MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------------ TRAN THI MY DUNG A STUDY ON STRATEGIES TO LEARN ACADEMIC VOCABULARY OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM BY EFL STUDENTS AT HUE UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages HUE, 2016 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------------ TRAN THI MY DUNG A STUDY ON STRATEGIES TO LEARN ACADEMIC VOCABULARY OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM BY EFL STUDENTS AT HUE UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60. LE PHAM HOAI HUONG HUE, 2016 i BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ ------------ TRẦN THỊ MỸ DUNG NGHIÊN CỨU PHƯƠNG PHÁP HỌC TỪ VỰNG HỌC THUẬT BÊN NGOÀI LỚP HỌC CỦA SINH VIÊN TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH CODE: 60.11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS. LÊ PHẠM HOÀI HƯƠNG HUẾ, 2016 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.
Signature Tran Thi My Dung i ABSTRACT This seeks strategies to learn academic vocabulary outside the classroom. It aims to explore students‟ perceptions and use of strategies in learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom. Moreover, the study also investigates the difficulties faced by the students in learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom. The subjects of this study include 120 EFL students at Hue University, College of Foreign Languages.
The data are collected by means of questionnaire, interview and diary. Then, they are presented in tables and charts according to statistical frequency and percentage. The findings reveal that most of the students had positive perceptions toward learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom. They had applied some strategies to learn academic vocabulary outside the classroom as well as identified the usefulness of those strategies.
Especially, using the Internet, guessing the words‟ meanings that base on the context, looking up the dictionary, studying academic words in TOEFL, IELTS, C1 tests were preferred. Moreover, difficulties faced by students were revealed. Accordingly, students‟ impatience is the main problem in learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom. Based on the research findings, some recommendations and implications are made in the hope that the strategies to learn academic vocabulary outside the classroom will be implemented effectively.
ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I am eager to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc. Le Pham Hoai Huong, enthusiastically guiding me at every stage of the development of my study. Secondly, I am indebted to the teachers and students at Hue University, College of Foreign Languages who were kind enough to create the most favorable conditions for me to collect the necessary data for my research. In addition, I owe a debt of gratitude to all teachers of the English Department of Hue College of Foreign Languages who have given me the fundamental knowledge of language teaching and learning.
Last but not least, I cannot find words to express my gratitude to my family members and friends who have worked closely with me and cheered me up during the difficult time. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY .iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. vii LIST OF TABLES .viii CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION .Scope of the study.
4 CHAPTER II - LITERATURE REVIEW .2 Academic word list .3 Important features of academic vocabulary (nominalization). Relationship between academic vocabulary and language learning. Learners‟ autonomy and academic vocabulary learning. Strategies to learn academic vocabulary.
The difficulties in learning academic words outside the classroom. Previous studies related to the research. In other countries. 20 CHAPTER III – METHODOLOGY.
Participants of the study. 24 CHAPTER IV - FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. EFL students‟ perceptions of learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom. EFL students‟ frequency in academic vocabulary learning.
The benefits of learning academic vocabulary. The importance of learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom .4 The importance of autonomy in learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom. The benefits of autonomy in learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom. The benefits of learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom.
Strategies to learn academic vocabulary outside the classroom. The difficulties and suggestions during learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom. 43 v CHAPTER V - CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR THE FUTURE STUDY. Summary of the key findings .4 Recommendations for further study.
53 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS English as a Foreign Language EFL Hue University, College of Foreign Languages HUCFL vii LIST OF TABLES Table 4. The benefits of academic vocabulary in language learning. The benefits of autonomy in learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom. The benefits of learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom.
Frequency of strategies used to learn academic vocabulary outside the classroom. Difficulties in learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom. 41 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4. The frequency of learning academic vocabulary.
The importance of learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom 29 Figure 4. The importance of autonomy in learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom. 31 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Together with the development of globalization, communication across the countries has developed a great deal in which foreign languages play an increasingly vital role.
The acquisition of foreign languages in general and English in particular has received a lot of special attention from students, teachers and researchers. One of these concerns is learning academic vocabulary which plays an decisive factor in learning at university. It is a factor which connects the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing together as well. According to Krashen (1989), there are two reasons for devoting attention to vocabulary.
First, a large vocabulary is obviously necessary for mastery of a language. Second, language acquirers know this; they bring dictionaries with them, not grammar books, and regularly report that the lack of vocabulary is a major problem. In other words, the more vocabulary a language learner has, the better they are considered to master the language. Feng Feng (2013), Newton et al (2008), Wilkin (1972) also expressed their agreement.
They are of the same opinion that vocabulary plays the central role in English language learning because without enough vocabulary, students cannot understand others or express their own ideas. Besides, students with smaller vocabularies are at a greater disadvantage in learning, and this lack of knowledge too often is the main barrier to their comprehension of texts and lectures. Wilkins (1972) also stated that without vocabulary, nothing could be conveyed. In other words, vocabulary learning is important and indispensable part of any language learning process.
However, according to Griffiths & Keohane (2000), textbooks do not achieve a meaningful level of involvement on the part of the learners. Besides, many EFL students lack the vocabulary foundation for success in learning content-area subjects and reading academic texts in fact. Students particularly need to 1 understand the teacher's explanations, discuss what they are learning, read academic texts, and write about their learning. Meanwhile, the teachers cannot convey all the vocabulary for students within the limitation of class time, so it is impossible for students to learn all the vocabulary they need in the classroom (Sokmen, 1997).
Without explicit, focused strategies, self-study, a student's academic vocabulary gap will grow each year. Hence, learning needs not to be confined to the classroom which is not often sufficient for becoming proficient in the English language. Especially, the requirement is essential of the higher level of autonomy as well as more responsibility from learners themselves. Especially with EFL students, they are English as foreign language students, low academic language skills are associated with low academic performance, low knowledge.
Therefore, university students must learn academic vocabulary outside the classroom that frequently occurs in a range of academic subjects. In other words, equipped with the relevant academic vocabulary outside the classroom will give students a head start in their university studies. For these reasons, it is important to have suitable strategies in learning academic vocabulary. Oxford (1990) stated that strategies are important for language learning because they are tools for active, self-directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence.
Then, it is undeniable that language learning strategies have played a vital role in second language learning, as they may assist learners in mastering the forms and functions required for reception and production of the second language and thus affect achievement (Soureshjani, 2011). If learners know more about effective learning strategies, they may use those strategies in their learning to enhance their effectiveness in language skills. Accordingly, it is critical to carry out a research on “A study on strategies to learn academic vocabulary outside the classroom by EFL students at Hue University, College of Foreign Languages”. It is hoped to draw out some possible strategies to learn academic vocabulary outside the classroom at HUCFL in particular as well as the others in Viet Nam.
Research aims: This project seeks to investigate how EFL students of HUCFL learn academic vocabulary outside the classroom. More specially, it aims to: - Study the EFL students‟ perceptions towards learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom. - Document the current common strategies and students‟ difficulties in learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom and discuss their possible effects on academic vocabulary learning at Hue University, College of Foreign Languages. - Suggest appropriate and effective strategies to learn academic vocabulary outside the classroom.
- Give suggestions to students to promote effective academic vocabulary learning. Research significance This study attempts to investigate the EFL students‟ perceptions towards current method of the learning academic vocabulary at Hue University College of Foreign Languages. It is hoped that it brings about theoretical and practical significance. In theory, although previous studies showed the usefulness of learning academic vocabulary, few EFL students have noticed the influence of learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom on improvement.
Besides, EFL students lack reference information about the effective strategies in learning vocabulary. This study hopefully gets the most incomes in terms of professional development. Practically, this study hopes to give some effective solutions to improve EFL students‟ English learning competence. To EFL students, the results of this research may help them to be aware of the importance of using strategies to learn their academic vocabulary outside the classroom.
To researcher as EFL teacher, 3 this study seems to enhance the professional strategies that can help them to direct their students to learn academic vocabulary better. Research questions With the above aims, this paper seeks to answer three following questions: 1. What are EFL students‟ perceptions of learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom? 2. What are EFL students‟ strategies to learn academic vocabulary outside the classroom? 3.
What difficulties do the EFL students face when learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom? 1. Scope of the study This study focuses on strategies to learn academic vocabulary knowledge outside the classroom of EFL students at Hue University College of Foreign Languages. After identifying some troubles with the current ways in learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom, it will attempt to suggest some ideas of more effective strategies for the EFL students as possible updated professional development information. Due to the limitation of time and condition, the study only focused on the strategies of 120 students at Hue University College of Foreign Languages in learning academic vocabulary outside the classroom.
Thesis organization The project consists of five chapters as follow: Chapter 1 provides the setting and the background of the study: the rationale, aims of the study, significance, research questions and scope of the study.