Enhancing english electrical vocabulary for students of electrical department at ha noi college of technology and economics an action research project

HA NOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ---o0o--- MAI ANH ENHANCING ENGLISH ELECTRICAL VOCABULARY FOR ST

HA NOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-o0o -

MAI ANH

ENHANCING ENGLISH ELECTRICAL VOCABULARY FOR STUDENTS OF ELECTRICAL DEPARTMENT AT HANOI COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICS: AN ACTION

RESEARCH PROJECT

(TĂNG CƯỜNG VỐN TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH ĐIỆN CHO SINH VIÊN KHOA ĐIỆN CỦA TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG CÔNG NGHỆ VÀ KINH TẾ HÀ NỘI: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG)

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Hanoi, 2016

HA NOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-o0o -

MAI ANH

ENHANCING ENGLISH ELECTRICAL VOCABULARY FOR STUDENTS OF ELECTRICAL DEPARTMENT AT HANOI COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICS: AN ACTION

RESEARCH PROJECT

(TĂNG CƯỜNG VỐN TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH ĐIỆN CHO SINH VIÊN KHOA ĐIỆN CỦA TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG CÔNG NGHỆ VÀ KINH TẾ HÀ NỘI: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG)

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Dương Thi ̣ Nu ̣

Hanoi, 2016

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled

“ENHANCING ENGLISH ELECTRICAL VOCABULARY FOR STUDENTS

OF ELECTRICAL DEPARTMENT AT HANOI COLLEGE OF

TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICS: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT”

is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Language and International Studies, Vietnam Nation University, Hanoi I have fully documented references to the work of others The thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution

Hanoi 2016

Mai Anh

Second, I am thankful to lecturers and staff s of the faculty of Post-Graduate Studies for their valuable lessons as well as the good training environment and condition in order to help me and others finish the course well

My special thanks also to all my students for their willingness to joint my study This thesis could not have been fulfilled without their help

Last but not least, I would like to send my special thanks to my family, especially my father, my husband and my children, who encourage and share the hardship with me

This study was carried out at Hanoi College of Technology and Economics

as an action research project with aim at enhancing students‟ vocabulary of Electrical English The techniques applied include creativity, which means using pictures, context clues and guessing meaning of words in context The study aims

at, first, finding the vocabulary learning problems that learners are encountering; second, assessing the changes in positive direction of students‟ vocabulary acquisition with the enhancing English Electrical vocabulary plan; and finally, gathering students‟ attitudes towards the enhancing English Electrical vocabulary plan In order to accomplish the study, the instruments of data collection varied from small talk, pre-test, post-test to a questionnaire The results of small talk and pretest discovered two problems students were facing with learning vocabulary namely dictionary application and lack of techniques The results from the pre-test and post-test helped to demonstrate that the techniques were effective and students vocabulary was improved as indicated in the post-test score Finally, the data received from questionnaire show the students‟ positive attitude towards the enhancing English Electrical vocabulary plan

Based on the result of the study, some suggestions for a further study are

recommended

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Candidates‟ statement i

Acknowledgement ii

Abstract iii

List of tables and abbreviations vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Significance of the study 2

4 Research questions 2

5 Method of the study 3

6 Scope of the study 3

7 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Vocabulary in ESL teaching and learning 5

1.1.1 Definiton 5

1.1.2 The importantce of vocabulary in teaching and learning 5

1.2 Vocabulary in ESP teaching and learning 6

1.2.1 The concept of the ESP 6

1.2.2 Vocabulary teaching in ESP 7

1.3 Enhancing ESP vocabulary teaching 9

1.3.1 Learning vocabulary through creativity 10

1.3.2 Learning vocabulary through context clues 12

1.3.3 Learning vocabulary through guessing 14

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHOOLOGY 16

2.1 Situation analysis 16

2.1.1 Participants 16

2.1.3 Materials 17

2.1.4 Implementation of action research 18

2.2 Data collection instruments 20

2.2.1 A small talk 20

2.2.2 Tests 21

2.2.3 Questionnaire 22

2.3 Data collection procedure 22

2.4 Interpretation of data 24

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 26

3.1 Research question 1 26

3.1.1 Ressult from small talk 26

3.1.2 Ressult from pre-test 27

3.2 Research question 2 28

3.3 Reearch question 3 30

3.3.1 Students‟ attitudes toward enhancing EEV 30

3.3.2 Students‟ preference toward vocabulary practicing activities 33

3.3.3 Students‟ expectations in term of methodology 34

PART C: CONCLUSION 37

1 Recapitulation of the study 37

2 Limitations of the study 38

3 Suggestion for further study 39

REFERENCES 40 APPENDICES I

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Techniques of encouranging the students in learning vocabulaty 10

Table 2: Learning English vocabulary by using pictures 11

Table 3: Types of context clues 13

Table 4: Plan of enhancing English Electrical Vocabulary 17

Table 5: Students‟ obstacles in English vocabulary learning 28

Table 6: Test result and meaning difference of pre-test and post test 29

Table 7: Students‟ preference toward vocabulary practicing activities 33

Table 8: Students expectation in term of methodology 35

Figures Page Figure 1: Action research circle 17

Figure 2: Data collection procedure 23

Figure 3: Result from pre-test 28

Figure 4: The index of pre-test and post test 30

Figure 5: The result of students‟ improvement in their learning 30

Figure 6: Importance of the enhancing EEV 31

Figures 7: Effectiveness of the enhancing EEV 32

Figure 8: Motivation during the enhancing EEV 32

Figure 9: Studnets‟ preference toward vocabulary practicing activites 34

ABBREVIATIONS

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

EGP: English for General Purposes

EEV plan: English Electrical Vocabulary

VKRS: Vocabulary Knowledge Rating Sheet

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Nowadays, more and more people speak English as their foreign language all over the world With its important role in the daily life, English is widely learnt and used in a variety of areas for many purposes such as: education, economics, technology, marine, telecommunication etc Therefore, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has received a great of attention

In Vietnam, ESP courses have been taught and have become one of the required subjects at most colleges and universities around the country in the last few years As a matter of fact, ESP materials connect students‟ learning and English language teaching Such a connection is highly encouraging to learn and study because students are capable of applying their knowledge gained from English classes to their main field of study in their future

In addition, a noticeable distinction between ESP and English for General Purposes (EGP), is vocabulary that is particularly preferred As Zimmerman (1997 as cited in

Eyraud, el al, 200, p2) states “Vocabulary is central to language and of critical

importance to the typical language learner” and Jahangard (2007, p8) gave more

clearly description that vocabulary, particularly specialist vocabulary (or terminology), is a key element of ESP

At Hanoi College of Technology and Economics, in ESP materials, not only vocabulary is mainly focused but also reading, grammatical structures are goaled on each lesson However, ESP vocabulary teaching and learning is not an easy work which has always been a big matter for both teachers and students In fact, the limited time is spent to teach an ESP material is 45 periods at the beginning of the first semester of the second school year Most students commented that they found a number of new words given in one lesson Time is too short but words are too

many They could not put them in their mind Sometimes, they memorized a lot of words in the short-term, but could not in the long term

Based on the above reasons, it is necessary to find out effective methods in order to enhance ESP vocabulary (English electrical vocabulary) for students of electrical department at Hanoi College of Technology and Economics in long-term memory

2 Aims of the study

The aim of the study is three-folded:

First, the study attempted to point out the problems in learning English Electrical vocabulary that students of electrical department at Hanoi College of Technology and Economics are facing with Second, it was designed to enrich students‟ ESP vocabulary by enhancing English Electrical Vocabulary plan (EEV plan) Finally, it aimed at gathering not only students‟ attitudes toward the enhancing EEV plan, students‟ preference to vocabulary practicing activities but also students‟ expectations for one better future enhancing EEV plan

3 Significance of the study

During the treatment, the researcher was filled with the aspiration to provide

a new method in English vocabulary, helped them temporary forget the traditional learning style such as listing words or learning words by heart Moreover, it solves the problem up lighting the quality of teaching English electrical vocabulary The results of the study can also be considered a good reference for researchers or teachers to continue their future work

4 Research questions

1/ What are the obstacles that students encounter in learning English Electrical vocabulary?

2/ To what extent do the techniques used to enhance students‟ vocabulary?

3/ What are the students‟ attitudes towards enhancing their English electrical vocabulary?

5 Method of the study

In order to achieve for teaching electrical vocabulary mentioned above, an action research is chosen for the study In my action research, a small talk, pre-test, post-test, questionnaire are provided and handled as data collection instruments The pre-test was provided to gain the overview about students‟ Electrical vocabulary level before my research The post- test was given to students after 45 periods (or twelve weeks) in which three techniques of enhancing electrical vocabulary were applied to help students enrich their ESP words All scores from two kinds of tests were collected, compared and analyzed to see the students‟ improvement in learning English Electrical Vocabulary Moreover, a small talk was conducted to have more in- depth data to support for analysis methodology of action research Finally, a questionnaire was completed by 17 students with aimed

of exploiting students‟ attitudes to the enhancing English Electrical Vocabulary plan.………

6 Scope of the study

It is inappropriate to envelop all faces of language theory and practice in my research Therefore, my research concentrates on enhancing English electrical vocabulary for students of electrical department at Hanoi College of Technology and Economics

7 Design of the study

The study is divided into three parts: Part A, Part B, Part C

Part A: Introduction - contains the rationale, the aim of the study, significance of the

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

Part B: Development – includes 3 chapters:

 Chapter 1: Literature review

 Chapter 2: Research methodology

 Chapter 3: Finding and discussion

Part C: Conclusion – reviews the main result of the study, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further study

PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1.1 Definition of Vocabulary

Definition of vocabulary is explained differently by a large number of linguistics researching in special field such as semantics, lexicology As Ur‟s

opinion (1996; p60) pointed the vocabulary may be “the words we teach in the

foreign language” and “much more than a single word, a compound of two or three words and multi-words idioms” Words can be understood that they may be single

and also compound words, or multi- words idioms According to Oxford Advanced learner‟s dictionary (7th, edition, p.1707) stated “all the words that a person knows

or uses” and word “is a single unit of language which means something and can be spoken or written”

Based on recent studies, vocabulary has been drawn on an understanding of lexis,

which “refers to all the words in a language, the entire vocabulary of a language”

(Barcroft, Sunderman, & Schmitt, 2011, p.571)

To sum up, from the above mentioned definitions, vocabulary can mean the whole words of a language, which contain single words, compound words, multi – words, idioms or chunk of a series of words known or used under writing form or spoken form by someone in order to express his or her own idea in a particular communication or a certain context

1.1.2 The importance of vocabulary in teaching and learning

One famous sentence, regarding the role of vocabulary in teaching and learning one language, was written by a British linguist -David Wilkins (1972, p.111) “… while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing

conveyed” Lewis (1993, P89) went further to argue that “lexis is the core or heart

of language” And to discuss about the important of vocabulary, Thornburry,

(2002) also pointed out “if you spend most of your time studying grammar, your

English will not improve very much You will see most improvement if you learn more words or expressions You can say very little with grammar, but you can say almost everything with words” Truly, if one language has no vocabulary, it will not

have phases, sentences, and texts In other words, leaning English without words is learning nothing It is very easy to observe one student who likes to study grammar and applies grammar structures well, he may still be unsuccessful in expressing in his English conversations if he does not know English words as Wallace (1982)

further emphasizes that “failure to find the words one needs to express himself is the

most frustrating experience in speaking other language” Therefore, work of

teaching vocabulary or learning vocabulary is the first task for both teacher and students when someone starts to study one language

1.2.1 The concept of the ESP

ESP is redirected from English for Specific Purposes and recently has been used widely as a standard term ESP is an approach to teaching language in all areas

According to Wikipedia, teaching ESP “is a sphere of teaching English language

including Business English, Technical English, Scientific English, English for medical professionals, English for waiters, English for tourism, English for Art Purposes, etc.” The word “specific” in ESP means a specific aim for learning

English

However, ESP is defined differently by dissimilar authors As Hutchinson and

Waters pointed their opinion (1987, P.16),“ESP is an approach not a product - it

does not involve a particular kind of language, teaching materials, or methodology”

and “it is an approach to language in which all decisions as to content and method

are based on the learner‟s reason for learning”

Strevens‟ (1988) concept of ESP has shown a wonderful analysis by categorizing ESP into 4 absolutes and 2 variable characters It indicates clearly what is and what

is not ESP

1) The absolute characteristics of ESP are:

- Concentrated on the specific needs of the learners

- Combined in a certain context to particular disciplines, occupations, activities

- Focused on the language of those disciplines

- Compared with General English

2) The variable characteristics of ESP may be:

- Limited to the language skills to be learned (such as reading only)

- Not trained according to any preordained methodology (eclectic)

Furthermore, Robinson‟s (1991.P3) definition of ESP is based on two criteria: ESP

is normally “goal-directed”, and ESP courses develop from a need analysis which

“aim to specify what exactly it is that students have to do through the medium of

English” To sum up, trainees use “special” English as a means to not only study

English but also achieve to some knowledge or skills from other fields which are able to encourage learners As a result, the profit that they gain from an ESP course

is being able to use to the language in their future work or study

1.2.2 Vocabulary teaching in ESP

“The acquisition of new words is the process which never stops” is the way

Thornbury (2002) emphasized about the importance of vocabulary acquisition Most foreign language learners acknowledge the need to build abundant vocabulary storage during learning a new language As for ESP vocabulary, students take ESP caourses identify that specific terminology are related to their field of study

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) distinguish two types of ESP vocabulary:

“general vocabulary with higher frequency or with specific meaning in a particular

field”

Type of vocabulary Examples

General vocabulary that has

a higher frequency in specific

field

General English words that

have a specific meaning in

mechanic and engineering, etc

However, the fundamental matter that needs to be solved in the teaching vocabulary

in ESP is that students who are studying English as non- major subject at most colleges or universities have thin understanding of ESP That is the reason why they cannot catch up with the designing technical teaching materials

In fact, there are many ways which language learners can apply in order to gain vocabulary Using the language skills (such as listening, reading, writing and speaking) is normally a convenient way to enlarge vocabulary Actually, language learners can use the new vocabulary to build complete sentences or make meaningful utterances

According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987, P.59), a learner-centered approach to learning and teaching sees learning as the active construction of meaning, and teaching as the act of guiding, scaffolding and facilitating learning Therefore, teacher needs to focus on clarifying the aims of each unit, motivating topics, and promoting practical activities Examples in context are highly useful The suitable case, appropriate circumstances must be expressed in the context of the reality of life Moreover, students should be encouraged to work independently on vocabulary

learning such as finding the meaning of words in the specific context before the teacher gives explanations about words

Morgan and Rinvolucri (2004, p.7) emphasized “words are not learnt mechanically,

as little packets of meaning, but associatively” For that reason, sorting words

should be applied in ESP vocabulary teaching Words are classified in individual groups or words families (to connect, connection), by categories (components: resistor, capacitor), and synonyms/ antonyms, by topic, and also vocabulary cards This method allows students to gain new words easily

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) are of the opinion that teaching ESP vocabulary

is the same as teaching English for General Purposes The only distinction that should be made is between the vocabulary for comprehension and the vocabulary for production Therefore, ESP vocabulary can be consolidated by using similar method and techniques which are usually applied in teaching English general vocabulary such as writing activities including describing components of a part of

an engine, making a report a processing, etc

The last important principle should be put in an application for ESP vocabulary teaching is making a positive learning atmosphere in the classroom It creates more enjoyable and pleasant for both learning and teaching Making a positive learning atmosphere is closed with promoting motivation which is also for students‟ learning It encourages students to do their best to achieve a satisfactory result

In this study, the connection between providing some techniques to students and arousing their spirit of self-discipline in vocabulary learning is thoughtfully taken into consideration in each step of the research

There are different kinds of approaches, vocabulary building activities, useful methods used to be effectively in developing learner‟s vocabulary One of

which is „using techniques‟ According to Kustaryo (1988:24), there are some possible learning activities that help increase students‟ motivation in learning English especially regarding to the meaning of words They are presented in the table below

Learning vocabulary through

Learning vocabulary through

guessing

It may be speculated that the students may learn the meaning of word in context and it needs a special approach

Learning vocabulary through

definition

It is useful in guiding the students to be able to define the meaning of words and arrange words into the correct sentence

Learning vocabulary through

derivation

It means that students must be able to derive word correctly It comes only practice or by studying the rule of how to form noun, adjective, adverb, etc

Table 1: Techniques of Encouraging the Students in Leaning Vocabulary

In this study, in the company of techniques of encouraging in learning vocabulary

by Kustaryo (1988) mention above, three learning techniques were selected for the aim of the study were suitable for tasks in the material, and were considered and discussed by a group of English teachers before the treatment in the study They are: learning vocabulary through creativity, context clues, and guessing

The technique “learning vocabulary through creativity” can be further understood as an effective techniques to make learners more motivated since it provides the picture as the media of teaching Oxford (1990, p.41) defined about

using imagery as “relating new language information to accepts in memory by

meaning of meaningful visual imagery, either in the mind or in actual drawing”

The image can be a picture drawing of an object, a thing, a location, a position, a situation or sometimes the imagery is a movie, a clip that helps students recall vocabulary without translating from their native language or expressing the letters

of word As Norbert Schmitt and Mc Carthy (1977) wrote in the book titled

Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy: “new word can be learned by

studying them with pictures, of their meaning instead of definitions” This technique

is used to help students understand and remember easily the abstract words or ESP vocabulary For example: a new word “carbon brush” is going to be understood easily by showing a picture of this component attached with words for its definition and function Therefore, the pictures should be really interesting and meaningful to support and attract the students to study and try their best to find out the meaning of words The list below includes some pictures of electrical equipment used in this study

A device that is used to control the flow of electricity in an electric circuit

A wire or metal object that makes an electrical connection with the earth usually singular

Transistor

Table 2: Learning English vocabulary by using pictures

Alone this line, the learners may gradually improve their vocabulary In addition, some pictures may be shown some days before the next lecture, and the learners should be encouraged to find the meaning of words regarding to the pictures by themselves Students can consult the dictionary, internet or some other sources for the meaning of words, if they encounter any difficult words

1.3.2 Learning vocabulary through context clues

Learning vocabulary through context clues is one useful technique in encouraging students‟ interest in learning English vocabulary and it needs to be introduced by

English teacher As stated by Sun and Zhou (2005, p.49) context clues are “the

clearly stated or implied words or phrase which help to comprehend unfamiliar

words in context because they can activate the corresponding context to clarify the contextual meaning of the concerned”

There are at least types of context clues that are quite common:

+ Synonym

+ Antonym

+ Explanation

+ Example

Four types are given in detail in the table below:

Synonym

It can be explained that the reader may recognize the meaning of an unknown word based on an idea expressed in familiar word nearby

Ex: There is a movement of free electrons towards the positive end This movement of electrons is an

a familiar word

Signal words:

“However”, “but”, “on the other hand”, “unlike”,

Ex: Unlike copper, which is a good

conductor, rubber is an insulator

 The opposite of “good conductor”- a substance permit an electric current to follow - is “poor conductor” The word “copper” is used to contrast “rubber” Thus the word “an insulator” means a substance doesn‟t allow the passage of an electric current

“although”, Explanation The unknown word is

explained within the sentence or in the following sentence

Signal words: “Means”,

“called”, “refers to”, “is”,

“because”

Ex: Soft iron is used in

electromagnets because it can be

magnetized easily

 Here, the second part of sentence is used to explain the first part of sentence

“magnetized easily”

Example Sometimes when leaners

find a new word, an example might found nearby that help to explain meaning of word

Signal words:

“such as”, “for example”,

“including”, “consist of”

Ex: Non-metal, such as carbon,

graphite, can conduct well

a chemical element that is not

a metal

Table 3: Types of context clues

Based on the above analysis, using context clues can help learners to increase their vocabulary It can also help them to be a better reader and make reading more enjoyable

1.3.3 Learning vocabulary through guessing

Guessing meaning of words from the context is one of important vocabulary teaching techniques that can improve or help enrich your vocabulary easily Nation

(1990:130) found out that “guessing from contexts is the most important vocabulary

learning technique and time spent practicing it is well justified I provide access to thousands of words”

In addition, guessing the meaning of unknown words from contexts help encouraged most widely so language learners must know how to guess unknown meaning of words successfully It refers to the meaning of words suggested by the surrounding words in a written text Inferring involves creating a schema for the unknown word(s), based on world knowledge and previous experience, both of the world and texts In other words, inferring means draw conclusion as to word meaning by following certain rational steps in face of the evidence available

For example, the word “current” in different meanings in different contexts:

Voltage is measured in volts, and current is measured in amps

He was swimming against the current

Birds of prey use warm air current to lift them high in the sky

The student movement formed a distinct current of protest

All the above sentences use the word “current” to create something However, in each context, the meaning of the word is different and can be guessed through the text

Guesswork is a difficult work for all students They will not be able to guess successfully if they do not know about 90% of the words in the text Therefore, teacher‟s role is very important to help or guide learner to discover unknown word meaning with teacher‟s teaching techniques

Summary

The chapter has reviewed important theoretical issues of vocabulary teaching and learning in general and in ESP in particular More importantly, vocabulary in ESP can be improved through practice of the techniques: learning vocabulary through creativity, context clues and guessing the meaning of a new

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The methodology of this research paper is represented in detail in the following chapter It includes situation analysis of the study, the implementation of action research as well as the presentation of data collection instruments Moreover, a review on procedures of data collection is also incorporated

2.1 Situation analysis

2.1.1 Setting

The study was carried out at Hanoi College of Technology and Economics in Socson District, Hanoi capital, Vietnam The students have to take English as a formal subject at the first semester of the first school-year; and English for specific purposes (ESP) will be learnt by these students in the second year- school In this study, English electrical vocabulary – one of subject of ESP in the college curriculum – is chosen to research

The study class room is standard room suitable for 40 -45 students with such modern facilities as tables, desks, a black board, and a projector All students were arranged into four rows of desks facing the teacher

2.1.2 Participants

In this study, the participants were the second- year students from Electrical Engineering Department of this college There were 17 students in the class All of them were the ones who thoroughly took part in the research from beginning to the end

The reason for choosing the second year students for this study is that these students had finished 90 periods with a course book named “New

Headway –level elementary” in the first year Their English knowledge was believed to be enough for further step They were willing to join this study in twelve weeks research

2.1.3 Materials

Students being leant all the vocabulary in this course was taken from the book with name “Giáo trình Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành điện” which was chosen and used at Hanoi College of Technology and Economics It should be mentioned that in the course‟ program, there were 5 specific units with separated topics:

Orientation - Small talk - Pre-test

W7

25-26

Unit4:The Cathode Ray Tube 31-32

W9

33-34 35-36

Unit 5:

The moving – coil mete

W10

37-38 39-40

W11

41-42 43-44

Table 4: Plan of Enhancing English Electrical Vocabulary

2.1.4 Implementation of action research

Teacher is an important person who not only helps students in their learning but also keeps improving the teaching process and practices for all round development of the students Whenever the arising problems are identified in the class, it is the teacher‟s duty to find out solutions to deal with them In the education situations, one common practice that supports teachers

to reach their target is action research John Elliott (1991) defines action research as follows:

“Action research is the process through which teachers collaborate in

evaluating their practice jointly; raise awareness of their personal theory; articulate a shared conception of values; try out new strategies

to render the values expressed in their practice more consistent with educational values they espouse; record their work in a form which is readily available to and understandable by other teachers; and thus develop a shared theory of teaching by research practice”

Concerning action research as activity research, Eileen Ferrance (2000) suggested one action research cycle as below:

Figure 1: Action Research Circle

It is easy to find that the above circle including main steps should be adopted for an action research The first step is to identify or define the problem Next, data must be gathered by investigating from multiple sources, means such as interviews, memos, questionnaires, etc The third step is to analyze the data carefully in order to help understand the nature of the problem A plan of action is designed to make a change and study a change by using the information from data collection and reviewing of current literature Last, the improvement caused by the intervention is assessed If it was not as effective

as expected, another action should be elicited to get better results

After making several considerations to choose the appropriate method for this research, an action research was selected for benefits that Gay and Airasian (2003) prove results from application of action research to education as follows:

 Teachers investigate their own practice in new ways, looking deeper in what they and their students actually do and fail to do

 Teachers develop a deeper understanding of students, the studnets‟ learning process and their role in the education of both teachers and students

 In most cases, solutions for identified problems are arrived cooperative among teachers

 Action research is ongoing process and its strategies can be widely applied

 Professional development and school improvement are core aspects for any teacher who engages in action research

In short, after observation taken from some former classes studied

“Giáo trình Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành điện” in this College, the results showed that students faced with a lot of trouble in learning vocabulary In this case, a suitable solution was expected to discover in order to improve the class situation Action research is a very common method that teachers in general and English teachers in particularly often choose And the action research of Eileen Ferrance (2000) with 5 above steps is the best choice for the research with the purpose of Enhancing English Electrical Vocabulary

2.2 Data collection instruments

2.2.1 A small talk

On the way to find out the problems that students often go up against in their learning English vocabulary Thus, a small talk between the teacher and students was chosen The small talk, in which Vietnamese language was used

to make clear the meaning of the teachers‟ questions and students‟ answers, included two following opened-end questions:

Question 1: How do you often learn vocabulary at home?

Question 2: What are the difficulties you often face with learning English Electrical vocabulary?

These questions served to get a deeper discussion between teacher and students One note-taking is necessary for the researcher to use in the data analysis procedure later

2.2.2 Tests

Tests are convenient and useful instrument taken to check quality, performance, or reliability of students‟ vocabulary ability and knowledge in

language acquisition As Mertens (2005, p 349) noted “test-retest is one of

methods to determine reliability” In this action research, a pre-test and a

post-test were chosen for examining English vocabulary knowledge before and after treatment

The pre-test, which was given to the students at the beginning of the second session before the treatment started, was designed on Vocabulary Knowledge Rating Sheet (VKRS) It was distributed by Kinsella/ Feldman (2004) and includes 4 point self- assessed scales that help students clearly report how well they know an item of vocabulary by choosing one of the below scales:

1 I have never seen or heard this word before

2 I have heard or seen this word before

3 I can define the word

4 I can use this word

The content of the pretest includes 30 words chosen randomly from the topics which would be then given for enhancing English Electrical Vocabulary during the course

The post- test was administered after the treatment ended in the last session The test was arranged to maintain the same layout and content as

those of the pre-test However, the order of vocabulary items was determined

to be rearranged so that students would sense unfamiliar with the test; thus the aim of measuring whether students vary over time due to the treatment could ensure reliability

2.2.3 Questionnaire

A questionnaire, the last tool for this study, was administered to obtain more in depth data about how students evaluate their improvement of English Electrical vocabulary The questionnaire was completed by the students after the post-test and divided into two main parts The questions in the first part is intended to investigate the students‟ attitudes towards the enhancing EEV plan with 3 questions aiming to make clear the students‟ views in terms of the importance, the effectiveness, and the interest In the second part, the questions involved the students‟ expectations of EEV plan in the future to be expected to complete According to the data and the result received from the questionnaire, the enhancing EEV plan in the future would be considered for

next steps

2.3 Data collection procedure

Following the theoretical research action circle adopted how the research action circle is applied in this study look like this

In the first stage – the stage of identifying problems –two main tools were used for data collection: a small talk and pre-test The action that was undertaken to improve students‟ vocabulary range is obviously considered the treatment stage, in which three techniques were applied to help enhance students‟ vocabulary They include: learning through creativity, context clues and guessing in context The effectiveness of this EEV plan was identified by

means of a post-test and a questionnaire for the students It is believed that the result of these tools would show the achievement of the objectives of the study

As stated in the part “data collection instruments”, the instruments used in this research were a small talk, the pre-test, post-test, and one questionnaire After a small talk, the pre-test was managed to students with specific words which would be supported to students in the enhancing EEV processing The post-test was intended in the last session which closed the treatment The questionnaire on the students‟ attitudes and expectation for future in teaching and learning English Electrical Vocabulary was delivered in week 13th right after the treatment The following chart shows the full data collection procedure of the action research:

Figure 2: Data collection procedure Stage 1

In this stage, the researcher started to carry out the first step of this study to explore the troubles that students often meet in their vocabulary learning process A small talk between students and their teacher was carried out in the second period with the expectation of making a friendly and comfortable atmosphere It took round 35 minutes Students were on the right direction with the two key questions and make an opportunity to not only