(LUẬN văn THẠC sĩ) an investigation into teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the use of visual aids in teaching and learning vocabulary at le quy don gifted high school, dien bien

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN HẠNH TUYẾT

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’
ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE USE OF VISUAL AIDS IN
TEACHING AND LEARNING VOCABULARY AT LE QUY DON
GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL, DIEN BIEN

NGHIÊN CỨU THÁI ĐỘ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC
SỬ DỤNG GIÁO CỤ TRỰC QUAN ĐỂ DẠY VÀ HỌC TỪ VỰNG
Ở TRƯỜNG THPT CHUYÊN LÊ QUÝ ĐÔN – ĐIỆN BIÊN

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field:

English Teaching Methodology

Code:

60 14 10

Hanoi, 2011

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN HẠNH TUYẾT

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’
ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE USE OF VISUAL AIDS IN
TEACHING AND LEARNING VOCABULARY AT LE QUY DON
GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL, DIEN BIEN

NGHIÊN CỨU THÁI ĐỘ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC
SỬ DỤNG GIÁO CỤ TRỰC QUAN ĐỂ DẠY VÀ HỌC TỪ VỰNG
Ở TRƯỜNG THPT CHUYÊN LÊ QUÝ ĐÔN – ĐIỆN BIÊN

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field:

English Teaching Methodology

Code:

60 14 10

Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Vượng, M.A

Hanoi, 2011

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ABSTRACT
This study aims at finding out the attitudes of the teachers and students at Le Quy Don
gifted high school in Dien Dien towards the use of visual aids in teaching and leaning English
vocabulary.
In the study, the quantitative and qualitative methods are employed. The instruments to
collect data for the study are survey questionnaires and interview. After gathering and
analyzing the collected data, some major findings have been revealed. The first finding is that
most of the teachers and students at LQD gifted high school in Dien Bien have positive
attitudes towards the use of visual aids in teaching and learning vocabulary. The second
finding shows that most of the teachers tend to use different types of visual aids in teaching
vocabulary. Nevertheless, they still restrict themselves to some visual types only. Moreover,
their ways of exploiting visual aids to teach vocabulary is limited. They just mainly focus on
using visual aids to present new words. This means that the teachers have not made use of
visual aids to their fullest potential to aid their students or arouse their interest in leaning
vocabulary. The third finding is that both the teachers and students still encounter certain
challenges when using visual aids in teaching and learning vocabulary.
It is hopeful that this study can be of some help to the teachers at LQD gifted high
school and the school itself about their teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the use of
visual aid in teaching vocabulary or other teachers and schools interested in the subject matter.

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LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS
LQD

Le Quy Don (gifted high school)

No.

Number of informants

RO

Real objects

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LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES
List of figures

Pages

Figure 1:

Data collected from question 1 of the teachers’ questionnaire

19

Figure 2:

Teachers’ interest in using visual aids to teach vocabulary

20

Figure 3:

Teachers’ evaluation of the visual aids in general

20

Figure 4:

Data collected from question 5 of the teachers’ questionnaire

21

Figure 5:

Data collected from question 9 of the teachers’ questionnaire

24

Figure 6:

Data collected from question 12 of the teachers’ questionnaire

26

Figure 7:

Students’ interest in learning vocabulary through visual aids

28

Figure 8:

Students’ evaluation on the usefulness of visual aids in vocabulary teaching

28

Figure 9:

Data collected from question 3 of the students’ questionnaire

28

Figure 10:

Students’ preference of the sources of the pictures

30

Figure 11:

Students’ preference of the sources of real objects

30

Figure 12:

Data collected from question 10 of the students’ questionnaire

32

Figure 13:

Teachers’ attitudes towards the importance of vocabulary in language teaching

33

Figure 14:

Data collected from question 2 of the interview for the teachers

33

List of tables

pages

Table 1:

The teachers’ evaluation of the specific visual aids

21

Table 2:

The teachers’ frequency of visual aids use in teaching vocabulary

22

Table 3:

The teachers’ ways of using of visual aids to teach vocabulary and the

23

frequency of the teachers using these ways to teach vocabulary

Table 4:

The types of visual aids and their impressions on the students

23

Table 5:

The teachers’ frequent sources of getting visual aids

24

Table 6:

The teachers’ reasons for using visual aids in teaching vocabulary

25

Table 7:

The challenges faced by teachers when using visual aids to teach vocabulary

26

Table 8:

The students’ evaluation of visual aids in facilitating their vocabulary learning

29

Table 9:

The students’ evaluation on their teachers’ frequency of using visual aids to

30

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teach vocabulary

Table 10:

The reasons for the students’ interest in learning vocabulary through visual aids

31

Table 11:

The reasons for the students’ de-motivation in learning vocabulary
through visual aids

32

Table 12:

The problems faced by the students when learning vocabulary through visual aids

33

Table 13:

Teachers’ favorite ways of teaching vocabulary

34

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TABLES OF CONTENT
Page number
DECLARATION....................................................................................................................

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT................................................................................................................

ii

ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................................

iii

LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS.........................................................................................................

iv

LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES..............................................................................................

v

TABLE OF CONTENT..........................................................................................................

vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................

1

1. Rationale of the study......................................................................................................

1

2. Aims of the study.............................................................................................................

2

3. Research questions...........................................................................................................

2

4. Scope of the study............................................................................................................

2

5. Methods of the study........................................................................................................

3

6. Design of the study..........................................................................................................

3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT.............................................................................................

4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................

4

1.1. Vocabulary....................................................................................................................

4

1.1.1. What is vocabulary? ................................................................................. .........

4

1.1.2. Classification of vocabulary ..................................................................... .........

5

1.1.2.1. Vocabulary classified according to the concept of morpheme...................

5

1.1.2.2. Vocabulary classified according to the meaning ............................. .........

5

1.1.2.3. Vocabulary classified according to the functions.......................................

5

1.1.2.4. Vocabulary classified according to the frequency of use...........................

6

1.2. Vocabulary and its significant role in language teaching and learning........................

6

1.3. Visual aids.....................................................................................................................

7

1.3.1. Definitions of visual aids......................................................................................

7

1.3.2. Types of visual aids..............................................................................................

8

1.3.2.1. Chalkboards................................................................................................

8

1.3.2.2. Real objects and presentational objects......................................................

9

1.3.2.3. Mime (Gesture and Facial expressions).....................................................

9

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1.3.2.4. Pictures........................................................................................................

10

1.3.2.4.1. Wall pictures and wall charts........................................................

11

1.3.2.4.2. Flash cards.....................................................................................

12

1.3.2.4.2.1. Word flash cards............................................................

12

1.3.2.4.2.2. Picture flash cards..........................................................

12

1.4. Benefits of using visual aids to teach vocabulary.........................................................

14

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY....................................................................................

16

2.1. Research question.........................................................................................................

16

2.2. Subjects of the study.....................................................................................................

16

2.2.1. The students..........................................................................................................

16

2.2.2. The teachers..........................................................................................................

16

2.3. The instruments.............................................................................................................

17

2.3.1. The questionnaires................................................................................................

17

2.3.1.1. The teachers’ questionnaire......................................................................

17

2.3.1.2. The students’ questionnaire......................................................................

17

2.3.2. The interview for the teachers...............................................................................

18

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION................................................

19

3.1. Data analysis.................................................................................................................

19

3.1.1. Results from the survey questionnaires................................................................

19

3.1.1.1. Results from the teachers’ survey questionnaire........................................

19

3.1.1.2. Results from the students’ survey questionnaire........................................

28

3.1.2. Results from the interviews for the teachers.........................................................

33

3.2. Findings and discussion................................................................................................

36

PART C: CONCLUSION.................................................................................................

38

4.1. Summary of the study...................................................................................................

38

4.2. Recommendations.........................................................................................................

38

4.3. Limitations and suggestions for further study...............................................................

40

REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................

41

APPENDIX 1........................................................................................................................

I

APPENDIX 2........................................................................................................................

IV

APPENDIX 3........................................................................................................................

VIII

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Wilkin (1972: 110) states that “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without
vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. This means that to be a competent English communicator,
one must acquire a good knowledge of English grammar and have a rich amount of English
vocabulary as well. Vocabulary is an essential element of language. Whether in speaking or
writing, learners need vocabulary to communicate and understand others.
However, for many students at Le Quy Don gifted high school in Dien Bien, learning
vocabulary is really a hard job. As a result, many students often ask their teachers the same
question about how they can learn vocabulary effectively. As a matter of fact, what students are
wondering is also a big question that always bare in the teachers’ mind which urges them try to
find a suitable solution to better facilitate both the teachers’ and students’ vocabulary teaching
and learning process.
The idea of using visual aids to better aid students learn vocabulary has been conducted at
LQD gifted school by many teachers including the researcher and all agree that visual aids are of
great use to aid both the teachers and their students in teaching and learning vocabulary. Many
students admit that they can remember new words more easily by both listening to their teachers
and looking at the visuals. They also get involved to the lesson more actively by guessing the
words’ meaning through the visuals, describing the visuals, asking and answering questions
related to the visuals, etc. Therefore, students gradually retain more words and can better
communicate in the target language. For teachers, many agree that they can reduce their talking
time of explaining new words in stead of introducing words directly through different types of
visual aids.
From what the teachers and students have mentioned about some of benefits of visual
aids, the researcher can partly know about their attitudes towards the use of visual aids in
teaching and learning vocabulary. This inspires the researcher to conduct the study entitled “An

Investigation into Teachers’ and Students’ Attitudes towards the Use of Visual Aids in Teaching
and Learning Vocabulary at Le Quy Don Gifted High School, Dien Bien.” with hope of
understanding more about not only the teachers’ and students’ attitude towards the use of visual
aids but also the overall problems faced by them in teaching and learning vocabulary through
visual aids. Hopefully, this study will be of some values to those who want to improve their
vocabulary teaching, especially by means of visual aids.

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2. Aims of the study: The study aims at:
- Investigating the teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the use of visual aids in teaching and
learning vocabulary.
- Exploring the extent to which visual aids have been used in vocabulary teaching and learning
- Finding out the possible problems faced by the teachers and students in teaching and learning
vocabulary through visual aids.
3. Research questions: In order to achieve the above-stated goals, the study was carried out to
seek answers to the following questions:
1. What are the teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the use of visual aids in teaching
and learning vocabulary?
2. To what extent have visual aids been used in teaching and learning vocabulary?
3. What are the problems faced by the teachers and students when teaching and learning
vocabulary through visual aids?
4. Scope of the study
In fact, there are many different types of visuals that can be used to help the students
better learn vocabulary. However, due to the minor scope of this thesis, the research only aims at
several types of visual aids such as pictures, chalkboards, real objects, mime-facial expressions
which are available in class or can be easily made and applied by the teachers. The study has not
dealt with students of all levels but just 11th form students who have been familiar with their

teachers’ method of teaching vocabulary through visual aids since they were in grade ten.
5. Methods of the study
In the study, data was collected by two methods: survey and interview. The survey consists
of two questionnaires, one for the teachers and the other for the students. Besides, the researcher
conducted informal interviews with the teachers in order to supplement the survey questionnaires.
6. Design of the study: This study is divided into three main parts:
Part A: INTRODUCTION: In this part the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the
scope, the methods and the design of the study are presented.
Part B: DEVELPOMENT: This part consists of three chapters: the “Literature Review”,
“Methodology” and “Data Analysis and Discussion”
Part C: CONCLUSION: This part offers a summary of the study and some suggestions
for further study.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Vocabulary
1.1.1. What is vocabulary?
According to The Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics,
vocabulary is defined as “a set of lexemes, including single words, compound words and idioms”.
Otherwise, in the Oxford Advanced learner’s Dictionary, vocabulary is defined quite simple as
“all the words that a person knows or uses.”
In Stahl’s view, vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings then he offered
a clear and specific definition of vocabulary by saying that “vocabulary knowledge is knowledge;
the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into
world.” (Stahl, S.A. 2005). The author emphasizes that when learning vocabulary, learners must

acquire the knowledge of words or word meanings and understand how the word they have learnt
can be used appropriately in the real-world situations.
1.1.2. Classification of vocabulary
1.1.2.1. Vocabulary classified according to the concept of morpheme
McCarthy (1990: 5) divides words into three kinds: simple, derived and compound.
+ Simple word : A simple word is one that consists of only a root morpheme, which can not be
further subdivided such as eat, do, learn, live...
+ Compound word: Compound words are items that consist of more than one root but have a
single identity in that they name a single thing or concept such as sewing machine, campground,
electric fan....
+ Derived word: A derived word is one that consists of a root and one or more derivational
morphemes such as teacher, worker, helpful...
1.1.2.2. Vocabulary classified according to the meanings
Read (2000: 18) states that vocabulary can be divided into notional words and functional
words.
+ Notional words are words with clear lexical meaning. They address objects, actions, qualities,
etc, and they have meaning in themselves. Notional words form a great number of each speaker's
vocabulary. For example, a boy, a ball, to make, to go...

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+ Functional words are words which only have meaning in relation to the other words with
which they are used. Functional words are particles, articles, prepositions, auxiliaries,
conjunctions, etc. For instance, on, for, at, the, and, because....
1.1.2.3. Vocabulary classified according to the functions
In a sentence, word can possess many different functions. Therefore, English words can
be classified into different items basing on functions as different parts of speech. These parts of
speech can be nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and pronouns (Quirk, 1987: 18).

Each part of speech has its own position, complying with certain grammatical rules and relating
to others. So that when learning English words, learners need to be aware of the parts of speech
of that word in sentence in order to understand the word clearly.
1.1.2.4. Vocabulary classified according to the frequency of use
It is impossible for teachers to teach students every new word they come across instead of
making them be aware of words with high frequency in use and those with low frequency.
Therefore students can save more time and energy to learn words they can use more frequently.
1.3. Visual aids
1.3.1. Definitions of visual aids
In the Dictionary of English Language and Culture, visual aids are defined as “something
that people can look at to help them understand, learn, remember, etc. such as a picture, map,
photograph, or film. Visual aids are often used as materials in education” (1998: 1490). Andrew
and Safia (1991) define visual aids as “anything learners can see used for different purposes in a
language class.
1.3.2. Types of visual aids
2.3.2.1. Chalkboards
Chalkboards are commonly found in most classes. They are usually black or green, cheap
to install, easy and cheap to use and very adaptable. Teachers can use them whenever they like to
teach a lesson. Hence, chalkboards are said to be the most common and helpful visual aids for
every teacher.
1.3.2.2. Real objects and presentational objects
According to Allen (1983: 4), real objects are of great value to show the meaning of a
new word, especially when the objects are available in the classroom. She reinforced that “in
most cases, a picture of something is less helpful than the thing itself”. She also gives the general
recommendation “for showing the meaning of an English noun, use the real object whenever

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possible” (p25). Representational objects are objects that can replace real objects in case teachers
and learners cannot bring the real ones for use in classroom.
1.3.2.3. Mime (Gesture and Facial expressions)
Mime is a type of acting using only gestures and facial expressions. According to Alton
(2002), “A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication made with a part of the body, used
instead of or in combination with verb communication.” Facial expressions are also simply
known as the expression on a person's face, resulting from specific use of the facial muscles.
1.3.2.4. Pictures
In Look Here! Visual Aids in Language Teaching, Bowen (1982) introduces some kinds
of pictures such as flash cards, sequence pictures, wall pictures and wall charts, etc. In fact,
pictures of all kinds are considered useful visual aids in language teaching, especially in teaching
vocabulary. They can be used to illustrate very large objects which are not easily brought into the
classroom, for example: an airplane, a car, a washing machine, a typewriter, etc. They are also of
great help for teachers to stimulate students’ imagination and memory of new words. Teachers
can use pictures to clarify the denotation meaning of vocabulary without much explanation.
1.3.2.4.1. Wall pictures and wall charts
According to Bowen (1982: 13):
A wall chart is a large diagram or picture display card. Most wall charts consist of
combinations of visual and verbal material. Their aim is to give information on topic. A wall
picture, on the other hand, is simply a large illustration of a scene or event, or a set of scenes or
events.

In Visuals for the Language Classroom, Wright and Haleem (1991: 44) also offer a very
simple bur clear definition of wall picture as “Wall pictures illustrate scenes, people or objects and
are large enough to be seen by all the students”.
1.3.2.4.2. Flash cards
1.3.2.4.2.1. Word flash cards
According to Bowen (1982: 25), “Word flash cards are cards on which words have been
printed and can be held up rapidly, or ‘flash’ by the teacher before the class”. He also suggests
that “a good width for flash cards is 10 cm (4inches) but the length vary according to the number

of letters in the word to be printed on the card.”
1.3.2.4.2.2. Picture flash cards
In Wight and Haleem’s view, “picture flash cards are pictures mounted or drawn on cards
appropriately 15cm by 20cm.” (p50). They also emphasize that as for classroom use, “Picture

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flash cards are more suitable for the presentation of a single concept, such as an object or an
action”. So that picture cards are considered very useful visual aids that teachers need to employ
in teaching new words during the vocabulary teaching process.

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
2.1. Subjects of the study
2.1.1. The students
The participants for the study consist of 116 eleventh form students aged from seventeen
to eighteen from three classes 11B1, 11B5, 11B7 at LQD gifted high school in Dien Bien.
2.1.2. The teachers
All seven female teachers and one male at LQD gifted high school are chosen as
informants of the study. All these teachers aged from 27 to 37 have been teaching English for at
least three years.
2.2. The instruments
2.2.1. The questionnaires
2.2.1.1. The teachers’ questionnaire
The survey questionnaire for the teachers, consisting of 14 questions, was administered to
all eight teachers at LQD gifted high school at the beginning of March 2011. The survey was
divided into three main parts. The first five questions focus on finding out the teachers’ attitudes
towards the use of visual aids in teaching vocabulary. The second part with questions from 6 to 8
aims at exploring the extent to which visual aids have been used in teaching vocabulary. The five

following questions are raised to investigate the teachers’ problems when applying visual aids to
vocabulary teaching.
2.2.1.2. The students’ questionnaire
The students’ questionnaire, comprising of 11 questions, was delivered to 116 students at
the same time of the teacher questionnaire. Similarly, the survey for the students covered three
main points.
2.2.2. The interview for the teachers
The researcher conducts informal interviews with all teachers in order to get more
insightful information to supplement the result of the teachers’ questionnaires or to interpret
responses to questionnaires.

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CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Results from the teachers’ survey questionnaire
1. The teachers’ attitudes towards the use of visual aids in vocabulary teaching
Teachers' interest in using visual aids to teach vocabulary
70.0%

62.5%

60.0%
50.0%
37.5%

40.0%

Very interested
Interested

30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%

Figure 2
As can be seen from figure 2, when being asked how interested they are in using visual
aids to teach vocabulary, 100% of the teachers supported the use of visual aids in teaching
vocabulary. Of the teachers, most of them (62.5%) said that they were very interested in using
visual aids to teach vocabulary. 37% felt interested.
Teachers' evaluation of the visual aids in
general
Very useful
25%
Very useful
Useful
Useful
75%

Figure 3
Figure 3 shows the teachers’ evaluation on the role of visual aids in vocabulary teaching
in general. Three quarters of the teachers (75%) thought that visual aids were useful and a fourth
of the teachers (25%) highly appreciated visual aids very useful in teaching vocabulary. None of
the teachers thought that visual aids were not useful at all.
2. The extent to which visual aids have been used in teaching vocabulary
1. present new vocabulary
2. help students practise and retain

always
50%

often
37.5%

sometimes
12.5%

hardly ever
0%

never
0%

0%

0%

50%

25%

25%

the new words

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Table 3: The teachers’ ways of using of visual aids to teach vocabulary and the frequency of the teachers
using these ways to teach vocabulary

Table 3 illustrates the teachers’ ways of using visual aids to teach vocabulary and the
frequency of their using these ways to teach vocabulary. As can be seen from the table, visual
aids were mostly used for presenting vocabulary by the teachers. On contrary, half of the teacher
rarely used visual aids as cues or prompts for the students to practise and retain the new words.
This fact reveals a problem that visual aids have not been exploited to their fullest potential to aid
the students in their vocabulary learning.
3. Challenges faced by the teachers when using visual aids to teach vocabulary

No
12.5%

Yes
No

Yes
87.5%

Figure 6: Data collected from question 12
(Have you encountered any problems when using visual aids to teach vocabulary?)
When being asked “Have you encountered any problems when using visual aids to teach
vocabulary?” most of the teachers (87.5%) admitted they have faced problems. This is not
surprising because teaching vocabulary through visual aids is a very complicated process that
acquires the teachers’ much time, efforts and creativeness as well. Therefore, it is inescapable
that the teachers might face certain problems in using visual aids to teach vocabulary.
Options

No. of informants
Percentage
Time-consuming to prepare
7
87.5%
Money consuming
4
50%
Difficulties to prepare
3
37.5%
The lack of time when using.
5
65.5%
Difficulties in finding suitable visual materials
5
62.5%
Difficulties in class management
0
0%
Table 7: The challenges faced by teachers when using visual aids to teach vocabulary
As shown in table 7 the possible problems faced by the teachers when using visual aids to
teach vocabulary. In fact, the teachers found some challenges that hindered them from using

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visual aids in teaching vocabulary. Remarkably, 87.5% of the teachers claimed that it was timeconsuming to prepare visual aids. Also, 62.5% of the teachers said that they met difficulties in
finding suitable visual materials. Half of the teachers found the preparation of visual aids money

consuming.
3.2. Results from the students’ survey questionnaire
1. The students’ attitudes towards the use of visual aids in teaching vocabulary
The following figures and tables reflect the students’ attitudes towards the use of visual
aids in learning vocabulary.
Students' evaluation on the usefulness of
visual aids in vocabulary learning

Students' interest in learning vocabulary
through visual aids

Very interested

50.0%

Interested

40.0%
30.0%

20.7%

21.6%

20.0%
10.0%

Very useful,
35%

53.4%

60.0%

4.30%

Neutral

Very useful

Useful,
65%

Useful

Uninterested

0.0%

Figure 7

Figure 8

As can be seen from figure 7, the percentage of the students who felt interested and very
interested in learning vocabulary through visual aids is much higher than that of those who had
neutral and uninterested attitudes (74.1% as compared to 25.9%). This fact once again confirms
that visual aids really interest the students. Accordingly, all of the students highly appreciated the
usefulness of visual aids in helping them learn vocabulary. 65% and 35% respectively evaluated
visual aids useful and very useful (Figure 8). As a result, most of the students (97.4%) said they can
learn vocabulary easier and faster thanks to visual aids. (Figure 9)

2. The extent to which visual aids have been used in vocabulary learning

Types of visual aids
01. Pictures in the textbooks
02. Pictures on power-point slides
03. Chalkboard drawings
04. Wall pictures
05. Posters
06. Wall charts
07. Word flash cards
08. Picture flash cards
09.Real objects & presentational objects
10. Mime-facial expressions

always

often

sometimes hardly ever

never

64.7%
14.7%
0%

20.7%
19.8%
17.2%

10.3%
50.9%
43.1%

4.3%
7.6%
25%

0%
6.9%
14.7%

0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%

0%
0%
6.9%
21.6%
20.7%
16.4%
23.5%

30.2%
19%

18.1%
31.9%
31%
27.6%
41.4%

54.3%
44%
41.4%
22.4%
33.6%
25%
19.8%

15.5%
37%
33.6%
24.1%
14.7%
31%
15.6%

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Table 9: The students’ evaluation on their teachers’ frequency of using visual aids to teach vocabulary
The data shown in table 9 are quite consistent with what collected from the teachers’
survey questionnaire. The students also found that pictures in the textbooks and ones on powerpoint slides were mostly used by their teachers. Mime-facial expressions and chalkboard
drawings ranked in the middle. Picture and word flash cards were frequently used by more than

half of their teachers. Real and presentational objects, wall pictures, wall charts and posters
tended to be rarely used by their teachers.
3. The students’ problems in learning vocabulary through visual aids
Options

No. of
Percentage
informants
Learning vocabulary through visual aids is boring
0
0%
Learning vocabulary through visual aids is difficult to understand
7
6%
Learning vocabulary through visual aids is distracting
21
18.1%
Learning vocabulary through visual aids is confusing
26
22.4%
Table 12: The problems faced by the students when learning vocabulary through visual aids
Considering the problems faced by the students when learning vocabulary through visual
aids (Table 12), 22.4% of the students said that learning vocabulary through visual aids was
confusing. 18.1% stated that it was distracting and 6% admitted it was difficult to understand.
Surprisingly, no one felt bored when the teachers used the visual aids. These percentages are not
very high, they are still worth considering by the teachers in order to make visual aids really
something that aids the students’ vocabulary learning process.
3.3. Results from the interviews for the teachers
Ways of teaching vocabulary
Verbal technique (illustrative situations (oral/written),

definition, synonym/antonym, gradable items,
examples of type, etc.)
Visual aids

Translation

No. of informants
4

7
3
Table 13: Teachers’ favorite ways of teaching vocabulary

Percentage
50%
87.5%
37.5%

Table 13 illustrates the teachers’ favorite ways of teaching vocabulary. As can be seen
from the table, 87.5% of the teachers felt interested in teaching vocabulary through visual aids.
When being asked the question (Question 4: “What type(s) of visual aids do you like most
in teaching vocabulary?”, most of the teachers instantly told me that among many different types
of visual aids they enjoyed using pictures most, both pictures in the textbooks and collected ones
because pictures are not only available but also attractive to students. Question 5: What typical
problem(s) do you meet when teaching vocabulary through visual aids?

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Most of the teacher admitted that their typical problem in applying visual aids to teach
vocabulary was their lack of time to find suitable visual material and prepare for the necessary
visual aids before each lesson. Moreover, many said that they lack time to use visual aids in class.
“We have no separate vocabulary lessons to spend much time to vocabulary teaching instead of
having to teach vocabulary together with other skills,” said Trang.
Question 6: Generally your students have positive attitudes towards learning vocabulary through
visual aids. Is it true?
When being asked to support for this statement, all of the teachers agreed that most of
their students have quite positive attitudes towards their teachers’ applying of visual aids in
vocabulary teaching.
3.4. Findings and discussion
Basing on the data collected from the survey questionnaire for both of the teachers and students
and the informal interviews with the teachers, the results show that:
Both of the teachers and students at LQD gifted high school have positive attitudes
towards the use of visual aids in teaching and learning English vocabulary. The teachers at LQD
gifted high school tend to use different types of visual aids that are tested. However, they still
restrict themselves to some types of visual aids only. Another finding is that the ways the teachers
exploit visual aids in teaching vocabulary are rather limited. As mentioned previously, the
teachers mainly employ visual aids to present new words during their vocabulary teaching,
whereas they rarely use visual materials to help their students practise and retain the new words.
Regarding the last question aiming at finding out the possible problems faced by both the
teachers and the students while teaching and learning vocabulary though visual aids. It can be
concluded that despite their numerous benefits brought to the teachers’ and the students’, visual
aids still bring their users some challenges. For the teachers, they faced such problem as the lack
of time to prepare, the lack of time when using, difficulties in finding suitable visual materials,
money consuming and difficulties in preparing as well. For the students, a number of the students
still find learning vocabulary though visual aids confusing, distracting or difficult to understand,
which require the teachers to re-examine if they exploit visual aids properly or not.

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12

PART C: CONCLUSION
4.1. Summary of the study
To gain reliable and valuable data and information for the study, survey questionnaires
and interview were employed as the methods of the study. The data collected from the
questionnaires and interview for the teachers reveal that both of the teachers and students have
positive attitudes towards the use of visual aids in vocabulary teaching and learning. The use of
visual aids in vocabulary teaching and learning is highly appreciated by most of the teachers and
students at the school. However, they have not been used to their fullest potential as the teachers
are rather limited in the types of visual aids and the ways they employ them. Additionally, the
teachers and students face certain challenges when teaching and learning vocabulary through
visual aids. It is hopeful that these problems can be solved if the teachers keep improving
themselves and consults the solutions or suggestions in the recommendations of the research.
4.2. Recommendations
According to the results of the survey questionnaires and the interview, visual aids are
actually exploited in teaching vocabulary for the 11th form students at LQD gifted high school,
but they are not exploited to their fullest potentials. It is recommended that the teachers should
vary the types of visual aids when teaching vocabulary and also increase their frequency of using
visual aids, collect visual aids from different sources and vary their ways of using visual aids as
well.
Moreover, owing to the data collected from the questionnaires and interview, both the
teachers and the students still faced certain difficulties. For the teachers, the lack of time to
prepare and use in class and difficulties in finding suitable visual materials seem to be the most
prominent problems. How to tackle these problems really involves in the teachers’ preparation.
To save time for preparing visual aids, the teachers should know how to choose and make visual
aids quickly and economically. The best way is to collect visual aids from available sources such
as real or presentational objects and pictures from the internet, textbooks, magazines,

newspapers, etc. Moreover, it must be time-economical if the teachers can create visual aids
themselves. To use visual aids effectively with rather limited time in class, the teachers should
try to prepare all visual aids carefully in advance and schedual time for using the pre-prepared
visuals appropriately. It is much better if the teachers have good techniques and experience in
applying visual aids. In order to find suitable visual materials, it is advisable that the teachers
should specify the aim of using visual aids and what types of visuals they are going to use then

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try to collect the most suitable ones from different sources or some mentioned above. However,
all these above recommendations for solving the teachers’ difficulties in using visual aids just
come from the teachers’ own efforts. It would be better if the teachers should be financed to take
part in more training programs to enhance their ability of exploiting visual aids by the managing
board of the school or they should be given more budgets to make more effective visual aids. For
the students, many still feel confused, distract and difficult when their teachers employ visual
aids in class to teach vocabulary, This problem, probably, is owing to the low effectiveness of the
teachers’ using visual aids, their unvaried types of visual aids applied. In order to solve these
problems, the teachers should keep improving their visual aids to become more attractive,
creative and varied in types. They should always keep in mind two key words: creativity and
imagination because “the teacher must be creative and imaginative in order to develop techniques
for exploiting aids” (Chamberlain: 1980: 9).
4.3. Limitations and suggestions for further study
Firstly, the author's practical experience of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary is
limited. Therefore, the recommendations in the last part are likely to be subjective.
Secondly, the researcher did not have access to all 11th form students at LQD gifted high
school. Therefore, the conclusion on the students’ attitudes towards the use of visual aids in
learning vocabulary may not be well generalized for the rest of the 11th form students at the
school.

In conclusion, despite some inevitable limitations, the researcher has, to a certain extent,
succeeded in answering the research questioned stated at the beginning. Hopefully, in further
studies, the teacher’s and students’ attitudes towards the use of visual aids will be focused on not
only vocabulary teaching and learning process but also grammar or other language kill teaching
and learning processes such as writing, reading, listening or speaking.

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REFERENCES
1. Allen, V.F. (1983). Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary. Oxford University Press.
2. Billow, F.L. (1961). The Techniques of Language Teaching. Longman, London.
3. Bowen, B.M. (1982). Look here! Visual Aids in Language Teaching. Macmillan, London.
4. Carter, R.& M. McCarthy (Eds.). 1988. Vocabulary and Language Teaching. Longman,
London.
5. Dobbs, J. (2001). Using the Board in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
6. Dornyei, Z. (2003). Questionnaires in Second Language Research. London: New Jersey.
7. Gairns, R. and S, Redman. (1999) Working with Words: A Guide to Teaching and
Learning Vocabulary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
8. Gillham, B. (2000). Developing a Questionnaire. New York: Continuum.
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15. Read, J. (2000). Assessing vocabulary. New York
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Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
17. Schmitt, N. and M, McCarthy. (Eds.). (1997). Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and
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18. Stahl, S.A. (2005). Four Problems with Teaching Word Meaning (and what to do to make
vocabulary an integral part of instruction). In E.H Hiebert and M.L. Kamil (eds.).
Teaching and learning vocabulary: Bringing research to practice. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
19. Ur, P. (1996). A Course in Language Teaching: Practice & Theory. (pp. 184-187).

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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20. Wilkins, D.A. (1972). Linguistics in Language Teaching London. Oxford: Oxford
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21. Wright, A. (1989). Pictures for Language Learning. Cambridge University Press.
22. Wright, A. (1987). Principles of Teaching. Cambridge University Press.
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24. stick-figures
25. />
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