efl students’ attitudes towards learning english technical vocabulary and their technical vocabulary learning strategies a case study

DINH TRAN PHUONG THAO EFL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH TECHNICAL VOCABULARY AND THEIR TECHNICAL VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES A CASE STUDY A thesis submitted in parti

DINH TRAN PHUONG THAO

EFL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH TECHNICAL VOCABULARY AND THEIR TECHNICAL VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES

A CASE STUDY

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL)

Ho Chi Minh City, August 2019

DINH TRAN PHUONG THAO

EFL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH TECHNICAL VOCABULARY AND THEIR TECHNICAL VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES

TRAN QUOC THAO, Ph.D

Ho Chi Minh City, August 2019

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that this thesis entitled “EFL students’ attitudes towards learning English technical vocabulary and their technical vocabulary learning strategies: A case study” represents my own work

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains

no material published elsewhere or extract in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgment in the main text of the thesis

This thesis has not been previously submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution

Ho Chi Minh City, 2019

Dinh Tran Phuong Thao

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In order to fulfill this M.A thesis, I owe profound indebtedness to the dearest people who were willing to stand by me and contribute their invaluable help during the conduct of the research

First and foremost, I would like to express my great appreciation and deep gratitude to my supervisor Dr Tran Quoc Thao for his helpful advice, detailed comments, whole-hearted support, considerable motivation and experienced guidance, which are the most significant decisive factors leading to the accomplishment of this thesis

In addition, I would like to send my sincere thanks to the enthusiastic students at Ly Tu Trong College for their collaboration and cooperation in conducting the questionnaires, the interviews and supporting useful information for

my study

Besides, I also give a big thank to my friends M.A Pham Tan Tai, M.A Phan Thi Minh Thao and M.A Truong Minh Hoa for their support, assistance, comments, proofreading, and encouragement throughout the research

Last but not least, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my parents who consonantly encouraged me, gave me the most motivation to attempt harder and lent

me their hands, gave me a lot of financial and spiritual support whenever I was in need during the time I was writing so as to finish my thesis

I wish the best for all the people I am grateful to

ABSTRACT

With the present requirement of English for Specific Purposes development

in the professional and technical areas of study, the use of vocabulary learning strategies is a crucially important factor that decides the achievement of technical vocabulary acquisition Moreover, it is evident to many people that attitudes exert a huge impact on selecting vocabulary learning strategies to exploit Therefore, this study aimed at investigating students’ attitudes and strategies as well as the correlation between attitudes and strategy use in learning technical vocabulary

The research was carried out at Ly Tu Trong College of Ho Chi Minh City with the participation of 270 students (42 female, 228 male) Data collection was conducted from 4th June to 18th June 2018 Students’ a questionnaire survey and a semi-structured interview were utilized to collect data and then analyzed with version 22.0 of the SPSS software In particular, students were asked to answer questions concerning attitudes and strategies of learning technical vocabulary where

they had to choose the five options given from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” and “never use” to “always use”, respectively

The findings of the study uncovered that students had positive attitudes

towards technical vocabulary learning and their application of strategies in learning

technical vocabulary was at sometimes level What is more, students used the strategy category of Meta-cognitive strategies at the highest frequency Besides, the strategy item which students used most was “grouping technical vocabulary together into topics” in Memory strategies whereas the least often used strategy item was “taking advantages of technical vocabulary to interact with foreigners” in Social (consolidation) strategies In terms of the correlation, the relationship between attitude and strategy use was a positive and strong correlation Based on

the research findings, the study was concluded with some pedagogical implications and some suggestions for future studies on technical vocabulary learning

Keywords: attitudes, technical vocabulary, vocabulary learning strategy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Statement of Authorship i

Acknowledgments ii

Abstract iii

Table of contents iv

List of figure ix

List of tables x

List of abbreviations xii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.2 Statement of problem 4

1.3 Purposes of the study 4

1.4 Research questions 5

1.5 Significance of the study 5

1.6 Overview of thesis chapter 6

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 8

2.1 Introduction 8

2.2 Learners’ attitudes 8

2.2.1 Definitions of attitudes 8

2.2.2 Components of attitudes 9

2.2.3 The importance of attititudes 10

2.3 Technical vocabulary 11

2.3.1 Definitions of technical vocabulary 11

2.3.2 The importance of technical vocabulary 11

2.4 Vocabulary learning startegies 12

2.4.1 Definitions of vocabulary learning startegies 12

2.4.2 The importance of vocabulary learning startegies 12

2.4.3 Classifications of vocabulary learning startegies 13

2.5 Previous study 17

2.6 Summary 22

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 23

3.1 Introduction 23

3.2 Research setting 23

3.2.1 Research site 23

3.2.2 Research participants 24

3.2.2.1 Students for survey 25

3.2.2.2 Students for interview 27

3.3 Research design 28

3.3.1 Case study 28

3.3.2 Mixed methods research design 28

3.4 Research instruments 29

3.4.1 Questionnaire 29

3.4.2 Semi-structured interview 33

3.5 Procedure of data collection 34

3.5.1 Pilot study 34

3.5.2 Data collection 36

3.5.2.1 Procedure of collecting questionnaire 36

3.5.2.2 Procedure of collecting semi-structure interview 36

3.6 Procedure of data analysis 38

3.6.1 Procedure of analyzing questionnaire 38

3.6.2 Procedure of analyzing semi-structured interview 39

3.7 Reliability and validity 40

3.7.1 Questionnaires 40

3.7.2 Semi-structured interview 44

3.8 Chapter summary 45

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 46

4.1 Introduction 46 4.2 Data analysis 46 4.2.1 EFL students’ attitudes towards technical

vocabulary learning 46 4.2.1.1 EFL student’s attitudes in three main components 46 4.2.1.2 EFL student’s attitudes in three each components 47 4.2.2 EFL students’ use of strategies in technical

vocabulary learning 52 4.2.2.1 Frequency of use of technical vocabulary

learning strategies in six main categories 52 4.2.2.2 Frequency of individual technical vocabulary

learning strategy use for vocabulary learning purposes 54 4.2.2.2.1 Frequency of individual use for discovery of

the meaning of new technical vocabulary 54 4.2.2.2.2 Frequency of individual use for consolidation of

the meaning of new technical vocabulary 58 4.2.3 The correlation between EFL students’ attitudes and

strategies in technical vocabulary learning 68 4.2.3.1 The correlation between the overall attitudes

and strategies 68 4.2.3.2 The correlation between the overall attitudes

and each strategy 69 4.3 Discussions 70 4.3.1 EFL students’ attitudes towards technical

vocabulary learning 70 4.3.2 EFL students’ strategies in technical vocabulary learning 71 4.3.3 The correlation between strategies and attitudes in

technical vocabulary learning of EFL students 73 4.4 Summary 75

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 76

5.1 Introduction 76

5.2 Conclusions 76

5.3 Pedagogical implications and Recommendations for the teaching and learning of technical vocabulary 77

5.4 Contributions of the study 79

5.5 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 81

5.6 Summary of chapter 5 82

REFERENCES 83

APPENDICES 94

APPENDIX A.1: PILOTED QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) 94

APPENDIX A.2: PILOTED QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 98

APPENDIX A.3: QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) 103

APPENDIX A.4: QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 107

APPENDIX B.1: A SAMPLE OF INTERVIEW PROTOCOL (ENGLISH VERSION) 112

APPENDIX B.2: A SAMPLE OF INTERVIEW PROTOCOL (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 114

APPENDIX C.1: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS FOR MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGY (ENGLISH VERSION) 115

APPENDIX C.1: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS FOR MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGY (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 118

APPENDIX D.1: PILOTED CRONBACH’S ALPHA 121

APPENDIX D.2: CRONBACH’S ALPHA 123

APPENDIX E: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM

THE STUDENTS’ INTERVIEWS 125

LIST OF FIGURES

Page Figure 2.1: A model of attitude formation 9 Figure 2.2 Interconnections between direct and indirect

strategies among the six strategy groups 14 Figure 3.1: Framework of data collection process 37

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 3.1 Research participants’ general information 26

Table 3.2 Interviews’ general information 27

Table 3.3 Description of questionnaire for students 30

Table 3.4 Description of EFL students’ technical vocabulary learning attitudes 31

Table 3.5 Description of EFL students’ technical vocabulary learning strategies 32

Table 3.6 Description of the content of semi-structured interview 34

Table 3.7 Methods of data analysis in relation to the research questions and instruments 40

Table 3.8 Reliability of EFL students’ attitudes towards technical vocabulary learning 41

Table 3.9 Reliability of EFL students’ strategies towards technical vocabulary learning 42

Table 3.10 Reliability of EFL students’ determination strategies towards technical vocabulary learning 44

Table 4.1 EFL students’ attitudes in 3 main components 47

Table 4.2 Descriptive statistics of the students’ cognitive attitudes 47

Table 4.3 Descriptive statistics of the students’ affective attitudes 49

Table 4.4 Descriptive statistics of the students’ behavioral attitudes 51

Table 4.5 Frequency of use of technical vocabulary learning strategies in the six categories 53

Table 4.6 Determination strategies 54

Table 4.7 Social (discovery) strategies 56

Table 4.8 Social (consolidation) strategies 58

Table 4.9 Memory strategies 59

Table 4.10 Cognitive strategies 61 Table 4.11 Metacognitive strategies 63 Table 4.12 Top five most often used strategies in technical

vocabulary learning 65 Table 4.13 Top five least often used strategies in

technical vocabulary learning 66 Table 4.14 The correlation between the overall of

attitudes and strategies 68 Table 4.15 The correlation between the overall attitudes

and each category of strategy 69

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ASEAN: Association of Southeast Asian Nations

BTEC: Business Technology Education Council

E: Electrical and Electronics Technology

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

MET: Metacognitive strategy

SOC_C: Social strategy (consolidation)

SOC_D: Social strategy (discovery)

TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter works as an introduction to the research It starts with the background to the study, followed by the statement of the problem It then emphasizes the purposes and research questions of the study Besides, the significance of the study is considered so as to highlight some contributions to technical vocabulary learning and teaching Finally, definitions of key terms and the outlining structure of the thesis are presented, respectively

1.1 Background to the study

Vietnam has become a member of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) since December, 31st 2015 This event gives challenges to Vietnam such as economic power, science-technology standards, and workforce quality In terms of the quality of workforce, Le Quang Trung (2015), deputy director of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ employment bureau of Vietnam – a government body handling labour matters says that “Without a foreign language, or English, domestic laborers find it difficult to access new knowledge which is a barrier to integration” (p 17) To improve the qualifications of employees, laborers need to be equipped with sufficient English so that they can work, communicate and adapt effectively in every working environment Moreover, the Business Technology Education Council (BTEC) has been applied in Vietnam since August,

28th 2017 The requirement of BTEC is that all of the vocational training programs will be taught and learnt in English Therefore, English will have to be educated not only for communication but also for working in the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

In order to achieve high English competence, vocabulary is considered as one of the most important aspects The importance of learning vocabulary is also supported by McCarthy (2001, as cited in Fan, 2003) by stating that “vocabulary forms the biggest part of the meaning of any language, and vocabulary is the biggest

problem for most learners” (p 11) In the same way, Jones and Durrant (2010) point out that one of the greatest hindrances for mastering a second language is students’ limited vocabulary size Furthermore, Wilkins (1972) insists “without grammar, very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed” (p 111)

In addition, Gifford (2013) states that “a person having more breadth and depth of vocabulary has wider competence to communicate and to understand communication, and is to be considered intelligent” (p 18) Therefore, learning vocabulary plays a very significant role in second language learning One vocabulary type is essential for English learning, especially in ESP classes, namely

“technical vocabulary”

With the current trend, ESP courses basing on students’ needs are designed and taught in higher education The aims of these courses are to help students strengthen their proficiency in ESP, acquire specific professional knowledge, and ready to use ESP appropriately and correctly in foreign working environment Moreover, these courses help learners deal with unfamiliar technical vocabulary In fact, there are many various ways to help students learn technical vocabulary Nation (2001) believes that a large amount of vocabulary will be learned with the assistance of vocabulary learning strategies

According to Wanpen, Sonkoontod, and Nonkukhetkhong (2013), “with the growth of ESP in the professional and technical areas of study, vocabulary learning strategies are considered to be one of the most important factors for student success

in learning technical English” (p 1) In addition, vocabulary learning strategies are used as a tool that helps learners to acquire vocabulary Moreover, they are one of the most important elements of learning English as a Foreign Language They also help learners to control their own learning as well as learners can take more responsibility in their vocabulary learning Besides, they enhance the students’ autonomy In order to learn vocabulary, students can employ different kinds of learning strategies which they assume to be effective Ellis (1997) says that unsuccessful students use fewer strategies than successful students Therefore,

vocabulary learning strategies are considered as a key part of language learning strategies

If students use suitable strategies, they can develop their vocabulary learning effectively and successfully However, according to Shams (2008), attitude is one of the factors such as motivation, anxiety, learning achievements, aptitudes, intelligence, age, and personalities that influence the process of learning in a foreign language learning context Besides, attitude is considered as one of the most significant factors which affect learning a language (Fakeye, 2010) In particular, attitude helps learners have thought of the concepts, approaches, and strategies so that they can help vocabulary learning better That’s why it is crucial to study the EFL learners’ attitude towards vocabulary learning

Despite the importance of the strategies and attitudes towards vocabulary learning, learners have rarely been taught vocabulary strategies and there is a serious lack of research studies on attitudes towards technical vocabulary learning

as well as their vocabulary learning strategies Besides, Chung and Nation (2003) emphasize that high frequency and academic words are researched considerably but there have been a few studies about technical vocabulary

In terms of teaching and learning technical vocabulary, many teachers have ignored to teach students different strategies of learning technical vocabulary In addition, vocabulary learning strategies have not been incorporated into teaching technical vocabulary Consequently, some students learn vocabulary passively and just mechanically memorize new vocabulary without using systematic strategies in vocabulary learning Another consequence is that learners cannot remember technical vocabulary in long-term memory One more consequence is that the students’ actual competence in the use of English outside the class is immature

With the actual circumstances mentioned above, the writer decides to conduct the study with the main purposes of exploring students’ attitudes and strategies towards technical vocabulary learning In this study, moreover, the writer would like to investigate the correlation between the EFL students’ attitudes

towards learning English technical vocabulary and their technical vocabulary learning strategies at Ly Tu Trong College

1.2 Statement of problem

The intent of this study is to examine EFL students’ attitudes as well as explore their strategies and specially figure out the correlation between attitudes and strategies use towards learning technical vocabulary

As in current practice, ESP courses are designed with a view to acquiring professional competence Nevertheless, most of the students feel disappointed with these ESP courses The main reason is that EFL students lack technical vocabulary

As a result, students are not ready for ESP courses What’s more, students expose passive attitudes on discovering and remembering technical vocabulary because these words are not common, even rarely used in their daily lives Another explanation is that students are not aware of the importance of technical vocabulary learning

Additionally, students spend a lot of time on making an attempt at boosting their vocabulary size Yet, their technical vocabulary is still quite poor One of the reasons is that they do not have strategies for learning technical vocabulary Appropriate technical vocabulary learning strategies are helpful to solve the existing problem

For all of these above reasons, the researcher strived to set out research titled “EFL students’ attitudes towards technical vocabulary learning and their technical vocabulary learning strategies: A case study”

1.3 Purposes of the study

The study is set out to complete the following objectives:

 To explore the attitudes of the second year non-English major students towards technical vocabulary learning;

 To discover the students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies on their technical vocabulary learning;

 To find out if there is a correlation between students’ attitudes and their strategies in technical vocabulary learning

1.4 Research questions

The research is carried out to look for the answers to the following questions:

R-Q.1: What are the attitudes towards technical vocabulary learning of the

2nd-year non-English major students at LTT college of Ho Chi Minh?

R-Q.2: How do those students use technical vocabulary learning strategies? R-Q.3: Is there any correlation between students’ attitudes and their

technical vocabulary learning strategies? If yes, how?

1.5 Significance of the study

This study has been carried out to achieve the hopeful consequences as follows:

EFL teachers will receive the benefits of this research EFL teachers know about the most and least frequently used strategies by students so teachers can develop effective techniques and suitable steps which assist to enhance students’ technical vocabulary learning Furthermore, teachers can comprehend what students really need in the learning process of technical vocabulary so that teachers can implement and adjust their teaching method of vocabulary in the classroom Hamzah, Kalipour and, Abdullah (2009, as cited in Subon, 2013) mentioned that teachers and researchers who comprehend the students’ attitudes towards vocabulary learning and the use of strategy will know how to choose types of materials and design activities to improve their students’ vocabulary learning and lexical competence

The administrators of Ly Tu Trong College will also benefit from this research They will be able to attain useful statistics about the students’ attitudes and strategies as well as the correlation between attitudes and strategy use in learning technical vocabulary so that they can implement these results in order to design the ESP curriculum at LTT College

The students themselves also will benefit from this research It brings advantages of assisting and encouraging students to apply suitable vocabulary learning attitudes and strategies in their specific field of learning With this study, students might realize the ways they use to learn technical vocabulary and make appropriate plans for their learning process with these strategies In other words, the students take more responsibility and control for their own vocabulary learning

Researchers also will gain an advantage through this study Future researchers might carry out deeper studies into the related area basing on this research result as a useful reference Certainly, vocabulary learning attitudes and strategies are essential research areas which need to be studied further to improve the students’ technical vocabulary ability

1.6 Overview of thesis chapter

This study is presented in 5 chapters, (1) Introduction, (2) Literature review, (3) Research methodology, (4) Results and Discussions (5) Conclusions and Recommendations

Chapter 1 introduces the topic of the study by showing its background, purposes, research questions, significance, and finally an overview of the study The purpose of this chapter is to provide the readers with a brief description of what will happen throughout the study

Chapter 2 reviews the literature, in which the theories of technical vocabulary, learners’ attitudes, and vocabulary learning strategies are presented Additionally, the chapter also makes the link of this chapter with existing theories and previous studies Finally, the research gap for the study is pointed out

Chapter 3 describes the methodology of the research including research setting, research participants, research design, research instruments, the procedure

of data collection, and the procedure of data analysis

Chapter 4 displays the information on the results of analyzing data collected from the research instruments Moreover, it also generates a discussion of the research results as well as provides the answers to three research questions

Chapter 5 draws the conclusions which are appropriate to this study by presenting the implications, limitations, recommendations, and suggestions for the research in the future

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Introduction

This chapter aims at reviewing the related literature It comprises two main parts, namely the theoretical background of the study and a review of previous studies In the theoretical background, it is divided into three sections including technical vocabulary, learners’ attitudes, and vocabulary learning strategies Then, some of the research works which contribute to the present study are presented Next, the chapter indicates the research gap, and ends with the summary of the chapter

2.2 Learners’ attitudes

2.2.1 Definitions of attitudes

Up to the present, researchers on learners’ attitudes have agreed that attitudes play an important role in learning and a vital factor of second language learning Jung (1971) says that attitudes are used to act and react in a certain way when the spirit is ready Ajzen (1989) also says that attitudes expose people’s mood in terms

of an object, person, institution or event in an enthusiastic or un-enthusiastic way Besides, Kuntz (1996, as cited in Li, 2004) asserts that attitudes about language and language learning are notions which students need to acquire In the same way, Banya and Cheng (1997) indicate that attitudes are the opinions of an individual about language learning Moreover, Sakui and Gaies (1999) give a definition of attitudes as central constructs in every discipline in which human behavior and learning are dealt with On the other hand, Brown (2001) says that emotional factors such as feelings, self, relationships in the community affect considerably learners’ language learning Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2008) gives the definition of attitude relating to the way you think and feel about something or someone, and the way that you express what you think and feel through your behavior Hence, it can be seen easily that attitude is defined in numerous ways Yet, these definitions do not pay more attention on a particular object In the light of

purposes of this present thesis, the researcher wants to students’ psychological tendency towards specific object, namely technical vocabulary learning Thus, the researcher considers the definition of attitude according to Eagly and Chaiken (1993) with “Attitude is a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor” (p 1)

2.2.2 Components of attitudes

According to Allport (1935), Oppenheim (2000), and Ajzen (2005); attitude

is one aspect such as belief or feeling or behavioral intention However, some authors and scholars divide attitude into two or all of the above-mentioned aspects (Baker, 1992; K Johnsons & Johnson, 1999) Additionally, attitude is a complicated and multifaceted construct of cognitive, affective, and conative components (Dittmar, 1976; Gardner, 1985; Wenden, 1991)

Similarly, Eagly and Chaiken (1993) divide attitude into three components, i.e cognitive, affective and behavioral basing on the theory of cognitivism, humanism, and behaviorism

a Cognitive component of attitude: involves learners’ beliefs and ideas or

opinions which reinforce the attitude

b Affective component of attitude: helps the learners to express strong

feelings and emotions such as “likes” or “dislike”, “with” or “against”

c Behavioral component of attitude: deals with creating the link past behaviors with existing actions or leading to particular behavioral intention

The following model presents three attitudinal components:

Figure 2.1: A model of attitude formation (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993)

Cognitive component

Behavioral component

objects or entities

In the current study, the researcher tries to investigate students’ attitudes to see their opinions, feelings, and behaviors towards technical vocabulary learning Therefore, Eagly and Chaiken’s (1993) components of attitude will be applied in this research

2.2.3 The importance of attitudes

Attitudes show learners’ views and emotions about language learning Furthermore, attitudes decide behavioral intentions to study learners’ language According to Kara (2009), learners’ attitudes have an important impact on their behaviors as well as on their performance Attitudes play a crucial role and influence success and failure in students’ language learning For example, if students are interested in learning English, they can study English well Therefore,

if students are forced to learn, their result of the study is not high because they try to learn without any interest, pleasure, and motivation

There are many reasons to indicate that attitude towards language learning is important According to Reid (2003) affirms that attitudes are very significant because attitudes and students’ study are inseparable Attitudes towards learning are believed as an essential factor influencing behaviors towards choosing and reading books and speaking in a foreign language (Weinburgh, 1998) It is not denied that attitudes are effective encouragement in order to help students access a new language Thanks to positive attitudes towards learning the language, learning vocabulary comes to students easily and strategically In reality, Chamber (1999) assures that there was a positive attitude towards learning a language and learning; this helps students’ learning happen more easily Besides, Spolsky (1969), Littlewood (1984) and Holmes (1992) add that learners with positive attitudes towards learning a language take more advantages in comparison with those who have negative attitude Besides, Allman (2000) says that a learner who possesses positive attitudes towards target language, he/ she will be a successful learner For specific support, Verma (2005, p 6) states that “if the learner is reluctant to learn or he/she does not have a positive attitude, he/she does not produce any result”

In summary, positive attitude towards learning vocabulary results in good performance of students in learning English Therefore, exploring learners’ attitudes towards technical vocabulary learning would help the researcher comprehend what they think, feel and act about learning technical vocabulary as well as its importance

2.3 Technical vocabulary

2.3.1 Definitions of technical vocabulary

Technical vocabulary is used to indicate words that appear regularly in specific texts, or across a range of texts, from a specific discipline or related to a specific theme (Gardner, 2013; Nation, 2001; Sutarsyah, Nation, & Kennedy, 1994) Additionally, Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) define that technical vocabulary is a word whose meaning is specialized and restricted in certain disciplines and their meaning may vary across disciplines Besides, technical vocabulary refers to an ordinary word but its meaning is specialized and different from its common meaning when it is used in specific field (Chung & Nation, 2004) Also, Wasuntarasophit (2008) adds that the meaning of technical vocabulary is unique to its area To understand simply, technical vocabulary refers to specialized words which have a close relation to a specific area or field of study such as engineering, medicine, linguistics, economics, and tourisms Moreover, readers easily found out the technical vocabulary in specialized textbooks

2.3.2 The importance of technical vocabulary

Technical vocabulary plays an important role in this current study because the technical students will often have to meet these words in their ESP program Harding (2011) explains that “vocabulary is crucial in ESP because students will meet many technical or specialized words which are used to explain materials in their specialism” (p 53) In addition, if the students comprehend the meaning of technical vocabulary, they can understand the ESP lesson effectively

2.4 Vocabulary learning strategies

2.4.1 Definitions of vocabulary learning strategies

According to Ghazal (2017), vocabulary learning strategy is a method which the learners employ to enhance their understanding of different target language vocabularies Furthermore, Cameron (2001) states that vocabulary learning strategies are learners’ actions which assist themselves comprehend and retain lists

of vocabulary It means that when the students find new technical vocabulary in their process of learning, they need to do an action so as to comprehend as well as memorize these words In other words, vocabulary learning strategies are not only how to learn but also how to keep them in long-term memories Besides, according

to Ruutments (2005, as cited in Jurcovia, 2006), vocabulary learning strategies also help the students employ the vocabulary in a suitable context By the same token, vocabulary learning strategies are learners’ comprehension about processes or strategies to learn vocabulary as well as steps or actions need to be accomplished to get the meaning of unknown words, to keep them in long-term memory, to remind them at will, and to apply them in oral or written manner (Catalan, 2003) Additionally, students exploit technical vocabulary learning strategies so that their vocabulary learning process is easier, quicker and more independent Hence, by using vocabulary learning strategies, therefore, the students will have their own ways to acquire new words

2.4.2 Importance of vocabulary learning strategies

According to Nation (2001), vocabulary learning strategies are regarded as a

part of language learning strategies In other words, to improve language learning strategies, learners grow awareness of the importance of vocabulary learning strategies Nation (2001) admits that the students can gain a large amount of vocabulary thanks to the help of vocabulary learning strategies, and these strategies are useful for students at different language levels Moreover, vocabulary learning strategies helps students obtain the control as well as be responsible for their own vocabulary learning For more specific, “learner’s independence” in vocabulary

learning strategy has been taken into account by several researchers Gairns and Redman (1986, as cited in Kafipour et al, 2011) suggest that learners should be in charge of their own learning and they take their individual needs into consideration More considerably, Nation (1990, 2001) also emphasizes that to learn vocabulary most effectively; learners should use vocabulary learning strategies independently

of their teacher Consequently, vocabulary learning strategies enhance the

‘autonomy’ of the students by encouraging them to participate in self-directed learning and helping them to manage their learning (Oxford, 1990) In fact, if learners possess a variety of vocabulary learning strategies, they may cope with new

or unfamiliar vocabulary items with ease It means that vocabulary learning strategies help the students’ process of new vocabulary learning simpler

Oxford (1990) and Schmitt (1997) identify a number of particular strategies for learning vocabulary There are many various strategies for vocabulary learning such as mechanical/rote learning strategies, grouping strategies, keyword strategies, bilingual dictionary strategies, etc Each learner applies different strategies For instance, they remember vocabulary through reading a new word aloud when studying, using the picture, making the flashcard, using related words, making sentences and recording yourself Generally speaking, learners are encouraged to adopt all strategies when they learn English vocabulary Moreover, there are different strategies that students can choose to learn the technical vocabulary Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies are reviewed as follows

2.4.3 Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies

According to O’Malley and Chamot’s (1990), vocabulary learning strategies

comprise of three categories:

 Metacognitive strategies: a summary of language use and learning as well as the procedure for planning, adjusting learning and utilizing a language effectively are presented

 Cognitive strategies: a rapid task is used to get and collect the information for the process of manipulating information

 Social strategies: social interaction and personally emotional control are used

to secure and maintain a language

O’Malley and Chamot’s (1990)’s classification reveals that three above categories have an interrelation and a crucial role to the process of learning and acquiring a language

However, Oxfords (1990) classifies vocabulary learning strategies quite differently in comparison with the classification of O’Malley and Chamot’s (1990) She divides vocabulary learning strategies into two categories: direct and indirect categories with six smaller groups as follows:

 The direct strategies relate to a range of particular tasks and situations including:

o Memory strategies: retaining and recalling new information

o Cognitive strategies: comprehending and mastering the language

o Compensation strategies: utilizing the language

 The indirect strategies are involved in the management of language learning consisting of:

o Metacognitive strategies: collaborating in learning

o Affective strategies: managing emotions

o Social strategies: communicating with others in studying

The figure below indicates the reciprocal relationships between direct and indirect strategies and the six strategy groups

Figure 2.2: Interconnections between direct and indirect strategies among the

six strategy groups (Oxford, 1990)

According to Gu and Johnson (1996), there are six types of vocabulary learning strategies:

 Guessing strategies: background knowledge/wider context and linguistic cues/immediate context are used

 Dictionary strategies: dictionary strategies for comprehension, extended dictionary strategies, and looking-up strategies

 Note-taking strategies: using meaning-oriented note-taking strategies and using usage oriented note-taking strategies

 Rehearsal strategies: word lists, oral repetition, and visual repetition are exploited

 Encoding strategies: association/elaboration, imagery, visual encoding, auditory encoding, using word-structure, semantic encoding, and contextual encoding

 Activation strategies: linking lists of facts to familiar words so as to remember them or using means of an image to remember numbers; remembering lists by picturing them in specific locations; setting up an acoustic and image link in order to connect between a second language word

to be learned and a word in second language that sounds similar

In addition, Nation (2001) introduces the following classification:

 Planning: in this strategy, learners have to choose both what to concentrate

on and when to pay attention to it For example: selecting words, selecting the aspects of word knowledge, selecting strategies, and planning repetition

 Sources: learners will find information about words such as: examining the word, using context, discussing a reference source in L1 and L2, and using parallels in L1 and L2

 Processes: learners will establish knowledge such as: noticing, retrieving, and generating

Whereas, Schmitt (1997) indicates that there are two main groups and five groups of strategies:

sub- Discovery strategies: learners use these strategies to discover the meaning of words encountered for the first time

o Determination strategies: strategies are used for individual learning without any help from others

o Social strategies: new words are learned through interaction between learners with others

 Consolidation strategies: a learnt word is consigned into the students’ memory if this word is encountered again

o Social strategies: not only are these strategies used to discover new vocabulary but they also work in remembering words learnt/ known by the students

o Memory strategies: strategies are employed to recall known words by associating learners’ existing or background knowledge with target words It means that learners connect their memorizing of learnt words to mental processing

o Cognitive strategies: learners are engaged to understand known words by mechanical means instead of mental processing

o Metacognitive strategies: strategies allow students to determine the best way to plan, control and evaluate their own vocabulary learning intentionally Particularly, they are permitted to select which words to concentrate and study deeper Also, they can check their own understanding by doing the tests in words

Besides, according to Anderson (2005), metacognitive strategies help learners understand how to adjust their own learning Furthermore, O’Malley, Chamot, Stewner-Mazanares, Russo, and Kupper (1985) emphasize the importance

of metacognitive learning strategies in vocabulary learning that if there are not metacognitive approaches, students lack direction or opportunity to review their progress, accomplishment, and directions for future

In this study, the researcher favors Schmitt’s (1997) classification for three reasons First, Schmitt’s (1997) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies can be used for students at various ages, educational background, and target languages according to Catalan (2003) Second, Schmitt’s taxonomy is a clear and easily understandable system so as to be utilized as an instrument for carrying on an investigation into vocabulary learning strategies basing on Takac’s (2008) confirmation Takac’s (2008) affirms that “Schmitt’s (1997) proposal of a typology

of vocabulary learning strategy is currently among the most comprehensible typology of (exclusively) this subgroup of language learning strategies” (p 67) Third, the researcher wants to discover the students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies on their technical vocabulary learning In particular, what strategies they employ to know the meaning of new technical vocabulary and which strategies they apply to memorize the learnt technical vocabulary Luckily, Schmitt’s taxonomy is appropriate to the researcher’s purpose of the study

students Wu (2014) explored the perceptions of technical college students towards

English for specific purposes vocabulary learning and teaching The participants consisted of 232 nursing students who were participating in Technical vocabulary courses about medical terminology at the Junior College Division of Fooyin University in southern Taiwan Data were collected from the technical vocabulary learning questionnaire The results of this study indicated that students’ attitudes were one of the factors with a significant effect on the technical vocabulary teaching programs Besides, students’ attitudes toward technical vocabulary also decided their viewpoints of the difficulties in technical vocabulary learning

In Vietnam, a study on factors affecting ESP vocabulary learning for the

second-year students at Hanoi Community College was done by Nguyen (2008) To

achieve the aim, a survey questionnaire and informal interviews were the instruments chosen for data collection Besides, the participants of the study were

100 vocational students of the Department of Accounting The highlighting finding was that the students had positive attitudes towards the vocabulary learning process when they understood the importance of technical vocabulary for their future job

Several researchers have carried out studies to explore the attitudes of Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese students towards technical vocabulary learning in the ESP context Yet, these studies did not clarify learners’ attitudes basing on cognitive, affective and behavioral attitudes Thus, the researcher decided to investigate learners’ cognitive, affective and behavioral attitudes Consequently, the first research question was figured out

Considering vocabulary learning strategies in the ESP context, some authors

have carried out some following studies The first study conducted by Clouston (2008) who attempted to explore the vocabulary learning strategy use of

Lessard-native and non-Lessard-native English students at Christian Graduate School of Theology in Canada To gain the results of the study, the researcher used a test of theological language before collecting data from questionnaire and interview The finding indicated that the participants employed the vocabulary learning strategies including looking up dictionary and glossary, drilling new words in paper, taking written

notes in class, writing word lists, making a list of words in computer files, creating index and flashcards, listening to recordings or teachers, making repetition of written and oral words, and questioning the new words to others The second study

by Akbari and Tahririan (2009) showed that the students exploited vocabulary

learning strategies to learn specialized and non-specialized vocabulary The sample

of the study was 137 participants from paramedical undergraduates of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Iran To collect the data, the researcher used instruments including observation, interviews and questionnaires The results of this study uncovered that consolidating, dictionaries and repeating the words orally and

written were mostly used by the participants Wanpen, Sonkoontod and Nonkukhetkhong (2013) carried on a study on technical vocabulary proficiencies

and vocabulary learning strategies of engineering students Questionnaire was used

to collect data from 47 students of undergraduate engineering program Besides, these students were also requested to finish the test of technical vocabulary test After that, semi-structured interviews were conducted with some students who agreed to participate in The results of the study revealed that the proficiencies in technical vocabulary was higher for the students with the educational backgrounds

in vocational stream in comparison with the students whose educational backgrounds were in the general education stream Hence, students with different streams of educational backgrounds utilized learning strategies dissimilarly

Desiana (2014) studied specialized vocabulary learning strategies employed by the

students from Economic International Program The participants composed of 24 economic students learning at Satya Wacana Christian University The questionnaire and interview were used to collect information for studying The findings revealed that students selected the strategies which were practical, simple

and fast to learn words Tskhvitava (2016) investigated the ESP students’ use of

vocabulary learning strategies at Agricultural University of Georgia Particularly, the attitude towards vocabulary learning methods, awareness and the favored teaching/learning strategies of the students were explored The participants were

107 students from Agriculture University of Georgia All of them were invited to complete a questionnaire of technical vocabulary learning strategies This study’s finding indicated that the current methods of teaching technical vocabulary were not satisfied with the students and needed to be improved

In Vietnam, Tran (2012) conducted a study to investigate the vocabulary

learning strategy of ESP students in a college of foreign language 100 ESP students

of Da Nang University were selected to take part in the study The result of this study indicated that students used vocabulary learning strategies incorrectly Besides, students applied vocabulary learning strategies without connecting real life

and without active thought Le and Thach (2017) examined the strategies which

the students employed to learn English specialized vocabulary The subjects of the study were 100 students who learned English for economics at Hue University of foreign languages Questionnaire, interview and diary were used to collect the data The findings implied that they applied strategy items of the category of discovery

strategies and cognitive strategies in learning specialized vocabulary Hoang (2018)

highlighted a mixed-method research design related to difficulties in teaching and learning technical vocabulary for nursing students at Thai Nguyen medical college and some solutions The instruments exploited in the study were survey and interview The findings of the research showed that there were some difficulties as well as challenges in teaching and learning technical vocabulary of Nursing Thus, some solutions were offered to solve

In the present study, the researcher aimed at investigating which vocabulary learning strategies students used to learn technical vocabulary In other words, the researcher took into account technical vocabulary learning strategies However, there are only two studies of Tran (2012) as well as Le and Thach (2017) examining learning strategies of technical vocabulary in Vietnam Therefore, the current study was carried on with a view to finding out technical vocabulary learning strategies exploited by engineering students Furthermore, Schmitt’s (1997) model was

favored by many previous studies Thus, the researcher decided to apply this model From these mentioned reasons, the second research question was built up

With a view to finding out the relationship between attitude and vocabulary learning strategy use, although technical vocabulary learning is influenced by many factors, the researcher only focuses on the learner-related factors whose differences result in the variation in the use of vocabulary learning strategies These factors consist of belief, attitude, motivation and language learning experience (Ellis, 1994) In this study, the researcher mainly concentrates on how influentially the students’ attitude affects vocabulary learning strategy use According to Boonkongsaen (2013), attitude considered as one of the factors has a positive

correlation with students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies Wei (2007)

conducted a study on 60 college students in Mainland China through a questionnaire This study’s finding revealed that Chinese college students that the more positive attitudes students had, the more frequently vocabulary learning

strategies were exploited Zhi-liang (2010) carried out a study on non-English

majors from grade 1 to 3 in Beihai College of Beihang University with the help of a survey questionnaire The study aims to investigate English Vocabulary Learning Strategies for Non-English Majors in Independent College so that their ability to vocabulary learning was enhanced and their English proficiency was improved The prominent finding was that the more positive attitudes the students had, the more kinds of learning strategies they applied either to find out the meaning of the

new words or to review the use of the words Nirattisai and Chiramanee (2014)

examined a research to find out the relationship between students’ vocabulary learning strategies and their vocabulary size Also, the students utilized vocabulary learning strategies at high or low frequency The population of the study was 257 Prince of Songkla University students from the 6 fields of study including medical, dental, and nursing, engineering, accounting, and hospitality and tourism fields The questionnaire, vocabulary test, and a semi-structured interview were used to collect

data The results indicated that positive attitudes towards vocabulary learning make students frequently apply the vocabulary learning strategies

In reality, there was a significant correlation between attitude and vocabulary learning strategy use The researcher was aware of this correlation towards technical vocabulary in ESP context That was the reason why the researcher constructed the third research question

In conclusion, these previous studies helped the researcher have ideas to

build up “EFL students’ attitudes towards learning English technical vocabulary and technical vocabulary learning strategies: a case study" Moreover, the

researcher would like to conduct this current study in order to bridge the gaps in the literature

2.6 Summary

In this chapter, the researcher has presented an overview of the related theories and the previous study of attitudes and strategies in learning technical vocabulary First, it explained relevant concepts such as attitude and strategies towards vocabulary learning For each concept, the researcher reviewed the definitions, characteristics, and types Besides, the researcher also presented the research gaps for the current study The next chapter is about the research

methodology

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

The purposes of this study are to investigate EFL students’ attitudes towards technical vocabulary learning and EFL students’ used strategies in technical vocabulary learning Besides, the researcher also figures out the correlation between strategies and attitudes in the technical vocabulary learning strategies of EFL students The research questions are the following:

1 What are the attitudes towards technical vocabulary learning of the 2ndyear non-English major students at LTT college of Ho Chi Minh?

2 How do those students use technical vocabulary learning strategies?

3 Is there any correlation between the students’ attitudes and their technical vocabulary learning strategies? If yes, how?

In order to answer the above research questions, methods of data collection and data analysis will be justified so as to maximize the study’s validity and reliability of the final results Besides, to be more specific, the design and setting of the study, the participants and participant selection method, and the instruments, as well as the procedures of data collection and analysis also will be discussed in detail

3.2 Research setting

3.2.1 Research site

This study was conducted at the Faculty of Basic Science at Ly Tu Trong College of Ho Chi Minh City at 390 Hoang Van Thu Street, Ward 4, Tan Binh district The Faculty of Basic Sciences conveys basic subject knowledge to a wide range of students in different faculties The Faculty of Basic Sciences comprises six departments including the Department of Mathematics, Department of Literature, Department of Physical Education, Department of Physics, Department of Chemistry and Department of English At the research time, the English

department’s staff consists of 13 teachers divided into two divisions including the Division of General English and Division of English for Specific Purposes Most of the teachers have obtained an M.A in TESOL or in Applied Linguistics degree

In academic year 2018-2019, the missions of the English department are to teach general English and English for specific purposes for non-English major students of six various faculties These six faculties are garment technology (60 students), information technology (about 150 students), thermal technology (about

135 students), automotive technology (about 250 students), mechanical technology (about 200 students) and electrical – electronics technology (about 300 students) The students of each faculty are divided into small classes With the goal of the training program, in their curriculum, students of each faculty must study their own ESP subject in the third semester (out of six semesters) In other words, the students have finished general English 1 in semester 1 and general English 2 in semester 2

Like other colleges, Ly Tu Trong College is well equipped with innovative facilities for teaching and learning general English as well as English for specific purposes It has a modern library, internet section and there are also cassette player, qualified speakers, and projectors in all of the classrooms Therefore, students and teachers have opportunities to access to new teaching and learning methods

3.2.2 Research Participants

The researcher used convenience sampling to determine the research sample and the target population The reason why the researcher, as well as most other researchers utilizing the convenient sampling method, is that the “participants are willing and available to be studied” (Creswell, 2012, p 67) Besides, according to Etikan, Musa and Alkassim (2016), the convenient sampling method allows the researcher to select sampling population easily for the study because the participants meet certain practical requirements of the study like easy accessibility, geographical proximity, and availability at a given time and the willingness

In connection to this study, the researcher recruited students from six faculties at Ly Tu Trong College of Ho Chi Minh City Concerning easy

accessibility, it is not difficult for the researcher to get permission from the Board of Rectors for data collection because she is an English teacher at this college For the willingness and time availability to participate, there were two weeks for completing copies of students’ questionnaires and 15 minutes for each student to answer without any pressure In terms of geographical condition, the researcher had been teaching at Ly Tu Trong college of Ho Chi Minh City so it was convenient for her to choose students of this school as the participants for the study

3.2.2.1 Students for survey

With the purposes of the research, data of survey were collected from 270 the second-year students of six faculties in the academic year 2018 including garment technology (60 students), information technology (about 150 students), thermal technology (about 135 students), automotive technology (about 250 students), mechanical technology (about 200 students) and electrical-electronics technology (about 300 students) Particularly, there were 45 students in each faculty involving in a survey to answer a questionnaire about their attitudes and use of technical vocabulary learning strategies The researcher chose the second-year students for this study because only the second-year students learnt ESP course after they had finished a GE course in the first year In addition, it was convenient for the students to remember and apply GE knowledge for ESP learning

Table 3.1 gives the background information of the student participants in terms of gender, major field of study, English grade level and English learning time

It can be clearly seen from this table that the number of male students (84.4%) was over 5 times the number of female ones (15.6%) The number of male students is higher than the number of female students because this is distinct characteristic of LTT College – a College of engineering disciplines Next, the number of students (16.7%) was equally chosen from each faculty with specific statistic as Garment technology (45 students), Information Technology (45 students), Mechanical Technology (45 students), Automotive Technology (45 students), Thermal Technology (45 students) and Electrical - Electronic Technology (45 students) for

research involvement Regarding the English grade level, there were no students having a grade of English from 8.5 to 10 (0%) From 7.0 to 8.4, the number of students at this level was 3% with 8 learners In addition, the students had an average English grade level accounting for 35.2% Besides, the striking to note is that students with English grade level from 4.0 to 5.4 were over 50% It is apparent

to see that the students at Ly Tu Trong College of Ho Chi Minh City were mainly at average and below average English grade level In other words, the majority of the students were not good at English Finally, there were 21 students having an English level below 4.0 (7.8%) Concerning English learning time, the students’ years of learning English more than 7 years (73%) were nearly three times as much as those who studied English from 4 to 7 years (27%) However, the number of students learnt for English less than 3 years was 0% The researcher collected the information of students’ English grade level and English learning time in order to use for discussion

Table 3.1: Research participants’ general information

English grade level

Excellent (8.5  10) Good (7.0  8.4) Average (5.5  6.9) Below Average (4.0  5.4) Weak (below 4.0)

English learning time

Less than 3 years From 4 to 7 years More than 7 years