A study on vocabulary learning strategies of talented students in english language selection at thanh liem c high school, ha nam province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************** NHIẾP THỊ VÂN ANH A STUDY ON VOCABULARY LEARN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

GRADUATE STUDIES

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

NHIẾP THỊ VÂN ANH

A STUDY ON VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES

OF TALENTED STUDENTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE SELECTION AT THANH LIEM C HIGH SCHOOL, HA

NAM PROVINCE

(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CHIẾN LƯỢC HỌC TỪ VỰNG CỦA HỌC SINHĐỘI TUYỂN HỌC SINH GIỎI MÔN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG THPT C

THANH LIÊM, HÀ NAM)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

GRADUATE STUDIES

NHIẾP THỊ VÂN ANH

A STUDY ON VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES

OF TALENTED STUDENTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE SELECTION AT THANH LIEM C HIGH SCHOOL, HA

NAM PROVINCE

(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CHIẾN LƯỢC HỌC TỪ VỰNG CỦA HỌC SINHĐỘI TUYỂN HỌC SINH GIỎI MÔN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG THPT C

THANH LIÊM, HÀ NAM)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Trần Thị Thu Hiền

HA NOI - 2016

I hereby declare that this dissertation represents my own work and that

it has not been previously submitted to this University or any other institute inapplication for admission to a degree, diploma or other qualifications

Hanoi, 2016

Nhi p Th V n Anh

I would like to express my appreciation, first and foremost, to mysupervisor Dr Tran Thi Thu Hien, who has patiently and constantly guidedand supported me to develop my study into a practicable frame in the verybeginning and offered valuable suggestions while the work was in progress

My thanks also go to all the teachers that have instructed me at the NationalUniversity for their inspirational lectures in class, by which I have beenmotivated to explore some interesting issues concerning English languageteaching and learning

A special word of thanks goes to my students, without whom it wouldnever been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished

Last but not least, I would like to give my immense gratitude to myfamily, without whose support my dream of pursuing further study would nothave been possible

Nhiep Thi Van Anh

The research involved 25 talented students in English languageselection at Thanh Liem C high school, Ha Nam province Data was collectedfrom a vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire

Results of the study showed that the students favoured strategiesfocusing on guessing meaning from context, when they encountered newwords Besides, bilingual and monolingual dictionaries is also a useful tool tohelp students find the meaning of words Moreover, many students areinterested in studying words through English language media such astelevision programs, Internet, English songs,…

However, students had difficulty implementing a number of social andmetacognitive strategies, such as interacting with native speakers and testingoneself with word tests

To conclude, strategy training especially on guessing, dictionarystrategies and deep processing strategies is essential It would be good ifteachers could provide different opportunities for students to retrieve thevocabulary learned in different contexts The results suggested that teachersshould make learners aware of their own responsibility in vocabulary learningand expose them to different approaches and strategies in enhancing

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT……….iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

LIST OF CONTENTS v

LIST OF TABLES vii

CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale for choosing the topic 1

1.2 Research question 3

1.3 Aim and objectives of the study 4

1.4 Scope of the study 4

1.5 Significance of the study 4

1.6 Structures of the study 5

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Learning Strategies 6

2.2 Vocabulary learning strategies 8

2.2.1 Definitions of vocabulary learning strategies

8 2.2.2 Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies

9 2.3 Previous studies on Vocabulary Learning Strategies 13

2.4 Summary 16

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 17

3.1 Research Setting 17

3.2 Participants 17

3.3 Data collection instrument 18

v

4.1 Findings 23

4.1.1 Discovery strategies 23

4.1.2 Consolidation strategies 27

4 2 Discussion 32

CHAPTER FIVE : CONCLUSION 37

5.1 Concluding remarks 37

5.2 Implications 38

5 3 Limitations 39

5.4 Recommendations for further research 40

REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX I PART 1: The Student‟s Personal Background I PART 2: Vocabulary Learning Strategies Questionnaire II

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Information of the participants 18

Table 4.1 Determination Strategies used by the talented students 24

Table 4.2 Social strategies used by the talented students 25

Table 4.3 Memory strategies used by the talented students 27

Table 4.4 Cognitive strategies used by the talented students 29

Table 4.5 Metacognitive strategies used by the talented students 31

CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for choosing the topic

Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings As StevenStahl (2005) puts it, "Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of

a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits intothe world." Vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be fullymastered; it is something that expands and deepens over the course of alifetime Instruction in vocabulary involves far more than looking up words in

a dictionary and using the words in a sentence Vocabulary is acquiredincidentally through indirect exposure to words and intentionally throughexplicit instruction in specific words and word-learning strategies.Limitedvocabularies prevent students from comprehending a text Therefore, aneffective approach to vocabulary is always one of the great concerns of everylanguage teacher.The reason is that learning vocabulary is really challenngingrequiring many cognitive processes, and teachers have to make sure that thestudents understand the word and its meaning as well as how to use the wordaccurately and appropriately

At upper- secondary schools in Vietnam, with a short duration of 3periods per week for all language skills and language focus, vocabularyinstruction has paid less attention than it should have been Students have tolearn so many new words every week, and by the time they learn the newwords in the new lessons they have forgoten most of the words they havelearned in previous lessons

Moreover, most of the students, in fact, are not interested in vocabularylessons They feel bored with the common methods used by teachers sincemost of the teachers of English at the researcher‟ school are still applying the

listen” These traditional approaches encourage students to recite facts andfigures, not stimulate their thinking and their analytical skills Consequently,the students are not able to apply what they‟ve learned, not able to makeconnections of what they‟ve just learned and what they had learned in thepast.These traditional methods do not promote active engagement andparticipants As a result, students become passive.They don‟t haveopportunity to participate in learning vocabulary ativities.They consider theteachers‟explanation for meaning, definition, pronunciation, spelling andgrammatical functions boring.This leads to the problem that language learnershave nothing to do in vocabulary learning section but to listen to their teacher.

It is known that vocabulary is not available knowlegde, it should be along-term cumulative study The teaching and learning of English vocabularybecomes more difficult for rural students experiencing problems due tolearning conditions, teachers, etc Besides, with applying the innovation in thecurrent exams, many students do not focus on learning English because it issimply for them to avoid the worst score when doing multiple choice Englishtests , therefore, they pass the graduation exam easily

The researcher is now in charge of teaching English for grade 10 and

12 During teaching,the researcher found that vocabulary plays an importantrole in the students‟language learning It is one element that links the four skills ofspeaking, listening, reading and writing all together In order to communicate well

in a foreign language, students should have a number of words and should knowhow to use them accurately

In fact, the students at Thanh Liem C high school have encountered alot of difficulties in remembering as well as using vocabulary.The ability toapply vocabulary learning strategies is still limited, for example, whenever

students think of vocabulary, they think of a list of new words with meaning

in their native language without any real context practice They look up thewords in bilingual dictionary to find their meaning of new words Working bythis way, after a short period of time, many students may find out thatlearning vocabulary doesn‟t satisfy them Students often learn to deal with thechecking vocabularies of the teacher, then there are no circumstances andskills to apply those words, so learning new words becomes useless.Meanwhile, the talented students in the English language selection proved thatthey had capability of learning new words when they achieved good results inthe vocabulary tests

The writer would like to do a survey to know what English learningstrategies talented students in the English language selection are usingpopularly and how often they learn these strategies From the results of thisinitial study, a more long-term study will be conducted in the mass student tofind out, compare and apply for student‟s learning in order to improvelearning English of all students at the writer‟ school So the writer hasdecided to examine the question:“A study on vocabulary learning strategies oftalented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school,

Ha Nam province”

1.2 Research question

The primary aim of the present study is to investigate actual vocabularylearning strategies that talented students in English language selection atThanh Liem C high school have used in English learning, therefore, thisresearch attempts to answer the following research question:

“What vocabulary learning strategies are most and least popularly used

by the talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high

1.3 Aim and objectives of the study

The aim of the study is to investigate vocabulary learning strategiestalented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high schoolhave used in English learning To realize this aim, the paper will :

1 Find the information about vocabulary learning strategies that talented students in English language selection used when they study words

2 Draw the most and least popular vocabulary learning strategies used

by talented students in English language selection

1.4 Scope of the study

The study focuses on exploring vocabulary learning strategies used by

25 talented students who were considered “good learners” at Thanh Liem Chigh school They participated in the exam for talented students annually withage average between 15-17 years during the first semester of 2015 Schmitt‟sTaxonomy will be applied to analyse these students‟ use of vocabularylearning strategies

1.5 Significance of the study

1.The study can reveal the most and least popularly used vocabularylearning strategies implemented by the talented students in English languageselection For talented students in English language selection, exposure to alarge amount of new words and learning vocabulary through vocabularylearning strategies can develop good habits in terms of English learning asthey study English at high school Thus, if the instruction of vocabularylearning strategies leads to good results, it can be put to use in wider scale andteachers could have a better idea about how to help students learn vocabularyeffectively

2.The teachers can implement the findings of this study to support highproficient students and encourage weaker students to get better results

Moreover, this study gives recommendations to other teachers of English onhow to teach the students to use vocabulary stratergies effectively to improvetheir learning vocabulary in classes.

3 From the results of this study, talented students in English languageselection also need to adjust the vocabulary strategies to achieve higher academicresults Besides, the writer will continue to conduct other research to a wideraudience, the mass of students to have overview that helps regulate

the teaching and learning of teachers and students in the researcher‟s school

1.6 Structures of the study

The study is organized as follow:

Chapter 1: Introduction – provides an overview of the study

Chapter 2 : Liturature Review - a view of relevant liturature on thisissue is presented

Chapter 3: Research Methodology- a description of research methods isdiscussed in detail, including a description of selection of the participants,data collection instruments and data collection procedures

Chapter 4: Finding and discussions - the results of the study arepresented

Chapter 5: Conclusion - the researcher provides a summary on mainpoints raised in the study, the major conclusion drawn from conducting thisstudy, and a discussion of the study‟s limitations and suggestions for furtherresearch

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter examines the literature and research relevant to languagelearning strategies and vocabulary learning strategies

2.1 Learning Strategies

The term “strategy” is of military origin where it refers to carefullydesigned plans for military operations (Oxford, 1990:7) There have beennumerous attempts to define strategies According to Rubin (1975:43),strategies are “ the techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquireknowledge.” When applied to a non military setting like school learning, thestrategy concept has been taken on a new meaning and has been transformedinto learning strategies Learning strategies have been defined in various ways

in literature and they are connected to several areas of language learning.Learning strategies are thoughts or behaviour the learners use to comprehend,learn or retain new information (O‟Malley and Chamot 1990:1)

When O'Malley et al (1985) came to conduct their research, they basedtheir definition on Rigney‟s (1978) definition of learning strategies asprocedures which facilitate acquisition, retention, retrieval, and performance.Whereas, Oxford (1990:8) provided another well-known definition oflanguage learning strategies as “specific actions taken by the learner to makelearning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, andmore transferable to new situations.”

In addition, Takala (1996, as cited in Kristiansen 1998:44) determinesthe word “strategy”: “Strategies are taken to be the behaviours that thelearners engage in during learning that are intended to influence cognitiveandaffective processing.” Meanwhile, Ellis (1985:165) points out that native

language speakers use the same strategy types as learners of second language.However, there are differences in the frequency of strategy use betweennative speakers and non-native speakers.

The term language learning strategies has many different definitions.Research into language learning strategies began in the 1960s and the termlanguage learning strategy has been defined by many researchers In most ofthe research on language learning strategies, the primary concern has been on

"identifying what good language learners report they do to learn a second orforeign language, or, are observed doing while learning a second or foreignlanguage." (Rubin and Wenden 1987:19) Wenden and Rubin (1987:19)define learning strategies as " any sets of operations, steps, plans, routinesused by the learner to facilitate the obtaining, storage, retrieval, and use ofinformation."According to Stern (1992:261),"the concept of learning strategy

is dependent on the assumption that learners consciously engage in activities

to achieve certain goals and learning strategies can be regarded as broadlyconceived intentional directions and learning techniques."All languagelearners use language learning strategies either consciously or unconsciouslywhen processing new information and performing tasks in the languageclassroom Since language classroom is like a problem-solving environment

in which language learners are likely to face new input and difficult tasksgiven by their instructors, learners' attempts to find the quickest or easiest way

to do what is required, that is, using language learning strategies isinescapable Griffiths (2008) explained that language learning strategies areactivities consciously chosen by learners for the purpose of regulating theirown learning Griffiths also demonstrated and showed a correlation betweenlanguage learning strategy use and English proficiency

2.2 Vocabulary learning strategies

2.2.1 Definitions of vocabulary learning strategies

The term “vocabulary learning strategies” refers to “any set oftechniques or learning behaviours, which language learners reported using inorder to discover the meaning of a new word, to retain the knowledge ofnewly-learned words, and to expand one‟s knowledge of vocabulary”(Intaraprasert 2004:53) Learner autonomy can be enhanced by introducinglearner to different vocabulary learning strategies which can be used indeveloping the learning process

O‟Malley and Chamot (1990:7) supposed that training second languagelearners to use learning strategies concentrates mainly on learning vocabulary.They also point out that vocabulary learning strategies are used mostfrequently and are probably the most well-known type of language learningstrategies; but other author mentions that, in comparison with other aspects oflanguage, such as grammar and pronunciation, vocabulary is the area oflanguage that learners seem most conscious of

Vocabulary learning strategies are a subcategory of language learningstrategies which in turn are a subcategory of learning strategies in general Iflanguage learning strategies can be defined as “specific actions taken by thelearner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more selfdirected,more effective, and more transferable to new situations.” (Oxford, 1990:8),and vocabulary learning strategies constitute knowledge about what students

do to find out the meaning of new words, retain them in long-term memory,recall them when needed in comprehension, and use them in languageproduction (Catalan 2003, in: Ruutmets, 2005)

According to Schmitt (1997:199), summarising previous research, thatmany learners use vocabulary learning strategies and many learners agree thatvocabulary is an essential part of language Schmitt (1997:200) notes that

even though many studies have been made about language learning strategiesand vocabulary learning, only a few of them have discussed vocabularylearning strategies Schmitt (1997:200–201) states that the research done onthe field of vocabulary learning strategies typically concentrates only onindividual or small number of strategies He believed that the research hasshown patterns of strategy use which can be changed over time when thelearner gets older or becomes more proficient in the language he or she isstudying Therefore some strategies are more popular in certain age groups( Schmitt 1997:223).

2.2.2 Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies

In classifying learning strategies, researchers have different ways ofclassifying language learning strategies (Intaraprasert 2004:10) Theseclassification systems give crucial contribution to the knowledge ofvocabulary strategies Below is a summary, brief discussion as well asconsideration of the classification systems of vocabulary learningstrategies which have been identified in different contexts by differentscholars, such as Cohen (1987;1990); Gu and Johnson‟s (1996) and Schmitt‟s(1997).The writer selected the classification of these scholars because it is anuseful reference source for the researcher to conduct her own research

2.2.2.1 Cohen’s classification of vocabulary learning strategies

Vocabulary Learning strategies classified by Cohen 37) were put together and could be devided into three main categories :

(1987:43;1990:21-Category 1: Strategies to remember words

It means that learners use rote-repetition by repeating the word and itsmeaning until it seems to have stuck; Besides, using mnemonic associations isnecessary through :

- linking the word to the sound of a word in the native language

to the sound of a word in another language, or linking the word to thesituation in which it appeared

- attending to the meaning of a part of the word or noting the structure

of part and visualising the word in isolation or in a written context

- placing the word in the topic group and creating a mental image of the word

- associating some physical sensation to the word or associating theword to a keyword; and using of mnemonic device in order to create a

cognitive link between an unfamiliar foreign language word

Category 2: Semantic Strategies involves in

- Thinking of synonyms in order to build a network of interlinkingconcepts

- Clustering words by topic group or type of word ; and linking the word to another sentence

Category 3: Vocabulary Learning and Practising Strategies

Analyse the word according to its roots, affixes, and inflections as

a way to understand its meaning Words in two languages such as using aDictionary, the Use of Flash Cards, Grouping and Cumulative VocabularyStudy

Besides, vocabulary learning strategied proposed by Cohen (1987;1990) have been found to share some common characteristics, therefore, theycould be put together to create the new three main categories They consist ofstrategies like remembering words, semantic strategies, and vocabularylearning and practising strategies

2.2.2.2 Gu and Johnson’s classification of vocabulary learning strategies

Gu and Johnson (1996:51) investigate Chinese advanced learners‟ use

of English vocabulary learning strategies by using the questionnaire Gu

and Johnson (1996) note L2 vocabulary learning strategies as metacognitive, cognitive, memory and activation strategies These scholars

developed a substantial list of English foreign language vocabularylearning strategies reported employing by advanced Chinese learners Thestudy has profiled the beliefs and strategies of adult Chinese learners forlearning EFL vocabulary A wide variety of English vocabulary learningstrategies are developed and grouped into following categories:

Metacognitive strategies consist of selective awareness and self-initiationstrategies L2 learners employing selective awareness strategies know whichwords are important for them to learn and are essential for adequatecomprehension of a passage Learners employing self- initiation strategiesuse a variety of means to make the meaning of vocabulary items clear

Cognitive strategies in Gu and Johnson‟s classification involveguessing strategies, skillful use of dictionaries and note-taking strategies.When using guessing strategies, learners draw upon their backgroundknowledge and use linguistic clues like grammatical structures of asentence to guess the meaning of new word

Memory strategies are classified into practicing and encodingcategories Word lists and repetition are instances of practicing strategies

Instructing strategies include strategies such as association, imagery,visual, auditory, semantic, and contextual encoding as well as word-structure( analyzing a word in terms of prefixes and suffixes)

The activation strategies refer to strategies that the learnersactually use new words in different contexts For example, learners may setsentences using the words they have learned

2.2.2.3 Schmitt’s classification of vocabulary learning strategies

Schmitt‟s (1997) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies is

organized in two groups: Discovery Strategies and Consolidation Strategies

The following is the strategy inventory offered by Schmitt(1997).These vocabulary learning strategies were devided into two maincategories:

Category 1: Discovery Strategies

This category consists of Determination Strategies (DET) and SocialStrategies (SOC)

In Determination Strategies, Schmitt‟s (1997) supposed that learnerspaid attention to strategies such as analysing part of speech, analysingaffixes and roots, checking for L1 cognate, analysing any available pictures

or gestures, guessing meaning from textual context, and using a dictionary(bilingual or monolingual)

In Social Strategies , Schmitt‟s (1997) thought that learners usedstrategies ,for instance, asking teacher for a synonym, paraphrase, or L1translation of new word and asking classmate for meaning when theydiscover the meaning of new words

Category 2: Consolidation Strategies

Consolidation Strategies includes strategies for consolidating a wordonce it has been encountered Schmitt‟s (1997) stressed on four types ofstrategies like :

Social Strategies (SOC) use interaction with other people to improvelanguage learning Learners may study and practise meaning in a group

or interact with native speaker, or by any combination of these

In Memory Strategies ( MEM ), Schmitt (1997) explains that mostmemory strategies involve relating the word to be retained with priorknowledge For example, studying new words with pictures of theirmeaning, associating the word with its coordination, synonymy, orantonymy, using a scale for gradable adjectives or even grouping wordstogether within a story line.

Besides,Cognitive strategies (COG) do not engage learners in mental

processing but is more mechanical In Cognitive strategies, Schmitt (1997)

refers to Verbal and Written repetition, Word lists, Putting English labels onphysical objects and Keeping a vocabulary notebook

Metacognitive strategies (MET) are strategies relating to processesinvolving monitoring, decision-making, and evaluation of learners‟progress.Metacognitive strategies help the learner in determining appropriatevocabulary learning strategies for learning new words It includes usingEnglish-language media (songs, movies, newscasts, etc.), Testing oneself withword tests, Skiping or passing new word and Continuing to study word overtime

2.3 Previous studies on Vocabulary Learning Strategies

Research on general learning strategies showed that many of them areused for vocabulary learning O‟Malley and Chamot (1990:7) note thatresearch on the effect of training L2 learners to use learning strategies is oftenrestricted to application of vocabulary tasks Learners are found to use morelearning strategies for vocabulary acquisition than for other languageactivities (Takač, 2008) In one of the first large-scale studies, Ahmed (1989)investigated how good and poor learners (300 EFL learners in Sudan) appliedvocabulary-learning strategies For the data collection Ahemd used a think-

showed that both good and poor learners used the same macro- strategies(note-taking, memorization, practice, dictionaries or other informationsources), but good learners applied more micro-strategies within each macro-strategy; for example, they often used words in context or tested themselveswhile practicing.

Gu and Johnson (1996) designed a questionnaire based on previousstrategy research (Oxford, 1990) The questionnaire provided one of the mostcomprehensive lists of vocabulary strategies: 108 items It included threesections: vocabulary learning beliefs, metacognitive strategies, and cognitivestrategies Gu and Johnson (1996) administered the questionnaire to 850Beijing University sophomores who had about six years of English learningexperience The researchers were interested in the ways learners combineddifferent strategies, and if the choice of strategy combinations correlated withstudents‟vocabulary size and general language proficiency Learners wereclassified by their strategy profiles and learning outcomes into fivegroups.The findings revealed that the group of students with the highestEnglish test scores believed that vocabulary should be picked up throughnatural exposure (reading, guessing, contextual encoding) and careful study,but not memorization They actively looked for opportunities to use Englishoutside the classroom The second best group of participants also believed innatural acquisition, careful study, and use of new words, but in addition theyhad positive feelings about the memorization of words They used almostevery strategy and spent a lot of time and effort on learning English Gu andJohnson (1996) believed that they might have succeeded due to their efforts,but not to particular strategy use Most of students in the study reportedaverage use of various strategies, and the group with lowest English test

scores strongly believed in the effectiveness of only a very restricted set ofstrategies: memorization and visual repetition.

Vocabulary size correlated positively with general English proficiency.Positive correlations were also found between both variables and suchstrategies as contextual guessing, seeking personally significant vocabulary,using vocabulary that was not studied in class, active use of dictionaries forlearning purposes (not for comprehension only), meaning-oriented note-taking, paying attention to word formation, and creating semantic associationsand networks Strategies aimed at vocabulary retention correlated more withvocabulary size than with language proficiency Oral repetition and Englishproficiency correlated positively, but visual repetition of new wordscorrelated negatively with both vocabulary size and English proficiency.Memorization of vocabulary was found to be useful only when it was used incluster with many other strategies

Schmitt‟s (1997) 58-item questionnaire was administered to 600Japanese EFL learners of different ages: junior-high school, high school,university students, and adult learners Schmitt(1997) distinguished betweenstrategies used for discovery of new words and strategies for consolidating theknowledge Discovery strategies included determination strategies used forindependent looking up of the word‟s meaning and social strategies used forasking teachers or classmates for a meaning Consolidation strategies includedsocial, cognitive, metacognitive, and memory strategies The participantswere asked to indicate what strategies they used most often, and whatstrategies they found most helpful

The results showed that most frequently used strategies included using

a bilingual dictionary, verbal and written repetition, studying the spelling,

most helpful coincided with the most used ones: bilingual dictionary use,saying the new word aloud, oral repetition, and written repetition The resultsalso showed changes in strategy use as learners matured: The youngestlearners favored repetition, focus on form, L1–L2 word lists and cards Moremature learners reported more strategies that involved deeper processing:imaging, associations, and analysis.

Many more studies have investigated individual vocabulary-learningstrategies, but only a few strategies have been researched in depth The mostextensively studied vocabulary learning strategies are memory-based andinferencing strategies (Schmitt, 1997)

a variety of purposes of the investigation, target populations, methods of datacollection, places of research conduction, and different variables or factors

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methodology used in collecting data for thisstudy Firstly, illustrations will be described through research setting andresearch question Secondly, details of the subjects are illustrated Apart fromthe data collection procedure, marking on how the questionnaires weredistributed is included

3.1 Research Setting

The study was conducted at Thanh Liem C high school There are 25talented students in the English language selection The gifted students wererecruited from the selected classes, including students achieved betteracademic achievement in the English learning process.They must participate

in the annual contest for gifted students, therefore, studying, consolidating andapplying appropriate learning strategies to achieve good results in the examfor excellent students is very essential

Moreover, in the process of learning English, they are considered tohave good thinking capability and have great enthusiasm about learningEnglish These students have rich vocabulary and they have used differentvocabulary strategies to achieve their purposes of learning English As aresult, some of them won high prizes in the annual competition for giftedstudents

3.2 Participants

25 talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem Chigh school in Ha Nam are the target subjects of the study They are bothmale and female students aged from fifteen to seventeen and have learntEnglish at secondary schools for 5 years These students have studied inEnglish seven years which is a requirement course offered by the National

The majority of the participants started learning English when theywere ten years old Most students in the selection consider English theirfavorite subject They are all talented students who got good marks in the

entrance examination of the high school The table below summarizes the

background information of the participants, including the gender, age andtheir grades assessed by the teacher

Table 3.1 Information of the participants

There were two reasons behind the choice of these talented students

Firstly, the group included of students chosen in selected classes,

getting good marks, especially, good at mathematics and English, so they arevery intelligent and it is not difficult for them to study English

Secondly, all the students had received formal English instructions for

5 years at secondary school, some of them won prizes in competitions forexcellent students previous years and they were supposed to have goodknowledge of English words and sentences

3.3 Data collection instrument

There are varieties of methods that can be employed to collect datasuch as questionnaire, interview, observation and so on Each method has itsown advantages and disadvantages.The researcher chose questionnairebecause it is one of the most popular instruments It is quite easy to prepareand it can be used with a large number of subjects What is more, theinformation collected is not very difficult to tabulate and to analyze

(Brown,1995) In addition, questionnaires are generally used in collecting

data from respondents about behavioral questions such as what they aredoing or have done in the past (Dörnyei 2003)

The instrument used in this survey was a 40-item questionnairebased on Schmitt‟s Taxonomy for vocabulary learning strategies since it isone of the most comprehensive lists of strategies available and it matched

with the researcher‟s purpose of the study

The questionnaire draws on both Discovery Strategies andConsolidation Strategies proposed by Schmitt(1997).The questions in thequestionnaire will be analyzed in their vocabulary learning strategy groups

by counting its percentage It consisted of 40 items classified by five types ofstrategies, such as Determination Strategies, Social Strategies, Memmorystrategies, Cognitive and Metacognitive strategies, which were adapted fromthe vocabulary learning strategy classification based on Schmitt‟s Taxonomy(1997)

Discovery Strategies discovering meaning of new words includes 15item - questionnaires, whose statements from 1 to 6 aim at gathering theinformation about Determination Strategies of Discovery meaning of newwords and statements from 7 to 15 belong to Social Strategies Meanwhile, 25statements of Consolidation strategies describe how the students

consolidate a new word such as Memmory strategies (12 statements),Cognitive (8 statements) and Metacognitive strategies (5 statements )

The 40-item questionnaires were asked about the frequency of the use

of vocabulary learning strategies implemented by English talented students.The participants were instructed to self-report how often they used thestrategies by ticking ( √ ) in the corresponding columns ( see Apendix )

The following scales were used to indicate the frequency of the usage

3.4 Method in Language Learning Strategy Research

“Research methods are procedures a researcher follows in attempting

to achieve the goal of a study” (Johnson 1977: 9) Intaraprasert (2000:53)

affirms that the research methods used to investigate language learning

strategies are procedures a researcher follows in trying to achievethe goals of a study of language learning strategies, i.e to elicitinformation about language learning strategies employed by languagelearners when they learn a language However, Cohen and Scott (1996) pointout, “no single research method succeeds in the field; certain researchmethods are well established but imperfect” Besides, Robson (1993) pointsout that there are many methods which a researcher can use to investigate howlearning strategies are employed by students or language learners in order tocope with language problems, or to enhance their language learning Eachmethod has both weak and strong points, but whatever method a researcheremploys, he or she must take the main purpose of the study into consideration

The researcher used the exploratory research to explore the researchquestion because she wanted to determine the nature of the problem and have

a better understanding of the fact what vocabulary learning strategies thetalented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high schoolused most and least popularly Through the result of the study, she couldgather preliminary information that will help her define problems and havesuggestions for the following research

The study focuses on the survey of the quantitative differences ofcomprehensive high school students‟ responses to vocabulary learningstrategies Since vocabulary learning is a part of language learning, the mainresearch method for language learning strategies can be adapted to

vocabulary learning strategies as well including mainly written questionnaire.

3.5 Data collection procedure

The data collection procedures involved the following steps:

1 The first step was a review of literature about language learningstrategies to overview and familiarize The questionnaire in English language wasused to collect data It consisted of 40 items classified by five types of strategies,which were adapted from the vocabulary learning strategy classification based onSchmitt‟sTaxonomy(1997): Determination, Social (Discovery), Social(Consolidation), Memory, Cognitive and Metacognitive in

order to make them suitable for the subjects of the study

2.The questionnaires were approved and improved by the advisor.There were some parts to be readjusted and rewritten

3 The questionnaires were given to 25 students within one class period

4 The 40-item questionnaires were introduced by the researcher The

well the explanations of each item describe them The answered

questionnaires were collected right after the respondents finished them

5 From all of collected students‟ answers, 40 items of the questionnairehad been distributed and they were returned, and that is 100% of the students‟

responses All of the items of the questionnaire were analyzed The strategiesstudents always and often used with high percentages are considered the mostpopular strategies and the ones that students seldom and never used with highpercentages are considered the least popular strategies

CHAPTER FOUR : FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The data gathered through the questionnaire were analyzed toinvestigate how often each stratergy is used by talented students in Englishlanguage selection who are considered high proficient students at Thanh Liem

C high school and which vocabulary learning stratergies are popularly usedthe most and least The former term refers to always and often and the laterones refer to seldom and never

4.1 Findings

Discovery strategies include several determination strategies and socialstrategies A learner may discover a new word‟s meaning through guessingfrom context, analysing part of speech (e.g noun, verb or adjective),analysing any available pictures or gestures, etc There is a natural sense thatalmost all of the strategies applied to discovery activities could be used asconsolidation strategies in the later stage of vocabulary learning (Schmitt1997)

For clarity, the writer separate strategies into the types of strategy andanalyze them basing on the results of each type

4.1.1 Discovery strategies

4.1.1.1 Determination strategies ( DET)

In Schmitt‟s (1997) taxonomy, strategies of determination arestrongly linked with the discovery of a new word, notably, its meaning: theseare the strategies learners apply when they are faced with new words

The answer to the question shows that the highest percentage belongs

to guessing its meaning from the context as 64% of the students always applythis strategy and 12% of them often use it when discovering the meaning ofnew words ; but up to 52% and 56% of them never or seldom analyse