VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ------------------------ TRẦN THỊ TRANG NHUNG IMPROVING STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY USE THROUGH USING WORD LISTS. AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT WITH 7th GRADE STUDENTS AT GIA VUONG SECONDARY SCHOOL (CẢI THIỆN KHẢ NĂNG SỬ DỤNG TỪ VỰNG CỦA HỌC SINH THÔNG QUA VIỆC SỬ DỤNG NHỮNG DANH SÁCH TỪ VỰNG. NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỚI HỌC SINH KHỐI 7 TRƢỜNG TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ GIA VƢỢNG) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology I Code: 60140111 Hanoi – 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ------------------------ TRẦN THỊ TRANG NHUNG IMPROVING STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY USE THROUGH USING WORD LISTS. AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT WITH 7th GRADE STUDENTS AT GIA VUONG SECONDARY SCHOOL (CẢI THIỆN KHẢ NĂNG SỬ DỤNG TỪ VỰNG CỦA HỌC SINH THÔNG QUA VIỆC SỬ DỤNG NHỮNG DANH SÁCH TỪ VỰNG.
NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỚI HỌC SINH KHỐI 7 TRƢỜNG TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ GIA VƢỢNG) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dƣơng Thu Mai, Ph.D Hanoi - 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I certify that this minor thesis entitled “Improving students’ vocabulary use through using word lists. An action research project with 7th grade students at Gia Vuong secondary school” is the study of my own research and the substance of this research has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution. Ninh Binh, November, 2016 Signature Tran Thi Trang Nhung i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have given me great assistance in the completion of my research work. In the first place, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Duong Thu Mai, Ph.D, who has provided me with insightful discussion, helpful comments, valuable support in the preparation and completion of this thesis.
Without her guidance and help, this work would not have been accomplished. Secondly, my sincere thanks also go to all lecturers and staff of the department of Post- Graduate studies for their valuable lessons and precious helps. Thanks to their lessons as well as needed helps, I could overcome enormous obstacles when doing the study. I also wish to acknowledge the cooperation of my colleagues and the 7th students at Gia Vuong secondary school in contributing to the data collection presented in this study.
Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my dear family and friends for their encouragement and great support during my time of fulfilling this thesis. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This present study aims at investigating improvement of students‟ vocabulary use through teaching with word lists. To reach this aim, an action research was conducted with forty 7th grade students at Gia Vuong secondary school in the first semester of the year 2016- 2017. They were chosen from the same class to participate in learning vocabulary with the different word lists for eight weeks.
The data were gathered through qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data were gained by analyzing the class observation result and quantitative data were obtained from the students‟ vocabulary scores of pretest, posttest and questionnaire for students. Based on the result of this research which showed that there was a development on the students‟ vocabulary use. Besides, from the result of questionnaires, it showed that there was improvement of positive response in the teaching- learning process of vocabulary with word lists.
Furthermore, the results of observation showed that the students were interested in the teaching- learning activities during the implementation of word lists. The findings, suggestion, suitable and effective ways for teachers in applying word lists in class to make certain positive changes in their teaching methodology as well as to help students improve their English vocabulary. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .vii LIST OF FIGURE, TABLES AND CHARTS. viii PART A: INTRODUCTION. Aims of study. Scope of the study.
Methods of the study. Design of the study. 5 CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of Vocabulary and Vocabulary use.
Classification of vocabulary.1According to meaning. According to frequency of use.3 According to language teaching methodologies. The role of vocabulary in language teaching and learning. Aspects of word knowledge included in vocabulary teaching.
Principles of vocabulary teaching. Approaches to vocabulary Instruction. Teaching with word lists. Definition of word lists.
Selection of vocabulary items in word lists. 15 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Related Studies to word lists .1 Research design: Action Research .2 Background of the study .1 Context of the study .3 Data Collection Instruments. Pretest and Posttest .3 Class observation checklists .4 Research Lesson Plan.
Data Collection Procedure. 25 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .1 Research question 1: What is students‟ vocabulary use proficiency before the implementation of the research? .2 Research question 2: What is students‟ vocabulary use proficiency after the implementation of the research?. What is the difference in students‟ vocabulary use before and after teaching with word lists?. The overall descriptive data of the pre-test and the post-test scores.
Descriptive statistics of sections in the tests. One Sample T-test Results:. What are students‟ attitudes toward using word lists in the language classroom? .1 Findings from Students‟ questionnaires .2 Findings from class observation .5 Discussion of all findings. 43 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Summary of the findings and discussion. Gained research experience; research evaluation. For other English teachers .2 For other researchers. Limitations of the study.
Suggestion for further studies. LXIV vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL : English as a Foreign Language WL : Word List AWL : Academic Word List Q : Question vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURE, TABLES AND CHARTS Figure 2. Action Research Cycle Figure 3. Result of the Pretest Figure 3.
Result of the Posttest Figure 3. The appropriateness the number of words. The study procedures Table 3. The reliability of the tests Table 4.
The overall descriptive data of the tests Table 5. The overall descriptive data of collocations Table 6. The overall descriptive data of Uncommon lexical items Table 7. The overall descriptive data of Word formation Table 8.
The overall descriptive data of part of speech Table 9. One sample T- test Chart 3. Contents of word lists Chart 3. Skills of word lists Chart 3.
The WL introduction and teaching activities Chart 3. The WL practice activities Chart 3. Time among parts and teacher‟s feedbacks viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Nowadays, learning English is more and more essential because it is considered as a vital tool in communication.
No one can deny its important roles in every field of the modern world such as culture, economy, society, science - technology or even the expansion of education. In Vietnam, English is known as a compulsory subject in all levels. There is a rapidly growing tendency for English to be adopted as the medium of communication, even when a majority of the population speaks a local language. In order to support the mastery of English, it is essential to learn vocabulary.
Underscoring the importance of vocabulary acquisition, Schmitt (2000, p.55) emphasizes that “lexical knowledge is central to communicative competence and to the acquisition of a second language”. Nation (2001) further describes the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and language use as complementary: knowledge of vocabulary enables language use and, conversely, language use leads to an increase in vocabulary knowledge. British linguist Wilkins (1972: 111) once said, “Without grammar, little can be conveyed; without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed”. Truly thanks to vocabulary, sentences, texts and language can be made and become richer.
Today, there are research-based data on how best to provide students with effective vocabulary instruction. And using word lists in class is considered as a new method which offer a systematic, teacher-directed approach to improving students‟ vocabulary use. For teachers, using word lists offers research-based instructional resources that require minimal time. Teachers also have benefits from the program‟s flexible instructional model, which allows them to customize instruction to fit their classroom schedules and meet individual student needs.
Besides, other benefits of word lists are: (1) Word lists are written in a very simple form, one word – with the single, most frequent meaning. (2) Word lists are portable so students can look at them anytime and anywhere they want. (3) Word lists reduce students‟ stress from 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com learning pages of words from the textbook. That is the reason why teaching word lists is being researched and conducted widely now.
In Vietnam, the government has made some efforts to train human resources who are able to understand and master English well. Therefore, English is not only taught for junior and senior high school students but also to the elementary school students so as to get students to be familiar with English as soon as possible and to use English fluently. In the context of Gia Vuong secondary school, Ninh Binh Province, vocabulary has been taught for students for a long time basing on textbooks. From the researcher‟s observation and professional experience as a teacher of English, teaching and learning vocabulary has still faced some difficulties and the students‟ ability to use English has not improved significantly.
Many students cannot make sentences or dialogues; over 90 % among them even cannot communicate basically in English because of insufficient vocabulary. Students even do not know how to use the vocabulary they have learned. They only understand a text and do exercises easily when they know what most of the important words mean. In a word, this lack of adequate vocabulary knowledge is an obvious and serious obstacle for many students in learning English and improving their skills.
All the conditions above have offered me a chance to conduct a study on: “Improving students’ vocabulary use through using word lists. An action research project with 7th grade students at Gia Vuong secondary school”. The study is conducted to test the continuing applicability of this method in the certain context of Vietnamese rural areas where there are not enough facilities for the leaners to learn a foreign language. Aims of study Surveying the 7th grade students, who are directly involved in the program, the research firstly aimed at investigating their improvement in vocabulary use through teaching with prepared word lists and find out the effectiveness of this method.
Secondly, the researcher explores students‟ attitude towards using word lists in 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com teaching vocabulary. Based on the findings, recommendations are made to promote student‟s proficiency and improve the implementation of this method. In order to achieve the above- mentioned aims, the following research questions are addressed in the study. What is the students‟ vocabulary use proficiency before the implementation of the research? 2.
What is students‟ vocabulary use proficiency after the implementation of the research? 3. What is the difference in students‟ vocabulary use before and after teaching with word lists? 4. What are students‟ attitudes toward using word lists in the language classroom? 4. Scope of the study The scope of this study is about the use of word lists in teaching vocabulary so as to help students get understanding about words and their meaning.
Besides, is the core of using word lists better for students to learn vocabulary and improve their vocabulary use?