Khó khăn trong việc học từ vựng của học sinh dân tộc thiểu số ở Trường PTDT nội trú Sơn La và một số giải pháp khắc phục

31 CHAPTER 4: FINDING AND SOME SOLUTIONS FOR BETTER LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENTS IN SON LA ETHNIC BOARDING HIGH SCHOOL.. For better vocabulary teaching and le

AND SOME SUGGESTED SOLUSIONS

(Khó khăn trong việc học từ vựng của học sinh dân tộc thiểu số

ở trường PTDT nội trú Sơn La và 1 số giải pháp khắc phục)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410

Hanoi - 2010

AND SOME SUGGESTED SOLUSIONS

(Khó khăn trong việc học từ vựng của học sinh dân tộc thiểu số

ở trường PTDT nội trú Sơn La và 1 số giải pháp khắc phục)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410

Supervisor: KIM VĂN TẤT, M.A

Hanoi - 2010

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATIONS i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 9

2 Aims of the study 9

3 Scope of the Study 9

4 Methods of the Study 10

5 Design of the study 10

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 12

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 12

1.1 General knowledge of English Vocabulary 12

1.1.1 What is vocabulary? 12

1.1.2 Classification of vocabulary 13

1.1.2.1 In term of the concept of morpheme 13

1.1.2.2 In term of the meaning 13

1.1.2.3 In term of the function of vocabulary items in a sentence 13

1.1.2.4 In term of the sequence of use 14

1.1.2.5.In term of the use of word 14

1.2 The role of vocabulary in language teaching and learning 14

1.3 Factors affecting vocabulary acquisition 15

1.4 Methods in vocabulary teaching 15

1.4.1 The Grammar- Translation Method 16

1.4.2 The Direct Method 16

1.4.3 The Audio-lingual method 17

1.4.4 The Silent Way 17

1.4.5 Suggestopedia 18

1.4.6 Total Physical Response (TPR) 18

1.4.7 The Communicative Approach (Communicative Language Teaching – CLT) 19

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1.5 Teaching and learning vocabulary through communicative activities 20

1.5.1 Characteristics of communicative activities 20

1.5.2 Characteristics of vocabulary communicative activities 20

1.5.3 Vocabulary teaching techniques in combination with communicative activities 21

1.5.3.1 Visual techniques 21

1.5.3.2 Verbal techniques 22

1.5.3.3 Using Games 22

1.5.3.4 Role play 23

CHATER 2: METHODOLOGY 24

2.1 Research questions 24

2.2 Subject of the study 24

2.2.1 the students’ background and learning condition 24

2.2.2 The students’ Vietnamese language competence 25

2.3 The instruments 25

2.3.1 The questionnaire 25

2.3.2 The interview 26

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 27

3.1 Results and discussions from the questionnaires 27

3.2 Results and discussion from the interview 31

CHAPTER 4: FINDING AND SOME SOLUTIONS FOR BETTER LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENTS IN SON LA ETHNIC BOARDING HIGH SCHOOL 32

4.1 Students’ difficulties (through interview) 32

4.1.1 Lack of general knowledge 32

4.1.2 Lack of Motivation 32

4.1.3 Deficiency of Vietnamese 32

4.1.4 Lack of Time 33

4.1.5 Lack of an appropriate syllabus for ethnic minority students 33

4.1.6 Lack of communicative environment 34

4.2 Difficulties caused by the English differences between the written and spoken form 34

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4.3 Difficulties caused by other factors 34

4.3.1 Grammar-based examinations 34

4.3.2 Large class 34

4.4 Suggested Solutions 35

4.4.1 Using pictures 35

4.4.2 Using word guessing game 40

4.4.3 Using Semantic Mapping 41

4.4.4 Using Realia 43

4.4.5 Guessing word in context 44

4.4.6 Organizing English speaking clubs 46

4.4.7 Guiding students’ home revision 46

4.5 Better current situations 46

4.5.1 Providing teachers with more professional support 46

4.5.2 Improving the students’ Vietnamese competence 46

4.5.3 Raising the students’ general knowledge 47

4.5.4 Educating ethnic minority teachers to teach English for students in their

communities 47

4.5.5 Improving learning, teaching conditions at school 47

PART C: CONCLUSION 48

1 Conclusions 48

2 Limitations of the study 48

3 Suggestion for further study 49

REFERENCES 50

APPENDIXS

Son la is a small, remote and mountainous province with many ethnic groups so Son la Ethnic Boarding High School is established to cater for the education of their children At this school, each ethnic group has its own language, but they have to use Vietnamese in teaching and learning That is why when they learn English, it is really their second foreign language Surely, you can imagine the difficulties the pupils have with this language

In addition, I find out that my pupils are not successful learners, only because they lack vocabulary In fact they are provided with almost every word necessary for their communication inside and outside the classroom, but many of my pupils complain that they that forget most of learned words only a few day later This proves that problems in learning vocabulary are undeniable For better vocabulary teaching and learning, I have

chosen Investigating difficulties in vocabulary learning of ethnic minority learners at Son La Ethnic Boarding high school and some suggested solutions as the subject matter

of the study

2 Aims of the study

- To identify the typical difficulties in learning vocabulary for ethnic minority students at Son La Ethnic Boarding high school

- To suggested some solutions to overcome the difficulties

3 Scope of the Study

The study only concentrates on problems and possible solutions in learning

vocabulary from the textbook ― Tiếng Anh 10‖ by Hoang Van Van, Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa,

Do Tuan Minh, Nguyen Thu Phuong and Nguyen Quoc Tuan

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4 Methods of the Study

The study uses a combination of various methods to achieve its objectives such as descriptive, comparative, and statistical Various sources of data, including those obtained

from the students in the Son La Ethnic Boarding High school

First, survey questionnaires were conducted Data obtained help to investigate students‘ difficulties learning English vocabulary at Son la Ethnic boarding High School and also help teachers to find out appropriate activities to improve vocabulary learning

Secondly, the author interviewed 10 ethnic students to get better understanding of their difficulties in learning vocabulary

5 Design of the study

The thesis consists of three parts as follow:

Part A: Introduction

Part B: Development

Part B is composed of three chapters, each of which focused on a particular issue:

- Chapter I deal with Theoretical Background

- Chapter II describes the method employed and introduces the situation of teaching and learning vocabulary at Son La Ethnic Boarding High School

- Chapter III describes the data analysis and discussion about the students‘

difficulties in learning vocabulary at Son La Ethnic Boarding High School

- Chapter IV is the Finding and some solutions for better learning English

vocabulary to Ethnic minority students in Son La Ethnic Boarding High school

Part C: Conclusion

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 General knowledge of English Vocabulary

1.1.1 What is vocabulary?

Up to now there have been many definitions of vocabulary Some linguists define it according to semantic criterion while others refer to it according to the phonological or potential one

According to Parmer (1983:37),the semantic unit maybe a sequence of several words For example, ―look up‖ is a phrasal verb consisting of two words But the meaning

of ―look up‖ can only be understood in the entire phrase, not by analyzing its single parts

Word is also defined with phonological criterion It is said that word is marked by

―spaces‖ and ―pauses‖

According to Michael Lewis (1993:89), vocabulary ―…may be individual words, or full sentences – institutionalized utterances – that convey fixed social or pragmatic meaning within a given community.‖

Ur, P (1996: 60) defines vocabulary as the words we teach in the language The author also emphasizes that a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word; for example, post office and mother-in-law, which are made up of two or three words but express a single idea There are also multi-word idioms such as call it in day, where the meaning of the phrase can not be deduced from an analysis of component words There fore, a useful convention is to cover all cases by talking about vocabulary ―items‖ rather than ― word‖

Meanwhile in spite of the fact that many scientists talked about linguistics, the notion of word, they did not give any definition of word on their own According to Quirk

(1974), ―Thinking of word comes to us so naturally that it takes a serious effort to realize what miraculous devices they are Like so many other things that are basic and elemental

in our lives, we take them for granted and we apt to be surprised to find how hard it is to say exactly what a word is‖

Pyles and Alges (1970: 96) also state, ―When most of us think about language we think first about words It is true that the vocabulary is the focus of language It is words that sounds and meanings interlock to allow us to communicate with one an other, and it is

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word that we arrange together to make sentences, conversation and discourse of all kinds‖

It indicates that vocabulary is essential for learning a language

In short, it is possible to say that it is hard to give a precise definition of word For the pedagogical purposes of this paper, the definition by Ur, P (1996) is used

1.1.2 Classification of vocabulary

There have been different ways to classify vocabulary according to different criteria

1.1.2.1 In term of the concept of morpheme

Vocabulary is divided into three kinds: simple words, deriver words and compound words

- Simple words: A simple word consists of a root morpheme, such as big, hat…

- Derived words: A derived words consists of a root and one or more derivational morphemes like player, interesting…

- Compound words: A compound word has at least two roots with or without derivational morphemes For example: plant-eater, racing horse…

1.1.2.2 In term of the meaning

There are two main kinds of meaning in a word: lexical meaning and grammatical meaning There fore, vocabulary can be divided in to notional words and functional words Notional words are words with clear lexical meaning They address objects, actions, qualities, etc And they have meaning in themselves Notional words form a great number

of each speaker‘s vocabulary

Functional words are words whose meaning is grammatical and only have meaning

in relation to the other words with which they are used Functional words are particles, articles, prepositions…

1.1.2.3 In term of the function of vocabulary items in a sentence

According to the function of vocabulary items in a sentence, vocabulary can be divided into parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and pronouns Each part of speech has its own position complying with certain grammatical rules and relating to others

The teacher should point out the function of each item so that students can use its grammatical rules correctly

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1.1.2.4 In term of the sequence of use

The sequence of use means the frequency of occurrence of words There are three groups of word according to this criterion They are high frequency words, low frequency words and specialized words

It is very important for the teacher to show students which group a word be long to, because it is unnecessary to spend so much time learning low frequency words

1.1.2.5 In term of the use of word

According to this criterion we have active words and passive words Active words are those which students are able to use after they have learned them Passive words are the ones students do not have to use They are used especially in the texts to create necessary understanding and use them correctly and naturally

1.2 The role of vocabulary in language teaching and learning

―Vocabulary is one of the three dimensions of a language (phonetics, grammar, vocabulary) Without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” (Wilkin, 1972:110)

The statement indicates the great importance of vocabulary Since vocabulary is so important, teaching and learning vocabulary should be paid enough attention to The main objective of language learners is to understand and be understood in their communication using the language acquired In order to achieve this aim, they have to study a certain number of vocabulary items If some one has adequate vocabulary, he or she will feel more confident when communicating with others as well as expressing his/ her opinions in both

oral and written forms Regarding this matter, Wallace (1982) said: “Failure to find the words one needs to express himself is the most frustrating experience in speaking another language”

It is clear that mastering the meanings and especially the use of a word has an important role in learning a foreign language in general and in learning English in particular If someone misuses words, people will misunderstand him If one can use correct grammar but does not have exact words to express one‘s opinion, it is quite hard to build up a successful conversation The more words one knows well, the more successful

he is in communication and the more information he can get from different sources such as books, newspapers, etc In other words, a good knowledge of vocabulary will help learners develop the four skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing Therefore teaching and

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learning vocabulary are significant in learning a foreign language, especially in the light of the communication approach

1.3 Factors affecting vocabulary acquisition

There have been different opinions or factors that affect vocabulary acquisition However, they all share some main points Below are four types of factor said to have great impact on language learners‘ vocabulary acquisition

The first type is the person- dependent factors including age, sex, language, and cognitive and learning style These factors differ from person to person They are relative stable, and they determine to a large extent how a learner approaches a task

The second is the learning task which includes the materials being learnt (such as the genre of a piece of reading) as well as the goal the learner is trying to achieve by using these materials (such as remembering, comprehending or using language) Different types

of task materials, task purposes, and tasks at various difficulty level demand different strategies

The third type of factor is the learning context It is the socio-cultural-political environment where learning takes place The learning context can include the teachers, the peer, the classroom climate, the family support, the social, cultural tradition of learning, the curriculum, and the availability of input and out put opportunities These factors have a certain effect on the ways learners approach learning task and acquire vocabulary knowledge

Last but not least, we cannot forget to mention strategy A learning strategy is a series of actions a learner takes to complete a learning task A strategy starts when the learner analyzes the task, the situation, and what is available in his/her repertoire The learner then goes on to select, deploy, monitor, and evaluate the effectiveness of this action, and decides if he/she needs to revise the plan and action

In short, the factors discussed above (person, task, context, and strategy) exist together and make a configuration of a particular learning situation that will help to bring about the effectiveness of vocabulary

1.4 Methods in vocabulary teaching

Markey (1978:138) states, “The method used has been said to be the cause of success or failure in language learning, for it is ultimately the method that determines what and the how of language instruction” This statement shows us the importance of

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methodology It is methodology that determines success or failure in language teaching That is the reason why teacher have to understand well about different methods so that they can choose the best ones for their learners Below is a brief discussion on some methods in vocabulary teaching in history and their role in vocabulary teaching and learning

1.4.1 The Grammar- Translation Method

The Grammar- Translation Method is the application of methods which was widely used in the formal teaching of Latin and Greek and was adopted as the chief means for teaching foreign languages in many European educational institutions Hubbard (1983:328)

states that the grammar translation method ― is the traditional deductive method of language teaching, based on classical studies of dead language which consists of giving rules, paragons and vocabulary and getting students to apply this new knowledge to translation‖ In term of vocabulary teaching, students are given lists of vocabulary with

isolated words They are taught grammatical rules and paradigms to put words together Translating from mother tongue into target language and vice-versa is emphasized while little or no attention is paid to pronunciation At the same time, it is assume that language consists of written words that exist in isolation, as though they were individual bricks that could be translated one by one into their foreign equivalents and then assessed according to grammatical rules into sentences in the foreign language For this reason, learners may think that language is just a collection of words which are isolated and independent and there must be a corresponding word in the mother tongue for each foreign word they learn Moreover, this method may reduce students‘ motivation as long lists of vocabulary may make them bored and undisciplined As a result, they will not have adequate vocabulary However, this method is easy to apply and also easy to test and control It used to be widely used in high schools in Vietnam To some extent teachers and students could gain some benefit from it when the goal of learning was passing tests and exams, but now this

goal has been changed and the method proves not to be suitable any more

1.4.2 The Direct Method

The Direct Method appeared as the result of a revolution in language teaching philosophy It is described in details by Diane Larsen- Freeman in her book techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (1986) According to this method, new teaching points are taught through modeling and practice This means that people learn to speak a language

1.4.3 The Audio-lingual method

The Audio-lingual Method appeared in World War 2 At that time, the ―Army Method‖ was developed to build communicative competence in translators through very intensive language courses focusing on aural/oral skills This is combination with some new ideas about language learning coming from the disciplines of descriptive linguistics and behavioral psychological went on to become what is known as the Audio-lingual method According to Brown (1994) and Prator and Celce- Murcia (1979), the overall goal

of the Audio-lingua Method was to create communicative competence in learners Thus, in this method, vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context and there is much dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases, and over learning Furthermore, great importance is attached to pronunciation To carry out vocabulary teaching that way, some common techniques are exploited such as repetition drill, single slot substitution drill use of minimal pairs, etc

With such kinds of practice, students will have better memory of words, terms and phrases and know how to use them practically This way of teaching also make the class more active and motivated in learning However, because of the lack of teaching and learning facilities this method has not been commonly use in high schools in Vietnam

1.4.4 The Silent Way

The Silent Way has founded by Caleb Gattegno as a method for language learning for early 70s The most prominent characteristics of the method was that the teacher typically stayed ―silent‖ most of the time, as part of his/her role as facilitator and stimulator That is the reason why the method‘s popular name is ―The Silent Way‖

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As Larsen- Freeman (1986) described, in this method, Cuisinere rods (small rods of varying color and length) are typically used to introduce vocabulary and syntax, along with colorful wall charts There is also the sound-color chart, 12 words charts each containing around 500 words, and 8 Fidel charts for the English language

In addition, word charts with the sounds in each word corresponding in color to the sound-color chart are used by students to build sentences Last but not least is the Fidel chart – a chart that is color- coded according to the sound- color chart but includes the various English spellings so that they can be directly related to actual sounds

1.4.5 Suggestopedia

In the late 70s, a Bulgarian psychologist began to develop a language learning method that focused on ― de-suggestion‖ of the limitations learners think they have, and providing the soft of relaxed state of mind that would facilitate the retention of material to its maximum potential This method became known as ―Suggestopedia‖

According to this method, vocabulary is learnt from posters and decorations around the learning environment It can also be presented and given treatment from the teacher, but not dwelt on The particular thing is that it is acquired in a special learning environment with soft cushioned seating, dim light and Baroque music Music, drama, and the ―arts‖ are integrated into the learning process as often as possible

Suggestopedia provides some valuable insights into the power of cognition and creating or employing techniques that make students feel comfortable and relaxed, and

―suggestible‖ to the material being learnt However, it is impossible to apply this way to high school students as we lack equipment and teaching condition Soft cushioned seating and dim lighting are not available for us We can only use it in combination with other methods to make the lesson more interesting

1.4.6 Total Physical Response (TPR)

In the 1960s, James Asher began experimenting with a method he called Total Physical Response The method involves a substantial amount of listening and comprehension in combination with various ―physical response‖ (smiling, reaching, grabbing, looking, etc) well before learners begin to use the language orally It is also focused on the ideas that learning should be fun and stress-free as possible, and that it should be dynamic through the use of accompanying physical activity According to this

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method, vocabulary is emphasized over other language areas by using commands to direct

behavior, role reversal or action sequence

For school students, if this method is used in combination with other methods, it can interest them However, it is not quite suitable for heterogeneous classes to take part in activities that require total physical activities

1.4.7 The Communicative Approach (Communicative Language Teaching – CLT)

Hubbarb( 1983:236) states: “ Communicative approach to language teaching takes

as its starting points the use of communicative purpose of language The approach,

therefore strongly advocates careful attention to the use rather than merely form and meaning It would also favor functional organization of teaching materials It might tend to support a “deep-end” approach to presentation of new language, in which students are first to cope with the communication task as fast as possible before being given the new necessary form‖

According to this method, vocabulary is learnt through ―real life‖ communication

in the class room, through interaction in the target language and through an enhancement

of the learners‘ own experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning and through an attempt to link classroom language learning activation outside the

classroom This approach indicates that knowing a word does not mean knowing the

meaning of the word only New words must be taught in combination with pronunciation, spelling, grammar and collocation in order to help the students catch proper and effective use of them These are the most crucial principles that teachers should bear in mind when teaching vocabulary:

 New words must be taught in context;

 A few words are presented at a time and creating favorable conditions for the students to practice and use them as much as possible;

 Encouraging students to guess new words, especially when reading;

 Words should be practiced in context rather than memorizing them isolate;

 Not all words are of the same importance, so teachers should not try to treat all

of them as active vocabulary

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In comparison with other method, this method has more advantages, so it has been used in many high schools However, choosing appropriate techniques to teach vocabulary is one problem Thus, in spite of applying the CLT many teachers have not been successful

1.5 Teaching and learning vocabulary through communicative activities

1.5.1 Characteristics of communicative activities

Today it seem that the goal of teaching and learning language is the students‘ ability to communicate, so communicative activities are put in great emphasis on This is

also true in vocabulary teaching and learning

Yanping, P (2005:3) remarks ―Communicative activities refer to activities which are organized in classes with elements of communicative functions, and students‟ improvisation‖

In every communicative activity students are asked to take part in communication with others According to Wood, L (1981) communicative activities have four characteristics as follows:

- providing “whole- task” practice;

- improving motivation;

- allowing natural learning;

- creating a context that supports learning

When being involved in communicative activities students feel more motivated as they need to communicate with one an other to find out unknown information Besides, many aspects of language learning can take place through natural processes, which operate when a learner is involved in using the language for communication Communication activities in class are used to get learners to use the language they are learning to interact in

a realistic and meaningful way Thus, they are an important part of the learning process

Finally, they provide opportunities to promote relationships among learners and between learner and the teacher This relationship can help to humanize the classroom and create a environment that supports the students in their effort to learn

1.5.2 Characteristics of vocabulary communicative activities

According to Nation, P and Newton, J (2000:224), communicative activities that encourage vocabulary learning have following features:

- Helping speakers to set their speech to a suitable level for particulars listeners and to adjust it when listeners indicate a lack of understanding;

- Learners being likely to be required to use new items productively in the activity

These features include the choice of vocabulary and its placement within the textual input for the activities, the teacher‘s and learners‘ strategies for arriving at the meaning of these features and the way they affect learners‘ responses to unfamiliar vocabulary, teachers can improve the quality of vocabulary learning that is likely to occur during performance of communicative activities

Another point to remember is that communicative activities encouraging vocabulary learning are not limited to oral productive language A communicative activity can be a written format such as vocabulary exercises including word-building, matching words with various types of definitions, studying vocabulary in context, semantic mapping, and split information activities focusing on vocabulary Thus, choosing a relevant communicative activity for teaching requires teachers‘ though and planning

1.5.3 Vocabulary teaching techniques in combination with communicative activities

When you think of vocabulary, there is a good change that you think of long lists of words from textbooks, spelling word lists, or even the humongous lists of terms to study for exams Perhaps the least effective way to study vocabulary is the ―look and remember‖ techniques Here, students typically stare at the term and definition, apparently trying to activate photographic memory they wish they had

According to vocabulary techniques, communicative activities can be classified as follows:

1.5.3.1 Visual techniques

According to Zebrowska (cited in Gaim and Redman (1986)), visual techniques pertain visual memory Learners remember better the material that has been presented by means of visual aids So, communicative activities using visual aids such as flashcards, photographs, blackboard drawings, wall charts and relia (i.e object themselves) can stimulate students to speak the language Regarding visual aids, students can benefit from communicative activities since they ―help to provide the situation which light up the

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meaning of the utterances used‖ (Lee, W.R and Coppen, H,1970:1) Besides, mine and gesture are often used to supplement other ways of conveying meaning Teachers can make use of the blackboard and gesture to reinforce the concept For example, make the typical gesture with your hand as you say ―Stand up‖, ―Come here‖, or ―Sit down‖; mine writing

as you say ―Write the answers‖, or mine distributing things as you say, ― Please give out these photocopies‖

1.5.3.2 Verbal techniques

Vocabulary teaching and learning communicative activities can be carried out by mean of verbal techniques as follows:

i) Use of illustrative situation (oral and written): To ensure that students

understand, teachers often make use of more than one situation context to check that learners have grasped the concept

ii) Use of synonyms and definitions: Teachers often use synonymy where they

have to compromise and restrict the length and complexity of their explanations Besides, definition alone is often inadequate as a mean of conveying meaning , and clearly contextualized examples are generally required to clarify the limits of the item

iii) Contrasts and opposites: This technique often asks ―What is the opposite

of…?‖

iv) Examples of the type: To illustrate the meaning of super ordinates such as

‗furniture‘, ‗vegetable‘, ‗meat‘ and ‗transport‘, it is common procedure to exemplify them,

ex Table, chair, bed and sofa are all furniture Some of these can of course also be dealt with through visual aids

1.5.3.3 Using Games

Up to now games have proved to be very effective in vocabulary teaching and learning as they can encourage, entertain, teach and promote fluency Haycraft (1987: 50) suggest that there are large varieties of word games that are especially useful for practicing and revising vocabulary after it has been introduced Numerous puzzles, word squares, crosswords, jigsaw task, picture- describing, are useful for pair or group work More clearly, games provide a situation in which they provide a setting in which communication is essential and therefore they will become a stimulating and interesting way to help students acquire the target language without even realizing it

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1.5.3.4 Role play

Role-play activities can involve a written text or oral production However oral activities are more effective since they help to create the presence of a real-life situation in

the classroom Ladouse, G.P (1987:5) stresses, “When students assumes a „role‟, they play

a part either their own or some body else‟s in a specific situation „Play‟ means that the role is taken on in a safe environment in which students are as inventive and playful as possible In the roles, students are experimenting with their knowledge of the real world and developing their ability to interact with other people”

Furthermore, activities of this kind let students develop and practice vocabulary in combination with other language skills such as grammar and speaking, and create the motivation and involvement necessary for learning to occur Teachers can prepare a lot of situation such as Going Shopping, Preparing a Party What students have to do is work in pairs improvising a suitable dialogue for each situation, so they will have less pressure and will be more willing to participate in the role-play

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CHATER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research questions

1 What kinds of difficulties do ethnic minority learners in Son La Ethnic Boarding high school often meet when learning vocabulary?

2 What are the most effective ways to teach vocabulary to these learners?

2.2 Subject of the study

2.2.1 The students’ background and learning condition

The study was conducted at the Son La Ethnic Boarding High School, which is one

of the high schools in Son La that teach ethnic minorities students

The researcher chose 40 ethnic minority students in Son La ethnic boarding high school for the subjects of this study They are both male and female students at the age of fifteen All of them are minor ethnic people (the Thai) They have been learning English since they were in 6th form However, the knowledge of their English vocabulary is still very poor

Most of the students in this study come from every part of the province and belong

to ethnic minority groups They come from farmer families in the remote villages They study and live in Son La ethnic Boarding High School, they are far away from home, so some of them suffer from being homesick because this is the first time they have to live far

from their family This certainly affects their study

In addition, at the weekend they come back home and have to spend most of their time helping their parents do farming and house works, so they do not have time to do their homework Also, their parents are too busy to help them with their lessons On the other hand they think that, schooling is their children‘s responsibility and teacher‘s job, so they pay little attention to their children‘s schooling or do not encourage them to learn harder

Moreover, the school‘s equipment is very poor, and out of date All the classrooms are simply brick built, the furniture was old and not very comfortable The school is located at the main street so it is very noisy Sometimes the street‘s activities distracted students‘ attention from their lesson The class size is large (40 – 45) so the teachers can not control the classes effectively Besides, all the teaching facilities the teachers have are the text books, chalk, and old board so that the teachers‘ lectures are often boring More than that, there are not many English books, English stories, pictures, CDs or cassette tapes

in school library There are not any clubs or organizations for students to improve or

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nourish their language skills Computers and internet are rarely used by teachers and far from imagination of the ethnic students In general, the learning condition for the students observed was very poor and not suitable for students to learn any subjects

Most of the English teachers in Son La Ethnic Boarding High School are from other provinces, and most of them are Kinh people In their teaching, they meet many difficulties and experience numerous culture shocks because in these classes, most of students are minor ethnic groups Moreover, the teaching materials are not available for all

of the students

2.2.2 The students’ Vietnamese language competence

They are pure ethnic students, and Thai is their first language, they always use it everyday to communicate with their parents and other members of their communities They only use Vietnamese at schools or at public places, so their Vietnamese competence

is still limited When they learn English they have to learn two foreign languages at the same time You are sure to imagine all sorts of difficulties those ethnic students have to overcome

2.3 The instruments

The study aims to find out ethnic students‘ difficulties in learning English vocabulary In order to have a deep understanding in this issue, the researcher distributes questionnaires to students Secondly, she interviews 10 of the students

The purpose of the questionnaire was to examine how important the ethnic minority students think of their learning English and what difficulties they often meet when learning vocabulary On this basic, the researcher will propose some relevant suggestions to help learners to over come these difficulties

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2.3.2 The interview

A one – to – one interview was conducted after the administration of student questionnaire in class It was carried out in Vietnamese, in the form of informal conversation between the researcher and the students While formulating the interview questions, the interviewer made sure that the questions were clear, precise and motivating

10 ethnic students were randomly selected for the interview The questions in the interviews were basically based on those in the questionnaire to get more understanding about the difficulties in learning English vocabulary of the ethnic minority students Each conversation lasted for 5 – 7 minutes, in order that the interviewees have enough time to answer all questions

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CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Data analysis is not a simple description of the data collected but a process by which the researcher can bring interpretation to the data (Powney & Watts,1987) In the following parts, the researcher interprets the results from the feedback of the

questionnaires, interviews and observations The study mentions the ethnic students‘

constraints in learning English vocabulary

3.1 Results and discussions from the questionnaires

The following questions from questionnaire will be considered to obtain data for analysis and discussion:

1 What nationality are you?

One hundred percents of the ethnic minority students are Thai people

2 How do you think of your Vietnamese language competence?

One hundred percents of the students admitted that their Vietnamese is very poor They can only understand very simple Vietnamese Their vocabulary is rather small They can not express complicated things in Vietnamese

3 Do you think that English is important for your job in the future?

They know clearly that, English is very important for their job in the future, all of them chose the answer ―yes‖ But they still do not spend enough time on learning English, because of many factors that hinder them from doing so Firstly, they do not have time to learn, secondly, some of them think they can learn it later when they have opportunity

4 How long have you learned English?

To this question, the students have the same answers, they have studied English for four years (since they were in 6th form)

5 What do you think of learning English vocabulary?

Table 1

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It can be seen from question 4 that approximately 62.5% of the students considered vocabulary learning difficult and boring 32.5% of students feel vocabulary learning difficult and the lowest percentage of the students considered it interesting and easy It resulted from the fact that students entered this school with low level of knowledge and low motivation Their previous knowledge of English is very poor and now they almost stared from the beginning Most of them were not interested in learning English as it took much more time and energy than other subjects Some students think that learning vocabulary is simply to memorize the words‘ spelling and its Vietnamese equivalents When being asked about the reason why they feel bored in learning vocabulary, the learners said that they just copied new words provided by their teachers or marked and underlined words they did not know in their text books then noted the meaning in Vietnamese

6 How much time do you usually spend learning vocabulary outside classroom?

Table 2 Although the students highly appriciate the role of learning vocabulary, only a small number of them spend enough time learning it Just 30% in total spend from one to two hours daily learning; only 10% spend more than two hours and over half students 60% spend no time at all in learning new words This can be explained that English is not students‘ majors there fore they do not spend much time on learning vocabulary In school, students have to learn many subjects and they do not pay much attention to learning English They only concentrate on some subjects, which they believe to be useful for their future, such as, math, literature, physics, chemistry or biology