Nghiên cứu thăm dò về chiến lược học từ vựng về chiến lược học từ vựng của sinh viên năm thứ nhất không chuyên tiếng anh trường đại học tân trào

Luận văn này được thực hiện nhằm điều tra về chiến lược học từ vựng của sinh viêm không chuyên tiếng Anh năm thứ nhất trường Đại học Tân Trào. Mục đích của đề tài là (1) điều tra những chiến lược học từ vựng mà sinh viên không chuyên tiếng Anh năm thứ nhất trường Đại học Tân Trào thường áp dụng học từ vựng tiếng Anh, (2) lý dọ mà họ lựa chọn những chiến lược đó, và (3) hiệu quả của những chiến lược đó do sinh viên tự đánh giá qua việc học từ vựng tiếng Anh. Nghiên cứu đã chỉ ra rằng (1) người học chỉ sử dụng một số chiến lược học từ vựng nhất định, (2) có sự tác động lớn của phương pháp dạy học và kinh nghiệm học tập trong quá khứ với việc lựa chọn chiến lược học từ vựng của sinh viên, và (3) người học nhận thấy lợi ích của những chiến lược này giúp họ ghi cách đọc, cách viết và nghĩa tương đương và giúp họ tập trung hơn vào bài học. Cuối cùng, tác giả đưa ra một số đề xuất trong việc cải thiện dạy và học từ vựng tiếng Anh.

Furthermore, I want to owe special thanks to all the lecturers at the Faculty ofPost Graduate Studies - University of Languages and International Studies - VietnamNational University, Hanoi for their useful and interesting lectures, which haveinspired me to go on this paper.

In particular, I send my thanks to my husband who supported and encouraged

me while the work was in progress

Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks go to my family, my friends and mycolleagues for their helpful support and continuous encouragements

This paper reports on vocabulary learning strategies by first year non-Englishmajor students (N=219) at Tân Trào University The purpose of the study is toexplore (1) the most commonly-used vocabulary learning strategies that the first yearnon-English major students at Tân Trào University were using to learn Englishvocabulary, (2) reasons for their preferences and (3) the effectiveness of thosestrategies to their vocabulary learning which is self-evaluated by the students Avocabulary learning questionnaire and interview were used for data collection Thestudy points out that (1) learners only limite to some strategies, (2) there is a stronginfluence of teaching method and past learning experiences on learners’ choice ofvocabulary learning strategies, and the practice of these limited vocabulary learning

strategies helps learners to retain sound, spelling and equivalent meaning of a word,

and (3) learners realize the benefits of those strategies on retaining sound, spellingand equivalent meaning of a word and help them concentrate on lessons

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.3.1 The definitions of language learning strategies 6

1.3.1.3 Classification of language learning strategies 9

1.4.2 Factors affecting learners in learning English vocabulary 11

1.4.3.1 Definitions of vocabulary learning strategies 111.4.3.2 Clarifying Schmitt’s vocabulary learning strategies 121.4.3.3 Clarifying Schmitt’s vocabulary learning strategies 14

3.1.1 Students’ self-reported use of DET strategies 21

3.1.2 Students’ self-reported use of Cognitive strategies 223.1.3 Students’ self-reported use of MEM strategies 233.1.4 Students’ self-reported use of Cognitive strategies 243.1.5 Students’ self-reported use of Metacognitive strategies 25

3.3.3 The effectiveness of those commonly-used strategies on vocabulary

LISTS OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1: Students’ use of DET strategies in vocabulary learning 21Figure 2: Students’ use of SOC strategies in vocabulary learning 22Figure 3 : Students’ use of MEM strategies in vocabulary learning 23Figure 4 : Students’ use of COG strategies in vocabulary learning 24Figure 5: Students’ use of DET strategies in vocabulary learning 25

LISTS OF APPENDIXES

Page

Appendix 1: Oxford’s (1990) taxonomy of Language Learning Strategies IAppendix 2:Schmitt (1997) taxonomy of Vocabulary Learning Strategies V

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Learning a second or foreign language (L2/FL) is arguably one of the mostcognitively challenging undertakings most people will go through in a lifetime, andmany argue that learning the vocabulary of an L2 is perhaps the most challengingaspect of becoming proficient in the target language (Meara, 1995; Milton, 2009;Nation, 2001; Schmitt, 2000) Some characteristics that distinguish vocabularylearning from other language skills include the fact that - vocabulary learning isincremental, potentially limitless, and heavily constrained by the learner’s experience(Swain & Carroll, 1987, p.139) One area of L2 vocabulary acquisition research thathas been gaining attention in recent years to help explain the difficulties some L2learners encounter when learning vocabulary is the focus on learning strategies-vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) in particular Scholars’ interest in L2 VLS,Schmit (2000) argues, stems from a movement to get away from a predominantteacher-oriented pedagogical philosophy to a more learner-centered ideology thatincludes an interest in how learners themselves can manage their own languagelearning Schmitt believes that it may be easier to apply learning strategies tovocabulary learning due to the relatively discrete nature of vocabulary learning ascompared to more integrated language skills such as reading, writing, speaking,listening, and grammar

Acquiring a second language involves different areas such as motivation,learners’ needs, learning environment, learning strategies and language awareness It

is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore second language learning strategies Inany event, learning strategies are defined by Chamot and Kupper (1989) as

“techniques which students use to comprehend, store, and remember information andskills” (p.9)

Vocabulary strategies are one part of language learning strategies which inturn are part of general learning strategies (Nation, 2001) Language learningstrategies encourage greater overall self-direction for learners Self-directed learnersare independent learners who are capable of assuming responsibility for their ownlearning and gradually gaining confidence, involvement and proficiency (Oxford,1990) So is the case with vocabulary learning strategies Thus, students need

learners do use more strategies to learn vocabulary especially when compared tosuch integrated tasks such as listening and speaking However, they are mostlyinclined to basic vocabulary learning strategies (Schmitt, 1997) This in turn makesstrategy instruction an essential part of any foreign or second language program.

Learning strategies are the tools that learners use for active, self-directedlanguage learning, and research shows that the conscious, orchestrated and tailoreduse of such strategies is strongly associated with language achievement andproficiency (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990) Research on L2 learning strategies andvocabulary acquisition over the past four decades has greatly advanced ourknowledge and understanding of L2 vocabulary acquisition However, most of theL2 VLS studies conducted to date have focused on specific learning strategies underexperimental conditions such as the keyword method, dictionary use and inferencing

As a result, there is lack of research on learner-selected VLS that provides deepunderstanding and reasonable explanation of vocabulary learning process This studywill help fill this gap by focusing on this area In addition, little research has beendone on the nature of VLS FL students resort to at different stages of languagedevelopment and the effectiveness of these types of strategies have on improvingvocabulary and their relationship to language proficiency

I believe that it is necessary to inquire into current situation of students’ use ofvocabulary learning strategies in this college Therefore, the researcher’s ambition inthis paper is to gain an insightful understanding of the current vocabulary learningsituation among the first year non-English major students

2 Aims of the study

The aims of the study are to get closer to a comprehensive understanding ofvocabulary of freshmen at Tân Trào University and to provide some implications forthe learning and teaching of English as a foreign language

3 Objectives of the study

The objectives of the study are to explore (1) the most dominant self-selectedvocabulary learning strategies by first year non-English major students at Tân TràoUniversity, (2) reasons for their preferences and (3) the effectiveness of thosestrategies on their vocabulary learning which is self-evaluated by the students

In order to establish a theoretical framework for the investigation in thesis, theliterature on language learning strategies, vocabulary, and related issues is reviewed.

4 Research questions

The study will be conducted to answer the following questions:

1 What are the most commonly-used vocabulary learning strategies by firstyear non-English major students at Tân Trào University?

2 Why do they use those preferred strategies?

3 How do they self-evaluate the effectiveness of those strategies to theirvocabulary learning?

5 Scope of the study

The study limited itself to the investigation of commonly-used vocabularystrategies are employed by first year non-English students at Tân Trào University Italso explores factors that shape their choice of strategies and the usefulness of thoseself-selected strategies to their vocabulary learning

6 Method of the study

This is a study which used a mixed-method approach including questionnaireand interview After the data are analyzed and discussed, some conclusions will bedrawn and some suggestions will be raised in the thesis

7 Design of the study

The thesis is divided into four chapters:

Chapter 1 includes the rationale, the objective, the research questions, thescope, the method and the design of the study

Chapter 2 covers some information about history of research on learningstrategies, some basic concepts related to history of research on learning strategiesand vocabulary learning In addition, learning strategies and learning strategyclassification are reviewed to set up the theoretical framework for the investigation inthe next chapter

In Chapter 3, the study is presented It includes the context of the study, theresearch questions, the research method and the participants

Chapter 4 presents the findings of the study discusses commonly-usedvocabulary learning strategies by first year non-English major students at Tân Trào

University, the reasons for their choice and students’ evaluation of the effectiveness

of those strategies on their vocabulary learning

In the last chapter - chapter 5, some major findings are presented andconclusions are withdrawn

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Introduction

In this chapter, a brief review of learning strategy research is given; somebasic concepts related to history of research on learning strategies and vocabularylearning are presented In addition, learning strategies and learning strategyclassification are reviewed to set up the theoretical framework for the investigation inthe next chapter

1.2 An overview of learning strategies research

Research on learning strategies has been inspired by two interwovenprinciples: cognitive psychology and second language acquisition O’ Malley andChamot (1990) provide a good overview on this issues

Firstly, in the field of cognitive psychology and second language acquisition

is best understood as a complex cognitive skill and research were experimental andoriented toward training learners to acquire strategies According to Anderson(1985), two kinds of knowledge are involved in the acquisition skills: declarativeknowledge and procedure knowledge The former is statistic factual knowledge, orwhat learners know about; the latter is learners’ ability to understand and generatelanguage and apply knowledge of rules to solve a problem without consciousapplication, known as dynamic information These two kinds of knowledge arethought to be at different stages or a sequence of skill learning: cognitive,associative, and autonomous stages At the cognitive stage, the very beginninglearner may try to obtain typical declarative knowledge such as vocabulary and therules of grammar Thus, learner may gain knowledge about language itself ratherthan try to use it actively for purpose such as commutative meaning and errors duringperformance are inevitable The next stage is called the associative stage wherelearners start to reduce errors in declarative knowledge and to synthesize chunks ofelements of the language skill without conscious application of the rules and manyerrors of the first stage may disappear At the last stage, the autonomous one, learnerscan perform their language skills without conscious application of the rules andmany errors of the second stage may disappear Note that these stages are not distinct

or mutually exclusive because the two types of knowledge are not restricted to a

certain stage but used at different stages It is reasonable not to regard them asdistinct but as recruiting processes.

In the case of this study about vocabulary learning strategies, the declarativeknowledge is the information about learning strategies, and procedural knowledge isthe automatic use and application of language knowledge In the cognitive stage,learners may know that these are such things as learning strategies or be aware thatthey are using them in different tasks The second stage is referred to as theassociative stage, a transitional period when the learners start to use languagelearning automatically without conscious application In the last stage, theautonomous stage, learners may use and apply strategies automatically

Secondly, in the field of second language acquisition (SLA), research onlearning strategies was conducted independently of cognitive psychologist and themethodologies in the studies were also different Early attempts in SLA were made

by Rubin (1975) and Stern (1975) to find out what ‘a good learner does’ and calledthese ‘strategies’ According to O’ Malley and Chamot (1990), it is difficult toseparate “which strategies are fundamental for learning, and which one might bemost useful to other learners, and which should be combined with others tomaximum learning effectiveness” Therefore, they argue, it is necessary to clarify therole of strategic processing in SLA from both an empirical and theoretical standpoint(O’ Malley & Charmot (1990:12) Their suggestion is useful and encouraging me to

do this research

1.3 Language learning strategies (LLS)

1.3.1 The definition of language learning strategies

1.3.1.2 Language learning strategies (LLS)

There is no consensus on the definition of language leaning strategies due todifferent interpretations of “strategy” and “learning” Different studies have givendifferent definitions of language learning strategies

Stern (1983) defined strategies as “best reserved for general tendencies oroverall characteristics of the approach employed by the language learners, leavingtechniques as the term to refer to particular forms of observable learning behavior”(cited in Ellis 1999, p.531) Weinstein and Mayer (1986) stated that learningstrategies have learning facilitation as goal and are intentional on the part of learner.The goal of strategy use is to affect ‘the learner’s motivational and affective state, orthe way in which the learner selects, acquires, organizes, or integrates newknowledge (cited in O’Malley and Chamot 1990, p43) Tarone (1983) definedlearning strategies as “an attempt to develop linguistic and sociolinguisticcompetence in the target language - to incorporate these into one’s interlanguagecompetence” (p.67) Chamot (1987) stated that “learning strategies are techniques,approaches, or deliberate actions that students take in order to facilitate the learning,recall of both linguistic and content area information” (pp.71-84) Rubin (1987)stated that “learning strategies are strategies that contribute to the development oflanguage system that learner constructs and affect learning directly” (p.22) Oxford(1992) defined learning strategies as “strategic actions, behaviors, steps, ortechniques that students (often intentionally) use to improve their progress indeveloping L2 skills” These strategies can facilitate the internalization, storage,retrieval, or use of the new language Strategies are tools for self-directedinvolvement necessary for developing communicative ability Ellis (1999) stated thatlearning strategies are the particular approaches or techniques that learners employ totry to learn an L2 They can be behavioral (for example, repeating new words aloud

to help you remember them) or they can be mental (for example, using the linguistic

or situational contexts to infer the meaning of a new word” (p.76) Cohen (1998)stated that “learning strategies are learning processes which are consciously selected

by the learner The words ‘consciously selected’ are important because theydemonstrate the special character of strategy” (Ellis, 1999: 531) Wenden (1998)defined learning strategies as “mental steps or operations that learners use to learn anew language and to regulate their efforts to do so” (p.18)

From the definitions above, we can see there are some differences in the waylearning strategies are defined regarding the following aspects Firstly, Oxford(1992) viewed learning strategies as only behavioral, while in Weinstein and Mayer(1986) and Ellis’s (1997) view, they are both mental and behavioral Secondly,Chamot (1987) stated that learning strategies are “deliberate actions” and Cohen(1998) thought of learning strategies as “conscious” but other researchers avoidedaddressing it Thirdly, Stern (1983) believed that learning strategies can only refer to

“approach” and “technique” is more concrete, however, other researchers use theterm strategies to refer to the kind of behavior that Stern (1983) called techniques.Finally, Rubin (1987) suggested that language learning strategies have direct effect

on language development while other researchers looked on it as more indirect

Obviously, there is not yet a comprehensive definition of learning strategiesand the terminology, in fact, is not uniform, which are “learner strategies” (Wendenand Rubin, 1987), “learning strategies” (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990), and “languagelearning strategies” (Oxford, 1990a, 1996) Different perspectives on defininglanguage learning strategies, which such as are cognitive, social, or pragmatic, showthe complexity of this field This is, probably, the reason for researchers to work outtaxonomy instead of defining them and there are a number of basic characteristics inthe generally accepted view of LLS Oxford (1990:9) offers a more comprehensivelist of the features of language learning strategies as the following:

 Contribute to the main goal, communicative competence

 Allow learners to become more self-directed

 Expand the role of teachers

 Are problem-oriented

 Are specific actions taken by learners, not just the cognitive

 Support learning both directly and indirectly

 Are not always observable

 Are often conscious

 Can be taught

 Are flexible

 Are influenced by a variety of factors

1.3.1.3 Classification of language learning strategies

A number of researchers attempted to develop a classification scheme oflanguage learning strategies In the literature, however, like the definition of learningstrategies, the research which has been done on this field has not reached a consensusagreement on ways to classify learning strategies by different scholars.

Cohen (2000) suggested that language learning strategies include strategiesfor identifying the material that need to be learned, distinguishing it from othermaterial if needed to be, grouping it for easier learning (e.g grouping vocabularycategory into nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs), having repeated contact with thematerial (e.g through classroom tasks or the completion of homework assignments),and formally committing the material to memory when it does not seem to acquirednaturally (whether through rote memory techniques such as repetition, the use ofmnemonics, or some other memory techniques)

Among a variety of classification of learning strategies offered by researchers,Oxford’s (1990) scheme, which sees the aims of language learning strategies asbeing oriented towards the development of communicative competence, seems to bethe most comprehensive detailed system of six strategies, classified as direct andindirect The direct strategies include metacognitive, affective, and socialcompensation strategies These strategies, as the word “direct” conveys, are directlyinvolved in learning the target language in the sense that they need mental processing

of the language In this scheme, memory strategies are defined as those “helpingstudents store and retrieve new information”, cognitive strategies as “enablinglearners to understand and produce new language by many different means”, andcompensation strategies as “allowing learners to use the language despite their oftenlarge gaps in knowledge” (p.37) The indirect strategies, which includemetacognitive, affective, and social strategies, support language learning byarranging, evaluating, lowering anxiety, encourage oneself, cooperating with others,asking questions, and other ways In Oxford’s (1990) system, metacognitivestrategies allow learners to control their own learning through organizing, planning,and evaluating Affective strategies help learners gain control over their emotions,attitudes, motivations, and values, while social strategies lead to increased interactionwith the target language (see Appendix 1 for Oxford’s (1990) taxonomy)

1.4 Vocabulary and vocabulary learning strategies

1.4.1 Aspects of knowing a word

According to Cowie (1999), vocabulary refers to all the words that exist in aparticular language or subject Macathy (1990) indicated that the single, biggestcomponent of any language course is vocabulary In fact, knowing a word, it isbelieved, means knowing its meaning However, knowledge of a word requires morethan that Cook (2001:61) states that “a word is more than its meaning” For Cook(2001), knowing a word may involve four aspects: form of the word (for instance,spelling and pronunciation), grammatical properties (for instance, word combinationand appropriateness), and general meaning and specific meaning

Word knowledge is an essential component of communicative competence(Seal, 1991), and it is important for both production and comprehension in a foreignlanguage Richard (1976:83) offered the assumptions concerning knowing a word asfollows:

1) Knowing a word means knowing the degree of probability ofencountering that word in speech and print For many words, we also knowthe sort of words most likely to be found associated with the word

2) Knowing a word implies knowing the limitation on the use of the wordaccording to variations of function and situation

3) Knowing a word means knowing the syntactic behavior associated withthe word

4) Knowing a word entails the knowledge the underlying form of a word andthe derivations that can be made from it

5) Knowing a word entails knowledge of the network of association betweenthat word and other words in the language

6) Knowing a word means knowing the semantic value of a word

7) Knowing a word means many of the different meanings associated with aword

According to Nation (2005), what involves in ‘knowing’ a word depends onvarious aspects which fit into three groups These include the form of a word,knowing the meaning of a word, and knowing how a word is used Knowing theform of a word includes spelling, sounds and word parts Knowing the meaning of aword linking its form and meaning, knowing a concept for a word and what it can

refer to, and knowing what other words of related meaning it can be associated with.Knowing how a word used concerns the grammar of the word, including parts ofspeech and sentence patterns it fits into, collocates of the word, and whether the word

is formal or informal, polite or rude, used mainly by children and so on, or has norestrictions on its use

In summary, knowing a word proposed by different scholars mentioned aboveinvolves many crucial aspects All of these aspects concerns word form, wordmeaning and word use Therefore, regarding vocabulary learning, it is certain thatlearning vocabulary items means learning the form, the meaning and the use of thenew words

1.4.2 Factors affecting learners in learning English vocabulary

According to Brustall et al (1975), in language learning as in other form ofleaning, “nothing succeeds like success” He pointed out that successful learnersdeveloped favorable attitude as the course progressed, thus these attitudesencouraged more successful learning Learners’ motivation is likely to benefit anddetermine partly the effectiveness of learners’ vocabulary learning

It is believed that those factors that affect learners in language learning alsohave an effect in his vocabulary learning According to Lightbrown and Spada(1999:51-68), these factors includes intelligence, aptitude, personality, motivationand attitudes, learner preference, learner beliefs, age of acquisition, and kinds ofactivities A similar list of factors affecting is suggested by Rubin and Thompson(1994:3-8) It includes, age, aptitude (emotions), personality (extroversion,inhibition, tolerance of ambiguity), learning style (learning by rules of by risks,through eyes or ears), and past experiences The importance of learning strategies tothe learning process is emphasized by Nunan (1999:171): “Knowledge of strategies

is important, because the greater awareness you have of what you are doing, if youare conscious of the processes underlying the learning that you are involved in, thenlearning will be more effective” Ellis (1997:76-78) also shares the same idea when

he states that studies have shown that successful learners use more strategies thanunsuccessful learners and successful learners use different strategies at differentstages of their development He emphasizes if crucial learning strategies can beidentified, they can be taught to students

Learning strategies are the decisive factors for fruitful vocabulary learning.Many scholars have striven to introduce different vocabulary learning strategies inorder to help learners of English improve their different vocabulary learningstrategies such as Nation (1982; 1990; 2001), Taylor (1990), Oxford (1990), Rubinand Thomson (1994).

1.4.3 Vocabulary learning strategies

1.4.3.1 Definitions of vocabulary learning strategies

Vocabulary learning strategies are a part of language learning strategies which

in turn are a part of general learning strategies (Nation, 2001:217) Therefore, thedefinition of vocabulary learning strategies stems from that for language learningstrategies (Catalán, 2013:155) Cameron (2001:92) defined vocabulary learningstrategies as “the actions that learners take to help them understand and remembervocabulary items” Catalán (2003:56) adopts the definition of vocabulary learningstrategies from Rubin (1987), Wenden (1987), Oxford (1990); and Schmitt (1997) asthe working definition in her study as “knowledge about the mechanisms (processes,strategies) used in order to learn vocabulary as well as steps or actions taken bystudents (a) to find out the unknown words, (b) to retain them in long-term memory,(c) to recall them at will, and (d) to use them in written or oral mode Similarly,Intaraprasert (2004:9) has defined vocabulary learning strategies as “any sets oftechniques or learning behaviors, which language learners reported using in order todiscover the meaning of a new word, to retain the knowledge of newly-learnedwords, and to expand their knowledge of vocabulary”

1.4.3.2 Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies

In order to learn and acquire and enlarge vocabulary size, that is, knowing alarge number of lexical items, with their meanings, or how to pronounce and usethem correctly, language learners needs to deal with a wide range of vocabularylearning strategies and every learner has his/ her own way for learning theirvocabulary Vocabulary will also be very different depending on whether languagelearners’ primary goal is to understand the language, either in reading or listening, or

to produce it, either in speaking or writing Schmitt (2000:133) states that “activelearning management is important Good learners do many things such as a variety ofstrategies, structure their vocabulary learning, review and practice target words and

so on” Beside, Gu and John (1996) indicated that successful strategy learners needstrategy for controlling their strategy use This involves choosing the mostappropriate strategies from a range of known options and decide how to pursue thestrategies and when to switch to another strategy.

In classifying learning strategies, scholars have different ways of classifyinglanguage learning strategies (Intaraprasert, 2004:10) Taking this into consideration,language researchers have made various attempts to classify vocabulary learningstrategies These classification systems give crucial contribution to the knowledge ofvocabulary learning strategies Instances of such classifications are the taxonomiesproposed by Cohen (1987;1990), Rubin and Johnson (1994), Decarrico (2001) arebriefly discussed below

According to Cohen (1987:43;1990:21-37), strategies for dealing withvocabulary items, which have been found to share some common characteristics,were put together and could be grouped under three main categories They includestrategies for remembering words, semantic strategies, and vocabulary learning andpracticing strategies

Rubin and Thomson (1994:79-82) introduced three main categories ofvocabulary learning strategies that have been reported by language learners to beeffective These include Direct Approach, Use Mnemonics, and Indirect Approach.They are both concerned with conscious learning processes and unconsciouslearning processes through both learning words in list, completing variousvocabulary exercises, and reading and listening

Decarrico (2001) proposed a list of four vocabulary strategies includingGuessing meaning from Context, A Mnemonic Device or the Keyword Method;Vocabulary Note Books, and Other Learner Strategies She argued that languagelearners have not been taught the majority of words Therefore, vocabulary learning

is more likely to be mainly implicit (incidental) She further suggested that strategiesshould aid both in discovering the meaning of the new words and in consolidating aword once it has been encountered Thus, language learning should approachindependent learning of vocabulary by using a combination of extensive reading andself-study strategies

Although individual vocabulary learning strategies have been increasinglyresearched (Lawson & Hogben, 1996), only two researchers have proposed acomprehensive list of vocabulary learning strategies Firstly, in a recent attempt byStőffer (1995), she developed a questionnaire which contains 53 items designed tomeasure specifically vocabulary learning strategies of 55 items which focus on theuse of authentic language, physical actions, self-motivation and visual aids languagelearning.

In another research by Schmitt (1997) he developed a comprehensiveinventory of vocabulary learning strategies ( see Appendix 2) He offered 2 groups ofvocabulary learning strategies: the ones to determine the meaning of new wordswhen encountered for the first time, and the ones to consolidate the meaning whenencountered again The former includes determination (DET) and social strategies(SOC), and the latter includes social (SOC), memory (MEM), cognitive (COG), andmetacognitive strategies (MET) The social strategies are included in the twocategories because they can be used for both purposes

1.4.3.3 Clarifying Schmitt’s vocabulary learning strategies

Schmitt (1997) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies is used as thetheoretical framework of the investigation in this thesis Therefore, the clarificationand exemplification of those vocabulary learning strategies that are used in thequestionnaire will be presented below as a source of reference

a Determination strategies (DET)

Determination strategies refer to the strategies an individual can use to findout the meaning of one word without resource to another person’s help Learners try

to discover the meaning of a new word with the help of context, structural knowledge

of language, and reference materials

b Memory strategies (MEM)

Memory strategies, traditionally known as Mnemonics, involve relating theword with some previous personal knowledge by using some form of imaginary orgrouping The strategies can consist of imagining word’s meaning, remembering itsorthographical form, grouping words together with a storyline and so on

c Social Strategies (SOC)

The other way to discover a new meaning or consolidate a word is throughusing the social strategies of asking someone for help with unknown words Teachersare said to be often in this position They are expected to give help in a number ofdifferent ways such as L1 translation, giving a synonym, giving a definition byparaphrase, using a new word in a sentence, checking learners’ words for accuracy,

or any combination of these Learners also get help from their classmates or benefitfrom interaction with others such as group work activities or interaction with nativespeakers

d Cognitive strategies

Cognitive strategies are those partially similar to memory strategies exceptfor not being focused on manipulative mental processing This group includesrepetition and mechanical means of learning vocabulary such as word lists,vocabulary notebooks to study words

e Metacognitive strategies

Metacognitive strategies are effective means for learners in vocabularylearning process through organizing, planning, and evaluating Metacognitivestrategies proposed by Schmitt (1997) allow students to have a conscious overview

of the learning process through controlling and evaluation activities Testing oneself

is an instance of metacognitive strategies which provide “input to be effectiveness ofone’s choice of learning strategies, providing positive reinforcement if progress isbeing made or a signal to switch strategies if it is not” (Schmitt, 1997)

1.5 Summary

In this chapter, some information about history on the issue has beenintroduced; such concepts as learning strategies and knowledge of learning strategiesclassification, factors involving in vocabulary acquisition have been presented Atheoretical framework has been prepared for the investigation in the next chapter

In summary, the reviewed literature has explored the main decisive factors inlanguage learning in general and vocabulary learning in particular The pointsconsidered above are all central to understanding and explaining of what and whylearners actually do in the process of learning vocabulary It helps to clarify thenotions of learning strategies were born in two fields that have developed itindependently: cognitive psychology and second language acquisition The former

tried to analyze the strategies that scholars employ and then train novices to use aswell The latter referred to the kinds of strategies that are used A number ofresearchers have attempted to systematize strategies of nonnative speakers, usingquestionnaires that classify various kinds of strategies into categories It has provedreliable and valid as some studies have shown by collecting data from people such asuniversity students and company employers Though the two studies by Stoffer(1995) and Schmitt (1997) showed taxonomies of vocabulary learning strategies, nostudy has dealt with students at Tân Trào University.

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents methodology of the research including the context of thestudy, the research questions, the research method, the participants, and the findings

of the study

2.1 The context of the study

At Tân Trào University, General English or Basic English is applied tostudents of all departments General English is taught during the second, the thirdand the forth term with total of 150 periods with the aims of providing students basicknowledge of English Specifically, the students have 3 periods of English per week.The chosen textbook is Lifelines Pre-intermediate (Hutchinson, 2000) This researchfocuses on vocabulary learning strategies used during the students’ English course

non-2 Why do they commonly use those strategies?

3 How do they self-evaluate the effectiveness of those strategies to theirvocabulary learning?

2.3 Research method

This study is an exploratory inquiring, and therefore data were collected bymeans of interview and questionaire Interviews can provide in-depth explanationwithin a particular context, while questionnaire paint a broad though possiblysuperficial picture, it is often a good idea to use both (Drever, 1995:8)

2.4 Participants

A total of 219 first year non-English major students at Tân Trào Universityparticipated in this study The age of the students, ranged from 18 to 23 Theparticipants had been studying English between 7 and 12 years These students comemostly from many parts of Tuyen Quang province Some of them studied otherlanguages such as French and Russian before entering the college Almost studentsneither had chance to learn English in language centers nor practiced English withnative speakers

2.5 Instruments for data collection

In order to collect the data for the study, the questionnaire and the interviewwere designed to gain information about vocabulary learning strategies used by thestudents in the the study, their reasons, and their self reports on the effectiveness ofthose strategies on their vocabulary learning.

2.5.1 The questionnaire

The questionnaire (see Appendix 3) was designed to investigate thevocabulary learning strategies commonly used by the students participating in thisstudy The questionnaire was based on Schmitt’s (1997) taxonomy because of itscomprehensiveness which is appropriate to the researched populationin this study

The questionnaire was in Vietnamese to make sure that all participants couldunderstand and complete all the questions It consisted of two parts The first partintroduced the purpose of study and researcher’s expectation on students’ honesty ofprovided information on individual learning experience, and required the participants

to provide personal information including age, sex, place of birth, duration oflearning English, and extra English learning experience at English centres Thesecond part included 33 in which 32 items pertaining to students’ approaches tovocabulary learning, which were divided into 5 categories: determination strategies(DET), social strategies (SOC), memory strategies (MEM), cognitive strategies(COG), and metacognitive strategies (MET) Question 36 was an open-endedquestion to which answer depends on individual students’ learning experience Formore details, a table of vocabulary learning strategies in questionnaire is providedbelow:

Group of strategies Questions in the questionnaire Number of questions

Table1: Vocabulary learning strategies in the questionnaire

In the first stage, the questionnaire was delivered to the students in theirregular classrooms at the beginning of the academic year in August Most of thestudents took 30 minutes to complete all the questions They were encouraged togive their opinions as honestly as possible, and any copied reply would distort the

data of the study The researcher confirmed that the aim of the study was to improvetheir own language learning and all their personal information was kept secret andonly used for the research After all the questionnaires were handed in, thecommonly-used vocabulary learning strategies were sorted out This would help toprovide information for the second stage of data collection

2.5.2 The interview

Interviews were held to explore the commonly-used strategies and reasons fortheir preference Six students were chosen among 219 students from the 6 classesinvolved in this study They were selected on the grounds of that they were availableand willing to take part in the interviews They were asked to join in separateinterviews that allowed all the participants to share their opinions without bias fromother participants The same questions (see Appendix 4) were given to all theinterviewees The interviews were in two hours and all the respondents wereinterviewed in Vietnamese to ensure full understanding and clear description Thoseexchanges were recorded for later data analysis In the interview, these informantswere asked to (1) report the most commonly-used strategies in the questionnaire, (2)share the reasons for those preferences, and (2) self-evaluate the effectiveness ofthose preferred strategies on vocabulary learning

One-to-one interviews to six chosen students were conducted These tookplace in two hours and were recorded (see Appendix 5) for convenience of latteranalysis During the interviews, each respondent was encouraged to answer the givenquestions relating to learners’ common-used vocabulary learning strategies, theunderlying reasons for those preferred strategies, and the effectiveness of thosestrategies on vocabulary learning

2.6 Data analysis procedures

The questionnaire data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics tomeasure the frequency of each strategy the students reported that they used it Thishelp to identify the strategies that students most frequently used and those they leastfrequently used

The qualitative data collected through the interviews were also analysedquantitatively to identify the common pattern in the students’ reasons for using thestrategies they claimed to have used in their vocabulary learning However, some

meaningful extracts from the students’ responses were also cited to illustrate thequantitative findings.

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, all collected data from the questionnaire and interviews arepresented, analyzed and discussed to provide the answer to the three researchquestions Furthermore, the findings of this study will be discussed and related to therelevant literature in the hope that the commonly-used vocabulary learning strategies,

the reasons for their preferences and the effectiveness of those preferred strategies onvocabulary learning will be brought to light respectively.

3.1 Quantitative data

The information gathered through the questionnaire provided quantitative datafor the research question 1 which helped to find the most-commonly vocabularylearning strategies The terms ‘high frequency’ and ‘low frequency’ were used indata analysis procedure The former one refers to ‘always’ and ‘usually’ and the laterone refers to ‘sometimes’ and ‘rarely’ The questions in the questionnaire wereanalyzed one by one in their vocabulary learning strategy group by counting itspercentage

3.1.1 Students’ self-reported use of Determination strategies (DET)

Figure 1: Students’ use of DET in vocabulary learning

As can be seen from the chart above, among three questions of DETstrategies, the third question (using bilingual dictionary strategies) was at the highestfrequency of using (39.7% usually and 37,4% always)

On the contrary, the answers to question 2 showed that students rarely usedmonolingual dictionary to look up for meaning of words (15.2% never and 30.2 %rarely) Guessing from textual context (question1), which was proved to be efficient

in many other studies, received little support from the learners More than 70% usedthis strategies with low frequency In terms of using flashcard (question 4), only6.4% used it with high frequency and 40% never resorted to this strategy

3.1.2 Students’ self-reported use of social strategies (SOC)

Figure 2: Students’ use of SOC in vocabulary learning

Data from the chart indicated that in group of SOC strategies students likedasking teachers for help of translation most (question 5) More than 70% of studentsadmitted that they always and usually asked their teacher to translate new words intoVietnamese and 30 % sometimes do so

Asking teachers for paraphrases or synonyms of new words is also one way todiscover the meaning of unknown words (question 6) However, only 16% of theinformants enjoyed employing this strategy and most of them (69 %) do not highlyvalue this way

Besides translating a new word into L1 or giving paraphrases and synonyms anew word, teacher may give his support in form of a sentence in which a new word issupplemented (question7) However, 35.3% of the students informed that theysometimes asked their teacher for a sentence including the new word, 30.6% rarelyand 20.6% never did it

The informants showed little attention to asking their classmates for meaning(question 8) 3.7% always used this kind of vocabulary learning strategies, 17.4%usually did so and 34.6% sometimes employ it Only 7.8% never did it

In regards to discovering new meaning through group work activities(question 9), the data showed low frequency of students’ using this strategy Many ofthe students reported they rarely (53.9%) used this strategy and 15.5% even never did

it Only a small number of the informants used this strategy with high frequency(always 0.5% and usually 8%)

Studying and practicing meaning of words in a group (question 10) seemed to

be unattractive to the students In fact, more than a half of the informants showedtheir favor for this strategy

Asking teacher to check their flash cards or word lists for accuracy (question11) were also less used by the students Less than 10% of the informants used thisstrategy with high frequency

Seeking opportunities to practice new words such as interacting with nativespeakers (question 12) is supposed to be a fantastic way to retain vocabulary.However, this strategy seemed to be difficult for the informants to apply 55.7%informed that they never did so and nearly 5% used it with high frequency

3.1.3 Students’ self-reported use of Memory strategies (MEM)

Figure 3: Students’ use of MEM in vocabulary learning

Connecting the word to be retained with a particular vivid personal experience

in order to obtain and understand the underlying concepts is believed to be effective

in vocabulary learning (question 13) However, the answer to this question showedthat it is not frequent choice of almost students Only 18,7% used it with highfrequency and there remains 7.3% never used it

Some types of sense relationship such as coordination, synonym or antonymare applied to deepen understanding of the new words effectively (question 14) Thecollected information, on the contrary, indicated opposite facts that only 17.8% used

it with high frequency and 50.2% rarely and 6.4% never used it

In question 15, the informants were asked whether they group wordsaccording to particular topics or word types or not The result revealed that nearly

half of the informants (33.5%) used it high frequency and 22.2% rarely and 11%never employed it.

Grouping words together within a storyline did not gained support from thestudents (question 16) About 20% used it with high frequency and 29.5% rarely didthis and 20,5% denied using it

Question 17 aims at finding out whether the students use Key word method ornot Many of the informants reported that they employ this strategy with lowfrequency (86.2%) Only 6.4% considered it to be one of their key strategies

Remembering affixes and roots (question 18) and parts of speech (question19) were also less used by the students Only more than 30% adopted these strategieswith high frequency

Paraphrasing the word’s meaning (question 20) is considered to be a usefulstrategy to compensate for a limited productive vocabulary However, data show anunexpected result with low frequency of using which accounts for 51.6%

Learning the words of a collocation can help for productive use of a language(question 21) However, more than 60% of the informants sometimes or rarely did

so 21.9% even never employed it

3.1.4 Students’ self-reported use of Cognitive strategies (COG)

Figure 4: Students’ use of COG in vocabulary learning

Written repetition (question 22) and verbal repetition (question 24) arecommon strategies in many parts of the world (Schmitt, 1997) This seemed to be noexception to the informants in case of written repetition The students paid theirspecial attention to this written repetition strategy (question22) with extremely highfrequency of using (96.8%), and no one never did so Also, a correlative result to

verbal repetition was reported in the collected data 73.5% of the informants alwaysand usually applied this Only 1.8 never did so In the contrary, learners seemed takeminimal care with silent study, 60% denied to adopt this.

Taking notes in class (or noting down the new words) was a useful way forlearners which help learners to create their own personal structure for newly learnedwords (Schmitt, 1997) In question 25, the students had a passion for this strategywith surprisingly high frequency of using which accounted for more than 80% andmost of the informants took part in this activity

In question 26, taping L2 labels onto their respective physical objects issupposed to be one of strategies which helps a lot in vocabulary learning Schmitt(1997) argues that “one expedient for making L2 words salient is to tape L2 labelsonto their respective physical objects” Nevertheless, the data indicated acomparatively equal percentage between the highness and lowness of usingfrequency The former accounts for 27.2% and the latter makes up 27.1% of the total

Up to 45.9% never employed this strategy

Not many students (23.6) reported seeking the chance to practice the wordshave learned or need by talking to a friend (question 27) 30.6% sometimes and 30.7rarely applied it 15% even never did so

3.1.5 Students’ self-reported use of Metacognitive strategies (MET)

Figure 5: Students’ use of MET in vocabulary learning

Making use of mass media (question 28) such as television, songs, radio,newspapers were regarded as a handy and practical source helps to revise anddevelop English vocabulary especially in authentic context Data show ignorance

from the informants to this kind of strategy In fact, only 16.4% preferred this modeand 25.9% rarely and 17.5% never did so.

Testing oneself with word tests (question 29) and using spaced word practice(question 30) are considered one of effective self-assessment strategies However,these strategies were used by 65.7% and 66.5% respectively

To be questioned of skipping or passing a word (question 31), studentsshowed adverse perceptions towards this strategy The amount of students whoexpressed their particular preference for this strategy in comparison with ones whoshowed their ignorance are of equal make up 34.9% and 35.5% respectively

Continuing to study words over time (question 32) was supposed to benecessary to all learners However, a vast proportion of the informants (81,2%)reported that they used it with low frequency and 5.5% never did so

In question 33, students were asked to provide other strategies that theyapplied to vocabulary learning However, no information of different strategies wasreported in this question

The results of our questionnaire can be seen easier when the mean score ofeach question is counted as in the table below Our coding is that:

Always = 5; usually = 4; sometimes = 3; rarely = 2; never = 1

(M)

SOC Ask teacher for paraphrase or synonym of a new word (Q6) 2.6SOC Ask teacher for a sentence including the new word (Q7) 2.4

SOC Discover new meaning through group work activities (Q9) 2.1SOC Studying and practicing with learner’s friends (Q10) 2.6SOC Teacher checks students’ flashcards or word lists for

accuracy (Q11)

2.1

MEM Connect the word withpersonal experience (Q13) 2.6MEM Associate the word with the with its synonyms and antonyms

(Q 14)

2.9