HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --------------------------------------- GRADUATION PAPER FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS A STUDY ON USING GAMES TO IMPROVE VOCABULARY FOR GRADE 10TH STUDENTS AT THUAN THANH 1 HIGH SCHOOL (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRÒ CHƠI ĐỂ CẢI THIỆN TỪ VỰNG TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT THUẬN THÀNH 1) Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Nam, M. Student: Nguyen Ngoc Quynh Student number: 11317055 Hung Yen – 2021 HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --------------------------------------- GRADUATION PAPER FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS A STUDY ON USING GAMES TO IMPROVE VOCABULARY FOR GRADE 10TH STUDENTS AT THUAN THANH 1 HIGH SCHOOL (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRÒ CHƠI ĐỂ CẢI THIỆN TỪ VỰNG TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT THUẬN THÀNH 1) Student: Nguyen Ngoc Quynh Student number: 11317055 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Nam, M. Hung Yen – 2021 i DECLARATION I certify that the thesis entitled “A study on using games to improve vocabulary for grade 10th students at Thuan Thanh 1 High School” is the result of my own research and the substance of this thesis has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution. Hung Yen, May 2021 Signature Nguyen Ngoc Quynh ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the process of implementing my graduation paper, I have received lots of encouragement, precious ideas and experiences from my teachers, family and friends.
I would like to thank all my teachers in Hung Yen University of Technology and Education for their useful advice. First of all, I would like to express my profound gratitude and indebtedness to my supervisor Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nam, M.A for her careful instructions and valuable advice during the conduct of my research. My graduation paper would have never been completed without her instructions.
My deep appreciation also goes to the teachers of UTEHY for their interesting lectures that provided me a strong inspiration for this study. I am grateful to the teachers and students at Thuan Thanh 1 High School for their willingness to respond to my survey questionnaires. In my study, it is inevitable that the ideas of many writers in the field are recorded and developed. I also would like to offer my sincere thanks to the authors of the books, journal articles, etc.
listed in the reference for their ideas that have been reviewed and developed in my paper. I also would like to express my special thanks to all of my readers for their constructive comments on this thesis paper. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents and friends who have encouraged and supported me a lot during the course of my graduation paper. iii ABSTRACT The study aims at applying games to improve vocabulary for grade 10th students at Thuan Thanh 1 High School.
Qualitative and quantitative method was used to analyze and to find the solution to the problems. The research was conducted at Thuan Thanh 1 High School and the population of this study was 10D1's students. There were 30 students and 4 teachers as the subjects of this study. Data were gathered by questionnaires and interviews.
The result of applying games to improve vocabulary showed that games were so interesting for students. However, there are many difficulties related to students. To deal with these issues and the desire of improving the present situation, the researcher recommended some solutions for students to be better in using games to improve vocabulary more effectively in the near future. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. v LIST OF CHARTS. vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 Rationale of the study .2 Aims of the study .3 Research questions of the study .4 Scope of the study .5 Methods of the study.6 Design of the study.
3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 An overview of vocabulary.1 Definition of vocabulary .2 Types of vocabulary.3 The importance of vocabulary .2 Games in Language Teaching and Learning .1 What is a “Game”? .2 Types of games .3 The role of Games.4 The effectiveness of using games in terms of learning vocabulary. 10 v CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY .3 Participants of the study .1 The questionnaire for teachers .2 The questionnaire for students .3 The interview for students .1 Summary of the study .2 Limitations of the study .3 Suggestions for further study. IX vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS UTEHY: Hung Yen University of Technology and Education M.A: Master of art TT1 high school: Thuan Thanh 1 High School vii LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES I: List of charts Chart 3.1 Teachers‟ opinions about learning vocabulary through games Chart 3.2 Teachers‟ opinions about the importance of using games to improve vocabulary Chart 3.3 Teachers‟ opinions about the effectiveness of the use of games to improve vocabulary Chart 3.4 Teachers‟ opinions about games Chart 3.5 Teachers‟ opinions about students‟ difficulties when using games to improve vocabulary Chart 3.6: Teachers‟ suggestions to help students use games to improve more effectively Chart 3.7 Students‟ opinions about learning vocabulary through games Chart 3.8 Students‟ opinions about the importance of using games to improve vocabulary Chart 3.9 Students‟ opinion about the effectiveness of the use of games to improve vocabulary Chart 3.10 Students‟ opinions about games Chart 3.11 Students‟ difficulties when using games to improve vocabulary.12 Suggestions to help students use games to improve more effectively. II: List of tables Table 3.1 Teachers‟ opinions about the benefits of using games to improve vocabulary Table 3.2 Students‟ opinions about the benefits of using games to improve vocabulary 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study Nowadays, English has become popular and necessary all over the world; English also has an important role in our life.
This is the reason why English become the common language in the world. Therefore, using English in communication is more and more necessary. Vocabulary learning is an essential part of language learning. It helps learners develop the four skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing.
Recognizing the importance of vocabulary in language learning, however, most English classrooms in Vietnam today in general and at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education where I am learning in particular, vocabulary teaching and learning has not been paid enough attention to as it deserves. Vocabulary has not been taught separately but mixed with lessons of reading, speaking, writing or listening. This causes many difficulties for teachers of English to apply suitable teaching methods. Another problem is that even though students realize the importance of vocabulary in language learning, most Vietnamese students realize the importance of vocabulary in language learning, most Vietnamese students find it boring and learn vocabulary passively.
They think that it is simply an activity that teachers introduce new vocabulary and their task is just to copy down the new word and remember its meaning. While studying at Thuan Thanh 1 High School, my classmates and I were partly aware of the importance of vocabulary which is an important part of four English skills and trial exams. Thus, we did our best to take any new words given by our teachers or found in our textbooks and then learned them by heart. However, we forgot all of these words just several days after that.
And this really discouraged us. In addition, many students told me that they felt bored and sleepy when they listened to the teacher's explanation for meaning or definition, pronunciation, spelling and grammatical functions. Furthermore, after they learned any new word, they found that they were not able to use that word properly in different contexts or pronounce it correctly and I have been wondering that how language learners can learn vocabulary effectively and find it an interesting activity. 2 For the above reasons, the researcher decided to conduct the study "A study on using games to improve vocabulary for grade 10th students at Thuan Thanh 1 High School".2 Aims of the study There are 4 main aims of the study which are: - To find out teacher‟s and student‟s attitudes towards using games in learning vocabulary for grade 10th students at Thuan Thanh 1 High School - To investigate the effectiveness of using games in terms of learning vocabulary for grade 10th students at Thuan Thanh 1 High School - To find out student‟s difficulties when using games to improve vocabulary - To give some suggestions for applying games in teaching and learning vocabulary.3 Research questions of the study In my research, I will answer some of the following questions: 1.
What are the teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards using games to improve vocabulary? 2. How effective is the use of games to improve vocabulary? 3. What are the students‟ difficulties when using games to improve vocabulary? 4. What are suggestions to enhance the effectiveness of using games in teaching and learning vocabulary? 1.4 Scope of the study This study is about using games in learning vocabulary for grade 10th students in Thuan Thanh 1 High School.
Because of the limitations of time and knowledge, the shortage of reference materials, this study only focuses on using games to learn vocabulary in English lessons for thirty 10D1‟s students at Thuan Thanh 1 High School to find out the importance and effectiveness of using games to improve vocabulary and offer beneficial 3 solutions to help the students to use games more effectively. Moreover, it is only confined to 10D1‟s students at Thuan Thanh 1 High School.5 Methods of the study Research tools include survey questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire was designed for two subjects: teachers and students. A survey consists of two main parts; each part is focused on effectively solve a research question.
The first part finds out teacher's and student's attitudes towards using games in learning vocabulary. The second part finds out the effectiveness of using games in terms of learning vocabulary. The rest of the survey suggests some solutions to enhance the effectiveness of using games in teaching and learning vocabulary. Both of them ask the research subject to check the mark from strongly agree to strongly disagree with the choices given.
Subsequently, several participants in the survey questionnaire continued to be invited to participate in the interview to gain in-depth information. This interview questions part only applies to students of 10D1 at Thuan Thanh 1 high school. The study will be conducted using quantitative, qualitative methods. After getting the results, the researcher will use tables and charts for presenting the collected data.6 Design of the study The study is designed with four main chapters and is arranged as follow: Chapter 1 is Introduction introduces the rationale of the study, the aim and objectives of the study, the scope of the study, the method of the study, the significance of the study, and the design of the study.
Chapter 2 is Literature Review, which consists of the findings closely related to the issue of the paper and provides knowledge for better understanding of the rest of the paper: Vocabulary learning, games in vocabulary learning. Chapter 3 is The study involves the methodology, data analysis, major findings of the study, and some suggestions of the study. Chapter 4 is The Conclusion which provides the summary of the study, the limitations of the study. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 An overview of vocabulary 2.1 Definition of vocabulary The definition of vocabulary has been for a long time.
Up to now, there have been different definitions of vocabulary depends on different points of view about vocabulary. According to Harmer (1991) stated that: “If language structures make up the skeleton of language, then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the fresh". Vocabulary is an essential part of any language. Hatch and Brown (1995) define that vocabulary as a list of words for a particular language or a list, the only system involved in that alphabetical order.
The choice in vocabulary selection and methods used in teaching vocabulary are important factors.