The effectiveness of using pictures to teaching english vocabulary to secondary school students

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN VÕ MINH THƯ

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING PICTURES TO TEACHING
ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

FIELD OF STUDY: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY
OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

SUPERVISOR : LÊ NHÂN THÀNH, PhD

Quy nhon, 2022


BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

NGUYỄN VÕ MINH THƯ

HIỆU QUẢ CỦA VIỆC SỬ DỤNG HÌNH ẢNH TRONG DẠY TỪ
VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ

CHUYÊN NGÀNH: LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC
MÔN TIẾNG ANH

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. LÊ NHÂN THÀNH

Quy nhon, 2022

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STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP

The work contained in this thesis has not previously been submitted for
a degree or diploma at any university. I certify that my thesis contains no
material, to the best of my knowledge and belief, except when specifically
stated in the thesis. My thesis contains no previously published or written
content by any other individual.
Signed:
Date:……../………/….......

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Without the support, encouragement, and contributions from my Assoc.
Prof. Doctors, colleagues, friends, and family, the successful completion of this
thesis work would not have been possible. I take this chance to appreciate them
for their expert advice and wise invaluable comments, and generous time. They
have enriched my knowledge and made my graduate journey a memorable
chapter in my life.
This paper could not have been completed without the encouragement
and contributions of several individuals and groups to whom I would like to
express my deep sense of gratitude during the stressful time of writing this
paper.
First of all, I am grateful to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Le Nhan Thanh,

for his support, patience, and encouragement throughout my study. His
technical and editorial advice was essential to the completion of this paper and
has offered me several lessons and insights on how academic research works
in general. I was fortunate to have a supervisor that genuinely cared about my
job. It is not my success without his valuable comments, suggestions, and
corrections.
Besides, I also take this opportunity to express gratitude to all the lectures
who took part in the training process of the MA course at Quy Nhon University
for their scholarly knowledge and experience as well as their inspirational to
me which incited me to widen my research from various perspectives.
This study was made achievable by the presence of the enthusiastic
students at Tran Phu Secondary School, who devoted their time to taking part

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in this research. I was also thankful to my colleagues for their fascinating
assistance, support, and management during the pilot phase.
Last, but not least, I am grateful for all the support and encouragement I
received from my beloved parents and my brother throughout my thesis
education.
Your contribution is important. Thank you all for your help and support.

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ABSTRACT

Vocabulary plays an important role in learning a foreign language. It
supports students in learning other skills such as reading, writing, listening, and

speaking. Language teachers have already employed mind mapping techniques
to encourage their students to learn vocabulary. The current study aimed at
investigating the effectiveness of using pictures to teach grade-7 students to
learn English vocabulary. The sample of the study consisted of 40 grade-7
students at a secondary school in Ninh Thuan province. Those students were
equally divided into two groups (experimental and control). The research was
conducted based on mixed methods since it employed an experiment and a
survey. These participants were divided into 2 groups: the control group and
the experimental group. Data were collected from three sources: (1) the pre-test
and post-test to estimate the students’ vocabulary improvement, (2) the
questionnaire to assess how the changes in their opinions towards vocabulary
learning with pictures were, and (3) observation classroom was carried out to
gather data related to students' reactions and responses in vocabulary lessons.
The findings of the study reveal that pictures greatly affect EFL secondary
school students’ learning of vocabulary. Secondly, an experiment was carried
out to examine the impact of pictures on grade-7 students’ mastery of English
vocabulary. The results of the experiment showed that there are statistically
significant differences in the mean scores of the experimental and control
groups in the vocabulary posttest due to the use of pictures in favor of the
experimental group. Along with the experiment. Based on the findings, the
research provided suggestions that help students and teachers use pictures in
learning and teaching vocabulary successfully.

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Keywords: effectiveness, pictures, school students, students’ responses,
teaching English vocabulary

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CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP ...................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................ ii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................ iv
CONTENTS ................................................................................................ vi
LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................... ix
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................... x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................... xi
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 1
1 Rationale .................................................................................................... 1
2 Aim of the Study ........................................................................................ 2
3 Objectives of the Study .............................................................................. 3
4 Research Questions .................................................................................... 3
5 Scope of the Study ..................................................................................... 3
6 Significance of the Study ........................................................................... 3
7 Organization of the Thesis ......................................................................... 3
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................. 5
1 Vocabulary ................................................................................................. 5
1.1 Definitions. ...................................................................................... 5
1.2 Classification of vocabulary. ........................................................... 6
1.3 Important role of vocabulary in teaching and learning English. ..... 7
1.4 Stages in vocabulary teaching. ........................................................ 8
1.5 Techniques in teaching English vocabulary. ................................. 11
1.6 Factors affecting vocabulary retention. ......................................... 12
2 Pictures ..................................................................................................... 19
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2.1 Definition. ...................................................................................... 19
2.2 Principles of selecting a picture. .................................................... 20
2.3 Types of pictures. .......................................................................... 20
2.4 The use of pictures. ........................................................................ 26
2.5 The advantages and disadvantages of using pictures. ................... 27
2.6 Using pictures in vocabulary teaching activities. .......................... 29
3 Related Studies on Using Pictures to Teach Vocabulary ........................ 31
CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................... 34
1 Research Design ....................................................................................... 34
2 Participants ............................................................................................... 34
3 The Textbook ........................................................................................... 35
4 Data Collection Instruments..................................................................... 37
4.1 Questionnaires for students. .......................................................... 37
4.2 Vocabulary tests. ........................................................................... 39
4.3 Classroom observations. ................................................................ 40
5 Data Collection......................................................................................... 41
5.1 Administering the questionnaires. ................................................. 41
5.2 Administering the vocabulary tests. .............................................. 41
5.3 Administering the classroom observations.................................... 42
6 Data Analysis ........................................................................................... 42
6.1 Quantitative analysis of the questionnaires. .................................. 42
6.2 Quantitative analysis of the pre-test and post-test. ........................ 43
6.3 Qualitative analysis of the classroom observations. ...................... 44
7 Validity and Reliability ............................................................................ 44
8 Summary .................................................................................................. 46

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CHAPTER 4. RESULTS OF THE STUDY ........................................... 47
1 Students’ Responses to Learning New Words Through Pictures ............ 47
1.1 Advantages of learning vocabulary with pictures. ........................ 47
1.2 Disadvantages of learning vocabulary with pictures..................... 49
1.3 Students’ intentions of future learning vocabulary with pictures. 51
2 The Effectiveness of Teaching New Words by Using Pictures ............... 52
2.1 Findings from the two tests. .......................................................... 52
2.2 The effectiveness of teaching new words using pictures as explored
from the classroom observations. ............................................................ 56
3 Discussion of Findings ............................................................................. 64
3.1 Findings from the questionaire. ..................................................... 64
3.2 Finding from the two tests. ............................................................ 65
3.3 Finding from the observation. ....................................................... 65
4 Summary .................................................................................................. 66
5 Chapter Summary..................................................................................... 66
CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION.............................. 68
1 Summary of Key Finding of the Study .................................................... 68
2 Pedagogical Implications ......................................................................... 69
3 Limitations ............................................................................................... 70
4 Suggestions for Further Research ............................................................ 71
REFERENCES .......................................................................................... 72
APPENDICES ........................................................................................... 76

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Background Information of the Participants ........................ 35
Table 3.2 Reliability Statistics for the Questionnaire........................... 45

Table 3.4 Descriptive Statistics for the Pre-test and the Post-test ....... 46
Table 4.1 Advantages Brought About by Learning Vocabulary With
Pictures............................................................................................................ 47
Table 4.2 Disadvantages Findings From Learning Vocabulary With
Pictures............................................................................................................ 49
Table 4.3 Students’ Intentions of Future Learning Vocabulary With
Pictures............................................................................................................ 51
Table 4.4 Mean Difference in Students’ Vocabulary Mastery Within the
Control Group ................................................................................................. 52
Table 4.5 Mean Difference in Students’ Vocabulary Mastery Within the
Experimental Group ........................................................................................ 53
Table 4.6 Students’ Scores on Vocabulary Tests Between the Two
Groups ............................................................................................................. 53
Table 4.7 The Number of Students Who Remember 3 and 4 Words .... 57

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 4.1 Summary of Participant’s Vocabulary Mastery Before and
After the Study ................................................................................................. 55
Figure 4.2 The Students’ Participation in Class................................... 59
Figure 4.3 Students in Slap the Board Game ........................................ 61
Figure 4.4 Classroom Interaction ......................................................... 62

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as Foreign Language
SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

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CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
To set the scene for the study, chapter 1 describes the rationale for the study,
the research aim and objectives, and the research questions. This is followed by
the scope and the significance of the study. Finally, there is an overview of the
organization of the study.
1 Rationale
Vocabulary plays an important role in learning a foreign language. The
extent of students’ vocabulary knowledge relates strongly to reading
comprehension and overall academic success Doff (1988). If students do not have
a good vocabulary, they will find it difficult to read a passage, listen to a
conversation, write a paragraph, and communicate in English. As a result, they
gradually lose interest in learning a language. Besides, most students in high
school often have problems with learning new words. They learn English
vocabulary in an uninteresting and passive way. Teachers make a list of new
words and give Vietnamese definitions, and they try to learn them by heart. As a
result, students tend to copy definitions, repeat them back to their teacher and
shortly forget the words altogether (Greenwood, 2002). Therefore, the teacher
must apply other vocabulary teaching techniques to help students learn new words
more effectively. There are many kinds of methods and techniques to teach
vocabulary to students such as teaching vocabulary by using pictures, examples,
definitions, and synonyms (Nation, 1990). Among them, using pictures is one of
the techniques that play a significant role in helping learners remember new words
better (Nattinger, 1998). According to Nattinger (1998), words in our mental

lexicon are connected not only by meaning, form, and sound but also by sight. It
means that pictures are useful aids in fixing words in students’ memory.
Moreover, Gerlach (1980) also states that pictures could attract students’
attention. In short, pictures are appropriate for presenting and checking the
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meaning of new words. From the statement, it can be seen that vocabulary
functions as a cornerstone, without which any language could not exist. Speaking
would be meaningless and perhaps impossible with only structures and without
vocabulary. Therefore, the English teacher has to be able to organize teaching and
learning activities they have to give materials by using a suitable technique and
master the lesson effectively. Especially in learning vocabulary, teachers must
make students able to memorize such words in the English language and groups
of new words. Maria (1987) stated that research in first and second language
acquisition suggests that initial teaching priorities for language areas should be
vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Therefore, the English teacher has to be
able to organize teaching and learning activities, and they have to give materials
by using a suitable technique and master the lesson effectively.
Especially in learning vocabulary, teachers must make students able to
memorize such words in the English language and group new words. The
statements above mean that vocabulary is important to teach and teachers must
try to find the most effective way to help learners retain new words in long-term
memory.
Available literature has indicated the benefits of pictures (Joklova, 2009;
Leny, 2006; Shinta, 2006). Yet, there have been few studies in a secondary school
context. Therefore, this study aims to explore the effectiveness of using pictures
to teach English vocabulary to students at a secondary school in Ninh Thuan
province in a two-month experimental study. It is envisaged that the outcome
would add to the field of EFL teaching and learning in terms of vocabulary

teaching strategies for students.
2 Aim of the Study
This research aims to explore the effectiveness of using pictures in
teaching English vocabulary to students at a secondary school.
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3 Objectives of the Study
To achieve this aim, the researcher tried to fulfill the following objectives:
1. To examine students’ responses to learning new words through pictures
2. To evaluate the effectiveness of teaching new words using pictures.
4 Research Questions
1. What are students’ responses to learning new words through pictures?
2. How effective is teaching English vocabulary to students through
pictures?
5 Scope of the Study
The research was carried out with the participation of all 40 students who
were learning at a secondary school in Ninh Thuan Province. This study just
focused on using pictures in teaching English vocabulary. The data was collected
through questionnaires, vocabulary tests, and classroom observations.
6 Significance of the Study
While much research has been conducted on the use of pictures, there are
few studies to be done in Vietnam, especially in EFL secondary school context, it
is significant to carry out the study because the findings of the study will provide
be beneficial for teachers as they may use pictures more often in their vocabulary
teaching. Besides, students will be taught how to learn vocabulary more
effectively by using pictures. Thus, it is hoped that the findings of this study would
be pedagogically significant for teaching and learning vocabulary.
7 Organization of the Thesis
The thesis consists of five chapters:

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Chapter 1, Introduction, presents the rationale for conducting the study,
the research aims and questions, the objectives of the study, the research
significance, and the structure of the thesis.
Chapter 2, Literature Review, provides a theoretical framework for the
study including definitions of vocabulary, classification of the vocabulary, the
roles of vocabulary in teaching and learning English, problems of learning English
vocabulary, and effective ways to learn vocabulary. Besides, the meaning of
pictures, types of pictures, the use of pictures, and their advantages and
disadvantages will be discussed, as related studies on the use of pictures.
Chapter 3, Research Methodology, describes the methodology used in
the research involving research design, participants, instruments, and the
procedures for data collection and analysis.
Chapter 4, Findings and Discussion, presents the results gained in the
processing of the data and discusses the results of the data analysis.
Chapter 5, Conclusion, summarizes the findings, presents the limitations
of the study of teaching vocabulary using pictures, provides some suggestions for
further study, and gives implications on teaching vocabulary.

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CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Chapter 2 to shape the theoretical framework of the study. The first one
presents vocabulary including definitions, the important role of vocabulary in
teaching and learning English, how to make vocabulary learning and teaching
effective, and techniques for teaching vocabulary. The second part describes

pictures with definitions, types of pictures, the use of pictures, and the advantages
and disadvantages of pictures used. The next section discusses testing consisting
its important role and vocabulary tests. Besides, some related studies on the use
of pictures are also mentioned. A summary of the theoretical background is also
provided at the end of this chapter.
1 Vocabulary
There are different definitions of vocabulary as it is an important factor in
learning a foreign language. Each linguist gives his definition of vocabulary
depending on the criteria that he considers the most important in terms of
linguistics, semantics, lexicology, etc.
1.1 Definitions.
According to Hatch and Brown (1995), vocabulary is the list of words that
speakers of particular language use. Meanwhile, Carter (1998, p. 25) defines
vocabulary as the smallest meaningful component of language. Likewise,
Bloomfield (1993) and Carthy (1992, p. 32) also agree that a word is a separate
item of language. Furthermore, vocabulary is “a core component of the language
proficiency and provides much of the basis for how well learners speak, listen,
and write” Richards & Renandya (2002, p. 255). According to Richard (2001, p.
4), one of the first things applied linguistics focuses on is vocabulary, which is
one of the most visible components of language. Instead of thinking that

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vocabulary is taught, it can be presented, explained, used in a variety of activities,
but it must be learned by the individual.
From the above-mentioned definitions, it can be seen that vocabulary is the
group of words that speakers use to communicate and express their thoughts and
feelings. It is clear that learning vocabulary is important to language learners
because they surely need enough words in their target language to communicate

efficiently.
1.2 Classification of vocabulary.
There are different ways of vocabulary classification according to different
criteria, features, or functions.
In terms of semantics, Schmitt (2008) states that vocabulary can be divided
into notional words and functional words. Notional words are those that have
lexical meaning and form a great number of the speaker’s vocabulary. They are
objects, actions, qualities, etc. Functional words are those whose meanings are
grammatical. They only have meanings for other words with which they are used.
In terms of grammar, vocabulary is classified based on different parts of
speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, etc.
In terms of methodologists, a foreign language learner’s vocabulary is
categorized into two kinds, namely active vocabulary and passive vocabulary.
Active vocabulary refers to the words which the learners can understand and
pronounce correctly and use constructively in speaking or writing. On the other
hand, passive vocabulary refers to the words which the learners can recognize and
understand while they are reading or listening to someone speaking, but they do
not use the words in speaking or writing.
However, some methodologists of the Communicative Language Teaching
approach classify the learner’s vocabulary into productive and receptive
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vocabulary. The productive vocabulary is the words that the learners can use
effectively to produce information in speaking and writing. The receptive
vocabulary is the words for the learner to receive and understand the information
in listening and reading. As foreign language teachers, the teachers should know
these classifications so that they can help students learn vocabulary better,
especially helping students widen their vocabulary with more active and
productive words.

1.3 Important role of vocabulary in teaching and learning English.
Learning a language, especially English means learning the components of a
language. Vocabulary is one of the components of language. So, the mastery of
vocabulary is important because it supports the speakers in communication.
Furthermore, vocabulary is also much more important than grammar because
something could be expressed with the help of grammar. It is also key for students
to understand what they hear and read in school and to communicate successfully
with other people. Similarly, Saville and Troike (1984) also acknowledge that
vocabulary knowledge is the single most important. It is one of the components
that supports other skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Students cannot effectively express their ideas and meanings if they lack
vocabulary. Wilkins (1972, p. 110) emphasized that “vocabulary is one of the
three dimensions of languages (phonetics, grammar, vocabulary). Without
grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be
conveyed.” It does not mean that the author wants to compare vocabulary’s role
and grammar but to show a fact that the author has experienced in her English
learning process that language learners need vocabulary first to communicate.
And Harmer (1993, p. 153) states that “if language structures make up the skeleton
of language then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh.”
Moreover, Morra and Camba (2009, p. 85) also emphasizes that “nowadays it’s
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