INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
Reading is a “crucial building block” (Hedgcock & Ferris, 2009) and “one of the few avenues” (Grabe, 2009) which help learners be successful in an academic setting
Reading comprehension is the most crucial language skill for learners of English as a foreign language (EFL), as it significantly contributes to achieving fluency Carrel (1984) emphasizes that for many students, reading is the most vital of the four macro skills It serves as a key resource for EFL learners, enhancing their writing style and expanding their vocabulary, grammatical structures, and language expressions This foundational skill opens up opportunities for learners to engage with all aspects of the target language effectively.
In EFL contexts, reading is crucial for English language acquisition, making it essential for teachers to implement effective strategies to enhance student learning This emphasis on reading is particularly significant for many EFL learners, as it is a primary goal in their language studies (Grabe, 1991, as cited in Kazemi, Hosseini, & Kohandani, 2013) For university students in Vietnam, reading English texts serves as a foundation for achieving proficiency in the language, supporting their higher education and lifelong learning endeavors (Do & Vo, 2015) Consequently, reading skills are prioritized within the English curriculum in Vietnam, highlighting their importance among the four language skills (Luu, 2011).
Reading is a crucial yet complex skill for students learning English as a second language (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL), making it challenging for them to achieve fluency in reading the target language (Carrel & Grabe, 2002).
In fact, despite its priority in the English curriculum in Vietnam, students usually face
Vietnamese students frequently encounter significant challenges when it comes to reading in English, as highlighted by Luu (2011) and supported by Tran (2016), who identifies reading as a major difficulty in their English curriculum Observations and informal interviews conducted by Hoang (2015) reveal that upper secondary school students often fear confronting complex reading tasks This sentiment is echoed in informal discussions with students at Dong Thap Community College, where the researcher notes that despite the emphasis placed on reading, students still experience anxiety due to the inherent difficulties of English texts.
Vietnamese students often struggle with reading comprehension due to difficulties with English vocabulary, which hinders their ability to read fluently According to Luu (2011), insufficient vocabulary is a key factor contributing to freshmen's poor reading skills Additionally, Ho (2013) found that the primary obstacle to comprehension for these students is their limited vocabulary, highlighting the critical need for vocabulary development in reading lessons.
DTCC students often struggle with reading comprehension, primarily due to a limited vocabulary, which hinders their ability to engage with texts When encountering unfamiliar words, they tend to halt their reading, resulting in poor performance Research indicates that enhancing vocabulary size is crucial for improving reading skills, as it enables students to recognize words swiftly and accurately Therefore, prioritizing vocabulary instruction in reading lessons is essential for fostering better comprehension among students aged 18-22 (Carrel & Grabe, 2002).
The Four Corners Pre-intermediate course book by Richards and Bohlke (2011), utilized in the DTCC English curriculum, emphasizes vocabulary learning through two dedicated lessons per unit However, the separation of vocabulary instruction from reading lessons limits its effectiveness in enhancing students' reading skills.
Students struggle with vocabulary retention due to repetitive activities like labeling and categorization in lessons To address this, the researcher implemented techniques such as visual aids and tactile methods to pre-teach vocabulary before reading lessons However, these strategies are not a sustainable solution for enhancing students' vocabulary and improving their reading comprehension in the long run.
To enhance vocabulary learning, Nguyen (2014) emphasizes the importance of teachers' guidance in text selection and the use of diverse activities for vocabulary in intensive reading Teachers should analyze texts for lexical frequency to adapt or sequence reading materials effectively This analysis helps identify unfamiliar words for learners, allowing educators to determine which words to retain, modify, or exclude based on students' vocabulary levels Consequently, teachers can curate targeted word lists and profile vocabulary to ensure comprehensibility for their students.
The Compleat Lexical Tutor (Lextutor), developed by Cobb in 1997, is highly regarded for enhancing vocabulary teaching and learning, particularly in improving reading comprehension, as recommended by Dang in 2011 Furthermore, Nation's activities on vocabulary in intensive reading, outlined in 2004, emphasize the importance of deliberate vocabulary learning Research indicates that direct vocabulary learning is more effective than incidental learning due to its focused and goal-directed nature.
Statement of the problem
At DTCC, the current approach to vocabulary and reading instruction presents challenges that hinder students' development of essential vocabulary and reading skills Many students struggle with reading due to a limited vocabulary, yet vocabulary instruction is often overlooked in reading lessons.
The limited increase in vocabulary size among DTCC students has led to stagnant reading comprehension levels post-course To address this issue, it is crucial to adopt a new pedagogical approach focused on vocabulary and reading instruction Implementing intensive reading activities that utilize Lextutor can effectively enhance vocabulary acquisition and improve reading comprehension, ultimately helping students overcome their challenges with vocabulary in reading.
Aim of the study, research questions and hypotheses
This research aims to explore the educational benefits of using Lextutor in intensive reading activities to enhance students' vocabulary and improve reading comprehension at DTCC The study focuses on two key research questions to assess the effectiveness of this approach and students' attitudes towards its application.
1) To what extent does the use of activities in dealing vocabulary in intensive reading with the help of Lextutor help students:
1.3) From 1.1 and 1.2 above, is there any correlation between students’ vocabulary and reading ability?
2) What are students’ attitudes towards the use of activities in dealing vocabulary in intensive reading with the help of Lextutor?
In respect of relevant theoretical knowledge and research questions, the study was designed to test the following hypotheses:
1) There is a significant difference in scores of vocabulary and reading comprehension test between the students exposed to the activities in dealing vocabulary in intensive reading with the help of Lextutor and those who were not exposed to these activities
1.1) The use of activities in dealing vocabulary in intensive reading with
Lextutor could help students enhance their vocabulary
1.2) The use of activities in dealing vocabulary in intensive reading with
Lextutor could help students improve their reading comprehension
1.3) Accordingly, there is a correlation between students’ vocabulary and reading ability
2) The students have positive attitudes towards the activities in dealing vocabulary in intensive reading with the help of Lextutor after being exposed to them.
Research significance
The study's findings provide significant insights into the use of Lextutor for vocabulary enhancement in intensive reading within an EFL context This research highlights the feasibility of a novel teaching technique that leverages Lextutor, enabling English teachers at DTCC to assist students in overcoming vocabulary challenges in reading, ultimately leading to improved reading skills.
The study is structured into six chapters, beginning with Chapter 1, which introduces the research topic by outlining its background, stating the problem, and detailing the research aims, questions, and significance Chapter 2 develops the conceptual framework by reviewing essential themes related to Lextutor, focusing on vocabulary in intensive reading, including its definition, application, benefits for vocabulary acquisition, reading comprehension, and relevant studies.
The research plan outlines the entire process of implementing vocabulary activities in intensive reading using Lextutor, detailing the research site, sample selection, design, investigative methods, analytical framework, and addressing validity and reliability issues Chapter 4 focuses on analyzing and interpreting data gathered from tests and questionnaires, while Chapter 5 discusses the study's findings, emphasizing students' vocabulary and reading improvements, as well as their attitudes towards the Lextutor intervention Finally, Chapter 6 concludes the study by answering the initial research questions, evaluating the study's strengths and weaknesses, and providing recommendations for educators and students, along with suggestions for future research.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction of Lextutor
Lextutor, also known as The Compleat Lexical Tutor, is a comprehensive online platform featuring tools such as a concordancer, vocabulary profiler, exercise maker, and interactive exercises Developed by Tom Cobb from the University of Quebec at Montreal in 1997, this website offers a user-friendly interface designed to enhance language learning and vocabulary acquisition.
Figure 2.1: The entry page of The Compleat Lexical Tutor
Cobb (1999) emphasizes that learners can effectively retain and utilize words when they encounter them in diverse contexts Folse (2004) supports this perspective, highlighting that repeated exposure to new vocabulary is essential for transferring words from short-term to long-term memory.
7 is very important The Compleat Lexical Tutor website offers a vast range of resources for both teaching and learning vocabulary Below is the description of the site
The Compleat Lexical Tutor for Learners, Researchers, and Teachers, as described by Cobb (2004), features three main sections, with the Learners section specifically designed to offer self-access learning opportunities This section allows learners to utilize interactive web tools to assess their vocabulary, examine their vocabulary levels, differentiate between active and passive vocabulary, practice new words, engage with a novel through reading and listening, and evaluate their grammar using concordances.
The Research section is divided into seven sub-sections, starting with Text tools that assist in text processing, including frequency list-makers, HTML-tag strippers for converting HTML files to text, corpus builders for creating custom corpora, and a sentence extractor for removing end punctuation Additionally, Range helps researchers locate words and phrases across various corpora, while the Web Vocabulary Profiler (Vocab-Profile) and Concordance tools link to English and French concordancing programs The Phrase Extractor analyzes texts for repeated phrases of 2-5 words, and the Reaction-Time Experiment Builder tests learners' word recognition speed Vocab Stats offers programs for generating statistical information about vocabulary patterns in texts, connecting to Richard Lowry's Concepts and Applications of Inferential Statistics Lastly, the Research Base provides links to Cobb's research papers and other resources related to "list and frequency-based vocabulary learning," with the Web Vocabulary Profiler and Concordance tools being user-friendly for diverse applications.
The third section, Teachers, empowers educators to develop tailored vocabulary practice materials for their students Key features include a Text-to-Speech (TTS) builder, three varieties of cloze builders, a Hypertext Builder, a Multi-Concordance with Exercise Builder, and Group Lex for collaborative vocabulary exercises, along with Dictator, a recent addition to enhance the teaching experience.
This study aims to explore the impact of Lextutor on vocabulary acquisition, focusing on the Web Vocabulary Profile (VP) tool This tool assists educators in analyzing texts based on word frequencies in the broader language context rather than just within the specific text (Cobb, 2005).
Introduction of the Web VP
Cobb (2004) highlights the Web Vocabulary Profiler (VP) as a valuable online resource for teachers and learners to create and modify lexical profiles of texts, effectively matching learners with appropriate word frequency lists He notes that many English VPs on Lextutor are grounded in Laufer and Nation’s Lexical Frequency Profiler, which, as defined by Laufer and Nation (1995), measures the percentage of words a learner employs across various vocabulary frequency levels Understanding these vocabulary levels is crucial for effective language learning.
Nation and Chung (2009) categorize vocabulary into four levels: high-frequency, academic, technical, and low-frequency words High-frequency words consist of approximately 2,000 word families, which account for 80% to 90% of the words in a text, depending on its type Coxhead (2000) identifies 570 common academic word families that represent about 10% of words in academic texts, 4% in newspapers, and less than 2% in novels Technical words are linked to specific fields; Chung and Nation (2004) discovered that these words make up about 30% of the vocabulary in anatomy texts and 20% in applied linguistics texts.
According to Laufer and Nation (1995), the Lexical Frequency Profiler (LFP) categorizes vocabulary measures for both less proficient and advanced learners Their findings suggest that less proficient students tend to utilize less rare vocabulary compared to their advanced counterparts Consequently, it is essential for less proficient learners to focus on distinguishing between the most frequently used words and the next tier of common vocabulary.
1000, and any other vocabulary; on the other hand, the finer distinction should be made at higher list of the basic vocabulary for more advanced learners
Laufer and Nation (1995) propose that vocabulary profiling should include the total number of word types from the second 1,000 most frequent words, academic vocabulary, and less frequent words not found in the first 1,000 or the other two categories These three categories collectively represent the full vocabulary count A computer program, such as the Web VP in Lextutor, performs the necessary calculations by comparing the text's vocabulary with established word lists, determining which words are present and calculating their percentages The VP package includes the program and three word lists, enabling it to categorize text words by type and family while providing frequency and coverage statistics.
The benefits of Lextutor
Grabe (2009, pp 265-266) reviews lots of studies which prove a strong relationship between reading and vocabulary learning Thorndike’s study of reading
Research across 15 countries indicates a strong correlation between reading and vocabulary development (1973, as cited in Grabe, 2009) Stanovich (1986, 2000, as cited in Grabe, 2009, pp 265-266) highlights a reciprocal causal relationship, where vocabulary growth enhances reading skills, while increased reading also contributes to vocabulary expansion (Grabe, 2009, p 266) Carver (2000, 2003, as cited in Grabe, 2009, p [missing citation]) further supports this connection.
266) believes that vocabulary and reading comprehension can produce perfect relationship thanks to their very strong connections
Lextutor is regarded as an indispensable tool for vocabulary researchers, offering a variety of valuable functions (Schmitt, 2013) Many teachers and learners utilize Lextutor to create personalized instructional materials, as evidenced by its global user base that accesses the platform around the clock This widespread usage highlights Lextutor's popularity and convenience in language teaching and learning According to Cobb (2004), Lextutor effectively supports learners in enhancing their vocabulary skills.
Lextutor offers diagnostic vocabulary tests and curated vocabulary lists that help learners systematically expand their English vocabulary These resources allow users to delve into word forms, meanings, and collocations, facilitating a deeper understanding of language nuances According to Cobb (2007), Lextutor enables learners to engage with texts containing a mix of familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary, tailored to their existing knowledge and learning objectives This approach enhances vocabulary acquisition through techniques like recycling and re-contextualization Furthermore, Nation and Chung (2009) highlight the effectiveness of computer-assisted learning in vocabulary development, citing Lextutor as a valuable tool for innovation and research in vocabulary education.
2.3.2 The benefits of the Web VP on vocabulary and reading comprehension
The Web VP tool in Lextutor is invaluable for teachers assessing the vocabulary necessary for students to comprehend texts effectively Understanding the vocabulary requirements is crucial for facilitating reading As Krashen (1982) highlights, comprehensibility of written texts is essential for second language acquisition Thus, the careful selection of appropriate input texts is vital, as emphasized by Nation (2006).
In vocabulary studies, a key consideration is determining the necessary text coverage for effective comprehension when reading or watching a movie Specifically, it examines the threshold of unknown vocabulary that can be present in a text before it begins to hinder understanding.
Research by Laufer (1989), Lui and Nation (1985), and Hu and Nation (2000) indicates that L2 students must understand 95 to 98 percent of the vocabulary in a text to meet their reading objectives Additionally, Nation and Chung (2009) assert that there should be no more than one unfamiliar word for every 50 words in a passage These findings highlight the critical role of vocabulary in successful reading comprehension.
To effectively read general English texts, EFL students should possess a vocabulary of at least 3,000 word families, with an ideal target of 5,000 word families, as suggested by Laufer (1989) This vocabulary size is crucial for enhancing reading comprehension in an EFL context.
Research by Hirsh and Nation (1992) indicates that achieving 98 percent coverage of vocabulary tokens is crucial for effective reading comprehension If English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students possess a vocabulary level below 95 percent, they struggle with unfamiliar words in texts, leading to difficulties in understanding and overall reading success.
Teachers must understand which vocabulary is essential for students to read successfully Nation (2003) emphasizes that the most crucial vocabulary for English language learners consists of the 1,000 most frequent word families This frequency-based theory suggests that mastery of these words significantly enhances a learner's reading proficiency.
Research indicates that if a learner knows 10 words from a 1,000-word corpus, they are likely familiar with all the words in that list Typically, learners possess the highest frequency words, meaning that if someone knows 2,000 words, they are likely the 2,000 most common English words This understanding helps identify which words in a text are unfamiliar to learners, as these will generally be of lower frequency than their known vocabulary Vocabulary acquisition theory supports this, suggesting that higher frequency words are learned before those of lower frequency Consequently, analyzing text for lexical frequency is crucial, as studies show that the most common words dominate most written content (Buckmaster, 2015).
Research by Carroll, Davies, and Richman (1971) indicates that the most frequently used 2,000 words account for 81.3% of written text Lui and Nation (1985) suggest that understanding word meanings from context is effective only when a learner knows about 95% of the vocabulary in a text, which requires an additional 10,500 words—an unrealistic goal for many students Therefore, Vocabulary Profiling (VP) emerges as a valuable tool to assess text suitability for specific learners and to guide necessary adaptations or sequencing (Nation and Chung, 2009).
To enhance reading comprehension, teachers should analyze written texts to identify essential vocabulary for intensive reading and assess texts for extensive reading Research indicates that learners who understand 95-98% of a text's vocabulary are more likely to comprehend it fully, making the acquisition of the remaining 2-5% of new vocabulary manageable This approach, combined with other language competencies, fosters successful reading experiences Consequently, the Web VP tool in Lextutor proves advantageous for teaching vocabulary and improving reading comprehension.
Procedure for applying the Web VP
2.4.1 Text analysis with the Web VP in Lextutor
In order to profile the written texts to select the target vocabulary for intensive reading, the teacher first inputs the text into the Web VP on Lextutor
Figure 2.2: The input of the text
Cobb (2004) highlights that Classic analysis on Vocabulary Profiles (VP) evaluates a text by examining the presence and frequency of words from the first 1000 most common English words (K-1), the second 1000 most frequent words (K2), and the Academic Word List (AWL).
In Figure 2.4, K1 words, highlighted in blue, constitute 83.8% of the text, while K2 words, shown in green, represent an additional 7.87% AWL words, marked in yellow, make up just over 0.93%, and off-list words, indicated in red, account for nearly 7.41% of the total.
Intensive reading allows teachers to assess the difficulty level of a text and identify the density of challenging vocabulary This analysis is crucial for understanding how to support students in their reading comprehension.
The VP tool in Lextutor assists teachers in determining which vocabulary words to accept, modify, or reject by profiling written texts for target vocabulary selection for intensive reading This enables educators to curate a targeted word list and assess vocabulary comprehensibility for their students As shown in Figure 2.4, when the percentage of K1 vocabulary is below 95-98%, students struggle to understand the reading material effectively (Hu & Nation, 2000; Laufer, 1989; Lui & Nation, 1985).
To ensure comprehensive understanding of the text, researchers must implement effective strategies for vocabulary acquisition during intensive reading, aiming for students to recognize 95-98% of the vocabulary used.
2.4.2 Dealing with vocabulary in intensive reading
Students must engage in vocabulary activities to enhance their learning, as emphasized by Gairns and Redman (1986), who highlight that such activities help in effectively memorizing words and improving long-term retention Nation (2004) also recommends various vocabulary-focused activities during intensive reading that further support the development of students' long-term memory for words.
Pre-teaching vocabulary is essential for enhancing reading comprehension, as it allows learners to address vocabulary challenges before encountering them in the text (Nation, 2004) According to Cowell (2012), this approach helps students focus on understanding the content rather than decoding unfamiliar words during reading, ultimately leading to improved comprehension (p 20) Additionally, Graves (2006, as cited in Cowell, 2012) emphasizes that pre-teaching provides opportunities for students to engage with the material more effectively, resulting in a stronger grasp of the text's meaning A solid understanding of vocabulary significantly contributes to better comprehension of the target text (Cowell, 2012).
A vocabulary training program enhances comprehension by enabling individuals to process word meanings more accurately and quickly This improved understanding of individual words facilitates the construction of meaning within passages, leading to significant gains in overall comprehension.
As such, pre-teaching unknown words helps students understand the words’ meaning before reading a text; therefore, it helps them overcome the struggle to deal with vocabulary in reading
Table 2.1: What is involved in knowing a word
What does the word sound like?
How is the word pronounced?
What does the word look like?
How is the word written and spelled?
What parts are recognizable in this word? What word parts are needed to express the meaning?
What meaning does this word form signal? What word form can be used to express this meaning?
What is included in the concept?
What items can the concepts refer to?
What other words does this make us think of?
What other words could we use instead of this one?
In what patterns does the word occur?
In what patterns must we use this word?
What words or types of words occur with this one?
What words or types of words must we use with this one?
Where, when, and how often would we expect to meet this word?
Where, when, and how often can we use this word?
(Nation, 2001, as cited in Nation, 2004)
In column three, R = receptive knowledge, P = productive knowledge
Nation (2004) suggests that in order to get positive effects on vocabulary learning and text comprehension, teachers should spend some time on some aspects of
Understanding a word involves several key aspects Firstly, attention should be given to its form, including pronunciation, spelling, and word parts, as noted by Ur (1996), who emphasizes that students notice these elements upon first encounter Secondly, pre-teaching should address the word's meaning, covering its concepts, referents, and associations Additionally, teachers must focus on the word's usage, including its grammatical functions, collocations, and constraints such as register and style Nation (2001) highlights that a word's grammatical role can alter its meaning, while Ur (1996) stresses the significance of collocations in accurately comprehending a text.
In the pre-teaching phase, it is essential for teachers to prioritize high-frequency words, specifically around 2,000 key terms in English, to enhance efficiency and focus on the core message of the text (Nation, 2004) Harmer (1991) emphasizes that teaching the most commonly used words should be the primary focus for effective language instruction.
Nation (2004) emphasizes the importance of text simplification when learners encounter numerous unknown words that may not be beneficial for their future learning Teachers should consider simplifying texts by substituting unknown words with familiar synonyms or omitting sections of the text He advises that simplification should primarily focus on low-frequency words, as this can hinder learners' exposure to specific vocabulary items Additionally, while it's crucial for learners to acquire low-frequency words after mastering high-frequency ones, these should not be taught in a deliberate manner.
According to Nation (2004), a glossary comprises words accompanied by brief meanings in either the first language (L1) or the second language (L2) This implies that glossaries serve to define unfamiliar terms, providing essential context for learners For effective vocabulary acquisition, educators should prioritize glossaries that feature high-frequency words, ensuring that students engage with the most relevant language for their learning needs.
A glossary focusing on low-frequency words can greatly assist learners in understanding vocabulary, particularly during extensive reading While this resource is beneficial for broad comprehension, simplification techniques are more effective for intensive reading.
2.4.2.4 Putting words in an exercise after the text
Incorporating vocabulary exercises after a text enhances students' ability to memorize words effectively Scrivener (1994) recommends various vocabulary practice activities, including picture-word matching, word-meaning matching, collocations, synonyms, antonyms, categorization, and sentence completion Likewise, Nation (2004) emphasizes the use of cloze exercises, word building, and meaning matching to address unfamiliar words These activities promote deeper semantic processing, which aids in better word retrieval from memory (Craik & Tulving, 2004).
According to Nation (2004), exercises targeting high-frequency words are most effective due to the significant time required for their creation and implementation Additionally, these activities should prioritize the understanding of words relevant to the text, meaning that educators must choose words essential for comprehending the target material (Beck, McKeown & Kucan, 2002; Biemiller & Slonim, 2001; Nation, 2001).
Studies on the related topic
Lextutor is a vital online resource for enhancing vocabulary and reading comprehension skills Its advantages in language education have prompted researchers to investigate its effectiveness Below, we will discuss several relevant studies that highlight its impact on teaching and learning.
Cobb (2007) investigates the effectiveness of extensive reading in enhancing vocabulary for ESL students using Lextutor tools like Web VP, Range, Text Lex Compare, Hypertext, and Group Lex His findings reveal that extensive reading is generally insufficient for building vocabulary knowledge among ESL learners The corpus analysis indicates that words beyond the second 1000 most frequent are rarely encountered during natural reading Additionally, lexical profile analysis shows that the number of unfamiliar words in natural reading exceeds the lexical level and learning capacity of most students Furthermore, text comparison analysis demonstrates that the introduction of new vocabulary in texts aimed at native speakers significantly surpasses what ESL students typically encounter.
1 It is a high frequency word or will occur in other texts
2 It is a useful technical word
3 It is a low frequency word
4 It is important for the message of the text
5 It is not important for the message of the text
7 It is easy to guess from context
8 It is like a first language word
ESL students often face challenges in language acquisition, but these issues can be effectively addressed with the help of computers The technology's capacity to reorganize and connect texts, along with various online programs, significantly enhances the vocabulary resources available to learners.
Neill, Kirkness, and Gossman (2010) conducted a study assessing the reading and vocabulary demands of five texts used in a first-year hospitality management course at a multicultural university in New Zealand The research focuses on two perspectives: the students' English reading abilities and their impact on text evaluation, and the analysis of vocabulary frequency using the Web VP tool The findings suggest that the Web VP is useful for selecting appropriate texts and offers valuable insights for lecturers in designing effective reading materials.
Dang (2011) highlights that Vietnamese EFL teachers underutilize computers in language instruction, despite government acknowledgment of their benefits To address this, the researcher conducts a study focused on exploring Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) for EFL teaching in Vietnam, aiming to assist teachers in selecting suitable CALL programs The study considers resource availability, computer proficiency levels of both teachers and learners, and the Vietnamese educational context Recommendations are informed by the researcher’s personal experience with CALL and observations from a month-long classroom study at Minnesota State University, Mankato Among the suggestions, Lextutor is identified as an effective tool for vocabulary teaching and learning, advocating for its incorporation into Vietnamese EFL classrooms.
Previous studies on Lextutor demonstrate its effectiveness as a valuable tool for teaching and learning vocabulary, ultimately enhancing reading comprehension Despite receiving significant global attention and being utilized extensively by thousands of users around the clock, its full potential continues to be explored.
Research on text analysis using Web VP and vocabulary activities in intensive reading is limited in Vietnam Additionally, there is a lack of studies examining students' attitudes towards the effectiveness of Lextutor This study aims to address this gap by investigating the impact of vocabulary activities in intensive reading, facilitated by Lextutor, on college students' vocabulary and reading skills, as well as their attitudes towards these activities The findings will provide insights into students' perceptions of Lextutor's effectiveness.
Chapter summary
This chapter offers a comprehensive literature review on Lextutor's role in vocabulary enhancement during intensive reading, establishing a theoretical framework for the study It serves as a guideline for investigating Lextutor's effectiveness in improving students' vocabulary, reading comprehension, and attitudes towards this instructional method Key issues discussed include the definition and application of Lextutor, its benefits for vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension, and related studies that highlight a research gap, justifying the need for the current study.
METHODOLOGY
Research Site
The study was conducted at DTCC, located at 259 Thien Ho Duong, Hoa Thuan Ward, Cao Lanh City, Dong Thap Province, from December 12, 2016, to April 14, 2017 DTCC provides both full-time and part-time training options for students Full-time courses offered include Food Technology, Informatics Technology, Accounting, Business Administration, Plant Protection, Aquaculture, and Veterinary Medicine Part-time courses, available in collaboration with local universities, encompass Law, Accounting, Business Administration, Culture Management, Land Management, and Archive Management.
Research participants
The study involved 531 students from nine full-time classes at DTCC, where English is a mandatory subject Students complete two 60-hour general English courses in their first year: the first course in the first semester and the second in the second semester Upon completion, they can enroll in a 60-hour English for specific purposes course The general English course utilizes the textbook "Four Corners – Pre-intermediate" by Richards and Bohlke (2011) The research was conducted after the students completed their initial general English course.
In the context of DTCC, random sampling was not feasible due to two main reasons: it could disrupt the organization of classes within the educational institution, and the researcher lacked the necessary authority to implement such a method.
The researcher opted for a convenience sampling method, selecting a nonrandom sample from individuals who were easily accessible, as outlined by Cohen, Manion, and Morrison (2007), to determine the classes she would teach.
The study involved participants from two classes of non-English major students specializing in food technology at the Faculty of Technologies for the academic course of 2016-2019 Seventy students, equally selected from both classes based on their comparable scores in vocabulary size and reading comprehension tests, participated in the research at the start of their second English course To maintain consistency, thirty-five students were randomly assigned to the experimental group and thirty-five to the control group, with both receiving instruction from the same researcher, who kept the sample selection process confidential to prevent any confusion among the students.
Personal information of the participant students is summarized and presented in the following table
Table 3.1: Personal information of the control and experimental group students
Control Group Experimental Group Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage
The data presented indicates that both the control and experimental groups exhibit similar personal characteristics, with each group comprising 35 students Additionally, the gender distribution between males and females is nearly identical in both groups.
The study involved a control group comprising 12 males and 23 females, alongside an experimental group with 13 males and 22 females Both groups exhibited a similar age distribution, with the control group consisting of 30 students aged 19-20 and 5 students aged 21-22, while the experimental group included 31 students aged 19-20 and 4 students aged 21-22.
In the study, both the experimental and control groups consisted of 22 students each, with all participants having dedicated nine years to learning English Furthermore, the groups displayed comparable demographic characteristics, including gender, age, and duration of English study.
Research design and method of investigation
The current study aims to investigate the causal relationship between Lextutor and vocabulary enhancement in intensive reading, necessitating an exploration of students' improvements in vocabulary and reading comprehension A quantitative design is employed for this research, as it allows for a systematic empirical investigation of observable phenomena using statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques (Given, 2008) To effectively achieve the study's objectives, an experimental design is deemed appropriate (Gay, 1992).
The experimental method is the most effective research approach for testing hypotheses related to cause-and-effect relationships It offers the most valid solutions to both practical and theoretical educational problems, thereby advancing education as a scientific discipline.
The experimental design includes two main types: true experiments and quasi-experiments In a true experiment, participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, ensuring equal and independent selection opportunities, as noted by Mackey and Gass (2005) Conversely, quasi-experiments do not involve random assignment of participants.
Due to the researcher's lack of authority in selecting her own classes, the study utilized convenient sampling without random assignment of students into two groups, resulting in a quasi-experimental design.
3.3.2.1 Process of employing the activities in dealing vocabulary in intensive reading with the help of Lextutor
To enhance students' vocabulary and improve their reading skills, this research utilized Lextutor for text analysis to identify target words, while also incorporating Nation's activities for effective engagement with these words.
The current study utilized short reading texts from Units 7 to 12 of the Four Corners Pre-intermediate course book by Richards and Bohlke (2011) as teaching materials for both the control and experimental groups, as outlined in Table 3.2.
Table 3.2: List of reading texts taught for the control and experimental group
Title Text type Unit Topic Date
6 “Students Raise Money for Baseball Team”
Article 12 Dreams for the future
The reading texts for the experimental group were analyzed using Lextutor, with detailed steps outlined for each lesson Initially, the researcher entered the passage intended for instruction into the Lextutor platform.
In the VP section of Lextutor, the user clicked the SUBMIT window to initiate text analysis, as detailed in Appendix 6 The results displayed the total word count and categorized the text according to four frequency levels, starting with the most frequent 1000 word families.
(2) the second 1000, (3) the Academic Word List, and (4) words that did not appear on
The researcher analyzed the reading passages to determine their difficulty level, revealing that the K1 vocabulary percentage was below 95-98%, hindering student comprehension (Laufer, 1989; Lui & Nation, 1985; Hu & Nation, 2000) Consequently, the researcher implemented targeted activities to enhance vocabulary understanding during intensive reading, ensuring that students could grasp 95-98% of the vocabulary in the texts for complete comprehension (Refer to Appendix 6 for detailed text analysis.)
The study was conducted over a total duration of 16 weeks, during which both the control and experimental groups received equal instructional time Each group participated in 2 classes, comprising 3 fifty-five-minute sessions per class.
The lesson plans for both the control and experimental groups utilized a structured "Pre-, While-, and Post-reading" format Each session began by introducing the reading topic and engaging students with discussion questions to activate their prior knowledge Vocabulary was pre-taught to facilitate understanding, followed by clear instructions for reading activities during the while-reading stage, where students completed tasks and reviewed answers Finally, in the post-reading phase, the researcher modeled activities, encouraging students to discuss the topic and collaborate in pairs or groups.
The teaching methods for the control and experimental groups differed during the pre-reading and while-reading stages Utilizing Lextutor's reading passage output, the researcher identified target vocabulary and implemented Nation’s activities (2004) to assist students in reading the text smoothly For examples of these vocabulary activities, refer to Appendix 7.
In each treatment lesson, the researcher pre-taught selected vocabulary words before incorporating them into exercises for practice Participants were encouraged to deduce word meanings from context or consult a dictionary during reading, while also being advised to skip less important difficult words Each lesson lasted approximately the same duration.
20 minutes on these activities Because the participants’ vocabulary size were all at K2,
In the study, 28 words were highlighted, with blue indicating key terms and green representing previously learned vocabulary that could be reviewed rather than taught anew The researcher selected yellow words from an academic list, along with some green words, for pre-teaching, as emphasized by Nation (2001), who noted the significance of academic vocabulary in understanding most academic texts Off-list words, deemed non-essential for comprehension, could be omitted and addressed later if time permitted A summary of the activities conducted in the experiment is presented in Table 3.3.
Table 3.3: Activities in dealing with vocabulary in intensive reading
Activities in dealing with vocabulary in intensive reading
Explaining the words during the reading
The instructional activities encompassed pre-teaching vocabulary, engaging in post-text exercises, inferring word meanings from context, utilizing dictionaries, omitting less significant challenging words, swiftly providing definitions, and clarifying terms during the reading process For details on the lesson plan implemented in the experimental group, refer to Appendix 9.
Analytical Framework
The study was made up of the quantitative analysis of the pre-tests, the post-tests and the questionnaire
The results of the vocabulary size test were taken from Lextutor After the students had finished the test, Lextutor analyzed their answers and provided their scores
3.4.1.2 The pre-reading test and the post-tests
The research analyzed vocabulary and reading test scores using descriptive statistics, mean comparisons, and correlation through SPSS version 22.0 Due to challenges in assessing individual score improvements between the two groups, the researcher categorized test scores into four levels: weak, average, fair, and good A comparison of these levels was then conducted between the two groups.
An independent samples t-test was conducted to determine if the difference in means between the two groups was statistically significant Additionally, the researcher utilized Pearson’s correlation coefficient to quantify the relationship between students' vocabulary achievement and their reading comprehension skills.
To ensure comparable reading comprehension levels, the pre-test scores of students in both the control and experimental groups were analyzed The researcher identified 70 students with similar reading abilities to participate in the study Following the treatment, their post-test scores were evaluated to determine any advancements in their reading comprehension.
The current study utilized descriptive statistics, specifically focusing on minimum, maximum, mean, and standard deviation As noted by Mackey and Gass (2005), the mean serves as a prevalent measure of central tendency, calculated by summing all scores of subjects in a group and dividing by the total number of subjects (Seliger & Shohamy, 1989).
211) They point out that information on the average performance of a group on given tasks provided by the mean helps the researcher obtain insights by considering large amounts of data
An independent samples t-test was employed to analyze data from two distinct groups of research participants According to Pallant (2007), this statistical method compares the means of two separate groups to assess the likelihood that any observed differences are statistically significant, as noted by Brown (2001).
The independent samples t-test was conducted three times to assess differences in reading performance among students Initially, it compared the means of the control and experimental groups during the pre-test to identify any pre-treatment disparities Subsequently, the t-test was applied to the post-vocabulary and post-reading tests to evaluate improvements in the experimental group's vocabulary and reading performance relative to the control group after the intervention.
A Pearson correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension As noted by Cohen et al (2007), the correlation coefficient indicates the strength of the relationship between two variables, with values near zero suggesting a weak relationship and values above zero indicating a stronger connection In this study, student scores were analyzed using SPSS to determine the correlation.
After collecting the data, it was input into SPSS for statistical analysis The students' questionnaire responses were quantified and examined using frequency, percentage, and mean To determine the central tendency of students' perceptions regarding vocabulary learning methods, the mean was calculated.
Frequency is utilized to analyze students' responses to questionnaire items by tallying the number of responses As noted by Brown (2001, p 115), frequency, or raw count, serves to quantify the number of items or individuals within the levels of a nominal scale Additionally, frequency plays a vital role in data interpretation.
In the study, both percentage and raw frequency were presented to enhance clarity, as percentages can sometimes obscure crucial information, while raw frequency serves as the fundamental unit of analysis (Brown, 2001, pp 115-116).
Reliability and validity of the instruments
To ensure the reliability and validity of a research study, it is crucial for researchers to evaluate the instruments used Reliability indicates the absence of random measurement errors (Cohen et al., 2007) One common method to assess reliability is through Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient (Bachman, 1990; Hatch & Lazaraton, 1991) According to Pallant (2007), a reliable research instrument should have an internal consistency indicator of at least 0.70 If the Cronbach’s Alpha result is 0.7 or higher, the questionnaire items can be accepted; if it falls below 0.7, further investigation is needed to identify and replace the problematic items.
Validity in research pertains to the accuracy and truthfulness of scientific findings (Le Comple & Goetz, 1982) Hair et al (2007) define it as the extent to which a measure accurately reflects its intended concept There is a positive correlation between reliability and validity in research; increasing the reliability of collected data can help satisfy a necessary condition for validity (Bachman, 1990).
This research utilized a vocabulary size test validated by Beglar (2010) to ensure reliability The vocabulary and reading assessments were adapted from the Four Corners teacher's book for pre-intermediate learners (Richards & Bohlke, 2011) Feedback from two English teachers at DTCC was incorporated to enhance the organization and content of the tests The researcher meticulously managed the data collection process to uphold test validity, including both pre-reading and post-tests.
37 were in a multiple-choice format The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient was also used to test the reliability of these tests
In statistics, assessing the normal distribution of data is crucial, which is why a normality test is performed Pallant (2007) emphasizes that checking the assumption of normal distribution is necessary for the validity of independent-samples t-tests The null hypothesis in a normality test posits that the sample distribution is normal, and if the test yields a significant result, the distribution is deemed non-normal The conclusion hinges on the P value; a P value below 0.05 indicates sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis, suggesting the data are not normally distributed, while a P value above 0.05 means the null hypothesis stands, indicating normal distribution Ghasemi and Zahediasl (2012) note that the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests are commonly used for this purpose, and in the current study, these tests were analyzed using SPSS.
Cronbach’s alpha was employed to check the internal consistency or reliability of the questionnaire Therefore, the reliability and validity of the questionnaire were ensured.
Chapter Summary
This chapter outlines the research methodology, detailing the research site, participants, design, investigation methods, analytical framework, and the study's reliability and validity.
