The relationship between the use of vocabulary learning strategies and learner autonomy of the first year non-major English students at Thainguyen University of Technology

The relationship between the use of vocabulary learning strategies and learner autonomy of the first year non-major English students at Thainguyen University of Technology Nguyễn Thị

The relationship between the use of vocabulary learning strategies and learner autonomy of the

first year non-major English students at

Thainguyen University of Technology

Nguyễn Thị Thương Huyền

Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn Thạc sĩ ngành: English teaching methodology; Mã số: 60 14 10

Người hướng dẫn: M.Ed Đỗ Bá Quý

Năm bảo vệ: 2012

Abstract There is a proverb saying like this “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for

a day; if you teach a man how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime” Thus, the purpose of the study was to explore the frequency of the use of vocabulary learning strategies by the TNUT first year students, the level of the learner autonomy, and the relationship between the students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies and the learner autonomy In order to reach the research purpose, a sample of 110 non-English majors at TNUT was chosen The data of the subjects were collected by means of questionnaires and an autonomous learner checklist The questionnaire consisted of two parts, the first one referring to the respondents’ background and the second referring to the use of vocabulary learning strategies adapted from Schmitt’s taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies (1997) The autonomous learner checklist was designed on the base of the characteristics of autonomous learners and four types of awareness used by Ellis (1999) and Sinclair (1999) The collected data were computed and analyzed by means of descriptive analysis and Paired T-test with SPSS 17.0 The results of the study revealed that the students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies and the learner autonomy were at medium level Furthermore, the results of the study also indicated that the students’ use

of vocabulary learning strategies was positively and significantly related to the learner autonomy Thus, the findings of the study may have significant implications for the use

of vocabulary learning strategies to enhance the number of vocabulary and foster learner

autonomy in learning English

Keywords Tiếng Anh; Phương pháp giảng dạy; Từ vựng; Sinh viên

Content

1 Rationale of the study

Learner autonomy has gradually come into existence and become one of prominent themes since the 1970s as a consequence of a new shift in study interests on language learning Few would doubt that learner autonomy in language learning can lead to positive outcomes, such as

the development of life-long learners Besides, Oxford (1990) adds that language learning strategies also encourage greater overall self-direction which is particularly important for language learners, because they will not always have the teacher around to guide them as they use the language outside the classroom In addition, Wenden (1991) also emphasizes that learners need to be aware of different learning strategies so that they can become autonomous language learners They will become not only efficient at learning and using their second language but also enable them to self-direct these endeavors Obviously, language learning strategies play an important role in fostering learner autonomy

Undoubtedly, learner autonomy in vocabulary learning has become a necessity for English language learners in higher education institutions that adopt either traditional or open education nowadays One of the areas that has the greatest potential for adopting learner autonomy is vocabulary (McCarthy, 1990) Therefore, exploring the relationship between the use of vocabulary learning strategy and learner autonomy is particularly necessary and helpful

Despite being discussed worldwide, learner autonomy remains a fairly novel concept in Vietnam and Thainguyen University of Technology is no exception Benson, Chik & Lim (2003) explained that since the idea of learner autonomy originated from Western cultures, it hardly suffices to just transfer the concept to an Asian context Besides, vocabulary plays an important role because students at TNUT need to learn English in the two years of their course with emphasis on English for Specific Purposes studies in the second year However, after seven years studying English at school, most tertiary students continue to find learning vocabulary a difficult task, so they have to depend on teachers and dictionaries so much that their scores in English learning are not high As mentioned, language learning strategies contributes effectively to the enhancement of learner autonomy Hence, it is useful to develop TNUT first year students’ use

of vocabulary learning strategies, and thereby fostering the learner autonomy to higher learning outcome expectations

For both practical and theoretical reasons, there is a pressing need for the researcher to carry out this study to explore what the relationship between the use of students’ vocabulary learning strategies and the learner autonomy is

2 Aims of the study

The study is aimed at improving the use of vocabulary learning strategies and the learner autonomy by determining the relationship between the use of students’ vocabulary learning strategies and learner autonomy To achieve this aim, the three following specific objectives are

to be obtained:

 The level of TNUT first year students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies is investigated

 The level of learner autonomy is measured

 The relationship between TNUT first year students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies and learner autonomy is decided

3 Scope of the study

The focus of the study is on the level of TNUT students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies; students’ degree of learner autonomy and the relationship between the students’ use of English vocabulary learning strategies and their level of learner autonomy

4 Methods of the study

To achieve the above aims, a study is carried out as a survey using mainly quantitative approach for data collection and analysis from different sources First, a survey questionnaire is carried out on first year students at TNUT to investigate their frequent use of vocabulary learning strategies Next, autonomous learner checklist is used to collect data to find out how autonomous the students are After that, the results of the collected data are computed and analyzed using

Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS), version 17.0 to explore the relationship between their vocabulary learning strategies and learner autonomy

5 Significance of the study

The researcher hopes that the findings of the study would help her to know the level of vocabulary learning strategy use and degree of learner autonomy of the TNUT students and the relationship between them The results of the study would help to develop students’ vocabulary learning in English as well as foster their learner autonomy in order to improve English teaching and learning process at TNUT

6 Organization of the study

The research paper is organized in three main parts as follows:

Part A: Introduction

This part presents the rationale, aim, scope, method and organization of the study

Part B: Development

This part is divided into different chapters Chapter 1 (Literature Review) provides theoretical background, covering definitions and related theories Chapter 2 (Methodology) justifies and describes the methodology of the study in details Chapter 3 (Results and Discussion) presents full analysis of the collected data and discusses findings

Part C: Conclusion

This part recaps the main content of the study and deals with some suggestions for improving the use of vocabulary learning strategies as well as learner autonomy In addition, it also poses several directions for future research

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