An investigation into 10th graders difficulties in learning english vocabulary and some pegagogical recommendations

The important role of English vocabulary is apparent for any student ingeneral and for high school students in particular because vocabulary is the basis oftheir learning of English.. Ho

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY

BUI THI TO HOA

Title of the thesis:

(Nghiên cứu về khó khăn việc học từ vựng Tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 10 và

First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to mysupervisor Assoc Prof Dr Ngo Đinh Phuong - vice – president of Vinh University,who has not only encouraged me to do this study but also given me invaluableideals and enormously helpful guidance

I wish to acknowledge my debt to other teachers and lecturers of ForeignLanguages department at Vinh University who have kindly given me valuableencouragement and support

I should be thankful to all of my friends and colleges who helped me collectdata for completing this study and who gave me a great deal of helpful and valuablesupport

I also wish to thank all the teachers and students at Cua Lo II high schoolwho provided me with valuable materials and encouraged me throughout the study

Last but not least, my heart - felt gratitude goes to my family and myhusband who have been helping me in so many ways to fulfill this thesis, and mydaughter who is my greatest source of encouragement

The important role of English vocabulary is apparent for any student ingeneral and for high school students in particular because vocabulary is the basis oftheir learning of English However, both teachers and students at high schools meet

a lot of difficulties in teaching and learning English vocabulary This research isconcerned with examining difficulties in learning English vocabulary experienced

by 10th form students at Cua Lo II high school The results of this study show thatthe students have specific problems and they also suggest the teachers should beaware of students’ problems, adapt their materials and activities to gain effectivelessons

2.2 The role of vocabulary in language teaching and learning 12

2.3.3 Collocation 14

2.5.8 The Communicative Approach (Communicative Language Teaching)

25

2.6 Teaching and learning vocabulary through communicative activities 26

2.6.3.Vocabulary teaching techniques in combination with communicative

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLODY 38

4.1.3 Results and discussion from the evaluation sheets and teacher’sobservation

Appendix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings As Steven Stahl(2005) puts it, "The knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but alsoimplies how that word fits into the world." Vocabulary knowledge is not somethingthat can ever be fully mastered; it is something that expands and deepens over thecourse of a lifetime It cannot be denied that vocabulary is one of the vital parts in alanguage learning Wilkins (1972:111) emphasized that, “Without grammar verylittle can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” Wilkins saidthat “Grammar provides the overall patterns, vocabulary the material to put intothose patterns” Or some authors, led by Lewis (1993) argue that vocabulary should

be at the centre of language teaching, because ‘language consists ofgrammaticalised lexis, not lexicalised grammar’ It is clear to all of us that onecannot read, speak, listen, write, or understand a foreign language without knowing

a certain number of words How can one appreciate the depth of meaning implied indiscourse or become fluent conversationalists if lexis is not involved?

Vocabulary learning is obviously an essential part of language learning.Learning words can considered to be the most important aspect of second languageacquisition (Knight, 1994) Candlin (1988) stated that "… the study of vocabulary is

at the heart of language teaching in terms of organization of syllabuses, theevaluation of learner performance, and the provision of learning resources …."Maiguashca (1993) said that vocabulary is "perhaps the fastest growing area ofsecond language education in terms of research output and publication."

Thus, the importance of vocabulary in language learning cannot be denied.Yet, although the issue of vocabulary teaching and learning is currently receivingattention of teachers and students in most of high schools in Vietnam and in myschool as well, it is still far from clear how vocabulary items can be best taught andlearned From my own experience and observation, vocabulary is often taught bythe grammar-translation approach, that is at the time for vocabulary, a vast amount

of teaching time is consumed by explanation and definition, classroom blackboardsare often littered with masses of new lexical items, and students compile page uponpage of word-lists that they have few opportunities to practice This results instudents’ short-term memory of new vocabulary items They will very quicklyforget the new words’ meaning and use This also makes students get bored withlearning vocabulary.

In the past, high school students only learned English as a subject forexamination like many other subjects in their curriculum They tried to memorize asmany things as possible just to do their tests and exams to the best Traditionalmethods of teaching and learning were the best Nowadays, in the time ofglobalization, English plays an essential role in communication nationally andinternationally As a result, English as a subject at high school is getting more andmore consideration Teaching and learning methods are being changed to suit newaims Students learn English not only to pass exams but to keep themselves up todate also In order to achieve the aims, their English must be “alive”, not the “dead”one in the tests and exams However, many students have not been successful yet

As a teacher of English at Cua Lo II high school, I find out that one of themain reasons why my students are not successful speakers, as well as readers andlisteners of English is that they lack quite a lot of vocabularies In fact they areprovided with almost every word necessary for their learning and theircommunication outside the classroom, but for some certain reasons, these words arenot effectively used Many of my students complain to me that they learn a lot ofnew words, but only a few days after that they forget most of the words There may

be problems in their ways of revising vocabulary, but problems in teachingvocabulary are undeniable For better vocabulary teaching and learning, I decided tocarry out this research to find out difficulties students encounter when learningvocabulary and to experiment some communicative techniques in teachingvocabulary as solutions to the difficulties

2 Aims of the study

First of all the research was carried out in order to:

find out difficulties students meet when they learn English vocabulary andget the students to express their preferences of techniques in the process of learningvocabulary.

Second, based on the students’ preferences, the study aims at testing out theeffectiveness of some communicative techiniques to prensent and practisevocabulary

Third, my research concentrates on studying the current situations of theteaching and learning vocabulary in 10th graders at Cua Lo II high school

3 Methods of the study

In order to find out the answer to the research questions, first, I handed out asurvey questionnaire to the students to have their reaction about difficulties inEnglish vocabulary learning and their preferences in vocabulary learning activities.Then I introduced to them some communicative vocabulary lessons After eachlesson, I gave each of the students an evaluation sheet to have their self – evaluation

of their interest and involvement in the lesson The responses were the analyzed bymeans of descriptive statistics Besides, I also observed the class and wrote downthe main things about the students’ activities and their participation All the datawas processed and analysed so that the research could have the best result

The study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative researchapproaches, in which tests were carried out as the major and unique data collectioninstrument

4 Scope of the study

In this study, five tests were designed in order to gain believable and honestscores that supported the study purposes One served as the pre-test, which aimed attesting the students’ homogeneity of the two group joining the experiment Three ofthem were delivered to the students as progress tests right after the periods in whichthe students recycled previously met words with games or with exercises, and thefinal one was administered to the students two weeks after all the periods in whichgames were applied to help students retain word meaning Collected scores werethen processed and analyzed

There are a lot of activities that can help students learn vocabulary moreeffectively However, in this study I would focus on some communicative activities

to help my 10th graders at Cua Lo II high school It is because that their goals oflearning English have been changed and communicative techniques would besuitable to their goals.

5 Design of the study

This study is designed to consist of five chapters:

Chapter 1 is the introduction in which the rationale, aims, research methods,

scope and design of the study are stated

Chapter 2 reviews some theoretical background for the study It includes

general knowledge of English vocabulary, the role of vocabulary in languageteaching and learning, methods in teaching vocabulary, and some information aboutcommunicative activities in teaching and learning vocabulary

Chapter 3 presents the research methodology This chapter covers an

introduction of action research, the research questions, the subjects profile as well

as the procedures and data collection methods

Chapter 4 goes into details of the date analysis, results and discussion Chapter 5 conclusion: proposes some solutions to help students overcome

the difficuities they face when learning vocabulary

This chapter summarizes the study, states the limitations of the study andgives some implications and suggestions for further research

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In this chapter, relevant literature is reviewed, underlying the necessity andthe relevance of the study It includes general knowledge of English vocabulary, therole of vocabulary in language teaching and learning, methods in teachingvocabulary, and some information about communicative activities in teaching andlearning vocabulary

2.1 General knowledge of English vocabulary

2.1.1.Definition of vocabulary

Up to now there have been many definitions of vocabulary Some linguistsdefine it according to semantic criterion while others refer to it according to thephonological or potential one

The semantic unit may be a sequence of several words For example, “lookup” is a phrasal verb consisting of two words But the meaning of “look up” canonly be understood in the entire phrase, not by analyzing its single parts Or themeaning of “ take on” can only be understood in the entire phrase and can not bedefined by an analysis of its parts Another example is the noun phrase “ brother-in- law.”Its meaning can only be understood in terms of the entire phrase

Word is also defined with phonological criterion It is said word is marked

by “spaces” and “pauses” Moreover, in spite of the fact that many scientists talkedabout linguistics, the notion of word, they did not give any definition of word ontheir own

According to Michael Lewis (1993:89), vocabulary “ may be individualwords or full sentences – institutionalized utterances – that convey fixed social orpragmatic meaning within a given community”

Ur, P (1996) defines vocabulary as the words we teach in the foreignlanguage The author also emphasizes that a new item of vocabulary may be morethan a single word; for example, post office and father – in – law, which are made

up two or three words but express a single idea There are also multi – word idiomssuch as call it a day, where the meaning of the phrase cannot be deduced from ananalysis of the component words Therefore, a useful convention is to cover all suchcases by talking about vocabulary “items” rather than “words”

Meanwhile, in spite of the fact that many scientists talked about linguistics,the notion of word, they did not give any definition of word on their own

In general, it is possible to say that it is hard to give a precise definition ofword Thus, we may come to accept the following definition: “ Vocabulary can bedefined as the words we teach in foreign language A word is a basic unit of alanguage denoting concepts, things, and phenomena in society”

In short, it can be concluded that vocabulary is the total number of all thewords that a language possesses, including a single words, two or three words itemsexpressing a single idea and multi-word idioms of which meaning can not bededuced from the analysis of the component words but only understood in thesentences, or in contexts, etc

All in all, the question “ What is vocabulary?” has been dealt with and now

we will be considering vocabulary’s classification

2.1.2 Classification of vocabulary

There have been different ways to classify vocabulary according to differentcriteria

Below are the most common ways of classifying vocabulary:

2.1.2.1 In terms of the concept of morpheme

Vocabulary is divided into three kinds: simple words, derived words andcompound words

2.1.2.2 In terms of the meaning

There are two main kinds of meaning in a word: lexical meaning andgrammatical meaning Therefore, vocabulary can be divided into notional wordsand functional words

Notional words

Notional words are words with clear lexical meaning They address objects,actions, qualities, etc and they have meaning in themselves Notional words form agreat number of each speaker’s vocabulary

Notional words

Functional words are words whose meaning is grammatical and only havemeaning in relation to the other words with which they are used Functional wordsare particles, articles, prepositions

2.1.2.3 In terms of the function of vocabulary items in a sentence

With different functions of vocabulary items in a sentence, vocabulary can

be divided into parts of speech.They are nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,prepositions and pronouns Each part of speech has its own position complying withcertain grammatical rules and relating to others

The teacher is, therefore, required to point out the function of each item tohis/ her students and should teach them the family words as well In this way,students can arrange the learnt words in the correct order and widen theirknowledge of English vocabulary

2.1.2.4 In term of the sequence of use

The sequence of use means the frequency of occurrence of words There arethree groups of word according to this criterion They are high frequency words,low frequency words and specialized words

It is very important for the teacher to show his/ her students which group aword belong to, because it is unnecessary for students to learn every word withequal concentration and in equal time but the words that are more commonly used.This principle is very important in effecting the way the words are dealt with forlearning

2.1.2.5 In term of the use of word: Active and passive vocabulary

Whenever students encounter a new word, they should be given the word’smeaning However, it does not mean that students have to use the words once whenthey have received its meaning.This depends on whether the new words is an active

or passive one

According to this criterion we have active words and passive words Activewords are those which students are able to use after they have learnt them, Passivewords are the ones students do not have to use They are used especially in the texts

to create necessary understandable contexts for the learning of active words

Thus, active words are words the students needs to understand and use themcorrectly.The teacher should spend more time teaching this kind of words to helpthem understand and encourage them to use the words correrctly and naturally

2.2 The role of vocabulary in language teaching and learning

“Vocabulary is one of the three dimensions of a language (phonetics,grammar, vocabulary) Whithout grammar, very little can be conveyed, withoutvocabulary nothing can be conveyed” (Wilkin, 1972:110)

The statement indicates the great importance of vocabulary Sincevocabulary is so important, teaching and learning vocabulary should be paid enoughattention to The main objective of language learners is to understand and beunderstood in their communication using the language acquired In order to achievethis aim, they have to study a certain number of vocabulary items If someone hasadequate vocabulary, he or she will feel more confident when communicating withothers as weel as expressing his/her opinions in both oral and written forms.Regarding this matter, Wallace (1982) said: “Failure to find the words one needs toexpress himself is the most frustrating experience in speaking another language”

It is clear that mastering the meanings and especially the use of a word has

an important role in learning in foreign language in general and in learning English

in particular If someone misuses words, people will misunderstand him If one canuse correct grammar but does not have exact words to express one’s opinion, it isquite hard to build up a successful conversation The more words one knows well,the more successful he is in communication and the more information he can get

from different sources such as books, newspapers, etc In other words, a goodknowledge of vocabulary will help learners develop the four skills: speaking,listening, reading and writing Therefore teaching and learning vocabulary aresignificant in learning a foreign language, especially in the light of thecommunicative approach.

In short, in learning a language, we can not help mentioning the importance

of vocabulary In order to succeed in learning a language, it is very essential forlearners to master its vocabulary

2.3 What needs to be taught?

2.3.1 Word form

Gairns & Redman (1986) emphasize that knowing word form is as essential

as knowing word meaning Knowing word form includes word grammar,pronunciation (stress, sound, spelling) as well as word building (affixation,compounding and conversion)

Whereas, Nation (1990) divides the form of word into two types: the spokenform and the written form

The teacher has to introduce what a word sounds like ( its pronunciation) andhow it looks like ( spelling) To many students, the complex relationship betweensound and spelling in English seems to make the language inexplicable to foreignlearners It is easy to sympathise with this view when we consider the number ofhomophones in English For example: weight and wait, by and buy, soul and sole,meet and meat, four and for… and the number of similar forms which differ widely

in their pronunciation: Examples: hurry/ humour/ hummus…

presenting a noun, firstly the teachers should clarify whether it is countable,uncountable or both Secondly, if the noun is countable, its plural form is regular orirregular?

What is more, the teachers might present a verb with its construction, that isthe verb may be followed by the infinitive, “ ing” form, a “ that clause” , “apreposition” or nothing at all For example, The teachers may present verbs such as

“ intend” and “ enjoy” together with the verb forms that normally follow them( intend to do, enjoy doing) , or adjectives or verbs together with the prepositionsthey followed by ( bored with, tired of, amused at, surprised at, interested in)…

2.3.3 Collocation

Collocation is the way in which words are used together regularly in aspecific language It refers to the restrictions on how words can be used together inright contexts Therefore, this is another piece of information about a new item,which may be word teaching When introducing words like “ to do” and “to make”,for example, the teachers may note that both words mean, “ To perform ” but can bedistinguished by the words they collocate with We often say, “ to do the homework” but never say “ to make the home work”

Collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquires on account

of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its environment E.g prettygirl/boy/woman/flower but handsome boy/man/car/airliner

Generally speaking, teachers needs to be ready to teach the types ofcollocations especially the ones with which students have the greatest difficulties

2.3.4 Aspects of meaning

Aspects of meaning include denotion, connotation, appropriateness andmeaning relationships

Denotation: includes conceptual and referential meaning It exists by virtue

of what it refers to

Conceptual meaning is widely assumed to be the central factor in linguistic

communication and it has a complex and sophisticated organization.E.g Woman = + HUMAN, - MALE, + ADULT as distinct from Boy which can bedefined as + HUMAN, + MALE, - ADULT

Referential meaning is the ability to refer to objects or things (often called

referent)

E.g Can you give me a book? Vs I’ve bought a book this afternoon

The denotational meaning refers to or point out things, concepts This is often

the sort of definition given in dictionary For example, “fish” denotes an animal thatcan swim, “snow”, “ storm”denote a phenomenon of nature

Connotation of a word is less obvious component of its meaning This is the

association,or the positive and negative feelings the word evokes which may or maynot be indicated in a dictionary definition.Connotation includes stylistic, affective,evaluative, and intensifying It is the pragmatic communicative value of the wordsacquired by virtue of where, when, how, by whom, for what purpose and in whatcontext it is or may be used This kind of meaning is rather unstable: that is theyvary considerably according to culture, historical period, and the experience of theindividual The words “mother”, “mum”, “mummy” have the same denotationalmeaning but diffent connotational meaning

Appropriateness is a more subtle aspect of meaning that often needs to betaught It indicates whether a particular item is appropriate one to be used in acertain context or not Thus, it is useful for a learner to know whether a certainword is very common, or relatively rare or taboo in polite conversation, or tends to

be use in writing but not in speech, or is more suitable for a formal than informaldiscourse or belong to a certain dialect

Meaning relationships can also be useful in teaching They show how themeaning of one item relates to the meaning of the others There are variousrelationships Here are some of the main ones:

Synonyms: iterms that mean the same or nearly the same, for example,

“fellow, lad, chap” may serve as synonyms of man

Antonyms: items that mean the opposite: “big” is an antonym of “ small”,

“good” is an antonym of “ bad”, “ thin” is an antonym of “ fat”, “be autiful” is anantonym of “ ugly”……

Hyponyms: items that serve as a specific example of a general concept: “tiger”, “ elephant”, “dog” “cat” are hyponyms of animals

Co- hyponyms or co- odinates: other items that are the same kind of thing:

“white, purple, red” and “ pink” are co- ordinates

Superordinates: general concept that cover specific items: “cattle” is thesuperordinates of “ pig, cow, bull, buffalo”

Besides these, there are others, perhaps, loose ways of associating meaningthat are useful in teaching The teachers can, for instance, relates part to whole orassociate items that are part of the same real world context All these can beexploited in teaching to clarify the meaning of a new item for practice or testsmaterials

in the following way:

Transport + able = transportable

Transportation

Besides, it is also causes changes in spelling like this:

Comprehend + ion = comprehension

Busy + ness = business

Happy +ness = happiness

Compounding

This is the combination of two or more separate word which can standindependently in other curcumstances There are three different types ofcompounds

I can not drink wine and coffee ( Verb)

With certain examples of conversion, there may be phonological changesFor example: She gave him a record yesterday / rek: d/

She liked to record his voice / ri’k: d/

To sum up, studying word formation helps us clarify vocabulary for ourteaching and learning purposes For instance, the items that are alike in structure can

be presented together though they are not alike in meaning We can teach a set ofwords beginning with “un” such as “ unhappy”, “unreliable” or a set of wordsending in “ able” such as “ changeable”, “ comfortable”, “valuable”, “ deniable” …

We can look at the principles of word- formation in two different ways One

is that they are considered as a part of the rule system of the language When

teaching students items we can describe and explain their grammatical orpronunciation rules The other is that we can also consider them a resource in thelanguage, that means the students can make experiment with words that they comeacross and use them creatively In fact, the new words that students createsometimes do not exist in the language However, creative word- formation can beseen as a communicative strategy.

2.4 Factors affecting vocabulary acquisition

There have been different opinions or factors that affect vocabularyacquisition However, they all share some main points Below four types of factorssaid to have great impact on language learners’ vocabulary acquisition

The first type is the person – dependent factors including age, sex, languageaptitude, intelligence, prior knowledge, motivation, self – concept, self – image andcognitive and learning style These factors differ from person to person They are rerelatively stable and they determine to a large extent how a learner approaches atask

The second is the learning task which includes the materials being learnt(such as the genre of a piece of reading) as well as the goal the leaner is trying toachieve by using these materials (such as remembering, comprehending or usinglanguage) Different types of task materials, task purposes, and tasks at variousdifferent from learning the same words in a passage Likewise, remembering a wordmeaning is different from learning to use it in real situations

The third type of factor is the learning context It is the socio – cultural –political environment where learning takes place The learning context can includethe teachers, the peers, the classroom climate, the family support, the social, culturaltradition of learning, the curriculum and the avaibability of input and the availability

of input and opportunities These factors have a certain effect on the ways learnerapproach learning task and acquire vocabulary knowledge

Last but not least, we cannot forget to mention strategy A learning strategy

is a series of actions a learner takes to complete a learning task A strategy startswhen the leaner analyzes the task, the situation, and what is available is his/herrepertoire The learner then goes on to select, deploy, monitor, and evaluate the

effectiveness of this action, and decides if he/she needs to revise the pland andaction.

In short, the factors disussed above (person, task, context, and strategy) existtogether and make a configuration of a particular learning situation that will help tobring about the effectiveness of vocabulary Teachers should take all of them intoconsideration and analyze them carefully before deciding what to teach and how toteach

2.5 Methods in vocabulary teaching

There has been much controversy over what is the most crucial factordetermining success or failure in language teaching and learning Markey(1978:138) stated:

“The method used has been said to be the cause of success or failure inlanguage learning, for it is ultimately the method that determines the what and thehow of language instruction” This statement shows the importance ofmethodology It is methodology that determines success or failure in languageteaching and learning That is the reason why teachers who want to make theirteaching more effective have to frequently apply good and practical methods totheir work and give up the unsuitable ones This fact is also true to vocabulary.There are different methods to teach vocabulary but the following is a briefdiscussion on some methods in vocabulary teaching in history and their role invocabulary teaching and learning

2.5.1 The Grammar –Translation Method

The Grammar – Translation method is the application of methods which waswidely used in the formal teaching of Latin and Greek and was adopted as the chiefmeans for teaching foreign languages in many European educational institutions.According to Hubbard (1983:328) states that the grammar – translation method “isthe traditional deductive method of language teaching, based on classical studies ofdead languages which consisted of giving rules, paragons and vocabulary andgetting students to apply this new knowledge to translation” In terms of vocabularyteaching, students are given lists of vocabulary with isolated words They are taughtgrammatical rules and paradigms to put words together The instruction of theteachers focuse on teaching grammatical rules and the early reading of classical

texts.The method also greatly emphasizes the reading and writing language skills,but during the review stage of the lesson’s content, the speaking and listening ones

do happen Under this method, students were made to put their knowledge to use bytranslating sentences or texts Translating from mother tongue into target languageand vice – versa is emphasized while little or no attention is paid to pronunciation

At the same time, it is assumed that language consists of writen words and wordsthat exist in isolation, as though they were individual bricks that could be translatedone by one into their foreign equivalents and then assessed according togrammatical rules into sentences in the foreign language For this reason, learnersmay think that language is just a collection of words which are isolated andindependent and there must be a corresponding word in the mother tongue for eachforeign word they learn Moreover, this method may reduce students’ motivation aslong lists of vocabulary may make them bored and undisciplined As a result, theywill not have adequate vocabulary may make them bored and undisciplined As aresult, they will not have adequate vocabulary However, this method is easy toapply and also easy to test and control It used to be widely used in high school inVietnam This was due to several reasons such as a great lack of learning andteaching facilities and special class rooms, large classes, tests of grammartical rulesand translation are easy to design and can be objectively scored.Today, this method

is still used but to lesser extent and teachers are doing their best to exploid itsadvantages.To some extent teachers and students could gain some benefits from itwhen the goal of learning was passing tests and exams But not this goal has beenchanged and the method proves not to be suitable any one

2.5.2 The Direct Method

This method came into existence in the teaching of modern language as acreation to the Grammar Translation Method.The Direct Method appeared as theresult of a recolution in language teaching philosophy It is described in details byDiana Larsen – Freeman in her book Techniques and Principles in LanguageTeaching (1986) According to this method, new teaching points are taught throughmodeling and practice This means that people learn to speak a language byspeaking it and by associating utterances directly with actions Thus, the secondlanguage learning is treated as the first language learning In the classroom, only the

target language is used to teach the students during the sessions All the teachingmaterials are presented orally and supplemented by actions and pictures Thismethod requires no translation between the first and second language and little or noanalysis of grammartical rules but correct pronunciation and grammar areemphasized This method required the teacher to have near or native – likeproficiency in the target language in the listening and speaking skills.

The Direct Method is very useful for teaching vocabulary For vocabulary,words used are very common, active and cocerning everyday activities Concretevocabulary is introduced through demonstration, objects and pictures meanwhileabstract vocabulary is taught by association of ideas At the same time, correctpronunciation is greatly emphasized language learners, therefore, can usevocabulary they have learnt effectively in communication However this method isnot easy for us to apply as it needs small class sizes, enough teaching aid, talentedteachers, budget and time That is why the Direct Method has not been used widely

in Vietnam

2.5.3 The Audio – Lingual Method

The Audio- Lingual Method means listening and speaking The Audio –Lingual Method appeared in World War 2 At that time, the “Army Method” wasdeveloped to build communicative competence in translators through very intensivelanguage courese focusing on aural/oral skills This in combination with some newideas about language learning coming from the disciplines of descriptive linguisticsand behavioral psychology went on to become what is know as the Audio – lingualMethod According to Brown (1994) and Pratow and Celce – Murcia (1979), theoverall goal of the Audio – lingual Method was to create communicativecompetence in learners Thus, in this method, vocabulary is strictly limited and onlylearned in context, new teaching material is presented in dialoguues Therefore,pupils only have chance to focus on taking firm control of words and structures andthe teachers present an oral model to students on tape or in his own voice and carryout a series of pattern drills based on the model and there is much dependence onmimicry, memorization of set phrases and over learning Furthermore, greatimportance is attached to pronunciation To carry out vocabulary teaching that way,

some common techniques are exploited such as repetition drill, single slotsubstitution drill use of minimal pairs, etc.

And according to Hubbard ( 1983: 235): “ Based directly on behaviouristlearning theory, this approach assumes that language learning can be broken intoseries of individual habit which can be formed ( habit formation) by reignforcement

of correct responses In practice, this approach gives rise to methods consistinglargely of repetion and parttern drilling.The approach also replaces emphasis on theordering of skills- listening, speaking, reading, writing and the need for maximumerror prevention”

With such kinds of practice, students will have better memory of words,terms and phrases and know how to use them practically This way of teaching alsomakes the class more active and motivated in learning However, because of thelack of teaching and learning facilities this method has not been commonly used inhigh schools in Vietnam but mainly in tertiary institutions Thus, hopefully, thegood points of Audio- Lingual Method will be soon used in the latter

As far as vocabulary concerned, the Audio- Lingual Method is very helpful

in that it consists of transcription of words followed by successive drills whichenable the pupils to practise using these words

The three methods mentioned above have revealed some weak points of theirown:

The first is too backward and ineffective in the light of modern languageteaching and learning

The second needs so many requirements that can not be successfully adapted

in VietNamese conditions and there is a shortage appropriate teaching facilities torealise the last Hereunder is a more recent approach that seems to meet the twocriteria of effectiveness and suitability, increasingly preferable one, theCommunicative Approach

2.5.4 The Communicative Approach

Reviewing the practice of Communicative Language Teaching Hubbard( 1983: 236) states:

“ Communicative approach to language teaching takes as its starting pointthe use of communicative purpose of language The approach, therefore strongly

advocates careful attention to the use rather than merely form and meaning Itwould also favour funtional organisation of teaching materials It might tend tosupport a “ deep- end” approach to presentation of new language, in which studentsare first to cope with the Communication Task as fast as possible before being giventhe new necessary form”.

The Communicative Approach has done much to improve the status ofvocabulary This approach indicated that kowing a word does not mean knowing themeaning of the word only New words must be taught in combination withpronunciation, spelling, grammar and collocation in order to help the students tocatch proper and effective use of them There are the most crucial principle that theteacher should bear in mind during their process of teaching:

* New words must be taught in context

* A few words are presented at a time and creating favourable condition forstudents to practise and use them as much as possible

* Encouraging students to guess new words, especially when reading Themeaning of words can be infered from the different types of contexts and fromlooking at the affixes of the word

* Words should be practised in the context rather than memorising themisolately So, students may be required to learn the meaning of words but they mustalso have chance to use them productively in speaking and writing

* Not all the words are of the same importance The teachers should not try

to treat all the words as active vocabulary

To sum up, in comparison with the other teaching methods, theCommunicative Approach offers learners many advantages such as stimulatinglearners’ interest, real world language and in fact, this approach has been introducedand accepted for teaching foreign languages in many secondary schools

2.5.5 The Silent Way

The Silent Way was founded by Caleb Gattegno as a method for languagelearning in the early 70s The most prominent characteristic of the method was thatthe teacher typically stayed “silent” most of the time, as part of his/her role asfacilitator and stimulator That is the reason why the method’s popular name is “TheSilen Way”

As Larsen – Freeman (1986) described, in this method, Cuisinere rods (smallrods of varying color and length) are typically used to introduce vocabulary andsyntax, along with colorful wall charts There is also the sound – color chart, 12word charts each containing around 500 words, and 8 Fidel charts for the Englishlanguage.

For example, the sound – color chart – a color – coded wall chart depictingindividual sounds in the target language – is used by the students to point out andbuild words with correct pronunciation Besides, rods are used to trigger meaningand to introduce or actively practice language They can symbolize whatever wordsare being taught and be manipulated directly or abstractly to create sentences

In addition, word charts with the sounds in each word corresponding in color

to the sound – color chart are used by the students to build sentences Last but notleast is the Fidel chart – a chart that is color – coded according to the sound – colorchart but includes the various English spellings so that they can be directly related

to actual sounds

With such features, preparation for lessons with “The Silent Way” is really

a problem Getting together the “prerequisite” materials can take a lot of time andmoney Also, the teaching and learning condition in high school now is still notsuitable to have all equipment the method needs One more difficulty is thatstudents’ level is not high enough for the teacher to keep silent so much If theteacher keeps silent most of the time, they will feel that they are not being taughtand they will get tense and annoyed As a result, students will have less chance toget correct examples for precise use and deep understanding of the vocabulary theylearn

2.5.6 Suggestopedia

In the late 70s, a Bulgarian psychologist began to develop a languagelearning method that focused on “de-suggestion”of the limitations learners thinkthey have and providing the sort of relaxed state of mind that would facilitate theretention of material to its maximum potential This method became know as

“Suggestopedia”

According to this method, vocabulary is learnt from posters and decorationsaround the learning environment it can also be presented and given treatment from

the teacher, but not dwelt on The particular thing is that it is acquired in a speciallearning environment with soft cushioned seating, dim light and Baroque music.Music, drama and “the arts” are integrated into the learning process as often aspossible.

Suggestopedia provides some valuable insights into the power of cognitionand creating or employing techniques that make students feel comfortable andrelaxed, and “suggestible” to the material being learnt However, it is impossible toapply this way for high school students as we lack equipment and teachingcondition Soft cushioned seating and him lighting are not available for us We canonly use it in combination with other methods to make the lesson more interesting

2.5.7 Total Physical Response (TPR)

In the 1960s, James Asher began experimenting with a method he calledTotal Physical Response The method involves a substantial amount of listening andcomprehension in combination with various “physical response” (smiling, reaching,grabbing, looking, etc) well before learners begin to use language orally It is alsofocused on the ideas that learning should be fun and stress – free a possible, and that

it should be dynamic through the use of accompanying physical activity According

to this method, vocabulary is emphasized over other language areas by usingcommands to direct behaviour, role reversal or action sequence

For high school students, if this method is used in combination with othermethods, it can interest them However, it is not quite suitable for heterogeneousclasses to take part in activities the require total physical activities

2.5.8 The Communicative Approach (Communicative Language Teaching)

Hubbard (1983:236) states: “Communicative approach to language teachingtakes as its starting point the use of communicative purpose of language Theapproach, therefore strongly advocates careful attention to the use rather thanmerely form and meaning It would also favour functional organisation of teachingmaterials It might tend to support a “deep – end” approach to presentation of newlanguage, in which students are first to cope with the communication task as fast aspossible before being given the new necessary

According to this method, vocabulary is learnt through “real life”communication in the classroom, through interaction in the target language andthrough an enhancement of the learners’ own experiences as important contributingelements to classroom learning and through an attempt to link classroom languagelearning with language activation outside the classroom This approach indicatesthat knowing a word does not mean knowing the meaning of the word only Newwords must be taught in combination with pronunciation, spelling, grammar andcollocation in order to help the students catch proper and effective use of them.These are the most crucial principles that teachers should bear in mind whenteaching vocabulary.

- New words must be taught in context;

- A few words are presented at a time and creating favorable conditions forstudents to practice and use them as much as possible;

- Encouraging students to guess new words, especially when reading;

- Words should be practiced in context rather than memorising them isolate;

- Not all words are of the same importance, so teachers should not try to treatall of them as active vocabulary

In comparison with other metheds, this method has more advantages, so ithas been used in many high schools However, choosing appropriate techniques toteach vocabulary is one problem Thus, in spite of applying the CLT many mayteachers have not been successful

2.6.Teaching and learning vocabulary through communicative activities

Learners of CLT approach are required to take part in a number ofcommunicative activities with different tasks Many experts agree thatcommunicative activities are a good way to teach vocabulary With the use ofcommunicative activities, the teacher can create various contexts in which studentshave to use the target language to communicate, exchange information and expresstheir own opinions

2.6.1 Characteristics of communicative activities

Today is seems that the goal of teaching and learning language is thestudents’ ability to communicate, so communicative activities are put a greatemphasis on This is also true in vocabulary teaching and learning

Yanping, P (2005:3) remarks “Communicative activities refer to activitiesrefer to activities which are organized in classes with elements of communicativeneeds, communicative functions, and students’ improvisation”.

In every communicative activity student are asked to take part incommunication with others According to Wood, L (1981) communicative activitieshave four characteristics as follows:

- providing “whole - task” practice;

- improving motivation;

- allowing natural learning;

- creating a context that supports learning

When being involved in communicative activities students feel motivated asthey need to communicate with one another to find out unknown information.Besides, many aspects of language learning can take place through naturalprocesses, which operate when a learner is involved in using the language forcommunication Communicative activities in class are used to get learners to use thelanguage they are learning to interact in a realistic and meaningful way Thus, theyare an important part of the learning process Finally, they provide opportunities topromote relationships among learners and between learners and the teacher Thisrelationship can be help to humanize the classroom and create an environment thatsupports the students in their effort to learn

2.6.2 Characteristics of vocabulary communicative activities

Vocabulary communicative activities have their own features which will bediscussed in this part

According to Nation, P and Newton, J (200:224), communicative activitiesthat encourage vocabulary learning have the following features:

- helping speakers to set their speech to a suitable level for particularslisteners and to adjust it when listeners indicate a lack of understanding;

- providing a meaningful context or an illustrated setting within which toencounter new vocabulary;

- learners being exposed to repeated use of the new items during the course

of the activity;

- learners being likely to be required to use new items productively in theactivity.

These features include the choice of vocabulary and its placement within thetextual input for the activities, the teacher’s and learners’ strategies for arriving atthe meaning of unfamiliar items anf the processing demands of the activity Bybeing aware of these features and the way they affect learners’ responses tounfamiliar vocabulary, teachers can improve the quality of vocabulary learning that

is likely to occur during performance of communicative activities

Another point to remember is that communicative activities encouragingvocabulary learning are not limited to oral productive language A communicativeactivity can be a written format such as vocabulary exercies including word –building, matching words with various types of definitions, studying vocabulary incontext, semantic mapping, and split information activites focusing on vocabulary.Thus, choosing a relevant communicative activity for teaching requires teachers’thought and planning

2.6.3 Vocabulary teaching techniques in combination with communicative activities

Students of Grammar – Translation – Method often learn vocabulary throughthe “look and remember” technique Perhaps this technique is the least effectiveway Based on communicative activities, students can acquire vocabulary throughmore effective techniques such as visual techniques, verbal techniques, games orrole – play

2.6.3.1.Visual techniques

According to Zebrowska (cited in Gain and Redman) (1986), visualtechniques pertain visual memory Learners remember better the material that hasbeen presented by means of visual aids So, communicative activities using visualaids such as flashcards, photographs, blackboard drawings, wall charts and relia canstimulate students to speak the language Regarding visual aids, students can benefitfrom communicative activities since they “help to provide the situation which light

up the meaning of the utterances used” (Lee, W.R and Cppen, H, 1970:1) Besides,mine and gesture are often used to supplement other ways of conveying meaning.Teachers can make use of the blackboard and gesture to reinforce the concept

b) Use of synonyms and definitions: Teachers often use synonymy wherethey have to compromise and restrict the length and complexity of theirexplanations Besides, definition alone is often inadequate as a means of conveyingmeaning, and clearly contextualised examples are generally required to clarify thelimits of the item.

c) Contrasts and opposites: This technique often asks “What is the opposite

of ”

d) Examples of the type: To illustrate the meaning of superordinates such as

“furniture”, “vegetable”, “meat” and “transport” it is common procedure toexemplify them, eg, table, chair, bed and sofa are all furniture Some of these can ofcourse also be dealt with through visual aids

2.6.3.3 Using games

Some teachers think that language games are a waste of time and prefer not

to use them in classroom since games sometimes have been considered only for itsone element, that is fun In fact, games can provide EFL and ESL students morethan that They have been used to promote students’ language proficiency in variety

of aspects: grammar, vocabulary, writing, speaking, etc When using games in theclassroom, it is beneficial for teachers to have a complete understanding of thedefinitions of games, the advantages of games, and the ability to capture students'attention Teacher should also lower students' stress; give students the chance forreal communication and assess how to use games appropriately in the classroom

Up to now games have proved to be very effective in vocabulary teaching andlearning as they can encourage, entertain, teach and promote fluency There is awide range of word games that are especially useful for practicing and revisingvocabulary after it has been introduced, such as puzzles, word squares, crosswords,jigsaw tasks, picture – describing, etc Game can provide a setting in which

communication is essential and therefore they will become a stimulating andinteresting way to help students acquire the target language without even realizingit.

* Definition of games

Language games are not activities mainly aimed to break the ice betweenstudents or to kill time Byrne (1995) give the definition to games as a form of playgoverned by rules They should be enjoyed and fun They are not just a diversion, abreak from routine activities, but a way of getting the learner to use the language inthe course of the game Similarly, Hadfield (1990) defines games as "an activitywith rules, a goal and an element of fun." Another definition comes from Saricoban

& Metin (2000) saying that games are organized according to rules and they areenjoyable

Therefore, games involve many factors: rules, competition, relaxation, andlearning, in particular The main focus of using game in class is to help studentslearn and have fun However, to use games in classrooms, it is equally importantthat before playing the rules of the games are clearly explained and well understood

by the students There should be only a few, well-explained rules Demonstrationsalso can be very helpful because it can help students understand the game and helpthem follow the rules Otherwise, they will misunderstand the purpose of the gameand they may not get the benefits they should from the game

In playing games, competition is very important because it can stimulate andencourage students to participate in the activity since naturally they want to beat theother teams As it happens, in the dictation game students run as fast as possible,remember as much as they can and speak as loudly and clearly as they can Theyrun quickly back and forth, trying to memorize the content as much as possible.While playing, students have fun, relax, exercise, and tease their friends Apart fromhaving fun, students learn at the same time They acquire new vocabulary alongwith its spelling and pronunciation Students begin to realize that they have to speak

or pronounce the words clearly if they want others to understand what they aresaying

*Advantages of games

According to Richard-Amato (1996), even though games are often associatedwith fun, we should not lose sight of their pedagogical values, particularly in secondlanguage teaching Games are effective because they provide motivation, lowerstudents' stress, and give them the opportunity for real communication

The main reason why games are considered effective learning aids is that

"they spur motivation and students get very absorbed in the competitive aspects ofthe games; moreover, they try harder at games than in other courses" (Avedon,1971) Naturally when playing games, students are trying to win or to beat otherteams for themselves or on the behalf of their team They are so competitive whileplaying because they want to have a turn to play, to score points and to win In theclass, students will definitely participate in the activities Therefore, it is possible for

a teacher to introduce students to new ideas, grammar, knowledge and so on As inthe dictation game, students are so competitive that they want to finish first and win

It can be clearly seen that games can capture students' attention and participation.They can motivate students to want to learn more Moreover, they can transform aboring class into a challenging one

Another reason why games are often used in language classes is that theylower students' stress in the classroom In conventional classrooms, there is a lot ofstress put on students trying to master the target language Schultz (1988) said that

" Stress is a major hindrance in language learning process This process [Learninglanguage in traditional way ] is by its nature time consuming and stressprovoking raise the stress level to a point at which it interferes with studentattention and efficiency and undermines motivation one method has beendeveloped to make students forget that they are in class relax students byengaging them in stress-reducing task (games)."

There is a high level of stress in the classroom because students have to faceunfamiliar or unknown grammatical structures, words, texts and so forth Therefore,students often feel uncomfortable and insecure in class, which inevitably affectstheir ability to learn As a result, games can help lower their anxiety, make themfeel comfortable, and want to learn more It is believed that when students playgames, they relax and have fun Since students know that they are playing gamesand want to communicate efficiently t hey do not worry about making mistakes and

do not try to correct themselves in every single sentence When students are freefrom worry and stress, they can improve their fluency and natural speaking styles

Next, students learn without realizing that they are learning (Schultz, 1988.)For instance, when playing a game called "What Would You Do If?" students willhave to pick one hypothetical question from those that they have written in a box.They might get a question like "What would you do if a lion came into thisclassroom?" Next they have to pick one answer that they have written before Theanswer they get may be "I would be a fly." Usually the question and the answer theyget do not match each other, so students have to use their own imaginations toexplain their bizarre answer, and everyone has fun listening to it The explanationmight be "If a lion came into this classroom, I would be a fly because I am a goodperson, so an angel would come and rescue me by turning me into a fly." Whiletrying to explain, students do not worry too much about grammar mistakes becausethey want to communicate and to explain why it can happen Apart from havingfun, students do not worry about errors and punishment; moreover, they will learn agrammatical rule and have a chance to use it Thus, they learn unconsciously-learnwithout realizing they are learning Students stop thinking about language and beginusing it in a spontaneous and natural manner within the classroom (Schutz, 1988.)

Another advantage is increasing students' proficiency Playing games in theclassroom can enormously increase students' ability in using language becausestudents have a chance to use language with a purpose in the situations provided.Hadfield (1990) confirms that " games provide as much concentrated practice as atraditional drill and more importantly, they provide an opportunity for realcommunication, albeit within artificially defined limits, and thus constitute a bridgebetween classroom and the real word " Like in a traditional classroom, studentshave an opportunity to drill and practice using grammatical rules and otherfunctions

Carrier (1980) has also listed some advantages of games as follows:

1 Games add variety to the range of learning situations

2 Games can be used to change the pace of a lesson and so maintainmotivation

3 Games can be used to motivated long formal teaching units and renewstudents’ energy before returning to more formal learning.

4 Games can give “hidden” practice of specific language points withoutstudents being aware of this

5 Games encourage students’ participation and can remove the inhibitions ofthose who feel intimidated by formal classroom situations

6 Games can change the role of the teacher from that of a formal instructor

to that of manager or organizer of activities that students enjoy participating in thiscan be useful in reducing teacher-student distance or conflict

7 Games can increase student-student communication, and so reduce thedomination of the classroom by the teacher

8 Games can act as a testing mechanism, in the sense that they will exposeareas of weakness and the need for remedial work

Lee (1995) states several advantages when games are used in the classroom,including “a welcome break from the usual routine of the language class”,

“motivating and challenging”, “effort of learning”, and “language practice invarious skills”

With so many advantages games are of course an effective tool in languageclassrooms The questions here are that which games to use and when to use games.The answers to these questions will be presented in the next sections

2.6.3.4 Role – play

Role – play activities can involve a written text or oral production Howeveroral activities are more effective since they help to create the presence of a real –life situation in the classroom Ladouse (1987:5) stresses, “When students assume a

“role”, they play a part either own or somebody else’s in a specific situation “Play”means that the role is taken on in a safe environment in which dtudents are asinventive and playful as possible In the roles, students are experimenting with theirknowledge of the real world and developing their ability to interact with otherpeople”

Furthermore, activities of this kind let students develop and practicevocabulary in combination with other language skills such as grammar andspeaking, and create the motivation and involvement necessary for learning to

occur Teacher can prepare a lot of situation such as Going Shopping, Preparing aParty What students have to do is work in pairs improvising a suitable dialogue foreach situation, so they will have less pressure and will be more willing topacticipate in the role - play.

In short, there are a lot of communicative activities for teachers to choose.They must know how to adapt each type of activities so as to make it suitable fortheir students

2.6.3.5 Memory

Many researchers points that students’ memory is vital in process oflearning A range of vocabulary and new structures remembered by learners is veryimportant and the degree in which they really remember them can cause differencesbetween learners

As stated by Gairns & Redman (1986), understanding how we storeinformation in the memory and why certain chunks of it seem to “stick” whileothers slip away is a matter of concern to anyone, especially for language teachers,who work involves helping others to learn because this knowledge should help toestablish classroom procedures that will promote more effective learning andretention of new language items

There are two major types of memory, according to Gairns & Redman(1986): short-term memory and long term memory

Short-term memory

Gairns & Redman (1986) define short-term memory as the ability to holdinformation over brief periods (usually up to thirty seconds in duration) It demandsfairly constant repetition, and any distraction or interruption is likely to severelyimpede that ability Moreover, it has been established that our capacity for short-term retention is remarkably consistent, and that more people experience somebreakdown in retention as soon as the number of items or chunks of informationexceeds seven Here an experiment of looking up a telephone number is given as anexample A person can look up a telephone number and then repeat it forthemselves for the time it takes to sit down and dial the number Nevertheless, if

that person is interrupted, the number will be forgotten and he has to look up itagain

Long-term memory defined by Gairns & Redman (1986) is the capacity forrecall of information minutes, weeks, and years after the original input Unlikeshort-term memory, which is limited in capacity, long-term memory is seeminglyinexhaustible and can accommodate any amount of new information It is generallyacknowledged that people need to work much harder to commit information tolong-term memory, and the type of repetition that is essential to short-term memorymay not be adequate for long-term retention

Craik and Lockhart (1972: 674) believe that to take information into term memory, we must create more effective traces They also point out that “Giventhat we recognize pictures, faces, tunes and voices after long periods of time, it isclear that we have long-term memory for relatively literal nonverbal information”.What is more, Gairns & Redman (1986) add that the distinction between short-termretention and long-term retention is not always clear-cut Information enteringshort-term memory may pass quite effortlessly into long-term memory, and somelearners may find repetition a very effective way of transferring information intolong-term memory

long-Hence, teachers should bear in mind that long-term memory needs creatingwhen learners study language in general and vocabulary in specific To do so,teachers have to consider ways to help students improve their memory They need

to look at the link between students’ interest and memory and also the approaches tomemory improvement According to Devine (1989), students put into long-termmemory what tend to interest them and/or relates to their own lives Therefore,teachers should select materials carefully, make materials interesting, offer effectiveways such as role-playing, dramatics, games, etc to help students learn and retainvocabulary

2.6.3.6 Motivation

In the classroom, as in most areas of life, motivation is essential for a person

to succeed It is important for a teacher to have some understanding of whatmotivation is and how it will affect each and every student and their learning