THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES PHAM THI SINH THE EFFECT OF TASK-BASED READING ACTIVITIES ON STUDENT’S VOCABULARY RETENTION AT A HIGH SCHOOL MASTER THESIS THAI NGUYEN - 2023 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES PHAM THI SINH THE EFFECT OF TASK-BASED READING ACTIVITIES ON STUDENT’S VOCABULARY RETENTION AT A HIGH SCHOOL Major: English teaching theories & methodologies Code: 8140111 MASTER THESIS Instructor: Nguyen Thi Hong Chuyen, Ph. THAI NGUYEN - 2023 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP By submitting this document, I certify that I am the only author of this master's thesis and that I only consulted the sources mentioned as references and in the bibliography. Additionally, I hereby certify that I have not submitted my thesis to any other university in an effort to earn a degree. Thai Nguyen, May 2023 Pham Thi Sinh ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT My supervisor, Mrs.
Nguyen Thi Hong Chuyen, Ph., who made this project possible, certainly deserves my deepest appreciation. Her assistance and advice guided me through every stage of the project's creation. I would also like to express my gratitude to my entire family for their unwavering support and patience as I conducted research and wrote my project. Last but not least, I'd like to thank everyone in the English Department at Thai Nguyen University of Education.
During my time as a university student, I have received your kind guidance and encouragement, which has been incredibly helpful in completing the research. iii ABSTRACT The study aims to investigate the effect of task-based reading activities on vocabulary retention of students at a high school. The two objectives set to reach the aim consist of (1) identifying the extent to which task-based reading activities improve the vocabulary retention of students at a high school; (2) determining the students’ attitudes toward using task-based reading activities to improve their vocabulary retention. This is a quasi-experimental study with the participation of 10 English teachers and 66 students.
Questionnaires and tests were used as data collection instruments to answer the following research questions: 1) To what extent do task-based reading activities improve the vocabulary retention of students at a high school? 2) What are the students’ attitudes toward using task-based reading activities to improve their vocabulary retention? The research findings showed that task-based reading activities were effective in improving students’ vocabulary retention, and students had positive attitudes toward using task-based reading activities to improve their vocabulary retention. Keywords: task-based learning, task-based reading activities, vocabulary, vocabulary retention iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES.
vii LIST OF FIGURES. viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. ix CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION. Aims and Objectives.
Aims of the Study. Scope of the Study. Significance of the Study. Organization of the study.
5 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definitions of Vocabulary. Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT). Definitions of TBLT.
Definition of Tasks. The Task-based Learning Framework. The Advantages of Task-based Learning. 25 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
Data Collection Instrument. Data collection procedure. 29 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Findings of the questionnaires.
Students’ pre-questionnaire. Students’ post-questionnaire. Findings of the tests. Research question 1: To what extent do task-based reading activities improve the vocabulary retention of students at a high school?.
Research question 2: What are the students’ attitudes toward using task-based reading activities to improve their vocabulary retention?. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 55 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS. 55 PRE-QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS.
56 POST-QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS. 67 TEST SCORES OF THE CONTROL GROUP. 74 TEST SCORES OF THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. 76 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 3.
Intervention plan 32 Table 4. The results of the students’ post-questionnaire 40 Table 4. Pre-test results of both groups 43 Table 4. Score classifications of both groups 43 Table 4.
Post-test results of both groups 43 Table 4. Post-test score classifications of both groups 44 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 4. Teacher's use of task-based reading activities in teaching 34 vocabulary Figure 4. Task-based reading activities often used by teachers to teach 35 vocabulary Figure 4.
Teacher's understandings of how to apply task-based reading 35 activities in teaching vocabulary Figure 4. Students' opinions on task-based reading activities often used by 36 teachers to teach vocabulary Figure 4. Students’ opinions on teacher’s use of task-based reading 37 activities in teaching vocabulary Figure 4. Students' interests in using task-based reading activities to teach 38 vocabulary Figure 4.
Students' favourite reading topics 39 Figure 4. Students' opinions on how long a task-based reading activity 39 should last ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Meanings EFL English as a Foreign Language L1 The first language L2 The second language PPP Presentation, Practice, And Production Approach TBI Task-based Instruction TBLT Task-based Language Teaching 1 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Language learning is an ongoing process that necessitates constant vocabulary acquisition on the side of the learners. To enable the learners to effectively operate in a particular setting, it is essential to acquire sufficient words to construct a personal library of the lexicon.
Every day, both within and outside of the classroom, vocabulary importance is highlighted. The high achievers in the classroom have the most extensive vocabulary. For many years, English language teaching strategies have prioritized grammar and focused on teaching grammatical constructs. As a result, learning English is not derailed for students, and in this way, the teaching of vocabulary has been kept to a minimum.
Because it was a component of the "structure of the day lesson," vocabulary that was intended to be comprehended was only illustrated in this manner. Grammar is a set of rules, but the vocabulary is primarily a collection of objects, it was believed. It was considered more effective because a single rule generates a large number of sentences. While vocabulary grows, grammar increases (Thornbury, 2004, p.
Thankfully, the notion that grammar should take precedence over vocabulary has changed over time. The function of lexical chunks and the lexical syllabus, a syllabus that focuses on terms used often in spoken and written English, were two major advances that challenged grammar's hegemony. The importance of vocabulary in language learning has become more widely recognized as a result of these two developments. Vocabulary is no longer viewed as an "add-on," despite the fact that the majority of coursebooks already adhere to a grammar syllabus.
"Without language, very little can be communicated, and without spelling, very little can be communicated" (Thornbury, 2004, p. The amount of vocabulary students possess is strongly correlated with academic ability, according to tests, which implies that students who have a limited vocabulary will struggle academically (Anderson & Naggy, cited by Mackay, 2007). Teaching and learning vocabulary seem to be a personal issue, teachers try to give and help students to 2 memorize as many words as possible, and students should learn to use those words as effectively as they can. Teaching vocabulary is one of the most discussed parts of teaching English as a foreign language.
Teachers often encounter issues during the teaching and learning process. They have problems with how to teach students in order to gain satisfying outcomes. The teacher should prepare and find out the appropriate techniques, which will be implemented to teach the students. A good teacher should prepare himself or herself with various up-to-date techniques.
Teachers should be concerned that teaching vocabulary is something new and different from students’ native language. For the above issue, English teachers should find out an appropriate way to teach vocabulary to stimulate the students to actively use English vocabulary actively both inside and outside classes. However, based on the preliminary observation in the classes of a high school, the writer found that the teachers tried using many different ways to teach vocabulary in order to attract students to learn to use English vocabulary correctly. However, the writer still found a lot of students who seemed not to be interested in participating in the lesson.
For those reasons, the teachers need some techniques for teaching vocabulary which can make the students more interested and motivated to learn English vocabulary. Besides, teaching reading skills is one of the most important processes of teaching a language. When students have to read the passages, there are some vocabularies that they may not know, and using the reading context to infer the meaning of a word is a basic technique that students should know. Using reading activities like inferring is one of the useful techniques that teachers can use to introduce vocabulary to students.
Given the significance of vocabulary in language learning, numerous researchers have offered insightful recommendations for efficient vocabulary learning and teaching. In light of this, Harmer (2007) specifies the best way to teach new terms is through a variety of situations that can assist learners comprehend how the words are used, such as reading texts or listening to audio files. Moreover, according to Nagy (2005, p.28), "extensive exposure to rich language, both oral and written; and generating generative word knowledge" as the 3 elements of successful vocabulary gain. Moreover, several scholars stress the value of meaningful context for enhanced vocabulary learning since seeing words in relevant situations can help learners form meaningful associations (e.
Bolger, Balass, Landen, & Perfetti, 2008; Harmer, 2007; McCarten, 2007; Stahl, 2005; Takac, 2008). The National Reading Panel's (2000) findings also highlight the importance of context—in the form of a diversity of reading texts—for successful vocabulary learning. Similarly to this, other scholars (such as Stahl, 2005; Stahl & Nagy, 2006; Xu, 2009) have argued that repeatedly encountering terms when reading texts has a significant impact on vocabulary acquisition. However, according to Stahl and Nagy (2006, p.173), "even for those words that are expressly taught, much of students' knowledge of them ultimately derives from subsequent encounters with those words in text".
This might be the case because, compared to experiencing words outside of texts, words in texts sound more realistic for both linguistic and psychological terms (Schouten-van Parreren, 1989). Those are the reasons why the author would like to conduct the research “The effect of task-based reading activities on students’ vocabulary retention at a high school. Aims and Objectives 1. Aims of the Study The study aims to investigate the effect of task-based reading activities on vocabulary retention of students at a high school.
Objectives To achieve the above aim, there were two objectives of the research: - Identifying the extent to which task-based reading activities improve the vocabulary retention of students at a high school. - Determining the students’ attitudes toward using task-based reading activities to improve their vocabulary retention. Research Questions The research was conducted with the hope to find out the answers to the following research questions: 1) To what extent do task-based reading activities improve the vocabulary retention of students at a high school? 2) What are the students’ attitudes toward using task-based reading activities to improve their vocabulary retention? 1. Scope of the Study This was quasi-experimental research, with the main focus on 66 students at a high school and 10 high school teachers.
The study aimed to find out the effect of task-based reading activities on the vocabulary retention of students at the high school. Therefore, the study dealt with the reading activities which affect the students’ vocabulary retention only. Other language abilities were not involved in the research. Significance of the Study As the research aimed to investigate the effect of task-based reading activities on vocabulary retention of students, the findings of the research were expected to be significant for students, teachers, and other researchers.
Firstly, it is beneficial for students as it provides them with a useful alternative to learning and retaining vocabulary. Enriching vocabulary size will help students to be more confident in learning English and develop other aspects of the English language. Secondly, teachers can apply task-based reading activities to teach vocabulary to students.