The impact of direct instruction on students’ vocabulary learning an action research project on 11th form students at gia vien b high school

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** VŨ NGỌC HẢI THE IMPACT OF DIRECT INSTRUCTION ON STUDENTS‟ VOCABULARY LEARNING: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON 11 TH FORM STUDENTS AT GIA VIEN B HIGH SCHOOL Tác động hướng dẫn trực tiếp đến việc học từ vựng học sinh lớp 11 trường trung học phổ thông Gia Viễn B: Một nghiên cứu hành động M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI, 2016 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** VŨ NGỌC HẢI THE IMPACT OF DIRECT INSTRUCTION ON STUDENTS‟ VOCABULARY LEARNING: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON 11 TH FORM STUDENTS AT GIA VIEN B HIGH SCHOOL Tác động hướng dẫn trực tiếp đến việc học từ vựng học sinh lớp 11 trường trung học phổ thông Gia Viễn B: Một nghiên cứu hành động M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Nguyêñ Thi Ngọcc̣ Quỳnh HANOI, 2016 DECLARATION I, Vu Ngoc Hai, hereby certify that the thesis entitled “The impact of direct instruction on students‟ vocabulary learning: An action research project on 11 th form students at Gia Vien B High School.” is submitted for the partial fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies- Vietnam National University, Hanoi I also declare that this thesis is the result of my own research and efforts and it has not been submitted for any other purposes Hanoi, 2016 Vũ Ngọc Hải i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere and deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Quynh for her unfailing support, patience and continuous help in the process of writing up this dissertation Her insightful ideas and constructive suggestions have enriched my knowledge about the research in the field of direct vocabulary instruction and it thus broadened the scope of my project Besides, my deep thanks and appreciation also go to all the lecturers and the staff of the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies at University of Languages and International Studies for their valuable lectures and knowledge on which my minor th thesis was laid the foundation In addition, I am also grateful to my lovely 11 form English major students at Gia Vien B High School who were highly cooperative in my study Last but not least, I deeply indebted to my family whose love and great support help me complete this thesis ii ABSTRACT This study, which is an action research project, sets out to examine the th impact of direct instruction on the vocabulary retention of 11 form student at Gia Vien B High School in Ninh Binh and to gain their self-evaluation of the impact of teachers‟ direct instruction on their vocabulary retention at the same time The research started with a semi-structure interview to explore students‟ attitudes toward and their problems in learning vocabulary Based on results of this analysis, the researcher decided to design activities to present vocabulary through direct instruction during a six-week intervention During this period, the students had to take a post-treatment test and a delayed post-treatment test which were designed to measure their retention of taught words By the end of the intervention, the survey questionnaire was administered to all students and semi-structured interviews were carried out with four selected students to find out the students‟ opinions and attitude toward the impact of teachers‟ direct instruction on their vocabulary retention Findings of the study revealed that direct instruction did not make great improvement in the students‟ vocabulary retention This might be because the time of the intervention was not long enough (6 weeks) for the intervention to bring about significant difference However, the students‟ attitudes toward vocabulary learning were positive despite their insignificant change in the test scores iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims and Objectives of the Study 3 Research questions Method of the Study Scope of the Study .4 Significance of the Study Organization of the thesis PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An overview of vocabulary .6 1.1.1 Definition of vocabulary 1.1.2 Types of vocabulary 1.1.3 Aspects of Vocabulary Knowledge 1.2 Approaches to vocabulary instruction .9 1.3 Direct Instruction 10 1.3.1 Definition of Direct Instruction 10 1.3.2 The Characteristics of Direct Instruction 11 1.3.3 Process of Direct Instruction 12 1.4 Vocabulary retention 14 1.5 Related previous studies on the impact of direct instruction on the students‟ vocabulary learning 15 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 18 iv 2.1 Setting of the study 18 2.2 Participants 19 2.3 Research design 19 2.3.1 Rationale for using action research method 19 2.3.2 Research procedure 22 2.4 Techniques of collecting data 25 2.5 Techniques of analyzing data 26 CHAPTER RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 28 3.1 Analysis of the preliminary study 28 3.2 Data analysis 29 3.2.1 The findings from the post-treatment tests 29 3.2.2 The findings from questionnaires 30 3.2.3 The findings from observation 34 3.2.4 The findings from the interviews with the students 35 3.3 Discussion 36 PART C CONCLUSION 38 Summary of the study 38 Reflection 39 Limitations of the study 40 Plan for the next cycle 40 REFERENCES 42 APPENDICES I Appendix 1: Lesson Plans I Appendix 2: Vocabulary post-treatment test .XVII Appendix 3: Vocabulary delayed post-treatment test XXI Appendix 4: Post-treatment questionnaire for students XXIII Appendix 5A: Interview questions for students XXVII Appendix 5B: Transcripts of the students‟ interview XXVIII Appendix 6: Classroom Observation Evaluation Sheet XXX v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS GVB: Gia Vien B MOET: Ministry of Education and Training EFL: English Foreign Language vi LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: What is involved in knowing a word………………………………………9 Figure 1: The model of action research………………………………………… 23 Table 2: The results of the students‟ tests…………………………… ……… 30 Table 3: Students‟ perception of the impact of direct instruction on their retention of vocabulary………………………………………………………………………….30 Figure 2: Students‟ attitude toward activities in teaching learning process……….32 Figure 3: Students‟ evaluation on teacher‟s vocabulary teaching style……………33 Figure 4: Students‟ attitude to vocabulary teaching learning process…………… 34 vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Vocabulary is crucial to language learning since it functions as a cornerstone of language use According to Nation (2001), “vocabulary learning is not a goal in itself; it is done to help learners listen, speak, read, or write more effectively” (p 362) In other words, a necessary skill to strengthen reading and listening comprehension as well as to communicate successfully is the ability to grasp the meaning of new words This can positively impact overall academic success and can develop skills for real world applications Rivers (cited in Nunan 1991) also argued that acquisition of an adequate vocabulary is vital for using second language successfully because without an extensive vocabulary, we will be unable to use the structures and functions we may have learned for comprehensible communication The vital importance of vocabulary is also reaffirmed through famous line “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” (Wilkins, cited in Guo 2010, p 50) Truly, without vocabulary, there will be no sentence, no text and no language Vocabulary learning, therefore, becomes central to language acquisition, and interest in its role in second language learning has grown rapidly in recent years With two years‟ experience of teaching at Gia Vien B High School (GVB), the writer has realized that for GVB students who study English as a part of their general education requirement, vocabulary is an integral part in mastering other skills However, through the pre-research observation, the writer found that they have been facing some obstacles in learning vocabulary They are: (1) they had limited number of vocabularies, (2) they had trouble in memorizing the meaning of words, (3) and they forget taught words quickly By considering the problems as mentioned above, the writer conducted more observation and the interview to the students in the class to get more information By doing so, the writer explored some factors causing those problems They are: (1) the teacher‟s way of teaching is conventional Students are just asked to read, repeat and write words all the times It mass of stone blocks covered with limestone Inside are the number of hidden passageways and the burial chamber for the pharaoh It is the largest single structure in the world The four sides of the pyramid are aligned almost exactly on true north, south, east, and west – an incredible engineering feat The ancient Egyptians were sun worshippers and great astronomers, so computations for the Great Pyramid were based on astronomical observations Choose the best answer for following questions 31 The word “wonders” in the first line means most nearly the same as: A marvels B buildings C bridges D rivers 32 What was the Great Pyramid of Giza built as? A as a house for Pharaoh Cheops B as a tomb for Pharaoh Cheops C as a private chamber for Pharaoh Cheops D as a school for Pharaoh Cheops Decide if below statements are True (T) or False (F) 33 The Great Pyramid of Giza was built far from Nile River 34 The number of hidden passageways and the burial chamber for the pharaoh are inside pyramid 35 The calculations for the Great Pyramid were based on astronomical observations VII Write the words whose phonetic transcription as follows 36 /ˈmɪstri/:……………………… 37 /ræmp/:……………………… 38 /ˈmedl /:………………… 39 /ˈspaɪrəl/:…………………… 40 /ˈtʃeɪmbər/:……………………… XXIV Appendix 4: Post-treatment questionnaire for students This questionnaire is distributed to you to identify your perception of the impact of direct vocabulary instruction on your retention of vocabulary as well as on your attitude toward learning vocabulary Please mark the column that you choose to answer the questions in the first column The information received in this questionnaire will be held in strict confidence and no firm information will be released or published Thank you for your cooperation 1.(Strongly disagree) 4.(Agree) Using meaning of helps me to retain the new words better I can meanings are presented visually The association their remember new words for a long time Working in groups to find synonyms, antonyms, other forms of words; and analyze word parts (prefix, r root, suffix) help me remember new words for a long time Vocabulary games help me remember new words for a long time II Vocabulary learning My teacher made vocabulary lesson interesting I enjoyed demonstrate new words Learning new groups was interesting I words through vocabulary games I 10 was have more instruction was employed XXIV PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH Mục đích bảng câu hỏi để khảo sát đánh giá em ảnh hưởng phương pháp hướng dẫn từ vựng trực tiếp đến khả lưu nhớ từ vựng em đến thái độ em việc học từ vựng Để trả lời câu phiếu khảo sát, em vui lòng tích √ vào lựa chọn phù hợp Tác giả cam kết không tiết lộ thông tin mà em cung cấp Trân trọng cảm ơn hợp tác tham gia em! 1.(rất không đồng ý) 4.(đồng ý) I Khả lưu nhớ từ vựng Việc sử dụng vốn từ biết để giải thích nghĩa từ học giúp em nhớ từ tốt Em nhớ từ tốt qua việc miêu tả nghĩa từ hình ảnh Việc liên kết từ với hình ảnh giúp em nhớ từ tốt XXV Hoạt động theo nhóm để tìm từ đồng nghĩa, trái nghĩa, tìm từ loại khác, phân tích cấu tạo từ (tiền tố, từ gốc, hậu tố) giúp em ghi nhớ từ vựng lâu Ơn tập, củng cố từ vựng thơng qua trò chơi giúp em lưu nhớ từ vựng lâu II Thái độ với việc học từ vựng Cách giáo viên dạy từ thú vị Em thấy hứng thú với việc vẽ hình ảnh để mơ tả nghĩa từ Hoạt động theo cặp, nhóm để học từ vựng thú vị Em thích ôn tập, củng cố từ vựng thông qua trò chơi 10 Em thấy hứng thú với việc học từ vựng giáo viên sử dụng phương pháp hướng dẫn trực tiếp để dạy từ vựng XXVI Appendix 5A: Interview questions for students Câu hỏi vấn học sinh Em có thích học từ vựng cô giáo dùng phương pháp dạy từ vựng trực tiếp để dạy từ vựng không? Tại sao? Phương pháp dạy từ vựng trực tiếp có ảnh hưởng đến việc ghi nhớ từ học em? Em có thích cách giáo dạy từ vựng sáu tiết học không? Tại sao? Theo em, giáo có nên tiếp tục dạy từ vựng với phương pháp dạy từ vựng trực tiếp không? Questions for student interview Are you interested in learning vocabulary through direct vocabulary instruction? Why? Why not? How does direct vocabulary Instruction have impact on your retention of taught words? Are you satisfied with the way you are taught during the last six sessions? Why? According to you, should direct vocabulary Instruction continue to be employed? XXVII Appendix 5B: Transcripts of the students‟ interview STUDENT 1: Yes When the teacher applied this method in teaching vocabulary, I find learning vocabulary now is more interesting than it was before The way the teacher demonstrates new words is very attractive and funny In addition, my friends and I have chance to work in pairs or in groups to draw pictures and discuss the words It has good effects on my word retention I can write the spelling of the words when the teacher asks I also can recall the meaning of words when I encounter them in the text However, I find it difficult to pronounce the words accuracy Yes Because the teacher is friendly and helpful The examples of words she gives are familiar with our life The way the teacher provides the meaning of the words is easy to understand The class atmosphere is friendly and we can express our ideas without worrying being marked or assessed Of course, I want to be taught vocabulary with this method in the future because next year is my last school year; I want to have funny and friendly lessons with my teacher and friends STUDENT 2: 12 Yes Because I don‟t have to remember the meaning of words mechanically as before 13 The meaning of words appears in my mind, which is related the image the words refer to.…It is easy for me to remember the meaning of words I can remember the long and difficult words easily because I know how to explain them by the short word When the teacher asks me to write the form and meaning of learned words etc, , I don‟t take a lot of time to recall that word in my mind I also can connect the words that I have just learnt to the ones a long time ago through finding synonyms, antonyms and analyze the parts of words 14 Yes, thanks to those games, learning vocabulary is more interesting than doing vocabulary exercises and learning vocabulary by heart The teacher brings us XXVIII friendly class atmosphere We feel confident to express our own ideas in front of the class 15 I totally agree This method is very useful The teacher should continue to apply it in teaching vocabulary STUDENT 3: Yes I like learning vocabulary more than I did in the past Because the class is fun It has positive effects on my retention but not much I can recall the form and meaning of words after learning words at class However, after some lessons, I can‟t retain words I have no idea […]Class is fun My friends are active, but I[…] still don‟t like taking part in the activities Yes The teacher should continue teaching like that because many students like learning STUDENT 4: No I don‟t like learning English I lost English background I don‟t understand anything I have no idea I find it difficult to remember the meaning of the words I find that the teacher is enthusiastic […] and she makes us fun and motivated Yes She should teach like that XXIX Appendix 6: Classroom Observation Evaluation Sheet Classroom Observation Evaluation Sheet Session no.: …… (date: …/ …/ 2016) Observed components The effect of Direct Vocabulary Instruction on students‟ retention of vocabulary Students‟ attitude - Students‟ enjoyment of the activities - Students‟ involvement in activities - Students‟ persistent attention to activities Lesson plan - The degree of appropriateness of the activities to students‟ level - The degree of appropriateness of the activities to time allotment XXX ... impact of direct instruction on students? ?? vocabulary learning: An action research project on 11 th form students at Gia Vien B High School. ” is submitted for the partial fulfillment of the Degree of. .. writer is motivated in conducting an action th research on the impact of direct instruction on 11 -form students' vocabulary learning at GVB High School 2 Aims and Objectives of the Study The study... students in their learning vocabulary c Verbal Explanation Verbal explanation can be conducted through definition and translation Allen (1983) states that teacher can use explanation in the students? ??