Using repetition techniques to teach young learners aged 6 12 vocabulary with the aim of encouraging their vocabulary memorization m a 60 14 10

Age of students the Second Experimental Class Table 4.4 Gender of students in the Second experimental Class Table 4.5 Age of students in the First Controlled Class Table 4.6 Gender of st

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES





NGUYEN THI NGOC HOA

USING REPETITION TECHNIQUES TO TEACH YOUNG LEARNERS AGED 6-

12 VOCABULARY WITH THE AIM OF

ENCOURAGING THEIR VOCABULARY MEMORIZATION

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS (TESOL)

SUPERVISOR CAO THI QUYNH LOAN, M.A

HO CHI MINH CITY, 2010

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that the thesis entitled “ USING REPEATITION TECHNIQUES TO TEACH YOUNG LEARNERS AGED 6 TO 12 ENGLISH VOCABULARY WITH THE AIM OF ENCOURAGING

THEIR MEMORIZATION” is my own work

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or

diploma in any other institutions

Ho Chi Minh City, May 2010

NGUYEN THI NGOC HOA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor Ms Cao Thi Quynh Loan, MA for her academic advice, valuable comments, knowledge support and great enthusiasm throughout the completion of the thesis Also, her great encouragement helped me deal with all kinds of problems facing the thesis and worked them out timely

In addition, I am greatly grateful to all my teachers for their dedication and helpful instruction during the master course from the year 2006 – 2009

Also, I would like to take this opportunity to express my special thanks to

my colleagues at School of International Training who helped me in data collection, answering the questionnaires and participating in trying these techniques

Then my special thanks to all of my little students for their participation and cooperation in the classes which offered me opportunities to carry out the research

Next, I’m indebted as well to all of my classmates in the Master course for their emotional support and insightful discussion, especially Mr Le Thanh

Tu

Last but not least, I would like to say “thank you” to my dear husband for his great care during the time when I was working on the thesis

ABSTRACT

This study explored the use of repetition techniques with young learners (aged 6-12) to determine if the use of these techniques improves vocabulary retention and the speed of vocabulary accessibility The study also sought to determine the attitudes of the teachers toward these techniques and determine the level of interest of teachers in getting more knowledge about using repetition techniques or activities .The study was conducted at the School of International Training (SIT), where I teach on Saturdays and Sundays

This research used both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and the research instruments included videotaping, questionnaires, observation, pre-tests and post- tests

There were 80 young learners aged 6-12 and 12 young learner teachers involved in my research The results of post test, done by 80 young learners

in four classes, used to compare and contrast the effectiveness in teaching vocabulary In addition, the 12 teachers were delivered a VIDEO in which I had shown how repetition techniques work, they watched the VIDEO, then used the techniques to teach and after that completed a questionnaire, and allowed me to observe their classes each on three occasions

The findings of the study are that repetition techniques do work well in boosting young learners’ vocabulary retention and speed of accessibility, and that the teachers think highly of these techniques, think they will use them at least sometime to teach children vocabulary in combination to other

techniques they are using, and if they want to learn more about these techniques

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Statement of authorship I Acknowledgment II Abstract III Table of content IV List of tables IX List of charts XI List of abbreviation XII

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Background to the study 2

1.2.1 Young learners 2

1.2.2 Requirements to teachers at SIT 3

1.2.3 The syllabus for kids’ classes 3

1.3 Significance of The Study 4

1.4 Scope of The Study 5

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Learning words- a relational process 6

2.2 An overview of the repetition techniques 7

2.3 The role of memory and repetition in language learning 7

2.3.1 The role of memory in language learning 7

2.3.2 Role of repetition in language learning 8

2.4 Forgetting and remembering 9

2.4.1 Reasons causing forgetting 9

2.4.2 Strategies to improve memory 11

2.4.2.1 Review as the best strategy to improve memory 11

2.4.2.2 A 35-minute study guide 13

2.5 An overview of vocabulary

2.5.1 What is vocabulary? 14

2.5.2 What need to be taught? 15

2.6 The role of vocabulary in learning a new language 16

2.6.1 Vocabulary to speaking 17

2.6.2 Vocabulary to reading 17

2.7 Characteristics of children as language learners 19

2.7.1 Piaget 20

2.7.1.1 The child as an active learner 20

2.7.1.2 Implications of Piagetian theory for the language learning 20

2.7.2 Vygotsky 21

2.7.2.1 The child as social 19

2.7.2.2 Implication of Vygotskyan theory for language learning 22

2.8 The ways children learn language 22

2.8.1 Children learn by playing 22

2.8.2 Imitation 23

2.8.3 Language interactions 23

2.8.4 Interest 23

2.9 Children’s vocabulary learning strategies 23

2.10 Teacher’s role in promoting second language development 25

2.11 Summary 27

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN 28

3.1 Research Questions 28

3.2 Methodology 28

3.3 Research design 30

3.3.1 Pretest 30

3.3.1.1 Time and setting 30

3.3.1.2 Instrumentation 30

3.3.1.3 Procedure 30

3.3.2 Video taping 31

3.3.2.1 Time and place 31

3.3.2.2 Instrumentation 32

3.3.2.3 Procedure 32

3.3.3 Observation 32

3.3.4 Questionnaire 33

3.3.5 Post test 34

3.3.5.1 Time and setting 34

3.3.5.2 Instrumentation 34

3.3.5.3 Procedure 34

3.3.6 Application of repetition techniques 36

3.4 Summary 49

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 51

4.1 Pre-test 51

4.1.1 Characteristics of the participants 51

4.1.2 Pre-test: Forty nine words found 54

4.2 Posttest 55

4.2.1 Quick reaction 55

4.2.1.1 First EC versus First CC 55

4.2.1.2 Second EC versus Second CC 57

4.2.2 Vocabulary retention 58

4.2.2.1 First EC versus First CC 58

4.2.2.2 Second EC versus Second CC 60

4.3 Questionnaire 61

4.3.1 Characteristics of the respondents 61

4.3.2 Role of vocabulary in children’s learning a new language 62

4.3.3 Previous use of repetition techniques 63

4.3.4 Future use of repetition techniques 64

4.3.5 Repetition techniques suit young learners 65

4.3.6 Appropriate frequency of using repetition techniques to teach young learners vocabulary 66

4.3.7 SIT teachers’ demand on further knowledge of the repetition techniques 67 4.3.8 General assessment on repetition techniques 68

4.3.8.1 Working on opinions that repetition techniques are difficult, useful, practical, effective and communicative 68

4.3.8.1.1 Repetition techniques are difficult 69

4.3.8.1.2 Repetition techniques are useful 70

4.3.8.1.3 Repetition techniques are practical 70

4.3.8.1.4 Repetition techniques are effective 70

4.3.8.1.5 Repetition techniques are communicative 70

4.3.8.2 Working on opinions that repetition techniques meet students’ need in learning vocabulary, learning pronunciation and meet teachers’ need in teaching vocabulary 71

4.3.8.2.1 Repetition techniques meet students’ need in Learning vocabulary 74

4.3.9 Repetition techniques benefit young learners 74

4.3.9.1 Repetition techniques are fun 76

4.3.9.2 Repetition techniques boost vocabulary retention 76

4.3.9.3 Repetition techniques practice quick reaction 77

4.3.9.4 Repetition techniques help students speak fluently 77

4.3.10 Activities using repetition techniques in the Video are workable 77

4.3.11 Best parts of the repetition techniques 78

4.4 Videotaping 79

4.5 Observation 79

4.5.1 Identified problems 80

4.6 Summary of the findings 81

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 83

5.1 Conclusion 83

5.1.1 SIT teachers’ attitude 84

5.1.2 Students’ progress 84

5.1.3 Problems identified 85

5.2 Recommendations 85

REFERENCES 88

APPENDIXES 92

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1 Age of students in the First Experimental Class

Table 4.2 Gender of students in the First Experimental Class

Table 4.3 Age of students the Second Experimental Class

Table 4.4 Gender of students in the Second experimental Class

Table 4.5 Age of students in the First Controlled Class

Table 4.6 Gender of students in the First Controlled Class

Table 4.7 Gender of students in the Second Controlled Class

Table 4.8 Age of students in the Second Controlled Class

Table 4.9 Age and gender of students in the four classes

Table 4.10 Pretest results

Table 4.11: Paired Samples Test of 1st EC and 1st CC

Table 4.12: Time used to finish the Oral Test (Naming the things in English) of 2nd EC and 2nd CC

Table 4.13: Paired Samples Test of 2nd EC and 2nd CC

Table 4.14: Descriptive table of the times students in 1st EC and 1st CC Skipped the Words (Pictures)

Table 4.15: Paired Samples Test of 2nd EC and 2nd CC

Table 4.16: Paired Samples Test of 2nd EC and 2nd CC

Table 4.17: Characteristics of the teachers at SIT

Table 4.18: Respondent's evaluation on the role of vocabulary in children's learning a language

Table 4.19: Repetition techniques were applied before by the participants

Table 4.22 Descriptive statistics of opinions on appropriate frequency of using repetition techniques

Table 4.23 Respondents need a workshop to further discuss these techniques and other activities using these techniques

Table 4.23 Characteristics of repetition techniques (1)

Table 4.24 Characteristics of repetition techniques (1)

Table 4.25 Descriptive statistics of characteristics of repetition techniques (1) Table 4.26 Opinions on characteristics of repetition techniques(2)

Table 4.27 Descriptive Statistics of Opinion on Characteristics of repetition techniques(2)

Table 4.28 Opinions on repetition techniques’ benefits offering young learners Table 4.29 Descriptive Statistics of Opinions on repetition techniques’ benefits offering young learners

Table 4.30 Opinions that Repetition techniques suggested in the VIDEO are workable

Table 4.31 Summary of advantages and problems identified for 3 times of observation

Chart 4.5: Respondents will apply these repetition techniques if they have a choice

Chart 4.6: Opinions on appropriate frequency of using repetition techniques in children's class

Chart 4.7 Respondents need a workshop to further discuss these techniques and other activities using these techniques

Chart 4.8: Summary of Means of Opinions on Repetition Techniques’ Characteristics (1)

Chart 4.9: Repetition techniques meet student’s need in learning pronunciation

LISTS OF ABBREVIATION

Terms

SIT: School of International Training

REPETITION TECHNIQUES: techniques that are designed to teach

vocabulary aiming to encourage young learners’ memorization by repeating time after time the vocabulary they are learning or reviewing, but in a very interesting and fun ways

DWM: day- week- month

GAME: an activity with rules applied in teaching which students or teams

compete against each other and through that way students can learn or review lessons

VLS: Vocabulary learning strategies

1 st EC: First Experimental Class

2 nd EC: Second Experimental Class

1 st CC: First Controlled Class

2 nd CC: Second Controlled Class

RQRL: Result of Quick Reaction Level

RVRL: Result of Vocabulary Retention Level

TTFOT: Total Time to Finish the Oral Test

TWS: Times Words are skipped

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

Education plays a decisive role in a country’s development and in the process of regional and world integration Nowadays, learning English is considered to be an important goal for students to achieve, and one of the most important parts in learning English is learning vocabulary This is challenging to children, as they are not as patient as adults For that reason I would like to

conduct a study entitled “Using Repetition Techniques to Teach Vocabulary to Young Learner’s Aged 6-12 English Vocabulary with the Aim of Encouraging Their Vocabulary Memorization” that helps students to remember vocabulary

better and access it more quickly One of the ways that helps students remember vocabulary well is through practice Learning a language is the same as learning other things It requires lots of practice Practice is sometimes very boring when

we just repeat and repeat the same thing all the time In teaching English, especially teaching vocabulary, the traditional way to teach vocabulary is that the teacher asks students to repeat the words after him/her or after the cassette However, we can just do that sometimes in class If we ask students to repeat and repeat the words on the board without receiving any stimuli, they may get bored and discouraged To children age 6 to 12, this is especially true since they are unable to concentrate on a lesson for a long time So, I would like to raise teachers’ awareness of repetition techniques which help children retain vocabulary through practice Like games, they are very exciting, useful and fun, which creates a very good atmosphere for children to learn Unlike games, they

do not take much time for each technique

Teachers at SIT work with children all the time, and the main thing they teach is vocabulary Children need to deal with vocabulary all the time Teachers

here always hope their students can learn vocabulary well, because learning vocabulary helps English learners succeed in learning

Teachers at SIT are often surprised and concerned about how fast the children forget the words they have been taught Some blame that for students not reviewing enough at home or think that they are lazy But I personally think the techniques the teachers use are not good enough to boost students’ memory so that they do not remember the lessons well One more thing is that students also take a long time to recall the vocabulary they have learned and take a long time to answer questions Their reaction is very slow For that reason, I think we should apply repetition techniques to improve students’ memory and reaction time

1.2 Background to the study

1.2.1 Young learners

Most of the learners are local children whose parents wish to provide them with additional educational opportunities beyond the official education provided

by the public elementary schools Their ages vary from 6 to 12

When they come to register to study at the center, their English proficiency

is checked by the academic staff to make sure they are sent to an appropriate

class Students who know nothing about English would learn in Let’s Go Starter

class Children who do not know anything about English are classified into two

groups One group consists of students aged 6 to 8 and the other from 9 to12 Two experimental classes were taught vocabulary by using repetition techniques while the other control classes were not Both genders were mixed in the classes There were 20 students in each class and all the classrooms are air-conditioned, airy and spacious, so that the students could play many kinds of games and do different activities, even games or activities that require them to make big circles

or long lines

I chose 4 classes from the 7 classes they offered me All of 4 classes

learned exactly the same things: the Let’s Go Starter book and the vocabulary in

the book In the first two classes, students’ ages varied from 6-8 and 9-12 for the other two classes

1.2.2 Requirements to teachers at SIT

The requirement to teach is simple, but very challenging to teachers It is

to teach in a fun and interesting way which helps students learn and relax at the same time English classes really excite students and they do want to go to the class Many students said they waited until Saturday and Sunday to go to the class, to have chance to learn and to enjoy it All the teachers must know how to teach in a fun way and effectively Thus, the teachers here usually work very hard

to manage well the class and to help them enjoy their lessons by different activities

Also, the center has a regulation that all teachers must come on time, leave comments in the students’ records and send them back to children’s parents every two weeks to report on how much progress they have made in the class

The academic manager sometimes visits classes and observes the teachers’ teaching This is done to make sure all the teachers teach well and also to evaluate teachers’ ability

1.2.3 The syllabus for kids’ classes

The book I was using to teach children is Let’s Go Starter by R Nakata

and K.Frazier and includes songs and chants by Carolyn Graham There are 29 lessons in the book and teachers are expected to teach children these 29 lessons during 16 weeks There is a week for a mid-term test, which includes writing, speaking and learning, so teachers need to teach about two lessons each week Students have two meetings every week on Saturday and Sunday, so for each meeting, a teacher needs to teach completely one lesson All the objects look so real in the book because they are drawn clearly and lively The difficulty level of the book increases very gradually so that students do find it difficult to learn the material After finishing a course, they will move on and learn a series of books

from 1 to 6 called SMILE

The first five lessons are about the vowels in English including a, e, i, o, u and the rest is about the consonants Consonants whose sounds are similar are categorized into the same group Each lesson has two main sections The first section deals with vocabulary only, and the second one is about an English function This book is colored with very beautiful and colored cartoon pictures which are very suitable to children Pictures and vocabulary are arranged simply and clearly Each lesson just focuses on only one sound in English To see how a

lesson is arranged, please have a look the Appendix 2

The order for 29 lessons is A, E, I , O, U, B, C, D, G, P, T, V, Z, F, L, M, N, S, X,

J, K, H, Q, R, W, Y, ABC…, a b c…, Good – bye!

For each lesson, students have a chance to learn a name beginning with the letter of the lesson For example the lesson of the day is A, and the words are Alice, ant, alligator and apple There are colored pictures that demonstrate the vocabulary in each lesson

The vocabulary in this book is about familiar things in children’s lives Many of the words are different animals, such as ostrich, alligator, cat, dog, bird and so on The rest are food, like omelet, egg, sandwich, apple and the objects they can see everyday, such as seesaw, balloon, book, sun and the like

The syllabus, the table of contents and the way a lesson arranged in the

book are put in the Appendix 3

1.3 Significance of the Study

First, the research can improve the method to teach vocabulary to children

by providing teachers, who teach young learners, a practical instrument to help student remember the vocabulary they learn Also, the repetition techniques offer students opportunities to practice and improve their reaction time, which will make them very active, quick- minded and eager to learn The repetition techniques provide young learners a more challenging way to learn For a lesson, teachers can combine all the techniques to help students remember well the vocabulary The techniques have been applied for all of the lessons in my class

and proved to be very effective They are very easy to apply, and it is very inexpensive to prepare the educational tools for these techniques because few of the techniques require much preparation (like computer –generated activities), but are just teacher’s activity to help students repeat and memorize the vocabulary in

a very fun, interesting and exciting way

Second, the research can provide the teachers at SIT one more way to teach vocabulary, because they do need a good way to teach vocabulary so students remember the lessons well

1.4 Scope of the Study

First, the study was carried out in a language center- SIT which specializes

in teaching young learners aged 6 – 12, so older students were not included in the study

Second, there are three elements to remembering vocabulary: writing, pronouncing and meaning In this study, I just want to focus on the ways to encourage students to memorize pronunciation and remember the meaning of vocabulary So helping children to memorize writing vocabulary is also outside of the study

Third, this study aimed at providing better methods to teach vocabulary to students at SIT I would not generalize these techniques as an effective way to teach children everywhere, but just at SIT

In short, learning vocabulary plays a vital role in learning English The more vocabulary learners know, the easier they can get success in learning other skills Children learn vocabulary in a different ways from adult learners They are easy to forget things and have slow accessibility to learned vocabulary, so it is necessary to teach students in a fun and interesting way that help them memorize well the lessons and improve their reaction time Repetition techniques can really meet the demand In the next chapter, I would like to show the theory foundation

on which the study stood on to prove using repetition techniques in teaching vocabulary is advisable

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Learning words – a relational process

Visnja (2003: 37) emphasized attainment of automatisation in language use is a desired goal of language learners and the attainment of this goal is facilitated by improvements through practice, which is achieved by practice and which is the main learning process theory for associate learning Bonds are established between different items For example, at the simplest level, it is a picture and a word it represents or a situation in which someone asks and the second person gives an appropriate response This learning is generated by stimulus- response Morgan J and Rinvolucri (2004:6) agreed that learning words

is not a single process, but a relational one and described the process as similar to the first impression When we meet a person, his/ her looks, movement, chance remarks and tone of voice clearly influence our first impression Similarly, our perception of a word can be affected by:

- The speed of the enunciation

- Other collocated words

- Its spelling

- Its shape on the page or screen

- Conventional associations: semantic and syntactic categories to which the word appears to belong

- Literary associations

- Associations the word has for the individual learner

- The circumstances of encountering the word

All these factors are important in the vocabulary learning process To summarize we can say that vocabulary acquisition is a branching process, rather than a single one Words should be learnt associatively, rather than mechanically,

in a social process rather than a solitary one We can expand our understanding of word meanings by interchanging and sharing them with others So in my class, I

do not display a picture for no reason A picture is an association which helps students in the vocabulary learning process Because there is a tie between the words they are learning and other associations, we can take advantage of this to enhance the learning process by making associations to the words For example,

to help students remember with the word “alligator”, I would show a picture, ask them to listen to the cassette, ask them point to the picture when we are speaking, and show them the context where the words are found

2.2 An overview of the repetition techniques

Nobody can deny the benefit that repetition brings to students; especially

in boosting the students’ memory This is essential for learners who need to learn different learning material They need a good method so that they can memorize the important knowledge And the answer for this should be repetition techniques Repetition is a very traditional way that all teachers are using to some extent However, the difference here is the stimuli that make the students repeat the words I do believe that by using different stimuli students will feel more eager to repeat the words The more they get excited to repeat, the better their vocabulary retention is

2.3 The role of memory and repetition in language learning

2.3.1 The role of memory in language learning

Schmitt (2000:131) stated that memory comes in two basic kinds: term memory (also known as working memory) and long-term memory Short-

short-term memory is used to keep the information for a short time only, sometimes just some seconds

The role of memory is crucial in any kind of learning, and vocabulary learning is no exception It requires good memory However, learners, without a good learning method, forget some components of knowledge In both long term and short term memory, forgetting takes place in a similar way When obtaining new information, most of it is forgotten immediately, and, after that, the processes

of forgetting slow down A proper understanding of the role that memory plays in vocabulary acquisition has an immediate practical value The learning and teaching vocabulary needs to be planned well if it is to be efficient According to Richard J (2000), in language learning, memory plays a very important role, especially in vocabulary learning It is very common for students to forget material or what they have learnt It is a natural fact that learning and forgetting occur during the process of learning until the words become fixed in the memory

2.3.2 Role of repetition in language learning

I S P Nation (2001) agreed that repetition is essential in vocabulary acquisition because the forgetting will happen very soon after first learning But then when we have a second repetition, it is slower for learners to forget And then on the third repetition, the forgetting will be even slower

In terms of language comprehension, repetition keeps the material active and avoids decay In general, when working on learning new material, the greater the number of repetitions are, the stronger the learning It means repetition does serve well in learning process (Randall 2007: 168) and “there can be no argument about the need to use repetition in on guise or another to produce fully automated responses” (Randall 2007: 168)

Verbal repetition is one good way to memorize the vocabulary Saying the words help students remember the words Repetition and multiple exposures to the vocabulary items are important (Kamil 2005: 86) Talking about the role of repetition in language learning, www.dyned.com stated that repetition is an

essential part of language learning which improves the memorization of learners www.dyned.com also proved that without repetition we cannot become successful learners I quite agree with the ideas above Repetition, memory and interest are the basic elements of learning vocabulary Asking young learners to repeat is very easy However, we cannot arouse their interests in learning Thus, they cannot remember well what they have learnt That is why I would like to suggest the techniques to help teachers evoke student’s interest by creating different stimuli for students to repeat the words in learning vocabulary - the main thing they can learn at their age Also, repetition for vocabulary learning is vital because it is not sufficient to remember the words if there is just only one encounter with them (I S P Nation 2001: 74) He also assumed that learning and memorizing is taking place by means of repetition, and remembering is actually

an act of repeating, of getting back something seen, heard, said or experienced before From his point of view, repetition is necessary in language learning in general and in learning vocabulary itself

2.4 Forgetting and remembering

2.4.1 Reasons causing forgetting

Forgetting is the flip side of memory We are said to experience forgetting when memory fails, and we don’t respond in accordance with past experience or learning There may be a variety of causes of forgetting Some of them concern coding and acquisition of information Others involve rehearsal and the retention

of information Still others involve the processes of retrieval Things can go wrong at any point in the learning process Therefore, failures of memory can occur for any reason

To know how to help students improve their memorization we should consider the reasons that make people forget things, so we can find the methods

to help learners remember the vocabulary Rod Plotnik (1993: 79) defines the reasons for forgetting as:

Selective attention

Selective attention means that we just focus on some words in a group of

different words and we may forget the others

Interference

The new, or recently learned information, is interfered with by the older ones, which makes the learners forget the new information We say that this is Retroactive Interfered In another case, the old information is interfered with by new information, which causes forgetting of the old information This is called Proactive Interference

Inadequate Retrieval Cues

The lacking of retrieval cues can keep us from remembering It may cause interference with what we have remembered very well, such as a name or a telephone number

Repression

Repression is an “unconscious process of forgetting” which is one of main elements that cause forgetting When we are so repressed we can quickly and easily forget things

Test Anxiety

For some students, taking an exam creates so much distress that it makes them unable to remember the material they have studied This problem is known as Test anxiety and sometimes it is very severe that the mind can “go blank” during the exam So decreasing test anxiety can improve our memory

Below is the graph of how quickly we forget material by Gillian Buttler and Tony Hope (2007:403)

As we can see from the graph, the more the time goes by, the more we forget the things we have learnt or experienced We can remember the most clearly in the first 20 minutes, and then it gradually fades away About 1 hour after learning, we almost forget 50 percents of the amount remembered

2.4.2 Strategies to improve memory

2.4.2.1 Review as the best strategies to improve memory

Gillian Buttler and Tony Hope (2007: 425) stated that the most effective strategy to avoid forgetting is reviewing again and again For example when you want to remember a large number of details, the best way is to review very soon after the original learning Although there is a complicated theory behind a good review strategy, the practice is simple and can be illustrated using a day-week-month strategy that works best with most students Below are the different review sub-strategies suggested by Gillian Buttler and Tony Hope (2007: 433)

The day-week-month (DWM) review strategy

The DWM system is a simple one to boost memorization Suppose that you wish to learn some Portuguese for your travel to Algarve For example, you need to learn 20 words a day You review the first time after ending learning the words Your second review is after that one day Your third revision could be one week after the second review And the fourth revision is one a month after the third Each review just takes a little bit – a fraction comparing to the original learning time For example, if it took 2 hours for original learning, you just need 2 minutes to review

Varying the DWM system

DWM is an effective and simple system However, learners do not always need to follow it rigidly Learners can modify the day-week- month review strategy However they need to remember that:

1 If there is not enough review, the memory will fade away, like the drawings of a line in the sand

2 The most effective time to review is when the learners are starting to forget, but they still can remember Draw again the line when it is going to disappear However, the line still can be seen, although it is faint

3 The learners will remember longer (forget more slowly) after each review

4 There are two things that can alert to adapt the review strategy:

o If, when you come to review, you find that you have forgotten most

of what you have learnt It means the duration is too long If when you come to review, and you find that you can remember it all clearly It means the duration is too short

Let’s take again the example of learning 20 words of Portuguese for your trip each day If when you review a day later, you can only remember 10 words and it is with difficulty It means you need to review sooner On the other hand, if you can remember 19 words without any difficulty, you should review later, probably 2 days after the original learning

Mircroreview

No one can deny that one of the keys to good memory is through revision The DWM method is a structured method that we can use to learn effectively and efficiently It is the purpose of DWM method However, the structured review can be enhanced by an unstructured one Even a little time can have a very powerful effect on memory Review a few minutes whenever you have free time For example, review the lesson when you are waiting for the bus or for a friend This effect is comparing to the shining silver A little and often will make the memory shining If you usually bring your notebook with you that means you can take advantage of chances for microreview

2.4.2.2 A 35-minute study guide

One more effective strategy that Buttler and Hope (2007: 439) suggested is

a 35- minute study period It is also an efficient way of learning which helps learners remember things longer This is the ideal strategy for learners If you wish to learn things, you just need to spend a little time daily

The best part of this strategy is that it is a very efficient way of learning The problem is that most people do not review until the last minute, when they have forgotten most of what they have learned

A 35- minute study period program is very flexible You can learn it every day once, twice or more often than that as you wish If you are a student, you can divide the day into many 35-minute units

Why 35 minutes? The reason is that this is the period most people can concentrate best If a person studies for an hour non-stop, the last 20 to 30 minutes would be the least efficient

The basic principle of this period is that we just use up to 60% of the time

to learn the new things The rest of time is used for reviewing It is for reviewing things we have just learnt, and things we learnt a month ago Have a look at the figure below to see how a 35- minute study period works

The first 20 minutes should be spent for learning new things After that, there is short break to consolidate this new learning A couple of minutes are for reviewing what we learnt in the 35 minutes of yesterday, some minutes for new things of a week ago and some for a month ago

In the last 5 minutes, review what you learnt in today’s 20 minutes of the study period This is not too soon to review, and it will prevent the first rapid phase of forgetting

A 35 – minute study guide could be shown as below

For example, post office and mother - in – law, consist of more than two words,

but express only one idea One more thing we need to notice is that in idioms the meaning is not dependent on the meaning of an analysis of component words E.J

(1977: 60) added one more important aspect of vocabulary that the meaning of vocabulary is not always available in required equivalence We have two choices

of interpreting the meaning, first, by using explanatory equivalence or / and translational equivalence

2.5.2 What needs to be taught?

Following are what Penny Ur (1996: 60) suggested we should include in teaching vocabulary

1 Form: Pronunciation and spelling

The way a word sounds and what it looks like are obviously very important parts

in teaching vocabulary Teachers need to be sure that they accurately pronounce the words and write them correctly

2 Grammar

It is as important to teach irregular forms of words For example, when

teaching the verb think, we need to show them the past irregular form of the verb

think which is thought Take the noun mouse for another example When we

teach them the noun mouse, we need to show them the plural of mouse which is

mice because the vocabulary is not based on the general grammatical rules

3 Collocation

Collocation is the commonly used combination of words in a given context Thus, it is worth teaching For example, when we teach the words

decision and conclusion, we might need to explain that we use take or make to

combine with decision but come would go with conclusion

4 Aspects of meaning (1): denotation, connotation and appropriateness

The primary meaning of the word is shown in a dictionary, but the connotation and appropriateness may not be expressed in a dictionary Then of course, we need to show them the additional meanings

Connotation is also another important part of vocabulary teaching It is about the associations, the feeling evoked from the vocabulary, maybe a negative

or positive one For example, when talking about “dogs”, most British people

think it represents friendship or loyalty while Arabic people consider them as dirty and inferior

Appropriateness is a more subtle aspect of the meaning that should be taught too, because it is useful for learners to use the appropriate words in different contexts A word can be common, or rare or a taboo For example, the word “weep” is more formal than “cry” which is used mainly in writing and less common than “cry”

5 Aspects of meaning (2) meaning relationships

A word has many various relationships, and in teaching, it is useful to show students how this word relates to the others The main relationships are synonyms, antonyms, co-hyponyms, superodinates and translation

6 Word formation

As the term “word formation” suggests, word formation is the formation of words It is important to teach because it helps students know how a word is formed Then, from that, students can improve their guessing of the meaning and enlarge their vocabulary

2.6 The role of vocabulary in learning a new language

When Morgan and Rinvolucri (2004:9) conducted a survey about “feelings about vocabulary” of students in language classes, to their surprise, two-third of participants answered they felt that they were not taught enough vocabulary in the class In fact, teachers are keener on teaching grammar and pronunciation than vocabulary Even though it is so important to teach vocabulary, teachers do not pay enough attention to it, and it is vital that teachers need to recognize the need

to devote time to teaching vocabulary because students themselves always feel the real need to devote time and effort to learn vocabulary

All the experienced teachers agreed on the importance of learning vocabulary, because vocabulary is the single, biggest component of any language course And “no matter how well the students learn grammar, no matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mattered, without words to express a wide

range of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way.” (McCarthy 2003: 9)

2.6.1 Vocabulary to speaking

Vocabulary plays an important role in speaking because the words we use tell a lot about us They can tell people about our intelligence, degree of persuasion and how well we communicate Knowing exactly which words should

be used and understanding how to use them is essential in communication Many people get frustrated and say that “I know what I mean but I don’t know how to say it” In reality, people are wrong because if they do not know how to say it, they usually do not know what they mean As the matter of fact, we use words not only to speak, but we also use them to think If we do not have the right words to use, that means we do not have the right ideas to communicate Furthermore, vocabulary is the foundation of the ability to think and by this way to share our thoughts with other people So when you improve your vocabulary, that also means you improve your ability to think and to talk, then to bring your great brain

to the real world (Robinson 2001: 1)

As I have discussed above, learning vocabulary is not just a single process

In fact, it is a relational one The words relate to many things which enable learners to remember better Repetition techniques provide various stimuli for students to repeat the words These stimuli are devices that help them remember something specific And by these stimuli the image pops into mind faster and more accurately By this way, communication will happen as desired as the words come in time and are used as the speakers want

2.6.2 Vocabulary to reading

Research on vocabulary instruction proved convincingly that there is a

“strong correlation between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension” (Buis 2004: 5) Knowledge of words – of vocabulary – plays a crucial part in reading Beginning readers use the words they already know to make sense of

what they see in print Knowing many words not only helps students communicate well with their fellow students, it also helps them learn to read In fact, if they just know a few words in English, learning to read will be a big challenge Learners cannot understand what they are reading, so they will never succeed in school No students, native speaker of English or English language learners, will be able to reach high standards without a rich vocabulary Because

of this reason, teachers and also students need to understand that vocabulary knowledge is strongly related to reading proficiency and helps in school achievement in general (Beck, McKeon and Kucan 2002: 1) Also, William E Nagy (2003: 1) agreed that vocabulary is fundamental to reading comprehension Students cannot understand text if they do not know the meaning of most of the words And the difficulty of the text depends on the number of the unknown words The more unknown words, the more difficult the reading text is And it is quite clear that the more words the teachers teach students, the better students understand text Kamil (2005: 33) stated that having a great amount of vocabulary does contribute to the reading comprehension and reading a lot also help to enrich vocabulary This is a reciprocal model of vocabulary and reading comprehension (Kamil 2005:34)

We can see clearly as showed in the chart below

As we could see from the chart, if we learn a lot of vocabulary, we can read better Then when we read better, we can read more and faster, bigger volume of reading On the other hand, with a bigger volume of reading, we can enrich the amount of vocabulary Reading and vocabulary can benefit each other Without vocabulary or little vocabulary, reading comprehension is impossible or

a great challenge Students can definitely learn vocabulary through reading by using different techniques and skills The more vocabulary they have, the better they can explore the readings and learn other new words

2.7 Characteristics of children as language learners

Many differences between children and adult learners were provided by Lynne Cameron (2001: 1) Some we can see very clearly and obviously First, children are more enthusiastic and lively learners They always want to make their teachers happy They can take part in an activity very easily without questioning why they should do so However, they will feel discouraged very soon when they encounter a difficult activity For this reason, they cannot concentrate for a long time if the lesson is so challenging They will not think language is easy if they cannot understand well when the teacher explains complex things like grammar or discourse One more thing is that children are less embarrassed when they learn to speak a language The characteristic that they are less shy makes them speak more naturally and acquire more closely a native speakers’ accent Lynne Cameron (2001:1) wrote: “We need to unpack these generalizations to find out what lies underneath as characteristic of children as language learners We will find out that important differences do arise in the linguistic, psychological and social development of the learners, and that, as a result, we need to adjust the way we think about language we teach and the classroom activities we use” Cameron (2001:2) began to explain about the important differences between young learners and adult learners with the major theorists in developmental psychology, Piaget and Vygotsky

2.7.1 Piaget

2.7.1.1 The child as active learner

According to Piaget’s theory, the child develops and solves problems by interacting with the world around The thoughts are the result of action or deriving from the action Action is the way that the mind, thinking and imagination develop Just take how a child learns to eat with a fork as an example It is the first time a child uses a fork First, he/ she uses it as a spoon as usual And when the child realizes the prongs of a fork offer a new way of eating, he/ she changes the way of eating It means his thinking has changed through the action of getting food with a fork Action and thinking look like two different processes, but they happen together at the same time And the thoughts of a child will develop gradually to reach the level of formality and logic

2.7.1.2 Implications of Piagetian theory for the language learning

The child as sense – maker

Brumfit, Moon and Tongue (1991:272) wrote “the work of Piaget cannot

be ignored” What Lynne Cameron (2001: 4) said the most important idea of Piaget is that he considers the child as an active learner who builds up his or her knowledge by actions and by the ways he deals with the concrete objects His or her ideas come from experience Children are trying to make sense of the world

by this way

Also, children try to figure out the intentions and purposes in what they see from what other people do, bringing their understanding and making an effort to make sense of people’s action and language

Brumfit, Moon and Tongue (1991: 272) also had a look on Piaget’s theory in which adaptation is the center, and defined a child’s intelligence as the way he adapts to the real world The child seems to have to do all the tasks by themselves and their parents and adults around appear to be a very tiny effect

The world as offering opportunities for learning

As we can see from the theory of Piaget, the environment provides children great opportunities to learn from action To transfer these abstract ideas

to teaching and learning language, we can think of a great number of activities that encourage children to learn and discover their world through actions and interaction

2.7.2 Vygotsky

2.7.2.1 The child as social

Unlike Piaglet’s theory, Vygotsky stressed the importance of social communication Although he focused on the social and modern development, he considered individual development important He thought language is a good tool for children to open up opportunities to gain things through the words he or she uses as symbols The central idea of Vygotsky was that children’s development and learning happens in a social context While Piaglet found out that the child is

an active learner, who is alone in his world with objects and through the action the child takes towards the objects, he develops his mind, Vygotsky assumed that the child is an active learner in the world full of people who can offer help to learn, to take actions and to communicate In this way, the adults assist the child

to achieve what he or she cannot when he or she does it alone Let’s take a look at the way the child uses his spoon as an example The child is learning how to put the food in the spoon He/ she can handle the spoon and put it to the mouth, but he/ she cannot fill the spoon with food The mother assists to guide him/ her how

to do it Soon the child masters the way to fill the spoon with food and does all the processes to eat well Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky measures the intelligence of the child by what he/ she can do with a skilled help rather than what he/ she can

do alone

Vygotsky stated that children learn to think and to do things by interaction with people around He realized the development of a child happens in a social context where communication and language use are the keys to development which a child can use to move from dependence to independence

2.7.2.2 Implication of Vygotskyan theory for language learning

Words and meanings

Lynne Cameron quite agreed with Vygotsky in the way he looked at the words and meanings Words and meanings have very special significance when children learn a new language From the words of the first language, children can apply them into the second language It is quite advisable to use objects to teach them by letting them touch, see and discover especially from the earliest lessons (Lynne Cameron 2001: 7)

2.7.3 Cognitive theory

Learning as internalization

Lynne Cameron (2001: 8) also stated that at first, the language is meaningful in the classroom when being used by teachers and students After that, there are transformation and internalization that make the language become parts of each child’ language skills and knowledge

2.8 The ways children learn language

The way children learn is different from adult learners in many ways

2.8.1 Children learns by playing

Berryman, Smythe, Taylor, Lamont and Joiner discussed again (1991: 87) discussed different types of play (written by Janet Moyles) that can enhance early education She identified three main types: physical play, intellectual play and social/ emotional play With each type of play, certain outcomes can be set out For example, intellectual play can help children develop communication skills, word functions, explanations, hearing and telling or story writing Socio-cultural theorists emphasize the outcome of play – improve practical ability in a non-threatening setting and interactional nature The psychoanalytic view considers play as a means of reducing tensions in children’s lives In short, play is an important part of children’s development which can affect their social abilities and their future lives in many different ways

2.8.2 Imitation

Children not only learn by playing, but they also learn a language by imitating Imitation is a good way for children to learn to produce words and structures when they understand the meaning (Berryman 2002: 87) By affectively, selectively, creatively, individually and socially imitating role models, children learn English as a second language The strategy of copycatting permits children to practice English words and phrases by imitating images Confidence is developed as children gain intuitive understanding of the second language (Wesley A, 1882)

2.8.3 Language interactions

Berryman (2002:107) wrote “language does not develop in isolation It develops within the context of cognitive and social development, and it is best studied in that context” and “linguistic interactions are also cognitive interactions,

in which children learn about the world, about the concepts of time and space and causality, and they are social interactions in which children explore the relationships with others.”

2.8.4 Interest

Also, Richard J (2000: 118) confirmed that “the most important condition

to encourage learning relates to the choice of what is read, namely interest”, teachers should arouse learners’ interests so that students can learn very efficiently

2.9 Children’s vocabulary learning strategies

Building up useful vocabulary is central to foreign language learning Children have the ability to learn foreign language words by participating in the classroom activities (Cameron 2004: 84) Nation (1990: 51) listed basic techniques by which teacher can explain the meanings of new words, all of these below can be used in the young learners’ classroom:

 Using an object

 Using a cut-out figure

 Using gesture

 Performing an action

 Photographs

 Drawings or diagrams on the board

 Pictures from the books

 Analytical definition

 Putting the new word in a defining context

 Translating into another language

Analytical definition and putting the new word in a defining context require pre-existing knowledge of the language We use definition and explanation because they will always help understanding For example, if the children already

know what a hospital is, then when we refer to it, they will construct a meaning for the word ambulance Students need to think about the meaning for the

foreign language words, and the greater the amount of mental work done by the learners, the more it affects the learners’ memory and make the memory last longer (Cameron 2004: 85) Also, she agreed with Schmitt that even the methods that involve fairly “shallow” processing, such as repetition, can also help memorizing All of above strategies can work well and help students remember the words, except the last one Translating is quick, time saving and painless, however long-term remembering is less possible

In fact, there are so many different vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) which help students’ acquisition of language VLS favored and used commonly

by learners are simple memorization, repetition and taking note on vocabulary Norbert Schmitt (2000: 132) was right when he confirmed that in general, these ways are mechanical strategies But they are used more than the complex strategies which involve imagination, inference or the like Generally speaking, students favor the “shallow” strategies even though they are less effective than the “deeper” ones However, the “shadow” strategies can also be effective if

students are accustomed to using them (O’ Malley and Chamot 1990: 3) And according to Cohen and Aphek, (1980), we can generalize that “shadow” strategies are especially suitable for beginners Then the strategies to learn vocabulary depend much on proficiency level and the nature of the learners itself There are a great deal of benefits offered by using vocabulary strategies with beginners, such as verbal repetition, practice or continuing to learn over time, which help learners to consolidate a word once it has been encountered (Schmitt 1997: 222) According to a survey, whose respondents were Japanese learners, 76% of respondents who reported using verbal repetition and 69% of respondents said they used strategy of “saying new words out loud” (Schmitt 1997: 219).Then we can say a great numbers of students agreed that the activities of verbal repetition and saying the words out loud are useful in vocabulary learning Students of young age cannot figure out what strategies are good for their learning, so it is the teachers’ job to find good strategies to help them learn and memorize well the vocabulary

Next, repetition techniques can be fun and aid memorization In other words, they provide chances to say the words out loud in a fun and interesting way Hence, their memorization is boosted Personally, I believe that these techniques really work, especially for children who easily get bored and something relaxing and entertaining always attracts them greatly In fact, repetition techniques provide young learners a great selection of opportunities for students to repeat the words and say the words out loud while they are studying

2.10 Teacher’s role in promoting second language development

Brumfit, Moon and Tongue (1991: 273) suggested that teachers should do their best to be sure what needs to be taught reaches a child’s mind and ear Parents have a crucial role in developing children’s first language Parents provide students with essential information to motivate and encourage their efforts to use language and improve strategies in language learning Young