Strategies for learning english vocabulary a case study at HOU

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDY STRATEGIES FOR LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY – A CASE STUDY AT HOU Supervisor : Assoc Prof Dr Hoang Tuyet Minh Name of student : Nguyen Phuong Hong Date of birth : 12/02/1993 Class : 1271A04 (2012-2016) Hanoi - 2016 Graduation Paper DECLARATION TITLE: STRATEGIES FOR LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY – A CASE STUDY AT HOU (Graduation Paper submitted in Partial Fulfillment for B.A Degree in English) I certify that no part of the above report has been copied and reproduced me from any other person’s work without acknowledgement and that the report is originally written by me under strict and enthusiastic guidance of my supervisor Hanoi, 15th April 2016 Student Supervisor Nguyen Phuong Hong Hoang Tuyet Minh Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04-(2012- 2016) Graduation Paper ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to convey my sincere appreciation to many people who wholeheartedly helped me to accomplish this paper Without their guidance and advice, this paper might not have been completed Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Hoang Tuyet Minh for her enthusiatic guidance, thoughtful and constructive comments on almost every aspect on this study Without invaluable supervision and words of encouragement, my study would not have been completed Secondly, I would like to express my special thanks to all the teachers at English Faculty of HOU for their precious lectures and instructions which have helped me much in completing the final task Thirdly, I also wish to send my thanks to HOU 2nd year English major students for their animated cooperation in completing my survey questionnaires Finally, I would like to give my great thanks to my beloved friends and family members who supported me throughout my research paper Hopefully, this paper will be useful for learners of English in generals and the 2nd year English major students at Hanoi Open University Hanoi, 15th April, 2016 Student Nguyen Phuong Hong Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04-(2012- 2016) Graduation Paper LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS COG cognitive strategies DET determination strategies FOE Faculty of English HOU Hanoi Open University L1 the first language/ mother tongue L2 the second language/ foreign language LLSs language learning strategies MEM memory strategies MET metacognitive strategies SOC social strategies STM short-term memory LTM long-term memory VLS vocabulary learning strategy VLSs vocabulary learning strategies Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04-(2012- 2016) Graduation Paper TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims and objectives of the study Scope of the study Research questions Methods of the study Design of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Previous studies 2.2 Theoretical background 2.2.1 Knowing a word 2.2.2 Vocabulary learning 2.3 Theoretical framework 2.3.1 Definitions of vocabulary learning strategies 2.3.2 Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies 11 2.3.3 Importance of vocabulary learning strategies 20 2.3.4 Memory-based strategic framework for vocabulary learning strategies 21 2.4 Summary 23 CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY 24 3.1 Methodology 24 3.1.1 Survey 24 Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04-(2012- 2016) Graduation Paper 3.1.1.1 Questionnaire 24 3.1.1.2 The subjects 25 3.1.2 Procedure 25 3.2 Results 26 3.3 Conclusion 29 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 31 4.1 Data Analysis 31 4.2 Some suggestions in learning vocabulary 31 4.3 Summary 39 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04-(2012- 2016) Graduation Paper LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Table 1: What Is Involved in Knowing a Word (Nation, 2001: 27) Table 2: Oxford's Strategy Classification System (Oxford and Ehrman, 1990:313-314) 17 Table : A taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies 18 Table 4: Subjects in use 25 Table 5: The number of strategies that HOU sophomore uses in learning vocabulary 28 Table 6: The number of students use/ not use process for vocabulary learning strategies 29 Table 7: Step 1- Sensory memory and vocabulary learning strategies 32 Table 8: Step 2- Short-term memory and vocabulary learning strategies 37 Table 9: Step 3- Long-term memory and vocabulary learning strategies 37 Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04-(2012- 2016) CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale A language is a systematic means of communication that we all use to express ourselves and communicate to others A language is the written and spoken methods of combining words to create meaning used by a particular group of people Over the years, English has become the international language This seems to be an appropriate edge to argue that English, in international settings, plays an increasingly important role Since English is regarded as the universal language, lexical competence is seen as the heart of language learning and the ultimate goal to improve the language competence of learners Additionally, vocabulary has been recognized as an important factor for language learning because inadequate vocabulary knowledge leads the learners encounter difficulties in language learning Learners can significantly improve their language competence by developing their ability to use vocabulary learning strategies What is more? Mastering vocabulary is one of the most challenging tasks that any learner faces while acquiring another language Thus, language learning students need to be trained with the strategies which can help the learners attaining the meaning of words The particular strategies which are used by learners for the acquisition of new words in the second language are called vocabulary learning strategies To deal with vocabulary learning problems, vocabulary learning strategies should have been brought to the language classroom to boost the learners’ effectiveness in language learning In Faculty of English of Hanoi Open University, although strategies for learning vocabulary is not considered as a major subject, a few researches on vocabulary learning strategies have been completed by the students of the Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) University Wherein, the recent study indicates that due to studies for the own students of HOU, the researchers concluded that it should have some specific strategies in learning vocabulary, as well as a number of approaches may be applied for short and long term memory However, there are still certain restrictions of these studies such as limitation of setting out a map for strategies and specific ways to apply them Therefore, in this study, the researcher will seek to complement and dig deeper to this interesting topic Aims and objectives of the study This study aims at crutinizing the strategies of the second year students at HOU when using vocabulary learning strategies to learn new words With this aim, this study is: - Identifying vocabulary learning strategy in English Making a brief preview of previous studies, classifications and memory-based strategic framework of vocabulary learning strategies - Investigate to find out what kind of strategies most frequently used and rarely used in the vocabulary acquisition of the second year students Indicating the shortcomings in vocabulary learning process of students to suggest an effective vocabulary learning process - Giving some suggestions for vocabulary learning strategies to help learners acquire vocabulary efficiently Scope of the study This study was conducted to examine 46 sophomore students who were studying at English Faculty of Hanoi Open University The study mainly focuses on finding out the most used and the least used strategies, which frequently employed by students In addition, the study also gives an emphasis on the deficiency in vocabulary learning process of learners Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) Research questions With the aim of this study is locating the shortcomings in vocabulary learning process to help students to overcome, there are questions need to be answered: - What is the most and the least vocabulary learning strategies used by students? - What is the vocabulary learning process of students at English Faculty of Hanoi Open University? - What is the best vocabulary learning process for students? Methods of the study The study is conducted by several methods as qualitative, quantitative, descriptive and analysis Qualitative is used to collect related information from previous researches Quantitative is used to collect data from questionnaires and students’ answers Descriptive is used to describe theoretical background and the figure and answers from questionnaire result Analysis is used to analyses data from the result of survey and investigating problems form the gathered data Design of the study For achieving the aims stated, this study is divided into chapters, references and appendix Chapter is entitled Introduction, giving the background and aim of the study Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) Furthermore, gestures or intonation can give clues to meaning If we learn a new word that extracted from the context of the communication Then, the body language, the intonation and the facial expressions of the speakers are the big deal It provided invaluable support tool for students to guess their meaning of the new vocabulary item Although this may seem to be a meaning-focused activity, at least in the early stages of the development of the guessing skill, it involves learners consciously focusing on unknown words, interrupting their normal reading, and systematically drawing on the available clues to work out the unknown word's meaning Guessing from context focuses on the particular reference of a word as determined by the context rather than on its underlying meaning It is likely that this knowledge will directly enter implicit memory as it will be less complicated than the concept of the word Guessing may also serve to raise consciousness of the word There are various effects of guessing procedures Their main effect should be to raise learners' confidence in guessing from context, to make them sensitive to the range of clues available, and to help them avoid strategies - such as focusing too quickly on the form of the word - that will reduce their chances of guessing accurately 2) Using monolingual dictionary and bilingual dictionary to look up the meaning The use of bilingual dictionary is preferred as a cup of tea for many language learners, especially for students or busy learners because it provides the exact meaning of the word immediately On the contrary, it also makes us forget that new word quickly In this sub-step, the researcher suggests the way that language learner looking up meaning by using both monolingual and bilingual dictionaries Firstly, after the guessing sub-step, learners already get Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) 34 the vague definitions of the new vocabulary item They should bring out this word to look up in monolingual dictionary first to see the way it is explained by foreigners’ styles, accompanied by collocations and phrases Then, as soon as the more clues and meanings are added to the new vocabulary items, the learners should look it up in the bilingual dictionary to extract the precise meaning of the word to ready for the next step 3) Studying the spelling and sound of a word According to above-mentioned researches, the scientists jump into conclusion that the sound of a new vocabulary item lasts four times higher than the written form one So studying ways to pronoun a word is essential in this sub-step Transcriptions, stress, intonation are factors can not be missed in this final sub-step The purpose of the first strategy is to stimulate the curiosity of the brain for new word and then use the dictionary to check the meaning of word After that, sound technique is used to listen to the word Step 2: Short-term memory and vocabulary learning strategies 1) Continuous repitition (for 20 – 30 times) In short-term memory, there are three puzzles that learners need to solve First, it is about the capacity limitation There are only seven vocabulary items can be learned at this stage It can turn to five or nine vocabulary items according to the difficulty of the new words Second, it is the duration limitation Short-term memory storage is very fragile and the information can be lost with distraction and passage of time So that a continuous repitition last from 20 to 30 seconds is required in this stage Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) 35 Finally, in the encoding for the transition to long-term memor, mnemomics and chunking techiques should be employed 2-3-4) Mnemonics, chunking, and making comic stories related to learners Mnemomics are memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices that take the form of acronyms Mnemonics work in part by organizing items into familiar, manageable units, in a process called Chunking It can also be easier to commit vocabulary items in the rhythm According to the study, laughters and relaxation will help the brain absorb the information better So in the “Making comic stories related to learners” step, it is to help to compress the amount of seven the vocabulary items into one item which linked to the own learners’ experiences into Then, “Read out loud” is a method to consolidate the vocabulary item that learners just created in the previous sub-step Added to this, “Use physical action when learning story” promotes vocabulary learning because physical action such as body language represents abstract or ideas of speakers 6-7) Using physical action when learning story and using rhythm to tell the story Over the last two decades, researches have made great advances in the theory of foreign language acquisition Many find the conjoining of language and music surprisingly convincing as there are numerous historical and developmental proofs of music's relationship with language learning Language and music are the two ways that human beings use to communicate and express themselves through sound Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) 36 Sub-steps Strategies Continuous repitition (for 20 – 30 times) Mnemonics ( for vocabulary items) Chunking ( for vocabulary items) Making comic stories related to learners ( containning vocabulary items) Read out loud Using physical action when learning story Using rhythm to tell the story Table 8: Step 2- Short-term memory and vocabulary learning strategies In this second step, the sesearcher points out seven sub-steps of learning strategies to compress and consolate the learned vocabulary items in the first step These strategies help the brain to manage and recall information and ready for the next step Step 3: Long-term memory and vocabulary learning strategies Sub-steps Strategies Draw a picture about the story Repeating the story Testing yourself with a checklist Rewarding yourself Table 9: Step 3- Long-term memory and vocabulary learning strategies Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) 37 1) Draw a picture about the story These are powerful strategies that influence the learning of something new It is drawing pictures based on the knowledge that the brain has an amazing ability to construct and retain images Following the old adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words," educators might provide images, a strategy that is best for language learners to gain more from images they create themselves, especially drawing about the story related to them The goal is to allow learners to have an experience to which they can "tie" the new learning 2) Repeating the story Contrary to popular belief, people retain a large portion of what they learn in school (Ormrod, 1998) Long-term retention of information learned in school varies a great deal according to the type of information, however Concepts usually are retained much longer than names (Conway, Cohen, & Stanhope, 1991) Retention drops rapidly in the first few weeks after instruction and then levels off (Bahrick & Hall, 1991) Whatever students have retained about 12 to 24 weeks after instruction, they may retain forever (Slavin, 1997) Based on researches, the researcher suggests that learners should use some apps to remind vocabulary items Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy and the reseacher highly recommend it to learners to organize and manage their huge amount of words 3) Testing yourself with a checklist and rewarding yourself Finally, a list should be made to check the learners’s memorization of the words From that, learners can establish the vocabulary list, which is Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) 38 saved in the long term memory of the learners and which is not From that, list of words is not retained in LTM will be returned and continued to study again Besides, some rewards should be established accordingly to motivate learners for learners’s achievements 4.3 Summary In summary, in this chapter, based on data analysis in using strategies to learn learning vocabulary of HOU sophomore, the researcher found that students need to get a completed learning process for vocabulary acquisition And from there, implications are sorted into three steps including 14 sub-step strategies to help HOU sophomore gain the highest results in vocabulary learning Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) 39 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION The aim of this thesis is to focus on the vocabulary learning strategies for the sophomore at English Faculty of Hanoi Open University To accomplish this aim, firstly ,theoretical background and theoretical framework are presented as the foundation for the study Secondly, the survey questionnaire with students at HOU and the preliminary results were given Finally, a vocabulary learning process to overcome the shortcoming in vocabulary acquisition is submitted Due to limited time and knowledge, mistakes are certainly unavoidable in my study Therefore, comments, suggestions and encouragement to better the research paper are highly appreciated In this study, the researcher has yet studied about the vocabulay acquisiton strategies for all over students in HOU Hopefully in the future, there will be further studies on this field Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) 40 REFERENCES Asgari, A and Mustapha, A B (2011) The Type of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by ESL Students in University Putra Malaysia English Language Teaching 4(2): 84-90 Atkinson, R C., & Shiffrin, R M (1968) Human memory: A proposed system and its component processes In K Spence & J Spence (Eds.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol 2) New York: Academic Press Baddeley, A., Eysenck, M W., & Anderson, M C (2009) Memory Hove,New York: Psychology Press Bahrick, H P., & Hall, L K (1991) Lifetime maintenance of high school mathematics Journal of Experimental Psychology Catalán, R M J (2003) Sex Differences in L2 Vocabulary Learning Strategies International Journal of Applied Linguistics 13(1): 5477 Clarke, D.F & Nation, I.S.P (1980) Guessing the meanings of words from context: strategy and techniques System ,8(3), 211-220 Conway, M A., Cohen, G., & Stanhope, N (1991) Very long-term memory of knowledge acquired through formal education: Twelve years of cognitive psychology Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 120, 395-409 Craik, E I M., & Lockhart, R S (1972) Levels of processing: A framework for memory research Journal of Verbal Thinking & Verbal Behavior, 11, 671-684 Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) 41 Eggen, P., & Kauchak, D (1997) Windows on classrooms: Educational psychology (3d ed.) Columbus, OH: Merrill-Prentice Hall 10 Ellis, R (1994) The study of second language acquisition Oxford University Press 11 Eysenck, M W., & Keane, M T (1990) Cognitive psychology: A student handbook Hove, UK: Erlbaum 12 Eysenck, M W., & Keane, M T (1990) Cognitive psychology: A student handbook Hove, UK: Erlbaum 13 Gagné, E D., Yekovich, C W., & Yekovich, F R (1993) The cognitive psychology of school learning New York: Harper Collins 14 Gu, P.Y (2003) Vocabulary Learning in a Second Language: Person, Task, Context and Strategies Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language TESL-EJ 15 Gu, Y & Johnson, R.K (1996) Vocabulary learning strategies and language learning outcomes UK: University of Hong Kong 16 HAGUE, SA 1987 Vocabulary instruction: What L2 can learn from Ll Foreign Language Annals, 20(3):217-225 17 Henson, K T., & Eller, B E (1999) Educational psychology for effective teaching Albany, NY: Wadsworth 18 Laufer, B (1997) What Is in a Word That Makes It Hard to Easy: Some Intralexical Factors That Affect the Learning of Words In N Schmitt and M McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition, and Pedagogy Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 19 Ling, L Y (2005) Teaching Vocabulary Learning Strategies: Awareness, Beliefs, and Practices A Survey of Taiwanese EFL Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) 42 Senior High School Teachers Unpublished MA Thesis, The University of Essex, Essex, England 20 Miller, G A (1956) The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information Psychological Review, 63, 81-97 21 Monderia A J and Wiersm B (2004) Receptive, Productive, and Receptive+ Productive L2 Vocabulary Learning: What Difference dose it Make? In B a Laufer-Dvorkin.B, Vocabulary in a Second Language: Selection,Acquisition, and Testing (pp 80-100) University of Groningen 22 Nation, I S P (1990) Teaching and Learning vocabulary New York: Newbury House 23 Nation, I S P (2001) Learning Vocabulary in Another Language Cambridge University Press 24 Nunan, D (1991) Language teaching methodology: A textbook for teachers New York: Phoenix ELT 25 O’Malley, J M and Chamot, A U (1990) Language strategies in second language acquisition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 26 Ormrod, J E (1998) Educational psychology: Developing learners Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall 27 Oxford, R (1990) Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know New York: Newbury House 28 Richards, J C (1976) The Role of Vocabulary Teaching TESOL Quarterly 10(1): 77-89 29 Schmitt N (1997) Vocabulary Learning Strategies In Schmitt, N., McCarthy, M (Ed.), Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) 43 Pedagogy (pp.197-227) Cambridge: Cambridge Language Teaching Library 30 Schneider, W & Shiffrin, R (1977) Controlled and automatic human information processing: detection, search, and attention Psychological Review, 84, 1-66 31 Slavin, R E (1997) Educational psychology: Theory and practice Boston: Allyn & Bacon Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) 44 APPENDIX Please put the tick to the strategy that you frequently use to learn vocabulary 1.1 Strategies for discovery of a new word’s meaning Strategy Strategy Group DET Analyze any available pictures or gestures Guess from textual context Bilingual dictionary Monolingual dictionary Word lists Flash cards SOC Ask teacher for an L1 translation Ask teacher for paraphrase or synonym of new word Ask teacher for a sentence including the new word Ask classmates for meaning Discover new meaning through group work Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) Tick activity 1.2 Strategies for Consolidating a Word Once it has been Encountered SOC Study and practice meaning in a group Teacher checks students' flash cards or word lists for accuracy Interact with native-speakers MEM Study word with a pictorial representation of its meaning Image word's meaning Connect word to a personal experience Connect the word to its synonyms and antonyms Group words together to study them Use new word in sentences Study the spelling of a word Study the sound of a word Say new word aloud when studying Image word form Underline initial letter of the word Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) Paraphrase the words meaning Learn the words of an idiom together Use Physical action when learning a word Use semantic feature grids COG Use the vocabulary section in your textbook Put English labels on physical objects MET Use English-language media (songs, movies, newscasts, etc.) Testing oneself with word tests Do you use any process of learning strategies acquisition? If yes, what it is? Thanks for your co-operation Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) for vocabulary Nguyen Phuong Hong-1271A04- (2012- 2016) [...]... the effective strategies for vocabulary acquisition 2.3.2 Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies In the world, there are many large and small researches on vocabulary learning strategie All these strategies spread over various aspects of vocabulary, such as strategies of grammar, semantic meanings, forms, prefix and suffix strategies, …there are also strategies related to human memory process... learning strategies " This table is divided into two main groups of strategies: discovery strategies and consolidation strategies There are two strategy categories emerging in the first group: determination strategies and social strategies. From that, Schmitt categorized vocabulary learning strategies into five sub-categories: Determination strategies, social strategies, memory strategies, cognitive strategies, ... referring to They are encoding strategies and activation strategies These types of strategies are related to human memory process contributing a very important meaning to the system of effective vocabulary learning strategies that researcher design in this paper 2.3.3 Importance of vocabulary learning strategies As Shaw (2000) stated that: Vocabulary continues to be a major area for language learning into... education, and therefore it is important that the learners have effective strategies in this area” Without Vocabulary Learning Strategies, accumulating a large amount of vocabulary can be a difficult task to achieve Lord (quoted in Hague, 1987) states that "vocabulary is by far the most sizeable and unmanageable component in the learning of any language, whether a foreign or one's mother tongue" because... materials to find out the meaning (Determination Strategies) , or learners also can ask people who know the meaning (Social Strategies) These strategies for gaining initial information about a new word are labeled Discovery Strategies From all these above realization and commentation, Schmitt (1977) falls into two main groups of strategies: discovery strategies and consolidation strategies of his taxonomy... taxonomy and this classification gives a vital contribution to the lexical knowledge.This following table illustrates the complete classification scheme proposed by Schmitt Vocabulary Discovery strategies Learning Strategies (VLS) Consolidation strategies Determination strategies Social strategies Social strategies Memory strategies Cognitive strategies Metacognitve strategies Table 3 : A taxonomy of vocabulary. .. strategies are strategies that are used by learners to discover learning of words and consolidation strategies mean a word is consolidated once it has been encountered Schmitt (1997) categorized vocabulary learning strategies into five sub-categories: Determination strategies are individual learning strategies Social strategies are learners learn new words through interaction with others Memory strategies are... what are the most used vocabulary learning strategies and what are the least used vocabulary learning strategies that student frequently use to accumulate their new words Then, a question, which requires students to write down the answers, was created to investigate whether the students have any process for vocabulary learning strategies and what is the typical model of process that they apply for vocabulary. .. vocabulary learning strategies Nguyen Phuong Hong-127 1A0 4- (2012- 2016) 18 There is a wide-ranging inventory of vocabulary learning strategies developed by Schmitt in 1977 His taxonomy falls into two main groups of strategies: discovery strategies and consolidation strategies There are two strategy categories emerging in the first group: determination strategies and social strategies Discovery strategies. .. help of vocabulary learning strategies and that the strategies prove useful for students of different language levels” 2.3.4 Memory-based strategic framework for vocabulary learning strategies Psychologists have long been captivated by how learners process and store information and knowledge in the mind Psychologists have reached a consensus that learning and memory involve a series of stages” (Eysenck