VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* ********************* VŨ THỊ HUẾ VŨ THỊ HUẾ AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY ON USING SOCIAL NETWORKING AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY ON USING A SOCIAL SITE TO IMPROVE THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY NETWORKING SITE TO IMPROVE THE TENTH GRADE AT AVOCABULARY STUDENTS’ HIGH SCHOOL INAT NAM DINH PROVINCE A HIGH SCHOOL IN NAM DINH PROVINCE. PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 16045220 HANOI – 2018 HANOI – 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* VŨ THỊ HUẾ AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY ON USING SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE TO IMPROVE THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN NAM DINH PROVINCE (Nghiên cứu cải tiến sư phạm về việc sử dụng một mạng xã hội để cải thiện từ vựng của học sinh lớp 10 ở một trường THPT tỉnh Nam Định) M. PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Nguyen Thu Hanh, Ph.D HANOI – 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I declare that this thesis, which I submit to University of Languages and International Studies, is my own personal effort. I have faithfully and accurately cited all my sources, including books, journals, handouts as well as any other media, such as the Internet, letters or significant personal communication.
I declare that I understood the concept of plagiarism and I acknowledge my thesis will be rejected in case of plagiarism. i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is a pleasure to thank many people who made this dissertation possible. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Ms. Nguyen Thu Hanh for her valuable guidance, precious advice, and constructive criticism.
I thank her for her understanding and encouragement. I wish to address my sincere thanks to the head of English division of University of Languages and International Studies, Viet Nam National University. I owe my thanks also to all the teachers who have accepted to fill in the interview, and special thanks are due to the students of grade 10 students in my school for their time to fill in the questionnaires, answer the interview and do the tests. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT In the context of Vietnam, most high school students only study English in traditional classrooms.
However, with the development of technology, using social networking sites, especially Facebook, may be a new trend in coming years. With the deep concerns about this situation, the researcher conducted a study titled “An action research study on using social networking site to improve the tenth grade students’ vocabulary at a high school in Nam Dinh province”. This study was an action research project which was carried out to improve students’ vocabulary knowledge by using a social networking site: Facebook. The main purpose of this study was to find out the influence of Facebook on students’ learning vocabulary process.
The participants were 94 students in grade 10. To collect the data for this research, quantitative and qualitative method were used. Questionnaires, interviews and tests were employed to triangulate the information from various aspects to ensure the validity and reliability of the research. The results showed that students’ scores improved after they joined in the research.
Additionally, Facebook also motivated the students to study not only at school but also at home. In short, Facebook had a positive influence on the students’ learning vocabulary process so that the students felt interested in learning English vocabulary. Basing on these findings, some suggestions for using of Facebook to teach English were mentioned in the paper. Therefore, the paper would be a good reference for researchers, teachers and students to have a closer look on the issue and enhance students’ vocabulary knowledge.
Key words: vocabulary, social networking sites, Facebook, English vocabulary iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Steps of teaching English vocabulary ( Marzano, 2004) Figure 2: Five essential steps of learning new words (Brown and Payne, 1995) Figure 3: A Facebook personal site Figure 4: Action research steps adapted by Susman (1983) Figure 5: An online lesson Figure 6: Data collection procedure Figure 7: Data from questionnaire and test analysis procedure Figure 8: Data from interview analysis procedure Figure 9: Students’ reasons for learning English vocabulary Figure 10: Students’ learning means Figure 11: The amount of vocabulary learnt in a week Figure 12: Students’ purposes for using Facebook Figure 13: Students’ attitudes towards learning on Facebook Figure 14: Students’ test score improvement Figure 15: Diagnostic test result Figure 16: Final achievement test result Figure 17: Test results Figure 18: An exercise to revise student vocabulary learning iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language FL: Foreign Language L1: First Language SNSs: Social Networking Sites LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Classification of the items in the two questionnaires Table 2: Classification of the items in the semester tests Table 3: Classification of the items in the pre- test and post- test Table 4: Classification of the items in the interview questions Table 5: Vocabulary delivered to students through Facebook Table 6: Students’ studying places Students’ strengths and weaknesses in learning English vocabulary at Table 7: the beginning of the research Students’ strengths and weaknesses in learning English vocabulary at Table 8: the end of the research Table 9: Places for students to study English vocabulary Table 10: Advantages of using Facebook for educational purposes Table 11: Disadvantages of using Facebook for educational purposes v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION……………………………………………………………. iii LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………………. v LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………… v TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………….
vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………. Rationale of study…………………………………………………………. Aims and objectives of the study…………………………………………. Scope of the research……………………………………………………….
Significance of the study…………………………………………………… 3 6. Structural organization of the study………………………………………. 4 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND………………………. Overall view of English vocabulary……………………………………… 6 1.
Definition of English vocabulary……………………………………………… 6 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Types of English vocabulary…………………………………………………… 7 1. The importance of vocabulary in learning a language……………………. Teaching and learning English vocabulary………………………………… 9 2.
Teaching English vocabulary…………………………………………………. Principles of teaching vocabulary………………………………………… 9 2. Steps of teaching vocabulary………………………………………………. Learning English vocabulary………………………………………………….
Principles of learning vocabulary………………………………………. Steps of learning vocabulary……………………………………………. Problems in teaching and learning English vocabulary………………… 15 3. Facebook as a social networking site……………………………………… 17 3.
Definition of Facebook………………………………………. Advantages and disadvantages of using Facebook for educational 18 purposes…………………………………………………………………………. Advantages of using Facebook as an educational tool……………. Disadvantages of using Facebook as an educational tool.
Previous studies overseas……………………………………………………. Previous studies in Vietnam…………………………………………………. 23 Summary……………………………………………………………………… 23 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY…………………………. Design of the study………………………………………………………… 25 1.
Mixed methods………………………………………………………………… 27 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. The setting of the study…………………………………………………. Data collection instruments………………………………………………. Data collection procedure………………………………………………….
Data analysis method………………………………………………………. Quantitative Analysis Strategy………………………………………………… 40 6. Qualitative Analysis Strategy…………………………………………………. 42 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION…………………………….
Students’ overall view on learning English vocabulary …………………. Students’ reasons for learning English vocabulary…………………… 43 1. Students’ strengths and weaknesses in learning vocabulary…………. Places for students to study vocabulary………………………………….
Students’ learning means…………………………………………………… 48 1. The amount of learnt vocabulary…………………………………………. Students’ overall view on learning through Facebook……………………. Students’ purposes of using Facebook………………………………….
51 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Students’ perception of learning on Facebook…………………… 53 1. Advantages of using Facebook for educational purposes…………. Disadvantages of using Facebook for educational purposes…….
Student’ comparison of their learning vocabulary process……………… 60 3. Students’ perception of ease and difficulty of using Facebook …………. The usefulness of Facebook as a learning tool……………………………. Students’ attitude towards learning English vocabulary on Facebook….
Limitations of the research……………………………………………… 71 4. Suggestion for future research…………………………………………. 73 APPENDICES……………………………………………………………… I ix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX 2………………………………………………………………… V APPENDIX 3………………………………………………………………… IX APPENDIX 4………………………………………………………………… XV APPENDIX 5………………………………………………………………… XXI x LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION In this part, the problem and the rationale for the study, together with the objectives and the scope of the whole paper, are clearly stated and explained. Above all, this part also builds the research questions to work as clear guidelines for the whole research.
Rationale of study During the whole teaching period, the researcher has recognized that most of her Vietnamese students encounter several problems in learning English. One of the biggest problems seems to come from their lack of vocabulary, which leads to their lack of confidence in English learning. Students use language to express their ideas, opinions and thoughts so it is impossible to communicate with the other without vocabulary. Limited vocabulary repertoire strictly forbids students from expressing fully and precisely their opinion.
Learning English vocabulary is an important area, which takes a great deal of time and effort to gain. Working as an English teacher, the researcher always emphasizes teaching vocabulary because of its importance in language learning. Vocabulary is needed for expressing meaning and in using the receptive (listening and reading) and the productive (speaking and writing) skills. Despite its importance, many students tend to not focus on it.
As a result, they cannot deal well with their exam (even written or oral), which leads to their results not as good as teachers expected. From personal point of view, there are some reasons for students to not acquire extensive vocabulary in English (their FL). Firstly, many teachers are not confident about their practice in vocabulary teaching and at times they do not know where to begin to form an instructional emphasis on word learning. Besides, because of the teaching time limitation, vocabulary is a minor part of a lesson; therefore, it is not focused in class.
Last but not least, students have many subjects and homework to do after school so that they spend little time studying 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com English, especially vocabulary at home. In Vietnam, English becomes more and more popular. It is the foreign language that is compulsory in schools: from primary schools to universities. Vocabulary is one of the aspects which is needed to master four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
To motivate students to study vocabulary, some English teachers and instructors have started to use social media to instruct students to study foreign language (FL) vocabulary. Social media is strong motivation for students’ engagement because students will find it fun and relax to learn vocabulary and enjoy their time. Nowadays, Facebook seems to play an important role in social life so that it could meet an educational need. Several studies investigate using different technologies in learning and teaching, especially teaching foreign language.
However, rare studies explored the role of Facebook in learning foreign languages, particularly learning vocabulary. This study attempted to assess the effectiveness of using Facebook in enhancing vocabulary of students in grade 10 at a high school in Nam Dinh province. 94 students were exposed to the use of Facebook as an environment to learn and enhance their vocabulary. Then, the students were given test, interview and questionnaire to assess their achievement after 9 weeks of using Facebook as an educational tool for learning English vocabulary.
Aims and objectives of the study The purpose of this paper is to determine benefits of using a social networking site: Facebook in teaching English. More specific purpose is to explore how learning English through Facebook affects students’ achievement in vocabulary at a high school in Nam Dinh province and whether Facebook can enhance students’ vocabulary.