The use of games in teaching vocabulary

ABSTRACT The thesis attempts to investigate the effectiveness of games in teaching vocabulary, students ‘involvement in games as well as the possibility of game using to the variety of l

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

NGUYEN VU THUY TIEN

THE USE OF GAMES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY

SUBMITTED INPARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF TESOL

MA THESIS IN TESOL

Code number:

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN HOANG TUAN, PH.D

HO CHI MINH CITY, APRIL 2006

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

THE USE OF GAMES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY

In term of the statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Program issued by the Higher Degree Committee The thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree

Ho Chi Minh City, 09th April 2006

NGUYEN VU THUY TIEN

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, NGUYEN VU THUY TIEN, 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

Ho Chi Minh City, 09th April 2006

NGUYEN VU THUY TIEN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my Thesis Supervisor, Dr NGUYEN HOANG TUAN for his reading and reviewing a complete earlier manuscript of this study, as well as for his enormously significant advice, comments and suggestions during the study accomplishment

I also own my tremendous thanks to Dr Dennis Berg for his providing the basic background knowledge of statistics and research as well as the useful reference books and documents on this area

I would also like to thank my colleagues and students who have committed their intellectual energy to be part of the survey

I am particularly indebted to my father and my husband for their support and encouragement during my post- graduate course, and my younger sister, whose comments contributed to the study’s improvement

ABSTRACT

The thesis attempts to investigate the effectiveness of games in teaching vocabulary, students ‘involvement in games as well as the possibility of game using to the variety of learners Accordingly, some solutions will be suggested to overcome the difficulties and to improve the use of games in teaching vocabulary in Ho Chi Minh City

In order to find out the answer for the effectiveness of teaching vocabulary through games, a quasi- experiment was implemented in two classes of English minor at Huflit University After the eight week quasi experiment, the pre-test and post test scores were compared to prove the effectiveness of using games in teaching Beside the quasi experiment, questionnaire and interviews were also carried out to teachers and students of different Universities and Language Centers The data collection and analysis from the questionnaire and interviews were the answers for students’ involvement and the possibility of game using to the large variety of learners

From the study findings, educational implications and recommendations were raised to improve the use of games in classrooms Further research was suggested with the hope to investigate the different kinds of games and their relevant learners

2.1 CLT class and its essential changes 9

2.3 Researches and articles deal with classroom games in particular 13 2.4 Vocabulary – role and position in language teaching 15 2.5 Human brain and the process of memory 18 2.6 Strategies in vocabulary teaching and learning 21 2.7 Games - Origination and development in teaching 26 2.8 Researches on teaching vocabulary through games 28 2.9 Demonstration of games in teaching vocabulary 33

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 46 3.1 Design and administration of data collection instruments 46

4.1 Result from the Quasi-Experiment 53

4.3.6 Different view points on games teaching to different ages 87

APPENDIX B: Questionnaire 111 APPENDIX C: Some games designed for the quasi-experiment 113

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Richarch, J.C Platt’s word classification 17

Table 2.2: Oxford’s Mental Strategy 20

Table 4.1: Comparison of total 54

Table 4.2: Comparison of age 54

Table 4.3: Proportion between male and female 55

Table 4.4: Students’ mean of pre-test 55

Table 4.5 Students’ mean of post-test 57

Table 4.6: Comparison of pre-test and post-test means 58

Table 4.7: Chinese Class’s pre- test score distribution 62

Table 4.8: Chinese Class’s post- test score distribution 63

Table 4.9: Japanese Class’s pre- test score distribution 63

Table 4.10: Japanese Class’s post- test score distribution 64

Table 4.11: The Comparison of bad scores 64

Table 4.12: The Comparison of good scores 65

Table 4.13: Background information on leaner samples 66

Table 4.15: Learners’ opinion about proportion of frequency use in class 68

Table 4.16: Learners’ opinion about when to use games 69

Table 4.17: Methods that students and adults enhance their vocabulary 69

Table 4.18: Students ‘ opinion about frequency use 71

Table 4.19: Comparison of Japanese class ‘methods of vocabulary enhancement

72 Table 4.20: Learners’ opinion about proportion of frequency use in class 73

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Vocabulary is a crucial tool to convey meaning It is true that the more vocabulary a person obtains, the better he expresses his ideas, opinions and feelings According

to Wilkin, vocabulary plays a very essential role in communication: “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed” The same point of view came from Allen (1983): “Lexical problems frequently interfere with communication; communication breaks down when people

do not use the right words” Whereas an incorrectly grammatical sentence can be understood with no little difficulty through communication, it is hardly the case in the lack of vocabulary Thus, vocabulary is one of the key elements in language teaching and learning

The reality has proved that a limited vocabulary stock causes many difficulties for learners to improve their skills

A limited vocabulary background forces learners to encounter more challenges in reading for comprehension Poor vocabulary generally creates a great deal of arduousness Learners encounter too many new words in a text as it is too difficult

to guess unknown vocabulary Therefore, insufficient vocabulary learners usually get poor scores for the reading section Regarding the boarder meaning of language learning, apart from poor test score, learners generally have to face many difficulties to develop their reading skill

Similarly, these learners have to confront with a wide range of difficulties in listening to teachers or tapes When a series of unknown words are uttered, it is impossible for learners to understand The incomprehensibility is obviously one of the major barriers to follow the teachers’ instruction It is even more difficult to listen to tapes Getting across the meaning is impossible when most of the words are unfamiliar to them

In terms of writing, the meaning of ideas is distorted because of the vocabulary shortage Although some of these learners have great ideas for their paragraphs or essays, their inaccurate English expressions sometimes create meaningless sentences Many cases of obscurity occur due to the scanty vocabulary background Additionally, as they cannot generate accurate words to express themselves, they usually end up explaining periphrastically, and clumsy expressions are inevitable

It is noticeable that many learners with a very good grammar base are not good communicators Many vocabulary deficiency learners encounter great difficulties to express themselves in English In reality, Vietnamese use commonly occurs among learners in some class activities such as discussion or interpersonal exchange The reason is not due to students’ unwillingness to practice Because of their vocabulary destitution, their partners or group members cannot understand them Confusion sometimes crops up when learners attempt to express their ideas by means of referencing the Vietnamese equivalence The inadequacy of vocabulary is an impediment in learning English

A wide vocabulary background is essential in enhancing the four language skills It

is obvious that learners with an affluent vocabulary stock understand lessons more quickly and put them in practice much better Therefore, reading specialists (Goodman& Goodman, 1985; Smith, 1988) concurred that vocabulary should be the

focus in language instruction from the beginning stages It is a language area that needs continued growth and development

Despite this importance, vocabulary was not taken seriously into consideration and was situated in a minor position of language teaching and learning in the last years The curricula of many schools, universities and language centers have proved the importance of grammar and the neglect of vocabulary teaching In test books, especially the ones edited in Vietnam, the grammar points are usually emphasized with formulas in boxes and abundant of supporting excises If some random classes

of different ages and levels are observed, it can be easily seen that the great number

of teachers pay careful attention to grammar Final term tests in most of levels also advocates this tendency as a heavier part is usually constructed to check grammar competence Whereas, vocabulary is normally regarded as a subsidiary part to skill development This is a logical result of the teaching history

Vocabulary has changed the position during its long history of pedagogy The dominant position of vocabulary originated in the early history of teaching nearly

2500 years ago (Kelly,1969) As the learners’ purpose was to read Bibles and poetry, a great amount of vocabulary was needed W.H D Rouse quoted in Kenlly,

1969 that it was “to know every thing about something rather than itself” The traditional method, in which vocabulary was taught in the form of bilingual isolated word lists, was grounded on this assumption Dictionary and memorization were considered as the central means to enrich vocabulary

However, a great number of isolated words did not work in communication During the breakout of World War II, the need of oral proficiency to communicate with the allies as well as enemies was the cause of the teaching revolution This purpose gave rise to the birth of The Army or Audiolingual Method, attended to structure and form more than meaning Vocabulary at this time was strictly limited in some

specific contexts From then on, vocabulary lost its throne and was left in a neglected area

Recently, realizing the indispensable role of vocabulary in language acquisition, methodologists and language teachers have paid more attention to vocabulary development

The changes in teaching methodologies have had a huge influence on teachers For

a long time, the most important task to many teachers was to provide learners with the grammatical foundation to formulate sentences and to develop their skills Students’ vocabulary stock was considered to be a field of naturally developing after years of learning As the main goal was skill development, vocabulary was defined, explained or even translated quickly to save time Many teachers gave students a long bilingual list to learn by heart The poor and boring presentations have resulted in a negative attitude to vocabulary learning

In Vietnam, although students have to learn hard to pass examination, most of them rarely remember the meanings of new terms beyond the tests In many high schools, universities and language centers, a systematically lexical development is not taught because it has been considered as a supporting tool to teach other skills, not inextricably interrelated with the development of other skills, as mentioned above

Under perspectives of many learners, learning vocabulary has been associated with labor and boredom Listening to teachers, writing down the target language new words and their mother tongue equivalences, trying to memorize word lists passively are what students normally involved in, resulting in the fact that learning vocabulary renders a feeling of boring and indigestible

As learners expect to find learning vocabulary challenging and interesting, it requires teachers to find out new techniques of presenting and reviewing vocabulary Teaching vocabulary through games is one of the innovative one that changes the way of acquiring new words

In fact, games were experimented during the Natural Approach Despite its long history, playing games in classes gained no advocacy from methodologists and language teachers In their views, playing and learning belonged to the two separate areas While the main purpose of learning was to obtain knowledge, playing was for the sake of relaxing However, biologists have proved that in many cases, learning and playing are the same “Children engrossed in a make-believe world, fox cubs play fighting or kitten teasing a ball of string aren’t just having fun” According to Byers, “the timing of the playful stage in young animals provides an important clue

to what’s going on” Recent researches have also explored the importance of playing to brain development and how playing affects the learning process (Jensen, 2001; Shore,1997) Obviously, playing is not only to relax Obtaining knowledge is the reason why learners attend classes Yet, if learners are given the choice between

a serious and a cheerful atmosphere of language acquisition, most learners probably choose the latter That is why games should be used in classes

Although teaching through games originated from the Natural Approach, there have been just few researches on this topic Some can be counted are:

• Nguyen thi Thanh Huyen and Khuat thi Thu Nga ( 2003) The effectiveness of

learning vocabulary through games

• Azzuhri Busu Leman (1998) The effects of utilizing games in teaching

vocabulary to lower school students

• Agnieszka Uberman (1998) The use of games for vocabulary presentation

and revision

1.2 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

The study, carried out across schools, universities and language centers, aimed to explore teachers and learners’ belief, attitude and behavior in learning through

games In particular, the research sought to investigate into: (1) The effectiveness

of using games in teaching vocabulary, (2) The learners’ involvement, (3) The adaptability to diverse learners

Therefore, the research questions are as follows:

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Is teaching vocabulary through games effective?

Do learners want to play games?

Is it possible to use games for a variety of learners?

1.4 ASUMPTIONS

The study tests the following hypotheses:

1 The effectiveness of games in teaching and learning vocabulary can be measured

2 The majority of students want to get involved in games

3 Games can be used for a variety of learners

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The survey of these issues is based on:

1 An eight- week- quasi- experiment implemented in two classes of the second year non- major at Huflit University

2 A questionnaire delivered to a variety of learners: children, students and adults

3 Interviews with the teachers of different schools and students of the experimental group

The sample learners consist of the students of Huflit University, Nong Lam Language Center and the International School, District 5

The interviewee samples include the teachers from the language centers of Vietnam National University and Social Sciences and Humanities University, from Nong Lam and Huflit Universities and The International School The randomly picked students of the experimental group were also interviewed after the quasi- experiment

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study pays its contributions to both the practice and the theory of pedagogy

In reality of teaching, there are many advantages of using games in class First of all, playing games creates a relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere This atmosphere diminishes the students’ apathy, enhances good mood and positive attitude to language learning Playing games also creates communication contexts, which foster memory and recall Furthermore, with respect to the social and emotional aspects, playing games builds up better cooperation among group learners, thereby improving the positive participation in classroom context It should be noticed that learners also learn to manage their social behaviors through playing games, especially when they confront with the incidences of victory or loss the game Thus, game is a powerful way to help individuals learn to deal with their social world through interactions and negotiation

Concerning the theory contribution, the study aims to change teachers’ perspective

of teaching vocabulary as well as their view on games To teaching vocabulary effectively, teachers’ individual effort is not enough As vocabulary is built from a logical system, it should be systematically presented Thus, more lexical syllabus should be designed for vocabulary teaching and learning Additionally, teaching

vocabulary through games is a positive aspect that learners gain great benefits How

to teach vocabulary interestingly, how to make learners feel less tired, more enjoyable, how to create a more relaxing atmosphere in learning language are some questions for teachers to think about This is the reason for the research topic to be chosen

1.6 THESIS STRUCTURE

Chapter 1 provides the background and significance of the research, the rational and assumptions of the research and the research questions A brief introduction of methodologies is also concerned

Chapter 2 reviews the literature on the teaching and learning vocabulary and the use

of games in classroom activity In particular, the theories concerning the necessary changes in a communicative classroom, the new roles of vocabulary and games, and different viewpoints in teaching vocabulary through games are mentioned Additionally, the literature in the field of teaching vocabulary through games is reviewed

Chapter 3 presents the research methodology The study involves a quasi experiment in two classes The questionnaire were delivered to one hundred learners and the interviews with a number of teachers of English who have some experiences in using games in language teaching as well as the interview with some experimented students were conducted

Chapter 4 analyzes the finding from the quasi-experiment, questionnaire and interviews The analysis is clarified with statistic tables and graphs The statistic analysis and implication for teachers are in concern

Chapter 5 shows the study conclusion The summary of the main findings will be briefly mentioned The implications of the research as well as recommendations for further research are discussed

To adapt to its communicative intent, the essential changes are:

1 Roles of Teachers and Students

2 Activities Design

3 Class Organization

4 Class Atmosphere

Roles of Teachers and Students

As the requirement has changed teacher -centered approach is strongly contested whereas the student centered approach is significantly supported In a traditional classroom, “chalk and talk” was considered to be the unique method to provide knowledge This old pedagogy was described as a process in which a professor delivers a monologue, punctuated by chalkboard scrawling, before a passive group

of students All learners were expected to be quiet, listen to the teacher and take notes Talking in class or asking many questions to teachers were restricted Paulo Freire (2000) describes this process of education as an act of depositing in which

the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor This banking concept restricts learners’ thinking a narrow range of knowledge and a lack of creativity In addition, this is the method that requires teachers’ hard work Logically, who works hard will gain more success Thus, hard working teachers learn and review their knowledge while passive students do not gain much in their learning

It is due to this reason that a new pedagogy is required While a variety of new methodologies of language teaching have been successively presented, communicative language teaching approach seems to gain the great advocacy from the majority of methodologists and language teachers Communicative classes hold

an essential role in language teaching by generating and encouraging communication and discussion This approach requires teachers and students to

move beyond their traditional roles That is, teachers no longer control classes but

take on the role of facilitators, organizers, advisors and resources Conversely,

students become the center in the process of acquiring knowledge

Activities Design

To address the purpose of communication, classroom process also needs to be accommodated As the nature of communication centers on getting information, conveying and exchanging ideals, activities such as discussion, interpersonal exchange, story construction, problem solving, and communication games are given remarkable emphasis If activity designing did not hold a crucial role in a traditional class, it is central to the idea of communicative class For this reason, teachers are demanded to obtain a substantial number of teaching skills concerning abundant and meaningful activities for the communicative goals Thus, there is also the change in organizing classroom arrangement because role –play, games and discussion require pair and group work to maximize learners’ participation

Class Arrangement

Compared to teacher centered style of teaching, in the same amount of time, more learners are given more opportunities to use more language The innovative approach encourages pair and group work A group or pair is an ideally suitable size for individual contributions In pair or group work, students are put in the context of face-to-face exchange, which is more natural setting than traditional class This type

of interaction engages in itself “realer conversations”, such as personalized or creative talk Group and pair work encourages greater intensity of language involvement The increase of the amount of activity involvement results in higher quality in the use of language Furthermore, groups provide a “protective shield” to

“cushion the egos of the individuals” so that students are more confident to be with their partners or other group members

as well The provision of challenges and rich sources of stimulation in educational environment “sparks intrinsic motivation” Then, that is “intrinsic motivation raises students ’natural curiosity and interest, which promotes learning” (Joel Bach, 1985)

In some studies done by Crookes and Schmidt (1991) and Deci (1995), these

researchers believed that those who learn intrinsically gain superior understanding From this ground-breaking view, games obtained a better position in classroom language teaching

2.2 GAMES FROM DIFFERENT VIEW POINTS

“A game is basically governed by rules A language game is exactly the same, but with clear linguistic rules to which all participants in the activities must conform.” (Cesar Klauer,1998)

There are a range of opinions with respects to the use of games in classroom

instructions From perspectives of many teachers, games in classes are regarded

with a negative viewpoint Games represent a serious disturbance of the traditional classroom organization Playing games are assumed to make noise and is likely to disturb other surrounding classes For this reason, a great number of teachers are not willing to organize games in class Subsequently, some students are not interested in playing games because it is assumed that they benefit nothing from this

Even among the views advocating for using games in teaching practices, there have been the differential perspectives on the use of games in classes While a number of methodologists and teachers consider games as a subsidiary of lessons, others put games in the more important position According to Richard Amato (1998), games

“add diversion to the regular classroom activities” and “break the ice” Therefore, games are used to introduce new idea S.M Silvers explains that many teachers are enthusiastic about using games as “a teaching device”, “yet; they often perceive games as mere time-fillers” Lupita Chavez suggested avoiding the frequent use of games because games “provide few opportunities for input of new language” and

“most of games are suitable for vocabulary reinforcement.”

Through her observation, Agnieszka Uberman agrees with the fact that “ games are generally used as short warm-up activities or when there is some time left at the end

of a lesson” However, in her point of view, “games are not just time filling activities but have a great educational value” Zdybiewska (1994) considers games

to be a good way of practicing language as they provide a model of what learners will use for their future life Further support comes from W.R Lee (1979), who agrees that games should be treated as the central, not the peripheral to foreign language teaching In his view, “most language games make learners use language instead of thinking about learning of the correct form” Cook (2002) claims that

games generate considerable advantages in language teaching In his opinion,

games are composed of two opposite spectrums: patterned sound at one end (speech, semantic meaning) and pragmatic contextualized meaning at the other end (touch, eye contact, affection, emotion)

In comparison with the benefit obtained from the use of games in classes, which will be further discussed in the following sections, the disadvantages are not much

to take into an account Therefore, irrespective of the varying views, games have quickly developed and become an essential part in language teaching and learning

2.3 RESEARCHES AND ARTICLES DEAL WITH CLASSROOM GAMES

IN PARTICULAR

There is a growing body of academic work looking at the use of games in improving English language acquisition Classroom games are organized to improve different skills: speaking (Catherine Collier, 1996; Hoang thi Thanh Trang, 1999); vocabulary (Kazuko Atake, 2003); grammar (Arif Saricoban& Esen Metin, 2000; Kazuko Atake, 2003); pronunciation and phonetic (Veronica Makarova , 1997; Kazuko Atake, 2003)

Whereas most of these studies deal with classroom games, different areas of teaching are mentioned Kazuko Atake’s conference paper focuses on integrating games to teach vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation in Japanese high schools The advice on selecting and using games in class, integrating games in materials as well as the frequency of using are given Some daily games teachers could use in classes are also suggested

Different from Kazuko Atake, other authors focuses on specific area Arif Saricoban& Esen Metin aim at teaching grammar through games From their perspective, games are “the indispensable parts of a grammar lesson since they reinforce a form-discourse match” They suggest that games should have goals, be governed by rules, provide fun and be used after presentation to encourage students

to interact and communicate

Hoang Thi Thanh Trang and Catherine Collier share their view on games in improving speaking skill However, while Thanh Trang tries to measure the learners’ progress through a quasi-experiment and observations, Catherine Collier focuses on analyzing the distinctions among games, role play and stimulations to see how they affects individual behavior and classroom interaction Another distinctive trait is that Thanh Trang’s samples are students of the same level whereas Catherine Collier pays attention to different levels

An additional study conducted by Veronica Makarova named “Fun Games and Activities for Pronunciation and Phonetics Classes at University” Her paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Japan Association for Language Teaching, 1997.The presentation was grounded on the assumption that teaching phonetics and pronunciation was one of the greatest challenges in academic environment Low motivation and low feedback from students had ache – headed the majority of

teachers Therefore, class activities and games were designed to stimulate students’ interest and feedback In this meeting paper, Veronica used most of the vocabulary games such as crosswords, mazes, hangman or bingo for pronunciation practice

2.4 VOCABULARY - ROLE AND POSITION IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

The above works provide us a general perspective on the teaching of skills through games In fact, in spite of whatever skill needs to improve, vocabulary development

is always crucial since vocabulary background is the basic foundation to build other skills According to Jeremy Harmer, “if language structure makes up the skeleton of language, then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and flesh.” David Nunan shares the same view: “If one has an extensive vocabulary, it is possible to obtain meaning from spoken or written texts, even though one does not know the grammatical structures in which the texts are encoded”

However, in a survey of students ‘attitude towards vocabulary in England in 1986, Morgan and Rinvolucri found that after years of vocabulary neglect, the majority of teachers mainly focused on teaching grammar and pronunciation Two thirds of the student complained about vocabulary teaching at schools The reasons for the vocabulary disregarding were rooted in the history of language teaching, which had exerted great influence on teacher preparation programs

The fact that vocabulary was overemphasized during the period of 1940-1970 had led to serious re-consideration with regards to language learning It was believed that one could master a language by learning a large number of words Yet, gaining

a great amount of isolated vocabulary had not enabled learners to communicate

well In 1950, some specialists in methodology realized that vocabulary was not a

simple matter The meanings of words could not be adequately taught For this reason, it was better not to try to teach them It had been too time-consuming to explain new words while a limited amount of time was reserved for grammatical

instructions and skills building As a consequence of this, teacher trainees were not well -prepared for vocabulary teaching and thus rendering the field of vocabulary teaching neglected or inadequately instructed

Scholars today are taking new interest in the study of word meanings More and more researches have dealt with lexical issues since they realize the importance of vocabulary Lexicon frequently interferes with communication There is no conflict between grammatical and vocabulary development Vocabulary enrichment also enhances the development of other skills

As a result, teacher preparation programs today have paid more attention to effective techniques for dealing with vocabulary teaching The evidence of this is the edition of a series of vocabulary books For instance, R Grains& S Redman

(1986), Working with words, Cambridge; R Cater (1987), Vocabulary, Alan cunning worth& Phillipa Frest (1992), Word Power; Jill Hadfied (1998) Elementary

Vocabulary Games; Norbert Schmitt (2000), Vocabulary in Language Teaching;

Antony P.Cowie (1999), English Distionaries for Foreign Learners- A history; Michael McCarthy (1991), Discourse Analysis for Language teachers; Michael McCarthy and Norbert Schmitt (1997), Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and

Pedagogy; Coady&Huckin (1997), Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition and

so on

Since the role of vocabulary has been resituated, several professional journals and teachers’ conferences have reflected great interest in vocabulary learning How to effectively deal with vocabulary teaching has been a question of concern to most professionals and classroom teachers This question requires teachers to be well-equipped with a set of vocabulary teaching skills Teachers should have the general understanding of vocabulary classification, vocabulary in language and teaching,

the processes of human memory and the factors that may affect the process of vocabulary acquisition

Vocabulary from the Perspectives of Linguistics and Pedagogy

The enormous word system can be classified into many different sections In the field of teaching, it is divided into two main aspects: linguistics and pedagogy

Linguistics aspect

As far as linguistics is concerned, Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman divided vocabulary into two categories: meanings and forms Meaning is subdivided into conceptual, affective, multi-word verbs, idioms, collocation and sense relations Form includes synonym, antonym, hyponymy and other kinds of relations Under this category, word is presented through semantic and syntactic areas, from which three sub-categories are generated: grammar, world building and pronunciation

Richard, J.C Platt and J &H, (1992) classified vocabulary into function and content words Function words have little meaning on their own but they are central to the grammatical relationship within and between sentences On the other hand, content words refer to thing, quality, state or action and have meaning when the words are used alone Content words are subdivided into Denotative meaning (Denotation) and Connotative meaning (Connotation) The classification of words can be seen as follow:

Table 2.1 Richard, J.C Platt’s word classification

In a meaning system, connotative meaning is regarded as the central or core meaning of a lexical item Connotative meanings can be understood as the additional meanings of a word or phrase beyond its core meaning which is referred

to as a denotation These traditional meaning shows the language user’s emotion or attitude as well as other socio- cultural associations

Pedagogy Aspect

In terms of pedagogy, vocabulary is divided into receptive and productive (Fraser

et al,1963; Ingram,1974; Aitchison, 1987; Clark,1993).As reception precedes production, there are always a greater number of receptive vocabulary than that of productive vocabulary in students’ word storage Receptive vocabulary is defined as

“words that the students recognize and understand when they occur in a context, but which they cannot produce correctly” Productive vocabulary is regarded as “words which the students understand, can pronounce correctly and use constructively in speaking and writing” (Haycrsaft)

However, according to Norbert Schmit and Michael McCarthy, it is quite impossible to find a clear and adequate definition of what is meant by reception and production Receptive and productive vocabulary have been widely estimated but rarely defined Expressions used to describe these two notions include active vocabulary vs passive, comprehension vs production, recognitional vocabulary vs actual or possible use

2.5 HUMAN BRAIN AND THE PROCESS OF MEMORY

Together with the general understanding of vocabulary classification, knowledge of human brain and how it works with words under biological mechanism is essential for educators to make sense of the students’ learning process The knowledge of brain and memory process helps teachers to speed up the endosmosis of new words into learners’ brain

The three important processes of memory include encoding, storage and retrieval Encoding is the process in which memories are formed It is an active process which may be affected by other factors such as emotion or attention

Storage is another essential period of memory It includes three stages: sensory story, short term memory and long term memory In the first stage, sensory store retains the sensory image just enough to develop a perception Short term memory

is limited in capacity while long term memory has been suggested to be permanent

“Long term memory is seemly inexhaustible and can accommodate any amount of new information” (Ruth and Stuart)

The process of recalling memory is known as the retrieval stage This is not a random process

Basing on the analysis on human memory, Hunt (1982) suggested that all language learners have the desire to keep new vocabulary items for long term use and that good memory can be trained According to him, the act of human learning takes place in four steps:

1 Selecting information from incoming data

2 comprehension

3 store of information

4 retrieving for use

To Oxford (1990), reinforcing the memory includes creating mental linkages, applying images and sound, reviewing well and employing action

Table 2.2: Oxford’s Mental Strategy

As our mind is constructed like a library; the information storage can be chaotic or well organized If the language input is well organized, it is better to keep information in our long term memory and to recall when necessary For this reason, vocabulary strategies in teaching and learning are helpful

Memory Strategy

A Creating mental linkages

C Reviewing well

B Applying Images & Sounds

D Employing action

1 Grouping

2 Associating/Elaborating 3.Placing new words into context

Strategies are important since “if you are conscious of the process underlying the learning that you are involved in, then learning will be more effective” (David Nunan) Rebecca Oxford, one of the leading teachers and researchers in the field of language learning, argues that strategies are important for two reasons:

1 They are tools for active, self-directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence

2 Learners who have developed appropriate learning strategies have greater confidence and learn more effectively”

self-2.6 STRATEGIES IN VOCABULARY TEACHING AND LEARNING

In order to store information into memory, information should be arranged into a well organized way that can be recalled easily Vocabulary is organized according

to the following criteria:

2.6.1 Frequency

This strategy is one of the most important criteria to teach learners of elementary and pre- intermediate levels Teachers are advised pay attention to word frequency It is really necessary for language learners to concentrate on the high frequency words and involve with the greater effort as they will often encounter those words in the future Norbert Schmitt and Michael McCarthy introduced some useful vocabulary lists based on frequency as below:

• The teacher’s work book of 30,000 words by Edward L Thornlike & Irving Lodge, 1944 is the most frequent words in written English, based on the count of 18,000,000 word written corpus

• A General Service List of English Words (Michael West, 1953) contains 2,000 headwords and was developed in the 1940s The frequency figures for

most items are based on a 5,000,000 word written corpus Percentage figures are given for different meanings and parts of speech of the head words

• A Basic Sight- Vocabulary by Dolch in 1960 contains 220 words

• Hill’s five lists in 1965 includes 500, 750, 1000, 15000, 2075 headword vocabularies 3000 or even 5000 word vocabularies are insufficient for fluent reading of all kinds of texts Knowledge of the most widely used words will serve as a basic for intelligent guessing or infereing when learns encounter unfamiliar content words

• The Longman Structural Readers Handbook, 1968 contains 2340 words

• The American Heritage Word Frequency (Carroll, Davies and Richman,1971) This comprehensive list based on a corpus of 5,000,000 running words drawn from written texts used in the United States’ schools The words are classified according to grades and subject areas

• Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of current English, containing 61,000 words

• Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 1974 uses a defining vocabulary of 2100 words These are the words formed in formulating the dictionary definitions in order to make them comprehensible to learners from non English language background

• Roland Hindmarsh’s Cambridge English Lexicon,1980 In this book, words are graded for difficulty on a scale of 1to 7 Words within the 1-5 bands are needed for candidates taking the Cambridge First Certificate in English examination while those in 6-7 are for taking the Cambridge Proficiency

• The Brown, (Francis and Kucera, 1982) consists of 1,000, 000 word written corpora

• University Word List (Xue and Nation, 1990) is a list of general academic vocabulary for learners in upper high schools and universities

2.6.2 Mnemonic Techniques

The two basic mnemonic includes visual mnemonic and physical mnemonic Visualizing a word is one of the most effective and efficient way to memorize it Thus, it is a good reason for teachers to use teaching aids in classes such as real things, pictures or drawings Writing on blackboards is also considered to use visual mnemonics To the well equipped classes, teachers are advised to use overhead or multimedia projectors

Physically enacting the information in a word or sentence also results in better recall than simply repetition It is the reason why several teaching techniques are based on physical reenactment: Total Physical Response (Ahser 1965, 1966), use of melodrama (Rassias 1966, 1972), Silent way (Gattegno, 1972)

2.6.3 Learning vocabulary directly from cards

This strategy of learning vocabulary is considered to be a step back to the outdated method and in disagreement with communicative approach Nevertheless, to many teachers, this technique has its own positive points, especially for the beginners and elementary level because of the vocabulary shortage Therefore, it is always a problem for the beginning learners and readers to guess new words from context Furthermore, there is the large number of studies showing the effectiveness of learning vocabulary directly from cards Some typical researchers are Nation (1982); Paivio and Desrochers (1981) and Presley et al (1982)

2.6.4 Learning new words from contexts

To many language professionals, contextualized vocabulary learning is more effective than learning a list of words in isolation Oxford and Scarcella (1994) observed that while decontextualized learning may help students memorize

vocabulary for tests, students are likely to quickly forget words from the lists beyond the examination Milada Broukal suggested the ideal of reading as much as possible, learning vocabulary from listening and guessing word meanings from contexts Other sources to learn in context include problem solving in group work and formal classroom activities At the pre- intermediate and intermediate levels, this strategy can be of great benefit

2.6.5 Collocation

In the aspect of pedagogy, this term is restricted to“ two or three word clusters which occur in more than a chance regularity throughout spoken and written English” (Bruce William) He suggested some distinguishable types:

Verb+ noun throw a party, accept responsible

Adjective+ Noun square meal, grim determination

Verb + Adj + Noun take vigorous exercise, make steady progress

Adv + Verb strongly suggest, barely see

Adv + Adj utterly amazed, completely useless

Adv + Adj + Noun totally unacceptable behavior, very beautiful girl

Adj + Preposition guilty of, blamed for, happy about

Noun + Noun post office, classroom, university student

Under the perspective of Norbert Schmitt and Michael McCarthy, collocation should be subdivided into two tendencies Traditional models of language are generally built on grammatical principles In such models, connections are the syntactic relationships between elements Meanwhile, innovative models take into consideration the predictability of the co-occurrences of words in the slots that constitute the underlying structural frame For instance; after “cause” must be something with the negative meaning and “provide” normally goes with the positive Collocations have to be acquired both through study and large amount of quality input The strongly positive point of collocation is obvious Apart from

increasing the lexicon, learning collocation leads to a development in written and spoken fluency

2.6.6 Word Relationship

This is a very important process of word consolidation and can be adapted to all levels Psychologists have proven that materials in organization are memorized better Therefore, grouping words into different categories is an efficient strategy for vocabulary learning

Some of the frequently used analogies are:

1 Synonym (messy: untidy)

2 Antonym (messy: tidy)

3 Worker and tool used (photographer: camera)

4 Worker and object he creates (poet: poem)

5 Cause and Effect (negligence: accident)

6 Function of a Tool (saw: cut)

7 Part to Whole (leaf: tree)

8 Masculine and Feminine (host: hostess)

9 Symbol and What it stands for (rose: love)

10 Classification and Type (dog: greyhound)

2.6.7 Adding Morphology

As “vocabulary is intimately interrelated with grammar” (David Nunan, 1999), it helps to break words into grammatical particles and attach the particles to the beginning and end of words in order to form new words In essence, teaching and learning roots and affixes are important to develop word power (Hill, 1998) “Real classes have proved that chunking letters in a long word into meaningful morphemes facilitates the processing of learning new word This is a powerful tool for expanding vocabulary” (Milada Broukal)

2.6.8 Sentence writing and Narrative Chain

Another effective way to remember and boost up vocabulary learning is through linking the words with a sentence or a story This method demands learners not only

to restate word definition but construct sentences or story from which the meaning

of the words can be inferred When learners associate words with one another, they are able to create a firmer connection between the new words and those already stored in their memory

2.6.9 Review

One of the keys to successful language study is regular review because we will forget over time Review is a good way to enhance what we have learned

2.6.10 Real-Life Practice

As an indispensable strategy to vocabulary learning, real-life practices are essential

in the memory process They transform information from short-term to long-term memory and activate words stored in long-term memory Even when learners find some suitable strategies and try the best, their use of vocabulary, accuracy and fluency are to be doubted without real –life practice Participation in real –life practice is a must because it gives learners opportunities to reinforce their vocabulary

2.7 GAMES- ORIGINATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN TEACHING

There is no doubt that these are the strategies that help learners to increase vocabulary more quickly and memorize new words better However, there remains one useful strategy not adequately mentioned: learning vocabulary through games

As a matter of fact, this is not a new aspect in the history of vocabulary teaching and learning Learning vocabulary through games originated from Suggestopedia, Total Physical Response and Natural approach, as being mentioned previously

Suggestopedia was an educational innovation developed by Lozanov in the late of 70s In his belief, human mind is capable of prodigious feats of memory if learning takes place under the appropriate conditions The dominant use of music is supposed to activate the left hemisphere of the brain, which, in consequence is designed to facilitate holistic learning After the deep relaxation bordering on hypnosis to realize the hidden potential of mind, students engaged in activities such

as dramatization, games, songs and so on to gain facility This is one of the few methods whose claim has been put into the empirical test In 1981,Ostrader and Schoroeder claimed that students could learn between one thousand and three thousand words per day Wagner and Tilney (1983) set up an experiment to test the claim that a great amount of vocabulary could be learned through Suggestopedia A formal experimental utilizing control and experimental groups were implemented,

but the result was contradictory to the hypothesis: those taught by a traditional

classroom method learned significantly more vocabulary than those taught by super –learning techniques Anyway, this is a foundation for further researches in the following stages

In 1977, resulting from great attention on children’ first language acquisition, James Asher became the founder of the Total Physical Response In a TPR classroom, “the instructor is the director of a stage play in which the students are actors” (Asher 1977:43) The vocabulary is emphasized and obtained though listening, initially embedded within imperatives Although TPR was especially effective at the elementary level, it lost the distinctiveness as learners advanced in their competence Today, TPR has been used as a type of classroom activity

The Natural Approach is based on Stephen Krashen’s (1982) theories of second language acquisition and was developed by one of Krashen’s colleagues, Tracy Terrell This method is the development of TPR In the Natural Approach, games are not a “frill” but a very important element in the acquisition process They qualify as an acquisition activity because of their value in providing comprehensive input

2.8 RESEARCHES ON TEACHING VOCABULARY THROUGH GAMES

As mentioned earlier, games are not only for fun, enjoinment and relax They create various contexts to communicate, exchange information and express opinion In other words, games give students opportunities to practice incidentally As stated by Huang (1996), “learning through games could encourage the operation of certain psychological and intellectual factors which could facilitate communication heightened self-esteem, motivation and spontaneity, reinforcing learning, improving intonation and building confidence.” Undoubtedly, games are useful and effective tools that enable learners to manage their vocabulary and develop other skills at the same time

In spite of the usefulness and effectiveness of teaching vocabulary through games, there have been only a limited number of the studies investigating this topic, which are listed as followed:

1 In 1998, Azzuhri Busu Leman did the research on the effects of utilizing games

in teaching vocabulary to lower school students This study aims at examining the effectiveness of using language games in the teaching of vocabulary to Form Two students 28 students from the Sekolah Menegah Seri Ampang, Ipoh, Perak were involved in the study The instrument to carry out the research was a quasi experiment, a questionnaire and the observation The study was based on the hypothesis that teaching vocabulary was more effective than the traditional method

This experimental research was conducted with the participants being divided into two groups: the Experimental Group and the Controlled Group During the experiment, the Experimental Group was provided language games through their learning whereas the Controlled Group used the traditional method Basically, the language games were designed by the teacher himself In other words, the teacher adapted an activity in the students’ textbook and turned it into a language game activity At the end of the study, the researcher conducted a test, which was in the form of cloze passage and a short essay, on both groups Apart from that, the researcher distributed questionnaires and conducted an observation on the students’ behavior in class The results of the test indicated that the Experimental Group indeed performed better than the Controlled Group

2 “The use of games for vocabulary presentation and revision” is another study

conducted by Agnieszka Uberman She examined some traditional techniques concerning presenting and revising vocabulary in comparison with the use of language games To measure the effectiveness of game using in vocabulary presentation, two groups of grade 3 students were recruited She used a game presentation in one group while translation and context guessing were used in the other In both groups, students’ abilities varied-ranging from those whose English were very good, able to communicate easily, using a wide range of vocabulary and grammatical structures to those who found it difficult to communicate A set of idioms relating to bodily parts was presented In order to find out which group acquired new vocabulary better, she designed a test containing a translation into English and a game for both group The game demanded the students to work out the meaning of sixteen idiomatic expressions Specifically, the students have to match the idioms with their definitions All of them have the Polish equivalents for students to remember more easily Conversely, the other group was asked to work out the meanings of the idioms by means of translation The expression was listed

on the blackboard and the students try to guess their proper meanings from different

options Next, they translated into Polish and endeavored to find equivalent expression in their mother tough Her finding indicated that few students participated actively and enthusiastic in the lesson while the majority shows that they did not have the great interest Group I received the average mark of 3.9 as compared to 3.4 obtained by Group II, which means the group learned vocabulary through games performed significantly better In conclusion, she affirmed that the results of one activity can hardly lead to informative evidence, she still believed the use of games for presentation of new vocabulary was very effective and enjoyable for students

This research paper also tested the effectiveness of game using in vocabulary consolidation A questionnaire was sent to teachers The findings showed that many teachers used games for vocabulary revision It is hypothesized that these teachers were successful with games than with other methods To see if this was really true, she designed and administrated a short test to a group of first year students One part of the test was matching exercise which required students to match words with its definition The other part consisted of a word puzzle The learners’ task was to write in the defined words and give a definition to the word that was formed of a sequence of letters in a horizontal line All definitions were taken from “The Longman Active Study Dictionary of English” The result showed that the crossword puzzle was easier for 27.4% of the learners and granted them more points for this part For the majority of learners, which was nearly 60%, proved equally easy and out of the group of thirteen, eleven students had the highest possible scores These numbers suggested that games are effective activities as a technique for vocabulary revision

3 The same topical research was studied by Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen and Khuat

Thi Thu Nga, Hanoi University of Foreign Studies, Vietnam “The Effectiveness of Learning Vocabulary through Games” was the title of this research The study was