VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ************************** NGUYỄN MINH THỦY AN INVESTIGATION INTO VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY STUDENTS AT SONG CONG HIGH SCHOOL, THAI NGUYEN Nghiên cứu các chiến lƣợc học từ vựng của học sinh trƣờng trung học phổ thông Sông Công, Thái Nguyên M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 HANOI, 2014 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ************************** NGUYỄN MINH THỦY AN INVESTIGATION INTO VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY STUDENTS AT SONG CONG HIGH SCHOOL, THAI NGUYEN Nghiên cứu các chiến lƣợc học từ vựng của học sinh trƣờng trung học phổ thông Sông Công, Thái Nguyên M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 SUPERVISOR: DƢƠNG ĐỨC MINH, PhD. HANOI, 2014 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION --------------*****------------- I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “An investigation into vocabulary learning strategies employed by students at Song Cong High School, Thai Nguyen" is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi National University and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution.
Ha Noi, 2014 Student‟s Signature Nguyen Minh Thuy i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First I would like to express my sincere and deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Duong Duc Minh, who has given me great help with this thesis. Without his experienced guidance, valuable suggestions and dutiful supervision, my research would be far from completed. I would also like to acknowledge my debt of gratitude to Dr. Le Hung Tien and the staff members of the Post Graduate Department and the lecturers at College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University-Hanoi for their valuable lectures, which laid the foundation of this thesis and for their knowledge as well as their sympathy.
I would like to express my appreciation my friends who have been continuously giving me a lot of support and encouragement for the fulfillment of this challenging work. I am also grateful to Ms. Le Thu Ha, the librarian at the Resource Centre, who is willing to lend me a lot of interesting books and valuable materials for my thesis. I take this opportunity to thank all students and teachers at Song Cong High School for their valuable help and co-operation during the time I collected the data.
Last but not least, I would like to express my thank to my beloved parents, my husband, my daughters, my brothers and my sisters who continually gave me a lot of support and encouragement for the fulfillment of this challenging work. Hanoi, 2014 ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT This study aims to carry out an investigation on how Song Cong High School (SCHS) students in Thai Nguyen City, Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam learn English vocabulary. The purposes of this study were as follows: to find out the SCHS students‟ perceptions of English vocabulary learning, to explore the SCHS students‟ strategies used in learning English vocabulary. to find out the most and least commonly vocabulary learning strategies employed by the SCHS students in learning English vocabulary, to examine the relationship between students‟ vocabulary learning strategies and their level of study and to provide implications for the teaching and learning of the English vocabulary.
A sample of 60 participants was drawn from SCHS. The questionnaire was both quantitatively used to analyze the collected data. The questionnaire was used to elicit the SCHS students‟ perception of vocabulary learning. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire designed to measure the frequency use of certain vocabulary learning strategies.
The results from the questionnaire indicated that not many students were aware of their vocabulary learning process and conscious of the strategies being used to achieve better results. Using English-Vietnamese dictionary, asking teachers or friends to translate new English words into Vietnamese, remembering parts of the speech, using new words in sentences, verbal repetition and written repetition are among the strategies frequently used by these participants. It can be seen that the most frequently used strategies are basic and popular ones which brings about few changes in the results. iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1 .28 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS L1/ L2 : First/ Second Language LLS : Language Learning Strategies VLS : Vocabulary Learning Strategies SCHS : Song Cong High School VOLSI : Vocabulary Learning Strategies Inventory SILL : Stratery Inventory for Language Learning v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. Factors Influencing English Language Learning.
The Study Objectives. Scope of the Study. Methods of the Study. Significance of the Study.
Outline of the Study .7 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Language Learning Strategies .1 The Definitions of Learning, Strategies and Language Learning Strategies. Language Learning Strategies. Overview of Language Learning Strategies.
Classifications of Language Learning Strategies. Oxford‟s Language Learning Strategies Classification .2 Cohen‟s Language Learning Strategies Classification .3 O‟Malley and Chamot‟s Language Learning Strategies Classification .12 i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Vocabulary Learning Strategies. The Definitions of Vocabulary Learning Strategies.
The Classifications of Vocabulary Learning Strategies. The Importance of Vocabulary Learning Strategies. Studies on Vocabulary Learning Strategies .17 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Participants of the study.
Setting of the Study. Procedure for the Questionnaire .23 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS .An Analysis of the Questionnaire on the Song Cong High School Students‟ Vocabulary Learning Strategies .The Song Cong High School Students‟ Perceptions of English Vocabulary Learning. Vocabulary Learning Strategies used by 60 Song Cong High School Students. Vocabulary Learning Strategies Uses of the Song Cong High School Students.
The SCHS Student‟s Self-Reports to the Four Categories of Vocabulary Learning Strategies. Variation in Students‟ Individual Language Learning Strategy Use According to Students‟ Grades. Answer to Research Question 1: What are the SCHS students‟ perceptions of using strategies in their vocabulary learning processes?. 33 ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Answer to Research Question 2: What strategies are most and least commonly employed by the SCHS students in English vocabulary learning? 33 3. Answer to Research Question 3: What is the relationship between students‟ reported vocabulary learning strategies use and their level of study?. Limitations of the Study. Recommendations for Further Studies.
V iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION This part gives a brief introduction to the study which focuses on students at Song Cong High School (SCHS), Thai Nguyen. It covers the rationale of the study, factors influencing English language learning, the study objectives, research questions, scope of the study, methods of the study, significance of the study, the outline of the study, and a summary of this part. Rationale Vocabulary is very important for people‟s communication and language learning, which plays an important role in the process of second language acquisition.111) stated that “without grammar little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. The saying sounds very familiar with many people.
However, the researcher still wants to repeat it once more to confirm the importance of vocabulary in any language. “If a language could be considered as a house, then its grammar could be considered as cement and its vocabulary could be figuratively compared to bricks. To build a complete house, no only cement but also bricks are needed. Without bricks, no house can be built, even when plenty of high quality cement is available.
This means that to be a competent English communicator, one must acquire a good knowledge of English grammar and have a rich amount of English vocabulary as well, which is considered as an essential element of language. Whether in speaking or writing, learners need vocabulary to communicate and understand others. In many cases, learners produce grammatically incorrect sentences, but they still get their message across if they use key words appropriately. In other cases, learners may feel uncomfortable because they fail to employ certain words, or do not know the words to express themselves.
Vocabulary is not only indispensable for personal communication, but also for academic study. In fact, many standardized tests require knowledge of vocabulary such as TOFFLE, IELTs, GMAT, etc. For this reason, learners must give high priority to learning and developing their knowledge of vocabulary. In language teaching, more emphasis was put on grammatical knowledge rather than lexical knowledge for a considerable time, with the view that vocabulary was 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com merely to provide context for the learning of structures.
However, as a result of the development of communicative approaches to language teaching recently, the status of vocabulary learning process has been considerably enhanced (Nunan, 1991). Applied linguists believe that the development of a rich vocabulary is an important element in the acquisition of a second language. Therefore, it is necessary that both teachers and learners find out effective ways to enrich learners‟ vocabulary. Obviously, if students are taught the strategies to work out the answers for themselves, they are empowered to manage their own learning.
This point of view has been reflected in the literature of the field. In the last decades, there has been a gradual but significant shift within the field of language learning and teaching resulting in greater emphasis on language learners and learning process rather than language teachers and teaching. As a result of this shift on learners and the important role that they can play in the process of learning new languages, a significant amount of research on language learning strategies has been done in the last few decades. Several studies that have been carried out by Oxford (1990), O‟Malley and Chamot (1990), Nunan (1991), Rubin and Thompson (1994), and Cohen (1998) have shown that one of the most important factors that distinguish successful learners from unsuccessful ones are their learning strategies.
In Vietnam, language learning strategies in general, and vocabulary learning strategies in particular have received more and more attention. Some studies into this field have been conducted so far. However, research on vocabulary learning strategies employed by students at SCHS has not been done yet. From all the facts mentioned above, Researcher decided to carry out this study to find out how much awareness of students at SCHS had on their learning process, and what vocabulary learning strategies they were employing.
My goal is that the information that this study provides would enable English teachers in high schools in Vietnam to find out the best way to help students achieve or exceed the expectation. Factors Influencing English Language Learning There are number of factors which influence the success of English language learning. Since 1970s, the research focusing on second language acquisition has shifted from teaching to learning, and increasing studies have been done from 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com learners‟ perspective. One has to admit that achieving the goals of language learning vocabulary instruction is no easy matter.
Learning vocabulary through formal instruction is a complex process influenced by a number of factors: the teacher‟s approach to vocabulary teaching, the teacher‟s understanding of the key notions in vocabulary‟s acquisition, the effort invested by learners in vocabulary learning as well as their readiness to take responsibility for their own learning. However, various opinions meet at some points and below are four types of factors said to have great impact on language learners‟ English language learning. Firstly, it is the person-dependent factors including age, sex, language atitude, intelligence, prior knowledge, motivation, self-concept/image, personality, and cognitive and learning style. These differ from person to person.
Needless to say, there are relatively stable and determine to a large extent how a learner approaches a task.