The use of instagram application to improve grade 10th students vocabulary at a high school

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

HÀ THÙY LINH

THE USE OF INSTAGRAM APPLICATION
TO IMPROVE GRADE 10TH STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY

AT A HIGH SCHOOL

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ

Thái Nguyên, tháng 12 năm 2022

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

HÀ THÙY LINH

THE USE OF INSTAGRAM APPLICATION
TO IMPROVE GRADE 10TH STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY

AT A HIGH SCHOOL

Major: English teaching theories and methodology
Code: 8140111

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ
NGÀNH LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY

BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH

Người hướng dẫn khoa học: TS. Nguyễn Thị Hồng Chuyên

Thái Nguyên, tháng 12 năm 2022

i

DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby affirm that this thesis is my original work, completed after registering
for the MA degree at Thai Nguyen University of Education. I cited a number of
sources, as shown in the references section. The information and findings in the
thesis have not been revealed in any other studies.

Thai Nguyen, 2023
Student

Ha Thuy Linh

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I want to specifically thank everyone who helped and motivated me during the
course of the study.

Firstly, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the administrators of
the Faculty of Foreign Language of Education at Thai Nguyen University of
Education for giving me the opportunity to carry out this thesis.

Secondly, this endeavour would not have been possible without the assistance

of Prof. Nguyen Thi Hong Chuyen, my adviser, who read through my numerous
revisions and assisted in clearing up the chaos.

Next, I would like to thank my students at a high school in the Thai Nguyen
province for their assistance in completing my thesis.

Finally, words cannot express my gratitude to my family, their faith in my
abilities has preserved my spirits and confidence high throughout this process.

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ABSTRACT

The study was conceived and conducted to evaluate the current status of
English vocabulary learning for 10th grade students to test whether using Instagram
can enhance grade 10th students' English vocabulary retention. Research was
carried out to evaluate students' progress in English vocabulary retention through
learning and reviewing English vocabulary with Instagram. The study followed
action research with the number of participants being 25 students from class 10P in
a northern province of Vietnam. Research subjects used Instagram to learn English
vocabulary for 8 weeks. The current status of students' English vocabulary learning
was clarified by questionnaire and pro-test. The students' attitudes towards the
method of learning vocabulary with Instagram were captured by focus group
interviews. The author divided the class into 5 small groups to control the research
subjects' learning using Instagram. After every 2 weeks, the author had a test aiming
at effectively control learning. The most accurate conclusion was analyzed after the
post-test results. Findings of the research confirmed that using Instagram
application had positive impacts on improving grade 10th students’ vocabulary
retention. Besides, participants also showed their positive attitude forwards this way
of learning.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP.........................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..........................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS...........................................................................................iv
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES..........................................................................vi
Chapter I: INTRODUCTION..................................................................................1
1.1. Rationale ..............................................................................................................1
1.2. Aims and objectives .............................................................................................7
1.3. Scope of the study ................................................................................................7
1.4. Research questions ...............................................................................................7
1.5. Significance of the study......................................................................................8
Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................9

2.1. Theoretical background .................................................................................9
2.1.1. English vocabulary ...............................................................................9
2.1.2. Instagram application..........................................................................19

2.2. Previous researches ......................................................................................25
Chapter III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................................27

3.1. Research design ...........................................................................................27
3.2. Participants...................................................................................................28
3.3. Data collection instruments..........................................................................28

3.3.1. Questionnaire ......................................................................................28

3.3.2. Pre test and post-test ...........................................................................29
3.3.3. Observation checklist..........................................................................29
3.3.4. Interview .............................................................................................30
3.4. Data collection procedure ............................................................................30
3.5. Data analysis ................................................................................................32
Chapter IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................33
4.1. Findings........................................................................................................33
4.1.1. Findings of questionnaire....................................................................33

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4.1.2. Results of Tests ...................................................................................35
4.1.2. Results of interview questions ............................................................38
4.2. Discussions...................................................................................................40
Chapter V: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...........................44
5.1. Conclusions..................................................................................................44
5.2. Implications..................................................................................................46
5.3. Limitations ...................................................................................................46
5.4. Recommendations........................................................................................47
REFFERENCES .....................................................................................................49
APPENDICES .........................................................................................................57
APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE...................................................................57
APPENDIX B: ....................................................................................................61
APPENDIX C .....................................................................................................83
APENDIX D .......................................................................................................95
APENDIX E........................................................................................................96

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure1.1. Which language should children whose first language is not English be

taught at school? 1

Figure 1.2. Number of people using social medial platforms, 2004 to 2008 4

Picture 2.1.1.2. An example of looking up vocabulary 10

Figure 2.1.2.2. Instagram popularity among students in Vietnam 18

Picture 2.1.2.4.1. a post from tienganh.genzzz 21

Picture 2.1.2.4.2. a post from bbclearningenglish 22

Table 3.4. Actual teaching plan 30

Table 4.1.1.2. Students’ English vocabulary learning (before participating in the

study 32

Figure 4.1.1.3. Students' purpose of using Instagram before participating in the

study 34

Table 4.1.2.1. Results of pre-test and post-test 35

Figure 4.1.2.1. Changes in English vocabulary test scores 35

Table 4.1.2.2. Results of observation checklist 36

Table 4.1.2.3. Results of test 1-4 36

Figure 4.1.2.2. Changes in English vocabulary test 1-4 scores 37

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Chapter I: INTRODUCTION

The researcher introduces general information about the context of the study in
this chapter. The chapter provides rationale of the study, aims and objectives, scope,
research questions and significant of the study.

1.1. RATIONALE

Everyone knows the popularity of English, which is clearly proven by the
numbers. According to Elizabeth Gration (2022), the English language is now used
by approximately 1.35 billion individuals across the globe. That equates to 17% of
the world's population. 62% of UK adults believe that English is the most essential
subject for non-native kids all over the planet to acquire while attending school.
Besides, the English language is the official one in 75 countries, which means that
English is the main language in 39% of the world's nations. The average age at
which children should begin studying English in schools around the world is seven
and a half.

Also from Elizabeth Gration (2022), people can see which languages are
important for children to learn where English is not an official language.

Figure1.1. Which language should children whose first language is not
English be taught at school? (Gration, 2022)

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61,9 %, more than half of the survey participants, those who are asked believe
English should be taught in the place where it is not the official language. The
above analysis figures clearly show that English plays a huge role in human life.
English is the key to help people connect with the world, increase their knowledge
and develop themselves.

English vocabulary plays a significant role in mastering a language. The
understanding of vocabulary has been considered a prerequisite skill that must be
learned in order to improve other linguistic talents. Vocabulary is a fundamental
requirement for the majority of other language abilities (Roche, 2013). Growing
one's vocabulary is essential for language mastery. A student with a little
vocabulary will struggle to succeed in all aspects of language. According to Yang
(1997), the reason why many college students are still having trouble with reading
their English textbooks is that they are unable to read complete vocabulary. The
basis of a person's language is vocabulary, which is made up of three fundamental
language units: pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Grammar gives the
overarching structures, and lexicon is the fundamental content used to fill in the
gaps because "Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary
nothing can be conveyed" (Wilkins, 1987). Vocabulary acquisition is a gradual
procedure including methods, and the prudent implementation of these tactics will
accelerate vocabulary development (Nation, 2008). To summarize, vocabulary is
essential as it constitutes the foundation of all languages. It is the raw material from
which we can express our opinions and concepts, share information, understand
others, and create personal relationships. One can communicate even if he or she
only knows a few words and have no understanding of grammar.

There are so many learning media that students may utilize to increase
knowledge and language proficiency (Putri & Sari, 2020) like printed books,
brochures, modules, pamphlets, CD, multimedia, videos, internet (Sari, 2016), etc.

Real books are one of the mediums that is recognized as a very efficient medium for
pupils to boost their language understanding. Teachers can also benefit from printed

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books while imparting content (Sasalia & Sari, 2020). In today's digital age, we may
study our language through more than just books; there are plenty of online
platforms and media games available to assist us in strengthening our language
skills (Oktaviani & Desiarti, 2017). Additionally, vlog is one of the mediums used
to increase students' knowledge of English, which is demonstrated by Mandasari
and Aminatun in 2019. There are printed and online platforms that may be utilized
to instruct students utilizing the flipped classroom learning style (Mandasari &
Wahyudin, 2021). As a result, mastering how to improve both written and online
content in learning English is critical in order to attain the goal language.

According to an article published in Our world in data (Ortiz-Ospina, 2019),
MySpace was the initial social networking website to reach a million monthly
active users, which it did in 2004. This could be considered the birth of social
media as humans know it. The number of user in most kinds of social network
between 2004 and 2008 grew quickly, especially that the number of people being
on Facebook jumped from about 100 million to 2,3 billion. For a decade,
Facebook has dominated the social media market, but five other operating
systems have much more than 500 million members. With over a billion users,
YouTube, Instagram, and WeChat followed. Tumblr and TikTok followed, each
with over 500 million users. The youngest social network, Tiktok, also recorded
significant achievements. In just one year, the number of Tiktok accounts
doubled, reaching 500 million in 2018.

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Figure 1.2. Number of people using social medial platforms, 2004 to 2008

(Ortiz-Ospina, 2019)

Initially, the social network is based on the concept of a brand, which creates a
consumer's relationship to the company's reputation on a platform that provides
relevant context, engagement components, and an evaluation system. It is a popular
way to reap the benefits of using social media as a form of advertising. This is the
power of online communities to infuse an organization's internal culture with
opportunities for cooperation, exchanging files, and information transmission
(Pedamkar, n.d.). As the demand for social networking increases, it also has to grow
to allow users to share more forms of information. To attract more users, social
networks must also meet essential needs, such as students' learning needs.

The Internet plays an important role, which has become a critical situation for
us. The internet is a significant part of life for both entertainment and education.
There is a large community that uses the internet solely for education, but there is
also a large number of people, including the majority of youth and teenagers, who
use the internet solely for entertainment (MahboobRabbani, 2015). The internet is a
huge technological advancement, but social networks are extremely dangerous for
youth because they engage in time-wasting activities. The internet has an impact on
our views on society and ethical behavior.

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Liccardi et al. (2007) say students have social connections with one another
in order to share their various educational experiences and to converse about
various issues and topics. Cain (2009) stated that social media outlets could be
utilized to make good decisions. Still, they are also used for engaging in digital
snapshots and information, showing security, and running online discussions
because numerous additional groups within social networking websites motivate

users to engage in these types of illicit behaviour. Dr. Irshad Hussain conducted a
study in 2012 which demonstrated that almost all undergraduates (90%) favoured
using Facebook. Social media was used to exchange educational activities and
thrive on social networks all over the world by them. Besides, these platforms
were also applied to share what they had learned with their peers and those around
the world. According to the findings of the study, social networking sites exerted a
critical impact on promoting interaction and connection in the development of
Virtual Communities around the world.

Online tools are classified into 12 categories by Son in 2011 (Son, 2011). First
category is learning Management Systems/ Content Management Systems (Moodle,
Drupal, and Joomla, for example, are technologies for language learning planning,
execution, and evaluation.) while the second one is communication to text and hold
video conference (Messenger, Gmail and Skype, for instance). The next category is
Live and Virtual World, which includes technologies that facilitate live meetings
such as ActiveWorld, WiZiQ, and Wimba Classroom. Social networking and
bookmarking is an indispensable category which helps store and exchange
information. There are a great number of social networking nowadays such as
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Myspace. Fith is Edmodo, Penzu and
WordPress.com, which belong to collaborative language learning categorised under
Blogs and wikis. Furthermore, for the presentation category, technologies such as
Prezi, Animoto, and SlideRocket may be utilized to convey information in an
innovative manner. Resource sharing is next category which can be Google Docs,
Slideshare and YouTube usually used for sharing document and information as well.

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Besides, learning using tools like Webnode, SnapPages and KompoZer to create
ones own website are in website creation category, followed by Web search engines
in which people search almost whatever they want like Google. The next online

tools are dictionaries and concordancers, for example, YourDictionary.com and
Merriam Webster Online. Utilities are the last category including Proactive
language exercises. They are supported by programs such as Doodle and Storybird.
Online learning tools were demonstrated to be useful in studying a foreign language,
especially in enhancing vocabulary by Kessler (2018).

Graves and Watts-Taffe (2008) said that to build the high language levels
necessary for success in school and beyond, their vocabulary knowledge should be
improved first. Dalton and Grisham (2011) believe that digital tools and media that
are widely available in almost every school can improve pupils’ learning of
vocabulary.

In 2014, Azadeh Rezaei analyzed the performance of English learners who
were taking part in a study that involved introducing mobile applications to the
group. The quantitative results suggested a good change in learners' performance,
and the responses to the questionnaire revealed that utilizing the apps improved
their understanding of vocabulary, confidence, and class involvement. Besides,
writers also concluded that participants had a favourable attitude toward the
incorporation of multimedia in education (Azadeh Rezaei, 2014).

According to the author's personal observation, vocabulary teaching in the
classes which the writer teaches currently has not had many new and positive
changes to increase student interest. Students' vocabulary learning still has many
difficulties. For example, students cannot remember new words for a long time and
understand how to use words clearly.

In short, the author clearly sees that English plays an extremely important role
for everyone, especially students. Learning English vocabulary is very urgent. In
addition, the growing internet is creating many new and potential learning
opportunities, including practicing English vocabulary for learners. Therefore, in

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this research, the writer looked at how Instagram may help students enhance their
vocabulary retention, because Instagram is a popular social media platform, not
only seniors but even youngsters access it.

1.2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this research is to improve English vocabulary retention when
grade 10th students at Dao Duy Tu high school use Instagram to study.

The objectives of the study are cited as follow:
a) to investigate the current situation of students learning vocabulary at Dao
Duy Tu high school
b) to evaluate the effects on using Instagram application at students’
vocabulary retention at Dao Duy Tu high school

1.3. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

In the current development era, digital knowledge acquired through the use of
internet-connected devices by students seems to have become an indispensable part.
The author applies the idea of studying vocabulary with Instagram due to the fact
that the amount of time learners use their mobile phone or computer is quite large,
but most of it is for entertainment. The subjects of the study were 25 students from
class 10P of Dao Du Tu High School, Thai Nguyen. The research was conducted
during the first ten weeks of semester 2. After considering the issue of time and
knowledge, the author focuses on the problem related to grade 10th students’
vocabulary retention in foreign language learning.

1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The aim of the study was answered through the following research questions:
1. What is the current situation of students’ English vocabulary learning at
Dao Duy Tu high school?

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2. How does the Instagram improve Dao Duy Tu high school students’ English
vocabulary retention after using Instagram?

3. What is the attitude of 10th grade students toward using Instagram to
enhance English vocabulary retention?

1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Firstly, the research contributes to innovating teaching methods for English
teachers at Dao Duy Tu high school. By innovation in teaching methods, students
will be inspired and motivated to learn not only during English lessons but also
during self-study.

Secondly, the topic both helps readers update accurate information related to
the importance of English in general and vocabulary in particular, and grasps
academic knowledge related to English vocabulary. In addition, from the research,
readers also have a general assessment of the actual level of the 10th graders.

Next, the research is expected to contribute to providing an effective
vocabulary learning method for everyone, as well as helping future studies have
more research bases. Its findings could have real-world applications, especially to
educators who are looking to help their students enhance vocabulary.

In addition, the study is conducted to analyze if Instagram has a potential role
in English vocabulary retention. It provides readers with a detailed look at the
importance of vocabulary for foreign languages in general and for learning English
as a second language in particular. More importantly, the study will show the
current state of vocabulary knowledge and the current vocabulary learning habits of
high school students. It is expected that the study will indicate positive changes in
students’ vocabulary retention by using Instagram in students’ vocabulary learning.

Last but not least, the writer hopes this study can be a useful source of
reference for others who desire to research studies relating to English vocabulary.

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Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter covers the theoretical foundations of English vocabulary, social
networking for vocabulary research, and a literature review. The theoretical
underpinning of the previous study is reviewed in this chapter to determine the
resemblance in knowledge to the study. The goal of this study is to investigate the
problems and difficulties that students experienced and did not encounter, as well as
the solutions they used and did not use to overcome such challenges and difficulties.
It supplies the researcher with context knowledge for the investigation.

2.1. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1.1. English vocabulary

2.1.1.1. Definition of vocabulary

You can do nothing without vocabulary. It serves as the foundation for

communication. Jamalipour and Farahani (2012) stated that language is widely
considered the primary communication instrument. Vocabulary is what language
people use to convey their thoughts, ideas, and viewpoints, which is an expression
of the human mind. In comparison to another language element, more crucially,
from a linguistic standpoint, vocabulary appears to be more valuable and urgent
than grammatical function. Interestingly, Sullivan and Alba (2010) argued that
"without grammar very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be
conveyed."

The term vocabulary has long been associated with a word list, as well as any
language in the world, spoken or written, is related to the vocabulary. When
studying a foreign language, the first thing one does is consult the target language's
word list. Yet, void of vocabulary, an individual cannot communicate, read, write,
or comprehend the target language. The more words he knows, the more successful
he will be.

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Vocabulary is all about words - whether they are words in a language or a
specific group of words that you are attempting to acquire (Vocabulary.com, n.d.).

2.1.1.2. Types of vocabulary

English vocabulary, like other branches of semantics, may be separated into
areas that are as various as feelings, colour, animals, and components of the human
body. When it comes to vocabulary kinds, the four sorts, including listening,
speaking, reading, and writing, are all types of vocabulary. Besides, there are
several kinds of lexicon if the term refers to a list of words, they can be classified
into adjectives, nouns, and verbs like grammatical classes (Wollacott, 2023). In this
study, the author analyzes word types according to grammatical issues.

When students learn a word, students need to remember the spelling,
pronunciation, type and meaning of that word.

For example:
Picture 2.1.1.2. An example of looking up vocabulary
(from />
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Spelling is the process of writing or labeling the letters of a word. It refers to both
the spelling of a word and a person's ability to correctly spell words (wiki, 2022).

Spelling connects spoken words to a written system by using agreed-upon
norms. It converts spoken sounds into letter combinations.

Spelling is one of a set of conventions for writing language. This set is called
orthography. Orthography also includes:

Hyphenation
Capitalization
Word breaks
Emphasis
Punctuation
Communication skills are crucial in everyday life. This begins with
rudimentary body language, gestures, and vocalizations as a newborn or early child.
As children mature into their language system, the need of developing verbal and
written communication grows. They must also comprehend the link between these
two modes of communication.
In terms of literacy, accurate spelling is vital. It can help learners form a strong
bond with letters and their sounds. Learning to spell a variety of words, even high-

frequency terms that cannot be sounded out, can aid in reading and writing (wiki, 2022).
By recording a word and its spelling, a youngster is more likely to recognize it
in new texts, pronounce it correctly in their own speech, and spell it correctly in
their own writing. Spelling might be challenging, but teaching youngsters spelling
patterns, structures, and exceptions can help them decode new words.
Type is another significant elements when studying vocabulary. A word is a
grammatical unit. It can be picked and moved reasonably independently, but it
cannot be readily divided. Some words can be combined to form a single word.
They are either joined with an apostrophe (to form a contraction like 'don't') or with
a hyphen (to form a new adjective) (e.g. well-built) (wiki, 2022).

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There are several sorts of words that your learners encounter in the classroom.
The eight parts of speech in the English language are nouns, pronouns, verbs,
adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Understanding
parts of speech and utilizing the right English language term are critical when using
the dictionary to get the correct definition of a word.

Understanding word kinds can help us write better with various types of
sentences. For example, if you did a writing test and used adjectives as well as
types of words in it, your mark would be higher. It is also critical that students can
recognize distinct word kinds while analyzing the work of others, whether it be a
story, or an article. When describing why authors have decided to employ specific
sorts of words, they must be able to utilize the relevant English language phrases.
For example, consider how an author has used specific adjectives to portray a
character in a particular way. Mastering word kinds can also aid students in
improving their writing since they will be more aware of the influence of their
word selections.

+ Nouns are words that serve as the name for a single thing or collection of
objects. A chair, for instance, is a noun that describes an object on which you sit.
There are also different types of nouns, including collective nouns, compound
nouns, plural nouns, common nouns, proper nouns, and abstract nouns (wiki, 2022).

+ Adjectives are words that characterize a noun in order to make the writing
more descriptive. 'The family resided in a beautiful cottage,' for example, uses
the word 'beautiful' to build a more descriptive image of the dwelling. The fact
that adjectives 'add' to the noun is a simple way to remember how to utilize them
(wiki, 2022).

+ Adverbs are words that modify an adjective, verb, or another adverb in order
to convey how an action is carried out. They can convey location, time, occasion,
manner, cause, and degree (wiki, 2022). For instance, rapidly, gently. The simplest
method to add adverbs into our writing is to inquire when, where, and how an action
or occurrence occurs.