Flashcards versus wordlists in vocabulary instruction to efl secondary school learners

The findings showed that using flashcards help students remember the meaning and spelling as well as pronunciation of word better than using wordlists... 27 Table 3.2 Result of score on

NGUYEN THI THUY

FLASHCARDS VERSUS WORDLISTS

IN VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION TO EFL SECONDARY SCHOOL LEARNERS

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

NGHE AN - 2016

NGUYEN THI THUY

FLASHCARDS VERSUS WORDLISTS

IN VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION TO EFL SECONDARY SCHOOL LEARNERS

Major: Theory and methods of teaching English

Code: 60.14.01.11

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

Supervisor: Dr Tran Thi Ngoc Yen

NGHE AN - 2016

I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates, and have not been published elsewhere

Author

Nguyen Thi Thuy

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr Tran Thi Ngoc Yen, who directly instructed and helped me carry out the study Her detailed feedback and insight, her kindness and enthusiasm encouraged me over the time of conducting the study

Second, I would really thank my classmate Nguyen Huong Giang for her friendliness, generous assistance, which contributed significantly to the result of the study

Next, I would like to show my special thankfulness to Quang Trung secondary 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

In recent years, second language vocabulary acquisition has become an increasingly interesting topic of discussion for teachers This study was carried out

in order to examine and compare the effectiveness of two different vocabulary teaching methods (flashcards with wordlists) in EFL secondary classrooms To reach this goal, 70 secondary students were asked to participate in the experiment Forty new words were presented in eight lessons (three lessons per week) by the researcher The researcher created a straightforward procedure to scrutinize the efficacy of teaching vocabulary throughout flashcards and wordlists The findings showed that using flashcards help students remember the meaning and spelling as well as pronunciation of word better than using wordlists

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the study 4

1.3 Research questions 4

1.4 Scope of the study 4

1.5 Thesis design 5

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Definition of vocabulary 6

2.2 Classification of vocabulary 7

2.2.1 According to the concept of morpheme 7

2.2.2 According to the meaning 7

2.2.3 According to the use of word 7

2.3 The role of vocabulary in language learning 8

2.4 Vocabulary measurement 10

2.4.1 Word form 12

2.4.2 Grammar 13

2.4.3 Collocation 13

2.4.4 Meaning 13

2.5 Vocabulary instruction 13

2.5.1 Techniques to teach English vocabulary as a foreign language 13

2.5.1.1 Visual techniques 14

2.5.2 Principles in teaching vocabulary 15

2.6 Flashcards in vocabulary teaching 16

2.6.1 Flashcards in foreign language teaching 16

2.6.2 Benefits of flashcards 17

2.7 Activities that can be done with flashcards 18

2.8 Wordlists in vocabulary teaching 19

2.8.1 Wordlists in foreign language teaching 19

2.8.2 Benefits of wordlists 19

2.8.3 Activities that can be done with wordlists 20

CHAPTER 3 THE EXPERIMENT 21

3.1 Research questions 21

3.2 Materials 21

3.3 Participants 24

3.4 Procedures 24

3.5 Results 26

3.5.1 Results from the word meaning tests 26

3.5.1.1 The comparison of the scores on the first and the last tests on word meaning made by the two groups 27

3.5.1.2 The comparison of the scores on the first two tests on word meaning and the last two tests made by the two groups 29

3.5.1.3 The comparison of the scores on the first four tests on word meaning and the last four tests made by the two groups 30

3.5.2 Results from the word spelling tests 32

3.5.2.1 The comparison of the scores on the first and the last tests on word spelling made by the two groups 33

3.5.2.2 The comparison of the scores on the first two tests on word spelling and the last two tests made by the two groups 34

3.5.2.3 The comparison of the scores on the first four tests on word spelling

and the last four tests made by the two groups 36

3.5.3 Results from the word pronunciation tests 37

3.5.3.1 The comparison of the scores on the first and the last tests on word pronunciation made by the two groups 38

3.5.3.2 The comparison of the scores on the first two tests on word pronunciation and the last two tests made by the two groups 39

3.5.3.3 The comparison of the scores on the first four tests on word pronunciation and the last four tests made by the two groups 41

3.6 Discussion 42

3.6.1 The effect of the flashcards and wordlists presentation on memorizing the word meaning 43

3.6.2 The effect of the flashcards and wordlists presentation on memorizing the word spelling 44

3.6.3 The effect of the flashcards and wordlists presentation on memorizing the word pronunciation 44

CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION 46

4.1 Summary of the main findings 46

4.2 Implications 48

4.3 Limitations 49

REFERENCES 50 APPENDIX

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1 EFL: English as a Foreign Language

2 L1: First Language

3 L2: Second Language

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Means and standard deviations of the first test and the last test

on word meaning for the treatment and control groups: 27 Table 3.2 Result of score on the last test minus score on the first test on

word meaning by participants from the two groups: 28 Table 3.3 Means and standard deviation of the first two tests and the last

two tests on word meaning for the treatment and control groups: 29 Table 3.4 Result of score on the last two tests minus score on the first two

tests on word meaning by participants from the two groups: 30 Table 3.5 Means and standard deviation of the first four tests and the last

four tests on word meaning for the treatment and control groups: 31 Table 3.6 Result of score on the last four tests minus score on the first four

tests on word meaning by participants from the two groups: 32 Table 3.7 Means and standard deviation of the first test and the last test on

word spelling for the treatment and control groups: 33 Table 3.8 Result of score on the last test minus score on the first test on

word spelling by participants from the two groups: 34 Table 3.9 Means and standard deviation of the first two tests and the last

two tests on word spelling for the treatment and control groups: 35 Table 3.10 Result of score on the last two tests minus score on the first two

tests on word spelling by participants from the two groups: 35 Table 3.11 Means and standard deviation of the first four tests and the last

four tests on word spelling for the treatment and control groups: 36 Table 3.12 Result of score on the last four tests minus score on the first four

tests on word spelling by participants from the two groups: 37

Table 3.13 Means and standard deviations of the first test and the last test

on word pronunciation for the treatment and control groups: 38 Table 3.14 Result of score on the last test minus score on the first test on

word pronunciation by participants from the two groups: 39 Table 3.15 Means and standard deviations of the first two tests and the last

two tests on word pronunciation for the treatment and control groups: 39 Table 3.16 Result of score on the last two tests minus score on the first two

tests on word pronunciation by participants from the two groups: 40 Table 3.17 Means and standard deviations of the first four tests and the last

four tests on word pronunciation for the treatment and control groups: 41 Table 3.18 Result of score on the last four tests minus score on the first four

tests on word pronunciation by participants from the two groups: 42

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

Vocabulary of a language is just like bricks of a high building It is a very important means to express our thoughts and feelings Therefore, the study of vocabulary is at the center while learning a new language English being a second language or foreign language, one needs to learn vocabulary in the systematic way Thus without vocabulary communication in a second or foreign language is not possible in a meaningful way Using visual techniques have become effective ways

in teaching vocabulary Flashcards and wordlists are two common ways that teachers use in vocabulary lessons There are some studies have shown the positive effects of flashcards and wordlists on students’ memorizing However, there has not been any research on the effects of flashcards and wordlists on remembering word meaning, word spelling and word pronunciation

This study is to compare the effectiveness of two vocabulary teaching methods (flashcards and wordlists) on remembering word meaning, word spelling

as well as word pronunciation One group of participants learned the vocabulary with flashcards as a main technique and the other learned with wordlists The experiment lasted in eight lessons with three lessons per week The results were compared to find out which techniques (flashcards or wordlists) better facilitate EFL secondary school learners’ retention of word meaning, word spelling and word pronunciation The researcher delivered three types of tests (test on word meaning, test on word spelling, especially, for the pronunciation test, the researcher asked the participants read aloud the new words they had learnt then she recorded the results)

to each participant after every lesson

1.1 Rationale

The important role of vocabulary in English as a second language as well as vocabulary in English as a foreign language is widely recognized in the world Besides four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing, learning

vocabulary helps students communicate effectively and smoothly Wilkins also denoted that “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” (1972, p.111) Vocabulary is an inseparable element which is used to activate learners' both mind and ability to express the intended meaning in the field According to Hatch (1983), the words will make basic communication possible Vocabulary knowledge is therefore a major factor to facilitate communication and other activities such as writing and reading appropriately in using second language or foreign language Furthermore, vocabulary can convey the meaning more than grammar in different contexts (Wilkins, 1972) As a result, teachers make use of different vocabulary techniques

to teach and develop their learners’ knowledge of vocabulary by helping them in building a great deal of words to choose from as they prefer to convey their intended message in different contexts at anytime and anywhere How to help learners remember well vocabulary items that they have learnt has become one of the concerns to the teacher

Concentrating on grammar at the expense of vocabulary creates a swell of problems for teachers and learners of foreign language Focusing on teaching grammar explicitly locks the students inside the classroom and cuts them off the outside world where they need to use the language for communication in real situations Learners, in such a case, concentrate needlessly on grammar to the neglect of vocabulary which is the main factor for communication In addition to that, focusing on grammar means what takes place inside the classroom has no relation with what students need outside the classroom Indeed there are some vocabulary learning problems which may be barriers to successful language learning and acquisition at elementary schools But these problems are mostly related to misconception, misunderstanding and forgetting of vocabulary items According to Allen (1983), to avoid these problems, vocabulary is best be learned when it is encountered in the classroom situation when the learner perceives a need for it Also according to Lewis and Hill (1990), the solution may be through using

the common techniques of teaching vocabulary such as pictures, real objects, synonyms, miming, defining, exemplifying, and translation to overcome the memory problems Furthermore, they stated that vocabulary items should be presented in contexts rich enough to provide clues meaning and be remembered and used correctly in different contexts

Students find it difficult to remember the words they have learnt Although they spend a lot of time learning new words, the results make them disappointed Therefore, how to help students memorize words easily as well as effectively and how to motivate them in vocabulary lessons are big questions for English teachers

In order to do this, teachers have to find out the suitable ways that make learners find it easy to memorize the word in class as soon as the new words are presented to the students Flashcards and wordlists are two effective techniques in presenting new words in vocabulary lessons

A number of research studies have shown the effectiveness of flashcards and wordlists on students’ memorization According to some researchers, flashcards help learners in acquiring vocabulary more effectively than wordlists (Mondria & Mondria-de Vries, 1994; Schmitt & Schmitt, 1995) In one investigation on flashcards, Komachali & Khodareza (2012) studied the effect of using vocabulary flashcard on Iranian pre-university students’ vocabulary knowledge The result showed that flashcards could lead the students to a higher level of vocabulary improvement

On the contrary, Baleghizadeh & Ashoori (2011) argued that wordlist is a method largely used in teaching vocabulary to learners Wordlist is still used as a good strategy because it is very economical for students to learn vocabulary in short time (Thornbury, 2002) However, Baleghizadeh and Ashoori (2011) investigated the effects of using flashcards and wordlists on EFL students’ learning of foreign language vocabulary The result of their study showed that there is no significant difference in the efficiency of flashcards compared to wordlists and also offered partial support to the hypothesis that flashcards could lead to better learning than

wordlists Hence, it would be useful to carry out the study on using flashcards and wordlists to present vocabulary in order to investigate how they effect on students’ memorization of word meaning, word spelling and word pronunciation Moreover, this study will add some more contributions to vocabulary lessons for English teachers in general

1.2 Aims of the study

The research was carried out with the aim of exploring the effects of using flashcards and wordlists to present vocabulary on students’ memorization of word meaning, word spelling and word pronunciation Comparisons of the two techniques for vocabulary instruction, flashcards and wordlists, were made to see which one works better The findings of this research were expected to be helpful for teachers in teaching vocabulary

1.4 Scope of the study

This research focuses on the effects of using flashcards and wordlists on teaching vocabulary The study is to measure students’ ability of remembering word meaning, word spelling and word pronunciation when using flashcards and wordlists Which techniques better facilitate EFL secondary school learners’ retention of word meaning, word spelling as well as word pronunciation Other aspect of vocabulary such as: grammar, collocation were not taken into consideration in the research The course book which the researcher used in the experimental course was 8th Grade English Textbook, published by Viet Nam

Education Publishing House The study was conducted among secondary students who were 14 years old They were in grade 8

1.5 Thesis design

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, the role of vocabulary in language learning, aspects of vocabulary need to be taught, techniques and principles in teaching vocabulary, flashcards and wordlists in foreign language teaching are also discussed

Chapter 3 presents the experimental study in order to compare the effectiveness of two different vocabulary teaching methods (flashcards with wordlists) about students’ memorization of word meaning, word spelling and word pronunciation This chapter also presents the discussion and some suggestions for the study

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

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The word “vocabulary” came from the Latin word “vocabulum” which means “name” It has come to English since 16th

century In the Macmillan English Dictionary, the word “vocabulary” means “all the words in a particular language” There have been many different definitions of vocabulary Joklova (2009) also stated that vocabulary is a list of words and their combination in particular language Each linguist gives his own definition Lewis (1993, p.89) states that vocabulary may individual words or full sentences-institutionalized utterances that convey fixed social or pragmatic meaning within a given community According to Pyles and Algeo, when people think about language, they think just about words They also give their ideas about vocabulary “It is true that the vocabulary is the focus of language It is in words that we arrange together to make sentences, conversation and discourse of all kinds” (1970, p.96)

Harmer used to indicate that “If language structures make up the skeleton of language, then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh” (Harmer,

1991, p.153) Knowing a word means being able to do thing with it: to recognize it

in connected speech or in print, to access its meaning, to pronounce it and to be able

to do these things within fraction of a second (Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986)

To summarize, vocabulary is the total number of all the words that a language possesses including single words, two or three words items expressing

single idea and multi-word idioms of which meaning cannot be deduced from the analysis of the component words but only understood in the sentences; or in contexts, etc

2.2 Classification of vocabulary

Vocabulary can be classified in various ways according to different criteria Here are three most common ways of vocabulary classification

2.2.1 According to the concept of morpheme

According to McCarthy (1990), there are three kinds of vocabulary: simple word, derived word and compound word A simple word has only one root morpheme For instance: pen, cat, big, book, bag, A derived word has a root morpheme and one or more than one affixation morphemes For example: unhappy, careless, friendliness, booked, And a compound word has at least two roots with

or without affixation morphemes, such as: car park, feedback, rainfall, greenhouse, etc

2.2.2 According to the meaning

According to the meaning of word, there are two kinds of word: lexical meaning and grammatical meaning Vocabulary, therefore, can be divided into notional words and functional words (Read, 2000, p.18) Notional words whose meanings are lexical, form a great mass of the speakers’ vocabulary They name objects, actions, qualities and have meaning in themselves They are nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc Function words whose meanings are grammatical, only have meanings in relation to other words with which they are used They are particles, articles, prepositions, and so on

2.2.3 According to the use of word

There are two kinds of vocabulary: active and passive vocabulary Passive vocabularies are words which a student can recognize but not necessarily use in reading or listening Passive vocabularies are useful for receptive skills such as reading and listening Whereas, active vocabularies are words which students can

both understand and use in communication Active vocabularies are useful for the productive skills such as speaking or writing Thus, learners should try to activate the passive vocabulary knowledge

Learners can understand many more words than they use in their own conversations One’s passive vocabulary is much larger than one’s active vocabulary The total number of words activity used in one’s whole life is much smaller than the total number of words understood in one’s whole life Even if we learn a word, it takes a lot of practice and context connections for us to learn it well This means that one word has different meanings in different contexts When a word connected with different prepositions will give different meanings We cannot remember and use all words exactly at the same time Therefore, having a great of English vocabulary doesn’t mean that you can use these words and phrases when you need This is the difference between passive and active vocabulary

2.3 The role of vocabulary in language learning

Vocabulary is considered as a strong foundation for learners to build up their communicative castles Wilkin (1972, p.110) says that “Vocabulary is one of the three dimensions of languages (phonetics, grammar, vocabulary) Without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” Vocabulary is the foundation of a language The size of vocabulary is an important criterion to evaluate a learner’s English level Without adequate vocabulary knowledge, a second language learner will have problems with conversation fluency and reading comprehension as well Rivers (1981) also emphasizes the important role of vocabulary in a language: “language is not a dry bone It is a living growing entity, clothed in the flesh of words” (cited in Hoang,

1985, p.23)

On the other hand, vocabulary has been acknowledged as L2 learners’ greatest single source of problems (Meara, 1980) This remark may possibly reflect that the openness of a vocabulary system is perceived to be a cause of difficulty by learners Another possible reason is that, unlike syntax and phonology, vocabulary

does not have rules the learners may follow to acquire and develop their knowledge

In other words, it is not clear in L2 vocabulary learning what rules apply or which vocabulary items should be learned first Oxford (1990) also claims that vocabulary

is “by far the most sizeable and unmanageable component in the learning of any language, whether a foreign or one’s mother tongue, because of tens of thousands of different meanings” Despite these difficulties that language learners face in L2 vocabulary, they still have to deal with it in their examinations as ‘‘vocabulary has traditionally been one of the language components measured in language tests’’ (Schmitt, 1999, 189) Furthermore, many learners see second language acquisition

as essentially a matter of learning vocabulary and therefore they spend a great deal

of time on memorizing lists of L2 words and rely on their bilingual dictionary as a basic communicative resource As a result, language teachers and applied linguists now generally recognize the importance of vocabulary learning and are exploring ways of promoting it more effectively Some of this research takes the form of investigation of strategies learners use specifically for vocabulary, which is our focus of attention

From what have been discussed above, it can be concluded that with native speakers in general, secondary school learners in particular, vocabulary is needed as first in order to survive If a learner has a wide vocabulary, he can get himself understood and understand other easily On the contrary, if it is limited, he will have difficult in doing so Therefore, vocabulary is a “must” for all English learners to acquire by all means

non-The important role of vocabulary raises question of how can learners increase their vocabulary knowledge Prator and Murcia (1979) stated that

“Vocabulary is expanded as fast as possible since the acquisition of vocabulary is considered more important than grammar skill” As a result, it goes without saying that teaching and learning vocabulary is a very crucial aspect in foreign language methodology Nevertheless, it is also one of the hardest things to do, especially when you have reached a certain level Learning vocabulary is a process requiring

time and effort investment In vocabulary teaching, teachers are advised to organize various learning activities to create motivation for learners

2.4 Vocabulary measurement

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 are namely:

- Form (pronunciation and spelling)

From all of the aspects, the appropriate aspects for teaching to young learners

in Elementary School are form (its spelling and pronunciation) and the meaning (its denotation meaning) It is because they are basic aspects in presenting vocabulary Meanwhile, Nation (1990) mentions two kinds of vocabulary learning They are receptive learning and productive learning Receptive learning is the ability to recognize a word and recall its meaning when it is met Then, productive learning involves what is needed for receptive learning plus the ability to speak or write at the appropriate time

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 in or a tool)

- Homophony: understanding words that have the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings (e.g: see, sea)

- Synonym: distinguishing between the different shades of meaning that synonymous words have (e.g: big, huge)

- Affective meaning: distinguishing between the attitudinal and emotional factors (denotation and connotation), which depend on the speakers attitude or the situation Socio-cutural associations of lexical items are another important factor

- 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

In short, 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)

2.4.1 Word form

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

2.4.2 Grammar

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

2.4.3 Collocation

This 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

2.4.4 Meaning

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

2.5 Vocabulary instruction

2.5.1 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

2.5.1.1 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

Flashcards may be the most useful aids in language teaching because they can be used in different ways Flashcards are maybe cards having two sides: one side is a picture and other side is a word

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

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

Thirdly, 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

Next, using synonyms is a technique that teacher explain the meaning of a word by giving another word, which students know and understand, and which means nearly the same with the word For example: big-huge, tall-high, little-small, etc

Antonyms is also a technique that teacher use to present the meaning of words This is the technique that teacher explains the meaning of a word by giving its opposite For example: sad – not happy

Definition is a usual technique that teacher uses to give meaning to the learners It is a suitable method for upper beginners and relies on giving the definition of given word It can be the definition from the dictionary, it can be simple or complex

2.5.1.3 Polish equivalent

In this method, teacher gives the translation of given word in the native language The translation is the quickest way of demonstrating the meaning of vocabulary items However, being exposed to this presentation technique, students may be discouraged from interacting with words When presenting vocabulary, teacher is obliged to bear in mind the techniques and also the fact that words are learnt better In addition, the lexical items must be taught in context The reason is that the meaning of many words can change depending their use in particular sentences or contexts

2.5.2 Principles in teaching 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

2.6 Flashcards in vocabulary teaching

John Haycraft (1978, p.102) said that flashcards are cards on which words and/or pictures are printed or drawn According to Oxford Advanced learner’s Dictionary (1995, p.94), flashcard is a card with the word or words and sometimes a picture down it Based on discussed above, it can be taken a general view that flashcards are cards with a word or words, number, or a picture on it for use in the classroom by teacher and students that help to learn and memorize new words In addition, Haycraft (1978, p.102-106) states two types of flashcards They are word flashcards and picture flashcards Word flashcards are cards on which words have been printed (wordlists) When practicing word order, the teacher can use a number

of cards representing all the words in a sentence The cards can be fixed to the board, or given to a student, and arranged correctly either by the class a whole or individual students The word flashcards also can be used to practice structure Then, picture flashcards are useful for presenting, practicing and revising vocabulary or as prompts for other activities – for example, to illustrate the characters in a dialogue, to help students improvise Picture flashcards can be used

as prompts for simple substitution drills Picture flashcards are also useful for identifying verbs on action

2.6.1 Flashcards in foreign language teaching

Flashcards are a really handy resource to have and can be useful at every stage of the class They are a great way to present, practice and recycle vocabulary and when students become familiar with the activities used in class, they can be given out to early-finishers to use in small groups Flashcards get the students to

make their own sets of mini flashcards that can be taken home for them to play with, with parents and siblings

2.6.2 Benefits of flashcards

Flashcards have a lot of functions and they seem to be at teachers' service in vocabulary teaching activities Specifically, they are used to assist learners with learning vocabularies Theoretically, they are defined as cardboards consisting of a word or a simple picture on it The letters on flashcards must be visible and large enough to make sure that everyone sitting in the front or back of classroom can see the letters on the card In addition, it is better to write words with capital letters Teachers are recommended to use both sides of flashcards in teaching vocabulary

On one side, the new word is written in L2 and possibly with a picture beside it and

on the other side is the translation Flashcards can be used a useful mean for both teachers and even students as a self-study vehicle It can be seen that flashcards have been used for teaching a variety of purposes during the history of language teaching A number of studies have shown that flashcards have more efficacies and help learners more in acquiring vocabulary than wordlists (Mondria & Mondria-de Vries, 1994; Schmitt & Schmitt, 1995) In one study concerning the use of flashcards, Ehri and Roberts (1979) studied first graders to see whether they learned printed words better in isolation or in context Post-test scores revealed that those who were taught words in isolation were able to read the words faster than those who were taught in context and they also learned more about orthographic forms but those who were taught in context learned more about the semantic identities rather than orthographic forms Being flexible in their way of use, flashcards offer teachers and their students a large amount of possibilities in applying them in a number of activities and games (Hill, 1990)

According to Haycraft (1978, p.102) and Cross (1991, p.120), there are some advantages of using flashcards in language teaching

- First, flashcards can be used for consolidating vocabulary;

- Second, flashcards are motivating and eye-catching;

- Third, flashcards are effective that can be used for any level students;

- Fourth, flashcards can be taken almost everywhere and studied when are has free moment;

- Fifth, flashcards can be arranged to create logical grouping of the target words;

- Sixth, flashcards are cost effective/inexpensive;

- Seventh, flashcards provide visual link between L1 and the target language;

- Last, flashcards also can be used for practicing structure and word order or for a variety of games

Based on the explanations above, it can be concluded that flashcards have many advantages when used in teaching learning process Flashcards have a great power in motivating and stimulating the students Meanwhile, flashcards are easy media to help students and teacher in learning process, especially to teach the students of elementary school Teacher can use it at any time and in any situation when he wants to teach

2.7 Activities that can be done with flashcards

Flashcards can be done with many different activities, such as:

- Flash: this activity can be used to introduce or review the vocabulary Teacher gets students’ attention then shows them the flashcards very fast

- Slowly: teacher gradually reveals the pictures to the learners

- What’s missing: teacher sticks the flashcards on the board (at least 6 pictures), gets the class to repeat the words then asks students to close their eyes, teacher removes

a flashcard from the board and hide it

- Lip reading: teacher sticks the flashcards on the board Teacher say a word with her lips then students guess the word

- Flashcards riddles: teacher sticks the flashcards on the board Then teacher describes the feature of the word, students guess the meaning of the word

- Kim’s game: teacher sticks the flashcards on the board Students look at the flashcards in a minute Teacher then removes all the flashcards from the board Students write down the words that they can remember

2.8 Wordlists in vocabulary teaching

Wordlists play an important role in vocabulary teaching Teacher uses wordlists to present new words as well as review vocabulary in the lessons

2.8.1 Wordlists in foreign language teaching

Wordlist is a sheet of paper where learners write the second language along with their first language definition to one side of each word Wordlists are useful method to present vocabulary in the vocabulary lesson Wordlist is one of effective strategy that can be applied classroom because it is cheap and widely-used among the students It can also be learned in short time (Thornbury, 2002)

2.8.2 Benefits of wordlists

Other strategy for vocabulary learning which has a root in the past is wordlist learning This strategy simply includes a sheet of paper where students write the L2 words along with their L1 definitions to one side of each word As Oxford (1990) mentioned, “The assumptions that undergird this technique appear to be that learners do not need much, if any, context to learn vocabulary, and that rote memorization is perfectly adequate” (p.10) Proponents of the wordlist technique believe that working with wordlists is one of the most effective ways of acquiring L2 vocabulary (Meara, 1995; Nation, 1995) On the other hand, others argue that to acquire the complex nature of words, learners need to encounter words in several meaningful contexts According to Baumann and Kameeuni (1991), methods which provide learners with opportunities to process words by making connections between what they already know and what they have learned are effective strategies Although a great deal of work has been done on vocabulary learning, Griffin and Harley (1996) contend that where the task of L2 learning is concerned, little work has been done on list learning of new words despite the fact that it is one

of the most widely-used techniques among learners Yongqi (2003) mentions some aspects of wordlist learning First, he tries to answer the question of how many repetitions learners need in order to learn word pairs He points out that a surprising number of word pairs can be learned within a short time As an example, Lado,

Baldwin, and Lobo (1967, as cited in Yongqi, 2003) found that intermediate college students of Spanish recalled 65% of 100 words after just one exposure Secondly, Yongqi (2003) discusses the optimum number of words to be studied at one time Although it is believed that list learning should be discarded as a behaviorist learning method (Hulstijn, 2001), there is some empirical investigation which recommends that list learning should be used as a strategy for teaching and learning L2 words

2.8.3 Activities that can be done with wordlists

Like activities in flashcards Here are some activities that can be done with wordlists:

- Flash: this activity can be used to introduce or review the vocabulary Teacher gets students’ attention then shows them the words very fast

- Slowly: teacher gradually reveals the words to the learners

- What’s missing: teacher sticks the words on the board (at least 6 words), gets the class to repeat the words then asks students to close their eyes, teacher removes a word from the board and hide it

- Lip reading: teacher sticks the words on the board Teacher say a word with her lips then students guess the word

- Matching: student match the words with their meanings

- Kim’s game: teacher sticks the words on the board Students look at the wordlists

in a minute Teacher then removes all the words from the board Students write down the words that they can remember

CHAPTER 3 THE EXPERIMENT

Some researchers discovered that teaching with flashcards help learners to acquire words more effectively than wordlists (Komachali & Khodareza, 2012; Schmitt & Schmitt, 1995) It is in line with Thornbury (2002) who states that flashcards help teacher to demonstrate a simple sequence of activities to the learners Moreover, in one investigation on flashcards, Komachali & Khodareza (2012) studied the effect of using vocabulary flashcards on Iranian pre-university students’ vocabulary knowledge The result revealed that flashcards could lead the students to a higher level of vocabulary improvement In contrast, Baleghizadeh & Ashoori (2011) argued that wordlist is a method largely used in teaching vocabulary

to learners Wordlist is still used as a good strategy because it is very economical for students to learn vocabulary in short time (Thornbury, 2002) However, Komachali & Khodareza (2012) argue that learners paid less attention in learning words through wordlist because it is monotonous

This chapter presents the procedure and results of the experiment

grammar, as well as develop four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing)

Vocabularies in the 8th Grade English Textbook are learnt by topics These are sixteen topics corresponding with the sixteen units:

- Unit 1: My friends - Unit 9: A first-aid course

- Unit 2: Making arrangements - Unit 10: Recycling

- Unit 3: At home - Unit 11: Traveling around Viet Nam

- Unit 4: Our past - Unit 12: A vacation abroad

- Unit 5: Study habits - Unit 13: Festivals

- Unit 6: The young pioneers club - Unit 14: Wonders of the world

- Unit 7: My neighborhood - Unit 15: Computers

- Unit 8: Country life and city life - Unit 16: Inventions

However, only two units were chosen for the experiment, from unit 14 to unit 15 There were eight lessons during the experiment (three lessons per week) The vocabulary tests which were delivered to the participants after every lesson were the tests on word meaning, word spelling and word pronunciation Each test consists of five questions about five new words they have learnt The total score is ten with two marks for a correct answer In the word meaning test, the participants have to write the meaning of the words in mother tongue (Vietnamese meaning) The test on word spelling is a jumble letter exercise which requires the participants

to reorder the letters to make a correct word In order to test word pronunciation, the participants were required to read aloud the words they had learnt then the researcher recorded what the participants’ presentation Here are three examples of word meaning test, word spelling and word pronunciation test:

Example 1: Word meaning test

Write the meanings of the words:

Example 2: Word spelling test

Reorder the letters:

Example 3: Word pronunciation test

Read aloud the following words:

Before conducting the experimental study, the participants were given a general test level A1 which was taken from the website: http://www.englishtag.com This test includes five parts Part A and B test students’ knowledge of grammar about the verb to be, the present simple tense, imperative and negative Part C and

D are to test students’ vocabulary with the common verbs and nouns relating to the countries, nationalities, days, numbers, months, weather, colors Part E is about the use of prepositions such as: in, near, on, under In addition, the researcher added forty words which would be used in the experimental course to make sure that the participants had known them or not All the tests are suitable and reliable in measuring students’ English knowledge who are in grade 8

3.3 Participants

The learners in this study are 14 years old They are learning at Quang Trung secondary school There are 70 participants including 40 males and 30 females in the experimental course They were divided into two groups: treatment group (35 students) and control group (35 students) Before the experiment, the participants were given a test in order to make sure that they were at the same level Seventy students in two groups became the subjects of the research and all information about them was gathered and analyzed in the next chapter Despite the fact that there might be some inevitable variables such as intelligence and characteristics among students, the differences between two groups were limited to minimum

3.4 Procedures

The experimental course was conducted for three weeks in eight lessons During the experiment, the researcher herself directly taught the experimental group and the control group Flashcards were used for the treatment group On the other hand, wordlists were used for the control group

Before starting to the experimental course, the participants in both groups were given a general test in order to make sure that they are at the same level The results indicated that students give some correct answers for part C (this part is

about vocabulary) Most participants in both groups have four or five correct answers, some of them have six correct answers and some have less correct answer than the others Students who have six correct answers are good at English, they can memorize well then words they learnt, others they said that they guessed They supposed that the words which begin with capital letter may be related to countries, nationalities, days and months The results showed that students in both groups are

at the same level, some of them are good at memorizing new words, some of them cannot memorize well Both of them have learnt English since they were in grade 3 Some of students are good at learning English On the other hand, others find it difficult English, especially for memorizing new words The two groups started the experimental course by the researcher from unit thirteen to unit fifteen in the 8thGrade English Textbook Students learnt not only vocabulary section but also the four English skills: listen, speak, read, write as well as grammar The researcher spent ten minutes to present and check the five new words per vocabulary lesson (both treatment and control groups) Because of the limitation of time, all the experimental lessons were taken place in the morning and the word meaning test, word spelling test and word pronunciation test were given to the participants in the afternoon After a vocabulary lesson finished, teacher first gave the participant the 5 minute-word meaning test, when time was over, the researcher collected the results Then the researcher gave the spelling tests to the participants, students did the test in

5 minutes as well After that the word spelling tests were collected by the researcher For word pronunciation test, the participants were required to read aloud five new words they have learnt in two minutes, while the researcher was recording their presentation The scores from the word meaning test, word spelling test and word pronunciation test helped the researcher measure how flashcards and wordlists affect the learners’ ability of memorizing word meaning, word spelling and word pronunciation

3.5 Results

This part begins with the results from the tests on word meaning, the tests on word spelling and the tests from word pronunciation for both treatment group and control group The comparison of the differences in scores from three types of tests are also discussed

3.5.1 Results from the word meaning tests

This part is about the results obtained from the eight tests on word meaning

It presents the analysis for the issues such as: increases or decreases which were made by two groups, it is about the participant with no improvement during the course as well With the aim of measuring the participants’ ability of memorizing word meaning after each lesson The researcher used two methods of scoring: the

20th minus 1st scoring method and the average scoring method These scoring methods were used by Chung and Nation (2006) when they did their research and considered as a conservative method to produce reliable results The last score minus score method is to take the score on the last test minus the score on the first test The average scoring are calculated in two ways The first way is that it takes the average score on the last two tests minus the score the first two tests The second is to take the average score on the last four tests minus the first four tests The researcher use the last score minus the first score method to measure the participants’ ability of memorizing word meaning It can also help the researcher see how well a participant remember right from the beginning of the course to the end of the course However, this scoring method is only on one test, it cannot be reliable enough for evaluating the participants’ ability It might be on that day, the participants did the test on the first time, they might feel unfamiliar with the test or they mood was not good, many other factors also affected their performance as well That is why the result based on the last score minus the first score method is not reliable enough to confirm the increases that the participants made in the experimental course Therefore, the average scoring method with two different

ways of scoring (the last two tests minus the first two tests and the last four tests minus the first four tests) were used in order to increase the reliability of the results

3.5.1.1 The comparison of the scores on the first and the last tests on word meaning made by the two groups

In order to know the improvement that two groups made from the beginning

of the course and at the end of the course, the last score minus the first score method was used It was calculated by taking the average score on the last test minus the average of the first test Here is the table presenting means and standard deviations

of the first and the last test on the word meaning for the treatment and control groups

Table 3.1 Means and standard deviations of the first test and the last test on word

meaning for the treatment and control groups:

group

Control group Average score on the 1st

1st test to the 8th test However, the treatment group got higher scores with the mean

of the first test 6.3 (SD: 1.6) and it gained 8.3 (SD: 1.1) on the last test On the contrary, the control made a light improvement, it increased 0.9 points from the first

to the last test It means that using flashcards to present vocabulary during the course to the treatment group produced a better effect on word meaning memorization The following table demonstrates the number of participants increasing and decreasing their scores on the first and the last tests

Table 3.2 Result of score on the last test minus score on the first test on word

meaning by participants from the two groups:

23 participants (66%) increasing by 2 points, 5 participants (14%) increasing by 4 points and 1 participant (3%) increasing by 6 points There were only 5 participants who made no improvement, taking 14% and there was only 1 participant decreased

by 2 points (3%) his score For the control group, the number of participants increased their score were 17 (49%) and they also increased by 2 points There were

16 participants (46%) who did no improve during the course, while the treatment group had only 5 participants Two participants in the control group had negative results Their score decreased 2 points when compared the 1st test and the 8th test This result suggested that the treatment group has made more progress than the control one during the course in learning vocabulary in term of remembering word meaning

3.5.1.2 The comparison of the scores on the first two tests on word meaning and the last two tests made by the two groups

The average scoring method was calculated by taking the average score on the last two tests minus the average score on the first two tests It may be that the score on one test cannot evaluate the participants’ ability accurately because the learners may not do the test well on the first day while they can do well on the next day Therefore, the researcher took this scoring method to see how the participants did their tests on the first two tests and the last two tests

Table 3.3 Means and standard deviation of the first two tests and the last two tests

on word meaning for the treatment and control groups:

Average score on the 1sttwo tests