Activities to increase a dult learners' retention of vocabulary at Yenbai Centre of Continuing Education Các hoạt động nhằm nâng cao khả năng lưu nhớ từ vựng c

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


PHẠM THỊ KIM THANH



ACTIVITIES TO INCREASE
ADULT LEARNERS’ RETENTION OF VOCABULARY
AT YEN BAI CENTRE OF CONTINUING EDUCATION
(Các hoạt động nhằm nâng cao khả năng lưu nhớ từ vựng cho học viên
lớn tuổi tại Trung tâm Giáo dục thường xuyên tỉnh Yên Bái)



M.A. Minor Programme Thesis


Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10




HA NOI – 2010

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


PHẠM THỊ KIM THANH


ACTIVITIES TO INCREASE
ADULT LEARNERS’ RETENTION OF VOCABULARY
AT YEN BAI CENTRE OF CONTINUING EDUCATION
(Các hoạt động nhằm nâng cao khả năng lưu nhớ từ vựng cho học viên
lớn tuổi tại Trung tâm Giáo dục thường xuyên tỉnh Yên Bái)


M.A. Minor Programme Thesis




Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10
Supervisor: Trần Thanh Nhàn, MA.




HA NOI – 2010

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration i
Acknowledgements ii
Abstracts iii
Table of contents iv
List of abbreviations viii
List of tables ix
PART I. INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Aims of the Study 2
3. Research Hypotheses and Questions 2
4. Scope of the Study 2
5. Methods of the Study 2
6. Design of the study 3
PART II. DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW 4
1.1. Vocabulary in Foreign Language Acquisition 4
1.1.1. Definition of vocabulary 4
1.1.2. Vocabulary: What needs to be taught? 5
1.1.2.1. Form: Pronunciation and Spelling 5

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1.1.2.2. Aspects of meaning 5
1.1.2.3. Grammar 7
1.1.2.4. Word formation 7
1.1.2.5. Collocation 8
1.1.3. The roles of vocabulary in Foreign Language Acquisition 8

1.2. Factors affecting the retention of vocabulary 9
1.2.1. Memory 9
1.2.2. Learning strategies 10
1.2.3. Learning context 11
1.2.4. Word-related factors 12
1.3. Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition Process 13
1.3.1. Noticing 14
1.3.2. Retrieval 14
1.3.3. Generation 15
1.4. Repetition and vocabulary retention 15
1.4.1. Types of repetition 15
1.4.2. Spacing of repetition 17
1.4.3. Number of repetition 17
CHAPTER 2. METHODOLOGY 19
2.1. The rationale for using action research 19

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2.2. Procedures 19
2.3. Participants 20
2.4. The course book 20
2.5. Data collecting instruments 21
2.6. The Intervention 22
2.6.1. The intervention procedures 22
2.6.2. The intervention activities 23
CHAPTER 3. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 27
3.1. Results of the pretest and discussion 27
3.2. Results of the posttests and discussion 29
3.3. Comparison of scores of pretest and two posttests 32
PART III. CONCLUSION 35
1. Conclusions 35

2. Limitations of the study 36
3. Suggestions for further study 36
REFERENCES 38
APPENDIX A. PRETEST I
APPENDIX B. POSTTEST 1 II
APPENDIX C. POSTTEST 2 III
APPENDIX D. KEYS FOR THE TESTS IV

vii
APPENDIX E. ASKING AND ANSWERING ABOUT TIME V
APPENDIX F. A DAY IN MY LIFE VI
APPENDIX G. INTERVIEWING VII
APPENDIX H. DESCRIBING THINGS IN A HOUSE VIII
APPENDIX I. READING-BASED VOCABULARY ACTIVITY IX
APPENDIX J. FINDING THE LOCATION OF THINGS IN THE HOUSE X