Flashcards versus wordlists in vocabulary instruction to efl secondary school learners

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI THUY FLASHCARDS VERSUS WORDLISTS IN VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION TO EFL SECONDARY SCHOOL LEARNERS MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION NGHE AN - 2016 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI THUY FLASHCARDS VERSUS WORDLISTS IN VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION TO EFL SECONDARY SCHOOL LEARNERS Major: Theory and methods of teaching English Code: 60.14.01.11 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION Supervisor: Dr Tran Thi Ngoc Yen NGHE AN - 2016 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates, and have not been published elsewhere Author Nguyen Thi Thuy i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr Tran Thi Ngoc Yen, who directly instructed and helped me carry out the study Her detailed feedback and insight, her kindness and enthusiasm encouraged me over the time of conducting the study Second, I would really thank my classmate Nguyen Huong Giang for her friendliness, generous assistance, which contributed significantly to the result of the study Next, I would like to show my special thankfulness to Quang Trung secondary students who helped me to carry out the experimental study Last but not least, I would like to devote my special thanks to my dear family for their love and encouragement during the process of the study ii ABSTRACT In recent years, second language vocabulary acquisition has become an increasingly interesting topic of discussion for teachers This study was carried out in order to examine and compare the effectiveness of two different vocabulary teaching methods (flashcards with wordlists) in EFL secondary classrooms To reach this goal, 70 secondary students were asked to participate in the experiment Forty new words were presented in eight lessons (three lessons per week) by the researcher The researcher created a straightforward procedure to scrutinize the efficacy of teaching vocabulary throughout flashcards and wordlists The findings showed that using flashcards help students remember the meaning and spelling as well as pronunciation of word better than using wordlists iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .vii LIST OF TABLES viii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Thesis design CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition of vocabulary 2.2 Classification of vocabulary 2.2.1 According to the concept of morpheme 2.2.2 According to the meaning 2.2.3 According to the use of word 2.3 The role of vocabulary in language learning 2.4 Vocabulary measurement 10 2.4.1 Word form 12 2.4.2 Grammar 13 2.4.3 Collocation 13 2.4.4 Meaning 13 2.5 Vocabulary instruction 13 2.5.1 Techniques to teach English vocabulary as a foreign language 13 2.5.1.1 Visual techniques 14 iv 2.5.1.2 Verbal techniques 14 2.5.1.3 Polish equivalent 15 2.5.2 Principles in teaching vocabulary 15 2.6 Flashcards in vocabulary teaching 16 2.6.1 Flashcards in foreign language teaching 16 2.6.2 Benefits of flashcards 17 2.7 Activities that can be done with flashcards 18 2.8 Wordlists in vocabulary teaching 19 2.8.1 Wordlists in foreign language teaching 19 2.8.2 Benefits of wordlists 19 2.8.3 Activities that can be done with wordlists 20 CHAPTER THE EXPERIMENT 21 3.1 Research questions 21 3.2 Materials 21 3.3 Participants 24 3.4 Procedures 24 3.5 Results 26 3.5.1 Results from the word meaning tests 26 3.5.1.1 The comparison of the scores on the first and the last tests on word meaning made by the two groups 27 3.5.1.2 The comparison of the scores on the first two tests on word meaning and the last two tests made by the two groups 29 3.5.1.3 The comparison of the scores on the first four tests on word meaning and the last four tests made by the two groups 30 3.5.2 Results from the word spelling tests 32 3.5.2.1 The comparison of the scores on the first and the last tests on word spelling made by the two groups 33 3.5.2.2 The comparison of the scores on the first two tests on word spelling and the last two tests made by the two groups 34 v 3.5.2.3 The comparison of the scores on the first four tests on word spelling and the last four tests made by the two groups 36 3.5.3 Results from the word pronunciation tests 37 3.5.3.1 The comparison of the scores on the first and the last tests on word pronunciation made by the two groups 38 3.5.3.2 The comparison of the scores on the first two tests on word pronunciation and the last two tests made by the two groups 39 3.5.3.3 The comparison of the scores on the first four tests on word pronunciation and the last four tests made by the two groups 41 3.6 Discussion 42 3.6.1 The effect of the flashcards and wordlists presentation on memorizing the word meaning 43 3.6.2 The effect of the flashcards and wordlists presentation on memorizing the word spelling 44 3.6.3 The effect of the flashcards and wordlists presentation on memorizing the word pronunciation 44 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 46 4.1 Summary of the main findings 46 4.2 Implications 48 4.3 Limitations 49 REFERENCES 50 APPENDIX vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language L1: First Language L2: Second Language vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Means and standard deviations of the first test and the last test on word meaning for the treatment and control groups: 27 Table 3.2 Result of score on the last test minus score on the first test on word meaning by participants from the two groups: 28 Table 3.3 Means and standard deviation of the first two tests and the last two tests on word meaning for the treatment and control groups: 29 Table 3.4 Result of score on the last two tests minus score on the first two tests on word meaning by participants from the two groups: 30 Table 3.5 Means and standard deviation of the first four tests and the last four tests on word meaning for the treatment and control groups: 31 Table 3.6 Result of score on the last four tests minus score on the first four tests on word meaning by participants from the two groups: 32 Table 3.7 Means and standard deviation of the first test and the last test on word spelling for the treatment and control groups: 33 Table 3.8 Result of score on the last test minus score on the first test on word spelling by participants from the two groups: 34 Table 3.9 Means and standard deviation of the first two tests and the last two tests on word spelling for the treatment and control groups: 35 Table 3.10 Result of score on the last two tests minus score on the first two tests on word spelling by participants from the two groups: 35 Table 3.11 Means and standard deviation of the first four tests and the last four tests on word spelling for the treatment and control groups: 36 Table 3.12 Result of score on the last four tests minus score on the first four tests on word spelling by participants from the two groups: 37 viii Countries Nationalities Days Numbers Months The weather Colors D Add the correct verbs a book a ask a letter b listen to a song c live at a picture d work a question e read English f speak in town g look in a bank h write E Fill in the correct prepositions We live in/ near/ on/ under New York, in/ near/ on/ under The Bowery We live in/ near/ on/ under a big apartment in/ near/ on/ under the third floor Our building is in/ near/ on/ under the library in/ near/ on/ under our apartment is a bakery We are very happy in/ near/ on/ under our neighborhood APPENDIX THE WORD MEANING TESTS Test 1: WORD MEANING TEST Write the meanings of the words: Words Christmas carol Meanings Answers: present poem saint character Test 2: WORD MEANING TEST Write the meanings of the words: Words lantern Meanings Answers: parade banyan moon cake firecracker Test 3: WORD MEANING TEST Write the meanings of the words: Words Meanings Stonehenge Answers: pyramid opera house rule statue Test 4: WORD MEANING TEST Write the meanings of the words: Words cave Meanings Answers: building citadel tower bay Test 5: WORD MEANING TEST Write the meanings of the words: Words jungle Meanings Answers: snorkel coconut palm amongst Test 6: WORD MEANING TEST Write the meanings of the words: Words Greece Meanings Answers: Cambodia king citizen century Test 7: WORD MEANING TEST Write the meanings of the words: Words canyon Meanings Answers: inhabitant ranger distance sights Test 8: WORD MEANING TEST Write the meanings of the words: Words save Meanings Answers: printer computer socket manual APPENDIX THE WORD SPELLING TESTS Test 1: THE WORD SPELLING TEST Reorder the letters: h/ C/ s/ i/ r/ m/ t/ s/ a r/ c/ o/ a/ l: r/ p/ e/ n/ e/ s/ t: o/ e/ p/ m: a/ s/ t/ n/ i: h/ c/ r/ a/ c/ a/ r/ t/ e: Test 2: THE WORD SPELLING TEST Reorder the letters: a/ l/ e/ r/ n/ t/ n: a/ p/ r/ d/ a/ e: a/ n/ b/ n/ a/ y: o/ n/ m/ o a/ c/ e/ k: r/ i/ e/ f/ r/ c/ a/ c/ k/ r/ e: Test 3: THE WORD SPELLING TEST Reorder the letters: o/ S/ t/ e/ ne/ n/ h/ e/ g: y/ p/ a/ r/ d/ i/ m : e/ p/ o/ a/ r o/ h/ s/ e/ u : u/ r/ e/ l: t/ a/ s/ / e/ t/ u : Test 4: THE WORD SPELLING TEST Reorder the letters: v/ e/ c/ a: u/ b/ l/ d/ i/ n/ i/ g : e/ l/ t/ d/ a/ c/ i : w/ t/ r/ e/ o : a/ y/ b : Test 5: THE WORD SPELLING TEST Reorder the letters: n/ u/ j/ e/ l/ g: r/ n/ s/ o/ e/ l/ k : o/ c/ u/ n/ t/ c/ o : l/ p/ m/ a : m/ g/ a/ t/ s/ o/ n : Test 6: THE WORD SPELLING TEST Reorder the letters: e/ G/ e/ r/ c/ e : m/ a/ b/ C/ a/ o/ i/ d: n/ i/ k/ g: n/ c/ t/ i/ z/ e/ i: n/ c/ e/ y/ t/ u/ r: Test 7: THE WORD SPELLING TEST Reorder the letters: y/ c/ n/ an/ o: n/ h/ i/ a/ i/ t/ b/ a/ t/ n : r/ n/ e/ a/ g/ r: i/ s/ t/ d/ c/ a/ e/ n : s/ t/ i/ h/ g/ s : Test 8: THE WORD SPELLING TEST Reorder the letters: v/ e/ s/ a: n/ p/ r/ e/ t/ r/ i : u/ c/ p/ o/ r/ e/ t/ m : o/ k/ s/ t/ e/ c : l/ m/ a/ u/ n/ a : APPENDIX THE WORD PRONUNCIATION TESTS Test 1: WORD PRONUNCIATION TEST Read aloud the following words: Christmas carol present poem saint character Test 2: WORD PRONUNCIATION TEST Read aloud the following words: lantern parade banyan moon cake firecracker Test 3: WORD PRONUNCIATION TEST Read aloud the following words: Stonehenge pyramid opera house rule statue Test 4: WORD PRONUNCIATION TEST Read aloud the following words: cave building citadel tower bay Test 5: WORD PRONUNCIATION TEST Read aloud the following words: jungle snorkel coconut palm amongst Test 6: WORD PRONUNCIATION TEST Read aloud the following words: Greece Cambodia king citizen century Test 7: WORD PRONUNCIATION TEST Read aloud the following words: canyon inhabitant ranger distance sights Test 8: WORD PRONUNCIATION TEST Read aloud the following words: save printer computer socket manual APPENDIX UNITS FOR EXPERIMENT Lesson 1: Read Unit 13 (Festivals) Christmas carol present poem saint character Lesson 2: Write Unit 13 (Festivals) lantern parade banyan moon cake firecracker Lesson 3: Getting started + Listen and read; Unit 14 (Wonders of the world) Stonehenge pyramid opera house rule statue Lesson 4: Speak Unit 14 (Wonders of the world) cave building citadel tower bay Lesson 5: Listen Unit 14 (Wonders of the world) jungle snorkel coconut palm amongst Lesson 6: Read Greece Cambodia king citizen century Unit 14 (Wonders of the world) Lesson 7: Write Unit 14 (Wonders of the world) canyon inhabitant ranger distance sights Lesson 8: Write save printer computer socket manual Unit 15 (Computers) ...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI THUY FLASHCARDS VERSUS WORDLISTS IN VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION TO EFL SECONDARY SCHOOL LEARNERS Major: Theory and methods of teaching... p.153) Knowing a word means being able to thing with it: to recognize it in connected speech or in print, to access its meaning, to pronounce it and to be able to these things within fraction... technique (flashcards or wordlists) better facilitates EFL secondary school learners? ?? retention of word spelling? Which technique (flashcards or wordlists) better facilitates EFL secondary school learners? ??