Luận văn thạc sĩ using language games to improve students' retention of esp vocabulary at namdinh college of construction

Consequently, vocabulary acquisition his always been ong of the fimdamental activities in forcign language learning whether it is for general purposes or for specific ones because no Bei

DO THE THU TIA

USING LANGUAGE GAMES TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ RETENTION OF ESP VOCABULARY AT NAMDINII

COLLEGE OF CONSTRUCTION

GU DUNG TRO CHOTDE NANG CAO KITA NANG LUU NIG TY VUNG CHUVEN

NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG XÂY DỰNG NAMĐỊNH)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Mcthodology

TEanoi, 2010

FACULTY OF POST —- GRADUATE STUDIES

— ~- Ợ

DO THE THU TIA

USING LANGUAGE GAMES TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’

RETENTION OF ESP VOCABULARY AT NAMDINII

COLLEGE OF CONSTRUCTION

GU DUNG TRO CHOTDE NANG CAO KITA NANG LUU NIG TY VUNG CHUVEN

NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG XÂY DỰNG NAMĐỊNH)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Mcthodology

Supervisor: Dr Lim Quang Ding

TEanoi, 2010

3 Scope of the study

4 Method of the study

5 Thesis Structure

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT

CITAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Vocabulary in ESP

1.1.1 The importance of vocabulary in ESP

1 1.2 What if means to know words?

1.2 ‘Taxonomy of ESP vocabulary

1.3 Factors affecting the retention of ESP vocabulary

1.3.1 Memory and storage systems

1.5 ESP vovabulary tcaching —rescarch and practios

2.2 The toachors and their Leaching method

2.3 The texthook

2.4, ‘The teaching and learning conditions

CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY

3.1 The research hypothesis

3.2 Rationale for using a Quasi-experimental method

3.6, Results and discussion ,.senenicennneeeene

3.6 1 Resilis of the pre-test scores of the two groups and discussion

3.62, Results of the progress-lest of the Lwa groups and discussion

3.6.5, Comparison of mmean seoros and I-seores of the progress-lcsl and post

APPENDIX 1 (tests and keys)

LIST OF TABLES

‘Table 1: Results of the pre-test of the two groups p24

‘Table 2: Comparison of mean scores in the pre-test of the two groups p25

Table 11: Comparison of mean scores and L-scores of the pre-test and prog:

Table 12; Independent t-test for the gain in the progress-test of the two groups p30

Table 19; Independent t-test for the gain in the post-test of the two groups p34

PART &: INFRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Recently, the teaching methodology in General English as well as English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has shifted from a focus on the linguistic competsmee fa an interast in the communicative competence This trend in lmguage teaching las Tesulled in the increasingly essential role of teaching and learning vocabulary

It is of common knowledge that vocabulary is the major part in foreign language learning Frimptusizing the importance af vocabulary, Witkins (1972, p.11) states that

“without granuna, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed”, McCarthy (1990, p.viii) also shares the same view when saying “No matter how well the student learns grammat, na matter how sucessfully sounds of L2 are mustered, without words to express Ihe wide tange of meaning, communication in

an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way”,

According to Hutchison and Walters (1987), ESP is one branch of English Language

‘Teaching, which is a variety of numerous kinds of language teaching Consequently, vocabulary acquisition his always been ong of the fimdamental activities in forcign language learning whether it is for general purposes or for specific ones because no

Being an English teacher at Namdinh College of Construction, I do realize that although ESP vocabulary teaching and learning has teceived nmch allention so far, iLis still far fiom satisfactory Many students encounter difficulty in retaining ESP words that they have leamt in previous lessons hey offen complain that they forget new words soon afler learning them They also da nol know how lo learn, rememiber and use these words As a result, for most students, vocabulary learning in ESP lessons is boring and ineffective For the above reasons, 1 would like to conduct this research entitled “Using Language Gantes to Improve Students’ Retention af ESE Vocabulary

at Namiink College of Construction”

vocabulary relention, or in other words, the exlent Lo which Fanguage games help to retain ESP vocabulary for my students at the College and suggest some teaching implications

3 Scope of the study

‘There are various language activities that help students to retain ESP vocabulary Tlowever, within the limit of a minor thesis, this study focuses on the impact of language games on students’ retention of ESP vocabulary

This study was implenculed among 2 groups including 100 non-English major first year students at Nardin College of Construction whose English was at the elementary level and who are working with the course book “Nucleus English for Science and Technology: Architecture and Building Construction” by James Cumming (1996),

4 Method of the study

‘This research was conducted with quasi-experimental method with one class as the experimental group and one class as the control group H was quasi-cxperimental because the students of both groups were not randomly assigned, and therefore were nol of equal proficiency levels of English The experiment tasted 10 weeks and 3 vocabulary tests were administered to measure students’ retention of ESP vocabulary Students’ memorization of vocabulary is also continuously monitored when the games are being in progress so as 1a provide further cvidenes of the games’ effisclivencss

The results of the

Part 2 is the development which includes three chapters Chapter 1 provides theoretical

background lo icaching and learning vocabulary, particularly in RSP Also, it reviews

some language games which hslp the retention of ESP vocabulary Chapter 2 gives an overview of ESP vocabulary tcaching and learning comex! al Mandinh Cofleg: of Construction, Chapter 3 presents detailed analyses of the data obtained through the

pretest, progress-test and posttest

Part 3, the Conclusion, discusses the major findings and limitations of the research as well as provides suggestions far farther study,

1 1 Vocabulary in ESP

1.1.1 The importance of vocabulary in ESP

Recently, vocabulary has rapidly changed in status tiom a “naglected aspect of language learning” (Meara, 1980) to an area of growing research and publication ‘he significance

of vouabulary in imguage learning has drawn munerous rescarchors’ interest Zimmerman (1997, p.5) states that “Vocabulary is central to language and of crucial importance to the typical language learner.” Robinson (1991) shares the same view by saying “for many peopl: vocabulary, particularly specialis! vocabulary (or lerminology), isa key clement of ESP” (as cited in Jahangard, 2007, p.8) Obviously, vocabulary is of great importance in foreign language Ieaming whether it is for general purposes or for specific ones, To cmphasize this, Keith 8 Folsc (2004, p.1) elaims that vocabulary is the most significant

aspect among numerous language learning ones such as pronunciation, writing system,

syntax, pragmatics, rhetorical modes for reading and composition, cuiture, and spelling Carter and McCarthy (1988) also point out thai the study of vocabulary is at the heart of language teaching and learning, Hence, it cannot be denied that vocabulary acquisition is a

“mnust” for language learners especially LSP leamers

1.1.2 W hat if means to know words?

Knowledge of a ward is not only limited to knowing its single meaning bat this involves comprchension of the word form, meming, grammar and collocation so thal language learners can yonorate il for their need, According to Penny Ur (1996), when the teacher teaches a new English word, he should, by all means, provide his leamers wath its pronunciation and spelling, word form, grammar, collocation, aspects of meaning, and

word- formation,

* Word form

ting and pronunciation Therefore, when introducing new

Fach English word has ils

words to learners, the teacher should pay careful attention fo both of these forms and provide learners with certain general guidelines which assist them in predicting the

pronunciation of new lexis Mowever, there are so many exceptions in Lnglish

prommeiation The complicated relationship belween sound and spelling in English makes

it difficult for foreign language leamers to deal with the pronunciation of new words Hence, together with introducing general guidelines, the teacher should also offer learners fairly specific tutes for English pronunciation

It is important to offer information about the grammar of a word to learners They need to know the grammatical function, the unpredictable change of form in ccitain grammatical contexts, the regularity and irregularity, the singular and plural forms of the new word so thal they can use il correctly Tor example, when leaching a verb, the leacher should also give its past and past participial form if it is irregular Similarly, when teaching a noun, the

teacher should provide students with information about whether a word is countable or

Approptiateness is more subtle aspect of meaning that indicates whether a particular item

is appropriate one to use in a certain context or not ‘Thus, it is useful for a learner to know

writing but not in speech

Meaning iclationships can also be uscfal in vocabulary teaching and Icarning They show how the meaning of one item relates to the meaning of others There are various

translation

Word-formation

Vocabulary itzms, whether one-word or multi-word, can be broken down into their smaller components How these components are put together is usefal information to Jeamers According to Gairns and Redman (1986), there are three main forms of word building, which arc characteristics of English They ars allixation (thz process of adding prefixes and sufiixes fo the base item), compounding (the formation of words ftom two or more separate words) and conversion (the process by which an item may be used in different paris of specch))

1.2 Taxonomy of ESP vocabulary

Voenlhulary in ESP toxis can be analyved according to differenl points of view According

lo Hulchison & Waller (1987, p.165), thers are four types of vocabulary as follows structural (are, this, only, however, ete), general (table, run, dog, road, etc), sub-technical (engine, spring, value, acid, budge, etc) and technical (auricle, schistosome, fissure, electrophoresis, otc) BomLechleitner (1992, p.67) shares the same distinction, He explains that the meaning of highly technical words tend to be exact, specitic, systematic, conerete, emotionally nemtral, self-explanatory, economical and transparent Sub-technical words arc popularly uscd in general English with a specialized meaning within science or technology Certain general language vocabulary such as note, observe, item, device, ete., with a low priority in general language still retains its meaning in all scientific and

technical disciplines ‘The fourth group of words, which plays a prominent role in LSP

s (hat of structiralyproecdurel/fimetional words, Words like articles, conjunctions, prepositions, and auxiliary verbs amount to 50% of all words in a technical text, a frequency which is only exceeded in spoken language

Robinson (1991, as cited in Viel, 2002) classifies vocabulary of KSP into three groups in tous of their semmntic arubiguily: ullra spevialized vocabulary, general scicnlifie and technological words and words are on the fringe of general English Ultra specialized vocabulary, with a unique and precise meaning in the science or technology, is never used

technological words mention situations, actions, problems, ctc which arc popular in most fields trom research to technology Words on the fringe of general English are utilized for general purposes in any kind of communication whose frequency of use is greater in

English for scicnee and technology

In discussing the teaching of ESP, it Is offen been said thal the teaoting of technical vocabulary is not the responsibility of the ESP teacher and that priority should be given to the teaching of “sermi-techmeal” or “sub-technical” words (Tony Dudley-Livans & Maggie-

Jo St John, 1998, p 80) Robinson also sugges!s an important role for semi-technical vocabulary: “course books ,perhaps do not need to concentrate on the very specialized vocabulary items as students will get these from other sources Rather it is the sub- technical level which is often difficult”, Inman (1978, p 246), ina study of ever 100,000 words of scientific and technical prose, found that 9% of occurrences are function words, 21% technical vocabulary and 70% sub-technical vocabulary She concludes that if is “sub- technical vocabulary which should be focused on in teaching scicntific and lcchnicat

In general, the largest part of General English vocabulary is bardly or even never used in specialized fields About 80% or 90% of GE vocabulary falls outside the range of ESP However, a rimnber of words are presented widely in both specialized and general contexts The words half way between lexis and grammar such as articles, auxiliary verbs,

complex meaningful sentence can ever be buill, They naturally do not belong to the

1.3, Factors affecting the retention of ESP vocabulary

1.3.1 Memory and storage systems

“Understanding how we store information in the memory and why certain chunks

of it seem to ‘stick’ while others slip away is obviously a matter of concen to anyone whose work involves helping others to leam For language teachers this knowledge should help to establish classroom procedures thal will promote more effective learning and retention of new language items”

(Gains & Rcdrnan, 1986, p.86)

It is obvious thal cormprebending how our memory works might assist us to create more effective ways to teach vocatulary According to Gaims & Redman (1986, p.87-88), there

are two types of memory: short-term memory and long-term memory Short-term memory

has the limited capacily, storing Uhings over a trisl period of time Meanwhilz, long-term memory can hold any number of items inexhaustibly, Peet (2003) has a different classification Le divides memory into three kinds: short-tenm memory, working memory and tong tenn mcwory Shorl-term memory is capabls of rslaining limited information for

a few scconds whereas working memory stores things for up to twenty seconds, Finally, long-term memory can hold items in our mind to use later ‘This is an automatic processing

procedure thal ensures retrieval without, effort

Tt scorns thal, there are two phasss in learning new ilems; thal is storing them first in our short-term memory, and aflerwards in long-term memory Although we do not take contral

of this process consciously, there seem to be some important clues to consider First,

retention in short-term memory is not effective if the number of chunks of information

cxcceds seven Therefore, this suggests that in a given class we should not aim at teaching

more than this number However, our long-term memory can hold any amount of

information Secondly, word frequency is another factor that affects storage, as the most frequently uscd items arc casicr to retrieve Thirdly, forgetting sccms to be an incvitable

process, unless learners regularly use items they have leamt Hence, recycling is vital, and

ideally new words should be met again and again in different contexts one or two days

after the initial input, in different contexts so that learners can internalize them gradually

Aller that, weekly or monthly fasts can check ơn previonsly taughl iter,

1.3.2, Vocabulary learning strategies

Tt has boon suggested thal (caching vocabulary should focus on nol arly teaching specific words bul also providing learners wilh strategies nc

knowledge

sary (o develop (heir vocabutary

Vocabulary strategy use has been proved to have effect on vocabulary acquisition as well

as Telention Cohen and Aphek (1985, as cited in Chamot, 2001) stale thal students who

remember vocabulary by making paired mnemonic associations retain vocabulary more effectively than those who do not In another attempt, Sanaoui (1995) concludes that learners who have structured leaming approach are more successftl in retaining vocabulary jtems than those who have unstructured Jearning approach Schmit (1997) and Nation (2001) also agree that vocabulary learning strategies facilitate the acquisition of new lexis

in the second/foreign language because they aid in discovering the meaning of a new word and in consolidating a word once it has beon cncountered Therefore, teachers arc recommended to train their students in different vocabulary learning strategies because there is no utmost best strategy for all tearners learning foreign language vocabulary Effectiveness of learning is wot constrained Lo just one or two slrafegies A goad language

then employs and individualizes the ones that are workable and applicable to them when performing specific tasks

learner uses many different vocabulary learning strategie:

A number of attempts have been made to develop a taxonomy of vocabulary leaming strategies Gu and Johnson (1996) list VLS as metacognitive, cognitive, memory and activation strategies whereas Schmitt (1997, p.207-208) distinguishes the voeabulary learning strategies as two groups: the ones to determine the meaning of new words when encountered for the first lites, and the ones lo cousolidale meaning when encountered again Ina xecent attempt in ESP context, Zalua Akbari & M.H Tahririan (2009, p.57-58) classify the vocabulary learning strategies into two categories: comprehension (strategies

consolidating a word once it has been encountered) The first contains determination and

transactional strategies and the second includes the knowledge-oriented and skill/use-

oriented strategies

Tn short, each scholar has his/her own idea about grouping vocabulary learning strategies basing on restits of their research on a certain type of language leamers, However, it is apparent that when a learner consciously chooses strategies which are suitable for his/her

purposeftl self-regulation of learning,

1.3.3 Learning context

Learning context or the learning environment is the socio-cultural-political environment where learning takes place, Gu (2003) states that the learning context involves the teachers, the peers, the classroom climate or ethos, the family support, the social, cultural tradition

of learning, the curriculum and the avuilbility of input and oulpul opportunitics However, in the range of this study, the author would like to focus on two factors that directly constrain the ways leamers approach learning tasks and acquire vocabulary knowledge; language input and language output

1.3.3.1 Language input

they arc heating and reading That is, the input mast be comprchensible in order for it to be usefial and meaningful to the learners and help with acquisition (Krashen, 1982) [fleaners

do nol understand a sizable portion of the vocabulary in the language that they are reading

or hearing, then this language is not comprehensible and therefore cannot be useful for

acquisition (Holse, 2005, p.6)

Krashen’s hypothesis states that it is important for the acquirer to understand language that

is a bit beyond his or her current level of competence ‘This means that the language that learners arc exposed to should be just fur cnough beyond their current competcnee that they can understand most of it but still is challenged to make progress, He further presents that a second language is most successfully acquired when the focus of instruction is on meaning rather than on form and when there is sufficient opportunity to engage in meaningful use of that language in a relatively anxiety-itee environment, Thus suggests that the second language classroom should emphasize on something meaningfull, such as

1.3.3.2 Language output

It is acknowledgeable that the development of a learner’s communicative competence does not only reply on comprehensible input, the learner’s output has an independent and indispensable rote ta play, too Swain (1985) first proposed a hypathesis relating ta the second language learner's production comparable io Krashen's comprehensible input hypothesis termed as the Comprehensible Output Ilypothesis for second language acquisition, Her hypothesis suggests that learners acquire language when there is a communicative breakdown and leamers are “pushed to use altemative means to get across the message precisely, coherently, and appropriately” (as cited in Krashen, 1998, p 179) Swain also offered convincing evidence that the role of learner production is independent

in many ways of the role of comprehensible input, and the comprehensible output hypothesis is also a necessary mechanism which aids second language acquisition in many ways, Similarly, the rosults of Lani & Bigclow’s

scarch (2000) on the effect of oulpul

on L2 vocabulary indicated that participants in the wide cupur groups outperformed the

non-eutput and the control groups on post-test measures

Obviously, foreign language Jeamers do no have such submersion environment like native speakers so they have to make use of every chance 10 “lonch” the words According lo Stecle (2005), words are learnt by individual but through memorable presentation, personalization tasks, and importantly, recycling ‘Therefore, the vocabulary presentation

and practice play an important role in anchoring new words into studsnts? memory, especially when they do not have advantageous language envitonment outside the

classroom In this case, classroom practice embeds both input and ontput resources for the learncrs

1.4 Language games and vocabulary acquisition and retention

Many rescarchers agrou that language games do have a role lo play in vocabulary

aca

students have to use the language to communicate, exchange information and express their own ideas Stressing the role of games in vocabulary teaching and learning, [nang (1996,

sition, With the use of games, the Leacher ean croalc various conlexts in which

p 1, as cited in Nguyen & Khuat, 2003) claims that “Icarning through games could encourage the operation of certain psychological and intellectual factors which could

Jearning, improving intonation and building confidence.”

Language games have many advantages in vocabulary teaching and learning, Firstly, games can motivate leamers by bringing relaxation and tim to classes They can help lower students’ anxiety, make them comfortable and want to lam more Ubsrman (1998) showed that those students who practiced vocabulary activity with games felt more motivated and interested in what they were doing Hansen (1994, p.118, as cited in Uberman, 1998) also presents that games can provide shy students with more chance to express their opinions and feeling

Secondly, garnes can provide language practice Lee (1995) and Marion MePherson (2006)

agree that games allow the student to practice the language point being taught Sharing the same view, Wright, et al (1996, pp.3-4) adds that “games can give practice in all the skills,

in all the stages of ths teaching or leaming sequence and for many types of communication”, Furthcr support comes from Zdybicwska (1994, p.6), who belicves games to be a good way of practicing language, for they provide a model of what leamers will use the language for in real Fife in the time

‘Thirdly, games can improve students’ retention According to Wierus and Wierus (1994, p

218, as cited in Thorman, 1998), games in vouabulary help students memorive things faster and betier in a comfortable environment Nguyen and Khuat (2003) also agree that games

can assist students to learn more quickly and retain the learned materials better.

1997, p 244) This is a good opportunity for learners to have exposures to the new items during the course of activity that serves to genzrate better input

In summary, games are of great use and effectiveness that should be applied in vocabulary classes, The usc of gamics in vocabulary [caching makes lessons more interesting, cnioyable as well as effective However, in order to gain the most from vocabulary games,

it is necessary to choose suitable games Whenever a game is to be organized, teachers should take the fictors such as students” level, the number of students, cultural context,

timing, learning topic and the class sctting into consideration (Nguycn and Khuat, 2003),

vocabulary acquisition in my own teaching context, where students’ English proficiency is rather low as well as the learning topic seems insufficiently interesting, the following language games arc expected te gct studeuts involved in vocabulary fessons and help them recall new words more easily

a, Memory game

This game can be divided into two rounds, In the first one, the class will work in groups to match the words with the pictures as quickly as possible In the second round, each group will appoint ons member to write all the words he/she can remember within one minute The group that wins both rounds will be the winner

b Hat seat

The class is divided into 2 teams: A & B Toam A sits in a group on one side of the classroom, team B sits on the other side, Two chairs are brought to the ftont of the room so that when seated, a student is facing his or har respective team and their back is to the board, Onc member from cach team sits in their team’s chair The teacher writes a word, phrase, or sentence on the board, The students in the chairs must not see what is written on the board Once the teacher yells “go”, the teams have one minute using only verbal clues,

to get their seated teammate to say the item writfen on the board ‘The only rule is that they

must nol say the itern written on the board in full or part The first stuclent is the hot sent to utter the word scores a point for their team, When the round is over, two new team players are rotated info the hot seat and a new item is written up The first team to score a certain number of poinis wins

¢ Pletionary

The class is divided into 2 teams: A & B Team A sits in a group on one side of the classroom, team B sits on the other side, Onc member from cach tcam goes to the board,

‘The teacher flashes them a word, phrase or expression written on a piece of paper ‘The

students have one minute to get (heir tespective tear Lo 5

pictorial clues on the board, Written words, verbal clues or gestures are forbidden The first team to say the word scores @ point

game, the student or pair with the most points will be the winner

¢ Noughts and crosses

The class is divided into groups The teacher writes the lists of words on the board All bat

one item im gach Fisk must have something in common, Fach group discusses the Tiss and decides which word is the odd man out, and why For each list, the fastest group gets a point and at the end of the game, the group with the most points will be the winner

g Complete the word

"The class is separated into two teams One student from each team comes forward and is given a picce of chalk The two students must tiee the class while the teacher wriles ant incomplete word on the board (twice, once for each team), eg

Answer: house

‘The students can then look at the word The first one to complete the word comeetly scores one point for his team At the end of the game, the team with the most points will be the wirmer

h, Lucky numbers

"This game is played with the class divided into two groups The teacher draws on the board

a lable like this:

can answer the question, they will get 5 points At the end of this game, the group with the higher score is the winner

i Hangman

‘The teacher thinks of a word that students will know and draws a number of dashes on the board corresponding to the munber of teller in the word The students are divided into two teams and one student from each team suggests a letter in tum If the letter appears in the

word, the teacher writes it in Lf the chosen letter is not in the word, the teacher starts to

construct a gallows far thet team One line is added for cach wrong choivs, Fach Icam can also make a guess at the word, but only when it is that team’s turn A wrong guess means one mote line on the gallows A comect guess finishes the game If a team wins by completing or guessing a word corcelly a member of the icar takes over as the

winner

While numerous studies have been conducted in order to make improvement in the teaching of GE (General English) vocabulary, comparatively Hillte research work has been performed in the field of ESP, However, this does not mean that ESP teachers merely undertake the teaching job, following the old path of methods In fact, they are endeavoring to search for bellar teaching methods, techniques and tools

Various researchsrs have conducted studies in the field of ESP vocabulary teaching Vor cxample, Palmero (2002) has explored the phonemic side of vocabulary teaching in Language for Specific Purposes courses and come to a conclusion of placing the necessary

on pronmeiation and finding the adequate balance between the teaching of academic and sustained-content vocabulary Likewise, Galina Kavaliauskicné and Violeta Janulzvicicné (2001) suggest that teachers should use lexical phrases for ESP vocabulary acquisition because these phrases are context-bound and occur quite frequently, which makes them

highly memorable for learners, Moreover, they are of great value to improve students’ competence i language, Another sludy deating with ESP vocabmlary was carried out by Ise Born Lechleitner (1992) He presented activities which were intended to help students come to terms with new words ‘They ranged fom simple word-games to fairly complicated tasks which provided strategies lor successfully gnessing the meaning of a new word by using their knowledge of the subject and the German and English languages

In recent research, Zahra Akbari and MH Tahririan (2009) present taxonomies of

vocibulary learning stralcgy in an RSP contexl as welt as point out effective ways for teaching and leaming vocabulary They claim that language teacher need to improve their awareness of their students” strategy usage and needs so as to be able to facilitate their

Besides, shudents should be aught how lo develop both breadth

A number of studies on ESP vocabulary retention have been conducted Derin Atay & Cengiz, Ovbulgan (2007) investigaled the effects of memory stralegy mslruction and

learning through context on the ESP recall of Turkish EFL students The result revealed that the experimental group with memory strategy instruction had significantly betier vocabulary gain scores than the control students Jahangard (2007) suggests that there is no slulistically significant difference belween the students’ ability to memorize the teelmical

and the general vocabulary In fact, memory efficiency for both types of vocabulary was

found to be equal Ht seems that the pace of forgetting for both types of vocabulary is

almost the same

Th ean not be do

‘cd that such rosulis arc of great usc in the teaching of ESP vocabutary However, it is essential to have more and more research in this field as ESP is a large concept that covers numerous types of professional terms, words and phrases Hor each

type, there is a-need for detailed studies in order to tke development in vocabulary,

This faci dua lille atlention is emphasized on using games in context of ESP vocabulary learning and teaching in Vietnamese condition and no research has investigated strategies for ESP vocabulary retention among Vietnamese leamers In NCC, the use of games in teaching and learning TSP vocabulary has never been taken seriously Conssiuenily, the author would like to conduct a quast-expetimental research to find out whether the

application of games can improve [SP vocabulary retention among the College's students

or nal, and what can be the most appropriate gan

for this partionlar type of ESP students

CHAPTER 2: AN OVERVIEW OF ESP VOCABULARY TEACHING AND

LEARNING CONTEXT AT NCC

2.1 The learners and their hackgroune

Mosl students whe enter NCC are male sludents and aged from 18 to 24 About 90 % of

them failed the national entrance cxamination lo universities They arc mainly from the countryside, where there are no good opportunities tor studying English Furthermore, they consider English an extra subject, so they Jearn English just to pass the exam Generally, the target studonts’ English proficiency is still low

The typical learning, style of the students at NCC is quite passive and dependent on the teachers, They learn by heart vocabulary as well as grammatical rules and prefer everything being translated They would rather do written work and private reading than

to remember and guess the meaning of new words

2.2 ‘lhe teachers and their teaching method

‘The English Department at NCC consists of six teachers at the age from 25 to 38 They all

graduated from universities of forcign languagas and two of thern aro laking MA courses They are enthusiastic and willing to devote thoir lime and cnergy lo Icaching, However, they encounter difficulties in teaching ESP due to the lack of knowledge about the field, lack of authentic materials and lack of appropriate methodology Consequently, they do not fecl confident to teach ESP although they have positive attitudes towards it

Tn terms of methodotogy, although the teachers are aware of different kinds af caching methods such as the Direct Method, the Audio-Lingual method and the Communicative approach, they usually employ the traditional teaching method - that is Grammar-

core activities, The teacher plays the key role in class, explaining new words and

2.4 The leaching and learning conditions

All the teachers at NCC are supplied with a cassctte recorder to use for their class, There are some modem devices such as overhead projector and multi-media projector, but rarely can teachers and students use them because they are only reserved for Informatics classes Thore are also two labs equipped wilh $0 cabins However, they are now in bad condition,

so students find it difficult to practice listening Besides, classrooms are not suitably designed for language classes Moreover, there ate few materials for reference like English

books, magazines, newspapers, especially RSP books in the library In short, il can not be denied that teaching and learning facilities at NCC are poorly supported, This certainly has considerable negative effects on English teaching and learning

CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY 3.1 The research hypothesis

‘The study was conducted to test the hypothesis that “Language games help improve students’ retention of ESP vocabulary.” Thus, the mull hypothesis is “Language games have no impact on stad

* retention of ESP vocubulary.” Like in any experimental research, if the result of the experimental rejects the nulll hypothesis, the tested hypothesis

is naturally accepted and this means that language games do have effect on students’

retention of ESP vocabulary, and vice versa

3.2 Rationale far using 4 Quasi-experimental method

According (o Christensen and Johnson (2000, p 255), a quasi-cxperimental design is “an experimental research design that does not provide for full control of potential confounding variables In most instances the primary reason that full contro! is not achieved is because participants cannot be randomly assigned”, Supporting that point of view, W Borg & M Borg (1988, p 680) claim that “If you want to make causal statements, you should conduct

a tre experiment If you cannot use random assignment to design a true experiment, a

quasi-cxperiment is the sccond best choice” Since random assignment of subjects to the experimental and control groups is not always feasible, quasi-experiments become appropriate for accomplishing the subject assignment in particular contexts,

In a quasi-experimental design, the researcher can still examine the cause-effect relationships by observing what happens, when and lo whom; and by deciding what and when to measure, Moreover, the quasi-experiment is mote likely to have external validity

as it is conducted under conditions closer to those normally found in educational contexts Furthermore, as this design is Jess intrusive and disruptive than the (us-experimental design, it is easier to gain access to the subject to the population and thus more convenient

to conduct such research (Selinger & Shohamy, 1989, p 149) Consequently, it assists the researcher to save a great deal of time in grouping the participants, which was impossible under the preseul condition

In short, for all above reasons, the quasi-cxperimental design becomes the most practical and feasible for the researcher to conduct the present study,

Two types of variables were identified for the study, the dependent variable and the independent variable ‘rhe former was the students” scores in their vocabulary tests (their rotention af FSP vocabulary) while the lallor were language gamas The relationship between these two variables was defined through the analytical procedure using the paired- sample t-tests to compare the mean scores of the experimental group and those of the control group before and afer treatment

3.4 Participants and treatment

3.4.1 Participants

‘The participants of the study were 100 male and female first-year students aged 18 to 20 at Namdinh College of Construction whose English was at the elementary level, The number

of students in zach proup was 50, They had completed General English couse and were

learning ESP Both experimental and control group enrolled in an ESP course ‘The

textbook uscd for this course was “Nucleus English for Science and Tochnelogy: Architecture and Building Construction” by James Cumming (1996)

‘Three tests used in this research were designed to measure the changes in students’ ability

to relain RSP vocabulary (if there ware any) when language games were employed in teaching and learning process These tests were constructed by the researcher to assess

students’ ability to recall lexical items for language production Most of the vocabulary

led frou the new Texical lems in the student's

items and distracters in the tests wet

ook Although three tests had not been established formally and had not been checked yet,

the scores reflected the students’ real ability Thus, their validity and reliability could be asserted The students did the less without any prior notice, i.e withoul knowing that They

would have to do a test in the upcoming lesson

3.5.2 Test administering

- Pre-test

‘The pre-test was conducted before the treatment, which was 3 weeks atter the semester had begun and after the students had completed 3 units of the course book No special techniques or language practice were applied when teaching vocabulary in these units ‘The

pre-test consisted of 3 paris In the first part, the students were expeeled lo choose the

correct answer to fill in the blank Part 2 involved word completion In each sentence there was a key word which was intentionally deleted except the first letter of the word Students wore obliged to provide the missing words, In the part 3, students were required to provide equivalents of the words in Vietnamese, underline the English words” stress as well as give their part of speech The test duration was 30 minutes,

‘The pre-test was given to the two groups in the same week to examine their memory of imporlaml lexical ilems in the first ivee unils, The main purpose of this esl was lo evaluate students’ ESP vocabulary size and their level of ESP vocabulary retention

- Progress-test

The progress-lesl was constructed im the same formal applicd to the pre-test and was

administered 5 weeks after the pre-test This test covered lexical items that students had learnt from unit 4 to unit 7 of the course book ‘The teacher had applied language games in

30 minutes,

The goal of this test was to measure changes in students’ ESP vocabulary size after 5 weeks of study and to find ont whether there was any difference in retention of ESP vocabulary belween two groups

and usage of the words that they had studied, part 3 required them to supply the target hidden words in the blanks it lasted 30 minutes ‘This test involved ESP lexical items ftom unil 8 fo unit 12, Language games were continuonsly ufilizod in toaching vacalulary to the

experimental group,

The aim of this test was to asscss students’ ESP vocabulary size after 10 wecks of study as well as to make a precise comparison between two groups to see how much they acquired aller the experimental process and how much progress they made aller each Tesson

3.6 Results and discussion

The three tests were administered to measure possible differences between the two groups

at the beginning, at the middlc and at the cnd of the study The results of these tests were analyzed and compared using independent and paired samples t-test statistical procedwes

‘The total number of students of both groups was 100

3.6.1 Results of the pro-test scores of the two groups and discussion

‘The result of the pre-test scores of participants in both experimental and control group are presented in Table 1

Table 4: Results of the pre-test of the two groups

Experimental group (N = 50) Control group (N = 50)

Cases | Score | Cases ] Score Cases [Score Cases ] Score

Table 2: Comparison of mean scores in the pre-test of the two groups

Data in Table 2 prescnt almost no difference in mean scores and t-scores between the two

groups However, a closer look at score frequencies discloses some details about the two

groups’ performance