LUAN VAN NGUYEN THI HIEN

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY ……………………………… USING MIND MAPPING TO TEACH SECOND YEAR CADETS VOCABULARY IN INTENSIVE READING: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY AT TELECOMMUNICATION UNIVERSITY IN NHATRANG A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Summited by Nguyen Thi Hien Supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Thanh Tung Ho Chi Minh City, August 2018 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that the thesis entitled “Using mind mapping to teach second year cadets vocabulary in intensive reading: A quasi-experimental study at Telecommunication University in Nha Trang” is my original work; it is based on my own research to meet the requirements of a Master’s Program at Ho Chi Minh City Open University issued by the Higher Degree Committee All sources used by me have been documented No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement This piece of work has not previously been submitted for assessment in this or any other subject or course at this University or elsewhere Ho Chi Minh City, August 2018 Nguyen Thi Hien ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Thanh Tung, a vice dean at the Department of English in the Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, who was always giving me the best constructive comments and advice about my writing This paper is my own work, but he guided me to this paper in the right direction I would also like to thank the experts for their participation in the survey in this research project: Ms Ngo Thi Thuy Duong and Ms Bui Thi Minh Nguyet, lecturers and MA holders at Telecommunication University in Nha Trang Without their passionate participation and input, the survey could not have been successfully conducted They were also the second readers of this thesis and I am very grateful for their valuable comments I would also like to acknowledge my colleagues at Telecommunication University in Nha Trang and TESOL 10 classmates at Ho Chi Minh City Open University who were always willing to help me so much to finish this paper work to the soonest Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing up this thesis This accomplishment would not have been possible without them iii ABSTRACT Despite a number of studies carried out to improve the quality of teaching and learning vocabulary at universities recently, students still have difficulties in lexical learning Therefore, this study is aimed to examine the effect of using mind mapping on the vocabulary achievement in intensive reading of the second year cadets at Telecommunication University (TCU) in Nha Trang Based on theoretical framework of mind mapping, the quasi-experimental research was carried out during the second school year in 2017 Fifty-eight cadets of the two classes at TCU were divided into two groups: CC and EC The EC was exposed to the MM Meanwhile, the CC had traditional English vocabulary lessons Data were collected from three sources: a pre- and post-test to measure the cadets’ vocabulary improvement after the study treatment, a pre- and post-questionnaire to assess the changes in their attitude towards vocabulary learning with MM and an interview with 10 cadets in the EC to clarify their attitude The findings of the study show the effectiveness of the technique on TCU second year cadets In fact, it not only helps them to remember words longer but also the tests better Furthermore, according to the interview and questionnaires, they feel more relaxed, active, creative, and learner-centered Thanks to this, their motivation in learning vocabulary increased iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ABSTRACT iv LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Background of the study Statement of the problem Research aims and questions Significance of the study Structure of the study CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Concept of MM 2.1.1 Definition of MM 2.1.2 Characteristics of MM 2.1.3 Classification of MM 10 2.2 Ways to make MM 14 2.2.1 Center image 14 2.2.2 Key word 15 2.2.3 Basic ordering ideas 16 2.2.4 Branches 17 2.2.5 Colours 18 2.2.6 Pictures 19 2.3 Advantages of MM 20 2.3.1 Vocabulary ability 21 2.3.2 Attitude to vocabulary learning 21 2.4 Where and when to use MM in intensive reading 23 2.4.1 The use of MM techniques in pre-reading 26 2.4.2 The use of MM techniques in while-reading 26 2.4.3 The use of MM techniques in post-reading 27 2.5 Empirical research 28 v 2.6 Chapter summary 29 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 30 3.1 Research site 30 3.2 Research participants 30 3.3 Methodology 32 3.3.1 Approach 32 3.3.2 Method 32 3.3.3 Techniques 32 3.3.3.1 Test 32 3.3.3.2 Questionnaire 34 3.3.3.3 Interview 35 3.3.3.4 Summary 35 3.4 Analytical framework 36 3.4.1 Quantitative analysis of the pre- and post-test 37 3.4.2 Quantitative analysis of the pre- and post-questionnaire 37 3.4.3 Qualitative analysis of interview 37 3.5 Validity and reliability 38 3.6 Chapter summary 38 CHAPTER RESULT AND DISCUSSION 40 4.1 Data analysis 40 4.1.1 Pre-test and post-test data analysis 40 4.1.1.1 Pre-test data analysis 40 4.1.1.2 Post-test data analysis 41 4.1.2 Comparison of mean scores 42 4.1.2.1 Resemblance in the pre-test of EC and CC 42 4.1.2.2 Difference after the post-test of EC and CC 43 4.1.3 Questionnaire data analysis 45 4.1.3.1 Pre-questionnaire data analysis 45 4.1.3.2 Post-questionnaire data analysis 53 4.1.4 Interview data analysis 61 4.2 Discussion of findings 64 4.2.1 Cadets’ improvement in vocabulary learning 64 4.2.2 Cadets’ positive change in attitudes towards learning vocabulary 66 vi 4.3 Chapter summary 67 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 68 5.1 Conclusions 68 5.2 Evaluation of research methodology 69 5.2.1 Strengths 69 5.2.2 Weaknesses 69 5.3 Recommendations 69 5.3.1 For teachers 69 5.3.2 For students 71 5.4 Suggestion for further research 71 5.5 Chapter summary 71 REFERENCES 73 APPENDICES 77 APPENDIX 1: PRE-TEST 77 APPENDIX 2: POST-TEST 86 APPENDIX 3: PRE-QUESTIONNAIRE 95 APPENDIX 4: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE 98 APPENDIX 5: INTERVIEW 102 APPENDIX 6: MODEL LESSON PLAN FOR CC 103 APPENDIX 7: MODEL LESSON PLAN FOR EC 108 APPENDIX 8: THE RESULTS OF PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST 113 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1:Pre-test score distribution of control and experimental class 40 Figure 4.2: Post-test score distribution of control and experimental class 41 Figure 4.3: Cadets’ opinions about role of vocabulary in learning English 45 Figure 4.4: Cadets’ opinions about how difficult learning vocabulary is 46 Figure 4.5: The frequency of cadets in learning telecommunication vocabulary 47 Figure 4.6: The main difficulties in learning telecommunication vocabulary of CC and EC 48 Figure 4.7: How cadets overcome unknown telecommunication vocabulary in both classes 49 Figure 4.8: Cadets’ strategies to remember telecommunication vocabulary 51 Figure 4.9: Cadets’ awareness about Mind map strategies 53 Figure 4.10: EC cadets’ opinions about learning vocabulary 54 Figure 4.11: The main difficulties in learning telecommunication vocabulary of EC after the study 55 Figure 4.12: How cadets overcome unknown telecommunication vocabulary in EC after the study 56 Figure 4.13: Cadets’ strategies to remember telecommunication vocabulary in EC after the study 57 Figure 4.14: EC cadets’ opinions on MM strategy 59 Figure 4.15: EC cadets’ opinions on application of MM strategy to learn telecommunication vocabulary after the study 60 Figure 4.16: EC cadets’ opinions on the helpfulness of MM strategy 60 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Anova: Analysis of variance EC: Experimental class EFL: English as a foreign language MM: Mind-mapping MMs: Mind maps S.D.: Standard deviation STD: Standard SPSS: Statistical package for the social sciences TCU: Telecommunication University ix LISTS OF TABLES Table 1.1: The result of the pilot study Table 3.1: Participants’ characteristics……………………………………………… 31 Table 3.2: Teaching schedule……………………………………………………….…33 Table 3.3: Summary of instruments of data collection ………………………………36 Table 4.1: Class statistics of pre-test results ……………………………………….….42 Table 4.2: Independent samples t-test of the pre-test………………………………….43 Table 4.3: Class statistics of post-test results…………………………………………43 Table 4.4: Comparison of the results of the classes in the post-test……………… 44 Table 4.5: Cadets’ comments…………………………………………………………62 x ... acknowledgement This piece of work has not previously been submitted for assessment in this or any other subject or course at this University or elsewhere Ho Chi Minh City, August 2018 Nguyen Thi Hien ii... about my writing This paper is my own work, but he guided me to this paper in the right direction I would also like to thank the experts for their participation in the survey in this research project:... the experts for their participation in the survey in this research project: Ms Ngo Thi Thuy Duong and Ms Bui Thi Minh Nguyet, lecturers and MA holders at Telecommunication University in Nha Trang