Sử dụng sơ đồ tư duy cải thiện khả năng ghi nhớ từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất trường cao đẳng y tế thái nguyên

1 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES VU THI HONG NHUNG USING MIND-MAPPING APPROACH TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MEMORY FOR THE FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN ME

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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

VU THI HONG NHUNG

USING MIND-MAPPING APPROACH TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MEMORY FOR THE FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS

AT THAI NGUYEN MEDICAL COLLEGE

(Sử dụng sơ đồ tư duy để cải thiện khả năng ghi nhớ từ vựng cho sinh viên năm

thứ nhất Trường Cao đẳng Y tế Thái Nguyên)

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

VU THI HONG NHUNG

USING MIND-MAPPING APPROACH TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MEMORY FOR THE FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS

AT THAI NGUYEN MEDICAL COLLEGE

(Sử dụng sơ đồ tư duy để cải thiện khả năng ghi nhớ từ vựng cho sinh viên năm

thứ nhất Trường Cao đẳng Y tế Thái Nguyên)

M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION)

Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201

Supervisor 1: Assoc Prof Dr Le Van Canh Supervisor 2: Dr Nguyen Thi Minh Loan

THAI NGUYEN – 2018

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DECLARATION

I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Using mind-mapping approach to

improve students’ vocabulary memory for the first-year students at Thai Nguyen

Medical College” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree

of Master of Arts at Foreign Language Faculty, Thai Nguyen University

Signature:

Vu Thi Hong Nhung

Thai Nguyen, 2018

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to the support of many people, this research has been completed I would like to start by expressing my great gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Le Van Canh and Dr Nguyen Thi Minh Loan for their valuable comments, constant support and encouragement

I want to give my special thanks to teachers and first-year students of Thai Nguyen Medical College for their support in my lessons, attendence in tests and response

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ABSTRACT

This thesis was an attempt to explore the application of mind-mapping technique

in teaching and learning vocabulary for the first-year students at Thai Nguyen Medical

College The thesis began with liturature review on vocabulary teaching and

mind-mapping approach Then quasi-experimental design was applied to find out the

improvement of students in retaining vocabulary by using mind-maping technique A

questionnaire was employed to 70 first-years students at Thai Nguyen medical College

after tests and lessons with and without applying mind-mapping technique to explore the

benefits and difficulties of students in learning vocabulary with mind-mapping

technique The findings of the research show that mind-mapping technique has been used

in many subjects, and it is also applicable and effective to teach English vocabulary

Therefore, the technique was suggested to be exploited more in the context of teching

vocabulary for non-English major students at Thai Nguyen Medical College

2.5 Previous studies on using mind-mapping in teaching and learning

1.1 The students’ pre-test scores of the experimental and control group 34

Appendix C: Vocabulary post-test 2 V

Appendix G: Mind-mapping of students in experimental group XI Appendix H: The students’ scores and the realibility coefficient of the test

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LISTS OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Test description

Table 3.2: Questionnaire description

Table 3.2: Procedure of training

Table 3.4: Conversion of percentage range

Table 4.1: Students’ scores of experimental group in pre-test

Table 4.2: Students’ scores of control group in pre-test

Table 4.3: Students’ scores of experimental group in post-test 1

Table 4.4: Students’ scores of control group in post-test 1

Table 4.5: Students’ scores of experimental group in post-test 2

Table 4.6: Students’ scores of control group in post-test 2

Table 4.7: Mean scores of two groups in vocabulary tests

Table 4.8: Students’ opinions about the benefits of applying mind-mapping technique in teaching and learning vocabulary

Table 4.9: Students’ opinions about the limitation of applying mind-mapping technique

in teaching and learning vocabulary

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Mind-mapping example 1

Figure 2.2: Mind-mapping example 2

Figure 2.3: Mind-mapping example 3

Figure 2.4: Mind-mapping example 4

Figure 2.5: Mind-mapping example 5

Figure 3.1: Illustration of Pretest – Posttest designs

Figure 3.2: Data collection procedure

Figure 4.1: The comparison between scores in post-test 1 of control and experimental

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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, the writer presents the rationale, objectives, scopes and the structure of this study

1 Rationale of the study

English is an international language so studying English is getting important in the world communication There is no language without vocabulary and English is not

an exception That is the reason why vocabulary is becoming one of the most important elements of language Vocabulary plays an essential role in the process of studying English While learning English vocabulary, students have difficulties in mastery and memory, so it is hard for them to understand reading materials, understand other speaking, given responses, listening and writing materials In the Depth of Processing Hypothesis, Craik and Tulving (1975) stated that “the more cognitive energy a person exerts when manipulating and thinking about a word, the more likely it is that they will

be able to recall and use it later” Saleh (1997:12) argued, “[…] the success in mastering

a language is determined by the size of the vocabulary one has learned” However, it was not only important how many words learned but also how many words remembered So knowledge of memory sensory played an important value involving in vocabulary memory

Learning new words related to how we understand them and how long we remember them There were many factors affecting word retention such as how words were presented and recycled or word frequency According to Thornbury (2002: 23),

“the learner needs not only to learn a lot of words, but also to remember them” Therefore, memory sensory had important value in learning vocabulary

In the past, teachers often used the traditional ways to teach vocabulary such as providing word explanations and repetitive practices However, that was not a really effective method According to Singer, A.J (2003:39), “teaching is helping learners to acquire new knowledge or skills Teaching consisted, mainly, of telling, showing, guiding the learner in performance tasks and then measuring the results” So, many

researchers had given out many methods to help students easily to mastery and memorize vocabulary One of the approaches that might be useful in teaching and learning vocabulary was using mind-mapping As Buzan (2009:4) stated, “mind-mapping is an easy way to place information to brain and take information out from brain Mind-mapping was a creative and effective way to write and would map your mind by a simple way” In process of memorizing vocabulary students had to use all the right and the left brain Right brain was for creativity and visualization Left brain was for logical and rational Mind mapping combined both and became whole-brained The brain was inspired by appealing to both the creative and logical side

According to DePotter and Hernacki as translated into English (2008: 152), “mind mapping uses visuals reminder and sensory into a pattern from the ideas which are related” Mind mapping permitted the students to illustrate their thoughts by categorizing and grouping into connected ideas It began with the students’ main topic or the theme

as the central idea and allowed the main branches of mind-mapping to constitute the main points of their thought then united by the interesting colours and imaged which would stimulate the brain

Thornbury (2002: 18) stated that “acquiring a vocabulary requires not only labeling but categorizing skills In Thornbury (2002: 144) it was said that “vocabulary cannot be taught, it can be presented, explained, included in all kind of activities and experienced in all manner of association, but it is ultimately it is learned by the individual” Therefore, mind-mapping teachnique was believed to be used in teaching and learning vocabulary in order to improve vocabulary retention by classsifying vocabulary in various strategies There were no concrete instructions for learning vocabulary efficiently; however, teachers might apply mind-mapping approach in teaching vocabulary by using various strategies relating to the main ideas

A mind-mapping was a visual organizer using a sketch organizer for developing vocabulary, in which students had to think about terms or concepts in several ways A mind-mapping took students on developing a definition, synonyms, antonyms, and a

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graphics for a given vocabulary word or concept Enriching students’ vocabulary was important in developing their English skills Therefore, mind-mapping was expected to stimulate students’ mastery and be useful for students to memorize vocabulary It was a dominant graphic technique which provided a universal key for the potential of the brain being unlocked

In Thai Nguyen medical college, English was not a major subject, almost all students was not good at studying English They were only required to reach A2 level (pre-intermediate level) until graduation Traditional technique – English – Vietnamese translation was a major technique which most of teachers at Thai Nguyen Medical College had used in vocabulary lessons They also applied power point with pictures in teaching vocabulary, but students only got passive from the teachers They were not practiced with those words and those words did not make impression on them, therefore vocabulary memory ability of students was not good If learners had limited vocabulary, they had to face many difficulties in learning foreign language So it was necessary to apply a new and effective technique to improve students’ vocabulary memory

For all reason above paving the way for the researcher to study on using mapping approach to improve students’ vocabulary memory in expect that the study could be contribute to teaching and learning vocabulary for the freshmen The writer aimed to explore the influence and effectiveness of applying mind-mapping approach in teaching and learning vocabulary in order to improve students’ retention of English vocabulary Then this research targeted at introducing mind-mapping as a technique to teaching and learning vocabulary for the first-year students at Thai Nguyen medical college And the writer aspired that this study would give a contribution in the educational side to the development of language teaching and learning about vocabulary

mind-by applying mind-mapping technique

2 Aims of the study

This study aimed to explore the influence of mind-mapping technique on students’ retention of English vocabulary The study targeted at introducing mind-mapping as a technique in teaching and learning vocabulary to improve vocabulary retention for the first-year students at Thai Nguyen medical college

There were two research questions based on the aims of the study, they were:

1) To what extent does the use of mind-mapping help students to retain vocabulary? 2) What are the limitations of mind-mapping in vocabulary learning?

3 Scope of the study

The study limited itself to the exploration of the influence of mind-mapping techniques on students’ word retention within the context of teaching and learning English as a minor subject at Thai Nguyen Medical College

The study was conducted on the 70 first-year students at Thai Nguyen Medical College Due to the fixed curriculum and limited time, the study was carried out on the second semester of school year 2017 – 2018

4 Significance of the study

Essentially, the practical consideration of the research was the significance of the expected research Hence, the result of this study was expected to be useful to the teachers, the students and the researcher in using mind-mapping in teaching and learning vocabulary

The research was expected to explore and prove the effectiveness of applying mind-mapping technique in teaching and learning English vocabulary Therefore, teachers and students at Thai Nguyen Medical College would conduct the teaching and learning activities more effectively

English teachers at Thai Nguyen Medical College were looked forward to increasing their strategy in teaching vocabulary and the writer aspired that this study would give a contribution in the educational side to the development of language teaching and learning about vocabulary by applying mind-mapping technique

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This research was expected to overcome the difficulties of students at Thai Nguyen Medical College in retaining their vocabulary and it could help the students to remember longer and be interested in learning vocabulary

For the researchers, it was anticipated that this study to be one of the references for other researchers to get information about teaching through mind-mapping technique

5 Structure of the study

This study is divided into five chapters They are:

Chapter I: “Introduction” – covers academic works required for research paper, consists

of rationale for the study, aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study and organization of the study

Chapter II: “Literature review” – provides the theoretical background of the study,

namely basic knowledge about English vocabulary and vocabulary learning; mapping in generally and in teaching and learning vocabulary

mind-Chapter III: “Methodology” – describes the methods used for this study, data collection

instruments, data collection procedures and data analysis procedure

Chapter IV: “Finding and discussion” – presents, analyzes and discusses the results

collected In this chapter, the answers for two research questions are found

Chapter V: “Conclusion” – summarizes the main issues of this paper, giving the

limitations, pedagogical implications of the study and suggestions for further studies

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter gives general knowledge about vocabulary and vocabulary learning; mind-mapping technique and several previous researches about using mind- mapping in teaching and learning foreign languages

1 Vocabulary and vocabulary learning

According to Kim and Kim (2012: 4), “vocabulary is the base of communication

in that language Therefore, it is critical to try out various and different teaching style that cheers students to acquire vocabulary easily without negative emotion about it” It

is a factor in forming sentences in order that interactions among others can be happen fluently and the communication can easily to understand It is hard to communication without vocabulary, because the words are used to express ideas, emotions and desires

to each other Shortly, vocabulary is a tool for effective communication

Vocabulary learning plays an important part for people who learn English both

as foreign language and as second language Ur (1994: 60) pointed out vocabulary as the words we teach in the foreign language In addition, Brown (2001: 377) stated vocabulary items as a boring list of words that must be defined and memorized by the

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students, lexical forms are seen in their central role in contextualized, meaningful language Richard in Schmitt (1997: 241) also stated that knowing a word meaning knowing how often it occurs, the company it keeps, its appropriatness in different situations, its syntatic behavior, its underlying form and derivations, its word associations, and its semantic features Tozcu and Coady (2004: 473) viewed learning vocabulary is an important aspect of language two and foreign language acquisition and academic achievement and is vital to reading comprehension and proficiency, to which

it is closely linked Moreover, it is asserted that vocabulary learning is based on the establishment of specific habits Since this involves the association of symbols and their meaning, it is clear that an enrichment of the meaning of the word is as important as its frequent repetition Dunlap and Weisman (2007: 145) asserted, “vocabulary development is essential for English learners’ academic success There is a strong relationship between vocabulary knowledge and academic achievement” That is the reason why vocabulary plays the main key in developing four language skills, it is very important in teaching and learning language

Based on those above statements, there are many definitions of vocabulary It can

be assumed that vocabulary is a list of words as a basic component of language proficiency which has own form or expression and consists of aspects, they are meaning, use of word, form (pronunciation and spelling)

1.2 Kinds of vocabulary

Hiebert and Kamil (2005: 3) divided word into two forms, the first is oral vocabulary, which is the set of words for that the learners know the meanings when they speak or read orally The second is print vocabulary, which consists of those words for which the meaning is known when learners write or read silently They also define knowledge of words also comes in at least two forms as follows:

a Productive vocabulary: Productive vocabulary is the set of words that an individual can use when writing or speaking They are words that are renowned, familiar, and used habitually

b Receptive or recognition vocabulary: Receptive or recognition vocabulary is that set

of words for which an individual can use for listening or reading These are words that are not as famous to students and routine in use as productive vocabulary Individuals may be able allocate some sort of meaning to them, even though they may not know the full subtleties of the distinction Typically, these are also words that individuals do not use impromptu However, when individuals experience these words, they recognize them, even if imperfectly, while Thornbury (2002: 3-10) said that there are six kinds of vocabulary, they are:

1) Word classes: Word classes or parts of speech They are divided into eight classes, such as: noun, pronouns, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition and determiner

2) Word families: It discusses about affixation of a word, such as: prefixes (in-, de-) and suffixes (-tion, -ness)

3) Word formation: such as compounding, clipping, blending and so on Affixation is also a kind of word formation

4) Multi-word units: about phrasal verbs and idioms

5) Collocations: Collocation is word partners The typical collocation of specific items

is another factor that makes a particular mixture Example: this week, once more, once again, as well

6) Homonyms: Kinds of vocabulary will be useful for students and teachers in different situations in learning and teaching a language Furthermore, to know a word requires knowing:

1) a great deal about its general frequency of use, syntactic and situation limitation on its use

2) its underlying form and forms that can be derived from it

3) the network of its semantic features

4) the various meanings associated with the item

(Richards, 1976 cited in Ghazal, 2007)

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Following Ur (1996) adapted in ELT Methodology II Course Book and Recommended Readings (p.81-87), the main aspects of vocabulary are divided into: a) form, b) grammar, c) aspects of meaning and d) word building So, knowing a word is not just ordinarily know its equivalent in one’s mother tongue but there are a lot of aspects to cover It makes difficult for teachers and students in teaching and learning vocabulary

Vocabulary becomes a major problem in learning English especially to the year students, when they have good ability in mastering vocabulary, they will be easier

first-in memorize

1.3 Difficulty of learning vocabulary

Learning vocabulary plays an important role in learning a language The more words learners know, the more learners will be able to proficient in listening, speaking, reading and writing a language

As known, the vocabulary can be divided into two groups: passive and active vocabulary Passive vocabulary consists of all the words which you know when you read

or listen As Hiebert and Kamil (2005: 3) divided word into two forms, the first is oral vocabulary, which is the set of words for what learners know the meanings when they speak or read orally Therefore, learners can know that active vocabulary is all the words they understand, they are words which is familiar and used frequently in writing and speaking

There are many problems in learning vocabulary such as polysemy of the word, the word’s idiomatic usage, cognates and so on, however, they can be solved by using a dicionary Special problem which the learners face when studying a languge is remembering vocabulary It’s one of the biggest of learners when learning a language, because tomorow they tend to forget what they learned yesterday The rate of forgetting stays surprisingly steady if the information the learners learned is not repeated regularly and it do not make me anything impression about it

Vocabulary learning has become one of the biggest challenges that foreign language learners have to deal with when learning a new language It has been suggested that vocabulary learning should not consist only of teaching isolated words, but also to provide learners the necessary strategies to increase their vocabulary list and the appropriate input Although, learners may be able to use more than one strategy, from which they are able to select the one they feel more comfortable with A list of vocabulary learning strategies is proposed, in which it is mentioned memory strategies that requires repetition and mechanical means in order to store and retrieve aspects of the target language

Ghazal (2007) said that the process of learning a new language involves learning language strategies in order to facilitate the comprehension, storage, and retention of the new language According to Sanaoui (1995), consolidation strategies, conversely, include memory strategies such as repetition of words through writing and speaking, using lists and also cards, and any other action learners use in order to facilitate retention

of new words

Given that the process of acquiring a wide vocabulary in the classroom is highly challenging, researchers have been looking for successful techniques in order to achieve that goal With the traditional techniques of teaching vocabulary, learners are difficult to retain vocabulary if they are just given a list of vocabulary and never using them

to have in mind when learning a second language (Chamot & Rubin, 1994)

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If, as suggested, working memory is a temporary storage system that underpins our capacity for thinking, it is clearly the case that it should have implications for language processing, and that disorders in working memory may impact on language processes (Baddeley, 2003) It can be said that success when learning a second language

is strongly attributed to differences in memory capacity because people in general have different ways and strategies to acquire new information and different ways of using memory

In process of learning vocabulary, memory plays an important role because according to Richards & Schmidt (2002) vocabulary memory was defined as “the ability

to recall and remember things after an interval of time” In language learning, especially vocabulary learning, retention of what has been taught may depend on the quality of teaching, the interest of learner or the effectiveness of teaching techniques

Vocabulary retention can be understood that as well as the learned vocabulary knowledge is retaining it in the memory Vocabulary memory is an essential factor affecting the success of vocabulary acquisition

2 Mind-mapping

2.1 Definitions of mind-mapping

A mind-mapping technique is an expression of radiant thinking and uses line, symbol, words and pictures; based on the set of simple rules and natural toward the human mind By using mind map, the list of information that are so long and boring can changed into colorful diagram and make easy to remember (Buzan, 2009: 7)

A mind-mapping is a creative note-taking method, which makes students easily

to retain information It is a visual record of new vocabulary Vocabulary mind-mapping

is also known as word map, and are organized in a way of relating words

Al-Jarf (2011) defined that “A mind map is a graphic organizer in which the major categories radiate from a central idea and sub-categories are represented as branches of larger branches It is a visual tool that can be used to generate ideas, take notes, organize thinking, and develop concepts Teachers can use it to enhance learning It is helpful for

visual learners as an illustrative tool that assists with managing thought, directing learning, and making connections” In short, a mind-mapping is a tool for language teaching and learning that teachers record the vocabulary through symbols, pictures, colors, emotion meanings to stimulate students’ mastery and help students easily to retain vocabulary

Buzan (1993: 1) said that mind mapping is a powerful graphic technique, which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of brain Mind mapping technique imitates the thinking process, namely possible us to move from one topic to another topics back and forth Recording the information through symbols, pictures, emotional meaning and colours, exactly the same like our brains process it A pattern which at least consists of picture, symbol and color that will not just help the students to understand the vocabulary knowledge but also makes the students feel good, enjoyable and attract their brain which at last lead them to have interest in mastery vocabulary knowledge Mind-mapping is a kind of diagram, which are brainstorming diagrams based on a central idea or image […] Mind maps use a non-linear graphical form allowing the user to build

an intuitive framework around the central idea (Retrieved from http://www.bestpricecomputers.co.uk/glossary/mind-mapping-software.htm) for examples, maps, line graphs, bar charts, engineering blueprints, and architects' sketches are all examples of diagrams Mind-mapping technique, as stated above, is a type of diagram, but has its own attractive characteristics, containing many standards Here are some examples of mind-mapping:

2.2 The functions of mind-mapping

Michael Michalko in Buzans’ book (2009: 6) gives some functions of mapping, they are:

mind-a To make active all parts of brain

b To make people (learners) be focus in the main topic

c To help show the relation among parts of information that mutual separated

d To give a certain illustration in the whole and detail

e To help grouped the concept and compare it

2.3 Classifications of mind-mapping

The mind map has six essential characteristics, these are:

a A central image: describes the main idea of a mind mapping and put it on the center

of the paper It makes the students’ right brain active, reinforce the students’ retention and make the learning activity enjoyable

b Branches: on which the main themes of the subject radiate from the central image The branches should be arched and in the same length as the words or pictures above it These branches can be seen as sub-headings It is thinner branches and containing details

c A key image/word: which branches hold, printed on the associated line-details radiate out A key word is a word that can direct to a sentence or event Identifying a familiar word in one’s own language or another language that sounds like the new word and using only one key word per line It is as an urge to remember a lot of words for the students

It is strong noun or verb that creates image to trigger recall the memory

d Basic Ordering Ideas: are the branches that collect sort information and it connected

to the central topic that radiate out from the center Making basic ordering ideas which can direct our mind to make mind mapping and it need creativity that encourage the students to understand to the material It is thick and thinner at the ends It can be seen

as headings for your topic and spread anywhere but do not become steep

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e Color: is a very good memory sign and it involves the right brain in learning for long term memory Colors encourage creativity and help in memorization Adding plenty of colors via branches, map background and images will add life to your mind map It makes easier to comprehend and remember

f Pictures: In mind mapping, pictures which can change or strengthen a key word that has been written before

From these essential characters of a mapping, there are many types of mapping are made from simple to complex There are many kinds of diagrams For example, these are the main diagram types, graph-based diagrams (net-work tree, flow chart, existential graph, event chain …), chart-like diagrams (bar chart, pie chart, function chart …) and other types of diagrams (cycle concept map, spider concept map,

http://abitabout.com/Diagramming+technique In addition, Anderson (1997) divided

that "[…] maps, line graphs, bar charts, engineering blueprints, and architects'

sketches are all examples of diagrams, […]"

These are examples of diagrams, however, as stated above mind-mapping is a type of diagram, unlike other types, mind-mapping has its own striking features, including many essential criteria as above Here are some examples of mind-mapping:

Figure 2.3: Mind-mapping example 3 from website https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-mind-map-definition-examples.html

Figure 2.4: Mind-mapping example 4 from website http://bryanpaulkelly.com/how-to-use-a-graphic-organizer/

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Figure 2.5: Mind-mapping example 5 from website https://destech.wordpress.com/tag/education/

2.4 Advantages of using mind-mapping

Mind-mapping is a pedagogical technique which involves creating diagram for visual presentation of ideas The diagram is focused on a main concept which is placed

in the center and therefore certain ideas, words or even phrases related to main concept can be connected (Rabeka, 2014) Mind-maps have been considered as very beneficial teaching tools by some experts (Budd, 2003; Fiktorius, 2013; Hofland, 2007; Murley, 2007)

As Hofland (2007) mentioned, mind mapping is a way that provides L2 learners with more meaningful repetitions and retention of the new words in any target language

By using pictorial and graphical design, mind mapping can provide a more vivid teaching atmosphere which promotes memory retention as well as the motivation of the learners (Liu, Zhao, & Bo, 2014)

Mind maps are pictorial techniques which facilitate knowledge acquisition and retrieval of information through the use of visual clues such as images, shapes and colors (Budd, 2004) Mind maps are specifically beneficial for young learners to recall their memories Based on Miao (2007), teaching and learning a foreign language by the use

of the mind-mapping is very effective and enjoyable, because they aid to motivate L2 learners to study and employ new words, concepts, notions and themes regularly and effortlessly

As DePorter and Hernacki (in Abdurrahman, 2008: 172) described, these are some advantages of using mind-mapping technique:

1 Flexible: Explaining something can be easy without confusing in adding the material based on the mind mapping We can put the label and category of something based on our own opinion anywhere in the mind mapping

2 Concentrate on the Topic: Getting the subtopics what we talk about with focus on the main ideas easily Keep focus on the keyword can help us to make it simple and it does not waste the time

3 Increasing Comprehension: Using mind mapping can make easy in understanding the material Mind mapping is a simple think pattern so it is not make us confuse to understand what we have learned and easy to remember the material 4 Enjoyable Imagination and creativity are unlimited in using mind mapping, so it can be funny to learn By using pictures and colours, it makes the brain enjoy and excited in thinking something what we want about the material

4 Enjoyable: Imagination and creativity are unlimited in using mind mapping, so it can

be funny to learn By using pictures and colours, it makes the brain enjoy and excited in thinking something what we want about the material The branches should be curvy and

in the same length as the words or pictures above it These branches can be seen as sub headings It is thinner branches and containing details

5 Good memory: Colour is a very good memory sign and it involves the right brain in learning for long term memory Colours encourage creativity and help in memorization Adding plenty of colours via branches, map background and images will add life to your mind map It makes easier to comprehend and remember

2.5 Previous studies on using mind-mapping in teaching and learning vocabulary

Regarding the research matter of teaching vocabulary with mind-mapping, the writer could only find some related study of Azura Binti Abdul Aziz (2016) The research aimed to identify the effectiveness of applying mind-mapping technique in order to increase the vocabulary list of the students and to know the difference in vocabulary list growth among the students In order to answer two research questions, the researcher used a Quasi Experimental Research Approach for 38 students Data collected from the pre and post-test which significantly proved that the application of mind-mapping had increase the students’ vocabulary list or not The result of this research showed that the using of using mind-mapping to improve students’ ability in

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increasing students’ vocabulary list and get the better band mark for that section has a fantastic positive force on the samples The research assisted the significant impact of

applying mind-mapping technique on the students’ performances in vocabulary list

The other research was of Ahmad Ali Heidari and Lotfollah Karimi (2015) about the effect of mind mapping on vocabulary learning and retention The objective of this research was to explore either mind-mapping had significant effect on first-grader high school students’ vocabulary development and retention or not 40 students were assigned into two equal groups (experiment and control group) and participated in pre-test, post-

test and delayed post-test The result of this research showed that there was no significant difference between the marks of two groups on posttest and delayed posttest

So, the main finding of the this study was significant evidence that teaching English vocabulary through the application of mind maps could help Iranian first-grader high school students learn and remember L2 vocabulary more easily

The other research which the writer found was of Haneen Kamal Othman (2018) This study attempted to investigate the effectiveness of using mind mapping on the 3rd graders’ vocabulary learning and improving their visual thinking To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher adopted the quasi experimental approach The sample of the study consisted of 79 male students from the third graders They were divided into two groups (experimental and control) The experimental group was taught using the mind mapping strategy while the control group received traditional teaching The results of the study revealed that there are statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the experimental and control groups in the vocabulary posttest and visual thinking posttest due to the use of mind mapping in favor of the experimental group Based on the findings drawn from the results of the study, the researcher asserted the mind mapping strategy was an effective method in teaching for memorization and retention

The fourth previous research related to mind-mapping technique was of Wahyu Hariwiyoko (2017) This research is intended to improve the students’ English

vocabulary for the fifth grade students by using mind mapping technique This research was a classroom action research with the technique of data collection by doing test, interview with the English teacher, and observation for students’ and teacher activities Based on the result of this study, the researcher concluded that the students’ English vocabulary of the fifth grade students at SDN Mandaranejo 2 Pasuruan could be improved by using mind mapping technique It was proved by the improvement result

of the test on the first cycle and the second cycle

And another previous research was of Nguyen Thi Lien (2016) This paper investigated whether applying mind-mapping technique to teach vocabulary can help students to improve their vocabulary retention or not And evaluate the students’ attitude towards using mind-mapping as a tool to improve their retention Based on the purpose

of this research, an action research was carried out in which 32 first-year students at Military Technical Academy were investigated The result of data analysis supported the evidence to the research questions The better result of post-test compared to that of pre-test proved a remarkable improvement in students’ vocabulary retention In addition, the result of questionnaire showed that almost all students expressed their possitive attitudes towards the application of mind-mapping technique This research gave an significant evidence that mind-mapping was a good alternative technique to enhance the students’ vocabulary retention

There were some differences between those previous thesises and the writer’s study, all study use mind-mapping in teaching vocabulary, but in difference fields and grades Little research has been reported on the influence of mind-mapping approach on improvement English vocabulary retention Therefore, this study is aimed at making on contribution to narrowing this research gap

In summary, this chapter has dealt with the theoretical background for the whole study with firstly the basic knowledge of English vocabulary, and secondly mind- mapping in teaching vocabulary; related some previous researches on this topic

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CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes data collection instruments and the process of collecting data and analyzing data

1 Research questions

Focusing on the aims of the study, there were two research questions They were:

1) To what extent does the use of mind-mapping help students to retain vocabulary? 2) What are the limitations of mind-mapping in vocabulary learning?

2 Methods of research

As the purpose of this study was to explore the influence of mind-mapping approach on improvement English vocabulary memory, a quasi-experimental design was adopted

According to Cook & Campbell (1979), the prefix quasi meant “resembling.”

Thus quasi-experimental research was research that resembles experimental research but was not true experimental research Although the independent variable was manipulated, participants were not randomly assigned to conditions or orders of conditions

Quasi-experimental design was used in human growth and development research whenever they are feasible This was because they are the only way to prove the existence of a cause and effect relationship between two variables Quasi-experimental research designs both attempted to determine causal relationships by applying a treatment or condition to one group and compared the outcome with a control group

Quasi-experimental design was more frequently used because it was more practical and feasible to conduct research Quasi-experimental design was more suitable for real natural world setting than true-experimental design This design allowed the researchers to evaluate the impact of quasi independent variables under naturally occuring conditions

A quasi-experimental design fitted the purpose of this study Therefore, this was adopted

Randomized groups Pre-test Treatment Post-test

CONTROL

GROUP

In this research, there were two kinds of variables, independent variables and dependent variables Independent variable was mind-mapping technique that was provided to the students, and dependent variable was the students’ scores in the vocabulary tests

3 Participants

The participant of this study was the first-year students from Thai Nguyen Medical College, and the study would be conducted in the second semester in the academic year 2017-2018 The reason why the writer chose the first-year students was that the students at Thai Nguyen Medical College just studied English in the first year, after that just students in Pharmacy speciality studied English for this major in the second year, while students in Nursing major did not Therefore, in order to apply mind-mapping approach for all students the writer had to choose freshmen English was not a major subject at Thai Nguyen Medical College, almost all students at Thai Nguyen Medical College was good at Math, Chemistry, Physic and Biology, so when entering the college, English level of students was elementary By graduation students had to reach level A2 (pre-intermediate)

There would be 70 students joining the lessons and tests; then 70 first-year students would participate in the survey questionnaires

To carry out the study, there would be 70 students took part in pre-test After that, teacher divided students randomly into two groups: experimental group and control group Students just changed between two groups, but the schedule and knowledge as the fixed curriculum Then, students of two groups would be taught vocabulary part

EXPERIMENTAL

GROUP

Figure 3.1: Illustration of Pretest – Posttest designs

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(following curriculum, lesson plan and textbook) with different treatment Experimental groups would be taught applying mind-mapping technique, otherwise, control group would be taught without mind-mapping technique Next, all groups would be given the posttest after the lesson

The research instrument used consists of pre-test and post-test:

- Pre-test would be given to the students to check their ability in English vocabulary before applying mind-mapping technique (See appendix A)

- Two post-test would be given to the students to know their English vocabulary ability after applying mind-mapping (See appendix B, C)

The tests were in the forms of multiple choice questions, matching and gap filling with 20 test items and the time allowance was 15 minutes for each test The three tests were in the same level and the same for the two groups

Regarding the test, the writer did concern about the validity and reliability of the test Validity is the state of being logically or legally acceptable (Hornby, 2000:1319)

Fraenkel and Wallen (1990:127) state that validity refers to the degree to which evidence supports any inferences a researcher makes based on the collected data using a particular

instrument In other words, validity is the ability of the test to measure what it is purposed

to measure and it refers to the accuracy of an assessment

In order to make the test materials have high validity the writer used a written test

in multiple choice test, matching test and gap filling test Before the test was given to the students, the test materials were checked the validity in testing the vocabulary knowledge

of the students The test was valid as the content could measure the students’ability and knowledge in vocabulary

TEST DESCRIPTION

Objectives The students are able to use the words in the theme The body, Clothes,

Holidays, Events in your life and Animals

Materials The words and phrases that involved in theme: The body, Clothes,

Holidays, Events in your life and Animals

Indicators 1 Students are able to distinguish different types of words relating to

Table 3.1: Test description Reliability refers to the consistency of the scores obtained, how consistent they

are for each individual from one administration of an instrument to another and from one set of items to another (Fraenkel and Wallen, 1990:133) In short, it is the repeatability

of your measurement in order to estimate the reliability of the test In this study, a Richardson 21 was used to estimate the internal consistency reliability Fraenkel and Wallen (1990:136) wrote that for research purposes, a useful rule is that reliability should

Kuder-be at least 0.70 and preferably higher

This value is calculated using the following formula:

In which:

KR-21 : Kuder-Richardson Reliability Coefficient

K : Number of Items in the Test

M : Mean of the Set of the Test Scores

SD : Standard Deviation of the Set of the Test scores

The formula of Standard Deviation is caculated as follow:

X : The Students’ Total Score

N : The Number of Students

In the table of Students’ scores and the reliability coefficient of the test items in the Pretest and the Posttest 2, the writer coded name of students as C + number and E + number, while C standed for control (it means that C + number is the name of student in control group) and E standed for experimental (it means that E + number is the name of students in experimental group) The names of students in table in appendix H were the same as ones in table in appendix K As Fraenkel and Wallen (1990:136) stated that a useful rule is that reliability should be at least 0.70 and preferably higher From the

caculation in the table above, KR – 21 (pretest) = 0,714 and KR – 21 (posttest 2) = 0,7455, both were higher than 0,7; therefore, the test materials were valid and reliable

(See appendix G & I)

4.1.2 Questionnaire

According to Salkind (2003), “individuals can complete them without any direct assistance or intervention from the researchers”, so questionnaire is a useful tool for data

collection which saves time and effort for both the researcher and participants (See appendix D)

To focus on answering the first question: What are the limitations of

mind-mapping in vocabulary learning?, questionnaire would be given to 70 freshmen of Thai

Nguyen Medical College

QUESTIONNAIRE DESCRIPTION

Objectives Survey real situation in teaching and learning English

vocabulary and students’ evaluation about the benefits and limitaion of applying mind-mapping technique in teaching and learning English vocabulary for the first-year students at Thai Nguyen Medical College

Materials - Questions about techniques which teachers have used to teach

English vocabulary (English translation, English explanation,

Context clues, Real objects, Powerpoint, Mind-mapping)

- Questions about the benifits and difficulties of using mapping in teaching and learning English vocabulary to evaluate students’ attitudes towards applying mind-mapping

mind-approach in teaching English vocabulary (It is livelier and

easier to understand, Learners face difficulty in choosing tiltles and words for each branch of a mind-mapping )

Question types Multiple choices

Evaluation

Table 3.2: Questionnaire description

4.2 Data collection procedure

70 first-year students

(three weeks after the lesson)

QUESTIONNAIRE 70 first-year students

Figure 3.2: Data collection procedure

This was the most important phase of the study as it aimed to answer the first research question After 70 students took part in the pretest together, the writer divided randomly students into two groups: control group and experimental group

After that, each group would experience different vocabulary lessons The objectives of the two lessons were identical or in other words, the word items to be taught for each group were the same However, the treatments for each group in terms of method were different Experimental group would learn using of mind-mapping technique, whereas control group would learn with other techniques, without mind-mapping technique

At this stage, it was necessary to prepare all materials and lesson plans for Experimental and Control group It spent most of time preparing lesson plans for each group in this phase, because two different lesson plans were needed to prepare

This training would carry out in 6 weeks Each week students studied a topic following textbook for teaching English at Thai Nguyen Medical College (Textbook: New English file – pre-intermediate students’s book and workbook)

In lesson plans of two groups, class description, time allowance, objectives,

assumed knowledge, anticipated problems were the same Objectives were the most

important component in the lesson plan because they would be in relationship with the aims of tests following

In control group, students would be taught with traditional technique (English – Vietnamese translation, pictures and videos by using power point ) followed the official lesson plans of Department of English Language – Thai Nguyen Medical College, and students in the experimental group would learn with mind-mapping technique

For example, in the last lesson, students studied topic “ANIMALS” Teacher followed the lesson plan description of two groups (See appendix E & F)

By the end of this lesson, students would have to know the meaning and memorize

list of words: bee, butterfly, fly, mosquito, spider, wasp, bull, chicken, cow, goat, horse, pig, sheep, bear, camel, crocodile, dolphin, elephant, giraffe, gorilla, kangaroo, lion,

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mouse, rabbit, shark, tiger, whale, duck, eagle, swan Students would know to classify

animals into various strategies based on characteristics, living environment and so on by making their own mind-mapping (See appendix G)

The procedure of traning was shown in detail in the table below:

1 30 mins Textbook, powerpoint,

handouts, posters

- Introduce mind-mapping technique

- Carry out the lesson with the first topic: THE BODY basing on lesson plans

2 30 mins Textbook, powerpoint,

handouts, posters

- Carry out the lesson with topic: HOLIDAYS basing on lesson plans using mind-mapping technique

3 30 mins Textbook, powerpoint,

handouts, posters

- Carry out the lesson with topic: CLOTHES basing on lesson plans using mind-mapping technique

4 30 mins Textbook, powerpoint,

handouts, posters, CD/Tapes

- Carry out the lesson with topic: ANIMALS basing on lesson plans using mind-mapping technique

5 30 mins Textbook, powerpoint,

handouts, posters

- Carry out the lesson with topic: EVENTS IN YOUR LIFE basing on lesson plans using mind-mapping technique

6 30 mins Textbook, powerpoint,

After the lessons, students were able to know the meanings, memorize and use the words in the topic of The Body, Holidays, Clothes, Animals and Events in your life

4.2.3 Post - test

Right after the lessons, students of both groups were given the first posttest to evaluate their memory of the language items taught in 6 weeks ago to measure the students’ vocabulary when teaching vocabulary applying mind-mapping technique Three weeks later, students of the two groups would take another posttest in order to check the memory of students after a period of time from the lessons

In collecting data, the writer used written tests to know the students’ ability in leaning and remembering vocabulary Totally, there were three vocabulary tests: a pretest was given to check their ability in English vocabulary before applying mind-mapping technique; and two posttests: post-test 1 was given to measure the students’ vocabulary when teaching vocabulary using mind-mapping technique and post-test 2 was carried out to check the memory of students after a period of time from the lessons The tests were in the forms of multiple choice questions and gap filling with 20 test items for students to do in 15 minutes All of three tests were the same level and knowledge for the two groups

4.2.4 Questionnaire

This phase of the study aimed at answering the second research question There would be 70 survey questionnaires delivered to mainstream students of Division I in order to evaluate students’ attitudes towards effectiveness of applying mind-mapping technique in teaching English vocabulary The survey questionnaires were in English and one-page long, followed the questionnaire description in 4.1.2 which were convenient for the students to understand and complete them effectively

5 Data analysis

5.1 Test result analysis

The writer divided ramdomly students into two groups: control group and experimental group Two groups were given Pre-test After lessons of two groups with