A study on english vocabulary learning strategies used by the first year students at hai phong community college

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENTOF POST GRADUATE STUDIES ĐỖ THỊ KIM OANH A STUDY ON ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT

OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

ĐỖ THỊ KIM OANH

A STUDY ON ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT HAI PHONG

HANOI – 2012

TABLE OF CONTENT

TABLE OF CONTENT iv

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii

ABBREVIATIONS viii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Nationale 1

2 Aim of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Significance of the study 3

6 Methods of the study 3

7 Structure of the study 4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 1

Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Language learning strategies 5

1.1.1 Background of language learning strategies 5

1.1.2 Definition of language learning strategies 6

1.1.3 Classification of learning strategies 7

1.1.4 The importance of language learning strategies in language learning and teaching 9

1.2 Vocabulary learning strategies 10

1.2.1 Definition of vocabulary learning strategies 10

1.2.2 Classification of vocabulary learning strategies 11

1.2.2.1 Classification of Gu and Johnson (1996) 12

1.2.2.2 Classification of Schmitt (1997) 13

1.2.2.3 Classification of Nation (2001) 15

1.2.3 Summary 16

Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY 18

2.1 The context of the study 18

2.2 Research questions 20

2.3 Pilot study 20

2.4 Main study 23

2.4.1 Participants 23

2.4.2 Data collection instruments 24

2.4.2.1 Semi-structured interview25 2.4.2.1 Survey questionnaire 26 2.4.3 Procedures 27

2.4.4 Data analysis 28

2.4.4.1 Student‟s awareness of vocabulary learning strategies 28 2.4.4.2 Strategies used for discovery a new word‟s meaning 30

(1) Determination strategies 30 (2) Social strategies 31 2.4.4.3 Strategies used for consolidation a word in memory 33 (1) Social strategies 33 (2) Memory strategies 33 (3) Cognitive strategies 35 (4) Metacognitive strategies 36 2.4.4.4 Overall strategies use of the six categories of strategies 37 2.5 Implications 39

2.5.1 The need of vocabulary learning strategy training 39

2.5.2 Learner responsibility 40

2.5.3 Dictionary strategies 40

2.5.4 Teaching and learning in context 41

2.5.5 Memory strategies 41

2.5.6 Analysis of word features 42

2.5.7 Use of vocabulary 42

PART C: CONCLUSION 43

Table 1: Gu and Johnson‟s (1996) taxonomy of vocabulary learning

strategies 13

Table 2: Norbert Schmitt‟s (1997) taxonomy of vocabulary learning

strategies 15

Table 3: Nation‟s (2001) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies 16

Table 4: Table of test specifications 20

Table 5: Vocabulary learning strategies for discovery a new word‟s

meaning used by the Pilot study participants 22

Table 6: Vocabulary learning strategies for consolidation a word in

memory used by the Pilot study participants 23

Table 7: Vocabulary learning strategies in survey questionnaire 27

Table 8: Descriptive statistics of students‟ use of Determination

strategies 30

Table 9: Descriptive statistics of students‟ use of Social strategies 31

Table 10: Descriptive statistics of students‟ use of Social strategies

(Consolidation) 33

Table 11: Descriptive statistics of students‟ use of Memory strategies 34

Table 12: Descriptive statistics of students‟ use of Cognitive

strategies 35

Table 13: Descriptive statistics of students‟ use of Metacognitive

strategies 36

Table 14: Strategies use according to descending order of mean 38

Table 15: Mean of six categories 39

List of figures:

Figure 1: Chart of the design of the study 25

Figure 2: Student's awareness of the importance of vocabulary

learning 29

ABBREVIATIONS

COG Cognitive strategy

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Second LanguageLanguage Learning StrategiesMemory strategy

Metacognitive strategyNumber of studentsSecond Language AcquisitionSocial strategy

Vocabulary Learning StrategiesMean of frequency of use

PART A:

INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study

Vocabulary is very important for people‟s communication and languagelearning, which plays an important role in the process of second languageacquisition Wilkins (Wilkins, 1972: 111) stated that “without grammar little can beconveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” Hence, we cannot denythat skills of language learning including listening, speaking, reading and writingcannot be successfully achieved without vocabulary So the study of vocabularylearning strategies is as an important step in second language acquisition

During the 1950s and 1960s, the study on vocabulary learning received littleattention Fortunately, vocabulary learning has been studied more widely since the1980s It has attracted more and more interest from researchers, educationalists aswell as teachers Many of them, both at home and abroad, have pointed out theirview on the vocabulary learning‟s significance As Decarrico (2001: 285) statedthat “Although vocabulary has not always been recognized as a priority in languageteaching, interest in its role in second language learning has grown rapidly in recentyears and specialists now emphasize the need for a systematic and principledapproach to vocabulary by both the teacher and the learner” Or Nguyen Huyen(2004: 1) compared “If a language could be considered as a house, then its grammarcould be considered as cement and its vocabulary could be figuratively compared tobricks To build a complete house, not only cement but also bricks are needed.Without bricks, no house can be built, even when plenty of high quality cement isavailable.” This means that to be a competent English communicator, one mustacquire a good knowledge of English grammar and have a rich amount of Englishvocabulary as well

In Vietnam in general and in my college, Hai Phong Community College inparticular, English is the compulsory course for students However, there is a largegap between the students‟ English ability and requirements settled in the syllabus

As vocabulary becomes a big obstacle in English learning and their speed ofvocabulary improvement is quite slow Besides that, many English teachers thinkthat their students can achieve vocabulary themselves Every new word can belooked up in English – Vietnamese dictionary which is marked with phoneticsymbol and its Vietnamese meaning, so it is unnecessary to make great effort toteaching vocabulary In addition, there are some teachers still adopt the traditionalteaching methods which are proved to be inefficient by many researchers On theother hand, as a teacher of English, I have dealt with many questions relating tovocabulary learning which are raised by my students Even some of them haveworked hard on learning new words but the result is so disappointing Personally, Ifound it necessary to provide with them successful learning strategies to learnEnglish words.

Those reasons above encourage me to conduct a study on English vocabularylearning strategies used by the first year students at Hai Phong Community College

2 Aims of the study

The ultimate goal of the study is to help improve teaching and learningEnglish in general, and teaching and learning English vocabulary in particular atHai Phong Community College Therefore, the specific aims of this study are tofind out the students‟ awareness of the important of vocabulary learning and whatstrategies are commonly used in learning vocabulary

3 Research questions

The research questions that the present study seeks to answer are:

1 What is the students‟ awareness of the importance of vocabulary learning?

2 What vocabulary learning strategies do the first year students at Hai Phong Community College commonly use?

4 Scope of the study

The study focused on the investigation of vocabulary learning strategieswhich are employed by the first year students at Hai Phong Community Collegeduring the second term of school year 2011-2012

5 Significance of the study

Schmitt and McCarthy (1997) points out that vocabulary learning has beenregarded as one of the most important parts in a second or foreign languageacquisition On the basis of the idea above, this study helps raise the students'awareness of the importance of vocabulary learning and that there are many othervocabulary learning strategies and therefore the strategy training is necessary to bedone by the teachers Further, it reveals the most and least frequently usedvocabulary learning strategies adopted by the students, which can be implemented

to support both teachers and students in teaching and learning vocabulary at HaiPhong Community College

6 Methods of the study

In order to achieve the aims of the study mentioned above, the study wascarried out on the basis of semi-structured interview and survey questionnaire TheEnglish teachers at Hai Phong Community College were interviewed about thestrategies their students use in learning vocabulary to support information for thesurvey questionnaire Then, vocabulary learning strategies listed in the surveyquestionnaire were compiled from a review of the literature on vocabulary learningstrategies and the interviews‟ data After the results were analyzed, the findingswere reported and discussed then some suggestions were raised in the study

7 Structure of the study

The study is divided into four chapters Each chapter deals with an importantaspect of the study

Chapter 1 is the introduction of the study, which includes the rationale, aim,

research questions, scope, significance the study as well as the methods andstructure of the study

Chapter 2 presents the information about some basis concepts related to

language learning strategies and vocabulary learning strategies In addition, theclassifications of language learning strategies and vocabulary learning strategies arereviewed to set up the theoretical framework for the investigation in the nextchapter

Chapter 3 covers the pilot study and main study They include the context of

the study, research questions, participants, data collection instruments, procedures,data analysis and implications

Chapter 4 summarizes the main issues of the whole study and gives the

future directions for further research and limitations of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, a brief review of vocabulary learning strategies is given;some basic concepts related to language learning and vocabulary learning strategiesare also presented In addition, the classification of language learning strategies ingeneral and vocabulary learning strategies in particular are reviewed to set up thetheoretical framework for the investigation in the next chapter

1.1 Language learning strategies

1.1.1 Background of language learning strategies

There has been a prominent shift within the field of language learning andteaching over the last twenty years with greater emphasis being put on learners andlearning rather than on teachers and teaching In parallel to this new shift of interest,how learners process new information and what kinds of strategies they employ tounderstand, learn or remember the information has been the primary concern of theresearchers dealing with the area of foreign language learning So, languagelearning strategies (LLS) for foreign language learning and the teacher's role instrategy training is very important

Research into LLS began in the 1960s Particularly, developments incognitive psychology influenced much of the research done on LLS In most of the

research on LLS, the primary concern has been on “identifying what good language learners report they do to learn a second or foreign language, or, in some cases, are observed doing while learning a second or foreign language” (Rubin and

Wenden 1987:19) In 1966, Aaron Carton published his study entitled “The Method

of Inference in Foreign Language Study”, which was the first attempt on learnerstrategies After Carton, in 1971, Rubin started doing research focusing on thestrategies of successful learners and stated that, once identified, such strategiescould be made available to less successful learners Rubin classified strategies interms of processes contributing directly or indirectly to language learning Wong-

Fillmore (1976), Tarone (1977), Naiman et al (1978), Cohen and Aphek (1981),Wenden (1982), Chamot and O'Malley (1987), Politzer and Mc Groarty (1985),Conti and Kolsody (1998), and many others studied strategies used by languagelearners during the process of foreign language learning.

1.1.2 Definition of language learning strategies

It is clearly seen that research on learning strategies in general and languagelearning strategies in particular is becoming increasingly popular So far, there hasbeen no consensus among the linguists regarding to the definitions of leaningstrategies

According to Nunan (1991:168), “Learning strategies […] are the mentalprocesses which learners employ to learn and use the target language” Nunan‟sdefinition restricts learning strategies only to “mental processes” Richard et al.(1992:209), offers a broader definition of learning strategies, that is, learningstrategies are intentional behavior and thoughts that learners make use of duringlearning in order to better help them understand, learn and remember newinformation.” Similarly, Weinstein and Mayer (1986) (in O‟ Malley and Charmot1990:43) have learning facilitation as a goal and are intentional on the part of thelearner The goal of strategy use is to affect the leaner‟s motivational or affectivestate, or the way in which the learner selects, acquires, organizes, or integrates newknowledge.”

Oxford (1990:8) defines learning strategies as “specific actions taken by thelearner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self directed, moreeffective and more transferable to new situation.”

Ellis defines learning strategies as “the particular approaches or techniquesthat learner employs to try to learn an L2.” (1997:76) He further explains thatlearning strategies can be behavioral or mental and are typically problem - oriented

Rubin (in Wenden and Rubin 1987:19) is even more explicit when he defineslearning strategies as “any set of operations, steps, plans, routines used by the

learner to facilitate the obtaining, storage, retrieval and use of information, that is,what learner do to learn and do to regulate their learning.”

According to O‟Malley and Charmot (1990:1), learning strategies are specialways of processing information that enhance comprehension, learning, or retention

of the information” or in their other words learning strategies are the “specialthoughts or behaviors that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn, or retainnew information.”

Obviously, learning strategies are defined in different words and fromdifferent perspectives such as cognitive, social or pragmatic Therefore, researchersworked out the taxonomy of learning strategies instead of defining them This can

be seen in the following part

1.1.3 Classification of learning strategies

In the 1980s and early 90s, research mainly focused on categorizing thestrategies found in the studies of the previous decade As a result, severaltaxonomies were proposed to classify them, including classifications of LLS ingeneral and language sub-skills strategies in particular

One of the most famous to date that proposed by O'Malley and Chamot(1990) Their hierarchical framework of strategies distinguishes three major strategytypes:

According to Rubin, there are three types of strategies used by learners that contribute directly or indirectly to language learning These are:

It can be seen that much of the recent work in this area has been underpinned

by a broad concept of LLS that goes beyond cognitive processes to include socialand communicative strategies

1.1.4 The importance of language learning strategies in language

learning and teaching

Bridging the gap between students‟ learning styles and teachers‟ teachingstyles will be a powerful means to guide students towards successful learning Thus,teaching students learning strategies should not be neglected Oxford (1990)

describes learning strategies as “specific actions taken by the learners to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations” Learning strategies will compensate for the

weakness of a learning style and maximize the strengths of a learning stylepowerfully

To emphasize the importance of LLS, Chamot et al (1999) stated,

“Differences between more effective learners and less effective learners were found

in the number and range of strategies used, in how the strategies were applied to the task, and in whether they were appropriate for the task” Therefore, teaching

learning strategies is especially useful for the latter learners If they can findeffective strategies, they will be able to successfully, through effective strategyteaching, students will acquire not only vocabulary but also the way for studying

The language learner capable of using a wide variety of LLS appropriatelycan improve his language skills in a better way According to Oxford (1990),

memory strategies “help students store and retrieve new information”, cognitive strategies “enable learners to understand and produce new language by many different means”, compensation strategies “allow learners to use the language despite their often large gaps in knowledge”, metacognitive strategies “allow learners to control their own cognition - that is, to coordinate the learning process

by using functions such as centering, arranging, planning, and evaluating”, affective strategies “help to regulate emotions, motivations, and attitudes” and social “help students learn through interaction with other” Developing skills in

three areas, such as metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective can help the

language learner build up learner independence and autonomy whereby he can takecontrol of his own learning Lessard-Clouston (1997:3) states that LLS contribute tothe development of the communicative competence of the students Being a broadconcept, LLS are used to refer to all strategies foreign language learners use inlearning the target language and communication strategies are one type of LLS As

Oxford (1990:1) stated, LLS “ are especially important for language learning because they are tools for active, self-directed movement, which is essential for developing communicative competence” Besides developing the communicative

competence of the students, teachers who train students to use LLS can help thembecome better language learners Helping students understand good LLS andtraining them to develop and use such good LLS can be considered to be theappreciated characteristics of a good language teacher Research into the good LLSrevealed a number of positive strategies so that such strategies could also be used bybad language learners trying to become more successful in language learning.However, there is always the possibility that bad language learners can also use thesame good LLS while becoming unsuccessful owing to some other reasons At thispoint, it should be strongly stressed that using the same good LLS does notguarantee that bad learners will also become successful in language learning sinceother factors may also play role in success

1.2 Vocabulary learning strategies

1.2.1 Definition of vocabulary learning strategies

First of all, it should be noted that in the literature on language learningstrategies, there is no official definition for vocabulary learning strategies Perhapsthere is no need for such a definition because vocabulary learning strategies are part

of language learning strategies, which, in turn, are art of learning strategies

With reference to the definitions of learning strategies mentioned above, inthis research, following Oxford (1990:8), the working definition of vocabularylearning strategies is as follows:

Vocabulary learning strategies are specific behavioral or mental action taken

by learners to make their vocabulary learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, moreself-directed, more effective and more transferable to new situation

1.2.2 Classification of vocabulary learning strategies

Word knowledge is an essential component of communicative competence(Seal, 1991), and it is important for both production and comprehension in aforeign Knowing a word involves knowing:

 a great deal about its general frequency of use, syntactic and situational limitations on its use

 its underlying form and the form that can be derived from it,

 the network of its semantic features and,

 the various meaning associated with the item.

(Richards, 1997:6)Knowing a word is also defined as knowing its spelling, pronunciation,collocations (i.e words it occurs with), and appropriateness (Nation, 1990).Therefore, lexical competence is far more than the ability to define a given number

of words and covers a wide range of knowledge which in turn requires a variety ofstrategies to gain the knowledge Foreign language learners may then use variousstrategies to acquire the target language word knowledge Taking this intoconsideration, language researchers have made various attempts to classifyvocabulary learning strategies employed by foreign and second language learners.Instances of such classifications are the taxonomies proposed by Gu and Johnson(1996), Schmitt (1997) and Nation (2001) which are briefly discussed below

1.2.2.1 Classification of Gu and Johnson (1996)

Gu and Johnson (1996) list second language (L2) vocabulary learning

strategies into metacognitive, cognitive, memory and activation strategies

Metacognitive strategies consist of selective attention and self-initiation

strategies Learners who employ selective attention strategies know which wordsare important for them to learn and essential for adequate comprehension of apassage Learners employing self initiation strategies use a variety of means tomake the meaning of vocabulary items clear

Cognitive strategies in Gu and Johnson‟s taxonomy entail guessing

strategies, skillful use of dictionaries and note-taking strategies Learners usingguessing strategies draw upon their background knowledge and use linguistic clueslike grammatical structures of a sentence to guess the meaning of a word

Memory strategies are classified into rehearsal and encoding categories.

Word lists and repetition are instances of rehearsal strategies Encoding strategiesencompass such strategies as association, imagery, visual, auditory, semantic, andcontextual encoding as well as word-structure (i.e., analyzing a word in terms ofprefixes, stems, and suffixes.)

Activation strategies include those strategies through which the learners

actually use new words in different contexts For instance, learners may setsentences using the words they have just learned

All these suggested strategies can be summarized in a table as follows:

 Note-taking

Memory  Rehearsal: word lists, repetition, etc

 Encoding: association (imagery, visual, auditory, etc.)

Activation  Using new words in different contexts

Table 1: Gu and Johnson’s (1996) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies

1.2.2.2 Classification of Schmitt (1997)

A comprehensive inventory of vocabulary learning strategies is developed byNorbert Schmitt (1997) He distinguishes the strategies into two groups: The ones todetermine the meaning of new words when encountered for the first time, and theones to consolidate meaning when encountered again The former containsdetermination and social strategies and the latter contains cognitive, metacognitive,memory and social strategies Schmitt includes social strategies in both categoriessince they can be used for both purposes This categorization is based, in part, onOxford‟s (1990) classification scheme The details can be seen on the table below:

Strategies for the discovery of a new word’s meaning

Analyze parts of speechAnalyze affixes and roots

Analyze any available pictures or gesturesGuess the meaning from textual contextBilingual dictionary

Word listsFlash cardsAsk teacher for an L1 translationAsk teacher for paraphrase or synonym of a new word

SOC Ask teacher for a sentence including the new word

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Ask classmates for meaningDiscover new meaning through group work activities

Strategies for consolidating a word once it has been encountered

Study and practice meaning in a group

SOC Teacher checks students‟ flash cards or word lists for accuracy

Interact with native speakerStudy word with a pictorial presentation of its meaningImage word‟s meaning

Connect word to a personal experienceAssociate the word with its coordinatesAssociate the word with its synonyms and antonyms

Use „scales‟ for gradable adjectivesPeg method

Loci methodGroup words together to study themGroup words together spatially on a pageUse new word in sentences

Group words together within a storylineStudy the spelling of a word

Study the sound of a wordSay new word aloud when studyingImage word form

Underline initial letter of the wordConfiguration

Use keyword methodAffixes and rootsParts of speechParaphrase the word‟s meaningUse cognates in study

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Learn the words of an idiom togetherUse physical action when learning a wordUse semantic feature grids

Verbal repetitionWritten repetitionWord lists

Take note in classUse the vocabulary section in your textbookListen to tape of word lists

Put English labels on physical objectsKeep a vocabulary notebook

Use English-language media (songs, movies, newscasts, etc.)Testing oneself with word tests

MET Use spaced word practice

Skip or pass new wordContinue to study word over time

Table 2: Norbert Schmitt’s (1997) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies

1.2.2.3 Classification of Nation (2001)

In a more recent attempt, Nation (2001) proposes taxonomy of variousvocabulary learning strategies The strategies in the taxonomy are divided into threegeneral classes of „planning‟, „source‟ and „processes‟ Planning strategies involvedeciding on what words and aspects of words to focus on, what strategies to use andhow often to give attention to certain words Meanwhile, sources strategies concernways to find out information about words This information may embrace allaspects of word knowledge and can be found in the word itself (word part analysis),the context (guessing from context), sources of reference (dictionaries) or L1 (viaanalogy) The final set of strategies (processes) includes ways to remember wordsand make the available for use The particular strategies in this set are divided into

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three sub-categories related to three conditions of vocabulary learning, namelynoticing, retrieving and generating The whole taxonomy is illustrated in thefollowing table.

Planning: choosing what to focus on and  Choosing words

knowledge

 Choosing the strategies

 Planning repetitionSources: finding information about words  Analyzing the word

 Using context

 Consulting a reference source

in L1 or L2

 Using parallels in L1 and L2

 Retrieving

Table 3: Nation’s (2001) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies

1.2.3 Summary

In general, although the taxonomies cited above may slightly differ in terms

of strategies they categorize, they all provide a list of widely applicable vocabularylearning strategies

The strongest point of Nation‟s taxonomy is probably its simplicity: onlyclasses and types of strategies are mentioned and plain terms are used This is insharp contrast with Schmitt‟s taxonomy in which up to 58 strategies are named andwith Gu and Johnson‟s taxonomy in which psychological terms such asmetacognitive, cognitive, activation self-initiation, etc are widely used However,the other two have their own advantages over nation‟s categorization

For its comprehensive treatment of individual vocabulary learning strategies,Schmitt‟s taxonomy is an effective research instrument for investigation intovocabulary learning strategies followed by a particular group or learners Thisremark has been confirmed in reality by Schmitt‟s research on Japanese learners ofEnglish (1993) It is due to the taxonomy‟s proven research value that it has beenchosen as the basic for data analysis procedure of the study on vocabulary learningstrategies of the first year students at Hai Phong Community College.

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 The context of the study

At Hai Phong Community College, there is only General English coursewhich is applied for students of all departments This English course is taughtduring the first and second year It means that there are four terms of studyingEnglish with the total 240 periods The textbook chosen for the first two terms isNew Cutting Edge – Elementary (Students‟ Book) by Sarah Cunningham and PeterMoor, 2005 During the two terms later, the students are introduced New CuttingEdge – Pre-intermediate (Students‟ Book) by Sarah Cunningham and Peter Moor,

2005 These materials were chosen to teach because it combines the comprehensivesyllabus and reliable teaching resources that have made the course so popular, withbrand-new features, making it even fresher and easier to use

The textbook New Cutting Edge – Elementary (Students‟ Book) for the firstyear students comprises fifteen theme-based modules and three review modules.Each module is about one topic and consists of six parts: Language focus,Vocabulary, Reading/Listening, Task, Further skills and Study practice remember.The average time for each module is seven periods Three review modules are inform of “Consolidation module” to help students check their understanding andstudy‟s result by themselves

Each vocabulary part deals with a familiar issue such as people and places,everyday life, transportation, food and drink, films, clothes, weather etc which areconsidered the important points of each module Vocabulary input is closely related

to topic and task in the modules so it provides a necessary foundation for practicingevery other part of the modules

By the time of the survey, the first year students at Hai Phong CommunityCollege have finished one-half of the second term

In this term, they study vocabulary of seven modules (from module 9 tomodule 15), which contains following vocabulary issues:

- Shops and shopping

- Clothes and describing people

- Animals and natural features

- Going out and staying in; the weather

- Education and careers

- Ways of communicating

- Things in a town

At the end of the term, the students have to take an online exam called

“Online multiple choice test on LAN network” which is designed with 35 multiplechoice questions in total The students have 30 minutes to answer after signing in toaccept the test Completed or not completed the test within 30 minutes the computerwill send student‟s test mark 35 multiple choice questions including multiplechoice format of phonetics, vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension.Following is the form of a final examination

questions difficulty

Medium questions & short points

answers

Medium questions & short points

answers

comprehension Difficult questions & short

answers

Table 4: Table of test specifications

As can be seen from table, the Vocabulary contains at least fifteen

multiple-choice questions in a test, which holds 15 points in total 35 points Besides, in the

Pronunciation and Reading comprehension part, each of them also has fivemultiple-choice questions If the students really do not know or have any idea aboutthe new and strangle words, they cannot give the correct answers in these parts.Therefore, the vocabulary often holds more than a half of the total mark of a test.

2.2 Research questions

As mentioned above, the study was conducted to answer the followingquestions:

1 What is the students‟ awareness of the importance of vocabulary learning?

2 What vocabulary learning strategies do the first year students at Hai Phong Community College commonly use?

2.3 Pilot study

Before conducting the present study, a pilot study was done with the samesample The aim was to test the reliability of the research instruments In addition, itwas to test if the students knew all strategies mentioned in the survey questionnairethat is if the students were aware of the existence of so many vocabulary learningstrategies There were four students and two teachers randomly chosen to participate

in the pilot study

Firstly, the interview was conducted in English with the teachers who arechosen The interviewees were mainly asked open-ended questions according tointerview guidelines (see Appendix 2) and were encouraged to express theirthoughts freely It took place for fifteen minutes and was done at the office ofFaculty of Foreign Language

Afterwards, based on the reported data and literature review, the surveyquestionnaire was compiled and delivered to the students It was the same versionused for the main study (see Appendix 3) The participants were asked to answersome questions before rating how often they used the strategies to learn andremember new words by putting a tick in the column they chose from level of

always, often, sometimes, seldom to never The procedure lasted for a half of dayand it was done in one classroom at HPCC.

Finally, the data were analyzed and some results were drawn from pilotstudy

Results for research question 1: What is the students‟ awareness of the

importance of vocabulary learning?

All students asked to do the survey questionnaire have been learning Englishfor more than seven years This means that most students have a rather long timegetting familiar with English It is very essential for each student to recognize therole of vocabulary learning in learning English The survey questionnaire showedthat all the students recognized the importance of vocabulary learning Threestudents, which meant 75% of the students, agreed that vocabulary learning played avery important role in learning English Other 25% find it important Therefore, it isnot surprising to find that no one underrate the role of vocabulary learning inlearning English

The issue of knowing vocabulary learning strategies could not reach theconsensus among students who were asked There were 25% of them said that theyhad ever heard of vocabulary learning strategies while 75% said that they had neverheard of anything like that All students asked agreed that vocabulary learningstrategies should be taught in class When being questioned why they thought so,most of them answered that they did not want to depend totally on the vocabularylearning taken place in class

It can be concluded that the students were all aware of the importance of andthe need to learn and to be taught vocabulary learning strategies

Results for research question 2: What vocabulary learning strategies do the first

year students at Hai Phong Community College commonly use?

It seemed that the participants used many strategies but they did not know

how to name them Table 5 shows three most used vocabulary learning strategies for discovery a new word‟s meaning.

Degree of Frequency

Often use Sometimes Seldom Never use

Table 5: Vocabulary learning strategies for discovery a new word’s

meaning used by the Pilot study participants

As can be seen from table 5, the first most used strategy Use an English Vietnamese dictionary was used by 4 participants (100%) It seems that the studentsuse a bilingual dictionary (English – Vietnamese) with a high frequency Thesecond most used strategy Ask the teacher for the meaning was also used a lot withthe mean of 4.75 This definitely shows that the students rely on a teacher too much.Another vocabulary learning strategy used with a relatively high frequency with themean of 4.25 was Analyze any available pictures or gestures It is worth noting thatthe students seldom learn words through Analyze the part of speech, Analyzeprefixes, suffixes and roots Actually, word features such as prefixes, suffixes andstems are useful clues for lexical inference

-The following table shows three most used vocabulary learning strategies forconsolidation a word in memory

Degree of Frequency No.

Always use Often use Sometimes Seldom Never

15 Verbal repetition 2 50 1 25 1 25 0 0 0 0 4.25

Table 6: Vocabulary learning strategies for consolidation a word in memory

used by the Pilot study participants

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From table 6, we can see clearly that the participants preferred repetition(written repetition and verbal repetition) in learning words that they haveencountered Their means in turn are 4.75 and 4.25 The results suggest that thosestudents relied heavily on learning the meaning and form of a word by rote Anothervocabulary learning strategy used with a high frequency was Take notes in class.There are a half of the participants always used it This finding is not surprisingbecause the students‟ main perceived source of vocabulary studying in class or fromthe teacher.

To conclude, the pilot study was useful because it was noticed that thestudents were willing to support the project and they enjoyed learning more aboutvocabulary learning strategies Definitely, the list of the strategies should remain thesame for the main study but it will involve more participants and the results will beanalyzed in more detail

2.4 Main study

2.4.1 Participants

There are 276 students at Hai Phong Community College participating in thisstudy The number of students is chosen in accordance with the formula which isthe one used by Krejcie & Morgan (1970)

n = required sample size

X2 = the table value of chi-square for 1 degree of freedom at the desired confidence level (3.841)

were female, all at the age of 19 and 20 They are from different provinces, townsand cities in the North of the country such as Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Thai Binh,Quang Ninh, ect Most of them come from countryside Most of them have studiedEnglish since their tenth form at the high school None of them has learnt English in

an English speaking country However, such variables as gender, place of living arenot considered in this study

In order to have an in-depth study, nine English teachers were also invited toparticipate in the interview They are from 28 to 50 years old They are six femalesand two males Three of them are with Master of Arts and the rest are with Bachelor

of Arts They have been teaching English at HPCC for five to more than fifteenyears

2.4.2 Data collection instruments

The study was carried out in two phases The purpose of the first phase interviews is to elicit information from the teachers about the strategies used bystudents in learning vocabulary Interviews are the appropriate instruments todevelop the initial list of vocabulary learning strategies for the questionnairebecause with these qualitative ones, the researcher can gain detailed descriptionabout each strategy and can have spontaneity and responsiveness to checkunderstanding immediately (Patton, 2002, p.343) While the second phase – surveyquestionnaire aims to seek information about the students‟ awareness of theimportance of vocabulary learning, which is to collect quantitative information

-In the first phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted among theteachers in order to elicit data about the strategies their students use in learningvocabulary Based on the reported data and literature review, a list of vocabularylearning strategies was compiled for the survey questionnaire among the 276participants in the second phase to collect data about the vocabulary learningstrategies are commonly used by the students In addition, a part in the surveyquestionnaire called general information was designed with five questions to seek

information about the students‟ awareness of the importance of vocabulary learning.The following is a chart for the design of the study.

Phase 1:

Semi-structured interview Qualitative data for

vocabulary learningstrategies listCompilation of survey questionnaire

based on the interview data

and literature review

Quantitative data for

and vocabularySurvey questionnaire

In addition, the interviewer can use both individual and group interviews, which canoptimize the strengths of both

This interview included both open-ended and broad questions serving as areminder to keep the interview on track while still giving the interviewer andinterviewee plenty of freedom for further discussion To be more specific, theinterview aims to ask the teachers to find out what strategies commonly employed

by their students in learning new words Interview data with the literature reviewwas used to synthesize a list of vocabulary learning strategies.

2.4.2.1 Survey questionnaire

The survey questionnaire included two parts as follow:

Part I is General Information, which contains five questions to seek informationabout the students‟ awareness of the importance of vocabulary learning

Part II is Vocabulary Learning Strategies A list of vocabulary learningstrategies for the survey questionnaire were compiled with reference to the teachersinterview‟s data in this study and a review of the literature on taxonomy of Schmitt(1997: 207-208) The reasons the researcher chose Schmitt‟s taxonomy arecurrently it is the most extensive one available; his six categories are clearly definedand easy to work with; and is matched with the researcher‟s purpose of the study.However, due to limitations of time and the context of the study, modifications weremade

The strategies in part II were divided into two subparts:

+ Strategies for discovery a new word‟s meaning (Consist of eleven specific strategies and one open-ended question which depends on different students)

+ Strategies for consolidation a word once it has been encountered (Consist

of twenty-four specific strategies and one open-ended question which depends ondifferent students)

Each strategy was accompanied with its Vietnamese version on the list Theparticipants were asked to rate each strategy statement on a 5-point interval Likertscale in terms of their frequency of usage in ascending order ranging from 0(“Never”) to 4 (“Always”) For more detail, a table of vocabulary learning strategies

in survey questionnaire is provided below:

Part II: Vocabulary learning strategies

I Strategies for discovery a new word’s meaning

5

II Strategies for consolidation a word once it has been encountered

In order to find out the students‟ perception of the importance of vocabulary

learning and their use of those vocabulary learning strategies, the study was carried

out as follows

First, semi-structured interview was conducted in English with nine teachers

The participants were mainly asked open-ended questions according to interview

guidelines and they were encouraged to express their thoughts freely The procedure

lasted for one day and it was done at the office of Faculty of Foreign Language at

HPCC

Afterwards, transcript of the interview was analyzed Data from the interview

not only made reference to design questionnaire but also would be used in

comparison with the results of the survey questionnaire later Then the final version

of the survey questionnaire was gathered on the basic of a review of literature on

vocabulary learning strategies and the above data interview in order to discover

logical groupings and links among categories that would shed light on the learners‟