Using mind mapping to teach vocabulary to the first year non english major students at bac giang university of agriculture and forestry

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE-STUDIES **************************************** NGUYỄN THỊ THÚY LAN USING MIND MAPPING TO TEACH VOCABULARY TO THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT BAC GIANG UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY (Sử dụng đồ tư để dạy từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ không chuyên trường Đại học Nông-Lâm Bắc Giang) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English 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 THÚY LAN USING MIND MAPPING TO TEACH VOCABULARY TO THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT BAC GIANG UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY (Sử dụng đồ tư để dạy từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ không chuyên trường Đại học Nông-Lâm Bắc Giang) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Prof.Dr Hoàng Văn Vân Hanoi-2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations vii Lists of tables and figures viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 An overview of mind mapping 2.1.1 Definition of mind mapping 2.1.2 Classifications of mind mapping 2.1.2.1 Network tree 2.1.2.2 Event chain 2.1.2.3 Cycle concept map 2.1.2.4 Spider concept map 2.2 The applications of mind mapping to teaching a foreign language 2.3 The applications of mind mapping to teaching vocabulary 12 2.3.1 The overview of vocabulary 12 iv 2.3.2 Strategies of teaching and learning vocabulary 13 2.3.3 Mind mapping in teaching vocabulary 15 2.4 The advantages of using mind mapping 16 2.5 Related studies 19 2.5.1 Review of related studies worldwide 19 2.5.2 Review of related studies in Vietnam 20 2.6 Concluding remarks 21 CHAPTER 3: USING MIND MAPPING TO TEACH VOCABULARY 22 TO THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT BUAF AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS 3.1 Introduction 22 3.2 Using mind mapping to teach vocabulary to the first year non-English 22 major students at BUAF 3.2.1 A brief introduction to BUAF 22 3.2.1.1 The University 22 3.2.1.2 The teachers of English 23 3.2.1.3 The Students 23 3.2.1.4 The coursebook “New Cutting Edge – Elementary” 24 3.2.2 How to use MM to teach vocabulary in the coursebook “NCE – Elementary” 25 3.2.2.1 Three chosen vocabulary parts in the coursebook “NCE – 25 Elementary” 3.2.2.2 Class procedures 26 3.3 How effective is mind mapping in teaching vocabulary to the first year 30 non-English major students at BUAF? 3.3.1 Method of the research 30 3.3.2 Population 30 v 3.3.3 Data collection instruments 3.3.3.1 Questionnaires 3.3.3.2 Interviews 3.3.4 Data analysis procedures 3.4 Findings and discussion 3.4.1 Discussion 3.4.2 The Findings 3.4.2.1 The effectiveness of mind mapping technique vocabulary 3.4.2.2 Students’ feedbacks on the application of mind vocabulary lessons 3.4.2.2.1 Questionnaires 3.4.2.2.2 Interviews CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION 4.1 Major findings of the study 4.2 Pedagogical implications and suggestions 4.3 Limitations of the study 4.4 Suggestions for further studies References Appendices vi LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS AM: Mind mapping MMs: Mind maps BUAF: Bac Giang University of Agriculture and Forestry NCE: New Cutting Edge L2: Second language vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Question & in questionnaires and students’ answers Figure 1: Example of mind mapping Figure 2: Network tree of U.S currency Figure 3: Event chain Figure 4: Cycle concept map Figure 5: Spider concept map Figure 6: Mind map on “Transport” Figure 7: Mind map on “Family week away” Figure 8: Why to use mind maps? Figure 9: Mind map on “Transport” Figure 10: Mind mapping on “Drink” Figure 11: Mind mapping on “Food” Figure 12: Mind map on “Film” Figure 13: Students’ interest with the application of mind mapping Figure 14: Do you want to learn vocabulary with MM any longer? viii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Vocabulary is an important element in second language (L2) acquisition By learning new words, learners can enhance their listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as improve comprehension and production in L2 When a person’s vocabulary is limited, he may find himself incompetent in learning English as he cannot make full sense of what he hears or reads Dellar and Hocking (cited in Thornbury, 2002: 13) states, “If you spend most of your time studying grammar, your English will not improve very much You will see most improvement if you learn more words and expressions You can say very little with grammar, but you can say almost anything with words.” Thornbury (2002: 23) also maintains that learners need not only to learn a lot of words, but also to remember them The prominent role of vocabulary in second or foreign language learning has been recently recognized by theorists and researchers in the field Accordingly, numerous approaches, techniques, exercises and practice have been introduced into the field of vocabulary teaching (Hatch & Brown, 1995) It has been suggested that teaching vocabulary should not only consist of teaching specific words but also aim at equipping learners with necessary strategies to expand their vocabulary knowledge (Hulstjin, 1993, cited in Morin & Goebel, 2001) Vocabulary learning strategies are one part of language learning strategies which in turn are part of general learning strategies (Nation, 2001) One of the strategies in learning vocabulary is how to learn and remember vocabulary effectively Learning new vocabulary involves storing them first in short-term memory, and then in long-term memory There are some factors affecting the process of remembering new vocabulary items They may be the ways to present the words, how frequently they appear or how words are recycled Rivers (cited in Thornbury, 2002: 144) states that “vocabulary cannot be taught, it can be presented, explained, included in all kind of activities and experienced in all manner of associations…but it is ultimately learned by the individual.” Moreover, one of the strategies to teach vocabulary is to apply images and review well in a structured way Mind mapping is believed to be one of the techniques or activities which can be used in teaching and learning vocabulary effectively For all the reasons mentioned above, I have decided to choose Using mind mapping (MM) to teach vocabulary to the first year non-English major students at Bac Giang University of Agriculture and Forestry (BUAF) as the topic of my MA thesis 1.2 Aim of the study The study is aimed at finding the ways to use MM to teach vocabulary to the first year non-English major students at BUAF effectively with the coursebook New Cutting Edge (NCE) – Elementary 1.3 Research questions In order to address the aim of the study, the following research questions are raised for exploration: What are the applications of MM to teaching a foreign language in general and teaching vocabulary in particular? How is MM used to teach vocabulary to the first year non-English major students at BUAF effectively? The answer to Questions involves a review on the notion of MM and its applications to teaching a foreign language in general and teaching vocabulary in particular The answer to Question involves a mini-experiment in which I will exploit the insights of MM to teach vocabulary to the first year non-English major students at BUAF, using the coursebook the university is currently using; then in order to get to know how effective MM is to teaching vocabulary, a small research is conducted to obtain the opinions from the students at BUAF 1.4 Scope of the study Given the aim set in 1.2 and the research questions raised above for exploration in 1.3, the study can not cover all aspects of vocabulary teaching and learning It only focuses on applying the insights of MM to teaching vocabulary to the first year non-English major students at BUAF 1.5 Significance of the study The study will be useful to students, teachers and researchers in the field of English language teaching and learning: students can use MM model to learn vocabulary quickly and more effectively; teachers can understand more about the AM model and use it to teach vocabulary more effectively in their lessons; and researchers will use the study as a reliable source of reference in their research 1.6 Organization of the study The study consists of four chapters Chapter – Introduction – covers the rationale, the aim, the research question, the scope, the significance and the organization of the study Chapter – Literature review – provides the theoretical background of the study which includes some basic knowledge of MM in general and MM in teaching vocabulary in particular Besides, some advantages of using MM are also presented Chapter – Using MM to teach vocabulary to the first year non-English major students at BUAF and its effect – describes the method based on which the study is carried out with the description of participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedures and analysis procedure It also gives a brief introduction to BUAF, English teachers, students and the coursebook that the university is currently using Besides, in this chapter, it attempts to describe in detail three places where vocabulary is taught to the first year non-English major students at BUAF, Transport - Divide the class into groups and ask Ss some questions to help them complete the map: “How many types of transport you know?” What are their subtypes?” etc - Call Ss from groups to draw their maps on the board - Ask Ss to compare the map and add some more ideas by looking at the types of transport given in page 42 - Give the suggested completed map by delivering the map prepared to Ss Find these types of transport in the photos - To make sure students know the meaning of these words, ask Ss to match them with the pictures given in page 42 - Give the suggested answer if necessary XI g an underground/ a subway train h a tram - Elicit them to give their Vietnamese - Give their meaning meaning in Vietnamese - Help Ss practice pronouncing these - Practice pronouncing words these words with T Put the types of transport in order from fast to slow - Ask Ss to work in groups and put the - Work in groups types of transport in order from fast to slow - Elicit Ss to give the answer - Give the answer - Give the suggested answer Suggested answer: if necessary an aeroplane a train a bus 4/5 a car/ a taxi a motorbike an underground a ferry 9/10 a tram/ a bus How people usually travel in 11 a scooter 12 a bicycle your town? - Ask Ss some questions “How - Answer the questions schoolchildren usually travel in your town?” “How students and young people usually travel?”, etc - Elicit Ss to use the correct preposition with each kind of transport XII APPENDIX 9: LESSON PLAN OF VOCABULARY PART MODULE 6: EATING AND DRINKING Vocabulary: Food and Drink A Aims and requirements Aims: - To introduce students (Ss) vocabulary related to the topic “food and drink” - To help Ss identify different types of food and drink Objectives: By the end of the lesson, Ss will be able to: - Get familiar with vocabulary related to the topic “food and drink” - Identify which type of food and drink is countable and which one is uncountable Time: 20’ Teaching aids: - Text-book, board, chalk, lesson plan, pictures, maps …… B Procedure: I Class organization: (1’) - Greet and check Ss’ attendance II New lesson: Teacher’s activities Look at the picture from a hotel restaurant Is it breakfast, lunch or dinner? - Elicit the names of the meals and ask Ss which is their favorite - Ask Ss to focus on the picture and ask the question Find these things in the picture - Ask Ss to work in pairs and find food and XIII Teacher’s activities drink in the picture given - Check the answer with whole class - Help Ss pronounce these words Put the words in Ex2 into two groups - Divide the class into big groups One group put the words in task into countable nouns box, one group put them into uncountable nouns box - Call Ss to write the answer on the board and ask the others to check - Draw maps on the board and ask Ss to close the book and complete them Drink Food Countable Uncountable XIV APPENDIX 10: LESSON PLAN OF VOCABULARY PART MODULE 8: FACT OR FICTION? Vocabulary: Describing films A Aims and requirements Aims: - To introduce students (Ss) vocabulary related to the topic “describing films” - To help Ss identify different types of films - To provide Ss some adjectives that are used to describe films Objectives: By the end of the lesson, Ss will be able to: - Get familiar with vocabulary related to the topic “films” and “describing films” - Use the given adjectives to describe films they have ever seen Time: 20’ Teaching aids: - Text-book, board, chalk, lesson plan, pictures, maps …… B Procedure: I Class organization: (1’) - Greet and check Ss’ attendance II New lesson: Teacher’s activities - Introduce the topic of the lesson to Ss - Draw a map on the board and remind Ss to complete the map with their own ways during the lesson Look at the photos from films Which film is - Checking Ss’ understanding about XV Teacher’s activities the meaning of the given words and focused them on the photographs of the films - Ask Ss to work in pairs to match the films with the vocabulary given - Practice pronouncing the types of film with Ss - Give Ss 3’ to fill the types of film in the map Which adjective(s) describes each type of film? - Elicit Ss to give the meanings of the given adjectives - Ask to work in pairs to choose the adjectives that are suitable to describe the types of film - Remind Ss to complete the map with the new information Work in pairs Say the name of a film and your partner says which adjective(s) describe it - Ask Ss to work in pairs (one says the name of the film; one speaks out the adjectives to describe this film) - Call some pairs to speak aloud in front of the class - Ask Ss to compare their maps with XVI Teacher’s activities - Draw the maps on the board their friends before calling students to draw their maps on the board - Add the ideas - Elicit Ss to add more ideas and then give the suggested map if necessary XVII APPENDIX 11: VOCABULARY PART XVIII XIX APPENDIX 12: VOCABULARY PART XX XXI APPENDIX 13: VOCABULARY PART XXII XXIII XXIV ... usefulness of using MM to teach vocabulary to the first year non- English major students at BUAF I raised the question “How is MM used to teach vocabulary to the first year non- English major students at. .. mapping (MM) to teach vocabulary to the first year non- English major students at Bac Giang University of Agriculture and Forestry (BUAF) as the topic of my MA thesis 1.2 Aim of the study The study... THE FIRST YEAR NON- ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT BUAF AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS 3.1 Introduction 22 3.2 Using mind mapping to teach vocabulary to the first year non- English 22 major