MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY --------------- LE BA MAI KHANH A STUDY ON TEACHING AND LEARNING MEDICAL ENGLISH VOCABULARY AT HUE JUNIOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE 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, 2019 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY --------------- LE BA MAI KHANH A STUDY ON TEACHING AND LEARNING MEDICAL ENGLISH VOCABULARY AT HUE JUNIOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN VAN HUY, PhD HUE, 2019 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ --------------- LÊ BÁ MAI KHANH NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC DẠY VÀ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH Y DƯỢC TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG Y TẾ HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH Mã số: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC TIẾN SĨ. NGUYỄN VĂN HUY HUẾ, 2019 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: Date:09/12/2019 i ABSTRACT This study was conducted to investigate the vocabulary teaching and learning strategies for medical English of medical students at a junior college of medicine in central Vietnam.
It collected both qualitative and quantitative data from 200 students and 5 English teachers , using questionnaires and in- depth interviews. Data were then analyzed using SPSS statistical software and qualitative content analysis. Findings for this study revealed that all of the medical students are highly aware of the importance of learning medical vocabulary for their current study. Especially, the study showcased the conflict between what was perceived and what was practiced in medical vocabulary learning.
Students often employed learning vocabulary in familiar and easy ways, yet, they were also aware of the importance of more challenging, contextualized vocabulary learning strategies. As for teachers, they often used translation into the native language technique, eponyms and collocation to teach medical vocabulary. With these findings, the study helps to shed more light on the frequency and usefulness level of vocabulary learning strategies used by students as well as the specialized vocabulary teaching techniques used by teachers in the context of Vietnam tertiary education. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research paper is the end of my long journey in obtaining my M.
There are many people who made this journey easier with words of encouragement. I would like to express my deep gratitude to the following people for their help, advice, and encouragement in both direct and indirect ways during the study. First, I wish to express my deep and sincere grateful thanks to my advisor, Dr. Nguyen Van Huy, for his valuable and thorough comments, assistance, and support throughout the study.
My thanks also go to Hue Junior College of Medicine, especially English teachers and all students for support of the research study Finally, I would like to give my appreciative thanks to my family and close friends for their kind assistance and constant encouragement which always bring about success to my life. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Statements of Original Authorship .iii Table of contents. iv List of tables. vi List of charts.
vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .4 Scope of the research. Significance of the research. Contents of the research. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Vocabulary learning strategies (VLS). The definition of vocabulary. Definition of vocabulary learning strategies. Taxonomies of vocabulary learning strategies.
Vocabulary learning strategies for medical students. Challenges of leaning medical vocabulary. Vocabulary teaching techniques. Vocabulary teaching techniques for medical students.
Challenges of teaching medical vocabulary. Data Collection Instruments. 24 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Reliability of the research.
Perceptions of medical students about the importance of learning medical English. The attitude of medical students towards their learning medical English. Frequency and usefulness of vocabulary learning strategies for medical students. Teacher reflection on using strategies to teach medical English vocabulary .1 Teacher’s attitudes toward the necessity of learning medical English to medical students.
Frequency of implementing of presenting medical vocabulary. Techniques used by the teachers in English lesson. 40 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS. Summary of the key findings.
Implications for teachers. Implications for students. Limitations of the research. Suggestions for further research.
56 v LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Some research of taxonomies of vocabulary learning strategies. Mean scores of data were interpreted based on mean range as follows: 24 Table 4.1: The reliability of the questionnaires .2: Use of VLS strategies by Hue junior college of medicine in Thừa Thiên Huế province .3 The level order of the strategies according to their frequency. The level order of the strategies according to their usefulness .5 Frequency of medical vocabulary presentation. Describes the techniques that teachers use when teaching vocabulary.
Frequency of using these techniques. Reason for teachers’ preferences to using the techniques. Students’ preference in Techniques Used by the teacher .9 Students’ preference for Study form used by the teacher. 44 vi LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4.
The school year of students participating in the survey. Gender of students participating in the survey. Ages of students participating in the survey. Students' previous exposure to English subject.
The importance of learning medical English. Reason for learning medical English .7: The frequency and usefulness of using Dictionary Strategies with learning medical vocabulary.8: The frequency and usefulness of using Guessing Strategies with learning medical vocabulary.9: The frequency and usefulness of using Study preferences with learning medical vocabulary.10: The frequency and usefulness of using Memory strategies with learning medical vocabulary.11: The frequency and usefulness of using Autonomy with learning medical vocabulary .12: The frequency and usefulness of using Note – taking strategies with learning medical vocabulary.13: The frequency and impact of using Selective Attention with learning medical vocabulary.14: The frequency and usefulness of using Social strategies with learning medical vocabulary.15 Teachers' attitudes towards the necessity of learning medical English to medical students. 39 vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter includes the rationale, research aims, the scope of the research, research questions, the significance of the research and content of the research.1 Rationale Nowadays, there are two fields where the English language has come into prominence: information technology and medicine. IT is a relatively new field and English has been the fundamental language throughout its entire development.
However, in medicine, English became widely used during the second half of the 20th century. In today’s increasingly globalized world, there are about 500 million people worldwide who speak English natively, more than a billion more – or all together a quarter of the world’s population – speak English as a second language. Thus the role of English cannot be overstated. First of all, it is impossible for students to learn a language without vocabulary.
Because words play an important role in expressing our feelings, emotions, and ideas to others during the act of communication. It is the basis for the development of all the other skills: reading comprehension, listening comprehension, speaking, writing, spelling, and pronunciation. Or in other words, an important aspect of the acquisition of any language is increasing the repertoire of vocabulary in the target language. Generally, vocabulary plays an important role, as pointed out by David Wilkins: ‘without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed’ (Thornburry, 2002, p.
Therefore, teaching vocabulary is a significant factor in language teaching and it is one of the most discussed parts of teaching English as a foreign language. Vocabulary is the main tool for the students in their attempt to use English effectively. In Vietnam, students come from a cultural background where educational system emphasizes rote memorization. They have highly developed memory strategies, but less developed comprehension strategies for problem-solving.
As for medical students, the specialized knowledge of medicine they have to acquire is endless, the amount of knowledge that students are supposed to learn in medical school is huge. After school, they also have to practice in the hospital. In addition to other subjects, medical students, in particular, are required to spend many years studying medical English. Thus, medical vocabulary is a specialized field and there are plenty of very complex medical terms that doctors or nurses or pharmacists need to use in their profession.
1 Medical students must learn specialist vocabulary since it is necessary for the development of all the skills which are required in their professional setting and remembering medical terminology and medical language. The acquisitions of specialist vocabulary in such a lingua franca as English is also one of the most important parts that a medical student needs to remember and understand before they progress through to graduation as doctors. It has been estimated that students need to learn approximately 13,000 new words in their first year of medical study (O’Dowd, 2008). But this is not an easy task, with an ever-expanding number of medical names and terms used to describe the human body and its various parts, symptoms, diseases, health problems, procedures, research and the development of new medical terms.
Taking in that amount of information has been described as trying to drink out of a fire hose. If learners are not aware of this enormous task and how to tackle it, they will be too overwhelmed to achieve their learning goals. The above reality raised a host of questions which strongly urge me to carry out this research with a view to exploring the learning styles, teaching approaches, strategies of learning and teaching vocabulary and their impact on learning medical specialized English terminology.2 Research aims This study is carried out with two main aims: To investigate vocabulary learning strategies and their usefulness used by medical students in Medical English subject at Hue Junior College of Medicine in Thừa Thiên Huế Province; To investigate current vocabulary teaching techniques conducted by teachers of medical subjects and their perceived effectiveness at Hue Junior College of Medicine in Thừa Thiên Huế Province; 1. Research questions This research attempts to answer the following research questions : 1.
What are the vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) used by medical students in learning English? 2. What are techniques teachers use to teach medical students vocabulary in teaching English? 1.4 Scope of the research The study deals with vocabulary learning strategies of medical students and specialized vocabulary teaching techniques used by English teachers; the 2 frequency uses and the usefulness level of these techniques with teaching and learning medical vocabulary at Hue Junior College of Medicine in Thừa Thiên Huế Province will be clarified. Significance of the research This research is meant to explore the current practice of learning and teaching vocabulary in English for medical students and suggests applying teaching methods to help the teachers improve their techniques for applying medical vocabulary teaching. Therefore, it is expected to be a really helpful document for teachers teaching English for ESP at the Medical school.
For students, the study may also help them to be aware of the significance of learning medical vocabulary lessons. It is to understand how medical students learn specialized vocabulary and in what ways they find their English vocabulary learning lessons interesting or boring. It gives them a chance to reconsider their vocabulary learning strategies at school as well. In brief, I believe that this study will bring advantages for both teachers and students.