CURRENT SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE VOCABULARY LEARNING SKILLS OF STUDENTS MAJORING IN ENGLISH AT THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY

THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
**************

GRADUATE PAPER
TITLE:
CURRENT SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE
VOCABULARY LEARNING SKILLS OF STUDENTS MAJORING IN
ENGLISH AT THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY
Student name: Thân Thị Thúy Hiền
Student code: 1922202010350
Class: D19AV10
Course: 2019-2023
Major: English Language
Lecturer: Lê Tiến Dũng

— Bình Dương, 2022—
1


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
Student full name: Than Thi Thuy Hien
Student ID: 1922202010350
Title of paper: Current situation and solutions to improve vocabulary learning
skills of students majoring in English at Thu Dau Mot University.
I here by confirm that I am the sole author of the paper presented. Where the
work of others has been consulted, this is duly acknowledged in the paper’s
bibliography. I have also not consulted any other unnamed online sources. All
verbatim or referential use of the sources named in the bibliography has been
specifically indicated in the text.

Binh Duong, November 30, 2022
The writer
Than Thi Thuy Hien

2


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to offer my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who helped me
finish my graduation report. TDMU has provided me with a unique opportunity
to broaden my education as well as a range of other talents.
First of all, I would like to send my thanks and best wishes to all the
teachers of Thu Dau Mot University, especially the teachers of the Faculty of
English Language. The talented and dedicated boatmen have devoted themselves
to teaching and imparting knowledge during their years at the school. The
teachers who carried on them valuable knowledge and experiences to prepare
them for the next life.
As a student about to graduate, I personally realize that I do not have a
deep insight as well as a deep understanding, in the process of doing my
homework, I cannot avoid making mistakes I want to make this graduation
better.
To complete this thesis, I have received the guidance and dedicated help
of the lecturer Ph.D Le Tien Dung and the help from the students of the language
department. You have spent some precious time surveying helped me throughout
the process of writing this graduate thesis. I really appreciate that valuable help!
Once again, I would like to thank all the teachers and wish them a lot of
health to continue to teach the next generation to be human. Thank you
sincerely!
Student
Than Thi Thuy Hien

3


ABSTRACT
Vocabulary is not an end in itself. A rich vocabulary makes the skills of
listening, speaking, reading, and writing easier to perform (Paul Nation, 2015).
The cornerstone of language is vocabulary. It is the raw material from which
we can express our thoughts and ideas, share information, comprehend others,
and develop personal relationships. Vocabulary is plainly crucial for language
learning because it underpins all other language skills, can serve as a stepping
stone to high level language use, and can assist the student reach fluency more
quickly. It is a mistake to believe that new words may be easily recalled without
continuous practice. Learning new words, like any other activity, necessitates
some effort, and a vocabulary program will make the process as simple and
effective as feasible.
The purpose of this research is to look at the difficulties that English majors
have when studying vocabulary at Thu Dau Mot University (TDMU) in Binh
Duong province. It also suggests some vocabulary-learning practices to help
mitigate potential issues. The responses of 200 student-participants
(undergraduates) were randomly selected from three different levels (second
year, three year, and senior) of the 4-Year English Program at TDMU. The data
for this quantitative study is collected using an offline questionnaire as an
instrument.The study found that English majors at TDMU struggle with
numerous aspects of vocabulary development, including knowing the meanings
of new terms, pronouncing new words correctly, using new words correctly,
recalling and writing new vocabulary, and so on. This study adds to the body of
knowledge by emphasizing the necessity of acquiring English vocabulary,
drawing students' attention to it, highlighting challenges encountered by
students, and raising their understanding of the language. Future research should

look into teachers' perceptions on students' vocabulary-learning issues, as well as
instructional methods used to teach vocabulary in English language schools.
Keywords: Vocabulary, vocabulary-learning problems, English majors, Thu
Dau Mot students.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
4


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.....................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................iv
LIST OF TABLES..............................................................................................vi
A.

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................7

1.

Reason for choosing the topic...............................................................................7

2.

Research objective................................................................................................8

3.

Object and scope of research...............................................................................8

4.

Research Methodology.........................................................................................8

5.

Meaning of the topic.............................................................................................8

6.

Structure of the lesson..........................................................................................8

B.

CONTENT...........................................................................................................10

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BASIS......................................................................10
1.

The concept of English........................................................................................10

2.

What is vocabulary?...........................................................................................11

3.

The role of learning English vocabulary...........................................................12

4.

Importance of English........................................................................................12

5.

English towards the ASEAN community..........................................................13

6.

A brief overview of the current state of English vocabulary learning of all

students.......................................................................................................................... 15
CHAPTER 2: THE STATUS OF LEARNING VOCABULARY OF THU DAU
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS.........................................................................................18
2.1.

School overview...............................................................................................18

2.2.

A brief overview of the English vocabulary learning status of all students

at Thu Dau Mot University..........................................................................................20
2.3.

Methods of implementation............................................................................21

2.4.

Survey results...................................................................................................22

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2.4.1.

Information of the person being surveyed.....................................................22

2.4.2.

English proficiency of students majoring in self-assessment........................22

2.4.3.

Statistics on some difficulties of students to learn vocabulary.....................25

2.4.4.

Actual situation of factors affecting students' ability to learn vocabulary.
27

2.4.5.

Actual situation of factors affecting students' ability to self-study

vocabulary..................................................................................................................... 30
2.4.6.

The reality of the classroom environment.....................................................32

2.4.7.

The school situation creates conditions for students to study outside of

school hours................................................................................................................... 35
2.4.8.

School facilities.................................................................................................36

2.5.

The mentioned solutions help students improve vocabulary........................38

CHAPTER 3: SOLUTION...........................................................................................41
3.1.

Group of solutions about the environment outside of school hours.............41

3.2.

Infrastructure solutions...................................................................................41

3.3.

Group of solutions about the environment inside the classroom.................43

3.4.

Solution group on students' self-study ability................................................47

3.5.

Solution group on motivation and learning attitude.....................................52

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION.....................................................................................55
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................. 57

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Statistics of personal characteristics of surveyed students...........................19
Table 2: Assessment and rating of listening skills in English......................................19
Table 3: Classification of English vocabulary pronunciation skills...........................20
Table 4: Classification assessment of reading skills in English...................................20
Table 5: Classification assessment of writing skills in communicative English.........21
Table 6: Statistics of difficulties of students in the process of practicing English
communication skills......................................................................................................22
Table 7: Current status of motivational factors and students' learning attitude......23
Table 8: Actual situation of factors of students' self-study ability.............................25
Table 9: Actual situation of school environmental factors..........................................27
Table 10: Actual situation of environmental factors outside of school hours for
students........................................................................................................................... 29
Table 11: Actual situation of physical factors for improving vocabulary learning
and improving English skills.........................................................................................30
Table 12: Students' proposed solutions........................................................................32
Table 13: Establish a personal schedule.......................................................................42

7

A.
B. INTRODUCTION.
1. Reason for choosing the topic.
Foreign languages - majors are increasingly mentioned as an indispensable
factor in the process of creating a premise for international integration is
Industrialization and Modernization of the country. In the process, the problem is that
the education and training sector needs to have fundamental and strong innovations to
provide the country with highly qualified and effective workers in new circumstances.
The teaching and learning of specialized foreign languages at undergraduate and
graduate levels is also not beyond the above goals. Specialized foreign languages as a
"bridge" of Vietnam's economy and culture with the outside world.
The world is entering the era of knowledge economy. A prosperous new society
in the 21st century must be a society of knowledge and based on knowledge and
creative thinking of people. To be able to integrate into the world community, we must
learn from the experiences of advanced countries, and at the same time need to know
how to apply those experiences creatively and find the right development method. with
the specific conditions and circumstances of Vietnam. When social knowledge changes
rapidly according to the knowledge economy, workers must also know how to selfrenovate their knowledge and capacity to suit the development of science, technology
and technology. Workers must be able to self - direct and self - elevate to adapt to the
new requirements of society. In the framework of the article, we mention the current
basic problems of specialized foreign languages in general, foreign languages for
science and technology and technology in particular in developing and improving
teaching effectiveness - study to meet the requirements of the integration process in
Vietnam today.
Communication skills in English is an important factor and is considered as an
essential skill in an integrated society like Vietnam today. English is considered the
official language of transactions in most fields such as business, commerce,
information technology and communication in the world. Improving English
communication skills helps students to be able to communicate with foreigners
fluently, creating job opportunities and enhancing the stature of Vietnamese human

resources in the eyes of international businesses. In addition, practicing English
8


communication skills and improving English vocabulary also helps students improve
their knowledge and access to a vast treasure of information that, when combined with
English proficiency, is a useful means for students themselves not only in the process
of studying and researching but also in future work. When applying for a job, most
employers require new employees to have proficiency in English, so having the ability
to speak English will be a decisive advantage, especially for students when applying
for jobs. Graduated from school and will have many opportunities to be accepted into
high positions in domestic and foreign companies and enterprises.
That's why I realize that in my own school, which is Thu Dau Mot University,
most of you are still very weak in knowledge and skills in foreign languages such as
English, so I want to give Some solutions to improve vocabulary learning skills for
you, so I chose the topic as: “Current situation and solutions to improve vocabulary
learning skills of students majoring in English at Thu Dau Mot University”
2. Research objective.
The objective is to clarify the importance of foreign languages (especially
English) in the integration period. Help students improve their English vocabulary
learning.
3. Object and scope of research.
Research subjects:
The research object here is the ability to learn English vocabulary of students
majoring in English of Thu Dau Mot University and solutions to improve the ability to
learn English vocabulary of students of Thu Dau Mot University.
Research scope:
About space: all students majoring in languages he is studying at Thu Dau Mot
University.
About time: I researched the topic from October 17, 2022 to November 17,

2022.
4. Research Methodology.
Regarding the sources of materials I used: documents and books in the school's
library, a paper-based survey to directly survey students majoring in English at Thu
Dau Mot University. Statistical draft and meta-analytic methods.
5. Meaning of the topic.
9


Analyze the current situation of vocabulary learning of English language
students at the school through practical surveys, thereby identifying the correct objects
and providing solutions.
6. Structure of the lesson.
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BASIS.
CHAPTER 2: THE STATUS OF LEARNING VOCABULARY OF THU DAU
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS.
CHAPTER 3: SOLUTIONS.
CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION.

10


C. CONTENT.
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BASIS.
1.

The concept of English.

English (English /ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ/ (listen)) is a West Germanic language belonging to the
Indo-European language family. The oldest form of this language was spoken by the

inhabitants of early medieval England. The native name of this language comes from
the clan name of one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to Great Britain earlier,
called the Angles. In terms of linguistic genealogy, English is closely related to Frisian
and Lower Saxon, but over thousands of years of history, English vocabulary has been
greatly influenced by ancient dialects of the language. French (about 29% of modern
English vocabulary) and Latin (also about 29%), plus Old Norse influences (a North
Germanic language) on core grammar and vocabulary. English.
Early forms of English, collectively known as Old English, arose from the
ancient dialects of the North Sea Germanic languages. These dialects were originally
the mother tongues of the Anglo-Saxons who migrated to Great Britain in the 5th
century, and they continued to change throughout the 8th and 9th centuries due to
persistent contact with the Old Norse languages of the British Empire. Viking
immigrants. The Middle English period began in the late 11th century, shortly after the
Norman invasion of England, marked by the significant influence of Old French
dialects (especially Old Norman) and Latin lexicon. English for about 300 years.
Towards the end of the 15th century, English entered the modern period after
undergoing a large-scale vowel transformation and exhibiting a tendency to borrow
many Greco-Roman words during the Renaissance, and with the birth of the press
press in London. As a result, English literature was at its peak, with outstanding
testimonies including the translation of the Bible into English during the reign of King
James I and the plays of William Shakespeare.
Modern English grammar is the result of a gradual transformation from the
typical dependant-marking type of the Indo-European system, with its rich
morphological variation and relatively free word order, to an analytic type. , with less
morphological variation and a less flexible active-active-adjective order. Modern
English relies heavily on auxiliary verbs and word order to represent complex tenses,
moods, and aspects, as well as passive, interrogative and certain structures. negative
form.

11

Modern English spread around the world since the 17th century thanks to the
global influence of the British Empire and the United States. Through the print and
mass media of these countries, English has been elevated to the forefront of
international discourse, making it a lingua franca in many parts of the world and in
many professional contexts such as science, navigation, and law. English is the most
widely spoken language in the world, and has the third largest number of native
speakers in the world, behind only Standard Chinese and Spanish. English is the most
widely learned foreign language and is the official or co-official language of 59
countries around the world. Currently, the number of people who know how to speak
English as a foreign language has outnumbered the number of native English speakers.
As of 2005, the number of English speakers is estimated to have reached 2 billion.
English is the predominant language spoken in the United Kingdom, the United States,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand (see English culture region) and the Republic of
Ireland, and it is also widely spoken in some parts of the Caribbean and Europe. Africa,
South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. English is the co-official language of the
United Nations, the European Union, and many other international and regional
organizations. It is also the most widely spoken Germanic language, with speakers
accounting for at least 70% of all speakers of the Indo-European languages.
2.

What is vocabulary?

Vocabulary knowledge is often viewed as an important tool for second language
learners because limited second language vocabulary hinders successful exposure.
Emphasizing the problem, the importance of acquiring vocabulary, Schmitt (2000)
emphasizes the point, that lexical knowledge is central to energy, contact and to
possess, acquire a second language. Nation (2001) further elaborates on the
relationship, between lexical knowledge and use, language is complementary and

updated: knowledge of permitted vocabulary, language and vice versa, use, reference
language to, increasingly, vocabulary knowledge. The importance of vocabulary is
shown, day by day, inside, and outside, the school. In the classroom, the students
achieved possession, vocabulary quite complete, most. The researchers helped such as
Laufer and Nation (1999), Maximo (2000), Read (2000), Gu (2003), Marion (2008)
and Nation (2011) and others.
Having found that the acquisition of vocabulary is essential to use, a successful
second language plays an important role in the formation of complete spoken and
12


written texts. In English as a second language (English) and English as a foreign
language (EFL) it plays an important role in all language competencies (e.g. listening,
speaking, reading and writing). Nation, 2011). Rivers and Nunan (1991), moreover…
argue that acquiring a fairly complete vocabulary is essential to use, a successful
second language because of the absence, of a vocabulary. The person who has learned
to communicate is easy to understand. Depend, much on lexical knowledge and owe
this knowledge is the main obstacle and the biggest obstacle for readers to overcome to
use English fluently (Huckin, 1995).
3.

The role of learning English vocabulary.

English vocabulary builds communication skills and increases expression. Why
do English words carry this destiny? You imagine if you have a large amount of
English vocabulary, you want to express your intentions as accurately as possible, but
if you don't have a lot of vocabulary, you will have nothing to express.
Vocabulary is the root of developing English skills. To communicate coherently
and fully convey the information we want, we need to master Vocabulary. Possessing a
rich and abundant vocabulary, the application and promotion of the 4 new skills of

Listening - Speaking - Reading - Writing is done naturally and with high efficiency.
Instead of pursuing other skills when starting to learn English, the first thing we
need to do is build a strong "root" of Vocabulary. With a solid foundation, the process
of developing English competence can achieve the desired results.
4.

Importance of English.

Researchers have reported that people who can speak English well are more
likely to succeed in their studies, career advancement or business. Those studies also
demonstrate that there is an interaction between the ability to use the English language
with higher income, travel more places, and success in commercial business. The
simple reason is that English has become the most commonly used language in the
world. Information according to WikiPedia:
There are more than 400 million people who use English as their first language,
more than 1 billion people who use English as a second language.
English has the largest vocabulary of all languages with over 500,000 words in
the Oxford Dictionary.
As the language of science, technology and business, English vocabulary is
adding more and more new words.
13


The countries with high per capita income in the world are all fluent in English,
mother tongue or school.
English for Career: No matter what career path you choose, whether it's
informatics, engineering, tourism or business administration, having a strong ability to
communicate in English will greatly increase your chances of success. friend. In
general, you have to be better than people in the professional field and in the area like
me, then you will have more opportunities. Vietnam deals with international customers

and suppliers 100% in English, even internal mails are always faster and more
accurate. Of course it's mandatory to prove yes in English most of the time, but I need
to stress that REALLY PROFESSIONAL in English is what matters! Really, just
having a little knowledge of English won't help you develop your international
relations career. When talking to a foreigner in person, they will judge your level and
your value to them by your use of English. If you say just average, people will think
you're average. Sound shows confidence or not, concise description accurately,
standard pronunciation easy to understand, understanding of hidden language and
humor and many other factors: all these represent class and your comparison worth and
will leave an unforgettable impression.
Graduate Opportunities and Access to Information: In addition to career
opportunities, learning English well can improve your chances of being accepted into
advanced training programs at many universities abroad. Student exchanges and
research cooperation programs are increasingly open to today's young intellectuals.
Learning English can also expand access to news, information and knowledge. More
than 90% of How-To-Articles are mostly created in English alone. You can almost
teach yourself any skill if you take the time to find and read English resources.
5.

English towards the ASEAN community.

The ASEAN Economic Community (ASEAN Economic Community,
abbreviated as AEC) is a regional economic bloc of 10 ASEAN member states. The
community was officially established on December 31, 2015 when the official
founding statement went into effect. The fact that Vietnam joins the ASEAN common
economic community brings great impacts to the labor market and the trend of labor
movement in the country and the countries in the bloc. This means that Vietnam and
countries in Southeast Asia will link together to form a common market and also mean
that the labor market of all countries in the region will be united into one. Vietnamese
14

goods and products can be consumed in countries in the region, and vice versa,
businesses from ASEAN countries will have the opportunity to invest in Vietnam. At
this time, workers in any ASEAN country can freely work in other countries of the
same bloc in the simplest way, contributing to reducing unemployment,
underemployment, etc. and is presenting Vietnamese workers, especially students, with
many ideal job opportunities, but at the same time, it also comes with many challenges
in terms of capacity and ability to compete with quality labor from other countries.
other family. 20 According to official information, eight professions including
accountants, architects, dentists, doctors, engineers, nurses, tourism, surveyors will be
free to move through public agreements. get equivalent skills in ASEAN. And it is very
likely that in the near future, the above list will continue to grow. Although the
countries in ASEAN are abundant in labor resources, there is still a big gap in the
quality of human resources and the willingness of workers to integrate between
countries. . Some countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines have an
advantage in the integration process, because they have considered English as a second
language quite early as well as the majority of people have the ability to use English
but especially English is very good at communicating in business, tourism and some
other fields. In fact, in Vietnam, a number of occupations with high knowledge content
are facing the risk of being affected by the wave of quality labor from these countries.
Therefore, in order to compete in the labor market in the near future, in addition to
professional qualifications, young Vietnamese laborers need to improve their English
skills, especially their ability to learn English vocabulary. In a recent survey by
Navigos Search, 41% of FDI business representatives said that in the past 12 months,
they could not find enough Vietnamese mid-level and high-level employees to fill the
vacant positions due to lack of satisfaction. fully one of the recruitment criteria is
English. When foreign enterprises in Vietnam put English as one of the most important
criteria in recruiting personnel at the management level, this is still the biggest
weakness for Vietnamese workers. Quality human resources in Vietnam are becoming

increasingly scarce because no matter how good they are, they are still not qualified to
be recruited. The fact has shown that, even in the domestic labor market, a middle
manager who is good at English, regardless of age or gender, will easily be offered a
price by headhunting companies from 2,500 to 4,000 USD/month, while at the same
level, if you are weak in foreign languages, you will only be around 15-20 million
15


VND in income. Almost at the same time as AEC, TPP (Trans-Pacific Economic
Partnership treaty) also promises to bring thousands of opportunities for Vietnamese
workers, but the problem is how many employees are qualified in English or good. at
least confident enough in conducting work with the medium of English. Most
businesses when recruiting employees, reviewing resumes and interviewing about
professional knowledge and skills, most of the candidates have a deep understanding of
equipment, are enthusiastic and young, but come The English part of the interview is
almost 75% awkward and stuck. The best candidate can say 2 minutes “introduce
myself and family” or translate 30% of the content of a simple professional document
page. When the employer asked the reason for poor English, some people said that
because the assessment of English is not important, they did not focus on studying,
others said because they were busy taking care of other subjects or studying English
just to get TOEIC, B1 ... to "fit" to graduate, so they have poor listening and speaking
skills... These are the "obstacles" on the way to finding a satisfactory job for
Vietnamese workers in general and Vietnamese students in particular. . In the current
strong trend of globalization when border barriers are gradually being removed and
English becomes a national competitive indicator, it is not difficult to understand why
English centers are becoming increasingly popular. business thrives, although
prosperity in the foreign language teaching business has little to do with improving the
English language background of Vietnamese workers. The most important thing is the
self-awareness of each employee about the great value of a foreign language and the
short-term method of acquiring it, so as to build his own career, future as well as the

future. increase the competitiveness in the labor market of young Vietnamese human
resources against the fates that can lead the country to truly enter the era of wealth and
prosperity.
6.

A brief overview of the current state of English vocabulary learning

of all students.
According to the results of the annual EPI (English Proficiency Index) survey
conducted by EF - a multinational language training company, interviewed over 910,000
adults in 70 countries and territories where English is not spoken. mother language.
Accordingly, Vietnam belongs to the moderate group (Moderate), with an assessed score of
53.81 on a 100-point scale.
More closely, the survey showed that the average TOEFL iBT score of Vietnamese
16


people reached 78/120 and IELTS 5.9/9. The two cities with the highest qualifications are
Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The Mekong Delta is better at English than the Red River
Delta region and the lowest is the South Central Coast. In terms of gender, women scored
higher than men. The age group with the highest level of proficiency is from 18 to 20 and
decreases later. The situation of teaching English in non-specialized schools in Vietnam has
the following points:
More closely, the survey showed that the average TOEFL iBT score of
Vietnamese people reached 78/120 and IELTS 5.9/9. The two cities with the highest
qualifications are Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The Mekong Delta is better at English than
the Red River Delta region and the lowest is the South Central Coast. In terms of gender,
women scored higher than men. The age group with the highest level of proficiency is from
18 to 20 and decreases later. The situation of teaching English in non-specialized schools in
Vietnam has the following points:

English training in the non-specialized blocks tends to focus too much on
specialized English rather than on training English skills. Therefore, it is difficult for nonspecialized students to improve their English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills
in communication. Many universities focus a lot on building specialized English programs
and training time, not paying attention to students' ability to use English to communicate..
The number of schools implementing international assessment standards for
graduates such as TOEFL and TOEIC is still limited. (Data in 2008: 14.4% of schools
have applied TOEIC standard) (data is too old). Currently, there are schools such as
Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Maritime University, Binh Duong
University, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, etc. Meanwhile, now many businesses and
organizations set foreign language standards according to international TOEIC or
international standards. International TOEFL as the recruitment standard. This leads to
the situation that quite a few graduates apply for jobs without international TOEIC or
TOEFL international certificates. Due to the short application deadline, these students are
very passive in preparing for the exam, both in terms of time and expertise.
According to the current state of student communication, Mr. Bui Phi Hung Director of Hi! Language School said: “Language learning should develop all four skills of
listening – speaking – reading – writing. The peculiarity of Vietnamese students is that
when they are still in school, they are trained in grammar very well, but because they do not
17


have many opportunities to practice, their listening and speaking skills are weak, leading to
the situation " down” when applied in real life. This will be most evident when you
encounter situations where you need to communicate with foreigners. Therefore, young
people need to focus on listening and speaking skills and spend more time practicing to
learn foreign languages effectively. Non-linguistics students learn English, but their ability
to use English in real-life situations is very limited and it can be said that most are unusable.
Thus, the general situation is that students' ability to use English in the working
environment after graduating from university is very limited and does not meet the
requirements of the vast majority of employers.
In addition to being trained at school, students also have the opportunity to acquire

the ability to learn English vocabulary from centers. Currently, in the area of My Tho city
(Tien Giang), there are about 6 English training centers for many subjects from
schoolchildren, students to employees and civil servants such as: New World English
Center, Information Center. Because of the diversity of students, the ability to receive
knowledge and English proficiency is also very different, leading to teachers having many
difficulties in learning foreign languages. How to choose teaching methods to achieve
optimal results. Along with that is the limitation of study time at the centers only about 2-3
times a week, and the time is often prioritized for practicing grammar, listening and writing
sentences rather than practicing English communication. Older brother. Another factor is
that the qualifications and teaching capacity of the teachers at the centers are difficult to
control, even though the lecturers are still weak in English communication and often use
mainly Vietnamese in class. at the same time, the excessive focus on the tuition fees that
students pay should lead to enthusiasm in teaching and the investment in modern teaching
methods is as difficult as: regulations, coping, discrimination, boring teaching methods,...
Some centers still charge high tuition fees in the name of international links while the
quality of education is only average. leading to a gradual loss of trust in foreign language
centers. Finding a really good language center For that reason, the effectiveness of studying
at the centers is still a matter worth considering.

18


CHAPTER 2: THE STATUS OF LEARNING VOCABULARY OF THU
DAU UNIVERSITY STUDENTS.
2.1. School overview.
School's name:
Vietnamese: Thu Dau Mot University.
Abbreviation: TDM . University
English: Thu Dau Mot University. Abbreviation: TDMU
School type: Public

Managing agency: People's Committee of Binh Duong province.
History of establishment and development:
The forerunner of the school is Binh Duong Pedagogical College - a prestigious
pedagogical training institution of Binh Duong province, providing a team of teachers
with expertise, knowledge in teaching and enthusiasm for the young generation..
On June 24, 2009, Thu Dau Mot University was established under Decision No.
900/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister. The mission of the University is to train qualified
human resources for socio-economic development and international integration of Binh
Duong province, the Southeast region - the southern key economic region and become
a consulting center. research in the area.
Thu Dau Mot University is honored to be a member of the world CDIO
organization (since 2015), an associate member of the Association of Southeast Asian
Universities - AUN (since 2017). In November 2017, the school achieved the National
Education Quality Accreditation Standard. In October 2019, the school conducted an
assessment outside the training program according to the accreditation standards of the
Ministry of Education and Training, the results by April 2021 the school had 11
qualified majors. In December 2019, the school assessed that in addition to 4 training
programs according to AUN-QA standards, the results met 4 disciplines. In August
2020, the school achieved 4-star standard UPM (University Performance Metrics).
In terms of personnel, the university currently has a staff of 775 officials and
employees, including 22 GS-PGS, 135 PhD, 557 MSc (106 PhD students),... The
school apparatus includes the School Council, the Rector Board, and the Faculty
Council. Education and Training, 07 multidisciplinary faculties, 03 multi-functional
institutes, 2 research institutes, 14 functional departments, 11 centers. Along with
building an organic scientific staff, the university is supported by the cooperation and
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support of many highly qualified scientists from Vietnam National University Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Domestic and prestigious universities

at home and abroad…
Regarding training, the school is training 50 undergraduate programs, 11
master's programs, 1 doctoral program, in the fields of economics, engineering and
technology, natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, foreign language,
pedagogy. The size of the school is 20,000 students, graduate students. The school has
gradually completed the roadmap to build training programs, innovated teaching
methods according to the philosophy of active harmonization, based on the CDIO
initiative, meeting AUN-QA standards.
Regarding scientific research, implementing the strategy of building the
university into a prestigious research and consulting center, the university is
implementing 4 key research projects, namely the South East Research Project, the
Research Project High-quality agriculture, Binh Duong Smart City Research Project,
Education Quality Research Project. Scientific research projects and works are carried
out in the direction of closely linking research with application, between training and
using human resources according to the requirements of industrialization and
modernization. For two consecutive years, the school is in the top 50 educational
institutions with the best international publication in Vietnam (42nd place in 2018 and
27th place in 2019). In 2021, the school ranked 24/179 higher education institutions in
Vietnam according to the Webometrics rankings.
Regarding international cooperation, the school has established cooperation and
training relationships with more than 60 educational institutions in the world, and at the
same time signed cooperation agreements to supply high-quality labor for foreign
enterprises. located in Binh Duong province. In addition, since 2010, the school has
supported training for students of the Lao People's Democratic Republic under the
cooperation agreement between Binh Duong province and Champasak province,
specifically human resource training in two areas. economics and information
technology.
Training facilities:
Headquarter in Thu Dau Mot City: No. 6 Tran Van On, Phu Hoa Ward, Thu
Dau Mot City, Binh Duong Province. The campus is 6.74 hectares wide. This is the

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place of study and research for nearly 19,000 staff, lecturers and students of the
university.
Campus in Ben Cat Town: located in My Phuoc Industrial Park, Ben Cat with
an area of 57.6 hectares, invested in modern construction, integrated with many
functions to effectively serve training and research work. school in the future.
2.2.

A brief overview of the English vocabulary learning status of all

students at Thu Dau Mot University.
Initially, when I did not do a research survey on how students learn English
vocabulary, I realized that the vocabulary of the students was very limited, when I
invited foreign experts to exchange with students. According to my observations, about
10% of the total number of students who can speak English are basically fluent and
understand it smoothly, accounting for about 2%. According to the actual situation, this
is a very alarming situation in terms of language for the whole school, especially the
language that the whole world chooses as the common language to communicate with
international friends. Currently, all over the world in general and Vietnam in particular,
we think that in the process of implementing the international economic integration, the
young generation represented as students is an abundant source of energy in terms of
knowledge labor. knowledge but we do not know foreign languages, that is also the
biggest barrier that prevents us from going outside to learn from friends and friends of
the great powers to bring new and good things to build the country.
The reason why there are quite a few students at the school who are fluent in
English, I asked a few of you briefly, and all of you said that the most difficult thing
for you when learning a foreign language, especially the English language, is
vocabulary. Because it not only translates a thing or thing from Vietnamese to English,

but it also carries all kinds of adjectives, verbs, and nouns. If you want to use it
properly in the context you are trying to say, it is very difficult to understand. Their
study and learning environment is very limited because they go to school and work
part-time in an environment where 99% of their mother tongue is Vietnamese. You
also take part in extra-curricular classes on English, but the time is very short, so you
learn quickly, but it is easy to forget that you learn from this weekend, but you will use
that vocabulary again next weekend when you pass a new lesson. Some words you
don't use again, you forget. The situation of learning and then forgetting and relearning is very time-consuming and the investment of the students' study time is
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completely ineffective. That's why I will do a survey about the vocabulary learning of
the students of the English major, then see how the students who specialize in this
language learn how to learn from that. serving other majors to study together and make
progress together for themselves and for our country, aiming to learn from international
friends without any language barriers.
2.3.

Methods of implementation.

The survey method is to create a survey form and print the survey form on A4
paper with 200 survey sheets. Take surveys directly from students in the English
language major.
Survey sampling area in the campus of Thu Dau Mot University.

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2.4.

Survey results.

2.4.1. Information of the person being surveyed.
In the academic year 2022 - 2023, students majoring in English at Thu Dau Mot
University have a total of more than 2500 students. A total of 200 questionnaires were
sent directly to each student. The total number of questionnaires received was 200
votes, there were no wrong votes. In the survey, no 1st year students were surveyed, so
they were not listed in the table.
Table 1: Statistics of personal characteristics of surveyed students.
Classify

Amount

Ratio (%)

Second year

35

14

Three years

62

24,8

Senior

103

41,2

Total

200

100
(Source: Self-aggregated results of
students)

The survey shows that 35 votes are 2nd year students, accounting for 14%, 3rd
year students have 62 votes, accounting for 24.8%, the rest are 4th year students with
103 survey votes, accounting for 41.2% . There are no votes from 1st year students
because during the survey period because the students just entered the school, they
could not meet any 1st year students of English major.

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2.4.2. English proficiency of students majoring in self-assessment.
Table 2: Assessment and rating of listening skills in English.
Classification

Amount

Ratio(%)

Poor

56

28,0

Weak

64

32,0

Average

65

32,5

Good

15

7,5

Very good

0

0,0

Total

200

100

(Source: Self-aggregated results of students)
The above statistical results show that 56 students rated their listening skills as
poor (accounting for 28%), 64 students rated weak (accounting for 32%), 65 students
rated their listening skills as average. (accounting for 32.5%), 15 students rated their
listening skills as good (7.5%) and no student rated their listening skills as good.
Table 3: Classification of English vocabulary pronunciation skills.
Classification

Amount

Ratio(%)

Poor

28

14,0

Weak

68

34,0

Average

86

43,0

Good

18

9,0

Very good

0

0,0

Total

200

100

(Source: Self-aggregated results of students).
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The above statistical results show that 28 students rated their speaking skills as
poor (14%), 68 students rated weak (34%), 86 students rated average. (accounting for
43%), the number of students who rated their speaking skills as good was 18
(accounting for 9%) and none of the students rated their speaking skills as good.

Table 4: Classification assessment of reading skills in English.
Classification

Amount

Ratio(%)

Poor

14

7,0

Weak

38

19,0

Average

95

47,5

Good

45

22,5

Very good

8

4,0

Total

200

100

(Source: Self-aggregated results of students).
The above statistical results show that, 14 students rated their reading skills as
poor (7%), 38 students rated weak (19%), 95 students rated average. (accounting for
47.5%), 45 students rated their reading skills as good (accounting for 22.5%) and 8
students rated their reading skills as good (accounting for 4%). According to the
assessment of the common ground, the results are only average.

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