused on vocabulary, optimizing the effects of teaching (Ellis & Beaton, 1993)

Games have always been and seen symbols of fun, enjoyment, involvement, competition, and cooperation Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (8th Ed) defines a game as “an activity or sport” governed with rules, where people have to compete against others In addition, El-Shamy (2001) states that it is a “Competitive activity played according to rules within a given context, where players meet a challenge” to achieve an objective and win (p 15) Moreover, she has differentiated between a game and a training game In addition to the other characteristics, the skill being developed in the training game is one of its objectives Furthermore, she adds that games are the context where the learning material can be interesting and not boring

Additionally, Prensky (2001) describes another feature that refers to the enjoyment found in playing a game He believes that games are the kind of activities that bring “…enjoyment and pleasure” to the participants (p.68) Consequently, what kind of relationship is there between having fun and learning? Kirriemuir and McFarlane (2004) answer by stating that games provide a “forum in which learning arises as a result of tasks stimulated by the content of the game” (p.8)

From these definitions, it can be concluded that a game is a kind of rule- governed activity based on competition and meeting a challenge to accomplish a particular goal through an enjoyable atmosphere During the classroom, games are used to reinforce or practice what has been studied, and they can be used as a way to motivate learners to have a pleasant interaction with the language Moreover, language games are games based on the language, and they aim at developing language skills For example, Crosswords Games can improve learners’ vocabulary

2.2.4 Game as an instructional technique

The use of games in the classroom as a teaching tool is not new Through surveys of undergraduate business students, Azriel, Erthal, and Starr (2005) discovered that playing a Jeopardy game in class to study for an exam was favored over a lecture-driven review When the average exam results of students who reviewed for the exam with Jeopardy were compared to a control group of students who received a standard lecture- style and question/answer review, there was no discernible change in exam scores These findings indicated that the game technique of review was just as successful as the traditional way of learning; nevertheless, polls revealed that students overwhelmingly favored the game method (Azriel, Erthal, & Starr, 2005)

Games are very popular in ESL classes Yang (2007) performed research using four different commercial games used in the classroom to teach fundamental language skills in her EWU Master's thesis on student motivation and games (speaking, reading, vocabulary, and grammar) Mad Gab, Boggle, Guessture, and Pictionary were among the games she tried Yang led the games in an English 112 classroom of college ESL students and then collected journal writing examples from students about the rewards and challenges of playing the games in class She discovered that students saw the games as a friendly and encouraging method to learn through analyzing their diaries The majority of the students who took part in the study reported in their notebooks that they had a good time playing the games (Yang, 2007)

Playing games in the classroom to practice language skills can help students recall what they are learning and attain higher language fluency by aiding with the cognitive processes that transfer knowledge from short-term to long-term memory Macedonia (2005) advocated utilizing games as instruments for focused proceduralisation of declarative information in language acquisition Declarative (fact) knowledge includes understanding language rules such as grammatical constructs; but, once a person becomes proficient in a language, they no longer think about the rules since their declarative knowledge has become proceduralized Macedonia claims that playing targeted language games with repetition and spoken practice leads to proceduralisation (Macedonia, 2005)

2.2.5 Games to teach ESL/EFL Vocabulary

Vocabulary games and role-play provide learners with the opportunity to participate in an exciting exercise that helps them memorize new vocabulary better than studying it from a dictionary alone

Javad A'lipour and Ketabi (2010) discuss a unique game they employ in their classrooms to teach vocabulary to EFL students Students in two teams predict the words written on a card after being given hints by a partner The student providing clues to his team attempts to define the word using synonyms, definitions, or alternative linguistic methods until his team correctly guesses the term Javad A'lipour and Ketabi discovered several advantages to the game, including team competition, which led to students' desire to actively participate in the activity by all of the students explaining or guessing the word One disadvantage of the game discovered by the researchers was that the students describing the term tended to utilize basic synonyms and did not frequently move towards more complex structures Their advice to teachers who intend to utilize the game in their classrooms is to give incentives, such as extra points or awards, to students who attempt to employ more complicated structures in their definitions According to Javad A'lipour and Ketabi (2010), using games to teach vocabulary allows different learning styles in the learners while making the courses more entertaining They lament that

"traditional memorization drills" dominate vocabulary teaching and discuss Graves'

(2000) contention that "ESL teachers who want to improve students' vocabularies realize that they have to foster classrooms that accommodate multiple learning intelligence " and that "games have always been recognized as important tools that can dramatically change the atmosphere of the class" (Javad A'lipour, & Ketabi,

2010, p 1) As Javad A'lipour and Ketabi point out, games like the one they describe are useful classroom tools, and their utilization as a teaching strategy improves

Mystery Word, Word-O, and Word Sorts are three unique vocabulary games described by Wells and Narkon (2011) for teaching ESL vocabulary In the Mystery Word game, the entire class guesses a word in response to the teacher's clues The instructor puts 10-20 vocabulary words on the board and then gives hints regarding the term while the pupils ask questions The teacher may provide clues such as "the mystery word contains five letters" or "the mystery word snows." The Word-O game is similar to Bingo Students are given Bingo-style cards that have their goal words inscribed on them When the teacher shouts out definitions, pupils must cover the word on their card that corresponds to the definition The first student to win a

"Word-O" must first verify that he or she correctly identified all of the words and then wins! Word Sorts is a game in which students work in small groups or pairs to categorize target words Students are asked to consider how the target words are similar to or dissimilar to one another Students can construct pairings or groupings of words and must explain their reasoning to the class Wells and Narkon (2011) discovered that playing these activities in the classroom kept students focused and pushed them to acquire new terminology However, more study is needed to establish if the games described resulted in vocabulary learning

2.2.6 Factors affecting the choice of games

According to Lewis et al., (1999), selecting a game for a lesson should begin with an assessment of the learners' skills, predispositions, and requirements Based on this knowledge, the instructor can investigate what various sorts of games can offer to the EFL classroom In addition to these fixed variables, there are those that are more malleable, such as the time of the lesson when the game is employed (as sometimes, the teacher can make a spontaneous decision that a given element of language could be processed with the use of a game) This controls the length of time available to play the game Furthermore, as Masheder and Mildred (1989) points out, games can be utilized as a backdrop or a prelude for other, more detailed activities, or they can be the major emphasis of the class, providing a framework for students to present and practice L2 input Depending on this fundamental function, the selection of a given game may be confined to a specific category of games According to Hong (2002), the proper choice of a game for the lesson should be based on a range of variables such as the objective, the language emphasis, the learners, and technical considerations This may be accomplished by looking over a list of questions such as:

- Which specific component or language skill can be taught or practiced on the basis of a certain game?

- Is the game one is going to select appropriately for the learner's age, abilities, knowledge, or interests? Can they gain from using the game?

- Why is it useful to resort to a certain game at all? - Did the usage of a certain game (or kind of game) result in beneficial educational outcomes? If so, what were the specific results?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research design

As this is action research, a project of conducting a game-based English vocabulary weekly lesson is designed Every game-based lesson employs one or more language games (among Bingo, Pass the ball, Slap the board, TPR, Noughts and Crosses, Lucky number, Shark attack, and Miming game) which proved to enhance vocabulary usage for ESL students effectively The period from December to February was the preparation time for the project This project officially launched from March

2022 to May 2022 Within two months running (March and April), 40 students got a total of 8 weekly tests and 2 monthly tests to screen their improvement After that, in May, 40 students completed the research questionnaire and joined in the interview

A mixed method design was used to evaluate the efficacy of utilizing games in students' English vocabulary usage and their views regarding the use of games in improving their English vocabulary usage Quantitative data were gathered through the analysis of a series of weekly and monthly tests and a questionnaire And qualitative data were gathered through interviews in which the interviewer simply asked a few pre-planned questions to assess students' attitudes about classroom games

In order to carry out the research, action research was used There are many different definitions of action research According to LoCastro (2000), action research is one form of Classroom Centered Research which is seen as being small- scale and situational, that is, focused on a particular problem, to try to understand and perhaps solve some concrete problem in an individual teacher’s classroom It is defined as “ideas-in-action” and is generally not during normal, everyday activities It can be carried out by a group of teachers who decide to cooperate, and thus is collaborative, or can be done by one teacher Hopkins (1985) also stated it as the combination of action and research in which a person attempted to understand, improve, and reform practice In addition, Cohen and Manion (1994) highlighted that action research is “small-scale intervention in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the effects of such an intervention” Nunan (1992) pointed out that action research is “problem focused”, mainly concerning with a single case in a specific situation and trying to find solution to the problem focus

Furthermore, McNiff (2013) suggested that action research involves two aspects: Action-think carefully about the situations and perceptions of the situations, and research involves data-gathering, reflection on the action shown through the data, generating evidence from the data, and making claims to knowledge based on conclusions drawn authenticated evidence Ebbutt (1985) (cited by Cohen 1994) regarded action research as a systematic study that combined action and reflection with the intention of improving practice

With many definitions above, I am concerned with the several strands of action research are drawn by Kemmis and Taggart (1988) in their all-encompassing definition: "Action research is a form of collective self-reflective inquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of the own social or educational practices, as well as their understanding of these practices and the situations in which these practices are carried out The approach is only action research when it is collaborative, though it is important to realize that the action research of the group is achieved through the critically examined action of individual group members" (Kemmis and Me Taggart 1988, p.5)

The several features that the definitions suggested that action research has key principles These are summarized by Kemmis and Me Taggart (1992):

- Action research is an approach to improving education by changing it and learning from the consequences of changes.

- Action research is participatory: it is research through which people work towards the improvement of their own practices (and only secondarily on other people’s practice).

- Action research develops through the self-reflective spiral: a spiral of cycles of planning, acting (implementing plans), observing (systematically), reflecting and then re-planning, further implementation, observing and reflecting

- Action research is collaborative: it involves those responsible for action in improving that action

The purpose of action research is to identify “problematic” situations or issues that need improving, and then undertake practical interventions in order to bring informed changes into practice The researcher had the decision to choose an action research project as her methodology because action research refers to teaching initiated classroom investigation that seeks to increase the teacher’s understanding of the classroom teaching and learning, and to bring changes in classroom practices

There are many ways to conduct action research Sagor ( 2005) (cited by Cohen 1994) sets out a straightforward four-step model of action research: clarify vision and targets, articulate appropriate theory, implement action and collect data, reflect on the data and plan informed action

According to Nunan (2005), the seven steps in the action research cycle include:

- Initiation: The teacher comes up with a problem His/her students do not seem interested or motivated What should be done?

- Preliminary investigation: spending some time collecting baseline data through observation and recording classroom interaction.

- Hypothesis: After reviewing the initial data, he/she formed the hypothesis that the students are unmotivated.

- Intervention: The teacher devises a number of strategies for encouraging the students to relate the content of the lesson.

- Evaluation: After several weeks, the classroom is recorded again There is much greater involvement of the students, and the complexity of their language and student-led interactions is enhanced.

- Dissemination: The teacher runs a workshop for colleagues and presents a paper at a language conference.

- Follow-up: The teacher investigates alternative methods of motivating students.

In a different study, Kemmis and McTarggart (2014) suggested that action research has four steps: planning, action, observation, and reflection

- Planning: a problem or issue is identified and plan of an action is developed to bring improvements in specific areas of the research context.

- Action: the plan is put into action.

- Observation: the effects of the action observed and data are collected.

- Reflection: the effects of the action are evaluated and become the basis for further cycles of research.

The researcher followed four action research steps from Kemmis and McTarggart (cited by Cohen 1994) to fulfill the study because they are very detailed and clear to understand and easy to adapt to the context of Xuan Van High School

The study, “Using vocabulary games in teaching English vocabulary to tenth- graders” was carried out at Xuan Van High School in 8 weeks in the second semester

In the following sections, the stages of this research will be described in more detail

In this stage the researcher defined an area of focus, describing the problem, reviewing the literature, and writing an action plan to guide the research With years of experience in teaching English at Xuan Van High School, the researcher’s discussion with learners, and other teachers, she identified that many students had difficulty in learning vocabulary The learners’ biggest problem is a lack of vocabulary knowledge and motivation to learn vocabulary They learned vocabulary passively, easy to forget the words, and they got bored with writing the words two lines Therefore, this area was selected to be the research focus in this study

The researcher used a pretest, a posttest, pre-questionnaires, post- questionnaires, and interview to collect data about using language games in learning vocabulary as well as learners’ attitude towards using language games

The study lasted for 8 weeks in the second term, so the researcher selected suitable games and apply them from week 2 to week 9 The first week and the last week the pre- and post-tests, the pre- and post-questionnaires, and interviews were carried out

There were three steps in this stage The first step took place in week 1 The second step from week 2 to week 9, the researcher applied eight language games (Bingo, Pass the ball, Slap the board Total Physical Response (TPR), Noughts and Crosses,

Lucky number Shark attack, and Miming game) in lessons The last step in week 10, researcher gave posttest, conducted post questionnaires, and group interviews

This is the detailed week’s plan:

First, the researcher introduced the aims of the experiment and the action plan Then, she got learners’ attitude towards using language games in learning vocabulary information by giving pre-questionnaire handouts to students

The students took the pretest to check their vocabulary competencies

The lesson plan was implemented from week 2 to week 9 The students have 6 periods of English per week There were 5 units in English textbook 2 for tenth Grade This action plan was applied in the second term, students learn from unit 5 to unit 10 Based on analyzing the characteristics of teenager learners and game types, the researcher consulted with her colleagues The researcher decided to choose three games because they were suitable and easy to use for these types of learners The games were Bingo, Pass the ball, Slap the board, Noughts and Crosses, TPR, Lucky number, Shark attack, and Miming game In the action plan, the researcher tried to use a variety of these games in each period and the game could be repeated

First, the students took the posttest Next, they finished the post questionnaires And the researcher interviewed learners in groups

Context

This research is conducted at Xuan Van High School in Tuyen Quang province This school is located in a rural area in Vietnam With this characteristic, the students here have little exposure to the native English language on a daily basis The only chance that helps they get exposure is by watching English video or learning at English class However, high school English lessons seem impractical and boring that uninspired students to learn the language, especially English vocabulary Through the researcher’s observation via years of teaching at Xuan Van High School, the researcher perceived a situation of students’ shortage of English vocabulary and unmotivated English vocabulary lessons at school A period of literature review has been done to come up with the method of using games to improve the English vocabulary use for students So, this research is conducted to figure out an effective method to increase students’ eagerness to learn and use English vocabulary.

Participants

40 students from a tenth-grade class at Xuan Van High School were encouraged to participate in the project Students were already divided into their class on their first school day, and the researcher makes no class rearrangement for any of them as this was a complicated and meaningless procedure So, participants were delivered game-based English vocabulary lessons in their original classes weekly This was also the purpose of interacting with the same situation as in practice to gain knowledge if the method works on a large class scale like the one at Xuan Van High School.

Data collection instruments

To answer the research questions of the study, the data were collected through two tests, two questionnaires, and an interview To answer the first question a pre-test and a post-test were used To address the second question, a questionnaire and an interview were used

The aim of this research is to indicate the effectiveness of using language games in teaching vocabulary to 10 th graders at Xuan Van High School Tests were chosen as an instrument to gather information According to Nation (1990), tests are important because it is 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 a short-term goal, to see the effectiveness of the teaching and to investigate learning process

Two types of tests were administered before and after the trial: a pre-test and a post-test The pre-test was done at the beginning of the second semester before games were implemented (vocabulary was taught and learnt in the former way) and the post- test was used at the end of the second term with games implementation (using vocabulary games in teaching and learning vocabulary) The level of difficulty and the format of these two tests were similar The tests followed the syllabus of English textbook for tenth graders textbook 2, which was taken from the exam questions bank of student’s curriculum at Xuan Van High School However, the content of the tests was not quite similar as they were designed based on the lexical that students had learnt during the course

The test papers include 5 sections:

Section 1 with 6 questions asked students to look at the picture and circle the correct word (1.5 points) There were 10 questions in section 2 that students had to circle the odd one out (2.5 points) In sections 3 with 4 questions, students had to reorder the letters to make the words (Jumbled words) (1 point) In section 4, students had to choose the best answer A, B or C to fill in the gap in 10 questions (2.5 points) And section 5 requested students to fill in the missing words in the blanks with 10 questions (2.5 points)

Students took each of the tests in 40 minutes The tests were marked carefully by the researcher The scores on each test range from 0 to 10 and were grouped into levels of performance as follows:

The result of the post-test was compared with the result of the pretest by counting scores which learners made The results from the tests help the researcher answer the research question “To what extent does the use of vocabulary games improve the students’ vocabulary use?"

Conducting a study on the real situation, questionnaires were applied for students Nunan (1992, p.231) defined that “a questionnaire is an instrument for collecting data usually in written form, consisting of open or closed questions and other probes requiring a response from the subjects” Questionnaire is a common instrument for collecting data on unobservable phenomena such as attitudes, motivation, and self-concept (Seliger & Shohamy, 1989) This instrument provides a simple and inexpensive way of collecting and analyzing a huge set of data from a large number of participants

The questionnaire for this present study is adapted from Tran’s questionnaire

(2013) because of some similarities concerning the topic of games The questionnaires are given to the students to evaluate the vocabulary games in terms of their design and effectiveness in helping them learn vocabulary They can also express their opinions of and attitudes towards the game-based learning mode To encourage the subjects to express their opinions, they remain anonymous in the survey The items were put in a 3-point Likert scale from level 1: Disagree to level 2: Agree and level 3: Strongly Agree All of the items are simple enough and translated into both English and Vietnamese for the learners to understand

Pre-questionnaire had 9 questions aiming to disclose the attitudes of the students towards learning vocabulary before intervention It was assigned to the students in the first week

The first three questionnaires aimed to examine the cognitive attitude of the students The cognitive attitudes refer to the thoughts and beliefs a person has about an attitude object The students had to answer the questions about the roles of vocabulary in their study and in the future or self-evaluation on their vocabulary retention

The second item asked about the affective attitude of the students towards learning vocabulary through vocabulary games The affective component refers to the emotional reaction a person has towards an attitude object In this questionnaire, they asked the students about their emotions when being offered to play vocabulary games in class

The last three items were designed to investigate the students’ behavioral attitudes This component referred to the way one person behaves when exposed to an attitude object These three questions focused on the activities that the students often do in learning vocabulary lessons such as participating actively or trying to study vocabulary as much as possible

The questionnaire was anonymous so that the students could freely express their opinions without fear of being punished or disfavored

The content of the post-questionnaire is similar to the pre-questionnaire The students answered 9 questions again so as to reveal the change in their attitude towards learning vocabulary In addition, there were two more questions Question number ten was used to find out which game the students like to play best and question number eleven explored which kind of working activity the students wanted to join in The data from the questionnaires would help the researcher answered the second research questions “What are the learners’ attitudes towards the use of games in their vocabulary learning?”

Nunan (2005) pointed that the oral interview has been widely used as a research tool in applied linguistics Structured interview, semi-structured interview, in-depth interview and focus group interview are some types of interview According to Nunan (2005) the semi-structured interview has found favor with many researchers because of its flexibility It helps the researcher and an interviewer to gain the general ideas that he or she expected to get A group interview was conducted following the questionnaire The purpose of the group interview was to collect a deep understanding of learners’ attitudes towards language games used in teaching vocabulary The information collected from interviews supported the data collected from the questionnaires

There were 6 questions in the interview for students to discuss and express their ideas about attitudes towards using language games in learning vocabulary There were

40 students in class 10B so the researcher divided students into five groups of eight The interviews were carried out in the Vietnamese language in order to make students feel comfortable and confident when talking to the researcher and enhance mutual understanding between the interviewer and the interviewees The interviews were conducted at the last week of the study In addition, the researcher conducted interviews at break time in the English room of Xuan Van High School Through the interview, viewpoints from learners about learning English vocabulary by using vocabulary games were shared The transcription was made based on note-taking during the interview The transcript from interviews was translated into English.

Data collection procedures

In the second semester of the school year 2021-2022, the researcher applied games in each vocabulary class, which was held once a week for two months To begin, respondents were asked to complete a questionnaire in order to explore their attitudes regarding the use of games in English vocabulary class They were then invited to complete a vocabulary pretest before proceeding with the intervention

After two months of intervention, the class took a post-test and a post- questionnaire to evaluate the result of the intervention Then, the group interviews were conducted Students responded to questions regarding their problems or obstacles in memorizing and using English vocabulary and the effectiveness of games they acquired during the trial.

Data analysis

Mixed methods were used to analyze the collected data as Fraenkel, Wallen and Hyun (2012) cite in their book that the utilization of the mixed-methods research: qualitative and quantitative brings three major benefits Firstly, when using this kind of method, we can examine a clear and explanatory relationship between different variables Secondly, we can profoundly investigate the relationships between variables Thirdly, the confirmation and the cross-validation of the relationships between variables are explored

Quantitative data from the vocabulary tests and questionnaires were cleaned, organized and analyzed by Microsolf Excel Excel is a handful and easy statistic analyser for various types of research

Qualitative data were collected and analyzed from group interview questions Data were recorded and translated into English for research purposes only The audio recordings were transcribed carefully as Bloor et al (2001) state the necessity to transcribe all recorded speech including all speakers; all unfinished and interrupted speech; very brief extracts of speech After that, the data were analyzed by the logical analysis approach

The response of the interview was analyzed by using the content analysis approach, which means that three steps, viz familiarizing and organizing, coding and recoding, and summarizing and interpreting were employed.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Research results

4.1.1 Pre-test and post-test results

Figure 4.1 Pre-test score result

The pie showed the result of the pre-test for this research The highest portion was 42%, which showed a score range of Good (7-8) The second place was the score range of Average (5-6), with 28% of the tested students Following that was Weak (3-

4), which accounted for 20% Last but not least, the number of students who achieved Excellent (9-10) score equalled that of Very poor (0-2) score, with 5%

Figure 4.2 Post-test score result

After completing all the games introduced in the study, students were asked to do a post-test to assess their achievement with vocabulary The test was also divided into five sections with various types of exercises The criteria for ranking the scores were kept unchanged totally

As can be seen from figure 4.2, the Average (5-6) score was the highest portion of the chart, with 43%; interestingly, there was no score under 5 recorded The Good (7-8) score was in second place with 35%; while that of Excellence (9-10) score was 22%; this chart shows no appearance of Weak (3-4) and Very poor (0-2)

4.1.1.3 Comparision between pre-test and post-test

Figure 4.3 Comparison between pre-test and post-test

The bar chart showed the comparision between pre-test and post-test As can be seen from the chart, the most remarkable information was that the Good and Average score took a turn to be in the highest position Indeed, in the pre-test, the highest portion is Good score range; meanwhile, in the post-test, the place was taken over by Average score range The second notable point was the missing of Weak and Very poor score in the post-test And also, the post-test recognized a surge in Excellence score

NO Pre-test Post-test Gain NO Pre-test Post-test Gain

The table of score pointed out that students’ score increased after the intervention The highest gain is 3.75; the lowest gain is 0.00

In summary, there was a slight increase of vocabulary results in pre-tests and post-tests From the table of result, even through there was one student recorded to have same scores in the two tests, most of the learners got better results in the post-test

The questionnaire consists of three parts relating to cognitive, affective and behavior aspect (Beaver, 2006) In particular, from statement 1 to statement 3 referred to cognitive aspect For statement 1 on the level of awareness on the importance of gaining a rich vocabulary, all students agreed that it was important Before applying language games, 56% of tenth graders strongly agreed on the importance of learning a rich vocabulary But after using language games, more students agreed on the role of vocabulary in learning a language, namely 63%

Referring to statement 2, over half of students agreed that they had known lots of vocabulary for different topics before they used language games Only a mere of 12% students were strongly confident to know vocabulary on different topics Meanwhile, after using games in learning vocabulary, the percentage of tenth graders agreed with the statement was highest with 48%, which was nearly as four times as the number of students having disagreement However, the most striking information taken from the statement was the changes in students’ awareness before and after using games to learn vocabulary

As for statement 3, two thirds of the students had agreed that they could remember more words as playing games with 44% for agreement and 55% for strong agreement After practicing games, 100% of participants confirmed that they could remember more words Particularly, 65% of the students strongly believed their changes were due to games, while the rest of the class agreed with the statement

Table 2 Comparison on the students’ cognitive aspect of attitude towards using games in learning English vocabulary before and after the intervention Statement Percentage Disagree Agree Strongly Agree

In order to investigate the feeling of students as using language games in learning vocabulary, the research gave out three statements (from statement 4 to statement 6) After receiving questions, participants’ responses revealed some significant results

To begin with, the proportion of students worried about playing vocabulary games seemed was equal to the number of students who disagreed with the statement, namely 37% Just over a quarter of participants believed that they did not feel worried to play games However, after playing games, these numbers increased to 45% Meanwhile, the percentage of students who disagreed with the statement and supporters decrease by 11% and 8% respectively

Stress and pressure of participants as playing games were also mentioned in statement 5 Before carrying out the research, only 55% of students were confident as playing games with their teams Specifically, 38% of respondents thought they could be a reason for their team's failure However, after practicing games in class, nearly three quarters overcame their pressure when working as teammates The number of students who had trouble with their own problems dropped to nearly a third after the treatment with 28% of responses

In statement 6, the positive impacts of games were mentioned to collect feedback from learners on whether they were useful for their vocabulary It was seen from the statistics that nearly half of participants strongly believed that games would help them to enjoy learning vocabulary although they did not experience language games The figure of pupils did not agree that games helped them to enjoy learning vocabulary was 22% while the approval was 30% before participating in the research However, after being introduced language games in class, 89% of students showed their satisfaction the with games while the minority did not agree with the statement

Table 3 Comparison on the students’ affective aspect of attitude towards using language games in learning English vocabulary before and after the intervention Statement Percentage Disagree Agree Strongly Agree

Behaviors of tenth graders were reflected through the results from statement 7 to statement 9 In particular, statement 7 referred to students’ effort during the process Before taking part in the study, 44% of pupils thought that they would always try to participate in all kinds of games

38% of students believed that they had a strong effort to experience games Meanwhile, the percentage of participants who did not want to take part in games was 18% which fell to 15% after the treatment On the contrary, more students tried to participate in all games in class

In statement 8, 37% of learners thought that they had not studied vocabulary hard but after the treatment, the figure dropped by 11% in the total responses More remarkably, before using games, only 7% of students agreed with the statement but after the treatment, the number increased by five times However, strong agreement choices decreased from 56% to 37% as pupils completed the process

Research discussion

According to the data collected from research instruments, the two research questions would be discussed to find out the possible answers

Question 1: To what extent does the use of vocabulary games improve the students’ vocabulary use?

To investigate the impact of games towards student’s vocabulary use, the researcher asked learners to complete pre-test, post-test and interviews The results collected partly revealed the answer for this question

To begin with, before carrying out language games in class, learners completed pre-tests with nearly half of the students achieving good scores After the treatment, the most remarkable change happened in an excellent group with an increase of about 17% while there was a good increase of roughly 15% in the average group and the missing of Weak and Very poor group The large increase in the excellent group might be explained by the effects of games used in class

Besides, it was noticeable that two students remained their excellent results before and after the teacher applied language games while only two had average scores No pupils had lower marks after Therefore, it might be understood that games affected positively almost of students and helped them to improve the results

Furthermore, opinions recorded from interviews partially confirmed the effect of language games used in the study through students’ thinking and learning experience This finding was supported by the previous study by Permana and Permatawati (2020), Calvo-Ferrer (2017), and Sadeghi and Sharifi (2013)

Question 2: What are the learners’ attitudes towards the use of games in their vocabulary learning?

In order to find out the answer to this question, the researcher delivered pre and post questionnaire for learners Firstly, it was noticeable that all of students realized the importance of learning a rich vocabulary at school After using a lot of games in class, the percentage of strong agreement increased slightly to 63% It showed that more students emphasized on learning English Similarly, as mentioned in statement 2 on students’ vocabulary bank, more learners were confident in their vocabulary which was reflected by the double size of strong agreements after completing the study Particularly, the proportion of students agreed with positive effects of games on their learning vocabulary was higher after using them in class

Turning to statement 4, fewer pupils worried about playing games activities There was a slight drop in the percentage of those who felt nervous as practicing games from 37% to 29% after language games were introduced However, in statement 5, after the treatment, double students believed that they could be reason for the failure if they took part in games activities It could be explained that learners seemed to be unconfident in team-working although they agreed that games were useful for their memory As practicing games, other difficulties, such as group work skills, might affect learners’ vocabulary competence; therefore, students did not believe their team could win the game However, much more learners were satisfactory with their participation as playing games in group after the researcher applied language games for teaching vocabulary It was one of the positive results of the study

For public school learners, learning motivation and excitement were seen to be more important than the volume of knowledge in the lesson In this study, language games were used with the aim to support pupils learn vocabulary more effectively To be more specific, most of the participants in the study thought that games were enjoyable in lessons and helped them much in learning as stated in the result of statement 6

Furthermore, games changed students’ learning habits For example, in statement 7 and 8, many of students strongly agreed that they participated in all kinds of games after the treatment The number of pupils who refused to play games reduced to prove that they were keener on games and gradually took part in all games without hesitation This was also supported by the research of Yang (2007)

In her report, it was discovered that most of the students who participated in the study reported in their notebooks that they had a good time playing the games (Yang, 2007)

In question 9, more learners showed their determination towards joining games with a sharp increase of strong agreement with this statement However, games used in lesson must be their favourite ones Therefore, statement 10 and 11 clarified the question of which game and what kind of games attracted students most

In particular Noughts and Crosses were the most favourite game for 96% of students.These games required learners’ memory and quick reaction with questions Sometimes, bad luck of each team or player made this game more exciting and unpredictable for the whole class To be winners of the game, young learners needed to combine personal skills and group work skills Consequently, this game was the most chosen one in the study On the other side, despite the noisy atmosphere of the game “Pass the ball” in the classroom, it was attractive for 48% because it was quite boring with the repetition of passing the ball and saying vocabulary To win the game, students were required memory only Therefore, it did not create enough competition and excitement for young learners to take part in next time It was also noticeable that students preferred games required physical activities, competition, and tricks to win

In addition, pupils loved playing game in group rather than individual work or pair work because they could not have had good concentration to study vocabulary quietly and individually Therefore, to promote students’ motivation, it was better combine activities and learning objectives, such as: vocabulary topics and games as well as modes of games in class.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary of research findings

In this study, the researcher has addressed two questions: To what extent can the use of language games affect tenth graders’ vocabulary competence at Xuan Van high school? What are the students’ attitudes towards using language games in learning English vocabulary? The researcher used pre-test and post-test to measure the ability of 40 students from high school The questionnaire supported by interviews was used to collect the students’ attitudes towards using language games

As this research was undertaken under the classroom research methodology and action research approach, the result of this research can be summarized as follows:

First, by comparing the scores of the pretest and posttest, it can be concluded that vocabulary language games can improve students’ vocabulary competence They can memorize vocabulary easily and quickly They can also get higher scores after using language games in teaching lessons

Secondly, the participants expressed positive attitudes towards learning vocabulary through games Language games brought a new atmosphere with relaxation and fun to the lessons Games made them feel relaxed and comfortable They were not afraid of making mistakes, they could show like or dislike feelings when joining the learning process In addition, games created motivation and competition for the learners to get involved and participate actively in learning activities and they could play and learn new words at the same time Thanks to games learners could not only learn words faster and better but also increase activeness, creativeness, and solidarity spirit between students And students had greater motivation to learn vocabulary through games

In conclusion, the role of games in teaching and learning vocabulary cannot be denied The findings of the study revealed that games not only improve the students’ learning and using vocabulary but also found their attitude towards learning vocabulary through games was positive The results of the research helped the researcher - the teacher could understand and know the reason why students like or dislike serveral types of games, and the ways of working From this the teacher had suitable methods to help students learn vocabulary effectively However, to get the most effective use of games in learning vocabulary, the teacher should prepare the lesson plans carefully and choose the suitable games for learners.

Limitations and further research

Although the study has revealed some evidence of the effectiveness of language games, it still has some limitations

The students are in a public school so the ideal environment to control other factors influencing the participants’ results is lacking Thus, it is obvious that the researcher can not control other aspects that can influence participants’ performance in class such as learning habits, students’ mood, and physical setting

In addition, the research time is short and the scope of the study is limited It cannot cover all the use of language games in regards to all four skills: games for speaking, listening, reading, and writing focused As mentioned above, the action research was to investigate if language games could improve students’ vocabulary learning competence and explore their attitudes towards vocabulary games The researcher just used games in learning vocabulary for students in her research Also, the research is considered in the context of one class in a high school, thus, it lacks the characteristic of generalization

From the above limitations, the researcher recommends carrying out a larger research scope with the population of students from all tenth graders of Xuan Van High School Further research could cover other aspects of language learning, such as speaking, listening, and writing skills.

Recommendation

In order to achieve effectiveness in learning vocabulary through games, the teacher should consider the following factors

First, Teachers need to consider which game to use, when to use them and how to link them with the textbook It is advisable for the teacher to choose the suitable games or activities so that students will find them interesting and enjoyable The number of students, their level of proficiency, their interests, needs and feelings as well as timing and learning topics should be considered The games should be neither difficult nor easy If the games are too easy, students will become bored If the games are too difficult, some students feel discouraged Moreover, it is an important factor is games should correspond to the content of the lesson so that students can both play and learn at the same time

Second, timing when using games should be considered The teachers need to estimate the time of the game before running a game Lewis and Bedson (1999) suggested that games should last from five to twenty minutes including preparation, presentation, game playing, and post playing Students will lose their interest if they play a game too long

Next, classroom language is very important when playing games The rules of the game should be clearly explained and well understood by the students It is one of the key factors that lead to students’ success in playing games Otherwise, it is not simply enough to read out the rules of a new game or hand out a written copy of the rules, Rixon (1992) stated that teachers should use the native language if necessary, as it is the quickest way to make everything clear The teachers need to demonstrate a short part of the game that they actually make use of the language or the skill that the game is designed to practice, and then get students joining in Games arc should be demonstrated rather than explained lengthily It is advisable that teachers make their demonstration as lively and appealing as possible so the students are motivated to join the game

Finally, classroom management and organization should be paid attention when playing games Normally young learners want to play games in groups, teams or whole class against the teacher to feel safe and they can share ideas or solve their problems in the best way When dividing the class, special attention must be paid to the difference in ability between good students and bad students in each group Teachers should make sure that the number of good and bad students in each group is equal in order not to discourage students Each group has both a quick-minded or talkative and slow or shy number of students, so that students have more chances to show their information and ideas Teachers should help slow and shy students more confident and take part in actively by whispering suggestions to those who do not know what to say, writing down one or two words on a piece of paper and pass to them to give them ideas, sitting near those who require the most help and giving hints to help slow and shy learners speak

In short, learning vocabulary plays an important role in learning a foreign language Due to language games, learning vocabulary has been more interesting Learners are given the opportunity to learn vocabulary through games organized carefully by the teachers They will become more eager and excited to learn vocabulary so as to express their ideas, reading, and writing, speaking, listening, and thinking in a foreign language

1 Azriel, J., Erthal, M & Starr, E (2005) Answers, questions, and deceptions: What is the role of games in business education? Journal of Education for Business, 81(9), 9-13

2 Bahang, M D., Hamzah, A A., & Lanre, D S (2020) Improving Self- Confidence of the Third Grade Students of Sman 15 Makassar to Speak English Through English Contest Technique (ECT)

3 Basanta, C P (2010) 12 A second-generation CALL vocabulary-learning program ADELEX: in search of a psychopedagogic model In Insights into non- native vocabulary teaching and learning (pp 175-185) Multilingual Matters

4 Calvo‐Ferrer, J R (2017) Educational games as stand‐alone learning tools and their motivational effect on L 2 vocabulary acquisition and perceived learning gains British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(2), 264-278

6 Corson, D.J (1995) Using English words Boston: Kluwer Academic

7 Creswell, J W (2013) Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE

8 DeKeyser, R M., & Sokalski, K J (1996) The differential role of comprehension and production practice Language learning, 46(4), 613-642

9 Dewey, J (1897) My pedagogic creed School Journal, 54, 77-80 Retrieved from http://dewey.pragmatism.org/creed.htm

10 Dobson, J M (1997) Effective Techniques for English Conversation Groups,

Washington: English Language Programs Division

11 Ellis, N C., & Beaton, A (1993) Psycholinguistic determinants of foreign language vocabulary learning Language learning, 43(4), 559-617

12 El-Shamy, S (2001) Training games: Everything you need to know about using games to reinforce learning McGraw Hill Professional

13 Ertmer, P A., & Newby, T J (2013) Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism:

Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective

Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71 doi: 10.1002/piq.21143

14 Finch, K (2019) Meaningful vocabulary learning: interactive bingo Retrieved on January 23rd

15 Finstad, D K (2010) A comparison of worksheets and instructional games as a review method for a college remedial reading course (Doctoral dissertation)

Retrieved from Pro Quest Dissertations & Theses Global (Order No 3427334)

16 Gass, S (2012) An interactionist perspective on second language acquisition

The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics (2nd ed.) doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195384253.013.0015

17 Gruss, J (2016) Games as a tool for teaching English vocabulary to young learners World Scientific News, 53(2), 67-109

18 Gruss, J (2016) Games as a tool for teaching English vocabulary to young learners World Scientific News, 53(2), 67-109

19 Halliwell and Susan (1992) Teaching English in the Primary Classroom

20 Hong and Lin, (2002) Using games in teaching English to young children ELT Journal, Vol 8, No 8

21 Javad A’lipour, & Ketabi, S (2010) Teaching vocabulary in EFL classrooms:

A tried-out technique English Language Teaching, 3 (3), 158-159 DOI:

22 Kemmis, S., McTaggart, R., & Nixon, R (2014) The action research planner: Doing critical participatory action research

23 Kirriemuir, J., & McFarlane, A (2004) Literature review in games and learning

24 Knight, G R (2006) Philosophy and education: An introduction in Christian perspective (4th ed.) Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press

25 Lenhart, A., Kahne, J., Middaugh, E., Macgill, A., Evans, C., & Vitak, J (2008) Teens, video games and civics Pew Research Internet Project Retrieved from http://www.pweinternet.org/2008/09/16/teens-video-games-and-civics

26 Lewis, Gordon and Bedson, Gunther (1999) Games for Children Oxford: OUP

27 Loan, Đ T B., & Ngân, H T Q (2018) Vận dụng trò chơi ngôn ngữ trong giảng dạy Tiếng Anh

28 Macedonia, M (2005) Games and foreign language teaching Support for Learning 20 (3), 135-140 DOI: 10.1111/j.0268-2141.2005.00377.x

29 Malone, D (2012) Theories and research of second language acquisition from http://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/files/theories_and_research_of_second_lan guage_acquisition.pdf

30 Masheder and Mildred (1989) Let´s play together London: Green Print

31 Moon, J (2000) Children learning English UK: Macmillan Heinemann

32 Nation, I S., & Nation, I S P (2001) Learning vocabulary in another language (Vol 10) Cambridge: Cambridge university press

33 Nunan, D (2005) Classroom research In Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp 249-264) Routledge

34 Nguyen, T T H., & Khuat T T N., (2003) Learning vocabulary through games Asian EFL Journal, 5(4), 90-105

35 Permana, P., & Permatawati, I (2020, March) Using Quizizz as a formative assessment tool in German classrooms In 3rd International Conference on

Language, Literature, Culture, and Education (ICOLLITE 2019) (pp 155-159)

36 Prensky, M (2001) Fun, play and games: What makes games engaging Digital game-based learning, 5(1), 5-31

37 Richards, J C & Renandya A W (2002) Methodology in language teaching:

An anthology of current practice Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

38 Sadeghi, K., & Sharifi, F (2013) The effect of post-teaching activity type on vocabulary learning of elementary EFL learners English Language

39 Scott, W A and Ytrberg, L H., (2001) Teaching English to Children London: Longman

40 Siek-Piskozub Teresa (1995) Games, Fun and Simulations in the Glottodidactic

Process, Poznań: Scientific Publishing House of Adam Mickiewicz University

41 Sinaga, R R F., & Pustika, R (2021) Exploring Students’attitude Towards English Online Learning Using Moodle During Covid-19 Pandemic At Smk Yadika Bandarlampung Journal of English Language Teaching and

42 Swain, M (2013) The inseparability of cognition and emotion in second language learning Language Teaching, 46(2), 195-207 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/

43 Tran, T D H (2013) Improving vocabulary learning of 10 th graders through using language games at Trung Van high school: An action research

Unpublished MA Thesis of Hanoi University, Hanoi, Vietnam

44 Vygotsky, L S (1978) Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

45 Vygotsky, L S (1997) The collected works of L S Vygotsky: Vol 4, The history of the development of higher mental functions New York: Plenum

46 Wells, J & Narkon, D (2011) Motivate students to engage in word study using vocabulary games Intervention in School and Clinic, 47 (45), 45-49

47 Wierus, B., & Wierus, M (1994) Games in learner based teaching American

International Journal of Contemporary Research, 4(9), 218-222

48 Wu, W H., Hsiao, H C., Wu, P L., Lin, C H., & Huang, S H (2012) Investigating the learning‐theory foundations of game‐based learning: a meta‐ analysis Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 28(3), 265-279

49 Yang, L T (2007) Increasing English learners’ motivation through games in ESL classrooms (EWU Master’s thesis)

This questionnaire aims to examine your attitudes towards learning vocabulary All of your answers will be confidential Your information is highly appreciated and does not affect your school score Please choose the best option by putting a tick (’V) in the box

1 It’s important for me to learn a rich vocabulary

2 I think I know lots of vocabulary for different topics

3 Playing games helps me to remember more words

4 I’m not worried about playing vocabulary games

5 I’m afraid that my team will be lost if I join in the game

6 Games help me to enjoy learning vocabulary

7 I always try to participate in all kinds of games

8 I always try to study vocabulary hard

9 I will participate actively in playing games if it’s my favourite game

Bản câu hỏi này nhằm mục đích kiểm tra thái độ của học sinh đối với việc học vựng qua game Tất cả các câu trả lời của các sẽ được giữ kín Các thông tin các em cung cấp đều được đánh giá cao và không ảnh hưởng đến điểm số trên lớp của em Vui lòng chọn câu trả lời đúng nhất bằng cách đánh dấu (V) vào ô

1 = Không đồng ý 2 = Đồng ý 3 = Hoàn toàn đồng ý

1 Học tốt từ vựng rất quan trọng với em

2 Em nghĩ rằng em biết nhiều từ vựng thuộc các chủ đề khác nhau

3 Chơi trò chơi giúp em nhớ được nhiều từ vựng hơn

4 Em không lo lăng khi chơi các trò chơi về từ vựng

5 Khi chơi trò chơi em sợ sẽ làm cho đội mình thua

6 Chơi trò chơi giúp em thích học từ vựng hơn

7 Em luôn cổ gắng tham gia vào tất cả các trò chơi

8 Em luôn chăn chỉ học từ vựng

9 Em sẽ tích cực tham gia các trò chơi nếu đó là trò chơi yêu thích của em

APPENDIX 3: THE PRE-QUEST1ONNAIRE RESULTS

Descriptive statistics of students’ attitudes towards learning English vocabulary before intervention I: disagree, 2: agree, 3: strongly agree

Cognitive aspect of attitude s 1: It’s important for me to learn a rich vocabulary

15 56% S2: I think I know lots of vocabulary for different topics

3 12% S3: Playing games helps me to remember more words

S4: I’m not worried about playing vocabulary games

S5: I’m afraid that my team will be lost if I join in the game

10 38% S6: Games help me to enjoy learning vocabulary

S7: I always try to participate in all kinds of games

10 38% S8: I always try to study vocabulary hard

15 56% S9: I will participate actively in playing games if it’s my favourite game

This questionnaire aims to examine your attitudes towards learning vocabulary All of your answers will be confidential Your information is highly appreciated and does not affect your school score Please choose the best option by putting tick (V) in the box

1 It’s important for me to learn a rich vocabulary

2 I think I know lots of vocabulary for different topics

3 Playing games helps me to remember more words

4 I’m not worried about playing vocabulary games

5 I’m afraid that my team will be lost if I join in the game

6 Games help me to enjoy learning vocabulary

7 I always try to participate in all kinds of games

8 I always try to study vocabulary hard

9 I will participate actively in playing games if it’s my favourite game

10 What game do you like?

(please tick (y/) into the games you like below, you can choose more than one game)

11 What kind of working activity do you like?

(please tick (V) into the kind of working activity you like below)

Individual work Pair -work Group work

Bản câu hỏi này nhằm mục đích kiểm tra thái độ của học sinh đối với việc học vựng qua game Tất cả các câu trả lời của các sẽ được giữ kín Các thông tin các em cunnxg cấp đều được đánh giá cao và không ảnh hưởng đến điểm số trên lớp của em Vui lòng chọn câu trả lời đúng nhất bằng cách đánh dấu (V) vào ô

1 = Không đồng ý 2 = Đồng ý 3 = Hoàn toàn đồng ý

1 Học tốt từ vựng rất quan trọng với em

2 Em nghĩ rằng em biết nhiều từ vựng thuộc các chủ đề khác nhau

3 Chơi trò chơi giúp em nhớ được nhiều từ vựng hơn

4 Em không lo lắng khi chơi các trò chơi về từ vựng

5 Khi chơi trò chơi em sợ sẽ làm cho đội mình thua

6 Chơi trò chơi giúp em thích học từ vựng hơn

7 Em luôn cố gắng tham gia vào tất cả các trò chơi

8 Em luôn chăm chỉ học từ vựng

9 Em sẽ tích cực tham gia các trò chơi nếu đó là trò chơi yêu thích của em

10 Em thích chơi trò chơi nào (Em hãy đánh dấu vào ô bên dưới, em có thể chọn nhiều hơn 1 lựa chọn)

11 Em thích chơi trò chơi theo hình thức nào (Em hãy đánh dấu vào ô bên dưới)

Chơi cá nhân Chơi theo cặp Chơi theo đội

APPENDIX 6: THE POST-QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

Descriptive statistics of students’ attitudes towards learning English vocabulary after intervention I: disagree, 2: agree, 3: strongly agree

SI: It’s important for me to learn a rich vocabulary

17 63% S2: I think I know lots of vocabulary for different topics

9 34% S3: Playing games helps me to remember more words

S4: I’m not worried about playing vocabulary games

12 45% S5: I’m afraid that my team will be lost if I join in the game

3 12% S6: Games help me to enjoy learning vocabulary

S7: I always try to participate in all kinds of games

17 63% S8: I always try to study vocabulary hard

10 37% S9: I will participate actively in playing games if it’s my favourite game

10 What game do you like?

(please tick (V) into the games you like below, you can choose more than one game)

Games Number of students Percent

11 What kind of working activity do you like?

(please tick (V) into the kind of working activity you like below)

Kinds of working activity Number of students Percent

APPENDIX 7: QUESTIONS FOR GROUP INTERVIEW

The interviews are conducted in Vietnamese so that the students could clearly express their ideas in a less threatening atmosphere in their mother tongue

2 How long have you learnt English?

3 Do you think that learning vocabulary is important? Why or why not?

4 Do you like playing games in learning vocabulary lessons? Why or why not?

5 Which game do you like to play best: 1 Bingo, 2 Pass the ball, 3 Slap the board,4 TPR, 5 Noughts and Crosses, 6 Lucky number, 7 Shark attack, 8 Miming game?

6 Which kind of working activity do you like to play best, individual work, pair work or group work?

APPENDIX 8: QUESTIONS FOR GROUP INTERVIEW (VIETNAMESE) Bìa phỏng vấn được thực hiện bằng tiếng Việt để tạo ra không khí thoải mái và giúp người phỏng vấn đưa ra các câu trả lời tự nhiên hơn

2 Em bắt đầu học tiếng Anh từ khi nào?

3 Theo em, học từ vựng có quan trọng không? Vì sao?

4 Em có thích các trò chơi khi học từ vựng không? Vì sao?

5 Em thích chơi trò nào nhất (Trong các trò chơi đã tham gia thời gian vừa qua)? Tại sao?

6 Em thức chơi theo hình thức nào nhất: Cá nhân, theo cặp hay theo đội?

Truong Minh K-hue Le Thanh Van

Dang Minh Ngoc Nguyen Gia Huy

Ss: Hello, teacher How are you?

R: Firstly, thank you for your participation in the interview!

Ss: You’re welcome We are happy to do it

R: OK Let’s start with the first questions What are your names?

Ss: We are Khue, Ngoc, Tram, Van, Hoang, Anh, Thai and Huy

R: Good The next question: How long have you learnt English?

Van: I’ve learnt English since I was in grade 3

R: Ok, thank you What about you, Khue, Ngoc, and Huy?

Khue: I’ve learnt English since I was in the first

R: Oh, I see How about you, Ngoc?

Ngoc: I’ve learnt English since I was in the kindergarten, too Khue and I were in the same class

R: Wow, really? In your opinion, when you learn English, is learning vocabulary important? Khue: Yes, I think so Learing vocabulary helps me a lot in watching English cartoons and reading English comic books

R: Yes, that’s right What about you, Ngoc?

Ngoc: 1 think learing vocabulary is very important because it helps me to learn English songs easily

Tram: Teacher, I have the same idea as Ngoc, learning vocabulary is really important to me It helps me to be confident when talking to foreigners

R: Thank you What do you think Van and Huy?

Van: I think learning vocabulary helps me to get high results in exams and worksheets R: Yes, that’s right, Van What about you, Huy?

Huy: Teacher, I think learning vocabulary helps me to fulfill homework well

R: OK, thanks all Next question: Do you like to play games in learning vocabulary lessons? Huy: Yes, I do because I can both learn and play at the same time and it helps me to remember the words quickly

Tram: I think playing game is very interesting and funny, I have more motivation to learn Khue: With the topic of Sport, at first I couldn’t remember the words but after playing games, I did it

R: Fantastic, Khue Thank you And Ngoc, how do you think?

Ngoe: I love playing games, teacher because I can learn more words

R: Yes, that’s right And you, Van?

Van: I like games because 1 have time to move in class and my speaking skill is better R: Yes, I agree with you Move to next question, which game do you like to play best: 1 Bingo, 2 Pass the ball, 3 Slap the board, 4 TPR, 5 Noughts and Crosses, 6 Lucky number

Tram: I like Slap the board game best because 1 can move a lot and it helps me reply fast

1 don’t like Bingo because I have to write many words in this game and I write slowly Huy: I like Noughts and Crosses game best because it’s really interesting I learn a lot of words in this game and I often think carefully before 1 give decision of next step X or o R: Thank you Tram and Huy What about you Khue?

Khue: I love Shark attack game because I can remember how to write the words and I can save my friends from the shark

R: Yes, sounds exciting What do you think Van and Ngoc?

Van: I like Lucky number game best because our team often find out the lucky numbers and get high score It makes US really happy

Ngoc: I have the same idea with Huy, I love Noughts and Crosses Our team is always the winner

R: Thank you very much The last question, which kind of working activity you like to play best, group work, pair work or individual work?