The Impact of repetition and recycling on grade 11 students' vocabulary retention at Long Hai-Phuoc Tinh High school = Tác động của việc luyện tập củng cố đối v20150227.PDF

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Certificate of originality……………..………………………………………………………i
Acknowledgements ……...…………………………………………………………………ii
Abstract……………………………………...……………………………………………..iii
Table of content ……………………………………………………………………………iv
List of abbreviations ………………………………………………………………………..v
PART A – INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1
1. Rationale ............................................................................................................................ 1
2. Aims of the study ............................................................................................................... 2
3. Scope of the study .............................................................................................................. 2
4. Research hypotheses and questions ................................................................................... 3
5. Method of the study ........................................................................................................... 3
6. Organization of the study ................................................................................................... 3
PART B – DEVELOPMENT............................................................................................ 54
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................... 5
1 Teaching and Learning Vocabulary .................................................................................... 5
1.1 What is Vocabulary? ........................................................................................................ 5
1.1.1 Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary .................................................................. 5
1.1.2 Active and passive vocabulary .............................................................................. 6
1.2 The importance of vocabulary in second language learning ........................................... 6
1.3 What is involved in knowing a word .............................................................................. 7
1.3.1 Form ...................................................................................................................... 7
1.3.2 Meaning ................................................................................................................ 7
1.3.3 Grammar ............................................................................................................... 8
1.3.4 Collocation ............................................................................................................ 8
2. Factors affecting the retention of vocabulary. ................................................................... 8
2.1 Memory and storage system ............................................................................................ 8
2.1.1 The Keyword Method ......................................................................................... 10
2.1.2 The Visual Aids on Vocabulary Learning .......................................................... 10

2.1.3 The Semantic Mapping on Vocabulary Learning ............................................... 10
2.2 Frequency of meeting .................................................................................................... 11


v

2.3 Quality of Processing ..................................................................................................... 11
3. Other factors .................................................................................................................... 11
3.1 Learning styles ........................................................................................................ 11
3.2 Teaching method...................................................................................................... 12
4. Repetition and Recycling in Language learning ............................................................. 12
4.1. The spacing of repetition ........................................................................................ 13
4.2. Testing and the Retrieval Practice Effect ............................................................... 14
5. A review of similar studies ............................................................................................. 14
CHAPTER 2 – METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………….15
1.The setting of study........................................................................................................... 16
1.1. Context of Study ...................................................................................................... 16
1.2. Why quasi – experimental research ......................................................................... 17
2. Participants of the study ................................................................................................... 18
2.1 Participants .............................................................................................................. 18
2.2 Sampling ................................................................................................................... 18
3. Materials .......................................................................................................................... 19
3.1 The course book ....................................................................................................... 19
3.2 The course content ..................................................................................................... 19
3.3 What are relevant activities? ...................................................................................... 19
4. Data collection instruments .............................................................................................................. 21
4.1 T –Test ...................................................................................................................... 21
4.1.1 The purpose of the test .......................................................................................... 21
4.1.2.What to test ........................................................................................................... 22
4.1.3. Test....................................................................................................................... 22

4.2. Questionnaires ............................................................................................................ 22
4.2.1.Questionnaires for students .................................................................................... 22
4.2.1.1.The pre-treatment questionnaire ....................................................................... 23
4.2.1.2.The post-treatment questionnaire...................................................................... 23
4.2.2.Questionnaires for teachers ..................................................................................... 23
5. Procedure of data collection ............................................................................................ 23
5.1. Schedules ...................................................................................................................... 24
5.2. Treatment ...................................................................................................................... 24


vi

5.3. Data collecting and processing procedures ................................................................... 25
CHAPTER 3 - DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ..................................................... 26
3.1 Results of the T – Test ................................................................................................... 26
3.2 The result of pre-test scores of the two groups .............................................................. 26
3.3. The result of post-test scores of the two groups ........................................................... 28
3.4 Summary of the test scores of the two groups in the pretest and posttest ..................... 32
3.5 Survey results ................................................................................................................ 33
3.5.1. The pre-treatment questionnaire for students ......................................................... 33
3.5.2. The Post-treatment Questionnaire for students ....................................................... 34
3.5.2. Questionnaire for teachers ...................................................................................... 34
PART C. CONCLUSION................................................................................................. 38
1. Findings and conclusion .................................................................................................. 38
2. Pedagogical Implications ................................................................................................. 40
3. Limitations of the study ................................................................................................... 41
4. Suggestions for further studies ........................................................................................ 41
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………..42
APPENDIX………………………………………………………………………………..I

vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EFL

:

English as Foreign Language

E.Gr

:

Experimental group

C.Gr

:

Control group

SLA

:

Second Language Acquisition


viii

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1 .The quality of control group by mean
Figure 2.The quality of experimental group by mean
Chart 1. The comparison of pre – test scores of experimental and control groups
Table 1. Taxonomy of Vocabulary Learning Strategies (Adopted from Schmitt 1997:207)
Table 2. Comparison of pre – test scores
Table 3. Frequency of Pre test of Experimental Group and Control Group
Table 4. The results of the post-test
Table 5. Summary of standard deviation
Table 6. Paired Samples Correlations
Table7. The results from running Wilcoxon’s test
Table 8. The results of post test
Table 9. Descriptive Statistics of the two groups
Table 10. The response to pre-treatment questionnaire for students.
Table 11. The response to post-treatment questionnaire for students
Table 12. Scores on the questionnaire
Table 13. The Cronbach's alpha of the post-treatment questionnaire for students


1

PART A – INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Vocabulary is central to language and is of great significance to language students. Words
are “the building blocks of a language since they label objects, actions, ideas without which
people cannot convey the intended meaning”(Lotfi Ghazal). Given its importance to learning,
vocabulary has been a prominent concern of many theorists and researchers in the field.
Accordingly, numerous types of approaches, techniques, exercises and practice have been
introduced into the field to teach vocabulary (Hatch & Brown, 1995).

When it comes to studying vocabulary, however, the greatest challenge is likely retaining
the words. Researchers and teachers now have been drawn to the concern of how to make
students enhance vocabulary retention for communicative value. Studies have shown that
practising things makes us better in learning a language and develops automaticity. In other
words, language learning proceeds gradually through repeated exposure and practice. The
course book English 11 (published by Educational Press), however, does not deal with it
sufficiently.
Being an EFL teacher in a high school in Ba Ria – Vung Tau, I recognize the fact that
many students now suffer from considerable difficulties in retaining previously encountered
English words. They struggle to maintain retention. But not many of them are capable of it.
This matter of fact leads to their poor production both in speaking and writing. Furthermore,
there is another fact that we have to face, that is most of students now have active social lives,
families, studies with lots of compulsory subjects, sports and generally other things which
make them really occupied – not just one of English. That leaves me with the responsibility to
do revision lessons, review vocabulary and make sure they know what have been taught. The
idea of a study on how to enrich students‟ vocabulary retention of mine emerges in that
situation.
Currently working with 11th graders in addition to continual working with them in four
recent years makes me designate them. A wide range of designed activities were carried out
(mostly at the beginning of the classes) when teaching two classes named 11A3 and 11A5 at
Long Hai – Phuoc tinh high school. And the results supported my hypothesis that teachers can


2

create repetitive and recycling-focused activities to help students improve their vocabulary
retention.
2. Aims of the study
The study aims at proving that repetitive and recycling focused activities can help 11th
grade students to retain words better. These students are non-English major ones and have

three classes of English a week. There exists a fact that they cannot retrieve the words which
they have learnt in previous lessons for communication when needed. In other words, they
soon forget words they have just acquired. The main aim of this study therefore is to
investigate the impact of repetition and recycling on vocabulary learning and retention, or to
put it differently, the extent to which short tailored activities helps to retain vocabulary for the
students at Long Hai – Phuoc Tinh High school and provide some pedagogical implications.
3. Scope of the study
There are enormous activities as tools of enhancing vocabulary retention available on the
internet that you can approach with a mouse click. Most of them are easy to be applied and
tested. In the current study, I set the limit of investigating possibly – applied activities that can
be carried out at beginning or in the middle of 45-minute periods in such large-sized classes at
Long Hai – Phuoc Tinh High school, vung Tau. The activities were related to first three units
(which equal to 18 lessons) of the course book English 11 introduced by Educational Press
only because with the timeframe of 6 weeks it is supposed to be infeasible to conduct a
research study on a larger scale which can produce very convincing results.
4. Research hypotheses and questions
In order to achieve the above purposes, the study was designed to test the following
hypotheses:


Null hypothesis: The students who take part in the experiment get the same

result measured in the post-test and have the same improvement in their vocabulary retention
as those who do not.


Alternative hypothesis: Students who frequently deal with repetitive and

recycling activities will perform better overall in the post test and have some improvement in
their skills in comparison with those who do not have extra vocabulary-oriented activities.

3

So as to draw the conclusion on the hypothesis, the study is to get the answers to the
following questions: (1) To what extent do EFL teachers encourage repetition and recycling
vocabulary among their students? (2) What is the effectiveness of using repetitive and
recycling focused activities on enhancing 11th - graders’ vocabulary retention? (3) What are
the students’ attitudes towards using activities in teaching and learning vocabulary?
5. Method of the study
The first method applied in this study is a quasi-experimental design which involves the
three components of experiments according to Selinger and Shohamy (1989): the population
(the 11th grade students at Long Hai – Phuoc Tinh high school, Ba ria Vung tau), the treatment
(repetitive and recycling focused activities), and the measurement of the treatment (T-test).
In addition, questionnaires were delivered to teachers who currently teach other 11th
grades to investigate how they have dealt with vocabulary teaching, especially the ways they
encourage repetition and recycling vocabulary among students. Another questionnaire was
delivered to the subjects before treatment to get to know their own strategies of memorizing
vocabulary. The third questionnaire was delivered to the subjects after treatment as a
supporting tool to obtain students‟ attitude towards the technique applied. What is more,
observation was also employed during the teaching time to recognize the participation of
students in the control group and the experimental group.
6. Organization of the study
This thesis is organized around three parts:
Part A is the introduction which presents the rationale for the research topic, aims of study,
scope of study, research hypotheses and questions, and method of the study.
Part B is the development which consists of three chapters. Chapter one reviews scholarly
theoretical background to teaching and learning vocabulary in a second language including
factors which affect vocabulary acquisition process. This chapter also reviews some
meaningful activities which are initiated by different researchers. Chapter two deals with the

methodology of this research in terms of the setting of the study, sampling participants,
instruments and procedure of data collection. Chapter three devotes to the account of the study
in terms of data analysis and findings interpreted from the results of the T-test and
questionnaires.


4

Part C is the conclusion which discusses the major findings and limitations of the research,
then suggests teaching implications and proposes some suggestions for further research.

PART B - DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW


5

This chapter deals with theoretical base of the thesis in which notion of basic elements,
and their significance were raised and discussed. Accompanied with it, previous studies on
similar field were mentioned as a source of references.
1 Teaching and Learning Vocabulary
In the previous introduction to this thesis I have covered why I limit my interest and focus
on vocabulary in the English language teaching. Before dealing with the theoretical
framework of the subject, I find it necessary to explain how I understand the word vocabulary
and what terminology I will be using throughout my work.
1.1 What is Vocabulary?
Learning, as a language based activity, is fundamentally and profoundly dependent on
vocabulary knowledge. Learners must have access to the meanings of words that teachers, or
their surrogates (e.g., other adults, books, films, etc.), use to guide them into contemplating
known concepts in novel ways.(Baker, Simmons, & Kame'enui, 1997)

Broadly defined, vocabulary is knowledge of words and word meanings in both oral and
print language and in productive and receptive forms. An extensive vocabulary is the bridge
between the word-level processes of phonics and the cognitive processes of comprehension.
(A Focus on vocabulary - by Fran Lehr, MA; Jean Osborn, Med; Dr. Elfrieda H. Hiebert,

Visiting Research Professor,University of California, Berkeley). Vocabulary is also defined as
the total bank of words and phrases of a particular language or the sum of words used by,
understood by, or at the command of a particular person or group in a number of English
dictionaries.
1.1.1

Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary

Productive and receptive vocabulary are two different things and they have different
uses. receptive vocabulary is words we understand when others use them (in listening and
reading ) and expressive vocabulary refers to words we use themselves (to speak and write).
Vocabulary can also be classified as oral or written. Thus each of us has four types of
vocabulary: receptive-oral, receptive-written, expressive-oral, and expressive-written. The
four vocabulary items overlap but are not the same, and the relationships between them
change over time.


6

The acknowledgement of two categories of expressive and receptive vocabulary is
extremely helpful in language teaching. It is common when a receptive vocabulary item
gradually becomes a part of a learner‟s everyday English. This usually happens when the
learner reads or hears the item repeatedly. This process is gradual and can be speeded up and
improved immensely if the item is well presented, practiced and revised in the course book. If
any stage is missing in the book, the teachers should clarify the meaning and form and

encourage controlled and free practice themselves (Gairns [1990]: 65).
1.1.2 Active and passive vocabulary
Several researchers and ELT authors, with different ways of addressing, substitute the
terms expressive and receptive vocabulary with others: active and passive vocabulary. Despite
the fact that the secondary literature the researcher has studied varies in interpretations of these
four terms. One of the earliest descriptions of active and passive vocabulary was that of
Morgan and Oberdeck who said that
An individual's active vocabulary includes words of such familiarity as would allow an
understanding of them as would permit their use in speech and writing; his passive vocabulary
includes those of only such familiarity as would allow an understanding of them as they occurred in
reading material or hearing in a lecture (1930: 213).

Their description of active and passive vocabulary persuades us that they are freely
interchangeable with expressive and receptive.
1.2 The importance of vocabulary in second language learning
In order to progress in foreign language learning, students need to be able to understand
what they are encountered with verbal communication, that is they need to acquire a certain
amount of words. In the very first part of his book on vocabulary, McCarthy (2000:2) wrote:
“It is the experience of most language teachers that the single, biggest component of any
language course is vocabulary. No matter how well the student learn grammar, no matter how
successfully sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express the wide range of meaning,
communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way”.
1.3 What is involved in knowing a word
Usually the first things students learn about a new English word are what it means and its
translation in their own language. But there are other things they need to find out before they


7

can say that they know a word like a native speaker does. Knowledge of a word is not just

restricted to knowing its single meaning but this requires comprehension of the word form,
meaning, grammar and collocation so that the language students can generate it for their need.
1.3.1 Form
“A word is a minimal free form. Hence, a word is viewed as a form which can occur in
isolation and have meaning but which cannot be analyzed into elements which can all occur
alone and also have meaning” (Jackson & Amvela, 2007, p. 58). The basic characteristics of
each lexical item are what it sounds and looks like. Both these aspects ought to be accurately
presented and learned. There are two parts of the form of a word – written (spelling) and
spoken (pronunciation) form. “Unfamiliarity with correct pronunciation can result in the
learner failing to understand words in connected speech that he clearly understands in written
English” (Gairns and Redman, 1986:50); therefore, when introducing new words to language
students, the teacher should pay careful attention to both of these forms and provide them with
certain general guidelines that will assist them in predicting the pronunciation of new lexis.
1.3.2 Meaning
Word meaning relates to the semantic value that is conventionally associated with
individual lexical. This can be understood that besides word‟s core meaning in the particular
context that students are working out, the word should be introduced to the students in
different discourse contexts so that they can gradually comprehend all aspects of its meaning.
That which meaning of a word should be introduced to students at a teaching time depends
on students‟ need and their language background knowledge. The teacher has to balance the
amount of time spent on meaning-focused input and meaning-focused output so that he/she
can both guide his/her students to get the meaning of the words correctly and get them
involved in a process of semantic processing that facilitates learning and retention.
1.3.3 Grammar
Learning grammar of vocabulary is learning the rules that enable students to build up
different forms of a word or even different words from that word (e.g. sleep, slept, sleeping;
employ, employed, employment, unemployment, employer, employable…). Grammatical
patterns of a word helps students to recognize whether it suits the language situation or not,

8

and use it correctly. When students are given a task that requires them to use the correct tense
of a verb, they have to utilize their knowledge of grammar to fulfil the task. Correct grammar
of words helps to function better their pragmatic use and convey message clearer in
communication.
1.3.4 Collocation
Collocation is defined as “the way in which some words often go together and form a
common expression”, for example: sense of humor, nuclear family, learn by heart…. are
examples of collocated pairs of words. Some words are often found together because they
make up a compound noun, for example sleeping bag or motor cyclist. … The idea of what it
is to „know‟ a word is also enriched with the collocational component. According to Lewis
(1993) „being able to use a word involves mastering its collocational range and restrictions on
that range‟. Thus, using all the opportunities to teach chunks rather than isolated words is
normally advisable. And teaching should aim at increasing students‟ collocational
competence, both inside and outside the classroom.
2. Factors affecting the retention of vocabulary.
2.1 Memory and storage system
Learning vocabulary is one of the first steps of learning a second language, yet a learner
never finishes vocabulary acquisition. This process is tightly related to human memory system
which plays the role of a storage. According to Anderson (2000), human memory system
consists of three types: sensory, short-term (often called working), and long-term (often called
permanent). The sensory memory retains an exact copy of what is seen or heard (visual and
auditory). It has unlimited capacity. Short-Term Memory (STM), on another hand, is selective
attention which determines what information moves from sensory memory to short-term
memory. STM, which is considered as a „work bench‟ with limited capacity, is most often
stored as sounds, especially in recalling words, but may be stored as images. The last types of
memory - the Long-Term Memory (LTM) is relatively permanent storage. Information is
stored on the basis of meaning and importance. This is an automatic processing procedure that
ensures retrieval without effort. However, to ensure moving new materials into permanent

9

long-term memory, requires number of principles to be followed, described by Thornbury,
2002:
- Repetition – repetition of encounters with a word is very important, useful and effective. If
the word is met several times over space interval during reading activities, students have a very
good chance to remember it for a long time.
- Retrieval - another kind of repetition. Activities, which require retrieval, such as using the
new items in written tasks, help students to be able to recall it again in the future.
- Spacing - it is useful to split memory work over a period of time rather than to mass it
together in a single block.
- Pacing – to respect different learning styles and pace, students should be ideally given the
opportunity to do memory work individually.
- Use - putting words to use, preferably in an interesting way, is the best way of ensuring they
are added to long – term memory. This is so called “Use it or lose it” principle.
- Cognitive depth - the more decisions students make about the word and the more cognitively
demanding these decisions are, the better the word is remembered.
- Personal organising - personalization significantly increased the probability that students
will remember new items. It is achieved mainly through conversation and role-playing
activities.
- Imaging – easily visualized words are better memorable than those that do not evoke with
any pictures. Even abstract words can be associated with some mental image.
- Mnemonics – tricks to help retrieve items or rules that are stored in memory. The best kinds
of mnemonics are visuals and keyword techniques.
- Motivation - strong motivation itself does not ensure that words will be remembered. Even
unmotivated students remember words if they have to face appropriate tasks.
- Attention - it is not possible to improve vocabulary without a certain degree of conscious
attention.

2.1.1 The Keyword Method
One useful method to build and retain vocabulary in a second language is the keyword
method. The keyword method of vocabulary learning involved forming a linkage between a
to-be-learnt vocabulary word and a familiar English word that sounds like part of the to-be-


10

learnt item ( the key word). Then the teacher forms an interactive image between the key word
and the definition referents. In previous research, the keyword method has been found to
facilitate students‟ recall of definitions, given vocabulary items. Although these strategies tend
to take longer to implement and may take longer in recollection, they create new or unusual
connections that can increase retention.
2.1.2 The Visual Aids on Vocabulary Learning
Gairns and Redman (1986) claimed that the most general visual aids that were displayed
in the language classrooms included flashcards, photographs, blackboard drawings, wall
charts, and realia and that other forms of visual aids such as mimes and gestures were often
used to supplement other ways of conveying meanings. Goodman (1987) proposed that for the
most part, visuals were more easily understood by students of all ages in that a picture seemed
worth a thousand words and avoided lengthy and difficult word definitions.
2.1.3 The Semantic Mapping on Vocabulary Learning
According to Johnson and Pearson (1984), “semantic mapping is one technique of
teaching word meanings which makes extensive use of classroom discussion in connection
with a visual display.” In semantic mapping, a teacher chooses a key word and other target
words from materials student will read. The key word is listed on the board and students are
asked to discuss terms associated with the key word. The teacher writes the suggested words
in a list on the board and students discuss them. This process represents the relationships
between words and requires students to identify and understand the relations between words.
2.2 Frequency of meeting
Joe (1996) describes “three important processes that may lead to a word being

remembered.” First, attention, where a word is noticed, followed by retrieval of its meaning in
production or comprehension, and then generation, “producing new ways of using the wanted
vocabulary in new contexts.” (1) Attention - This means that students need to notice the word
to be aware of it as a useful language item. (2) Retrieval - That indicates an assumption that a
word may be noticed and its meaning comprehended in the textual input to the task, and if
that word is subsequently retrieved either receptively or productively during a task, then the
memory of that word will be strengthened. (3) Generation - This means that a word is used


11

generatively if it is used in speaking in a way which is different from its use in the textual
input.
2.3 Quality of Processing
As I mentioned above, the sheer number of meeting with new language is important for
remembering. Another important factor affecting vocabulary retention is the quality of
processing since this means that students gain personal connections with the target language
items. Language items gain rich associations as the students use them more for their own
expressive intentions ad for reasons of personal, social and cultural identity. The reasoning
goes that the deeper the experiences the learner has in the language, deeper the language will
sink in.
3. Other factors
3. 1 Learning styles
Teachers should keep in mind that all students are unique in terms of their memory style
and learning style. Teachers need to work hard to vary the types of activities they use to teach
vocabulary to help accommodate all learning styles.
Learning style is the individual‟s habitual and preferred way “in which individual
characteristically acquires, retains, and retrieves information” (Felder & Henriques, 1995:21)
and is influential in a learner‟s process of language acquisition. According to Felder
(1995:22), learning styles are categorized into different dimensions depending on the students‟

preferential perception (sensing, intuitive, verbal and visual), their information process (active,
reflective) or understanding of materials (sequential, global, inductive, and reductive).
3.2 Teaching method
Regarding vocabulary retention, over the past two decades, research has revealed a great
deal about the kind of vocabulary teaching that is most effective for helping students retain
what they have learnt (e.g., Baumann, Kame„enui et al., 2003; Beck & McKeown, 1991;
Blachowicz & Fisher, 2000; Nagy & Scott, 2000). There are a variety of principles that
teachers should take into account when working with vocabulary, but the key principle of
effective vocabulary teaching is to provide multiple exposures to a word's meaning. According
to Stahl (2005), students probably have to see a word more than once to place it firmly in their
long-term memories. "This does not mean mere repetition or drill of the word," but seeing the


12

word in different and multiple contexts. In other words, it is important that vocabulary
instruction provide students with opportunities to encounter words repeatedly and in more than
one context.
4. Repetition and Recycling in Language learning
The results of teaching and learning process are affected by not only the teacher‟s
teaching method, the students‟ learning styles and strategies but also by many other factors
beyond language education such as personality, intelligence, aptitude, attitude, motivation,
age… of the particular group of students (Lightbown & Spada, 1999:49). In terms of
vocabulary, students need multiple encounters with words (Hulstijn, 1992; Folse, 1999); thus,
the most important point in teaching and learning vocabulary is the number of times the
learner has to retrieve the word - a factor which the teacher can influence through classroom
activities. Vocabulary items must not only be known, they must be known so well that they
can be fluently accessed. Repetition thus adds to the quality of knowledge and also to the
quantity or strength of this knowledge.
In many books on vocabulary teaching and learning, it is stressed that students need to be

exposed to a word numerous time before it can be regarded as fully acquired. Teachers then
can help solidify new words in long-term memory by creating regular opportunities in their
learning program that encourage students to make form-meaning connections of new
vocabulary items. When teaching a foreign language to young learners, these repetitions are
often referred to as “vocabulary recycling” (e.g Cameroon 2001, 87). Recycling vocabulary
at regular intervals leads to the items remaining active and in use. This recycling can come in
short review activities or even bi-weekly or monthly quizzes but it should happen consistently.
Both repetition and retrieval practice of new items as well as recycling the previous
ones are keys of teaching and learning vocabulary. Dennis Grynnerup ( 2011) presented
several strategies for implementing a systematic approach to recycling language. These
include: (1)Training learners to record language covered systematically, using language
learning cards and language learner portfolios. (2) Displaying language covered in the
classroom as a reference and a resource for recycling. (3) Using the language covered
consciously to create opportunities for exposure and noticing for the learners.(4) Including
regular recycling activities in lessons using, for example, vocabulary cards, and spacing rather


13

than chunking practice. (5) Using task repetition; in practice, doing the same thing again, reusing the language, both in individual lessons but also during a course. (6) Using texts as
opportunities for consciousness-raising to get students to notice the language covered. (7)
Considering the three Ts: task, topic and tools. - the teacher can ask students to reuse the
language covered by providing a language focus in communicative tasks, written or spoken.
(8) Setting recycling language homework and encouraging students to recycle language
outside the classroom.(9) Including testing as a regular part of the course. This encourages
students to revisit language.
In the study, the researcher chose to use the forth and fifth strategies mentioned above.
That was organizing fun, competitive, and motivating vocabulary games and activities which
adhere to the expanding rehearsal. The researcher put together a variety of engaging
vocabulary recycling activities drawn from a number of sources: resource books, websites,

training courses, my colleagues and some of which are of my own invention.
4.1. The spacing of repetition
Spaced repetition is a robust method memorizing large amounts of material than more
fashionable accelerated learning techniques. It is better to distribute practice. In many cases
two spaced presentations are about twice as effective as two massed presentations, and the
difference between them increases as the frequency of repetition increases (Melton, 1970).
This effect was apparent in of the earliest of experimental studies of learning and memory
performed by Ebbinghaus (1885) who concluded that “with any considerable number of
repetitions a suitable distribution of them over a space of time is decidedly more advantageous
than the massing of them at a single time”.
4.2. Testing and the Retrieval Practice Effect
Successful recall of a vocabulary item can have two independent benefits for future
learning and retention: (1) The first is quite straightforward - knowledge of recall ability can
be used to guide future learning, i.e. to treat recalled and unrecalled items differently,
concentrating attention on the latter upon representation of material. (2) The second benefit is
perhaps more paradoxical. Periodic retrieval can have a very large effect on enhancing and
stabilizing long-term retention since encoding operations usually assumed to take place during


14

item presentation can occur equally well following item recall (Thompson, Wenger &
Bartling, 1978).
5. A review of similar studies
From a literature review, it seems to be that a lot of research on vocabulary teaching and
learning has been made and their major findings support the value of gaining new vocabulary.
(Aitchison, J -1987; Gairns, R & Redman, S. 1986; Nation-1994, 2001, 2005; Lynch - 2001 ;
Lewis – 1993, 1997…). O‟Mally and Chamot (1990) divide language-learning strategies into
three major types: metacognitive, cognitive and social/affective. Oxford (1990) has attempted
the most comprehensive classification systems and divided them into six major strategy

categories, including memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective and social
strategies.
Despite the fact that how to maintain and recycle the vocabulary they have learned seems
to be less touched, we can not deny the existence of a number of studies conducted by many
researchers such as Laurel Pollard, 2008; A. Obermeier – 2008; Agnieszka Uberman – 1998…
in this field. Ahmed (1989) found that most learners took notes on vocabulary, or wrote notes
in the margins of their books. O‟Malley et al. found that repetition was the most commonly
mentioned strategy, and strategies requiring more active manipulation of information
imagery, inference, keyword method are much less frequent to use. Therefore, it seems that
mechanical strategies are often favored over ones that are more complex.
To summarize, in this chapter the researcher has discussed theoretical base of vocabulary,
memory, repetition, recycling vocabulary and their significance in vocabulary teaching and learning.
Previous studies on several aspects of vocabulary learning and teaching were reviewed in this
chapter: the important role of vocabulary in SLA; varying approaches to memorize
vocabulary; the principles for designing repetitive and recycling-focused activities. These
issues serve as a theoretical and methodological foundation of the study.


15

CHAPTER 2 – METHODOLOGY
This chapter deals with the methodology of this research in terms of the setting of the
study, sampling participants, instruments and procedure of data collection. Questionnaires and
T-test were employed and clearly presented in the chapter as the primary instruments of the
study. Relevant activities, additionally, were mentioned and discussed thoroughtly as
principles of designing activities.
1.

The setting of study

1.1 Context of Study
Long Hai – Phuoc Tinh high school is a state-run school located in Long Hai town in Ba
Ria – Vung Tau. The school has a modest educational staff of 71 people who provide
education to 1425 students. The EFL group consists of 9 teachers. Most of them graduated
from pedagogical faculties in Vietnamese Universities namely Vinh University, Da Nang


16

University, Lac Hong University, Da Lat University and Hanoi University of Foreign
Language.
The typical setting of instruction is three 45-minute –long periods of English a week.
There are not many of reference books available in the school library. Three out of 30
classrooms are equipped with computers and 32-inch LCDs. There are also two portable
speakers that can be directly connected to MP3 players or cell phones serving as teaching
facilities.
Due to the limited time in a correspondence to a wide range of words to teach and
students‟ low English proficiency, EFL teachers at Long Hai _ Phuoc Tinh high school often teach
vocabulary in the traditional teacher-centered method. The teachers normally dominate class to explain
words by words. They often employ three following steps in teaching vocabulary. First, teachers have
students read the passage (in reading, speaking, listening or writing sections). After that, new words are
raised and elicited through some games, word maps, or simple presentations. Then students try to get
Vietnamese equivalents of the words and read them aloud once or twice. To help students practice the
vocabulary, the teachers have them do some kinds of exercises such as: gap filling, word matching,
definitions matching, etc.. available in the course book. However, the effectiveness of the given steps
varies in accordance with individual teachers.
On completion of the study, the researcher encountered a number of problems, namely
impossibility of changing the ongoing programs or reorganization of classes, choosing the best
time to teach, and difficulties in manipulating and controlling other conditions under which the
research was conducted.

1.2 Why quasi – experimental research
According to Nunan (1992: 40), it is not always feasible to carry out a true experiment.
This is because of the difficulty of controlling many of the variables as well as the
impossibility of random assigning subjects to experimental and the control groups for the
purposes of the research. In that case, a quasi-experiment is employed with the subjects for
both the experimental groups and the control groups being the intact groups of students (i.e.,
keeps the participants in natural settings), (Nunan, 1992; Wiersma, 1995). As this study was


17

conducted on the students in two already existing classes which were assigned by the high
school where the researcher was working, a quasi-experimental method was naturally chosen.
“Experiments are carried out in order to explore the strengths of the relationships between
variables” (Nunan, 1992: 25). The study was aimed at exploring the relationship between
repetition and recycling and students‟ retention of English vocabulary. The dependent variable
in this study was the students‟ scores in their vocabulary tests (their retention of vocabulary)
while the independent one was repetitive and recycling-focused activities. The relationship
between these two variables were defined through the analytical procedure using the T-tests to
compare the mean scores of the experimental group and those of the control group before and
after the treatment. The pre – test and post –test are supposed to be the appropriate tests for
this purpose .
2.

Participants of the study

2.1 Participants
The population of the study were 84 ESL students coming from two classes called 11A3
and 11A5 at Long Hai-Phuoc Tinh high school in BR-VT. Most of them were born in 1995
and have studied English as a Foreign Language for five years or more. It is impossible for us

to assume that they are at the same level of English but they have definitely all experienced
the set of English course books of Lower – Secondary (i.e. English 6, English 7, English 8 and
English 9) and also English 10 as the first step to Upper – Secondary. Results of the pre-test
showed that their English vocabulary competence differed little (see appendix 3 and 4). All in
all, these two groups had a lot of common features in terms of number, gender, English level
as well as motivation to learn. Moreover, these students‟ characteristics were typical of the
11th grade non-major students at Long Hai- Phuoc Tinh high school.
Most of the participants live in three territories of Long Hai, Phuoc Hung and Phuoc Tinh,
which are famous for tourism and fishing industry. That, in turn, becomes a condition which
is worth being taken into account when working with this study. The students in the regions
can earn money easily by cutting fish heads and fins in the local firms. They appear to be
interested in it. After school, many of them have to rush to these firms to take the night shift
and, of course they do not have much time to review or do their homework.
2.2 Sampling


18

The quality of a piece of research stands or falls not only by the appropriateness of
methodology and instrumentation but also by the suitability of the sampling strategy that has
been adopted. Sample size is determined to some extent by the style of the research.
According to Borg and Gall (1979), experimental methodology requires a sample size of no
fewer than fifteen cases. Basing on the level of accuracy and the level of probability in the
study, the sample size of 56 out of 84 can be referred as acceptable.
“The safest way to ensure that it is representative is to use a random selection procedure.”
(Will G Hopkins, 2008)). Acknowledging this, in the study the researcher adopted the
systematic sampling as a strategy to select subjects from a population list in a systematic.
Specifically, with the required number of 56 out of the population of 84, the simple statistic
should be use:

f=N÷ Sn

f = frequency interval
N = the total number of the wider population
Sn = the required number in the sample
Hence the frequency interval (f) is

84÷56 = 1.5

As a result, the researcher omitted every third name on the list of cases.
3.Materials
3.1 The course book
The course book used in this study in the English 11 ( published by the Educational Press,
2007), the second unit of a series of thee course books namely English 10, English 11 and
English 12 . It is a theme-based course book comprising 16 unit and 6 review lessons. Each
unit focuses on a specific topic and consists of five sections: Reading, Speaking, Listening,
Writing and Language Focus.
The English 11 is designed basing on the basic principles of Communicative Language
Teaching. However, the course book do not include sufficient communicative activities for
practice. This demands more work on the part of the teacher in selecting appropriate activities
to attract students.
3.2 The course content


19

As being stated above, due to the limitation of time and application, the study only deals
with three units among sixteen ones appearing in the current course book English 11, namely
unit 1 “Friendship”, unit 2 “Personal Experience”, and unit 3 “A Party”. The main content of
three units is presented in appendix 1.

As we can see from the content of the book, sections within a unit are theme-related.
Vocabulary, thus, links to each other supporting the same topic . In order to cover all the
required content, teacher could spend 5-10 minutes at the beginning of each session reviewing
learnt words and present new ones.
3.3 What are relevant activities?
What are relevant activities to increase students‟ retention of vocabulary during the
teaching and learning process is the question that the author tries to answer. Regarding the
context of the study, the participants come from a school located in the countryside; they have
few real chances to practice speaking English; additionally, they often feel too shy to speak the
target language. As a result, their speaking capacity is low and poor. For all these reason, the
researcher tent to pay more attention to repetitive and recycling focused activities, because
according to many researchers, repetition and recycling are superior strategies for learning to
produce words. Activities that involve brief reading, repetition, making sentences, listing
words and so on are supposed to be relevant to provide background for practicing certain
chunks or for recycling vocabulary, thus aid language processing and ultimately vocabulary
retention.
On the approach to repetitive and recycling-focused activities, researcher was
impressively attracted by a variety of classroom activities which may help a lot if applied.
However, the majority of these activities are suitable to small size class. Meanwhile both
control and experimental groups are in the intact classes of around 40 originally, which is far
beyond the ideal class size of 10-20 students. (Adopted from America National Council of
Teachers of English Guidelines). Therefore, when designing some extra activities served as
tools to help students keep in touch with vocabulary they have learnt, the researcher took into
account all the conditions of the participants and based on the Taxonomy of Vocabulary
Learning Strategies which is adopted from Schmitt 1997:207.


Listen to tape of word lists

Loci Method

Continue to study word
over time

Use spaced word
practice pass new word
Skip or

Testing oneself with
word tests

Use English language
media

Metacognitive
strategies to control
and evaluate own
Learning - MET

Table 1: Taxonomy of Vocabulary Learning Strategies (Adopted from Schmitt 1997:207)

Use physical action when learning a
word

Learn the words of an idiom together

Use cognates in study

Paraphrase the word‟s meaning

Parts of speech (remembering)

Affixes and roots (remembering)

Use Keyword Method

Configuration

Image word form

Saw new word aloud when studying it

Saw new word aloud when studying it

Group words together within a
storyline
Study the spelling of a word

Group words together to study Put English labels on physical
them
Group words together spatially on a objects vocabulary notebook
Keep a
pagenew words in sentences
Use

Use the vocabulary section in
your textbook

Peg Method

Take notes in class

Flash cards

User scales for gradable adjectives

personal
Word lists

a

Written repetition

Verbal repetition

Cognitive strategies to
repeat and use mechanical
means to
study vocabulary - COG

Connect word to
experiences maps
Use semantic

Image word‟s meaning

Study word with a pictorial
representation of its meaning

Memory strategies for relating the

word with some previously learned
words - MEM

20