MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------ GRADUATION THESIS RESEARCH ON HOW TO ENRICH ENGLISH VOCABULARY AMONG THE ENGLISH MAJORS AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES OF INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY STUDENT NAME : NGUYỄN NGỌC TRÚC ID NUMBER : 17018381 CLASS CODE : DHAV13A COHORT : 2017-2021 SUPERVISOR : HOÀNG THỊ PHONG LINH, M. Ho Chi Minh City, 06/2021 MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------ GRADUATION THESIS RESEARCH ON HOW TO ENRICH ENGLISH VOCABULARY AMONG THE ENGLISH MAJORS AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES OF INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY STUDENT NAME : NGUYỄN NGỌC TRÚC ID NUMBER : 17018381 CLASS CODE : DHAV13A COHORT : 2017-2021 SUPERVISOR : HOÀNG THỊ PHONG LINH, M. Ho Chi Minh City, 06/2021 MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------ Student name : NGUYEN NGOC TRUC ID Number : 17018381 Class Code : DHAV13A Cohort : 2017-2021 Supervisor Name : HOANG THI PHONG LINH, M. Student’s declaration: I declare that this graduation report is entirely my own work and does not involve in plagiarism or collusion.
It also has not been accepted as part of a submission to another purpose else where. I accept heavy penalty for any cheating or plagiarism. Date submitted : June 6th, 2021 Signed : ……………………… Word count : 8147 words ABSTRACT Vocabulary expansion is essential for people aiming to learn a foreign language, especially English majors. While the researchers have conducted many investigations on the important roles of vocabulary in English, the challenges as well as learning methods have not been investigated.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the important roles of vocabulary expansion in improving English skills, the challenges and approaches to learn English vocabulary among English majors at Faculty of Foreign Languages of Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City. The researcher used quantitative research to collect data. The questionnaires were distributed to 300 participants both offline and online through Google Form. The results revealed that one third of the FFL English majors are not aware of the crucial roles of vocabulary expansion in improving English skills.
Besides, failure to define multiple meanings of words, and lack of motivation are common obstacles that the English majors often face. Also, the results show that the English majors learn more passive vocabulary than active vocabulary. They used two main methods including listening to music and watching movies to expand passive vocabulary. In addition, using mobile apps and engaging in conversations were used to enrich active vocabulary by most the English majors.
The above-mentioned aspects of enriching vocabulary in this study may be of importance in explaining the reasons why English majors at FFL of IUH should be aware of in learning English. The researcher also offers some recommendations and implications to help the English majors overcome difficulties they may face in expanding English vocabulary. Key words: Enrich, English skills, important roles, vocabulary. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT During the implementation of this study, I received a lot of enthusiastic support that helped me overcome all difficulties and finish this meaningful time.
Firstly, I would like to show my appreciation to the Board of Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City and the Faculty of Foreign Languages for creating favourable conditions and opportunities for me to complete my graduation thesis. Secondly, I would like to thank my supervisor Ms. Hoang Thi Phong Linh for her enthusiasm, dedication, and profound knowledge. She provided encouragement and was always willing to give helpful direction and assist at any time she could throughout this study.
Her expertise and attention to detail kept my work on track from my first research questions to the final draft of this study. I feel very fortunate to have been guided by her. Without her wholehearted support and mentoring, this thesis would not have been accomplished. Thirdly, I sincerely thank all the students at FFL of IUH who took their valuable time to give their opinions and complete my questionnaire.
I really appreciate their willingness to assist with this study. Besides, I would like to express my gratitude to my team members – Ms. Tran Xuan Quynh – and – Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Nhan – for the stimulating discussions, for the time we worked together before deadlines, and for the memories we have had in the last four years.
Thank you for always sharing your feelings and supporting me during my study. Moreover, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation for my family for all the unconditional support in this intense academic year. Last but not least, my thanks go to all the people who have supported me to complete the research directly or indirectly. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .1 Rationale of the research .4 Scope of the research.
3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Definitions of key terms .1 Definition of vocabulary .2 Types of vocabulary .2 Results of previous studies.1 The importance of enriching English vocabulary.1 Expressing ideas through verbal and written communication .2 Strengthening English reading and listening comprehension.3 Enhancing translation and interpretation skills .2 Difficulties in learning English vocabulary .1 From vocabulary itself .2 From learners themselves .3 Approaches of enriching English vocabulary .1 Methods to learn passive vocabulary .2 Methods to learn active vocabulary .3 Summary of some previous studies. 13 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN .3 Research methodology and research methods. 17 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .1 General situation of learning English among the English majors at FFL of IUH .2 The roles of expanding English vocabulary in improving English skills .3 Difficulties in learning English vocabulary faced by the English majors at FFL of IUH .1 Difficulties that come from the vocabulary itself .2 Difficulties that come from the learners themselves .4 Approaches to learn English vocabulary .1 Types of English vocabulary that most the English majors learn .2 Approaches to learn passive vocabulary .3 Approaches to learn active vocabulary .4 Self-assessment of the effectiveness of methods that the English majors have been applying .1 The roles of expanding English vocabulary in improving English skills among the English majors at FFL of IUH .2 Difficulties in learning English vocabulary among the English majors at FFL of IUH .3 Approaches of enriching English vocabulary among the English majors at FFL of IUH .3 Limitations of research. 38 Questionnaire Supervisor’s Evaluation Form Examiner’s Evaluation Form Rubrics for Written Graduation Thesis (70%) Rubrics for Supervisor’s Appraisal (10%) Rubrics for Supervisor’s Appraisal (5%) Rubrics for Oral Presentation (10%) Progress Form Peer Evaluation Form (1) Peer Evaluation Form (2) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.
1 The time period that the English majors learning English. 2 Frequency of learning English vocabulary in a day. 3 Self-assessment of students’ English proficiency. 4 Students’ perspectives on the importance of enriching English vocabulary.
5 Skills that require the enrichment of English vocabulary. 6 Difficulties that come from the vocabulary itself. 7 Difficulties that come from the learners themselves. 8 Types of English vocabulary that most the English majors learn.
9 Approaches to learn passive vocabulary. 10 Approaches to learn active vocabulary. 11 Self-assessment of the effectiveness of methods that the English majors have been applying. 30 LIST OF TABLE Table 4.
1 The roles of expanding English vocabulary in improving English skills. 24 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS IUH: Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City FFL: Faculty of Foreign Languages Submitted by: NGUYEN NGOC TRUC Student’s ID: 17018381 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Supervisor: HOANG THI PHONG LINH, M. 1 Submitted by: NGUYEN NGOC TRUC Student’s ID: 17018381 1.1 Rationale of the research Learning and acquiring a language has never been easier and needs more attention today. Also, it will be a huge challenge for all learners to gain skills in the language.
Consequently, to learn a foreign language, learners need to pay attention to the smallest factor – vocabulary. Vocabulary is not only the basic element needed to create a sentence, but the combination of many words helps learners convey their opinions. So, expanding vocabulary is urgent and essential for improving English skills. Moreover, in the process of expanding their vocabulary, learners may face a number of difficulties that make learners feel frustrated when they do not achieve the results they want.
In fact, most learners are primarily interested in practicing grammar exercises instead of enriching vocabulary. Therefore, this study will point out some challenges in expanding vocabulary so that learners can avoid and learn more effectively. In addition, knowing how to expand the vocabulary is no less important because gaining a new vocabulary will depend partly on the method that learners apply. The reality shows that there are a variety of ways for the learners to learn vocabulary, however; learners are overwhelmed by too many choices and unable to choose anyway, so this study also directs learners to effective vocabulary expansion methods they are looking for.
With the desire to give the learners help, this study aims to generalize learners with different perspectives on the importance of vocabulary expansion for improving English skills purposes, the challenges as well as approaches learners can apply when enriching vocabulary. I hope that what I find and suggest through this study will help language learners in general and the English majors at Faculty of Foreign Language at Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City learn English vocabulary better.2 Research objectives This study is intended to find out the important roles of vocabulary expansion to improve English skills among the English majors at FFL of IUH. In addition, it aims to investigate many difficulties that FFL students are facing while learning vocabulary. Also, this study suggests several methods with a view to helping the English majors at FFL of IUH expand vocabulary to improve their English skills.
Supervisor: HOANG THI PHONG LINH, M. 2 Submitted by: NGUYEN NGOC TRUC Student’s ID: 17018381 1.3 Research questions This study desires to address these questions below: a. What roles does expanding English vocabulary play in improving English skills among the English majors at FFL of IUH? b. What difficulties do the FFL English majors face when they learn vocabulary? c.
What should the FFL English majors do to expand English vocabulary? 1.4 Scope of the research Because of limited time and ability, what I find and read may not cover all aspects of vocabulary expansion to enhance English skills. Therefore, this study includes the English majors of Faculty Foreign Language at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City freshmen to seniors to find out what their needs are. In addition, because of the researcher's limited ability, time constraints, and narrowed-scaled study, this study only comprises about 300 students at FFL of IUH. Through this survey, they will give their personal perspectives on two main points: the roles of vocabulary expansion to English skills, the difficulties in learning words and how to expand them.
Supervisor: HOANG THI PHONG LINH, M. 3 Submitted by: NGUYEN NGOC TRUC Student’s ID: 17018381 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Supervisor: HOANG THI PHONG LINH, M. 4 Submitted by: NGUYEN NGOC TRUC Student’s ID: 17018381 2.1 Definitions of key terms 2.1 Definition of vocabulary For learning a language, the first and indispensable step is learning vocabulary. Vocabulary has many different forms and difficulty levels.
The more advanced vocabulary is learned, the easier it is for learners to acquire outside knowledge and information. According to the Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary, vocabulary is ―all the words that exist in a particular language or subject‖. Indeed, the vocabulary is very diverse and rich and we use it with the most practical purpose - that is to convey our thoughts to other people. Vocabulary can be defined as ''words learners must know to communicate effectively; words in speaking (expressive vocabulary) and words in listening (receptive vocabulary)'' (Neuman & Dwyer, 2009, p.