Một nghiên cứu hành động về việc sử dụng thuật cải thiện trí nhớ trong việc nâng cao khả năng ghi nhớ từ vựng cho sinh viên hệ cao đẳng chính quy

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *********************** TẠ THU HẰNG AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

***********************

TẠ THU HẰNG

AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON USING MNEMONICS IN IMPROVING VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR THE FORMAL COLLEGE STUDENTS IN COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUES (BAC GIANG PROVINCE) IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2015-2016

(MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG THUẬT CẢI THIỆN TRÍ NHỚ TRONG VIỆC NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG GHI NHỚ TỪ VỰNG CHO SINH VIÊN HỆ CAO ĐẲNG CHÍNH QUY, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP (TỈNH BẮC GIANG) TRONG

NĂM HỌC 2015-2016)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2017

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

***********************

TẠ THU HẰNG

AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON USING MNEMONICS IN IMPROVING VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR THE FORMAL COLLEGE STUDENTS IN COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUES (BAC GIANG PROVINCE) IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2015-2016

(MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG THUẬT CẢI THIỆN TRÍ NHỚ TRONG VIỆC NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG GHI NHỚ TỪ VỰNG CHO SINH VIÊN HỆ CAO ĐẲNG CHÍNH QUY, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP (TỈNH BẮC GIANG) TRONG

NĂM HỌC 2015-2016)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Prof Nguyễn Hòa

HANOI – 2017

DECLARATION

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report

entitled “AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON USING MNEMONICS IN

IMPROVING VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR THE FORMAL COLLEGE STUDENTS IN COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUES (BAC GIANG PROVINCE) IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2015-2016”

submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master Degree at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and that this thesis has not been submitted to any degree at any other universities or institutions Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis

Hanoi, 2017

A special word of thanks goes to my colleagues at my working place and many others, without whose support and encouragement it would have never been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished

Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family members for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the four mnemonic strategies in short-term and long-term vocabulary retention of formal college students With the use of the pre-tests, the post-tests and the questionnaire, 22 college students in College of Industrial Techniques (Bac Giang province) were randomly assigned into the control group and the experimental group, in which the control group was taught 69 items in three teaching sessions with the traditional vocabulary instruction of repeating, translation and example sentence explanation while the experimental group was received these vocabulary items with the four mnemonic devices named keyword method, visual mnemonic (pictures), grouping

or semantic organization and physical response method The results indicated that after the treatment, the four mnemonic strategies were really effective in vocabulary retention for students; the participants from the experimental group showed their improvement in recalling vocabulary items in short-term and long-term better than those from the control group Moreover, the participants’ attitudes towards the training scheme and the four used memory strategies were also discussed

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration i

Acknowlegements ii

Abstract iii

Table of contents iv

List of tables and figures vii

PART 1 – INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the Study 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

1.3 Statement of the research questions 2

1.4 Scope of the study 3

1.5 Significance of the study 3

1.6 Method of the study 4

PART 2- LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 6 2.1 Vocabulary 6

2.1.1.Definition 6

2.1.2.Types of vocabulary 6

2.1.3.Importance of vocabulary 7

2.1.4.Ways and strategies to teach vocabulary 8

2.1.5.Vocabulary retention and memory 10

2.2 Mnemonics 11

2.2.1.Definition 11

2.2.2 Classification of mnemonics 11

2.2.3 Efficiency of using mnemonics for information and vocabulary retention and recall 15

PART 3 - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19

3.1 Restatement of research questions 19

3.2 Context of the study 19

3.2.1 Setting of the study 19

3.2.2 Participants - Subject of the study 21

3.3 Implementation of the Action Research 23

3.4 Research design 24

3.5 Research instruments 30

3.5.1 Tests 31

3.6 Data analysis procedure 34

PART 4 - DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 35

4.1 The result of the homogeneity test 35

4.2 Research question 1 (Identifying the problems): What are the problems that the students encounter in their vocabulary retention? 35

4.3 The result of pre-test 2 36

4.4 Research question 2: Is mnemonics effective in improving short-term vocabulary retention for the formal college students of College of Industrial Techniques in the academic year 2015-2016? 37

4.4.1 Results from the immediate post-test 1 37

4.4.2 Result from the immediate post-test 2 39

4.4.3 Result from the immediate post-test 3 41

4.5 Research question 3: Is mnemonics effective in improving long-term vocabulary retention for the formal college students of College of Industrial Techniques in the academic year 2015-2016? 44

4.6 Research question 4: What are the students’ attitudes towards using mnemonic strategies in vocabulary retention? 46

4.6.1 The participants’ attitudes towards the strategy training scheme 46

4.6.2 The participants’ interest towards the four mnemonic strategies 49

PART 5 – CONCLUSION 51

5.1 Summary 51

5.2 Conclusion 52

5.3 Implications 53

5.4 Limitations of the study 53 5.5 Suggestions for further study 54

REFERENCES 55 APPENDICES I

APPENDIX 1: II APPENDIX 2: XII APPENDIX 3: XVIII APPENDIX 4: XXVII APPENDIX 5: XXIX

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: Nation’s vocabulary learning strategies (Nation, 2001)

Table 2: The schedule of the action implementation

Table 3: Results from pre-test 1

Table 4: Result of the control group in the immediate post-test 1

Table 5: Result of the experimental group in the immediate post-test 1

Table 6: Result of the control group in the immediate post-test 2

Table 7: Result of the experimental group in the immediate post-test 2

Table 8: Result of the control group in the immediate post-test 3

Table 9: Result of the experimental group in the immediate post-test 3

Table 10: Result of the control group in the delayed post-test

Table 11: Result of the experimental group in the delayed post-test

Table 12: Importance of the strategy training scheme

Table 13: Effectiveness of the strategy training scheme

Table 14: Pleasure during the strategy training scheme

Table 15: Student’ preference of four mnemonic strategies

Figure 1: Action research cycle

Figure 2: Results from pre-test 1

Figure 3: Result of selection between the control and experimental groups in the

immediate post-test 1

Figure 4: The overall performance between the control group and the experimental

group in the immediate post-test 1

Figure 5: Result of selection between the control and experimental groups in the

immediate post-test 2

Figure 6: The overall performance between the control group and the experimental

group in the immediate post-test 2

Figure 7: Result of selection between the control and experimental groups in the

immediate post-test 3

Figure 8: The overall performance between the control group and the experimental

group in the immediate post-test 3

Figure 9: The general performance between the control group and the experimental

group in all the immediate post-tests

Figure 10: Result of selection between the control and experimental groups in the

delayed post-test

Figure 11: The overall performance between the control group and the

experimental group in the delayed post-test

Figure 12: Importance of the strategy training scheme

Figure 13: Effectiveness of strategy training scheme

Figure 14: Pleasure during the strategy training scheme

PART 1 – INTRODUCTION

In this part, I will present the rationale, the aims and objectives, the statement of the research question, the scope, the significance, the method and the structural organization of the study

1.1 Rationale of the Study

For the past 20 years in Vietnam, English has become very important in many aspects of life and the activity of teaching and learning English is also paid much more attention to as well In order to learn English well, together with the investment in improving English skills such as listening, reading, writing, speaking, the role of vocabulary and vocabulary learning cannot be neglected because vocabulary helps to build up the core of knowledge and it is the foundation to facilitate the learning The English learners possibly know how to use the grammar and structures correctly but without having a sufficient vocabulary, they cannot speak, write and use English well Therefore, at any time of English learning, vocabulary should be given the top priority and major importance Thornburry (2002) stressed on the importance of learning words in the course book titled

“Innovations” that “If you spend most of your time studying grammar, your English

will not improve very much You will see most improvement if you learn more words

or expressions You can say very little with grammar, but you can say almost everything with words” Consequently, it is worth doing research on vocabulary

learning strategies to facilitate the vocabulary learning to enhance English learning success and achievement

Secondly, I have been teaching English for more than three years in a technical college where English is a required subject Before carrying out this research, I carried out a test (pre-test 1) with students on how well they can remember the words and to check whether they could remember the words they had learned as well as find out their difficulty in remembering words The result showed that the biggest problem encountering my students in vocabulary retention was although they saw the words familiar; they could not retrieve the meanings This fact

resulted from the lack of necessary techniques for remembering vocabulary That is the reason why there should be a study on an effective vocabulary leaning method for my students Moreover, there has never been any research or study on improving vocabulary remembering efficiency for students at my college – College of Industrial Technique It is that current situation in my teaching that really encourages me to find a better way to make my students interested in learning and remembering new words

To conclude, the study proceeds from two main reasons The first lies in realizing the importance of learning vocabulary to English learners The second reason is based on the present circumstance facing my students in vocabulary retention and the fact that no available research has been carried out in this field at

my college Therefore, I have chosen to focus on vocabulary learning and teaching

in my study project report to make my students improve their performance of recalling words

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

The main purpose of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of mnemonics

on improving vocabulary retention of the formal college students in College of Industrial Techniques, Bac Giang city, Bac Giang province

With the above aim, the specific objectives of this study are as follows:

- Identify the biggest problems facing students in their vocabulary retention;

- Investigate the effectiveness of mnemonic devices in short-term vocabulary retention of students;

- Investigate the effectiveness of mnemonic devices in long-term vocabulary retention of students;

- Find out the students’ attitude towards using mnemonic strategies in vocabulary retention

1.3 Statement of the research questions

Based on the above given aim, the objectives and the background of the research, the research questions can be formulated as follows:

a What are some biggest problems that the students encounter in their vocabulary retention?

b To what extent is mnemonics effective in improving short-term vocabulary retention for the formal college students of College of Industrial Techniques in the academic year 2015-2016?

c To what extent is mnemonics effective in improving long-term vocabulary retention for the formal college students of College of Industrial Techniques in the academic year 2015-2016?

d What are the students’ attitudes towards using mnemonic strategies in vocabulary retention?

1.4 Scope of the study

The study is narrowed to the area of teaching and learning vocabulary for the formal college students at College of Industrial Techniques, Bac Giang city, Bac Giang province in the academic year 2015-2016 It was conducted at College of Industrial Techniques, Bac Giang province Because of limited time, the thesis only deals with the current situation of teaching and learning English vocabulary here The participants were just the students who are representatives of the whole formal college students of the college

1.5 Significance of the study

The study has its own importance in contributing a method for students to remember and recall vocabulary better and for a longer time than without applying this method It provides both of the theoretical and practical significance In terms

of theory, the study can be used as a reference for improving vocabulary learning skills and it contributes to the general theory of vocabulary retention improvement techniques Students can understand how to remember the new words systematically and they are able to learn more easily and keep them in their mind in

a longer time, from which they tend to get achievement in learning English Moreover, practically, the mnemonic techniques used in this study and the list of words taught with mnemonics can be discussed and transferred to English teachers

and applied in mass in the vocabulary teaching activity at College of Industrial Techniques, Bac Giang city

1.6 Method of the study

The study was carried out by some steps as follows:

First, in order to ensure the subject’s homogeneity, the homogeneity test was

implemented to filter the students, from which official study subjects (the participants) could be chosen

Secondly, pre-test 1 was carried out with the participants to find out if there

were any existing problems facing them in the process of learning English vocabulary and how well the participants could remember the words After that pre-test 2 was finished in order to set up a list of words unknown for the participants These words would be used later in the teaching activity with mnemonic strategies Then the participants were divided into two groups including the control group and the experimental group After that, the corrective action was applied with the participants during the corrective time The control group was received the traditional way of vocabulary teaching while the experimental group was taught with mnemonic devices

Next, right at the end of each of the three sessions of correction, each immediate

post-test was finished by the students (participants) of both the experimental group and the experimental one The result of each immediate post-test of the experimental group was compared to the respective one of the control group to show that whether there is an improvement in short-term vocabulary retention by using mnemonics or not

In addition, after two weeks from the last session of correction, another delayed

post-test was delivered to both groups to test their long-term vocabulary recall The analysis was carried out as same as the procedure of the three immediate post-tests

After that, a questionnaire survey was conducted to the experimental group’s

participants in order to study their opinion and evaluation on mnemonic techniques

in their vocabulary learning

Then, the data were collected, sorted and analyzed quantitatively and

qualitatively to obtain realistic results

To end with, pedagogical implications for enhancing students’ performance in

remembering vocabulary will be proposed based on the results found from all data collection instruments

1.7 Structural organization of the study

The study consists of five main parts:

Part I - Introduction presents the rationale of the study, the aim & objectives, the

research questions, the significance, the scope, the method and the design of the

study

Part 2 - Literature Review and Theoretical Background reviews the theories on

vocabulary, vocabulary learning & teaching and mnemonics

Part 3 – Research Methodology describes the participants, the setting of the study

involving the school, textbook and curriculum Moreover, this part shows how the researcher applied the data collection instruments and her procedure of conducting

the study

Part 4 - Data analysis & Discussion in which the researcher used both qualitatively

and quantitatively method to study and analyze the data and information collected

Part 5 –Conclusion summarizes all findings explored and brings out useful

suggestions for the teachers to enhance the vocabulary retention of students An overall picture of what has been done in this study and suggestions for further

studies are also included in this part

PART 2- LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This part provides a review of literature in theory and practice to the study in terms of two main contents: Vocabulary and mnemonics

2.1 Vocabulary

2.1.1.Definition

Vocabulary is an important element of a language There are many definitions

and concepts about vocabulary given by the experts and professionals The

American Heritage Dictionary defines vocabulary as “the sum of words used by,

understood by, or at the command of a particular person or group” Richard &

Schmidt (2002) considered vocabulary as a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basic for how well learners speak, listen, read and write Moreover, according to Nunan (2005), vocabulary is the collection of word that an individual knows In other word, vocabulary is any words that are mastered by people and it is used in communication Linse (2005) defines that vocabulary is background information which will help the user as he plans an oral written language program It can be concluded that vocabulary is a collection of words with the correct definition that is used in a language such as speaking, reading, listening, and writing to acquire and convey information It is the amount of words used in spoken and written language which are understood either in meaning or pronunciation that equips language learners with the ability to use language both oral and written language

2.1.2.Types of vocabulary

According to Fries (1970) vocabulary is classified into four groups:

a) Function words They function primarily or largely as means of expressing relations of grammatical structure, which include so called auxiliaries, prepositions, conjunction, interrogative, particles and miscellaneous group of words for degree, etc

b) “Substitute” words such as the personal pronouns, the indefinites, negative, quantity or number

c) The third kind consists of those that are distributed in the use according to such grammatical matters as the presence of the negative (some, any, too, either, already, yet, etc.)

d) Content words mainly include nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs

Meanwhile Fries also agreed to group vocabulary into function and content words The function words are a closed class in which we cannot add the prepositions or auxiliaries or any structure words of the language, while the content words can be added to make new words with new meaning

In terms of methodology, Penny (1996) and Gail (1989) divided vocabulary into two: Active and passive vocabulary Active vocabulary refers to item which learners can use appropriately in speaking or writing and it is also called productive vocabulary In contrast, passive vocabulary is the language items that can be recognized and understood in the context of reading and listening and it is also called receptive vocabulary

In terms of semantics, vocabulary can be divided into notional words and functional words In terms of grammar, it is classified based on different parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, preposition, etc

2.1.3.Importance of vocabulary

David (1972) (cited in Thornburry, 2002) acknowledged the significance of

vocabulary as “without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary

nothing can be conveyed” National Reading Panel (2000) concluded “The importance of vocabulary knowledge has long been recognized in the development

of reading skills” Thornburry (2002) once more emphasized the importance of

vocabulary by restating an advice given to the students in the course book titled

Innovation “If you spend most of your time studying grammar, your English will not

improve very much You will see most improvement if you learn more words or expressions You can say very little with grammar but you can say almost

everything with words” It can easily understandable that vocabulary actually plays

a very important role in being successful in learning English Its importance can be compared to that of the backbone of the body

2.1.4.Ways and strategies to teach vocabulary

There are some methods and strategies of teaching vocabulary proposed by various scholars and linguists

An extensive review of vocabulary instruction research which was conducted

in 2003 by D Bryant, Goodwin, B Bryant, and Higgins explored four different vocabulary interventions: computer‐assisted instruction (CAI), fluency‐building vocabulary practice activities, mnemonic strategy, and concept enhancement instruction Dictionary usage, context clues, and semantic mapping were all observed and studied to find that there is no one best way to teach vocabulary It is important to use a variety of techniques that include multiple experiences to the unknown word meanings

John (2004) proposed in his paper a comprehensive approach consisting of the following components in teaching and developing vocabulary:

• Use “instructional” read-aloud events

• Provide direct instruction in the meanings of clusters of words and individual words

• Systematically teach students the meaning of prefixes, suffixes, and root words

• Link spelling instruction to reading and vocabulary instruction

• Teach the effective, efficient, realistic use of dictionaries, thesauruses, and other reference works

• Teach, model, and encourage the application of a word-learning strategy

• Encourage wide reading

• Create a keen awareness of and a deep interest in language and words

In her vocabulary strategy survey, Stoffer (1995) classified into nine groups: (1) Strategies involving authentic language use,

(2) Strategy involving creative activities,

(3) Strategy used for self-motivation,

(4) Strategies used to create mental linkages,

(5) Memory strategies,

(6) Visual/auditory strategies,

(7) Strategies involving physical action,

(8) Strategies used to overcome anxiety and

(9) Strategies used to organize words

(Stoffer, 1995, cited in Schmitt, 1997) Nation (2001) introduced 11 vocabulary language strategies with three big

groups: planning, sources and processes The strategies of planning involve

decisions about which lexical items to attend to, as well as how to focus attention

and how often to give attention to the item Meanwhile, sources strategies concern

ways to find out information about words This information may include all aspects

of word knowledge and can be found in the word itself, the context, sources of

reference The final set of strategies, processes include ways to remember words

and make them available for use The following table demonstrates briefly vocabulary learning strategies according to Nation’s approach

General class of

strategies

Types of strategies

Planning: Choosing what

to focus on and when to

focus on it

Choosing words Choosing the aspects of word knowledge Choosing strategies

Planning repetition Sources: finding

information about words

Analyzing the word Using context Consulting a reference source in L1 or L2 Using parallels in L1 and L2

Processes: Establishing

knowledge

Noticing Retrieving Generating

Table 1: Nation’s vocabulary learning strategies (Nation, 2001)

2.1.5.Vocabulary retention and memory

In the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2005), retention is defined as

“an ability to remember things” Although no definition of vocabulary retention in the literature has been found by the researcher, vocabulary retention can be classified as the storage of vocabulary in the memory and recalling it when necessary

There are two basic types of memory: short-term memory and long-term memory Short term memory keeps the information which is being processed (a new word which is encountered for the first time) It is fast but it can hold information for a very short time due to its small storage capacity Long term memory, on the other hand, has an unlimited storage capacity but is relatively slow The aim of vocabulary learning and teaching is to transfer the lexical information from the short term memory to the long term memory (Schmitt, 2000) Aitchison (2002), however, believes that our mind is like the London Underground System

By this he means that information stored in the brain is linked in different ways Accordingly, the general picture of the mental lexicon is one in which there a variety of links between words, some strong, some weak The main way, to transfer the vocabulary items from short term to long term memory and create a strong connection there is by finding some elements in the mental lexicon to attach the new lexical item to (Schmitt, 2000)

Several factors seem to affect retention and retrieval of information One is the degree to which the structure and organization of the material is compatible with the individual cognitive network Another is the type of encoding and the depth of processing in preparation for storage in long term memory For longest retention, new knowledge must be associated with previous knowledge (Ausubel, 1968) In this regard, McDonough (1981) mentioned the retention can be prompted by several procedures and frequency of occurrence of meaningful practice promotes retention McDonough further noted that cognitive process and learner strategies are important in retention and recall

According to Solso (1995), mnemonics are techniques or devices, either verbal or visual in nature, that serves to improve the storage of new information, and the recall of information contained in memory Mnemonic is a memory enhancing instructional strategy that involves teaching students to link new information taught to information they already know In other words, by using mnemonic strategies, teachers can relate new information to information students already have stored in their long-term memory For vocabulary learning, they are used to relate the word to some previously learnt information, using some form of imagery or grouping (Mastropieri and Scruggs, 1991)

2.2.2 Classification of mnemonics

Mnemonic devices have been differently classified by different scholars Thompson (1987), for example, arranges mnemonic strategies into five classes: linguistics, spatial, visual, physical response and verbal methods Oxford (1990), on the other hand, identifies four major strategies namely, creating mental linkage, applying images and sounds, reviewing well, and employing action Meanwhile, Baddeley (1999) believes that mnemonic devices are classified into visual imagery strategies and verbal strategies Following is the one presented by Thompson (1987) which sounds to be more comprehensive

a Linguistic Mnemonics

a1 Peg word method

In peg word method unrelated items can be remembered easily by relating them to easily memorizable items which act as pegs or hooks Peg word method has two stages At first students are asked to remember 10 number-rhyme pairs In the second stage the students are asked to visualize the word and try to link it to rhyming words The words are, therefore, learned in a composite picture of the given word and the peg (Roediger, 1980; Groeger, 1997; Mirhassani and Eghtesadei, 2007) For example if the first word to be learned is "exploration", its peg can be “John” and after its meaning is defined to the students, they can form a metal picture in which “John is doing oil explorations”, if the second one is

"feature", its peg according to the rhyme pairs can be “shoe” and the students can form a mental picture in which some people are talking about the features of a kind

of shoe

a2 The key word method

Key word method according to Hulstijn (1997) requires three stages At first

a first or second language word that has acoustic similarity to the target word is given to the learner to act as the key word In the second stage the learner is asked

to make an association between the target word and the key word Finally, he is asked to make a mental image of the combination of the keyword and the target word

b Spatial Mnemonics

b1 The loci method

Loci method is actually the oldest mnemonic device Using this method entails imagining a very familiar place like a room or a house and then associating each new word to a part of it to be remembered (Eysenck, 1994; Mirhassani and Eghtesadei, 2007) In other words, the students take an imaginary walk along their familiar places, and retrieve the items they have put there As people's experiences are different, students may come up with different pictures (Thompson, 1987)

b2 Spatial grouping

The idea behind this method is that instead of writing words in a column, students can be asked to form patterns like a triangle with them Writing words in the form of patterns help them recall the words better (Holden, 1999) As they remember the pattern, they can remember the parts which are signed by the words

b3 The finger method

Through this method students can be asked to associate each word with a finger This method is especially useful with children to learn numbers, days of the week and month of the year (Holden, 1999)

c Visual Mnemonics

c1 Pictures

Words can be better learned if they are paired with pictures (Thompson, 1987) Gains and Redman (1986) believe that objects and pictures can facilitate recall Wright (1989) also believes that meaning can not be derived only from verbal language Pictures and objects not only can be used to give meaning and information but they also can be used to the motivation and interest of the students Using this method, a picture can be used to make the meaning of the word clear It can sometimes be accompanied by its definition This method can, however, be used with concrete words and usually with elementary or pre-intermediate students

c2 Visualization or imagery

Instead of using real pictures, this method allows a word to be visualized The learner imagines a picture or a scene which is associated with the target word Abstract words can be learned through this method by relating them to a visual picture (Holden, 1999; Thompson, 1987; Mirhassani and Eghtesadei, 2007) Visualization can be an aid in vocabulary learning (O’Malley and Chamot, 1990)

d The Verbal Method

d1 Grouping or semantic organization

As organized materials are easier to store in and retrieve from long-term memory, to organize the words in some fashion will enhance their recall (Anderson, 2000; Thompson, 1987) If the target words to be remembered are, for example,

dog, cat, chair, sofa, table, milk, eggs and butter they can be organized and remembered under three categories: animals ( for dog and cat ), furniture ( for chair, sofa and table) and food ( for milk, egg and butter) In this way learners have the advantage of better recall than when they all are learned in a list, because if they can remember one word, they will be able to remember the rest (Mirhassani and Eghtesadei, 2007)

d2 Story-telling or the narrative chain

In this method the learner links the words together by a story At first he should associate the target words with a topic or some topics, and then he should connect them by making up a story containing the words (Thompson, 1987; Holden, 1999; Mirhassani and Eghtesadei, 2007) This method is especially useful for high level students

e Physical Responses Methods

e1 Physical response method

According to this method the learner should move his body or parts of his body in a certain way that illustrates the meaning of the word If the target word is

tiptoe, for example, the student can get up on his tiptoe and move across the room

It can be imaginary too It means that he can imagine the action of moving on his tiptoe (Thompson, 1987; Holden, 1999) Thompson (1987) especially believes that

if the information of a word or a sentence is enacted it can yield better understanding and recall

e2 Physical sensation method

This strategy is devised by Oxford and Scarcella (1994) Through this method the learner associates the new word to a physical sensation For example he

can feel cold when he learns the word frigid

Among many classifications of mnemonics by different authors, the researcher has chosen the classification made by Thompson (1987) in which some sub-types of mnemonics are used in the study based on the wordlist of vocabulary found out by the pre-test to teach her students The mnemonic devices used in the

research study are: Keyword method, visual mnemonics (pictures), grouping or semantic organization and physical response method

2.2.3 Efficiency of using mnemonics for information and vocabulary retention and recall

There are some studies done on mnemonic devices Most of those focusing

on mnemonic devices have consistently indicated that the use of mnemonic devices substantially enhances higher levels of retention of second/foreign language vocabulary words in comparison with other learning strategies of vocabulary

A large body of research on mnemonic support practice and its effect on vocabulary retention and recall shows that mnemonic devices can improve vocabulary learning, boost memory, and increase creativity (Scruggs, Mastropieri, Berkeley & Marshak, 2010; Amiryousefi & Ketabi, 2011)

The effects of memory strategy instruction along with learning through context on the ESP vocabulary recall of Turkish EFL learners were investigated by Atay and Ozbulgan (2007).They found that mnemonic strategies can positively affect vocabulary learning

According to Mastropieri & Scruggs, 1989; Bulgren, Schumaker & Deshler (1994), mnemonics have been proven to be extremely effective in helping people remember things

Mnemonic devices are proved to be effective in all ages They are, however, more useful for low level students because they are involved mostly in activities requiring them to remember and recall information (Levin, 1993)

Ellis (1995) indicated that learners can enhance their retention of new words

if they employ various mnemonic strategies, such as visual methods and verbal methods Visual methods contain pictures, visualization or imagery and physical response methods

Thompson (1987) has acknowledged the usefulness of mnemonic devices by stating that they can help learners learn faster and recall better by integration of new

material into existing cognitive units and by providing retrieval cues

According to Groeger (1997), mnemonic devices can be very effective and can make the students motivated and the classroom more interesting Worthen and Hunt (2008), accordingly, suggest that a specific combination of processes is necessary for the effectiveness of mnemonic instruction and use The teachers should, therefore, use several techniques at the same time (Hulstijn, 1997; Thompson, 1987; Holden, 1999; Mirhassani and Eghtesadei, 2007) Atay and Ozbulgan (2007) investigated the effects of memory strategy instruction along with learning through context on the ESP vocabulary recall of Turkish EFL learners The study showed that memory strategies or mnemonic strategies can improve vocabulary learning

Loan (2013) in her M.A thesis proved that applying the four memory strategies in teaching and learning vocabulary has improved students’ vocabulary retention

Beside some researches on general effects of mnemonics on vocabulary learning and information retention and recall, there are some other ones on using specific types of mnemonic strategies Actually, the powerful impact of the keyword method on the learners' memory concerning recall and retention has been confirmed by many researchers: Roediger (1980) took into consideration four mnemonic techniques All four mnemonic groups recalled the 20-word list better than the control group Overall, the method of loci and the peg word system proved

to be resourceful Scruggs, Mastropieri, Jorgensen, & Monson (1986) asked the subjects of their study to transfer mnemonic strategy that was taught by the researchers to a novel content area Interestingly, both gifted and non-gifted students benefitted from mnemonic strategy instruction Rodriguez and Sadoski (2000) examined the effects of rote rehearsal, context, keyword, and context/keyword methods on immediate and long-term retention of English vocabulary in Venezuela Raugh and Atkinson (1975) compared the keyword method with various control procedures for learning a Spanish vocabulary In all cases, the keyword method proved to be highly effective, yielding in one

experiment a final test score of 88% correct for the keyword group compared to 28% for the control group Moreover, Pressley et al (1981) studied on children 3 to

6 years of age learning simple Spanish vocabulary items through keyword method The results showed that children who used the keyword method remembered more vocabulary than children who were not instructed in keyword method usage Carlson, Kincaid, Lance, and Hodgson (1976), however, found significantly better recall when a group trained on the method of loci was compared to a control group Another study by Roediger (1980) looked at the method of loci along with three other well-known mnemonic methods Results of the study revealed that all four mnemonic groups recalled the 20-word list better than the control group However, the method of loci and the peg word system were found to be better methods to use when the order of words remembered was important Baleghizadeh and Ashoori (2010) compared the effect of keyword and word list methods on immediate retention of vocabulary The meaning recall test indicated that the keyword group outperformed the word list group In a similar study, Soleimani, Saeedi and Mohajerani (2012) explored the comparative effects of the keyword and context method on immediate and long-term vocabulary retention of Iranian EFL learners Learners who received the keyword strategy training recalled more words right after training and one week later than the learners who were in the context group

Despite the fact that using mnemonic-based methods has frequently been reported to be useful in a number of studies, investigators have demonstrated some limitations of the mnemonic key word method A study conducted in 1987 by McDaniel and Pressley discussed long-term retention of vocabulary after using strategies such as the Keyword Method Although the keyword method facilitated initial learning of the vocabulary meanings; there were no differences in long term retention Gruneberg (1998) argues that the keyword method in general is inferior to rote learning in the longer-term retention of vocabulary In another study, Campos and Gonzalez (2003) attribute ineffectiveness of keyword method to participants' 'lack of training They investigated in four experiments the effectiveness of the

mnemonic key word method using two groups of adults and adolescents In all the experiments, the rote method was more effective than the keyword method for both adolescents and adults

For many advantages and strong points of effectiveness of mnemonics surpassing its limitation on supporting vocabulary short-term and long-term retention, I have chosen using mnemonic devices to teach vocabulary for my students and I really hope it would be a successful choice when the positive result can be expressed and shown in reality

PART 3 - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This part will present restatement of research questions, context of the study, research instruments, implementation of the action research, research design, and data analysis procedure

3.1 Restatement of research questions

a What are some biggest problems that the students encounter in their vocabulary retention?

b To what extent is mnemonics effective in improving short-term vocabulary retention for the formal college students of College of Industrial Techniques

in the academic year 2015-2016?

c To what extent is mnemonics effective in improving long-term vocabulary retention for the formal college students of College of Industrial Techniques

in the academic year 2015-2016?

d What are the students’ attitudes towards using mnemonic strategies in vocabulary retention?

3.2 Context of the study

3.2.1 Setting of the study

College of Industrial Techniques located in Bac Giang city, Bac Giang province

is an official college belonging to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and under the national education system Originally, it was named the School of Engineering II

which was founded in 1966 The college trains students at various levels such as

professional intermediate level, vocational intermediate level, vocational college

level and formal college level From being just a vocational intermediate school, it

was upgraded into a college in 2009 During 50 years of construction and development, the College has trained, fostered and re-trained over 35 thousand managing officers, highly qualified technicians and skilled technical workers for the

country

At College of Industrial Techniques, students at all levels have to learn English

as a compulsory subject For the formal college students, they are taught

fundamental English in three semesters and moved to English for Special Purposes

in the last semester of studying English The number of students in each class is varied depending on their majors At the end of each term, together with the written test, the formal college students have to take the speaking test to evaluate their speaking skill In general, students of the college have shown their ill performance

in learning English because they are majored in technical fields and English for them is just a fundamental subject From their secondary and high schools, they did not pay much attention and put much effort in learning English Therefore, when they enter the college, the result of learning English is not positive in a large number of students

The textbook of English the author used in her study is New English File Elementary (Student’s Book) by Clive Exenden, Christina Latham-Koenig and Paul Seligson published by Oxford University Press It is also the official course book of English widely used in the college in teaching English It is designed for the students at fundamental level and for those who start learning English This book consists of nine big units 1-9 in which there are four sub-units A, B, C, D in each unit In addition, after the four sub-units of a big unit, there exists the part of Practical English & Skills In each sub-unit, some main parts are focused to teach the students such as reading, pronunciation, listening, speaking skills, grammar and vocabulary parts In Practical English & Skills part, the main contents of units are revised by exercises and additionally, some conversations & vocabularies in typically communicative circumstances are given out The focus of the study is vocabulary, so this part is paid attention In the textbook New English File (Elementary), the vocabulary part is a separated one in each sub-unit There are varieties of vocabularies including numbers, nationalities and countries, common objects, verb phrases, jobs, daily routine verbs, flats and houses These words, which are often shown in vivid pictures and put in groups of words or topics for facilitating the learning of students, are gathered in the part vocabulary bank at the end of the textbook Therefore, the author did not focus on the words in the

vocabulary bank because the students were already supported in learning them, but she tried to build up a list of words which were included in the reading passages and other parts of the textbook without any learning supporting techniques After pre-test 2, a list of 69 words was made to be taught with mnemonic techniques

The time of applying the treatment was the same for both kinds of participant groups (the control and experimental groups), in which 69 new words of vocabulary were taught in three 50-minute periods of time It means that 23 new words were introduced to the participants in each period of 50 minutes

3.2.2 Participants - Subject of the study

The author only picked up the second-year students at formal college level to be the subject of the study The reason was that choosing the same year students ensured the initial homogeneity of participants More important, different school year formal college students were at different levels: At the time of doing research, the first year students did not enter the English learning, the second year ones were

in the second modules of English and the third year ones had finished all three modules of communicative English and moved to English for Special Purposes Therefore, in order to be suitable with the textbook used in the research and the general background knowledge, choosing the second year students to be involved in the research was the most reasonable At first, 30 temporary sample students were chosen who were the second-year formal college students from five classes majored

in Environment (49CĐ-MT), Information Technology (49CĐ-TT), Economics (49CĐ-KT), Electricity (49CĐ-Đ) and Electronics (49CĐ-ĐT) There were 19 boys and 11 girls By picking up these 30 students, the author wanted to show the randomness and representativeness in choosing the later participants to take part in the study

Before being the official participants of the study, these 30 students had to do the homogeneity test given by the researcher After the test, 22 students (15 boys and 7 girls) who received the mark from five could officially become the participants of the study With the ages from 19 to 20, these participants were also

from five classes in five majors and different departments as mentioned above covering a wide range of formal college students in the college In the time of doing research, they had finished the first module of communicative English with the textbook New English File (Elementary) and were progressing in the second module They came from different backgrounds and environments, varied from the cities to mountainous areas These 22 students have studied English since they were

at the elementary school, some were at secondary school but they did not consider English as a priority subject Therefore, they enrolled the study with low and medium level of English proficiency In general, based on their background and after the homogeneity test, the participants were relatively homogeneous in level and they met the requirement of variety and representativeness because they were from different majors and regions

The participants of 22 students were randomly divided into the control group and the experimental group with the equal quantity of members The reason for classifying into the two groups was that the researcher wanted to gain the most objective and reliable result of teaching These participants were at the same level because they were chosen through the homogeneity test and all of them did not know the word list used for teaching them Therefore, the researcher decided to divide into the control group and the experimental group so that she could make comparison between them The only difference between the two groups was that the control group was taught vocabulary with the traditional ways of teaching vocabulary, including repeating, translation and example sentence explanation while the experimental group was involved in mnemonic devices of keyword method, visual mnemonics, grouping or semantic organization and physical response method After finishing the teaching and collecting data from the post-tests, by making comparison, the researcher could draw the conclusion about the effectiveness of using mnemonics in vocabulary retention of the students

3.3 Implementation of the Action Research

When there is a problem arising in the class, it is compulsory to find out a solution to deal with the problem In these educational situations, action research is inevitably a very common practice that teachers in language learning often choose This study follows the action research approach because of some following reasons: Firstly, one of the most significant features of the action research is that it is very

“situational”, which means specific solutions can be given to specific problems to each context This research was carried out within the context of the teacher’s teaching environment – her students and her working places Therefore, action research is the best choice for the researcher in this condition Secondly, from pre-test 1, the teacher found out that her students face trouble in remembering words, so she really expected to find out a suitable solution to improve the class situation In this circumstance, action research would be a good idea Moreover, action research also gave the researcher a good chance to evaluate the intervention in her class

Action research can be defined in various ways According to Cohen and

Manion (1985) “Action research is first and foremost situational, being concerned

with the identification and solution of problems in a specific context The aim of action research is to improve the current state of affairs within the educational context in which the research is being carried out” In addition to, Kemmis &

McTaggart (1982) stated that “Action research is deliberate, solution-oriented investigation that is group or personally owned and conducted It is characterized

by spiraling cycles of problem identification, systematic data collection, reflection, analysis, data-driven action taken, and, finally, problem redefinition The linking of the terms "action" and "research" highlights the essential features of this method: trying out ideas in practice as a means of increasing knowledge about and/or improving curriculum, teaching, and learning

There are many models of steps included in an action research Normally, there are five main stages: Problem identification, plan of action, data collection, data analysis and plan for future action In this study, the researcher followed the

model proposed by Kemmis and McTaggart (1988) As suggested by Kemmis and McTaggart (1988), there are four steps in the action research cycle as follows:

Figure 1: Action research cycle

Accordingly, each action research cycle should include: Planning an action, carrying out the corrective action, observing the process and results of the action, and reflecting the action Applying this model, this research underwent the following steps:

- Step 1: Identifying the problem

- Step 2: Planning the action

- Step 3: Implementing the action

- Step 4: Reflecting the action

3.4 Research design

The action research was carried out in the second semester of the school year 2015-2016 Under the action research model of Kemmis and McTaggart (1988) as stated above, this action research study was implemented in the four following steps:

* Step 1: Identifying the problem

In the nearly five year teaching procedure, the researcher (the teacher as well) realized that the students seemed to not be able to remember words well and a large

amount of students got bad English result performance mainly due to lack of vocabulary To identify the problems facing the students in vocabulary retention, the researcher prepared pre-test 1 (Appendix 2) to investigate the biggest difficulty

of the students in vocabulary recall The result of pre-test 1 was that nearly half of

the total times of selection of participants (46%) was for option 2 “I have seen this

word before but I don’t know what it means”, which means that the students

suffered disadvantages in retaining the words they had learnt previously Their biggest problem in vocabulary retention was that although they saw the words familiar, they could not give out or retrieve the meanings As a result, the study was conducted to correct the situation

* Step 2: Planning the action

In this stage, the researcher carried out all preparation before entering the stage of corrective action in the actual classroom She compiled pre-tests, post-tests and a questionnaire survey Moreover, she divided the participants into two groups: The experimental group and control group The experimental group received mnemonic method training, while the control group was introduced with traditional vocabulary instruction, including repeating, translation, and example sentence explanation

In order to help improve the students’ vocabulary retention, the researcher decided to use four mnemonic techniques and she built up each technique used for each word in the list of 69 words items 12 words were designed to teach with physical response method, 7 words with grouping or semantic organization while 10 words were prepared to teach with keyword method and 40 words were with visual mnemonics (pictures)

The detailed schedule of the action implementation is as follows:

Week 1 1 Homogeneity test

Week 2

1 Pre-test 1

2 Pre-test 2

Week 3 1 Orientation and Introduction

Experimental group Control group

Teaching vocabularies with mnemonics Immediate post-test 1

Teaching vocabularies with the traditional teaching method

Immediate post-test 1

Teaching vocabularies with mnemonics Immediate post-test 2

Teaching vocabularies with the traditional teaching method

Immediate post-test 2 Week 6

1 Teaching vocabularies

with mnemonics Immediate post-test 3

Teaching vocabularies with the traditional teaching method

Immediate post-test 3 Week 8 1 Delayed post-test

Questionnaire

Delayed post-test

Table 2: The schedule of the action implementation

* Step 3: Implementing the action

Before doing the teaching in the actual classroom, the teacher asked the rector of College of Industrial Technique for his permission in carrying out this action research with 22 college students from five classes She also introduced the research she intended to do in order to improve the student vocabulary retention in English classes, which helped to enhance English teaching quality at the college The rector paid his interest in the research because he always paid attention to improving English teaching and learning activities in the College

At this stage, the teacher applied to teach the chosen new word list of 69 items for both the control and experimental groups in which the traditional method was used for the control group and the four mnemonic techniques were used for the experimental group

The control group

The control group was taught with the traditional ways of teaching vocabulary including repeating, translation and example sentence explanation

- The teacher showed the word list which would be taught for each session

- Next, the teacher gave the meaning of each word on the board and explained the word form

- Then, she pronounced it and guided the students to pronounce

- The teacher called some students to pronounce the word

- She gave out an example sentence including the word

- One or some students were asked to take examples using the word

- The same procedure was implemented with another word

- At the end of each teaching session, the teacher asked the students to read out once again the whole taught vocabulary list

The experimental group

- At first, the teacher introduced the students about what mnemonics was, the classification and effectiveness in vocabulary learning and retention

- Then she provided description of the four mnemonic strategies (keyword method, visual mnemonic (pictures), grouping or semantic organization and physical response method)

- Next, she entered the teaching with the four mnemonic techniques as follows:

- Then, she repeated the pronunciation of the target word and the keyword

- She continued showing a picture on the slide related to the keyword, and asked students about the content of the picture included the keyword image

- After that, she linked the meaning of the picture with the meaning of the target word and showed the target words with its meanings, its form and its phonetics on the slide

- The teacher guided students how to pronounce the target word and asked students

to repeat several times the order “the target word – the keyword – the meaning of the picture”

- The teacher continued with the next target word with the same process

Visual mnemonics (pictures)

- The teacher showed the picture in front of the students

- Then she asked the students to guess what the picture was about

- She might supply some cues for the student to more easily figure out She called some students for their answers

- After that, the teacher showed the word by turning back the picture

- She provided the word form and the phonetics and guided the students how to pronounce the word

- The teacher showed the word directly so that the students could see and asked them to repeat the word three times Then, she turned back to show the picture and tell the students to pronounce three times as well

- Finally, she invited some students to read out loud the word by looking at the picture

- For another word, the same procedure was carried out After each learnt word, the teacher helped the students to revise all previously taught words by continuously moving among pictures for students to realize the words

Grouping or semantic organization

- The teacher introduced two contrast semantic organizations to the students (positive and negative feelings)

- She showed the students the words of positive feeling and guided them to pronounce

- The whole class practiced pronouncing, then some of the students were asked to pronounce

- Next, the teacher showed the words of negative feelings and carried out the same above procedure

- Finally, the teacher asked the whole class to read out loud the words of both groups

Physical response method

- The teacher imitated the action and used her body language and facial expression

to express the word

- She asked the students to look at her action and try to find out the word

- Some students were invited to say their answers

- Then the teacher guided the students to pronounce the word and explained the word form and the phonetics

- Next, she asked all the students to stand up and imitate the action together with speak out loud the word She also called some students at random to pronounce the words

- The implementation steps were the same for the next taught word

After having taught 23 words in each teaching session in 50 minutes, the teacher chose random words for revision She might show the pictures and the keywords or imitate the action for students to recall the words Sometimes, she divided the students into two groups and organized a game by showing the pictures or describing the words with action and let each group figure out The group with higher mark would be the winner

At the end of each teaching session, the students of both the control group and the experimental group were required to finish an immediate post-test (see Appendix 3) The teacher collected the post-test paper for later analysis of improvement in short-term vocabulary retention with mnemonic techniques

Two weeks after the last session of vocabulary teaching, the delayed post-test of

69 items was given without the prior notice to all participants to check their

long-term memory of the learnt words The items in the delayed post-test were arranged randomly for the participants to avoid remembering positions or meanings of items

as from the three previous immediate tests At the end, after the delayed test, the participants of the experimental groups were delivered a questionnaire sheet for completion, which helped the researcher find out their attitude towards the four used mnemonic strategies

post-* Step 4: Reflecting the action

In the evaluation or assessment stage, all data were gathered for the researcher to analyze to decide whether this study could solve the research questions or not Pre-test 1 was analyzed to find out the problem facing the students

in the vocabulary learning and retention The immediate post-tests and the delayed post-test were compared to see any improvement in vocabulary retention performance of the participants in both short-term and long-term vocabulary retention The questionnaire helped the researcher understand the experimental participants’ attitudes towards the applied mnemonic strategies in teaching vocabulary After finishing the analysis and getting to conclusion, the teacher (the researcher) presented her study into paper for wide publication

3.5 Research instruments

The instruments for the study were 3 kinds of tests (a homogeneity test, two tests, and four post-tests (three immediate post-tests and a delayed post-test)), and one questionnaire survey after the whole teaching process Among the tests, pre-test

pre-1 and four post-tests were in the format of Vocabulary Knowledge Scale test

 Vocabulary Knowledge Scale test

The Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) test is a five-point self-report scale developed by Wesche & Paribakht (1996) that allows students to indicate how well they know items of vocabulary; in other words the knowledge of a word can be evaluated by using one of these following scales:

1 I don’t remember having seen this word before

2 I have seen this word before but I don’t know what it means