VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************
NGUYỄN THỊ HẢI YẾN
LANGUAGE GAMES AS A MEANS TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS
IN VOCABULARY LEARNING AT A VOCATIONAL COLLEGE
IN HUNG YEN PROVINCE: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT
(Trò chơi ngôn ngữ như một phương tiện để thúc đấy sinh viên học từ vựng
tại trường Cao đẳng Nghề ở Tỉnh Hưng Yên: Một nghiên cứu hành động )
M.A. MINOR THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 8140231.01
Hanoi-2020
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************
NGUYỄN THỊ HẢI YẾN
LANGUAGE GAMES AS A MEANS TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS
IN VOCABULARY LEARNING AT A VOCATIONAL COLLEGE
IN HUNG YEN PROVINCE: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT
(Trò chơi ngôn ngữ như một phương tiện để thúc đấy sinh viên học từ vựng
tại trường Cao đẳng Nghề ở Tỉnh Hưng Yên: Một nghiên cứu hành động )
M.A. MINOR THESIS
Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code : 8140231.01
Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vo Dai Quang
Hanoi-2020
i
DECLARATION
I hereby state that I – Nguyen Thi Hai Yen , being an M.A. candidate
of the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, ULIS, VNU, certify my authority of
the study entitled “Language games as a means to motivate students in
vocabulary learning at a vocational college in Hung Yen province : An action
research”. This thesis is the study of my own research and the substance of
the thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree to any other
universities or institutions.
Hanoi, 2020
Nguyen Thi Hai Yen
Approved by
SUPERVISOR
(signature and full name)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vo Dai Quang
Date:...........................................
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my
supervisor, Associate Professor Vo Dai Quang, Ph.D. for his precious
instructions and valuable advice throughout the research. Without his careful
guidance, feedback, and patience, my thesis could not have been completed.
I am thankful to staff members of The Post – Graduate Studies Faculty
as well as my lecturers at VNU University of languages and foreign Studies -
National University during my M.A. course for their help and useful lectures.
Also, great thanks are given to the students at Mecha Electric and
Water Resources Vocational College, who have actively participated in my
study.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my family members for their
love, assistance, and encouragement spared for me throughout the research.
iii
ABSTRACT
Vocabulary is one of the linguistic features which influence communicative
competence. However, when teaching and learning vocabulary, most teachers
and students are confronted with a wide range of obstacles. This study aims at
investigating the problems encountered by students in vocabulary learning
and the effective methods to help them improve their vocabulary in the
learning process at a Vocational College in Hung Yen. Questionnaires, tests,
and interviews were employed as the data collection instruments. The
collected information revealed that the use of language games can help to
improve the students‟ motivation and positive attitudes. On the other hand,
motivation by language games in students comes from the feeling of pleasure,
relaxation, tension-releasing, anxiety-reducing, and curiosity. Students‟
perspectives towards language games in vocabulary lessons are positively
proved by raising the level of activeness, concentration when taking part in
language games. They can also get higher scores after taking part in a
vocabulary lesson easily. Based on the major findings, a couple of
suggestions and recommendations are proposed to improve the quality of
learning vocabulary at the vocational college.
