VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES —eles— NGUYEN THI MINH HLEU STUDENTS’ BELIEFS ABOUT VOCABULARY LEARNING: A MIXED METHODS STUDY ( Sử dụng phương pháp hỗn hợp nghiên cứu niềm tin ciia học sinh về việc học tử vựng) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: language Teaching Methodolagy Code: 60140111 HANOI, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDEES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES —cals>— NGUYEN THI MINH HIEU STUDENTS’ BELIEFS ABOUT VOCABULARY LEARNING: A MIXED METHODS STUDY ( Sử dụng phương pháp hỗn hợp nghiên cứu niễm tin ctia hgc sinh vé vide học từ vựng) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Superisor: Dr. Lé Van Canh HANOI, 2014 DECLARATION Thereby declare that this thesis is my own work and cffort and that has not been submitted anywhere for any award.
Where other sources of information have been used, they have been acknowledged. I cede copyright of the thesis in favor of Post- Graduate Departmonl- Vietnam National University Ta noi, 2014 Ngiyễn Thị Minh Hiểu ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, T wish to send my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr 1. Vin Canh for his expert guidance, helpful suggestions and critical feedback throughout the study. Secondly, I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to all the lectures in the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies of Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies for their useful lessons from which 1 have benefited a lot for the accomplishment of this study.
And I am also indebted to my students from class 11A1, 11A4, 11A7 and my colleagues at IIa Long high school for their participation and assistance without which this sLudy could not have been success [ul Last but not least, | would like to express my special thanks to ny family, my Deloved parents, my younger brother and my dear younger for their love, encouragement, immeasurable support and conerele help for me lo completo thins research. Many thanks also go to all of you, to anyone J have forgotten to mention here. LIST OF TABLES Table 3. Beliefs about the importance of vocabulary Table 2.
Beliefs about vovabulary learning ‘Table 2. Students’ self-report of the vocabulary learning strategies they used Table 2. Strategies preferences reported by the students in the interviews PART A: INFRODUCTION LEARNERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT VOCABULARY LEARNING 1, Statement of Preblem In recent decades, researchers in the field of second language acquisition have shown greal inlorest in earners’ individual characteristics that van alee Ihe learners’ success in language learning, The results of studies on second language leamers’ beliefs have revealed that beliefs about second/foreign language leaming are strong influential factors on lcaming achicvements, Icading to a new wave of attention to beliefs about language leaming (Lleidari, Izadi, & Ahmadian, 2011). Researchers have found that second language learners come to the language class with same preconceived ideas or belicls about language and language learning and that these beliefs can indicate what expectations the leamers have and what actions in their language learning they will take (Abraham & Vann, 1987; Holec, 1987, Hortwitz, 1985, Wenden, 1987).
Therefore, researchers have been investigating the beliefs that second language leamers possess and the factors that affect learners’ beliefs in order to find ways lo help learners adjust. their beliels to [acililale their lmgnage learning Vocabulary leaming has been identified as their greatest problem in English leaming (Si, 2005), Vocabulary leaming beliefs, another leamer variable that influences vocabulary leaning (Moir & Nation, 2002; Gu, 2005), is an under- researched area. Although the importance of leamers’ beliefs is now generally rovognized in the ficld of English language education, few studies have becn reported about learners’ beliefs about vocabulary learning. It is widely perceived that vouabulary learning is important and that vovabulary learning outcomes are not satisfactory for most learners.
As beliefs are factors influencing vocabulary leaning strategies, it is necessary to investigate learners’ beliefs about vocabulary leaming so as 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, T wish to send my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr 1. Vin Canh for his expert guidance, helpful suggestions and critical feedback throughout the study. Secondly, I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to all the lectures in the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies of Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies for their useful lessons from which 1 have benefited a lot for the accomplishment of this study. And I am also indebted to my students from class 11A1, 11A4, 11A7 and my colleagues at IIa Long high school for their participation and assistance without which this sLudy could not have been success [ul Last but not least, | would like to express my special thanks to ny family, my Deloved parents, my younger brother and my dear younger for their love, encouragement, immeasurable support and conerele help for me lo completo thins research.
Many thanks also go to all of you, to anyone J have forgotten to mention here. PART A: INFRODUCTION LEARNERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT VOCABULARY LEARNING 1, Statement of Preblem In recent decades, researchers in the field of second language acquisition have shown greal inlorest in earners’ individual characteristics that van alee Ihe learners’ success in language learning, The results of studies on second language leamers’ beliefs have revealed that beliefs about second/foreign language leaming are strong influential factors on lcaming achicvements, Icading to a new wave of attention to beliefs about language leaming (Lleidari, Izadi, & Ahmadian, 2011). Researchers have found that second language learners come to the language class with same preconceived ideas or belicls about language and language learning and that these beliefs can indicate what expectations the leamers have and what actions in their language learning they will take (Abraham & Vann, 1987; Holec, 1987, Hortwitz, 1985, Wenden, 1987). Therefore, researchers have been investigating the beliefs that second language leamers possess and the factors that affect learners’ beliefs in order to find ways lo help learners adjust.
their beliels to [acililale their lmgnage learning Vocabulary leaming has been identified as their greatest problem in English leaming (Si, 2005), Vocabulary leaming beliefs, another leamer variable that influences vocabulary leaning (Moir & Nation, 2002; Gu, 2005), is an under- researched area. Although the importance of leamers’ beliefs is now generally rovognized in the ficld of English language education, few studies have becn reported about learners’ beliefs about vocabulary learning. It is widely perceived that vouabulary learning is important and that vovabulary learning outcomes are not satisfactory for most learners. As beliefs are factors influencing vocabulary leaning strategies, it is necessary to investigate learners’ beliefs about vocabulary leaming so as 1 PART A: INFRODUCTION LEARNERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT VOCABULARY LEARNING 1, Statement of Preblem In recent decades, researchers in the field of second language acquisition have shown greal inlorest in earners’ individual characteristics that van alee Ihe learners’ success in language learning, The results of studies on second language leamers’ beliefs have revealed that beliefs about second/foreign language leaming are strong influential factors on lcaming achicvements, Icading to a new wave of attention to beliefs about language leaming (Lleidari, Izadi, & Ahmadian, 2011).
Researchers have found that second language learners come to the language class with same preconceived ideas or belicls about language and language learning and that these beliefs can indicate what expectations the leamers have and what actions in their language learning they will take (Abraham & Vann, 1987; Holec, 1987, Hortwitz, 1985, Wenden, 1987). Therefore, researchers have been investigating the beliefs that second language leamers possess and the factors that affect learners’ beliefs in order to find ways lo help learners adjust. their beliels to [acililale their lmgnage learning Vocabulary leaming has been identified as their greatest problem in English leaming (Si, 2005), Vocabulary leaming beliefs, another leamer variable that influences vocabulary leaning (Moir & Nation, 2002; Gu, 2005), is an under- researched area. Although the importance of leamers’ beliefs is now generally rovognized in the ficld of English language education, few studies have becn reported about learners’ beliefs about vocabulary learning.
It is widely perceived that vouabulary learning is important and that vovabulary learning outcomes are not satisfactory for most learners. As beliefs are factors influencing vocabulary leaning strategies, it is necessary to investigate learners’ beliefs about vocabulary leaming so as 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, T wish to send my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr 1. Vin Canh for his expert guidance, helpful suggestions and critical feedback throughout the study. Secondly, I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to all the lectures in the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies of Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies for their useful lessons from which 1 have benefited a lot for the accomplishment of this study.
And I am also indebted to my students from class 11A1, 11A4, 11A7 and my colleagues at IIa Long high school for their participation and assistance without which this sLudy could not have been success [ul Last but not least, | would like to express my special thanks to ny family, my Deloved parents, my younger brother and my dear younger for their love, encouragement, immeasurable support and conerele help for me lo completo thins research. Many thanks also go to all of you, to anyone J have forgotten to mention here. ABSTRACT The construct of learner beliefs is a topic that has gained much attention in education in recent years. Nearly two decades of research has revealed that belicfs about second/foreign language learning are strong influential factors on leaming achievements.
This study explores the beliefs about vocabulary learning held by the secondary school students specializing in English, their employed vocabulary leaming strategies as well as the extent to which thew beliefs mfuenced their use of vocabulary learning stratogics. Tho participants wore 95 sccondary school students of the English- specialization stream in one specialized secondary school in Quang Ninh province. The study used a mixed-methods design wilh questionnaires and interviews being the instruments of data collection. The questionmaire was administered to identify the students’ beliefs about.
vocabulary leaming and their employed vocabulary leaming strategies. A small number of the questionnaire respondents were chosen for the follow-up interviews. The interview questions were developed on the basis of the initial results ofthe analysis of the questionnaire responses. ‘The purpose of the interview was two-fold.
First, it was to elicit more information that the questionnaire responses failed ta provide. Second, it was lo crosa-check the responses Iie aludents gave to the questionnaire. The obtained results revealed that the students in general had positive beliefs about vocabulary learning. They attached great importance to the role of vocabulary and lexical knowledge to then leaming English at the school.
However, they had conflicting beliefs about how words should be learned. in addition, there is consistence between their reported behelš abơuL vocsbubuy loarting and their reporled vocabulary leaming, strategies. The findings of the study also indicated that most of the strategies the students reported that they employed were cognitive trategies. Even in the interview, none of them mentioned any metacoguitive or motivational strategies.
Summary of key findings 2. Lnplications for teaching 3. Suggestions for future research 'RBFENREKCES APPENDICES. Summary of key findings 2.
Lnplications for teaching 3. Suggestions for future research 'RBFENREKCES APPENDICES. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, T wish to send my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr 1. Vin Canh for his expert guidance, helpful suggestions and critical feedback throughout the study.
Secondly, I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to all the lectures in the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies of Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies for their useful lessons from which 1 have benefited a lot for the accomplishment of this study.