MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITYOF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE BAO LONG AN INVESTIGATION INTO RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES AND VOCABULARY SIZE AND READING COMPREHENSION AT HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages HUE, 2016 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE BAO LONG AN INVESTIGATION INTO RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES AND VOCABULARY SIZE AND READING COMPREHENSION AT HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60. TON NU NHU HUONG HUE, 2016 i BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ LÊ BẢO LONG NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ MỐI QUAN HỆ GIỮA CHIẾN LƢỢC HỌC TỪ VỰNG, KÍCH THƢỚC TỪ VỰNG VÀ ĐỌC HIỂU TẠI TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƢƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.11 NGƢỜI HƢỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. TÔN NỮ NHƢ HƢƠNG HUẾ, 2016 ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.
Signed: Le Bao Long Date: 19/12/2016 iii ABSTRACT Students‟ knowledge of words meaning of the language plays an important role in order to communicate in English. Vocabulary is an essential constituent of second language acquisition and is of great significance to language learners. Second language learners use their own learning strategies to acquire vocabulary so as to know meaning of a word in a new language. Vocabulary knowledge is basic to reading comprehension.
Learners cannot understand the text without knowing what most of the meaning of the words in the text. Therefore, vocabulary knowledge is inevitable for reading, which is a very important skill for reading achievement of university students. However, there is no research focusing on relationship between vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary size and reading comprehension in Vietnam context. Therefore, this study proposed to investigate the relationships between students‟ vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary size and their reading ability.
The study is conducted at Hue University of Foreign Languages with the second year English major students. Questionnaires and tests were used as the main methods for data collection. The findings of the research project show that most of the students are aware of the importance of some effective strategies in learning vocabulary. With regard to the vocabulary learning strategies, if the students often used them frequently and effectively, their vocabulary size would be improved considerably, thus it will enhance their own reading comprehension ability.
The findings could be a significant contribution to English teaching and learning in EFL classrooms. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This research could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people who all deserve my sincere gratitude. Firstly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor Dr. Ton Nu Nhu Huong, from Hue University of Foreign Languages, for her valuable instructions and comments, for her close guidance, criticism, and her generous help in the process of completing my thesis.
Secondly, my special thanks also go to the second year English major students at Hue University of Foreign Languages. I greatly appreciate their spirit with their time and efforts in filling questionnaires and with willing participation in doing tests. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their special care and support. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Pages SUB COVER PAGE.i STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP.
ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .vi LIST OF TABLES. viii LIST OF CHARTS.ix LIST OF ABBREVIATION. Aims of the research. The scope of the research.
The significance of the research. Structure of the thesis. Definitions of key terms. Vocabulary learning strategies.
Reading comprehension and Vocabulary size. Previous research in the field.