Chiến lược học từ vựng tiếng Anh: Nghiên cứu luận văn Thạc sĩ Ngôn ngữ Anh về học sinh giỏi tiếng Anh tại trường THPT Thanh Liêm C, Hà Nam

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 ?”

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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 :

- 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

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.

2.2.2.3 Schmitt’s classification of vocabulary learning strategies

Schmitt‟s (1997) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies is

organized in two groups: Discovery Strategies and Consolidation

Strategies.

The following is the strategy inventory offered by Schmitt

(1997).These vocabulary learning strategies were devided into two main

categories:

Category 1: Discovery Strategies.

This category consists of Determination Strategies (DET) and Social

Strategies (SOC).

In Determination Strategies, Schmitt‟s (1997) supposed that learners

paid attention to strategies such as analysing part of speech, analysing

affixes and roots, checking for L1 cognate, analysing any available pictures

or gestures, guessing meaning from textual context, and using a dictionary

(bilingual or monolingual).

In Social Strategies , Schmitt‟s (1997) thought that learners used

strategies ,for instance, asking teacher for a synonym, paraphrase, or L1

translation of new word and asking classmate for meaning when they

discover the meaning of new words.

Category 2: Consolidation Strategies .

Consolidation Strategies includes strategies for consolidating a word

once it has been encountered. Schmitt‟s (1997) stressed on four types of

strategies like :

Social Strategies (SOC) use interaction with other people to improve

language learning. Learners may study and practise meaning in a group

or interact with native speaker, or by any combination of these.

In Memory Strategies ( MEM ), Schmitt (1997) explains that most

memory strategies involve relating the word to be retained with prior

knowledge. For example, studying new words with pictures of their

meaning, associating the word with its coordination, synonymy, or

antonymy, using a scale for gradable adjectives or even grouping words

together within a story line.

Besides,Cognitive strategies (COG) do not engage learners in mental

processing but is more mechanical. In Cognitive strategies, Schmitt (1997)

refers to Verbal and Written repetition, Word lists, Putting English labels on

physical objects and Keeping a vocabulary notebook.

Metacognitive strategies (MET) are strategies relating to processes

involving monitoring, decision-making, and evaluation of learners‟progress.

Metacognitive strategies help the learner in determining appropriate

vocabulary learning strategies for learning new words. It includes using

English-language media (songs, movies, newscasts, etc.), Testing oneself

with word tests, Skiping or passing new word and Continuing to study word

over time.

2.3 Previous studies on Vocabulary Learning Strategies

Research on general learning strategies showed that many of them are

used for vocabulary learning. O‟Malley and Chamot (1990:7) note that

research on the effect of training L2 learners to use learning strategies is

often restricted to application of vocabulary tasks . Learners are found to use

more learning strategies for vocabulary acquisition than for other language

activities (Takač, 2008). In one of the first large-scale studies, Ahmed (1989)

investigated how good and poor learners (300 EFL learners in Sudan) applied

vocabulary-learning strategies. For the data collection Ahemd used a think-

aloud procedure, observations, questionnaires, and interviews. The results

showed that both good and poor learners used the same macro- strategies

(note-taking, memorization, practice, dictionaries or other information

sources), but good learners applied more micro-strategies within each macro-

strategy; for example, they often used words in context or tested themselves

while practicing.

Gu and Johnson (1996) designed a questionnaire based on previous

strategy research (Oxford, 1990). The questionnaire provided one of the most

comprehensive lists of vocabulary strategies: 108 items. It included three

sections: vocabulary learning beliefs, metacognitive strategies, and cognitive

strategies. Gu and Johnson (1996) administered the questionnaire to 850

Beijing University sophomores who had about six years of English learning

experience. The researchers were interested in the ways learners combined

different strategies, and if the choice of strategy combinations correlated with

students‟vocabulary size and general language proficiency. Learners were

classified by their strategy profiles and learning outcomes into five

groups.The findings revealed that the group of students with the highest

English test scores believed that vocabulary should be picked up through

natural exposure (reading, guessing, contextual encoding) and careful study,

but not memorization. They actively looked for opportunities to use English

outside the classroom. The second best group of participants also believed in

natural acquisition, careful study, and use of new words, but in addition they

had positive feelings about the memorization of words. They used almost

every strategy and spent a lot of time and effort on learning English. Gu and

Johnson (1996) believed that they might have succeeded due to their efforts,

but not to particular strategy use. Most of students in the study reported

average use of various strategies, and the group with lowest English test

scores strongly believed in the effectiveness of only a very restricted set of

strategies: memorization and visual repetition.

Vocabulary size correlated positively with general English proficiency.

Positive correlations were also found between both variables and such

strategies as contextual guessing, seeking personally significant vocabulary,

using vocabulary that was not studied in class, active use of dictionaries for

learning purposes (not for comprehension only), meaning-oriented note-

taking, paying attention to word formation, and creating semantic associations

and networks. Strategies aimed at vocabulary retention correlated more with

vocabulary size than with language proficiency. Oral repetition and English

proficiency correlated positively, but visual repetition of new words

correlated negatively with both vocabulary size and English proficiency.

Memorization of vocabulary was found to be useful only when it was used in

cluster with many other strategies.

Schmitt‟s (1997) 58-item questionnaire was administered to 600

Japanese EFL learners of different ages: junior-high school, high school,

university students, and adult learners. Schmitt(1997) distinguished between

strategies used for discovery of new words and strategies for consolidating the

knowledge. Discovery strategies included determination strategies used for

independent looking up of the word‟s meaning and social strategies used for

asking teachers or classmates for a meaning. Consolidation strategies included

social, cognitive, metacognitive, and memory strategies. The participants

were asked to indicate what strategies they used most often, and what

strategies they found most helpful.

The results showed that most frequently used strategies included using

a bilingual dictionary, verbal and written repetition, studying the spelling,

guessing from context, and saying the word aloud. The strategies reported as

most helpful coincided with the most used ones: bilingual dictionary use,

saying the new word aloud, oral repetition, and written repetition. The results

also showed changes in strategy use as learners matured: The youngest

learners favored repetition, focus on form, L1–L2 word lists and cards. More

mature learners reported more strategies that involved deeper processing:

imaging, associations, and analysis.

Many more studies have investigated individual vocabulary-learning

strategies, but only a few strategies have been researched in depth. The most

extensively studied vocabulary learning strategies are memory-based and

inferencing strategies (Schmitt, 1997).

2.4 Summary

Chapter two has mainly examined some significant aspects of

vocabulary learning, vocabulary learning strategies and available research

works on vocabulary learning strategies. Through the broad literature

review in the field of vocabulary learning strategies, it can be seen that

several researchers have made use of different vocabulary learning

strategy classification systems. Previous research work has been carried out in

a variety of purposes of the investigation, target populations, methods of data

collection, places of research conduction, and different variables or

factors.

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methodology used in collecting data for this

study. Firstly, illustrations will be described through research setting and

research question. Secondly, details of the subjects are illustrated. Apart from

the data collection procedure, marking on how the questionnaires were

distributed is included.

3.1 Research Setting

The study was conducted at Thanh Liem C high school. There are 25

talented students in the English language selection. The gifted students were

recruited from the selected classes, including students achieved better

academic achievement in the English learning process.They must participate

in the annual contest for gifted students, therefore, studying, consolidating

and applying appropriate learning strategies to achieve good results in the

exam for excellent students is very essential.

Moreover, in the process of learning English, they are considered to

have good thinking capability and have great enthusiasm about learning

English. These students have rich vocabulary and they have used different

vocabulary strategies to achieve their purposes of learning English. As a

result, some of them won high prizes in the annual competition for gifted

students.

3.2 Participants 25 talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high school in Ha Nam are the target subjects of the study. They are both

male and female students aged from fifteen to seventeen and have learnt

English at secondary schools for 5 years. These students have studied in

English seven years which is a requirement course offered by the National

Curiculumn.

The majority of the participants started learning English when they

were ten years old. Most students in the selection consider English their

favorite subject. They are all talented students who got good marks in the

entrance examination of the high school. The table below summarizes the

background information of the participants, including the gender, age and

their grades assessed by the teacher.

Table 3.1 Information of the participants

Gender Grade

Total number of participants Age

Female Male 10 11 12

25 22 3 15-17 11 8 6

There were two reasons behind the choice of these talented students.

Firstly, the group included of students chosen in selected classes,

getting good marks, especially, good at mathematics and English, so they are

very intelligent and it is not difficult for them to study English.

Secondly, all the students had received formal English instructions for

5 years at secondary school, some of them won prizes in competitions for

excellent students previous years and they were supposed to have good

knowledge of English words and sentences.

3.3 Data collection instrument

There are varieties of methods that can be employed to collect data

such as questionnaire, interview, observation and so on. Each method has its

own advantages and disadvantages.The researcher chose questionnaire

because it is one of the most popular instruments. It is quite easy to prepare

and it can be used with a large number of subjects. What is more, the

information collected is not very difficult to tabulate and to analyze

(Brown,1995). In addition, questionnaires are generally used in collecting

data from respondents about behavioral questions such as what they are

doing or have done in the past (Dörnyei 2003).

The instrument used in this survey was a 40-item questionnaire

based on Schmitt‟s Taxonomy for vocabulary learning strategies since it is

one of the most comprehensive lists of strategies available and it matched

with the researcher‟s purpose of the study.

The questionnaire draws on both Discovery Strategies and

Consolidation Strategies proposed by Schmitt(1997).The questions in the

questionnaire will be analyzed in their vocabulary learning strategy groups

by counting its percentage. It consisted of 40 items classified by five types of

strategies, such as Determination Strategies, Social Strategies, Memmory

strategies, Cognitive and Metacognitive strategies, which were adapted from

the vocabulary learning strategy classification based on Schmitt‟s Taxonomy

(1997).

Discovery Strategies discovering meaning of new words includes 15

item - questionnaires, whose statements from 1 to 6 aim at gathering the

information about Determination Strategies of Discovery meaning of new

words and statements from 7 to 15 belong to Social Strategies. Meanwhile,

25 statements of Consolidation strategies describe how the students

consolidate a new word such as Memmory strategies (12 statements),

Cognitive (8 statements) and Metacognitive strategies (5 statements ).

The 40-item questionnaires were asked about the frequency of the use

of vocabulary learning strategies implemented by English talented students.

The participants were instructed to self-report how often they used the

strategies by ticking ( √ ) in the corresponding columns. ( see Apendix )

The following scales were used to indicate the frequency of the usage

of each strategy:

5 = always use it

4 = often use it

3 = sometimes use it

2 = seldom use it

1 = never use it

The researcher collected the data, analyzed and ranked it in order of

popularity of the strategy, for example, the writer also ranked the popularity

of the strategies in the table with “1” for the most popular and the following

numbers with lower percentage of frequency were less popular strategies.

3.4 Method in Language Learning Strategy Research

“Research methods are procedures a researcher follows in attempting

to achieve the goal of a study” (Johnson 1977: 9). Intaraprasert (2000:53)

affirms that the research methods used to investigate language learning

strategies are procedures a researcher follows in trying to achieve

the goals of a study of language learning strategies, i.e. to elicit

information about language learning strategies employed by language

learners when they learn a language. However, Cohen and Scott (1996) point

out, “no single research method succeeds in the field; certain research

methods are well established but imperfect”. Besides, Robson (1993) points

out that there are many methods which a researcher can use to investigate

how learning strategies are employed by students or language learners in

order to cope with language problems, or to enhance their language

learning. Each method has both weak and strong points, but whatever method

a researcher employs, he or she must take the main purpose of the study into

consideration.

The researcher used the exploratory research to explore the research

question because she wanted to determine the nature of the problem and have

a better understanding of the fact what vocabulary learning strategies

the talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high

school used most and least popularly. Through the result of the study, she

could gather preliminary information that will help her define problems and have suggestions for the following research.

The study focuses on the survey of the quantitative differences of

comprehensive high school students‟ responses to vocabulary learning

strategies. Since vocabulary learning is a part of language learning, the main

research method for language learning strategies can be adapted to

vocabulary learning strategies as well including mainly written

questionnaire.

3.5 Data collection procedure

The data collection procedures involved the following steps:

1. The first step was a review of literature about language learning

strategies to overview and familiarize. The questionnaire in English language

was used to collect data. It consisted of 40 items classified by five types of

strategies, which were adapted from the vocabulary learning strategy

classification based on Schmitt‟sTaxonomy(1997): Determination, Social

(Discovery), Social (Consolidation), Memory, Cognitive and Metacognitive in

order to make them suitable for the subjects of the study.

2.The questionnaires were approved and improved by the advisor.

There were some parts to be readjusted and rewritten.

3. The questionnaires were given to 25 students within one class period.

4.The 40-item questionnaires were introduced by the researcher. The

students were also told that they had to answer in terms of how

well the explanations of each item describe them. The answered

questionnaires were collected right after the respondents finished them.

5. From all of collected students‟ answers, 40 items of the questionnaire

had been distributed and they were returned, and that is 100% of the students‟

responses. All of the items of the questionnaire were analyzed. The

strategies students always and often used with high percentages are

considered the most popular strategies and the ones that students seldom and

never used with high percentages are considered the least popular strategies.

CHAPTER FOUR : FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The data gathered through the questionnaire were analyzed to

investigate how often each stratergy is used by talented students in English

language selection who are considered high proficient students at Thanh

Liem C high school and which vocabulary learning stratergies are popularly

used the most and least. The former term refers to always and often and the

later ones refer to seldom and never.

4.1 Findings

Discovery strategies include several determination strategies and social

strategies. A learner may discover a new word‟s meaning through guessing

from context, analysing part of speech (e.g. noun, verb or adjective),

analysing any available pictures or gestures, etc. There is a natural sense that

almost all of the strategies applied to discovery activities could be used as

consolidation strategies in the later stage of vocabulary learning (Schmitt

1997).

For clarity, the writer separate strategies into the types of strategy and

analyze them basing on the results of each type.

4.1.1 Discovery strategies

4.1.1.1 Determination strategies ( DET)

In Schmitt‟s (1997) taxonomy, strategies of determination are strongly

linked with the discovery of a new word, notably, its meaning: these are the

strategies learners apply when they are faced with new words.

The answer to the question shows that the highest percentage belongs

to guessing its meaning from the context as 64% of the students always apply

this strategy and 12% of them often use it when discovering the meaning of

new words ; but up to 52% and 56% of them never or seldom analyse

available pictures or gestures or analyse part of speech (e.g. noun, verb or

adjective) . Few students chose analyse part of speech and analyse affixes

and roots when finding a meaning of the word because this figure is modest, it

was only 16%. A small number of students used “ analysing availaible

pictures and guestures” and “analyse part of speech (e.g. noun, verb or

adjective)”frequently when discovery new words because of the low

percentage ( 8%) and 12%.

Beside it, 56% students usually use bilingual dictionaries and 32%

monolingual ones, which confirms the above-mentioned findings in reference

to dictionary use. Monolingual and bilingual dictionary seems to be a useful

strategy for them. This tool helps the learners to learn even more

words because every item in a dictionary is explained or illustrated.

Table 4.1. Determination Strategies used by the talented students

Frequency of use Ranking Categories Strategies 5 4 3 2 1

Guessing its meaning 64% 12% 16% 8% 0% 1 DET from the context

Using a bilingual 56% 24% 16% 4% 0% 2 DET dictionary

Using a monolingual 32% 24% 24% 8% 12% 3 DET dictionary

Analysing affixes and 16% 16% 32% 20% 16% 4 DET roots

Analysing any

5 DET available pictures or 8% 12% 28% 28% 24%

gestures

Analysing part of

5 DET speech (e.g. noun, 12% 12% 20% 32% 24%

verb or adjective)

4.1.1.2 Social strategies ( SOC)

The following chart represents the views of the students, when asked

about the their vocabulary learning strategies.

Table 4.2. Social strategies used by the talented students

Frequency of use Ranking Categories Strategies 5 4 3 2 1

learning words from the mass

media such as newspaper, 1 SOC 80% 4% 16% 0% 0% magazines, radio, songs, TV

programmes or films

learning words from word 4% SOC 64% 8% 12% 12% 2 lists or glossary

Asking classmate for SOC 40% 16% 24% 8% 12% 3 meaning

Discovering new meaning

SOC through group work 8% 4% 24% 36% 28% 4

activities

Asking teacher for a sentence SOC 20% 12% 32% 20% 16% 5 including new word;

Asking teacher for a L1 SOC 0% 16% 28% 24% 32% 6 translation of new word

SOC Ignoring it 0% 4% 20% 40% 36% 7

SOC speaking with non-native 0% 0% 0% 12% 88% 8

interacting with native SOC 0% 0% 0% 4% 96% 9 speakers

According to the frequency of social strategies for discovery, the

results show that the strategy the students used most frequently was “learning

words from the mass media such as newspaper, magazines, radio, songs, TV

programmes or films” (80%) and “learning words from word lists or glossary‟

was put in second place with 64%. Perhaps, most students find that learning

vocabulary through the mass media is easy to understand and fit every time

with their activities, and that is also the easiest way of acquiring new words

for them and both of these proved to be considerably more popular with

students. These strategies are also the most-used by all study participants and

this is probable due to the fact that the previous educational system

favored the teacher-centered methodology of teaching.However, as a

language teacher the researcher believes that this is a characteristic of a good

language learner.

Meanwhile, the strategies fewer students chose were “asking classmate

for meaning” (40%) and “discovering new meaning through group work

activities” (8%). The reasons for relying relatively little on social

strategies might be that students, especially younger ones, do not link

social skills with vocabulary and do not consider it a possible way of

encountering or discovering the meaning of new words. Surprisingly, 56% of

total 25 participants reported that they never or seldom used the strategy "I

ask teacher for a L1 translation of new word". It is obvious that the number

of these students prefer social strategy and they do not heavily rely on the

teacher.

In particular, this section also appeared many choices that many

students did not choose, its figures are 0%, for instance, “interacting with

native speakers” or “speaking with non-native” and students never ignored

new words because the percentage expressed as 0%. Speaking or

corresponding with native or non-native speakers of English seemed to be the

strategies the least used when the aim is to discover new words

because up to 96% and 88% of students never use these stratergies. This

demonstrates that the students had few opportunites or never had any chance

to meet or contact with foreigners. In fact, communicating with native

speakers is a fantastic way to practice vocabulary. Noticeably, there have

recently been some voluntary foreign teachers coming to school and this is

wonderful chance for students to practice their English and their vocabulary

in particular. However,12% of students rarely used it and up to 96% and 88%

never did so.

4.1.2 Consolidation strategies

4.1.2.1 Memory strategies ( MEM)

Altogether 12 sub-strategies were mentioned for memorizing new

vocabulary. The analysis here was more detailed: first, the overall results

were calculated and all of the students were ranked, the results were

calculated for each group of students and finally, the number of strategies

students applied were also counted. Considering all the students, the

following list in Table 4.3 shows the strategies for memorizing new

vocabulary from the most popular one to the least popular.

Table 4.3. Memory strategies used by the talented students

Frequency of use Ranking Categories Strategies 5 4 3 2 1

learning the words of an 1 MEM 60% 24% 12% 8% 0% idiom together

making a note of the new

2 MEM word on the handout 56% 16% 16% 8% 4%

(underline, add L1)

grouping words together to 3 MEM 40% 20% 12% 16% 12% study them

4 MEM associating the word with 36% 28% 16% 8% 12%

Frequency of use Ranking Categories Strategies 5 4 3 2 1

a similar one in L1

MEM saying the word aloud 20% 28% 12% 20% 20% 5

studying the pronunciation 20% 16% 20% 24% 20% 6 MEM of the word

learning vocabulary in 28% 20% 16% 20% 16% 7 MEM short phrases

Studying word in a 20% 16% 24% 20% 20% 8 MEM dictionary

studying the spelling of 24% 16% 20% 24% 16% 9 MEM the word

putting new words into 10 MEM 12% 16% 20% 20% 24% sentences

putting the new word

11 MEM down with its 12% 16% 24% 20% 28%

pronunciation

writing vocabulary in

context, adding new words 12 MEM 4% 8% 16% 20% 52% with a definition, synonym

or collocation

With regard to “learning the words of an idiom together” and “making

a note of the new word on the handout”, more than half of the students used

these strategies with high frequency(60%) and (56%), so they become the

most popular strategies. Although students seldom and never use “putting

new words into sentences” as a strategy when first discovering a new

word,“ putting new words into sentences” appears to be an important tool

when the aim is to memorize this word. “Grouping words together to study

them or “associating it with a similar one in L1” are also strategies most

students use with 56% and 40%. In spite of the fact that quite a lot of

students always and often say the new word aloud (48%), fewer of them

study the pronunciation of a new word, the percentage of students always

and often using this strafegy is low with (28%); whereas, number of students

seldom or never use this strafegy up to 44% and hardly any of them “ put the

new word down with its pronunciation” (12%). This might either be due to a

lack of education in this respect or because students do not consider it vital.

Also, although the majority of the participants always make a note on their

handout (56%) and grouping words together to study them (40%), fewer of

them learn vocabulary in short phrases (28%), “putting new words into

sentences” (12%), writing vocabulary in context or “adding new words with a

definition, synonym or collocation” (4%) ; therefore, the strategies such as

“putting new words into sentences” and “writing vocabulary in context” or

“adding new words with a definition, synonym or collocation” become the

least-used strategies.Apparently, the more active the learner needs to be when

using a strategy, the lower the number of students who use it.

4.1.2.2. Cognitive strategies ( COG)

Table 4.4 . Cognitive strategies used by the talented students

Frequency of use Ranking Categories Strategies 5 4 3 2 1

Keeping a vocabulary 60% 28% 12% 0% 0% 1 COG notebook

Taking note in class 42% 20% 24% 4% 0% 2 COG

Highlighting new words 42% 24% 12% 12% 0% 3 COG

Using the vocabulary 40% 20% 28% 8% 4% 4 COG section in the textbook

Studying words through 40% 16% 24% 12% 8% 5 COG talking to classmates

Frequency of use Ranking Categories Strategies 5 4 3 2 1

making an effort to use COG 6 36% 24% 20% 8% 12% in speaking

making an effort to use COG 7 24% 16% 24% 24% 12% in writing

Interacting with natives

8 COG and try to use new 0% 0% 8% 28% 64%

words

Generally, it can be claimed that students use cognitive strategies more

frequently than that of the other ones . 88% of the participants always and

often use the strategy “ keeping a vocabulary notebook to jot down new

words” they want to learn. It seems that these students prefer writing down

the information which they consider useful because all information is

remembered better when it is written as well.

However, as regards using word lists, “using the vocabulary section in

the textbook” and “studying words through talking to classmates” got the

same percent (40%), the reason for which may be that they spend less time

consolidating new vocabulary. Only 36% and 24% of the participants always

use the strategy “making an effort to use in speaking and writing” when they

try to learn the new word by repeating it out loud several times.

Words need to be repeated in order to be studied. Usually, books provide a

context that helps studetns figure out the meaning of words they do not

know. This contextualized learning deepens learners' understanding of words

they are learning, and they learn which words go together.

The least used cognitive strategy is a social one (interacting with native

speakers), which verifies what was mentioned earlier about the avoidance of

these strategies, and almost students do not study new words by making an

effort to use them in speaking and writing by the percentage shown just 0%

always and up to 28% seldom and 64% of students never use it.

4.1.2.3 Metacognitive strategies ( MET)

As can be seen from the table 4.5, the Metacognitive strategies

facilitate learning with many English sources and it can interest and motivate

learners. Some example of these strategies are listening to English songs

and news, and memorizing words from English magazines.Study words

through English language media : television programs, Internet, English

songs, etc.

Table 4.5. Metacognitive strategies used by the talented students

Frequency of use Ranking Categories Strategies 5 4 3 2 1

Studying words through

English language media

1 MET : television programs, 56% 16% 24% 4% 0%

Internet, English

songs,…

Continuing to study 2 MET 48% 8% 24% 16% 4% word over time

practicing time 3 MET 32% 12% 20% 20% 16% scheduled and organized

Testing oneself with 4 MET 24% 12% 24% 16% 24% word tests

Skiping or passing new 5 MET 20% 16% 24% 12% 28% words

First of all, making use of English language media as a metacognitive

strategy seems most popular with these students, perhaps because of the

language practice classes, but its significance does not decrease. Mass media

such as television, radio, newspaper, magazines, stories, internet os songs are

not only informative but also effective way to enrich and retain vocabulary.

That is the reason why the students are always encouraged to make use of it.

Another interesting fact is that the more advanced students are, the

more they dare to skip or pass a new word, the less they continue to study

word over time and the less often they test themselves with word

tests. 48% of total 25 participants always use the strategy “Continue to

study word over time”. Continuing to study word over time helps in revising

them by rewriting a word over and over again and practicing pronunciation.

However, it is surprising that the students‟ practice time is not at all

scheduled and organized. Only 48% of informants always or often practice

time scheduled and organized and a small number of students seldom and

never use it (32%). Vocabulary knowledge has been consistently shown to be

more strongly related to reading comprehension than other components of

reading. Even if a reader has and uses good metacognitive strategies in first

language, they will not be of use in the second language until the reader

develops a solid language base.

4. 2 Discussion

The research scrutinizes in detail the vocabulary learning strategies

used by talented students in English language selection at Thanh Liem C high

school. It presents the strategies that students use to learn words in English.

It was demonstrated that learning new words is a complex process and the

students need to use many strategies in order to remember the meaning of the

words.

For Determination strategies, guessing its meaning from the context

and bilingual dictionaries are more popularly used than monolingual

dictionary and other strategies. The reason may be that using monolingual

dictionary often takes time. In fact, the students are often encouraged to use

monolingual dictionaries because it will give them chance to practice and

study words repeatedly. Once, the students get familiar with this strategy ,

they will find it very helpful especially for the English majors.

Regarding to Social strategies, the informants reported that more than

half of them seldom or never used these strategies, only few students used

them with frequency and a large number of them never did so. It can be seen

that these strategies were not frequenly used by the students . Learning words

from the mass media such as newspaper, magazines, radio, songs, TV

programmes or films and learning words from word lists or glossary are the

most frequenly used strategies while asking teacher for a L1 translation of

new word, interacting with native speakers and speaking with non-native are

the least frequently. This fact can be easily understood because students may

be afraid to ask their friends or teachers for their help in L1 translation.As far

as I know that our students do want to interact with native speakers although

they don‟t have many chances. That is the objective reason why more than

half of them did not employ the strategy of interacting with native speakers.

Discovering new meaning through group work activities and Asking teacher

for a sentence including new word were not frequenly used by the students.

A possible explaination is that the students have no extra time for this activity.

They finish school and then go home and most of them have the habit of

learning at home by themselves.

In terms of Memory strategies, the students were discovered to

employ the strategy of oral repetition and creating mental images most often

. These strategies are the approaches which relate new materials to existing

knowlegde such as associating the word with a similar one in L1, putting the

new word down with its pronunciation and writing vocabulary in context,

adding new words with a definition, synonym or collocation. It was

interesting to note that about a large number of students also employed the

strategy of written repetition of a word whereas many students repeated the

word aloud to aid in memory of the word, too. However students

seemed to have problems in putting new words into sentences (28%) and

writing vocabulary in context, adding new words with a definition, synonym

or collocation (12%).The data could imply that the students encounter

difficulties in making sentences to study and practice the meaning of words as

well as paraphrasing the words‟ meaning, etc.

It can be seen that not many of the students used these strategies,

maybe, for the reason is that they are not familiar with it. However, among

this group of strategies, learning the words of an idiom together and making a

note of the new word on the handout (underline, add L1) were used

frequently. It‟s because learning idioms is not only interesting but also

necessary for their vocabulary tests. The students, especially English majored

students, often deal with this when having tests.

At first glance, it can be observed that cognitive strategies for

conscious learning are much more valued by the participants than

metacognitive ones related to planning and evaluating the language

process. This reveals the fact that immediate goals are more important to

students than general language learning aims, perhaps because they have

not received any training in these metacognitive strategies.

Cognitive strategies such as keeping a vocabulary notebook, taking

note in class and highlighting new words were prefered by the students.

These talented students believed that keeping a vocabulary notebook was

useful to consolidate new words. Meanwhile, the rest strategies making an

effort to use in speaking and making an effort to use in writing or Interacting

with natives and try to use new words were used with low frequency. These

are very simple and feasible activities for the students, so that they should be

encouraged to use them as often as a habit.

In a whole, Metacognitive strategies were not frequently used. As it is

said that „testing oneself with word tests‟ and „skipping or passing new

words‟ got small percentages. However, studying words through English

language media: television programs, Internet, English songs,… has become

more popular in here, so that students should make use of this kind of modern

technology for the purpose of learning English in general and for learning

English vocabulary in particular. Somehow, the students have been always

given the best learning conditions from the teachers , the school and the local

government.

When the researcher delivered the questionnaire, she hoped that she

would get the large proportion of the students continuing to study word over

time and practicing words with time scheduled and organized fluently. What a

pity that a small number of them always did this ( 48% or 36 %). Up to 20%

never study word over time and some talented students practice words

without time scheduled and organized .Teachers should know this and think

of ways to encourage, even request their students to employ this strategy.

Luckily, most of the students sometimes or rarely skipped or passed new

words. Up to 24% of them never did so.

Besides, some other students also thought that studying the word over

time could enhance retention. This seems to suggest that the excellent

students regarded the cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies as

useful tools to consolidate new words and they could be used in a

complementary manner, that is, the learners can create their own vocabulary

notebooks and review over time.

To sum up, the result of the study show that only some of the strategies

introduced in the questionnaire are frequently used by the students. Most of

the strategies are infrequently used.

CHAPTER FIVE : CONCLUSION

5.1 Concluding remarks

This research is on the preliminary study on the use of vocabulary

learning strategies.Even though this is an original study for a long-term study,

some preliminary conclusions can be drawn that can be taken into

consideration when designing an improved version of the questionnaire.

The study has searched the answer for the 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 ?”.

The result showed that these talented students paid attention to using

vocabulary learning strategies to get better achievement, which is definitely a

positive finding.

For Discovery strategies, the most popular strategy the students used

was guessing from context. The following popular strategies were learning

words from word lists or glossary and using bilingual dictionaries, studying

words through English language media : television programs, Internet,

English songs,etc as these strategies got high percentages.

The strategies considered the least popular strategies were analysing

available pictures or gestures, analysing part of speech (e.g.noun,verb or

adjective) or interacting with non- native or native speaker got low

percentages, it demonstrated that these strategies are not used frequently.

For consolidation strategies, strategies such as learning the words of an

idiom together, making a note of the new word on the handout (underline, add

L1) and keeping a vocabulary notebook or studying words through English

language media : television programs, Internet, English songs, etc were

supposed the most popular strategies.

However, the students of the study tend to avoid some social and

metacognitive strategies , for instance, interacting with native speakers,

analysing part of speech (e.g. noun, verb or adjective),writing vocabulary in

context, adding new words with a definition, synonym or collocation and

testing oneself with word tests when the figures of these strategies were very

low, thus, these strategies were ranked the least popularly.

When we look at the pattern of the strategy use, we could see that good

students tend to learn under their interest. The students seem to enjoy learning

English from real experiences, by listening to English songs, watching

English movies etc, more than inside the classroom. So the students can make

sustainable progress in English with pleasure and without any pressure.

Besides, the strategies such as asking teacher for a first language

translation of new word and putting the new word down with its

pronunciation become less important as students get better knowledge.

The finding suggests that students would need to engage more

strategies to enhance their learning and memory of the vocabulary. Although

the subjects in this study were discovered to have knowledge of certain

strategies, yet they failed to practice what they have learned. It is

important to make students aware that learning does not only

involve having knowledge of a particular strategy, but rather it will

become enhanced when we make use of that knowledge.

5.2 Implications

As for the pedagogical implications, the finding from the survey

indicates that it will be necessary and beneficial for the students if various

vocabulary learning strategies are employed.

More vocabulary learning strategies should be introduced to students

and can be used as methods of vocabulary learning. For instance, teachers

continue to encourage use of a dictionary and other learning media. Teachers

can also assign more interesting vocabulary tasks in order to engage and

inspire students to do vocabulary tasks.

From the results of this study, the group teachers of English has agreed

to apply the vocabulary learning strategies on training gifted students and the

writer will conduct an action research to find out vocabulary learning

strategies of mass students.

Since the language learning strategies are considered as other good

tools for language learners, it is expected that this study will be able

to support the English teachers‟ pedagogical viewpoints and give valuable

information on how the students process information and select the most

suitable vocabulary learning strategies to enhance their language learning.

Besides, teachers should help these talented students become better

language learners by training them in using the right strategies or appropriate

strategies that suit their level so that they can get good marks in the exam of

excellent students. Both objectives and goals can be achieved when students

are well trained in strategies used.

Strategies “writing vocabulary in context, adding new words with a

definition, synonym or collocation” should be used more in class so as to

help them get used to making sentences, writing essays as the talented

students in English language selection have more chances to get better score

when they have good writing skill.

5. 3 Limitations

This is an exploratory study of students‟vocabulary learning

strategies.The questionaires is a singgle instrument of data collection.The data

from the questionnaire were self-reported by the participants.Therefore,there

are some limitations.

First, the data were collected by using only one instrument-

questionnaire which do not reflect a reality because students could have not

read the questions carefully but only put a tick when choosing them.

Second, the research was conducted with 25 excellent students at

Thanh Liem C high school, its population was small and this is a preliminary

study, so the contents and the methods are limited.

Third, this research was only studied in a small scale, it is only focused

on vocabulary learning strategies without other skills, such as reading,

speaking. writing, etc.

5.4 Recommendations for further research

The results can be deliberately applied to support students‟ English

learning especially at Thanh Liem C high school.

The method of collecting data should include open-ended questions

into the questionnaires to give students more space to report their valuable

information that might help the researcher understand their strategies of

vocabulary learning.

Other studies of the skills such as reading, speaking, listening, etc…

will be conducted so that the teachers of English at the researcher‟school have

an overall view of teaching and learning English of students.

In the future, the researcher is going to work on vocabulary learning

strategies of mass students to find out the differences, from which she and

her colleagues adjust teaching methods to be suitable for students.

REFERENCES

1. Ahmed, M.O. (1988): Vocabulary learning strategies: A case study of

Sudanese learners of English.Unpublished doctoral

dissertation.University College of North Wales, Bangor, UK.

2. Cohen, A.D. (1998). Strategies in learning and using a second language.

New York, NY: Longman.

3. Brown, T. S., and Perry, F. L. Jr. (1991). A comparison of three learning

strategies for ESL vocabulary acquisition. TESOL Quarterly.

4. Carrell, P. L.(1989). Metacognitive awareness and second language

reading. Modern Language Journal.

5. Carter, R., and McCarthy, M. (1988). Vocabulary and language teaching.

London: Longman.

6. Chamot, A. U. (2004). Issues in language learning strategy

research and teaching. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language

Teaching.

7. Cheung, C-Y. (2004). The effectiveness of vocabulary learning

strategies of Chinese low achievers. Master‟s thesis, Hong Kong: The

University of Hong Kong.

8. Cohen, A. D. (1998). Strategies in learning and using a second language.

London: Longman.

9. Dörnyei, Z. (2003). Questionnaires in second language research:

Construction, administration, and processing. Mahwah, New Jersey:

Lawrence Erlbaum.

10. Ellis, R. (1997). Second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University

Press.

11. Fan, M. Y. (2003). Frequency of use, perceived usefulness, and actual

usefulness of second language vocabulary strategise: A study of

Hong Kong learners. The Modern Language Journal.

12. Gu, Y., and Johnson, R.K. (1996). Vocabulary learning strategies and

language learning outcomes. Language Learning.

13. Gu, Y. (2003). Vocabulary learning in a second language: person, task,

context and strategies. TESL-EJ, 7(2), A-4. Available at: http://www

writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ/ej26/a4.html (10 Dec. 2003).

14. Gu, Y. (2005). Vocabulary learning strategies in the Chinese EFL

context. Marshal Cavendish Academic, Singapore

15. Intaraprasert, C. (2004). EST students and vocabulary learning

strategies: A preliminary investigation. Unpublished research,

Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

16. Kudo, Y. (2000). Second language vocabulary learning strategies .

Abstract retrieved February 18, 2008, from

http://www.lll.hawaii.edu/nflrc/NetWorks/NW14/\

17. Kung, W. J., and Chen, S. E. (n.d.). An exploratory on vocabulary

learning strategies by Taiwanese EFL elementary school students.

Available:

http://english.nccu.tw/new/wenshan2005/session6/%E9%BE%94abstract.doc

18. Lau, W.H. (2002). Instruction on vocabulary learning strategies: A

stepping stone to independent learning? Unpublished master‟s thesis, The

University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

19. Law, B.Y. (2003). Vocabulary learning strategies: A case study of Form

Four students in a Chinese-medium secondary school. Unpublished

master‟s thesis, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

20. Lo, O.K. (2007). An investigation into the perceptions and effectiveness of

various vocabulary learning strategies of Hong Kong ESL learners with

low English proficiency. Unpublished master‟s thesis, The Universi ty of

Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

21. Nation, I.S.P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. New York:

Newbury House.

22. O‟Mally, J. M., & Chamot, A. (1990). Learning strategies in second

language acquisition (The Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series).

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

23. Schmitt, N. (1997). Vocabulary learning strategies. In N.

Schmitt & M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description,

Acquisition and Pedagogy . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

24. Takač, V. P. (2008). Vocabulary learning strategies and second language

acquisition. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

APPENDIX

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PART 1: The Student’s Personal Background

Please provide the information about yourself by circling the choices

given or write the response where necessary:

1. Age: 15 16 17 more than 17

2. Gender (circle the answer): Male Female

3. You are studying in Grade : 10 11 12

4. Year of study at your school:

5. Number of years studying English:

6. Do you think English is : (You can choose more than one)

easy difficult

interesting useful

boring useless

others (please specify) ………………………………….….

7. Your English ability is: poor/weak moderate good/very good

8. Number of years taking part in English language selection: 1 2 3

I

PART 2: Vocabulary Learning Strategies Questionnaire

A Survey of Vocabulary Learning Strategies

Directions

The Vocabulary Learning Strategy Questionnaire (VLSQ) is designed to

gather information about how you use English vocabulary learning

strategies.This of vocabulary learning strategies is designed for students who

learn English as a foreign language. In the statement below, you will find

statements related to various English vocabulary learning strategies. Please

read each statement carefully then put (√ ) in the box (5,4,3,2 or 1 ) which

most describes your opinion on the strategies you use to learn English

vocabulary.

Degree of frequency of Your Own Vocabulary Learning Strategy Use

“Always” : you always or almost always use the strategy described in

the statement

“Often” : you use the strategy described more than half the time

“Sometimes”: you use the strategy described in the statement half of the

time.

“Seldom” : you use the strategy described in the statement less than half

of the time

“Never” : you never use the strategy described in the statement

II

I. Discovery Strategies

Degree of

frequency Number Categories Strategies

5 4 3 2 1

I guess its meaning from the 1 1 DET context

I analyse part of speech (e.g. 2 2 DET noun, verb or adjective)

DET I analyse affixes and roots 3 3

I analyse any available pictures 4 4 DET or gestures

5 5 DET I use a monolingual dictionary

6 6 DET I use a bilingual dictionary

Ask teacher for a L1 translation 7 1 SOC of new word

I ask teacher for a sentence 8 2 SOC including new word;

9 3 SOC I ask classmate for meaning

I discover new meaning through 10 4 SOC group work activities

11 5 SOC I interact with native speakers

12 6 SOC I speak with non- native

I learn words from word lists or 13 7 SOC glossary

I learn words from the mass

media such as newspaper, 14 8 SOC magazines, radio, songs, TV

programmes or films

15 9 SOC I ignore it

III

II. Consolidation Strategies

Degree of

frequency Number Categories Strategies

5 4 3 2 1

16 1 COG I keep a vocabulary notebook

17 2 COG I take note in class

I use the vocabulary section in 18 3 COG the textbook

I make an effort to use in 19 4 COG writing

I make an effort to use in 20 5 COG speaking

I interact with natives and try to 21 6 COG use new words

22 7 COG I highlight new words

I study words through talking to 23 8 COG classmates

24 1 MEM I studying word in a dictionary

I study the pronunciation of the 25 2 MEM word

I associate the word with a 26 3 MEM similar one in L1

27 4 MEM I put new words in sentences

28 5 MEM I say the word aloud

I learn vocabulary in short 29 6 MEM phrases

IV

Degree of

frequency Number Categories Strategies

5 4 3 2 1

MEM I study the spelling of the word 30 7

I group words together to study 31 8 MEM them

I make a note of the new word 32 9 MEM on the handout

I write vocabulary in context,

adding new words with a 33 10 MEM definition, synonym or

collocation

I put the new word down with 34 11 MEM its pronunciation

I learn the words of an idiom 35 12 MEM together

I study words through English

language media : television 36 1 MET programs, Internet, English

songs,…

I practice time scheduled and 37 2 MET organized

38 3 MET I skip or pass new word

39 4 MET I testing oneself with word tests

I continue to study word over 40 5 MET time

Thank you for your co-operation!

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

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.

Chủ đề:

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

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

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

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

I

II

III

IV

V

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