The effects of using sense relations in learning english vocabulary of 9th grade students in a secondary school in hanoi

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** DƯƠNG THỊ HƯƠNG THE EFFECTS OF USING SENSE RELATIONS ON LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY OF TH GRADE STUDENTS IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HANOI Ảnh hưởng việc sử dụng mối quan hệ nghĩa vào việc học từ vựng học sinh lớp trường THCS Hà Nội M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi – 2018 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** DƯƠNG THỊ HƯƠNG THE EFFECTS OF USING SENSE RELATIONS ON LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY OF TH GRADE STUDENTS IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HANOI Ảnh hưởng việc sử dụng mối quan hệ nghĩa vào việc học từ vựng học sinh lớp trường THCS Hà Nội M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Dr Trần Thị Thu Hiền Hanoi – 2018 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “The effects of using sense relations on learning English vocabulary of th grade students in a secondary school in Hanoi” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, and this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees Ha Noi, August 2018 Dương Thị Hương i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to send my sincere gratitude to Dr Tran Thị Thu Hien for helping me finish this study This paper would not be finished without her sincere patience and encouraging guidance Her patience and helpful advice helped me confidently express my ideas into this paper Furthermore, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all my lecturers at the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies for their valuable lectures which have helped me a great deal in gaining a lot of theoretical as well as practical knowledge My special thanks are for the principal and teachers at a secondary school in Hanoi that helped me carry out the study and for 29 grade-9 students who took part in the experimental teaching by using sense relations Finally, I would like to express my deep gratitude and love to my beloved parents, my brothers, my husband and my friends who supported and encouraged me to complete this thesis ii ABSTRACT Vietnamese students often face difficulties in learning vocabulary They fail to remember words and to recall words when necessary because of their learning habits and learning strategies Based on literature review, it is found that sense relations can have positive effects on vocabulary learning This thesis is entitled “The effects of using sense relations on learning English vocabulary of th grade students in a secondary school in Hanoi” which aims to find out the improvement of the use of sense relations in teaching vocabulary This research was a quantitative and qualitative method To obtain the data, test, the questionnaire and the interview were used In selecting the sample, the writer used purposive sampling The sample was the students in class 9A1 of a secondary school which consisted of 29 students The result of test showed that using sense relations could improve the students‘ ability in English vocabulary mastery In addition, based on the analysis of the interview, the English teacher gave some suggestions for the application of sense relations in teaching vocabulary It can be concluded that sense relations have a positive effect on students‘ vocabulary acquisition iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ELT : English Language Teaching Q : Question SR : Sense Relations iv LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS AND TABLES Figure 1.1: Example of hyponymy relation Chart 3.1: Frequency Distribution of Pre-test Chart 3.2: Frequency Distribution of Post-test Table 2.1: Summary of the questions in the students‘ questionnaire Table 2.2 : Data collection procedure Table 3.1: Students‘ habits of vocabulary learning at home v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS AND TABLES PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study Aims and objectives of the study Research Questions Scope of the study Significance of the study Methods of the study Organization of the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Vocabulary 1.1.1 Definition 1.1.2 The importance of vocabulary 1.1.3 Types of vocabulary 1.2 Vocabulary teaching 1.2.1 Vocabulary teaching process 1.2.2 Techniques in teaching vocabulary 1.2.2.1 Visual techniques 1.2.2.2 Verbal techniques 1.3 Vocabulary learning 1.3.1 Vocabulary acquisition process 1.3.2 Vocabulary learning strategies vi 1.4 Sense relations 13 1.4.1 Types of sense relations 13 1.4.1.1 Synonymy 13 1.4.1.2 Antonymy 13 1.4.1.3 Hyponymy 14 1.4.1.4 Polysemy and homonymy 15 1.4.1.5 Meronymy 16 1.4.1.6 Attributive relation 17 1.4.1.7 Instrumental relation 17 1.4.1.8 Place relation 17 1.4.1.9 Other kinds of sense relations 17 1.4.2 Advantages of using sense relations in teaching and learning vocabulary17 1.5 Previous studies 18 1.6 Chapter summary 19 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 21 2.1 The research setting 21 2.1.1 Research site 21 2.1.2 English textbooks 21 2.2 Participants 22 2.2.1 The teacher 22 2.2.2 Students 22 2.3 Methods of the study 22 2.3.1 Action research 21 2.3.2 Action plan 21 2.4 Data collection instruments 27 2.4.1 The tests 27 2.4.2 The questionnaire 28 2.4.3 The interviews 30 2.5 Data collection procedure 31 2.6 Chapter summary 31 vii CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 32 3.1 The tests 32 The questionnaire 34 3 The interviews 36 3.3.1 The pre-interview 36 3.3.2 The post-interview 37 3.4 Chapter summary 40 PART THREE: CONCLUSION 41 Recapitulation 41 Pedagogical implications 41 Limitations of the study 43 Suggestions for further studies 44 REFERENCES APPENDICES viii Learning the words and their meanings by heart Reading English-Vietnamese stories Others (Please specify) : How much time you spend learning English vocabulary every day? ……………………………………………………………………… To what extent you like implementing the following techniques in learning vocabulary? Translation Pictures Definition Synonyms/ Antonyms/ Hyponyms Polysemy/ Homonyms Other techniques Please specify: ( ) Thank you for your collaboration! II APPENDIX PRE-INTERVIEW AND POST-INTERVIEW FOR THE ENGLISH TEACHER Pre-interview How long have you taught English? What you think about the level of your students‘ vocabulary acquisition? What techniques you use to teach vocabulary? To what extent you use sense relations in teaching vocabulary? Post-interview In your opinion, what are the advantages of using sense relations in teaching and learning and learning vocabulary? Do you have any difficulties in implementing sense relations to teach vocabulary? How you evaluate the effectiveness of sense relations in teaching and learning vocabulary? Do you have any suggestions for teachers who want to use sense relations in teaching vocabulary? III Name: …………………………………………… Class: …………………… I Choose the odd one A dump A convenient A like A cans A reduce AI Choose the word that is CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word or phrase The Internet has some disadvantages A advantages We should use public transports to preserve the environment A protect You should leave home early to avoid traffic congestion A traffic lights circle It is a costly shirt A cheap 10 I‘m disappointed that people have spoiled this area A unhappy B delighted C surprised D glad BI Choose the word that is OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined word or phrase 11 The film is interesting A good B boring C exciting D wonderful 12 You should turn off the lights to save electricity when you leave the room IV A waste 13 We should minimize the amount of rubbish that we create every day A produce 14 If you throw rubbish onto the water, you will make water polluted A clean 15 We should burn trash to reduce the amount of garbage A decrease IV Put the following words in the correct box channel - deforestation – remote control - spraying pesticides- dynamite fishing Environmental problems 16 _ 17 _ 18 _ V Name: …………………………………………… Class: …………………… I Choose the odd one A reduce A cans A like A convenient A dump II Put the following words in the correct box channel - deforestation – remote control - spraying pesticides- dynamite fishing Television _ _ BI Choose the word that is CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word or phrase 11 I‘m disappointed that people have spoiled this area A unhappy 12 The Internet has some disadvantages A advantages 13 We should use public transports to preserve the environment A protect 14 It is a costly shirt A cheap 15 You should leave home early to avoid traffic congestion VI A traffic lights B traffic jams C traffic police D traffic circle IV Choose the word that is OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined word or phrase 16 If you throw rubbish onto the water, you will make water polluted A clean 17 You should turn off the lights to save electricity when you leave the r A waste 18 We should minimize the amount of rubbish that we create every day A produce 19 We should burn trash to reduce the amount of garbage A decrease 20 The film is interesting A good B boring C exciting VII D wonderful APPENDIX SYLLABUS FOR APPLYING SENSE RELATIONS TO TEACH VOCABULARY IN WEEKS Topic Competences Unit - Agree and 5:The disagree media - Ask for and give opinions - Write a passage Speaking + Language Focus Listening + Language Focus 1,3,4 Reading VIII Unit 6: - Persuade The - Complete a environ questionnaire ment - Write a letter of complaint IX X APPENDIX SOME ACTIVITIES IN THE EXPERIMENTAL TEACHING Activity 1: Television Internet Newspaper Magazines Activity 2: rock folk pop TV music jazz Weather forecast PROGRAM news drama romantic film film sport action film horror film soccer tennis XI Activity 3: Name of the programs Films/ Movies News Drama Sports Music Activity 4: articles Benefits of the Internet A source of entertainment A source of education self- online lessons online schools XII TEXTBOOK LESSON SKILL CLASS TIME ALLOTTED I Objectives: By the end of the lesson, Ss will be able to: - Ask and answer questions about favorite programs - Talk to their friends about the programs they like or dislike II Skill: Speaking, listening BI Teaching aids: Textbook, chalk, blackboard, handouts, posters IV Anticipated problems: Ss may not have enough vocabulary to talk about the topic, so T should be ready to provide help V Procedure: Time STAGES AND TEACHER I WARM-UP Activity: Brainstorming 5ms Cartoons TV programs 1m * Lead in: XIII - T elicits the topic by ask + What kinds of programs + Why you like it?  To practice more about the me media, speaking part 15ms II PRE-SPEAKING Activity 1: Teaching voca - violent (adj): bạo lực (sy - documentary (n): phim tà - informative (adj): giàu th - boring (adj): nhàm chán - opposite (adj, n): trái ngư Steps to present the vocab + T elicits the new word w + T reads the word times + T asks Ss to repeat the w + T asks some Ss to repea + T corrects mistakes + T writes the word on the + T asks Ss to give meanin + T checks the stress/inton + T asks Ss to copy all new  Checking vocabulary Checking technique: Gap Activity 2: Dialogue buil Nam: You like watching s Mai: Not really, Some spo (2) …………….them I pr Nam: I‘m the opposite I ( documentaries seem quite Mai: But you (4) ………th Trung: Yes, every day It‘s Mai: I enjoy it too You Nam: No, I don‘t - T asks Ss to complete the * Answer key: don‘t you like/ enjoy like/ enjoy watch don‘t you informative you *Tag- Questions: You like watching sports, You don‘t like foreign film Form: Auxiliary verb + pr Use: 10ms 10ms 4ms III WHILE- SPEAKING - T asks Ss to read the dial - T checks their pronuncia - T asks Ss to pick out sen disagreement and has them *Agree: - I prefer documentaries - I love watching sports - I enjoy it too * Disagree: - Not really - I don‘t like watching spo - I‘m the opposite - Documentaries seem qui IV POST- SPEAKING Activity: Talk about favor - T divides the whole class - T gives the instruction: Work in your group and di minutes After minutes board and presents the gro - T checks the instruction - T gives Ss a model - T asks Ss to work in pair your own music taste - T moves around to give h - T calls on some groups t class - T gives feedback V HOMEWORK - Learn by heart the new w - Rewrite the last activity - Do exercise A2 in the workbook - Prepare for the next lesson ―Reading‖ XVI ... teacher about the advantages of using sense relations in teaching and learning vocabulary in a 6-week period, she mentioned some advantages of using sense relations in teaching vocabulary as... of sense relations in teaching and learning vocabulary When being asked about the effectiveness of sense relations in teaching and learning vocabulary, the teacher said that the use of sense relations. .. grammar teaching rather than vocabulary teaching.” 3.3.2 The post-interview Section 1: The advantages of using sense relations in teaching and learning vocabulary When the interviewer asked the