ác thủ thuật giới thiệu từ vựng nhằm gây hứng thú cho học sinh lớp 11 bằng giáo trình tiếng Anh cơ bản tại trường cấp 3 Đông Đô, Hà Nội

1
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES
***



PHAM THI HANG

TECHNIQUES OF PRESENTING VOCABULARY TO
INCREASE MOTIVATION FOR GRADE 11 STUDENTS WITH
THE ENGLISH TEXTBOOK (BASIC STREAM) AT DONG DO
HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI
(Các thủ thuật giới thiệu từ vựng nhằm gây hứng thú cho học sinh
lớp 11 bằng giáo trình tiếng Anh cơ bản tại trường cấp 3 Đông Đô,
Hà nội)


M. A MINOR THESIS
Field: English Language Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410

HA NOI-2010


2

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES
***



PHAM THI HANG

TECHNIQUES OF PRESENTING VOCABULARY TO
INCREASE MOTIVATION FOR GRADE 11 STUDENTS WITH
THE ENGLISH TEXTBOOK (BASIC STREAM) AT DONG DO
HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI
(Các thủ thuật giới thiệu từ vựng nhằm gây hứng thú cho học sinh
lớp 11 bằng giáo trình tiếng Anh cơ bản tại trường cấp 3 Đông Đô,
Hà nội)

M. A MINOR THESIS
Supervisor: Dr. Dương Thị Nụ
Field: English Language Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410

HA NOI-2010

4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part 1: Introduction 1

1.1. Rationale 1

1.2. Aims of the study 2

1.3.Research questions 3

1.4.Methods of the study 3

1.5. Scope of the study 3

1.6. Design of the study 4


Part2:Development 5

Chapter 1: Literature Review 5
1.Concepts of vocabulary 5
Definition of Vocabulary 5
Classification of Vocabulary 5
What need to be taught in English vocabulary? 7
2. The role of vocabulary in language teaching and learning 8
3. Motivation and its role in language teaching and learning 9
4. Techniques in presenting vocabulary and their benefits 10
Chapter 2: Present situation of teaching and learning vocabulary at Dong Do High
School 13
1. Learners’ language background and vocabulary learning methods 13
2. Teachers’ current methods of teaching vocabulary 14
3. Material and material assessment 15
Chapter 3 : Data collection, findings and discussion and some suggestions 16
1. Data collection 16
1.1. The participants 16

5
1.2. Instruments for collecting data 16

1.2.1. Questionnaire 16
1.2.2. Classroom observation and discussion 17
2. Findings and discussion 18
2.1. Findings and discussion about students 18
2.2.1. Students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning 18
2.1.2. Students’ difficulties in vocabulary learning 19
2.1.3. Students’ common ways in vocabulary learning 20
2.1.4. Students’ comments on teachers’ methods in teaching vocabulary 21
2.2. Findings and discussion about teachers 24
2.2.1. Teachers’ attitudes about vocabulary teaching and their difficulties in teaching
vocabulary to 11
th
students at D.D high school. 24
2.2.2. Teachers’ current methods in teaching vocabulary 26
2.2.3. Techniques of presenting vocabulary to increase students’ motivation 28
2.3. Findings from the class observation 31
2.3.1. Introduction 31
2.3.2. Data analysis of the class observation 31
2.3.2.1. The first lesson- Unit 8- Reading 31
2.3.2.2. The second lesson- Unit 11- Reading 32
2.3.3. Post- activity questionnaire: Students’ response to two samples of presenting
vocabulary 33
PART 3 : CONCLUSION 35
1. Review of the study 35
2. Some feasible recommendations for teaching and learning vocabulary more effectively
at Dong Do high school 36
3. Limitation and suggestions for further study 37
REFERENCE 39
APPENDICES

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PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1.Rationale of the study
With the open-door policy as well as the developments in the economy and society, English has
become the most popular foreign language in Vietnam. The number of people learning and
using English for different purposes has been unceasingly increased day by day. This has
resulted in changing the outlook of the Ministry of Education and Training for teaching and
learning English at upper secondary school. It has become a compulsory subject in the state
examination and it is one of three subjects for some universities‟ entrance exam. However, both
of teaching learning of English are still far from being satisfaction. Both teachers and learners
have faced many difficulties in English teaching and learning, especially in teaching and
learning of vocabulary.
It is known to most second language learners that the acquisition of vocabulary is a fundamental
and important component in the course of their learning. A good mastery of vocabulary is
essential for ESL / EFL learners, especially for those who learn for specific purposes or expect
to operate at an advanced level in English. It is undeniable that vocabulary plays a significant
role in second language acquisition. Wilkins (1972, p.11) emphasizes the importance of
vocabulary “without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be
conveyed”. Furthermore, Pyles and Algeo (1970) state that “when we first think about
language, we think about words. It is words that we arrange together to make sentences,
conversation and discourse of all kinds”. In fact, vocabulary is the decisive element that links
the four skills of speaking, reading, listening and writing all together. In order to communicate
well in a foreign language, we should acquire an adequate number of words and should know
how to use them accurately
In Vietnam in general, vocabulary teaching has not paid much attention as it deserves. Most of
teachers have been teaching vocabulary within lessons of reading, listening and writing. For
them, the common way to communicate word meaning is translation through word list and many
learners use rote strategies as their major way of vocabulary learning, which is really a problem
in teaching and learning a foreign language . Therefore, educationists should take this into

consideration.

7
At Dong Do High School, the problem of vocabulary teaching and learning is rather difficult.
The main reason is that the class size with 45-50 students and learners‟ proficiency of English is
rather low. Another reason is the course book with a large number of new words. Therefore,
learners are often confused and find difficult to remember all of them. Furthermore, students at
Dong Do High School, like other Vietnamese learners in general, usually learn vocabulary
passively through their teachers‟ explanation. They only write new words on paper with
equivalence in Vietnamese and attempt to learn new words by heart. Besides, during the lessons,
students only ask their teachers for help when they encounter new words. Sometimes, teachers
require them to look up words in the dictionaries. Consequently, the students feel bored with
vocabulary lessons and they soon forget new words they have learned easily.
I have been working as a teacher of English for 7 years and my students have asked me many
times about the ways of vocabulary learning. Facing these problems, I and some teachers at
Dong Do High School want to do something to change methodology of teaching and learning
vocabulary. Therefore, I have conducted a research to find the feasible solutions to help the
teachers to apply more suitable methods in teaching vocabulary effectively, especially some
techniques of presenting new words to raise students‟ motivation in learning vocabulary. I wish
to help the learners improve their lexical knowledge and feel more interested in vocabulary
lessons. As a result, this study will investigate techniques in presenting vocabulary to increase
motivation for grade 11 students with the English textbook (basic stream) at Dong Do High
School in Hanoi.
1.2. Aims of the study
The aims of the study are:
 To give a brief overview about the role of vocabulary and its relevance in teaching
and learning methodology.
 To conduct a survey about present situation of vocabulary teaching and learning at
Dong Do High School.
 To explore the possible problems faced by the teachers in teaching vocabulary

 To explore the possible problems faced by the students in learning vocabulary.

8
 To investigate some techniques of presenting vocabulary used at Dong Do High
School.
1.3. Research questions
To achieve the aims of the study, the following questions were proposed:
1. What are difficulties in teaching and learning vocabulary at D.D High school?
2. What are students‟ reactions to the present vocabulary teaching at D.D high school?
3. What are the techniques of presenting vocabulary that motivate students at D.D high
school?
1.4. Methods of the study
To achieve the aims mentioned above, a survey research with quantitative and qualitative
method is used and the following tasks are involved in my study.As a result, the reliability of the
research is highly appreciated.
The instruments used for data collection include survey
questionnaires for students and teachers at Dong Do High School.
 Collecting data for the analysis from 100 students at Dong Do High School in
2009.
 Collecting data from 10 teachers teaching English at Dong Do High School.
 Observing some experienced teachers‟ classes teaching grade 11 and interviewing
some teachers as well as students.
 Assessing what difficulties are dominant in vocabulary teaching and learning .
 Applying some techniques in presenting vocabulary in some classes.
 Conducting a post-class survey.
1.5. Scope of the study
The study is narrowed down to the area of teaching and learning vocabulary for grade 11
students at Dong Do High School with the textbook English 11. Specifically, this thesis deals
with the present situation in teaching and learning vocabulary, the techniques used in presenting
vocabulary to motivate students to find out which methods or strategies are favored most so that

inferences would be introduced

9
1.6.Design of the study
The study is divided into three parts:
 The first part “Introduction”.with the rationale, the aim, the methods and the scope
of the study are presented.
 The second part “ Development” consists of 3 chapters:
Chapter 1 provides a brief literature review on concepts relevant to the study i.e. definition of
vocabulary, concepts of words, the role of vocabulary in teaching and learning languages,
motivation and the overview of some techniques in presenting vocabulary and their benefits in
teaching vocabulary.
Chapter 2 deals with the investigation into teaching and learning situation at Dong Do High
School. In this chapter the information about students, their vocabulary learning methods and
strategies as well as teachers‟ techniques in presenting vocabulary are discussed
comprehensively.
Chapter 3 “Data collection, findings and discussion, some suggestions” focuses on analysis of
effective application of vocabulary teaching and learning methods so that students do not feel
uncomfortable and bored in the vocabulary lessons.
The last part of the study “Conclusion” includes review, limitations and implication of the
study.

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PART 2-THE DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1 : Literature Review
In this part, the author addresses some theoretical angles from which she views her ideas.
Firstly, the author presents some concepts of vocabulary. Secondly, she discusses the role of
vocabulary teaching in EFL classrooms. Next, the researcher presents some basic issues of
motivation in foreign language teaching and learning, and particularly motivation in correlation
with vocabulary teaching. Finally, the concepts of techniques in presenting vocabulary and their
benefits.
1.Concepts of vocabulary
1.1.Definition of vocabulary
Broadly defined, vocabulary is knowledge of words and word meanings. However, vocabulary
is more complex than this definition suggests. Folse (2004) states that “learning a language
entails learning numerous aspects about language, including its pronunciation, writing system,
syntax, pragmatics…, but the most important aspect is vocabulary”. It is true that when you
learn a language, the utmost is vocabulary.
In general, there have been different definitions of vocabulary. Each linguist gives his own
definition of vocabulary depending on the criteria that he considers the most important in terms
of linguistics, semantics, lexicology, etc. According to Ur (1996:60) “ a new item vocabulary
may be more than a single word, a compound of two or three words or mult-word idioms”. Pyles
and Algeo (1970, p.96) also give their opinion about vocabulary “ when most of us think about
language we first think about words. It is true that the vocabulary is the focus of language. It is
in words that we arrange together to make sentences, conversation and discourse of all kinds”.
These statements indicate that vocabulary is the total number of words of a language and it is an
essential part of a language, as Nation (2001) emphasizes “ knowing a word means knowing at
least its form, its meaning and its basic usage”.

1.2.Classification of vocabulary
In teaching and learning vocabulary, it is essential to distinguish between different types of
vocabulary because different types of vocabulary need different focus and treatment or some

11
types of vocabulary will be given priorities and emphases and teaching according to
learners‟different aims of learning.As Nu, D. (2004) states “ vocabulary can be classified
differently according to different criteria such as morpheme, meaning, function, frequency of
use, etc”.
1.2.1.Vocabulary classified in term of morpheme
Words can be divided into three kinds : simple word, deprived word and compound word.
Simple words consist of a root morpheme such as boy, tall.
Derived words are those that consist of a root and one or more derivational morphemes such as
teacher, misunderstand,….
Compound words are those that consist of at least two roots with or without derivational
morphemes such as bathroom, swimming pool, rainbow…
1.2.2.Vocabulary classified in term of meaning
On the whole, a word possesses two kinds of meaning: lexical meaning and grammatical
meaning. Hence, vocabulary can be divided into notional and functional words.
Notional words have clear lexical meaning. They address actions, qualities, objects and it form a
great number of a speaker‟s vocabulary.
Functional words have grammatical meaning and they only have meaning in relation with other
words with which they are combined. They are particles, prepositions, articles, auxiliaries,
conjunctions, etc.
1.2.3.Vocabulary classified in term of functions
According to this criterion, vocabulary can include different parts of speech such as nouns,
verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and pronouns. Each part has to comply with
grammatical rules and relates to one another. Learners, therefore, should be aware of different
functions of vocabulary items during the course.
1.2.4.Vocabulary classified in term of Frequency of use

Nation and Waring (2004) state 2 types of vocabulary: high frequency words and low frequency
ones. Nation and Waring also indicate the number of about 3,000 frequency words that learners
need to know. From this Nation argues that teachers should develop strategies to help learners to
comprehend and know how to use low frequency words after mastering high frequency words.

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1.2.5.Other Classifications of Vocabulary
According to Nu, D. (2004), vocabulary can be classified basing on context, conditions,
communicative purposes, content or aims of lessons. In teaching a language, words can be
divided into active (positive) words or passive (negative) words and active words tend to be paid
more attention.
1.3. What need to be taught in English vocabulary?
According to Penny Ur (1996), when the teacher teaches a new English words, he should, by all
means, provide his learners with its pronunciation and spelling, word form, grammar,
collocation, aspects of meaning, word-formation. As regards to this issue, Nu, D. (2004) also
states that knowing a word means knowing its meaning, word form (spelling, pronunciation,
grammar), and its use in appropriate contexts.
 Word form
Each English word has its spelling and pronunciation. Learners have to know all the spelling,
pronunciation and irregularities of the word they are learning.
 Grammar
The grammar of a new word should also be taught to the learners. They need to know the
grammatical function, the unpredictable change of form in certain grammatical contexts, the
regularity and irregularity, the singular and plural forms of the new word so that they can use it
correctly. For example, teaching the verb “pay”, we might give its irregularity in past form
“paid”; when a noun such as “a foot” is taught, it should be given its plural form as “feet”.
 Collocation
Collocation is the way in which words are used together regularly in a specific language. It
refers to the restriction on how words can be used together in right contexts. Thus, this is
another piece of information about a new item, which may be worth teaching. When introducing

words like “to make” and “to do”, for example, the teacher may note that both words mean, “to
perform” but can be distinguished by the words they collocate with. We often say, “to do the
shopping” but never say, “to make the shopping”.
 Meaning

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Aspect of meaning consists of denotation, connotation, appropriateness and meaning
relationship.
The meaning of a word is primarily what it refers to in the real word, its denotation. This
meaning is found in a dictionary. For example, dog denotes a kind of animal, more specifically,
a common, domestic carnivorous mammal.
A less obvious component of the meaning of a word is its connotation in different contexts or its
connotative meaning. This is the associations or positive or negative feelings it evokes. The
connotative meaning of a word is varied from context to another.
Appropriateness is more subtle aspect of meaning that indicates whether a particular item is
appropriate one to use in a certain context or not. Thus, it is useful for a learner to know whether
a certain word is very common, or relatively.
2. The role of vocabulary in language teaching and learning
Vocabulary teaching and learning is a complicated and laborious process. For every language
learner it is essential to acquire the language components of a language before developing the
language skills. Therefore, it can not be denied the role of vocabulary in language teaching and
learning is extremely significant. Troike (1976:87) emphasizes “vocabulary is the most
important for understanding and knowing names for things, actions and concepts”. This does not
mean that other aspects of language such as phonology or grammar can be neglected, but the
fact shows that language learners need vocabulary first to communicate. In fact, words are the
tools people use to think, to express ideas and emotions and learn about the world. Thus,
improving students‟ vocabulary knowledge has become an educational priority .
However, this aspect has not been paid much attention because many may perceive it as a
simple task. According to Meara (1982: 100), “vocabulary acquisition has received short shift
from applied linguistics. This neglect is all the more striking in that learners themselves readily

admit that they experience considerable difficulty with vocabulary”.
Since “vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language” (Ur,
1990, p.60), it is useful to pay attention to words when mentioning vocabulary. With a certain
amount of words students will be able to communicate at a certain level. Then, when they
master a good knowledge of vocabulary, they can develop all language skills including

14
speaking, listening, reading and writing. Needless to say, teaching and learning vocabulary is a
crucial aspect in foreign language methodology, especially at present, when communicative
approach is widely used and highly appreciated in Vietnam. Language learner‟s aim is to
understand and to be understood in their communication when using the target language. In
order to reach this goal, students need to master the vocabulary of that language.
Therefore, the teacher‟s task is to instruct students how to learn vocabulary successfully and in
this case motivation is an important factor that decides the success of learning, which means the
teachers have to search for and apply effective ways to motivate their students to learn
vocabulary.
3. Motivation and its role in language teaching and learning
Fostering pupils‟ motivation towards learning is an essential feature of the teaching skills
involved in establishing a positive classroom climate. Simply wanting to learn new words is no
guarantee that words will be remembered. The only difference a strong motivation is that learner
is likely to spend more time on rehearsal and practice, which is in the end will pay off in term of
memory. But even unmotivated learners remember words if they have been set tasks that require
them to make decisions about them.
Motivation has been defined as “the learner‟s orientation with regard to the goal of learning a
second language. Learners with positive attitudes toward the subject and high and high
motivation are likely to be successful in second language learning”. (Gardner, 1985). Also, Ellis
(1997) stresses that motivation involves that attitudes and effective states that influence the
degree of effort that learners make to learn a second language.
In brief, there are many different definitions of motivation but I totally agree with Harmer
(1994) when he defines motivation as “some kind of internal drive that encourages students to

pursue a course of action”.
Also, Harmer (2001:51) separates motivation into 2 main types: Extrinsic and Intrinsic
motivation. Extrinsic Motivation “is caused by any number of outside factors such as: the need
to pass an exam, the hope of financial reward or the possibility of future travel”. It is concerned
with the factors beyond the classroom. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is concerned with
what takes place inside the classroom and it is affected by some factors such as conditions,

15
methods, teachers and success. To understand two types of motivation, we can take the
definition of Moore (1992:173). He emphasizes that “Intrinsic motivation is what learners bring
to the learning environment, that is, their internal attributes, values, needs, and personality
factors. In contrast, extrinsic motivation originates outside the individual and it is concerned
with external environmental factors that help shape students‟ behavior”.
It is true that without motivation, we will certainly fail to make necessary effort as Brown
(1990:161) claims that “a learner will be successful with proper motivation”.
In Vietnam, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are necessary for language learners who are
often driven by social and institutional factors such as having a good and well-paid job as well
as exam pressure from which scores are main factors in granting scholarship.
As motivation plays an important role in second language learning, teachers should know how
to motivate students by applying suitable and effective methods in teaching languages.
In conclusion, motivation plays a significant part in deciding whether or not a student gains real
success in learning. Thus, a language teacher must know how to motivate students to learn.
Also, teachers should pay attention to both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation because these kinds
of motivation will be of great help to the them in applying suitable methods to increase
motivation for students.
4.Techniques in presenting vocabulary
In language learning, it is essential learners know a number of vocabulary to perform language
skills including speaking, listening, reading and writing. As a result, vocabulary teaching needs
to precede other teaching skills. However, according to Nu ( 2004), language teachers can teach
new words at any time during a lesson.

In general, there are lots of ways of getting across the meaning of a lexical item. The objective
of presenting vocabulary is how to help students know the meaning of a word or a phrase.
Moreover, the teachers can draw the students‟ attention to other aspects of a word such as its
spelling, pronunciation and its use in different contexts. I am quite interested in the following
ideas of vocabulary presentation by famous linguists. Ur (1996) suggests ten ways of vocabulary
presentation for the meaning of new items: “ concise definition, detailed description, examples,
illustration ( such as by pictures and objects), demonstration (acting, mime), context, synonyms,

16
antonyms, translation and associated ideas or collocations”. Also, Allen (1983) suggests other
ways in presenting vocabulary. These techniques are applied for different levels of learners from
beginners to advanced learners. According to Allen, using visual aids, real objects and
dictionaries can be of great help for vocabulary teaching. Nu ( 2004) really supports this ideas
by Allen by giving 8 ways of presenting a new word such as by using visual aids, realia, actions
or gestures, situations or explanations, synonyms/ antonyms, examples, translations and
combining a variety of techniques along with suggested questions. I am quite in favor of some
techniques used in the presentation of new vocabulary items by Gairns and Redman (1986).
They are the following techniques.
 Visual techniques include :
Visual: These techniques include flash cards, photographs, blackboard drawings, wall charts;
realia (i.e. object themselves); gestures and mime. They are extensively used for conveying
meaning and are particularly useful for teaching concrete items of vocabulary such as food or
furniture and certain areas such as places, professions, description of people, actions and
activities (such as sports and verbs of movement). They often lend themselves easily to practice
activities involving student‟s interaction, for example, a set of picture illustrating sporting
activities would be used as a means of presenting items such as skiing, swimming, and climbing,
etc .
Mime gesture: These are often used to supplement other ways of conveying meaning. When
teaching an item such as „to kneel‟ a teacher might build a situation to illustrate it, making use of
the blackboard and gesture to reinforce the concept.

 Verbal techniques
This is commonly used to help students understand, especially the abstract words. It includes the
use of illustrative situations (oral or written), synonyms/antonyms, gradable items and example
of the types. For instance, we can use the examples of the types to illustrate the meaning of
superordinates such as ‘ furniture’, „vegetable’, ‘meat’ and ‘transport’ is a common procedure
to exemplify them e.g. table, chair, bed and sofa are all furniture. Some of these can of course
also be dealt with through visual aids.
 Translation

17
The problem of whether translation should be used or how often it is used in vocabulary
teaching has undergone much controversy. Many methodologists nowadays view it as a very
effective way in conveying meaning to the learners.
Traditionally, translation has been the most widely used means in monolingual classes, and
especially suitable for dealing with incidental vocabulary that may crop up in a lesson.
Translation can save valuable time that might otherwise be spent on a largely unsuccessful
explanation in English and in can be a very quick way to dispose of low frequency items that
may worry the students. Moreover, it can help the learners avoid their misunderstandings of the
meanings of the words. However, translation is considered a complicated process. So it might be
used with care and consideration, especially when precise equivalents in Vietnamese are
difficult to establish.
On the whole, in order to make vocabulary lessons more enjoyable to students, all the language
teachers should pay attention to the combination of different techniques to show the meaning of
a word. For example, if the teacher presents the word “smile”, he or she can draw a picture on
the board first illustrating a person who is smiling. Using picture is interesting and students can
easily remember the word. Besides this, the teacher can show by facial expression, which gives
meaning of a word clearly. Moreover, the teacher can raise the question what the word means
and then the students give translation. Translation is an effective way in teaching to make sure
all the students an understand a word. After that, the teacher gives the example to show how the
word “ smile” is used as a verb. Teachers should remember to use each techniques quickly and

then all the techniques reinforces each other.









18




Chapter 2: Present situation of teaching and learning vocabulary
at Dong Do High School
Teacher‟s role, learner‟s background, their needs, motivation, learning environment and material
play an important role in learner‟s success or failure in learning a foreign language. In this
chapter, I present an overview of learners‟ background, their methods of learning vocabulary,
and teachers‟ current methods of teaching vocabulary. Furthermore, the materials and facilities
for language teaching are also assessed.

1.Learners’ language background and vocabulary learning methods
Dong Do high school is a private one in Hanoi. It has been founded for 17 years and enroll
students not only from Hanoi but also from other provinces in Vietnam. Almost of students in
Hanoi have been learning English since they were in 6
th
form. However, some students coming
from other provinces like Hai duong, Nam Ha, Thai binh, Lang Son, etc only have accessed to

this subject for 2 or 3 years and they have learned French or Russian instead. Moreover, some of
the students in Hanoi benefit from more favorable language learning and conditions than those
who live in countryside or remote areas. In addition, , students‟ language proficiency ranges
greatly. Some are at pre-intermediate level, other are at elementary level and the rest are only
starters.
English is a compulsory subject and because of Dong Do high school‟s educational policy, it is
also an essential subject besides Math, Literature. There are 4 or 6 periods of English a week ,
which depends on students‟ language proficiency. It is quite different from other public schools
in Hanoi with 2 or 3 periods of English weekly. At the end of each month, there is an
examination to test the students‟ ability and swap students from one class with another. Because

19
of this kind of exam , the teachers only pay attention to teach grammar and reading texts, which
are appropriate to the exam. Consequently, the students do not acquire much knowledge of
English .
Their knowledge of grammar is acceptable but their vocabulary is extremely limited. From my
survey and my talk to teachers and students, it is surprising that many students are only at
beginning level of English. Most of the students at DD high school who want to be good at all
four skills, have difficulty in learning these skills. They cannot express their viewpoints, their
understanding in speaking and writing lessons. Also, it is rather difficult for them to get the gist
of information from the conversations or texts in reading and listening lessons. And the main
reasons for this problems only are that they lack a great deal of vocabulary and the main
teaching method that the teachers apply are “grammar focus” and the expectation of the
outcomes is just only the students‟ scores in their English written tests. As a result, the students
are rarely given chances to communicate in English in class. They seldom work in pairs, groups
or participate in such activities as discussions or games.
As a result of educational aims and teaching methods at Dong Do high school, students‟
vocabulary learning methods and strategies are quite traditional. They use a wordlist or write a
word many times to remember it. All of them have no training on independent learning
strategies so they are unable to guess the unknown words from the texts and use the dictionary

effectively.
2.Teacher’s current vocabulary teaching methods and strategies
In fact, of 10 teachers at DD high school, 20% have master degrees, 80% have been trained at
College of Foreign languages. They have been teaching English for at least 5 years. These
teachers have good experience of language teaching. However, their vocabulary teaching
methods and strategies are quite different. There are some teachers who tend to adopt
communicative-oriented and student-centered approach. They are willing to explore new
methodology and flexible in using different vocabulary teaching strategies to different groups of
students with different language levels. Whereas, some teachers prefer traditional teaching
methods. When they teach vocabulary, they write the new words on the board, then translate
them into Vietnamese and make sentences with them. They make an attempt to get the whole

20
class repeat the words in chorus (sometimes), ask some students to read the words aloud (rarely)
and sometimes show some pictures on the projectors to illustrate new words. As a result, the
vocabulary learning activities are neither interesting nor motivating. Then, the students‟
vocabulary competence is not developed and vocabulary teaching and learning are not as
effective as expected.

3.Material and material assessment
Crucial roles that teaching materials play in language teaching are indicated by different authors
in the literature. Richards and Rodgers (cited in Nunan, 1991) view instructional materials as
detailed specifications of content, and guidance to teachers on both the intensity of coverage and
the amount of attention demanded by particular content or pedagogical tasks. The materials
provide basic for the content of the lesson, the balance of skills taught, and the kind of language
practice students take part in. In addition, good teaching materials are of great help to
inexperienced teachers or poorly trained teachers. They can serve as a form teacher training and
teachers can get ideas on how to plan and teach the lesson from the materials.
After the two new English textbooks: English 10 – the piloted textbook 1 and English 10 – the
piloted textbook 2 were piloted in 46 secondary schools nationwide in 2003 – 2004 academic

school year, New English textbooks (basic and advanced stream) have been in use officially at
all high schools nationwide since 2006-2007 academic year. These textbooks continue the
purposes as well as the objectives of the two new English piloted textbooks: that is, an
innovation in Vietnam‟s education. At Dong Do high school, New English 11 textbooks (basic
and advanced stream) have been in use since 2006. The English course is divided into 2
semesters for 17 weeks in each semester. Each week, teachers of English have 3 periods of 45
minutes. Each lesson consists of reading, listening, writing and language focus. The vocabulary
belongs to the glossary at the end of the book. The aims and objectives of the senior high
school‟s English curriculum is to help students consolidate, widen and enrich their English
competence including both language knowledge and skills which they have gained at junior high
school. From my own experience and other teachers‟ ideas and through my interviews with a lot
of students at my school, the suitability of the textbook including Language points covered

21
(structures and vocabulary areas) and language competences covered (macro skills and their
proportion) is quite sufficient and highly appreciated. However, subject matter required (in
terms of topics) are rather difficult for students. They find it hard to understand the texts,
express their understanding in speaking lessons because they lack a great number of vocabulary
about the topics. Therefore, they have little interest in learning English and the effectiveness of
teaching English at my school is not satisfactory. This is obviously manifested in teaching
methods of almost teachers in my school even communicative approach is encouraged in this
new material.
Chapter 3 : Data collection, findings and discussion and some
suggestions
1.Data collection
1.1.The participants
The participants of the survey questionnaires are placed into two groups.The first group involves
is 10 teachers of English ranging from 28 to 40 years old. All of these teachers have been
teaching English for at least 5 years at DD high school. Of these teachers, two are masters of art
in English Teaching Methodology and the other 8 teachers are trained at College of Foreign

languages, Vietnam National University.
The other group includes 100 students at 11
th
grade aged 17 and randomly chosen at Dong Do
high school. They are both male and female students and have been learning English at least
four or five years at junior secondary schools.
1.2. Instruments for collecting data
In order to have a good understanding of the issue it is necessary to refer to an important source
of data collection together with the literature review. I hope that by cross checking with the
information obtained from the questionnaire, from observation and discussion with teaching
staff, some useful suggestions can be made to increase students‟ motivation in learning
vocabulary by improving effective techniques in presenting new words at Dong Do high school.
1.2.1. Questionnaires

22
To gain the data for the research, 2 questionnaires were administered to the respondents. One
was designed for the teachers and the other for the students. This method is chosen because it is
easy to construct, extremely versatile and uniquely capable of gathering a huge amount of
information in a short time (Dornyei, 2003).
The questionnaires were delivered to 10 teachers and 100 students. After carefully examining
the available instruments and basing on certain knowledge about learners, I design these
questionnaires to get information as follows.
Students :
 Students‟ attitude towards vocabulary learning
 Some of the students‟ difficulties in vocabulary learning
 Students‟ common ways in learning vocabulary
 Students‟ comments on their teachers‟ techniques in presenting vocabulary and their
expectation
Teachers:
 Teachers‟ attitude towards the role of vocabulary in language teaching and their

difficulties in teaching vocabulary at Dong Do high school.
 Teachers‟ current techniques in presenting vocabulary
 Techniques used by teachers to increase students‟ motivation in learning vocabulary.
1.2.2. Classroom observation and discussion
Nunan, D. (1992:91) pointed out that “because language classrooms are specifically
constituted to bring about learning, it is not unreasonable to collect data about what goes on
there”.
In this research, besides the survey questionnaires, classroom observation is also applied in
order to clarify and test the validity of the information about teaching and learning vocabulary
at 11
th
form. The observations were made in 2 classes once a week in each class within 2
weeks. Also, formal and informal discussions, small talks with both teachers and students to
collect more data for this study were carried out at the same time.



23




2. Findings and discussion
2.1. Findings and discussion about students
2.1.1. Students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning
Options
Questions
a
b
c

d
1.What do you think of the role of vocabulary
teaching in language teaching?
a. very important
b. quite important
c. not very important
d. not important at all




96%



4%



0



0
2. What do you think about learning vocabulary
in your English lessons?
a. Very interesting
b. Rather interesting
c. Interesting
d. Boring

5%



8%



31%



56%

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3. Do you find it difficult to learn other skills
(reading, speaking, writing and listening) due to
your lack of vocabulary?
a. always
b. sometimes
c. rarely
d. never



83%

11%



6%



0
Table 1 : Students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning

It can be seen from the table 1 that there is a high level of agreement about the significant role
of vocabulary in teaching and learning English. Most of the students (96%) consider
vocabulary a very important element in language learning, only 4% of them think vocabulary
is rather important and none of them has a different answer. This means that the students are
quite well aware of the importance of vocabulary in learning English. It is expected that this
clear awareness is supposed to increase the students‟ motivation to overcome difficulties they
encounter in learning. However, it is very amazing that only few of them are interested in
vocabulary lessons (5%) while more than half of them feel bored (56%) and only a few feel
rather interested (8%). When being asked why they have little interest in vocabulary learning,
the students said they often copied new words provided by the teachers on board, repeat in
chorus and sometimes look them up in the dictionary. They underlined new words in the texts
and asked the teachers for help and can forget new words soon. Consequently, a great number
of them have difficulty in learning other language skills (83%) because they lack vocabulary,
(11%) sometimes feel difficult and none of them chose the answer “never”. From these
statistics, we can know that the students have a passive way of learning vocabulary. They only
listen to the teachers for explanation of new words, spelling and grammatical functions, which

is rather boring. Hence, the teachers should find more effective methods in teaching the
students to learn vocabulary actively and effectively so that students do not have difficulty in
learning vocabulary and then they lose motivation in vocabulary lessons.
2.1.2. Students’ difficulties in vocabulary learning

25
It can be seen from the table 2, the students face many problems in learning vocabulary. (48%)
revealed that they find it hard to remember a word. They can easily forget it after a short time
if they do not use it often. In the lessons, the teachers sometimes help them with word use and
pronunciation. They only imitate the teachers. In addition, the teachers do not give the rules
for pronouncing because there is no time for teaching phonetics .Therefore, they are very
confused about these word aspects with (22%) having difficulty in pronunciation and( 11%) in
spelling. (19%) faced considerable difficulty in word use in correct contexts since they do not
know the use of words in exact situations.



Options
Questions
a
b
c
d
4. Which is the most difficult in learning a new
word?
a. pronunciation
b. spelling
c. word use
d. word memorization
5. Which reasons make your vocabulary

learning ineffective?
a. Too many new words in a lesson.
b. Not enough time in a lesson
c. Lack of regular teacher‟s check
d. Not enough motivation


22%


10%


11%


26%


19%


20%


48%


44%
Table 2: Students’ difficulties in vocabulary learning

2.1.3. Students’ common ways in vocabulary learning
As can be seen from the table 3, most of the students are influenced by traditional ways in
their vocabulary learning habits such as using a wordlist, writing a word many times in an

26
attempt to remember it ( 61%), (19%) pay attention to word pronunciation and spelling.
However, there are (9%) of the students choosing to learn new words by going word games,
making sentences and ( 7%) practice vocabulary exercises. 4% have their own ways of
learning vocabulary in term of word forms, thematic word-groups, synonyms and antonyms
and word context. No matter which ways the students select, it can be effective if it is suitable
for students‟ learning styles and preferred by the students.
(60%) of the students when being asked the question 7 say that they often use the dictionary.
(25%) of them often ask teachers or friends because they think it is the quickest way. (5%) try
to guess the meaning based on the context with the synonyms and antonyms when they feel
interested in the lesson and the topic but they think it is rather complicated and takes time
(8%) ignore new words. Only 2% discuss with their partners and the teachers about new
words.
However, the researches show that learners who use a dictionary learn more vocabulary than
those who rely on guessing from the contexts. Thus, language teachers should encourage
students to make use of dictionary as much as possible and guide students to use dictionary
effectively.

Options
Questions
a
b
c
d
e
6. Which of the following ways do you

often use to learn vocabulary?
a. reading a word many times
b. writing a word many times
c. doing word games and making
sentences
d. practicing vocabulary exercises
e. your own ways ( Please specify)
7. What do you often do when you





19%





61%





9%

7%





4%