Vocabulary learning strategies of english major students at tra vinh community college (tvcc)

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES ½”¾ -VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES OF ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT TRAVINH COMMUNITY COLLEGE (TVCC) A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL Code number: 05.07.02 HUYNH THI BICH VAN Supervisor: NGUYEN LUONG NGOC, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY – AUGUST, 2007 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES OF STUDENTS MAJORING IN ENGLISH BUSINESS COMMUNICATION AT TVCC in terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Tra Vinh, August 27, 2007 HUỲNH THỊ BÍCH VÂN i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Huynh Thi Bich Van, 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 purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses Tra Vinh, August 27, 2007 HUỲNH THỊ BÍCH VÂN ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Nguyễn Lương Ngọc, Ph.D., who provided helpful guidance, valuable comments, and criticisms in the thesis My special thanks go to TVCC Board of Directors who offered me favorable opportunities to finish the thesis; and to my colleagues who provided me with data collection and let me observe their classes, all my lovely students in classes 2005 participating in the research for their cooperation I would also like to send my gratitude to my mother, who took care of my little son and gave me warm encouragement, to my husband, and my sister who supported me so that I could accomplish the thesis iii ABSTRACT The main purpose of the thesis is to explore the vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) that students majoring in English Business Communication (EBC) at Tra Vinh Community College (TVCC) actually employ; and in doing so, I would like to find out the difficulties that arise from the real teaching and learning situation in general, and from the application of VLS in particular To accomplish this, I conducted a survey, then a case study First, 65 EBC students took an initial test on vocabulary The test result gave me a first grasp of students’ vocabulary ability and their possible problems with vocabulary Based on the result, I designed a questionnaire to find out strategies they have employed and discovered their difficulties with learning vocabulary Then, to get some more data, I also carried out class observations, and interviews with teachers and students In order to look for suitable strategies for the good and the poor students and to see if employing appropriate VLS could help them improve their vocabulary, I chose good and poor students to take part in the case study After weeks, all of the participants took the final test I will compare their marks with the other participants to evaluate their strategy employing The study shows that the students lack VLS and learning autonomy, which affects their vocabulary size The students actually employ only some common strategies because they not know various strategies The thesis also proves that employing appropriate strategies can help both good and poor students improve their vocabulary The thesis points out some difficulties affecting their learning which are students’ attention on vocabulary, poor learning environment, insufficient teachers’ motivation, and the curriculum The thesis suggests some effective strategies for the good and the poor students, and solutions to resolve each problem They are the teaching methods, the school policy, and the program iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality - i Retention and use of the thesis ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv Table of contents - v List of tables and figures - ix List of abbreviations x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION - 1.1 Background to the thesis 1.1.1 Problems concerning vocabulary learning 1.1.2 Purposes and significance of the thesis - 1.1.3 Vocabulary in business English - 1.1.4 Syllabus -5 1.1.4.1 Overview of the syllabus 1.1.4.2 Goals and objectives -6 1.1.4.3 Teaching methodology 1.1.5 Students’ characteristics - 1.1.5.1 Students' background - 1.1.5.2 Students' needs - 1.2 Scope of the thesis - 1.2.1 Limits of the study - - 1.2.1 Subjects - 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Overview of the thesis 1.5 Summary CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW - 10 2.1 Vocabulary acquisition - 10 2.1.1 Theory of vocabulary acquisition - 10 2.1.2 Vocabulary size - 12 2.1.3 What is involved in the learning of a new word? 13 v 2.1.4 The role of memory 14 2.1.5 Autonomy in language learning - 16 2.2 Study on vocabulary learning strategies 17 2.2.1 Vocabulary learning strategies - 17 2.2.2 Teaching, learning and testing vocabulary - 21 2.3 Summary 24 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY - 25 3.1 Participants 25 3.2 Research design 25 3.2.1 Research questions -25 3.2.2 Tests -26 3.2.3 Questionnaire - 27 3.2.4 Observation - 28 3.2.5 Interview - 29 3.2.5.1 Selection of samples 29 3.2.5.2 Administration -29 3.2.6 Case study 30 3.2.6.1 Purposes of the case study 30 3.2.6.2 Selection of samples -30 3.2.6.3 Administration -30 3.3 Data collection procedure -31 3.3.1 Data collection procedure of the tests -31 3.3.2 Data collection procedure of the questionnaire -32 3.3.3 Data collection procedure of the interviews -32 3.3.4 Data collection procedure of the observation -32 3.4 Summary 32 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION -33 4.1 Results -33 4.1.1 From the initial test -33 4.1.2 From the questionnaire -33 4.1.2.1 Survey on student’ consciousness on vocabulary vi accumulation 33 4.1.2.1.1 Autonomy in learning vocabulary 33 4.1.2.1.2 Students’ difficulties in learning vocabulary -35 4.1.2.2.3 Possible factors affecting vocabulary learning -37 4.1.2.2 Students’ background -45 4.1.3 From observation -46 4.1.4 From interview 48 4.1.4.1 Lack of learning autonomy -49 4.1.4.2 Lack of motivation -49 4.1.4.3 Lack of strategies -50 4.1.4.4 The problem in the program -51 4.1.5 From the case study 53 4.1.5.1 Actual strategies that the students employ -53 4.1.5.2 Description of advantages and difficulties students have when they employ each suggested strategy -54 4.1.5.3 Final test result 58 4.1.5.3.1 Of all the participants 58 4.1.5.3.2 Of the case study 58 4.2 Discussion -59 4.2.1 Common problems -59 4.2.1.1 Some objective factors affecting students’ vocabulary learning -60 4.2.1.2 Subjective factors -60 4.2.2 Discussion on the tests and the case study -62 4.2.2.1 On the tests 62 4.2.2.2 On the case study -62 4.3 Summary 63 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS -64 5.1 Summary of the main findings -64 5.2 Contribution of the thesis 65 5.3 Suggestions -66 vii 5.3.1 To learning -66 5.3.2 To the curriculum - 67 5.3.2.1 To teaching 67 5.3.2.2 To testing 68 5.3.2.3 To the policy 69 5.4 Limitation and recommendations 70 5.4.1 Limitation - 70 5.4.2 Recommendations for further research - 70 APPENDICE -71 Appendix 1: Questionnaire 71 Appendix 2: Observation sheet -75 Appendix 3: Interview questions -77 Appendix 4: Initial test -78 Appendix 5: Final test -83 Appendix 6: Test results 89 Appendix 7: The framework of VLS -91 Appendix 8: Worksheets and activities for teaching and learning vocabulary 93 Appendix 9: Websites for teaching and learning vocabulary 98 Bibliography -99 viii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES TABLES Table 1: Aspects of knowing a word 14 Table 2: Most-and least-used strategies 18 Table 3: Most helpful and least helpful strategies 19 Table 4: Schmitt’s taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies .20 Table 5: Students’ interests in vocabulary 34 Table 6: Students’ learning autonomy shown in their goal setting 35 Table 7: Aspects students learn in a word 38 Table 8: Ways to consolidate vocabulary stock 39 Table 9: Reactions when meeting a new word in context 40 Table 10: Frequency that students learn vocabulary …42 Table 11: Ways that students present their vocabulary notebooks 43 Table 12: Students’ intended occupations 45 Table 13: Summary of advantages and difficulties in using each strategy 57 Table 14: Initial test versus Final test result 58 Table 15: Test results of the case study 59 FIGURES Figure 1: Five essential steps to learning new words .22 Figure 2: Students’ attention to VLS 34 Figure 3: Reasons of students’ limited vocabulary stock 35 Figure 4: Causes of problems in students’ vocabulary learning 36 Figure 5: Sources from which students gained their vocabulary 37 Figure 6: Types of vocabulary students select to learn 38 Figure 7: Students’ judgment of effective ways to improve vocabulary 41 Figure 8: Students’ judgment of skills that help improve vocabulary 42 Figure 9: Types of dictionaries used 44 Figure 10: Students’ frequency of using dictionaries .44 Figure11: Students’ ethnic groups .46 ix a knit register tumble confidential _ hold firmly with your hands contract reason for believing something is or isn't true evidence very angry sack written agreement furious slave b construction feature safety impact typical quality or important part of something institute organization which has a special purpose league security c debate exclusive plan integrate choice option mix / join something into a whole scheme stability d psychology crisis violent attack assault recognize and name a person or thing identify study of the mind hereditary estimate e temporary approve make certain VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 86 available for only a short time invoice say something is ok inventory confirm G Circle the choice that best gives the meaning of the given words: Ex: couch potato means a type of potatoes b type of vegetables c person who watches a lot of television d person who likes potato chip blackmail means consultant means weatherman means life expectancy means APEC means a take somebody away by force and demand money for his/her safe return b threaten to make your secrets public c steal things from a shop d steal from people’s homes a council or conference b chemical substance c expert who gives advice d adjective of “consult” a type of weather condition b weather protector c person who can adjust to different weather conditions d person who gives a weather forecast on TV or radio a the length of time that a human being is likely to live b prosperous life c someone who expects to live long d expectancy in life a Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation b Asia-Pacific Economic Conference c Asia-Pacific Electronics Conference d Asia-Pacific Economic Council H Write a sentence to illustrate each following word: Ex: furious He was furious with himself for letting things get so out of control presentation ……………………………………………………………………… VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 87 witness ……………………………………………………………………… traffic jam …………………………………………………………………… promote …………………………………………………………………… professional …………………………………………………………… I Complete the text below with these words: competition investment plan capital market products A few years ago, I decided to start my own business I live by the sea and I love surfing, so I knew that there would be a (1) ……………… for surfboards, wetsuits and all the other equipment that surfers need There were already other shops in the area selling similar (2) ……………, so I knew there would be quite a lot of (3) ……………, but I still thought I could make a success of it I had already built up a certain amount of (4) ………………… in my bank account but I would need an overdraft facility, so I asked the bank what I needed to They told me I needed to prepare a business (5) …………………… with a detailed cash flow I opened my shop in May, so I knew sales would be good, but when you start a business, the expenses are high as well In addition to overheads-rent, regular bills and so on- you also have to make a big (6) ……………………… in computer, equipment and of course, stock It’s too early to say, but things seem to be going OK I’m keeping my fingers crossed! VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 88 APPENDIX 6: TEST RESULTS No 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 CODES INITIAL TEST (100 MARKS) FINAL TEST (100 MARKS) 22 91 96 21 83.5 59.5 14 79 61 31 78.5 74 24 77 75.5 23 76 66 30 74.5 84.5 10 73 98.5 73 76.5 73 65 73 62 62 71 75.5 70 66 69.5 71.5 69.5 70 67 79 67 70 12 66 75.5 13 66 62 64 66 57 11 65.5 69 17 63 55.5 15 62 58.5 16 62 57 61 61 62 63 60 45 26 59 53 44 59 53 41 57.5 45 34 57 62 25 57 57 32 57 45 VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 89 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 38 56 69 36 55 44 20 54 53 18 53 52 19 53 49 42 53 49 40 52.5 75.5 35 51 66 28 50.5 46.5 39 50 60 37 49.5 53 45 49 53 33 48.5 57 29 48 58.5 47 47 49 48 47 40 51 44.5 52 56 44.5 48 46 44.5 32 52 44 40 50 44 37 43 54.5 58 43 45 53 40.5 50.5 27 38 40 49 37.5 41 54 37 46.5 55 37 34.5 65 33 23 60 32 29.5 59 31 58 57 28 54.5 43 27 55 Note: Students with the code 22,10,59,43 joined the case study VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 90 APPENDIX THE FRAMEWORK OF VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES It bases on Schmitt’s taxonomy (1999:207-208), consisting of 22 different vocabulary strategies, falling into strategy groups: Determination: Det 1: Analyze affixes and root Det 2: Associate a new word with similar sounding English words you know Det 3: Look up a new word in dictionary to know its meanings and uses Det 4: Use flash cards Social: Soc 1: Think or write sentences including the new word Soc 2: Ask teacher or classmates to know its meanings (translation) and uses Soc 3: Ask teacher for paraphrase or synonym of new words Soc 4: Practice new words in groups outside class Soc 5: Interact with native speakers Memory: Mem 1: Paraphrase the word meaning by yourself Mem 2: Use the new learned words to speak, to chat, … Mem 3: Draw semantic maps for words in the same topics Mem 4: Put the word in a context, like in an expression, a clause or sentence Mem 5: Associate the new word with a Vietnamese word having similar sound such as tiny –tí nị Mem 6: Group words into topics to learn Mem 7: Connect a new word with personal experience to memorize it Mem 8: Drawing pictures to demonstrate a new word Mem 9: Use physical action when learning a word Cognitive: Cog 1: Written repetition Cog 2: Verbal repetition VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 91 Cog 3: Write new words on cards and stick them somewhere you can see easily Cog 4: Learn vocabulary in wordlist of the textbooks Cog 5: Take notes in class Cog 6: Put English labels on physical objects Metacognitive: Met1: Continue to study words over time Met 2: Test oneself by doing word tests in books or on the Internet Met 3: Use English-language media (songs, news, films, Internet, …) VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 92 APPENDIX WORKSHEETS AND ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING VOCABULARY WORKSHEETS Worksheet 1: Vocabulary Frames Vocabulary Frames are a flashcard method for learning new vocabulary Do not use Vocabulary Frames for every vocabulary word encountered Words that introduce new concepts are best used with Vocabulary Frames Top Right Corner: Write the word’s definition Top Left Corner: Write the word’s opposite and cross it out Lower Left Corner: Write a silly sentence that uses the definition of the word Lower Right Corner: Draw a graphic to help you visualize the concept In the Center: Write the word VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 93 Worksheet 2: K.I.M for vocabulary words and new ideas Write the term or key idea (K) in the left column, the information (I) that goes along with it in the center column, and draw a picture of the idea, a memory clue, (M) in the right column The key idea may be a new vocabulary word, or a new concept The information may be a definition or it may be a more technical explanation of the concept The memory clue is a way for students to fully integrate the meaning of the key idea into their memories By making a simple sketch that explains the key idea, students synthesize and interpret the new information, making it their own Then, students can reference their drawings to easily remember new key ideas K I M Key idea Information Memory Clue drought Little or no rain over a period of time coup Takeover of government by military sovereignty Political independence VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 94 Worksheet 3: VOCABULARY WORD MAP ANTONYM DEFINITION or SYNONYM VOCABULARY WORD USE IT IN A SENTENCE DRAW A PICTURE or RELATE IT TO YOURSELF VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 95 PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES: Here is a selection of practical activities that direct learners towards using strategies of VL The useful alphabet Each student gets a letter and has to find 5, 10 or 15 words (s)he thinks would be useful for them They then report to the class, perhaps as a mingle activity, using word cards (on one side they write the letter, on the other the information on the wordspelling, pronunciation, definition) Word bag This is to get students to write down new words they hear in class At the beginning of the term/course, divide students into groups of about an give each group a number (e.g 1-6) At the beginning of each class, give each group about 10 cards on which they write the number of their group and the new words they hear in class At the end of each class, they put their cards into the “word bag” and every weeks, the teacher checks whether they still know those words and which group has the most cards In the end, there are two winners: the group that has the most cards and the one that knows more words Especially for you The teacher prepares a list of words Each student gets one word which is prepared especially for him or her The trick is that each student gets a word whose initial letter is the same as the initial of the student’s first name, e.g Giang gets generous Each student may look it up in the dictionary and after a few minutes report to the class E.g “My name is Giang and I’m generous That means that I am …(definition or explanation)… Students can the same using their surname VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 96 GUIDELINES FOR SELECTING TO-BE-LEARNED VOCABULARY Do… Avoid… Less is more depth is more Teach fewer Teaching or assigning words from vocabulary terms, but teach them in a manner that textbooks just because they are results in deep understandings of each term highlighted in some way (italicized, bold face print, etc.) Teach terms that are central to the unit or theme of study These are terms that are so important that if Teaching or assigning words just the student does not understand them, s/he likely because they appear in a list at the will have difficulty understanding the remainder of end of a text chapter the unit Teach terms that address key concepts or ideas While a text chapter may contain 15-20 Teaching or assigning words that will vocabulary terms, there may be only or that have little utility once the student has address critical concepts in the chapter passed the test sometimes only or 2!) Teach terms that will be used repeatedly throughout the semester These are foundational Assigning words the teacher cannot concepts upon which a great deal of information define will be built on over a long-term basis Assigning large quantities of words Assigning words that students will rarely encounter again VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 97 APPENDIX WEBSITES FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING VOCABULARY www.vocaboly.com www.vocabulary.com www.englishmedialab.com/vocabulary.html www.esl-galaxy.com/crosswords.htm www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/language_arts/vocab www.vocabularya-z.com www.puzzlemaker.com www.teach-nology.com/teachers www.topenglishteaching.com www.englishclub.com www.tolearnenglish.com VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 98 BIBLIOGRAPHY Cameron, L (2001) Teaching Languages to Young Learners Cambridge University Press (CUP) Carter, R (2000) Vocabulary - Applied Linguistic Perspectives Routledge Dudley, E.T & St John, M.J (1998) Development English for Specific Purposes Cambridge University Press Duong Thi Hoang Oanh, (2006) Memorization and EFL Students’ Strategies at University Level in Vietnam, TESL-EJ, Volume 10, Number Ellis, N (1995) Vocabulary Acqusitions: Psychological Perspectives and Pedagogical Implications The Language Teacher 19 (2) Gu Y and Johnson, R K (1996) Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Language Learning Outcomes Language Learning 46, 4:643-679 Hatch, E & Brown, C (1995) Vocabulary, Semantics and Language Education CUP Hutchinson, T., Ward, A (2000) Lifelines-Elementary Oxford University Press Hutchinson, T., Ward, A (2000) Lifelines- Pre-Intermediate Oxford University Press 10 Hutchinson, T., Ward, A (2000) Lifelines- Intermediate Oxford University Press 11 Jeffriers, L (1998) Meaning in English- An Introduction to Language Study St Martin’s Press, Inc 12 Lewis, M (1993) The Lexical Approach Hove: LTP Publications 13 Nation, I S P (2001) Learning Vocabulary in Another Language CUP 14 Nguyen Thi Nhu Ngoc, (2004) Difficulties in ESP Vocabulary Accumulation: Causes and Remedies A thesis in Master’s Programs at HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities 15 Nunan, D (1999) Second Language Teaching and Learning Heinle & Heinle Publisher VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 99 16 Nunan, D & Lamb, C (2000) The Self-directed Teacher Cambridge University Press 17 Oxford, R (1990) Language Learning Strategies: What every Teacher Should Know New York: Newbury House 18 Pavicic, V (1999) Learning Strategies in English as a Foreign Language Unpublished master thesis University of Zagreb 19 Richards, J C & Charles Lokhart (1999) Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classroom CUP 20 Riding, R & Rayner, S (2000) Cognitive Styles and Learning Strategies David Fulton Publishers 21 Schmitt, N (1997) Vocabulary Learning Strategies In Schmitt and McCarthy: 199-227 22 Schmitt, N (2000) Vocabulary in Language Teaching CUP 23 Schmitt, N & McCarthy, M 2000 Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy CUP 24 Valcourt, G & Well, L (1999) Mastery- A University Word List Reader The University of Michigan Press 25 Well, L & Valcourt, G (2001) More Mastery Vocabulary for Academic Reading The University of Michigan Press 26 Wenden, A & Rubin, J ((1987) Learner Strategies in Language Learning Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd 27 Zwier, L J (2002) Building Academic Vocabulary The University of Michigan Press VLS of Student Majoring in English Business Communication at TVCC 100 ... in English Business Communication at TVCC 16 2.2 STUDY ON VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES 2.2.1 Vocabulary learning strategies Many researchers have paid attention to vocabulary learning strategies. .. of the thesis is to explore the vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) that students majoring in English Business Communication (EBC) at Tra Vinh Community College (TVCC) actually employ; and in... encouraged to make use of learning strategies So, first of all, they must have suitable strategies The problem here is that most teachers not pay enough attention to learners' strategies Students usually