A study on vocabulary learning strategies of talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school, Ha Nam province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************** NHIẾP THỊ VÂN ANH A STUDY ON VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES OF TALENTED STUDENTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE SELECTION AT THANH LIEM C HIGH SCHOOL, HA NAM PROVINCE (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CHIẾN LƯỢC HỌC TỪ VỰNG CỦA HỌC SINH ĐỘI TUYỂN HỌC SINH GIỎI MÔN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG THPT C THANH LIÊM, HÀ NAM) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HA NOI - 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NHIẾP THỊ VÂN ANH A STUDY ON VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES OF TALENTED STUDENTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE SELECTION AT THANH LIEM C HIGH SCHOOL, HA NAM PROVINCE (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CHIẾN LƯỢC HỌC TỪ VỰNG CỦA HỌC SINH ĐỘI TUYỂN HỌC SINH GIỎI MÔN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG THPT C THANH LIÊM, HÀ NAM) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Trần Thị Thu Hiền HA NOI - 2016 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation represents my own work and that it has not been previously submitted to this University or any other institute in application for admission to a degree, diploma or other qualifications Hanoi, 2016 Nhi p Th V n Anh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my appreciation, first and foremost, to my supervisor Dr Tran Thi Thu Hien, who has patiently and constantly guided and supported me to develop my study into a practicable frame in the very beginning and offered valuable suggestions while the work was in progress My thanks also go to all the teachers that have instructed me at the National University for their inspirational lectures in class, by which I have been motivated to explore some interesting issues concerning English language teaching and learning A special word of thanks goes to my students, without whom it would never been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished Last but not least, I would like to give my immense gratitude to my family, without whose support my dream of pursuing further study would not have been possible Nhiep Thi Van Anh ii ABSTRACT Although vocabulary forms the biggest part of the meaning of any language, it is also the biggest problem for most learners A study of vocabulary learning strategies was carried out with talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school, Ha Nam province to find the strategies they use most and least popularly This is only the initial research (search strategies) to prepare for a long-term study, in which the useful strategies are applied for other students to improve the quality of English learning throughout the school The research involved 25 talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school, Ha Nam province Data was collected from a vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire Results of the study showed that the students favoured strategies focusing on guessing meaning from context, when they encountered new words Besides, bilingual and monolingual dictionaries is also a useful tool to help students find the meaning of words Moreover, many students are interested in studying words through English language media such as television programs, Internet, English songs,… However, students had difficulty implementing a number of social and metacognitive strategies, such as interacting with native speakers and testing oneself with word tests To conclude, strategy training especially on guessing, dictionary strategies and deep processing strategies is essential It would be good if teachers could provide different opportunities for students to retrieve the vocabulary learned in different contexts The results suggested that teachers should make learners aware of their own responsibility in vocabulary learning and expose them to different approaches and strategies in enhancing vocabulary acquisition iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS COG Cognitive strategies DET Determination Strategies EFL English as a Foreign Language MEM Memory Strategies MET Metacognitive strategies L1 Native Language L2 Second Language SOC Social Strategies iv LIST OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………….iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF CONTENTS v LIST OF TABLES vii CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for choosing the topic 1.2 Research question 1.3 Aim and objectives of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Structures of the study CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Learning Strategies 2.2 Vocabulary learning strategies 2.2.1 Definitions of vocabulary learning strategies 2.2.2 Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies 2.3 Previous studies on Vocabulary Learning Strategies 13 2.4 Summary 16 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 17 3.1 Research Setting 17 3.2 Participants 17 3.3 Data collection instrument 18 3.4 Method in Language Learning Strategy Research 20 3.5 Data collection procedure 21 CHAPTER FOUR : FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 23 v 4.1 Findings 23 4.1.1 Discovery strategies 23 4.1.2 Consolidation strategies 27 Discussion 32 CHAPTER FIVE : CONCLUSION 37 5.1 Concluding remarks 37 5.2 Implications 38 Limitations 39 5.4 Recommendations for further research 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX I PART 1: The Student‟s Personal Background I PART 2: Vocabulary Learning Strategies Questionnaire II vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Information of the participants 18 Table 4.1 Determination Strategies used by the talented students 24 Table 4.2 Social strategies used by the talented students 25 Table 4.3 Memory strategies used by the talented students 27 Table 4.4 Cognitive strategies used by the talented students 29 Table 4.5 Metacognitive strategies used by the talented students 31 vii CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for choosing the topic Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings As Steven Stahl (2005) puts it, "Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world." Vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be fully mastered; it is something that expands and deepens over the course of a lifetime Instruction in vocabulary involves far more than looking up words in a dictionary and using the words in a sentence Vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to words and intentionally through explicit instruction in specific words and word-learning strategies.Limited vocabularies prevent students from comprehending a text Therefore, an effective approach to vocabulary is always one of the great concerns of every language teacher.The reason is that learning vocabulary is really challennging requiring many cognitive processes, and teachers have to make sure that the students understand the word and its meaning as well as how to use the word accurately and appropriately At upper- secondary schools in Vietnam, with a short duration of periods per week for all language skills and language focus, vocabulary instruction has paid less attention than it should have been Students have to learn so many new words every week, and by the time they learn the new words in the new lessons they have forgoten most of the words they have learned in previous lessons Moreover, most of the students, in fact, are not interested in vocabulary lessons They feel bored with the common methods used by teachers since most of the teachers of English at the researcher‟ school are still applying the traditional ways of teaching “Teacher talks – students new word down with its pronunciation and writing vocabulary in context, adding new words with a definition, synonym or collocation It was interesting to note that about a large number of students also employed the strategy of written repetition of a word whereas many students repeated the word aloud to aid in memory of the word, too However students seemed to have problems in putting new words into sentences (28%) and writing vocabulary in context, adding new words with a definition, synonym or collocation (12%).The data could imply that the students encounter difficulties in making sentences to study and practice the meaning of words as well as paraphrasing the words‟ meaning, etc It can be seen that not many of the students used these strategies, maybe, for the reason is that they are not familiar with it However, among this group of strategies, learning the words of an idiom together and making a note of the new word on the handout (underline, add L1) were used frequently It‟s because learning idioms is not only interesting but also necessary for their vocabulary tests The students, especially English majored students, often deal with this when having tests At first glance, it can be observed that cognitive strategies for conscious learning are much more valued metacognitive ones related by to planning and the participants than evaluating the language process This reveals the fact that immediate goals are more important to students than general language learning aims, perhaps because they have not received any training in these metacognitive strategies Cognitive strategies such as keeping a vocabulary notebook, taking note in class and highlighting new words were prefered by the students These talented students believed that keeping a vocabulary notebook was useful to consolidate new words Meanwhile, the rest strategies making an 34 effort to use in speaking and making an effort to use in writing or Interacting with natives and try to use new words were used with low frequency These are very simple and feasible activities for the students, so that they should be encouraged to use them as often as a habit In a whole, Metacognitive strategies were not frequently used As it is said that „testing oneself with word tests‟ and „skipping or passing new words‟ got small percentages However, studying words through English language media: television programs, Internet, English songs,… has become more popular in here, so that students should make use of this kind of modern technology for the purpose of learning English in general and for learning English vocabulary in particular Somehow, the students have been always given the best learning conditions from the teachers , the school and the local government When the researcher delivered the questionnaire, she hoped that she would get the large proportion of the students continuing to study word over time and practicing words with time scheduled and organized fluently What a pity that a small number of them always did this ( 48% or 36 %) Up to 20% never study word over time and some talented students practice words without time scheduled and organized Teachers should know this and think of ways to encourage, even request their students to employ this strategy Luckily, most of the students sometimes or rarely skipped or passed new words Up to 24% of them never did so Besides, some other students also thought that studying the word over time could enhance retention This seems to suggest that the excellent students regarded the cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies as useful tools to consolidate new words and they could be used in a 35 complementary manner, that is, the learners can create their own vocabulary notebooks and review over time To sum up, the result of the study show that only some of the strategies introduced in the questionnaire are frequently used by the students Most of the strategies are infrequently used 36 CHAPTER FIVE : CONCLUSION 5.1 Concluding remarks This research is on the preliminary study on the use of vocabulary learning strategies.Even though this is an original study for a long-term study, some preliminary conclusions can be drawn that can be taken into consideration when designing an improved version of the questionnaire The study has searched the answer for the research question “What vocabulary learning strategies are most and least popularly used by the talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school ?” The result showed that these talented students paid attention to using vocabulary learning strategies to get better achievement, which is definitely a positive finding For Discovery strategies, the most popular strategy the students used was guessing from context The following popular strategies were learning words from word lists or glossary and using bilingual dictionaries, studying words through English language media : television programs, Internet, English songs,etc as these strategies got high percentages The strategies considered the least popular strategies were analysing available pictures or gestures, analysing part of speech (e.g.noun,verb or adjective) or interacting with non- native or native speaker got low percentages, it demonstrated that these strategies are not used frequently For consolidation strategies, strategies such as learning the words of an idiom together, making a note of the new word on the handout (underline, add L1) and keeping a vocabulary notebook or studying words through English language media : television programs, Internet, English songs, etc were supposed the most popular strategies 37 However, the students of the study tend to avoid some social and metacognitive strategies , for instance, interacting with native speakers, analysing part of speech (e.g noun, verb or adjective),writing vocabulary in context, adding new words with a definition, synonym or collocation and testing oneself with word tests when the figures of these strategies were very low, thus, these strategies were ranked the least popularly When we look at the pattern of the strategy use, we could see that good students tend to learn under their interest The students seem to enjoy learning English from real experiences, by listening to English songs, watching English movies etc, more than inside the classroom So the students can make sustainable progress in English with pleasure and without any pressure Besides, the strategies such as asking teacher for a first language translation of new word and putting the new word down with its pronunciation become less important as students get better knowledge The finding suggests that students would need to engage more strategies to enhance their learning and memory of the vocabulary Although the subjects in this study were discovered to have knowledge of certain strategies, yet important to involve they failed make having to students practice what aware that they have learned It is learning does not only knowledge of a particular strategy, but rather it will become enhanced when we make use of that knowledge 5.2 Implications As for the pedagogical implications, the finding from the survey indicates that it will be necessary and beneficial for the students if various vocabulary learning strategies are employed More vocabulary learning strategies should be introduced to students and can be used as methods of vocabulary learning For instance, teachers 38 continue to encourage use of a dictionary and other learning media Teachers can also assign more interesting vocabulary tasks in order to engage and inspire students to vocabulary tasks From the results of this study, the group teachers of English has agreed to apply the vocabulary learning strategies on training gifted students and the writer will conduct an action research to find out vocabulary learning strategies of mass students Since the language learning strategies are considered as other good tools for language learners, it is expected that this study will be able to support the English teachers‟ pedagogical viewpoints and give valuable information on how the students process information and select the most suitable vocabulary learning strategies to enhance their language learning Besides, teachers should help these talented students become better language learners by training them in using the right strategies or appropriate strategies that suit their level so that they can get good marks in the exam of excellent students Both objectives and goals can be achieved when students are well trained in strategies used Strategies “writing vocabulary in context, adding new words with a definition, synonym or collocation” should be used more in class so as to help them get used to making sentences, writing essays as the talented students in English language selection have more chances to get better score when they have good writing skill Limitations This is an exploratory study of students‟vocabulary learning strategies.The questionaires is a singgle instrument of data collection.The data from the questionnaire were self-reported by the participants.Therefore,there are some limitations 39 First, the data were collected by using only one instrument- questionnaire which not reflect a reality because students could have not read the questions carefully but only put a tick when choosing them Second, the research was conducted with 25 excellent students at Thanh Liem C high school, its population was small and this is a preliminary study, so the contents and the methods are limited Third, this research was only studied in a small scale, it is only focused on vocabulary learning strategies without other skills, such as reading, speaking writing, etc 5.4 Recommendations for further research The results can be deliberately applied to support students‟ English learning especially at Thanh Liem C high school The method of collecting data should include open-ended questions into the questionnaires to give students more space to report their valuable information that might help the researcher understand their strategies of vocabulary learning Other studies of the skills such as reading, speaking, listening, etc… will be conducted so that the teachers of English at the researcher‟school have an overall view of teaching and learning English of students In the future, the researcher is going to work on vocabulary learning strategies of mass students to find out the differences, from which she and her colleagues adjust teaching methods to be suitable for students 40 REFERENCES Ahmed, M.O (1988): Vocabulary learning strategies: A case study of Sudanese learners of English.Unpublished doctoral dissertation.University College of North Wales, Bangor, UK Cohen, A.D (1998) Strategies in learning and using a second language New York, NY: Longman Brown, T S., and Perry, F L Jr (1991) A comparison of three learning strategies for ESL vocabulary acquisition TESOL Quarterly Carrell, P L.(1989) Metacognitive awareness and second language reading Modern Language Journal Carter, R., and McCarthy, M (1988) Vocabulary and language teaching London: Longman Chamot, research A U and (2004) Issues in language learning strategy teaching Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching Cheung, C-Y (2004) The effectiveness of vocabulary learning strategies of Chinese low achievers Master‟s thesis, Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong Cohen, A D (1998) Strategies in learning and using a second language London: Longman Dörnyei, Z (2003) Questionnaires in Construction, second language research: administration, and processing Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum 10 Ellis, R (1997) Second language acquisition Oxford: Oxford University Press 11 Fan, M Y (2003) Frequency of use, perceived usefulness, and actual usefulness of second language vocabulary strategise: A study of Hong Kong learners The Modern Language Journal 41 12 Gu, Y., and Johnson, R.K (1996) Vocabulary learning strategies and language learning outcomes Language Learning 13 Gu, Y (2003) Vocabulary learning in a second language: person, task, context and strategies TESL-EJ, 7(2), A-4 Available at: http://www writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ/ej26/a4.html (10 Dec 2003) 14 Gu, Y (2005) Vocabulary learning strategies in the Chinese EFL context Marshal Cavendish Academic, Singapore 15 Intaraprasert, C (2004) EST strategies: A preliminary Suranaree University students and vocabulary investigation Unpublished learning research, of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand 16 Kudo, Y (2000) Second language vocabulary learning strategies Abstract retrieved February 18, 2008, from http://www.lll.hawaii.edu/nflrc/NetWorks/NW14/\ 17 Kung, W J., and Chen, S E (n.d.) An exploratory on vocabulary learning strategies by Taiwanese EFL elementary school students Available: http://english.nccu.tw/new/wenshan2005/session6/%E9%BE%94abstract.doc 18 Lau, W.H (2002) Instruction on vocabulary learning strategies: A stepping stone to independent learning? Unpublished master‟s thesis, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 19 Law, B.Y (2003) Vocabulary learning strategies: A case study of Form Four students in a Chinese-medium secondary school Unpublished master‟s thesis, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 20 Lo, O.K (2007) An investigation into the perceptions and effectiveness of various vocabulary learning strategies of Hong Kong ESL learners with low English proficiency Unpublished master‟s thesis, The Universi ty of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 21 Nation, I.S.P (1990) Teaching and learning vocabulary New York: Newbury House 42 22 O‟Mally, J M., & Chamot, A (1990) Learning strategies in second language acquisition (The Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 23 Schmitt, Schmitt N & (1997) Vocabulary M McCarthy learning (Eds.), strategies Vocabulary: In N Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 24 Takač, V P (2008) Vocabulary learning strategies and second language acquisition Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters 43 APPENDIX -PART 1: The Student’s Personal Background Please provide the information about yourself by circling the choices given or write the response where necessary: Age: 15 16 17 Gender (circle the answer): Male more than 17 Female You are studying in Grade : 10 11 12 Year of study at your school: Number of years studying English: Do you think English is : (You can choose more than one) easy interesting boring difficult useful useless others (please specify) ………………………………….… Your English ability is: poor/weak moderate good/very good Number of years taking part in English language selection: I PART 2: Vocabulary Learning Strategies Questionnaire A Survey of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Directions The Vocabulary Learning Strategy Questionnaire (VLSQ) is designed to gather information about how you use English vocabulary learning strategies.This of vocabulary learning strategies is designed for students who learn English as a foreign language In the statement below, you will find statements related to various English vocabulary learning strategies Please read each statement carefully then put (√ ) in the box (5,4,3,2 or ) which most describes your opinion on the strategies you use to learn English vocabulary Degree of frequency of Your Own Vocabulary Learning Strategy Use “Always” : you always or almost always use the strategy described in the statement “Often” : you use the strategy described more than half the time “Sometimes”: you use the strategy described in the statement half of the time “Seldom” : you use the strategy described in the statement less than half of the time “Never” : you never use the strategy described in the statement II I Discovery Strategies Degree of Number Categories frequency Strategies I guess its meaning from the 1 DET 2 DET 3 DET 4 DET 5 DET I use a monolingual dictionary 6 DET I use a bilingual dictionary SOC SOC SOC 10 SOC 11 SOC I interact with native speakers 12 SOC I speak with non- native 13 SOC context I analyse part of speech (e.g noun, verb or adjective) I analyse affixes and roots I analyse any available pictures or gestures Ask teacher for a L1 translation of new word I ask teacher for a sentence including new word; I ask classmate for meaning I discover new meaning through group work activities I learn words from word lists or glossary I learn words from the mass 14 SOC media such as magazines, radio, songs, TV programmes or films 15 SOC newspaper, I ignore it III II Consolidation Strategies Degree of Number Categories Strategies frequency 16 COG I keep a vocabulary notebook 17 COG I take note in class 18 COG 19 COG 20 COG 21 COG 22 COG 23 COG 24 MEM 25 MEM 26 MEM 27 MEM I put new words in sentences 28 MEM I say the word aloud 29 MEM I use the vocabulary section in the textbook I make an effort to use in writing I make an effort to use in speaking I interact with natives and try to use new words I highlight new words I study words through talking to classmates I studying word in a dictionary I study the pronunciation of the word I associate the word with a similar one in L1 I learn vocabulary in short phrases IV Degree of Number Categories frequency Strategies 30 MEM 31 MEM 32 MEM I study the spelling of the word I group words together to study them I make a note of the new word on the handout I write vocabulary in context, 33 10 MEM adding new words with a definition, synonym or collocation 34 11 MEM 35 12 MEM I put the new word down with its pronunciation I learn the words of an idiom together I study words through English 36 MET language media : television programs, Internet, English songs,… I practice time scheduled and 37 MET 38 MET I skip or pass new word 39 MET I testing oneself with word tests 40 MET organized I continue to study word over time Thank you for your co-operation! 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