Factors affecting students' learning of ESP vocabulary at state commercial No5 school = Những yếu tố ảnh hưởng tới việc học từ vựng tiếng Anh chuyên ngành của s

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

LÊ THỊ NGA


FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ LEARNING OF ESP
VOCABULARY AT STATE COMMERCIAL No5 SCHOOL

NHỮNG YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG TỚI VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH
CHUYÊN NGÀNH CỦA SINH VIÊN TRƯỜNG TRUNG CẤP
THƯƠNG MẠI TRUNG ƯƠNG 5

M.A. MINOR THESIS




Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410

Hanoi- 2011

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

LÊ THỊ NGA



FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ LEARNING OF ESP
VOCABULARY AT STATE COMMERCIAL No5 SCHOOL

NHỮNG YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG TỚI VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH
CHUYÊN NGÀNH CỦA SINH VIÊN TRƯỜNG TRUNG CẤP
THƯƠNG MẠI TRUNG ƯƠNG 5

M.A. MINOR THESIS



Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410
Supervisor: Dr. LÊ VĂN CANH

Hanoi- 2011




iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Candidate’s statement………………………………………………………………………… i
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………… ii
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………… iii
Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………….iv
List of abbreviations………………………………………………………………………… vi
List of tables and charts……………………………………………………………………….vii
PART 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….1
1. Rationale…………………………………………………………………………… 1
2. Aims of the study…………………………………………………………………….2
3. Research questions………………………………………………………………… 2
4. Scope of the study……………………………………………………………………2
5. Method of the study………………………………………………………………….2
6. Design of the study……………………………………………………… …… …2
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………………………… 4
Chapter 1: Literature Review……………………………………… …………….…… ….4
1.1. Vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning………… …………….…4
1.1.1. Definition of vocabulary………………………………………… … …4
1.1.2. The importance of vocabulary in language teaching and learning……………4
1.2. Vocabulary learning in ESP………………………………………………… ……5
1.2.1. What is involved in knowing a word? 5
1.2.1.1. Form of a word……………………………………………………….….5
1.2.1.2. Meaning…………………………………………… ….………… ….6
1.2.1.3. Use of a word………………………………………… ………………7

1.2.2. Terminology…………… ………………………… …………… ……… 7
1.2.2.1. Definition of terminology…………………………… ……….……….7
1.2.2.2. Characteristics of accounting terminology………… …………… …7
1.2.2.3. Classification of terminology…………………………………….….… 8
1.2.3. Explicit vocabulary learning and Implicit vocabulary learning…… … … 9

v
1.2.3.1. Explicit vocabulary learning………………………………………… …….9
1.2.3.2. Implicit vocabulary learning……………………………………… … … 9
1.3. Factors affecting vocabulary learning ………….…… 10
1.3.1. Person-related factors…………………………………………….………… 10
1.3.2. Intralexical factors ………………………………………….……….…… 12
1.3.3. Vocabulary learning task ……………………………….…………… …… 16
1.3.4. Vocabulary learning strategies ……………………….…………………… 17
1.3.5. Learning context …………………………………….……………….…… 18
Chapter 2: The context of teaching and learning ESP at State Commercial No5 School.20
2.1. The teachers and their methods of teaching…………………….… …20
2.2. The students and their background………………………………… …….….…20
2.3. The teaching materials and facilities…………………………………………… 21
Chapter 3: The study……………………………………………… ……….………… ….22
3.1. Subjects of the study…………………………………………………….……… 22
3.2. Data collection instrument…………………………………………………… 22
3.3. Data analysis……………………………………………………………… … 23
3.4. Conclusion and discussion……………………………………… …… … … 30
Chapter 4: Some suggested solutions………………… … ………………………… ….32
4.1. Training students to become self-studiers…………………….…………… … 32
4.2. Providing students with different vocabulary learning strategies……….…….….32
4.3. Improving teachers’ techniques in teaching vocabulary…….…………… …….34
4.4. Improving teachers’ professional knowledge…………………….….… …… 36
PART 3: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………38

1. Summary of the study……………………………………………… ……… ….38
2. Limitations and suggestions for further study……………….……… ………… 39
REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………… 40
APPENDIX…………………………………………………………………………………… I



vi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ESP: English for Specific Purposes
EGP: English for General Purposes
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
L1: First Language
L2: Second Language
SLA: Second Language Acquisition
SCS: State Commercial No5 School

vii
LIST OF TABLES & CHARTS

Table 1: Students’ strategies in learning ESP vocabulary
Table 2: Teachers’ techniques to present new words
Table 3: Useful ways of new words presentation to students
Table 4: Students’ most interested way of vocabulary practice
Table 5: Students’ suggestions for better effects on learning accounting vocabulary
Chart 1: Students’ attitudes towards the importance of vocabulary learning
Chart 2: Students’ attitudes towards learning of English vocabulary
Chart 3: Students’ difficulties in learning a new word
Chart 4: Students’ difficulties in learning vocabulary of accounting
Chart 5: Students’ interest towards teachers’ activities in vocabulary lesson





1
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
The rapid growth of English as an international language of communication has

stimulated its worldwide popularity in language teaching and learning for decades. In
Vietnam, English has been considered to be the most popular foreign language since the
economic open-door policy. Especially after becoming a member of the World Trade
Organization, English has become a great demand for schooling and job opportunities.
English, particularly English for specific purposes (ESP) has recently become popular in
numerous educational, vocational and academic institutions which are mandated to train
qualified workforce for the society.
In learning English for General Purposes (EGP) in general and English for Specific
Purposes (ESP) in particular, vocabulary plays an important role. Because meaning is chiefly
conveyed through words, vocabulary is the foundation of communication, without which
communication would be very limited. In order to become independent users of English,
students should acquire an adequate number of words and should know how to use them
accurately. However, vocabulary acquisition, especially the acquisition of technical words in
ESP, is really challenging to every student, especially students with limited proficiency in
English.
In the context of State Commercial No5 School in Thanh Hoa, English is a compulsory
subject to the students. They have to learn ESP at the beginning of the first year when they
have not learnt any major subjects. With limited knowledge of vocabulary and English
grammar, it is difficult for the students to study ESP, especially ESP vocabulary. The students
often complain that they do not know how to learn and how to memorize words effectively.
The situation is worse when they have to learn technical words of their own specialism
because technical words are difficult to pronounce and use. This problem has been a concern
of many ESP teachers.
As an ESP teacher, I received many questions from our students about the difficulties in
learning ESP vocabulary such as: “ Why is it very difficult to remember new words?” or
“How do I learn English vocabulary effectively?”, etc. However, up to now there have not

2
been any research on students‟ difficulties in ESP vocabulary learning at our English teaching
setting. Therefore, I conducted a study to find out the causes of their difficulties. Then, the

factors that most affect their learning of ESP vocabulary can be identified. The solutions to
these factors will be suggested to improve the learning and teaching of ESP vocabulary at
State Commercial No5 School.
2. Aims of the study
The study is aimed at finding out the factors affecting students‟ learning of ESP
vocabulary at State Commercial No5 School. Once these factors have been identified,
solutions to help students study ESP vocabulary more effectively will be suggested.
3. Research questions
The research is carried out with an attempt to find out answers to the following research
questions:
1, What are the factors affecting students‟ learning of ESP vocabulary at State
Commercial No5 School?
2, What solutions should be suggested to help the students learn ESP vocabulary
effectively?
4. Scope of the study
The study is confined to the identification of factors that affect vocabulary acquisition,
especially the acquisition of accounting-related vocabulary by the students of Accounting at
State Commercial No5 School. The solutions are also provided to improve the students‟ ESP
vocabulary learning at State Commercial No5 School.
5. Method of the study
In order to achieve the aims mentioned above, the major method used in the study is
the quantitative one. That is all comments, conclusion, suggestion given in the thesis are based
on the analysis of the data from survey questionnaires responded by the students.
6. Design of the study
This study is organized into 3 main parts:
PART 1: Introduction


3
In this part the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the scope, the method, and

the design of the study are presented.
PART 2: Development: It consists of four chapters.
Chapter 1 deals with the theoretical background of the research, which is related to the
issues relevant to the topic of the research.
Chapter 2 describes the context of teaching and learning ESP at State Commercial No5
School.
Chapter 3 presents subjects of the study, data collection instrument, the analysis of data,
conclusion and discussion.
Chapter 4 offers some suggested solutions to improve the students‟ learning of ESP
vocabulary at State Commercial No School.
PART 3: Conclusion: This part presents a summary of the study, limitations and suggestions
for further study.

















4

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning
1.1.1. Definitions of vocabulary
There have been a wide variety of definitions of vocabulary. Each linguist or scholar,
in their specialized field, with their own set of criteria, defines vocabulary from their own
specialized perspective. According to Peny Ur (1996: 60), vocabulary as “the words we teach
in the foreign language. However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word:
a compound of two or three words or multi-word idioms”. Pyles and Algeo (1970: 96) also
note that: “It is in words that sounds and meanings inter-lock to allow us to communicate with
one another, and it is words that we arrange together to make sentences, conversations and
discourses of all kinds”.
In this thesis, vocabulary is defined as the total number of all the words that a language
possesses, including a single word, two or three word items expressing a single idea and multi-
word idioms of which meaning cannot be deduced from the analysis of the component words
but only understood in the sentences, or in contexts.
1.1.2. Importance of vocabulary in language teaching and learning
In the context of learning English as a foreign language, the vital role of vocabulary is
inevitable. Vocabulary is commonly accepted to be the most important language elements
among pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. McCarthy (1990: viii) states that “ the biggest
component of any language course is vocabulary. No matter how well the student learns
grammar, no matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express
a wide range of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaning way”.
Wilkins (1972: 11) emphasizes this with his saying, “without grammar, very little can be
conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”.
This is true in learning a foreign language. If a learner has a wide range of vocabulary,
he can help himself understood and understand others easily. On the contrary, if his
vocabulary is limited he will surely have difficulty in doing so and in English learning.
Therefore, nobody can learn a language without learning vocabulary, and nobody can be a

5
good language user without a reasonably rich vocabulary.
1.2. Vocabulary learning in ESP
Vocabulary acquisition is an essential achievement that one needs to fulfill his/her
study of a second language. A good repertoir of vocabulary is essential for EFL learners,
especially for those who learn English for specific purposes. Nation (2001: 187) states that: “It
is wise to direct vocabulary learning to more specialized areas when learners have mastered
the 2000- 3000 words of general usefulness in English”. In order to have easy access to the
specialized uses of vocabulary, learners need to learn and be taught judgment about
vocabulary and its use such as vocabulary aspects, which words are worth focusing on and at
what time, during class or independent study time, etc.
1.2.1. What is involved in knowing a word?
Miller & Gildea (1987) points out that “knowing a word does not simply mean being
able to recognize what it looks and sounds like or being able to give the word‟s dictionary
definition. Knowing a word by sight and sound and knowing its dictionary definition are not
the same as knowing how to use the word correctly and understanding it when it is heard or
seen in various contexts”. Penny Ur (1996) notes that when vocabulary is introduced to
learners, what need to be taught are form: written and spoken forms, grammar, collocation,
aspects of meaning: denotation, connotation, appropriateness, meaning relationships, and word
form.
According to Nation (1990: 30-33) and Taylor (1990: 1-4), knowing a word involves
not knowing its spelling, morphology, pronunciation, meaning, or the equivalent of the word
in the learner‟s mother tongue but also knowing its collocations, register, polysemy, and even
its homonym. Beck & McKeown (1991), and Nagy & Scott (2000) argue that there is also the
issue of precision with which we use a word, how quickly we understand a word, and how
well we understand and use words in different modes, receptive or productive, and for
different purposes.
These aspects of words will be examined in detail as followed:
1.2.1.1. Form of a word
* Pronunciation and spelling

6
Each English word has its spelling and pronunciation. Learners have to know all the
spelling, pronunciation and irregularities of the word. To many students, the complex
relationship between sound and spelling in English seems to make the language inexplicable.
It is easy to understand when we consider a large number of homophones in English such as
weight/ wait, buy/ by, and the number of similar forms which differs widely in their
pronunciation like educate/ economic.
* Grammar
Regarding Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman‟s view (1986), foreign language learners
need some guidance on how to use vocabulary accurately. They need to know the grammatical
function, the unpredictable change of form in certain contexts or some idiosyncratic ways of
connecting with other words in sentences, the regularity and irregularity, the singular and
plural forms of the new words. For example: when a verb such as buy is learnt, it should be
noticed that its irregular past form is bought .
. 1.2.1.2. Meaning
There are various kinds of meaning, which include denotational meaning,
connotational meaning, pragmatic meaning or appropriateness, and meaning relationship.
The meaning of a word is primarily what it refers to in the real world, its denotation.
This is often the sort of definition given in dictionaries. For example, the word “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, which may or may not be indicated in a dictionary definition. Connotation includes
stylistic, affective, evaluative, and intensifying value, the pragmatic communicative value, the
words acquires by virtue of where, when, how, and by whom, for what purpose and in what
context it is or may be used. For example, the word dog, as understood by most British people,
has positive connotations of friendship and loyalty, whereas the equivalent in Arabic, as
understood by most of the Arab countries has negative associations of dirty and inferiority.
Appropriateness is a more subtle aspect of meaning that indicates whether a particular

item is socially and culturally appropriate one to use in a certain context or not. Thus it is

7
useful for a learner to know that a certain word is very common, or relatively rare, or taboo in
polite conversation, or tends to be used in writing but not in speech, or is more suitable for
formal than informal discourse, or belongs to certain dialect. For example, the word “depart”
is virtually synonymous in denotation with “leave”, but it is more formal and tends to be used
in writing more than in speech, or business conversation.
Meaning relationships can also be useful in vocabulary teaching and learning. They
show how the meaning of one item relates to the meaning of others. There are various such
relationships like synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms, co-hyponyms or co-ordinates, super-
ordinates, and translation. For example, the words: “chap, lap, and fellow” may serve as
synonyms of “man” or “cheap” is an antonym of “expensive”.
In learning ESP vocabulary, the students have to learn only one kind of meaning, i.e.
denotational meaning. This is because technical words do not have connotational or pragmatic
meaning. However, they have to learn all kinds of meanings when learning semi-technical
words, which are abundant in technical texts.
1.2.1.3. Use of a word
The most important for students to learn a new word is to know how to use it
appropriately and effectively in different oral and written contexts or else it may become a
dead or forgetable word. In order to use a word well, they need to know how to collocate it
with other words correctly. Therefore, they should put words into collocation. For example,
when learning words like “to make” and “to do”, the student may note that both words mean
“to perform” but can be distinguished by the words they collocate with. We often say to do the
homework but we cannot say to make the homework.
1.2.2. Terminology
1.2.2.1. Definition of terminology
There are a number of definitions of terminology. In Longman dictionary of Applied
linguistics (1985: 308) defines terminology as “the special lexical which occur in a particular
discipline”. Nguyen Thien Giap‟s definition (1985: 308): “Terminology, which is understood

as a special linguistic unit of a language consists of word and fixed phrase that provide
definitions of objectives that belong to a particular scientific area”.

8
In any language, there exist “special words in specialized fields or branches of human
knowledge”, so terminology is defined in this thesis as technical words of a particular
specialism, e.g. accounting.
1.2.2.2. Characteristics of accounting terminology
Many linguists including Do Huu Chau (1981), Nguyen Thien Giap (1985) and Luu
Van Lang (1998) share the idea that terminology has at least three important features:
accurate, systematic, and international. Accounting terminology in English shares the same
characteristics.
1.2.2.2.1. Accurate
A terminology should express a scientific concept or definition concretely and
precisely in order to avoid misunderstanding one concept for another. Terminologies exist
without connotational, amotional meanings and avoid polysemy, synonymy and antonymy. In
other words, one terminology expresses a particular meaning, in turn, with a meaning only a
specific terminology expresses. In the accounting area, this feature is particularly evident. For
example, “net profit” (lãi thực), and “discount rate” (mức chiết khấu) and so on, respectively,
refer to “net profit”, and “discount rate”, there will be no other understanding.
1.2.2.2.2. Systematic
Systematism is considered to be one of the most important features of terminology
because every field of science has its own limited system of concept which are denoted by
certain terminologies and the value of each terminology is determined by its relationship with
other terminology in the same system. As a result, terminology loses its value when it is
isolated from its system. Generally, a terminology has to be a dependent member of its system.
For example: retail and wholesale / retail and net weight / gross weight NW.
1.2.2.2.3. International
Due to the global integration, scientific and technological exchange, a number of new
ideas, new concepts, new products continue to emerge. For example, E-commerce (electronic

commerce), cyber-trade (online transactions), etc. .
1.2.2.3. Classification of terminology
Terminology can be classified into 2 main groups according to their structural patterns:

9
single and compound terminologies.
Single terminologies are made up one word, usually a noun or a verb. For example:
receipt (biên lai), loan (tiền vay), account (tài khoản), etc.
The compound terminologies are the ones which consist of two or more than two
words. These words, which are of different parts of speech, combine together and create
terminologies that have the form of nominal groups. For example: deposit account (tài khoản
tiền gửi có hạn), net profit (lãi thực), account book (sổ kế toán).
However, terminologies exist in various forms, they may be written in full such as
“Standing Order” (lệnh chi trả trực tiếp), “Balance Sheet” (bảng cân đối kế toán) or using
acronyms (initial letters of words that form a group of words) such as B/S (Balance Sheet),
S/O (Standing Order).
1.2.3. Explicit and implicit vocabulary learning
Schmitt (2000) declares, “ for second language learners, at least, both explicit and
incidental learning are necessary, and should be seen as complementary”.
1.2.3.1. Explicit (or Direct) vocabulary learning
Hulstijn (2001: 271) defines explicit vocabulary learning as “any activity geared at
committing lexical information to memory”. “In direct vocabulary learning, learners do
exercises and activities that focus their attention on vocabulary.” (Nation 1990: 2). For
example, when students are doing word-building exercises, learning words from a list, or
playing vocabulary games in class with a lot of help and instruction from teachers. This means
that they are learning vocabulary explicitly.
Explicit learning is very important at the beginning level. To make successful
instruction for explicit vocabulary learning, teachers should consider the following to teach
high-frequency words, to maximize vocabulary learning by teaching word families instead of
individual words, and to consider meaning associations attached to the word. Due to such

careful explanations and guidance of teachers, students at low and intermediate levels may
acquire vocabulary explicitly before they begin implicit learning mainly by themselves.
1.2.3.2. Implicit/ (or Incidental) vocabulary learning
According to Hunt and Bedlar (2001), implicit vocabulary learning (or incidental

10
vocabulary learning) is learning vocabulary as a by-product of doing other things such as
reading or listening. A major source of incidental learning is extensive reading which they
recommend as a regular out – of – class activity. Woodinsly and Nation (1988) state that the
implicit learning of vocabulary through extensive reading can benefit language curricular and
learners at all levels. With the similar idea Chan and Plass (1996) and Day Omora (1991)
emphasize that extensive listening can also increase vocabulary learning.
In incidental learning of vocabulary, teachers should provide opportunities for
extensive reading and listening that make learners be able to learn vocabulary through
extensive reading, through communicative interactions, through exposure to natural input such
as movies, TV. So, implicit vocabulary learning has many advantages. First, it is
contextualized, giving the learner a richer sense of a word‟s use and meaning than can be
provided in traditional paired-associate exercises. Second, it is pedagogically efficient at two
activities – vocabulary acquisition and reading/ listening – that occur at the same time. Third,
it is more individualized and learner-based because the vocabulary being acquired is
dependent on the learner‟s own selection of reading materials. Lastly, presentation,
consolidation and lexical/semantic development occur at the same time.
Explicit and implicit vocabulary learning play an important role in vocabulary
acquisition. Decarrico (2001) recommends that implicit vocabulary learning should not be
used without explicit vocabulary learning at the low and intermediate levels. Zimmerman
(1994) finds that three hours a week of explicit instruction plus some self-selected reading are
more effective than reading alone. Paribakht and Wesche (1997) also state that reading plus
explicit instruction lead to superior gains over a period of three months.
1.3. Factors Affecting Vocabulary Learning
1.3.1. Person- related factors

According to Lightbown and Spada (1999: 49-68), “those factors that affect the learner
in language learning also have an effect in his vocabulary learning. These factors include age
of acquisition, aptitude, intelligence, personality, motivation and attitudes”. Rubin and
Thompson (1994: 3-8) suggest a similar list of factors affecting vocabulary learning: age,
aptitude (emotion), personality (extroversion, inhibition, tolerance of ambiguity), learning

11
style (learning by rules or by risks, through eyes or ears), and past experiences.
+ Age
Age has been regarded as an important factor in acquiring second languages
successfully. Collier (1988), expresses that successful language acquisition depends on the
learner‟s age. Some studies have revealed that the learner‟s age affects their abilities to acquire
both pronunciation and grammar. Ellis‟ study on the effect of age shows that learners who
start as children achieve a more native-like accent than those who start as adolescents or
adults. The younger is better in the case of phonology but not in the acquisition of grammar
(1994).
+ Aptitude
Research has shown that if a student lacked some minimum capacity for second
language learning, this process could not possibly happen. In other words, all human
beings exhibit a range of aptitude for learning a second language, either though formal
instruction or informal immersion (Lightbown and Spada, 1993). Aptitute is seen as
responsible for influencing the rate of acquisition, “particularly where formal classroom
learning is concerned” (Ellis, Rod 1985: 113). Therefore, a person who has been born
with a high level of aptitude can learn at a faster and easier rate than a person with a
low language aptitude (Schmidt 1985: 285). According to Caroll (1965), four factors in
language aptitude include phonemic coding ability, rote learning ability, inductive language
learning ability and grammatical sensitivity; of which the first three are hypothesized to be
involved in vocabulary learning.
Thus, teacher can select appropriate teaching approach and activities based on learners‟
aptitude profile to accommodate their differences in aptitude.

+ Motivation and attitudes
Changya Li in his reearch paper on Second Language Acquisition and College English
Teaching claimes that learning motivation and attitudes are emotional factors influencing the
result of foreign language acquisition. He also emphasizes that the stronger learning
motivation is, the more passion learners have for learning, the more lasting the learning
activity will be, the more difficulties can be overcome (2009).

12
According to Ellis (1994: 508-525), motivation is viewed as integrative motivation,
instrumental motivation; resultative motivation and intrinsic interest. Intergrative motivation
involves an interest in learning an L2 because of a sincere and personal interest in the people
and culture represented by the other language group. In contrast, instrumental motivation
concerns the practical value and advantages of learning a new language. Learners with either
integrative or instrumental motivation, or a mixture of both, will manifest greater effort and
perseverance in learning. Resultative motivation is an interactive effect between motivation
and achievement. A high level of motivation stimulates learning and success in L2 learning
can help to maintain existing motivation. Conversely, low motivation leads to low
achievement, then lower motivation can develop. Motivation can also take the form of
intrinsic interest in specific learning activities and may be more easily influenced by teachers
than goal-directed motivation.
Obviously, motivation is a key factor influencing the rate and success of L2 learning.
Therefore, it is very difficult to teach a second language in a learning environment if the
learner does not have learning motivation. It is very important to make the learner active and
desirable in learning process and the task of the teacher is to maximize the motivation.
+ Personality
Personality is one of the factors that affect SLA in general and vocabulary acquisition
in particular. According Reza (cited in Bitchener, Young & Cameron, 2005), personality is
one of the individual differences which is broadly established to have an outcome on learning
generally and second language acquisition especially.
+ Learning styles

According to Smith (cited in Merriam and Caffarella, 1991: 176), “Learning style is an
individual‟s characteristic way of processing information feeling, and behaving in learning
situations”. Davis (1993: 185) defines learning style as “an individual‟s preferred way of
gathering, interpreting, organizing, and thinking about information”.
Ellis (1994: 507-522) analyses a number of learning styles such as concrete learning
style, analytical learning style, communicative learning style and authority-orientated learning
style (based on Willing, 1987). He eventually concludes that “Learners manifest different

13
learning styles but it is not yet clear whether some styles result in faster and more learning
than others”.
1.3.2. Intralexical factors
According to Laufer (1997: 7), intralexical factors which affect the difficulty of
vocabulary learning include phonological factors, grammatical characteristics of the word and
semantic features of the word.
1.3.2.1. Phonological factors
Research on the phonological factors that affect the difficulties of vocabulary acquisition
has dealt with two characteristics of the new word: its pronounceability, and its length.
+ Pronounceability
According to Schmitt and McCarthy (1997: 142), foreign learners experience
phonological difficulties related to phonemes, combinations of phonemes and suprasegmental
features. What makes some words phonologically more difficult than others is very much
determined by the learner‟s L1 system. The L1 system may be responsible for the learner‟s
inability to discriminate between some phonemes and subsequent confusion of words differing
precisely in these problematic phonemes. For example, it is difficult for learners to distinguish
words like durable, divisible, portable, and recognizable. Some may find it difficult to
pronounce final consonant clusters such as expenses, managers, earnings, etc.
Familiarity with phonological features and a word‟s phonotactic regularity (its familiar
combinations of features) were shown to affect accuracy in perceiving, saying and
remembering the word. Some studies have shown that foreign words which were difficult to

pronounce were not learned as well as the more pronounceable ones such as liability,
mortgage, indebtedness, etc.
Stress could be another variable influencing pronounceability (Chang, 2002). Correct
pronunciation of a word requires stress on the right syllable. Learners of English may have
difficulty because the place of the stress is variable and has to be learned as part of the word‟s
spoken form. Moreover, the weakening of unstressed vowels introduces yet another factor of
difficulty, particularly for Vietnamese learners who are unfamiliar with this phenomenon in
their L1.

14

+ Length
Word length could be viewed as one of the indexex of learning load (Bernhardt, 1984,
Nation & Coady, 1989). Coles (1982) discovers that in recognition tasks, the longer the words,
the more errors a learner could make. In sum, longer words tend to be less frequently
encountered and might cause processing problems on account of too many syllables for
learners (Alderson & Urquhart, 1984).
In summary, word length is usually measured in the number of syllables. The longer
the new word is the more difficult it is to remember. Learners of English might memorize
more easily one-syllable words than two-syllable words, two-syllable words more easily than
three-syllable words, especially for Vietnamese learners as the Vietnamese language is a
monosyllabic language.
1.3.1.2. Grammatical characteristics of the word
+ Categories of the words
It is sometimes argued that certain grammatical categories of the words are more
difficult to learn than others. Nouns seem to be the easiest; adverbs, the most difficult; verbs
and adjectives are somewhere in between. Phillips (1981) also finds that nouns are better
learnt than verbs or adjectives, but the effect of part of speech decreases with the increase in
the learners‟ proficiency. Even though learners acquire the semantic content of some words,
they confuse their part of speech. Sometimes nouns are replaced by verbs, sometimes

adjectives by nouns, or adverbs by adjectives.
Features of inflexional complexity such as the irregularity of plurals, gender of
inanimate nouns, noun cases make an item more difficult to learn than an item no such
complexity, since the learning load caused by the multiplicity of forms is greater (Laufer,
1991: 9).
+ Morphology
Laufer (1997) indicates another feature that can be a source of difficulty- morphology.
Nuttal (2000) also notes that the morphology or internal structure of a word might offer

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valuable clues to its meaning. Morphology of a word can often serve as a facilitating factor in
the recognition of a new word and its subsequent production.
The inflexional and derivational forms of words cause some difficulties to learners of
English such as cases of nouns, irregularity of plural, and gender of inanimate nouns.
Deceptive morphological transparency is a special case of morphological difficulty.
Deceptively transparent words are words that look as if they are combined of meaningful
morphemes. For example, the word “ outline”. It seems that “outline” is composed of two
parts: „out‟ and “line” but “out” does not mean “out of”. Thus, this word does not have the
surface meaning “outline” at all.
1.3.1.3. Semantic features of the word
Leech (1974: 96) defines semantic features as “theoretical constructs which can
characterize the vocabulary of a language”. According to Laufer (1997: 149), semantic
properties that are sometimes claimed to affect word learnabilitiy are abstractness, specificity
and register restriction, idiomaticity, and multiple meaning.
+ Abstractness
Abstract words are assumed to be more difficult to learn than concrete words.
“Concrete words are the easiest to learn. Neither young nor older students have trouble in
learning numbers, days of the week, colours, names of objects, and the like.” (Allan &
Wallette, 1972: 144). Most of accounting terminologies are abstract words such as credit,
loan, tax.

+ Specificity and register restriction
Specificity in meaning has proved to be a feature of difficulty. The learner often uses a
general item rather than a specific one. For example: the word put is used instead of impose
runs a smaller risk of making an error, since the general item covers a larger area of meaning
than the specific one, and could therefore fit in a large number of contexts. Blum and
Levenston (1978: 152) conclude that “learners will prefer words which can be generalized to
use in a large number of contexts. In fact they will over-generalize such words, ignoring
register restrictions and collocational restrains, falsifying relationship of hyponymy,
synomyny and antonymy”.

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The register restriction of some words is a related problem to specificity (Laufer, 1991:
10). He states that general and neutral words, which can be used a variety of contexts and
registers are less problematic than words restricted to a specific register, or area of use.
+ Idiomaticity
Marton (1997) and Bensoussan and Laufer (1984) show that the problem of idioms is
one obstacle to fluent comprehension in learners. Idiomatic expressions are much more
difficult to understand and learn to use than their non-idiomatic meaning equivalents. For
example: the word decide would be easier than make up one’s mind. Idioms are difficult to
comprehend since each word provides little clue or no clue whatsoever as to the meaning of
the idiom. For example: learners often translate literally the idioms such as balance the books
(to check that all the money in a business is counted for), close the books (to end a
bookkeeping period), throw money at something (to try to solve a problem by spending money
on it), as they are not aware of the fact that a group of seemingly simple words constitutes one
unit of meaning.
+ Multiple meaning
Lyons (1968: 405) claims that “ the ideal language one might say would be one in
which each form had only one meaning and each meaning was associated with only one
form”. In practice, however, one form can have several meanings and one meaning can be
represented by different forms. One form which presents several meanings can be either a

polysemy or a homonym.
Polysemy is a property of single lexemes, a polysemy is a lexical item with several
meanings related to each other. For example, neck can be a part of the body, or a part of a
shirt, or a part of a bottle, etc. Homonyms are separate lexical items with distinct meanings
unrelated to each other. For example, the word bank means a financial institution or bank of a
river; the word capital in the capital of Hanoi or the wealth that can be used to produce more
wealth.
Lyon (1981: 148) states that “the problems of distinguish between polysemy and
homonymy is, in principle, insoluble”. Bensoussan and Laufer (1984) point out that polysemes
induce the largest number of the errors in comprehension of words. This is one of the most

17
difficulties for learners to understand ESP texts, especially those at low level (elementary or
pre-intermediate).
In summary, intralexical factors that increase word difficulty are pronounceability,
spelling, morphological complexity, existence of similar forms, grammar, semantic factors
such as specificity and register restriction; idiomaticity and multiple meaning: homonymy and
polysemy. In addition, interlexical factors which are related to the relationship between the
word and familiar words in the target language and other languages, especially the mother
tongue are also the factors affect the difficulty of vocabulary learning (Laufer, 1991: 13)
The mother tongue can influence the way second-language vocabulary is learnt, the way it
is recalled for use, and the way learners compensate for lack of knowledge by attempting to
construct complex lexical items. The more aware learners are of the similarities and
differences between their mother tongue and the target language, the easier they will find it to
adopt effective learning and production strategies (Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997: 179).
1.3.3. Vocabulary learning task
Flavell (1979), Wenden (1987), and Williams and Burden (1997) state that the learning
task includes the materials being learned (such as the genre of a piece of reading) as well as
the goal the learner is trying to achieve by using these materials (such as remembering,
comprehending, or using language).

According to Fluente (2006), the goal of L2 vocabulary tasks should be acquisition of
words and expansion of word‟s knowledge, not only the meanings but also the forms. She
concludes that “task-based lessons seemed to be more effective than the Presentation, Practice
and Production lesson”. The analysis also suggests that a task-based lesson with an explicit
focus-on-forms component was more effective than a task-based lesson that did not
incorporate this component in promoting acquisition of word morphological aspects. The
results also indicate that the explicit focus on forms component may be more effective when
placed at the end of the lesson, when meaning has been acquired.
Different types of task materials, task purposes, and tasks at various difficulty levels
have various effects on the learners‟ vocabulary acquisition. For example, learning words in a

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word list is different from learning the same words in a passage. As well, remembering a word
meaning is different from learning to use the same word in real life situations.
1.3.4. Vocabulary learning strategies
Learning strategies are the decisive factor for fruitful vocabulary learning. Many
scholars have striven to introduce different vocabulary learning strategies in order to help
learners of English improve their vocabulary learning such as Nation (1982, 1990, and 2001),
Rubin and Thompson (1994), and Taylor (1990).
Schmitt (1997: 203) defines learning strategies as “the process by which information is
obtained, stored, retrieved, and use” and “therefore vocabulary learning strategies could be
any which affect this broadly-defined process”. The most comprehensive and detailed
definition of language learning strategies is provided by Oxford (1990). According to her,
language learning strategies are: “operations employed by the learner to aid the acquisition,
storage, retrieval, and use of information ; specific actions taken by the learners to make
learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more
transferable to new situations”.
Vocabulary learning strategies are one part of language learning strategies which in turn
are part of general learning strategies (Nation, 2001). Language learning strategies encourage
greater overall self-direction for learners. Self-directed learners are independent learners who

are capable of assuming responsibility for their own learning and gradually gaining confidence,
involvement and proficiency (Oxford, 1990). So is the case with vocabulary learning strategies.
Thus, students need training in vocabulary learning strategies they need most. Research has
shown that many learners do use more strategies to learn vocabulary especially when compared
to such integrated tasks such as listening and speaking. But they are mostly inclined to use
basic vocabulary learning strategies (Schmitt, 1997). This in turn makes strategy instruction an
essential part of any foreign or second language program.
1.3.5. Learning context
Learning context refers to the learning environment. It is the socio-culturo-political
environment where learning takes place. The learning context can include the teachers, the

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peers, the classroom climate or ethos, the family support, the social, cultural tradition of
learning, the curriculum, and the availability of input and output opportunities (Gu, 2003).
Related to classroom interaction and second language acquisition, Ellis (1994: 60)
recommends three conditions for second language acquisition. First, “Opportunities to
negotiate meaning may help the acquisition of L2 vocabulary” (Tanaka, 1991, Zamazaki,
1991), Second, “Teacher-controlled pedagogic discourse may contribute to the acquisition of
formal language skills, while learner-controlled natural discourse may help the development of
oral language skills” (McDonald, Stone, and Yate 1977). Third, “ Learners need access to
well-formed input that is tailored to their own level of understanding. This can be achieved in
teacher-directed lessons with a clearly-defined structure and by well-adjusted teachers talk".
(Wong- Fillmore, 1982,1985). All of these give support to the hypothesis that successful L2
learning may be possible in a favorable classroom environment.
Concerning the relevance of the teacher and the teaching method, Littlewood (1981:
51) states that a language teacher is expected “to perform in a variety of roles, seperately or
simultaneously”. According to Wright (1987), these roles include: an instructor, a manager, a
counselor, a facilitator (or course/ syllabus designer), a material writer and even a friend. An
ESP teacher, as a language one, is to fulfill these mentioned roles. Peter Strevens( cited in
Oxford, 1990: 193) states that: " It takes better teachers to focus on the learner", and "We

cannot teach another directly; we can only facilitate his learning (Carl Rogers, cited in Oxford,
1990: 193). This means that helping learners to be independent during their learning process is
a task of every teacher. To gain this aim, one of the suggestions is that learners should be
equipped various strategies so that they control their own learning process confidently and
independently. Therefore, teachers should apply a lot of strategies and activities. According to
Hatch and Brown (2000: 401), teaching strategies refer to everything teacher do and should do
in order to help their learners learn. Which teaching strategy a teacher will employ depends on
the time available, the content, as well as on its value for the learner (i.e. the learning strategy
he or she can learn or apply). With the similar idea, Le Van Canh (2004: 95) emphasizes that
“There is no single method or approach that can work for all teachers or for all learners or
under all conditions because teaching is socially constructed activity”.