Problems in teaching esp vocabulary to automobile technology students at college and suggested solutions

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
English learning has experienced its popularity in Vietnam over the last few
decades. The demand for learning English even gets stronger when Vietnam fosters
its international relations. Every day an increasing number of people start learning
and use English for different purposes.
From the early 1960’s, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has grown to
become one of the most prominent areas of EFL teaching today. Hutchinson and
Waters (1987) defines ESP as an approach to language teaching in which all
decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning.
In ESP, it is a need analysis that determines which language skills are most needed
by the students and the syllabus is designed accordingly. During the last few
decades, ESP has been developing vigorously for the reasons that there has been an
increase in vocational training and learning throughout the world and the spread of
globalization has resulted in the increasing use of English as the language of
international communication, more and more people are using English in a growing
number of occupational contexts. In teaching and learning English as a foreign
language in Vietnam, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has recently received a
great deal of attention.
It is known that, in learning a foreign language in general, and English in
particular, the knowledge and mastery of vocabulary play an extremely important
role. Pyles and Algeo (1970) noted: "When we first think about the language, we
think about words. It is words that we arrange together to make sentences,
conversations and discourse of all kind". It has also been said that “without
grammar very little can be conveyed, but without vocabulary nothing can be
conveyed” (Wilkins, 1992). In order to communicate well in a foreign language,
students should acquire an adequate number of words and should know how to use
them accurately.

1

In the context of Vietnam – Korea Industrial Technical College (VKTC),
students at the Vocational Training level study English as a compulsory subject.
In particular, students of Automobile Technology (AT) start learning English at the
beginning of the second year. The short period is mainly aimed at improving
reading and translating skills. However, with a limited background knowledge of
vocabulary and English grammar, many of them have to struggle keeping up with
the course requirements. They often learn vocabulary passively through their
teachers' explanation, thus finding it hard to memorize new words. They, therefore
need a great deal of help from the teachers.
Being an ESP teacher of Automobile English, I have always been aware of
the importance of developing vocabulary for Automobile students and I myself
have a few difficulties in teaching vocabulary. These difficulties arise from my lack
of specialized knowledge of the field, my students’ lower English level compared
with those at colleges or universities, their needs, interests and motivation.
For that reason, this research was carried out to examine the challenges
teachers and students at VKTC face, and to look at some possible solutions to these
problems.
1.2. Aims of the study
The study aims to examine the problems in teaching ESP vocabulary to
Automobile Technology students at VKTC and to discuss suggested solutions to
these problems.
The objectives of the study include:
-

To explore problems that ESP teachers at VKTC are facing in teaching
English vocabulary to students of Automobile Technology.

-

To find out the causes of the difficulties the teachers and students have while
teaching and learning vocabulary of Automobile Technology.

-

To suggest some solutions to the problems in teaching and learning of
vocabulary to students of Automobile Technology effectively.

2


1.3. Research questions
In order to meet the aims of the study, the following research questions are
generated:
1. What are the main difficulties that VKTC teachers and students face while
teaching and learning vocabulary of Automobile Technology?
2. What solutions should be offered to help teachers improve their teaching
effectiveness when teaching vocabulary to students of Automobile
Technology at VKTC?
1.4. Scope of the study
The study limited itself to the investigation of problems in teaching
vocabulary to students of Automobile Technology at Vietnam – Korea Technical
College. Solutions were provided to help improve teaching and learning English
vocabulary of AT in particular at VKTC.
1.5. Methods of the study
With the aim of detecting problems in ESP vocabulary teaching to the
second-year students at VKTC, diagnosing the causes of these problems and
providing possible solutions, I adopt the survey approach. A questionnaire and
informal discussions were used to collect the needed data.
1.6. Design of the study

The study consists of four chapters:
Chapter 1 is the introduction, which presents the background to the study, the
rationale, the aims of the study, the research questions, the scope of the study, the
method and the design of the study.
Chapter 2 is the literature review, which provides the literature review of the
research, which includes vocabulary in second language acquisition, vocabulary
teaching and learning and factors affecting ESP vocabulary learning and teaching.

3


Chapter 3 is the study, which focuses on the methodology of the research,
including the methods, the participants and the instrument and data collection
procedure. This chapter also presents preliminary results, data analysis and research
findings.
Chapter 4 is the pedagogical implications and conclusion, which offer some
suggestions to improve the teaching and learning of ESP vocabulary and
summarizes

the

issues

addressed

in

the

previous

parts

and

recommendations for improvement and suggestions for further research.

4

presents


CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Definition and types of vocabulary
So far, the term vocabulary has been defined quite differently according to its
various aspects such as criteria, features and functions. Each linguist gives his own
definition. According to Lewis (1993, p.89), vocabulary "...may be individual words
or full sentences - institutionalized utterances - that convey fixed social or
pragmatic meaning within a given community”. Penny Ur defined 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” (1996, p.60). Along similar lines, Richards and Platt see vocabulary as
“a set of lexemes, including words, compound words and idioms” (1992, p.400).
Meanwhile, Pyles and Algeo argued that “when most of us think about language we
think first about words. It is true that the vocabulary is the focus of language. It is in
words that we arrange together to make sentences, conversation and discourse of all
kinds” (1970, p.96).
The mentioned researchers provided a general look at the notions of
vocabulary. At a deep level, vocabulary can be interpreted as knowledge of words
and word meanings. Firstly, words are virtually manifested in the two forms:

spoken form and written form. Oral vocabulary including words, phrases or
sentences are used for listening and speaking, and the words we recognize and use
for reading and writing can be identified as written vocabulary. Secondly, our word
knowledge is also represented in two forms, receptive and productive. The words
that we use to write and speak are considered as productive vocabulary and the
words that we hear from the people around us and see or read from stories, books,
newspapers, etc… are recognized as receptive vocabulary. In language learning and
teaching, the term vocabulary is used with different meanings by different teachers
at different levels of education. Therefore, it is possible to state that vocabulary
means both the knowledge of words and word meanings in both oral and print
language and in productive and receptive forms. Of course, lexical meanings vary
5


from context to context. In language communication, there are many cases in which
the lexical meaning cannot be deducted from analysis of the individual components
of that word. For this reason, in foreign language teaching and learning, helping
students to gain vocabulary from the different contexts is a must for all the
instructors. If this is regularly done, the learners will not only know how to use
appropriate vocabulary in communication, but also develop their vocabulary
repertoire themselves.
In short, vocabulary is an essential part of language, as Wilkins emphasized
with his saying: "without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary
nothing can be conveyed” (1972, p.110)
Vocabulary refers to the words we must understand to communicate
effectively. Educators often consider four types of vocabulary: listening, speaking,
reading, and writing. Listening vocabulary are the words we need to know to
understand what we hear. Speaking vocabulary consists of the words we use when
we speak. Reading vocabulary refers to the words we need to know to understand
what we read. And writing vocabulary consists of the words we use in writing.

2.2. The importance of vocabulary in language learning
More and more people have become aware that besides their first language,
they need to acquire several foreign languages in order to take full advantages of the
advancement in information technology. For many people, the first thing to do in
learning a foreign language is to acquire its vocabulary, which is perceived as
building blocks upon which knowledge of language can be built. In fact, vocabulary
always holds a significant place in foreign language teaching and learning.
According to Troike “vocabulary is most important for understanding and knowing
names for things, actions and concepts” (1976, p.87). In addition, vocabulary
knowledge can help language users perform and develop language skills since
“substantial vocabulary knowledge is always a prerequisite to the performance of
language skills. Vocabulary enables language use, language use enables the increase

6


of vocabulary knowledge and language use and so on” (Nation, 2004, p.19).
Therefore, it is undeniable that vocabulary plays an extremely important role in
making a success of language learning and that the acquisition of adequate
vocabulary is essential for successful second language use.
The main objective language learners usually set is to be able to use the
language to communicate well with people around them. To achieve this objective,
they have to master enough vocabulary of that language; if not, they will find it
impossible to express themselves in most circumstances. Indeed, as students
succeed in obtaining wide knowledge of vocabulary, they often get more confident
in using language and they can perform other language skills for various
communicative purposes. Thus, vocabulary knowledge always holds an important
role in performing language skills. For example, vocabulary has a close relationship
with reading skills that in turn have an interconnection with reading comprehension.
This relationship seems logical because of the fact that when students get meaning

from what they read, they also need both many words in their vocabulary repertoire
and ability to use various strategies to establish the meanings of new words when
they encounter them. It is the case that most of the weak students who do not have
enough vocabulary or effective word-learning strategies often struggle to achieve
comprehension in reading. Also, as they do not have sufficient word knowledge to
understand what they are reading, they often avoid reading. As a result, students
who do not read very much do not have the opportunity to see and learn very many
new words in various contexts while students who read more can become better
readers and gain more words. The very particular relationship between vocabulary
knowledge and language skills highlights the significant position of vocabulary in
language learning and teaching.

7


2.3. ESP and ESP vocabulary
Understanding about ESP and ESP vocabulary plays an important part in the
process of teaching vocabulary.
2.3.1. Definition of ESP
What is ESP? This is a big and complicated question that requires much effort
in seeing how ESP at the present relates to the rest of English Language Teaching
(ELT). If we take a look at the tree of ELT (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p.17), it is
clear that ESP is a big multi-levels branch of ELT being nourished by the learning
and communication roots. Hutchinson and Waters regard it as “an approach to
language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the
learners’ reason for learning” (1987, p.17). ESP must be seen as an approach, not as
a product and is directed by specific and apparent reasons for learning ESP.
Students' goal of learning a second language might be to acquire not only general
linguistics competencies but also academic and job-related skills.
Strevens (1988, p.1), by contrast, stated that “ESP is a particular case of the

general category of special - purpose language teaching”. In his work, he pointed
out four absolute characteristics of ESP as follow:
- ESP is designed to meet the learners’ specified needs.
- ESP has the content relating to particular disciplines, occupations and
activities.
- ESP is centered on language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis,
discourse, semantics, and analysis of the discourse.
- ESP is in contrast with General English.
In order to make the above mentioned absolute characteristics of ESP
distinctive, other two variable characteristics are set up. Firstly, ESP may be
restricted to skills to be learnt (for example reading only). Secondly, ESP may not
be taught according to any pre-ordained methodology. All of the characteristics of
ESP make us come to an end that teaching and learning ESP is a challenging task
for both teachers and students.

8


Widdowson (1983) argues that the purpose for ESP and EGP is the same, but
he clearly points out that what distinguishes ESP from EGP is “the way in which
purpose is defined and the manner of its implementation”(p.5). He further
distinguishes the two by their differences in relation to education and training. The
design of ESP is based as precisely as possible on what learners need. Courses are
designed to provide learners with the restricted competence they need to cope with
a certain clearly specified set of tasks.
It can be deducted from the above mentioned viewpoints that when dealing
with ESP, it is necessary to identify two central areas in ESP which: content and
methodology. Regarding content, it is important to concern about the scope of a
particular course in comparison with the totality of the language to make the ESP
course balanced in content so that it is not either too narrow or broad. In terms of

methodology, ESP courses aim to develop linguistic skills relating to particular
spheres of activity, not only the nature of the linguistic items introduced, but the
ways in which they are introduced and how they are practiced. It is therefore also
crucially important for teachers to apply good methods in ESP classes because good
methods decide most of the success in the classroom.
Generally speaking, due to the characteristics of ESP, in ESP courses,
activities to be carried out during learning the process should take place as
authentically as possible. The requirement of authenticity means that learning
materials should use actual texts produced by people working in the ESP field under
consideration. The texts involved in learning materials should be content-based
ones. That means they should focus on specific problems that people are likely to
encounter in their everyday working lives in the ESP field. If the learning materials
of ESP courses cover these two areas, many important linguistic items relevant to
the ESP field may be introduced and practiced.
In short, we can come to a conclusion that vocabulary in EGP somehow
differs from ESP vocabulary in terms of the purposes, the teachers, the students, the
texts and their roles.

9


2.3.2. Differences between ESP and EGP
English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for General Purposes (EGP)
differ not in terms of theory, but in terms of practice (Hutchinson & Waters,1987).
On the face of it, ESP differs from EGP in the sense that the words and sentences
learned, the subject matter discussed, all related to a particular field or
discipline - for example, a lawyer writing a brief, or a diplomat preparing for a
policy paper. ESP courses make use of vocabulary and tasks related to the field
such as negotiation skills and effective techniques for oral presentations. The entire
program is designed to meet the specific professional or academic needs of the

learner. A balance is, therefore, created between educational theory and practical
considerations. ESP, in this sense, also increases students’ skills and confidence in
using English.
The most important difference lies in the learners and their purposes for
learning English. ESP students are usually adults who already have some
acquaintance with English and are learning the language in order to communicate a
set of professional skills and to perform particular job-related functions. An ESP
program is therefore built on an assessment of purposes and needs and the functions
for which English is required.
ESP concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and
language structures. It covers subjects varying from accounting or computer science
to tourism and business management. The ESP focal point is that English is not
taught as a subject separated from the students' real world (or wishes); instead, it is
integrated into a subject matter area important to the learners.
However, ESL and ESP diverge not only in the nature of the learner, but also
in the aim of instruction. In fact, as a general rule, while in ESL all four language
skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing, are stressed equally, in ESP it is a
needs analysis that determines which language skills are most needed by the
students, and the syllabus is designed accordingly. An ESP program, might,
for example, emphasize the development of reading skills in students who are

10


preparing for graduate work in business administration; or it might promote the
development of spoken skills in students who are studying English in order to
become tourist guides.
As a matter of fact, ESP combines subject matter and English language
teaching. Such a combination is highly motivating because students are able to
apply what they learn in their English classes to their main field of study, whether it

is accounting, business management, economics, computer science or tourism.
Being able to use the vocabulary and structures that they learn in a meaningful
context reinforces what is taught and increases their motivation.
The students' abilities in their subject-matter fields, in turn, improve their
ability to acquire English. Subject-matter knowledge gives them the context they
need to understand the English of the classroom. In the ESP class, students are
shown how the subject-matter content is expressed in English. The teacher can
make the most of the students' knowledge of the subject matter, thus helping them
learn English faster.
The term "specific" in ESP refers to the specific purpose for learning English.
Students approach the study of English through a field that is already known and
relevant to them. This means that they are able to use what they learn in the ESP
classroom right away in their work and studies. The ESP approach enhances the
relevance of what the students are learning and enables them to use the English they
know to learn even more English, since their interest in their field will motivate
them to interact with speakers and texts.
2.3.3. Types of ESP vocabulary
In terms of teaching vocabulary in ESP, it is most important to make a
distinction between the two types of vocabulary: technical and semi-technical
because they are of great importance to learners studying English for specific and
academic purposes. Dudley-Evans & St John (1998, p.83) suggest resolving the
overlapping six categories into two broad areas:

11


a) Vocabulary that is used in general language but has a higher frequency of
occurrence in specific and technical description and discussion.
b) Vocabulary that has specialized and restricted meanings in certain
disciplines and which may vary in meaning across disciplines.

It is quite clear that the first area would be referred to as semi-technical and
the second area would be regarded as technical vocabulary. Examining

the

following text will help to illustrate the difference between them.
We report a double blind, placebo controlled, crossover trial of an
angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, enalapril, in patients with chronic
fluid overload dialysis. We used a crossover study and carried out procedures
within the study according to the standard of the ethics committee of this
hospital. Each patient was given either enalapril or placebo in the first period
of treatment and the alternative treatment in the second period; the order in
which treatment was given was randomized, 13 patients receiving enalapril
and 12 placebos first. Randomization was carried out by suppliers of the drug
(Ferguson, 2002)
The technical vocabulary items are: angiotensin, enzyme, inhibitor, enalapril,
chronic, dialysis and placebo.
The semi-technical vocabulary items are : report, double blind, control,
crossover, trial, convert, fluid, overload, receive, study, carry out, procedure,
standard period treatment, randomize, randomization, supplier and drug.
2.3.4. Characteristics of ESP vocabulary
Strevens (1988) defined ESP by identifying its absolute and variable
characteristics. His definition makes a distinction between four absolute and two
variable characteristics of ESP vocabulary as follow:
a) Absolute characteristics: ESP consists of English language teaching which is:


designed to meet specified needs of the learner;

12



related in content (i.e. in its themes and topics) to particular disciplines,
occupations and activities;



centered on the language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis,
discourse, semantics, etc., and analysis of this discourse;



in contrast with General English.
b) Variable characteristics: ESP may be, but is not necessarily:



restricted as to the language skills to be learned (e.g. reading only);



not taught according to any pre-ordained methodology.
Anthony (1997) notes that there has been considerable recent debate about

what ESP means despite the fact that it is an approach which has been widely used
over the last three decades. At the 1997 Japan Conference on ESP, Dudley-Evans
offered a modified definition. The revised definition he and St. John postulate is as
follows:

a) Absolute Characteristics:


ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learner;



ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the
discipline it serves;



ESP is centred on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills, discourse
and genres appropriate to these activities.
b) Variable Characteristics



ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines;



ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from
that of general English;



ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level
institution or in a professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners
at secondary school level;



ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students;



Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language system, but
it can be used with beginners.

13


Dudley-Evans and St. John have removed the ESP is in contrast with General
English absolute characteristic and added more variable characteristics. They assert
that ESP is not necessarily related to a specific discipline. Furthermore, ESP is
likely to be used with adult learners although it could be used with young adults in a
secondary school setting.
From a broader perspective, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) theorized: "ESP is
an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method
are based on the learner's reason for learning" (p. 19). Anthony (1997) notes that, it
is not clear where ESP courses end and general English courses begin; numerous
non-specialist ESL instructors use an ESP approach in that their syllabi are based on
analysis of learner needs and their own personal specialist knowledge of using
English for real communication.
2.4. Vocabulary teaching and learning
The status of vocabulary in language teaching and learning has changed
dramatically in the last two decades. “Since the mid-1980s there has been a renewed
interest in the role of vocabulary in second language learning” (Coady & Huckin,
1997, p.ix). There have been studies on the nature of the bilingual lexicon,

vocabulary acquisition, lexical storage, lexical retrieval, and the use of vocabulary
by second language learners. Coady and Huckin believe that “vocabulary is an
essential component of language and words are of critical importance to the typical
language learner” (1997, p.1)
McCarthy stated that “the biggest component of any language course is
vocabulary” and “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 meaningful way.”
(1990, p. viii).

14


2.4.1. EFL vocabulary learning
EFL vocabulary learning consists of definition of knowing a word, explicit
and implicit vocabulary learning.
2.4.1.1. What is involved in knowing a word?
There have been many definitions as to what it is exactly to know a word.
“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 (Miller & Gildea, 1987).
Penny Ur (1996) said that when vocabulary is introduced to learners, what
need to be taught are form-written and spoken; grammar; collocation; aspects of
meaning: denotation, connotation, appropriateness, meaning relationships; and word
formation.
According to Nation (1990, pp. 30-33) , knowing a word incorporates a large
amount of information. It involves not only 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. 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. In addition, it
is important to consider how well the students need to know a particular word in
relation to their needs and current level.
It is generally agreed that knowledge of the following is necessary in order to know
a word:
- form, pronunciation and spelling.
- word structure, bound root morpheme and common derivations of the word
and its inflections.
- syntactic pattern of the word in a phrase and sentence.

15


- meaning, referential, affective/connotation, pragmatic.
- lexical relations, synonymy, antonym, hyponymy.
- common locations .
There are two factors that have great impacts and help to create the lexical
competence:

Explicit

Vocabulary

Instruction

and

Incidental

Vocabulary

Acquisition. Each of these has influences on different stages of vocabulary learning
and cause explicit vocabulary learning and implicit vocabulary learning.
2.4.1.2 Explicit (or direct) vocabulary learning
In direct vocabulary learning, learners do exercises and activities that focus
their attention on vocabulary (Nation, 1990, p.2). For example, when students are
doing word-building exercises, guessing the meaning of unknown words in context
when this is done as a class exercise, learning words in word lists, or playing
vocabulary games, they are learning vocabulary explicitly. Such activities usually
take place in class with a lot of help and instruction from teachers. To make
successful instruction for explicit vocabulary learning, teachers often 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. Thanks 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.
Explicit vocabulary learning plays an important role in vocabulary acquisition.
Thus, many theorists and researchers recommended that implicit vocabulary
learning should not be used without explicit learning at the low and intermediate
levels.

16


2.4.1.3 Implicit (or incidental) vocabulary learning
Implicit vocabulary learning has been explained by researchers as incidental
vocabulary learning. It is the learning of new words as a by-product of a meaningfocused communicative activity, such as reading, listening, and interaction.

It occurs through “multiple exposures to a word in different contexts” (Huckin &
Coady, 1999).
In implicit vocabulary learning, learners are able to pick up vocabulary
through extensive reading, through communicative interactions, through exposure
to natural input such as movies and television. However, for implicit vocabulary
learning to be successful, the learners should have a sight vocabulary of 2,000 to
3,000. As well, the input should be comprehensible and interesting to the learners;
unknown words should be no more than 2%. Besides, input enhancement may be
beneficial, guessing should be encouraged, and guessing strategies should be
trained.
If exploited in a suitable way, implicit vocabulary learning will have many
advantages. Firstly, 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.
Secondly, it is pedagogically efficient in that it enables two activities – vocabulary
acquisition and reading – to occur at the same time. Thirdly, 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.
In summary, at the beginning level, explicit learning seems more important
than implicit learning, and the more advanced students become, the more the
implicit learning becomes practical. It is also important to consider what Schmitt
(2000, p.141) declares “... for second language learners, at least, both explicit and
incidental learning are necessary, and should be seen as complementary”.
In fact, many students at Vietnam- Korea industrial technology college tend to
learn vocabulary through explicit learning rather than implicit learning. They have

17


not reached the high enough language level to guess words from contexts, thus

waiting for explanations from the teacher. Instead of trying to understand of new
words in English both meanings and sense, they usually attempt to translate the
whole phrases and terms into Vietnamese and feel satisfied when they succeed in
doing this. They spend little time on self-study and have little language exposure
outside the classroom. In addition, they do not have motivation to use practice using
English. This results in their inability to guess words or involve in the implicit
learning process.
To acquire vocabulary through implicit learning, students have to improve
their own knowledge and studying methods. Teachers’ instructions can help to
influence the explicit learning process so as to provide them with precise word
meanings and usage, to make them practice using the words, to make them aware of
the advantages of learning strategies and to motivate them to spend more time and
energy on vocabulary so that they will somehow develop implicit learning.
2.4.2. EFL vocabulary teaching
This part is to describe the information about the role of vocabulary teaching,
methods and approaches of teaching vocabulary.
2.4.2.1. The role of vocabulary teaching
Teaching vocabulary, being an important part of teaching foreign language,
has the goal to help students not only to improve and extend their vocabulary. The
wide choice of a word causes the language to be flexible, it assists in avoiding
repetition and monotony of speech, and it gives the possibility to express the idea
more exactly and understandably. Nowadays it is generally accepted that
vocabulary teaching should be part of the syllabus and taught in a well-planned and
regular basis. Lewis (1993) argues that vocabulary should be at the center of
language teaching, because “language consists of grammaticalised lexis, not
lexicalized grammar” (p.80). As a result, new course-books now include word study
sections. Consequently, learners have to make a conscious effort to acquire the
18

target language not only in the classroom but outside it as well. In effective
language teaching, students are exposed to the target language in multiple ways, and
teachers’ aim is to make the vocabulary lessons not boring and above all encourage
their students to be autonomous in their language learning.

2.4.2.2. What needs to be taught while teaching vocabulary?
To teach or to learn a word means to teach or to learn its form, meaning and
usage.
pronunciation
spelling
inflections
Form

derivations

Usage

Meaning

sub categorization

basic and literal meanings
derived

and

collocation

figurative

sociolinguistic and

meanings

stylistic restrictions

From the illustration of what should be taught about a word via an isosceles
triangle above, we can see the balance between three aspects of vocabulary
teaching: form, meaning and usage. In other words, these three aspects should be
paid equal attention to.

19


2.4.2.3. Methods and approaches of teaching vocabulary
Of many factors which measure the success or failure in learning and teaching,
methodology is considered as one of the most important. Methods are held to be
fixed teaching systems with prescribed techniques and practices, and approaches are
language teaching philosophies that can be interpreted and applied in a variety of
different ways in the classroom. “A method is theoretically related to an approach,
is organizationally determined by a design, and is practically realized in procedure”
(Richards & Rodges, 1996, p.89). Additionally, according to Prator (1991, p.17)
“…in the teaching situation it is the method used, more than any other factor, that
determines the results achieved”.
Methodology of vocabulary teaching/learning has undergone too many
changes. With the grammar translation method, vocabulary is taught by means of
translation when students are given lists of words with their translation to be
learned. Language is seen as a collection of words which are isolated and
independent and there must be a corresponding word in the native tongue for each
foreign word students learn. This method has been commonly applied in teaching

vocabulary to non-English majors at training institutions in the north of Vietnam.
With the audio-lingual method, teaching vocabulary is also tuned up to grammar
and words were presented and learned in structures. Also, great attention is paid to
pronunciation. Vocabulary according to Total Physical Response is emphasized
over other language areas by using commands to direct behavior and action
sequence. This method involves a substantial amount of listening and
comprehension in combination with various physical responses. Teachers often use
gestures, body language, facial expressions to illustrate the words to students
2.4.3 Teaching and learning ESP vocabulary
Teaching vocabulary especially in ESP courses is becoming a challenge for
English Language Teachers. Vocabulary is an inseparable part of any teaching
syllabus and vocabulary should be taught in a well-planned and regular basis. It is

20


essential to carefully decide what vocabulary will be selected for teaching, and what
approach or activities will be used to teach it to the students. Such languages as
Russian and French are losing their power in Vietnam and English is becoming the
primary foreign language. English has been taught in primary schools from the third
grade for several years. From 2007, it is a required subject throughout the 12 years
of schooling. The traditional textbooks have been replaced by more modern books
that include pictures and focus on language skills. However, the big class size of
around 30-40 is still an issue that should be resolved in the near future. English
teachers are being trained to use modern methods of English teaching and attending
local and international conferences. Old teaching methods are rapidly being
replaced with modern ones. University curricula are usually designed based on the
students’ needs and interests. Vocabulary learning is a very important part of the
curricula designed for students who learn English for different purposes: to deal
with foreign business partners in their jobs, to know it for their studies, to travel

abroad, to read documents in English, etc.
2.4.3.1. Learning ESP vocabulary
From my teaching experience, I can say that many of my students face
difficulties while learning new English words. It is difficult to learn words
especially ESP words because they are low frequency words and are not
encountered very often.
Vocabulary acquisition is incremental in nature and this means that words are
not learned instantaneously but over a period of time. The number of words learned
depends on numerous exposures to a particular word. McCarthy (1990, p. viii)
points out that “No matter how well the student learns grammar, no matter how
successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wider range
of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way”.
Schmitt (2000, p. 131) emphasizes that “the object of vocabulary learning is to

21


transfer lexical information from short-term memory, where it resides during the
process of manipulating language, to permanent long-term memory”.
Short-term memory is also called working memory. Working memory is a
kind of gateway where the information is transferred to long-memory. Working
memory is linked to human consciousness and its characteristic is that it holds a
limited amount of information for a limited amount of time. The role of the working
memory in this case is to extract visuals, for example, that are relevant for ongoing
comprehension but the capacity of the working memory is always limited.
Long-term memory serves as the storage area of information. The amount of
information that people hold there is not known but the information can be stored
for a long period of time. However, instead of words being represented
alphabetically, concepts are represented according to their associations to one
another. An example is the word “blue” and what usually comes to mind is the sky

which is closely associated with blue or “red” usually associated with love.
Driscol (2005) gives a detailed explanation of two kinds of memory: episodic
memory refers to specific events such as in specific events as remembering the
circumstances of how one learns to read a map; whereas semantic memory refers to
all the general information stored in memory and recalled independently of how one
has learned the information. The circumstances under which reading a map is
learned are not memorable but the skill is remembered. The long-term and working
memories are also important in producing speech where the material is accessed and
assembled from the long-term memory.
Learning concrete words is easier than learning abstract words. Learners can
more easily remember words like: peach, house, and horse if they appear on a list
than words such as freedom and injustice. The reason is that the verbal system
represents the meaning of the words, but the imaginable system represents images
of the words. The concrete words are remembered better with two memories
available at recall, as opposed to one for abstract words (Driscol, 2005).

22


A recent trend in higher education is ESP (English for Specific Purposes)
courses. These courses are designed around students’ needs based on their field of
study. The goal is to strengthen students’ proficiency and help them to get ready to
cope with everyday situations and deal with professionals in many fields such as:
engineering, medicine, education, IT, etc. There are many training sessions
organized by international experts whose goal is to train local teachers to teach
these courses successfully.
In order to develop an ability to learn new vocabulary, for both general
English and technical vocabulary in learning ESP (English for Specific Purposes),
students should become aware of the importance of language learning strategies and
be trained to use them appropriately. Teachers should put a lot of effort toward

helping them to learn vocabulary related to their field of study.
It is widely believed that reading is the major source of vocabulary growth in
L1. Students with strong reading skills who read a variety of texts may realize
substantial gains in their vocabulary without direct instruction. These students may
also realize some incidental vocabulary gains through independent reading,
however. Teachers should neither ignore nor rely solely upon incidental acquisition
but rather seek to enhance its effectiveness with vocabulary logs, word walls and
other techniques. Words occur in written texts in four different categories
distinguished by Nation (2001):
1) High-Frequency words including many content words, e.g., government,
forests, production, adoption, represent, boundary.
2) Academic words include many words that are common in various kinds of
academic texts, e.g., policy, phase, sustained.
3) Technical words are closely related to the topic and subject area (words
from the field of agriculture) in the text, e.g., indigenous, beech, podocarp,
regeneration,timber.
4) Low-Frequency words include words like pastoral, aired, perpetuity, zone.

23


2.4.3.2. Teaching ESP vocabulary
Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) advocate the idea that ESP teachers should
not teach technical vocabulary but should check if the learners understood technical
vocabulary that appears as carrier content for an exercise.
I believe that ESP teachers should teach words. I agree with Strevens (1998,
p.89) who points out that “learners who know scientific field may have little
difficulty with technical words; but a teacher who doesn’t may have a great deal”. A
suitable approach for teaching ESP words is the lexical approach. The lexical
approach follows the principle that lexis is the most important part of any language

and should be treated that way. Chunks are also very important in learning ESP
because the learners should be able to identify them and should be aware of them.
The usage of lexical chunks helps students write and communicate better and they
should be able to distinguish high-frequency and low-frequency lexical items. It is
also widely believed that language fluency and accuracy is achieved largely by
retrieving and combining ready-made chunks of language.
Most of the students taking ESP identify it with specific terminology related
to their field of study. There are degrees of technicality depending on how restricted
a word is to a particular area (Nation, 2001, p.198). ESP is seen as an approach
rather than a product, by which is meant that ESP does not involve a particular kind
of language, teaching material or methodology. Hence, ESP relates to the learners,
the language required and the learning context, and thus establishes the primacy of
need. Need is defined by the reasons for which the student is learning English
(Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998).
Nation claims that “technical vocabulary” is a type of specialized vocabulary
and its occurrence is affected by factors that influence the use of all vocabulary.
Language teachers should prepare their learners to deal with the large numbers of
technical words that occur in specialized texts (Nation, 2001). It is my opinion that
language teachers who teach ESP courses should be familiar with the core
vocabulary of the field of study and design curricula that integrate both content area

24


and English language. Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) distinguish two types of
ESP vocabulary, general vocabulary with higher frequency or with specific
meaning in a particular field.
Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) are convinced that teaching ESP vocabulary
is the same as teaching English for General Purposes. The only distinction that
should be made is between the vocabulary for comprehension and the vocabulary

for production. There are also other distinctions: grammatical vs. lexical words,
cognates vs. non-cognates, etc. They further suggest using cognates to deal with
technical vocabulary. They suggest that the lexical approach is very useful in
teaching ESP. Most learners equate ‘vocabulary’ with ‘words’, and there is a
tendency among learners to translate any professional text word-for-word, i.e. they
usually try to simplify most lexical phrases to separate words. The role of teachers
is to raise students’ awareness of the existence of larger lexical items. It is believed
that ESP combines subject matter and English language teaching. This approach can
be highly motivating for students because students are able to apply what they learn
in their English classes to their main field of study, whether it is law, computing,
business, tourism, etc. Being able to use the vocabulary and structures that they
learn in a meaningful context reinforces what is taught and increases their
motivation. Nevertheless, ESP concentrates more on language in context than on
teaching grammar and language structures.
Another interesting fact is that ESP words are perceived as more complex than
general words and they should spend more time learning them. This is probably due
to the fact that collocations are very frequent in ESP and combining them correctly
requires more effort. There are specific types of collocations in ESP which cause
students’ errors due to a lack of translational equivalence between the students’ first
language and the target language. Teachers must help the learner become familiar
with ESP collocations, and such familiarity will develop best when the learner is
consciously aware of this tendency of words to go together (Lewis, 1993).
25