Luận văn A study on the effectiveness of some CLT classroom activities in teaching vocabulary to first year non english major students at the AJC

Nghiên cứu tính hiệu quả của một số hoạt động theo đường hướng giao tiếp trong việc dạy từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất không chuyên tại Học viện Báo chí và Tuyên truyền. A STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOME CLT CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY TO FIRST YEAR NONENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT THE AJC

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ THU HÀ

-A STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOME CLT

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY TO

FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS

AT THE AJC

(Nghiên cứu tính hiệu quả của một số hoạt động theo đường hướng giao tiếp trong việc dạy từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất không chuyên tại

Học viện Báo chí và Tuyên truyền)

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology

Code: 601410 Supervisor: Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân

HANOI - 2008

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I hereby that the thesis entitled

A STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOME CLT CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES INTEACHING VOCABULARY TO FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT

THE AJC

is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Education at College of ForeignLanguages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi I confirm that this thesis has not beensubmitted for any other degrees

Student’s Signature

Nguyen Thi Thu Ha

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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I am grateful to all the people who have helped me with this research study.

And finally, my thanks go to my family members, friends and other colleagues at the AJC for their love and support to me, which are very significant for me to finish this research study.

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This thesis is devoted to examining the comparative effectiveness of some CLTapproach classroom activities in teaching vocabulary to first year non-major students at theAcademy of Journalism and Communication In order to achieve this objective, a theoretical

and practical research is carried out In the Theoretical Background, the background of

vocabulary and relevance to teaching vocabulary are summarized An overview on CLTapproach that has been employing in foreign language teaching in Vietnam is also introduced

in this part After that a brief background setting to the quasi-experiment relating to teachingand learning vocabulary at the AJC is highlighted Subsequently, the quasi-experimental study

is given to evaluate the effectiveness of some CLT approach classroom activities And theresults we will get based on data analysis are in the third chapter Finally, somerecommendations for vocabulary teaching/learning effectively are suggested

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration i

Acknowledgemments ii

Abstract iii

Table of contents iv

List of abbreviations vi

List of tables vii

List of charts ix

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 3

3 Significance of the study 3

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Research Questions 4

6 Methods of the study 4

7 Design of the study 5

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 6

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 6

1.1 Introduction 6

1.2 Vocabulary in teaching and learning English 6

1.2.1 Definition and types of word 6

1.2.2 Definition and types of vocabulary 7

1.2.3 The importance of vocabulary 8

1.2.4 The role of vocabulary in language skills 8

1.2.4.1 In communication 8

1.2.4.2 In other skills 9

1.3 Teaching vocabulary 9

1.3.1 The role of vocabulary teaching 9

1.3.2 What needs to be taught while teaching vocabulary? 10

1.3.3 Methods and approaches of teaching vocabulary at university 11

1.3.4 Theoretical background of CLT approach 12

1.3.4.1 Introduction and definition of CLT 12

1.3.4.2 Basic features of communicative approach 13

1.3.4.3 The role of the teacher in CLT 13

1.3.4.4 Challenges for applying CLT in Viet Nam 14

1.3.4.5 Some principles of employing CLT in teaching vocabulary effectively 14

1.3.4.6 Prominent features of CLT activities that encourage vocabulary learning 14

1.4 Summary 15

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AJC: Academy of Journalism and Communication

CLT: Communication Language Teaching

EFL: English as Foreign Language

ESP: English for Specific Purpose

M.A: Master

MC: Master of Ceremonies

TPR: Total Physical Response

VNU: Viet Nam National University

LIST OF TABLES

Pages

Table 1: Vocabulary designed in the course-book Lifeline – Elementary 19

Table 2: The results and mean of the post-tests 33Table 3: Rating students through post-tests 35Table 4: Modes of the post-tests 36

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

“It is said that people living in the global integration age should know English at least

for communication Do you agree with this?” Once a friend of mine asked me this

question, and without thinking, I answered at once “Yes, undoubtedly so.” This thought hasnot changed since that day and English nowadays dominates over the other foreignlanguages and is considered a second language in many countries all over the world Likeother developing countries, in Vietnam the demand of using English has increaseddramatically in the last few years Actually, with the open policy and a stable politicalsystem, Viet Nam today has attracted more and more foreign investors, tourists come to dobusiness and relax And obviously, English is the first choice for most Vietnamese people,especially the youth That reflects in the enormous number of English centers, clubs,schools, universities… including home and foreign ones However, the reality of teachingand learning English in Vietnam is still not a perfect picture even at the universities,colleges… let alone at the English centers One of the reasons is a less effective teachingmethodology and wrong myths on understanding it Let’s take teaching vocabulary as anexample This aspect of teaching methodology has been lightened and even neglected for along time, while we all know that vocabulary is a means to link four skills, namelyspeaking, writing, listening, and reading and without vocabulary we cannot transfer exactlywhat we want to say to the listeners As a communication instrument used by people allaround the world, the use of English required much vocabulary According to manylinguists, in communication, vocabulary is more important than grammar However, it hasnot received the recognition it deserves in the classroom “A vast amount of teaching time

is consumed by explanation and definition, classroom blackboards are often littered withmasses of new lexical items, and students compile page upon page of vocabulary word -lists that they rarely have the opportunity to practice” (Ruth Gairns & Stuart Redman1986)

At the Academy of Journalism and Communication - a national training institution,which is assigned the task of training communication, education officers and producing thefuture journalists for the country, the reality of teaching and learning vocabulary issomehow not different in comparison with the whole general vocabulary teaching picture.AJC students usually feel bored in vocabulary lessons because they have not changed theirlearning habits such as writing words on paper, trying to learn by heart or learningpassively through the teacher’s explanation Besides, AJC students after graduation have ahuge demand of reading and communicating in English In order to do this, they must have

a certain amount of vocabulary and moreover, they must know how to use it properly in thespecific context From this, we can see that in order to master English, apart from students’appropriate learning strategies, the teachers’ role and teaching methodology are also veryimportant What ways should be applied to teach vocabulary effectively?

In recent years, CLT has been applied in Vietnam and it has shown its effectiveness inteaching and learning language “CLT is an approach that helps students be more active inreal life situations through the means of individual, pair and group work activities Itencourages students to practice the language they learn in meaningful ways.” (Nguyen ThiThu Van & Khuat Thi Thu Nga 2003 )

From this background, the question “Is it true that CLT classroom activities are more

effective than traditional ones?” has come to my mind and reminds me of my colleague’s

teaching period regarding teaching vocabulary At that period, many communicative activitieswere applied, which involved the whole class and attracted students’ attention so much “Whydon’t we apply CLT activities to teaching vocabulary? Is it effective for students of all levels?However, does only one period reflect exactly the effectiveness of CLT activities?” – Thosethoughts and worries plus the reality of teaching and learning vocabulary led me to carry out aquasi-experimental research to examine “the effectiveness of some CLT classroom activities

in teaching vocabulary to first year non-English major students at the Academy of Journalismand Communication”

2 Aims of the study

The study is aimed to find out the role of vocabulary in acquiring a foreign languageand to make a comparison between the traditional activities and CLT classroom activitiesthrough the quasi-experiment so as to evaluate the effectiveness of some CLT classroomactivities in teaching vocabulary to first year non-major students at the Academy ofJournalism and Communication From these, the writer tries to give some recommendations

to teach vocabulary more effectively

3 Significance of the study

As mentioned in the Rationale, vocabulary is really necessary and important for

learners to communicate well, however it has been undervalued or it is taught in merelytraditional ways, which makes the lessons boring This study tries to test the comparativeeffectiveness of some CLT classroom activities and suggest some recommendations forteaching/learning vocabulary more effectively

With this study, the writer hopes to make a small contribution to teaching/learningvocabulary communicatively and effectively, which may help students retain vocabularyand help the teachers find the most appropriate way in teaching vocabulary

4 Scope of the study

The study was designed to find the answer to the main question “Is it true that CLT

classroom activities are more effective than traditional ones?” Due to the limit of a minor

thesis, the quasi-experiment just lasted in 6 weeks basing on three first units (Unit 1, 2 and

3) of the textbook Lifelines – Elementary The subjects of the research are 40 first year

non-major students of the Ho Chi Minh Ideology department and the two teachers of English,who co-prepared the lesson plan and taught these two classes – experimental and controlones I myself could not teach the students, because I’m not working as an official teacher

5 Research Questions

1 What is vocabulary’s role in language teaching and learning?

2 Is it true that CLT classroom activities are more effective than traditional ones?

3 What are suggestions for teaching and learning vocabulary more effectively?

6 Methods of the study

First of all, the Theoretical Background relating to the research was conducted by collecting materials, internet sources… In the Development, we took a brief look at the

reality of teaching and learning vocabulary at the AJC including the descriptions of theteachers, students, course-book… as the background setting to the study

With an attempt to find out the comparative effectiveness of some CLT classroomactivities in teaching vocabulary to first year non-major students, a quasi-experimentalresearch was made The study was limited to only the first year non-major students of Ho ChiMinh Ideology department (Academy of Journalism and Communication) These 40 studentsbelonging to two classes were not randomly selected One class was randomly assigned as theexperimental and the other as the control class Similarly, two teachers almost similar inrespect of educational qualifications, age, training, and experience at teaching to non-Englishmajors and their reputation at the university were selected One teacher was randomlyassigned to the experiment and the other to the control class The quasi-experiment lasted in 6

weeks with three first units of the textbook - Lifelines - Elementary The pre-test was

administered to the students of both classes at the beginning of the experiment in order tocheck students’ vocabulary knowledge After finishing one unit, a post-test, whose contentwas based on the knowledge of that unit was delivered to students of both classes However,the content of the last post-test included the knowledge of all three units Apart from the post-tests, class observation and teachers’ self-assessment were used as supplementary testinginstruments to confirm the post-test results The data obtained were thoroughly analyzed bystatistical descriptions By these ways, we can see which of two kinds of activities namely

traditional and CLT had a positive effect on the vocabulary teaching From these, somerecommendations were suggested

7 Design of the study

The research includes three parts The first part is Introduction, in which the rationale,

aims, scope, methods, research questions and design are identified

The second one is Development which consists of three chapters Chapter one –

Theoretical Background gives an overview of the theories relating to vocabulary In the

chapter 2 - The Quasi-Experiment, the answers to the research questions are given The last chapter – chapter three - Data analysis, results and discussion prescribed the results of the

quasi-experiment

The Part three - Conclusion gives the summary of the study, the suggestions for

teaching/learning more effectively and the recommendations for further study

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND1.1 Introduction

This chapter focuses on providing an overview of the theoretical knowledge relevant to

the study including Vocabulary in teaching and learning English; Teaching vocabulary;

Methods and approaches of teaching vocabulary at university and Theoretical background of CLT approach.

1.2 Vocabulary in teaching and learning English

1.2.1 Definition and types of word

Vocabulary mastery begins with a word So what is a word? According to Arnold

I.B., (1996) the term “word” denotes the basic unit of a given language resulting from the

association of a particular meaning with a particular group of sounds capable of a particulargrammatical employment The word is structural and semantic entity within the language

system The American Heritage Dictionary (1985) tells us that words are usually separated

by spaces in writing, and are distinguished phonologically, as by accent in many languages

Words as single units cannot provide the act of communication by themselves: a man, I,

like, good They provide the act of communication when they are combined in a certain

way: I like a good man.

Charles Carpenter Fries in his book “The structure of English: An Introduction to

the construction of English tendencies” (1952) distinguished four types of words

according to the function in the sentences and their combinability with other words:

- Function words: do (forming the question)

- Substitute words: he, she, they…

- Grammatically distributed words: some, any

- Content words, which constitute the bunk of the language vocabulary

1.2.2 Definition and types of vocabulary

“Vocabulary is knowledge of words and word meanings” is defined by Fran Lehr

and his associates (2004) in a research entitled “A Focus on Vocabulary” Now let’s take a look at the term “vocabulary knowledge” How is “vocabulary knowledge” understood?

Steven Stahl (1998) gives us a definition as follows: "Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge;the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fitsinto the world." That means vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be fullymastered It is something that expands and deepens over the course of a lifetime.Instruction in vocabulary involves far more than looking up words in a dictionary and usingthe words in a sentence Vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure towords and intentionally through explicit instruction in specific words and word-learningstrategies

From the explanation above, we can see a new vocabulary learning strategy that is veryinteresting and useful Besides, it can be seen that vocabulary is very important when studentswant to learn English, because a student who has much vocabulary will find it easier tounderstand and master English than any other student who does not

Researchers often refer to four types of vocabulary:

- Listening vocabulary: the words we need to know to understand what we hear.

- Speaking vocabulary: the words we use when we speak.

- Reading vocabulary : the words we need to know to understand what we read.

- Writing vocabulary : the words we use in writing.

1.2.3 The importance of vocabulary

Vocabulary is one of vital parts of English, especially in the field of communication.The three following quotations will illustrate this:

"Without grammar very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be

conveyed." (Wilkins 1972: 111).

"When students travel, they don't carry grammar books, they carry dictionaries.”

(Krashen in Lewis 1993: iii)

“Knowing words is the key to understanding and being understood The bulk of learning a new language consists of learning new words Grammatical knowledge does not make for great proficiency in a language.” (Vermeer, 1992: 147)

1.2.4 The role of vocabulary in language skills

1.2.4.1 In communication

English is used as a communicative tool between two or more people speaking differentlanguages As a communicative tool used by people all around the world, the use of Englishwill require much vocabulary Needless to say, a person who has much vocabulary will find iteasier to master English than any other person who does not With much vocabulary peoplecan also be more proficient in communication, because they do not need to worry whenselecting the words that will be used in conversation From this, we can say vocabulary andcommunicative ability are highly correlated I would like to quote Lewis’s point of view tosupport this: “Vocabulary is basic to communication If acquired do not recognize the meaning

of key words used by those who address them they will be unable to participate in theconversation If they wish to express some idea or ask for information they must be able toproduce lexical items to convey the meaning Indeed, if our students know the morphology

and the syntax of an utterance addressed to them, but do not know the meaning of key lexicalitems they will be unable to participate in the conversation” (Lewis, 1993)

1.2.4.2 In other skills

A good vocabulary is as necessary for writing as it is for reading and listening Students can hardly choose the proper word to express oneself unless they have a choice; andthat means having several words to select from, which will come from building a goodvocabulary Furthermore, a student who has trouble generating satisfactory length in themesreveals another important writing by product of vocabulary “With a poor vocabulary, the freeflow of ideas and pen is blocked and dribbles out; with a good vocabulary, it will be helped to

flow.” (www.aug.edu/fenglish/learning_materials/how2_vocabulary.htm)

Vocabulary is also very important to reading and listening comprehension Studentscannot understand what they are reading and listening without knowing what most of thewords mean

To sum up, building vocabulary is such an important aspect of learning a foreignlanguage The shortages of having vocabulary will impact on the difficulty of using theirEnglish properly in oral and written forms Therefore, vocabulary mastery should be the basis

of knowledge and a part of integrated language learning in most communication And a richvocabulary as well as knowing how to use vocabulary appropriately also improve students'ability to communicate through speaking, listening, and writing

1.3 Teaching vocabulary

1.3.1 The role of vocabulary teaching

Teaching vocabulary being an important part of teaching foreign language has thegoal to help students not only to improve and extend their vocabulary The wide choice of aword causes the language to be flexible, it assists in avoiding repetition and monotony of

speech, and it gives the possibility to express the idea more exactly and understandably.Nowadays it is generally accepted that vocabulary teaching should be part of the syllabus andtaught in a well-planned and regular basis Lewis (1993) argues that vocabulary should be atthe center of language teaching, because “language consists of grammaticalised lexis, notlexicalized grammar” As a result, new course-books now include word study sections.Consequently, learners have to make a conscious effort to acquire the target language not only

in the classroom but outside it as well In effective language teaching, students are exposed tothe target language in multiple ways, and teachers’ aim is to make the vocabulary lessons notboring and above all encourage their students to be autonomous in their language learning

1.3.2 What needs to be taught while teaching vocabulary?

To teach or to learn a word means to teach or to learn its form, meaning and usage.

Form

pronunciationspellinginflectionsderivations

Meaning

basic and literal meanings

derived and figurative meanings

semantic relation

connotation

Usage

subcategorization collocation

sociolinguistic and stylistic restrictions

slangs and idioms

From illustration of what should be taught with a word via an isosceles triangle above,

we can see the balance between three aspects of vocabulary teaching: form, meaning andusage In other words, these three aspects should be paid equal attention to

1.3.3 Methods and approaches of teaching vocabulary at university

Of many factors which measure the success or failure in learning and teaching,methodology is considered as one of the most important Methods are held to be fixedteaching systems with prescribed techniques and practices, and approaches are languageteaching philosophies that can be interpreted and applied in a variety of different ways in the

classroom “A method is theoretically related to an approach, is organizationally determined

by a design, and is practically realized in procedure” (Richards and Rodges, 1996).Additionally, according to Prator (1991: 17) “…in the teaching situation it is the method used,more than any other factor, that determines the results achieved”

Methodology of vocabulary teaching/learning has undergone too many changes Let’s

take a look at the grammar translation method first In this method, vocabulary is taught by

means of translation when students are given lists of words with their translation to be learned.Language is seen as a collection of words which are isolated and independent and there must

be a corresponding word in the native tongue for each foreign word students learn Thismethod to my eyes is commonly applied in teaching vocabulary to non-English majors at

training institutions in the north of Vietnam In audio-lingual method, teaching vocabulary is

also tuned up to grammar and words were presented and learned in structures Also, great

attention is paid to pronunciation Vocabulary according to Total Physical Response is

emphasized over other language areas by using commands to direct behavior and actionsequence This method involves a substantial amount of listening and comprehension incombination with various physical responses Teachers often use gestures, body language,facial expressions to illustrate the words to students If TPR is considered suitable method for

beginners especially children, so direct method is better for those who are very competent in

terms of using vocabulary effectively in communication The words in this method are taught

by modeling and practice Concrete words are taught through demonstration, objects orpictures while abstract ones are taught by association of ideas

And the last method, more precisely teaching approach I would like to mention is

Communicative Language Teaching Approach Because this study is much relevant to this

approach so a greater attention is paid to present it in an isolated part

1.3.4 Theoretical background of CLT approach

1.3.4.1 Introduction and definition of CLT

Vietnam is facing a rapid economic progress while it is more and more closely related

to the outside world The traditional teaching method of grammar translation no longer keeps

up with the realistic communication needs Some critical changes need to be made in order toimprove the English teaching quality in Vietnamese colleges The CLT approach is becomingincreasingly popular in the world, and it would be very helpful to apply it to the classrooms inVietnam In recent years, CLT has been applied in Vietnam and it has shown its effectiveness

in teaching and learning language With this approach, Vietnamese students feel moreconfident when communicating with foreigners Because it focuses mainly on

“communicative competence” which is considered the goal of CLT “Communicative competence” referrers to “the underlying systems of knowledge and skill required for

communication” (Canale, 1983: 5) Communicative Competence enables students to use thelanguage in different spheres of communication and in different functions

Let’s turn back to the definition of CLT According to Wikepedia: “CommunicativeLanguage Teaching is an approach to the teaching of second and foreign languages thatemphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language It isalso referred to as “communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages” or simplythe “Communicative Approach”

1.3.4.2 Basic features of communicative approach

David Nunan (1991: 279) lists five basic characteristics of CLT:

1 An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language

2 The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation

3 The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also

on the learning process itself

4 An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributingelements to classroom learning

5 An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities outside theclassroom

These five features are claimed by practitioners of CLT to show that they are veryinterested in the needs and desires of their learners as well as the connection between thelanguage as it is taught in their class and as it is used outside the classroom From what Nunanstates about the prominent features of CLT, we can see that any teaching practice that helpsstudents develop their communicative competence in an authentic context is deemed anacceptable and beneficial form of instruction Thus, in the classroom, CLT often takes theform of pair and group work requiring negotiation and cooperation between learners, activities

in which students practice and develop language functions and encourage learners to developtheir confidence

1.3.4.3 The role of the teacher in CLT

The role of the teacher in CLT is quite different from traditional teaching methods Inthe traditional classroom, the teacher is in charge and "controls" the learning In CLT theteacher serves as more of a facilitator, allowing students to be in charge of their own learning.Teachers are not merely transmitters of knowledge anymore; instead, they become facilitators,needs analysts, counselors, and group process managers

The teacher still sets up exercises and gives direction to the class, but the students do.This responsibility to participate can often lead to an increased sense of confidence in usingthe language In CLT, students practice real-life situations, for example, buying food at themarket or asking someone for directions In these exercises, the goal is for the student tocommunicate his or her needs and thoughts, without worrying about having perfect grammar

1.3.4.4 Challenges for applying CLT in Viet Nam

Le Van Canh in his paper “Language and Vietnamese pedagogical contexts” assumes

that communicative teaching is too challenging in Vietnam because of some reasons such asthe teacher’s English proficiency is low, classes are large, the buildings, furnishings andother facilities are basic, and only low levels of support can be provided in terms ofmaterials, libraries and advisory services New teaching methods require new understandingsand skills They often require teachers to spend more time doing additional preparatory work,while there are already many demands on teachers’ time in addition to their syllabus teachingwork

1.3.4.5 Some principles of employing CLT in teaching vocabulary effectively

When we try to adapt vocabulary teaching method under the guidelines of CLT intoVietnamese EFL classroom, we have to consider these following principals:

1 Understanding the cultural difference

2 Adjusting the roles of teacher, student and material

3 Incorporating vocabulary presenting with practicing

4 Combining all four basic skills

1.3.4.6 Prominent features of CLT activities that encourage vocabulary learning

1 Face-to-face nature of communication in group activities can help students to adjusttheir speech to suitable level for both speakers and listeners Students involved in group workcan get help from each other

2 Communication activities generally provide a meaningful context, which may notonly provide sufficient evidence for a student to make a reasonable guess as to the meaning ofunfamiliar items, but it also assists in the remembering of new items.

3 Have a good chance for students to expose to repeated use of the new items

4 From a psycholinguistic perspective, group-based peer interaction typically provides

a learning environment in which students can make error and express misunderstandingwithout the adverse effects of exposing their weakness to the whole class or to the teachers

Yet, by being aware of these features and the way they affect students’ responses tounfamiliar vocabulary, teachers can improve the quality of vocabulary learning

1.4 Summary

In this chapter, I tried to provide a brief description of the theoretical knowledgerelating to the study Included is vocabulary and its important role in teaching and learningEnglish This chapter also included a discussion of teaching methodology that have developedthroughout the history of language teaching from the classic ones such as the grammar-translation method, the direct method, the audio-lingual method… to the more recent one such

as CLT approach in order to point out: (1) the role of vocabulary in teaching and learningEnglish, (2) an overview of some teaching methods (3) theoretical background of CLTapproach and prominent of CLT activities that encourage learning process

CHAPTER 2 THE QUASI-EXPERIMENT 2.1 Introduction

This chapter deals with the quasi-experiment to examine the effectiveness of someCLT classroom activities for teaching vocabulary to first year non-major students at the AJC.Because of the fact that I am - the writer not an official teacher of English so I could not teachthe lessons by myself In this quasi-experimental research I played as an organizer, observer,data collector and analyzer ….in order to find the answers to the research questions The twoteachers of English – my colleagues at the AJC helped me prepare lesson plans and teachEnglish to students of the two classes namely experimental and control Due to therequirement of my work, I could not attend all the lessons during this experiment, only some

of them For lessons I could not observe, the data was collected through the self-assessmentpapers delivered to the teachers To ascertain the effects of CLT classroom activities, apartfrom class observation and teachers’ self-assessment papers, I developed an evaluationinstrument to be administered at the beginning of the experiment (pre-test) and again aftercompleting every one unit (post-tests)

Before going to the main part of this chapter, let’s look at the background setting to thestudy including the teachers, first year non-major students, course-book and the syllabusobjectives at the AJC

2.2 Background to the study

2.2.1 Introduction of the AJC

The Academy of Journalism and Communication was established on the 16th January

1962 on the basis of the mergence of three institutes: the Nguyen Ai Quoc Institute, theInstitute of Communication and Education, and the People’s Institute Nowadays, it is the

large national training institution, which focuses in training theory and journalism It providesthe future political theory, ideology, philosophy officers and journalists to the country.

2.2.2 The teachers

Most the teachers who are in charge of teaching English to the AJC students belong tothe foreign languages faculty - one of the largest faculties of this university There are 19teachers, in which 4 teachers of French, 2 teachers of Chinese and the rest are the teachers ofEnglish As for the teachers of English, four of them have been teaching to the English majorstudents of the translation specialty belonging to the foreign languages faculty However,because the subject of this study is first year English non-major students, so I just want tofocus on those who are in charge of teaching these students About half of the teachersmajored in Russian who graduated from Vietnamese and Russian universities They used toteach Russian since that was a popular foreign language at that time Then when the SovietUnion was collapsed, Russian, therefore was not in the first position in comparison with otherforeign languages, they were sent to take English in-service or second major courses And atthe moment, 3 got a master degree, and some are studying M.A course in English at theCollege of Foreign Languages, VNU and Hanoi University All of them are at the age of from

26 - 58

and have been teaching to non-majors for at least 3 years One more thing worth mentioning

is that they are all very enthusiastic and responsible though very busy because of high teachingfrequency due to insufficient official teaching staff This to some extent affects teachingquality

2.2.3 The first year non-major students

On average, the first year non-major students of the AJC are aged between 19 - 24,both male and female However, the majority of them are female because of the characteristics

of the social specialties at this university Most students come from different parts in the North

of the country and are trained in two main fields namely political theory and media Those

who are from journalism specialties are more active, dynamic than those from political theoryones Anyway, students of theory specialties are more logical and serious This character leads

to form the two tendencies in learning English at the AJC Journalism students, who havebetter English learning background at high school and have more chances to go to the extraclasses are often more communicative than those of political theory specialties, who findEnglish as something very difficult to acquire That means the English learning backgroundbetween faculties are not equal Moreover, this inequality also happens between students in aclass Urban students acquire English better than rural ones

2.2.4 The course-book

The course-books are used for the first year non-English majors are Lifelines –

Elementary, Lifelines – Pre-Intermediate and New Headway Students have to study one of

these course books during the first two year in order to obtain general knowledge of English

Students of journalism faculties are taught with Lifelines – Pre-Intermediate and New

Headway while students of some theory faculties are taught with the coursebook Lifelines Elementary In this study, first year non-majors of the Ho Chi Minh Ideology department are

the research subject, so I would like to give a brief description of their coursebook Lifelines

-Elementary is written by Tom Hutchinson, who has many experiences in teaching English in

the UK, Germany, and Croatia, and has given teacher training courses in many other countriesaround the world This course-book is divided into 14 units and every two units there is an

“extension” section This book is accompanied by two class cassettes The work-book

contains additional grammar practice, vocabulary, and functional language from the student's

book and five “grammar check” revision sections.

2.2.4.1 Vocabulary lesson design in Lifelines – Elementary

There are often five parts in a unit namely grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing,

listening and speaking and pronunciation As for Vocabulary, it is designed as follows:

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6 Unit 7

Numbers

(P.7)

Classroomlanguage(2)Imperatives

(P.14)

Describingpeople(P.22)

Time(P.28)

Food&

Drink(P.36)

Dailyactivities(P.42)

Parts of ahouse(P.50)

Giving

dates

(P.56)

Verbs(P.64)

Travel(P.70)

Clothes(P.78)

Parts of thebody(P.84)

Phrasalverbs(P.92)

The world(P.98)

Table 1: Vocabulary designed in the course-book Lifeline - Elementary

Besides, vocabulary is integrated in other parts of a unit So apart from vocabularypart, the teachers must also teach the new vocabulary items in these other parts And thisshows the fact that teaching vocabulary appears in all parts of every unit

2.2.4.2 Vocabulary Lessons in Lifelines - Elementary

According to the author’s conception, vocabulary teaching and learning is of greatimportance sine in this set of books communication is paid so much attention to There is atleast one main vocabulary input per unit in the student’s book and many other vocabulary file,items in other parts Pronunciation element has its deserved position in every unit There arethree approaches adopted to the teaching of vocabulary:

- To teach new words in a lexical set, for example the numbers, the classroomlanguage…

- To encourage good vocabulary learning habits: using vocabulary, guessing…

- To teach the systems of vocabulary, for example prefixes and suffixes, synonyms,antonyms; homonyms, homophones; silent letters, compound nouns; collocation…Besides,the general vocabulary is arranged in accordance with the thematic principle.

2.2.5 Objectives of teaching General English at the AJC

The final objective of English teaching program at the AJC is to equip students withbackground knowledge of general English level and ability to communicate with foreigners.Students just study general English in three semesters, the fourth semester of the second yearthey study ESP to serve for their future job

2.3 Some CLT classroom activities used in the study

2.3.1 Games

Lee Su Kim (1995) pointed out: “There is a common perception that all learning

should be serious and solemn in nature and that if one is having fun and there is hilarity andlaughter, then it is not really learning This is a misconception It is possible to learn alanguage as well as enjoy oneself at the same time One of the best ways of doing this isthrough games.”

There are many advantages of using games in the classroom:

- Games are motivating and challenging

- Games provide language practice in the various skills - speaking, writing, listening and reading

- They encourage students to interact and communicate

- They create a meaningful context for language use

As the writer, I would like to add that games also enable learners to acquire newexperiences within a foreign language which are not always possible during a typical lesson

2.3.2 Showing the meaning of words by translating

There is a misconception that showing the meaning of words by translating isshouldn’t It is true when the teachers use only this method and translate all the unknownwords from easy to difficult, concrete to abstract in the classroom That makes students not try

to guess and force themselves to learn the meaning and usage Sometimes, if students cannotunderstand the meaning easily, translation should be applied to save the time of the teachers.But teachers should consider the most equivalent meaning in Vietnamese, explain themeanings of a word in a specific context and then give example to illustrate those meanings.That will avoid students’ misunderstanding and misusing

2.3.3 Relating the meaning of a new word to known word classes

Since during the previous lessons students are provided with many words so if a newword is introduced relating to the word class they have already known can help them easily tounderstand and remember Prefixes, suffixes… can be demonstrated with their roots on board

to help the students guess the meanings

E.g.: Beauty: (beautiful)

Manly: (man)…

2.3.4 Contrast and opposites

When the teacher would like to explain the meaning of a new word, he/she sometimesuses the opposite meaning of that word To my eyes, this way is really effective which canbring two advantages: firstly, help students to remind of a learnt word and secondly, sayexactly the meaning of a new word Many words can be understood better by their contrast incontext

E.g.: big - small

beautiful - ugly…

2.3.5 Visual aids

Many research studies have shown that learners at elementary level can remember thewords better through the teachers’ word presentation by means of visual aids Somecommunicative activities using visual aids such as: photographs, pictures, posters, real objects,blackboard drawings, flashcards…can help the teachers create the situation or the context andabove all can stimulate students to speak the language

2.3.6 Using actions, facial expressions, body language

Teachers should use different techniques to teach vocabulary in order to motivatestudents Body language, actions, facial expressions, mime and mimics, gestures can be used

to help the students to understand the meaning of a word

E.g.: Make the typical gesture with your hands as you say: Come here; Pick up the

pencil…

2.4 The quasi-experiment

In order to find out the effectiveness of some CLT classroom activities in teachingvocabulary to first year English non-major students, we made a quasi-experiment at the AJC.The quasi-experiment was carried out in August 2008 and lasted for six weeks There werethree stages in our experiment: organization, realization and interpretation of the results

2.4.1 Organization stage

2.4.1.1 The subjects

The subjects of the study are two classes of the first year non-English major students of

Ho Chi Minh ideology department - Academy of Journalism and Communication, which

consist of 20 students per class

Below are some characteristics of the Ho Chi Minh ideology department students: