MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -------- ∞0∞-------- VAN LE UYEN VY EFFECTS OF ANKI APPLICATION ON TEENAGERS’ ENGLISH VOCABULARY RETENTION: A MIXED- METHODS INVESTIGATION MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL HO CHI MINH CITY, 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -------- ∞0∞-------- VAN LE UYEN VY EFFECTS OF ANKI APPLICATION ON TEENAGERS’ ENGLISH VOCABULARY RETENTION: A MIXED- METHODS INVESTIGATION Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Major code: 8 14 01 11 MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: Dr. NGUYEN HUY CUONG HO CHI MINH CITY, 2023 TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC MỞ CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc KHOA ĐÀO TẠO SAU ĐẠI HỌC GIẤY XÁC NHẬN Tôi tên là: VĂN LÊ UYÊN VY Ngày sinh: 24/12/1995 Nơi sinh: Tp. Hồ Chí Minh Chuyên ngành: LL&PPGDTA Mã học viên: 1981401111036 Tôi đồng ý cung cấp toàn văn thông tin luận án/ luận văn tốt nghiệp hợp lệ về bản quyền cho Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh sẽ kết nối toàn văn thông tin luận án/ luận văn tốt nghiệp vào hệ thống thông tin khoa học của Sở Khoa học và Công nghệ Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh.
Ký tên (Ghi rõ họ và tên) ………………………………… CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM Độc lập - Tự do - Hạnh phúc Ý KIẾN CHO PHÉP BẢO VỆ LUẬN VĂN THẠC sĩ CỦA GIẢNG VIÊN HƯỚNG DẪN Giảng viên hướng dẫn: Tiến sĩ Nguyễn Huy Cường Học viên thực hiện: Văn Lê Uyên Vy Lớp: MTESOLOÍ9A Ngày sinh:24/12/1995 Nơi sinh: Tp. Hồ Chí Minh Tên đề tài: Effects of Anki Application on Teenagers’ English Vocabulary Retention: A Mixed-Methods Investigation. Ý kiến của giáo viên hướng dẫn về việc cho phép học viên Văn Lê Uyên Vy được bảo vệ luận văn trước Hội đồng:. Thành phố Hồ Chỉ Minh, ngày.
năm 20'ÍÒ Người nhận xét i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I attest that to the best of my knowledge, this master thesis “EFFECTS OF ANKI APPLICATION ON TEENAGERS’ ENGLISH VOCABULARY RETENTION: A MIXED-METHODS INVESTIGATION” is my own personal research for the Master in TESOL program at the Ho Chi Minh City Open University and has not been submitted for any degree or to any other purposes. Each and every source used to support this research has been listed in REFERENCES. No work has been used without acknowledgement. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to devote this section to express my deepest thanks to the following individuals.
Without their kind help and support, this study would be impossible. My first sincere gratitude is sent to my respectable adviser, Dr. Nguyen Huy Cuong. His inspiring teaching method, diligence, and patience have tremendous influence on how I chose my topic and how I have worked through it.
He is not just a good professor, but is also an encouraging friend and an incredible source of motivation. Secondly, I would like to give my thanks to my fellow classmates for their great help and support, their sharing and reminding me of the school guidelines, the long discussions and debates, and all the fun we had during the course. Thirdly, I would love to thank my father, step-mother and brothers for being my main motivation to work through the course to this moment. They were not only encouraging me to take the class but were also ready to support me financially when I needed.
My thanks also go to the administration board of Dong Do English Center and all the students of my classes for participating in my study and giving me the best condition possible to conduct my research. Last but not least, my thanks are also sent to all the professors and teachers who have taught and support me in this course and to Ho Chi Minh city Open University itself for providing me with an unforgettable learning experience. iii TÓM TẮT Trong môi trường giảng dạy thực tế của người nghiên cứu, ghi nhớ từ vựng là một vấn đề khó khắn đối với người học, và luyện tập từ vựng là một việc vừa buồn chán vừa tốn thời gian cho cả người học lẫn người dạy. Dựa trên những nghiên cứu về Lặp Lại Ngắt Quãng (Spacing effects) và Hiệu Ứng Kiểm Tra (Testing Effects), ứng dụng thẻ từ vựng Anki có vẻ như là một hướng giải quyết tốt.
Nghiên cứu này được thực hiện để xem xét xem mức độ ảnh hưởng của ứng dụng này lên trí nhớ ngắn hạn, trí nhớ dài hạn, cũng như suy nghĩ của người học sau hai tháng thực nghiệm. Được thực hiện dưới hình thức nghiên cứu hỗ hợp, bao gồm một thực nghiệm và một phỏng vấn bán cấu trúc, dữ liệu thu thập từ nghiên cứu này đưa ra các bằng chứng ủng hộ hiệu quả của ứng dụng trong việc cải thiện khả năng ghi nhớ từ vựng ngắn hạn và dài hạn của người học so với cách thức thông thường mà người nghiên cứu áp dụng trước đó. Trong thí nghiệm kéo dài 2 tháng, 32 học viên tuổi vị thành niên được chia thành hai nhóm, dùng và không dùng Anki. Dù sự khác biệt giữ hai nhóm về trí nhớ ngắn hạn là không rõ ràng, kết quả khác biệt của trí nhớ dài hạn sau khi sử dụng Anki đã cho thấy sự hiệu quả của ứng dụng.
6 học viên, được chia thành 3 nhóm, đã tham gia vào buổi phỏng vấn bán cấu trúc sau thời gian thực nghiệm cũng đã chia sẻ thái độ tích cực về quá trình sử dụng ứng dụng. Điều này mở ra tiềm năng sử dụng Anki trong môi trường lớp học thực tiễn. iv ABSTRACT In the researcher’s current teaching context, memorizing vocabulary can be a daunting task for most learners and, practicing vocabulary is a time-consuming and boring process for both students and teachers. Based on Spaced-repetition and Testing effect research findings, Anki flashcard application appears to be a promising solution.
This paper was conducted to investigate to what extent the application can affect learners’ long-term and short-term memory, as well as their perspective on using Anki after 2 months using it. In the form of a mixed-method study with data collected from a quasi-experiment and a semi-structured interview, this research provided evidence that the application did enhance learners’ long-term memory comparing to the teacher’s current teaching method. 32 students were divided into two groups – with and without Anki application for a two-month experiment. Despite the lack of significant outcomes when compared with the control group in terms of short-term memory, Anki proved itself to be an effective tool to practice vocabulary in the classroom, especially after months of using.
A semi-structured interview with 6 participants in three groups was also used to collect information regarding learners’ perspective when using the app. Positive attitudes of interviewees demonstrated good potential of using Anki in the real classroom contexts for teenagers. Keywords: Anki, spaced repetition, testing effect, teenagers, application. 1 LIST OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY.
iv LIST OF CONTENTS. 1 LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS. 5 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. 7 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Definition of vocabulary.2 Aspect of Knowing a Word .2 Teaching and Reviewing Vocabulary .1 Definition of Retention .2 Process of Vocabulary Retention .4 Paper and Digital Flashcards .5 Learners’ Perception of Technology Application.2 Research site and Participants .1 Pre-test, Post-test, and Delayed Post-test .2 The interview questions .1 The trial experiment.2 The Actual Research Design: .1 The test scores .5 Reliability and Validity.
47 Chapter 4: FINDINGS and DISCUSSION .1 Test Score Analysis .1 Comparing Post-test Results .2 Comparing the Two Groups’ Performance in the post-test and delayed post- test 50 4.4 In Relation to Theoretical Framework: .5In Relation to Previous Studies: .1 Summary of Findings:.4 For program developers: .1 Application-related research .2 Experiment-improvement research. 73 Students’ Consent Form English. 102 Interview Questionnaire in English and Vietnamese. 109 5 LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS Graph 2.
Theoretical framework of this study. Research questions and Research designs. Word selection criteria. The procedure of this study.
Anki’s suggested card designs. The four options of AnkiDroid. Anki’s settings with ‘Hard’ option. The format of the questions in the tests.
The score of the questions in the pre-test. The distribution of the questions in the two post-tests. Descriptive statistics of the post-test of EG and CG. Independent sample test of the posttest of EG and CG.
Descriptive analysis of the CG in the posttest and delayed posttest. Paired samples test of the CG for the posttest and delayed posttest. Descriptive analysis of the EG in the posttest and delayed posttest. Paired samples test of the EG for the posttest and delayed posttest.
61 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS C.S Spaced Repetition system T.E Testing Effects 7 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study English has long been recognized as an important subject in the Vietnamese educational system, with a tremendous number of regulations having been issued to improve the students' English proficiency (Van, 2010; Duong and Nguyen, 2020). However, regardless of these efforts, Vietnamese English Proficiency index is still considered to be low in the English Proficiency Index (EF EPI 2021 – EF English Proficiency Index, 2021). Consequently, the need to conduct research to find a solution to this problem has arisen. It is believed by many researchers that vocabulary plays a prominent role in learning a language (Alzeer, 2015).
Learners need about 2,500 words to be able to communicate effectively in daily conversations (Schmitt, 2008). Moreover, vocabulary is stated to be one of the easiest aspects of the English language that can be practiced alone at home (Nikoopour & Kazemi, 2014). For these reasons, it is strategic to help students improve their English vocabulary since this can upgrade their overall English proficiency. In vocabulary learning, intentional learning is often considered by some scholars to be less favorable than incidental learning (Nation, 2001).
However, more recent studies have shown many advantages of intentional learning as it can promote learners’ long-term memory and help them process the knowledge in a deeper and more thorough manner (Martinez, 2010). Among intentional learning techniques, testing and spacing effects have proved to be effective in enhancing learners’ vocabulary retention (Hung, 2015).E) refers to the positive learning effects that doing a test can have comparing to relearning the information. Meanwhile, the spacing effects, which occurs thanks to Spaced Repetition (S.R), refers the advantages of distributing schedule over cramming. These two techniques, either being used alone or together, especially in flashcard forms, have been proved to have great potential in the classroom contexts (Byrd, 2016).
Furthermore, thanks to the rise and ubiquity of technology, mobile-assisted language 8 learning (MALL) applications in educational context have been invested and studied by scholars and program developers all over the world (Byrd, 2016). These language learning programs are claimed to improve all the skills and aspects of language, especially vocabulary. In fact, spacing and testing effects are frequently used in many vocabulary learning applications on mobile phones, such as Duolingo, Memrise, Flashcard Deluxe, or Anki, just to name a few. Anki has long been recognized as an effective, user-friendly flashcard application that uses spaced repetition and testing effects as its main theoretical background (Anki Manual).
The developers of this application wanted to create a program that makes memorizing words easier. This software/ application allows user to create, practice, store and synchronize their flashcards across devices and operation systems. Providing a vast array of convenient add-ons as well as multi-media supports, Anki is a potential teaching and learning aids, especially for those with budgetary constraints.