The use of quizizz application in enhancing english vocabulary learning of students in grade 10 at hung vuong high quality school

HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --- NGUYEN THI HUYEN THU THE USE OF QUIZIZZ APPLICATION IN ENHANCING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING OF STUDENTS IN GRADE 10 AT HUNG

HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-

NGUYEN THI HUYEN THU

THE USE OF QUIZIZZ APPLICATION IN ENHANCING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING OF STUDENTS IN GRADE 10 AT HUNG VUONG HIGH QUALITY SCHOOL

B.A. GRADUATION PAPER

Field: English Methodology

PHU THO, 2020

HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-

NGUYEN THI HUYEN THU

THE USE OF QUIZIZZ APPLICATION IN ENHANCING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING OF STUDENTS IN GRADE 10 AT HUNG VUONG HIGH QUALITY SCHOOL

B.A GRADUATION PAPER

Field: English methodology

Supervisor: NGUYEN THI PHUONG THAO, M.A

PHU THO, 2020

Secondly, my deep gratitude was dedicated to all lecturers of the English Language Department, and all staff of the English Language Department for giving me priceless knowledge and unforgettable experiences during my study

Thirdly, I was particularly grateful to all teachers and students of grade 10A at Hung Vuong High Quality School who enthusiastically participated in

my questionnaires and my experiment

Moreover, I owned great debt of gratitude to my family and my friends, who have constantly supported and encouraged me during the time I carried out this research

Finally yet importantly, I would like to thank my readers for their interests and comments on my writing

Viet Tri, June 2020

Nguyen Thi Huyen Thu

ABSTRACT

This research has been conducted for the purpose of using Quizizz in enhancing English vocabulary learning for grade 10 There were 40 students of class 10A from Hung Vuong High Quality High School participating in this study The data was collected from survey questionnaires for students The result showed the real situation of learning English vocabulary as well as the effectiveness of using Quizizz in enhancing English vocabulary of students at class 10A

The study consisted of three main parts Part A dealt with the rationale, research purposes, research questions, research methods, significance of the research, and scope of the study Part B was content of the study consisted of 4 chapters Chapter 1 provided the theoretical background of the study consisting

of some basic knowledge of English vocabulary, game online, and Quizizz application Chapter 2 mentioned the setting of the study, participants, research method, instruments used, and description about the step to carry out the research Chapter 3 presented the current situation in learning English vocabulary in class 10A at Hung Vuong High Quality School and then gave description of the experiment on applying Quizizz in learning English vocabulary Chapter 4 presented the result from questionnaire 2 and discussion Part C summarized main issue of the paper, mentioning limitations of the study,

and suggestions for further studies

It was hoped that the study would make a small contribution to the improvement of learning English vocabulary

TABLES OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEGGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF CHARTS vii

LIST OF FIGURES viii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Previous researches 2

2.1 In the world 2

2.2 In Viet Nam 6

3 Research purposes 7

4 Research questions 7

5 Research methods 7

6 Significance of the research 8

7 Research scope 8

8 Research design 8

PART B: CONTENT 10

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 10

1.1 Vocabulary 10

1.1.1 Definition of Vocabulary 10

1.1.2 Types of Vocabulary 11

1.1.3 The aspects of Vocabulary 12

1.1.4 The importance of Vocabulary 13

1.2 Vocabulary learning 14

1.2.1 Vocabulary learning methods 14

1.2.2 Factors affecting Vocabulary learning 19

1.3 Educational online game 24

1.3.1 What is educational online game 24

1.3.2 The importance of educational online game 27

1.4 Quizizz 27

1.4.1 What is Quizizz? 28

1.4.2 Steps to use Quizizz 29

1.4.3 Advantages of using Quizizz 35

1.4.4 Disadvantages of using Quizizz 37

1.5 Using Quizizz in enhancing English vocabulary 38

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 40

2.1 Research setting 40

2.2 Subject of the research 40

2.3 Participants of the research 40

2.4 Data Collection Instruments 41

2.4.1 Development of Questionnaire 41

2.4.2 Content of Questionnaire 41

2.5 Data Collection Procedure 43

2.6 Data analysis 43

2.7 Research procedure 43

CHAPTER 3: EXPERIMENT 45

3.1 The current situation of learning English vocabulary of students in class 10A at Hung Vuong High Quality School 45

3.2 Experiment 50

3.2.1 Experiment procedure 50

3.2.2 Description of the experiment 51

CHAPTER 4: RESULT AND DISCUSSION 54

4.1 The result of the experiment 54

4.1.1 Result from Quizizz 54

4.1.2 Data analysis of the questionnaire for students after the experiment 55 4.2 Major findings 58

4.2.1 The current situation of learning English vocabulary of students in

class 10A at Hung Vuong High Quality School 58

4.2.2 The class 10A students’ perceptions of using Quizizz in enhancing English vocabulary learning 59

PART C: CONCLUSION 60

1 Summary 60

2 Implications 61

2.1 For teachers 61

2.2 For students 61

3 Limitations of the Study 61

4 Suggestions for Further Research 62

REFERENCES 63

I In the world 63

II In Viet Nam 66

III Websites 66

1.1 In Viet Nam 66

1.2 In the world 67

APPENDIXES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Technology

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Student’s opinion about the methods of 47

English vocabulary learning 47

Table 3.2: Students' knowledge and attitudes toward using Quizizz in learning vocabulary 49

Table 3.3: Description of Quizzes 51

Table 4.1: Student Satisfaction Survey 57

APPENDIX 4: JUSTIFICATION FOR QUESTIONNAIRE ITEMS 69

LIST OF CHARTS Chart 3.1: Student’s attitude toward the purposes of English vocabulary learning 45

List of Purposes 46

Item 7: To use them in oral or written mode 46

Chart 3.2: Student’s reasons of learning English vocabulary less effective 48

Chart 3.3: Students' attitude toward using Quizizz in learning vocabulary 50

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: The main screen of Quizizz application 30

Figure 1.2: How to sign up to Quizizz 30

Figure 1.3: How to search for quizzes on any topic or create new quiz 31

Figure 1.5: Ready – made topics 32

Figure 1.6: Creating a new quiz 32

Figure 1.7: Game code for joining a quiz 33

Figure 1.8: Assigning homework for students 34

Figure 1.9: Student’s screen 34

Figure 1.10: Doing a quiz 35

Figure 3.1: What is this? 51

Figure 3.2: Listen What word is this? 52

Figure 3.3: Preposition 52

Figure 3.4: Synonym/ Antonym 52

Figure 3.5: Fill in the Blank (Relative Pronoun) 53

Figure 3.6: Check box 53

Figure 4.1: General result of the unit 8 (1) 54

Figure 4.2: General result of the unit 8 (2) 54

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

English has played an important role in daily life It was the medium of communication, which people from different countries around the world can understand (Rakangthong, S., & Yimwilai, 2020) Reddy (2016) claimed that English played an important role in the modern world This was because it was the most frequently used language on the World Wide Web Therefore, English was no longer a mere subject to be learnt in the classroom but also emphasized social and practical use English language was also a key success factor needed for educational purposes English was vital for success at school and for further education (Rakangthong, S., & Yimwilai, 2020)

Vocabulary knowledge was important for every learner in order to succeed in learning a foreign language, especially English Harmer (2001) emphasized that in order to succeed in the foreign language learning, learners needed to focus on their vocabulary knowledge improvement In addition, Schmitt (2000) stated that vocabulary learning has become one of the most essential parts in second language acquisition Bromley (2007) stated that it was a principal contributor to comprehension, fluency, and achievement Hence, vocabulary played a very crucial role in learning a foreign language

With the first teaching internship at Hung Vuong High Quality School, I realized that students’ English vocabulary was limited They usually felt bored with vocabulary lessons When being asked about method to learn vocabulary, most of them said that they used traditional methods such as: learn by heart, or write new words many times They have not found out effectiveness way to enrich their vocabulary

There were so many techniques to improve students’ vocabulary One of them was using games Games had many advantages for both language teachers and the students They supported learning the target language when students were involved in the games and had fun without noticing that they were learning the target language, and furthermore it was a pleasure for the teacher

to present the language in an enjoyable atmosphere Another advantage of using games in a foreign language setting was to make less stressful moment gone

In a language learning atmosphere, stress-free environment should be provided (Gozcu & Caganaga, 2016)

The integration of technology became a necessity in education to meet the requirements of 21st century learning by using an online learning platform, one of which was Quizizz application Some researchers have found about the Quizizz Applications in improving students' vocabulary According to Ju (2018) states that Quizizz was an online assessment tool as a fun multiplayer classroom activity that allows all students to practice together with their computer, smartphone and I Pad It helped students check their knowledge and progress in learning and teachers can also assign homework to give students additional practice especially assess student language in their curriculum knowledge

For these reasons, the study entitled “The use of Quizizz application in

enhancing English vocabulary learning of students in grade 10 at Hung Vuong High Quality School” was conducted to examine the effectiveness of

Quizizz application in enhancing English vocabulary The researcher hoped that the implementation of Quizizz application can attract students in grade 10

at HV High Quality School to the learning of English vocabulary

2 Previous researches

2.1 In the world

Meng, C K., Nasir, J S B M., Ming, T M., & Choo, K A (2019)

conducted a research “A Gamified Classroom with Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Students using Quizziz” The study had

implemented a gamification web application (Quizizz) into two groups of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students, and also observed their engagement and eventually their quiz results for Human Computer Interaction (HCI) subject for five lectures were recorded In total, 47 students were participated in this study The lecturer gave short lectures to

students beforehand and followed by giving them simple quizzes through Quizziz With leaderboard and points as a gamification benchmark, the performance of the students was tracked for 4 class session to evaluate the effectiveness of gamified classroom

Rajendran, T., Naaim, N A B., & Yunus, M M (2019) conducted a

research “Pupils’ Motivation And Perceptions Towards Learning English Using Quizvaganza” The research design for this study was action research

and the procedure was according to Kurt Lewin Model’s Intervention Cycle Forty pupils were chosen as the target group for this study The Quizvaganza game was conducted for three different skills from the same topic after they completed the lesson each day The data was collected using Likert Scale questionnaires consisting of 14 items and semi-structured interview questions for 3 selected students The results of the questionnaires and interview were shown in figures and tables Findings of the study showed that it increased the interest of pupils in the class, and had a positive impact on pupils’ motivation They enjoyed learning English using games and wish to have more games in the future

Pitoyo, M.D., Sumardi, & Asib, A (2019) conducted a research

‘Gamification based assessment: A Test Anxiety Reduction through Game Elements in Quizizz Platform” The study investigated the category of students

test anxiety, students' attitudes toward Quizizz and the students' preference toward the elements of game in Quizizz This study was a case study which the data were collected by using observation, interview, and questionnaires The participants of this study were 14 students in an English course in Solo The sampling used by the researcher was purposive sampling The results of this study showed the category of students test anxiety considered moderately high, the students' attitude toward Quizizz in reducing test anxiety also considered high (M= 3.94) and the kinds of elements of game which students preferred most were Points (M= 4.357), Test report (M= 3.929), Leader board (M=3.714), Time restriction (M=3.357), Profile (M= 3.429) and Meme (M=

3.357) The implication of this study was Quizizz successfully reduce test anxiety because of the use of game elements in that application Thus, it was a good option for teachers to use Quizizz on the exam

Akhtar, H., & Hasanati, N (2019) conducted the research “Game-based learning: teachers’attitude and intention to use Quizizz in the learning process” The purpose of this study was to investigate the teachers’ attitude and

intention to use Quizizz as an online game-based learning platform in the learning process This study used an action research method Thirty-two high school teachers in Malang were selected as target groups for this study The teachers were given training related to the use of Quizizz in the learning process At the end of the project, they were asked to make their own test using Quizizz The data were collected using close-ended questionnaires to determine the teachers’ attitudes and intentions to use Quizizz The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis Most teachers answered that the training provided was beneficial Findings of the study also showed that teachers’ attitude towards Quizizz was positive, and they intended to use Quizizz in the learning process in the future Intention to use Quizizz was also related to the age of the teacher The older the teacher, the lower the intention to use Quizizz

Amornchewin, R (2018) conducted the research “The Development of SQL Language Skills in Data Definition and Data Manipulation Languages Using Exercises with Quizizz for Students' Learning Engagement” In this

paper, the researcher applied the SQL (Structured Query Language) skill in data definition language (DDL) and data manipulation language (DML) exercises and engaged the student’s learning by using Quizizz on students’ Introduction

to Database course The sample consisted of 34 students who enrolled in an Introduction to Database course in semester 1 of the academic year 2017 The students applied SQL language skill exercises when working on SQL assignment statement syntax The students' pre-tests and post-tests were assessed Percentage, mean and standard deviation, and average score (t-test) were used to analyze the data The result showed that the students’ scores from

the post-test was higher than the pre-test There was a statistical significance at the level of 0.05 According to the result, it indicated that the students’ achievement was improved by the implementation

Chaiyo, Y., & Nokham, R (2017) conducted a research “The effect of Kahoot, Quizizz and Google Forms on the student's perception in the classrooms response system” This paper showed the results from investigating

the effect of using Kahoot, Quizizz, and Google Forms in classroom on how the students' perception of concentration, engagement, enjoyment, perceived learning, motivation, and satisfaction The results showed that students learned something from doing the quiz via Kahoot, Quizizz and Google Forms But, there were significant differences in the concentration, engagement, enjoyment, motivation, and satisfaction Kahoot and Quizizz had presented a lot of positives over Google forms when used in the classroom

Arttırmak, O D Ö K B., & Samet, B A L (2018) conducted a study

to investigate the effectiveness of Quizizz in enhancing pre – intermediate student’s vocabulary knowledge In this study, 60 students who studied at a University in Turkey were divided into two groups and they have been observed over a 4 week period and an achievement test was administered to both groups The experimental group used an app called “Quizziz” during these

4 weeks and the control group went on learning vocabulary through traditional paper-based activities Results from this observation and the test showed that the experiment group slightly outscored the control group However, no significant difference was observed between the scores of these two groups

Permana, P., & Permatawati, I (2020) examined the effect of using Quizizz as a formative test tool in German classrooms This study involved a group that consisted of two classes, namely class A with 32 students and class

B with 29 students The two classes received equal treatment, namely the Quizizz application A survey questionnaire and test were used in this study The results showed that the application of Quizizz was effective to be used as

a formative test tool in learning German In addition, students also showed a positive response to the use of Quizizz in the classroom

Zhao, F (2019) investigated the effectiveness of Quizizz on enhancing students’ learning experiences in an accounting classroom 130 1st-year students of the accounting class at a university in American participated in this study After doing in-class exercises using Quizizz, students reported that this app brought positive impact on their learning experiences Class section in which Quizizz was applied more frequently reports higher scores on the satisfaction of using this app and higher scores on the instructor’s teaching evaluation

Ju, S Y., & Adam, Z (2018) conducted a research “Implementing Quizizz as game based learning in the Arabic classroom” The main purpose

of this research was evaluating the effectively interesting of students for Arabic class by implement of Quizizz as a game based learning in the Arabic classroom

of Sultan Idris Education University Malaysia The researchers tested 85 students for 3 sections during Arabic course titled “Arabic skill” The results of the questionnaire showed that the students displayed the position attitude for Quizizz as an online teaching and assessment tool during the Arabic class

2.2 In Viet Nam

Ha Anh Phuong (2019), an English teacher of Huong Can High School, Thanh Son district, Phu Tho province who was one of the global teacher in Viet Nam She applied Quizizz for her students in learning English vocabulary They all felt engaging by funny cartoon images corresponding to the right or wrong answers, to make players surprised and excited She also Quizizz gave homework for students to practice more

Nguyễn Hoàng Thảo (2019) used Quizizz to make test and check homework for students in Math In his research, he showed that Quizizz was used as a form of homework, making learning time more enjoyable The teacher could observe the number of questions the student has completed, true or false

The highlight of Quizizz was the use of funny cartoon images corresponding to the right or wrong answers, making the player surprised and excited

3 Research purposes

The study aimed to find out current situation in learning vocabulary of studentsin class 10A at Hung Vuong High Quality School, and then applied Quizizz application in learning English vocabulary for students Basing on the results, gave an evaluation about the effectiveness of using Quizizz application

in enhancing English vocabulary learning of students in class 10A at Hung Vuong High Quality School

- Theoretical research method: This method helped review the

literature of vocabulary, Quizizz application, helping to know the importance

of vocabulary in learning English

- Investigating method: This method was used to investigate the current

situation of learning English vocabulary of students at Hung Vuong High Quality School and the effectiveness of using Quizizz application in learning English vocabulary

- Experimental method: This method was employed to apply Quizizz

application in learning English vocabulary for students at Hung Vuong High Quality School

- Mathematical statistical method: It was used to calculate the data

collected from survey questionnaires to get the final results

6 Significance of the research

This study was very important for a lot of reasons Firstly, the result of this research was expected to give some contributions for the improvement of the English language learning at high schools in general and at Hung Vuong High Quality School in particular Secondly, this study also provided teachers

a new educational tool beside traditional methods in teaching to make the students interested in the subject Thirdly, the application of Quizizz in learning English vocabulary would bring students a new learning experience as they could learn and play at the same time rather than memorize long lists of words

It made their learning English vocabulary process easier, more interesting, and effective Finally, it enabled other researcher to get reference about the implementation of applying Quizizz in enhancing English vocabulary

7 Research scope

With the development of technology, many online games were appeared

to support learning, especially for language learning In this study, only Quizizz was applied to enhance English vocabulary learning of students because Quizizz had a full library of ready – made quizzes, I could choose and edit for

my purposes In addition, with the first teaching internship at Hung Vuong High Quality School, I was assigned to teach English at class 10A I realized that student’s vocabulary was at a low level Besides, due to time constraint, I only focused on small context of grade 10 students at hung Vuong High Quality High School The author would choose class 10A which included 40 students

to carry out the study

PART B: CONTENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provided the theoretical background of the study consisting

of some basic knowledge of English vocabulary, English vocabulary learning, game online, and Quizizz application

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the researcher mentioned research setting, the participants, instruments used, and description about the steps to carry out the research

CHAPTER 3: EXPERIMENT

Chapter 3 presented the current situation of learning English vocabulary

of students in class 10A at Hung Vuong High Quality School and then carried

out the experiment

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter gave the results and some major findings after the experiment

PART C: CONCLUSION

This chapter presented summary of the study, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further studies

PART B: CONTENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Vocabulary

1.1.1 Definition of Vocabulary

Neuman & Dwyer (2009) cited vocabulary as “words we must know to communicate effectively; words in speaking (expressive vocabulary) and words in listening (receptive vocabulary)” Alqahtani (2015) also highlighted that vocabulary is the total number of words that are needed to communicate ideas and express the speakers' meaning Linse (2005) stated that vocabulary is the collection of words that an individual knew Neuman and Drawyer as cited

in Bintz (2011, p 44) said that vocabulary could be defined as the words someone must know to communicate effectively: words in speaking (expressive vocabulary) and words in listening (receptive vocabulary)

According to Lehr, Osborn, & Hiebert (2004) stated that vocabulary referred to the kind of words that students had to know to read increasingly demanding text with comprehension Words that were considered appropriate were words that were comprehensible by learners and were coherent to their proficiency level (Allen, Namara, & Crossley, 2012) In the case of vocabulary acquisition, the input needed to convey meanings and be comprehensible so that learners were able to attach form to meaning (Ismail, Zaid, Mohamed & Rouyan, 2017) While, Nguyen Ba Ngoc and Nguyen Bang (2011) claimed that vocabulary of a language were all its words, compounds and idioms used to convey and received information in oral and written communication

According to Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Online, vocabulary was defined as:

- All the words that a person knows or uses,

- All the words in a particular language,

- The words that people use when they are talking about a particular subject and

- A list of words with their meanings, especially in a book for learning

a foreign language

In short, as English learners we should convey the meaning through the words we read This was similar with Nattinger in Sanusi (2009) stated that guessing vocabulary from context was the most frequently way of discovering the meaning of new word Hornby (2006) defined vocabulary was all the words that a person knew or used when they were talking about particular subject in particular language

From some definitions about vocabulary above, it could be said that vocabulary was the basic element of language which someone needed in learning a language especially to communicate effectively with others To sum

up, based on all of definitions about vocabulary above, the researcher concluded that vocabulary was all the words in a particular language that an individual knew or used to communicate effectively

1.1.2 Types of Vocabulary

Vocabulary could be classified into oral and print form (Hiebert and Kamil, 2005) The form of vocabulary when someone spoke orally or read orally belong to oral form Conversely, when someone read or wrote something, vocabulary would be seen in print form Furthermore, Hiebert and Kamil (2005, p 3) also stated that vocabulary could be classified into two types; productive and receptive vocabulary Those types would be explained below:

a Productive vocabulary

Productive vocabulary was usually used when someone shared his/her ideas when he/she spoke or wrote When someone spoke or wrote something, he/she usually used the words which were familiar to him/her This kind of words belonged to productive vocabulary According to Hiebert and Kamil (2005) productive vocabulary was the set of words that an individual could use when writing or speaking They were words that were well – known, familiar, and used frequently While Haycraft in Hatch and Brown (1995) stated that

productive vocabulary were words which the students understood, pronounced correctly and used constructively in speaking and writing

b Receptive Vocabulary

Receptive vocabulary was the set of words for which an individual could assign meaning when listening or reading These were words that were often less well known to students and less frequent in use (Hiebert and Kamil, 2005) Receptive vocabulary was words that the students recognized and understood when they occurred in context, but which he could not produce correctly (Haycraft in Hatch and Brown, 1995)

1.1.3 The aspects of Vocabulary

According to Lado as cited in Mardianawati (2012, p 11) “There were five aspects of vocabulary which were needed to be learnt by the students They were (1) Meaning; (2) Spelling; (3) Pronunciation; (4) Word Classes; (5) Word Use” Those aspects would be explained below:

a Meaning

Meaning became one of essential aspects that should be learned by the students because meaning referred to how the word gave its meaning to the language users Frequently, a word might have more than one meaning when it

was used in different context For example, the word “present” as a noun had meaning a period of time that is happening now The word “present” as a noun also could be defined as something that you give to someone, usually for a particular occasion Therefore, it was really important for the students to know

the meaning of the word because it would help them to use and understand the message from that word when it occurred in different context (Lado, 2012)

b Spelling

When the students encountered a word for the first time, they needed to know how to spell that word Spelling referred to what a word look like (its spelling) By knowing the spelling of a word, the students would know how to write a word correctly in written form Therefore, it was really important for the students to know the spelling of the word (Lado, 2012)

c Pronunciation

When the students learnt vocabulary, they also needed to know what a word sound like (its pronunciation) It would help the students to understand what the other means to say If a word sounded incorrectly, it would be difficult for someone to understand it Therefore, it was really essential for the students

to know how to pronounce a word correctly because it would avoid miss understanding in spoken communication (Lado, 2012)

1.1.4 The importance of Vocabulary

Vocabulary had an important role in the language learning As a linguist David Wilkins in Thornbury (2002, p 13) stated that “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” Obviously, vocabulary was essential to practice listening, speaking, reading, writing and speaking skills in general

Vocabulary had important role in English learning It was one element that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing all together (Huyen and Nga, 2003) In order to master all those skills, the students needed

to have good vocabulary mastery Adequate numbers of words which was acquired by the students would enable them to master English skill easily It would be easy for students to communicate their ideas both in written or spoken

form and comprehend what people say if they had good vocabulary mastery (Huyen and Nga, 2003)

Moreover, Dellar H and Hocking D cited in Thonbury (2002) also stated that when someone spent most of his/her time to learn grammar, there is no significant improvement in his/her English However, the significant improvement could be seen if someone learnt more new words and expression Someone could say very little with grammar, but without words someone could not say anything at all

Those statements showed that vocabulary was an important element in language learning In this case, the role of vocabulary was not less important than grammar The lack of vocabulary would bring many troubles to the students in learning English because without good vocabulary mastery, they would get difficulties to communicate their idea Therefore, the role of vocabulary was really essential in English learning because vocabulary would support the students in mastering English skills (Utami, A N., 2015)

1.2 Vocabulary learning

Vocabulary learning was aimed at enabling learners to understand the concepts of unfamiliar words, gain a greater number of words, and use words successfully for communicative purposes (Cahyono and Widiati, 2008) Meanwhile, Intaraprasert (2004) emphasized that the main goals of vocabulary learning were: 1) to discover the meanings of a new words; 2) to retain the knowledge of newly-learned words; and 3) to expand the knowledge of English vocabulary

Catala n (2003) proposed the vocabulary learning goals as: 1) to find out the meaning of unknown words; 2) to retain them in long-term memory; 3)

to recall them at will; and 4) to use them in oral or written mode

1.2.1 Vocabulary learning methods

a Guess the word based on the language structure

Identifying the word types of new words would help learners more easily in guessing the meaning of words Normally, the words after the auxiliary verb is

/ are; has / have; don’t / didn’t and had the "ing" tails; "Ed"; or "s" was a verb The words ending with "ly" after the verb "to be" and before the verb were usually adverbs The words after the verb "to be" and before the nouns were usually adjectives For example, in the sentence "Let me acquaint you with my family" we easily identified the word "acquaint" as a verb We then contacted the context in the above sentence to quickly find out the meaning of that verb

(Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

b Guess the word based on the words have the same root

The same root words were words that existed in different language forms but came from a common root If the target language was closely related to the learner's native language, the same root words were a useful resource for both word guessing and word memorization For example, the word "haus" in German was a word with the same root as the word "house" in English However, guessing this way was only really effective for languages that had similarities such as German and Dutch, which were two languages of the same

origin (Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

c Guess the word based on the context

Any language had words that were used frequently and words that were rarely used According to estimates of a recent study, only 2500 words out of the total vocabulary of a frequently used English remain very little used Therefore, it was natural to encounter words that have never appeared in

English learning (Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

An unknown word could be guessed based on context However, this method required learners to gain a certain level of proficiency in the language

as well as a full background knowledge of the subject under consideration and especially strategic knowledge about how the reasoning process worked well

(Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

The learner could guess the meaning of the word by 5 following steps:

- Based on the repetition of the word in the subsequent sentences, analyze

to find similarities and differences in their context of use

- Determination of word types

- Determining proper name Usually, the names of people and places are usually capitalized, so it's easy to identify

- Contact words after or before it Read the whole paragraph containing it to understand the main content of the paragraph

- Check the accuracy of guessing by replacing the word with a synonym or the corresponding Vietnamese word to see if the sentence makes sense or not

Guessing the meaning of words based on context was a difficult way However, if we done successfully and regularly this method, learners could not only develop their judgment skills but also be able to complete exercises

quickly (Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

d Use references

The purpose of the reference was for learners to check the accuracy of the words they have guessed Dictionaries were the most important and useful resource for English learners Currently there were many different types of dictionaries on the market, but a good dictionary must be a reliable publisher's dictionary, preferably English - English or English - English - Vietnamese

dictionary (Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

e Communication method

Communication methods were both used to discover the meaning of new words and to reinforce the word in future meetings Can understand this method was how to ask others about the meaning of a certain word

Teachers were a direct and accurate source of information When having difficulty with new words, instead of spending time looking up dictionaries, students could meet teachers directly to ask The teacher would help by explaining in Vietnamese, providing synonyms, giving definitions of the word

or taking specific examples to illustrate the meaning of the word (Norbert

Schmitt, 1997)

Learners could ask for help from classmates through interactive activities This was relatively good because each person had a specific vocabulary, one person knew the word but the other does not; through teamwork, team members can exchange information with each other,

contributing to the enrichment of each person's vocabulary (Norbert Schmitt,

1997)

Communication with foreigners was also one of the common ways to improve vocabulary They were very friendly and willing to communicate Through conversations, learners could imitate their pronunciation as well as their gestures of communication to gain confidence in speaking English

The method of communication not only helped students improve their vocabulary but also helped them expand relationships not only in school but

also outside society (Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

f Methods of memorization

Memorizing was a method of learning vocabulary through pictures, objects or word groups Learners often memorized in the following ways: Use pictures: instead of memorizing lengthy, difficult-to-remember definitions, it was best to create your own book illustrating the meaning of words with collectibles or designed by the learners themselves The book was

both unique and easy to view and easy to recall (Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

In addition, learners could also relate new words to special events and personal experiences Naturally, these new words would always be engraved in everyone's memory While learning new words, you needed to think of an image of the word you are learning Try to think of an image that was easy to remember so you could quickly remember the meaning when you saw it again

To help, the imagery imagined should be more about the meaning of the word

than about the pronunciation or the writing (Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

Contact related words: new words could be related to words that learners already knew in the second language It usually included some kind of relational meaning such as words of the same type (red, blue, white .);

synonyms (beautiful, nice, good - looking ); antonyms (cold - hot, tall - short ); subset (dog, cat, lion is a subset of animal) These relationships could be illustrated with semantic maps - a commonly used way to reinforce words (Oxford – 1990)

Some other methods of remembering: an analysis of the structure of words could be very useful for determining the meaning of words Studying suffixes, word bases and word classes was an extremely effective way to reinforce the meaning of words Explanation could be used as a strategy to improve learners' limited productive vocabulary Learning new words through phrases, idioms or proverbs was an optimal way to remember the meaning of individual words Based on the semantic specific signs was also a suggested

way to apply vocabulary learning (Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

In a nutshell, the memory method required learners to have a good memory and smart ways of memorizing Learners needed to choose for themselves the most appropriate and effective way to remember

g Cognitive method

This method was somewhat similar to the memorization method However, the difference was that the cognitive method does not focus too deeply on the process of applying the skill This group of methods included the process of repeating and using mechanical tools for vocabulary learning such as:

Read and write for many times: this was a process of repetition through spoken and written form The verbal form was how to read new words over and over again There were usually two basic ways of reading: reading silently and reading aloud Read silently to inculcate words in memory; Read aloud to learn the pronunciation of the word Writing words would help learners remember words longer because they have seen, read and heard the word and now they were feeling the word Try to write words in sentences that related to your life

and personal interests (Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

Use word lists in textbooks: at the end of every textbook was a word list

of lessons Each part had new words, pronunciation and meaning of that word This was a relatively useful reference for learners The purpose of using word lists in the cognitive method was completely different from the method of guessing words If the word prediction method used the noun list for the purpose of exploiting the original meaning, the cognitive method used them to

review and reinforce (Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

Take note of the new words: in the classroom or outside of the classroom, whenever you have accessed to new words, immediately recorded them in a small notebook and then checked them with a dictionary to supplement and correct the information you need set This way of learning would form a good

habit for learners, thereby improving their vocabulary (Norbert Schmitt, 1997)

1.2.2 Factors affecting Vocabulary learning

a Intra - lexical factors

According to Schmitt and McCarthy (1997) cited in Nguyen Thu, H (2008), intra - lexical factors that affected the learning of words included:

Pronounce ability: Foreign learners experienced phonological difficulties related to phonemes, combinations of phonemes and suprasegmental features What makes some words phonologically more difficult than others was very much determined by the learner’s L1 system The L1 system might be responsible for the learner’s inability to discriminate between some phonemes and subsequent confusion of words differing precisely in these problematic phonemes For example, learners of accounting terms might have difficulty with distinguishing words like durable, divisible, portable, and recognizable Some might find it was difficult to pronounce final consonant clusters in pieces and traders (Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997)

Familiarity with phonological features and a word’s phonotactic regularity (its familiar combinations of features) were shown to affect accuracy

in perceiving, saying and remembering the word Some studies had shown that

foreign words which were difficult to pronounce were not learned as well as the more pronounceable ones (Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997)

Correct pronunciation of a word requires stress on the right syllable Learners of English might have difficulty because the place of the stress is variable and had to be learned as part of the word spoken form Moreover, the weakening of unstressed vowels introduces yet another factor of difficulty, particularly for Vietnamese learners who were unfamiliar with this phenomenon in their L1 (Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997)

Orthography: If word knowledge required correct pronunciation and correct spelling, then the degree of sound script correspondence in a word was

a facilitating – or difficulty – inducing factor A Vietnamese word encountered

in reading presents no pronunciation mystery to the learner, provided the learner knew which letter combinations represent which sounds and dropped the final consonants in speech An English written word, however, might provide no clues to its pronunciation (e.g different pronunciation of the letter

‘e’ in accounting terms pledge and retire or the letter ‘o’ in mortgage and open note or the letter ‘u’ in current assets and security) Words characterized by such sound-script incongruence were good candidates for pronunciation and spelling errors (Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997)

Length: Intuitively, it would seem that longer words should be more difficult simply because there was more to learn and remember Learners of English might memorize more easily one-syllable words than two-syllable words, two-syllable words more easily than three-syllable words, especially for Vietnamese learners as the Vietnamese language was a monosyllabic language Some learners might have more difficulty in learning longer words than shorter ones and it decreased with the increase in the learner’s proficiency (Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997)

If the length factor could be properly isolated we might find longer words more difficult to learn than the shorter ones In a learning situation, however, it was hard to attribute the difficulty of learning a particular word to its length

rather than to a variety of factors Sometimes it was not the word’s length that affects students’ learnability but the learner’s frequent exposure to it In other words, it was the quantity of input that may contribute to the successful learning

of the short words, not their intrinsic quality (Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997)

Morphology

In flexional complexity: Features such as irregularity of plural, gender of inanimate nouns, and noun cases made an item more difficult to learn than an item with no such complexity, since the learning load caused by the multiplicity

of forms was greater (Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997)

Derivational complexity: The learner’s ability to decompose a word into its morphemes could facilitate the recognition of a new word and its subsequent production For example, familiarity with meaning of the suffix –re and the word invest would enable him or her to recognize the meaning of reinvest However, the lack of regularity with which morphemes could or could not combine to create meanings or the multiplicity of the meanings could be a source of difficulty For example, inflow, outflow (of capital funds), (Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997)

Deceptively transparent words (i.e words that look as if they were combined of meaningful morphemes) might cause difficulty to learners For example, in incorporate, income, indebtedness, in did not mean inside The learner’s assumption here was that the meaning of a word equaled the meanings

of its components This assumption was correct in the case of genuinely transparent words, but not when the components were not real morphemes (Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997)

Similarity of lexical forms L2 learners confused words that sound and/

or look alike In learning a new word, the foreign learner might experience form interference from an already known word, which would make the new word difficult to retain in its correct form This, in turn, might lead to confusion of similar words both in recognition and in production Similar lexical forms were called ‘synforms’ Synforms might be a difficulty-inducing factor for learners

For example: considerable/considerate/consideration; corporate/corporation/ incorporate; profit/profitable/profitability (Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997)

b Person-dependent factors

Lightbown and Spada (1999) stated that these factors included age, language aptitude, intelligence, attitude and motivation, personality Rubin and Thomson (1994) shared the same ideas about the factors including age, aptitude, attitude, personality, learning style and past experiences

Ellis (1994) cited in Nguyen Thu, H (2008) explained those factors as individual differences that affected different aspects of second language learning His report on the effect of age showed that learners who started as children achieve a more native-like accent than those who started as adolescents

or adults The younger was better in the case of phonology but not in the acquisition of grammar There was no clear evidence that age has great impact

on vocabulary acquisition

Ellis (1994) analyzed a number of learning styles used by adult ESL learners such as concrete learning style, analytical learning style, communicative learning style and authority orientated learning style He eventually concluded that “Learners manifest different learning styles but it is not yet clear whether some styles result in faster and more learning than others.”

Motivation played a significant role in the process of learning a second language and thus in vocabulary acquisition as well SLA research also viewed motivation as a key factor in L2 learning According to Ellis (1994), motivation was viewed as integrative motivation, instrumental motivation; resultative motivation and intrinsic interest

Intergrative motivation involved an interest in learning an L2 because of

a sincere and personal interest in the people and culture represented by the other language group It contrasted with an instrumental motivation, which concerned the practical value and advantages of learning a new language Learners with either integrative or instrumental motivation, or a mixture of both, would manifest greater effort and perseverance in teaching (Ellis, 1994)

Resultative motivation was explained by Ellis as an interactive effect between motivation and achievement A high level of motivation stimulates learning and success in L2 learning could help to maintain existing motivation Conversely, low motivation leaded to low achievement, and then lower motivation could develop Other internal sources of motivation, such as self - confidence, might be more important than either type of motivation in some contexts Motivation could also take the form of intrinsic interest in specific learning activities and might be more easily influenced by teachers than goal-directed motivation (Ellis, 1994)

Second language acquisition might be more difficult for some people due

to a certain factor - personality Personality could affect SLA in general and vocabulary acquisition in particular Studies had shown that extraverts (or unreserved and outgoing people) acquire a second language better than introverts (or shy people) Extroverted learners would be willing to try to communicate even if they were not sure they would succeed, while students that were afraid of embarrassing themselves by speaking incorrectly or by not being able to speak may try to avoid opportunities that would otherwise aid their learning (Ellis, 1994)

Those who avoid interaction were typically quiet, reserved people, (or introverts) Logically, fear would cause students not to try and advance their skills, especially when they felt they were under pressure Just the lack of practice would make introverts less likely to fully acquire the second language vocabulary (Ellis, 1994)

c Learning context

The learning context referred to the socio-cultural-political environment where learning took place The learning context could include the teachers, the peers, the classroom climate or the classroom interaction in general With regard to classroom interaction and second language acquisition, Ellis (1994) concluded that opportunities to negotiate meaning might help the acquisition of L2 vocabulary; Teacher-controlled pedagogic discourse might contribute to the

acquisition of formal language skills, while learner-controlled natural discourse might help the development of oral language skills; Learners needed access to well-formed input that was tailored to their own level of understanding This could be achieved in teacher-directed lessons with a clearly defined structure and by well-adjusted teacher talk All of these gave support to the hypothesis: successful L2 learning might be possible in a favorable classroom environment (Ellis, 1994)

d Learning strategies

Learning strategy was one important factor A learning strategy was a series of actions a learner takes to complete a learning task A strategy started when the learner analyzed the task, the situation, and what was available in his/her own repertoire The learner then went on to select, deploy, monitor, and evaluated the effectiveness of this action, and decides if s/he needed to revise the plan and action (Nguyen Thu, H., 2008)

Besides the above factors, the mother tongue could influence the way second-language vocabulary was learnt, the way it was recalled for use, and the way learners compensate for lack of knowledge by attempting to construct complex lexical items The more aware learners were of the similarities and differences between their mother tongue and the target language, the easier they would find it to adopt effective learning and production strategies Schmitt and McCarthy (1997) cited in (Nguyen Thu, H., 2008)

1.3 Educational online game

1.3.1 What is educational online game

Regarding language teaching and learning process, Gee (2005) believed that games were understood as conceptual models working across formal and informal learning contexts In language teaching, according to Warschauer and Healey (1998, as cited in Sørensen & Meyer, 2007), games had often been utilized to increase motivation and authentic communicative practices, since games had been conceptualized as an enjoyable factor in language learning They created a fun environment in which learners and even the teacher became

more interested in learning and teaching process In addition to this, games had been found as a serious and pervasive element for providing stimulation and simulation in educational settings

In informal contexts, games had often been related with the leisure activities of children since gaming was a key activity in children’s off school practices and most interactive games provided learners with communicative activities as they play games Thus, the game players would be using the language and accordingly learn it in order to participate in games (Sørensen& Meyer 2007) Interactivity in gaming meant as communication patterns in conversation, consultation, transmission and registration These understandings partly were compatible with communicative and socio-cognitive approaches to language and language learning, i.e the prioritization of negotiation and communicative ability, which was supported by Warschauer and Kern (2000)

In off school contexts, according to Sørensen & Audon (2004), and Warschauer (2004) children usually understood and utilized languages as a communicative tool, gathering information and gaming, whereas in schools the understanding and use of languages is often understood to be the purpose of doing the tasks Wu, Yen, and Marek (2011) investigated the effects of online EFL interaction on confidence, motivation, and ability suggesting enjoyment

as a key factor in increasing these learning variables This was also intuitive, since learners who were bored or who did not see the value in a course would not apply the lesson themselves Because learner-centered active learning increased enjoyment, EFL teachers needed to include such tools in their lesson plan

Teachers should try to provide their learners with fruitful interactions with native speakers, or skilled speakers of English from a variety of cultures,

on interesting topics Such beneficial, and therefore fun, interactions increase learners' motivation leading to improved ability and confidence The real benefit of such tool was not only making students more enthusiastic to take part

in such activities, but rather increasing their confidence in every kind of English

interaction, and also promoting their English ability Any type of communication in the target language or with the target culture would ultimately improve the learners' confidence, motivation, and ability (Wu, Yen, and Marek, 2011)

Yip and Kwan (2006) in their study entitled "Online vocabulary games

as a tool for teaching and learning English vocabulary" sounded that learners

playing online vocabulary games tend to learn more appropriately and could retain the new words for a longer period of time and retrieve more words compared to those who weren’t provided with vocabulary games Vocabulary instruction was a long-time process If the games were fun, relaxing, motivating and confidence boosting, the learners’ interest would increase To become sure that learning continues, it was required to see if the games provided the learners with continuous motivation

Although excitement was effective in motivating learners to play a game again, it was important to become sure that the excitement element did not negatively influence the learning objectives In specific, the kind of excitement induced by game playing was mainly associated with game skills However, a requirement for sophisticated game skills to play educational games could be overkill Teachers should be careful when bringing the games into the class Information about designing an effective lesson plan and skills required for incorporating online elements into teaching and learning process were deemed necessary to become effective facilitator (Yip &Kwan 2006)

The key findings of Yip and Kwan study (2006) were as following: Students and teachers alike, viewed online games as effective vocabulary learning tools

Students preferred online games as an educational aid when compared with traditional learning lessons

To increase students’ interest and guarantee learning effectiveness, more motivating games which provided learners with a sense of achievement and scope for development were required

Teachers thought that their role as researcher and facilitator has grown more prominent after employing information communication technology (ICT) tools

1.3.2 The importance of educational online game

Yildirim (as cited in Donmus, 2010, p.1498) suggested that “Educational games were activities that provided students the opportunity to reinforce the previous knowledge by repeating it in a more comfortable environment" Moreover, Song (as cited in Demirbilek et al., 2010) investigated how educational games should be designed in order to improve the writing skills of language learners The findings of his study showed that open-mindedness, systematicity, inquisitiveness and low interaction were the critical thinking disposition characteristics of second language learning

Donmus (2010) had done a research to gain information about using educational games with the support of social networks in foreign language education, the result of his study showed that students continuously interacting

in Facebook benefited from educational games for their learning Games played through social networks motivate students and helped them to construct their own leaning In a similar view, Kuzu and Ural (as cited in Donmus, 2010, p.1499) believed that "when games and education are combined, it can be educative and education environments can be entertaining The learners who learned with the use of games, gain positive attitudes and can be more motivated while learning"

Lewis (1999) argued that games were popular among children because they liked to play Through games, young learners could interact, discover, and experiment with their surroundings Using games not only enhanced students’ motivation, but also provided an incentive and stimulus to use the language Huyen Ang Nga, (2003) and Uberman, (1998) agreed that games created a fun and relaxed atmosphere where young learners could learn fast and retain words better

1.4 Quizizz

1.4.1 What is Quizizz?

According to Basuki and Hidayati (2019) Quizizz was a fun multiplayer quiz-game application for classroom activity Quizizz was an educational app that applies the concept of gamification (MacNamara & Murphy, 2017) The colorful interface, avatars and music provided students a similar experience as

a game does After students answered each question, Quizizz would show pictures with memes to tell whether the answer is right or wrong This is a treat

to students (Miller, 2017) Quizizz allowed anyone to conduct student-paced formative assessments in a fun and engaging way for students of all ages (Help Center: What is Quizizz, 2020) The salient features included:

Student-paced: Questions appeared on each student's screen, so they

could answer questions at their own pace, and reviewed their answers at the end

BYOD: Could be played by students using any kind of device with a

browser, including PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones

Thousands of public quizzes: Amazing teachers around the world

created thousands of great questions on Quizizz every day! This community effort generated great content that everyone could use

Quiz Editor: The Quizizz editor was the most awesome quiz editor in the

world! Well we think so at least do let us know if you don't agree :)

We took the hassle out of creating quizzes by allowing you to pluck questions from any quiz, easily add images from the internet, auto-save your progress and tons of other features

Reports: Our reports gave you detailed class-level and student-level insights for every quiz you conduct You can also download the reports as an Excel spreadsheet

Quiz Customization: Teachers had multiple options to customize their

quiz session to toggle the level of competition, speed, and other factors

According to Ju (2018) stated that Quizizz was an online assessment tool

as a fun multiplayer classroom activity that allowed all students to practice together with their computer, smartphone and I Pad It helped students check

their knowledge and progress in learning and teachers could also assign homework to give students additional practice especially access students’ language in their curriculum knowledge Quizizz was a game-based online testing tool that enables fun classroom activities With this application, students could interactively work on the given questions through their gadgets Students could get a better learning experience through this application because if they took the test with this application, they could also compete with their classmates At the same time, students could also find out their place among other players in the ranking list directly (Permana, P., & Permatawati, I., 2020, March)

Quizizz could foster student interest and participation in learning (Zhao, 2019) and Quizizz was well-suited to be used as a formative test tool as teachers could download the test report and evaluate student performance after running Quizizz Quizizz was an excellent online testing tool that allows students to review their knowledge and learning progress (Bury, 2017) Quizizz was a formative test tool that is suitable for getting information about how the overall class condition in understanding the content of the material being taught Quizizz was available online at http://quizizz.com This application was free and works in different browsers, including Android and IOS platforms With its user-friendly interface, Quizizz could help teachers assess their students’ language learning skills as well as their curricular skills (Bury, 2017) Quizizz supplied hundreds of quizzes that we could use or create ourselves Quizizz was

a game-based learning tool that could contribute to student concentration, participation, happiness, motivation and student satisfaction (Chaiyo & Nokham, 2017)

1.4.2 Steps to use Quizizz

a For Teachers

Step 1: Sign up

Teachers signed up Quizizz by the link: http://quizizz.com Then clicked

on “Get Started” (Figure 1.1)

Figure 1.1: The main screen of Quizizz application

Figure 1.2: How to sign up to Quizizz