Improving english vocabulary learning for students of business at hanoi university of industry (haui) through games an action research

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ LIÊN IMPROVING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR STUDENTS OF B

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LÊ THỊ LIÊN

IMPROVING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR STUDENTS OF BUSINESS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (HAUI) THROUGH

GAMES: AN ACTION RESEARCH

Nâng cao việc học từ vựng cho sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng Anh thương mại trường Đại học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội thông qua trò chơi ngôn ngữ: Nghiên cứu

hành động

MINOR M.A THESIS

FIELD : English Teaching Methodology FIELD CODE : 8140231.01

Hanoi, 2018

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LÊ THỊ LIÊN

IMPROVING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR STUDENTS OF BUSINESS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (HAUI) THROUGH

GAMES: AN ACTION RESEARCH

Nâng cao việc học từ vựng cho sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng Anh thương mại trường Đại học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội thông qua trò chơi ngôn ngữ: Nghiên cứu

hành động MINOR M.A THESIS

FIELD : English Teaching Methodology FIELD CODE : 8140231.01

SUPERVISOR : Assoc Prof Lâm Quang Đông, PhD

Hanoi, 2018

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research has been accomplished with the support and encouragement of many people Hence, I hereby would like to express my appreciation to all of them

In the first place, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor

- Assoc Prof Lâm Quang Đông, PhD for his valuable assistance and guidance throughout my research

Also, I am greatly indebted to all professors and staffs of the Faculty of Graduate Studies for their meaningful lessons and precious support thanks to which

Post-I was able to overcome obstacles during the time my research was carried out

Besides, I would like to give my whole-hearted thanks to students at Hanoi University of Industry for their enthusiastic participation in my research Without their help, I would not have been able to complete this paper

Last but not least, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my beloved family whose support and encouragement have always been a great deal of motivation that has helped me to overcome all problems to complete my thesis

Hanoi,

Lê Thị Liên

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ABSTRACT

This study was carried out in the form of an action research in which students were instructed with the use of games in their vocabulary lessons The research aimed to figure out whether the use of games in vocabulary teaching could help improve students‟ vocabulary retention In order to accomplish these purposes, 20 sophomores at Hanoi University of Industry were selected to participate in the study, which lasted eight weeks Three data collection instruments were employed, namely pre-test/post-tests, class observation and note-takings so as to gather most reliable findings for the research Findings from the tests, observation and note-takings revealed that students experienced an improvement in their vocabulary memorization throughout the eight weeks of study and the reason for the vocabulary retention progress was mainly attributed to the use of games in language classroom Benefits of using games can be listed as the deeper impression of vocabulary on students‟ memory and a more frequent exposure to vocabulary use Results from the note-takings and observation also reflected a completely positive attitude of students towards the use of games, and students claimed that games helped them have more fun and motivation in learning On this basis, useful implications for teachers‟ preparation, classroom practices and future research were proposed

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT iii

CONTENTS iv

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Organization of the thesis 2

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 3

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 3

1.1 Vocabulary learning 3

1.1.1.What is vocabulary? 3

1.1.2.What is involved in knowing a word? 3

1.1.3.Vocabulary learning and retention 4

1.2 Review on the use of games in vocabulary teaching 7

1.2.1.Definitions of language games 7

1.2.2.Language games and vocabulary acquisition retention 7

1.3.Relationship between games and vocabulary teaching/learning ……… 9

1.4 Previous research and their limitations 11

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 14

2.1 Participants and the research context 14

2.2 Research approach 15

2.2.1 Definition of action research 15

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2.2.2 The reasons of choosing action research for this study 15

2.3 Research stages 16

2.3.1 Pre-intervention stage 16

2.3.2 Intervention stage 16

2.3.3 Evaluation 20

2.4 Data collection procedure 23

2.4.1 The class observation using checklists & note-taking 23

2.4.2 Pre-test and post-test 23

2.5 Summary 24

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS 25

3.1 Data analysis and discussion 25

3.1.1.Effects of using games on students‟ vocabulary retention – findings from observation and note-taking 25

3.1.2 Effects of using games on students‟ vocabulary retention – findings from pre- and post-tests 27

3.1.3 Problems in learning English vocabulary via games and possible solutions 31

3.2 Major findings and discussion 33

3.3 Implications 34

3.4 Summary 35

PART C: CONCLUSION 36

1 Conclusions 36

2 Limitations of the study 37

3 Suggestions for further study 38

REFERENCES 39 APPENDIX A II GAMES EXPLOITED FOR TEACHING VOCABULARY II APPENDIX B VI

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OBSERVATION CHECKLIST VIAPPENDIX C VIIPRE-TEST VIIAPPENDIX D IXPOST TEST 1 IXAPPENDIX E XIPOST TEST 2 XILIST OF VOCABULARY XIII

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LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: The vocabulary teaching plan 17

Table 2: Scores of pre-test, post-test 1 and post-test 2 28

Figure 2: The overall mean score of students‟ pre-test and post-test 1 29

Figure 3: The overall mean score of students‟ pre-test, post-test 1 and post-test 2 30

A vast amount of teaching time in a vocabulary lesson is spent on explaining, defining, students compiling page upon page of word lists that they rarely have opportunity to practice Obviously, vocabulary arises in the classroom regardless of the chosen activity, and in spite of any conscious design on the teacher‟s part As a result, students only think of vocabulary learning as knowing the primary meaning

of new words In addition, the students‟ ability to use English for communication is still limited, especially for secondary school students They can have a fairly good knowledge of grammar but hardly express themselves properly because of shortage

of vocabulary and communicative competence That is why, for most students, learning vocabulary in language lesson is a time of failure and disappointment in which they gradually feel bored and gradually reject the work that the teacher is doing for them

ESP (English for Specific Purposes) is considered hard to teach for language teachers As a teacher of English for Business English, I myself find many difficulties in teaching vocabulary Motivated by the idea of finding stimulating activities to help students learn vocabulary, with the goal to create a context for vocabulary acquisition in the classroom, I believe that games may be of some help

In the field of language teaching, games have been proved to be beneficial to students‟ learning process and help stimulate learners with a motivating environment All the above-mentioned reasons have inspired me to conduct an

action research entitled “Improving English vocabulary learning for students of Business English at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUi) through games: An action research”

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2 Aims of the study

The major aim of the research is to justify whether the use of games in vocabulary teaching can help improve students‟ English vocabulary retention Moreover, the researcher can find difficulties that her students have to face with, particularly difficulties in teaching and learning ESP vocabulary via games Then possible solutions are offered to solve these problems so that learners can improve their English vocabulary learning and become confident when expressing their ideas

4 Scope of the study

The research only focuses on a limited target population and vocabulary, including ESP vocabulary In terms of vocabulary, the study focuses on student‟s knowledge

of the meanings, forms and usage of English including business English The target population is second year students studying Business English at Hanoi University of Industry

5 Organization of the thesis

The thesis is composed of three parts: Part A, Part B, and Part C Part A –

Introduction introduces the rationale, aims and objectives as well research questions

of the study Part B – Development includes two chapters: Chapter 1 Literature

review presents the theoretical foundations for the whole study and Chapter 2 – Methodology elaborates on the participants, the methodology and methods, the data collection procedure and data analysis including the tests, class observation and

note-taking Part C – Conclusion summarizes all the major points in the study, the

limitations of the study and proposes suggestions for further research

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Vocabulary learning

1.1.1 What is vocabulary?

So far there have been a lot of definitions of vocabulary Vocabulary is defined as words in a specific language or freestanding items of language that have meaning Besides, vocabulary is broadly defined as knowledge of words and word meanings (Lehr et al., 2004) According to Lehr et al., vocabulary is more complicated than this definition suggests Words not only come in oral forms which include the words that can be recognized and used in listening and speaking, but also in print forms of reading and writing In addition, word knowledge also comes in two forms: receptive and productive Receptive vocabulary refers to words that can be recognized in reading and listening Productive vocabulary indicates words that can

be used in speaking and writing (Lehr et al., 2004) Therefore, vocabulary is understood as knowledge of word spelling, pronunciation, collocations and appropriateness (Nation, 1990)

As discussed above, vocabulary can be seen in many different ways Vocabulary refers to words or a set of words in a language or knowledge of words regarding its forms, meanings and how to use it accurately in the context In other words, vocabulary refers to the words, compounds and idioms in a language that can be used to convey and receive information in oral and written communication

1.1.2 What is involved in knowing a word?

When it comes to vocabulary, it surely is the first step toward learning a foreign language A sentence is usually made up of numerous words Without any concepts

of grammar, learners may guess the meaning of a sentence if the vocabulary is comprehensible to them Likewise, learners of a foreign language are likely to get their messages across by putting all the words together, even though not in a grammatical, correct order Therefore, vocabulary serves as the foundation for

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language learners in communication However, mastering numerous vocabulary lists to use in communication is not always easy for language learners For some students, vocabulary has always been one of the obstacles that hinder their English learning Learners may have different problems in learning vocabulary Some are capable of recognizing the word in reading but fail to spell it out Some are able to spell the word out in writing, yet they mispronounce the word in speaking Still, others can say the word and spell it out perfectly, but surprisingly, they may not know the meaning of the word

In order to know a new word, students need to take great efforts Nation (2001) pointed out that in order to know a word, many aspects are involved Nation distinguished vocabulary knowledge into receptive and productive The former refers to the ability to understand a word while listening or reading The latter means the ability to use a word in speaking or writing Sun (2007) introduced an idea that vocabulary gaining develops along a linear continuum, and that the concept denies the dichotomy that vocabulary knowledge is either known or unknown On both ends of the continuum is one‟s receptive vocabulary knowledge

as well as one‟s productive knowledge

1.1.3 Vocabulary learning and retention

One of the significance in vocabulary learning process is not always students‟ comprehending word meaning or spelling, but vocabulary retention Retention is defined as “the ability to retain facts and figures in memory” Vocabulary retention,

in a similar way, can be referred to as the storage of vocabulary in memory, which becomes available for usage when needed The efficiency of vocabulary learning can be measured by the extent to which students can remember the words that they have already learned to apply in the productive or receptive language learning Important as it is, it is worth spending time figuring out the factors that can affect students‟ vocabulary retention

According to different researchers, retention of vocabulary is affected by three following factors: memory, language exposure and effective vocabulary learning strategies There is a close relationship among these three factors

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Memory

Nation (1990) categorized memory into short-term and long-term memory

According to this researcher, short-term memory is often referred to as the ability to process and remember information at the same time It holds a small amount of information, typically no more than 7 items in mind in an active, readily-available state for a short period of time (typically from 10 to 15 seconds, or sometimes up to

a minute)

Long-term memory is intended for storage of information over a long period of time Unlike short-term memory, which is limited in capacity, long-term memory is seemingly inexhaustible and can accommodate any amount of new information Despite our everyday impressions of forgetting, it seems likely that long-term memory actually decays very little over time, and can store a seemingly unlimited amount of information almost indefinitely

It can be seen that in order to retain knowledge as much as possible, foreign language learners need all the information of the language that they learned to be transferred into long-term memory The question is how it can happen? The answer

is that short-term memories can become long-term memory through the process of consolidation, involving rehearsal and meaningful association Unlike short-term memory (which relies mostly on an acoustic, and to a lesser extent a visual, code for storing information), long-term memory encodes information for storage semantically (i.e based on meaning and association) In other words, the main way

of transferring from short-term memory to long-term memory is by finding some pre-existing information in the long-term memory to attach the new information to Nation (1990) proved that it is impossible to expect students to acquire a word only after one or two times seeing that word, but at least 5 to 16 times of exposure is needed to help students acquire a word In addition, Gairns and Redman (1986) have concluded that for the first time of exposure to new words, students will take those words into their short-term memory The vocabulary will “fall into disuse if it

is not activated regularly” Thornbury (2002) also shares the same opinion, claiming

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that 80% of materials are lost within 24 hours of initial learning This is true in both the short term (e.g from lesson to lesson) and in the long term (e.g after the whole course) In other words, if we do not revise and practice the knowledge that we learnt, it will soon disappear Therefore, it can be concluded that after being introduced to students, the vocabulary can only be restored in students‟ short-term memory, and will soon fade away if the process of consolidation, involving rehearsal and meaningful association does not take place

Language exposure

While the term memory more often refers to later storage and retrieval of information, language exposure refers more to processes in the initial acquisition or encoding of information There are many situations that a learner can discover the meaning of a new word or phrase such as: through the written text, through hearing

it used, or through other members‟ explanations However, it can hardly be certain that those vocabulary items and their meanings will be remembered as getting to know the meaning of a new vocabulary item is not the same as remembering that meaning

Effective vocabulary learning strategies

Vocabulary learning strategies is the third factor contributing to vocabulary retention Language teachers have been placing great emphasis on teaching English vocabulary However, the results of mastering vocabulary are not desirable, because words sometimes can be forgotten very easily and won‟t last long Therefore, it is of great necessity to adopt effective vocabulary learning strategies Like general learning strategies, English vocabulary learning strategies include those techniques that help learners remember what they have learned - their storage and retention of new information

It is important that language teacher is well aware of the factors that affect students‟ vocabulary retention and the characteristics of the teaching context so as to have suitable teaching methods to improve it

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1.2 Review on the use of games in vocabulary teaching

1.2.1 Definitions of language games

According to Toth (1995), a game is an activity with rules, a goal and an element of fun Games are often thought that they mean fun and enjoyable Some people may get confused by the two notions „game‟ and „play‟ Actually, they do not really refer

to the same thing but that a game consists of play governed by rules In short, games are activities with certain goals or objectives, rules and contest either between players or between players and goal Moreover, games also bring fun And that is games in general What about language games?

In general, language games mean games related to language If games help to improve different aspects such as intellectual ability, patience, then language games help to develop language skills When playing the games, students not only have fun but can also practice English, which helps to motivate students Therefore, language games are both useful and enjoyable and can be regarded as an effective tool in teaching and learning languages or English in particular In order to get more understand about „game‟, types of games are researched

1.2.2 Language games and vocabulary acquisition/retention

Many researchers agree that language games do have a role to play in vocabulary acquisition With the use of games, the teacher can create various contexts in which students have to use the language to communicate, exchange information and express their own ideas Stressing the role of games in vocabulary teaching and learning, Huang (1996, p 1, as cited in Nguyen & Khuat, 2003) claims that

“learning through games could encourage the operation of certain psychological and intellectual factors which could facilitate communication, heightened self-esteem, motivation and spontaneity, reinforcing learning, improving intonation and building confidence.”

Language games have many advantages in vocabulary teaching and learning Firstly, games can motivate learners by bringing relaxation and fun to classes They can help lower student‟s anxiety, make them comfortable and want to learn more

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Uberman (1998) showed that those students who practiced vocabulary activity with games felt more motivated and interested in what they are doing Hansen (1994, p.118, as cited in Uberman, 1998) also presents that games can provide shy students with more chance to express their opinions and feeling Secondly, games can provide language practice Lee (1995) and Marion McPherson (2006) agree that games allow the students to practice the language point being taught Sharing the same view, Wright, et al (1996, pp3-4) adds that “games can give practice in all the skills, in all the stages of the teaching and learning sequence and for many types of communication” Further support comes from Zdybiewska (1994, p.6), who believes games to be a good way of practicing language, for they provide a model

of what learners will use the language for in real life in the future Thirdly, games can improve students‟ retention According to Wierus and Wierus (1994, p.218, as cited in Uberman, 1998), games in vocabulary teaching help students memorize words faster and better in a comfortable environment Nguyen & Khuat (2003) also agree that games can assist students to learn more quickly and retain the learned materials better Next, games encourage learners to interact and communicate Zimmerman (1997) emphasizes that communicative and interact activities can lead

to better word learning In fact, when taking part in games, learners have to talk to express or exchange their ideas with their partners Moreover, through interaction with others, they can help each other on the meaning of unfamiliar works, including new vocabulary items (Nation and Newton, 1997, p 244) This is a good opportunity for learners to have exposures to the new items during the course of activity that serves to generate better input In summary, games are of great use and effectiveness that should be applied in vocabulary classes The use of games in vocabulary teaching makes lessons more interesting, enjoyable as well as effective However, in order to gain the most from vocabulary games, it is necessary to choose suitable games Whenever a game is to be organized, teachers should take the factors such as students‟ level, the number of students, cultural context, timing, learning topic and the class setting into consideration (Nguyen & Khuat, 2003)

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Hadfield (1996) explains two ways of classifying language games First, language games are divided into two types: linguistic games and communicative games Linguistic games focus on accuracy, such as supplying the correct antonym On the other hand, communicative games focus on successful exchange of information and ideas, such as two people identifying the differences between their two pictures which are similar to one another but not exactly alike Correct language usage, though still important, is secondary to achieving the communicative goal

The second taxonomy that Hadfield uses to classify language games has many more categories With the classification of games as linguistic games or communicative games, some games will contain elements of more than one type such as sorting, ordering, arranging games, guessing games, matching games, labeling games, exchanging games

Nevertheless, as for teachers of English, games may be advisable to be used to help practice And they would be: games for grammar, games for vocabulary, games for spelling, games for listening, games for speaking, games for pronunciation, games for reading, games for writing and games for integrating skills In brief, the most crucial factor for the teacher is to base himself on the content of the lesson to decide whether to incorporate games in this or that part of the lesson

1.2.3 Relationship between games and vocabulary teaching/learning

Games play a role in the classroom They familiarize students with a language They give students a chance to feel comfortable using it, and make lessons more enjoyable Then how games can, with all their connotations of “fun” and “play”, be put to serious pedagogic use in the language classroom?

To begin with, we must be clear what we mean when we use the word “games” Is it

a “fun” activity intended to bring a bit variety to the class and change of pace of learning but little else? Alternatively, do games also have a more serious application

in the classroom? Hadfield (1987) has given out the relationship between games and language teaching as follows:

“Games should be regarded as an integral part of the language syllabus, not as an

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amusing activity for Friday afternoon or for the end of term They provide, in many cases, as much concentrated practice as a traditional drill and, more importantly, they provide an opportunity for real communication, albeit within artificial defined limits, and thus constitute a bridge between the classroom and the real world” (Hadfield, 1987)

This suggests that the most useful place for games is the free stage of the traditional progression from presentation and practice to free communication: to be used as a culmination of the lesson, as a chance for students to use the language they have learnt freely and as a means to an end rather than an end itself They can also serve

a diagnostic tool for the teacher, who can note areas of difficulties and take appropriate remedial action

“Games also help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful” (Wright, 1992) The need for meaningfulness in language teaching has been accepted for some years Games are a convenient, effective environment in order to provide intense and meaningful practice of language Then they must be regarded as central to “a teacher‟s repertoire” They are thus not “for use solely on wet days and at the end of term” (Wright, 1992)

The writer stands for Wright (1992) about the idea that games can be used to give practice in all the skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking, in all the stages of the teaching – learning sequence: presentation, repetition, recombination, and free use of language and for many types of communication, e.g encouraging, agreeing, guessing, and explaining

This proves that language games play a necessary part in students‟ acquisition in their learning Language games are stimulating activities to introduce new material,

to practice recently learnt language items, “to introduce or practice certain themes,

or to relax or energize a class” (Lewis and Bedson, 1999)

All in all, the application of games in language teaching is an excellent idea of teachers and educational specialists because games are means of communication and they require the players to use their language correctly

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1.3 Previous research and their limitations

To date, globally, as seen in previous sections, different studies on the use of games

in vocabulary teaching have been conducted

In the country, however, not many of them are found Among these few, the thesis

by Do Thi Thu Ha (2010) “Using language games to improve students‟ retention of ESP vocabulary at Nam Dinh College of construction” is interesting and relevant to

my current research Her study proves the effectiveness of language games in students‟ retention of ESP vocabulary in their short term memory However, as she applied the quasi-experimental method, 10 weeks seemed to be insufficient for an experiment to produce more persuasive results Should the time budget have been lengthened, the outcomes of subjects would be more convincing Moreover, the number of students in each group was too large Thus, it was difficult for the researcher to manage the class Had the class size been smaller, the result of the study would have been more accurate as well In addition, in the study the author just listed the names of the games and the way to conduct them, but she didn‟t show the vocabulary she taught, so there is no evidence if the games were highly suitable Hence, students‟ excitement decreased to a certain extent, as expressed in her paper Another drawback of this research is that the subjects were not randomly assigned samples Yet the choice of this sampling method can be justifiied by its convenience since it was really not feasible to conduct a true experimental research in the context

of the college

The research on “Teaching vocabulary through language games to the 1st year English major students at Nghe An Junior Teachers Training College” (Bui Thi Thuy, 2010) revealed that the benefits that vocabulary games bring about such as providing opportunities to improve listening and speaking skills, creating relaxing and interesting atmosphere Nevertheless, in her research, she employed survey questionnaire Technically, this method could not lead to sufficiently convincing results The questions focused on the following points: teachers and students‟ perspectives towards using language games in teaching and learning vocabulary;

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teacher‟s current ways of using games in teaching vocabulary Observations and interviews were applied, but the progresses as well as students‟ long-term and short term memory after using games were not measured

“Improving learning English vocabulary through games: An Action research” (Vu Phuong Thao, 2011) is another thesis concerning the same topic as mine I highly agree with the author that 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 Constant effort is required to understand, produce and manipulate the target language To realize this situation, teachers are supposed to find out teaching ways that are responsive to students‟ needs and wants The study, in that light, showed students‟ partial improvement in learning English vocabulary through language games The study is conducted in the form of an action research using pretests, post tests and survey questionnaire to collect data Then, the data from tests were exploited to find out the improvement in students‟ vocabulary The data from survey questionnaire were used to find out students‟ attitude towards language games and provide factors that should be considered by teachers when using games to teach vocabulary However, this study also contains some negative points The research was carried out over only a five week period, with thirty periods included in the five-week study During a lesson of 90 minutes, only 20 to 30 minutes was spent on vocabulary work This had been too short time

to come to a general conclusion on how to teach vocabulary effectively to year-old students Perhaps if the research process could be lengthened, the results of the study would be more certain and comprehensive Moreover, in the research, the author didn‟t mention the lists of vocabulary that she taught either, so it is hard to conclude whether the language games used were suitable and interesting

thirteen-To sum up, I highly appreciate these studies, thanks to which I can find what I can

do with this study, hoping to address the drawbacks found therein In my research, the major aim of the research is to justify whether the use of games in vocabulary

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teaching can help improve students‟ English vocabulary retention Moreover, the researcher can find difficulties that her students have to face with, particularly difficulties in teaching and learning ESP vocabulary via games Then possible solutions are offered to solve these problems so that learners can improve their English vocabulary learning and become confident when expressing their ideas The research only focuses on a limited target population and vocabulary, including ESP vocabulary In terms of vocabulary, the study focuses on student‟s knowledge of the meanings, forms and usage of English, including business English The target population is second year students studying Business English at Hanoi University of Industry

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 Participants and the research context

The participants of the study were 20 students at Hanoi University of Industry Those are the 2nd year students, who are currently studying English for Specific Purposes (ESP) at the university They are expected to have reached the pre-intermediate level in English proficiency It is compulsory for students at HaUi to complete the two courses on general English in the first two terms of their University before proceeding to the ESP course The ESP course includes 30 face-to-face hours and 60 self-study hours The main focus of the course is on vocabulary related to student‟s major, together with the structures that can be applied to communicate or make presentations on the major-related issues The content covered in the ESP course consists of eight different themes, namely:

1 Office supplies, in which students are required to be able to define office supplies and furniture; and describe their ideal workplace;

2 Office machinery, in which students can name common office machinery and describe their functions;

3 Departments, in which students are expected to name department and job positions;

4 Company background, in which students are taught to describe general features related to a company;

5 Making and changing arrangements, in which students are required to be able to make conversations to arrange and change an appointment;

6 What‟s wrong?, in which students can describe problems at work;

7 Business plan, in which students are taught to describe their future business plan;

8 Company benefits, in which students are expected to define some benefits related to a company

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2.2 Research approach

2.2.1 Definition of action research

In order to reach the aims, the study was carried out with an action research method According to Watts (1985), action research is a process in which participants examine their own educational practice systematically and carefully, using the techniques of research It is based on the following assumptions:

• Teachers and principals work best on problems they have identified for themselves

• Teachers and principals become more effective when encouraged to examine and assess their own work and then consider ways of working differently

• Teachers and principals help each other by working collaboratively

• Working with colleagues helps teachers and principals in their professional development

In addition, Bassey (1998:93) describes “action research as an enquiry which is

carried out in order to understand, to evaluate and then to change, in order to improve educational practice” Similarly, Winter and Munn-Giddings (2001:8)

assert that action research is a “study of a social situation carried out by those

involved in that situation in order to improve both their practice and the quality of their understanding, captures the essence of the philosophy underlying the action research approach”

2.2.2 The reasons of choosing action research for this study

Action research provides better practice than theory for teachers to apply into

a specific class or course; therefore, to develop the teaching and learning in a particular class room, teachers or educational practitioners should make an action research In another words, it requires teachers take an impact into their teaching to make a positive result This result is more practical and valuable than observing or analyzing‟s result Moreover, each class has different context with its own problem depending on the level of the learners, the goal of the course or learners‟ motivation To improve the learners‟ English ability, teachers need to study in their own classes to find out the problems as well as suggest solutions to solve them

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With that desire, the researcher has the purpose of enhancing her own students‟ English vocabulary learning for students of Business English and the study is made to decide the effectiveness of using games in improving students‟ English vocabulary learning in her class and make a decision on how to utilize them efficiently The author believes that the improvement of students in memorizing vocabulary of Business English is positive and gives pupils a motivation to learn English better and love learning English than before

2.3 Research stages

2.3.1 Pre-intervention stage

Firstly, to identify the problem, before the study is conducted, the author observed some classes of other teachers and in her class and she took note some difficulties that the students had encountered when they learnt the vocabulary of Business English As a result, the researcher found that in lessons of learning vocabulary students often felt bored when vocabulary was taught through translation approach With this approach, teachers wrote on the black board or read the new words, then gave them its meaning After that pupils applied the understanding of these words to

do task reading, listening and speaking Actually, students couldn‟t remember what they are taught after the class Hence, the author thought about motivation for students in lessons of learning vocabulary in her class via games Moreover, the researcher asked students to do a pre-test which contained the knowledge of the 4 first units, and then she used that result to evaluate the improvement of her students compared with the result of the two post-tests

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Due to the fact that vocabulary is a means to help students do tasks reading,

listening, writing and speaking In this study, vocabulary was often presented within

fifteen to twenty minutes before students started reading, listening and speaking

After that, when the students finished their tasks, they might have enough time for

practice vocabulary However, they sometimes did not have enough time for

practice and this was left out Similarly, vocabulary revision or warm-up took place

on another day so that the students could activate their memory before starting

another lesson The vocabulary teaching plan was set up on the basis of the course

and briefly demonstrated as in the following table

Table 1: The vocabulary teaching plan

2 2 Slap the Board WB: cloze exercise Telephone game

3 3 Word matching WB: cloze exercise Scrambled words

Where WB: cloze exercise Stepping - stone

Remember WB: cloze exercise

Crosses

6 6 Word matching WB: cloze exercise Telephone game

7 7 What and where WB: cloze exercise Scrambled words

8 8 Slap the board WB: cloze exercise Lucky number

2.3.2.1 Vocabulary games for checking

In this research, after all new words were first presented to students, and then games

were used to check vocabulary students had learned in order to help them memorize

new words For example, “Memorizing” game was played with the class divided

into groups Each group had a certain time to look at a picture which was about

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games related to the new words, then pronounced the words correctly and they would get one point The group that had the most points was the winner An example used as “Vocabulary checking for unit 1” is provided in Appendix 1 In

“Slap the board” game, the teacher put the new words all over the blackboard – not

in a list After that, the teacher called two students from two teams to the front of the class and stood at equal distance from the blackboard Next, she spoke up one of the new words The two students had to run forward and slap the word on the blackboard and spoke aloud The one who slapped the correct word first was the winner Another game was used to check students‟ instant memory was “Word matching” This task was used for group work so as to motivate the students and to make a competition in class Word-matching competition was used for vocabulary checking Students were asked to match the words or phrases with their definitions The quickest pair or group to finish the task was chosen to be the champion of the class An example used as “Vocabulary checking for unit 3” is provided in Appendix 1 With “What and where” game, the teacher elicited the new words to the students but not wrote them in a list The teacher wrote each of word on the blackboard inside a circle When all the words were on the blackboard, the teacher rubbed out one of the words but did not rub out the circle Students were asked to repeat the word including the rubbed-out word by pointing at the empty circles This task was continued until all the circles were empty At the moment, students had to remember all the words The teacher divided class into groups and asked them to come to the blackboard and filled in the circles with the correct words After presenting or eliciting the new vocabulary and building up a list on the blackboard, the teacher used “Rub out and remember” game to check their understanding about the new words She wrote down the new words on the blackboard with their Vietnamese meanings, and then asked students to close their notebooks The teacher rubbed out the new words one at a time Each time the teacher rubbed out a word in English, pointed to the Vietnamese translation and asked “What‟s this in English?” When all the English words were rubbed out, the

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teacher went through the Vietnamese list and got the students to call out the English word Lastly, the teacher called students from two teams to come to the blackboard and wrote the English words again

2.3.2.2 Vocabulary games for practice

To practice the vocabulary that they had just learnt, students were given handouts with cloze exercises They might be asked to work in individually, pairs or groups

in order to create a competitive atmosphere and excited attitude in learning process The teacher could encourage those who did the task the most quickly and correctly

2.3.2.3 Vocabulary games for revision or warm-up

With the aim of making students remember and memorize the words and how to use them, the revision was mainly tasks that reminded students of such things In this part, students played games like Lucky Numbers, Telephone game, Scrambled words, Stepping-stone, and Noughts and Crosses Such games and some other types

of group work brought a very exciting atmosphere in the class The “Lucky numbers” game is played with the class divided into two groups There are twenty numbers (from 1 to 20) on the slide Two groups choose the number they like in turns, and each number may be a question, a lucky number, a losing point, or an exchange point The group opens the number with a question, they have to answer

it, if the answer is correct they get 1 point, if it‟s wrong the other group have a chance to get point “Lucky number” means they do not have to answer, they get one point They will lose all their points if they open the number with losing point They can exchange their point with their opponent In the end of the game, the team with the most points was the winner Next, the author chose the “Telephone game to help her students to revise the new words This game was played with the class divided into two groups and made two lines The teacher whispered a word in the students‟ ears of the two groups who was standing at the end of the lines She/he then whispered that in the next student‟s ear and so on until the last student She/he run quickly to the board and wrote down the word to see if it was the same as the original message After the game, the teacher checked their result The group with

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more correct words was the winner Another game the teacher applied in her lesson was “Scrambled words” game This game is a very popular game used for English language teaching The teacher exploited this game for vocabulary revision with students working in groups, trying to rearrange the letters as quickly as possible to make the words For each word, the faster group got a point and at the end of the game, the group with the most points was the winner Another game was effective

in helping learners revise the vocabulary that they had learnt was “Stepping-stone” This type of task is exploited for vocabulary revision It was designed according to

task created by W.R.Lee, in the book Language Teaching Games, second revised

edition It could be used during vocabulary revision or warm-up stage for pair work and group work, but preferably not for individual work In this task, a river (said: with full of crocodiles or other dangerous creatures) is drawn on the board and the task is to cross it by the stepping-stones Students were required to spell the words, and then speak out For each stone a word had to be spelt If it was spelt correctly it was printed on the stone; if incorrectly, it was not written and the team made no progress An example quoted from “Vocabulary revision for unit 2” is provided in Appendix 1 In “Noughts and Cross” game, the class was divided into two groups One had the name as X (cross) and the other was O (nought) They were presented

on a table with 9 numbered squares For each square there was a question and if they can answer the question correctly, they won put their group‟s name (X or O) in that square The first group with their names in three aligned squares (either vertically or horizontally or diagonally) was the winner The answer was only one word which they study in the previous lesson

2.3.3 Evaluation

In order to answer the research question, which aims at finding out to what extent the use of games can improve students‟ vocabulary retention; the researcher employed the two different data collection instruments, namely the vocabulary tests, class observation and note taking

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2.3.3.1 Observation & note-taking

According to Dalhberg and McCaig (2010), observation is a popular research method in action research, especially in school setting in which the action and behaviors of learners are inspected It can include the participation of the researcher

or the involvement of the independent observer who is supposed to directly witness the research settings

In this study, to ensure the objectivity of the data and to collect viewpoint from various informants, the researcher was fortunate to have the observation done with the participation of an independent observer who was also an English teacher at Hanoi University of Industry Observation was conducted in all lessons throughout the eight weeks of the study and was based on a detailed checklist (See appendix A B) The checklist was designed which illustrated the specific criteria on which the observer could base to observe students‟ vocabulary retention as a whole group as well as their attitudes towards vocabulary learning Each of the lessons was observed basing on such criteria as students‟ retention of previously-learnt vocabulary and immediate memorization of vocabulary, their engagement and level

of interest, etc The observer was supposed to attend the lessons from the beginning until the end, do the observation and take as detailed notes as possible so that the researcher could base on that to have a precise analysis and evaluation

Normally in Vietnam, class observation occurs when there needs to be an evaluation

of students‟ learning or teacher‟s teaching The results of the observation usually have either positive or negative impact on teachers if the lessons receive good or bad feedback Therefore, at the presence of an observer in class, students often feel quite tense as they are under the pressure of performing well for fear that their performance, if poor, may affect their teacher In order to avoid unnatural behaviors of students when there is the presence of an observer, it was informed to students in advance that a teacher would come to make class observation Students were also clarified about the purpose of the observation, which aimed to collect data

to serve the purpose of doing research, and not for the aims of evaluating students‟ level or teacher‟s performance during the lesson

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By observing and taking note techniques, the author could not only find the significant benefits of games to vocabulary learning of Business English, but difficulties during the learning stage that students had to face The teacher wrote down effectiveness of the games, how enthusiastic students engaged in the lessons and after that find out how many words students could understand and remember and especially the researcher took note the improvement of students during the course Besides, the researcher noted down the problems that her students encountered in learning Business English vocabulary via games and offer some appropriate solutions

2.3.3.2 Pre-test and post-test

The study took place in 8 weeks and was divided into two different phases Phase 1 lasted 4 weeks and phase 2 continued for another 4 weeks The reason for dividing the study into two phases was to examine the vocabulary retention of students in both short-term and long-term one Results after the first phase of the first four weeks reflected students‟ short-term memorization of new words, while the retention of vocabulary was justified after the second phase, or after eight weeks Students were required to take the three tests, one pre-test at the beginning of the innovation, one post-test in week 4 after the first phase and the second post-test in week 8 after the second phase

The three tests were designed to be similar to one another in terms of task types, allotted time and numbers of the tasks The pre-test was assigned to students before the research started The items tested in the pre-test were the vocabulary that students learnt from the four previous weeks The two post-tests were conducted during the process of the research, in which the first post-test was delivered after the research went for four weeks The first post-test examined students‟ memorization

of the vocabulary learnt during the first four weeks when the use of games was applied in teaching vocabulary The second post-test was administered to students

in week 8, the final week of the study, which tested how much vocabulary students could remember during the eight-week process The content of the second post-test

The vocabulary tests were marked and the scores of each test were compared to see whether there was any improvement in students‟ vocabulary acquisition Data gathered from vocabulary tests helped the researcher to answer the research question of whether the use of games could help develop students‟ vocabulary retention

2.4 Data collection procedure

2.4.1 The class observation using checklists & note-taking

The class observation was conducted in all lessons during the eight weeks of the study with the view to finding out about students‟ progress in vocabulary retention and students‟ attitudes towards the use of games in vocabulary lessons… At the end

of the study, there were eight observation checklists collected Each criterion of observation in the checklist was processed, compared and analyzed Moreover, during teaching process, the author took important notes about difficulties her students faced in ESP vocabulary learning and then could offer some effective approaches

2.4.2 Pre-test and post-test

The pre-test was delivered in the first week of the study, then the first post-test in week 4 and the second post-test in week 8 The three tests had the same format and time allotment, and were delivered at the beginning of the lesson to ensure that the tests were performed in the same setting Besides, the pre-test and the first post-test still remained the same content To guarantee the accurate results of the scoring, all the tests were scored independently by two different raters, one was the researcher and the other was a teacher of Hanoi University of Industry Marking rubrics were informed to raters to make sure the grading was consistent