The effects of games on helping high school English learners retain word meaning = Hiệu quả của trò chơi trong việc giúp học sinh THPT ghi nhớ nghĩa từ vựng

Nation 2001 suggests some interesting ways to help learners remember previously met words such as getting learners to do graded reading or listening stories; speaking and writing activit

Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies

Faculty of Post-graduate Studies

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410

Supervisor: Hà Cẩm Tâm (Ph.D)

Hanoi, 2010

2.1 Vocabulary teaching and learning 5

2.1.1 What do learners need to know about word learning? 5

2.1.3 Factors affecting vocabulary retention 8

2.2 Teaching and learning vocabulary through games 15

2.2.1 Games for language teaching and learning 15

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2.3 Data Analysis and discussion 27

Appendix 2: Games applied in the experimental process IX

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Part A: Introduction Part A – Introduction- provides the background to the study and statement of the problem, the aims, the research question, the scope of the study as well as the research methodology It also outlines the organization of the thesis

1 Rationale

Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings As Steven Stahl (2005) puts it, "The knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world." Vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be fully mastered; it is something that expands and deepens over the course of a lifetime It cannot

be denied that vocabulary is one of the vital parts in a language learning Wilkins (1972:111) emphasized that, “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without

vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” Cook‟s (1991) conclusion is also consistent with

Wilkins in that “Grammar provides the overall patterns, vocabulary the material to put into those patterns” Or some authors, led by Lewis (1993) argue that vocabulary should be at the centre of language teaching, because „language consists of grammaticalised lexis, not lexicalised grammar‟ It is clear to all of us that one cannot read, speak, listen, write, or understand a foreign language without knowing a certain number of words How can one appreciate the depth of meaning implied in discourse or become fluent conversationalists if lexis is not involved?

Vocabulary learning is obviously an essential part of language learning Learning words can considered to be the most important aspect of second language acquisition (Knight, 1994) Candlin (1988) stated that "… the study of vocabulary is at the heart of language teaching in terms of organization of syllabuses, the evaluation of learner performance, and the provision of learning resources …." Maiguashca (1993) said that vocabulary is "perhaps the fastest growing area of second language education in terms of research output and publication."

Thus, the importance of vocabulary in language learning cannot be denied Yet, although the issue of vocabulary teaching and learning is currently receiving attention of teachers and students in most of high schools in Vietnam and in my school as well, it is still far from clear how vocabulary items can be best taught and learned From my own experience and observation, vocabulary is often taught by the grammar-translation

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approach, that is at the time for vocabulary, a vast amount of teaching time is consumed by explanation and definition, classroom blackboards are often littered with masses of new lexical items, and students compile page upon page of word-lists that they have few opportunities to practice This results in students‟ short-term memory of new vocabulary items They will very quickly forget the new words‟ meaning and use This also makes students get bored with learning vocabulary

So what should a teacher do if their students get bored? Nation (2001) suggests some interesting ways to help learners remember previously met words such as getting learners to do graded reading or listening stories; speaking and writing activities based on written input that contains the words; taking part in activities that involved testing

vocabulary such as Word and Picture Matching, Same or Difference, etc Gairn & Redman

(1986) recommends classroom activities such as using visual aids, speaking activities (role play, narrative, etc.), games, questionnaires and problem solving and so on Whereas, Watcin-Jones (1993) proposes that teachers use games and activities in revising words because with games learning seems to become more active, the students get more involved and retention also improves enormously

Therefore, it can be realized that the common tendency of these methodology writers is that teachers should be more active in using classroom activities to help students recycle lexical items One of the most recommended activities is games According to them, games are highly motivating, competitive and fun They also bring a relaxed atmosphere and create more opportunities for students to practice and revise vocabulary With games, students will enjoy themselves, be stimulated and get involved in vocabulary learning As a result, they can learn new lexical items faster and remember better With so many advantages, games seem to be an effective way in teaching and learning a foreign language in general and vocabulary in specific

For those reasons, I have decided to choose the topic:

“The effects of games on helping high school English learners retain word meaning”

for my minor thesis with the hope that it might be of some help for teachers and students in teaching and learning vocabulary

2 Aims of the study

This study was carried out in order to:

The research was to seek answers to the following question:

Are word games more effective than practice exercises in helping high school English

learners retain word meaning?

4 Scope of the study

Learning a word means dealing with its various aspects such as meaning, spelling, pronunciation, part of speech, collocations, grammar, or restrictions on its use For each above aspect, various criteria need to be taken into account when being studied According

to Nation (1994), teachers should spend time on a word by dealing with two or three aspects of a word However, in this study the researcher focused only on one aspect of word meaning because of the limited time, the shortage of reference books, and the students‟ language ability

5 Research methodology

The study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative research approaches,

in which tests were carried out as the major and unique data collection instrument

Five tests were designed in order to gain believable and honest scores that supported the study purposes One served as the pre-test, which aimed at testing the students‟ homogeneity of the two group joining the experiment Three of them were delivered to the students as progress tests right after the periods in which the students recycled previously met words with games or with exercises, and the final one was administered to the students two weeks after all the periods in which games were applied to help students retain word meaning Collected scores were then processed and analyzed

6 organization of the study

This minor thesis is composed of three parts as follow:

Part A - Introduction: presenting rationale, aims, research question as well as

scope of the study, methodology and design of the study

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Part B - Development: consisting of two chapters Chapter 1 is for literature

review, which provides the theoretical background of the study Chapter 2 is for the study which represents the research question, describes the design of the study then presents the data analysis and discussion

Part C - Conclusion: summarizing the major findings of the experiment, voicing

some implications for language teachers in teaching vocabulary and suggesting some recommendations for further studies

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Part B: Development

Chapter 1 Literature review

In this chapter, relevant literature is reviewed, underlying the necessity and the

relevance of the study In other words, background knowledge on vocabulary teaching in

general and vocabulary teaching through word games in particular is looked at critically to

set up the theoretical framework for further investigation

The first section of this chapter is devoted to theoretical aspects of vocabulary teaching and

learning and the second section of this chapter deals with the main issue, i.e teaching and

learning vocabulary through games

2.1 Vocabulary teaching and learning

2.1.1 What do learners need to know about word learning?

According to Gairns & Redman (1986) when studying a word, learners should pay

attention to two large aspects: 1) Words and their meanings (conceptual and affective

meaning, style, sense relation, collocation, etc.); 2) Words and their forms (grammar, word

building, pronunciation) Nation (2001) shares the idea with Gairn & Redman but adds one

more aspect, that is word use However, within the aims of the study, word meaning and

word form will be further discussed

2.1.2.1 Word meaning

In teaching and learning vocabulary, teachers should bear in mind the following

important facts about lexical meaning that sometimes can be problematic: First, the same

word can have very different meanings depending on linguistics and social context;

Second, there is no one-to-one correspondence of words in any language with another; And

no word is the exact synonym or antonym of another word

Nguyen Hoa (2004) distinguishes four major components of word meaning which include

denotation, connotation, structural meaning, and categorial meaning

Denotation: includes conceptual and referential meaning It exists by virtue of

what it refers to

o Conceptual meaning is widely assumed to be the central factor in linguistic

communication and it has a complex and sophisticated organization

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E.g Woman = + HUMAN, - MALE, + ADULT as distinct from Boy which can be

defined as + HUMAN, + MALE, - ADULT

o Referential meaning is the ability to refer to objects or things (often called referent)

E.g Can you give me a book? Vs I’ve bought a book this afternoon

Connotation: includes stylistic, affective, evaluative, and intensifying It is the

pragmatic communicative value of the words acquired by virtue of where, when, how, by whom, for what purpose and in what context it is or may be used This kind of meaning is rather unstable: that is they vary considerably according to culture, historical period, and the experience of the individual

Structural/associative meaning: includes reflected meaning, collocative meaning,

associative meaning, and thematic meaning It is the meaning of a word acquire by virtue

of its membership in a system or a set

o Reflected meaning is the meaning which arises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense

E.g The 40 th President of the US and the Great Communicator both refer to Ronald Reagan

o Collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquires on account of the

meanings of words which tend to occur in its environment E.g pretty

girl/boy/woman/flower but handsome boy/man/car/airliner

o Associative meaning is also the meaning which arises because of its association

with other meanings E.g good vs bad; buy vs sell, hard vs soft

o Thematic meaning is the kind of meaning which is communicated by the way in which a speaker or writer organizes the message in terms of ordering, focus, and emphasis E.g A man is waiting in the hall vs There‟s a man waiting in the hall or

The dog chased the cat vs The cat was chased by the dog

Categorial meaning: is actually one part of grammatical meaning which words

derive from being a member of one category rather than another Words fall into such categories as Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Prepositions, Conjunctions, etc It serves as a classificatory basis

Meanwhile, Jackson & Amvela (2000) divide word meaning into denotation and connotation only According to them, denotation refers to the literal meaning of a word,

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the "dictionary definition."¨ For example, if you look up the word snake in a dictionary,

you will discover that one of its denotative meanings is "any of numerous scaly, legless,

sometimes venomous reptiles, having a long, tapering, cylindrical body and found in most

tropical and temperate regions" Connotation, on the other hand, refers to the associations

that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word The

connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings The

connotations for the word snake could include evil or danger

Nevertheless, other linguists, Gairns & Redman (1986), classify the meaning of word into two types: conceptual meaning and affective meaning

Conceptual meaning: According to Gairns & Redman (1986), if a word has

reference to an object, action or even in physical world, this can be described as conceptual meaning, which deals with the fact that the knowledge of a word and what it refers to is not enough, but also how to conceptually separate it from words that have related meaning, for example “cup/mug” To understand a word fully, therefore, a student must know not only what it refers to, but also where the boundaries are that separate it from words of related

meaning

Affective meaning: From Gairns & Redman‟s (1986) viewpoint, this term is used

to cover the attitudinal and emotional factors which can be expressed in an item of vocabulary These are often referred to as connotation They gave an example in which “a single woman” is different from “a sprinter” because “sprinter” has a series of evaluative and emotional associations which, for an English native speaker, would not be true of

“single woman” These associations may include old, isolated, on the shelf, a sad figure,

etc

Wallace (1983) defined that affective meaning is determined by cultural structure, the pattern of perception, thinking or feeling Affective meaning reflects “people perceiving, thinking, or feeling things together in space and/or time”

2.1.2.2 Word form

Gairns & Redman (1986) emphasize that knowing word form is as essential as knowing word meaning Knowing word form includes word grammar, pronunciation (stress, sound, spelling) as well as word building (affixation, compounding and conversion)

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Whereas, Nation (1990) divides the form of word into two types: the spoken form and the written form

2.1.2.3 Stages in word learning

There is no doubt that learning vocabulary is a complex process, consisting of a number of different stages However, different researchers have different ideas about the stages in this process One suggested by Hatch & Brown (1995:383) includes five stages:

1 having sources for encountering new words

2 getting a clear image of words, both visual and auditory

3 learning the meaning of words

4 making strong memory connections between form and meaning of words

5 using words

Meanwhile, Waring (2002) states that there are two major stages in word learning The first stage is matching the word's spelling and pronunciation (its form) with its meaning When this relationship is acquired, the second stage involves the deeper aspects

of word knowledge These may include the words it goes with and does not go with, the restrictions on its use, whether it is formal or informal, whether it is spoken or written, its similarity to other words, its shades of meaning, whether it is frequent or not, and so on

In short, when encountering a new word, learners have to pay attention to a variety of areas such as word meaning, word form, word use, or word grammar, etc However, which area(s) teachers choose to highlight depend on the item they are teaching or the students‟ level But whatever word is taught and whatever level students are at, word meaning and word form are the first two areas they must acquire well

2.1.3 Factors affecting vocabulary retention

When referring to numerous factors that affect the acquisition of vocabulary, theorists and researchers present slightly different opinions However, various opinions meet at some points, and it is said that the retention of vocabulary may be affected by some factors as follows:

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So, it is clear that understanding factors affecting vocabulary retention might help teachers create more effective ways to teach vocabulary

2.1.3.1 Depth of processing

For some researchers, like Ellis (1994) and Coady (1997), learners are more likely

to remember a word if they have worked on its meaning actively; in other words, input becomes intake if there is a depth of processing

Craik and Lockhart (1972:675) defined depth of processing as “…a series or

hierarchy of processing stages where greater „depth‟ implies a greater degree of semantic

or cognitive analysis” This whole processing takes place in stages The preliminary stages analyze the “…physical or sensory features as lines, angles, brightness, pitch and loudness while later stages are more concerned with matching the input against stored abstractions from past learning” They suggest that deeper analysis leads to “…more elaborate, longer lasting, and stronger traces” These traces would be the equivalent of etchings that are left

on the memory In other words stronger traces conduct information to the long-term memory and consequently lead to better levels of retention and recall

Schmitt & Mc Cathy (1997) express that the deeper the mental processing learners engage in when learning a new lexical item, the more likely they are to remember it By depth processing, we mean that the learners work out the meaning of the item by referring

to their existing knowledge or they work on personalizing the meaning

According to Craik & Lockhart (1972), the “level of processing” theory of learning suggested that a very important factor in learning is the quality of mental activity in the brain of the learner at the moment the learning occurs If this activity is at a deep and thoughtful level the learning will remain for long time If this activity is shallow and mechanical, little learning will occur (cited in Nation, 1994)

Schmitt (1997: 201) agrees with the depth of processing hypothesis in the sense that deeper levels of processing will occasion more effective learning Yet he adds as well

“relatively shallow processing strategies can be effective too” Schmitt states that, according to Nation‟s (1982) research, learners managed to learn a great deal of vocabulary through word lists Moreover, he says that rote repetition can also be effective if learners are used to this approach Finally, he concludes, citing Cohen and Aphek (1981) that shallower tasks may be more adequate for beginners whereas deeper tasks would be more beneficial to intermediate and advanced learners Thus, it can be argued that a deeper

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processing can be relevant in the case of intermediate and advanced learners studying more complex words, i.e., words that will demand more from learners because they are a part of the lexicon that is totally unfamiliar to the learners

2.1.3.2 Memory

Many researchers points that students‟ memory is vital in process of learning A range of vocabulary and new structures remembered by learners is very important and the degree in which they really remember them can cause differences between learners

As stated by Gairns & Redman (1986), understanding how we store information in the memory and why certain chunks of it seem to “stick” while others slip away is a matter

of concern to anyone, especially for language teachers, who work involves helping others

to learn because this knowledge should help to establish classroom procedures that will promote more effective learning and retention of new language items

There are two major types of memory, according to Gairns & Redman (1986): short-term memory and long term memory

Short-term memory

Gairns & Redman (1986) define short-term memory as the ability to hold information over brief periods (usually up to thirty seconds in duration) It demands fairly constant repetition, and any distraction or interruption is likely to severely impede that ability Moreover, it has been established that our capacity for short-term retention is remarkably consistent, and that more people experience some breakdown in retention as soon as the number of items or chunks of information exceeds seven Here an experiment

of looking up a telephone number is given as an example A person can look up a telephone number and then repeat it for themselves for the time it takes to sit down and dial the number Nevertheless, if that person is interrupted, the number will be forgotten and he has to look up it again

Long-term memory

Long-term memory defined by Gairns & Redman (1986) is the capacity for recall

of information minutes, weeks, and years after the original input Unlike short-term memory, which is limited in capacity, long-term memory is seemingly inexhaustible and can accommodate any amount of new information It is generally acknowledged that people need to work much harder to commit information to long-term memory, and the

What is more, Gairns & Redman (1986) add that the distinction between short-term retention and long-term retention is not always clear-cut Information entering short-term memory may pass quite effortlessly into long-term memory, and some learners may find repetition a very effective way of transferring information into long-term memory

Hence, teachers should bear in mind that long-term memory needs creating when learners study language in general and vocabulary in specific To do so, teachers have to consider ways to help students improve their memory They need to look at the link between students‟ interest and memory and also the approaches to memory improvement According to Devine (1989), students put into long-term memory what tend to interest them and/or relates to their own lives Therefore, teachers should select materials carefully, make materials interesting, offer effective ways such as role-playing, dramatics, games, etc to help students learn and retain vocabulary

2.1.3.3 Learning styles

Many people recognize that each person prefers different learning styles and techniques Learning styles group common ways that people learn Everyone has a mix of learning styles Some people may find that they have a dominant style of learning, with far less use of the other styles Others may find that they use different styles in different circumstances There is no right mix Nor are your styles fixed You can develop ability in less dominant styles, as well as further develop styles that you already use well

Ellis (1985) describes a learning style as the more or less consistent way in which a person perceives, conceptualizes, organizes and recalls information

This approach to learning styles emphasizes the fact that students preferentially take in and process information in different ways: by seeing and hearing, reflecting and acting, reasoning logically and intuitively, analyzing and visualizing, etc Teachers therefore need to vary their methods because when mismatches exist between learning

The Visual/ Verbal Learning Style

The learners learn best when information is presented visually and in a written language format In a classroom setting, they benefit from instructors who use the blackboard (or overhead projector) to list the essential points of a lecture, or who provide them with an outline to follow along with during lecture They benefit from information obtained from textbooks and class notes They tend to like to study by themselves in a quiet room They often see information "in their mind's eye" when they are trying to remember something

The Visual/ Nonverbal Learning Style

The learners learn best when information is presented visually and in a picture or design format In a classroom setting, they benefit from instructors who use visual aids such as film, video, maps and charts They benefit from information obtained from the pictures and diagrams in textbooks They tend to like to work in a quiet room and may not like to work in study groups When trying to remember something, they can often visualize

a picture of it in their mind They may have an artistic side that enjoys activities having to

do with visual art and design

The Tactile/ Kinesthetic Learning Style

The learners learn best when physically engaged in a "hands on" activity In the classroom, they benefit from a lab setting where they can manipulate materials to learn new information They learn best when they can be physically active in the learning environment They benefit from instructors who encourage in-class demonstrations, "hands on" student learning experiences, and field work outside t he classroom

The Auditory/ Verbal Learning Style

The learners learn best when information is presented auditory in an oral language format In a classroom setting, they benefit from listening to lecture and participating in group discussions They also benefit from obtaining information from audio tape When trying to remember something, they can often "hear" the way someone told them the

2.1.3.4 Motivation

In the classroom, as in most areas of life, motivation is essential for a person to succeed It is important for a teacher to have some understanding of what motivation is and how it will affect each and every student and their learning progress As Rogers writes,

„motivation… is as much a matter of concern for the teacher as it is for the learner; it depends as much on the attitudes of the teacher as on the attitudes of the students‟ (Rogers 1996: 66) In an attempt to define motivation, Brown (1996) points out that a cognitive view of motivation includes factors such as the need for exploration, activity, stimulation, new knowledge, and ego enhancement Williams & Burden suggest that motivation is a

„state of cognitive arousal‟ which provokes a „decision to act‟ as a result of which there is

„sustained intellectual and/or physical effort‟ so that the person can achieve some previously set goal‟ (Williams and Burden 1997: 120) They go on to point out that the strength of that motivation will depend on how much value the individual places on the

outcome he or she wishes to achieve Motivation is divided into two areas „extrinsic‟ and

„intrinsic‟ and has been described by Harmer in the following way

Extrinsic motivation is caused by any number of outside factors, for example, the

need to pass an exam, the hope of financial reward, or the possibility of future travel

Intrinsic motivation, by contrast, comes from within the individual Thus a person might

be motivated by the enjoyment of the learning process itself or by a desire to make themselves feel better Most researchers and methodologists have come to the view that intrinsic motivation is especially important for encouraging success Even where the original reason for taking up a language course, for example, is extrinsic, the chances of success will be greatly enhanced if the student comes to love the learning process (Harmer 2001: 51)

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Harmer (2001: 51) emphasizes that motivation is essential to success in most fields

of learning because a learner have to want to do something to succeed at it “Motivation is some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something.” (Harmer, 2001: 51)

This is where the teacher can greatly affect the success of the student in so far as how lessons are presented, and also how the teacher in fact presents themselves to their students The students will be influenced by the attitude of the teacher both in the way they dress and behave, just as much if not more so than in the way they project the information that is to be learned It is vital to the success of the student that the teacher has prepared themselves and the lesson, has an obvious enthusiasm for teaching and a positive „can do‟ attitude

In the classroom, although the teacher may not have the ability to determine the size or shape of the room, they can affect the physical appearance Determine the seat arrangement in such a way to create a good emotional atmosphere An attractive classroom can have a positive influence on the students and impact their motivation to learn Most importantly though is the emotional environment, if the students feel safe to express themselves, and safe to make mistakes without the fear of negative correction there is motivation to learn All students need to feel that they are part of a supportive and cooperative environment Most important of all as stated by Harmer, the teacher‟s rapport with the students is critical to creating the right conditions for motivated learning (Harmer 2001: 53) Harmer continues, if students are to continue to be intrinsically motivated they clearly need to be interested both in the subject they are studying and in the activities and topics they are presented with We need to provide them with a variety of subjects and exercises to keep them engaged

2.1.3.5 Attitude

An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like

or dislike for an item Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event - this is often referred to as the attitude object People can also be conflicted

or ambivalent toward an object, meaning that they simultaneously possess both positive and negative attitudes toward the item in question (From Wikipedia, the free

encyclopedia)

at ease in the classroom and likes the teacher may seek out intake by volunteering (he may

be a “high input generator”) (cited in Krashen, 1985) Another opinion which comes from Brown (1994) expresses that language learners benefit from positive attitudes while negative attitudes may lead to decrease motivation and thus to unsuccessful attainment of proficiency

So, it cannot be denied that understanding factors affecting vocabulary retention might help teachers create more effective ways to teach vocabulary

2.2 Teaching and learning vocabulary through games

2.2.1 Games for language teaching and learning

Some teachers think that language games are a waste of time and prefer not to use them in classroom since games sometimes have been considered only for its one element, that is fun In fact, games can provide EFL and ESL students more than that They have been used to promote students‟ language proficiency in variety of aspects: grammar, vocabulary, writing, speaking, etc When using games in the classroom, it is beneficial for teachers to have a complete understanding of the definitions of games, the advantages of games, and the ability to capture students' attention Teacher should also lower students' stress; give students the chance for real communication and assess how to use games appropriately in the classroom

2.2.1.1 Definition of games

Language games are not activities mainly aimed to break the ice between students

or to kill time Byrne (1995) give the definition to games as a form of play governed by rules They should be enjoyed and fun They are not just a diversion, a break from routine activities, but a way of getting the learner to use the language in the course of the game Similarly, Hadfield (1990) defines games as "an activity with rules, a goal and an element

of fun." Another definition comes from Saricoban & Metin (2000) saying that games are organized according to rules and they are enjoyable

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Therefore, games involve many factors: rules, competition, relaxation, and learning, in particular The main focus of using game in class is to help students learn and have fun However, to use games in classrooms, it is equally important that before playing the rules of the games are clearly explained and well understood by the students There should be only a few, well-explained rules Demonstrations also can be very helpful because it can help students understand the game and help them follow the rules Otherwise, they will misunderstand the purpose of the game and they may not get the benefits they should from the game

In playing games, competition is very important because it can stimulate and encourage students to participate in the activity since naturally they want to beat the other teams As it happens, in the dictation game students run as fast as possible, remember as much as they can and speak as loudly and clearly as they can They run quickly back and forth, trying to memorize the content as much as possible While playing, students have fun, relax, exercise, and tease their friends Apart from having fun, students learn at the same time They acquire new vocabulary along with its spelling and pronunciation Students begin to realize that they have to speak or pronounce the words clearly if they want others to understand what they are saying

2.2.1.2 Advantages of games

According to Richard-Amato (1996), even though games are often associated with fun, we should not lose sight of their pedagogical values, particularly in second language teaching Games are effective because they provide motivation, lower students' stress, and give them the opportunity for real communication

The main reason why games are considered effective learning aids is that "they spur motivation and students get very absorbed in the competitive aspects of the games; moreover, they try harder at games than in other courses" (Avedon, 1971) Naturally when playing games, students are trying to win or to beat other teams for themselves or on the behalf of their team They are so competitive while playing because they want to have a turn to play, to score points and to win In the class, students will definitely participate in the activities Therefore, it is possible for a teacher to introduce students to new ideas, grammar, knowledge and so on As in the dictation game, students are so competitive that they want to finish first and win It can be clearly seen that games can capture students'

" Stress is a major hindrance in language learning process This process [Learning

language in traditional way ] is by its nature time consuming and stress provoking raise the stress level to a point at which it interferes with student attention and efficiency and undermines motivation one method has been developed to make students forget that they are in class relax students by engaging them in stress-reducing task (games)."

There is a high level of stress in the classroom because students have to face unfamiliar or unknown grammatical structures, words, texts and so forth Therefore, students often feel uncomfortable and insecure in class, which inevitably affects their ability to learn As a result, games can help lower their anxiety, make them feel comfortable, and want to learn more It is believed that when students play games, they relax and have fun Since students know that they are playing games and want to communicate efficiently t hey do not worry about making mistakes and do not try to correct themselves in every single sentence When students are free from worry and stress, they can improve their fluency and natural speaking styles

Next, students learn without realizing that they are learning (Schultz, 1988.) For instance, when playing a game called "What Would You Do If?" students will have to pick one hypothetical question from those that they have written in a box They might get a question like "What would you do if a lion came into this classroom?" Next they have to pick one answer that they have written before The answer they get may be "I would be a fly." Usually the question and the answer they get do not match each other, so students have to use their own imaginations to explain their bizarre answer, and everyone has fun listening to it The explanation might be "If a lion came into this classroom, I would be a fly because I am a good person, so an angel would come and rescue me by turning me into

a fly." While trying to explain, students do not worry too much about grammar mistakes because they want to communicate and to explain why it can happen Apart from having fun, students do not worry about errors and punishment; moreover, they will learn a grammatical rule and have a chance to use it Thus, they learn unconsciously-learn without

a traditional classroom, students have an opportunity to drill and practice using grammatical rules and other functions

Carrier (1980) has also listed some advantages of games as follows:

1 Games add variety to the range of learning situations

2 Games can be used to change the pace of a lesson and so maintain motivation

3 Games can be used to motivated long formal teaching units and renew students‟ energy before returning to more formal learning

4 Games can give “hidden” practice of specific language points without students being aware of this

5 Games encourage students‟ participation and can remove the inhibitions of those who feel intimidated by formal classroom situations

6 Games can change the role of the teacher from that of a formal instructor to that

of manager or organizer of activities that students enjoy participating in this can be useful in reducing teacher-student distance or conflict

7 Games can increase student-student communication, and so reduce the domination of the classroom by the teacher

8 Games can act as a testing mechanism, in the sense that they will expose areas

of weakness and the need for remedial work

Lee (1995) states several advantages when games are used in the classroom, including “a welcome break from the usual routine of the language class”, “motivating and challenging”, “effort of learning”, and “language practice in various skills”

With so many advantages games are of course an effective tool in language classrooms The questions here are that which games to use and when to use games The answers to these questions will be presented in the next sections

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2.2.1.3 Which games to use?

The benefit of using games in language teaching is absolutely clear Yet not all kinds of games can be applied So what kinds of games will be used ? This requires careful considerations from language researchers and teachers Also teachers need to look deep into their class situations as well as their students‟ background knowledge and what items will be taught, too Shelley Vernon says that, “When you are looking for games to use in your classroom, don‟t just pick something to be a “time-filler” which does not have a definite linguistic outcome” because “These games may entertain the students, but when you don‟t have much time with them each day as it is, you want your games to do double duty to get the most out of the time you spend playing games” She also suggests that teachers of English “should have a clear linguistics outcome for each game”

According to Carrier (1980) teachers should first consider the level of the game to fit their students' language level They should choose the game that fits the purposes of that class or the content Moreover, teachers should consider students' characteristics: whether they are old or young, serious-minded or light-hearted, and highly motivated to learn or not They should also consider when the game should be used because there is a big difference between using the game in the morning or in the afternoon, on Monday or Friday

In addition to the factors mentioned, teachers should also be able to play and overact sometimes to help students feel comfortable and want to join the activity This means teachers should thoroughly understand the game and its nature and be able to lead the game

It is quite difficult to find a game that meets all of the teachers' requirements Some games must be adapted in order to fit students' language level, natures, and characteristics The most important factor is that games should be used when they can give students both fun and educational meaning otherwise they will be a waste of time

2.2.1.4 When to use games?

It is necessary for those who want to use games as a learning aid to be concerned about how to use them Hadfield (1990) suggests that "games should be regarded an integral part of the language syllabus, not an amusing activity for Friday afternoon of for the end of the term." Games can contribute to students' skills if they are incorporated into

Undoubtedly, games are very effective in language teaching and learning with a lot of advantages such as giving fun, reinforcing motivation, improving proficiency and corporation, etc The difficult task for teachers is how to choose the suitable type of game, the appropriate time to play it as well as the opportunity of its use

2.2.2 Word games

From the viewpoint of Wright, Betteridge & Buckley (1983), word games are language games whose focus of attention is initially on words According to them, word games are classified into some groups in accordance with the language in focus

 Spelling as in a game called Dash it and hang it In this kind of game students are required to combine letter to spell a mystery word

 Meaning as in Definition or The odd man out Here students are required to ask for and give definition of words as well as make, compare or discuss word definition They also have to group words according to their categories and drop out the words that do not belong to a certain categories

 Words for sentence making as in A-A, B-B or Make a sentence The students have

to make sentences including selected vocabulary items

 Words as inferred from context as in Missing words The students are asked to find the missing words for his/her text by reading out loud, comparing, checking and discussing with the partner

Meanwhile, another author, Hadfield (1998), when referring to word games pays more attention to reinforcing vocabulary In his opinion, to retain a word in one‟s memory after its presentation, learners should go through three distinction process: fixing the

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meaning of the word in their mind, making the word their own by personalizing it so that it takes on a color and a character for them and becomes part of their individual word store, and then using it creatively in a context for themselves Therefore, he divides games in accordance with these three process: memorization games, personalizing games, and communication games

Memorization games focus on accuracy rather than frequency That‟s why all of

them are linguistic games In a game of this type, learners are required recognize or produce just a single word, or produce a simple sentence that contain the revised word The games making use of these technique include guessing, matching, ordering, arranging, and collecting

Personalizing games are not really games, but humanistic activities When playing

the games, learners are requested to relate the words they have learnt to their own life or experience

Communication games focus on the completion of tasks rather than the production

of right words or sentences These games employ a variety of techniques such as guessing, searching, matching, exchanging, combining, arranging, puzzle-solving, etc

In short, many linguists and researchers have come to a common conclusion that games are very useful and can be used as an effective tool to develop students' language learning and also provide the students an opportunity to practice various skills as well as grammar and vocabulary Also the use of games is of great help to make vocabulary lessons more interesting, enjoyable, and effective

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Chapter 2 The study

This chapter deals with the design of the study as well as the data analysis and discussion First, the research question is raised again Then participants, data collection instrument and procedures, teaching procedures and the analytical framework are described

in details Finally, the data are analyzed and discussed to draw out some findings of the study

2.1 Research question

The research question has clearly been presented in part A already However, for the sake of highlighting the selected research method, the research question is presented here again

Are word games more effective than practice exercises in helping high school English

learners retain word meaning?

2.2 Design of the study

2.2.1 Participants

In the study, 88 students all of whom were non-major English students from 2 classes: 11A2 and 11A3 were employed as the participants of the experiment process Each class consisted of 44 students All of the students were majored in natural sciences They had been learning English since they were at grade 3 As a matter of fact, because the students all lived in the countryside with just few chances to study English outside the class; moreover, most of them were not really motivated in learning English and they didn‟t intend to take English as one of the subject in their entrance exam, their English knowledge was just at the average level, some were even bad at English Based on their grades of their final exam in the preceding semester, the researcher found out that they were generally homogeneous in learning English The two classes studied the same textbook of English 11 with four periods a week in which three periods were for studying the lessons in the textbook and a supplementary one for revising what they had learnt in the week As can be seen the textbook is theme-based, including 16 units and 6 tests yourself for students to check their own knowledge Each unit corresponds with a topic and consists

of 5 parts (Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Language Focus) There is no separate part for Vocabulary Vocabulary is indirectly taught and learnt (i.e., learning

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vocabulary as a by-product of doing other things such as reading or listening, etc.) It is taught integratedly with skills such as reading, speaking, listening, and writing The textbook is, obviously, designed on the basic principles of CLT; however, there still remain some problems in themselves For example, the reading texts are often long and rather tough for students while their levels are not the same Moreover, the tasks are sometimes overloaded for students These may create demotivation among students in the class

These two classes were assigned to an experimental group and a control group The researcher taught the two classes the same content but in two different ways for the vocabulary revision The experimental group received treatment through games in recycling previously met words to help them retain word meaning The control group received traditional treatment, that is recycling words through exercises

2.2.2 Data collection instrument

This study was conducted in the form of an experimental research, that is why the author decided to take tests as the major and unique data collection instrument

Tests are considered a very effective tool in the assessment of the research According to Nation (1990), before testing, it is important to be clear about why the learners are being tested and what the information will be used for He lists six reasons for testing:

1 To find learners‟ total vocabulary size

2 To compare vocabulary knowledge before and after the course

3 To keep a continuing check-on progress

4 To encourage learning by setting short-term goal

5 To see the effectiveness of your teaching

6 To investigate learning

Here, reason 1, 2, and 3 are considered to fit the purpose of this study Therefore, in this study, five vocabulary tests were administered Among them, there was a pre-test, three progress tests conducted during the experiment process, and a final test at the end of the experiment (See Appendix 1) Designed in a very simple way, each of the test contained a number of multiple-choice items which primarily aimed at checking students‟ knowledge of word meaning Below is the detailed description of the tests

Although the final results of the first semester had proved that the students‟ English level were generally homogenous, the researcher administered a pre-test to both control group and experimental group unexpectedly in the early second semester to make sure that the

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two group were really of the same ability in term of vocabulary to start the study The test included 40 multiple-choice vocabulary questions which were taken from 8 first units that students had learnt in the first semester The time allowed for finishing this test was 40 minutes It was divided into four sections 10 questions in section I required students to find out the antonyms of the word in column A from those in column B There were 5 questions in section II in which students had to match the word in column A with its definition in column B And in section III, students had to choose the most appropriate word/phrase among A, B, C, or D to fill in the gap in 15 questions The last section, section

pre-IV, consisting of 10 questions, asked student to choose the most appropriate word/phrase among A, B, C, or D that substitutes the underlined part The students were all familiar with these types of exercises as they had done these many times previously All the questions in the pre-test were designed to test students‟ ability of remembering word meaning, not word form, word grammar, or anything else

Three progress tests were carried out during the treatment, more particularly, each

of them was administered to the students right after the periods in which students revised the word meaning by games (for experimental group) or by traditional exercises (for control group) The tests included only 10 questions that were designed into the same type

of exercises which had already been done by the students before The lexical items being tested were chosen from those they had just revised in the period These tests aimed to check students‟ short-term memory and to find out whether there were any differences between two groups in remembering the word meaning for a short period of time

The final test was conducted two weeks after the treatment had finished Similarly

to the pre-test, it also included 40 multiple-choice vocabulary questions which were taken from the vocabulary items recycled during the experiment It also took students 40 minutes

to finish the test The final test was designed in a similar way to the pre-test That means, there were 10 questions for synonyms and antonyms, 10 questions for matching words/phrases and their definition, 10 for choosing the most suitable word/phrase to fill in the gap, and the last 10 for word substitution The aim of the final test was to measure the differences between the achievements of the two groups with respect to the type of vocabulary teaching/learning technique employed in each group The test, of course, was administered to check students‟ long-term memory on the aspect of retaining vocabulary meaning only

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The tests were then marked carefully so as to make precise comparison between the two groups to see how much they acquired from the experimental process, how different they were and then to find out the answer to the research question

Actually, it is agued that multiple-choice tests may produce doubtful results as the students could copy their classmates‟ tasks easily However, this had been considered carefully by the teacher before the tests were designed and given to the students and so, the possibility of having copied tests was avoided by teacher‟s explanation about the aim of the tests Before doing each test, teacher called for the student‟s honesty and explained that the test was only for academic analysis It was not used for the aim of grading and of course there was no penalty on the wrong answers The subjects were accordingly doing the test in a relatively relaxed atmosphere

2.2.3 Data collection procedures

The study was implemented within 8 weeks in the second semester of the school year Here are the procedures to carry out the data collection:

o Week 1: Pre-test

o Week 2: Experimental lesson and progress test 1

o Week 3: Experimental lesson and progress test 2

o Week 4: Experimental lesson

o Week 5: Experimental lesson and progress test 3

o Week 6: Experimental lesson

o Week 8: Final test

2.2.4 Experiment procedures

As mentioned above, there were two classes joining the treatment One of them was the experimental group, the other was the control group The vocabulary revision occurred

in the supplementary periods It happened once a week during 5 weeks

2.2.4.1 The teaching to the experiment group

In this group, games were used to revise word meaning Therefore, the preparation for games was one of the most important factors that led to the success of a vocabulary consolidation class hour A game for each week was selected based on the following factors:

1 The vocabulary items revised

2 The ability of the students

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3 The number of students taking part into the game

4 The time allowed

5 The work arrangement (pair work, group work, individual, or the whole class) Apart from these things, the researcher also took other factors such as competitiveness, fun as well as language proficiency into consideration

Based on the above criteria, the games applied in the treatment were carefully chosen and taken from difference sources such as books like Play Games with English (by Colin Granger), Word Games with English Plus (by Deirdre Howard William & Cynthia Herd),

or from the Internet (See Appendix 2) Each game included about 10-15 words that needed revising

After choosing the most appropriate game for the review lesson, the teaching procedures were conducted according to four steps as follows:

 Step 1: The teacher introduced the game used for the day and gave instructions to the whole class, taking notice that all the students understood the rules Vietnamese could be used if necessary

 Step 2: The students then played the games as instructed Most of the games chosen

in the treatment were played among or between groups The reason for having the students work in groups was to encourage the better students to help the weaker ones and to create a competitive atmosphere among the groups The teacher, meanwhile, acted as a conductor of the game, leading the game to be played or going round the classroom observing, and encouraging the students to get involve into the game In some type of games, the teacher could become the insider

 Step 3: The teacher informed the winner and prizes if there were any prizes

 Step 4: This was the follow-up step The purpose of this step was to relate the game

to the most serious business of learning a language This was especially useful for those students who thought that if they had been enjoying themselves with English they cannot have really been learning anything Mistakes made during the game could be corrected and any important vocabulary items which were touched upon could be explained

Each game lasted about 15-20 minutes

2.2.4.2 The teaching to the control group