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CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 The current exploitation of pictures to teach vocabulary 18 3.2 Advantages of using pictures 22 3.3 Main difficulties in using pictures to teach voc

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

Acceptance page i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

Table of contents iv

List of figures, tables, and abbreviations vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Significance of the study 3

6 Methods of the study 3

7 An overview of the rest of the study 4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Vocabulary 1.1.1 Definition of vocabulary 5

1.1.2 The roles of vocabulary 5

1.1.3 Aspects of vocabulary to be taught 6

1.2 Approaches and Methods in teaching vocabulary

1.2.1 Grammar translation method 7

1.2.2 The Direct method 7

1.2.3 Audio-lingual method 8

1.2.4 Communicative Language Teaching approach 8

1.3 Pictures

1.3.1 Definition of pictures 9

1.3.2 Benefits of pictures 9

1.3.3 Main types of pictures in vocabulary teaching 10

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 Participants 12

2.2 Data collection instruments 13

2.3 Procedures of data collection 15

2.4 Data analysis methods and procedures 16

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 The current exploitation of pictures to teach vocabulary 18

3.2 Advantages of using pictures 22

3.3 Main difficulties in using pictures to teach vocabulary 24

3.4 Desires and pedagogical suggestions 27

PART C: CONCLUSION 1 Conclusion 30

2 Pedagogical suggestions 32

3 Limitations of the study 33

4 Suggestions for further research 34

REFERENCES 36

APPENDICES

Appendix 1A: Contents of the course book New English File Elementary

Appendix 1K: Contents of the course book New English File Pre-intermediate

Appendix 1H, 1I, 1J, 1N: Samples of vocabulary bank from the course books

Appendix 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1G, 1L, 1M, 1N, 1O, 1P, 1Q: Suggested worksheets Appendix 2A, 2B: Questionnaires for teachers and students

Appendix 2C, 2D: Interviews for teachers and students

Appendix 3: Transcription of the Interviews

LISTS OF TABLES, FIGURES, AND ABBREVIATIONS List of Tables

Table 1: A classification of the 120 surveyed students according to their majors and classes Table 2: Advantages of using pictures in teaching vocabulary as perceived by teachers

Table 3: Advantages of using pictures in teaching vocabulary as perceived by students

List of figures

Figure 1: Using pictures to teach vocabulary according to teachers and students’ answers Figure 2: The frequency of using pictures to teach vocabulary

Figure 3: Teachers’ ways to exploit pictures to teach vocabulary

Figure 4: Difficulties in using pictures to teach vocabulary perceived by teachers

Figure 5: Difficulties in using pictures to teach vocabulary perceived by students

Figure 6: Teachers and students’ attitudes towards the necessity of using pictures to teach vocabulary

List of abbreviations

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching

VNU, HUEB: Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Economics and Business VNU, HULIS: Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies

M.A: Master of Arts

PART A: INTRODUCTION

This initial part states the rationale for the study, the aims, the scope and methods

of the thesis More importantly, the research questions are identified to work as clear guidelines for the whole research Lastly, this part concludes with an overview of the rest

of the thesis, serving as a compass to orientate the readers throughout the study

1 Rationale

According to Harmer (1993, p.153), “If language structures make up the skeleton

of language, then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh.” Apparently, vocabulary functions as a cornerstone without which any language could not exist Speaking would be meaningless and perhaps impossible having only structure without vocabulary Vocabulary limitation makes learners difficult to express their ideas, emotion,

as well as fulfillment of communication targets David Wilkin (1972) pointed out “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” (as cited in Thornbury, 2002, P.47) Therefore, vocabulary, one of the major components of language, reserves a consideration in both teaching and learning English

In the context of Viet Nam National University, Hanoi University of Economics and Business, English is being taught as a compulsory subject for non-major students As far as the situation of English language learning and teaching is concerned, students have confronted a number of obstacles preventing them from achieving communicative competence After several years of learning English, the students may be very good at grammar exercises but they always find it hard to communicate successfully in English They have many difficulties in expressing their ideas because of lacking vocabulary In addition, they may know very well the meaning of words when doing exercises but hardly use them in real situations

To overcome these disadvantages, the gap between classroom knowledge and students‟ ability in real communication should be bridged One of the ways to narrow this gap is to implement pictures in teaching vocabulary to maximize the active vocabulary of students

Last but not least, pictures have been used to teach many aspects of language for the fact that this type of visual aids is useful in providing students with interest motivation and a sense of the context With regard to M.A theses of VNU, HULIS although there are a number of studies on exploitation of pictures, most of them deal with listening, speaking, and reading In other words, applying pictures to teach vocabulary has received little

attention, leading to a needed consideration for further studies especially with first-year students at VNU, HUEB

From the above mentioned reasons, this thesis on exploitation of pictures in teaching vocabulary meets the research demand of the context

2 Aims of the study

The research thesis is expected to find out whether pictures have been exploited in teaching vocabulary for first year students at VNU, HUEB If they already have, a closer look would be taken at the different ways they are employed Secondly, the study aims at clarifying the fundamental advantages of using pictures in teaching vocabulary according

to the perceptions of both teachers and students In addition, subsequently, hindrances for further exploitation of pictures in the same context are also detected paving the ways for several pedagogical implications for better employments of pictures in the context of teaching vocabulary to first year students at VNU, HUEB In brief, these aims could be summarized into four research questions

3 Research questions

1 How have pictures been exploited by teachers in teaching English vocabulary for first year students at Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Economics and Business?

2 What are the advantages of pictures in teaching vocabulary as perceived by teachers and students?

3 What are the main difficulties in exploiting pictures in teaching vocabulary as perceived by teachers and students?

4 Do teachers and students desire to use pictures in teaching vocabulary?

What are their suggestions for more exhaustible exploitation of pictures in teaching vocabulary?

4 Scope of the study

The study is restricted to the area of investigating in the uses of pictures-one type of visual aids in teaching vocabulary not a wide range of visual aids The samples of the study are also limited to only first year students from main stream classes at Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Economics and Business

5 Significance of the study

As one of the trail-blazing studies on teaching vocabulary with the help of pictures

to freshmen at VNU, HUEB, the thesis could be particularly useful for students, teachers,

and researchers who develop an interest in the topic

Specifically, since the study delves into exploiting pictures to teach vocabulary in the light of CLT approach as a means of bridging the gap between classrooms and the real world, its findings hopefully would contribute to first year students‟ better use of English

as a tool of communication

As for the teachers, they would get useful information on different types of pictures, source of pictures, as well as uncommon ways to apply pictures in the light of CLT More importantly, they would have more ideas of students‟ perceptions and desires

of this technique In addition, the study also provides teachers with some helpful suggestions so that they could take their own initiatives to effectively exploit pictures in

their classroom situations

Finally, with regard to the researchers, those who happen to develop the same interest in this topic could certainly rely on this research to find reliable and useful

information for their related study

6 Methods of the study

6.1 Data collection methods

During the process of data collection, the researcher employed the questionnaires

and interviews To be more detailed, two sets of questionnaires were used for 120 students and 11 teachers respectively so that the data about the exploitation of using pictures to teach vocabulary could be gathered from different viewpoints In addition, six sets of semi-structured interviews questions were applied to exploit further information from three teachers and 6 students of 3 classes

6.2 Data analysis methods

In the first place, the collected data would be classified according to four research questions The needed combination of gathered responses from both teachers and students was to analyze four research questions For each research question, responses were calculated and transferred into numerical forms The data was then clearly presented in the forms of tables and charts to facilitate the synthesis, comparison and generalization of the data Pie charts and graphs were principally utilized to analyze and compare figures in general sense, while tables were preferably applied when further details were required The participants‟ answers to open-ended questions in questionnaires and interviews would be summarized and presented in the form of quotation and cited if necessary

7 An overview of the rest of the study

The rest of the thesis includes five chapters

Chapter 1 (Literature review) provides the background of the study, including definitions

of key concepts and aspects of vocabulary

Chapter 2 (Methodology) describes the participants and instruments of the study, as well as the procedures employed to carry out the research

Chapter 3 (Data analysis and discussion) presents, analyzes and discusses the collected data from the questionnaires, interviews and class observations

Conclusion summarizes the main issues discussed in the thesis, the findings that the researcher found out from the data collected according to the four research questions, the limitations of the research, several pedagogical recommendations concerning the research topic as well as some suggestions for further studies Following this chapter are bibliography and appendices

4 Scope of the study

5 Significance of the study

6 Methods of the study

7 An overview of the rest of the study

In brief, these elaborations have not only justified the major contents and structure of the study but it also works as the guidelines for the rest of the thesis

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides an overview of the literature, specifically the background and

a number of studies related to the research topic, laying the solid foundations for the

subsequent development of the thesis Not only are key terms like vocabulary and picture

defined but background information about the key terms is also presented to ensure the thorough understanding of the research matters

1.1 Vocabulary

1.1.1 Definition of vocabulary

As the current thesis tackles vocabulary acquisition, it is first necessary to demonstrate the definition of vocabulary According to Oxford Advanced Learners‟ Dictionary Sixth Edition (2000), vocabulary is “all the words a person knows or uses or all

the words in a particular language.” Each linguist or scholar in his specialized field with his own set of criteria worked out different definitions of vocabulary In terms of

methodology, Penny Ur (1999, p.60) stated: “Vocabulary can be defined roughly as the words we teach in the foreign language However, a new item of vocabulary may be more

than a single word and also multi-word idioms” With regard to the semantic criterion,

Pyles and Algeo‟s (1970, p.96) believed:

It is true that vocabulary is the focus of language It is word that sounds and meanings interlock to allow us to communicate with one another and it is word that

we arrange together to make sentences, conversations and discourse of all kinds

It is worth noting that there are various definitions of vocabulary and each has its own features reflecting some aspects of vocabulary Actually, making a complete definition covering all aspects of vocabulary is categorically a great work However, it can

be drawn from the above definitions of different views: vocabulary is all the words including a single word or multi-word items that a language possesses

1.1.2 The roles of vocabulary in language teaching and learning

It is widely accepted that vocabulary is the most important dimension of all language materials According to Sinclair (1996, p.67), “Vocabulary is crucial for getting meaning from a written or oral text Without knowledge of key vocabulary in a text, a learner may have serious trouble understanding the massage Besides, Harmer (1991: p.153) mentioned: “If language structures make up the skeleton of language, then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh to make up its perfect body” Therefore, to most of language learners, the acquisition of vocabulary is a fundamental and important component in the course of language learning It is undeniable that students mastering a variety of vocabulary perform better in the practical and communicative language activities as well as four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing

From the above we can see that vocabulary is the leading factor for learners to gain their target language Hence, vocabulary deserves an important position in foreign language teaching and learning

1.1.3 Aspects of vocabulary to be taught

A matter of great concern for teachers is what aspects of a word should be taught in

a language class To understand a text, learners need to know words and “knowing a word involves knowing: its spoken and written context of use, its pattern with words of related

meaning, (Cater, 2001, p.43), (as cited in To Thu Huong et al, 2008, P.77) When teaching

vocabulary in CLT, it is then necessary to consider aspects like meaning, forms, grammar, collocation, word formation and uses Because the main goal of language teaching in CLT

is to develop communicative competence through interaction in the target language and to enable students to produce grammatically sentences in real situations Ur (2000, p.60-62) and Harmer (1993, p.156-157) agreed on listing the fundamental features, which need to be included within vocabulary teaching Besides knowing the form of the word, learners also need to be familiar with its grammar Learners need to know irregular forms of verbs or plural nouns, the position of adjectives etc Another aspect in teaching vocabulary is the word formation Learners should know how to change a word form and when to use it Teaching the meaning includes mainly connecting a word with its equivalent in the real world It is called denotation Apart from denotation, connotation of the word (associations and feelings, which arise when the word is heard) should be taught Many vocabulary items have several meanings depending on different contexts Moreover, according to Harmer (1993, p.157) “word meaning is frequently stretched through the use of metaphor and idiom.” Furthermore, learners need to be provided with the word sense relations to other words such as synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms etc Another challenge the learner will face when learning a new item is collocation On top of that, the student needs to acquire the ability to recognize when it is appropriate to use a particular word – speaking

or writing, informal conversation with a friend or formal polite conversation (Ur 2000, p.60-62; Harmer 1993, p.156-157)

To sum up, it is not enough to learn just the form of a new vocabulary item and its denotation In order to be able to understand properly and to use a new item of vocabulary

in a given language correctly, the learner must be familiar with the word connotation, grammar and formation as well as its collocation and the right way and appropriateness of use

1.2 Approaches and Methods in teaching vocabulary

1.2.1 Grammar translation method

According to Richards and Rodges (1996), “In the nineteenth century, the Grammar Translation Method was the primary method used to teach English” (As cited in

To Thu Huong et al, 2008, p 28) This method focuses on translating grammatical forms,

memorizing vocabulary, and learning rules Priority is given to accuracy not to fluency Moreover, emphasis is on form and not on meaning It also aims at providing the students with a wide literary vocabulary in written exercises

However, there are a number of weak points of this method shown quite clearly in terms of communicative goal Norbert Schmitt (1997, p.12) stated, “One of the main problems with Grammar translation methods was that it focused on the ability to analyze language and not the ability to use it” In addition, Prato and Celce-Murcia (1979, p.35) claimed, “In the grammar translation method, classes are taught in the mother tongue with little active use of the target language Much vocabulary is taught in the forms of lists of isolated words” Therefore, students taught in this method are generally good at grammar, reading, and translation skills but could hardly communicate in the target language and engage in even simple conversation

1.2.2 The Direct method

Towards the end of the late 1800s, a revolution in language teaching vocabulary, seen as the dawn of modern foreign language teaching, took place The appearance of the Direct method moves as far away variety of typical techniques of the Grammar translation method It emphasizes oral communication with speaking, listening and pronunciation

This method is highly appreciated in teaching foreign language in general and in teaching vocabulary in particular Students are asked to put words in lists or complete various vocabulary exercises When teachers apply this method students are taught vocabulary in direct relation to concrete objects and experiences Besides, the grammar rules are often presented through repetition of forms and action made by teachers, so students find it easier to master the lesson

This method, however, like all the other approaches, it had problems It required teachers to be proficient in the target language, which was not always the case In the United States, the 1929 Coleman Report took this limit into account and concluded that the Direct Method was not sufficient to develop overall language proficiency (Norbert Schmitt, 1997, p.13)

1.2.3 Audio-lingual method

Because of weak points of previous methods in developing students‟ communicative skills, a new pedagogical direction was needed and Audio-lingual method naturally continued as a rule of development Because the emphasis in Audiolingualism was on teaching structural patterns, the vocabulary needed to be relatively easy and so was

selected according to its simplicity and familiarity New vocabulary was rationed and only added when necessary to keep the drill viable

1.2.4 Communicative Language Teaching approach

In the late 1950s the Audiolingualism proved ineffective, and it began to fall out of favor Hymes (1772) added the concept of communicative competence, which emphasized using language for the meaningful communication_ Communicative Language Teaching (as cited in Nobert, S, 1997, p.34)

1.2.4.1 Features of Communicative Language teaching approach

Norbert Schmitt, (1997, p.14) pointed, “The focus is on the message and fluency rather than grammatical accuracy It is taught through the problem-solving activities, and tasks that require the students to transact information such as information gap activities.” According to David Nunan (1991, p.279), in CLT, there is an emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language and the introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on the language but also on the learning process itself is one of the typical features Especially, an attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom is actually activated in this approach In addition, In the classroom, CLT approach often takes the form of pair and group work requiring negotiation and cooperation among learners, fluency-based activities that encourage students to develop their confidence and role play in which they practice and develop language functions

To sum up, a certain number of objectives in teaching a foreign language to make students use the target language in the real life and develop communicative competence could be put into practice with the presence of the Communicative Language Teaching Approach

1.2.4.2 Principles of teaching English vocabulary in CLT approach

The various pedagogical principles of CLT approach to language teaching in general and vocabulary in particular are shown quite clearly According to Hubbard et al (1989) in Nation (2003) (as cited in To Thu Huong et al, 2006, p.91) general principles could be summarized in the following main ones In the first place, teachers teach and practice words in their spoken form, otherwise students will try to pronounce the words as they are written Then, students will remember new vocabulary better if it is presented in a memorable way to start with and put to regular practice Teachers always check their students‟ understanding the meaning of new words In addition, high frequency words are suggested to be given more teaching time and attention than low frequency words because

they are more useful Those words should be fluently accessible for both receptive and productive use and become part of learners‟ active vocabulary Learners had better be trained in vocabulary learning strategies (using word cards, learning by means of word association, guessing meaning from context, using dictionary, etc) for effective self-study

1.3 Pictures

1.3.1 Definition of pictures

Being one major type of visual aids, a picture, as defined in the Oxford Advanced Learners‟ Dictionary is “a visual representation or image painted, drawn, photographed, or otherwise rendered on a flat surface” They are not only one of the most interesting visual aids but also “worth a thousand words” (Hill, 1990 as cited in To Thu Huong et al, 2006,

p.222)

1.3.2 Benefits of pictures

Concerning the benefits of using pictures in teaching vocabulary, it is said that pictures are “of great help in stimulating the learning of a foreign language” (Bowen, 1982, p.1) This is due to the fact that both ears and eyes are considered the primary channel of learning Thus, looking at a picture both intentionally and unintentionally may encourage the students to come up with certain ideas or think about certain vocabulary What we see affects how we interpret what we hear and vice versa How someone is dressed, how they behave and what they say is inextricably linked in our mind Added to this, Andrew Wright, (1989, p.136) also found out in his study:

Pictures have been used for centuries to help students understand various aspects of foreign language The pictures have motivated the students, made the subject they are dealing with clearer, and illustrated the general idea and form of an object or action which are particular to a culture

Undeniably, students will have quicker understanding and better memorization of some objects when they see the images This is totally similar to the conclusion implemented by Sarkar (1999, p.56) that “pictures of stage, of periods of costumes, of life at a particular time, etc enlarge the learners‟ understanding far more effectively than any amount of painstaking explanation” Pictures can represent the non-verbal sources of information They and what they represent are centrally bound with the nature of communication itself

In addition, not only serving the function of illustration, pictures also help to “bring life” into classroom by introducing everyday topics to the students and place them into natural situations Andrew, (1984, p.28) stated: The most useful contribution a picture can make is to contribute to the students‟ understanding of a more general context which may

be made up of pictures, the students‟ actions, the teachers‟ actions sound effects and words

1.3.3 Main types of pictures in vocabulary teaching

Picture Flashcards

Bowen (1998, p.25) stated: “Flashcards are pictures drawn on cards which are held

up rapidly by the teacher.” In terms of size, it is suggested that picture flash cards must be

“small enough to handle easily” but “big enough for the class to see”

Drawings

Drawing finds huge potential in teaching languages Wright (1990, p.27) stated that drawings “provide an immediately available source of pictorial material for the activities Students and teachers drawings also have a special quality, which lies in their immediacy and their individuality.” The activity of drawing within the classroom categories: drawing

on the board carried out by the teacher to present the meaning of new words and drawing

as an activity of students to practice

Wall pictures

According to Bowen (1982, p.43), whether “commercially produced or drawn, a wall picture is a large illustration of a scene or event, or a set of scenes or events.” Due to their features, wall pictures are intended to be used for the whole class activities Therefore, a wall picture should be large enough to ensure that all students in the class can see apparently

hand-Summary

In short, this chapter briefly reviewed the theoretical background of the study In the first place, vocabulary and its connected issues like definition, roles and aspects of vocabulary were presented in detail Besides, different approaches and methods of teaching vocabulary were also analyzed in terms of Grammar translation method, the Direct method and Communicative Language Teaching approach Finally yet importantly, the researcher focused on the definition, benefits and main types of pictures All of these lines would be the basis for the next parts of the whole thesis

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOOGY

This chapter would depict in detail the methodology of the whole research It includes the size and characteristics of the sample, justification for and description of the two data collection instruments Furthermore, an elaborate report on the methods, procedures of data collection and data analysis is also incorporated

2.1 Participants

The process of data collection involved the participation of both English teachers and first year students at VNU, HUEB The first group included 120 first-year students from different majors and the other consisted of 11 teachers of English Department,

HULIS

2.1.1 Teachers

Because of the fact that using pictures to teach vocabulary was clearly identified as the subject of the whole study, teachers‟ roles in designing, facilitating, prompting, and assessing these activities in the classrooms should be considered thoroughly Thus, English teachers working at VNU,HUEB were involved in the data collection process to report the factual situations of English teaching and learning vocabulary as well as to share their valuable experiences related to the topic

Although the number of English teachers at English Department VNU, HULIS was considerable, there were only 8 teachers currently working for VNU, HUEB The researcher made an attempt to ask 3 other English teachers who used to teach English at VNU, HUEB for cooperation Among the surveyed teachers, 8 teachers had master degrees

and the others were attending M.A course They all aged from 25 to 32 and had at least 2- year teaching experience

2.1.2 Students

There has been a shift from „teacher centeredness‟ to „learner centeredness‟ in the modern language teaching Therefore, the participation of first year students played a vital role in this study In fact, the principle underlying the sampling procedure of these students

was “stratified random sampling” since this principle was stated by Hoang &Nguyen

(2006, p.27) to “minimize the effects of any extraneous or subjective variables that might affect the outcome o the survey study” Moreover, Verma and Mallick (1999, p.34) believed that sampling procedures were particularly useful in research which aimed at assessing the attitudes, values or beliefs of a group

Thus, 120 students were randomly selected to provide the greatest assurance that the students could accurately represent the whole population However, surveyed freshmen must come from different majors to ensure that students of almost different levels of English, from almost every English teaching and learning background were considered in the study In addition, the students‟ ages were from 18 to 22 and the number of males was strikingly considerably equal to that of females

Table 1: A classification of the 120 surveyed students according to their majors and classes

2.2 Data collection instruments

In order to get a sufficient reliable and valid data for the study, interviews and questionnaires would be employed in this thesis Questionnaire, one of the most widely employed tools in educational research (Verma &Mallick, 1999) was the major data collection instrument because it allowed the researcher to access a significant number of subjects which contributed to data validity and reliability Meanwhile, the data from

interview helped to clarify and complement the information from questionnaire in order to offer the researcher an insight into the issue

2.2.1 Questionnaire

Two different sets of questionnaires were utilized, one for the teacher and the other for first-year students The similarity between two sets was the combination of close and open-ended questions, which gave the researcher certain control over the content and at the same time allowed the subjects to offer in-depth information

To be specific, the questionnaire for teachers consisted of seven questions The first

3 questions were to find out whether teachers used pictures to teach vocabulary and the ways they exploited the pictures The fourth question was to answer the second research question (advantages of pictures in teaching vocabulary The fifth question was to seek obstacles for further exploitation of pictures as perceived by teachers The questions number 6 and 7 were to answer the last research question from which teachers‟ desires of using pictures and their pedagogical suggestions for further exploitation would be revealed

The questionnaire for students included 6 questions Students were asked to share their opinions if their teachers had ever used pictures to teach vocabulary (research question 1), how they perceived the strengths and difficulties of using pictures (second and third research questions); their desires in teaching vocabulary and recommendations for more effective ways of using pictures to teach vocabulary

Generally, in terms of content, all the questions in two questionnaire sets were to solve the research questions

2.2.2 Interviews

According to Mc Donough (1998), the in-depth interviews gave room for individual expression, which was helpful in this case to investigate subjects‟ further opinions of advantages, hindrances, and recommendations Similarly, to the questionnaires, there were two separated schedules for teachers and students They were both semi-structured to provide interviewees with great flexibility while offering the interviewees adequate power and control over the course of the interview (Hoang & Nguyen, 2006, P.45) The language used in the interviews was both English and Vietnamese in order to minimize the misunderstandings

In terms of structures, the interviews with the teachers aimed at exploring specific and typical types of pictures exploited by the interviewees Therefore, the questions could

be categorized into 5 interview questions in order to answer research questions Firstly, the teachers were asked to tell about the frequency they often applied pictures to teach

vocabulary This was followed by the comment section, which required the teacher to subjectively and even objectively evaluate the activities with the help of pictures to teach vocabulary in terms of advantages and difficulties encountered Finally, teachers were asked to express their sincere desires for further exploitation of pictures to teach vocabulary to their own students

Likewise, other interviews were also conducted with 6 students of 3 classes The purpose was to investigate the using pictures profile in their class, outstanding strengths of pictures and their suggestions for further exploitation of pictures In addition, informal unrecorded talks were naturally presented between the researcher and other students to collect the data in a relaxing and effective way Such open responses together with their answers in the questionnaires were to solve research questions

2.3 Procedures of data collection

The data collection went through three major phases in chronological order: preparing instruments, delivering questionnaires, and interviewing

2.3.1 Phase 1

The first step was the preparation for the data collection process, which included the designing of two interview schedules and two questionnaires for two main groups of participants namely the teachers and students

After that, they were revised through piloting The questionnaires and interviews had been piloted with two English teachers at English department, HULIS and a group of second-year students from VNU,HUEB The results of piloting were taken into great consideration for the formulation of the final draft to maximize the strengths and keep weaknesses to a minimum Thanks to this process, the pre-face of the teachers and students‟ questionnaire was much improved with more worth-asking questions Besides, appointments were also made for interviews with teachers at this point

2.3.2 Phase 2

In this phase, the questionnaires were delivered to both teachers and students Questions were exchanged frequently between the surveyed teachers and the researcher to ensure the comprehension of the questions and the accuracy of the collected data More importantly, following questionnaire would be an informal talk between the researcher and the interviewee The motive of this small but significant step was to check the teacher‟s comprehension of the research topic

2.3.3 Phase 3

The last step was interviews with teachers and students According to the time arranged, the researcher would conduct interviews with the teachers and students during their off-periods In addition, to ensure the absence of noise, interviews for students would

be set after classes had finished The interviewer began with a friendly talk to introduce and create rapport among participants Then, the researcher gave a brief explanation of the format, the length of the interview and asked them for any questions before actually recording the interview Tape-recording did not bear any threats to the reliability of data collected thanks to the non-threatening situation of the study and the confidentiality of data During the interview, respondents were encouraged to express their subjective viewpoints, share their personal experiences, and give specific examples so that in-depth information could be achieved The researcher had to clarify questions or any misunderstandings of the respondents to reorientate them tactfully when they went off track Noticeably, in addition to tape-recording, the researcher took notes on important points throughout the interview, which was useful for later transcription of the tape

2.4 Data analysis methods and procedure

In the first step, the data collected was classified according to four research questions Since each research question aimed at exploring an aspect of using pictures to teach vocabulary from teachers and students‟ views, it must be answered through the synthesis of information involving the two parties

As for the first research question, all ways of exploiting pictures to teach vocabulary applied by the teachers to first year students at VNU,HUEB were gathered from the questionnaires and interviews before being divided into different groups Regarding the next two questions, both of teachers and students‟ answers were combined to find out all of the advantages and disadvantages of this technique To be more details, this part required data from question 4, 5 in the questionnaire for teachers and question 3, 4 for students combining with in-depth information from interviews In terms of the last question, pie charts and graphs were principally employed to analyze and compare figures Lastly, most typical quotations from the interviews and open-ended questions in the questionnaires were frequently cited when necessary to illustrate the analysis of data Notably, quotations from the interviews were always cited with the line numbers assigned in the interview transcriptions Especially, for each research question, responses were calculated and transferred into numerical forms The data was then clearly presented in the forms of tables, pie charts and graphs for easier comparison and analysis and synthesis

Summary

This chapter has justified the methodology applied in the thesis by elaborating on the

two groups of participants Next, the data collection instruments, the procedures of data collection and analysis were also clarified thoroughly Such justifications of the methodology would help pave the way for the analysis of the collected data in the following chapter

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, all collected data from the questionnaires and interviews will be analyzed and discussed to reveal the answers to four research questions Additionally, the results would be closely compared to the relevant literature discussed in Chapter 1 with the highlight on the similar as well as new findings on the research topic

3.1 The current exploitation of pictures to teach vocabulary for first year students at VNU, HUEB

of the surveyed students Remarkably, 115/120 freshmen (95.8%) did not hesitate to draw

a conclusion that their teachers‟ teaching vocabulary lessons had the presence of pictorial materials These great numbers were momentous evidence that pictures were employed by English teachers

3.1.1 The frequency of teachers using pictures in teaching vocabulary

18.2

36.4

9 36.4

never rarely

s ometime s

us ually always

Figure 2: The frequency of using pictures to teach vocabulary

A) Students’ responses B) Teachers’ responses

The two pie charts in Figure 2 showed the fundamental similarities between teachers and students‟ comments on the frequency of using pictures to teach vocabulary

Notably, there were not any teachers claiming that they had never utilized pictures in

teaching English vocabulary This proved the considerably high popularity of pictorial materials in vocabulary lessons, which considerably coincided with the result collected from question number one In comparison with students‟ answers the researcher found out

only 5/120 students (4.3%) choosing the option “never” Meanwhile, there were 4/11

teachers (36.4%) and 35/120 students (29.3%) who agreed with the frequency level of

“sometimes” In addition, the number of teachers and students mentioned that pictures were usually applied during the vocabulary lessons were respectively 36.4% and 41.3% These

great numbers expressed the remarkably high frequency of using pictures in teaching vocabulary In terms of the comment on exploiting this kind of visual aid for every lesson, 18.2% of teachers and 16.8 % of students put a tick on this option Therefore, as can be seen clearly from the pie chart above, the extent of high frequency in using pictures as

perceived by teachers and students did not vary greatly

In terms of the result from the interviews, in responding to the question, “How

often do you use pictures in teaching vocabulary?” Teacher B stated:

F requenc y of us ing

pic tures A

4.3

16.8

29.3 41.3

8.3

never rarely

s ometimes

us ually always

Whenever I want to give my students new words related to one topic mentioned in each unit, I always ask my students to move to the vocabulary bank in which new words are always depicted with pictures for the better illustration

(Appendix 3A, Interview 2, Line 5-8)

The other teacher also said that she sometimes used this type of visual aid This was

explained quite clearly on the ground of time and teaching condition In comparison to the answer from three groups of students, the results were not much different:

Most pictures my teachers apply are from the available source in the course book With new words in reading text or other parts of the lesson, my teachers often explain in English then translate into Vietnamese if we do not thoroughly understand her points (Appendix 3B, interview 1, Line 4-7)

From this result, it could be concluded that pictures were used to teach vocabulary for first year students at VNU,HUEB, with quite high frequency More importantly, the main source of pictorial materials was mostly from the well-designed course book

3.1.2 Teachers’ ways to exploit pictures in teaching vocabulary

In the light of Communicative Language Teaching approach, a vocabulary lesson is generally divided into three stages: the presentation, the practice and the production stage With regard to the situations of teaching vocabulary for first year students at VNU,HUEB, the researcher aimed at detecting the ways English teachers exploited pictures in teaching vocabulary in class Then the question whether teachers applied this type of visual aid according to CLT approach could be answered thoroughly

9.1 91.9 1

72.7

27.3

100 0

27.3 72.7

27.3 72.7

Figure 3: Teachers’ ways to exploit pictures to teach vocabulary

The result from Chart clarified the teachers‟ ways to exploit pictures in teaching English vocabulary The most common way which most teachers chose was making full

use of the available source of the vocabulary bank in the course book According to the data analyzed, 100% of surveyed teachers answered that they often used pictures in the course book as an extremely helpful teaching aid to present the meaning of concrete words This could be explained more in the interviews with teacher A:

Each unit in the course book New English File Elementary often contains one vocabulary topic New words are always listed and illustrated with pictures in the vocabulary bank Therefore, we often exploit exhaustibly the available material which is considered as useful and effective (Appendix 3A, interview 1, Line 16-21)

More notably, 72.7% of surveyed teachers also supported the statement 2 This number was persuasive evidence that a majority of teachers designed needed handouts which had different picture flash cards to illustrate the meaning of new words of the same topic and then asked students to guess the meaning of words In addition, it could be obviously seen from Chart that other ways to present the new words with the help of pictures were not implemented but with extremely low frequency: 9.1% of teachers applied chalkboard drawings and especially none of teachers chose wall pictures for their teaching aid in class

After presenting the meaning of new words, practice stage was considerably important The most popular ways used by teachers to help students review the new words were picture description and guessing (27.3 %), picture and sentence matching (27.3%), students‟ drawing (27.3%) and blank filling with pictures (18.2%) and finding out the differences between two pictures (36.4%) However the number of teachers applied these techniques to help students practice new words they had just learnt was not great At this point, the questions of why these techniques were helpful but were not applied by majority

of English teachers could be supported by an interviewed teacher‟s answer

It is a bit time consuming to design scramble word pictures for students to practice Sometimes I ask my students to describe the pictures and let the others guess the words illustrated in those pictures Most of my students are excited about this activity (Appendix 3A, Interview 1, Line 24-26)

Moreover, 45.5 % of surveyed teachers asked students to fill in the blank with the word illustrated with its image, which pinpointed the popularity of this technique With this type of exercise, teachers helped students to revise what they had just learnt and at the same time put the words in the passage with full sentences, which created the sense of context to students

In terms of the production stage, most of teachers (54.5%) asked students to give as many examples as possible with the pictures shown in class Besides, the techniques of describing the prominent details of the pictures and making a story based on pictures were

applied by 63.6% and 27.3% of teachers respectively In terms of the interviewed students, when being asked about the ways their teachers often apply to exploit pictures in teaching vocabulary, they demonstrated some of the most widely used in class Student 1 of group

A said:

My teachers in class often ask us move to the vocabulary bank, look at the pictures and the new words listen in the same topic, then match the words with its right pictures, then draw out their meaning Sometimes, teachers also give us take part in some activities with vocabulary such as: picture description and guessing the words, describing the details of the pictures

(Appendix 3B, Interview 1, Line 15-19)

When being asked about teaching vocabulary in the light of CLT, most of interviewed teachers shared the same idea that they were fully aware of the stages and principles of teaching vocabulary for the communicative purpose However, because of limited time for teaching vocabulary in class, teachers often applied pictures or tried to use techniques to present the new words in the most memorable way and then moved to the speaking part immediately In the speaking part, teachers might let students talk about the topic which they could apply the new words they had just learnt Sometimes this part could have the presence of pictures but normally pictorial materials were not used

In short, teachers exploited pictures in teaching vocabulary mostly to present the meaning of new words by asking students to look at pictures and guessing the meaning of concrete words The available in the course book were fully employed for each lesson One more thing was that scramble words, students‟ drawings, giving examples, describing the pictures and finding the differences between two pictures were different ways which teachers used in class, however, with low frequency Teachers applied some important principles of teaching vocabulary according to Communicative Language Teaching but did not fully followed significant stages on the ground of time limitation in class

3.2 Advantages of using pictures to teach vocabulary perceived by teachers and students

3.2.1 Teachers’ perception of the advantages of using pictures

Statement

Perceived by

11 teachers

Strongly agree (5pts)

Agree (4 pts)

Neutral (3pts)

Disagree (2pts)

Strongly disagree (1pts)

On average

Table 2: Advantages of using pictures in teaching vocabulary as perceived by teachers

The table 4gave an overview of the teachers‟ general perception of the advantages

of teaching vocabulary using pictures From the column of average points, the researcher could see clearly the rank of score from the highest to the lowest The first place belonged

to the statement that using pictures helped to make learning vocabulary more exciting The number of 4.73 points showed that majority of teachers agreed with this outstanding advantage The element of students‟ excitement was always considered as one of the most

important things to lead to the success of one lesson Thus, the presence of pictures in

teaching vocabulary, as a result, helped both teachers and students have effective classes

In the second place, with the number of 4.55 points on average, drawing student‟s attention

to the lesson was also another striking good point perceived by many teachers Especially, there were a notable number of teachers who highly appreciated some of remarkable advantages of using pictures in teaching vocabulary such as motivating students to brainstorm and guess the meaning of new words (4.4 points), helping students understand and remember the meaning of new words more quickly (3.73 points), giving a needed sense of context and a specific reference point to students (3.54 points)

In terms of the information from three interviewed teachers, the researcher also got the same opinions as those of the questionnaire Two of three teachers emphasized the

advantages of making the lesson more interesting Teacher B stated:

My teaching would be less boring and traditional; as a result, my students seem to

be more eager to the lesson They appear to be more curious of what they are going

to do with pictures shown (Appendix, 3A, interview 3, Line 24-26)

In short, many surveyed teachers pinpointed overriding advantages of using pictures They were giving great motivation to students to learn, making the lesson less boring with traditional way, giving students needed sense of context, bringing the world

into the classroom and especially strengthening the students‟ ability to remember new words

3.2.2 Students’ perception of advantages of using pictures

Agree (4 pts)

Neutral (3pts)

Disagree (2pts)

Strongly disagree (1pts)

On Average

context; more than a half of students (63) agree and strongly agree with this

correspondingly 3.22 points on average

When being asked about the advantages of pictures in teaching vocabulary, three groups of interviewed students gave their common views on some strong points of using

pictures The students from group A commented

Pictures help us boost our motivation to learn Besides, I see that through doing exercises related to pictures, I can remember the new words and then use them again more easily [….] learning new words with pictures meant learning something practical and close to the life (Appendix 3B, interview 1, Line 35-37)

To sum up, due to the needed analysis of data from both questionnaires and interviews, the second research question could be answered thoroughly In general, all of the participants showed their strong agreement on major advantages of using pictures which were to make the lessons more interesting, enhance students‟ attention, help students understand and remember the meaning of new words more quickly and especially contribute to the context in which the language would be used

3.3 Main difficulties in using pictures to teach vocabulary as perceived by teachers and students

As can be seen from Figure 4 and 5, the most dominant problem did lie neither in the students nor teachers themselves, but in the time preparation There were 45.5% and

27.3% of teachers together with 40.8 % and 23.3 % of students choosing strongly agree and agree with the first hindrance that it was time-consuming to find the right pictures for

a specific type of activity especially for a teacher who lacked his or her own collection Actually, the sources for available pictures were various Nevertheless, how to choose the most appropriate ones to go with students‟ different levels, fulfill the aims of course and guarantee the content of the lesson was not an easy task In addition, it seemed to be impossible for any kinds of visual aids to demonstrate the meaning of all words especially

the abstract ones Pictures were not the exception for the fact that they could hardly

illustrated majority of adjectives, complicate nouns, homonyms, and collocations as well Sometimes, pictures were not convenient and effective in teaching complex vocabulary

23.3 13.3 17.5 5.1

19.2 25.8 12.5 16.6 25.9

31.6 20.8 16.6 14.2 16.8

21.6 18.3 16.6 15 28.5

30.8 15 17.5 14.2 22.5

12.5 8.3 28.5 28.5 22.2

12.5 15.8 17.5 29.2 25

5.1 17.5 13.3 23.3 40.8

strongly agree

Figure 5: Difficulties in using pictures to teach vocabulary perceived by students

The test pressure and problems from unclear pictures were not considered as the main hindrances as perceived by teachers and students with 50.7% of students and 45.5%

of teachers choosing strongly disagreed and disagreed with statements number 6 With

regard to the number of teachers who added more shortcomings of using pictures in teaching English vocabulary, 36.4% were not small numbers However, not many participants spent time specifying their answers Meanwhile, 5.1 % of students ticked

“strongly agree” and the 17.5% for “agree” with other difficulties In spite of limited

answers, researcher still gathered some relevant points from surveyed students In the one hand, students complained that as their teachers often printed pictures in black and white and in A4 sheet of paper Thus, many students could not see them clearly As a result they would miss a lot of information and chances as well Because they could not see the pictures with; intended information obviously; consequently they had almost nothing to brainstorm and give answers to teachers‟ questions

When being asked about the difficulties encountered during the process of using pictures in teaching vocabulary, three interviewed teachers shared had a lot of common points which were somehow similar to the collected data from questionnaires As it could

be made clear in teacher A‟ opinion,

The pictures in the course books are useful but extremely limited in terms of quantity The preparation for using extra pictures is totally time consuming (Appendix 3A, interview 1, Line 50-52)

Actually, there were no surprising answers about the difficulties showed by the teachers In comparison to what students perceived, we also found out the same views Group A claimed that choosing pictures was not difficult but designing suitable exercises was not an easy task The time for teaching vocabulary was not much This was the reason why teachers often apply the normal ways of listing and translating to teach vocabulary

In short, the results from the questionnaire elaborated the prominent difficulties of using pictures to teach vocabulary Among the pointed out hindrances, the problems of being time-consuming was one of the most dominant ones The second most common shortcoming was that pictures were not suitable or insufficient for demonstrating the meaning of all words especially abstract ones Besides, test drawbacks, large-size class, and limited time in class, limited number of pictures and activities in the course were also

Figure 6: Teachers and students’ attitudes towards the necessity of using pictures to

teach vocabulary

Figure 6 showed clearly the teachers‟ attitudes towards their expectation to apply pictures in teaching vocabulary Notably, there were only about 36.4% of teachers entirely wanted to use pictorial materials in their teaching vocabulary lessons, meanwhile, 45.4%

of surveyed teachers chose “it depends” This could be explained by the fact that a certain

number of teachers found this exploitation of pictures effective while many teachers concerned much about the challenging hindrances encountered during the process of exploitation When being asked to explain more detailed about their choices, some of teaches clarified that although pictures had a lot of profound advantages especially in boosting students‟ interests, teachers needed to consider different elements before choosing pictures to teach vocabulary The topics of lessons, the time and students‟ levels were the main hints for the terms “it depends” which a great number of surveyed teachers advocated

as the proof of their hesitation and concern

As can be seen from the pie chart above, the extent of necessity as perceived by students was quite different from teachers‟ perception Notably, 67.3% of students wished

to have pictures in their vocabulary lessons and only 12.2% of surveyed students said No with pictures This could be explained by the fact that most of first-year students found really interested in all lessons with the help of pictorial materials They wanted to see images from the real world and learned new words by listening to the teachers, seeing images, brainstorming, guessing the meaning and connecting to the context From the students‟ points of view, they always preferred to have lessons with the presence of visual aids which were constantly useful to motivate and draw students‟ attention Even though first year students had some ideas of the basic hindrances of using pictures in teaching vocabulary, they still expressed their burning desires that their teachers would apply pictures to teach vocabulary

With regard to the information from both interviews, three of interviewed teachers categorically desired to use pictures to teach vocabulary One of them said:

It is totally feasible because it is not too difficult to apply and it can meet the demands of many students (Appendix 3A, interview 1, line 70-7)

In addition, another surveyed one affirmed that this was an effective technique to facilitate their English lessons Three groups of students also expressed their long for being