Language games as means to motivate students in vocabulary learning at a vocational college in hung yen province an action research project

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** NGUYỄN THỊ HẢI YẾN LANGUAGE GAMES AS A MEANS TO

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

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

NGUYỄN THỊ HẢI YẾN

LANGUAGE GAMES AS A MEANS TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS

IN VOCABULARY LEARNING AT A VOCATIONAL COLLEGE

IN HUNG YEN PROVINCE: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

(Trò chơi ngôn ngữ như một phương tiện để thúc đấy sinh viên học từ vựng tại trường Cao đẳng Nghề ở Tỉnh Hưng Yên: Một nghiên cứu hành động )

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Hanoi-2020

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

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

NGUYỄN THỊ HẢI YẾN

LANGUAGE GAMES AS A MEANS TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS

IN VOCABULARY LEARNING AT A VOCATIONAL COLLEGE

IN HUNG YEN PROVINCE: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

(Trò chơi ngôn ngữ như một phương tiện để thúc đấy sinh viên học từ vựng tại trường Cao đẳng Nghề ở Tỉnh Hưng Yên: Một nghiên cứu hành động )

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01

Supervisor : Assoc Prof Dr Vo Dai Quang

Hanoi-2020

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DECLARATION

I hereby state that I – Nguyen Thi Hai Yen , being an M.A candidate

of the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, ULIS, VNU, certify my authority of the study entitled “Language games as a means to motivate students in vocabulary learning at a vocational college in Hung Yen province : An action

research” This thesis is the study of my own research and the substance of

the thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree to any other

(signature and full name)

Assoc Prof Dr Vo Dai Quang

Date:

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Associate Professor Vo Dai Quang, Ph.D for his precious instructions and valuable advice throughout the research Without his careful guidance, feedback, and patience, my thesis could not have been completed

I am thankful to staff members of The Post – Graduate Studies Faculty

as well as my lecturers at VNU University of languages and foreign Studies - National University during my M.A course for their help and useful lectures

Also, great thanks are given to the students at Mecha Electric and Water Resources Vocational College, who have actively participated in my study

Last but not least, I would like to thank my family members for their love, assistance, and encouragement spared for me throughout the research

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ABSTRACT

Vocabulary is one of the linguistic features which influence communicative competence However, when teaching and learning vocabulary, most teachers and students are confronted with a wide range of obstacles This study aims at investigating the problems encountered by students in vocabulary learning and the effective methods to help them improve their vocabulary in the learning process at a Vocational College in Hung Yen Questionnaires, tests, and interviews were employed as the data collection instruments The collected information revealed that the use of language games can help to improve the students‟ motivation and positive attitudes On the other hand, motivation by language games in students comes from the feeling of pleasure, relaxation, tension-releasing, anxiety-reducing, and curiosity Students‟ perspectives towards language games in vocabulary lessons are positively proved by raising the level of activeness, concentration when taking part in language games They can also get higher scores after taking part in a vocabulary lesson easily Based on the major findings, a couple of suggestions and recommendations are proposed to improve the quality of

learning vocabulary at the vocational college

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the thesis 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the thesis 1

1.2.1 Aims of the thesis 1

1.2.2 Objectives of the thesis 1

1.3 Research questions 2

1.4 The scope of the thesis 2

1.5 Significance of the research 2

1.6 Organization of the thesis 2

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Vocabulary learning 4

2.1.1 Definition of Vocabulary 4

2.1.2 Classification of vocabulary 5

2.1.3 The importance of learning vocabulary 7

2.1.4 Difficulties in Vocabulary learning 8

2.1.5 Learning vocabulary in Vocational college context 9

2.2 Language Games 9

2.2.1 Definition of language games 9

2.2.2 Classification of language games 10

2.2.3 The importance of language games in learning vocabulary 11

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2.3 Previous studies 16

2.3.1 Studies in an international context 16

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 22

3.1 Research context 22

3.1.1 Participants 22

3.1.2 Textbook 23

3.2 Research design 23

3.3 Data collection instruments 24

3.3.1 Questionnaires 24

3.3.2 Interview 26

3.3.3 Tests 27

3.4 Data analysis techniques 29

3.4.1 Data analysis from questionnaires 29

3.4.2 Data analysis from interview 29

3.4.3 Data analysis from tests 29

3.5 Research procedure 29

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33

4.1 Findings and discussion from the students‟ questionnaires 33

4.1.1 Finding and discussion from the pre-task questionnaire 33

4.1.2 Finding and discussion from the post-task questionnaire 39

4.2 Findings and discussion from an interview 46

4.2.1 Findings and discussion from question 1 46

4.2.2 Findings and discussion from question 2 46

4.2.3 Findings and discussion from question 3 47

4.2.4 Findings and discussion from question 4 47

4.3 Finding and discussion from participants‟ tests 48

4.3.1.Data collected from pre-test results 48

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4.3.2 Data collect from post – test results 49

4.3.3 Comparision between pre-test and post-test results 49

4.3.4 Summary from tests 50

4.3.5 Summary from result of pre –task and post – task questionnaires and interview 50

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 51

5.1 Recapitulation 51

5.2 Concluding remarks on the research objectives 52

5.3 Limitations of the study 52

5.4 Recommendations for further study 53

REFERENCES 55 APPENDCES I

APPENDIX I I APPENDIX 2 V APPENDIX 3: Pre –test X APPENDIX 4: Post -test XIII APPENDIX 5: Lesson plan XVI APPENDIX 6 XXI APPENDIX 7 XXIII

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: The students‟ view on the role of vocabulary in 33 Learning English ( Question 1) 33 Table 4.2: The time that students spend on learning vocabulary ( question 3) 34 Table 4.3: The common way of presenting vocabulary at secondary school 35 ( Question 4) 35 Table 4.4: The students‟ biggest difficulties in learning vocabulary 36 Table 4.5: The common way of learning vocabulary after lesson and at home 37 Table 4.6 : The students opinion about the benefit of using language games

( Question 1) 39 Table 4.7: Students‟ assessment of their classmates‟ support in vocabulary learning through language game (Question 6) 42 Table 4.8: Students‟ involment in language games (Question 7) 43 Table 4.9: Students expectation from the teacher when conducting language games ( Question 10 ) 45

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LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS

Figure 4.1: The students‟ attitudes toward learning vocabulary in English

lesson (Question 2) 34

Figure 4.2: The students‟ expression about this way ( Question 5) 36

Figure 4.3: This question shows the feeling of students when playing games in learning vocabulary (Question 8) 38

Figure 4.4: Students‟ understanding and experience about the purpose of language games and their view of point on them ( Question 9,10) 38

Figure 4.5: The students‟ feeling and attitudes about language games the teacher uses in every vocabuary lessoon (Question 2) 40

Figure 4 6: The students‟ feeling after taking part in language games (Question 3) 41

Figure 4.7: Students‟ evaluation of the effectiveness of learning vocabulary through language games (Question 5) 42

Figure 4.8: Students‟ preferences of ways organizing language game Question 8 44 Figure 4.9: Students‟ hope in taking part in language game in every vocabulaary lesson ( Question 9) 45

Chart 4.1: Pretest results 48

Chart 4 2: Post-test results 49

Chart 4.3: Comparision between pre-test and post-test results 49

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the background of the study and the statement of the problem, the objectives of the study, the research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the method of the study, and the structure of the study

1.1 Rationale of the thesis

It is common knowledge that vocabulary learning is an important aspect

of foreign language learning During the time working as a teacher of English

at Hung Yen Mechanical-Electric and Water Resources Vocational Training College, I can observe the fact that the students at this training institution encounter a lot of problems in English vocabulary learning They tend to like learning English via different types of games This status quo is one of the motives that induced me to go further into this area of research

1.2 Aims and objectives of the thesis

1.2.1 Aims of the thesis

The study is aimed at:

- Exploring weaknesses of students in learning the language

- Finding suitable methods to help the students at Mecha – Electric and Water resources Vocational College in Hung Yen raising motivation

- Helping students at this training institution to improve their vocabulary learning

1.2.2 Objectives of the thesis

The objectives of the research are as follows:

(i) To find out the problems encountered by students of Mecha – Electric and Water resources Vocational College in Hung Yen

(ii) To work out the effectiveness ways to solve these problems

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1.3 Research questions

1 What are the problems encountered by students in vocabulary learning

at Hung Yen Mechanical-Electric and Water resources Vocational College?

2 How have the language games solved these problems?

1.4 The scope of the thesis

The thesis is focused on:

(i) Games employable for vocabulary teaching and learning

(ii) Non-English major students at Hung Yen Mechanical-Electric Vocational Training College

1.5 Significance of the research

As can be inferred from the aims and objectives mentioned above, the results of this thesis, to the extent possible, would facilitate learners in vocabulary learning No doubt, the thesis is of practical value in the sense that

it is beneficial to non-English major students at Hung Yen Electric Vocational Training College in improving their vocabulary learning

Mechanical-1.6 Organization of the thesis

The thesis consists of five main parts: the introduction, the literature review, the methodology, findings and discussions, and the conclusion

The introduction presents the rationale of the thesis, the aims, and the objectives of the thesis, the research questions, the scope of the thesis, the significance of the thesis

Chapter 1 The introduction presents the rationale of the thesis, the aims, and the objectives of the thesis, the research questions, the scope of the thesis, the significance of the thesis

Chapter 2 The literature review provides the definitions of

vocabulary, the importance of learning vocabulary, and the definitions of

language games

Chapter 5 The conclusion summarizes what has been addressed in the thesis, points out the limitations and suggestions for further thesis

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter has introduced the definitions of vocabulary and its importance Besides that, the classification of vocabulary and some difficulties in vocabulary learning were listed to help teachers in finding out a suitable method to motivate students in vocabulary learning Significantly, with an overview of the language games and the benefits when language games are used in teaching and learning vocabulary Some previous studies are referred to the students‟ attitudes in other places The facts and the study vocabulary in the international and Vietnamese contexts were also mentioned

2.1 Vocabulary learning

2.1.1 Definition of Vocabulary

Vocabulary is broadly known as knowledge of words and word meanings It is a fundamental part of the language that must be the mastery of English skills However, the definition of the word has been, for a long time -

a major problem for linguistic theory Up to the present, there are various definitions of vocabulary based on different points of view about vocabulary

According to Hornby (1995), vocabulary is all words a person understands and uses It is all the phrases in a specific language or the phrases that people use when they are talking about a particular subject Saleh (1997: 60) stressed the division of vocabulary into two main categories: concrete words and abstract words Ur (1996: 60) claimed that “ vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language” Learners often achieve less than their potential and may be discouraged from making use of language learning opportunities around them such as listening to the radio, listening to the native speakers, using language in different contexts, reading, or watching television without an extensive vocabulary and

In conclusion, giving an exact definition of vocabulary is not simple work For this study, the researcher herself most agrees with the last one

used in another like abdomen, cookie Native words are words that are not

borrowed from another language but are inherited from an earlier stage of the

language like the hand, chair

Classification by level of usage

Vocabulary can be divided into common, literary, colloquial, slang, technical words according to the level of usage

Common words or popular words often connect with ordinary things or activities and make up the biggest part of the vocabulary with its core as basic word stock Stylistically, they are neutral and hence appropriate in both formal and informal writing and speech

Literary words are chiefly used in writing, formal, and elevated in style

like the word purchase/ buy

Colloquial words are used mainly in speaking to colleagues or friends

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and in informal writing Consider the following examples that illustrate the difference between the use of common and colloquial words:

Hey Tom! what’s up? (Colloquial)

Hey Tom! what are you doing? (Common)

Slang words are words of a vigorous, colorful, fictitious, or taboo nature, invented for specific occasions or uses or derived from the

unconventional use of the standard vocabulary For instance, all-nighters, buck, busted

Technical words are used in various special fields with functions partly

to denote things or processes which have no names in ordinary English, and most remain essentially foreign to outsiders, even to educated native speakers

For example psychoanalysis

Content words are used to name objects, qualities, actions, or states They have independent lexical meanings and belong to the open system

Classification by the usage of the word

In language teaching, vocabulary can be divided into the productive and receptive vocabulary Productive vocabulary generally refers to words which can be produced within an appropriate context and match the intended meaning of the speaker or signer As with receptive vocabulary, however, there are many degrees at which a particular word may be considered part of

an active vocabulary Knowing how to pronounce, sign, or write a word does

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not necessarily mean that the word can be used correctly or accurately reflects the intended message of the utterance, but it does reflect a minimal amount of productive knowledge

Classification by the concept of morpheme

Basing on this criterion, there are simple words (i.e words consisting of one root morpheme), derived words (i.e word

2.1.3 The importance of learning vocabulary

Because a limited vocabulary impedes effective communication in a second language, mastery of vocabulary is also viewed as a critical tool for second language learners

Schmitt (2000) stresses that “lexical knowledge is central to communicative competence and the acquisition of a second language” p 55) Nation (2001) further describes the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and language use as complementary: knowledge of vocabulary enables language use and, conversely, language use leads to an increase in vocabulary knowledge In and out of class, the value of vocabulary is illustrated every day Achieving learners have the most adequate vocabulary in the classroom Researchers such as Laufer and Nation (1999), Maximo (2000), Read (2000),

Gu (2003), and Nation (2011) and others have realized that the acquisition of vocabulary is essential for the effective use of the second language and plays an important role in the development of complete spoken and written texts Learning vocabulary products play a crucial role in all language skills (i.e listening, speaking, reading, and writing) in English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) Richards (1980) and Krashen (1989), as cited in Maximo (2000) state many reasons for devoting attention to vocabulary “First, a large vocabulary is of course essential for mastery of a language Second language acquirers know this; they carry dictionaries with

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them, not grammar books, and regularly report that the lack of vocabulary is a major problem‟‟ Oxford (1990) also claims that vocabulary is “by far the most sizeable and unmanageable component in the learning of any language, whether a foreign or one‟s mother tongue, because of tens of thousands of different meanings” Despite these difficulties that language learners face in L2 vocabulary, they still have to deal with it in their examinations as „„vocabulary has traditionally been one of the language components measured in language tests‟‟ (Schmitt, 1999, 189)

2.1.4 Difficulties in Vocabulary learning

The first steps in successful teaching vocabulary are to identify the difficulties faced by students Thornbury (2004:27) proposes some factors that make some words more difficult as follows: Pronunciation, Spelling, Length and complexity, Grammar, Meaning, range, connotation, and idiomaticity Words that can be used in a wide range of contexts will generally be perceived as easier than their synonyms with a narrower range Thus, put in a very wide-ranging verb, compared to impose, place, position, etc Likewise, thin is a safer bet than skinny, slim, slender Uncertainty as to connotations of some words may cause problems too Thus, propaganda has negative connotations in English, but its equivalent may simply mean publicity On the other hand, eccentric does not have negative connotations in English, but its nearest equivalent in other languages may be deviant Finally, words or expressions that are idiomatic( like make up your mind, keep an eye on…) will generally be more difficult than words whose meaning is transparent ( decide, watch) Gower, Philips, and Walter(1995: 143) explain what makes a vocabulary item is easy or difficult How easy or difficult a vocabulary item is can depend on several factors: a The similarity to L1, Similarity to

English words are already known, Connotation, Spelling and pronunciation, Multi-word items, Collocation, Appropriate use

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2.1.5 Learning vocabulary in Vocational college context

First of all, in the vocabulary learning process the students in this college consider the teachers‟ explanation for the meaning of definition, pronunciation, spelling, and grammatical functions boring In this case, language learners have nothing to do in the vocabulary learning section but to listen to their teacher Second, students only think of vocabulary learning as knowing the primary meaning of new words Therefore, they ignore all other functions of the words Third, the students usually only acquire new vocabulary through new words in their textbooks or when given by teachers during classroom lessons For example, learners find many new words in a text and then ask the teacher to explain the meanings and usage Forth, many learners do not want to take risks in applying what they already “know the word”, but they may not be able to use that word properly in different contexts or pronounce it correctly

2.2 Language Games

2.2.1 Definition of language games

Vocabulary learning is always a hard task for language learners It is now very generally accepted that language teaching and learning not merely can be but should be enjoyable This means that there is no need, by excluding enjoyment, to make it more difficult Many linguists agree that playing language games is a good way of learning vocabulary So what is the concept of games and language games?

There are a wide variety of definitions of games in language teaching

As defined in “ Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics” ( Richard & Schmidt, 2010), games are “ an organized activity” which usually has the following features “ a particular task or objective”: a set

of rules”, competition between players”, and “ communication between

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players by spoken or written language” (p.239) Thus, games are useful in communicative language teaching “CLT”, an approach that has recently increased in popularity Hadfield (2005) defined games as “ an activity with rules, a goal, and an element of fun” (p.5) Through these two definitions, it is reasonable to conclude that games are used in the classroom, students are given an exciting opportunity to learn English in a more relaxed atmosphere

Lee, W R (1979) defined games in the strict sense, which have a definite beginning and are governed by rules, shade off into game-like activities which have a less formal design

Byrne (1995) gave the definition to games as a form of play governed

by rules They should be enjoyable and fun They are not just a diversion, a break from routine activities, but a way of getting the learner to use the language in the course of the game Therefore, games involve many factors: rules, competition, relaxation, and learning, in particular The main focus of using games in class is to help students learn and have fun

Therefore, Games include many factors: Rules, relaxation, competition, and learning It means that It helps students learn and have fun

2.2.2 Classification of language games

According to Hadfield (1984), language games can be divided into two types: linguistic games and communicative games Linguistic games focus on accuracy, such as supplying the correct antonym In contrast, communicative games focus on the successful exchange of information and ideas Games can

be competitive (players or teams race to be the first to reach the goal) or

co-operative (players or teams work together towards a common goal)

Besides, Hadfield suggested another way of classifying language games which are based on categories Following this, there are other types of language games such as sorting, ordering, or arranging games, information

to listen and understand, then carry out some action), read-and-do games

(games to practice reading), writing games (games to encourage meaningful writing practice), discussion games (games involve discussion)

2.2.3 The importance of language games in learning vocabulary

Games help teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful It can be said that Language games have a fully respected place in foreign language learning Games play an essential role because they, the learners like to play and have fun so by giving the games as a teaching method, the students can be more excited and motivated to study English

“Games help and encourage many learners to sustain their interest and work” ( Wright, Betteridge, and Buckby, 2009, P.2) games are not only for fun but also for encouraging children to seize control of English faster So Language games are important for all the reasons below

Games improve vocabulary retention

According to Richards and Schmidt (2010), retention is defined as

“The ability to recall or remember things after an interval of time ” (p.498) In language teaching, there are three contributing factors to retention in general

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and vocabulary retention in particular, namely teaching quality, learners‟ interest, and the meaningfulness of the materials Certainly, games, which belong to the materials, affect vocabulary retention

Games increase motivation

Obviously, games enhance students‟ motivation, which means “ the driving force in any situation that leads to action” in general and in the field

of language learning refers to “a combination of the learners‟ attitudes, desires and willingness to expend effort in order to learn the second language” ( Richards & Schmidt,2010, p 377) It is undeniable that fun and challenge are the core components of language games Thanks to the former, students can learn in a more relaxed atmosphere and they can show a deeper interest in the lesson because of the diversity in classroom activities added by games With the help of the latter, students can communicate and cooperate with their peers in pairs or groups and simultaneously compete with others to become the first to win Moreover thanks to games, motivation among young learners can be improved by the internal element, for example, interest and external element, for motivating learners by providing fun and challenge

Games sharpen teamwork skills

Teamwork refers to “a cooperative process that allows ordinary people

to achieve extraordinary results” and skill is defined as “an acquired ability to perform an activity well, usually one that is made up of the number of coordinates processes and actions” (Richard & Schmidt, 2010, p 532) As can

be seen from the aforementioned definitions, teamwork skills are thought to

be skills aimed at facilitating the activity of working together in which teammates are required to cooperate in order to achieve common goals Among essential teamwork skills are communication, conflict solution, listening, dependability, and respectfulness Games support communication

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among pupils by requiring the players to express their own opinion and discussing them with their teammates However, in the process of games, conflict may arise in the context of the selection of the most satisfactory answer from different ones offered by every teammate Consequently, negotiation must start in the process of exercising the most viable option, through which conflict can be settled Conflict management is equal to a willingness to take notice of every member‟s answer, which means the existence of listening In order to reach complete agreement, teammates need

to put their trust in one another after asking questions for clarification Any member who has contributed their idea deserves to be appreciated In short, games can enhance teamwork skills, namely communication, conflict solution, listening, dependability, and respectfulness

Games provide active learner-centered learning and meaningful practice

In addition, games “ provide opportunities for real communication” and

“ constitute a bridge between the classroom and the real world” ( Hadfield,

2005, p.5) With the use of the games, teachers are able to create a wide variety of contexts in which students are required to use the language to communicate, exchange information, and express their ideas and opinions

Games enhance confidence

Thanks to the fun inherent in games, students can learn in a more relaxed atmosphere and they can show a deeper interest in the lesson because

of the diversity in classroom activities added by games Moreover, in the process of games, the focus is on the communication in the target language,

no on error correction, which is thought to lead to increased confidence in lessons It is clear that games provide a meaningful context in which pupils are required to respond to challenge Therefore, their level of confidence is

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undeniably enhanced by expressing and discussing opinions with each other and simultaneously practicing the language without fear of continuos correction in order to deal with the challenge set up by games on the way to earning a win

Games foster student-students and student-teacher relationship

Games can be used as pair work, small group work, or whole class activities In the process of games students within a group are encouraged to express and exchange their opinions with each other It is cooperation that helps students to better understand each other Furthermore, when competing with other teams, all differences are put aside and the only thing to exist among students is cooperation promoted by sharing experience and knowledge, which indisputably leads to a closer bond between classmates When students perceive the teacher is playing language games with them, the learner-teacher bond must be strengthened

The game provides a meaningful context

According to Wright, Betteridge & Buckby (2009), games also help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful Children are provided good reasons to revise what they have learned by language games With the regular revising method, the children do their exercise, listen to the teacher‟s summary, and rewrite it down They have no chance to show themselves in from of class, which will make them confident

to use what they have learned However, with language games, the learners stand up and come out of their seats to revise language items differently The go-to the board, give answers, do the action in a competitive but friendly atmosphere, sometimes with smiles and fun

This way of revising helps learners to remember easily without any reluctance or difficulties He does repetition all the time but they do not

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realize it because each time they repeat, the so it in different ways As in “ guessing game” with action while speaking out of the phrases every turn, and the whole class is divided into teams will check and give an evaluation Whenever they do action, they speak, check, and evaluate, that is when they repeat language items without boredom With the regular revising method, the interaction in the classroom is often taught to the whole class, which makes learners passive in the process of receiving input To some certain extend, learners are familiar with their teacher, but they still feel less confident and reluctant when expressing what they have learned or when being required to stand up and fulfill the task

Games can be a very good way to practice real-life skills According to Lewis (1999), the context of the game makes the foreign language immediately useful to children It brings the target language to life The reason most people want to learn a language is to be able to use it in real-life situations, for example, they go traveling to other countries, they have to communicate with local people and what will happen if they cannot connect with others Games can be a very good method to practice these skills because they can easily be used to reenact various situations from real life and provide students with practice in their fluency Also, by using games in the classroom the teacher is giving his or her learners a bigger role, and they are stepping out

of the frontline which is a positive thing because it allows students to do more

on their own, and they can have a very well result in an increase in their confidence level

Games provide a logical contribution while learners interact in the group, allowing students to clarify the meaning of the words This strategy enhances learners‟ enthusiasm to learn new English vocabulary According to Hansen (1994,p.118 cited in Nguyen Thi Hue Linh,2009) games are not time-

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filling activities but have a great educational value They are highly motivating and entertaining, and they can give shy learners more opportunities to express their opinions and feeling

2.3 Previous studies

2.3.1 Studies in an international context

So far, the use of language games in English lessons have been interested in many foreign researchers Additionally, they also did a post-class interview to get students' feelings and personal experiences in learning vocabulary Questionnaires were designed to help students understand clearly the purpose of the study After collecting the data they concluded that most of the learners (20 out of 23) were interested in joining the game in the group and they tried their work, even the shy students Students showed that the games were very useful for them to enrich their vocabulary knowledge because they played and interacted with each other Besides, interviewed teachers reported that their students seemed to learn new words more quickly and retain it better when it was applied in a relaxed and comfortable environment such as while playing games Therefore, the effectiveness of games in teaching and learning

is revealed

Games can lead to pupils‟ more positive attitudes towards English vocabulary learning They taught vocabulary through alphabets, numbers, and calendar, and pronoun through whispering games, giving clues and fishing respectively In the research, the author implemented four-way of teaching vocabulary namely reciting vocabulary consulting dictionary, vocabulary dictation, and playing the game The findings indicated that all games employed in the study were greatly satisfied by students and the young learner's preferred games to other vocabulary teaching activities They tend to have positive attitudes towards vocabulary learning because using games is a

in a productive manner

In their book, Richards and Schmidt (2010) mentioned two kinds of

vocabulary retention: Immediate recall, which is defined as “ the remembering of something shortly after studying it” and delayed recall, which is known as the “ability to remember something sometimes after

of teaching vocabulary and the experimental group was exposed to language games, namely the definition game, half a crossword, cross them out, and making sentences After the treatment, post-test 1 was administered to both groups to examine the students‟ immediate vocabulary learning After two

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weeks since the treatment, post-tests 2 was given to both groups in order to assess the delayed effect of learning Four weeks after the second post-test, post-test 3 was set to determine the students‟ ability of retention in both groups The results have shown that the effect of games was more significant

in the delayed recall stage than in the immediate recall stage In games, the

effort made by students to arrive at correct answers means seeking help and support from their peers, and in the process of discovering the unknown vocabulary items, students need to cooperate and negotiate with each other, which undoubtedly leads to social interaction among young learners Thanks

to the interaction, vocabulary retention is substantially enhanced

In terms of perception, Wang (2010) conducted a study with a view to examining the use of communicative language games for teaching and learning English in Taiwanese elementary school In the study, the participants were

150 teachers teaching in Taiwanese primary schools and the instrument employed was a survey questionnaire about their perceptions towards the use

of communicative language games in English lessons The findings of the study indicated that Taiwanese elementary school teachers generally appreciated the benefits and values of communicative game activities in the teaching of the English language The results were also recommended that teachers be aware to take learners‟ individual variations into consideration and

be more flexible in their use of communicative language games in order to maximize educational effect when facing students with backgrounds, learning styles, needs, and expectations In Kristanti (2014)‟s study, the research investigated the teachers‟ perceptions towards the use of language games in teaching English for young learners The study was carried out in the first and the second grade of Bethany Elementary School Salatiga with the involvement

of two English teachers, in which observation and interview were used as data

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collection instruments, in order to examine teachers‟ perceptions on the use of games in relation to experience in using games to teach language, the reason for the deployment of games, advantages, and disadvantages in each type of games employed in the research for the teachers and learners, and important points to maximize the use of games The findings showed that teachers had a positive attitude toward language games since they could contribute to improving the students‟ language skills, building their grammar understanding, engaging them in the lessons, helping them to expand vocabulary, and supporting the teachers in seeing the pupils‟ actual ability However, the results indicated the disadvantages of language games, to be specific, they could be time-consuming and boring to some pupils and the teachers might have difficulty controlling the classroom management during the games In order to optimize the efficacy of games in the language teaching and learning process 2.3.2 Studies in the Vietnamese context

In Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen and Khuat Thi Thu Nga (2003) had a study about the effectiveness of learning vocabulary through games They showed many advantages in learning new words by using games One of the effective activities that they applied in teaching for students at the Distance Education Centre (DEC) is word games After two weeks, they conducted a small post-class survey to elicit students‟ feelings and their experiences in learning vocabulary A sample questionnaire was designed They collected data by observing the class teacher and interviewing the students The result of students showed that most of the students were willing to take part in the games and most of them agreed that their use of the vocabulary was becoming better However, the use of the study may not be reliable due to the limited scope ( two weeks and two games) and the result only depended on the interview and questionnaire, so it may not measure accurately the progress of

Phung Thi Nga ( 2014) undertook a research study in the form of the action research project with the participation of 25 students aimed to investigate the effect of language games on the vocabulary learning of seventh graders at Marie- Currie School (MCS), in which tests, questionnaires, and interviews were used to collect data to answer the two research questions concerning to what extent the use of language games improved 7th graders‟ vocabulary learning at MCS and what their attitudes toward language games in their vocabulary learning were The results of the study revealed that language games helped 7th graders at MCS to improve their vocabulary learning and the students had positive attitudes towards language games

Nguyen Trong Binh (2015) carried out research on using language games to motivate tenth graders in speaking lessons This action research project, in which data collection instruments were observation sheets and survey questionnaires, was attended by 30 tenth graders at Loc Binh high school The finding revealed that the cause of the students‟ low motivation in speaking lessons was the lack of interesting speaking activities and language games could be deployed as teaching techniques to enhance students‟ motivation Nguyen Thi Kim Trang (2015) undertook a study with the involvement of

31 fourth graders at Ba Hien B Primary School with a view to investigating the

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effects of using language games on vocabulary retention The instruments for gathering data were two questionnaires (provided before and after the treatment) and pretest and five posttests (four progress posttests and one final posttest) After receiving an eight-week treatment, most of the students showed more positive attitudes towards language game applications More importantly, the findings from post – data suggested that language games contribute to improving students‟ vocabulary retention and their attitudes toward vocabulary learning The writer also noted down some unanticipated problems during her treatment First, she could realize when working in the groups better students were dominant in the activities Second, a few students used the mother tongue

to communicate in the process of games The author also recommended good preparation and class organization increase the success of language games in the classroom

As a teacher of English in a vocational college, the researcher found that students at the vocational college have many difficulties in learning vocabulary Without a reasonable solution to motivate them to study, they will definitely not be able to have enough vocabulary knowledge to support them in acquiring and developing other skills so language games are the most reasonable and fastest way to help them improve their own vocabulary, and

to be more interested in vocabulary learning

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the main issues relating to methodology was carefully discussed First, an elaboration of the research context was presented, particularly, the English learning and teaching contexts in Mechanical Electric and Water resources Vocational college Second, some important matters of methodology such as research methods, participants, and data analysis were also thoroughly mentioned Among these, the researcher paid close attention

to the research methods with detailed description of the survey questionnaires, the tests, the interviews, and the data analysis process which laid foundations for the research findings and discussion in the next chapter

3.1 Research context

3.1.1 Participants

The participants who participate in this study including 65 students who come from secondary school, they did not pass the exam into high school and choose a vocational school to continue their study so most of them have a very low background of English vocabulary so they are bad at all skills That the reason why they need to be motivated by teachers This group will take part in answering the questions, interview, and doing tests

and TF1 All of them are at the age of 15 to 18 They will take part in doing questionnaires, interviews, and tests Although they studied English from the

2 grade to the 9 grade before entering my college their knowledge and vocabulary of English are very low level Most of them do not remember much about grammar, vocabulary and they are not fond of learning vocabulary and they said that it is a boring and difficult activity and do not want to spend time on it They are easy to forget new words after the lesson

3.1.2 Textbook

Textbooks are used at vocational colleges are compiled by the General Department of Vocational training

3.2 Research design

There has not been any research on the use of language games before at

my Vocational college so this study was the first and only one to explore the learners‟ perception of the use of language games in vocabulary lessons Therefore in the research approach for this study mixed methods were adopted

In general, mixed methods research represents research that involves collecting, analyzing, and interpreting quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or in a series of studies that investigate the same underlying phenomenon

In other words, mixed methods research design is used to: broaden understanding by incorporating both qualitative and quantitative research” ( Creswell, 2009,p 205) Specifically, the concurrent embedded design was selected

as the research design in the study The research design was employed because of

“its use of one data collection phase, during which both quantitative and qualitative data are collected simultaneously”( Creswell,2009,p 214) Moreover, as Creswell

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(2009) maintained, a major advantage of this research approach would be for the researcher to “ gain perspectives from the different types of data or different levels within the study” (p 2015) In this study, quantitative and qualitative data about learners‟ perceptions of use language games in vocabulary lessons were collected using questionnaires, interviews, and tests

3.3 Data collection instruments

To answer the research questions, three main instruments were employed to collect the data: Questionnaires, interviews, and tests

3.3.1 Questionnaires

Conducting a study on the real situation, questionnaires were applied for students Nunan (1992,p.231) defined that “a questionnaire is an instrument for collecting data usually in written form, consisting of open or closed questions and other probes requiring a response from the subject” Questionnaires are a common instrument for collecting data on unobservable phenomena such as attitudes, motivation, and self-concept (Seliger & Shohamy,1989) This instrument provides a simple and inexpensive way of collecting and analyzing a huge set of data from a large number of participants

The questionnaires for this present study are adapted from Tran Thi Dieu Hang‟s questionnaire (2011, p67 – 74) because of some similarities concern in the topic of the game In Tran Thi Dieu Hang‟s study, the participants were all high school students aged 15 and the participants in this research are also at the age of 15 ( all of the students have just graduated from secondary school and could not pass the exam into high school so they come

to Vocational college for both studying in two parallel programs: Vocational and Cultural Supplementary Program)

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3.3.1.1 Pre- task questionnaire

The pre-task questionnaire included 10 questions aiming to disclose the attitudes of the students towards learning vocabulary before the intervention

It was assigned to the students in the first two weeks of the first term The first two questions aimed to examine students‟ attitudes on vocabulary learning The third question was investigated the time that each student spending on learning vocabulary Question 4 and 5 is used to ask about the common way of presenting vocabulary at secondary school and their feeling about this way The next question is used to explore the biggest difficulties in vocabulary learning to answer the first research question “ What are the problems encountered by students at Vocational college in vocabulary learning?” With the sixth question, the students need to express the common way they learn vocabulary at home In the three last questions, the researcher can discover the students‟ understanding and experiences about the purpose of language games and the students‟ view of the point on them

3.3.1.2 Post – task questionnaire

The format of the post-tasks questionnaire is similar to the pre-task questionnaire The result from this helps the researcher answer the research question “ How language games have solved these problems?”

The students also were asked 10 questions again after a period of time they participating in language games which helped them to learn vocabulary better The first question focused on the student's opinions about the benefits

of using language games Questions 2 and 3 were used to ask about the students‟ feelings and attitudes about language games the teacher use in every vocabulary lesson Students' assessments of the effectiveness of learning vocabulary through language games are the content of question 4,5,6 The seventh question is designed to explore the students‟ involvement in language

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games And the data from question 8,9,10 would help the researcher understanding the students‟ expectations from using language games in a vocabulary lesson

The advantages of using questionnaires as data collection tools mainly come from the fact that with the help of a questionnaire a large amount of data can be collected quickly and economically from a large sample Also, a questionnaire, as one of the most common forms of data collection tools, can easily be assessed in terms of reliability Moreover, the strengths of the questionnaire generally include accuracy, generalizability, and convenience However, besides the strengths, questionnaires usually fall short in examining the complex social relationship and intricate patterns of interaction Therefore, in this study, data gathered via a questionnaire was further reinforced via a face-to-face interview The questionnaire of the study involves both open-ended questions and closed-ended questions

3.3.2 Interview

In addition to questionnaires, semi-structured interviews with five students were conducted as another important mode of data collection for this study The interview is structured with a list of four questions (see appendixes) This type of interview is conducted in systematic and consistent order but it allows interviewers sufficient freedom to digress; that is the interviewers are permitted (in fact expected) to probe far beyond the answers to their repaired and standardized questions An interview is a very personal way to gather information since it allows adaptability in questioning From this point of view, the interview data provides deeper insight regarding the difficulties of students in learning vocabulary, the effectiveness of using language games in their vocabulary learning, and their expectations Furthermore, the interview data complemented and expanded on the questionnaire data as it gives follow-up

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information in the case of ambiguous and incomplete responses from the questionnaires

Nunan (1992) pointed out that the oral interview has been widely used as

a research tool in applied linguistic Structured interviews, semi-structured interviews, in-depth interviews, and focus group interviews are some types of interviews According to Nunan (1992), the semi-structured interview has found favor with many researchers because of its flexibility It helps the researcher and interviewer to gain the general ideas that he or she expected to get A semi-structured interview was conducted following the questionnaire The purpose of

a semi-structured interview was to collect a deep understanding of learners‟ attitudes towards language games used in teaching vocabulary The information collected from the interview supported the data collected from the questionnaire

a short-term goal, to see the effectiveness of teaching and to investigate learning process

Two types of tests were administered before and after the trial: a test and a post-test The pre-test was done at the beginning of the course before games are implemented ( vocabulary is taught and learned by the former way) and the post-tests were used in the middle of the first year with the game implementation ( using language games in teaching and learning vocabulary) The level of difficulty and the format of these two tests are similar

pre-28

The result of the post-test was compared with the result of the present

by counting scores that learners made

The test papers include 5 exercises:

Exercise 1 is required students to match the words with the suitable pictures ( 3 points)

Exercise 2 with 10 questions that students had to circle the odd one out (2 points)

In exercise 3 with 8 questions and the students are asked to circle the best answer for each question ( 2points)

The students needed to find ten words for each topic in exercise 4 (2 points)

And in the last exercise with 5 questions, the students were requested to fill in the missing letter in the blank ( 1 point)

The learners had 45 minutes to finish this test The tests were marked carefully by the researcher The scores on each test range from 0 to 10 and group into levels of performance as follow:

researcher to answer the question “ How language games have solved these problems?”

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3.4 Data analysis techniques

3.4.1 Data analysis from questionnaires

Pre- task questionnaire and post-task questionnaire were presented in the form of frequencies and percentages The analysis of young learners‟ perceptions of the use of language games in vocabulary lessons was made according to these statistics and with SPSS20.0 Besides, data were summarized into tables and charts to facilitate data synthesis, comparison, and generalization and make the data analysis process more efficient and easier to follow simultaneously

3.4.2 Data analysis from interview

Transcriptions were read in agreement with the note taken during the interview Having been examined minutely, the data were classified into meaningful analytical units following several major themes about the perception of the use of language games in vocabulary lessons emerging from Literature review Afterward, the data were coded based on the meaningful segments During the writing stage, the text was used to explain the basic themes In the process of writing, review, and data comparison, the meaning was drawn to the finding of data analysis

3.4.3 Data analysis from tests

Pre-test and post-test were designed in the same format Pre-tests were done before the courses and the post-test was done after applying the language games in a vocabulary lesson The analysis of the data was based on SPSS20.0 Then data were summarized into charts to compare the result before and after language games was used

3.5 Research procedure

In this study, I decided to use the action research model of Kemmis and

Mr Targgart ( cited by Cohen 1994) which composed of four phases

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- Planning: A problem or issue is identified and the plan of action is developed to bring improvement in specific areas of the research context

- Action: The plan is put into action

- Observation: The effects of the action observed and data are collected

- Reflection: The effects of the action are evaluated and become the basis for further cycles of research

Step 1: Planning

In this step the researcher finds out the area of the focus, describing the problem, reviewing the literature review, and writing an action plan to guide the research After 10 years of teaching at Vocational college, I realized that most of the students at Vocational school have a big problem with learning vocabulary They are lack of vocabulary knowledge and motivation to learn new words They do not learn vocabulary actively, they are easy to forget words and they do not spend much time learning or writing the words in two lines Therefore I focus on this problem in this study

A pretest, a posttest, pre-task survey questionnaires, post-task survey questionnaires, and interviews were used to collect information about using language games in learning vocabulary as well as learners‟ attitudes toward using language games

The study lasted in the time of the first term of the first year ( about 12 weeks) In the teaching process, a list of suitable games was selected and applied from week 2 to week 11 The pretest, posttest, pre-task survey, and post-task survey questionnaires and interviews were carried out from the first

to the last week

Step 2: Action

Three stages are taken place in this step:

Stage 1: The researcher presented the aims of the experiment and the

action plan Then the students were asked to take part in the pre-test