An action research project on the effects of explicit english vocabulary teaching on grade 9 students’ vocabulary retention at lam thao lower secondary school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES  N U NT P N N AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON THE EFFECTS OF EXPLICIT ENGLISH VOCABULARY TEACHING ON GRADE-9 STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY RETENTION AT LAM THAO LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL (Nghiên cứu hành động hiệu dạy từ vựng tiếng Anh hiển ngôn nhớ từ vựng học sinh lớp Trường Trung Học Cơ Sở Lâm Thao) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 HANOI – 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES  N U NT P N N AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON THE EFFECTS OF EXPLICIT ENGLISH VOCABULARY TEACHING ON GRADE-9 STUDENTS’ VOCABULAR RETENTION AT LAM THAO LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL (Nghiên cứu hành động hiệu dạy từ vựng tiếng Anh hiển ngôn nhớ từ vựng học sinh lớp Trường Trung Học Cơ Sở Lâm Thao) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Supervi or Prof Dr oàng V n V n HANOI – 2016 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “An action re earch project on the effect of explicit Engli h vocabulary teaching on grade-9 tudent ’ vocabulary retention at Lam Thao Lower Secondary School” is the result of my own research for Degree of Master of English Pedagogy at College of Foreign Languages, Hanoi National University, I confirm that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees Hanoi, 2016 Nguyễn Thị Phương nh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Prof Dr Hoang Van Van The door to the office of Prof Dr Hoang Van Van was always open whenever I ran into a trouble spot or had a question about my research or writing I am extremely grateful to him for his invaluable guidance, comments, and his kind encouragement during the process of implementing the research and writing the thesis Secondly, I would like give my sincere thanks all my lectures in Post-graduate Department for their valuable lectures and suggestions during the time I have studied at university My gratitude also goes to the leaders and staff at Faculty of Post-graduate Studies of ULIS, for their support in providing me the materials and convenience in the process of learning and conducting my thesis Besides, I am also grateful to all my dear students at Lam Thao Lower Secondary School for their sympathetic participation in my research Last but not least, my sincere thanks are desired to send to my family members, who always stand by me even at the harshest moment ii ABSTRACT Teaching vocabulary is one of the most important tasks in the English language teaching process To enhance my students‟ vocabulary retention the researcher applied explicit vocabulary teaching due to its suitable characteristics for her students However, a research to find out the effects of this method was recognized to be a compulsory task to take advantages of the strength of this method and limit its weakness because every method bears its own weak points The research was carried out with the participation of grade-9 students from Lam Thao Lower Secondary School This research was conducted to find out the answers to the two questions below: firstly, “How does explicit English vocabulary teaching influence the students‟ vocabulary retention?”, secondly, “What are the good and bad effects of explicit English vocabulary teaching on the students‟ vocabulary retention? An action research was implemented based on its useful features In the research process, the questionnaires and the tests were used to collect quantitative data, and the interviews and the observation were applied to collect qualitative information The results of the research revealed that explicit vocabulary teaching method is relatively effective the learners‟ vocabulary retention, especially short term retention; however, the effects turn out unstable and different among different kinds of students The researcher discovers the emerging problem related to the solution improving the students‟ attitude to English learning generally and vocabulary learning particularly The findings of this research contributed further information to the theoretical background related to effects of explicit vocabulary teaching to the students‟ vocabulary retention, especially teenager students It is believed to be useful for the teachers and the researchers who share the similar interest about this topic iii TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION………………………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDFEMENT……………………………………………………… ii ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………… iii TABLE OF CONTENT………………………………………………………… iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………… v LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………… vi PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale The aims of the study Research question .2 Research methodology Scope of the study .2 Significance of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .4 1 Definition of special terms 1.1 Explicit vocabulary teaching 1.1.2 Vocabulary retention .6 1.1.3 Effect 1.1.4 Long-term and short-term memory 1.2 How has vocabulary been taught? 1.2.1 Empirical background of explicit English vocabulary teaching through the previous studies 1.2.2 What are students taught in terms of vocabulary? 1.2.3 The influential factors on the students‟ foreign language learning performance 2.1 Rationale for the use of action research 11 2.2 Background of the study 11 iv 2.2.1 Participants 2.2.2 Data collection instruments 2.3.Data collection procedure CHAPTER 3: FINDING ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 3.1.The results of the tests 3.1.1 The results of the progress tests 3.1.2 The results of the posttest and delay test 3.2.The results of the observation 3.3.The results of the questionnaires 3.4.The results of focus group interview 3.5.Discussion and conclusion 3.5.1 The obstacles of the students to learn vocabulary well 3.5.2 How does EVT method improve the students‟ vocabulary retention? PART C: CONCLUSION Effects of EVT to students‟ vocabulary retention 2.Limitations 3.Implications 3.1.Attitude and the suitable age of starting learning 3.2.The importance of learning English vocabulary f REFERENCES APPENDICES Appendix 1: Teaching content……………………………………………………… I Appendix 2: The observation analysis…………………………………………… II Appendix 3: The results of the questionnaires in English …………………… .XI Appendix 4: The results of the questionnaires in Vietnamese………………….XIX Appendix 5: The results of the interviews…………………………………….XXVII Appendix 6: Sample of the progress test 1…………………………… ……XXXIX Appendix 7: The results of the progress tests…………………………………… XL Appendix 8: The results of the posttest and the delay test- Part A………………XLI v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Appendix: Ap Appendices: Aps explicit vocabulary teaching: EVT international phonetic alphabet: IPA page: p vocabulary teaching: VT vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The results of the progress tests Table 2: The results of part A in the posttest and the delay test Table 3: The results of part B in the posttest and the delay test vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale The important role of teaching vocabulary for foreign language learners in general and for English learners in particular is transparent and undeniable A learner cannot succeed in learning a foreign language without prolific vocabulary Nevertheless, to teach vocabulary successfully is always a challenge to all English teachers The question “How to teach vocabulary effectively?” is really one of my big obstacles in the teaching process The students who participated in this research attended an English course at my private English class All of them learned at Lam Thao Lower Secondary School; however, they came from different classes Two months after the course started, it was realized that the students‟ performance showed their poor vocabulary Especially, the students never learned vocabulary before attending my class However, they were required to retain a large amount of vocabulary to pass the high school entrance exam, which led their need of learning vocabulary This inquiry was a challenge to them because the amount of time for teaching vocabulary at class was limited while their ability of learning vocabulary independently at home was ineffective Consequently, explicit vocabulary teaching (EVT) was chosen to apply for the students because it is believed to be able to help students not only understand vocabulary clearly and quickly but also resume many lexicons simultaneously (Burn & Joyce, 2008) Nevertheless, there has been no best method to teach a foreign language in general and vocabulary in particular EVT may not bring unpredictable disadvantages to learners Hence, the requirement of evaluating the effects of this method of teaching vocabulary on students‟ vocabulary retention was given Another research reason is related to the lack of information in the theoretical framework in terms of the effects of using EVT to students‟ vocabulary retention The previous studies which shared the same topic and similar research background had not been implemented in Vietnam This resulted in the impossible application of the implications provided by these studies 14 Question 3: Has your family faced with financial difficulties recently? How about other students? Câu 3: Gia đình em gần có phải đối mặt với khó khăn tài khơng? Những bạn khác sao? 15 Question 4: How often did you learn new words in lessons from to 12 at home? Câu 4: Bao lâu lần em học từ từ buổi học đến buổi học 12 (tức lesson đến lesson 12) nhà? 16 Question 5: Why did you not learn new vocabulary at home although you were tested each lessons, even reported to your parents? Câu 5: Tại em không ôn tập từ vựng nhà em kiểm tra buổi học, chí cịn thơng báo cho bố mẹ em? (Có thể bỏ qua học sinh có học từ vựng nhà) 17 Question 6: Which vocabulary teaching technique you like best, using cards, listing word or using pictures? Why? Câu 6: Em thích thủ thuật dạy từ vựng nhất, dùng thẻ từ, liệt kê từ hay sử dụng tranh? Tại sao? 18 Question 7: Did you learn word family by heart as requested by the teacher? If not, why can you solve exercises related it? Câu 7: Em có học thuộc họ từ theo yêu cầu khơng? Nếu khơng, em làm tập có liên quan? 19 Question1: How have you reviewed the vocabulary from lesson to lesson 12 in the recent months? Câu 1: Em ôn tập từ vựng từ buổi học đến buổi học 12 lần? 20 Question 2: Do you think you remember the vocabulary of the units better than that of the tests? Why? Or Why not? Câu 2: Em có nghĩ em nhớ từ vựng có sách giáo khoa tốt từ vựng có ngồi sách khơng? Em nghĩ ngun nhân gì? 22 Question 3: Was the result for lessons 9, 10, 11, and 12 in the delay test worse than the posttest? What causes lead this situation in your XXXVII opinion? Câu 3: Kết em cho nội dung buổi học 9, 10, 11 12 delay test tệ posttest khơng? Nếu có, theo em điều dẫn tới điều này? 22 Question 4: Do you like learning English now? Câu 4: Hiện em có thích học tiếng Anh không? 23 Question 5: Did you like learning English at primary school? Câu 5: Khi bắt đầu học tiếng Anh em có thích khơng? Appendix 6: Sample of prog Match the words in A with Item A admire(v) blanket(n) collection(n) comment(v,n) exchange(v,n) gather(v) tip(n) grocery(n) hamburger(n) 10 hike(v,n) 11 locate(v) 12 maize(n) 13 pagoda(n) 14 picnic(v,n) 15 plow(v,n) XXXIX 16 relax(n) 17 rest(v,n) 18 route(n) 19 shrine(n) 20 sightseer(n) Appendix 7: The results of the progress tests Used Item teaching technique Using word card Listing words Using pictures XL The progress tests Appendix 8: The results of the posttest and the delay test- Part A Item Lesson 1,2,3,4 5,6,7,8 9,10,11,12 XLI XLII ... vocabulary teaching on grade- 9 students’ vocabulary retention at Lam Thao Lower Secondary School? ?? The aims of the study The aim of this research is to study the effects of explicit English vocabulary teaching. .. detail in the following parts of the thesis Scope of the study The research focused on the grade- 9 students‟ vocabulary retention at Lam Thao Lower Secondary School The results of this research. .. ? ?An action re earch project on the effect of explicit Engli h vocabulary teaching on grade- 9 tudent ’ vocabulary retention at Lam Thao Lower Secondary School? ?? is the result of my own research