Improving english vocabulary learning for students of medical english at a medical college in hanoi through games an action research project

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ OANH IMPROVING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR STUDENT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ OANH

IMPROVING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR

STUDENTS OF MEDICAL ENGLISH AT A MEDICAL COLLEGE IN

HA NOI THROUGH GAMES: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

NÂNG CAO VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH Y CHO HỌC SINH TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG CẤP Y Ở HÀ NỘI THÔNG QUA

TRÒ CHƠI NGÔN NGỮ: NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG

MINOR THESIS

Major : Methodology of teaching English (1) Code : 8140231.01

HÀ NỘI- 2019

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ OANH

IMPROVING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR

STUDENTS OF MEDICAL ENGLISH AT A MEDICAL COLLEGE IN

HA NOI THROUGH GAMES: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

NÂNG CAO VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH Y CHO HỌC SINH TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG CẤP Y Ở HÀ NỘI THÔNG QUA

TRÒ CHƠI NGÔN NGỮ: NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT

-*** -

I hereby cetify that this minor thesis entitled

IMPROVING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR STUDENTS OF MEDICAL ENGLISH AT A MEDICAL COLLEGE IN

HA NOI THROUGH GAMES: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

is completely the result of my own work for the Degree of Master at University of Language and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and that this thesis has not been submitted for any other

university or institution

Second, I would like to send my thanks to the colleagues at a Medical College in Ha Noi who have provided me with the insightful knowledge being most significant in paving the way for me to carry out the research

I should be grateful to the librarians, for their constant help thanks to which I was able to access to all materials needed to accomplish the thesis

Finally but importantly, my heart-felt gratitude goes to my beloved family whose support and encouragement has always been the great source of inspiration for me to complete this thesis

ABSTRACT

One of the most challenging tasks facing any language teachers is to capture students’ interest, and therefore, keep them in high learning spirit Meanwhile, vocabulary learning is a hard task which can sometimes be frustrating especially for teenagers To realize this situation, the teachers are supposed to find out teaching approaches corresponsive to students’ needs and wants The study, in that light, lays a focus on students’ improvement in learning medical English vocabulary through language games The study is conducted in the form of an action research with the research tools being teacher’s diary, pre-test, post-test and survey questionnaire to collect data Then the data from teacher’s diary and tests were exploited to find out the improvement in students’ vocabulary And the data from survey questionnaire were used to find out students’ attitudes towards language games and provide factors that should be considered by teachers when using games to teach medical English vocabulary Through the results of the teacher’s diary, the pre-test and post-test, it can be concluded that language games could help improve students' vocabulary retention The results collected from the questionnaires showed that most of the students expressed their positive attitudes towards the games carried out in teaching medical vocabulary

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Identification of problem 2

1.3 Research objectives and research questions 2

1.4 Scope of the study 3

1.5 Significance of the study 3

1.6 Structure of the study 3

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Vocabulary 5

2.1.1 Definition 5

2.1.1 Vocabulary of medical English 6

2.1.2 Techniques in teaching vocabulary of medical English 7

2.2 Teaching vocabulary of medical English using games 8

2.2.1 Definition 8

2.2.2 Kinds of games in language teaching and learning 9

2.2.3 Role of games in vocabulary retention of medical English 10

2.2.4 Review of previous studies 12

CHAPTER SUMMARY 15

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 16

3.1 Research design 16

3.2 Settings 18

3.3 Participants of the study 18

3.4 Research instruments 18

3.4.1 Teacher’s diary 19

3.4.2 Pre-test and post-test 19

3.4.3 Questionnaire 20

3.5 Research procedure 20

3.5.1 Identifying problems 20

3.5.2 Planning the action 21

3.5.3 Implementing the action 22

3.5.4 Observing the action 23

3.5.5 Reflecting 24

3.6 Data collection Procedure 25

3.6.1 Teacher’s diary 25

3.6.2 Pretest and Post test 25

3.6.3 Questionnaire 26

3.7 Data analysis procedure 26

3.7.1 Data from teacher’s diary 26

3.7.2 Data from the pre-test and post-test 27

3.7.3 Data from the questionnaire 27

CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 28

4.1 Answer to the research question 1 28

4.1.1 Results from teacher’s diary 28

4.1.2 Results from the pre-test and post-test 32

4.2 Answer to the research question 2 34

4.3 Discussion 41

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION 43

5.1 Summary of major findings 43

5.2 Implications 44

5.3 Limitations 45

5.4 Suggestions for further research 46

REFERENCES 47

APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 III APPENDIX 3 V APPENDIX 4 VII APPENDIX 5 IX

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: The vocabulary teaching plan 22

Table 4.1: Students’participation and students’retention 29

Table 4.2 The student’s attitudes towards studying medical English 34

Table 4.3: Role of medical English for students’ jobs in future 34

Table 4.4: Attitudes of students when learning medical English 35

Table 4.5: Troubles students find the most challenging with medical English vocabulary? 35

Table 4.6: Students’attitudes when the teacher use games in teaching vocabulary of medical English 36

Table 4.7: Students’attitudes towards necessity and importance of using games in teaching vocabulary of medical English 36

Table 4.8: Students’attitudes towards games the teacher used in teaching vocabulary of medical English 38

Table 4.9: Students’activeness while playing games 39

Table 4.10: Feeling of students after taking part in the game when learning vocabulary of medical English 39

Table 4.11: Benefits of the games in teaching learning medical English vocabulary 40

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Vocabulary is an essential part in learning a foreign language One of the most important issues in second language teaching and learning is vocabulary learning And, perhaps, one of the most difficult aspects of learning a second language is the retention of learning vocabulary (Holden, 1999)

Vocabulary seems to be the foundation of language It encourages students

to learn the four macro skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking

Vocabulary is a very crucial element because without vocabulary students cannot learn other skills as Wilkin (1972) puts it, “Without grammar, little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed”

In the context of a medical college under study, (here by called college X), almost all the students have spent many years neglecting learning English before their college enrolment Therefore, they get into trouble of attaining knowledge in general and vocabulary retention in particular The students have difficulties in remembering the writen form and spoken form of English vocabulary specially the medical vocabulary which belongs to a specialized professional area The pronuncation, spelling and function of vocabulary make them confused in practicing and using them They cannot remember the words they have learnt for a long time so they make mistakes each time the researcher asks them to do exercise

There are some main reasons that demotivate them in learning English They do not use English in their career as well as in their daily life, so they feel it is useless to learn English In addition to this, medical terms cause them difficulties in pronouncing and writing which discourages them to learn English Therefore, they do not have motivation to learn English

1.2 Identification of problem

The problem of lacking motivation in learning medical English makes

it difficult for the students in acquiring medical vocabulary through English lessons

What is the best way to transfer knowledge to students effectively is becoming a big question for many teachers

Nguyen and Khuat (2003) believe that students prefer to learn language

in a relaxing environment such as vocabulary games They believe that in an interesting and communicative class, learners can learn 80 percent of what they are exposed to

According to Freeman (1986), learners enjoy language games as well

as they enjoy communicative involvement in the classroom He believes that games can provide a healthy and constructive competition Games can encourage learners to discover and involve in the learning process Games can also establish a better bonding between teachers and learners Finally, a good designed language game can create a real communication context in the classroom which can help learners to improve their vocabulary

With the purpose of motivating the students to learn medical English vocabulary by using language games in lesson, this study was implemented with the participation of all the students in the class K7C The methodology used in the research is action research with a number of tools such as teacher’s diary, a pre-test, a post-test and questionnaire

The purpose of using games is making the medical lessons become more interesting and helping the students remember the lessons easier

1.3 Research objectives and research questions

The research sets objectives of finding out how vocabulary games help improve students’ vocabulary retention Besides, it explores students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games In order to achieve

these goals, there is a need to answer the following questions:

1 How do vocabulary games help improve students’ vocabulary retention?

2 What are the students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games?

1.4 Scope of the study

When vocabulary is chosen to study, some researchers focus on vocabulary retention, some others increase vocabulary size and some researchers improve vocabulary usage In this research, the researcher designed the study to improve the students’ vocabulary retention and change the students’ opinions by encouraging them to interact with each other through vocabulary games The study was carried out in five weeks and the participants of this study were 30 students from class K7C at college X in Ha Noi

1.5 Significance of the study

The findings of this study would be significant to the teachers, the students as well as the researchers Firstly, for English teachers, this research may provide more insights on how to improve the students’ vocabulary retention Secondly, the study would serve as input for the students at a medical college in Ha Noi to be aware of medical English vocabulary They would be informed on their weaknesses so that they can devise ways to improve their vocabulary Third, for other researchers who conduct the same research, the results of the research would be expected to be a reference and contribute more information to solve the same problem In addition, the use of language games would enable students to improve their vocabulary and to use vocabulary correctly Moreover, the students would enjoy English lessons more and feel comfortable to use English vocabulary Last but not least, this study might provide recommendation for English teachers at a medical college to prepare more effective English lessons so that learners’ English vocabulary would be improved not only in classrooms but also beyond

1.6 Structure of the study

The thesis is divided into five chapter

Chapter 1 introduces the background, the problem, the aims, the scope, the

significance and the structure of the study

Chapter 2 provides the theoretical framework of the study, including medical

vocabulary, techniques in teaching medical vocabulary, types of games and roles of games in teaching medical vocabulary Besides, review of previous studies and the gap for the study are also stated

Chapter 3 demonstrates the research methods applied in the study with

details on how and why these methods were implemented in the research Besides, this chapter presents the data collected and analyzed from teacher’s diary, questionnaire as well as from the pre-tests and post-tests

Chapter 4 demonstrates the results and discussion of the study, which answer

the three research questions

Chapter 5 summarizes the main issues covered in the paper It presents the

summary of majors findings, the implications, limitations as well as suggestions for further research

References and Appendices are presented in the last part of the thesis

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter aims at providing vocabulary in general, vocabulary of medical English, techniques in teaching medical English vocabulary, kinds and roles of games in teaching medical English vocabulary Then, there comes a minute account of the previous studies

2.1 Vocabulary

2.1.1 Definition

In this part the definition of vocabulary is discussed Actually, learning vocabulary plays an important role in learning foreign language like Schmitt (1997, p.40) argues that vocabulary is a basis of the language; it is very important to be mastered first People cannot speak well and understand written materials if people do not master it He adds that no matter how successfully the sound of the foreign language is mastered, without words to express the wider range of meanings, communication is a foreign language just cannot happen in any meaningful way

Some experts provide several definitions of vocabulary Hornby (1995) states that vocabulary is the total number of words which make a language It means that vocabulary is the key to understand a foreign language When someone has a large number of vocabulary, he/she can easily express his/her idea in communication (p.959)

In line with Hornby (1995), Burn (2008) states that vocabulary means 1) all the words in a particular language, 2) all the words that a person knows

or uses, 3) a list of words with their meanings, especially in a book for learning a foreign language From the definition, it can be inferred that vocabulary is a stock of words with their meaning which makes up a language used by person, class, or profession As such, vocabulary plays an important role in learning a language because it helps learners to understand and use language correctly

In the context of education Ur (1998) claims that vocabulary can be roughly defined as the words people teach in a foreign language It means that vocabulary is a written or spoken unit of language, and can be considered as a symbol of idea in a foreign language introduced to learners If a teacher teaches new words in a foreign language, it means the teacher teaches vocabulary

The differences between the vocabualary retention and vocabulary learning is: The vocabulary retention is the definition which focuses on remembering the pronounciation and the meaning of the vocabulary while vocabulary learning

is the definition which focuses on many other factors of vocabulary as vocabulary size, vocabulary usage

In conclusion because of the context of education that vocabulary plays an important role in learning medical English, the definition of Ur (1998) is considered to be used in this study

2.1.1 Vocabulary of medical English

Medical English can be defined in terms of the distinction from other language variants and general language, as in Lankamp (1989) The vocabulary of medical English clearly belongs to a specialized professional area This means that non-professionals might not have knowledge of medical vocabulary or at least of the specialized senses of vocabulary items relevant in

a medical professional environment On the other hand, there is a certain degree of overlap with general vocabulary This raises crucial questions about specialized vocabulary and its relationship to words and terms It is very difficult for students to remember how to pronounce and how to use Medical English so using games to teach medical English is very necessary and important

2.1.2 Techniques in teaching vocabulary of medical English

Teaching medical English vocabulary is like to teach general English vocabulary It is necessary to master some important techniques

From what are mentioned by Lewis and Hill (1992: 102- 103), the researcher summerizes ten vocabulary teaching techniques

The first technique is Contrast For example, a teacher can present the meaning of the word “sick” by contrasting it with the word “healthy” students can learn two words instead of one

The second technique is Synonym Sometimes it is helpful to provide a quick synonym explanation It is helpful if a teacher says “it is similar in meaning to build up in the students’ mind the idea that language consists of choices and that words do not mean the same as each other

The third technique is Enumeration It deals with general and specific words A teacher can explain the meaning of the word “disease” by enumerating or listing various items as “pneumonia, migraine, kidney stones ”

The fourth technique is Explanation This technique can be better used with intermediate students Explaining the meaning of a medical word must include explaining any fact of word used which is relevant If a teacher explains the meaning of “a dull ache”, she has to explain that: A dull ache means “is steady and not too painful” This explaination is more often used for medical area

The fifth technique is Using a dictionary Teachers can ask students to look up the medical word in the dictionary This way provides students with practice in important learning skills, dictionary using

The sixth technique is Translation It is a quick and easy way to present the meaning of medical words, but it is not always easy to translate medical word However, there are always some medical words that need to be

translated and this technique can save a lot of time If teachers do translate medical vocabulary, they need to exemplify the medical word in context so that students will not forget it easily

The seventh technique is Using vocabulary in context If a medical word occurs in a text or passage, the meaning can often be deduced when other words in the sentence are already known This deductive process applies particularly to the use of reading passage in the medical field

The eighth technique is Creating a context This is the only way to teach the meaning of many abstract medical words by creating a context or situation from which students can then deduce the meaning

The nineth technique is Eliciting Once a context is established, the teacher can ask students what words they would expect to find or what they would expect someone to say or do in a particular situation

The tenth technique is Descriptions or definition The teacher can describe and define real objects to teach medical vocabulary or teachers can give definitions of the words which they teach

In conclusion, there are several ways of teaching medical vocabulary and these techniques can be developed into word games, which can attract students to take part in the activities in the lesson as well as motivate students

to learn medical English

2.2 Teaching vocabulary of medical English using games

2.2.1 Definition

Gibbs (1981) defines games as an activity carried out by cooperating or competing with decision-makers who want to achieve their objectives following a set of rules Games are activities that have a beginning and an end with a winner who defines the end of the game (Rixon, 1981) When playing games, learners need to have cooperation and competition against another team or players While playing, learners need to use the language and repeat

patterns which help in developing and improving their skills Players can communicate with words, use body movements and gestures in order to guarantee fun and unpredictability (Rixon, 1981)

2.2.2 Kinds of games in language teaching and learning

Different writers have different classification of games Lee (2000, p 65) classifies games into ten kinds: structure games, vocabulary games, spelling games, pronunciation games, number games, listen-and-do games, read-and-do games, games and writing, miming and role-play, and discussion game However, Mc Callum (1980, p.74) categorizes games for language learning into seven kinds: vocabulary games, number games, structure games, spelling games, conversation games, writing games, role-play and dramatics From these two writers’ division, we have five main kinds of games: vocabulary games, structure games, writing games, reading games, and games for developing speaking and listening skills Each kind of game focuses on a language component or a skill, so when choosing games, one of the factors that teachers have to consider is the aim of the lesson As mentioned above, the language games chosen in this study must serve the purpose of helping the learners recall medical vocabulary Vocabulary games were devided into three types as following:

- Vocabulary games for revision or warm up:

In this part the researcher chose some games like Lucky Numbers, Memory challenge, Bingo With the purpose of reminding students of the vocabulary they have learnt in previous lessons, these games help students to memorize the spoken and writen form of medical vocabulary These games help students start the new lesson excitedly and effectively

- Vocabulary games for concept checking

After presenting new medical vocabulary, it is very necessary to use games to revise and check the words Games as Matching, Scrambled letters, Taboo can be good to be used in this part

- Vocabulary games for practicing

In this part the researcher managed to use games as cloze excercises, puzzle, scrambled word, taboo, charades for practicing The games were applied flexibly by teachers not only with the purpose of bringing students fun and relaxation but also with the purpose of checking students’understanding about the words they have learnt

2.2.3 Role of games in vocabulary retention of medical English

Medical English leads to the exploration of medical English as a variety

of English for special purpose – in other words, to theoritical research in medical discourse focusing on such issues as lexical, linguistic, and textual investigations into medical text-types and genres, medical translation, historical and diachronic studies of medical discourse, and so on

In order to learn and retain new medical words, learners should participate in different activities in their classroom and such activities also include vocabulary games which especially focus on helping learners develop and use words in different contexts by making the lessons enjoyable Therefore, it is necessary to explore whether students learn medical vocabulary effectively through games or not and how they learn it Many experts of language teaching methodology agree that playing games is a good way to learn vocabulary, especially in communicative language teaching classes Games have been shown to have advantages and effectiveness in learning vocabulary in various ways

Firstly, using games is a good way to increase exposure to medical vocabulary which enhances students’ medical vocabulary acquisition

Learning is a process by which “information is obtained, stored, retrieved, and used” therefore teachers need to provide initial encoding of new words and then “subsequent retrieved experiences” (Rubin, 1987, p 29) Also, Bunch (2009, para 1) points out that English language learners will have the benefit

of a variety of activities which aim at increasing exposure to key vocabulary

In order for the learners to retain medical vocabulary, medical words have to

be recycled numerous times As games provide another encounter with the target words, they have the advantage of being fun, competitive, and consequently memorable (Sökmen, 1997, p 242) Using some of the games, teachers can revise a massive amount of medical vocabulary and grammar in

a few minutes Clearly, students have more chances to be exposed to medical vocabulary through games According to Hadfield (1999, p 91), in order to retain a medical word, students have to go through three distinct processes: fixing the meaning of the medical word in their mind, make the medical word their own and using the medical word to communicate with others He adds that games can help learners through these three processes It can be said that games are very effective in helping students to increase exposure to medical vocabulary

Secondly, games can maintain students’ motivation in medical vocabulary learning because they are amusing and interesting (Uberman,

1998, p 18) It is fast and easy for students to remember things in an easy, relaxing atmosphere (Uberman, 1998, p 18) Similarly, games bring in relaxation and fun for students, thus help them learn and retain new medical words more easily (Nguyen and Khuat, 2003, p 11) They also add that games usually involve friendly competition and they keep learners interested

so these create the motivation for learners of English to get involved and participate actively in the learning activities (p 11) Games also help learners

recall material in a pleasant, entertaining way (Uberman, 1998, p 20) Using games helps students relax and it also helps them remember things faster and better Furthermore, games can lower anxiety, thus making the acquisition of input more likely (Richard-Amato, 1988, p 147) As Nguyen and Khuat (2003, p 11) put it, students tend to learn and retain new vocabulary better when it is applied in a relaxing environment such as playing vocabulary games Especially, labeling and displaying pictures depicting new vocabulary

is helpful for beginners Matching words to pictures is a useful review exercise (Bunch, 2009)

Third, games can provide students with intensive and meaningful practice

of language (Wright, Betteridge, and Buckby, 2005, p 11) In fact, most vocabulary games make learners use the language instead of thinking about learning the correct forms (Lee, 1995, p 78) Hadfield (1984, p 127) shares the same view that games can provide an opportunity for real communication and bridge the game between the classroom and the real world Language games thus allow the use of meaningful and useful language which is used in real contexts (Ersoz, 2000, p 85) Language games are able to provide a chance for students

to use the language that they have learnt as well

2.2.4 Review of previous studies

In recent years, research focusing on the effectiveness of games has been conducted and discussed There are several benefits of games in teaching English vocabulary such as promoting learners’ autonomy and improving their motivation The findings from those previous studies seem relevant and useful to the present study in terms of investigating the effects of games towards learning English vocabulary

Aghlara and Hadidi- Tamjid (2011) conducted an experimental study in using a digital computer game to promote vocabulary learning of children in Iran

The participants in this study were 40 six- to seven-year-old girls with

no prior knowledge of English who were divided into two groups of experimental and control In the experimental group, they used digital game, whereas in the control group, English vocabulary was taught via traditional methods At the end of the teaching period, they compared the participants’ performances The results of the study indicated that the mean score of the children in the experimental group was higher than that of the control group This indicated the positive effect of using digital games in teaching English vocabulary to children therefore, they suggested that “Using games in young learner’s class smooths their learning because the games capture their attention and motivate them"

Similarly, Aslanabadi and Rasouli (2013) took a research to analyse the effect

of games on improving EFL vocabulary knowledge in kindergartens In this study the author aimed to find out the way to help students retain the target words The participants chosen were two kindergartens who belonged to two groups of experimental group and control group Online language teaching games were given to the experimental group whereas the control group were given regular teaching The results indicated that using games had two benefits The games both increase their participation in English activities and motivate them to further study at home

DeHaan, Reed and Kuwada (2010) undertook a research by using a music video game on second language vocabulary to demonstrate the effectiveness of video games on second language vocabulary In terms of participants, they were divided into two groups One group had 20 minutes to play an English language music video game; one group watched the game simultaneously on another monitor After that the researcher performed a vocabulary recall test, an experience questionnaire, and a two-week-postponed vocabulary recall test The results of their study showed that both the players and the watchers of the video games recalled vocabulary from the

games, but the players recalled less vocabulary than the watchers

After reviewing the previous studies, it can be seen that most of the researchers spend time researching the role of games in teaching vocabulary

in general English but not in English for special purposes while English for special purposes is clearly important for those who specialize in a particular area such as in a medical college

Chapter summary

In conclusion, chapter 2 has described the foundation of the present study Firstly, medical vocabulary in language learning was discussed Next, there was a review of using games in teaching medical English vocabulary Finally, previous studies conducted on using games in English learning were addressed The review has indicated that language games provides teachers a substantial flexibility and provides students more motivating activities Language game is advantageous to the students because the role of learners is emphasized in the process of learning Language games can be seen as the key to success in acquiring a language Regarding language games, numerous researchers advocated the effects of games in their research papers and pointed out that language games helped develop learner’s ability in learning language in general and in vocabulary in particular

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter is concerned with the research design, the settings, and the subjects of the study Besides, research instruments , research procedure, data collection procedure and data analysis procedure are also focused on

3.1 Research design

To improve students’vocabulary of medical English, the researcher uses classroom action research With the purpose of classroom action research, quantative and qualitive methods are used in the study

Nunan (1992, p.229) states that action research is a form of self-reflective inquiry carried out by practitioners Action research aims at solving problems, improving practice, or enhancing understanding He also suggests an action research procedure which includes 7 steps: Initiation, Preliminary investigation, Hypotheses, Intervention, Evaluation, Dissemination and Follow-up

Mills (2000, p.6) states that action research is any systematic inquiry conducted by teachers, principals, school counselors, or other stake holders in teaching or learning environment to gather information on how their particular schools operate, how they teach, and how well their students learn

He has presented a four-step action research process which he terms “dialectic action research spiral” which is shown in Figure 1

Figure 1: Dialectic Action Research Spiral

This model was described by Mills as teachers did research with the purpose of helping both teachers and students He also said this model was the dynamic and responsive one which can be adapted to different contexts and purposes

Meanwhile, Carr and Kemmis in Burns (1999, p.30) state that action research is simply a form of self-reflection which was undertaken by participants in social situation in order to improve their own practices

Similarly, according to the model of Kemmis and Mc Taggart in Burns (1999, p.32), the implementation of the classroom action research includes four steps: identifying problems and planning the action; implementing the action; observing the action; and reflecting the result of the observation

MacIsaac (1995) developed a simple model of the cyclical nature of the typical action research process (Figure 2) There are two cycles and each cycle has four steps: plan, action, observe and reflect

Figure 2 Simple Action Research Model (from MacIsaac, 1995: p53)

In this study, the researcher would adopt the action research model by Kemmis and Mc Taggart in Burns (1999, p.32) because the researcher recognised that this model would be fine and practical to apply to solve the problems

3.2 Settings

The study was implemented in college X located in Ha Noi The students in a medical college spent two years completing the course Each class had thirty to forty students Like many classrooms of other schools in Vietnam, the students were arranged into two rows of desks facing the teacher Besides, it is rather convenient for the students to move tables and chairs when playing games or participating in other activities

The students spent two terms studying English In the first term, they study general English, in the second term they studied medical English The study was implemented in the second term of the course and lasted more than one month The students started to learn at 7.30 a.m and finished at 11.00 a.m The time for studying English of the first-year students lasted four hours

a week, so there were two meetings which consisted of two-hour-meeting every week

3.3 Participants of the study

The participants of the research was 30 first-year students (fifteen boys, fifteen girls) in class 7C of college X They have learnt English because English was one of the compulsory subjects beside medical lessons Although students started learning English from grade 6, this was the first time they have learnt medical English, they were reported to have difficulties in medical vocabulary retention

3.4 Research instruments

In order to increase the validity and reliability of the study the researcher triangulated the research instruments by using teacher’s diary; a pre-test, a post-test and questionnaires

3.4.1 Teacher’s diary

In order to answer the first question and the second question the reseacher decided to use teacher’s diary as a tool to find out how vocabulary games helped students remember the vocabulary , use the vocabulary correctly in the lesson and what students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games are

The purpose of using teacher’s diary is to record important information

as types of games which were used to teach medical vocabulary, students’ participation and students’ retention so as the researcher could get the data to indicate whether vocabulary games helped students remember, use the vocabulary correctly in the lesson and the students had positive attitudes

towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games (see Appendix 1) This was

considered as a good tool to help support the researcher's memory and this can inspire new ideas for use in next lessons

3.4.2 Pre-test and post-test

To answer the first question about how vocabulary games helped students memorise the vocabulary for a long time, the researcher asked the students to do a test before games were used to teach medical vocabulary (pre-test) and a test after games were used to teach medical vocabulary (post-test) Then the researcher compared the scores of two tests to see the differences The tests consisted of ten questions including multiple choice

questions and open-ended questions (see Appendix 2) Actually, multiple

choice questions and open-ended questions are good ways to test participants’understanding about the use and the meaning of vocabulary This form of tests is considered to be a good way to reinforce vocabulary and allow students to encounter the vocabulary in a variety of contexts

3.4.3 Questionnaire

In order to answer the first question about how vocabulary games helped students remember and use the vocabulary correctly in the lesson and the second question about what the students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games were, the researcher exploited questionnaire during intervention Questionnaires were conducted in a simple way in order for the students to get easy to give the answers These ten questions are aimed to investigate the games’ effectiveness towards remembering and using correctly the vocabulary of the students and their attitudes towards the games used in

each lesson

The questionnaire consisted of ten questions varying in three main categories The first category dealt with the students’attitudes towards medical English exploited by the researcher The second category aimed to find out the students’attitudes towards the effectiveness of the games used in teaching the medical vocabulary The last was to reach the feeling of the

students after joining games (see Appendix 4)

3.5 Research procedure

In this study, the researcher followed the action research procedures suggested by Kemmis and Mc Taggart in Burns (1999, p.32) which included four steps: identifying problems and planning the action; implementing the action; observing the action; and reflecting the result of the observation

3.5.1 Identifying problems

Based on the observation and experience from teaching medical English at college X as well as discussions with the learners and the colleagues, the researcher found out that one of learners’ biggest problems is medical vocabulary’s retention

3.5.2 Planning the action

As stated above, medical English vocabulary was mainly focused

on in this term, so games were used with the purpose of improving students’

medical English learning Games were used for starting the lesson, checking

vocabulary and practicing the vocabulary This plan was shown in detail on

the basis of the course and briefly demonstrated as in the table in Appendix 3

(see Appendix 3) Based on the purpose of each game used in each lesson the

researcher planned to choose suitable games in order for the students to get

the most benefits There are three types of games as follows:

- Vocabulary Games for Revision or Warm up:

In this part the researcher chose some games like Lucky Numbers,

Memory challenge, Bingo With the purpose of reminding students of

vocabulary they have learnt in previous lessons, these games help students to

memorize the spoken and writen form of medical vocabulary These games

help students start the new lesson excitedly and effectively

- Vocabulary Games for Concept Checking

After presenting new medical vocabulary, it is very necessary to use

games to revise and check the words Games as Matching, Scrambled letters,

Taboo can be good to be used in this part

- Vocabulary Games for Practicing

In this part the researcher managed to use games as cloze excercises,

puzzle, scrambled word, taboo, charades for practicing The games were

applied flexibly by the teachers not only with the purpose of bringing

students fun and relaxation but also with the purpose of checking

students’understanding about the words they have learnt

The medical English lesson plans for five units (unit 1, unit 2, unit 3,

unit 4, unit 5) from English for Nurse textbook were designed focusing on

medical English vocabulary and knowledge about medical area Other techniques such as allocating time for each game, facilitating students during taking part in the games The games were also used in the lesson as follows

Table 3.1: The vocabulary teaching plan

Games for warm up

Games for concept checking

Games for practing

3.5.3 Implementing the action

Firstly the researcher grouped the students The researcher asked the students to count one and two in a sequence manner and the students with the same number would gather in the same group Next, the students could be asked to choose a name for their group to be written on the white board to record their scores In case of there was an uneven number of the student e.g five students, one group would have 3 students and the others have two Grouping techniques of this kind would help to create a cooperative and competitive atmosphere among the members of the groups

Secondly, it was important to explain the game to students in order to achieve the desired outcome and fulfill the goal behind its implementation When implementing games the researcher gave the students clear explainations and instructions about games so that the students could understand how to play and practice the medical vocabulary intended to be

learned This was considered to be an integral part because if the researcher did not explain the rules and instructions of the game, choosing games as a method to explain vocabulary to the students would be a waste of class time There would be no outcomes if the students did not know what to do and they would get bored very fast

Thirdly, the researcher monitored while the students were taking part in the game The reseacher observed and wrote down information about the students such as how actively the students join the games, the number of the students playing the games as well as the number of the students who do not play the games

Lastly, the researcher need to evaluate the games which were used in the lessons Based on the information that the researcher has just observed the researcher can find out which type of game is effective and the time when that game can be used in order for the students to get the most benefits

3.5.4 Observing the action

In order to increase the validity and the reliability, the researcher asked the students to do the post-test as well as questionnaire The post-test was given to the students to check their retention of medical vocabulary after games were used to teach the vocabulary After completing the course, the questionnaire was also given to the students in order for the researcher to see how vocabulary games helped improve students’ vocabulary retention and explore students’attitudes towards medical English when games were used in

the lessons

When implementing the games the researcher intended to focus on some important information as what types of games used in each lesson, students’ participation and students’ retention To do this successfully, the researcher divided the students into groups Each group had one leader Just

after games finished, the leader was asked to inform the researcher the number of students in the group taking part in the games and the number of vocabulary they coud remember when that game was used Just after finishing each lesson, the reseacher spent time writing the diary with the headings being: Type of game; Unit /time; Note; Students’participation; Students’retention

3.5.5 Reflecting

In order to access the learning medical English vocabulary the researcher used notes of the teacher’s diary, test, and questionnaire to see how the games affect the learning vocabulary of medical English of the students The notes of the teacher’s diary provided the researcher with the feeling of the students when they took part in the games The tests proved whether games led to the high scores of the students when the games were used or not The questionnaire provided the researcher with the students’attitudes toward learning when the games were used

Using games to teach vocabulary of medical English the researcher could recognise some positive things as well as negative things When the students were tired, games were considered to be a good tool to motivate them The students took part in the games excitedly and actively Besides, when they joined the games they had chances to practice the vocabulary, to use the vocabulary which helped them to keep the vocabulary in their mind for a long time and they also understood how to use the vocabulary correctly through the games However, there still existed the negative impact when the games were used in the lesson When the students played the games it would take time so if the teacher did not control the time, there would not be enough time for the students to learn the lesson To promote the effectiveness of the games the researcher found out that when teachers used games to teach the vocabulary, they should pay attention to how to choose the game, how to organise the game and how to control the time