Promoting learner autonomy in learning vocabulary for second year students at hai phong medical university

1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ HÒA PROMOTING LEARNER AUTONOMY IN LEARNING VOCABULARY FOR SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AT HAI PHONG MEDICAL UNIVERSITY (Phát huy tính tự chủ việc học từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ hai, Trƣờng Đại học Y Hải Phòng) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 HANOI - 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ HÒA PROMOTING LEARNER AUTONOMY IN LEARNING VOCABULARY FOR SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AT HAI PHONG MEDICAL UNIVERSITY (Phát huy tính tự chủ việc học từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ hai, Trƣờng Đại học Y Hải Phòng) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Phùng Hà Thanh, M.Ed HANOI - 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration Acknowledgement Abstract List of tables and figures PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Aims and objectives of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Significance of the study Overview of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW Vocabulary 1.1.Definit 1.2.Process Vocabulary learning and teaching 2.1.Aspect 2.2.Explici Learner autonomy 3.1.Definit 3.2.Princip Vocabulary learning strategies 4.1.Definit 4.2.Classif 4.3.Framew CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY Background of the study 1.1.Curren Medical University 1.2.Identif Participants Implementation of the action research Instruments of data collection 4.1.Descrip 4.2.Descrip 4.3.Descrip 4.4.Descrip Data collection procedures Data analysis procedures CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Phase One - Research question 1: Students’ problems in independent vocabulary learning 28 Phase Two 29 2.1 Research question 2: Students’ performance in the use of the taught strategies 29 2.1.1 Students’ performance in the use of Strategy Set and Set 29 2.1.2 Students’ performance in the use of Strategy Set 30 2.2 Research question 3: Students’ participation in the use of the taught strategies 31 2.2.1 Students’ participation in the use of Strategy Set and Set 31 2.2.2 Students’ participation in the use of Strategy Set 32 Phase Three 32 3.1 Research question 4: Students’ maintenance of the taught strategies in independent vocabulary learning 33 3.2 Research question 5: Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the strategy training programme 34 3.2.1 Students’ frequency of using the taught strategies before and after the training programme 34 3.2.2 Usefulness of the taught strategies 3.2.3 Students’ evaluation of the strategy training programme 35 36 PART C: CONCLUSION Conclusion 39 Pedagogical implications from the findings 40 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Schmitt’s taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies (1997) Appendix 2: Three lesson plans Appendix 3: Three word-learning records Appendix 4: Sample vocabulary-learning diaries Appendix 5: Pre-treatment questionnaire survey (English version) Appendix 6: Pre-treatment questionnaire survey (Vietnamese version) Appendix 7: Post-treatment questionnaire survey (English version) Appendix 8: Post-treatment questionnaire survey (Vietnamese version) 10 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES TABLES PAGE Table 1: Criteria for evaluating word-learning records 24 Table 2: Holistic rubric for marking the maintenance of the trained strategy sets 25 Table 3: Students’ performance in the use of Dictionary-related strategies and Vocabulary-recording strategies 29 Table 4: Students’ performance in the use of Affix-studying strategies 30 Table 5: Students’ participation in the use of Dictionary-related strategies and Vocabulary-recording strategies 31 Table 6: Students’ participation in the use of Affix - studying strategies 32 FIGURES Figure 1: Students’ problems in independent vocabulary learning 28 Figure 2: Students’ maintenance of the taught strategies in independent vocabulary learning 33 Figure 3: Frequency of vocabulary strategy use before and after training 34 Figure 4: Usefulness of the taught strategies 35 Figure 5: Effectiveness of the strategy training programme 36 Figure 6: Students’ recommendations for vocabulary-learning strategy training 38 11 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Learner autonomy, a concept promoted by Holec (1981) and others in the context of European language education, has become a favorite topic for analysis for the last twenty years In many parts of the world, learner autonomy has been put forward as a goal to achieve (Pemberton et al., 1996; Sinclair et al., 2000; Little et al., 2000; Benson, 2001) Several arguments may be used in favor of developing autonomy in language learners For example, according to Naimen et al (1978), autonomous learning is more effective than other approaches to learning, and Waite (1994) specifies that learners need to take charge of their own learning in order to make the most of available resources, especially outside the classroom Despite being widely discussed worldwide, learner autonomy remains a fairly novel concept in Vietnam Whether or to what extent learner autonomy is developed and practiced in Vietnamese schools and universities is still open to question Furthermore, since the idea of learner autonomy originated from Western cultures, it hardly suffices to just transfer the concept to an Asian context (Benson, Chik & Lim, 2003; Smith, 2003) Rather, the implementation of learner autonomy in Asian countries should be tailored so that an appropriate methodology for developing learner autonomy in non-Western contexts can be devised (Smith, 2003) Another argument is that learner autonomy is a universal social phenomenon, which manifests itself differently in different local contexts (Holliday, 2003) Because of all these complex and interesting points, it seems appealing to explore how autonomy can be enhanced in an Asian educational institution like Hai Phong Medical University Moreover, developing learners’ autonomy becomes increasingly important as far as tertiary education is concerned A student at university is required to a substantial amount of research for his assignments, so he is supposed to know when and how to work independently so that he can achieve a satisfactory result Specifically, the local context of Hai Phong Medical University calls for the idea of promoting learner autonomy The second-year students, who are at pre-intermediate level, not seem to study English as well as in the first year Having taught them for three successive semesters, I immediately take notice of the situation and intend to design a remedy plan to improve it After my open talk with the whole class, several problems came 12 to light Most of the students feel discouraged by a large number of words they encounter in each English lesson As many of them confess, learning vocabulary seems to be the most difficult and most important to them However, as English non-majors, the students have only four periods per week for English lessons It means the time spent on vocabulary learning is really limited in class In order to develop the students’ vocabulary, it is crucial that they practice independent vocabulary learning regularly outside class Therefore, it has become increasingly essential to provide them with useful learning strategies so that they can employ in their self-study time In this case, the success of learning vocabulary depends very much on how effectively and autonomously the students practice vocabulary self-study As Waite (1994) says, learners need to take charge of their own learning in order to make the most of available resources, especially outside the classroom For all the reasons above, I have decided to undertake a study on promoting learner autonomy in learning vocabulary for second-year students at Hai Phong Medical University The focus of the study is a training programme of vocabulary – learning strategies conducted for ten weeks Aims and objectives of the study Firstly, the study aims at improving the students’ autonomous vocabulary learning by teaching them some helpful strategies, namely dictionary-related strategies, recording vocabulary and studying affixes Secondly, it is intended to evaluate their employment of these vocabulary-learning strategies in terms of performance, participation and maintenance These aims can be achieved by answering the following research questions: What are the problems that the students encounter in their independent vocabulary learning? How well the students use the taught strategies in their guided vocabulary practice? How much the students use the taught strategies in their guided vocabulary practice? To what extent the students maintain the taught strategies in their independent vocabulary learning? How effective is the strategy training programme in helping the students learn vocabulary, as perceived by the students? 13 Scope of the study The research focuses on one specific way of developing learner autonomy: the explicit teaching of learning strategies A vocabulary-learning strategy training programme is conducted for ten weeks Within the scope of the study, only three strategy sets, namely dictionary-related strategies, recording vocabulary and studying affixes, are taught The effectiveness of the taught strategies is measured in terms of performance, participation and maintenance Performance refers to the extent of correctness when the students use the taught strategies while participation means how much they use these strategies in their guided vocabulary practice Lastly, maintenance refers to the extent of retaining the taught strategies in their independent vocabulary study The participants include 27 second-year students of the same English class at Hai Phong Medical University and their teacher In this study, the teacher is in charge of teaching the class and plays the role of the researcher at the same time Methods of the study The current study is carried out as an action research, which combines qualitative and quantitative approaches The action actually taken is a vocabulary-learning strategy training programme designed for the duration of ten weeks The programme is divided into three phases In phase one, pre-treatment questionnaires are distributed to seek the answer for research question one regarding the students’ problem in learning vocabulary Then, the students are taught about three strategy sets, namely dictionary-related strategies, vocabulary-recording and affix-studying In phase two, three word-learning records are provided as guided practice of the taught strategies The data from the word-records aim at answering the research question two and three about the students’ performance and participation in the use of the taught strategies In phase three, the students keep free-style vocabulary learning diaries, in which they record the vocabulary they want to learn in their self-study time The diaries are used to answer the research question four about the extent of maintaining the taught strategies in the students’ independent vocabulary learning By the end of phase three, post-treatment questionnaires are distributed to answer the research question five about the learners’ perception of the strategy training programme 108 109 110 111 112 Appendix PRE-TREATMENT QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY An investigation of vocabulary learning strategies for Second-year students at Hai phong medical university Dear Students, My name is Tran Thi Hoa I am currently doing my MA thesis on “Promoting learner autonomy in learning vocabulary for second-year students at Hai Phong Medical University” This survey is conducted to investigate the vocabulary learning strategies that you employ in learning vocabulary I would be grateful if you could spend some time completing this questionnaire survey Thank you for your cooperation Key term: Learning Strategies are operations employed by learners to aid the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information ***************************** Please write some personal details: Name: Gender: Male / Female How long have you been learning English? About years In which of these places have you spent the most of your life? A A city B A town C The countryside What problems you have in your independent vocabulary learning? Number the following problems from to in the order of degree Number is for the biggest problem A I not spend enough time on independent vocabulary learning B I not have materials or facilities for independent vocabulary learning such as dictionaries, vocabulary learning books, computers, C I not feel interested in learning vocabulary by myself D I not know how to learn vocabulary effectively E I not know what vocabulary should be learnt 113 What strategies you use when you learn vocabulary independently? For each strategy listed below, please circle one of the numbers from to to indicate how often you use the strategy in learning vocabulary The numbers correspond to the following categories of frequency: never It is possible that you use some strategies which are not listed, so please write any others that you employ in learning vocabulary in the “OTHER” spaces and circle the numbers to show the frequencies of using them VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES Dictionary-related strateg Set dictionary, study the spel dictionary, remember par Recording vocabulary (K Set notes in class, group wor Studying affixes (Analyz Set affixes and roots) OTHER: THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND COOPERATION! 114 Appendix CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT I TÌM HIỂU CÁC CHIẾN LƯỢC HỌC TỪ VỰNG CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ II, TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Y HẢI PHỊNG Tơi Trần Thị Hịa Hiện tơi làm luận văn thạc sỹ với đề tài “Phát huy tính tự chủ việc học từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ hai, trường Đại học Y Hải Phịng” Khảo sát tiến hành nhằm tìm hiểu chiến lược học từ vựng mà em sử dụng q trình tự học Mong em hồn thành phiếu điều tra Cám ơn hợp tác em Khái niệm: Chiến lược học tập (Learning Strategies) hoạt động đƣợc ngƣời học sử dụng để hỗ trợ tiếp thu, lƣu trữ, khôi phục sử dụng thông tin ***************************** Em cho biết số thông tin cá nhân: Họ tên: Giới tính: Nam/ Nữ Em học Tiếng Anh rồi? Khoảng năm Nơi em sống lâu là: A Ở thành phố B Ở thị trấn/thị xã C Ở nơng thơn Em gặp khó khăn tự học từ vựng? Đánh số vấn đề sau theo thứ tự từ đến Số vấn đề em thấy khó khăn A Em khơng đầu tƣ đủ thời gian cần thiết cho việc học từ vựng B Em khơng có học liệu thiết bị cho việc tự học từ vựng, ví dụ nhƣ từ điển, sách học từ vựng, máy vi tính, v.v C Em không thấy hứng thú việc tự học từ vựng D Em cách học từ vựng cho hiệu E Em cần học từ vựng 115 Em sử dụng chiến lƣợc học tập tự học từ vựng? Với chiến lƣợc dƣới đây, em khoanh tròn số từ đến để thể tần suất em sử dụng chiến lƣợc Các số tƣơng ứng với suất sau: không Trong trường hợp em có sử dụng chiến lược khác không liệt kê đây, em viết chiến lược vào mục “CÁC CHIẾN LƯỢC KHÁC” khoanh tròn vào số thể tần suất sử dụng chiến lược CÁC CHIẾN LƢỢC HỌC TỪ VỰNG Nhóm Nhóm Nhóm CÁC CHIẾN LƢỢC KHÁC: CÁM ƠN SỰ HỢP TÁC CỦA EM! 116 Appendix POST-TREATMENT QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY AN INVESTIGATION OF VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES FOR SECOND – YEAR STUDENTS AT HAI PHONG MEDICAL UNIVERSITY Dear Students, My name is Tran Thi Hoa I am currently doing my MA thesis on “Promoting learner autonomy in learning vocabulary for second-year students at Hai Phong Medical University” This survey is conducted to investigate the vocabulary learning strategies that you employ in learning vocabulary I would be grateful if you could spend some time completing this questionnaire survey Thank you for your cooperation Key term: Learning Strategies are operations employed by learners to aid the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information ***************************** I Frequency of vocabulary strategy use What strategies you use when you learn vocabulary? For each strategy listed below, please circle one of the numbers from to to indicate how often you use the strategy in learning vocabulary The numbers correspond to the following categories of frequency: never It is possible that you use some strategies which are not listed, so please write any others that you employ in learning vocabulary in the “OTHER” spaces and circle the numbers to show the frequencies of using them VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES Dictionary-related strateg Set dictionary, study the spel dictionary, remember par Set Set Recording vocabulary (K notes in class, group wor Studying affixes (Analyz affixes and roots) OTHER: 117 5. _ 6. _ AI Usefulness of vocabulary learning strategies How useful are the following strategies for your independent vocabulary learning? Please rate the strategies in terms of usefulness Use the – Poor – Excellent continuum below: Poor VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES Dictionary-related strategies (using an English-Vie Set dictionary, study the spelling or the sound of a wor dictionary, remember part of speech from a diction Recording vocabulary (Keep a vocabulary noteboo Set notes in class, group words together to study them) Studying affixes (Analyze affixes and roots, remem Set affixes and roots) III Effectiveness of the strategy training programme Please rate the strategy training programme in terms of effectiveness Use the – Poor – Excellent continuum below: How effective is the strategy training programme in helping you learn vocabulary independently? 118 IV Students’ expectations of vocabulary learning strategy training Would you like to be given more training in vocabulary learning strategies? Please circle one of the options below A Yes B It doesn’t matter C No What is the reason for your choice for question 4? Write the answer in the space below The reason for my choice is: Do you agree with the following recommendations for vocabulary learning strategy training? Please circle your choice You can choose more than one If you have other recommendations, please write in the space provided A More vocabulary learning strategies should be taught B More class time should be spent on strategy teaching C Vocabulary learning strategies should be taught more regularly OTHERS: THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND COOPERATION! 119 Appendix CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT II TÌM HIỂU CÁC CHIẾN LƯỢC HỌC TỪ VỰNG CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ II, TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Y HẢI PHỊNG Tơi Trần Thị Hịa Hiện tơi làm luận văn thạc sỹ với đề tài “Phát huy tính tự chủ việc học từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ hai, trường Đại học Y Hải Phòng” Khảo sát tiến hành nhằm tìm hiểu chiến lược học từ vựng mà em sử dụng trình tự học Mong em hồn thành phiếu điều tra Cám ơn hợp tác em Khái niệm: Chiến lược học tập (Learning Strategies) hoạt động đƣợc ngƣời học sử dụng để hỗ trợ tiếp thu, lƣu trữ, khôi phục sử dụng thơng tin ***************************** I Thói quen sử dụng chiến lược học từ vựng Em sử dụng chiến lƣợc học tập tự học từ vựng? Với chiến lƣợc dƣới đây, em khoanh tròn số từ đến để thể tần suất em sử dụng chiến lƣợc Các số tƣơng ứng với suất sau: không Trong trường hợp em có sử dụng chiến lược khác không liệt kê đây, em viết chiến lược vào mục “CÁC CHIẾN LƯỢC KHÁC” khoanh tròn vào số thể tần suất sử dụng chiến lược CÁC CHIẾN LƢỢC HỌC TỪ VỰNG Nhóm Nhóm Nhóm CÁC CHIẾN LƢỢC KHÁC: _ 120 5. _ 6. _ AI Hiệu chiến lược học từ vựng Các chiến lƣợc học từ vựng có hiệu việc tự học từ vựng em? Hãy đánh giá chiến lƣợc theo mức độ hiệu quả, sử dụng thang đánh giá từ đến theo mức độ từ Ít hiệu đến Rất hiệu dƣới đây: Mức độ hiệu chiến lược Ít hiệu Rất hiệu CÁC CHIẾN LƢỢC HỌC TỪ VỰNG Các chiến lƣợc liên quan đến từ điển (Sử dụng từ Nhóm điển Anh - Việt; Dùng từ điển để học cách viết từ,; Dùng từ điển để học cách phát âm từ; 5 Dùng từ điển để học ghi nhớ từ loại) Ghi lại từ vựng (Gĩƣ quyến sổ ghi từ vựng; Nhóm Ghi chép từ vựng học lớp; Phân nhóm từ để học) Nhóm Học phụ tố (Phân tích phụ tố gốc từ; Ghi nhớ phụ tố gốc từ) BI Hiệu chương trình đào tạo chiến lược học từ vựng Hãy đánh giá chƣơng trình đào tạo chiến lƣợc học từ vựng theo mức độ hiệu quả, sử dụng thang đánh giá từ đến theo mức độ từ Ít hiệu đến Rất hiệu dƣới đây: Chƣơng trình đào tạo chiến lƣợc học từ vựng có hiệu việc giúp em tự học từ vựng? 121 IV Mong muốn sinh viên chương trình đào tạo chiến lược học từ vựng Em có muốn đƣợc đào tạo nhiều chiến lƣợc học từ vựng khơng? Hãy khoanh trịn số lựa chọn sau A Có B Khơng quan trọng với em C Không Lý cho câu trả lời em câu gì? Hãy viết vào chỗ trống dƣới Lý em là: Em có đồng ý với đề xuất sau việc đào tạo chiến lƣợc học từ vựng khơng? Hãy khoanh trịn lựa chọn em Em chọn nhiều đề xuất Nếu em có đề xuất khác, em viết vào chỗ trống cho sẵn A Sinh viên cần đƣợc dạy chiến lƣợc học từ vựng khác B Cần đầu tƣ nhiều thời gian lớp cho việc dạy chiến lƣợc học từ vựng C Sinh viên cần đƣợc đào tạo chiến lƣợc học từ vựng thƣờng xuyên ĐỀ XUẤT KHÁC: CÁM ƠN SỰ HỢP TÁC CỦA EM! ... study on promoting learner autonomy in learning vocabulary for second- year students at Hai Phong Medical University The focus of the study is a training programme of vocabulary – learning strategies... Regulating learning experience  Identifying learning problems or needs  Setting learning goals  Planning learning strategies  Monitoring/evaluating attitudes, representations, beliefs, strategic... VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ HÒA PROMOTING LEARNER AUTONOMY IN LEARNING VOCABULARY FOR SECOND- YEAR STUDENTS