The effects of semantic mapping in vocabulary teaching

HO CHI MINH CITY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES  Lê Nguyễn Hương Giang The effects of semantic mapping in vocabulary teaching A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL SUPERVISOR Nguyễn Thanh Tùng HO CHI MINH CITY – June 2009 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: THE EFFECTS OF SEMANTIC MAPPING IN TEACHING VOCABULARY in terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Program issued by the Higher Degree Committee The thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree Ho Chi Minh City, September 21st, 2009 GIANG HUONG NGUYEN LE i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, GIANG HUONG NGUYEN LE, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, September 21st, 2009 GIANG HUONG NGUYEN LE ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply indebted to a number of people for helping to make this M.A thesis possible First and foremost, my deepest gratitude goes to Dr Tung Thanh Nguyen, my supervisor I am blessed to have known him and to have been accepted as his student in this M.A program From the point of view of a teacher, an advisor and a mentor, he is my strongest advocate, who embodies the definition of wisdom and intellect My professional development has been growing increasingly with his precious guidance and continuous motivation I would like to sincerely thank the participants who contributed data to this study Many thanks also go to my colleagues, especially Bi Ngoc Thi Pham who kindly helped me very much in the process of data collection Very special thanks are due to my friends of Class A5 for their kind support and warm encouragement throughout my difficult times away from home Without them, I could not have overcome my ups and downs and concentrated on my studies Last but by no means least, my heartfelt thanks go to my parents, especially my wonderful, loving mother Suong Dong Thi Nguyen, my sister Tam Thanh Thi Le and my younger brother Duc Quang Le, without whose unfailing love, understanding, encouragement, and support over time and distance, I could not have got this far iii ABSTRACT Currently, the application of innovative and effective strategies for lexical instruction in Vietnam is limited Thus, the present study aims to investigate the feasibility and educational value of semantic mapping as a strategy in vocabulary instruction Adopting Braden’s (1982) structural perspective and Nagy’s (1988) mentalist view as a basic theoretical framework, this study considers semantic mapping not only as an organizer to connect nodes to lines in form, but also a network to associate knowledge, both old and new Data were collected from 87 students of two pharmaceutical classes (assigned in the Control Group of 44 and the Experimental Group of 43) in Binh Dinh Medical College in eight weeks in the form of experimental teaching with pre- and post-tests to measure the students’ performance and journals and questionnaires to find out their reflections on the learning process T-tests were employed to check whether the mean difference in lexical knowledge between the Control Group and the Experimental Group was statistically significant Journal data were sorted out into the themes in relation to the students’ evaluation of the application of semantic mapping Questionnaire data were analyzed according to the categories identified in the journal data The outcomes of the study indicate that the Experimental Group attained the significant improvement in the post-test results due to the treatment of semantic mapping, but not due to chance Additionally, the students expressed positive attitudes towards it and showed high appreciation for its effects in terms of motivation, stimulation and facilitation of the vocabulary learning process, and promotion of group-work competence Three further outcomes were not intended, but also generally positive They were the affirmation of a new and innovative teaching approach, new opportunities for students, and a new role for the teacher iv In regard to the research questions in light of the findings, this study points out that the use of semantic mapping is worthwhile v TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of Originality i Retention and Use of the Thesis ii Acknowledgements .iii Abstract iv Table of Contents v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Context of the study 1.2 Aim of the study 1.3 Research questions of the study 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: SEMANTIC MAPPING: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 Defining semantic mapping 2.2 A typology of semantic mapping 2.2.1 Word mapping 2.2.2 Story mapping 10 2.2.3 Concept mapping 11 2.3 The use of semantic mapping in empirical research 12 2.3.1 Types to use 12 2.3.2 Stage to use 15 2.3.3 Way to use 16 2.4 The roles of semantic mapping in EFL classroom 18 vi 2.4.1 Improvement in success and rate of foreign language acquisition 18 2.4.2 Improvement in attitudes towards foreign language acquisition 19 2.5 Implications for English vocabulary teaching practices 20 2.5.1 Stage 1: Introduction 20 2.5.2 Stage 2: Brainstorm 20 2.5.3 Stage 3: Categorization 21 2.5.4 Stage 4: Synthesis 21 2.6 Summary 21 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 22 3.1 Study setting 22 3.2 Participants 22 3.2.1 The Control Group 23 3.2.2 The Experimental Group 24 3.2.3 Resemblance 24 3.3 Data types of methods of data collection 25 3.3.1 Experiment 25 3.3.1.1 Pre-test 26 3.3.1.2 Experimental teaching process 26 3.3.1.3 Post-test 28 3.3.2 Journals 28 3.3.3 Questionnaire 29 3.4 Analytical framework 30 3.4.1 Quantitative analysis of pre- and post-tests 30 3.4.2 Qualitative analysis of journals 32 vii 3.4.3 Quantitative analysis of questionnaire 32 3.5 Summary 33 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 34 4.1 Results from the experiment 34 4.1.1 Pre-test results 34 4.1.1.1 The Control Group 34 4.1.1.2 The Experimental Group 35 4.1.1.3 Pre-test similarities 35 4.1.2 Post-test results 37 4.1.2.1 The Control Group 37 4.1.2.2 The Experimental Group 37 4.1.2.3 Post-test differences 38 4.1.3 A comparison of pre- and post-test results for each group 40 4.1.3.1 Means 40 4.1.3.2 Distribution of score types 41 4.1.4 Summary 42 4.2 Results from Journals and Questionnaire 42 4.2.1 About the role of vocabulary and the application of semantic mapping in its teaching 43 4.2.1.1 The importance of vocabulary in facilitating English learning and the students’ thirst for improving their lexical knowledge 43 4.2.1.2 The students’ preference for the stage to teach vocabulary 45 4.2.1.3 The students’ preference for the approach to teach vocabulary 46 4.2.1.4 The students’ impression on semantic mapping 47 viii 4.2.1.5 The students’ reflections on the teacher’s application of semantic mapping 48 4.2.1.5.1 The effects of semantic mapping 48 4.2.1.5.1.1 Creating motivation 48 4.2.1.5.1.2 Stimulating and facilitating the vocabulary learning process 49 4.2.1.5.1.3 Promoting group-work competence 53 4.2.1.5.2 The constraints of semantic mapping 54 4.2.1.6 The students’ opinions for the frequency of using semantic mapping 55 4.2.2 Summary 56 4.3 Discussion 56 4.3.1 Preparation of texts 56 4.3.2 Reflections on the teaching program 58 4.3.3 Findings 61 4.3.3.1 Intended outcomes 61 4.3.3.2 Unintended outcomes 61 4.3.3.3 Summary 62 4.4 Overall summary 63 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 64 5.1 Answers to the research questions 64 5.2 An evaluation for the overall methodology 66 5.3 Recommendations for English language practitioners 67 5.3.1 For teachers 67 5.3.2 For students 70 ix 11 A high-flier is someone who is - a ambitious b desperate c eager 12 If you are - for something, you want it very, very much, and will anything to get it a desperate b passional c eager 13 My younger sister is very - She is kind and pays attention to other people’s feelings a enjoyable b lively c considerate 14 Trains, buses, planes, coaches are called transport a public b private c common 15 We not have the technology to find a solution to the problem a traffic b jam c transport 16 Cars are believed to be symbols of freedom, wealth, and - a bravery b masculinity c luxury 17 Mr Jones is a teacher a devote b devoted c devoting 18 After she had committed a crime, her was trouble a kindness b conscience c feeling 19 Paul Newman raised a lot of money for after his son’s death a charity b car racing c drug 20 He supported such as the anti-nuclear movement, the environment, and driver education a actions b causes c works 21 David was an on computer since he was very young a tycoon b expert c teenager 22 He used to earn £9,000 as a computer a worker b consultant c adviser 23 Being a model, she had to learn how to walk and how to a pose b stand c sit 24 Emily Davidson was the first - for women suffragette a heroine b martyr c daredevil 25 Women - not only the right to vote, but also better education for girls 88 a asked b demanded  89 c begged APPENDIX 4: POST-TEST RESULTS CALCULATED BY SPSS SOFTWARE 13.0 Group Statistics Group N Mean Std Deviation Std Error Mean 43 6.5814 1.07421 16382 44 4.7273 1.14858 17316 Post-test Independent Samples Test Levene's Test for Equality of Variances T-test for Equality of Means 95% Confidence Interval of the F Post-test Equal variances assumed Sig .013 Equal variances not assumed t 911 df Sig (2- Mean tailed) Difference Difference Std Error Difference Lower Upper 7.772 85 000 1.85412 23855 1.37982 2.32843 7.778 84.839 000 1.85412 23837 1.38017 2.32807 The Levene’s Test indicates equality of variances The value under “Sig.” is greater than 05 It means that the two variances are not significantly different Therefore, they are approximately equal 90 APPENDIX 5: JOURNAL SUMMARY 1 New, thus like Interesting, attractive, enjoyable Develop activeness and creativenes s Easy to understand and apply Delve into words related to the reading texts Link related words logically Arrange words according to a specific topic Provide social knowledge Remember lessons at class Remember words easier and longer Widen vocabulary            1              2 2                             3  3 3                                            91                 TOTAL 13/38 16/38 10/3 22/3 04/3 05/3 04/3 8 03/3 01/3 13/3 1 19/3 8 knowledge Pre-imagine the texts Create interesting and meaningful contexts Discussion s Newfangled thus less comprehen d or not like much Embarrasse d at the first time Hard to students with limited vocabularie s Update few new words Sometimes overdetaile d thus hard to identify categories            1 1 92 2 2 3 3 3 02/3 01/3 01/3 03/3 01/3 01/3 8 01/3 01/3 APPENDIX 6: QUESTIONNAIRE APPENDIX 6.1: QUESTIONNAIRE IN VIETNAMESE VERSION TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG Y BÌNH ĐỊNH ……………………………………… PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT Mục đích bảng câu hỏi nhằm thu thập thông tin cần thiết cho luận văn thạc sĩ chuyên ngành giảng dạy lí luận tiếng Anh với đề tài “Hiệu đồ ngữ nghĩa việc dạy từ vựng” Rất mong bạn dành chút thời gian trả lời câu hỏi Đối với phần lớn câu hỏi để trả lời bạn việc đánh dấu () vào ô bạn chọn Sự giúp đỡ bạn qua việc trả lời câu hỏi góp phần lớn vào thành cơng luận văn Chúng cam kết thông tin thu sử dụng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Rất mong bạn hỗ trợ A THÔNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Tên B VỀ VAI TRÒ CỦA TỪ VỰNG Theo bạn vai trị từ vựng việc giúp học tốt mơn tiếng Anh nào? 1.1  quan trọng 1.2  quan trọng 1.3  quan trọng 1.4  không quan trọng Cụ thể bạn thấy từ vựng giúp ích cho bạn : 2.1  thuận lợi, tự tin giao tiếp 2.2  thuận lợi, dễ dàng việc học tập rèn luyện kĩ ngơn ngữ (nghe, nói, đọc, viết) 2.3  thuận lợi việc tiếp cận loại tài liệu, kênh thông tin để mở rộng kiến thức 2.4  tất điều nêu Bạn đánh giá vốn từ vựng nào? 93 3.1  tốt 3.2  tương đối 3.3  trung bình 3.4  Bạn có muốn cải thiện vốn từ vựng khơng? 4.1  muốn 4.2  muốn 4.3  4.4  không muốn C VỀ VẤN ĐỀ DẠY TỪ VỰNG BẰNG BIỂU ĐỒ NGỮ NGHĨA Bạn thích từ vựng dạy giai đoạn học? 1.1  trước 1.2  1.3  sau 1.4  trước, sau Thường thầy/cô bạn dạy từ vựng theo: 2.1  Phương pháp truyền thống như: liệt kê từ cho biết nghĩa tiếng Việt, liệt kê từ sau cung cấp câu ví dụ có từ để học sinh đốn nghĩa 2.2  Phương pháp như: dạy từ vựng thơng qua trị chơi (game), tranh ảnh, đồ vật thật, biểu đồ, thông qua hát, truyện kể … Bạn thích phương pháp hơn? 3.1  2.1 3.2  2.2 Đối với bạn phương pháp dạy từ vựng đồ ngữ nghĩa (Semantic mapping) này: 4.1  4.2  không Ý kiến bạn việc giáo viên sử dụng đồ ngữ nghĩa dạy từ vựng: 5.1  thích 5.2  thích 5.3  bình thường 5.4  khơng thích 5.5  khơng thích Cụ thể, ý kiến bạn đặc tính sau đồ ngữ nghĩa sau phương pháp sử dụng để dạy từ vựng giai đoạn trước đọc: 94 6.1 6.1.1 - Lôi người học 6.1.2 - Làm cho học sinh động 6.1.3 - Tạo nên cảm giác thoải mái, không buồn chán học từ 6.2 6.2.1 - Phát huy trí tuệ người học 6.2.2 - Phát huy chủ động, sáng tạo người học 6.3 6.3.1 - Dễ hiểu 6.3.2 - Dễ áp dụng 6.4 6.4.1 - Chuyên sâu vào từ vựng đề tài học 6.4.2 - Các từ vựng hệ thống cách logic xoay quanh chủ đề định 6.4.3 - Cung cấp nhiều kiến thức xã hội 6.5 - Hình dung học nói vấn đề 6.6 - Tạo ngữ cảnh tình lạ, hay 6.7 6.7.1 - Giúp thuộc lớp 6.7.2 - Giúp dễ nhớ 6.7.3 - Giúp nhớ từ vựng lâu hơn, nhiều 6.7.4 - Tăng vốn từ vựng khơng mà cịn ngồi sống 6.8 - Phát huy khả làm việc theo nhóm (thông qua thảo luận) 95 Rất không đồng ý Không đồng ý Không Đồng ý Rất đồng ý Các đặc tính 6.9 6.9.1 - Mới lạ nên tạo bỡ ngỡ, khó khăn 6.9.2 - Khó với người học vốn từ vựng 6.9.3 - Đơi lúc cập nhật từ 6.9.4 - Cịn vụn vặt, chi tiết q nên đơi khó phân định rõ ràng mục 6.9.5 - Chưa sâu vào học Bạn mong muốn phương pháp sử dụng: 7.1  luôn 7.2  thường xuyên 7.3  7.4  không CÁM ƠN CÁC BẠN! APPENDIX 6.2: QUESTIONNAIRE IN ENGLISH VERSION BÌNH ĐỊNH MEDICAL COLLEGE ……………………………………… QUESTIONNAIRE This Questionnaire aims to collect necessary information for the TESOL M.A thesis entitled “The effects of semantic mapping in vocabulary teaching” Please spend some little time giving responses to the following questions For most of the questions, you just answer by ticking () in the boxes you choose Your responses will greatly contribute to the success of this thesis We promise the information collected will be used for the research purposes only All your responses are appreciated A PERSONAL INFORMATION Name B ABOUT THE ROLE OF VOCABULARY 96 In your opinion, how is the role of vocabulary in facilitating the learning of English successfully? 1.1  very important 1.2  important 1.3  rather important 1.4  not important at all Specifically, you find that vocabulary can assist you: 2.1  be advantageous and confident in communication 2.2  be advantageous and favorable in learning and practicing language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) 2.3  be advantageous in accessing reference documents and informative channels to widen knowledge 2.4  all the things mentioned above How you evaluate your present lexical stock? 3.1  fairly good 3.2  relatively good 3.2  average 3.4  bad Do you want to improve your lexical stock more? 4.1  want very much 4.2  want 4.3  have no ideas 4.4  don’t want C ABOUT THE TEACHING OF VOCABULARY WITH SEMANTIC MAPPING At which stage of a lesson you prefer to be taught vocabulary? 1.1  before 1.2  during 1.3  after 1.4  before, during and after Your teacher often instructs vocabulary by using: 2.1  Traditional approaches like listing new words and then providing their meanings in Vietnamese, or listing new words and then providing example sentences containing these words for students to guess 97 2.2  Innovative approaches like teaching vocabulary through games, pictures, real objects, graphs, songs, or stories… Which one you prefer? 3.2  2.1 3.2  2.2 For you, teaching vocabulary through semantic mapping is: 4.1  new 4.2  not new Your opinion about the application of semantic mapping in teaching vocabulary: 5.1  like very much 5.2  like 5.3  so so 5.4  don’t like 5.5  don’t like very much Specifically, what is your opinion about the following characteristics of semantic 6.1 6.1.1 - Attractive 6.1.2 - Make the classroom atmosphere lively 6.1.3 - Make students not feel bored and tedious but comfortable when learning vocabulary 6.2 6.2.1 - Develop students’ brainpower 6.2.2 - Promote students’ initiative and creativeness 6.3 6.3.1 - Easy to understand 6.3.2 - Easy to apply 6.4 6.4.1 - Delve into the vocabularies related to the topic about to learn 6.4.2 - Arrange vocabularies logically according to a specific topic 98 Strongly disagree Disagree Uncertain Characteristics Agree Strongly agree mapping after it was used to teach vocabulary at the pre-reading stage: 6.4.3 - Provide social knowledge 6.5 - Able to pre-imagine the content of the reading texts about to learn 6.6 - Create interesting and meaningful contexts 6.7 6.7.1 - Remember lessons at class 6.7.2 - Help to remember lessons more favorably 6.7.3 - Make the retention of words much more, easier and longer 6.7.4 - Widen lexical knowledge not only in the reading texts but also in the daily life 6.8 - Promote the competence in working in groups (through discussions) 6.9 6.9.1 - Newfangled, thus causing embarrassment or difficulties 6.9.2 - Hard to students with limited lexical stock 6.9.3 - Update few new words sometimes 6.9.4 - Sometimes overdetailed, thus making it hard to identify categories 6.9.5 - Not delve into the lessons much You wish this strategy to be applied: 7.1  always 7.2  frequently 7.3  sometimes THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! APPENDIX 6.3: QUESTIONNAIRE SUMMARY 99 7.4  no Raw count Percentage Part B: About the role of vocabulary (%) B.1: The role of vocabulary in B.1.1 very important 36 83.7 facilitating B.1.2 important 16.3 43 100 B.3: Students’ evaluation of their B.2.4: in communicating, practicing language skills, accessing documents B.3.2: relatively good 2.3 present B.3.3: average 31 72.1 lexical stock B.3.4: bad 11 25.6 B.4: Students’ thirst to improve their B.4.1: want very much 41 95.3 lexical stock B.4.2: want 4.7 the learning of English B.2: Vocabulary can assist students Part C: About the teaching of vocabulary with semantic mapping C.1: The stage of a lesson students C.1.1: before 28 65.1 prefer to be taught vocabulary C.1.2: during 14 20.9 C.2.1: traditional 42 97.6 C.2.2: innovative 2.4 C.3.1: traditional 16.2 C.3.2: innovative 36 83.8 C.4.1: new 43 100 C.5: Their opinion about the C.5.1: like very much 21 48.8 application of this strategy C.5.2: like 15 34.8 C.5.3: so so 11.6 C.5.4: don’t like 4.8 C.1.4: before, and after C.2: The approach of teaching vocabulary their former teachers during used C.3: The approach they prefer C.4: Their impression on semantic mapping 100 C.6: Their opinions about the characteristics of semantic mapping Agree Disagree Mean C.6.1.1: Attractive 42 1.44 C.6.1.2: Make the classroom atmosphere lively 42 1.32 C.6.1.3: Make students not feel bored and tedious but comfortable when learning vocabulary C.6.2.1: Develop students’ brainpower 42 1.37 41 1.86 C.6.2.2: Promote students’ initiative and creativeness C.6.3.1: Easy to understand 40 1.79 42 1.88 C.6.3.2: Easy to apply 37 2.09 C.6.4.1: Delve into the vocabularies related to the topic about to learn C.6.4.2: Arrange vocabularies logically according to a specific topic C.6.4.3: Provide social knowledge 42 1.72 43 1.30 42 1.81 C.6.5: Able to pre-imagine the content of the reading texts about to learn C.6.6: Create interesting and meaningful contexts 42 1.41 42 1.55 C.6.7.1: Remember lessons at class 32 2.25 C.6.7.2: Help to remember lessons more favorably 40 1.88 C.6.7.3: Make the retention of words much more, easier and longer C.6.7.4: Widen vocabulary knowledge not only in the reading texts but also in the daily life C.6.8: Promote the competence in working in groups (through discussions) C.6.9.1: Newfangled, thus causing embarrassment or difficulties C.6.9.2: Hard to students with limited lexical stock 42 1.34 43 1.37 37 2.09 33 3.74 26 3.58 C.6.9.3: Update few new words sometimes 41 4.46 C.6.9.4: Sometimes overdetailed, thus making it hard to identify categories C.6.9.5: Not delve into the lessons much 37 3.88 36 4.00 C.7: Students’ wish for the frequency C.7.1: always 16.2 to apply this strategy C.7.2: frequently 24 55.8 C.7.3: sometimes 11 25.5 101 C.7.4: no 102 2.5 ...CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: THE EFFECTS OF SEMANTIC MAPPING IN TEACHING VOCABULARY in terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses in. .. understand the words The instructor began the map by following the order of introducing the target word, asking the students to write it in the center of the map with a working definition, and... though the ways of expression are various, these perspectives represent the unanimity in confirming the original ability of semantic mapping to create the association in knowledge Semantic mapping,