Web based activities for improving learners english vocabulary a case study of the tenth grade students at anh son 2 high school

It is hoped that this thesis will be useful for many students who want to improve their English vocabulary and teachers who like to use web-based learning to inspire their students... Mo

NGUYỄN THỊ LƯƠNG

WEB-BASED ACTIVITIES FOR IMPROVING LEARNERS’ ENGLISH VOCABULARY A CASE STUDY OF THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS AT ANH SON 2 HIGH SCHOOL

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

Nghệ An, 2017

NGUYỄN THỊ LƯƠNG

WEB-BASED ACTIVITIES FOR IMPROVING LEARNERS’ ENGLISH VOCABULARY A CASE STUDY OF THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS AT ANH SON 2 HIGH SCHOOL

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

the thesis are true, used with permission from associates, and have not been published elsewhere

Author

Nguyen Thi Luong

detailed feedback and enthusiasm encouraged me over the time of conducting the study

Second, I would really thank my student Tran Manh Cuong for his friendliness, generous assistance, which contributed significantly to the designing of the web on Moodle of the study

Next, I would like to show my special thankfulness to Anh Son 2 high school students who helped me to carry out the experimental study

Last but not least, I would like to devote my special thanks to my dear family for their love and encouragement during the process of the study

effects of using multiple content forms in web-based activities on students’ English vocabulary learning The study, therefore, deals with the fundamental learning activities for improving learners’ English vocabulary as they are practiced by students

in the contexts of web-based activities The activities are interacted with students with the help of the Open Source Moodle as an educational tool to create an online class to meet the need of interesting and various learning materials for remembering and acquiring English vocabulary Moreover, Web-based activities constitute an easy-to-use way for learning management and they make the internet a useful tool for education Our tenth grade students were very interested in the use of technology in some aspects of their lives Also, Anh Son 2 high School -where the study was conducted- has placed emphasis on technology as part of its curriculum So, I decided

to involve students in the implementation of an English project that focused on technology and helped them enlarge their vocabulary Through this experience I wanted to explore how the perspective of the teaching learning process in a foreign language could change our practices in the classroom, as well as get students to realize the advantages of using the internet for some educative purposes To achieve the above aims, in this study the action research method is employed with an intervention program in the form of designed lesson plan was used for the treatment of experimental group of 25 students in class 10A1 from Anh Son 2 high school The control group consists of 25 students from class 10B in the same school that has the similar level of English In this thesis I describe the implementation of the project, the characteristics of the tenth grade participants, the main question and objectives, the implementation of the project in a real context, how the literature review was conceived and the results obtained during the process In the last section of the thesis I present the conclusions and the pedagogical implications It is hoped that this thesis will be useful for many students who want to improve their English vocabulary and teachers who like to use web-based learning to inspire their students

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Statement of Authorship

Acknowledgements

Abstract

Table of contents ……… 1

List of abbreviations 4

List of tables 5

Table of figures 6

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 7

1.1 Rationale 7

1.2 Aims of the study 9

1.3 Methods of the study 10

1.4 Scope of the study 10

1.5 Design of study 12

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 12

2.1 Vocabulary in language teaching and learning 12

2.1.1 Definition of vocabulary 13

2.1.2 Components involving vocabulary instruction 16

2.1.2.1 Components of vocabulary 17

2.1.2.2 Techniques to teach English vocabulary as a foreign language 19

2.1.3 Methods of teaching vocabulary 20

2.1.3.1 Grammar-translation 20

2.1.3.2 Direct Method 22

2.1.3.3 Audio lingual method 23

2.1.3.4 Communicative Language Teaching 24

2.1.4 Techniques in Remembering Vocabulary 26

2.2 Web-based Instruction 27

2.2.1 Definition of web-based instruction 27

2.2.2 Types of web-based learning activities 27

2.2.3 Web-based learning and vocabulary teaching 28

2.2.4 The Role of Multimedia in Vocabulary Learning 29

2.2.5 The Computer as a Teaching Tool 30

2.2.6 The World Wide Web as a Resource of Language Teaching Materials 32

2.3 The Moodle and Gnomio Website 37

2.3.1 Definition of Moodle 37

2.3.2 Philosophy 38

2.3.3 Advantages of moodle 38

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 41

3.1 Research questions 41

3.2 Participants 41

3.3 Instrumentation 42

3.3.1 General Test 42

3.3.2 Pretest and posttest 42

3.3.3 Survey questionnaire 43

3.4 Materials 44

3.5 Procedure 50

CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 55

4.1 Results 55

4.1.1 Research question 1 55

4.1.1.1 General English test 55

4.1.1.2 Pre-treatment vocabulary test 56

4.1.1.2.1 Pronunciation 56

4.1.1.2.2 Word use 58

4.1.1.3 Post- treatment vocabulary test 58

4.1.1.3.1 Pronunciation 59

4.1.1.3.2 Word use 60

4.1.2 Research question 2 66

4.2 Implication 67

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 69

5.1 Conclusion 69

5.2 Limitations of the study 69

REFERENCES 70

APPENDICES .75

APPENDIX 1 75

APPENDIX 2 76

APPENDIX 3 77

APPENDIX 4 78

APPENDIX 5 79

APPENDIX 6 80

APPENDIX 7 81

APPENDIX 8 83

APPENDIX 9 85

APPENDIX 10 88

APPENDIX 11 89

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Students’ gender 41 Table 2: Questionnaire paper 44 Table 3: The average total scores and standard deviations of general English test for 56 Table 4: Result of t-test for comparison between pre-test scores of experimental group and control group for pronunciation 47 Table 5: Result of t-test for comparison between pre-test scores of experimental group and control group for word use 58 Table 6: Descriptive Statistics for Pretest and Posttest Scores of Control Group and treatment Group for pronunciation 59 Table 7: Results of t-test for comparison between posttest scores of treatment group and control group for pronunciation 60 Table 8: Descriptive Statistics for Pretest and Posttest Scores of Control Group and Treatment Group for word use 61 Table 9: Results of t-test for comparison between posttest scores of treatment group and control group for word use 62 Table 10: Descriptive Statistics for score of questionnaire of treatment Group 66

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Screenshot of the lesson vocabulary of unit 9 on moodle class 45

Figure 2: Screenshot of the lesson vocabulary of unit 9 on moodle class 46

Figure 3: Screenshot of the lesson vocabulary of unit 9(powerpoint) on moodle class 46

Figure 4: Screenshot of the lesson vocabulary of unit 9( file word ) on moodle class47 Figure 5: Screenshot of the lesson vocabulary of unit 9( video ) on moodle class 48

Figure 6: Screenshot of page homework of unit 9 on moodle class 49

Figure 7: Screenshot of page unit 9 designed for the course 50

Figure 8: Screenshot of the class website designed for the course 51

Figure 9: Screenshot of the class website designed for the course 52

Figure 10: Screenshot of the page of users as subjects of treatment group on class website designed for the course 53

Figure 11: Screenshot of the page of users as subjects of treatment group on class website designed for the course 53

Chart 1: Pronunciation Pretest and Posttest Mean Increase 63

Chart 2: Word use Pretest and Posttest Mean Increase 64

Chapter I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

Since the World Wide Web’s conceptualization as a method of making research findings and scientific materials available to researchers and teachers across the globe,

it has become an indispensible tool for educators Not only has the web achieved making scientific findings more accessible, but also it is now becoming the new method of teaching As this new technology grows in acceptance and use, it is essential for educator to increase their knowledge about the uses of the web in education and to stay up-to-date on the latest findings in web based education research Moreover, in teaching and learning English language, Vocabulary is central because without sufficient vocabulary students cannot understand others or express their own ideas Wilkins (1972) wrote that “ while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” (p 111–112) Students often instinctively recognize the importance of vocabulary to their language learning and vocabulary helps students understand and communicate with others in English I believe English language students generally would concur, yet learning vocabulary also helps students master English for their purposes The study, therefore, combines the using web based activities and teaching English vocabulary to make learners’ vocabulary improved

Vocabulary teaching and learning is a time consuming effort in traditional approaches such as looking up the meaning of new in the printed dictionaries It has been increasingly argued that computer technologies can support learning in a number of ways and facilitate learning processes (Gorjian, 2008) Teaching vocabulary through Computer-Assisted Language Learning activities has been popularly used in English as a foreign/second language learning (EFL/ESL) contexts (Son, 2008) Many features of the computer are considered to enhance vocabulary development and reading comprehension Multimedia is one of them which refer to computer-based systems that use various types of content, such as text, audio, video,

graphics, animation, and interactivity The key concepts of multimedia are thus 'computer-based' and 'interactive' transactions (Busch, 2003)

One of the recent ways in making texts more comprehensible to students is to use computerized Moodle as Web-based language Learning (WBLL) approaches (Zhang, Wu, Wei & Wang, 2011) According to Lomicka (1998), and Moodle, which are “typically located in the side or bottom margins of a page, are most often supplied for unfamiliar words, which may help to limit continual dictionary consultation that may hinder and interrupt the second language reading comprehension process” (p 42)

This study, therefore, attempts to examine the effectiveness of web-based activities in the mode of online annotation Moodle on the vocabulary learning of students in Anh Son 2 high school

The study has many implications in the field of Education Due to the dominance of lecture based traditional instruction in teaching, many students are loosing their interest in studies The present study will be helpful to all those students whose learning styles do not match with their instructors teaching styles Moreover, it will help to increase students’ motivations and also scholastic achievement The results

of the study will inspire all the teachers to use these types of activities in their routine teaching It is proved that web-based learning has the potential to cater diverse needs

of learners The role of the teacher will shift from instructor to facilitator Students will

be active partners in the whole teaching-learning process

It is of common knowledge that vocabulary is the most important component of language knowledge; it is one of the best predictors of language performance It has been found that students learn languages best when they experience it in context and use the language independently in speaking and writing This means that translating a text word-for-word or memorizing lists of words will not necessarily help students to learn new vocabulary that they can use when they speak and write in English Students need to develop strategies to guess the meaning of new words when they encounter them However, learning a new word or phrase once does not mean that the student will remember it and be able to use it That is why students also need support in

learning how to record new vocabulary and repeatedly review it If students improve their knowledge of vocabulary, they can understand their lessons more easily and will write and speak better in English That is why review of the vocabulary at home is also focused in this study

In Vietnam in general, vocabulary teaching has not been paid due attention to as

it deserves Vocabulary has not been a particular subject for students to learn but has been taught within lessons of reading, writing, speaking and listening For most of teachers the common way to communicate word meaning is translation through word list and many learners use rote strategies as their major way of vocabulary learning In

my school, Anh Son 2 high school, in particular the problem of vocabulary teaching and learning is more difficult The main reason is that the classes are usually big with learners of different abilities It seems difficult for the teachers to apply the suitable way to teach these learners Another reason is the course book The number of new words in the book is rather large for mountainous learners in my school and it makes the learners feel confused and difficult to remember all of them Furthermore, the learners usually learn vocabulary passively through their teachers' explanation They only write words on paper with translation into Vietnamese and try to learn them by heart During the lessons learners find many new words in the text and then ask their teachers to explain the meaning and usage As a result, the learners feel bored in vocabulary lessons and they soon forget the new words they have learnt and this affects students getting to twelfth grade with a relatively small vocabulary, which prevents them from achieving their potential in National exams Being a teacher of English in my school I want to make something significant to my students not only in English language acquisition but also in performing better in the National exam

1.2 Aims of the study

In this study, I posed two main objectives:

• To explore the impact of using web-based activities as a classroom resource to improve learners’ English vocabulary in the context of 10th graders at Anh Son

2 high school in Nghe An Province

• To analyze how web-based activities improve learners’ English vocabulary

1.3 Methods of the study 1.3.1 Participants

The study was conducted in Anh Son 2 high school Sixty seven learners were selected in the school Fifty students were chosen based on the general test to have similar level of English proficiency Then they were divided into two groups whose level was indicated as pre- intermediate: The treatment of experimental group of 25 students in class 10A1 from Anh Son 2 high school The control group consists of

25 students from class 10B in the same school

1.3.2 Instrumentation

In the present survey, three tests were used: General Test, Pretest, Posttest and questionnaires

1.3.3 Materials

main course book However, only six units were chosen for the experiment, from unit

9 to unit 14 The lesson plans which were used in this study were designed and selected based on the course book presented in the website of Moodle Moodle materials were extracted and adopted from the web-sites searched in the Google search engine The Moodle materials included extra glosses such as pictorial, animation, and audio-visual materials

1.3.4 Method

The main method is experimental research and survey questionnaires

1.4 Scope of the study

The study is to explore the impact of using web-based activities as a classroom resource to improve learners’ English vocabulary in the context of 10th graders at Anh Son 2 high school in Nghe An Province, The study, therefore, focused on word pronunciation and word use which is an integral part in language learning as well as in exams Other aspect of vocabulary such as: word grammar, word formation were not taken into consideration in the research The course book which the researcher

used in the experimental course was 10th Grade English Textbook, published by Viet

Nam Education Publishing House

The study focuses on effective ways to teach and to learn vocabulary and

on presenting some advantages of the educational application in vocabulary lessons at Anh Son 2 high school From the findings of the research, adapted tasks will be given to improve the students ‘English vocabulary

1.5 Design of study

The thesis comprises four chapters:

Chapter 1 is the introduction, which provides a brief introduction, rationale and overview of the thesis

Chapter 2 presents the literature review, in which the definition and classification of vocabulary, vocabulary in language learning and teaching, techniques and principles in teaching vocabulary, web-based education and Moodle

Chapter 3 details an experimental research as the method of the study, the participants and the instruments to collect both qualitative and quantitative data

Chapter 4 consists of summarize of main findings, discussion, implications and limitations

Chapter 5 ‘Conclusion’ summarizes the main issues touched upon so far in the study Limitation and suggestion for further study are also discussed in this Chapter

Chapter II

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter reviews the literature related to pedagogical methods for vocabulary acquisition and offers an overview of the short history of web based instruction, Blended Learning and learning vocabulary The study will discuss the learning vocabulary through web-based activities, and benefits and advantages of web-based activities for vocabulary acquisition According to Lomicka (1998), the concept of glossing “dates back to the Middle Ages when students struggling with a foreign text, usually Latin, produced them as they moved along during the reading process” (p.41) Using appropriate presentation methods enables learners to obtain a deeper impression of and richer information about the target words to make them enter the long-term memory easily (Zhang, 2008) Cognitive psychologists and language acquisition scholars working within the framework of cognitive psychology believe that retention and recall of information is determined by the way in which this information is processed (Hulstijn & Laufer, 2001)

2.1 Vocabulary in language teaching and learning

Learning vocabulary is an important aspect of language learning which in the past has been neglected In recent years, there has been a greater understanding of the importance of vocabulary learning to the process of language learning (Lightbown 2010) Nation (1994) identified five components of vocabulary learning:

- Meeting new vocabulary for the first time

- Establishing previously met vocabulary

- Enriching previously met vocabulary

- Developing vocabulary strategies

- Developing fluency with known vocabulary Vocabulary is of great significance in expressing thoughts and ideas in interaction activities Vocabulary acquisition is the main task of second language acquisition This

section will present vocabulary teaching and learning theory in connection with the

study

2.1.1 Definition of vocabulary

There have been different definitions of vocabulary Each linguist gives his own definition of vocabulary Peny Ur, in his book: “A course in language teaching” defined vocabulary roughly “as the words we teach in the foreign language However,

a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: a compound of two or three words or multi-word idioms” (Ur, 1996, p.60) Pyles and Algeo also gave their idea about vocabulary They said “when most of us think about language we think first about words It is true that the vocabulary is the focus of language It is in words that sounds and meanings interlock to allow us to communicate with one another, and it is words that we arrange together to make sentences, conversation and discourse of all kinds” (1970, p.96) These statements indicate that vocabulary is the total number of the words of a language and it is an essential part of language, as Wilkins emphasized this with his saying: “without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing conveyed”

This is all true in teaching and learning a foreign language Therefore, the teaching of vocabulary to foreign language learners has long been an area of concern

to language teachers because learning vocabulary in a foreign language is much more than making form - meaning correspondences and simply filling up individual words

“Knowing a word, according to Nation (2001) means knowing at least its forms, its meanings and its basic usage”

Barry Sesnan in his book “How to teach English” considers “the words we use are like the bricks, blocks, planks and tiles which we need to build a house” (2001, p.123) However, he did not give a definition of words of his own

In fact, linguistics has found it is difficult to define what precisely a word is According to Lyons “a word may be defined as the union of a particular grammatical employment” (1974, p.200) This definition shows that the words must be a unit of meaning, phonology and grammar

Pyles and Ageo (1970) also had difficulty in giving the notion of words They talked about it but did not give their own definition of it

According to Quirk: “words come to us so naturally that it takes a serious effort

to realize what miraculous devices they are” Like so many other things that are basic and elemental in our lives, we take them for granted and we are apt to be surprised to find how hard it is to say what exactly a word is” (1979, p.128)

Adams in his book “An introduction to modern English word formation” (1973) came to conclusion that in general the linguists failure to give a consistent definition of the words across language is an indication that words may only be definable with respect to a particular language” (p.7)

The status of vocabulary now seems to be changing and the notion of a word has been broadened Hunt and David Beglar in “Current Research and Practice in teaching Vocabulary defined a word “as including the base form and its inflections and derivatives” (2001) Although this definition of a word is convenient and commonly used in vocabulary research, it should be remembered that vocabulary learning is more than the study of individual words

The term vocabulary has a range of meanings For example, some teachers use the term to mean sight-word vocabularies, referring to students’ immediate recognition

of words in print; other teachers refer to words students understand as their meaning vocabularies Still other teachers use the term to mean listening vocabularies, or students’ understanding of words that they hear in the spoken language Content teachers use the term academic vocabulary to refer to content-specific words Within this section, we use the term vocabulary to refer to students’ understanding of oral and print words Vocabularies include conceptual knowledge of words that goes well beyond a simple dictionary definition Students’ vocabulary knowledge is a building process that occurs over time as they make connections to other words, learn examples and nonexamples of the word and related words, and use the word accurately within the context of the sentence (Snow, Griffin, & Burns, 2005)

Why is vocabulary development such an important aspect of a student’s academic life? A number of studies have shown that vocabulary size in young children

is a strong predictor for success in later grades: The larger the children’s vocabularies

in the primary grades, the greater their academic achievement in the upper grades The National Reading Panel (NRP; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000) analyzed scientific studies that led them to conclude that readers’ vocabulary is strongly related to their understanding of text The NRP explained that when students are taught key words before reading text, they have greater comprehension than students who do not receive such instruction Clearly, the preponderance of such evidence led the NRP to emphasize vocabulary instruction as

an essential element of the literacy program

There are two types of meaning in words: the grammatical (functional) meaning and the lexical (notional) meaning The notional words, whose meaning are lexical, name objects, actions, qualities and have material meaning such as book, pen, to go, to speak, nice, quickly in themselves They are nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and

so on The functional word whose meanings are grammatical, only have their meanings in relation to other words with which they are used They are participles, articles or preposition About these types of meaning Strang wrote “in some words lexical meaning is perhaps dominant, in others class - meaning (grammatical meaning) certainly is” (Widdowson, 1979, p 25)

According to Francis, a sentence is the combination of two kinds of meanings

of the words in the sentence and the meaning of the constructions He said “the major purpose of language is to communicate meaning All languages accomplish this purpose by combining meaningful units of words into meaningful arrangements or grammatical constructions” (1967, p.112)

In actual usage, vocabulary items may differ in their emotive value, stylistic aspect and this leads to separate levels of meaning described by linguistics as denotation and connotation According to Raeska (1971) denotation refers to generally approved definitions of a word as reflected in dictionary In other words, denotional meaning is found in dictionary and may be direct when it directly points to an object without comparing it with other objects and may be indirect when the object is referred

to indirectly by associating with other object Connotation is, on the other hand, an

addition to denotation It is related to the attitudes of the language user, his emotional reaction to the use of a word Lyon (1977) considers co notational meaning of a word

as an emotive or affective component additional to its central meaning As said above words have various types of meaning Its is required that the teacher has to make a careful choice of and decision on which meaning of a word to teach and how many meanings and words to teach in the given class time or else learners will be impeded

by the pressure to absorb too many meanings and words

2.1.2 Components involving vocabulary instruction 2.1.2.1 Components of vocabulary

When teaching English vocabulary, the teacher should teach some aspects of vocabulary Ur (1998) states some aspects that the learner should be mastered and the teacher should be taught in order to help the learners in mastering vocabulary They include: Form (pronunciation and spelling), Grammar, Collocation, Aspect of

meaning (Denotation, connotation, appropriateness and Meaning relationship), Word

formation According to Cross (1991) the procedure of teaching vocabulary can be divided into three stages, they are namely:

- Presentation In this stage, the teachers can use various techniques which are recommended in the previous discussion However, the teachers have to be careful in selecting the techniques that they used in teaching activity

- Practice In the second stage, the teacher give exercises to the students in order to practice the subject items being learnt, making completion, matching, words classification, etc those are several types of exercise that can be used by the teacher in this stage

- Production In this stage the students are expected to apply the newly learn

vocabulary through the speaking activities or writing activities

Grains and Redman (1986, p.13-52) indicated that there are several aspects of lexis that need to be taken into account when teaching vocabulary:

- Boundaries between conceptual meanings: knowing not only what lexis refers to, but

also where the boundaries are that separate it from words of related meaning (e.g: bowl, cup and mug)

- Polysemy: distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form with several and closely related meanings (e.g: head: of a person, of a pin and of an organization)

- Homonymy: distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form which has several meanings which are not closely related (e.g: a file: used to put paper

- Style, register, dialect: Being able to distinguish between different levels of formality, the effect of different contexts and topics, as well as differences in geographical variation

- Translation: awareness of certain differences and similarities between the native and the foreign language

- Chunks of language: multi-word verbs, idioms, strong and weak, collocation, lexical phrases

- Grammar of vocabulary: learning the rules that enables students to build up different forms of the word or even different words from that word (e.g: buy, bought, buying)

- Pronunciation: ability to recognize and reproduce items in speech

when teaching a new English word teachers should provide his learners with its pronunciation, spelling, meaning, collocation as well as aspect of meaning (Ur, 1996)

Each English word has its spelling and pronunciation Learners have to know all the spelling, pronunciation and meaning of the word Teaching pronunciation is important It is one of fossilize good and hard It needs to be taught properly at the

beginning of language study Pronunciation involves for more than individual sounds, thus, it is necessary to teach correct pronunciation They are word stress, sentence stress, intonation, and word linking all influence the sound of spoken English It is well-known that the teaching of English to Vietnamese learners presents unusual difficulties The biggest difficulty is that there is virtually no similarity between the two languages in the areas of sounds or rhythmic and intonation patterns The unusually rich system of the Vietnamese vowels (with 6 tones) and consonants can produce an extraordinary number of different sounds without having to emphasize the final consonants in any syllables and without ever having to combine two or three consonants at any time English does not make extensive use of two, three, four and even five consonants in “clusters” within syllables and at the end of syllables Consequently, during the teaching process, teacher should let the students be familiar with the articulators, the functions of them, help students write correct transcription of the words as well as help them know how to use the words Additionally, teacher should help students practice sounds more and more, give them more variety of pronunciation practice as well

The grammar of a new word should be also taught to the learners They should know the grammar function, the unpredictable change of form in certain grammatical contexts, the regularity and irregularity, the singular and plural forms of the new words

so that they can use it correctly For example, teaching the verb “buy”, we might give its irregularity in the past form “bought” When a noun is taught, such as “child”, teacher should give the plural form “children” as well Word formation means how words written and spoken and knowing how they can change their form

Collocation is the way words are used together regularly in a specific language Collocation refers to the restriction on how words can be used together in right contexts Thus, this is another piece of information about a new item, which maybe word teaching Collocation also enables learners to identify multi word items and further justifies their treatments as single items of the vocabulary Therefore, collocation can provide a useful framework for revising items

Aspect of meaning concludes denotation, connotation, appropriateness and

meaning relationship The meaning of a word is what it refers to in the real word, its denotation This meaning is found in a dictionary For instance, “cat” denotes a kind of animal, more specifically, a common, domestic carnivorous mammal A less obvious component of the meaning of a word is its connotation in different contexts or its connotative meaning This is the associations or positive or negative feelings it evokes

2.1.2.2 Techniques to teach English vocabulary as a foreign language

Teaching vocabulary is very important in a language in general and in English

in particular Knowing words is not filling papers with new words and memorizing them To let students achieve English vocabulary, teacher should use different techniques in teaching English vocabulary in order to motivate the learners, enrich their vocabulary knowledge and enable them to speak English properly The selection

of an appropriate technique depending on the age of the students, their skills and interests, what the teacher thinks will bring desirable results as well The following are most commonly used techniques in presenting vocabulary items The first is visual techniques According to Gains and Redman (1986), techniques consist of realia, flashcards and mine, action and gesture Realia refers to the use of real objects in the classroom These objects help to make the meaning of word clear Such as: a pencil, a rubber, a cat, etc The teacher may use classroom environment: a table, a board, a window, etc Classroom things can be touched The success in learning depends on the number of senses involved in the learning process Mine, action and gesture are considered as a technique which is useful for explaining the actions and grammar items Such as kicking, running or walking Mine and action is a great fun for children who like acting and moving in the class The second is the verbal technique In this technique, contrast is the one which shows differences and similarities about persons, ideas and things Enumeration is technique used when any words difficult to explain visually For example, teacher says “colors” and explains this by enumerating or listing various items The teacher may list a number of colors: red, yellow, tan, grey, blue, etc and then the meaning of the word will become clear Explanation is the technique which is usually used for upper beginners, who already have some

knowledge of English It is essential for the teacher to bear in mind that while explaining certain word he should use the language that is comprehensible for the students In addition, synonyms, antonyms definition are effective techniques to teach vocabulary

According to Wallace (1998), there are several principles for successful teaching which are valid for any method, here are the four principles:

- Aim: what is to be taught, which words, how many words

- Need: target vocabulary should respond students’ real needs and interests

- Frequent exposure and repetition

- Meaningful presentation: clear and unambiguous denotation or reference should be assured

To be effective, vocabulary instruction should provide students with opportunities for word learning by:

- Encouraging wide reading;

- Exposing students to high-quality oral language;

- Promoting word consciousness;

- Providing explicit instruction of specific words; and

- Providing modeling and instruction in independent word-learning strategies

Each of these components contributes to helping students overcome the major obstacles to vocabulary growth

2.1.3 Methods of teaching vocabulary

The world in which we live is becoming increasing global Therefore, “the status of English as an international global language stresses the need for a new approach to English language teaching", (Le Van Canh, 2003) As mentioned above, foreign language teaching, especially vocabulary teaching has undergone dramatics changes during the last two decades In order to fully understand this development it is certainly worth giving a brief discussion of some major foreign language teaching approaches and their role in teaching vocabulary

2.1.3.1 Grammar-translation

The first approach to be under issue is the Grammar - Translation method It involves the translation of literary texts followed by explanation in the students’ native language of rules of grammar Although it dates back in the 16th century, Corder states that GTM is “the most deductive approach” (Allen & Corder 197: 13), and it may be true to say that the Grammar-Translation Method is still widely practiced This method was used in order to help and encourage students to like and appreciate literature and very little teaching is done in the target language However, another researcher, Cheng (2005), argues that Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is the best and most successful method in vocabulary teaching and learning

Brown (2001) admits that GTM is so widely used because this method requires few specialized skills on the part of teachers, because they use their native language and so even teachers who are not fluent in English can teach via this method But it is not only for this reason that this method has always been on the top list of the English language methods but for the students as well In Viet nam the same idea exists for the students: they need to know linguistic details in order to learn a foreign language For them it is easier to communicate in their native language and also the communication between them and the teacher does not cause any linguistic problem Furthermore, the usage of the native language in the classrooms makes it impossible for students to give

up the habit of thinking in their native language and then translating them, when they want to express something in a foreign language

New words are learned through direct translation from the native language if Grammar Translation Method is used In fact, both teachers and students of English frequently find it convenient to opt for translation Teachers commonly attempt to explain a foreign word, phrase or sentence by giving a mother-tongue equivalent This means that translation has been used to learn the new words Students face difficulties

in how the words are used and what emotions the words express This method has generated a great number of skilled students but only in grammar with a lot of difficulties in remembering new words and consequently using them in patterns and collocations Therefore there is no connection between recall of word meaning and use

of words in context But not always exact translation from one language to another is

possible There are numerous lexical items in one language which have no equivalents

in another language

As Krashen (1987 p128) points out, “It can be claimed that grammar translation provides scraps of comprehensible input The focus is entirely on the form, and not on meaning … students are forced to read word by word, and consequently rarely focus completely on the message’’ But, as Hiep (2007, p.14) states, “in order to use the language effectively learners need to develop communicative competence” And one of the ways in which this communicative competence can be achieved is through real communication This helps students when they are in a foreign country and need to communicate with them in different situations With respect to the teaching of vocabulary, this approach may be easy, cheap and useful but its relevance

is restricted because its focus is on form and not meaning (Krashen, 1984, p.128)

2.1.3.2 Direct Method

The second major foreign language teaching approach is the Direct Method This method is useful for teaching vocabulary The words used are very common active and concerning everyday activities In the class - room only the target language

is used to teach the students during the sessions, so it focuses on speaking and listening which enables teachers to drill students more on vocabulary Using this method teacher can introduce many concrete objects and pictures for illustration; therefore, it

is particularly useful for teaching simple and specific words

The Direct Method has one very basic rule No translation is allowed In fact, the Direct Method receives its name from the fact that meaning is to be connected directly with the target language, without going through the process of translating into the students’ native language

The basic premise of the Direct Method is that students will learn to communicate in the target language, partly by learning how to think in that language and by not involving the first language in the language learning process Objectives include teaching the students how to use the language spontaneously and orally, linking meaning with the target language through the use of realia, pictures or

pantomime There is to be a direct connection between concepts and the language to

be learned

The term Direct Method refers to the teaching of languages without resorting to translation and without using the native language The basic premise of the Direct Method was that second language learning should be more like first language learning The method would include lots of oral interaction, spontaneous use of language, no translation between first and second languages, and little or no analysis

of grammar rules So, Direct Method is the method that is used in teaching a language

by using the target language without going through the translation to the native language The teacher must use pictures, gestures, pantomimes or the target language that is familiar to the students to explain a word

2.1.3.3 Audio lingual method

This method was developed during the World War II for military purposes There was a need for people to learn language at a satisfactory level of ability to communicate in as short time as possible It was a reason for an extreme solution The overall goal was to create communicative competence in learners in short time The way became an extensive repetition and a variety of elaboration The idea was to project linguistic patterns of the target language in a way to make responses automatic and habitual The only language used is the target language Teacher has a central and leading role They modify drills of the exercises practised All work is based on listening and responding over and over to teacher’s stimuli Students’ responses should become automatic, fixed The reaction time gets accelerated by reducing the need of thinking about the problem as students respond partly unconsciously However their answers are expected to be correct Language is presented through conversations divided into lines that are drilled and then turned into questions or negatives and drilled again Mostly teacher-student interaction is used for it is the teacher who is supplying sentences or their parts to be ‘learned’ by drill Learning (in ALM) means forming habits It is dependent on mimicry, memorization of phrases and over learning Vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context Importance is given to pronunciation There is a great effort to produce error-free utterances as they make bad

habits Typical techniques closely associated with ALM are above all dialogue memorization and drill in many variations Teacher’s work is very demanding in

accuracy, activity and control

ALM could have been effective when it was formed and it most probably had its results That time students were not trained for everyday conversation but for specific situations I am quite surprised that it is still used in some courses nowadays and it also confuses me because ALM methods are in complete contrasts with mostly every principle that is nowadays considered to be prior In the first place the lesson organization must make the students feel quite humiliated (at least I felt that way) In the second place students do not learn to communicate in the meaning of exchanging information And finally in the third place students do not think about what they are drilled I once experienced an ALM lesson and I actually felt physically tired after that The tremendous effort to concentrate on what has been repeated or answered was frustrating In my eyes this method might work for total beginners, who need to properly fix the basis of the target language, but not for more Even thought the patterns are (over)memorised they are not fixed through properly built system of knowledge and if a student forgets particular pattern then it must be difficult to find it

without any connection in their mind

The Audio - lingual method is very successful in improving students' comprehension and fluency in speaking the target language Here the vocabulary content is maintained at a useful minimum for students to concentrate on taking a firm control of structures When the dialogue has been learnt its adaptation with a more personal application to the students' own situation, provide more consolidation of learning and provide chances for more flexible use of the material

2.1.3.4 Task based learning

Tasks are central to the learning activity They are meant to be the practical part

of language use compared to exercises that focus on linguistic features The idea is that students learn more effectively when their mind is occupied with a concrete task offering besides concentration on language, its structures, functions or vocabulary also other practical experience - e.g sharing personal experience and exchanging them,

fulfilling tasks which contain problem-solving elements or making decisions… For solving the problem students need to communicate in the target language and therefore use wide range of language items, not only particular structure, function or vocabulary group Framework for TBL suggests three main stages: Pre-task, Task cycle and Language Focus In the Pre-task stage teacher introduces the topic and task Useful words and phrases may be highlighted During the task cycle students plan solving the task and work on it When it is completed student prepare a report about their work to

be presented to the whole class In language focus stage students analyse and discuss specific features of used or produced texts or utterances, which are then practised Students fulfill the tasks, produce reports and discuss them with others What is specific for TBL is the unusual order of learning process, which is reversed: students start with a task and as lately as it is completed their attention is drawn to the language used Tasks include projects for producing posters, brochures, presentations, dramatic performances, videos etc Teacher selects tasks, encourages, facilitates, regulates and monitors

This method is very useful and works very well thanks to the above-mentioned reasons Communicative activities improving students’ ability to communicate and solving real problems are highly motivating and offer students real reasons for learning the language: to be able to communicate - receive or produce needed information A good balance between using receptive and productive activities is applied, which is very useful Sometimes managing to keep the whole class using only the target language might be difficult, especially with low level students It is much easier when students are actually incorporated into target language community If they need to solve a problem there is no other option than to communicate with the local people Results are great Students can acquire many structures and phrases in relatively short time and such knowledge is well remembered

2.1.3.5 Communicative Language Teaching

All of the traditional methods above were used to teach English for a long time that made learners structure competent and communicative incompetent However, the learners of English nowadays desire to be able to communicate with others in the

target language The learners' needs and aims seem to have changed and method of teaching has changed too In recent years communicative language teaching (CLT) has been applied in Vietnam and it has shown its effectiveness in teaching and learning language CLT is an approach that helps learners be more active in real life situation through means of individual, pair and group work activities It encourages learners to practice the language they learn in meaningful ways as it requires them to take part in

a number of activities with different tasks This helps to improve learners' communicative competence From the brief consideration of some approaches to language teaching and their relevance to vocabulary it is obvious that each of the approaches mentioned above has its strong and weak points and their teaching procedures may sometimes overlap Many teachers use a combination of approaches that reflect different methodologies, some old some new and there's been a fact that

"There is no single method or approach that can work for all teachers or for all learners

or under all conditions because teaching is socially constructed activity" (Le Van Canh, 2004, p 95) - concerning the relevance of these approaches to vocabulary teaching in general it can be said that these all can be used for teaching vocabulary so long as the teacher is aware of the relevant points of these approaches

2.1.4 Techniques in Remembering Vocabulary

Teachers have to think of ways of making the experience of learning and recycling vocabulary more memorable Pavicic mentions her former research in which she divided learning strategies into four groups

“Self-initiated independent learning”: Learning is planned, and students are

motivated to study outside the classroom This strategy involves word grouping, making notes of vocabulary while reading for pleasure, watching TV, using the Internet and doing regular revision

“Formal practice”: It is mostly done in formal education when the aim is accuracy

Vocabulary is learned and practised systematically It is often carried out in drills, which help to associate a word and a definition However, language is not learned to use creatively in speech and writing, as drills are limited in application

“Functional practice”: This strategy is based on learning new words in context

Learning often happens incidentally, as learners are exposed to language without their making conscious effort to learn new words This strategy involves remembering words while reading or watching TV, and using known words in different contexts

“Memorizing”: A number of memory strategies are based on inter-, intra- and visual

associations, such as using pictures, visualization and looking for similarities between words (Accessed in 2004)

As these strategies contribute to vocabulary learning in different ways, they should be combined to make language learning effective Moreover, techniques are used with greater advantage if students are aware of the aim of the different tasks

2.2 Web-based Instruction 2.2.1 Definition of web-based instruction (WBI)

According to Khan (1997) WBI is the application of a repertoire of cognitively oriented instructional strategies implemented within a constructivist and collaborative learning environment, utilizing the attributes and resources of the World Wide Web

He also defined WBI as “an innovative approach to delivering instruction to a remote audience, using the Web as the medium” (Khan, 1997, p 5) He considered that hypermedia-based instructional program that utilizes the attributes and resources of the World Wide Web to create a meaningful environment where learning is fostered and supported (Khan, 1997, p 6)

2.2.2 Types of web-based learning activities

The theoretical base from which are drawn to design web based activities is constructivist theory Constructivist theory has several characteristics that are easily adopted for web based activities Some of these characteristics include learner construction of meaning, social inter, action to help students learn, and student-solving

in real world context (Instructional and cognitive impacts of web based education, Beverly Abbey, p 111)

There are 4 types of web-based learning activities:

-Individual Lesson Plans

Majority of online educational resources are lesson plans that teachers download and integrate

-Online Lesson Enhancements

Most popular Teachers identify online enhancements that augment their curricular goals and extend and deepen their students’ understanding

-Completely Online Courses and Curriculum

Range from courses designed and developed from major online institutions to individual courses delivered in traditional schools

-All-Inclusive Online Courses, Curriculum, and Online Learning Environment

Provide flexibility of choosing and adapting the resources needed

Web-based activities have great potential to enhance learning, but they are often time- consuming to develop and implement, difficult to design in ways that have substantial, positive impacts on student learning

Web-based project learning is a “student- driven, teacher facilitated approach to learning.” Students develop an inquiry based on their natural curiosity and conduct research under the teacher’s supervision (Bell, 2010)

“Web-based project learning can enhance student motivation and promote directed learning because the learning issues usually arise from problems that attract the interest of students”(Lam, Cheng & Ma, 2008)

self-2.2.3 Web-based learning and vocabulary teaching

Web-based learning is becoming an even more powerful interactive source that increases learners' knowledge and that guarantees quantity and quality of language input and output Added to this, the changing role of the teacher is more responsive to students' self-directed learning It has also been found that the implementation of different web-based activities develops student's skills in the use of language Web-based activities may increase learner motivation so the resulting effects could be beneficial to both teaching-learning processes; additionally, they offer opportunities for teachers to explore content resources on the net in order to integrate them in classroom instruction at a low cost Teachers with few skills in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can make use of web-based activities cognitive brainstorming, identify real world activities, examine resources, define the task available on the web or adapt existing ones to their purposes

Gass, Mackey and Pica (1998) claimed that interaction plays a significant role

in second language acquisition It is through interaction with others as well as the learning materials that learners receive the input in order to acquire the target language In the same line of thought, Simina and Hamel (2005) say that principles of constructivism also support the use of computers in second language learning classrooms Web-based learning can provide a context for collaboration and social interaction in which learners will construct the knowledge of the target language by being engaged in meaningful activities such as the reading of different kinds of material Web activities, therefore, provide an ideal context for second language learning because they provide multiple representations of the natural complexity of the real world, representing authentic tasks and enabling context and content dependent knowledge construction (Simina & Hamel, 2005) In fact, computer-based activities enable interpersonal interaction with the learning materials in the target language

My study was based on the use of ICT as a tool to improve vocabulary I consider that vocabulary is an important element in a knowledge-based society; it involves decoding strings of letters or being able to enjoy or understand a text In fact, literacy is the ability to read, write and think critically and coherently

Although the pervasiveness of ICTs in all aspects of 21st-century life is quite clear and well accepted, it is less clear how teachers might successfully integrate technology into literacy instruction and specifically vocabulary instruction Improving students' vocabulary is an area of urgent need if we are to develop the advanced literacy levels required for success in school and beyond (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006; Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2008) Vocabulary is also an area where teachers are asking for guidance

on instructional approaches, strategies, and materials (Berne & Blachowicz, 2008) We believe that digital tools and media are available in most schools that teachers could harness now to improve vocabulary learning, tools that capture the interest of students and that provide scaffolds and contexts in which to learn with, and about, words more profitably

2.2.4 The Role of Multimedia in Vocabulary Learning

In multimedia tasks the same content is presented through texts, graphics,

sounds and motions, which offer opportunities for a variety of learning styles and build multiple paths in memory As students simultaneously see and hear the same information, it is easier to recall it (Healey, 2000a) The same is true for multimedia drills, most of which are programs in game formats They encourage quick response, and their fun factor helps to build a positive attitude towards learning while habit formation is going on A considerable advantage of computer-based drills over paper-based ones is the ability to offer immediate feedback to learners

The World Wide Web is fundamentally a multimedia medium, as it has a graphical presentation system which also incorporates audio and video files In addition, free programs are available on the Internet that enable students to listen to and watch spoken news extracts from radio or TV sites Some experts, such as Carrier are convinced that CD-ROMs and DVDs are likely to become obsolete with time, and the long-range goal is to transmit everything through the Internet (1997) Undoubtedly, the development of Internet technology has greatly accelerated in the last years, and the World Wide Web is becoming one of the main forces of information However, other types of media have equally important role in people’s life

2.2.5 The Computer as a Teaching Tool

Similarly to tape recorders and overhead projectors, also computers can be extremely useful teaching tools They have a motivating effect that few other devices

or techniques have As an information technology teacher I have often experienced students’ enthusiasm for computer programs They are highly motivated by tasks connected with computers Scrimshaw declares that computers “have the potential to redefine the scope of the language curriculum” (1993: Abstract) It is without doubt that computers promote and facilitate highly effective and motivating new learning experiences They provide the best tools to catch students’ interest, and it is easier to develop language skills when students are active If they have the opportunity to interact with the computer, their attention rarely drops

The additional advantage of computers to conventional classroom techniques is that tasks can be set according to the users’ language ability This is why computer-assisted instruction is considered to be learner-directed Another important aspect is

that students get immediate feedback from the computer, which allows them to evaluate their own answers while the questions are still fresh

Used in the right place computers make language teaching very effective The Internet, which is a relatively new area in education, is an impressive example for this,

as it offers new possibilities for computer-assisted language teaching Windeatt, Hardisty and Eastment call the Internet “a tool which has great potential in the language classroom, but its effectiveness in practice depends to a large extent on the way it is exploited by teachers and students” (2000: 8)

It is evident that teachers face new challenges while using computers during the language lessons Obviously, learning to use it effectively takes a lot of energy and time Lessons have to be planned well ahead to avoid confusion Instructions given to the students have to be also carefully constructed, at least until students get used to the program

Although it is widely emphasized that computer lessons are motivating, many teachers who are still unconfident in operating computers are afraid of them The other extreme is when the purpose of computers in the classroom is over-exaggerated According to Michael Carrier, to make it rewarding computer use has to be closely linked to traditional activities in the classroom He suggests that computer lessons need to be designed as a “methodological sandwich”:

(Carrier, 1997:280)

Multimedia CDs that are becoming widespread in education offer outstanding materials that can be very well incorporated into conventional lessons Above all, they

Introduction to activity Language input

Computer-resourced activity Language gathering

Follow-up in class Language output activity

give students access to electronic dictionaries, encyclopaedias and thesauruses They are more up-to-date and easier to use than those in book form Another effective tool is the Internet, where students can use on-line resources that provide them with an incredible amount of information Computer-based teaching materials are constantly improved and developed to be more sophisticated and to make better use of the advantages of computers

2.2.6 The World Wide Web as a Resource of Language Teaching Materials

The World Wide Web has a lot to offer for language teachers Firstly, teachers can subscribe to mailing lists related to teaching English as a second language or teaching English as a foreign language, and can communicate with colleagues and professionals to discuss methodological issues The Internet is an excellent ground to share practical ideas with other language teachers Secondly, the Internet is a store of information about latest inventions and teaching materials Tutors can read electronic journals and newsletters with the help of the Internet Furthermore, there are a growing number of materials on the Web especially designed for English language lessons The World Wide Web makes it easier to find alternative texts and activities that course books cannot provide Moreover, teachers can find authentic texts and ready-made exercises that can be used with great success in the language classroom

However, finding useful information on the Web requires experiment and decision making The variety of resources is so great that deciding how to use them is

a challenge in itself It is important to investigate Internet materials as critically as materials from any other source would be looked at, and where necessary they should

be adapted to suit the instructor’s situation As Carrier states, every mediated task can be tailored to meet the teacher’s methodological goals He underlines that any technological application is characterized by the teacher’s methodological design (1997)

computer-Educational centres help teachers to access appropriate material The primary goal of these centres is to improve instruction, so they provide a vast database of educational research and articles on topics related to teaching, learning and educational management Additionally, there are special sites dedicated to different fields of

studying, such as linguistics, literature or teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL or EFL)

Classroom Resources for Teachers

Teachers can find resources on the Internet that they can either use directly in the classroom or that they can adapt to their particular classes These webpages have a variety of English vocabulary resources that might be useful either for the teacher in the classroom or for students who are working independently

- Compleat Lexical Tutor (http://www.lextutor.ca/) This site has tests

for students’ level of vocabulary which can either be printed out or used interactively online It also has lists of words at various levels (including the Academic Word List and the University Word List) which students can click on

to hear pronounced or to find a list of examples of the usage of the word from

a corpus There is a feature called a hypertext builder which allows a text be entered and linked to a concordancer and a text- to-speech program (There is also a link to

a paper with a study of the use of such “resource-assisted readings.”) “Grouplex” is

a community-developed list of useful words with sample sentences and definitions which can be used as the basis for a quizzes In addition to the features of the Tutorial section, there are various features that can be used for research

- Vocabulary.com (http://www.vocabulary.com/) This site has links to a

great many useful vocabulary websites

- Vocabulary Teaching Ideas for ESL Teachers (http://www.eslflow com/vocabularylessonplans.html) This site has links to a large number of ideas for

teaching vocabulary, plus exercises to help students with confusing words, topical vocabulary lists, suggestions for vocabulary word “maps” and vocabulary notebooks, and vocabulary games

Lesson Plans, Worksheets, and Teaching Ideas Some websites provide lesson plans, worksheets, or teaching ideas which teacher can use directly or adapt to their particular situations Worksheets can be used in class or as homework assignments These are generally organized by content area or part of speech, so teachers can

find worksheets with vocabulary words that are appropriate to supplement their lessons Interactive exercises can be used in the classroom if the class is held in a computer lab or can be assigned as homework if it is not

- ESL Tower (http://www.esltower.com/vocabularyteachers.html) There

are great many vocabulary worksheets on this website for teachers to print out; organized by part of speech, content area, affix, etc

- Idioms (http://www.rong-chang.com/idioms.htm) This site contains a

list of links to resources related to idioms and teaching idioms The list includes dictionaries of idioms and slang, exercises, and topical lists of idioms

- ESL Teacher Lesson Plans & Worksheets (http://www.usingenglish

com/teachers/lesson-plans/) This site includes more than 150 worksheets in the pdf

format in three levels of difficulty, some with answers and teachers’ notes

- Language Arts: Vocabulary ( http://www.instructorweb.com/ resources/vocabulary.asp) Teachers can use these ideas for games and other

vocabulary activities

- Vocabulary lesson plans: American English (http://www onestopenglish.com/section.asp?catid=59778) This site has theme-based vocabulary

lessons, with notes for teachers

- Free Printables for Teachers-Worksheets (http://www.mes-english

com/worksheets/flashcards/) Teachers can use this online software to make

vocabulary worksheets in a variety of formats and on a variety of subjects The formats include matching a picture with the corresponding vocabulary word, writing the word that corresponds with the picture, various games, and writing something describing the picture There are also suggestions for using the worksheets

- Printable and Interactive ESL Vocabulary Exercises (http://www

esl-galaxy.com/vocabularysheets.html) The printable sections include an extensive

collection of vocabulary development activities and exercises arranged in categories (holidays, food, festivals, jobs and occupations, sickness, etc.) The interactive section, which can be given to students as homework if you are not teaching in a