1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ ANH THOA EXPLOITING SUPPLEMENTARY READING MATERIALS TO CONSOLIDATE AND DEVELOP VOCABULARY FOR GRADE 11 ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT BIEN HOA SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOL, HA NAM (Nghiên cứu về việc khai thác tài liệu đọc hiểu bổ trợ để củng cố và phát triển từ vựng cho học sinh lớp 11 chuyên tiếng Anh tại trường THPT chuyên Biên Hòa, Hà Nam) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 601410 Hanoi – 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ ANH THOA EXPLOITING SUPPLEMENTARY READING MATERIALS TO CONSOLIDATE AND DEVELOP VOCABULARY FOR GRADE 11 ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT BIEN HOA SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOL, HA NAM (Nghiên cứu về việc khai thác tài liệu đọc hiểu bổ trợ để củng cố và phát triển từ vựng cho học sinh lớp 11 chuyên tiếng Anh tại trường THPT chuyên Biên Hòa, Hà Nam) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 601410 Supervisor: Đào Thị Thu Trang, M. Hanoi – 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BHSHS : Bien Hoa Specialized High School MOET : Ministry of Education and Training ELT : English Language Teaching L2 : Second Language LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The number of hours spent on learning new words every day.
26 Figure 2: Students’ preference in joining the supplementary reading programme. 29 Figure 3: Students’ feelings while taking part in the supplementary reading programme. 30 Figure 4: Students’ attitudes towards consolidating and developing vocabulary through the supplementary reading texts. 31 Figure 5: Students’ assessment of their vocabulary knowledge gained through the supplementary reading programme.
35 Figure 6: Students’ explicit evaluation of the effectiveness of consolidating and developing vocabulary through the supplementary reading texts plus vocabulary enhancement exercises. 36 Figure 7: Students’ expectation after joining the supplementary reading programme. 36 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 7 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Students’ awareness of the role of vocabulary in their English learning. 25 Table 2: The sources from which the students learn new words.
26 Table 3: Students’ actual ways of learning and consolidating new words. 27 Table 4: Students’ difficulties in learning new words. 28 Table 5: Students’ awareness of consolidating and developing vocabulary through supplementary reading texts. 28 Table 6: Students’ assessment of the selected supplementary reading texts and the design of the vocabulary enhancement exercises.
31 Table 7: Students’ assessment of the most effective types of the vocabulary enhancement exercises. 32 Table 8: Students’ assessment of the benefits gained from reading the supplementary reading texts. 33 Table 9: Students’ assessment of the benefits gained from doing the enhancement exercises after the supplementary reading texts. 34 Table 10: Results of the pre-test.
37 Table 11: Results of the post-test. 38 Table 12: Results of the pre-test and post-test. 39 Table 13: Results of the pre-test and post-tests. 39 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration.
iii List of Abbreviations. iv List of Figures. iv List of Tables. Rationale for the Study.
Aims and Research Questions of the Study. Scope of the Study. Significance of the Study. Design of the Study.
4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Vocabulary in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning. Definitions of Vocabulary. Classification of Vocabulary.
According to the Concept of Morpheme. According to the Meaning. According to the Function of Vocabulary Items in a Sentence. According to the Sequence of Use.
What Needs to Be Taught?. Form: Pronunciation and Spelling. Aspects of Meaning. Ways to Develop and Consolidate Vocabulary…….
Ways to Develop Vocabulary. Ways to Consolidate Vocabulary. The Role of Vocabulary in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning… 11 1. Supplementary Reading Materials and Vocabulary Acquisition.
Definitions of Supplementary Reading Materials. 12 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Roles of Supplementary Reading Materials in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning. Relationship Between Reading and Vocabulary Growth.
Studies on L2 Vocabulary Acquisition through Reading and Reading plus Other Activities. 16 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Data Collection Instruments. Pre-Test and Post-Tests.
Intervention: The Supplementary Reading Programme. The Supplementary Reading Materials. The Types of Vocabulary Exercises Exploited in the Supplementary Reading Texts. The Schedule for the Supplementary Reading Programme.
Data Collection Procedures. Data Analysis Procedures. Pre-test and post-tests. 24 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.
Students’ awareness of the role of vocabulary in their English learning. Students’ actual ways of learning and consolidating new words. Students’ difficulties in learning new words. Students’ awareness of consolidating and developing vocabulary through supplementary reading texts and their preference in joining the supplementary reading programme.
Results and discussion from the post-task questionnaire. Results and discussion from the pre-test and post-tests. 40 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 10 PART C: CONCLUSION. Summary of Major Findings.
Pedagogical Implications of the Study. Limitations of the Study. Suggestions for Further Studies. I LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 11 PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale for the Study Nowadays, in the time of co-operation and globalization, English is used as a means of international communication. Therefore, more and more people all over the world are trying to master this language. In Viet Nam, to meet the demands for development and integration of the country into the world, over the last decades, more emphasis has been put on the teaching and learning of English language. At present, English is a compulsory subject in most schools of all levels, especially at high schools.
It is undeniable that vocabulary plays an important role in teaching and learning English. Concerning the significance of vocabulary, Wilkin (1972, p. 110) stated “without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed”. Also, vocabulary is an important language element that links four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing together.
Thus, vocabulary deficiency will lead to deficiency in other language skills. However, the reality of teaching and studying English in general, English vocabulary in particular at high schools in Viet Nam is still far from satisfaction. So far, English vocabulary has not been received considerable attention from many Vietnamese learners and teachers. As a matter of fact, in English lessons, words are introduced and taught quickly and most of the time is spent on grammar practice and fulfillment of the tasks.
As a result, most students have difficulty in learning English vocabulary especially in using words in appropriate situations. As a teacher of English at a specialized high school, I am fully aware of the importance of English vocabulary. Moreover, I am now in charge of teaching English for grade 11 English-major students. These students have to take part in many examinations especially ones for gifted students.
Thus, they have to acquire a large amount of English vocabulary to do tests on reading, listening skills and they need good vocabulary knowledge to express their ideas in writing and speaking. However, my students’ vocabulary is still limited. All these reasons have motivated me to conduct a study on “Exploiting supplementary reading materials to consolidate and develop vocabulary for grade 11 English-major students at Bien Hoa Specialized High School, Ha Nam. Aims and Research Questions of the Study LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 12 The study aims at implementing and evaluating the effectiveness of consolidating and developing English vocabulary for grade 11 English-major students through supplementary reading materials plus vocabulary enhancement exercises and exploring their attitudes towards the supplementary reading programme after the trial period.
In order to achieve the mentioned aims, the following questions have been proposed: Is it effective to consolidate and develop vocabulary for grade 11 English-major students through supplementary reading materials plus vocabulary enhancement exercises? What are the students’ attitudes towards the supplementary reading programme after the trial period? 3. Scope of the Study This research only focuses on consolidating and developing vocabulary through supplementary reading materials for 32 grade 11 English-major students at Bien Hoa Specialized High School (BHSHS). Due to the time constraint, the researcher could only carry out the research during 10 weeks. Five themes in the textbook “Tieng Anh 11 Nang Cao” were chosen and ten supplementary reading texts accompanied by some types of vocabulary enhancement exercises were exploited to help the students to consolidate and develop vocabulary.
Fifty vocabulary items were supposed to be mastered at the post-tests. Significance of the Study This research was implemented with the hope that it would help the teaching and learning English vocabulary for grade 11 English-major students at BHSHS more effective. If this way of teaching and learning vocabulary actually helps to develop the students’ vocabulary knowledge, it should be applied to the teaching and learning of English at other grades. Research Methodology This is an action research conducted at the researcher’s own class at BHSHS.
During the process of implementing this study, the data were collected from a pre-task questionnaire, a post-task questionnaire, a pre-test, two post-tests and then analysed by means of descriptive statistic devives. It is hoped that with the combination of these data collection instruments, reliable findings would be yielded from the research. Design of the Study LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 13 This study includes three main parts, which are presented as follows: Part A is the introduction which includes the rationale for the research topic, aims and research questions, research methodology, scope, significance and design of the study. Part B is the development which consists of three following chapters: Chapter 1 reviews some theoretical background relevant to the study.
It includes general knowledge of English vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning and an overview of supplementary reading materials and vocabulary acquisition. Chapter 2 presents the research methodology. This chapter introduces the research context, research approach, participants, intervention, data collection instruments, data collection procedures and data analysis procedures. Chapter 3 goes into details of the data analysis, results and discussion.
Part C is the conclusion which includes the summary, implications, limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies. PART B: DEVELOPMENT LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 14 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter will review some background information relevant to this study. An overview of English vocabulary such as definitions, classification, aspects involved in teaching vocabulary, ways to develop and consolidate vocabulary and the role of vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning is presented. Moreover, a brief introduction of supplementary reading materials and vocabulary acquisition including definitions, roles, the relationship between reading and vocabulary growth and some studies on L2 vocabulary acquisition through reading and reading plus other activities is aslo discussed.
English Vocabulary in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning 1. Definitions of Vocabulary It is not easy to define exactly what a word is. So far, there have been a number of definitions of vocabulary. Some linguists define it according to semantic criterion while others refers to it according to the phonological or potential one.
According to Parmer (1983, p. 37), the semantic unit may be a sequence of several words. The phrasal verb “look after” is a typical example. This phrase includes two words but its meaning can only be understood in the entire phrase and can not be interpreted by analyzing its single parts.
According to Michael Lewis (1993, p. 89), vocabulary “…may be individual words, or full sentences - institutionalized utterances - that convey fixed social or pragmatic meaning within a given community”.