Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS using prefixes, suffixes and word roots to teach vocabulary for 10th form english major students at bien hoa specialized high school, ha nam

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

TRƯƠNG THỊ PHƯƠNG THANH

USING PREFIXES, SUFFIXES AND WORD ROOTS TO TEACH VOCABULARY
FOR 10TH FORM ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT BIEN HOA SPECIALIZED
HIGH SCHOOL, HA NAM
(Sử dụng tiền tố, hậu tố và gốc từ vào việc dạy từ vựng cho học sinh lớp 10 chuyên
tiếng Anh tại trường THPT chuyên Biên Hòa, Hà Nam)

M.A. Minor Programme Thesis

Field

: English Teaching Methodology

Code

: 601410

Ha Noi – 2013

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

TRƯƠNG THỊ PHƯƠNG THANH

USING PREFIXES, SUFFIXES AND WORD ROOTS TO TEACH VOCABULARY
FOR 10TH FORM ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT BIEN HOA SPECIALIZED
HIGH SCHOOL, HA NAM
(Sử dụng tiền tố, hậu tố và gốc từ vào việc dạy từ vựng cho học sinh lớp 10 chuyên
tiếng Anh tại trường THPT chuyên Biên Hòa, Hà Nam)

M.A. Minor Programme Thesis

Field

: English Teaching Methodology

Code

: 601410

Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Hồng Hải, M.A.

Ha Noi - 2013

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
BHSHS

: Bien Hoa Specialized High School

MOET

: Ministry of Education and Training

ELT

: English Language Teaching

ELLs

: English Language Learners

L2

: Second Language

VSL

: Vocabulary Learning Strategies

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Whether students often study vocabulary

28

Figure 2: Difficulty students have when remembering new words

28

Figure 3: Whether students have difficulty understanding an unfamiliar word

30

Figure 4: What students do to guess the meaning of a word in a text

30

Figure 5: Whether students know word parts (prefixes, suffixes and roots)

31

Figure 6: The percentages of students who know prefix groups

31

Figure 7: The percentages of students who know suffixes

32

Figure 8: The percentage of students who know word roots

32

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Students’ ways of learning vocabulary

29

Table 2: What students do when coming across a new word while reading

30

Table 3: Students’ assessment of the word parts introduced in the program

34

Table 4: Students’ assessment of the exercises and activities designed by the

34

teacher
Table 5: Students’ assessment of the benefits gained from learning word parts

35

Table 6: Students’ assessment of the benefits gained from doing the exercises and

35

activities in the program
Table 7: Results of the pre-test

37

Table 8: Results of the post-test

37

Table 9: Results of the pre-test and post-test

38

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration .................................................................................................................
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................
Abstract ......................................................................................................................
List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................
List of Figures ...........................................................................................................
List of Tables .............................................................................................................
PART A: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................
1. Rationale for the Study ......................................................................................
2. Aims of the Study..............................................................................................
3. Research questions of the Study........................................................................
4. Scope of the Study.............................................................................................
5. Significance of the Study ..................................................................................
6. Research Methodology ......................................................................................
7. Design of the Study ...........................................................................................
PART B: DEVELOPMENT ...................................................................................

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................
1.1. Vocabulary ....................................................................................................
1.1.1. Definitions of Vocabulary ......................................................................
1.1.2. Classification of Vocabulary ..................................................................
1.1.2.1. According to the Language Methodology ......................................
1.1.2.2. According to the Concept of Morpheme ........................................
1.1.2.3. According to the Meaning...........................................................
1.1.2.4. According to the Sequence of Use
1.1.2.5. According to the Function of Vocabulary Items in a Sentence ......
1.2. Vocabulary learning strategies .......................................................................
1.2.1. Definition of vocabulary learning strategies ...........................................
1.2.2. Classification of vocabulary learning strategies .....................................
1. 2. 3. Vocabulary learning strategy - Morphemic analysis ............................
1.3. Word structures or morphology .....................................................................
1.3.1. Prefixes ...................................................................................................
1.3.2. Suffixes……. ..........................................................................................
1.3.3. Roots .......................................................................................................
1.4. Word formation ..............................................................................................
1.4.1. Definition of word formation ............................................................. …
1.4.2. Main types of word formation ................................................................

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1.5. Previous studies on using prefixes, suffixes and roots to teach vocabulary . 16
1.6. Summary.............................................................................................. 17
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................. 18
2.1. Research Context............................................................................................ 18
2.2. Research Approach ........................................................................................ 19
2.3. Participants ..................................................................................................... 19
2.4. Data Collection Instruments ........................................................................... 20
2.4.1. Questionnaires ........................................................................................ 20
2.4.2. Pre-Test and Post-Tests .......................................................................... 21
2.5. Intervention: The Vocabulary Learning Program ......................................... 21
2.5.1. Word parts to be taught .......................................................................... 21
2.5.2. The Types of Exercises and Activities .................................................. 22
2.5.3. Format of a lesson .................................................................................. 23
2.5.4. The Schedule for the Vocabulary Learning Program
23
2.6. Data Collection Procedures ............................................................................ 25
2.7. Data Analysis Procedures............................................................................... 26
2.7.1. Questionnaires ........................................................................................ 26
2.7.2. Pre-test and post-tests ............................................................................. 26
2.8. Summary ........................................................................................................ 27
CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ..................................................... 28
3.1. Preliminary Investigation ............................................................................... 28
3.1.1. Students’ ways of learning vocabulary ................................................... 28
3.1.2. Problems with unfamiliar words ............................................................ 30
3.1.3. Students’ knowledge of word parts ........................................................ 31
3.2. Evaluation....................................................................................................... 32
3.2.1. Results and discussion from the post-task questionnaire ....................... 32
3.2.2. Results and discussion from the pre-test and post-tests ......................... 37

3.3. Summary ........................................................................................................ 39
41
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43
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 44
APPENDICES ..........................................................................................................
PART C: CONCLUSION .......................................................................................
1. Summary of Major Findings .............................................................................
2. Pedagogical Implications of the Study ..............................................................
3. Limitations of the Study ....................................................................................
4. Suggestions for Further Studies ........................................................................

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationales
It is undeniable that vocabulary plays an important part in language acquisition
because it is a means of communication without which nothing could be conveyed. As for
second language learners, it is still the main tool which learners can use to develop skills
such as reading, listening, speaking and writing. The importance of vocabulary knowledge
to overall academic success, especially in the area of reading and oral comprehension, is
well documented (Catts & Kamhi, 1999; Nagy & Scott, 2000; Snow, Porche, Tabors, &
Harris, 2007; Stahl, 1999). Recent reading reports (National Reading Panel, 2000; RAND
Reading Study Group, 2002) have emphasized the central role of vocabulary in student
achievement as well as the paucity of research on promoting vocabulary acquisition (Stahl

& Nagy, 2006).
However, facts have shown that not many language learners own an abundant
source of vocabulary knowledge and those who study English are not an exception.
English, though has become an international language and has attracted a huge number of
learners, has proved to be a complicating language due to its Greek, Latin and French
origins. Many words used nowadays have Greek, Latin or French roots, prefixes and
suffixes, which is a great hindrance to second language learners especially those who want
to use English in academic and scientific areas.
At Bien Hoa Specialized High School, English major students, who have to study
English extensively to meet the requirements of examinations and future need have the
same problems related to vocabulary knowledge. The author is teaching English at Bien
Hoa Specialized High School and at this moment, she is in charge of teaching 10th form
English major students. After lessons at class and through some tests, she found out that
they do not know much vocabulary especially academic words which they often see in
texts of advanced level. Moreover, when the author interviewed and made a questionnaire
in the class, she also discovered that they lacked effective methods of learning vocabulary.
For example, when asked about how to learn new words, students were confused and most
said they tried to remember words by learning by heart. Also, when checking students'
vocabulary through activities from tests to skill practice, she came to a conclusion that
students need to study vocabulary seriously and should have an effective method of
learning words. This urges the author to find a proper method of teaching vocabulary to

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help her students overcome this difficulty and this also motivates her to conduct this study
on using prefixes, suffixes and roots to teach vocabulary for 10th form English major
students at Bien Hoa Specialized High School, Ha Nam. By slowly and steadily

studying the most prominent prefixes, roots, and suffixes, students can acquire a
vocabulary that is far greater than the sum of its parts.

2. Aims of the study
This research is designed to bring a new air into the teaching of vocabulary to 10th
form English major students. In general, the purpose of this study is:
- to use another vocabulary learning strategy using morphemic analysis.
- to find out how this method benefits students in studying vocabulary.
- to investigate students’ improvements and attitudes during the time the study is
carried out.

3. The research questions
To achieve the aims which are mentioned above, the following research questions
are raised for exploration:
- How does the method benefit the building of students’ vocabulary?
- What changes do students have after the lessons?
- What are the attitudes of students towards the new method of learning vocabulary?

4. Scope of the study
In this study, because of limited time and students’ level, the researcher just wants
to focus on teaching students the most popular prefixes, suffixes and word roots which
help them to understand the most common words that they often come across while
reading advanced level passages. Also, she just does research on teaching vocabulary to a
limited number of students, that is 34 tenth form English major students during 9 weeks.
However, the study is hoped to be beneficial to those who want to improve their
knowledge of academic vocabulary and those who find understanding a word through its
parts helpful.

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5. Significance of the study
Affixes including prefixes and suffixes make up a big part in the formation of
words. Knowing as many words as possible will help develop practical skills (reading,
listening, speaking and writing) and knowing as many affixes and roots as possible will
enable students to remember words in an easier way. This study which the researcher is
going to carry out is hoped to satisfy this goal. Moreover, teaching vocabulary through
prefixes, suffixes and roots, though is not alien to researchers in the history of education, is
still quite a new method which very few teachers think of in their teaching. Therefore, the
researcher wants to look into and try this method with the hope that it will help her solve
this current problem and benefit both learning and teaching vocabulary in the future.

6. Method of the study
The method employed in this study is an action research, using a number of
instruments such as a pre-task and post-task questionnaire, a pre and post test. After
analyzing the data, conclusions will be drawn and some suggestions will be made in this
thesis.

7. Design of the study
This study includes three main parts, which are presented as follows:
Part A is the introduction which includes the rationale for the research topic, aims
and research questions, research methodology, scope, significance and design of the study.
Part B is the development which consists of three following chapters:
Chapter 1 reviews some theoretical background relevant to the study. It includes
general knowledge of English vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning and an
overview of word structures or morphology as well as previous studies of other researchers
on the related issues.
Chapter 2 presents the research methodology. This chapter introduces the research

context, research approach, participants, intervention, data collection instruments, data
collection procedures and data analysis procedures.
Chapter 3 goes into details of the data analysis, results and discussion.
Part C is the conclusion which includes the summary, implications, limitations of
the study and suggestions for further studies.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter will review some background information relevant to this study. First,
the ideas of researchers about the importance of learning word parts are looked into. Next,
an overview of English vocabulary such as definitions, classification, vocabulary learning
strategies, and a revision of words structures such as prefixes, suffixes and roots are
presented.
1. 1. Vocabulary
1. 1.1. Definition of vocabulary
It is not easy to define exactly what a word is. So far, there have been a number of
definitions of vocabulary. Some linguists define it according to semantic criterion while
others refer to it according to the phonological or potential one.
Diamond and Gutlohn (2006) gave a very broad definition, that is “vocabulary is
the knowledge of words and word meanings”. Fran Lehr, in the website
defined vocabulary as knowledge of words
and word meanings in both oral and print language and in productive and receptive forms.
According to Parmer (1983), the semantic unit may be a sequence of several words.
The phrasal verb “look after” is a typical example. This phrase includes two words but its
meaning can only be understood in the entire phrase and can not be interpreted by

analyzing its single parts.
Ur (1996) defined vocabulary “as the words we teach in the foreign language”.
However, this author also added that “a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single
word, a compound of two or three words and multi-word idioms”.
According to Lewis (1993), vocabulary “…may be individual words, or full
sentences - institutionalized utterances - that convey fixed social or pragmatic meaning
within a given community”.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, vocabulary is commonly considered as "all
the words known and used by a particular person".
Pyles and Algeo (1970) said that “vocabulary is the focus of language with its
sound and meaning, which interlock to allow us to communicate with one another, and it is
words that we arrange together to make sentences, conversation and discourse of all kinds”.

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It can be inferred from the statement that vocabulary is of vital importance in learning a
language.
In short, it can be concluded that it is very hard to give a precise definition of
vocabulary. For the pedagogical purposes of this study, the researcher agrees most with the
definition by Fran Lehr.
1.1.2. Classification of vocabulary
There have been many ways in which vocabulary is classified and below are the
most common ways of classifying it.
1.1.2.1. According to language methodology
Word knowledge comes in two forms, receptive (passive) and productive (active).
Receptive vocabulary includes words that we recognize when we hear or see them.
Productive vocabulary includes words that we use when we speak or write. Receptive

vocabulary is typically larger than productive vocabulary, and may include many words to
which we assign some meaning, even if we don’t know their full definitions and
connotations – or ever use them ourselves as we speak and write.
1.1. 2. 2. According to the Concept of Morpheme
Words can be divided into three types: simple words, derived words and compound
words.
- Simple words: A simple word consists of a root morpheme like red, tall, car...
- Derived words: A derived word is one that consists of a root and one or more
derivational morphemes such as worker, singer, amusement, etc.
- Compound words: A compound word has at least two roots with or without
derivational morphemes like man-killer, greeting-cards, etc.
1. 1. 2. 3. According to the meaning
In terms of meaning, vocabulary may have two kinds of meaning: lexical and
grammatical. Thus, 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 large
number of each speaker’s vocabulary.
Functional words are words whose meaning is grammatical and only have meaning
in relation to the other words with which they are used. Functional words are particles,
articles, prepositions...

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1.1. 2. 4. According to the sequence of use
The sequence of use refers to the frequency of occurrence of words. Basing on this
criterion, words are classified into three groups including high frequency words, low
frequency words and specialized words. It is of great importance for teachers to pay

attention to this criterion when selecting words to teach students. In addition, teachers also
need to show students which group the words belong to because it is not necessary to
spend too much time on low frequency words.
1.1. 2. 5. According to the Function of Vocabulary Items in a Sentence
Vocabulary has different functions in a sentence. Therefore, it can be grouped into
different items as parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions
and pronouns. Each part of speech has its own position complying with certain
grammatical rules and relating to others. Hence, teachers should point out the function of
each item in a sentence so that students know how to use the word correctly in terms of
grammar.
1.2. Vocabulary learning strategies
1.2.1. Definition of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS)
Cameron (2001) stated a general definition that VLS are “actions that learners
take to help themselves understand and remember vocabulary”.
Catalan (2003) proposed a more concrete and thorough definition of VLS. She
suggested the following definition: knowledge about the mechanisms (processes, strategies)
used in order to learn vocabulary as well as steps or actions taken by students (a) to find
out the meaning of unknown words, (b) to retain them in long-term memory, (c) to recall
them at will, and (d) to use them in oral or written mode.
1.2.2. Classification of vocabulary learning strategies
Although VLS is a relatively new area of study, several classifications of VLS have
been proposed. In this part, some ways of classifying vocabulary learning strategies are
discussed according to some researchers.
According to Nation (1990), Rubin and Thompson (1994), and Decarrico (cited in
Celce-Murcia, 2000), there are two strategies of learning vocabulary, that are, the direct
and indirect one. First, direct vocabulary learning is doing exercises or activities that
focuses students’ attention on vocabulary. Second, indirect vocabulary learning means that
student’s attention is not focused on vocabulary as the main goal but on some other

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features (Nation, 1990). Rubin and Thompson (1994) proposed three strategies for
vocabulary learning, that is, reading a series of texts on a related topic, guessing the
meaning of new words from context, and breaking up a word into components. Decarrico
(2000) believed it is the learning that occurs when the mind is focused elsewhere, such as
on understanding a text or using language for communicative purposes.
Harris (2011) in his research, examined two strategies as he called the word
mapping strategy and the vocabulary strategy. First, the word mapping strategy or the
generative morphemic analysis strategy is a set of cognitive and behavioral steps students
can use to predict the meanings of unknown words. The strategy involves (a) Step 1 –
breaking words into their morphemic parts (i.e., prefix, suffix, root); (b) Step 2 – attaching
meaning to each word part; (c) Step 3 – making a prediction about the meaning of the
unknown word based upon the meaning of each part; and (d) Step 4 – checking the
dictionary for the definition. In this study, this strategy and the steps presented above were
also used to help students attain vocabulary knowledge. Second, the vocabulary strategy
(Ellis, 1992, cited in Harris, 2011), or the non-generative vocabulary strategy is a set of
cognitive and behavioral steps that students can use to help memorize and recall the
meanings of vocabulary words. This process involves the use of a set of mnemonic
strategies that include (a) a keyword strategy, (b) a visual imagery strategy, (c) a story
strategy to link know words and information to new vocabulary words and their definitions,
and (d) a self-testing method used while practicing recalling the meaning of the word.
The National reading panel (2000) suggested four learning strategies, including
dictionary use, morphemic analysis, cognate awareness for English language learners
(ELLs), and contextual analysis. Dictionary use teaches students about multiple word
meanings, as well as the importance of choosing the appropriate definition to fit the
particular context. Morphemic analysis is the process of deriving a word's meaning by
analyzing its meaningful parts, or morphemes. Such word parts include root words,

prefixes, and suffixes. For ELLs whose language shares cognates with English, cognate
awareness is also an important strategy.

Contextual analysis involves inferring the

meaning of an unfamiliar word by scrutinizing the text surrounding it. Instruction in
contextual analysis generally involves teaching students to employ both generic and
specific types of context clues.

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Brown and Payne (1994) identified five steps in the process of learning
vocabulary in a foreign language: (a) having sources for encountering new words, (b)
getting a clear image, either visual or auditory or both, of the forms of the new words, (c)
learning the meaning of the words, (d) making a strong memory connection between the
forms and the meanings of the words, (e) using the words.
1. 2. 3. Vocabulary learning strategy - Morphemic analysis
Spencer (2001) named this vocabulary learning strategy morphemic analysis and
defined it as deriving the meaning of a word by combining the meaning of the parts of the
word (or morphemes). The word parts with meaning include (a) prefixes, (b) suffixes, and
(c) roots. According to Nation (1990), morphemic analysis involves three skills: (a)
breaking a new word into its morphological parts, (b) connecting a meaning to each of
those parts, and (c) combining the meanings of the parts to determine the word's definition.
Similarly, Baumann, Edwards, Boland, Olejnik, and Kame'enui (2003) in their study on
morphemic analysis suggested four steps for analyzing the meaning of a word using wordpart clues: (a) looking for the root word and remember its meaning, (b) looking for a prefix
and remember its meaning, (c) looking for a suffix and remember its meaning, and (d)
combining the meanings to build the meaning of the whole word. This is also the

foundation of the method which the researcher later used to teach students in this research.
Morphemic analysis is thought to be a useful vocabulary-learning tool because, as
Nagy and Scott (2000) estimated, "about 60 percent of the new words a student encounters
in reading are analyzable into parts that give substantial help in figuring out their
meanings" (p. 275). Some authors (Nation, 1990; Sirles, 1997) have suggested that
learning the meaning of Greek and Latin roots is critical because estimates regarding the
number of words that are derived from Greek and Latin roots range from approximately
50% (Moore & Moore, 1997) to as much as 65% of what is termed academic vocabulary
(Sirles). Thus, teaching one word part, like a root, has the potential to enable students to
unlock the meaning of many words since word families comprised of as many as 20 to 30
words tend to be organized around a given root (Baumann & Kame'enui, 2004; Graves,
2006; Marzano, 2004; Nagy & Anderson, 1984; Nation; Stahl & Nagy, 2006; White,
Power, & White, 1989, cited in Harris, 2011).

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1.3. Word structures or morphology
Fromkin (2000) talked about the structures of words in which words are not the
smallest units of meaning. Words may include many parts, for example, the word promised
has two parts, promise and -ed; friends is composed of friend plus -s; carefully may be
divided into careful and -ly, etc. Therefore, the word which cannot be divided into even
smaller parts is called a morpheme. We have free or lexical morphemes like promise,
friend or Mary and bound or grammatical morpheme like -ly, -ful, -ed, and -s. Thus, words
may be a combination of many morphemes, which is also called derivation. In this study,
the researcher does not want to focus on inflection, such as the addition of -ed and -s at the
end of words. Indeed, she would like to have a look at the formation of words by means of
derivation or the addition of affixes to the roots, which would produce multiple numbers of

words that are used every day.
Wikipedia (an online encyclopedia) () gives an overall
overview of affixes, suffixes and roots.
1.3.1. Word parts - Prefixes
A prefix is a word, or letter(s) placed at the beginning of another word (a base
word) to adjust or qualify its usage or meaning. A prefix rarely changes syntactic category
in English. The inflectional prefix un- applies to adjectives (healthy → unhealthy), some
verbs (do → undo), but rarely nouns. A few exceptions are the derivational prefixes enand be-. En- (em- before labials) is usually used as a transitive marker on verbs, but can
also be applied to adjectives and nouns to form transitive verb: circle (verb) → encircle
(verb); but rich (adj) → enrich (verb), large (adj) → enlarge (verb), rapture (noun) →
enrapture (verb), slave (noun) → enslave (verb). It is not easy to remember quite a big
number of prefixes in English, and, at the intermediate level of a high school student, I just
put emphasis on the most common prefixes in English. McEwan (2008) suggested the
common prefixes as follows:

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Common prefixes
Prefix

Definition

Example

anti-

against

anticlimax

de-

opposite

devalue

dis-

not; opposite of

discover

en-, em-

cause to

enact, empower

fore-

before; front of

foreshadow, forearm

In-, im-

in

income, impulse

in-, im-, il-, ir-

not

inter-

between; among

interrupt

mid-

middle

midfield

mis-

wrongly

misspell

non-

not

nonviolent

over-

over; too much

overeat

pre-

before

preview

re-

again

rewrite

semi-

half; partly; not fully

semifinal

sub-

under

subway

super-

above; beyond

superhuman

trans-

across

transmit

un-

not; opposite of

unusual

under-

under; too little

underestimate

indirect, immoral,
illiterate, irreverent

1.3.2. Suffixes
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem or root of a word.

Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or
adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Particularly in the study
of semantic languages, a suffix is called an afformative, as they can alter the form of the
words to which they are fixed. Suffixes used in English frequently have Greek, French or

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Latin origins. Here are some predominant suffixes in English, provided by McEwan
(2008).
Common suffixes

Suffix

Definition

Example

-able, -ible

is; can be

affordable, sensible

-al, -ial

having characteristics of

universal, facial

-ed

past tense verbs; adjectives

-en

made of

-er, -or

one who;
person connected with

the dog walked,
the walked dog
golden
teacher, professor

-er

more

taller

-est

the most

tallest

-ful

full of

helpful

-ic

having characteristics of

poetic

-ing
-ion, -tion, -ation, ition

verb forms;
present participles
act; process

sleeping
submission, motion,
Relation, edition

-ity, -ty

state of

activity, society

-ive, -ative, -itive

adjective form of noun

active, comparative, sensitive

-less

without

hopeless

-ly

how something is

lovely

-ment

state of being; act of

contentment

-ness

state of; condition of

openness

-ous, -eous, -ious

having qualities of

riotous, courageous, gracious

-s, -es

more than one

trains, trenches

-y

characterized by

gloomy

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1.3.3. Roots
In order to have a deeper and closer understanding of the formation of words, I
would like to present another aspect of words, the root. It is the primary lexical unit of a
word, and of a word family (root is then called base word), which carries the most
significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents.
The traditional definition allows roots to be either free morphemes or bound morphemes.

Root morphemes are essential for affixation, that is, words can be built up through the
addition of affixes. Study of root words provides a strong foundation for vocabulary
development. For example if the student knows the Latin root “script”, which means
“write” they can better understand the meaning of the words scribe, transcribe,
manuscript, prescription, inscription, describe, transcript. Many English roots have the
Greek and Latin origins and here is a partial list of the most prominent Greek and Latin
roots given by McEwan (2008).
Common Greet roots
Greek Root

Definition

Example

anthropo

man; human; humanity

anthropologist, philanthropy

auto

self

autobiography, automobile

bio

life

biology, biography

chron

time

chronological, chronic

dyna

power

dynamic, dynamite

dys

bad; hard; unlucky

dysfunctional, dyslexic

gram

thing written

epigram, telegram

graph

writing

graphic, phonograph

hetero

different

heteronym, heterogeneous

homo

same

homonym, homogenous

hydro

water

hydration, dehydrate

hypo

below; beneath

hypothermia, hypothetical

logy

study of

biology, psychology

meter/metr

measure

thermometer, perimeter

micro

small

microbe, microscope

mis/miso

hate

misanthrope, misogyny

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mono

one

monologue, monotonous

morph

form; shape

morphology, morphing

nym

name

antonym, synonym

phil

love

philanthropist, philosophy

phobia

fear

claustrophobia, phobic

photo/phos

light

photograph, phosphorous

pseudo

false

pseudonym, pseudoscience

psycho

soul; spirit

psychology, psychic

scope

viewing instrument

microscope, telescope

techno

art; science; skill

technique, technological

tele

far off

television, telephone

therm

heat

thermal, thermometer

Common Latin roots
Latin root

Definition

Example

ambi

both

ambiguous, ambidextrous

aqua

water

aquarium, aquamarine

aud

to hear

audience, audition

bene

good

benefactor, benevolent

cent

one hundred

century, percent

circum

around

circumference, circumstance

contra/counter

against

contradict, encounter

dict

to say

dictation, dictator

duc/duct

to lead

conduct, induce

fac

to do; to make

factory, manufacture

form

shape

conform, reform

fort

strength

fortitude, fortress

fract

break

fracture, fraction

ject

throw

projection, rejection

jud

judge

judicial, prejudice

mal

bad

malevolent, malefactor

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mater

mother

maternal, maternity

mit

to send

transmit, admit

mort

death

mortal, mortician

multi

many

multimedia, multiple

pater

father

paternal, paternity

port

to carry

portable, transportation

rupt

to break

bankrupt, disruption

scrib/script

to write

inscription, prescribe

sect/sec

to cut

dissect, section

sent

to feel; to send

consent, resent

spect

to look

inspection, spectator

struct

to build

destruction, restructure

vid/vis

to see

televise, video

voc

voice; to call

vocalize, advocate

1.4. Word formation
1.4.1. Definition of word formation
Word formation is that branch of the science of language which studies the patterns
on which a language forms new lexical units, i.e. words. Word formation can only treat of
composites which are analyzable both formally and semantically. (Marchand, 1974).
The website gives the
definition of word formation which is the ways in which new words are made on the basis
of other words or morphemes. Word-formation can denote either a state or a process, and it
can be viewed either diachronically or synchronically.
The website defines
word formation as the process or result of forming new words, called derived words, from

words or word groups with the same root. Word formation occurs through formal means
established within a given language that give a new or more precise meaning to the
original elements. Word formation is a means of deriving (generating) linguistic units in
order to create a new one-word name having a semantic and formal connection with the

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original unit. It is an important means of supplementing vocabulary and forming
specialized terms.
Word formation has traditionally been considered a branch of lexicology or a
branch of grammar equal in importance to morphology and syntax, or it has been assigned
to morphology. Usually viewed as an independent linguistic discipline, word formation
ascertains and describes the structure and meaning of derived words, the components,
classification, and patterns of derived words, and the basic devices and means of
derivation. Word formation studies the alignment of derived words in series and families,
as well as derivational meanings and categories. It establishes the structural and
organizational principles of the derivational system as a whole. Word formation is distinct
from inflection and the derivation of word forms.
1.4.2. Main types of word formation
According to Greenbaum (1996:441), present-day English has four main processes
that result in the formation of new words.


Prefixation is the addition of a prefix in front of a base, for example: pro-life,
recycle, deselect, etc.



Suffixation is the addition of a suffix at the end of a base, for example: ageism,
marginalize, additive, careless, etc.



Compounding (or composition is the combination of two or more bases, for
example: hands-on as in hands-on experience, helpline, spindoctor, etc.



Conversion is the change of a base from one word class to another without any
change in form, for example: the verbs emails, fax and microwave derive from the
nouns of the same form.
Generally, prefixation and suffixation are types of affixation (or derivation) that

differ most obviously in positioning but also in another important aspect. Typically,
prefixation is class-maintaining in that it retains the word class of the base. For example,
the noun pair choice/pro-choice; the adjective pair green/ungreen and the verb pair
select/deselect. Suffixation tends to be class-changing. Change when suffix is added is
illustrated by the shift from the adjective “fat” to the noun “fattism”, the verb “lug” to the
adjective “luggable” and the verb “highlight” to the noun “highlighter”. There are
exceptions in both directions. Prefixation brings about a shift from the adjective “sure” to

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the verb “ensure”, from the noun “mark” to the verb “unmark” and from the noun “friend”

to the verb “befriend”. Suffixation has no effect on the word class of the noun pairs
martyr/martyrdom, author/authorships, host/hostess, or the adjective pairs kind/kindy,
economic/economical, though there is a shift in subclass from concrete noun to abstract
noun in the first two noun pairs.
1. 5. Previous studies on using prefixes, suffixes and word roots to teach vocabulary
Through the history of learning and teaching English, methods of learning and
teaching vocabulary have varied much. Of these ones, looking back at the origin of a word
and looking into its components to see its meaning has proved to be effective. Thus, many
researchers have focused considerable attention on the value of teaching roots, prefixes,
and suffixes for purposes of vocabulary development.
So far, there have been many studies on how morphemic analysis benefits the
learning and understanding of vocabulary. Most of these studies were carried out on
groups of native students. Baumann et al. (2002) implemented a study of fifth-graders who
participated in lessons on how to use morphemic analysis and contextual analysis and he
came to conclusion that morphemic knowledge enabled students to infer meanings of
untaught words immediately following instruction. The study also showed that students of
all ability levels benefited equally from the instruction. This study gives the evidence that
students when equipped with a certain amount of knowledge of word parts can
immediately and easily infer meaning of unfamiliar words.
Still on the effectiveness of this VLS compared to other ones, Baumann, Edwards,
Boland, Olejnik, and Kame'enui (2003) conducted a study with 157 students in 8 fifthgrade social studies classes. The students were divided into two groups, experimental and
control groups. Experimental-group students were taught a total of eight prefixes and
suffixes, along with example words to which those word parts may be added. Students
were also taught steps for analyzing the meaning of a word using word-part clues. The
control group was taught a different set of words derived from their textbook. They used a
dictionary to find word meanings and completed a variety of activities. The results were
that students in the experimental group earned statistically higher scores than students in
the control group.
Harris (2011) looked into another aspect of this strategy when he carried out a
study which tested the effects of teaching high school students with learning disabilities

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and other students enrolled in general education classes a morphemic analysis strategy for
analyzing and predicting the meaning of words. A comparison-group design was used
with random assignment of three intact classes to each of two conditions: (a) the Word
Mapping condition, where students learned the morphological analysis strategy; and (b)
the Vocabulary LINCing condition, where students learned a mnemonic strategy. The
results were that Word Mapping students with and without disabilities earned higher scores
on a test of morphological analysis than students in the other groups. Thus, he came to
conclusion that students were able to learn morphemic analysis techniques to analyze and
create meaning for unknown words, an important skill while reading and taking reading
tests.
As for L2 teaching, Pittman (2003), applied the similar strategy into his teaching of
Japanese students at Nagasaki University Faculty of Environmental Studies. He
incorporated the teaching of prefixes, suffixes and roots and morphemic analysis into
reading lessons and spared 10 minutes each class for this part. He found out that his
students had become comfortable with the ability to recognize words they were not
immediately familiar with and their confidence with vocabulary went a long way in
reading, writing, listening, speaking, and with standardized test-taking.
In Viet Nam, there have been few studies on the effectiveness of developing
vocabulary through learning prefixes, suffixes and word roots. Hence, the researcher
decided to carry out an action research to investigate the effectiveness of leaning
vocabulary through word parts and morphemic analysis.
1. 6. Summary
This chapter has reviewed the key issues related to the study. First, it presents an
overall review of some aspects related to vocabulary such as the definitions and

classification of vocabulary, and also the definitions and classification of vocabulary
learning strategies following by an overall look at morphemic analysis. Next, word
structures and word parts such as prefixes, suffixes and Greek and Latin word roots are
examined. Last, some previous findings of researchers to the effectiveness of teaching
prefixes, suffixes and roots to English learners are presented. From all this information,
learning vocabulary through morphemic analysis promises to be an effective strategy and
provide a firm base for developing vocabulary knowledge in the future. With this
theoretical background, it is expected that the study would yield reliable findings.

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CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents a detailed description of how the research was carried out.
The information about the research context, research approach, participants, data collection
instruments, intervention, data collection procedures and data analysis procedures will be
presented in detail.
2.1. The research context
The study was carried out at Bien Hoa Specialized High School, a school for gifted
students. It is located in the center of Phu Ly city, Ha Nam province, about 60 km from Ha
Noi. The school has 27 classes with an average of 30 students per class. Since 1997, this
school has been in charge of educating gifted students at upper-secondary education in Ha
Nam province.
As regards teaching staff, there are about 100 teachers for all subjects in the school,
of whom teachers of English account for 8. Most English teachers graduated from the
university of language international studies. They teach both English major students and
others within 15 to 17 classes a week. The researcher is a teacher of English and she is now
teaching 10th form English major students. She is nearly 30 years old and has been

teaching English for 6 years. Thus, she has certain knowledge and experience, which is
helpful during the time she conducts the research.
The students in this school come from all parts of Ha Nam province. In fact, about
70% are from five districts of Ha Nam and 30% live in the city or near the city. All of them
are major in a subject like Maths, Literature, English... and they have 6 classes in the
afternoon for this subject apart from lessons in the morning. As for English, each week in
the morning, students who are not major in English have 3 periods with the textbook
provided by MOET compared to 5 periods English major students have to study with the
textbook for advanced learners by MOET, not mention 6 ones in the afternoon for
advanced and supplementary activities and practice. They study a thorough curriculum
during 3 years from class 10 to 12 and have to take the examinations for gifted students
held within and outside Ha Nam and the entrance examination to university. Both these
types of exams are of the same level and require a deep and thorough knowledge of
English and skills. Thus, besides the textbooks, they have to study from various sources
with the help of the teachers. The teachers also have to prepare more lessons, conduct
activities for practice to meet the expectations of students.

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The reason why the researcher chooses 10th form English major students in her
research is that she is teaching them and she finds that her students have problems studying
vocabulary. These students are quite motivated in studying English and they have more
time to study English in class. These favourable conditions help the researcher have
chances to implement new ways of teaching and learning English, especially English
vocabulary, which has been assumed to be far from being effective for years.
2.2. Research Approach
This study was carried out under the approach of Action Research. Good

understanding of action research will lead to a deeper understanding and analysis of the
research. Thus, it is very important for the researcher to explain the rationale for choosing
this type of research.
Action research is one of the most common research approaches in applied
linguistics. Action research, as defined in Cohen and Manion (1994, p.186), is “small-scale
intervention in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the effects of
such intervention”. According to Wisker (2001), “action research is research that we carry
out with our students in order to try out an idea or an innovation, test a hypothesis about
their learning and to see what would happen if…”. Another definition is that “action
research is simply a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social
situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their
understanding of these practices and the situations in which the practices are carried out”
(Carr and Kemmis, 1986, p. 162, as cited in Burns, 1999, p. 30).
Kemmis and McTaggart (1988, as cited in Nunan, 1992, p. 17) stated the three
defining characteristics of action reasearch. Firstly, it is carried out by practitioners rather
than outside researchers. Secondly, it is collaborative. Thirdly, it is aimed at changing things.
These features were reflected in this study. First of all, this research was carried out
at the researcher’s own class at BHSHS. In addition, the researcher and the students had to
work together during the process of doing the research. Last but not least, the aim of the
study was to improve the current situation of teaching and learning vocabulary.
In order to carry out an action research, Nunan (1992) suggested seven steps. They
include initiation, preliminary investigation, hypothesis, intervention, evaluation,
dissemination, and follow-up. This research follows the main steps of an action research

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