MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY
4
AN INVESTIGATION INTO VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY VINH
THUAN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL EFL STUDENTS
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts (TESOL)
Submitted by NGUYEN THI KIM DUYEN
Trang 2ABSTRACT
,
This study aimed to explore vocabulary learning strategies adopted by students, their perceptions of the usefulness of these strategies, and whether students’ frequency of vocabulary learning strategy use is related to their perceptions of the usefulness of these strategies It also sought to find out whether students’ frequency of vocabulary learning strategy use and their perceptions of the usefulness of these strategies are related to the students’ grammatical proficiency, and whether students’ frequency of vocabulary learning strategy use is reated to perceptions of the usefulness of these strategies
This study was conducted with 72 ninth-graders from Vinh Thuan junior high school The data were collected through two vocabulary learning strategy questionnaires, and an Oxford placement test First, a questionnaire consisting of 35 vocabulary learning strategies was administered to investigate students’ frequency of use of these strategies Then, a questionnaire in terms of students’ perceptions of the usefulness of these strategies was distributed to students Finally, an Oxford placement test in terms of grammatical proficiency was taken by students
Trang 4TABLE OF CONTENTS
Statemont?of authorship inisssccesusasccsasevsasessessossaxeassseresnnonvueeesrnsanmennmaneinsrrcessscencenceswe i Retention and use of the theSIS 5-5 55x nh HH y ii Acknowledgemens - tt re iii PRDSUTAGE cap DR ii chi nghi 0E IHDSIGSERSHRHIGNRRDNNERQBNNGGGMWQNGRGEStiagiRSBeẻ iv T4Bl6 0ÊCOHIGHS: sisziyn0anigteosgtisQ0AG1615058G1945841GI84 45A G33 I2lSBSSGI303 014080 vi ILISLOẾ tRĐÌES:sscbrtsnnosisitnoasgsosxisttie0s00153085031814GGSA4313S05434330134308i8005ã5g85Gstydgg xi Listiof abbreviations szsisssscvessavevssscsscerecrsesescesscsesseacscstscrasevessursssssesrsassansevasssssseel viii List GP BUÏE¡i056050506/GGEXGDEESEHSUIGREHIĐEVRRCEUERSYSENEIANGSIGINENIASRSRRiRXOeuul xiv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the StMIW:siscagsengiaidt1801050161690815ã80048013021816093533.1s3 38816 1 1.2 Purpose of the study
115,.Reseatch:dueskDH 8 sassssegeaasiosgB6121006464645611810596860012188546430/3031614611538:x004588 4 1.4 Significance of the study
1.5 Definitions Of tens ' cccscssevecvisisiecsivisensscsvassccasscssasessvsasvacssssereivesacvensaiscsevetss 4 1/6; The organization of the Study cissssississinscsssicssscsminiannnannaniieesetenies 5 17 Conitentiand scope:of therstudy, cssscctssersavessuoneossavenesavesnnarenaesomieannsiousnansnoue 5
1:5; SUHiHiBTEWsttstlrntoltigueltttbitxaitiisxiroi0SSg88010303003008080x001141400030800 308 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .:sessssesssssssescseesesesesescesensarseenesseveaesnesees 7
2.1, Vocabulary learning ssssccvcsiscssssssvsossscorsevsuscsassuassvsrasensssssessersccnsvesesavseeseceseeve 7 2.1.1 What iS a WOTỞ? the ren 7
2.1.2 Defining ia Word sssisssnscssssenvsnescasssnnusssessseninsnssvvivnseiectsveineansusvenieenteis 8
Trang 52.2 Vocabulary learning strategies Sesasanannnenssventevessuveaciourmearanauanaeienende 10 2.2.1 Defnitions of Vocabulary learning strategies -. 10 2.2.2 Classifications of vocabulary learning strat€gies - s< 10 2.2.3 SẴchmitt's taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies 11 2.2.3.1 Determination strategies (DET) ::cscseesseseseseseerereeeeeesseeesesenes 12 2.2.3.2 Social.strategies\ (SOC) sciessssusssnsssssssceressussssvenscnvanoussevenvaaneseuveureies 13 2.2.3.3 Memory strategies (MEM)
2.2.3.4 Cognitive strategies (COG)
2.2.3.5 Metacognitive strategies (MET) :.s.csssosisssssssscsssssessstsvsesassesssvesasevee 13 2.3 Review of studies on vocabulary learning strategy use
2.4, Review of studies on perceptions of vocabulary learning strategies 18 2.5 Summary
CHAPTER:3: METHODOLOGY scssssssiescesssvasssesssovsvssrsvavvereasevessusnvanvenivecanionnsiees 23 3;]; Resenfch TIEKHOdssasiorpatiittitttittttiaalGtIIEGINGENHRSS80048Ntassueassspi 23
3.2 Research design - +” HH như 2 3.3 Population and sample | scsessiseessscssssovssessascsnsssveverevasesstesvasncasesscsssscaussnsvorseee 23 3:4 PI6GGUUfE bo 6000086 t060608anSSollflGiesBiseg18 Dr Seasba vcensenreennas 24 3.,5:.InstruUETiSx«isssesesseiiiiiseiaindianiinixisceisicktevinilisic:654551210161450081668515020/16E 24 3:5›1; QU€SHGHHSTESLiossgzrarttsgaGiSGIEIOOOHIEGIIIEGRISQANIRfHRGSiGmngg 24
l3 DA, lTESÊ xeekeeeseikiihiniesndsnieionlisEn1014460.0055001.1004.501800010014001011111000044008000 25
Trang 6CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 28 3 ;Ì; D4818 1VBSÏROoisnodsonlsigi10000818112240141063118g08185465344884550001330083556183894858106t0 28 4.1.1 VLS used by the stuđenS c-ccnccttrrererrrrrerrrrrrrrrrrerrree 28 4.1.1.1 Determination strategies used by the studenIs -c- 31 4.1.1.2 Social strategies used by the studenIs -« sex 32 4.1.1.3 Memory strategies used by the students
4.1.1.4 Cognitive strategies used by the students -c-sccccsc+ 35 4.1.1.5 Metacognitive strategies used by the students
4.1.2 The students" perceptions of the usefulness of VLS - 39 4.1.2.1 The students” perceptions of the usefulness of DET 40 4.1.2.2 The students” perceptions of the usefulness of SOC 4I 4.1.2.3 The students” perceptions of the usefulness of MEM 4
4.1.2.4 The students" perceptions of the usefulness of COG 45
4.1.2.5 The students" perceptions of the usefulness of MET 47 4.1.3 The relationship between students’ frequency of VLS use and their
perceptions of the usefulness VLS :cccccecsesesssseseseeseseeseseseeseseesesesnenesesses 50 4.1.3.1 Overview of the correlation between frequency of VLS use 50 and perceptions of the usefulness Of VLS .c.cccesseseseseseseeteneseseteneseeeeeee 50 4.1.3.2 Correlations of the frequency use of VLS categories and perceptions of the usefulness of these categories . 5-5 s<55+c<cc-c cc OO
4A Results Of t08t sessssccsevcsssincarcrceaninvincanesesnvcaniennssnesutinecuamciasencasenvescessess 53
4.1.5 Relationship between students’ frequency of VLS use and
Trang 7frequency of VLS use and their grammatical profíciency 53 4.1.5.2 Correlations between the frequency of use of VLS categories and grammatical proficiency ss cccsssssaacnsasnmnnnninnummonnewnann 54 4.1.6 Relationship between students’ perceptions of the usefulness of Sĩ VLS and their grammatical proficiency .isisiscstiesssassscscsesennssssssseceusssesssusseeee 57
4.1.6.1 Overview the correlation between students’ perceptions of the
usefulness of VLS and their grammatical proficiency . - 57 4.1.6.2 Relationship between students’ grammatical proficiency and their perceptions of the usefulness of five VLS categories
AZ DISCUSS Oth vsvsscessossssonssssseaesssesvecsnvuessiassssusvecraseresncevensceseusssweccasesecsvetavesessseed 61 4.2.1 The strategies that students have used for vocabulary learning
4.2.2 The usefulness of VLS perceived by the studens . 65 4.2.3, Students’ frequency of VLS use in relation to their perceptions of 67 the usefulness of these strategies .c:cccessssessesesesseseseceeeeestsseeeasseeeeseseeneeee 67
4:24: TRe tt TEBUÏtrusseoantsigiS00002840106010001E0AG028010080680x940iy88isuxag) 69 4.2.5 The frequency of VLS use in relation to the students’ grammatical .69
TĐTODGÌGHCWcccseoeninnEBEEiEDEKDEEEEnEt01550805356101183545635585819154248X01283848619.560epg4sgnguÙ 69 4.2.6 The perceived usefulness of VLS in relation to the students’ 70 grammatical DTOÍÏCÏ€TCY cà càng nưưy 70 3:3::SƯHHfNBTW Go thoai StGEDGEISLSGIIGEAEIISERGIGSEIESSIGGISRSURREERGGSNMJRSuGistli 71 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 5-5 52cSrnthrtrsrrrerrrrrrrrrrrrrrir 72
Trang 8Š.3 Limitations of the Sfdyy - ác th rưy 74
5.4 Recommendations for further research ¿55525 ccsscccrzeersees 75 REFERENCES 5-5-5 hệ HH1 1211101 1g 76
APPENDIX 1 Questionnaire on the frequency of VLS use 82 APPENDIX 2 Questionnaire on the students’ perceptions of the usefulness of APPENDIX 3 Proficiency test
APPENDIX 4 Vocabulary learning strategies from questionnaire in Chi Hong Lip’s
bo 00) 104 APPENDIX 5 Test results - - 5-55 - S2 S 1S S1 xxx rrrey 105
Trang 9LIST OF TABLES
Vable 2.1.3) Aspects Of knowing O° WOrd sicssscssssscsssssivssvesnsassnaseasasivecareeseaavsscescsessscusw 9 Table 2.2.2 The different classification systems of vocabulary learning strategies 11 Table 2.2.3 Taxonomy of Vocabulary Learning Strategies (Schmitt, 1997) 14 Tabled 1.G One SAHIBIS T-1031 HE Lobcioiiootoisgiigs8181084408043L6034016638634035s008 29 Table 4.1.1.b Descriptive statistics of the students’ frequency of strategy use 31 Table 4.1.1.1 Descriptive statistics oƒ the ffequency oƒ DET 1se -+- 32 Table 4.1.1.2 Descriptive statistics oƒ the ƒrequency oƒ SOC 1se < 33 Table 4.1.1.3 Descriptive statistics of the frequency of MEM use
Table 4.1.1.4 Descriptive statistics of the frequency Of COG 1use -< 36 Table 4.1.1.5 Descriptive statistics of the frequency of MET use
Table 4.1.2 Descriptive statistics of students’ perceptions of the usefulness of VLS39 Table 4.1.2.1 Descriptive statistics of the students’ perceptions of the usefulness of
ww Al
Determination strategies
Trang 10Table 4.1.3.1 Correlation between the frequency use and the usefulness of 35 VLS50 Table 4.1.3.2 Relationship between the frequency use of five VLS categories and
their perceived usefulness cscccsssscvorevsscevisrerersserveesesscasiccnssenesssessveaeees 53 Table 4.1.5.1 Relationship between the students’ frequency of VLS use and their
BV AININALICAL PPOPICIENEY csssicccvssxscscssissseceressassavenseecasa estst ogee toastueieits 54 Table 4.1.5.2 Relationship between students’grammatical proficiency and their
55
Srequency of use of five strategy categories
Table 4.1.6.1 Relationship between the students’ perceptions of the usefulness of VLS and their grammatical profÌCÌ€WCÿ - ccceccexrverxeeexererree 57 Table 4.1.6.2 Relationship between the students’ proficiency and their perceptions
Trang 11LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language
HKCEE: Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination LI: First Language
L2: Second Language
VLS: Vocabulary Learning Strategies DET: Determination strategies
Trang 12LISTS OF FIGURES
Trang 13CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
In language learning, vocabulary knowledge plays a crucial role for learners because it helps to facilitate students’ learning efficiency and outcomes It has been described as the easiest and most vital phase of language learning (Hocket, 1958) or as the basis of developing reading skills There has been recognition of the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension (Navy, 1988; Schmitt, 2000; Nation, 2001) The lack of vocabulary knowledge is really a serious obstacle for L2 readers
Indeed, vocabulary is an essential component in learning a second language (L2) because it is also basic to social communication The knowledge of syntactic tules and of sound articulation will not help if one’s knowledge of words is limited For how one can communicate effectively if s/he has no words to express a wide range of meanings (McCarthy, 1990; Zhihong, 2000) A limited set of vocabulary will certainly hinder the process of communication, which also suggests its important role in language learning The reason lies also in the fact that vocabulary
learning has been re-evaluated through the fact that “in the past 25 years, the field
of second language acquisition has [seen] the re-emergence of interest in one area of language study, vocabulary, and [notably] the appearance of a newly recognized aspect — learning stragetegies” (Schmitt (1997, p 199)
1.1 Background to the study
Trang 14Second, more concentration has been given to how vocabulary should be _ taught Nation and Meara (in Schmitt, 2002, pp 37-38) introduce two main strands of vocabulary teaching: incidental vocabulary teaching (via receptive and productive skills) and deliberate vocabulary instruction The development of vocabulary as mentioned rests much in the knowledge of vocabulary acquired through the process of noticing and attention However, Nation and Meara (ibid.) also encapsulate another trend of teaching vocabulary That is, vocabulary should be taught for fluent use across the four skills The process of developing vocabulary fluency, which involves known words - not unfamiliar vocabulary, will be performed through the four skills — listening, speaking, reading, and writing
All of the methods described seem to pervade in the textbook “Tieng Anh Lop 9” as applied in the junior high school system in Viet Nam For instance, deliberate vocabulary learning is suggested through a list of vocabulary appended at the back of the textbook The high-frequency words also ‘permeate’ the sections in each chapter of Tieng Anh Lop 9 This suggests that incidental vocabulary teaching and deliberate vocabulary instruction should be found in the textbook However, one question can be raised: Why do Vinh Thuan junior high school students still have problems in acquiring vocabulary? The answer to this question may lie in various aspects of English language teaching and learning at Vinh Thuan junior high school, being located in the area of U Minh forest of Kien Giang province
Here are some possible assumptions concerning the question raised First, communicative approach prior to the second decade (Rossner & Bolitho, 1990)
should have left its influence on some EFL teachers at Vinh Thuan junior high
Trang 15such, this corresponds with what Fan’s (2003) and Catalan’s (2003) remarks about the high emphasis on incidental vocabulary in many classrooms to the sacrifice of deliberate vocabulary learning
Second, language teachers tend to ignore students’ complaint about how to deal with a mountain of new words throughout the course Students are supposed to know how to deal with new words found in each lesson They, as a result, have to ‘swim’ by themselves in the sea of endless new words from the accumulating lessons in the textbook Teachers do not pay much attention to assisting students in achieving strategies of learning new words -
Given those two assumptions, the researcher believed that it would have been hard to investigate the reasons for the problem by attempting to acquire data from the teachers in Vinh Thuan Between the two assumptions, the second is more available or potential since it is concerned with the issue of how the students individually learn vocabulary This is an area that has received more attention (Nation & Meara, ibid.; Schmitt & McCarthy, 1997), as briefly described above In addition, although there have been many techniques of learning vocabulary suggested by researchers, the point lies in the question: what vocabulary learning technique should be taught to students? This is the question that haunted the researcher’s mind It is obvious that teachers cannot select appropriate techniques if they have no ideas of what the strategies students have already used when learning vocabulary This suggests that it is necessary to know the kinds of VLS students use before teaching them appropriate strategies for successful vocabulary learning and acquisition Such a thinking together with the pressing situation as described at Vinh Thuan junior high school created a thrust for this study to be implemented
1.2 Purpose of the study
Trang 16relationship among the three factors: grammatical proficiency, frequency of VLS use, and perceptions of the usefulness of VLS
1.3 Research questions
1, What are the VLS used by Vinh Thuan Junior High School students? To what extent do they use: a, Determination strategies? b, Memory strategies? c, Cognitive strategies? d, Metacognitive strategies? e, Social strategies?
2, What are students’ perceptions of the usefulness of VLS? To what extent do they perceive that the strategies are useful?
3, Is there any relationship between:
a, VLS use and students’ perceptions of their usefulness? b, grammatical proficiency and the VLS used?
c, grammatical proficiency and students’ perceptions of the
usefulness of VLS?
1.4, Significance of the study
Being an investigation of vocabulary learning strategies in the Vietnamese EFL context, this study will focus the language teachers’ attention as well as their students’ attention on the VLS which can help them to solve their difficulties in teaching and learning English vocabulary On the other hand, this study may have practical results Language teachers at Vinh Thuan junior high school could have deep insights into how to design vocabulary learning tasks that are based on the VLS their students frequently use and based on those which they find useful
1.5 Definitions of terms
Trang 17English vocabulary learning strategies: Researchers such Oxford (1990), Cook and Meyer (1983), proposed certain categories in classification of learning strategies In this study, Schmitt’s (1997) classification of vocabulary learning strategies was adopted, including Determination Strategies, Social Strategies, Memory Strategies, Cognitive Strategies, and Meta-cognitive strategies
Grammatical proficiency: According to M Trevor Shanklin (1994), grammatical proficiency is the ability to make judgements about the acceptability and appropriateness of an utterance with specific reference to grammatical notions
Perception of usefulness: According to Oxford dictionary, perception of usefulness is the way in which something is regarded as useful
1.6 The organization of the study The study includes five chapters
Chapter 1 introduces the background of the study, the purpose of the study, the content and scope of the study, the significance, definition of terms, and organization of the study
Chapter 2 reviews the relevant theory on vocabulary learning, the strategies for learning vocabulary, and the perceptions towards the usefulness of VLS
Chapter 3 describes the design and methodology in which the study is carried out It involves research method, research design, population and sample, data collection procedure, instruments, method of analysis, and pilot study
Chapter 4 presents the data analysis and discussion of the findings
Chapter 5 summarizes the study and offers some limitations of the study, implications and recommendations for further research
1.7 Content and scope of the study
Trang 181.8 Summary
Trang 19CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, literature related to the present study was presented and discussed The first section described an overview of vocabulary learning The second section reviewed an overall concept over vocabulary learning strategies In the third section, previous studies on vocabulary learning strategy use were described The prior studies on perceptions of the usefulness of vocabulary learning stragies were discussed in the last section
2.1 Vocabulary learning
In the past, vocabulary learning was considered to be a “neglected” area of second language learning and teaching (Maiguashaca, 1993; Meara, 1981) In language learning, there are four skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing (Oxford 1990.5) The main objective of language learning has usually been seen as achieving communicative competence Learners practice these skills in order to gain this competence Vocabulary is a part of every language skill and therefore vocabulary learning and teaching will contribute reaching the goal of communicative competence
2.1.1 What is a word?
Trang 202.1.2 Defining a word
Broadly defined, vocabulary is knowledge of words and words meanings However, vocabulary is more complex than this definition suggests Different people see words and vocabulary differently and therefore defining a word has its problems Carter (1998, pp.4-5) points out that in some sense, everyone knows what a word is He argues that the most accurate definition of a word would be to describe it as the minimum meaningful unit in a language In this sense, a word is a word which can stand on its own as a reply to any question or statement (Carter
1998, p.5)
2.1.3 Knowing a word
Trang 21Table 2.1.3 Aspects of knowing a word
| Spoken R_ What does the word sound like?
P How is the word pronounced?
Form Written R what does the word look like?
P How is the word written and spelled?
Word parts R What parts are recognizable in this word?
P What word parts are needed to express the meaning?
Meaning | Form and meaning R_ What meaning does the word form signal? P What word form can be used to express the meaning?
Concept and | R What is included in the concept? referents P What items can the concept refer to?
Associations | R What other words does this make us think of?
P What other words could we use in stead of this one?
Use Grammatical | R In what patterns does a word occur? functions P In what patterns must we use this word?
Collocations | R What words or types of words occur with this one?
P What words or types of words must we use with this
one?
Constraints R_ Where, when, and how often would we expect to meet
on use this word?
(register, P Where, when, and how often can we use this word? frequency )
Note Table 2.1.3 is adapted from Nation (1990, p.31) In the table “R” stands
Trang 222.2 Vocabulary learning strategies
Learning vocabulary in the second language requires the use of vocabulary learning strategies which have been receiving much attention in the field of second language learning (Schmitt, 2000) Nation (2001, p 222) believes that a large amount of vocabulary can be acquired with the help of vocabulary learning strategies and that the strategies prove useful for students of different language levels The strategies foster “learner autonomy, independence, and self-direction” (Oxford & Nyikos, 1989, p 291)
2.2.1 Definitions of Vocabulary learning strategies
Vocabulary learning strategies are one part of language learning strategies which in turn are part of general learning strategies (Nation, 2001) Cameron (2001) states a general definition that vocabulary learning strategies are “actions that learners take to help themselves understand and remember vocabulary.” Brown and Payne (1994) identify five steps in the process of learning vocabulary in a foreign language (a) having sources for encountering new words, (b) getting a clear image, either visual or auditory or both, of the form of the new words, (c) learning the meaning of the new words, (d) making a strong memory connection between the forms and the meanings of the new words, (e) using the words Consequently, all vocabulary learning strategies, to a greater or lesser extent, should be related to these five steps (Fan, 2003, p 223) Catalan (2003) proposes a more concrete and thorough definition of vocabulary learning strategies She suggested the following definition: knowledge about the mechanisms (processes, strategies) used in order to learn vocabulary as well as steps or actions taken by students (a) to find out the meaning of unknown words, (b) to retain them in long-term memory, (c) to recall them at will, and (d) to use them in oral or written mode
2.2.2 Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies
Vocabulary learning strategies have been paid more attention in teaching and
learning language There are many different vocabulary-learning strategies have
Trang 23or mnemonic techniques and their effect on retention (Cohen & Aphek, 1980; Pressley et al., 1982; Brown & Perry, 1991) Some other studies put emphasis on exploring the vocabulary strategies used in reading, such as guessing from the context (Huckin, Haynes, and Coady, 1993) Only a few studies focus on investigating vocabulary learning strategies as a whole, which provides more elaborate accounts of vocabulary learning strategies The following table summarizes the different classification systems of vocabulary learning strategies
Table 2.2.2 The different classification systems of vocabulary learning
strategies
Source Strategies categories
Stoffer ( 1995) 1 Strategies involving authentic language use 2 Strategies used for self-motivation
3 strategies used to create mental linkage 4 Memory strategies
5 Strategies used to organize words 6 Strategies involving creative activities
7 Visual/ auditory strategies
8 Strategies involving physical action 9 Strategies used to overcome anxiety
Gu & Johnson 1 Metacognitive regulation 5 Rehearsal strategies (1996) 2 Guessing strategies 6 Encoding strategies 3 Dictionary strategies 7 Activation strategies 4 Note-taking strategies
Schmitt (1997) 1 Discovery strategies
2 Consolidation strategies 2-1 Social strategies (SOC)
2.2.3 Schmitt’s taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies
Trang 24company employees whether they used the strategies and whether they were useful He adopted four categories, i.e social, memory, cognitive, and metacognitive from Oxford’s six language learning strategies and added a new category Determination in his study Therefore, there were 58 strategies in Schmitt’s research These strategies were divided into two groups: discovery strategies and consolidation strategies When learners encounter a new word for a first time, they must figure out the new word’s meaning by using different strategies such as analyzing part of speech, analyzing affixes and roots, guessing meaning from context, using dictionaries, asking teacher for a synonym or paraphrase, etc These are labeled Discovery strategies Discovery strategies can be sub-categorized into determination strategies and social strategies Consolidation strategies are techniques which can be used to learn or practice vocabulary (Schmitt, 1997, p 221) Schmitt’s taxonomy (1997) includes four sub-groups of consolidation strategies They are Social strategies, Memory strategies, Cognitive strategies, and Metacognitive strategies These strategies are useful for remembering a word once it has been introduced (Schmitt, 2000) Once students learn a word, they need to remember it for future use They can use consolidation strategies such as interacting with native speakers, using semantic maps, verbal repetition, taking notes in class, etc
According to Schmitt, Discovery strategies and Consolidation strategies were classified into five groups The first group contains Determination strategies, Social strategies and the second one contains Memory strategies, Cognitive strategies and Metacognitive strategies The Social strategies are included in both groups since they can be used for both purposes (Schmitt, 1997, 2000)
2.2.3.1 Determination strategies (DET)
Trang 252.2.3.2 Social strategies (SOC)
The use of interaction with the other people to improve language teaching belongs to SOC Learners can ask their teachers or classmates for information about the meaning of a new word Their teachers and classmates can answer in a number of ways such as synonyms, translations, or paraphrase SOC are also used for consolidating a word Learners can study and practice the word’s meaning in a group They can also interact with native speakers
2.2.3.3 Memory strategies (MEM)
Memory strategies involve relating the word to be retained with some previous learned knowledge, using some form of imagery, or grouping (Schmitt, 2000) The focus on the target word’s orthographic or phonological form is also the memory strategy Another kind of MEM is the use of physical action (Saltz & Donnenwerth- Nolan, 1981)
2.2.3.4 Cognitive strategies (COG)
Cognitive strategies exhibit the common function of “manipulation or transformation of the target language by the learner” (Oxford, 1990, p 43) They include repetition and using mechanical means to study vocabulary They also include the keeping of vocabulary notebooks
2.2.3.5 Metacognitive strategies (MET)
Trang 26Table 2.2.3 Taxonomy of Vocabulary Learning Strategies (Schmitt, 1997) 1 Strategies for the discovery of a new word’s meaning Strategy group Strategy
Determination -Analyzing part of speech
-Analyzing affixes and roots
-Analyze any available pictures or gestures -Guess meaning from textual context
-Use a dictionary (bilingual or monolingual) Social - Ask teacher for a synonym, paraphrase, or L1 translation of new word - Ask classmates for meaning 2 Strategies for c onsolidating a word once it has been encountered Strategy group Strategy
Social - Study and practice meaning in a group - Interact with native speakers
Memory - Connect word to a previous personal experience - Associate the word with its coordinate
- Use semantic maps
- Image word forms - Use keyword method
- Group words together to study them - Study the spelling of a word
- Say new aloud when studying
- Use physical action when learning a word
Cognitive ~ Verbal repetition
- Written repetition
- Word lists
- Put English labels on physical objects - Keep a vocabulary notebook
Metacognitive - Use English language media (songs, movies, news,
casts, etc
- Use spaced word practice (expanding rehearsal) - Test one self with word tests
- Skip or pass new word
- Continue to study word over time
Trang 27
2.3 Review of studies on vocabulary learning strategy use
According to Schmitt (2000) and Nation (2001), vocabulary learning strategies are very effective ways for L2 learners to cope with difficulties that are presented by vocabulary learning There are many words on which teachers may not be able to spend time within the class time limits They, therefore, need to have a number of VLS to deal with these words on their own and as a result have access to Jarge number of target language words Up to now, a number of EFL studies have
been conducted to do a comprehensive survey of the use of VLS
In order to find out the relationship between strategies, vocabulary size, and language proficiency, Gu and Jonhson (1996) investigated the VLS with 850 non- English majors at a university in China The findings showed that the contextual guessing, the skills of using dictionaries, note-taking, and activation of newly learned words correlated positively with the test scores, but visual repetition of new words was the strongest negative predictor of both vocabulary size and general proficiency
A nother study that aimed to assess which VLS the learners actually used and how helpful they believed them to be was done by Schmitt in 1997 Schmitt (1997) conducted a survey which consisted of six hundred Japanese junior and senior high school students, university students, and adult learners The results showed that learners used a bilingual dictionary more than the other strategies and they perceived it as the most useful The most used and helpful strategies followed it are verbal repetition, studying the spelling, and guessing from the context In contrast, the least commonly used strategies were the use of physical action, L1 cognates, semantic map, and the keyword method The study also indicated some evidence that more advanced learners tended to use more complex and meaning-focus strategies than less advanced learners
Trang 28results were different from what Schmitt found in his (1997) study The findings revealed that participants did not actively use VLS and they also did not know so many strategies for vocabulary learning
The techniques that learners have used to deal with new words were also paid much attention by researchers Van den Brander (2000), De la Fuente (2002) studied learners’ “negotiation” while they are encountering new words The former claimed that negotiating the meaning of unmodified written texts caused learners to achieve higher reading comprehension than when they negotiated simplified versions of the same texts The latter concluded a significant role for negotiation in facilitating the comprehension and acquisition of L2 vocabulary In contrast, Ruddell & Shearer (2002) claimed that vocabulary self-collection strategy (VSS) was an effective method not only for leaning new words but also for helping learners to become more strategic, independent vocabulary learners
Vocabulary learning strategies indeed play a vital role in learning language Learners can get benefits from knowing VLS The effects of instruction of the selected vocabulary learning strategies were examined in Lu’s (2002) study She did a research on junior high school students of different levels of English proficiency in Taiwan The results revealed that the subjects of different English proficiency indeed got benefits from the VLS instruction She also advised that English teachers were encouraged to integrate the VLS training into their syllabus so as to facilitate the learners’ L2 learning
Trang 29Another investigation on the VLS use of Taiwanese students was conducted by Wang in 2004 Wang (2004) explored the VLS use of 271 senior high students in Taiwan The results indicated that Cognitive strategies were the most frequently used strategies while Metacognitive and Social strategies were the least frequently used ones The study also revealed that students favored strategies related to “rote repetition” or “a form of a word” Besides, the results indicated that students’ strategy use was significantly correlated with their vocabulary size There was a significant difference in strategy use between good and poor learners Specifically, good learners tended to learn words in context while poor learners tended to learn words in isolation In addition, the study showed that teachers should introduce students to a variety of vocabulary learning strategies, especially deep strategies and strategies related to context
Adding to the list of studies on VLS use, Tomoko Yabukoshi and Osamu Takeuchi (2006) conducted a study on 347 Japanese junior high school students who learn English as a foreign language (EFL) and twenty-three English teachers at junior high schools in Japan The study examed students’ strategy use and teachers’ perceptions towards their students’ use They found that: 1) their students seemed to rely primarily on cognitive strategies, though not in an orchestrated way; 2) the number of vocabulary-learning strategies used was the highest of all the skill- specific strategies; 3) different patterns of skill-specific strategy use were identified in relation to the different settings (i.e inside or outside the classroom); and 4) the teachers’ perceptions of their learners' strategy use were somewhat different from the students' self reports in terms of the types and the patterns of strategy use
In conclusion, researchers have done many studies on VLS used learners with different levels The above-mentioned studies focused much on VLS use, the benefits of them as well as the relationship among VLS use and other factors such as vocabulary size and general proficiency However, these studies did not pay much attention to learners’ perceptions of the usefulness or effectiveness of VLS
Trang 30
2.4 Review of studies on perceptions of vocabulary learning strategies
Apart from investigating learners’ VLS use, researchers have been interested in exploring learners’ preferences of VLS, perceptions of the usefulness and effectiveness of VLS Many researchers believe that understanding what learners really think about vocabulary learning and VLS may draw on meaningful pedagogical ideas that can help learners facilitate their vocabulary learning
One of these studies has been carried out by Fan in 2003 A large scale study on the learning of English vocabulary by Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong was conducted The study was done on the first-year Hong Kong university students in order to explore their use of VLS and their perceptions of the usefulness of VLS The results indicated that strategies for reviewing and consolidating vocabulary knowledge were often used and perceived as very useful In contrast, keyword technique was seldom used by learners and it was regarded as the least useful among given VLS Besides, management strategies were not frequently used by learners In addition, the results showed that the high scoring group in the vocabulary test used more VLS than the mid-scoring and low-scoring groups Mechanical strategies such as studying wordlists and repetition strategies were not frequently used by the high- scoring group The low- scoring group used writing the word repeatedly and using sound and meaning association Moreover, the results showed that more proficient language learners utilized metacognitive strategies like planning and organizing their vocabulary
Trang 31studying the sound of a word, and repeating a word’s form The results of the study led to a conclusion that traditional methods of rote learning such as memorizing words and grammatical forms of the words in word lists still existed in Taiwan
A study on the learning beliefs of Chinese EFL university learners with regard to rote learning as a VLS was also conducted by Li in 2005 Li gave questionnaire to learners who were English majored from a university in a province of China The results showed Chinese cultural belief rooted in Confucianism and preferred practicing, memorizing, reviewing and repetition strongly infuenced on the learners The results indicated that association strategies, perseverance strategies, memory strategies, exam practice and repetition were seen as rote learning by learners Their perceptions of rote learning were shaped due to Chinese background or language background, the English learning environment, the demands of examinations, and personal habits in learning The results seemed to indicate that this learning culture among the Chinese EFL university learners could be attributed to cultural learning traditions in China, which had their roots in Confucius’ teachings It was possible to say that rote learning also existed in China where repetition and practice were seen
to be the ways to achieve learning goals
Followed to Li’ (2005) study was Lo’s (2007) study Lo (2007) carried out a survey to find out the perceptions of low achieving Chinese EFL learners from a secondary school in Hongkong This study sought what VLS they perceived to be useful and they frequently used A pre-questionnaire (adapted from Cheung, 2004), was used to investigate the students’ perceptions of VLS in terms of their usefulness and the frequency of use The results showed that repeatedly spelling the words, taking notes in vocabulary textbooks, repeating and reviewing strategies, and analyzing strategies were most frequently used and regarded as the most useful
Trang 32studies An interview of 30 minutes was administered to find out VLS used by
learners The results showed that the learners favored the use of social affective
strategies (questioning for clarification, co-operation, and positive talk) more than cognitive (grouping, note -taking, summarizing, and translation) and metacognitive strategies (organization, advance preparation, organizational planning and self- management) The results also indicated that learners favored to pay attention to keywords in spoken English, say the word in the mind before speaking the word, use pictures to remember new words, divide the sound segments of the word to learn pronunciation, work with peers, and check the dictionary in order to find out the meaning of words
Vocabulary learning strategy use was also an area to which Chi Hong Lip paid much attention Besides, Chi Hong Lip was interested in learners’ perceptions of the usefulness of VLS and the relationship between frequency of VLS use and the usefulness of VLS These issues were not examined in Wu’ (2008) study Chi Hong Lip (2009) investigated the most frequently used and the most useful VLS among Chinese EFL postsecondary students in Hong Kong Thirty-six postsecondary students were examined by the researcher The participants responded to a questionnaire (adapted from Cheung, 2004) on the frequency of their VLS use and their perceptions of the usefulness of VLS The findings showed that the students’ frequency use of VLS was in relation to their perceptions of the usefulness of these VLS The study also indicated that spelling the word in the mind repeatedly was reported the most frequently used and most useful vocabulary learning strategy The follows were analyzing the word by breaking down the sound segments, remembering words by doing a project, and asking classmates for the
meaning of the word
Trang 33participants of this study were 95 Turkish learners enrolled in Ankara University School of Foreign Language The survey was mostly based upon Schmitt’s (1997) study Two Likert type scales were used for defining strategy use frequency, and perceptions on their helpfulness The results showed that the participants general use of VLS was somewhat inadequate and there was a gap between their use of strategies and related perceptions of strategy usefulness For the frequencies of the strategy use, the statistically significant variations indicated that elementary level learners did not use the determination strategies as much as the upper level learners Further, the intermediate level learners reported a more frequent use of the memory strategies than the elementary level learners In addition, the intermediate level learners preferred to use the cognitive strategies more frequently than the pre-intermediate and elementary level learners, the upper level learners (pre-intermediate and intermediate) used the metacognitive strategies more frequently than the low level (elementary) learners For the usefulness of strategy use, the results showed that the intermediate learners regarded the strategy categories as more useful than the other level learners Furthermore, the results showed that metacognitive strategies were regared as more useful than the other strategies by learners In contrast, social strategies were perceived as the least preferred strategy categogy
To sum up, a large number of studies have conducted to explore the use of
Trang 34frequency of VLS use and their grammatical proficiency, the relationship between the students’ perceptions of the usefulness of VLS and their grammatical proficiency Vocabulary Learning Strategy Use Grammatical Proficiency Perceptions of usefulness of VLS Figure 2.4 Description of correlations among VLS use and other factors 2.5 Summary
Trang 35CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
This chapter describes the methodology employed in the study It also depicts the research design, subjects, procedure, instruments, method of analysis, and pilot study
3.1 Research method
According to Issac and Michael (1995: 50), survey method could help researcher to “collect detailed factual information that describes existing phenomena”, Based on the purpose of this study, an investigation to collect and describe VLS used by Vinh Thuan junior high school students, as well as the relationship among three factors: VLS use, perceptions of the usefulness of VLS, and grammatical proficiency was administered This study used a descriptive method in which a survey was conducted
3.2 Research design
The study was conducted at Vinh Thuan Junior High School from September
6 to December 15, 2010 It was done on 72 ninth graders at Vinh Thuan Junior High School in Kien Giang province Vinh Thuan Junior High School is located in a remote area of Kien Giang The study used a survey to investigate vocabulary learning strategies used by Vinh Thuan junior high school students A quantitative approach was utilized to gather data To collect quantitative data, a questionnaire on frequency of VLS use as well as on perceptions of the usefulness of VLS was used to obtained information about VLS employed by students Then a placement test in terms of grammar was administered and test scores were used to measure the correlations among students’ grammatical proficiency and their VLS use as well as their perceptions of the usfulness of VLS
3.3 Population and sample
Trang 36study were all of 72 students of grade 9.They were students between 15 and 16 years of age Forty- one participants were male and thirty-one participants were female Three of them were Khmer, and seven of them were Chinese Vietnamese was their second language, so sometimes they did not understand the links between Vietnamese and English Although they have learned English for three years at Vinh Thuan junior high school, all of them were not good at English Some of them did not write English well In addition, most of them lived in remote areas and did not have a good living condition
3.4 Procedure
Firstly, questionnaire on perceptions of the usefulness of VLS and questionnaire on frequency of VLS use were piloted for their reliability and validity before they were administered The pilot study was conducted from September 6 to September 7, 2010
Secondly, a survey of the vocabulary learning strategies and perceptions of the usefulness of VLS was done from September 13 to September 14, 2010 To do the survey, a detailed questionnaire on students’ perceptions of the usefulness of VLS was distributed and administered to 72 ninth grade students in regular classes on September 13, 2010 Accordingly, a questionnaire in terms of frequency of VLS use was administered on September 14, 2010
Finally, an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) in terms of grammar was utilized in this study to measure the participants’ grammatical proficiency in order to answer the third research question The participants took the test during regular English lessons on September 20, 2010 Before taking OPT, the researcher introduced to the participants the test format and explained how to deal with parts of the test 3.5 Instruments
3.5.1 Questionnaires
Trang 37information Part two was about items in terms of vocabulary learning strategies This part included 35 items about vocabulary learning strategies A questionnaire was designed to identify VLS employed by students and another was designed to identify students’ perceptions of the usefulness of VLS Two questionnaires had the same format with 35 items Each questionnaire included the followings: six statements on Determination strategies (DET), five statements on Social strategies (SOC), ten statements on Memory strategies (MEM), eight statements on Cognitive strategies (COG) and six statements on Metacognitive strategies (MET) in vocabulary learning Accordingly, the questionnaires included two 5-point Likert scales for defining the frequency of use and perceptions on their helpfulness The first scale ranged from ‘never’ to ‘always’ (1 = Never to Always = 5), and the latter from ‘not useful’ to ‘extremely useful’ (1 = Not useful to 5 = Extremely useful) The questionnaires were written in first language, i.e Vietnamese for ensuring the detailed and comprehensive descriptions
3.5.2 Test
In order to answer the research question 3.a and 3.b, i.e to examine the relationship between grammatical proficiency and frequency of VSL use, between grammatical proficiency and perceptions of the usefulness of VLS, grammatical proficiency test was administered In the present study, the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was administered The OPT consisted of listening and grammar sections However, the grammar one was only used This section consisted of 100 items (See Appendix 3) The test type of OPT was a multiple-choice task for which one hundred and twenty minutes were allotted as completion duration Students were asked to read the test items and to choose one of the three options for each question The maximum value for the score that can be obtained from the test was one hundred points (one point for each correct answer) and minimum score was zero 3.6 Method of analysis
Trang 38to test whether students frequently used VLS Then, the descriptive statistics which contained mean scores and standard deviation of frequencies were used to compute the participants’responses to the frequency of VLS use and perceptions of the usefulness of VLS Finally, Pearson correlation was used to ascertain if there was any statistically significant relationship between frequency of VLS use and perceptions of the usefulness of VLS, between frequency of VLS use and grammatical proficiency, between perceptions of the usefulness of VLS and grammatical proficiency
3.7, Pilot study
In order to ensure the validity of the questionnaire, the present researcher
conducted a pilot study before the main study The pilot process could help the researcher to determine whether he or she gave the right questions and whether the participants were able to understand and answer the questions properly The questionnaire on frequency of VLS use and the questionnaire on perceptions of the
usefulness of VLS were translated into Vietnamese so that students could
understand and respond to the items easily (see the Apendix 1, Apendix 2) The pilot study was administered from September 6 to September 7, 2010 According to Anderson (1990), a good method of pilot testing was to assemble a group of six or twelve volunteers Therefore, the Vietnamese version of questionnaire on frequency of VLS use as well as on perceptions of the usefulnesss of VLS was pilot-tested with a group of six ninth grade students (male = 3, female = 3) who came from the same population of the study respondents
Trang 39ask the researcher to clarify any ambiguities in language or in the questions in each questionnaire Finally, modifications and exclusion of some vague or unnecessary statements were made on the initial version of questionnaire on perceptions of the usefulness as well as on the questionnaire on frequency of VLS use
3.8 Summary
Trang 40CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
The preceding chapter has presented the methodology used in the research project In this chapter, the students’ results of the OPT in terms of grammar, their responses to the questionnaire on perceptions of the usefulness of VLS, and their responses to the questionnaire on frequency of VLS use will be analyzed and discussed Also, presentation and interpretation of relationship among students’ grammatical proficiency, frequency of VLS use, and perceptions of the usefulness of VLS will be presented
4.1 Data analysis
4.1.1 VLS used by the students
Before finding out the students’ ratings of their use of various VLS categories, we would like to know whether students at Vinh Thuan junior high school frequently used VLS, and thus a one sample T-test was performed If these students seldom used the VLS, we would expect the population mean to be at least 2.5 that identifies the students’ frequency of VLS use The scale 2.5 was the median of 5- point Likert scales This scale described that the students seldom used
VLS
The results from the one sample T-test were summarized in table 4.1.1 with two parts The first part of these results showed that 72 students sometimes used VLS (M = 3.03) The next part illustrates that the value reported for the mean difference is 0.53, the sample mean is 3.03, and the hypothesized population mean is 2.5 We could see that the sample mean was higher than the hypothesized
population mean In addition, the 2-tailed significance was reported as 000 We,
therefore, could conclude that the students sometimes used VLS However, the