LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 2: Teachers’ opinions on the aspects of the checked words 33 Lists of figures Figure 1: Teachers’ attitudes towards the need of focusing on vocabular
Trang 1TABLE OF CONTENT
Declaration ……… i
Acknowledgements ……… ii
Abstract ……… iii
Table of contents ……… v
Abbreviation ……… viii
List of tables and figure ……… ix
PART A: INTRODUCTION ……… 1
1 Rationale ……… 1
2 Purpose the study ……… 2
3 Scope of the study ……… 2
4 Methodology ……… 3
5 Organization ……… 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT ……… 4
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ……… 4
1.1 Vocabulary ……… 4
1.1.1 Definition of Vocabulary ……… 4
1.1.2 Classification of Vocabulary ……… 5
1.1.3 Principles of Vocabulary teaching ……… 7
1.1.3.1 Purposes for teaching vocabulary 7
Trang 21.1.3.2 What to teach? ……… 8
1.1.3.2.1 Form ……… 8
1.1.3.2.2 Grammar ……… 8
1.1.3.2.2 Collocation ……… 9
1.1.3.2.3 Meaning ……… 9
1.1.3.2.4 Usage ……… 10
1.1.4 Techniques of Vocabulary teaching currently used ……… 12
1.1.4.1 Techniques in presenting vocabulary 12
1.1.4.2 Techniques in practicing vocabulary 13
1.1.4.3 Techniques in consolidating and revising vocabulary 14
1.1.5 Strategies to teach vocabulary ……… 15
1.1.5.1 Presenting new vocabulary ……… 15
1.1.5.2 Practicing words ……… 16
1.1.5.3 Revising words ……… 17
1.1.6 Memory and storage system ……… 18
1.2 Attitudes ……… 20
1.2.1 Definition of attitudes ……… 20
1.2.2 The role of attitudes in language teaching ……… 20
1.3 Related studies ……… 21
1.4 Summary ……… 22
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ……… 23
Trang 32.1 Context of the study ……… 23
2.2 Research questions ……… 24
2.3 Participants ……… 25
2.4 Data collection instruments ……… 26
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, DISCUSSION OF MAJOR FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ……… 27
3.1 Data analysis and discussion of major findings ……… 27
3.2 Recommendations ……… 39
3.3 Summary ……… 45
PART C: CONCLUSION ……… 46
1 Conclusion and Implications ……… 46
2 Limitations and suggestions for further studies ……… 47
REFERENCES ……… 48
APPENDIX ……… 50
Trang 4ABBREVIATION BSHS: Bac Ninh Specialized High School
Trang 5LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Table 2: Teachers’ opinions on the aspects of the checked words 33
Lists of figures
Figure 1: Teachers’ attitudes towards the need of focusing on vocabulary
Figure 2: Teachers’ attitudes towards the role of vocabulary teaching in
Figure 3: Teachers’ purposes of teaching vocabulary 28
Figure 4: Teachers’ attitudes towards teaching vocabulary through
Figure 5: Statistics of techniques used on teachers’ vocabulary teaching 30
Figure 6: Teachers’ ideas about the purposes of checking students’
Figure 7: Teachers’ opinions about the moment to check the words 32
Figure 8: Teachers’ opinions on how long they spend checking the
Figure 9: Statistics of the words that the teachers often check 34
Figure 10: Attitudes towards the activities that the teachers often use to
help the students to use and consolidate the words presented 35
Trang 6PART A: INTRODUCTION
1 Rationale
In Vietnam, since the 1990s, teaching and learning English has become a topical issue appealing for concerns of both practitioners and researchers It is common knowledge that learning a foreign language mainly involves learning the sound system, grammar, and vocabulary of that language among which vocabulary learning plays a very crucial role
Vocabulary as a major component of language learning has been the object of numerous studies, each of which has its own contribution to the field Vocabulary learning is at the heart of language learning and language use Without vocabulary speakers can not convey meaning and communicate with each other in a particular language A large vocabulary is also claimed to solve the other problems Considering the crucial role attributed to vocabulary learning in second or foreign language learning, one can implicitly understand the importance of vocabulary teaching as well
Recently methodologists and linguists have emphasized and recommended teaching vocabulary because of its importance in language teaching Vocabulary is not a syllabus, i.e., a list of words that teachers prepare for their learners to memorize and learn by heart Language students need to learn vocabulary of the target language in another way If we are really to teach students what words mean and how they are used, we need to show them being used together in context Words do not just exist on their own; they live together and they depend upon each other Therefore, teaching vocabulary correctly is a very important element in language learning Teaching vocabulary is not just conveying the meaning to the students and asking them to learn those words by heart If teachers believe that the words are worth explaining and learning, then it is important that they should do this efficiently Teachers should use different techniques and activities in teaching English vocabulary to motivate the learners, enrich their vocabulary and enable them to speak English properly
There are many ways to teach vocabulary According to Celce-Murcia, C‟s approach which consists of conveying meaning, checking understanding and consolidation
is very useful for every teacher Teachers can use many different ways to present the vocabulary After that, teachers also apply many interesting ways to check learners‟
Trang 7memory However, how often do teachers check learners‟ vocabulary, which techniques are used to check and how effective does this step help learners retain these words are a big problem which needs solving That is the reason why I would like to carry out a study to find the attitudes of teachers towards vocabulary checking technique after conveying the vocabulary in a foreign language lesson at a high school
2 Purpose of the study
The aim of the study is to explore what activities are commonly used by teachers to check their students‟ vocabularies, the attitudes of teachers of English at Bac Ninh Specialized High School (BSHS) towards the current checking vocabulary technique and some activities that teachers of English should do to help their students retain the words that they have learned
The main purpose of the study is to find out the attitudes of teachers of English at BSHS towards the current checking vocabulary technique Within this purpose, three main objectives are:
(i) To explore what activities are commonly used by teachers to check their students’ vocabulary
(ii) To investigate the attitudes of English teachers at BSHS towards the current checking vocabulary technique
(iii) To suggest some activities that teachers of English should do to help their students retain the words that they have learned
3 Scope of the study
The study is conducted at BSHS in order to investigate the attitudes of teachers of English towards the current checking vocabulary techniques To go ahead, the study also offers some suggestions to better the current context
4 Methodology
Trang 8To find answers to the research questions stated in Chapter 2, the study uses a combination
of qualitative and quantitative research approaches, which include document analysis and survey questionnaires, interviews and class observation
In order to gain the most successful results, data will be collected through questionnaires, interviews and observations Collected data, then, will be processed and analyzed Besides, the writer‟s own experience in checking students‟ vocabulary and the analysis of current textbook and vocabulary teaching methods applied to teach English for students at BSHS will contribute much to the completion of the study
5 Organization
The thesis consists of three main parts as follow:
Part A: Introduction
Part B: Development
Part B is composed of three chapters, each of which focuses on a particular issue:
Chapter 1 deals with theoretical background concerning vocabulary teaching and attitude
Chapter 2 describes the methods employed in the study and introduces the situation of teaching and learning vocabulary at BSHS
Chapter 3 is the detail description of analysis and summary of the findings
Part C: Conclusion
This part presents conclusion, implications, limitations and suggestions for further studies
The appendixes are the last part of the study following the reference
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Trang 9This part is concerned with some of the important issues in the theories of teaching vocabulary It consists of the definition of vocabulary, classification of vocabulary, principles of vocabulary teaching, techniques of vocabulary teaching currently used, strategies to teach vocabulary, memory and storage system and attitude as well as the role
of attitudes in language teaching
1.1 Vocabulary
1.1.1 Definition of Vocabulary
Up to now, there has not been only one but a wide variety of definitions of vocabulary In order to find the best and most easy-to-understand definition is such an unfeasible task Each linguist or scholar, in his specialized field, with his own set of criteria has found out for his own way to define vocabulary However, in the most popular way, Cambridge Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary Online has applied a meaning for ocabulary as all the words which exist in a particular language or subject When most of us think about language we think first about words It is true that the vocabulary is the focus of language
It is words that sounds and meaning interlock to allow us to communicate with another, and it is words that we arrange together to make sentences, conversation and discourse of all kinds It indicates that vocabulary is essential for learning a language
Grave (2000) defines vocabulary as the entire stock of words belonging to a branch of knowledge or known by an individual He also states that the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, which includes words and expression
From the view of Ur (1996), vocabulary is defined as the words we teach in foreign language A new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: a couple of two or three words or multi words idioms Therefore, a useful convention is to cover all such cases by talking about vocabulary items rather than words Some writers define vocabulary
as separate words while others consider vocabulary as lexical chunks We need to be aware
of the fact that new vocabulary does not mean that only one new word is being introduced
to the students because often multi-word idioms or single ideas which consist of more than one word are introduced
Obviously, it is not easy to define exactly what a word is Like so many other things that are basic and elemental in our lives, we take them for granted and we apt to be surprised to
Trang 10find how hard it is to say exactly what a word is In general, it is impossible to give a precise definition of word Therefore, we can come to the conclusion that Ur‟s way of defining vocabulary is the best one It also suggests that vocabulary is bigger than just the meaning of words It covers a huge aspect of language and is the medium to express ideas
In conclusion, vocabulary is an important part of a language as well as the basis of linguistic abilities It may be worth teaching students an easier formulation of Wilkin‟s (1972) view that without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed Vocabulary is the total number of all the words that a language possesses, ranging from a single word, two or three words items expressing an idea to multi-word idioms
1.1.2 Classification of Vocabulary
There have been different ways of vocabulary classification according to different criteria, features or functions The following ways are the most common ones to classify vocabulary
1.1.2.1 According to the concept of morpheme
Words are divided into three kinds: simple word, derived word and compound word
Simple word: is the one that consists of a root morpheme (Ex: big, small, dog, table, etc.)
Derived word: is the one that consists of a root and one or more derivational morphemes
(Ex: teacher, exciting, ect.)
Compound word: is the one that consists of at least two roots with or without derivational
morphemes (Ex: black-smith, black-bird, greeting cards, ect.)
1.1.2.2 According to the sequence of use
This criterion refers to the frequency of occurrence of words There are three groups of words, which appear in different frequencies: high frequency word, low frequency word and specialized word It is important for the teacher to show his students which group the words belong to because it is unnecessary for the students to know all the words but only the more commonly used words
Trang 111.1.2.3 According to the meaning
There are two main kinds of meanings in a word, lexical meaning and grammatical meaning Therefore, vocabulary can be divided into notional words and functional words Notional words are the ones with clear lexical meaning These words form great number of each speaker‟s vocabualry Functional words are the ones whose meaning is grammatical They only have meaning in relation to other words with which they are combined Functional words are particles, prepositions, articles or conjunctions
1.1.2.4 According to the function of vocabulary items in a sentence
With different functions of vocabulary in a sentence, English vocabulary can be divided into different items as parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adverbs, and pronouns Each part of speech has its own position complying with certain grammatical rules and relating
to one another Thus, the learners during the course should be aware of different functions vocabulary items
1.1.2.5 Other Classifications of Vocabulary
Vocabulary can be classified basing on teaching conditions, context of situations, communicative purposes or content and aims of the lesson In language teaching, words can be divided into active words and passive words (positive/negative words) in which active (positive) words tend to be concentrated on more Melka (2004) discusses in detail the two notions of receptive and productive vocabulary These notions are based on reality;
we all have experienced words which we can understand perfectly well in a conversation
or in a text, but we are totally unable to remember when we want to use them productively However, language teachers should bear in mind that vocabulary acquisition is an incremental process
1.1.3 Principles of Vocabulary teaching
1.1.3.1 Purposes for teaching vocabulary
It can not be denied that vocbulary is necessary in learning and teaching a foreign language One reason teachers are concerned about teaching vocabulary is to facilitate the comprehension of a text that students will be assigned to read If students do not know the
Trang 12meaning of many of the words that they will encounter in a text, their comprehension of that section is likely to be compromised When the purpose of vocabulary instruction is to facilitate the comprehension of selection, it is obvious that this instruction must take place
as an introduction before reading the selection
As a rule, new words in narrative selections are not as critical to the overall understanding
of the selection as new words in informational selections Before guiding students‟ reading
of a particular narrative, teachers should determine if there are any new words that represent concepts which are critical to understanding the selection in context New words that are critical to an understanding of the major topic or theme should be introduced and discussed prior to reading because the exploration of these prerequisite terms and concepts will establish a strong foundation for subsequent learning
A second major reason or teaching the meaning of words is to increase the number of words that students know and can use in a variety of educational, social, and eventually work-related areas Vocabulary enables language use; language use enables the increase of vocabulary knowledge and language use and so on To increase the number of words the students learn, it is often helpful to teach these words in morphological or semantic clusters
Therefore, teaching and learning vocabulary is very crucial aspect in foreign language methodology It is the most important for understanding and knowing names for things, actions and concepts
1.1.3.2 What to teach?
According to Richard (1976), selecting what to teach, based on frequency and usefulness
to the needs of your particular students is essential because the students will not need to produce every words they learn In fact, knowing a word is far more than just understanding its meaning and students are not expected to learn every word in the textbooks So selecting what to teach is teacher‟s job and it has to base on word frequency and usefulness Nation (2001) states that knowing a word means knowing at least its forms, its meaning and its basic usage
1.1.3.2.1 Form
Trang 13It is obvious that vocabulary can not be taught or learnt in complete isolation from the rest
of linguistics components namely grammar, phonetics and phonology Teachers have to introduce what a words sounds like and what it looks like It is very important to use the phonemic script so the students have clear writen record of the pronunciation
1.1.3.2.2 Grammar
Grammar of sentence can be covered by general grammatical rules but grammar of word can not easily be put in general rules If the new item is not obviously covered by general grammatical rules, its grammar will need to be taught Considering the relationship between lexis and grammar, Raeveska (1971) states that grammar refers to the general facts of language and lexicology with special facts Teachers need to make sure that these aspects are accurately presented
1.1.3.2.3 Collocation
Collocation is the way in which words are used together regularly in a specific language It refers to the restrictions on how words can be used together in right contexts Therefore, this is another piece of information about new item, which may be word teaching For example, when introducing words like “to do” and “to make”, the teachers may note that both of them have the meaning “to perform” but can be distinguished by the words they collocate with In general, teachers need to be ready to teach the types of collocations, especially the ones which students have the greatest difficulties
1.1.3.2.4 Meaning
Another important aspect of vocabulary that needs teaching is the meaning of the word Word meanings include denotation, connotation, appropriateness and meaning relationship
The denotation refers to things or concepts This is often the sort of definition given in dictionary “Fish”, for instance, denotes the animal lives in the water and can swim “Rose” denotes a kind of flowers and symbolizes for love
Connotation of a word is less obvious component of its meaning Connotative meaning is the communicative value an expression has by virtue of what it refers to, over and above
Trang 14its purely conceptual content Connotative meaning can embrace the putative properties of the referent, due to the viewpoint adopted by an individual, or a group of people or a whole society Connotations are unstable, they vary considerably, according to culture, historical period, and the experience of the individual
There are various relationships as followed:
· Boundaries between conceptual meanings: knowing not only what lexis refers to, but also where the boundaries are that separate it from words of related meaning (e.g cup, mug, and bowl)
· Polysemy: distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form with several but closely related meanings (head: of a person, of a pin, of an organisation)
· Homonymy: distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form which has several meanings which are NOT closely related ( e.g a file: used to put papers in or a tool)
· Homophyny: understanding words that have the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings (e.g flour, flower)
· Synonymy: distinguishing between the different shades of meaning that synonymous words have (e.g extend, increase, expand)
In short, the words have various types of meaning It is required that the teacher has to make a careful choice of and decision on which meaning of a word to teach and how many meanings and words to teach in the given class time
1.1.3.2.5 Usage
It is clear that we often use word only in certain social and topical context What we say is governed by the style and register we are in Words are not only restricted geographically and socially, they are often restricted as to styles of speaking and writing Therefore, vocabulary knowledge involves considerably more than that knowing the meaning f a given word in isolation, it also involves knowing the words that tend to co-occur with it It
is obvious that the goal of vocabulary teaching is more than simply covering a certain
Trang 15number of words on a word list, and learners have to be given opportunities to use the item effectively
It should be notified that learning any particular words as being a cumulative process where knowledge is built up over a series of varied meetings with the word
In conclusion, different aspects of word knowledge are by far summarized by Cameron (2001: 77) in the table below
Receptive knowledge:
aural/decoding
To understand it when it is spoken/written
Conceptual knowledge To use it with the correct
To hear and produce the endings of verb forms, such the /n/ sound at the end of undertaken
Grammatical knowledge To use it in a grammatically
accurate way; to know grammatical connections with other words
She sang very well not She sang very good
Collocational knowledge To know which other words
can be used with it
A beautiful view not a looking view
good-Orthographic knowledge To spell it correctly Protractor not protracter
Trang 16Connotational To know its positive and
negative associations, to know its associations with related words
To know that slim has positive connotation, when used about a person, whereas skinny is negative
Metalinguistic knowledge To know explicitly about the
word, e.g its grammatical properties
To know that protractor is a noun, and to know that pro
is a prefix
Table 1: What is in knowing about a word 1.1.4 Techniques of Vocabulary teaching currently used
1.1.4.1 Techniques in presenting vocabulary
Proposed by Doff (1988), Thornbury (2002) and Nation (1994), a variety of techniques can
be used or combined to introduce vocabulary Thornbury listed a set of choices related to presenting the meaning through translation, real things, pictures, actions or gestures, definitions and situations with a choice whether to present the word in its spoken forms or written form In the other hand, as cited by To (2009), those techniques are grouped into some categories as followed:
* Showing the meaning of words visually This was the most common way in the stages to
present meaning of a new word According to Gairns and Redman (1986), these techniques can include flashcards, photographs, blackboard drawings, wall charts, realia, gestures and mime They are extensively used for conveying meaning and are particularly useful for teaching concrete items of vocabulary
This technique attracts the students, gives them the comfort to study and helps students associate presented material in a meaningful way and incorporate it into their system of language values However, it is only useful to teach the concrete words that refer to cheap and small objects On the other hand, it is impossible for teachers to find all of the needed pictures or photographs Drawing sometimes is not a good way to present a word because not all teachers can draw well Gestures and mime is a useful and effective way of introducing words since it can promote students‟ understanding and meaningful retention
of new items
Trang 17* Showing the meaning of words verbally This is one of the most important techniques to
present new words This technique is commonly used to help students understand more about the abstract words It consists of the use of definition, antonym/synonym and
translation
It may be not easy for the students to understand the definition because it may contain words that students do not know However, teachers can use definition and illustrative sentences to show how the new words are used Teachers can also use synonyms or antonyms to help students build the new words Besides, translation will be another useful way to present the new words There are some arguments for and against the techniques of translation It can require no preparation and can be done quickly, but teachers should not rely too heavily on the use of translation and deliver most explanations in the mother tongue in order to make sure that the students do not lose the atmosphere and the essential spirit of a language-learning classroom
* Showing the meaning of words in contexts Context building is another technique to
introduce the new items This is probably very useful technique because students can work out the meaning of the words for themselves The context plays an important role in helping students to learn new vocabulary and in establishing how words are actually used
in speech and writing Teachers should think of a clear context when words are used Teachers can also describe the context to the students or give them the example sentences
to clarify the meaning Meaningful tasks provide the best answer to the problems of vocabulary, as they rely on students‟ experiences and reality to facilitate learning The best way to remember words is meeting and using them in many different contexts
* Translation This is sometimes considered to be a traditional way but turns out to be an
effective use in classroom context Showing the meaning of a new word by using translation can be quicker and easier for teachers so that time for other activities can be saved ultimately
Normally, as also suggested by Doff, a combination of the techniques mentioned above should be implemented when it comes to the effectiveness of presenting meaning of the new words This is because of the reason that each technique when combined will reinforce and support the others; thus, making the presentation of new words clearer and more efficient
Trang 181.1.4.2 Techniques in practicing vocabulary
For practicing vocabulary stage, as mentioned in How to teach vocabulary by Thornbury
(2002: 93), there can be a variety of tasks which can be used in order to help move words into long-term memory Those tasks, clarified by him, require learners to make decisions about words and they can be divided into five types in order of least cognitively demanding to most demanding: Identifying, Selecting, Matching, Sorting, Ranking and sequencing
Identifying tasks involving tasks of finding words in texts “Listen then tick the words you
hear” can be obvious example of this type Identification is the first step in recognizing words and requires learners do easy task as counting, ticking or a bit difficult is to unscramble words as in anagram
Selecting tasks, as clearly stated by the linguist is “cognitively more complex than
identification tasks” For selecting tasks, learners will have to do recognizing words and making choices among them at the same time Finding and odd out is a common task that teachers may often use in class for checking comprehension
Apart from recognizing and making choice among words, learners are also requested to do
matching tasks In this kind of task, learners may need to pair a set of given words to a
visual representation or to a translation, a synonym/antonym, a definition or a collocation
By grouping words into different categories, learners are being asked to do sorting task It
should be noted that the categories can be given in advance or learners have to guess what the categories are
The most cognitively complex and demanding tasks in this stage are ranking and sequencing activities Different form sorting when learners merely putting words into
categories, in ranking task, they may have to put words into unfixed order, often created learners‟ preferences themselves
1.1.4.3 Techniques in consolidating and revising vocabulary
There are no fixed techniques proposed by group writers of lecturers at English Department, ULIS-VNU (2009), specific tasks were listed instead They are as follow:
Trang 19ordering, rub out and remember, networks, bingo, word storm, slap the board, guess the picture, matching, noughts and crosses, what & where, word square, jumbled words
As for Thornbury, those listed activities above are some common games which assist teachers in implementing a productive vocabulary lesson with learners The final stage, as further recommended by him, highly involves production tasks in which learners, after having made decisions will actually produce something as a product of their own In this way, learners will turn words from receptive to productive and put them into long-term memory For production task, there are two major types that teachers may have used them
very often namely: completion and creation
Sentence and text completion tasks are generally known as gap-fills In gap-fills, the
distinction between open and close gap-fills is necessarily noticeable In close gap-fill,
words are provided in advance whilst in open gap-fill; learners have to fill in basing on the amount of lexical items Multiple choices, as suggested by Thornbury also fit in well with this completion task category For completion tasks, there varies a number of instruction such as: complete the text by writing an appropriate word in each space; choose the best word from the list to complete each sentence
If text and sentence are often provides in completion tasks, they are often created by
learners in creation tasks The tasks sound difficult; however, this isa typical feature of
those tasks Besides, learners may not have to produce all on their own, they are sometimes provided with a set of words from which they would choose to use in their sentences or texts For creation tasks, such typical instructions are used: choose some words from the list and write a sentence using each one, or write a short narrative which includes at least five words from the list, etc
1.1.5 Strategies to teach vocabulary
According to Gower (2005) and Thornbury (2002) there are three stages in teaching vocabulary namely Presenting, Practicing and Revising
1.1.5.1 Presenting new vocabulary
This title of this very first stage has indicated clearly its function in introducing new lexical items to learners As suggested by Thornbury, at the very least learners need to learn both
Trang 20the meaning and the form of a new word Therefore, as he claimed, it‟s worth pointing out that both these aspects of a word should be presented in close conjunction in order to ensure a tight meaning-and-form fit He also stressed some major factors, subject to which the number of words should be presented They could be as following:
The learners‟ level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced)
Learners‟ likely familiarity with the words (learners may have met the words before even though they are not part of their active vocabulary)
The difficulties of the items (whether, for example,they express abstract rather than concrete meaning, whether they are difficult to pronounce.)
Their “teachability”, which means whether they can be easily explained or demonstrated within the context of classroom
Whether items are being learned for production (in speaking and writing) or for recognition only (as in listening and reading) Since more time will be needed for the former, the number of items is likely to be fewer than if the aim is only recognition
Thornbury also notified a principle in introducing new vocabulary items, which was learners‟ capacity When the learners‟ capacity to remember new words,the number of new words presented should be carefully considered and should not be overstretched
1.1.5.2 Practicing words
Suggested by Gower and his co-writers (2005), students often need a little time for the new lexical items to “sink in” They pointed out that learners may recognize new items but often delay putting it into active use In this case, the use of planned acitivities for recycling and reactivate the new vocabulary is of necessity This kind of practice underlines the popular belief that “practice makes perfect” The author also emphasized the action of moving words from short term memory into permanent memory He indicated that new knowledge needs to be intergrated into existing knowledge This means in order
to ensure the long-term retention and recall, words or lexical items need to be put to work,
or into practice as it is often understood in many other contexts
Trang 211.1.5.3 Revising words
Revising vocabulary strategies are used to check the understanding of words that were learned within the context of the passage, and to review, or teach in depth, important words and concepts from the text Words that are interesting or useful to know in other contexts, but are not central to the understanding of the passage, should also be taught after the initial reading is completed
The best presentation technique is not enough in itself to help to internalize the language
In order to shift the lexicon from passive to active, students need a lot of practice and recycling of the vocabulary taught Many sources referred to in this article emphasise the importance of vocabulary revision This process aims at helping students acquire active, productive vocabularies Students need to practise regularly what they have learnt; otherwise, the material will fade away
Teachers can resort to many techniques for vocabulary consolidation and revision To begin with, a choice of graphs and grids can be used Students may give a definition of a given item to be found by other students Multiple choice and gap filling exercises will activate the vocabulary while students select the appropriate response Teachers can use lists of synonyms or antonyms to be matched, sentences to be paraphrased, or just some words or expressions in context to be substituted by synonymous expressions Doing cloze tests will show students' understanding of a passage, its organisation, and determine the choice of lexical items Visual aids can be of great help with revision Pictures, photographs, or drawings can facilitate the consolidation of both individual words as well
as idioms, phrases and structures There is also a large variety of word games that are
"useful for practising and revising vocabulary after it has been introduced" (Haycraft 1978:50) Numerous puzzles, word squares, crosswords, etc., are useful especially for pair
or group work Strategies include conceptual mapping, where the vocabulary words are part of a larger generation of categories and ideas related to the topic and what was learned from the passage; word mapping, where one word is explored in depth through its definition, properties or characteristics, and examples; and feature analyses, where several related words are compared and contrasted based on defining characteristics
Students with large vocabularies are able to think more precisely about any topic and express themselves with greater clarity and depth By choosing a short, but essential, list of
Trang 22vocabulary words, and strategically teaching them either before or after reading, teachers can also greatly improve reading comprehension and fluency in their students
1.1.6 Memory and storage system
Understanding how our memory works might help us create more effective ways to teach vocabulary Research in the area, as cited by Gairns (1986) offers us some insights into this process
It seems that learning new items involve storing them first in our short-term memory, and afterwards in long-term memory We do not control this process consciously but there seems to be some important clues to consider First, retention in short-term memory is not effective if the number of chunks of information exceeds 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
Research also suggests that our „mental lexicon‟ is highly organised and efficient, and that semantic related items are stored together Word frequency is another factor that affects storage, as the most frequently used items are easier to retrieve We can use this information to attempt to facilitate the learning process, by grouping items of vocabulary in semantic fields, such as topics (e.g types of fruit)
Oxford (1990) suggests memory strategies to aid learning, and these can be divided into:
· creating mental linkages: grouping, associating, placing new words into a context;
· applying images and sounds: using imagery, semantic mapping, using keywords and representing sounds in memory;
· reviewing well, in a structured way;
· employing action: physical response or sensation, using mechanical techniques
The techniques just mentioned can be used to greater advantage if we can diagnose learning style preferences (visual, aural, kinaesthetic, tactile) and make students aware of different memory strategies
Trang 23Meaningful tasks however seem to offer the best answer to vocabulary learning, as they rely on students‟ experiences and reality to facilitate learning More meaningful tasks also require learners to analyse and process language more deeply, which should help them retain information in long-term memory
Forgetting seems to be an inevitable process, unless learners regularly use items they have learnt Therefore, recycling is vital, and ideally it should happen one or two days after the initial input After that, weekly or monthly tests can check on previously taught items
The way students store the items learned can also contribute to their success or failure in retrieving them when needed Most learners simply list the items learnt in chronological order, indicating meaning with translation This system is far from helpful, as items are de-contextualised, encouraging students to over generalise usage of them It does not allow for additions and refinements nor indicates pronunciation
Teachers can encourage learners to use other methods, using topics and categories to organise a notebook, binder or index cards Meaning should be stored using English as much as possible, and also giving indication for pronunciation Diagrams and word trees can also be used within this topic/categories organisation The class as a whole can keep a vocabulary box with cards, which can be used for revision/recycling regularly
Organising this kind of storage system is time-consuming and might not appeal to every learner Therefore adapting their chronological lists to include headings for topics and a more complete definition of meaning would already be a step forward
1.2 Attitudes
1.2.1 Definition of attitudes
Trang 24In order to define attitude, there are many different views According to Gibb‟s opinion (1988), attitude is generally defined as a state of mind, which is influenced by feelings, experiences of the world and belief
Fazio (1986) states that attitude comprises of three components: an effective component involving feelings about and evaluation of the object, a cognitive componentinvolving belief about the object and a behavioral intentions component
According to Hallorah (1967), attitude represents an individual‟s like or dislike for an item Attitudes are positive, negative or neutral views of an “attitude object” i.e a teaching style, person, situation or event People can also be “ambivalent” towards a target, meaning that they simultaneously possesses a positive and a negative bias towards the attitude in question
All above definitions show people‟s attitude towardscertain referent object, a behavioral intentions component and a cognitive component involving belief about the object In language learning, we can see students‟ attitudes in their feelings and belief about the way
of acting towardsthe lessons, learning style, teachers and the course books
1.2.2 The role of attitudes in language teaching
Attitudes and teaching go hand in hand Gardner (1997) all agree that success in mastering
a foreign language would depend not only on intellectual capacity and language attitudes, but on one‟s attitudes towards representatives of that language as well
In fact, attitudes play an important role in teachers‟ teaching If they maintain a positive attitude, they will carry out their teaching to the best of their ability and vice versa Teachers‟ attitudes have an effect on their classroom behaviour, teaching style and teaching results Gardner emphansizes that favourable attitudes would be expected to result
in better performance than negative attitudes
Agreeing with the role of attitudes, Brown (1994) says that language teachers and learners benefit from positive attitudes while negative attitudes may lead to unsuccessful attainment
of proficiency It can be said that without positive attitudes and perceptions or holding negative attitudes towards the teaching and learning, we have little chance of learning proficiently
Trang 25In conclusion, it is clear that attitudes play an important role in teaching so teachers will see themselves achieving greater and greater result in teaching in general and in vocabulary teaching in particular whereas negative attitudes will hinder their teaching
I.3 Related studies
It is common knowledge that the more words a learner knows, the larger the learner‟s vocabulary knowledge is “If a language could be considered as a house, then its grammar could be considered as cement and its vocabulary could be figuratively compared to bricks
To build a complete house, not only cement but also bricks are needed Without bricks, no house can be built, even when plenty of high quality cement is available.” (Huyen, 2004:1) This means that to be a competent English communicator, one must acquire a good knowledge of English grammar and have a rich amount of English vocabulary as well Vocabulary is an essential element of language
For a long time in the past, methodologists have continuously kept seeking effective ways
to teach English vocabulary It has been witnessed that there has been a prominent shift in the field of vocabulary teaching Many books on vocabulary teaching have been introduced
by such experts as Allen (1983), Nation (1994), Nation (2008), Taylor (1990), Thornbury (2002) and so on A lot of researchers have spent so much effort to study on teaching English vocabulary, such as Joseph (2011), Solange (2001), Tahririan (2009), etc Nation (2000) whose specialist interest are language teaching methodology and vocabulary, for example, claimed that the major problem with vocabulary teaching was that only a few words and a small part of what was required to know a word could be dealt with at any one time He put a considerable stress on the issue of complexity which he pointed out the more complex the information is, the more likely the learners are to misinterpret it
In Vietnam, there has so far been some research on vocabulary Nguyen & Khuat (2003) asserted using games in teaching vocabulary to Vietnamese students Their researched subject was a group of 17 – 20 students at Distance Learning Centre By implementing and observing such games as: hangman, snakes and ladders, selling and buying things and so
on The co-researchers successfully created an active and expectedly fun learning environment for students involved However, research on vocabulary checking and the attitudes towards this matter at BSHS has not been done yet
Trang 26As a teacher of English, I have dealt with many questions relating to vocabulary teaching
as well as checking which raised by my colleagues and my students For example, what is the best way to teach vocabulary? How many words can be taught in each lesson? How can teacher do to help students retain the new words? That is the main reason why I am interested in this topic
1.4 Summary
In this chapter, some information about history of research on the issue has been introduced; such concepts as teaching strategies and knowledge of teaching strategy classifications have been presented Theoretical information of some techniques to teach vocabulary items, memory system and attitude has also mentioned The next chapter will describe the methods employed in the study as well as the data analysis of the attitude of the teachers at BSHS
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1 Context of the study
2.1.1 Bac Ninh Specialized High School
Founded in 2001, Bac Ninh Specialized High School (BSHS) is located in the centre of Bac Ninh City, Bac Ninh Province It is about 40km to the North of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam With a staff of nearly 100 teachers and officers and 27 classes with 700 students,
Trang 27BSHS is a reliable address to the parents and children around Bac Ninh province We always receive special care of Bac Ninh People Committee, Department of Education and Training and many other local authorities Therefore, our school is well-equipped with modern facilities and good teaching and learning conditions BSBS is also a cradle of excellent teaching and learning We often have over 40 students who get the high score in the national exam for the excellent students and 5 of our excellent students got the medals
in international exams Every year 100% of our students pass the annual national final examination and 98% of these students go to the university and college Our school ranks the 10 in the top of 200 schools which have the high rate of students passing the entrance exam to the university and college All of our students are aware of the importance of learning English in their study as well as in the job in the future; therefore, they have a great effort in learning
2.1.2 Teachers and students
2.1.2.1 Teachers
There are fourteen teachers of English at Bac Ninh Specialized High School (1 male and thirteen females) Their ages range from 24 to 48 with at least 2 years of teaching English Three-quarters of them have MA degree and all of them are energetic and willing to devote their time and energy to teaching They were mostly trained in University of Language and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi
2.1.2.2 Students
They are aged from 16 to 18 and all of them have had at least 4 years of learning English at lower-secondary schools They are not the same at English speaking competence Some of them are really good and active while a lot of them are quite passive and unmotivated in learning English as students here come from many places in Bac Ninh province, even from rural areas Furthermore, the students hardly have opportunities to communicate with foreigners, especially with English-speaking people
2.1.3 Curriculum
Trang 28We mainly use two sets of textbooks as the guide of Ministry of Education and Training for the students from grade 10 to 12 The basic set (Tiếng Anh cơ bản) is used for the students whose major is not English, and the other, advanced set (Tiếng Anh nâng cao), is for the students who is specialized in English In both sets of textbook, the outline is very clear with 5 lessons for each communicative skill and grammar Besides, in order to help the students improve their knowledge of English, we design some others extra exercises
2.2 Research questions
For the purpose of this study which has been stated in chapter I, my research questions are:
(i) What activities that teachers at BSHS commonly use to check their students’ vocabulary?
(ii) What are the attitudes of English teachers at BSHS towards the current checking vocabulary technique?
(iii) What are some activities that teachers of English should do to help their students retain the words that they have learned?
2.3 Participants
The study aims to investigate the attitudes of English teachers at BSHS towards the current checking vocabulary technique Thus, the questionaires were distributed to 13 English teachers of Bac Ninh Specialized High school Most of them are female and their ages range from 24 to 48 with at least 2 years of teaching English Three-quarters of them have
MA Degree and all of them are energetic and willing to devote their time and energy to teaching
2.4 Data collection instruments
Trang 29In order for the validity of the information gathered to be assured, use of triangle methods including questionnaire, interview and observation was carefully employed by the researcher with great consideration from the supervisor as well
The combination of three methods listed previously allows the researcher to answer all three research questions thoroughly It was carefully calculated that each methods was used in order to support the others
2.4.1 Questionnaire
Teachers‟ questionnaire was in use in this research as the major source for data collection
As Tellis (1997) remarked, case study is known as a triangulated research strategy Snow and Anderson (as cited in Feagin, Orum & Sjoberg, 1991) asserted that triangulation can occur with data, investigators, theories, and even methodologies Stake (1995) stated that the protocols that are used to ensure accuracy and alternative explanations are called triangulation The need for triangulation arises from the ethical need to confirm the validity
of the processes In case studies, this could be done by using multiple sources of data, which is not an exception in the current research As for this study, the main focus was to investigate the attitudes of teachers towards checking technique in teaching vocabulary, so the necessity to collect as many opinions and comments from the subjects as possible was highlighted Therefore, the use of multiple sources of data was almost of a must
The questionnaire consisting of 14 questions both closed and open-ended was administed for evaluative information concerning different techniques in teaching vocabulary In order not to make the teachers be under the pressure of time and could feel free to express their specific thoughts and opinions about the items raised in the questionnaire, they could write their answer for questionnaire at home
2.4.2 Interview
Interviews are one of the most important sources of case study and this thesis was not a different circumstance As Tellis (1997a) points out, there are several forms of interview that are possible: Open-ended, Focused, and Structured or survey In an open-ended interview, key respondents are asked to comment about certain events They may propose solutions or provide insight into events They may also corroborate evidence obtained from
Trang 30other sources The researcher applied the method since it could explore in greater detail and in depth some particularly important aspects and address other closely related topics
In this study, three teachers among the questionnaire respondents were chosen randomly for a follow-up interview for more in depth data Each of the interviewees was asked 5 questions
2.4.3 Observation
In this study, parallel with the survey questionnaire for teachers, classroom observation is also applied in order to clarify and test the validity of information about teaching and learning English vocabulary that the teachers and their students have to face up with Apparently, observing classroom equips the researcher with enriching data collected from the two previous instruments and provides opportunity to have a closer and deeper look a participant‟s behavior and actions within a particular context The observation was carried out in some English lessons at BSHS
In sum, the steps of data collection could be outlined as follows:
(i) Studying the related materials for an overview of the research context, the background
on focused issue and the research question
(ii) Observing classes to understand more about the teaching and learning context
(iii) Delivering the questionnaire to the subjects and asking them to complete it at home
(iv) Interviewing and audio-taping all the interviews with those fifteen students and the teacher
(v) Presenting the collected data, analyzing and discussing the findings and proposing feasible recommendations
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, DISCUSSION OF MAJOR FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
3.1 Data analysis and discussion of major findings
Trang 313.1.1 Results and discussions from the questionnaires
This part presents the results of the survey and discussion of the major findings following the classification in the questionnaire
3.1.1.1 Teachers’ attitude towards vocabulary teaching (Q1, 2, 3)
3.1.1.1.1 Teachers’ attitude towards the significance of lexical elements during classroom activites (Q1)
Figure 1: Teachers’ attitudes towards the need of focusing on vocabulary during
classroom activities
The data depicted in the pie chart below reveal the result from the teachers‟survey It can
be seen from the chart, 85% of the participants appreciate the significance lexical elements during the classroom activities However, evidence is that vocabulary teaching has not received considerable attention from 2 of 13 surveyed teachers (15%)
3.1.1.1.2 Teachers’ attitudes towards the role of vocabulary teaching in language teaching (Q2)
The role of vocabulary teaching in language teaching
54%
46%
Very important Rather important
Trang 32Figure 2: Teachers’ attitudes towards the role of vocabulary teaching in language
teaching
As can be seen, lexical elements during classroom activities are quite important, therefore;
it is necessary for the teachers to teach vocabulary in language teaching All of the surveyed teachers found the importance of teaching vocabulary in language teaching 54%
of the teachers considered it very important while 46% of them thought it was rather important to introduce the vocabulary to the students
3.1.1.1.3 Teachers’ purposes of teaching English vocabulary (Q3)
54%
31%
15%
Coomunication Reading and Writing ability For examination
Figure 3: Teachers’ purposes of teaching vocabulary
The majority of the surveyed (54%) highlight the importance of teaching vocabulary for communication Whereas, 31% of the participants agreed that priority must be given to improvement in students‟ reading and writing Teaching vocabulary for examination only accounts for 15%
3.1.1.2 Teachers’ attitudes towards classroom based vocabulary teaching activities 3.1.1.2.1 Teachers’ attitudes towards teaching vocabulary through communicative activities (Q4)
Trang 333.1.1.2.2 Teachers’ attitudes towards vocabulary teaching techniques (Q5)