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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *********************** TẠ THU HẰNG AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON USING MNEMONICS IN IMPROVING VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR THE FORMAL COLLEGE STUDENTS IN COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUES (BAC GIANG PROVINCE) IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2015-2016 (MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG THUẬT CẢI THIỆN TRÍ NHỚ TRONG VIỆC NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG GHI NHỚ TỪ VỰNG CHO SINH VIÊN HỆ CAO ĐẲNG CHÍNH QUY, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP (TỈNH BẮC GIANG) TRONG NĂM HỌC 2015-2016) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2017 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *********************** TẠ THU HẰNG AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON USING MNEMONICS IN IMPROVING VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR THE FORMAL COLLEGE STUDENTS IN COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUES (BAC GIANG PROVINCE) IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2015-2016 (MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG THUẬT CẢI THIỆN TRÍ NHỚ TRONG VIỆC NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG GHI NHỚ TỪ VỰNG CHO SINH VIÊN HỆ CAO ĐẲNG CHÍNH QUY, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP (TỈNH BẮC GIANG) TRONG NĂM HỌC 2015-2016) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Prof Nguyễn Hòa HANOI – 2017 DECLARATION I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON USING MNEMONICS IN IMPROVING VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR THE FORMAL COLLEGE STUDENTS IN COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUES (BAC GIANG PROVINCE) IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2015-2016” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master Degree at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and that this thesis has not been submitted to any degree at any other universities or institutions Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2017 Tạ Thu Hằng i ACKNOWLEGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof Nguyễn Hòa, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher A special word of thanks goes to my colleagues at my working place and many others, without whose support and encouragement it would have never been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family members for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work ii ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the four mnemonic strategies in short-term and long-term vocabulary retention of formal college students With the use of the pre-tests, the post-tests and the questionnaire, 22 college students in College of Industrial Techniques (Bac Giang province) were randomly assigned into the control group and the experimental group, in which the control group was taught 69 items in three teaching sessions with the traditional vocabulary instruction of repeating, translation and example sentence explanation while the experimental group was received these vocabulary items with the four mnemonic devices named keyword method, visual mnemonic (pictures), grouping or semantic organization and physical response method The results indicated that after the treatment, the four mnemonic strategies were really effective in vocabulary retention for students; the participants from the experimental group showed their improvement in recalling vocabulary items in short-term and long-term better than those from the control group Moreover, the participants’ attitudes towards the training scheme and the four used memory strategies were also discussed iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowlegements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of tables and figures vii PART – INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the Study 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.3 Statement of the research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Significance of the study .3 1.6 Method of the study .4 PART 2- LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Vocabulary 2.1.1.Definition .6 2.1.2.Types of vocabulary 2.1.3.Importance of vocabulary 2.1.4.Ways and strategies to teach vocabulary 2.1.5.Vocabulary retention and memory 10 2.2 Mnemonics 11 2.2.1.Definition 11 2.2.2 Classification of mnemonics .11 2.2.3 Efficiency of using mnemonics for information and vocabulary retention and recall 15 PART - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19 3.1 Restatement of research questions 19 3.2 Context of the study 19 iv 3.2.1 Setting of the study 19 3.2.2 Participants - Subject of the study 21 3.3 Implementation of the Action Research 23 3.4 Research design 24 3.5 Research instruments 30 3.5.1 Tests 31 3.6 Data analysis procedure .34 PART - DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 35 4.1 The result of the homogeneity test 35 4.2 Research question (Identifying the problems): What are the problems that the students encounter in their vocabulary retention? 35 4.3 The result of pre-test 36 4.4 Research question 2: Is mnemonics effective in improving short-term vocabulary retention for the formal college students of College of Industrial Techniques in the academic year 2015-2016? .37 4.4.1 Results from the immediate post-test .37 4.4.2 Result from the immediate post-test 39 4.4.3 Result from the immediate post-test 41 4.5 Research question 3: Is mnemonics effective in improving long-term vocabulary retention for the formal college students of College of Industrial Techniques in the academic year 2015-2016? .44 4.6 Research question 4: What are the students’ attitudes towards using mnemonic strategies in vocabulary retention? 46 4.6.1 The participants’ attitudes towards the strategy training scheme 46 4.6.2 The participants’ interest towards the four mnemonic strategies 49 PART – CONCLUSION 51 5.1 Summary 51 5.2 Conclusion 52 5.3 Implications 53 v 5.4 Limitations of the study 53 5.5 Suggestions for further study 54 REFERENCES 55 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1: II APPENDIX 2: XII APPENDIX 3: XVIII APPENDIX 4: XXVII APPENDIX 5: .XXIX vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Nation’s vocabulary learning strategies (Nation, 2001) Table 2: The schedule of the action implementation Table 3: Results from pre-test Table 4: Result of the control group in the immediate post-test Table 5: Result of the experimental group in the immediate post-test Table 6: Result of the control group in the immediate post-test Table 7: Result of the experimental group in the immediate post-test Table 8: Result of the control group in the immediate post-test Table 9: Result of the experimental group in the immediate post-test Table 10: Result of the control group in the delayed post-test Table 11: Result of the experimental group in the delayed post-test Table 12: Importance of the strategy training scheme Table 13: Effectiveness of the strategy training scheme Table 14: Pleasure during the strategy training scheme Table 15: Student’ preference of four mnemonic strategies Figure 1: Action research cycle Figure 2: Results from pre-test Figure 3: Result of selection between the control and experimental groups in the immediate post-test Figure 4: The overall performance between the control group and the experimental group in the immediate post-test Figure 5: Result of selection between the control and experimental groups in the immediate post-test Figure 6: The overall performance between the control group and the experimental group in the immediate post-test Figure 7: Result of selection between the control and experimental groups in the immediate post-test vii Figure 8: The overall performance between the control group and the experimental group in the immediate post-test Figure 9: The general performance between the control group and the experimental group in all the immediate post-tests Figure 10: Result of selection between the control and experimental groups in the delayed post-test Figure 11: The overall performance between the control group and the experimental group in the delayed post-test Figure 12: Importance of the strategy training scheme Figure 13: Effectiveness of strategy training scheme Figure 14: Pleasure during the strategy training scheme viii Air conditioning Wonderful Ghost Play a musical instrument Horrible Sad Temperature Argue Politician Relax Officer Parachute Cemetery Amazing Battle Qualification Pub XIX IMMEDIATE POST-TEST Name:……………………………………………… Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) Look at the following list of words and give each word a rating number from to basing on how well you know the word Use the scale below: I don’t remember having seen this word before (Tơi khơng nhớ nhìn thấy từ trước kia) I have seen this word before but I don’t know what it means (Tơi nhìn thấy từ trước khơng biết nghĩa gì) I have seen this word before and I think it means…… (Tơi nhìn thấy từ trước tơi nghĩ nghĩa là……….) I know this word; it means…………… (Tơi biết từ này; có nghĩa là……….) I can use this word in a sentence, e.g………………… (Tơi sử dụng từ câu, ví dụ…………… ) (Wesche M & Paribakht T.S., 1996) Words Rating (1-5) English synonym equivalence/ Sentence Princess Sweat Cycle Fascinating Tourist Bridge Jump Draw Factory XX /Vietnamese Terrible Leader Throw Village Confusing Meditate Beach Traditional Festival Microwave Celebrate Baby sitter Remote control Completely XXI IMMEDIATE POST-TEST Name:……………………………………………… Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) Look at the following list of words and give each word a rating number from to basing on how well you know the word Use the scale below: I don’t remember having seen this word before (Tơi khơng nhớ nhìn thấy từ trước kia) I have seen this word before but I don’t know what it means (Tơi nhìn thấy từ trước nghĩa gì) I have seen this word before and I think it means…… (Tơi nhìn thấy từ trước tơi nghĩ nghĩa là……….) I know this word; it means…………… (Tôi biết từ này; có nghĩa là……….) I can use this word in a sentence, e.g………………… (Tơi sử dụng từ câu, ví dụ…………… ) (Wesche M & Paribakht T.S., 1996) Words Rating (1-5) English synonym equivalence/ Sentence Castle Artist Health Funny Incredible Adventure Supermarket Surprised Fantastic XXII /Vietnamese Soldier Horror Frightened Secret Housewife Experiment Imagination Queue Dance Investigate Advice Chef Eliminate Cry XXIII DELAYED POST-TEST Name:……………………………………………… Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) Look at the following list of words and give each word a rating number from to basing on how well you know the word Use the scale below: I don’t remember having seen this word before (Tơi khơng nhớ nhìn thấy từ trước kia) I have seen this word before but I don’t know what it means (Tơi nhìn thấy từ trước khơng biết nghĩa gì) I have seen this word before and I think it means…… (Tơi nhìn thấy từ trước tơi nghĩ nghĩa là……….) I know this word; it means…………… (Tôi biết từ này; có nghĩa là……….) I can use this word in a sentence, e.g………………… (Tơi sử dụng từ câu, ví dụ…………… ) (Wesche M & Paribakht T.S., 1996) Words Frightened Argue Secret Draw Factory Housewife Politician Terrible Relax Officer Experiment Parachute Leader Cemetery Imagination Rating (1-5) English synonym equivalence/ Sentence XXIV /Vietnamese Throw Village Amazing Queue Dance Confusing Meditate Beach Investigate Battle Traditional Advice Qualification Chef Festival Microwave Pub Eliminate Cry Musician Celebrate Babysitter Remote control Orchestra Zebra crossing Island Castle Musical President Artist Health Funny Incredible Adventure Princess Supermarket Sweat Air conditioning Wonderful XXV Cycle Fascinating Ghost Surprised Tourist Fantastic Play a musical instrument Horrible Sad Soldier Bridge Temperature Jump Completely Horror XXVI APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTIONNAIRE (BỘ CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT) This questionnaire is designed for my scientific creation “An action research project on using mnemonics in vocabulary teaching activity to improve vocabulary retention for the official college students in College of Industrial Techniques (Bac Giang province)” It is highly appreciated if you could spend your little time completing truthfully the questionnaire All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose Thank you very much for your cooperation! *************** ************** I Attitudes towards the strategy training scheme (Quan điểm buổi học từ vựng) How would you rate the training scheme for its importance?( Tick ) (Em xếp loại tầm quan trọng buổi học từ vựng mức nào?) (Hãy ) Not at all important (Không quan trọng nào) chút  Not very important (Không quan trọng  lắm)  Neither (Khơng cả) Important (Quan trọng) Extremely important (Rất quan trọng)    How would you rate the training scheme for its effectiveness? (Tick ) (Em xếp loại tính hiệu buổi học từ vựng mức nào?) (Hãy ) Not at all effective (Không hiệu chút nào)  Not very effective (Không hiệu lắm)  Neither (Không cả) Effective (Hiệu quả)   Extremely effective (Rất hiệu quả)  How would you rate the training scheme for its pleasure? (Tick ) (Em xếp loại mức độ thích thú tham gia buổi học từ vựng mức nào?) (Hãy ) Pleasant Neither Not at all Not very (Thích thú) (Khơng pleasant pleasant cả) (Khơng (Khơng thích thú thích thú chút lắm) nào)    XXVII Extremely pleasant (Rất thích thú)  II Interest towards the four mnemonic techniques (Quan điểm thủ thuật ghi nhớ) Rank these four mnemonic strategies according to your interest (1 = least interested to = most interested) Write the appropriate number in the box provided (Hãy xếp loại thủ thuật ghi nhớ theo mức độ yêu thích em ( = yêu thích đến = yêu thích nhiều nhất)  Grouping or semantic organization  Physical response method  Keyword method  Visual mnemonics (Pictures) Thank you for your time and cooperation! XXVIII APPENDIX 5: SAMPLE WORD LIST WITH MNEMONIC TECHNIQUES Visual mnemonics (Pictures) Orchestra President Musician Air conditioning XXIX Ghost Temperature Argue Politician Officer Parachute XXX Cemetery Qualification Pub Keyword method Key word: Cà rốt Zebra crossing XXXI Key word: Ai Island Key word: Miu (mèo) Musical Key word: Bát Battle XXXII Grouping or semantic organization Wonderful Amazing >< (Positive feeling) Horrible (Negative feeling) Physical response method Play a musical instrument (Teacher acts & expresses the action) Sad (Teacher acts & shows the state) Relax (Teacher acts & shows the state) XXXIII ... 2015-2016 (MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG THUẬT CẢI THIỆN TRÍ NHỚ TRONG VIỆC NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG GHI NHỚ TỪ VỰNG CHO SINH VIÊN HỆ CAO ĐẲNG CHÍNH QUY, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP (TỈNH... of Types of strategies strategies Planning: Choosing what Choosing words to focus on and when to Choosing the aspects of word knowledge focus on it Choosing strategies Planning repetition Sources:... variety of links between words, some strong, some weak The main way, to transfer the vocabulary items from short term to long term memory and create a strong connection there is by finding some