Chuyên đề tốt nghiệp: Evaluating the impact of vocabulary on reading comprehension of students in the Faculty of Foreign Language

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITYFACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ENGLISH EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE ONREADING COMPREHENSION OF STUDENTS IN THE FACULTY

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NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ENGLISH

EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE ONREADING COMPREHENSION OF STUDENTS IN THE FACULTY OF

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Hanoi, March 2023

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NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ENGLISH

EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE ONREADING COMPREHENSION OF STUDENTS IN THE FACULTY OF

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

SUPERVISOR: DO THI KIEU LAN, M A

Hanoi, March 2023

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Nguyễn Thị Dương- 11191268- Business English 61B

2.1 Overview of vocabulary and reading comprehenSIOn ‹- ««++s£++e++eee+seess 62.3 Summary of related res€arCHh «s11 1111911191119 1111 HH HH HH 82.4 Overview of the internship DÏAC - - 5 <1 S111 19 111 111911191 1H HH Hiệp 112.4.1 National Economics nIV€TSIKY - - «cv vn nh ng ngư 112.4.2 Faculty of Foreign Language, Department of Business English - 122.5 Framework to evaluate the impact of vocabulary on reading of students in Faculty ofForeign Language 0 ce 16CHAPTER II RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 20

SN 1n 203.2 Data v00 v00 203.3 Data collection DFOC€CUT - 5G E11 E1 9111k 21

CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS, DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS22

4.1 Data anaÌyS1S - HH HH Họ HH nh nưkp 22VNĐ Lái 0((VìaaÝ 314.3 RECOMMENAAMIONS ceeececcccccccccccceesssssssssccecessccccecesessessscsceesssssceceessesesesescteeesesecess 32

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4.3.1 Recommendations for students to improve lexical resOULCeS - <©>+ 324.3.2 Suggestions for improving teaching approachh eee ese ceeeeeeeseeeeeseees 37

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION 41

5.1 Conclusion ooo cece ec 41

5.2 Limitations and suggestions for further res€arCHh - - +s + ksseeseekeeske 42 REFERENCES

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Apart from my supervisor's assistance, I'd like to convey my sincere thanks to Mrs

Le Thi Thu Ha - the lecturer of the reading class that I attend because of her constructiveadvice and support during my internship time The research will not be finished withoutthe responses and sharing opinions of students in the Faculty of Foreign Language to mysurvey questionnaire

Additionally, I am grateful to the authors of earlier study and materials that Iconsulted while performing the research

Next, I would like to thank the Faculty of Foreign Language, National EconomicsUniversity where teachers and officers are always willing to help me when I have difficultyand provide me with necessary teaching materials during my internship period

Last but not least, I want to thank everyone who has helped and motivated me to

finish the research, both directly and indirectly.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

No Abbreviation Equivalent

1 AFL Arabic as-foreign language learners

2 GPT Generative Pre-training Transformer

3 ect Et cetera

4 et al And other

5 e g For example

6 EFL English as a Foreign Language

7 FFL Faculty of Foreign Language

8 NEU National Economics University

9 WF Word form

10 WM Word meaning

11 WU Word usage

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 2.1 Knowing a word 17 Table 2.2 Aspects of the word 18

Figure 2.1 Proposal framework of word aspects affecting reading comprehension 19

Figure 4.1 Participants Demographics 22 Figure 4.2 Time students spend on self-learning English per day 23 Figure 4.3 Time students spend on self-learning vocabulary per day 23 Figure 4.4 The importance of learning vocabulary in learning English 24 Figure 4.5 The importance of vocabulary in reading comprehension 25

Figure 4.6 Data analysis about the importance each aspect 26 Figure 4.7 Data analysis about the challenge of each aspect 27

Figure 4.8 Data analysis of word form 27

Figure 4.9 Data analysis of word meaning 29

Figure 4.10 Data analysis of word usage 30

Figure 4.11 The Forgetting Curve 35 Figure 4.12 Spaced Repetition Method 35

Figure 4.13 Illustration of Kahoot Game Code 38 Figure 4.14 Illustration of Kahoot game 38 Figure 4.15 Illustration of Kahoot game 39 Figure 4.16 Constructive feedback samples 40

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the research

With more than 1.5 billion speakers worldwide, English is the most popularlanguage by the number of speakers Because of the country's rapid economic integrationwith the rest of the globe, English is without a doubt the foreign language most commonlyused in Vietnam at the moment A wide range of colleges and institutions in Vietnam haveestablished English result requirements as a major mandatory graduation criterion,

including National Economics University (NEU) Thus, this is both a challenge and

opportunity for the NEU students to overcome and dominate Using this internationallanguage fluently is one of the leading linguistic goals for them in the current context ofglobalization, not only to meet the graduation requirement but also serve forcommunication and business with people from different parts of the world, which supporttheir personal and professional development Meanwhile, practicing English is a part ofcommendatory requirements for students majoring in Faculty of Foreign Language (FFL)who have studied a wide range of different subjects whose materials or textbooks areserved by English language on a regular basis As a result, English reading comprehension

is a highly required skill, by which students can enrich their insights into subjects and bewell-prepared for each examination

To learn a language effectively, understanding the components forming a languagewhich consists of three main factors: vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar is of vitalimportance for learners Apart from pronunciation and grammar, knowledge of vocabularyplays a key role for boosting language skill Particularly to reading skill, vocabulary is thecrucial input source for reading comprehension of students because it helps themunderstand the meaning of words and phrases in different contexts A large number ofvocabularies allows students to process and understand text more easily, making thembetter readers When students encounter unfamiliar words while reading, it can causeconfusion and hinder reading comprehension As a result, the level of understandingvocabulary is essential for academic success and particularly has an enormous impact on

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reading comprehension of students In fact, reading comprehension is the combination ofdifferent factors including background knowledge, reading skills and vocabularyknowledge Besides the other two elements, I pay high attention to the factor concerningvocabulary knowledge which could often trouble students most As a student, I understandhow vocabulary is crucial to reading comprehension This is due to understanding a widerange of vocabulary, students can gain better reading acquisition In contrast, lack ofvocabulary could cause students to have a lot of difficulty to complete readingcomprehension In fact, students have a large number of new words to learn in every unitwith a variety of topics, which requires students to put a lot of effort and time as well as aproductive learning method to exploit vocabulary in each topic However, the proportion

of time spent on the class is about seventy-five minutes per lesson, not sufficient enoughfor them to learn new words as well as at the same time complete reading tasks which oftencontain a large workload in every unit On top of that, building vocabulary is a long journeyand requires a great deal of effort and time to practice, which not all the students actuallypay high attention to and are willing to prioritize in their limited self-learning time On theother hand, other learners are mindful of the need of learning vocabulary, but they have notdiscovered effective techniques for dealing with that large number of new words This canlead to some problems such as students not remembering the words they have learnedbefore or they often cannot recall a word although it seems to be familiar, ect

Because of these concerns, assessing the effect of vocabulary on readingcomprehension has become a strong driver inspiring the author to do the research

"Evaluating the impact of vocabulary on reading comprehension of students in the Faculty

of Foreign Language" in order to understand the level by which vocabulary have influence

on the reading comprehension Therefore, based on the outcomes, the research is expected

to raise the awareness of FFL students in learning vocabulary and recommend the selectivelearning methods to enrich vocabulary that they can apply to boost their readingcomprehension and give teaching suggestions that teachers could consider to construct aneffective lesson

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1.2 Rationale

This research is conducted for the following reasons Firstly, the researcher desires

to bridge the gap in the research field of learning English vocabulary, and evaluates theeffective level of vocabulary on students' reading comprehension Secondly, as a student,vocabulary is also a big trouble for me as well as other students throughout the course ofacquiring English and improving reading comprehension As a result, I hope the findings

of this research could gain a certain contribution for raising the awareness of FFL students’

in learning vocabulary and improving English skill of students in my Faculty of Foreign

Language.

Based on the mentioned reasons, this study “Evaluating the impact of vocabulary

on reading comprehension of students in the Faculty of Foreign Language" is conducted

1.3 Purposes of the research

The primary goal of this research is to look into the association between vocabularyand reading comprehension among FFL students at National Economics University,specifically how the three aspects of vocabulary including word form, meaning and usageimpact on the process of reading comprehension In addition, FFL students are given somepractical advice for expanding their lexical resources

1.4 Research questions

This research is conducted to answer the following questions:

The first research question: What effect does vocabulary knowledge have onstudents’ reading comprehension at the Faculty of Foreign Language?

To answer this question, the researcher identifies the answer of three specificquestions below:

How does the aspect of word form affect students’ reading comprehension?

How does the aspect of word meaning affect students’ reading comprehension?

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How does word use affect students' reading comprehension?

The second research question: What are the suggestions for students to enrich theirlexical resources?

1.5 Scope of the research

The research aims to discover the effect of vocabulary on text comprehension ofstudents majoring in the Faculty of Foreign Language, National Economics University.The survey comprises the engagement of 72 students who have currently been in thesecond semester of the academic year 2022-2023 at the faculty

1.6 Research methods

Survey questionnaires are used to acquire primary data from students majoring inthe Faculty of Foreign Language at National Economics University Participants canexhibit their personal thoughts and attitudes to evaluate how vocabulary effects their

reading comprehension using an online survey sample consisting of a series of questions

pertaining to the issue As a result of the survey's performance, the researcher can collectdata objectively The data obtained during the investigation is examined and used

strategically in incorporating areas of the study.

Secondary data is collected from a variety of published studies through deskresearch, which is the main source of reference for literature review As a result, theresearcher can gain an overview about the topic and define the main topic of the intendedresearch as well as give understanding of related terminology which has appeared duringthe process of undertaking the research

1.7 Structure of the research

This research is divided into five chapters The first chapter is an introduction thatcovers the study's rationale, purpose, research questions, scope, method, and design Thesecond chapter is a literature study, which deals with the ideas of vocabulary and relatedterminology, reviewing past studies linked to the topic vocabulary and its impact on student

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learning English and reading comprehension in Vietnam and overseas Chapter III outlinesthe study's methodology, which includes participants, study techniques, instruments, anddata collection The fourth chapter is about data analysis, discussions, findings andrecommendations for improving students’ vocabulary Finally, Chapter V is the conclusion,limitations and suggestions for further research

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CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Overview of vocabulary and reading comprehension

Vocabulary in reading comprehension refers to a type of information that enhancestext comprehension by identifying the semantic meaning of one, two, or more words,thereby giving the "necessary cognitive capacity for higher-level reading processes" (Silvaand Cain, 2015) On other hand, reading comprehension is a complicated subject (Snow,2010) Reading comprehension involves the active extraction and production of meaningfrom text by the reader Variety of factors, including the other components of competentreading and the education they get, might influence the reader's comprehension of text.Vocabulary, for example, is a powerful predictor of reading comprehension (Connor,2008) "Reading comprehension involves visually perceiving letters and words, convertingthem into speech sounds (decoding), parsing linguistic information, developing initialunderstanding of propositions based on the given information, and integrating propositionsfor an accurate and coherent mental representation" (Kintsch,1988; Snow, 2010 fordifferent levels of mental representations and comprehension)

Throughout the past two decades, one of the primary areas of concentration insecond language study has been vocabulary knowledge and its function in readingcomprehension Both vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension are intimatelyassociated, and the relationship is not one-way, because vocabulary knowledge can assistthe student in comprehending written materials, and reading can contribute to vocabularygrowth (Maher Salah, 2008; Nation, 2001) Vocabulary or knowledge of words, "as thebuilding blocks of language", plays a critical role among the three basic components oflanguage, namely sounds, grammar, and vocabulary In fact, it would be impossible tomake or understand language without first recognizing the meaning of the words Althoughstudents may be able to decode and read fluently, understanding the meanings of words inthe text is essential for reading comprehension (Mehrpour, et al., 2011) Vocabularyknowledge is essential in reading assessments, and reading study has consistently revealed

a component of lexical items that vocabulary tests rely heavily on Vocabulary assessments

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are significantly predictive of performance on reading comprehension examinations (ShenZhifa, 2011)

Type of vocabulary: Words have two types, according to Hiebert and Kamil(2005) The first is verbal vocabulary, which is a collection of words for which we arefamiliar with the definition when speaking and reading aloud Second, the focus of thecurrent article is on words in print syntax that are understood while we write or readsilently (reviewed by Rohmatillah, 2014)

Aspects of vocabulary: According to the study of Gairn and Redman (1986), inwhich terminology is reviewed by Rohmatillah (2014), there are specific elements of wordsthat should be considered when learning vocabulary include followings:

Word meaning is separated into two parts including denotation and connotation

The literal meaning of a term, as defined by the dictionary, is referred to as denotation.

Contrarily, connotation refers to the connections a given term has with certain things or theemotional cues associated with that term A word's connotative meanings coexist with itsdenotative meanings (Rohmatillah, 2014)

Word form "refers to the ways the form of a word in English conveys different

meanings" (Surtees, 1856)

Pronunciation is the ability to detect and reproduce objects in speech (Redman,1986)

Synonyms: "If two words W1 and W2 are synonymous, then anything which can

be described using W1 (in the relevant meaning) can also be described using W2, and viceversa." (Rechard Hudson, 1995)

Grammatical patterns of vocabulary: "Pattern grammar focused on patterns ofwords and the typical context in which words are used" (Huston and Francis, 2000)

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Idiom: "An idiom is defined as a constituent or series of constituents for which thesemantic interpretation is not a compositional function of the formatives of which it is

composed" (Fraser, 1970).

Word family: ''A word family is typically and often implicitly defined as a Level

6 family, and consists of a base word (e.g., avoid), its inflections (avoids, avoided,avoiding), its derived words (avoidance, avoidable, unavoidable), and inflections of thederived words (avoidances) The base word is normally the infinitive form for a verb, thesingular form for a noun, or of course simply the unchanging form for a preposition,conjunction, and so forth" (Tom Cobb, 2021)

Collocation: "Firth (1957) defined collocation as the habitual co-occurrence ofwords or when a term favors a certain lexical item exclusively in language usage.According to Halliday (1961), collocations are more explicit since they give amathematical description of the words in context He shows how collocations give wordstheir syntagmatic relationships, and that this syntagmatic association may be quantified bycounting the likelihood of their recurrence." (Reviewed by Shamim, 2020)

Phrasal verb: "According to Ghazala (2003), a phrasal verb consists of a verb with

a particle In Claridge's research paper (2000), phrasal verbs are conceived as a subtype ofmulti-word verbs while other considers a phrasal verb as the combinations of a head verband one or more obligatory particles, in the form of intransitive prepositions, adjectivesand verbs (reviewed by Adizova, 2021)"

"Spelling is the choice and arrangement of letters that form words " (Rechard N

2019).

2.2 Summary of related research

Salah (2008) tries to determine the percentage of vocabulary coverage (knownwords) readers need to assure reading comprehension of two passages from an onlineArabic news source as it examines the connection between vocabulary knowledge andreading comprehension of authentic Arabic texts Survey statistics is gathered from 23

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Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL) students at Brigham Young University, whoseproductive and receptive skills ranged from Intermediate Low to Intermediate Mid Thesubjects are given two reading comprehension tests, a lexical coverage test for each passagetext, and instructions to circle any unknown words in the texts According to the findings,the respondents need to understand about 90% of running words for the first section andabout 86% for the second passage in order to complete it correctly The results of this studyindicate that there may be a lexical threshold, below which AFL learners may not be able

to comprehend real texts well

The influence of depth of linguistic knowledge on word recognition is examined byKaivanpanah and Zandi (2009) by giving participants including 57 EFL students (17 malesand 40 females) a TOEFL test and a measure of vocabulary depth to complete Finally, thefindings revealed that language knowledge is substantially connected to readingcomprehension

Furthermore, Mehrpour et al (2011) examine the relationship between vocabularyproficiency and word recognition among sixty ELF students including 30 male and 30female from five Shiraz language education institutes The data analysis results reveal thatwhile both the breadth and intensity of linguistic knowledge are significant in EFL learners’ability to comprehend reading, depth of vocabulary knowledge makes a more important

contribution The findings also show a favorable relationship between the depth and

breadth of vocabulary knowledge, meaning that students with a big vocabulary size alsohave a deep understanding of the reading

Leila A and Mostafa Z (2014) conduct a study which focuses on investigating thelink between vocabulary understanding and reading ability with the participation of 450

EFL students from Kerman's Azad University's English Department at the undergraduate

level The result indicates reading comprehension and lexical knowledge have a strongpositive connection, meaning that students with a bigger vocabulary are able to retain moreinformation from the passage they read, and that deeper knowledge of terms helps learners

grasp the text better.

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Falk-Ross and his team (2014) focus on creating a language-building approach topromote literacy activities for underprivileged pupils The methodology entailsinterviewing teachers and recording the results of tests administered to students before andafter the implementation of the new method of teaching vocabulary, the outcomes unveilsignificant changes "in students' reading comprehension, vocabulary use, and a significantdifference in the students' achievement following the interventions"

Fadi Al-Khasawneh (2019) discovers how vocabulary size affects Saudi EFLstudents' reading comprehension There are 64 male students from King KhalidUniversity's first level enrolled as subjects in this study during the 2018— 2019 academicyear The TOEFL mock test reading comprehension test and the Vocabulary Size Test(created by Schmitt et al.) have been utilized to collect important information for theresearch project The study's findings show that Saudi EFL students have a vocabulary of

2025 word families altogether According to numerous researchers in this sector, thisamount enables students to comprehend 90% of written documents The findings alsoreveal a substantial correlation between reading comprehension and vocabulary size.Vocabulary comprehension is a major indicator of reading comprehension Besides, theresearch offers some recommendations for those involved in education, including

emphasizing vocabulary instruction and employing various teaching techniques that

promote vocabulary learning

Yang Tong and his colleagues (2020) carry out the research into how vocabulary

affects students' comprehension for Chinese students from elementary school to master'slevel schooling The result reveals vocabulary knowledge supports comprehensiondevelopment through character semantic meaning identification, with a focus on surface

meaning identification From elementary to secondary education, reading comprehension

is a requirement testing reading proficiency and a broader vocabulary knowledge basefacilitates quicker access to semantic knowledge At the same time, the researchers alsobelieve that the more complex the passage structure has, the more reading knowledgestudents need for cognitive processes Document comprehension, on the other hand,

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requires not only word recognition but also a combination of reading methods, inferenceability, and other related elements Therefore, in higher-grade groups, the link of lexicalresources and reading comprehension decreases into smaller proportions

Vu (2019) undertakes a corpus-based semantic analysis of twenty Englishworksheets used in Vietnam for university entrance admission and high school graduationover a 17-year span, one of the few studies on English language examinations in Vietnamand the first to examine their lexical content (2002-2018) The findings indicate that avocabulary understanding of 5000 word families is necessary to attain 95% coverage onthe exam papers The requirement for vocabulary knowledge in different exam papersranged from 3000 word families to 12,000 word families for 95% coverage, demonstratinglarge variations between the exams

According to Vu (2021), Vietnam is still a long way from having a complete picture

of the usage of words in English language learning, instructing, and examination For thetime being, it appears that a more principled approach to vocabulary is required for Englishlanguage learning, teaching, and testing in Vietnam In conclusion, the literature reviewsindicate that understanding of vocabulary and reading comprehension are related, which ischanged depending on the research subjects and regions There has been a limited amount

of research in the correlation between vocabulary and English learning and related

components.

2.3 Overview of the internship place

2.3.1 National Economics University

Address: 207 Giai Phong Street, Hai Ba Trung, HanoiNational Economics University (NEU) is one of the prestigious universities inVietnam which specializes in Economics, Management and Business Administration.Besides, NEU is in charge of a network of more than 40 universities that focus on businessadministration and economics The university has developed into a significant center foracademic interchange on a national and international level Furthermore, NEU is also a

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famous research and consultancy center, with considerable academic publications andconsulting work for the government, non-governmental organizations, and the businesscommunity on policy formulation and strategic development

In 1956, the university was founded as the Faculty of Finance and Economics andafter different changes until 1985 it was renamed as National Economics University which

is the official name nowadays

Throughout the establishment and development, the school has gained a greatnumber of remarkable achievements In the increasingly cutthroat climate, NEU alwayspays high attention to the quality of training and employment preparation for undergraduatestudents The university has a wide range of training programs including nine schools,seventeen faculties and one institute

NEU presently has trained and educated over 35 000 students each year at theBachelor, Master, and Ph D levels, with over 1200 faculty and staff personnel, includingover 150 professors and associate professors and more than 200 Ph Ds Every year, theinstitution trains a large number of talented students, thereby supplying a reliable source ofquality labor force for the market in many professional fields which contribute to theeconomic progress of the whole country

In the future, NEU strives to be a forerunner in economics, management andbusiness administration knowledge invention Besides, the university aims at becoming aplace that attracts and nurtures talent and endowment of high-quality human resources thatsupport Vietnam's long-term growth The school leaders also set durable goals to become

a research-oriented and multi-discipline institute ranked among the top five in Vietnam andamong the top 100 in Asia in economics, management, and business administration

2.3.2 Faculty of Foreign Language, Department of Business English

Address: 705, Al, National Economics UniversityThe Faculty of Foreign Languages and Economics founded on November 26, 2003,which is one of National Economics University's newer sections with a history of rapid andsustainable growth

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At the present, the training programs of the faculty includes three departments:Department of Business English, Department of Non-Specialized Foreign Language, andDepartment of Vietnamese and Language Theory

Since the academic year 2006 -2007, the Faculty of Foreign Languages andEconomics officially has begun enrolling and training Bachelor of Foreign Languagesmajoring in Business English including English major This major focuses on BusinessEnglish and is associated with a number of supplemental subjects on BusinessAdministration taught in English to differentiate the program and boost its competitiveness.This is because, at the same time, learners have a chance to enrich the insights intoeconomics management and business administration as well as be trained foreign languageskills, which contributes to equip students with future employment skills and increasesmore career chances for students after graduation

The primary responsibility of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Economics is

to provide instruction in foreign languages for long-term regular students, English forBusiness English majors, and English for Advanced, High Quality, and POHE programstudents Besides, the faculty also teaches English for students in some master's degreeprograms and the associate programs such as The Bachelor of Business Administrationprogram linked with Dongseo University in Korea Not only English, the FFL also provides

Vietnamese training for international students so that they can have better access to the

learning environment in NEU Furthermore, the Faculty of Foreign Languages is also incharge of providing intensive foreign language instruction for undergraduate studentsenrolled in cooperation programs, graduate students, and other important programs at theuniversity It also oversees exam preparation for English classes that help students meetEnglish output standards

More than 1200 students majoring in Business English have graduated as of October

2022, and there are roughly 500 students majoring in Business English studying at thefaculty, together with approximately 9,000 students from different programs and systemshave been learning English and Vietnamese here Besides, Foreign language subjects aretaught directly to students of courses and systems by almost 50 lecturers of the faculty

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The staff of the faculty currently number 48 people, including one AssociateProfessor, five PhDs, ten Masters, and two Bachelors Business English has been taught inthe Faculty of Foreign Languages for a long term in both the main program and the extra-curricular program In addition, the Faculty of Foreign Languages has high-quality lectureswith foreign-trained qualifications who can teach economics and business administrationmajors in English The collaboration between National Economics University and manyinternational universities is a great driver to provide the faculty with good facilities as well

as a comprehensive system of textbooks, lectures, and updated reference materials Thishas created a perfect environment for learners to study and develop both professional and

personal life.

In terms of curriculum, the English bachelor's degree curriculum consists of abusiness administration minor and a major in English language As a result, graduates haveEnglish as a second language in order to carry out professional activities in the business

field where English is required as the primary communication medium Namely, a

bachelor's degree in English language masters the basic knowledge of aspects of theEnglish language such as the cultures of English-speaking nations (primarily the UnitedKingdom and the United States) and Vietnamese culture Graduate students are expected

to obtain an English qualification equivalent to level C1 on the Common EuropeanStandard Framework of Reference for Language Assessment (CEFR) and master basicknowledge of business administration as well as in-depth knowledge of specialized English

in the area of economics-business administration to serve professional and higher educationgoals In addition to industry knowledge and proficient English for professional jobs such

as translation, interpretation and economics and business administration, students are alsoproficiently equipped with information technology tools to serve the needs for theprofessional service and improve the efficiency of Internet exploitation for study andresearch Moreover, during the educational procedure at the faculty, students are equippedwith specialized skills useful for a professional working environment such as teamworkskills, presentation skills, negotiation skills, diplomatic skills, management skills, and self-

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study abilities, as well as other important soft skills such as critical thinking and problemsolving

Throughout the first two years of the four-year program, students study generalpolitical, social, and legal issues, as well as general economic understanding, whichincludes understanding Marxism-worldview Leninism and methodology, as well as itsapplication in learning, researching, and studying other modules, as well as in real life inthe contemporary situation At the same time, students could have extensive knowledgeabout scientific socialism, the Communist Party of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh's ideologies,and the Vietnamese legal system As a result, they would have a better grasp of politics,society, and the law, which allow them to apply and practice in the fields of economics andbusiness administration Then, students have studied basic and advanced knowledge of thelanguage sector during the next two years In this period, the training program assistslearners in grasping basic principles of language including structure, nature and function,origin and development and basic concepts of linguistic theory both in English andVietnamese Furthermore, students can gain a fundamental knowledge of the socio-culturaland cross-cultural aspects of English-speaking areas such as historical, cultural,human, social, economic, and linguistic traits In terms of knowledge of the Englishlanguage, students have learned about the components of language: Englishphonetics and phonology, lexicology, English grammar and its application to analyzelanguage structure and explain some linguistic phenomena Therefore, students have theability to practice effectively language knowledge to pragmatic contexts inoccupations such as editor, English teacher, interpreter, media agent, officer as well as forresearch work and study linguistics With an advanced level of knowledge, students wouldreceive education specializing in principles of marketing, international businessadministration, business communication, banking, and finance, thereby applying theirlanguage and business administration knowledge flexibly in dealing with various businesssituations/problems in the employment environment

In the training program, in parallel with the education of other subjects, studentshave also been trained comprehensively in four skills of listening, speaking, reading and

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writing, in which reading and writing will be combined to teach for students in order totake advantage of the effectiveness of learning English Specifically reading skill whichhas been served with 4 modules Reading module | has aimed at providing learners withthe vocabulary, sentence structure, reading abilities, and background knowledge needed toread B2 level texts on themes such as sociology, economics, science, psychology, behavior,and so on Next, reading module 2 is designed to assist English majors at FFL upper -intermediate reading competence (B2+) Reading comprehension abilities such as readingfor main ideas, reading for details, distinguishing subject sentences from main ideas,logical thinking, anticipating the meaning of words in context, and vocabulary analysis arespecifically addressed by the module Reading module 3 is intended to help second-yearEnglish language majors develop advanced reading skills including logical, creativethinking skills as well as reading skills through rigorous and extended reading assignments

on various topics Finally, in reading fourth sector, students have learned following thesyllabus of the textbook Pathway 3 which is adapted to academic English learners with avariety of sources National Geographic's meaningful and authentic material, therebyenhancing the students' capacity to assess, analyze, and synthesize knowledge that allowstudents strengthen their reading skills as well as logical and creative thinking This lessonalso includes crucial methods and strategies for preparing for the IELTS exam Obviously,the higher level of reading is, the more vocabulary and skills students are required, which

is both a challenge and opportunity for learners to boost their language skills

2.5 Framework to evaluate the impact of vocabulary on reading of students inFaculty of Foreign Language

The framework of this study was built based on researching the following referencemodels

According to Nation (2001: 40), the aspects that are necessary for learners to knowabout the word in case the learned concept is responsive and efficient (which is used in 4skills speaking, listening, reading, and writing) can be observed in the table below

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Table 2.1 Knowing a word

Aspect of the word

The form Spoken form 1)What does the word sound like?

2) How is the word pronounced?

Written form 1) What does the word look like?

2) How is the word written and spelled?

The

meaning

Concept 1) What does the word mean?

2) What word should be used to express thismeaning?

Association 1) What other words does this word make us think

of?

2) What other words could we used instead of thisone?

The use Grammatical patterns 1) In what pattern does the word occur?

2) In what pattern must we use the word?

Appropriateness 1) Where would we expect to meet this word?

2) Where can this word be used?

Collocation 1) What words or types of words can be expected

before or after the word?

2) What words or types of words must we use withthis word?

2) How often should the word be used?

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Researching In the field of teaching vocabulary, the other vocabulary-related factorsthat should be taken into account are listed by Gower, Philips, and Walters (1995: 144).:

Table 2.2 Aspects of the word

Aspect of the word

The form 1) What part of speech is the word-noun, verb, preposition,

etc?

2) How is it spelled - is it regular or irregular?

3) Does it belong to a family of words, for exampleelectricity, electrical, electrician?

4) How is the word, or combination of words, pronouncedand, in word or more than one syllable, where is the stress?

5) How does the word collocate with surrounding words? Is

it part of the set expression?

The meaning 1) Many words have more than one meaning What exact

meaning in which context do you want to focus on?

2) What is the connotation of the item?

3) Could the vocabulary item have different meanings fordifferent people?

The use 1) How is the vocabulary item used?

2) Does it have a restricted use? Does it belong to a particularstyle or register?

From research information, this study is carried out to figure out the relationshipbetween vocabulary and reading through three key aspects of the word including the form,the meaning and the use As a result, the questionnaire is organized and developed

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Figure 2.1 Proposal framework of word aspects affecting reading comprehension

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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research participants

With the aim of gathering objective information to evaluate vocabulary's effect onpassage comprehension, the appropriate research subject answering the onlinequestionnaire are 72 students from the Faculty of Foreign Language, Department ofBusiness English This is due to the fact that students have comparable reading andlanguage skills and have completed at least one semester of studying reading according tothe syllabus, therefore, they have their own experience in reading journey which is thebasic requirement for researching

3.2 Data collection methods

With the goal of obtaining trustworthy and precise data and achieving the research'sobjectives, a questionnaire is used as an instrument to collect data through online surveyswhich has a wide range of advantages Firstly, online questionnaires are time-efficientwhich can be sent out and completed quickly which benefits both researcher andrespondents A wide range of participants can also be reached in a shorter time periodcompared to traditional survey methods, thereby allowing researchers to gather more

responses and data Next, online surveys can ensure the responses are unbiased because the

respondents can answer survey questions in confidence without fear of embarrassment orjudgment because they remain anonymous The other strength of online surveys is datamanagement which allows responses from online surveys easily to be compiled andanalyzed, supports researchers to quickly draw conclusions and make data- drivendecisions Last but not least, by eliminating the need for printed surveys, online surveysare a more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly option for data collection

The questionnaire is designed including two parts The first part is shorter andsimple to get the participants’ background information while the second part is the mainpart of the research including questions built to support figuring out the answer of theresearch question In fact, this study focuses on the impact of three main parts of vocabulary

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including its form, meaning and use on reading comprehension Therefore, 12 close-endedquestions are designed to gather participants' opinions on how the aspects of vocabularyinfluence on reading comprehension The research used the Likert five-point scale answersfrom 1-5 corresponding to the following degrees: "Strongly disagree", "Disagree",

"Neutral", "Agree" and "Strongly agree" because this style of designing answers bringsmany benefits Firstly, Likert scales are easy to understand as they present clear statementsthat the participants can rate on a scale of | to five, where | represents "strongly disagree"and 5 represents "strongly agree" just depending on their own experience Secondly, theuse of a five-point Likert scale can make it easy to analyze responses, as the numericalvalues facilitate statistical analysis Next, by using a five-point Likert scale, the researchercan identify trends in responses, such as the number of students that agree with a statement,disagree with a statement and are neutral about a statement Finally, the consistent use of afive-point Likert scale can increase the reliability of the questionnaire and responsesreceived, as it reduces the potential for confusion or misunderstanding Therefore, thanks

to this collecting data instrument, the research is expected to gather the most reliablestatistics about the current situation and ensure consistency and accuracy in the researchfindings

3.3 Data collection procedure

Step 1: Designing the questionnaire

Step 2: Delivering the questionnaire to 10 students for a pilot study and thenadjusting the questionnaire

Step 3: Using social media for disseminating the online questionnaire to FFLstudents

Step 4: Collecting data from the questionnaires and processing into figures

Step 5: Analyzing collected data

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CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS, DISCUSSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

The chapter evaluates the effect of vocabulary on understanding reading of studentsthrough statistical description of the primary data as well as includes further discussion andrecommendations for students to boost lexical resources

Figure 4.1 Participants Demographics

The pie chart clearly shows that the large percentage of participants are freshmenand sophomores, with a total statistic of more than 60% The rest of the students are in theirthird and fourth years, with 19.4% and 16.7% respectively The primary reason for thisdisparity is that I have more opportunity to connect with sophomores and freshmen thanthe others, leading to superior results

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Tiêu đề	Evaluating The Impact Of Vocabulary Knowledge On Reading Comprehension Of Students In The Faculty Of Foreign Languages
Tác giả	Nguyễn Thị Dương
Người hướng dẫn	Do Thị Kiều Lan, M.A.
Trường học	National Economics University, Faculty of Foreign Languages
Chuyên ngành	Business English
Thể loại	Graduation Project
Năm xuất bản	2023
Thành phố	Hanoi

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Số trang	59
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