Master minor programme thesis English linguistics: A study on vocabulary learning strategies of talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school, Ha Nam province

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To realize this aim, the paper will: Find the information about vocabulary learning strategies that talented students in English language selection used when they study words; draw the most and least popular vocabulary learning strategies used by talented students in English language selection.

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Nội dung Text: Master minor programme thesis English linguistics: A study on vocabulary learning strategies of talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school, Ha Nam province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************** NHIẾP THỊ VÂN ANH A STUDY ON VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES OF TALENTED STUDENTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE SELECTION AT THANH LIEM C HIGH SCHOOL, HA NAM PROVINCE (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CHIẾN LƯỢC HỌC TỪ VỰNG CỦA HỌC SINH ĐỘI TUYỂN HỌC SINH GIỎI MÔN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG THPT C THANH LIÊM, HÀ NAM) M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HA NOI - 2016
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NHIẾP THỊ VÂN ANH A STUDY ON VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES OF TALENTED STUDENTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE SELECTION AT THANH LIEM C HIGH SCHOOL, HA NAM PROVINCE (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CHIẾN LƯỢC HỌC TỪ VỰNG CỦA HỌC SINH ĐỘI TUYỂN HỌC SINH GIỎI MÔN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG THPT C THANH LIÊM, HÀ NAM) M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr. Trần Thị Thu Hiền HA NOI - 2016
DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation represents my own work and that it has not been previously submitted to this University or any other institute in application for admission to a degree, diploma or other qualifications. Hanoi, 2016 Nhi p Th V n Anh i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my appreciation, first and foremost, to my supervisor Dr. Tran Thi Thu Hien, who has patiently and constantly guided and supported me to develop my study into a practicable frame in the very beginning and offered valuable suggestions while the work was in progress. My thanks also go to all the teachers that have instructed me at the National University for their inspirational lectures in class, by which I have been motivated to explore some interesting issues concerning English language teaching and learning . A special word of thanks goes to my students, without whom it would never been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished. Last but not least, I would like to give my immense gratitude to my family, without whose support my dream of pursuing further study would not have been possible. Nhiep Thi Van Anh ii
ABSTRACT Although vocabulary forms the biggest part of the meaning of any language, it is also the biggest problem for most learners. A study of vocabulary learning strategies was carried out with talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school, Ha Nam province to find the strategies they use most and least popularly. This is only the initial research (search strategies) to prepare for a long-term study, in which the useful strategies are applied for other students to improve the quality of English learning throughout the school. The research involved 25 talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school, Ha Nam province. Data was collected from a vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire . Results of the study showed that the students favoured strategies focusing on guessing meaning from context, when they encountered new words. Besides, bilingual and monolingual dictionaries is also a useful tool to help students find the meaning of words. Moreover, many students are interested in studying words through English language media such as television programs, Internet, English songs,… However, students had difficulty implementing a number of social and metacognitive strategies, such as interacting with native speakers and testing oneself with word tests. To conclude, strategy training especially on guessing, dictionary strategies and deep processing strategies is essential. It would be good if teachers could provide different opportunities for students to retrieve the vocabulary learned in different contexts. The results suggested that teachers should make learners aware of their own responsibility in vocabulary learning and expose them to different approaches and strategies in enhancing vocabulary acquisition. iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 1 COG Cognitive strategies 2 DET Determination Strategies 3 EFL English as a Foreign Language 4 MEM Memory Strategies 5 MET Metacognitive strategies 6 L1 Native Language 7 L2 Second Language 8 SOC Social Strategies iv
LIST OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ............................................................................................ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................ ii ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………….iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................... iv LIST OF CONTENTS.................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................... vii CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 1 1.1 Rationale for choosing the topic ............................................................ 1 1.2 Research question ................................................................................. 3 1.3 Aim and objectives of the study ........................................................... 4 1.4 Scope of the study ................................................................................ 4 1.5. Significance of the study ...................................................................... 4 1.6 Structures of the study ......................................................................... 5 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................. 6 2.1. Learning Strategies .............................................................................. 6 2.2 Vocabulary learning strategies............................................................... 8 2.2.1 Definitions of vocabulary learning strategies .................................. 8 2.2.2 Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies ............................ 9 2.3 Previous studies on Vocabulary Learning Strategies .......................... 13 2.4 Summary ............................................................................................ 16 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ..................................................... 17 3.1 Research Setting .................................................................................. 17 3.2 Participants .......................................................................................... 17 3.3 Data collection instrument .................................................................. 18 3.4 Method in Language Learning Strategy Research.............................. 20 3.5 Data collection procedure ................................................................... 21 CHAPTER FOUR : FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ................................. 23 v
4.1 Findings .............................................................................................. 23 4.1.1 Discovery strategies ...................................................................... 23 4.1.2 Consolidation strategies ............................................................... 27 4. 2 Discussion ......................................................................................... 32 CHAPTER FIVE : CONCLUSION.............................................................. 37 5.1 Concluding remarks ............................................................................ 37 5.2 Implications ......................................................................................... 38 5. 3 Limitations ......................................................................................... 39 5.4 Recommendations for further research ............................................... 40 REFERENCES............................................................................................. 41 APPENDIX ..................................................................................................... I PART 1: The Student‟s Personal Background ................................................ I PART 2: Vocabulary Learning Strategies Questionnaire .............................. II vi
LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Information of the participants ..................................................... 18 Table 4.1. Determination Strategies used by the talented students ............... 24 Table 4.2. Social strategies used by the talented students ............................. 25 Table 4.3. Memory strategies used by the talented students ......................... 27 Table 4.4 . Cognitive strategies used by the talented students ...................... 29 Table 4.5. Metacognitive strategies used by the talented students ................ 31 vii
CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for choosing the topic Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings. As Steven Stahl (2005) puts it, "Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world." Vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be fully mastered; it is something that expands and deepens over the course of a lifetime. Instruction in vocabulary involves far more than looking up words in a dictionary and using the words in a sentence. Vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to words and intentionally through explicit instruction in specific words and word-learning strategies.Limited vocabularies prevent students from comprehending a text. Therefore, an effective approach to vocabulary is always one of the great concerns of every language teacher.The reason is that learning vocabulary is really challennging requiring many cognitive processes, and teachers have to make sure that the students understand the word and its meaning as well as how to use the word accurately and appropriately. At upper- secondary schools in Vietnam, with a short duration of 3 periods per week for all language skills and language focus, vocabulary instruction has paid less attention than it should have been. Students have to learn so many new words every week, and by the time they learn the new words in the new lessons they have forgoten most of the words they have learned in previous lessons. Moreover, most of the students, in fact, are not interested in vocabulary lessons. They feel bored with the common methods used by teachers since most of the teachers of English at the researcher‟ school are still applying the traditional ways of teaching. “Teacher talks – students 1
listen”. These traditional approaches encourage students to recite facts and figures, not stimulate their thinking and their analytical skills. Consequently, the students are not able to apply what they‟ve learned, not able to make connections of what they‟ve just learned and what they had learned in the past.These traditional methods do not promote active engagement and participants. As a result, students become passive.They don‟t have opportunity to participate in learning vocabulary ativities.They consider the teachers‟explanation for meaning, definition, pronunciation, spelling and grammatical functions boring.This leads to the problem that language learners have nothing to do in vocabulary learning section but to listen to their teacher. It is known that vocabulary is not available knowlegde, it should be a long-term cumulative study. The teaching and learning of English vocabulary becomes more difficult for rural students experiencing problems due to learning conditions, teachers, etc. Besides, with applying the innovation in the current exams, many students do not focus on learning English because it is simply for them to avoid the worst score when doing multiple choice English tests , therefore, they pass the graduation exam easily . The researcher is now in charge of teaching English for grade 10 and 12. During teaching,the researcher found that vocabulary plays an important role in the students‟language learning. 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 have a number of words and should know how to use them accurately. In fact, the students at Thanh Liem C high school have encountered a lot of difficulties in remembering as well as using vocabulary.The ability to apply vocabulary learning strategies is still limited, for example, whenever 2
students think of vocabulary, they think of a list of new words with meaning in their native language without any real context practice. They look up the words in bilingual dictionary to find their meaning of new words. Working by this way, after a short period of time, many students may find out that learning vocabulary doesn‟t satisfy them. Students often learn to deal with the checking vocabularies of the teacher, then there are no circumstances and skills to apply those words, so learning new words becomes useless. Meanwhile, the talented students in the English language selection proved that they had capability of learning new words when they achieved good results in the vocabulary tests. The writer would like to do a survey to know what English learning strategies talented students in the English language selection are using popularly and how often they learn these strategies. From the results of this initial study, a more long-term study will be conducted in the mass student to find out, compare and apply for student‟s learning in order to improve learning English of all students at the writer‟ school. So the writer has decided to examine the question:“A study on vocabulary learning strategies of talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school, Ha Nam province” 1.2 Research question The primary aim of the present study is to investigate actual vocabulary learning strategies that talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school have used in English learning, therefore, this research attempts to answer the following research question: “What vocabulary learning strategies are most and least popularly used by the talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school ?” 3
1.3 Aim and objectives of the study The aim of the study is to investigate vocabulary learning strategies talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school have used in English learning. To realize this aim, the paper will : 1. Find the information about vocabulary learning strategies that talented students in English language selection used when they study words. 2. Draw the most and least popular vocabulary learning strategies used by talented students in English language selection. 1.4 Scope of the study The study focuses on exploring vocabulary learning strategies used by 25 talented students who were considered “good learners” at Thanh Liem C high school. They participated in the exam for talented students annually with age average between 15-17 years during the first semester of 2015. Schmitt‟s Taxonomy will be applied to analyse these students‟ use of vocabulary learning strategies. 1.5. Significance of the study 1.The study can reveal the most and least popularly used vocabulary learning strategies implemented by the talented students in English language selection. For talented students in English language selection, exposure to a large amount of new words and learning vocabulary through vocabulary learning strategies can develop good habits in terms of English learning as they study English at high school. Thus, if the instruction of vocabulary learning strategies leads to good results, it can be put to use in wider scale and teachers could have a better idea about how to help students learn vocabulary effectively. 2.The teachers can implement the findings of this study to support high proficient students and encourage weaker students to get better results. 4
Moreover, this study gives recommendations to other teachers of English on how to teach the students to use vocabulary stratergies effectively to improve their learning vocabulary in classes. 3. From the results of this study, talented students in English language selection also need to adjust the vocabulary strategies to achieve higher academic results. Besides, the writer will continue to conduct other research to a wider audience, the mass of students to have overview that helps regulate the teaching and learning of teachers and students in the researcher‟s school . 1.6 Structures of the study The study is organized as follow: Chapter 1: Introduction – provides an overview of the study Chapter 2 : Liturature Review - a view of relevant liturature on this issue is presented. Chapter 3: Research Methodology- a description of research methods is discussed in detail, including a description of selection of the participants, data collection instruments and data collection procedures. Chapter 4: Finding and discussions - the results of the study are presented. Chapter 5: Conclusion - the researcher provides a summary on main points raised in the study, the major conclusion drawn from conducting this study, and a discussion of the study‟s limitations and suggestions for further research. 5
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter examines the literature and research relevant to language learning strategies and vocabulary learning strategies. 2.1. Learning Strategies The term “strategy” is of military origin where it refers to carefully designed plans for military operations (Oxford, 1990:7). There have been numerous attempts to define strategies. According to Rubin (1975:43), strategies are “ the techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquire knowledge.” When applied to a non military setting like school learning, the strategy concept has been taken on a new meaning and has been transformed into learning strategies. Learning strategies have been defined in various ways in literature and they are connected to several areas of language learning. Learning strategies are thoughts or behaviour the learners use to comprehend, learn or retain new information. (O‟Malley and Chamot 1990:1) When O'Malley et al. (1985) came to conduct their research, they based their definition on Rigney‟s (1978) definition of learning strategies as procedures which facilitate acquisition, retention, retrieval, and performance. Whereas, Oxford (1990:8) provided another well-known definition of language learning strategies as “specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations.” In addition, Takala (1996, as cited in Kristiansen 1998:44) determines the word “strategy”: “Strategies are taken to be the behaviours that the learners engage in during learning that are intended to influence cognitive andaffective processing.” Meanwhile, Ellis (1985:165) points out that native 6
language speakers use the same strategy types as learners of second language. However, there are differences in the frequency of strategy use between native speakers and non-native speakers. The term language learning strategies has many different definitions. Research into language learning strategies began in the 1960s and the term language learning strategy has been defined by many researchers. In most of the research on language learning strategies, the primary concern has been on "identifying what good language learners report they do to learn a second or foreign language, or, are observed doing while learning a second or foreign language." (Rubin and Wenden 1987:19). Wenden and Rubin (1987:19) define learning strategies as "... any sets of operations, steps, plans, routines used by the learner to facilitate the obtaining, storage, retrieval, and use of information."According to Stern (1992:261),"the concept of learning strategy is dependent on the assumption that learners consciously engage in activities to achieve certain goals and learning strategies can be regarded as broadly conceived intentional directions and learning techniques."All language learners use language learning strategies either consciously or unconsciously when processing new information and performing tasks in the language classroom. Since language classroom is like a problem-solving environment in which language learners are likely to face new input and difficult tasks given by their instructors, learners' attempts to find the quickest or easiest way to do what is required, that is, using language learning strategies is inescapable. Griffiths (2008) explained that language learning strategies are activities consciously chosen by learners for the purpose of regulating their own learning. Griffiths also demonstrated and showed a correlation between language learning strategy use and English proficiency. 7
2.2 Vocabulary learning strategies 2.2.1 Definitions of vocabulary learning strategies The term “vocabulary learning strategies” refers to “any set of techniques or learning behaviours, which language learners reported using in order to discover the meaning of a new word, to retain the knowledge of newly-learned words, and to expand one‟s knowledge of vocabulary” (Intaraprasert 2004:53). Learner autonomy can be enhanced by introducing learner to different vocabulary learning strategies which can be used in developing the learning process. O‟Malley and Chamot (1990:7) supposed that training second language learners to use learning strategies concentrates mainly on learning vocabulary. They also point out that vocabulary learning strategies are used most frequently and are probably the most well-known type of language learning strategies; but other author mentions that, in comparison with other aspects of language, such as grammar and pronunciation, vocabulary is the area of language that learners seem most conscious of. Vocabulary learning strategies are a subcategory of language learning strategies which in turn are a subcategory of learning strategies in general. If language learning strategies can be defined as “specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more selfdirected, more effective, and more transferable to new situations.” (Oxford, 1990:8), and vocabulary learning strategies constitute knowledge about what students do to find out the meaning of new words, retain them in long-term memory, recall them when needed in comprehension, and use them in language production (Catalan 2003, in: Ruutmets, 2005). According to Schmitt (1997:199), summarising previous research, that many learners use vocabulary learning strategies and many learners agree that vocabulary is an essential part of language. Schmitt (1997:200) notes that 8
even though many studies have been made about language learning strategies and vocabulary learning, only a few of them have discussed vocabulary learning strategies. Schmitt (1997:200–201) states that the research done on the field of vocabulary learning strategies typically concentrates only on individual or small number of strategies. He believed that the research has shown patterns of strategy use which can be changed over time when the learner gets older or becomes more proficient in the language he or she is studying. Therefore some strategies are more popular in certain age groups ( Schmitt 1997:223). 2.2.2 Classifications of vocabulary learning strategies In classifying learning strategies, researchers have different ways of classifying language learning strategies (Intaraprasert 2004:10). These classification systems give crucial contribution to the knowledge of vocabulary strategies. Below is a summary, brief discussion as well as consideration of the classification systems of vocabulary learning strategies which have been identified in different contexts by different scholars, such as Cohen (1987;1990); Gu and Johnson‟s (1996) and Schmitt‟s (1997).The writer selected the classification of these scholars because it is an useful reference source for the researcher to conduct her own research. 2.2.2.1 Cohen’s classification of vocabulary learning strategies Vocabulary Learning strategies classified by Cohen (1987:43;1990:21- 37) were put together and could be devided into three main categories : Category 1: Strategies to remember words It means that learners use rote-repetition by repeating the word and its meaning until it seems to have stuck; Besides, using mnemonic associations is necessary through : 9
- linking the word to the sound of a word in the native language to the sound of a word in another language, or linking the word to the situation in which it appeared. - attending to the meaning of a part of the word or noting the structure of part and visualising the word in isolation or in a written context . - placing the word in the topic group and creating a mental image of the word . - associating some physical sensation to the word or associating the word to a keyword; and using of mnemonic device in order to create a cognitive link between an unfamiliar foreign language word . Category 2: Semantic Strategies involves in - Thinking of synonyms in order to build a network of interlinking concepts - Clustering words by topic group or type of word ; and linking the word to another sentence. Category 3: Vocabulary Learning and Practising Strategies Analyse the word according to its roots, affixes, and inflections as a way to understand its meaning. Words in two languages such as using a Dictionary, the Use of Flash Cards, Grouping and Cumulative Vocabulary Study. Besides, vocabulary learning strategied proposed by Cohen (1987; 1990) have been found to share some common characteristics, therefore, they could be put together to create the new three main categories. They consist of strategies like remembering words, semantic strategies, and vocabulary learning and practising strategies. 2.2.2.2 Gu and Johnson’s classification of vocabulary learning strategies 10
Gu and Johnson (1996:51) investigate Chinese advanced learners‟ use of English vocabulary learning strategies by using the questionnaire. Gu and Johnson (1996) note L2 vocabulary learning strategies as metacognitive, cognitive, memory and activation strategies. These scholars developed a substantial list of English foreign language vocabulary learning strategies reported employing by advanced Chinese learners. The study has profiled the beliefs and strategies of adult Chinese learners for learning EFL vocabulary. A wide variety of English vocabulary learning strategies are developed and grouped into following categories: Metacognitive strategies consist of selective awareness and self-initiation strategies. L2 learners employing selective awareness strategies know which words are important for them to learn and are essential for adequate comprehension of a passage. Learners employing self- initiation strategies use a variety of means to make the meaning of vocabulary items clear. Cognitive strategies in Gu and Johnson‟s classification involve guessing strategies, skillful use of dictionaries and note-taking strategies. When using guessing strategies, learners draw upon their background knowledge and use linguistic clues like grammatical structures of a sentence to guess the meaning of new word. Memory strategies are classified into practicing and encoding categories. Word lists and repetition are instances of practicing strategies. Instructing strategies include strategies such as association, imagery, visual, auditory, semantic, and contextual encoding as well as word-structure ( analyzing a word in terms of prefixes and suffixes). The activation strategies refer to strategies that the learners actually use new words in different contexts. For example, learners may set sentences using the words they have learned. 11