SKKN applying web based quizlet application to increase vocabulary retention for EFL 11th graders at a mountainous high school

TEACHING EXPERIENCES TOPIC: APPLYING WEB-BASED QUIZLET APPLICATION TO INCREASE VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR EFL 11TH GRADERS AT A MOUNTAINOUS HIGH SCHOOL NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF TRAINING AND EDUCATION THANH CHUONG UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHING EXPERIENCES TOPIC: APPLYING WEB-BASED QUIZLET APPLICATION TO INCREASE VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR EFL 11TH GRADERS AT A MOUNTAINOUS HIGH SCHOOL Field : English Teaching Methods Teacher : Vương Thị Vân Group : Văn - Ngoại ngữ Tel : 0398123595 Thanh Chuong, 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Objectives of the study 1.3 Subjects of the study 1.4 Research question 1.5 Study scope 1.6 Research methodology 1.7 Significance of the study 1.8 Structure of the study CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Teaching and Learning vocabulary 2.1.1 Vocabulary definition 2.1.2 The role of vocabulary in teaching and learning English 2.1.3 Vocabulary teaching approach 2.1.4 Learning and teaching English vocabulary as a skill 2.3 Quizlet App as a tool of teaching and learning vocabulary 2.3.1 What is Quizlet app? 2.3.2 The use of mobile-Quizlet to learn and reinforce vocabulary CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 12 3.1 Research design 12 3.1.1 Research method Error! Bookmark not defined 3.1.2 Procedures Error! Bookmark not defined 3.2 Setting of the study 12 3.3 Procedures of Application of Quizlet in teaching and learning English 11 vocabulary 13 3.4 Participant instructions 16 3.5 Data analysis 16 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 18 4.1 Findings 18 i 4.1.1 Pre-test data 18 4.1.2 Questionnaire data 20 4.1.3 Post-test data 21 4.1.4 Pre-test and Post-test data comparison 24 4.1.5 Teachers’ interview 26 4.2 Discussion 27 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 29 5.1 Recapitulation 29 5.2 Limitations 30 5.3 Suggestions for further studies 31 5.4 Teaching implications 31 5.5 Learning implications 32 REFERENCE 33 APPENDIX A I APPENDIX B II APPENDIX C III APPENDIX D IV APPENDIX E VI ii LIST OF TABLES, FIGURE Table: Table 4.1: Statistics of the pre-test for the controlled data sample 18 Table 4.2: Statistics of the pre-test for the uncontrolled data sample 19 Table 4.3: Statistics on students’ attitude toward English lesson 20 Table 4.4: Statistics on students’ eagerness to learn EnglishError! Bookmark not defined Table 4.5: Statistics on students’ attitude toward Quizlet app 21 Table 4.6: Statistics on students’ attitude toward Quizlet app 2Error! Bookmark not defined Table 4.7: Statistics of the post-test for the controlled data sample 22 Table 4.8: Statistics of the post-test for the uncontrolled data sample 22 Table 4.9: Statistics of the pre-test and the post-test 24 Figure Figure 4.1: Pre-test’s average score of groups 19 Figure 4.2: Students’ attitude towards English lesson before using Quizlet App 20 Figure 4.3: Students’ attitude towards using Quizlet AppError! Bookmark not defined Figure 4.4: Post-test’s average score of two groups 23 Figure 4.5: Result comparison between Pre-test and Post-test 24 Figure 4.6: Change of test score range 25 iii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale In recent years, integration of technology in education has become the norm The trend advocates to promote many familiar flexible learning forms Meanwhile, in the second form, the corpus content is loaded directly into the handheld device, no longer dependent on the sea-changing elements as mentioned above but has a great focus on improving listening and speaking skills, vocabulary and grammar explanations, etc., at the same time, aiming at both improving the informal learning conditions (personalized), personalizing, matching (situated), true (authentic), both encouraging active learning towards self-management and multi-dimensional cooperation From the mentioned reality, in my opinion, the educators need to pay attention to new innovative tools to improve the effectiveness of the teaching progress, particularly in the context that children in many rural regions lack access to education due to poor infrastructures Meanwhile, in the midst of the growing economic integration, English is the communication tool acting as a bridge connecting cultures In fact, when it comes to the English language, people immediately think of it as an international language The language is now spoken in over 53 countries and territories making it the third most common spoken language following closely behind Chinese and Spanish It is used as the official Lingua franca of the EU and in many events, conferences, and exhibitions Thus, for any individual and particularly for Vietnam and Vietnamese, as an emerging economy, there is no doubt about the importance and necessity of English Given its significance, English has been made a compulsory subject in the Vietnamese education system Vietnamese students, the future generation of the growing South-East Asia economy, start learning the language at primary school level and are all subjected to take English as a compulsory graduation exam Contrariwise, after years of education from primary, secondary to high school, adding extra curriculum, many Vietnamese students, at university levels and beyond, lack the confidence and the ability to employ the language in daily lives As a teacher of English, I have dealt with many questions relating to vocabulary learning which are raised by my students or among my colleagues For example, what are the effective ways of learning vocabulary? How to retain a new word in the mind? Personally, I find it necessary to provide them with a successful learning approach to absorb English words Therefore, the researcher decided to provide a summary of the use of Quizlet application in increasing English vocabulary retention for EFL 11th graders in Thanh Chuong High School, knowing that the integration of technology can bring many benefits (Ene, 2013) The findings of this paper may aid in helping students not only at school included in this paper but also other schools nearby Additionally, the study outcomes would reveal recommended strategies for the teaching staff and potential directions for forthcoming papers Moreover, the employment of new effective teaching approaches is crucial for Vietnam projects on English teaching The Ministry of Education set 2025 as a goal to universalize the language at all school levels The organization urges teachers around the country to continue to innovate the teaching and learning of foreign languages in regular educational institutions, diversifying forms of learning to meet learners' demands, and improving the foreign language proficiency for human resources, the contingent of officials and employees in state agencies 1.2 Objectives of the study In particular, the study focuses on the use of Quizlet in learning as high schoolers The study aims to find out the effectiveness and ease of Quizlet in assisting learning effort and self-study outside the classroom environment 1.3 Subjects of the study The topic of the study is “Applying Web-based Quizlet Application to Increase Vocabulary Retention for EFL 11th Graders at a Mountainous High School” The subjects of the study are students’ vocabulary learning progress 1.4 Research question The researcher attempts to address the following questions: ● To what extent is the use of Quizlet beneficial to vocabulary retention? ● Does the use of Quizlet increase EFL 11th graders’ motivation in learning vocabulary? If so, to what extent? 1.5 Study scope ● Scope of research: 127 students and 10 teachers ● Time range: October 2019 - May 2020 ● Scope of content: Students’ learning outcomes and their impressions on the Quizlet app Given the scope of the study, the outcome of this research will face the limitation of limited time and budget 1.6 Research methodology In this research, mixed-method research design with utilization of both quantitative and qualitative approach will be used to identify the benefits and drawbacks of the employment of Quizlet in teaching vocabulary to 11th graders in a mountainous high school Meanwhile, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews are used as the main tools for data collection The use of both tools provides the author with data from different perspectives of the issue 1.7 Significance of the study Needless to say how important the role that vocabulary learning and teaching plays is to language learners, teachers and linguistics; this research might make be taken advantage in the following aspects In terms of theory, the research would make some certain contribution to the field of vocabulary teaching and learning as well as information technology application into language learning The whole study based on a large number of theories of knowledge related to vocabulary learning and teaching from renowned linguistics all over the world and several studies closely related to the field that this research investigates For practical use, the research, if proved effective, will be a good reference to English learners and teachers in the similar context Learning vocabulary of a language has always been considered as one of the hardest parts in learning a new language, as it is rather boring but time-consuming Learners are supposed to memorize a massive number of words to master the language Therefore, if this application proves to be an effective way of learning vocabulary, language learners can make extensive use of Moreover, although the research is conducted in small scale classes, once being completed, it may bring advantages to numerous teachers Optimistically, the teachers will take this research as a helpful consultant for teaching English vocabulary to learners 1.8 Structure of the study The research is composed of five chapters: CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This part presents the rationale of the study, aims and objectives, research questions, the scope, the significance, the research methods and organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter presents the theoretical backgrounds and previous research related to the topic of the study CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY This chapter involves the information about the setting of the study, the participants, instruments for collecting data and data collection and analysis procedures CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION The findings of the tests and questionnaires are presented in this chapter Issues related to the topic are then discussed to help highlight the research findings CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION This chapter summarized major findings, provides recommendations, shows limitations of the research, suggests topic for further studies and suggests some implications for teaching and learning CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Teaching and Learning vocabulary 2.1.1 Vocabulary definition According to Wilkins (1972), vocabulary may be understood as a collection of familiar words used and understood by a person or group of people Thus, in this case, English vocabulary may refer to words used in English-speaking countries Vocabulary normally increases with age There are two types of vocabulary: active and passive The latter includes words that a person can recognize at reading or listening, but not using them in spoken or written language such as regional slangs Each person's vocabulary is unlimited as it will accumulate over time According to a study by Harvard University, there are about 1,022,000 words in English (Alleyne, 2010) Meanwhile, it is almost impossible to determine how many words there are in English, mainly because it is impossible to determine when it can be counted as a single word Counting borrowed words in medical, legal, or other professions, the number of words is numerous Additionally, new words are being born to describe new phenomenon, new technology, or concepts like google (the act of typing words into the search engine google in order to find information about someone or something), photobomb (random funny faces appearing in the pictures sometimes deliberately), selfie (the act of taking pictures of selves using technological devices) …etc Therefore, it is almost impossible to learn and use all of these English words A big part of learning English is learning its vocabulary Most teachers claim that it’s very common for students to study all kinds of new vocabulary words and their definitions They can pass a multiple-choice test or match the words to their definitions in an exercise, but when students try to use these words in sentences, their sentences are confusing or incorrect That's because a word is more than just its definition, more than just denotation Indeed, there are three very important aspects of a new word that they should be sure to learn: denotation, connotation, and collocation, namely its form, spelling and pronunciation 2.1.2 The role of vocabulary in teaching and learning English The role of vocabulary is critical for any linguistics including English (Alqahtani, 2015) In a sense, language can be observed as a collection of vocabulary Therefore, it is important for learners to know vocabulary in sentences to comprehend and learn languages effectively However, the mastering of the language requires not only the knowledge on individual vocabulary as an independent part of the sentence from another, but also the connection and the dialectical relationships between words In fact, Wilkins (1972) stressed that the extent learners communicate ideas depends largely on their knowledge about grammar Yet unless learners have an adequate pool of vocabulary, they would not be able to express their opinions appropriately Nonetheless, the establishment of relationships is dependent on learners’ understanding of vocabulary (Alqahtani, 2015) Consequently, vocabulary, as a tool, is necessary for learners to communicate successfully Besides, many other skills in English learning such as reading comprehension, listening comprehension, speaking, writing, etc require vocabulary as a foundation Hence, the learning and practice of vocabulary is considered the key factors in communicating and acquiring a language in general and in English in particular (Alqahtani, 2015) Most importantly, the main goal of learning English is to communicate So, students may also learn by comparing and contrasting the target language with their mother tongue to know about the context and the relationship between words better because the deep knowledge about both foreign tongue and the mother tongue enhance learners’ ability to communicate effectively 2.1.3 Vocabulary teaching approach There are many interesting and efficient vocabulary learning methods But it seems that many people have not found the most effective one Students and teachers, especially in Vietnam, are too dependent on the traditional ways at schools from elementary to high school Practicing copying many times, even dozens of times a word to remember, is one way of learning It is not possible to deny its benefits in long-term memorization But according to the changes in times, foreign language is not only just a compulsory subject in school, but also a tool to help integrate into the world Thus, it is important to identify the effectiveness of teaching approaches In Vietnam, the teaching approach in general and vocabulary teaching approach in particular depends on regulation and guidance from the Ministry of Education and Training Specifically, teachers are required to adapt in accordance to changes in textbook content appropriately However, teaching foreign languages needs to be consistent and longer lasting Currently, because the main goal of learning vocabulary is to meet the requirements of the entrance tests or GCSEs, the most widely used approach in vocabulary teaching in Vietnam is memorizing the meaning of words directly translated from the native language Such monotonous methods fail to stimulate students' interest in learning, which is considered one of the important factors contributing to the effectiveness of the teaching-learning progress Indeed, the current vocabulary teaching approach in Vietnam is basically inefficient Vietnamese students often remember a lot of words yet are unable to Figure 4.6: Change of test score range of controlled group However, as few students seem to struggle to improve their mark, particularly in the lower score range, it almost seems to suggest that depending on other factors like studying habits, attitudes, motivation, and many others, the benefits toward students vary As a matter of fact, the questioning survey reveals quite a significant dissimilarity in students’ attitudes towards learning, their behaviour in class Whereas, concerning the standard deviation, the test scores distribution in the post-test is less fluctuating compared to the pre-test The decline in variation suggests that the differences in students’ ability have been slightly reduced with the addition of Quizlet While the difference is mild, the t-test reveals a number of much below percent, the null hypothesis on a significant change in the data may not be rejected at even 99 percent confidence level More importantly, the average test score of the uncontrolled group of 45 students who did not use Quizlet App in learning vocabulary is lower (5.85) than that (6.91) of 127 students who applied Quizlet App This can prove that the ability to memorize vocabulary with the help of Quizlet App lasts longer, which is considerably effective to increase vocabulary retention among learners In brief, while the current evidence shows considerable positive effects on the influence of Quizlet in teaching vocabulary, further study with consideration of other factors affecting students like attitude and motivation should be carried out After all, what if, the impact is significant due to the positive attitudes towards studying in this sample and they are solely the ones who saw their results improved disregarding the teaching approach Such a case would answer both the increase in average mark and the decline in standard deviation Certainly, the survey did show that many students have high motivation for vocabulary studying in pursuit of higher grades 25 4.1.5 Teachers’ interview First of all, questions are designed to collect the information about the teachers’ points of view towards adopting Quizlet into teaching vocabulary From the questioning of 10 teachers at Thanh Chuong high school, it was revealed that the participating teachers are almost young female teachers with more than 10 years of experience The demographics may suggest the dominating roles of gender in determining the ratio between female and male English teachers at the school Also, it likewise hints that teachers willingly participate in a study about new teaching approaches mostly belong to the new generation of teachers Additionally, the content of the questionnaire indicates that teachers at Thanh Chuong high school consider English vocabulary to be very important Such outcome is concurred by all teachers in the school In other words, despite the role of vocabulary which plays in English learning efforts and the understanding of teachers about its importance, under 10 percent of the students are interested in learning vocabulary in Vietnam Though, it may be quite encouraging that more students find the subject more interesting than teachers’ teaching From teachers’ perspective and defence on their opinions, teachers agree that it is impossible to understand the language without understanding vocabulary, or through the unit of study If learners not learn grammar, they can only communicate very little of their ideas But if they not have a certain vocabulary, they cannot express anything in communication The lack of vocabulary will make learners fail to establish communication relationships Some teachers also express the idea that vocabulary is a tool for learners to establish and succeed in communication This is also the main goal of learning and teaching foreign languages Clearly, from the students' questionnaire, it should be noted that despite students’ lack of interests in the subject, they seem to desperately want to get a high mark in English and, albeit little reluctant, learn more English vocabulary Such willingness to study may have been induced by their understanding about the significance of vocabulary in English learning Concerning their views on the tests employed in this study, most teachers think that the exercises are not challenging out of 10 teachers picked ‘Normal’ for the response to the second question in the questionnaire The remaining teachers, however, judge them to be ‘Difficult’ Thus, although the difficult level is not high, many students seem to have trouble getting average and above marks Few students even score lower than Meaning, they have problems at the basic level of English vocabulary in Vietnamese high school curriculum standard They are the average students Such conclusions may suggest the possible implication of Quizlet to the average students in other schools Lastly, in their own experiences, none amongst the participating teachers think the application of Quizlet in teaching students’ vocabulary is not effective There is broad consensus of opinion in the school on the idea that the application is either ‘Effective’ (60 percent or teachers) or ‘Very effective’ (40 percent of teachers) (showed in Figure 4.7) 26 Figure 4.7: Teachers’ opinions on applying Quizlet App in teaching and learning vocabulary Therefore, the employment of Quizlet in English vocabulary teaching in high schools, and particularly at Thanh Chuong high school should be employed in the teaching process in the near future 4.2 Discussion This study investigated the effect of using Quizlet in teaching and learning vocabulary to 11th graders in classes as well as their attitude towards this way of learning new words With the scores of the tests analysed, it is obvious that the use of Quizlet in increasing vocabulary retention to the classes is genuinely effective Apparently, the use of the app has brought about a productive result in the students’ vocabulary which is massively increasing They can memorize words in terms of their meaning, spelling and pronunciation for a longer time Though the other aspects of learning words such as for communication are not practiced, the students’ specific target is fulfilled If the students keep learning vocabulary this way for a certain amount of time, they are expected to master a great number of words that are target-focused Besides, this way of learning seems the most efficient to these active students Not to mention, students nowadays are very familiar with smart gadgets to work and more likely to make better use of the time on their devices Furthermore, the teachers responded positively to the use of the Quizlet App in their teaching vocabulary and most of them admitted the benefits of the application; namely saving time and energy in teaching new words, increasing students’ motivation, encouraging students’ autonomy and self-study and especially making students feel more interested or at least less reluctant to learn vocabulary In addition, students seemed to not only enjoy learning English vocabulary in 27 school using Quizlet but also doing homework at home and exploiting practice programs using the same approach Apart from using Quizlet which seems able to improve students’ tendency to review words after school, other motivational methods should be added to complement the result After all, as few students seem to struggle to improve their mark, it almost seems to suggest that depending on other factors like studying habits, attitudes, motivation, and many others, the benefits toward students vary Therefore, the most appropriate teaching method may be a mixed one with the addition of another approach to boost motivation, attitude, and positive habits 28 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 5.1 Recapitulation This concluding chapter will present a summary of the main findings as they relate to the research questions and discuss some pedagogical implications of the study It will also draw attention to the limitations of the study and make suggestions for how future research could build on the findings of this study In this paper, inspired by many previous studies in similar topics, the author employed an experimental study in three classes of 127 11th students in the school year 2019 - 2020 at Thanh Chuong high school The study lasts for 10 weeks which incorporates a pre-test and a post-test on vocabulary, a questionnaire survey, and English vocabulary lessons on selected topics The difference in test results and improving motivation through the questionnaire support the conclusion Following two tests and a questionnaire, it is hinted that the study effort, disregarding the teaching method (traditional vs portfolio), is worthwhile In detail, given the traditional teaching focus on vocabulary and grammar, the participants were able to obtain quite good results As a matter of fact, their results have increased remarkably from average scores of 6.29 to 6.91 Unknowing whether the previous test gave the students more experience in dealing with similar articles, clearly, the traditional teaching approach, through focusing on vocabulary and grammar, would not only improve students’ vocabulary knowledge as much as the implication of the Quizlet app In addition, the questionnaires on students’ opinion and teachers’ perspective reveal many outcomes concerning effective factors to the test outcomes like students’ attitude, willingness, tests’ difficulties, and others The findings have showed several interesting things to be discussed First of all, it can be pointed out that the participants are quite motivated to learn the English vocabulary on Quizlet as they consider it essential and beneficial They are also aware of the importance of learning vocabulary although it seems that they are used to the traditional ways of teaching, which they may find boring, and they have not had sufficient material sources for practice Thus, it is crucial that teachers put more efforts in teaching vocabulary by using suitable methods Teachers should be encouraged to use Quizlet as a supplementary tool to teach new words in their classrooms Thanks to the availability of online activities such as Cards, Learn, Speller, Test, Scatter and Race, the students can improve their pronunciation, check what they have learned easily and have fun with the games This brings them a new learning experience as they can learn and play at the same time rather than memorize long lists of words These activities can also be used as homework 29 accounting for part of the midterm score, which helps promote students’ autonomy and develop their self-study skills With respect to the effectiveness of the application, it can be suggested that both teachers and students should continue to use Quizlet However, some things should be taken into consideration After some time using the app, the students may find the activities boring as they are the same in all the units Moreover, due to the fact that Quizlet is currently recommended, not compulsory, the students may not be motivated to participate in Thus, it is necessary for teachers to combine different methods of teaching to make the lessons more appealing Moreover, although there is evidence in previous research showing that the most significant factors affecting students’ outcome mostly relate to attitude which may consist of students’ motivation, consistency in doing homework and participating in class, and their understandings of the significance of the subject, whereas teaching content and teachers’ attitude in teaching have small impacts, the incremental contribution of the teaching approach may contribute to the enhancement of students’ motivation and willingness to learn Conclusively, it is such a positive benefit that using Quizlet Application has motivated the students in learning vocabulary However, teachers keep in mind that using a particular application to learn may be more appropriate to some learners rather than others In this case, teachers need to adjust and integrate many tools as well as methods that help to optimize the teaching and learning effectiveness 5.2 Limitations To exploit the full potential of Quizlet App, it is required that both teachers and learners have monthly paid account, which is sometimes quite expensive or impossible for some students and teachers In addition, technology skills of the users are not the same and somehow limited, which prevents the expected results Besides, this was an exploratory study that only caught a glimpse of the present status of students' vocabulary learning at Thanh Chuong high school A larger sample with more diverse backgrounds would be desirable in order to yield more generalizable findings Furthermore, it should be reminded the study is limited to the small data in three classes at school The result should not be taken as a definite outcome and should not be implacable to all other groups of students with different backgrounds, capability, and others Hopefully, this will lead to more thorough investigations in the field Moreover, the analysis approach was merely data discussion Also, the survey questionnaire and questions used were limited In fact, the survey is limited to closed-ended questions with only one pick to choose In other words, the study may benefit from questions with multiple answers, open-ended questions, and combinations However, such study would require more time and budget Also, the 30 study fails to consider many other factors affecting students including attitudes and motivation As a matter of fact, there are many factors contributing to students’ study progress including the development of English vocabulary Aside from attitudes, facilities and learning materials are, in many cases, considered equally important determinants Particularly in this modern era of the internet and globalization, the lack of air conditioning, computers, and other sport facilities would limit the student’s capability for growth Additionally, the lack of facilities also restrains the school aptitude to compete in the modern age of free economy 5.3 Suggestions for further studies Nonetheless, given the limitations in this paper, further study with consideration of other factors affecting students like attitude and motivation should be carried out to ascertain the extent of effectiveness of Quizlet implication For instance, the future study should add more determinants into model consideration, not limited to just gender Particularly, the authorities and schools can assist, equip and facilitate the teachers as well as the students so that they have a chance to take full advantage of the application in teaching and learning English vocabulary Furthermore, it should be recommended that further research using larger sample data on larger scale of the increased number of participants with backgrounds in different schools and more types of questions in the questionnaire would be advisable Additionally, it is suggested that other factors affecting students like attitude, motivation, learning styles, etc be taken into consideration in further studies to make the declaration more convincing In final words, the researcher believes that despite some limitations, the research is till useful and can be a good reference for teachers of English in general and language teachers in particular who want to devote themselves to helping students get the best improvement that they can The research was done with hope that it will help teachers and learners find an easier way to learn vocabulary on a regular basis 5.4 Teaching implications Therefore, from the outcome above, teachers and students altogether may benefit from the adoption of Quizlet While the study was carried out without further consideration to many factors, such analyses should be left to future study Given the findings from this study, it should be noted that the teaching approach may not be applicable to all students Therefore, the implication of the teaching approach should be optional with focus on certain students’ types Furthermore, from literature review, here are some suggestions for teaching and learning vocabulary First, for teachers: 31 ● The teaching approach should provide the maximum opportunity for students by creating a learning environment in which students share knowledge, materials, work, etc for each other in the group or in pairs When working in groups or in pairs, students can support each other in terms of vocabulary, grammatical structure as well as sentence expressions, words and especially self-correcting In fact, when working in pairs or in groups, students feel more restless, more confident, not afraid to make mistakes, be commented on or taunted ● Teachers should provide students with the vocabulary they may need, while anticipating problems students will encounter After all, in this research, the improvement in the post-test result may have been partly influenced by the preparation on the topic prior to the test Meanwhile, as for students, since the teaching approach should be selective to individuals with certain characteristics Therefore, students should: ● Determine their learning motivation, so that the right attitude and learning strategies are appropriate In this case, the students should have average test scores with small divergence in English studying ability, strong drive toward learning for grades, reserved personality, and studious learners ● Actively participate in vocabulary activities in class, make the most of class time to memorise new words, and utilise Quizlet 5.5 Learning implications It is suggested that the students study more about the uses of gadgets incorporated into Quizlet for learning purposes to raise their vocabulary Therefore, better use of mobile devices and exploitation of Quizlet can be achieved In addition, the students should determine their learning motivation to have appropriate learning strategies and attitude toward the use of Quizlet App in learning English vocabulary Also, they should actively participate in vocabulary activities in class, memorize new words by utilizing Quizlet App Besides, learners should equip themselves with knowledge about the new technology and application by familiarizing with some interactive online tools Research regarding learning effectiveness to improve students’ vocabulary by using Quizlet should be conducted by the students Therefore, the enhancement of the four skills in learning English can be accomplished Last but not least, the learners should be able to deal with the problem of distraction when using gadgets and the application to learn English vocabulary Learners’ autonomy should be further reinforced so that the potentials of employing Quizlet can be absorbed 32 REFERENCE Alleyne, (2010), English Language Has Doubled in size in the Last Century, The telegraph, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/8207621/English-languagehas-doubled-in-size-in-the-last-century.html Alqahtani, (2015), The Importance of Vocabulary in Language Learning and How to Be Taught, International Journals of Teaching and Education, 3(3), 21–34, https://doi.org/10.20472/TE.2015.3.3.002 Baptist, S C (2018), Effects of Quizlet on vocabulary mastery, Glassboro, US: Rowan University Retrieved 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Learners’ Vocabulary Retention, Journal of Teaching Language Skills (JTLS), 4(64/4), 73–106, http://jtls.shirazu.ac.ir/article_325.html Lam, E T., Wang, L.-C C., & Zhao, X W (2018, January), Students’ perception of Quizlet as a Chinese learning tool: a preliminary study International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 128-136 Retrieved September 9, 2019, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322185343_Students'_perception_ of_Quizlet_as_a_Chinese_learning_tool_a_preliminary_study 10 Ott, T (2017), Mobile Phones in School: From disturbing objects to infrastructure for learning, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden Retrieved September 9, 2019, from 33 11 https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/53361/1/gupea_2077_53361_1.pdf Richard Kiely, (2009), Small answers to the big question: Learning from language program evaluation, Research Article, 99–116 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1362168808095525 12 Creswell, J W (2003), Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches, 1(2), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 13 Wilkins, (1972), Linguistics in Language Teaching London 14 Wood, (2001), Interactive Whiteboards: A Luxury Too Far?, Teaching ICT, 1(2), 52-62 34 APPENDIX A Pre-test: - The test took content from the textbook - Tieng Anh 11 (III-A, Test 1, Unit 11- Sources of energy, page 145, Bai tap Tieng Anh 11, Mai Lan Huong & Nguyen Thanh Loan) - Allotted time: 15 minutes - Topic: Sources of energy Read the following passage and choose the suitable words given to complete each blank matter, careful, filthy, dangerous, supply, available, reaches, contain, conservation, safe, renewable, humans Solar energy, air, water are usually called (1) resources because there are an unlimited (2) of them However, this definition may change if people are not (3) with these resources The quality of solar energy that (4) the earth depends on the atmosphere If the atmosphere is polluted, the solar energy reaching the earth may be (5) If life is about to continue, the air must (6) the appropriate amount of N, O2, CO2 and other gases If (7) continue to pollute the air, it will not contain the correct amount of these gases Water is also a (8) to take into consideration Industry is making our water (9) Therefore, resources must be conserved, the air and water must be protected (10) must play an important part in life Key of pre-test: Renewable supply careful reaches dangerous 10 contain humans matter filthy Conservation I APPENDIX B Post-test: - The test took content from the textbook - Tieng Anh 11 (VI, Revision of the second-semester examination, page 223, Bai tap Tieng Anh 11, Mai Lan Huong & Nguyen Thanh Loan) - Allotted time: 15 minutes - Topic: Sources of energy Read the following passage and choose the suitable words given to complete each blank abundant, ultimately, falling, environmental, replaced, non-renewable, costs, geothermal limitless, renewable, Renewable energy resources include solar, water, wind biomass, and (1) These resources are either virtually (2) like the sun, which will continue to shine for billions of years, or will be replaced faster than we can use them Amounts of (3) water or wind will change over the course of time, but they are quite (4) Biomass energy, like wood or fire, can be (5) quickly The use of (6) resources may also cause problems Some are expensive, while some, such as trees, have other uses Some cause (7) problems As the technology improves and more people use renewable energy, the prices may come down At the same time, as we use up fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, these (8) resources will become more expensive At some point, even if renewable energy (9) are high, nonrenewable energy will be even more expensive (10) , we will have to use renewable sources Key of post-test: geothermal limitless falling abundant replaced renewable 10 environmental Non-renewable costs ultimately II APPENDIX C Questionnaire Vui lòng dành vài phút thời gian để trả lời câu hỏi đơn giản sau Em thấy học Khơng Bình Chút thú Kích Tẻ nhạt từ vựng tiếng hứng thú thường vị thích Anh thú vị ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ mức độ nào? Em thấy hứng Khơng Bình Chút thú Kích Tẻ nhạt thú với dạy hứng thú thường vị thích giáo viên đến mức độ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ nào? Sau Em Khơng Bình Chút thú Kích Tẻ nhạt học từ vựng hứng thú thường vị thích tiếng Anh thơng qua ứng dụng Quizlet thiết ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ bị thông minh, em thích mức độ nào? III APPENDIX D SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE TEACHERS This questionnaire is conducted with a view to finding out the reality and the effectiveness of applying the Quizlet App to teach vocabulary at Thanh Chuong high school Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the data collected are only used for the study purpose Thank you very much for your cooperation! Age… ……………… Sex: Male Female Years of teaching:… …………… For each question, please choose one option that you think is the most appropriate or give your own opinion 1.How important you think English vocabulary lessons are ? A Very important B Important C Not important - Please explain why you think so……………………………………… According to you, Vocabulary exercises in English to your students are: A Very difficult B Difficult D Easy E Very easy C Normal How often you use Quizlet App in teaching vocabulary to your students? A Never B Sometimes D Seldom E Always C Often/Usually In your experience, what you think about the application of Quizlet in teaching students’ vocabulary? A Very effective B Effective C Not effective IV APPENDIX E Link to the classes to which Quizlet App is applied: https://quizlet.com/join/Rgs9hjWGS V ... The topic of the study is ? ?Applying Web- based Quizlet Application to Increase Vocabulary Retention for EFL 11th Graders at a Mountainous High School? ?? The subjects of the study are students’ vocabulary. ..NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF TRAINING AND EDUCATION THANH CHUONG UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHING EXPERIENCES TOPIC: APPLYING WEB- BASED QUIZLET APPLICATION TO INCREASE VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR EFL 11TH GRADERS. .. using a particular application to learn may be more appropriate to some learners rather than others In this case, teachers need to adjust and integrate many tools as well as methods that help to