An investigation into vocabulary learning strategies used by the tenth-form students at Hoang Hoa high school = Nghiên cứu về những chiến lược học từ vựng của h

The current study investigates vocabulary learning strategies VLS used by the tenth-form students at HH high school in TH.. The study was carried out with the participation of 140 studen

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

Nghiên cứu về những chiến lược học từ vựng của học sinh lớp 10 trường

trung học phổ thông Hoằng Hóa

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

Hanoi, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

Nghiên cứu về những chiến lược học từ vựng của học sinh lớp 10 trường

trung học phổ thông Hoằng Hóa

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: Dương Thị Nụ, PhD

Hanoi, 2014

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I, the undersigned, certify my authority of the M.A minor thesis entitled “An investigation into vocabulary learning strategies used by the tenth-form students at Hoằng Hóa high school” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts The thesis has not been submitted to any university or institution except where the references are indicated, no other person‟s piece of work has been used without due acknowledgements in the text of the thesis

Signature

Lương Thị Hoa

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express the deepest appreciation to those who have facilitated

me to complete this dissertation

First and foremost, my gratitude goes to my research supervisor, Dr Dương Thị Nụ for her patient guidance and insightful advice throughout the duration of the study despite her busy schedule Without her supervision and constant help, this dissertation would not have been possible

Secondly, I am indebted to all the lecturers in the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies of the University of Languages and International Studies for their useful lessons from which I have benefited a lot for the accomplishment of this study

Importantly, I am grateful to my colleagues at Hoằng Hoá high school for their great support, advice, experience and valuable discussions about the pedagogical problems I encountered I am also thankful to the students for their whole-hearted participation in the study Honesty, without their enthusiasm, this dissertation would not have been thoroughly completed

Last but not least, I would like to express my special thanks to my family members whose strong support and encouragement have kept me going this far

ABSTRACT

It is common knowledge that vocabulary is a very important language element in any language However, the teaching and learning vocabulary at Hoằng Hóa (HH) high school in Thanh Hóa (TH) is far from satisfactory The current study investigates vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) used by the tenth-form students at

HH high school in TH The questionnaires were given to participants to find out their perception of teaching and learning vocabulary at HH high school In order to achieve these aims, both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were employed to explore what strategies commonly used by the tenth-form students at

HH high school The data was collected via a number of instruments including: questionnaires for students, an interview and a class observation for teachers of English at HH high school The study was carried out with the participation of 140 students from group 10B1, 10B2, 10B5 and seven teachers of English at HH high school The results of the questionnaires stated that both HH high school teachers and learners are correctly aware of the importance of teaching and learning English vocabulary Furthermore, many vocabulary strategies were used both in teaching and learning vocabulary However, the frequency of using strategies is different among teachers and students

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CLT: Communicative language teaching

COG: Cognitive strategies

DET: Determination strategies

EFL: English as a foreign language

HH: Hoằng Hóa

L1: The first language

L2: The second language

LLS: Language learning strategies

LSs: Learning strategies

MEM: Metacognitive strategies

SOC: Social strategies

TH: Thanh Hóa

VLS: Vocabulary learning strategies

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Components of learning strategies

Table 2: Features of language learning strategies

Table 3: Vocabulary Learning Strategies in the Questionnaire

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Students‟ use of DET strategies in vocabulary learning

Figure 2: Students’ use of SOC strategies in vocabulary learning

Figure 3: Students‟ use of MEM strategies in vocabulary learning Figure 4: Students‟ use of COG strategies in vocabulary learning Figure 5: Students‟ use of MET strategies in vocabulary learning Figure 6: Statistics of five groups of vocabulary learning strategies

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………

ABSTRACT………

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS………

i ii iii vi LIST OF TABLES………

LIST OF FIGURES………

TABLE OF CONTENTS………

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale………

2 Aims of the study………

3 Research questions………

4 Methods of the study………

5 Significance of the study………

6 Scope of the study………

7 Organization of the thesis………

PART B: DEVELOPMENT vi vi v 1 1 3 3 3 4 4 4 Chapter 1: Literature review………

1 Language learning strategies………

1.2 Definitions of language learning strategies………

1.3 Characteristics of language learning strategies………

1.4 Classification of language learning strategies………

2 Vocabulary and vocabulary learning strategies………

2.1 Definition of vocabulary………

2.2 The importance of vocabulary in the second language………

3 Vocabulary learning strategies

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3.1 Definition of vocabulary learning strategies………

3.2 Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies………

3.3 Classification of Schmitt‟s vocabulary learning strategies………

Chapter 2: Research methodology………

1 Participants………

2 Data collection instruments………

3 Data collection procedure………

Chapter 3: Data analysis………

1 Questionnaires for students………

2 Observation sheet for teachers………

Chapter 4: Data discussion………

1 Vocabulary Learning Strategies used by the tenth-form students at HH high school………

2 Teachers‟ Vocabulary Teaching Strategies………

3 Recommendations ………

PART C: CONCLUSION………

REFERENCES………

APPENDICES………

Appendix 1………

Appendix 2………

A sample of completed obversation sheet….………

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

The focus of this dissertation is to investigate vocabulary learning strategies used by the tenth form students at Hoằng Hóa (HH) high school It appears apparent that there are a considerable number of important reasons for this

selection of research area

The first and foremost reason should be that learning vocabulary seems to be considered as intuitively the most important macro in any languages “If a language could be considered as a house, then its grammar could be considered as cement and its vocabulary could be figuratively compared to bricks To build a complete house, not only cement but also bricks are needed Without bricks, no house can be built, even when a plenty of high quality cement is available.” (Nguyễn Huyền, 2004:1) In speaking or writing, learners need vocabulary to communicate and understand other people In some situations, learners produce grammatically incorrect sentences, but they still get their message across if they use key words appropriately In other situations, learners may feel unpleasant because they cannot find the words to express themselves Vocabulary is not only indispensable for personal communication, but also for academic study In fact, many standardized tests require knowledge of vocabulary such as TOEFL, IELTS Definitely, it cannot be denied that learning vocabulary appears significant to language learners in learning foreign language in general and in their real life in particular

Secondly,English is an international language and together with its increasing importance, the need of learning English is becoming more urgent than ever From

my own experience, to learn English well, one must not only acquire a good knowledge of English grammar but also need a rich amount of English vocabulary

There is a famous saying that “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” (Cited in Hoang Tat Truong

1985:1) The saying sounds very familiar with many people However, the

researcher still wants to repeat it once more to confirm the importance of vocabulary in any language In fact, methodologists have constantly looked for effective methods to teach and learn English vocabulary

Thirdly, while many Vietnamese students are good at grammar, they cannot speak English correctly and fluently in real-life communication To improve this matter, learners must give high priority to learning and developing their knowledge

of vocabulary It can be seen that, for a long time, the language teaching and learning have been based on the out-of-date methods in which students only passively sit, take notes but rarely contribute to the lessons They do not ask their teacher questions, even when they have problems Therefore, when approaching new teaching methods such as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), students feel active in classroom There have been a variety of studies on this situation and various solutions have been given, including changing teaching methods, changing syllabus or textbooks, upgrading teachers‟ qualifications, changing formats of vocabulary tests

Last but not least, based on my four-year teaching experience at HH high school, I know that the students rarely pay attention to vocabulary, though they have been learning English since they were at lower secondary schools In Vietnam, many scholars have studied vocabulary learning strategies However, this

is the first time an investigation into vocabulary learning strategies used by the tenth-form students at HH high school is conducted The result of this dissertation

is expected to make an outstanding contribution to foreign language education in Vietnam, especially to teacher and learners at HH high schools Indeed, both teachers and students will hopefully be accurately aware of the importance of teaching and learning vocabulary which brings the learners a considerable number

of benefits in the future In addition, the teachers and learners will have opportunities to assess their teaching and learning vocabulary as well as the problems they encounter As a result, it facilitates teachers and learners to find out

the reasonable and suitable teaching and learning vocabulary strategies, and to overcome difficulties in teaching and learning vocabulary

For such reasons I choose “An investigation into vocabulary learning

strategies used by the tenth-form students at Hoằng Hóa high school” as a theme

for my thesis

2 Aims of the study

The study is carried out to achieve the following aims:

- To find out the English teachers and students‟ perception and attitude towards

vocabulary learning strategies

- To explore what strategies are commonly used by the tenth- form students at HH high school in learning English vocabulary

- To give some suggestions to stimulate students to learn English vocabulary better

4 Methods of the study

To reach the aims set forth, the study uses both quantitative and qualitative research approaches In order to gain the most successful results, data will be collected through questionnaires for students, an interview and an observation for teachers of English at high school The collected data, then, will be processed and analyzed Additionally, the writer‟s own experience in designing classroom vocabulary learning activities and the analysis of current textbook and vocabulary teaching methods applied to teaching English for the tenth- form students at HH high school in Thanh Hóa (TH) will contribute much to the evaluation of the

effectiveness of these activities

5 Significance of the study

Firstly, the information about students‟ strategies in learning English vocabulary in this thesis is believed to be useful for the teachers of English in general and the English teachers at HH high school in particular so that they can

apply suitable and effective techniques to teach vocabulary

Secondly, this research may help raise the students‟ awareness of learning vocabulary in foreign language lessons, and from that they can make progress in learning English

Thirdly, the study may be used as a reference for other researchers to conduct other studies in similar areas

6 Scope of the study

In the previous studies, teaching and learning English vocabulary has been mentioned by many researchers so far and they aimed at several levels of learners Because of the limited time and within a master thesis, only vocabulary learning strategies as a theme was chosen on the ground that learning vocabulary seems to

be the most challenging language factor to English learners in Vietnam in general

Moreover, the subjects chosen for this study are the tenth- form students at

HH high school, TH province where the researcher is teaching Thus, it cannot be said that the results of this study are general to other language researches and to all Vietnamese high school students

7 Organization of the thesis

This thesis is divided into three main parts:

PART A: INTRODUCTION- contains rationale, objectives of the study,

research questions, methods, significance, scope and organization of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1- Literature review - covers the information about vocabulary learning

strategies (VLS) research, some basis concepts related to learning strategies and vocabulary learning In addition, learning strategies and learning strategy

classification are reviewed to set up the theoretical framework for the investigation

in the next chapter

Chapter 2- Research methodology - includes the context of the study, the

research questions, the research method, the study participants and the procedures

to carry out the study

Chapter 3- Data analysis and discussion -discusses the use of vocabulary

learning strategies by the students of HH high school and recommendations for teachers and students

Chapter 4-Major findings, discussions and recommendations- shows major

findings, discussions and recommendations for the teachers to increase the effectiveness of teaching and learning vocabulary

PART C: CONCLUSION- addresses the key issues in the study, limitations

of the study and suggestions for further study

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, a brief review of learning strategy research is given; some basic concepts related to learning strategies and vocabulary learning is also presented In addition, the classification of learning strategies in general and vocabulary learning strategies in particular are reviewed to set up the theoretical framework for the investigation in the next chapter

1.1 The definitions of learning strategies

It is said that research on learning strategies in general and language learning strategies in particular has become common So far, there has been no consensus on what constitutes a learning strategy in second language learning or how these differ from other types of learner activities among the linguists regarding to the definitions of leaning strategies

Oxford (1990) defines as „„specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations

According to Nunan (1991:168), “Learning strategies […] are the mental processes which learners employ to learn and use the target language” Nunan‟s definition restricts learning strategies only to “mental processes”

Richard et al (1992:209), offers a broader definition of learning strategies, that is, learning strategies are intentional behaviors and thoughts that learners make use of during learning in order to better help them understand, learn and remember new information.”

Similarly, Weinstein and Mayer (1986) (in O‟ Malley and Charmot 1990:43) have learning facilitation as a goal and are intentional on the part of the learner The goal of strategy use is to affect the leaner‟s motivational or affective state, or the way in which the learner selects, acquires, organizes, or integrates new knowledge.”

Obviously, learning strategies are defined in different words and from different perspectives such as cognitive, social or pragmatic Therefore, researchers

worked out the taxonomy of learning strategies instead of defining them This can

be seen in the following part

1.2 The characteristics of learning strategies

Learning strategies are techniques, approaches or deliberate actions that students take in order to facilitate the learning and recall of both linguistic and content information and to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations

Wenden and Rubin (1987: 7-8) claimed that learning strategies were composed of the following components:

Components of learning strategies

1 They are specific actions or techniques

2 They can be observable/ behaviourable or non-observable/ mental

3 They are problem-oriented

4 They can contribute directly or indirectly to learning

5 They may be consciously employed and became automatized

6 They are changeable

Table 1: Components of learning strategies

Source: Wenden and Rubin (1987: 7-8)

Oxford (1990:9) offers a more comprehensive list of the features of language learning strategies as the following:

Features of language learning strategies

1 Contribute to the main goal, communicative competence

2 Allow learners to be more self-directed

3 Expand the role of the teacher

4 Are problem-oriented

5 Are specific actions taken by the learner?

6 Involve many aspects of the learner, not just the cognitive

7 Support learning both directly and indirectly

8 Are not always observable

9 Are often conscious

10 Can be taught

11 Are flexible

12 Are influenced by a variety of factors

Table 2: Features of language learning strategies (Source: Oxford (1990:9))

1.3 Classifications of learning strategies

Many scholars like O'Malley et al (1985), Wenden & Rubin (1987), Stern (1992), Oxford (2001) have an interest in classifying vocabulary learning

strategies However, most of these endeavors to classify language learning

strategies reflect more or less the same categories of language learning strategies without any radical changes In what follows, these taxonomies of language

learning strategies will be dealt with:

Wenden’s classification

Wenden‟s (1983) research checked the strategies that adult foreign language learners use in order to direct their own learning Wenden‟s focus, therefore, is on what O‟Malley and Charmot call meta-cognitive strategies She identifies the following three general categories of self-directing strategies:

(1) Knowing about language and relating to what language and language learning involves;

(2) Planning relating to the „what‟ and „how‟ of language learning;

(3) Self-evaluation It relates to progress in learning and learner‟s responses to the learning experience Wenden‟s framework was considered as a basis for the later English foreign language (EFL) learner‟s training

Dansereau’s Classification

Dansereau (1985) draws a distinction between a primary strategy and support strategies, the former is used to directly manage learning materials, and the latter helps to establish an appropriate learning attitude and therefore aids in coping with distractions, fatigue and frustrations Later Oxford suggested two broad categories paralleling Dansereau‟s primary strategies and support strategies

Rubin’s Classification

According to the criteria of whether the strategy contributes directly or indirectly to learning, Rubin proposed a classification scheme that subsumes learning strategies under two primary groupings and a number of subgroups Learner strategies “contribute to the development of the language system and affect learning directly” (Rubin 1987:23) Language learning strategies are further categorized in cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies

Oxford’s Classification

A distinction is drawn between direct and indirect strategies by Oxford (1990) Jones (1998) believes that Oxford has developed a system of language learning strategies that is more comprehensive and detailed than earlier classification models However, as Oxford herself concedes, there is no agreement

on the basic definitions of the terms „direct‟ and „indirect‟, nor on “exactly what strategies are; how many strategies exist; how they should be defined, demarcated, and categorized”

O’Malley’s Classification

O‟Malley and Charmot‟s (1990) classification emerged from interviews with experts and novices and theoretical analyses of reading comprehension and problem solving And language learning strategies are differentiated into the three primary categories cognitive, meta-cognitive and affective or social strategies

It cannot be denied that learning strategies (LSs) are divided into various ways from different researchers' views O'Malley and Cohen have a great deal in common with the taxonomy of LSs Both of them refer to three primary categories (cognitive, metacognitive and affective strategies) On the other hand, Rubin and Oxford consider direct and indirect criteria as the basement of classifying LSs Different from the other researchers, Wenden focuses on three general categories of self-directing strategies Dansereau only considers the differences between a primary strategy and support strategy as his classification of LSs Although there are many classifications of LSs, most of which are basic theories It is not easy to decide which classification of LSs is the best in learning a foreign language in that

it depends on different criteria such as: educational environment, learners' level as well as their studying aims In fact, many learners try a large number of language learning strategies with a little or even no success Meanwhile, others using one strategy or several ones in studying another language can reach a good result Due to our students' characteristics, I would like to apply Wenden's classification of LSs which is not only brief and clear but also understandable

2 Vocabulary and vocabulary learning strategies

2.1 Definition of vocabulary

David Wilkins, a British linguist acknowledged vocabulary and the significance of vocabulary that without grammar, very little could be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing could be conveyed Vocabulary is considered a very important aspect of learning a foreign language that has called for a great of attention from linguists, researchers, teachers and learners together with many different definitions of vocabulary In the Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary, vocabulary is defined as “all the words that a person knows or uses, or all the words

in a particular language.”

According to Lewis (1993, p.89, cited in Hoang, 1985), vocabulary “…may

be individual words or full sentences – institutionalized utterances – that conveyed fixed social or pragmatic meaning within a given community”

From the above quotations about vocabulary, the question: “What is vocabulary?” in terms of vocabulary teaching and learning can be partly revealed Vocabulary is not only a stock of individual words with fixed meanings, more than that, it is also a combination of words such as: poly words (e.g by the way, upside down), collocations or word partnership (e.g sense of humor, make a complaint), institutionalized utterances (e.g I‟ll take it; Where are you from?), sentence frames (It can be said that ; there is /there are), or even text frames (e.g in this presentation, I would like to…; Firstly, secondly, thirdly…) Learning vocabulary involves learning “chunks” rather than learning individual words

2.2 The importance of vocabulary in the second language learning

In the very first part of his book “Vocabulary”, Mc Cathy (1990, p.2, cited in Quach, 2007) stated: “It is the experience of most language teachers that the single, biggest component of any language course is vocabulary No matter how well the student learns grammar, no matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wide range of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way.”

It is impossible to deny the role of vocabulary in communication in the second (L2) One‟s vocabulary range plays a very significant part in his/her ability

to communicate due to the fact that “words are the tools we use to think, to express ideas and feelings and to learn about the world.” (Johnson and Johnson, 2004, p.1, cited in Quach, 2007)

In the book named “Understanding vocabulary” (2000, p.16, cited in Quach, 2007), Alexander wrote: “Comprehension improves when you know what the words mean” and “words are currency of communication A robust vocabulary improves all areas of communication – listening, speaking, reading and writing” All the above quotations highly appreciate the important role of vocabulary in language learning, especially in second language learning Thus, teaching vocabulary should be a part of the syllabus and vocabulary should be paid more attention through well- planned lesson of language teachers‟ and serious learning behavior of learners

3 Vocabulary learning strategies

3.1 Definitions of vocabulary learning strategies

It should be noted that there have been many definitions of language learning strategies Meanwhile, there is no official definition for vocabulary learning strategies Perhaps it is because that vocabulary learning strategies are part of language learning strategies and part of learning strategies as well The working definition of vocabulary learning strategies in this research is adapted from Rubin (1987), cited in Schmitt (1997:203) that learning strategies are defined as “the

process by which information is obtained, stored, retrieved, and used” and

“therefore vocabulary learning strategies could be any which affect this defined process”

broadly-It is believed that the characteristics of learning strategies introduced by Rubin and Oxford as mentioned above are also true to VLS

3.2 Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies

Studying VLS has been an interest for a lot of psychologists, linguists and language teachers for ages There are numerous studies conducted about VLS and their effectiveness in learning vocabulary and this vocabulary field has been productive in the last two decades Some researchers have attempted to develop a framework of category of vocabulary learning strategies Following are the three most prominent taxonomies by Gu and Johnson (1996, cited in Gazah, 2007), Schmitt (1997) and Nation (2001)

Gu and Johnson (1996 as cited in Ghazal, 2007) divide L2 vocabulary learning strategies into: metacognitive, cognitive, memory and activation strategies Nation (2001) introduces taxonomy of 11 VLS These are grouped into

planning, sources and processes Planning strategies involve deciding on what

words and aspects of words to focus on what strategies to use and how often to give

attention to certain words Meanwhile, sources strategies concern ways to find out

information about words This information may embrace all aspects of word knowledge and can be found in the word itself (word part analysis), the context (guessing from context), sources of reference (dictionaries) or the first language

(L1) (via analogy) The final set of strategies (processes) includes ways to

remember words and make them available for use

In general, the strongest point of Nation‟s taxonomy is probably its simplicity: only classes and types of strategies are mentioned and plain terms are used This is

in sharp contrast with Schmitt‟s taxonomy in which up 38 strategies are named and with Gu and Johnson‟s taxonomy in which psychological terms such as metacognitve, cognitive, activation, self- initiation, etc are widely used This

research took no attempt to fill the gap in changing and correcting the previous scholars‟ VLS system, this study only focused on applying some specific strategies

in vocabulary learning in practice and examining the effectiveness of them Although among many classification schemes and Schmitt‟s taxonomy is probably the most extensive, it is not necessary for this study to employ such complicated and detailed strategies in Schmitt‟s taxonomy The specific strategies used in this study were taken from Schmitt‟s original base - the Oxford (1990)‟s classification

of LLS due to its clarification and simplicity

Based on the system of Oxford‟s taxonomy of LLS, Schmitt (1997) only adopted four strategy groups: social, memory, cognitive, and metacognitive Schmitt stated that there was no category in Oxford‟s system which adequately describes the kind of strategies used by an individual when facing with discovering

a new word‟s meaning without recourse to another person‟s expertise, so he added another new category – determination strategies (DET) to the system Therefore, there are 38 individual strategies divided into two big groups: discovery strategies and consolidation strategies

3.3 Classification of Schmitt’s vocabulary learning strategies

Vocabulary learning strategy classification system proposed by Schmitt (1997) will

be used as the theoretical framework of the investigation in this thesis Therefore, the clarification and exemplification of those vocabulary learning strategies that are

used in the questionnaire will be presented below as a source of reference

a Determination strategies

Determination strategies are used when students face with discovering a new word‟s meaning without resource to another person‟s expertise They can have the meaning of a new word from the following techniques:

Guessing from their structural knowledge of the language: learners may be able to discern the new word‟s part of speech, which can help in guessing process Hints about meaning can be also obtained from its roots or affixes

Using reference material: Dictionaries are primary in this technique

Word lists and flashcards are those suggested to be useful for initial exposures

to a new word

b Social strategies

Guessing from an L1 cognate: cognates are words in different languages which descended from a common parent word If the target language is closely related to learner‟s first language, cognates can be excellent resource for both guessing the meaning of and remembering new words

Guessing from context: an unknown word‟s meaning can be guessed from context However, learners must have a certain level of language proficiency as well as adequate background knowledge of the subject and the strategic knowledge

of how to effectively go through inference process

Social strategies are used to both discover the meaning of a new word and consolidate a word once it has been encountered They can be defined as those are used to understand a word by asking someone who knows it Teachers are said to

be often in this position They can be expected to give help in a number of different ways such as giving L1 translation, giving a synonym, giving a definition by paraphrase, using a new word in a sentence, checking learners‟ work for accuracy,

or any combination of these Learners can also get help from their classmates or benefit from interactions with others such as group work activities or interaction with native speakers

Related words: new words can be linked to L2 words which the student already knows This usually involves some types of sense relationship such as coordination, synonymy, antonym, hyponymy, or metonymy which can be illustrated with semantic maps-one way used often to consolidate vocabulary Oxford –(1990).Whilst, unrelated words: words that have no sense relationship can

be linked together while they are learnt

Grouping: words can be grouped together so that they are easier to memorize, store and recall Words can be grouped mentally or in writing according to their topic, function, in a story and so on In addition, word‟s orthographical or phonological form: words can be learnt by explicitly studying their spelling and pronunciation, remembering its orthographical form, or making a mental representation of its sound

Other memory strategies are also suggested in this group A structural analysis of words can be useful for determining their meaning Studying a word‟s affixes, root, and word class is potentially useful as a way of consolidating its meaning Paraphrasing can be used as a strategy to compensate for limited productive vocabulary Learning a new word in its chunk often as phrases, idioms,

or proverbs is a mnemonic device for remembering the individual word meanings Physical actions or semantic feature grids are two other suggested ways of vocabulary learning

d Cognitive strategies:

Cognitive strategies are those somewhat similar to memory strategies but the difference is that they are not focused so specifically on manipulative mental process” (Schmitt, 1997:215) This group includes repetition and mechanical means

of learning vocabulary such as:

Verbal and written repetition: words are repeatedly written or spoken again and again

Word lists and flashcards: words are reviewed by using word lists and flashcards (not for initial exposure)

Studyingaid using: words are learnt through such study aids as: note taking in class, using vocabulary sections in textbooks, or taping L2 labels onto their respective physical objects

Vocabulary notebooks: words can be learnt by written down in a notebook

e Metacognitive strategies:

Metacognitive strategies are those used to control and evaluate their own learning by having a conscious overview of the learning process Students can employ such strategies as:

Using English-language media: to get the aim of efficient acquisition of an l2,

it is important to maximize exposure to it In case that English is chosen as L2, English - language media such as: books, magazines, newspapers, movies, websites, etc offers an almost endless resource

Skipping or passing new words: according to Nation & Read (1990), even English native speakers know only a fraction of the vast total of words Therefore, learning all the words at the same time is impossible and concentrating on some words first is really important to every learner Part of this involves knowing when

to skip or pass a word

Continuing to study over time: apart from making full use of above strategies, one can maximize the effectiveness of his practice time if it is scheduled and organized Testing oneself with a test and using spaced word practice can be

considered as organized activities by students themselves

In this chapter, some information about history of research on the issue has been introduced; such concepts as learning strategies and knowledge of learning strategy classifications have been presented A theoretical framework has been prepared for the investigation in the next chapter

In summary, the notion of learning strategies which is dealt with in the last part is born in two perspectives: cognitive psychology and second language acquisition The former tried to analyze the strategies that experts employ and then train novices to use them as well The latter preferred to describe the kinds of

strategies which are used A number of researchers have attempted to systematize strategies of nonnative speakers, using questionnaire that classify various kinds of strategies into categories It has proved reliable and valid as some studies have shown by collecting data from people such as university students, and company employees Though the two studies by Stoffer (1995) and Schmitt (1997) showed taxonomies of vocabulary learning strategies, no study has dealt with senior high school students at HH high School

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

As mentioned in chapter 1, vocabulary learning strategies seems to be an extremely broad topic, which consists of a considerable number of components, cannot be simultaneously studied in this dissertation Therefore, the focus of this study will be narrowed to investigate the common vocabulary learning strategies

.This part of the dissertation begins with the detailed description of the setting of

the research, participants, and methods of the study as well as the procedures of collecting and analyzing data

1 Participants

According to Mackey and Gass (2005), the selection of participants depends

on the aim of the study and also on characteristics of experiment Indeed, although this dissertation‟s purpose is to investigate the matters related to vocabulary learning strategies, it appears significant to collect information from students because they are considered as the “major factor” in teacher‟s decision “about how and what to teach”(Harmer,2007b:81).In other words, learners with different individual characteristics have a significant influence on teaching In addition, learner participants are able to provide the facilitation for obtaining the objective

results Therefore, the research population consists of both teachers and students

- 140 students of three classes: 10B1, 10B2, 10B5 chosen randomly from the tenth- form classes at HH high school It includes 82 male and 58 female students,

94 non English major students and 46 English major students aged from sixteen to seventeen Although all of them have learned English since they were in Grade 6, their English proficiency is more than elementary because many of them did not pay attention to studying English at lower classes They are the subjects for the first questionnaire The researcher delivered the first survey questionnaire to these students in order to investigate how they learn vocabularies and what strategies they use in the study

1.2 Teachers of English

Seven teachers who were teaching at HH high school are invited to join the study (80% are female aged from thirty to fifty) They have been teaching English for at least seven years Most of them have to teach in a large class of over 45 students in each and each teacher has to teach four or five classes of this kind so that they are to be responsible for the learning results of around 140 students All the teachers at HH high school are experienced and enthusiastic in teaching

2 Data collection instruments

The research instruments used to collect information are a hard- copy questionnaire and a class observation (see appendix 1) There are three main reasons for this selection of instruments First of all, questionnaire allowed collecting a considerable amount of information from a considerable number of respondents in a short period of time (Dornyei and Taguchi, 2010; Mackey and Gass, 2005) Moreover, this dissertation is both a quantitative and qualitative research which “employs categories, viewpoints and models that have been precisely defined and numerical or directly quantifiable data are collected to determine the relationship between these categories and to test the research hypothesis” (Dornyei and Taguchi, 2010:9).According to Dornyei and Taguchi (2010), questionnaire is significantly suited for quantitative research What is more, the information collected is not very difficult to tabulate and to analyze (Brown, 1995)

There are two questionnaires, one for teachers and one for students Both these questionnaires are to investigate the vocabulary learning strategies Basically, the questionnaires are related to each other because the collection of many different sources of information will obtain the objective results However, there are more questions for students than those for the teachers There are 38 questions for students and five questions for teachers All questionnaires for students are „close-item questions‟, which consists of „possible answers‟, provides the facilitation for the process of qualifying and analyzing data (Mackey and Gass,

2005).Nevertheless, questionnaires also consist of an inconsiderable number of

„open-item questions ‟which enables teachers and students to provide their opinions Both questionnaires consist of the questions which aim to find out the personal information of participants such as their age, gender, degrees and certificates, how long they have been learning and teaching English; In addition, the questionnaire was aimed at measuring the frequency of vocabulary learning strategy use The strategies were based on the study done by Schmitt (1997) and most of the items in the questionnaire were also chosen from Schmitt‟s questionnaire due to some factual factors such as the level of learners, the teaching and learning method of the study as well as the researchers' objectives The questionnaires were divided into five categories: Determination, Social, Memory, Cognitive and Metacognitive The participants were asked to rate each strategy statement on a 5-point interval Likert scale in terms of their frequency of use in ascending order ranging from 1 (“never”) to 5 (“always”) For more detail, a table

of vocabulary learning strategies in questionnaire is provided below:

Group of strategies Questions in the questionnaire Number of

Table 3: Vocabulary Learning Strategies in the Questionnaire

3 Data collection procedure

Definitely, two these questionnaires and a class observation will be sent to the leader of HH high for permission The instrument required about 30 minutes to

complete and was administered in the students‟ English class They will complete the questionnaire separately to ensure the objectivity of the data collected Before filling out the questionnaire, students were told that their participation was voluntary and their responses would remain confidential; they were also asked to give their opinions as honestly as possible, which was crucial to the success of this investigation I also confirm to them that the research was carried out with the aim

at improving their own English learning in general and their English vocabulary learning in particular The questionnaire is written in Vietnamese so that all the informants can understand and complete all questions

Importantly, these two questionnaires need to be translated into Vietnamese

so as to collect the more accurate data In other words, the translation of questionnaires is necessary for making sure that the data is gathered Therefore, understanding the questionnaires should be taken into account

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

1 Questionnaires for students

The data gathered through the questionnaire were coded for statistical analysis

to investigate which vocabulary learning strategies are commonly used and how often each strategy is used by students at HH High School The terms high frequency and low frequency will be used in the data analysis procedure The

former term refers to always and usually, the later one refers to sometimes and

rarely and the last one refers to never The questions in the questionnaire will be

analyzed one by one in their vocabulary learning strategy groups by counting its percentage Mean values of vocabulary learning strategy use were calculated to determine whether there were differences in strategy used by students

Figure 1: Students’ use of DET strategies in vocabulary learning

The bar chart illustrates the frequency of guessing the meaning from the context (question 1) as well as using English-English dictionary (question 2) and English-Vietnamese dictionary (question 3) It is measured in percentages Overall,

it reveals from the chart that the two first vocabulary learning strategies remain at high rate of being applied in English learning setting, but the third one is at lower rate