Teachers and students’ attitudes towards the effectiveness of teaching and learning vocabulary in contexts: A survey research at Nguyen Du high school Thanh Oai, Hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ MAI CHUNG TEACHERS AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING VOCABULARY IN CONTEXTS: A SURVEY RESEARCH AT NGUYEN DU HIGH SCHOOL, THANH OAI, HANOI (Thái độ giáo viên học sinh với hiệu việc dạy học từ vựng thông qua ngữ cảnh: Khảo sát trường THPT Nguyễn Du, Thanh Oai Hà Nội) M.A Minor Thesis Programme I Major: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 HANOI, 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ MAI CHUNG TEACHERS AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING VOCABULARY IN CONTEXTS: A SURVEY RESEARCH AT NGUYEN DU HIGH SCHOOL, THANH OAI, HANOI (Thái độ giáo viên học sinh với hiệu việc dạy học từ vựng thông qua ngữ cảnh: Khảo sát trường THPT Nguyễn Du, Thanh Oai Hà Nội) M.A Minor Thesis Programme I Major: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Trần Hiền Lan, M.A HANOI, 2012 LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table Students and teachers’ attitudes towards the role of vocabulary in language learning and teaching Students’ common ways in vocabulary learning Table Frequency of using context-based techniques in presenting Table vocabulary evaluated by teachers Table Frequency of using context-based techniques in presenting vocabulary evaluated by students Table Techniques used by teachers to teach vocabulary through contexts in the practicing stage Table Students’ attitudes towards context-based techniques used to present vocabulary Table Techniques preferred by students Chart Kinds of vocabulary chosen to teach by teachers Chart Students’ difficulties in learning vocabulary Chart Context-based vocabulary techniques used to present vocabulary Chart Ideas from students about the effects of learning vocabulary through contexts Chart Ideas from teachers about the effects of teaching vocabulary through contexts Chart Teachers’ idea about the benefit of teaching vocabulary through contexts iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration p i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of charts and tables iv Table of contents v Part A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the thesis Part B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Vocabulary 1.1.1 Definitions of vocabulary 1.1.2 Classification of vocabulary 1.1.3 The roles of vocabulary in language teaching and learning 1.1.4 Principles of vocabulary teaching 1.1.4.1 Criteria for selection of vocabulary 1.1.4.2 Criteria for teaching vocabulary 1.2 Teaching vocabulary in contexts 11 1.2.1 Definition of contexts 11 1.2.2 Reasons for teaching vocabulary in contexts 12 1.2.3 Techniques to teach vocabulary through contexts 14 1.2.3.1 Techniques for presenting vocabulary in contexts 14 1.2.3.2 Techniques for practicing vocabulary in contexts 16 1.3 Summary 19 Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY 20 2.1 Context of the study 20 v 2.1.1 Textbook 20 2.1.2 Participants 20 2.2 The instruments 21 2.2.1 Survey questionnaires 21 2.2.2 Class observation 22 2.3 Data collection and analysis 23 2.4 Summary 23 Chapter 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 24 3.1 Data analysis of survey questionnaire 24 3.2 Data analysis of class observation 38 3.3 Discussion and major findings 40 3.4 Pedagogical implications 40 3.4.1 Suggestions for presenting the meaning of new words in contexts 41 3.4.2 Suggestions for practicing vocabulary in contexts 42 3.5 Summary 44 Part C: CONCLUSION 45 Conclusions 45 Limitations and suggestions for further study 46 REFERENCES APPENDICES vi Part A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Nowadays, we have witnessed the wide use of English as an international language in different fields of life English has become the most popular foreign language in Vietnam This trend has led to much focus on teaching and learning English from linguistic competence to communicative one Therefore, the important role of teaching and learning vocabulary is more paid attention It is known to most second language learners that the acquisition of vocabulary is a fundamental and important component in the process of their learning The importance of vocabulary was emphasized by Wilkins (1972) that “without grammar very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” (p.111) Besides, Pyles and Algeo (1970) also stated that “when we first think about language, we think about words It is words that we arrange together to make sentences, conversation and discourse of all kinds” Generally, the teaching and learning of vocabulary is obviously a very significant aspect in foreign language teaching in general and in English language teaching in particular In Vietnam vocabulary teaching is still not quite concerned Developing students’ strategies for handling unknown words has always been one of the principal challenges of English reading classes Dealing with this challenge, many teachers normally use explanations and translation through word-list as a common way to teach vocabulary The learners therefore passively acquire vocabulary through teachers’ explanation This situation also happens to the teachers and learners at Nguyen Du high school The students here mainly use some rote strategies such as writing words on paper with equivalence in Vietnamese, trying to learn by heart, looking up words in dictionaries and asking teachers for help whenever they encounter any new words The drawbacks of this approach are obvious Too much dictionary work can kill all interest in reading and even interfere with comprehension, because readers become more concerned with individual words and less aware of the context which gives them meaning It also results in very slow and inefficient reading (Wallace 1982) Moreover, the students rarely remember the meaning of words and not know how to use these words appropriately in particular situations or contexts Meanwhile, a word learned in a meaningful context is highly assimilated and remembered The contexts in which the new items are used helps students guess the meanings more easily For all the above reasons, the researcher has strong desire to undertake the study which aims at exploring the teachers and students’ attitudes towards the effectiveness of teaching and learning vocabulary in contexts at Nguyen Du high school Aims of the study This study is aimed at investigating the attitudes of teachers and students towards the effectiveness of teaching and learning vocabulary in contexts To be specific, the aims of the study are: - To investigate the current situation of teaching vocabulary through contexts to students at Nguyen Du high school, Thanh Oai, Hanoi - To investigate the effectiveness of using contexts to teach vocabulary Research questions In order to achieve the set goals, the following questions were proposed: What is the current situation of teaching context-based vocabulary to students at Nguyen Du high school? How effective is the teaching context-based vocabulary to students at Nguyen Du high school? Scope of the study The study is limited to the area of teaching English vocabulary at Nguyen Du high school Specifically, this minor thesis deals with the current situation of using contexts to teach vocabulary to the eleventh grade students at Nguyen Du high school and suggests some pedagogical implications to the teachers Method of the study To find answers to the above - stated research questions, the study uses a combination of qualitive and quantitive research approaches, which include data analysis and survey questionnaires In the study, data which is collected through questionnaires will be processed and analyzed to investigate into vocabulary teaching and learning strategies Design of the study The study is designed as follow: Part A: Introduction provides a general introduction of the study with the specific reference to the rationale, the aims, the scope, the methods and the design of the thesis Part B: Development consists of three chapters: Chapter 1: “Literature Review” gives a brief view on the theoretical background of English vocabulary, contexts and the benefits of using contexts in teaching vocabulary Chapter 2: “Methodology”, shows an insight into the research methods to find out the answers to the research questions This chapter also gives a brief view on the subjects, the procedures and the instruments to collect data employed to reach the aims of the research Chapter 3: “Data analysis and discussion” presents the data collected from the survey questionnaires and class observation and the discussion of these data Pedagogical implications for teachers are also suggested in this part Part C: Conclusions concludes the report of the study with the suggestions for further research Part B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter deals with some of the important issues in the theories of vocabulary and the use of contexts in vocabulary teaching It consists of the definitions of vocabulary, the roles of vocabulary in language teaching and learning, classification of vocabulary, principles of vocabulary teaching, definitions of contexts, context clues and techniques to teach vocabulary through contexts 1.1 Vocabulary 1.1.1 Definition of vocabulary According to Ur (1996:60), the vocabulary was roughly defined as “the words we teach in the foreign language.” It was also accepted that “a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: for example, post office and motherin-law, which are made up of two or three words but express a single idea” Additionally, Pyles and Algeo (1970 : 96) affirmed that „vocabulary is the focus of language with its sound and meaning, which interlock to allow us to communicate with one another, and it is words that we arrange together to make sentences, conversation and discourse of all kinds " It is inferred that vocabulary is essential for learning language in general and particularly for learning foreign language According to Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary Third Edition (2008), vocabulary is defined as “all the words which exist in a particular language or subject” (p.1624) This definition covers vocabulary’s meaning on the whole However, it is not the knowledge of words and word meanings, vocabulary is more complex than this definition suggests The definition does not totally show a deep understanding about vocabulary In conclusion, there are different ways to define the concept “vocabulary” However, the idea that vocabulary is the total number of words existing in a language, including single words as well as multi-word items is more favorable 1.1.2 Classifications of vocabulary Vocabulary can be classified in various ways depending on different criteria, features or functions 1.1.2.1 Semantics: There are two main kinds of meanings in a word, lexical meaning and grammatical meaning Thus in term of semantics, vocabulary can be categorized into notional words and functional words (Read, 2000: 18)  Notional words: Their meanings are lexical, form a great mass of the speaker’s vocabulary Those words name objects, actions, qualities and have meanings themselves In terms of part of speech, they can be nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and so on  Functional words: They are grammatical words, which only have their meanings in relation to other words with which they are used They can be particles, articles, prepositions, etc 1.1.2.2 Grammar: In terms of grammar, vocabulary items are divided into different parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc (Quirk, 1987: 18) 1.1.2.3 Methodology: In terms of the use of word, vocabulary can be divided into two types basing on the classification Doff (1988: 19):  Active words: Active vocabulary includes all words which can be understood, pronounced correctly, and can be used effectively in speaking and writing  Passive words: Passive vocabulary includes all words which the learners can recognize and understand when they occur in a context, but which learners cannot produce or use correctly themselves even when they attempt to In addition, some other methodologists follow communicative Language Approach divide vocabulary into productive and receptive Gairns and Redman (1986) define productive vocabulary as the language items which a language learner can use effectively to produce information in speaking and writing The words appropriately in the certain context Thus, the vocabulary will remain in their minds for a long time Among these techniques, it was revealed that illustrating the meanings of word through examples and visual aids were preferred by most students at Nguyen Du high school Consequently, the teachers should be capable of making a good choice of these techniques in order to motivate students  For words of action and feeling: For these words, demonstration and mime are useful to present verbs and adjectives showing man’s actions or feeling It makes class more active, attentive and students learn the words more easily For example, when teaching the verb “walk” teachers can walk in the class and say “now, I am walking” to make the class understand “walk ” in the particular situation In short, the teachers should be capable of making a good choice of these techniques in order to motivate students 3.4.2 Suggestions for practicing vocabulary in contexts In the stage of practicing vocabulary, it is necessary for the teachers to develop the skill of guessing word meanings from context for the students This skill requires an understanding of semantic properties, register and collocation which makes readers aware of the important feature of vocabulary, namely, that context determines the meaning of words Training students to infer meaning from context gives them a powerful aid to comprehension and will speed up their reading Besides, teachers also need to vary techniques to encourage students practice vocabulary effectively It is not enough to only use exercises in the textbook Teachers should provide them with more activities Some useful techniques and sample activities are listed as follow:  Matching Aim: - Checking students’ knowledge of words in use: collocation, word classification - Checking students’ awareness of word meaning: denotational, connotational meaning, meaning relationships 37 Activity 1: Match half of sentence in box A with half of sentence in box B to make complete sentences A B A pilot makes films A nurse looks after people in hospital An actor flies planes Activity 2: Match the pairs of opposite words A happy, stand up, good, young, fat, quick B slow, bad, sad, sit down, old, thin  Multiple choice exercises Aim: - checking students’ awareness of word meanings, meaning relationships - checking students’ knowledge of words in use, language in use, word classification, collocation Activity 1: Choose the correct answer Activity 2: Underline the correct answer in the sentence Activity 3: Choose the main idea  True/False statement exercises Aim: - checking the meaning of words checking comprehension to contribute to students’ awareness of language, words in use - checking students’ interpretation ability ( interpret denotational meaning, connotational meaning and meaning relationships) Activity: Decide the following statements are true (T) or false (F)  Gap-filling exercises Aim: - check students’ knowledge of denotational meaning - checking students’ awareness of language, words in use: appropriateness and collocation 38 - checking comprehension to contribute to students’ awareness of language, words in use - checking knowledge about word classification Activity 1: Read and complete the text with given words in the box Activity 2: Fill in each blank with one suitable word  Sentence completing Aim: checking students’ knowledge of word meaning, form and use Activity: Read the text and then complete the following sentences: On Fridays evenings, Ceri just relaxes because…………… She never goes out on Saturday evenings because………… 3.5 Summary In conclusion, from the data analysis, I realize that using contexts to teach vocabulary to Nguyen Du high school students brings about some considerable effects However, in order to make use of contexts, teachers should combine various techniques in teaching vocabulary so that their students can learn vocabulary more effectively 39 Part C: CONCLUSION Conclusions Vocabulary plays very important role in English learning Enlarging vocabulary is not an easy way for both English teachers and learners Although each learner has their own methods to approach this target, most students and teachers at Nguyen Du high school share the ideas about supporting the role of contexts in vocabulary learning and teaching This study aims at discovering current situation of teaching and learning vocabulary through contexts for the 11th grade students at Nguyen Du high school, investigating the effectiveness of using contexts in teaching and learning vocabulary From the research it can be concluded that both teachers and students have positive attitudes about the importance of vocabulary and the use of contexts in teaching and learning vocabulary Generally, the 11th grade students are really interested in learning vocabulary when their teachers apply techniques of teaching vocabulary through contexts Different techniques such as using synonyms and antonyms, giving examples to illustrate meanings, using situation, visual aids, etc are regularly used in each stage of teaching Among these techniques, giving examples to illustrate the meanings of words and using synonyms and antonyms are used with higher frequency by teachers And giving examples to illustrate meanings, guessing words through contexts, using visual aids are more preferred by students Most teachers at Nguyen Du high school are aware of the role of contexts in teaching vocabulary Therefore, the applying of these techniques is currently done in their teaching A great deal of students and teachers agree that teaching vocabulary through contexts can help students remember the words easily and quickly for a long time It also creates the motivating study atmosphere, helps students understand the words easily, and know how to use words in certain contexts In general, the findings of the study supports for the hypothesis that Nguyen Du students and teachers often apply teaching and learning vocabulary through 40 contexts To them, this technique is helpful and effective in vocabulary learning and teaching Limitations and suggestions for further study In most research, limitations are inevitable Since limited time and lack of experience, the study presented in this thesis is of no exception First of all, due to the lack of time, only 90 students and 10 teachers participated in the study A small sample may reveal that the findings may not be generalized to all the students and teachers at Nguyen Du high school and other schools as well Moreover, the class observation for the study was only carried out at classes and what the researcher saw in the classroom may not true to what really go on Additionally, because of the shortage of time and knowledge, the study cannot deal with other factors affecting the vocabulary teaching and learning such as learners' general intelligence, personal feeling, etc These call for further study In further study, the researcher desire of carrying out more researches about reasons for Nguyen Du teachers’ choosing and using context-based approach in teaching vocabulary Besides, it is also hoped to conduct another research on applying context-based approach in teaching grammar 41 References English Billow, F.L., (1961) The Techniques of Language Teaching, Longman, London Cambridge University Press (2008) Cambridge Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Cook, G., (1989) Discourse Oxford: Oxford University Press Cranmer, D., (1986) Teaching the vocabulary of a text The Newsletter, Vol VII No.2 Doff, A., (1988) Teaching English: A training course for teacher Cambridge: CUP Dornyei, Z., (2003) Questionnaires in Second Language Research New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc Gairns, R., & Redman, S (1986) Working with words: A guide to teaching and learning vocabulary Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Gower, R., Phillips, D., & Walters, S., (2005) Teaching Practice: A handbook for teachers in training Macmillan Books for Teachers Oxford: Macmillan Publisher Limited Hammer, J., (1991), The Practice of English Language Teaching, Cambridge: Longman 10 Lee, W.R., & Coppen, H., (1970) Simple audio-visual aids to Foreign Language Teaching OUP 11 Mayher, J.S., & Brause, R.S., (1986) Learning through teaching: Is testing crippling integrated language education? Language Arts, 63 (4), 390-396 12 Nation, I S P., (2001) Learning Vocabulary in Another Language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 13 Nunan, D., (1993) Introducing Discourse Analysis London: Penguin English 42 14 Pyles, T., & Algeo, J., (1970) English – An Introduction to language, New York: Harcourt, Brace 15 Quirk, R., (1987) A University Grammar of English, Longman class UK Limited, Essex 16 Read, J., (2000) Assessing Vocabulary Cambridge University Press 17 Schmitt, N., (1997) Vocabulary learning strategies In N Schmitt & M McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy (pp 122-180) Cambridge: 18 Shafaei, A., & Nejati, M., (2009) Annals of Language Learning Universal Publishers Boca Raton, Florida 19 Ur, P., (1996) A course in Language teaching – Practice and theory, CUP 20 Wallace, M., (1982) Teaching vocabulary London: Heinemann Educational Books 21 Widdowson, H.G., (2000) Linguistics Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2000 22 Wilkins, D.A., (1972) Linguistics in Language Teaching London: Edward Arnold 23 Yule, G., (1996) Pragmatics Oxford University Press Vietnamese 24 Hoa, N., (2000) An introduction to discourse analysis Vietnam National University Press 25 Nụ, D.T., (2004) Một vài suy nghĩ dạy từ vựng ngoại ngữ chuyên ngành Kỷ yếu hội nghị Trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ- ĐHQG Hà Nội 43 APPENDICES APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS This survey questionnaire is designed on the purpose of getting necessary data for the study entitled “Teachers and students‟ attitudes towards the effectiveness of teaching and learning vocabulary in contexts: A survey research at Nguyen Du high school Thanh Oai, Hanoi” Your assistance in fulfilling the following items is greatly appreciated You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of data Thank you very much for your kind cooperation! A Please answer these questions below or tick (√) where appropriate: - Gender:  Male  Female - Class:………… - You have been learning English for ……………… years - Evaluate your vocabulary learning a Good c Average b Quite good d Bad B Please make a tick where appropriate (in some cases, you can choose more than one option) What you think of the role of vocabulary teaching in language teaching? a very important c not very important b quite important d not important at all Which kinds of vocabulary does your teacher choose to teach? a high-frequency words c low-frequency words b words relating to the topic of the text d any new words in the lesson Which is the most difficult in learning a new word? a pronunciation b spelling c word use I d word memorization e Others (please specify):…………………………………………………… What you often when you encounter new words? a look up in the dictionary b ask your teachers or friends c try to guess the meaning based on the context d just ignore e your own way (Please specify):…………………………………………… What kinds of techniques does your teacher often use to present vocabulary? a Teachers provide Ss with the word list with Vietnamese equivalents b Teachers provide Ss with the word list and explain new words in English or Vietnamese c Teachers provide Ss with the word list and explain its meanings through real objects or visual aids d Teachers provide Ss with the word list and illustrate its meanings through examples, situations e Teachers provide Ss with the word list and explain new words through synonyms and antonyms f Teachers provide Ss with the word list and ask students to look up in the dictionary g Others (please specify):……………………………………………………… How often does your teacher use techniques of teaching vocabulary through contexts in presenting vocabulary? Frequency of use Never Techniques 1.Using visual aids (real objects, picture, demonstration, mime) Using situation and II Rarely Sometimes Usually Always explanation Giving examples to illustrate the meaning Using synonyms, antonyms Combining different techniques at the same time How you feel when your teacher uses the following techniques in presenting new words? Student’s feeling Very Techniques Uninterested Neutral Interested Very uninterested interested 1.Using visual aids (real objects, picture, demonstration, mime) Using situation and explanation Giving examples to illustrate the meaning Using synonyms, antonyms While practicing the new words, which techniques does your teacher often use? a Ask students to guess the word meaning based on the context b Ask students to look up new words in the dictionary c Translate new words into Vietnamese d Ask students to answer questions based on the text using new words they have learnt e Ask students to Matching exercises: match words with its definition f Ask students to Multiple Choice exercises to check word meaning g Ask students to True/False statement exercises to check word meaning III h Ask students to Gap-filling exercises using new words in the text k Others (please specify): According to you, learning vocabulary through contexts can bring benefits a interesting and motivating atmosphere of learning b easy and quick memorization c long memorization d no benefit e Others (please specify): 10 In your opinion, which techniques used to teach vocabulary through context is the most useful? Why? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………… IV APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS This survey questionnaire is designed on the purpose of getting necessary data for the study entitled “Teachers and students’ attitudes towards the effectiveness of teaching and learning vocabulary in contexts: A survey research at Nguyen Du high school Thanh Oai, Hanoi ” Your assistance in fulfilling the following items is greatly appreciated You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of data Thank you very much for your kind cooperation! A Please answer these questions below or tick (√) where appropriate: You are: Male Female - Your age:……………………… - You have taught English for ……years - Your qualification: a Bachelor in teaching English as a foreign language b Master of art in teaching English as a foreign language c Doctor of philosophy in teaching English as a foreign language d Others:……………………………………………………………… B Please make a tick where appropriate(In some cases, you can choose more than one option) What you think of the role of vocabulary teaching in language teaching? a very important c not very important b quite important d not important at all Which vocabulary you choose to teach Ss in class? a high-frequency words b words relating to the topic of the text c low-frequency words d any new words in the lesson e Others (please specify): V What kind of techniques you often use to present vocabulary? a Teachers provide students with the word list with Vietnamese equivalents b Teachers provide students with the word list and explain new words in English or Vietnamese c Teachers provide students with the word list and explain its meanings through real objects or visual aids d Teachers provide students with the word list and illustrate its meanings through examples, situations e Teachers provide students with the word list and explain new words through synonyms and antonyms f Teachers provide students with the word list and ask students to look up in the dictionary g Others (please specify):………………………………………… How often you use techniques in presenting vocabulary? Frequency of use Never Rarely Sometimes Usually Always Techniques 1.Using visual aids (real objects, picture, demonstration, mime) Using situation and explanation Using synonyms, antonyms Giving examples to illustrate the meaning Combining different techniques at the same time How your students feel when you use the following techniques in presenting new words? VI Student’s feeling Very Uninterested Neutral Interested Very uninterested interested Techniques 1.Using visual aids (real objects, picture, demonstration, mime) Using situation and explanation Using synonyms, antonyms Giving examples to illustrate the meaning While practicing the new words, which techniques you often use? a Ask students to guess the word meaning based on the context b Ask students to look up new words in the dictionary c Translate new words into Vietnamese d Ask students to answer questions based on the text using new words they have learnt e Ask students to Matching exercises: match words with its definition f Ask students to Multiple Choice exercises to check word meaning g Ask students to True/False statement exercises to check word meaning h Ask students to Gap-filling exercises using new words in the text k Others (please specify): What effects contexts have on your vocabulary teaching? a easy presentation of words b interesting and motivating lessons c students’ fast and easy catching of words d great vocabulary improvement e students’ distraction from lesson VII f Others (please specify):………………………… …… Do you think teaching vocabulary through contexts can help students to develop their vocabulary? a yes b.no THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CO- OPERATION! 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