A study on the use of mind mapping technique towards students’ english vocabulary retention at a primary school

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

LE THI NHUNG

A STUDY ON THE USE OF MIND-MAPPING TECHNIQUE
TOWARDS STUDENTS’ ENGLISH VOCABULARY RETENTION

AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL

M.A THESIS
Field: English Linguistics

Code: 8220201

THAI NGUYEN – 2023

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

LE THI NHUNG

A STUDY ON THE USE OF MIND-MAPPING TECHNIQUE
TOWARDS STUDENTS’ ENGLISH VOCABULARY RETENTION

AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL

M.A THESIS
(ACTION RESEARCH)
Field: English Linguistics
Code: 8220201

Supervisor: Bui Thi Huong Giang, Ph.D

THAI NGUYEN – 2023

ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN
TRƯỜNG NGOẠI NGỮ

LÊ THỊ NHUNG

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG KĨ THUẬT SƠ ĐỒ TƯ DUY
TRONG VIỆC GHI NHỚ TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH
CỦA HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ
(Nghiên cứu hành động)

Ngành : Ngôn ngữ Anh

Mã số : 8220201

Cán bộ hướng dẫn : TS. Bùi Thị Hương Giang

THÁI NGUYÊN – 2023

DECLARATION

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A study on the use of mind-mapping
technique towards students’ English vocabulary retention at a primary school” is the
study of my own research and the substance of this research has not been submitted
for a degree to any other university or institution.

Approved by Author’s signature
SUPERVISOR

Dr. Bui Thi Huong Giang Le Thi Nhung
Thai Nguyen, February, 2023

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To finish this paper completely, I have received a lot of support and
encouragement.
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Ms. Bui
Thi Huong Giang who gave me pretty much valuable assistance, considerable
encouragement as well as great inspiration of a great woman in modern time while I
was conducting my research. Without her careful guidance and valuable suggestions,
this paper really could not be completed.
Secondly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all my lecturers and
staffs at School of Foreign Languages-Thai Nguyen University for their lectures and
support which enables me to gain both useful theoretical and practical knowledge to
complete this master's course.
In addition, I would like to say thanks to teachers and all students of Nguyen
Hue Primary School for their cooperation to participate in the research.
Last but not least, I would like to give my special thanks to my family who
have always been encouraging and supporting me to complete this thesis.

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ABSTRACT
This thesis was an attempt to find out the effectiveness of mind-mapping

technique on the 4th graders’ vocabulary retention at Nguyen Hue Primary School.
An action research was carried out to answer two research questions: 1. To what
extend does mind mapping strategy affect students’ vocabulary retention? 2. What
are the students’ attitudes towards mind-mapping technique? To get the data of the
study, two data collection instruments were used: questionnaires and the pre-test and
post- tests toward before and after applying the mind-mapping in teaching
vocabulary. The findings of the data analysis showed that mind-mapping can help
the students to improve their abilities in memorizing English vocabulary and the
students had positive attitudes toward the mind-mapping technique. Moreover, some
limitations and suggestions for further studies were included in this study.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ........................................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................. viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................... ix
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................1

1.1. Rationale of the study ......................................................................................1
1.2. Aim of the study ..............................................................................................2
1.3. Scope of the study............................................................................................2
1.4. Significance of the study ................................................................................2
1.5. Organization of the study.................................................................................2
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................4

2.1. Vocabulary.......................................................................................................4

2.1.1. Vocabulary definition...............................................................................4
2.1.2. The role of vocabulary .............................................................................4
2.1.3. Kinds of vocabulary .................................................................................5
2.1.4. Aspects of knowing a word ......................................................................6
2.2. Vocabulary memorizing ..................................................................................7
2.2.1. Vocabulary retention ................................................................................7
2.2.2. Short-term and long-term memory...........................................................7
2.2.2. Major factors affecting vocabulary retention ...........................................8
2.3. Mind maps .......................................................................................................8
2.3.1. Definition of mind maps...........................................................................8
2.3.2. Characteristics of mind maps ...................................................................9
2.3.3. Classfification of mind maps..................................................................11
2.3.4. The functions of mind maps ...................................................................13

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2.3.5. Steps to create a mind map.....................................................................13
2.3.6. The significance of mind-mapping in the language classroom..............15
2.3.7. The application of mind-mapping to teaching a foreign language ........15
2.3.8. The application of mind-mapping in teaching English vocabulary .......17
2.3.9. The advantages and possible shortcomings of using mind maps in the
classroom. .........................................................................................................17
2.4. Previous studies .............................................................................................19
CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................22
3.1. Context of the study.......................................................................................22
3.2. Subjects of the study ......................................................................................22
3.3. Method of the study .......................................................................................23
3.4. Data collection procedures ............................................................................25

3.5. Data collection instruments ...........................................................................27
3.5.1. Questionnaires ........................................................................................27
3.5.2. Tests........................................................................................................28
3.6. Data analytical methods.................................................................................29
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ....................................................30
4.1. Data analysis ..................................................................................................30
4.1.1. Results of Questionnaires .......................................................................30
4.1.2. Results of the tests ..................................................................................33
4.2. Discussions ....................................................................................................39
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS...........................................41
5.1. Summary of the study ....................................................................................41
5.2. Implications of the study ...............................................................................41
5.3. Limitations of the study .................................................................................42
5.4. Suggestions for future research .....................................................................43
5.5. Concluding remark ........................................................................................43
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 45
APPENDIX 1 .............................................................................................................. I
APPENDIX 2 ............................................................................................................. II

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APPENDIX 3 ........................................................................................................... IV
APPENDIX 4 .............................................................................................................V
APPENDIX 5 .......................................................................................................... VII
APPENDIX 6 .............................................................................................................X
APPENDIX 7 .......................................................................................................... XII
APPENDIX 8 ........................................................................................................ XVI
APPENDIX 9 ......................................................................................................XVIII
APPENDIX 10 ........................................................................................................XX
APPENDIX 11 ....................................................................................................XXIII

APPENDIX 12 ..................................................................................................... XXV
APPENDIX 13 .................................................................................................. XXVII
APPENDIX 14 ....................................................................................................XXIX

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1. The study procedures ...............................................................................26
Table 4.1. Result of Questionnaire 1.........................................................................30
Table 4.2. Result of Questionnaire 2.........................................................................32

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1. Characteristics of a mind map ................................................................10
Figure 2.2. Network tree example............................................................................11
Figure 2.3. Cycle concept map example ...................................................................12
Figure 2.4. Spider concept map example ..................................................................13
Figure 2.5 Mind map guidelines ...............................................................................14
Figure 3.1. Action research cycle..............................................................................34
Figure 4.1. Result of the pre-test...............................................................................34
Figure 4.2. Result of the post-test .............................................................................36
Figure 4.3. Comparison between the pretest and the posttest...................................37

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

% : Percent
MM : Mind map

NHPS : Nguyen Hue Primary School

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
With the aim of bringing readers an introduction to the study, in this initial
chapter, the rationale, along with the aims, the scope and significance of the study
are going to be presented. Moreover, so as to provide clear guidance for the whole
thesis, the research questions and organization of the study are being illustrated.
1.1. Rationale of the study
Nowadays, English has been playing an important role in various aspects of
life such as entertainment, economy, science and education…As its popularity, our
education system attaches special importance to teaching and learning English in
many school levels from primary to university or higher education one. A plenty of
programs and methods have been introduced aiming at improving Vietnamese’s
English skills.
It cannot be denied that vocabulary is the core of learning English. This is
because vocabulary is integral to every language skill, including reading, writing,
listening and speaking skill. Without it, students fail to understand what other people
say and express their own ideas. To emphasize the importance of vocabulary, Schmitt
(2000, p.55) states that “lexical knowledge is central to communicative competence
and to the acquisition of a second language”. British linguist Wilkins (1972) once
said, “Without grammar, little can be conveyed; without vocabulary, nothing can be
conveyed” (pp. 111–112). Therefore, learning vocabulary is always one of the most
concerned to English learners.

At Nguyen Hue Primary School, English is a compulsory subject in the
curriculum and it is taught for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students to equip the students
with some basic knowledge to communicate and complete basic tasks in the
textbooks. After a five-year period of teaching English at the school, the teacher

identified a problem that the students felt difficult to memorize and recall English
vocabulary items including their pronunciation, their spelling and especially their
meaning. It is clear that they could not communicate and practice writing tasks well
because they lack the words they need. In fact, there are many vocabulary learning
techniques such as matching, role play, dictionary use…introduced to students to

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improve their English vocabulary by the teachers, however, how to improve
vocabulary is still a big problem which needs solving.

With the purpose of helping the students to be more successful in memorizing
English vocabulary and to motivate them to learn new words, I would like to conduct
this study entitled “A study on the use of mind-mapping technique towards
students’ English vocabulary retention at a primary school” in Thai Nguyen City.
1.2. Aim of the study

The research focuses on using mind maps to improve vocabulary retention of
the 4th grade students at NHPS and to motivate them in learning English vocabulary.

In order to achieve the aim stated, the following research questions are
formulated:

1. To what extend does mind mapping strategy affect students’ vocabulary
retention?

2. What are the students’ attitudes towards mind-mapping technique?
1.3. Scope of the study

The scope of this research was limited on the influence of mind-mapping

technique on students’ vocabulary retention within the context of teaching and
learning English as a compulsory subject at NHPS in Thai Nguyen city.

Due to the limited time, this research was conducted on only 40 fourth-grade
students at NHPS in the second term of the school year 2020 - 2021.
1.4. Significance of the study

This study is potentially significant for English language teachers and students
in some ways. Firstly, for English teachers, this study gives detailed information
about the application of MM technique and its impacts on vocabulary retention for 4
graders. This can be a reference for teachers who want to use the same technique in
their classrooms. The study can also be useful for students who are seeking for a
suitable way to improve the ability of vocabulary memorization.
1.5. Organization of the study

This thesis was divided into five chapters.

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION - introduced the rationale, the aims, scope
of the study, and significance of the study and organization of the study.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW – set up theoretical background
related to vocabulary, mind-mapping and previous studies on it.

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY - provided the methodology which included
the general information about study subjects, context, method of the study, data
collection instruments, data collection procedure, and data analytical method.

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION – presented research findings

and discussed research questions.

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION– summarized the key issues in the study, points out
the implications, limitations, and provided some suggestions for further study.

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CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
This part focuses on the theoretical background and the literature review of
the study. It includes a number of important theoretical terms related to vocabulary,
vocabulary retention, mind-mapping and previous studies related to the research
as well.
2.1. Vocabulary
2.1.1. Vocabulary definition
Regarding vocabulary term, there have been many differences in defining it so
far. According to Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Online, vocabulary is
defined as all the words known and used by a particular person, and all the words
which exist in a particular language or subject. Hatch and Brown (1995: 1) stated that
vocabulary refers to a list or set of words for a particular language or a list or set of
words that individual speakers of language might use. They also regarded vocabulary
as the only system involved of alphabetical order. Penny Ur (1996) characterized
vocabulary as the words we teach in the foreign language. She also stated that a new
item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: a compound of two or three
words or multi-word idioms. In addition, Read (2001) viewed words as the basic
building blocks of language, the units of meaning from which the larger structures
such as sentences, paragraphs and whole texts are formed (p.1).
There are numerous ways to understand the concept of “vocabulary”.
However, from the definitions above, it can be concluded that vocabulary is a list of
words or a set of words in a language and knowledge of words regarding its forms
and meanings. In the present study, vocabulary refers to the words, compounds and

phrases in a language that have meanings used to convey and receive information in
oral and written communication.
2.1.2. The role of vocabulary
Even though vocabulary is the sub-set of a language, it plays a very important
role in language. It is considered as “the Everest of a language. There is no larger task
than to look for order among the hundreds of thousand words which comprise
lexicon” (Crystal, 2003). It is obvious that no one can communicate in any meaningful

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way without vocabulary. A large, rich vocabulary gives them the right words to use at
the right time. Underlining the importance of vocabulary acquisition, Schmitt (2000)
emphasizes that “lexical knowledge is central to communicative competence and to the
acquisition of a second language” (p. 55). Limited vocabulary in the second language
blocks successful communication. According to Richards and Renandya in 2002,
vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis
for how well learners speak, listen, read, and write. Sharing the similar opinion,
McCarthy stated that if a person does not know enough vocabulary, he or she will not be
able to express himself or herself adequately. Having a wide range of vocabulary,
listening and reading will improve because he or she will be able to understand more of
what is written or spoken. Their writing will become more effective and more powerful.
A person with a limited vocabulary will never be able to speak, write, read or understand
English effectively. Hence, vocabulary shortage affects all the other skills. Nation (2001)
emphasized the need to constantly expand vocabulary knowledge acquisition of
vocabulary is typically a more conscious and demanding process.

In brief, vocabulary seems to be seen as one of the most prior area in any
language learning and teaching. However, the main obstacle all students face in
vocabulary learning is to recall words or memorize words to use them effectively in
communicative situations. Therefore, a focus on improving vocabulary retention is

essential for learners to raise their English proficiency.
2.1.3. Kinds of vocabulary

In vocabulary learning, words to be learned can be classified into two
categories which are content words and function words. Content words have lexical
meanings, whereas function words have grammatical meanings. In language, to
understand functions of words students can arrange words in a correct sentence and
analyze the sentence (Cameron 2001: 82). In term of the meaning of words, content
words are the word classes of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. In teaching
content words, the teacher can explain the words and their meanings in a direct and
explicit way (Cameron 2001: 82). Function words, on the other hand, are the classes
of articles, prepositions, conjunctions, and pronouns. In teaching function words, the

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teacher teaches words incidentally and uses them continuously in a range of different
discourse contexts (Cameron, 2001).

However, according to Thornbury (2002: 3-10), there are six kinds of
vocabulary, including:

1) Word classes: Word classes or parts of speech. They are divided into eight
classes, such as: noun, pronouns, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition and determiner.

2) Word families: It discusses about affixation of a word, such as: prefixes (in-
, de-) and suffixes (-tion, -ness).

3) Word formation: such as compounding, clipping, blending and so on.
Affixation is also a kind of word formation.

4) Multi-word units: about phrasal verbs and idioms.
5) Collocations: Collocation is word partners. The typical collocation of
specific items is another factor that makes a particular mixture. Example: this week,
once more, once again, as well.
6) Homonyms: Kinds of vocabulary will be useful for students and teachers in
different situations in learning and teaching a language.
2.1.4. Aspects of knowing a word
Nation (2001) indicated three aspects of knowing a word that teachers and
learners need to be aware of and focus on, including form, meaning, and use.

Form: the form of a word involves its pronunciation (spoken form), spelling
(written form), and any word parts that make up this particular item (such as a prefix,
root, and suffix)

Meaning: Meaning knowing the meaning of a word includes connecting form
and meaning, concept and referents, and word associations. Normally the word form
and meaning are learned together. it means that when learners hear and see the word
form, the meaning of this word will retrieved and vice versa.

Use: knowing how to use a word involves knowing grammatical functions,
collocations grammatical functions collocations constraints on use (register,
frequency . . .)

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In this study, within limited time the researcher only focused on measuring
ability to remember meanings and use of words.

2.2. Vocabulary memorizing
2.2.1. Vocabulary retention

In the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2005) retention is defined as
“an ability to remember things (p.1297). There is another definition on the website
in which retention can be defined as “the ability to retain
facts and figures in memory”.

Vocabulary retention is an essential factor affecting the success of vocabulary
acquisition. It can be understood as the fact of keeping information in one’s memory
or is the power or capacity of holding and absorbing a certain number of words in
their memory. Vocabulary retention can refer to short-term memory and long-term
memory.
2.2.2. Short-term and long-term memory

Memory has been classified as short-term and long-term based on the duration
of memory retention and the ability to recall information after the original input.
Short-term memory is to store or keep information while it is being processed while
long-term memory is used to retain information in anything but the immediate future.
Learning new items involves storing them first in our short-term memory, and
afterwards in long-term memory. However, when learning vocabulary, learners have
difficulties in memorizing words for a long time. They usually fail to put the words
into long-term memory. Thus, the goal of learning vocabulary is to transfer the
lexical information from short-term memory to long-term memory during the process
of learning. (Schmitt, 2000)

In this study, the initial memory of the word meaning at the end of the lessons is
considered as short-term memory whereas the long -term memory is referred to the
number of words can be recalled at the next lessons or at the end of the study as the
participants in the study have only four forty-minute lessons per week.

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2.2.2. Major factors affecting vocabulary retention
There are numerous reasons why some students remember words more than

others. Word retention is affected by factors such as the nature of the words
themselves, the situations in which the words are learned, how the words are taught
to students, and so on. According to Gairns and Redman (1986), learning new items
entails storing them first in the short-term memory and then in the long-term memory,
and the long-term memory can hold any amount of information. They demonstrated
that our "mental lexicon" is well-organized and efficient, with semantically related
items stored together. Word frequency is another factor that influences storage
because the most frequently used items are easier to retrieve. We can help the learning
process by categorizing vocabulary items into semantic fields such as topics.

Furthermore, retrieval is another challenge that students face when learning
vocabulary. Nunan (1990) asserted that learners can be motivated to develop their
own personal learning styles for vocabulary, including areas such as memorizing
and retaining new words. Cater et al. (1989) demonstrated, however, that storing
information does not guarantee its retrieval. Learners must improve their retrieval
probability because they require techniques to recall appropriate words for a
specific occasion. Cater also pointed out that the meanings of words are prioritized
over their forms in order to improve production, as the majority of our production
involves searching for an appropriate meaning to fit the specific situation.
Therefore, connecting the words with meaning is seemed to be the most effective
method.
2.3. Mind maps
2.3.1. Definition of mind maps

“Mind-mapping” or “Mind map” was developed by the British psychologist
Tony Buzan in the late 1960s in an attempt to help students take notes effectively. In

term of definition, different scholars proposed different views. Mind map, according
to Buzan (2006), is a technique of making an outline which used the represent words,
ideas, tasks, or another linked to an arranged radically around a central key word or
idea by lines and typically it contains words, ideas, short phrases or pictures. By using

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