5.1. The most useful discovery strategies perceived by the twelfth-form students Table 6.1 Perceived usefulness of discovery strategies by the twelfth-form pupils
Discovery Strategies No. %
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Guess its meaning from the context
Look up the word in a Vietnamese/English dictionary Use an electronic or online dictionary
Ask my classmates or peers for the meaning Learn words from the mass media
Try to think of an English word that is similar Look up the word in an English dictionary Ask my teacher(s) for the meaning
Look at the parts of speech
Look for the clues in the word itself Learn words from word lists or glossary Ignore it
Learn words through ICQ or chat room communication Interact with native speakers (e.g. the NET)
26 28 29 22 27 25 30 34 32 31 27 12 18 30
52 56.5 57.5 44.5 54 51.5 59.5 69 63 61 54.5 24.5 37 59.5 (Total number of respondents: 50)
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Ask my teacher(s) for the meaning (69%), Look at the parts of speech (63%), Look for the clues in the word itself (61%), Look up the word in an English dictionary (59.5%), Interact with native speakers (59.5%) are the five most useful discovery strategies perceived by the twelfth form students; while other strategies are listed in the same relatively high percentages. The two lowest rates are Learn words through ICQ or chat room communication (37%) and Ignore it (24.5%).
5.2. The most useful discovery strategies perceived by the high achievers
Table 6.2 Perceived usefulness of the discovery strategies by the high achievers
Discovery Strategies No. %
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Guess its meaning from the context
Look up the word in a Vietnamese/English dictionary Use an electronic or online dictionary
Ask my classmates or peers for the meaning Learn words from the mass media
Try to think of an English word that is similar Look up the word in an English dictionary Ask my teacher(s) for the meaning
Look at the parts of speech
Look for the clues in the word itself Learn words from word lists or glossary Ignore it
Learn words through ICQ or chat room communication Interact with native speakers (e.g. the NET)
30 21 21 3 10 0 45 40 21 25 36 0 7 15
60 45 45 6 20 0 90 80 45 50 75 0 15 30 (Total number of respondents: 50)
Based on Table 6.2, the five most useful strategies such as Look up the word in an English dictionary (90%), Ask my teacher(s) for the meaning (80%), Learn words from word lists or glossary (75%), Guess its meaning from the context (60%) and Look for the clues in the word itself (50%) are strongly perceived by the high achievers. Other strategies are perceived to be lower in the usefulness rate and the two lowest rates are respectively Learn words through ICQ or chat room communication (15%) and Ask my classmates or peers for the meaning (6%); no student rates for Ignore words and Try to think of an English word that is similar.
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Throughout two Tables above, several similarities are found in both the twelfth form students and high achievers‘ perception about the most useful discovery strategies. They both find it definitely useful in discovering new words by Looking up the word in an English dictionary, Asking teacher(s) for the meaning, Looking for the clues in the word itself and Guessing its meaning from the context; on the contrary, they seldom or even do not recognise to Learn words through ICQ or chat room communication and Ignore it to be useful in studying vocabulary. According to Schmitt‘s theory, guessing meaning from the context and using reference materials are perceived to be most useful. Social strategy is also highly appreciated because asking teachers can help give the L1 translation, a synonym, a definition by paraphrase or using the new word in a sentence, or any combination of these. The advantage of L1 translations is being fast, easily understood by students, and possible to the transfer of all the knowledge (collocations, associations, etc.) onto the L2 equivalent; but the disadvantage is that teachers have to know about learners‘ mother tongue. Based on Stern‘s theory, Cognitive and Interpersonal strategies are most effective. The easily-seen difference between them is that the twelfth form students highly appreciate most strategies, except the two lowest ones as fore-mentioned; whereas the high achievers almost focus their high perception surrounding a small list of discovery strategies. Again, the high achievers implement Management and planning strategy more flexible than the twelfth form students do.
5.3. The most useful consolidation strategies perceived by the twelfth-form students Table 7.1 Perceived usefulness of consolidation strategies by the twelfth-forms
Consolidation Strategies No. %
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Hear it spoken in English
Divide the target word into syllables Study the spelling of the target word Use English words similar in sound Read it in a text
Connect it to other English words on the same topic Put it in a sentence
Study the word list
Keep a vocabulary notebook Relate it to a visual image
Use Vietnamese words similar in sound Study the word over time
32 28 29 26 23 25 26 26 32 21 20 24
64 56 58 52 46 49 52 52 64 43 41 47.5 (Total number of respondents: 50)
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According to Table 7.1, the twelfth form students strongly recognise Hear it spoken in English (64%), Keep a vocabulary notebook (64%), Study the spelling of the target word (58%), Divide the target word into syllables (56%) to be the most useful consolidation strategies and other strategies such as Use English words similar in sound, Put it in a sentence, Study the word list also in the same high rate (52%). The two lowest rates are Relate it to a visual image (43%) and Use Vietnamese words similar in sound (41%); however, the two ones still be in a quite high rate, as clearly seen.
5.4. The most useful consolidation strategies perceived by the high achievers
Table 7.2 Perceived usefulness of the consolidation strategies by the high achievers
Consolidation Strategies No. %
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Hear it spoken in English
Divide the target word into syllables Study the spelling of the target word Use English words similar in sound Read it in a text
Connect it to other English words on the same topic Put it in a sentence
Study the word list
Keep a vocabulary notebook Relate it to a visual image
Use Vietnamese words similar in sound Study the word over time
12 25 27 15 7 30 20 27 40 2 0 32
25 50 55 30 15 60 40 55 80 5 0 65 (Total number of respondents: 50)
For the high achievers, they strongly perceive Keep a vocabulary notebook (80%), Study the word over time (65%), Connect it to other English words on the same topic (60%), Study the word list (55%), Study the spelling of the target word (55%) and Divide the target word into syllables (50%) to be the most useful consolidation strategies. The two lowest rates are Relate it to a visual image (5%) and Use Vietnamese words similar in sound (0%).
As clearly analysed in Table 7.1 and Table 7.2, both the twelfth form students and the high achievers highly appreciate to Keep a vocabulary notebook, Study the word list, Study the spelling of the target word and Divide the target word into syllables in consolidating
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vocabulary. But in the perception of the high achievers, Study the word over time and Connect it to other English words on the same topic help them memorize vocabulary effectively, which expresses their diligence, contextualization and well-organised learning style. Besides that, they almost focus their high perception surrounding a small list of consolidation strategies. Following Schmitt‘s theory, grouping has a significant effectiveness on their learning process; additionally, the high achievers are clearly seen to apply Management and planning strategy and Memorization definitely efficient compared with the twelfth form students (Stern‘s theory).