VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG NHUNG EXTERNAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT VOCABULARY LEARNING OF GRADE 10 STUDENTS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI (Những yếu tố bên ngoài ảnh hưởng đến việc học từ vựng của học sinh lớp 10 tại một trường phổ thông ở Hà Nội) M. MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi – 2018 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG NHUNG EXTERNAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT VOCABULARY LEARNING OF GRADE 10 STUDENTS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI (Những yếu tố bên ngoài ảnh hưởng đến việc học từ vựng của học sinh lớp 10 tại một trường phổ thông ở Hà Nội) M. MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231. VŨ THỊ THANH NHÃ Hanoi – 2018 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “External factors that affect vocabulary learning of grade 10 students at a high school in Hanoi” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post- Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
Nguyễn Thị Hồng Nhung Hanoi, 2018 i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT On completing this thesis, I would like to express my thanks to all those who contributed their parts to the work of this research. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my respectable supervisor, Dr. Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã, for her restless and sympathetic encouragement, constructive advice and patient guidance from the beginning up to the end of the study. Had it not been for her valuable and timely feedback, I would have never been able to complete this research paper.
My sincere thanks also go to my dear students at Ngoc Hoi high school for helping me to collect data for this study and for all their support and encouragement. Finally, I would also like to give my special thanks to my family and friends who have been interminably encouraging and facilitating me to fulfill this thesis. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Vocabulary learning is a crucial part of learning a second language. There have been a number of researchers studying roles of vocabulary learning, approaches to vocabulary and factors that affect vocabulary teaching and learning.
Despite these valuable sources of reference, there is still a lack of insight into external factors affecting students‟ vocabulary learning in the context of Ngoc Hoi high school. Besides, vocabulary learning of grade 10 students at this school is not very effective in spite of both teachers‟ and students‟ efforts. Therefore, this study was conducted to find out what external factors have the most and least influences on grade 10 students‟ vocabulary learning, and thus suggest some ways of improving the effectiveness of vocabulary teaching and learning at this high school. This thesis is a survey study.
Questionnaire was used as the instrument to collect data for this research. A Likert Scale questionnaire was developed on the basis of items which refer to external factors affecting students‟ vocabulary learning; and SPSS program was used to analyze the data collected. The study revealed that “teachers” is the most influential factor, which is followed by English curriculum, Access to native speakers, Number of exposures to the new words, and Peers. There is not enough evidence to prove that Lexical factors have strong influences on students‟ vocabulary learning.
It is expected that the findings of this study will not only benefit teachers and students at this high school but also evoke further study. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: INTRODUCTION. RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY. AIMS OF THE STUDY.
SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY. ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS. 3 PART II: DEVELOPMENT. 5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.
VOCABULARY IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING. Definitions of vocabulary. The importance of vocabulary in language teaching and learning. Aspects of knowing a word.
Types of words and vocabulary learning. Approaches to vocabulary. FACTORS AFFECTING VOCABULARY ACQUISITION. Internal factors that affect vocabulary acquisition.
External factors that affect vocabulary acquisition. VOCABULARY TEACHING TECHNIQUES. Deliberately teaching vocabulary. Some vocabulary teaching techniques.
OVERVIEW OF THE METHOD USED IN THE STUDY. DEFINITION OF SURVEY RESEARCH. Rationale for using survey research. Strengths and limitations of survey research.
DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS. Techniques of data analysis. 30 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. General information about the participants of the study.
Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)\. 53 PART III: RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION. SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS. Changing students’ learning attitudes.
58 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH. 64 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE WRITTEN IN ENGLISH.
64 APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE WRITTEN IN VIETNAMESE. 68 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS L2 Second Language EFL English as Foreign Language EFA Exploratory Factor Analysis KMO Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Test vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table/ Chart Page Table 1 Gender 31 Chart 1 Gender 31 Table 2 Age 31 Chart 2 Age 32 Table 3 Number of years of learning English 32 Chart 3 Number of years of learning English 32 Table 4 Score of English subject 33 Chart 4 Score of English subject 33 Table 5 Reliability Statistics – Factor C 34 Table 6 Item-Total Statistics – Factor C 34 Table 7 Reliability Statistics – Factor T (1st test) 34 Table 8 Item-Total Statistics – Factor T (1st test) 35 Table 9 Item-Total Statistics – Factor T (2nd test) 35 Table 10 Item-Total Statistics – Factor T (2nd test) 35 Table 11 Reliability Statistics – Factor E (1st test) 36 Table 12 Item-Total Statistics – Factor E (1st test) 36 Table 13 Reliability Statistics – Factor E (2nd test) 37 Table 14 Item-Total Statistics – Factor E (2nd test) 37 Table 15 Reliability Statistics – Factor P 37 Table 16 Item-Total Statistics – Factor P 38 Table 17 Reliability Statistics – Factor N 38 Table 18 Item-Total Statistics – factor N 38 Table 19 Reliability Statistics – Factor L 39 Table 20 Item-Total Statistics – Factor L 39 Table 21 Reliability Statistics – Factor V (1st test) 39 Table 22 Item-Total Statistics – Factor V (1st test) 40 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Table 23 Reliability Statistics – Factor V (2nd test) 40 Table 24 Item-Total Statistics – Factor V (2nd test) 40 Table 25 KMO and Bartlett's Test 41 Table 26 Results of EFA (independent variables) 42 Table 27 KMO and Bartlett's Test 43 Table 28 Results of EFA (dependent variables) 44 Table 29 Correlation coefficients 45 Table 30 Regression analysis 46 Table 31 Descriptive statistics – Factor C 48 Table 32 Descriptive statistics – Factor T 49 Table 33 Descriptive statistics – Factor E 50 Table 34 Descriptive statistics – Factor P 51 Table 35 Descriptive statistics – Factor N 51 Table 36 Descriptive statistics – Factor L 52 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART I: INTRODUCTION This chapter presents an overview of the study including rationale, aims of the study, the research questions, the scope and significance of the study, and the outline of the study. Rationale for the study Learning vocabulary is a very important part of learning a language. The more words you know, the more you will be able to understand what you hear and read; and the better you will be able to say what you want to when speaking or writing.
In learning a foreign language, vocabulary learning is an important part of the language acquisition. It is one element that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing all together. In order to communicate well in a foreign language, students should acquire an adequate number of words and should know how to use them accurately. Wilkins (1983) states that little can be conveyed without grammar but nothing can be conveyed if there is no vocabulary.
Besides, Folse (2008) also indicates in an aricle that the level of vocabulary is a key factor for English language learners to improve their second language proficiency. It can be said that a low level of vocabulary is a major drawback for second language learners to master the language both in communication and in academic learning. Therefore, how to make vocabulary learning effective is always an issue that both second language teachers and learners focus on. In Vietnam, due to the importance of English, much efforts have been made in teaching and learning English at schools and outside schools as well.
English is one of the core subjects in the National Curriculum set by the government and followed by state primary and secondary schools. Moreover, English, together with Maths and Literature, is compulsory in the national examination taken by grade 12 students at the end of the school year. Schools, in general and secondary schools, in particular, follow the national curriculum and syllabus. Thus, learning English at secondary schools is learning reading, speaking, listening, writing, pronunciation and grammar.
The acquisition of English as the foreign language is significantly affected by students‟ vocabulary, so vocabulary teaching and learning is always an important part of every 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com English lesson no matter what the lesson is reading, speaking, listening or writing. Facts have shown that students who have larger vocabulary are often better at these four skills than those with poor vocabulary. However, Vietnamese students usually feel bored in vocabulary lessons because they find it difficult to remember the spelling, meaning, and grammatical function of the words. In the case of the high school where the researcher is working, teachers often spend five to seven minutes teaching vocabulary in reading, speaking, listening and writing lessons.
The time may be shorter or longer, depending on whether the topic of the lesson is familiar to students or not. Each teacher has her own way of teaching vocabulary and checking understanding. Besides some teachers who always try to use different techniques in vocabulary teaching to attract students‟ interest, the others often teach vocabulary by expliciting the words and their meanings. However, a lot of students cannot remember the words and use the words later.
As a result, if they have a written test several days after the lesson, they cannot do well with questions related to the vocabulary they learn before. In another situation, if teachers say something containing the vocabulary taught before, students cannot understand or response to teachers. In general, students‟ vocabulary learning is not very effective in spite of both teachers‟ and students‟ efforts. For all the reasons mentioned above, to find out the difficulties in learning vocabulary of grade 10 students at a high school in Hanoi where the researcher is working is necessary.
Then, the external factors that most affect their vocabulary learning can be identified. This will make it possible to give suggestions for the teachers and learners to improve the teaching and learning of vocabulary at that high school. Aims of the study The aims of this study are to find out what external factors affecting vocabulary learning of grade 10 students at a high school in Hanoi and thus suggest some ways of improving the effectiveness of vocabulary teaching and learning. A theoretical framework for the study is focused on the second language vocabulary learning, and factors affecting vocabulary acquisition.
2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.