The impact of english songs on the english vocabulary retention of students grade 6 at nguyen tri phuong junior high school in hue

Perceptions of the students on using English songs for remembering vocabulary .... 38 Figure 4.1: Reality of participants‟ learning and remembering vocabulary…………..60 Figure 4.2: The cha

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents Page

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES 6

ABBREVIATIONS 8

ABSTRACT 9

Chapter I - INTRODUCTION 10

1.1 Rationale 10

1.2 Aims of the study 14

1.3 Research questions 14

1.4 Scope of the study 14

1.5 Significance of the study 14

1.6 Organization of the study 15

Chapter II - LITERATURE REVIEW 16

2.1 Introduction 16

2.2 Songs and the use of songs 16

2.2.1 Definitions of “song” 16

2.2.2 A brief history of the use of songs in language teaching and learning 17

2.2.3 The advantages and limitations of using songs in language teaching and learning 18 2.2.3.1 Advantages of songs 18

2.2.3.2 Limitations of songs 23

2.2.4 The role of songs in the foreign language classroom 25

2.2.5 Songs and vocabulary 26

2.2.6 Vocabulary and vocabulary retention 28

2.2.6.1 What is vocabulary? 28

2.2.6.2 How are vocabulary retained? 30

2.2.6.3 Features to make learning and retaining a word difficult 33

2.3 Memory 34

2.3.1 Studies on human memory 34

2.3.2 Sensory Information Storage 35

2.3.3 Short-term memory 36

2.3.4 Long-term memory 36

2.3.5 Information processing model 37

2.3.6 Forgetting 39

2.4 An overview of grade 6 curriculum 39

2.4.1 Objectives 40

2.4.2 Themes in grade 6 textbook 40

2.5 Previous studies related to the research 40

2.5.1 Related studies abroad 41

2.5.2 Related studies in Vietnam 42

2.6 Conclusion 44

CHAPTER III - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 45

3.1 Introduction 45

3.2 Research approach 45

3.3 Research design 46

3.4 Participants 46

3.5 Instruments 47

3.5.1 Questionnaires 47

3.5.2 Achievement tests 48

3.5.3 Interviews 50

3.5.4 Treatment 51

3.6 Procedures 51

3.7 Summary 53

Chapter IV- FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 54

4.1 Questionnaires 54

4.1.1 The comparison of students‟ vocabulary learning and retention between the control group and experimental group …… 55

4.1.1.1 Before the intervention 55

4.1.1.2 After the intervention 56

4.1.2 The comparison of students‟ vocabulary learning and retention in each group 58

4.1.2.1 In the control group 58

4.1.2.2 In the experimental group 59

4.1.3 Students‟ perceptions of the use of English songs in vocabulary learning 61

4.1.3.1 Before the intervention 62

4.1.3.2 After the intervention 62

4.1.4 Students‟ perceptions of the use of English songs in vocabulary learning inside each group 64

4.1.4.1 In the control group 64

4.1.4.2 In the experimental group 65

4.1.5 Opinions of the students about English songs considered as one of the best methods of vocabulary learning 66

4.1.6 Students‟ preference towards the frequent use of English songs in learning vocabulary 67

4.1.7 Students‟ perceptions of the use of English songs for vocabulary remembering enhancement 68

4.1.7.1 Before the intervention 69

4.1.7.2 After the intervention 70

4.1.8 Students‟ perceptions of the use of English songs for vocabulary remembering enhancement inside each group 71

4.1.8.1 In the control group 72

4.1.8.2 In the experimental group 72

4.1.9 Further internalization of students on enhancing vocabulary retention through

English songs 74

4.2 Vocabulary tests 75

4.2.1 Students‟ ability of vocabulary retention between two groups 76

4.2.1.1 Before the intervention 77

4.2.1.2 After the intervention 77

4.2.2 Students‟ ability of vocabulary retention inside each group 78

4.2.2.1 In the control group 79

4.2.2.2 In the experimental group 80

4.2.3 Correlation between the Pre-test and Post- test in the experimental group 82

4.3 Interviews 83

4.4 Summary 87

Chapter V - CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 88

5.1 Summary of the key findings 88

5.1.1 Realities of grade 6 students‟ self-learning and remembering vocabulary at NTP Junior High School 88

5.1.2 Perceptions of the students on using English songs for remembering vocabulary 89

5.1.3 Effectiveness of English songs in enhancing the retention of these words over time 89

5.2 Contributions of the study 90

5.3 Implications of the study 90

5.3.1 For teachers 90

5.3.2 For learners 92

5.3.3 For the textbook designers and administrators 92

5.4 Limitations of the study 93

5.5 Recommendations for further studies 94

REFERENCES 95 APPENDICES

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 2.1: Brain functions……… ……….19

Figure 2.2: Model explaining some steps involved in LTM and STM……… …… 38

Figure 4.1: Reality of participants‟ learning and remembering vocabulary………… 60

Figure 4.2: The change of the participants‟ perceptions of the use of English songs for vocabulary learning in each group before and after the intervention……… ……….65

Figure 4.3: Participants‟ preference to the frequent use of English songs in learning vocabulary……… ……… ………67

Figure 4.4: Perceptions of participants of the use of English songs for enhancing vocabulary retention……… ………73

Figure 4.5: Perceptions of participants on longer vocabulary retention through English songs than other methods……… 74

Figure 4.6: Vocabulary performance……….……81

Table 2.1: Objectives of the textbook Tieng Anh 6 published by MOET……….… 40

Table 3.1: Clusters of questions……… ….48

Table 3.2: Procedure of the research……….…51

Table 4.1: Learners‟ reality of learning and remembering vocabulary……….…55

Table 4.2: Learners‟ reality of learning and remembering vocabulary……….…55

Table 4.3: Learners‟ reality of learning and remembering vocabulary after the intervention………56

Table 4.4: Learners‟ reality of learning and remembering vocabulary after the intervention (Independent Samples Test)……… …57

Table 4.5: Control group‟s reality of learning and remembering vocabulary (Before & after the questionnaire)……….….58

Table 4.6: Control group‟s reality of learning and remembering vocabulary…… ….58 Table 4.7: Experimental group‟s reality of learning and remembering vocabulary.….59 Table 4.8: Experimental group‟s reality of learning and remembering vocabulary….59

Table 4.9: Perceptions of participants in the control and experimental groups of the use

of English songs in learning vocabulary before and after the intervention………….61 Table 4.10: Perceptions of participants in control and experimental groups of the use

of English songs for vocabulary learning before the intervention………62 Table 4.11: Perceptions of participants in control group and experimental one of the use of English songs for vocabulary learning after the intervention ………63 Table 4.12: Perceptions of participants in each group before and after the intervention

of the use of English songs for vocabulary learning……… ….64 Table 4.13: Perceptions of participants in control group before and after the intervention………64 Table 4.14: Perceptions of participants in experimental group of the use of English songs for vocabulary learning before and after the intervention…… ….………….65 Table 4.15: Opinions of participants about the use of English songs as one of the best techniques of voca bular y learning… ….………… …… ….…………6 6 Table 4.16: Perceptions of participants in two groups of the use of English songs for enhancing retention of vocabulary before and after the intervention….………… …68 Table 4.17: Perceptions of participants in two groups of the use of English songs for enhancing retention of vocabulary before the intervention………… ………69 Table 4.18: Perceptions of participants in the two groups of the use of English songs for enhancing retention of vocabulary after the intervention……… ………70 Table 4.19: Perceptions of participants in each group of the use of English songs for enhancing vocabulary retention before and after the intervention………71 Table 4.20: Perceptions of participants in the control group of the use of English songs for enhancing vocabulary retention before and after the intervention ……… …….72 Table 4.21: Perceptions of participants in the experimental group of the use of English songs for enhancing vocabulary retention before and after the intervention …… 72 Table 4.22: The result of vocabulary tests of 2 groups before and after the intervention………76

Table 4.23: Participants‟ ability to remember vocabulary before the intervention… 77

Table 4.24: Participants‟ ability of remembering vocabulary after the intervention…77 Table 4.25: Participants‟ ability to remember vocabulary after the intervention…… 78

Table 4.26: Control group‟s achievement of vocabulary tests before and after the intervention………79

Table 4.27: Control group‟s achievement of vocabulary tests before and after the intervention………79

Table 4.28: Experimental group‟s achievement of vocabulary tests before and after the intervention ……… ………80

Table 4.29: Experimental group‟s achievement of vocabulary tests before and after the intervention……… ………….80

Table 4.30: Correlation of experimental group‟s mark levels……….82

Table 4.31: Gained score of 9 participants chosen to be interviewed……… 83

Table 5.1: Summary of the results ………89

ABBREVIATIONS

α: Alpha

CD: Compact Disc

EFL: English foreign language

ELT: English language teaching

ESL: English second language

L2: Second Language

LTM: Long-term memory

M: Mean

MCQs: Multiple Choice Questions

MI: Multiple Intelligences

MOET: Ministry of Education and Training

MSs: Mnemonic Strategies

NTP: Nguyen Tri Phuong

SIS: Sensory Information Storage

SPSS: The statistical Package for the Social Science STM: Short-term memory

ABSTRACT

This study examined the effectiveness of the use of English songs in helping grade 6 students‟ retention of vocabulary at Nguyen Tri Phuong Junior High School in Hue City It also addressed the issues of students‟ perceptions of the use of English songs for learning vocabulary and the reality of learning and remembering vocabulary through English songs Quantitative and qualitative methods were applied to the data analysis, processed with SPSS software (Version 19)

The study followed a two-group design 70 grade 6 students at Nguyen Tri Phuong Junior High School were involved in the study 35 students in the experimental group were supplied with the use of English songs during 10 weeks while the rest in the control group had no treatment The instruments used to collect data were a pre and post questionnaire on the perceptions of the use of English songs and on the reality of learning and remembering vocabulary, a pre and post-test on vocabulary, and five questions for interview to examine the effects of English songs on the students

The data were analyzed by the two main tests: Descriptive statistics and Independent-sample T tests The findings revealed that the reality of learning and remembering vocabulary through English songs and the students‟ perceptions of the use of English songs in learning vocabulary were raised Additionally, their ability of vocabulary retention increased remarkably

Based on the findings of the study, suggestions were made to help learners as well as teachers to apply English songs in teaching and learning vocabulary in more effective ways

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter refers to (1) the rationale, (2) aims the study, (3) research questions, (4) scope of the study, (5) significance of the study, and (6) organization of the study

It is the importance of vocabulary in learning English that a considerable sum of vocabulary helps learners to express their ideas and feelings effectively Having a good range of vocabulary can help learners comprehend texts confidently, participate actively in daily communication, speak fluently and become proficient in writing Thus, the learners‟ vocabulary needs to be developed and expanded Though teaching vocabulary is regarded as a main job at lower and upper secondary schools in Vietnam, most students are found to have difficulty in remembering the words or phrases they

have learnt Due to the limited time of 45 minutes per lesson, EFL and upper secondary school teachers in Vietnam would normally choose some words or phrases to introduce

in the early stage of each lesson (mainly focused on reading, listening and writing lessons) As a result, vocabulary has so far not been really given much consideration as

it should be It can be seen that teachers pay much attention to how vocabularies are taught rather than how they are learnt and retained especially outside class While we,

as teachers, are constantly telling students that these vocabularies are very important and that the students should try to remember them, we generally have not got a proper way to help them to improve this In my 13 years' experience of teaching English at junior and senior high schools (Nguyen Chi Thanh Senior High school and Nguyen Tri Phuong Junior High School), I have got many emails and questions from my students about the best ways to learn vocabulary These questions have been tossed about in my mind for years I have also shared these questions with my friends, my colleagues of English, in the hope of finding a good answer for this problem and I myself tried to use many different ways such as using antonyms, synonyms, pictures, realia, definitions, etc They cannot retain and use the vocabulary even though they have made attempts

to learn In another case, they remember certain vocabularies which are stored in such a way that it is impossible for them to retrieve when necessary

For the last two decades, EFL methodology has been actively considering the possibility of using music and songs in class Songs are considered to be an effective tool for language teaching As can be seen, young learners can sing songs without knowing words I have thought much about this and decided to apply songs to my lessons Conducting these lessons, I tried to deal with the problem of the lack of motivation and boredom as far as learning new vocabulary is concerned I was looking for practical ways to make classes livelier and help students acquire English vocabulary in a more interesting way what led me to the topic of songs I have surprisingly found that my lessons became more active and interesting, and my

students more excited and the vocabulary related to the songs were better used by my students

Hence, I myself conducted a small investigation on students of my own about their difficulties in learning vocabulary and their most favorite ways of learning vocabulary The result shows that 82% students asked have difficulty learning vocabulary, 76% are interested in learning vocabulary through English songs This has encouraged me to do a research on the impact of English songs on students‟ vocabulary retention

I find songs of great importance that during my studies in the Teacher Training College I have changed my mind about their value Previously, I strongly believed that songs can be used to develop listening or singing only However, in the majority of publications dealing with the topic, songs are recommended for teaching phonetics, grammar, speaking skills, and what is the most important for me songs appear to be a great tool for expanding the vocabulary of the learners

In the context of Vietnam, in most tests, vocabulary is obviously given serious consideration The retrieval of vocabulary not only helps students communicate effectively but performs the tests well Since learning tasks are different, they require different strategies to fulfill the learning purposes In fact, there is no single instructional method or strategy that will fit all kinds of learning but using songs will have more positive effects because the students can hear, see, read and understand vocabularies which are often used in context and they also speak them by singing the words In addition, students can repeat it many times easily since most songs have rhyme, rhythm, tune and melody, which is favorable conditions helping transfer information from short term into long term memory

Presently, I am in charge of teaching grade 6 English at Nguyen Tri Phuong Junior High School Many of the students have a rather low proficiency of English because they come from different parts of Thua Thien Hue Province, including urban areas and rural areas where English has sometimes been heard or taught Hence,

English is quite novel to them Although the students have put in great efforts to study vocabulary through spelling, pronunciation, meaning, synonyms, etc., they still cannot further improve their vocabulary Their results are hardly satisfactory Some students think that learning vocabulary is boring and inefficient Although they attend English classes regularly, they dislike learning English and are not interested in learning or speaking English correctly Some of them have negative attitudes towards learning English They are not keen on participating in the classroom activities; learning English vocabulary is just like reading through the text presented to them, or using a big book and flashcards to learn vocabulary

I have been looking for practical ways to motivate and help my students to acquire English vocabulary in a more interesting way I consider choosing an appropriate teaching strategy, which will enhance my teaching as well as learners‟ learning process There is a need to use a variety of instructional media that will be able to help the students expand their English vocabulary Personally, I feel that teaching English through the use of English songs seems to be the most effective solution as they appear to be a great tool for widening the students‟ vocabulary They can help the teachers create contexts to make the language useful and meaningful; the students will then be more motivated to learn as they will find it easier to remember new vocabulary words Furthermore, most children tend to enjoy listening to songs and this is also one reason why songs have become an important part of teaching vocabulary to the students

I have always believed that students respond positively to songs and this certainly smoothes the progress of language learning I would like to deepen my understanding of this issue and to find out whether teaching English through the use of English songs is an effective teaching method to arouse my grade 6 students‟ interest in learning and remembering English vocabulary

Although quite many works have been done on vocabulary and the power of songs has been proved to be helpful in many fields such as entertainment, commerce, medicine, education etc, few have mentioned to using songs as a way to learn English

vocabulary For these reasons, it is critical to carry out a research on “The impact of

English songs on the English vocabulary retention of grade 6 students at Nguyen Tri Phuong Junior High School in Hue”

1.2 Aims of the study

This research aims to:

- scrutinize the students' difficulties in learning and remembering vocabulary

- investigate the perceptions of learners towards using English songs for learning vocabulary

- determine the effects of the use of English songs on the learners' retention of vocabulary and the influence of the use of English songs on learners‟ vocabulary acquisition

- stimulate teachers and learners to use English songs in teaching and learning vocabulary

1.3 Research questions

This study is guided by the following research questions:

1 What is the reality of vocabulary learning and remembering by students of grade 6 at NTP Junior High School?

2 What are the perceptions of students towards using English songs for learning vocabulary?

3 How effective is the use of English songs in enhancing the retention of these words over time?

1.4 Scope of the study

In this study, 70 students of grade 6 at Nguyen Tri Phuong Junior High School

at Hue will be chosen to take part in the research 70 research participants will be divided into two classes: a control group and an experimental group

1.5 Significance of the study

Theoretically, it offers the theoretical basis for the application of English songs

in teaching and learning vocabulary at junior high school Practically, learners and

teachers will be aware of the benefits of using songs in learning and teaching vocabulary and a foreign language at NTP Junior High School in particular The study will give practical implications for both teachers and learners in using songs in retaining English vocabulary

1.6 Organization of the study

The thesis consists of 5 chapters: Introduction (I), Literature Review (II), Research Methodology (III), Findings and Discussion (IV) and Conclusion, Implications and suggestions for future research (V)

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the definition of “song”, the roles of songs in language learning Then it describes the theories of vocabulary and how vocabulary is retained in learning with songs The chapter also discusses the relation between song and vocabulary, and the difficulties students encounter when they acquire vocabulary Memory and learning are additionally discussed in this chapter Finally, an analysis and synthesis of previous studies related to songs and vocabulary are presented

2.2 Songs and the use of songs

2.2.1 Definitions of “song”

Songs play a significant role in motivating students to learn English They can support the development of learners‟ abilities in reading, writing, listening and speaking, as well as provide opportunities for learning pronunciation, rhythm, grammar and vocabulary (Lo & Li, 1998) They also added that “learning English through songs also provides a non-threatening atmosphere for students, who usually have great tension when speaking English in a formal classroom setting (p 1) Moreover, songs are regarded as an indispensable part of human life Songs are available everywhere and at any time while travelling, sleeping, working and even studying An edition of Collins Cobuild English Learner‟s Dictionary says: “Song consists of words and music that are sung together” (Cobuild 1989, p 938)

Precisely, Agawu (1992) explains more about the term “song” when stating that song does not result from a loss of identity of words; rather, song is a structure in which words and music coexist, rub shoulders with each other, so to speak, without ever losing their individual essences (p 6) From the statements, song is affirmed as an equal combination of word and music Especially, Agawu (1992) gives supplementary ideas for song definition He reveals that “Song is interpreted as a compound structure

in which words lying at the top, provide access to meaning, while the music lies at the

base and supports the signification of text” (pp 6-7)

It is clear that songs comprise some common characteristics such as words, meaning, and text Most interestingly, they have structures and follow the melody of music Actually, there are many studies confirming that songs are indeed a very precious gift in language learning

2.2.2 A brief history of the use of songs in language teaching and learning

The use of songs in language teaching has a long historical period Many studies have been done about in many fields such as education, medicine, marketing, business, entertainment, etc From the very ancient times, songs were embedded in language teaching and learning

During 1950s through the 70s, in fact, educators sought ways to utilize songs within the framework of the Audio-Lingual Method (Kanel, 2000, pp 69-70)

In 1978 an unusual foreign language methodology for the classroom was introduced by the Bulgarian psychotherapist and physician Georgi Lozano His method, called Suggestopedia, has been the subject of numerous articles written on the use of music in the foreign language classroom Although the basis is psychological, this method uses classical music (believed to be an essential element for learning to take place) to relax the students As a matter of fact, Lozanov‟s method creates a type

of super learning identical to subconscious acquisition that was the result of providing comprehensible in a low-anxiety situation (Stephen Krashen, 1985, as cited in Salcedo,

2002, pp 15-16)

In 1980 a method called Audio-Singual Method by Kind (1980, as cited in Salcedo, 2002, p.18) uses familiar songs to teach the English language Kind‟s Audio-Singual Method has been developed and tested at Harvard University and other American & European Schools According to Kind, “It has been found that foreign language can be taught more rapidly, more effectively and with greater recall through the use of songs, rather than the mechanical classroom drills”

In 1985 the use of music as a problem solver to enhance learning is justified by

Gardner who states that “all normal (non-brained-damaged) people posses some musical intelligence” (p 285) Tapping the musical intelligence in the classroom combines the theory of multiple intelligences with actual classroom learning Foreign language teachers could use the students‟ musical intelligence and their musical interests to achieve mastery of language skills (Salcedo, 2002, p 43)

In 1990 in the Contemporary Music Approach, methodology begun by Anton, song is used as a memory prompter Anton believes that “music is one of the most effective memory aids available to us, especially for recalling grammatical structure” (Anton, 1990, as cited in Salcedo, 2002, p 17)

In 2002 Salcedo said that music is different from spoken conversation because it contains pitches, melodies, rhymes, beats and measured phrases that may help students remember vocabulary in comprehending the general meaning He also points out that there is a wide variety of vocabulary found in musical texts

In recent years, song-based language instruction has been extensively and intensively mentioned by many authors such as Murphey (1992), Salcedo (2002), Flattum (2004), Lynch (2005) and Mol (2009)

As a whole, there is a variety of studies and articles on the use of “song” and its benefits in language teaching As mentioned above, using songs to teach language has quite a long history It has both advantages and limitations In the next part, the research will discuss its benefits and disadvantages

2.2.3 The advantages and limitations of using songs in language teaching and learning

2.2.3.1 Advantages of songs

Nowadays music or songs are present at every single corner of the world Music has always played a big part of humans‟ life, beginning with child‟s birth and mothers singing lullabies to their children It is used during all important occasions of human lives beginning with child‟s christening, through weddings, to funerals Each country has its own anthem Music has been important during many revolutions So music or

songs are with us all the time and bring about great benefits in many fields of our life, especially in language teaching and learning Using songs in teaching language has more advantages such as psychological values, affective values, authenticity and language awareness

The effectiveness of integrating English songs into ELT is demonstrated from the theory of human brain, which is the head-quarter of language processing (Shen, 2009) The theory of Multiple Intelligence (MI), proposed and elaborated by Gardner (1993,

as cited in Shen, 2009), shows that there are a number of distinct types of intelligence possessed by each individual in varying degrees Verbal/linguistic intelligence, musical/ rhythmic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, body/kinesthetic intelligence and even more many contribute to developing and complementing a learner‟s linguistic competence and enhance his ability of learning a foreign language Listening to English songs is of great value to tap the learner‟s linguistic potentials through enchanting melodies, varying, rhythms and image-evoking lyrics, which appeal to multidimensional development of human

intelligence (p 89)

Besides, research in psycholinguistics

reveals that songs can activate language

acquisition and learning in both hemisphere

of the human brain (Carroll, 2000;

Larsen-Freman & Long, 2000; Williams and

Burden, 1997, as cited in Shen, 2009, p 90)

Actually, songs enter the human brain - from

left ear to right hemisphere - in a rather

different way from our speech and thus can stimulate language learning in the right hemisphere, whose involvement in language processing become more active in eliciting the overall meaning and processing formulaic speech (Ellis, 1985, as cited in Shen, 2009, p 90)

Figure 2.1: Brain functions

Furthermore, Research of Davies (2000) has shown that during an electroencephalogram (EEG), music (including all types of rhymes and songs) can change the waves and make the brain more receptive to learning Music connects the functions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain so that they work together and makes learning quick and easy Brain function is increased when listening to music and studies have shown that music promotes more complex thinking It can make connections between emotions, thinking and learning

From the statements above, it is crystal clear that songs actually contribute to the development of students‟ intelligence, connect the functions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain and help stimulate their language acquisition effectively Secondly, Shen (2009) states that affective learning is also effective learning Through affective learning, learners‟ capacity for learning will be expanded and whereby unexpected results will be produced (p 90) However, affective learning, according to Krashen (1985, as cited in Shen, 2009) only occurs when the affective is weak When the learner in such an affective state is highly motivated self-confident and at ease, the filter will be weak and allow in plenty of input, which means a positive attitude toward learning and the optimum state of language learning On the contrary, the filter will become stronger when the learner is haunted with low motivation, lack of self-confidence and high anxiety In this case, the learner is not ready for language acquisition and learning The Affective Filter Hypothesis suggests that an ideal teacher should be capable of providing a classroom atmosphere conducive to motivating, encouraging his students and lessening their anxiety if there is any (p 90)

Therefore, to support the above idea, Schoepp (2001) suggests a practical application of the Affective Filter Hypothesis is that teachers must provide a positive atmosphere conducive to language learning Songs are one method for achieving a weak filter and promoting language learning (p 1) In fact, it is using English songs in EFL classroom atmosphere, reducing students‟ anxiety fostering their interests and motivating them to learn the target language Students will regard English songs as part

of entertainment rather than work and thus find learning English through song amusing and relaxed (Shen, 2009, p 90)

In a word, songs have the feature of a weak affective filter which filtrates and allows the language input of learners “in” and provides positive attitude toward English learning Using songs in English language classroom actually wakes up the positive affective factors (such as motivation, confidence, etc), make use of the Affective Filter Hypothesis and provides a high effectiveness in English language learning

Apart from the benefits on the entertainment which are commonly known so far, English songs are also demonstrable to be an effective way to promote language awareness Shen (2009) states that language awareness is a mean of helping learners help themselves Songs serve as the very source of such target language use that helps

to promote the students‟ language awareness in learning English as a foreign language Concretely, listening to English songs can promote the students to ask questions about the language They have to grab the skill of speaking the English language before they can sing their songs on their own Consequently, they are encouraged to probe how every sound is pronounced and how all the sounds are chained together; thereby attaining growing insights into the way the English language functions to convey meaning Additionally, beside listening to and learning English songs as entertainment, they are also learning implicitly and unconsciously, which is a much more pleasant and effective way to promote language awareness than mechanically memorizing (Shen,

2009, pp 90 - 91)

Also, songs play role as authentic materials in all language aspects such as pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary as well as cultural ones and can be practiced through all skills like listening, speaking, reading and writing

- In terms of pronunciation: Salcedo (2002) mentioned “Melody, combined with the lyrics, provides an excellent opportunity to preview pronunciation and enjoy music at the same time” (p 66) What is more, Techmeier, Urbanic and Vizmuller (1981, as cited in Salcedo, 2002) said: “Singing helped to develop better hearing skills and, as a

result, prompted and reinforced good articulation of words” (pp 66 - 67)

- In terms of grammar and vocabulary: “Songs contain pitches, melodies, rhymes, beats and measure phrases that may help students remember vocabulary or grammatical structures and aid in comprehending the general meaning Practically, all grammar points and a wide variety of vocabulary can be found in musical text” (Salcedo, 2002, p 76) Besides, songs are a definite advantage in memorization of phrase constructions They are more easily learned and tend to „stick‟ longer than straight-out grammatical examples (Bartle, 1962, as cited in Salcedo, 2002, p 76)

- In terms of cultural aspects: In addition to vocabulary and grammar content, songs chosen relate to cultural aspects being presented in class, such as social situations, historical events, geography description, and others (Salcedo, 2002, p 76) The use of song according to Jolly (1975, as cited in ibid, p 77), gives students opportunities to acquire a greater understanding of the culture underlying the target language

- In terms of language skills: Shen (2009) indicates that songs can be integrated into teaching various aspects of language skills - listening, speaking, vocabulary, grammar and writing Concretely, listening to English songs will prepare EFL learners the genuine English language they are to be faced with Listening to English songs pay more deliberate attention to pronunciation, phonological rules, stress and intonation than the others and thus learners pronounce more correctly and speak English more fluently Listening to English songs will help learners understand what singers are expressing , remember all words that appear in the lyrics, easily capture the mood and content of the songs writer tend to convey, thereby comprehending and absorbing the grammatical points unconsciously Moreover, writing lyrics by imitation might be an effective ways of digging out EFL learners‟ creativity in language (pp 91 - 93)

Orlova (1997) also identifies some additional benefits of songs in language learning They can encourage learners to use English In a non-English environment, the main problem for teachers is how to stimulate learners to speak English in class; songs may be the starting point for that Next, listening to songs (especially when these are supported with pictures and actions) helps learners recognize words and meanings more easily Finally, songs can stimulate a positive emotional attitude to language

learning

2.2.3.2 Limitations of songs

Although there are many reasons why songs can be considered as a valuable teaching tool, there are some issues to take into consideration The teacher needs to take care in selecting a suitable song for his or her class because some of the vocabulary and language used in traditional and popular English songs, however, can cause difficulties for language learners due to their use of low frequency and archaic words The songs and the lyrics need to be selected carefully to complement the target vocabulary Lai (2010) revealed teachers also had difficulties in looking for the songs suitable to the units they intend to teach Also, Richards (1969) defined the language, vocabulary, and sentence structure of some songs can be quite different from that used

in spoken English (p 163) For example, the children's song or nursery rhyme, Jack Be Nimble, can not help the learner in the use of the verb “to be”:

Jack be nimble,

Jack be quick,

Jack jump over the candlestick

In addition, there are other difficulties placed on the teacher To maintain variety in the classroom, the teacher needs a good repertoire of songs Millington (2011) said Although young learners are happy to sing the same song on several occasions, interest in the same song can soon fade if the song is used too often Some non-native English-speaking teachers may also worry about teaching the stress and timing of songs correctly, and are therefore probably more likely to only use certain songs that they feel comfortable with (Millington, 2011, p 137)

Next, Murphey (1992) points out that no matter how enjoyable or memorable, singing songs in itself will not teach anyone to use the language, and will not give students the ability to communicate in another language The words in songs unfortunately do not transfer into use

Furthermore, there are still some other limitations of using music or songs in teaching and learning language Using songs can bother other classes around because

most of the classrooms in Vietnam are built next to each other The sounds of the songs may easily go from this room to another Sometimes using songs in classes also makes the study look informal and not serious Also, teachers may be taken much time to find out the suitable songs for the target language

As mentioned above, using songs to teach ESL learners consists of wonderful benefits, why do more teachers not use them more often? Well, an obvious problem is that many English songs are hopeless for ESL learners The author of the article

“Using ESL songs” pointed out that most English songs have too many words as they are written for native speakers so young ESL beginners have no hope of being able to sing along

Secondly, many popular songs have inappropriate content for the classroom – at least in many cultures What is more, he asserted you have got the problem of what to

do while the music plays with the children sitting there like lemons And, because the words are so difficult and fast, you have to play the song to death before the children can have any hope of following it Before you get to that point they will be emitting a groan that says, "oh not that song AGAIN - can't you see we are SICK of it!"

Concretely, these difficulties were also mentioned in the findings of Lai‟s thesis that “nearly half of surveyed students (47%) find it difficult for them to follow the speed of almost songs The number of students agreeing that accents of singers are not always Standard English makes up 38%.The remaining 23% of the students stated that they are distracted by music” (Lai, 2010, p 38)

In conclusion, Psychological, Affective and other values addressed above mark great benefits of English songs in English language learning Songs stimulate effectively language acquisition, provide affective values and contain musical authentic materials; songs are memory aids, windows on culture and a key to open an interesting classroom environment Especially, song is a treasure containing a variety of vocabulary The next section will discuss the role of songs in the foreign language

classroom in the light of relevant literature

2.2.4 The role of songs in the foreign language classroom

Songs are part of daily life for most people The benefits of songs in ELT have been well-documented by a myriad researchers Foreign language teachers can use songs to open and close their lessons, to illustrate themes and topics, to add variety or a change of pace, present new vocabulary or recycle known language Falioni (1993) stated that “The texts also offer a wide variety of vocabulary, all of which can be utilized to practice the four communication skills” (p 98) Also, Claerr and Gargan (1984) added, “With some imagination, songs can be used to teach all aspects of foreign languages” (p 31) This research is going to review some outstanding benefits

of listening to music to foreign language learners

Firstly, motivation is one of the things that can be gained by using songs in foreign language classroom According to Falioni (1993, p 104), “The addition of songs to the foreign language classroom as a teaching method may be a way to focus students‟ attention, and produce a more committed learner” Nambiar (1993) recommends recent pop songs to enhance motivation in the younger generation:

“Songs deal with the whole realm of human emotions and students are often willing to sing a song in a foreign language even if they do not fully understand the meaning of the words” Also, Rogers (l999) found that “The use of songs creates an atmosphere of interest in the study of English and can lead from a „teacher centered‟ to a „student centered‟ class” (as cited in Nguyen, D N H, 2007, p 20) Using music can lift the atmosphere in class, or develop a non-threatening classroom atmosphere, bring in a boost of energy and capture the children's attention Besides, English songs can motivate them in their quest to learn English

Secondly, songs can be catchy and re-usable In the article "Using ESL Songs", the author expressed: Unlike other recording materials, “Songs are catchy and fun and ESL students will feel happy to hear them many times” till they can sing along If teachers play the recording of a dialogue the second time, students may get bored with

it However, songs can be reused without making students become fed up with

Next, songs can help students remember vocabulary, grammatical structures and aid in comprehending the general meaning Music and rhythm make it much easier to imitate and remember language than words which are just “spoken” (Cakir) As Falioni (1993) states, “The new structures that may seem isolated or out of context in pattern drills, are seen in a different perspective when they are part of a song” (p 101) Songs are a useful tool to help learners memorize phrase constructions

Pronunciation is also among those can be taught to students by using songs Leith (1979) stated that “There is probably not a better or quicker way to teach phonetics than with songs” (as cited in Nguyen, D N H, 2007, p 21) The melody, along with lyrics, provides an excellent opportunity to review pronunciation and enjoy music at the same time The next part of this research is going to discuss the relationship between songs and vocabulary

2.2.5 Songs and vocabulary

Teachers owe their debts of songs for their teaching process because songs provide their students with a wide range of new words According to Dale (1992), songs are especially good at introducing vocabulary because songs provide a meaningful context for the vocabulary Moreover, Tatenhove (2007) confines that the

process of teaching vocabulary is tedious and boring Therefore, he has spent time searching and then found out that songs can be considered as a wonderful strategy for teaching new words because if this device is employed in class, learners can acquire the target words easily thanks to available social contexts Tahenhove‟s opinion is similar to Wieczska‟s (2005) that songs can be seen as a useful device to teach new words since songs can provide many different contexts for students to understand and memorize the new words

According to Lynch (2005), teachers can boost students‟ vocabulary, phrases and expressions by directing them to listen to songs He, in addition, states that there are many ways but by asking students for listening to songs with the lyrics and then teaching the new items are the most effective ones Sharing the same view, Park (1997) believes that songs are very good for introducing new vocabulary because of the meaningful context provided

In order to exploit ways to teach vocabulary, White (2006) shows that the new vocabulary presentation can be provided by all three approaches: symbolic, motive and sound He pointed out that symbolic approach is the way of presenting new words by using symbols Motive approach is the method of involving students in performances

to help students themselves associate with various new words Sound approach, on the other hand, uses sound to teach new words and songs are the most common application

In addition, songs allow learners to repeat and to memorize chunks of language This contributes to vocabulary learning, too; repetition is needed to help learners remember words (Nation, 1990) Even vocabulary lesson - the most monotonous part

of foreign language teaching - can become easier with the utilization of songs It is proved that songs have great power to bring about the miracle Both teachers and students feel more comfortable in their lessons because teaching new words is no longer dull and learning new words is now fascinating

Beside teachers and learners, parents also get benefits from their children‟s learning

English through songs Ninuk Retina Sumiarsih, in his article “Using Songs to Introduce Vocabulary for Young Learners” posted by English Department 2001 State University of Malang, shares that parents will get benefits to review their children‟s vocabulary by asking them about the songs they have learned at school and certainly the children will voluntarily sing the songs enthusiastically Parents can check their pronunciation at any time for example when they are cooking or setting the table for meals It is really fun Songs always turn everything easy and fun Longfellow (1835) claims, “Music is the universal language of mankind” (p 197)

In conclusion, songs are important things in learning, especially learning language Many people including the learners, the parents, and the teachers feel the benefits of songs themselves The learning process becomes easier and enjoyable since the songs method comes out in the learning methods

2.2.6 Vocabulary and vocabulary retention

2.2.6.1 What is vocabulary?

Vocabulary is an important part to master English well Words are the basic unit

of language form Without a sufficient vocabulary, one cannot communicate effectively or express ideas Having a limited vocabulary is also a barrier that prevents students from learning a foreign language The linguist, David Wilkins (1972, p 111), said that “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”, and “you can say very little with grammar but you can say almost anything with words.” Also, as Swan and Walter (1984) mentioned in the introduction

to their Cambridge Course, “Vocabulary acquisition is the largest and most important task facing the language learners” If learners do not know how to expand their vocabulary, they gradually lose interest in learning English

Vocabulary is also referred to in some books about linguistics and language teaching methodology In the book “A course in language teaching”, Ur (1991) defines vocabulary as “the word we teach in a foreign language” (p 60) In another definition given by Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary (1995), vocabulary is all the words

that a person knows and uses Widely defined, vocabulary is knowledge of words and word meanings However, vocabulary is more complex than this definition suggests First, words come in two forms: oral and print Second, word knowledge also comes in two forms, receptive and productive Receptive vocabulary includes words that we recognize when we hear or see them Productive vocabulary includes words that we use when we speak or write Receptive vocabulary is typically larger than productive vocabulary, and may include many words to which we assign some meaning, even if

we do not know their full definitions and connotations or ever use them ourselves as

we speak and write (Kamil & Hiebert, 1993)

Furthermore, vocabulary is the total number of words in a language To define a word is to show or explain its meaning An adequate definition indicates (1) the grammatical function of the word, a noun, a verb, an adjective, etc ;(2) the typical sentence patterns in which the word enters; (3) other formal aspects of the word - e.g.: countable, uncountable, irregular past forms, irregular plurals (Hornby, 1995)

To master a “vocabulary”, we not only know its meaning and how to write it but

we also know how to pronounce and recognize when listening to speech Simpson (2009) said that a “vocabulary” involves four kinds of vocabulary, namely:

- Reading vocabulary: A person's reading vocabulary is all the words he or she can recognize when reading This is the largest type of vocabulary simply because it includes the other three

- Listening vocabulary: A person's listening vocabulary is all the words he or she can recognize when listening to speech This vocabulary is aided in size by context and tone of voice

- Writing vocabulary: A person's writing vocabulary is all the words he or she can employ in writing Contrary to the previous two vocabulary types, the writing vocabulary is stimulated by its user

- Speaking vocabulary: A person's speaking vocabulary is all the words he or she can use in speech Due to the spontaneous nature of the speaking vocabulary, words are

often misused This misuse - though slight and unintentional - may be compensated by facial expressions, tone of voice, or hand gestures

2.2.6.2 How are vocabulary retained?

It is clear that vocabularies play a vital part in language learning or language retaining and use of language While some teachers may think that vocabulary learning

is easy, learning and retaining new vocabulary items have always been challenging for students It has been suggested that teaching vocabulary should not only consist of teaching specific words but also aim at equipping students with strategies necessary to expand their vocabulary knowledge Students employed different ways of retaining vocabulary such as using flash cards, notebook, looking up dictionaries for the meaning, or giving some synonyms and antonyms to name but a few In spite of these efforts, the students find it difficult to retain the vocabulary they have met This raises

an elementary question that why is retaining vocabulary or learning vocabulary such challenging? Which method could be used to make vocabulary less of struggle? As a language teacher, we need to consider what kind of learning is required: for receptive

or productive learning The former involves being able to recognize a word and recall its meaning when it is met while the latter involves what is needed for receptive learning plus the ability to speak or write needed vocabulary at the appropriate time

How is vocabulary learned? Thornbury (2002) mentions three ways of acquiring words; labeling, categorizing and network building Labeling means “mapping words onto concepts” Categorizing skills enable a child to understand that the word “dog” includes “other people‟s dogs, toy dogs, and even pictures of dogs” (p 18) Network building stands for “constructing a complex web of words so that items like […] family and brother are interconnected” (p 18)

When learning vocabulary, some words seem to be easier to remember than others So what makes a word difficult? Thornbury (2002) made a list of several

“factors that make some words more difficult than others:

- difficult pronunciation,

- spelling (e.g word that contain silent letters such as foreign, listen),

- length and complexity ( long words are more difficult),

- grammar (e.g verb patterns),

- meaning ( two word overlapping in meaning get confused, word with multiple meanings),

- Range, connotation and idiomaticity (idiomatic expressions will generally be more difficult than words whose meaning is transparent)” (pp 27-28)

Learning vocabulary from context or 'incidental learning' as opposed to 'direct intentional learning' are two different ways of learning vocabulary According to Nation (2001) extensive reading is useful for vocabulary growth and is called incidental learning On the other hand, vocabulary can be learnt or retained 'intentionally' through some strategies and plans There exist conflicting views among language professionals concerning the relative superiority of two approaches of 'contextualized' and 'decontextualized' ways of learning Studies such as O'Malley and Chamot (1990) confirm that most language learning strategies are used for vocabulary tasks, too Similarly, all memory strategies based on Oxford taxonomy can be used for vocabulary learning tasks the effect of which has been a motive to conduct the present research on vocabulary retention

According to Oxford Advanced Learner‟s dictionary (1995), “retention” is the ability to remember something So “vocabulary retention” is the ability to remember or memorize vocabulary Memorizing is something that many language learners want to

do better; however, what most of us do not understand is that “memorized words” can seldom be easily used in conversation as the words go into the wrong kind of memory Thornbury (2002, p 26) mentions a study of learners‟ retention of foreign language which reveals that “in the absence of opportunities to use the language, rapid forgetting occurred in the first three or four years after instruction, but then leveled out, with very little further loss, even up to 50 years later Forgetting may be caused by interference from subsequent learning and by insufficient recycling” There are factors influencing

whether we will retain or forget new vocabulary Age is the cause preventing us from remembering and retaining new information, knowledge and vocabulary Interference

is meant “overload of students when the price for learning new language items is the forgetting of old ones” (Thornbury 2002, p 26) Based on this finding, he pointed out that “teachers are advised not to teach words in lexical sets where words have very similar meanings” (p 26) He also shows that we retain information when we are fully engaged in or interested in what we are listening to In this way events of information can leave impacts on us This happens if we allow ourselves to be affected Babies are great examples of being fully engaged and attentive to what is going on around them Therefore, Adams (2011) said in his article that “older adults forget details more easily and fail to retain new information” That is one of the reasons why older people encounter more difficulty in retaining vocabulary than younger ones do unless adults are attentive, engaged and open when they are genuinely interested in the information Another factor causes our memory to fail to retain new knowledge is that interference weakens our ability to remember something because of competing information For example, if you previously learned English and then began taking a French class, the English vocabulary may interfere with your ability to write a sentence in French However, the writer of this article affirmed that the number of times we rehearsed information might affect our ability to accurately retain it Being exposed to a piece of information one time might not be enough to accurately retrieve it in the future Rehearsing information several times over the course of a few hours improved your retention People sometimes use this technique to learn a new acquaintance's name Repeating the name to you several times and using it out loud when speaking to the person improved retention In other words, the rehearsal will help improve our knowledge in general and vocabulary retention in specific

One of the most possible answers to the problem of remembering and retaining vocabulary is applying vocabulary learning strategies in which how the use of English song strategy helps learners in retaining the learned vocabulary is the main focus of

this research Moreover, to learn vocabulary well depends mostly on learners, on personal development (Brown, 1994; Harmer, 2007) Therefore, teachers should give students ideas how to learn and teachers‟ efforts in improving teaching methodology to arouse learners‟ interest in words are also very important

2.2.6.3 Features to make learning and retaining a word difficult

Learning and retaining a word becomes a burden to students because of several factors According to Paul Nation (1990), there are three things: (1) the way in which the word is taught and learnt, (2) the learners' previous knowledge of English and their mother tongue and (3) intrinsic difficulty of the word In the first case, Meara (1980) said that it is not easy to keep the two languages (the first and the second) apart Paul Nation found out that the effect of first language vocabulary on second language one may result in some meaning becoming "fossilized"; that is, learners always keep a first language meaning for a second language word Henning (1973), in his study, found that learners of English as second language who were at low level of proficiency stored vocabulary according to the sounds of words For example, when they study the word

"house", they try to connect with the word "horse" However, those at high level of proficiency stored vocabulary according to the meaning They tried to connect to

"house" when they study "door" or “roof” It means that when the learners become better at a language, storage according to form is replaced by that of its meaning Therefore, there is a guide from Paul Nation (1990) that words which are very similar

in sounds or spelling to each other should not be introduced early in second language courses If they are introduced early, they will be stored together and will interfere with each other

In fact, this point is integral when we research the issues in the opposite side For Vietnamese students, when they master the first language, the interference of mother tongue can be useful when there are the similarities in sounds between the first and second language In this case, key method introduced in the next part is useful in remembering and retaining vocabulary

The ways vocabulary or words are learnt or taught are the second barrier toward learning foreign vocabulary Craik & Lockhart (1972) believe that repetition is not an important factor in vocabulary learning Besides, seeing a word form and a definition

of its meaning is not as effective as having to make an effort to recall its meaning before showing the definition as feedback

After all, students usually meet the intrinsic difficulty when learning words Different types of part of speech bring about different levels of remembering words Rodgers (1996) found that nouns were the easiest to learn, and adjectives is the next while verbs and adverbs are always the most difficult to learn

2.3 Memory

2.3.1 Studies on human memory

Nowadays, in-depth researches on human memory have been conducted, mainly

by psychologists, with the appearance of several theories During the last few years, the neurosciences have begun to focus on the functioning of the brain Alexander & Judy (1988), also confirm the general understanding that meaning is central to human memory and that it is essential for most cognitive and mnemonic learning strategies

In this section, the limitations and natures of memory process are mainly focused on and related to aspects of language retention McDonnough (1986) states that these distinctions fall into 3 categories: time, process and type of information The first one can be seen when we are able to recall information for immediate use that we cannot recall after some delay in time He also emphasized that the distinction may be seen in the language classroom; some students can recall a new word or a new phrase immediately after it has been discussed by the teacher or class, but others cannot recall

it after class unless specific kinds of extra work are demanded

Second, the distinction by process shows that the limitation was in terms of perceptive chunks of information, rather on the information itself Thus the limitation remained through constant whether the material stored was simple abstract designs, letters, simple sounds, syllabus, or unconnected words It is the "working memory"

(McDonough, 1986) affects the long-term recall mention Just as there is any connection between the items, whether real or imagined, such as physical grouping, similarity of sound or meaning, rhythmic presentation or grammatical structure, there exists redundant information and this can be used to circumvent the otherwise rather severe limitations Another term related to the process is associative clusters Pre-existing knowledge stored in the long-term memory may have influence on an immediate recall task

Besides, codes are considered as an important process of remembering and retaining the formation Recall is influenced by the events or process at various stage of memory Three stages can conveniently be distinguished: intake, storage and retrieval There have been several suggestions for types of codes to act as recall aids in foreign language learning Stevick (1976) attributes a technique for remembering vocabulary, which is called “natural language mediator” A mediator, in this sense, is a third word which is learnt in association with a pair of words, and which provides a link from one

to the other

The second coding technique employs a simple meditational but uses a picture

or mental image instead of the third word Ott and his colleagues recommend the drawings of an image which suggests that equivalence both directly and indirectly via association

2.3.2 Sensory Information Storage

According to Richards J Heuer, (1999) Sensory information storage (SIS) keeps sensory images for several tenths of a second after they are received by the sensory organs Its functions may be seen when we close our eyes, then open and close them again as quickly as possible When our eyes close, notice how the visual image is maintained for a fraction of a second before fading He also said a visual trace is generally retained in SIS for about one-quarter of a second It is impossible to consciously extend the time that sensory information is held in SIS The function of

SIS is to make it possible for the brain to work on processing a sensory event for longer than the duration of the event itself

2.3.3 Short-term memory

Short-term memory (STM) is a system for temporarily storing and managing information required to carry out complex cognitive tasks such as learning, reasoning, and comprehension, according to Medical dictionary (Webster New World: available at website http://medterms.com) Short-term memory is involved in the selection, initiation, and termination of information-processing functions such as encoding, storing, and retrieving data It has a very limited capacity That is why, when we look

up a new telephone number, by the time the call has ended we have forgotten the number

If a person forgets immediately the name of someone to whom he or she has just been introduced, it is because the name was not transferred from short-term to long-term memory Miller (1956) suggested that the STM cannot process more than 7+/-2 single items of information He suggested that there is a way to increase this limited capacity - chunking, for example grouping information Then Salame & Baddely (1982) modified another aspect, the primary acoustic store The central executive is responsible for coordinating the flow of information and for dealing with processing and storage It is a short-term processor with the added capacity to have higher cognitive functions, including problem-solving and reasoning (Baddeley, 1992) or metacognitive functions (Brown & DeLoache, 1983)

2.3.4 Long-term memory

Long-term memory (LTM) was defined clearly by Richards J Heuer (1999) He pointed out that some information retained in LTM is processed from STM This information on past experience is filed away in the recesses of the mind and must be retrieved before it can be used LTM may last for the whole of your life When we sing the words of a favorite song, we are using our long-term memory Although we often complain about how hard it is to learn new things, there is no limit to how much

information we can store in our long-term memory Language learners need all the information of the language to be learnt transferred into long-term memory

Although Richards (1971) emphasized that continuous repetition does not necessarily guarantee that something will be remembered, students will not burn the words into their mind without repeating them over and over Repetition or rehearsal is necessary for information to be stored in short-term memory or retained in long-term memory It is the reason why a song is, obviously, remembered and retrieved more easily and longer than an article or an advertisement The list is difficult to memorize because it does not correspond with any schema already in memory The key factor in transferring information from short-term to long-term memory is the development of associations between the new information and schemata already available in memory For example, the sound of a word produces a pattern of activity in the brain that in some way matches a stored pattern for that sound; activation of that stored pattern (the remembered word) in turn, through associative connections, activates other memory traces of information associated with the word Thus the sound of the word "table" brings immediate recognition and with it, access to all sorts of information about tables

- how they look, what they are made of, what they are used for; and so on Thus, given

an appropriate input cue, the cue stimulates activity in the brain that results in the retrieval of all sorts of information you have stored relating to that cue It has, therefore, been of interest to the cognitivists how this 'encoding' process could be achieved, how LTM operates and how information can be retrieved from this store, reversing the path and transferring information from LTM to STM

2.3.5 Information processing model

Models have been produced to help explain how memory works The progress

of information through these storage systems is often referred to as the Information Processing Model, helping explain some steps involved in long-term and short-term:

Figure 2.2: Model explaining some steps involved in LTM and STM

(from Morton Hunt, the Universe Within (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982), I03)

The encoding or consolidation of information is known as the basic steps of the process of transferring information from STM to LTM The longer a memory stayed in STM, the more likely it was to be placed into LTM; but on organizing complex information in STM before it can be encoded into LTM In this process of organization, the meaningfulness or emotional content of an item may play a greater role in its retention into LTM As instructional designers, we must find ways to make learning relevant and meaningful enough for the learner to make the important transfer

of information to long-term memory

To this end, learners need appropriate strategies to achieve success (Mayer, 1998) The main way of transferring a material to LTM is by finding some pre-existing information in the LTM to attach the new information to In the case of vocabulary, it means finding some element already in the mental lexicon to relate the new lexical information to (Schmitt, 2000) The native keyword is such an element Moreover, LTM should also be divided into active memory for information to be retrieved and inactive memory for information only to be recognized This has some relevance for language learning since we distinguish between the active and passive lexicon

2.3.6 Forgetting

In learning vocabulary, forgetting words is unavoidable Linhart (1982, as cited

in Dagmar Šišková, 2008) emphasized that forgetting is a natural process and it “is not the opposite of learning” (p 139) The study of memory is also the study of forgetting He writes that “in order for certain information to be stored other has to be forgotten” (p 139) It has been estimated that up to 80 per cent of material is lost within 24 hours of initial learning, but that then the rate of forgetting levels out” (Thornbury, 2002, p 26) It is claimed that forgetting information in the sensory register is caused by spontaneous decay and that in the STM it is caused by the arrival

of new information It is a gradual process in which old memories are unable to be recalled from memory storage However, it is the aim of the teachers to attach vocabulary in the LTM In LTM the main cause for forgetting is probably because information falls into disuse, which is the result of lack of repetition (Gairns & Redmann, 1993) Another view is that interference is the main cause of forgetting Since information in the LTM is believed to be permanent, this 'forgotten' information

is better described as 'buried alive' Forgetting can be caused by proactive interference which is previously stored information or retroactive interference when information is added later (Spear, 1978) In the classroom it is mainly the latter that restricts learning

In other words, the information is not lost, but that the problem lies in the recalling; this is the notion of cue-dependent forgetting Actually, the information still exists, but without these cues retrieval, it cannot be used by learners The problem is, therefore, not one of storage, but of retrieval (Gairns & Redmann, 1993, p 89) Thus, deeper, richer semantic processing, such as memory strategies will be more likely to enhance learning than shallower processes such as rote repetition (Schmitt and Schmitt, 1995)

2.4 An overview of grade 6 curriculum

Below are the summary points of Moet for grade 6 text-book

2.4.1 Objectives: On completing the textbook Tieng Anh 6 published by Moet (2002),

the students are able to use English for communication

Table 2.1: Objectives of the textbook Tieng Anh 6 published by MOET (2002) Listening - Listening and understanding simple imperatives and utterances often

used in classroom

- Listening and understanding simple statements, questions and responses

as long as 50 - 60 words of personal information about family and school

Speaking - Asking and answering questions about personal information, family, and

school related to the theme - based reading texts in the textbook

- Being able to do some simple communicative functions: greetings, giving and fulfilling imperatives, identifying positions of things, asking and telling the time, describing things, people and weather

Reading - Reading and understanding the main content of monologues or

dialogues which are informative with the length of about 50 - 70 words related to the themes in the syllabus

Writing - Being able to write some simple sentences of about 40 - 50 words

related to the themes in the textbook

2.4.2 Themes in grade 6 textbook

+ People and places

2.5 Previous studies related to the research

As can be seen from the curriculum of the school, vocabulary learning was often given little priority in foreign language programs Vocabulary learning was often left to look after itself and received only incidental attention in many textbooks and language teaching The curriculum was often quite specific about aspects of teaching such as grammar, reading, or speaking, little specification was given to the role of vocabulary The teaching and learning of vocabulary have never aroused the same degree of interest within language teaching as such issues as grammatical competence, contrastive analysis, and reading or writing, which have received considerable attention from scholars and teachers (Richard, 1976) However, there has been a renewed